President Museveni and his born again wife Janet arrive at Kololo in the newly-acquired Mercedes Benz
FIRST READ:
Uganda is God’s Nation : Oh really
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/636196-uganda-is-god-s-nation.html
President Museveni preaches love at national golden jubilee thanksgiving: oh really
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/President+Museveni+preaches+love+at+national+golden+jubilee/-/688334/1527506/-/7ksh54z/-/index.html
Mmotoka ya Museveni ne Kagame ezitemya ng’omuntu
http://www.bukedde.co.ug/news/67558-mmotoka-ya-museveni-ne-kagame-ezitemya-ng-omuntu.html#.UHlQxSu1EHk.facebook
A woman carries her children on her bicycle through a town.newvision
The effect of Brain Drain on Uganda’s Health Sector: No applicants yet for 36 key Mulago vacancies
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/07/effect-of-brain-drain-on-ugandas-health.html
When the USA
client state rots to the core: Health centres in Uganda suffer as money is diverted
to pay for GAVI fraud: mean while Like Kaboyo, Muhwezi, Kamugisha have been set
free by chief magistrate IRENE AKANKWASA
Pupils on a boda boda to
school. newvision
When utterances of African leaders make God laugh:
“Am now 68 years and one of the things I don’t have a budget for is sickness’’.
He explained that he no longer shook hands as a precaution against the deadly
Ebola virus. Museveni
Pupils on a boda boda to
school. newvision
President Museveni and Wife repent on behalf of Uganda
50 years of Ugandan independence: A pseudo democracy with authoritarian traits
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/10/50-years-of-ugandan-independence-pseudo.html
Museveni
courts cult, witch doctors and religious heads
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12201&Itemid=59
Museveni drums during a meeting with witches at Namboole in 2011.He was looking for votes
Ugandan President Buys Jet Fighters as poor
Ugandans die of hunger
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2011/07/ugandan-president-buys-jet-fighters-as.html
Uganda at 50: Despite the prosperity lies from Museveni’s government and the Pentecostal wing, Uganda is slowly but steadily sinking into violence, dictatorship and apathy(abantu bakowu): The country is more divided than ever before and is an accident waiting to happen.
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/10/uganda-at-50-despite-prosperity-lies.html
An NGO volunteer treats a jigger infested resident in Busoga
Museveni’s new car goes down badly
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21500%3Amusevenis-new-car-goes-down-badly&catid=34%3Anews&Itemid=114
Friday, 12 October 2012 00:16
he realization that government has spent more
than Shs 40bn to buy cars for President Museveni, lawmakers, speakers of
parliament and the Prime Minister has rubbed Ugandans the wrong way, at least
if reactions on social media are anything to go by.
The debate about the profligate expenditure of
the state on cars was thrust back into the public domain after Museveni
unveiled a new Mercedes Benz S600 Pullman Guard during the independence golden
jubilee celebrations at Kololo Independence grounds, Tuesday.
The president's new wheel parked
The limousine is estimated to cost between
$300,000 to $1.4m. There are various estimates about what the state paid to
secure Museveni the car that was individually tailored in the German city of Stuttgart, with some
reports putting it at an eye-popping Shs 2bn.
This comes after government dipped into the
public purse to buy cars for each of the 385 lawmakers at Shs 103m apiece
(collating a grand total of Shs 39bn). The Speaker of the House and her deputy
also were furnished with sleek cars that cost Shs 860m apiece.
A poor Uganda School Child with hands infested by jiggers
Observers find it ironical that whereas the
Finance ministry has in the last three financial years failed to secure funds
to implement the student loan scheme and bridge the funding gap in the health
and education sectors, it has managed to find money to buy cars for the
government officials.
“This is being insensitive to the nationals who
are the taxpayers,” said Masaka municipality MP Mathias Mpuuga.
When contacted yesterday, the President’s Press
Secretary, Tamale Mirundi, retorted at people criticizing Museveni for adding
to his fleet of cars.
President Museveni Holding a Jubilee Bible
“He is not like Jesus who didn’t need cars to
travel. The President needs cars to travel and like any other person, his cars
get old and new ones are bought,” Mirundi dismissively said.
According to the National Development Plan (NDP),
human capital development is one of the interventions identified to unlock the
key binding constraints to economic transformation of the country. But in order
to achieve the objectives of the NDP, government must develop and consistently
implement a human capital development strategy aimed at equipping the labour
force with relevant skills.
Among the interventions outlined by the Finance
ministry are education, health and water sectors. Government, though, has opted
to concentrate on consumptive items like cars.
“This is appalling and I don’t know what has
happened to African nations. Why should you have to spend all that much on
waste at the expense of priority sectors like agriculture, education, health
and infrastructure? We need to change if we are to transform,” said Amos
Lugolobi (Ntenjeru South), a member of the Parliament committee on Budget.
Patients
on the floor of Mulago Hospital, the National Referral
Hospital. Photo courtesy
of williamkituuka.blogspot.com
Recently, Parliament was embroiled in squabbles
with the executive over the latter’s failure to find 39.2bn to fund the recruitment
and remuneration of health workers. Lugolobi finds it in bad taste that
government can shun the health sector and concentrate on consumptive items.
Our attempts to sound out the minister in charge
of National Planning, Matia Kasaija, were unsuccessful as he was reportedly in
a meeting. We understand that the shadow minister in charge of Presidency and
Anti-Corruption, Mpuuga, wants the Auditor General to conduct financial and
value-for-money audits in respect of the entire golden jubilee festivities.
“Remember it was not only the car that should
raise people’s eyebrows, but we also need to understand the other expenses that
the government spent on this activity,” he said.
Mpuuga, who sits on the Parliament Presidential
Affairs committee, added the car was not part of the items budgeted in this
financial year.
“We considered their budget estimates, but that
item was not there. So, we need to know where the money was got to buy this
car,” he said.
Patients
on the floor of Mulago Hospital, the National Referral
Hospital.
Govt spends sh21b on Golden
Jubilee
Publish Date: Oct 11, 2012
By Mary Karugaba
The curtains on the main celebrations to mark Uganda’s Golden Jubilee have finally come down.
The curtains on the main celebrations to mark Uganda’s Golden Jubilee have finally come down.
On Wednesday, officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the President (the organisers), said sh21.5b had been spent on a series of activities to mark the day. “We released sh21.5b to the Office of the President to organise the celebrations.
I don’t know how they spent it,” deputy secretary to Treasury Keith Muhakanizi told New Vision.
Information from the Office of the President indicates that although they received sh21b for the celebrations, more money could have been spent since some organisations sponsored their own activities.
“Some ministries spent their money to mark the day. For example, the Ministry of Defence spent its money to fuel the jets,” the source said.
Security minister, who is also the acting minister for the Presidency, Muruli Mukasa, said celebrations at the district level will continue up to the end of the year.
Sources said districts will spend their own money due to resource constraints. The activities to mark the Golden jubilee were launched by President Yoweri Museveni in May this year.
Why is Africa’s health sector lagging behind?
http://spyghana.com/health-news/health-news-health-news/why-is-africas-health-sector-lagging-behind/
Published On: Thu, Mar 29th, 2012
Patients lying on the floor in Mulago Hospital.
Low budgets in the health ministries has led to poor health facilities in Africa.
Among these is professional insecurity. While addressing a delegate of health experts, Prof Miriam Were, a Kenyan public health advocate said: “People, especially the young professionals, are insecure. They are afraid of how they will survive in the health system and how they make themselves known thus they resort to other professions.”
Prof Were’s observation is proved true by the fact that people Like Peter Muhumuza who graduated from medical school in 2007 has resorted to business rather than working in a hospital or a health centre.
He explains: “I was afraid that it might take me time to be known by people that can fully trust me as their doctor. That’s why I started up a supermarket and I have no regrets.”
Museveni's luxurious gulf stream jet
The professor also blamed the lag on lack of social support. She explains that so many health professionals want to join the field but because there is a lot of stigma in the health sector and yet there is no one to give them the moral support to join, they end up joining other professions.
Prof Lucas Adetokunbo, a Nigerian Medical Doctor and former professor of international health at the Harvard School of public health, says the lack of strong leadership has also hampered the health sector thus frustrating people from joining it.
To this effect, Dr Gilbert Mliga, the Director of Human Resources Development for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Tanzania, says some ministers of health lack the capacity to advocate better health budgets thus leaving the ministry with a low budget that cannot fend for all health needs.
The poor pay to doctors in most African countries has also forced most of them to move to other countries for greener pastures. Dr Godfrey Sikipa, a Public Health Specialist and a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Zimbabwe Government explains, “African countries have failed to retain doctors because of the little pay.”
For the few that stay in their countries, some of them lack accountability for their professions. Prof Francis Omaswa, the Executive Director of the African Centre for Global Health and Social Transformation (ACHEST), says some of the health practitioners work for a promotion without caring if they fulfill the oath they made as doctors. So, as a means of strengthening the health sectors of African countries, the health experts suggest the need for strong leadership in the health ministry to improve the whole sector.
Dr Sikipa explains, “There is a crucial need for capacity building of the ministers so that they can advocate health policies and better budgets for health. We also need to look at what those countries where our medical doctors ran to have so that we can adopt the same to retain our medics.”
He adds that African countries need to ensure that international health policies coming to Africa are positive and can lead to development of the health sector. Prof David Sanders, the Director of the School of Public Health at the University of Western Cape, said there is a need for more research on the health system so that we can have better implementation systems.
However, all the health experts at the congress agree that strong health systems in African countries will only come from strong health ministries.
By Sarah Tumwebaze, Daily Monitor
Busoga jigger victims get treatment
http://www.newvisionuganda.info/PA/8/17/735083
Publication date: Thursday, 14th October, 2010By Donald Kiirya
ERIASA Mukwana, a 90-year-old resident of Buwuda village in Kamuli district, was one of the over 300 jigger-infested residents who turned up at the Kamuli Youth Centre for treatment on Tuesday.
Mukwana told New Vision that he had to trek 12 kilometres from his home in Buwuda village to the youth centre to attend the National Jigger Campaign launch.
The campaign was organised by the health ministry and Friends of Community Health, an NGO.
“On my way, I found a good Samaritan who gave me sh2,000 for transport to Budumbula after I explained to him where I was going,” Mukwana said, adding that jiggers attacked him a year ago.
George William Njuba, 47, a resident of Kakindu village in Namasagali sub-county, hailed the Government for coming to their rescue.
State minister for primary healthcare James Kakooza said jigger cases were not only in the nine districts of Busoga, but also in Kayunga and Kitgum, where some schools had been closed.
He said the health ministry provided drugs and gloves worth sh50m that were used to treat the residents, adding that more drugs would be availed according to the magnitude of the infestation.
Drugs were given to district health officials from Jinja, Kaliro, Mayuge, Namutumba, Iganga, Kamuli, Bugiri, Buyende and Luuka districts, who will distribute them to local leaders in various villages to treat residents.
Kakooza said ignorance, negligence and poor sanitation in homes had caused jigger infestation in Busoga.
He explained that people share their houses with domestic animals, which increased the risk of infection.
“We have enough drugs to fight jiggers. We want them out of Busoga in six months,” Kakooza said.
Rebecca Kadaga, the deputy speaker of Parliament and Kamuli Woman MP, urged local leaders to pass by-laws to fight jiggers.
Fred Menhya Kakaire, the Issabalangira of Busoga, blamed the infestations on poverty.
“Some residents believe that the jiggers came as a result of not having a Kyabazinga in Busoga,” Kakaire said.
Prince William Gabula Nadiope, who officially launched the campaign, called upon residents to improve their hygiene, adding that it would be sad to see people die of jiggers in the region.
The residents who turned up for treatment received slippers. They also received basins, towels and soap.
Government funds schools in Burundi
Posted Thursday, December 8 2011 at
00:00
In Summary
Government spent more than $5.5 million (about Shs13.7 billion) in taxpayers’ money to finance free education in Burundi, at a time when schools in the country were facing serious financial challenges, Parliament heard yesterday.
The money in question is accrued interest that is part of the controversial $14 million (about Shs35 billion) debt the government paid to Burundi for assistance rendered to President Museveni’s National Resistance Army fighters during the guerilla war. This payment is being investigated by the Public Accounts Committee (Pac) of Parliament over allegations of corruption in the deal.
Appearing before Pac for the second day, Acting Secretary to the Treasury Keith Muhakanizi and Accountant General Gustavio Bwoch, tabled documents before the committee indicating that the $5.5m was paid to Picfare Industries Ltd, a local company, to supply textbooks for Universal Secondary Education Schools in Burundi on the orders of President Museveni.
This revelation prompted Pac chairperson Kassiano Wadri to ask Mr Muhakanizi whether his “heart is in Kampala or Bujumbura”. “How can you donate all this money ($5.5 million) to Burundi schools when our children studying in UPE schools are suffering? Mr Wadri asked. “Are you really a Ugandan?”
The pupil to teacher ratio stands at over 100 to 1 in some UPE schools in the country, while some schools have less than seven teachers handling pupils in the entire school.
With a monthly salary of about Shs263,000, the money government donated to Burundi would pay the salary of about 50,000 additional teachers per month.
However, Mr
Muhakanizi said: “The one who approved this money is the Attorney General. He
should be the one to explain... I showed you letters from the President and
legal opinion from the Attorney General on whose advice we paid this money.”
In trying to understand the circumstances under which the government accessed money from the Consolidated Fund and later gave it to Burundi without the mandatory parliamentary approval, the committee issued summonses for ministers Sam Kutesa (Foreign Affairs), Fred Omach (General Duties), Syda Bbumba (Gender) and Khiddu Makubuya (former Attorney General), who reportedly cleared the payment to Burundi.
Mr Muhakanizi did not table original documents used to pay the money, explaining that some of them were transferred to the Bank of Uganda archives in Mbarara and needed time to get them.
The letters
He, however, tabled letters from President Museveni, questioning the circumstances under which Burundi did not receive all the text books. The President on May 8 wrote to Ms Bbumba complaining that although Ministry of Finance paid the money in full, Picfare Industries exported scholastic materials worth only $3.5 million. But in her response on May 17, Ms Bbumba reminded the President that he was the one who ordered the payment and denied allegations of corruption in the deal.
ymugerwa@ug.nationmedia.com
Government spends Shs842m on fighter jet trainers
By Martin Ssebuyira
Posted Friday, December 9 2011 at
00:00
Army sources speaking on condition that they are not named because of the sensitivity of the matter, say the Russian jets were brought with 75 experts to assist in maintaining the planes and training Ugandan army to fly the jets.
The experts are housed at Imperial Botanical Beach and Imperial Golf View hotels at the expense of the Uganda government. The Defence and Army Spokesman, Col. Felix Kulayigye, confirmed the development. “The Russian company was charged with training Ugandan forces, supply spares and maintain the jets but government provides them with accommodation and meals.”
Although Col. Kulayigye did not give details, sources revealed that the experts have stayed at the hotel for over six months now. According to a source who refused to be named, the experts are housed in the deluxe rooms at the two hotels.
A survey by Daily Monitor established that Deluxe rooms cost $120 each (about Shs308,400), a plate of food at the two hotels costs between Shs33,000 to Shs46,000 while the minimum cost of drinks is Shs2,500 and Local Hotel Tax is Shs2,000.
The hotel also puts its exchange rates at Shs2,800 per dollar that adds up to Shs384,500 per individual expert per day, making government spend Shs28 million to maintain the specialists daily. This makes a total of Shs842 millions for the 75 experts per month.
Col. Kulayigye explained that the remaining fighter jets are set to arrive in the country soon because the costs have been cleared.
Government bought six fighter jets and other military hardware worth $744 million (about Shs1.8 trillion) from Russia, attracting criticism after the Central Bank Governor, Mr Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile said he was forced to drain national reserves to buy the jets.
One of the planes recently ingested a bird at Entebbe Airport and another crash-landed but the army says the problems were fixed and the planes are in good condition. “The planes were fixed and are operating normally,” Col. Kulayigye said.
Mr Tumusiime-Mutebile said during an interview with a foreign newspaper that President Museveni’s ‘erratic’ policies and the government’s fiscal indiscipline have led to higher inflation and declining foreign reserves. He told the Financial Times that he had disagreed with Mr Museveni over the decision to spend $740 million on jet fighters, which has pushed reserves down from six to four months of import cover.
The Ministry of Defence, under President Museveni’s directive, withdrew a reported $400 million (Shs960 billion) from the Central Bank to pay for the fighter jets without parliamentary approval.
mssebuyira@ug.nationmedia.com
