Information is Power

Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu, the brother to National Unity Platform principal Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine, has revealed the news of his phone allegedly being tapped has not only shocked him but caused him to fear. According to revelation in the global reporting investigations, the Pegasus Project, published by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an Israeli firm’s software was used by the Rwanda government to spy on several government officials. According to the report, Rwanda targeted former Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa, Former Chief of Defence Forces Gen David Muhoozi, Director of ESO Joseph Ocwet, and surprisingly, Bobi Wines brother Fred Nyanzi Ssentamu. Speaking to an Online Publication site Nile Post, Nyanzi said  that few things started adding up   when he heard the news “There were signs, but of course I could not tell. There were some indicators, for example, I could hear echoes during phone calls, sometimes I could hear my voic...

New evidence uncovered by the Pegasus Project has revealed that the phone numbers for 14 heads of state, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Pakistan’s Imran Khan and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as hundreds of government officials, were selected as people of interest by clients of spyware company NSO Group.    We have long known that activists and journalists are targets of this surreptitious phone-hacking – but it’s clear that even those at the highest levels of power cannot escape the sinister spread of NSO’s spyware.  Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's Secretary General Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said:   “The unprecedented revelation that the phones of at least fourteen heads of state may have been hacked using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware should send a chill down the spine of world leaders.    “We have lo...

Watching my fellow artistes line up themselves before Museveni’s brother General Salim Saleh to beg for handouts, my mind was taken back to the story of Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator of the 19th century. “Stalin once plucked off all the feathers from a live chicken as a lesson to his followers. He then set the chicken on the floor a short distance away. The chicken was blooded and suffering from great pain, yet, when Stalin began to throw some bits of wheat to the chicken it followed him around. He then said to his followers, “This is how easy it is to govern stupid people. They will follow you no matter how much pain you cause them, as long as you throw a few worthless crumbs to them every once in a while.” This story has come to life very many times in Uganda. Museveni, like all brutal dictators appeals to two human weaknesses- greed and fear. Those who resist greed are intimidated into submission, after which he returns and gives them a few crumbs from his loot. I am sure every...

A new vulnerability has been discovered in Windows 10 that allows anyone to get administrator privileges. The vulnerability is owed to an issue with file access permissions for some files associated with the Windows registry. Specifically, security researchers have shown that it’s possible for anyone to access the data stored in the Security Account Manager (SAM) file in Windows 10. The SAM file stores user credentials for the users on a computer, so naturally, it should be off-limits. However, as noted by security researcher Jonas Lykkeggard (via Bleeping Computer ), the SAM file actually can be accessed by anyone. You might not usually notice that because the file is constantly in use by Windows, which makes it inaccessible to users. But these vulnerability in Windows 10 opens a whole can of worms. Windows backs up these files when creating Shadow Copies of a drive, and these backed-up files aren’t in use. Because they still have the same permissions, any user on the computer can acc...

On Friday morning, rebels from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Cooperation for the Development of Congo (CODECO) attacked the army detach at Zeu but the attack was repulsed by UPDF soldiers who killed five of the attackers whereas one of the Ugandan soldiers was also killed. On Monday, the commander Land Forces visited the area to assess the security situation but also as a morale-boosting gesture to the soldiers in the detach. According to a statement, Lt Gen Muhoozi spent the day with the troops in the field as he also took time to understand the environment in which they operate in the area as their commander. He also toured the DRC-Uganda borderline in the area. “We are the fire of our country and therefore whoever touches our country should get burnt,” Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba said. The UPDF spokesperson, Brig Flavia Byekwaso on Monday said the CODECO hails from the Lendu ethnic group, one of the many operating in the volatile Ituri province. During the Friday attack, a group...

On Friday, we talked about Mabirizi and Kibirige who got into an argument over whether Mabirizi could afford an expensive phone. Mabirizi was dared to produce 200k by Kibirige so he could take the most expensive phone. It turned out he could. He paid 200k to Kibirige for an iPhone 12 and has since refused to part with it.  We asked you if he was entitled to that phone. Thank you for all your thoughts and responses. Let us also add ours to that discussion.  IF I PAY LESS THAN THE ‘REAL’ PRICE FOR A PHONE, AM I ENTITLED TO IT?  In contract law, the price of something in a contract is a called consideration. It is the payment or the reward for doing something or not doing something according to what has been agreed. It does not necessarily have to be money. For example, if I promise to withdraw my case against you at police and in exchange give me your shoes. This is a contract and the payment for your shoes, is me withdrawing my case against you at police. Furthermore, this...

A political activist and Kampala Deputy Lord Mayor, Doreen Nyanjura, on Friday shared her life story on NTV and Spark TV programme “Mwasuze Mutya”. This is the story: I was born in Kyenjojo District in 1989 and I am the first born to my father but third born on my mother’s side. Most people think I am a Mukiga but I am actually a Mutooro. In P.1 I became a class monitor and in P.6 I stood for deputy head girl but I was defeated .The school recognized my passion for leadership and gave me the post of time keeper. My dad was a strict man so I didn’t want to join Nyakasura School for secondary. I joined Kyebamabe Girls School. Two weeks later, there was a strike against the administration and I was a part of it. It was my first demonstration. My mum was from a humble background and she lived in a mud and wattle house. She was a prayerful woman who used to sell bushera (porridge) and snacks for a living. My mum is a brave person because she did not look back when she left her marriage. ...