President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate in the forthcoming February 18 elections took to Facebook earlier today, to inform Ugandans of what transpired during a press conference he held at Kabale State Lodge.

In his address, the President put emphasis on unity saying it was the gospel that he has been preaching ever since coming to power in 1986. He noted that through unity he had managed to create a party, the NRM which later took power and preached peace.

“Unity produced strength, which provided peace. But now some people are saying they are tired of peace. These are jokers. Development is a result of peace, and now we are tackling wealth creation,” part of the post states.

However, the FB post elicited mixed reactions from a few respondents, and Eagle Online managed to extract a few them, verbatim.

Make sure u doesn’t steal the votes; we want free and fair elections.” Anthony Machoka said,”while Ashirafu Owakabii said: “Thank you so much our beloved president, we love you so much, may the almighty God bless you in everything you put your hands on.”

Another commentator Ben Mugisha said: “You are right His Excellency, there is no country/community that can thrive without unity,” while John Twesigye said, “Songa mbere mzei, great work done.”

For Richard Muweleza Bazanyanengo it was: “Who do you think you are?”, while ‘Shuley Sharp’ says, ‘Which unity are you preaching? No sensible Ugandan will take you serious, your words are opposite of your actions.”

Stories Continues after ad

A splinter group of the Uganda People Congress led by embattled Jimmy Akena has attacked the party’s ‘former president’ Olara Otunnu and the Milton Obote Foundation (MOF) for allegedly refusing to engage in mediation, as directed by court.

Currently, both the Akena and Otunnu camps are embroiled in a leadership and asset dispute related to the UPC and MOF, respectively.

In December last year court ruled that Akena is not the rightful UPC party president because he was not elected in accordance with the party constitution but then went ahead and advised both parties to resolve their differences amicably.

And speaking about the dispute early today, the acting party Secretary General Edward Segganyi said that court directed all parties involved in the UPC dispute involving the Milton Obote Foundation (MOF), to resolve their differences by way of mediation.

“The Otunnu group were caught trying to smuggle a purported mediation report onto the file, one that had never taken place,” Mr Segganyi said at party headquarters, Uganda House.

The UPC Secretary General warned former party vice president Joseph Bossa for trying to deregister UPC duly nominated candidates, and also charged that Mr Otunnu and MOF had formed an alliance to destroy the party and steal its assets.

He also scoffed at Mr Otunnu’s participation in the Go Forward campaign, saying the act is in contravention of the UPC constitution. “They will be confronted by the full weight and fury of the members,” he charged before urging members not to participate in a Delegates Conference slated for later this month.

“These are the same people who failed to hold a single Delegates Conference during their tenure, the timing and intention begs the question as to the purpose of the announcement,” he said and added that the conference was aimed at disrupting efforts of the UPC candidates.

However, contacted for comment, Dalton Opwonya, Mr Otunnu’s lawyer rubbished Segganyi’s allegetions on mediation.

He said the Akena camp was served with summons but refused saying they had appealed in the Court of Appeal and wanted nothing to do with the High Court ruling.

“The Registrar wrote the mediation report and he is not a mad man,” said lawyer Opwonya, adding: “When outside court they want mediation but when in court they don’t want it.”

Stories Continues after ad

Independent presidential candidate John Patrick Amama Mbabazi’s team has hit out at the Go Forward Coordinator for Tooro and Rwenzori sub-regions Mr Steven Kaliba who has crossed back to the NRM, saying his defection will not affect their campaigns.

Mbabazi’s Media Coordinator Josephine Mayanja Nkangi said today that Kaliba had crossed as an individual and that he does not affect their campaign strategy. She also denied reports that Kaliba was the Coordinator of the Go Forward team in Tooro and Rwenzori regions.

“He was merely a member of the summit who joined our campaign team during the TDA discussions and it would be wrong for him to or anyone to refer to him as a coordinator as he is claiming to have been,” said Mayanja.

Kaliba, who resigned his job as the Tooro Prime Minister to contest for the same seat in Parliament, says he is frustrated with the way the Go Forward team is playing it politics. Previously, he left the ruling NRM party following some disagreements last year.

A former Prime Minister of Tooro Kingdom, who was also  a Member of Parliament representing Fort Portal Municipality in the Eighth Parliament, Kaliba crossed back to the NRM today following a meeting with President Yoweri Museveni, who is also the NRM presidential candidate at State lodge Kabale.

While receiving him back in the NRM, the NRM Chairman Museveni thanked Kaliba for seeing ‘light and coming back home’.

Analysts in the region say Kaliba’s cross over might bring down Mbabazi’s support in the Tooro and Rwenzori regions.

In a related development, sources say the deal to have Kaliba delivered back to NRM was reportedly coordinated and hatched by a high ranking officer from the region.

The former Tooro Prime Minister now will be part of the Museveni taskforce in the region to canvas support for the NRM candidate Museveni.

Stories Continues after ad

The Catholic Church in Uganda has come under fire from human rights activists all over the world. This condemnation comes after an investigation carried out by the BBC revealed that children as young as 10 years are forced to work for a miserable pay on a plantation land owned by the Catholic Church.

According to BBC, the Church leased land to a tea plantation in Kabale, and over 15 children and elders work along for a daily wage of Shs1000 to Shs2000.  The plantation is managed by Kigezi Highland Tea Limited, Catholic Church owns the land.

An official of the Catholic Church confirmed to the BBC investigations  team that  Kigezi Highland Tea Limited  has  been in business with the local diocese for two years and that the decision to harvest tea came ‘through the financial sustainability plan committee’ of the Church.

Kigezi Highland Tea Limited and the local bishop refused to comment on the investigation.

The children’s job entails collecting young tea plants piled at the bottom of a steep hill and transporting them to the location of the designed point of cultivation.  They are also responsible for weeding the rows of tea plants

The BBC investigation stem from a former child soldier, Alex Turyarintuga’s allegations who claimed that children were labouring on land owned by the church. The investigation by BBC come after Pope Francis visited Uganda in Novermber and during his visits in Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic, the pope said the children were some of the greatest victims of Africa’s historical exploitation by other powers.

Pope Francis appealed for an end to child labour with a strong message in St Peter’s Square in Rome in 2014.

‘Tens of millions of children are forced to work in degrading conditions, exposed to forms of slavery and exploitation, as well as to abuse, ill-treatment and discrimination,’ said Pope Francis. Adding ‘I sincerely hope that the international community can offer social protection to minors to defeat this plague.’

The UN estimates that there are three million child workers in Uganda. According to the latest figures, 30 per cent of children aged between five and 14 are involved in child labour. In the African country, 14 is the legal age for work.

Stories Continues after ad