Police officers tracking stolen vehicles from the United Kingdom have helped find 29 Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) in different parts of Uganda.

According to media reports, the UK police officers were tracking a Lexus but ended up finding 28 other stolen cars, with a value of about one million Pounds Sterling.

“They are likely to represent just a fraction of the cars smuggled out of the UK,” The Daily Mail reported.

According to the reports, the stolen vehicles are shipped to the port city of Mombasa in Kenya, before corrupt officials in both Kenya and Uganda connive to clear the pricey loot.

The officer who led the tracking team to Uganda, National Crime Agency Regional Manager Paul Stanfield, said they had cracked an international syndicate that steals mostly SUVs like Range Rovers, Audis and BMWs.

‘This investigation is an excellent example of the close cooperation between the UK National crime Agency, National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, Interpol and (anti-fraud investigators) APU to tackle the increasing threat from organised vehicle crime. Working with the police and security services of Kenya and Uganda, we have been able to dismantle an international criminal network that has been responsible for stealing high-value cars from the UK and exporting them to East Africa,” Mr Stanfield was quoted as saying.

It is said all the stolen cars have ‘keyless ignition’, something the thieves breach by reprogramming the manufacturers computerized set up.

This is not the first time the issue of stolen foreign vehicles is coming up; in September 2013 the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) impounded 27 cars with foreign number plates, some of which were reportedly stolen.

In February this year the URA impounded 47 foreign-registered cars, two of which had been stolen from the UK. Also, in September last year, a BMW belonging to the Presidential escort Unit (PEU) of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was stolen from Nairobi, only to be found ‘abandoned’ in Tororo, Uganda.

Meanwhile, The Daily Mail indicates that the 29 vehicles stolen from the UK, each estimated at 50,000 Pounds Sterling would be shipped back.

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Burkina Faso’s army has given the coup leader an ultimatum to surrender or face an assault, as its troops reach the capital, Ouagadougou.

Negotiations between army chiefs and the presidential guard have broken down, a senior military officer said.

Troops are moving through the capital, as a 10:00 GMT deadline to Gen Gilbert Diendere to surrender passed.

He staged a coup last week after opposing moves to integrate the presidential guard into the army.

He has released the president and the prime minister, following talks brokered by mediators.

• Africa Live: BBC News updates

The coup has been widely condemned, with the European Union calling on the presidential guard to lay down its weapons immediately to avoid bloodshed.

‘Wants a fight’

Troops have been urging anti-coup protesters, gathered at the city’s Revolution Square, to return home, reports BBC Afrique’s Yacouba Ouedraogo from the capital.

Gen Diendere “wants a fight”, an army officer said, following the collapse of talks.

Earlier, a senior army officer said soldiers would launch an assault to retake the capital, if the presidential guard did not surrender by 10:00 GMT.

Gen Diendere says he will step aside once regional leaders, due to meet in Nigeria, endorse a peace plan, including an amnesty for coup plotters.Prime Minister Isaac Zida was captured by the presidential guard in last week’s coup.

France’s ambassador to Burkina Faso, Gilles Thibault, has also tweeted that interim President Michel Kafando, who was arrested last Wednesday, has been released from house arrest and is now at the ambassador’s residence.

Burkina Faso coup

• Why presidential guards stage coups
• What is behind the coup?
• Burkina Faso’s coup: Who’s who?
• The coup in pictures
• The rise and fall of Blaise Compaore
• Guide to Burkina Faso

Gen Diendere seems to be backed into a corner by international and national pressure, and on Monday thousands gathered to celebrate what they believed was his defeat, says the BBC’s Maud Jullien in Ouagadougou.

But in an interview with BBC Afrique, the general said he would only step aside once an agreement proposed by West African leaders was confirmed.

The proposed deal would give him and his troops full amnesty, and allow candidates of former ruler Blaise Compaore to run for presidency in November.

Speaking from a secret location, Gen Diendere said: “Ready to surrender? We are not there yet… We wish to continue the discussions and we say to all that we are ready to implement Ecowas’ [West African regional group’s] decisions.”

He also apologised to the population, saying an apology was “the least we could do”.

The Ecowas plan should be discussed by West African heads of state in Nigeria later on Tuesday.

The presidential guard is loyal to ousted President Compaore and installed Gen Diendere as the new leader last week.

Since then, at least 10 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in clashes.

Ecowas’ plan includes the return to civilian government, an amnesty for the soldiers behind the coup and elections by the end of November.

But on the streets, there was resentment at the proposals, in particular the amnesty.

“We have no need of Ecowas here, nor the international community,” said one man protesting against the coup.

Gen Diendere, who was the chief of staff to Mr Compaore, led the coup a month before elections had been due in the landlocked country.

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Volkswagen says 11 million vehicles worldwide are involved in the scandal that has erupted over its rigging of US car emissions tests.

It said it was setting aside €6.5bn (£4.7bn) to cover costs of the scandal.

VW added this would pay for “necessary service measures and other efforts to win back the trust of our customers”.

The boss of Volkswagen’s US business, Michael Horn, has admitted it “totally screwed up” in using software to rig emissions tests.

VW shares were down more than 20% on Tuesday in Frankfurt.

Last Friday, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said VW diesel cars had much higher emissions than tests had suggested and that software in several diesel cars could deceive regulators.

“Volkswagen does not tolerate any kind of violation of laws whatsoever,” the firm said in its latest statement.

It said provision for the scandal would be made “in the profit and loss statement in the third quarter of the current fiscal year”.

It added: “Due to the ongoing investigations, the amounts estimated may be subject to revaluation.”

EU probe call

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin has called for an EU inquiry, but a UK car industry spokesman said there was “no evidence” of cheating.

Mike Hawes, who is chief executive of the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said the EU operated a “fundamentally different system” from the US, with tests performed in strict conditions and witnessed by a government-appointed independent approval agency.

“There is no evidence that manufacturers cheat the cycle,” he said. “Vehicles are removed from the production line randomly and must be standard production models, certified by the relevant authority – the UK body being the Vehicle Certification Agency, which is responsible to the Department for Transport.”

However, he also described current testing methods as “outdated” and said the car industry wanted an updated emissions test, “more representative of on-road conditions”.

France’s Mr Sapin said inquiries in Europe had to be conducted “at a European level”.

“We are a European market with European rules,” he told Europe 1 radio. “It is these that have to be respected. It is these that have been violated in the United States.”

The French carmakers’ federation backed Mr Sapin’s call, saying such an inquiry would “allow us to confirm that French carmakers respect the procedures for approval in all of the countries where they operate”.

For its part, the Italian transport ministry said it would open its own investigation, saying it wanted to know whether such cars were sold in Italy.

However, a European Commission spokeswoman said it was “premature to comment on whether any specific immediate surveillance measures are also necessary in Europe”.

Elsewhere, the South Korean government said it would test up to 5,000 Jetta and Golf cars, along with Audi A3s made in 2014 and 2015.

Its investigation will be expanded to all German diesel cars if issues are found.

The White House in Washington also reportedly said it was “quite concerned” about VW’s conduct.

Fines looming

Volkswagen was ordered to recall half a million cars in the US on Friday.

In addition to paying for the recall, VW faces fines that could add up to billions of dollars. There may also be criminal charges for VW executives.

In its latest statement, the firm said it was “working at full speed to clarify irregularities” concerning what it called “a particular software used in diesel engines”.

The EPA found the “defeat device”, the device that allowed VW cars to emit less during tests than they would while driving normally, in diesel cars including the Audi A3 and the VW Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat models.

VW has stopped selling the relevant diesel models in the US, where diesel cars account for about a quarter of its sales.

The EPA said that the fine for each vehicle that did not comply with federal clean air rules would be up to $37,500 (£24,000). With 482,000 cars sold since 2008 involved in the allegations, it means the fines could reach $18bn.

That would be a considerable amount, even for the company that recently overtook Toyota to be the world’s top-selling vehicle maker in the first six months of the year. Its stock market value is about €66bn ($75bn; £48bn).

VW has ordered an external investigation, although it has not revealed who will be conducting it.

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The High Court has acquitted Dr Tiberius Muhebwa, the former Project Coordinator of the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Global Fund, over a case that has dragged on for ten years.

Justice Lawrence Gidudu of High Court Anti-Corruption Division ruled on September 18, that Dr Muhebwa and three others had no case to answer since there wasn’t enough evidence to implicate them in the loss of the Global Fund money.

“The result is that prosecution did not adduce sufficient evidence to necessitate the accused persons to go on their defence. It falls far short of establishing a prima facie case to require the accused to go to their defence. Either the essential ingredients are lacking in some counts or the charges are false in some counts. A combination of the two leads to one conclusion, a finding that each of the accused persons has no case to answer and each is accordingly acquitted,” reads Justice Gidudu’s ruling.

It was alleged that on Nov 11, 2004 at PMU offices, Dr Muhebwa deliberately sold US$1m Global Fund money to DFCU Bank at a lower rate of Shs1, 712 per dollar leaving a better rate of Shs1720 per dollar that was offered by Stanbic Bank and yet he had been cautioned by the PMU’s finance department, a move that caused a financial loss of Shs8 million.

Dr Muhebwa was also accused of causing a financial loss of Shs100m when he allegedly sold US$4m Global Fund dollars to DFCU bank at a lower rate of Shs1, 700 per dollar leaving a better rate of Shs1,725 per dollar that was offered by Stanbic Bank.

Dr Muhebwa was jointly charged with Mr Robert Katuntu, a former DCFU Bank Managing Director, Mr Godfrey Lule, a former head of Treasury of DFCU Bank and Mr Kituuma Magala, a High Court advocate.

Katuntu, Lule  and  Kituuma Magala  have been facing  charges  of  conspiracy  to defraud   government  of Sh295 million, which was allegedly fraudulently raised  by Katuntu and Lule through manipulation of  Global  Fund  foreign exchange rates and illicitly  paid  to Kituuma Magala as brokerage  fees claiming that  Kituuma Magala had introduced Global Fund to DFCU bank. They denied the charges.

However, Justice Gidudu said in view of his findings that no evidence has been adduced to establish fraud in the brokerage agreement and the fact that PMU did not complain about loss of money through Forex transaction.

“I am unable to find the reason to put A2, A3 and A4 on defence. I cannot ask them to explain what the prosecution has not accused them of. This count collapsed once PW1 took the stand and denied losing money in a project where he was overall supervisor and principal signatory,” Justice Gidudu avers in an 11-page ruling.

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The National Resistance Movement (NRM) has postponed its primaries for the selection of parliamentary candidates.

According to a source, the primaries that were scheduled for Friday, September 25 have been pushed to September 30. Other posts to be competed for include the district and LCIII chairpersons.

There are over 112 districts in Uganda, including the capital Kampala, which is led by an elected Lord Mayor.

According to official records the ruling NRM has 263 Members of Parliament, with the Forum for Democratic Change coming in second with 34 MPs. These are followed by 43 Independents, the Democratic Party (12); Uganda Peoples’ Congress (10) and, the Conservative party and JEEMA, both of which have only 1 MP apiece.

And, going by the demographics, the race for NRM MP is billed to be the most challenging for the ruling party aspirants, oftentimes leaving a huge trail of ‘casualties’, most of who opt to stand as Independents.

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The much-anticipated announcement for the joint opposition flag bearer of The Democratic Alliance has been delayed yet again, raising the tempo as the summit members continue holding incessant meetings.

Addressing journalists, the TDA official spokesperson Wafula Oguttu said that the recall of Parliament had affected their schedule but hastened to add that the summit would reach consensus on the official candidate.

“We have postponed the meeting because some of the participants of the whole process are Members of Parliament and we need to attend the parliamentary session then the discussions will resume,” he said.

The contenders for the TDA ticket FDC flag bearer Dr Kiiza Besigye, Democratic Party’s Norbert Mao, Professor Gilbert Bukenya and NRM leaning Independent Amama Mbabazi.

However, it seems that the battle has zeroed down to Dr Besigye and Amama Mbabazi, with the each of them trying to convince the summit that they are the most suitable to lead the opposition in defeating President Museveni.

According to Mbabazi, he has been a close associate of President Museveni and he thinks with this, he can give President Museveni a run for his money. Mbabazi also reasons that having been the Secretary General of the NRM, he built structures for the party and traversed the country, something that made him popular. With this background, Mbabazi says that the TDA summit should consider him best suited for the position.

Besigye on the other hand argues that he is the one best suited to oust a regime that is unwilling to hand over power in a free and fair election. It is against this background that Besigye is calling for electoral reforms before the election.

Besigye also contends that he has distinguished himself as the most powerful opposition leader with the highest capacity to defeat President Museveni.

Some of the people who are fronting Mbabazi also reason that Besigye has contested and lost thrice against President Museveni and therefore, people would be happier to see a new face in the campaign.

They argue that Mbabazi is a better candidate because of his ‘connections with many senior National Resistance Movement (NRM) members and other people in security and UPDF’.

“The vote that he brings from the Movement to opposition works in his favor of him,” one of his enthusiasts in the TDA summit said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, another summit source says they have not yet come up with a harmonized position, but hastens to add that there is a suggestion to have both Dr Besigye and Amama Mbabazi on the ballot paper come 2016.

TDA was formed a few months ago with the aim of fronting a joint candidate in the opposition to run against President Yoweri Museveni in the 2016 Presidential elections.

However, it now seems difficult for the Alliance to reach the consensus, with both contestants reluctant to cede ground.

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