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UPC urges govt to investigate militia groups

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Our Reporter
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A group of youth recruits set to counter Mak. Mutale's 'militia'.

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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Besigye nominated for TDA candidature

By
Our Reporter
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Dr Besigye
Dr Besigye

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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Rooney breaks Charlton’s England record

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Our Reporter
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England striker Wayne Rooney has hit the half century mark in a Three Lions jersey, surpassing a record held by his predecessor of several years, Sir Bobby Charlton.

Rooney, who also turns out for Manchester United, broke Charlton’s record after scoring an 84th minute penalty in a 2-0 win over Switzerland at the Wembley Stadium.

Earlier, Harry Kane had put the English team ahead with a 67thminute goal.

Rooney first made headlines in 2003 when he scored in a 1 – 0 win over Macedonia as 17 year old teen player, and last night his 50thgoal elicited lots of praise and chants.

The ‘iconic’ goal has taken Rooney twelve years and 107 games to make history in the Number 9 jersey, surpassing Charlton’s 49 goal record that lasted for over fifty years.

“I want to thank all the coaches, the players and the staff who I have worked with for such a long period of time”, he said.

“This is a huge moment for me and my family in my career. Hopefully for the team and myself, there will be a lot more to come, we can be successful. Hopefully a lot more players like Sterling, Berkley, Harry Kane can come close and even pass me in the future,” said Rooney.

 

Rooney, the Manchester United and England captain started playing for the national team at 17 years while still at Everton, while Charlton, the 1966 England World Cup winning captain, played for Manchester United for all his known footballing life.

“I would like to congratulate Wayne on becoming leading goal scorer. I have always been proud to hold this record, playing for my country was always an honor and privilege and something I did with pride.”

“I cannot obviously deny that am not disappointed that I now don’t hold this record, however, Iam absolutely delighted that it’s Wayne, as a captain of my beloved country and club that now holds the record. Am sure it’s a record that you will hold for long time,” Charlton said in relation to Rooney’s achievements.

Records indicate the 34 of Rooney’s goals were scored by the right foot, five by the left, with 11 headers.

Other England players who have come close to challenging Charlton’s record include Gary Lineker 48 goals in 80 games; Jimmy Greaves (44/57) and Michael Owen (40/89).

After the game, England Coach Roy Hogson presented a commemorative shirt inscribed with ‘Rooney 50’ at the back to Rooney, who later delivered a speech to his chanting colleagues.

 

Meanwhile, Hogson believes Rooney can hit the 60 goal mark for England if the star plays up to 2018.

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European clubs offer support to refugees

By
Our Reporter
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Three leading European teams Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have each offered US$ 1 million towards efforts to support the refugees who are fleeing from the troubled regions of Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia and Nigeria, among other places.

The refugees are trying to find solace in European countries like England, Spain, Greece, Germany and Italy, which acts as the landing spot for the refugees.

Reportedly, there are about 50 people entering those countries but many more including children, women and the disabled who left their homelands in search of food, peace and freedom die while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

So, while Real and Barca have contributed for the refugees in Spain, the Bayern Munich side’s money will go towards transporting the refugees from the border of Hungary to Munich, where they will be welcomed and accorded the necessary assistance.

Another significant gesture will be at the Alliance Arena when Bayern Munich plays against Augsburg in the German Bundesliga at the weekend; each the player will hold a young refugee and German child on the right arm and left arm, respectively, to show solidarity with the refuges.

Meanwhile, English side Manchester United will display banners inscribed with the words ‘welcome refugees’, while AS Roma of Italy has contributed money and also launched an initiative called ‘football cares’ aimed at coordinating and optimizing efforts by clubs around the continent.

But while all this is taking place, the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) and the Office of Immigration (OIM) have expressed concern that some sections of society in Europe are uncomfortable with the refugees and not willing to offer any help, saying the refugees pose risks, security or otherwise.

 

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Data breaches compromise 240 million records

By
Our Reporter
-

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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Army should be involved in taking on armed thugs

By
Our Reporter
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This week, there has been a photo-shopped montage making rounds on social media platforms with the words, ‘if the government doesn’t trust me with my gun, I do not trust them with theirs’.

This has caused heated debates with a section of the public supporting the notion, seemingly oblivious of Section (3) of the Firearms Act that inter alia states: ‘no person shall purchase, acquire or have in his or her possession any firearm or ammunition unless he or she holds a valid Firearm Certificate’.

It should be noted that the Ugandan government has strived to remove illegal arm from the public following the political turmoil that gripped the country in the 80s.

This has helped restore stability in the country and recently, while addressing the people of Alebtong in northern Uganda, President Museveni revealed that the army had recovered 40,000 guns from the Karamojong. Indeed, as a result cattle rustling is now considered almost nonexistent.

“Because the army is strong, we have managed to bring peace in the country,” Museveni said.

And when one gets to the urban centres, law enforcement personnel have dealt firmly with those in illegal possession of guns, although the problem is yet to be solved entirely. Because of that, the police regularly reports about cases of armed robbery; murder and other gun related crimes but many of the people who carry out such crimes are still at large, with their guns!

Worse still, the thugs seem to no longer target the private security guards to acquire guns; they now target policemen and there have been many reports of police officers losing their guns after being attacked by thugs in some parts of the country and many of these guns have not yet been recovered, something that has put the lives of several Ugandans at risk.

As if to prove a point, four thugs armed with two AK47 rifles recently waylaid ASP Ronald Higenyi of the Police Engineering and Logistics Department and stole his pistol as he made his way back home.

So, given that many people have been murdered or robbed by gun-wielding thugs, with instances like the killings of the Muslim clerics where the police indicate that the murders were likely carried out by people with military training, then the army should intervene in the process of getting rid of guns from the thugs.

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Resurgent Cameroon oil attracts Africa’s top law firm

By
Our Reporter
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One of Africa’s biggest law firms, the Centurion Law Group, is opening an office in the Cameroonian city of Douala, ‘the wealthiest business hub in Central Africa’.

According to the Group, it has been drawn to Cameroon ‘by a resurgent oil and gas industry and a resilient economy’.

‘Extensive experience in oil and gas has underpinned the group’s emergence as one of Africa’s top ‘go-to’ law firms,’ the Group indicates adding that it has also had operations in large oil and gas markets like Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Chad, Ghana, Gabon, Nigeria and Angola.

The Douala office will be staffed with eight lawyers from Cameroon with academic and professional credentials from North America, the UK, France, Nigeria and Cameroon.

“Centurion Law Group’s entry into Cameroon is representative of our firm’s Africa-wide growth strategy,” said NJ Ayuk, the CEO of Centurion Law Group, adding: “We have come to serve our oil and gas clients who are presently operating here or seek to enter the market. As in our other markets, we endeavor to create an enabling business environment and promote the rule of law.”

Cameroon, the largest economy in Central Africa enjoyed an increase in oil output in 2014, while the market is benefiting from a new gas law and a 2014 licensing round that attracted major interest from foreign players.

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‘New African governments’ excite Chinese investors

By
Our Reporter
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Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti speaks at the 2013 Reuters Africa Investment Summit in Johannesburg, April 8, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

The governments of newly-elected leaders in Africa are likely to invest billions of dollars in energy and infrastructure development projects in a bid to alleviate the poor living conditions of their respective citizenry.

A total of twelve African countries have held or are to hold elections this year, with Nigeria, Zambia, Lesotho, Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan and Burundi already having elected their leaders.

Tanzania, Cote D’Ivoire, the Central African Republic (CAR), Guinea and Burkina Faso are also slated to hold elections later this year, and Chinese organisers of 4th Annual Africa Infrastructure and Power Forum from October 15 to 16, 2015 in Beijing are upbeat about the prospects of investments in energy and infrastructure development.

‘This year Africa will have witnessed 19 elections, and the formation of many new governments. Many of these administrations will seek to improve living conditions through access to electricity, and subsequently, added employment opportunities,’ a release states.

Already in Nigeria, Africa’s largest conglomerate – Dangote – signed a $4.34 billion deal with China’s Sinoma, while in June Tanzania awarded a consortium of Chinese railway companies projects valued at US$9 billion.

‘This important meeting once again partners with the China Africa Development Fund, who will be seeking new projects to receive some of the $5billion under their management,’ the release adds.

Currently, China is the biggest financier of energy and infrastructure projects in Africa and by 2009 the Far East country had disbursed 45.7% of its cumulative foreign aid of $256.29 billion to Africa.

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African ministers in Beijing over investments

By
Our Reporter
-

Two Uganda senior officials are to attend a high-profile investment meeting in Beijing, China, aimed at harnessing opportunities in Africa.

Aston Kajara, the State Minister for Finance in charge of Privatisation and Maria Kiwanuka, the Senior Presidential Advisor on the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs) will join seven other African ministers for the 4th Annual Africa Infrastructure and Power Forum onOctober 15 to 16 2015, coordinated by EnergyNet.

The Ugandan duo alongside the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary to the Treasury Henry Rotich and Rwandan Minister of Infrastructure James Musoni, are expected to make presentations on the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), a 485 kilometre multi-billion dollar project being carried out by four countries namely Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan.

Kenyan CS Rotich is also expected to make a presentation on the Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET), a US$4 billion oil pipeline project being carried out by Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

Kenya is reportedly one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and the East African country has earmarked US$55.6 billion for infrastructure development including the construction of roads.

‘Kenya’s road network urgently needs improvement – essential for trade and tourism, indispensable lines of inward investment,’ a release by the organisers of the forum states in part.

Other ministers at the high-level forum sponsored by Africa’s largest financial institution, the Standard Bank, include Matadi Atadi Nenga Gamanda, Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Democratic Republic of Congo; Christopher Yaluma, the Minister of Energy, Zambia; Henry Macauley, Minister of Energy, Sierra Leone and, Obeth Kandjoze, Minister of Energy and Mines of Namibia.

“Continued and increasing investment in infrastructure is crucial to the development of African nations, and Standard Bank is well placed to play a leading role in connecting investors with opportunities across the continent.  We are delighted to be sponsoring the conference for the second year in a row, and we look forward to seeing our customers and stakeholders in Beijing,” David Humphrey, the Head of Infrastructure and Power, Standard Bank, was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the 10th meeting of the East African Community Sectoral Council on Energy is under way at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

The Sectoral Council is being held in sessions, starting with the Energy Committee on September 7 – 9; followed by the Co-ordination Committee including Permanent/Principal Secretaries on September 10 and ending with the Ministerial session on Friday, September 11.

‘The objective of the meeting is to review the progress made in the sector in implementing Council decisions and to consider other issues of regional importance in areas of New and Renewable Energy, Energy Conservation and Efficiency, Fossil Fuels as well as Power sub-sectors,’ a release by the East African Community Secretariat in Arusha states.

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Museveni in Japan

By
Our Reporter
-

President Yoweri Museveni and the First Lady Janet Museveni are in Tokyo, Japan for a four-day official visit and the two will meet Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace. The Emperor and his wife will later host the Musevenis to a luncheon.

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Mr Museveni, who is also expected to hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was seen off at Entebbe International Airport yesterday by the Head of Public Service, John Mitala; Chief of Defence Forces, (CDF) Gen Katumba Wamala, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Gen Kale Kayihura and Commissioner of Prisons Johnson Byabashaija.

On August 21 this year the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a release indicating the Musevenis would visit the country between September 9 and 12. Japan and Uganda enjoy good relations and president Museveni last visited the Far East country in 2013 to attend the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) held from June 1 to 3.

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