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Consumer Protection Bill in the offing

By
Our Reporter
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Bukoto West Member of Parliament, Muhammad Ssentayi

Parliament has granted Bukoto West Member of Parliament, Muhammad Ssentayi leave to introduce the Consumer Protection and Management Bill.

Although the proposal was meant to be presented by the Chairperson of the Committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry, Mr. Mwine Mpaka, the Speaker Anita Among used her discretion to suspend the rule to allow Ssentayi to present.

Ssentayi who moved the motion on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 said that the enactment of a consumer protection law in Uganda will enable the setting of standards for the quality, safety and reliability of goods.

He said that the bill will provide for remedies actionable in law in case of non-compliance with those standards as well as prohibit unfair or misleading trade practices.

Ssentayi stated that the failure to enact legislation that specifically provides for the legal protection of consumers in Uganda will continue to undermine the quality of goods produced and supplied in Uganda.

He said that this will also put consumers in a weaker position than those with whom they deal, depriving them of their money’s worth and product value and continuing to escalate the violation of the right to equal protection under the law.

Ssentayi added that currently, the laws regulating the protection of consumers are scattered.
“A consumer protection law is necessary to offer protection to consumers not only against fraud and dishonesty in commercial dealings but also oppressive bargains and qualitatively deficient goods and services,” he said.

Buhweju County MP Francis Mwijukye said the bill will help in standardization and dealing with consumer exploitation.

He said that those who are aggrieved can now seek redress because of this bill.
“We have had a situation where the government directs banks not to increase interest, and loan officers not to exploit people, but this is still happening. We believe we need this law to promote fairness and equity,” he said.

Although government through the Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Jackson Kafuuzi sought to halt the process of introducing the bill stating that the government was also in the process of preparing the bill, Speaker Anita Among ruled that the process continues.

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ZTE releases B5G Technology Whitepaper at 5G Summit in Italy

By
Our Reporter
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B5G Technology Whitepaper

ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a global leading provider of information and communication technology solutions, has officially released the Beyond 5G Technology Whitepaper at 5G Summit 2022 in Italy. The whitepaper aims to lay a technical foundation for the whole ecosystem to boost digital transformation in Beyond 5G phase, and fulfill 5G potential to benefit individuals, businesses, governments and societies.

The whitepaper begins with GSMA Intelligence’s profound insights into the global industry trend, challenges to operators, standard development, and potential industry verticals. Based on its scenario-driven and value-oriented principles, ZTE screens some key potential technologies in the Beyond 5G phase. The company analyses not only the characteristics of each technology, but also the scenarios and value services in the future.

In addition, some technologies in the whitepaper have been developed into prototypes and are being verified together with operators. For instance, the RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent metaSurface) and base station synergy solution can efficiently solve the continuous coverage challenge of mmWave bands, and provide double guarantee of rate and coverage for value areas. Another case is integrated sensing and communication, ZTE innovated it together with computation and control, enriching new applications such as facility security and vehicle-road synergy.

The core mission in the B5G phase is to help 5G create greater value, optimize and solve development problems, and leverage the digital economy to propel economic recovery.

Moving forward, ZTE will actively provide products and solutions to meet various scenario requirements. Also, the company will cooperate with more industry partners, operators, distributors, and industry verticals, to further accelerate digital transformation, and to reshape a new digital landscape and achieve the win-win digital economy in beyond 5G stage.

Download the B5G Whitepaper

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Miria Matembe offers a motherly prayer to Thomas Tayebwa  

By
Simon Kabayo
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Miria Matembe offers a prayer to Thomas Tayebwa  

Dr. Miria Koburunga Matembe has prayed for the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa and asked God to remove any wrong person around him.

“I want to thank you Lord for your son, the Right Honorable Thomas Tayebwa,” Dr. Matembe prayed during a courtesy call to the deputy speaker on Tuesday.

Dr. Matembe who worked in the Ugandan government as Minister for Ethics and Integrity from 1998 to 2003, after which time she became a member of the Pan-African Parliament representing Uganda said Tayebwa who is only 41, holds a position of great responsibility and that he needs God’s guidance and protection.

“I was telling him that at his age, he is equal to my third born but you have been able to give him this position of Honor and responsibility Lord God. Because your word says that all authority comes from you. I want to pray that you continue to bless him in this seat,” she prayed, asking God that “you make him like David”.

“That in his heart, you put it in him like David decided to shepherd his people with a skilful hand and integrity of the heart. Will you give him that integrity of heart that you gave to your King, whom you loved most, King David,” Dr Matembe, who was a member of the Constitutional Commission that created the Ugandan Constitution prayed.

She petitioned God to bless whatever the Deputy Speaker touches and also guide him all the time that “he looks to you all the time.”

‘May you give him an undivided heart that he may fear you with all his heart and praise you forever. May you protect him, May you guide him, May you be his rock forever,” Dr. Matembe, a strong proponent for and an advocate of women’s rights in Uganda said in a prayer to God.

Dr. Matembe has been a lecturer of law and English at the Chartered Institute of Bankers, also in Kampala.

A lawyer by profession, Matembe is also the author of several articles and a book, Miria Matembe: Gender, Politics, and Constitution Making in Uganda, on women in politics.

Dr. Matembe is a former member of the Pan-African Parliament.

While serving there, she was chairperson of the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline, a permanent committee of the parliament.

Tayebwa said Dr. Matembe’s prayer was motherly and thanked her for interceding for him.

“Our personal prayers can move mountains, but the most powerful of all; the sincerest; the most effective prayer is one from a mother. When mothers pray, God listens. Thank you Mama Miria Matembe for interceding for me; for turning my office into the Lord’s meeting venue. Amen!, Tayebwa wrote on Twitter.

Dr. Matembe’s endorsement of Deputy Speaker comes only two days after the West Ankole Diocese Bishop, Rev. Johnson Twinomujuni backed Tayebwa’s firm position on homosexuality and abortion.

Bishop Twinomujuni described both practices as unchristian and ungodly.

Bishop Twinomujuni, a critic of homosexuality also praised Tayebwa’s resolve to protect the Ugandan and Church values and moral fibre intact amid mounting pressure from the western world.

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Europe’s failure to meet its climate goals should not be Africa’s problem

By
Yoweri k Museveni
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President Museveni

News from Europe that a vast windfarm is being demolished to make way for a new open-pit coal mine is the reprehensible double standard we in Africa have come to expect. As Europeans switch their coal-fired plants back on while still demanding fossil-fuel generation remains beyond the pale for Africans. It makes a mockery of Western commitments to climate targets and their promises to help speed African development all in one breath.

We are told that these are only temporary measures, needed to mitigate the energy shortages caused by the war in Ukraine. As soon as the conflict ends, the race to a renewable future will recommence.

In Africa, we believe what we see, not what we hear.

We see hundreds of millions of our own citizens without access to electricity. We see climate-compulsive Western investment in African energy funneled into wind and solar that creates intermittent electricity and not the consistent baseload generation required to power factories or produce employment. We see Europeans with jobs made possible by diverse means of electricity production, and Africans with neither, forcing tens of thousands to make life-threatening crossings of the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

For some years we have been told fossil fuel investment in Africa for Africans is unacceptable. More recently, through a multi-Western country agreement, a moratorium has even become legally binding. Now with Europe reinvesting in its own fossil fuel power industry to bring mothballed power plants back online, in a truly perverse twist we are told new Western investment in African fossil fuels is possible—but only for oil and gas resources that will be piped and shipped to Europe. This is the purest hypocrisy.

We will not accept one rule for them and another rule for us. We will not allow African progress to be the victim of Europe’s failure to meet its own climate goals. It is morally bankrupt for Europeans to expect to take Africa’s fossil fuels for their own energy production but refuse to countenance African use of those same fuels for theirs.

When decisions like these are being made, and without a shred of self-awareness or honor, it is no surprise some of my counterparts call for reparations or handouts. But this is the last thing Africans need or most want. Dialing down the brazen double-standards is what we desire, along with the lifting of the moratorium on fossil fuel investments for Africa herself so we can meet the needs of our own people.

With this head-spinning pietism, neither should it surprise when Africans look elsewhere for investment that comes without lectures attached. The surfeit of Chinese energy investment in Africa in recent decades can be seen through this prism. More recent arrivals, including the Turks and Indians, are helping build the infrastructure Africans need to raise their continent out of poverty and onto the world stage. Even our old friend the United Kingdom —shorn these days it seems due to Brexit of some of the pretension that still seeps from their near neighbors—is taking a more “enlightenment” approach.

If Africa was to increase electricity production just by using her known reserves of natural gas, the continent’s share of global emissions would rise from 3 percent to just 3.5 percent. Instead, Western money has poured into wind and solar projects that receive applause from the virtuous in the corridors of Congress and the chancelleries of Europe—but leave Africans without electricity when the wind does not blow, and the sun does not shine.

Africa needs to diversify, not restrict its methods of energy production. For every wind or solar array, we need continuous baseload power produced by thermal, mini-hydro, natural gas, and in time, also nuclear. Even the International Energy Agency (IEA), recently in lock-step with Europe’s African fossil fuels investment moratorium, has changed its tune—now calling for Africa to be empowered to use gas and other hydrocarbons for industrialization.

$25 billion per year—less than was spent in six months this year on Western arms to the Ukraine conflict—would, according to IEA estimates, raise 600 million people out of energy poverty by 2030 through such diversification. Africa could repay this with the proceeds from energy investments, and it would be possible to employ and grow millions out of poverty. If Europe still will not help, then we will get there through our own endeavors and with the support of the willing who do not sermonize.

Europe’s failure to meet its climate goals should not be Africa’s problem. But that continent’s determination to write one set of rules for Europeans and a different set for Africans makes it so. It means Europe is complicit in forcing poverty on Africa, and that is not acceptable and will not stand. Should no climate agreement be signed at COP 27 in Egypt this week, we should all recognize who is responsible.

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

President of the Republic of Uganda

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Uganda Hippos qualify for U-20 Africa Cup of Nations

By
Our Reporter
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Uganda Hippos players celebrate a goal.

The Uganda U-20 Men’s National Football Team, The Hippos, have qualified for next year’s U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Hippos defeated Sudan 2-0 in the semifinals of CECAFA Zonal Qualifiers on Tuesday in Khartoum.

Two second half goals from Rogers Torach and Captain Isma Mugulusi ensured Uganda secured a place in the final – meaning they qualify for the continental showpiece in next year’s tournament to be played in Egypt.

In the other semi final match, South Sudan with face off against Ethiopia – to find out the other team that will represent CECAFA region.

This will be Uganda’s second successive appearance at the final tournament. In 2021, they reached the final on their maiden appearance but lost to Ghana.

Nine of the twelve teams that will participate have already been confirmed; Uganda, Egypt, Tunisia, Senegal, The Gambia, Nigeria, Benin, Mozambique and Zambia.

Players born January 1, 2003 or later are eligible to participate in the 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations. The tournament will be played between February and March next year.

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Drinking hours to be regulated if new law passes

By
Our Reporter
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Drinkers enjoy a central pot of home-made alcohol in a kafunda

Tororo District Woman Representative, Sarah Opendi will introduce the Alcohol Control Bill that seeks to regulate drinking.

The Private Member’s Bill seeks to repeal the current legislation that includes, the Liquor Act, the Portable Spirit Act, and the Enguli (Manufacturing and Licensing) Act, all enacted in the 1960s which have become obsolete to address contemporary challenges of excessive consumption of alcoholic drinks.

Opendi is concerned that the harmful use of alcoholic drinks causes a high burden of disease and has significant social and economic consequences like domestic violence that often results in harm to people.

She said that the Bill will comprehensively address the regulation of the manufacture and importation, sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks.

She also wants the law to regulate the promotion and advertisement of alcoholic drinks as well as the treatment and rehabilitation of persons affected by alcoholic drinks among others.

“The current legislations have their weaknesses and we need stringent measures or penalties to control the consumption of alcohol and also its production in the country,” Opendi said.

Opendi added that although they cannot stop people from drinking alcohol, the government can regulate it the drinking hours.

Terego District Woman MP Rose Obiga recounted the devastating effects of unregulated consumption of alcohol citing ‘City 5’, a local potent gin produced by City 5 Distillers in Arua City that killed at least 15 people in August this year.

 “Recently, we lost a big number of our people; I would like to allude to the fact that many heavy alcohol consumers do not take care of their families. It iss a major source of domestic violence, failure to pay school fees, take care of their children and wives,” she said.

Equally, Amuru District Woman Representative, Lucy Akello said that the Bill will help curb the production, sale and consumption of dangerous brands of alcohol that have become too cheap to consumers including children in the country.

Busiro County East MP Medard Lubega Sseggona condemned the proponents of the Bill for sexualizing it.

 “By saying that people fail to take care of children and wives, what happens to the wives who drink?” he questioned.

Anita Among however said that it was a fact that when people drink too much alcohol, many of them fail to take care of their families.

 In 2019, the Ministry of Health formulated the National Alcohol Control Policy that guides stakeholders’ actions by all relevant stakeholders to reduce the harmful use of alcohol but the policy has not been well considered and implemented.

Notably, the World Health Organization Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health of 2018 ranked Uganda among the top alcohol per capita consuming countries in Africa.

Uganda was also ranked the leading per capita consumer in East Africa.

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KCCA breaks ground for construction of a traffic control centre

By
Our Reporter
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Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, with Japanese Ambassador to Uganda Fukuzawa Hidemoto during the ceremony

The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), with support from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is to construct a Traffic Control Centre aimed at alleviating traffic congestion in the city.

This will make Kampala the first city in East Africa to have such a smart facility.

At least JPY 2.44 Billion (approximately Shs63 billion) is to be spent on the project that is expected to be completed in 30 months from the day of ground breaking on November 8.

The traffic control Centre is part of the technical cooperation project named “The Project for Capacity Enhancement of KCCA in Management of Traffic Flow in Kampala City” launched between KCCA and JICA in 2015.

This project which proposes a Japanese Traffic Control System named MODERATO will also lead to signalization of up to 27 junctions and removal of Five roundabouts in the City. These roundabouts are Rwenzori Courts, Grand Imperial, Mulago, Mulago Mortuary and Kubiri.

The Lord Mayor of Kampala His Worship Erias Lukwago, commended the Japan government for the support to Kampala and Uganda at large.

“Traffic congestion is a real menace. Every time it rains, it’s horrible it’s a nightmare navigating traffic in Kampala. When we get this kind of support from JICA we have all the reasons to celebrate to see that our traffic is going to improve,” Lukwago said.

He said the smart traffic control system will save Uganda Police from rudimentary means of controlling traffic.

“I feel baffled to see human beings standing on the road to control vehicles. The adoption of safe systems traffic approach is key in making Kampala a smart city that we all envision,” Lukwago said.

He challenged government to give more financial support to the city, so that development partners like JICA do the supplementary.

“We are very proud about the flyover project, it is not only about improving the traffic in Kampala but it gives us a facelift,” Lukwago said.

The Japanese Ambassador to Uganda Fukuzawa Hidemoto said the grant towards the construction of the Traffic Control Center is a clear intervention of Japan’s commitment to support Uganda’s Infrastructure development.

“This project will contribute to the sustainable development of the country and create a smart and sustainable city,” Hidemoto said.

The KCCA Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka, applauded JICA and the Japan Government for stepping in with this funding and technical support.

“Studies have informed us that traffic congestion in Kampala is leading to reduced productivity of the City’s workforce and business owners through mainly significant delays in travel, increase in commuter fares, increase in road maintenance costs as well as increase in air pollution among others,” Kisaka said.

KCCA is building a smart city, focused on enhancing service delivery, improving the efficiency of our systems and services and propelling KCCA towards the achievement of its strategic plan.

“This Traffic Control Centre and streamlining of traffic flow in the city initiatives in this project are yet another of the various examples of leveraging Technology twinned with Infrastructure for our People wellbeing in the growth and development of our City,” Kisaka said.

According to UNHABITAT report, 24,000 man-hours are lost each day by commuters in Kampala due to traffic congestion. That translates to approximately 52 days per year spent sitting in traffic jams.

“With one of the fastest growing city population in Africa, at 4.1 per cent, there has been a long overdue need for effective control of traffic flow,” Kisaka said.

The JICA Chief Representative, Uchiyama Takayuki, noted that the project was well conceptualized and was first piloted and proved to be effective for Kampala City traffic management.

“As a driver I’m happy to start this project to improve traffic flow in the city. Kampala traffic congestion is everyone’s concern,” Takayuki said.

The Traffic control center is the first of its kind in the region according to Takayuki

“We are supporting similar projects in Kigali and Mombasa but they are still in their early stages. Kampala will be the model city in smart traffic control systems in the region,” Takayuki said.

Kauma Nsereko Rodgers, Kampala Metropolitan Traffic Police Commander said the projected will help reduce on road congestion and the bad behaviors of drivers.

“This is a leap on the right direction which will ease our work. This has to be supported with good road use behavior, respecting traffic rules, road signs, and yellow boxes. We may not realize what we need to realize if we are indiscipline,” Nsereko said.

The Traffic Control Centre is a 3-storey building where the floors from the semi basement to semi-ground become the parking and storage while the traffic control centre function is placed in the first and second floor.

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Samia Suluhu recruits fisherman in Fire and Rescue Force after saving passengers in L. Victoria plane crash

By
Simon Kabayo
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Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu (Left) and Majaliwa Jackson

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has ordered authorities to employ a fisherman who led a rescue mission for passengers after the Precision Air crashed into Lake Victoria on Sunday morning.

A statement by the Prime Minister’s (PM) Office said President Hassan has ordered the Ministry of Home Affairs to employ the fisherman identified as Majaliwa Jackson in the Tanzania Fire and Rescue Force.

The fisherman led other fishermen in rescuing passengers shortly after the plane had crashed on the shores of Lake Victoria, the world’s second-largest freshwater lake by surface area.

“The fisherman should be trained in rescue missions,” said PM Kassim Majaliwa in the statement.

The prime minister added in the statement “The presidential employment offer to the fisherman came when he led thousands of mourners that paid final respects to 19 passengers who were killed in the plane crash in Bukoba district in Kagera region”.

The statement said 17 passengers and two pilots were killed after Precision Air’s ATR-48 aircraft crash landed in Lake Victoria on Sunday at around 8:20 a.m. local time as it approached Bukoba airport from the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam.

The statement said a total of 24 people, including 22 passengers and two cabin crew members, were rescued.

Majaliwa said President Hassan also directed that the funerals for the crash victims will be covered by the government.

Meanwhile, the Kagera regional commissioner, Albert Chalamila, said the plane was pulled out of the lake on Sunday night.

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Panic as drones pick seven family members of Abdul Nadduli

By
Our Reporter
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Hajj Abdul Nadduli (Courtesy photo)

There is growing tension in Hajj Abdul Nadduli’s family after seven of his family members were picked by Toyota Hiace commonly known as a ‘Drone’.

The five members of Nadduli’s Family in Ssemuto, Nakaseke district were picked up by “Drones” last night. They were picked during an operation that was carried out between 3am and 4am.

Earlier in the morning, a private Toyota Premio with unnoticed registration numbers later at 8am picked two girls aged 20 years.

The two are daughters of Yusuf Jakana a younger brother to Hajj Abdul Nadduli. Yusuf was picked up by a drone earlier at 3am.

The operation was conducted barely a week after the leadership of the National Unity Platform (NUP) led by its president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine visited Nadduli following the demise of his son Jakana Nadduli Sulaiman.

Jakana who was an ardent supporter of the National Unity Platform (NUP) was found dead at his home on October 24, 2022.

On September 6, 2022, the deceased was kidnapped by unknown gunmen traveling in a ‘Drone’ and kept in unknown detention until on 13th September 2022 when he was produced in court.

He was subsequently charged with promoting sectarianism, but was later released and has been at his home. In March, he was involved in an accident, which he said was staged.

During the 2021 elections, Sulaiman contested for Nakaseke Central MP Seat. He contested against Allan Mayanja of the National Unity Platform-NUP party and the incumbent MP Syda Bbumba.

Eagle Online contacted Police to establish whether they have the said people in their custody but Police spokesman Fred Enanga could not pick up nor return our repeated calls.

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Schools ordered to close by November 25

By
Our Reporter
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School Children

Government has made a resolution for schools to break off for third term holidays earlier than the planned dates.

The Minister of State for Education and Sports (Primary Education), Dr. Moriku Joyce says schools will close on November 25, two weeks earlier than initially planned (December 9) due to the Ebola outbreak in the country.

“Cabinet considered and approved a proposal from the Ministry of Health to reduce the third term by two weeks so as to de-congest schools that are likely to increase vulnerability of children to Ebola infections,” Dr. Moriku said on Tuesday morning at the Uganda Media Centre.

“Closing schools earlier will reduce areas of concentration where children are in daily close contact with fellow children, teachers and other staff who could potentially spread the virus,” she added.

She said that the District Education Officers/District Inspectors of Schools have been asked to implement the directive countrywide.

School Head teachers have been told to captured all learner contacts and Next of Kins with reliable telephone numbers and addresses of their parents or guardians. The ministry says this will ease tracking of these learners by the surveillance teams in the event a need arises.

Dr. Moriku said schools will be required to conduct final or promotional exams a little earlier effective next week. Upon completion, children will be required to immediately return safely to their homes in a staggering manner to avoid congestion and congregating.

A cumulative total of twenty three (23) children have so far been confirmed to have Ebola with nine deaths. Out of the affected children, 5 in Kampala, 1 in Mubende, 1 in Wakiso were school going at the time of onset of Ebola symptoms in five schools across the affected districts.

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