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Gen.Tumukunde to officially launch presidential bid tomorrow

By
Isaiah Mwebaze
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Gen. Henry-Tumukunde.

 

Former spy chief and Security Minister Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde will tomorrow launch a pressure group known as A-Renened Uganda to bolster his bid to challenge President Museveni for the presidency in the next year’s General Election.

Lt.Gen.Tumukunde will convene a press briefing at his Kololo offices to unveil a blueprint on how to wrestle the Presidency from Gen Museveni in an election that is expected to be won on the tightest of margins.

Gen. Tumukunde says that President Museveni long veered off the ideals that inspired the Bush War and has rather taken the country on the precipice with endemic corruption, abuse of office, sectarianism, impunity tearing Ugandans apart.

After declaring his ambitions to challenge President Museveni, Gen. Tumukunde was arrested and charged with treason-after when appeared on Television and gave a blow by blow account of how President Museveni’s government had evolved into a full-blown dictatorship.

He has since been released on bail, though with tough conditions which analysts say are meant to frustrate his bid for the presidency.

Earlier this year, Gen. Tumukunde wrote to the Electoral Commission, seeking its permission to consult voters and get a feeling of what they feel about him unseating his Luweero Bush War comrade, President Museveni in the forthcoming 2021 general elections.

Gen Tumukunde is an experienced politician having been a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Constitution between 1994-1996 and later served as Army MP between 1996-2005.

Before joining politics in 1994, Gen Tumukunde was sent on a Command and Staff Course at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, in Kaduna, Nigeria. He emerged as one of the best students there and later returned to Uganda where he became the Army’s director of planning.

He has been consistent with his ideologies spanning from the CA times when he and the likes of Gen.David Sejusa, Col. Kizza Besigye and Col. Sserwanga Lwanga rose to prominence within the ranks of the then new regime. They would later take a stance in opposing the wrongs within the systems that was feared by the politicians of day. in 2005, it is only Tumukunde then at the rank of brigadier and Col Fred Bogere that opposed the amendment of the constitution to scrap time limits in favour of Gen. Museveni. Gen. Tumukunde was subsequently arrested and charged with spreading  harmful propaganda by the government in the martial court.

 

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Archbishop Kaziimba inspects site where St Peter’s Church was demolished

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Kaziimba

The Archbishop of Church of Uganda, The Most Rev Dr. Samuel Stephen Kaziimba has inspected the site where St Peter’s Church of Uganda in Ndeeba Katwe ll Parish, Mengo Archdeaconry in Namirembe Diocese was demolished on Sunday night.

The Church was demolished following a four-year standoff in Courts of law with a business man Dodovico Mwanje who acquired the piece of land from relatives of the deceased who reportedly handed over the land for establishment of the Church.

He condemned the demolition and prayed for repentance of the perpetrators of the sinful act.

“On behalf of the House of Bishops and all Christians of the Church of Uganda, we express our sincere condolences to the Bishop and people of Namirembe Diocese, and especially those of St. Peter’s Church, Ndeeba, on last night’s destruction of their treasured building and House of Worship. We are grateful that our grandmother, who donated the land for the church, is not alive to see the destruction that has been done to the sacred place she gave as a gift to God.” THE Arch Bishop said

He said “This barbaric act of destruction is evil. If an action can’t be done in broad daylight, then there is something deeply wrong; we have lost respect for God. This destruction of the House of God took place in the darkness of night during a curfew; and, the security forces, who are supposed to uphold the law and guard against destroyers, were allegedly complicit in the destruction of a House of God. Squatters have rights after being on land for 12 years, and yet St. Peter’s Church has been on that land for 40 years. We call for a serious and impartial inquiry into this matter.”

“Lockdown, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has not been locked down.  Likewise, the destruction of St. Peter’s Church, Ndeeba, will not deter the Church from preaching the Gospel. Jesus promised us that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church of Jesus Christ.” (Matthew 16.18)

“We stand in solidarity with the Bishop, Namirembe Diocese, and especially the Christians of St. Peter’s Church. Especially during this time of a global pandemic, the church is needed now more than ever. We assure you of our prayers for a peaceful and just resolution to this tragic situation.” He said

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Jackson Nunda joins URA FC

By
Our Reporter
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nunda

Attacking midfielder Jackson Nunda has joined URA FC, penning a three-year deal until 2023.

The midfielder told URA FC website that he is delighted to have joined the tax collectors, a Club he feels is capable of going back to its glory days of winning trophies.

“I chose URA because it’s an ambitious team and I love the competitiveness in the club.”

“Of course, I don’t expect it to be a walk in the park as I have to compete for a place in the team.”

“I am here to win trophies and give 100% for my new home, URA FC,” the midfielder added.

The left-footed talented playmaker becomes URA’s first signing following his departure from KCCA FC, where he spent almost five years.

He has three League titles, two Uganda Cups, one FUFA Super 8 and a CECAFA Club cup to his name.

Nunda has also previously been at SC Villa.

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Russia registers first Covid-19 vaccine

By
Agencies
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Covid-19 testing kits

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the registration of the first vaccine for the coronavirus in the world and said one of his daughters had already taken it.

“As far as I know, a vaccine against a new coronavirus infection has been registered this morning, for the first time in the world,” he said at a meeting with members of the government, RIA Novosti reported.

“Although I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity and, I repeat, has passed all the necessary checks,” Putin said.

Clinical trials of this Russian vaccine have been completed in less than two months and phase three trials are set to begin on Wednesday, despite the vaccine having already been registered. Countries including the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia are taking part in those trials.

No data has yet been published by the researchers and the long-term effects and safety of this possible vaccine currently remain unclear.

Putin also stated that one of his daughters had been vaccinated against the coronavirus, commenting, “In this sense, she took part in the experiment.”

Responding to the news, the World Health Organisation said it is in “close contact” with Russian health authorities about the “possible pre-qualification process for a Covid-19 candidate vaccine which requires rigorous review,” Reuters reported, citing a WHO spokesman.

At the end of July, the World Health Organization said that there were 26 candidate vaccines in the clinical evaluation stage, including the one registered in Russia that was developed by the Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.

Russia has denied that it is part of an “arms race” to develop a vaccine, saying it wants to cooperate with other nations. There has been international skepticism that Russia has developed an effective and safe vaccine, however.  White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, for instance, has cast doubt on the approaches to testing in Russia and China

Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said Tuesday that it’s backing the production of the vaccine which will be called ‘Sputnik V’ in foreign markets. It stated there had been “considerable interest” from abroad.

“We have received preliminary applications for over 1 billion doses of the vaccine from 20 countries. Along with our foreign partners, we are already prepared to manufacture over 500 million doses of vaccine per year in five countries, and the plan is to ramp-up production capacity even higher,” the wealth fund said in a statement.

Full-scale production of the vaccine is expected to begin in September, it added.

Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of RDIF, rebuffed international skepticism over the vaccine, telling reporters Tuesday that bias against it was politically motivated.

″(The) Russian vaccine has been questioned, and will be questioned, regardless of anything we do,” Dmitriev said.

“We know that before any major announcements already there were accusations that the Russian vaccine may have been stolen, which is completely false, and now we publish on the Sputnik.com site all the research dating back to six years ago and how the vaccine was created.”

With regards to the vaccine trial data not yet being published, Dmitriev conceded that, “some of the concerns are valid.” He said the results from Phase 1 and 2 trials would be published shortly, but did not give a date.

“We’ve seen the results of clinical trials Phase 1 and 2, we’ve seen animal results and they are incredibly impressive, and all of this is going to be published,” he said.

The registration of the vaccine had been signaled earlier this month. Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told reporters in early August that clinical trials of the coronavirus vaccine were over.

“Clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine developed by the Gamaleya center are over, paperwork is underway for the vaccine’s registration,” Murashko said, according to Russian news agency Tass.

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Uganda Bankers Association, IFC partner to train financial institutions and SMEs in Uganda

By
Geoffery Serugo
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The IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Uganda Bankers Association (UBA) have partnered to train financial institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Uganda to help them build financial strength and resiliency to better meet the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis.

IFC’s training for 32 financial institutions will equip them with knowledge, tools, and techniques to help them meet the current economic challenges. The training delivered to roughly 500 SMEs will help them navigate the challenges of lockdowns and reduced trade. The training will be provided online over the next six weeks.

Wilbrod Owor, Executive Director at UBA, said, “This partnership is timely and is in line with our mission to promote a sound banking environment and drive financial inclusion through financial literacy initiatives. We are excited to work with IFC to roll out these training sessions, which will help achieve growth, sustainable development, and poverty reduction in Uganda.”

Dan Kasiyre, IFC Resident Representative for Uganda and Rwanda, said, “The virtual trainings on stress testing and SME crisis management are part of broad actions by the World Bank Group to support economic recovery efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. IFC is a longtime champion of the private sector in Africa and our experience will help Ugandan businesses navigate the difficult waters of COVID-19.”

The webinar trainings for financial institutions include stress testing to help banks assess the impact of COVID-19 on their portfolio and support their risk mitigation. The SME webinars will cover topics such as accessing finance during crises, adjusting business plans, communicating with stakeholders, and digital sales, marketing, and promotion. Recordings of the SME training webinars will be broadcast on UBC TV, Uganda’s public broadcaster.

The World Bank has predicted that Africa will suffer its first recession in 25 years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted trade, travel, and business activity worldwide, including in Uganda.

IFC launched an $8 billion fast-track financing facility in March to assist companies and countries in their efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to the rapid spread of COVID-19. As of July 31, IFC had invested several hundred million dollars supporting African partners through this facility.

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Covid-19: LDU to resume night operations

By
Geoffery Serugo
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The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the Local Defense Unit (LDU) will resume night operations upon completion of their training. The LDU will work in support of Uganda Police to curtail criminal activities in the Country.

UPDF suspended the LDU operations following various complaints of human rights violations, and gruesome killing people. It is reported that over eight people died at the hands of security agencies implementing COVID-19 guidelines during the first three months of the lockdown. All the victims were either shot dead or tortured to death by the soldiers, police officers or Local Defense Unit officers.

Currently all the personnel of the 10 Battalions of the LDUs operating in Kampala Metropolitan Policing (KMP) Area are undergoing refresher courses at Kakiri Barracks.

According to the spokesperson of Uganda Defence forces (UPDF) brig Gen Flavia Byekwaso, the LDUs who have undergone and completed their training will resume operations only at night to curtail criminal activities and they shall not participate in the daytime enforcement of COVID-19.

She said the redeployment follows public outcry over the increasing criminality in the Country.

“The LDU shall participate in intelligence led limited operations on specific targets on request and in support of Uganda police services. They will not participate in day enforcement of President Museveni’s directives peddled at curbing the spread of Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

She called on Ugandans to cooperate and support the forces in the notable duty to ensure that every one is safe and secure from any threat and all acts of criminality.

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Express FC confirm signing of Kusiima Cryspus

By
Our Reporter
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kusiima during unveiling

Express FC have confirmed their first signing this transfer window, goalkeeper Kusiima Cryspus on a two year deal.

The 24 year old who was formerly at Tooro United will be looking to battle for the number one jersey alongside main stay Matthias Muwanga.

“Am happy to join this great club and I can’t wait to get started,” Kusiima told the Express FC website.

Kusiima’s arrival is a boost to the goalkeeping department which needed backup incase any of the goal minders picked up a long term injury.

“Gufi” like he’s fondly known by his peers is the first of many signings to come for Express FC ahead of the new season which is scheduled to start on 17th October.

“I know I’ve joined a team with competitive players but the good thing is it’s healthy competition and I also believe if we work as a unit, we shall all win as a team.” He added.

Mathias Muwanga is the first choice goalkeeper but due to a nagging injury last season, all goalkeepers will have to battle for the number one spot during preseason before the season begins.

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Standard Chartered Bank, Microsoft partner to accelerate digital transformation

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Standard Chartered logo

Standard Chartered Bank and Microsoft Corporation have announced a three-year strategic partnership to accelerate the bank’s digital transformation through a cloud-first strategy.

This partnership marks a significant milestone for Standard Chartered in making its vision for virtual banking, next-generation payments, open banking and banking-as-a-service a reality. Leveraging Azure as a preferred cloud platform, the companies will also co-innovate in open banking and real-time payments to help the bank unlock new banking experiences for clients.

As part of its digital transformation, Standard Chartered will adopt a multi-cloud approach, where significant applications, including its core banking and trading systems and new digital ventures such as virtual banking and banking as-a-service, will be cloud-based by 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. The bank will also adopt a cloud-first principle for all new software developments and major enhancements.

As technology reshapes the banking industry, Standard Chartered recognizes that a cloud-first strategy is critical to the bank’s ambition to make banking simpler, faster and more convenient. By being digital-first, the bank will be able to meet the demand for seamless banking virtually anytime, anywhere, and make banking more accessible to people across its network.

Michael Gorriz, Group Chief Information Officer of Standard Chartered, said: “Cloud is a cornerstone of Standard Chartered’s strategy to meet the present and future banking needs of our clients. Cloud providers have invested massively in the reliability and automation of infrastructure and platforms. Using cloud services improves our ability to be agile and innovative, while increasing our operational efficiency and resilience. As disruption in the financial industry continues, we can focus on client benefits by deploying our solutions quicker and allowing for faster integration of new business models and partners. To realize our digital ambitions, Standard Chartered has chosen Microsoft as a strategic partner and this partnership marks a major milestone for the bank in adopting a cloud-first approach.”

Bhupendra Warathe, Chief Technology Officer, Cloud Transformation at Standard Chartered, added that: “The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the need for businesses and banks to be resilient from a risk mitigation, cost and security perspective. With the increasing trend of an always-on digital economy, commercial and consumer clients are looking for applications and services that empower them to do online banking from anywhere, flexibly and efficiently. The speed and scale of continuous innovation offered by Azure allows us to innovate with the latest AI services to meet evolving client needs. We can pilot new apps in one market and scale them rapidly across others. This is especially important for a bank with a footprint as broad and diverse as ours.”

Standard Chartered will adopt Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud platform to meet the bank’s need for resilient data centers and cloud services and addressing customers’ security, privacy and compliance requirements across the bank’s global footprint.

The first set of capabilities to move to Microsoft Azure will be Standard Chartered’s trade finance systems, allowing for seamless cross-border trade for the bank’s corporate and institutional clients.

The partnership will also advance the bank’s digital workplace transformation with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams providing modern productivity and collaboration tools to Standard Chartered’s 84,000 employees across its 60 markets.

Standard Chartered will also use Microsoft Azure artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics capabilities to enhance and automate banking processes as well as deliver hyper personalization of its client products and experiences. Co-innovation in open banking application programming interface (API) and Internet-of-Things-based, real-time payments will also help the bank unlock new banking experiences for clients.

Bill Borden, Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Financial Services at Microsoft said: “Cloud computing is an enabler for financial institutions to modernize their infrastructure and systems, to gain the agility they need to respond to competitive pressures, regulatory environments and customer demand. We are committed to helping Standard Chartered Bank in its ongoing digital transformation journey as it strives to address evolving customer needs and build the next generation of banking experiences.”

Standard Chartered strives to understand the evolving needs of its communities and be an enabler for change. As a part of the strategic partnership, the bank and Microsoft will explore sustainable finance and business initiatives to expand sustainability across the industry.

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Katwe DPC Epedu David, OC Ndeeba arrested over demolition of St. Peter’s Church

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Police is holding the district police commander (DPC) of Katwe Police station SP Epedu David, OC Station Ndeeba Police Station, ASP Mugira Yeko Kato and the Field Force Unit (FFU) Commander KMP/South Region, ASP Isabirye Kaloli over the demolition of St. Peters church of Uganda, Ndeeba.

The church was demolished this morning disregarding government directives that stopped all evictions during this COVID19 period.

According to Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango, Katwe Police Station got information of the demolition at 0100 hours and a team was dispatched to the scene.

Onyango said the officers will be charged with neglect of duty.

“Police were not informed about the eviction and demolition as the practice is.  The team found people demolishing the said church and arrested 11 suspects.” He said

In tandem, he confirmed the arrest of 11 suspects implicated in the demolition exercise of the church.

The suspects are Kawooya Mohammad, Bbosa Muniru, Kiberu Amza, Mutebi Abbasi, Bulega Ali, Matovu Simon, Kalika Ali, Mujuzi Andrew, Ssekito Badru, Isirinya John and Maruti Bashir.

They are currently detained at Katwe Police Station to help with investigations. The suspects are charged with malicious damage to properties.

Police impounded two motor vehicles that was recovered from the scene and these are Reg. No. UAY 796N canta white loaded with metals, UBG 682Q Tractor/ Engineering plant (excavator).

“We want to warn the general public who are planning to evict people during this period of COVID19 that they risk being arrested and charged in courts of law if they go ahead with their intentions.” Onyango said.

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Uganda AIDS Commission to hold Annual Review meeting

By
Our Reporter
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Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) is set to hold Annual Joint AIDS Review meeting to assess the achieved targets of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan for 2015/2020.

Speaking earlier today, the Minister for Presidency Esther Mbayo said the review will take place on 26th and 27th August. The review is peddled at strategizing to ensure we achieve our goal of Ending AIDS by 2030.

The recently released Global HIV and AIDS statistics show that Uganda is among the front runners in reducing new HIV infections. However, there are still disparities in HIV prevalence among the various districts.

President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been at the forefront in the fight against HIV/AIDS alongside other partners who have supported the National HIV Response such as the Embassy of Ireland, UNAIDS, United States Government among others.

For a long time the epicentre of HIV was Rakai alongside other thriving urban centres and many districts in Uganda such as those along the highways and rapids commercialization in the Karamoja region did not have any cases of HIV infection. However, to date, every district in Uganda has cases of HIV.” said Hon Esther Mbayo, Minister for the Presidency.

“Because the achievements in reducing HIV prevalence have not been shared equally between districts, it is important that we act with urgency to achieve our goal of Ending AIDS in Uganda by 2030” she said

HIV infection in Uganda is gendered with prevalence being higher among women at 6.8% than men at 4.2%. 2.8% among young women and 1.1 per cent among young men. Amongst older adolescents and young people, prevalence is almost four times higher among females than males. Despite numerous HIV prevention interventions, there is increased engagement in risky sexual behavior including multiple sexual partners, low condom use among those engaging in high risk sex and decline in age of sexual debut; widespread self-stigma, low uptake of couple testing, and significant proportions of people, especially men living with HIV, who do not know their HIV status.

“We need to implement behavior change interventions and disseminate messages for HIV prevention to reduce HIV infections; pay attention to the vulnerabilities and risk factors in the general population apart from concentrating on only the urban hot spots and also roll out the local funding sources such as the One Dollar Initiative to ensure sustainability of the response if we are to End AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.” She said

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