Category Archives: Leo Odera Omolo

Kenya: Makere lecturers are on strike as talks between them and Finance Miunistry off finance failed

Leave a reply

Reports Leo Odera Omolo

TALKS between Makerere University and the Finance ministry yesterday failed to resolve the strike at Uganda’s largest and oldest public university.

After more than seven hours of nail-biting negotiations at the ministry, there seemed to be no end in sight to the sit-down strike which started yesterday morning.

Tanga Odoi, the head of the Makerere University Academic Staff Association, said the strike would continue until the university council resolved the matter.
The situation at the campus, however, was calm.

Students roamed about while lecture rooms and offices remained closed. The mood was dull as first year and other students who expected to start lectures appeared disappointed and stranded.

Both academic and non-academic workers are protesting the council’s and the Government’s failure to recover their pension funds from the National Insurance Corporation (NIC). The contract ended five years ago, but NIC has not paid the workers.

The money is said to have accumulated between July 1996 and 2005, when the company operated the Makerere staff pension scheme.

Makerere says the company owes sh17.7b about 2,000 workers, but the corporation said it will pay only sh13b.

“What we need is the release of our money. But we see no headway and we cannot open the university to the students,” Odoi said.

He said during the talks, NIC had instead promised to release financial statements of university staff, which he said should have been given to them on a monthly basis.

Both finance minister Syda Bbumba and the university council chairperson, Matthew Rukikaire, could not be reached for comment.

Today, the council holds an emergency meeting over the matter. The minister is also expected to meet President Yoweri Museveni over the issue. Odoi and other lecturers personally ordered the closure of most faculties.

Most new students, who reported for the first semester two weeks ago, looked stranded, while the Police patrolled the campus.

In the halls of residence, most of the workers did not report for duty. Those who did, worked half-day. In Nkurumah Hall, more than half of the 450 resident students had reported but it was not clear if they would get services.

A student and resident of Mitchell Hall said on condition of anonymity that if the administration did not resolve the matter in two days, the students would join the strike.

MUASA officials, Makerere administration and support staff chiefs met in the morning to plan the strike. Three committees are in charge of the strike.

“We appeal to students to remain calm in the next two days as the Government and the university management tackle the impasse,” Louis Kakinda, the spokesperson of the strike committees, said.

The university administration officials could not be reached for comment.

Wilson Were, the president general of the National Organisation of Trade Unions, said they had asked the Government to pay the funds, or compel NIC to do so

Ends

Uganda: Museveni warns NRM members to go to into primaries instead of short-cut

1 Reply

Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has told the National Resistance Movement (NRM) members to go into primaries knowing that the party is more important than individuals.

Museveni holds a potato given to him by a farmer in Butansi, Kamuli. Next is Kiyingi and right is Kadaga

“If you lose in an election, support the person who has won. To create disunity because you have lost is not good. Even me, I can’t do anything as an individual,” Museveni, who is the NRM chairman, noted.

“The power I have is from the people. It is wrong to think that the individual you support is higher than the party,” he added.

The President was over the weekend speaking during a talk-show over NBS FM in Jinja district during his tour of Busoga region.

Museveni denied claims by some contestants that he anointed them to vie for the various political posts in the party.

“Don’t be diverted. I can’t send anybody to contest in the party. They are all my children and I can’t support one against the other. I will support the flag-bearer elected by the people,” he clarified.

The President’s comments come at a time when cases of violent campaigns have been reported across the country in the ongoing party campaigns for MP and district chairpersons.

Today, several NRM members vying for executive posts are expected to pick nomination forms from the party headquarters in Kampala.

The President is in Busoga to assess projects implemented by NAADS under the Prosperity for All programme. The programme is aimed at fighting household poverty by boosting incomes through commercialised production.
“I have been here for a week, but have you heard me mention any candidate? I have never sent anybody to contest. All members are mine as long as they belong to the party,” the President elaborated.

In another talk-show on Kamuli Broadcasting Service FM, Museveni warned NRM leaders against fighting each other, saying leaders must not show personal or misplaced biases when dealing with party affairs.

“A manager is a leader who doesn’t take sides. Those under them may fight but not leaders,” Museveni cautioned.
The warning was prompted by reports by lands state minister Asuman Kiyingi that Parliament deputy Speaker Rebecca Kadaga was funding his opponent.

Henry Kibalya, an employee of Uganda Breweries, is among the four candidates campaigning for Bugabula South, where Kiyingi is the incumbent. Others are Charles Naluswa Mutyabule and Henry Kyesitalo.

“I have evidence that people are funded by Kadaga because I am against Prince Gabula’s becoming the Busoga king,” Kiyingi said.

Prince William Gabula Nadiope IV is facing off with Prince Edward Colombus Wambuzi for the Kyabazinga seat.
Kadaga fired back: “I think this is being cheap. I have not done anything like that. What he (Kiyingi) is saying is nonsense.”

Museveni said he would meet the leaders to discuss the issues.
He said it was wrong for party leaders to show favouritism among supporters at the grassroots

Ends

Kenya: Nicholas Biwott’s popularity on the upturn trend in Kerio South constituency

2 Replies

Leo Odera Omolo Reporting from Eldoret Town

The sacking of Jackson Kiptanui as an Assisant Minister for Environment is a blessing in disguise for the “Powerman” Nicholas Kiprono Kipyaor Biwott,the former powerful member of the Moi KANU regime.

Known to his peers as”Karnet”{ iron rod} Biwott lost the Kerio South seat for the first time in 2007. He had hold on this seat ever since he was first voted to Parliament in 1974. His defeat was unexpected. Especially due to his attractive record in an area previously considered as the most backward in the North Rift.

Biwott had turned the constituency to a hub of massive development. His tenure saw the construction of tarmacs road, massive electricity supplies, and massive water supplies to almost every village.

The constituency also witnessed the establishment and construction of many ultra modern schools, medical facilities, followed by the employment of men and women from Keiyo into senior positions in both the government, the parastatal and quasi-government organizations.

It was near impossible and nobody could dream of defeating Biwott in Kerio South constituency, which is located in the southern end of Keiyo district alongside its border with the Uasin Gishu district.

During the representation of Biwott, which last for more than two decade, the constituency also witnessed massive changes of development including the establishment of Flourpar Mining, the introduction of tea bushes and pyrethrum as some of the cash crops and.

However, the ODM euphoria that swept both North and South of the Rift like Tsunami like any other legislator of time. The popularity of the Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the North Rift at the time had become irresistible. This euphoria made many political novices like Jackson Kiptanui and other easily made to Parliament.

And when the time for the campaign for the referendum voting came, Jackson Kiptanui was one among the reel ODM who vigorously campaigned for the Reds led by the Minister for Higher Education William Ruto, and at the end become the first causality of the referendum outcome. Was kicked out of the cabinet and his place taken by Prof.Margaret Kamar who9 had exhibited unswerving loyalty to the ODM and camp0aigned vigorously for the Greens to the bitter end. It was truly the time for the party leader Raila Odinga to reward the Professor for her loyalty to the party.

The sacking ofKiptanui has since elicited strong protest from his fellow Kalenjin MPs who immediately launched the spirited scathing criticism with one Charles Keter {Belgut} likened Mr Odinga as one of the worst living dictator, adding that he is even worse than the former despotic military ruler of Uganda Idi Amin.

Soon after the news of Kiptanui sacking from the coalition government hit the streets in Eldoret and Kerio South Constituency rural area, Biwott’s loyal supporters went into celebration and merry making.

Some of overzealous ones are said to have slaughtered animals and bought crates of beer to celebrate the downfall of Kiptanui. These fancy celebrations are said to have gone one for the whole of last week.

The residents of the Kerio South for more than two decades of Biwott’s leadership were used to an industrious MP who is well known for go getter. They had enjoyed a lot of development as the surrounding valley and hilly areas turned to be green and the hub of massive agricultural development and food production. But these gains had turned to nothing ever since the year 2007 general election.

Biwott development record at the constituency level is unequalled by any MP in modern Kenya politics. He has since kept low profile preferring to chip milder comments only on issues of national importance. The “powerman” also in later years fought Uhuru Kenyatta for the position of KANU national chairmanship, but lost in a much flawed elections of the party’s national office bearers held in Kasarani, Sports Ground during which most of his supporters were locked out.

Arguably one of the wealthiest Kenyans with massive investment in the farming, oil business and properties well spread the globe, Biwott is believed to have made his wealth as the result of his loyalty and long time association with the retired President Daniel Arap Moi. Prior to being elected to Parliament in 1974, Biwott had for a long time served the former President as his private secretary. He is said to have a soft heart for both the two principals in the coalition government, President Mwai Kibaki and the Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

The powerman, is said to be only the second Kalenjin with the largest following with the community after the Higher Education Minister William Ruto and the retired President Daniel Arap Moi. The diminutive politician is also enjoying a lot of respect from members of other Kenyan communities.

Residents of Kerio South interviewed last week by this writer said they would vote Biwott on a 99 plus per cent. The constituents only regretted that they were duped by the ODM to elect a political novice who cannot deliver the goods.

“We want “Karnet” back in parliament. He is a go getter and highly productive. He has improved our socio-economic within the twenty years he was in parliament and changed the whole landscape of Kerio South. This is the place where one can easily find a family living in a grass thatched house enjoying electricity supply.

In the neighboring Cherangany, the electorate had spoken when they voted unanimously for the Greens. Something which has since became shameful to the incumbent MP Joshua Kutuny. The word making the round is that the former area MP Kipruto Arap Kirwa is also on his way to Parliament come the year 2012.Before losing his seat Kirwa had served as the Minister for Agriculture and he is credited for having done well in assisting both the large and small scale dairy farmers, maize famer and wheat farmers in the North Rift region.. But like Bowott’s Kerio South, the politics of Cheranganyi has also shifted dramatically towards Kirwa.

While sipping a glass of beer at the Wagon-Wheel the popular public joint located right in the middle of Eldoret Town, which is frequented mostly by Kalenjin political elite in the North Rift, I encountered two men from Biwott’s former constituency and engaged them in a loose political discussions, one of the two men Mr. Justus K Komen from Kerio Vally had this to say, “When the next general election is around the corner, we as the Kerio South constituents, we shall advice Hon Biwott to take his family along with him to the Coast or abroad for holiday, and we shall do the campaign on his behalf and ensure that he is back in Parliament with an overwhelming majority of not less than 100 plus per cent.”.

The other person who preferred to maintain his anonymity, blamed William Ruto and the retired President Daniel Arap Moi arguing that the two spent a lot of time and resources campaigning against the Kalenjin Ministers Henry Kosgei,{Tinderet} Dr Sally Kosgeyi{Aldai} and Franklin Bett {Buret} but did not bother to visit Kerio South and Cherany

Komen revealed that in 2012, the ODM leaders and members in the region would consider prevailing upon an aspirant who is a pure Nandi candidate be it a man or a woman to take on Ruto in Eldoret North. The just concluded referendum voting in whose outcome Ruto had emerged slightly a winner, but almost in neck to neck with the Greens, had shown us that Ruto is not all that invisible and he is a beatable man. if the pure Kalenjins voters could be well coordinated with voters from other communities living in the constituency.

The names Biwott and Kirwa, now rung into the ears of everyone in all public joins in Eldoret and Kitale towns.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yajhoo.com

UGANDA’S OPPOSITION INTER-PARTY COALITION IS ONTHE VERGE OF COLLAPSE FILLOWING UPC’S CLAIMS OF LACK OF TRANSPARENCY

2 Replies

Reports Leo Odera Omolo

The opposition Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) coalition on Wednesday appeared to be on the verge of collapse as officials from one of the parties accused its leaders of not being transparent.

The Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) party’s secretary general, Joseph Bossa, said there were many loopholes in the coalition that UPC needs to discuss before taking part in the nominations.

“We have important concerns to do with good faith and transparency that we need to address in a very serious manner with the IPC summit. After reaching an understanding, then we shall have our candidate nominated,” Bossa told journalists at a press briefing.

IPC is a loose coalition of five political parties which seeks to front a single candidate to dislodge President Yoweri Museveni from power in next year’s elections.

But faultlines have already emerged in the alliance, which has been shunned by the Democratic Party.

Bbosa said they have called for the meeting of IPC summit to agree on the way forward.

On Tuesday, anxiety gripped members of the opposition after UPC’s leader, Olara Otunnu, failed to turn up for nominations of the 2011 joint candidate at Kololo Airstrip.

However, UPC’s presidential envoy, Patrick Mwondha, told the gathering that the warrant of arrest issued by a magistrate in Lira district prevented Otunnu from participation.

FDC president Kizza Besigye, Makerere University lecturer Prof. James Kigongo (Conservative Party), Makindye West MP Hussein Kyanjo (Justice Forum) and Makindye East MP Michael Mabikke (Social Democratic Party) were successfully nominated. Otunnu was given up to Monday to hand in his papers for nominations.

Bossa explained that apart from the on-going court case, Otunnu had travelled to London before the official nomination date was communicated.

Joseph Ochieno, a member of UPC, said Besigye had turned the IPC into an FDC thing.

“Main positions in IPC are headed by FDC members while other parties are given small positions,” Ochieno noted.
Otunnu’s press secretary, Robert Kanusu, said IPC should not give deadlines to any one for nominations if it is a focused coalition.

Ends

Ugandan father kills his son for ritual sacrifices and buried him in a shallow grave

Leave a reply

Writes Leo Odera Omolo

David Mwesigye suffocated his son to death. He then carried the body from his home in Kisowera along the Mukono-Kayunga road to Godfrey Ssajjabi, a witchdoctor in Kigunga, about 15km on the Kampala-Jinja highway.

Godfrey Ssajjabbi (left) a witchdoctor and David Mwesigye a father to Derrick Mutebi who was sacrificed

Under the cover of darkness, the two dug a hole at the edge of the witchdoctor’s compound, placed the body in the hole and planted a banana sucker to avoid suspicion.

It was Saturday 23rd September, 2007. Only Mwesigye and the witchdoctor knew that little Derrick Mutebi was no more. At the age of one and a half years, he had been brutally killed by his father, a television technician, the very person who was supposed to nurture him.

By coincidence the boy’s mother, Ephransi Namuddu, who had separated from Mwesigye, felt the urge to go and see her son.

When she did not find her son in the house, Mwesigye lied to her that the boy was living with his grandmother in Maganjo on the Kampala-Gayaza road.

She went all the way to Maganjo, only to be told that Mwesigye had not taken the boy there. It was then that she reported to Police that her son had gone missing.

Mwesigye was arrested and he led Police to the witchdoctor’s place where they had buried the body. Police exhumed the body and took it to Kawolo Hospital for a postmortem.

As Mwesige confessed in court on Wednesday, he could not come to terms with what he had done to his own son.

He broke down and cried while testifying before a special High Court Session in Mukono which was presided over by Justice Jane Kiggundu.

“I didn’t intend to kill him. I was only disciplining him,” he pleaded.
Initially Mwesigye claimed that the boy had been electrocuted. But his landlord, Katende Bumali, testified that he did not have electricity in the house.

Later he changed, claiming he was only administering a disciplinary beating when they boy died. But the post-mortem report from Lugazi hospital showed that the boy suffocated to death.

The report also showed that the child’s genitals were partially detached.
Left with no other lie to tell, the two pleaded guilty. But they pleaded for lenience arguing that they were first offenders.

Mwesigye added that he had learnt a bitter lesson that it was not proper to punish a child like an animal, and that he would not repeat the offence.

Their lawyer, Musa Sembajja, also asked court to be lenient to them by giving them the minimum sentences because they had not wasted court’s time by denying the offence.

The lawyer further asked that the witchdoctor should be given a lighter sentence of seven years in jail since he did not participate in the killing. “He only accepted to have the body buried at his place.

The only offense he committed was that he never informed Police.”
But the Resident State Attorney Gladys Nyanzi asked court to give the duo a maximum sentence, which is death.

She argued that killing one’s own child and cutting off the genitals was strong evidence of ritual murder, for which the two should be severely punished.

Nyanzi said that by killing the boy, Mwesigye violated the responsibility given to him by the Constitution to protect his children’s rights to life.

“The boy suffered twice when Mwesigye chased his mother from home and when he killed him.

This is a case of murder of a child. It is one of the child sacrifice cases which are rampant in Uganda today. It is my request that in your sentence you show that murder is punishable in the courts of law,” she added.

Nyanzi explained that Ssajjabi was equally responsible for killing the boy because he did not report the matter to the Police.

“Child sacrifice is an inhuman habit that must be fought. Scenarios have shown that body parts of human beings are on a high demand by the witchdoctors.

The deceased’s genitals were partially detached meaning that they were the target,” she said. “I therefore appeal for the same sentence for Ssajjabi.”

The ruling was set to be made yesterday but the judge postponed it to Monday after the defence lawyer asked for an opportunity for his clients to make an additional plea.

He argues that much as they pleaded guilty to the murder, it was not ritual sacrifice as depicted by prosecution.

ends

Kenya: How amorous fisherman lost this teeth after eloping with farmers wife

2 Replies

Writes Leo Odera Omolo

AN incident, in which a young fisherman is said to have lost his upper and lower teeth, is still the common talks within the three lakeside districts of Nyatika, Gwasi and Mbita in the greater Southern Nyanza region.

Puzzled fishermen, fish traders and petty kiosk traders operating their businesses on the small Island of Ringiti have yet to come to term with the realities of what happened in the first week of August.

Ringit is asmally rocky fishing Island, which is located few kilometers of Mfangano Island in the Lake Victoria. It is one of those islands like Migingo, which Kenya and Ugandan governments are currently locked in dispute over their ownership.

Majority of fishermen and trader operating on this Island are Kenyans of Luos and Somali origins. Also, there are few Luhyia fishermen from Banyala sub-clanwho came from Sigulu Island formerly part of Kenya, but now on the Ugandan side of the Lake and also from Port Victoria I the mainland Budalangi constituency.

Like its sister Island Migingo, Ringiti is also housing Ugandans and Tanzanian fishermen and fish merchants.

It happened that an unfaithful married woman who is actively involved in fish trade, making her frequently traversing between Ringiti and Muhuru- Bay on the mainland Nyatike district. The woman who is called Adhiambo Sianda {Not her real name}had formed the habit of visiting the island for the purpose of purchasing fish from fishermen and then crossing the lake back to the mainland quite often. She could spend between four days or one week on the Island depending on the availability of fish. But all this time she used to be staying with relatives and friends.

But the woman who is said to be the third wife of a wealthy farmer living on the mainland and a mother of three children two daughters and one son had since February this year, is reported to have requested her husband {name with held} to allow her to rent a one room house of her own on the Island . The husband consented to this request and even travelled with her to the Island for the purpose of blessing the one room house as required by the Luo tradition and cultural virtue.

After blessing the house, the husband spent about three days with her on the Island and returned home to the mainland. Thereafter, the woman frequent trips to the mainland where she usually sells her fish became unusually irregular and dwindled though previously she used to return home almost every week.

A young woman married to a young man of twenty six years, but from a neighboring village is said to have confronted the woman’s husband in a market place and told him how his businesswoman wife had taken her husband along with her to the Ringiti fishing island, where they are reported to be cohabitating in one room house like a husband and wife.

The farmer couldn’t believe what he was hearing. But he composed himself handled the matter with dignity which is devoid of emotion and hired and dispatched a “Private Eye”to the island to investigate the rumor. The private eye spent three days on the island pretending to be o n a fish buying mission and returned home with full facts, that reaffirmed the story. The investigator even visited the woman and her secret loved and had supper with the unsuspecting lovers couple who entertained him with a few bottles of beer.

On receiving the report, the farmer armed himself with a Maasai simi, a rungu and hired a motorboat late in the afternoon for a close to four hour voyage. He arrived on the island at about 7.p.m. and walked street into his wife one roomed house. The wife was somehow surprised why he had made such an abrupt trip inquiring if something fishy has happened I n the family back home. But her husband only smiled broadly telling her that he had become love-sick after missing her for a couple of weeks.

Inside the house, the husband who caught the woman by surprise and unaware, saw a number a man’s clothes hanged, a man shoes, hut and other materials, which indicated that the place was a living room for a couple. But did not bother to inquire from his wife who the man or the owners of those materials was.

The woman cooked supper of “Ngege” and both enjoyed it with Ugali. The woman even took her visiting husband to a small bar and the two of them consumed several bottles of Tuskers” before coming back to the house and retiring to bed. During all these happened the visiting husband never showed any sign of distress of annoyance.

It happened that the husband arrived at the time when the amorous man had gone on fishing expedition for the whole night only returning after past midnight. The wife is said to have made frantic effort to reach his secret lover via her cell phone, but it was heavily raining and the young man had switched off his mobile phone the better part of the night, therefore there was a total communication breakdown between.

Inside the woman’s house, her husband had hidden the crude weapons inside a big brief case and things looked normal. But at about 2.30 AM,there was a knock at the door.The young man had returned from fishing expedition and had come home to sleep. Them woman hesitated from opening the door, and it was the husband who stood up in the darkness got hold of his rungu and Maasai sword and opened the door for the stranger. As the amorous fishermen popped his head past the door while inquiring what had happened to the spotlight the where about of the lamp, the husband slashed his nose with the simi. This was followed with heavy blows to his face sending sprawling on the ground This was the best opportunity of the offended husband to use made good use of his rungu. He reigned blow and kicks on the helpless man on the ground and struck the man on both knees and face.

The amorous fishermen grasp the remaining strength, stoop up and took to his heel, but to nowhere, because the small fishing island is only an acre and half in and size, most of it occupied by small huts which belong to the fishermen and fish traders.

The whole Island got woken amid the cries of Uwwwiii Uwiii which alerted the few Ugandan security personnel who were on the patrol near the island. As the amorous fishermen run around the rocky island with the husband of the woman in hot pursuit on his heels. He latr jumped on one parked small home made canoe and pushed it into the water and peddle to the deeper said of the lake to escape punishment.

But not before the man lost four of his upper teach and two of the lower teeth plus a suspoected broken jews.after received blows from the husband of the woman a heavily built and stronger man of about 45years.

The amorous fisherman is reported to have single handedly peddled the canoe up to Karungu Bay in Nyatike mainland living his clothe and other belonging on the Island, which the enraged husband is said to have confiscated and promised to use as exhibits in a divorce case he is planning to file in a civil court later.

The husband was heard shouting loudly while raining blows on the face of the amorous fisherman “Ong’erni tinde ini ng’eya ni an ng’ano” (you monkey today you’ll know whom I am today}

Sources have told us that the husband boarded the boat which he had hired previously taking with him all the belonging of his wife, plus fisherman’s clothes of her secret lover. The woman later followed her husband on the mainland, but went straight to her parents home, while her secret loved boarded a boat heading for Bugiri district in Uganda where he is said to be receiving medical treatment for the nose his buttered nose and bodily injuries he had sustained during the midnight heavy championship boxing bout, which has since been baptized as Mohamed Ali Verses Joe Frezier of the 1970s in Manilla Philiphine.

Report emerging from areas adjacent to Lake Victoria shorelines and also from the dozens of small fishing islands talk of moral decaying in that many woman who had left their husbands on the mainland usually hired young men s the acting husbands while doing business in those places. Widows whose husbands have died of HIV/Aids have also infiltrated these places for easy and luxurious life.Ad that is reason why there is widespread of the Hiv/Aids outbreak.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

Uganda: Otunnu snubs Inter-parties joint nomination for a presidential candidate

Leave a reply

Reports Leo Odera Omolo

ANXIETY gripped members of the opposition when the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) leader, Olara Otunnu, did not turn up for the nomination of the 2011 joint candidate at Kololo Airstrip yesterday.

The tent for the UPC supporters remained empty as the exercise kicked off at 10:30am, raising fears that Otunnu, who has been advocating for a single opposition candidate, had snubbed the function.

FDC president Dr. Kizza Besigye, Makerere University lecturer Prof. James Kigongo (Conservative Party), Makindye West MP Hussein Kyanjo (Justice Forum) and Makindye East MP Michael Mabikke (Social Democratic Party) were successfully nominated.

The Inter-Party Coalition (IPC) electoral affairs commission leader, Maj. Rubaramira Ruranga, said they had been notified about Otunnu’s absence.

“We received communication that our friends in UPC will not be able to participate in today’s process because they have a court case,” he said.

UPC’s presidential envoy Patrick Mwondha said a warrant of arrest issued by a magistrate in Lira district prevented Otunnu from participation.
Other sources, however, said Otunnu was out of the country.

“The warrant meant that he could be arrested wherever he could be found,” Mwondha said.

He, however, said the Constitutional Court had yesterday issued a temporary order quashing the warrant.
He assured the opposition that UPC was still committed to the IPC.

“We shall work together to fight the dictatorship of this government which had intended to halt us from taking part in this function,” he stated.
On August 3, the Lira Magistrate’s Court issued a warrant of arrest for Otunnu after he failed to appear in court to answer sedition and sectarianism charges.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has ruled out joining the coalition.
DP leader Nobert Mao said his party would work closely with IPC to ensure free and fair elections.

He said DP would compare notes with the coalition, especially in identifying candidates for the parliamentary and local council elections.

“If they don’t accept our proposals, we shall field candidates everywhere and tussle it out during the elections,” Mao told a weekly press briefing at City House, Kampala.

He hailed the newly-proposed political parties’ consultative forum that was launched at Hotel Africana yesterday. “We believe this forum, if well used, will highlight some of the concerns of Ugandans,” Mao said.

Former Buganda premier Joseph Ssemwogerere, who was introduced at the nomination centre as an elder, lauded the IPC leaders for subjecting themselves to a democratic process.
He said Uganda needs a change in governance.

“We should all stand up and say no to the cancer of corruption. I call upon Ugandans to shake off fear. We must give Ugandans hope,” Ssemwogerere said.

Besigye said he was still a prisoner “on temporary bail on cases which were tramped up in 2005.”

“This shows why we need to get rid of dictatorship in this country,” Besigye said.

JEEMA’s Kyanjo said he would focus on environmental protection, sound land use and clean leadership.
CP’s Kigongo said his governance would usher in a federal government so that there is equitable sharing of resources.

Mabikke said his party looks at the peaceful transfer of power as the only way to move the country forward.

Ends

Uganda: Bomb blast suspect in court to answer criminal charges

Leave a reply

Writes Leo odera Omolo In Kisumu City

Dozens of suspects accused of involvement in the July 11 twin bombings in Kampala appearing before the Nakawa Court in Kampala yesterday

Dozens of suspects accused of involvement in the July 11 twin bombings in Kampala appearing before the Nakawa Court in Kampala yesterday

ANOTHER 32 suspects were yesterday charged with terrorism, murder and attempted murder, following the July 11 bomb blasts which killed at least 79 people in Kampala. Four Kenyans had earlier been charged over the same offences.

Each of the suspects who appeared in court yesterday faces 78 capital offences. Among the accused were Ugandans, Kenyans, Somalis and a Pakistani.

They appeared before Nakawa Chief Magistrate Deo Sejjemba in a heavily guarded courtroom. About 60 armed security officers surrounded the court premises.

Edward Ochom, the head of criminal investigations, was in charge of security at the court.

The suspects arrived at the court in two batches, handcuffed and under heavy guard. Some walked with difficulty.

Some came aboard a passenger omni-bus taxi and saloon cars with tinted windows.

The prosecutor said each of the accused were responsible for the murder of the 60 people who died at Kyadondo Rugby Club and 15 at the Ethiopian Village Restaurant in Kabalagala, where the bombs exploded. They also face three offences of terrorism and 10 of attempted murder.

Immediately after the accused were charged, the prosecutor applied to have them remanded in police cells for two weeks as opposed to taking them to Luzira Prison.

He explained that this would allow the Police easy access to the suspects for further investigation.

A big crowd gathered at the court but security refused them entry into the courtroom, except journalists and lawyers.

After the court proceedings, Police officers whisked the suspects away in 10 pick-up trucks to various Kampala police stations for further detention.

Ends

Kenya: Kalenjin MPs must respect Raila Odihnga as their party leader and stop insults

1 Reply

Commentary By Leo Odera Omolo

WHEREAS the ODM party leader and the Prime Minister Raila Odinga has extended an olive branch to his party rebel MPs who had campaigned vigorously to derail the draft constitution during the just concluded referendum voting, a group of ODM MPs from the Rift Valley appeared not to have appreciated this good gesture.

These MPs have flagrantly refused to reciprocate the PM’s political magnanimity and statesmanship and have gone solo unfairly attacking every move made by Mr Odinga to normalize the working relations within his party.

Led by Belgut MP Charles Keter and the Konoin MP Dr Julius Kones, the group has gone overboard as far as likened Mr Odinga’s alleged dictatorship tendency to be even worse than those of the former despotic and murderous ruler of Uganda Idi Amin.

Keter and his cronies, however, seemed to have forgotten that most of them had faithfully served in senior positions of decision making in the former KANU regime of the retired President Daniel Arap Moi who used to crack his whip on dissident Ministers over the Voice of Kenya lunch time news broadcasting without consulting individual concerned. And off course Keter and his cahoots never complained about this kind of iron fist dictatorial ruling style.

Many Kenyans had gone through the harrowing experience at the now infamous “Nyayo House torture chambers’. Some were maimed and even lost their manhood, while the unlucky one perished. But the likes of Keter were silent not to even to utter a word in protest against this kind of draconian police brutality of the time. They heaped many good songs of praise and continued worshipping Moi like the small God. Why? Is it because he was their fellow Kalenjin?

Anyway, for Honorable Keter who lost his lucrative ministerial position a few months ago as an Assistant Minster for Energy owing to political miscalculation, one could understand his sentiment that he is ‘crying over spilt milk”

It is time these political novices and mediocre from the Kalenjin community to come into terms with the political realities that for their people having voted unanimously for the Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s presidential hopeful in during the year 2007 general election, this did not qualify them to hold the Prime Minister at political ransom nor for political enslavement. This is highly primitive way of doing politics in modern Kenya. Politics is a game that is not static, but kept on changing according to the political circumstance prevailing at the given time.

It is not compulsorily necessary that only Raila Odinga will be the next President of Kenya, and even if it must be so, must he be subjected to enslavement to an extent of kneeling before the Rift Valley leaders and becoming an apologist to the Kalenjin MPs? Although I am in agreement with those upholding the school of thought that politics is the question of numbers, it doesn’t work that way.

The just concluded referendum voting outcome had indicated that even those most vocal anti-Raila MPs from the region have lost touch with their constituents at the grass root.

A case in point is that of Hon Joshua Kutuny in Cherangany constituency whose constituents voted unanimously for the Green despite their MP in the forefront in the Reds camp. Another good example is the Eldoret North constituency where the electorate voted almost on 50-50 ratio giving the area MP William Ruto who headed the No camp a narrow and negligible lead over the Yes camp.

These were all clear indication that nobody had the monopoly of the Kalenjin votes. Even the born again Ruto’s latest credible ally the retired President Daniel Moi had all his three sons shown the exit door during the 2007 polls in all three constituencies where they had wanted to be elected to Parliament, though the grand old man seemed not to have learnt a lasting lesson from this shameful experience.

What we are seeing is that the present crops of Kalenjin getting sucked into politics of mediocrity couple with wrong, immature and childish strategies. No wonder some people had coined the word that there were MPs for sell in the current 10th Parliament. These words were coined during the massive maize scandal in which every youthful Kalenjin MP it was alleged to have become multi-millionaires over night.

They lacked the intellect instinct and true nationalism which was exhibited by their predecessors like Dr.Taaita AraapToweett and John Marie Seroney who stood firm and steadfast with their fellow early nationalist from other Kenyan communities and gave the colonialists the sleepless nights during the struggle for liberation of this country from the colonial yokes.

These political novices nee to learn that the Rift Valley Province is not the exclusive home of the Kalenjins ethnic groups alone, but an area which is more or less a cosmopolitan region housing and accommodating people from the various ethnic background, tribes and races who have chosen the region to be their home.

Ever since Keter and his friends were elected to Parliament none of them has ever stood up and demanded that the land leases covering up to the 999 years issued to the white farmers and the foreign owned multinational tea companies in areas like Nandi Hills, Kericho,Bomet, Buret, Belgut and Sotik be reviewed and negotiated afresh for the reasonable 99 years. But what we do hear is about the big scramble for cheap handouts and business deals from these tea companies, Though the talk about the loopholes in certain clauses of the new draft constitution had rent the air during the referendum campaign nobody addressed these leases as part of the contentious land issues. Are these gentlemen of Parliament truly and genuinely representing the views of their constituents?

Is it Raila Odinga that has stopped these MPs from articulating the views of their electorate on the realignment of the leases for the prime the land in their region that are still being occupied by foreigners The anti-Raila MPs from the Kalenni community must go back to the drawing board and learn how to be cohesive enough. In fact it was Mr Odinga’s popularity that made some of them to be what they are to day. Most of them could not have defeated Moi’s KANU blue eyed boys in 2007 election. And the recent referendum voting has taught us a lesson tat the dreadful KANU Y92 is still very much alive in William Ruto and Cyrus Jirongo.

These MPs should be repentant and accept the olive branch extended to them by Raila Odinga and join hands with the rest of Kenya in the real task of nation building instead of chest thumping rhetoric and useless political antics

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

Uganda: Museveni pay full treament cost for Uganda muscian who suffered bullet wounds

Leave a reply

Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has paid all expenses for singer Bebe Cool’s further treatment in the US, including medical fees; travel expenses and upkeep for his wife Zuena Kirema and their two children, the deputy spokesman for State House, Linda Nabusayi, has confirmed.

Reggae music artiste Moses Ssali, also known as Bebe Cool, and his two aides, were shot by a special Police constable in January this year between Oasis Shopping Mall and Centenary Park.

Bebe Cool (right), wife Zuena and children will fly to USA to treat the bullet injuries he suffered

Bebe Cool, who was shot in the legs, was hospitalised at Nsambya Hospital for three weeks, and upon discharge, he sought expertise overseas. He currently moves in a wheelchair or with the help of clutches.

Museveni visited him at the hospital and offered to pay his medical bills. The President is a longtime associate of his father, veteran politician Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, although he (Bidandi) defected from NRM to form his own political party

Yesterday, Bebe Cool said: “I wrote to the President informing him about the recommended treatment in the US , he responded to the full budget and I appreciate the offer very much.”

Although he did not disclose the exact amount he got from State House, sources told New Vision that the singer was given over $75,000 (sh165m) “I will not discuss the amount of money I was given in respect to His Excellency. I will keep it to myself,” he asserted.

The singer flies out next week to Boston, US, but he did not disclose the hospital he is going to.

He said Dr. Emmanuel Okello and Dr. Steven Muwazi from Nsambya Hospital were coordinating with medics in Boston to complete his treatment.

He says his right leg still swells and he still has numbness in all legs.

Bebe Cool revealed that his bill, including the wheelchair, clutches, checks-ups and treatment costs for his injured aides, currently stands at sh30m.

Ends

Uganda: NEWVISION calls for the suspension of all oil deal until taxation law is enacted

Leave a reply

Reports Leo Odera Omolo

THE Government has tabled a Bill requiring that oil companies provide the Uganda Revenue Authority, details of their annual returns. When the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2010 becomes law, the non-compliant companies face a penalty of between $50,000(sh110m) and $500,000(sh1.1b).

While the Government should be commended for trying to put in place measures to guard against this valuable natural resource, the tabling of this Bill now is a confirmation that the existing agreements with the oil companies were flawed. The bitter truth is that at the moment, we are relying on the goodwill of these oil companies as far as any revenue is concerned.

Uganda is, therefore, in a very precarious position and is likely to lose the $404m(sh808b) tax claim against Heritage because there was no legal framework governing such a payment.

We are even not sure whether what we are claiming is accurate because the existing agreements lack methodology of estimating what Uganda should be getting. This was how Hardman Petroleum went away without paying almost anything.

However, it is better late than never. This is not the time for the blame game, but for finding lasting solutions to avoid the oil curse. Uganda was desperate for foreign investors who could have taken advantage of our inexperience in the oil sector to put in place a skewed agreement.

Uganda should, therefore, suspend all transactions on oil exploitation and go back to the drawing board to ensure the country gets a more favourable deal.

For instance, it is ridiculous for Ugandan crude oil price to be fixed at $15(sh30,000) per barrel when the international market price is $80(sh16,000) per barrel. The oil exploitation phase is rather delayed until a solid legal framework is in place than rush and lose everything.

Ends

Kenya: Embattled Luo Council of Elders met face to face for the first time since the coup

1 Reply

Writes Leo Odera Omolo At Kendu Bay In Rachuonyo district.

Two factions of the splinter groups within the embattled Luo Council of Elders met face to face for the first time since the much highlighted ousting of the former Council chairman Meshack Riaga Ogalo in an inside boardroom coup last June.

They met face to face during the burial ceremony of an elder Mzee Lawi Ouya at Simbi, Kogembo village in Central Karachuonyo Location, North Rachuonyo district.The present of the members of the two factions had caused a lot of tension in this quiet and sleeping rural village.

Members of the factions had travelled from allover Luo-Nyanza to Karachuonyo after the news went around that the Prime Minister Raila Odinga would attend the high profile burial. But the PM skipped the function and instead attended a church service in Nairobi.

The ousted chairman Riaga Ogalo is known to have been criss-crossing the entire Luo-Nyanza while seeking the public support, and at the same time and recruiting MPs from the greater Southern Nyanza to his side. Some of them like Dalmas Otieno [Rongo] and Joshua Orwa Ojode [Ndhiwa]have since gone public in support of the ousted chairman. He had also held a series of consultative meeting with politicians, civic leaders and ODM operatives in search of political goodwill in support in the battle with his ousters.

Former Karachuonyo MP Mrs Pho9ebe M Asiyo, who is herself known to be aligned to Ker Meshack Riaga Ogalo’s side implored the two groups to reconcile for ‘ the sake of the community’ amid the strong murmurs and strong feeling among the thousands of mourners that the two group should be disbanded to pave the way for a properly constituted Luo Council of Elders in which credible and nonpartisan elders should be elected democratically to serve as its members

Mrs Asiyo had prevailed upon the leaders of the two functions Mzee Meshack Riaga Ogalo [ousted] and the incumbent Mzee Opiyo Otondi [currently registered chairman]to shake hands as a sign of reconciliation spirit amid prolonged applause by mourners.

He former legislator said the current split among the elders was not healthy and insisted that they should reconcile and work together for the betterment of the community.

Buoyed by appreciation displayed by hundred s of the mourners urged, Mr Asiyo to encourage Mzee Opiyo Otondi who had earlier declined to speak to rise up and address them. She reminded the elders during the old time wrestling matches among the Luos when one threw his rival on the ground, he did not set upon him on the ground, but he must quickly stood up to allow the match loser to stand up .

Asiyo reminded the elders present who included Mzee Meshack Riaga Ogalo and others to reconcile for the sake of the community a request that both factions acknowledged.’ We are supposeand unity said Mzee Opiyo Otondi.

Mzee Riaga Ogalo denied that there were any wrangling and that the Council was intact. He insisted that he was till the chairman of the Council despite the fact that the Opiyo Otondi group has been duly registered by the Registrar of the Society.

Ogalo, however, is known to have been travelling the full length and width of the Luo Nyanza campaigning to regain his lost seat, and has enlisted the support of several powerful MPs ion the greater Southern Nyanza to lobby for his group, among them the influential, Mrs Asiyo.

THE TRIBULATION OF THE Luo Council of Elders, which is supposed to have succeeded the Luo Union [EA}a welfare organization started about ten years ago when the Prime minister Raila Odinga disbanded the original Council and replaced it with the operatives of the LDEP against the advice of many wise counsels.

Thereafter its members were always handpicked from the LKDP and later ODM operatives with no proper election. Elders had strongly asked for the Council to be de-linked to the ODM and operate on its own as a different entity in the same way and manner the Luo Uniin [EA]. They were citing the fact that after having been elected to the Colonial Legislative Council in March 1957, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga who by the was the pioneer Ker [Chairman of the Luo Union E.A had relinquished his position to a non-partisan elder the late Pastor Joel Omer.

None of the current member of the Council had gone through the grass root elections, but all were just handpicked by Raila Odinga and his cahoots in Kisumu. This has turned the Council to look like a wing of the ODM in the same fashion as the party youths and women wing. The Council constitution stipulates that a member must come from his home grass root election and must not necessarily be an ODM operative.

During the brief stint of the KANU/LDP marriage of convenience and political rapport, Luo Council members had pressurized the retired President Daniel Arap Moi to anoint Raila Odinga as his successor to no avail. Sat one time, the Council members were invited to Kabarak home of the retired President for a meeting with Kalenjin elders, but no credible elder from the Kalenjin attended the meeting. They were duped to a discussion with the retired former government security intelligence officers and secret service policemen faking Kalenjin elders.

Another meeting was hastily arranged at the SONYSUGAR guest House in Awendo Town, where the best Luo speakers were assigned to persuade Daniel Arap Moi to anoint Raila Odinga as his successor. By then M<r Odinga was the KANU SECRETARY General, and within a week after Awendo meeting Mr Moi made publicly known while visiting the Mt. Elgon district that he had anointed Mr Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta as his successor.

Many credible and political elite as well as academicians wanted to know the criteria of electing member of the Council. And are known to be urging that concern to improve the electoral system so that the Council become representative and popular vehicle that would help the community gain economic empowerment instead of being used as a rubber stamp or a ladder by an individual for his own selfish ends.

Political pundits insist hat those sitting in the Council at the moment are stranger because none had the blessing of the grass root voters in their respect home and districts. The former Secretary of the Council Mzee Benjamin Okang’Tolo told this writer last week that he had long predicted a fall out, particularly when Raila Odinga moved and maneuvered him and his group out of the Council and replaced them with former jaramogi Oginga Odinga youth wingers. The Council lost its meaning and became part of the ODM.

SAs much as we are unanimously supporting Raila Odinga presiudetial ambitio,he should also reciprocate the good gesture by relaxing his hold on the Council matters and let it be a non-partisan and neutral organization serving all the Luos include ODM member and non-members equally.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

Kenya is rapidly losing its fertile land which is alarmingly turning into desert

Leave a reply

NEWS Analysis by Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

EXPERTS have warned that Kenya’s arid and semi arid areas are fast turning into desert unless stern preventive measures are taken in time.

The warning come from the National Environment Management Authority [NEMA] has warned that 80 per cent of arid and semi arid areas are fast becoming unproductive in terms of food grain production.

Kenya is among countries in Sub-Saharan Africa now threatened by desertification. It has about 17 million acres of forest cover representing 2.5 per cent of its total land area. Dry land, however, account for 50 per cent of the country’s total land surface while forest cover continues to decrease mainly due to clearance for human settlement.

The Ministry in charge of Environment has said that the phenomenon has spread in recent years putting a severe strain on Agriculture.

The fears was expressed by the Director of NEMA Mr Ayub Macharia who said the latest satellite information shows that country is rapidly losing vegetative cover at an alarming rate.

‘Desertification is now threatening the livelihood of the pastoralist communities in various parts of the country. Unless we start planting trees, these areas will turn into harsh desert within the next ten years,’ said Macharia.

The Nema Director was speaking during the launch of the United Nations Decade for Desert and Plight against Desertification held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

‘Africa is at risk with some 22 million of its people living on land that is threatened by desertification.

The United Nations launched an eleven year plan to tackle desertification worldwide. These plans include raising awareness and taking activities in the management as well as taking action in the management and protection of vegetative cover

Present at the launching of these plan were the representatives of the Un Environment Program [UNEP], the UNDP, the World Agro forestry Center [ICRAF] AND THE International fund for Agriculture and Development.

UNEP Deputy Executive Director Angela Cropper said the UN would accelerate efforts to combat deforestation.’ Using ten year awareness on the causes and solutions to desertification, ‘cropper added.

UNDP resident representative Aeneas Chuma asked governments in Africa to pay attention to people living in dry areas.’ Unless we improve the livelihood of people living in arid areas, we should forget about the MDGs particularly on poverty reduction,’ said Chuma.

ICRAF deputy director general Tom Simons called for immediate rehabilitation of landscapes in dry areas. He said the eleven years plan would provide the importance of forest under dry land to the communities across the world.

The Nairobi function yesterday coincides with another meeting currently going on in Fortaleza, Brazil.

After independence in 1963, the communities living in various parts of the West of Rift Valley Province defiantly went into tree felling rampage. Most of the forest and vegetation cover were destroyed by the timber merchants and the charcoal burners with impunity. The worse hit areas include Nandi Escarpment, Tinderet, Soin in Kericho, Burn Forest, Kuresoi, Mau Forest and other areas. What is now left on the top of the hills and mountains along the Nandi Escarpment are the sharp rocks pointing to the sky. These rocks are becoming real menace to the people living in the settlement blow as at time these rocks flies downward threatening the residents of villages below the hills.

Prior to the country attainment of political independence , the British colonial administration had kept the local chiefs and their assistants on their toes keeping vigilant against illegal tree belling, illegal logging, charcoal burner and timber merchants, but after independent the country administrative system seemed to have totally collapsed.

In areas such as Songhor, Fort-Tennan. Koru, Sondu, Kapsarok, Kibeneti along the Nyanza / Rift Valley borders those indignant trees, which used to stand magnificently on the top of the hills have gone up in smokes, perhaps in the born fire of independence.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

Leaders skips the crucial consultative meeting on Uganda’s next year elections

Leave a reply

Reports Leo Odera Omolo

THE Inter-Party Cooperation (IPC) is to agree on the flag-bearer for the 2011 elections by consensus, officials said yesterday. Nominations take place today at Kololo Airstrip.

The publicity secretary of the Forum for Democratic Change party, Wafula Oguttu, said the coalition had set up a committee to convince candidates to choose the flag-bearer without elections.

The party’s president, Kizza Besigye, is among the five candidates due for nomination today. Other candidates are Hussein Kyanjo of Justice Forum, Prof. James Kigongo of the Conservative Party, Dr. Olara Otunnu of the Uganda Peoples Congress and Michael Mabikke of the Social Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party, led by Norbert Mao, has not yet joined the coalition.

“Candidates will first go into negotiations immediately after nominations.

Later, they will meet the eminent team for talks to decide on who should pull out and who should stand in for IPC,” Oguttu said.

The results will be announced on August 23, 2010. Besigye said: “After nominations we shall sit and decide as candidates and I do not know whether I will be the favourite candidate. I cannot say I am the best but I have experience and support.”

Kyanjo and Ken Lukyamuzi also said a negotiated candidate would create harmony among the members of the opposition

Ends

Uganda’s opinion polls show Museveni ahead of his rivals by 52 points per cent

2 Replies

Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

MORE than half of Ugandans say President Yoweri Museveni is the best candidate to solve their most pressing problems if re-elected, according to a New Vision opinion poll. They also rate his ruling NRM party highly, saying like Museveni, it will deal with their issues.

Heath, transport, education, children and employment are the top problems that Ugandans want candidates for next years’ elections to address, the countrywide poll revealed. Also on the list of 19 most pressing problems are personal security, agriculture, poverty alleviation and water and sanitation.

Overall, 52.72% said Museveni was the most capable. The other politicians mentioned each had less than 20%.

However, 18.41%, a significant portion of the electorate, is still undecided on who is the most capable candidate. It would appear that the candidate who addresses the most pressing needs could win the vote.

The respondents were asked to name a presidential candidate without being given alternatives to choose from.

“Museveni is doing his best; how¬ever, in most cases he is let down by his ministers and other people sup¬posed to implement decisions,” said a respondent from Butembe in Jinja.

This is the biggest survey under¬taken by a media house in Uganda. A total of 10,097 Ugandans of voting age, randomly selected in 67 counties, were asked to state their most pressing problems and who they thought would adequately provide solutions to them. The poll was conducted from June 21 to July 23 by New Vision in-house researchers.

Respondents were asked three questions. The first was about issues they wanted politicians to address during the campaigns. The other two were the political party and presidential candidate they thought would competently address the issues in the campaign and tackle them if elected.

Museveni, who is likely to be the ruling party flag-bearer of the NRM in the 2011 elections, was chosen by more than 50% of respondents as the best person to deliver on all the priority problems. The Forum for Democartic Change leader, Dr. Kizza Besigye, came second with 16.06%. Similarly, his party was second to the NRM.

It emerged that the contest was be¬tween the two leaders and their par¬ties. The other political parties and presidential candidates got between one and six percent, indicating the level of confidence in them is little. The DP boss, Norbert Mao, got 5.41% followed by Olara Otunnu of the UPC with 3.14%. Bidandi Ssali of the Peo¬ple’s Progressive Party got 1%. Support given to Besigye and the other politicians was 34.31%, leaving Museveni in a comfortable lead.

Overall confidence in Museveni was highest in western Uganda at 64.63%. This was followed by eastern Uganda at 54.05%, northern with 48.16% and central 44.94%. Even in central where Museveni scored least, he still beat Besigye by 26 percentage points.

Besigye’s best region was northern Uganda, where about 19% thought he would be the best candidate. This was followed by central at 18.68%, eastern, 16.77% and western with 9.92%. But even in the north, he was behind Mu¬seveni by 29 percentage points.

Museveni’s highest rating was on national security. Some 55% of the respondents said Museveni would be the best candidate to deal with nation¬al security. In all regions, more than half of respondents approved him for security. Such confidence was high¬est in western and eastern, at 65.2% and 55.3% respectively. In northern region, where peace has returned after over two decades of war, about 50% chose him for security.

This could mean the return to peace there might win Museveni votes in next year’s elections. But it was surprising that in central, which has been largely secure, only 50.4% said Museveni would handle national security. The survey took place before the bomb blasts in Kampala recently.

Museveni’s next best scores were on education 53%, roads 53.6%, personal security 53.2% and energy use 53%. Besigye’s highest score was on service delivery related to business, at 16.5%. Even then, Museveni was better on business, at 52.4%.

About 52% nationwide said Musev¬eni was the man who would deliver on traditional leaders, while only 15.5% said Besigye would improve the rela¬tionship between the Government and traditional leaders. Mao and Otuunu scored 5.9% and 2.9% respectively in this area.

Within central Uganda, Museveni had more support on dealing with traditional leaders at 43.6% as op¬posed to Besigye’s 17.9%. On political parities, more Ugandans had confidence in the NRM. About 53% said it would address their problems during the campaign and deal with them if elected. The rating for other political parties was 16.5% for FDC, 6.3% for DP, 3.4% for UPC and IPC had 1.4% IPC. The rest scored below 1%.

NRM gains in north slides in central

By VisionReporter
HALF of Ugandans are likely to vote for the NRM because they believe it can solve their problems. A New Vision poll gave the party 52.7%, while other parties combined managed 35.6%, leaving about 17% undecided.

Only 16.5% picked FDC, the party that has positioned itself as the immediate alternative to the NRM, which has been in power since 1986. Other main opposition parties like the DP and UPC did not attract much attention.

DP won the confidence of 6.3% and UPC 3.4%. Groups like the Inter–Party Cooperation and SUUBI formed recently to unite opposition parties to deny the NRM victory come next year, did not perform any better.

SUUBI, largely a Buganda pressure group, got 0.1% mostly in the central region. It had zero support in all the other three regions.

Respondents had no faith in the Peoples Progressive Party, the Conservative Party and JEEMA. As low as 0.5% mentioned the Peoples Progressive Party, only 0.3% picked CP and 0.1% went for JEEMA.

This left NRM as the favourite party to deal with all the 19 top issues Ugandans want the next president to tackle urgently.

It is arguable that the poll is an indicator that the ruling party will have an advantage over others.
Although the NRM’s rating in its former stronghold of the central region declined, it gained in the previously hostile northern area.

For instance, 40.6% in central had confidence in the ruling party, eastern had 50.4%, northern 52.9% and 69.2% in the western region, showing low support in central and growing acceptability in northern.

The poll is the first in a series of three to be conducted by New Vision in the run-up to the 2011 elections.

Analyst raps Opposition

By Barbara Among
Eighteen percent are undecided on who to vote president next year, according to a poll. While 52.7% would vote for Museveni, about 16% want FDC’s Kizza Besigye. DP’s Nor¬bert Mao has 5.41% followed by UPC’s Olara Otunnu at 3.14%. The new People’s Progressive Party leader, Bidandi Ssali, had 1% support.

Political scientist Aaron Mukwaya says the undecided voters could still be unconvinced by 2011 as most political parties are weak at the grassroots.

“Many voters are for grabs. Political parties must go on the ground. I feel so ashamed that the opposition spends time in Kampala conference rooms, hotels, yet the NRM has the state machinery and Museveni has made several trips around the country,” said Mukwaya.

Though voter turn-out has been less than 70% over the years, political parties are up¬beat about 2011. They cited the high turn-out during the just-concluded voter registration and update as a sign that many will vote next year.

NRM deputy spokesperson Ofwono Opondo believes the ongoing party activities will at¬tract the undecided to the party. The party plans to carry out primaries and elect the 2011 flag-bearer next month.

“Once we have gone through the primaries, there will be nomination. The process will keep the momentum,” said Of¬wono.

FDC spokesperson Wafula Oguttu said the party will tar¬get voters based on their age groups. The party believes that each age group has different de¬mands and views. “We are looking at the democratic segments of them (voters), we are going to look at age sets. They have dif¬ferent demands,” said Oguttu.

He said the party’s manifesto will focus on poverty alleviation and the economy.

“Last time, we were very elicit and concentrated on corruption but we are going to break that down and focus on issues of social service,” he added.

How survey was done

Researcher Stephen Mugarura said the number of respondents was established using the Fisherman’s sampling methodology, which ensures that the sample is representative of the voting population.

The 67 counties were chosen from the 77 districts that existed at the time of the survey. The number of districts has grown to 112. The counties were selected randomly from the regions under which they were listed.

Not more than two counties were picked from the same district. Within a county, four villages were randomly selected – the rural and the urban equally represented.

In each village, interviewers began at the LC1 office which acted as a sampling point. A pencil perpendicularly standing on its nib was dropped and the interviewers headed in the direction it pointed.

Using an interval of five households, they interviewed people aged 18 and above. Overall, 55% were male and 45% female. Rural-based respondents were 56% and 44% were urban.

The Vision Group research department has long experience in carrying out market research and opinion polling.

Ends

Uganda: Olara Otunu predicts that oil revenue in nation will be eaten up in their basket of corruption

Leave a reply

Writes Leo Odera Omolo

In an exclusive interview with the Reuters News Agency in New York the leader of Uganda’s UPC opposition party, Dr Olara Otunnu whois hoping to topple President Museveni in the next year’s presidential election has predicted that the massive oil revenue which his country is expecting to generate once the production began would melt in the pots and pockets of the corrupt individuals.

His comments over this subject has sparked off sharp reactions from supporters of the NRM government at home and abroad.

Corruption will swallow billions of dollars in revenue from the country’s budding oil industry that is needed to build schools, hospitals and roads, says a Ugandan opposition leader.

Olara Otunnu, a former UN under secretary-general who heads the Uganda People’s Congress party, said there had been no transparency on plans to develop the oil found in 2006 along Uganda’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Otunnu, Uganda’s foreign minister from 1985-86, hopes to topple longtime President Yoweri Museveni when the country goes to the polls in February next year ahead of the start of commercial oil production at the end of the year.

British firms Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil have found up to 2 billion barrels of oil in the Albertine Rift Basin and experts say the reserves could be four times bigger. Uganda stands to earn about $2b a year in oil revenue.

“Based on the current record all that money would be swindled,” Otunnu told Reuters in an interview in New York.

“All this is being handled personally and exclusively at the kitchen table of the president. We know nothing about it.”

“We don’t need to wait until oil begins to flow. We already know, the oil revenue will become part of his personal ATM machine,” said Otunnu, who could be arrested when he returns to Uganda for failing to appear in court this week on sedition charges related to radio show comments made earlier this year.

He says the charges are a bid by Museveni to silence him.

Ugandan Minister for Information Kabakumba Matsiko said it was widely accepted that East Africa’s third largest economy has been blighted by corruption, but the Government has systems and institutions in place to combat it.

“Otunnu is entitled to his opinion. Unfortunately he’s blinded by his own hatred,” Matsiko said.

“This oil has always been there, but no previous government including the one in which Otunnu served ever thought about starting exploration.”

“The president has stated on several occasions that the oil money will not be used for recurrent expenditure but long-term infrastructure development in the health, transport and other sectors,” Matsiko said.

Museveni won power in 1986 and was credited with returning stability and economic vitality to Uganda, ravaged by dictatorship and civil wars in the 1970s and early 1980s. The country’s economy is seen growing between 7-8% in 2010/11 from 5.6% in 2009/10.

But donors and global civil society groups accuse Museveni of suppressing opposition and free speech, tightening his grip on power and failing to rein in rampant corruption.

International donors said this week that they would trim at least 10% off their $360m contribution to Uganda’s budget in the year to June 2011 because of concerns over corruption.

Opposition parties have refused to work with the electoral commission, because they say it is corrupt, but Otunnu said that does not mean there will be a boycott of the election.

He also said negotiations continue among leading opposition parties to form an Inter-Party Cooperation coalition to field a single candidate against Museveni.

“Everything is turned into this corrupt enterprise,” said Otunnu.

“We must make sure that there is change, there’s accountability, there’s transparency that this oil will be a blessing for the people of Uganda,” he said.

ICC prosecutor Ocampoto to start issuing warrants against top Kenyans in October this year

Leave a reply

News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

Panicking HAS gripped the North Rift part of the expansive Rift Valley Province of Kenya following disclosure last week that the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has started flying out potential witnesses to safe, but undisclosed locations in Europe.

While visiting Kenya last May Mr.Ocampo had hinted he would appear before the pre-trial judges chamber at the Hague by October to request them to issue five or six warrants of arrests he intend to prosecute in connection with the post-election violence offence in 2008.

Ocampo is reported to be in the final stages of completing and compiling his investigations report against key suspect behind the post-election violence that killed more than 1300 Kenyans and displaced close to 500,000.

It is no longer secret that the ICC has in the past two weeks been flying out potential witnesses and their families. The potential witnesses being flown out are those who would be require to testify against the yet still unnamed n politicians including cabinet Ministers suspected of involvement in the post election violence of 2008 that followed December 2007 botched presidential electrons.

Speculations and rumors making the round within the capital, City Nairobi and its environs says the ICC has so far flown out close to ten potential violence witnesses, and that the first of these people left the country two weeks ago.

Four of those flown out of the country are said to have been members of the constituents of a powerful cabinet minister in the grand coalition government who appears likely to be among the first post-election violence to face charges at The Hague.

A local daily reported in its front page bold article that the ICC has began flying out the key witnesses who will testify against five leaders suspected of involvement. The Nairobi STAR only fell short of naming the witnesses.

Two of the key witnesses along with their families were reported to have left Kenya two weeks go and headed for undisclosed location in Europe for their own safety and that of their families.

Speculation is also high that the ICC is likely go charge two still ye to be named government Ministers and a senior police officer with offense of inciting people to violence.

The six witnesses who were flown out of the country last week were first secretly taken to a neighboring country from where hey and their families’ boarded planes destined to unknown locations in Europe.

According to an impeccable source, the Minister’s next door neighbor was flown accompanied by his two wives and six children.

Investigations into to the polls vi0lence are said to have zeroed in on three areas, including the Kiambaa Church arson in which close to 39 people including children perished in the inferno. This particular incident took place in the outskirt of the North Rift town of Eldoret. The other area is the revenge attack in Naivasha, a small farming town, which is located 90 kilometers west of the capital, Nairobi and the police shooting to death rioters in Nairobi, Kisumu, Nakuru, Kericho and Eldoret towns.

The key potential witnesses flow out so far are said to have incriminating evidence against the two powerful Ministers who may be charged with helping to organize the violence, which almost set Kenya ablaze in early 2008.

Other report making the round says several Western European countries have offered to give asylum and provide protection to 30 prosecution witnesses and up to additional 70 of their dependants or family members.

An official working with an NGO in the North Rift region where most of the violence occurred has also been flown out of the country with his family after his life was threatened.”The threat to my life and family become so intense to an extent that I had no choice, but requested for protection and that is why I am going out,” he said during an exclusive interview with this writer before departure for Nairobi where he cough up with Europe destined flight last week.

Other reports say some the potential witnesses have quit jobs to relocate to safe havens where the ICC has identified. In one instance, three top officials from the public hospital that handled many victi9ms of the post-election violence recently resigned from their positions without giving an explanation to the hospital administrator.

The ICC investigators have been in the country for more than two months and after interrogating the witnesses find they had tangible evidence which qualified them for protection. Two of these witnesses had also testified before the Waki Commission and before the Kenya National for Human Rights.

Ocampo has promised that by December this year he will have tight cases against the suspect that by then the investigations would have been complete.THESE WITNESSES ARE SAID TO HAVE TRAVELLED SEPARATELY AND DID NOT KNEW EACH OTHER,THOUGH THEY WERE AT THE Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at the same time, and some might have boarded the same planes.

It is widely reported that the Administration Police College Commander Oku Kaunya, who is said to be also a key ICC witness. He left the country in April under mysterious circumstances, reportedly with the help of the US Embassy. Apo used their training college and recruits against the December 2007 general election. Thereafter Mr Kaunya was transferred to the provincial Administration office and posted as the Deputy P.C.

Ends

leoodereaomolo@yahoo.com

KENYAN agent of Somali terrorists has admitted carrying the bomb that killed 76 people

Leave a reply

Writes Leo Odera Omolo

A Kenyan national who couriered the bombs used in the July 11 explosions that claimed 79 lives, booked into a hotel in Namasuba, a city suburb, months before the blasts.

Security sources yesterday said the Kenyan checked in on May 9 with the aid of Issa Luyima, a Ugandan national said to be the chief architect of the twin blasts.

Consequently, a joint team of anti-terror operatives raided the hotel on Thursday afternoon. Security sources yesterday intimated that the operatives had gathered more evidence to reinforce their case.

They seized vital documents and a counter book in which Luyima is said to have booked the Kenyan national into the hotel on that day.

“The seizure was useful, especially the counter book in which Luyima booked the Kenyan in his own hand writing,” the source said.

The source added that the evidence would reinforce the case against Luyima and his younger brother Haruna Hassan Luyima and other accomplices for their role in the blasts.

Sources said the terrorists could have picked on the hotel because it is secluded, giving them an assured from page one

of secrecy. It is not clear how many nights the Kenyan spent in the hotel but it is becoming increasingly clear that he checked into the hotel with the explosives before handing them over to other accomplices, a source said.

Security agents on Thursday paraded four suspects, the Luyima brothers, Edris Nsubuga and Mohamood Mugisha, in connection to the blasts.

There are 81 suspects in total, being held in connection with the attack linked to international terrorist cells of the Al-Qaeda and the Al-Shabaab.

Preparations were in high gear yesterday to have the four suspects arraigned with 14 others on charges of terrorism, sources said.

In a related development, three Kenyans charged two weeks ago over the bombs, have been removed from Luzira Prison and handed over to the Police for further investigations.

Hussein Hassan Agad, Mohamed Adan Abdow and Idris Magondu a.k.a Christopher were the first suspects to be charged. “I order the release of the three suspects into custody of the Police to enable them conclude their investigations,” Nakawa Chief Magistrate Deo Ssejjemba directed yesterday.

A letter signed by Joan Magezi, the senior principal attorney said the Police needed the suspects to identify exhibits. They face charges of murder, attempted murder, and terrorism and could face death if convicted.

Meanwhile the father of two the bomb suspects, Hajji Nondo Luyima, has said his children refused to go to school when they were young but had become prosperous businessmen.

Luyima said he did not know where Haruna Luyima and Isa Luyima got the money to become prominent in business until they were arrested over the bombs.
The two on Thursday asked Ugandans to forgive them for bombing world cup fans.

Their father said they had been living in Kenya where they claimed to have several businesses. The two were arrested by Kenyan authorities.

Luyima, a resident of Kawempe, said he has over 30 children.

“I failed to control those two when they were young.” Their elder sister, Sumaya Namigadde, said clan elders had queried the two brothers’ source of wealth. “They came home recently driving powerful vehicles and the clan members were concerned but they refused to explain.”

Suspects in custody
1.Abdul Karim Kato
2.Mariam Namaku
3.Isa Ali Senkumba
4.Peter Ntale
5.Fazila Namaku
6.Hussein Aliyowi Abdi
7.Andrew Obelai
8.Andrew Kanyoro
9.Muhammad Keche
10.Hassan Abdu Isaac
11.Echeku Vincent
12.Isaac Gedi Godana
13.Muzamiru Kawumbire
14.Gulfan Zameer
15.Ramula Nagudi
16.Inam Ul Haq
17.L/Cpl Koss Alfrred
18.Shakeel Ur Rehman Qureshi
19.Abdullahi Muhamod Ahmed
20.Waseem Afzal
21.Saidi Sulaiman
22.Muhammed Abdul Aziz
23.Abdul Aziz Ali Madope Aka
24.Ali- Ibrahim
25.Kaala Isaac
26.Inayatula Ullah
27.Muhammad Abdallah
28.Salat Ahmed Alasom
29.Omar Jimale
30.Bile Abdullah
31.Waris Mungayi
32.Kavuma Ibrahim
33.Kanyoro Andrew
34.Abushiri Yusuf Muhammed
35.Jairan Karim
36.Biraze Ku 2
37.Mubaraka Juma Dawa
38.Yunus Maganda
39.Obina Ismail
40.Medi Abdallah Saleh
41.Yusuf Balimuntale
42.Hassan Kasim Salah
43.Ahmed Hassan Barkhadle
44.Abdullahi Muhamoud Ismail
45.Muhamed Abdullahi
46.Bashir Abdul Khadir Medle
47.Abdullahi Omar Guleed alias Mutuyangu
48.Kasaya Patrick
49.Mulinde Robert
50.Fahdi Abdul Rahman
51.Muhammad Adam
52.Muhammod Musa Fara
53.Liban Muhammad Ali
54.Daudi Ibrahim Hassan
55.Abdi Hassan Ismail
56.Rihan Muhammad
57.Md Aka Muhammad Kasim
58.Ahmed Abdulah Muhammed
59.Ahmed Abdulah Muhammed
60.Magumba Abdul Hakim
61.Hassan Muhammad Abou
62.Jackson Omolo
63.Naufal Zamir Shiekh
64.Baturaine Christopher
65.Ali Yahya Hussein
66.Anthony Kiarie
67.Moses Mwenda Meme
68.Nangayi Keneth
69.Isaac Kibede
70.Manga Mubarak Salim
71.Muhammad Ahsan Raza
72.Abdallahi Hussein Ali

Ends

Kenya: Obama’s family dispute over the planed Memorial Hallis resolved

2 Replies

Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Siaya Town.

IT took the intervention of the Kenya government and the UIS Ambassador to Kenya to intervene in President Barack Obama’s Kenyan family to resolve a serious misunderstanding and dispute over the site where the Obama Kogelo Community Cultural Center should be established.

The US President Barack Obama jnr has ancestral root in Kenya’s Nyanza Province where his father the late Barrack Hussein Obama a former government op econoic is buried at the ancestral home in Nyang’oma village, Kogelo in Siyadistrict.

The construction of the Kshs 100 million projects in honor of President Obama’ had stalled following serious family dispute over which land plot the Kogelo Community Cultural Center should be construction. The dispute had threatened to derail the project when the government moved in and suspended the construction work, which had already started with building of the foundation slab.

The dispute pitted a local businessman Mr Nicholas Owino Rajula, a retired professional accountant Mr Joshua Otieno and a resident magistrate Mr Patrick Olengo. Each one of the three had made an offer for free land site at Nyang’oma Kogelo village in Siaya after word went round that the government would like to establish a memorial hall in the area to serve as a monument in honor of President Obama, and also serve as a community cultural center and partly as a tourist attraction.

It was Mr Rajula who first came forward with the offer of a free land measuring four acres. This was followed by Mr Joshua Otieno who also offered a five acres piece of land and the last was Mr Patrick Olengo, who work as a magistrate in Vihiga district in Western Province. He too had made an offer of five acres piece of land parcel.

At the initial stage, the Kenya government through the ministry of National Heritage ad appointed a technical committee consisting of top officials from the relevant Ministries and local community to work out the final touches of the site. The government had asked for a piece of land parcel with the facilities and enough space for future expansion of the complex. The technical committee’s other assignment was to ensure the communication and accessibility of the site.

After its evaluation work, which the local community suspect had been manipulated by some people with vested economic interest, the committee settled on the piece of land offered by Mr Rajula. And a tender for the construction work was floated at the district level.

,And the interested building contractors were asked t submit their applications making their bidding, which they did . The tender was hurriedly awarded to a local contractor who immediately moved into the site and started the work. All this was done without the consent nor consent or consultation with the Obama family.

With the Obama family itself there was a sharp differences between the88 year old Mama Sarah Obama,the step grandmother of the US President Barack Obama and the President’s step brother Mr Malik Abong’s, who is the late Barack Obama Snr eldest son. Abong’o fronted for Mr Joshua Otieno, while Mama Sarah Obama, who is the de facto head of the Obama family had settled on the land which was offered by Mr Patrick Olengo. She insisted that Mr Olengo’s offer meant a good gesture to the family which had raised him while he was a young man.

The dispute later boiled up and even some members of the Kogelo community had moved to court and filed an injunction stopping the construction work. The Obama family made it publicly clear, that it would have nothing to do with the complex and that the project’s name should be change from Obama Kogelo Community Cultural Center to simply read that Kogelo Community Cultural Center with the omission of the Obama’s family name.

But on Thursday, the Minister for National Heritage William Ole Ntimama in the company of the US Ambassador to Kenya William Reneberger made an abrupt and impromptu tour of the Kogelo Nyang’oma village and hastily held a reconciliation meeting at Nyang’oma Primary School. The Minister supported Mama Sarah Obama’s stand on the project saying that she was the de facto head of the Obama family, therefore her views must be entertained on any important project that touches the Obama family name. Most of the speakers at the meeting were in total support of Mama Sarah Obama arguing that her opinion and views were so important as he is the she was the head of the family.

Malik had told the gathering that Mr Joshua Otieno’s land was the most suitable as it was located next to Nang’oma market and could be easily access. Other sources blamed the Provincial Administration for meddling in the project and for openly favoring one of the land donors.

Also present during the discussions was Dr. Rita Auma, Barack Obama Snr eldest daughter who had also accompanied the team from Nairobi.

It was immediately realized that K sh 7 million, which was part of the Kshs 8 million initially released by the Heritage Ministry had already been spent on a shoddy foundation slab constructed on the site which is subject to heated dispute. The Minister added that he was not convinced that Kshs 7 milion had already been spent on that shoddy structure. “It appears that some grass root leaders were devolving corruption to the grass root when the government and donors were investing in checks”.

The US Envoy said that the election of President Obama in the United States has strengthened the diplomatic ties between Kenya and America. “And as America we will try to bring in tourists and visitors to this region.

Immediately soon after President Obama won the US Presidency, hitherto sleep and dusty Nyang’oma Kogelo village shoot into world class fame with thousands of foreign and local visitors began showing up. The government also sent a delegation of the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife led by the Minister Najib Balala who announced that Kogelo Nyang’oma village would soon be the most attractive tourist destination in Western Kenya and that the government would support the establishment of a tourist center honoring the birth place of President Obama’s late father.

Balala said the government would revive the forty year old run-down Western Kenya Tourist circuit, which has remained I the drawing board ever since it was proclaimed in 1967.

And soon after Balala’s team, followed by the entire team of the top officials from the Ministry of National Heritage led by the Minister William Ole Ntimama who made an impromptu announcement about the project and initially released Kshs 10 for the construction work on the project to start.

The Minister also announced the upgrading of the road leading to Nyang’oma Kogelo Market from either Siaya or Ndori . Water and electricity supplies followed in earnest and Nyang’oma Market was soon upgraded to a business hub in the region followed by a great influx of visitors who included foreign dignitaries. Batteries of foreign and local journalists thronged the village in search of news.

It is suspected that some unscrupulous business people immediately schemes for a kill and how to collaboration with the government official for the purpose of having a cut and making good of the forthcoming Kshs 100 million promised by he government for the complex and this became the source of discontent.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

Uganda & Kenya: Police says terrorists are infiltrating Uganda via Kenya borders

Leave a reply

Reports leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

INTERNATIONAL terror cells have been operating recruitment cells in eastern Uganda, investigators said yesterday.

Speaking to journalists at the Kampala Media Centre, Police boss Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura said the cells stretched from Mable, Soroti, Kitgum to the Uganda-Sudan border.

Kayihura added that the terrorists were conscripting children and hawkers whom they hoodwink with big money.

So far 81 suspects, he said, had been arrested, 22 of whom will be charged with terrorism.
Eight suspects will be handed over to the immigration department, while 27, referred to as a special group, will be detained. Some 24 others will be released on Police bond, he said.

“The eight Pakistanis arrested preaching in Pallisa were initially in Kasese recruiting children and indoctrinating them in Madarasa (Koran schools). The next thing, they were in Pallisa without documents,” Kayihura said.

Intelligence says Ugandan, Kenyan, Tanzanian, Rwandan and Burudians are being trained jointly by the al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab in Mogadishu.
Kayihura said four bombs in suicide vests were smuggled into Uganda from Somalia, assembled locally and later used in the attacks. He said though the attacks were carried out by Ugandans, the planning was by al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab.

“The attacks were planned by terror cells of the al-Qaeda and the al-Shabaab and this was an international terrorist operation,” Kayihura said.

International terrorists sneaked into the country between April and May to plan the attacks and left after surveying the two scenes of the blasts––The Ethiopian Village Restaurant in Kabalagala and the Kyaddondo Rugby Club in Lugogo, he disclosed.

He said the initial plan was to have four suicide bombers but some of them developed cold feet and fled the country. “They left behind two suicide bombers and that is why they decided to use detonators.”

Present were Abas Byakagaba, the counter-terrorism boss, and Moses Sakira, the criminal investigations head.

“This success has been because of the joint effort of the various security agencies led by the Police,” Kayihura said.
He warned terrorists. “If they think they are safe anywhere in the world, they are mistaken. We are networked and we will catch them,” he said.

The bomb in Kabalagala, Kayihura said, was detonated by a Kenyan suicide bomber identified as Kaka Suli. One of the bombs at Lugogo was detonated by a Somali and the second by a Ugandan, Edris Nsubuga. The fourth bomb recovered from Ice Link Discotheque in Makindye, a day after the grisly blasts, failed to detonate because it mal-functioned, Kayihura added. “It failed to go off because of a technicality,” he stressed.

Initial reports had intimated that the suicide bomber could have developed cold feet.

Kayihura said some of the Ugandan suspects had fought alongside al-Shabaab in Mogadishu against AU forces, and that Luyima had been implicated in the November 2002 attempt to shoot down an Israeli Arkia plane in Mombasa.

Ends