HRCU WEEKLY UPDATE: ISSUE NO.26 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.26 of 2021 |The Week of 05 July- July 11, 2021
Results from
COVID-19 tests done on 10 July 2021 confirm 479 news cases. The cumulative
confirmed cases are 87,756. #STAYSAFEUG
The breakdown of the new cases
are: 477 Contacts and Alerts: Kampala (191) Jinja (53) Nakasongola (44) Tororo
(23) Wakiso (19) Kamuli (16) Buikwe (13) Ngora (13) Kyotera (11) Kumi (8)
Adjumani (8) Luwero (6) Kotido (6) Sironko (5) Arua (5) Pader (4) Kalaki (4)
Amudat (4) Soroti (4) Butambala (3) Paliisa (3) Napak (3) Isingoro (3)
Rakai (3) Bududa (3) Busia (4) Kiryandongo (2) Butaleja (2) Bugiri (2) Gulu (1)
Kabale (2) Kasese (1) Mukono (1) Kapchorwa (1) Nakaseke (10 Moroto (1) Kaabong
(1) Mayuge (1) Masaka (1) Kibuku (1)
ENCROACHMENT, LOGGING THREATEN
ADJUMANI’S ZOKA FOREST RESERVE
There is
massive encroachment and logging in Zoka Central Forest Reserve in Adjumani
district.
The forest
which is located in Itirikwa and Ukusijoni Sub Counties measures approximately
1,259 hectares. It is the only natural tropical rain forest and the only
natural forest resource in Adjumani district.
However,
there is currently massive encroachment on the forest through cultivation,
development of homesteads as well as degradation through charcoal burning and
logging and illegal felling of the Mvule and Mahogany trees.
William
Amanzuru, an environmentalist and team leader of Friends of Zoka, a pressure
group, told Uganda Radio Network (URN) that the new destruction and degradation
of the forest is alarming.
Amanzuru says
that the vice which had been fought a few years ago is recurring with several
trucks transporting timbers from the forest, hundreds of trees felled using
power saws and part of the forest already encroached on.
Encroachment, logging threaten Adjumani's Zoka forest reserve (independent.co.ug)
POLICE ASK GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
VICTIMS TO ALWAYS SPEAK OUT
Members of the public facing any form of gender-based
violence and against children to always speak out but also report to
authorities for redress.
“Any child or
person who is a victim of violence can report to their parent or guardian,
trusted person, local leaders and the nearest police within their locality.
Don’t keep quiet,” said Rashida Mugawe, the deputy at the Sexual and
Children Related Offences Department at the Criminal Investigations Division
headquarters in Kibuli.
Mugawe was
speaking during a community outreach program organized by Integrated Youth
Development Organization, a local NGO in Kyebando Kampala.
She noted
that cases of violence normally increase in communities during such times like
the lockdown but noted that many of them go unreported.
The High
Court has ordered government to intervene by making regulations for reasonable
fees payable to hospitals for management and treatment of Covid-19.
The
development follows a case filed by Center for Health, Human Rights and
Development (CEHURD) executive director Moses Mulumba on the exorbitant prices
charged to treat Covid-19.
The case was
filed against the Attorney General, Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners
Council and the Minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng.
High Court
judge Phillip Odoki said in his ruling on Thursday that the Uganda Medical and
Dental Practitioners Council (UMDPC) should make recommendations on reasonable
fees that could be charged, and advise the ministry of Health accordingly.
One of the
respondents in the case, the Attorney General, agreed with most of the
submissions in the case.
The Health
ministry Permanent Secretary Dr Diana Atwine had earlier said that currently,
they had no law that supports them to dictate prices by private health
facilities.
More than 500 girls
leave Uganda each day for domestic work in the Arab World, an official from the
Internal Affairs Ministry has revealed.
Agnes Igoye, the Deputy
Coordinator for Prevention of Trafficking in Persons in the Internal Affairs
Ministry, says that although several male youths are also leaving for jobs in
the Middle East, the biggest number of people leaving for domestic work
comprises females aged between 24 and 35 years of age.
She says that records
from the Immigrations department at Entebbe Internal Airport show that, 500
youths majorly girls sign off to travel for domestic work in countries such as
Saud Arabia, Jordan and Qatar. This means that over 15,000 girls are leaving
Uganda every month for domestic work in the Arab world.
This translates to
180,000 mostly women leaving the country every year in search of employment.
However, Igoye says the 500 youths are those who are exported through
recognized external Labour recruitment agencies. She says that many
youths are being trafficked by unscrupulous Labour exporters.
FIVE SUSPECTS REMANDED OVER GEN
KATUMBA SHOOTING
Five suspects covered
with bruises, wounds and burn marks have been arraigned before the Chief
Magistrate’s Court in Nakawa on charges of terrorism and the subsequent murder
of the daughter and driver to the Minister for Works and Transport General
Katumba Wamala.
Those charged before
Chief Magistrate Dr Douglas Singiza are; Muhammad Kagugube alias Musiramu
alias Mugisha alias Mbavumoja, a boda boda rider and a resident of Kikaaya
zone, Kanyanya in Kawempe division and Kamada Walusimbi alias Mudinka, also a
boda boda rider and a resident of Nabweru zone 2.
Others are Siriman Ayuub
Kisambira alias Mukwasi Koja, a peasant and a resident of Kabaganda village in
Kasangati town council, Abdulaziz Ramathan Dunku, a tailor/car seats repairer,
resident of Matugga and Habib Ramanthan Marjan, a religious teacher.
One
of the accused persons showing media how he was allegedly tortured in state
custody.
These appeared in court
with visible injuries on their bodies claiming that they had been tortured,
their bodies pricked all over with needles and nails, beaten, while others
burnt in the back and their private parts, have been charged with one count of
terrorism, two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
Five suspects remanded over Gen Katumba shooting (independent.co.ug)
OUTGOING IRISH AMBASSADOR SAYS
WILL MISS UGANDA’S GOOD CLIMATE
The outgoing Ambassador
of Ireland to Uganda, William Carlos has said one of the things he will miss
most is Uganda’s climate and the people.
Speaking at a farewell
ceremony organized for him at State Lodge Nakasero, Carlos who is moving to the
Philippines to open Ireland’s new embassy there in the coming months thanked
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni for the cordial working relationship between
the two countries.
“I have enjoyed the most
beautiful climate of all times. I hope by being here, I opened more doors for
Ireland and Uganda. We have a very strong relationship and I hope to build even
stronger relations through anything we can do to enhance the voice of Uganda
globally,” he said.
Outgoing
Irish Ambassador says will miss Uganda’s good climate (independent.co.ug)
The Forum for Women in
Democracy-FOWODE, a non-governmental organization that promotes the
participation of women in leadership is concerned that the Covid-19 relief
funds could lead to more violence against women.
Speaking to Uganda Radio
Network about a report dubbed, ‘Budgeting for Peace’, that the organization
recently released, Patricia Munabi Babiiha, the Executive Director of FOWODE
said that their research in the past has shown that women are at the mercy of
men when it comes to household incomes.
The government announced
proposals to disburse Shillings 100,000 to at least 520,000 vulnerable persons
in 41 municipalities and 10 cities to help them go through the 42-day lockdown
announced to stop the spread of the second wave of COVID-19.
But Munabi says this is
faced with challenges especially on who should be given the money between the
man and the woman. She says that many families have women or children who are
the breadwinners hence should be the ones to get the money.
FOWODE worried relief cash could cause violence against women (independent.co.ug)
Parliament’s decision to
approve the appointment of Alice Kaboyo as Minister of State for Luwero
Triangle-Rwenzori region has attracted criticism from a section of lawyers and
officials from Anti-corruption agencies.
The Appointments
Committee chaired by Deputy Speaker Anita Among had earlier rejected Kaboyo’s
appointment on the basis of her conviction by the Anti-Corruption Court in
2012. She had pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of office for her involvement
in a corruption scandal on funding from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and
Immunization (GAVI).
Kaboyo who was jointly
charged together with three former health ministers, Jim Muhwezi, his deputies,
Mike Mukula and Dr Alex Kamugisa was sentenced to a fine of 20 million
Shillings or a jail sentence for eight years. She chose to pay the fine but
according to the Anti-Corruption Act, she is disqualified from holding public
office for a period of 10 years from the time of her conviction.
Despite the issues at hand, 22 legislators from the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party voted in favour of Kaboyo’s approval on Tuesday. Four Opposition MPs rejected while one abstained. Sources from the committee indicated that they received an appeal request from President Yoweri Museveni to reconsider their earlier position assuring MPs that Kaboyo was remorseful and paid fines imposed by the court.
Lawyers,
Anti-corruption agencies query Kaboyo’s ministerial approval
(independent.co.ug)
SALARY ARREARS OF FORMER SPCS IN KABALE SETTLED
More than 100 former
Special Police Constables – SPCs who were deployed to provide security for the
2021 election activities in Kabale district have finally received their
salaries.
Police recruited the
SPCs in December last year to complement its work of law enforcement during the
general elections. The SPCs signed a three-month contract running from January
to March. Each of the constables was entitled to Shillings 370,000 monthly.
They were also promised 40,000 Shillings per voting day.
However in February, the
SPCs stormed Kabale Central Police Station to demand payment of allowances.
They threatened to stage illegal operations to extort money from the public
citing nonpayment of their allowances.
On Tuesday, the SPCs
received messages on their phones informing them to go to Kabale police Station
and receive their salaries.
Sheila Kesande, a
resident of Nyakambu cell in Southern division, Kabale municipality said she
had almost given up on the money. Kesande who received 1.2 Million Shillings
for January, February and March said she would use the money to start up a
salon.
Salary
arrears of former SPCs in Kabale settled (independent.co.ug)
STATE HOUSE ASKS UCC TO INVESTIGATE THOSE DECLARING
MUSEVENI DEAD
State
House has tasked telecom regulator, Uganda Communications Commission to
investigate social media users declaring President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
either very sick or dead.
In her press statement,
Lindah Nabusayi, the senior presidential press secretary says that the only
reason President Museveni is no longer visible is that he has chosen to work
virtually as part of the COVID-19 containment measures.
“The President announced
a total lockdown and therefore cut down on his public engagements. Most of his
work has been through virtual meetings, radio and televisions. Those creating
unnecessary fear and panic among the public by spreading fake news are
criminals intent on causing havoc. UCC should investigate social media abuse
and take action,” Nabusayi said.
State
House asks UCC to investigate those declaring Museveni dead (independent.co.ug)
A team of private health
service providers came under fire from the Covid-19 taskforce of Parliament for
holding the bodies of Covid-19 victims and patients over unpaid bills.
Several families whose
relatives have succumbed to Covid-19 have failed to pick their bodies from
private facilities because of exorbitant treatment charges. In some incidents,
the facilities have also held hostage patients for failure to clear their
medical bills.
Many of the private
hospitals charge between Shillings 3.5 million and five million daily for
patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Some of the prominent private health
facilities are International Hospital Kampala (IHK), Medipal Hospital, Nakasero
Hospital, Case Hospital, Norvik Hospital, UMC and TMR Hospitals.
On Tuesday, the COVID-19
taskforce of Parliament tasked the private health service providers under their
umbrella Uganda Healthcare Federation (UHF) to explain the high charges and
retention of bodies over unpaid bills. During the meeting, the West Budama
South MP, Dr. Emmanuel Otala put to the private health facilities that they
have lost it by retaining patients and bodies of Covid-19 victims.
MPs grill private hospitals for retaining dead bodies, exorbitant fees (independent.co.ug)
The Attorney General has
filed a notice of appeal intending to challenge the Constitutional Court ruling
against the powers of the Court Martial.
Last week, the
Constitutional court ruled that the Court Martial has no powers to try
civilians.
In a majority ruling of three
justices against two, the court ruled that although the Court Martial is a
competent court under the 1995 Constitution, its powers are only limited to
serving officers of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces.
The court’s ruling
follows a 2016 petition by the then Nakawa Member of Parliament Michael
Kabaziguruka challenging his trial in the General Court Martial. Kabaziguruka
was accused of being found with firearms, a preserve of armed forces. It was
said then that he intended to use them to overthrow a democratically elected
government of Uganda. Kabaziguruka who was arrested and detained for several
months denied the charges which he called politically motivated.
Justices Kenneth Kakuru,
Remmy Kasule and Hellen Obura argued that the UPDF Act was never intended to be
an Act of general application. Justice Kakuru specifically said that it is a
statute of a special and limited application whose power only relates to UPDF
alone.
Attorney
General appeals Constitutional court ruling against Court Martial
(independent.co.ug)
Kampala
Capital City Authority-KCCA councilors on Tuesday defied the Resident City
Commissioner-RCC and attended a council meeting.
The Speaker of the Council
Zahara Luyirika called for the meeting indicating that 20 councilors would
attend the meeting physically while the rest will follow the proceedings via
zoom.
However, by 11am, more
than 30 councilors had turned up at City Hall to attend the meeting.
The RCC, Hud Hussein
arrived and deployed police from the Field Force Unit-FFU to block the
councilors from attending the meeting. He insisted that only 20 councilors
would be allowed to attend physically and after testing for COVID- 19.
Last week, Hussein
suspended council sittings as a procedure to control the spread of Covid-19.
Following
several complaints by court users, the Judiciary has barred the retention of
national identification cards of sureties by the court, according to a circular
issued by the Principal Judge Flavian Zeija.
In the
circular issued to all judges, registrars and assistants, chief magistrates and
magistrates 1 and II, Zeija noted that the said practice makes citizens unable
to pursue their rights and undertake their obligations as citizens of Uganda.
Many
courts have been asking sureties to deposit their national identification cards
until final determination of a criminal case as a condition to grant bail to
suspects.
Zeija
explained that most criminal cases take over a month to be disposed of, yet
national identification cards are required by all Ugandans to undertake day to
day business adding that the attendant challenge is that sureties are unable to
pursue their rights and undertake their obligations as citizens of this country
for as long as their original Identity cards are retained by a court.
HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS WANT DR. ATWINE TO RESIGN OVER ABUSE OF OFFICE
Human rights
activists under their umbrella association of Human Rights Defenders Union
Uganda have called for the resignation of the Health Ministry Permanent
Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine.
In a press
brief held on Monday morning, the activists said that Dr. Atwine had misused
Covid-19 response funds among other key issues, and should leave office
immediately.
“We demand
therefore that the PS, Dr. Diana Atwine must resign with immediate effect for her
extensive abuse of office,” Namata Mwafrika alias Nalongo Nana, an activist
said in a statement.
Last year,
government collected at least Shs 29 billion in donations from Ugandans and
companies to aid the fight against Covid-19 and the activists said that Dr.
Atwine misappropriated the funds and failed to offer accountability.
“Ministry of
Health, the National COVID-19 Task Force, and other relevant entities must be
held accountable publicly for all funds borrowed, donated, budgeted for
management of the pandemic.”
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