The High court in Jinja has asked Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, the speaker of parliament, to file her defence in a case brought against her by a traditional healer.

Summons issued on February 6 by the deputy registrar of the court, Jesse Byaruhanga, note that if Kadaga doesn’t file her defence within two weeks, the court may proceed to rule on the matter without hearing from her.

“Whereas the above named plaintiff has instituted a suit against you upon the claim particulars of which are set out in the copy of the plaint attached, you are hereby requested to file a defence in the said suit within 15 days from the date of service of summons on you in the manner presented under civil procedure rules as amended. Should you fail to file a defence on or before the date mentioned, the plaintiff may proceed with the suit and judgement may be given in your absence,” the summons read.

Kamuli district resident Damiano Akuze claims that on September 1, 1990, Kadaga approached him at his shrine in Buwala village, Lulyambuzi parish, Wankola sub-county seeking help and traditional medicine.

He alleges that Kadaga requested him to help her get a big job in government where she would be driven in a convoy like a president. Akuze adds in his plaint that Kadaga didn’t have money to pay him at the time. He, however, agreed to work on her on condition that the speaker would pay as soon as she got money.

“The defendant worked on the plaintiff for two nights…and the defendant acknowledged the good care that the plaintiff gave her,” the suit reads in part.

It adds that since that time, the witch doctor has been administering traditional medicines on Kadaga. In the said period, she has served as an East African delegate, member of parliament, minister and currently as speaker of parliament.

So far, Akuze notes that Kadaga has only paid him Shs 1 million in 2017 when she last received his services, leaving a balance of Shs 204 million. He adds that as a result, he has suffered mental anguish and inconvenience for which he demands general damages and compensation.

Kadaga reaction

In a press statement released by clerk to parliament Jane Kibirige on behalf of Kadaga last week, the speaker distanced herself from Akuze, calling his claims the handiwork of her detractors.

Kadaga observed that she was elected MP in 1989 a year before Akuze claims to have administered his charms to enable her become a leader. She adds that she only became minister in 1996, seven years after the alleged claims of using witchcraft.

“Therefore, Mr Akuze’s claim that he catapulted her to the post of minister within a flash should be treated with the contempt it deserves,” the statement said. It also noted that for the positions of deputy speaker and speaker, she attained them through hard work, not witchcraft.

“We hope and pray that Akuze’s comical and fraudulent allegations will be dismissed by court…any sober mind can discern the malice aforethought that is embedded in this mischief by her detractors,” the statement added.

Makerere University vice chancellor, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe has recommended for the indefinite closure of the School of Law for failure to resume teaching.

The recommendation is contained in a 7-page report dated February 11 addressed to Lorna Magara, the chairperson of Makerere University Council. Nawangwe's recommendation follows the university council's directive to management during its 145th meeting held at Speke Resort Munyonyo on February 8.

The council had directed that the vice chancellor and management of the university to expeditiously handle matters pertaining teaching of students, research and community outreach.

It had also directed the university management to provide a status report clearly indicating the actions taken to resolve the impasse. According to a copy of the report, Prof Nawangwe observes that in spite of the on-going engagements, the standoff has remained predominant in the School of Law where the school leadership has "openly declared leadership of the acts of defiance."

Prof Nawangwe attaches a copy of the second legal opinion of the School of Law signed by the Principal Associate Prof Christopher Mbazira in which they stood their ground that the vice chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe has no powers to suspend staff or appoint a committee to investigate employees. Nawangwe's suspension of the academic staff association leaders triggered off a staff strike now into a fourth week. 

Nawangwe contends that given the position taken by the School of Law to defy authority and incite the rest of the university to follow their bad example, it is recommended that the School of Law be closed indefinitely.

"The staff should be required to hand over university property and the students advised to return home and await further instructions," Nawangwe says in a management report to council.

"Armed with misleading advice by some staff of the School of Law, executives of staff associations want an unconditional lifting of the suspension of Dr Deus K Muhwezi as a condition for calling the general assembly to lift the purported strike," Nawangwe notes.

He further alleges that the students were being mobilized by the executives of staff associations to join them and put pressure on management to unconditionally reinstate Dr Deus K. Muhwezi. But insists that; “management will follow the laid down procedures and the students have shunned these calls."

According to Nawangwe, the institution and management, on the other hand, maintains, that such an action would set a very bad precedent of impunity.

"It would be possible in future for someone to do wrong but just because they can mobilise others, no disciplinary action would be taken. This would greatly undermine disciplinary powers of Management as well as set a wrong future precedence," Nawangwe argues.

He adds that unconditional lifting of a suspension is also not provided for in the human resources manual of the university and is thus illegal and unlawful. He also observes that the perpetrators of the stand-off want to create a an ungovernable situation at the University.

Further, Nawangwe says all colleges have since resumed full teaching including College of Engineering, Design Art and Technology (CEDAT), College of Health Sciences (CHS), College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Biosecurity (COVAB), College of Education and External Studies (CEES), College of Natural Sciences (CONAS), College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), College of Business and Management Sciences (COBAMS), College of Computing and Information Sciences (COCIS) with partial teaching in College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), with the exception of the School of Law where no teaching has been reported.

URN has however established that more than 200 staff of CAES have unanimously agreed to withdraw labour in support of the joint associations resolutions. Additionally, Prof Nawangwe's report that all colleges are teaching except CAES and Law School is being contested by Makerere Law Society (MLS) who say it is false.

"The record must be set straight. Makerere University has ten colleges. Of these, only two colleges (College of Health Sciences and the College of Engineering Art & Design) are presently having lectures and this fact is confirmed by the student leaders of the different college student leadership that have hereunder appended their confirmatory signatures," MLS said in a statement released yesterday afternoon.

They further add that; "The representation by the university administration, that lectures are on-going within the entire university save for School of Law is patently false and borders on being divisive. Furthermore, the claim that students are the ones voluntarily boycotting class is equally false."

But according to Nawangwe; "The continued defiance by the School of Law, meaning that the students will not be taught for a fourth week running is likely to lead to a deterioration of discipline among the students with unforeseen consequences."

Some of the law dons who preferred anonymity said that they had not received the report.

"But if that is the recommendation, then this would be the worst decision for council to make. We have only given a legal opinion. And by the way, most of us here at Law School are not here for the job. No! We are here simply because we feel we want to make a contribution to jurisprudence," a Professor of law said.

Before adding that; "Don't be surprised, in case such a decision is made, even if they close the school for one month, I am sure 50% of us would not return. We can't work in a lawless institution."

In a related development, two principals, Prof Christopher Mbazira of Law School and Prof Bernard Bashaasha, the Principal of CAES have been summoned to council to explain why they are not teaching.

Last Friday’s arrest of Pastor Augustine Yiga of the Revival Church Kawaala for alleged rape became the latest outrage in a growing tale of scandal and debauchery now rocking the born-again Christian community.

Revelations about how steeped in sin some of the pastors have become has since prompted one crusading purist in the community to call for a full-fledged inquiry into the immorality threatening the church’s very existence.

The alleged rape of one Angella Ainembabazi also got the same purist to demand sterner police action against Yiga. A few years ago, Yiga was dragged to police by another woman who also claimed he had raped, impregnated and infected her with HIV.

In these circumstances, Pastor Solomon Male of the National Committee on Cults and False Teachings in Uganda criticized the decision to release him on police bond. Yiga’s latest run-in with the law draws from a purported 2014 incident in which Ainembabazi claims that the colourful pastor raped her in the prayer room, leading to pregnancy and subsequent child abandonment.

She had entered the room to seek spiritual redemption and financial breakthrough to cater for her siblings. They were orphans, the distraught woman said, while pointing out that she was only 15 years old at the time.

Yiga’s lawyer Evans Ochieng told URN that his client was granted police bond at around 7:30pm on Monday. He was instructed to report to Kawempe police station on February 18.

Now, Pastor Male thinks police’s actions were just a public relations stunt to calm President Museveni down.  Recently, the president angrily called out some ‘pastors’ whom he said have misled Ugandans with their dubious ‘prosperity gospel’ teachings – a fallacy which he implied has undermined government’s wealth creation campaigns.

Male told The Observer yesterday that he had thought the arrest of Yiga would be the beginning of a proper cleaning-up of the mess in the born-again community. The community has in recent months been riddled with reports of extortion, phantom miracles, murder, rape and witchcraft, among other shocking forms of wickedness.

“I’m not yet satisfied that government is indeed serious about investigating pastors who are involved in crimes because as we talk now, Yiga is out on police bond, not on court bail,” he said.

“Police bond means that investigations are still going on but they have not yet found evidence to pin him. On the other hand, court bail means that there is evidence to prosecute somebody but because of the time lag between prosecution and delivering judgement you allow him to be free because he is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Male said. 

Witch-hunt?

On Saturday, some followers of Yiga stormed Kawempe police station demanding that their man be released. They claimed that the accusations against him were just machinations of his detractors.

They were not alone. There are many other people who believe that the infighting among pastors for supremacy explains the ongoing mudslinging, accusations and counter accusations of devilishness amongst and between rival ‘men of God’.

Male confirms that the Pentecostal Church has been infiltrated and overran by conmen passing themselves off as pastors.

“Police is moving against Yiga, but not an inch against others like … (names withheld). They are all miracle fakers and fraudsters. [They] have even been accused of raping their flock and sodomizing boys. Many people are crying because of their actions. But despite the existence of irrefutable evidence, none of these people has been prosecuted,” Male said.

He added that to make matters worse, many of those accused enjoy state security protection.

“The police want to be seen to be working yet all these criminals have been protected by the system. All of them have either military or police protection; so, I’m not amused but saddened. These people are fleecing desperate people who run to churches thinking that they will get solace,” Male said.

He adds that if government is serious about fighting crime in the church, it should set up a judicial commission of inquiry.

“People should be encouraged to come out and give evidence because we are dealing with people who are very powerful and connected. This commission should have powers to determine cases and prefer charges. These bafere [conmen] in church are not different from witchdoctors,” Male said.

Police, however, announced Monday that it launched investigations into complaints against 20 pastors, accused of ritual murders, possession of mass graves, rape defilement and extortion. Police sources said the investigation is based on intelligence and preliminary evidence gathered. Two pastors are also said to have volunteered information.

bakerbatte@observer.ug

More than 1,000 former employees of the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) have started getting their terminal benefits after years of waiting for conclusion of a long-running suit they brought against government.

The payments are coming through the second tranche totalling Shs 14 billion out of the Shs 39bn total benefits claim. Sources told The Observer this week that the Shs 14bn was released by Bank of Uganda last August but it has not been easy to distribute it because of disagreements, which led to the formation of a ten-man distributing committee.

During the proceedings at High court (Anti-Corruption division) before Judge Lawrence Gidudu, it was submitted that out of the over 1,000 beneficiaries, only 117 were paid in the first batch and Shs 4.9bn swindled.

After the first Shs 10bn was mishandled, the inspector general of government intervened by stopping further payment. The officers Jamal Kitandwe, one Kiwanuka and Bernald Kamugisha, among others were in 2016 jointly charged with embezzling Shs 4.9bn which was part of the first payment between June 18, 2014 and January 2015.

In his judgement, Gidudu noted that he was certain the trio did not steal the money alone but added that he could not distribute the burden of carrying the cross to others because the convicts opted not to expose their co-conspirators.

“I, therefore, sentence each of the accused to seven years imprisonment on top of refunding Shs 2.5bn embezzled…,” Gidudu ruled.

Background

Prosecution has been contending that the convicts, being directors and officers of a company called Uganda Veterans Association, received Shs 10bn in form of a first installment on behalf of their fellow workers who had been retrenched between 1992 and 1993.

Though court had awarded the former employees Shs 72.4bn, government negotiated for a reduction.

lubwamasiraje@gmail.com

Inspector General of Police Martins Okoth-Ochola over the weekend turned up the pressure on his officers, reminding them of previous warnings against engaging in acts of torture.

Ochola also named corruption inside the force as the biggest challenge confronting his administration. As such, he said, any officer caught on the wrong side of the law henceforth shall be held personally criminally liable for their actions.

“I won’t tolerate acts of hooliganism for as long as I am the IGP,” he said.

The scholarly police chief was speaking at the opening of the annual meeting of regional police commanders and heads of department held at Bwebajja Police College on February 11.

“Our achievements have been many but the challenges are equally several. The purpose of this message is to govern our policing activities which the institution encounters that include corrupt practices of selling police services like police bond, police forms, criminalisation of civil matters and extortion on roads,” he said.

Every year, Uganda’s police service is cited by both local and international rights groups as an institution notorious for human rights abuse, including the physical abuse of suspects and the use of disproportionate force against unarmed civilians, among other violations.

Therefore, Ochola said, his main focus is to rebuild and transform the force into a modern, professional institution which is service- oriented, pro-people and effective.

“You must apply constant effort to achieve quality in the performance of police activities to the satisfaction of the population that we are mandated to serve,” he said.

He also advised the officers to have good customer care, mostly for the individuals who get into contact with the public such as victims, witnesses or suspects, the vulnerable who may require support and assistance from the police.

Last year, Ochola stopped all police stations from selling police medical forms. His directive, however, has largely gone unheeded as most stations still ask complainants to buy the forms for between Shs 1,000 and Shs 2,000.

Others also still continue to extract unrecorded fees from suspects who seek bond. Besides corruption, Ochola cited general indiscipline, violation of human rights, laxity in handling assignments and inadequate staff welfare as some of the other difficulties faced by the force.

“We have capacity gaps in terms of professionalism in training, skills development, mindset, use of robust scientific methods of intelligence gathering and crime investigation, among others,” he said.

alfredodcho@gmail.com

Kiira Motors Corporation has failed to account for Shs 15 billion of the Shs  24 billion allocated to it in the financial year 2018/19.

As such as, the legislators on the parliamentary committee on Science, Technology and Innovation have said the corporation needs to be probed further because it is could be superintending over a white elephant project and is being used as money conduit.

Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC) is an automotive manufacturing company incorporated by government of Uganda and Makerere University to champion value addition in the domestic automotive industry for job creation and diversification of the economy.

When the parliamentary committee visited Jinja on January 29, they were astonished to find only an overgrown bush at the site where the vehicle plant was meant to be established. Kiira Motors recently carried out pompous road tests in Kampala for its “beast,” Kiira EVS locally manufactured electric car that will cost about $35,000 or Shs 130m.

The ’shocked’ MPs resolved to summon the KMC leaders to parliament to explain, why for seven months after receiving the money, not even a foundation is in existence at the site.

“By now they should have finished the foundation and putting up the skeleton but when we visited it was all bushy,” committee chairperson Fred Bwiino Kyakulagga said during their interactions with the KMC leadership.

According to the committee, the delay to start work raised a lot of questions. KMC received Shs 8.3bn between July and September last year, Shs 4.9bn in the second quarter and Shs 6.8bn in the third quarter for the establishment of the plant.

“The progress of the project is not in line with the plan yet government has made appropriate financial provisions which would give a different level of the target progress. At the moment there is nothing…Indeed what we are seeing, is contrary to what they have been telling us,” Buikwe South MP David Ronnie Mutebi said.

MPs were concerned that the leadership had deviated from the work plan for which Shs 15bn was allocated, rendering the project a 'mere money conduit', which the legislators said is absurd.

However, Kiira Motors Corporation chief executive officer Paul Isaac Musasizi said the money had been given to a contractor who was overseeing the construction of the said plant.

The committee that was interrogating the budget performance for Kiira Motors Corporation for financial year 2018/19 for the three quarters so far covered, was not satisfied with Musasizi's explanation.

“The money-spent does not reflect what is on ground. Where is the money at the moment?” Bukomansimbi South MP Deogratius Kiyingi said.

The committee was however later told that part of the money was channeled to installing power and extending water among other things at the site, but the MPs said the said water and power had been budgeted for in the previous financial year.

namuloki16@gmail.com

Bank of Uganda has been tasked by MPs to explain why external lawyers were paid in foreign currency despite filing their invoices in Uganda shillings. 

The lawyers from MMAKS Advocates were paid $230,000, which translated into Shs 759 million at the 2017 exchange rate, for services relating to the transactions by the central bank in the closure and sale of Crane bank to dfcu bank. The law firm is run by city lawyers; Apollo Makubuya, Timothy Kanyerezi Masembe, Moses Adriko, Mathias Ssekatawa, Ernest Ssembatya and Isaac Walukagga.

Part of the money, amounting to $93,872 (about Shs 346m), was the bill computed on services offered on an hourly basis. According to one of the legal firm's partners, Timothy Masembe Kanyerezi, the bill was based on a blended partner/associate rate of $217 (about Shs 800,000) per hour.

The rest of the bill, totalling $136,128 (Shs 500m) was payment for drawing and negotiating the terms of the purchase of assets and assumptions of liabilities agreement. It was based on the Shs 200 billion cash consideration for Crane bank assessed at a discounted rate of 0.24 per cent.

Yesterday, the parliamentary committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) probing into the irregular sale of commercial banks tasked the central bank team led by governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile to explain why the payment was made in a foreign currency. The legislators accused Bank of Uganda of showing no confidence in Uganda's currency on top of advancing payments without evidence for work done.

Aruu North MP Odonga Otto tasked deputy governor Louis Kasekende who approved the money for Crane bank liquidity support to provide the legal instrument he used to authorize the payments. He also demanded for minutes of the meeting justifying the amount paid out.

Mbarara Municipality MP Michael Tusiime said that the payment was in contravention of a guideline by the permanent secretary and secretary to treasury (PSST) Keith Muhakanizi; warning all accounting officers against paying contractors in foreign currencies, save for contracts that were running before the time of the directive issued in 2016.
 
"I see this interventional cost of $1.6m paid part of it to local suppliers including MMAKS in dollars against the authority of PSST in reference to Section 79 of the Public Finance and Management Act of 2015. For me, these approvals before we go to the amounts, am still interested in the authority of approvals especially those approvals in foreign currencies." said Tusiime. 
 
Tusiime insisted that Kasekende explains why local contractors were paid in foreign currency despite a ban from the Treasury. Kasekende denied approving the payment in dollars but added that the cited letter by Muhakanizi was addressed to accounting officers in local governments.
 
"This is a very specific issue, I don’t think I'm even the one who approved it. Let the officials explain that process and the approval process for that amount." said Kasekende. 

Cosase vice chairperson Anita Among and Abraham Byandala, one of the committee members questioned whether the central bank makes its budgets in local currencies or foreign currency, to which Kasekende said that their budget is drafted in the local currency. 

"I was even yesterday wondering why Bank of Uganda pays in dollars. Are you doing this because you anticipate economic dislocation or what? Do you prefer paying in dollars even where it is not necessary because you anticipate economic discretion? Because in the case of these lawyers surely where will the economic dislocation come into." said Byandala. 
 
Yusufu Mukiibi, the BoU acting chief accountant said that the money paid out to the lawyers in US dollars was a commission to lawyers who recovered money from Crane bank shareholders from the foreign reserves. He said that their office acts on approved instructions from management.
 
The Committee directed the Bank of Uganda to provide a written response to the issue. 

Budadiri West member of parliament Nathan Nandala Mafabi has re-assumed the leadership of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), one of the four parliamentary accountability committees.

PAC is mandated to examine the audited accounts by the auditor general showing the appropriation of the sums granted by parliament to meet the expenditure of the central government and judiciary.  

This is the second time Mafabi, a former Leader of the Opposition in Parliament will be chairing the committee, having first chaired it during the eighth parliament in 2011. He replaces Soroti Woman MP Angeline Osegge who has chaired the committee since 2016.

Osegge said that under her leadership, PAC completed some of the pending draft reports for the fiscal years ending June 2014, June 2015, June 2016 and June 2017. She added that her committee was able to review financial reports, the mission's abroad reports, value for money audit reports and classified expenditure audit reports, whose findings are pending debate in Parliament. 

Osegge handed over the office at a brief ceremony held at parliament attended by both the incoming and outgoing committee members. 

She appealed to the new leadership to open communication with the Commonwealth Secretariat in a bid to revive Uganda's participation in the Commonwealth Association of Public Accounts Committees (CAPAC). Uganda is a member of the East African Association of Public Accounts Committees (EAAPAC) and the African Organization of Public Accounts Committees (AFROPAC).

Nandala commended the outgoing leadership for its work in following up the auditor general's reports to completion. He pledged to continue the vigour exhibited by the outgoing committee in engaging public accountability.

"We are not new to the game as I have chaired this committee before. I thank Hon. Osegge for setting a standard of work and we shall continue the work of getting accountability done effectively, for the benefit of Ugandans," Nandala said.

Nandala is to be deputized by Chwa West MP Okin P.P Ojara.

A father in Manafwa district is in police custody for allegedly killing his biological son over pork. The suspect is 42-year-old Anthony Namisiko, a resident of Buwamwibi village in Maefe sub-county in Manafwa district.

Namisiko is wanted for killing his eight-year-old son, Joel Wamwibi, a primary one pupil at Maefe primary school. Elgon Region police spokesperson Robert Tukei says Namisiko assaulted his son with a stick and iron bar - killing him instantly.

Tukei said on Wednesday evening that police received information about the incident from the suspect's brother, Vincent Malikisi who also doubles as the Gombolola international security officer of the area. He described the incident as regrettable, saying police had handed over the deceased's body to Mbale municipal mortuary for postmortem. 

Ahamada Washaki, the Manafwa resident district commissioner who visited the scene of crime on Wednesday, condemned the father for killing his son over pork. He says information from eyewitnesses indicates that Namisiko left eight pieces of pork in the sauce but only found seven pieces upon his return, prompting him to pounce on his son.

"He found one piece of meat missing which had been eaten by the child. That would not have been a crime to tantamount to such brutality on your own child. But where a child reaches the extent of picking a piece of meat before you give him or her, it means he’s underfed, he’s starved." Washaki said. 

Violet Malikisi, a niece to the suspect says the community is angry with the suspect, saying they will not welcome him back to the village. He says the suspect first assaulted his wife before he turned on the minor.
 
Angry residents descended on the suspect's and slashed his banana plantation, looted his property and torched his semi-permanent house. The suspect's relatives also took off for fear of being attacked.

The police's directorate of criminal investigations (CID) has opened investigations into officials of the ministry of Internal Affairs, directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control for allegedly defrauding tourists entering into the country.

The investigations were ordered by the minister of Internal Affairs, Gen Jeje Odongo following increased complaints by foreigners that they were being charged exorbitant fees for visas.

According to the investigating officers, more than 200 foreigners have filed complaints to the ministry after realising that they paid two to three times the cost of a visa.

For instance, while a tourist visa costs only Shs 190,000, investigations revealed that the officials were charging Shs 560,000 per visa. A reliable source in police who spoke on condition of anonymity, says that a general enquiry file has since been opened.

"We have opened the file. We have complaints from the ministry but now we need the victims to come and record statements," the source said.

While Immigration acknowledges receiving complaints about the illegal visa charges, the officials say the victims have been getting the visas through informal channels. The acting director Citizenship and Immigration, Marcelino Bwesigye says the tourists need to be warned of existing scam sites which charge exorbitant fees or defraud them.

Bwesigye said the official website is, www.visa.immigration.go.ug through which all types of visas to Uganda, work permits, certificates of permanent residence, student passes and dependants' passes at an official fee can be acquired. Bwesigye said visa processing usually takes up to three working days and that there is no extra cost for fast tracking visas.

He advised foreigners seeking visas to use the official to use the official web site and any e-visa applications.

“People visiting Uganda can apply no matter from where you are from and should not be confused as a platform for renewing passports. It’s only for foreigners who want to visit Uganda and require a visa” said Bwesigye.

Table showing official visa fees

akampurira007@gmail.com

For at least 33 years, February 6 is celebrated annually. General Museveni's emphasis on military capability connects Tarehe Sita to another historical event, 53 years ago, that might be a major factor in the militarisation of Uganda's politics. In the second and final part of our series, we revisit some of the events of 1966 that laid the foundation for successive leaders to always turn to the military to answer questions of political nature.

Foreign Affairs minister Sam Odaka and John Kakonge, a specially elected legislator, tried in vain to turn the political tide. In the end, only Kakonge opposed the motion. As the motion sailed through parliament and Amin was sent on leave, Prime Minister Obote returned to Kampala. 

Odaka's Creed

Sam Odaka, Foreign Affairs minister and member of parliament from Tororo, began his submission by hitting at some of his cabinet colleagues whom he accused of treachery. He coined what he called "Odaka's creed."

"I believe in government, and in its being quite decent, condoning no corruption, condoning on criminal acts, carrying out its full duties and responsibilities, collectively and justly. I believe that ministers who find the cabinet motto, "One for All and All for One" unacceptable to them, must resign at once from it."
 
Odaka was directing his "creed" at ministers Balaki Kirya, Emmanuel Lumu, Mathias Ngobi, Grace Ibingira and George Magezi. This forced Dr Lumu to respond: "Many members of this House asked us to resign quickly, from the Uganda cabinet…Why should we? What is wrong with this motion? It has not censured the Premier, it censured not cabinet, it gives none of you a cause to call for the resignations of some of your ministers who resolved to accept it."
 
But Odaka had turned his gun and pointed it to the mover of the motion, Daudi Ocheng. "Ocheng has accused so far seven outstanding persons of the crime of corruption. These are minister Lumu and minister Ngobi, Mr Roger Mukasa, chairman of the Coffee Board, and Kalangi Ntende, chairman of Lint Marketing. And, today, the Prime Minister and two of his ministers."

Odaka argued that Ocheng's allegations were not backed by any written complaints nor by any affidavits, noting: "Corruption exposure is now Ocheng's speciality. I do not grudge him the job, but I would like to ensure that he does that good job well by following simple rules and elementary steps of reporting any crimes. The machinery is here, why then does he not use it? Is he afraid …that a libel case would be brought against him?"
 
Odaka chided Ocheng for using parliamentary immunity to destroy other people's characters. "He prefers parliamentary freedom and immunity to protect him from his trade - trade of assassinating character, and all good names," Odaka said.
 
Summing up his submission, Odaka said: "Go ahead Mr Ocheng. Ply well this tough trade of yours, your target is now in sight. Charge a few more ministers of corruption and bribery, and most ministers would be corrupt according to you. That would be the very time to change government at once…"
 
Odaka was a strong UPC pillar and confidant of Obote in the 1960s and 1980s. As foreign affairs minister from 1962 and 1971, Odaka played a leading role in organising the visit of Pope Paul VI to Uganda in July 1969, the first papal visit in Africa. As Mutesa lived on handouts in exile from 1966 until his death in 1969, Odaka was the face and voice of the Obote I government as it took a hard-line stance, denying the Kabaka access to financial resources.
 
Later, in the Obote II government between 1981 and 1985, Odaka served as Planning and Economic Development minister until Obote's overthrow in July 1985. He died in August 2015.
 
Country going to the dogs, heading for trouble
 
John Kakonge, the only legislator to unequivocally oppose the motion, had lost his secretary general's docket to Ibingira at the 1964 UPC delegates conference in Gulu. Ironically, Obote had outmanoeuvred Kakonge in support of Ibingira during the conference. In 1965, Kakonge became a specially elected member of parliament, this time with the backing of Obote and with Ibingira opposing him.
 
During the debate, Kakonge called on his colleagues to have clarity of mind. "Clarity of mind is what we need most right now. Though the motion charged Amin of alleged grave misconduct…the mover charged the premier and two of his ministers of corruption and of plots to overthrow, by violence, the Uganda constitution," Kakonge submitted.
 
He added: "What does this really entail? Might acceptance of motion not imply that this very House has accepted accusations against our premier and two of his ministers?"
 
He cited what he called abnormal behaviours, unusual practice and the strange things going around as causes for concern. "Thus for the first time this House has seen ministers clash here. It has seen ministers talk and reveal what they should not. Judging by the trend of these unusual occurrences, we are going to the dogs, we are heading for trouble," warned Kakonge,
 
Opolot, not Amin bringing trouble
 
Kakonge accused Army commander, Brigadier Shaban Opolot, not his deputy Col Idi Amin, of plotting to topple the government. "Punishing Col Amin will not solve any trouble. I have heard other versions of what is to bring trouble. It is not Col Amin but Brigadier Opolot, commander of the army," he said.
 
He added that a group of ministers were supporting Opolot and that they regarded Amin as a stumbling block. Kakonge went on to downgrade the debate as of the lowest standard characterized by rumours, hearsay and falsehoods. Just like Sam Odaka, Kakonge warned of trouble ahead unless government took firm steps to arrest the situation.

"I can see with my mind's eyes; troubles knocking at the door, and tragedies threatening to swallow all of us up…Only one thing can save us: firm and very firm action by the Uganda government, to whom I now say this much: Stop these plots and counter-plots."
 
Without mentioning names, Kakonge warned of foreign elements working with local leaders to undermine the government. "Mark my words about these plots, they are not of native birth but born and bred by aliens, executed by some of us who rather unwittingly got involved with those aliens. It might yet not be too late, for them to defy aliens," he said.
 
He asked those involved in plots and counter-plots to reflect on the repercussions of their actions. "It will sober you a bit: if we have disturbances, we have a civil war, all of us will be involved; none might escape its consequences. Any life which may be lost, any property destroyed might be yours, or might be mine. Nothing should, therefore, stop us from working as a unit, for our preservation; for safety of property and the welfare of this dear land," Akena Adoko quotes Kakonge on page 53 of his book, The Uganda Crisis.
 
Do you think at all?
 
Kakonge called for dialogue to address the issues at hand. He posed reflective questions to the House: "Must we wash dirty linen publicly and outrageously? Must we shout all our sins from roof-top to roof-top? Can't we sit round a table and discuss things responsibly? Do you members think at all? Do you think before you speak? Can you weigh the great damage that has been done to this land by your thoughtless utterances of corruption and a coup by our prime minister? Do you know the motivation for Ocheng's accusations against our premier? We will have no unity when we do not show respect due to …our national leaders."
 
Pyrrhic victory
 
To Kakonge, Ocheng himself did not believe in his own allegations that he wanted to convince parliament to believe. He warned those who saw victory in Ocheng's motion that it was victory with no winner. "Some of us cannot see it, they take it as victory. True it is a victory, but a pyrrhic victory: for one more such victory and Uganda will be lost. It's a pyrrhic victory which teaches us one lesson: we swim or sink together. Mr speaker, I do beg to oppose the whole motion," Kakonge summed up his submission.
 
With Kakonge the only dissenting voice, parliament passed the motion suspending Amin and directing an inquiry into his bank account. The following day, on February 5, Defence minister Felix Onama sent Amin on a short leave, not on suspension. But things moved very fast.
 
Phares Mutibwa, in his 1992 book, Uganda since Independence: a story of unfulfilled hopes, says Ibingira, with backing from Sir Edward Mutesa, was pushing for the control of the ruling party, and later, the government.

On page 38, Mutibwa captures it thus: "The political dispute between Obote and Ibingira and his supporters centered around the control of UPC and ultimately the very leadership of the country in terms of the political and economic ideologies that were to be followed."

While Obote preached socialism and rallied his government to "move to the left", Ibingira was a capitalist. With neither harmony in the ruling party, nor in government, Obote returned from his long tour of northern Uganda, on February 12, to take charge.

In his 1968 article, Obote says the situation compelled him to take what he called drastic actions. On February 22, 1966, some 18 days after the Ocheng motion in parliament, five cabinet ministers were arrested during a cabinet meeting. The five included Grace Ibingira, Dr Emmanuel Lumu, Balaki Kirya, Mathias Ngobi and George Magezi.
 
Akena Adoko, who at the time headed the General Service Unit, a Uganda government internal and external security agency, quotes Ibingira after his arrest: "Fate is a double-crosser. I was the very person who saved from being repealed, the deportation ordinance."

Opposition legislators had introduced a motion, in late 1965, seeking to repeal a colonial era law that gave government powers to detain suspects without trial. Ibingira convinced parliament not to repeal it.
 
Two days after the arrests, the 1962 Constitution had been put aside, replaced with an interim one that dismissed Sir Edward Mutesa as President of Uganda and Sir Wilberforce Nadiope as vice president. The same Constitution made Obote executive president. Obote addressed the press thus: "Recently, attempts were made to remove my government by the use of foreign troops…To safeguard our sovereignty, we must take counter measures: suspending the Constitution, and hence posts of president and that of vice president."
 
By the end of May 1966, Sir Edward Mutesa was in exile, his palace lying in ruin after a military raid under the command of Amin, who had by now been elevated to head the army. Mutesa would die three years on November 21, 1969, two days after celebrating his 45th birthday. From then on, Uganda's political problems would be solved by military means.

Brigadier Opolot was already serving time in Luzira prison, only to be released in January 1971, by Amin. Ocheng, the man whose motion started it all, died suddenly on June 1, 1966, aged 41 years. In his 2018 autobiography, Dr Martin Aliker, a veteran dentist, politician and businessman explained that Ocheng was diagnosed with cancer of the stomach shortly before he died.

Ocheng was Aliker's elder brother. His death came just eight days after the attack on, and exiling of, Sir Edward Mutesa, his closest friend and 99 days after the February 4 motion. He may not have lived for 100 years as he wished, but 53 years after the motion, its effects are still visible.
 
Meanwhile more promotions would come Amin's way, to Brigadier by 1969 and to Major-General by January 1971 when, using the army, he turned against Obote and overthrew him.
 
A young man named Yoweri Museveni watched these developments keenly as a secondary school student in Mbarara district. He would write later, in his book "Sowing the Mustard Seed", that he and fellow students began asking themselves questions about the future of Uganda. After graduating from university in Tanzania in 1970, he secured a job in President Obote's office just months before Amin's coup.

Obote had lost power through the only means he thought he had total control over - the military. The young Museveni was, meanwhile, thinking about fighting the new president.

"Amin took power on January 25, 1971 and two days later, on January 27, I had left the country to go and prepare to fight him," Museveni told a conference of judges last week, 48 years after Amin's coup and 33 years after Museveni's own military take-over of government.
 
By the end of 1978, Ugandans living in exile had forced their way back with the military support of Tanzania. General Idi Amin would be pushed out of power in April 1979.
 
The rigged elections in December 1980 that forced Museveni to pick up arms on February 6, 1981 were meant to restore order and dialogue after the brutal years of Amin's rule.

Whenever dialogue has failed to address political questions of the day, there's been recourse to the gun, from 1966 to 1971, 1979, and 1981 and beyond. President Museveni has been a student of, and then a participant in, this cycle of violence; the reason he said emphasised the UPDF capacity to defeat "whoever thinks of destabilising Uganda" on February 6, 2019.

Part 1: How Daudi Ocheng gave birth to Tarehe Sita

Makerere University lecturers have resolved to end the month-long sit down strike and resume lectures.

The staff made the resolution during a joint general assembly of administrative, academic and support staff associations on Friday. The strike that had paralyzed university operations was called off after assurances by the university council, a supreme governing body that it will handle the staff-management rift issues.

The staff went on strike on January 18 protesting the decision by the Makerere vice chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe to suspend three staff association leaders; Bennet Magara, the chairperson of Makerere Administrative Staff Association (Masa), his secretary general Joseph Kalema and Dr Deus Kamunyu Muhwezi, the chairperson Makerere University Academic Staff Association (Muasa).

They were separately suspended from university service on grounds of indiscipline and incitement of staff with a view of making the institution ungovernable. The vice chairperson of the university council Daniel Fred Kidega said the issues of staff will be handled expeditiously by the university appointments board starting Monday next week.

"An institution that incubates knowledge and gives birth innovation, there is need for space for that to apply. I’m talking about the academic freedom, freedom to associate and organization in the university. Council is conscious of the fact that this is a learning institution with professors and academic staff must have their space to think and incubate knowledge. Am talking innovations - give this country solutions to the problems that the country faces. Our appeal to you, and we beg you that please give us a chance to make certain things happen. Give us a chance to do what is expected of us. We shall continue management of the management of the associations to ensure that everything runs smoothly in this country." Kidega said. 

Prof Ben Kiromba Twinomugisha from the School of Law said the recommendation by the vice chancellor to close the Law School had prompted him to resign from Makerere University. Nawangwe had recommended for the indefinite closure of the Law School, saying its lecturers had refused to teach and were inciting others against the university management. 

According to Twinomugisha, the university council's gesture to handle the staff grievances including quashing the processes of the vice chancellor has given a ray of hope to the staff.

"I must thank council for taking a deliberate, courageous decision to nullify some of the processes the VC had taken and abandon him to abandon that satanic move to recommending the closure of the School of Law of which I have given all my life. To me this council seems to have come with good will."

"Equally, council make it clear that as the representatives appear before the appointment boards on Monday, the suspension by virtual of the law has expired. They are appearing before the board as unsuspended members, full of the innocence like anything can be in terms of innocence. We expect no other thing as these resume their responsibilities as association leaders." said Twinomugisha. 

Dr Kamunyu welcomed the resolutions and said that he was ready to cooperate with the new committee established by the Council. 

"I’m proud of staff because for the first time they have reinstated confidence in themselves. They have demonstrated that we don’t want to live in illegalities. We don’t want to work in illegalities. We don’t want for people to be cracked down. We don’t want a situation where honest opinions are shunned, honest opinions are very important for the progress of our country. And these opinions are should be taken seriously. I want to thank students for remaining calm and I want them to remain calm in future. Let us battle the minds, let opinions and decisions be found, let debates be allowed." Kamunyu said. 

Bennet Magara, the suspended Masa chairperson said that he hopes that the university council will keep its word and stick to the law and provide proper guidance to the institution. 

"I agree and respect the decisions of the joint assembly of Muasa, Masa and the decision that was made by the university council to take over the matter of my suspension is a welcome development. Because previously the suspender had put a committee to investigate and was expecting a report which I believe was unfair and this one had started developing as a culture in the institution where management takes the law in its hands without following procedures. We’re believing and hoping that council with the promises of cooperation, they will keep their word and I will be waiting for an opportunity on the issues of the way forward because the suspension under the law is already lapsed."

Dr Muhammad Kiggundu Musoke, the university spokesperson says that the resolution is the beginning of dialogue and tolerance in the university. 

"We’re very grateful as management to the staff because we have been appealing as a family. We’re very appreciative of the staff for lifting the tools and suspending the strike because now we’re working as a team and there is what we call building trust. So in this regard am very appreciative and thank everyone - the members of staff and we thank management, we thank our students who have been very calm and demonstrated this. And we thank the public for supporting us in this very venture because it is a learning process as we begin a new picture. Now that normalcy is 100% we thank everybody - whoever has supported use the home people of Makerere - members of staff, the associations, students and management to agree to work as a team." Kiggundu said. 

The police is planning to start watermarking bond papers issued at stations across the country, with an inscription; 'police bond is free'.

The watermarking is a new attempt at fighting corruption and extortion among investigating officers. The decision is part of an anti-corruption strategy recently launched and adopted by the police top management. The watermarking lies on top of the list of nine strategies that have been adopted and await implementation and evaluation.

According to the police director research and planning, assistant inspector general of police (AIGP) Edward Ochom, the watermark is meant to alert the suspects and their sureties that they are not supposed to pay for police bond. It's an open secret that police officers allover the country perennially charge for bond despite it being legally free.

The watermarking strategy will also limit the issuance of a bond to the officer in charge of criminal investigations at a police station and the district/divisional police commander (DPC).
 
The move follows complaints of extortion by police officers granting bond to suspects. Two years ago, police top management resolved to write at all police stations, a label confirming that police bond is free, and encouraging people not to be forced to pay for police bond. 

This, however, did not bring to an end the numerous complaints of extortion by police officers, some of whom charge millions of shillings from naive members of the public.

One of the complainants who URN talked to on condition of anonymity, was arrested last year on an allegation of being involved in the theft of a motor vehicle. He says he was made to pay Shs 1.5 million to the investigating officers before he was granted bond. 

"They warned me that if I tell anyone, things will be bad. When I reported to their boss, I was told to bring proof or evidence of the extortion." 

The other strategies to end corruption in the force include; enhancing salaries of the officers, increasing resources and facilitation for investigations as well as improving welfare for the police officers.

The strategy also looks at putting in place mechanisms to detect corruption and punitive measures for those involved in corruption, promote transparency and accountability in order to enhance public trust and confidence as well as during in place a framework for the prevention of corruption. 
 
The inspector general of government Irene Mulyagonja says that while some of the things in the strategy will require government commitment, it, in general, is applicable and can easily be implemented by the police management. Recently inspector general of police Martins Okoth-Ochola named corruption inside the force as the biggest challenge confronting his administration.

The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party top organ, the central executive committee (CEC) has zeroed on lining-up as the most viable mode for holding internal elections in the party. 

The decision will now be introduced to members and other NRM organs for the amendment of the party constitution before it's enforced. The decision was reached at the opening of a 5-day retreat of the CEC at Chobe Safari Lodge, Nwoya district on Saturday. 

The CEC retreat is being held under the theme "Building on solid achievements, consolidating the unity of the NRM and the transformation of the wanainchi towards achieving vision 2040".  

According to NRM spokesperson Rogers Mulindwa, lining up is aimed at reducing the cost of conducting internal elections. Mulindwa explained that President Yoweri Museveni, the NRM chairman, equally agreed that lining up will reduce commercialization of the electoral process and promote self-evaluation.

"You know how much money we spend on printing ballot papers for villages, sub-counties, district councillors up to MPs. And then you know the ink pads that we use, the basins, the pens for ticking and then the other plastics of whatever we buy. It is very costly and it is also going to minimize commercialization of elections." said Mulindwa. 

Mulindwa is equally optimistic that lining up will reduce the number of petitions filed by persons who are not satisfied with the outcome of the process. He says lining up enhances transparency and provides on spot satisfaction amongst the candidates as was evidenced at the local council elections where voters lined up behind their preferred candidates. 

"To  minimize this issue of petitions, complaints because we had an example of a good illustration with the LC 1 elections. Out of 69,000 delegates, we had petitions from 45 villages compared to parliamentary elections when we had 158 out of 200. So that of course is an illustration that lining up brings on spot satisfaction." added Mulindwa.

CEC also set up a sub-committee to enhance resource mobilization for the party. The sub-committee chaired by the NRM first national vice chairman Hajji Moses Kigongo is expected to report back to CEC within a period of one month.  

The other members of the sub-committee are NRM national treasurer Rose Namayanja Nsereko, deputy national treasurer Dr Kenneth Omona, vice chairman (northern) Sam Engola, vice chairman (eastern) Mike Mukula, veterans representative Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi, and entrepreneurs representative Dr Robert Rukari.
 
While opening the retreat, Museveni highlighted government's major achievements in infrastructure development and service delivery. He, however, emphasized that the weakest point is the economic empowerment of the 68 per cent of the population who rely on subsistence agriculture mainly in the rural areas.
 
He advised the party's top organ that the retreat's number one pre-occupation should be finding a solution to the 68 per cent of the population that is not in the money economy and have not emerged out of subsistence production.
 
"These 68 per cent population is our weakest point that we need to discuss, the rest is easy. Let us agree and talk the same language and act together," he said.
 
Museveni added that whereas the NRM is on track in the provision of the development infrastructure including roads, electricity and service delivery, the presence of a big fraction of the population living a subsistence life is a big challenge to the party and the country.
 
The ruling party's top organ is also scheduled to discuss the 2021 general election road map as well as constitutional amendments.

A human rights activist has sued the state minister for Tourism Godfrey Kiwanda Ssubi and the organizers of the Miss Curvy Uganda beauty pageant, arguing that it is against Uganda's Culture. 

Kiwanda, Miss Curvy Uganda CEO Anne Mungoma and Miss Curvy Uganda have been dragged to Mengo Magistrate's court by Gideon Tugume the executive director of Human Rights Defenders Uganda. Tugume says that the Miss Curvy contest is discriminative, degrading and a shameful to the country's culture and heritage.

"First of all they are trying to create a women zoo in Uganda - where by they want to create a place somewhere where they can keep women so that tourists can always come and pay and then go and see. That is illegal in this country of which we cannot allow. If you’re looking for the tourism attraction, you have to put somewhere some people such that when they [tourists] come, they find them there. The tourists will not come and look for women in Kyanamukaka or in Ntungamo or somewhere. They have to find them in a certain place. It is not allowed." said Tugume. 

According to Tugume, despite women activists, religious leaders and civil society organizations protesting the event, the minister and organisers have continued to register and address the media with the same intention of organising the Miss Curvy competition. 

'That it is suspected that the first and third (Mungoma and Miss Curvy Uganda) are probably known friendly to prostitutes and nude dancers which is likely to promote prostitution in Uganda through this Miss Curvy pageant, against the Penal Code CAP. 120", Tugume's application reads in part. 

Tugume also notes that the actions of the respondents and intentions are conspiracy to commit a felony which is contrary to the laws of Uganda.

The application also adds, "It shall also be averred that the defendants' actions are against sections of the Public Order Management Act ……the defendants have never disclosed to the public what it means by curvy contest".

Tugume now wants a court to restrain the respondents from organising the contest in any part of the country. He also wants court to declare that the event is discriminative and against the Ugandan culture and heritage. According to Mungoma, already over 140 plus size women have already registered to participate in the contest slated for June this year. She wondered why the pageant has drawn negativity yet the other pageants have been wholesomely embraced by the same critics. 

She said “Brazil has a carnival, are they selling their women? Tourists go to see the Karimojong, the Masai, and the Batwa; are they up for sale? Curvaceous women are eye-catching people unless they are saying we restrict beauty pageants to only slim ladies.”

Kiwanda recently said that the Miss Curvy contest was meant to promote beauty in diversity but not promoting women as a tourism product. Court is yet to fix a day for hearing of the case.

In a related development, Kenyan media personality Grace Msalame has also threatened to drag the organisers of the same pageant to court for using her picture on the promotional flyers without permission. 

“I take great exception to the fact that my image and likeness are being used to propagate, disseminate and encourage the objectification of women’s bodies. I do not endorse or agree with such a message or anyone who is a creator or supporter of the idea that women’s bodies are tourist attraction sites.” Msalame said in a statement. 

“Miss Curvy Uganda’s deliberate and calculated use of my image and likeliness to promote and encourage violation of women’s bodies has defamed my character and reputation, damaged a brand I have worked for many years to establish, and subjected me to unwarranted and undeserved cyber bullying.”

Commenting on the controversial contest, President Yoweri Museveni said recently that the organisers need to be advised and not condemned since the country has been celebrating other beauty contests without any fuss. He said though the contest is not a cabinet decision, he understood where the organisers derived their motive from. 

The archbishop of Kampala archdiocese, Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga has dismissed reports that he requested for Shs 9 billion from government to prepare for the second visit of Pope Francis in Uganda.

He said any statement linking him to such a request is defamatory. Pope Francis first visited Uganda in 2015. Last year and this year, there emerged reports that he could be returning to Uganda in June this year to take part in Martyrs Day celebrations. 

Early this month, it was reported in local media that the Catholic Church had submitted a request for more than Shs 9 billion to renovate the Namugongo shrine in preparation for the visit. However, Lwanga says he cannot request money from the central government and the Catholic community in the country when the Pope's visit hasn't yet been confirmed.
 
Lwanga was speaking at Kigungu landing site on Sunday, during celebrations to mark 140 years since the first missionaries Amans Delamas and Loudel Simeone Mapeera introduced the Catholic faith in Uganda. The two missionaries are said to have come into the country on February 18, 1879.
 
The archbishop also decried the increasing crime rate in the country and wondered why people still failed to be their brother's keeper, even after the introduction of the faith in the country.
 
The celebrations of the two missionaries; Amans and Loudel have been ongoing for the past 40 years. However, Catholics in Kalangala insist that the two missionaries first docked in Bugoma, Kalangala on February 14, 1879, where they constructed their first Church before reaching Kigungu. 

Archbishop Lwanga says that there has been a tremendous contribution of the Catholic Church in the education and health sectors in the country since the coming of missionaries.