HRCU WEEKLY UPDATE: ISSUE NO.20 OF 2021
THE HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE UGANDA (HRCU)
WEEKLY UPDATE
ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND KEY EMERGING ISSUES WITHIN THE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS'
WORKING ENVIRONMENT
ISSUE NO.20 of 2021 |The Week of May 24- May 30, 2021
The week has been highlighted by the appointment of the parliamentary opposition leadership. National Unity Platform (NUP) appointed Mathias Mpuuga as the Leader of Opposition in the 11th Parliament replacing Forum for Democratic Change (FDC)’s Betty Aol Ochan (Gulu Woman MP) who has been in the position since August 2018.
The party also appointed the Manjiya County (MP) John Baptist Nambeshe,
as the new Opposition Chief Whip. He now takes over from the Kira Municipality
MP, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda. Nambeshe will be deputized by Kyebakutika Manjeri,
the Jinja District Woman MP.
Busiro South MP Medard Ssegona is the Chairperson
of the Public Accounts Committee and will be deputised by Asuman Basalirwa, the
Bugiri Municipality MP.
Joel Ssenyonyi, the Nakawa West MP is new the Chairperson of the
Parliamentary Committee of Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State
Enterprises (COSASE) and will be deputized by Lucy Akello, the Amuru
District Woman MP.
COVID-19 SITUATION IN UGANDA
Results of COVID-19 tests done on 29 May 2021 confirm 524 new cases. The cumulative confirmed cases are 47,147. #STAYSAFEUG
UGANDA MPS SWEAR-IN AT PAN AFRICAN PARLIAMENT
Five Members of
Parliament have been sworn in to join the Pan African Parliament representing
Uganda at the continental institution based in Midrand, South Africa.
The Pan African
Parliament is the legislative arm of the African Union comprising Members from
National Parliaments of AU member states.
Uganda’s representatives
traveled to South Africa days after their own swearing in to the 11th
Parliament was held last week, and just after the 1st sitting of the 11th
Parliament in which Speaker Jacob Oulanyah and Deputy Speaker Anita Among were
elected.
The five positions to the Pan African Parliament are shared out among the majority party (NRM) taking three, while independents and the official opposition, National Unity Platform (NUP) take one seat each.
UGANDA AIRLINES TO START DIRECT
FLIGHTS TO SOUTH AFRICA IN EXPANSION MOVE
State-owned Uganda Airlines
is set to start direct flights to Johannesburg, South Africa, in a move to
expand connections on the African continent.
The airline in a statement
issued on Thursday said the first flight of the four-times-weekly flights from
Entebbe to Johannesburg is scheduled for May 31.
According to the statement,
the Johannesburg flight will enhance connectivity to and from the carrier’s
current network which includes to Kenya, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, South Sudan, Somalia, and Burundi.
Apart from its Africa expansion move, the carrier this year received two long-haul aircraft targeting the European, Middle East and Asian market.
POLICE RECORD ONLY HALF OF
TOTAL ACCIDENT RELATED DEATHS – STUDY
A study on the road
safety on Uganda’s road accidents shows a mismatch between the death numbers
reported by the police and those compiled from an independent study by Makerere
University School of Public Health and the World Health Organization.
Choosing the year 2016
for their study, the researchers who used police records and information at
health facilities found that the figures doubled the 3,500 that the police
recorded.
For the WHO which used
more parameters than police records and health centres, it was even much higher
according to a report.
This is part of the
findings in the Evidence-based Healthcare in Africa survey on road safety in
Uganda by the School of Public Health, coming at the end of the First Decade of
Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.
The
new Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah has said that he has informally
contacted leaders of the political parties represented in Parliament over the
nomination of members to the appointments committee.
The Appointments
Committee is supposed to comprise of not less than fifteen and not more than
twenty members designated by party whips on the basis of proportional party
membership in the House taking into consideration the numerical strength of the
parties and the interests of Independent members.
The committee chaired by the Speaker of Parliament vets and approves members appointed by the President. Now Oulanyah says that as the 11th Parliament kicks off, they are waiting for President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to make appointments of the cabinet including the Vice President and the Prime Minister, and in doing so they are already looking at setting in place institutions like the appointments committee and other committees of Parliament.
COURT ISSUES TIMELINES IN
RWANDA-UGANDA BORDER CLOSURE CASE
The Appellate Division
of the East African Court of Justice has issued timelines in the case in which
the government of Rwanda wants to have a Rwandan Judge on the panel of judges
hearing the matter challenging its decision to close the Ugandan border.
The matter arises from a
case filed by a Ugandan lawyer Steven Kalali in April 2019 challenging the
February 27, 2019 actions of the government of Rwanda to close its Kyanika and
Gatuna borders, blocking trucks from Uganda to allegedly expedite construction
works at the Rwandan side of the Gatuna border.
Following the closure,
Kalali through his lawyers Richard Wananda, Joseph Mutyaba and Josephat
Mutesasira petitioned the First Instance Division of the East African Court of
Justice arguing that the actions of Rwanda by closing its border have infringed
on the rights and freedoms of its people, and those in neighboring countries.
However, as the case was pending judgment at the First Instance Division, Rwanda in August 2020 filed an application seeking to halt these proceedings until a full bench of the East African Court of Justices is constituted due to the alleged complexity of the matter.
WHAT DOES SEPARATION OF MOBILE
MONEY FROM TELECOMS MEAN?
This follows the
licensing of three companies to operate mobile money services in Uganda
including MTN Mobile Money Uganda Ltd and Airtel Mobile Commercial Uganda Ltd.
Until now, the businesses have been officially run by the telecom companies
like MTN Uganda, Airtel Uganda among others.
The move follows the
enactment of the National Payment Systems (NPS) Act, 2020 in September and
gazetting of the NPS Implementing Regulations on 5th March 2021. Bank of Uganda
has commenced licensing of Payment System Operators, Payment Service Provider
and Issuers of Payment Instruments.
MTN Uganda and Airtel Uganda are the biggest mobile money operators in Uganda.
What does separation of mobile money from telecoms mean? (independent.co.ug)
Civil Society
Organisations (CSOs) have called upon cultural institutions in West Nile
Sub-region to abandon cultural practices that demean women and undermine their
rights.
In a report titled
Gender-based violence and teenage pregnancies in Arua which was launched on
Tuesday, the CSOs said some cultural practices are being used to suppress
the rights of women.
The report pointed out the Aruba culture that is widely practiced among the Lugbara community where women are not allowed to report cases of abuse to authorities with a belief that it invites curses upon the woman.
NUP RELEASES REPORT CHALLENGING 2021
ELECTIONS
The National Unity Platform
has released a report titled RIGGED detailing what it describes as bribery,
intimidation, violence, ballot stuffing, and fraud during the 2021 general
elections.
The 222 paged report
released on Wednesday covers the election period 2020/21. It details events
that occurred on January 14, 2021 which is the day the presidential and
parliamentary elections were held.
Ssenyonyi said that they
used the U-Vote app which the party launched in January to compile the
evidence.
Senyonyi added that even
though the party withdrew their election petition against President Museveni’s
victory in the elections, this does not stop them from keeping the evidence.
Lukwago was on Wednesday
afternoon sworn in for a third term at a function held at the City Hall, the
Kampala Capital City Authority headquarters.
Giving his inaugural
speech, Lukwago said he expects interference from the president just like it
has been in the last two terms but warned that he deserves respect as an
elected leader.
“I hope this term will
not call for wrath from powers that be to frustrate our efforts. My appeal to
Gen Yoweri Museveni is to respect the will of the people of Kampala who elected
me,”Lukwago said.
EDDIE MUTWE, NUBIAN LI SENT BACK TO
JAIL AS 18 OTHER BOBI SUPPORTERS ARE RELEASED
The two are part of the
group of 35 Kyagulanyi supporters and close members who had returned to the
army court for hearing of their bail application.
On Tuesday when the case
came for the state response, army prosecutors led by Maj Samuel Maserejje
told court that affidavits for bail application for 17 members of the group
including Nubian Li and Eddie Mutwe had not been fully examined and asked court
for more time to be able to peruse through them.
“For the remaining
applicants we are still in process of finalizing with scrutinizing the
affidavits in reply to enable us file a response. We pray for a short
adjournment of up to June 8,2021 to be able to finalise,”Maj Maserejje told
court.
In response, the army
court chairman, Lt Gen Andrew Gutti granted the request and adjourned the
matter until June 8,2021 when the prosecution will respond to the bail
application by the 17 members of Kyagulanyi’s camp.
Consequently, they have
been returned to prison until then.
Meanwhile, the army
court released 18 members of Kyagulanyi’s group who were arrested and had been
detained together with Nubian Li and Eddie Mutwe.
OULANYAH PREACHES RECONCILIATION IN
NEW TERM AFTER TROUNCING KADAGA
Speaker of Parliament
Jacob Oulanyah has said that his regime will see parliament debates base on
faith in facts and sharpened reasoning during plenary.
Oulanyah was delivering
his victory speech after being pronounced the winner of the parliamentary
speaker race.
Oulanyah trounced his
former boss Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga garnering 310 votes against the latter’s
197.
The new speaker of the
11th parliament said his regime will be one based on “faith in facts and
sharpening argument rather than raising our voices”.
Oulanyah said that under
his leadership, no view shall be suppressed and all legislators will be
tolerated.
We should agree that no
view shall be suppressed and work with tolerance. We should act in a harmonious
way. We have collective responsibility.
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