President Yoweri Museveni has urged Ugandans to treat murder, promotion of any form of sectarianism and maintaining backwardness of the population as taboo and that any person promoting them is an enemy of the Movement and will be treated as such.

President Museveni who is on a four day working visit in Rwenzori region made the remarks while meeting leaders of Buhendera county in Bundibugyo district today at Fort Portal state lodge in Fort Portal Municipality.

President Museveni said that the National Resistance Movement right from her inception has opposed sectarianism and extrajudicial murders and was the reason why the NRM/NRA freedom fighters took up arms to fight and liberate Uganda. He warned that the National Resistance Movement government will not tolerate murderers or those promoting sectarianism in Uganda since they are number one taboos of the Movement.

“Sectarianism, extrajudicial murders and backwardness have been Movement taboos and anyone promoting them today is our number one enemy. I was in the Democratic Party but I had to leave the party because the party exercised  sectarianism and I left to join the Uganda People’s Congress but sectarianism had done great damage to the country that the post independence government collapsed four years after independence,” he said, adding that, “As for extrajudicial murders the Movement has no room for discussion and those killing Ugandans will be dealt with harshly. NRM managed to bring about discipline within the army because we vowed to kill any soldier who murdered a Ugandan,” he said.

He said that the Movement will not therefore discuss matters of extrajudicial murder with criminals but will have to handle them in accordance with the law.

“I will not have any discussion with anybody on whether there should be the killing of people or destruction of people’s and government property because that’s not for discussion,” he said, adding that, “Even our laws punish women who abort their own pregnancy. Then who are you to kill someone’s child, created by God. The Movement will not tolerate that,” he said.

Museveni expressed disappointment that Ugandans and the Movement is degenerating from the core principles on which the National Resistance Movement was founded noting that in the founding principles of the NRM there would be no discussion on extrajudicial killings.

“Issues of criminality and murder are resolved by the constitution of Uganda and even God’s laws are against murder. I think we misled you by being too soft on some of you who made mistakes in the past but we thought some of you were committing crimes out ignorance but I think it has gone out of hand. How do you kill someone for voting in a certain way? Then what is democracy for and what did the NRM fight for? ” he said.

The President said they will deal with the criminals decisively.

“We shall deal with them decisively. We have done it Karamoja against the advice of the opposition politicians who said that we should talk to the Karamajong cattle rustlers who were killing people. We must make it clear that killing in Uganda is out of question,” the President said.

Museveni said people’s property and that of the state must not be tampered with. He equally castigated those revenging against others and said that they were equally criminals and said that even if one was so angry it was only wise to report to state authorities than revenging.

He warned against mixing traditional and cultural leadership with political leadership and administrations, saying some of the problems in the Rwenzori region are because some players are mixing the two.

He said that although the NRM government allowed the reinstatement of cultural institutions in parts of Uganda they must operate in accordance with the constitution.

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By Joseph Mazige  

Four recent contributions to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) totalling nearly US$30 million will enable the agency assist 400.000 refugees in Uganda to receive food assistance.

Support from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO), Japan and the United States of America, as well as the United Nations Emergency Response Fund (UN CERF) will allow WFP – working in close partnership with UNHCR – to continue assisting the refugees who depend on international support.

“This funding will enable WFP to continue providing food, cash and life-saving nutrition support for a record number of refugees over the next three to four months,” said Michael Dunford, WFP’s Country Director for Uganda. “WFP is extremely grateful to all the donors for providing such generous funds early in the year, helping us to meet the needs of the refugees efficiently and effectively,” he added.

According to Mr Dunford, the money will be used to purchase food on the local and regional market, for treatment of moderate acute malnutrition among young children, pregnant women and new mothers.

While the substantial funding from these four donors allows WFP to continue its support for an unprecedented number of refugees, an additional US$10 million is still needed to sustain that assistance for the next six months.

The refugee population in Uganda – already the largest the country has ever hosted – continues to grow amid ongoing crises in several neighbouring countries. In January alone, nearly 12,000 refugees arrived from South Sudan, and more refugees continue to arrive daily from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Uganda now hosts approximately 520,000 refugees, the majority of whom have arrived in the past several years and depend heavily on humanitarian assistance from agencies such as WFP.

In February and March, WFP received contributions to support refugee assistance in Uganda: US$2.2 million from ECHO, US$3.5 million from Japan, US$5.5 million from the UN CERF, and US$18.4 million from the United States.

WFP offers a choice between food and cash for refugees who have been in the country longer and are thus better able to support themselves, and who are living in settlements with functioning markets. This is the case in Adjumani, Rhino Camp, Lobule, Kiryandongo, Kyaka II and Kyangwali and Rwamwanja. Providing cash allows families the flexibility to meet their food needs, buy fresh foods and diversify their diets. A key component of food security is people’s ability to choose their preferred food items.

ECHO has prioritised cash distributions within its contribution. This year, for the first time, WFP will exceed 50,000 cash recipients amongst the refugee population.

Under its progressive policy, the Government of Uganda allocates land for refugee families, empowering them to sustain livelihoods and foster integration into Ugandan communities.

Some of the funding from Japan will support refugees and host communities to boost their agricultural earnings and self-reliance through a joint livelihoods programme developed by WFP, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and UNHCR. The joint programme encourages peaceful co-existence between refugees and host populations, and has been developed in line with OPM’s Settlement Transformation Agenda – a component of the second National Development Plan. WFP, OPM and UNHCR are implementing this programme among longer-term refugees in Kyangwali and Rwamwanja and the surrounding host communities.

WFP will work with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to complement JICA’s New Rice for Africa (NERICA) project with specialized trainings and infrastructure such as community grain stores, warehouses and household storage equipment.

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Christopher Aine, the former head of security of independent candidate Amama Mbabazi who went missing and followed allegations that police had killed him has resurfaced.

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President Yoweri Museveni has warned that he will not tolerate anybody engaged in criminal acts of murder, rape, destruction of State and people’s property or those who soil the name of Uganda. He said his government would handle anybody engaging in criminal acts decisively and without compromise.

The President who is on a four day working visit to Rwenzori region was today speaking at a meeting he held with political and opinion leaders from Bundibugyo district at Fort Portal State Lodge in Fort Portal Municipality.

President Museveni said that government will not engage in discussion with anybody engaged in criminal acts of murder and rape against the people of Uganda. He also said that those who destroy the properties of the state and ordinary citizens and tarnish the country’s image internationally would not be spared.

The Presidents remarks come shortly after he made a security assessment tour of Bundibugyo district right from Lamia at the border with the DR Congo, meeting and interacting with citizens. The President also made a stopover at one of the most popular tourist sites in the district to ensure business was going on normally.

Museveni said that matters of criminality are not for political discussion and compromise and that they must be dealt with in accordance with the law.

“No one has a right to kill or rape a Ugandan not even to abuse a Ugandan. Nobody has a right to damage someone’s property not even someone’s chicken. No one should tarnish the name of Uganda and scare away business people and tourists. We shall not have any discussion or compromise on the above,” he said.

The meeting was also attended by the State minister for Primary Education and outgoing Bwamba County MP, Hon. Dr. Kamanda Bataringaya.

“You kill a Ugandan or rape a woman and you want us to call you for a discussion? Leave that to me as President, I will handle it myself because with peace and security there is nothing to discuss. I think we have been a bit relaxed but it’s time we go back to the National Resistance Movement core principle; where no matter who you are you should never infringe on the rights of other Ugandans  especially the right to life” he said.

President Museveni used the occasion to appeal to the people of the Rwenzori region to live together in peace and harmony and reject sectarianism just like they have been for centuries and oppose the false prophets that are sowing the seeds of sectarianism for their selfish interests.

“Your ancestors have harmoniously lived in this region for centuries and complimented each other in their way of life, trading with each other and contributing to each other’s prosperity. Whose culture are you copying that is so divisive and sectarian? It is not founded in your history and heritage,” he said.

He warned them against the habit of revenge and said that it was a duty of the state to exercise justice on behalf of the citizens in accordance with the law. He said anyone revenging on their behalf was committing a crime and will equally face the law.

President Museveni further advised the people of Rwenzori region to stop dragging cultural leaders into partisan politics and public administration noting that those should be a reserve of the political class who are elected and can be held accountable and voted out of leadership in case they perform poorly.

“I don’t want to be part of that political confusion that mix politics and cultural matters because that is what resulted into the 1966 political crisis in Uganda” he warned.

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