Tag: GreatLakesNews

{Faith matters. Saturday Monitor’s Isaac Imaka looks at the religious composition of the 10th Parliament as whether religious affiliation was and or is an issue in parliamentary politics, especially in campaigns.}

During the campaign of 1962, the Democratic Party (DP) was popularly known as “Dini ya Papa” (Religion of the Pope) and the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) as United Protestants of Canterbury.

Giving politics a religious touch was not new, even by then.

As early as 1890, Catholics, Protestants and Muslims in Buganda had formed themselves into indigenous political institutions. This pattern, F B Welbourn writes in his book: Religion and Politics in Uganda: 1952-62, with all its consequences, was repeated throughout Uganda— and it has been part of politics ever since.

According to an analysis of 408 current legislators out of 431, who submitted their profiles to the clerk’s office, Parliament has more Anglicans than any other religions.
According to the data, there are 166 Anglicans, 155 Catholics, and 43 Pentecostals. The Muslims come in at a distant fourth with 26 members, followed by Seventh Day Adventists and Buddhists at two and one, respectively. Six legislators registered their religion in category “none”.

The presentation is in contrast with the 2014 census report, which shows that there are more Catholics nationally, with 39.3 per cent, followed by Anglicans at 32 per cent and Muslims at 13.7 per cent.

The Parliament statistics, somehow, feed in the legislators’ argument that unlike in Uganda’s politics of yore, religion’s influence on who the people vote for is very low.

“People look at merit and what you promise them in your manifesto,” said former Ntenjeru South MP, Patrick Nsanja, who is currently campaigning to represent Uganda in the East African Legislative Assembly. “What matters most also is whether you are a born of that area where you are campaigning from and whether people see you as their own son or daughter.”

Bugabula County South MP Maurice Kibalya shares similar sentiments as one who comes from a constituency previously held by a Muslim.

“Muslims in my constituency are less than 10 per cent yet the constituency was represented by a Muslim for 15 years.

“If religion mattered that much, my predecessor wouldn’t have managed to be an MP for all those years because we are many Anglicans,” he said.

Ayivu County MP Bernard Atiku (Ind), who put “none” in his religion category, however, says religion is one of the issues he has to deal with when campaigning.

“It is not one of the dominant factors but it is very important how the political players address it,” he said. “It depends on the constituency and the number per religion.
When he took power in 1986, President Museveni ordered that religious leaders keep out of politics because religion took a large share of the blame for the political chaos that engulfed the country from independence.

Religion has, however, been seen coming up in politics, especially when there is political and or economic uncertainty in the country with religious leaders taking to the podium to guide the country and sometimes call for certain actions from the central government.

As the country headed to the polls both in 2011 and early this year, religious leaders came out calling for peaceful elections. None, however, called for a particular way of voting.

Ms Enid Mirembe, a Kampala voter and an Arts student at Makerere University, says her vote is won by competence and not religion.

“Someone could be a Muslim but very good at delivering yet one could be a Christina and fail to deliver,” she said. “Service delivery is more important to me than one’s religion.”

{The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has opened investigations into the possibility that a key beneficiary of the stolen billions of shillings in the National Youth Service scandal could have hired an imposter to face charges on his behalf.
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The anti-corruption agency is counter-checking the identity of Mr John Kago, 58, who appeared before the Public Accounts Committee last month and described himself as a driver at the Kenya Commercial Bank, and a younger high-flying businessman who shares the same name to establish the validity of the identity swap claims. The younger man was a government employee but left his position.

“We are investigating the matter. So far, we have established that there are two Kagos sharing the same name. One is from Nyeri and the other one from Murang’a. In the next two weeks, we shall have made good progress in the investigations,” said EACC deputy chief executive officer Michael Mubea.

Sources close to the latest investigations revealed that EACC was prompted into action following claims that the older Mr Kago could have been hired by a key suspect to pose as the businessman implicated in the Sh791 million heist.

According to the sources who spoke off the record because they are under oath not to disclose details of ongoing investigations, EACC received credible information that the “suspect” who appeared before PAC on October 26 claiming to have received a Sh60 million “soft loan” from a key suspect in the case, Ms Josephine Kabura, could have been a decoy paid to shield key players in the scandal.

EACC, we learnt, had obtained the files of the 58-year-old Mr Kago from KCB to corroborate the information he gave to the PAC. They have also made inquiries at the government agency that the younger man worked for.

“We want to go through the files and establish who between the two is the real player in this matter,” said one of the sources.

The suspicions stem from Kago’s testimony before the committee that he received more than Sh346 million — almost half of the Sh791 million looted from NYS — and continued to work as a driver at KCB.

Mr Kago baffled the MPs by insisting that he continued to work at the bank, earning Sh15,000 a month, even after acquiring the immense wealth.
“I am a driver at KCB, but I am on suspension and half salary due to the NYS scandal in which my name has been mentioned,” Mr Kago told the committee.

Even with his modest looks, Mr Kago told the committee that he was a man of means, owning a fleet of luxury motor vehicles, including a top-end Range Rover that set him back Sh23 million, a Mercedes Benz, Toyota Land Cruiser and a Toyota Fielder, all of which he uses in his car-hire business.

His narrative that he started as a taxi driver and saved enough money in a merry-go-round to start importing second-hand vehicles from Japan also did not add up, given his massive wealth.

On Saturday, PAC chairman and Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo expressed fears that if found to be true, the development could plunge investigation into the loss of at least Sh1.6 billion into disarray.

“That would amount to serious travesty of justice. But wait a second, the guy who appeared before us didn’t look like one who has seen Sh300 million,” he said.

According to a special audit by the auditor-general, Mr Kago received Sh346 million from Ms Kabura and another key suspect in the scandal, Ben Gethi.

However, Mr Kago told the committee, chaired by Mr Gumbo, that he received only Sh60 million from Ms Kabura and denied ever meeting Mr Gethi either “personally or businesswise”. Mr Gumbo warned him that he would be declared a hostile witness if he lied to the committee as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission had corroborated information contained in the audit that he received Sh156 million from Ms Kabura and Sh130 million from Mr Gethi.

{{MONEY DEPOSITED INTO ACCOUNT}}

However, Mr Kago stood his ground and accused a detective who gave the information showing the money was deposited into his accounts at Family Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank of fabrication.

“It was a conspiracy to fix me,” he said.

Maara MP Kareke Mbiuki wanted to know how Ms Kabura came to “loan” Mr Kago Sh60 million with just a written agreement, indicating he was to repay it at 10 per cent interest per month and signed by a lawyer but without the borrower’s signature.

Mr Kago said he had known Ms Kabura, whose three firms received Sh791 million to build a 3.5km road in Kibera, Nairobi, for one and a half years. He described her as a friend.
Mr Kago, who said he left his job as an accounts clerk “in search of greener pastures” as a driver, is alleged to have used the Sh130 million from Mr Gethi to buy property for the businessman’s mother, Charity Wangui.

Mr Gumbo directed Mr Kago to provide the committee with his bank statements from 2013 to establish whether he had indeed received the Sh346 million from the two suspects, details of all his properties and registration numbers for his fleet of vehicles. The committee had also directed him to surrender the Range Rover to the Assets Recovery Agency, saying it was bought with proceeds of crime.

Mr Kago said he had not yet surrendered the vehicle and told the PAC that it had been hired out to someone in Nairobi at Sh40,000 per day but was not in use after “reports went out that anyone seen driving the vehicle would be shot dead by police”. It is also not clear whether he has complied with the directives.

In her affidavit, Ms Kabura describes Mr Kago as an innocent “business person” and “fellow customer” at Family Bank. She does not however make any reference to Mr Kago’s nature of business or previous employment, if any.

“It is my view that certain individuals are being shielded from blame while others are being victimised. For instance, one Mr John Kago Ndungu who has never been awarded any contract/tender in the NYS projects under investigations has been labeled the sole conduit for funds in the purported NYS saga,” she notes.

“That I am personally known to Mr John Kago Ndungu as a fellow customer at Family Bank. I had personally loaned him Sh60m in the course of our business relationship, money which he later paid back with interest,” she goes on.

Ms Kabura maintains Mr Kago has never had any dealings with the NYS as widely suspected: “That I never informed nor involved him in any of my contracts at the NYS either those under investigations by the several investigative agencies nor any other. That apart from the Sh60m personal loan to Mr John Kago Ndungu I have never given other monies to Mr Kago either physically, deposited or transferred into any of his known or unknown accounts nor used 3rd parties to do the same,” Ms Kabura further states.

“That in my view, the inclusion of business people Mr John Kago Ndungu, Peter Omari Otuoma (a business associate), Caroline Njambi (Mr Omari’s business partner), Mr Ben Gethi (oil supplier at NYS) in these investigations and the ensuing criminal charges is a ploy to divert public attention from the real culprits and malign their names as merchants supplying to the Government and doing genuine business for several Government agencies,” she states.

{President Ali Mohamed Shein yesterday opened a one-day Comoros and Tanzania trade forum here with a call on stakeholders to use the available opportunities to invest and make sure that the businesses grow. “Tanzania, particularly Zanzibar, has many things in common. We share culture and language.}

It is the sea and colonial oriented political boundaries that divided us. Doors are open to revive our history of cooperation in various development programmes,” Dr Shein said. Before declaring the forum open, Dr Shein said the historical Comoros and Tanzania relations has been going on well and that traders from both countries have the opportunity to flourish.

He said in the 16th and 17th centuries, Zanzibar was a famous place for trade followed later by then British Protectorate declaring the islands ‘Free Port’, “since History repeats itself, let us increase trade and make it sustainable.

” President Shein said the United Republic of Tanzania is ready to work with the Comoros and that already the business environment in the country is conducive for trade, and investment in Tourism, culture, transportation, and health among others.

He told participants who met at the Sea Cliff Hotel, North of Unguja Island that Zanzibar’s new passenger/cargo ship (MV Mapinduzi II), and the purchased planes in ongoing revival of Air Tanzania Corporation Limited (ATCL), are other opportunities to boost trade. Delegates from Comoros led by their foreign Minister Mr Mohamed Bacar Dossar, and the wife of Comoros Vice President Ms NourouL’Houda Said Mohamed, heard Dr Shein agitate for promotion of the use of Kiswahili language, and Public Private Partnership (PPP), arguing that the private sector remains an engine of economic growth.

Also in attendance at the opening ceremony were leaders of the Chamber of Commerce (from Comoros, Zanzibar, and Mainland Tanzania), delegates from Egypt, ministers, Second Vice President Ambassador Seif Ali Iddi and Tanzania Foreign Minister Dr Augustino Mahiga who said the forum sets ground for strengthening relations beyond trade.

The head of the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) Mr Octavian Mshiu and his counterpart from Zanzibar (ZNCCIA) – Mr Taufiq Salum and Comoros (UCCIA) – Mr Mouhtar I’ssouf Combo expressed their commitment to ensure the objectives are achieved.

“In the process, it is important that we focus on the way we do business by simplifying procedures and bringing in better and more innovative ideas at the same time protecting and promoting our brand,” Mr Salum said.

In her introductory remarks at the event coloured with traditional dances from Zanzibar and Comoros, the Minister of Trade, Industries, and Marketing, Ambassador Amina Salum Ali, said the second reciprocal trade forum for Tanzania and Comoro reflects the commitment by governments in improving people’s livelihoods.

Ms Ali said the forum aims at fostering trade initiatives whose ultimate goal is to improve the business environment, formalise trade and strengthen economic ties between the United Republic of Tanzania and the Union of the Comoros.

{Ten people are feared dead after the boat they were traveling in capsized on Lake Albert.}

Mr Julius Hakiza, the Albertine regional police public relations says the accident occurred on Thursday evening at the Kabolwa Landing Site in Buliisa District.

Mr Hakiza says a group of 21 people boarded the boat at about 5pm on Thursday on their way to Kagoya Landing site in Nebbi District.

He says the Police Marine Unit and local divers managed to rescue 11 people on Thursday night and Friday evening leaving no hope of finding the missing 10 alive.

Mr Hakiza said on Friday that the search for the missing bodies is on-going.

He says the accident was caused by heavy wind that hit an overloaded boat.

Among those missing are six females and four males whose identities are not yet known.

The survivors are being sheltered at the landing site. Lake Albert has a history of boat accidents with the most recent being the October incident where two fishermen drowned near a landing site in Kagadi district.

In March 2014 about 250 people most of whom Congolese refugees died when a boat they were traveling in capsized as they tried to cross into Uganda.

In August 2012, five people died in a boat accident at Sansio Landing Site in Buliisa District, while in August 2010, another boat accident claimed the lives of 33 people while 17 others survived while travelling between two landing sites on the same lake.

{Owners of firearms that are yet to undergo the ongoing verification exercise will have their ownership licences revoked and their names published come December 20, this year, the Police Force has announced.}

In the same vein, police have warned people who possess firearms illegally to surrender them voluntarily at the police stations or Local Government Authorities (LGAs) before a countrywide crackdown on illegal firearms takes off.

Acting Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Robert Boaz, told a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday that since the firearms verification exercise begun in March, 2016, police have so far verified 59.18 percent of the weapons countrywide.

“Our assessment shows that a half of the firearm owners are yet to surrender their guns to police stations for verification,’’ he said. According to Mr Boaz, the verification exercise that kicked off on March 22, this year, was expected to be completed by the end of last June but because there were many gun owners who were still turning up at different police stations, the exercise was extended to the end of last month.

“We are now issuing another grace period until December 20, that will not be extended further and we will not hesitate to take appropriate legal action against those who will fail to surrender their weapons to the police stations for verification,’’ he insisted.

Mr Boaz said the police would also revoke the licences of defiant owners as well as publishing the names of people with registered firearms that are yet to be verified within that particular period.

“ A f – ter listing their names w e shall launch a countrywide manhunt to arrest all defiant owners because we know them and their addresses,’’ he insisted. The Acting DCI called upon all gun owners to surrender their weapons before police stations for verification lest they face the wrath of the law.

He further warned people illegally possessing firearms to surrender them to police stations or LGAs, adding that the police would not take any legal action against illegal firearms owners who would voluntarily surrender their guns.

Meanwhile, Police are probing the recent bribery allegations levelled against Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander Simon Sirro by Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Paul Makonda.

Mr Makonda accused the Dar es Salaam Police Boss and Kinondoni Regional Police Commander (RPC) Suzan Kaganda before Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, for allegedly colluding with and failing to take proper action against shisha dealers.

On Wednesday, Mr Makonda alleged that the top cop in Dar es Salaam, the Special Police Zone Commander, was dilly-dallying to take action against the traders despite directives from the RC, alluding that Mr Sirro could be receiving bribes from the dealers.

“We received the allegations and as per the police rules and regulations we are investigating the allegations to substantiate its truth,’’ said the Acting DCI.

Already, the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) has launched its investigations of the allegations levelled before the two police bosses.

{The East African Community (EAC) is hatching a plan to harmonise laws that will regulate cross border insolvency.}

Insolvency occurs when an organisation or individual is unable to pay debts on time. An insolvent company can either wind up or be restructured.

Speaking to journalists an the launch of the insolvency week in Kampala, Mr Bemanya Twebaze, the registrar general Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB),said resolving insolvency is one of the areas that the World Bank bases in preparing its easing of business report.

The World Bank Doing Business Report 2017 which is its 14 edition and themed ‘Equal Opportunity for All’ released in Washington DC on October 25, shows that Uganda moved from 122 in 2015 to 115 in 2016 out of 190 economies.

Mr Twebaze, said the move is timely as countries shift towards borderless trade.

“Trade across borders is a daily occurrence so what happens in a situation where a company which is trading across the region goes into liquidation,” he said at the Regional Official Receivers’ Forum on Wednesda-width”>