Kampala City lawyers, Fred Muwema and Kagoro Friday of Muwema & Co. Advocates have been dragged to the Commercial Court for allegedly failing to pay rent worth $148,000.
According to court documents, Downtown Investments Limited, a company is alleging that the amount in question is owed by the Kampala-based law firm and its partners Fred Muwema and Kagoro Friday Roberts having accrued as unpaid rent for the period commencing from December 15, 2021 up to date.
Downtown Investments Ltd has filed Civil Suit No. 0621 of 2023 against the law firm for recovery of the rental arrears. The case is pending hearing and determination before Justice Harriet Magala of the Commercial Court.
On July 12, 2023, Downtown Investments Ltd terminated the tenancy agreement with Muwema and gave the law firm 30 days to vacate the premises. Despite the expiration of the notice on August 12, 2023 the law firm has refused to peacefully vacate the premises.
According to documents filed in court, Downtown Investments Ltd insisted that Muwema & Co. Advocates defaulted in making timely payments of the monthly rent and by May 30, 2023 the rent had accumulated to $182,400.
However, Fred Muwema’s lawyers pleaded with Downtown Investments Ltd after receiving a demand notice for $182,400 and they made a partial payment of $50,000 of the outstanding rental arrears and the amount due and owing was reduced to $148,300 at the time of filing the court case.
Downtown Investments Ltd however, wants the Court to hold the Muwema & Co. Advocates liable for rent arrears in the amount of $148,300 (One Hundred Forty-Eight Thousand Three Hundred United States Dollars), representing the period commencing December 15, 2021.
The Tenancy Agreement attached to the court documents shows that the agreed monthly rent was $5,500 in 2014 but subject to 18% VAT and a 10% annual increment after the first 24 months. It is these sums that are said to have accumulated to the $148,000 now being claimed.
Downtown Investments Limited has now formally lodged a complaint of criminal trespass against Fred Muwema and Kagoro Friday Roberts and has also sought the intervention of police to have the law firm evicted.
Bank of Africa has responded to Eagle Online story dated October 2, 2023 about the customer deposits at Bank of Africa at risk as billions feared stolen by the staff urging that the Customer funds are safe and the institution’s financial standing is sound.
“We wish to categorically state that Bank of Africa maintains the highest standards of financial integrity and security. All customer deposits are safe and our financial standing is sound as reflected in our recently published statements that can be found on baouganda.com.” Bank of Africa clarified.
The Bank added that for further information about the financial soundness of bank of Africa Group whose total asset is a subsidiary it says are sold.
Awhistleblower who says operates on Nasser Road in Kampala has written to the Bank of Uganda (BoU) claiming customer deposits at Bank of Africa could be at risk of being stolen by staff. A detailed submission which he copied to several newsrooms, indicating that all wasn’t well at Bank of Africa Ugnada
Writing on September 30, 2023, to the BoU Governor, Moses Mukasa, the whistleblower, said he was cleaning the office, he landed on garnish orders from Bank of Africa, which to him was strange.
“I work from Nasser road here in Kampala. But as I was sweeping our office, I landed on the attached draft document. And from this document, it seems that there is a problem at the Bank of Africa in Uganda. I have personally seen several people on this Nasser Road premises processing fake court garnish orders to be used in Bank of Africa Uganda,” he said.
He added “The MD of Bank of Africa- Uganda, mistreats, and underpays staff this is why there is a big and abnormal exodus. We are really paid so little by this man, we need help from Allah. As if that is not enough, his poor people management skills are driving the unavoidable collapse of the bank. It’s just a matter of time if he doesn’t step aside. We need new management,” he said.
However, in its reply to the story, without providing any specific indicators or directly answering the allegations brought forward said all is well inside its operations.
The Ntare School Management has indefinitely suspended all six candidates over indiscipline involving destruction of school property.
“The School Management has today, 3rd October 2023 decided to indefinitely suspend the entire Senior six because last night they exhibited a high degree of indiscipline,” Mr. Rwampororo Saul, School Head teacher confirmed in a letter.
He added the students deliberately destroyed school property including the recently installed CCTV Cameras around the school.
He however, said that the Board of Governors will subsequently sit to assess the damage and chart the way forward.
This development has left the Old Students and concerned citizens in shock as there is only one month left for the students to sit for their Uganda Advanced Certificate Examinations.
Uganda Development Bank has announced a Shs150 billion financial commitment earmarked to provide affordable and patient financing to Ugandan contractors.
Dubbed the Ugandan Contractors Financing Initiative, the financing complemented by Business Advisory and Project Management advice services will support Ugandan contractors to access bid bonds and guarantees at favorable terms and in a timely manner.
Addressing the press at the UDB Head office at Rwenzori Towers, Nakasero yesterday, Patricia Ojangole, the UDB Managing Director said limited access to patient and favorably priced working capital remains a key challenge to Ugandan contractors.
“The financing difficulties and delays coupled with sourcing funds from unconventional financing sources negatively affects performance and business growth, causes contract delays, and often leads to poor quality work among other challenges,” Ojangole said.
“UDB has identified the need to provide targeted financial support to emerging and existing Ugandan contractors to aid performance and contractor growth, a testament to the Bank’s commitment to champion development impact activities that are consistent with our mandate.”
Ugandan contractors have long been recognized as a vital segment of national development, responsible for turning plans and investments into tangible infrastructure, services, and facilities that benefit communities and the nation. UDB acknowledges the pivotal role they play in Uganda’s growth and development, hence creating a platform where contractors can be guided on how to capitalize on the existing opportunities.
On this basis, the Bank has made a call for Ugandan contractors to submit their Expression of Interest to participate in the Ugandan Contractors Financing Initiative.
The call is open to Ugandan-registered contractors where Ugandans have majority shareholding.
Eligible firms shall be those that undertake physical infrastructure projects within the Bank’s key priority sectors.
Under this initiative, Ugandan contractors will enjoy the following benefits:
Timely access to cheaper and patient capital.
Lower appraisal fees, grace periods of up to 12 months as well as lower than prevailing market interest rates.
Access to bid bonds, performance, and other guarantees at favorable terms and conditions, such as arrangement fees of 0.25%, security cover of between 50 – 100% of the bond amount, unsecured bid bonds of between 0.5 – 1 billion, and low commission rates of 0.5% per quarter.
Consideration of outstanding payment certificates as security to enable access of up to 70% of the required credit.
Consideration of security at market value as opposed to forced sale value – where required.
Business Advisory on technical and project management skills to enable capacity Building for the contractors.
For the seamless execution of the initiative, the Bank has partnered with the Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers (UIPE) which will provide leadership and direction in all policies and matters of public interest that are of an engineering nature and the Uganda National Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors (UNABCEC) which will support in mobilization and the due-diligence processes.
“We remain firmly committed to the development agenda of Uganda and we believe the Ugandan Contractors Financing Initiative is a new dawn and anchor to infrastructure development in Uganda. I call upon all Ugandan contractors to embrace the initiative as we reshape financing for development in the country,” Ojangole concluded.
Expression of Interest is open starting tomorrow October 3, 2023 and will close on October 30, 2023. An evaluation committee will review the applications against the minimum requirements. Applicant(s) who meet the minimum requirements will be categorized according to pre-approved credit limits.
Police has mobilized sufficient manpower, both overt and covert, and logistical resources, to counter all forms of threats, vulnerabilities and eventualities, towards the 29th Uganda International Trade Fair (UGITF), will take place from the 3rd -10th, October, 2023, at the UMA show grounds.
Running under the theme, “Driving Manufacturing and Trade Efficiency through Digital Transformation and Innovation”, the annual UGITF is one of the biggest national calendar events that attract local, regional, and international manufacturers, traders, distributors, from various sectors, who showcase a variety of high quality products and services.
SCP Fred Enanga, Police Spokesperson said that this year, 2023, Police expects more than 300,000 visitors, including Heads of State, high profile businesspersons, politicians, celebrities, students, researchers and other participants, who will have an opportunity to tour all the exhibition centers, build partnerships and exchange ideas.
“Our security detail comprises of dedicated teams from General Duties, Field Force Unit (FFU), Counter Terrorism, Traffic, Joint Intelligence (ISO, CMI and Crime Intelligence), K9, Fire Brigade, Medical, ICT, CID, UPDF and SFC, among others, who will maintain a heightened presence, throughout the event,” Enanga assured.
He added, “As always, the Joint Security Agencies have been an incredible partner to the UMA growth. Despite the few existing threats, in the country, we would like to inform the organizers and the public that there are no specific threats directed towards the event. Public safety and security is guaranteed.”
Police has also profiled the surrounding areas and mapped out routes for patrols, on foot, motorcycles, vehicles as well as aerial surveillance, using UAV and have opened up a command center, with CCTV, that will monitor all movements of persons and motor vehicles, 24/7 throughout the 7-day, Trade Fair.
The Inspector General of Police, Okoth Ochola has encouraged all Ugandans and visitors, to attend this years’ Trade Fair and celebrate our entrepreneurs.
Customers and Visitors have been cautioned not to forget that criminals also mark the calendars for these action-packed events, with vast quantities of merchandise in one place.
The Kenyan betting market is very saturated. Both local and international companies attend it. It may seem that there is no place for small companies focused exclusively on the local population next to the global giants. But is this really so? Let’s find out using PlayaBet as an example.
PlayaBet Overview
To understand how viable this platform is, we will analyze its activities based on key indicators.
Official Site
The design and interface of the site are pretty modest, and compared to competitors, the resource looks outdated. Essential functions are available to the user and suggested sports and additional links are placed in the side menu. The interface is straightforward and intuitive. It is challenging to get confused. If you have any questions, you can ask them in the chat, which is available at the bottom of the page. Registration and login are also very simple. You can read about them in more detail in the article on registering on playabet.com.
Offer
The choice of sports for betting is relatively modest. However, users will find the most popular disciplines on the site, such as football, basketball, tennis, boxing, cricket, and some others. The bookmaker also provides the most popular markets, such as total, handicap, over/under, double chance, etc. The number of options depends on the sport type and the event’s popularity. The platform only provides sports betting and does not have a casino section.
Mobile Betting
The service does not have a mobile application, which is a serious drawback because mobile betting is prevalent nowadays. However, the site works well on mobile devices due to its simple design and the absence of bulky elements.
Bonuses
The bookmaker offers a risk-free bet to all new users. It means that if your first prediction turns out to be incorrect, the service will return 100% of the bet amount. There are also offers for loyal users and a 50% boost to accumulator bets. After several stakes, bettors receive bet insurance. In general, the offer is not bad but entirely limited compared to industry leaders.
Service Features
Despite its simplicity, the platform provides users with several exciting features.
Cash-Out
If your prediction turns out to be wrong and the field worsens, you can save money by cashing out your bet. In this case, the system closes the bet based on the currently valid odds.
SMS Betting
SMS betting is still in demand in Kenya. International platforms do not provide this opportunity, so this method is a significant advantage for PlayaBet.
Jackpot
You can win a significant amount in the jackpot. To do this, you need to correctly predict the outcome of events on the cards provided by the bookmaker. In this case, you can use the automatic filling of the coupon, in which the system will place the bet using a random number generator.
Pros and Cons of PlayaBet
Let’s see how PlayaBet can compete with its competitors and what aspects require improvement.
Pros
Cons
✅Simple and intuitive interface ✅SMS betting ✅Cash-out ✅Attractive odds
❌No mobile app ❌No casino ❌Limited payment options
PlayaBet Perspectives
As you can see, PlayaBet is significantly behind the market leaders in some aspects. It would seem that this calls the continued existence of the service into question. But it’s more complicated.
Firstly, most bettors use several platforms simultaneously, choosing the most suitable odds. Therefore, even modest platforms get enough users. Secondly, top platforms operating worldwide are little focused on local markets. It is where small Kenyan bookmakers have an advantage because they know the needs of their users better.
In addition, not all bettors are delighted with modern technologies and modernization. Some people prefer to place bets in the usual way, for example, using SMS. It is not easy for such users to adapt to changes in the site interface, so they continue to use familiar platforms.
In addition, the reputation and reliability of the bookmaker should not be underestimated. PlayaBet has all the necessary licenses and permits to operate in the Kenyan market and an excellent reputation among users, unlike some leading Kenyan sportsbooks. Therefore, many people prefer this platform, knowing there will be no problems with receiving money. As such, many users prioritize reliability over the abundance of features.
Conclusion
As you can see, many Kenyan users have good reasons to use PlayaBet’s services. It is a genuinely reliable and legal bookmaker that provides a sufficient number of functions for betting. Despite the apparent advantages of market leaders, local bookmakers better understand users’ needs. This fact allows them to stay afloat and maintain a loyal audience. Therefore, we can be confident that competitors won’t soon push PlayaBet out of the market. Of course, the service should monitor trends and think through ways to improve. But at present, it has its fans and continues to work.
The governments of Uganda and Algeria have established a business council that aims at eliminating exploitative middlemen as the two countries engage in direct trade.
The business council is contained in an agreement signed between Francis Mwebesa, Uganda’s Minister for Trade and Cooperatives, and his Algerian counterpart at the inaugural Uganda-Algeria business forum, which kicked off in Kampala on Saturday.
According to Mwebesa, the business council, which comprises 20 members, led by private sector organizations from both countries, with significant contributions from their respective Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), immediately begins work.
“Middlemen have quietly hindered Uganda’s bilateral trade links for far too long. Eliminating their role in this new alliance with Algeria marks a resounding victory for ordinary Ugandans,” he said
As part of the comprehensive trade arrangement, Algeria has committed to providing vaccines, agricultural equipment, and various products spanning multiple sectors, promising mutual benefits for both economies.
Additionally, Algeria has pledged to establish direct trade routes by sea and air, eliminating intermediaries known for inflating prices, which will ultimately benefit both nations.
Algeria currently ranks 13th among Uganda’s trading partners, and Minister Mwebesa urged Ugandans to seize this trade opportunity wholeheartedly to rectify the current trade balance, which favours Algeria.
Alintuma Nsambu, Uganda’s Ambassador to Algeria, expressed concern about the underutilization of these opportunities by Ugandan businesses.
“To demonstrate the quality of Ugandan products in the Algerian market, I became a ‘Mutembeyi’ (hawker) and successfully introduced Ugandan milk to Algeria. It’s disheartening that only Amos Diaries underwent a vetting process, and thank God it was approved. I implore our entrepreneurs to seize these opportunities; they are designed to propel your growth.” Cherif Oualid, the Algerian Ambassador to Uganda, highlighted the collaboration’s focus on eliminating intermediaries, as stipulated in the bilateral pact.
He emphasized that both Algeria and Uganda are committed to adding value to their products, gaining effective access to each other’s markets, and potentially serving as gateways to other markets.
Odrek Rwabwogo, the presidential adviser on exports and industrial development emphasized the surge in consumption and the vast potential for the future. He urged Ugandans to be prepared to capitalize on upcoming opportunities, highlighting Uganda’s comparative advantages in various sectors.
To address the trade deficit, Rwabwogo mentioned Uganda’s ambitious targets and aggressive strategies for increasing exports, particularly to Algeria, which currently accounts for a 1.5% share of Uganda’s exports.
Minister of Agriculture Frank Tumwebaze encouraged large-scale farmers to seek partnerships with Algerian investors and leverage each other’s capabilities to produce sustainably for export markets.
He emphasized Uganda’s agricultural potential, climate, and available arable land, stressing the importance of value addition. “The potential for this partnership is evident, with Algeria already importing Ugandan coffee and milk. Through this collaboration, Ugandans can tap into the prospect of exporting finished products, thus propelling our country’s economic growth even further,” he asserted.
Tumwebaze highlighted the significance of this collaboration, stating that it allows Ugandans to export finished products, contributing to Uganda’s economic growth. He also noted that while Uganda has 80% arable land, only 36% is currently cultivated, indicating untapped potential.
The formation of the business council between Uganda and Algeria signifies a significant milestone in their bilateral trade relations. It presents lucrative opportunities for Ugandan businesses to access the Algerian market and beyond, potentially boosting economic growth for both nations.
Miss Ndstefai Khaoula from the Algerian Investment Promotion Agency guided Ugandan traders through the company registration process for trading with Algeria, including the duration of the investment period offered to licensees. “The Algerian Investment Promotion Agency is actively engaged in promoting investment, providing information, streamlining registration procedures, and managing the associated benefits,”she said.
Currently, there is an ongoing fight between the World Bank and the government of Uganda. The in-fights stem from the World Bank’s decision to suspend its new funding to Uganda after the latter enacted the Anti-Homosexuality law.
The law protects the traditional family by prohibiting any form of sexual relations between persons of the same sex and the promotion of such acts.
“Our goal is to protect sexual and gender minorities from discrimination and exclusion in the projects we finance. No new public financing to Uganda will be presented to our Board of Executive Directors until the efficacy of the additional measures has been tested,” the Bank said in a statement. This publication has established that in July, the US embassy declined to issue visas to various Ugandan diplomats mainly from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who were meant to travel to the US for a conference.
Sources at the World Bank intimated that the Ugandan official’s passports were sent to the US embassy with diplomatic notes however they were not granted visas.
In retaliation, Mukami Kariuki, Country Manager of the World Bank imported a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) however the government of Uganda declined to clear it. “I don’t know how this Uganda – World Bank inflights will end. Mukami imported a car but the Uganda Revenue Authority declined to release it. They are supposed to clear and give it diplomatic number plates but URA officials are reluctant,” the source said.
In the same vein, on Sunday, August 20, 2023, the Vice President of the World Bank jetted into the country. He was however made to wait at the airport after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) declined to accord him VIP Treatment. After a long time of waiting, he was allowed to access the VIP section and later cleared. This publication understands that there are ongoing discussions between the government of Uganda and the World Bank. The discussions are aimed at paving the way for how marginalized communities can benefit from the projects funded by the World Bank. According to Kizito Sewava Kiyingi, a communications Specialist and Financial Inclusion Advocate, the World Bank needs Uganda more than Uganda needs it “The World Bank has a huge staff and lends to developing countries to justify its existence but developing Countries have other sources of finance, such as China, which doesn’t impose many conditions. He argued that if the Bank did not lend to Uganda, there would be equally valid reasons for it to not lend to numerous other developing countries that do things that are not approved of by the West. But if that were the case, who would be left for the World Bank to lend to, and then what would happen to its entire redundant staff? He stated that the World Bank has annual targets for disbursements. If those targets are not met it affects the World Bank’s own existence and mandate (to fight poverty) as an institution.
“There is a reputational issue for the World Bank; including its standing with other low-income countries so the threats against Uganda won’t be effective. They will backfire. Subsequently, the World Bank will have to work behind the scenes with the technocrats to put in measures that will bring its projects back on track in Uganda. It might take months, but the World Bank will certainly fund Uganda again,” he stated.
A whistleblower who operates on Nasser Road in Kampala has written to the Bank of Uganda (BoU) claiming customer deposits at Bank of Africa could be at risk of being stolen by staff.
Writing on September 30, 2023, to the BoU Governor, Moses Mukasa, the whistleblower, said he was cleaning the office, he landed on garnish orders from Bank of Africa, which to him was strange.
“I work from Nasser road here in Kampala. But as I was sweeping our office, I landed on the attached draft document. And from this document, it seems that there is a problem at the Bank of Africa in Uganda. I have personally seen several people on this Nasser Road premises processing fake court garnish orders to be used in Bank of Africa Uganda,” he said.
Another whistleblower, Abubaker Kiberu who claims to be a senior manager at the bank (Bank of Africa) seems to confirm Mukasa’s fears, alleging that the managing director Arthur Isiko mistreats, and underpays staff, causing an exodus of the human resource and that about Shs700 million has been stolen from dormant accounts.
“The MD of Bank of Africa- Uganda, mistreats, and underpays staff this is why there is a big and abnormal exodus. We are really paid so little by this man, we need help from Allah. As if that is not enough, his poor people management skills are driving the unavoidable collapse of the bank. It’s just a matter of time if he doesn’t step aside. We need new management,” he said.
He added: “Staff leaving would be okay, but those who have stayed have resorted to stealing customers funds. What do you expect when you pay peanuts and yet staff handle billions every day? Imagine counting billions when you cannot afford transport to work. The bank is asking you to either stop working or to quit.”
According to Kiberu, both tellers at the counters and senior staff at the bank are all involved in siphoning depositors’ money. “It’s not only tellers who are stealing. Even some top officials are involved in these games. Conniving with and asking for cutbacks on customer loans is the norm. I won’t mention names but Kiddawalime and Great Lakes are incidents I can’t keep silent about. Look into these cases.”
Alleges that Isiko wants to cause the collapse of the bank. “So many senior staff are leaving because of his bad actions. Many staff have got internal loans above their thresholds. So many staff are stealing money from the bank using internal rackets.”
He alleges that the newest racket involves the bank’s legal team and some senior staff who work with tellers to identify and steal funds from dormant customer accounts using Nasser road forged court garnishee orders.
Shs700 million stolen
Kiberu says over Shs700 million could have been stolen so far.
“Over Shs700 million has been systematically siphoned. At the moment, there is an internal audit on a case of Shs500 million stolen using forged Nasser road garnish orders, but nothing positive will come out because the internal auditors are on huge MD pay cheques. There is need for an independent external audit on these forged garnish orders that have been used to siphon billions of shillings from dormant accounts in the bank.”
RE: NIGERIA SHOULD BE SUSPENDED FROM THE COMMONWEALTH FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES & FOR EROSION OF DEMOCRATIC GAINS THROUGH A FRAUDULENT ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL.
Dear Baroness Patricia Scotland QC
Madam SG, I am a member of the Commonwealth. An Investigative journalist, a Pan African by birth, an international activist, an international watchman who defends MILLIONS OF THE VOICELESS CITIZENS. Therefore, what happens in any Commonwealth nation affects me. I was born in Uganda and I reside in United Kingdom the Headquarters of the Commonwealth; therefore, a better Commonwealth is s plus to me.
Madam SG you and I have struggled for people’s rights across the globe. In 1998 as the Attorney General you were instrumental in the formation of ICC to watch against Human Rights abuses in the world. In Britain we belong to the same Party of Labour Party which I have voted for three decades.
Madam SG, Nigeria with a population of 220 million people would have been a FRONT GATE for the entire Commonwealth &Africa. But something is very strange. It has never worked before and is not working now and it might not work in future unless a miracle comes.
Madam SG, since 1966 there has been a loss of democracy and latent encouragement of destruction of human Rights in Nigeria, and now from 2010 Nigeria has become a HAVEN of terrorists, killings, abduction of people, rampant corruption and now judicial electoral fraud that could breed violence in the country.
Madam SG, you are QC and you have been before many courtrooms in the world. It is in the doctrine of good law that an Election Petition needs to be approached differently from other litigation because it is not a dispute between the individual parties at court. But between each party at court and the entire country represented by the population that voted in the election.
Madam SG, any Tribunal or court applying technicalities in election petition adjudication commits an act of punishing the entire country for filing errors made by legal counsels. This certainly has no bearing with justice, fairness and good conscience.
Madam SG, it is an ant-people application of legal ‘punctuation errors’ to favour vested interests other than the people themselves. In democracy election of leaders must emanate from the choice of the people whether concluded at the polls or decided in the courtroom. The COURT in Abuja slaughtered all the rules of LEGAL fraternity.
Madam SG I want to inform you that I attended Chatham House meeting where the INEC Chairperson described to the entire world how WONDERFUL the PREPARATIONS for the February 2023 Elections were to be. I have also read the report of Commonwealth Observer Team and I concluded that Nigeria needs to be called out for HUMAN ABUSES.
Madam SG but democratic Justice can only be done at election petition when the Judges focus on extracting the will of the people already expressed in the disputed elections, from the evidence presented before it, not on any legal ‘punctuation error’, aka technicalities.
Madam SG, the Commonwealth law is very clear. It was sad that the 5Judges relied on technicalities for election petition rulings that throws up winners that suffer illegitimacy crisis that ultimately bear negatively on the country. This includes the courts and the entire judicial system.
Madam SG, it should be noted that in the recent times in Nigeria, you hear of expressions like ‘Supreme Court Governor’ or ‘Supreme Court Senator’, etc. these are peoples’ voices of rejection for such individuals; affirming that they were not elected by them but imposed on them by the court.
Madam SG President Tinubu is a “TRIBUNAL PRESIDENT “not peoples elected President. This of course debases the courts and reduces the confidence of the people in the Judiciary, and very likely further encourage electoral violence and conflicts by desperate politicians who will fight at all costs in the field since they no longer trust the courts to look at petitions on their merit.
Writer of the article David Matsanga.
Madam SG it has become a norm that employing technicalities in election petition adjudication is an easy way to compensate bad acts with good rewards. It is a way to encourage bad people with lots of money to venture into politics and grab power, knowing that even if they cannot win the peoples acceptance and votes, they can do so with violence, and then rely on the courts to validate their roguery.
Madam SG , this done with the gavel by simply inducing it to look for a technical error in the petitioners’ filing upon which to kill the possibility of hearing the substantial issues in the petition.
It is a recipe for enabling emergence of leaders who have no compassion for the citizens nor feel they owe anyone the duty of accountability. No country in the common wealth can make meaningful development this way.
Madam SG, if good conscience, honesty, integrity and democratic principles are elements for assessing the ruling of the Nigeria’s 2023 PEPC, then it will in no way pass the test of democratic worthless and of course not worth celebrating.
Madam SG there are those celebrating it – for whatever reason I don’t know. Nevertheless, it is only a matter of time before those who celebrate become victims of the comeuppance of such an anti-people legal validation of an obvious outcome of a fraudulent process.
The Judiciary owes Nigeria and humanity a duty to rectify the wrongs of this ruling. The onus lies on the higher court to either reset this normalisation of the abnormal or sustain it.
Madam SG whichever way the higher Court adjudicates in future, all Nigerians of goodwill and conscience that have remained resolute standing with the truth, especially those going through persecutions for that sake, must keep their faces up and celebrate their courage in standing with the truth at a time they are the most endangered species in Nigeria’s sociopolitical economy.
Madam SG North or south, East or West, truth is truth, it does not change. In the man that truth dies, living is nothing less than a putrid existence. To turn the truth into a lie for money is to have sold one’s soul and essence at that amount.
Madam SG your team of Observers might have seen what they wanted to see or observe. But under the circumstances that prevailed and the way the courts have shown the world true colours of justice I personally will not hide behind the cloak of ‘fake patriotism’ to ask people to move on in error.
Madam SG you as a senior counsel of highest bar you know it well, that no good will ever come from persistence in error. Error plus error is more error. To think that abundant good will sprout from bad is nothing but delusion. Nemo dat quod non habet – no one can give what they don’t have.
Madam SG, Zimbabwe was suspended from the commonwealth on alleged grounds of fraudulent election in 2002. Why has the commonwealth not reprimanded Nigeria for all the bad deeds of election fraud and abuse of human rights using judiciary.
Madam SG, I draw your attention to the fact Nigeria is the only country in the Commonwealth still HOLDING POLITICAL PRISONERS on trumped up charges up now.
Madam SG, why have you in your own capacity as SG of Commonwealth not intervened to ask why a man is kidnapped from one Commonwealth country to another and the Commonwealth is silent on the matter?
Madam SG, I have written this open letter to alert you about the deteriorating human Rights records in both Nigeria and Cameroon (Biafra & Ambazonia) that are member states of the Commonwealth. Britain the head of Commonwealth stands for values of humanity. It cannot head an organization which watches of human Rights abuses and call itself a COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS?
Madam SG, this letter seeks to remind you about the time of campaign for the first term of office where our CORE value was to bring peace and harmony to the nations of COMMONWEALTH. It is a letter to make my position clear that most of us campaigned for you in the African Commonwealth because we wanted accountability in the Commonwealth.
Madam SG, in conclusion I put it to the public that Nigeria’s May 2023 Election was a SHAM and if the Commonwealth gave it legitimacy then God is the SAVIOUR for all of us. Such a democratic deficit could brew into a future conflict for the leading Commonwealth state in
Africa.
Madam SG, Nigeria should have been SUSPENDED from the Commonwealth for eroding the very principles of democratic foundation that Commonwealth stands for. The weak oversight roles have led to the destruction of democratic space in most Commonwealth states of Africa.
Madam SG, perhaps the Commonwealth should think of starting CIVIC education on matters of democracy and Elections in most Commonwealth Africa. Apart from Tanzania and South Africa where tension has been low on Presidential SLOTS due to the use of SIMPLE majority system other states with 50+1 systems have had ROUGH after elections.
Madam SG, I leave a question for you and those who will read this historical letter: In Nigeria 94 million Registered voters were recorded by INEC, out of this 68million did not come out to vote and only about 26million cast their vote, then a COURT of 5 Judges who were appointed by the ruling party sat and decided a matter of UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE of the over 200 million people ON A TECHNICALITY NOT ON SUBSTANCE -SO WHERE IS THE RATIONALE?
