Local election Observers have warned that the high handedness of Uganda Police and other security agencies against opposition politicians and the public could spark off election violence.
Yesterday police arrested more than 10 Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) officials including the presidential candidate Kizza Besigye, party chairman Wasswa Birigwa, party president Gen Mugisha Muntu, Acting chairperson Joyce Ssebugwawo, FDC women league leader Ingrid Turinawe among others together with other party flag bearers in different electoral positions.
Following the arrest of the FDC politicians, demonstrations erupted in different places around the city center including; Kiseka Market, Najanankumbi, Nateete, Wandegeya and Kawempe. Police and Military Police responded to the demonstrations by firing teargas and live ammunition to disperse the protestors. Media footage showed police brutality arrest people, directly spraying some with teargas.
Crispy Kaheru, the Executive Director Citizens' Coalition for Electoral Democracy Uganda (CCEDU) says during this critical time when the electoral emotions are high, police ought to restrain from being brutal and abusing the human rights of Ugandans as it may fuel electoral violence.
"I think they raise a lot more anxiety and potentially this is the time we should be seeing security agencies, police specifically taking more restrained measures in handling such situations not arrests. At this time you want to tamper the anxieties of people not to flare them. And for me the temptation is, such arrests could end up flaring up, could end up inciting the public which could act in irrational ways. We don’t want to see that", Kaheru said.
The African Police in Uganda is showing off its true colours on the African continent.
Police has been criticized locally and internationally for brutality and abuse of human rights in past by reports from Amnesty International, Uganda Human Rights Commission and other critical bodies.
Dr Martin Mwondha, the National Coordinator Citizens Election Observers Network-Uganda (CEON-U) says, the police despite its past record was expected to help achieve a free, fair and peaceful election which they have failed.
"Police intervention in blocking the movements of any citizen or any candidate is perceived as a big infringement on the rights of people. And that is what not we expect in an electoral process that is free and fair", Mwondha said.
However the deputy police spokesperson Polly Namaye says, they have practiced restraint from arresting people despite being pushed to the limits. Police has maintained that they have not arrested any politician during this election period but rather 'inconvenienced' the illegal activities of the politicians. Media reports and footage, however say otherwise.
"Those who are trying to announce themselves winners of the election at Najjanankumbi were inconvenienced and many of them were taken to their home aboard to ensure that they don’t continue with the press briefing that they were planning to do where they would announce themselves. But we also hope that they have learnt that you can not announce yourself an election winner when people are still voting.
And anyway there is only one instituion that is mandated to announce results - that is the Electoral Commission. When we see the assemblance of people burning tyres definitely we [would] arrest them but at the moment, No, we have not arrested anybody who was involved in burning tyres and also those who are attempting to burn the [police] vehicle but we hope they don’t do it", Namaye said.
The Military Police in Uganda is still busy blocking Dr Besigye 9 months after the Uganda General elections:
Dr Besigye using a Boda Boda motorcycle as a get away from the determined Military Police of Uganda. He has been stopped from using his car.
By Serestino Tusingwire,
21 November, 2016
The former Forum for Democratic Change presidential Candidate, Dr. Kizza Besigye has been seen in another rare moment this afternoon when he too walked for some distance before getting a boda boda which he used to travel to town for a meeting.
It is alleged that Police blocked his car as he was trying to leave his home in Kasangati for a certain meeting in Kampala, and this prompted him to abandon the car and use his feet leaving the empty car in the hands of police.
Government printer lies neglected. The old colonial building is in ruins at Entebbe as street publishers flourish:
Here is Joseph Kaggwa, the production manager at the Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation.
The printing press is covered in dust, a clear sign that the machine has not been used in a long time. Kaggwa blames the flourishing street publishers for knocking UPPC out of business.
By Paul Tajuba
Posted Monday, March 9 2015
Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation (UPPC) is stationed at Entebbe.
The Entebbe based government publishing house has no business running and the dust baked machines have become a place of abode for cockroaches and ants.
The wooden doors have seen better days as they have now become food for termites.
These are features that stand out when you go to UPPC. When the publishing house gets some business, the staff there works tirelessly to ensure that the out of use machines do not disappoint.
Back in the day
The Government Printer, as it was called before it became UPPC in 1993, had its glorious days though mainly during the colonial days, Obote and Amin regimes.
At the time, the agency was authorised to disseminate information to different government departments and ministries. Through this avenue, duplications and forgeries were minimised.
The printer also dealt in the printing and publishing of newspapers both in English and local languages, the Uganda Gazette, land titles, scholastic materials and envelopes.
Those who worked at the corporation during the golden days have a message of dire straits - asking government to intervene.
How things got out of hand
Joseph Kaggwa-Mubuya, the UPPC production manager has worked at the corporation for nearly 30 years. He says the troubles of the printer started in 1993 when the agency was turned into a corporation but was never given funding.
According to the 1992 UPPC Act, government is mandated to give UPPC money for its operations but the Act is silent on how much government should submit.
Subsequently, UPPC, though under the office for Presidency, has never received money that could have been used to purchase modern printing machines.
Actually, the “newest” machine at the agency was imported in 1991.
In the 1990s when liberalisation of the economy was at its peak, the printing school at the agency collapsed.
“You cannot trace the history of printing in Uganda from UPPC. It used to be the skills centre where even staff would go abroad to enhance their skills but that is gone,” Kaggwa –Mubuya sadly states.
Gud Mbareba, the printing finishing superviser at the agency says the final blow that UPPC got was in 1996 when there was massive staff retrenchment.
He says, “some of the most experienced people were laid off thus the school had to collapse.”
Rebirth
Some of the axed staff found solace at Nasser Road and it was not long before the groupo had established a printing and publishing empire at the strategically located area.
“All those who first owned printers on Nasser Road are former employees of UPPC because they had the expertise and money to buy modern machines. Now UPPC can’t compete with them” Mbareba says.
While Nasser Road is booming with publishing work, at UPPC silence reigns supreme with the machines lying idle.
Government asks for an extra Shs800 billion:
Mr Matia Kasaija
By Yasiin Mugerwa
Posted Monday, 9 March, 2015
IN SUMMARY
In the supplementary request, government would, for instance, spend Shs3 billion on workshops and seminars alone and another Shs4.1 billion on travel expenses.
Uganda Parliament-Wasteful budget requests such as special meals, welfare, workshops, foreign trips and allowances as highlighted in the new government supplementary request have kicked off a fuss in a new budget dispute over the request for an extra Shs800 billion the government urgently needs to cater for “unforeseen emergencies”.
The new request, if approved by Parliament, will increase the 2014/2015 budget from Shs15 trillion to about Shs16 trillion amid complaints that the money is going into consumptive areas.
In the supplementary request, government would, for instance, spend Shs3 billion on workshops and seminars alone and another Shs4.1 billion on travel expenses.
Opposition members have, however, criticised the latest cash request as “a political supplementary request” intended to help the ruling party raise cash to finance its campaigns.
“This supplementary request is suspect. What has been paraded as money for travel abroad, workshops and seminars could be money for campaigns,” said Mr Gerald Karuhanga (Youth Western).
The Budget Committee is expected to convene later this week to start scrutinising Mr Matia Kasaija’s maiden cash request as Finance minister designate.
The rising figures
Even before his swearing-in, Mr Kasaija last week requested for Shs847.2b up from the Shs237 billion requested in 2013/14 financial year.
As a rule, supplementary budgets should be a result of unforeseen actions such as natural disasters. However, in some instances, ministries have asked for more funds in the course of a financial year to deal with recurrent costs such as salaries.
Explaining what looks like a policy-reversal on wastage, ministry of Finance spokesperson Jim Mugunga said: “As a policy, there was an across-the-board hold on non-core international travels and workshops. This was meant to manage available resources then. It does not necessarily make workshops and travel unnecessary in functions of government.”
Deputy NRM spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said the NRM party does not get campaign cash from the Treasury and described Opposition accusations as “cheap political games”.
ymugerwa@ug.
nationmedia.
com
Political Parties in Uganda reject the EC use of national ID register as NRM government prepares another rigged national election for 2016:
Gen David Sejusa (R) with the vice chairperson of People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Dick Odur (2nd R) address the press at PPP offices in Ntinda yesterday.
PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
By Winnie Tabitha & Albert Tumwine
Posted Wednesday, April 29 2015
Kampala,Uganda, The Opposition has rejected a move by the Electoral Commission (EC) to use data collected during the compilation of the national identification registration exercise to update the national voters’ register ahead of the 2016 general elections.
Speaking at separate events, various political party leaders said the national ID registration exercise was full of errors and as a result, most Ugandans were not registered.
Addressing a news conference at the DP party headquarters in Kampala yesterday, the party spokesperson, Mr Kenneth Kakande, said: “Many people on the national register did not register for the national IDs and that means if the EC uses the ID project register, many Ugandans are going to be disenfranchised,” Mr Kakande said.
Addressing journalists during the party’s weekly press conference on Monday, Forum for Democratic Change spokesperson John Kikonyogo expressed dismay at the way EC is handling the entire exercise.
“We have failed to get an explanation from the EC on why the old register was discarded and we want them to tell us how those people they are adding to the list applied,” Mr Kikonyogo said.
Democratic Party (DP) secretary general Mathias Nsubuga said the EC should use the previous register. He claimed the Opposition has evidence to the effect that more than 3,000 people appearing on national ID register are not Ugandans.
Uganda Media Centre executive director Ofwono Opondo, however, defended the EC, stressing that whatever is being done is within the law.
EC spokesperson Jotham Taremwa, said the government made the decision that all government departments should use the collected national voters’ data banks for future purposes.
Meanwhile, former coordinator of intelligence services, Gen David Sejusa has said there is no point in going for an election that will be “stolen”.
Mr Sejusa said the criteria of registering voters did not put into consideration verification of citizens.
“You were all registered, but what system was used to establish that you are a citizen of this country? How many of you were asked for a birth certificate, none!” Mr Sejusa said.
Article 61 (e) of the 1995 Constitution mandates the Electoral Commission to compile, maintain, revise and update the national voters register (the same is repeated under the EC Act Section 18).
But Parliament this year passed the Registration of Persons Bill that establishes a national identification register of all persons in Uganda and provides for access and use of the information contained in the national identification register.
After 38 years of service, Okoth-Ochola has retired from the Uganda Police Force:
By World Media
Martins Okoth Ochola bids farewell to police officers
38 years after joining the Uganda Police Force, Martins Okoth-Ochola has called it quits. Ochola who has been the Inspector General of Police (IGP) since March 4, 2018, called it quits today. Below is his speech verbatim;
On 2nd January 2024, I made a service record of thirty-six years in the Uganda Police Force, having joined the Institution on the 2nd January 1988.
Within this period, which was climaxed by my appointment as Inspector General of Police, I was particularly fortunate to have served as a Deputy IGP, Director of Special Duties, Director CID, Deputy Director CID, Commissioner of Legal Department, Head complaints desk, Head Prosecution, and OC Entebbe Aviation Security.
On the 4th of March 2018, His Excellency The President appointed me as the Inspector General of Police which position I assumed with humility, commitment, dedication, and determination. Three years after my appointment, the President extended my tour of duty for another three years which ends today, the 4th March 2024.
When I took over the steering of affairs of this great Institution at about this time exactly 6 years ago, the task was clear – Professionalizing and Rebuilding the image of the Institution.
Anchoring on teamwork, support, and guidance from the President and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we were able to register numerous achievements in policing as well as creating a general atmosphere of calmness, togetherness, and a sense of belonging we are witnessing today.
The numerous achievements spelt out in my handover report and by the various Directorates, were made possible by working with a wonderful team and dedicated officers, across all ranks, who gave their best in ensuring that the Institution succeeded in fulfilling its constitutional mandate.
Prior to this occasion, on 3rd January 2024, I wrote to the Honorable Minister of Internal Affairs/Chairman Police Authority requesting to conclude my tour of duty due to personal and domestic issues that require my attention. Today, I am delighted to be standing before you this day to give my stewardship report and handover leadership of this great Institution to the new Inspector General of Police.
First and foremost, allow me to express my deep personal appreciation and gratitude to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Uganda, and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, for appointing and entrusting me with the leadership of this great Institution. I want to take a moment to thank his leadership and support during my time in office.
It has been a great honour to serve under his guidance as Commander-in-Chief. His vision for a safer and more secure Uganda, devoid of violence and crime has been inspirational not only to me alone but to other Police officers as well.
Distinguished guests, I also want to deeply thank the Uganda Police Authority under the able leadership of the Honourable Minister of Internal Affairs for its skillful efforts in supervising and guiding the Police Management over the past 6 years.
To my fellow current service chiefs, our predecessors, serving and retired Police officers across all ranks and designations, civilian staff working with the Uganda Police, and other officers working with sister security Agencies over and over again, I say a big thank you to all for your time, resources and contribution in securing our country during my term of service.
I had a great team of Police Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) members that I have chaired for the past six years. Indeed, they have been great in fulfilling the assignments accorded to them by the Police Council. To the committee heads, you were wonderful and gave your best. I appreciate you all. Similarly, I applaud the Police Council Delegates that I have chaired for the same period.
They all came out, attended meetings, made good presentations, and deliberations, and gave their time whenever required. Consequently, and working as a team, we were able to review the Force’s policies, assess implementation levels, and formulate strategies to overcome the dynamic policing demands of the ever-changing environment.
To the PAC and Police Council members and Delegates, I say a big thank you once again. I want to thank the development partners and other several stakeholders in fighting crime including, among others; JLOS, Parliament, UHRC, media fraternity, and all the people of Uganda, for your cooperation and support.
We truly value your contribution and thanks for praising us when we needed to be praised and thanks for criticizing us when we needed to be criticized. Countless thanks to my family for their understanding and support throughout my service in the Uganda Police Force.
Distinguished guests, not all Institutional challenges could be solved in the six years of my tenure. Therefore, other unfinished critical issues hinder professional policing which the new administration can accomplish. Some are outlined in this handover report.
Finally, as I step into the next chapter of my life, I carry with me fond memories of our accomplishments. May the UPF continue to be a beacon of excellence and a force for positive change in the enforcement of law and order.
To my successor and the incoming team, congratulations to you all. I wish you monumental success as you steer this Institution to another level. l say goodbye to everyone and I wish you all and your families the best in life and God’s blessings.
Long live Uganda; Long live Uganda Police Force; Long Live Everyone. Thank you very much.
J.M. Okoth-Ochola, (ESQ)
Out-going Inspector General of Police.
Nb
Well one looks at the city of Kampala and unfortunately one sees the young police people working so hard to move and stop traffic the best way they can.
The pollution from the unplanned city is terrible especially when the strong sunshine temperatures go up. Even where there are modern traffic lights they are indeed useless. African wealth deprivation and violent crime in rural and urban communities continue to increase.
Any sane university graduate in urban and rural development would not apply to police or manage or inspect such human chaos that continues to get worse every day nationwide for now many years and counting!
Abantu be batulugunyizza wano e Buganda balaajana:
By Musasi wa Bukedde
Added 21st June 2019
Mulindwa ng’ali e Mutundwe gy’asula.
KAFEERO yaakakwatibwa enfunda ssatu kyokka agamba nti, buli lwe bamukwata babadde bamutulugunya era y’omu ku balaajana olw’obulumi n’ebisago ebyamutuusibwako.
Charles Mutaasa Kafeero 32, ow’e Zzana ku luguudo lw’e Ntebe azze avunaanibwa emisango egiwera era egisinga nga gyetoloolera ku kwetaba mu nkuhhaana ezimenya amateeka n’okukuma omuliro mu bantu.
Agamba nti baasooka kumukwata mu December 2015 era nti n’atulugunyizibwa nnyo. Yattottodde nti: Nnali ntuuka e Kamwokya mu Kampala, abasajja basatu ne bansalako. Mmotoka yaabwe ekika kya Prado eyali esimbiddwa ku mabbali g’ekkubo baaginnyingiza ku kifuba.
Munda nasangamu bannaabwe abalala babiri, olwo abasajja ne bawera bataano. Bansiba kantuntunu ne bankubira omwo okujula okunzita.
Bantuusiza mu kasenge n’okutuusa leero ke siyinza kumanya gye kasangibwa. Kaali kakutte enzikiza nga bakozesa tooci okumulisa munda.
Omusajja eyalina ekyuma ekiwange mu kiti yayingira n’ambuuza lwaki nneetaba mu kukuma omuliro mu bantu beekalakaase; kyokka nnali sinnayanukula, omusajja oyo n’anteeka ekyuma ekyo ku lubuto era katono obulumi bunzite kubanga ekyuma kyali kyokya nnyo nga kiringa kye yali yaakaggya mu ttanuulu.
Waggulu waakyo kwaliko ekiti era omusajja oyo yali akutte ku kiti ekyo nga bw’atambuza omuggo ku lubuto lwange. Alina we yatuuka n’asimbawo omuggo ogwo okumala akaseera era enkovu awo yalemerawo.
Kafeero agamba nti oluvannyuma lw’ennaku munaana, abasajja baasalawo bamuyimbule. Nti baamusiba kantuntunu ne bamusuula ku Lugogo By-Pass ku ssaawa nga 8:00 ez’ekiro.
Aba Bodaboda nti baamuggyawo ng’ali mu mbeera mbi ne bamutwala e Mulago era eyo Dr. Kizza Besigye gye yamusanga n’asalawo bamwongereyo ku Case Hospital gye baamujjanjabira okutuusa lwe yawona n’asiibulwa nga December 17, 2015.
Kafeero nga ye yali Ssentebe wa National Youth Activists mu Uganda yagambye nti bazze babatulugunya ne banne abali mu kisinde ekyo okuli Yoweri Kintu, Nicholas Lwanga, Frank Baziwa, Dafara Ssenjakko, Edirisa Mutebi ne Syrock Nayesiga era buli lwe babakwata nti bavaayo banyiga biwundu.
Nga May 5, 2016 nti baamudda mu biwundu bwe yali yeekalakaasa ne banne mu Kampala nga bawakanya ebbula ly’emirimu mu bavubuka ne bamutulugunyiza mu kaduukulu ka poliisi.
Agamba nti baamukuba obukongovule n’amaviivi era yagenda okuvaayo nga takyasobola kutambula.
Omulundi ogwokusatu baamutwala Nalufenya era agamba nti baamutulugunya nnyo era yafuna obuweerero mu December 2016 ng’ebyali bimuvunaanibwa byonna kkooti ebigobye; wabula kati ayagala bwenkanya bamuliyirire era n’abaserikale abaamutulugunya bavunaanibwe.
Nicholas Lwanga 30, ye kati aliira ku nsiko oluvannyuma lw’okumukwata omulundi ogwokubiri ne bamutulugunya nnyo ng’avunaanibwa okukuma omuliro mu bantu.
Yasooka kusibibwa Nateete nga May 9, 2018 bwe yali yeekalakaasa n’ekibinja ky’abavubuka abalala abaali bakulembeddwa Habib Buwembo owa FDC nga bonna baavunaanirwa ku fayiro Ref. 52/9/5/18.
Oluvannyuma lw’aba famire ye ne mikwano gye okulafuubana ennyo, Lwanga yayimbulwa ku kakalu ka poliisi nga May 11, 2018 kyokka yaddamu n’akwatibwa abasajja abaali mu ngoye eza bulijjo mu November 2018 era ku mulundi ogwo lwe yatulugunyizibwa nga bamulumiriza okukuma omuliro mu bantu n’okwetaba mu nkung’aana ezimenya amateeka n’okwekalakaasa ku nsonga ezeekuusa ku kisinde kya People Power.
Banne wabula bagamba nti Lwanga yatoloka ku baserikale abaali bamukuumira e Kyengera nti era okuva olwo abadde mu kwekweka ng’atya okuddamu okukwatibwa n’okuddamu okutulugunyizibwa.
Ambrose Mulindwa omutuuze w’e Mutundwe mu Zooni 2 naye agamba nti baamukwata mu biseera by’okwekalakaasa ku nsonga za Bobi Wine era nti ne bamukuba nnyo nga na kati ali ku ttaka alaajana kimu bulumi.
Baamukwata ne banne okuli Jamiru Isiko, Ivan Mubiru, Ignatius Ssekimpi ne Lawrence Kibuule.
Abaserikale nti baabatambuza mu bitundu bingi bye bataasobola kumanya nti era ekifo we baasinga okubatulugunyiza, emmotoka baagiwulira eyingirira ddala mu nnyumba ng’eringa eyeesolossa mu kikko era eyo nti gye baabakubira okuboogoloza.
Obulumi obungi agamba nti abuwulira mu kifuba. Oluvannyuma lwa balooya okuyingira mu nsonga, baabaggyayo gye baali babakuumira ne babatwala ku poliisi e Nateete ne babaggulako omusango gw’okwetaba mu lukuhhaana olumenya amateeka ku fayiro CRB 350/2019 era gye baabaggya okubatwala ku kkooti ya Mwanga II eyabayimbula ku kakalu ka kkooti.
Mulindwa agamba nti alumizibwa nnyo mu kifuba era akozesa ssente nnyingi okufuna abasawo abakugu bamujjanjabira awaka, wabula abaamutulugunya nti tekuli yali
avunaaniddwa wadde n’okumuyambako ku bujjanjabi.
Nicholas Lwanga
Omwogezi wa poliisi mu Kampala n’emiriraano, Luke Owoyesigyire yagambye nti, mu nkola ya poliisi, abaserikale tebakkirizibwa kutulugunya bantu era n’awa amagezi abalina okwemulugunya okukutwala mu kitongole kya poliisi ekikwasisa empisa, kinoonyereze.
Mu nteekateeka z’olunaku lw’okulwanyisa okutulugunya abantu mu nsi yonna olugenda okukuzibwa ku Lwokusatu lwa wiiki ejja, emikutu gya Vision Group gigenda kukuwa emboozi ez’enjawulo ezikwata ku kutulugunya abantu.
Abamu batulugunyizibwa lwa ttaka, abalala baba bakwatiddwa nga bateeberezebwa okwenyigira mu bumenyi bw’amateeka ate abamu baba babanoonyamu bujulizi.
Nb
Bukedde nga bo abatukirira abakungu ba Bank of Uganda, bebalina okutubulira omutemwa gwa sente meka Uganda gwesasulayo buli mwaka okulabirira United Nation mukibuga ekyebbeyi ekya New York munsi ya America engagga enyo.
Wano jo lyabende e Congo, abantu be Congo nga benyiye enfuga ya ba Belgium battingana okufako obufi nga ne Patricia Lumumba alugendedemu, United Nation yasembera okutaasa era ekyavaamu mwe abato ba Masood mubimanyi. Obuzibu obwo bwazaala Mobutu Sese Seko. UN yafuuka dda nga Maama akoye okutaasa abaana be abasiiba bakubagana awaka. Oluusi nga nekyebakubaganira tekirina nsonga!
Masood amawulire ga Bukedde gagamba kimu. Ababonyabonyezebwa nokutulugunyizibwa abantu ababi tewali musango gwebakoze wano e Buganda. Era kyogamba nti Ssabasajja wa Buganda bweyaganibwa okukyalako e Bugerere abantu nebattibwa waliwo omusango gwonna lwaki battibwa? Ye Obote bweyalumba olubiri lwa Ssabasajja wa Buganda waliwo nyo ensonga? Abalwana olutalo lwe Luweero ne batta ebyalo ebingi ebyalo ebyo byebyaali bibbye obululu bwa 1980?
Masood olina ensonga. UN kituufu siyamanyi kubanga era yagenda okudamu amanyi awo 1945 nga ensi Japan, Germany ne Russia zirya nfunfu okuva ku ssematalo owokubiri. Abantu abawerera ddala million 50 nga bafu olwentalo 1st and 2nd World war. Ate ne Muteesa II wano jo juuzi mu 1966 puliida we awamu nensi ye Buganda yadduka emisinde nawayo ensonga zobutemu bw'Obote obwali bumukoleddwako munsi ye. UN yatunula butunuzi nga embwa esudde ekyuma. Abazunga beyali atawanya nga abagana okulya ensi ye bwebamulaba nga Muteesa II abundabunda nebamugamba nti ojira wewogoma wano e London Obote bwanakutukako ebyo bizibu byo.
Tulaba mumawulire Abaganda ababonabona nokufirizibwa ebyabwe mu lutalo lwa 1980/86. Nga bajukidde nebagenda mu kkooti okuloopa abayekera ababatawanya enyo mulutalo olwo nokufiirwa obulamu bwabanabwe. Kyabugayavu nti balwawo kubanga singa obulabe buno babutwala dda mu UN ne mu ICC. Ate kakati nammwe era musirise babatta nga biwuka.
Mukasa ebyokukaaba Tulabye ffe mubiveeko. Mukole ekibiina ekyamwe abatulugunyizibbwa mukunganye sente mufune pulida mutwale ensonga zammwe mu kkooti. Emisango gyammwe mugiweko copy United Nations. Era singa abebibiina byammwe ebibaletera obulabe buno gyemusiiba nga mubalumiriza obutafayo kubuzibu bwemulimu. Mulinga abalina obugayavu nga mulinda abantu abakyamu bamale okubattira wano e Buganda, oluvanyuma bano abakulu bebibiina bajje nga badduka emisinde mubuungi nga bwebakuba emiranga emiyitirivu babaziike mubitiibwa byabwe.
Uganda already is under military grip:
February 20, 2019
Written by Sulaiman Kakaire
Soldiers on patrol in the city
A study commissioned by Makerere University’s Human Rights and Peace Centre (Huripec) has confirmed a long-held suspicion that Uganda is a more militarised country today than before, with more cases of human rights abuse.
In its report launched last week at Imperial Royale Hotel Kampala, Huripec observes that “the continued deployment of the army in purely civilian affairs has become a dangerous trend, for a country committed to the rule of law and which cherishes good governance.”
Reference is made by Huripec to last year’s raid on parliament by presidential guard troops, which viciously beat up opposition members. The MPs were championing popular opposition to the government’s push to amend Article 102(b) of the constitution to lift presidential age limits, allowing President Museveni the possibility of a life presidency.
The report notes that the army, police and Uganda Wildlife Authority security officers are involved in a lot of human rights violations.
“… Cases in point were where illegal arrests and detentions were also characterised by torture or extrajudicial killings or where dispersal of demonstrations resulted into extrajudicial killing or torture and illegal arrests,” the report notes.
Huripec is a human rights watchdog within Makerere’s school of law, and whereas its report recognises disregard for the rule of law, lack of political will, negative political interest and ambiguity in the law, as factors influencing violation of human rights, special mention is made of the army.
The UPDF is accused of taking over the mandate of the police in breach of the Constitution.
“This significantly contributed to grave violations of human rights mainly as a result of the heavy-handedness employed by military personnel in executing what was ordinarily a police function,” the report says.
Increasing involvement of soldiers in ordinary law enforcement activities without adequate safeguards has resulted in violation of human rights, the study established.
“A case in point was the creation of the UPDF Fisheries Protection Unit which despite the public outcry and from formal institutions such as parliament and the ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries regarding their mode of operations, remained adamant and openly stated that they ‘answer only to the president’,” the report notes.
In 1995, the Uganda Constitutional Commission which documented the views of Ugandans on how they wanted the Constitution to look like, observed that: “the main duty of the army in a democratic society governed by the rule of law should be to fight external enemies and to put down internal insurrection or insurgency. In doing so, it should be obedient to directions from the civilian and democratically elected government. On the other hand, the police focus should be on the citizen, to protect him, or, if he is errant, to correct him. Police work calls for specialised training and for special tactics with which the army is generally unfamiliar or unsuited.”
The commission further observed that; “as a general rule, the army should not involve itself in police work…The police and the army must each understand that both forces play separate and distinct roles for the betterment of society.”
UPDF speaks
Yesterday, army spokesman Brig. Richard Karemire, denied that the army has usurped police functions.
“The powers of the UPDF are defined by the Constitution and the UPDF Act and it acts within those powers. The police continues to execute its mandate as provided by the Constitution and the Police Act,” Karemire said.
“What we are doing is to simply operate jointly where the need arises…for national development.”
skakaire@observer.ug
In Uganda, Blocking political rallies is not legally justifiable:
Written by Andrew Wabwezi
These are the police vehicles Uganda bought from South Africa
Last month, Uganda Police blocked Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) rallies in western Uganda. The FDC had planned to hold rallies in Mbarara, Kiruhura, Ibanda, Isingiro and Ntungamo districts but were all blocked by the police.
The acts of blocking FDC rallies and Hon Robert Kyagulanyi’s music shows dubbed “Kyarenga extra” are unconstitutional and illegal. Uganda is under a multiparty dispensation as provided for under the constitution. The act of stifling political competition is contrary to articles 69, 71, 72 and 75 of the 1995 constitution.
The police always hides behind the Public Order Management Act 2013 to block opposition political activities. The same police has continued to use this law as a tool to violate the rights of Hon Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine to practice his profession as a musician, contrary to Article 40 (2) of the 1995 constitution.
It is not legally justifiable for the police to even hinder Bobi Wine from expressing his political views during these shows as this would be violating his freedom of expression which is granted by the constitution.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Political expression is part of the fundamental human rights in our constitution. Article 29(1)(d) of the constitution states that every person shall have the right to freedom to assemble and to demonstrate together with others peacefully and unarmed… Much as the constitution provides for human rights, it also provides for limitation to these rights under Article 43.
Under this provision, it is implied that these rights can be limited if they prejudice the freedom of others or public interest. Article 43 also states that public interest should not permit the following: political persecution, detention without trial or any limitation of enjoyment of the rights and freedoms beyond what is acceptable and demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society.
The question whether stopping opposition political rallies falls within what is demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society was answered in the negative in the case of Muwanga Kivumbi V Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No. 9 of 2005).
In that case, the petitioner challenged the constitutionality of Section 32 of the Police Act, which gave police power to stop any assemblies or processions if the officer in question had reasonable grounds for believing that the political rally is likely to cause a breach of the peace. The Constitutional court declared Section 32 of the Police Act unconstitutional and beyond what would be acceptable under Article 43.
After the Constitutional court had made its declaration, government came up with another law which essentially was meant to render the judgement in Muwanga Kivumbi nugatory or of no effect.
This is the so-called Public Order Management Act 2013, which gives police powers to stop public meetings even after it has been notified of the same in advance. This in effect contravenes article 29 of the constitution.
Giving police powers to stop public meetings also contravenes Article 20 (2) of the constitution, which enjoins all organs and agencies of government to respect, uphold and promote the rights and freedoms enshrined in the constitution.
The police would not be rendered powerless to maintain law and order if it was prohibited from stopping or banning political assemblies.The police still has power to arrest any person who conducts himself/herself in the assembly or procession in a manner contrary to the law or who threatens violence. The act of coming up with a law to defeat a judgement passed by court is itself unconstitutional.
Article 92 of the constitution states that parliament shall not pass a law to alter the decision or judgement of any court between the parties to the decision or judgement. By passing the Public Order Management Act, parliament contravened Article 92 of the Constitution because it essentially gives the same powers to police that had been declared unconstitutional in an earlier judgement (Muwanga Kivumbi Vs AG).
To prohibit the convening of a lawful assembly or forming a lawful procession in any public place on subjective reasons is not regulating the assembly or procession but a denial of the enjoyment of the fundamental right in contravention of article 29 (1)(d) of the constitution. In a free and democratic society, the police are supposed to keep law and order.
In case the inspector general or any other officer of the police sees a possibility of a breach of peace at any assembly, they should just provide the needed protection, but not to prohibit the assembly out right.
One wants to know if such a constitutional chapter is available in all the 7 constitutional documents that have ever been formulated by this country since 1961?
Kayiira killing: Was it for the Shs 50m from the foreign exchange business dealings?
Dr Andrew Kayiira who was killed in 1987 at Mr Gombya's Homestead. FILE/COURTESY PHOTO
Mr Henry Gombya still in Exile abroad. He complained about the release of Dr Kayiira from prison but afterwards took him to his home.
The scene of an artist: Upon opening his door the gunman fired two shots which went through Kayiira’s right side arm. ILLUSTRATION BY IVAN SSENYONJO
Escape. The thug who did the shooting runs off after killing Dr Andrew Kayiira.
24 November, 2018
By Henry Lubega
In 1987 when Dr Andrew Kayiira was killed, Mr Henry Gombya, his host, had Shs50m at his home. Uganda had just undergone a currency reform the previous year and by all means Shs50m was a lot of money. The killers, according to the investigators, asked about the money and indeed made off with whatever of it they could lay their hands on after killing Kayiira. This shows that the killers had advance knowledge of the presence of the money and Dr Kayiira in the house. How did they get all this information? Was the money the reason for the killing, or the killers had been hired and only took advantage to collect some extra buck? In this second of our four-part serialisation of the report on Kayiira’s killing by the Metropolitan Police’s Criminal Investigation Department of the UK, which has been popularised as Scotland Yard, read about what the killers said, how Gombya says he escaped by jumping over an eight-foot wall with spikes on the top, with part of the money he had in the house, and how Kayiira got shot.
A Scene of murder. 24.The venue of the offence is a three bedroom detached house standing within a large plot of land with wire security fencing surrounding it. This fencing is also strengthened by bamboo cane. The height of the fence is seven feet.
25. The house itself is a one-storey type with balcony over the top of a garage attached to the side of the house. At the rear of the house is a building which is used for cooking and for servants to live.
26. A drive way leads from the house to a double door security entrance with the gate being eight feet in height with spikes on the top. It is this gate that Gombya states he climbed over to make his escape. 27. The house is owned by Mr and Mrs Katongole who live opposite and had the house built to rent. Mr Gombya was the first tenant of the property.
28. The surrounding area is mainly bush country with plantations of banana and matooke which the local villagers cultivate to sell and eat. The villagers’ houses are mainly mud lined walled huts and they live together in small communes drawn together only by the local village chief and the elected Defence Resistance leader. These two latter persons are very important and it will be seen later having significant bearing on Dr Kayiira’s presence at the Gombya residence. The conditions for the villagers are very primitive. Running between the various villages and outside Gombya house is a small track which is overgrown and leads eventually to Gaba Road which in turn leads to Kampala which is about six miles away.
29. To give some perspective of the area the reporting officer made ‘house-to-house’ enquiries and in doing so had to walk or drive up to one mile away from the scene to ascertain information from possible witness.
30.On the night of the murder as already stated, Gombya together with his wife and three other girls, were having a meal when they were attacked by a number of men with torches and guns, when they ran into the house and locked themselves in their respective bedrooms; Dr Kayiira and Mr Gombya each having separate rooms.
31. The suspects, some according to the occupants, were wearing combat trousers and in some cases shirts, shouted to the occupants to come out of the rooms. Also it is alleged that they asked where the doctor and the “UFM man” was and where the money was. This reference to money is significant as it is known that Gombya had obtained Shs50 million only a few days earlier, further that Dr Kayiira was present in Gombya’s office when the money was delivered in two separate amounts (Shs10 million on March 3 and Shs40 million shortly afterwards). At the current exchange rate of approximately Shs2,000 to the pound the value of that money is in the region of £25,000 (about Shs119m). This, however, must be looked at in the light of the unofficial exchange rate mainly used by the Ugandans which would reduce the value to about £2,500 (about Shs12 million).
32. The suspects, according to witnesses and a reconstruction of the scene, appear to have ordered the four girls out of the room they had been hiding in and after questioning them, they were locked in the bathrooms. They then fired a shot through the door of Gombya’s bedroom and kicked open the door to enter. Gombya had decamped.
33. According to Gombya, whilst the suspects were shouting at the girls and kicking his door, he panicked and split the money into two halves, threw Shs20 million in a box into the matooke plantation from the balcony leading from his room and left the remaining money in the bed for the suspects to steal. He then jumped from the balcony, at a height of 12 feet and ran down the driveway. He attempted to climb over the gate and then hid in a banana plantation until morning.
34. Whilst this was happening the suspects were shouting to Dr Kayiira to open his bedroom door, which he did, at the same time asking them what they wanted. Exactly what happened then will never be fully known, but from reconstruction it appears that upon opening his door the gunman fired two shots which went through Kayiira’s right side arm and then two shots went through his left side abdomen and passed out from the right side. Dr Kayiira died on the spot.
35. The suspects then ransacked the house and stole personal property including the large sum of money (about Shs20m), a tape recorder, a camera, radio cassette and video deck belonging to Mr Gombya. It is not known whether property from Dr Kayiira was stolen but it is thought that he had no property at the house.
36. Witnesses state that when Gombya escaped and was running towards the gates he was seen by one of the suspects who raised the alarm and was told not to pursue him as the “UFM” man is in the house. This would suggest that the suspects knew that Dr Kayiira was staying at the house and from previous questions to the occupants knew there was money in the house also.
37. Mr Gombya states that he hid in the banana plantation until about 6am in the morning when he returned to the house and discovered that his friend Dr Kayiira was dead. He also recovered the 20 million shillings that he had thrown into the matooke plantation.
38. Police were eventually notified at Kabalagala Police Post some two miles away and arrived shortly after 7:30am. A photographer and scenes of crime officer arrived soon after wards. Scenes of crime examination was always going to be difficult as prior to police arrival villagers and other persons from the surrounding areas had descended onto the property and went inside the house to satisfy their curiosity, and pay their respects.
39. The pathologist,Dr Kakande of Mulago hospital, examined the body and confirmed that the cause of death was due to multiple gunshot wounds. He did not attend the scene himself. He is very vague about the injuries and admits that he did not carry out a full post mortem examination but purely looked at the body and later allowed the relatives to bury the body. No clothes or blood samples were taken from the body which was buried on March 11 (1987) at Masulita, his village, about 30 miles from Kampala.
40. At the scene of the crime three bullets were found and a broken blood stained stick. In the matooke plantation next to the house was a cardboard box which contained the money left on the bed by Gombya and also found in the matooke plantation was a cream coloured jacket, a handbag belonging to Mrs Gombya containing correspondence. In the banana plantation/bush area, about 300 yards from the house, a black briefcase and a shoe to belonging to Gombya was found. Correspondence from these items were also found strewn around.
41. Investigations by the Kampala CID under, Mr Simon Mugamba and Senior superintendent Fidelis Ongom (officer in charge) commenced and quickly established that Gombya had requested from Mr Henry Katerega, a Kampala businessman, the sum of Shs50m very urgently. Further that Gombya has rang him several times to hurry the matter up.
Although this action could lend credence to the rumour that Gombya had received money from abroad on behalf of Dr Kayiira and may have misappropriated it and was now trying to recoup some of it, there is also the stronger notion that Gombya was involved in foreign exchange business deals with Katerega. This involved Gombya being paid his wages in a business firm of Katerega’s choice in London and subsequently Gombya being paid in Kampala in local currency. This has a ring of truth about it when it is considered that the local residents invariably carry out transactions on the unofficial money exchange which is up to 10 times that of the official rate.
In Uganda, Busoga, there are Fruits of twatera embundu.....
Jinja media house
26 October, 2018
In Uganda, a Former Member of Parliament, Mr Kipoi is missing from Luzira prison because he has been re-arrested by the Military Police:
October 20, 2018
Written by URN
Former MP Kipoi (R) is missing from Luzira prison
Former Bubulo West member of parliament Tonny Nsubuga Kipoi has gone missing from Luzira prison.
According to Kipoi's lawyer, Rtd Maj Ronald Iduli, his client was reportedly picked from Luzira prison on Wednesday this week by Military Police claiming that he is to be produced in the High court Civil Division as per the orders of Justice Musa Sekaana. On October 10, Justice Sekaana ordered government to produce Kipoi in court on October 17 as his court pronounces itself on an application where Kipoi wanted to block his trial in the military court saying that it's illegal since he is a civilian.
Kipoi is charged in the General Court Martial with six UPDF soldiers for offences related to security. The other suspects are; RA 129817 SGT Okeng, RA 140400 L/CPL Rogers Mweru, RA 13014 SGT Yunus Lemertga, RA 2077006 PTE Ifosiga Saidi Dodla, RA 196740 L/CPL Cassim Adams Mawa, RA 37791 CPL James Shimali and RA 37702 CPL Yusuf Kiisa.
Prosecution alleges that between 2011 and 2012 in diverse places in Uganda specifically in Kampala, Mpigi, Luwero Entebbe, Fort Portal, Mbale Masaka and Nakasongola, the accused contrived a plot to overthrow President Yoweri Museveni's government.
However, as the High court dismissed his application on Wednesday, Kipoi was nowhere to be seen, neither did Geoffrey Atwiine, a representative of the attorney general explain to court why the applicant was not produced in court.
Maj Iduli has said that he attempted to visit Luzira prison looking for Kipoi but was denied access on grounds that his client was never returned ever since he got picked by Military Police. Iduli has now said that, he, and Kipoi's family; including relatives are now worried since they do not know where their beloved one is.
"On 17th October 2018 when Hon Kipoi was supposed to be brought to Civil Division High court for his application, the Military Police went to Luzira Upper prison on the pretext that they are taking him to court. He never reached court but he was never taken back to Luzira. I have talked to his family who also informed me that indeed that they have gone to Luzira and they did not find him. Right now nobody knows where he is." said Maj Iduli.
Frank Baine, the Uganda Prison Services spokesperson on Saturday confirmed to that Kipoi was picked from Luzira prison by the Military Police.
"Kipoi was picked by soldiers from Military Police who presented to us a production warrant from the General Court Martial. You know the court has discretion on where he can be remanded since it is the one trying him... He was taken back to Makindye [military barracks] but was not returned to Luzira," said Baine.
Maj John Bizimana, the registrar of the General Court Martial said he does not know the latest development.
"For us we remanded Kipoi to Luzira prison a few months ago, and we know that he is in Luzira. May be if he was remanded somewhere else by another court but not on orders of the General Court Martial," said Bizimana.
The Uganda People's Defense Forces deputy spokesperson Lt Col Deo Akiiki could not be reached on phone to explain further Kipoi's whereabouts.
Nb
It is exasperating that it took President Museveni of Uganda 6 years for the government of President Obote II and 8 years for the government of President Amin to try and look for him and arrest him for treason. That was a lot of money spent. He was never found. It is sad that these days President Museveni picks his political opponents with ease and remands them in government prisons as long as he feels like.
The military regime of President Museveni is taking over the country of Uganda with the help of the Uganda Army, so that the National Police force can only look on helplessly:
The individuals involved in this video are from Room 75 CPS Kampala. They work for the Flying Squad. Authorities have the names of the two beating Yunus Kawooya, the suspect. ".....However, highly placed security forces told this website that the armed men are from the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI)...." These are African soldiers that are given drugs to inhibit their morals.
One of the suspects Cpl Daniel Ssenkungu who was captured hitting Kawooya with a butt said: “I’m requesting for a lenient sentence because I have three kids at home and they’re alone. The suspect was violent and he even bit my fingers. That’s why I reacted the way I did.”
The suspects at court. PHOTO BY UPDF ON FACEBOOK
Later, the army spokesperson issued a statement saying they regretted “this unfortunate incident and to assure the public that such conduct is unacceptable and anyone who breaks the law will be held to account and will be punished accordingly.”
It's not clear when court will give a final verdict on the case.
Meanwhile, Kawooya is being held over yet to be known charges.
The main problem of Uganda where leaders refuse to leave is back again on the country's political agenda:
Taking over? UPDF soldiers ride on a police patrol pick-up truck as they disperse the free Bobi Wine demonstrators down town Kampala late last month. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA.
2nd September, 2018
By Stephen Kafeero
Minutes after protests broke out in the Kampala City suburb of Kamwokya, the music base of Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, on Friday, soldiers armed with guns and batons cordoned off the area.
A few hours later, the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) head, Brig Abel Kandiho, was in the protest-prone Kisekka Market directly overseeing the operations.
In different parts of the city, army snipers were on standby, their colleagues travelling in armoured vehicles as they patrolled the streets. Others with guns and sticks mounted search operations looking for any signs of dissent. Meanwhile, traders closed their shops as other citizens scattered for safety away from possible whipping and arrests that have characterised the army’s operations.
Soldiers were seen flogging suspected protestors. Journalists too, as has become the norm, were not spared. Footage recorded by an unidentified person from a nearby building shows about eight soldiers surrounding a cameraman attached to NBS Television and roughing him up.
It later emerged that Mr Joshua Mujunga, who could easily be identified because he was wearing his media house’s press jacket with logos clearly inscribed on it, was assaulted by soldiers and later admitted to a Kampala hospital. His equipment, including a camera, were either destroyed or confiscated by soldiers.
Army takes over Since violence broke out in Arua on August 13, the military has since taken a leading role in managing civil strife in the country. So prominent has the army’s role become that it now appears the force, whose main role is to protect the territorial boundaries of the country, is babysitting the police to do its core function of keeping law and order within the country. But Uganda Police Force maintains it is in control.
Senior police commanders at Kampala Metropolitan Police, who ideally would take a lead role in such operations, have either been behind the scenes, or, as sources say, sidelined from the operations.
In Kampala, for example, Central Police Station (CPS) Commander ASP Joseph Bakaleke has been the highest ranking police officer involved in the operations. His bosses, including Moses Kafeero, the Kampala Metropolitan Police commander, have been mute throughout the incidents of the past two weeks.
At least six people have been shot dead, and many more have taken bullet wounds in demonstrations in Kampala and Mityana District and other areas arising from the Arua fracas.
An unknown number of people have been arrested. Activists and observers have blamed much of the violence on the army’s handling of the situation, with soldiers treating citizens as enemy combatants and not merely civil strife.
Both the police and the military say they are fulfilling a provision of the Constitution which requires the police to cooperate with other security organs established under law, including the army. The government, through that law, can deploy the mainstream army and or other special units on law and order duties.
“It is the problem of your eyes. Police is in the lead but nonetheless, we work with the military as mandated by the Constitution. Whatever the case, the police takes the lead in controlling internal security. The DPC of the area is in charge and the commander, Kampala Metropolitan, is fully in charge of his area of operation,” Police spokesman Emilian Kayima said when asked whether the police has abdicated its role to the military.
Contrary to what had happened in Kamwokya and other areas around the city, Mr Kayima insisted that the army only join the operations on the invitation by the police commander of the area.
Does the police lack capacity, for example, to police areas such as Kamwokya? It is the same question we put to Mr Kayima. “No, thank you. Some operations are joint inter-agency operations. We do it jointly for the bigger service to Ugandans with their best interests. It is not that we cannot manage, we can manage but what is wrong with working together to give that service for everyone to enjoy their rights and freedoms. There is no problem at all,” he said.
Asked whether the current situation in the country requires the intervention of the military, UPDF spokesperson Brig Richard Karemire said the police had made an assessment and found there is need for the army to support them.
“Our functions under the Constitution are very clear, and in this case, the police takes the lead in ensuring that there is law and order, and where there is need, they call us to support them. And this is what we are doing but police continues to take the lead. If we take the lead, you would have heard me issuing statements every day.
ARMY OVER POLICE Background. The involvement of the army in what would ordinarily be police work was predominant at the turn of the century, with the standard argument being that the police ranks were understaffed. The staffing problem seemed to have been resolved during Gen Kale Kayihura’s reign as Inspector General of Police when the number of policemen rose from less than 20,000 to more than 40,000.
The police remained at the forefront of the dealing with civil protests until President Museveni’s trust in the police under Gen Kayihura declined and he started to publicly describe the Force as being infested with criminals and weevils. The army started by being deployed to investigate and arrest a number of senior police officers and their auxiliaries, and it has now moved to policing civil unrest.
Mu Uganda, nga 16 February, 1977, kakano emyaka 41 emabega, Waliwo abaalaba abaapanga emmotoka ezaagambibwa okutta Archbishop Janani Jakaliya Luwum:
By Kizito Musoke
Added 16th February 2018
Emirambo bwe gyatuuka e Mulago n’agendayo, kyokka kyankuba wala okugituukako nga gyonna gijjudde ebituli by’amasasi ku mutwe.
Omugenzi Janani J. Luwum a former Archbishop of Uganda
Christians take photos of the Ring around the Sun at Wigwen village in Mucwini subcounty. Photo by Julius Ocungi
In Summary
One of the Kitgum Municipality residents Ms Jacqueline Amono however said she witnessed a Hallo earlier on Wednesday.
Archbishop Luwum was the Anglican archbishop of the Church Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga Zaire was murdered on February 17 1977 by Idi Amin soldiers for his sharp criticism against the then regime.
HENRY KYEMBA ye yali minisita w’ebyobulamu ku mulembe gwa Pulezidenti Idd Amin mu kiseera Ssaabalabirizi Janani Jakaliya Luwum we yattirwa era y’omu ku bantu abaasembayo okubeerako naye.
Kyemba eyawummula ebyobufuzi ng’abeera Jinja yayogedde by’ajjukira ku bulamu bwa Ssaabalabirizi obwasembayo ku lunaku lwa February 16, 1977 kwe yattirwa.
Y’omu ku bantu abatono abaalaba ku mulambo gwa Luwum eyagambibwa nti yali afunye akabenje.
Obulamu bwa Luwum obwasembayo ku nsi n’okutuuka okuttibwa byonna byalimu ebitakkirizika okusinziira ku Kyemba.
Olunaku lwa February 16, 1977 lwatandika ng’olunaku olulala nga tetumanyi nti gye lunaggweera ejja kuba ntiisa.
Yali nkola ya Amin okutuuza enkiiko ku wooteeri ya Nile Mansion mu kiseera kino awali wooteeri ya Serena ku mwaliiro ogwokubiri. Buli pulezidenti lwe yatuuzanga enkiiko baminisita be we twamusanganga ne tubeerako bye tumunnyonnyola n’okufuna ebiragiro okuva gy’ali.
Ne ku mulundi ogwo era bwe kyali anti twakeera ku Nile Mansions awaali wagenda okubeera omukolo gw’okwolesa eby’okulwanyisa.
Amin yali ayagala nnyo amagye nga yatuuka n’okwewa ebitiibwa ebisingayo nga: Field Marshal, Conqueror of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Order, Millitary Cross n’ebirala.
Bwe natuuka nalabirawo nti embeera si yaabulijjo kuba ekifo kyonna kyali kyetooloddwa eby’okulwanyisa n’abajaasi abaali abangi ddala.
Musajja wa Amin gwe yali yeesiga ng’emmundu emmenye, Col. Isaac Maliyamungu yaliwo nnyo okukakasa nti buli kimu kiri mulaala nga bwe baali bakyagala.
Mu kiseera ekyo Amin yali alaba buli kigenda mu maaso wansi, ng’asinziira ku mwaliiro ogwokubiri kwe yatuulanga.
Oluvannyuma pulezidenti Amin yayita olukiiko olwetabwamu baminisita, bannaddiini n’abajaasi mu kisenge ekinene ekiteesezebwamu. Pulezidenti mu kwogera okwatwala ekiseera ekitono yalumiriza Ssaabalabirizi Luwum n’abantu abalala nga bwe baali beetabye mu bikolwa by’okulya mu nsi olukwe.
Yalaga ebbaluwa ez’enjawulo ze yalumiriza nti, Ssaabalabirizi ye yali aziwandiikidde Obote nga balina ekigendererwa ky’okuwamba Gavumenti ye.
Ssaabalabirizi Luwum yali atuulidde ddala kumpi nange ng’agasimbaganye ne Amin.
Mu kiseera nga bamulumiriza okulya mu nsi olukwe, yanyeenya omutwe mu ngeri eraga nti yali yeewunya ebyali byogerwa. Kyokka teyaweebwa mukisa gwonna kubeerako ky’ayogera ku musango omunene gwe baali bamutaddeko.
Oluvannyuma amagye gaafulumya Ssaabalabirizi Luwum ne baminisita be baali bamuvunaana naye ogw’okulya mu nsi olukwe okwali; Erinayo Oryema ne Oboth Ofumbi okuva mu kisenge mwe twali.
Olukiiko twalumala ku ssaawa 10 ez’akawungeezi ne nzira eka. Enkeera nalina ekibinja ky’abantu abaava ebweru be nalina okulambuza ebitundu by’eggwanga eby’enjawulo.
Pulezidenti namutegeeza ku bagenyi bano kyokka ng’alabika ebirowoozo tebiriiyo.
Kyokka ku mulundi guno yali alabika ng’ebirowoozo biri walala era sisuubita nti bye namunnyonnyola yabitegeera.
Kyemba ne Amin
SSAABALABIRIZI AFIIRA MU KABENJE
Mba naakatuuka awaka ku ssaawa emu ey’akawungeezi ne nfuna essimu okuva ewa Gen. Mustaphar Adirisi, eyali omumyuka wa Pulezidenti n’antegeeza nti Ssaabalabirizi Luwum ne baminisita abaali bakwatiddwa bwe baali bafiiridde mu kabenje.
Kyankuba wala okuba ng’abantu be baali bavunaana ate okuba nga mu kiseera kye kimu baali bafiiridde mu kabenje.
Wadde nali nkiwulidde okumala ebbanga nti abantu battibwa, kyokka kino kyali kyeragirawo nti kano akabenje kaali kapange.
Tewaali muntu yali alowooza nti Amin yali ayinza okutabuka n’atuuka n’okutta omuntu nga Ssaabalabirizi Luwum.
Bangi ku ffe twali tulowooza nti ayinza kuzannyira ku bantu nga Kyemba era kino kyankakasa nti omusajja agwiiridde ddala eddalu.
Bantegeeza nti akabenje kaali kagudde mu kifo awali wooteeri ya Sheraton mu kiseera kino.
Naye bwe nagamba omusawo wa Gavumenti, Dr. Kafeero n’agaana okugikola. Abasawo b’amagye oluvannyuma baayitibwa ne bawa lipooti ekwata ku bafu mu mbeera etaali ntuufu mu mulimu gwobusawo bwobulamu.
Emmotoka ezigambibwa nti ze zaafuna akabenje zaali zirabika nga zaafunako akabenje mu kiseera eky’emabega.
Emmotoka yennyini eyagambibwa nti Ssaabalabirizi ne baminisita mwe baali, yali emu ku mmotoka za Amin ze yakozesanga.
Emmotoka yennyini eyagambibwa nti ye yatomera Range Rover omwali Ssaabalabirizi ne baminisita batere bafe bonna, yali ntono nnyo nga kyali tekisoboka bonna okufiiramu olumu.
Abaajingirira akabenje nga bawuddiisa abantu tebaamanya nti waaliwo abantu abaali ku bizimbe waggulu okumpi abaabalaba nga bapanga emmotoka ze baagamba nti zaali zitomeraganye.
Ekimu ku kyannuma ennyo baafulumyanga sitatimenti mu linnya lyange, kyokka nga sirina we nnyinza kusinziira kubiwakanya nti si byange.”
Wandisuubidde nti akabenje omwafiira abantu ab’amaanyi nga Ssaabalabirizi Luwum ne baminisita babiri olwandiguddewo olukiiko lwa kabineeti lwanditudde bunnambiro, kyokka tewali kyaliwo.
EMIRAMBO GYALIKO EBITULI BY’AMASASI
Emirambo bwe gyatuuka e Mulago n’agendayo, kyokka kyankuba wala okugituukako nga gyonna gijjudde ebituli by’amasasi ku mutwe.
Kyokka saalina we nnyinza kubuuliza kuba si nze eyali avunaanyizibwa okufulumya ebbaluwa y’omusawo eraga ekyasse abagenzi.
Embeera y’emirambo yammala okukakasa nti akabenje kaali kapange naye ng’abafu baali battiddwa masasi ge baabakuba.
Oluvannyuma neetegula ne nva mu ggwanga kuba abantu baali basusse okuttibwa n’okubuzibwawo omwali ne muganda wange.
Mu April wa 1977, neetegula eggwanga ne famire yange ne tuwahhanguka,” Kyemba bwe yanyumizza ku bulamu n’olunaku Luwum kwe yattirwa.
EKIZIMBE KYA CHURCH HOUSE BAKIBBUDDEMU LUWUM
Ssaabalabirizi w’ekkanisa ya Uganda, Stanley Ntagali yagambye nti olukiiko olufuga ekkanisa lwasazeewo okubbula ekizimbe kya Church House mu mugenzi Luwum. Ekizimbe kino ekisangibwa ku luguudo lwa Kampala Road baakituumye Janan Luwum Church House.
Mu kiseera Luwum we baamuttira ye yali akulira ekkanisa mu Uganda, ebitundu bya Eastern Congo, Rwanda ne Burundi.
Emikolo emikulu gikuziddwa leero ku kyalo Mucwini mu disitulikiti y’e Kitgum.
'Miraculous rainbow around the Sun excites Christians at Archbishop Luwum’s memorial prayers at his grave.
In Summary
One of the Kitgum Municipality residents Ms Jacqueline Amono however said she witnessed a Hallo earlier on Wednesday.
Archbishop Luwum was the Anglican archbishop of the Church Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga Zaire was murdered on February 17 1977 by Idi Amin soldiers for his sharp criticism against the then regime.
By JULIUS OCUNGI
AT KITGUM, UGANDA.
Thousands of Christian believers on Friday screamed with joy and made loud ululation after seeing a circular rainbow around the sun in the sky during the 41st anniversary celebration to mark the martyrdom of Archbishop Janani Luwum in Mucwini sub county, Kitgum District.
It all began at about 10 am while in middle of homily conducted by the Church of Uganda Archbishop Stanley Ntagali when some Christians started pointing to the sky and murmuring about something “strange” around the sun.
“This is a sign that the former archbishop of Uganda Janani Luwum is truly a saint, we have never experienced anything like this before in this region,” one of the Christians said as he picked his phone to record the moment.
Look at how it’s hanging over the grave of the archbishop, this is miracle, he added.
Slowly, the message got to everyone and in a blink of an eye, thousands of people sprung on their feet with phone cameras to capture what they termed “strange and miraculous”. Many sang hymns and praised God for showing them the miracle.
Former FDC Party president Gen Mugisha Muntu couldnt resist capturing the moment. Photo by Julius Ocungi
The dignitaries who sat in the VIP tent too could not resist the attraction; one by one they got on their feet to witness.
Among them were the guests at the memorial prayers Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, several legislators within the region and the former Forum for Democratic Change Party President Gen Mugisha Muntu.
Retired Bishop of Kitgum Diocese Rev Macleod Baker Ochola who witnessed the event said it was a manifestation that the slain archbishop was a true servant of God.
“Today we are witnessing a very great miracle, when you see this sign; it means God is speaking to people of Uganda to listen to what Archbishop Janani Luwum preached about truth, justice,” He added that, “this is a very rare happening; it means that God is reminding people about the legacy of Archbishop Luwum”.
But according to information on the Huffington post website, the circular ring around the sun is also known as a 22 degree halo or a sun halo.
The circular ring around the sun is caused by sunlight passing through ice crystals in cirrus clouds within the Earth’s atmosphere thereby refracting the sunlight much like a prism giving a rainbow halo around the sun.
One of the Kitgum Municipality residents Ms Jacqueline Amono however said she witnessed a Hallo earlier on Wednesday.
“I don’t believe this happened because of the Memorial Day because I had witnessed it before,” she told Daily Monitor in an interview.
The hallo lasted for about one hour before disappearing.
There are general traditional belief within the region that a sign of a hallo happens when a respectable person in the community dies or has been killed.
Believers tend to also take these unusual happenings to mean miracles.
Archbishop Luwum was the Anglican archbishop of the Church Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga Zaire was murdered on February 17 1977 by Idi Amin soldiers for his sharp criticism against the then regime.
The day Museveni guards invaded parliament:
October 4, 2017
Written by Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda
MP Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda
Today marks a week since Gen Yoweri Museveni’s Special Forces Command (SFC) invaded parliament.
The invasion may have happened seven days ago, but because of what I went through, it is like it happened yesterday. Gen Moses Ali had warned me that by wearing a red hat and a ribbon, those of us opposed to the life presidency project had made our arrest easier.
Gen Ali told me that when former President Milton Obote sent his forces to arrest errant ministers, they took more people than were ordered.
Because of my position (chief opposition whip), I sit on the front bench in parliament on the left-hand side of the speaker. Moses Ali, being a second deputy prime minister, sits on the opposite side facing me.
We routinely chat before beginning of parliamentary sittings as we did on Tuesday September, 26, a day before the invasion. Neither Gen Ali nor I predicted that the invasion would be as brutal as it played out before cameras.
Rebecca Kadaga, the speaker of parliament, read out 25 names of MPs she accused of disrupting the previous day’s proceedings and suspended them.
This was no ordinary suspension because right behind her seat, a group of tens of SFC soldiers were waiting to execute Kadaga’s order. The order was that all those whose names had been read should be ejected from parliament. She suspended parliament for 30 minutes to allow SFC storm the chambers where we sit.
Although my name was not read, I was the first victim. Parliamentary policemen grabbed me by my protesting hands and dragged me to the room behind Kadaga’s seat.
Here they just threw me on the ground. I am lucky I didn’t fall on my face. Then SFC took over. Kamata is the word I heard their commander shout. I will be lying if I told you that I saw the faces of those that grabbed me from the ground.
One of these men folded his hand around my neck. His colleague pulled the hand as if it was a rope. They then started kicking me as they dragged me out of this room. They dragged me out using the back doors the public uses to access parliament.
Near the security check, I saw the officer in charge of the parliamentary police nearly in tears pleading with Museveni guards not to strangle me. My neck had been squeezed and I couldn’t utter even a word.
They adjusted the strangling and I was able to plead with Mwesigwa, who commands Kampala Metropolitan Police. He was the one in charge of the operation outside the parliamentary chambers.
Janet Kataaha Museveni’s chief bodyguard, a woman I think called Charlotte, was the one commanding the SFC team inside parliament. I think she was using her knowledge of parliamentary geography she acquired while escorting Kataaha there the time she was an MP for Ruhaama.
Mwesigwa told the SFC goons that were strangling me to pull me by the trousers, not the neck. Mwesigwa had sealed off the roads around National theatre where he parked all kinds of police vehicles. They dragged me and threw me in the mpawo atalikaaba van, one we have nicknamed Besigye prison.
It was the other people’s turn. Denis Lee Oguzu, MP for Maracha in West Nile, shortly followed me. Like me, his name also had not been read but his crime was to wear a red cap.
He was dragged the whole stretch of the access walkway and thrown into the van. Muhumuza, the man who made his name by trailing and commanding Besigye’s arrests, is the one who received us. He described Oguzu Lee as a very powerful man. Dragging him was real work!
Next to be brought was Kampala Central MP Muhammad Nsereko. There was already a swelling on his head. He told me they had hit him with an iron bar-like metal. He pleaded with Muhumuza to find him ice or cold water in vain.
They then brought Aruu South MP Samuel Odonga Otto who was followed by Gerald Karuhanga, the MP for Ntungamo municipality. Karuhanga was in bad shape and could not breathe.
Muhumuza turned into a savior, ordering him to breathe in and out, which worked!
Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo was brought in and thrown into our van. Then those short men brought in Mityana municipality MP Francis Zaake.
He was already unconscious. They threw him in and he immediately started kicking, like someone gasping for air or breathing his last.
We momentarily forgot the Muhumuza order of not conversing in his vehicle and made an alarm. That Muhumuza fellow simply folded Zaake’s legs and ordered the driver to ignite the engine.
Mwesigwa overruled him and ordered that Zaake be removed from our van. He was carried in the hands of a single operative and driven away in a double-cabin truck.
Ssekikubo was removed from our van because of congestion and taken into another pickup truck. Off we went. Our destination was Naggalama police station. I will start from there next week and discuss the repercussions of this raid.
The author is Kira Municipality MP and spokesperson of the Forum for Democratic Change.
In Uganda, The agressive African Inspector of the Military police, General Kayihura, has ordered a different academic qualification for all police detectives in his African force:
Written by JOHNSON TAREMWA
Created: 26 October 2016
The Uganda Inspector General of the Military Police, General Kale Kayihura.
Police chief Gen Kale Kayihura has ordered all detectives to sit pre-entry exams before redeployment.
According to sources within the police, Kayihura also ordered that any officer joining the directorate of Criminal Investigations and Intelligence(CIID)must have a minimum qualification of Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (Senior six).
Constables who perform tasks such as recording of statements from suspects, taking fingerprints and visiting scenes of crime must have a minimum of Senior Six plus any law-related course, according to the new guidelines. A constable is the lowest-ranking police officer.
For officers who prefer charges against suspects and supervise constables, Kayihura said they must have a degree in law and at least some experience of more than three years in intelligence-gathering. Such officers must be at the rank of assistant superintendent of police (ASP) and above.
A police officer attached to CIID headquarters in Kibuli, who preferred anonymity, said the new guidelines require all officers in charge of criminal investigations at police stations (OCIDs) and their deputies to have law degrees and to have done more than four courses in intelligence-gathering.
Around 600 detectives are expected to start a six-month pilot training project in due course.
“We are planning to train at least 2,000 CIID officers but we shall be taking them in batches of 600,” the source said.
Officers will undergo an induction course, law, and military training, among others.
“All detectives who have spent more than 10 years in CIID without any course have to go for that training,” he said.
On Monday, Andrew Felix Kaweesi, the police spokesman, confirmed the new guidelines.
“It is very true the inspector general of police ordered us to streamline the directorate of CIID and also make sure we have standard investigators,” he said. Kaweesi said all detectives will attend an induction course at Kabalye police training school.
After the first course, detectives will also write pre-entry exams.
“Officers who fail pre-entry exams will not be deployed in CIID,” Kaweesi said. “After the course, officers that lack the minimum requirement of Senior Six will be deployed in other departments like field force police and general duties, among others, but not CIID,” he added.
According to our sources, Kayihura was forced to act after realising that many criminal cases in the courts are lost because of failure by the police to gather good evidence.
“Most of the investigators that we have in the police have no knowledge of the law and cannot even gather good evidence, which judges and magistrates can use to convict criminals,” a source quoted Kayihura as telling CIID personnel during a meeting last week.
“This is why police has lost most cases in court,” he told them.
Kayihura reportedly added that some CIID officers prefer wrong charges against offenders and cases end up being dismissed by judicial officers.
“How can we have someone in CIID who cannot prefer the right charge against a suspect? Such people must be pulled out from that directorate,” Kayihura reportedly said.
Kayihura is further said to have told the meeting that some CIID officers are more interested in soliciting bribes from the public than gathering good evidence to pin criminals in court.
However, one detective who has been lined up for training blamed his superiors for some of the CIID inadequacies. He said at times detectives do a good investigative job only for their bosses who might have a vested interest in the case to interfere.
President Museveni has in the past decried the police’s investigative weaknesses, at one time deriding them by saying their methods are outdated. The police, he joked, are fond of asking, Ani amulabyeko? (who has seen him/her) while pursuing offenders, which is not an effective approach.
Nb
Ani yamulabye ko: means: Who are the witness on this case? Legally one cannot see any thing wrong with that surely in these times of Security Cameras covering the world over. A court of Uganda these days that seeks to encourage reconciliation between African communities other than attending to all sorts of minimal bye-laws must encourage the African police to be part of that African community.
Those days are gone when a police man in the middle of Continent Africa had to come from the middle of Europe with all the European academic qualifications in his palm.
After 30 years, the President of Uganda is still promising his people an economic miracle to transform their incomes ten fold by 2020?
President Museveni delivers his State-of-the-Nation address in Kampala on Tuesday. In the background is Speaker Rebecca Kadaga (L) and Chief Justice Bart Katureebe.
PHOTO BY ERIC DOMINIC BUKENYA
By Solomon Arinaitwe
Posted Sunday, June 5 2016
To pull off his flagship project of achieving a middle-income status by 2020, President Museveni used his inaugural State-of-the-Nation address in his fifth elective term to unveil a raft of five priority areas that he will put emphasis on turning around the economic fortunes of Uganda.
According to the World Bank, middle-income economies are those with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of more than $1,045(Shs3.5m) but less than $12,736(Shs42m). This is where Mr Museveni says Uganda will be in five years. In East Africa, Kenya is the only country with middle-income status.
To achieve this ambitious feat, Mr Museveni has promised to plug what he called “money haemorrhage” by attracting and incentivising investors to improve the local manufacturing industry and partner with EAC members to curb resource outflow.
Mr Museveni also vowed to fight corruption among the political leaders and the public servants and lashed at government officials that delay investment projects. Transforming Uganda to middle-income status by 2020 was Museveni’s campaign message and he repeated it when he claimed the out-going Cabinet “nearly took Uganda” to middle-income status.
Figures from the 2015/2016 National Development Plan (NDP), whose strategic goal is to transform Uganda to middle-income by 2020 with a per capita income of Shs3.4m, indicate that per capita income currently stands at $788 (Shs2.6m). This means every Uganda is earning Shs2.6m annually.
Poverty will have to be reduced from the current 19.7 per cent to 14.2 per cent, according to the National Development Plan. The NDP says this can be achieved through strengthening competitiveness for sustainable wealth creation, employment and inclusive growth.
Greeted with cynicism But Museveni’s vows were greeted with cynicism, with many wondering whether a country with an average income of Shs2.7m will be able to turn it around to a minimum of Shs3.5m over the next five years.
For all the promises that Mr Museveni made, it was the promise to tackle corruption that was greeted with the most of cynicism. An inquiry into the Uganda National Roads Authority that discovered that at least Shs4 trillion was stolen by more than 90 officials is Mr Museveni’s new trump card.
He has vowed to hunt down those thieves – whom he called endangered species – with the fury of a muyekera (rebel). But with rough estimates that Uganda loses Shs510 billion in procurement related deals a year, Mr Museveni will be closely watched by sceptics who bet that his threats are empty rhetoric.
Ms Cissy Kagaba, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU), a coalition of activists that track government corruption, says there is no need to be optimistic with Mr Museveni’s repeated vows to tackle graft.
“The President has been talking and talking [about fighting corruption] with very little action. He talked of ministers that ask favours from investors – that means he knows the people. Why are they still free? We cannot achieve middle-income status with corruption. What is supporting the regime is patronage and corruption and that’s why he can’t fight corruption,” Ms Kagaba says.
To achieve the near impossible feat, Mr Museveni promised to battle with the 68 per cent of the homesteads that are still engaged in subsistence farming by emphasising the sale of fruits, micro-irrigation, using solar-powered water pumps and concentration on three main fruits.
But questions still linger whether that will be enough to transform Uganda to middle-income by 2021. Uganda’s economic prospects, according to the latest projection by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), are very bleak. The May 3 IMF economic outlook for sub-Saharan Africa indicated that economic growth for countries such as Uganda will be 3 per cent below the 6.2 per cent required to propel the country to middle-income status by 2020.
“After a prolonged period of strong economic growth, sub-Saharan Africa is set to experience a second difficult year as the region is hit by multiple shocks. Growth this year is expected to slow further to 3 per cent, well below the 6 per cent average over the last decade and barely above population growth,” IMF said in its economic outlook. Prof Augustus Nuwagaba, an economic consultant who has worked with the Finance ministry, says transforming a country to middle-income status requires mainly three things; inculcating that vision into the whole population, financing and planning.
“You must have a buy in. Everyone in the country must be aware of the vision to transform to middle-income status. How many people have bought that idea and are willing to change their attitude towards the country and their attitude towards work?” Prof Nuwagaba says. Prof Nuwagaba says for countries that rapidly transformed like South Korea, Malaysia and Mauritius, people were all working in that direction.
Government has clearly done little in the line of marketing Mr Museveni’s vision of transforming the country to middle-income status. Save for random mentions during the campaigns, there is no deliberate process of publicising the plan and making people work towards it.
Unrealistic Dr Fred Muhumuza, an economist who has previously worked with Bank of Uganda, says the timeline of achieving middle-income by 2020 is “unrealistic” because even if the right “inputs” were put into the economy, they have to be given time to bear fruit.
On the policy front, the government has to do more to tackle the outflow of money and the high interest rates, says Dr Muhumuza, if investors are to be attracted.
“What is the government doing to lower interest rates? For interest rates to be lowered, the government has to scale down its appetite for money,” Dr Muhumuza says.
Mr Museveni acknowledged the problem of exorbitant interest rates during his address, proposing that the Uganda Development Bank (UDB) will be capitalised so that it gives low interest loans to agriculture and industry (manufacturing).
“Even when the inflation rate is 5 per cent, the banks lend at 23.5 per cent as of now. It is these commercial banks that are fuelling the craze of importing by giving endless loans to importers,” Mr Museveni said.
Mr Julius Mukunda, the coordinator of the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) says the ray of hope in Mr Museveni’s address was his promise to put an emphasis on the local manufacturing sector, which he says is achievable.
“You will never develop a country if you cannot protect your own industries and conform to the import substitution strategy. Why, for instance, do we have to import toothpicks and match boxes? It has come at the right time and it is achievable,” Mr Mukunda says. To prop up the local manufacturing industry, government institutions like the army and police, which are some of the leading consumers, would buy locally made products.
The President said Uganda is currently “donating” to India, China, UAE, Japan, EU and USA a total of $5.528 billion (Shs18.5 trillion) per year. For this money, importation of textiles accounts for $888 million (Shs3 trillion), leather goods $0.22 million, fruit products $20.2 million (Shs67 billion) and second hand cars $568.7 million (Shs1.9 trillion).
But Mr Museveni did not tell us why the government is the leading importer, effectively shooting itself in the foot. “If you look at the import data, government is a leading importer. And the imports will make the exchange rate higher and crowd out the private sector and no investor will come to a country with high interest rates no matter how good the roads are,” Dr Muhumuza, an economist, says.
Manufactured exports as a percentage of total exports currently stand at 5.8 per cent, and the goal of the National Development Plan is to increase them to 19 per cent.
The National Export Development Strategy (2015/16-2019/20), which was unveiled last year, encourages tax incentives to companies adding value to products, reducing administrative barriers to export of raw materials, government investment in value addition, quality assurance and assisting SMEs in the process of product certification. Mr Mukunda says the ray of hope in Mr Museveni’s speech was his promise to put an emphasis on the local manufacturing sector, which he says is achievable.
But Mr Mukunda does not agree with Museveni on the policy of importing knock down cars to assemble cars from here. In his address, Museveni argued that importing a car in a knockdown state and is assembling it here is 25 per cent cheaper that importing an already used car. But Mr Mukunda says Uganda does not have comparative advantage in importing cars and it should instead focus on sectors like agriculture.
“We do not have a comparative advantage in assembling cars; we should leave that to the Japanese. We have gorillas, Japan does not have them. We can plant our cereals which many countries cannot,” Mr Mukunda says.
What is left of The Civilian Police of Uganda these days is only their uniform:
Written by Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda
Created: 27 April 2016
The Police men as military sentries alongside the civilian population.
The Military General, Kale Kayihura was appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP) in November 2005. His appointment coincided with the return of Col Dr Kizza Besigye from exile in South Africa.
Dealing with Besigye whose popularity soared beyond expectation, therefore, became Kayihura’s first major assignment. I think even in his own estimation, Kayihura never thought Besigye will become a daily and almost permanent assignment.
And it is understanding why Besigye has become a permanent assignment that both Kayihura and his boss will find a solution and permanent answer. To his credit, police has grown in numbers, budget, equipment and Kayihura. Eleven years ago when Gen Edward Katumba Wamala was at its helm, the force was just about 18,000.
Today, under Kayihura, the force has grown to over 60,000. The police annual budget has also increased from about Shs 150bn to over Shs 500bn this year. The equipment acquired has been on the display for all to see. Even what we thought belonged to the military, today police has.
Kayihura has become the first police boss with unlimited access to the military. He occasionally deploys both the military and police as if they are a single unit. In fact, when they recently surrounded my house, Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) was being commanded by police. And these days, police officers are made to undergo military trainings.
Haruna Isabirye, the new director of operations, returned recently from Nairobi, where he did I think a National Defence College course. This course is done by high ranking military officers, from colonel and above in some countries. Therefore, militarization of the force has been completed. The Uganda Police Force will remain a military outfit for a long time. What has remained police is the uniform.
We're identifying Kale Kayihura's terrorists one by one; this one is called Tandeka Rwabwere. He comes from Butembererwa Kenshunga, Kiruhura District. He is an Iraq returnee.
But what is most important for me, and it is the theme of this article, is the loyalty of the policemen. From his action, it appears Kayihura’s other assignment was to mold a force that is more loyal to the regime than the country. That is why the number of recruits from western Uganda dramatically increased.
Both the president and his queen also started recommending both recruitment and deployment into the force. All over a sudden, Runyakitara become a dominant language in police like it has become at many public workplace. Most of the prominent divisional and district police commanders (DPCs) were to be drawn mainly from the west. These days, we speak less about it because it has also become permanent.
The president had complained that between him and a jerrycan, police would vote for the former. Making police vote for mzee was, therefore, a legitimate target. But in the February 18 general elections, the police didn’t vote for the jerrycan but Col Besigye.
Besigye won at all the three Naguru polling stations near the police headquarters and inside the big residence of officers and men. What followed was a big purge.
First, meetings were held to investigate why police that has been built by Kayihura for the last 11 years changed its mind and turned the back against mzee. Some officers claimed on the voting day, they were in the field supervising elections, and therefore, didn’t vote from Naguru. Those who voted for Besigye are, therefore, members of their families, who are civilians.
An order to clear all civilians from barracks was, therefore, issued. Some officers pleaded with us on the committee on defence and internal affairs to help. The order meant separating parents from their secondary school-going children.
All “self-help” small houses constructed in Naguru barracks were demolished or ordered to be demolished. There was fear the barracks had been sold, which is also possible? I don’t know where that cleansing exercise has reached.
But just a few days ago, I received a call from The observer for a comment on claims by police spokesperson, this Enanga man, that Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has planted spies in the force. That, as a party, we are planning to attack police posts with the guidance of our spies in the force! That is now an interesting one!
And it takes me back to the point I made earlier about Besigye. Both the president and Gen Kayihura think Besigye and FDC are the real enemy and problem. The truth is that everybody who cares for Uganda has or is about to become an enemy. Kayihura and his boss will soon realize that they are surrounded by enemies.
The solution, therefore, doesn’t lie in rescreening the police force again, but in doing the inevitable, and that is handing over the people’s power to a new set of human resource. Once that is done, the military will return to barracks and we will require fewer funds to procure armoured vehicles for policing.
Taking soldiers away from the population is what this regime preached in the past. It is the reason Lubiri was handed over, and soldiers taken to Kakiri and Bombo. They are now back on all hills in Kampala and open spaces. The centre cannot hold any more.
About the Uganda NRM military Police brutality the Junior officers are feeling it unfair for them to be selected for punishment:
Written by JOHNSON TAREMWA
Created: 20 July 2016
Junior police officers want senior commanders charged for ordering the beating of Dr Besigye supporters, writes JOHNSON TAREMWA.
The charging in the police disciplinary court of only lowly-ranked police officers in the beating of Col Kizza Besigye’s supporters in Kampala last week has angered the rank and file in the force.
On Monday, five junior officers and one crime preventer captured on camera appeared before the court to answer two counts of unlawful or excessive use of authority contrary to the Police Act and discreditable or irregular conduct. They were later released on police bond. The accused are Willy Kalyango, 25, Sula Kato, 43, Kennedy Muhangi, 38, Moses Agaba, 33, Robert Wanjala and Dan Tandeka, 33.
The chairman of the court, Denis Odongopiny, read the charges. On conviction, the officers face dismissal from the force or demotion. However, the appearance in court of only lowly-ranked policemen has angered their colleagues who felt their bosses should have been arraigned and also charged.
Four junior police officers and one crime preventer in a police court
Police chief Kale Kayihura last week castigated his senior commanders and ordered an investigation into the conduct of five of them. Interestingly, the commanders under scrutiny appeared alongside Kayihura during the July 14 press conference at Naguru.
They included Andrew Kagwa, the regional police commander for Kampala East, James Ruhweza, who heads operations in Kampala Metropolitan; Kampala North regional police commander Wisely Nganizi and his deputy Geoffrey Kahebwa.
Moses Nanoka, the Wandegeya division police commander, was also there. Captain Eric Kagina, the head of investigations in Special Forces Command (SFC), recorded a statement with the Professional Standards Unit.
But when it came to court, only lowly-ranked officers were arraigned and charged. Some of the police officers interviewed after the Naguru court hearing on Monday said it was wrong and unfair to punish only junior officers.
“I don’t see the reason why officers were charged because the IGP had praised his commanders for beating FDC supporters and why now charge his juniors in court?” one senior police officer said.
He added that Gen Kayihura should have shielded the juniors from court as well. “Why do you defend the commanders and charge the juniors yet they all work for the same force?” he added.
He said the commanders who issued the orders, which the juniors followed, must be held accountable. “The juniors can be charged for disobeying lawful orders, but not implementing lawful orders,” one officer in the force’s legal department said.
“First of all, in police we work on orders and command and those officers who were charged worked on orders and incase the order is criticized, the one who issued it takes the blame,” the same officer said.
The officer added that if juniors are punished or charged in court for implementing their bosses’ orders, that means they are telling them to resign from the force. Interviewed shortly after court, one sergeant said, “Our bosses ordered our colleagues to beat the FDC supporters and they implemented the order; why charge them, and not the bosses?”
“We don’t have justice in the force because if we disobey lawful orders from our superiors, it is a serious offence in the force and now if we implement lawful orders from our bosses, we are also charged; so, where are we safe in the force?” another junior officer said.
OPPOSITION SPEAKS
Interviewed for a comment yesterday, Wafula Oguttu, an FDC official and former leader of opposition in Parliament, said by telephone: “We expected commanders and Kayihura in court because they issued orders of beating our supporters and now why are they charging the juniors who were innocent?” he said.
He said the videos the party has, show Aaron Baguma, the divisional police commander for Kampala Central police station, and Andrew Kagwa, the regional police commander for Kampala South, beating people yet they did not appear in court.
“If police fears to charge the commanders, we shall take them on as individuals in public courts because we have evidence against them.’’
Kayihura came out strongly last week to condemn the actions of some officers and defend his commanders after a public outcry in the aftermath of the beatings. Speaking during a hastily-convened press conference Gen Kayihura said police had opted for batons and water cannons as the tools of choice for dispersing demonstrators instead of tear gas, live and rubber bullets.
Interviewed for a comment on the charging of only junior officers, Polly Namaye, the deputy spokesperson, said the disciplinary court of police only tries officers from the rank of Constable to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP).
She said the disciplinary court cannot punish officers at the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and above. To do so, it must get the nod of approval from the Police Authority, which is headed by an Assistant Inspector General of Police, the third-highest-ranking officer in the force.
Most of the police commanders under investigation are at the rank of assistant superintendent of police to assistant commissioner, which places them outside the jurisdiction of the police court.
The Inspector of the Uganda Police has sanctioned his officers as very stressed:
Written by JOHNSON TAREMWA
Created: 23 September 2016
Inspector General of the Uganda Police, Mr Kale Kayihura.
Gen Kale Kayihura, the inspector general of police, has said many police officers are stressed, which affects their productivity.
Stress, according to the Macmillan dictionary, refers to a worried or nervous feeling that stops one from relaxing, caused, for example, by pressure at work, financial or personal problems.
“The biggest problem security officers face is stress and part of it is at home with the wife and children. So, if you can have a way of reducing stress from family, you will be contributing a lot to enhancing the performance of officers,” Kayihura said recently at police headquarters, Naguru.
The IGP was receiving donations worth Shs 130m from the Chinese ambassador Zhao Yali. They included 10 new motorcycles, 200 smart phones, 50 mattresses, balls and T-shirts.
Kayihura thanked China for helping to build government institutions. The police boss said he wants to improve the use of technology in police.
“Most police officers have got smart phones and they link up with neighbors through WhatsApp, which has helped police fight crime,” he said, adding that they must mainstream media technology and use it to build bigger systems to fight cyber-crime and terrorism, among others.
Andrew Felix Kaweesi, the police spokesman, said the donated items will help to fight crime, especially in rural areas.
Nb
They are basirukale indeed. Why spend much of their easy community jobs hitting and beating up their own sisters, wives and brothers to hospitals and prisons?
Abaserukale be Kampala abeyongera buli kadde okutekebwa kumirimu tebalina wakusula:
By Eria Luyimbazi
Added 1st October 2016
POLIISI ya CPS egobye abaserikale abaali baasindikibwa okukolera mu bitundu ebirala ababadde balemedde mu mayumba gaayo Ekikwekweto kino kyakulembeddwaamu DPC wa CPS, Joseph Gwayido Bakaleke oluvannyuma lw’okukizuula ng’abamu ku bantu ababadde basula mu mayumba agali emabega wa CPS bwe baagalemeddemu ng’ate waliwo abaserikale abaaleeteddwa abalina okugabeeramu.
Abaserikale nga bagoba family eyabadde egaanidde mu nnyumba za Polisie ezitamala wano e Nsambya. Enyumba zino zazimbibwa Bazungu abaali bafuga Uganda mumyaka gya 1940/50/60.
POLIISI ya CPS egobye abaserikale abaali baasindikibwa okukolera mu bitundu ebirala ababadde balemedde mu mayumba gaayo Ekikwekweto kino kyakulembeddwaamu DPC wa CPS, Joseph Gwayido Bakaleke oluvannyuma lw’okukizuula ng’abamu ku bantu ababadde basula mu mayumba agali emabega wa CPS bwe baagalemeddemu ng’ate waliwo abaserikale abaaleeteddwa abalina okugabeeramu.
Bakaleke yagambye nti, waliwo abaserikale abaakyusibwa okuva ku CPS ne basindikibwa okukolera mu bitundu ebirala kyokka ne balekamu ebintu byabwe n’ab’omu maka gaabwe nabo kwe kubagobamu.
Yagambye nti waliwo n’abamu ababadde babeera mu bbalakisi eno nga tebamanyiddwa nga bakoleramu ebintu ebitakkirizibwa nga bonna bagobeddwaamu. Ate abagaanirawo baakuvunaanibwa.
Yategeezezza nti abaserikale abaaleeteddwa balina okusula ku poliisi kwennyini kuba balina okusitukiramu ssinga wabaawo ekibeetaagisa.
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The Police men as military sentries alongside the civilian population.
We're identifying Kale Kayihura's terrorists one by one; this one is called Tandeka Rwabwere. He comes from Butembererwa Kenshunga, Kiruhura District. He is an Iraq returnee.
