HRCU WEEKLY HRDS UPDATES ISSUE NO_15 OF 2021
HRCU WEEKLY UPDATE: ISSUE NO.15 OF 2021
WEEKLY UPDATE
ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND KEY EMERGING ISSUES WITHIN THE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS'
WORKING ENVIRONMENT
ISSUE NO.15 of 2021 |The Week of April 19- April 25, 2021
As we approach the World Press Freedom Day that is commemorated every year 3rd May, HRCU would like to remind us all to come together using our different platforms and commemorate this day.
The theme of this
year’s World Press Freedom Day Commemoration is: “Information as a Public
Good.” The theme serves as a call to renew the global commitment to
freedom of expression, press freedom, and freedom of information, while
acknowledging the new economic challenges faced by the media sector, the
gatekeeping role of internet companies and their need for greater transparency,
as well as the strong need for Media and Information Literacy capacities to be
strengthened worldwide.
3 May acts as a
reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press
freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues
of press freedom and professional ethics. World Press Freedom Day is a day of
support for media which are targets for the restraint, or abolition, of press
freedom. It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost their
lives in the pursuit of a story.
Covid-19 situation
https://twitter.com/MinofHealthUG/status/1386644034211434497/photo/1
The
government is forced to interfere in the operations of Civil Society Organisations-CSOs
because their activities are suspicious.
Speaking on Wednesday at the launch of a book titled, Civil Society in Uganda at Hotel Africana, the Minister for Internal Affairs Jeje Odongo said that the level of suspicion is high, which has led to the closure of some offices of CSOs, interdiction of CSO leaders, and freezing of bank accounts.
Odongo admitted that there is friction between the government and civil society, but said that the government is committed to improving its working relationships with civil society.
ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS
SHOULD BE RELEASED UNCONDITIONALLY – MPS
Members of
Parliament on the Human Rights Committee, have called for the unconditional
release of the political prisoners at Kitalya Maximum Prison.
The legislators led by the Committee Vice Chairperson Agnes Taaka visited Kitalya Prison on Friday and were received by David Nsalasata, on behalf of the Commissioner General.
According to Taaka, they were able to speak Nubian Buken Ali, a close ally of the National Unity Platform president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, who spoke on behalf of the political prisoners.
Political
leaders in Kigezi region have implored the government to resettle the Batwa
following their eviction from national parks in the 1990’s. The leaders were
speaking during the release of a study by Mbarara University of Science and
Technology-MUST, dubbed “Understanding the Marginalized Batwa people of South
Western Uganda,” at Kanungu social center.
The lead researcher, Dr. Viola Nilah Nyakato said the study was aimed at understanding the lives of the Batwa and ways of improving their livelihoods.
JUSTICE LUSWATA TO HEAR MUSUMBA’S APPLICATION OF SUBSTITUTED SERVICE
Justice Eva Luswata, the Jinja High Court resident judge will hear Salamu Musumba’s application of substituted service against the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga.
Musumba applied for substituted service on claims that Kadaga or her agents had declined to receive the petition in which she is accused of involvement in vote-rigging and voter bribery during the recently concluded parliamentary elections.
EACH UGANDAN
COULD PAY UGX 100,000 PREMIUM FOR HEALTH INSURANCE
Every Ugandan
will have to pay a minimum of 100,000 Shillings in annual premiums if they want
to access health care under the National Health Insurance scheme. According to
the current bill, all persons aged 18 and above are liable to making
contributions.
Employees in the formal sector are the biggest contributors with each being subjected to a four per cent deduction from their salaries while their employers contribute one per cent to the health scheme. However, individuals in the informal sector would be required to pay a proposed 100,000 Shillings annually while pensioners would be expected to pay one per cent of their monthly pensions.
NATIONAL OIL
FIRM WANTS SHS640B FOR INVESTMENT
The Uganda
National Oil Company (UNOC) chief executive officer, Ms Proscovia Nabbanja, on
Tuesday told Parliament’s Finance Committee that her docket needs Shs640b to
support and manage the company investments.
Ms Nabbanja
said the money will help the company deliver on their mandate for different
projects such as the refinery, the East African Crude Oil pipeline as well as
other business lines on schedule.
She, however, clarified that the money is not necessarily needed all at once, considering the different project schedules and when the cash calls will be coming in.
She said they have been allocated Shs48b for the next financial year out of the Shs129b that they had requested, leaving a huge funding gap.
Victims of
the November 18 and 19, 2020 protests have not been compensated, five months
after the President promised to pay the families of those who lost their lives,
Daily Monitor has learnt.
At least 54
people lost their lives while others were seriously injured when spontaneous
protests broke out in different parts of the country following the arrest of
then presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine.
Following the protests President Museveni said the government will compensate the families of all those who lost their lives as long as they were not part of the protests.
COURT OF APPEAL TO HANDLE OVER 120 MATTERS IN
ONE MONTH
At least 122 matters shall be handled by the Court of Appeal or Constitutional Court in a period of one month starting Monday April 26, 2021.
According to a judiciary statement, the cases to be handled consist of 39 constitutional petitions, and 22 applications, 43 civil appeals, and 18 applications. Among the 43 civil appeals to be handled are two election petitions filed in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
A total of eight Justices led by the Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera will be taking part in the two sessions.
The Inspector
General of Police, John Martins Okoth Ochola has expressed concern over
increased court cases against the law and order enforcement body over the
years.
Ochola said
something needs to be done to ensure this trend changes or else the force will
chock on the huge bill.
“Although it is difficult to measure precisely the nature and extent of victim actions against Police or its administrators, there are substantial indications that civil litigation against the force and the subsequent effect to its personnel have increased significantly,”Ochola said on Thursday.
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