Thugs raid NGO in Rubaga, injure three Dutch nationals

Three Dutch nationals and two Ugandans are nursing wounds following a robbery at Doing Good, a non-governmental organization in Rubaga Division in Kampala. 

The Dutch nationals are Elra Hoi and Eron Buo while the Ugandans are Ivan Tenywa and Patrick Komakech. Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango, says the robbers raided the NGO offices, which also shelter 14 Dutch nationals and Ugandans in the today afternoon at around 3.30 pm. 

He says the thugs cut Hoi's lips and Buo on the head. According to Onyango, the thugs who were eight in number jumped the perimeter wall to gain access to the premises. They assaulted the watchmen identified as Ivan Tenywa and Patrick Komakech before gaining access to the offices and staff residence.

Police say the thugs varnished with eight laptops, nine mobile phones, jewellery and Shs 26 million in cash. Onyango says police was notified about the incident and rushed to the scene but found the thugs had already taken off with their loot.

Hoi, Laureen January, Buo, Tenywa and Komakech were rushed to Nakasero hospital for treatment.  Police have so far arrested one suspect to help with investigations. Police say all the attackers face charges of aggravated robbery, assault and unlawful wounding once arrested.  Aggravated robbery involves the use of deadly weapons such as machetes, knives; iron bars or other blunt objects to commit a crime.

 

Source

Desmond Elliot excites Ugandan parliamentarians

By Cissy Apiso He is one of the best Nigerian actors that has made Nigerian movies trend over the years for his humur and exquisite acting. Desmond Elliot is a Member of Parliament representing Surulere constituency in Nigeria and he is Uganda to attend the 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference. He has been one of the most […]
Source

Tanzanian Drummer Tito Philemon And Dj Ally B Headlined For The Club Dome Return

‘Club Dome’ which is a series of events targeting university and other tertiary institutions going students by bringing fun things as well as top notch entertainers closer to them is returning this week on Saturday the 28th of September at the MTN Warehouse located in Kampala Industrial Area. As it returns, Club Pilsener who are the organizers […]

The post Tanzanian Drummer Tito Philemon And Dj Ally B Headlined For The Club Dome Return appeared first on Chano8.

Source

Club Dome To Bring The ‘Caribbean Vibes’ Experience On Return

‘Club Dome’ which is a series of events targeting university and other tertiary institutions going students by bringing fun things as well as top notch entertainers closer to them under a spacious dome was last held in Gulu town at Acholi Inn on Saturday the 24th of November 2019. It was an amazing experience that […]

The post Club Dome To Bring The ‘Caribbean Vibes’ Experience On Return  appeared first on Chano8.

Source

Recovery Walk coalition launches operation to kick Alcohol, Gambling, sexual addiction

By Paul Mayambala Recovery Coalition Members and Participants in Uganda recently held the 4th Annual Uganda Recovery Walk, as one of many darts to create awareness about the rampant vice that is substance and Alcohol abuse, and problem behaviour (sex addiction, gambling, et al).  The walk which took place last Saturday at Kitante Primary School […]
Source

Tanzanian Singer Alikiba In Town Ahead Of Concert As He Promises Fans ‘Something Special’

Ahead of his Ugandan concert slated for Friday the 13th of September at Hockey Grounds located in Lugogo,Kampala, a few weeks ago, veteran Tanzanian singer Alikiba confessed how he couldn't wait to see his Ugandan fans whom he last entertained in December 2016 Time has now come and he is just waiting for hours to […]

The post Tanzanian Singer Alikiba In Town Ahead Of Concert As He Promises Fans ‘Something Special’ appeared first on Chano8.

Source

One million register for Uneb exams

At least 1,137,315 candidates have registered for 2019 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE).

Of the 1,137,315 candidates, 695,468 registered for PLE, 337,380 UCE and 104,467 for UACE. Speaking at the Uganda Media Centre today Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) executive secretary, Dan N. Odongo said the final information such as names of candidates, index numbers and subjects for which they registered has been sent to schools country for final confirmation and verification by candidates.

While the preparation process is in advanced stages, the board will start engaging candidates on October 11 with briefing of UCE candidates.

Senior Four examinations will go on until November 15th. PLE candidates will be briefed on November 1 but write their examinations on November 2nd and 3rd, 2019.

UACE examinations will commence on November 8 and end on December 2. Odongo urged parents and guardians to check the registration status of their children when there is still time for Uneb to take remedial measures.

According to Dr Peter Wakabi Waiswa, the director IT at UNEB, the registration status can be checked from schools/centres, SMS, or using the link https://ereg.uneb.ac.ug/reg_status.

"A candidate is deemed registered after payment of Uneb registration fees. With online, the display even shows the candidate's coloured photograph and subjects for which they registered," Wakabi said.

"Parents can also check the registration status by typing Reg <space> full index number & send to 6600 at a fee of Shs 500 across all networks." For centres that have not yet paid the full examination fees or for any student not registered, the status will reflect "Not registered".

PREGNANT CANDIDATES

Odongo urged headteachers not to deny pregnant candidates an opportunity to sit their final examinations this year. Odongo said there's no law or written policy that bars girls from sitting exams while pregnant.

"If a girl is pregnant, that's already bad enough and traumatic. To stop her from sitting final Uneb exams; lawyers call that double jeopardy," Odongo said.

He said some schools especially faith-based are hard to convince but special arrangements can be made for such candidates.

"In faith-based schools and others where morals are strong, they believe this is an affront on morality and encourages other girls to be careless with themselves knowing that they will be allowed to sit exams. As a board, we understand their concerns but these are 15 and 16-year-olds that may not have been in control of everything that led to the pregnancy," Odongo said.

He added that if a candidate is visibly pregnant, she can be given a special room but watched over while writing her papers. When the paper is complete, she can be escorted out of the school and brought in when on another paper. Odongo's views were backed by the state minister for Primary Education, Rosemary Sseninde, who officially released timetables for the October/November examinations for all the three levels of examinations this year.

"It's not a policy that students must be in school while pregnant but on a humanitarian ground, I appeal to headteachers to allow children to sit exams," Sseninde said.

"You may lock out this girl from such a crucial examination without knowing what lies ahead of her in case she excels. Let's give them a chance as parents and teachers continue to sensitise girls on the effects of early pregnancies"

nangonzi@observer.ug

Source

MPs denied access to safe houses

Members of parliament on the Human Rights Committee have been blocked from accessing suspected 'safe houses' in Nkokonjeru, Kyengera and Nalukolongo.

Led by the committee chairperson Janefher Egunyu Nantume, the MPs on Tuesday drove to the facilities in the company of journalists only to be denied access at the facilities. Dressed in a Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) uniform, an officer who identified himself as Vincent Kalibala, the in-charge of the Kyengera facility spoke to the MPs through a small hole of the gate.

Kalibala told Nantume that they were not informed of their visit and that their access can only be granted by the director general International Security Organization (ISO), Col Kaka Bagyenda.

He advised the committee to go to the ISO offices in Nakasero and seek permission from Bagyenda. Despite insistence from Nantume that the committee has powers from parliament to carry out the visit, Kalibala said he could not give any further statement on the matter. After the discussion yielded no fruit, Nantume briefed journalists describing the situation as sad and unfortunate.

"It's unfortunate that we cannot be allowed to access this facility in an effort to exercise our mandate. We are going to discuss as a committee on the way forward," said Nantume.

Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi said that the development further exposes a blatant abuse of human rights by ISO. Kawempe North MP Latif Ssebbagala said that the committee cannot stand and see Ugandans being harassed and keep quiet. He said that they will leave no stone unturned in regard to the alleged tortures in safe houses.

At another facility in Nalukolongo in Musoke Zone, the MPs found UPDF officers and others clad in Local Defense Unit (LDU) uniform at the gate. They also declined to grant the MPs access directing them to seek permission from an officer only identified as Maj Sulait at Nateete police station.

Revellers we spoke to at Nalukolongo, said that the facility is always under tight security. Two residents who preferred anonymity claimed that a timber seller identified as Yiga was recently tortured to death at the facility, and the UPDF officers disguised his death by shooting in the air saying that he wanted to flee.

At Kyengera, residents who gathered on arrival of the committee said that the facility is no go area for them since they are barred from standing near the premises.

"We stay around here but the army officers never allow us to get close to the gate. We only see soldiers entering and coming out and sometimes we hear cries of help from inside," said one of the residents.

Last month, speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga directed the Human Rights Committee of parliament to investigate claims about the presence of safe houses in Lwamayuba and Kyengera where several Ugandans are reportedly being tortured.  

The directive followed concerns raised by MP Ssebaggala and his Arua Municipality counterpart, Kassiano Ezati Wadri who narrated the horrendous torture of Ugandans in ungazetted places.  

Ssebaggala cited several complaints about missing persons from different constituencies across the country explaining that he was approached by some people who managed to escape after allegedly being kidnapped by the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) operatives. 

Ssebaggala claimed that after picking the suspects, ISO takes them to Katabi in Entebbe from where they are loaded onto canoes and boats and taken to Lwamayuba on Kalangala island. Equally, Wadri reported a case of kidnap and rights violation claiming that Jamila Asha Atim, a records clerk at Arua regional referral hospital was kidnapped by men in a white vehicle on April 17, 2019, as she was heading home. He explained that Atim's relative approached police, which wasn't aware of the incident. 

"As the relatives went further to try and find out from other security agencies, it was later discovered that Atim is being detained in Kyengera safe house along Kampala-Masaka road. In this same safe house people have undergone horrendous torture, they are given one meal in four days," said Kassiano.

The Committee is scheduled to meet with the ISO director Bagyenda on Wednesday over the matter.

Source

Ugandan appointed to head UN Climate Technology Centre

Makerere University's former head of commercial law and deputy dean of School of Law Dr Rose Mwebaza has been appointed the new director of the Climate Technology Centre & Network (CTCN), the implementation arm of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Technology Mechanism.

A statement from Copenhagen says Dr Mwebaza takes to the institution her 20 years of experience on a wide range of climate change, environment and sustainable development issues.

The Climate Technology Centre & Network (CTCN ) is one of the institutions helping nations realize their commitments under the Paris Agreement by providing technology solutions and capacity building on a broad array of sectors, including agriculture, early warning systems, energy, urban planning, industry and waste management.

Dr Mwebaza served previously as chief natural resources officer at the African Development Bank. Prior to that, she held several leadership positions within the UN Development Programme (UNDP), including serving as programme manager for UNDP's regional office for Africa.

She was also the policy sdvisor to UNDP's strategic global initiative to address climate change in the least developed countries. She was also an advisor to the chairperson of the African Union, where she provided policy advice on development issues related to the African Union Development Agenda and UNDP's Development Support to Africa.

She is a former Carl Duisberg Research fellow at the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and a founding member of the Network for African Women Environmentalists. Mwebaza holds a PhD in Environment and Natural Resource Governance from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia; a Master's Degree in International Comparative Law from the University of Florida, U.S.A; and a Bachelor of Law Degree (LL.B, Hons.) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

She replaces Jukka Uosukainen of Finland who served as CTCN director from 2014-2019 and will address the CTCN's Advisory Board for the first time when it gathers at its 14th meeting on 11 September in Paris.

The Climate Technology Centre & Network (CTCN) leverages the expertise of a global network of more than 500 civil societies, finance, private sector, and research institutions to deliver tailored solutions at the request of developing countries. 93 countries are currently participating in this innovative mechanism.

Source

When Rain Couldn’t Stop The Party At East African Meat Carnival

The heavy afternoon downpour that pounded Kampala and washed the life out of most of Kampala suburbs with its chilly and wet aftereffects that left most happening joints running slow and dumb, had little or no effect on the East African Meat Carnival that happened at its usual home – the Gardens in Najjera on […]

The post When Rain Couldn’t Stop The Party At East African Meat Carnival appeared first on Chano8.

Source

Photos: Singer Cooper And Gway Light Up 6th Edition Of Gospel Rendezvous

Despite the non-stop rain that took the city by storm last Saturday, a good crowd turned up for the fifth edition of the ‘Gospel Rendezvous’ organized by Feezah Entertainment. The show was hosted by Power FM's energetic John Nkore and Dj Allan kept the house warm with great gospel music mixes as the revellers waited […]

The post Photos: Singer Cooper And Gway Light Up 6th Edition Of Gospel Rendezvous appeared first on Chano8.

Source

Adoption: American woman pleads guilty to bribing Ugandan judges

Robin Longoria, 58, of Mansfield, Texas, America last week pleaded guilty to facilitating illegal adoptions of Ugandan children through bribing Ugandan High court judges. 

On August 29, Longoria pled guilty to conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), to commit wire fraud, and to commit visa fraud. According to court documents released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio, Longoria worked as an employee of an unnamed international adoption agency in Strongsville, Ohio.

The "adoption agency" facilitated intercountry adoptions from Uganda and elsewhere for prospective adoptive parents in the United States.

Court heard that from 2013 to 2016, Longoria worked with an unnamed Ugandan attorney to pay bribes to Ugandan government officials in order to get the officials to use their positions to assist in facilitating adoptions of Ugandan children for American clients.

Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development is Uganda's central adoption authority and oversees the probation and social welfare officers assigned to magistrate's courts. 

Only children who are declared legally orphaned or abandoned by a judge at the end of the referral process are available for adoption. However, Longoria admitted to paying bribes to Ugandan probation officers to influence them to issue favourable probation reports - recommending that a particular child be placed into an orphanage.

Further, she also admitted to payments to court registrars to influence them to assign particular cases to certain justices of the High court who were deemed to be "adoption-friendly." She also admitted to bribing Ugandan High court judges themselves to influence them to issue favourable guardianship orders to the adoption agency's clients.

The bribery scheme saw more than 30 Ugandan children adopted by American citizens for which the adoption charged more than $800,000 (about Shs 3 billion) in fees to the clients. The paid bribes were concealed from the adopting parents. 

"The defendant compromised protections for vulnerable Ugandan children and undermined the United States' visa screening process," said assistant attorney general Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.  

"This defendant has admitted to playing a part in a conspiracy in which judges and other court officials in Africa were paid bribes to corrupt the adoption process," said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman of the Northern District of Ohio.  "We are committed to pursuing justice for the adoptive parents and for all parties involved."

"While adoptive families were financially and emotionally invested in the welfare of their future child, misrepresentations were made by Ms. Longoria and others to disguise bribe payments made to court officials in Uganda," said Special Agent in Charge Eric B. Smith of the FBI's Cleveland Field Office.  "We are pleased Ms. Longoria has accepted responsibility for her role in facilitating an international adoption scam."

Further, Longoria admitted that she and her co-conspirators agreed to, and did, create false documents for submission to the U.S. State Department to mislead it in its adjudication of visa applications for the Ugandan children being considered for adoption.

Longoria is scheduled to be sentenced on January 8, 2020 before U.S. District judge Christopher A. Boyko. 

Ministry of Gender officials were not readily available for comment. 

Source

Supa Sigiri’s Relieve Households In Uganda Of Annual Excessive Charcoal Expenses

By Staff Writer The Government of Uganda through the Uganda Clean Cooking Supply Chain Expansion Project, a Government of Uganda project, implemented by Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) is encouraging the public to use improved cook stoves dubbed 'Supa Sigiris' designed to use less charcoal, emit less smoke and cook faster than the ordinary cooking […]

The post Supa Sigiri's Relieve Households In Uganda Of Annual Excessive Charcoal Expenses appeared first on BigEye.UG.

Source