Category: Politics

Uganda:Museveni sets conditions for new Cabinet, Parliament

President Museveni yesterday said those who claim his NRM party didn’t win the 2016 elections, “have something wrong in their mind”, declaring “the election phase is finished”.

Addressing newly elected NRM Parliamentary Caucus members, who had gathered to elect the party’s Speaker and Deputy Speaker flag bearers, Mr Museveni asked journalists to give him a good headline, capturing how his out-going Cabinet nearly took Uganda to a middle income status.

Adducing evidence that his NRM party won the 2016 general election, Mr Museveni said the “sea of NRM MPs” is an indication that he won elections.

“It’s only somebody who has something wrong with his or her mind who can say that NRM did not win elections because there is evidence here as far as MPs are concerned,” he said.

The President, who addressed the MPs at State House Entebbe announced his next Cabinet, the 10th Parliament and Judiciary must take the challenge and ensure that Uganda attains the middle-income status by 2019 or 2020.

Mr Museveni said he gets embarrassed that Uganda is still languishing in the league of Low Developed Countries, asking MPs in the new Parliament to stop scrambling for trips, roaming the world like Christopher Columbus yet Ugandans expect them to deliver services.

“I want to see a firm executive, firm legislature and a firm executive working in cohesion,” Mr Museveni said, adding: “…people in the February elections ordered us to get them out of poverty and this is a command.”

Although the president has demanded for “firm” organs of State, Opposition critics continue to accuse him of weakening Parliament and Judiciary.

The President’s remarks came on the day FDC and other Opposition supporters had planned to launch a protest campaign over what they allege to have been a fraudulent re-election of Mr Museveni.

Police and other security agencies yesterday deployed in Kampala and around the country to foil the planned protests.
Mr Museveni’s election was contested in the Supreme Court but the judges unanimously upheld his victory, dismissing the case for lack of evidence and he is expected to swear-in on May 12.
Mr Museveni won the elections with 60.75 per cent of total votes cast against Dr Kizza Besigye’s 35.37 per cent.

Taking a swipe

Before asking his security to make sure that the journalists are taken away from the caucus proceedings, Mr Museveni in what looked like a swipe at his critics, said: “I want to congratulate Ugandans for having conducted peaceful election … that phase is now finished and I congratulate the people and NRM for winning massively….. those who want evidence that NRM won elections and the journalists can see the sea of MPs who are here.”

May 6, 2016
Donald Trump becomes presumptive Republican nominee

Path clear for controversial billionaire as main rivals Cruz and Kasich bow out of race for US presidential nomination.

Donald Trump has gone from long-shot contender to the Republican party’s presumptive nominee for president with a crushing win in Indiana that forced his main rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich out of the race.

Addressing jubilant supporters at Trump Tower in New York after romping to his seventh straight state-wide victory, the real estate mogul promised them: “We’re going to win in November, and we’re going to win big, and it’s going to be America first.”

Kasich announced he dropped out of the Republican presidential race on Wednesday evening.

Trump won at least 51 of 57 possible delegates awarded in Indiana, according to the Associated Press news agency delegate tracker. His victory in the state pushed him to 1,047 delegates of the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination, compared with 153 for Kasich.

Cruz had 565 delegates before suspending his campaign.

“This phenomenon is just amazing,” Peter Mathews, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera. “Trump seems to have got free television time. He got an estimated $1bn of free time during the election.”

Trump’s immediate challenge is to unite deep fissures within the Republican Party as many party loyalists are appalled at his bullying style, his treatment of women and his signature proposals to build a wall on the border with Mexico and deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Trump the party’s presumptive nominee in a tweet and said, “We all need to unite and focus” on defeating Clinton.

The former reality TV star himself called for unity in a speech at a victory rally that was free of his usual bombast and flamboyance.

Calling Indiana a “tremendous victory”, he immediately directed fire at Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

“We’re going after Hillary Clinton,” he said. “She will not be a great president, she will not be a good president, she will be a poor president. She doesn’t understand trade.”

Clinton upset

Clinton on Tuesday suffered an upset in Indiana as her rival Bernie Sanders mounted a come-from-behind victory, denying the former secretary of state a feather in her cap as she seeks their party’s presidential nomination.

Sanders, a self-declared socialist, beat Clinton by 53.2 percent to 46.8 percent with about three quarters of precincts reporting – although Clinton remained well ahead in the overall delegate battle for the nomination.

“Bernie Sanders was behind several points just a few weeks ago. Thousands were turning up to his rallies even in thunderstorms to hear what he had to say,” Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from Indianapolis, said.

“A narrow victory in Indiana is enough to re-inject his campaign with momentum and for him to say that he is going to take it all the way to Democratic convention in Philadelphia in the summer.”

As the race was called overwhelmingly in Trump’s favour, Cruz conceded to supporters in Indianapolis that he no longer had a viable path forwards.

“We left it all on the field in Indiana,” Cruz said. “We gave it everything we’ve got, but the voters chose another path.

“And so with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign.”

Al Jazeera’s Fisher said that Indiana had become a pivotal point in the race.

“On the Republican side, Cruz lost the primary by a significant margin. His appeal to voters simply did not work,” he said.

Trump, who has never held public office, is likely to formally wrap up the nomination on June 7 when California votes, although Ohio Governor John Kasich had vowed to stay in the race as his last challenger.

May 5, 2016
Brazil Senate report backs Rousseff impeachment trial

Senator tasked with reviewing president’s impeachment process recommends she be put on trial for breaking budget laws.

The senator tasked with reviewing Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment process has recommended that she be put on trial for breaking budget laws, bringing the leftist leader one step closer to suspension from office.

Senator Antonio Anastasia presented his findings to a 21-member Senate impeachment committee, which is expected to vote overwhelmingly on Friday to send his recommendation to the full chamber.

The Senate is due to vote on May 11 to try Rousseff, at which point she will be automatically suspended, pending a trial that could last up to 180 days.

Vice President Michel Temer will take over as acting president and, if Rousseff is convicted, he will serve out the remainder of her term through 2018.

Request for investigation

Brazilian media has also reported a leaked request by chief prosecutor Rodrigo Janot for the Supreme Court to authorise an investigation into Rousseff, ex-president Lula da Silva and other close allies over their alleged involvement in a vast corrupton network centred on state oil giant Petrobas.

Janot’s reported request for the corruption probe names 31 politicians and other figures, also including opponents of Rousseff, illustrating the way that the Petrobras embezzlement and bribery scheme allegedly spread throughout the ruling class.

But the request has yet to be confirmed by officials.

Dozens of people have already been charged, prosecuted or imprisoned, including some of the country’s richest men and leaders of all political stripes in Congress.

Rousseff has not been named in any direct corruption charges, although she was chairman of Petrobras during much of the time the scheme was under way.

May 5, 2016
US, Russia reach deal on ceasefire in Syria’s Aleppo

Agreement reached between Russia and US to extend ceasefire in Syria to the besieged city of Aleppo, US officials say.

An agreement has been reached with Russia to extend a ceasefire in Syria to Aleppo province, including the besieged city of Aleppo, the US State Department said.

The expansion went into effect on Wednesday just after midnight in Damascus (02:00 GMT), the State Department said, noting an “overall decrease in violence” since then despite some continued fighting.

“Since this went into effect today at 00:01 in Damascus, we have seen an overall decrease in violence in these areas,” spokesman Mark Toner said.

The Syrian army confirmed the ceasefire, saying there would be a “regime of calm” in Aleppo for 48 hours, Russian ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told the UN Security Council.

Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington DC, said that the announcement was delayed because “officials wanted to see how long it would take for the ceasefire to come into effect.

“They decided to announce it now because they believe that the ceasefire is holding.”

The US is coordinating with Russia to finalise monitoring efforts for the ceasefire and calls on all parties to abide by the agreement.

“We look to Russia as a co-chair of the International Syria Support Group to press for the Assad regime’s compliance with this effort, and the United States will do its part with the opposition,” the State Department statement said.

‘War crimes, crimes against humanity’

The United Nations Humanitarian Affairs chief Stephen O’Brien told the UN Security Council that the killing of civilians in Aleppo “cannot and will not be forgotten”, warning that perpetrators will be held accountable.

O’Brien gave a rundown of deadly incidents in which residential areas, medical facilities and ambulances were targeted by government war planes and non-state shelling.

“Some of these acts amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” O’Brien said in New York.

Activists and rebels said at least 250 people have been killed in the fighting in Aleppo in the past 10 days.

On Wednesday, dozens of people were killed in a day-long battle in western Aleppo that was still going on intermittently, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and sources on both sides said.

Sources loyal to the Syrian government gave conflicting accounts of the outcome of the battle that began early on Tuesday in and around the Jamiat al-Zahraa area of western Aleppo.

A rebel told AP news agency that fighters had managed to take some ground from the government side, while the army said the attack was repelled.

Aid delivery blocked

UN humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland said on Wednesday that the Syrian government had refused UN demands to deliver aid to hundreds of thousands of people, including many in violence-torn Aleppo.

Aleppo has seen fierce fighting between the warring sides in the past two weeks after government forces began targeting the city.

“We seem to be having new possible besieged areas on our watch. We are having hundreds of relief workers unable to move in Aleppo,” Egeland told reporters on Wednesday after chairing a weekly meeting of nations supporting the Syria peace process.

“It is a disgrace to see that while the population of Aleppo is bleeding, their options to flee have never been more difficult than now.”

May 5, 2016
South Africa’s EFF MPs expelled for heckling Jacob Zuma

A brawl broke out in the South African parliament on Wednesday after security officers were ordered to forcibly remove opposition MPs from the chamber.

Several punches were thrown as members of the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were expelled for heckling President Jacob Zuma.

It was Mr Zuma’s first appearance in parliament since two damning court rulings against him.

On Friday, a court said that Mr Zuma should be charged with corruption.

The case is related to a multi-billion dollar arms deal the government negotiated in 1999.

Mr Zuma denies any wrongdoing, and says he will continue to “shepherd” the nation. His term is due to end in 2019.

Last month, South Africa’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, ruled that Mr Zuma had violated the constitution when he failed to repay government money used to upgrade his private home in the rural area of Nkandla.

Mmusi Maimane, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), was forced to withdraw his description in parliament of Mr Zuma as the “looter-in-chief”, following objections from the governing African National Congress (ANC) benches.

ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu said Mr Zuma had “not been found to have looted anything anywhere, by any court of law”.

EFF MPs had earlier denounced Mr Zuma as an “illegitimate” ruler who should step down.

“We are going to debate giving him money today, when he is facing over 700 charges of corruption,” EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said, South Africa’s News24 site reports.

Despite the chaotic scenes, Mr Zuma delivered a speech focusing on government plans to improve South Africa’s struggling economy.

“Economic transformation remains pivotal to ensuring a better life for all,” he said.
The High Court said on Friday that prosecutors should review their 2009 decision to drop 783 charges of corruption, fraud and racketeering against Mr Zuma over the arms deal.

After the Constitutional Court ruling, the Democratic Alliance failed in a bid to impeach Mr Zuma as the ANC rallied behind him in parliament.

Controversial arms deal: What you need to know

1999: largest-ever post-apartheid arms deal announced with contracts totalling 30bn rand ($5bn; £2.5bn) to modernise national defence force

Deal involved companies from Germany, Italy, Sweden, the UK, France and South Africa

Allegations of bribery over deal dogged governments of President Jacob Zuma and predecessor Thabo Mbeki

Mr Zuma’s former financial adviser Schabir Shaik convicted in 2005 for corruption over deal. Found guilty of trying to solicit bribe from Thint, local subsidiary of French arms firm Thales, on behalf of Mr Zuma – then deputy president. Released on parole on health grounds after serving just over two years

Another official, Tony Yengeni, chairman of parliament’s defence committee at time of deal and ANC chief whip, convicted of fraud in 2003. Also freed on parole after serving five months of four-year sentence

April 2016: commission of inquiry into deal found no further evidence of corruption or fraud.

May 5, 2016
Egypt journalists’ union cordoned off in crackdown

Many protest outside union headquarters as access to building restricted following police raid and arrests.

Egyptian riot police have cordoned off the headquarters of the journalists’ union and limited access to the building in an escalating standoff following a raid on the premises and the arrest of two journalists.

Hundreds of journalists rallied on the steps outside the union headquarters on Wednesday, chanting “Journalism is not a crime!” and demanding the dismissal of the country’s Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar.

The protests are the latest in a series of demonstrations against the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, which has banned virtually all protests and carried out a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent.

Police severely restricted access, banning non-union members from entry, as well as some residents and people who came on work errands to the surrounding area. Foreign journalists were allowed entry only after approval by several levels of officers, up to the rank of general.

At one point, several dozen journalists pushed through a barrier and entered the area, causing a brief moment of chaos. Several held up their union cards, saying that the police would not let them enter despite the membership. The union is now holding a general assembly.

“There are thugs here threatening us, and the police don’t want us to enter for the meeting because they know we’ll condemn the Interior Ministry,” said journalist Ahmed Bakr, who was allowed into the building’s street eventually.

Several dozen counter-demonstrators and government supporters showed up at either end of the blocked-off street, blasting patriotic songs, chanting “Long live Egypt” and insulting union members, who responded by calling the police “thugs”.

Activist sentenced to jail

In a separate development, prominent Egyptian activist and protest organiser Sanaa Seif has been sentenced to six months in prison for “insulting a public official”, she wrote in a Facebook post.

The jail term came months after the government pardoned Seif and 99 others, including journalists and activists.

Since Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi was deposed in 2013, the government of army chief-turned-president Sisi has clamped down on political demonstrations, mainly by opponents demanding Morsi’s return.

Hundreds of protesters have been killed and thousands detained over the past three years, and an anti-protest law has virtually banned all street demonstrations without prior police permission.

The two journalists were arrested on Sunday over allegations that they called for anti-government protests following Sisi’s recent decision to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. Egypt’s prosecutor general has since defended the raid and imposed a media gag order on the investigation.

Similar blockades at the union headquarters have been imposed intermittently since April 25, when security forces largely quashed demonstrations against the transfer of the two islands. That decision brought protesters on to the streets on two occasions last month, in the largest show of public defiance of Sisi since he was elected in 2014.

“We are here today to defend journalism,” said Yahia Kalash, the head of journalists’ union, who was at the rally on Wednesday. “We are defending the rights and the dignity of journalists.”

Mubarak’s PM acquitted

Also in Egypt, a top appeals court has acquitted the ex-prime minister Ahmed Nazif, who had been part of the administration of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, of corruption charges after overturning his sentence for illegal profiteering, his lawyer and a judicial official said.

Nazif had been found guilty by two criminal courts in 2012 and 2015 of illegally amassing $7.2m serving under the former president.

He was sentenced to three years in prison in the first trial, and to five years in the second one.

Both rulings were cancelled by the Court of Cassation.

Nazif was also acquitted of corruption charges in a separate case in February last year, after a criminal court had sentenced him to seven years in prison for his alleged role in awarding contracts for new vehicle licence plates.

Most have since been acquitted.

Those released include Mubarak’s sons, who were convicted with their father of stealing from public funds. The sons were freed in October for time served.

Courts also acquitted senior Interior Ministry officials over the killing of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 uprising.

May 5, 2016
Burundi economy on the ropes amid political crisis

Effects of recession are plain to see in the capital Bujumbura, many hotels closed.

A year into a political crisis which has claimed about 500 lives, driven a quarter of a million into exile and prompted Western donors to suspend government aid, Burundi’s economy is on the ropes.

The central African country had only just begun to recover from a 1993-2006 ethnic-based civil war when it became sucked back into violence after President Pierre Nkurunziza announced a year ago that he would seek a third term in office.

“The economy had been starting to stabilise, inflation was under control, and with average growth of around 4.5 per cent over several years, Burundi seemed to be on the right path,” said an economics professor at Burundi University, who did not wish to be named.

“But the current crisis has had catastrophic consequences, particularly on public finances” and on the business sector, he told AFP.

Nkurunziza’s quest for a third term sparked outrage among the opposition and human rights groups, who said the move violated a two-term limit on presidential mandates and flouted a peace deal that ended the civil war.

Despite mass protests and an attempted coup, Nkurunziza refused calls from the international community to step aside, winning another term in July elections that were boycotted by the opposition.

RECESSION

With his re-election came recession and a further slide in global development ranks.

The economy shrank by 7.4 per cent in 2015, taking Burundi from the world’s third-poorest country to the poorest, with a GDP of $315.20 dollars per inhabitant, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The effects of the recession are plain to see in the capital Bujumbura, where most hotels have gone to the wall or laid off most of their staff.

“The hotel sector is a disaster zone,” said the owner of a big hotel in the capital, which had only two guests during the first four months of the crisis.

“I only kept a tenth of my staff because it’s impossible to just shut up shop given the investments I’ve made and the bank loans I took out,” the hotelier told AFP.

Like many people in Bujumbura, he refused to give his name for fear of repercussions.

The collapse of the fledgling tourism sector has also hit the banks that provided loans for hotel construction in the mountainous country in recent years.

“No-one is paying them back,” the university professor explained.

In March, the European Union, Burundi’s biggest donor, cut funding to the government in a move aimed at pressuring Nkurunziza into talks with the opposition on a way out of the political deadlock.

“It was a very hard blow to the government, even though it has tried to downplay its impact,” a European diplomat in Bujumbura told AFP.

While the economy had not collapsed per se, the country’s budget deficit has grown and the effects of the recession were “plain to see,” the diplomat said.

In Bujumbura, at least one bridge on a major road that was washed away by floods has yet to be rebuilt, for lack of funds. Several main roads are also in a dire state of repair.

May 5, 2016
Nepal asks Canadian to leave over social media posts

Robert Penner given marching orders after arrest for criticising government decisions including journalist’s detention.

A Canadian living and working in Nepal has been ordered to leave the country within two days after criticising the government on social media, according to a Nepali official.

Robert Penner, a computer programmer working for CloudFactory, an outsourcing company, was arrested at his office on Monday and taken to the immigration department for questioning.

He criticised the Nepal government on social media during unrest that followed the passing of Nepal’s constitution last year and also denounced the recent arrest and detention of Kanak Mani Dixit, a prominent journalist and civil rights activist.

Dixit was released from detention on Monday on the orders of the Supreme Court.

“Robert Penner must leave Nepal voluntarily within two days,” Kedar Neupane, director general of the Department of Immigration, told Reuters news agency.

“If he fails to leave within this timeframe, he will be considered as staying here illegally.”

Neupane said there was no provision for Penner to appeal against the decision but the Canadian’s legal representative said his client had broken no laws and would appeal against the decision.

“The decision was made based only on his tweets, but such allegations cannot be substantiated just by his tweets and personal opinions,” he told AFP news agency.

“There is no evidence of any crime committed linked to what he has said.”

The deportation order was issued after government officials received numerous complaints about tweets and online writings that Penner had posted, said Neupane.

He declined to elaborate on exactly who and how many had complained.

May 4, 2016
Donald Trump becomes presumptive Republican nominee

Path clear for controversial billionaire as main rival Ted Cruz bows out of race for presidential nomination.

Donald Trump has gone from long-shot contender to the Republican party’s presumptive nominee for president with a crushing win in Indiana that forced his main rival Ted Cruz out of the race.

Addressing jubilant supporters at Trump Tower in New York after romping to his seventh straight state-wide victory, the real estate mogul promised them: “We’re going to win in November, and we’re going to win big, and it’s going to be America first.”

Trump won at least 51 of 57 possible delegates awarded in Indiana, according to the Associated Press news agency delegate tracker. His victory in the state pushed him to 1,047 delegates of the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination, compared with 153 for Kasich.

Cruz had 565 delegates before suspending his campaign.

“This phenomenon is just amazing,” Peter Mathews, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera. “Trump seems to have got free television time. He got an estimated $1bn of free time during the election.”

Trump’s immediate challenge is to unite deep fissures within the Republican Party as many party loyalists are appalled at his bullying style, his treatment of women and his signature proposals to build a wall on the border with Mexico and deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Trump the party’s presumptive nominee in a tweet and said, “We all need to unite and focus” on defeating Clinton.

The former reality TV star himself called for unity in a speech at a victory rally that was free of his usual bombast and flamboyance.

Calling Indiana a “tremendous victory”, he immediately directed fire at Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

“We’re going after Hillary Clinton,” he said. “She will not be a great president, she will not be a good president, she will be a poor president. She doesn’t understand trade.”

Clinton upset

Clinton on Tuesday suffered an upset in Indiana as her rival Bernie Sanders mounted a come-from-behind victory, denying the former secretary of state a feather in her cap as she seeks their party’s presidential nomination.

Sanders, a self-declared socialist, beat Clinton by 53.2 percent to 46.8 percent with about three quarters of precincts reporting – although Clinton remained well ahead in the overall delegate battle for the nomination.

“Bernie Sanders was behind several points just a few weeks ago. Thousands were turning to his rallies even in thunderstorms to hear what he had to say,” Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from Indianapolis, said.

“A narrow victory in Indiana is enough to re-inject his campaign with momentum and for him to say that he is going to take it all the way to Democratic convention in Philadelphia in the summer.”

As the race was called overwhelmingly in Trump’s favour, Cruz conceded to supporters in Indianapolis that he no longer had a viable path forwards.

“We left it all on the field in Indiana,” Cruz said. “We gave it everything we’ve got, but the voters chose another path.

“And so with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign.”

Al Jazeera’s Fisher said that Indiana had become a pivotal point in the race.

“On the Republican side, Cruz lost the primary by a significant margin. His appeal to voters simply did not work,” he said.

Trump, who has never held public office, is likely to formally wrap up the nomination on June 7 when California votes, although Ohio Governor John Kasich vowed to stay in the race as his last challenger.

May 4, 2016
Uganda:Oulanyah defies NRM, insists on Speaker job

Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah has rejected a closed-door decision by NRM executives to ring-fence the 10th Parliament Speaker job for incumbent Rebecca Kadaga.

The NRM Caucus, which is numerically larger and comprises all Members of Parliament elected on the NRM party ticket, is scheduled to meet at State House in Entebbe, tomorrow to decide whether to maintain the status quo where Ms Kadaga remains the Speaker deputised by Mr Oulanyah.

The party’s Central Executive Committee, meeting at State House Entebbe up to midnight yesterday, had resolved that the current leadership be upheld in order not to polarise the 10th Parliament.
Hours after the resolution, Mr Oulanyah refused to budge and after a meeting with some of his supporters announced that he would run for Speaker “come rain or come shine”.

He held a follow up meeting with President Museveni, the national party chairman who presided over the nine-hour Monday meeting, but details of their discussions were not available by press time.

Whereas the Speakership is, for now, a two-horse race between Kadaga and Oulanyah, the Deputy Speaker position has attracted seven contestants. The party CEC resolved to re-open closed nominations for the crowded slot to enable Oulanyah register but he had not done so by press time.

Sources that attended the CEC meeting said the proposal to maintain the status quo was fronted by Hajji Moses Kigongo, the National Vice Chairman, and supported by Mr Sam Engola, the party’s vice-chairman (North), and Haji Abdul Nadduli (vice-chairman, Buganda).

The meeting also grilled Ms Kadaga, faulting her for opening a war of words with CEC members taking exception that she drew the first blood when she branded Mr Oulanyah as a “greedy and arrogant man”.

Sources at the CEC meeting told Daily Monitor that Ms Kadaga was also questioned over claims that she fraternises with Opposition MPs and her quarrels with the media.

It is reported that Ms Kadaga apologised and promised to work with Oulanyah. Ms Kadaga reportedly told CEC that she attacked her deputy because she was “under pressure” to defend her job and that she was “not breathing”. She also accused her opponents of using the media to fight her.

The President who is the NRM chairman, however, apologised for taking long to intervene and promised to reconcile the two principals as soon as possible. When Ms Kadaga and Mr Oulanyah were called to CEC for counselling, members asked the two leaders to “bury the hatchet and move on”.

NRM electoral commission chairman Tanga Odoi, who attended CEC meeting, confirmed that the bickering between the duo was discussed with CEC and resolving that Mr Museveni should mediate the talks.

Mr Odoi said the NRM Caucus will take the final decision on the duo tomorrow.

“The chairman of the party will sit them down and talk to them. They were not reprimanded because it is a learning process,”Mr Odoi said.

Yesterday, Ms Kadaga was in celebratory mood, telling MPs from the Bugisu sub-region that CEC endorsed her to retain the Speaker’s job.

May 4, 2016