Bank of Uganda – Monetary Policy Statement for April 2016: “Core Inflation level to 6,2%” (04.04.2016)

BoU MPS April 2016 P1BoU MPS April 2016 P2

Press Release: Appointment of Ms. Nana Wanjiku Gecaga as Acting Managing Director, KICC (04.04.2016)

KICC 04.04.2016

1635 Generation Consensus, by ZANU PF’s Acie Lumumba (Youtube-Clip)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX556MVpmOE

Press Statement: “Impeachment: MPs must put Constitution and South Africa First” (04.04.2016)

DA 04.04.2016

Following last week Thursday’s landmark Constitutional Court judgement, Members of Parliament (MPs) have an important opportunity to restore Parliament’s reputation and indeed that of South Africa’s democracy by voting in favour of the motion tomorrow to impeach President Jacob Zuma in terms of Section 89 of the Constitution.

This is the first time in our country’s democratic history that Parliament will vote on a Section 89 motion to remove the President. This is fundamentally different from a motion of no confidence, as it requires one or more of the following grounds to be established: 

“(a) a serious violation of the Constitution or the law;

(b) serious misconduct; or

(c) inability to perform the functions of office.”

This motion, if successful, will also mean that President Zuma will not be able to receive the benefits he would have usually received when he leaves office. It is therefore a sanction. This sanction is an important check and balance provided to our Parliament, as the representatives of the people, to stop brazen abuse of power by any President.

All our MPs, regardless of political affiliation, must take this option seriously. When President Zuma violated the Constitution he threatened the very fabric of our constitutional democracy. As the elected representatives of the people, we must stand together and send a message that this will not be tolerated.

Nkandla 3

To do this is not just a recommendation. It is a requirement of our Constitution. When we were elected to Parliament, we swore an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution. Tomorrow, we must remember that oath and that we serve the South African people, and the Constitution, not Jacob Zuma.

As the DA, we therefore call upon Members of Parliament, representatives of the people of South Africa, on either side of the House, as well as society as a whole, to mobilise to support this motion of impeachment to remove Jacob Zuma from the highest office in the Republic when this matter is before the House tomorrow afternoon.

It is now time to put South Africa and the Constitution first again. Anything less will be an insult to our Constitutional Democracy, which so many people fought and died for.

Democratic Alliance press statement by
Phumzile Van Damme MP
DA National Spokesperson

In Bushenyi the Public Servants told to keep their mouth shut and don’t become “News Reports”; in the name of NRM-Regime, they don’t want to be accountable or transparent!

Museveni 101115

We know that the NRM does not have it in them to be accountable, if so they would have disclosed more information and dealing then they already do. As the land-agreements, oil-contracts, road-development and so on is kept on the low-key instead of in the public spotlight.

So when one of the general leaders in the Public Consumption told the fellow civil servants to not share their information with the world. Take a look!

What Ms. Nakayenga told new Public Officials in Bushenyi:

” Ms Pauline Nakayenga, told the leaders that information for public consumption is released only by mandated offices. She said revealing the information by anyone else can cause confusion” (…) “Commit yourselves to public service and be faithful to the offices you are taking. Keep government secrets, don’t become news reporters. Government and public information is released by the district spokesperson who is, in this case, the CAO [chief administrative officer] or district chairperson,” said Ms Nakayenga” (Amanyisa, 2016).

This law from the first Obote I Government is still in action and therefore, when it is valid it is useful in the discussion.

Bushenyi Medical Centre

This is what the law says about Public Service on this matter:

Section 8: “Any member or officer of the commission and any other person who, without the written permission of the Minister, knowingly publishes or discloses to any person otherwise than in the exercise of his or her official functions the contents of any document, communication or information” (…) ”which has come to his or her notice in the course of his or her duties in relation to the commission commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding twelve months or to both” (…) “Any person who knows of any information which to his or her knowledge has been disclosed in contravention of subsection (1) who publishes or communicates it to any other person otherwise than for the purpose of any prosecution under this Act or in the course of his or her official duty commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding twelve months or to both”.

So the laws are already strict as a Public Servant the disclosed material and documents are supposed to be secret and talked about, there even possibility of being fined or being imprisoned up to a year. So Ms. Nakayenga is actually speaking as the law is confined to, even if she knows it or not.

Still it is a worrying sign that the Public Information does not the information out or prove their accountable and transparent towards the citizens they claim to serve. In any instance that is worrying. It is also worrying how quickly I could find a law fitting the NRM-regimes wish for secrecy of Public Office and the Public Service, and their Public Servants!

Bushenyi

In my opinion it is not healthy when the Government does not express its will or its works; as then they have to hide what they’re doing and cannot been seen as accountable. If all work happen in secret then the Public Service is not for the people, but for the elite and the Government itself. And the Government is supposed to serve its citizens with the necessary services and security. Certain secrets are supposed only to be governments ones. But not all and the Civil Servants or the Local-Council and Local-Government should sometimes disclose information so that the public would actually know what is happening with the donor-funds, the taxpayers money and the planned operations and the budget use of the county. Without being seen by central and other Government Officials as “News Reporters”, that is just vindictive.

She did not define secrets, is everything the government do a secret? Is it filing the documents on land-owners in a county a secret? Is the next official contract for which Telephone Company Bundibugyo district is using for their employees? Should that be kept low-key or be told if the locals want to know and also know how much the local-council get funded for their usage of their smart-phone, or is that a secret?

Because if all business of the government and the local-council is disclosed and kept a secret, then the government is shadowing the public; and can do whatever they want without question unless it is visible killings. Still the certainly a culture amongst the NRM and the NRM-Regime to not tell or not wanting to tell their planned actions in public as the public does not need to know in their opinion; that is why under the Election Day the VPN was used and the Electoral Commission wanted to ban cameras and mobile-phones at the Polling Stations. Peace.   

Reference:

Amanyisa, Zadock – ‘Don’t reveal government secrets, youth leaders warned’ (02.04.2016) link: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Don-t-reveal-government-secrets-youth-leaders-warned/-/688334/3142626/-/kwjdw4z/-/index.html

 

Public Service Act of 1969 – link: http://www.ulii.org/ug/legislation/consolidated-act/288

Burundi: “Actions speak louder than words” – Tom Malinowski (Youtube-Clip)

“In a press conference issued on this Saturday morning by Tom Malinowski, an assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor concerning his visit in Burundi where he met with different officials, Tom declared his position about the procrastination of the government to execute their” (Iwacu Web TV, 2016).

Former LRA abductee says she has been exploited (Youtube-Clip) and the troubles of the NGO the Invisible Children!

A former abductee of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels has accused a Non Governmental Organisation in Northern Uganda of using her to solicit funds from donors without offering her any support. Stella Lanam, was abducted by the rebels in 1998 in Lamwo district. She told NTV that the NGO exploited her as she struggled to resettle in the community. The NGO has not responded to the accusations” (NTV Uganda, 2016)

What I was able to find out:

If you wonder which Organization that used her story for their benefit, it was the Invisible Children, the American NGO who is famous for the Kony 2012 campaign. She was trained under their MEND program that lasted from 2007-2014.  She herself told her story to the Campaign in 2009. So the truth is in the pudding and is viable for the people to find out about.

What was told about her through the Invisible Children Mend Video:

” it is impossible for most 12 –year-olds to imagine being taken from school one day along with 150 other students and dragged into the bush by the LRA. That is Stella’s story. She and her classmates were abducted from their primary school by the rebel group and were trained to be a child soldiers and deployed into the bush with guns and machetes. They were sent to overthrow the Ugandan government. While fighting, she was given to a rebel soldier and was soon impregnated. Of the 150 students kidnapped alongside Stella, more than half were killed. Despite all that she has been through, Stella keeps smiling and singing. But Stella also continues to fight for the rights of formerly abducted women, as she dreams of becoming a local councilperson. A born leader, she is making the future brighter – not only for herself, but for all child mothers in northern Uganda. And for the first time, the brightness of her future outshines the dark memories she has passed through” (MEND.co/VIMEO, 09.09.2016).

Dissolved?

These kinds of problematic representations ultimately led to a backlash against the organization. This became particularly clear during and after the Kony 2012 campaign and had a fundamental effect on the fundraising efforts of the organization. Traditionally, most of IC’s funds were collected as a result of its tours: countrywide presentations in high schools and colleges about the conflict and the organization’s work during which merchandise such as T-shirts and DVDs were sold and a large number of donations were collected” (…)”A second important issue is the market-based functioning of Invisible Children, whose operations have become increasingly in line with Dan Pallotta’s thinking. Russell and Keesey often cite Pallotta’s work as a major influence on how they conceptualize the future of charity and Pallotta sits on their advisory board. He was also a featured speaker at IC events in 2009, 2012 and 2013. Pallotta’s basic argument is that charities should be run according to private sector principles. Concretely, he argues for the “multiplying effect of smart investments.” This involves paying large overheads in order to attract the most talented people who in turn are expected to produce the best results, but also in the belief that higher spending in these “smart investments” will pay off: the more you spend, the more you raise and therefore the more you grow” (…)”Kony 2012 was not the first time Invisible Children had been confronted with accusations of grossly misrepresenting the conflict or its role in ending it. It did initiate, however, an overwhelming tidal wave of exposure to which the organization was ill-prepared to respond” (…)”Unlike a for-profit corporation, however, Invisible Children’s closure will have lasting effects on the many communities and students to whom it committed and whose lived experiences it aims to represent. Charitable organizations have a profoundly different set of relationships with their beneficiaries” (Ticea & Sebastian, 2015).

IC Expenses

That is the reason why she the abducted woman never got what she was promised by the NGO, it was dissolved and a NGO who is famous for using the conflict for their own gain, instead of trying to really help the people in the Northern Uganda the LRA abductees. The plot it seems for the Invisble Children was to gain as much funds and donor money, through smart marketing instead of actually doing great work on the ground. Peace.

Reference:

Ticea, Kristof & Sebastian, Matthew – ‘Why did Invisible Children dissolve?’ (30.12.2015) link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/12/30/why-did-invisible-children-dissolve/

Ahmed M Kathrada letter to President Zuma: ” I appeal to our President to submit to the will of the people and resign” (31.03.2016)

Ahmed M Kathrada Letter P1Ahmed M Kathrada Letter P2Ahmed M Kathrada Letter P3

Uganda State House says its broke, asks parliament for Shs70Bn (Youtube-Clip)

“Parliament has learnt that State House is broke with little or no money to manage the travels of the president, four months to the close of the 2015/2016 financial year. State House is asking for 70 billion shillings as a supplementary budget to fund the the presidency. State House comptroller Lucy Nakyobe who is the accounting officer informed the parliamentary budget committee that the funds budgeted to be used up to June this were spent by the President during the presidential campaigns” (NTV Uganda, 2016).

NRM National Campaign Taskforce Payment Voucher - Daily Allowance NR2

NRM National Campaign Taskforce Payment Voucher - Daily Allowance

Newspapers Same Scandal Uganda

Well, more to come on the spent monies. There will surely be reports proving the total spending on the Campaign by the President. Peace.