Rwanda's High Commissioner to Uganda Major General Frank Mugambage. Photo/theastafrican.co.ke
Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Uganda Major General Frank Mugambage has been accredited as his country’s Ambassador Extra-ordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of South Sudan.
Gen. Mugambage, who will remain resident in Kampala, was among the seven new ambassadors who presented their credentials to President Salva Kiir last week.
By press time it was not possible to establish if Gen. Mugambage, a retired soldier-cum diplomat with vast experience on political and security issues in the Great Lakes region, had been reassigned diplomatically or would retain his Uganda accreditation alongside the new assignment to South Sudan.
Other envoys who presented their credentials on the same day include those from Denmark, Norway, China, Netherlands, Canada and the Federal Republic of Somalia.
“As you take up your roles, I expect you to play a very important role in strengthening our relations with your governments and the people. I would like you to send back to your people and governments you represent here a message of hope, peace, reconciliation and our commitment to implementing the peace agreement, and for which we need the support of everybody in the family of nations of the world instead of sanctions, which affect the common people, not those for which they are proposed,” President Kiir was quoted by the media as telling the new diplomats.
READY FOR ACTION: Military Police patrol near the FDC headquarters at Najjanankumbi on Entebbe Road. Photo credit/nbstv
Forum for Democratic Change flag bearer Warren Smith Kizza Besigye has early today been arrested by security operatives and driven to his home in Kasangati.
According to the FDC and Kampala Lord Mayor, Besigye, who was returning from a one month ‘working visit’ to Europe and the United States, was whisked away from Entebbe International Airport by police and Military Police, and taken to an ‘unknown destination’.
Besigye “whisked away by military at the airport”, a tweet on the FDC official handle states, adding: “we do not know of his whereabouts.”
CAMPED: Riot Police deployed ahead of Dr Besigy’s return early today camp at the Kisubi Polioce Station along Entebbe Road. Photo credit/nbstv
And Lukwago, who was one of those at Entebbe waiting for Dr Besigye’s return, tweeted: It’s extremely difficult to establish where they have taken him; what they are doing is a violation. Flagrant abuse of the law. Fellow passengers say Dr Besigye was whisked away.”
Besigye was scheduled to return to Uganda last Thursday but the FDC, through party stalwarts Deputy Secretary General Harold Kaija and former Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Parliament Wafula Oguttu, announced that he had altered his plans.
NOT INFORMED OF CHANES IN DATE: Police Spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi says the force was not informed of changes in the dates of Dr Besigye’s return. Photo credit/nbstv
Meanwhile, earlier today, police spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi told the media that police would foil any attempts at holding processions and that the FDC had not communicated the new date for Dr Besigye’s return.
“Police is not going to allow any activity that’s going to disrupt normal activity. FDC didn’t communicate new arrival date,” Mr Kaweesi was quoted as saying.
Makindye Chief Magistrate Court on the eve of Kayihura's criminal case where Mr Mafabi was a Magistrate.
Richard Mafabi, the Makindye Court Chief Magistrate has died.
Mafabi who controversially tried the powerful Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura was pronounced dead this evening at Mukwaya memorial hospital in Nsambya.
He had been rushed there by the family after his health deteriorated. Mafabi comes from Sironko district and in August caused a stir when he issued Kayihura with criminal summons over police brutality.
According to Energy Minister Irene Muloni who is also a family member, she says that Mr Mafabi had complained about constant headache for the two weeks ago but decided to continue with his work to the extent that last Friday he was out for a chat with colleagues in one of the city suburbs but when he returned home, it intensified.
“The report I get from his wife is that he was okay apart from the last two weeks when he had a terrible headache that led him to be rushed to the hospital. We have lost a very true brother and I am sadden that he has gone that way” Eng. Muloni said.
A-Plus funereal managers have already transferred his body to Mengo hospital for a postmortem report to ascertain the cause of his death.
HERE IT IS: Singer Moses Okori aka Coco Finger hands over the recorded song Prince David Wassajja, Kabaka Muwenda Mutebi's young brother.
Self proclaimed Luo Ambassador, Moses Okori aka Coco Finger appears to be representing his people in Kampala very well.
Apart from making the Luo proud through his songs – many which have turned out to be big hits through out the country, the ‘My Miss’ hitmaker has taken it a step higher in his representation; despite being Luo, he has recorded a song named ‘Landlord’, in praise of the King of Buganda, Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi.
According to the dancehall singer, he recorded the song in appreciation of the Buganda kingdom, where he has bought land and even married a wife.
The song was officially handed over to the kingdom on Thursday and was received by the Kabaka’s younger brother, Prince David Wasajja.
“It’s a special delivery from the Luo Ambassador….I finally handed over the song titled Landlord Wange ye Kabaka Mutebi, dedicated to His Majesty Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, the King of Buganda and entire Buganda Kingdom. On behalf of the people who are not Baganda but bought land, built, married, live, work in Buganda.
In this song I also recognise and thank all other (sic) Kings and Kingdoms in in Uganda including my own Won Nyachi and Rwot Awich from the Luo community,” he wrote.
The government announced on Friday that it will provide free wi-fi in the capital, Kampala and in Entebbe beginning Sunday.
Minister for ICT Frank Tumwebaze says the country may be a first for the East African Community – the regional grouping of Uganda, Kenyan, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzanian and South Sudan.
The Government of Uganda’s public communications team tweeted the coverage map: @FrankTumwebazek: Not to brag but we may be the first ones to try out this #MYUG
But there are some restrictions. It will only be available from 6pm to 6am on weekdays and 3pm to 6am on weekends – so that people do not use it during office hours.
And Mr Tumwebaze added that some sites will be blocked.
However, it isn’t clear how restricted the Wi-Fi will be.
PRESS RELEASE
Sept 30, 2016 at Uganda Media Centre, 10 am
FREE PUBLIC INTERNET ACCESS (WIFI)
As pledged by H.E the President in the NRM manifesto, the Ministry of Information Communication Technology and National Guidance through its mandated agency National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U) has commenced the trial provision of free wireless access to Internet in Kampala Central Business District and parts of Entebbe effective October 1, 2016.
Internet access is no longer a luxury but a necessity for all Ugandan citizens. The ICT sector must remain at the center of this country-wide transformation steering Uganda to world class efficiency and productivity.
With H.E Excellency the President’s support, Phases I and II of the National Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) were completed and Phase III of the NBI is nearing completion. As a result, 169 Ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and local governments (LGs) are now connected, 102 MDAs are being connected this FY 16/17, and more will be connected in the coming years. The MDAs / LGs connected to the NBI are using it to receive internet bandwidth, making financial transactions, and integrating with other MDA IT systems, to improve service delivery to citizens.
Over time, we have seen the benefits of rolling out the National Data Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) in terms of increased productivity, efficiency and reduced costs of internet bandwidth. Internet Costs have reduced from USD 1200 to USD 300 per megabit per second per month in 2010 and 2016 respectively. We are now able to broaden the reach of Internet access to all citizens by effectively utilizing the capacity the country built by investing in the infrastructure (NBI).
NITA also partnered with the Research Education Network of Uganda (RENU) to connect over 50 campuses across the country for Universities and Research Institutions, as part of the programme to connect targeted user groups to the NBI. These targeted user groups are receiving internet bandwidth at about USD 130 per Mbps.
We will be providing free Wi-Fi services at the Kampala Capital City Authority Street Carnival this Sunday October 2, 2016 for a full day.
Subsequently we will be providing free Wi-Fi services between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am on week-days, over the weekends; Wi-Fi will be free from Saturday 3:00 pm through to Monday 6:00 am.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate the Executive Director -NITA-U and his technical officers for working hard to achieve this great milestone as we struggle to turn Uganda into a digital society.
I would like to wish you all a festive and pleasant experience at the Kampala Capital City Authority street carnival and encourage all citizens to explore the new world of opportunities being offered through free Wi-Fi Internet access.
We will officially launch the Wi-Fi service at the end of October 2016.
END
CHESS PRODIGY: Robert Katende acting as David Oyelowo, together with Phiona Mutesi who acted as Madina Nalwangain Disney's QUEEN OF KATWE,
Queen of Katwe movie is to get a permanent home in Katwe, a city suburb famous for local innovations.
There have been so many big movies that have come out of Hollywood though, many of them are now forgotten.
However, that might not be the case with ‘Queen Of Katwe’, a movie based on Phiona Mutesi, the Ugandan chess prodigy from Katwe who became a Woman Candidate Master after her performances at World Chess Olympiads.
Apparently, plans are underway to set up a center in Katwe in respect of the movie. The center will be used to mentor and inspire other children of a similar background like that of Phiona Mutesi.
It is reported that Robert Katende, the man that started Phiona’s journey to international fame by teaching her and other children how to play chess, is spearheading a fundraising drive in the US. The funds are to acquire land in Katwe on which the center will sit.
Meanwhile, tourism gurus expect a high number of visits to Katwe by tourists.
“Unless something drastic happens in Katwe slum…Katwe slum tourism is going to skyrocket, and I also predict that boda boda tours are going to grow!! Walter bodas prepare yourself; forewarned forearmed!! Look hard and think hard about how you are going to be part of this!!” Great Safaris boss, Amos Wekesa, is projecting.
UTAMU GRADUATION: UTAMU Chancellor Dr Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka presided over the university's second graduation ceremony. Photo/ Pius Enywaru.
The Uganda Technology and Management University has held its second graduation ceremony today, presided over by the University’s Chancellor, former Kenya Vice President, Dr Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka.
Speaking at the function held at Silver Springs Hotel in Bugolobi, Dr Musyoka lauded the university administration for the good standards exhibited.
“The excellent completion rates of graduate students as exhibited by the number of Master’s and Post Graduate Diploma students presented today and the number of PhD students reported by the Vice Chancellor to have completed their studies on record time,” Dr Musyoka said.
WE MADE IT: Chancellor Kalonzo Musyoka poses for a group photo with some of the graduates. Photo/Pius Enywaru.
According to Dr Musyoka, the quality of education attained by the graduates meets international standards.
“I have no doubt the graduates amidst us today can testify that the rigour and quality they have been subjected to meet international standards,” he said.
The number of graduates doubled that of the first graduation, rising from 80 last year to 190 graduates this year.
“The University Council has continued to effectively steer the
university in the right direction. I appeal to them and other
governance organs of the University to continue working for the
achievement of the strategic goals of the university,” Dr Musyoka said and also thanked the Uganda government for the continued provision of a conducive environment for the private university education.
THIS SELFIE! Some of the UTAMU graduates. Photo/Pius Enywaru
To the fresh graduates, he urged them to use the skills that they have
acquired to tackle the challenges that lie ahead of them.
“Our graduates of 2016, you are part of a generation faced with
significant global challenges. Today, the world is struggling with
unemployment, poverty, population pressure, disease, high levels of
corruptions, etc. However, with the attained knowledge, skills and the
use of technology at your disposal, I am sure that you are well
prepared to tackle these challenges and more that may come your way,” he said.
Present at the graduation ceremony was the University’s founding
Chancellor, Prof Venansius Baryamureeba; Prof Fredrick Kayanja, the
Chairperson University Council and Prof Benon Basheka, the Vice
Chancellor.
In his speech the Vice Chancellor lauded Dr Musyoka for his contribution towards UTAMU.
“Mr Chancellor Sir, we take pride in having a personality of your caliber
and stature at the top in our governance structure. I thank you for
your unwavering commitment towards UTAMU and on behalf of my fellow Board of Trustees, I honour you for your contribution
towards this young but promising university,” Prof Basheka said.
Singer Bigeye’s neglected kid, Diamond Britton is having breathing problems and spent most of Tuesday in a US hospital.
“Attacks are worse now and doctors want a surgery to enlarge his throat and that his congestion in his respiratory system will become better. I don’t sleep, have to watch him when sleeping so that he doesn’t stop breathing while he is in sleep. I am terrified, is there any treatment I can use without surgery we need your prayers Aboluganda hate seeing these helpless in pain,” Bigeye’s ex, Sheila, who now doubles as the kid’s mother and father cried out to her fans.
Together with all her kids, he is back to her ex-husband, the father of her first children and it’s him who is taking care of all of the family.
It’s against that background that Zella went back at the ‘self-contained’ singer.
“When you are a true parent it doesn’t matter what colour you are, what nationality and what age you are? What matters is being responsible for the family and real men exits. Daddy is smiling after seeing his son doing better after 24hours being in hospital,” she added.
NEW RATE: The new NSSF rate for members' savings for FY 2015/16
Savers with the National Social Security Fund will be paid Shs 606 billion shillings for the financial year 2015/2016, at a rate of 12.3 percent, down from 13 percent for the previous financial year.
According to finance minister Matia Kasaija, the new rate announced by is 0.7 percent less than the previous rate owing to turbulences that affected economies across the East African region including Uganda’s, which grew by only 4.6 percent.
However, according to the Minister, the Fund’s financial portfolio has grown form Shs 5.6 trillion to Shs 6.5 trillion, an increment of Shs 900 billion, representing an 18% increase in the FY 2015/2016. Mr Kasaija also noted that the new rate is above the 10-year average rate of inflation now at 8.85%, and called upon the Ugandan business community to raise their ante.
“I look forward to coming back next year to see better things,” Mr Kasaija said, urging the media to disseminate useful information to the public and to also protect the reputation of Uganda.
NSSF Board Chairman Patrick Byabakama Kaberenge noted that members’ savings are secure and that the Fund will continue to seek viable investment.
PROMISING: NSSF Managing Director Richard Byarugaba
NSSF Managing Director Richard Byarugaba was optimistic the Fund would grow and serve its members better and said that benefits paid out to qualifying members had also increased by 28%, from Ushs 187 billion to Ushs 239 billion.
Mr Byarugaba also said that the Fund registered a profit after tax of Ushs 491 billion, noting however that the Fund’s performance was mainly affected by stock markets.
According to NSSF, the speed at which it will pay members claims in FY 2015/16 is eight days, and several savers, posting on their Facebook and Twitter platforms, expressed satisfaction with the Fund’s performance.
U.S. President Barack Obama touches the casket of former Israeli President Shimon Peres after speaking at his funeral at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem, September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The US president, Barack Obama, evoked the ‘unfinished business’ of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as he delivered a pointed and moving tribute at the funeral of the former Israeli president and Nobel peace prize laureate Shimon Peres in Jerusalem today.
LONG TIME! A still image taken from a video shows Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shaking hands with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Speaking in front of almost 80 world leaders gathered at the city’s Mount Herzl cemetery, including Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Obama insisted that Peres had understood that ‘the Jewish people weren’t born to rule another people’.
Obama delivered his address shortly before Peres – who was regarded as the last of Israel’s founding generation – was buried between two other Israeli prime ministers, Yitzhak Rabin and Yitzhak Shamir.
A still image taken from a video shows Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama sitting next to each other at the funeral of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.
Friday’s funeral was Israel’s largest gathering of international dignitaries since the funeral of Rabin, Peres’ partner in peace, who was killed by a Jewish nationalist in 1995.
Obama’s intervention during his whistle stop visit to Israel for the commemoration was the most political at a sombre occasion where the ghost of the failed Middle East peace process loomed large, referred to as well by former US president Bill Clinton and the Israeli novelist Amos Oz.
And in an event heavy with reminders of the collapsed peace process, perhaps the most striking was the presence of Abbas who told Netanyahu as the two men shook hands: “Long time, long time.”
Referring to Abbas’s presence as he began his eulogy, Obama said the presence of the Palestinian leader was “a gesture and reminder of the unfinished business of peace” adding that Peres: “never saw his dream of peace fulfilled…And yet he did not stop dreaming, and he did not stop working.”
“Even in the face of terrorist attacks, repeated disappointments at the negotiating table, he insisted that Palestinians must be seen as equal in dignity to Jews and therefore equal in self-determination.”
“He believed that Israel would be best protected when Palestinians had a state of their own.”
He concluded, “The last of the founding generation is now gone,” adding: “Toda rabah haver yakar,” Hebrew for “thank you so much dear friend.”
Other dignitaries who attended at the funeral for Peres, who died aged 93 on Wednesday, were Prince Charles and the British foreign secretary Boris Johnson, as well as the French leader, François Hollande, along with other heads of state and 15 foreign ministers.
Abbas’s attendance, leading a Palestinian delegation, sparked anger in some Palestinian quarters reflected in a cartoon circulated on social media, showing Abbas in Israeli military uniform with his name altered to sound Israeli, weeping over Peres’s grave.
The funeral, which saw foreign figures fly from across the globe, saw an unprecedented security operation to protect the commemoration which saw roads closed, including the main Tel Aviv to Jerusalem highway, and thousands of police deployed.
The morning began with Peres’s coffin carried out of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, at just after 8.30am by eight military pall bearers, followed by his family, with the procession led by another member of Israel’s armed forces reciting the kaddish – the Jewish prayer for the dead.
The coffin was loaded into a hearse to travel to Mount Herzl cemetery shortly after Obama’s jet set down at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Obama was accompanied on Airforce One by the vice-president, Joe Biden, and the secretary of state John Kerry.
Others attending the funeral included former British Prime ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron and the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson.
GREAT MAN: Former US President Bill Clinton eulogises former Israeli Prime Minister/President Shimon Peres
Clinton, who was president when Peres negotiated a historic interim peace accord with the Palestinians in 1993, praised Peres as a “wide champion of our common humanity.”
Describing their 25-year friendship Clinton dismissed critics who described Peres as a naive dreamer. “He started life as Israel’s brightest student, became its best teacher and ended up its biggest dreamer,” said Clinton.
Clinton has now attended the funerals of all three of the figures who signed the Oslo peace accords and shared the Nobel peace prize – Rabin, former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and now Peres.
In his own appreciation of Peres, his former fierce political rival Netanyahu called Peres: “A great man of Israel. He was a great man of the world. Israel grieves for him. The world grieves for him.”
Oz, who had known Peres for 40 years, described Peres’s “capacity to change” and called him “a trailblazer who had been ridiculed, who seemed a big dreamer until the future came and proved him right.”
“When some say peace is not possible it is possible,” he added, “and it is necessary and inevitable because we are not going anywhere.”
He continued: “That is why we have no option but to divide this house into two apartments. Where are the leaders the brave leaders who will make this dream come true and continue his vision?”
Peres’s death led to an outpouring of tributes worldwide for Israel’s last remaining founding father.
In a career spanning seven decades, Peres held nearly every major office, serving twice as prime minister and as president, a mainly ceremonial role, from 2007 to 2014. He was also an architect of Israel’s undeclared nuclear programme and defence industries.
While those in the west and within Israel have hailed Peres as a peacemaker, many Palestinians and those from Arab nations have questioned his record, citing his involvement in successive Arab-Israeli wars, the occupation of Palestinian territory and his support for settlement building before his work on Oslo.
He was also prime minister in 1996 when more than 100 civilians were killed while sheltering at a UN peacekeepers’ base in the Lebanese village of Qana when it was fired upon by Israel.
Despite his reputation as a statesman, Peres never managed to outright win a national election. Many in Israel opposed to the Oslo accords also blamed him for what they saw as their failure.
But in later life, especially during his time as president, he came to be widely embraced.
