Kabaka Ronald Mutebi is headed back to Kayunga district. After the government stopped him from travelling there last September, setting off riots that killed 22, Minister of Internal Affairs Kirunda Kivejinja, confirmed that the Kabaka was free to visit his subjects. “The other time there was a power contest,†he said. “But now everything is okay. When there is no challenge to authority there is no problem.â€
Corruption Watch: “Corruption is now taken as an accepted way of life in Uganda,†said Eamon Michael Kelly, a renowned American professor, while delivering the keynote address on Inaugural Integrity and the Challenge of National Transformation at an event organized by ACLAIM yesterday. In today’s headlines, however, only a few corruption stories were printed—a light day. First, Koboko mayor Joseph Banga and finance head Tom Adriko were charged yesterday with causing financial loss stemming from an unauthorized land sale agreement Banga signed in May 08 that was worth Shs 5.8m on behalf of Koboko Town Council.
The other case surrounds the government’s recent Shs 1.5b contribution to Phenix Logistics Ltd, a private textile firm, without approval from Parliament. Parliament blocked the move, but the money had already been transferred by officials in the Ministry of Finance. The government has a 79 percent share-holding in the company and apparently has few qualms about using taxpayer money to boost its profits. “As far as we are concerned,†said Junior Finance Minister Fred Omach, “the investment of Shs 1.5b was within the law…We are allowed to spend and seek parliamentary approval later. This expenditure was within the allowable three percent of the approved budget for 09/10.â€Â Â
40 out of every 100 children in Uganda die as result of malnourishment and 15 percent of the population is malnourished. These dire statistics were presented yesterday by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in a campaign against hunger yesterday at Mosa Courts Apartments. The FAO called on the government to increase investment in agriculture and agricultural research to avoid future famine as Uganda’s population increases.
Taking a page out of Rwanda’s playbook, Uganda’s Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa has said that a United Nations report that implicates the UPDF of war crimes that include “establishing a reign of terror for several years with complete impunity†in a Congolese town, could jeopardize Ugandan regional peace missions in Somalia, Darfur, Ivory Coast and South Sudan.The draft report details Uganda’s military activities in Congo from 1993-2003 during a time it supported Congolese rebels who eventually overthrew President Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997. The report documents cases of torture, massacres, sexual enslavement, the destruction of vital local infrastructure, and the pillage of resources such as gold, coltan and timber. In 2005 the International Court of Justice found the UPDF had violated human rights law during their Congo campaign and ordered it to pay $10 billion in damages to Kinshasa for which Kampala has yet to reply. The UN Human Rights Commission said their results will be published today. Col. Kulayigye, UPDF spokesman, said the army had not been provided the opportunity to counter the allegations, which he said are inaccurate and speculative.
National Water and Sewage Corporation are fed up of city residents stealing their water and yesterday they took their frustration out on Kyambogo University. With the launch of “Operation Wet Storm†a NWSC campaign to cut down on illegal water use, the company shut off the taps at Kyambogo in an effort to weed out the perpetrators of four illegal campus connections. As part of the operation, NWSC is offering a two week amnesty to anybody who is illegally connected to their network. “[If] you come and report to us during this amnesty period and you confess your sins, nothing will happen,†said NWSC Managing Director Dr. William Muhairwe. Otherwise, he warned, a water theft desk had been opened at Central Police Station.
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