Kabako undresses at Street Jam

By Julius Senyimba   Is he a talented musician vocally? Well, that is question for another day, but one thing we are certain of is that he is an energetic performer. Roden Y, better known as Kabako, gave Club-organised Masaka Street Jam revellers value for their money. After a two years break, the return had […]
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Gospel Singer Levixone’s Song ‘Ponya’ Wins Big At Maranatha Awards Eastern Africa

Gospel singer Levixone's 'Ponya' song is not just a hit but as we write this, it is now an awarding winning tune after beating the other 9 songs it was nominated with to the award of 'Outstanding Ragga-Reggae Fusion Ministration Of Excellence' at the inaugural Maranatha Awards Eastern Africa which were held on Sunday the 25th […]

The post Gospel Singer Levixone's Song 'Ponya' Wins Big At Maranatha Awards Eastern Africa appeared first on Chano8.

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Photos: King Michael cries at own concert

By BigEye.ug writer Self-proclaimed dancehall King Michael shed a tear at his own concert at Freedom city on Friday night. The Muko Muko singer had his concert on the yesterday and had great anticipations considering he has been doing music for a very long time.

The post Photos: King Michael cries at own concert appeared first on BigEye.UG.

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Levixone and Exodus quash beef, hit studio for collabo

By Paul Waiswa The envy that accompanied the clashing of egos between gospel icons Levixone and Exodus may be coming to an end. The two musicians have reconciled, the way the Bible demands. As believers say, God is above everything and his actions are unpredictable, Levixone invited Exodus and reached out for reconciliation. The two […]
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Rukutana: I cannot kill Anite

On Monday, Evelyn Anite, the minister of state minister for Privatisation and Investment, took sharp aim at the government "mafia, the cabal, the cartel" and suggested they want to kill her.

Anite used Monday's press conference to escalate a public high-stakes confrontation between her and other government officials opposed to what she calls her elaborate efforts to shield Uganda Telecom, UTL, from liquidation. The very public confrontation is quite unprecedented in the ruling NRM history.

For weeks and months, Anite has quarrelled with the Attorney General William Byaruhanga, his deputy Mwesigwa Rukutana and Gabriel Ajedra, the state minister of finance for general duties, over the management and control of the financially distressed UTL, which is under the administration of Twebaze Bemanya, the executive director of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau.

Her reference to the mafia on Monday introduced a new layer of criminal intent to the confrontation.

Interviewed for a comment to Anite's outburst on Monday, Rukutana, the most outspoken of the youthful minister's foes in the UTL saga, said; "If by advising her on legal matters you become murderers, mafia, cabal, cartel, crooks, so be it. I don't have any hostility towards her; if I am among the murderers she is referring to, then…if it occurred to her that I could be a murderer, then we should take her to Butabika to get her head checked. Why would I murder a girl anyway? I know how to put girls to some other good use," Rukutana said.

"She wants to go like a wounded buffalo just knocking on walls as if she was blind. Whoever you are, you must comply with the law. That is why even when the president said and wrote that "oh Anite, ensure that you constitute an audit," we wrote and said that we shall implement the president's directive but within the framework of the law because we are employed to advise the president on legal matters," he said.

"We advised her that being a minister in government which is a shareholder, she had no mandate to order directly for an audit, we advised her that since we have parastatals, which are creditors to the company, ask them or go through them if they have grievances to get a court order to appoint an auditor or even remove the administrator. She did not want to hear that," he said.

"Cabinet doesn't see it [mafia claim] as an issue, you see it as an issue because she shouts, there is no crisis, the crisis is in her head, I don't have any hostility toward her," he added.

Obiga Kania

Interviewed yesterday, Mario Obiga Kania, the minister of state for Internal Affairs, said government is aware of Minister Anite's death claims and is prepared to provide the necessary security.

"It is our duty to provide security to any citizen whose life is threatened and we shall do the same for Minister Evelyn Anite. However, I cannot publicly expose what kind of security we are giving her and our plans to protect her…" he said.

He roundly declined to comment on the mafia claims.

"I can only advise you to inquire from those alleging to tell you who the mafia are and how they operate. I cannot comment on something I have no idea about," Obiga added.

Who are the mafia?

Since 2005, the word mafia has steadily gained currency and recognition in the country's political realm. The influence, reach and power of the so-called mafia in government has climbed steadily.

The first mention of mafia in government was made 14 years ago by then troubled Vice President Prof Gilbert Baalibaseka Bukenya. In a May 2005 interview with Daily Monitor, Bukenya pointed to a clique of mafia in government that was baying for his blood.

Bukenya said the mafias were photographing his earthly possessions including pawpaw and orange plantations plus a host of other properties in a bid to compile evidence against him so the Inspectorate of Government (IGG) could open an investigation.

Then, he was two years into the number two job, the same number of years Anite has spent in the Investment and Privatisation docket. So, who are the mafia? The term mafia is given different definitions according to context and country.

But what is common among all definitions is their method of work and purpose for their existence - criminal enterprise. Wikipedia defines the mafia as: a type of organized crime syndicate whose primary activities are protection racketeering, arbitrating disputes between criminals, and brokering and enforcing illegal agreements and transactions. The mafia often seeks to infiltrate politics and extract public resources for private benefits.

This definition is consistent with some of the complaints made by ministers and those haunted by the mafia. Interviews with people rattled by the mafia paint a sizeable portrait of who the mafias are in government without naming names.

Interviewed yesterday, former vice president Prof Gilbert Bukenya tried to describe how the mafias operate. He said mafias are a group of people who use all the available means to maintain their status quo by targeting those being favoured by the sitting president.

"When the regime wants to groom new people to take over, the old who may not want to be sidelined develop some sort of mafia cartels to make sure they bring the ones being favoured down. I was once a victim and I know it is what Anite is going through because the old guard think she is being favoured by President Museveni," he said.

Bukenya said some people in government don't like the favours Anite enjoys from the president and will use all means including blackmail and even death to diminish her influence. During his vice presidency, Prof Bukenya once said the mafia in government wanted to finish him off by falsely accusing him of meeting Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala and mobilising Catholics across the country to build a power-base and overthrow President Museveni.

"When Anite comes out to say she is being targeted, it shouldn't be taken lightly because I personally experienced it as that group of the few who think they should always be favoured worked to ensure that they undercut me," he said.

In May 2019, the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga told the 9th Commonwealth Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa at the Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort and Spa in Kigo, Wakiso district that mafia in government work in cahoots with dodgy officials with glaring impunity. She said such a cabal hinders anti-graft fight and criticised anti-corruption bodies in the country for procrastination.

Explaining how mafia works, Kadaga reportedly said that some government officials had turned government services into a hunting ground for personal enrichment and that one of parliament's oversight committees had investigated the abuse of public funds and discovered that a colossal amount of money earmarked for compensation of people along roads had not reached the intended recipients.

"The mafia, in cahoots with dodgy officials or like minds in the finance ministry and road construction chain, instead got this compensation money and put it on their bank deposit accounts for a whole two years," Kadaga said.

In December, 2016, the then Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura told journalists that the mafia had infiltrated Uganda's security and intelligence agencies and used their elaborative network to commit sophisticated crimes including fraud in financial institutions with the help of bank employees and security personnel.

"They have informers at banks that provide them with up-to-date information on clients with beefy cash on their accounts and the security circles shield them," Kayihura said.

He added that the mafia have their people everywhere and they had even infiltrated the police and the military and they had even started targeting foreign investors who they lure into the country. Opposition Chief Whip Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda said the ruling government has a history of associating with the mafia and it's not surprising that a minister is claiming she is under threat.

According to Ssemujju, the government should take Anite's claims seriously and launch an investigation to establish the truth.

"There's no way you will take a statement from a person in government saying there are mafias working to eliminate her lightly. It should be investigated until the truth is revealed," he said.

UTL

On Monday, Anite said; "The mafias, the cabal, the cartel that is used to intimidating; robbing this country are yet again plotting a move to kill me."

She didn't name names but mentioned the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) offices and Kampala Club as meeting points for the alleged mafias. URSB is headed by Bemanya Twebaze who is also the administrator of UTL in receivership.

Anite has spent a good deal of time this year trying to push Bemanya out of UTL. Asked whether Bemanya is one of the mafias, Anite declined to give a straight answer to The Observer on August 19.

In a June 28 letter to the Attorney General, William Byaruhanga, Anite referred to Bemanya as a 'crooked lawyer.'

Bemanya did not respond to our repeated calls and text messages on Monday and Tuesday.

IGG INQUEST

At the press conference, Anite told journalists that the mafia have been trailing her and tapping her phone. Her claims seem to point to contents of a whistleblower's petition to the Inspector General of Government (IGG) Irene Mulyagonja, accusing the youthful minister of influence peddling, abuse of office and fraud in relation to the management of UTL. 

The contents of the petition show that the whistleblower took time to monitor Anite's dealings including travels within and outside the country.

For instance, the petitioner alleges that after Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda cleared her to take a month's leave from office and travel to the USA to attend her graduation at Tufts University, she continued transacting official duties specifically on matters related to UTL.

"After her graduation and commencement of her short study at Harvard, a secret booking was made for her from the USA via France to Mauritius, suspiciously leaving her husband in the USA. The said trip was not booked in Uganda before her departure for USA," the whistleblower wrote.

She allegedly left the USA on August 4 went to France for a connecting flight to Mauritius where she stayed for four days. After her meetings in Mauritius, the whistleblower alleges, she flew back to the USA and later to Uganda to "disguise the trip to Mauritius."

See full whistle-blower's

 

SADAB KITATA KAAYA, JOSEPHINE NAMULOKI, JOSEPH BAHINGWIRE & ERNEST JINGO contributed to this report

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Ykee Benda Shuts Down The Party As He Thrills Fans At The UG Maverick Fiesta

The Uganda Waragi Maverick cocktail fiesta returned on Saturday at the Sunrise beach, Bunga with exciting moments like VR video gaming, self-made cocktail recipes, photo booths, a best dressed competition, a hidden treasure hunt and DJ tutorial experiences. Music lovers witnessed a thrilling performance from the Music darling Ykee Benda at the Uganda Waragi Maverick […]

The post Ykee Benda Shuts Down The Party As He Thrills Fans At The UG Maverick Fiesta appeared first on Chano8.

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City Tyres boost USPA Road safety

By Johnson Were The Lugazi community will not only benefit from the two zebra crossings USPA and UNRA are painting in the area as part of the Road Safety Campaign, but will also win more goodies during the celebrations on Saturday in Lugazi. After the painting of a Zebra crossing in the two black spots […]
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Alina omusaayi omutono muwe amazzi g'ebikoola by'emmwaanyi

Bya Tom Gwebayanga Okuggwaamu omusaayi y'embeera eteeka omulwadde n'abajjanjabi ku bunkenke. Wilson Koloni Masooma, ow'e Buwala mu ggombolola y'e  Wankole mu disitulikiti y'e Kamuli agamba nti, ebikoola...

Makerere disconnects water, power supply to Kitumba’s home

Makerere University has cut off power and water supply to the residence of Eng Frank Kitumba, the former director Directorate for ICT Support (DICTS), a few days after the Industrial court stayed his eviction. Kitumba occupies house number 138 Fig Tree lane in Makerere University main campus. 

Sources in the university say employees from the estates and works department accessed Kitumba's residence on Monday evening under the instruction of the acting deputy vice chancellor, Prof William Bazeyo and removed the water and electricity meters - effectively cutting off supply.

"They said they were forced. They had to do it unwillingly for fear of suspension. I visited the family at night and I confirmed they had also removed the Yaka-meter," a professor told URN on Tuesday morning on condition of anonymity. Adding that, "They also took the power meter from the electricity pole together with the connection cable."   

Dr Muhammad Kiggundu Musoke, the acting manager communications and international relations said that he'd heard about the matter. "You know I heard about it last evening, let me reach campus and establish the facts on the ground then I will give you concrete information," he said.   

Kitumba's lawyer, Isaac Ssemakadde said: "This is unbelievably sad but true." According to Ssemakadde, the actions of the vice chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe and his deputy contravene the order from the Labour officer.  

"This confirms our criticism of the Nawangwe's administration. They can be so petty and vindictive. It's high time somebody cracked the whip on Nawangwe and Bazeyo for their contempt of the law and human rights violations," Ssemakadde told URN. 

Adding that, "For the umpteenth time this year. The two have endorsed malicious and humiliating actions against a former high ranking staffer at Makerere University." 

Ssemakadde avers that, by failing to rein in on their subordinates in the estates and works department, the Nawangwe administration has set a very bad precedent for labour relations.  

"No staff living in university accommodations is safe and secure from these goons who can invade your home and destroy critical health, safety and security infrastructure with impunity," Ssemakadde observed.  

Last week, Ruth Kulabako, the labour officer in charge of Kawempe Division faulted Makerere university authorities for executing the eviction unlawfully. Ssemakadde maintains that his client, Kitumba is occupying the house legally since he has not been officially sent out by the university.  

Section 43 (5) of the Employment Act stipulates that where an employee is being housed by the employer, he/she shall not be required to vacate the premises until his/her terminal benefits are paid.  

The same Act provides for the payment of an employee's wages and any other remuneration and accrued benefits to which he or she is entitled to in case of termination of his or her employment. There are reports that during the attempted eviction on Friday, part of Kitumba's property was damaged and stolen. 

According to Kitumba, the university owes him a lumpsum payment of his salary and gratuity arrears amounting to over Shs 200 million as required by law. Kitumba and Nawangwe have clashed before after the former advised government to take over Makerere University's revenues citing under declaration by the authorities that Nawangwe heads. 

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Gulu alarmed by rising number of male sex workers

The mayor of Gulu municipality George Labeja has raised a red flag over the rise of commercial male sex workers in Gulu town.     

Unlike the female sex workers who are easily spotted, the male commercial sex workers are organized with leaders and are normally hang out in pubs along Cemetery road in Gulu town. 

They usually operate discreetly in the night. According to Labeja, an increasing number of commercial male sex workers in Gulu town is jeopardizing their fight against HIV/AIDS. He reveals that commercial male sex workers are led by a former UN driver (name withheld) also resident of Bardege division in Gulu municipality.  

"I was very ashamed when I heard somebody, (name withheld) is the administrator of these male sex workers. At the end of the day when he was asked that how much money do you get in a month, he said Shs 600,000." said Labeja. 

Labeja who is a member of the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders' Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at the Local Level (AMICAALL) Uganda Chapter, said the commercial male sex workers target rich working-class women who are normally feared by men but have burning sexual desires.       

 

"These youths who are male sex workers they are going for rich women…These women are maybe rich but she lacks one 'thing' and that 'thing' she needs to buy it from these poor boys." said Labeja who vowed to fight the vice to the end. 

Alex Okoya, the Labour Line Parish LC II chairperson confirmed the presence of the commercial male sex workers owing to high demand by working-class women like bankers and high profile widows who "normally rent rooms in the outskirts of town where they are serviced by the young boys."

Okoya said he interacted with the male sex workers and they told him that they went into the business since the work they were previously doing earned them little money.  

Buckley Ruth Monday, the Gulu Municipal community development officer, says most of the young boys in Gulu town don't want to work and want quick gains, something that leads them into such vices.  

William Onyai, the Gulu district health and education officer confirmed the existence of the male sex workers but refused to disclose more information, saying it will jeopardize their work in helping them in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Gulu's health performance indicator for the financial year 2017/18 indicates that HIV prevalence in the district stands at 8.4 per cent compared to the national average of 6.2 per cent.

 

Article 13 (1) of the Penal Code Act 1950 states that every person who knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution and every person who in any place solicits or importunes for immoral purposes commits an offense and is liable to imprisonment for seven years

 

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Fun-filled affair at All-Star Tour pre-finale party

By Our Reporter As the 2019 All Star tour nears its end, organizers hosted a shindig to celebrate the success of the roadshows thus far. Held at Sky Lounge Rooftop on Thursday last week, the pre-finale party was a fun-filled affair which attracted different actors in the music industry including musicians, media personalities and top […]

The post Fun-filled affair at All-Star Tour pre-finale party appeared first on BigEye.UG.

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“Sheilah Is No Longer Under My Custody”- Frank Gashumba Speaks Out About Celebrity Daughter

You might have been wondering why motor mouthed Frank Gashumba has been so quiet lately regarding his socialite daughter Sheilah Gashumba and why he has remained tight lipped about Sheilah’s love affair God's Plan (her boyfriend) We however have answers. The ‘Sisimuka Uganda’ proprietor is no longer in custody of her daughter because she is […]

The post “Sheilah Is No Longer Under My Custody”- Frank Gashumba Speaks Out About Celebrity Daughter appeared first on Chano8.

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Ray G trashes Spice Diana love rumour

By Hussein Kiganda Reagan Muhairwe a.k.a Ray G has confessed his feelings for singer Hajarah Namukwaya (Spice Diana). The artist who conquered western Uganda with his vocal hit songs like; mureebe, owangye, hiihi and many others however reveals that  he is not dating Spice Diana as they are just music partners.  “Me and Spice, no […]
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500 UPDF soldiers attached to UN Guard Unit in Somalia return

Some 529 Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) soldiers attached to United Nations Guard Unit (UNGU) in Somalia returned to the country on Saturday after two years of service. 

The combatants returned alongside 1,406 soldiers of the 25 battle group who had also completed one year of service. The Chief of Defense Forces (CDF), General David Muhoozi received the soldiers at the UPDF Peace Support Operations and Training Center (PSO-TC) in Nakaseke district. 

Muhoozi applauded the troops for raising the Ugandan flag high on foreign missions. He acknowledged that Somalia and Africa at large still face numerous security dilemmas, which need to be encountered in unison.   

Quoting Muhoozi, the deputy UPDF and Defense ministry spokesperson, Lt Col Deo Akiiki, said "It is in this spirit that we went to Somalia; extending a liberation struggle of Africa. A stable Somalia is a stable Africa."

According to Akiiki, Muhoozi said UPDF now counts success in Somalia due to the selfless contribution made by the troops as well as their predecessors.

"Thank you for having Africa at heart. Despite challenges such as delayed payment of mission allowances due to circumstances beyond UPDF control, you have maintained their pan African spirit and remained focused on their duty," Muhoozi said.

He said the successes made by UPDF internally and externally are a result of exceptional qualities that also distinguishes the force from other armies. He said the soldiers serve in an extra-ordinary force that is distinguishable from other armies by its character, discipline, and capabilities.

"Some people thought that since we were engaged in other operations like in Somalia we would not be able to respond to the call of confidence our brothers in South Sudan made on us. Others expected us to respond in months but they were surprised that in one week our battle group was in Juba and we had changed the situation," Muhoozi said.

The commander of Land, Lt Gen Peter Elwelu revealed to the soldiers a plan to deploy some of them to command and nurture the recently recruited Local Defence Unit (UDU) officers. Last month, UPDF recruited 13,000 LDUs who are currently undergoing basic military training for four months at Oliver Tambo military school at Kaweweta in Nakaseke district. 

Muhoozi granted the troops 45-day rest to recuperate. Akiiki said UPDF has already deployed its sixth UNGU team to secure the UN Mission in Somalia and the 28th battle group under the African Union Mission in Somalia.  

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Ugandans living large in Dubai

By Hussein Kiganda As other Ugandans cry out for help, in claim that they are mistreated in Dubai, others are seriously chewing dime and wondering which Dubai their fellows went to.  You may even wonder if these fellows are really in Dubia or the virtual Dubai because it may make you want to fly to […]
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Has Tanzanian Singer Harmonise Finally Quit ‘Wasafi’ To Start His Own Label?

A few days ago, Tanzanian musician Harmonize real names Rajab Abdul Kahali edited the 'Signed under ‘Wasafi’ record label’ on his Facebook profile and no one took this too serious However, a reliable presenter from Classic 105 one of the top Tanzanian radio stations Maina Kageni confirmed that the ‘Bongo Flava’ star Harmonize is leaving […]

The post Has Tanzanian Singer Harmonise Finally Quit ‘Wasafi’ To Start His Own Label? appeared first on Chano8.

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Experimental Ebola drug "cures" Congolese mother and child

After 29 days at an Ebola treatment center in eastern Congo, fighting for their lives, a mother and her young son were discharged Tuesday amid applause and laughter.

"I feel very good and my son also is well," a smiling Esperance Nabintu told a small crowd gathered outside the treatment center for a short, celebratory news conference. She wiped tears from the cheeks of her 1-year-old son, Ebenezer Fataki, who squirmed and cried.

She wore a white T-shirt that proclaimed, in French, "I am cured of Ebola."

Both Nabintu and her child have recovered from the virus that killed Nabintu's husband weeks ago, doctors say. Theirs are among more than 2,800 confirmed cases of the disease that has claimed nearly 1,900 lives since the outbreak began a year ago in the eastern DRC.

Life-saving treatments

The mother and son's release follows scientists' announcement Monday that two experimental Ebola drug therapies have proved so successful they will be made available to all Ebola patients in the DRC outbreak. Both contain antibodies: REGN-EB3 was developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and mAb114 was developed by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

It was unclear, as of this writing, which treatment the mother and son received. The fatality rate for this Ebola outbreak - the second-largest in history behind the 2014-15 West Africa outbreak - is 67 per cent, according to the World Health Organization. REGN and mAb114 substantially improve patient survival rates, based on the clinical trials.

"From now on, we will no longer say that EVD (Ebola virus disease) is not curable," Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, who directs the DRC's National Institute of Biomedical Research, said in a teleconference. 

"This advance will, in the future, help save thousands of lives that would have had a fatal outcome in the past."

Dr Richard Mutakukuru echoed that notion in Tuesday's joyous sendoff for Nabintu and her son.

"Being infected with Ebola is not the end of the world," he said. "Ebola is just like any other disease – only that it kills very fast. If one feels symptoms related to Ebola infection, we advise that he or she seeks a doctor's attention."

The virus, which can cause severe internal bleeding, is transmitted via contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. Mutakukuru said that anyone diagnosed with Ebola would be treated and then would "leave after a few days, completely healed."

A survivor's message

The DRC government has appointed Nabintu to be a goodwill ambassador to help battle another component of the Ebola epidemic: rampant mistrust.

While the country has experienced nine other outbreaks since Ebola's discovery in 1976, the disease previously was unfamiliar in the northeast, a region already destabilized by at least two decades of conflict. People there have been skeptical of the federal government's intentions and those of Western aid groups that operate or help staff treatment centers.

Residents have seen people enter treatment facilities and leave in body bags – making them wary of seeking formal treatment when symptoms emerge. Nabintu – who was treated at a DRC facility operated by the WHO and the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders – wants to change that negative mindset.

"My message to everyone is that Ebola is real," she said. "People should seek a doctor's attention as quickly as possible when they feel unwell."

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Huawei Speaks out on hacking Bobi Wine’s phones

Huawei completely rejects the Wall Street Journal’s unfounded and inaccurate allegations against its business operations in Uganda. Huawei’s code of business conduct prohibits any employees from undertaking any activities that would compromise our customers or end users’ data or privacy or that would breach any laws. Huawei prides itself on its compliance with the local […]

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Stars Intensify Rehearsals Ahead Of Bell Jamz All Star Concert Featuring Chris Martin and D-Major

The first edition of the Bell Jamz All Star concert in 2018 featuring Jamaican Tarrus Riley was so massive that, the bar was set so high for the organisers to repeat the feat or better still make it even bigger this year, whether they will pull it off remains to be seen. However, what we […]

The post Stars Intensify Rehearsals Ahead Of Bell Jamz All Star Concert Featuring Chris Martin and D-Major appeared first on Chano8.

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Museveni declines youth leaders' request for Shs 3.5bn

President Museveni has declined to give Shs 3.4 billion in cash to youth leaders as a reward for their support for him and his NRM party.  

The over 342 youth leaders from different districts who had converged at Dams' Water stadium in Jinja on Wednesday, asked Museveni to give them at least Shs 10 million each to foot their lodge expenses and also reward them for their efforts in supporting the NRM government for all these years. 

Their request was presented by the national youth council secretary for finance, George Abdul, who informed the president that the youth needed the funds to transform their lives and also mobilize others to embrace the NRM government.

"Because these young people reported on the [August] 11th, they accumulated a number of expenses. It is unfortunate that some of them were being thrown out of the hotels because of the incapacitation that they can't pay. They have been here, they graced the occasion. Now a request, that if you can support them in the different enterprises that they have now as leaders each of them with Shs 10 million. When you calculate this, your excellency, the budget is within the needs that can be supported. said Abdul.

"The young people would want to grow this in line with the wealth creation initiative. When they come for the next youth council, they would have galvanised support because they would have been empowered to reach out to the entire young people." he added. 

Museveni however, informed the youth that, the act of dishing out money to individuals is an act of selfishness and misleading the youth. He advised them to form Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies (Saccos) that will benefit all youth.

"The money you're talking about - Shs 10 million per the leader who is here, please, I don't want you to go to the [news]papers because it will spoil your name. Once I am telling you something, I am an authority on. That money I can make it available - Shs 3.4bn because that is what it means but not for you individually but for all youth leaders at the national level and other leaders who cannot fit in the local structure for some reason or another. If you take that, that one I agree with you. If you don't accept that, then I can't be a target for misleading that I came here to give youth money." said Museveni. 

Museveni new stance on dishing out money is a sudden change of tactic because it had almost become the norm for the president to offer cash to youth groups purportedly for their empowerment.

Nevertheless, Museveni further pledged financial support to the youth council if they accept to form an all-inclusive youth Sacco.

"Shs 3.4bn is not a big problem or even more or even Shs 10bn, but the question is how, who and why? Please answer that. You have a leadership, you know you should also avoid anarchism you have a leadership which you elected, let them sit down and think. I also know how to tweet, I will be tweeting with you directly telling you that this one is poison." Museveni said. 

A section of youth delegates who preferred anonymity for fear of repercussions disagreed with the president's proposal. They argued that they are soon graduating from the youth age bracket and it will be hard for them to access financial aid from the state. Asuman Wandera, the youth council chairperson for Jinja central division says that registration of Saccos is time-consuming and not a viable solution of empowering the youth.

Wandera said the Busoga youth have supported Museveni for so long without getting anything in return, and that the president has started taking them for granted because when he is elsewhere in Uganda, he gives money directly and not through Saccos. 

SOCIAL DISCIPLINE

Museveni also urged the youth to improve on their social discipline by reducing their expenditure on luxuries, beer and big parties. He said Ugandan youth are fond of partying and merrymaking yet at the same time claiming they lack money. 

"If you don't have money, what money do you spend in bars? You go to bars and they are full, you go to where they are roasting pigs and the places are full...This is social indiscipline and it is part of the problem we are facing. We can start by being economically parsimonious. The government is ready to support youth who will form Saccos to engage in productive activities." said Museveni. 

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Roy Kenoly to grace Prophet Mbonye’s Zoe fellowship

By Julius Senyimba On his birthday held at Zoe Grounds early this year, Prophet Elvis Mbonye cut a cake in a shape of the globe. The emblematic move was to stress the fact that his prophecy and outreach has no boundaries.   To those still in doubt, 1st September will be a day to win more followers […]
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Okuwamba abasaabaze kuzzeemu e Masaka

MU bbanga lya myezi mukaaga, abantu musanvu be baakagwa mu katego k'abatemu abeefuula abakola ogw'okusaabaza abantu mu mmotoka ezaabuyonjo mu bitundu by'e Masaka era abantu bana be banyazeeko ssente n'oluvannyuma...

2021: Museveni deploys Amama Mbabazi team to tame opposition

President Museveni's reelection drive is entering high gear even before the political season officially rolls off next year.

The president is not taking any chances and at the centre of his bid to extend his rule since 1986, it has emerged that the national structure of youths formerly allied to Amama Mbabazi has been given the lead to dismantle the opposition, writes BAKER BATTE LULE.

In the run-up to the 2016 general election, a well-coordinated group of youth swore allegiance to Amama Mbabazi, the former powerful prime minister who had vowed to unseat President Museveni. They often talked of how they had the capacity to overthrow President Museveni and the NRM because they were privy to all state tricks.

So convinced was the anti-Museveni forces that Mbabazi nearly became the sole opposition candidate through The Democratic Alliance (TDA), an umbrella for a united opposition.

Even when TDA talks failed, these youths were lined up on the frontlines to oust President Museveni but in a strange twist, the state machinery did not clamp down heavily on them as it did with FDC supporters.

Another version, however, is that these youth were purposely sent into Mbabazi's team in order to dismantle it from within. Since the end of the 2016 elections, many of these Mbabazi loyalist youths stayed silent until early this year when they resurfaced as NRM prodigal sons.

In January when the president launched Team Thorough YKM 2021, it emerged that the team comprised some of youths wooed back from Mbabazi. These campaigners have been recruited to prop up President Museveni's early campaign.

So, even before the official ceremonial kickoff of his reelection campaign, a routine show of political force, The Observer has learnt that the president has invested heavily in a team of youths who are moving from village to village building his structures and dismantling the opposition in the countryside.

Their patron is first lady and minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni and the national coordinator is Edris Kiiza Kamuntu. According to some members who preferred anonymity for fear of being exposed as Mbabazi betrayers, the team plans to complete building structures from local councils to the national level by September 2019.

And they want to recruit about 40 people per village from about 60,000 villages countrywide. In total, they are looking to recruit four million voters even before the first ballot is cast in 2021.

According to Kamuntu, the team is rigorously dismantling Bobi Wine's People Power, Kizza Besigye's FDC and Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu's Alliance for National Transformational (ANT) structures. They believe these have potential for raising enough dust to cause Museveni trouble.

"DP and UPC are friendly forces," one member said. Indeed, Kamuntu emphasized the notion when The Observer reached out to him.

"They [DP and UPC] don't enjoy a nationwide support; therefore, we can't spend a lot of time on them. Secondly, have you ever heard of a demonstration by DP or UPC? They are not violent like the FDC and People Power,".

So far they have covered 20 districts and allegedly recruited 1,000 People Power supporters from Kampala, its biggest stronghold.

"We are only looking for the president's votes. We don't want to go into the MPs' wrangles," another member said, adding that they are coordinating with the NRM secretariat.

The team is located on Vomito house on Kampala road. Another member told The Observer they are soon shifting to Bugolobi, a leafy Kampala suburb. On July 12, Janet Museveni met the top leadership of the team comprised about 45 members in Bugolobi.

It is during this meeting, which lasted about three hours, that she told them of the need to cooperate with other party organs but to steer clear of them.

"She said we should remain independent so that we can work effectively like we have done in the past. She assured us of benefits in the future if we deliver victory to Museveni in 2021," said a member who attended the meeting.

He further confided that after the meeting, each participant received transport refund; the lowest being Shs 250,000. "We are lined up to meet the president soon now that his Operation Wealth Creation countrywide tours have ended," added another member of the group.

Youthful Adam Luzindana Buyinza was one of Mbabazi's closest aides during the 2016 election campaigns. When The Observer reached out to him for a comment, he distanced himself from Team Thorough YKM 2021.

"I quit politics after 2016 and I'm into my private business and empowering youth through employment," said Buyinza, who used to head the Uganda Poor Youth group.

"Some of my former colleagues may have been compromised but I'm not part of that scheme to mobilise support for President Museveni much as I cannot stop him from reaching out to the youth."

Efforts to contact Mbabazi were futile as his known numbers didn't go through.

MUSEVENI CHANGE OF GUARD

An insider source in NRM has intimated to The Observer that the president realized he was duped in the previous campaign by some NRM leaders who used to ferry people from different areas to his rallies. But when polls opened, the ballots cast in some areas didn't match the campaign rally numbers.

"The mafia used to lie to the president. They would get cash from him and instead of running his campaigns, they would buy houses…" the source said.

These people didn't meet the president's supporters. There was a gap between the president and his voters. Team Thorough is bridging that gap. They are meeting people and taking back their views to the president…"

The insider added that the president, in this reelection campaign, wants to see his real supporters attend his rallies regardless of how few they may be.

"He doesn't want mercenaries anymore," he said.

KYAGULANYI STRONGHOLD

Kamuntu said there is realization in the NRM that the youth excitement caused by Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine is too important to ignore.

"We can't underestimate their capacity of causing disruptions during the elections; that's why we are organizing to counter them. We know their capacity. I don't think they are more sophisticated than Go Forward [Mbabazi's campaign team of 2016] that we successfully dismantled.

Mbabazi had taken over a big part of our party members but we were able to finish him. What about People Power? We have been talking with them, we know what they are thinking and we know what we need to do to win them over. I can assure you Bobi Wine might not even get ten percent of the vote in the coming election," Kamuntu said. 

ZAAKE RESPONDS

Interviewed for this article, Mityana municipality MP Francis Zaake, who is also the People Power youth coordinator, said they are not surprised with the maneuvers.

"This shows that they have feared People Power so much that Museveni can only trust his wife to deliver victory. We know for a fact that they will go all the way in trying to recruit our people but we can assure them that 2021 is not going to be business as usual. If they succeeded in dismantling Go Forward, I'm afraid they are dealing with a different crop of people, not those they are used to," Zaake said.

He, however, admitted that the NRM strategy will succeed in swaying some people from their side but not enough to deny them victory. 

"Obviously, they will take some of our people by giving them money and other inducements but let me assure you, many are going to take that money and actually bring some to us to help us in the campaign," Zaake said. 

Interviewed for a comment Kakooza Bukuri, the spokesman of Team Thorough 2021, said: "We are currently recruiting, identifying, mobilizing and sensitizing people to support NRM, mainly President Museveni."

"We are also neutralizing the opposition with our slogan of winning back Kampala since 1996," he said. 

SHIFT OF INFLUENCE IN NRM

Last June, we reported that the president's newfound preference for youths and use of unofficial structures in the running of NRM affairs, had unsettled many high-ranking ruling party officials. See, "Museveni turns to youths, angers NRM's old folks [June 12, 2019]."

We reported that the president, who is also the NRM national chairman, had sidestepped the party secretary general Justine Kasule Lumumba, who heads the secretariat, preferring to work with a team of youthful mobilisers under his political assistant Milly Eva Doka Babalanda.

The Babalanda team authored a damning report and handed it to the president. The report suggested the party had been infiltrated and needed an aggressive purge of its ranks of opposition supporters.

The report also nudged the president to sanction a new drive to recruit genuine party members. The idea, corroborated by a private investigation, insider sources said, swayed the president to ignore the secretariat.

"We are recruiting three youths per village. If there are over 60,000 villages in the country that comes to about 200,000 youths," an MP who took part in the recruitment of the cadres told The Observer.

Babalanda confirmed then that the recruitment drive was on then and covered nearly 90 per cent of all villages in the country. After the recruitment drive, the three youths-per-village will be trained and sent back to their respective villages to form youth groups. The target is to have at least three youth groups each composed of about 45 members who will then get development funds.

This, according to the source, explains why the Youth Livelihood Funds were moved from the ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development to State House, whose budget allocations were also increased.

"Truth is, the 2021 election is going to be about youths; the generational phenomenon by Bobi Wine has changed the game plan and I can assure you, Museveni's focus is on the youth, for now, there is nothing he wants the older politicians for," the source said.

Babalanda's activities have, however, unsettled the party's core. Some members of the Central Executive Committee (CEC), NRM's topmost decision-making organ, wrote to Museveni on May 28 urging him to respect the party organs.

"We have observed with dismay, the targeted impunity and indiscipline with which a few of the 'cadres' identified and recruited by the office of the national chairman have misused and abused the social media platforms to attempt to undermine the integrity and decisions of CEC and other organs and institutions of the NRM," the CEC members wrote on May 28, further warning that the said impunity and indiscipline, if not checked, would increase internal contradictions.

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Residents force LoP to walk 3km over bad road

Angry residents of Bardege Division in Gulu Municipality have forced the Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP), Betty Aol Ocan to trek for three kilometers in protest over the poor state of their roads.

The LOP had paid an impromptu visit to the people who had gathered at Gulu Municipal council offices Monday morning demanding for answers about bad roads in their area. The angry residents had earlier on blocked the five-kilometer Oola Lubara road, which connects Gulu town to St Marys Hospital Lacor via Gulu airfield and Gulu Archdiocese Cathedral.    

The residents led by the area LC III chairperson, Patrick Oola Lumumba tasked Aol, who also doubles as Gulu Woman MP to step out of the comfort of her vehicle and walk with them so as to get the feel of the bad state of the road, which they say has lasted for close to six years.

The residents walked with the legislator from the Gulu Municipal council offices up to the residence of Yusuf Adek Okwonga, the Pageya clan chief, about three kilometers away. Paul Onyegiu, one of the residents, says the road has been impassable for over six years especially during the rainy seasons but their leaders remain silent about the matter.  

Aol, who was dressed in a light green gomesi and shiny black shoes moved for over two hours in the company of her four bodyguards who all ended up with muddy shoes and dirty clothes. She told URN at the chief's palace that she accepted to move in solidarity with the suffering people whose plight for better services hasn't been addressed. 

Earlier the residents used vehicles tyres, boulders and logs to block the road. They also mockingly planted crops on the road, arguing that it has become a garden. They later moved to the Gulu Municipal Council office from where the Gulu municipal engineer, Terence Okwonga assured them that the road will be upgraded to tarmac next year in January at Shs 6 billion.

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Police, stop harassing women over leaked nudes - Judith Heard

City socialite Judith Heard has asked Ugandan security agencies to stop harassing women who have been victims of online gender-based violence, urging them to instead pursue their tormentors.      

Heard, whose nude pictures made rounds on social media last year, made the remarks at a workshop organised by The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and social media giant Facebook at Serena hotel on August 7 under the theme; "women's online safety."

In an emotive presentation, shared with a gathering that mainly constituted of personalities from civil society and the media, Heard said that it's about time government stopped prosecuting the victims but hunt for the real online bullies.   

"I was already traumatized," Heard said, "but then the police called me saying I had violated the Anti Pornography Act." 

Government according to Heard hasn't tried to earnestly follow-up cases of online bullies.

"Once my pictures were out they were saying you [Heard] are going to jail for seven years. Many girls have committed suicide because their pictures have leaked. Why can't government act," Heard said. 

In August of last year, after her nudes went viral, police summoned Heard insisting that it had opened up seven counts against her connected to the production of pornographic material and being a public nuisance. 

The particular accusation by police was that Heard had produced pornographic pictures and videos of herself which allegedly she posted on social media conflicting the Anti-Pornography Act 2004. 

Though police were on her case, Heard, divulged that what traumatized or still traumatizes her was the thought of what her children will think of her the day they discover that her nudes were ever shared on social media.

"What will happen when my children get access to a computer and they see my nudes? What goes through the mind of my daughter when she reads in newspapers that Judith Heard's nudes are out?"

The workshop's main objective was to engage and build capacity in understanding gender-based cyber violence and the tools to challenge, combat, prevent and counter the vice.

She added: "No newspaper has ever written about Judith Heard donating to an orphanage. It's ever Judith Heard with nudes."   

Before Heard could take to the floor, Juliet Nanfuka a programme officer with CIPESA in her powerpoint presentation showed how the online space in Uganda is skewed in favor of men. 

50 percent of women, Nanfuka said, are less likely than men to be online and the few of the women who are online are normally harassed.

"Very few women are on online because now we even have social media tax," Nanfuka said, "But even those who are online they are offended. Men sending them private parts …."

Once her nudes went viral, Heard said that what shocked her was the acidic attacks she got from her fellow women.    

"I know most Ugandan girls have nudes but the attacks they directed towards me," she said, "Shall we cry endlessly. We must stand up for fellow women. Every time I stand and people are looking at me, I'm thinking are they seeing me naked.  I'm ever thinking what are these people thinking me."

dkiyonga@gmail.com  

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Court of Appeal quashes serial killer Arinaitwe's life sentence

The Court of Appeal has quashed the life sentence handed to serial killer, Richard Arinaitwe for murdering American volunteer, Cecelia Goetz.

A panel of three Court of Appeal Justices comprising Ezekiel Muhanguzi, Helen Obura and Elizabeth Musoke has set aside the life sentence and instead handed Arinaitwe a 30-year jail term.    

However, they deducted five years and three months Arinaitwe spent on remand from 1998 to 2003 when he was convicted. The justices directed prison authorities to start counting the remaining 24 years and nine months from 2003. 

This implies that Arinaitwe will now only serve eight years since he has been in jail for sixteen years following his conviction in 2003 after he was found guilty of murdering, Goetz who was in Uganda to follow up on HIV/AIDS funds. 

High court Judge, Kagaba Rwamisazi had sentenced Arinaitwe to death. However, the convict benefited from the Supreme court judgment in 2009, which stated that whoever had not been executed after five years in prison should have his or her sentence reduced to life imprisonment. Arinaitwe appeared before Justice Joseph Murangira who substituted his death sentence to life imprisonment.  

Through his lawyer, Elizabeth Asiimwe, Arinaitwe petitioned the Court of Appeal to quash the life imprisonment sentence or reduce it. Asiimwe told court that Arinaitwe represented himself in High court presided over by Rwamisazi yet he didn't have sufficient legal knowledge to challenge the evidence that was laid before court.   

She argued that if Arinaitwe had a lawyer, he would have been acquitted because the principal witness, Paddy Ssemanda made contradictory testimony and failed to place the convict at the scene of crime. Justice Rwamisazi sentenced Arinaitwe to death, arguing that there was overwhelming evidence including two pistols and a knife recovered from the ceiling in Kololo where he was hiding for about three months before he was arrested. 

The knife reportedly fitted perfectly into the sheath Arinaitwe forgot in room 321 at Equatorial hotel, now Equatorial Shopping Mall where Cecilia was stabbed 30 times. 

Asiimwe noted that if Arinaitwe knew the law, he would have challenged Ssemanda's testimony simply because he reportedly told court in different statements that he first saw the convict's face at Equatorial hotel but later said he hadn't seen him.

Asiimwe faulted the judge for failure to evaluate evidence on court record and address his mind legally before delivering his judgment. She also told court that the record before court clearly shows that Arinaitwe wasn't involved in the murder. She asked court to quash the sentence or reduce it. 

However, the state prosecutor, Nelly Asiku opposed the appeal and supported Arinaitwe's conviction and sentence. He asked court to at least sentence Arinaitwe to 36 years in prison, arguing that he was given a state lawyer to represent him but refused and opted to represent himself.

In their judgment read by the Court of Appeal registrar, Jesse Byaruhanga this afternoon, the Court of Appeal justices faulted the lower court for failure to consider Arinaitwe's age by the time he committed the crime. 

They noted that Arinaitwe was just a young man who was remorseful and had just joined Makerere University to pursue his Bachelors of Law degree. "

 

He was a young man and also a hardened criminal and his age was a very big mitigating factor, which was never considered at sentencing," said Byaruhanga. 

The judge also argued that the convict needs a rehabilitative sentence so that he can go back to the community. The judges also considered records from Luzira Prisons indicating that Arinaitwe has participated in a number of rehabilitation programs, and is remorseful.  

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Kadaga slams international community over refugees in Uganda

The speaker of parliament, Rebecca Kadaga has criticized the international community for failing to fulfil financial pledges made during the Kampala Solidarity Summit on Refugees, two years ago in support of refugees in Uganda.

The pledges recorded during the summit included $100,000 from Equatorial Guinea, $5 million pledged by the United Arab Emirates, $500,000 from China, $50 million from the United Kingdom, another $10 million from Japan.  

During the same summit, Gabon pledged $250,000, neighbours Kenya pledged to contribute $200,000, Somalia pledged $100,000, Germany's pledge stood at $56 million. $5 million was expected from Australia, Italy pledged $5.6 million, Canada pledged $11.5 million, while Sweden committed to contributing $27.1 million.  

The summit also recorded pledges from Norway at $4 million, Austria at $2.2 million, Netherlands at $6.2 million, the Republic of Korea with $6.8 million, Denmark at $62 million, Ireland at $2.6 million and Finland with $2.4 million.  

Regional groupings such as the European Union pledged $96.3 million while the African Union pledged $100,000. The private sector pledges included MTN Group Uganda with an anticipated contribution of $1 million, among others.      

But according to Kadaga, the Ugandan government has only realized $540,000, out of the total pledges of $358 million made during the summit, hosted by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The summit aimed at raising $2 billion. 

"We had a solidarity summit in Uganda with all the world's big names and leaders from the biggest economies. But it was quite shocking when such leaders pledged very little sums of money and later even failed to fulfil the pledges," Kadaga said.   

"During that summit we expected that many pledges would be met to support the refugee situation and I think they expected something like $15 million. But I think it is very very annoying that in the end it was only $540,000 that was eventually sent out of the $15 million. To me, it was fuzz that did not fulfil the expectations of the international community because everybody was there - the secretary-general of the United Nations was there, the head of FAO was there. Everybody who is anybody in the United Nations system was there but nothing came out of that summit other than a declaration." said Kadaga. 

Kadaga made the remarks while addressing the 10th Conference of Speakers of African Parliaments and Senates at the Pan-African Parliament in Midrand, South Africa, on Tuesday. The two-day speaker's conference is being held under the theme, "Finding durable solutions to forced migration to accelerate integration and development in Africa: the role of national and regional parliaments.  

Uganda is the second-biggest refugee-hosting country in the world and the first in Africa. Uganda, with a population of 39 million people, Uganda is home to more than 1.2 million refugees, the biggest percentage of whom are from South Sudan. 

But like other host countries, Uganda continues to shoulder the responsibility of facilitating refugees' access to basic needs. According to the Office of the Prime Minister, Uganda needs at least $8 billion to continue its efforts in offering refuge to displaced populations. 

Kadaga requested the UNHCR to build permanent structures such as health centres and schools in the refugee settlements as a stopgap to support host communities that have co-existed with refugees in the event that they leave.

"Settling of refugees comes with a cost to our people because there is a lot of pressure on the local population to share facilities. In one of our districts of Adjumani, 50 per cent of the population is made up of refugees and so there is pressure on water, schools, health facilities and the environment and this is very costly to the Uganda government," Kadaga said. 

Kadaga proposed that for refugee host countries, there should be inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms to bring together the government, international, local and civil society organisations to address the refugee issue from a wider perspective. 

"I want to confirm that refugees living in Uganda are not in camps but settlements, which gives them freedom of movement, access to social service and employment," Kadaga told the speakers.

Kadaga's protestations come at the time when Germany, UK and Japan have reportedly held direct funding towards Uganda's refugee programme over government's failure to respond to a corruption scandal where refugee numbers were inflated by over 300,000 refugees. The scandal was discovered in February last year and the donor community is angry that 18 months on, government is yet to effect the recommendations of the audit carried out by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services.

The audit revealed gross corruption and mismanagement of funds meant for the refugees through corruption, overpayments and double payments for contracts, fraud among others within the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. The audit carried out between January and May 2018 covered the period between July 1, 2016, and December 31, 2017.

The audit report made a number of recommendations; including the recovery of several misappropriated funds, review of UNHCR management, corruption and fraud mechanisms, review of UN's dealings with the government on projects implementation among others. UNHCR swiftly acted on the audit recommendations and had its funding reinstated.

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Nyanzi pleads with court to find her guilty of annoying Museveni

Makerere University researcher Dr Stella Nyanzi has expressed disappointment with Buganda Road court Grade One magistrate, Gladys Kamasanyu for failing to find her guilty of annoying President Yoweri Museveni. Although Buganda Road Chief Magistrate's court today, Thursday found Nyanzi guilty of cyber harassment, she was acquitted of offensive communication on grounds that there was no overwhelming evidence against her. 

Court said prosecution failed to adduce evidence to show how President Museveni was annoyed. Cyber harassment attracts a maximum sentence of three years or a fine of Shs 1.4 million. She will be sentenced tomorrow. Nyanzi said her intention had been to annoy the president because he has annoyed Ugandans for the last 30 years.

Nyanzi has been in Luzira since November 2018 after she refused to apply for bail. She becomes the first person to be convicted under the Computer Misuse Act which came into law a few years ago.

"I planned to offend to Yoweri Museveni Kaguta because has offended is for 30 plus years. Find me guilty of cyber harassment. Find me guilty of anything else, but please, find me guilty of offensive communication against Yoweri Museveni Kaguta! Find me guilty of that one. The prosecution wasn't good enough, Timothy you weren't good enough. Find me guilty of offending Yoweri Museveni Kaguta because that is what every serious mother in Uganda should be doing. We're tired of dictatorship." said Nyanzi to a cheering courtroom. 

Adding;

"Send me to Luzira if my crime is I told a dirty delinquent dictator that he is a delinquent dictator, that he is a dictator and that Ugandans are tired. And I wish his mother's vagina had squeezed him out. I won't repent for anything. I celebrate that one woman was bold enough to deploy a dead woman's vagina. One dead woman's vagina was deployed. My name is Stella, it comes from Esteri. I'm Esteri, my great grand mother was Esteri. I deployed Esteri's vagina she is dead. It's a metaphor."

Nyanzi's conviction stems from a case in which Nyanzi is accused of posting a loutish birthday poem on her Facebook page on September 16, 2018, attacking the late Esteri Kokundeka the late mother to President Museveni. The poem was written in a vulgar language.   

Although prosecution adduced evidence from three witnesses to pin Nyanzi, court mainly relied on the evidence of detective assistant superintendent of police Bill Ndyamuhaki from the cyber crimes department of police.

Kamasanyu said that Ndyamuhaki adduced overwhelming evidence to show how he was able to prove that Nyanzi owned the Facebook account where the indecent poem was posted. She noted that Ndyamuhaki tendered before court the evidence including exhibits such as activation codes used to create Nyanzi's Facebook account, the documents showing the number that activated the Facebook account, a photocopy of the passport Nyanzi reportedly used to apply for the phone number from MTN Uganda which she used to create the Facebook page.

Ndyamuhaki also tendered two bio-data forms obtained from Makerere University vice-chancellor and the human resource manager. The witness also adduced two court orders that were secured in December 2018 and April 2019 before Buganda Road chief magistrate Miriam Akello and later served to MTN Uganda and Makerere University before he obtained the information about Nyanzi.

Kamasanyu ruled that Nyanzi has no explanation whatsoever because she was asked to defend herself of the said charges but chose to remain silent. On the second charge of offensive communication, Kamasanyu said that the evidence from prosecution was insufficient since it couldn't prove that the poem had been posted repeatedly.

MOTHERLESS CHILDREN

Nyanzi said although the judge had counselled her against poisoning the minds of her three children and other young people in the country through her vulgar language, she said her children were actually celebrating her protest and imprisonment because they have been well prepared for a motherless future, and that she takes pride in being an immoral person. 

"I would have raised the issue of my children, but I will not do that. Very many mothers would say, 'I have young children.' I will sacrifice motherhood to whatever alter I have to sacrifice motherhood to…mothers have to raise their voices against dictators such as Yoweri Kaguta Museveni…I was born for this moment…Let my children be motherless if it means I will speak truth to power." she said.

"My children celebrate my protest actions. My children are protestors who are free to express themselves. My children are taken care of by Ugandans who believe in the ideals I espouse. My children don't deserve a mother who is silent. I refuse to be silenced in the face of oppression, in the face of dictatorship." she added. 

SILENCED MEDIA

Nyanzi took issues with the 'silenced public media', that she said are have been intimidated by the state. 

"Internet must be protected. The public media has been silenced, the public media are silent. How many of us can afford OTT [over the top taxes]. So I use a weapon that I pay for. It is free of charge and I will not allow the dictatorship to tell me what words to say to the dictatorship. If it is a dirty vagina that gets the attention of the dictatorship, then a smelly vagina it will be." she said.

Nyanzi who spent most of her time drawing opposition political party, Forum for Democratic Party (FDC) and People Power hand sketches, told the magistrate to do something about the toilets in Luzira because every three weeks, sewerage is always overflowing into the women's bathroom exposing the female prisoners to infections. She said she did not blame the magistrate for finding her guilty because she had no choice. 

"I really feel sorry for you. How do you dispense justice in an injustice system? I know this is important for your career."

Additional reporting by URN

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