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Rwanda issues statement on Kigeli death

By
Isaiah Mwebaze
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LAST KING OF RWANDA: King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa while in exile in the US. Photo credit/s.yimg.com

The government of Rwanda has early today issued a statement regarding the death and funeral arrangements for King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa, commonly known as the ‘Last King of Rwanda’.

‘It is with sadness that the Government of Rwanda has learned of the passing of Kigeli V Ndahindurwa, the former King of Rwanda’, the statement indicates.

King Kigeli, who at one time lived in Uganda during Iddi Amin’s regime in the 1970s, died on October 16 while exiled in the US where he had lived for 24 years, and the government says it has not been informed by his family about the funeral arrangements.

‘The government of Rwanda has not yet been informed by the family regarding the final resting place and funeral arrangements. When they make their preferences known, the Government stands ready to provide any necessary support,’ the statement adds.

During his exile days that spanned 55 years, the late King who died aged 80, was first deported to Tanganyika by the Belgian colonialists, and he also lived in Kenya before relocating to the US.

Little is talked about his immediate family and by press time it was not possible to establish the place where his remains will be interred. But sources have pointed to Rukari, his former palace in Rwanda.

According to media reports, in 1996 Kigeli had expressed the desire to return to Rwanda in his life time, and in response the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) regime under Paul Kagame said he ‘was welcome to return home but not as a monarch’.

And for him he said that was a matter to be resolved by his former subjects, through a referendum.

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FDC to sue CAA, Kenya Airways and Uganda Police

By
Hussein Musisi
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HOLED UP AT HOME: Police officers restrain Dr Besigye from leaving his home in Kasangati.

The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) is to sue several institutions including the government of Uganda, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Uganda Police and Kenya Airways (KQ), for a series of breaches reportedly committed against its presidential flag bearer, Dr Warren Kizza Besigye.

This follows the continued police presence and detention of Dr Besigye at his home in Kasangati and his arrest at Entebbe International Airport by officials donning CAA reflector jackets, as he returned from a tour of the United Kingdom and the United States.

Addressing the media at the FDC headquarters Najjanankumbi the FDC Deputy Secretary General Harold Kaija, said the party’s working committee will meet with its lawyers tomorrow to find a way forward.

“If Besigye wants to meet any person he has to employ his military tactics to escape from his home,’’ Mr. Kaijja said, adding that the FDC has received intelligence reports that there is an ongoing recruitment of ‘poor youth’ into joining the ragtag criminal outfit dubbed Kifesi to indulge in violence as the FDC conduct non-violence activities.

The recruits are being conducting at a place near Nakasero market and are targeting the desperate youths who have no jobs and are willing to do anything for survival in case of any payment, Mr Kaija said.

The FDC position comes in the wake of Dr Besigye being stopped earlier today by police, from attending court where he was set to fulfill his bail condition. Besigye is facing treason charges.

However, when the police spokesperson AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi was contacted about the recent Besigye detention, he said that police was not aware about Besigye’s court schedule today.

About two weeks ago Besigye returned from the foreign trip and on arrival at the airport, which is supervised by the CAA, he was immediately arrested on the airside and reportedly whisked off by security operatives donning CAA-embossed reflector jackets. And asked Kaweesi about the seeming anomaly, he said the people who arrested Dr Besigye were police officers not CAA staff. He, however, could not fully explain why they wore the CAA-embossed jackets.

Meanwhile, Mukono Municipality Woman MP Betty Nambooze Bakireke is set to lobby parliament, seeking an explanation about the presence of several security operatives at Besigye’s Kasangati, which many now refer to as ‘Kasangati State House’.

 

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Uganda Telecom sold to US company

By
Badru Kasadah
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CONNECTING THE WORLD: An advert by US Telecommunications giant Hamilton.

Troubled telecommunications service provider, Uganda Telecom (utl) is to be sold off, EagleOnline has learnt.

According to a source that preferred anonymity, utl is to be sold to a US telecommunications giant, Hamilton Telecommunications. Apparently, negotiations between officials of the two companies have been going on for quite sometime and it is said the two reached an understanding last week.

According to the source, Hamilton Telecommunications will soon be unveiled as the new owners of utl and they intend kick off their operations in Uganda with a 5G technology.

At the time of the sale talks with Hamilton Technologies, UTL had reportedly failed to meet its obligations among which included provision of the latest technology to consumers.

Indeed, utl was still offering 2G technology while its competitors are operating 4G technology.
A visit to its website indicates that Hamilton Telecommunications is ‘a diversified communications and technology service provider based in Aurora, Nebraska. Founded in 1901, Hamilton Telecommunications encompasses seven primary company divisions that allow the company to operate on a local, regional and national basis’.

It is to be remembered that a few months back the UTL board chairman, Stephen Kaboyo told media that there were plans to sell off the company as the only way of ‘rescuing it’.

“The shareholders are discussing an immediate rescue plan that will help UTL regain its solvency, restore business confidence and develop a forward-looking investment plan,” Kaboyo said.

LAP Green, a Libyan telecom investment firm has been the majority shareholder in UTL with a 69 per cent stake while the remaining 31 per cent was owned by the Uganda government.

Between January and February this year the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) conducted a monitoring exercise, which showed that utl’s liabilities valued at Ush366 billion ($120.5 million) exceeded its total assets base of Ush220 billion ($72.5 million) as of December 31, 2013.

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Mayiga ‘Ettoffaali woes’ linked to Mbabazi

By
Our Reporter
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ETTOFFAALI TROUBLES? Katikiro of Buganda Mayiga

Buganda kingdom premier Charles Peter Mayiga’s ‘waning authority’ in relation to the monetary collections commonly referred to as Ettoffaali, are reportedly linked to former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi.

The media today reported that the Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Muwenda Mutebi had directed his subjects in the kingdom to channel all Ettoffaali collections to the kingdom headquarters in Mengo rather than use the usual method where money is collected and passed onto the Katikiro.

Tamale Mirundi
BLAMED KATIKIRO MAYIGA’S ‘WOES’ ON MBABAZI: Senior Presidential Advisor on Media and Communications Tamale Mirundi

And, according to Joseph Tamale Mirundi, the senior presidential advisor on media and public relations, Katikiro Mayiga is now one of those public figures paying for associating with the former Prime Minister.

“The problem is not Mengo; the problem is that anybody or any institution that took Amama Mbabazi’s money. Lwanga (Cyprian, the Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese) appointed Mbabazi as the head of the taskforce to bring the Pope. Look at the woes in the Anglican Church with legal suits all over the country challenging Archbishop Stanley Ntagali and all this is related to that,” Tamale Mirundi said in a phone interview today.

He added: “Mengo knew that Mayiga was working for Mbabazi and now that they have realized that Museveni is still around (as President), Kabaka is sacrificing him. Nevertheless, it also shows Mbabazi is still working.”

Commentators on the developments at Mengo say the directive to have Ettoffaali collected at the Kingdom’s headquarters is the latest move to reduce the flamboyant Katikiro’s authority.

In another development viewed by many as another snub, late last year the Kabaka stopped Katikiro Mayega from visiting the royal tombs at Kasubi, a directive Mayiga haters linked to ‘his declining star’.

By press time efforts to get a comment from the Katikiro on his known phone number were futile.

 

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Kats speaks out on fight with Fille

By
Badru Kasadah
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ESTRANGED: MC Kats after he was beaten by 'former wife' Fille Mutoni, who is now reportedly hanging out with singer Nutty Neithan.

Renowned City MC and TV personality, Edwin Katamba aka MC Kats got a beating of his life over the weekend by his fiancé, singer Fille
Mutoni.

The beating left the teen-looking presenter’s nose bleeding and several bruises. Kats attributed that to Fille and a large section of the public was quick to conclude he had been beaten up by the mother of his child.

Speaking out about the incident, Kats, 31 says that though he was
thumped to pulp, he is not leaving Fille, who is set to hold
her first-ever concert next month.

“Thanks for all of your hard work more so believing in me. You people
weren’t hesitant when I approached you. It would be very bad to let
you down and I am sorry for all the bad I have caused to your images
and brands,” he says.

According to MC Kats, he can’t abandon Fille because she is a mother to one of his children and secondly, this is her biggest concert.

“This is Fille’s biggest concert and it adds or takes a lot from her. I
will stand by her for the good of you people that believed in her and
me and for my child, Abby.”

Initial reports had indicated that Fille had battered Kats’ car, too,
given its appearance but it was later discovered that the car was just
‘sick’.

“It has been battered by years and not Fille! Kats is younger
than that car,” a friend to Kats joked.
Fille’s concert is scheduled for November 25.

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Besigye blocked from attending court

By
Badru Kasadah
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INVESTIGATIONS ONGOING INT DEATH: AIGP Felix Kaweesi.

“Today, I’ve been stopped from going to court! …….No amount of
pleading could get sense into heads of all these police officers to
respect the law and my rights! I can’t attend court today,” Dr Kizza
Besigye tweeted Monday morning.

The former FDC presidential candidate in the February elections was
expected to appear before Ms Mary Eleanor Khainza, the registrar of
the High Court- Criminal Division for extension of his bail in a case
in which he was charged with treason only to be blocked by the police
that has deployed around his home since his return a week ago.

Speaking to journalists, the police spokesperson Andrew Felix
Kaweesi said that police wasn’t aware Besigye had to report to court
this morning.

He added that police will remain deployed at Besigye’s home in
Kasangati and will continue monitoring the movements of former
presidential candidate ‘so that he does not cause chaos’.

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Thousands march in Paris against same-sex marriage

By
Agencies
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PROTEST: Women belonging to the Ukrainian-based feminist group Femen disrupted a Sunday march protesting a bill that will allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt.

Tens of thousands of people have marched in Paris calling for the repeal of a law allowing gay marriage, six months before France’s next presidential election.

Police estimated the crowd at 24,000, while organizers gave a figure of 200,000.

The protesters, also protesting Sunday against the use of assisted reproduction techniques and surrogate mothers to help same-sex couples have babies, ended up at Trocadero Plaza, near the Eiffel Tower.

Assisted reproduction is allowed in France only for infertile heterosexual couples and surrogacy is banned.

The group organizing the march presents itself as promoting the traditional family model of ‘one mother and one father’ and hopes to influence the debate before the presidential election next year.

None of the major candidates in the election attended the march.

A small group of bare-breasted Femen demonstrators briefly showed up Sunday during the march to protest against what they call ‘homophobia’” The half-dozen Femen protesters were removed by police.

The 2013 law allowing gay marriage exposed deep divisions in French society, prompting big protests for and against such unions.

In Uganda the anti-gay law was signed around the same time, leading to countrywide celebrations in appreciation of the law banning homosexuality. However, the law was later repealed by the Court of Appeal.

 

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Wizkid, Sauti Sol added to MTV Awards’ performers

By
Badru Kasadah
-
WON BIG: Wizkid

Lighting up the MAMA stage on October 22 with dazzling live performances will be Nigerian AfroBeat giant Wizkid, Angolan “Kizomba” icon C4 Pedro, Kenyan AfroPop supergroup Sauti Sol, and legendary South African “House” DJ and producer, DJ Maphorisa – as they all head to Johannesburg to perform at MTV Africa Music Awards Johannesburg 2016.

The MTV Africa Music Awards Johannesburg 2016 will broadcast live from the Ticketpro Dome, Johannesburg on MTV and MTV Base from 21:00 CAT on 22 October (live Red Carpet show will be streamed on www.mtvbase.com from 18:30 CAT).

Fresh from his recent collaboration with Drake, Wizkid is this year’s most nominated MAMA artiste, with an incredible six nominations, including two nods for Song of the Year, plus the prestigious Artiste of the Year, Best Male and Personality of the Year.  East coast foursome Sauti Sol is not far behind with an amazing four nominations including Best Group, Artiste of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Collaboration (for “Unconditionally Bae” featuring Alikiba).

C4 Pedro is going head-to-head against the continent’s best Portuguese-speaking artists in the Best Lusophone category, where he is pitched against fellow countrymen NGA and Preto Show, alongside Mozambique’s Lizha James and Nelson Frietas (Cape Verde).  Uhuru alumnus DJ Maphorisa, who has been hitting the headlines recently for his co-production credit on Drake’s “One Dance”, is back in the spotlight for his solo achievements at this year’s awards, notching up two nominations, for Song of the Year and Best Collaboration, for “Soweto Baby”, featuring Wizkid.

Wizkid, DJ Maphorisa, C4 Pedro and Sauti Sol join previously announced African performers Diamond, Emtee, Future, Kwesta, Patoranking Alikiba, Babes Wodumo, Cassper Nyovest, Nasty C, Ycee and Yemi Alade for the uplifting telecast, broadcasting live from the Ticketpro Dome, Johannesburg.

Highlighting the “gold standard” in contemporary music, creativity and achievement, The MTV Africa Music Awards Johannesburg 2016 promises to be the biggest and best ever, with music lovers partying up a storm at the Ticketpro Dome for this spectacular showcase.
The definitive annual celebration of African and international talent and achievement, MAMA 2016 recognises and rewards musicians and achievers who have made the most impact on African music and youth culture over the previous year. The ceremony will feature stunning performances from African and international artists along with the show’s signature cross-genre and cross-border collaborations.

 

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It might just be better to let Besigye move around!

By
Julius Mwesigye
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In as many weeks as the memory can recall, yesterday opposition presidential candidate Dr Warren Kizza Besigye beat police surveillance at his home in Kasangati and attended Sunday service at All Saints Church, Nakasero, and later attended a burial in Namutumba, several kilometres outside Kampala.

Now, this Besigye saga of beating security surveillance is not a new issue; it started over 10 years ago when he managed to elude a round-the-clock watch at his home in Luzira, only to turn up in South Africa.

But back to his latest escapades; the headline ‘Besigye beats police surveillance again’ has now lost the pull power in newsrooms since almost all editors have used it to wear and tear levels.

That noted, there have been varied public opinions as to whether the type of security accorded to Dr Besigye is justified. One school of thought seems to suggest that the numbers of security personnel deployed around him seem to be more than what is needed. Intriguingly too, they argue that when Besigye moves around unrestrained, the crowds around him seem to be manageable as most people just want to have a glimpse of him and then go about their own work, that involves fending for the next meal. In other words they say the police has helped boost Besigye’s political profile!

Then there is a group, among them some security officials and businesspeople in the Central Business District (CBD), who argue that for the sake of peace Besigye should be restrained. Indeed, for the businesspeople, they argue that he disrupts their activities, which is also understandable.

However, in the face of the two suppositions, a common ground that favours both groups should be sought, and that might involve the police allowing Besigye to move freely, while at the same time according him reasonable escort that fits the status of a national politician.

Perhaps, if that is done, Besigye’s crowds will no longer see reason to become chaotic, and in the process the country will bring to an end an episode that has usually left the police with egg on its face.

 

 

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Return as an ordinary citizen, Kiir tells Machar

By
Agencies
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HAPPIER TIMES? President Salva Kiir (in hat) with former First Vice President Riek Machar Teny

South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit has told his rival Riek Machar to return home as an ordinary citizen or remain outside the troubled country during the period of the transitional government of national unity.

Kiir also emphasized that Machar will only be allowed back if he denounces violence and allows the coalition government to implement the 2015 peace agreement.

The South Sudanese leader was speaking at an occasion he hosted at his residence, attended by senior cabinet members, security and high-ranking military officers, a few days after rumour spread that the president had ‘died’.

Machar left Juba after renewed clashes in July between his forces and those of President Kiir claimed over 300 lives and led to the fighters loyal to the former rebel leader fleeing the city. The fighting has resulted in a humanitarian crisis with people abandoning the city for fear of a return to war.

President Kiir relieved Machar of his post as vice president and appointed the armed opposition’s former chief negotiator, Taban Deng Gai as first vice president in the interim government. Machar has, however, described Gai’s appointment as ‘illegal’.

The armed opposition group recently announced that it had officially dismissed all its senior members who have taken part in President Kiir’s new government.

This came in a resolution passed by the political bureau meeting convened for three days in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, under the chairmanship of Machar.

In Article 2 (d) of the resolution, the armed opposition’s political bureau resolved to “call for reorganization of the SPLA (IO) so that it can wage a popular armed resistance against the authoritarian and fascist regime of President Salva Kiir in order to bring peace, freedom, democracy and the rule of law in the country.”

The opposition group called for rapid deployment of regional forces in order to salvage the peace agreement signed in August 2015.

Meanwhile, the government of South Sudan has said it was working with foreign powers to find a country where the armed opposition leader, Riek Machar, should stay in exile without involving in political activities and affairs of the country.

Information Minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, said the government has slapped a political ban on the rebel chief, Riek Machar, following his call for armed resistance against President Kiir.

“He is being exiled. He will not be coming back to South Sudan and he will never be allowed to talk politics any longer,” Lueth told the media.

 

 

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