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NRM celebrates 30 years in power

By
Our Reporter
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The National Resistance Movement (NRM) government will tomorrow,January 26, celebrate thirty years since it came to power in 1986.

Tomorrow’s celebrations are going to be held in Fort Portal, a town in a region that bore part of the brunt of war during the five-year struggle that brought NRM to power.

Led by Yoweri Museveni, the NRM and its armed wing the National Resistance Army (NRA) stormed Kampala and its environs in the early afternoon hours, with the soldiers under the command of then Senior Officers Salim Saleh aka Caleb Akandwanaho and Patrick Lumumba of the 3rd Battalion taking over strategic locations like Radio Uganda and UTV; the Bank of Uganda and the General Post Office.

The NRM/A overthrew the short-lived six month regime of General Tito Okello Lutwa, which had earlier on July 27 1985 also overthrown the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) regime of Apollo Milton Obote.

Other NRA senior officers involved in the Jan 26 takeover of Kampala included Elly Tumwine and Ivan Koreta, then Commander of the 13th Battalion.

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US issues ‘travel alert’ for Uganda

By
Richard Wanambwa
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The State Department has issued a travel alert during the election period, for its citizens who wish to come to Uganda

The State Department has issued a travel alert during the election period, for its citizens who wish to come to Uganda and that resident in the country.

‘The State Department recommends US citizens maintain a high level of security awareness leading up to, during, and following the election period,’ a release indicates, adding that the alert expires on March 31, this year.

The release advises Americans to ‘avoid political rallies, polling centres, demonstrations and crowds of any kind’ saying that peaceful gatherings can ‘become confrontational and turn violent’.

According to the release however, there are no indications that US citizens are targets of violence.

Uganda goes to the polls in February, beginning with the presidential and parliamentary elections on 18, followed by other lower rung local elections between February 24 and March 10, and results are expected in about a week.

Campaigns in the country began after the November 4-5, 2015 presidential nominations, and since then there have been isolated cases of violence in some campaign areas.

The campaigns have also been laced with vitriolic words by some candidates, prompting some Ugandans to question the prospects of an incident-free election.

However, state authorities led by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Uganda police have assured the nation of having an election conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.

 

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Mbabazi alleges ballot stuffing

By
Richard Wanambwa
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Presidential aspirant John Patrick Amama Mbabazi has accused the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of planning to rig the elections through ballot stuffing.

‘Very many ballots have been brought in for purposes of stuffing’ Mr Mbabazi wrote on his twitter handle earlier today, before calling upon his supporters to be more vigilant.

“That is why we are asking people to be more vigilant,” Mbabazi said, without stating exactly who the rigging would favour.

But contacted for comment IEC spokesperson Jotham Taremwa said Mbabazi was engaging in propaganda.

“That is just his campaign propaganda, if he knows where they (ballots) are, let him show us the place where they are being kept,” Taremwa said on phone.

He said the IEC would make public the date of arrival of the ballots.

“We will invite the media to witness the arrival of the ballot papers, so Amama is just politicking,” Mr Taremwa added.

Meanwhile, Mr Mbabazi also accused the state of harassment, saying security operatives raided Endigyito FM studio, carried away equipment and cut the transmission wires, after the station hosted him.

Twitting about oil, Mbabazi said that president Museveni personally handled the deals, in apparent reference to the debate on Friday January 15 where he was asked about his role in any oil deals.

‘They were never discussed in cabinet,’ Mr Mbabazi wrote.

 

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Machar to meet Museveni over South Sudan stalemate

By
Our Reporter
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South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar meets President Yoweri Museveni, a key player in efforts aimed at restoring peace in the wartorn South Sudan.

The chairman and commander-in-chief of the armed opposition group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM/A-IO), Riek Machar, is in Uganda to meet President Yoweri Museveni.

The opposition leader left the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, yesterday night to consult with Museveni on the outstanding issues in the implementation of the South Sudan peace agreement.

At a brief press conference at his residential area in Addis Ababa, the First Vice President designate, according to a peace agreement he signed with the South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir, said he will be trying to persuade Uganda to play a key role in convincing President Kiir reverse the order of expanding South Sudan states from 10 to 28.

According to Machar, Uganda which had been part of the conflict since day one, has lately been playing an important role for the two conflicting parties to reach agreements.

Machar said he believed Kampala will play a crucial role with regard to the existing misunderstanding on the 28 states, a decree which has become an emerging challenge threatening the implementation of the peace deal.

Machar’s visit to Uganda is his first since conflict in the young east African nation erupted in mid-December 2013. The opposition leader gave the press briefing shortly after his arrival from his headquarters in Pagak, where he had consultations with senior members of the advance team who returned from Juba.

Efforts to get comment from deputy government spokesperson Col Shaban Bantariza were fruitless by press time.

Meanwhile, during a day and half consultations, SPLM-IO officials passed a resolution to stick to the ten states.

“We have decided to stick to the terms of the agreement and implement it that way,” Nyarji Jermlili Roman, deputy spokesman for Machar said.

Roman said the implementation should take place based on the ten states and any other proposals regarding the expansion of states should be discussed during the interim period.

The two South Sudanese signatory parties on Saturday pointed fingers at each other of having intentions to obstruct the implementation of the peace agreement signed in August 2015 to end 21 months old conflict in the young east African nation.

However, Machar said the issues of 28 states is the only factor hindering implementation and holding back the amendment of the constitution. He said a transitional government of national unity cannot be formed while there is no constitution, further arguing the constitution is the anchor of the agreement and the government.

Machar added that amendment of the constitution should first be finalized then to be passed by the interim national assembly thereby to form a transitional government of national unity.

According to Roman the advance team is facing challenges in Juba with regard to the amendment of the constitution but is heeding to find a way forward to the deadlock.

He said he is optimistic a fruitful outcome will emerge from Kampala but he added that if failed the opposition group will consider addressing the issues to partners of the agreement – the international community, the Troika and the African Union.

According to Machar lasting peace won’t be easily achieved in South Sudan if the peace implementation process went according to the 28 states.

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Kadaga urges parties to support women candidature

By
Our Reporter
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The Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Rebecca Kadaga, has said that political parties in Africa need to support women candidates because their financial limitations represent a substantial obstacle for them making a contribution in the governance of their countries.
Kadaga made the remarks while closing a four-day Commonwealth Women Parliamentary Conference (Africa Region) in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania on Friday, 22 January 2016. 
“Women have the confidence to run for public office. They have good public speaking skills and can mobilise the support of local groups. Their only setback is inadequate financial strength,” she said.
Laddi Ayii Ayambo, a Member of Parliament from Ghana, reiterated that it is critical to fund and help women in political parties because when women remain under-represented in the political arena, their expertise and perspectives on policy agendas is underutilized.
Lindiwe Maseko, Chairperson Commonwealth Parliamentary Association explained that increased presence of women in political offices helps parties to compete more effectively and thereby drawing attention to important policy issues that have previously been overlooked.
The meeting resolved to encourage all political actors to promote equal participation of women and men in political parties, with a view to achieving better gender-balanced representation for elected public offices at all levels of decision-making.
In a related event, Kadaga advocated for the recognition and celebration of the achievements of women who took part in the liberation struggles across Africa and in the Commonwealth. She explained that their efforts have had an impact on the social, political, academic and entrepreneurial spheres of countries.
“Women, particularly in Africa, were part of the struggles before and after independence,” she said adding that: “it is important to acknowledge the struggles of these women some of whom were united to fight against gender-based injustices.”
The Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians applauded Kadaga for her activism and resolved to celebrate the lives and works of dynamic and inspiring women world over.   

 

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Mbabazi convoy in another accident

By
Steven F Mandu
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Mbabazi accent3Two people were reportedly injured when one of the vehicles in the convoy of presidential aspirant John Patrick Amama Mbabazi got involved in an accident early this morning.

Mbabazi accident2

Eyewitnesses said the car carrying band members on Mbabazi’s entourage was speeding and skid off the road after its driver failed to negotiate a sharp bend at Kanyende, in Busheshe Sub County, after Ibanda town.

Mbabazi accident4

The two injured people, one Gaucho and Tony, were later rushed to a health facility for treatment.

This is not the first time Mbabazi’s convoy is involved in an accident; about two weeks ago, while he campaigned in the Karamoja sub region, a Toyota Custom omnibus Reg No UAT 654Z carrying members of his private security team got involved in an accident, overturning several times and injuring some of his private guards.

Also, about a week earlier, another accident involving Mbabazi’s supporters occurred in Apac, when a Toyota Prado TX Reg No UAN 565H skid off the road and injured people by the roadside. The injured were rushed to Atapara hospital for better management.

A source that spoke to The EagleOnline attributed the ‘campaign accidents’ to excitement among supporters following their candidates.

 

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Sudan prelates invite Pope, get ‘positive response’

By
Our Reporter
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Pope Francis seen here being welcome to Uganda in November 2015.

If Pope Francis I honours an invitation from the South Sudan and Sudan Archbishops who visited him at the Vatican City this week, he will become the first reigning Pope to visit Africa twice during his tenure.

In November last year, the Pope visited Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic (CAR), and just last Wednesday the prelates from the two Sudans invited him to visit their respective countries: South Sudan which has a huge Catholic population and the predominantly Muslim Sudan.

Catholics make up over a third of the population in South Sudan and make up just over 3% of the population in Sudan, where the vast majority of the people are Muslims.

The bishops are in Rome for a meeting organized by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and according to Vatican Radio, the Pope and Sudanese prelates were joined by the Apostolic Nuncios in both countries, and they discussed variety of topics including among others, peace and poverty in the respective countries.

The Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Juba, Paulino Lukudu Loro, said Pope Francis accepted to visit the two countries at an appropriate time which was not fixed, however.

“He said I am ready. I want to. I want to. I want to. But we have to leave everything in the hands of the Lord,” Archbishop Paulino Lukudu quoted Pope Francis as saying.

He told Vatican Radio’s 105Live the ‘issue of peace’ is still a priority in both countries, especially South Sudan, ‘because we are at war’.

South Sudan, which split from the Sudan in 2011, has been embroiled in civil war for the last two years since December 2013, and the violence has led to more than a million refugees and internally displaced people. The new civil war has also led to the death of tens of thousands of people.

“Without peace, religion has difficulties,” Archbishop Loro said, adding that the Catholic Church must also address the issue of vacant dioceses as well as providing support for the local clergy.

“We must discuss with our superiors in the Congregation [for the Evangelization of People] about how to proceed and accomplish our goals,” the Archbishop said. “There are many questions from us on how to proceed.”

The Catholic Church in South Sudan has one archdiocese, and six Suffragan dioceses. The bishops are members of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference, which includes the bishops from Sudan.

In 1993, at the height of the civil war between the mainly Muslim north and the animist and Christian south, Pope John Paul II visited Khartoum and denounced the use of violence in the name of religion.

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NRM gets 300 cows in campaign support

By
Steven F Mandu
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President Museveni who is also NRM party flag bearer receives gifts from supporters during campaigns.

National Resistance Movement candidate Yoweri Museveni has disclosed that party supporters have contributed 332 head of cattle, both local and exotic, and Shs38.5 million in campaign donations.

In a lengthy document titled ‘The joy of campaigning for the NRM 2015-2016’ issued on January 17, Mr Museveni detailed the various donations made by supporters at rallies he addressed in 196 campaign areas since his nomination on November 4 last year.

According to the NRM candidate, his supporters in Ibanda gave him 30 Friesian cows; those in Kazo 127 long horn cattle; those in Nyabushozi 120 long horn cattle); 50 Friesians in Kashongyi and 5 Freisians in Kitagwenda.

Other donors included a one Mrs. Muhindo in Kisinga; Ms. Sylvia Rwabwogo, the woman flag bearer of Kabarole and party supporters in Rubabo, Rukungiri district, who gave a cow each. According to Mr Museveni, the party supporters had also contributed goats, sheep, pigs and chicken, which he directed the NRM Secretariat to take the livestock to Ngoma Farm, ‘as we arrange for their long–term management and multiplication’.

Candidate Museveni also declared that the campaign kitty had received a monetary boost of Shs 25 million from the traders of Ntungamo; Shs 12m from the NRM Chairman of Nakapiripirit and Shs1.5 million from a yet to be identified youth from Bugabula South.

He however, decried poor funding by party supporters, noting that the rich exhibit a lackluster attitude toward funding party activities, including the construction of the party headquarters.

‘The only inconvenience has been the funding. Ugandans that are wealthy or not so badly off do not bother with funding the NRM,’ Mr Museveni wrote, adding: ‘I have told you before that I hear that there are six million account holders in Banks. If each one contributed, one time, shs.50, 000, we would collect shs.300bn, enough to fund comfortably this campaign and start on building the NRM House as well as paying for Kyadondo Plot 10.

According to Mr Museveni, even if only 5 million NRM sympathizers contributed Shs50, 000 each, the party would be Shs.250bn richer.

‘Obukorwa tibwiita bukombeera (The mongoose though tiny will kill a big animal by combining effort).  Small contributions from a large number of people will bring in more money than a few big contributors,’ he wrote.

He however, expressed gratitude to the big contributors, who he said, had ‘solely carried the burden’, before directing party officials to trace and acknowledge the contribution of the Bugabula youthful contributor.

He also said that with the limited funds, the party had only managed to pay for NRM flag bearers nomination fees.

‘With more funding, things would have been smoother. We would have organizationally consolidated the mass enthusiasm for the NRM to create more cohesion. It will still be done although it has taken longer’, Mr Museveni wrote.

 

 

 

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Cranes in ‘traditional football math’ again

By
Julius Mwesigye
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Crane Coach Milotin Micho.

The complex mathematics puzzle is here with us again: ‘Uganda Cranes can qualify for the quarterfinals if they defeat Zimbabwe by two goals in the last game and hope Zambia beats Mali’.

Yesterday, Uganda’s chances of advancing to the quarter-finals of the Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) were thwarted by Zambia, after the latter beat Uganda 1-0 in a match dominated by the Cranes, played at the Umuganda Stadium.

The lone Zambian goal was scored by striker Christopher Katongo on the 41st minute, throwing Uganda into another one of its mathematics calculations in continental competitions.

Uganda has had a history of complex calculations at continental competitions, the last being during the Cranes of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers in 2013.

At the time, the Cranes needed only a draw against traditional regional rivals Kenya to qualify for the finals in South Africa.

Meanwhile, African giants Atlas Lions of Morocco will qualify for the CHAN quarter-finals if they beat Rwanda today. Rwanda, with six points, has already qualified for the Q/Finals.

 

 

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US pushes AU leaders on Burundi peacekeeping force

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
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U S Ambassador to the UN,Samantha Power.

The United States has urged African leaders to “work behind the scenes” before their annual summit next weekend to convince Burundi to accept a deployment of international troops in the tiny African state amid festering political violence.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said members of the African Union Peace and Security Council expected leaders to endorse its proposed deployment of 5,000 troops to protect civilians, despite a rejection of the force by Burundi.

“I didn’t get a sense from the African countries gathered in the room that they’re going to take that as a final answer,” Power told reporters after a meeting between the UN Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa.

“As well as the AU meeting (next weekend) to endorse it, we will need leaders to work behind the scenes to get the Burundi government to change its position,” she said.

Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza says the plan to send peacekeepers would constitute ‘an invading force’. Nkurunziza’s re-election for a third term last year sparked the crisis, which has raised fears of an ethnic conflict in a region where memories of neighboring Rwanda’s 1994 genocide remain fresh.

The UN Security Council traveled to Burundi on Thursday for one night, it’s second visit to the country in less than 10 months. The United Nations estimates the death toll at 439 people but says it could be higher. More than 240,000 people have fled abroad and the country’s economy is in crisis.

The African Union plans to seek UN Security Council backing for any deployment of troops. France will draft a resolution, Deputy U.N. Ambassador Alexis Lamek said, adding that an initial priority was to send some 100 AU human rights and military observers to Burundi.

Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Petr Iliichev said the situation in Burundi appeared to be improving, but not to the point where ‘we can say we should put it on the back burner’.

“For us it will be very difficult to oppose any resolution from the African Union because we always say that there should be African solutions to African problems,” he said of any request for UN authorization to deploy troops. Russia is a council veto power.

“There are no signs of genocide, but there is potential for genocide … but there is no imminent threat,” he said. Iliichev said on Friday that Burundi did not need peacekeepers and instead needed help increasing its police capacity.

During a meeting with the UN Security Council on Friday, Nkurunziza accused neighboring Rwanda of supporting rebels by training and arming Burundian refugees recruited on Rwandan soil. Rwanda has previously dismissed the allegations.

“It is in the interests of the Burundian government to consent to having an enhanced African presence in Burundi to monitor the border, to disarm those elements outside the traditional security forces and to help stabilize the situation,” Power said.

Burundi and Rwanda have the same ethnic mix – about 85 percent Hutus and 15 percent Tutsis. A 12-year civil war in Burundi, which ended in 2005, pitted a Tutsi-led army against Hutu rebel groups.

 

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