LYING IN STATE: Deceased Toroma County MP Cyrus Amodoi.
Parliament will today pay tribute to the late Cyrus Amodoi, the Member of Parliament for Toroma County. His body is now at Parliament for public viewing, and the deceased will be buried at his ancestral home on Sunday.
Amodoi was one of the nine people killed in an accident involving a truck and two commuter taxis at Kitigoma, along the Kampala-Jinja highway last night.
A former soldier-cum-politician, before joining politics Amodoi once served in President Yoweri Museveni’s security detail, the then Presidential Protection Unit (PPU).
The late Amodoi becomes the second MP to die in office in the 10th Parliament this year, following Moroto Woman MP Annie Logiel who passed on in Denmark mid last month.
Amodoi held a Bachelors of Education from Makerere University, and a diploma in counter-terrorism.
SHOT DEAD: The body of Police Spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi
Uganda Police Spokesperson, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Andrew Felix Kaweesi has this morning been killed in a shootout at his home in Kulambiro on the outskirts of the city at around 9.30am.
KILLED: Police Spokesperson AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi.
Eyewitness accounts indicate the unidentified assailants were riding on a Boda Boda. In a statement issued minutes ago Police say Kaweesi was killed alongside his bodyguard Corporal Kenneth Erau and his driver Godfrey Mambewa.
‘We call for calm, law and order as investigations are conducted. May his soul rest in peace,’ the police statement states in part.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the three slain police officers have been taken away from the crime scene, which was a beehive of security activity, with several top police and security officers including the Security Minister Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde and the Inspector General of Police Gen. Kale Kayihura, present.
The bodies have been taken to Mulago Hospital for post mortem.
Reactions to AIGP Kaweesi’s murder
Prime Minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda:
*The late Andrew Felix Kaweesi was an honorable man who handled national affairs with expertise.
Democratic Party (DP) President Norbert Mao:
*AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi was an amiable man who tried to put a human face to the police.
*His death is untimely and unfair. I do not blame the late Andrew Felix Kaweesi, I blame his head, Yoweri Museveni.
*The person who killed AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi obviously has access to guns The police should help identify that person.
*AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi was an amiable man who tried to put a human face to the police.
Eye witnesses:
*The late AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi’s car was trailed by two bodaboda cyclists who fired shots into side mirrors.
*It is unfortunate that the very person at the epitome of police affairs is dead today. The government should tighten security
Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba:
*As police spokesperson, the late Andrew Kaweesi was doing a hard job. He should have had more security like an escort car.
Kampala Metropolitan Spokesperson Emilian Kayima:
*It is natural for people to get angry but with all the experts on ground, we shall do whatever it takes to find the criminals. We shall do everything in our power to make sure that justice is served.
*We can not at the moment confirm who was behind this or how and why they did this.
Former FDC Presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye:
* We are in a collapsing state and boda bodas are a show for it.
*We are in a collapsing state. We need to step back and rethink many things that can lead us to rebuild from below.
*The late Andrew Kaweesi was empathetic and had a humane side to him. He related with people personally. He was intelligent. He was smart and he would quickly understand situations.
*The government speaks with arrogance and impunity about Kaweesi’s death. The mafia groups have relations with government. The kind of confidence clearly shows that the killers are not casual criminals who just hired guns.
*There is a mafia state killing men of honor and Ugandans should be afraid.
*I’m personally sad because of what has happened and the way it has happened. AIGP Kaweesi’s death is very shocking, paralyzing and untimely.
Henry Tumukunde, Minister of National Security:
*For now, police have started investigations. His death was untimely.
COPIED? The 'Sky View' advert that caused social media outrage
Whilst most rival companies compete to outdo each other’s products in a bid to monopolize their respective markets, Harris International, the manufacturers of Riham Cola, allegedly rides on the creativity of rival companies and their products’ success.
According to social media rants by sections of Ugandans, Riham, the Kawempe-based soft drinks manufacturer, uses advert designers or agencies that are disrespectful of its competitors products’ copyrights and trademarks.
At issue is the ‘Sky View’ advert, announcing Harris International’s latest product, which social media activists said is almost a replica of the advert announcing ‘Mountain Dew’, a product of the rival Nakawa-based soft drinks manufacturer Crown Beverages Limited, producers of Pepsi-Cola and Mirinda among other brands.
According to the critics, the advert that announced the release of ‘Sky View’ didn’t only incorporate certain themes or ideas behind the original Mountain-Dew advert, but instead ‘stole’ the whole advert pixels and all with only a few tweaks done to a few details like the names and tagline.
‘This is what happens when a company or brand leaves the skilled and qualified individuals out and hires someone because he or she is related to the HR or marketers. Can I say Riham Copywriter and Designer ‘copied-and-pasted’ the Mountain Dew art work. But where is Uganda heading?” someone going by the moniker MC Young Wizy, a ‘digital content writer and social media guru’, wrote on his Facebook page.
John Edwin Danze, a Digital Marketer with NBS Television expressed concern over the advert when he posted the picture and captions: “Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Riham Cola Sky View aka poor man’s Mountain Dew. They took ‘Do the Dew’ very literally. How is this even legal!?” he asked.
A couple of other people weighed in, with some calling for the company to be sued while others called for close monitoring and regulatory specifics by the Uganda Communications Commission, to control such emerging challenges.
According to the Riham adverts’ critics, the company’s media and advertising department blatantly ‘copy-pastes’ work and signature marks that are already in circulation to distinguish a particular product.
They charge that this is not the first time the Kawempe-based factory has tried to duplicate, reproduce or plagiarise the works and innovations of rival companies for its own marketing strategies.
According to them, in 2013 Coca Cola sued Harris International over trademark infringement, although the case was settled out of court.
“This has not hindered anything as more products with similar tell-tale signs of duplicity continue to hit the market; a clear indicator of Uganda’s ever prevalent atmosphere of mediocrity,” said another critic, speaking on condition of anonymity.
However, contacted Harris International denied it had an idea such similarities between the two products existed.
“No, not at all. These are two separate products and Sky View is our very own product that has nothing to do with the other…,” an official said.
Another product that brought them under scrutiny in 2013 was their famous Riham Cola that had distinct similarities to Coca Cola’s Coke.
The Prime Minister of Rwenzururu kingdom Thembo Kitsumbire has been granted bail by Justice Eva Luswata at Jinja High Court and instructed to pay Shs75 million later.
He was arrested on December 15, 2016 following the massive killings in the Kasese region. The premier followed his king who had already been arrested and remanded in Luzira prison. It is alleged that he was arrested by flying squad from the office of the District Internal Security Organization (DISO) and taken to Rwenzori police headquarters for interrogation.
On his arrest, the police said ‘’he is the one who commanded the attack of police officers in the Kasese saga’’.
He kept on appearing before the judge, but his applications for bail were not looked into. His bail has been granted following human rights watch report released yesterday showing that the attack of the Kasese palace is the second scenario to the northern Uganda war that claimed lives of people.
Both the premier and the king Charles Wesley Mumbere were arrested on allegations that they allied with the other forces from DR Congo, seeking for the creation of the Yiira Republic.
However, the king was early this year was granted a bail but the police did not allow him to live court premise and re-arrested him. After some time he was bailed out after he re-applied for bail through his lawyers.
Though the king and his premier are out of Luzira prison, their followers’ remain in prison.
The release of Kitsumbire comes at the time when Human Rights Watch (HRW) wants the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union to carry out deeper investigations into the massive killing that occurred in the Rwenzururu region.
NO APOLOGIES: Political activist Charles Rwomushana while talking to NTV .
The Minister of Information and ICT, Frank Tumwebaze has responded to the queries raised against social commentator, Charles Rwomushana by parliament.
Female MPs led by Lira District woman MP, Joyce Atim Ongom asked Tumwebaze to take action on Rwomushana over what they called insulting them.
But while responding to Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanya’s request to make a statement on the matter, he has informed the house that Uganda Communication Commission is investigating Rwomushana.
“I would like to inform the house that the regulator, the Uganda Communications Commission, is mandated by the Uganda Communications Act 2013, to monitor, inspect, license, supervise, control and regulate communications service which broadcasting. The regulator has independent power under the law to receive, investigate and arbitrate complaints relating to communication services and take necessary action,” reads the statement.
He assured them that upon receipt of the complaint, UCC commenced investigations and is currently reviewing the content of the program being complained about.
“The final report and actions taken regarding this investigation will be shared with me soon and I shall accordingly inform parliament.”
However, “It is important to note that Section 29 (a) of the Uganda Communications Act 2013 provides that the holder of a broadcast is not contrary to public morality. This means that the Commission can only take action against Broadcasting entities (licenses) and not the Guests they host directly,” he clarifies.
Though, any aggrieved party can seek redress in the courts of law against the utterances made by specific guest speakers if deemed defamatory or otherwise.”
Issa Hayatou’s 29-year reign as head of the Confederation of African Football is over after Madagascar’s Ahmad Ahmad beat him in a presidential election on Thursday.
Ahmad, 57-year-old, who goes by just a single name, won the CAF presidency by 34 votes to 20 in the poll, bringing to a surprise end the 29-year tenure of the 70-year-old Hayatou, who is from Cameroon.
The result was greeted by cheers at the CAF congress as Ahmad was carried on the shoulders of jubilant supporters to the podium after the result was announced.
Ahmad, previously minister of sport and minister of fisheries in his home country, had been given little chance just a month ago when he announced his candidacy.
But he offered voters a fresh face to a younger generation of soccer association presidents that have emerged.
Hayatou’s long career in soccer is now at an end, although he is still an International Olympic Committee member.
“It is not that bad,” Hayatou, who was first elected in 1988, told reporters as he departed the hall.
“I’m not a candidate who will serve his personal interests.
“African football cannot be managed by bandits,” Ahmad Ahmad said in a statement before the voting at a congress in Ethiopia took place.
He said: “I will reorganise CAF’s financial sector to make it accessible to all sectors and areas.
“Five million dollars, or 50 per cent of earnings from FIFA, will go to African federations.”
Snoop Dogg’s new “Lavender” music video features a world of clowns, and one is clearly a President Trump parody.
In one climactic moment, Snoop Dogg aims a toy gun at that clown — “Ronald Klump” — and pulls the trigger. Glitter and a banner reading “Bang!” pop out.
Trump weighed in on that scene Wednesday morning, tweeting, “Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Jail time!”
With the video’s release this week, Snoop Dogg told Billboard that he wasn’t looking for a response from Trump or anyone else with that particular scene.
“I don’t ever expect or look for a reaction. I just put it out because I feel like it’s something that’s missing. Anytime I drop something, I’m trying to fill in a void,” he told the outlet. “I feel like it’s a lot of people making cool records, having fun, partying, but nobody’s dealing with the real issue with this … clown as president.”
Trump and Snoop Dogg actually have a bit of a history together. The rapper appeared on season six of “The Apprentice,” in which the winning contestants got to create a song with Snoop Dogg.
And Snoop was on hand for the Comedy Central roast of Trump, which aired back in 2011, after Trump publicly floated the idea of running for president.
“Now, Donald say he wants to run for president and move on into the White House,” Snoop Dogg said, as Trump grinned. “Why not? It wouldn’t be the first time he pushed a black family out of their home.”
Nakawa Court Grade one Magistrate, Annyu Margaret has adjourned the hearing of a murder case involving Brian Bagyenda, a son of Internal Security Organization Director General.
Brian Bagyenda a resident of Kimwanyi zone Njobe road Luzira division, Innocent Bainomugisha and Vincent Rwahwire are accused of murdering a one Twijukye who was a student of MUBS and her body was dumped in Namanve swamp.
Twijukye was working with capital shoppers in Nakawa and was expected to graduate in February.
It is alleged that on January 3, 2017, 29 year old pharmacist, Brian Bagyenda, a son to new Internal Security Organisation (ISO) boss Rtd Col Frank Kaka Bagyenda invited his girlfriend Twijukye to his apartment in Luzira and thereafter, her whereabouts weren’t unknown before finding her body.
On checking her phone on January 4, 2017, Bagyenda found pictures that his girlfriend Twijukye had taken with another man. This raised jealousy, and with the help of Innocent Bainomugisha and Vincent Rwahwire they suffocated her, put the body in a green Ipsum and drove to Namanve where she was dumped.
Singer Maggie Kayima popularly known as Nabbi Omukazi has warned her former boss and fiancé, ‘pastor’ Yiga of the ‘Abizayo’ fame to stop making her a topic on his TV station.
In a scathing statement, a seemingly furious Kayima warned Yiga that if he doesn’t leave her alone, “I’ll be forced to fight back and I promise you, you won’t live to tell the tale cause you know how far I can go,” reads part of her statement.
She is responding to recent remarks apparently made by Yiga on his ABS TV. While in ABS TV, Yiga claimed the reason why Kayima was recently involved in an accident was because she was reluctant to apologise to him.
However, Kayima dismissed the claims as entirely lies.
“Stop telling lies to your followers by simply clinging on the light misfortunes happening to me….. A person called a prophet is not your fellow human and you know it very well – I am not easy. “She wrote.
Adding “If I managed to survive Aids after being with someone (Yiga) for eight years, you tried to put me down with your “kalondoozi” videos but it still failed. I recently survived a nasty accident, which was much worse. If I survived all of that, you ought to leave me alone because I am not your level. Never joke with an anointed person.”
She vowed never to apologise to him for leaving his Revival Band, saying “the day I come back to you is the day you’ll prove to us that your powerful and to be honest, I don’t see that ever happening, never. You will remain what you are and what you have always been weak.”
