Police: Lukwago Lawyers Stage-Managed Police Brutality

Police officers manhandle City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago’s lawyer Abdallah Kiwanuka after he came to serve a court order to Kampala Minister Frank Tumwebaze, who was conducting a KCCA council that later impeached the mayor on Monday. Photo by Abubaker Lubowa

Police has accused the lawyers representing embattled Kampala City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago for deliberately acting to discredit the force during the council session convened to impeach the Kampala Lord Mayor.
On the day the council voted Lukwago out of office, the High Court issued an injunction declaring the process null and void.
Lukwago’s lawyers were blocked from delivering the court order to Minister of the Presidency and Kampala Frank Tumwebaze. Tumwebaze was chairing the session.
Abdallah Kiwanuka, one of Lukwago’s lawyers managed to get past the KCCA gate but was brutally arrested and thrown out by heavily armed police officers. Video footage of the arrests were shown on several television stations across the country.
However, police has come out and denied the allegations of assaulting Kiwanuka. Police maintains that Kiwanuka simply acted to elicit public sympathy for Lukwago.
The comment was made by Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander Andrew Felix Kaweesi. Kaweesi claims that Kiwanuka provoked police by attempting to force his way into the hall despite repeated requests to leave City Hall premises.

KCCA Councilor Allan Ssewanyana being manhandled after he tried to present a court order.

The commander claims that when police tried to force him out, he threw himself down to the ground to portray that the police had brutally beaten him up. Kaweesi however says police will continue to act professionally when confronted by such people.
General Aronda Nyakairima, the Minister of Internal Affairs, says such acts of violence against police cannot be condoned. Nyakairima says police has always acted professionally and will continue to do so. He however says where there are cases of wrong behaviours by some officers, it will be investigated and culprits punished.
He castigated the act of Kiwanuka and other opposition politicians who always engage the police in running battles and says the force has the capacity to deal with such people.
Several government officials including the Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and Minister for Kampala, Frank Tumwebaze have also condemned the Lukwago team for engaging in street protests. They say government will not relent in its responsibility to protect the residents and their property.
Uganda Law Society (ULS) of which the lawyer Abdallah Kiwanuka is a member have indicated they will sue individual police officers for the rough treatment he received.

Bunyoro Kingdom Demands Unlimited Access To Oil Field

Bunyoro Kingdom’s Omukama Solomon Gafabusa iguru

Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom wants unlimited access to Waraga Oil exploration site in Kaiso-Tonya Buseruka Sub county, Hoima district.
 
Kingdom officials claim it is at Waraga where Bunyoro’s ancient King, Omukama Isaza Nyakikooto Waraga Rugambanabato, was buried in the 11th century. They argue that the area is an important historical site in Bunyoro.
It is however, now under threat of extinction following the discovery of oil around it. The area lies within Tullow Uganda’s Waraga Oil Exploration Site in Tonya Parish, Buseruka Sub County. The Kingdom argues that for hundreds of years, the area has been preserved. The kingdom team used to visit the area on a monthly basis to perform rituals there.
Ronald Isagara, the Mugema, or officer in charge Burial and Cultural sites in Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom, says ever since Tullow Uganda took over the area about six years ago, accessibility to the site has been limited.
He says the oil exploration company cordoned off the area making it impossible for the kingdom traditionalists to access it.
Isagara fears that this important cultural site faces extinction if government and the oil companies do not allow the kingdom team to go and preserve it. During a dialogue between Bunyoro kingdom officials and Tullow Oil Uganda on Wednesday, the Waraga issue took centre stage. The Mugema asked for permission to occasionally visit the site.
The Mugema says he is now traversing Bunyoro to identify all cultural sites, as the kingdom intends to rehabilitate and preserve them. He says although many have been encroached on, the kingdom will reclaim them. He explains however, that it may be hard to reclaim the Waraga Cultural site where oil exploration is taking place.
Didas Muhumuza, Tullow Uganda’s Stakeholder Engagement Manager, says the Kingdom’s claim on Waraga area was put to the company’s attention. He however declined to comment further, saying Tullow is only a contractor of government.
Catherine Bekunda, the Communications Officer at the Ministry of Energy, says the kingdom can only be granted permission to Waraga oil site when they write to the ministry. She says the request should clearly indicate the reason they want to visit the area.
According to Bruhan Kyokuhaire, the Bunyoro Kingdom minister of culture, Isaza Nyakikooto Waraga was the first king of Bunyoro to eat fish and that fish was named after him, Waraga.
Though the mythical king died thousands of years ago, his burial site remains vital in Bunyoro as people go there to pray for blessings and perform cultural rituals.
Early last year Yolam Nsamba, the Principal Private Secretary to Omukama Solomon Gafabusa Iguru, blamed government and Tullow for not consulting the kingdom before tampering with the cultural site.

IGG Silent On Lukwago Saga

IGG Irene Mulyagonja (L)

Uganda’s IGG Irene Mulyagonja yesterday refused to comment on the ongoing standoff between Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and the central government, saying the matter is subjudice.
The subjudice rule requires that matters which are before court for determination shouldn’t be commented upon especially in a manner capable of influencing the judge.
Mulyagonja was prompted by a journalist who demanded to know why she wasn’t pronouncing herself on the impending stand off between the executive and judiciary over perceived determination by executive to defy Justice Yasiin Nyanzi’s ruling re-instating Lukwago.
The journalists became curious when Mulyagonja told them the inspectorate she heads has a mandate to contribute on the quality of governance in Uganda besides fighting corruption.
“On the ongoing contempt of court in Kampala…what do you have to say about it as the IGG and former Judge,” a journalist asked.
Mulyagonja said: “That matter is subjudice. It’s before court for determination and it’s not proper to comment about it now.”
She explained that whereas they are mandated to pronounce themselves on governance issues, the IG officers are not expected to take partisan positions.
“The other day an organization came asking us to speak out on term limits limiting the Movement’s tenure but we refused because that isn’t expected of us as the Inspectorate,” she said.
Mulyagonja was speaking to reporters after seeing off Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi who was chief walker in the city match the Ombudsman organized against corruption.
The anti-corruption match went around the city and ended at National Theatre gardens where Mulyagonja addressed a news conference. The match is part of the week-long activities meant to mark 25 years of existence for the IGG’s office. The events climax next Monday with a public debate on corruption in Kampala.
The Lukwago issue, which Mulyagonja refused to comment about, has ignited angry debate in the country with MPs vowing to censure Kampala Minister Frank Tumwebaze accusing him of contempt of court.
During a specially-convened news conference last Friday, Mbabazi, supported by police and a host of cabinet ministers, announced governnent wouldn’t be bound by Justice Nyanzi’s court order because he didn’t issue it in good faith. He accordingly ordered police and KCCA ED Jennifer Musisi not to allow Lukwago gain any access to city hall, the headquarters of KCCA.
The state’s actions have since attracted angry reactions from civic leaders such as the Buganda Katikkiro Peter Mayiga and Kampala Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga who has since despised police brutality saying it’s reminiscent of Amin’s days.
Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo yesterday morning appeared on NBS TV’s morning breeze and dismissed Lwanga saying he has no moral authority to speak for Catholics in Uganda.

Corruption Index 2013: Uganda Drops 14 Places

In June this year, former Principal Accountant in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Geoffrey Kazinda was sentenced to 5 years in jail after he was found guilty for forging 26 signatures of his then boss and Pius Bigirimana.

Uganda has fallen 14 steps in the 2013 corruption perception index, according to the Transparency International report.
The index ranks 177 countries by their perceived levels of public-sector corruption. It draws on surveys covering expert assessments and views of business people.
Uganda is ranked at 140/177 and scored 26 as compared to last year when it was ranked the 130th most corrupt country in the world.
Denmark and New Zealand tied for first place out of 177 countries – meaning they were perceived to have the lowest levels of state sector graft.
The latest perceptions of corruption index says Somalia is the world’s most corrupt country. Botswana ranks as Africa’s least corrupt.

Radio One Bosses Sacked Over Lukwago

Ugandan Finance Minister Maria Kiwanuka. She is the owner of Radio One.

Radio one station manager Jeff Kiwanuka Tuesday morning swung his axe even further by halting the services of more presenters.
The affected presenters are mostly from Radio one’s sister radio kaboozi kubiri.
They include; Basajjamivule aka Abbey Sewakiryanga, PK Bossa Ssengendo, Simon Kaggwa Njala and Kamya Makumbi, the latest victim.
Kiwanuka, acting on orders of owner and Finance Minister Maria Kiwanuka, has been separately ringing these presenters asking them to stay away from the station. Fearing to be sued for wrongful dismissal, radio one management has been witty, sacking them without anything written.
INSIDE STORY
We have obtained details behind these actions. Sources say Kiwanuka has been under pressure to restrain these political presenters from hosting any opposition actors to discuss the Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago impeachment which court has since declared null and void.
Makumbi’s troubles began way back after independence when he hosted Col Besigye and Erias Lukwago to discuss why they walked out on the president during the celebrations in Rukungiri.
Apparently, his crime was hosting Kintu Nyago, a lightweight politician, to counter whatever scorn the two political giants poured on President Museveni that evening. The show was held on Eid Day and Nyago cried out saying Makumbi should have invited a heavier person like PM Amama Mbabazi or Frank Tumwebaze.
Makumbi ignored him saying as a former PPS to the president, he was good enough to counter Besigye and Lukwago. Sources close to Maria Kiwanuka say since that day security, whose moles are always listening, recording and scrutinizing all talk shows, blacklisted Kamya Makumbi and waited for an opportunity to strike.
As for Basajjamivule, his problem was all of a sudden changing to begin bashing KCCA boss Jennifer Musisi who used to be his ally. Claiming betrayal and being sidelined by KCCA iron lady, Mivule has lately been very belligerent towards Musisi while glorifying Lukwago whom he has been bashing on his morning show called Kalasamayanzi.
He onetime threatened to reveal Musisi’s best kept secrets, being someone formerly close to her, something security may not have liked.
As for PK Bossa, he is one journalist Tamale Mirundi has been complaining against arguing that his morning show, co-hosted with one Ddembe Zaina, is a platform to propagate DP propaganda.
Njala’s trouble stems from airing a mid morning program on kaboozi kubiri during which people call in and bash the central government. The state is also uncomfortable with morning breeze program on NBS TV which hosts political debates every morning.
“I’m in trouble. All my programs are being complained against but I will keep trying to be professional, objective and cautious” Njala told his NBS viewers Tuesdayday morning.
He looked scared and very pensive. Meanwhile, Top Radio’s Richard Kamagu, who security sources have since blacklisted as a Sejusa man, is back on air and has continued demonizing anti-Lukwago councilors. He was recently arrested and detained at Wandegeya police station ostensibly for being hostile to KCCA technical wing.

Journalists’ Body Condemns ‘Crackdown’ On Media

Uganda’s Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRNJ) has appealed to government to stop harassing journalists.
This appeal comes on the heels of several cases of arrests, intimidation and relocations of journalists who have been commenting about the ongoing standoff at Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).

Uganda’s Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRNJ) has appealed to government to stop harassing journalists.

Robert Sempala, the HRNJ National Coordinator also asked government to stop threatening with closure, media houses that offer a platform to those who hold divergent views about the ongoing events within the City leadership.
The wrangle started on November 25th when over 20 journalists were blocked from accessing the KCCA chambers to cover the controversial impeachment of Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago.
Moments later the KCCA Executive Director Jennifer Musisi attacked the media alleging that they allowed political protagonists to use radio to communicate messages that have incited the public to attack KCCA staff. On Monday, some KCCA workers were attacked and beaten in downtown Kampala.
Sempala has called on media managers to ignore Musisi’s statements and resist what he calls unwarranted pressure from state agencies, but instead stick to their professional and progressive way of managing their media houses.
Sempala further cites some of the staff of Radio Akaboozi, which is a sister station to Radio One,who are currently on suspension over their conduct while on air. Those on suspension include; Basajjamivule also known as Abbey Sewakiryanga, PK Bossa Ssengendo, Simon Kaggwa Njala and Kamya Makumbi. The radio is owned by Finance Minister Maria Kiwanuka.

Kadaga Orders Police To Vacate Lukwago Home

Speaker of parliament Rebecca Kadaga

Uganda’s Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has ordered the Uganda Police to immediately vacate the home of beleaguered Kampala City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and allow him access to food.
Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander Felix Kaweesi yesterday said they are at Lukwago’s home after receiving reports he wants to storm City Hall, KCCA’s headquarters with a group of youths and cause chaos.
Kaweesi added that they will continue deployment at Lukwago’s home until they are sure he has dropped his move to cause chaos in the city.
However, on Tuesday afternoon, Kadaga ordered the police to vacate the mayor’s Wakaligga home.
“Government should allow and send food to Lukwago and Besigye ‘s house holds immediately” Kadaga ordered.
This was prompted by complaints from mainly opposition MPs that Lukwago and his family had been denied access to food.
Leader of Opposition in parliament in parliament Nandala Mafabi expressed his dissatisfaction with the way Lukwago and Besigye are being treated by the police saying “As we speak now, Besigye and Lukwago have been confined in their houses for the last 4 days”
“For the last week Lukwago has not accessed the bank, he asked for money from me but police refused me to give him money” Muwanga Kivumbi said of Lukwago’s ordeal.

Embattled Kampala City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago (L) in a verbal exchange with a police officer at his home. Looking on is KCCA councilor Allan Ssewanyana.

However, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi denied this saying “Everyone in Lukwago’s house is being given food, I will not take at face value the accusation that they are not being given food”
There were chaotic scenes at Lukwago’s home on Monday as his supporters battled police in an unsuccessful attempt to ‘free him from preventive arrest’.
Teargas and bullets were reportedly fired to disperse the irate supporters of the may

Back Off Tumwebaze, NRM Caucus Tells MPs

No nonsense Kampala Minister Frank Tumwebaze.

Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has asked its legislators to withdraw from the censure motion against Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister in Charge of Kampala Capital City Authority.
The decision was reached in the NRM caucus meeting Tuesday morning chaired by David Bahati, the Deputy NRM chief whip.
Recently, a group legislators led by Abdi Kisosi Chemaswet, the Kween county Member of Parliament embarked on the collection of signatures to censure the minister following the controversy surrounding the impeachment of Erias Lukwago, the Lord Mayor Kampala Capital City Authority. It came after Justice Yassin Nyanzi ruled the impeachment of Lukwago null and void.
However, the NRM leadership argues that the censure motion against Tumwebaze is unnecessary because he acted within the law. The party also says the injunction issued by the high court registrar to stop the impeachment of the lord mayor was a sham.
According to the sources, the vice president Edward Ssekandi reportedly told the caucus that the court order should be investigated saying it was issued in disregard of the court procedures. Ssekandi reportedly argued that the time when the order was issued is suspect because no court sits before 9 AM yet the injunction was delivered before that time.
He also argued that Allan Ssewanyana, the Makindye councilor was not the right person to serve the order since he doesn’t work in court. Sources further intimated to URN that during the meeting, top party officials asked the MPs to explain why they want to censure the minister. Medard Bitekyerezo, the Mbarara Municipality one of the petitioners reportedly said he had personal problems with the minister. He however accepted to withdraw from the petition as directed by party leadership.
When approached by our reporter, Bitekyerezo confirmed withdrawing from the censure motion but denied telling the caucus that he had personal issues with the minister.
However, Abdi Kisosi Chemaswet, the Kween county Member of Parliament and lead petitioner stuck to his position saying he would continue with the censure. Chemaswet insisted that Tumwebaze violated the constitution and other laws that govern Uganda. The NRM caucus was convened to discuss events that have transpired at KCCA since the impeachment of Lukwago.

Nakivubo Park Yard Market: Vendors Clash With Police

No nonsense commander of Police operations Sam Omala oversees security after the Nakivuubo Park Yard fire.

The Old Taxi Park in Kampala was the scene of running battles between traders and angry vendors of Nakivubo Park Yard market.
It all started after police blocked the vendors from accessing their burnt stalls in Nakivubo park yard market, which was gutted by fire at around 4am in the wee hours of this morning.
Police also sealed off key access roads to Nakivubo park yard market to block the traders.  As a result, some of the traders who were gathered at Ben Kiwanuka street started pelting cops with stones demanding to be allowed to access the market. Police responded by opening fire and teargas to disperse the angry traders leading to running battles.
Some of the traders ran for dear life to Old- Taxi Park with police in hot pursuit.
Andrew Felix Kaweesi, the Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander later arrived at the market and ordered Samuel Omala, the Officer in Charge of Operation to evict some of the vendors who had made their way to the burnt market.
This followed reports that Erias Lukwago, the embattled Kampala Lord is scheduled to visit the market and empathize with the affected vendors. The exact cause of the fire is yet to be established.
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Nakivubo Park Yard Market: Vendors Clash With Police

t’s no idle boast that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill christened Uganda the “The Pearl of Africa.” When it comes to wildlife conservation and eco-tourism, Uganda does command outstanding respect. However, a visit to the country cannot be complete if some time is not set aside to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The park can be reached from Kampala either by air or road. From Kampala, the park can be approached from the south via Mbarara (420 km) or the north passing through Fort Portal (410 km). Three airstrips serve Queen Elizabeth National Park and these include Ishasha, Mweya and Kasese airfield.

This 2,056 square kilometre park was established in 1952 when the two game reserves of Lake George and Edward were merged into Kazinga National Park. Two years later it was renamed Queen Elizabeth National Park when Queen Elizabeth II of England visited Uganda.
It is one of the oldest national parks in Uganda and is designated as a Biosphere Reserve for Humanity under the auspices of UNESCO. Together with Kyambura and Kigezi wildlife reserves, the park forms one of the most diverse eco-systems in Africa.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is really enticing. Take time off and visit it. Visit with your family or that special person in your life, but go prepared to fall in love all over again for the park is blessed with spectacular scenery and attractions to fill one action packed holiday and still leave scores of other experiences to be enjoyed on a return trip.

The low attitude and its location directly on the equator mean that the temperatures can be warm, rising from a mean minimum 18ºC to mean maximum of 28ºC. The park receives up to 1250mm of rain mostly from March to May and September to November. The melting glacier waters of the Rwenzori Mountains create a vast wetland system comprising of two main lakes George and Edward. Edward was named by the explorer Henry Morton Stanley after the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII.
The two lakes are connected by a 40km long channel whose shorelines are populated by thousands of hippos and birds all year round.
This park is a paradise for dedicated ornithologists as well as the novice bird watcher. The bird list is 612 species including the rare Shoe Bill, the Martial Eagle, Papyrus Gonolek, White tailed lark, Verraux’s Eagle Owl and the Lesser and Greater Flamingos.
The park is an ultimate feast for all senses. There are over 95 mammalian and hundreds of butterfly species. Activities like the launch cruise along Kazinga Channel will offer you a unique unequaled wildlife experience. It puts one right in the heart of nature where many Hippos nest in the water while big herds of elephants can be seen enjoying themselves along the channel banks.
Many who experience it consider it the highlight of their entire African safari. The launch cruise schedules run in the morning and afternoon. The open savannah dotted with Acacia and Euphorbia trees provides habitat for lions, leopards, buffalos and Uganda kobs. Among the many other animals seen frequently are the water bucks, giant forest hog, hyenas and topi.
Networked by over 200 kilometres of well maintained tracks, the visitors get access to the park’s game as some of the tracks pass through large mating grounds of the Uganda kob.
The Kasenyi sector on the east side of Kasese road is best known for lions which prey on large populations of the Uganda kob while the famous tree climbing lions can be spotted on large fig trees in the Ishasha sector which is 100 km south of the Mweya Penisular.
Another principal feature of the park is Kyambura Gorge. This steep gorge was formed by turbulent waters of the roaring Kyambura River. It provides a lush riverine forest that is home to chimpanzees, red tailed monkeys, black and white Columbus monkeys, olive baboons and other primates.
The park also has one of Uganda’s largest tracts of tropical forest – Maramagambo forest which translates as “the forest beyond description”. This forest stretches from the foot of the Kichwamba escarpment to Lake Edward. Pythons are often observed in the crevices of the bat cave floor using the bats as a source of food.

The cave is near the copper rich blue lake and hunters’ cave. Beautiful crater lakes are spread throughout the park, the most notable being the Katwe explosion craters.
This cluster of extinct volcanoes north of Mweya peninsula can be explored by the winding 27km crater drive between the main and equator gates which provide superb views into the numerous craters.
As Christmas is getting closer, I recommend Buffalo Safari Resort, located in Katunguru, Queen Elizabeth National Park, overlooking Lake Rubirizi which is not only a jungle safari resort with a touch of class but it’s also a sanctuary for birds and other animals particularly the buffalo that come to drink.
If you are looking for a vacation get away, a romantic weekend, Buffalo Safari Resort will surely provide you with an extraordinary experience!
Other budget and up market facilities are also available in the park and could be good options for families but also for free independent travelers.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is truly amazing – take your camera, for you will want to record all the wonders you will see!

At least 81 people were injured on Wenesday following protest by Nakivubo Park Yard Vendors, Uganda Redcross Society has disclosed.

At least 81 people were injured on Wenesday following protest by Nakivubo Park Yard Vendors, Uganda Redcross Society has disclosed.

The fire destroyed property worth billions of shillings

The protests started after police blocked vendors from accessing their burnt stalls in Nakivubo park yard market following a fire outbreak.
Among the 81 people, 28 were referred to Mulago Hospital after sustaining serious injuries during city riots and 53 of them sustained minor injuries.
According to Catherine Ntabadde the Public Relations Officer of Uganda Red Cross, the serious injuries included bullet wounds, deep wounds resulting from stones, unconsciousness and body swellings.
Ntabadde said that minor injuries included fainting, effects of tear gas, bruises and cuts.
Red Cross Recovery area was set up at the Uganda Red Cross Society First Aid Post at the Old Taxi Park to provide first aid services before any evacuations were done.
Two Uganda Red Cross ambulances were deployed and about 25 first aiders.
The Park Yard Market fire first broke out at 4am in the wee hours of Wednesday morning completely destroying the market without any merchandise saved.
Police, which was key in keeping law and order in and around the burnt market, was involved in fights with angry vendors who wanted to access the market.
Police commanded by officers like Sam Omala battled to keep vendors and the curious from the scene of the fire in vain.
Kampala Metropolitan Commander Andrew Felix Kaweesi addressed the vendors before an emergency meeting was convened to chart a way forward.
He said Police would continue to monitor the area to ensure criminal elements do not take advantage of the chaos at Park Yard.
By evening the situation was turning back to normal as affected vendors were still desperately searching for remains of their merchandise in the market.

Tinye Throws Last Dice

Renegade Ugandan General David Sejusa, the former Coordinator of Intelligence Services has missed his last chance to appear before the Parliamentary Rules, Privileges and Discipline Committee to explain his continued absence from the house.

General David Ssejusa

On October 17th, the committee wrote to Sejusa asking him to appear in person and defend his absentia from parliament, where he represents the army.
It came after Sejusa, who fled the country in April this year snubbed earlier summons issued by the committee. The summons were dispatched to the General through the British media, Foreign Affairs ministry, the British Embassy, his known personal Email Address and the Pigeon hall.
Fox Odoi, the chairperson Parliamentary Rules, Privileges and Discipline Committee said Thursday Ssejusa was expected to appear before the committee on Thursday at 11am but he was a no show.
He said as a result, the committee is left with no option but to write its report without hearing from Ssejusa and present it to the house next week.
He said the committee will look at the all the evidence tabled before it by some of the witnesses who testified before it and written correspondences between the office of the speaker and the purported lawyers of Ssejusa.
General Ssejusa fled into exile in April this year after authorizing a letter, in which he called for investigations into a plot to bump off senior army officers and politicians opposed to plans by President Yoweri Museveni to have his son Kainerugaba Muhoozi replace him.

Prison Officers Investigated for Overworking Prisoners

Members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament are calling for a thorough investigation of Prison Officer’s and Commissioner’s for subjecting prisoners to casual labor on their farms with no pay.

Luzira Prisoners

This came up during the appearance of Prisons Officers led by Prisons under Secretary Simon Kimono before the committee to answer to audit queries in auditor general’s report of 2010/2011.
The officials struggled to explain why prisoners are subjected to casual labor outside prisons’ farms yet they are not rewarded for their work.
This after MP Eddie Kwizera, the acting lead counsel of PAC demanded to know how much money prisoners earn from their work and how much goes to the prisons department saying that it is well known that prisoners are subjected to work on farms in villages and on prison officials farms.
Kimono said that the Commissioner General instructed in a circular that a record of all earnings by prisoners out of farm work be kept which is 2,500 Shs per prisoner on a worked day and the money be given to prisoners to carter for their basic needs such as toiletries, sugar and others which are not usually provided in prisons.
However, the committee established that prisoners are not aware of what they are supposed to earn and Kimono was betrayed by a self confessed commissioner Rwigyiama who told MPs that he has ever used prisoners on his farm but that he had paid them.
In his defense, Kimono told the committee that he cannot keep over 800 prisoner’s idle saying that it could be a source of insecurity if they are not occupied with work.
Arua Woman MP Bako Christine says that all prisons officers should be investigated for subjecting prisoners to labor on their farms and at the same time giving them one meal a day which she said is inhumane.

DRC Army To M23: Surrender And Save Your Lives

M23 rebels fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have been advised to surrender if they want to save their lives.

A Congolese army tank patrols outside Bunagana in eastern Congo close to the Uganda border on October 31, 2013.

On Wednesday, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) recaptured Bunagana, one of the last remaining strongholds of the March 23 movement (M23), raising hopes that the end to the 18-month-old rebellion is near.
The rebels fled to the nearby hills where about 200 die-hard fighters are still holding up at an altitude of about 2,000 meters.
The army is preparing to launch a final offensive against the M23 rebels, who defected from the FARDC in April 2012 in protest over alleged mistreatment in the army.
On Friday, Congolese army spokesman Olivier Amuli said the rebels were “caught in a vice”.
“We are giving a final chance to all M23 fighters to surrender,” Amuli said, as the army carried out mopping up operations to end the insurgency.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, said that “several dozen” M23 rebels had surrendered to the UN peacekeepers.
On Monday, UN special representative to Congo Martin Kobler told the Security Council, “We are witnessing the military end of the M23.”
“Practically all M23 positions were abandoned yesterday, except for a small triangle at the Rwandan border,” said Kobler, who is also the head of the 20,000-strong MONUSCO.
He said the M23 had abandoned a key position on Mount Hehu near the Rwandan border, adding, “It is practically the military end of the M23.”
Speaking to the nation on Wednesday night, Congolese President Joseph Kabila asked the remaining M23 rebels to surrender, saying, “I reiterate my call to the members of this armed group who have just been flushed out of our territory… to demobilize themselves voluntarily.”
“Failure to do so will leave us with no option but to force them to do by force,” he stated.
The M23 rebels and several other armed groups are active in the eastern Congo and are fighting for control of the country’s vast mineral resources, such as gold, the main tin ore cassiterite, and coltan (columbite-tantalite), which is used to make many electronic devices, including cell phones.
Since early May 2012, nearly three million people have fled their homes in the eastern Congo. About 2.5 million have resettled in Congo, but about 500,000 have crossed into neighboring Rwanda and Uganda.
Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades, such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country that has dragged on since 1998 and left over 5.5 million people dead.

Tumwine Accuses Parliament Of Wasting Time On Sejusa

http://bit.ly/1h68E5R
The chairperson of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) Caucus in the Ugandan Parliament, General Elly Tumwine has accused the Rules Committee of wasting their time on renegade General David Sejusa’s saying the matter is supposed to be quietly handled by the UPDF.

General Elly Tumwine

Tumwine said this on Thursday while appearing before the Rules Committee of the country’s Parliament that is investigating the absence of General Sejusa who has missed over 15 sittings of the House..
Tumwine questioned what more the committee is investigating saying that he himself heard from Sejusa that he was to fight the government.
He said the General is undisciplined saying that under normal circumstances, he was supposed to copy his request of leave submitted to the Speaker to him as the chairperson of members of UPDF caucus.
He described General Sejusa’s conduct and missing of House sittings as total indiscipline, rebellion and abuse of his country.
Meanwhile, Uganda’s Deputy Chief of Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Charles Angina who on Thursday also appeared before the same committee asked Parliament to allow the army fill renegade General David Sejusa’s seat in Parliament.
Angina reasoned that the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) is like a soccer team that needs all its 11 players on the pitch at all times. He noted that Sejusa’s absence means the team is one man less.
The UPDF is under the Special Interest Groups in Parliament and is represented by 10 members including Angina and his boss, CDF Katumba Wamala.
Contrary to the earlier statements by the State Minister of Defence Jeje Odongo and those of CDF Katumba Wamala, Angina told the Rules Committee that General Sejusa has not yet been declared Absent without Official Leave (AWOL).
He said Sejusa never sought permission of leave from the UPDF but added that the Speaker notified them of the continued absence of the General and at the same time inquiring whether UPDF had sent him on official duty hence keeping him away for long.
Angina said Parliament which provided leave to Sejusa should be in position to tell whether he is on official leave or not. He noted that Sejusa is still in service and that he currently still represents UPDF in the House.
He however noted that the controversial General, who until April was coordinating intelligence services in the country, is risking his life by being out there in an unknown place.
Sejusa left the country quietly after authoring a controversial dossier in April, accusing President Museveni of having a plan to eliminate political and military officers who oppose a ‘Muhoozi Project’.
The project, according to Sejusa, is to have Museveni’s son, Brigadier Muhoozi Kainerugaba, succeed his father in the top office.
Angina appeared before the committee together with UPDF Chief of Legal Services Brigadier Ramathan Kyamulesire and two other technical officers in UPDF Gordon Busingye and Moses Wandera.
However, Fox Odoi, the Committee Chairperson told General Tumwine to respect the committee and the Rules of Procedure of Parliament and that as UPDF representatives in the House, they are not above the rules of Parliament.
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Jeje Odongo: Sejusa Absence A Threat To The Nation

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Uganda’s State Minister for Defense, General Jeje odongo has said the absence of renegade General David Sejusa is a threat to the security of the nation.
According to Odongo, Sejusa poses a great threat because he was the number one consumer of intelligence reports while still coordinator of Intelligence.
Odongo has also asked the country’s parliament to request the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) to replace renegade General David Sejusa.

The Renegade General David Sejusa a.k.a Tinyefuza.

While appearing before the committee on Tuesday, Odongo noted that General Sejusa is not discharging the responsibility for, which the army sent him to perform in Parliament. He said that as a constituency, they are deprived of that service and therefore requested that the committee recommends to parliament to request UPDF to send another representative.
Abdu Katuntu, the Shadow Attorney General told the Minister that his request should not only work on General Sejusa but that it should also apply to other UPDF representatives in Parliament who have missed over 15 seatings.
Odongo noted that he was not aware of any other UPDF representative who had missed 15 sittings.
Fox Odoi, the chairperson of the Rules Committee rejected Katuntu’s proposal saying other army representatives were not currently under the committee’s investigation.
However, when asked by committee members whether his ministry or UPDF had earlier constituted an investigation into why General David Sejusa had gone missing, Odongo said they had not had such a meeting.
Odongo however, told the committee that he reported the general’s absence to President Museveni after getting confirmation from the Chief of Defense Forces General Edward Katumba Wamala. He refused to disclose what was contained in his communication to the President saying that it was not formal. He said that general Sejusa’s absence required him to notify UPDF and seek authority of Chief of Defense Forces before traveling out of the country.
He also told the committee that general Sejusa has not been replaced yet in his office as Coordinator of Intelligence Services and that he has not yet been declared a deserter in UPDF but that he is considered to be Absent without Leave.
Odongo revealed that certainly General Sejusa has a case to answer in case he appears since he has been declared absent without leave (AWOL).
The General was supposed to be declared a deserter by UPDF after 4 days but Minister Odongo noted that he has not been declared so since the committee that is supposed to do so has not yet convened.
Joseph Luzige, General Ssejusa’s lawyer who was in parliament noted that general Sejusa’s responsibility is in Parliament, where he requested Parliament leave, which was granted.
He however said Sejusa does not mind whether he loses or retains his seat in Parliament but that he is interested in a fair hearing in accordance with the law.
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Sejusa Lawyers Given Thursday Deadline

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Gen David Sejusa, ARMY MP

General David Sejusa’s lawyers have been given up to Thursday this week to present a written document and evidence as to why their client can’t appear before the Rules, Privileges and Discipline committee of Parliament currently investigating his conduct.
Sejusa’s lawyers say their client will not appear physically before the committee because he fears for his safety. The lawyers suggested that the committee explores the option of Skype.
General JJ Odongo attended the session today to give the UPDF’s side as per Sejusa’s continuing absence. Odongo told the MPs that no meeting has been convened by the army council or the high command to discuss the Sejusa’s matter.
Sejusa fled to self-imposed exile in the UK after he made statements about President Yoweri Museveni’s succession plans.
Declared Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL) by the Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Katumba Wamala recently, Wamala however affirmed in a recent press interviews that Sejusa is still in the UPDF and considered a deserter facing arrest any time soon.
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Museveni: If Tinyefunza Wants Force Let Him Come

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President Yoweri Museveni.

Renegade General David Sejusa has finally been dared to effect his threats of using force to overthrow the NRM government by President Museveni. The son of Kaguta back from the United Nations general assembly and state trips in Europe on Wednesday evening told the media at a press conference at State House.

“If he wants to use force, let him come. He knows my address…We have been waiting for him for that”.
Sejusa fled to UK after he made statements about President Yoweri Museveni’s succession plans and in a June interview with the BBC in June, Sejusa vowed to use all available means to unseat President Museveni’s government, which he termed as “a life presidency transiting into a political monarchy”. The man from Rwakitura, however, moved to dispel apprehension that Gen Sejusa had caused his government any uneasiness.

That man (Sejusa) is already a deserter,” said the President. The NRM government has better projects that benefit Ugandans other than concentrating on Tinyefuza now; he is not our priority,” he added.

In April Sejusa then the coordinator of Intelligence agencies in Uganda unleashed a letter he had written to one of the spy chiefs claiming that top officials opposed to the “Muhoozi Project” were marked for elimination.

But the government and His Excellency have since denied plotting for the first Son Muhoozi Kainerugaba a serving military officer to take over from his father. “He (Muhoozi) has never stood for any post at village level how can he stand for Presidency,” Mr Museveni said on Wednesday.http://bit.ly/1h68E5R

Drama As Ssemujju Is ‘Lifted Out’ Of Parliament

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There was drama in the the Ugandan parliament on Wednesday afternoon after one of the country’s lawmakers, Kyadondo East MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda was physically lifted out of the house by the Sergeant-at-arms.
Ssemujju’s trouble stems from the parliamentary session during debate on the controversial Public Order Management Bill in which he was suspended for three sittings together with fellow lawmakers Odonga Otto and Theodore Sekikubo for misconduct.

Kyadondo East MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda was physically lifted out of the house by the Sergeant-at-arms.

The trio was ordered to return to the house with written apologies. The Mps vowed to maintain their stand of accessing the parliament chambers without the apology letters.
However, on Wednesday as the house debated the equally controversial Anti-pornography Bill 2011, Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanya who was chairing the session suspended the house for 10 minutes, to give Hon. Ssemujju Nganda time to move out of the house.
A defiant Ssemujju refused to leave the house forcing the Speaker to ask the sergeant at arms to order Hon. Ssemujju to leave the house.

Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanya

However, Ssemujju refused to leave the house even after the sergeant at arms asked him to leave saying;
“You can carry me if you want, I will enjoy myself, but am not leaving the house,”
It was at this point that the Speaker ordered the sergeant-at-arms to get Ssemujju out of the house.
“I hear by order the sergeant at arms to get the Hon. Member Ssemujju Nganda out of the house ” Oulanyah ordered.
There were dramatic scenes coupled with chaos as Ssemujju was physically lifted out of the house by the sergeant-at-arms.
Ssemujju later held a press conference in parliament and it was here that he accused the speaker of violating parliament rules saying he had served his suspension.
“The speaker has broken all the rules of parliament by suspending me because I already served my 3 day suspension, ” Hon. Ssemujju said.
He added saying ”There were men armed with guns accessing parliament chambers, which is illegal”
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MPs Condemn Ssemujju ‘Eviction’ From House

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Ugandan opposition and Independent Members of Parliament have condemned the humiliating manner in which one of their colleagues, Kyadondo East MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda was forced out of the parliamentary chambers following Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah’s order.

Part of MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda’s coat was torn in the scuffle to evict him from the House.

This was after Oulanyah suspended the House for 10 minutes to allow Semujju withdraw from the chambers but he refused to. Ssemujju was suspended from three sittings with other three MPs during the chaotic Public Order Management Bill and they were to return to the chambers after an apology.
Ssemuju noted that he was not surprised by Oulanyah’s action because he had already warned him during a conversation in his office. Ssemujju claims that Oulanyah promised to act mad against him for  abusing him in the media.
He added that the violence imposed on him will not deter him from defending his rights and the Constitution.
Semujju added that this is a test to Parliament’s rules of Procedure saying that Oulanyah can use this against any other member of parliament.
He alleged that he was carried by armed men who were strangers to the House and locked up in an abandoned room.
MP Sam Otada and Leader of Independent members in the House observed that Oulanyah failed to meet intellectual challenges and used physical means.
He said that Oulanyah’s actions only serve to further shame his name.
He promised to revive the petition made against Oulanyah for his conduct to be investigated.
MP Paul Mwiru representing Jinja Municipality said that the opposition are considering petitioning the Common Wealth Parliamentary Union to intervene in the conduct of the deputy speaker Oulanyah who he said is manipulating the rules of procedure.
He noted that Oulanyah let in armed men in the chambers to carry MP Ibrahim Nganda which contravenes the rules of procedure.
Meanwhile, yesterday the Leader of Opposition Nathan Nandala Mafabi formely wrote the Speaker of Parliament  about the suspension of members Ssemujju Nganda, Samuel Odonga Otto and Theodore Ssekikubo.
He noted that both Semujju and Otto had drawn his attention to a September 27th, 2013 letter written to them by the Clerk to Parliament. The letter directed the two MPs to apologise to parliament as part of the conditions of their suspension.
He noted that the letters were not copied to him as leader of opposition yet both MPs are opposition members but noted that the members were suspended under Rule 80 (4) which he said was invoked by Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah.
The rule provides that if an MP is suspended, his or her suspension on the first occasion shall be for the next three sittings, excluding the sitting in which he or she was suspended.
Mafabi letter’s noted that the members obediently served the suspension and returned to parliament under the provision of the law more than three weeks ago.
Mafabi noted in the letter that it is only under Rule 82 that a member is required to render an apology at the bar. He said that they cannot allow this precedent to be set because many will fall victim.
He noted that the Deputy Speaker as presiding officer cannot single-handedly amend the rules to serve his personal whims.

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Sejusa Declines To Appear Before ‘Flawed’ Parliament Committee

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Renegade Ugandan General David Sejusa has declined to appear before the Parliamentary Rules Committee to explain his continued absence from Parliament.

The Renegade General David Sejusa a.k.a Tinyefuza.

In a written communiqué addressed to the Chairperson of the Rules and Privileges committee, the lead Sejusa lawyer, Ladislaus Rwakafuzi says the General instructed them to communicate to Parliament that he would not appear before the committee over what he termed as a flawed process where the executive exerts undue pressure on the Speaker contrary to the Constitution.
Sejusa was until April this year one of the 10 officers representing the Uganda People’s Defence Forces—UPDF in Parliament. He has been in exile in London where he ran to in April this year after authoring a controversial letter calling for investigation into an alleged assassination attempt of top army generals opposed to a ‘Muhoozi Project.’
The project, according to Sejusa is orchestrated President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who is allegedly grooming his son Brigadier Muhoozi Kainerugaba for presidency.
The army has since then requested the Speaker to kick Sejusa out of Parliament owing to his missing of 15 sittings but the matter was deferred to the Rules and Privileges committee which is to make a report within 10 days.
The letter dated 3rd October means that Sejusa will not appear in person before the committee. When the Committee started its work on Monday, they told indicated that they wanted SAejusa to appear in person. But his lawyers including Caleb Alaka, Laudislaus Rwakafuzi, Joseph Luzige and Mukasa Mbidde communicated that their client had requested to be heard using other channels such as Skype or tele-conferencing.
The former Co-coordinator of national Intelligence has also since formed a group called the ‘Free Uganda’ whose goal is to liberate Uganda from what he termed as ‘poor governance’ of the NRM government. On Wednesday, President Museveni addressed the media and warned Sejusa against waging war.
Sejusa has missed at least 17 sessions of parliament. The rules and privileges committee is investigating whether  Sejusa has a reasonable excuse for staying away from Parliament.
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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has strongly condemned the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union on his country.

Robert Mugabe, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. UN Photo/Ryan Brown

Mugabe made the remarks in his speech to the 68th United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.
“Shame, shame, shame, to the United States of America; shame, shame, shame to Britain and its allies,” he chastised. He added ““Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans, so are its resources. Please remove your illegal and filthy sanctions from my peaceful country.”
Mugabe also said the West’s hunger for domination of other nations is insatiable, adding the US, Britain and their allies are using sanctions against Harare as a “foreign-policy tool to effect regime change.”
“Our small and peaceful country is threatened daily by covetous and bigoted big powers whose hunger for domination and control of other nations and their resources knows no bounds,” he said.
Mugabe said embargo is a form of hostility and violence against the Zimbabwean government, which was just striving to redistribute land to the majority of landless people.
He said that if the sanctions were planned to remove him from power “the results of the recent national elections have clearly shown you what they can do.”
The leader of the southern African country said the embargo imposed by the European Union and the United States violated the UN Charter on state sovereignty.
The West has imposed crushing sanctions on Zimbabwean firms and individuals, including Mugabe.
In August, Southern African leaders called on the West to lift all forms of sanctions leveled against the country.
The leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) made the demand on August 18 in the Malawian capital Lilongwe during the final day of annual SADC summit.
The leaders of the 15-nation bloc called for “the lifting of all forms of sanctions hitherto imposed on Zimbabwe”.
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Al Shabaab Mocks Kenya, Threatens More Attacks

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Somalia’s Al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab rebels have threatened more attacks against Kenya, taking to Twitter to mock the country after Islamist gunmen attacked a Nairobi shopping mall, killing at least 67 people.
“The mesmeric performance by the Westgate Warriors was undoubtedly gripping, but despair not folks, that was just the premiere of Act 1,” the group said in one of a string of messages posted on Twitter overnight.

Kenya Defence Forces soldiers take their position at the Westgate shopping centre on Tuesday..Picture: Noor Khamis/Reuters

The al-Shabaab has said it was responsible for the assault on Westgate, which saw a group of gunmen walk into the part Israeli-owned mall at midday Saturday and gun down shoppers and staff.
Another message said it had been “a great pleasure to have had you completely enthralled for more than 100 hours. What a wonderful audience you’ve been!”.
It also boasted that the “Kenyan government is still in disarray”, saying it “won’t be until several months when it fully comprehends exactly what took place at Westgate”.
Al-Shabaab chief Ahmed Abdi Godane said the Nairobi mall carnage was retaliation for Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia.
Kenya invaded southern Somalia to attack al-Shabaab bases two years ago, and later joined the 17,700-strong African Union force deployed there.
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8 Arrested Over Kenya Mall Attack

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Kenyan officials say they have detained eight suspects and freed three others as investigations into a four-day siege at the westgate mall which ended with the death of at least 67 people and the partial destruction of the complex.

8 suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack on the westgate mall that left more than 60 people dead.Picture: AP Photo/ Jerome Delay

During a news briefing on Friday, Kenya’s interior minister, Joseph Ole Lenku said, “Police are holding eight suspects as they seek to unmask the face behind the terror attack. Three others were interrogated and released.”
The Minister also told reporters that there were no formal reports of people still missing since the assault. The Kenyan Red Cross, however, said earlier that dozens were still missing.
Investigators trying to determine the identity of the attackers were making “good progress” in their search through the rubble at the Westgate mall where three floors collapsed after a series of blasts and a huge blaze, Joseph Ole Lenku further noted.

Part of the mall that was destroyed during the siege
In addition, officials previously said five assailants were among the deceased.

According to the senior security sources, the militants who led the attack may have hired a shop in the mall in the weeks prior to the siege.
Al-Shabab officials have claimed responsibility for the assault and warned the Kenyan government to withdraw its troops from their country.
Kenya has more than 4,000 army soldiers in southern Somalia, where they have been battling the al-Shabab fighters since 2011.
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Gunmen Kill 4 During Sudan Protests

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At least four people have been killed by unidentified gunmen during protests over fuel subsidy cuts in Sudan, police officials say.

Protesters burn tires and close the highway to northern cities amid a wave of unrest over the lifting of fuel subsidies by the Sudanese government, in Kadro, north of downtown Khartoum on September 25, 2013.

“Unknown shooters fired on demonstrations in Khartoum Bahri, Khartoum, and Omdurman” during protests on Friday, the police said in a statement carried by the official SUNA news agency on Saturday, adding, “As a result of that, four civilians were killed.”
The protests began on Monday when the government lifted fuel subsidies to raise revenue.
Seven people were killed on Wednesday in clashes with security forces in Khartoum and its sister city Omdurman.
The demonstrators burned vehicles in a hotel car park near Khartoum’s international airport, and a petrol station in the area was also set alight.
Security forces fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.
On Tuesday, protesters stormed and torched the offices of the ruling National Congress Party in Omdurman.
Human rights groups claim that at least 50 people have been shot dead by security forces during the clashes.
Sudan’s Education Ministry announced that schools in the capital would remain closed until the end of the month.
Sudan lost billions of dollars in oil revenues after South Sudan gained independence two years ago, taking with it some 75 percent of crude production of the formerly united country.
Sudan has been plagued by running inflation and a weakening currency since then
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Uganda Is Not A US Puppet In Somalia – Opondo

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The government of Uganda has dismissed allegations by one of the country’s Lawmakers,  Ibrahim Semujju Nganda that the it’s army is in Somalia serving US interests.

Uganda government spokesman Ofwono Opondo

Government Spokesman Ofwono Opondo made this revelation in response to the opposition Forum for Democratic Change legislator who appeared to suggest that Uganda was playing US puppet in Somalia. It is not clear whether Semujju suggested the above.
“Government rejects accusations by FDC MP Semujju Nganda that UPDF in Somalia is a mercenary serving US interests.” Ofwono said on Friday via his twitter handle @OfwonoOpondo.
He reitarated that the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) are in Somalia rightly under the African Mission In Somalia (AMISOM) with United Nations Security Council approval.
He added that Uganda is in Somalia to fight terrorism that had spread in this region. “Success is at hand we should not let up.” Ofwono urged.
AMISOM was created by the African Union’s Peace and Security Council on 19 January 2007 with an initial six-month mandate.On 21 February 2007 the United Nations Security Council approved the mission’s mandate. Uganda deployed it’s troops in 2007, a move that drew criticisms from opposition politicians in the country.
Uganda is the biggest contributor to the AU force of about 18,000.
The force, funded mainly by the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) is fighting the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group in Somalia.
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Tension As M23 Rebels, DRC Forces Resume Clashes

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Fresh fighting has broken out between M23 rebels and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government forces backed by the United Nations forces in Kinyandoni -Ishasha areas in Eastern DRC.
The rebels claimed the clashes started after Congolese government forces attempted to overrun an area under their control. The government forces on the other hand accuse the rebels of provocation.

The M23 rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Colonel Olivier Hamuli, the spokesperson of the Congolese army says armed with heavy and light weapons, the rebels tried to advance towards Mabenga village, which is under government forces.
Hamuli says they fought back because they cannot tolerate such provocation. According to Hamuli a government soldier was shot and injured in the fighting.
The rebels gained an upper hand in the clash and pushed towards Kiwanja town, about 10 kilometers from Mabenga village in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu province.
Bertrand Bisiimwa, the M23 rebel’s President while speaking to local media denied claims that they attacked any government positions. He however, says they repulsed an attack by government forces on their position.

M23 rebel leader Bisimwa Bertrand speaks to the media recently in Bunagana.

He faults the government forces starting chaos to disrupt the ongoing peace talks in Kampala. Bisiimwa insists that the current crisis in the country can only be resolved through peace talks and not hostilities.
He appeals to the international community to slap sanctions on the Joseph Kabila government.
Our reporter couldn’t independently verify who started the fighting.
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Sports Betting Center Robbed At Gun Point

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Unidentified thugs who are still on the run have robbed more than 5 million shillings at gunpoint from Kings Sport Betting center in Koboko town.

one of the sports betting centers in Uganda

The masked gunmen raided Kings Sports betting center, which belongs Jaffar Kumar, an Asian businessman on Wednesday night September 25. The incident occurred shortly after Kumar and his cashier sent out their football fans during the Manchester United Liverpool match to allow them balance their books.
However, after the fans went out Kumar forgot to lock the door.
According to Edison Maganzi, Koboko district police commander as the two were inside counting money two men came on a motorcycle and stormed the shop.
They put both Kumar and his cashier at gun point and asked them to surrender all the money or lose their lives.
Muganzi said that the duo handed over the money, they suspect to have been more than five million because they had counted 4.5 million shillings. He also confirmed that a case of robbery has been reported at Koboko central police station and investigations are ongoing.
Kumar said that police has advised them to suspend their operations for some time.
This is the fourth armed robbery in Koboko town within a space of one month.  More than 15 million shillings was robbed in three other attacks and one person shot dead by the robbers. However, no suspect has been arrested in connection to the attack.
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US Defense Sec. Lauds M7 Leadership In Region

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The United States Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel has hailed Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s leadership in the East African region.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel hosts an honor cordon to welcome Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni to the Pentagon for a meeting, Sept. 27, 2013. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

According to a statement issued by Pentagon Press Secretary George Little, Hagel “thanked President Museveni for Uganda’s leadership in the region and the country’s commitment to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).”
Uganda is the biggest contributor to the AU force of about 18,000.
The force, funded mainly by the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) is fighting the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group in Somalia.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, (2nd R), meets with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, (2nd L), at the Pentagon, Sept. 27, 2013. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

He also noted that the US Congress had approved $14 million (Shs35bn) in additional support for the effort.
In a meeting held on Friday at the Pentagon, President Museveni and Secretary Hagel discussed a wide range of security issues including the recent terrorist attacks in Kenya.
Uganda bolstered security in its capital this week after al Shabab’s devastating weekend attack at the westgate mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi that left at least 67 dead.
At Friday’s meeting, Hagel also expressed appreciation for Uganda’s campaign against the Lord’s Resistance Army and its leader, Joseph Kony. About 100 US military troops are deployed in Central Africa to advise Ugandan and other regional forces in their bid to counter the LRA.
Hagel “welcomed the progress that the Ugandan and other partner forces have achieved in reducing the threat posed by the LRA and expressed his hope that the mission would result in the elimination of the LRA threat to civilians and regional stability,” Little said.
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Aronda Investigates CSO Activities In Oil Region

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The unending complaints over activities of some Civil Society Organizations-CSOs in Bunyoro are attracting the attention of Uganda’s ministry of Internal Affairs.

Former Chief of Defence Forces General Aronda Nyakairima, Uganda’s Minster of internal affairs

General Aronda Nyakairima, the country’s minister of Internal Affairs says the ministry has received numerous complaints from district officials about these CSOs doing activities they were not registered for.
Aronda says most of these organizations are interfering with the government program of building an oil refinery in Kabaale, Buseruka Sub County in Hoima district, by mobilizing residents against the project.
The former Chief of Defense Forces-CDF has been in Bunyoro since Monday, holding several closed-door meetings with various regional stakeholders.
In a press briefing on Thursday, Nyakairima said his visit to the region was to investigate these reports and chat a way forward on how to deal with non-compliant CSOs.
Nyakairima says his investigations so far indicate that a couple of CSOs have continuously worked against government efforts to establish the oil refinery in Hoima.
Although he refuses to name any of such organizations, the minister says they risk being de-registered.
It is not the first time government officials are accusing Non-government organizations-NGOs of sabotaging government programmes. In May this year Bunyoro Affairs Minister Ernest Kiiza, threatened to cause arrest of Civil Society activists that are undermining government programmes especially in the oil sector.
The Minister accused some CSOs of being reckless in their statements and feeding the local population on what he called falsehoods to incite them against the oil refinery project government plans to undertake in the Kabaale area.
CSOs such as African Institute for Energy Governance-AFIEGO, Bunyoro Local Oil Advocacy Group-BLOAG and Navigators of Development Association-NOVODA, among others are actively on ground in the Kabaale oil refinery area.
Although government accuses these activists of inciting the residents against the refinery project, the activists maintain that their work is entirely advocacy to ensure that the peoples’ rights are protected.
Michael Businge, the regional Program Assistant at AFIEGO, recently told local media that much as they realize the importance of the refinery, the facility should not be built at the expense of peoples’ rights.
More than 7000 residents from 13 villages in Kabaale parish are facing displacement from their ancestral land to pave way for the refinery construction. The refinery is meant to process the commercially viable crude oil in the Albertine rift valley.
Two months ago, government began disclosure of the compensation rates for the affected people ahead of the compensation exercise later this year.
However, CSOs say the exercise is not transparent.
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Kenya’s Westgate Siege: MPs To Quiz Security Chiefs

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Kenya’s security chiefs have been summoned to appear before parliament’s defence committee for questioning over the Westgate mall siege according to the BBC.

The funeral for President Uhuru Kenyatta’s nephew is being held in Nairobi.

The BBC’s David Okwembah says a blame game is playing out in the Kenyan media, with various security agencies pointing the finger at each other.
Sixty-seven people are known to have died in the attack, while Kenya’s Red Cross says 61 people are still missing.
Forensic experts are still combing the complex, looking for bodies and clues.
Somali Islamist group al-Shabab says it was behind the attack and subsequent four-day siege at the upmarket mall in the Kenyan capital.
Kenya is in its third day of official mourning for both the civilian and military victims of the siege.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is attending the funeral of his nephew and his nephew’s fiancee at a church service in the capital, Nairobi, where he has addressed the congregation.
Mbugua Mwangi and Rosemary Wahito were among those killed in the mall on Saturday.
They will later be buried in Ichaweri village in Gatundu about an hour’s drive from Nairobi.
‘Time for responsibility and accountability’
The summoning of the heads of the various security agencies to appear before the parliamentary defence committee on Monday comes amid rising concern among Kenyans over the authorities’ preparedness for such an attack.
“The time for responsibility and accountability has come,” the defence committee’s chairman Ndung’u Gethenji is quoted by Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper as saying.
Local media have reported that National Intelligence Service boss Michael Gichangi, one of those asked to appear before the committee, passed on intelligence about a possible attack to the police.
But the Daily Nation says that a highly placed police source denied that such information was received.
Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has repeatedly threatened attacks on Kenyan soil if Nairobi did not pull its troops out of Somalia.
About 4,000 Kenyan troops have been sent to Somalia to help pro-government forces battle al-Shabab.
The group is banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK and is believed to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters.
Its members are fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia.
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UN Court Upholds Charles Taylor’s Conviction

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A UN-backed appeal court on Thursday confirmed Liberian ex-president and warlord Charles Taylor’s 50-year sentence for arming rebels during Sierra Leone’s brutal 1990s civil war.

Charle Taylor

“The appeals chamber … affirms the sentence of 50 years in prison and orders that the sentence be imposed immediately,” judge George King told the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) in The Hague.
The landmark ruling marks the end of the road for the former west African strongman’s marathon seven-year trial.
Taylor sat impassively as the judgment was read out, wearing a dark suit, golden tie, gold cufflinks and gold-rimmed sunglasses.
He will now most likely spend the rest of his life in a foreign prison, possibly in Britain.
His historic sentence on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity was the first handed down by an international court against a former head of state since the Nazi trials at Nuremberg in 1946.
“The Appeals Chamber is of the opinion that the sentence imposed by the trial chamber is fair in the light of the totality of the crimes committed” by Taylor, King said.
“The defence failed to demonstrate any discernable errors in the trial chamber’s sentencing.”
Taylor, 65, was found guilty last year of supporting rebels from neighbouring Sierra Leone who waged a campaign of terror during a civil war that claimed 120,000 lives between 1991 and 2002, in exchange for “blood diamonds” mined by slave labour.
Arrested and transferred to The Hague in mid-2006, where his case was moved for fear of stirring up divisions at home, Taylor was sentenced in May last year for “some of the most heinous crimes in human history”.
As Liberia’s president from 1997 to 2003, Taylor aided and abetted neighbouring Revolutionary United Front rebels by supplying guns and ammunition during the conflict, known for its mutilations, drugged child soldiers and sex slaves, trial judges found.
Appeals judges confirmed that RUF rebels and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) sought “to achieve military gain at any civilian costs.”
There was a “consistent pattern of crimes against civilians (through) killing, mutilating, raping and burning.”
The rebels “used acts of terror as their primary modus operandi,” and “there is a sufficient causality link between the accused and the commission of the crimes.”
Throughout the trial, Taylor maintained his innocence.
Lawyers argued at an appeal hearing in January that there was no evidence that he knew about crimes committed by Sierra Leone’s brutal rebel forces, nor did he provide logistics, guns and ammunition.
They wanted appeals judges to reverse the conviction and quash the sentence.
The prosecution, which had sought an 80-year jail term for Taylor, had also appealed, saying judges were “unduly lenient”.
“It’s a very good decision. We feel good about,” said Memanatu Kumara, 28, whose left hand was amputated by the RUF in 1999 in Freetown but who came to court for the verdict.
Judge King said he was “not persuaded” by a recent controversial ruling before the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal (ICTY), also based in the Netherlands.
The ICTY acquitted Yugoslav ex-army chief Momcilo Perisic on appeal, saying they required “specific direction” in the commission of crimes for a conviction.
That verdict worried rights groups as it raised the bar of evidence required to prove aiding and abetting of war crimes.
However, King said the ICTY findings “may perhaps be developed in time,” but did not take them into account in convicting Taylor.
“Upheld today on appeal, Taylor’s conviction sends a powerful message that those at the top can be held to account on the gravest crimes,” Elise Keppler of Human Rights Watch said.
A number of headline-grabbing witnesses took the stand during Taylor’s trial including actress Mia Farrow and former supermodel Naomi Campbell, who told of a gift of “dirty diamonds” she received in 1997 after a charity ball hosted by then South African president Nelson Mandela.
Thursday’s hearing almost certainly draws the curtain on Sierra Leone’s special court, set up in 2002 by agreement between Freetown and the United Nations.
One suspect remains wanted but is widely believed to have die
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SA President Says Mandela Responding To Treatment At Home

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South African president Jacob Zuma says former leader Nelson Mandela is responding to treatment at his home, where a team of doctors is caring for him.

Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela

Authorities have previously described Mandela’s condition as critical. The 95-year-old former president and leader of the anti-apartheid movement was discharged from a hospital on Sept. 1, nearly three months after he was admitted for a recurring lung infection.
The South African Press Association quotes President Jacob Zuma as saying in a speech released Wednesday that Mandela continues to respond to treatment. The speech was prepared for delivery at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Mandela spent 27 years in prison during white minority rule. He led South Africa through a delicate transition to all-race elections that propelled him to the presidency in 1994.
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