A Nigerian poverty female minister ‘had 19million British pounds in several of her bank accounts:

18 April, 2024

 

By World Media

 

A corruption investigation into a suspended Nigerian minister whose job is to help poverty-stricken people has recovered £19 million from more than 50 bank accounts, a financial watchdog has alleged.

Betta Edu, the humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation minister, has been suspended since January over the alleged diversion of £505,000 of public money into a personal bank account.

Nigeria’s economic and financial crimes commission has now said that after six weeks investigating the ministry, it had found “many angles” to examine, the BBC reported.

Ola Olukoyede, the commission chairman, told the latest edition of the agency’s newsletter: “As it is now, we are investigating over 50 bank accounts that we have traced money into.

“That is no child’s play. That’s a big deal.”

President Bola Tinubu in early January ordered “a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transaction”, and officials suspended several government aid programmes.

At the time Dr Edu, 37, denied any wrongdoing. Her office said she had approved the transfer into a personal account, which was not in her name, but said it was for the “implementation of grants to vulnerable groups”.

The recovered money had already been transferred to government coffers, Mr Olukoyede said, but warned that the investigation could be lengthy.

He said: “We are exploring so many discoveries that we have stumbled upon in our investigation. 

“If it is about seeing people in jail, well let them wait, everything has a process to follow.”

Nigerians complain that Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country remains plagued by corruption, despite regular government vows to clean it up.

The country in 2023 scored 25 on Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

 

 

Omuddukirize wo bubudamo wano Mubwakabaka bwa Buganda(African refugee) nga ava Congo, ow'emyaka 93 abadde asula n'emisota, ne mubwavu obuyitirivu anunuddwa:

Mulindwa nga atawaana ne refugee we Congo atafuna nga ko buyambi bwonna wano Mubwakabaka bwa Buganda!
 
 
6 November, 2023

 

Bya Tonny Kayemba

 

MZEE Sylvano Ssengendo 93, Omutuuze w'e Kalagala mu ggombolola y'e Nakifuma mu Mukono ng’ ono abadde asula mu nnyumba eri mu mbeera embi era ng’ejudde emisota anunuddwa.

Ssengendo  ennyumba mw'abade asula ebadde yaggwaako oludda era nga yasibako bisanja nga enkuba bw’etonya emugwerako kw’ossa okulwanagana n'emisota egibadde gimuyingirira buli kiseera okuva mu kisiko ekimwetoolodde.

Ono olumu abadde asula njala oluvannyuma lw'okubulwa eky'okulya n’akimutusaako ate nga ataawanyizibwa ekirwadde kya aniya ekyetaaga okulongoosebwa.

Ono nga teyazaala mwana  nga ne baganda be agamba bafiira mu lutalo e Congo gye baali basibuka ye kwe kuwangangukira mu Uganda.

Ekifulukwa kyabadde asulamu kyamuweebwa eyali mukama we wabula eyafa n’amulekawo ng'ono ennaku wabadde agiyonkera yonkera obutaaba okutuusa bwe yadduukiriddwa abazirakisa .

Rashid Mulindwa Omutandisi w'ekitongole ekirabirira abataliiko mwasirizi ekya Ekirooto Mission Charity Organization ekisangibwa e Kireka mu Munisipaali y'e Kira yadduukiridde omukadde ono n’ebikozesebwa mu bulamu obwabulijjo era  nga yamupangisiriza ennyumba mwe yamusengukidde wamu n'okumugulira ebikozesebwa okuli: Omufaliso, bulangiti, amasuuka, ebbaafu, wamu n'ebyokulya ebitandikibwako wamu n'engoye.

Mulindwa agamba okumanya omuntu ono yali agenzeeko ku kyalo kino ng'aliko gy’akyadde wabula olw'omutima ogw'okuyamba kwe kubuuza abantu abali mu mbeera embi mu kitundu kino alabe engeri ‘yokubayambako era kwe kumutuusa ku muzeeyi ono gwe yasanga ng’ embeera gyalimu eyingula ezziga kwe kuyita mu banne b’akola nabo ne bamudduukirira wabula nategeeza ng’obuyambi buno bwe butamala nga wano wasabidde abazirakisa okubakwasizaako ng'ali ku ssimu nnamba 0752 738 177 ne 0781 333 458

 

Mulindwa(kkono) nga ali nomukadde munyumba gyamufunidde okupangisa 

 

 

The Judiciary worker, Mr Kisambira doesn't regret murder-suicide threats as junior workers in Uganda receive petty wages compared to their senior workers:

 

By World Media

Stanley Kisambira (R) talking to the media

Judiciary driver Stanley Kisambira whose audio clips in which he threatened to commit murder-suicide so as to kill a judge and his bodyguard has responded to the permanent secretary who gave him only five days to defend himself.

In a defense written by his lawyers from the Centre for Legal Aid, Kisambira says he doesn't regret his statements and has asked the judiciary PS Dr Pius Bigirimana to cease from further absurdity.

 

Kisambira, a driver of Mbale High court judge Godfrey Namundi can be heard in the audio clips complaining about salary disparities in the judiciary for drivers and expressing his dissatisfaction with earning Shs 200,000 since joining the justice system in 2008.

 

In the same clip, Kisambira is heard saying he is very annoyed, disgusted and can even ram into a stationary vehicle and kill a principal, bodyguard, and himself - three people at once which is more painful compared to a bodyguard who only kills one principal. This was in reference to the recent murder of the state minister of Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations by his own bodyguard Wilson Sabiiti.

 

In a May 16 letter, Bigirimana accused Kisambira of misconduct, saying he would have used the right means as provided for under the public service standing orders as a public servant, other than running to social media to address his grievances.

 

"Inciting violence and threatening to intentionally cause an accident is unprofessional, criminal and punishable in the strongest terms. In addition, uttering false information that you are only paid Shs 200,000 contravenes section F-r of the public service standing orders."

 

As such, Bigirimana asked Kisambira in the letter to explain his act of gross misconduct within five days of receipt of this letter. Failure to do this, Bigirimana threatened to subject Kisambira to disciplinary measures including dismissal from the judiciary.

 

But in response, Kisambira's lawyers say that it was premature for Bigirimana who is also the judiciary's accounting officer to convict him of gross misconduct.

 

"Further to yours HC/P 10701 dated 16 May 2023, prematurely convicting our client of gross misconduct” and threatening to subject him to “further disciplinary measures including dismissal from the judiciary service,” we are instructed to reply as follows," reads the one-paged letter response.

 

The letter adds: "With great respect, your indecorously worded missive was not only premature and misconceived, but has also brought the judiciary service into disrepute."

 

According to Kisambira's lawyers, their client accepts no liability whatsoever for the contents or circulation of the audio clip at issue.

 

"A private communication, it contains protected political opinion and does not reasonably imply what you allege (incitement to violence, threatening accidents, uttering false information, etc).... as you rightly stated, our client did the right thing to express his dissatisfaction." reads the letter.

 

According to the Centre for Legal Aid, Bigirimana's reference to section p–b of the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders 2021 which talks about the procedure for conducting government, is plainly disingenuous and hereby "denounced, with contempt".

 

"You stretched the interpretation of that section by falsely implying that the alleged audio clip was an “official correspondence…which came into the possession of our client in the course of his official duties...Please cease and desist from further absurdity," advises the letter.

 

The lawyers further indicate that Kisambira enjoys what they have described as absolute immunity under the law to freely express his dissatisfaction in a peaceful manner, without fear of retaliation or victimization by his employer or the state.

 

"Take further notice that pursuant to sections 6(1) and 75(g) of the Employment Act 2006, you are barred from targeting an employee's political opinion as the reason for dismissal or imposition of a disciplinary penalty," adds the response.

 

To support their response, the lawyers have quoted several laws that they say Bigirimana as accounting officer of the judiciary should have looked upon before writing to Kisambira. They say the public service regulations on code of conduct further bars him from implementing any disciplinary procedure before the completion of proper investigations.

 

Accordingly, they have asked Bigirimana to terminate what they have described as a travesty of justice, and immediately provide Kisambira a decent package of appropriate interventions to address his dissatisfaction.

 

Following the audios by Kisambira, he was arrested and detained at Kampala Central police station for two days but he was later released on police bond.

 

Sources in police said that he had to be released because it was not right in their view to take him to court simply because he had talked about his grievances and that the best solution is for the judiciary to review his salary.

 

On social media platforms, Kisambira has been hailed as brave for exposing the low salaries of judiciary rank-and-file members. A fundraising campaign has been initiated to support Kisambira in obtaining legal representation and welfare.

 

The campaign encourages donations, emphasizing Kisambira's role as a whistleblower who spoke out about the exploitation of the judiciary. The flyer states, "Kisambira is ready to be punished or sacked but won't be silenced."

Nb

It is a very good debate that is going on especially for the workers' pay in this country just after the recent celebration of the International Workers' Day on 1st May, 2023.

Apart from that African politics of Uganda National Resistance Movement, the workers day celebrations were about a living wage.

 

The Union members and their struggles all over the world have their International Workers Movement. Eight-hour day movement that advocated 8 hours work for any worker. 8 hours recreation. And 8 hours rest.

One cannot see any wrong with this worker discussing about his small wages as compared to the wages of some of the African workers who are very rich multi-millionaires in this country!

 

 

IN UGANDA, THERE SHOULD BE EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH AN AFRICAN SOCIAL WELFARE:

The Inspector General of Government, Ms. Kamya has decided to audit the lifestyle lives of government officials so that she can be able to arrest corrupt officials:

 24 October, 2021

The new Inspector General of Government, Ms Beti Kamya. PHOTO/DAVID LUBOWA

The office of Inspector General of Government (IGG) plans to adopt lifestyle audit to catch corrupt public officials in the next five years. 

IGG Beti Kamya said her vision is to quickly reverse the massive theft in public offices by making citizens know that the cost of corruption is why they cannot have the services they pay for.

“We want to exhibit the faces of corruption in every classroom, living room place of worship, entertainment and every bedroom so that everybody can recognise it,” she said.

Ms Kamya, who was meeting the European Union (EU) delegation led by Ambassador Attilio Pacifici in Kampala on Thursday, cited the case of multi-billion property confiscated by the court from Geoffrey Kazinda and forfeited to government.

Ms Kamya said in the lifestyle audit, the IGG would push for even primary school children to recognise illicit wealth at home and ask their parents whether their salary can afford the new expensive car, luxurious houses, overseas schools and holidays they enjoy abroad.

 

The poor African man with a walking stick

 

“We want teachers in posh schools to give home work to their 10-year-olds in 5th Grade to write down their fathers name, place of work, job title, and car they drive and its cost, a picture of their houses and discuss it openly in class,” she said.

Ms Kamya said she also wants adults and children to start being embarrassed and ashamed of their unexplainable wealth.

“We value our engagement with the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah and ask for support to rally MPs in the fight and we intend to engage the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice and the Leader of Opposition in Parliament,” she added.

Findings

Ms Kamya said preliminary findings show that Uganda is losing Shs20 trillion annually to corruption, which totals our entire annual revenue collection from taxes.

“It is criminal that poor Ugandan break their backs to work and pay taxes, but very few people take it all for themselves to live luxurious lifestyle and have massive wealth that they cannot consume in their lifetime,” she said.

Ms Patricia Achan, the deputy IGG, said through the Leadership Code Act, they will raise the verification activity, beginning with the staff of the IGG, then verify wealth declaration of all accounting officers.

“The intention is to rescue at least 20 percent of the Shs20 trillion lost per year,” she said.

 “We need to give corruption a face, unmask and expose its face so that everybody can recognise it. It will incite Ugandan to despise it, hate and avoid it,” she said.

Ms Cissy Kagaba, the executive director of Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda, said adopting the lifestyle audit was a good measure, but the IGG should capture every one and not pick on only a few individuals.

“After the lifestyle auditing, we want to know what next because people often make declarations, but the issue of verification has been a challenge,” she said.

 

About lifestyle audit

Lifestyle audits, also known as lifestyle checks or lifestyle monitoring, are an accountability tool that can be used to detect and prevent corruption. Such audits are conducted when the visible lifestyle or standard of living of an individual appears to exceed their known income level. The detection of such discrepancies can raise the red flag, warranting closer inspection.

In such instances, an assessment of the individual’s income, assets and investments can be undertaken to determine if such seemingly extravagant expenditures could have come from illicit gains. If the audit shows a mismatch between a person’s known income and assets compared to their lifestyle and spending patterns, then there is an increased risk that the person is deriving alternative income from sources that constitute a conflict of interest or illegal activity, including embezzlement and bribery.

As verification often includes assessments of an official’s household, the approach is particularly helpful in detecting whether corrupt proceeds could have been under the names of family members or associates.

Lifestyle audits are best used in conjunction with other anti-corruption measures, including the criminalisation of illicit enrichment, establishing obligations for regular declarations of assets, incomes and interests, as well as unexplained wealth orders.

However, the viability of this approach is contingent on public access to the content of asset and income declarations, and the interest and ability of civil society to engage in lifestyle audits concealed.

Source: Transparency International

The business people of the international city of Kampala and Kampala City Council Authority have come together to plant one million trees in 20 acres of this city!

 

By World Media and Yudaya Nangonzi

 

PSFU and KCCA have partnered on One Million Trees initiative

 

The Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU) and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) have inked a tree planting initiative dubbed ‘One-Million-Trees, Greening Kampala’.

The partnership that was unveiled at the 2023 PSFU Gala and Awards last week comes at the back of growing climate change concerns. Kampala, like many other parts of the world, is experiencing climate changes mostly with increased temperatures and more intense rainy seasons which are less predictable and more erratic leading to flooding, loss of life & property and food insecurity.

In 2023 alone, the capital city has struggled to contain dry spells that have eaten up several remaining green areas and reduced harvests. But even worse, whenever it rains, floods and impassable roads become the order of the day. The running water has greatly contributed to the hundreds of huge potholes around Kampala. All these happenings call for climate action and thus making the greening Kampala initiative a matter of urgency.

The agreement that is valid for five years will see PSFU plant at least 100,000 trees and beautifying at least 20 acres of green spaces, encourage its members to adopt sustainable business practices in their operations and to contribute towards planting trees, and work jointly with other relevant entities to avail information on innovative solutions, technologies and investment opportunities to the private sector to invest in green projects that help to reduce green-house gas (GHG) emissions.

Humphrey Nzeyi, the PSFU chairperson emphasized the importance of this ‘collective endeavor’, stating that “this partnership represents a significant step towards achieving the shared goal of a more sustainable and climate-resilient city. By combining both organizations’ expertise and resources, this collaboration can make a meaningful impact on the lives of millions of people across the nation.”

KCCA will on its part provide the necessary authorization to PSFU and its members to plant trees on the streets of Kampala, ensure maintenance and protection of planted trees and attract more like-minded organizations/individuals to participate in the campaign and support PSFU to advocate for enabling policies and frameworks that promote greening of cities, environmental protection and ease of doing business.

 

According to Kabuye Kyofatogabye, minister of State for Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs, the tree initiative is timely and will enhance climate resilience.

“Our city is facing a lot of climate change problems. Our green areas have reduced, we are experiencing floods and other problems. On one hand, we are working to address the infrastructure problems while on the other hand addressing the climate issue. This partnership with PSFU and its members will go a long way in making Kampala greener. One million trees will greatly improve the beauty, weather, health and quality of air in Kampala,” Kabuye explained.

To actualize this initiative, KCCA and PSFU will work with private sector players and individuals. Already on board is Uganda Baati, that has promised to provide hundreds of trees to those willing and with free space to plant them. To kick off this, Uganda Baati gave attendees of the PSFU Gala fruit trees to go and plant at their homes and workplaces.

 “This collaboration with the Private Sector Foundation Uganda signifies our promise to forging a sustainable future. Uganda Baati has a background of nurturing various forest reserves nationwide. Through our extensive experience and unwavering dedication, this tree-planting exercise underscores our ongoing efforts to create a positive environmental impact while fostering a business environment that ensures prosperity for future generations,” Ian Rumanyika, the head of external & corporate affairs at Uganda Baati noted.

This one million trees ‘Greening Kampala’ initiative sits well with the Kampala Climate Change Action strategy that was unveiled in 2016 as a flagship programme for the city to achieve its sustainability ambitions. Only time stands between knowing whether the former will be more successful than the latter.

Nb

Lots of hot air about greening the international city of Kampala. If the countryside beside this city is all left a desert and much of the forests and swamp lands are no more, how can these money men manage to plant one million trees in the centre of this African sprawling urban zone? Indeed some of the small acreage of the urban green parks have been grabbed by the greedy landlords of this city for ever. An example is the UPDF with its city green park! A botanist would tell such ambitious business people that a tree needs space of about 20 yards by 15 yards to grow well. 20 acres of forest of a million trees is indeed a joke of this tropical city.

One moves in some international cities which are situated in temperate climates. They have come to have more urban and rural trees growing than tropical climate cities. Mind you, growing one million trees need money and efficient management when afterwards these trees have got to be harvested and new ones planted. That is why much of the public in this tropical country are complaining when over 500 environmental delegates are put on an aeroplane to go to the massive desert of Arabia and discuss climate change when at their home country there is nothing of any greening being done and to be talked about!

 

The Indian King, Nizam of Hyderabad, was so rich he used a £50m diamond as his paperweight: 

His heirs have been awarded the fortune he hid in a bank in London:

4th October, 2019

By Richard Kay of the London 

© 2013 Culture Club Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, Nizam of Hyderabad. Ruler of former monarchy of the Hyderabad State, now in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, India. Opposed Ottomans during World War 1. 6 April 1886 – 24 February 1967. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***

 

 

Of all the honours that friendly kings and grateful potentates showered on him, only one title really mattered. For most of his life, the Nizam of Hyderabad was the richest man in the world.

So rich, in fact, that on finding rats had nibbled through £3 million in old banknotes stuffed into trunks in a palace cellar, he shrugged off the loss.

It was said the Indian princeling had so much jewellery that the pearls alone would pave Piccadilly Circus, and that he kept brown paper parcels full of emeralds in his bedchamber.

His collection included the fabled Jacob diamond, a 185-carat gem the size of an ostrich egg and reputedly worth £50 million, that he found in one of his father’s old socks and liked to use as a paperweight.

This week the legendary profligacy, decadence, debauchery and meanness of the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, who came to power in 1911, were back in the spotlight after the High Court ruled that the Nizam’s two elderly grandsons were entitled to a £35 million fortune that has been languishing in a British bank.

The Nizam, a 5ft 3in chain-smoker called Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan, was certainly an eccentric.

He lived in fear of a revolution, and under tarpaulins in his palace gardens stood row upon row of rusting lorries, their tyres perished and sinking into the ground. Each truck was laden with precious stones and gold ingots.

The lorries were so he could escape with some of his riches if the need came. But then he lost interest and left the trucks to rot.

For personal protection he had a private army of 3,000 North African bodyguards. He also employed 38 people whose sole job was to dust the palace chandeliers, and a further 28 to fetch drinking water. Several more were employed just to grind his favourite walnuts.

 

 © Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited When the Queen married Prince Philip in 1947, he presented her with a diamond necklace

Soon after becoming the absolute ruler of 17 million people in an area the size of Italy, he took to roaring about his kingdom in a Rolls-Royce, drank whisky from his own distillery and led his own jazz band in playing his favourite song, I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.

At one stage his fortune was said to be £100 million in gold and silver bullion and £400 million in jewels — more than £50 billion at today’s values.

 

 

Mukarram Jah as a young boy(left)
© Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited Mukarram Jah, pictured (left) in centre in blue, is the grandson of Osman Ali Khan, titular Nizam of Hyderabad, and now lives in Turkey. He was the richest man in India until the 1980s when he lost his tag after a costly divorce settlement with his third wife

But over time, he came to take a dismissive view of his wealth. Latterly he became miserly and frugal and wore the same tattered fez for 40 years, knitted his own socks and favoured patched, threadbare clothes that he didn’t change for months, even though he possessed a wardrobe half a mile long that was bulging with exquisite silks, brocades, damasks and muslins.

He ate simply off a tin plate, smoked hand-rolled cigarettes and supplemented his meals with an occasional opium pill. In old age he slept on a simple veranda which he shared with a tethered goat.

Despite this austerity, he had a prodigious appetite for sex. Placing hidden cameras in the ceilings and walls of his guest quarters, he assembled India’s largest collection of pornographic pictures — and in his lifetime supposedly sired 100 sons by 86 mistresses.

Every night he was said to make a stately progress around his busy seraglio. The man who enjoyed the title His Exalted Highness was known by court flunkeys as ‘His Exhausted Highness’.

When he sailed to Britain in 1934, he chartered his own liner and brought with him his entire harem of senior begums — women of high social status — as well as an entourage of 300.

His fortune was starting to come under pressure, however. The eldest sons of his four legal wives ran up millions in debts and the children of the 42 concubines who used to be presented to him on his birthday, freshly bathed in sandalwood oil, formed a union to force him to support them.

 

His collection included the fabled Jacob diamond, a 185-carat gem the size of an ostrich egg and reputedly worth £50 million, that he found in one of his father’s old socks and liked to use as a paperweight
© Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited His collection included the fabled Jacob diamond, a 185-carat gem the size of an ostrich egg and reputedly worth £50 million, that he found in one of his father’s old socks and liked to use as a paperweight

So the Nizam deposited £1 million, a huge sum in those days, with the Westminster Bank — now part of NatWest — in London.

He feared in particular that the money would be appropriated by the new Indian government after the British withdrew from the sub-continent in 1947. And those funds stayed put, accruing interest to reach the sum of £35 million today.

The money was the subject of decades of legal wrangling and countless rival claims until the High Court’s ruling that his grandsons are entitled to it.

Under the 7th Nizam’s autocratic rule, Hyderabad was like something out of the Arabian Nights. It was India’s premier state and he was first among India’s 560 princes or maharajahs.

One highly profitable custom meant that any subject of the Nizam who was received by him had to leave a calling card in the form of gold and silver coins.

At four annual galas when he entertained thousands at lavish banquets, he would personally collect these tithes, dropping the gold and silver into separate bags.

He was once said to have ordered his collection of pearls to be removed from their sacks, to preserve their lustre. It took the servants three days to lay them out.

A Dutch expert who came to value the collection demanded a fee of £25,000 because, he said, the task would take years.

Beloved by the British as India’s most generous host for his donation of £25 million to two world wars — including a squadron of Spitfires — the Nizam was an attentive host.

When the then Prince of Wales, later the Duke of Windsor, visited him in 1922, the Nizam wanted his guest to feel at home and installed a chamber pot in the royal bedroom that, when the lid was lifted, played the National Anthem.

And when the Queen married Prince Philip in 1947, he presented her with a diamond necklace — she wore it in her 2007 portrait by the American photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Getting around the windswept kingdom required cars and elephants, and the Nizam had plenty of both initially. In 1913, two years after his coronation, a grand Silver Ghost was sent to Hyderabad. 

The handbook stated it was a ‘semi-state coach’. It was indeed a sort of ‘throne car’, with gold mountings and upholstered in gold silk brocade.

This was only one of the Nizam’s 50 Rolls-Royces, as befitted a man who employed 12,000 servants in just one palace.

He had at least one car adapted to take an elevated rear seat because he felt he should sit higher than his subjects.

His Rolls-Royce fleet had barely covered 1,000 miles when he died in 1967, aged 80.

In addition there were another 150 cars — in later life, when he became more thrifty, he took to riding around in a bone-shaking Model T Ford.

He once instructed a servant to buy him a new blanket, with strict orders not to pay more than 25 rupees (about 28p today).

The retainer came back empty-handed because a new blanket cost 35 rupees — 40p — so the Nizam made do with his old one.

Stories of his parsimony began to abound. He was said to have rebuked an ice-cream vendor for charging a ‘high price’ (3p) and was said to scrawl dinner invitations on bits of paper torn from the bottom of old letters.

He disciplined himself to live on the equivalent of £1 a week and smoked the cheapest brand of cigarettes, relighting and smoking the discarded butts.

There were other, more admirable aspects to his character. His rule saw the expansion of roads, railways and the postal system, and he established universities, hospitals and factories. Indeed, he was adored by his subjects.

His funeral procession was one of the largest ever seen in India but much of his staggering family wealth had been looted and frittered away.

What was left of the dwindling fortune passed to the Nizam’s grandson, whom he had named as heir after disinheriting his Old Harrovian playboy son.

The 8th Nizam emigrated to Australia, where for many years he ran a sheep station. Now 84, it is he and his younger brother, 80-year-old Prince Muffakhan, who stand to finally inherit the last of their grandfather’s fortune.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As there is no social system of welfare at all on the continent of Africa, in Uganda a government minister and 13 Members of Parliament happily donated Shs 45000(£9 or 12 dollars) to a family of 10 orphans:

Shock minister 13 MPs donate Shs45000 10 orphans

Minister Peace Mutuuzo kneeling while speaking to Ms Teresa Namuli and her orphaned grandchildren. JOSEPH KATO

30 May, 2018
By Joseph Kato

Residents of Kibiga village, Kibiga Sub County in Kiboga District were on Tuesday left speechless and some were seen nodding heads in disbelief after the Gender state minister, Peace Mutuuzo, flanked by 13 MPs and Kiboga District officials donated only Shs45,000 to an old woman living with over 10 orphaned grandchildren.

The money that was handed over to the 80-year-old Teresa Namuli by Ms Mutuuzo was accompanied with two kilogrammes of sugar and loaves of bread. The MPs subscribing to Uganda Parliamentary Committee on Social Protection Grant (SAGE) were in the district to establish the progress of the programme.

“I am not a minister but when I have some money, I donate at least Shs10,000 or buy some items and give to people. But how can MPs and ministers donate that small amount to the family that needs much help?” one Robert Katumwa said.

Ms Namuli who lives in an old mud and wattle house explained to the MPs and the minister that her solar panel bought at Shs70,000 was no longer functioning and requested for replacement.

In response, Ms Mutuuzo said she would follow up Ms Namuli’s request for a new solar panel when she returns to Kampala.

“You note it down and ensure you remind me when I get back to Kampala. I will send a new solar panel,” Ms Mutuuzo directed her personal assistant.

Ms Namuli said some of her grandchildren had long stopped schooling because they could not raise school fees for secondary school after completing primary seven.

Kiboga District, as the pioneer of the SAGE programme, has over 4,700 beneficiaries since the inception of the programme in 2011. At least Shs8.7 billion has been disbursed in grants to beneficiaries in the district.

Minister without portfolio, Abdul Naduli who represented Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, said government would continue providing for the elderly regardless of their political affiliation.

 

 

 

 

 

Politics in Africa is all about naked power and lots of money:

Posted 29 March, 2017

 

By Abbey

 

"I've seen a boy who once sought refugee in the home of the richman of the village becoming a president of the country"

Yes, the Uganda's problem emanated from Rwanda and sought refuge at Kaguta's but now we're suffering because of harbouring dangerous seeds of evil!

On Mar 29, 2017 9:22 AM, "Paul Ssemaluulu" <ssemaluulu@gmail.com> wrote:

In 2003 I visited the commercial empire of the Late Kato at Naguru. I was awed and wowed by what I saw. The Radio, the residence, the staff and so on. I was not well prepared to envision such a pillar ending up in jail and in his later years shuffling the streets of Kampala a broken and broke man!

 

On Wed, Mar 29, 2017 at 1:51 AM, Abbey Semuwemba <abbeysemuwemba@gmail.com> wrote:

I do not pretend to be older than the elders following me, but the truth is despite my age, I'm old enough to confess that life is indeed a mystery.

 

I've seen a Landlord becoming a tenant before his death.

 

I've seen owner of a ' benz' pedalling a bicycle, not for fittness, but for transportation.

 

I know a female Muslim friend who became a strong faithful Hijabi(now rarely misses prayers), when she used to 'kuwemula' in almost all our conversations.

 

I have seen a once rejected stepson becoming the bread winner for the whole family.

 

A once sought-after lady begging a poor guy to date her.

 

I've seen a boy who once sought refugee in the home of the richman of the village becoming president of the country.

 

A driver's conductor buying the bus of his master.

 

A man released from prison in USA becoming a mayor of city.

 

I've seen arguably the most powerful president in Africa begging for his life from a teenager in the last hours of his life.

 

In life, no one knows tomorrow & you can never trust life, because its mysterious.

 

Never ever forget, U may not know the full story, don't be quick to judge, every coin has two sides.

 

Treat everyone in your life fairly like your own & love as much as you live.

 

So let us be humble, kind, love more & do not try to be overly smart; for we do not know what tomorrow holds for us. Have a wonderful weekend without premiership football!!

 

Omugagga atundidde mukyala we ow'empeta n'abaana 5 mu nnyumba: "Mugende mupangise omuzigo'

By Musasi wa Bukedde

 

Added 4th February 2017

 

NNANNYINI kkampuni ekola ebizigo eya Retina Herbal Jelly esangibwa mu Nansana West II atundidde mukyala we ow’empeta n’abaana bataano mu nnyumba. Amulaalise; Giveemu mangu ogende opangise omuzigo.

 

Nabulya, muwala wa Lubowa omukulu. Ku ddyo, Lubowa ne Nabbanja nga bakyali mu mukwano, ne bbebi waabwe.

 

NNANNYINI kkampuni ekola ebizigo eya Retina Herbal Jelly esangibwa mu Nansana West II atundidde mukyala we ow’empeta n’abaana bataano mu nnyumba. Amulaalise; Giveemu mangu ogende opangise omuzigo.

 

Bw’oba tokisobola, dda ewammwe! David Lubowa, enju yagiguzizza omujaasi w’eggye lya UPDF eyagenze n’emmotoka n’abavubuka nga batutte ebintu mu nnyumba kyokka muka Lubowa, Robinah Nabbanja n’abatuuze ne babalemesa okubiyingiza munda.

Lubowa yategeezezza nti, kkampuni ye ekola ebizigo yafuna obuzibu obwamuwaliriza okwewola ssente mu bbanka kyokka ne zimulemerera okusasula, bbanka n’esalawo etunde ennyumba.

 

Bbanka yamuwa omukisa okunoonya omuguzi. Nabbanja gwe twasanze mu nnaku n’abaana be yategeezezza nti, amaze ebbanga ng’akolera South Afrika.

 

Ennyumba Lubowa gye yatunze n’agobera mukyala we n’abaana mu muzigo.
 
 

Yakomyewo mu 2012 n’asanga nga bba alina omukazi omulala era ng’awaka akomawo lw’ayagadde.

Omukazi omulala yali yamuzimbira enju mu Nsumbi. Lubowa ne Nabbanja baagattibwa nga October 25, 1995 ne bazaala abaana okuli Rachael Nabulya 20, Reagan Kavuma 18, Cynthia Nakalyango 14, Lynette Nakidde 11 ne Frank Ssekidde 17, bba gwe yamuleetera nga wa myaka ena.

Ssentebe w’ekyalo Nabbanja gy’asula, John Kiwanuka Mmindesala yategeezezza nti, omuwandiisi we Joseph Ssenyonjo ye yaliwo mu kutunda ennyumba eno.

Wabula yategeezezza nti omusajja okutundira mukyala we mu nnyumba kikolwa kya bujoozi okuggyako ng’amufunidde w’abeera.

Nabbanja yagambye nti bba bwe yatunda ennyumba, yamuwa 500,000/- apangise omuzigo mw’aba ateeka abaana n’amutegeeza nti yali amugulidde ne poloti e Kabulengwa fuuti 15 ku 45, mw’agenda okumuzimbira.

Nb

Bank ekwate Omwami emusibe okusinga okuyita mubyangu okuwamba enyumba. Bank zonna munsi zimala kwetegereza bulungi akakalu nobusobozi bwoyo ayagala okwewola sente za ba customer ba bank. Abatereka sente mu bank zino eza Uganda balina obuyinza okutwala okwemulugunya kwabwe eri bank zabbwe eziwola abasubuzi abalumya abantu bomumaka ngabano bwebakola. Ba customer ba bank balina nobuyinza okwekumamu omuliro nebajjayo sente zabwe mu bank ezirina emizze egirumya abaana nabazadde basalumanya.

 

The Country of Uganda is dried up as drought hits hardest:

FRIDAY JANUARY 20 2017

 

BY MONITOR TEAM

 

An empty valley dam built by the Ministry of Water at a cost of Shs500 million in Moroto District. PHOTO BY STEVEN ARIONG

The Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Mr Musa Ecweru, says the drought has since left nearly 9 million Ugandans in urgent need of food aid across the country. Only 1.3 million Ugandans needed food relief three months ago.

Even for families with some food, millions are trekking long distances in search for water for both domestic use or for their animals as most water sources have dwindled or dried up.

Crossing into Lango

In Karamoja sub-region, an unknown number of cattle have starved to death forcing the nomadic pastoralists to cross into Lango sub-region in search of pasture and water.

All the dams in the sub-region have dried up apart from one at Kobebe in Moroto District, which is stressed and could dry any time due to the influx of Turkana herdsmen from neighbouring Kenya.

At least 10,000 head of cattle, have been driven into Lango, according to Mr Paul Luwok, who is leading one of the pastoralist groups.

“I have instructed my people not to graze their animals in people’s fields, neither uproot cassava nor rape any woman as any offender will be dealt with,” Mr Luwok said.

In Pallisa District, one of the many water-stressed areas, the Town Council chairperson, Mr Yusuf Zomu, said most of the water sources, including wetlands, wells and streams have dried up.

In Busoga sub-region, the situation was not any different with millions going hungry.

“Getting water for cooking or bathing has become difficult for several families. A 20-litre jerrycan of water now costs Shs1,000,” said Mr Zomu.

“This is unsustainable due to prevailing economic hardships and famine in the area,” Mr Zomu said.

Similarly, in Bulambuli, the district council chairperson, Mr Simon Wananzofu, says most rivers that flow from Mt Elgon have dwindled and he fears they could dry up altogether should drought persist for a few more months.

In Mbarara Town, some places, including Karugangama in Nyamitanga Division, the residents have to part with more than Shs2,000 to get a jerrycan of water from vendors while in Isingiro District, some residents trek for more than five kilometers to access water. Most of the available water sources such as boreholes can no longer gush out water.

Likewise, dams in cattle corridor districts of Nakasongola and Nakasekke have dried up and thousands of cattle and people are desperate for the rains to come.

“The long dry spell has hit the farmers hard. Many water dams have dried up with some of the farmers opting to buy water from a mobile tanks to give to the animals. The only available mobile water tank, which now serves more than five sub-counties, is now very expensive,” said Mr Fred Rwabirinda, the Nakaseke District Council Secretary for Production.

The most affected sub-counties are Kinoni, Ngoma and Kinyogoga where a 10,000 litre water tank now costs about Shs40,000.

In Nebbi, District Council chairperson Ezron Alenyo said food crops and pastures have been depleted leaving the residents and cattle starving.

“We are experiencing abnormally high temperatures,” Mr Alenyo said.

Uganda, just as the rest of Africa, has experienced dry conditions through most of 2016, with the dry spell spilling over into the new year.

According to American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), 2016 has been the hottest year since modern recordkeeping began in 1880s.

Mr Patrick Luganda, the communications advisor to the Commission on Climatology in Geneva at the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), says Uganda may start to get some rainfall in mid-February. He says scientists were due to meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in early February for an actual forecast.

Mr Deus Bamanya, the director for Applied Meteorology, Data and Climate Services with UNMA, in a recent interview with Daily Monitor advises pastoralists to sell off some of the animals to match the available water and pasture.

Mr Ecweru said the government was resorting to high-yielding, disease-resistant crops such as cassava, maize and other crops which require less rainfall on top of exploring solar irrigation schemes for farmers across the country.

But in the meantime, Mr Ecweru says government will continue to aid hunger-hit areas with food relief and assures all citizens that “no Ugandan will die of hunger.”

Mr Frank Muramuzi of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists says the future is bleak; considering that many natural resources, including forests and wetlands, have been encroached.

Dr Daniel Babikwa, the director district support coordination and public education with the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), says the changing weather is a result of human activities.

He says for Uganda, whose 40 per cent of rainfall is influenced by wetlands, rivers, lakes and forests, such dry conditions are expected and should be a warning call for all Ugandans to conserve the environment.

The August 2016 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis report reveals that 83 per cent of Uganda’s population [30,892, 131] could be food secure, and 16 per cent food stressed [5, 958, 155] while another 1 per cent [390, 165]; most of whom are from Karamoja sub-region, were faced with food crisis.

Ms Annunciatta Hakuza of the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries, explains that this is as a result of the late onset of 2016 rainfall, cultivation began late and prolonged dry season through June to October.

“Indeed I’ve heard and personally experienced this phenomenon, which has wreaked havoc on the vital first-season crop across much of Uganda. In the Rwenzori sub-region where I come from, farmers have lost large acreage of maize,” says Ms Hakuza.

Temperatures

The Uganda National Meteorological Authority January 1st-10th January, forecast indicates “very hot conditions with average maximum temperatures ranging from 26.4 to 36.3 degrees centigrade,” with Nebbi District recording as high as 38.5 degrees centigrade. “The month of January is still dry as it has been experienced in last month of December 2016 [and] water levels in Lake Victoria basin have been constantly diminishing due to dry spell in most parts of the country,” reads part of the UNMA report.

The prolonged drought has too pushed both day and night temperature high making it uncomfortable for many to sleep or walk. For example, yesterday, Kampala afternoon 32°C yet the capital’s normal average temperature is 27°C. Kasese had 35 degrees Celsius while Kabale had 23 degrees Celsius. Nebbi had 38.5 instead of 32°C recorded overtime while Tororo District recorded afternoon 30°C against the normal average of 29°C. Arua District recorded afternoon temperatures of 34°C, making the district one of the hottest in the country.

Reported by Paul Tajuba, David Mafabi, Stephen Ariong, Dan Wandera, Mudangha Kolyanga, Enid Ninsiima, Longino Muhindo, Cissy Makumbi, Patrick Ebong, Clement Aluma & Rajab Mukombozi.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com

 

Ssesimba yaakawandiika ebitabo 5 ku myaka 20!

By Silvano Kibuuka

 

Added 12th December 2016

 

Ssesimba ng’alaga ekitabo kye ekyasooka.

 

MAHAD Ssesimba ayinza okuba omuwandiisi asinga obuto mu Uganda. Ku myaka 20 gy’alina yaakawandiika ebitabo by’Oluganda bitaano!

“ Bwe nnali omuto, nnawuliranga abavubuka nga bakyamya Oluganda mu njogera, kwe kwagala okubaako bye ngolola n'okubawabula waakiri bwe baba baliko bye baagala okwogera nga tebabimanyi basooke beebuuze. Okugeza mpulira bangi abagamba nti, ‘Sijja Lya’, ng'ategeeza nti ‘sijja kulya’.

 

Enkoko tezaala wabula ebiika oba okwalula; embwa teba na mulambo wabula omutulumbi n’ebirala.

Bino byonna bye nassa mu kitabo ekisooka nga nange awamu nneebuuza. Ekitabo kino era kirimu okusiima Ssekabaka Sir Edward Muteesa II eyalwanirira ennyo Obuganda mu biseera ebizibu.

Muka kitange Lumbe ky’ekitabo kyange ekyokubiri kye nnakiwandiikira mu S 2 mu London College e Nansana.

Kibuulirira baka bakitaffe okwagala abaana be basanze awaka kubanga bwe babayisa obulungi bayinza okubayamba nga bakuze. Bangi abagwa mu kiti kino abaawula abaana ku bakitaabwe nga kiggya bangi mu ssomero.

Kyongerako okubuulira abazadde okuleka abaana baabwe okusoma emisomo n'okukola emirimu gye baagala mu bulamu bwabwe so si kubasibako bo abazadde bye baagala kubanga bangi bibalemerera.”

Ebitabo ebirala Ssesimba by’awandiise mulimu Nsimattuka Amagombe ekiteebereza obulamu omuntu bw'ayinza okuyitamu ng'ali emagombe era ekibuulirira okukolerera obulamu obuddako. Kino kya miko 160.

Waliwo Obutamanya bwe Buyiggisa Embwa Effumbe. Kino kirambika embeera eya bulijjo gye tuyitamu ng'abantu abandibadde abooluganda bagugulana mu butamanya.

Ekikyasembyeyo akituumye Empologoma ku Nnamulondo ky’awandiise ng’ali mu S4. Kikwata mu bukyayi abantu bwe balaga Obwakabaka naddala obwa Buganda ne kibuuza n’ekibuuzo ekisoomooza: Ggwe kiki ky'okoze okuyimirizaawo n'okukuuma ekitiibwa kya Buganda?

“Kati mpandiikayo ekitabo ekirala, Obuddu mu Nsi Yange n’eky’Olungereza kye mpise, I Wish, ekiraga engeri abantu gye bayita mu nsi ey’okwekubagiza n’okwejjusa.

Ekirala, Yields Of My Seeds kiyigiriza abavubuka okukozesa obudde bwabwe mu ngeri gye basobola okuganyulwamu nga bakaddiye. Kisomesa omuvubuka okwagala eddiini ye, okwegerera nga bagenda mu beetiingi oba okwekatankira amagengere,” bw’agamba.

Ssesimba agamba nti by’awandiika abiggya mw’ebyo by’alaga ne by’awulira eyo gy’aba atambulidde. “Okugeza bwe ndaba owa bodaboda ng'avuga endiima nfuna ekirowoozo nti ayolekedde akabenje, okufiirwa obulamu n'ebintu.

Olwo bwe ntegereza nga nnyinza okuwandiikako ekitabo ekiyamba omuntu ng’ono nga nkikola,” bw’agamba.

Agamba nti talyerabira jjajjaawe Saidat Nabukenya eyamukuza era eyatunda ente ye ku 300,000/= ze yamuwa okukubisa ekitabo kye ekyasooka ng'abantu bangi baali bagaanyi okumuyamba.

Kitaawe ye Isma Kiyemba Birungi, makanina wa mmotoka mu Nyendo e Masaka ate nnyina ye mugenzi Mariam Kizza eyafa mu 2002.

Yasomera mu Kimanji P.S e Kalangala; Victory Town School e Kyazanga mu Lwengo; London College Nansana omwaka oguwedde nga kati ali mu S5 ku Kololo High School gy’asoma History, Luganda ne Divinity.

Yeebaza Ssentebe wa disitulikiti y’e Lwengo, George Mutabaazi, kansala Mark Turyejuka owa Lwengo ne Moses Musasizi owa MK Publishers b’agamba n ti bamuyambye okukuza talanta ye ey’okuwandiika.

“Nsoma nnyo obutabo, ate kati njiga n'okuzannya katemba n'okuwandiika emizannyo mu kibiina kya Tendo Sisters ne mu Honest Film Productions.’, bw’agamba.

 

A Non Government Organization has remainded parliament to establish a minimum wage:

 

Publish Date: Sep 29, 2014

 

Abakozi bomukibuga Kampala nga balinda okuyitibwa kumirimu
 
Ensonga eno evudde mu mawulire ga Newvision wano e
Buganda, Kampala.
 

 By Darious Magara

 
Civil society organizations have asked Parliament to expedite the debate on the Minimum Wages Bill 2012 in order for it to come into play. 
 
Their call, presented by Platform for Labour Action (PLA), is said to be based on research in which 100% of the respondents supported the need for a minimum wage and called upon government to revise the current minimum wage to enable them improve their livelihood and access to basic necessities of life. 
 
Under the employment policy, in order to improve labour administration and labour standards, one of the strategies to be adopted by government is establishing a Minimum Wages Advisory Board to undertake research on the impact of minimum wages on employment and productivity and wage trends in key sectors. 
 
The minimum wages advisory board was constituted in 1995 to review the prevailing minimum wage and make recommendations to cabinet on the same. 
 
Lillian Mugerwa, the executive director of PLA, told New Vision on Saturday that the board’s recommendations which included the proposal to have a minimum wage were gazetted in 1997 but have never been implemented to-date. 
 
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers.
 
It is intended to enable a worker afford basic necessities of life such as shelter, food and health care.  It is further intended to ensure that the least paid workers are in position to afford a decent life.
 
Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. 
 
As Mugerwa explained from her office in Bukoto, Kampala, the national laws equally uphold similar values such as the right to a life of dignity as enshrined in the Ugandan Constitution and other international instruments to which Uganda is a state party. 
 
In a 2013 study that was conducted in seven districts of Kampala, Mukono, Iganga, Lira, Amolatar,Dokolo and Kaliro, voices were sought from a cross-section of workers who included domestic workers, teachers, security guards, tea estate workers and market vendors. 
 
According to the research, workers at a tea estate in Mukono complained that they were earning sh1,000 per day – which is less than a dollar and well below the poverty line.
 
Another extract from the study is the case of a security guards strike, with one of the strikers quoted as saying: “We are protecting billions, but earning a mere sh140,000 [per month] which cannot pay rent and school fees for my children. We want a reasonable salary”. 
 
However the Minimum Wages Bill 2012 has not yet been presented on the floor of Parliament to-date owing to a delay by the ministry of finance to issue a certificate of financial implication.
 
Although contentious, the bill proposes that minimum wages boards be set up to sectoral level so that wages can be determined depending on the needs of each sector. 
 
The bill also proposes penalties for failure to comply with the minimum wage and calls for the repeal of the Minimum Wages Advisory Board and Wages Councils Act Cap 221. 
 
According to Mugerwa, the position taken by government to delay establishment of a minimum wage is not in line with the National Development Plan 2009/2010-2014/2015, which highlights the establishment of a minimum wage for decent income, improved productivity and increase in aggregate demand for goods and services. 
 
The 2009/2010 labour market survey showed that 2.7 million of the people living below the poverty line (7.5 million) are termed as the working poor. They earn a median monthly income of sh50,000 and sh54,000 for casual labourers and workers in the agricultural sector. 
 
PLA is working together with such organizations as Hurinet-Uganda, LASPNET, NGO Forum, DENIVA, USPP CRO –Jinja, Uganda Law Society, FIDA, National Union of Disabled Persons in Uganda, Uganda Women's Network and CEDOVIP to lobby government to establish minimum wage.

 

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A LIVING WAGE IS NECESSARY IN UGANDA

Posted on 1st June, 2023

Uganda workers seem to take their salaries in their own hands:

And it seems no one is safe nowadays!

 

 

Written by Olivia Nalubwama

 

Judiciary driver Stanley Kisambira

 

The killing of the junior labour minister by his army bodyguard, who then committed suicide, has opened the sluice gates on the salary structures within the government.

Relatedly, the case of judiciary driver Stanley Kisambira, who boldly shared his frustrations about his salary, should invite candid conversations at the highest level on salary disparities in the public service.

Here was a man driving a high-powered machine, ferrying his very important boss all over the place, watching his boss shop in bulk at the supermarket, while Kisambira’s wife at home struggled to have faith in her husband’s pay.

Kisambira, emphasizing he was of sound mind in choosing to speak up, urged the judiciary to look into the plight of drivers. He then took it a notch higher, explaining that a severely stressed driver is a bigger ticking bomb than the army bodyguard who murdered his boss.

Like a resistance movement, the permanent secretary of the judiciary has come down like a hammer onto Kisambira’s frustration. Even as the legal process is underway, there must be others like Kisambira. May this be an opportunity to hear and learn from them?

A 2017 Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) study on salary disparities in the public service noted there are flagrant disparities between the traditional civil service and statutory bodies established by parliament. The study indicated that some public officers earn two-to-six times more than their counterparts in other public institutions.

In April, Member of Parliament (MP) Dan Kimosho stated, “The executive director (ED) of Mulago is paid Shs 15 million while the ED of Uganda Cancer Institute gets Shs 25 million and the ED of Uganda Heart Institute is paid Shs 39 million; this should not exist because these institutions are interdependent and serve a similar purpose.”

Even within many institutions, there are huge gaps between the highest-paid and the lowest-paid. At the local government level, the EOC found, “...it takes seven years for the lowest paid political leader to earn what the highest paid political leader earns in one year.”

To no one’s surprise, the study underlined that these disparities do nothing for the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery and, instead, encourage vices like absenteeism, low motivation, corruption and late coming, among others.

The Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), in January 2021, reminded the government about the need for a salary review body to look at the wide salary disparities in public service. Julius Mukunda of CSBAG remarked, “Institute a salary review commission so that everybody including MPs can have salaries that befit us.”

Parliament Watch has chronicled the stuttering progress of efforts towards the salary review body, noting that the debate on the review of salaries started in the Seventh Parliament. It appears the only progress we have made is that we are now at the Eleventh Parliament.

The minister of Public Service revealed in February that government will ‘consider’ setting up a National Remuneration Review Board in the next financial year. Must be nice to be nonchalant about commitment.

The haphazardness across pay structures in public service is bewildering. As bewildering as President Yoweri Museveni’s humble brag about his salary, which remains impervious to change. When cornered over salary disparities in public service, Museveni whips out his trump card.

His salary, he tells us several times lest we forget, is a humble Shs 3.6 million, of which 20 per cent goes to his political party. He breaks it down foras that the First Lady is then left with approximately Shs 2.9 million to run the household monthly. A bedtime fairytale with special effects made in Uganda’s Wakaliwood.

During the 2022 celebration of Teachers’ day, Museveni, responding to the teachers’ incessant demands for increased salaries, lectured: “When it comes to expenditure, we must prioritize our spending. So, when you come up with useless demands saying we want this tomorrow, then you are the enemy of progress.”

In recent weeks, the expenditures of the Office of the President and State House have made our eyes water reading about billions spent on beddings, special meals and other stupefying budget items. Whom shall we finger as the enemy of our progress? This haphazardness in salary structures - whom does it benefit?

Why is the ruling regime content with the discontent of its people?

While citizens are urged to tighten their belts and stop making unpatriotic noisy demands, our leaders unapologetically blow up public expenditure with items like beddings, shoes, workshops, special meals, and other cute priorities. Such a sour taste, these ‘priorities’ leave in our patriotism.

We are like frustrated hopeless romantics waiting on our prolific philanderer of a lover to finally change. Deep down in our weak knees where our hearts now reside, we know that we know that we know. That knowledge is our daily burden.

Days after the murder of the junior labour minister, the health ministry lobbied the parliamentary health committee for the immediate release of Shs 1 billion for a survey of the mental health status of Ugandans.

The ministry argued that the study would shed light on the mental health among different groups of people which and possibly prevent some gruesome murders. MP Timothy Batuwa quipped, “No one is safe. We must support the ministry... We must screen all bodyguards among other people because no one is safe.”

Even though many of us do not have bodyguards, no one is safe.

smugmountain@gmail.com

The writer is a tayaad muzzukulu

UGANDA LIVING IN LACK OF BASIC HUMAN NEEDS

Posted on 30th September, 2014

Living on a dollar a day: How far has Uganda tackled poverty?

Matayo Karuru, his wife Ms Beatrice Tumuhaise and their children at their home in Katamba Biharwe, Mbarara District. The family is hardly able to afford decent housing or education for their children, let alone meals.

 

PHOTO BY ALFRED TUMUSHABE.  

By  EDGAR R. BATTE

 

Posted  Monday, September 22  2014 

 

In 1993 when Eliezer Magezi dropped out school he had his eyes set on processing honey. He had grown up in a family whose source of income was selling honey, so he was determined to do what he had learnt as a boy.

However, when he started out, things were not as obvious as they had earlier seemed.

Magezi started out small and his objective thereon was to get farmers to come together and start processing honey as a group as one way each of them could benefit from the advantages of collective marketing and selling. Bunyangabu Beekeepers Cooperative Limited (BBC) was born.

He explains, “The idea was simple. There were beekeepers but they were scattered. We spoke to them about the need of coming together to process honey. They had been selling their honey using rudimentary methods, one of these being using a spoon.” BBC would also use mosquito nets and buckets to sieve the honey from combs.

But this is a yesteryear story. With hard work, commitment and focus today Magezi leads fellow farmers. He is proud of the fact that their sales have grown from a mere half a tonne of honey to 13 tonnes annually. This has been with support from United National Development Programme (UNDP) through their partners Support Development of Inclusive Markets in Tourism, the group that helped link them to Andrew & Brother’s supermarket which buys their honey.

His story is not different from a good number of rural poor. Many people are actually using their time enterprisingly to better not just their lives but those of others with whom they share business aspirations and interests.

In her speech during the reading of the Budget, Finance minister Maria Kiwanuka said the proportion of people living below the poverty line has declined from 56.5 per cent in 1992/3 to 24 per cent in 2009 and further to 19.7 per cent in 2012/13. This, she added, indicates that Uganda has already surpassed the Millennium Development (MDG) target of halving the proportion of its population living in extreme poverty by 2015. “This is the first and most significant MDG,” she said.

“As Uganda celebrates progress with the MDGs, our work force is growing due to better life expectancy and social service delivery.

Their pathway to stable value-added employment is our economy’s opportunity but also our challenge. SMEs are critical in creating jobs and mobilising the informal and rural economic activity,” the Finance minister read from her speech. She added that government needs to implement the Skilling Uganda initiative in the business, technical and vocational education training with an emphasis on provision of hands on technical skills training, business skills development, and re-orienting the mind-set of potential entrepreneurs as well as enhancing financial literacy and inclusion.

As government works towards achieving MDG 1, the likes of Magezi and BBC will look to them to keep their promises.

Progress made

According to UNDP, Uganda has made great progress in terms of reducing the proportion of the population below the national poverty line. The poverty headcount- the share of people living in households below the poverty line- declined from 56 per cent in 1992/1993 to 31 per cent in 2005/2006.

“Using the former survey as the benchmark, this means that Uganda is well on its way to meeting the 2015 global target of cutting poverty in half, which would correspond to a poverty level of around 28 per cent for that year,” the UNDP assessment report reads in part. According to the UNDP report, the poverty gap, a measure of how far the poor are below the poverty line, has also narrowed. This, it adds, is an indication of improvements in monetary welfare even among those who have not risen above the poverty line.

“Uganda is five points away from the expected target for reduction of the number of people living on less than $1 a day. Between 1990 and 2012, Uganda reduced hunger by 15 per cent. However, there were set backs in the reduction of under nutrition which increased by 30 per cent in that period,” the report states.

In the State Of The Nation address, however, President Museveni gave a rosier picture, saying Uganda has achieved economic growth.

“Consequently, the proportion of people living below the poverty line has further declined from above 56 per cent in 1992 to 24.5 per cent in 2009/10; and now to 19.7 per cent in 2012/13. Uganda has, therefore, already surpassed the first MDG target of halving the proportion of the population living in extreme poverty by 2015,” he said.

However, Kiddu Gozanga, a field research for Hunger Free World Uganda, an international NGO working to build a world free of hunger, says research that was carried out in June last year in Namayumba and Busukuma in Wakiso District, in central Uganda showed some pitfalls.

Gozanga explains that from their findings, there were overall changes in household welfare as they had experienced a significant growth in consumption expenditure since 2000 when the MDGs were set. Central Uganda had registered an increase in consumption while northern Uganda showed a decline in terms of income.

While there has been some success in meeting MDG 1, challenges remain. The government, therefore, needs to find solutions. It also needs to encourage in various ways, individuals who can commit themselves to work hard and smart like Magezi to find solutions that can earn them a source of livelihood and change their lives for the better.

 

     Rose Mary Nankabirwa succumed to cancer

Shortly before he passed away, a frail Bbale Francis, a legendary news anchor on Uganda television, was forced to record an appeal to the public to raise funds for his treatment at a hospital in India.

For such a renowned figure, being reduced to begging for money for treatment was a slap in the face after decades serving Uganda. But he had no other option. Sadly, though, Bbale passed away on the very day the fundraising was to start.

Days later, a similar fundraising activity had to be undertaken for another television personality, Rosemary Nankabirwa, who needed Shs 100m for treatment in Kenya. At least Shs 110m was raised for Nankabirwa following a social media and car wash campaign by her former colleagues at NTV Uganda. Unfortunately, it came a little too late.

On Sunday afternoon, she lost the battle. The two news anchors were both battling cancer. While the duo’s public profiles at least brought their plight to the national conscience, several Ugandans have similarly resorted to begging for millions of shillings to travel abroad and treat certain ailments because no Ugandan hospital has the capacity to do so.

Over the last 12 months or so, The Observer has published appeals by at least five individuals seeking Shs 304.5 million for treatment abroad. This amount is the equivalent of what President Museveni spent on the car he gave Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi as his 60th birthday gift on Monday.

The appeals often come after recommendations from doctors at the Mulago national referral hospital, who concede that they do not have the equipment, funding, etc to handle such cases. Among the ailments for which Ugandans often seek treatment abroad are kidney diseases, renal failure, liver transplant and different heart ailments.

 

BEGGING CULTURE

The head of the Uganda Heart Institute at Mulago hospital, Dr John Omagino, told The Observer on Tuesday that while the institute has developed capacity to handle most of the procedures for heart diseases, they do not have the funds for human resource and supplies.

“The issue we are struggling with is the operational funds. We are operating the place at a capacity of 20 to 25 per cent instead of 100 per cent. The budget is only 20 per cent [of what the institute needs],” he added.

As if to indicate the begging culture has permeated even the institute, Dr Omagino added: “We are calling on literally everybody to improve on that budget shortfall; if the corporate world or any other group can come in to help... because the supplies are very expensive and all of them are disposable.”

Mulago’s renal unit, on the other hand, had 22 dialysis machines (which replace the natural filtration system of the kidney when that organ fails), meaning the hospital can only handle 30 patients requiring the service daily. A brand new dialysis machine costs $7,000 to $22,000 (about Shs 20.9m to Shs 65.7m) before taxes and transportation costs, according to various sources, while second-hand ones go for $3,000 to $7,000 (about Shs 9m to Shs 20.9m), which is pocket change for government.

The lack of capacity to treat such conditions within Uganda, yet President Museveni continues to dole out millions of shillings, angers activists such as Godber Tumushabe, who says it is a sign that the government has gone “off the rails.”

Giving the example of a health facility in Masaka district he has visited, Tumushabe said the situation is even worse for most ordinary Ugandans who cannot access “even the most basic health services.”

PRIVILEGED FEW

While ordinary Ugandans have to move around with begging bowls for contributions to secure good health services, the government has set aside $2.2m (about Shs 6.6 billion) annually for government officials to secure treatment abroad.

The government says it also sets aside another $76m (about 227.2 billion) for ordinary Ugandans with ailments beyond the capacity of Uganda’s medical institutions who need to seek treatment abroad.

A source who has tried to seek government funding for treatment abroad, however, intmated to The Observer that their request was turned down by the health minister on grounds that the patient was not a government employee.

Efforts by The Observer to speak to senior government officials such as health minister Elioda Tumwesigye, state minister Chris Baryomunsi, and Health ministry permanent secretary Asumani Lukwago were futile as they could not be reached on their known phone numbers.

Mid-last year, Mulago hospital signed an agreement with Yashoda Hospitals in India, which it hoped would culminate in Mulago’s ability to undertake kidney transplants. The Observer was unable to establish the level of progress made in the joint effort by the two hospitals.

Late last year, President Museveni launched a $40 million (Shs 119.6 billion) facelift of Mulago hospital, which will entail re-modelling, restructuring and re-equipping the hospital. However, with Mulago currently receiving only a third of the Shs 100bn that its administrators say is necessary for effective service provision, the renovation alone will not be enough.

STATE OF HOSPITALS

The state of Uganda’s health facilities has been captured in so many studies that the government has all the information it needs about the problems that afflict the sector. For instance, a parliamentary health committee report of August 2012 identified inadequate health workers, poor remuneration, under-funding of referral hospitals, and mismanagement of funds as some of the challenges afflicting health service delivery in Uganda.

And last week, the auditor general released a value-for-money report on regional referral hospitals (RRHs), which paints a grim picture of health service delivery across the country.

The report exposes huge influxes of patients due to operational weaknesses, lack of specialised hospital staff to deliver services, and even an accumulation of expired drugs due to poor management of the hospitals. Yet, in its conclusion, the auditor general’s report says the situation can be redeemed if the leadership can get its act together across the country.

“The results of the efficiency study of the operations of RRHs using the data envelopment analysis technique have shown that 50 per cent of the RRHs were relatively efficient in the utilisation of their resources,” it concludes.

“The remaining inefficient hospitals exhibited potential for improvements if appropriate interventions were made to address the slacks in the utilisation of the key inputs such as medicines, infrastructure/equipment and human resource. With reduced inefficiency, RRHs stand to reap significant input savings from their activities. This would ensure improvements in the coverage and quality of health services.”

The question then, is whether the government can stop the discriminative approach of setting money aside for some individuals and leaving the rest of the country to beg for good health – often with donations trickling in slower than death.

 

hobenon@observer.ug 

 

In Uganda Accused police officers  have been put back to work on the job of Shs165b pension probe: Not again!

 

Suspects in the pension scam Mr Christopher Obey, Mr Kiwanuka Kunsa and Mr David Oloka at the Anti-Corruption Court.

File Photo 

By Yasiin Mugerwa

 

Posted  Monday, June 1  2015 at  01:00

 

In the Uganda Parliament, Kampala:

The two detectives accused of pocketing bribes by the head of the police Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Directorate (CIID) in the Shs165b dismissed pension scam case have been re-instated on the probe team by the Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Kale Kayihura.

In his letter, dated May 26, Gen Kayihura deployed eight top detectives to assist the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Justice Mike Chibita resurrect the investigations into the abuse of Shs165b.

 

The new officers IGP assigned to the pension case are Commissioner Chelimo Beata; detectives Jimmy Aguma, Benson Wathum, Egido Otim, Beatrice Khainza and Emmanuel Wasswa.

In addition to the six detectives, Gen Kayihura said: “D/SP George Komurubuga and D/AIP Moses Kato will also be available as you requested.” Gen Kayihura explained in the letter that he included D/SSP Aguma because he is an ICT specialist.

In re-instating Mr Komurubuga and Mr Kato on the case, Gen Kayihura acted on the request of Justice Chibita who, according to sources at DPP made a “passionate appeal” to have the two detectives reinstated on the case.

Justice Chibita had on May 19 requested the IGP to send him a team of police investigators, including the two detectives that CIID boss, Ms Grace Akullo had accused of pocketing bribes to author a parallel file which jeopardised the investigations.

In an interview with the Daily Monitor in April this year, Ms Akullo accused the two operatives of instigating the collapse of the case where nine suspects were charged with masterminding the plunder of Shs165b belonging to pensioners.

Asked why he requested the return of the two accused officers, Justice Chibita yesterday declined to comment on the new developments before looking at the contents of Gen Kayihura letter.

He also said he needed to see his letter of May 19 before discussing the matter. Justice Chibita, however, promised to give the details to Daily Monitor today.

However, it’s not clear whether Ms Akullo will continue to oversee the new investigation into the pension scam since her name was not mentioned in Gen Kayihura’s letter to the DPP.

Ms Akullo has since been stopped from talking to the media without clearance from the IGP.

Gen Kayihura, has since ordered an inquiry to establish how information about the investigations into the pension scam case and the internal feuds between the Force’s crime fighting units went to the media without his permission.

MPs who talked to Daily Monitor at the weekend said the decision by IGP is “a slap in the face” of Ms Akullo, who last month alleged the two detectives (Mr Komurubuga and Mr Kato) were bribed by some of the key suspects who also asked if she had received her share.

 

Ms Akullo claimed the duo, without her knowledge, wrote a second investigation report which contradicted the official report she had signed off, and submitted to the DPP. She said they authored the second report “in order to account for the money they had received from the suspects.”

The two detectives have since denied allegations of pocketing bribes to compromise the investigation.

But when Parliament committees: Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Defence and Internal Affairs made parallel inquiries into what led to the bungling of the pension scam case, they found that the second report in question was neither authored by the two detectives nor forwarded to DPP by the same officers.

However, the MPs, according to sources, agreed in principle to “let bygones be bygones” and tasked DPP and IGP to reinstate the case. 

Police spokespersons Fred Enanga and deputy spokesperson Polly Namaye were not available to speak on the new developments and what role the CIID boss Ms Akullo will play in the new probe. 

Mr Komurubuga and Mr Kato could also not answer repeated phone calls. Kampala Metropolitan spokesperson, Mr Patrick Onyango, declined to comment on the matter and instead referred Daily Monitor to Mr Enanga and Ms Namaye whom he said speak on behalf of the IGP.

 

KARL MARX- THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO.

 

From Bobby

 

9th November, 2019

 

 

Karl Marx was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary. Born in Trier, Germany, Marx ...

Born‎: ‎5 May 1818; ‎Trier‎, Prussia, German Conf...
Died‎: ‎14 March 1883 (aged 64); ‎London, England
Children‎: ‎7, including Jenny, ‎Laura‎, and ‎Elean...
Main interests‎: ‎Philosophy, economics, history, ...

 

The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his 'natural superiors,' and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, callous 'cash payment.' It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom—Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.

The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honored and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage laborers.

The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation.”

“Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.

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