Information is Power

The US government has announced sanctions against some Ugandan officials over human rights violations orchestrated during and after the 2021 elections. In a statement released on Friday, the US government secretary of State, Antony John Blinken said there has been an increased downward trajectory for the country’s democratic credentials, adding that this was experienced in the 2021 polls. “Today I am announcing visa restrictions on those believed to be responsible for or complicit in undermining the democratic processes in Uganda, including the country’s January,14 general election and the campaign period that preceded it,” the statement by Blinken said. The November 18 and 19 protests after the arrest of National Unity Platform presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine saw over 50 people killed, other injured whereas hundreds were later arrested in the resultant crackdown on the masterminds of the deadly protest. . There was also a crackdown especially by secu...

Police have today met eminent women from Women Situation Room and discussed critical areas including preventing violence during an electoral process.   The meeting was chaired by CPC, AIGP Asan Kasingye on behalf of the IGP. The parties discussed and together agreed to involve the youth and women considering the fact that they are the major victims of violence associated with electoral process.  The meeting also agreed on routine stakeholder engagement as well as community policing as an ultimate panacea for the lasting and sustainable peace.  In a special way, the eminent women in their various voices thanked AIGP Kasingye for being a role model not only to the police but the society he lives and justified their praise to the CPC by quoting various examples where AIGP Kasingye has been seen as a mediator,  peace maker, human rights defender and above all a philanthropist.

In 2018, Komakech, now 37, perceived the idea of asking his partner for a hand in marriage. To him, marrying his partner at the youthful age of 17 was a dream. “I come from the Payira clan and we treasure the marriage institution as one of our cultural values,” Komakech says. The teacher by profession and a resident of Gulu City was asked to pay Shs22m in cash as part of the bride price and 14 head of cattle, plus goats and chicken. “This family had received Shs30 million in dowry from a rich in-law and I thought they would be lenient with me, considering my background,” Komakech says. Following years of negotiations, his offer of Shs7m was rejected by the girl’s family and he was forced to call off the marriage. On his part, Mr Joseph Lubangakene, 29, says the parents of his wife-to-be asked him to pay Shs15m as bride price, which was reduced to Shs12m after negotiations. He adds: “Besides the money, I was asked to buy a big solar panel and other electronics, which to me never exi...

  More than 2,000 special police constables (SPCs), who were recruited to provide security during the recently-concluded general election, have refused to hand over their uniforms over unpaid salaries. They claim that they were discharged from the police force without getting their payment for March. In January, the government recruited about 50,000 special police constables across the country to provide security during the election period. The recruits were trained and given a three-month contract.  Each constable was entitled to a Shs375,000 monthly salary. However, in Lango Sub-region, the police constables claim only two months were cleared. Seven of the affected personnel told Daily Monitor on condition of anonymity that they will never return government stores unless they are paid. “If they want me to return the uniform, they must first sort me out,” a discharged SPC said last week. The North Kyoga regional police spokesperson, Mr James Ekaju, however, asked the affected...

You’ve heard of Apple’s famous walled garden, the tightly controlled tech ecosystem that gives the company unique control of features and security. All apps go through a strict Apple approval process, they are confined so sensitive information isn’t gathered on the phone, and developers are locked out of places they’d be able to get into in other systems. The barriers are so high now that it’s probably more accurate to think of it as a castle wall.  Virtually every expert agrees that the locked-down nature of iOS has solved some fundamental security problems, and that with these restrictions in place, the iPhone succeeds spectacularly in keeping almost all the usual bad guys out. But when the most advanced hackers do succeed in breaking in, something strange happens: Apple’s extraordinary defenses end up protecting the attackers themselves. Related Story. Inside NSO, Israel's billion-dollar spyware giant. The world’s most notorious surveillance company says it wants to clean up its...

By Amvesi Andrew Cohen The local residents of Arua have petitioned the office of the Arua City Clerk and the National Forest Authority (NFA) over the alleged ‘fraudulent’ give-away of Barifa central forest reserve to Denis Lee Oguzu, the Maracha County MP. In a petition handed over to Cornelius Jobile, the Arua City Deputy Clerk and Robert Owiny, the NFA Range Manager West Nile on Tuesday, the locals alleged that Oguzu was illegally given a 2-year license for Eco-Tourism development and forest conservation activities in the 236 Hectares Barifa central reserve forest. The locals were led by Kamure Titia, the former Terego district LC5 contestant, Malon Avutia, the Ayivu Division Mayor Elect and Geoffrey Feta, the Ayivu East Division MP Elect. The aggrieved team accompanied by some members of Arua business community and a section of Ayivu elders alleged that legal and administrative procedures were not complied with in the allocation of Barifa forest thus rendering the entire process irr...

By Obedgiu Samuel The plan to scrap the OTT tax, which Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) said had yielded less-than-expected revenue. Since the government shutdown of the Internet a few days to the January 14th most fraudulent elections which involved varieties of cases in regards to human rights abuses, the risk-value of investors that seek to use the Uganda internet has gone up. Instead of addressing that, they are now imposing higher taxes. A recent study by telecom regulator, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) put the cost of acquiring 1 gigabyte of internet in Uganda at $2.67(Shs9819). Compared to Kenya (President H.E Uhuru Kenyatta ) , Tanzania (President H.E.Samia Suluhu Hassan ) and Rwanda (President H.E Paul Kagame ) at $2.41(Shs8863), $2.18(Shs8017) and $2.18(Shs8017) respectively, Uganda’s is the highest. This tax is even going to make data more expensive, making businesses’ cost of operation even higher. The cost of internet has many dependencies, notably the cost of landi...