Information is Power

Kitgum resident district commissioner (RDC) William Komakech has been interdicted over the reported abuse and misuse of funds meant for the implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM) program. Komakech was interdicted on August 27 by the minister in charge of the Presidency Milly Babalanda on the directives of the Inspectorate of Government. Babalanda says that the interdiction that takes immediate effect, bars Komakech from exercising the powers and functions of the RDCs office and is meant to allow smooth investigations to be undertaken by the Inspectorate of Government. 14 staff of Kitgum district local government were arrested last week by the PDM national secretariat over the alleged misuse of Shs 523.6 million meant for the implementation of the PDM program. Komakech has also been ordered to hand over office to his deputy Hajji Marijjan Welire who shall perform all the duties of RDC until further notice. During his interdiction period, Komakech will continue receiving ha...

By Brian Mukalazi What you need to know: Employers should hire people with integrity. People with integrity tell the truth, and they keep their word I am sure that many of our readers have heard of this popular adage: “It’s who you know, not what you know”. In Uganda, you don’t need to have the greatest skills, talents, or brains to get hired. It’s mostly a matter of being in the right place at the right time and saying the right things to the right people.  Every day offers evidence of this thesis and it is one of the hardcore realities of our adult lives. Almost every day, I hear of someone being selected for a job because s/he was recommended by a powerful friend of the boss.  I know of a Ugandan executive who was recently made the chief executive officer (CEO) for one of the major government parastatals but to everyone’s surprise, she had neither applied for the job nor did she possess the minimum academic requirements.  Have you ever asked yourself: why do some peopl...

What you need to know: The project seeks to establish 289km of 132kV double circuit transmission line which runs from Kole District, through Gulu and Nebbi, to Arua as well as the construction of the new 40MVA substations at Gulu, Nebbi and Arua as well as 132kV switching station at Kole. The Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) has clarified that the West Nile Sub-region will be connected to the national grid by March 2023.  Last week, UETCL started the process of stringing the transmission cables on the 67km Kole-Gulu stretch under Phase One of the Grid Expansion and Reinforcement Project (GERP).  The project seeks to establish 289km of 132kV double circuit transmission line which runs from Kole District, through Gulu and Nebbi, to Arua as well as the construction of the new 40MVA substations at Gulu, Nebbi and Arua as well as 132kV switching station at Kole. RELATED Government signs contracts to extend power to West Nile Commodities 7 hours ago Mi...

👆👆The District Officials touring the stalled works. BMK Group whom Ministry of Health contracted to do the construction work of Oluvu Health Center IV  left the residents of Maracha District in shock after its Engineers and other workers on 28-8-2022 ferried 25 bags of cements to be sold in an unknown market place.    👆👆 The Contractor BMK Group. It's said that, the Guys lied to site clerk and other Health Center officials by alleging, it's their boss (Contractor) who told them to sale 25 bags of cement to cater for their feeding and transport from Maracha to Kampala. When we got the information and then rushed to the site, we didn't get any of their workers or representatives there.  👆👆RDC Mr Ayikobua and DISO Mr Samuel interacting with the Workers who were not paid by the Contractor. Many of the local laborers raised the issue of their unpaid salary, asking who will pay their labors if the contractor BMK Group has vanished away...

I am deeply disappointed in you . For long I have defended you in this forum and elsewhere. You know that without the Petition and Petitioners issues of electricity in West Nile would not have got the attention that it has got. It’s unfortunate that it’s now you who is fighting against electricity for West Nile. You are neither the Chairperson West Nile Parliamentary Caucus nor the chairperson of the sub-committee on infrastructure to write an official letter to the Minister of Energy to effectively alienate the Petitioners representatives from attending the Meeting. First you may wish to revisit who a regional whip is. A regional whip is not provided for under any law. It is just for convenience to assist the Party Chief Whip to assist him or her to discipline its members. You had no authority whatsoever to write on behalf of West Nile on any matter unless delegated to you by the Chairperson of the West Nile Parliamentary Caucus or chairperson of the Electricity subcommittee H...

  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Monday said it filed a lawsuit against Kochava, a location data broker, for collecting and selling precise geolocation data gathered from consumers' mobile devices. The complaint alleges that the U.S. company amasses a "wealth of information" about users by purchasing data from other data brokers to sell to its own clients. "Kochava then sells customized data feeds to its clients to, among other purposes, assist in advertising and analyzing foot traffic at stores or other locations," the FTC said. "Among other categories, Kochava sells timestamped latitude and longitude coordinates showing the location of mobile devices." The company advertises itself as a "real-time data solutions company" and the "largest independent data marketplace for connected devices." It also claims its Kochava Collective  data  marketplace provides "premium data feeds, audience targeting, and audience enrich...

Magala left the village because he was tired of poverty and went to get a ‘job’. No one knows what he does or where his money comes from, but he is now a ‘chief’ with lavish apartments that he has even gifted Nambi, his girlfriend. He has even opened a bank account to help his mother, where millions are deposited every two weeks. Last week, police came asking questions about Magala, and rumour now has it that he has been ‘kidnapping’ and selling people’s children outside countries. His girlfriend wants to know if it means that she may lose the nice apartments that he gifted her.   WHAT  DOES THE LAW SAY?  What Magala was engaged in is known as human trafficking. The law says this is a serious offence, and if a person is tried and found guilty of this offence, all their properties, money and any other things they got as a result of the human trafficking will be taken away (seized).   Suppose the property or money has been used up. In that case, Magala will be made to ...

Kigozi went to one of the shady recruitment agencies that promised to find him work. But first, he was taken to the hills of Kapchorwa to train so that ‘he could be fit for 'work’. One night, he overheard the trainers discussing how they were going to get a lot of profit from this batch of ‘organ donors’. That very night Kigozi escaped and ran away to save his precious organs and life. He reported to the police, and the ‘criminals’ were arrested. Now Kigozi wants to know if they will refund his money and pay for the suffering he endured for the two months ‘mountain training.   WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY? A victim of human trafficking is supposed to be compensated by the offender. This compensation is usually in monetary terms for medical costs, physical and emotional damage, and any losses that the court finds appropriate.  Compensation only happens when a competent court has declared the offender guilty. The compensation is based on the amount of damage caused to you, the victim a...

Kawaala has been taking people’s children from Uganda to outside countries for people to use as houseboys and girls. He usually takes the children claiming that they are his brother’s kids. However, while changing flights at the airport in Ethiopia, one child told the airport officials that he did not know Kawaala. Kawaala was arrested, and he is due to be brought to court. In which country is Kawaala supposed to be tried?   WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY? First, the law says that taking people either through threats, trickery, or fraud so that they can be exploited (used in some way) is called Human Trafficking. This is a severe criminal offence.  International law says any country is allowed to punish those who do things that are considered crimes. This means that you will be tried where you commit that criminal offence. In the case of Human trafficking, most countries do not condone it, so if you are arrested in any of those countries, you can be tried there.    In Ug...

Indeed.    By law, if a person participates in any form of human trafficking, they are not allowed to be judicial officers (like Magistrates or judges) or to take up any position where they have to take care of or have authority over children.    This means such a person cannot be a teacher, babysitter, or children's doctor, among others. If you are in Uganda and you suspect that you or anyone you know has been trafficked, please contact any of these numbers and you will be given help. +256800199699 / +256709010853 📷:Unsplash #BarefootLaw #osutayusuf

  Fred was grabbed while loitering on the street in "outside countries" and kept in a room with 30 other people ready to have his organs removed. The police managed to save the situation the day he was due to be cut up. After assisting with the investigations, all he wanted to do was go back to Uganda and live his life. However, Fred is broke, and his family back home are also too poor to assist with the travel arrangements. Is he destined to remain there?   WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY? Luckily for Fred and his family, they do not have to worry about selling their only plot or getting a loan for his return.  The law says that the minister of internal affairs, together with other relevant government agencies, must facilitate the return of victims of human trafficking like Fred.  Fred's family should get in touch with the Ministry of Internal affairs to arrange for the return of Fred at no cost to them. Suppose a situation arises where Fred's return to Ugandan endangers him....

    Onyango was tricked into going to Rakai for work by his friends who promised him that the most challenging thing he would have to do would be to dig holes and carry sand. Instead, he was threatened and forced to start working with Malamu gang, who stole from travellers at a certain lodge. Onyango would hide under the bed and then wait for Sanyu to lure the visitor to the room. He and two others would then crawl out and beat the victim and take their rewards back to Mukajanga, the leader of the gang.    Last month, the plan failed. Onyango hid under the bed as usual and waited for the victim to arrive. Unfortunately, this time the victim was a member of the army. He fought off Onyango and his friends and they were arrested. The news has reached Onyango’s family and they want to know if their son will be tried as a criminal.    WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?   As a victim of human trafficking himself, the law says that Onyango cannot be prosecuted for t...

The Human Trafficking Institute is an organization that fights modern slavery all over the world. It creates specially trained anti-trafficking units dedicated to combating human trafficking. In Uganda, the Human Trafficking Institute assists the Ugandan government in conducting trafficking investigations and prosecutions of traffickers. A special department in the Uganda Police Force receives cases of Human Trafficking. If you have seen or have heard of an incident of human trafficking, remember that the police, the prosecutors (those who handle your case before court) and the judges are trained to handle your case of human trafficking by the Human Trafficking Institute. If you are in Uganda and you suspect that you or anyone you know has been trafficked, please contact any of these numbers and you will be given help. +256800199699 or +256709010853 📷:Praxis Labs

  A Turkish-speaking entity called  Nitrokod  has been attributed to an active cryptocurrency mining campaign that involves impersonating a desktop application for Google Translate to infect over 111,000 victims in 11 countries since 2019.  "The malicious tools can be used by anyone," Maya Horowitz, vice president of research at Check Point, said in a statement shared with The Hacker News. "They can be found by a simple web search, downloaded from a link, and installation is a simple double-click." The list of countries with victims includes the U.K., the U.S., Sri Lanka, Greece, Israel, Germany, Turkey, Cyprus, Australia, Mongolia, and Poland. The campaign entails serving malware through free software hosted on popular sites such as Softpedia and Uptodown. But in an interesting tactic, the malware puts off its execution for weeks and separates its malicious activity from the downloaded fake software to avoid detection. The installation of the infected prog...

Monday 29-8-2022. The Resident District Commissioner for Maracha District, Mr Ayikobua Festus has urged the people of Maracha District to use the heavy rainfall to do farming in order to avert hunger and poverty in their homes. Mr Ayikobua who made the statement at the funeral of Regina Drajiru this afternoon 1pm in Ocevu village, Bango Parish, Oleba Sub-county in Maracha District said, in Arua and other parts of WestNile region, a sack of sweet potato goes at 70,000 shs to 90,000 shs and yet our people here have lands to plant them and earn money. The RDC used this same moment to warn people against leaving their animals to graze in the river banks during this rainy season which at times sweeps away the animals in case of flooding, citing Arua District  (Vurra constituency) as an example where, over seven cows were taken away by flooding last week. He also advised parents to prepare their children to report to school early as third term is beginning...

Monday 29-8-2022. The Maracha District Woman Member of Parliament Hon Driwaru Jennifer has asked people in Maracha District not to consume uncertified alcoholic and none alcoholic drinks which do not bear the verification logo / stamp of Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) yet they are rampant in the market. The Woman MP made the plea this afternoon 12pm at the funeral of Regina Drajiru born on 1-April-1942 and died on 27-8-2022 in Ocevu village, Bango Parish, Oleba Sub-County in Maracha District. She has expressed her heart-felt condolence to the family of Late Regina Drajiru who passed away last weekend 27-8-2022. May her soul rest in peace. Hon Driwaru Jennifer's remarks follows the death of 16 people who died in other Districts of WestNile region after drinking uncertified alcoholic waragi labeled "City 5 Gin" and has so far left over 12 people admitted in Arua regional referral hospital. The Woman MP condoles with the fa...

          By Joachim Osur. "My husband gets mad with me if I make noise when we are in the act. He orders me to shut up, and says only prostitutes make noise. Though I try, I am unable to control myself. Am I normal? What should I do?" This message came through my inbox the other day.  "Is there really something to noisy sex?" I wondered. In a 2011 study known as "copulatory vocalization" -- in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, researchers found that many of the women did make noise but not necessarily while they were having an orgasm. Instead, 66 percent said that they moaned to speed up their partner's climax, and 87 percent stated that they vocalised during sex to boost their self-esteem. So it seems that making men happy is part of the reason why women moan, but what happens to couples with space limitations?. "So my problem is that because of Jael's behavior the landlord has told us to vacate his premises since we are a nuisance to...

via IFTTT

Ending cellular dead zones in the U.S. is the ultimate goal. Elon Musk and Mike Sievert at the event. SpaceX/YouTube   Cellular service provider T-Mobile has teamed up with Elon Musk's SpaceX to provide universal coverage using the constellation of Starlink satellites, a press release reveals. Cellular services have gone through many iterations since their first roll-out. Most countries around the world are currently seeing a roll-out of the fifth generation (5G) of mobile connections that allows the bandwidth for high-speed gaming and streaming high-definition videos. Yet, many parts of the U.S. mainland and across the globe are network dead zones, where not even one service provider is available to provide basic telephony services. These areas can only be served by satellite phones (satphones) with high subscription fees. This is something SpaceX and T-Mobile plan to eliminate with their recent announcement. How will the coverage work? Cellular service providers often have to fac...

The Newly Appointed Prime Minister Commits him self to work for Tooro Kingdom Amidst all reactions from Cabinet Ministers , who claimed that the appointment of a foreigner (an Indian) is a disrespect to the Tooro People ." Of all clans of Tooro how can the King fail to pick a Prime Minister ,they say". Video source; Fort Portal TV. #osutayusuf  https://youtube.com/shorts/xWJF4DzOsJs Watch video here 👆 and subscribe.

The business center, KKT Plaza through a letter of intention to sue addressed to the division council, has threatened to take Central Division (formerly  Arua Municipal) to court for contaminating the air around the business park by allowing smelly fish imported from South Sudan to be stored, sold near their building. It's believed that, the smelly fish from South Sudan that are being sold on a pitch in the new main market  near KKT Plaza has complicated air breathing for the Tenants of KKT Plaza, as a result, the management is seeking for a legal redress, must they (Central Division Council) fail to comply by what KKT Plaza demands. Stay tuned... #We_inform_the_uninformed  #osutayusuf

Gen Elly Tumwine, 68, the former Minister of Security, has died. He succumbed to lung cancer at Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was admitted on August 11. President Museveni made the announcement of the death of Gen Tumwine, the first commander of the National Resistance Army (NRA), the precursor to Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), which brought the current government to power in 1986. “Countrymen and countrywomen, especially the NRM- NRA- UPDF fraternity. With deep sorrow, I announce the death of General Elly Tumwiine which occurred at 5:46am [yesterday] in Nairobi, from lung cancer,” the President noted. Gen Elly Tumwine is dead National   12 hours ago Gen Tumwine was a dedicated cadre, says Museveni National   12 hours ago Gen Museveni added: “He has been a dedicated and hard-working cadre. More will be said about him later. Condolences to his family, to the NRA-UPDF-NRM fraternity and to all Ugandans.” Gen Elly Tumwine succumbed to cancer in a h...