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DP warns ‘rebel’ Nambooze

By
Geoffery Serugo
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WANTS MAO OUSTED! Mukono MP Betty Nambooze, singer Ronald Mayinja and other DP 'rebels' during the launch of their 'war' against DP boss Nobert Mao

The Publicity Secretary of the Democratic Party Alex Wasswa has warned party stalwart Betty Nambooze and advised her to call off the meeting of select DP leaders from Buganda region that she had scheduled.

Last Friday Nambooze, the DP Vice President for Buganda and Member of Parliament for Mukono, in the company of singer Ronald Mayinja, convened a meeting at the Cardinal Nsubuga Leadership Centre, and launched the ‘Bad DP’, a parallel faction opposed to party president Norbert Mao and his deputy Mukasa Mbidde. Nambooze’s faction later scheduled a meeting for March 31, a matter that has threatened to divide the DP.

“The Constitution of Democratic Party doesn’t avail her with powers to call leaders meeting. Therefore, party members are willing to drag her to the disciplinary committee if she doesn’t obey President’s commands,” Wasswa said today, adding that Nambooze’s actions are aimed at polarizing the party along ethnic lines.

According to Mr. Wasswa, in a bid to foster cohesion, the party president (Mao) went to MP Nambooze’s home on Sunday for mediation talks, which bore no fruit.

“I call upon all Ugandans who believe in the party to stand and defend the party against its diminishing challenges among which is the planned overthrow of lawfully elected party leaders by the so called Bad DP,” Mr Wasswa added.

Meanwhile, the DP has sent congratulatory message to the Ugandan team that participated in just-concluded IAAF World Cross-Country Championships on Sunday, with particular mention of teenage sensation Jacob Kiplimo, who clinched a gold medal in the Under 19 category.

Mr. Wasswa however, decried the reluctance of the government to honour the youngster, who he said, ‘just’ boarded a bus back home after the competitions.

“The state should not only use helicopters to carry caskets of dead bodies but also this medalists who put our country on world map of athletics,” he said, making the scant inference to the late Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Andrew Felix Kaweesi, whose body was flown by helicopter to his ancestral home in Lwengo for burial last Tuesday..

“Kiplimo boarded a bus at 3pm heading home as if he had not been performing on behalf of the nation; we are only waiting for updates from the media to see whether he has reached home safely,” Mr Wasswa said.

 

 

 

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Rwanda court grants bail to UK-based activist’s wife

By
Agencies
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Violette-Uwamahoro-a-Rwandan-British-woman-Photo/KTPRESS

A Rwandan court has released a pregnant woman from the United Kingdom who was accused of involvement in a plot against Rwanda’s government.

Violette Uwamahoro appeared last week in court in Rwanda’s capital Kigali, charged with spreading state secrets.

A judge said there was no evidence to warrant the detention of the expectant mother and released her on bail.

Mrs Uwamahoro, from Leeds, was arrested in February after going to Rwanda for a family funeral.

The prosecution has a window of five days to appeal against the court’s decision, Mrs Uwamahoro’s lawyer Antoinette Mukamusoni said.

She was immediately freed after the court’s ruling but she is not allowed to leave the country, pending the appeal.

Beyond the issue of bail settled on Monday, prosecutors must prove their case against Mrs Uwamahoro within 30 days or all charges will be dismissed, Mrs Mukamusoni said.

The arrest of the Leeds youth worker had caused an uproar among rights groups with Amnesty International saying she was illegally held without access to lawyers or her family.

Her husband, Faustin Rukundo, an opposition activist, feared she would be denied a fair trial.

He had appealed for the intervention of the British government to secure her release.

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Diaspora Kenyans top global money remittances

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
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The WorldRemit logo

Kenyans in Diaspora remitted US140 million in January alone, making them the biggest senders of digital remittances to mobile accounts.

While marking the 10th anniversary of the mobile money service M-PESA, WorldRemit, one of the largest remittance companies serving the Kenyan diaspora, said transfers to mobile money accounts make up 93% of their transactions to Kenya now – ‘showing that Kenyans continue to be early adopters of innovative technology, even when abroad’.
‘Mobile money has played a key role in the growth of WorldRemit’s Kenyan customer base, attracted by the low price, speed and convenience of sending instant remittances from the app or website directly to a mobile phone in Kenya,’ a release by Africa Press Organisation, on behalf of WorldRemit, indicates. Around three million Kenyans live abroad, with large communities in North America, Europe and Australia.

“Kenya is famed for leading Africa’s digital transformation, and today it’s Kenyans abroad who are at the forefront of digitising international money transfers. Most of our Kenyan customers use our mobile app, demonstrating the strong demand for convenience when sending to friends and family,” Ismail Ahmed, Founder and CEO at WorldRemit, said.

He added: “With half a billion registered accounts worldwide, mobile money continues to transform lives by allowing people to access financial services for the first time. WorldRemit customers now send more than 65,000 transfers to the country every month from the WorldRemit app and website with over 90% going to M-PESA.”

According to WorldRemit, top remittance-sending countries are the UK, Australia, US, Germany, Canada and Nordic countries and the company is now connected to over a fifth of all mobile money accounts – 112 million of 500 million mobile money accounts around the world.

Also, the company has pioneered mobile to mobile remittances, sending to 32 mobile money services in 24 countries – more than any other money transfer service, and globally, WorldRemit customers send more than 580,000 transfers every month to over 140 destinations.

 

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Favourite Housemate evicted from BBH Naija

By
Badru Kasadah
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CRESTFALLEN: Big Brother Naija housemat Bassey on eviction

In shock and utter disbelief from fellow housemates and viewers, popular housemate, Bassey, has been evicted from the ongoing Big Brother Naija reality TV show. Bassey follows the likes of Miyonse, Soma, CocoIce, Gifty, Uriel, Kemen, and ThinTallTony, including the two fake housemates: Ese and Jon.

During last week’s nomination show, Efe, the Ultimate Head of House, was instructed by ‘Biggie’ to nominate four housemates that will be up for possible eviction, a decision that put up TBoss, Bally, Bassey, and Debie-Rise on the line for eviction. After the voters’ decision, Bassey automatically became the eighth housemate to be evicted from the BBNaija house.

Meanwhile, Debie-Rise just before Bassey’s eviction was declared saved by Ebuka Oba Uchendu, the host of the show. Thereafter, Ebuka set the adrenaline of the other three nominated housemates on the rise, taking a deep breath, while also pausing for a few seconds before ordering Bassey to exit the Big Brother house. The low moment was when Debie-Rise broke down, sobbing profusely, having lost a dear one to eviction.

While on stage with Ebuka, a strong-willed  Bassey disclosed that he feels elated having come this far. Bassey said he believed he had given his best and he is convinced that he would fare well in the outside world.

He said: “For me, it’s a win-win situation.” When asked about the next thing after Big Brother Naija, Bassey said “I might probably pursue my music career, but I look forward to working with the CEO of Marvin Records, Don Jazzy.” On his romantic exploit in the house, Bassey said, “Debie-Rise is the only one person I was comfortable with.”

He said that the music enthusiast, Debie, wanted to be “more emotional” with him but he “didn’t want to lead her on and break her heart.” He further revealed that there is no future for himself and Debie-Rise as he had a girlfriend who is waiting for him.

Recall that Bassey and Debie-Rise were the housemates introduced by Biggie during the first mock eviction show. This created a lot of buzz in the house including on social media. However, the most underrated housemate, Debie-Rise became the first to be saved among the nominated housemates, an indication which affirmed her popularity among the viewers.

Interestingly, Bassey made the confession of the night when he dropped the hint that Efe was a threat during the PayPorte games. He said, “He is fast and calculative.”

Meanwhile, Bassey played a critical role in the production of the theme song, See Gobbe and many would have thought that this would earn him another week’s stay in the house. However, his dream of winning the coveted prize of N25 million and an SUV was dashed after about 78 days in the BBNaija house.

Like Debie-Rise always says, especially during her intimate conversations with Bassey, “The battle is not to the strong or most talented, but to whom God shows mercy.”

This week’s eviction show was graced by Praiz who serenaded the night with one of his songs. As the Big Brother Naija reality TV show draws to an end, who will be the next to be evicted?

 

 

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Ragga Dee: Awards have distracted development of music industry

By
Badru Kasadah
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Musician Ragga Dee with Spark TV Presenter Miles Rwamiti

Veteran musician Daniel Kazibwe aka Ragga Dee real has criticized the local music awards, saying they are a waste of time.

Appearing on Spark TV, the ‘Mbawe’ singer who is only a few months away from celebrating 30 years in the music industry said majority of the recent music awards were derailing the industry instead of building it.

“Organisers are just awarding their musicians instead of recognizing creativity. This is instead discouraging talented musicians. It isn’t taking our industry anywhere,” a furious Ragga Dee said.

He accused the organisers of being opportunists who were only after selfish interests at the expense of the input of musicians – the reason why the latter had even lost respect for them.

“Recently I was invited to hand over an award. But when I took to the stage, I couldn’t see Juliana, Bobi Wine, Jose Chameleone, Bebe Cool, Irene Namubiru or even Afrigo. This left me wondering whether I was really at a Ugandan awards or foreign. How can you claim to organise Ugandan awards when you don’t have those in attendance?” he wondered.

Recalling the early 2000s, Ragga Dee gave an example of the Pearl Of Africa Music (PAM) awards, which he said, were highly respected and almost all musicians at the time attended them.

“The winners were always proud of the awards because they were even awarded on merit unlike the recent awards where organisers just come up with the awards to make money and also to reward their musicians,” he charged.

DJ Michael aka Michael Mugwanya was in agreement with Ragga Dee, saying the awards are a mess.

“Awards organisers need to go back to the drawing board otherwise they had become useless that even musicians had started disrespecting them – by rejecting them,” he said.

It is against such a background that Henry Tigan, just like Bebe Cool before him, requested all local awards organisers not to nominate him for any awards ‘because they have lost relevance’.

Meanwhile Ragga Dee, who recently turned into a politician, revealed that he will be back on stage soon. He is planning to hold a big concert in a few months’ time.

 

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SPLM-IO distances itself from ‘Kampala rebel group’

By
Agencies
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BROKERED DEAL: Bishop Elias Taban

South Sudan’s armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) has distanced themselves from armed rebel groups who have been negotiating with the Juba government in Kampala last week.

Last week, a peace deal was reportedly brokered by Evangelical Presbyterian Bishop Elias Taban in Kampala between armed rebel groups and Yei-River state authorities.

Yei Governor David Lokonga witnessed the signing of the agreement after the negotiations that were aimed at forging a new separate peace deal between the Juba government and the rebels.

But Paul Gabriel Lam, an SPLM-IO deputy spokesman, said the groups that met in Uganda’s capital were individuals of refugee status who fled to Uganda and he denied they had any connection with the main armed opposition faction allied to ex-First Vice President Riek Machar.

“Therefore, the claimed agreement signed in Kampala as reported on 22/03/2017 did not involve any single members of the SPLA-IO, but the claims by Yei-River governor [David] Lokonga is a kind of bridging team of criminals who take advantage of the suffering of South Sudanese refugees in the camps,” Lam stressed.

He added: “It’s unfortunate that refugees in Uganda have become targets of Juba regime to help further the current war in South Sudan. This is a new tactic that the government of Juba is used to strengthen its depleting forces.”

According to Lam, one John Data, the reported leader of the Kampala group, was allegedly being used to undermine armed opposition activities in Yei.

Lam claimed that Data deserted the SPLA -IO last year and became a refugee in a Uganda-based camp due to personal health issues.

 

 

 

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South African anti-apartheid icon Ahmed Kathrada dies

By
Agencies
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DEAD: Anti-apartheid icon Ahmed Kathrada

Anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada, who spent 26 years in jail – many of them alongside Nelson Mandela – for acts of sabotage against South Africa’s white minority government, died in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning at the age of 87.

He had been admitted to hospital with blood clotting in his brain earlier this month.

Kathrada was born on August 21, 1929, to Indian immigrant parents in a small town in northwestern South Africa.

He was among those tried and jailed alongside Mandela in the Rivonia trial in 1964, which drew worldwide attention and highlighted the brutal legal system under the apartheid regime.

Kathrada was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 and spent 26 years and three months in prison, 18 of which were on Robben Island.

Anti-Aparteid heroes Nelson Mandela (RIP) and Ahmed Kathrada (RIP)

After the end of apartheid, he served from 1994 and 1999 as parliamentary counsellor to President Mandela in the first African National Congress (ANC) government.

Al Jazeera’s Tania Page, reporting from Johannesburg, said that it was a sad day in South Africa – where Kathrada was affectionately known as “Uncle Kathy” – as tributes poured in about his widely perceived kindness, humilty, and honesty.

“I think his passing is sort of signalling to South Africans, yet again, the ending of an era, of these great giants of apartheid [resistance] as they pass on,” she added.He had been a major part of many South African’s memories over decades of anti-aparthied struggle, Page said.

Kathrada gave an emotional speech at Mandela’s funeral, in which he said he had lost a brother.

Kathrada was, until recently, still active in public life. He formed his own foundation, and advocated strongly for human rights causes such as youth development, anti-racism, and freedom of speech.

Last year, he joined a movement of veteran figures who were critical of the governing ANC and its current crop of leaders – particularly President Jacob Zuma, who has been mired in mounting allegations of corruption. Kathrada penned an open letter to the president and called on him to step down.

“Right to the very end he kept himself relevant, he was a newsmaker, he was honest and true to his values and his beliefs,” Page said. “And that’s why so many millions of South Africans will be very sad at his passing today.”

“This is a great loss to the ANC, the broader liberation movement and South Africa as a whole,” Neeshan Balton, head of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, said in a statement.

“‘Kathy’ was an inspiration to millions in different parts of the world.”

Kathrada’s activism against the white-minority apartheid regime started at the age of 17, when he was one of 2,000 “passive resisters” arrested in 1946 for defying a law that discriminated against Indian South Africans.

In July 1963, the police swooped on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, a Johannesburg suburb where Kathrada and other senior activists had been meeting in secret.

At the famous Rivonia trial, eight of the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour on Robben Island.

His fellow prisoners included Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Denis Goldberg.

 

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Kanyamunyus to seek bail again today

By
Geoffery Serugo
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The Kanyamunyus and lady friend Cynthia Munangwari in Nakawa court. T

Mathew Kanyamunyu, the city businessman accused of killing social worker Kenneth Akena is set to appear for a second bail in the High Court today.

Kanyamunyu, together with his brother Joseph Kanyamunyu and lady friend Cynthia Munangwari, is currently on remand in Luzira since November last year.

Last week the judiciary assigned Justice Yasin Nyanzi to hear the bail application after the first judge, Lady Justice Elizabeth Kabanda, denied the trio bail in February.

Prosecution avers that on November 12 last year, Mathew Kanyamunyu, in the company of lady friend Munangwari, fatally shot Akena.

Winnie Byanyima, an aunt to Mathew Kanyamunyu, while in court to stand surety for her nephews last month.

The Kanyamunyus are from Western Uganda and the death of Akena, an Acholi, polarized those concerned on both sides along ethnic lines, even drawing in Members of Parliament from the deceased’s ancestral home including Aruu County MP Samuel Odonga Otto, to protest against Winnie Byanyima, an aunt of the two brothers, to stand surety for them.

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Kenyans demonstrate against ‘Magufuli deportations’

By
Agencies
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PROTESTS: Kenyans in Namanga demonstrate against the deportation of their countrymen from Tanzania

Kenyans in Namanga demonstrated against Tanzanian leader John Magufuli, saying he had deported their counterparts.

They paralysed transport by blocking the Kenya-Tanzania border road at Namanga and stormed businesses owned by Tanzanians.

They rounded the foreigners up and frog-marched them across the border to their country. Many from Magufuli’s country claimed they lost their stock and money.

Tanzanian barmaids working in Kenyan clubs were roughed up and their mobile phones taken away.

Businesses on the Kenyan side remained closed until after midday.

It was reported in January that Tanzanian authorities were targeting Kenyans living in their country illegally.

Several Kenyans, including those who were born in Tanzania before independence, have been told to leave if they cannot provide documents validating their stay.

Others were born by Kenyan parents living in Tanzania in the early 1960s and have no other links.

Samuel Ngeselai was forced to flee Longido district in Tanzania and move to Kenya, leaving his children and wife of 30 years across the border. He is now stateless.

Ngeselai said his grandfather, a Mau Mau activist who escaped to Tanzania early in the 1950, died there.

His mother is bedridden and still living in Tanzania.

Kajiado county commissioner Harsama Kello said the demonstrations began at the border after Tanzanian authorities arrested three Kenyans last Friday and arraigned for being in the country illegally.

“Countries carry out routine checks. Our people should respect the law and ensure they have valid immigration documents while in foreign countries,” Kello said.

The commissioner said a contingent of security personnel was sent to the border to end the protests. He said two weeks ago that the situation was under control.

As Kello addressed journalists, a group of Kenyans was seen destroying Kenya Power transformers to cut off the link with Tanzania. Police watched as they vandalised the transformers.

He added that top officials from the immigration department and local police officers were in a closed-door meeting in Namanga on restoring normalcy.

The Tanzanian High Commission in Nairobi denied that Operation Timua Wageni is a move to free up jobs for locals.

The High Commission said that the exercise that began in January is routine enforcement of the Tanzanian Immigration Act of 1995 and does not target any nationality.

“What I can tell you is that this is not something new. It has always been there,” said an official who did not want to be identified because of lacking authority to speak to the press.

The Tanzanian government launched a crackdown on foreign nationals who do not have both work and residence permits.

Only 680 foreigners have work permits, according to the country’s immigration department, while only 66 have applied for residence permits.

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Museveni summons National Security Council

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

President Yoweri Museveni has summoned the National Security Council to deliberate over the security situation in the country include the several high-profile murders including that of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Andrew Felix Kaweesi..

According to sources, the meeting with top security officials will also review operations of different agencies including the Uganda Police Force (UPF).

The NSC comprises officials from the police, Internal Security Organisation (ISO) and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), all of which are currently involved in joint investigations to establish the killers of AIGP Kaweesi.

AIGP Kaweesi was brought down in a hail of gunfire near his home in Kulambiro by unidentified gunmen, and since then police has carried out several arrests of suspects, the most recent being that of Lt. Godfrey Musisi, a intelligence operative with the Internal Security Organisation (ISO).

And while addressing mourners at the deceased’s residence President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the Commander-in-Chief (C-I-C) directed the Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura, to ‘clean up his house’.

In a related development, Police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP)  Asan Kasingye has warned the public against speculations surrounding the death of his predecessor AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi.

According to Mr Kasingye, the police is currently holding suspects as the investigations are ongoing to establish who killed, organized and funded Mr Kaweesi’s death.

He also said they are investigating a social media group called the ‘Uganda Patriotic Freedom Fighters’ (UPFF) that claims knowledge of the high-profile killings in Uganda including that of AIGP Kaweesi.

Further, Mr. Kasingye urged the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) to effect a years-old directive to mobile phone service providers, to disconnect all unregistered simcards in a bid to reduce on the number of criminal acts.

‘This follows a six months  period  that was given to every single person to register his/her simcards four years ago  and whoever did not was supposed to be disconnected but up to now criminals are utilizing this  chance claiming lives of many Ugandans,’ he said.

 

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