In what many have believed to have been speaker Rebecca Kadaga’s planned moved, a gang this Thursday morning stormed the Kamuli district NRM office where Kadaga was attending a District Executive Committee (DEC) meetings and pulled out the district Administrative Secretary, Trevor Baleke before beating him up.
Under the influence of Kadaga, DEC was convened by Samuel Bamwole the district NRM chairman to terminate Baleke’s contract.
The political temperature in the country is high as the National Resistance Movement ruling party goes to polls in less than 24 hours from now.
However, the political temperature has in some areas degenerated into chaos with supporters of different candidates trading insults and fights. The elections of party flag bearers isn’t the final vote but it means alot as it is an affirmation that one is a candidate endorsed by the party.
Eagle Online brings to you areas that have been eye-marked as hot spots given the chaos and bickering that have unfolded in the campaign periods.
Western Uganda
Kigezi
Kigezi has reported a peaceful campaign period in general except a few incidents in some areas like Rubanda East where the incumbent legislator Henry Musasizi is reported being intimidated by former commander of Air Force Lt.Gen. Jim Owoyesigyire. Eagle Online Gen. Owoyesigyire is reportedly supporting Musasizi’s opponent Kenneth Biryabarema.
Rujumbura formerly represented by former minister Jim Muhwezi who is trying to reclaim it from the current legislator Tumuheirwe Turyamuhweza. Still in Rukungiri, another constituency likely to be no go area for the incumbent is Rubabo represented by Puala Turyahikayo.She is facing competition from two young turks.
Kinkizi East, Junior lands Minister Dr. Chris Baryamunsi is also struggling to retrain his seat given that he is now the longest serving legislator but above all, Baryamunsi is having sleepless nights due to the pressure from the church given his love and hate relationship with the leadership of the church in the area.
Bushenyi
Bushenyi is one of the areas that is likely to register high cases of electoral multipractice given the nature of campaigns and candidates who are in the race.
Karooro Okurut and Mugisha Annet. The current Minister of General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister is fighting for her survival from newcomer Annet Mugisha wife to the loaded Managing Director of National Water and Sewerage Corporation. However, Minister Okurut has equally a mountain of sponsors who are led by tycoon Hassan Basajjabalaba who are backing her. Ms Okurut and Ms Mugisha used to be friends to the extent that at one, Ms Mugisha was her political Assistant. The race between the two has sharply divided voters with cases of intimidation already being registered.
Igara West With Minister Raphael Magyezi out of the way, Igara West looks like everything is preset for former Kasambya County legislator Mbwatekamwa set to represent the constituency. However, Mr. Magyezi and regime looks likely there is a plot to have some other candidate instead of Mbwatekamwa.
Sheema Municipality This is an area that has shown signs of violence from the start of the campaigns and this is because of the nature of the people contesting in the party primaries. The race has attracted many candidates but two standout and these are former Assistant Commissioner in charge of Customs at Uganda Revenue Authority Dicksons Kateshumbwa and current legislator who is also Minister of Science and Innovations Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye. Both candidates are strong with money and security apparatus. However, there are reports of ferrying of non voters to the area and also some masquerades as security outfit by one of the two camps.
Mbarara Municipality Mbarara is the regional city of Western region and therefore, this alone gives status and credibility to whoever takes over Mbarara as the bull in a kraal for representation in the region.
Mbarara has been sub-divided into two constituencies, Mbarara South and North. the current Member of Parliament Michael Tusiime is under spotlight for not doing much under the current term. Tusiime is facing it rough from Mbarara businessman and also NRM Central Executive Committee member Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari. Rukaari represents entrepreneurs on CEC. The two camps have seen their supports trading insults and the same is like to happen at polling date. The two are vying for Mbarara North.
Mbarara South Outgoing Member of Parliament for Youth representing Western Mwene Mpaka is contesting for Mbarara South constituency. Although he has competitors, it is likely that they threaten his win as he has mobilized the ground well.
Kaazo This is a new district that was curved out Kiruhura. The battle in Kaazo is between former Principal Private Secretary to the president Molly Kamukama and Ann Ruyondo a daughter to one of the bush war fighter Col. Patrick Lumumba.
Ruyondo narrowly lost to Ann Adeke in the national female elections in 2016 elections. It was alleged that Ms Kamukama silently influenced that election fearing should Ms Ruyondo win, it would have been an automatic ticket for her to use to claim Kaazo. Their campaigns have tense with both camps boasting of money and security.
Other areas deemed hot are Isingiro, Ibanda Fort Portal Hoima, Kibaale and Kiryadongo.
The Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) has taken over a case filed by a renowned city lawyer Male Mabirizi against Presidential aspirant and Kyadondo East Member of Parliament, Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu aka Bobi Wine.
Last month, Mabirizi filed an application contesting the MP’s academic documents and the year of birth. On Monday, Wakiso Chief Magistrates Court summoned Bobi Wine over cases of providing false documents and giving false information.
According to a statement released by the resident Chief state attorney, Buganda road, Janet Kitimbo, in pursuant to article 120 (3) (c), of the constitution of the republic of Uganda 1995 and section 43 (1) (a) of the magistrates courts act Cap 16, the DPP is taking over and will continue to conduct criminal proceedings in this case.
“In that regard, the complainant is required to furnish the DPP all reasonable information, assistance and to furnish any documents or other matters in this possession or under his control in regard to this case,” reads in part of the statement.
Court summons indicate that the MP is required to appear before Court on the 16th September 2020. He is required to answer charges of giving false information contrary to section 115 (a) of the penal code act, obtaining registration by false pretense contrary to section 312 of the penal code act and uttering false documents contrary to section 315 and 347 of the penal code act.
Last month Mabirizi petitioned Uganda Electoral Commission to avail him with academic papers which the MP filed when he contested in Kyadondo East.
The availed academic papers indicate that the MP failed mathematics at ‘O’ level and general paper at ‘A’ level. This sparked discussions on whether the MP is suitable to lead the country after failing the two subjects. On the other note, the MP missed a first grade by one aggregate at ‘O’ level.
On Monday, Bobi wine said: “The issue of my academic documents and age have been brought up to derail our struggle. I want to encourage all the students out there who miss exams because they haven’t paid fees on time that I went through the same.” He said adding that the world is looking for people who have done something, not how they did it.
Col Ba-hoku Barigye has handed over the office of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces’ (UPDF) Deputy Chief Political Commissar (D/CPC) to Col Nelson Aheebwa.
Col Ba-hoku will now move to his new deployment as the Defence Attaché’ to Cuba.
The presiding officer and UPDF Chief Political Commissar (CPC) Maj Gen Henry Masiko commended the President for tirelessly working towards professionalizing the UPDF into a modern Force.
He reminded soldiers that the army’s strength is directly hinged on its strategic relationship with the people based on a pro-people ideology, which he said, should be sustained for peace, stability and economic prosperity of the country.
The CPC urged both the outgoing and incoming Officers to uphold the idea of harnessing synergies to consolidate achievements of the Commissariat and envisaged new activities owing to changed dynamics and strategic directives.
“Foster harmony and understanding between the UPDF and the population so that the revolution remains intact,” said Maj Gen Masiko.
In his Hand Over speech, Col Ba-hoku commended the UPDF leadership for the support and guidance he received from the D/CPC. He noted that upholding the right ideology is key to the survival of the country.
Col Aheebwa, in his acceptance speech promised to exercise teamwork that he said is necessary for progress.
The Political Commissariat is responsible for ensuring correct ideology in the UPDF. This is achieved through ideological training at all levels of training in the UPDF.
The Hand/Take Over function at the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs Headquarters in Mbuya was attended by Commissioner for Patriotism Brig Gen Patrick Mwesigye and Directors under the UPDF Political Commissariat.
President Yoweri Museveni has revealed that people who are pushing tribalism talks are wasting time for whoever is listening to them.
Few weeks ago security agencies arrested Radio Simba employees and comedians dubbed as Bizonto, singer Gerald Kiwewa and veteran journalist Abbey Sewakiryanga aka Basajja Mivule and charged them with sectarianism. They were asking why all heads of security agencies are coming from one region.
Below is his response
During the colonial times and after Independence up to 1971, the Army and Police of Uganda was dominated by Acholis and Langi. In the interview Mzee Obote gave in Dar-es-Salaam, he revealed that the Uganda Army by the 25th of January, 1971, had been comprised of a total of 8000 soldiers, 4,300 of whom were Acholis, 1,300 were Langis etc. This was after 80 years of the Uganda Army being dominated by some of those groups.
Therefore, even if the Public service was dominated by the Banyankore, it may not help that community to be any better than the others.
Besides, the claim that the Banyankore or the Westerners are monopolizing the 480,000 Public service jobs cannot be true although, of course, I have not yet studied that diversion from addressing the four sectors of wealth and jobs that I always tell you about: Commercial Agriculture, Industry, Services and ICT.
Why and how would those Banyankore dominate the Public Service where the Public Service Commission was last held by a Westerner, the late Mzee Bikangaga from 1979 to 1990. Since that time, the Public service Commission has been headed by: Zikusooka, a Musoga, Muzaale, a Musoga, Ralph Ochan, an Acholi and the membership is always balanced.
The Education Service Commission was headed by Waggwa Lubega for a long time. The current chairperson of the Education Service Commission is Sam Luboga, a Musoga.
The Chairperson of the Health Service Commission is Dr. Pius Okong, a “munyankore” from Teso.
The leaders of those commissions mentioned above, are all very highly qualified People in their fields. If they recruit only Banyankore, those Banyankore must be exceptionally gifted. We shall get to the bottom of this nonsense.
In any case, being recruited into the Civil Service, Teaching Service, Judicial Service (this is the only Commission headed by Kabiito from Western Uganda) or Health Service is by both written and oral examinations.
How can it be that Westerners, much less the Banyankore, are the only ones that get recruited? There are promotional examinations for each level advancement once within the Service.
Coming to the Armed Forces, especially the Army, my advice to all of you, is that leave your Army out of that nonsense. The NRA, the UPDF are Armies of sacrifice, all the time for no pay or low pay. They (we) put their lives on the line.
Therefore, leave UPDF out of the circus of sectarianism. Fighters, real fighters, never have interests in tribes or religious sectarianism; but in comrade-in-arms. I became a comrade with the mad Ageta on the 17th of September, 1972, because we found ourselves together taking cover, while combating Idi Amin’s gigantic Sergeants in the ant-hills that dotted the area where the Coca-Cola factory is now, near the Mbarara Barracks.
When my small group crossed to the right of the Mbarara- Masaka road and got near the barrack’s fence, I found there another Obote fighter who became my comrade known as Opio. I worked with him thereafter until 1980 when I lost contact with him.
Ageta, whom I had not met before or since, was so happy with me that when the remnants of us went back to Tanzania, he appointed me a Corporal and a Section Commander for one of the 4 Sections that we got out of the 46 remnants that survived out of the 330 fighters that had attacked the Mbarara Town and Barracks that morning.
If you are not working for the enemy, you cannot go on the social-media and demand that we publish the names of the personnel of UPDF, their ranks and their jobs.
The only thing we can say and what you know is that recruitment into the Police and UPDF is by quota. Beyond that, leave our Army alone and I mean, leave our Army alone.
Also preaching sectarianism on the media (social and otherwise), should stop. Although I am always ready to explain, also remember that such false allegations, carelessly or maliciously made, are criminal.
The ideology of the NRM starts with the economy (market) and social interests (education, health, religion). I went to school, not mainly because of the Banyankore, but, actually because of some Baganda and one White man. How? In the 1950s, there were not many Banyankore business People.
Yet, some of the Baganda People had started doing business. Two of them, Walusimbi Mpanga and Bukyenya (Bukenya of Mbarara), were cattle traders (buying cattle for slaughtering in Kampala and Mbarara). These traders would periodically buy the cows Mzee Kaguta would bring to the cattle auction markets of Ntungamo or Rubaare or Kagarama, thereby getting money to solve his home money needs but also pay my school fees.
The other economic ally of ours was a Whiteman known as Shear, who had a home at Ishaka. He was buying cattle for Kilembe Mines workers.
In this relationship, you see three elements: economic complementarity (prosperity); education (school fees); and health (Mzee Kaguta could even go to private clinics run by Indian doctors that time-Patels etc.). Even today, those inter- community linkages are the most important for our People for economy, education, health, religion etc. Why don’t our tribal groups buy our surplus sugar, milk, maize, bananas, cement etc.? That ideology of sectarianism is pseudo and bankrupt and you should stop pushing falsehoods.
The market of Uganda, the market of East Africa, the market of Africa are the sowanis kwetulira (the producers of products – agricultural, industrial, services etc.).
The producers prosper because of the purchasing power of Ugandans, East Africans, etc. I am prosperous because the People of Uganda buy my beef (bullocks) and my milk. The Arcade owners and other shop owners in Kampala have been prosperous because the Ugandans buy their products.
Our pockets make those Arcade and shop owners prosperous by us buying their products. The only problem has been that those shop owners were mainly selling foreign products that can be made here; thereby, sucking a lot of wealth and jobs from Uganda and taking them to Dubai, China etc.
A video footage of an accident scene from a tanker that overturned has surfaced showing policemen scrambling for fuel from a highly flammable vehicle along Karuma – Pakwach Highway.
The policemen are seen filling 20-litre jerry cans with fuel and loading them onto their pick-up vehicle.
A number of community members watched officers; who should have protected the scene, getting involved in fetching the fuel.
No official statement regarding the unprofessional conduct of the police officers has been issued.
It should be remembered that accidents involving fuel tankers are considered the riskiest and people are encouraged not to get closer as explosions are anticipated due to the inflammability of petroleum products in board. One incident remembered is in Namugoona where dozens lost their lives as they tried to siphon the fuel.
Police is holding Nyanzi Emmanuel, a son to one of the founders of Excel insurance company limited, late David Mukasa Walakira for stigmatizing and embarrassing a city lawyer Judith Tumusiime of Katende Ssempebwa advocates.
Nyanzi was arrested yesterday at the offices of Katende, Sempebwa advocates with aid from Uganda Network on Law Ethics and HIV/AIDS (UGANET) after he was tricked by Mrs. Tumusiime to come and get copies of the land title for a piece of land in Masaka Kimwanyi where Walakira was buried.
He was charged with cyber harassment and acknowledged posting a traumatizing and stigmatizing information about Judith.
Mrs. Tumusiime offered legal service to the late Walakira’s family and all the issues were resolved in 2018. According to Judith, all the children got their share however Nyanzi wants to sell the burial ground.
“I have always told him that I can’t do such an issue but he has insisted. He has sent me all sorts of demeaning messages. The processes were handled by his late Aunt Rose. He has embarked on black mailing me.”
Judith has handled a wide variety of Real Estate matters including transaction work for investors, foreign and domestic, requiring services in acquisition, portfolio management, and disposal of immovable property in Uganda.
The head of advocacy and strategic litigation at UGANET Immaculate Owomugisha said HIV status whether known or unknown should never be used as a weapon of war and abuse. “The constitution of Uganda protects every Ugandan from being demeaned because of perceived or actual HIV status”.
According to Head Gender Equality and Violence against Women Prevention at UGANET Rhona Babweteera, they a saw a insensitive, discriminatory and stigmatizing post on Nyanzi Emmanuel Facebook page and they swiftly had to take action against him. He wrote a traumatizing post about a city lawyer whose HIV status he doesn’t know.
“We want him to serve as an example for all people on social media thinking that they can use any information to blackmail people,” She added that we are committed to pursue matters till the end.
“Undermining women is not acceptable. This is not enough, will make sure that more charges are brought against him,” she said.
For the past 20 years, UGANET mandate is based on the foundation that the law, legal policies and human rights are critical enablers in influencing the success of Health and HIV interventions intended to prevent further spread and also mitigate the adverse social impact and suffering caused by HIV and other Health conditions.
With victory up his sleeves in the just concluded NRM CEC elections, the pronunciations from Plot 13 Kyadondo Road have left many former political heavy weights reeling on the canvass and sent tongues wagging!
And yet with the political storm yet to ebb, one cannot miss out the incredible story of Singh Katongole, the new Vice Chairperson for Kampala in the NRM‘s top organ the CEC. The businessman turned politician has defied odds to anchor himself onto the ruling government’s top political echelon.
One would ask his winning formula, and yet again like many headline grabbers whose journeys to stardom have been riddled with obstacles, Katongole is no exception.
He was shown the parliamentary exit doors in 2011 when Moses Kasibante took him to court and accused him of voter bribery and ballot stuffing. Ill fate trailed him to 2016 when he was denied the NRM party flag on grounds of inadequate academic qualifications. While he returned to school to attain the required qualifications, Singh Katongole’s unending crave for leadership found him pitted against little known Proscovia Lukwago in the battle for LC1 chairperson of Makamba Zone-Rubaga Division in 2018.
He embarrassingly lost this battle too but never lost grit, wit and mettle, ingredients that finally saw him floor Godfrey Nyakana and Salim Uhuru by polling 4503 votes against 2665 and 2468 for Nyakana and Uhuru respectively.
Many in his close circles know him for being an astute businessman whose wealth would earn him reserved tables in top hotels and clubs in town blending with the high and mighty and yet it’s not unusual to find Singh Katongole traversing the filth laden alleys of slums of Rubaga division freely mingling with the residents. This hands-on style of leadership has been the biggest attribute in his endeavors for leadership.
When asked about what they felt in his recent victory in the CEC, Hamid Lukenge a boda boda rider in Kisenyi II had this to say: “I have personally voted for Katongole every time he has vied for a position because he listens to and associates with the common person. He also visits almost all corners of the division”. Nakyajja Harriet, who operates a used clothes stall in St Balikuddembe but resides in Wankuklukuku says that she is thrilled by the way Singh Katongole speaks Luganda fluently and this to her removed her earlier doubts that he would have a language barrier.
And yet for a man who has been dragged through the murky waters of politics, this victory tells a thousand stories but most importantly spells out his resilience, people centeredness, and humility. Surely Singh Katongole’s better days lie ahead and his star can only get brighter!!
By MP Zaake Francis
Dear Gen. Museveni,
I appreciate that you took time to read and respond to the post I wrote to you here on Facebook a couple of days ago. It appears that whereas you read that post, you made no effort to process what you read. And so I am not surprised that you conveniently mistook the questions I put to you on behalf of citizens to be conclusions that there is no #Covid19 in Uganda. Perhaps you know something we don’t know.
In your response to my post, you made several baseless claims that I feel are best ignored altogether as no reasonable person can find logic in them. But while that may be so, I am compelled to dispute the racist and ludicrous allegation you made against my comrades in the People Power movement / National Unity Platform and I that we are being used by “foreigners to destabilize Uganda”.
This claim is particularly strange because those you call foreigners have controlled our economy throughout the 35 years you have spent clinging on power. About 40% of Uganda’s annual budget is funded by foreigners. This includes the money you use to buy teargas and other ammunition that you routinely employ against us who oppose you.
In case you’ve not noticed, most critical industries and sectors in Uganda are dominated by foreigners. This compromises our sovereignty but you don’t care about that because you personally benefit from such an arrangement. Our telecommunications industry is controlled by MTN and Airtel companies, both of which are owned by ‘foreigners’ from South Africa and India, respectively. These foreigners repatriate to their home countries most of the profit they earn here – to our detriment – yet I have never heard you complain about them. By contrast, our locally-owned Uganda Telecom (UTL) has been steadily collapsing without any genuine intervention from your Government.
Constituting about 31% of Uganda’s total foreign exchange earned last year, Gold has been our leading export for the past many years. Strangely, this key sector is controlled by the African Gold Refinery Ltd, a Belgium-owned company with questionable business practices. Rather than protect and empower Ugandan entrepreneurs in this sector, your security forces have instead presided over the torture and illegal eviction of Ugandan gold miners such as those in Mubende, Kassanda and other Districts off their mineral-rich land for the benefit of foreign-owned companies.
Sometime in 2018, your government tabled in Parliament the National Coffee Bill that was purportedly meant to streamline the coffee sector, Uganda’s 2nd largest foreign exchange earner. That Bill, if passed, will literally make it criminal for any Ugandan farmer to grow, sell or consume coffee without permission from Government. If your government is making it impossible for ordinary Ugandan farmers to deal in coffee, would one be wrong to conclude that you are ring-fencing the coffee sector for foreigners?
Every other day, we get reports of local fishermen being tortured or murdered by UPDF’s Fisheries Protection Unit that was ostensibly set up to fight illegal fishing. In mid-2017, Ivan Katongole – a prominent fish maw exporter – was arrested by your men on allegations that he was behind the serial murders of women that were rampant in Entebbe Town at the time. If it were not for Court to declare his prosecution malicious, Ivan would still be in Prison.
Yet what is saddening is that by the time he regained his freedom, Ivan’s business had been taken over! Several other local entrepreneurs in this sector have suffered the same fate. Those who have been following this pattern of events have concluded that your government wants to lock Ugandan fishermen out of the fishing industry for the benefit of foreign-owned companies, particularly those from China.
Gen. Museveni, American authorities in 2017 arrested and later jailed Chi Ping Patrick Ho for, among other reasons, allegedly bribing you through your foreign Minister Sam Kuteesa to corrupt our 2016 electoral process. Was Mr. Chi Ping Ho a Ugandan?
For the 2 years you spent in the 1970s training with Mozambique’s FRELIMO army in preparation for your NRA war, were you training with Ugandans on Ugandan territory? Was it Zaake, let alone People Power, who led you to Tanzania, Zambia, Libya, Mozambique etc in search of ‘foreigners’ help in overthrowing Amin, Obote, etc? The proxy wars that you are fighting in C.A.R., South Sudan and elsewhere, in whose interest are they?
It is interesting to see you referring to me as ‘mis-educated’ and accusing me of ‘misleading’ my fellow youth whenever I point out facts such as these. But let me remind you Mr. Museveni that I have lived my entire lifetime with you as at the helm of Uganda. I am a product of the very education system operated by your regime. Many of the schools I studied from are UPE schools. It goes without saying, therefore, that you are responsible for the mis-education you accuse me and many other opposition members of.
To routinely implore us to do as you and your Ministers say, but not as you do, is utter hypocrisy. Hypocritical leadership has no place in the New Uganda we want to build with H. E. Robert Kyagulanyi as our President. You should not excuse your Ministers’ violation of the COVID-19 guidelines, on one hand, as simple mistakes while on the other hand you send your security criminals to kill me for allegedly making the same mistake.
You pass yourself off as a tolerant, just and peace-loving leader but you are not. You pretend to have Uganda and Ugandans at heart, but you don’t. If that were the case, you would not be rewarding Gen. Moses Elwelu who massacred innocent children in Kasese with promotion after promotion! You would not have blocked the prosecution of your guards who tortured us and murdered Yasin Kawuma in Arua! You would not have let the businesses of Ugandan investors such as WBS TV and Ssembule Steel Mills to collapse because of heavy taxes while foreign ‘investors’ are given incentives and tax holidays. If you really cared, you would not be looking on as tens of thousands of your grandchildren are sold into slavery in the Middle East!
Next time you wish to accuse us of colluding with foreigners as you ride your high horse of ‘Pan-Africanism’, take a long hard look in the mirror. You have no moral authority to accuse anybody of colluding with ‘foreigners’.
Lastly, I expect you to discard the hat you put on your head as it is associated with war-time cowboys from Northern America. If this isn’t agreeable to you, neither should you keep making a fuss about our red berets.
Zaake Francis, MP Mityana Municipality
Youth Leader, National Unity Platform/People Power movement
The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has called upon certified facemask manufacturers, importers and distributors to ensure consistency of quality for their products.
The call was made during an online stakeholder engagement with facemask manufacturers organized by UNBS, following continuous complaints received from the public regarding the quality and safety of facemasks on the market.
“Once you know the certification requirements, and have been certified by UNBS, be consistent with the quality of your products. This is key for all manufacturers if you are to stay in business.” said Ms. Patricia Bageine Ejalu, the UNBS Deputy ED in charge of Standards.
Mrs Ejalu also revealed that UNBS conducts surveillance audits where impromptu visits are made to certified manufacturers to see if they are still meeting the standards, UNBS also buys samples of certified products on the market and takes them for product quality tests.
‘If the surveillance audits are done and a certified manufacturer is found producing substandard products, the UNBS License is revoked and they are automatically out of business.” Ms. Patricia Bageine Ejalu, the UNBS Deputy ED in charge of Standards added.
During the engagement, experts from the UNBS testing and certification departments offered technical guidance to stakeholders on what constitutes a quality facemask and how facemask manufacturers can get UNBS certification respectively.
The engagement with manufacturers is in line with the UNBS approach of offering technical guidance in trade so as to enable the sale of quality and safe products thus enabling self-regulation and compliance to relevant standards and legal requirements.
Wearing facemasks in public is mandatory for all persons aged six years and above, and as such, UNBS calls upon consumers to buy face masks from certified manufacturers.
As at 25th August 2020, 49 companies were certified by UNBS to produce non-medical face masks.
This is in line with the UNBS mandate of consumer protection, aimed at protecting Ugandans from buying substandard non-medical facemasks which could be harmful to their health, in the wake of COVID-19.
