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Nelson Mandela statue unveiled at Namboole Stadium

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Our Reporter
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Nelson Mandela statue

A Nelson Mandela statue has been unveiled at Namboole Stadium in commemoration of the former South African president.

Sports State Minister Hamson Obua and the South African minister for International Relations and Cooperation Dr Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor unveiled the Mandela Statue at the entrance of the Namboole Stadium.

The statue was commissioned in memory of the former president for whom the Namboole stadium was named after. The occasion was called to mark what would have been Mandela’s 104th birthday, on July 18.

Hamson Obua reminded Ugandans why the stadium was named after an African icon saying “The government believes in the spirit of Pan-Africanism and Nelson Mandela fought for the freedom of the black race. That is why this Stadium is named after him.”

Foundation stone

The guest of honour Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor said “It is a great privilege to be here at the unveiling of Tata Mandela’s statue. It is a great honour for Madiba. We thank the cooperations that took part in this event.”

She asked people to find 67 minutes off their schedule on International Mandela day to help those who cannot help themselves.

“The statue is a footing tribute to the standing relations between Uganda and South Africa. I am told that Former President Nelson Mandela once held a Ugandan passport. This explains why Uganda played such an important role in our fight against the apartheid state,” she added.

The Mandela National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Uganda. It is named after the South African then-President and anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela. The stadium’s record attendance of 50,000 was set in 2004, in a football match between the national football teams of Uganda and South Africa.

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Four number plate thieves arrested

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Our Reporter
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Handcuffs

The Joint Security Task Force in Kiira, has arrested four suspects behind the theft of motor vehicle number plates.

The criminal gang has been targeting mainly the Indian business communities of Jinja city, Jinja district, Iganga, Namutumba and Tororo district – Busoga sub region and Eastern corridor generally.

“The criminal gang, after stealing number plates, were asking for money to be sent via mobile money on 0771491993 and 0703932528. We have since established that the above telephone numbers belonged to a one Hussein Kato who died sometime back,” the Public Relations Officer for Kiira region, ASP Mubi James said.

“Through our experts, we tracked down the culprits successfully and arrested the ring leaders of the criminal gang identified as Simon Olowo and Alex Macho, residents of Tororo district as well and a  retired ICT secondary teacher called George Ogutti, 62, who has been at the strategic level of planning for the group like drafting 10 year plan for stealing motor vehicle number plates. He has also  been behind typing and printing the threatening letters or leaflets that they leave behind after stealing  number plates from residential homes, parking places and factories.”

Mubi said they have conducted thorough search at the premises of the retired teacher and exhibited laptop, monitor, printer, and documents to that effect.

“We have also arrested Stephen Mugabe who has been keeping the stolen number plates. We managed to recover two number plates from banana plantation along Gabula road in Jinja city. UBE 518B and UBL 287G.”

He added that the operation is still ongoing to arrest more culprits and recover more stolen number plates.

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Gov’t releases Shs135 billion for famine stricken areas

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Our Reporter
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Kids in Karamoja stand in anticipation of aid food during a past famine that hit the region.

The Prime Minster, Robinah Nabbanja has revealed that government has provided Shs135 billion for food in Karamoja for three months. This she says will include seedlings for planting.

“I want to assure you colleagues that over 200 metric tons of food has gone to Karamoja and we want to see how to secure Karamoja because as it stands now, Karamoja is still insecure,” she said.

Nabbanja made this revelation on Tuesday, 12 July 2022 at a sitting of Parliament chaired by Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa.

Premier Nabbanja said that the Cabinet sitting on Monday, 11 July 2022 noted with concern about the situation in Karamoja and came up with proposals to resolve the matter.

Hon. Faith Nakut, the Napak District Woman MP raised the issue that people in the Karamoja sub-region are dying of hunger caused by the  bad weather that has failed agriculture.

Nakut says that although there have been responses by the Office of the Prime Minister to give food, more needs to be done.

“Unfortunately the quantity supplied were not reasonable to feed a family for a week. Each family got a kilogramme of beans and about three of posho. As we speak, there are thousands of people at risk,” Nakut said.

She added that it is shameful for an agriculture-rich country to have people dying because of a lack of food.

Iganga Municipality MP, Hon. Peter Mugema said that the famine is affecting people in his constituency too.

“People are dying of starvation; government should take development to Karamoja,” Mugema said.

Hon. Francis Adome, the Moroto Municipality MP said the proposal to provide food to starving Ugandans is not sustainable and very expensive.

“The biggest problem I see is lack of participation between the government and leaders. Government needs to listen to us and get advice from us. Because what we are doing of taking relief is not sustainable; why can’t we mechanize agriculture for instance?” he said.

Oyam District Woman MP, Hon. Santa Alum said Lango sub-region has not been spared by the famine.

“My prayer is that the Office of the Prime Minister gives us food to address the issue in the short term; for the long term, we don’t have seeds; the seeds that we planted have all dried,” she said.

The Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa tasked the Prime Minister to present a comprehensive statement on government’s strategy to resolve the food crisis not only in Karamoja but in the entire region.

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UPDF confirms salary increment for its officers

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Our Reporter
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UPDF spokesperson Brig Felix Kulayigye

The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) has resolved to increase salaries for its officers at various ranks. However this is set to start in the next financial year.

According to a statement from the army spokesperson Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, at the High Command meeting of 6th July 2022, a team led by Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs presented a number of salary enhancement options that had been proposed to Ministry of Finance.

The meeting was informed that eventually a hybrid option of enhancing General Officers salaries by 100 per cent, Senior Officers by 50 per cent and Capt-Pte by 33 per cent had been agreed upon.

This would require an additional annual amount of Shs 517,907,737,434 for wages, Shs 116,847,632,570 for terminal benefits, ultimately translating into a total additional annual requirement of Shs 634,755,370,004.

The enhancement according to Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, Mr Ramathan Ggoobi, would be effected starting Financial Year 2023/24 because the budget for FY 2022/23 had already been passed and the item had not been catered for.

“The meeting agreed with the Team recommendation of 100% enhancement for General Officers because they are few, they have served for long and many of them are set to retire this FY 2022/23. He also agreed to the enhancement of Senior Officers (Col-Maj) by 50% because they are also not very many and most of them are about to progress to the General Officer ranks,” Kulayigye said.

However, the meeting expressed concern on the enhancement of lower cadres (Capt-Pte) because they are the majority and besides, their salaries had been enhanced in FY 2018/19 when some categories of civil servants’ salaries were enhanced. That time, the General Officers and Senior Officers’ salaries were not enhanced.

“Enhancing the salaries of the lower cadres again therefore, without considering other civil servants in their category, like the arts teachers, would be unfair and would attract unnecessary complaints,” Kulayigye added.

“The meeting guided that the team computes the enhancement for General Officers at 100%, Senior Offrs at 50%, to be effected in FY 2022/23 in order to allow the planned retirement for that category to proceed as planned.”

Salaries for lower cadres (Capt-Pte) would be enhanced in the FY 2023/24, alongside other civil servants as it was the case in FY 2018/19.

Kulayigye added that this is why the retirement of Capt-Pte will be rescheduled to next FY (2023/24), after their enhancement has been achieved.

“If on the other hand funds to retire the selected category is not available this FY, the whole retirement exercise will be rescheduled to next FY,” he said.

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Former Kaabong CAO admits paying contractor in error

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Our Reporter
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Officials from Kaabong district Local Government appearing before Parliaments Public Accounts Commitee

The Public Accounts Committee (Local Government) has held the former Chief Administrative Officer for Kaabong district, Joel Musisi liable for mismanagement of funds for a building project.

According to an unqualified opinion for Kaabong District Local Government by the Auditor General for the year ended 30 June 2021, Shs328 million was paid out for the construction of the first phase of the council chambers.

However, the contract that was supposed to run for three months from March to June 2021 was abandoned by the contractor despite being paid over 90 per cent by the district.

Legislators on the committee observed that while he served as the CAO for Kaabong District, Musisi approved an initial payment of shs73.03 million to the contractor as per the law to commence the project.

However, Musisi approved another payment of shs255.6 million after months, before the project had made headway something that left MPs discontented.

Martin Kiplangat, the serving CAO for Kaabong District, told the committee on Tuesday, 12 July 2022 that only  excavation of the foundation has been done.

He added that the contract was awarded on 09 March 2021 and was supposed to be completed by June 2021 which obligation the contractor failed to meet.
“The District gave an extension for the project that ended on 30 June 2022 but nothing has been done yet. We have tried to get in touch with the contractor but he has been elusive,” Kiplangat said.

Ibrahim Akorio, the Acting Engineer Kaabong District said that he raised red flags about the project and spoke against its progress, calls that were ignored by the leadership.
“We do not have ownership of the land for the project. Secondly, the soil test was not done and the amount allocated was not enough for the work,” Akorio said.

Musisi agreed to have errored in approving the second payment to the contractor and appealed to the committee for time to make good on the errors made.
“I request the committee to give us three months within which we can have this project take off to its completion,” Musisi requested.

MPs said that the CAO ensures the funds are refunded in a bid to get another contractor to execute the project.

Hon. Ibrahim Kyoto (NRM, Budiope West County) observed that the three months requested cannot suffice for the former CAO to recover the funds and go ahead to execute the construction of the council chambers.

Committee Chairperson, Hon. Martin Ojara Mapenduzi tasked Musisi to focus on fully recovering the project funds and paying them back to Government accounts by 12 October 2022.

He also directed the CID department of Parliament to track down the contractor so that they are held responsible for the pending works at the Kaabong Council chambers.
“For the other officers, we will jointly hand you over to Police along with the CAO and the moment that money is recovered, tougher disciplinary actions should be taken,” Mapenduzi added.

The Permanent Secretary at the Local Government Ministry, Benjamin Kumumanya agreed with legislators that the former Kaabong CAO be held financially liable for the project.

He added that other officers including the District Planner and Procurement Officer ought to be held professionally accountable for the poor progress of works for the district’s project.
“All civil servants under Section 12 of the Public Service Act 2008 are supposed to be professional. You have a right to withdraw and say I will not be party to unclear activities. It is more of collusion than coercion for someone to sign in the manner the former CAO did,” said Kumumanya.

He agreed that police should apprehend the contractor if they fail make themselves available for the project work.

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Emirates, Air Canada partner to create more options for customers

By
Our Reporter
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EK + Air Canada 777 - Evening

Emirates and Air Canada have partnered to create more options for customers when travelling on the carriers’ networks while also enhancing the customer experience throughout the journey.

Emirates and Air Canada intend to establish a codeshare relationship later in 2022 that will offer enhanced consumer travel choices for Air Canada customers to travel to the United Arab Emirates and to destinations beyond Dubai.

Emirates customers will also enjoy an enhanced travel experience when travelling to Toronto or to key destinations across the Air Canada network. Customers will have the ability to book connecting travel between both airlines’ networks with the ease of a single ticket, seamless connectivity at the carriers’ respective global hubs and baggage transfers to their final destinations.

Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline said: “This is a significant partnership that will enable our customers access to even more destinations in Canada and the Americas, via our Toronto and US gateways. It also opens up many new route combinations for travelers across Emirates’ and Air Canada’s extensive networks in the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. We are pleased to partner with Air Canada, one of North America’s most established airlines and Canada’s flag carrier and we look forward to jointly progressing in various areas to provide even better customer flight choices and experiences.”

Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer at Air Canada said; “As we continue pursuing our strategy of expanding our global reach in response to growing opportunities in VFR markets (Visit Friends and Relatives) that serve Canada’s large multicultural communities, we are very pleased to form a strategic partnership with Emirates, a highly respected flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates with a hub in the vibrant city of Dubai. This strategic agreement will create network synergies, and Air Canada customers will have additional, convenient options when travelling between Canada and the United Arab Emirates as well as destinations beyond Dubai”

“We look forward to introducing Air Canada codeshare service on key Emirates flights, as well as adding the EK code on select Air Canada flights, and welcoming Emirates customers on our services later this year.” he said

To further enhance the customer experience, the carriers will also establish reciprocal frequent flyer benefits and reciprocal lounge access for qualifying customers. Further details of the partnership and specific codeshare routes will be announced when finalized and will be subject to regulatory approvals and final documentation.

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Lango Minister under fire over move to kick out ‘westerners’ from Ministry

By
Our Reporter
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A senior female Minister from the Lango sub-region is on the spot after she kick-started plans to have ‘westerners’ fired from her Ministry.

The Minister, who does not subscribe to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) joined Cabinet in 2016 as the Minister of another docket based on Parliament Avenue but has since been moved to other ministries.

Sources say when she was appointed to her latest Ministry,she caused havoc by questioning why there is no ‘tribal balance’ in the appointments.

“She has been questioning why there are few workers from her district & sub-region. But that is not our problem, that is for Public Service to answer,” said a senior official in that Ministry.

Some workers that spoke on condition of anonymity talked of tension at the Ministry,with ‘westerners ‘ unsure of their fate.

Some have already been issued with warning letters over flimsy reasons.

The Minister in question now wants to clear all appointments in the Ministry,effectively taking over the work of the Minister who is the technical head and superintends over officers.

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Gov’t spends Shs98m in search for Uganda Airlines CEO

By
Simon Kabayo
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Jennifer Bamuturaki

The Government of Uganda spent over Shs98 million on the search process for the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Uganda Airlines even when the position had already been given away.

Ms Jenifer Bamuturaki was last Tuesday appointed CEO of Uganda Airlines on the directive of President Museveni yet the government had contracted PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) at a cost of Shs98m to offer consultancy services for procurement of recruitment for the position.

PWC started the process of receiving applications for the position in June and the deadline was due to expire on July 8 and at least more than 15 applicants had expressed interest in the Uganda Airlines top job.

It remains to be seen about the fate of the applications. Mr Uthman Mayanja, the PwC country senior partner, refused to comment on the matter, citing confidentiality clauses.

When contacted, Mr Waiswa Bageya, the Works Ministry permanent secretary, said: “We want to engage PwC so that it can appoint other people [senior managers]. There is one for safety, flight operations and others. They were going to handle this together.”

Uganda revived the national carrier in 2019. However, it has since been riddled by allegations of corruption and mismanagement. Bamutukaki replaced Cornwell Muleya who was on April 21, 2021, sent on forced leave amid allegations of corruption.

Earlier this year, his contract as the Uganda Airlines CEO was terminated on the orders of President Yoweri Museveni.

A fortnight ago, the former Uganda Airlines CEO, Cornwell Muleya, was arrested and charged by the Inspectorate of Government for disobeying the Inspectorate’s orders. However, he was released on bail days later.

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NUP unveils site for its new headquarters

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Artistic impression of new NUP headquaters

The National Unity Platform (NUP) party has unveiled a site for construction of its new home at Makerere-Kavule, Kawempe Division. The Architecture plan was unveiled by party president Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert aka Bobi Wine.

Bobi Wine said the construction of the multimillion headquarters is set to commence very soon. The NUP leadership has since declined to reveal that amount of money which was used to purchase that said piece of land and the total cost that will be used to erect the three story building.

Since the launching of Power-Power, a political pressure group in 2018 and the taking over of the National Unity Reconciliation and Development Party (NURDP) that has since evolved into the National Unity Platform (NUP) leadership in 2020, the Party has been based in Kamwokya.

Kamwokya offices had become too small that it couldn’t accommodate party functions and the growing numbers of its members.

“Today, we are here to do the groundbreaking and also show you the architectural plan with the photographic interpretation of what the structure we want to have will look like,” Bobi Wine said.

“I want to salute the elected members for your constant contribution that has made this possible. Many people were doubting us, they were calling us a wave so whatever you call us, we want to announce to you that we are here to stay. We started in Kamwokya and we are not leaving it but expanding,” he said.

Mr. Joel Ssenyonyi, the spokesperson of NUP said; “Over time, we have realized that Kamwokya has become too small for us. Many times when we want to have big functions, we inconvenience our party President to allow us to use his compound because he has an expansive compound. As a political party, we have grown and continue to grow. We have got more than half an acre that will allows us to do what we want but like I always say that, that is not enough and we hope to expand.”

Ssenyonyi said they mobilised funds from Party members, especially the MPs who make a monthly contribution.

“Our President gave us the place in Kamwokya. It might not continue to be our headquarters; however, it will continue to be a place we shall use as a party. We have future plans to perhaps make it a training center for our people,” he said.

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Vipers SC sign Congolese midfielder

By
Our Reporter
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Olivier Osomba

Congolese Olivier Osomba, a defensive midfielder, has joined Vipers Sports Club from Burundi’s Aigle Noir Makamba on a three-year deal after the expiry of his contract.

Osomba arrives at St Mary’s Stadium Kitende after one season in Burundi where he scored five (5) goals, made seven (7) assists from 21 League games.

“I’m really happy and delighted to be here at Vipers SC. It’s a massive club and l promise to give my best,” Osomba told Vipers media in his first interview.

“It’s a pleasure to be here in Uganda and I’m very happy to be a part of this great club. And l thank the club for giving me this opportunity.”

The 24-year-old will wear the No.24 shirt for Vipers and becomes the third Congolese to sign for the club, following on from Cesar Manzoki (who later switched citizenship to Central African Republic) and Clovis Mbayi.

Previous Teams:

2021 – 2022: Aigle Noir (Burundi)

2020 – 2021: Etinchelles FC (Rwanda)

2019 – 2020: Al Najma (Bahrain)

2018 – 2019: US Tataounie (Tunisia)

2017 – 2018: AS Nyuki (DR Congo)

2015 – 2017: AS Dauphins Noirs (DR Congo)

2013 – 2015: AS Nyuki (DR Congo)

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