Stanbic Bank
Stanbic Bank
19.9 C
Kampala
Stanbic Bank
Stanbic Bank
Home Blog Page 2232

NRM lawyers hit back at Mbabazi over ‘Mbale visit’

By
Richard Wanambwa
-
Kiryowa Kiwanuka

Lawyers representing the National Resistance Movement (NRM) have penned a strongly-worded letter to the Independent Electoral Commission, advising the electoral body to restrain the Go Forward candidate John Patrick Amama Mbabazi from bothering their client.

In the terse letter dated January 8, Kiwanuka, Karugire Advocates and Solicitors, representing NRM candidate Yoweri Museveni, said that Mbabazi had made it a habit to level unsubstantiated allegations against their client.

letter

‘It has become a habit of the complainant to invent fictional grievances, such as this, which our client is required to respond to. We therefore request you to advise the complainant to substantiate this and all other future allegations he is sure to make, lest our client is constrained to continue wasting time and resources answering allegations made without any factual basis,’ the NRM lawyers wrote.

The NRM lawyers were responding to a communication from Mr Mbabazi’s lawyers, Muwema and Company Advocates, who imputed that Mr Museveni would be in Mbale between January 9th and 10th , scheduled days which were allotted to Mr Mbabazi by the IEC to campaign in the Elgon region, in contravention of the electoral rules.

But according to the NRM lawyers, their client does not have any scheduled activity in Mbale on the said days.

‘The above notwithstanding, HE the President does not, at this time, have any scheduled activity in Mbale on the 9th or the 10th of January 2016 and he has not made any such announcement as the complainants allege,’ the president’s lawyers wrote.

However, despite clarifying on Mr Museveni’s presumed presence in Mbale, the NRM lawyers stressed that Mr Museveni is the President of Uganda and that his duties cannot be disrupted by campaign activities.

‘HE Yoweri Museveni is the President of Uganda, Mbale inclusive, whose duties do not cease during the campaign period. Therefore, any duties of state that require his attention cannot be curtailed by political campaign programmes,’ wrote the lawyers of Kiwanuka Karugire Advocates and Solicitors, whose two principal partners are Kiwanuka Kiryowa and Edwin Karugire, a son-in-law to President Museveni, the NRM flag bear for theFebruary 18, 2016 elections.

Stories Continues after ad

Mein Kampf hits stores in tense Germany

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
-

It’s one of the most talked about publications of the year. It’s not a new book. And it’s not even a well-written book. But Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler, which hits German bookshops for the first time in 70 years today, is certainly attracting attention.

Hitler’s anti-Semitic tirade is seen as the forerunner to the Holocaust. But that is also why historians want it republished.

Hitler wrote it mostly while in prison in the mid-1920s, and academics say it helps explain the Nazis’ crazed ideology when they came to power less than a decade later.

As such, they say, it’s a crucial academic text. Not pleasant reading, but essential to understanding the Holocaust and Hitler’s brutal rule.

Surprisingly, some Jewish groups have also supported this edition.

This is an annotated, critical version, with thousands of academic notes.

And without this republication, the only hard copies available in Germany would be the pre-1945 Nazi editions, still found in second-hand bookshops or online. Those are certainly not critical.

The idea is that republishing Mein Kampf will help undermine it.

Hitler’s book will be reprinted in Germany for the first time since World War Two. Until now, the copyright has been in the hands of the Bavarian government. But because 70 years have now passed since the the death of the author – in this case, Adolf Hitler – that copyright has expired.

Ban counter-productive

Germany could ban it. After all, the swastika and other Nazi symbols are outlawed here, under incitement-to-violence laws.

Germans see that not as an infringement of free speech, but as a way of guaranteeing it, by not allowing fascist groups to intimidate minorities.

But the problem with banning Mein Kampf is that this could simply increase its power.

It would fuel the neo-Nazi propaganda that claims that modern Germany stamps out dissent from far-right groups.

spelled out his world view in Mein Kampf

There is also a feeling that outlawing the book would simply add to its mystique. Much better to destroy the myth, is the hope.

Actually reading it, rather than regarding the book as dangerous and seductive, takes away any power from a text that is clearly nothing more than an incoherent and badly written rant.

So, using incitement laws, Germany’s authorities have decided to restrict publication: an annotated, academic edition will be allowed – but not other uncritical editions.

But Germans are still distinctly uncomfortable with the idea that they might suddenly start seeing the Fuehrer’s face adorning shop windows, not to mention the moral issue of making a profit out of an anti-Semitic text written by Hitler.

That is why some bookshops have said they will not stock the book. And they are certainly not displaying it.

The biggest bookshop in Berlin, Dussmann, told us that they have one copy available on shelves in the history section.

But the store will not advertise it in any way. And more copies will only be available on order.

Clearly any short-term business opportunity that might come from the media buzz would be more than undermined by the bad press a bookshop would get if sales were boosted thanks to Hitler.

Changing attitudes

But over the past few years, attitudes towards Hitler have changed.

I remember the media furore 10 years ago when one of Germany’s most respected actors, Bruno Ganz, played Hitler in the film Downfall.

played Hitler in the film Downfall

There were nationwide debates about whether audiences would sympathise with Hitler as he met his end in the bunker.

Last Autumn, it was a comedy about Hitler that went straight to the top of the box office chart. There were the same debates.

But this time round, they felt more like debates the media was having with itself, rather than anything people were actually talking about.

Possibly, that is because over the past decade there have been plenty of comedies showing Hitler as ridiculous.

And for many young Germans, whose grandparents may have been born after Hitler died, the idea that they are guilty seems odd.

Mein Kampf:

  • Mein Kampf (My Struggle) was originally printed in 1925 – eight years before Hitler came to power
  • It outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany, including Lebensraum, the need to colonise neighbouring territory to allow Germany to achieve its full potential
  • The book was edited by Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess
  • After Nazi Germany was defeated in 1945, the Allied forces handed the copyright to the book to the state of Bavaria
  • The local authorities have refused to allow the book to be reprinted, to prevent incitement of hatred
  • Under German law, copyright lasts for 70 years, so publishers will be able to have free access to the original text from this month
  • German officials have said they will limit public access to the text amid fears that this could stir neo-Nazi sentiment

But Nazi guilt still very much informs German political culture today – even in the current refugee crisis.

After 1945, Germany’s constitution was set up as a reaction against Hitler’s brutal treatment of political opponents.

Which is why Article 16a stipulates that anyone fleeing political oppression has a right to asylum in Germany.

Stories Continues after ad

Produce Aine or declare him dead, Mbabazi lawyers tell police

By
Steven F Mandu
-
L-R; Soverein Twinobusingye, Fred Enanga and Fred Muwema

Lawyers representing Go Forward presidential candidate John Patrick Amama Mbabazi have told the police to produce Christopher Aine, the missing head of Mbabazi’s private security detail.

Speaking to the EagleOnline, Fred Muwema, one of the lawyers representing Mbabazi said that under Ugandan law it is the duty of the police to produce Aine.

“This ping pong should stop; Aine’s family needs to know whether he is alive or dead, and it falls squarely in the hands of the police,” Muwema, said on phone today.

Muwema was responding to contents of a statement reportedly issued by Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga earlier today, in which the police said the lawyers were in Jinja court on January 6, where they asked the presiding magistrate not to issue a warrant of arrest for Aine, and that the lawyers would produce him.

Aine was supposed to appear in court to answer to violence charges preferred against him following a confrontation he had with police in Jinja.

‘It is also surprising and ridiculous to allege that the police arrested Christopher Aine and are keeping him, when in fact on 6th January, his lawyers were in Jinja Chief Magistrates Court to oppose the issuance of the warrant of arrest for him, where they assured court that given an extension of time, they would produce him in court’, local media reported Mr Enanga as saying in a statement.

But while responding to Mr Enanga’s statement Muwema said: “Lawyers have a duty to defend their clients; they had to tell court basing on police’s statement that he is alive and that they would have him produced in court.” He added: So, the lawyers cannot produce him because he is missing and so they should not hold the lawyers at ransom.”

Another Go Forward lawyer Severino Twinobusingye said Mr Enanga had deliberately omitted some facts in relation to the ongoing Aine saga.

“The spokesperson of the police decided to deliberately leave out certain facts. For example before January 6 we had applied for habeas corpus, so how could we go to court and say we would produce him. So, that statement of Enanga doesn’t add up it leaves a lot to be desired,” Twinobusingye said on phone.

Efforts to contact Mr Enanga both on phone and through SMS were futile as he did not respond to either form of communication, but the Kampala Metropolitan spokesman Patrick Onyango insisted it was only Mr Enanga who was authorized to comment on the Aine issue.

The Aine saga has taken several twists and yesterday social media carried a photo of a lifeless man with apparent stitch marks in the chest and broken teeth, and the poster purported the photo was that of Aine, a wanted man who went missing about two weeks ago, prompting police boss Gen Kale Kayihura to put a bounty of Shs20 million on his head.

Yesterday the photo and accompanying story were published by The Redpepper and its Luganda sister paper Kamunye, leading to the arrest of two Editors of the Redpepper Publications late yesterday.

Then later Aine’s twin sister Ritah Babirye Aine asked the police to task the two newspapers to produce the source of the photograph, saying that could provide a lead in the investigations related to her missing brother.

Stories Continues after ad

Tsvangirai, Mujuru ratchet up pressure on Mugabe

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
-
Tsvangirai and Mujuru
Political tension is rising in Zimbabwe, with some parts of the country being rocked by intermittent violence, riots and strikes — amid revelations yesterday that leading opposition players are ratcheting up their plans to either impeach President Robert Mugabe or force an early general election.
Harare and its dormitory town of Chitungwiza have over the course of this week alone often resembled war zones, with angry civil servants and equally agitated commuter omnibus operators involved in running battles with law enforcement agencies that have seen dozens of people injured and arrested.
Amid all this brouhaha, well-placed sources said yesterday that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC and former Vice President Joice Mujuru’s People First movement could trigger early polls, possibly as early as this year, as the political climate in the country continues to deteriorate.
Part of the plans being considered, the sources claim, involve on  one hand the MDC withdrawing all its MPs from Parliament, while Mujuru’s ‘original’ Zanu PF that uses the slogan People First — and which is actively wooing Mugabe’s post-congress Zanu PF MPs — would denude the ruling party’s National Assembly numbers through this courtship, thereby forcing an early general election.
Parliament’s Standing Order Number 56 (1) and Section 137 of the Constitution provide that the Senate and the National Assembly must have a minimum number of members present at all times for them to conduct business.
However, analysts say the opposition faces a daunting task to achieve a dissolution of Parliament, as Mujuru would, for example, have to lure more than 100 MPs from the ruling party’s 217 legislators for this to happen.
But the Daily News has previously reported that scores of post-congress Zanu PF MPs were contemplating jumping ship to join her People First project that is set to be officially launched as an opposition party early this year.
“What has been holding many of us back has been the issue of security, especially the cars that we were given by government which we are still paying for.
“But we have been assured that our welfare will be taken care of and that our cars will be paid for in full, so we are now almost ready to go,” a ruling party legislator said yesterday.
In the meantime, the MDC has come out guns blazing, condemning the ruling party for its violent crushing of recent peaceful demonstrations around the country.
It also once again called on Mugabe, currently on his annual break overseas, to come back home to attend to the myriad challenges confronting the country, or else ‘resign in shame’.
“The MDC would like to call upon Robert Mugabe to cut short his undeserved State-funded holiday and to immediately come back so that he can personally take control of the collapsing national economy.
“The country is on virtual auto-pilot as the nonagenarian is living it up in the Far East. How insensitive and selfish can a president be?
“The MDC would also like to take this opportunity to call upon all parliamentarians, across the political divide, to put their heads together when Parliament resumes sitting within the next few weeks.
“It is abundantly clear that President Robert Mugabe has abdicated his responsibilities as the Head of State and as such, Parliament should proceed to impeach him,” MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu said.
He said the violence that was continuing to erupt around the country was a reflection that the nonagenarian was now ‘out of his wits’ end and no longer fit to rule”.
“He doesn’t deserve to continue exercising the duties and functions of our State President. We call upon Mugabe to call it a day and retreat to Gushungo Estates in Mazowe where he can spend time admiring his huge herd of dairy cows.
“Zimbabweans have suffered for too long under the Zanu PF dictatorship that is fronted by President Mugabe.
“The chains of servitude now have to be unlocked. 2016 should be the Year of The People’s Liberation,” Gutu said.
He added that Zimbabwe had now allegedly degenerated into a police state, with demonstrations against the deteriorating socio-economic conditions presently obtaining in the country outlawed.
“Typical of all dictatorial and fascist regimes, the Zanu PF government is determined to use brute force and violence in order to unconstitutionally stop Zimbabweans from exercising their constitutional right to stage peaceful demonstrations, “he said.
With Zimbabwe continuing on its precipitous decline that is widely blamed on Mugabe and Zanu PF — and which is now manifested by a stone-broke State that can’t pay its workers, as well as rising poverty levels in the country — analysts warn of looming civil strife in 2016.
The analysts have said Zimbabwe is by all indications teetering on the brink of total collapse, a situation that they claim is spawning worsening citizen despondency which could lead to growing opposition to Mugabe’s and Zanu PF’s 36 years in power
Stories Continues after ad

South Sudan ‘rebels’ okay power sharing deal

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
-
Rebels loyal to former South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar are hailing a power sharing deal with the government as a positive breakthrough, one that they say brings their country one more step closer to peace.
The agreement, signed Thursday in Juba, allocates a total of 30 ministries for a proposed transitional government of national unity.  It gives the South Sudan government 16 ministries, including finance and planning, defense, information, national security, and justice and constitutional affairs. The rebels got 10 ministries, including petroleum, interior, labor, mining, and land, housing and urban development. Foreign affairs and transport were given to a group of former political detainees not aligned with either the South Sudan government or the rebels. Other political parties in South Sudan got two.
Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, secretary for foreign affairs of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition, said the rebels will abide by the agreement even if it doesn’t meet all their demands.
“We cannot say that we are satisfied with what we have, but this an agreement that we have signed on to. Anything that we have signed on to, even it is not satisfying what we wanted, we must implement it as it is. So we are happy with the ministries that we have selected starting with the ministry of interior, ministry of petroleum, and ministry of higher education, science and technology, ministry of energy and dams, ministry of education and water technology, and ministry of humanitarian affairs,” he said.
Gatkuoth said their 10 ministries are geared toward delivering well-needed services to ordinary South Sudanese.
Gatkuoth said the rebels have submitted the list of their parliament members to the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), set up by IGAD to monitor the implementation of the August peace agreement.
“So this is a serious breakthrough, and we congratulated the people of South Sudan for waiting, and now finally they will have a government in place soon,” he said.
According to the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission timetable, a government of national unity should be in place by January 22, 2016, with rebel leader Machar as first vice president of Sudan.
Stories Continues after ad

Kenya bans ‘seed’ preacher, sex talk shows

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
-
Time is up for preachers notorious for asking for offertory or a set amount of money (seed) in exchange for special blessings and prayers on TV or radio.
Such ‘seed’ preachers, who encourage viewers to give ‘far and beyond’ their abilities to attract blessings, will soon have no place in radio and television programmes. Preachers have also been banned from recruiting people to their faiths or asking them to get ‘saved’ as they often do at the tail-end of their broadcasts.
These, among other rules, are contained in the 37-page Programming Code for Free-to-Air Radio and Television Services in Kenya. This is not all, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has also banned sex talk during the daytime on radios. This will be seen as punitive for TV and radio which depend on call-in shows with, sometimes, heart-to-heart sharing of bedroom matters on air. These popular shows drive up ratings and advertisers scramble to get slots to sell their merchandise when these shows are on air. But according to CA, unless they are part of educational programmes, the shows stand banned during the watershed period – between 5am and 10pm.
The Director General of CA Francis Wangusi has also struck a blow on shows where cheating spouses or people reneging on debts are exposed on air. He says the suspects have to be informed beforehand. Journalists, anchors and presenters will no longer be able to voice audio commercials or appear in online commercials. In a raft of new tough measures targeting the media industry, the authority has also outlawed television commercials that are likely to ‘corrupt’ the morals of young children or traumatise them.These new rules have been gazetted by the Communications Authority, and the media houses doing free-to-air broadcasting have six months to comply.
By June, this year, media houses will not be allowed to show advertisements for more than 14 minutes in every hour. This will, inevitably, eat away at the revenues, and cripple the already threatened commercial viability of many of the private media enterprises. Within one year, the media must have 40 per cent of their programming either produced locally or having local footage. Four years later, they will be forced to have 60 per cent of local content. Media houses will also have to ensure that all their advertising contains at least 40 per cent ‘local content footage’. This is likely to affect multinationals that make adverts from their headquarters in South Africa, Europe or America, to run around the world. To get into the Kenyan market, they will have to spend more on local content or simply leave Kenyan media houses out of their global marketing campaign, and/or opt for alternative modes of advertising. The depiction of alcoholic drinks as good after a hard-days work or good for bonding sessions or even for celebration is banned.  
The Government regulator has also made it mandatory for all TV stations to employ sign-language interpreters, currently only available on the Standard Group’s KTN and on State broadcaster KBC.
Stories Continues after ad

Police detains Redpepper editors over Aine photo

By
Steven F Mandu
-
Ben Byarabaha

 

The police has today quizzed and detained two Pepper Publications News Editors, Ben Baryabaha of The Redpepper and Dickson Mubiru of Kamunye, a Luganda daily, over a story and photographs of a lifeless man carried in the tabloid, purportedly of Christopher Aine, the missing head of the Go Forward candidate John Patrick Amama Mbabazi’s private security detail.

In the story today titled ‘Aine body emerges’ the tabloid says the lifeless body is that of Aine, a wanted by police for ‘grievous assault’ and is being sought with a bounty of Shs20 million on his head.

According to a letter from the CID that Eagle Online has seen, the Managing Editor of Pepper Publication was required at the Special investigations police unit at Kireka for interrogation and recording of a statement.

“Special Investigations Unit is conducting an investigation into publication ‘Aine body emerges’ that was carried on page 1 and 2 of the Red Pepper 07/01/2016. Pursuant to section 27A of the Police Act, you are required to report to Special investigations Division Kireka, today Thursday, 07/01/2016 at 16:30 hrs to assist in giving information in respect to the matter being investigated,” read the letter in part.

Aine is said to have gone missing after his arrest was ordered by the Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura over election violence that ensued when the Go Forward supporters clashed with those of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) during one of Mbabazi’s rallies in Ntungamo.

Varying communications about Aine’s whereabouts have caused anxiety, with the apparent ping pong between authorities, the Go Forward team and his relatives leaving a confused public.

It is against this background that The Redpepper carried the controversial story and when the family saw the photo they stormed police and asked to be escorted to the City Mortuary in Mulago to verify if the said dead body is indeed that of their missing relative.

The mortuary sojourn proved fruitless but the relatives led by Aine’s twin sister Ritah Babirye Aine insisted that the photo in the newspaper was indeed for her missing brother.

However, Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga was quick to dispel Ms Aine’s claims, saying that the photo that appeared in the tabloids was either photo-shopped or that of another person.

In a related development, the Go Forward lawyers have sought the writ of habeas corpus in respect to Aine, who was allegedly picked by unknown people from the city suburb of Kyanja about two weeks ago and has not been seen since then.

By press time it was not possible to get a comment from either the police or the Redpepper management.

The Redpepper has sometimes run in trouble following the publication of controversial stories and in 2013 their offices, together with those of the Monitor Publications, were closed for 10 days after running a story on ‘the succession project’ in regard to first son Brigadier Muhoozi Kainerugaba, arising from a letter written by General David Sejusa to the Director General of Internal Security Organisation (ISO) Brigadier Ronnie Barya.

Stories Continues after ad

US presidential contender Trump faces ‘UK ban’

By
Our Reporter and Agencies
-
POSTPONED UK VISIT: US President Donald Trump.

 

British Members of Parliament will on January 18 debate whether to allow American billionaire and presidential contender Donald Trump entry in the United Kingdom.

More than 500,000 people have signed a petition demanding the billionaire is barred from Britain after he claimed police were scared to enter areas of London because of radical Islam.

The defiant US business mogul has said that the UK would ‘send a terrible message to the world that it opposes free speech’ if he is barred by the government, amid accusations of ‘holding the UK to ransom’ after he warned he will not put any more money into his two Scots golf course.

But the controversial billionaire has threatened to withdraw £700million of investment in Scotland if he is banned from Britain over comments he made about Muslims.

The Trump Organisation issued the warning after it was revealed MPs will debate whether or not the tycoon should be allowed back into Britain on January 18 at Westminster Hall.

Tulip Siddiq, a Muslim Labour MP, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘The United Kingdom should not be held to ransom by corrosive billionaire politicians. In our country, money doesn’t buy the right to sew discord and hatred in our communities.

‘Donald Trump’s threats about withholding investment from the UK is another desperate attempt to get in the headlines and anyone seeing his comments should reject his bigotry.’

Mr Trump owns two golf courses in Scotland: Trump International Golf Links, in Aberdeenshire, and the iconic Turnberry course in Ayrshire.

George Sorial, executive vice-president of the Trump Organisation, warned any action to restrict Mr Trump’s travel would force the company to ‘immediately end’ all current and future investment in the country.4

He said: ‘The Trump Organization has plans to invest more than 200 million pounds into the development of the iconic Trump Turnberry resort.

‘Our work there has been widely supported by the local community and created hundreds of jobs for the region.

‘Over the coming years, we intend to further develop Trump Turnberry and invest millions more at the site, creating sustained economic growth for South Ayrshire and Scotland.

‘Additionally, we have plans to invest £500million pounds towards further development at the 1,400 acre Trump International Golf Links, Aberdeen.

Donald Trump’s mother was Scottish and the billionaire’s passion for golf has seen him buy its jewel Turnberry and build a new links course near Aberdeen, costing him hundreds of millions.

But since he made comments about Muslims in December he has suffered blow after blow.

His dreams of hosting The Open Championship at his Scottish golf course look to have been dashed because of his plan to ban Muslims from entering the US.

The new R&A chief executive Martin Slumber was expected to endorse Turnberry as a venue for the 2020 Open Championship, after Mr Trump bought the course in April 2014, giving it a £200million makeover.

He has also been stripped of his status as a business ambassador for Scotland.

Last month Mr Trump blasted the Scottish Government as ‘small-minded and parochial’ and labelled Alex Salmond a ‘has been’ after he lost a legal battle against an offshore windfam being built in the view from his Scottish golf resort in Aberdeenshire, where he had planned to spend £500million.

The controversial property tycoon had wanted to block plans for an 11-turbine scheme in the bay off the coast near the Trump International Golf Links at the Menie Estate in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. But his legal challenge failed.

‘Any action to restrict travel would force The Trump Organization to immediately end these and all future investments we are currently contemplating in the United Kingdom.

‘Westminster would send a terrible message to the World that the United Kingdom opposes free speech and has no interest in attracting inward investment.’

Mr Sorial added that banning Mr Trump from UK soil would ‘also alienate the many millions of United States citizens who wholeheartedly support Mr Trump and have made him the forerunner by far in the 2016 Presidential Election.’

In December last year, presidential hopeful Mr Trump called for a ‘total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States’ following terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, in California.

He was then accused of making a ‘hate speech’ about Britain and a petition demanding he is barred from the UK became the most popular ever.

The tycoon is defiant and has since accused Britons of ‘trying hard to disguise their massive Muslim problem’ and said his critics are just ‘pandering to political correctness’.

In a series of outbursts last month, the billionaire tycoon said ‘UK politicians should be thanking me’ for his claim that some of the country’s Muslim communities are no-go areas because of extremism.

He also attacked ‘out of touch’ MPs who abused him over his demand for an end to Muslim immigration to America, tweeting: ‘Everybody is wise to what is happening, very sad! Be honest!’

And he hit back at the hundreds of thousands signing the official petition demanding Mr Trump – the frontrunner to be the Republican Presidential candidate – be banned from Britain, writing on Twitter: ‘They don’t know what they’re getting into’.

During a CNN interview as he faced worldwide condemnation for his comments he said: ‘I am the least racist person you have ever met.’

His words led to him being stripped of his status as a business ambassador for Scotland and also lost his honorary degree from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.

Suzanne Kelly, the woman who started the petition to have him barred from the UK, said: ‘When the signatures quickly topped the 100,000 mark and a parliamentary debate was triggered, I still did not actually believe that this billionaire would be the subject of a parliamentary debate.

‘However the debate goes, this exercise has brought many people together to speak out against hate speech and prejudice.

‘That is my reward, and one I’m very happy and moved by.’

The debate on January 18 will be chaired by Labour MP Paul Flynn.

Labour MP Helen Jones, chair of the House of Commons Petitions Select Committee, said: ‘By scheduling a debate on these petitions, the Committee is not expressing a view on whether or not the Government should exclude Donald Trump from the UK.

‘As with any decision to schedule a petition for debate, it simply means that the Committee has decided that the subject should be debated. A debate will allow a range of views to be expressed.’

Stories Continues after ad

Today’s campaign trails in pictures

By
Our Reporter
-

President Museveni in Rukungiri

m77

Amama Mbabazi in Napak District

993874_974804919247987_2523012610392570150_nAmama TRail

Kizza Besigye in Mbale

12494823_1231043453576370_8297900565540041537_n

12376184_1231043460243036_6516129426341191717_n

Stories Continues after ad

Swimsuit Queen Hildah Lindah on family, career and relationship

By
Steven F Mandu
-

Q: Readers of Eagle Online would like to know who is Hildah Lindah?

A: I am a phenomenal woman that believes in hard work. A former model, ex Urban TV presenter and currently into a swimsuit business.

12483490_498384580364398_2014935536_n (1)

Q:Can you take us through your early childhood life?

A: I was born on May 5 1991 to Mr and Mrs Richard and Christine Nsereko . We are seven in my family; five girls and two boys. Same dad and mum; that is the beauty of it all…

Q: Take me though your education?

A: As a toddler, I went to Auntie Claire’s kindergarten in Mengo. It was like the Greenhill Academy kind of school then. It was a kindergarten of both whites and blacks with so many kids. Anyone who stays or has ever lived in Mengo knows what I am talking about. The school still exists though so many things changed now. For primary I went to Buddo Junior School from P1 to P5. It was one of the best primary schools then among others but boarding life was harsh and hard for me so my parents decided to put in a day school closer home which was SIR Apollo Kaggwa Primary School- Mengo..
It was and still is one of the best primary schools up to date. For Secondary, I went to Mengo SS for my O level and Buloba High School for my A Level. Currently, I am pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Procurement and Supply Chain Management at Makerere University Business School.

12483578_498383157031207_1043115053_n (1)

 Q: What exactly do you do a living?

A: I am an entrepreneur; I run a swimsuit business

Q: Why did you quit TV?

A: Well, to be honest, TV is really tricky. The first two episodes of the show were my hardest, but that is when I enjoyed it the most. I had never done TV before I went in for it, did what I did and I am forever grateful for the opportunity but it just wasn’t my thing to be honest. I was mentally over it as i had another option of focusing on my swimsuit business and earn fast money cause it is what I genuinely loved and wanted to do, I could not multi-task TV and my modeling.

Q: You are a very beautiful girl how do you maintain your beauty and figure?

Thanks for that positive attribute. Well, I don’t do none, its my natural look and physique; I was born that way.

 Q: Why did you join the swimsuit business?

A: Well, I wanted to do something others were not doing. Especially for the young girls, no one had tapped into the swimsuit business yet, so I decided to do it first. Plus, I always loved the pool and the water so it made sense for me to start up a swimsuit business in Kampala. I started to promote it exclusively on social media to people who were following me, and it took off from there

 Q: When exactly did you start swimsuit?

A: Uhm, I started the swimsuit business around January 2015…. Just a while ago…. you know!

 Q: Apart from swim suit what else do you do?

A: Apart from the swimsuit business, I do nothing but take beautiful eye catching selfies. I m a photo lover and I like capturing moments…

 Q: How is the swim suit business in Uganda? Are people embracing it?

A: Uhm the swimsuit business is steadily growing each and every day. Back then, a girl posing in a swimsuit used to be a big of a deal but lately it is kind of a lifestyle. That is being adopted in Kampala and no body and by nobody I mean (70%) wants to be left out or lag behind on the swimsuits trend.  And my Facebook page called ‘Need a Swimsuit?’  is my evidence for this question I am answering right now. All my customer highlights are there. So yeah, people are embracing it.

12483530_498383167031206_35427839_n

 Q: You have been on and off in the modeling career why?

A: Well, modeling was something I grew up having a passion for. I don’t even know why or how cause I was always the Shy Girl and  it is funny how I never really had a model in the industry then I looked up to. I think it was innate passion and desire. I modeled around 2011-2013 and I lost the passion not because I wanted to give up easily but because of the few reasons like exploitation where after gigs we were paid little or nothing at all. And most shows were during night time…slowly, I lost it all just like that. It suddenly all died

 Q: You appear so much in bikinis, being Africans is your family and community free with it?

A: First things first. It is a marketing tactic. And yes, my family knows that it’s what I am doing for a living and they support me 100% so I am safe to say they are okay with it all

 

Q: Have you ever had a crush over a man and if yes who?

A: I guess each one of us has ever had a crush on someone and mine happens to be J Cole .

Q: What is it that you can’t miss in your bag?

A: I can’t move without a pair of shades and headsets

Q: Lindah you are a very beautiful girl, do you do you get calls from men asking you out?

Answer: I am a beautiful girl?! Oh thanks! Well, of course I do get calls from random anonymous guys all the time.

 Question: How do you manage to resist them?

Answer: Well at the end of the day, I know who I want and… just like that…everything works out itself

Q: What is it that you think some people don’t like about you?

A: Well, people don’t like my principles. When I say ‘no’ to something its 98% always a NO and vice versa. So I always come off as a mean person.So I would say people don’t like it that I am principled and I am outspoken hence keeping it real and 1000 ( a thousand) like the romans.

Q: Who is your role model?

A: I have two role models. And these fashionable beautiful women areDraya Howard Michelle who has a swimwear line called “Mint Swimwear”. I see her as a very hardworking woman; from being a stripper and being abandoned by her boyfriend at 16 years of age when she was pregnant, she worked so hard to be where she is right now because to make it in the city, you need to know where you are coming from to where you are going to. So I see her as a rose that grew from concrete. So yeah, she is my perfect person.

Q: Who are you your closest friends both male and female?

 Answer: Closest friends My Mum and sisters; male is my brother

 Q: Which music do you listen to?

A: Straight up hip hop all day, every day.

Q: Who is your favorite artiste both locally and internationally?

A: Locally it is Irene Ntale. Internationally you already know its J Cole all day every day. His music is relatable to this day-to-day life we living and that is how I get my motivational boost that keeps me going.

Q: How do you spend your free time?

A:  I hit it the pool. Swimming is my thing. I also listen to music because music is like air to me. That explains why headsets are a must-have in my handbag

 Q: What have been the achievements in your career starting with modeling, TV and swimsuit?

A: Well, I decided that I want to be my own boss. I wanted to make my own rules, my own hours, my own money and that is just the path I chose; at least I don’t have to storm people’s offices looking for jobs as I am focused on mine. Plus, I got a lot of exposure through modeling, TV to the swimsuit business I am doing now and I have been able to work with celebrities and some public figures. I have also been able to expand my marketing skills, customer base on a daily basis since I come up with something new once in a while on how to keep my business booming

Q: What challenges have you encountered and how have you tried to overcome them?

A: One main challenge I can’t really help or control is weather. On rainy cold days, the business is really slow and the only way I try overcoming it is by putting that month’s stock on “Half Price Sale”

Q: Where do you see the swimsuit business in Uganda in the near future?

I don’t know where the business is going at large but I do know where my swimsuit business personally is going and that is a swim wear line…

 Q: What are your future prospects?

Coming up with an upscale swim wear brand, pioneered by business magnate ‘Hildah Lindah’ as I would love to come up with names for each swimsuit stemmed from a personal experience of specific person as the names will be inspired by my friends and family. Just a thought if it makes me excited.

 

Stories Continues after ad
1...2,2312,2322,233...2,377Page 2,232 of 2,377

© Eagle Online. All rights reserved.

About Us

Popular Category

Editor Picks