China brands US democracy 'weapon of mass destruction'

BY:ADMIN China branded US democracy a "weapon of mass destruction" on Saturday, following the US-organised Summit for Democracy which aimed to shore up like-minded allies in the face of autocratic regimes. China was left out of the two-day virtual summit -- along with countries including Russia and Hungary -- and responded by angrily accusing US President Joe Biden of stoking Cold War-era ideological divides. "'Democracy' has long become a 'weapon of mass destruction' used by the US to interfere in other countries," a foreign ministry spokesperson said in an online statement, which also accused the US of having "instigated 'colour revolutions'" overseas. The ministry also claimed the summit was organised by the US to "draw lines of ideological prejudice, instrumentalise and weaponise democracy... (and) incite division and confrontation." Instead, Beijing vowed to "resolutely resist and oppose all kinds of pseudo-democracies". Ahead of the summit, China ramped up a propaganda blitz criticising US democracy as corrupt and a failure. Instead, it touted its own version of "whole-process people's democracy" in a white paper released last week that aimed to shore up legitimacy for the ruling Communist Party, which has become increasingly authoritarian under President Xi Jinping. While the US has repeatedly denied there will be another Cold War with China, tensions between the world's two largest economies have spiralled in recent years over issues including trade and technological competition, human rights, Xinjiang and Taiwan. The US Treasury on Friday sanctioned two high-level Chinese officials for human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and placed Chinese AI surveillance firm SenseTime on a blacklist for its facial recognition technology targeting the Uyghur minority.

Uganda, DR Congo pledge transparency in war against ADF

BY:ADMIN Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have responded to public concerns about the safety of the joint operations against terrorists with a pledge of transparency. They said, in fact, that they will elevate their cooperation to target all armed groups, not just the Allied Democratic Forces. The Ugandan and Congolese ministers of defence, after a two-day field tour of Bunia, in Ituri eastern DRC say they will coordinate operations to ensure they are within the law. The Ministers, Vincent Ssempijja (Uganda) and Gilbert Kabanda Kurhenga (DRC) were accompanied by senior officers from both countries as well as parliamentarians from the Defence Committee of the National Assembly and MPs from North Kivu and Ituri. Although the two armies have assured of legal operations, they have not yet made a human toll of the operations. Earlier, and accompanied by the lawmakers of Ituri and North Kivu, Gilbert Kabanda had organised a series of consultations with the local authorities. At the end of these consultations, the president of the customary chiefs of Ituri, Innocent Matukadala, on behalf of his peers, gave his "unwavering support to the joint DRC-Uganda military operation".

Govt should probe Lokech's death -Acholi leaders

DIGP-LOKECH

  By:Admin

  ACHOLI

Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo yesterday joined the chorus of voices to task government to undertake a wider and deeper inquiry into the sudden death of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Lt Gen Paul Lokech.

The calls come a week after pathologists concluded that Lt Gen Lokech had succumbed to blood clots in his lungs.

Justice Owiny-Dollo said the government owed it to the people to exhaustively answer their doubts about what had led to the sudden death of the general.

The Chief Justice said the inquiry should look into all possible causes of death, including at his place of work, where he could have had some conflict with interested parties in the line of his duty.

But Justice Owiny-Dollo also quickly counselled that the community should respect the privacy and wishes of the family and leave it to them to decide the best course of action in the matter.

Several local leaders, one after another, have raised questions as to what could have caused the death of the fearless and ever combat-ready general, who had fought fierce battles in and outside Uganda, including in South Sudan, DR Congo, and the restive Somalia, where he battled militant Islamists, the al-Shabaab.

But Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire, the Internal Affairs minister, who represented President Museveni at the funeral, said it was disastrous to make the matter political as Acholi leaders portrayed it.

“Countrymen, much as we are entitled to be inquisitive about unknown phenomenon, let’s be philosophical about our approach to life. Uganda was here without us, Uganda was here with us and Uganda will be here long after we are gone,” Gen Otaffire said.

Despite the demands of the Acholi leaders, in his speech, Gen Otafiire said government would not wish to delve much into the circumstances surrounding the death of Gen Lokech since it is a private matter.

“I want to put to you that a postmortem was done and a postmortem report was handed over to the family, and I am not at liberty to disclose that report unless I have the permission of his family and the police,” he said.

Gen Otafiire asked the police to consult with the family and make public the report of the fallen general’s postmortem.

“I would like the police together with the family to put this report at the disposal of the public because people want to know what the legitimate cause of Gen Lokech’s death is and the case is put to rest,” he added.

Gen Otafiire expressed disappointment in the utterances of Acholi leaders, saying their demands were political and meant to cause panic in the public.

“Why did we invest in them, why did we invest in getting many Acholi sons and daughters into powerful positions in government and at the end kill them? Who do you think will protect me when tomorrow, I am no longer the minister of Internal Affairs? The people I don’t know or the people I have raised?”

“I can’t say there might not be people or a group of people who want to replace them and, therefore, would be interested in destroying them, but I’m saying those of us who raised them would not be the same people to destroy them,” he said.

President Museveni, in his speech, said: “Given Lt Gen Lokech’s exemplary contribution for the last 30 years in the armed forces, I hereby...promote Major General Paul Lokech, posthumously, to the rank of Lieutenant General.”

Postmortem

Police statement on postmortem

“…..We want to further inform the public that a postmortem examination was carried out on the body of the deceased, by a team of four pathologists.

Also present were Brig Gen Dr Stephen Kusasira, the Director of Medical Services in the UPDF, the personal doctor of the late, Dr Ben Khiingi, and two family representatives.

The team of pathologists established that the victim got a fracture of the right ankle joint, around the end of July.

It was a simple fracture which was being managed at Ruby Medical Centre, by an orthopedic surgeon. They put a POP cast at the victim’s leg and managed him as an outpatient, with regular reviews. They further encouraged him to do mild exercises while at home.

During the autopsy, the pathologists opened the right lower leg, which got injured, and found a very big blood clot that had formed in one of the big blood vessels. They further opened his chest and found part of the blood clot had been carried into the lungs.

As a result, both vessels in the lungs were blocked, thus leading to the shortage in breath and subsequent death. It was thus concluded as death due to natural causes.”

Medics list options to fight Covid third wave

 

By:Admin

Kampala

As the country gears up for partial reopening after 42 days of lockdown, doctors under their umbrella organisation, the Uganda Medical Association (UMA), have listed six options that government should undertake to prepare for the third wave of Covid-19, which is expected to hit the country within the next three to six months.

The doctors say the government should make it a point to complete the vaccination of the targeted 21.9 million Ugandans in the next six months.

“Without Covid vaccination, another round of mass cases and deaths will be inevitable, investment in strict observance of the standard operating procedures (SOPs), infection prevention and control measures and cases will help reduce this,” the doctors said in a statement issued on Friday by the President of UMA, Dr Richard Idro.

Uganda has administered at least 1.1 million doses of vaccines. However, the country has been depending on donations, citing global shortage of vaccines which has delayed the vaccination process.

According to UMA, there is need to boost the health system capacity such as provision of enough personal protective equipment (PPE), establish Intensive Care Units (ICU) and High Dependency  Unit (HDU) in all regional referral hospitals.

The medics noted that during this second wave, some patients died due to lack of oxygen, HDU and ICU beds as ambulances queued in hospital parking lots.

UMA states that the only functional public ICUs with the ability to offer ventilation to critically-ill patients are in Mulago and Mbarara hospitals. That, he says, explains why a highly trained paediatrician, Dr Milly Grace Arach, died after failing to get admitted into an ICU in Gulu.

Recommendations

1. Vaccinate 21.9 in next six months

2. Build treatment capacity-Establish ICUs and HDUs in regional referrals, provision of enough PPEs and oxygen, etc.

3. Employ, care for and pay health workers well

4. Educate the public on home-based care.

5. Improve health infrastructure to manage other illnesses as well, assent to the National Health Insurance scheme.

6. Establish discussions on school reopening, restructuring of learning.

Buganda will not stop demanding for property, federal - Kabaka

 

By:Admin

Kampala

Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II has said Buganda Kingdom will not relent in its push for a federal system of governance and demand for property still being held by the central government.

Speaking at his 28th coronation anniversary ceremony at Nkoni Palace in Lwengo District Saturday, the Kabaka said both his cabinet and Lukiiko (Parliament) have  been consistent in demanding for what belongs to the kingdom through negotiations and will continue to use the same avenue to achieve their goal.
“For the last 28 years, we have been at the forefront of demanding for justice, federal, land and our buildings. These and other things, we call them Ebyaffe,” he said.
“Í want to emphasize this, we shall not relent in our quest for Ebyaffe through negotiations as we have done in the past.”

In 2013, government and Buganda Kingdom signed a Memorandum of Understanding which the former agreed to return all kingdom property which were confiscated after the 1966 Buganda crisis but a year later when handing over some of the title deeds to Buganda Kingdom officials, President Museveni warned the kingdom against evicting tenants who have over the years occupied her land and buildings. Although some of the properties like Bulange (official kingdom seat), Mengo Palace, have since been returned to the kingdom others such as land occupied by Makindye Military Barracks, Kigo Prison, Mengo Court are yet to be handed over by government whose rent arrears had accumulated to Shs215.8 billion by April.

The Kabaka also castigated people who are pushing for the abolition of Mailo land tenure system, which is mainly in Buganda, saying they are bent on weakening the kingdom.
He said some kingdom critics were portraying Buganda as an institution that is not accommodative yet all people regardless of their cultural backgrounds, have peacefully settled in Buganda over the years. 

“For those who want to scrap Mailo land their goal is to weaken Buganda. This prompts us to ask, why land in other parts of Uganda is not talked about. Why Buganda land?” he said 
Mr Charles Peter Mayiga, the kingdom Katikkiro (prime minister), said prior to the enactment of the Land Act  1998, Buganda had advised that government implements the Busuulu and Envujjo law of 1928 which protected rights of both landlords and tenants but their proposal was never considered.

“When Mailo land is abolished as being suggested in some quarters, one of the key pillars on which this kingdom was built will be destroyed. You parliamentarians who are here should know this; Buganda has never failed to discuss this (land) issue. We are ready to sit and show you how best land wrangles can better be resolved,” he said 
The head of clan leaders (Bataka), Mr Augustine Kizito Mutumba had earlier reported to the Kabaka that there was rampant duplication of land titles which he said has deprived many people in Buganda of their land rights.

Opinion: Museveni should consolidate security of land tenure in new term

BY:ADMIN

 KAMPALA

Since 1900, commoners have had to fight for their land occupancy rights. After dividing the mailo, the leaders of the day raised no finger as the colonists declared the rest of the land ‘crown land’.

By this stroke of the pen, the colonialists became holders of the radical title, and all land users became, tenants of the British.

As holders of the radical title, the colonialists proceeded to grant a limited number of freehold estates to selected individuals and corporations, and by virtue of political sovereignty, asserted the right to control the management and use of land in Uganda.

They however delegated the control of mailo to the mailo landlords.

The mailo landlords exacted heavy taxes in the form of Busuulu and Envujo on the bibanja holders who in protest threatened to stop growing cash crops.

This threat would undermine the production of export crops thereby diminishing the colonial states revenue base. Consequently their grievances were addressed by the passing of the Busulu and Envujo law, 1927.

The law assured them of security of tenure and freed them from the fear of arbitrary eviction.

Upon independence in 1962, the mailo system was retained including Busuulu and Envujo Law and all former crown lands became public land under the Public Land Act, 1969 enacted to govern its management.

The official mailo being public land had already been placed under the Commission by the 1967 Constitution.

In 1975, however, Idi Amin issued “the Land Reform Decree” declaring all land public land, vesting the same in the State to be held in trust for the people Uganda and administered by the Uganda land Commission.

The decree abolished the Mailo tenure, the Busuulu and Envijo Law, effectively removing the security of tenure guaranteed by the 1927 Busuulu and Envijo Law.

When in 1986 the NRM administration took power, it vowed to correct all historical injustices. This was interpreted by the mailo landowners as the return of their rule.

They demanded economical instead of nominal rents from Bibanja holders, and demanded for a restoration a Buganda Kingdom with political power, chiefs, and land-hence the call for federo, special status.

This delayed the restoration of security of tenure taken away by the 1975 Land Reform Decree. The situation was aggravated by the Kabaka’s call to the Baganda to stop selling land.

Many non-Baganda had bought mailo and bibanja. They saw this as a move against them.

This heightened ethnic tensions, which thankfully culminated into a major land reform enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995 and the Land Act Cap 227 enacted in 1998.

The 1995 Constitution repealed the 1975 Land Reform Decree, and vested all land to the citizens of Uganda, under four land tenure systems namely customary, leasehold, freehold and mailo.

The Land Act Cap 227 operationalises all constitutional reform relating to land and provides a framework for the management of land under a decentralised system.

The constitution was the first document ever to recognise customary land holding as a land tenure system in Uganda.

It guaranteed the security of land ownership of the majority of Ugandans who hold land under customary tenure.

The Constitution provided that customary tenants could acquire certificates of customary ownership which they could convert to freehold titles.

The Land Act Cap 227 reiterated these provisions.

Another radical provision of the constitution and the Land Act was the recognition of the rights of tenants namely, legal and bona fide occupants, on mailo land with security of occupancy.

A ‘legal occupant’ is the one who occupied land by virtue of the repealed Busuulu and Envujo Law of 1927 (kibanja holder) or who had entered the land with the consent of the registered proprietor.

A ‘bona fide occupant’ on the other hand, is anyone who had occupied and utilised or developed any land unchallenged by the registered owner or agent of the registered owner for twelve years or more.

Bona fide and lawful occupants may only be evicted from registered land on grounds of non-payment of rent and only by order of court.

However, the rent payable is nominal, non-commercial in nature, and is to be determined by the District Land Boards with the approval of the Minister.

It is important to recognise that there was no public land to be returned to the institution of a traditional or cultural leader as a corporation sole following the vesting of all land in the citizens of Uganda and also conferring ownership on customary tenants on former public land by the 1995 constitution.

A cultural leader can however as a corporation sole like any Ugandan, juridical or natural, can acquire and own land under any four tenancies.

The cause of current illegal evictions in Uganda therefore, is not the lack of laws protecting Bibanja or other untitled occupants.

It is therefore within this scheme of things, that one of the core challenges of President Museveni in his fresh term, is to consolidate the security of tenure for all Ugandans in perpetuity.

 

NIRA to phase out current national IDs for electronic cards

 

By:Admin

KAMPALA

Speaking at a function where the new NIRA Executive Director, Rosemary Kisembo assumed office on Friday, Odong said the move is already in the pipeline and urged her to ensure it is realized by the year 2024.

“We expect a new and enhanced identity card by 2024. The journey has already begun but we would like you to grab the bull by the horns so that by 2024 we have a new card with an electronic chip and other new features,”Odong said at a function held at the NIRA headquarters in Kololo.

“We want an enhanced national ID that will enable people move to other countries easily but also enable them transact business.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the function, the Internal Affairs Minister said the new ID will have new readable features.

“The new ID that we envisage in 2024 will have enhanced features and most likely we will have it digitalized so we will be able to hold more data on that same facility (ID).It will be more a little robust than we have now,” Gen Jeje Odong said.

Asked whether the electronic ID will have an expiry date, the Internal Affairs Minister said government is yet to decide on the same.

“We will determine whether that will be a necessary requirement for the new identity card but as we speak now we have not yet determined whether it will have an expiry date.”

In 2015, after setting up of the National Identification and Registrations Authority (NIRA), government started mass registration of citizens for issuance of the national Identity Cards.

However, whereas Uganda’s population is above 40 million, only 25 million of these have been registered by NIRA.

Whereas having a national ID is mandatory to be able to get most government services, a smaller number of the population has been issued with the documents, a failure that NIRA has attributed to a number of challenges including lack of adequate staff and funds.

Speaking on Friday, the Internal Affairs Minister tasked the new NIRA Executive Director to ensure all Ugandans are registered but also getting cards since it is their right.

 

If a woman says no to sex, it means… No

 Ever had the nonsense that “how come she was wet if she says I raped her?”

A woman showing up at a man’s place is no guarantee for sex. It is not a yes to sex.

I am all for sex. But please note that I am all for good, fantastic and consented to sex. At any point when a woman says no, she means no.

Women know how to say yes. And that ‘no’ in between a sex style that makes them uncomfortable is also a no. Anything beyond that doggy style after her NO should be known as rape.

There are sex styles that make women very uncomfortable. For example, I know that not so many women find doggy that sweet, especially with men who have six and above inches.

Most of the women feel that machine gun in the brain. If the no is not as loud, you will know that she is uncomfortable. She will even go dry if there is any kind of pain.

If she shows up at your home and things get heated up, do not wait to tell her you don’t have rubber after both of you are naked and ready for action.

Do not allow the plane to take off, and then you start explaining how you are very safe and how she should trust you.

Women are human too. Some of them get weak at the sight of a good machine gun, so before she makes a mistake she will regret for a lifetime, explain your rubber allergies before things get out of hand.

When you feel that a woman is getting uncomfortable no matter how hard you are, take a step back and ask her if she is okay. That is the human thing to do.

If she says she is uncomfortable with the whole approach, ask her if she wants to stop or change to another sex style. There is nothing as good as riding a considerate machine gun.

A woman will fall in love with your game in bed, depending on how engaging you are. If all you do is think about yourself and your hard machine, you shouldn’t be having sex.

Do not ask a woman if she is okay with live sex after dipping the head in. Like, “Oh my God, I am sorry, but are you okay with this?”. No. It doesn’t work like that.

Do not think that she is okay because you have mastered your withdrawal game. People are uncomfortable with live sex for so many reasons: pregnancy and all the diseases that come from you dipping just the head in.

I am thinking that by the time you are getting cozy and munching each other’s faces, you are adults and can talk about these things.

As a woman, never go along with something you are not comfortable with because you don’t want to lose a man. If you are uncomfortable, speak out. Some men will not stop if you don’t stop them.

Till next time, normalize walking away from things you are not okay with.

Uganda Economy growth is at 6.2% per annum

 

QUOTES OF MUSEVENI

 In the last 35 years, the economy has been growing at the rate of 6.2% per annum.

It now stands at US$40.5billion if you use the exchange rate method and US$116billion, if you use the PPP method.

With the activation of the oil sector, which has been dormant ever since 2006 when we discovered the petroleum and if you add the expected average growth rate of 6% per annum post covid-19, the combination will expand the economy to an estimated US$67billion by 2026 using the exchange rate method and US$193billion, using the PPP method; meaning that the economy will be growing at the rate of between 9- 10% in the initial years of oil production.

 This rate of growth, although reasonable, is not what I want. With the rise of the literacy rate from 43% in 1986 to now 76.53%, we can achieve much-faster rates of growth and I will see to that.

We have achieved rapid rates of growth in some sectors. These isolated positive rapid rates of growth, can be generalized throughout the whole economy.

Exploits of Gen Museveni, Uganda’s self-styled master fighter

 

 

Politics

He has described himself as a Ssabalwanyi, or master fighter.
It was not a battlefront title, but one he conferred upon himself in October 2011 while rubbishing allegations made by a Tullow official that they believed the President likely received inducements from an Italian oil firm, Eni, to influence Uganda’s decision-making about the nascent sector.

Gen Yoweri Museveni, the founder of the National Resistance Army rebel group that brought him to power in 1986, is a man of many hats from which the feather of war shines.

He is one of few sitting presidents to be spotted in public clutching an AK-47 assault rifle or donning military fatigue, with a four-star general’s full insignia, to attend a civilian and religious function.
That is Uganda’s leader of 35 years: a former rebel leader-turned-president who transformed the rag-tag fighting band into a formidable multi-force and modern military renamed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).

As the country’s top diplomat, Gen Museveni has injected the army into the heart of Uganda’s politics and as a vanguard of foreign policy by deploying them over the years in neighbouring countries and region.

NRA rebel leader
Whereas the 27 or so rebel groups he has defeated during his reign could be considered as wars of self-preservation and regime survival, Gen Museveni has retailed foreign military interventions as key to securing Uganda, defending pan-African brothers and sisters and insuring the future of Africa against external meddlers and aggressors.

To him, the wars he has fought, more pronounced from 1981 over disputed elections a year earlier, are just wars to which he was provoked.
That five-year guerrilla war in the Luweero Triangle resulted in the deaths of thousands and catapulted Gen Museveni, a former teacher and intelligence officer, into power on January 25, 1986 (although the official record is January 26).

The ascendency to state power by a man who toppled Gen Tito Okello’s short-lived junta, was not going to be welcome by all, more so in northern Uganda, the cradle of the deposed leaders. And it showed shortly afterwards in a way that illuminated the north-south divide and consigned mainly Acholi land to near two-decade insurgency, destruction and deaths.

Seven months after he captured power, Alice Auma Lawkena, a woman who claimed to be a medium with mystic powers, on August 10, 1986, began an eclectic fight to topple Museveni.

With headquarters in Pader, the Holy Spirit Movement, whose fighters smeared themselves with shear nut oil in the belief the oil would melt bullets, made startling frontline gains, coursing up to Jinja – some 90 kilometres to the capital, Kampala – from where they were defeated in 1987.

Lakwena fled to, and lived in, Kenya until her death on January 17, 2007.
Shortly after Auma’s military failure in Jinja, Severino Lukoya, her father, started a fresh rebellion in Kitgum under the guidance of the ‘holy spirit’. 
But unlike his daughter, Lukoya was weak and his group atrophied almost immediately.

LRA rebellion
When that fight collapsed, a one Joseph Kony, a former altar boy variously reported as a cousin of Lakwena, started the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) group in 1987 to wage war against Museveni’s government.   
Kony proclaimed himself the “spokesperson” of God and a spirit medium and his fighters quickly built a reputation of savagery and mass murders against the locals whom he accused of not supporting him.

After years of fighting, the LRA rebels in 2005 fled first to South Sudan and onwards to Garamba parklands in the DR Congo from where they made incursions into the Central Africa Republic.
Kony forces are much diminished, with many of his top lieutenants having either been killed, captured or defected, and the bands in the bush keep escaping more for their own survival.

ADF attacks
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) insurgency began in 1995, intensifying in 2013, resulting in hundreds of deaths through indiscriminate bomb attacks in Kampala and elsewhere.
The ADF was formed by Jamil Mukulu, an ultra-conservative Ugandan Muslim, belonging to the Tablighi Jamaat group. Formed in 1989, ADF carried out its first attacks in 1995. 

The conflict gradually intensified, culminating in the 1998 Kichwamba Technical College attack, which left 80 people dead, with 80 more being abducted.
Mukulu was born as David Steven and was baptised as a Catholic, later converting to Islam, adopting a Muslim name and becoming radicalised. 

 

Govt recalls retired doctors to teach medical students

 

By: Admin

Kampala

The Ministry of Education and Sports says it is engaging retired senior specialised medical workers to groom, mentor and teach students in different medical courses.

Speaking at the weekend during the briefing ceremony for the coordinators of the Uganda Allied Health Examinations, which begin today, Dr Safina Musene, the commissioner for business technical and vocational training at the Education ministry, said they need the workers because of their expertise in different medical fields.

“In the ministry, we have the concept of mentorship which applies to a senior and junior person. We use senior citizens to mentor junior persons because they have been exposed to management of diseases and medical problems and training these people takes a lot of time,” she said.

She explained that whereas the Public Service Standing Orders dictate that the civil servants retire when they clock 60 years, as a ministry, they believe that they (senior medics) can perform after 60 years because they have mastered skills in specialised fields such as clinical medicine, medical laboratory and entomology which have very few professionals.

On Saturday, the Uganda Allied Health Examinations Board (UAHEB) briefed the coordinators of 2019/2020 second semester examinations about what is expected of them during the examinations.