Information is Power

In Kitagwenda, you cannot organize a successful kuhingira unless you have invited Mugisha. The moment you tell him your plans to get married, he will tell you all is ok and he will let you pick out the fattest cows and gift them to you on your kuhingira.    Kabayo took his invitation card to Mugisha 3 months before the kuhingira and he pointed out a fat cow and healthy bull. He kept rubbing his hands when it was time for Mugisha’s speech and as expected ‘he was gifted’ a cow and a bull.     Unknown to everyone, the cow and bull had died that morning and when Kabayo went to collect his, he was given the bad news and told to wait a year for ‘something’ else.   Kabayo does not want to wait a year or for a replacement. He wants to sue Mugisha for deceiving him and breaking his promise.     WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?    The law says that people are free to make promises to each other and the courts will make sure that those ...

Retiring police officers received their certificates Kampala, Uganda | By Michael Wandati | Retiring police officers are appealing to President Yoweri Museveni for salary increase, urging that the salaries of senior police officers align with those of their counterparts in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF). A total of 233 officers from the rank of SCP to PC on Tuesday 12, December 2023 retired from the Uganda Police Force (UPF) after clocking 60 years of mandatory retirement at a colorful function held at Police Headquarters Naguru. The plea for salary enhancement was conveyed by the retiring Deputy Director for Interpol-Uganda, Joseph Obwana, representing 233 police officers retiring from active service. Obwana, holding the rank of Senior Commissioner of Police (SCP), equivalent to Lieutenant General, revealed earning Shs 2.5 million, significantly lower than the over Shs 13.5 million received by counterparts in the army. H...

Kato and Nambi decided to stay together around the time when Idi Amin had just overthrown Obote’s government. So, things were constantly moving from one place to another. At some point, they even went to Tanzania and came back. When their children grew up, they asked Nambi when the wedding was, and she would always tell them that their father visited her home and even brought a ‘thigh of a cow’ and the gomesi that her mother wanted. Two months ago, Kato passed away, and the bank wants proof from Nambi that she was his wife before they can give her access to the money he left behind.     How can Nambi prove that she and Kato were married?    WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?  What makes a traditional marriage legal depends on the culture of the people getting married. For example, in most cultures, you must go to the woman’s home and bring certain things the family has asked for. These things are commonly called bride price or dowry in some places. The coup...

📸: Mufti, Sheik Shaban Ramathan Mubaje addressing the mourners. Photo by Information is Power. https://youtu.be/XfrlRJcOkeg The Mufti of Uganda, His Eminence Sheik Shaban Ramathan Mubaje while addressing mourners at the funeral of Hajji Gule Musa Noor in Yumbe District on Tuesday 26-12-2023, has urged Muslims in WestNile region to remain united and allegiant to the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) as divisions arise in its leadership. Click  here on the link to watch the details. #iip_updates  #Information_is_Power  #we_inform_the_uninformed

📸: Unsplash  Opolot always told everyone that he would not look at a woman until he was 40 and a millionaire until he travelled to the UK for studies. This was true until he met Chelsea, a fellow student, and they travelled to a casino and got married. Opolot just returned to Uganda for Christmas and has spent every day with Nandi, his long-time crush. He has been wondering if he is still married or if he can get with Nandi since the wedding ceremony took place in the UK.     WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?  Every country has laws about how people should get married. In Uganda, we have different types of marriages, which means we have different laws that allow for religious, non-religious and traditional marriages.   The marriage laws in Uganda also recognise foreign marriages from other countries, such as the UK, as long as those marriages conform to how marriage is understood in Uganda under Ugandan law. For example, in Uganda, legally, marriage ...

Take a time to spend this festive season in a home away from home rooms at Hotel Le Confidentiel with your friends and loved ones. Accommodation Facilities at Hotel Le Confidentiel range from; Shs 207,200 for Standard Deluxe rooms Shs 307,200 for Deluxe rooms Shs 407,200 for Deluxe double rooms Shs 507,200 for VIP rooms Shs 1,007,200 for Presidential suites rooms Shs 7,200,000 for Penthouse rooms. They all have ACs. Call telephone number +256761688181 Or Email: reception@hotelleconfidentiel.com for bookings. #iip_adverts #iip_updates  #Information_is_Power (iip) #we_inform_the_uninformed

📸: Istock. https://theinformersdotcom.wordpress.com/2023/12/27/how-can-you-stop-being-a-surety-for-someone-else/ Jonna was caught fighting in a bar and the police told him that he was going to be in prison while his case was ongoing. He pleaded with Abby his brother to help him get out of prison. So, the following day when Jonna was brought before a magistrate, he asked to be released and even promised court that his brother Abby would keep him out of trouble. Its been two weeks and Jonna now bullies Abby and tells him not to remind him about court things.     Abby has realized that he cannot advise or look after Jonna and wants to stop being his surety. How can he do it?    WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?   When an accused person is released from prison on condition that he/she returns to court for their hearing, it is called bail. One of the conditions is that this person brings people who can guarantee that he returns to court for their trial and that they ...

By #BarefootLawyers. Nakalembe has endured a lot from Johnny, her neighbour. Whenever one of her matooke gets ready for harvesting he comes for it the night before she can harvest it. This time round, she caught him red-handed in her bedroom holding her handbag. He pushed her out of the way and ran away with her bag.   On Friday last week, he was arrested by the Police and Nakalembe was told that he would be in court on Monday morning. So, she was very shocked when she found him playing ‘ludo’ on Monday night. She ran back to the Police, but she was informed that Johnny had received bail. Nakalembe is worried that she has already lost the case and wonders if she will be able to get back her money since Johhny is out on bail.  WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?  When someone is arrested for committing a crime, they are known as a suspect. This is because anyone who is accused of committing a criminal offence is presumed (taken) to be innocent.  The law says that any person w...

Story compiled by Osuta Yusuf. Watch  here the impounded car and the fish loaded  on it. The traffic police of Arua District on Monday 11-December-2023 impounded a Taxi car with registration number plate UAF 703Y over alleged "Dangerous Loading". The car whose driver and the details we weren't able to obtain, was transporting Fishmongers together with their fish loaded on top of it, from Panyamur enroute to Koboko was intercepted by the police and traffic police officers who usually station at Odianyadri in Vurra Sub-county along Arua-Nebbi-Pakwach-Kampala road. Speaking to our reporter on early Tuesday morning 12-December-2023 at the Central Police Station, Mrs Ayike Sauda one of the Fishmongers who were in the car said, after unsuccessful plea for leniency to allow them remove their fish from the car and leave it to be impounded, the condition made them to follow their fish on the car and they ended up sleeping outside, on a veranda at Arua District Central Police Stati...

 Story compiled by Osuta Yusuf. Watch the tractor  commissioning function by clicking on this link  here. The technical and political leaders of Maracha District have on Tuesday 12-December-2023 handed over one big tractor and 19 handheld walking tractors which will soon be distributed out to the 19 Sub-counties and town councils in the district. The ceremony whose guest of Honour was the district Woman MP Hon Driwaru Jennifer, was graced by political and technical department heads of the District. The production officer for Maracha District Dr Candia Alex thanked the government for having a vision to alleviate poverty amongst the people. He added that, all efforts are put in place to see that farmers are trained on the necessary skills and knowledge on Agriculture. LC V Chairperson for Maracha District Hon Obitre Stephen who attributed the distribution of the tractors to fulfillment of government manifesto, described these as commercialization of Agriculture by the gover...

By Osuta Yusuf. Click here  on the link to watch the prayers at the funeral  and burial session. The political leaders, wananchi and technocrats from both Obongi District and Maracha District on Tuesday 12-December-2023 buried Mr Gasper Aluga, a Secondary School teacher who had taught in various schools in these two districts. Born on 1-April-1979 and died on 9-December-2023, the secondary teacher was said to have collapsed on the chair while seated at his home, rushed to St Joseph's hospital Ovujo and later on he was pronounced dead by the doctors at the hospital. The deputy headteacher for Obongi Senior secondary school, Mr Alfred Dratele described the deceased as a dedicated hardworking person who has been trusted at the school in the shortest period he has worked there. Maracha District woman MP Hon Driwaru Jennifer who pledged Shs 100,000 per term for each of the orphans left by the late, urged the clan people not to attempt grabbing some of the propertie...

By Andrew Cohen Amvesi ARUA. Yovan Adriko, the Vurra County Member of Parliament (MP) should prepare for a very tough moment during the 2026 elections following the rate at which his agents are crossing to opponents’ camps. The latest was on Friday when more than 50 agents of the incumbent MP including his sister publicly crossed to join Peter Pariyo’s camp. This was during a function Pariyo organized at his home in Ezuku, Vurra sub-county in Arua district to declare intention of contesting again in 2026. In the last election, Pariyo contested against Adriko as an Independent candidate after losing in NRM primaries but couldn’t still make it through due to the formidable team MP Adriko had built. Liberty-Opinira-stresses-a-point-to-the-excitement-of-Pariyo-L-during-his-defection-on-Friday.-Photo-by-Andrew-Cohen-Amvesi. The team included the majority of the agents who finally abandoned the MP on Friday to join Pariyo ahead of the 2026 general election. Some of the top ag...

  By #BarefootLawyers. Allan had been saving the whole year in preparation for the church auction during Christmas. Every Christmas, the church asks people to bring different items like hens, goats, crops, etc., to sell them in church to the highest bidder. When the priest raised the hen for sale, Allan immediately shouted that he had 5000 for the hen. No one else spoke and on the third hammer, the hen was given to him. As he was standing to walk away with this hen, someone who was introduced as a Kampala don walked in and told the priest they wanted to pay 50,000 for the hen. The hen was forcefully taken away from Allan and given to the Kampala man. Allan broke down and cried, saying it was unfair because they had already given it to him and his family was expecting it. He has vowed to get the hen back.     WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?  According to the law, a contract is established when the parties agree. In circumstances of auctions, the contract is sealed and enf...

Published by Kampala Eye on October 15, 2023. Uganda has literally become a family business of sorts after President Yoweri Museveni’s family members, relatives and friends taking over control of key government and security positions.It should be noted that the National Resistance Movement (NRM) has been at the helm of Ugandan politics since 1986, which implies that President Museveni has distinguished himself as the only leader in conjunction with his closest family members who include brothers, children, in-laws, and cousins referred to as the ‘deep state’ in the running of the Republic of Uganda. He is also referred to as the Commander in Chief of all Defense forces, The Fountain of Honor as well as the Head of all Operations in Uganda. But here below is how his family members, relatives, proxies and colleagues have taken over control of the country? 1.Gen. Caleb Akandwanaho alias Salim Saleh He is the i...

  Dikula is a village clown who is known for making people in the village laugh. This Christmas, he planned to give them all one big reason to be happy. He bought many sweets and decided to sneak into people’s homes at night and put the sweets in the houses. He thought this would make people happy, especially the children. When Christmas reached, he got his bicycle and went from house to house jumping the fences and entering to deliver the sweets. Since this was tiring work, he got hungry and started eating any food he found in the houses.   As he was leaving one house, the people made an alarm and called the police. They arrested him and charged him with trespassing and theft.   Dikula is confused because he just wanted to surprise the people and make them happy. Is that illegal?    WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?  According to the law, when a person enters the premises of another without permission, then it is called trespassing and is a crim...

Lands Minister, Judith Nabakooba, has reechoed President Museveni’s directive of conducting no evictions in the festive holidays. While speaking in an end of year press briefing on December 21 at the ministry headquarters in Kampala, Nabakooba issued the dos and don’ts, and gave updates about this year’s achievements in her ministry. Nabakooba said during the festive season, all courts and land administration offices will be on holiday and cautioned land grabbers who expect to use this time to harass people. “The president issued this directive which still stands. It has not been withdrawn, it is still upheld. I advise all those with court orders or any issue to liaise with the district land security committee headed by the Resident District Commissioners to provide guidance on any evictions,” she said. Nabakooba asked the public to work closely with police and other security agencies to protect their land since the minis...

The Ministry of Health has proposed to have the minimum age, people are allowed to drink alcohol in Uganda raised from 18 to 21 years, arguing that at 18 years, one’s brain is still developing and thus, shouldn’t be allowed to make a life altering decision like taking alcohol. "They (movers of The Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill) have put the age of 18 at which people are supposed to start drinking at 18 years, we are saying this age isn’t okay, it should be 21 years and there is already science around this age and research was actually done by many scientists and they found that if someone hasn’t taken alcohol or any abusive substance by the age of 21, there are so little chances of this person starting to take this substance," Hafsa Lukwata, Assistant Commissioner, Health Services at Ministry of Health. Lukwata made the remarks during a media training of journalists at Parliament, where she said Uganda has already set the precedent under the Tobacco C...

Former Speaker of Parliament and now 1st Deputy Prime Minister has not shown up for the handover ceremony where she was supposed to receive a brand new Land Cruiser from Speaker Rt. Hon. Anitah Among. Hon. Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga was among the five living former Speakers of Parliament who were to receive the cars today 18th December, 2023 at Parliament.The other recipients who actually turned up are Al Hajji Moses Kigongo, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, Francis Butagira and Prof. Edward Rugumayo. According to the recent enacted Parliamentary Pensions Act, former Speakers of Parliament will receive brand-new vehicles every 5 years and Parliament is responsible for the maintenance of the vehicles and payment of the drivers’ salaries.The brand new Land Cruisers cost over 600m each and consume about Shs700,000 700k full tank. While handing over the vehicles, Speaker Anitah Among revealed that Parliament will be giving the former Speakers new cars every 5 years,...

📸: Speaker Annet Anita Among looks on. Photo by Parliament of Uganda. The speaker of Uganda Parliament, Rt Hon Annet Anita Among has asked Government to stop buses that hike transport fares during the Christmas festival, saying the economy isn’t good, which calls for the need to protect Ugandans from any hiked transport costs. “I want you to issue a statement on the fares that people are going to pay, people don’t have money, economy isn’t good. What is the difference between travelling now and Christmas day? If you get a bus that is hiking prices stop that bus from moving, let them be fair to our people, let us not make a fortune out of nothing,” said @AnitahAmong. The Speaker also asked all motorists to exercise caution while on the road, urging people to plan their journeys early so as to avoid driving beyond the stipulated speed limit.  "Please don't overspeed, if you want to reach early, please leave early, don't overspeed because speed kills. I want to u...

In a disturbing revelation, a student uncovered a hidden camera within a plastic clothes hook in a West Virginia bathroom, initiating legal action against Amazon. The retail giant faces a lawsuit as it allegedly continues to sell similar covert cameras on its platform, priced at $42.99. Despite warnings about the dangers of such devices, disguised as everyday items, Amazon’s sale of these invasive cameras persists. Privacy activists stress the potential harm, especially to women and girls. The case sheds light on the need for increased scrutiny and regulation of these technologies.

Arach has been having trouble with Lutome, one of her brothers-in-law, since Arach’s husband died. In one of their conversations at the market stall, Arach told Abalo, her best friend, that she was tired of Lutome calling her a useless widow and threatening to chase her away from their land. Abalo told her to only get back to her if she was tired and strong enough for ‘permanent medicine’.When the family meeting failed to resolve the problem and Lutome ended up announcing that he would never give Arach peace. Arach went back to Abalo for the ‘medicine’. Abalo told her about this movie she watched where the man fell down a pit, and they agreed to try it. They borrowed Okello’s panga and the next night, they met at the well and set their trap. Lutome came by as usual drunk, tripped over the trap they set, and fell down the well. Arach jumped in just like in the movie Abalo told her and slit Lutome’s throat.  The police have arrested Arach, Okello and Abalo for murder. Ab...

2023 has seen its fair share of cyber attacks, however there's one attack vector that proves to be more prominent than others - non-human access. With 11 high-profile attacks in 13 months and an ever-growing ungoverned attack surface, non-human identities are the new perimeter, and 2023 is only the beginning. Why non-human access is a cybercriminal's paradise # People always look for the easiest way to get what they want, and this goes for cybercrime as well. Threat actors look for the path of least resistance, and it seems that in 2023 this path was non-user access credentials (API keys, tokens, service accounts and secrets). " 50% of the active access tokens connecting Salesforce and third-party apps are unused. In GitHub and GCP the numbers reach 33%." These non-user access credentials are used to connect apps and resources to other cloud services. What makes them a true hacker's dream is that they have no security measures like user credentials do...

The Minister of State for Trade, Harriet Ntabaazi revealed that 30 MPs are facing criminal investigation into their role in the embezzlement of Shs164Bn meant for Cooperatives compensation, and among the culprits include five ‘talkative’ and ‘noisy’ Opposition MPs. "The Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) is taking on files, around 5 files have been identified and the good thing with it, it wasn’t only the Ministry, there are MPs more than 30 MPs who are into this including Opposition MPs, five active opposition MPs very talkative and noise makers will also face it rough. We shall also face it as a Ministry, but they will also face it. So, we aren’t scared, we shall also face it wherever it will end, God knows, let it unfold that way," said Minister Ntabaazi. Minister Ntabaazi made the remarks while appearing before Parliament’s Trade Committee where she called for calm amongst MPs, saying the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives will continue executi...

Parliament was informed that Uganda Police Force imported 10 dogs in 2022/23, of which 30 puppies are being trained as future sniffer dogs. In January 2023, Police asked for Shs4.968Bn to procure 750 dogs to expand the Force’s canine unit in order to fight crime in Uganda. The revelation was made by James Ochaya , Director Research, Planning and Development while appearing  before Parliament’s Internal Affairs Committee, where the force had been summoned to update Parliament on its performance for the 2022/2023 financial year. "We were also able to import 5pairs of canine dogs to enhance breeding and currently, we have 30 puppies being trained at the Nagalama breeding centre. These new units now bring the number of canine units to now 88, but that is only 47% of the country coverage but we are now constructing 8 more cannons that means the percentage will improve,” said Ochaya. According to Uganda Police Force, there were 19,716 trackings conducted by the canine unit, ...

The Advocates Coalition for Development & Environment @ACODE_Uganda  has asked MP Muwanga Kivumbi (Butambala County) to ensure that the powers given to the Minister of Finance in procuring loans are curbed, due to the fiscal abuse being exhibited during the borrowing public funds The appeal was made Peter Watuwa, Researcher with ACODE during a consultative meeting @ACODE_Uganda held with Kivumbi, at Parliament on the proposal to amend the Public Finance Management Act 2015. "We feel there is a lot to be done on curbing the Minister’s powers to borrow. We feel that the PFMA gives the Minister a lot of power, and yet the Parliamentary at the end of the borrowing. The Minister goes into negotiations, gets these deals or whatever it is, then, pre-empts Parliament to approve that which he has negotiated. We feel that is tending towards fiscal indiscipline,” said Watuwa. In May 2023, the Ministry of Finance came under Parliamentary scrutiny when MPs unearthed a ploy Gov...

Uganda Prisons Services has proposed for the construction of 16 new regional mini-max prisons similar to Kitalya Prison, so as to reduce on congestion because, some prisons are accommodating a population that is 5 times the designed capacity. Elly Muhumuza, Commissioner Planning & Development, Uganda Prisons informed Parliament’s Internal Affairs Committee, that each mini-max prison costs around Shs102.9Bn. "Some prisons are accommodating five times above the designed capacities. To solve that, we need to adopt the Kitalya model, our plan is to construct at least one prison that accommodates at least 4000 prisoners in each region and we have 16 prison regions," said Muhumuza.

📸: AI image courtesy of Fossbytes. A Brazilian politician, Ramiro Rosário, has admitted to using ChatGPT to generate a proposal for legislation, and the law was passed without a single change. The law aimed to prevent the city from making residents pay for replacing stolen water consumption meters. Rosário intentionally kept the AI origin undisclosed, fearing bias against an AI-written proposal. “If I had revealed it before, the proposal certainly wouldn’t even have been taken to a vote,” Rosarío told the AP. “It would be unfair to the population to run the risk of the project not being approved simply because it was written by artificial intelligence.” The move has been criticized as a “dangerous precedent,” highlighting concerns about transparency and accountability in using AI-generated content for legal purposes. Some lawmakers advocate for clear markings on AI-generated work to ensure responsible use. Meanwhile, Rosarío has no regrets. “All the tools we ha...