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Former MP Karuhanga named ANT Spokesperson

By
Our Reporter
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Former Ntungamo Municipality MP Gerald-Karuhanga

Former Ntugamo Municipality legislator Gerald Karuhanga, has been named the spokesperson for Alliance for National Transformation party.

Karunga replaces Wilberforce Seryazi, who has been the spokesperson since the launch of the party in 2019.

“We are extremely delighted and gratified to announce Gerald Karuhanga as our new party spokesperson. Karuhanga is a staunch advocate for justice, fairness, and value-driven leadership,” the party said in a statement.

The party launched on May 22, 2019 at the Serena International Conference Centre. It is led by Gen. Mugisha Muntu and Alice Alaso, among other leaders who secured registration certificates from the Electoral Commission.

ANT was formed by the former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party president, Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu, party deputy president for the eastern region, Alice Alaso, and other members after quitting.

He left the party after contradictions with the current FDC President, Patrick Amuriat Oboi. The party accused Muntu of carrying out consultations without authorization.

Muntu argued that the party had declined to build its structures from the ground up, citing intrigue and branding him as a mole for the ruling party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM).

Karuhanga, a brilliant lawyer trained at Makerere University, hails from Itojo Sub-County, in Ntungamo District, south-western Uganda.

Karuhanga is known to have nursed political ambitions from an early age while at St. Mukasa Preparatory Seminary.

He went to Kitunga Boarding School, then St. Mukasa, before joining Kitabi Seminary in Bushenyi. While at Kitabi for his O’Levels, Karuhanga sought the position of deputy head prefect. For unknown reasons, Karuhanga shifted to SMACK in Entebbe after leaving Kitabi.

He later joined Makerere University’s Law Faculty. He joined politics at the university, and he was elected Guild President on the FDC ticket. At one time, in 2006, he led students in a strike protesting the re-arrest of rebel People’s Redemption Army suspects at the High Court. He also represented youth of Western Region in Parliament.

He contested and won the 2016 Ntugamo Municipality elections and lost in 2021.

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Parliament calls for halting the contraction of Lubowa hospital

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng

Parliament has called for the halting of the construction of the Shs1.44 trillion Lubowa Specialised Hospital due to the skyrocketing public debt.


In March 2019, parliament approved the request by the ministry of finance to issue promissory notes for the construction of Lubowa Hospital to the tune of $379.71 million (about Shs 1.44 trillion).


The project was launched in 2019 on a two-year contract; the contractor is supposed to handover the project to the government within 10 years; however, they are not on schedule.
Earlier, the Health Committee rejected a supplementary request of Shs2.7 billion by the Ministry of Health to supervise the construction of the Lubowa International Specialised Hospital, tasking the ministry to present the status of the hospital.
The country’s public debt as of June 30, 2023, stood at Shs 96 trillion. The domestic debt stock stands at Shs 43.6 trillion, while the external debt is Shs 52.4 trillion. The public debt has increased by 107% in the last five years.


“You are very aware that our economy isn’t very healthy. You saw the Auditor General’s report; our national debt is about Shs97 trillion, and I am not sure where we shall get money for some of these projects. But we also thought that we could suppress any new infrastructure projects, including Lubowa, and complete what is at stake because some of them need Shs 2 billion or Shs 3 billion. So, the Ministry of Finance, can you find us this small amount of money? We aren’t coming to you for big projects,” Dr Ayume Charles, the chairperson of the Health Committee of Parliament, said.


Minister of Health, Jane Aceng, defended the recent request for additional Shs2.7 billion for supervising works at Lubowa Hospital, saying that the funds will facilitate the movement of the consortium of engineers from the Ministry of Works and Ministry of Health to supervise works after the new contractor takes over the site because the government didn’t allocate any funds for consultancy services.


“For those two years when there were no works, there was no supervision; now work has to commence, and there must be supervision. And recall, there was a lot of building material that was bought and is on the ground; we need to know if it is of good use. Whether the contractor can still use them is all that is required. So leaving the contractor to go on the ground alone would be disastrous to us,” Aceng said.


She said money has never been provided for supervision at Lubowa Hospital, even when they have completed the hostels; those ones were supervised by our engineers at the Ministry of Health. This money (Shs2.7Bn) is being provided because now there is a contractor on the ground, and that contractor is expected to start work. I haven’t been there myself to see if they have started, but the engineers have to report on the ground.

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We chose Sudhir to build NAM Convention Centre because of his CHOGM success-Gov’t

By
Our Reporter
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Prime Minister Robinah Nabanja has delved into the reasons why Government chose tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia to construct the state-of-the art multi-billion Convention Centre.

Premier Nabanja revealed that following extensive consultations and due diligence, Government zeroed down on Sudhir to build the Convention Centre to host the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Conference and G77 summit because of the excellent work he did when Uganda hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2007 at the Speke Resort Munyonyo.

” Our country is privileged to host these big international summits that will bring together Heads of State and Government, various Government delegates and global business representatives,” Ms Nabanja said.

The Government of India had initially pledged to build a Convention Centre to host the back-to-back NAM and G77 Conferences that were initially scheduled for 2020 but the planning was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Uganda’s Government stuck, it turned to Sudhir.

In 2007, Uganda successful hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), with the Speke Resort Munyonyo playing the lead role as the conference’s hosting facility.

Government was confident that Sudhir will complete the expansion of Speke Resort Munyonyo in record time, having just started construction late last year.

The facility will boost of a 105-acre luxury resort, an auditorium that can sit between 3,800-4,400 people, a multi-purpose hall, 12 high end conference breakaway meeting rooms and a floating restaurant.

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A court remands an ex-Kenyan MP to Luzira prison for falsification of export documents

By
Boses Muhinda
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The former Member of Parliament in Kenya, Tarus Stephen Kipkyen, has been remanded to Luzira prison for falsifying export documents and causing revenue loss to the Government of Uganda.

Appearing before magistrate Esther Asiimwe, Kipkyeny was charged with forgery of export documents for 13 kg of gold valued at $30,000 (Shs 113.6 million).

The gold was allegedly destined for Dubai, where one of the suspect‘s clients, Kostbar International, is based. Kostbar is a company that designs and manufactures jewellery exclusively for trade.

The prosecution, led by Stuart Ahebwa, told the court that there is a big team behind this tax evasion scheme, and so far only one person has been netted.

“It is a group, and now we have only one person. The issue of them forging documents that they are working with URA also makes matters worse, and it is also the reason we have arranged Kipkyenyi in court, Ahebwa said.

Meanwhile, according to the East African Community Customs Management Act (EACCMA), a person who makes or uses false documents upon conviction shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding USD 10,000. This means that once Kipkyenyi is found guilty, he will be subject to these terms.

In the URA, smuggling and fraud remain the top customs offences. For example, last year alone, URA recovered Shs 132.77 billion through country-wide enforcement operations, Shs 130.50 billion through court arbitration, and Shs 174.64 billion through tax investigation interventions.

Also, for those who are not familiar with Kenya’s politics, Stephen Tarus Kipkyeny served under President Mwai Kibaki’s administration as the Assistant Minister of Internal Security and as Kenya’s High Commissioner to Australia from 2009 to 2012. Prior to his appointments under the Kibaki regime, the suspect had served as the Member of Parliament for Emgwen Constituency between 2003 and 2007.

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Ugandan soldiers in UN helicopter captured by al shabaab

By
Editorial
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UN-helicopter in Somalia.

The latest information coming from Somalia indicates that Ugandans believed to be UPDF soldiers are among the passengers on the helicopter captured by al shabaab insurgents in Gadoon village in the Galgaduud region on Wednesday.

The helicopter got a technical glitch made in an emergency landing in the area controlled by al shabaab.

According to the UN memo, nine passengers were on the plane including military personnel and a third-party contractor. 

Sources say there were also Kenyans, Ukrainians, Somalis, Egyptians and Latvians. 

It’s not clear how many Ugandan soldiers were on the plane.  But the UN said in a memo that “All UN flights have been temporarily suspended in the vicinity until further notice,”.

According to Reuters news Agency, the aircraft encountered a defect shortly after taking off from Beledweyne city in central Somalia.

The alshabaab insurgents recently killed over 50 Ugandan soldiers in what has been described as the deadliest attack by al shabaab on the UPDF in Somalia.

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 Defence tables Shs9.123t budget for financial year 2024/25

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Defence Minister, Vincent Ssempijja with top ministry officials.

The Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs has tabled Shs9.123 trillion in budget for the financial year 2024/25, Eagle Online has established.

This financial year, Defence took the lion’s share, with Shs3.8 trillion allocated to them. The ministry, however, lost the Shs1 billion it had wanted for the construction of the defence museum due to government policy placing a freeze on multi-year projects.

While appearing before the Parliament’s Defence Committee earlier today, officials from the Ministry of Defence revealed that their desired budget for 2024/25 is Shs 9.123 trillion; however, only Shs3.880 trillion has been availed, leaving a shortfall of Shs5.242 trillion.

According to the budget, the Uganda Peoples Defence Force wants Shs62.8 billion for deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Shs27.5 billion for deployment in Karamoja, and Shs40.889 billion is needed for utilities (water and electricity), but no penny has been allocated for that vote.

According to Vincent Ssempijja, Minister of Defence, they want more than Shs2.5 billion to provide security to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

“You know the security of our oil pipeline isn’t catered for; Tanzania is ready, and they have already budgeted for it. It is a thorn in our back; it has remained unfunded,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) asked for Shs31.5 billion to develop an oil and gas monitoring system to be used to monitor all taxpayers within this sector. With the commencement of the construction of the crude oil pipeline, Uganda’s first oil is expected in 2025.

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Museveni re-appoints Justice Byabakama as the Chairman of the Electoral Commission

By
Our Reporter
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Justice Byabakama Mugenyi Simon, Electoral Commission Chairperson

President Yoweri Museveni has re-appointed Justice Simon Byabakama as the Chairman of the Electoral Commission. The reappointment follows the expiry of his seven-year term.

Justice Byabakama, who served at the court of appeal, was named on November 18, 2016, as the Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Uganda, replacing Engineer Badru Kiggundu, whose 14-year, two-term reign had ended.

“In exercise of the powers vested in the president by Article 60(1) of the Constitution of Uganda, I have appointed Justice Simon Byabakama as the chairperson of the electoral commission,” Museveni said.

According to the letter addressed to speaker Anita Among, Museveni reappointed Hajjat Aisha Lubega as the deputy chairperson, Stephen Tashobya, as a commissioner and dropped Peter Emorut, Justine Ahabwe Mugabi, Sebaggala Mustapha Kigozi and Nathaline Etomaru.

Byabakama will work alongside Anthony Okello, a former Kyoga County Member of Parliament; Pamela Etonu Okudi, the Acting Head of Administration at the Electoral Commission; Dr Ssimba Ssali Kayunga, a lecturer at Makerere University; and Robert Kasule Sebunya.

The appointees wait to appear before the parliament’s appointments committee for vetting.

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Henry Katanga murder: Court remands daughter to Luzira prison

By
Simon Kabayo
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Martha Nkwanzi.

The Nakawa Magistrates Court has remanded Martha Nkwanzi to Luzira Prison for destroying evidence after the murder of her father, Henry Katanga.

The businessman was allegedly gunned down on November 2, 2023, by his wife, Molly Katanga, at his home in Mbuya, Nakawa Division, Kampala City.

The prosecution alleges that Nkwanzi and her sister, Patricia Kakwanza, tampered with evidence at the crime scene, rendering it unidentifiable for judicial proceedings. George Amanyire, a shamba boy, and Charles Otai, a health worker, are accused of assisting others involved in the crime. The three, Amanyire, Otai and Kakwanza, are currently on remand at Luzira prison.

On Monday, the Nakawa Magistrate Court issued criminal summons against Kakwanza for failure to appear before court without explanation. The defence lawyers, led by McDusman Kabega, told the court that Nkwanzi is recovering at Roswell Hospital after childbirth.

Earlier today, Nkwanzi appeared before the Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court. Appearing before Magistrate Erias Kakooza, Nkwanzi was charged with tampering with the evidence on the fateful day when her father was murdered.

Meanwhile, the court extended the ailing and frail Molly Katanga’s arrest warrant to January 22, 2023, after she was allegedly operated on for the fifth time in a period of two months. She is currently ‘hospitalised’ at Kampala International Hospital (IHK).

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Parliament extends the term of office for local council leaders in Uganda

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Parliament has extended the term of office for Local Councils 1 and 2, and the term of office for Women Councils as well for another 180 days.

The extension follows the tabling of the statutory instruments providing for the extension on the floor of the August House.

While chairing the sitting, Speaker Anita Among tasked the Minister for Local Government to lay the statutory instruments for House approval, noting that they were seconded by cabinet prior to the expiry of the extended term of office for the local councils on January 5, 2024.

She observed that on July 28, 2023, the government initially tabled a statutory instrument extending their term of office for six months.

This was attributed to a lack of funds to hold elections for new officeholders at the time.

“The 180 days were to expire on January 5, 2024, prompting the minister to issue this extension on December 29, 2023, so that he was not caught up by time. The documents are fully gazetted and have been laid on the table for retrospective approval,” Among said.

The new statutory instruments for the extension of term office for the Local Councils and Women Councils were tabled on the floor by Government Chief Whip, Hamson Obua, and Minister for Gender, Labour, and Social Development, Betty Amongi, respectively.

Busiro East County MP Medard Ssegona challenged the new statutory instruments providing for the extension.

“Under no circumstances can a statutory instrument amend the principle legislation. The term of office for local councils is fixed at five years,” Ssegona said.

The Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, however, noted that the amendment providing for the statutory instruments was made in accordance with provisions in the Local Government Act, Cap. 243.

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Court further remands suspected killer of British tourists

By
Our Reporter
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Kyoto Abdul Rashid aka Njovu, 31, a commander of the militant Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is escorted as he arrives at the Chief Magistrate Court where he was charged with nine offenses including the murder of a honeymooning tourist couple and their aide in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park, in Nakawa division of Kampala, Uganda November 13, 2023. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa

Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court has further remanded Abdul Rashid Kyoto alias Njovu alias Tembo, the prime suspect implicated in the killing of two tourists and their driver in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Appearing before Chief Magistrate Erias Kakooza, the matter was adjourned to January 22 as inquiries take centre stage.

Kyoto is grappling with two charges of terrorism, three charges of murder, three charges of aggravated robbery, and one charge of belonging to a terrorist organisation.

Prosecution alleges that on October 17, 2023, Njovu and others at large attacked and killed Eric Alyai and two British tourists, Barlow David James and Geyer Emmarentia Cecilia.

During the attack, two motor vehicles; a Mercedes Benz cargo truck and a Toyota Land Cruiser were burnt, and the passports, money, and visa cards of the tourists and the identity card, employment card, and driving permit of the Ugandan were taken by the suspect and his associates.

Prosecution-guided investigations were commenced by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI).

Consequently, Kyoto was arrested in an operation by the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) Marine Forces on Lake Edward. Two of his associates were shot dead, and others managed to escape in a boat with their weapons.

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