The Executive Director of the Kampala Capital City Authority Jennifer Musisi Semakula has lauded the World Bank and government for entrusting the rehabilitation of the Kamwokya-Bukoto stretch along Kira Road to KCCA.
The re-construction of the road was commissioned two years ago by Ms. Musisi and today, while speaking after the hand over by the contractor, the China Railway Seventh Group, she said the Shs4.8 billion road is modern, designed with a solar light system, surveillance cameras and modern traffic control lights.
The road also has a pedestrian walkway and a modern switching system to guide the blind, Ms Musisi, who recently got a three-year extension to her contract, said.
“Traffic on this road can be controlled at City Hall due to surveillance cameras installed and its system stores data for over one year,” Ms Musisi said.
She added that KCCA will massively invest in the refurbishment of schools, hospitals, the ongoing construction of roads like the Makerere Hill and Bakuli-Nakulabye roads and, the flyovers that are yet to commence.
Speaking at the function, the Director of Traffic in the Uganda Police Force Steven Kasiima warned boda boda riders against disrespecting traffic lights, saying the culpable will be punished basing on footage captured by surveillance cameras.
“These cameras will relieve us from criminals,” he said, adding that errant cyclists will have the motorcycles confiscated while others will pay hefty fines.
President Museveni meeting local councilors, political, religious and opinion leaders from Mayuge district
President Yoweri Museveni has urged local and political leaders in Busoga to sensitize the people against land fragmentation saying the practice, rampant among the predominantly agriculture dependent communities, threatens food security and is a source of poverty.
“Land fragmentation is a big problem. If not well addressed, it is the source of poverty. Here at Kityerera village, I am committed to ensure that all the 4000 homesteads are liberated from poverty”, the President said.
The biggest challenge facing Ugandan agriculture today is land fragmentation associated with the traditional inheritance practices and polygamy, he added.
President Museveni plants a tree at the Kityerera Presidential Farm
The President was yesterday meeting local councilors, political, religious and opinion leaders from Mayuge district at the new Kityerera State Lodge and Presidential Demonstration Farm in Mayuge district.
Responding to some of the development issues raised by the local leaders, the President urged them to embrace infrastructure development such as roads and electricity to improve their lives.
On the youth and women, he said government has allocated more funds to the youth livelihood fund, which has already received Shs 85 billion and over Shs 50bn for the womens’ fund so that it’s extended to everyone.
“Later, when everything is fully and economically achieved then the matter of improved salaries and wages can be addressed,” he said.
The President cautioned leaders not to front the excuse of drought for not practicing agriculture.
“You can improvise with drip irrigation. It has worked excellently for people with small land acreage,” he said, citing the Presidential model farm at Kityerera adding that this system of irrigation cannot fail because “we are surrounded by various water sources.”
The President also urged a team of fishermen from the seven islands of Lake Victoria in Mayuge district to support the campaign against illegal fishing practice on Uganda waters.
Explaining why he started the demonstration farm, Museveni said he was prompted to establish the farm in mid Eastern region as a model agricultural site at Kityerela village for the surrounding communities to how to exploit government’s OWC programme.
“It is also a commemoration site and reminds us of the fallen comrades and freedom fighters that joined the liberation struggle on the Eastern wing in 1972/3”, he said.
He said while infrastructure development like roads, education sector among others are important, the most vital issue is wealth creation for a person to live a good healthy life.
On diseases, the President said government emphasizes prevention rather than treatment.
“Government emphasizes preventive measures rather than curative like it was done on the six killer diseases among children, proper hygiene, safe and clean water, good nutrition, which together cover over 80% of preventive measures. I have been here with you for the last thirty year, have you ever had that I am bed ridden? I don’t have time for treating ailments. Care for your lives”, Mr. Museveni cautioned.
In appreciation, the leaders expressed their happiness to the President for recognizing Busoga regions’ political contribution towards the struggle for political stability and to get rid of dictatorial past regimes.
President Yoweri Museveni has lashed out at the educated public servants, saying some of them are involved in perpetuating corruption and that if caught they will be exposed and dealt with according to the law.
According to Mr. Museveni, the recent arrest of his Minister of State for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations Herbert Kabafunzaki is just a tip of the iceberg in his fight against corruption.
“Now we have started to open a war against them, those who have been arrested are ndozo.. okuloza..jaribu …. (A taste of what is to come), you will see what comes next. All those involved in corruption will be arrested. You should also help us and report them. You have also been the problem you just keep quite. When you report work becomes easy, we arrest them quickly,” he said.
President Yoweri Museveni at the Kityerera State Lodge
The President was yesterday addressing journalists from the ten districts of Busoga as he wrapped up his three-day community mobilization tour of Mayuge district where he also commissioned a new State Lodge and a Presidential Demonstration Farm in Kityerera Subcounty.
The tough talking Museveni defended government’s slow response to previous corruption cases saying the vice has become complex with educated people in public offices making it almost impossible to pin them without evidence.
“From the beginning, NRM has been fighting corruption. Some things we did quickly because they could be seen. There used to be roadblocks by the army to rob people, we removed them. The theft that remained is with the educated people. Earlier the corruption was by the army men who used to rob people, kill animals in national parks of government but we fought those and stopped them. Now the educated people in offices are the problem. We first trusted them…Amin’s government had some illiterate people and when we came in we thought the educated in civil service know what to do but they are the problem,” he said.
President Museveni fields questions from journalists at the press conference he held at the Kityerera State Lodge in Mayuge
The President said he established the four-acre farm in Kityerera to work closely with the people to transform them from traditional to modern agro production to ensure food security and income generation.
Kityerera village has 4000 homesteads out of who only 200 are engaged in productive farming.
“This commitment must be realised because there are many life demands today in every home”, he said.
He urged the people to engage in cost effective enterprises such as coffee, fruits, poultry, piggery and zero grazing that are profitable for farmers who are on small land holdings.
Mr. Museveni instructed agricultural extension workers to sensitise people in sugarcane growing areas not to grow sugarcane on land less than six acres saying it is not cost effective.
The President also directed the Ministry of Agriculture to carry out research into crop pests including the fall army-worm and the threat to pineapples in Kayunga.
When asked what he thinks about skeptics who undermine his efforts to fight poverty at the grass roots, President Museveni drew on a Kinyankole saying “Ezimbire akatama tezibira ezindi kurya” (A cow with a sick cheeks does not stop others from chewing)
“Those who laugh at our efforts to fight poverty will be ashamed. For us, we shall continue. Those who learn will laugh last,” he said.
RETIRING? Deputy Chief Justice and Head of the Court of Appeal Justice Steven Kavuma
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is in the process of replacing 23 judges that are soon retiring, including the Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma.
In a letter written Monday and addressed to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), the JSC says the resolution to fill the vacant positions was reached at their sixth meeting held on March 29, with the position of the head of the Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court falling vacant on September 29 this year.
The other positions to be filled include two in the Supreme Court, four in the Court of Appeal and sixteen in the High Court.
The Constitution requires a judge of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, which also sits as the Constitutional Court, to retire at 70 years while a judge of the High Court retires on turning 65 years.
it is alleged that Justice Kavuma tried change his age just months to the end of his public legal career but the application was met with stiff resistance from both the public, the JSC and the Ministry of Public Service.
However, a family member told this Website that what is referred to as changing his age is a battle for his replacement within the Judiciary where some of his colleagues plotted on how to make it hard for him should he be considered for an extension of his stay as the number two in the judiciary.
Other judges set to retire are Augustine Nshimye Sebuturo , judge of the Supreme Court; Justice Akiiki-Kiiza (High Court), Justice Ezekiel Muhanguzi, (Judge of the International Crimes Division of the High Court), Justice Elizabeth Nahamya (International Crimes Division of the High Court) and Justice Jotham Tumwesigye of the Supreme Court.
REUNITED: Violette Uwamahoro with her family in the UK.
A pregnant British woman from Leeds who was arrested in Rwanda on suspicion of plotting to undermine President Paul Kagame is back in the UK.
Violette Uwamahoro was granted bail last month by a court which ruled that her detention over charges of spreading state secrets was not warranted.
Her arrest while in Rwanda for a family funeral caused an uproar, with rights groups calling for her release.
Her family wanted the UK to intervene, saying she faced an ‘unfair’ trial.
It is unclear whether her return to Britain was facilitated by the British.
A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said last month that consular staff in Kigali were in touch with local authorities over Mrs Uwamahoro’s detention.
On March 27, the Leeds youth worker appeared in court in Rwanda’s capital Kigali, where her lawyers argued for her release.
The judge decided there was no evidence which suggested the expectant mother should remain in detention, ordering her release on bail.
Mrs Uwamahoro’s husband Faustin Rukundo, who lives in exile in the UK, was adamant she was being victimised for his role as an opposition activist.
GENOCIDE IN SOUTH SUDAN: UK Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel
The United Kingdom has accused South Sudanese government of pursuing a ‘scorched-earth policy’, saying killings in South Sudan amount to genocide and called on African leaders to involve to end the carnages.
The announcement comes just two days after government troops and militias carried out targeted killings in Wau.
“There are massacres taking place, people’s throats are being slit … villages are being burnt out, there’s a scorched-earth policy,” UK’s Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel, was quoted as saying.
“It is tribal, it is absolutely tribal, so on that basis it is genocide,” she declared.
Patel, who met South Sudanese President Kiir on Tuesday, revealed that she told Kiir to stop aid blockage and accused Juba of using food as a weapon of war. She warned that ‘the international community will undertake consequences’ if Kiir’s refuses to stop the blockage.
Patel also blasted African leaders for not doing enough to pressure Kiir’s government.
“Why are they not standing up for the people that are being massacred … who are their fellow African brothers and sisters? African heads of state … they need to do a lot more and they should not just rely on others in the international community,” she protested.
Reports of targeted killings have risen this year after South Sudanese government has been accused of pursuing ethnic killings in Equatoria region.
Britain is probably the first country to describe killings in South Sudan as genocide. The UN has previously warned of a ‘Rwanda-like genocide.’
The health condition of Rose Muhinza, the lady who was rushed to hospital in critical condition after a UMEME transformer crashed her car has greatly improved.
Dewinton-road-transformer-accident
Taking a look at the car along Dewinton Road in which Ms Muhinga was driving at the time of the nasty accident, few believed the occupant of the car was still alive.
Even those at the scene who had witnessed her being removed from the wreckage of the car were worried she would not make it to hospital.
The scene of the horrible accident
Luckily, she made it despite having been taken when she was in a coma. We have since learnt that her condition has drastically improved and that she can now even speak.
Electricity distribution company Umeme linked the accident to vandalism. “Preliminary investigations indicate that the network may have been interfered with, causing the transformer structure to fall onto the vehicle. Comprehensive investigations are still underway to establish the actual cause of this unusual occurrence,” Umeme said in a statement.
Muhinza’s son Richard Kigozi, who rushed to the scene following the accident, said his mother had left him at the nearby Walusimbi’s Garage, only to learn minutes later that she was involved in an accident.
WARNED MOTORISTS: KMP traffic Commander Norman Musinga
Kampala metropolitan traffic commander Norman Musinga has warned reckless drivers ahead of Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi’s birthday celebrations.
The Buganda kingdom will be celebrating the Kabaka’s 62nd birthday tomorrow at Lubiri High School Bulooba campus, and addressing the media at Central Police Station, Musinga advised motorists to adhere to the changes made and urged them not to park on the roadsides. According to the police directive, Bulooba town council will be accessed by VIPS with stickers on their vehicles, while the general public from Kampala will turn right and those from Mityana will turn left to Kiwumu trading center – Karambi Road – Bukasa roundabout to Sentema road – Lukwanga trading center – Nabukalu Road to the main venue.
“Vehicles parked alongside the roads will be towed away to the nearest police stations because parking will only be allowed at the church for VIPs and at the school for ordinary persons,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Musinga said.
“The celebrations of Kabaka’s birthday is a center of happiness this whole week, control yourselves because you may end up in police cells,” Musinga warned.
FORMER MINISTER: Herbert Kabafunzaki with the 'bribe' money
The Inspector General of Government (IGG) has said that labour state minister Herbert Kabafunzaki is still a member of cabinet unless the appointing authority, President Yoweri Museveni, thinks otherwise.
Justice Mulyagonja, who was responding to a query as to whether her office can order the minister Kabafunzaki to step aside pending the resolution of a bribery case against him said the minister was a political leader and ‘not a public servant’.
“They (political appointees and public servants) are not bound by the same regulations,” she said in an interview earlier today, adding that the condition for one to step aside to pave the way for investigations only applies to civil servants.
Minister Kabafunzaki was earlier today granted a cash and non-cash bail of Shs50 million, respectively, by the anti-corruption court chief magistrate Agnes Alum.
This followed Kabafunzaki’s arrest on Saturday for allegedly soliciting a Shs30 million bribe from AYA Group Chairman Muhammad Hamid.
Over three hundred and eighty small and medium scale enterprises are set to benefit from easy access to lending facilities from Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Uganda after the bank got an extended 10M euros (Shs 38b) loan facility from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The credit line will be available to sectors across all the SMEs with the exception of areas such as tobacco, military equipment and mining.
Mathias Muhimbisa, the Executive Director KCB Bank Uganda said that SMEs will now have access to loans ranging from Shs50m to Shs1bn to fund expansion of their business in terms of additional projects.
“Small and Medium Enterprises will benefit from the reduced interest rate for fairly long term borrowing of 5-7 years and tailor made SME workshops covering the vital must-knows of SME management.”
According to the bank, SMEs across the country will benefit with an average loan limit of Shs100 Million.
“This therefore extends our current foot print across the SME sector as we avail the much-needed funding to the segment to ensure economic growth,” noted Muhimbisa.
In a statement from the EIB, Catherine Collin, Regional Representative of the European Investment Bank in East Africa and Robert Schofield, responsible for European Investment Bank lending for small and medium sized companies throughout East Africa highlighted the “crucial role of entrepreneurs to create jobs, improve lives and ensure sustainable long-term economic growth.”
The statement confirmed the EIB extending its support to companies in East Africa through a EUR 250 million credit facility to be channeled through local banks. KCB bank is the biggest conduit of the funds handling Sh108.4 billion to be disbursed to entrepreneurs in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
Lack of long term Uganda Shilling funding is one of the challenges the leasing industry in Uganda is facing which, coupled with high interest rates has hampered the growth of SMEs in the country.
“This funding addresses this challenge to some extent given that it’s a 5 to 7-year facility and drawn in local currency,” noted Muhimbisa, adding: “There is definitely more need for long term funding in local currency which is necessary to stimulate the economy in terms of longer term infrastructure and value adding projects that can bring about economic transformation.”
