Stanbic Bank
Stanbic Bank
21 C
Kampala
Stanbic Bank
Stanbic Bank
Home Blog Page 2013

EALA strengthens calls for regional integration initiatives

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
-
Chair of EALA Chapter, Kenya, Hon Nancy Abisai .The Chapter engaged a number of stakeholders at the Sensitisation held recently

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has recommended that sensitisation and awareness on the integration process be institutionalized as a continuous activity on its agenda.

Outlining a raft of resolutions adopted by EALA late yesterday urged the Partner States to fully implement the Common Market Protocol which provides for free movement of people, capital and services among others, to allow citizens of East Africa to enjoy their rights.

The members were deliberating on the sensitization activities carried out by EALA between October 27 to November 7 this year.

The sensitisation, the third such series this year for EALA, targeted various stakeholders in outreach and was anchored on the theme: ‘EAC Integration Agenda: Accessing the gains’.

EALA also called for the need for the Partner States to eliminate Non-Tariff Barriers ‘which impact negatively on intra- Regional trade activities’.

The EALA members also said peace and security in the region should be prioritized, including the fast tracking of the implementation of the EAC Peace and Security Protocol, and the increased efforts with regard to the on-going peace negotiation in Burundi. Other areas include issuance of work permits to facilitate those who wish to work in EAC Partner States as well as addressing the issue of Certificates of Rules of Origin to facilitate cross border trade.

In a bid to foster integration, the Assembly is urging the Summit of Heads of State to upgrade Kiswahili to be one of the official languages of the Community.The sensitization programmes targeted Parliamentarians, youth groups, representatives of the business community and local government authorities. Other groups include Government officials, students and media in the respective Partner States.

In Rwanda, the EALA Chapter toured the Rwanda Standards Board to hold discussions with the stakeholders.  Also visited were the Nemba One Stop Border Post on the Rwanda/Burundi border as well as a tour to the Rusumo One Stop Border Post bordering Rwanda and Tanzania and at Gatuna on the Rwanda/Uganda frontier.

The Uganda Chapter on its part, met with students at the Kyambogo University before meeting with representatives of the Chamber of Commerce.  The Chapter also held talks with the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, Rt Hon Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga.

They later visited the Uganda Heart Institute which is an EAC Centre of Excellence and the Uganda Cancer Institute. The Chapter also visited the Kyambogo University, before holding Public Hearings on four Bills. The Bills are the EAC Gender Equality and Development Bill, 2016, EAC Prohibition of Female and Genital Mutilation Bill, 2016, the EAC Whistle Blower Protection Bill, 2016 and the EAC Retirement Benefits for Specified Heads of Organs Bill, 2016.

In Burundi, the EALA Chapter paid a courtesy call on the President of the Burundi National Assembly and the Minister for EAC Affairs before heading to Muyinga Province. There, the Chapter met with the Governor before proceeding to the Kobero One Stop Border Post. The Chapter also held talks with the Business communities living at the border, where discussions on the benefits of integration took centre stage. The EALA Burundi also held discussions in Ngozi Province with various stakeholders as well as public hearings on a number of bills.

Hon Abdullah Mwinyi addresses the House
Hon Abdullah Mwinyi addresses the House

The Chapter in the United Republic of Tanzania toured the Immigration Department in Dar es Salaam. They also paid a courtesy call on the Chama Cha Mapinduzi Secretary General and EALA Speaker Emeritus, Rt Hon Abdulrahman Kinana, as well as sensitisation of different stakeholders in the coastal areas of Dar, Tanga and the environs.    The Chapter led by Hon Makongoro Nyerere, further visited the border post of HoroHoro, which neighbours that of Lunga-Lunga on the Kenyan side where they sensitised citizens who reside on both sides of the borders.

In Kenya, EALA visited Government authorities including courtesy calls on the Immigration department and its parent Ministry of Internal and Co-ordination of National Government. The Members similarly met with the Directorate of Immigration where key matters on the e-Passport and border management were discussed and at the Communications Authority of Kenya.

The report presented to the House also cites a number of challenges of the integration process. They include the overlapping of RECs Memberships by Partner States which continue to pose harmonisation and co-ordination challenges and lack of political commitment among Partner States. Weak institutions that lack the capacity to enforce sanctions against Partner States that fail to implement Protocols are also cited. Other challenges include Non-Tariff Barriers, poor infrastructure and energy shortages and corruption.

 

 

 

Stories Continues after ad

Continental risk reduction platform ends

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
-
REPRESENTED: THE EAC was represented at the Mauritius Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).

The Sixth Africa Regional Platform (AfRP) on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) concluded over the weekend in Mauritius.

The platform was organized by the African Union and United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and co-hosted by the SADC and the Government of Mauritius, with the East African Community (EAC) represented both at the Experts segment and in the High Level Ministerial Session by Jean Baptiste Havugimana, the Director for Productive Sectors.

The AfRP is a biennial forum that brings together African Member States, intergovernmental organizations and development partners to review progress in the implementation of the continental and global disaster risk reduction frameworks.

The 6th AfRP on DRR is the first continental meeting on DRR organized after the adoption of the Sendai framework on DRR by UN member states in Sendai, Japan in March 2015. The Framework provides a critical strategy for building resilience and addressing the impact of disasters representing a serious threat to millions of people in Africa and across the world.

EAC DELEGATE: Mr Jean Baptist Havugumina, the EAC Director of Productive Services.
EAC DELEGATE: Mr Jean Baptist Havugumina, the EAC Director of Productive Sectors.

During the Experts segment, Mr. Havugimana was a panelist under the theme: “Risk governance to showcase the status of EAC in implementing the Sendai Framework and the role of the DRR Act in achieving priority two of the Sendai Framework – Enhancing Risk governance”.

Mr. Havugimana further presented during the Ministerial Session the EAC Position Paper and Commitment in the implementation of the Sendai Framework. The Statement was a summary of discussions held by all EAC delegations during their session as a REC.
The 6th AfRP was a concrete opportunity for Africa to set up a functional path to alleviate the suffering of the most vulnerable communities in Africa.

The Platform also enabled delegates’ sharing of good practices, success stories and lessons learnt with a view to enhancing coordination, increasing awareness, and mobilizing commitments to disaster risk reduction across Africa.

The outcome of the 6th Africa Platform on DRR is an Africa Statement of DRR, the Mauritius Declaration on continental commitment and a revised Programme of Action on DRR for Africa.

 

 

 

Stories Continues after ad

KASESE FIGHTING: Arrested KTV anchor Biira to be released

By
Francisco Adongo
-
'DROP TERRORISM CHARGES CPJ IMPLORES UGANDA GOVERNMENT': Renowned TV Anchor Joy Doreen Biira who was arrested by police yesterday.

Renowned news anchor Joy Doreen Biira is soon to be released, a prominent media personality has indicated.

Ms Biira, who was in Kasese for her traditional wedding, was arrested after allegedly posting on her social media pages, photos and videos about the flare up in her home town of Kasese involving the security services and local guards attached to the King Charles Wesley Mumbere, who is also under arrest.

And, posting on his Twitter handle NBS TV boss Kin Karisa said he has held a meeting with the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Andrew Felix Kaweesi, who promised him that Biira, a news anchor with Kenyan media company KTV and who formerly worked with NBS, is to be freed ‘in the next 10 minutes’.

“Just had a meeting with AIGP Felix Kaweesi, Joy Doreen Biira will be freed in next 10 minutes,” Karisa wrote.

Earlier AIGP Kaweesi was quoted saying that Ms Biira would be released on bond.

“Joy Biira is safe and I have talked to commanders that if there are charges, let her be granted police bond” he said.

‘Police in Kasese at this moment are interrogating Joy on allegations that she took and shared photos of events in Kasese,’ human rights lawyer and activist Nicholas Opio posted.

Meanwhile, available information indicates that over 60 people including Uganda Police and army officials have died in the fighting that erupted in Kasese on Friday.

Stories Continues after ad

ANC steps up pressure on Zuma to resign

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
-
WHAT NEXT? President Jacob Zuma ponders

The Africa National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee entered a weekend of intense debate, following a week of important meetings for the organization including the fate of embattled party President Jacob Zuma.

Indeed, reports emanating from the weekend  NEC meetings held at St George’s Hotel in Irene, Pretoria, indicate that pressure on the president has increased significantly, with calls at cabinet level for him to step down. Six NEC members have apparently put their names forward to succeed Zuma.

“The NEC is discussing a proposal to recall President Jacob Zuma – a very critical meeting whatever the outcome is. What is clear is that President Zuma’s control over the party is beginning to slip,” said political analyst Karima Brown.

“All the traditional places where President Zuma has sought succour (are) beginning to be contested by people opposing his leadership and those who have come and said that the scandals – Nkandla; state capture; and the Guptas (are) too expensive for the ANC,” she said.

The media reported on Sunday that Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom was believed to have tabled the motion calling for Zuma to step down.

The paper said that the meeting had been adjourned, with discussions around whether to vote on the motion, and whether a secret ballot would be allowed, deferred to Sunday.

Brown said many people are now waiting for Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to make a move. “What he makes of the endorsements that have come from sections of the alliance that have already indicated that he’s their preferred choice”, and whether he is sufficiently emboldened by these moves to speak out, could prove critical, she said.

Meanwhile, earlier in the week, the party’s leadership met twice with party veterans, despite President Jacob Zuma’s public criticism of the stalwarts.

Tri-partite alliance member Cosatu also put its cards on the table by making clear its support for Ramaphosa as Zuma’s successor.

The president attempted to fight back, announcing on Friday he would challenge the Public Protector’s State of Capture report in court.

On Saturday, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said that a special two-day consultative conference had been agreed with the veterans, to be held in June next year.

Stories Continues after ad

Eight people including two police officers killed in the latest Kasese violence

By
Francisco Adongo
-

Eight people including two police officer are reportedly dead in the latest clashes in Kasese district

The eight are reported to have been shot dead at the palace of Omusinga Bwa Rwenzururu as a combination of forces stormed the palace where attackers were reportedly hiding.

According to NTV reporter Raymond Mujuni who is following events on ground, posted on his twitter handle” We have gained access to the office of the Kingdom where earlier heavy fighting took place, 8 people died in the fighting”

kasese2

 

It is after this incident that in retaliation that the two police officers were attacked while on duty on the outskirts of Kasese Municipality and two were killed. Police has also reportedly lost its truck at Kaganda as it was burnt by the revenging forces.just last week before the army started operations in Rwenzori Mountains, two police officers were attacked and killed while on duty by unknown assailants. Early this week, the army battled the same group that had started levying taxes and imposed a curfew in some parts of Kasese and Bundibujyo districts. The army recovered explosives which second division commander Brig.  Peter Elwelu said are majorly used in Somalia.

The Leader of Opposition and Kasese Woman legislator, Winfred Kizza is yet to address the press conference at Parliament about the situation.

 

 

Stories Continues after ad

Police links Maj. Kiggundu killers to ADF

By
Our Reporter
-
RIP: Andrew Felix Kaweesi.

Police Spokesperson, Felix Kaweesi has linked the murder of Sheik Maj. Mohammed Kiggundu to Allied Democratic Forces rebels.

Speaking to media, Kaweesi said that the tactic used is similar to that used in the past killings of Muslims leaders.

“We thought we had neutralized ADF elements but it seems we still need to do a lot of work.” He urged all the other clerics who had been given security not to take any chances.

According to Kaweesi, Kiggundu was one of the clerics on a list of Muslim leaders being targeted by hit men.

Kiggundu, a rebel reformist was killed today morning at Masanafu, a Kampala suburb. His bodyguard, Sgt. Steven Mukasa too was also shot dead.

The incident happened at about 7:30 am when the two were driving to Pearl FM, where he has been a preacher of Islam.

Over seven Muslim clerics have been killed in a similar way in the last three years. Among these include the leader of Shia Muslim sect in Uganda, Abdulhakim Muwaya.

 

Stories Continues after ad

From being a rebel to fighting terrorism, AK-47 ends Maj. Mohammed Kiggundu’s life

By
Badru Kasadah
-

After several escapades as an Allied Democratic Forces rebel and as a government soldier, he couldn’t survive city gunmen, who have been on loose in recent years.

Maj. Kiggundu was killed today morning at Masanafu, a Kampala suburb. His bodyguard, Sgt. Steven Mukasa too was also shot dead.

The incident happened at about 7:30 am when the two were driving to Pearl FM, where he has been a preacher of Islam.
img_20161126_120221

 

Maj. Kiggundu was among the commanders of rebel group, ADF. However, he denounced armed rebellion with a group of ADF in 2007. He was integrated into the UPDF and promoted to the rank of Major in the same year.

Maj. Kiggundi will be remembered as a soldier who surrendered to government side and collaborated with the security forces to infiltrate ADF and hence bring an end to the war in the Rwenzori Mountains that had threatened stability and development.

It is said that while still Chief of Military Intelligence, the then Brig. Henry Tumukunde approached Kiggundu and others with a view of collaborating with security forces to bring an end the war.

Kiggundu didn’t hesitate and took on the assignment and was able to penetrate the urban squads that ADF had allegedly set in Kampala and the camps in the Rwenzori and the rest is history.

Basing on Kiggundu’s old connections with ADF and then turned UPDF soldier fighting terrorism the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Paul Kangave, says similar to the recent shootings in the city, the assailants who were moving on a motorcycle followed them for some distance before shooting one of the car tyres forcing the truck to veer into a drainage trench.

img_20161126_121126

 

It is reported that at this moment, Maj. Kiggundu, jumped out of the UPDF truck which made it easy for the killers to shoot him.

The body guard was also shot dead amidst the chaos as he attempted to take action.

Having participated in the ADF rebellion and later on surrendering to government and to fight terrorism, Maj. Kiggundu relied on the Ak47 machine gun to execute his activities and indeed it is the same gun but this time used by other user that have brought his live to an end. AK-47 and sometimes referred as AK  is officially known also known as the Kalashnikov or in Russian slang.

 

Stories Continues after ad

Farewell letter from Che to Fidel Castro

By
Editorial
-
Che Guevara

As the world mourns and bids farewell to Fidel Castro, the true Cuban revolutionary, EagleOnline retraces historical events that played out during his liberation and one such the emotional parting of Ernestro Che Guevara, a comrade to Castro who participated in Cuban revolution but later on opted out and went back to his home country. Below is the emotional letter.

Ernesto Che Guevara

Farewell letter from Che to Fidel Castro

Fidel:

At this moment I remember many things: when I met you in Maria Antonia’s house, when you proposed I come along, all the tensions involved in the preparations. One day they came by and asked who should be notified in case of death, and the real possibility of it struck us all. Later we knew it was true, that in a revolution one wins or dies (if it is a real one). Many comrades fell along the way to victory.

Today everything has a less dramatic tone, because we are more mature, but the event repeats itself. I feel that I have fulfilled the part of my duty that tied me to the Cuban revolution in its territory, and I say farewell to you, to the comrades, to your people, who now are mine.

I formally resign my positions in the leadership of the party, my post as minister, my rank of commander, and my Cuban citizenship. Nothing legal binds me to Cuba. The only ties are of another nature — those that cannot be broken as can appointments to posts.

Reviewing my past life, I believe I have worked with sufficient integrity and dedication to consolidate the revolutionary triumph. My only serious failing was not having had more confidence in you from the first moments in the Sierra Maestra, and not having understood quickly enough your qualities as a leader and a revolutionary.

I have lived magnificent days, and at your side I felt the pride of belonging to our people in the brilliant yet sad days of the Caribbean [Missile] crisis. Seldom has a statesman been more brilliant as you were in those days. I am also proud of having followed you without hesitation, of having identified with your way of thinking and of seeing and appraising dangers and principles.

Other nations of the world summon my modest efforts of assistance. I can do that which is denied you due to your responsibility as the head of Cuba, and the time has come for us to part.

You should know that I do so with a mixture of joy and sorrow. I leave here the purest of my hopes as a builder and the dearest of those I hold dear. And I leave a people who received me as a son. That wounds a part of my spirit. I carry to new battlefronts the faith that you taught me, the revolutionary spirit of my people, the feeling of fulfilling the most sacred of duties: to fight against imperialism wherever it may be. This is a source of strength, and more than heals the deepest of wounds.

I state once more that I free Cuba from all responsibility, except that which stems from its example. If my final hour finds me under other skies, my last thought will be of this people and especially of you. I am grateful for your teaching and your example, to which I shall try to be faithful up to the final consequences of my acts.

I have always been identified with the foreign policy of our revolution, and I continue to be. Wherever I am, I will feel the responsibility of being a Cuban revolutionary, and I shall behave as such. I am not sorry that I leave nothing material to my wife and children; I am happy it is that way. I ask nothing for them, as the state will provide them with enough to live on and receive an education.

I would have many things to say to you and to our people, but I feel they are unnecessary. Words cannot express what I would like them to, and there is no point in scribbling pages.

Stories Continues after ad

Fidel Castro, Cuba’s leader of revolution, dies at 90

By
Agencies
-
RIP Fidel Castro

Cuba’s former president Fidel Castro, one of the world’s longest-serving and most iconic leaders, has died aged 90.

His younger brother and successor as President Raul Castro announced the news on state television.

Castro toppled the government in 1959, introducing a Communist revolution. He defied the US for decades, surviving many assassination plots.

His supporters said he had given Cuba back to the people. Critics saw him as a dictator.

 

Ashen and grave, President Castro told the nation in an unexpected late night broadcast on state television that Fidel Castro had died and would be cremated later on Saturday.

“The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening (03:29 GMT Saturday),” he said. “Towards victory, always!” he added, using a revolutionary slogan.

There is to be several days of national mourning on the island.

He temporarily handed over power to his brother in 2006 as he was recovering from an acute intestinal ailment. Raul Castro officially became president two years later.

News of his death left some in Havana stunned.

“I always said it couldn’t be,” said one woman, a government employee. “Even though they said it now, I say it can’t be.”

How he defied the US

Throughout the Cold War, Fidel Castro was a thorn in Washington’s side.

An accomplished tactician on the battlefield, he and his small army of guerrillas overthrew the military leader Fulgencio Batista in 1959 to widespread popular support.

Within two years of taking power, he declared the revolution to be Marxist-Leninist in nature and allied the island nation firmly to the Soviet Union.

Yet, despite the constant threat of a US invasion as well as the long-standing economic embargo on the island, Castro managed to maintain a communist revolution in a nation just 90 miles (145km) off the coast of Florida.

Despised by his critics as much as he was revered by his followers, he outlasted 10 US presidents and survived scores of attempts on his life by the CIA.

How has the world reacted?

Latin American leaders have been quick to pay tribute.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Castro was a “great friend” of Mexico, while to El Salvador’s President Salvador Sanchez Ceren he was an “eternal companion”.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said “revolutionaries of the world must follow his legacy”.

The Soviet Union’s last leader Mikhail Gorbachev said: “Fidel stood up and strengthened his country during the harshest American blockade, when there was colossal pressure on him”.

Vladimir Putin described him as a “reliable and sincere friend” of Russia.

For French President Francois Hollande Castro embodied Cuba’s revolution in both its “hopes” and its later “disappointments”.

In Miami, where there is a large Cuban community, there have been celebrations in some parts of the city, with people banging pots and cheering.

A Cuban exile group, the Cuban Democratic Directorate, said Castro left “legacy of intolerance” and had set up a “vicious totalitarian regime”.

Fidel Castro’s key dates

  • 1926:Born in the south-eastern Oriente Province of Cuba
  • 1953:Imprisoned after leading an unsuccessful rising against Batista’s regime
  • 1955:Released from prison under an amnesty deal
  • 1956:With Che Guevara, begins a guerrilla war against the government
  • 1959:Defeats Batista, sworn in as prime minister of Cuba
  • 1961:Fights off CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles
  • 1962:Sparks Cuban missile crisis by agreeing that USSR can deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba
  • 1976:Elected president by Cuba’s National Assembly
  • 1992:Reaches an agreement with US over Cuban refugees
  • 2006:Hands over reins to brother Raul due to health issues, stands down as president two years later

 

Stories Continues after ad

Drama as Muslim clerics’ murder trial progresses

By
Hussein Musisi
-

When the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs Maj. Gen.  Kahinda Otafiire was once quoted saying that ‘Leave issues of Generals to Generals’, the public considered it a minor issue.

Something almost similar played out yesterday in the International Crimes Division of the High Court during the trial of Muslim clerics charged with murder and attempted murder of their fellow clerics. Five prominent Muslims including Prince Kassim Nakibinge, Sheikh Mustapha Bahiga, Sheikh Hassan Kirya, Najib Ssonko and Umar Swidiq Ndawula were on the list of those to be murdered, with Sheikhs Bahiga and Kirya killed by assailants.

But in court, the show now turned to a verbal exchange of words between city lawyer Fred Muwema and State Principal Witness Sheikh Abdul Hamid Haruna Jjemba Katungulu, a 60 year old Muslim scholar with a PhD in Religious Studies and who doubles as a lecture of Religion and Peace Studies at Makerere University Kampala.

State witness 15 Sheikh Jemba was introduced to court by Principal State Attorney Lino Anguzu.

Sheikh Jemba then told court that he is the leader of the Jami Dawa Salafia, who replaced Sheikh Muhammad Yunus Kamoga, one of the accused.

According to Sheikh Jjemba, the Salaf executive relieved Sheikh Kamoga from leadership, accusing the latter of among others, fomenting conflicts within the organization; force fully taking over the administration of mosques in Kampala, and registering a parallel organisation called Ummah House without knowledge of the original Tabliq organization.

Trouble then ensued when counsel Muwema started cross-examining Sheikh Jjemba, with both men turning name-calling, jabbing each other as ‘liars’.

The diatribe between Muwema and Sheikh Jjemba prompted the presiding Judge Ezekiel Muhanguzi to issue caution and also remind them about the conduct that is expected in court. Sheikh Jjemba also evoked memories of yesteryears when, he said, Muwema once acted as his counsel. The Judge intervened again, restraining Sheikh Jjemba from ‘going personal’.

Then Muwema told Sheikh Jjemba that he illegally usurped Kamoga’s powers as Amir, telling the cleric that he was ‘elected’ by just nine people, as opposed to the requisite quorum of 20 executive committee members. But Sheikh Jjemba dismissed Muwema’s assertions of ‘usurpation’ saying Sheikh Kamoga ‘locked the offices and refused to vacate the leadership’.

Then counsel Muwema pulled a ‘tough’ one, telling Sheikh Jjemba that the faithful at all mosques he had ‘hijacked’ including the Tabliq mosque at Nakasero and the Masjid Noor on William Street, all still pledge allegiance to ousted Sheikh Kamoga as the Amir.

But this was not before Sheikh Jjemba turned to State Attorney Anguzu, seeking for ‘protection’ for ‘fear that any of the accused could attack’ him, citing an attack on his home in January 2015, which he pinned on Kamoga’s followers.

However, as Sheikh Jjemba and Muwema engaged each other person whose identity has been withheld for security reasons, said despite Sheikh Jjemba being nominated without quorum, “Sheikh Kamoga was never popular within the executive but he has a much bigger following from the Muslim community.”

Amid all the drama court was adjourned to December 5, with none of the antagonists ‘leaving issues of Generals to Generals’.

 

 

Stories Continues after ad
1...2,0122,0132,014...2,426Page 2,013 of 2,426

© Eagle Online. All rights reserved.

About Us

Popular Category

Editor Picks