French Ambassador Stephanie Rivoal and Ugandan officials during the announcement of the partnership. Photo Hussein Musisi.
The French Embassy in Uganda has partnered with Airtel Uganda to celebrate the France – Uganda Friendship Week.
French Ambassador to Uganda Stephanie Rivoal addresses the media at the announcing of the partnership. on her right is UOC boss William Blick while singer Moses Ssali aka Bebe Cool is on her left. All photos Hussein Musisi
Scheduled for 18th to 25th March 2017, the friendship week will be used to organize a joyful, positive series of events concretising the friendship between Uganda and France through music, culture, food, wildlife and sport.
Some of these include; Francophonie in collaboration with other francophone embassies, eco-tourism, Good France to promote the French fine dining, debates at Makerere University, sports in schools and the music and football event at Mandela Stadium on the 25th of March.
There will also be a charity dinner at the French Ambassador’s residence, proceeds of which will be given to a chosen charity project.
Musician Bebe Cool addresses the media while the French Ambassador Stephanie Rivoal and UOC boss William Blick look on.
Speaking during the press conference to announce the partnership at the French Embassy, Mr. Phanindra Nichanametla, the Airtel Uganda Finance Director, expressed happiness with the partnership.
“Partnerships are essential to the development of a brand and we at Airtel Uganda have always been and will always be willing to get into partnerships that promote culture, wildlife, music and sports,” he said.
“One of the activities that very strongly resonates with us during this week will be the football match between the Uganda Cranes, which we sponsor, and the French Military Football Team,” he added.
PULLED OUT OF KCCA CARNIVAL: Singers Radio and Weasel
The past three haven’t been the best for the dynamic duo of Radio & Weasel.
Their dismal show during that period even sparked off speculation that the group was headed for separation, claims that were buttressed by the recent solo projects by the two.
However, the two are still together and are planning for a big comeback. This has seen the ‘Byagana’ hit makers head all the way to the US for a collabo with legendary rapper, Snoop Dogg!
The two are working with the American rap star for the remix version of their latest hit single ‘Plenty Plenty’; the duo shot the video of the song in Johannesburg, South Africa late last year and they are now working on another video for the remix with Snoop Dogg which will be shot in Hollywood.
Speaking to BET Africa, the duo said they are excited about the collaboration with Snoop as he is one of the artistes who influenced their love for music.
“We are too honoured to work with the greatest (Snoop Dogg). We are just speechless; we grew up listening to his vibes and the first time we were nominated in the BET: Best International African Act we were blessed and honoured to see him performing live at the awards,” the duo said.
“The song is all about love and sharing that little thing you have so as to make a better life and change the current state of your life,” said Radio – real name Moses Nakintije Ssekibogo, about the song.
Previously Radio and Weasel have had collaborations with other musicians such as Nigeria’s Wizkid, Vannesa Mdee from Tanzania, the ‘King of the Dancehall’, Beanie Man from Jamaica and many others.
Donald Trump has been forced to postpone his state visit to Britain following mounting controversy over the trip, according to reports.
The US President expressed concerns about his visit, which had been planned for June, during a phone call with Theresa May last month.
The visit is now expected to take place from 5 to 8 October, in an attempt to avoid mass protests.
A senior Government source said: “Trump still really wants to come this year but he wants the heat to die down a bit first. The White House don’t want to create a scene for our sake either.”
Mr Trump’s advisers and senior Foreign Office figures are now engaged in talks on how to save the controversial visit.
It comes after Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police chief, said he had concerns about the state visit given the level of protests expected.
Lindsey German, speaking for the Stand Up to Trump movement, said that the protests would be the biggest since 300,000 people came out to demonstrate against George W Bush’s UK visit in 2003.
Last night President Trump delivered a more optimistic and presidential tone as he addressed Congress for the first time.
He voiced support for NATO while at the same time reiterating his call for partner countries to meet their financial obligations to the military alliance.
The words will be welcomed by Mrs May who, after meeting Mr Trump at the White House in January, confirmed that the President had given his 100 percent backing to NATO.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has issued an executive order sacking two state governors and replacing them with new officials.
The changes, the state-owned media announced, saw removal of Abraham Makoi, the Western Lakes governor and his Eastern Lakes state counterpart, Rin Tueny Mabor from their posts.
Kiir appointed Matur Chut Dhuol as Makoi’s successor, while Bior Philip replaced Mabor.
No reasons were, however, cited in the republican order for these new changes.
FIRE! FDC Iron Lady Ingrid Turinawe while appearing on NBS TV show 'Morning Breeze' early today. Pic/NBS TV
Ugandan Members of Parliament can only be compared to gluttonous swine that gobble anything in their way, opposition strongwoman Ingrid Turinawe Kamateneti, has said.
And, appearing today on the NBSTV ‘Morning Breeze’ programme, Ms Turinawe lashed out at the legislators, most of who booed her yesterday during elections for the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA).
“Yesterday, MPs had a chance of proving that they are not pigs but they didn’t,” she said early today, adding: “If you eat like a pig, walk like a pig, sit like a pig, then what are you?”
Ms Turinawe said what happened in Parliament was dramatic, and a learning experience for her.
“Twenty five votes, basing on what happened yesterday is ten times more, so I got 250 votes,” she said, adding: “I was eager to see what would happen in Parliament; they even practiced songs; they entertained me.”
Over time the MPs have claimed that Ms Turinawe called them ‘Pigs’ but even then she managed to get 25 votes, most believed to have been cast by opposition members in Parliament.
Ms Turinawe, who ran as an Independent, was contesting against 47 other candidates, after her party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) withdrew her candidature.
Interestingly, following her withdrawal by FDC, Ms Turinawe lashed out at her party President Major General John Gregory Mugisha Muntu, who had written to the Clerk to Parliament Jane Kibirige, withdrawing her party candidature. At the time, Ms Turinawe, who is the FDC Secretary for Mobilisation, said Gen. Muntu had ‘no authority’ to stop her from contesting for an EALA seat, a position that was buttressed by Kibirige’s response to Gen. Muntu’s letter.
Meanwhile, following yesterday’s elections, former Internal Affairs Minister Rose Akol of the NRM led the pack with 370 votes, followed by Mathias Kasamba (NRM) with 359 votes. Other NRM winners were Paul Musamali (NRM) 350; George Odong (NRM) 346; Mary Mugyenyi (NRM) 341 and Dennis Namara (NRM) with 329 votes.
Others are: Democratic Party Vice President Fred Mukasa Mbidde with 311 votes; Susan Nakawuki (Independent) with 298 votes and Chris Okumu Opoka with 274 votes.
WINNERS: The names of Uganda's new representatives to EALA.
It was a game of numbers. Despite being the biggest opposition political party in Uganda, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has failed to capture a seat on the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA).
This follows yesterday’s elections, where the National Resistance Movement (NRM), which has the biggest number of MPs in the 10th Parliament, overwhelmingly voted against the FDC candidate Florence Ibi Ekwau, denying her a chance to represent Uganda at EALA. This is the second time in a row that the opposition party is failing to get an EALA seat, courtesy of the ruling NRM.
During the EALA elections earlier yesterday there was drama as the NRM MPs denigrated opposition strongwoman Ingrid Turinawe, who contested as an Independent, even denying her a chance to address the house. She however, managed to get 25 votes, most believed to have been cast by opposition members in Parliament.
Ms Turinawe recently made headlines when she lashed out at FDC President Major General John Gregory Mugisha Muntu, who had written to the Clerk to Parliament Jane Kibirige, withdrawing her party candidature. At the time Ms Turinawe, who is the FDC Secretary for Mobilisation, said party president Gen. Muntu had ‘no authority’ to stop her from contesting for an EALA seat, a position that was buttressed by Kibirige’s response to Gen. Muntu’s letter.
Meanwhile, following yesterday’s elections, former Internal Affairs Minister Rose Akol of the NRM led the pack with 370 votes, followed by Mathias Kasamba (NRM) with 359 votes. Other NRM winners were Paul Musamali (NRM) 350; George Odong (NRM) 346; Mary Mugyenyi (NRM) 341 and Dennis Namara (NRM) with 329 votes.
Others are: Democratic Party Vice President Fred Mukasa Mbidde with 311 votes; Susan Nakawuki (Independent) with 298 votes and Chris Okumu Opoka with 274 votes.
STOP! Nigerian youth protest against Xenophobia in Lagos. Photo credit/thesheet.
Nigerian youths under the aegis of Advocates for Collective Transformation (ACT) have marched to the South African Embassy in Lagos to stage a protest against the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other Africans.
Many Nigerians had been unhappy about the attacks on people from other countries in South Africa and had complained bitterly about it to the federal government.
In fact, some Nigerians are of the opinion that South African companies in the country must be abandoned until they (South Africans) can guarantee the safety of those living in the Southern region of Africa.
The protesters, who were quite few in number, got to the South African High Commission house on Molade Okoya Thomas Street, Victoria Island, much later than the journalists who were waiting to catch a glimpse of the agitators, but were still early enough to articulate their demands.
According to Ayodele Samuel, the media coordinator of the group, they decided to stage the protest to pass a message to the Nigerian government to put an end to the citizens’ suffering in the former Apartheid region.
“We say it is barbaric and unacceptable, and we therefore ask the Nigerian government to declare a persona non grata to South Africans unless they can assure us of the safety of our people in their country,” he said.
Fehintoluwa Ajayi, the secretary general of the group also noted that the federal government has a huge role to play in ensuring the safety of the lives and properties of Nigerians living in South Africa.
According to him: “We are representing 80 million Nigerian youths home and abroad and are saying that if all our leaders and professionals are killed in diaspora, who will lead us?
“South African emissaries should be disallowed from entering the country until they can guarantee the safety of our people in their country.”
Samson Uwala who also spoke on behalf of the Nigerian students, agreed that it was a barbaric act to kill innocent citizens of Nigeria in South Africa.
After the peaceful protest in Lagos, nobody from the embassy came out to meet the protesters, rather, it was gathered that the staff of the high commission were asked to shut their gates properly and stay indoors.
Stern-looking police officers were stationed at the entrance of the embassy to protect the lives and properties inside the high commission in the event that any violence breaks out.
IN COURT TOMORROW: Doan Thi Huong, the Vietnamese, and Indonesian Siti Aishah
Two women – an Indonesian and a Vietnamese – will be charged with murder on Wednesday over their alleged involvement in the killing of the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader at Kuala Lumpur’s main airport, Malaysia’s Attorney General has said.
Police have said that the women smeared VX nerve agent, a chemical on a UN list of weapons of mass destruction, on Kim Jong-nam’s face in an assault recorded on airport security cameras on Feb 13.
US and South Korean officials believe Kim Jong-nam was the victim of an assassination orchestrated by North Korea. He had criticised the regime of his family and his half-brother Kim Jong-un in the past and had been living in exile, under Beijing’s protection, in the Chinese territory of Macau.
While Malaysian police arrested Doan Thi Huong, the Vietnamese, and Indonesian Siti Aishah in the days after the attack, they are are also holding one North Korean man and have identified seven other North Koreans wanted in connection with the sensational case.
Attorney general Mohamed Apandi Ali said the North Korean in custody will not be charged yet. His remand period ends on Friday.
The security camera footage, which has been released in the media, showed two women assaulting Kim Jong-nam in the departure hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and the victim stumbling into a medical clinic. He died within 20 minutes of the assault.
Both women have told diplomats from their countries that they had been paid to take part in what they believed was a prank for a reality TV show.
The attorney general said the women will be formally charged on Wednesday under section 302 of the penal code, which carries the death penalty.
HULLO: President Yoweri Museveni greets the author Mr Nabende Wamoto.
Jack Maumbe Mukhwana, the legendary Bugisu FRONASA veteran, in whose compound in Malukhu estate -Mbale two youthful combatant friends of Yoweri Museveni were killed by Field Marshal Idi Amin soldiers in the 70s, is no more. At the time in 1970s, Museveni escaped narrowly and fled through then Nashibiso forest into safety.
The last time we met President Museveni with the late Maumbe Mukhwana, we did remind him that civilians in Bududa pursued and captured the former Obote.II Chief of Staff (COS) Brig. Smith Opon Acak when the latter attempted to launch a rebellion in Mount Elgon on behalf of his former commander in chief – Dr. Obote, who was then living in Zambia.
If Luweero Triangle area can be referred to as the Mecca (of the NRM revolution) then Bugisu must be the Jerusalem of National Resistance Movement because Bagisu paid harshly if Ugandans and the world can remember the firing squad that took place in Mbale after the only one at Queen’s clock tower in Kampala which squad claimed the innocent life of a very young secondary school student called Namirundu.
The Bamasaba Kampala Chapter therefore request and require that due to our heroic contribution to the FRONASA and NRM cause, the deceased be honoured by the National Assembly (Parliament) and also be promoted posthumously to the rank of General since he did much more than Honorary Brigadiers ‘Ahmed Mbayo’ a.k.a Amama Mbabazi and Eriya Kategaya.
And that the house of the late Mawumbe Mukhwana be converted into a very magnificent tourist, revolutionary and training monument.
Former Gambian strongman Yahaya Jammeh who now exiled in Equatorial Guinea.
When Gambian intelligence officers arrested journalist Ebrima Manneh at his newspaper, he asked an office guard to save some tea.
“I’m coming right back,” he said, according to colleague Alhagie Jobe, who was present in the newsroom. That was on the afternoon of July 11, 2006; since then, neither his colleagues at the Daily Observer nor his family have seen him again.
Rights groups say Manneh is one of dozens of Gambians who disappeared without trace during the 22-year rule of President Yahya Jammeh, which ended last month when he fled the country.
Relatives have tried in vain for a decade to find the journalist, nicknamed “Chief” although he held no traditional title. Now they believe he is dead and, like a growing number of Gambians, say they are seeking justice.
“I want the new government to take action and prosecute whosoever had a hand in my brother’s disappearance,” said his sister Adama Manneh, a police officer, wearing a T-shirt bearing her brother’s face that read: “Where is Chief Manneh?” Ebrima’s brother Lamin said he hoped at least to recover the body.
Some families hope to gather evidence for a case against Jammeh – who quit under international pressure after losing an election in December – for human rights abuses, including unlawful detention, torture and murder of perceived opponents, charges his supporters deny.
Journalist Ebrima Manneh who is believed to have been killed by Jammeh regime.
Attempts by Reuters to reach Jammeh for comment in Equatorial Guinea, where he fled, were unsuccessful.
Rights officials say building a case could be tough. Another African ex-leader, former Chadian president Hissene Habre, was jailed for life last year for crimes against humanity, more than a quarter century after his overthrow. Habre was convicted by a court in Senegal with the help of incriminating documents, but rights officials say any hard evidence against Jammeh is lacking so far.
Another complication is that Equatorial Guinea has no extradition treaty with Gambia.
Many Gambians dream of bringing Jammeh before the International Criminal Court, which has put former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo on trial.
While Jammeh fled before fulfilling a pledge to withdraw Gambia from the ICC, Equatorial Guinea has never been a member of the Hague-based court and would be unlikely to hand him over.
Still, police in Gambia have promised to investigate cases of at least 30 people so far reported as missing or killed since Jammeh seized power in 1994, among them journalists, businessmen and soldiers. Several senior officials have been arrested including the former prison boss, interior minister and spy chief who was charged with murder last week.
Gambia’s new President Adama Barrow has promised a U.N.-backed truth and reconciliation commission into past crimes which also include alleged torture.
CHRONICLE OF THE DISAPPEARED
Manneh was 28 when the intelligence officers came to call at the Daily Observer’s offices in the capital, Banjul. On various occasions, Jammeh and his officials told reporters he was dead, had fled the country and had “stage-managed” his disappearance, according to an annual human rights report published in 2012 by the U.S. State Department.
The family still do not know the reason for his arrest, though colleagues suspect it may have been related to comments he wrote about the former president.
Adding to the mystery, Manneh called his mother immediately after his arrest, asking her to fetch his bag from the office. Manneh had said he was planning a trip abroad and would not be able to get it himself, his mother Sulay Ceesay told Reuters.
Three days later, on July 14, Manneh’s sister discovered his passport in the bag. “I said to myself: ‘Chief did not travel, he is in town’,” said Adama.
The search began but family members were unable to find out where he was taken after the local police station. Two witnesses said they spotted him on separate occasions in hospital in 2007 looking sickly, but Adama said officials prevented her from visiting him at the time.
When Adama made inquiries within the police force, her superiors warned that she too risked arrest.
In 2007, the Media Foundation for West Africa, an NGO, brought a legal action against the Gambian government at the Community Court of Justice, a body set up by the ECOWAS group of West African states. The government lodged no defense and failed to show up for the case.
The Nigerian-based regional court ruled in 2008 that Gambia had violated Manneh’s human rights. It ordered the government to free him and pay the family $100,000. The compensation was never handed over, the family said.
The court heard Manneh had been shuttled between at least six different detention sites between 2006 and 2008, and was never charged or given access to a lawyer. One witness, a journalist from a different newspaper, told the court he had seen Manneh being led back to a police cell in December, 2006.
Edward Gomez, who was justice minister and attorney general in 2010-2012 and later acted as Jammeh’s lawyer, expressed ignorance of the journalist’s fate. “I know what happened is very painful but quite frankly I don’t know what happened to him,” Gomez told Reuters.
Every year Adama went to Banjul’s main prison to attend the annual release of pardoned prisoners to see if her brother was among them. Hope finally deserted her only in the past month when the new president released more than 100 political prisoners from some of the country’s many detention centers. Manneh was not among them.
“I was thinking that my brother would be released but he never showed up there and I knew he had been killed,” Adama said in the courtyard of her home near Banjul with her mother and sister, their cheeks glistening with tears.
