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UYD urges Ugandans to shun the swearing in ceremony of President Museveni

By
Our Reporter
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UYD

The Uganda Young Democrats (UYD) has urged Ugandans and other dignitaries to shun President Yoweri Museveni’s swearing in ceremony slated for May this year.

Museveni will officially be sworn in on 12th May 2021 at Kololo Independence Grounds.

“UYD calls upon the dignitaries that are planning to grace the shameful occasion when a vote thief will anoint himself to continue his reign of misrule, not to waste their time by coming to the so called swearing in ceremony. There coming will be an insult to the democracy seeking people of Uganda and a dishonor to their people who expect them not to dignify an illegitimate ceremony,” they said in a statement.

On Thursday 14th January, 2021, the Electoral Commission conducted presidential elections where Ugandans exercised their constitutional rights of choosing a president who will lead them through a five year term. Uganda has a total 18,103,603 registered voters and 34,684 polling stations however only 10,350,819 people turned up to vote.

The presidential election which comprised 11 candidates was won by President Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa Kaguta who got 6,042,898 (58.38%). His closest opponent Kyagulanyi Robert Sentamu got 3,631,437 votes (35.08%).

They contended that the quality of 2021 campaigns and elections were severely diluted by gross abuses of human rights and breaches of elections laws.

“To date hundreds of Ugandans are languishing in jail, others have been kidnaped, tortured and disappeared on account of their political beliefs. More than 60 Ugandans have been killed by security forces. The government has failed or adamantly refused to hold and account the perpetrators of violence, abuse of human rights,” they said.

They said that the electoral commission disclosed that at least 1200 polling stations were not counted because the commission claimed it had a 48-hour period to report a result and could not obtain such information in time from these polling stations. This included stations that were in Kampala metropolitan and other communities whose opposition was stronger and this led to 75% of the returns that were not counted.

The electoral commission’s final report on the outcome of the election demonstrates openly that in multiple districts the vote was listed as 100% for Museveni. In 348 polling stations the vote was 100% for Museveni while in hundreds of other stations; equally impossible voting returns of 99% and 98% were commonplace. “This is a trick which Mr. Museveni since 1995 not to embrace democracy but to undermine democracy but as Uganda Young Democrats we are here to say that “losers don’t swear in”.

“The Ugandan economy is suffering because of selfish interests of president Museveni, a case in point let’s see how the stimulus package was divided among friends, brothers, in-laws among others in disguise of bailing out companies which suffered from Covid-19.”

Last month, the government approved Shs 444 billion to bail out companies affected by Covid-19. Shs 162 billion were disbursed to projects outside the Kampala metropolitan region

UYD avers that President Museveni through state minister of finance David Bahati decided to share money between Brothers, friends and in-laws and this is how the share went; Kasawo Grain Millers (Shs 10.3Billion), Jesa Farm Dairy LTD (15.3 Billion), Aponye (Shs 5 Billion), Akamwesi (Shs 795Million).

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Museveni to swear in for 6th term on May 12

By
Our Reporter
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President Museveni to swear in for 6th term

President-elect Yoweri Kaguta Museveni will officially be sworn in on May 12, 2021 at Kololo Independence Grounds.

The incumbent, was declared winner of the January, 14, 2021, elections after beating National Unity Platform’s (NUP) Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, his closest rival.

Under the theme; ‘Shaping Uganda’s Destiny, Our Sole Collective Effort’, the former bush war fighter will be sworn in for a sixth term. Museveni has been in power since 1986.

Uganda has a total 18,103,603 registered voters and 34,684 polling stations however, only 10,350,819 people turned up to vote.

The presidential election which had 11 candidates was won by  Museveni who got 6,042,898 representing (58.38%). His closest opponent Kyagulanyi Robert Sentamu got 3,631,437 votes  representing (35.08%).

Basing on the outcome of elections, it is upon that, on  February 1, 2021, Bobi Wine petitioned the Supreme Court challenging Museveni’s victory in January general elections saying that the election was not free and fair.

He contended that throughout the campaign period the People of Uganda generally, and more particularly his supporters endured untold suffering, torture, degrading and inhuman treatment on the orders of Gen Museveni. He cited the dark days of 18th and 19th November 2020 which saw over 50 innocent, unarmed citizens murdered in cold blood by the police and military.

In February, the Supreme Court declined to receive over 200 pieces of evidence from his lawyers who were led by Anthony Wameli. The court registrar Harriet Ssali Lukwago said the Supreme Court could not receive the affidavits because they were filed beyond stipulated time as agreed during the pre-hearing session held last month.

“Among the rejected evidence included the affidavits of the NUP Secretary General Lewis Lubongoya, videos of pre-ticket ballots, and evidence of various polling stations where the incumbent got 100 percent. At Lwaweba polling station where they claim that Museveni got 100 percent seven of my relatives who votes from that station didn’t vote, two pregnant women were in the labour ward and two were arrested,” Bobi recounted.

In February Supreme Court chaired by the Chief Justice Alfonso Owiny-Dollo dismissed the petition where he sought to adduce more grounds to support his 26 claims of election fraud, for which he wants president-elect Yoweri Kaguta Museveni annulled.

In the fresh grounds, Bobi contended that Mr Museveni was not qualified as Candidate and could not lawfully Contest in the Presidential Elections being a person in command of military and police contrary to Presidential Elections amendment Act and the Constitutional Amendment

In tandem, the Bobi Wine asked Justice Owiny Dollo, Mike Chibita to back off from hearing the matter because of a clear conflict of interest. He said Chief Justice represented Museveni as his lawyer in the presidential petition filed by Dr. Besigye in 2001 and the former DPP Chibita is Museveni’s former private secretary for seven years.  However, justice Dollo declined to recuse himself from the bench.

Earlier in March, the singer filled application to withdrawal the matter in which he challenged President Yoweri Museveni’s victory on grounds that the court declined to receive his evidence.

On 5th March, the Supreme Court granted Bobi Wine’s application seeking to withdraw the Presidential election petition and ordered each party to bear its costs.

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic investigated by Uefa over links to a betting company

By
Agencies
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Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is to be investigated by Uefa over an “alleged financial interest in a betting company”.

According to reports in his native Sweden, the AC Milan striker, 39, has broken rules after becoming a partner in a betting company.

Uefa’s disciplinary regulations state players should not have a financial interest in betting. Last week he signed a new contract that will run until after his 40th birthday.

“A Uefa ethics and disciplinary inspector has today been appointed to conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding a potential violation of the Uefa disciplinary regulations by Mr Zlatan Ibrahimovic for having an alleged financial interest in a betting company,” a Uefa statement said.

The former Manchester United striker has scored 17 goals in 25 appearances in all competitions this season.

Ibrahimovic came out of international retirement after a five-year absence to play for Sweden earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Ibrahimovic has been fined 4,000 euros (£3,500) for his part in an ugly clash with Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku during a Coppa Italia match in January.

The pair were involved in a number of exchanges and Ibrahimovic, who denied he used racist language, was eventually sent off.

Like Ibrahimovic, Lukaku was charged with “unsportsmanlike behaviour with provocative phrases” by the Italian Football Federation. The Belgian has been fined 3,000 euros (£2,600).

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POATE 2021 is a shot in time for Uganda’s hard-hit tourism sector

By
Guest Writer
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Patrick Bitature

By Patrick Bitature

The first quarter of 2021 has seen pieces of good news for the economy. Not just Uganda, but as the entire world is just emerging from the chokehold of Covid-19 every bit of good news makes a lot of difference and a is reason to wake up energized to get to work, to rebuild our Uganda.

The arrival of 864,000 doses on the5th of March was the beginning of the re store order process. Uganda was allocated 3,552,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the COVAX facility to Uganda to be delivered between January to June of 2021. That is approximately 20% of the required quantity for Uganda as the government of Uganda is left the burden of commercially procuring 18 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

As a member of the Covid-19 vaccine Advisory Committee, I was honored to participate in launching the vaccination drive. I was privileged to be amongst the first 5 people to get the vaccination as a member of the committee and representative of Uganda’s Private Sector. Several weeks later, I have not had the slightest adverse effect, not a headache or pain in my arm and I am looking forward to my second shot.

The other great piece of news was the headline Stanbic Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) report released in early April 2021 that shows the Ugandan economy is recovering, and steadily returning to normal. The index is computed from a monthly study by Stanbic Bank of a basket of 400 private businesses and their activity performance within the month across the various sectors of agriculture, industry, construction, wholesale & retail.

The PMI measures five major components, namely: New Orders, output, employment, suppliers ‘Delivery Times and Stocks of Purchases. Readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions on the previous month, while readings below 50.0 indicate a deterioration.

The March readings stood at 53.2 in March, up from 51.2 in February. The March readings are the highest since November 2020, when the PMI averaged 52.9.

The Stanbic PMI concurs with a similar Business Tendency indicators study that is done by the Bank of Uganda, which also measured 52.04, which is 18 points above the 33.97 measured in May 2020 — an all-time low, since the Central Bank started tracking the index in July 2012.

Both indicators signal a slow but steady recovery.

This good news was complemented by the Monetary Policy Statement by the Bank of Uganda that shows that Uganda’s economic recovery is stronger than was projected at its last meeting in February 2021. On April 14th, 2021, the Central Bank of Uganda released their Monetary Policy Statement, reporting that Uganda’s economic recovery was stronger than had been projected.

According to the statement, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBoS) in its updated quarterly GDP estimated the contraction in real GDP at 1.1 percent in 2020, lower than the initial projections of about 2 percent. Economic growth in the quarter to December 2020 is estimated to have picked up by 1.6 percent from a year earlier, a significant improvement compared to the revised contractions of 6.1 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively in the quarters to June 2020 and September 2020.

However, the education, hospitality, and tourism sectors remain depressed. The services sector is estimated to have contracted by 2.6 percent in the quarter to December 2020 and as a result, the GDP growth outlook remains unchanged at 4.0- 4.5 percent in FY2021/22. Nonetheless, the recovery is expected to strengthen, especially as more and Ugandans, on one part and the rest of the world, on the other, embrace the Covid-19 vaccination.

That is why, as a key player in the tourism sector, I welcome the idea by the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) working together with the mother-ministry, the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities (MTWA) and the private sector, to launch and host the 6th Edition of Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo, commonly known as POATE. Not POTUS (President of the…)

POATE is a Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) meeting of all the players in the tourism value chain such as tour and travel agencies, hosted buyers, hoteliers, airlines etc. for purposes of doing business.

The event will run from 27th to 29th of April 2021 under the theme: “Restarting Tourism for Regional Economic Development.”

POATE 2021 is going to be different from all the previous conferences. For the first time, the event will be hosted virtually, eliminating previous physical and space limitations that put a cap on the numbers of participants. Perhaps even more importantly, a virtual POATE is in line with the current reality that is digital tourism- where more and more clients are relying on digital platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, TripAdvisor, Booking.com etc., to make both travel decisions and close a sale.

The faster the Ugandan tourism industry wakes up to this reality the faster will be our recovery.

I would therefore like to urge all of us, players in the tourism industry to embrace POATE 2021. Let us all go and close that deal- it could make all the difference.

As the Simba Group of Companies, we are very passionate about the recovery of the tourism industry, not just because we are deeply invested in it, but also because it is a bastion of hope for many Ugandan livelihoods.

That is why, Protea Hotel, recently partnered with the Mastercard Foundation and the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) to train and retrain especially young women and youth in the catering and local crafts industries who are some of the categories, hardest hit by the unprecedented Covid-19 impact on the tourism sector.

Patrick Bitature is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Simba Group of Companies— a conglomerate of East African companies spanning telecommunications, properties, power generation, agro-business, oil and gas and tourism.

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Fik Fameica lands brand ambassador gig for Bell Lager Mpola Enjoyments campaign

By
Our Reporter
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Fik Fameica lands brand ambassador gig for Bell Lager Mpola Enjoyments campaign

Last month, Fik Fameica updated his Instagram profile with pictures from a deal signing with the caption ‘Sealed and signed with Bell Lager’ leaving us all guessing about the finer details.

Well, the cat is finally out of the bag! Fresh Bwoy has officially been unveiled as Bell Lager’s brand ambassador under a campaign called ‘Mpola Enjoyments’.

Along for the ride is also TV host and rapper – Crysto Panda – as well as radio host and social media influencer – Prim Asiimwe.

The campaign is inspired by unconventional ways to make the good times flow anywhere, anytime as long as you have your crew, the vibe is right, with your Nyama and an ice-cold Bell Lager.

Matilda Babuleka, the Bell Lager Brand Manager says, “The campaign has various elements to it and offers a diverse range of options for fun. At the heart of it, Ugandans are fun-loving people who always find a way to let the good times flow. With Mpola Enjoyments, this could either be a chill plan at your local nyama choma spot or game night with friends.”

Mpola Enjoyments, It’s a Bell Lager thing. Follow the campaign online through the hashtag #MpolaEnjoyments

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Court of Appeal targets to clear 124 cases in one month

By
Our Reporter
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Court Of Appeal Judges

The Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court earlier today opened a session targeting to clear at least 124 cases within a month.

The cases to be handled consist of 39 Constitutional Petitions and 22 applications, 43 Civil Appeals, and 18 Applications. Among the 43 Civil Appeals to be handled are two Election Petitions filed in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Eight Justices led by the Deputy Chief Justice, Richard Buteera, will be taking part in the two sessions.

“The Deputy Chief Justice, Justices; Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Elizabeth Musoke, Hellen Obura and Monica Mugenyi will preside over the Constitutional Petitions while Justices; Barishaki Cheborion, Stephen Musota and Christopher Madrama will handle the Civil Appeals,” said the Court’s Ag. Assistant Registrar, Mary Babirye.

She added that the court will rely on written submissions and that oral presentations in court will be to make clarifications, Court may need. In the Civil Appeals session, two Election Petition Appeals filed last year and this year are equally going to be handled.

Among the Civil Appeals to be handled is that of former Busia chairperson, Ouma Odea, seeking court intervention to reinstate him as chairperson LCV.

Ms Babirye emphasized that COVID-19 SOPs will be followed during the sessions in line with earlier guidelines issued by the Chief Justice.

Ms Susan Kanyange, the Registrar at the Court, said according to the work plan of the Court, three Constitutional Petitions sessions will be held this year (this being the second), with the last one planned to be held later this year.

She said the Justices would hold at least 18 sessions (Constitutional Petitions-3, Civil Appeals – 6, Criminal Appeals (6), Appellate Mediation (1), Criminal Applications (1) and Civil Applications (1) this year, with a view of reducing the backlog. As of April 13, there were 7,479 pending cases at the Court.

During the opening of the ongoing Criminal Appeals session in Masaka, the Deputy Chief Justice said the Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court has 14 Justices who are few compared to the workload. He said there are ongoing engagements with the Executive and Parliament to ensure that there are regional courts of Appeal which will ease the management of the matters before the Court.

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Fire guts dormitory at King’s College Budo

By
Simon Kabayo
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Fire at Kings College

Fire has gutted the girls’ dormitory at King’s College Budo today morning.

According to the school administration, no injuries have been registered and that all students are safe as the fire started while they were out for breakfast.

“The Police Fire and rescue services have responded to a fire outbreak break at King’s College Budo today in the morning. The fire is believed to have started from one building housing the senior 3 and 1 dormitories at around 7am while students were for their morning preparations,” Luke Owoyesigyire, the Deputy Police Spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan Area said.

So far, fire and rescue have managed to contain the fire from spreading any further

Buddo is one of the few traditional schools that have remained top performers in both Uganda Certificate of Education and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education exams.

Buddo is located on Naggalabi Hill south of  Wakiso district, off the Kampala-Masaka Road. This location lies approximately 14 kilometres (8.7 mi), by road, southwest of the central business district of Kampala.

The school was officially opened on March 29, 1906 with 21 boys. It was founded by the Church Missionary Society. It is one of the oldest schools in Uganda.

 

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Museveni promotes ISO’s Oluka, Katabazi to Colonel

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Newly promoted Lt.Col. Emmy Katabazi.

President Yoweri Museveni has promoted the Director General of Internal Security Organisation Charles Oluka from the rank of Lieutenant Colonel to a rank of Colonel.

Museveni who is also the Commander in Chief of armed forces also promoted Deputy Director of ISO, Emmy Katabazi from the rank of Major to Lieutenant Colonel. Both Col. Oluka and Lt.Col. Katabazi were recently named DG and Deputy DG respectively

Also promoted are EK. Mwesigwa, the Director in charge of Special Operations in the office of the DG, Churchill Toyamba Director Legal, Alex Abenaitwe the Director in charge of Kampala Metropolitan and three other directors from the rank of Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel.

The promotion of the young talent at the spy agency is seen as part of the new strategy of  promoting young and long serving cadres to ran the agency that was previously synonymous poor leadership.

President Museveni had earlier in the day promoted over 1,000 Uganda People Defence Forces officers to different ranks and this also comes just two days when he promoted several high ranking officers at the ranks of brigadier and Major Generals.

 

 

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Mufti Menk to meet Museveni

By
Our Reporter
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Mufti Menk

The Grand Mufti of Zimbabwe Ismail Musa Menk has arrived in Uganda for Charity Visit Dinner organized by Imnaq Social Development and DAAWA.

The Mufti, who arrived yesterday, is expected to meet President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the Supreme Mufti of Uganda Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje and lay the foundation stone of Musa Islamic Centre.

He is expected to be guided around various tourism centers, National parks and the source of the Nile. He will on Wednesday attend the Inauguration of Musa Quran Memorisation Centre at the National Mosque in Old Kampala.

Menk was born in Harare, where he undertook his initial Islamic studies with his father, Maulana Musa Menk, memorizing the Quran and learning Arabic, Urdu and Hanafi fiqh. He subsequently studied at the Islamic University of Madinah. He completed his Islamic studies and became a Mufti in the Hanafi fiqh at Dār Al-‘Ulūm Kantharia, Gujurat, India. Menk is known especially in eastern Africa and teaches internationally.

Menk opposes terrorism and has pledged his aid in curbing religious extremism in the Maldives. On  March 31, 2018, he urged Liberian Muslims to avoid Muslim-Christian violence, arguing that Muslims and Christians are brothers and sisters from one father, the prophet Adam. He blames western media for misleading the world that Muslims are generally terrorists. According to Gulf News, Menk said that everyone on this earth is a part of a family and has one maker; therefore, no one has the right to force any belief or faith on another.

In 2013, he was due to visit six British universities Oxford, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Cardiff and Glasgow – but the speaking tour was cancelled after student unions and university officials expressed concern about his views. Menk’s controversial statement included these words: “How can you engage in acts of immorality with the same sex?. The Qur’an clearly says it is wrong what you are doing… Allah speaks about how filthy this is. With all due respect to the animals, [homosexuals] are worse than animals.

On 31 October 2017, Singapore banned Menk from its borders because it believes he expresses views incompatible with its multicultural laws and policies. According to the Straits Times, he has asserted that “it is blasphemous for Muslims to greet believers of other faiths during festivals such as Christmas or Deepavali”.

Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement that its decision to reject Menk’s application for a short-term work pass stemmed from his “segregationist and divisive teachings”. The Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, Menk’s own institution, released a statement to express “regret and dismay” regarding the ban. It said that Menk was an “asset to multi‐cultural, multi‐religious Zimbabwe” and that viewers should “listen to his sermons in full” and not “edited clips of a few minutes” to see the moderate path he has chosen.

In November 2018, the Danish government banned Menk from entering its borders.

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UPDF: Museveni promotes Edith Nakalema, Deo Akiiki to the rank of Colonel

By
Our Reporter
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Edith Nakalema and Deo Akiiki promoted to full colonels

President Yoweri Museveni who is also the Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces has promoted over 1,000 officers of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).

UPDF deputy Spokesperson Deo Akiiki and Edith Nakalema, the head of State House Anti-Corruption Unit have been promoted to the rank of Colonel.

The duo previously held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. The army is yet to release the full list of the promoted officers.

Below is the full list.

 

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