President Yoweri Museveni and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are holding talks focus on various development projects supported by Japan in Uganda.

Japan is pivotal in supporting governments “Prosperity for All” programme through improving the rural transport network to boost the volume of trading activities between the East African countries.

It is also supporting the construction of the new Nile Bridge at Jinja, a key infrastructure project which will inter-connect roads to neighboring countries such as Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Rwanda.

The President, who is on a four-day working visit was accompanied by the First Lady and Minister for Karamoja Affairs Janet Kataha Museveni and was received on arrival at Haneda International Airport by Uganda’s Ambassador to Japan Betty Akech,  her deputy Edith Namutebi, and ministers Okello Oryem (state for foreign affairs), Matia Kasaija (finance), and John Byabagambi (works).

The Musevenis will also meet Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace.

The President will also meet with key business executives, the Japan-AU Parliamentary League Members of Parliament and with a delegation from the Japan External Trade Organization led by its Chairman Hiroyuki Ishige.

He will also meet the President of Japan Oil, Gas & Metal National Cooperation Hirobiki Kawano before meeting and witnessing the signing of a loan agreement with Japan Bank of International Cooperation.

The Prime Minister will later host President Museveni to a dinner before the two leaders address a joint press conference at the Prime Minister’s residence.

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The Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) has told the government and the Electoral Commission (EC) to put to a halt the emergence of militia groups in the country, saying they could lead to violence during the 2016 elections.

Addressing journalists during the weekly press briefing today in Kampala, the party spokesperson Micheal Orach Osinde, who referred to the militia groups as ‘violence perpetrators’ said that government and other stakeholders need to rein in the militias early in a bid to curtail violence.

Recently a Senior Presidential Advisor on Political Affairs Major Roland Kakooza Mutale and embattled Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago declared that they had recruited scores of youth to safeguard their political interests during the election period.

Maj Mutale claims his group of about 600 that are being trained in Luweero will ‘protect NRM votes in the 2016 elections’, while Lukwago says his Solida group is to counter the activities of Mutale’s ‘vigilantes’.

“UPC calls upon all opposition political parties and all security agencies to investigate the threats by Kakooza Mutale and other pressure groups,” Osinde said.

He stressed that militia groups do not care about the lives and property of Ugandans, citing incidents in 2011 where lives and property were lost.

“EC is looking on, once a threat is declared, there is no way a sane government can leave it, unless they are part of it,” he added.

The UPC spokesperson further advised the EC and Uganda Human Right Commission to carry out civic education to sensitize the public about the dangers of subscribing to militia groups.

“They should come out and do civic education, voter education is different from civic education,” asserted Osinde.

He also noted that the Electoral Commission should plan for  auditable procedures so that it deters fraud, to ensure transparency and inclusive participation in next year’s elections.

“EC must develop codes of conduct that establish parameters for appropriate standards of behavior during this period of to mitigate latent conflicts,” he said.

Previously, several stakeholders including internal affairs minister Aronda Nyakairima, EC boss Eng Badru Kiggundu and the police have castigated the training of militia groups, saying the outfits are illegal and will not be tolerated. Indeed, reports indicate that police has summoned Maj Mutale and Lukwago, but it is not yet clear whether the two have answered the summonses.

Meanwhile, the UPC has expressed discontent with The Democratic Alliance for ‘dealing’ with Ambassador Olara Otunnu, who the party accuses of masquerading as its representative.

According to UPC Administrative Secretary Higenyi Kamba, Ottunu has on many occasions introduced himself as UPC party president ‘yet he is not’.

“I lodged a complaint to TDA criticizing why they worked with Otunnu; I informed them that Akena is the new UPC president,” Kamba said adding: “the EC does not recognize Otunnu.”

And weighing in on the issue, Osinde said that Otunnu and his cabinet are in TDA as individual members and they don’t represent the aspirations of UPC. “Otunnu can be in TDA as a prominent person but not as UPC president,” Osinde said and added: “They don’t choose for us, it is really why we opted out of the alliance.”

He also revealed that the party was considering taking legal action against Otunnu and his cabinet.

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Retired Colonel Kiiza Besigye has this afternoon been nominated to run on The Democratic Alliance platform during the forthcoming 2016 presidential elections.

Dr Besigye became the flag bearer for Forum for Democratic Change after defeating his party President Major General Mugisha Muntu at a delegates conference held at the Nelson Mandela National Stadium Nambole, last week.

Clad in a black suit, a flamboyant Besigye today arrived at the TDA offices in Naguru accompanied by supporters who were chanting anti- Museveni slogans, while praising him as the ‘true freedom fighter’.

FDC president Maj Gen Muntu, Leader of Opposition Wafula Oguttu, party Electoral Commission boss Dan Mugarura; Mobilisation Secretary Ingrid Turinawe and Shadow Finance Minister Geoffrey Ekanya also accompanied Besigye.

Dr Besigye, who presented his nomination papers to the TDA Chairman Okello Okello, pledged his commitment towards constitutional and electoral reforms in the country.

“We are committed to working together to save Ugandans from the desperate situation that they find themselves in,” said Besigye, adding that he would respect the outcome of the selection process of the alliance.

“If I am not the favourite candidate I will rally my support and that of FDC as a party behind whoever TDA successfully selects,” said Besigye.

Further, Dr Besigye lamented that there has been no peaceful hand over of power but rather ‘rigged and violent elections which must be stopped’.

“Mbabazi is being initiated into the kind of situation those of us who oppose President Museveni go through,” Dr Besigye said of Mbabazi’s consultative meeting in the eastern town of Soroti, where those gathered for his address were sprayed with teargas by police this afternoon.

In response Okello Okello welcomed Besigye’s decision to seek the TDA ticket and informed him that his nomination papers are going to be forwarded to the selection committee, which will decide the joint flag bearer by consensus.

On his part the FDC party President expressed gratitude at Dr Besigye’s nomination and hoped the TDA selection committee will choose his party candidate.

And, asked about Amama Mbabazi’s Soroti debacle earlier this afternoon, Muntu said Museveni ‘runs this country like his home’.

“The Museveni team are scared and will always make mistakes but it is upon us organize ourselves to make Uganda a better place to be,” Maj Gen Muntu added.

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A total of eight hundred and eighty eight data breaches have compromised 246 million records in the world, with the ten biggest breaches accounting for 81.4 per cent of the compromised records.

According to Gemalto, a leading global digital security firm, the findings of the Breach Level Index (BLI) in the first six months of 2015 indicate that an identity theft attack US medical insurance firm, Anthem Insurance, exposed 78.8 million records, representing 32 per cent of the data records stolen during that period.

Other notable breaches include the one of the US Office for Personnel Management put at 21 million records; 50 million breaches in Turkey at the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs and, a 20 million record breach at Russia’s Topface.

In comparison to the first half of 2014, Gemalto indicates that the data breaches ‘increased by 10% while the number of compromised data records declined by 41% during the first six months of this year’.

“What we’re continuing to see is a large ROI for hackers with sophisticated attacks that expose massive amounts data records. Cyber criminals are still getting away with big and very valuable data sets. For instance, the average healthcare data breach in the first half of 2015 netted more than 450,000 data records, which is an increase of 200 percent compared to the same time last year,” said Jason Hart, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Data Protection at Gemalto.

Data Breaches by Source

While none of the top 10 breaches from first half of 2014 were caused by state-sponsored attacks, three of the top ten this year were state sponsored—including the top two.

At the same time, malicious outsiders were the leading source of data breaches in the first half of 2015, accounting for 546 or 62% of breaches, compared to 465 or 58% in the first half of last year. Forty-six percent or 116 million of the total compromised records were attributable to malicious outsiders, down from 71.8% or 298 million in 2014.

Data Breaches by Type

Identity theft remained the primary type of breach, accounting for 75% of all records compromised and slightly more than half (53%) of data breaches in the first half of 2015. Five of the top ten breaches, including the top three – which were all classified as Catastrophic on the BLI – were identity theft breaches, down from seven of the top 10 from the same period last year.

Data Breaches by Industry

Across industries, the government and healthcare sectors accounted for about two-thirds of compromised data records (31% and 34% respectively), though healthcare only accounted for 21% of breaches this year, down from 29% compared to the same period last year. The retail sector saw a significant drop in the number of stolen data records, accounting for 4% compared to 38% for the same period last year. Across regions, the U.S. represented the largest share with three-quarters (76%) of data breaches and nearly half of all compromised records (49%). Turkey accounted for 26% of compromised records, with its massive GDPCA breach in which 50 million records were breached by a malicious outsider.

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