Uganda Correspondent

Archive for June, 2010

Kamya’s UFA putting cart before the horse

28.06.2010

By Chantal Kembabazi

Beti O. Kamya

Allow me react to a story [Uganda’s problems are bigger than Museveni] that appeared in the Daily Monitor newspaper of June 24^th. In that story, the Chief Mobiliser of Uganda Federal Alliance [UFA] Yusuf Mukwata is quoted to have said that, “…as UFA, our plan is to change the system of governance to favour Ugandans because removing President Museveni from power is not enough to bring change”. And then, before the ink had even dried on Mukwata’s statement, his boss Beti Olive Kamya weighed in and completely contradicted her own Chief Mobiliser Mukwata [see: What if Tamale Mirundi replaces EC’s Kiggundu, Daily Monitor, June 25^th]. (more…)

Militia training could cause genocide

28.06.2010

By John Patrick Wambi

Finally, with utmost good faith, let me end my thoughts with a heartfelt piece of advice, a plea in fact, to the elders of the greater Western Uganda and Ankole in particular. Because of my business, I have travelled extensively through every corner of Western Uganda. The truth I see on the ground is that 90% of the people in Western Uganda are as poor as the typical IDP camp dweller in Acholi, Lango, and Teso or the blind jigger ridden Musoga peasant from Kayunga; the very centre of the incident that has so outraged me. Most people however, think that Museveni has done massive favours for all your children; and they are, if you didn’t know, very, very bitter about it! (more…)

Youth must understand our past before 2011

28.06.2010

By C.D Rauxen Zedriga

Our visionary President the “great” Yoweri Museveni seems to have finally enrolled into the class of people who accepted many years ago that corruption is endemic in the government fabric and requires divine intervention. It is for this reason that my thoughts today are devoted to reviewing some of the highlights of our mighty “1986 Revolution”. I do this not for old men like me who have seen it all. It is purely for the benefit of our youth born after that “great” revolution. Our youth are a great team of voters in the coming 2011 elections. (more…)

The Ogole interview on Luwero war: Part 1 of 2

28.06.2010

UC: How and when exactly did you get involved in the Luwero war?

Col. Ogole: Let us first get the basic facts out of the way. The Luwero war was Museveni’s creation. The government I served didn’t start that war; it merely responded, as it was indeed constitutionally enjoined to do, to the threat to national security that such a war inevitably posed. But what most people have failed to appreciate all this time is that Yoweri Kaguta Museveni did not start his war against Ugandans from Luwero in 1981. Neither did he start it because the 1980 elections had been stolen. (more…)

IPC sets up another branch in the UK

28.06.2010

By Our London Reporter

The Inter Party Cooperation [IPC], a loose coalition of Ugandan opposition parties that wants to unseat President Museveni’s ruling NRM government in the general elections scheduled for February 2011 seems to be on a relentless forward march. The partners in the IPC, it will be recalled, are the Forum for Democratic Change [FDC], Uganda People’s Congress [UPC], the Conservative Party [CP], Jeema, and the Social Democratic Party [SDP]; the last to have joined the alliance. (more…)

Michael Jackson makes $1billion in death

28.06.2010

By Our Staff Writer

Michael Jackson, the so-called “King of Pop” who died on the 25^th of June 2009 aged 50, must be smiling in his grave. Jackson’s estate has made more than $1bn since his death a year ago, according to estimates by trade paper Billboard. The magazine says Jackson’s album sales have generated about $383m, while revenue from the film This Is It has hit nearly $400m. Profits from publishing rights, licensing and touring are also included in the total. (more…)

Col. Ogole spills Luwero war beans

28.06.2010

By Staff Writer

The skulls of Luwero

The series continues! Like we said, for the very first time in nearly a quarter of a century, Col. John Charles Ogole, the man whose name still rings loud in the minds of those who were involved in the 1981-86 war in Luwero, has finally spoken out. In this first of a two part Luwero specific interview, Col. John Ogole has spilt some beans about the bitter battles between Museveni’s then NRA guerrillas and the UNLA government troops that he commanded in what became known as the “Luwero Triangle”. (more…)

Museveni could retire before 2016 election

28.06.2010

By Timothy Nsubuga

Debate over President Museveni’s possible retirement from the presidency of Uganda, and perhaps even active politics all together, seems to be raging again. It’s a subject that somehow, never wants to be left out in cold when political debates are raging in the run up to most recent elections. This time round, the trigger came on Thursday June 24^th when the Daily Monitor, a Ugandan English daily newspaper, reported that parliament had “approved the retirement benefits for the President, Vice President and Prime Minister, passing a new law that will see past, present and future office bearers smiling all the way to the bank” [see: MPs okay presidential retirement perks, Daily Monitor 24^th June]. (more…)

Kayumba shooting awakens Kazini’s ghost

28.06.2010

By Timothy Nsubuga

The shooting of renegade Rwandan General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa appears to have caused more than just a few ripples. For a start, it seems to have occupied political analysts and commentators since the incident took place in Johannesburg-South Africa on Saturday 19^th June 2010. Gen. Kayumba, an exiled senior Rwandan military officer, was shot in the stomach by a lone gunman as soon as he entered the confines of his apartment block in Sandton, a posh Johannesburg suburb. (more…)

Ugandans react angrily to militia training story

28.06.2010

By Staff Writer

Last week, Mr John Patrick Wambi wrote the first of a two part opinion piece in which he warned of the inherent dangers involved in the government’s current wave of creating tribal militias. His opinion article had been inspired by an old news story which announced that the UPDF had trained a militia force from among Banyala youth in Kayunga, eastern Uganda. According James Rwebikire, the spokesperson of Ssabanyala’s Chiefdom, “…the training was one of the kingdom’s preparations for the 2011 general elections”. (more…)

Archive for June, 2010

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