President Muhammadu Buhari’s planned medical trip to London has been cancelled with reports indicating doctors will instead fly in from UK for further medical examination.
The president had gone to the UK on an extended medical vacation before returning 51 days later.
On his return, the president had hinted that he would soon be returning to the UK for further medical examination but according to media reports, the medical trip has been cancelled.
The seat for Member of Parliament for Aruu North County which recently fell vacant after the Court of Appeal threw out former MP Lucy Achiro will be filled next week.
However, one of the candidates, Francis Elton Nyero Lakelle has been disqualified as candidate for position of directly-elected MP for Aruu North County, Pader District.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission, Nyero was disqualified after it was reportedly established that he had not complied with the nomination process.
“The Electoral Commission informs political parties, independent candidates, voters and all other stakeholders in Aruu North County that Mr. Nyero Francis Elton Lakelle has been disqualified as a candidate for the position of Directly-elected Member of Parliament for Aruu North County, Pader District,” reads a statement issued by Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi, Chairperson, Electoral Commission.
“This follows a review of the candidate’s nomination, conducted by the Electoral Commission which found that Nyero Francis Elton Lakelle (Independent) had not complied with the law on nomination.
“For avoidance of doubt, the ground for disqualification of Mr. Nyero Francis Elton Lakelle is failure to comply with Sections 11(3) and 13(b) of the Parliamentary Elections Act with regard to non-payment of the nomination fee as prescribed in the law.”
Nyero’s disqualification follows a recent loss in the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) elections in which he also contested as an Independent.
Elections for the vacant seat are set for 6 April.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health Dr. Diana Atwine has signed works and supervision contracts for the refurbishment of Kawolo and Busolwe hospitals, with support from the Spanish government.
While addressing the press at the ministry headquarters in Wandegeya, Dr. Atwine disclosed that the renovation and rehabilitation at the respective hospitals will be carried out in phases to ensure uninterrupted service to the public.
She said designs for Busolwe hospital refurbishment will be finalized in seven months, and vowed to enforce strict supervision to minimize hitches. The handover for renovation and rehabilitation of Kawolo is tentatively scheduled for April 5, 2017 and upon completion, the hospital will have a new maternity ward, theatre and a trauma center for accident victims.
The renovations at the two hospitals come at a time when Mulago National Referral Hospital and Kawempe Hospital are under renovation and remodeling to meet international standards.
The Inspector General of Police General Kale Kayihura has appointed Abraham Sagal, a member of former President Milton Obote’s Presidential Escort Unit (PEU), as his Personal Assistant, sources said.
A Commissioner of Police (CP) under the defunct Special Branch, Sagal was part of Dr. Obote’s inner security ring that was headed by another senior police officer, Odong Oduka. Until recently CP Sagal has been with Interpol.
The changes effected by Gen. Kayihura today and communicated in a radio message by Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Moses Balimoyo come in the wake of President Yoweri Museveni’s directive to the IGP to ‘clean his house’, following the gruesome assassination of AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi, two weeks ago.
The changes that have brought in CP Sagal have seen Assistant Commissioner of Police Jonathan Baroza, the immediate former Personal Assistant to Gen. Kayihura, Immaculate Musimenta, Ambrose Rwanyonga, Isaiah Igumira, David Sembera and Emmanuel Ochamringa, all sent to the police Human Resource Department for re-deployment.
Following Dr. Obote’s overthrow on July 27, 1985, CP Sagal fled to Zambia with the former Head of State, and returned to Uganda in the mid-2000s, almost at the same time with the former President Obote’s son Jimmy Akena.
And contacted today, Akena admitted he knew CP Sagal as his father’s aide,
“Yes, he (CP Sagal) was part of Mzee’s (Dr.Obote) security detail,” Akena, who is the Lira Municipality Member of Parliament, said.
Born in Moroto, CP Sagal went to Moroto High School and among his former schoolmates is Hilary Onek, the Minister of Disaster Preparedness in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Private medical practitioners operating clinics in Kampala have put the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the line minister Beti Olive Kamya on notice, saying they will forcefully reopen any facility that is closed for lack of a trading license.
Addressing over 500 medical practitioners gathered at Sharing Hall in Nsambya today, the chairperson of the Kampala Private Medical Professionals Association Paul Buyinza said they would not pay any license fees.
“We shall not apply nor pay trade license fees because we are not vendors or traders,” a charged Buyinza said, adding that they would forcefully reopen any medical clinic that is closed by KCCA.
According to Mr. Buyinza, they pay a lot of money to Uganda National Drug Authority (UNDA), and “when you add the trade license fees this business will be no more.”
Since she was named Kampala Minister, Ms Kamya has come under attack from several quarters that have accused her of acting high-handedly.
Last month she was up in arms with Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, who accused her of acting unilaterally to cause the eviction of over 10, 000 traders who were operating in the Park Yard market, in a bid to allegedly pave way for the construction of a mall by city businessman Ham Kiggundu.
Also, Lord Mayor Lukwago has previously criticized her approach towards the operation of commercial motorcycles commonly called boda bodas, in the city.
However, the Minister insists that she is simply enforcing provisions of the KCCA Act to create order in the city.
South Sudan Salva Kiir has issued an executive order removing the Ruweng state Governor, Theja Da Adwad Deng, a day after the latter shifted political allegiance from the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) under the country’s First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai.
Deng was succeeded by Them Machar Kuol.
The ex-governor was nominated by SPLM-IO faction led by Gai as a part of a power sharing deal stipulated in the peace 2015 accord, but remains unclear if his successor is a member of the South Sudan’s ruling party (SPLM) faction under the leadership of president Salva Kiir, which controls majority of the cabinet members in unity government, parliament, judiciary and Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
The new governor had never officially declared his defection from President Kiir’s faction and joined the armed opposition faction under Taban, sparking question trying to understand political circumstances under which the appointment was made.
While circumstances under which the appointment was made remain speculative in the public, sources with direct knowledge of the new changes were made, said that the new governor decided to switch political allegiance from the government in order to ensure that a gubernatorial post is filled by a son from the area.
The United States has issued a travel warning against visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo, after the bodies of two missing UN researchers and their translator were found lying in a shallow grave.
Michael Sharp, a 34-year-old from Kansas, and Zaida Catalan, 36, from Sweden, went missing on March 12, having set out to investigate mass graves in the Kasai province.
On Monday their bodies were found in a shallow grave, along with that of Bete Tshintela.
On Wednesday the state department updated its previous advice, and now recommends that all US citizens avoid unnecessary travel to the DRC.
Authorities in the country have vowed to investigate the murders, and Sweden has opened an investigation.
“Zaida Catalan worked tirelessly for peace and justice, and risked her own life to save others,” said Stefan Lofven, the Swedish prime minister. “Sweden is naturally ready to assist in this work.”
Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, paid tribute to the pair.
“Michael and Zaida lost their lives seeking to understand the causes of conflict and insecurity in the DRC in order to help bring peace to the country and its people,” he said, adding: “We will honour their memory by continuing to support the invaluable work of the Group of Experts and the whole UN family in the DRC.”
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, also praised Sharp’s professionalism.
“Michael was working on the front lines of what we try to do at the United Nations every day: find problems and fix them,” she said in a statement. “He selflessly put himself in harm’s way to try to make a difference in the lives of the Congolese people.”
His father, John Sharp, said that an ‘unidentified militia group’ was responsible for his kidnapping when he first learned his son went missing. Mr Sharp said his son was dedicated to doing humanitarian work in eastern Congo even before he joined the United Nations.
Their disappearance marked the first time UN experts had been reported missing in Congo, and was the first recorded disappearance of international workers in the Kasai provinces.
The UN last week reported that more than two dozen mass graves have been discovered since January in three Kasai provinces. Five videos have emerged in recent weeks that appear to show Congolese soldiers firing on militia members.
While the violence is linked to local power struggles, there are also clear ties to Congo’s current political crisis, according to Human Rights Watch.
Anger has been growing in the country at long-delayed presidential elections, and dozens were killed in December amid protests as President Joseph Kabila stayed on past the end of his mandate. A deal reached between the ruling party and opposition to hold elections by the end of this year, without Mr Kabila, remains fragile as the UN urges its implementation.
Meanwhile, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC is up for renewal next month – leading to concerns at the UN headquarters in New York that President Donald Trump’s plans to slash UN funding will see the mission drastically cut at a crucial time.
The DRC peacekeeping mission is the largest, longest running and most expensive of all 16 UN peacekeeping missions, with a $1.2 billion annual price tag.
Ms Haley is currently reviewing the value of all the missions, and is expected to deliver her verdict on the DRC operation – the first due for renewal – in April.
While some diplomats accept that a review of the mission is valid, they warn against a drastic reduction in size at such a tense moment.
Ethics and Integrity Minister Fr. Simon Lokodo has said that government is going to arrest controversial researcher Stella Nyanzi for demeaning the First Lady Janet Museveni.
Dr. Nyanzi, who is known for her recent verbal attacks against First Lady, came out strongly using vulgar language and describing Mrs. Museveni as a failure at the education ministry.
However, in a phone interview with EagleOnline, Fr. Lokodo who is charged with overseeing the ethics in the country said this time Dr. Nyanzi has crossed the red line by mudslinging the First Lady.
“She has gone too far; mudslinging the First Lady is unacceptable and she can’t go far like this. This time we are going to arrest her,” Fr. Lokodo said of Dr. Nyanzi, who rose to fame after undressing at Makerere University when the Executive Director of the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) Prof. Mahmood Mamdani threw her of office.
An academic with an acerbic tongue, early this year Dr. Nyanzi attacked the First Lady, when the latter announced that government had no money to provide sanitary pads for school-going girls.
Consequently, she was summoned by police, recorded a statement and was later let to go.
At the time Police spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan Police (KMP) Emilian Kayima told the media that Dr. Nyanzi is to be interrogated on a case related to Offensive Communication and Cyber Harassment.
But on release, she said police had told her President Yoweri Museveni was the complainant, after being offended by one of her posts.
“Offended? I laughed because the President has been offending very many us for a very long time. If a poor woman like me decides to speak out about what I spoke about, he shouldn’t take offence because he has been offending us. For how long shall we remain silent?” said the outspoken Makerere University don then.
She added: “If I using the only skill I have; my body and language…allow me to speak. Does attention bring back my dead parents? Does attention put medicine in hospitals? Does attention deal with the rot in UPE? Does attention Scr** the government the way I am Scr**ing it. He ordered for my arrest because I spoke in the language he understands?”
Following a directive by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) Airtel Uganda will deactivate all pre-activated and non-registered SIM cards by midnight.
“At Airtel we follow strict KYC compliance guidelines as set by the regulator; and therefore we will implement the directive issued by UCC. We will provide all necessary support as required by our regulator to ensure that the security of the country is not compromised,” Airtel Uganda Managing Director, Anwar Soussa said in a release.
Earlier in the day UCC Executive Director Godfrey Mutabazi had issued a directive ordering all telecommunication companies to switch off all unregistered sim cards.
This followed complaints from police, accusing the body of hampering their work since many criminals were reportedly using unregistered sim cards to carry out their heinous acts.
Songstress Sheebah Karungi is not a very happy woman at the moment after being denied entry into Europe.
Information reaching our desk indicates that Sheebah was denied a visa to Denmark and the Netherlands where she was meant to perform during the Easter Period.
However, we have been told by a promoter in the Scandinavians that it’s expensive hiring the services of a foreign musician. Indeed, a source told EagleOnline that it is very expensive to legally fly a Ugandan musician to Europe yet in most cases the attendances are always dismal since only Ugandans turn up.
So normally, Ugandan musicians usually travel as visitors, visiting ‘relatives and friends’ and when they successfully make it there, that’s when they end up in bars as musicians.
According to the source, Sheebah was to be smuggled to Europe as a visitor to a one Eddie Bukenya, who had been paid by a music promoter in Netherlands, a one Eddie Lule of Mambo Entertains.
When Bukenya contacted Sheebah’s management, they reached an agreement and was given an advance payment.
But in the course of applying for her visa, one of her managers, Allan Kiwa insisted he had to travel with them lest she wasn’t going anywhere. He was given a green light to travel with her but sadly the two failed to convince the embassy officials. Their documents were thrown into the bin.
However, we’ve learnt that they aren’t alone; Rema Namakula and Irene Ntale too had been lined up to perform in Netherlands during the Easter season. However, Rema was also denied a visa.
By press time it was not possible to get comment from either Sheebah or Rema however, since there are over 10 days left to Easter, we hope this will be sorted out. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments.
