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Ministers summoned for flouting COVID-19 SOPs

By
Our Reporter
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Parliament of Uganda

The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has directed the Ministers for Health and Kampala respectively to make statements to the House on allegations that they did not adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) instituted to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Kalungu West Member of Parliament, Hon. Joseph Ssewungu Gonzaga said that some ministers have flouted the guidelines issued by government which among others included gatherings not having more than 10 persons, no church gatherings, closure of schools,  social distancing and putting on masks.

“The Minister of Health who is supposed to be the custodian of these regulations was over the weekend seen to be flouting the same guidelines in Lira district.  She was addressing a crowd without social distancing and neither did she have a mask,” he said.

He added that the Electoral Commission also revised the election road map from public rallies to the scientific campaigns with the advice of the same minister

“The Hon. Ruth Aceng should come and explain to us if there is Covid-19 or she is just misleading the President so that the lockdown continues,” Ssewungu added.

Hon. Allan Ssewanyana (DP, Makindye Division West), said that the Minister of State for Kampala Capital City, Hon. Benny Namugwanya was seen flouting the same guidelines.

“The Minister was seen holding a rally on Sunday in Madudu, Mubende district of over 2,000 people. They were singing and gathering and the police did not take any action. Our people are suffering; as of today over 400 people have been arrested for violating the guidelines,” he said.

Kadaga said that Ministers will have to appear before the House and explain their actions. “The Minister of Health should come and explain to us and the country whether she flouted her own guidelines. The Minister of State for Kampala should also come and explain what she was doing with the crowds,” she said.

Kadaga added that the government should be able to consider a way in which the population can learn to live with the pandemic.
“The government should also consider organising the society to manage it. How long will this lockdown continue? I think it is a problem to the people and we need an evaluation to be discussed here in the House,” she said.

Images have appeared in the media showing the Health Minister meeting people in Lira district. The development comes after she declared her intention to run for the Lira district woman seat.
The minister later said that she was at a meeting to sensitise the masses on the use of masks.

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Kamuli NRM aspiring flag bearers warned against early campaigns, bickering

By
Our Reporter
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Trevor Baleke

Tension is so high in Kamuli district among NRM members with most of the aspiring flag bearers already meeting their supporters and posters pinned in all major trading centres.

The district ruling NRM Administrator, Trevor Solomon Baleke has told the press at the district party offices on plot 21 Katalo road that “it is indiscipline to start campaigns before even the party releases its electoral roadmap.

Baleke said that those doing it would be flouting the party constitution and guidelines.

“The Central Executive Committee (CEC) of NRM is sitting this Thursday to determine our electoral roadmap. It is this roadmap that shall indicate activities and their time frame. We should all wait,” he said.

Baleke further warded that because nominations have not yet been made, whoever is posing as a candidate is out of order. Holding meetings at the moment , he says, contravenes the Ministry of Health guidelines and the presidential directives in the fight against Coronavirus.

“Our bosses (CEC) and the Secretariat have been making consultations on how best we can have elections while observing the health guidelines. But our aspiring candidates have already painted all our small towns with their posters. This lack of patience is not good,” he said.

He also warned the party members in the district to desist from creating camps and bickering. He said those intending to contest should choose their words wisely during the internal party campaigns because we shall need all the party members to come together and support one candidate in the final general elections,” he added.

Kamuli is among the districts where tough campaigns is always experienced. Campaigns are always marred with sharp talks and losers of the primaries have always not supported the winners a habit which the former teacher says is determined to change.

“I working hard with my team to ensure that this time those who lose shall honorably concede and even rally behind their winner,” he said.

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Daniel Lewis Lee: US executes first federal prisoner in 17 years

By
Agencies
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Daniel Lewis Lee

US murderer Daniel Lewis Lee has been put to death, hours after the Supreme Court allowed the first executions of federal inmates in 17 years.

Several executions were initially delayed when a judge ruled on Monday that there were still unresolved legal challenges.

The condemned prisoners had argued that lethal injections constitute “cruel and unusual punishments”.

But the Supreme Court voted 5-4 that “executions may proceed as planned”.

How US death penalty capital changed its mind
US government death penalty move draws sharp criticism
The Americans volunteering to watch executions
Last year, the Trump administration said it would resume federal executions.

Lee was executed by lethal injection in Terre Haute, Indiana, early on Tuesday.

Some relatives of his victims had opposed the execution and sought to have it delayed, arguing that attending it could expose them to coronavirus.

Earlene Peterson, 81, whose daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law were killed by Lee, said she wanted the 47-year-old to be given life in jail, the same sentence as his accomplice.

Who was Daniel Lewis Lee?
Lee was convicted of torturing and killing a family of three in Arkansas in 1996, dumping their bodies in a lake.

Postponed from December, his execution had been rescheduled for 16:00 (20:00 GMT) on 13 July, but was blocked by a ruling from District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

“The court… finds that the likely harm that plaintiffs would suffer if the court does not grant injunctive relief far outweighs any potential harm to defendants,” the judge said.

Her ruling was consequently overruled by the Supreme Court, which said: “The plaintiffs in this case have not made the showing required to justify last-minute intervention by a Federal Court.”

Federal and state executions – what’s the difference?
Under the US justice system, crimes can be tried either in federal courts – at a national level – or in state courts, at a regional level.
Certain crimes, such as counterfeiting currency or mail theft, are automatically tried at a federal level, as are cases in which the US is a party or those which involve constitutional violations. Others can be tried in federal courts based on the severity of the crimes.

The death penalty was outlawed at state and federal level by a 1972 Supreme Court decision that cancelled all existing death penalty statutes.

A 1976 Supreme Court decision allowed states to reinstate the death penalty and in 1988 the government passed legislation that made it available again at federal level.

According to data collected by the Death Penalty Information Center, 78 people were sentenced to death in federal cases between 1988 and 2018 but only three were executed. There are 62 inmates currently on federal death row.

Future executions
The previous inmate executed by federal death penalty was Louis Jones Jr, a 53-year-old Gulf War veteran who murdered 19-year-old soldier Tracie Joy McBride.

Three more federal executions are scheduled in the near future. All three prisoners are, like Lee, child killers:

Wesley Ira Purkey, who was sentenced in Missouri in 2003 for the rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl whose body he dismembered, burnt and dumped in a septic pond, is due to be executed on Wednesday
Dustin Lee Honken, sentenced in Iowa in 2004 for shooting dead five people including two girls aged six and 10, is due to be executed on Friday
Keith Dwayne Nelson, sentenced in Missouri in 2001 for the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl behind a church, is set to be executed next month
The execution of Lee – and the four others that were delayed – were all set to use an injection containing the drug pentobarbital.

The inmates have argued the drug violates their constitutional right not to have “cruel and unusual punishments inflicted”, because it has allegedly caused additional medical problems in previous uses.

A lawyer for one of the four federal death-row inmates said in a statement on Monday: “The government has been trying to plough forward with these executions despite many unanswered questions about the legality of its new execution protocol.”

Why the change in rules on executions?
The Trump administration said it would resume federal executions after a long hiatus last year.

In a statement at the time, Attorney General William Barr said: “Under administrations of both parties, the Department of Justice has sought the death penalty against the worst criminals.

“The Justice Department upholds the rule of law – and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system.”

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Standard Chartered, USRA partner on quantum computing research

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Standard Chartered logo

Standard Chartered Bank, Universities Space Research Association (USRA) has signed a Collaborative Research Agreement to partner on quantum computing research and developing quantum computing applications.

In finance, the most promising use cases with real-world applications include quantum machine learning models and discriminative models with multiple potential uses such as credit scoring and generating trading signals.

As quantum computing technology matures, clients should benefit from higher quality services such as faster execution, better risk management and the development of new financial products.

Kahina Van Dyke, Global Head of Digital Channels and Client Data Analytics at Standard Chartered, said “Similar to other major technological advancements, quantum computing is set to bring widespread benefits as well as disrupt many existing business processes. This is why it’s important for companies to future-proof themselves by adopting this new technology from an early stage. The partnership with USRA gives us access to world-class academic researchers and provides us with a unique opportunity to explore a wide range of models and algorithms with the potential to establish quantum advantage for the real-world use cases.”

Bernie Seery, Senior VP of Technology at USRA noted that “This partnership with the private sector enables a diversity of research through a portfolio of quantum computing research projects involving academic institutions and non-profits, growing an ecosystem for quantum artificial intelligence that has already involved over 150 researchers from more than 40 organizations that produced over 50 peer-reviewed publications over the last seven years.”

Alex Manson, Global Head of SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm, stated, “The world is currently in the process of identifying commercial use cases where quantum computer capabilities will surpass classical computers. We have a conviction that some of these use cases will transform the way we manage risks in financial services, for example by simulating portfolios and exponentially speeding up the generation of market data. We will work with USRA to identify such use cases in financial services, with a view to implementing them within our bank, as well as potentially offering this service to other market participants over time.”

D-Wave’s Mark Johnson, Vice President, Processor Design, Development and Quantum Products observed, “Quantum computing research and development are poised to have a profound impact on the industries responsible for solving today’s most complex problems. That’s why researchers and businesses alike are looking to quantum computing today to start demonstrating tangible value. We’re proud to work with USRA and Standard Chartered Bank as they improve global access to quantum systems and undertake essential research and development.”

At USRA’s Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science, Dr. Davide Venturelli, Associate Director for Quantum Computing, notes that quantum annealing is implementing a powerful approach to computing, featuring unique advantages with respect to other traditional and novel approaches that should be studied, theoretically and experimentally, to advance the state of art of computing technologies for the benefit of nearly all disciplines.

Standard Chartered’s team, led by Dr. Alexei Kondratyev, Global Head of Data Science and Innovation, and USRA have collaborated in quantum computing research since 2017. An earlier success in investigating the quantum annealing approach to computational problems in portfolio optimisation use cases led to this strategic partnership, where USRA will continue to support fundamental academic research in quantum physics and artificial intelligence and Standard Chartered will focus on future commercial applications.

Standard Chartered and USRA intend to develop this initial collaboration beyond quantum annealing to all unconventional computing systems that could provide an advantage to applications of interest, such as gate-model noisy-intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) processors and Coherent Ising machines.

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Kabaka’s 27th coronation ceremony to be attended by 55 people

By
Our Reporter
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Kabaka-Ronald-Muwenda-Mutebi

The chairperson of the organising committee of the celebrations to mark the 27th coronation ceremony of the Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, David Kyewalabye Male has confirmed that the function will be attended by only 55 people.

The 65-year-old monarch’s reign of the biggest kingdom in Uganda began in 1993, upon enthronement as Kabaka of Buganda on July 31, 1993.

Mr. Kyewalabye said the celebrations will be held in line with the ministry of health guidelines peddled at minimising the spread of Covid-19. Currently, there are 12,880,565 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 568,573 deaths. Uganda has 1025 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and zero related deaths.

“The 27th coronation ceremony will take place on the 31st July at Mengo. The function will be held under the theme; the role of culture in the fight against HIV/Aids and Covid-19,” He said earlier today.

He said the function will be held in observation of all kingdoms’ cultural norms. The function will follow a series of activities which include community awareness campaigns about the HIV/Aids, and several related meetings which will be held via zoom.

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47 arcades to reopen as 200 await inspection

By
Our Reporter
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Arcade owners attending the meeting with Kampala Minister Betty Amongi.

Forty-seven arcades have been allowed to reopen and start operating while 200 others will await inspection and clearance.

The development follows after a meeting held at the Conference Hall of the President’s Office between The Minister of Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, Mrs Betty Amongi with Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA), Kampala Arcaders Advocacy Forum (KAAFO) and Kampala Arcaders Traders Association (KATA).

On Monday, city traders under their umbrella body, Kampala Capital City Traders’ Association (KACITA) threatened to forcefully open arcades after being closed for over four months since March over the Coronavirus pandemic following the President’s directive.

Arcades have been closed for almost for months now. Even when the government eased lockdown and opened up some commercial buildings including Malls, arcades were left closed because the government feared that they attract large numbers of people.

However, the re-opened arcades must fully comply with the #Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) during operation while those yet to be re-opened will first be inspected and cleared by KCCA inspection teams.

By yesterday, the inspection teams had conducted inspections of 77 arcades at the invitation of ready Landlords in the city.

 

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Gen. Tumukunde: Minister Jane Aceng should stepdown for flaunting #Covid-19 guidelines

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Gen. Henry-Tumukunde.

2021 Presidential aspirant Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde has urged health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng to step down after flaunting Covid-19 guidelines.

The minister was filmed addressing a congregation of people without observing social distance on top of not wearing masks. In response, the minister refuted all claims that she was not holding a political rally rather launching the distribution of face masks in Aromo Sub-County and training people on how to properly use the masks on Friday July 10, 2020.

Millions of people have been infected, and thousands of people have died. In Uganda, a lockdown was imposed and millions supported it to help minimise the spread of the virus and fortunately no death has been recorded. However as the lockdown was lifted, the minister of health Jane Ruth Aceng came up with standard operating procedures (SOPs). She championed them over radio stations, televisions and other platforms.

“We are in the lockdown because of Dr. Aceng’s recommendations but if Uganda government’s most impressive, professional and disciplined minister is seen degrading her own guidelines, how then can she expect the rest of us to abide?” Tumukunde said

Gen Tumukunde said in other parts of the world, ministers have resigned after making such blunders. New Zealand’s minister who resigned after bleaching their lockdown rules and the UK junior minister for Scotland in the British parliament stepped down after taking a trip during quarantine slapped on the entire country.

“This is what responsible and accountable leaders look like and how citizen trust is gained when leaders practice what they preach. This is what Ugandans should start demanding,”

“I want to speak to millions of Ugandans who have been good, disciplined and maintained SOPs but have over the time gotten disappointed by their political leaders. As leaders we cannot preach social distancing, wearing masks, only to be let down by those preaching it.”

The called for resignation so that a country can have reputable leaders or people should now say open campaigns are possible since minister of health held a rally with total disregard of the SOPs

“It is possible that what we saw is what NRM is planning to do during the coming elections. Setting restrictions on citizens and political players in the name of #Covid-19 and yet freely flaunting every guideline under which they have put-up.” He said.

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DFCU on the spot over attempts to auction Crane Bank property

By
Our Reporter
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Mathias Katamba, Dfcu bank MD

Dfcu bank has again been thrown in the eye of the storm after it issued a notice on the disposal of bank OFFICE assets that it irregularly acquired from Crane Bank even after a Court ruling that ruled that Crane Bank’s properties belong to Meera Investments and thus cannot be sold by Dfcu.

Court on August 26, 2019 in the Miscellaneous Application 320 of 2019 ruled that Dfcu’s takeover of the properties that were housing Crane Bank was illegal because the properties belonged to Meera Investments, and not Crane Bak in receivership as was being claimed by Dfcu.

Indeed, following the ruling, Dfcu bank relented and vacated properties and buildings that had been owned by Crane Bank before it was acquired in 2017.

Stunned by the court ruling, Bank of Uganda(BoU) also acknowledged that Dfcu Bank had opted out of the acquisition of the properties held under a Ruparelia Group subsidiary – Meera Limited and can therefore, not auction them.

In its 2019 annual report, the central bank indicated that Dfcu will return to BoU certificates of title for Meera Investments Limited properties and requires BoU to pay to dfcu the net book value of the properties recorded in the assets and inventory compilation report as at October 20, 2016.

“… Dfcu in a letter dated September 12, 2019 communicated … its decision to exercise its option to rescind its interest in purchasing the 48 properties pursuant to clause 8.7 of the agreement,” read the BoU report.
Though it remains unclear why Dfcu bank has now turned around to make attempts to auction Crane Bank furniture, in 2019, it emerged that Dfcu bank had been misled by Law firm Ssebalu & Lule Advocates to illegally transfer title properties into its name yet the properties belong to Meera Investments Limited even though it had leased them to Crane Bank Limited.

In the notice that was published in the print media, Dfcu claimed that the viewing dates will be from 15th July-21st July, with bidders required to pay a non-refundable fee of Shs50,000.

“Dfcu bank Uganda invites interested bidders to participate in public auction for used furniture, equipment and other assorted items under the listed categories/lots. Successful bidders shall be required to pay a full cash bid or issue 100 per cent cheque and take the units immediately, failure of which shall be withdrawn automatically and the next highest bidder will be considered, “reads the notice.

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Minister Amongi to meet landlords today over opening of arcades

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Chairman Ruparelia Group, Sudhir Ruparelia.

The Minister of Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, Mrs Betty Amongi, will today at 11:00am meet Kampala City Traders Association(Kacita),Kampala Arcaders Advocacy Forum(Kaafo) and Kampala Arcaders Traders Association(Kata)over the pilot re-opening of business buildings in the central business district.

In a July 13, 2020,MMs Amongi told the three associations that on June 26, 2020,an inter-ministerial Committee comprising of the Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives,the Minister for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs and the Minister of Health sat and established a technical committee chaired by the Resident City Commissioner(RCC).

According to Minister Amongi’s letter, the Technical Committee was charged with the formulation of a criteria that would guide the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be followed for the pilot re-opening of arcades in the central business district.
“The same guidelines were shared with City Traders’ Associations leadership and disseminated to all landlords to guide them on what should be put in place to have their buildings re-opened,” reads Amongi’s letter.

It adds that: “By close of Friday July 10, 2020, the KCCA inspection teams had conducted inspections of 77 arcades at the invitation of ready Landlords in the city of which over 40 have so far met the criteria set in the SOPs and these are ready for opening. These inspections are still ongoing for the remaining arcades”

The meeting will be held at the Conference Hall of the President’s Office and will discuss the report from the inspection team to guide the re-opening of arcades and receive guidance on the National Covid-19 Taskforce on the re-opening of arcades.

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Will Musumba end Kadaga’s 31-year affirmative action card?

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Keenly watching events, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.

Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga is fighting for her political life after the powerful Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Eastern Uganda Vice Chairperson Salaamu Musumba declared that she will be contesting for the Kamuli Woman Parliamentary seat in the 2021 elections.

The Speaker has been occupying the Kamuli Woman MP seat since 1989, and has always been wary and scared of contesting for a direct MP seat, leaving pro-women equality groups sceptical about her credentials of promoting gender equality even as she sticks to a position meant to uplift women.

But now, Speaker Kadaga faces the toughest political battle of her life as she will have to stave off a titanic challenge from the opposition iron lady Musumba, who is a veteran of Busoga politics having served as MP for the culturally and politically sensitive Bugabula South constituency in the 7th Parliament.

Speaker Kadaga has not faced such a determined challenge before, as she has previously been challenged by little-known up and coming women politicians.
In 2006, she was challenged by FDC’s Prossy Naikobe, a junior female politician.
In 2011, she contested against Rehema Natongola, Prossy Naikobe, Miriam Namwase and Mary Mutesi; all not powerful entities in the Busoga sub-region.

FDC strong woman Salaam Musumba

In the 2016 elections, she contested against Deborah Mwesigwa and Miriam Muntu, two newcomers in the political space.
The entry of Musumba into the fray, therefore, brings a new bull in the Kamuli Woman MP political kraal.
Such is the potency of Musumba’s candidature that Ms Kadaga’s camp is already into pandemonium, with one of her close allies, Dr David Kazungu, summoning a crisis meeting over the weekend.

To illustrate her political stature, when she contested for the Kamuli District LC5 Chairperson seat in 2012,Ms Musumba polled 49, 356 votes, translating into a 67.6 per cent share of the entire vote while the NRM candidate Thomas Kategere returned 21, 239 votes (29.1 per cent).
The NRM’s Kategere was strongly backed by Ms Kadaga, who was keen not to be politically humiliated in her own backyard.

Following Kategere’s defeat by Musumba, Ms Kadaga was, during an NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting quizzed by President Museveni about whether the party has structures in Kamuli or they are just hot air.
“You have been in Parliament since 1989, you were Deputy Speaker from 2001-2011 and you are now the Speaker, how could the opposition humiliate you in your own backyard? “an angry Museveni asked the Speaker during a CEC meeting to evaluate the party’s performance in the primaries that followed the 2011 elections.

Musumba’s announcement that she will contest for the Kamuli Woman MP seat will; further stoke more fires in Kadaga’s political life as it follows a fall-out between her, the Executive and the Judiciary over her role in the botched attempt by Parliament to smuggle Shs10 billion into a supplementary budget request to tackle the #Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Kadaga was also left with egg on her face after the High Court ruled that she had illegally led MPs in passing a Shs 10b supplementary for Parliament ostensibly for Parliament to fight the #Covid-19 pandemic and ordered that MPs return the money.

Following the court ruling, the Speaker was the butt of the joke on social media as she was mocked and ridiculed for leading MPs to pilfer taxpayer’s money while Ugandans were grappling with the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Ms Kadaga has lately fallen-out with key people who have been key in her political journey. Just a month away, she parted ways with Mr David Kamaali, her principal Personal Assistant for a long time. She is reportedly not on good talking terms with Dr. Apollo Kazungu who has been her political figure back in Kamuli.

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