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BREAKING: Former ED NITA James Saaka dead

RIP: James Saka

The Former Executive Director of the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U) James Saaka has passed on.

The deceased retired in August after working for 10 years. According to sources, Saaka is reported to have succumbed to #Covid-19.

During his tenure at NITA, they operationalized National Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) with over 4,000 kilometres of fibre laid across 49 districts, with 480 government offices connected including seven major border points.

According to the New Vision, by the time he left, NITA was planning to connect over 1,000 sites across 58 districts to the network. Though the cost of internet to government was at $1,200 (sh4.44m) when he joined, they managed to bring it down to $70 (sh260,000) per Mbps, and hence save taxpayers’ money.

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Fly Emirates spread festive cheers to travelers reuniting with their families

emirates plane

Fly Emirates has started spreading festive cheers to travelers reuniting with their families and friends for the Christmas holidays.

Customers can kick off their travels in the Emirates lounge in Dubai International airport with a range of traditional Christmas dishes including roasted turkey, and a wide selection of festive sweets like stollen cake.

Customers travelling from Dubai to select routes in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States, Brazil, South Africa and the Philippines, can enjoy a taste of Christmas on board.

Passengers in Economy Class will be able to indulge in a festive meal of roasted turkey with mashed potatoes, green peas, baby carrots and cranberry jus lié prepared by Emirates’ award-winning chefs. For dessert, Emirates will serve chocolate mousse with a Mandarin orange compote.

Customers in First and Business Class can enjoy roasted turkey breast and apricot stuffing, roast potatoes with creamy Brussels sprouts with turkey bacon and cranberry jus lié. For dessert, passengers will be served festive sweets such as a Santa inspired chocolate cranberry cake or a chocolate gingerbread cake.

Young travellers across all classes can also pre-order a specially prepared turkey dinner over the festive period.

Emirates is also adding a special touch on board for those who may have missed Christmas markets this year. From 23-25 December, customers travelling in First and Business Class can enjoy mulled wine served with garnishes like cinnamon sticks, red currants and orange slices.

In premium classes, customers can also enjoy a hot chocolate with special trimmings to customize as they wish like marshmallows, white and dark chocolate, strawberries and raspberries. The hot beverage is served with fresh Christmas bakes including cranberry, pistachio & white chocolate cookies, spiced gingerbread snowflake cookies and gingerbread houses.

Throughout the festive season and across all classes, passengers will be able to take advantage of Emirates’ wide beverage selection to complement their Christmas meals on board. Travellers can enjoy some of the finest wines and spirits served in the skies.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas day, Santa’s helpers Emirates’ very own cabin crew will be giving away edible holiday gifts in all classes to put everyone in a festive mood. In First Class, customers can savour a special holiday cupcake and in Business Class customers will receive a gingerbread Christmas tree cookie with marzipan cane. In Economy, customers can munch on chocolate truffles.

Emirates’ ice, the award-winning inflight entertainment system, aims to create a better-than-home viewing experience this Christmas with the latest and best movies, great television and an extensive music selection. Customers can settle back to cosy Christmas favorites like Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street and A Christmas Miracle, along with TV specials like the Christmas Episodes from the Big Bang Theory and Friends and Modern Family: The Last Christmas. The holiday specials on ice are part of an entertainment catalogue of over 4,500 channels.

Customers can choose to do their holiday gifting on board with EmiratesRED inflight retail, currently offered on select routes, and pick up gifts from famous brands like Tom Ford, Bang and Olufsen, watches from Lacoste, jewellery from Aigner and more. For the whole month of December, there is a 15% discount on almost the entire Emirates RED range.

Emirates’ festive celebrations on board and on the ground are part of its commitment to enhance its customer experience with unique and seasonal offerings. In addition to the annual Christmas offering, Emirates also celebrates occasions such as Diwali, Eid, Lunar New Year and Oktoberfest.

Emirates’ booking policies offer customers flexibility and confidence to plan their travel. Customers, who purchase an Emirates ticket for travel on or before 31 March 2021, can enjoy generous rebooking terms and options, if they have to change their travel plans. Customers have options to change their travel dates or extend their ticket validity for 2 years.

All Emirates customers can travel with confidence and extra peace of mind with the airline’s industry first, multi-risk travel insurance and COVID-19 cover. This generous cover is offered by Emirates on all tickets purchased on or from 1 December 2020, at no cost to customers. In addition to COVID-19 medical cover, this latest offer from Emirates also has provisions for personal accidents during travel, winter sports cover, loss of personal belongings, and trip disruptions due to unexpected air space closure, travel recommendations or advisories, similar to other multi-risk travel insurance products.

Emirates has implemented a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the customer journey to ensure the safety of its customers and employees on the ground and in the air, including the distribution of complimentary hygiene kits containing masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes to all customers.

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Trade Minister Amelia Kyambadde applauds former UNBS ED Dr. Ben Manyindo

Hon. Amelia Kyambadde applauds former UNBS ED Dr. Ben Manyindo

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Amelia Kyambadde has applauded Dr. Ben Manyindo for his diligent service during his tenure at the helm of Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS).

Hon. Kyambadde made the remarks during the official send-off ceremony of Dr. Ben Manyindo at Serena Hotel in Kampala.

“UNBS was engrossed in many challenges and irregularities at the time I became a Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives. I expected Ben to solve all the quality issues overnight. I expected miracles! But Ben didn’t let me down,” said Hon. Kyambadde.

Kyambadde also thanked all the UNBS staff for supporting Dr. Ben Manyindo in bringing stability to UNBS and called for more efforts to promote standardization as a key pillar to our safety and health, socio-economic development and the protection of the environment.

The Acting UNBS ED, Mr. David Livingstone Ebiru said it was a privilege to work with Dr. Manyindo and thanked him for his exceptional leadership and the great relationship he built with his subordinates.

Dr. Ben Manyindo urged the incoming leadership to invest in human resource and hardware of quality infrastructure for faster acceleration of economic growth in Uganda.

UNBS acknowledged Dr. Ben Manyindo’s great contribution made to the growth of the Standards body in terms of infrastructure and service delivery.

Dr. Manyindo joined UNBS in 1998 as the Deputy Executive Director in charge of Technical Operations before assuming the position of the Executive Director in 2012 where he has been at the helm for last 8 years.

Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is committed to performing its critical mandate of developing, promoting and enforcing national standards in order to protect the safety and health of consumers and the environment against dangerous and substandard products.

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Bobi Wine’s private bodyguard Nobert Ariho to appear before court

Nobert Ariho

The private bodyguard of the National Unity Platform’s (NUP) presidential candidate Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert aka Bobi Wine is set to appear before Kayunga Grade one Magistrates Court.

Nobert Ariho was arrested in Bududa where Bobi Wine had conversed for support ahead of the 2021 general elections.

Ariho is averred to have thrown a teargas grenade at the presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi in Kayunga. During the scuffle, the security guard accorded to Mr. Kyagulanyi by the Electoral Commission (EC) only identified as Kato and music producer Dan Magic were injured.

According to the analyzed video footage captured by NBS TV, the canister was fired from a police patrol at the moment when Bobi interfaced with the officers who blocked him from campaigning in the Kayunga district.

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Housing Finance Bank offers affordable bancassurance solutions

Housing Finance Bank

Four years since Bancassurance was first introduced in Uganda as part of the amendments to the Financials Institutions Act 2014, experts say the concept is gaining ground and is expected to greatly impact Insurance penetration.

Bancassurance is the selling and distribution of insurance products through banks. Commercial Banks are adopting it because selling insurance products gives them a new and lucrative revenue stream without high new setup costs.

On April 13, 2018, the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) of Uganda granted a License to Housing Finance Bank to start selling insurance policies to its customers and the general public. The IRA Acting Chief Executive Officer, Benerd Obel said during the event at the authority that Housing finance Bank had become the 10th out of the 25 banks to acquire the Bancassurance License. Currently, 16 Banks have been licensed to carry out Bancassurance Business.

According to details released by the Insurance Regulatory Authority for the third quarter of 2020, the 20 banks licensed as bancassurance agents, contributed Shs52b out of the Shs818b in gross written premiums.

These commercial banks contributed 6.36 per cent of gross written premiums, earning a total of Shs8.2b in commission from selling both life and general insurance. In general insurance, Housing Finance earned Shs206.8m in commission.

According to Samson Rugambwa, the Manager Bancassurance at Housing Finance Bank, together with Insurance partners, the bank has crafted insurance solutions for various customer segments that aim at reducing future uncertainty and providing peace of mind.

“This is therefore an invitation for all to protect what you love with Housing Finance Bank. Through our distribution channels we are now a one stop center for all your financial needs including insurance.”

With Housing Finance Bank, one can enjoy a variety of Bancassurance solutions such as:  Motor Comprehensive Insurance, Home Insurance, Education Insurance, Burglary/Theft Insurance,

Others are; Travel Insurance, Personal Accident Insurance, Workers Compensation Insurance, Marine and Goods in Transit Insurance, Agriculture Insurance, Group Life Insurance and Mortgage protection insurance.

Why should one obtain their insurance from Housing Finance Bank?

With all the benefits that come with it, our customers can; conveniently buy insurance through a trusted intermediary, purchase insurance as they access the banks financial services, find the best insurance covers at the best price, get professional advice on the most suitable type of insurance covers, and have their claims dealt with through the bank to save them the hassle and worry of what can be a difficult and frustrating process.

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#Covid-19: Coca-Cola Foundation, Uganda Red Cross Society partner to promote public hygiene

Coca-Cola Foundation, Uganda Red Cross Society partner to promote public hygiene

The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF) has handed over a substantial financial donation to the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) as a contribution towards Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) activities that will be implemented in high traffic areas and other activities relating to coronavirus pandemic.

The Shs 186 million donations will go towards promotion of mandatory handwashing and support Risk communication for Covid-19 with URCS as the implementing partner.

Speaking at UMA Showgrounds in Lugogo, the Secretary General of Uganda Red Cross Society, Robert Kwesiga applauded Coca-Cola for its humanitarian efforts at both a national and global level and for being a reliable partner in saving lives.

“Even before the outbreak of coronavirus, we were partners with Coca-Cola. We have implemented several initiatives with them as our partners. Last year when there were landslides in Budibugyo, Coca-Cola was among the first companies to respond in saving the lives of the people affected in the area. Now with CVID-19, Coca-Cola has been responsive both at a national- working with us locally and globally – supporting the International Red Cross,” said Mr. Robert Kwesiga.

Globally, The Foundation has extended support to both international and local NGOs, such as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Amref Health by deploying a range of resources, including capabilities, funds and products to support governments, communities and local economies in their urgent efforts to contain the spread and impact of coronavirus.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Coca-Cola Foundation has donated food relief packages worth shs 360million to vulnerable households in Mukono District through the Uganda Red Cross Society. The company also donated WASH materials to ensure that people wash their hands as one of the key preventative measures against COVID-19.

Robert Kwesiga further added that scientists earlier this year predicted that November and December would be the peak of COVID-19 cases. Uganda now has 23,200 COVID-19 cases so far, of those, 2017 people have succumbed to the virus. Yesterday, the Ministry announced the highest number of cases registered in a day – 701.

“If we behave, we can manage this virus. If you wash your hands, keep your mask on, keep social distance, we can manage COVID-19. As much we are doing everything possible, COVID-19 has now reached stage 4; that is now a community which is difficult to control.  How do we manage this?

Medical aspects become one of the elements but the bigger element right now is around community engagement; people need to take responsibility, people need to take charge,” Mr. Robert Kwesiga cautioned.

“This calls for people at village level forming committees where they can do surveillance, carry out education and also learn how to make referrals where it’s necessary. With the support we have received from Coca-Cola, this will be made possible,” he shared.

The project is to be implemented in the areas of western Uganda; Mbarara, Kabale, Kisoro, Kanungu, Isingiro, Ntungamo and Mutukula. In the Central region, the focus will be on the two Taxi parks in Kampala which have very high foot-traffic.

“The Coca-Cola system is built on a ‘people first approach’. It is our north star in all our business dealings. Supporting our people and the economy to full recovery is our biggest priority right now. We believe a business is as strong as the community it operates in that’s why we put the safety of our people first at all times – our employees, their families, our customers and the community,” said Melkamu Abebe, General Manager, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa in Uganda (CCBA).

“All of us have an individual responsibility to follow the guidelines given by the Government so that we avoid contracting the disease, and so that we protect others. At Coca-Cola Beverages Africa we say a pledge every single day – ‘I am my Sister’s Keeper, I am my Brother’s Keeper and I am my Family’s Keeper’ we have a responsibility for everybody else,” he added.

During this COVID-19 pandemic, the CCBA engaged in various interventions from public awareness worth Shs 460million and three pick-up trucks for the Ministry of Health COVID-19 Task Force, Shs 85million to the Ministry of Health to buy medical equipment and sundries.

The company is also committed to support the Ministry of Health to set-up 5,000 handwashing stations across the country. As of today, five, 5,000 litre Community Handwashing Stations for the general public use have been set-up in Mukono (Namanve), Kampala (Kyambogo) and Mbarara (Makenke and Municipality) and distributed over 1,700 handwashing jerry cans in the community. In total, the company has invested 1.3billion to the wider community.

“We continue to work with different partners to support COVID-19 relief responses for the communities in which we operate across the region. This includes provision and distribution of medical supplies, bulk water and soap to vulnerable communities, donating beverages to healthcare workers and setting up hand-washing stations in areas of need. We have also put a lot of effort in disseminating public health messages to foster behavior change, which we believe it critical in fighting the spread of COVID-19,” said Ms. Diana Apio Kasyate, Relations Manager Coca-Cola East and Central Africa Franchise.

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Chinese Supreme Court hires retired Chief Justice Bart Katureebe

Retired Chief Justice Bart Katureebe

Barely six months after his retirement as Chief Justice of Uganda, Justice Bart Magunda Katureebe has earned himself a prestigious international appointment.

The Supreme People’s Court of China (SPC) has appointed the Chief Justice Emeritus Katureebe as a member of its Expert Committee on adjudication of international commercial disputes for the next four years.

“Bart Magunda Katureebe is appointed as a member of the International Commercial Court Expert Committee of the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China for a four-year term, from December 8, 2020 to December 8, 2024,” his appointment note read, in part.

The Expert Committee was established in August 2018 in order to ensure fair and effective operation of the China International Commercial Court (CICC) – an organ of SPC established to adjudicate international commercial disputes.

The Committee is comprised of 31 “leaders of important international organizations, legal experts, eminent scholars, experienced judges, outstanding lawyers” selected from different countries and legal systems.

Functions of the Committee include mediating international commercial disputes upon parties’ designation, providing expert opinion on applicable foreign laws and international conventions if entrusted by the CICC, and giving advice on future development of the CICC.

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Nakawa West residents want parliamentary candidates to solve unemployment among youth

Hon Wilberforce Kyambadde, FDC candidate for Nakawa West Campaigning in Mulimira zone Bukoto. Photo by Ronard Shabomwe.

Voters in Nakawa West constituency have asked candidates aspiring for Member of Parliament to come up with a plan on how to solve unemployment as one of the challenges affecting them.

Voters say, they have had leaders who have fought for their own interest, instead of working for people, hence leaving their children languishing in poverty because of lack of what to do, so this is the  time; they are asking them to come up with a better plan for eliminating unemployment before voting them come 2021 general elections.

Nakawa west is one of the constituencies with a large population of unemployed youth who stays in slums like Banda, Naguru go down and Mulimira in Bukoto. Residents told candidates that their children have increasingly engaged in crime like stealing/robbing, beating residents among others due to lack of jobs.

The residents in this constituency challenged candidates; Forum for Democratic Change-FDC, Wilberforce Kyambadde and Independent Robert Asiimwe both candidates for Member of Parliament for Nakawa west during a door-to- door campaign to come up with a better plan for job creation.

Masika Krusum a resident of Mulimira zone in Bukoto says due to lack of what to do among youth is a source of high crime rate in this area. She says when it clocks to 7pm, youth start stealing from residents, and therefore, candidates should create jobs for these youth to reduce crime in an area.

Krusum questioned candidates whether they won’t be the same as the incumbent of Nakawa Division whom they voted for and never came back to know the challenges affecting them.

Mike Tumusiime a resident in Kasenke Naguru parish asked Robert Asiimwe to fight for youth and solve the challenge of youth unemployment; he said that they need also to have access to government projects money but they have never seen any of this money, blaming it on bad leadership.

He explained that much as candidates ask them for their votes, they don’t have people’s interests at heart rather want to go in parliament to serve their interests.

Other challenges cited by voters include; lack of medicine in health centers, poor sanitation especially in slum areas among others.

Robert Asiimwe, an independent candidate, told voters that, as a business man, he has a plan of advocating for the business community for better policies and good working conditions, which will help the business to grow and employ others; this will reduce unemployment among youth.

Asiimwe further promised to fight for good policies that can address the problem of high interest rates in financial institutions that can’t allow the low income earners to get loans to boost or start businesses.

Kyambadde said, unemployment is a great challenge among youth and he promised to create sources of income. He says the government has various programs where youth can access capital but due to poor leadership, they are left out of the system.

Nakawa West is a newly created constituency from Nakawa Division and it has parishes like Bukoto1 and 2, Ntinda, Banda, Naguru 1 and 2, Kiwatule and Kyambogo. And it attracted over 12 candidates who are contesting to represent voters in this new constituency.

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Busoga applauds Museveni for development of road network

Museveni campaigning in Busoga.

 

 

The people of Busoga sub-region have praised the NRM government under the leadership of President Yoweri Museveni for the development programs in their area, especially the good road network in the region.

This was contained in the memorandum by the leaders of the districts of Mayuge, Luuka and Jinja read by the Minister of State for Agriculture Aggrey Bagiire at a meeting held at the Agriculture Show Grounds in Jinja City with NRM Presidential flag bearer President Museveni.

“The road from Musita to Mayuge road the 54 kilometers industrial and city roads to be worked on and other roads that have been earmarked will spur the economic growth across Busoga sub-region,” they noted.

They noted that other programs like Emyooga (SACCOS), youth and women funds, industrial parks and the livestock farms among many others will help the people of the area get out of poverty.

The leaders further observed that with the development and growth of Uganda and Africa and the fight against pandemics like #Covid-19, Busoga and Uganda in general will continue to be secure under the leadership of President Museveni and the NRM government.

The leaders in the sub-region leaders assured Museveni of their solid support in the forthcoming elections to allow the continuity of development in the country for the next 5 years.

Jinja LCV Titus Kisambira in his welcome speech also pointed out that the only person who can secure the future of this nation and Africa is President Museveni.

“You are there for us, you are a nationalist and a pan Africanist, we cannot afford to lose you Mzee. We will support you so that you continue to take this country and Africa forward,” he said.

In his address, Museveni said that running society is a science because if matters are not done correctly, you end up with wrong results. He cited the recent riots by some groups that had vowed to make Uganda un-governable, noting that these groups tried to cause trouble but got the right medicine and will never attempt again.

“This Bobi Wine was trying to create some drama by going to the Electoral Commission, but nobody accompanied him because they now know the truth,” he said.

He said that if the government did not have a strong security system they would have done a lot of damage.

Museveni acknowledged that the youth have socio-economic problems but added that their concerns can be handled and will become peaceful once sorted out.

“The youth are not hard to deal with, they are being misled by infiltrators who are being used by foreigners and we know them. Their problems are not tribe or religion but socio-economic,” he said.

The President said that government sent to Busoga region Shs17 billion for the Youth Livelihood Program to cover the last four years but the number of those who benefitted is so small compared to the large population of the youth now in the region of about 3.5 million people.

Candidate Museveni urged the leaders once in parliament to help him in the allocation of more resources to such funds to realize an impact among women and the youth.

He also called on the leaders to fight corruption by some officials who ‘edit’ the youth money before it reaches the recipients.

Mr. Museveni further urged leaders to encourage their constituents to get engaged in modern commercial and calculated agro-production for both food and financial security.

The President pledged to handle some of the concerns raised by the leaders of the region like the issue of sugar. The NRM Presidential flag bearer called on Busoga leaders to inform the electorate that NRM has played a unique role in Uganda.

“Tell the people that we have succeeded because of the correct policies of NRM, tell them to support our party so that it continues to do better things for the country,” he said.

President Museveni told delegates the root causes of the problems in Uganda and Africa and how NRM through her wisdom diagnosed the challenges and has correctly prescribed the right medicine that  is putting Uganda back on its feet.

The Speaker of Parliament the Rebecca Kadaga raised some concerns by the people of Busoga region one of them being the issue of sugar.

The Minister for the Presidency Esther Mbayo applauded President Museveni and all sympathizers for being by her side when she recently lost her only son.

She however, urged all leaders from Busoga to ensure that candidate Museveni and all NRM flag bearers win in the forthcoming elections.

The Deputy Secretary General of NRM Richard Todwong pointed out that in all the memos by the people of all the regions candidate Museveni has visited show total commitment and appreciation by the people of what NRM has done for this country

He observed that leadership is a public good that is delicate and NRM cannot afford to hand it over to amateurs who will take us back to the dark days. He urged the leaders to continue supporting the struggle.

“We also recognize that leadership being a public good cannot easily, especially at the apex like the presidency, be handed over to amateurs,” he said.

Uganda is a very delicate good and if we handle Uganda recklessly and carelessly it still has the potential of sliding back to what you elders know.

The Regional NRM Vice Chairperson Eastern Captain Mike Mukula took the meeting through the political history of Uganda, where they came from, where they are and where they are going.

 

 

 

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Gen Tumukunde to empower locals to fight cattle rustling in Karamoja

gen tumukunde in karamoja sub region

Independent Presidential candidate General Henry Tumukunde has promised to empower  local groups among the Karamojongs to safeguard them against cattle rustlers.

Tumukunde said during his campaigns in Olutekei and Kacheri areas in Kotido district, Karamoja sub-region. The former spymaster is in the sub-region to comb for votes ahead of the 2021 elections.

He argued that the disarmament exercise carried out by the current leadership of President Yoweri Museveni has rendered the Karamojong cattle farmers defenseless when attacked by cattle rustlers.

Large scale cattle rustling has since stopped however there are often some cattle rustling in areas bordering Teso. The prominent conflict now is on the borders of Katakwi district, in Teso and Napak district of Karamoja.

“I will introduce a local content law to ensure that local people benefit from the mineral riches in their respective areas than individuals from nowhere taking advantage of absence of laws,” he said.

Over the years, the government has been carrying out disarmament exercise in the region in a bid to curb the then cattle rustling vice which engulfed the region. Daily Monitor reported that between 2001 and 2002, the government disarmed Karimojong of firearms used in raiding cattle from the neighbouring regions such as Teso and where the army managed to collect about 50,000 guns.

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