Technical Officials from Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) have today kick-started preparatory meetings for the Heads of State Summit of the Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) to ATMIS due 27th April 2023 at Entebbe State House

The objective of the Summit is twofold:

To evaluate the achievements made in the implementation of the ATMIS mandate.

To review the ATMIS drawdown plan in compliance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 26/70 (2022) and 26/28.

The Heads of State Summit will be a follow-up event after the meeting between the President of the Republic of Somalia H.E Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the President of the Republic of Uganda H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, during the United States  Africa Leaders’ Summit held in Washington DC, from December 13-15, 2022; in which H.E Hassan Mohamud requested Museveni to host an Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State of the Troop Contributing Countries to ATIMS which include; Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

While opening the session of the Technical Officials of the TCCs to ATMIS today at Serena Conference Hotel in Kampala, the Head of Ugandan Delegation who is also the Head of the Regional Peace and Security Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Amb. Julius Kivuna welcomed delegates and thanked them for accepting to participate in this important meeting of the TCCs to ATMIS.

He called upon experts to discuss as candidly as possible so that the meeting can propose workable recommendations for strategic leaders of ATMIS to make decisions that will support the smooth and peaceful drawdown process of the ATMIS Troops.

He extended Uganda’s appreciation to the Troop Contributing Countries, the host Country Somalia and ATMIS Partners for the immense support, sacrifice and spirit of brotherhood in an effort to promote and sustain peace, security and stability in Somalia and our region.

“These efforts have led to a number of achievements, including saving lives, improved infrastructure, social services that have greatly improved the lives and livelihoods of our brothers and sisters in Somalia,” Amb. Kivuna noted.

He further underscored that the meeting provides a crucial platform for TCCs to deliberate on the pertinent issues under ATMIS but importantly to evaluate the achievements made in the implementation of the ATMIS mandate.

Proceeding the Extra Ordinary Summit will be the meeting of the Chief of Defence Forces, Permanent Secretaries and the Ministerial Session tomorrow of the ATMIS TCCs and Somalia due 25th and 26th April 2023 respectively.

ATMIS TCCs and Development Partners including the UN, AU, UK, US, EU, IGAD and the EAC Secretariat are all expected to attend both the Ministerial Session and the summit.
In attendance were delegates from Somalia, United Nations Support Office, African Union, East African Secretariat and representatives from Troop Contributing Countries: namely Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

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Police in Kampala have cracked down a criminal gang armed with machetes that had been robbing people on major roads in the two divisions, majorly on Ring Road, Mackay Road, Nateete, and parts of Rubaga in Kampala, the country’s capital.

According to Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango, the panga-wielding gang was operating very early in the morning and late in the evening targeting people going to and returning from work.

Onyango said police detectives used Crime Intelligence Units to track down the gang and eight suspects were arrested from Kawempe Division, where they had been residing, and recovered several machetes and motorcycles they had been using for the violent robberies.

“They were arrested in Kawempe Division where they have been residing. We also recovered the machetes and motorcycles they have been using in the violent robberies,” Onyango said,

According to police, the criminals, who were travelling on motorcycles, would surround their victims, threaten to harm them if they did not hand over their valuables, and flee the scene on their motorcycles when they got what they wanted.

The climax of their attack according to police was when they attacked and robbed a Kyambogo University female student on February 18, and the officers in a patrol car nearby chased them.

“Luckily, there was a patrol car nearby. The officers reached the scene, but the criminals escaped. During the chase, the criminals abandoned their motorcycle, which was exhibited and used to get their background,” a source at Nateete police station where the criminals are currently held said.

The source added that crime intelligence officers used CCTV cameras to track down where the motorcycle had been before, and after several months of eluding the police, the assailants were traced to Nkere Zone, Kawempe Division, and eight of them were arrested.

“After several months of eluding us, we managed to trace these assailants to Nkere Zone, Kawempe Division. Eight of them were arrested. They admitted to the crimes that have been taking place in the areas of Namungoona, Lubiri and Mengo in Rubaga Division.”

SSP Onyango said they recovered some of the stolen items from the suspects’ homes.

“We thank our Crime Intelligence teams and Nateete Police Station leadership for cracking down on this group that had made the ring road and other roads in Rubaga Division unsafe,” he added.

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High Court Kampala is set to deliver its ruling on the double murder of the outspoken assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Muhammed Kirumira and his friend Mbabazi Nalinya.

Kirumira and Nalinya were gunned down on September 8, 2018 by unknown assailants travelling motorcycles. Kirumira was driving towards his home when gunmen waylaid him and opened fire at Bulenga trading centre.
Last year, the court started the trial of Hamza Mwebe and Abubakar Kalungi over their links to the killing of Kirumira and Nalinya. Justice Margrate Mutonyi acquitted Mwebe in December after the prosecution failed to avail evidence pinning him over the double murder. She ruled that Kalungi had a case to answer.

Last month court assessors advised the High Court to find the suspect Abubaker Kalungi innocent and acquit him of the crime.
The assessors told Justice Margaret Mutonyi that they are not convinced that Kalungi participated in the murder of Kirumira and another victim Resty Nalinnya Mbabazi in Bulenga Trading Center, Wakiso district.

They claimed that they are convinced that the prosecution proved that Kirumira’s death was unlawful and committed with malice aforethought and that none of the 15 Prosecution witnesses had placed Abubaker Kalungi at the scene of the crime.
Kalungi is said to have been hired by one Kateregga who is reportedly dead, to trail Kirumira’s movements. It shall also be remembered that on 23rd November last year, Justice Mutonyi dismissed a confession statement of one of the suspects Abubaker Kalungi saying that the State had failed to prove that it was voluntarily made as it was full of contradictions. Kalungi was acquitted but was rearrested soon after.

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United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) State of World Population report has revealed that population anxieties are widespread and governments are increasingly adopting policies aimed at raising, lowering or maintaining fertility rates. But efforts to influence fertility rates are very often ineffective and can erode women’s rights.

The landmark report “8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities: the case for rights and choices” calls for a radical rethink of how population numbers are framed – urging politicians and media to abandon overblown narratives about population booms and busts. Instead of asking how fast people are reproducing, leaders should ask whether individuals, especially women, are able to freely make their own reproductive choices – a question whose answer, too often, is no.

“Women’s bodies should not be held captive to population targets,” says UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem.

“To build thriving and inclusive societies, regardless of population size, we must radically rethink how we talk about and plan for population change.”

A staggering 44 per cent of partnered women and girls in 68 reporting countries do not have the right to make informed decisions about their bodies when it comes to having sex, using contraception and seeking health care; and an estimated 257 million women worldwide have an unmet need for safe, reliable contraception.

History has shown that fertility policies designed to increase or lower birth rates are very often ineffective and can undermine women’s rights. Many countries have rolled out programmes to engineer larger families by offering financial incentives and rewards to women and their partners, yet they continue to see birth rates below two children per woman. And efforts to slow population growth through forced sterilization and coercive contraception have grossly violated human rights.

Family planning must not be used as a tool for achieving fertility targets; it is a tool for empowering individuals. Women should be able to choose if, when and how many children they would like to have, free from the coercion of pundits and officials.

The report strongly recommends governments institute policies with gender equality and rights at their heart, such as parental leave programs, child tax credits, policies that promote gender equality in the workplace, and universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. These offer a proven formula that will reap economic dividends and lead to resilient societies able to thrive no matter how populations change.

Twenty-four per cent of partnered women and girls are unable to say no to sex and 11 per cent are unable to make decisions specifically about contraception, according to data from 68 reporting countries.

A survey of eight countries showed people who had been exposed to media or conversations about the world’s population were more likely to view the global population as being too high.

Global demographics are changing rapidly: Two thirds of people are living in low fertility contexts, while eight countries will account for half the projected growth in global population by 2050 (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania), dramatically reordering the world’s ranking of most populous countries.

Blaming fertility for climate change will not hold the greatest carbon emitters to account. Out of 8 billion people, around 5.5 billion do not make enough money, about $10 a day, to contribute significantly to carbon emissions.

A recent UN study says greater gender parity in the labour force would do more to sustain economies in ageing, low-fertility societies than setting targets for women to have more children.

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