Exploration group to pay an additional $108m to settle tax dispute
Irish exploration group Tullow Oil is to pay an additional $108 million (€94.7m) to the Ugandan government to settle a capital gains tax dispute.
Uganda’s tax appeal tribunal last July upheld a finding by the country’s tax authority that the oil company should pay capital gains tax on the transfer of a 66 per cent share in an oilfield it discovered in the country to Chinese player CNOOC and French giantTotal.
Originally, the Uganda Revenue Authority demanded $437 million (€383m) from the Irish company, but Tullow paid 30 per cent – $142 million – upfront, while it appealed against the assessment. Tullow challenged the ruling tax appeal tribunal’s ruling and last year the group recorded a contingent liability of $265 million in relation to the dispute.
The group said on Monday that it had agreed to pay a total of $250 million(€219m), which comprises the $142 million paid in 2012 and a further $108 million to be paid in three equal instalments of $36 million. The first of these instalments has been paid with the remainder to be handed over in 2016 and 2017.
Following the settlement, legal proceedings have been withdrawn.
“The settlement of this long-running dispute is good news for Tullow and Uganda. In recent months, the government of Uganda has proposed welcome and necessary changes to its tax regime for oil and gas investments which it is hoped will enable substantive progress to be made towards the sanction of the Lake Albert oil development,” said Aidan Heavey, chief executive of Tullow.
Tullow is listed on the London, Irish and Ghanaian stock exchanges. It has interests in over 130 exploration and production licences across 22 countries.
Most of the reports were against state agents like the Uganda Police Force (UPF) (202); the Uganda Peoples’ Defense Forces (UPDF) (74);
In the recent past Ugandans were taken aback by viral videos on social media showing a maid and step-mother beating up children. Following the maid’s incident, there was a lot of public uproar, prompting the Uganda Human Rights Commission amongst other things, to urge Parliament to amend the Children’s Act 1997; to protect the young ones against violence and torture.
As the world commemorates the United Nations International Day in support of victims of torture, the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) and Coalition Against Torture (CAT), say cases of torture still rank high in Uganda, despite the Anti-Torture Law in place.
And, addressing journalists at the Golf Course Hotel in Kampala, the UHRC Secretary Gordon Mwesigye, said this year’s national celebrations will run under the theme “Implement the Anti-Torture Law”.
“The focus this year is on implementation of the prevention and prohibition of Torture Act, 2012 or Anti-Torture Law and the need for judiciary and law enforcement agencies to make effective use of this law to offer justice to survivors of torture,” Mwesigye said.
According to the 2014 UHRC Annual Report, complaints on the violation of the right to freedom from torture and ill-treatment increased by 30.76% and most of the reports were against state agents like the Uganda Police Force (UPF) (202); the Uganda Peoples’ Defense Forces (UPDF) (74); Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) (26); private individuals (28); Local Government (seven); educational institutions (five); private security companies (4): Uganda Wildlife Authority (eight); clan leaders (two); Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and Gulu Remand Home registered one such complaint each.
The UHRC noted that the alleged violation of torture and ill-treatment mostly occurred during pre-trial detention while interrogating suspects. The top five complaints which the UHRC has registered in the past five ye
Internet photo of a teenage mother. Internet photo.
Internet photo of a teenage mother. Internet photo.
gamme@eagle.co.ug
Kampala-It is normal for a fully grown woman to confidently walk with a pregnancy. However, not the same is true about a teenage girl; some can barely stand the shame of showing the whole world they had sex, by carrying a pregnancy. They decide to take the easy way out and terminate the pregnancy.
Teenage pregnancy is a long walk of shame, ridicule, scoff, demean, humiliation and psychological torture. Society judges these girls in a manner that increases more pain to their discomfort. Worse still, some are not allowed back into school after birth.
Whereas it is not moral for a teenage girl to be involving in sexual affairs according to our societal, cultural, and religious standards; teenage girls get pregnant all the same. It takes a lot of courage for them to keep the babies; resulting from consensual sex, rape or defilement.
Martha is one such girl. At a time when she is supposed to be enjoying her first year as a teenager, she is deep down in Butagaya village nursing her three month old baby. This 13-year old now wears a face of a 30 year old woman.
Whereas her friends ran home last year with report cards reading ‘promoted to primary four’, Martha was at home carrying a stomach that almost seemed heavier than she could carry. Formerly a primary three pupil at Main Street Primary School in Jinja, Martha hid in the house whenever it was lunch time or evening, so that her friends returning from school could not laugh at her ‘big stomach’. For nine months, she was at the Orthodox Church’s courtyard on Gokhale Road in Jinja, battling the hurdles that come with pregnancy.
“I didn’t know that missing periods is a sign of pregnancy. No one ever told me yet I started menstruating in P.1,” Martha said looking down while shyly plucking the grass near her stool. The innocence in this girl’s voice is heart breaking. One cannot help but wonder how she could end up in such a situation.
Living in the care of her elder sister, a security guard commonly referred to as Mama Kawesa, Martha was allegedly impregnated by a neighbor identified as Deo. Mama Kawesa says he ran away from that place as soon as he realized he could have impregnated the little girl.
“I do not know why an old man with three children would even sleep with such a young girl. Now you see, this child is a mother to another child. She told us he was responsible for her pregnancy,” Mama Kawesa said.
Mama Kawesa alleges that they reported to the area police station in Butagaya, Lumuli village; where Deo hails from, but he was bailed out by the Local Council Chairperson who is his relative. She says Deo came to rent at the Orthodox Church while he looked for a job in town.
“He decided to run away and now we do not know if we should take Martha to his family. But how will they prove he is the baby’s father if he is not around?” Mama Kawesa said while she cleared the eggplants off her metallic plate with a big ball of posho. “I am a security guard and most times I work in the night. I do not have enough money and will not be in position to properly take care of Martha,” she added.
Martha gave birth in February at Jinja Referral Hospital through C-section, and is now living with her parents in Butagaya, a village in Busoga, Eastern region. However, she denies having had any love relationship with Deo. When asked why she ended up having a child for him, Martha says;
“Yali ampa sente edho kulya kwisomero. Yali ampa nusu bitano, olusi bibiri” (He used to give me money for buying eats at school. He usually gave me five hundred and sometimes two hundred shillings).
You can imagine, for just a few shillings, this old man brought an end to this little girl’s childhood. Right now, Martha cannot think about only play and homework; she has a young one to take care of.
Such and many more are the sad stories we hear from young mothers who are often victims of abuse or consent due to a variety of reasons ranging from ignorance, promiscuity, and poverty; to lack of proper guidance.
Indeed, it is ironic that Martha, who went to a public school where HIV control programmes that advocate for delayed sexual debut to reduce the risk of sexual transmission of HIV are constantly communicated, says she did not know that a missed period is a sign of pregnancy.
Could it be an issue that needs to be redressed? Government has rolled out programmes such as Go Back to School (GBS), Presidential Initiative on Aids Strategy for Communication to the Youth (PIASCY), and the contentious “Let girls be girls” campaign; but cases of school dropout due to pregnancy still ring loud in most people’s ears through the media.
According to the 2011 Uganda Demographic Survey, about 14 percent of young women and 16 percent of young men in the age group 15-24 had their first sex early in life, before the age of 15. Nearly six in 10 young women (58 percent) and half of young men (47 percent) had had sex before age 18.
The report further indicates that in many societies, young women have sexual relationships with men who are considerably older than they are. It was also established that overall, 13 percent of women between the ages of 15-19 who had had sexual intercourse in the past 12 months had sex with a man 10 or more years older than they were.
Recently, two important personalities aired out their concerns in respect to the environment.
In his encyclical to Catholic clergy Pope Francis I decried the way people have destroyed the environment. Following closely, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan spoke out in support of the Pope’s position on environment destruction.
According the Pope, every one of us has played a part in this mess and has a responsibility to help change the environment for the better.
There is no doubt that we have destroyed the environment because of greed. Period. Manufacturers, business persons and governments have all participated in this environment destruction mayhem with reckless abandon.
Today, Africa is the last hope for rejuvenating the environment and no efforts must be spared in this undertaking; indeed, Africa is the place that can best contain the carbon emissions from the industrialized countries. But it is also in Africa that we find the most reckless abuse of processes aimed at maintaining a level of environmental sanity.
For instance, currently in Uganda there is ping pong over the ban of the polythene bag commonly called the kaveera. While the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) insists the ban is on, sections of the media and some business persons claim the ban was lifted for six months. Given such contrasting conversations, someone has got to come out openly, carry out a media sensitization drive, clearly informing the populace about the correct position as regards the Kaveera.
Also, there is also need to come clean on this: why do Ugandans continue using the Kaveera even when they know it is illegal?
Possibly we need to take a look at neighbouring Rwanda, where the ban on kaveera was enforced and today, all people in that country have totally abandoned its use.
To ensure the future, there is need for a clean environment now.
Kampala-Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed support for Pope Francis’ encyclical on environmental destruction.
Through the Africa Progress Report 2015, Annan, the chairperson of the ten-man Africa Progress Panel noted that the degradation would lead to social malaises across the globe.
“As Pope Francis reaffirms, climate change is an all-encompassing threat: it is a threat to our security, our health, and our sources of fresh water and food. Such conditions could displace tens of millions of people, dwarfing current migration and fuelling further conflicts. I applaud the Pope for his strong moral and ethical leadership. We need more of such inspired leadership. Will we see it at the climate summit in Paris?” Annan writes in a June 18 statement issued in Geneva, Switzerland.
An annual presentation, this year’s progress report is dubbed: ‘Africa Progress Report, “Power, People, and Planet: Seizing Africa’s Energy and Climate Opportunities.’
“…sets out an agenda for the Paris climate summit linking international action to African strategies for climate resilient development,” the report indicates.
Annan is also the brains behind the Kofi Annan Foundation, which ‘seeks to mobilise the political will needed to resolve threats to peace, development and to human rights.’
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir is wanted by ICC.
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir is wanted by ICC.
South Africa’s main opposition on Sunday called for a full investigation into the government’s failure to arrest Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who is due to face charges of genocide at the International Criminal Court.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said it wanted the Public Protector’s office to determine who was responsible for authorizing the use of state resources to enable al-Bashir’s departure.
Last Monday, before a Pretoria court ruled that the leader should be held in the country and the ICC’s arrest warrant executed, Bashir flew out of the Waterkloof Air Base heading for Khartoum.
Bashir, who has controlled Sudan for over 25 years, has been indicted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was in Johannesburg for an African Union summit.
South African officials did not respond to requests for comment, while President Jacob Zuma avoided questions on the subject after a Q&A session in parliament was abandoned on Thursday.
“As the days pass since Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir fled the country, a growing body of evidence points to an elaborate and well-coordinated plot by the Presidency, in collusion with the Security Cluster, to facilitate his escape,” the DA statement read.
The party said it had forwarded a motion to have Bashir’s departure debated in the National Assembly on Tuesday, adding that it would quiz foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane at a committee early on Tuesday.
The South African government has maintained that Bashir along with all delegates attending the AU summit were granted immunity.
The United Nations and the U.S. State Department have both expressed disappointment at South Africa’s failure to detain Bashir.
An illustration of how Urinary infection attacks ladies. Internet images.
An illustration of how Urinary infection attacks ladies. Internet images.
It is really hard to tell anyone that you have an infection in your private parts mainly because of all the obvious reasons, they will think it is a sexually transmitted infection and judge you for promiscuity, especially in the event that you are not married.
Ms Patricia Nakibuuka (not real name) is a fourth year student of Law at Makerere University. She has no boyfriend and is not sexually active, but was amazed when the doctor told her she had a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI).
Ms Nakibuuka developed a little rash on her feet which became bigger whenever she scratched it. It reached a point that she could not wear closed shoes because her foot got really swollen and looked bad, oozing of some sticky pus-like fluid.
“From where could I have gotten an STI? I am not sexually active and do not plan to be until I’m married. I still cannot believe that I was treated for such a disease,” Nakibuuka said.
Many ladies often find themselves in similar situations and they just cannot explain how they ended up with an STI. Perhaps there is confusion about STIs and Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs).
According to Dr. John Mark Mpungu from Rita’s Medical Center in Wandegeya, STIs can only be transmitted through sex.
Mpungu says a UTI is bacterial infection of the bladder, also known as cystitis, caused by bacteria multiplying in the urine. It is not sexually transmitted.
What causes UTIs?
According to Dr. Mpungu, the biggest cause of UTIs is exposure to any contaminated surface; it can be body, toilet or latrine. He said both men and women are likely to get a UTI if their private parts get in contact with the splashing water, body of the toilet or any materials on or in the toilet/latrine.
UTIs. Dr. Mpungu says poor hygiene also causes UTIs but this affects mostly ladies. “While men are able to shake off the remaining urine, some ladies just wear the knickers and leave. A lady is expected to dry herself after every visit to the toilet,” he said.
Poor diet is another cause of UTIs, especially taking little water. Dr. Mpungu said that lack of enough water makes urine concentrated giving bacteria food to flourish, hence a UTI.
“Bad behaviors especially during sexual intercourse where people use their organs in an unsafe way also causes these infections. For instance touching the person’s organs and pushing fingers into the vagina forgetting that the urethra is nearby,” Dr. Mpungu said.
How do you know you have a UTI?
UTIs are divided into upper Urinary Tract Infections and Lower Urinary Tract Infections. An Upper UTI according to Dr. Mpungu begins from the bladder upwards towards the ureter and kidneys. A lower UTI begins from the urethra.
Some of the common upper UTIs are; Pyelonephritis, Nephritis, and Cystisis. The most common lower UTI is Urethritis.
Major symptoms of UTIs according to Dr. Mpungu are;
Frequent urinating yet in small quantities, pain during urinating, feeling of a burning sensation during urinating, lower abdominal pain and back ache.
“Fever can come in depending on the period a person has spent with the infection. It can be a mild or acute. When the infection is severe, a person will get fever and severe or tender abdominal pain and headache,” Dr. Mpungu said.
How do you know it is an STI and not a UTI?
Common STIs are; Candidiasis, Urethritis, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, genital warts, Trichomoniasis, Hepatitis B and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
“Most STIs produce a discharge which a UTI does not. The only infection on both sides is Urethritis because it produces pus in its late stages,” Dr. Mpungu said.
The other major difference between the two is whereas a UTI can be transmitted through sex and other means, an STI is only transmitted through sex. However, Dr. Mpungu said that Candidiasis though an STI, can also be picked from a dirty place.
According to Dr. Mpungu, whereas it is possible to tell the difference between a UTI and STI amongst women, it is impossible amongst men. He also said that it is not a UTI or STI because of where t is found but rather because of the nature of infection.
Pre-disposing factors
Pregnancy is a predisposing factor for acquiring a UTI. Dr. Mpungu said that pregnant women are more likely to get UTIs because their uterus is sitting on the bladder which makes the urine not to empty completely.
Other predisposing factors for both men and women are promiscuity, poor hygiene, abuse of anti-biotics, and diseases such as renal stones; especially amongst men.
Prevention
According to Dr. Mpungu, one can avoid UTIs by drinking enough water so that urine is dilute, thoroughly cleaning toilets, latrines and bathrooms, good sexual behavior, circumcision and urinating whenever one feels like.
Kampala-Commissioner of Police and head of the women desk in Uganda Police, CP Chelimo Beata has been transferred to head the police compliance unit.
Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura made few changes that saw John Gray Ambayo from Police Training School Kabalye to the directorate of operation in Kampala.
Below is the statement
The Uganda Police Force has made fresh transfers and appointments of gazetted officers. The following transfers/appointments are hereby ordered with immediate effect. They include:
1. CP CHELIMO BEATA IS HEREBY APPOINTED THE HEAD OF POLICE COMPLIANCE UNIT
2. SSP AMBAYO JOHN GRAY IS TRANSFERRED FROM PTS KABALYE TO THE DIRECTORATE OF OPERATIONS-POLICE HEADQUARTERS
3. SP EMITU EZEKIEL IS TRANSFERRED FROM NALUFENYA BASE COMMAND TO PTS KABALYE AND APPOINTED AS DEPUTY COMMANDANT OF THE SCHOOL, HE WILL ALSO HANDLE THE YOUTH PROGRAMME AT THE CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNITY POLICING AT THE SCHOOL
4. ASP NYESIGIRE DAVID KATUNDA TO TAKE ON THE NALUFENYA BASE COMMAND PENDING APPOINTMENT OF SUBSTANTIVE COMMANDANT
5. ASP WATHUM BENSON’S TRANSFER TO CIID HQTRS IS HEREBY CANCELLED. HE INSTEAD MOVES TO POLICE COMPLIANCE UNIT.
Miss Uganda 2015 finalists were on Thursday night unveiled at Serena Hotel, Katonga Hall. The 21 finalists, (of which 90% are students) are vying for the crown of the finest girl in the land, replacing the incumbent, Leah Kalunguka, who was last year crowned not because of her beauty, but her agricultural brains.
Themed “Beauty with Purpose,” the Miss Uganda pageant seeks to crown one youthful girl that will spearhead all charity runs for youths countrywide under Kezi Entertainment. The winner will also represent Uganda in the Miss World pageantry that seeks to crown the finest girl in the world.
#1 – Miss Wanyaya Ritah Engrid, 20 years old
#2 – Miss Nakayaga Dimit Hilda, 19 years old
#3 – Miss Nabukeera Aisha, 20 years old
#4 – Miss Ijanga Immaculate, 21 years old
#5 – Miss Atino Victoria, 21 years old
#6 – Miss Naava Nankya Noeline, 20 years old
#7 – Miss Mugisha Leticia, 20 years old
#8 – Miss Nakiyaga Zahara Muhammed, 23 years old
#9 – Miss Nakitende Safinah, 24 years old
#10 – Miss Alobo Daphine, 23 years old
#11 – Miss Namara Loice, 22 years old
#12 – Miss Sabano Peace, 22 years old
#13 – Miss Akankwatisa Patience, 20 years old
#14 – Miss Nabimanya Diana, 21 years old
#15 – Miss Angelina Nakaazi, 23 years old
#16 – Miss Makwine M. Rossette, 20 years old
#17 – Miss Sanyu Bridget, 23 years old
#18 – Miss Viola Kebirungi, 21 years old
#19 – Miss Nabwowe Juliana, 23 years old
#20 – Miss Namuddu Barbara, 19 years old
#21 – Miss Husna Hakim Rajab, 22 years old
Police today picked up a full general like they would a tomato vendor accused of eloping with IGP Kale Kayihura’s relative in downtown Kampala. Gen. David Sejusa was detained at Jinja Road Police Station on charges Frying Pun is not interested in knowing. Our interest was in talking to the man himself.
“Thanks for agreeing to meet us, General. But first things first: You and the IGP are bush war comrades. Even the other serving generals like Elly [Tumwine] and Katumba Wamala just couldn’t arrest you like that. While in the act, why didn’t you speak to them and you settle the matter on the spot instead of having yourself dragged here?”
Sejusa chuckled and looked around the room that smelt of muck and grubs as if to survey for some bugs. He then said: “Who says they are the ones who arrested me? I think you got your tip wrong. It’s these boys here who brought me here for a mug of tea. Do I look like I have been arrested?”
“Well, if you were not arrested, what we know is that you are being detained currently,” the Pun said. “I had expected to find full generals who delivered you here around but all I hear is that it is Seya coming to help secure your release. What is not going on here?”
“It’s these boys who brought me here and I am waiting to know exactly why,” he said.
“So you mean these weather-beaten chaps… I mean, cops, have the powers to arrest a full general and detain him at a police station?” Pun went on. “Did Museveni approve your resignation from the military?”
“It’s not how it works everywhere. Uganda is not the US. In an ideal world, only full generals deserve the right to arrest me,” Sejusa said. “Even Kayihura wouldn’t dare. But in Museveni’s regime, it’s about the end justifies the means. But this too shall pass. Can you imagine these lumpens say I, David Tinyefu… sorry, Sejusa, a full general, was wrong to allow a few boda boda cyclists follow me from the bank toward Entebbe? I was in my car, I wasn’t on the bodas, neither did I give them fuel…”
“So you are saying the current regime knows no protocol and a full general can just be heckled by some diaper-clad Evelyn Anite, should I also assume that the whole drama for which you are here is meant to divert attention from the storm Amama Mbabazi has caused?” we asked.
“I don’t know about that,” he replied.
“But people are apprehensive of you. You seem to be the only one who believes you have left the system you helped bring and entrench in power with the viciousness of a mother slapping a mosquito that tried to land on her baby’s butt. A case in point was how the country ignored your arrival from Sembabule to Kampala…”
“That is why Ugandans will not defeat Museveni,” the feared general said. “People don’t know what they want in life or government for that matter. But that will not stop us from continuing with the determination to remove Museveni and his recurrent failures from government.”
“General, I dare you to back Mbabazi openly…”
“Who is Mbabazi?” he asked, not hiding his scorn. “If that man offers something tangible, something different from Museveni, I will consider it. Mbabazi is a joke. A big joke.
“So what exactly is your game? This arrest, the public feels, was just another of those explosive things that happen to divert attention. No one actually believes a general can be picked up like a cabbage and dumped at this rundown police station. You would at the army mess in Makindye, not here,” we said.
“My game plan? To fight for democratic ideals, the ideals for which we sacrificed in the bush. But at the end of the day, I have to recognize the fact that these boys couldn’t just put a hand cuff on me. They have no right and the powers to do so, even if they brought me here. That is why I have been giving them orders. Do I look like I am under arrest?”
“No, but you sure are in detention at the moment. So, when does Sejusa, the former Tinyefuza, announce that he is running for the presidency?” Pun asked.
“Presidency is not everything. It’s about good leadership, not ‘who-is-in-leadership’ as many of you think,” Sejusa said.
