Kanyamunyu Company Shut over Debts

Quatum Logistics Express, a company owned by the incarcerated Mathew Kanyamunyu has been closed by Uganda Revenue Authority over accumulated debts in tax revenues

URA says the company has failed to clear a debt of over Shs13m from Value Added Tax and thus couldn’t be allowed to continue running.

This website understands that in November 2016, URA signed a memorandum of understanding with the director of Quatum, Kanyumunyu to clear a debt of sh25m shillings which had accumulated over a period of two years.

But the company, located on second street Industrial Area, paid only sh12m and reportedly issued two cheques that bounced.

URA’s head of the Debt Collection Department, Stanley Karyemera, said directors of the company have been given 14 days to clear the debt before the  company is handed over to the auctioneers to sell it off in order to recover the balance of sh13m.

Kabafunzaki Cited in Another Dirty Deal

The embattled state minister for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations, Herbert Kabafunzaki, is involved in fresh controversy over a botched labour export deal that he allegedly engineered while still in cabinet.

The Rukiga county MP is being accused by 92 youths from his own constituency, who say he collected money from them to take them to find jobs in Qatar and United Arab Emirates, but disappeared from them after pocketing the money.

According to the youths, Kabafunzaki and his political assistant in charge of Muhanga town council, Allen Kabasi Kyirasha, collected Shs600, 000 from each of them

The complainants say they deposited the money, which was meant to help process their travel and medical documents in Equity bank, Kabale branch on account number 032200893120.

They claim that Kabafunzaki and Kyirasha promised to take only those who had paid up in February this year but to date nothing has happened.

They claim that after paying the money, Kabafunzaki and his aide cut off communication. They now want Kabafunzaki and Kyirasha to refund their money since they have lost hope of getting the jobs.

However, Kabafunzaki denied the claims saying he has never involved himself in any jobs deals and he doesn’t know those people claiming that he took their money.

“I have never received people and I have never received any money from anybody. I have no company that takes people abroad,” he said.

Kabafunzaki is currently suspended from office for allegedly soliciting a bribe of Shs 30m from Mohammed Hamid, the director of AYA Group of Companies, which owns Pearl of Africa hotel in Nakasero.

@Observer

Another Sudhir Forex Bureau Closed

The Bank of Uganda has closed yet another Forex Bureau belonging to the embattled business mogul Sudhir Ruparelia.

At first it was Crane Forex bureau, now it’s Stanhope Forex Bureau Limited all belonging to Sudhir.

According to the statement released by the deputy governor, Louis Kasekendi, Stanhope Forex Bureau’s license expired and was not renewed despite all the efforts to remind the owner.

The forex bureau is therefore not permitted to transact any business as prescribed under Foreign Exchange Act 2004.

“Stanhope Forex Bureau limited is not permitted to transact any business prescribed under the Foreign Exchange Act, 2004. The public is warned that whoever deals with this Forex Bureau, its proprietors, directors or managers In relation to foreign exchange or money remittance business does so at his or her own risk,” statement reads in part.

All these however come a few months after Sudhir’s Crane bank was taken over by Bank of Uganda before being sold to DFCU bank over insolvency.

Another MP Thrown Out of Parliament

Forum for Democratic Change has today lost another member in parliament after Court of Appeal nullifying the election of Kyaddondo East Member of Parliament Apollo Kantinti over non compliance of electoral laws.

Kantinti appealed in mid last year following High Court’s Isabirye Kaweesa judgment nullifying Kantinti’s election and ordering for fresh elections in his constituency.

This followed a successful petition by his arch rival Sitenda Sebalu who lost to Kantinti by a small margin of 326 votes in the February 18 election.

Sebalu accused Kantinti and the Electoral Commission for conniving to commit several election irregularities which he said affected the quality of the election in Kyadondo East in a substantial manner, hence the nullification of the same by the court.

However, Kantinti appealed against the High Court’s ruling and today the Court of Appeal has ruled that:

“We have found in our resolution on ground number seven that the learned trial judge was correct when he held that there was noncompliance of the electoral laws which substantially affected the results of Kyadondo East Constituency,”  reads part of the joint ruling by Justice Paul Mugamba, Justice Cheborion Barishaki and Richard Buteera.

“The election of Kyadondo East Constituency is here by set aside and the electoral commission ordered to conduct fresh elections in the constituency,” the judgment states.

Fake Degrees Scam: Why Mak Has Zeroed On Kyambogo’s Shs 1.5bn ‘Zee Varsity Software’

By Venenscias Kiiza

Makerere University will spend at least shs 1,594,060,000, in a move to find a lasting solution to the management of her online academic records, with the 94 year old institution in the final stages of acquiring Kyambogo University’s “Zee varsity software,” Red pepper has learnt.

According to the leaked confidential report in our possession, the university will spend shs 500m to acquire the Zee Varsity software, shs 200m for 2 months labor to install the system, and shs 800m as annual support. Other expenditures include; shs 18m for system networking (cables, sockets, ports, switches) , shs 12m on CCTV surveillance (DVR/NVR and IP cameras), shs 43.3m on 10 computers( PC’s and UPS’), shs 15m on server discs (hard and RAM discs), and as well shs 5.7m on overtime allowances to six  staff members for two months. This brings the whole total to Shs 1,594,060,000.

“Management has assessed the options available and arrived at short term expenditure worth shs 94m to secure the results data and the medium term projection worth shs1.5 billion to migrate data to a secure platform,” reads the leaked document detailing the move.

According to a report titled,‘CRISIS IN MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE ACADEMIC RECORDS’ that was submitted by management to the university council, it’s only this software that can help mitigate the problem. The report, suggests that, the University’s current system was designed and developed internally by personnel from the academic registrars’ department ICT Division cannot be used neither relied on any more.

“Due to lack of password credentials and other challenges, the system can no longer be used, “reads the report. Management has revealed that, it is currently facing a crisis in the management of online academic records, calling for an urgent intervention. The crisis is in the academic registrars’ department on the stalled processing of; academic results, issuance of academic transcripts, processing of online applications and admissions for the new students, among other processes.

This, they say has been brought about by the suspension of the six personnel over the alleged alteration of marks who previously have been manning the ‘ICT DIVISION’ of the academic registrar.

This follows the wide spread change of marks by different officials at the university, where students without fulfilling all their academic requirements had continuously graduated. The vice plunged the 94 year institution into public criticism in February this year when over 56 students were removed from the list at the eve of graduation. The university has since arrested six officials from the academic registrars’ department who are allegedly suspected to have been behind this vice.

WHY MAK HAS ZEROED ON KYAMBOGO’S SYSTEM

“The system has been developed by staff at Kyambogo university and it has been successfully tested widely and used in universities such as Ndejje, Kyambogo itself, Busitema, Nkumba and Muteesa 1 Royal University, “reads the report.

Officials say, at least this system is secure and multifunctional with a number of modules like finance, online applications, academic registrar, timetabling, course structure, provision of transcripts among others.

“The acquisition of the system requires a contractual arrangement (MoU with Kyambogo university, Ministry  of ICT, and Ministry of Finance; who are already following this path to extend the system to all public universities),” reads the report in support of the Kyambogo System.

According to a detailed report, the software is modular but integrated with robust academic management system that is highly configurable to fit any context of a university regardless of the size of the university developed over the period of five years. The system is role based, meaning only one person with rights can access system functions and reports according to their roles, being the first level of security.

Multi-Campus Access

The system can be configured to fully support multi-branch/college institutions whose branches may be having large distances apart. The system can also work across a WAN with de-centralized or centralized services and components, fully with redundancy. The system has also got an integrated and unified computerized university information management solution designed to automate institution business processes and improve service delivery.

Admissions

With admissions, according to the report; the system can enable online application and submission of forms, online upload of necessary relevant academic documents, SMS notification, applicants ranking and weighting system, possible integration with UNEB, electronic dissemination of admission letters, customizable admission letter templates, admission reports and as well automated collection of admission fees.

Registration

The system on this is said, to enable first time registration of fresh students, student enrolment enforced in the first two weeks to project revenue, class lists can also be generated from known class size which guides in the planning of student management.

“It also provides provisional registration for special category of students such as the statehouse sponsored ones. Reduction of fake teaching loads since it can also enable time tabling, photo management (storage, capture), and optional biometric kit integration for capture of finger prints…” reads the report.

Still with this functionality, it can also support provisional registration based on configured policy, self-registration of continuing students, registration status indicated on student portals, registration reports, managing retakes registration, automatic administration surcharges, such as late registration.

Finance and Payments management

The recommendation report further revealed that, the system has got an integrated real-time payment information management function that according to the university officials bridges the gap between information systems and payment platforms such as banking, mobile money among others. “The system structure is based on student enrolment, it can be linked to the bank through APIs like MAKPAY, strict instructions to the bank not to post offline, have reference numbers attached to every student invoice that expire, auto generation and dissemination of invoices, “the report adds.

Other functionalities include; instant payment notification through Email and Sms, and splits payments. Fees are also attached to a person according to the student status, allows for advance payments, students are able to view their financial status, automatic reconciliation, configuration of receivables, intuitive reports, billing system among others.

Results and Transcripts

According to the report, the system has got a program manager, grading system, results entry where lecturers have got accounts for marks entry as well as academic supervisors,. Lecturers can also be assigned teaching loads and be notified by Email, has got a two factor authentication, can track changes for results through unapproved policy and process.

“With this system, changes can be initiated by students, the system also times out when idle as part of the security measure; it can disseminate results (Email, Print, Portal), and as well registration and results are linked for control purposes,”

The system also can process transcript and testimonial templates, retake and missing marks management, online academic document verification, reports, and as well transcripts is secured by QR-code; enable students to view their marks and as well printing of both transcripts and testimonials.

Human Resource

Officials have also since revealed that, the system has got an online application for the filling of vacant positions, document solution uploads, integration to other applications like finance for payments, results and timetable. It has also got leave and contracts management features.

Security

Officials contend that, unlike the Makerere one, this system uses two factor authentication, access code changes every after 30 seconds, it is operated under a controlled environment(operational terminal are user specific and network secured by static IP credentials). The system has also got scans and checks for behavioral patterns and institutes preventive mechanisms.

We have since established that on Wednesday April 5^th, a few members of Makerere university management, led by chairperson of the ICT committee, Dr.DavidTurahi, visited Kyambogo University for further discussion regarding the E-Kampus. Another group was also dispatched to Mbarara University of Science and Technology on 7^th April for a presentation, whereby they were all impressed.In order to avoid bias, the report also outlines other software’s/systems under survey, however they have all since proved insufficient given the nature of a university like Makerere.

UBTEB Sign MoU with UMA On Skills Dev’t

By Venenscias Kiiza

The Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (Ubteb) has partnered with Uganda Manufacturers’ Association (UMA), Uganda Association of Private Vocational Institutions (UGAPRIVI) and Coalition of Uganda Private School Teachers Association (COUPSTA) to ensure skilled work force that Uganda needs to boost incomes and employment and to compete in regional and global market.

This was witnessed through the signing of a 5 year long  MOU , which according to UBTEB’s executive secretary OnesimusOyesigye ,demonstrates the commitment and trust in UBTEB’s mode of assessment to raise a generation of graduates that meet the ever-changing demands of the world of work especially industrialists and Manufacturers in Uganda and beyond.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala, Oyesigye, said the country needs to boost its income and employment with competent and self-reliant citizens.

“Every year, industry [captains] complain about the quality of our graduates. Now that we have employers of the graduates on board, we shall be able to produce ready products for the market,” Oyesigye said. In line with the 2012/13 2021/22 Skilling Uganda strategy, Oyesigye said UBTEB would ensure that quality competence-based assessment is enhanced with the aim of producing skilled personnel for global and regional markets.

He added that with the UMA alliance, there will be joint efforts in policy development, industrial training and quality assurance. As the Board, he pledged to work with the regional Directors of UGAPRIVI together with the relevant Departments and Agencies of Ministry of Education and Sports to enhance the quality of assessment and skill provision; adding that “the Government of Uganda in the Skilling Uganda is committed to providing equitable access to skills development and in this regard, UBTEB will work with the BTVET department and DES to ensure that the UGAPRIVI institutions are licensed and equally accredited as UBTEB examinations centres”.

He said, with COUPSTA’s good track record in lobbying, advocacy and participation in education policy formulation among others, sets them apart in enabling the popularisation of the mandate of UBTEB and its contributions towards skills development in Uganda.

UGAPRIVI national chairman Adrian Ndemere said the partnership had come at a time when several private institutions were graduating students every year with unaccredited programmes.

“As an association, we have 862 known private vocational institutions but also, over 300 don’t care to belong to any association or coalition,” Ndemere said. “These are institutions we need to help because they have good intentions to offer skills but are either not guided or get difficulties in registering for examination centers.”

According to Mubaraka Nkuutu Kirunda, the acting executive director of Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA), the MOU would help in developing skills of students at all education levels that are abreast with theory but lack practical and entrepreneurial skills.

The Board over the years has enjoyed cordial relations with various Ministries, Departments, Agencies and other organizations including Uganda Local Government Association (ULGA), Uganda National teacher Union (UNATU), District Education Officers (DEOs) forum, Office of Prime Minister and Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and National Guidance in order to promote UBTEB’s mandate and the programs examined by the Board.

It is therefore an honor to associate and partner with COUPSTA in creating awareness on UBTEB and the role of Vocational and Technical Education in Uganda towards skills development for job creation.

Don’t Upgrade Academic Qualifications for Promotions, Warns Janet

By Venenscias Kiiza

T he Minister for Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, has asked civil servants who go back to school for further studies, not to use their academic qualifications to seek promotions and appointments at their work places, like many have done in the past.

She has since advised them to put in place what they have studied to execute their duties. According to the first lady, many employees go back to school, not only to acquire skills that can enable them perform much better on their respective workstations, but solely to seek for chances of promotions and juicy appointments, owing to their so many academic qualifications.

“You graduates should not use your newly acquired academic qualifications for promotions at your work places like many have done, instead, you should put into practice what you have studied, “Janet advised.

She made the remarks during the 15^th graduation ceremony of Uganda Management Institute (UMI) Friday afternoon, at the institutes’ main campus. Janet, who was the chief guest, expressed concern over the deeply entrenched corruption in public offices. She wondered why despite the good management courses at UMI and in other universities in Uganda, managers still exhibit high corruption tendencies.

Janet, also tasked all academic institutions to carry out research in all public and private organs, to find out why there is high corruption tendencies, despite them going through credible institutions. She said, the scope of research should be able to find out why employees no longer implement what they study in these ‘good institutions’, before asking them to share the report with government to mitigate the problem. She said there is a public outcry in regard to ethical standards of employees in all organs.

“UMI should develop a research policy, go beyond teaching and do patriotic research in order to solve public sector management issues. You need to find solutions to public administration challenges and then you can engage government and we chat away forward. There is corruption everywhere,” Janet, who is also the first lady said.

401 graduated with masters’ degree, 29 with ordinary diploma and as well 1,162 with postgraduate diplomas. The institute’s general director James Nkata, applauded president Museveni for appointing the first lady in the education ministry. He also said the country was experiencing corporate disloyalty in almost every department both private and public, yet the lot is expected from such highly skilled graduates. He revealed that, UMI has now got four staff members with PhD’s, and more 19 are yet to complete.

In her speech, the institute’s Chancellor, Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire thanked government for enhancing salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff. Bitamazire noted that UMI graduates have proved that they can provide solutions to problems and cautioned graduates against perpetrating corruption. “If you are a manager from UMI, we don’t expect you to use money that is not yours,” she said.

The graduates received certificates in disciplines including Masters in Public Procurement; Masters in Higher Education; Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Management and Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration and Management.

The ceremony was attended by a number of technocrats led by John Mitala and politicians who included Kampala minister Beti Olive Kamya, who was accompanying the first lady.

Kenya bus, tanker crash kills 24

A crash between a passenger bus and a tanker ferrying cooking oil has killed 24 people along the main highway connecting Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and the port city of Mombasa, police said on Tuesday.

The accident occurred in the Kibwezi area around midnight (2100 GMT) on Monday as the bus driver was trying to overtake another vehicle but collided with the oncoming tanker truck, Kibwezi police chief Leonard Kimaiyo told Reuters by telephone.

“Twenty adults and three children died on the spot, while one adult died later in hospital,” Kimaiyo said.

The bus was heading to Mombasa from Nairobi. Kimaiyo said most of the passengers were families returning from Easter festivities and students preparing for the reopening of schools after holidays.

Another 19 people were injured. Kimaiyo said the death toll could rise.

By Agencies

Sudan Accuses South Sudan President of fueling Khartoum war

Sudan on Monday warned South Sudan to cease its support of rebel groups at war with Khartoum, accusing its president of meeting with rebels last week in a rare public statement from Khartoum’s intelligence agency.

Sudan regularly accuses its neighbour of backing insurgents in the Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions that run along its southern border.

South Sudan split away from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war fuelled by ethnic divides and disputes over oil.

Monday’s statement was exceptional for pinning blame directly on South Sudan’s president, potentially suggesting an escalation of tension between the neighbouring states.

The National Intelligence and Security Service statement said that “… since last Wednesday and until Saturday, April 22, the president of South Sudan … and several executive branch leaders and security officials held intensive meetings with leaders of the so-called northern sector in Juba”.

Sudan has intermittently threatened to close its border with South Sudan if it continued to support rebel groups, an allegation Juba denies.

“We warn the government of the south and demand that they stop immediately their interference in Sudanese affairs,” the statement added.

Army Needs Extra UGX37bn to Clear AMI­SOM Arrears

The min­istry of De­fense wants gov­ern­ment to fast-track the pay­ments of its field ar­rears worth Ugx 37 bil­lion in the new fi­nan­cial year.

In a state­ment, Adolf Mwe­sige the Min­is­ter of De­fence and Vet­eran Af­fairs says that the money is required since it in­volves the cen­tral part of the army cur­rently un­der the African Peace Keep­ing Mis­sion in So­ma­lia.

“Gov­ern­ment should fast-track the pay­ment of ar­rears amount­ing to US$ 10.6m (Shs 37 bil­lion) to compen­sate for the wear and tear of the equip­ment in line with the ex­ist­ing mem­o­ran­dum of understand­ing,” reads the state­ment.

In the Sec­tor Min­is­te­r­ial Pol­icy State­ment for the Fi­nan­cial Year, 2017-2018 cur­rently be­fore par­lia­ment, the min­istry states that the ar­rears are dat­ing as far as 2015.

With­out stat­ing the to­tal amount of ar­rears, the Min­is­ter also states that do­mes­tic ar­rears con­sti­tute a great chal­lenge to aris­ing from un­funded pri­or­i­ties.

“The Min­istry has ad­hered to Gov­ern­ment Pol­icy of en­sur­ing that do­mes­tic ar­rears take first call on the bud­get…how­ever, the chal­lenge of un­funded and un­der­funded bud­get has caused con­tin­u­ous accumula­tion of ar­rears,” he stated.

The min­is­ter wants di­rect bailout by gov­ern­ment so as to ad­dress all its cur­rent de­mands re­gard­ing unset­tled ar­rears.

How the bud­get will be shared.

The Min­istry of De­fence and Vet­eran Af­fairs has ear­marked a to­tal of Ugx 1.4 tril­lion which will be shared amongst all de­part­ments.

Ac­cord­ingly, Ugx 137 bil­lion will be spent on De­fence Equip­ment while Ugx 741 bil­lion and 17 bil­lion will be con­sumed un­der UPDF and the Air Force re­spec­tively.

Look­ing through the high­lighted pri­or­i­ties, the min­istry in­tends to spend Ugx 11.5 bil­lion on oil and lubricants for the army, Ugx 36.4 bil­lion on food and Ugx 10.9 bil­lion on uni­forms.

Im­por­tant to note is that Ugx 223 bil­lion has been ear­marked for clas­si­fied ex­pen­di­ture.

For the new Fi­nan­cial year, the  Min­istry tar­gets to “con­tinue to con­sol­i­date the achieve­ments that have en­sured a peace­ful, se­cure and sta­ble Uganda through col­lec­tive De­fence and Se­cu­rity with our neighbours and the in­ter­na­tional com­mu­nity,” ac­cord­ing to Mwe­sige.

The Min­istry has in the re­cent past been un­der sharp crit­i­cism from sec­tions of the op­po­si­tion and civil so­ci­ety for al­legedly mis­han­dling funds clus­tered as clas­si­fied ex­pen­di­ture.

Un­der the cur­rent fi­nan­cial year, Ugx 1.5 tril­lion was al­lo­cated to the min­istry, of which only Ugx 473.5 bil­lion has so far been used as of De­cem­ber 2016.

@Parliament

Four Al Shabaab Fighters Executed in Somalia

A military court in Somalia has executed four men it said were fighters belonging to al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab who were behind a 2016 attack that killed 80 people, a military officer said on Tuesday.

The four men were executed in Baidoa, which lies about 245 km (150 miles) northwest of Mogadishu, on Monday.

“Yesterday, four militants who had been behind blasts were executed. More men accused of being al Shabaab members will be executed today or tomorrow,” Major Nur Aden, a military officer in Baidoa, told Reuters.

The four were found guilty of being responsible for twin blasts in Baidoa in February 2016, resulting in the deaths.

Al Shabaab often carries out such attacks in the capital and elsewhere in its bid to topple Somalia’s government and to drive out African Union peacekeeping troops.

The group wants to impose its harsh version of Islamic rule in the Horn of Africa nation.

Uganda Boxing Team in Residential Camp ahead of ABC

By Emmanuel Sekago

The national boxing team, entered camp yesterday to concentrate on how to get medals in the forthcoming African Boxing Championship.

The team will represent Uganda at the continental showpiece due to start May 27 in Congo Brazzaville. It’s residing at national council of sports hostel in Lugogo

The African Boxing Championship is the biggest boxing event on the continent and acts as a qualifier for the World Boxing Championships.

In the last edition of African Boxing Championship held in Morocco two years ago, Uganda managed scoop 5 bronze medals having sent 7 boxers to the event.

Team in camp

Joshua Kizza, Moses Kabuuka, Juma Miiro, Isaac Masembe, Marvin Ssali, Waswa Ssali, Joshua Nyanzi, Shadir Musa, Latib Muwonge, Muzamir Kakande, David kavuma, Yusuf Babu, Kenneth Mubazzi, Reagan Simbwa, Safic Kiwanuka, Solomon Geko, David Ayiti, Tony Sekabira Med Mulandi, Lawrence Kalyango.

The Uganda Bureau of Standards has be bashed by social media users after it seized two bales of used ladies’ undergarments from one of the city shopping centres saying they are prohibited in the country.

After the seizure, UNBS took to its twitter handle to post; “UNBS has seized two bales of used undergarments-ladies’ panties and brassieres sold by Good Wish Industries Ltd along Kafumbe Mukasa Rd.”

However, it was not a surprise to many who started blasting it for selectively applying its iron hand to some goods leaving out others that are also not up to the standard in market as long as the owners are known in one way or another.

The following are some of the arguments from Ugandans:

Grace Natabaalo‏: Is this a new law or regulation? It has been happening for several years. I have seen them downtown since I was a child. And I am not young

I am not for it but I am surprised that you are taking action NOW

Lot Okot‏ : Is it a selective application of law or what because I have seen a number of people selling them in downtown and even now in Nakawa?

mubiru mahad: I gave up on u the day u wanted to seize toilet papers telling us how they only have chines language as if byakulya

However, UNBS decided to go down fighting by explaining to its critiques, but almost failed as people flooded its twitter handle with all sorts of abuses on how it has failed to do its work as expected.

UNBS: According to the Uganda Standards, importation of used undergarments is prohibited. The issue on the bales of clothes is importation of prohibited items; that is used undergarments.

UNBS: All products must meet labeling standards and toilet paper is not exempted. Consumers must know what they are purchasing.

UNBS: The issue on the toilet paper was labeling. consumers need to read and understand what they are purchasing.Especially the expiry dates.

Bugingo Denies Burning Bibles, Apologizes

City Pastor Aloysius Bugingo of House of Prayer ministries located in Makerere, Kikoni, has denied burning bibles, a pentecostal group has said.

The National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches of Uganda (NFBPC) said it met Pastor Aloysious Bugingo on Sunday after becoming “greatly alarmed” by reports that he was “leading a campaign to burn Bibles”.

A video emerged recently on social media of the pastor purportedly condemning the current version of the Bible.

Photos have also circulated of Bibles being set on fire, but Pastor Bugingo is not seen in them.

In the video, the pastor, speaking in a mixture of English and Luganda to his congregation, he said:

Have you examined it well? Is it full of [references to] ‘ghosts’. Yes, it is for burning. Did you read that one? It has ‘ghosts’? Bring it…

People from the Bible Society wanted to call me to explain to me. But I told them it is not necessary to explain to me.

Tell those who publish them to return the verse where it should be. And write it as it is supposed to be written. Actually I am not ready for any meeting with anyone. Not at all!.

If I am doing the wrong thing. I am ready for hell.

There is no era that is wise enough that prints Mathew 17 verse 20 and they hide verse 21. These are for burning.

But when you are [spiritually] strong [like I am] I keep some of them because I want to teach correctly about them…but if you are not strong and you are not planning to teach others just burn it… Put the Bible for burning there.”

In a statement, Joshua Lwere of the NFBPC said the pastor denied burning the bibles and accepted that “age-long original manuscript controversies can only be handled by a corporate body forum, and by specialized, professional and scholarly expertise”.

Mr Lwere added:

I, therefore, urge all Christians and non-Christians alike to desist from any act of burning bibles. Whatever version you have, respect it as the word of God, irrespective of the version, or apparent inconsistencies in translations.”

NBS TV also recently put a video of Pastor Bugingo in which he denies calling for the Bible to be burned, saying: “Who can burn the Bible when it is where we find the word that binds us?” 

Pastor Bugingo, the leader of House Of Prayer Ministries, is based in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. He calls the property where his church is based Canaan Land, or the Promised Land.

17 Dead as Boat Capsizes in Senegal

Seventeen people drowned on Tuesday in Senegal when a boat carrying them capsized in the Saloum river, near the northern border with The Gambia.

Among the dead are fifteen women and two men.

The boat capsized near Bitenti Island, in the Fatick region, with rescuers telling the BBC that the cause of the accident is still unclear.

The number of dead is expected to rise, rescuers say.

Locals in the region earn their living from fishing.

They often take to the waters without lifejackets, significantly reducing ther chances of survival when accidents happen.

Meanwhile, Senegalese President Macky Sall has called for three days of mourning.

Malaria still number one killer, 63% Ugandans prefer self medication to testing

By Sarah Achen

The new study reveals that majority of Ugandans don’t believe in malaria testing known as RDT.

The study which was released by HEPS Uganda at Piato Restaurant in Kampala on Thursday 13^th indicates that 63% of the population believes in the outcome of malaria test, 21% not always, conduct their own diagnosis say theirs is more important and 16% have never had a malaria test. Others that also attended included CEHURD, PATH, Reproductive Health Uganda, Infectious Disease Institute among others.

According to Dr George Bwesigye from Najeera hospital, RDT Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) assist in the diagnosis of malaria by providing evidence of the presence of malaria parasites in human blood. RDTs are an alternative to diagnosis based on clinical grounds or microscopy, particularly where good quality microscopy services cannot be readily provided. The current charge for RDT test is Shs 3000-4000.

The study involved listeners from up county radio stations was carried out by TRAC.fm in partnership with HEPS malaria campaign with the support of Ministry of Health, development partners carried out the study between Feb 6-22 2017 with 4586 responses.

It was also discovered that malaria had the greatest impact on people’s life accounting for 43%, followed HIV, thirdly Tuberclosis and lastly others at 15%.

The poll was aiming done to find out why people shun testing for malaria and 32% of the respondents say they don’t need the test, because they know if they have malaria or not, 24% say the tests are too expensive, 23% of the people don’t know there is a test and 21% add that the tests are not available.

Responding to the study, Denis Kibira the Executive director of Coalition for Health Promotion and Social Development (HEPS), the poll results indicate that there is public doubt regarding the quality of RDT on the market.

Civil society organisations health advocators say that eliminating malaria is everyone’s responsibility but government must take the lead by funding only 5% of the malaria budget because government is not demonstrating leadership.

The national response to malaria is funded from the national budget and from donations from development partners. The challenge is that response is too dependent on external donors, with government contributing barely 5% of total funding. Available data indicate that between 2014 and 2016, government for malaria totaled US dollar 11.8m, which is just about 5.6% of the total expenditure on malaria over the three-year period amounting to US dollar 207.6m.

Out of the total budget shs 60.9m US dollar government contributes 3.6m US dollar for malaria leaving a gap of 80%. Uganda needs shs 308m US dollar to eliminate malaria completely out of the country.

Malaria is still one of the major diseases affecting families all over Uganda. Testing a blood sample is the most conclusive way to know whether one has malaria or not. This can be done by a health worker or at home, using a testing kit.

Testing malaria makes treatment more effective and allows for other treatment options when one does not have malaria, as only one in three cases of fever is actually malaria. However, based on numbers from the Ministry of Health, only 60% tests for malaria.

Kibira explains that there is need to expedite the proposed reform of the law to expand the regulatory mandate of National Drug Authority to include medical devices.

Patrick Ojilong the advocacy manager of Action Group for Health Human Rights and HIV/Aids (AGHA) adds that 95% of the malaria funds are donor funded. If we don’t invest now our dream of eliminating malaria from Ugandan might be far from near.

Malaria is the single cause of illness death in Uganda. The country has the third highest number of deaths from malaria and one of the highest reported malaria transmission rates in the world. Malaria accounts for 30% -50% of outpatient visits, 15%-20% of hospital admissions and up to 20% of all hospital deaths.

Ministry of Health estimates that in 2013, 27.2% of inpatient deaths of children under than five years of age were due to malaria. Overall about 16 cases and about 10,500 deaths are reported per year.

Early diagnosis and treatment of malaria reduces disease and prevents deaths. It also contributes to reducing malaria transmission. The Uganda Malaria Reduction Strategic Plan 2016-2020 sets three targets in the control of malaria: to reduce annual malaria deaths from the 2013 levels to near zero by 2020, reduce malaria morbidity to 30 cases per 1000 population for instance reduction from the 2013 levels by 2020 and to reduce malaria parasite prevalence to less than 7% reduction from 45% in 2010 by 2020.

It was recommended that there is no quality assurance of Rapid Diagnostic Response commonly known as RDT by the private sector outside the National Drug Authority procedures and their quality should be ascertained by NDA.

Although many diseases can be prevented these days, people still affected by infectious diseases. Some diseases have a minor impact; others have a bigger impact on someone’s life. This impact can be loss of a family member, frequent illness, illness of family members, or loss of work days due to illness.

The Budget Framework for Financial Year 2017/18 indicates that up to 80% of funds required to procure medicines for malaria-the country’s single biggest cause of illness and death – have not been allocated. Since health care, including medicines are by policy provided free of charge in public health facilities in the country, government has the obligation to mobilize funds to fill the current funding gap for anti-malarial medicines.

PrEP reduces the risk of HIV infection up to 92% – Study

By Sarah Achen

PrEP is effective and it can reduce the risk for HIV by at least 90%, but it’s important that you first seek help from a health worker before getting it.

Dr Sulaiman Kato a Public Health Officer at GGwatiro hospital in Bweyogerere, Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a way for people who do not have HIV but who are at substantial risk of getting it to prevent HIV infection by taking a pill every day. The pill (brand name Truvada) contains two medicines (tenofovir and emtricitabine) that are used in combination with other medicines to treat HIV. When someone is exposed to HIV through sex or injection drug use, these medicines can work to keep the virus from establishing a permanent infection.

According to Mr Charles Brown the Advocacy and Laison Officer of PrEP projects at Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere, there is no PrEP policy in place but the Ministry of Health developed a guideline which has not been launched officially.

“The ministry is in the process of making the PrEP guideline official, as this can go a long way to help health workers prescribe the right dosage of the vaccine. It will also help them know the type of drug and give an idea of how to administer and know the amount in addition to monitor side effects,” Brown says.

Brown says PrEP is for people at substantial risk of acquiring HIV according to WHO guideline on PrEP or among key populations. These people include; commercial sex workers, Men who have sex with men, fisher forks, long truck drivers, trans- genders and uniformed services. Even adolescents can also get PrEP because HIV infection is higher among them. Majority of the young girls easily transmit HIV faster because they are not able to negotiate for safer sex with older men since the older men have a huge financial muscle. It’s also hard for a girl to walk into a shop and purchase for a condom like men do.

Brown adds that they are waiting for the launch then they embark on sensitizing and informing the public which health facilities will be offering the services. Even health workers needs to be sensitized too

Dr Timothy Muwonge a Principle investigator and HIV prevention Specialist at  the Infectious Diseases Institute Makerere University says that PrEP is Pre Exposure Prophylaxis ;meaning  Pre ( before ) Exposure ( an action that may lead to infection in this context HIV ) and Prophylaxis ( prevention )

PrEP is a “prescription only” biomedical mode of prevention for HIV that is offered after one has been screened by a qualified health care worker

Why PrEP?

PrEP is an additional method of prevention and not a replacement of the already existing methods and it’s NOT for everyone. PrEP is for people at substantial risk of HIV acquisition; the health worker should assess for the risk and advise accordingly.

HIV negative people at substantial risk are the ones who should be given. Before one is given PrEP, he or she should be examined to ensure that the client is in good health.

The 2016 a Uganda National consolidated Guidelines on HIV Prevention and treatment mention that PrEP will be only in a few sites that have funding and capacity to offer the services. From these sites they will be able to demonstrate the best practices PrEP services delivery in the country.

There are other formulations of PrEP apart from the oral and these include the Dapivarinering, injectable formulations like carboltegravir which are under research.

“In terms of the 90:90:90, I strongly believe there is light at the end of the tunnel to prevent new infections in people at substantial risk of HIV infection. When taken consistently, PrEP has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection in people who are at high risk by up to 92%,” Muwonge adds. PrEP is much less effective if it is not taken consistently.

Dr George Bwesigye from Najjera hospital explains that PrEP is a powerful HIV prevention tool and can be combined with condoms and other prevention methods to provide even greater protection than when used alone. But people who use PrEP must commit to taking the drug every day and seeing their health care provider for follow-up every 3 months.

Chinese Firm Contracted to Construct Akii Bua Stadium

 By Milton Emmy Akwam

LIRA: Chinese firm whose name is yet to be disclosed has been contracted to take up the long awaited construction of Akii Bua Olympic Stadium in Lira district, this website has exclusively learnt.

Speaking to this website in an exclusive interview at Lira district Chambers on Thursday afternoon, Omara Apita, the Commissioner for physical planning in the Ministry of Education and Sports said whereas 17 firms bided for the multibillion stadium construction, the President has given his views and wants the contract to be won by a Chinese firm.

“This is a big project to the people of Lango and Uganda at large. Being a presidential pledge in 2010, His Excellency wants quality work and his trusts are more in Chinese firms,” Omara said.

So far, Shs1bn has been allocated by the line Ministry to the cause and of that, shs575m has been used on preliminary works at the site.

Among works done so far are the creations of access road like Okello Degree Road, bush clearing, maintenance of drainage channel, among others.

Akii Bua Olympic stadium, according to government officials will be Uganda’s third stadiums after demolished Nakivubo and Mandela National Stadium in Kampala.

Its estimated capacity is 35,000 seats with all required amenities. In financial year 2017/2018, officials say the artistic impression of the stadium should be out, following the announcement of the qualified firm to take up the construction project in due course.

Following that, the actual construction work, taking possible 5 years should commence in financial year 2018/2019.

George Okello Ayo, the Lira District LC5 Vice Chairperson asked the Ministry to release more funds to the project, saying that project is a good gesture to the people of Lango sub region.

Gov’t to Construct Ka­baale In­ter­na­tional Air­port at UGX298m

The State Minister for economic planning, David Bahati shocked MPs on Par­lia­men­t’s Bud­get Com­mit­tee as well as the whole nation when he stated that government is planning to construct Kabaale International Airport in Hoima District at a cost of only UGX298 million.

“Gov­ern­ment is part­ner­ing with the British Es­tab­lish­ment to con­struct Ka­baale In­ter­na­tional Air­port at Ugx 298 million,” Bahati said.

He was appearing before the committee on Tuesday to ex­plain the sta­tus of rec­om­men­da­tions made by Par­lia­ment on the UGX30trillion Bud­get Frame­work Pa­per for 2017-2018.

Barnabas Tin­kasi­imire, the Buyaga West County MP instantly opposed Bahati’s statement saying that he couldn’t expect to hear something unrealistic from the mouth of the minister.

“How can the min­is­ter make such a bla­tant lie to the com­mit­tee, how can an in­ter­na­tional air­port go for that money, is it a house?” Tin­kasi­imire asked.

Okin Ojara (Inde-Chua County) tasked the min­is­ter to lay be­fore the com­mit­tee ev­i­dence show­ing govern­men­t’s un­der­tak­ing with Britain, but Bahati failed to provide the evidence.

The com­mit­tee therefore asked the min­is­ter to avoid brief case deal­ings whose agree­ments risk tax pay­ers’ money, since the mat­ter un­der con­sid­er­a­tion was at the cen­ter of na­tional in­ter­est.

Later, Ba­hati told jour­nal­ists that the mat­ter of the air­port was a com­plex mat­ter to quickly be understood by the leg­is­la­tors on first men­tion.

He said that the UGX298 mil­lion is for pre­lim­i­nary un­der­tak­ings to be com­menced in July this year, ahead of ne­go­ti­a­tions with the British Ex­port Bank, the main fun­ders of the air­port, whose deal is yet to be con­cre­tised.

“We shall ar­rive at the fi­nal fig­ures (costs) at the end of the ne­go­ti­a­tions and par­lia­ment will be duly informed,” Ba­hati said.

Alcohol addiction can kill you – Expert

By Sarah Achen

Albert Elwa almost lost his life to alcohol and decided to quit before it could destroy him forever. Similarly he lost his best friend Jerome, who lost his life to ruptured pancreas at a tender age of 20. The news of his death was so painful and it plunged Elwa deeper into addiction.

There are several people; young and old like late Jerome who lost their battle to alcohol because they didn’t have access to information.

The director of FORE-Uganda, Elwa explains that April is alcohol awareness campaign month where they are trying to sensitize people about the dangers of alcohol in partnership with SUDU.

“FORE is proud to be a part of the CAODA (Children of Alcoholics and other Drug Abusers) project, that’s run by SUDU. This project aims to support children of alcoholics and other drug abusers, whose needs are neglected due to their parents’ addiction, at the same time intervene to help these parents recover from substance abuse,” Elwa says.

“It was lovely seeing these people smile as we handed over Easter packages to them, largely donated by the public,” Elwa adds.

FORE-Uganda has been actively involved with treatment centres in Uganda through participation in joint capacity building workshops, and also providing psycho-social support to clients in these treatment centres. They have also actively engaged Ministry of Health on different fronts in their attempts to curb the growing problem of substance abuse. They also reach out to schools and universities.

What they do

FORE –Uganda is into prevention, intervention and recovery of individuals and communities from substance abuse and its related harm.

“We reach out to academic institutions, places of worship, community centres, treatment centres, work places, families and other areas of interest. We provide preventive counseling to young ones, and psychosocial support to those in recovery. We work hand in hand with other organisations and the Ministry of Health,” he says. Their vision is to see a society in which healthy individuals build stronger communities.

Future plans

The organization is in the process of acquiring rehabilitation centres the next three months. Other activities trying to explore avenues in which to help those who are trapped in addiction but can’t a ford or access treatment. Month- cases-greatest impact during out reaches, it has been two years since it started.

FORE has seen a number of people recover and still provide them with support, built synergies with ministry of health and other relevant players in the community together with other stakeholders among others and together with other stakeholders held annual recovery walk which was launched last year by the Prime Minister Dr Rukhana Rugunda last year.

They not only raise awareness but also break stigma in surrounding addiction through distributing free copies of their magazine Focus on recovery free of charge.

Besides the numerous achievements, they are challenged by poor funding as most of the contributions come from founding members. This have hindered them from fulfilling their planned goals; carrying out reaches programs since they are not timely meanings that they are supposed to be three per term sometimes they are not able to deliver.

He points out that Uganda’s law regarding alcohol is weak as any child can walk into a shop and purchase alcohol because government allows alcohol advertising which also impacts on the population especially in bars and schools as some share fences and this has made the work hard.

FORE says that the public still attribute addiction to moral deficiency, witchcraft, character defect something that needs to change. Sometimes school heads are in denial, they don’t want to tackle the problem for fear of parents getting back at them because some of them earn money out of the business.

It’s from this background that Focus on Recovery was founded by a group of individuals in recovery together with a few others who have lost their loved ones or seen through suffer from brunt of addiction.

They reach out to schools, treatment centres, communities, and places of worship and other areas of interest. In 2017, Uganda is ranked the 2^nd in Africa in alcohol consumption, after Nigeria and few years ago Uganda was number one. 80% of young people under age of 18 and form of vulnerable 56.3% are below the age of 18% making them the most vulnerable.

With addiction, when one is happy or sad, it doesn’t matter as all roads lead to the object of your obsession –in my case booze. Jerome’s death should have served as a deterrent to me but it didn’t. Why? In my case I did not know nor understand what I was dealing with. During that time, addiction was related to moral deficiency and bad character traits; no one knew or understood addiction as a disease in my circles.

Today, there is a lot of information that one can access, either on the internet, from treatment centres or organisations like FORE- Uganda.

When one has a substance abuse problem, usually the relationship with family/loved ones suffers and at times dies out completely, performance at school or work deteriorates a lot and one develops serious concentration issues. If you suspect that you or someone you know may be having a substance abuse problem, you can help them reach organisations.

“Today, I believe if Jerome had access to information and understood the danger he was putting himself in, he might still have been here with us today. To the young ones out there, stay away from alcohol and other drugs, addiction is incurable,” he adds.