Police have brought fresh details on the trending saga concerning the boyfriend who is alleged to have stolen household items and cash from his girlfriend, just days after the Kukyala (introduction) ceremony.

The incident reported at Kanyanya Police Station on Saturday, February 3, 2024, involved one Winnie Namasere, aged 25 and a resident of Kyebando Central Zone pinning her boyfriend, Timothy Lukyamuzi, aged 26, of taking her household items without permission.

Despite the initial reports suggesting that Lukyamuzi had taken all the household property, Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire has provided an update on the incident refuting the exaggerating reports.

According to Owoyesigyire, the boyfriend is not on the run as earlier reported, and that he only mortgaged the TV, whose receipt lists him as the owner.

Investigations carried out by police indicate that at the beginning of this month (February 2024) Winnie left the residence she was staying with her boyfriend due to domestic issues and sought refuge at her sister’s place, Evelyn Nakasita, in Namavundu Gayaza, Wakiso District.

“According to Ms Winnie, on February 3, 2024, around 1pm, she received a call from Mr Timothy informing her that he had relocated their belongings to an undisclosed location following an eviction notice from their landlord. Despite attempts to reach Mr Timothy by phone, he was unreachable, prompting her to report the incident to the police as a case of domestic violence and theft,” Mr Owoyesigyire said in a Friday police statement.

Owoyesigyire added that Timothy later voluntarily presented himself to the police and provided his statement, denying any intention of theft.

“He explained that he had transferred the belongings to his sister’s workplace for safekeeping while he searched for alternative housing. Subsequently, the missing items were recovered at his sister’s workplace with the assistance of the police.

Both parties have agreed to separate their belongings temporarily as they work towards resolving their domestic issues amicably.

Stories Continues after ad

The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, has urged judicial officers to solely base their rulings on the law. She said this while closing the 25th Annual Judges’ Conference at the Kampala Serena Hotel on Thursday, 08 February 2024 which ran under the theme, “A People-Centred Approach to Justice.”

“Courts are a House of record whose decisions set precedents upon which subsequent decisions are premised. Therefore, judicial officers should base their decisions on the law, not emotions, so that such decisions can stand the test of time,” Among said.

She appealed to Judiciary to place people at the heart of judicial processes and decisions, saying a people-centric judiciary is pivotal in fostering judicial accountability, independence and easing access to justice.

“Decisions and actions of judicial officers should be open to public scrutiny. This will ensure that both the public and judicial officers are accountable to legal requirements which will foster proper performance of their responsibilities,” Among said.

Among said the centrality of people in all public processes and decisions should not only be the judiciary’s responsibility but should also act as a convergence point for all other arms of Government.

She also advised judicial officers to uphold professionalism at all times.

“I would like to appeal to you all to exhibit high levels of professionalism, ethics, judicial etiquette, and decorum in dispensing judicial services to the citizens. We owe our people a just, fair, truthful, and satisfactory service,” Among said.

She pledged full support to the Judiciary in pursuit of the strategic objectives of the Judiciary Transformation Agenda (2020-2025), which is hinged on enhancing equitable access to justice, improving court processes and case management, developing and supporting the judiciary workforce and institutional capacity.

“This is evidenced by the increased budgetary appropriation, favourable and appropriate oversight of the Judiciary to aid its efficiency and effectiveness,” she said.

Recently, Parliament enacted the Administration of the Judiciary Act, 2020, and the Judicature (Amendment) Act, 2023 which will seek to improve the welfare of judicial officers and increase the number of judges of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, respectively.

According to Speaker Among, the increase in the number of judges is a game-changer in addressing recurring challenges of case backlog.

As of 2023, the average caseload per judge of the High Court stood at 945 cases annually which she said is way higher than what other judges in Africa have on their table.

In his remarks, the Chief Justice, Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, called for a cordial working relationship among the three arms of Government for better dispensation of services to the public.

“We shall make a better country if the three heads of arms of Government speak to one another without losing the independence which the constitution clearly states…For as long as Judiciary is under my charge, I will continue to relate with other arms but vehemently with jealousy, defend the independence of the Judiciary,” Owiny-Dollo said.

The Annual Judges’ Conference allows judges to build synergies, consensus, and share experiences and challenges to strengthen judicial processes.

Stories Continues after ad

The top technical team of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development is on a three-day retreat to review the budget for FY 2024/25, re-prioritize expenditure allocations and ensure that all critical interventions of government are fully catered for under the 20 NDP III programmes.

The government of Uganda adopted a strategy to grow the economy ten-fold over the medium term effective FY2024/25.

Ramathan Ggoobi, the Permanent Secretary, in his opening remarks at the retreat, said the ministry is going to use evidence-based analysis to inform allocative efficiency.

The Finance Ministry is implementing the fiscal consolidation strategy to ensure that the budget is rationalised and the available resources are efficiently allocated to finance the critical needs of the government.

Fiscal consolidation entails stepping up domestic revenue mobilisation, continued rationalisation for improved allocative efficiency and controlled borrowing to ensure long term debt sustainability.

Parliament on January 30 gave a nod to the Budget Framework Paper, approving the Shs52.7 trillion budget for Financial Year 2024/2025.

A total of Shs30.9 trillion, which is 59 percent of the budget, will go to non-discretionary expenditure, which includes salaries and debt repayment. Nearly Shs17 trillion has been budgeted for debt repayment. A total of Shs200 billion has been allocated for domestic arrears, Shs1.3 trillion for domestic debt repayment while Shs7.6 trillion will go to interest payments.

Going by the Programme based budgeting, human capital development, governance and security, and integrated transport infrastructure and services take the lion’s share of Shs9.3 trillion, Shs7.4 trillion and Shs5.8 trillion, respectively.

Sustainable petroleum development will take Shs1.3 trillion, private sector development Shs1.8 trillion, regional development Shs1.03 trillion, community mobilisation and mindset change Shs35 billion, while tourism development has been allocated Shs248 billion.

As the headwinds of the passing of the anti-homosexuality law continue, the government has projected a Shs2.75 trillion fall in support from external partners, which has led to an increase in domestic borrowing of 21 percent.

Some sectors most affected by the fall in external funding include health, whose budget has been reduced from Shs4.86 trillion to Shs4.24 trillion.

Government in its strategy is aiming to focus on areas that will drive development, including implementation of the Parish Development Model and other programmes on wealth creation, agro-industry, oil and gas production, tourism and leveraging Internet use.

Stories Continues after ad

The government of Uganda is holding talks with the government of Myanmar to rescue 30 Ugandans held by the rebel groups.

The revelation was made by the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, John Mulimba.

The 30 are part of the 400 Ugandan nationals held hostage in Myanmar by rebel groups, and others were denied exiting Cairo, Egypt, and India over failure to pay immigration fines.

After receiving social media reports in December 2023 about Ugandans held in Myanmar, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja convened an inter-agency meeting on December 9, 2023 and discussed avenues of how to secure their release.

She confirmed that over 290 Ugandans are stranded in India, Egypt, and Myanmar after being trafficked out of the country, and there are fears that some of the victims have been recruited into rebel activities.

He said the government does not have the financial capacity to repatriate Ugandans who are stranded in Egypt and India, which means they should find their way home.

“I wish to emphasize that our diplomatic missions are unable to provide financial support to Ugandans abroad who find themselves in serious difficulties, but they exert all efforts to locate and provide consular assistance,” he said.

The minister said the Egyptian government, in September 2023, directed that all foreigners who were staying illegally must regularise their stay by December 2023 or else leave the country. A three-month grace period that expires on March 15, 2024, was granted.

He said they must secure an Egyptian host and pay Shs3.5 million as administrative fees to regularise their stay, or they will be jailed and fined between Shs60 million and Shs120 million.

Mulimba noted that it is imperative that in the next Financial Year Budget 2024/2025, Parliament appropriate adequate funds for supporting the consular protection of its citizens abroad.

Stories Continues after ad