Inside Gen Museveni, Mbabazi Kisozi meet

Photos of President Museveni and former Prime Minister John Patrick Amama Mbabazi in a private meeting on New Year's Eve stirred an intense political debate on social media.

The meeting happened at the president's Kisozi ranch in the central district of Gomba. The presidential team that posted the photos on social media didn't provide any detail stirring up a speculation frenzy. To some, the meeting had actualized a long-held rumour of Mbabazi's possible return to cabinet or to the NRM where he was the all-powerful secretary general until his ouster in December 2014 when he declared his presidential run against Museveni.

Mbabazi's 2016 presidential challenge scarred his four-decade friendship with President Museveni. At Kisozi, Museveni took Mbabazi on a tour of the farm before resting under a tent.

Mbabazi is seen in photos holding an envelope. The envelope, according to well-placed sources, contained correspondences Mbabazi had shared with Museveni about the Brazzaville Foundation – a UK based international charity, where Mbabazi serves as a member of its advisory board.

"About three weeks earlier, Mbabazi had sent Museveni an invitation to join other African heads of state in Lomé [Togo] for the launch of the Lomé initiative on fake drugs and drug trafficking. Originally, Museveni had scheduled to meet Mbabazi over the invitation on January 4 but pushed it forward to December 31," a source said.

Museveni reportedly called Mbabazi in the morning on December 31 and asked him to find him at Kisozi.

Mbabazi had been expected to issue a statement about the meeting but changed plans and "decided to enjoy" the speculation on social media. He went as far as joking at a gathering that everything was set for him to become a Resident District Commissioner (RDC) for Nakapiripirit district.

THE LOMÉ INITIATIVE

The Observer at the time was however told that Mbabazi's mission was to follow up on the Brazzaville Foundation's invitation to Museveni to attend the heads of state summit, which was held last week in the Togolese capital Lomé.

Mbabazi sits on the organisation's advisory board together with José Ramos-Horta, a Nobel peace prize winner, Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigerian president, Kgalema Motlanthe who served as President of South Africa between September 2008 and May 2009 and Kabiné Komara, the former prime minister of Guinea.

Others are philanthropist Cecilia Attias, Pär Stenbäck, the former general secretary of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Sundeep Waslekar, the president of the Strategic Foresight Group, Mathews Phosa, the former general treasurer of South Africa's ruling party ANC and Amara Essy, Ivory Coast's former Foreign Affairs minister.

Amama Mbabazi (3R) welcomes Museveni in Lomé

Prince Michael of Kent, a paternal first cousin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is the organisation's patron. According to a statement released by the organization, its primary objective is to develop economic, environmental and conflict prevention initiatives to promote sustainable development, strengthen the rule of law, and facilitate peaceful cooperation on the African continent.

"It takes its name and inspiration from the Brazzaville Accords, signed in the Congolese capital on December 13, 1988. A key moment in modern African history, the Accords are an example of Africans taking the lead, negotiating a peaceful resolution to the South African conflict, thereby paving the way for the end of Apartheid," reads a statement issued by the foundation.

 Museveni attended the summit with presidents; Macky Sall (Senegal), Mahamadou Issoufou (Niger), Nana Akufo-Addo (Ghana), Adama Barrow (The Gambia), Denis Sassou-Nguesso (Congo) and the host Faure Gnassingbe (Togo).

The summit discussed the growing global threat posed by the trafficking of fake medicines. It is estimated that between 10 and 15 per cent of all pharmaceutical products sold around the world are falsified.

The situation is said to be worse in Africa, with some regions recording as high as 60 percentage of falsified medicines, which has caused the death of nearly 122,000 children before the fifth birthday.

The foundation took up the fight against fake medicines in March 2017 in Oyo, Congo, leading to two major operations by Interpol in 2018. Meanwhile, Uganda's beef will have 'space' in the United Kingdom market, thanks to a commitment by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Addressing the UK-Africa investment summit in London on Monday morning, Johnson displayed unusual charm to the African leaders, underlining the need for closer business with the UK.

On Uganda, he said "I told H.E Kaguta Museveni that his beef cattle will have an honored place on the tables of Britain."

Immediately, State Minister for Investment Evelyn Anite, also attending the summit, called this an opportunity tweeting "Big thanks to PM. Boris for this great opportunity for the Ugandan beef farmers."

sadabkk@observer.ug

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Boda boda rider arrested over UPDF dog tag chain

A boda boda rider Paul Mugerwa has been arrested and detained at Kawempe police station over alleged illegal possession of a Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) chain commonly known as dog tag.   

Mugerwa, a resident of Kiganda Zone in Kawempe Division, Kampala was arrested by police officers deployed at Paniafrica Company Limited when they saw him wearing the UPDF chain, which contains the registration number and name of individual UPDF soldiers.   

The officers questioned Mugerwa on the particulars of the chain but he had no idea - leading to his arrest and subsequent detention at Kawepe police station. 

The name tag belongs to R/A214238 Deo Nandyaka, a UPDF soldier. In his statement at Kawempe police station, Mugerwa claims that he picked the chain from Big Brother House bar in Kawempe. 

Deputy Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigire, says that Mugerwa is being held on charges of illegal possession of government stores as police try to track the owner of the UPDF chain.

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Last Friday, or rather Saturday morning, was yet another epic moment as one of Uganda's biggest artistes Eddy Kenzo served his fans with 'Semwekozo' Cocktails. It was the BET award winner's turn to showcase what he had up his sleeves when it comes to bartending. The 'Stamina' singer real name Edrisah Musuuza despite being muslim, […]

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Capital Shoppers, Tuskys' bakeries closed over poor hygiene

Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has closed several bakeries belonging to top supermarkets around Kampala for failure to adhere to basic health standards.

The bakeries include that of Capital Shoppers in Ntinda and Nakawa branches, Tuskys supermarket Ntinda and Nansana branches, and Mega Standard on Burton street. Others are S&S supermarket in Nkumba and Outlet bakery at Freedom City.

In a statement issued by UNBS on Tuesday, the closed bakeries had filthy operating areas that put the lives of the consumers at risk. The standards body posted pictures online showing dirty water, and unwashed utensils used to bake.

In a statement, UNBS said it held a sensitization meeting with the owners of the bakeries last October. It cautioned supermarket owners against poor hygiene and selling of products that are not certified.

Outside Kampala, the agency also closed several bakeries in Mbale, Arua and Masindi. The standards body warned supermarkets to remove expired products from their shelves, ensure foodstuffs are not mixed with detergents or perfumes.

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Three trainees die during police training

Two female and one male trainee have died at the ongoing military training at Police Training School (PTS) at Kabalye in Masindi district.

4500 Probation Police Constables (PPCs) and 500 Learner Assistant Inspectors of Police (LAIPs) started a one-year police course in September last year.

It is alleged that two female trainees lost their lives due to over bleeding after they got miscarriages during the 52 days of training. Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said he was still waiting for a report from PTS commandant, ACP Abubaker Ziwedde. Nevertheless, Enanga said it is not unusual for trainees to die during this kind of training. 

"Usually, during some of the rigorous training programs, of course, due to dehydration and so on, there are those trainees who get so weak. But we shall need to find out at least; based on the postmortem report what was the cause of death? Was it something arising out of natural or unnatural causes?" said Enanga.  

Though details of the victims have remained scanty, a source at Naguru police headquarters said a special probe has been set up to understand how pregnant ladies were admitted for the training because it is against the recruitment procedures.

"After the death of female trainees whose death was attributed to miscarriage as a result of rigorous exercises, a fresh medical examination was conducted and three other ladies were found pregnant. They are still stuck at the school," said the source.

A source said the trainees died because of intense military training that is always undertaken by all police trainees in their first two months commonly referred to as '52 days of sleepless nights.' It is said one female trainee dropped dead in the fourth week, while another female and male trainee died in November and December respectively.

Nevertheless, the source put the death toll to five so far, while those that are sick are eight. At least 20 military trainees arrived at PTS to take the recruits into rigorous military training in September two weeks after they had arrived for the course.  

The recruitment exercise that started in July last year was marred with scandals after 130 recruits were rejected upon reaching the school because they had incorrect academic papers and health documents.

Inspector general of police, Martins Okoth Ochola ordered for fresh scrutiny of all files of trainees and it was established that over 2,100 were above the required age. For PPCs, they were supposed to be between 18 and 22 years, while LAIPs were supposed to be between 23 and 25 years old.

With almost half of the trainees being overage, the police's policy advisory committee (PAC) chaired by Ochola resolved to tactically re-advertise 2000 vacancies purposely to accommodate the 2000 recruits who were on the verge of being turned down. The age qualification was amended from 22 to 25 years for PPCs and 25 to 28 for LAIPs.

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