President Museveni left revelers in stitches with his witty speech at the giveaway ceremony of Ms Annette Twebaze to Mr Bright Kamuhanda in Muhanga Town Council in Kabale over the weekend.
A cattle-loving man, Museveni, 71, a father of three officially married daughters was given the task of blessing the young couple in the traditional way – that is, to speculate about what’s going on in marriages today and, ultimately, gives them some wealth to multiply.
Born in western Uganda to a cattle-rearing family, he has always said he plans to be a herder on his retirement.
And now we know the Kamuhandas are now richer after gave Ms Twebaze a gift (Okushagara) of 10 cows for making her parents happy.
“When a child gets married, it shows that the parents have done a good job raising that child. Marriage is also important because it enables procreation and assures continuity of the human race. It is also vital that when people marry, they build a home and sire children,’ Museveni said.
“I commended the bride and groom for making their parents proud and tasked young people to emulate the industry of their parents. If your parents bequeath you wealth as a youth, work hard to make sure you multiply it,’ he added.
Ms Twebaze is a daughter of Apollo and Vangelista Nyegamahe, a prominent business couple and our committed NRM supporters, while Mr Kamuhanda is son of John and Generous Bashinyora of Kinkizi in Kanungu District.
President Yoweri Museveni walking in the midst of his long-horn cattle and chatting with their herders, wielding a stick and wearing his trademark wide-brimmed hat.
High Court in Jinja has nullified Iganga Municipality Member of Parliament Peter Mugema aka Panadol over allegations of voter bribery.
Mr Mugema becomes the sixth legislator to be kicked out of Parliament but also the fifth National Resistance Movement (NRM) member to exist the August house.
Just in a fortnight the 10th Parliament that hasn’t lasted even a month has seen Busiro South Peter Ssematimba, Lugazi Municipality’s Isaac Ssozi Mulindwa, Budadiri East MP Vincent Woboya, Aruu North’s Lucy Achiro Atim, Luwero woman MP Lillian Nakate Ssegujja and now Mugema
Former Go-Forward Presidential aspirant Amama Mbabazi
Silence, they say, is golden. Well, could that be said of former Prime Minister John Patrick Amama Mbabazi, a man of serious political clout who has not issued any political statement for about four months now.
Mr Mbabazi is famed for having played a big role in the survival of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) for about four decades, beginning in 1973 to September 2015, when he was dropped as Premier.
But known as a suave and reclusive operator, Mr Mbabazi has been silent for the past four months since the February elections, prompting lingering questions regarding his whereabouts and what he has next up on his sleeves.
The elections were won by his erstwhile friend and long time political ally Mr Yoweri Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), further putting a wedge between the two men who at one point were politically inseparable.
Indeed, while still bosom friends, submissions by the NRM Chairman Museveni usually pointed to the fact that Mr Mbabazi was instrumental in the campaigns to rid Uganda of the various dictatorships, beginning with Iddi Amin’s regime in April 1979 up to January 1986, when the NRM came to power.
At the time Mr Mbabazi had participated in various clandestine operations sanctioned by the NRM, both within and outside Uganda, using different pseudonyms including among others Dr Karyaburo and Ahmed Mbayo.
The smoothness with which he executed these covert missions caught the eye of the guerilla commander Museveni who, in 1986 as President, appointed Amama Mbabazi the first Director General of the External Security Organisation (ESO). Subsequently, he served in various ministries including Justice/Attorney General, Foreign Affairs/Regional Cooperation, Defence and Security. He also served as NRM Secretary General.
Insiders say that during all that time Mr Mbabazi, despite mostly operating in the background, was synonymous with the NRM espionage system, an undertaking carried out through an elusive career chain that was to be brought to a halt in May 2011, when he was appointed the Prime Minister.
Observers intimate that while serving as PM, Mr Mbabazi became ‘exposed’ to Uganda’s political class and the masses, in the process losing his reclusiveness.
Indeed, it would not be long before a member of the political class, Ms Evelyn Anite, burst Mr Mbabazi’s bubble by asking President Museveni to offer himself for the NRM presidential candidature for the 2016 elections.
NRM CANDIDATURE PETITIONER: Evelyn Anite
The February 14, 2015 incident at the ruling party’s retreat at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi left Mr Museveni smiling, while a seemingly stoic Mr Mbabazi was left shell-shocked! And, as if to prove his displeasure at Anite’s ‘ambush’ Mr Mbabazi refused to append his signature to the Museveni candidature petition, saying it was premature for the NRM to start discussing the matter. He was wrong; 200 members signed the document, a development that signaled his downward political spiral. Mr Mbabazi swallowed humble pie and signed in at number 201. But the move did not deter his detractors; they followed him to several meetings organised by Mr Museveni, demanding that he apologise for the ‘delayed signing’ and, for not towing the party line in respect to its position regarding the flag bearer. During the meetings Mr Mbabazi protested while Mr Museveni tried to convince Mr Mbabazi’s pursuers that the matter would be sorted out through internal party dispute resolution mechanisms.
That was never to be as in December 2015 Mr Mbabazi was hounded from the position of Secretary General, inevitably ending his 40 year direct association with the NRM. But before the NRM decided to terminate its relationship with Mr Mbabazi, he pulled one of his masterstrokes, announcing that he would stand for presidency, to challenge Mr Museveni and any other contender. The announcement made on YouTube on June 15, 2015 took the political class by surprise!
IGP Gen Kale Kayihura
The Mr Mbabazi went ‘viral’, declaring that he would hold his first political consultation rally in Mbale, a hitherto assumed political backyard of the NRM. The Inspector General of Police General Kale Kayihura swung into action, swearing the Mbale consultation rally scheduled for June 19 would take place over his dead body. The rally never took place as Mr Mbabazi was stopped in Jinja, brought back to Naggalama before eventually finding himself at the Kira Road Police Station, from where he was released at about 8pm, without any charges preferred against him. That was the ‘baptism of fire’ for a man who had earlier in 1999 ‘reminded’ then NRM renegade Dr Warren Kizza Besigye Kifefe that the party had a ‘queue’ and that by authoring a dossier that sought to analyse Mr Museveni’s continued stay at the helm of national affairs, Dr Besigye had in effect ‘jumped the queue’.
TRIED TO JUMP THE QUEUE? FDC flag bearer Dr Kizza Besigye
But now it was Mr Mbabazi’s time to constructively reflect on the NRM queue, and he declared he would go for the presidency under the banner of the NRM. His pursuers in NRM did not go to bed, insisting that the issue of NRM flag bearer was sealed and that Mr Museveni was the party choice.
Left with little or no option, Mr Mbabazi joined the opposition under the banner of The Democratic Alliance (TDA), where he would come face-to-face with Dr Besigye and a number of opposition figures including Dr Besigye, Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, Norbert Mao and Olara Otunnu.
Former UPC leader Olara Otunnu.
The loose association did not stand the test of time, and Mr Mbabazi moved on to form the Go Forward, a new political vehicle that he wanted to help him ascend the presidency.
He then set off to campaign, once again beginning in Mbale where he addressed a huge rally that had mouths twitching in his favour as presidential material. His subsequent campaigns around the country were generally incident-free and even when the election results were announced on February 20, giving him 1 per cent of the entire vote, Mr Mbabazi was stoic.
It is this demeanour that borders on deafening silence that is now disturbing the political class, both in government and the opposition, who would want to know Mr Mbabazi’s next political move.
And this begs the question, are we set to see another episode involving Dr Karyaburo or a certain Ahmed Mbayo, the two imaginary men whose proverbial nine lives always caused ruckus!
Nakate (L) and her rival Nabukenya. (Photo/Bukedde)
Luwero woman MP Lillian Nakate Ssegujja has on Friday been found guilty by the High Court at Kampala of bribing voters.
Court ruled that Ms Nakate who garnered 56,573 votes to beat DP’s Brenda Nabukenya with 53,558 votes had done various election anomalies including bribing voters Butuntumula, Luwero.
Ms Nakate is the fourth NRM MP to lose her seat in less than two weeks.
Last week, the High Court in Kampala declared the Busiro South MP seat vacant after NRM’s Peter Ssematimba was found to be lacking the requisite academic qualifications and on Tuesday the MP for Lugazi Municipality Isaac Mulindwa Ssozi was also thrown out of Parliament also for lack minimum academic qualifications. On Thursday, High Court in Mbale also kicked out of Parliament NRM’s Vincent Woboya, who had in February been declared winner of the Budadiri East seat, citing failure to retire in accordance with the law.
Nakate a political novice and an engineer by profession was accused lost a petition filed by former MP and Democratic party candidate Brenda Nabukenya whose short lived grip of the Luweero woman MP seat she snatched.
Campaigning on the opposition platform of bringing change, the interactive and eloquent Nabukenya had become crowd puller; especially in towns where the majority needy urban poor blame their financial woes on the NRM government.
Self-styled ‘Ghetto President’, Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine has been officially appointed as the Brand Manager at Express FC Secretariat.
Wine was on Friday afternoon unveiled by new Express chairperson, Uganda Youth and Children Affairs minister Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi alongside and Ram Abubakar Muhammad Hadji (CEO).
Wine has built his image as the champion of the defiant opposition activists and lower classes. He has had numerous commercial endorsements and has acted as a patron for the government and for charities, advocating for everything from drug-safety to environmental protection.
He now enters the football world at a time when his nemesis Edward Ssali aka Bebe Cool has been sidelined by the Uganda men’s national team, The Cranes who he used to represent.
This week, Nakiwala announced a new look management set up and will work alongside Kassim Nakibinge ((patron), Bbale Mugera (president), Pastor Samuel Kakande (vice chairman), Jeff Ssekandi ((executive member) and Ram Abubakar on the executive to revive Express fortunes ahead of the club’s 60th anniversary next year.
Pastor Samuel Kakande of Synagogue church Mulago, who has promised to heavily fund the club which finished third in the Uganda Premier League season.
COMPROMISED? Burundi facilitator Benjamin Mkapa. Burundi CSOs want him of their country's peace talks
Two Burundian networks of civil society organizations have issued a joint statement strongly criticizing former Tanzanian President and facilitator in the Burundian conflict Benjamin Mkapa for meeting the radical opposition and ‘coup plotters’ in Belgium, asking him to resign.
The two networks are the Integral Platform for the Civil Society and the Coalition of Associations of People Infected or Affected by HIV/AIDS (CAPES+).
“It is with high disappointment and worries that we condemn the procedure of facilitator Benjamin Mkapa for meeting, on June 10-11, in Brussels, coup plotters and persons involved in the Burundian crisis,” said Venant Hamza Burikukiye, chairman of the CAPES+, in the joint statement.
Burikukiye said that the meeting was ‘a sign of provocation against the Burundian government and the majority of Burundian citizens’.
According to him, it is also a violation of Burundian laws and Resolutions 2248 and 2279 of the United Nations Security Council stipulating that only ‘peaceful’ stakeholders will participate in the inter-Burundian dialogue.
“We urge the Burundian government to refuse facilitator Benjamin Mkapa and to refuse to go to Arusha talks on invitation of Mkapa.
“We also call on heads of state of the East African Community (EAC) to replace Mkapa as he has failed to carry out his assignment,” said Burikukiye.
The statement comes at a time when talks to settle the year-long crisis in Burundi is due later this month in Arusha, Tanzania.
Last Friday, the Burundian government reiterated its refusal to negotiate with what it calls ‘non-peaceful’ actors.
Stakeholders in the inter-Burundian dialogue participated in inter-Burundian consultations on May 21-24 in Arusha to try to end the year-long political crisis, but some members of the radical opposition boycotted the session.
The facilitator in the Burundian conflict, Benjamin Mkapa, had pledged to meet stakeholders that had not been able to attend the Arusha talks.
It is in that context that he met in Brussels leaders of the National Council for the Restoration of the Arusha Agreement and the Rule of Law in Burundi (CNARED).
In January, the inter-Burundian dialogue had failed to resume in Arusha following the boycott by the Burundian government, arguing that it could not sit “on the same table” with what it called “non-peaceful” stakeholders.
Burundi is facing a year-long political crisis that broke out since April 2015 following the announcement by Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza that he would be seeking a third term.
His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted into a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup on May 13, 2015.
Over 451 persons are reported to have been killed since then while some 270,000 citizens sought exile in neighboring countries.
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Kasangati residents this morning turned up at court to witness their fellow resident who is now a prisoner at Luzira.
The former Forum for Democratic Change Presidential candidate Kizza Besigye was at court this morning but residents seeing the man whom some consider their hero, they couldn’t control emotions but cry.
Kasangati court Chief Magistrate James Ereemye Kabanda ordered prison authorities to produce Besigye at court today for mention of his case.
Besigye is being prosecuted by police for disobeying lawful orders. It is alleged that Dr. Besigye disobeyed police when the force intercepted him on Gayaza road as he left his home for FDC party weekly prayers. Uganda Police Force has now come under criticism for allegedly being partisan. But the force maintains that it is its mandate to keep law and order.
However, as the security detail around the court prevented Kasangati residents who were majorly youth from access court room, they retreated in groups and some could be seen shedding tears. However, court did delay Dr. Besigye as the entire court process was done fast and later on Dr. Besigye was whisked away back to Luzira in a convey of both prison and police vehicles that numbered over 15.
Kenyan giants Gor Mahia have finally bowed to pressure and given Ugandan midfielder Khalid Aucho a leeway to leave for Scotland giants Glasgow Rangers.
Gor official Ronald Ngala revealed to Goal that the Ugandan star will finally leave for Scotland as soon as he secures visa not for a direct transfer but it seems he’s only going to be handed a trial.
He said that the Kenyan champions received an official communication from Rangers two days ago requesting that they release the player for trials, and went ahead to refute claims that they were holding onto to the Ugandan star.
“We have been waiting for an official communication from Rangers and nothing had come forth but they finally wrote to us two, three days ago. They requested us to allow the player leave for trials and we wrote back acknowledging that. So he (Aucho), is free to leave for trials as soon as he secures his visa.”
Aucho’s agent Geoffrey Kayemba had accused Gor officials of mischief intimating that they failed to give the player a release letter.
Kayemba claimed they had declined to give his client the release letter which is being demanded by the Scottish giants.
“It pains me to see Gor Mahia officials playing cat and mouse game. They have declined to provide my client with the release letter and yet they are aware of the entire deal. Aucho has helped the club to win all the trophies they earned last season including the Premier League title, and the Top Eight among others.”
“They should give him the r release letter as a way of appreciating his effort and service to the club,” observed Kayemba.
According to various media outlets in Scotland the newly promoted Rangers are interested in signing the player.
Rangers’ fans took to Twitter to urge the club to sign the midfielder this June with the hash tag #SignKhalidAucho trending in Scotland.
The Archbishop of York John Sentamu has said he would ‘never’ describe homosexuality as a sin strongly contrasting with the Anglican Church of his birthplace Uganda, which takes a hardline stance against homosexuality.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain, where he took part in a wide-ranging debate about LGBT rights with host Piers Morgan, Archbishop Sentamu, a brother to renowned Ugandan Pastor Robert Kayanja of Miracle Centre Church, affirmed that while he still has personal objections with same-sex marriage, he believes in LGBT equality generally and does not consider homosexuality to be a sin.
In the segment, Morgan had challenged Dr Sentamu, the second-ranked Archbishop in the Church of England, about his staunch opposition to equal marriage.
“I would never say that. I would never say that, because sin is doing something consciously against God.”
Asked if he was discarding parts of the Bible that condemn homosexuality, he said: “The whole of scripture must be read in context, you can’t just pick up a verse and say ‘because it says this’… that would be a nightmare.
“Please, for heaven’s sake, don’t always think that holding a view on marriage must be homophobic,” he said adding: “The Archbishop of Canterbury and I issued a statement yesterday asking all Christians to support all LGBTI people, and actually see them as created in God’s image and likeness, and not as an exception.
“I’ve got a lot of gay friends, they see me as a friend, they see me as someone who wants to support and protect them against homophobia.”
However, he maintained his stance on marriage.
The religious leader continued: “You can still have your view on marriage and at the same time be intolerant of homophobia.
“I support civil partnerships because I think that’s a matter of equality, and a matter of fairness, but for me, it was wrong for the Government to try to redefine the nature of marriage.”
He said: “My upholding of Christian marriage as I understand it goes hand-in-hand with saying to people, ‘to diminish homosexual people is anathema to the Christian faith because God loves us all equally.”
However, the Archbishop appeared offended after Piers Morgan attempted to contrast his views with discrimination based on race.
He hit back: “No, some of my relatives actually died on the ships.”
The Archbishop of York came in for criticism in 2014 – after he stripped a gay clergy member of his Permission to Officiate for tying the knot with his same-sex partner.
Hospital chaplain Jeremy Pemberton had defied a Church-wide ban on clergy entering same-sex marriages – but clergy not under Dr Sentamu’s jurisdiction have faced no action for doing the same.
Pastor Kayanja’s gay sex scandals
Sentamu’s words make the protracted, tawdry — and utterly unproven — homosexual abuse scandal that has tarnished his brother’s reputation all the more ironic.
What is this unedifying saga about and how does Robert find himself embroiled in it, to the point where for three years he has been fighting to clear his name in courts?
The first allegation was made by Samson Mukisa, a teenage boy who claimed Kayanja had procured him from the Miracle Centre’s Never Again home for street children. But others followed.
The boys are said to have sought help from four rival pastors, who were already on a crusade to root out alleged impropriety in the evangelical movement. They went to the police and later gave graphic TV and newspaper interviews discrediting Kayanja.
Within weeks, however, the tables were well and truly turned. Five of the six ‘victims’ were said to have recanted their statements, and the police not only cleared Kayanja of any impropriety, but laid charges against his accusers for tarnishing his reputation.
When he gave evidence, Kayanja drew on his considerable powers of oratory to proclaim his innocence, and even a defence lawyer concedes that his speech was ‘electrifying’.
‘Your worship, I don’t sell bananas or cows — I deal with human beings,’ he declared. ‘A man’s name is all he has, and when someone deliberately, relentlessly desires to destroy that name, he has destroyed everything you stand for.’
Children from Soweto stand at the Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto. Photo credit/Gettyimages.co.uk
The South African government is considering establishing free higher education to ease the educational burden on children from poor families.
“We know that many more students are still struggling to afford tertiary education because they come from poor families. We appointed a judicial commission to look into the feasibility of free higher education for the country. I look forward to receiving the commission’s report and recommendations,” South African President Jacob Zuma said during the 40th commemoration of Youth Day Remembrance.
Zuma also urged the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) beneficiaries to pay back monies owed to the scheme, to enable those who need funding to study.
Meanwhile, President Zuma has urged students to desist from destroying education infrastructure during protests.
Students who participated in the 1976 protests in Soweto.
“Not a single school was burnt during 1976. The conduct we see today is unacceptable. Why destroy schools? Where are children supposed to go after that? There is something wrong with us. We cannot say there’s something sober about such actions,” said Zuma.
He said destroying clinics, trains and factories during protests for service delivery was not helpful.
“We need to discuss this as a country, sit down, talk about this and discourage it. Resources that are meant to bring development are diverted to rebuild all that has been destroyed. These acts indicate that we are going astray,” he said.
He said, however, that the struggle for opportunities and better lives for all continued, and that the sacrifices of the class of 1976 were not in vain because the apartheid regime was defeated.
“Race no longer determines where one lives or where one goes to school or church, or what work one can do. Black people no longer have to carry passes or seek permits to live and work in urban areas.”
Yesterday marked 40 years after the June 16 uprising by students against Afrikaans as a medium of instructions at black schools.
The uprising began in Soweto and then spread countrywide in 1976. Students in Soweto had planned to meet at Orlando Stadium on the day and embark on a peaceful march to education authorities, when they were confronted by police who ordered them to disperse.
They refused to disperse and threw stones at the police who then opened fire, killing and injuring some of the youngsters.
Many young activists were forced into exile to escape the wrath of the then apartheid government. Pieterson, after whom the Soweto memorial was named, was the youngest victim killed during the uprising. The iconic photograph of the 12-year-old Pieterson, carried by Makhubo with Pieterson’s sister running alongside him, became a worldwide symbol of the students uprising and their struggle against the apartheid regime and education system.
