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Magufuli ‘only eats his wife’s food’

By
Our Reporter
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TOUGH: Tanzania President John Pombe Magufuli

A profile of Tanzania’s president John Magufuli in the Financial Times includes a curious rumour about him.

After a few hundred words portraying the man as a no-nonsense boss who “sacks people on the spot” it said “naturally, Mr Magufuli has made enemies”.

The Financial Times suggests this build up of opposition has manifested itself in his culinary preferences:

“In State House, as a precaution, he is said to eat only food prepared by his wife.”

We have not verified this, nor does the Financial Times say how they have heard this rumour.

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Nakawa trial judge to find Kizza Besigye in Luzira prison

By
Shawn Davis Kawalya
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Dr. Besigye leaves Nakawa Magistrates court on Wednesday morning after his hearing

Former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye who has on Wednesday been returned to Luzira prison where he is facing treason charges will early next week be visited by Nakawa court Chief Magistrate James Mawanda Eremye.

This was after Dr Besigye while appearing before the court claimed that Luzira Prison authorities were violating his human rights and demanded for freedom to communicate to his supporters.

“As a political leader, I tried to send out a Ramadan message but I was informed that I don’t have that right,” Besigye told court.

The Forum for Democratic Change founder also asked court to give a time frame in which the state should conclude investigations.

“I want something coming up so we can have answers to Dr Besigye’s questions,” Magistrate Eremye Mawanda replied.

He also ordered that investigations into Besigye’s treason case should be expedited and the case was adjourned until July 13 when the case will be heard again.

“Court is a key stakeholder that does not condone violation of one’s rights and by 13 July when we return for this case. I am extremely disturbed by the delayed investigations in this case. I want to agree with you (Besigye) that investigations should be expedited,” he said.

“I will add my concern that as the state continue with this case, they should be mindful that the accused is denied rights if they delay investigations,” Eremye added.

Dr Besigye in the dock at Nakawa Magistrates Court before Nakawa court Chief Magistrate James Mawanda Eremye on charges of treason.
Dr Besigye in the dock at Nakawa Magistrates Court before Nakawa court Chief Magistrate James Mawanda Eremye on charges of treason.

About Dr Besigye’s concern that his supporters are blocked from accessing court,  Mr  Eremye said the ‘space is not enough for everyone’.

Roads leading to and around Nakawa court were on Wednesday morning sealed off ahead of Dr. Besigye's hearing.
Roads leading to and around Nakawa court were on Wednesday morning sealed off ahead of Dr. Besigye’s hearing.

On Tuesday, Dr Besigye told a group of 12 FDC MPs who visited him who visited him in Luzira that he would resume the defiance campaign as soon as he is released from related to the campaign he launched during the presidential elections and insists is legal.

“The struggle continues. Encourage our people. They should not lose hope. If I get bail, the defiance campaign will resume immediately,” Besigye was quoted as saying.

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Sam Ntulume takes over the reins at NC Bank Uganda

By
Stephen Muneza
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Outgoing NC Bank Uganda MD John Okulo (R) and new boss Sam Ntulume at a previous event (Photo/Observer)

Nairobi Securities Exchange listed NIC Bank’s Uganda subsidiary NC Bank has decided to appoint has appointed Sam Ntulume as its Managing Director.

The appointment is subject to regulatory approval by Bank of Uganda.

He replaces Polish-schooled John Okulo, who leaves to pursue other interests in Kenya.

Ntulume has over 20 years’ experience in financial management, financial reporting and business leadership in the financial services sector, distribution and marketing, public and manufacturing sectors.

He holds an MBA from the East and Southern Africa Management Institute (ESAMI), a Fellowship of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and is a Certified Public Accountant (Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda), besides being a holder of a Diploma in Business Studies.

Since being licenced by Bank of Uganda in February 2012, the bank has recorded remarkable growth; becoming profitable in its third year of operation in a market where banks take up to five years before breaking even.

In 2014, bank assets grew by 16.8 per cent from Shs134.3b in 2013 to Shs156.8b while customer deposits grew by 4.2 per cent from Shs42.2b to Shs46.4b. Lending grew by 32.1 per cent from Shs72.4b to Shs104.6b. Net earnings grew from a loss of Shs19m to a profit of Shs670m.

By comparison, average sector growth for assets, deposits and loans in 2014 stood at 13 per cent, 14.9 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively.

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South Africans protest Ugandan landing highest media job

By
Stephen Muneza
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There have been calls for the immediate resignation of Ugandan auditor James Aguma who was Tuesday afternoon announced as the new SABC Acting Group Chief Executive Officer.

South Africa’s national broadcaster is also Africa’s largest public broadcaster with a turnover of $550m and assets of $364m.

Aguma was previously in charge of strategy and audit matters for the public broadcaster. He had been acting CFO since March 2014.

A statement by Issued by Phumzile Van Damme, DA Shadow Minister of Communications insisted Aguma is not the right person to lead the SABC, following the resignation of Jimi Matthews yesterday.

“… the appointment is a firm indicator that the public broadcaster’s board has no desire to fix the SABC. As the CFO, Aguma would have given financial approval and support for Motsoeneng’s madcap decisions, and is therefore simply unsuitable to lead the SABC ,”part of the statement read.

Aguma tweet

SABC, one of Africa’s largest public broadcasters, manages 18 radio and three television stations. Two years ago, it launched a 24-hour news channel, which is available across Africa on satellite television.

Over the years, SABC has been plagued by a series of management controversies, which have seen several top managers leave. Reports quote Aguma’s friends as describing him as a man of character who is hard-working strict and straightforward.

Matthews said in his resignation letter he had compromised his values for months because he mistakenly believed he could be more effective inside the SABC.

He said in a statement the prevailing “corrosive atmosphere” at the broadcaster had had a negative impact on his moral judgment.

Aguma

About Aguma

Mr Aguma is an alumnus of Makerere University and of Universities of Cape Town and of Natal. He also holds the following professional accounting qualifications – CA(SA), ACMA, CGMA. His expertise is in Finance, Accounting, Corporate Governance, Audit & Internal controls, Business re-engineering, Leadership and Strategy.

He is an authority on Public Sector Finance, Management & Corporate Finance. He is also a registered assessor with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds a certificate in Rough Diamond Grading and Assessments.

He has been at the SABC for 2 years 9 months and has more than 16 years’ experience in the Finance field.

Prior to joining SABC, he was a senior audit manager at the Auditor General of South Africa, in Pretoria, where he served for 8 years. He has overseen audits at various government departments in South Africa such as departments of Police, Labour, Health, Science & Technology and Water Affairs.

He has also overseen audits at reputable South African entities such as Unemployed Insurance Fund (UIF), Compensation Fund (CC), Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) and Magalies Water Board.

Before this he trained and worked in the Banking Group with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Johannesburg where he audited at FirstRand Group, Sanlam and Multilateral donor funded projects especially the World Bank, EU and USAID.

He has been a tutor in Accounting at University of Cape Town, a teacher in Lesotho and a teaching assistant at Makerere University – being the first person, since its inception, to get an upper second degree, in 1991, in Marketing at the Faculty of Commerce

He resides in Johannesburg and lives for his three beautiful daughters – Tatiana, Leilah and Kenya

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Museveni minister Engola loses seat

By
Esther Natambi
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Col (rtd) Charles Engola

Minister of State for Defence Col (rtd) Charles Okello Engola, also Oyam North MP has been thrown out of Parliament over academic papers.

Lira High Court presiding Judge Lady Justice Jessica Naiga Ayebazibwe faulted Col Engola for changing names on his papers without swearing an affidavit invalidating them.

The first minister to lose a seat, Col Engola also becomes the 10th National Resistance Movement legislator whose election has been nullified.

The petition was filed by Anthony Oyuru, a concerned voter, who accused the newly elected legislator of failing to comply with electoral laws.

Engola, a flag bearer for the ruling NRM party, emerged winner after defeating incumbent Crispus Charles Ayena Odongo of the Uganda Peoples Congress-UPC, George Ojwang Opota of Go Forward and Independent candidate Willy Omodo-Omodo.

Two petitions were filed against Okello Engola, one for noncompliance with the electoral laws and another filed by Ayena Odongo over lack of academic qualifications, were until today going on.

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FDC’s Ekanya wins election petition

By
Our Reporter
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Hon Geoffrey Ekanya (NV Photo)

The Tororo North MP Annet Nyaketcho has lost her seat, following a petition filed by Forum for Democratic Change’s Geoffrey Ekanya.

Ms Nyaketcho, who becomes the 10 ruling party MP to lose a seat, was dragged to court over malpractices in the February elections.

In his petition Ekanya said that votes from two villages were not counted a position that was upheld by court, resulting in the nullification of Ms Nyaketcho as MP.

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NRM’s Sembatya also kicked out of Parliament

By
Our Reporter
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Court has nullified the election of National Resistance Movement’s Katikamu South MP Edward Sembatya over academic qualifications.

Sembatya, a former Accountant in parliament had replaced former Attorney General Kiddu Makubuya who was ejected at last year’s party primaries level.

Presiding Judge Isabirye Kaweesa, held that there were discrepancies in the names of Ssembatya that appeared on several of his academic papers that he presented for nomination of his election to the EC.

Earlier on Tuesday, Rehema Watongola’s election as Kamuli Municipality MP  nullified over academic qualifications.

She’s became the 8th NRM MP to be thrown out but by press time the number had risen to 10.

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Uganda ‘new HIV infections’ drop from 162,000 to 83,000

By
Shawn Davis Kawalya
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There has been a reduction in number of Uganda’s new HIV infections from 162,000 in 2011 to 83,000 by Dec 2015 according to a new report from Uganda AIDS Commission.

Over the last five years, the Government of Uganda with support from Development Partners  like UNAIDS, Irish AID and USAID has made impressive gains in averting the number of new HIV/AIDS infections and reduction of HIV/  AIDS related deaths.

Statistics obtained from projects spearheaded by outgoing UNAIDS Country Director, Musa Bungundu and the Irish AID HIV/AIDS focal person Mary Oduka show that the number of persons on Antiretroviral Treatment has increased from 329,000 in 2011 to 834,931 by the close of 2015.

First Lady Janet Museveni, flanked by state minister Sarah Opendi, speaks to Unaids country director Musa Bungudu. This week on Thursday 30th June, Uganda will say good bye to Mr Bungundu.
First Lady Janet Museveni, flanked by state minister Sarah Opendi, speaks to Unaids country director Musa Bungudu. This week on Thursday 30th June, Uganda will say good bye to Mr Bungundu.

There has also been a reduction in the number of persons dying from AIDS from 63,000 in 2011 to 28,000 by Dec 2015 while the number of new babies born with HIV reduced from 29,000 in 2011 to 3,200 in 2015.

During the just concluded High Level meeting on ending HIV and AIDS that was held in New York two weeks ago, Uganda was singled out as one of the Sub Saharan Africa that managed to achieve the highest percentage of reductions in new HIV infections.

Between 2011 and 2015, Uganda managed to achieve 86% reduction of all new HIV infections. This impressive gain in reduction has been made possible through a combined strategy spearheaded by the First Lady, Hon. Janet K. Museveni and other partners. The success of the eMTCT campaign is a clear example of some of the immediate approaches that we need to sustain in order to reach our key 2030 global targets of ending AIDS.

We need to continue re-engaging leadership for the response at all levels starting with everyone taking individual responsibility for their actions. “You the individual have the power to protect yourself, your spouse, your child and others”, Uganda AIDS Commission, 2016.  Leadership was core to the country’s successes in mid 1990s and is still equally vital today.

Once again, Uganda AIDS Commission would like to remind everyone to be part of ongoing efforts to avert new infections by taking individual responsibility through – knowing your status by taking an HIV/AIDS test today and avoiding risky behavior such as sexual intercourse with people whose HIV status you do not know.

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Ugandan troops in Somalia not paid since last year

By
Esther Natambi
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Ugandan soldiers part of the AMISOM force fighting al-Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia have not received any payment from this year. This is after the EU withheld last tranche over accounting issues.

An European Union source told the BBC that last six-month payment was being withheld over “accounting issues”.

The EU provides $1,028 (£700) for each Amisom soldier each month; their respective governments then deduct around $200 for administrative costs meaning the soldiers are supposed to take home about $800.

This deployment allowance is much more than the meagre salaries the soldiers receive from their governments.

The BBC understands there have been delays over the last two tranches – and last year’s June-November payment has only just arrived.

So soldiers are now receiving money owed to them last year but have not received any of it owed to them this year.

EU ambassador to Somalia Michele Cervone d’Urso said he was “concerned about the delay” in the stipend which he said was “essential for the motivation of soldiers”.

In January the EU, a major donor to the Somalia mission, cut its funding by 20 percent saying African countries must bear more of the burden of soldier salaries.

Soon afterwards Kenya threatened to withdraw its 3,700 troops in protest.

Despite the denials by the army, several hungry Ugandan troops have been lined up for prosecution for allegedly selling off weapons to Somali insurgents.

READ HERE: Ugandan army selling guns, uniforms in Somalia

Last week, we reported how Gen Katumba Wamala said the decision to withdraw Ugandan troops by December 2017 was taken because of frustration with the Somali army and military advisers from US, UK and Turkey.

General Wamala said he unable to describe the extent of his frustration over the late payments.

READ HERE: Uganda army abandoning Somalia, CAR missions over wages

Paddy Ankunda, Uganda military spokesman when contacted declined to give a reason for the planned Somalia withdrawal, however the BBC’s revelation now brings light to the matter.

Uganda deployed in Somalia in 2007, the first of several troop contingents from the region and accounts for about a third of the roughly 22,000-strong AMISOM force.

Amisom has helped push al-Shabab out of most of Somalia’s major towns.

But the militants continue to mount deadly suicide bombings and guerrilla attacks.

EagleOnline security correspondents say Uganda’s decision will surely tilt in regional security balance and also give room for the spread of Islamic extremism and violence.

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Uganda to lose billions after Somalia pull out

By
Our Reporter
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Ugandan AMISOM troops on parade

Uganda will lose over four billion shillings in earnings every month after the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) withdraws from Somalia.

According to sources, foreign troops serving under the auspices of the Africa Union Mission to Somalia (Amisom) to fight the Islamic militant group Al Shabaab, are paid US$1028 per individual every month, of which US$200 is deducted as ‘administrative costs’ for the troop-contributing country.

In 2007 Uganda became the first African country to send peacekeeping troops to serve under Amisom and currently there are about 6000 UPDF men and women in Somalia, all of who collectively contribute about US$1.2 million (approximately Shs4.2bn) in monthly administrative costs.

According to the UPDF Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) General Edward Katumba Wamala, the pull out from Somalia scheduled for December 2017 follows cold relations that separately developed between Uganda and the principal Amisom financiers, the US, UK and Turkey.

By press time it was not possible to talk to the UPDF spokesperson Lt Col Paddy Ankunda.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the Amisom troops fighting against the Islamic militant Al Shabaab, have not received salaries for six months, after the contingent accounting officers allegedly failed to account for the previous tranche disbursed.

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