Buddo Secondary School (SS) girls were on Tuesday last week crowned winners of the under 18 Movit 3×3 Basketball Championship, by the Federation of Uganda Basketball Association at the Lugogo Hockey Grounds.

The tournament which was played on International Women’s Day attracted over 20 teams from various secondary schools across the country, saw Buddo SS win the championship.

Sheila Lamunu, one of the players of the Buddo SS team said the win means a lot and they will have to go an extra mile to achieve a lot more in basketball.

Speaking at the event, Stephen Adinyai, Movit Brand Manager, said: “Movit got involved in the Championship because it brings together confident girls who wish to break the bias within our communities and education sector. Through sports, we feel the girl-child and women can have a collective voice to break the bias”. Adding that Movit is passionate about women affairs because our customer base is 80% female and we are a brand of self-love and confidence. Our brand gives women ‘All-Day Confidence’ in everything they do.”

Sandra Munduru, Commissioner for Women Basketball in Federation of Uganda Basketball Association said, “We managed to break the bias with today’s activities and we were able to attract a good crowd and had a quality tournament.”

She added that the federation will continue to support and encourage more women in all spheres of the game not just as players but also as couches, referees, build capacity and grow women’s basketball in Uganda.

By Racheal Nuwahereza

By Racheal Nuwahereza

Police in Adjumani is investigating charges of theft against Adjumani East MP, James Mamawi.

Two charcoal dealers from Mbale district identified as Ali Mundara and his wife, Ms Jessica Nabwire, accuse Mamawi of waylaying a truck along Mungula road in Adjumani town and forcefully taking away 60 bags of charcoal.

The couple told police that their truck was on March 10, 2022 stopped at a roadblock staged by the legislator as they approached Adjumani Town at around 4am before the MP confiscated the car keys from the driver. 

“Even when we showed him our valid license issued by the district’s forest department, the MP who was in the company of two others, went ahead to open the back of the truck and started pulling out the bags of charcoal, accusing us of illegal trade,” said Mundara adding that the accused then made an alarm that attracted several locals who looted 60 out of 250 bags of the charcoal bags before the police intervened.

On March 13, police in Adjumani district summoned Mamawi to answer to the accusations.

When contacted, the MP however denied any involvement in the theft of the bags of charcoal.

“They refused to comply when I politely asked them to produce their trading license. They instead ordered their accomplices to manhandle us and in the ensuing fracas, two boys were badly injured. That is when the community came in and others raided the bags of charcoal,” Mamawi told journalists. 

In 2016, commercial charcoal business was banned by the Adjumani District council following massive illegal charcoal trade and mass deforestation of the area. 

However, given to the increasing trend of the illegal trade in charcoal and timber, the law enforcement unit of the district is presumably struggling to enforce the ban.

Benon Byamukama, the district police commander, told journalists that a case of theft (SDR: 39/10/03/2022) was registered against the legislator by the two charcoal dealers from Mbale District, adding that investigations into the case were underway.

Kampala metropolitan police is investigating circumstances under which a private security guard identified as Gideon Nabasa,31, attached to Afrisafe Guard Company was found with a dead body of a yet to be identified person in a sack on a motorcycle REG No UFG 635P.

Luke Owoyesigyire, the Kampala Metropolitan deputy police spokesperson said; “At about 4am while our officers were on motorized patrols in Kazo, Lugoba Zone, Kazo Ward, Nabweru Division, Wakiso District, they found Nabasa carrying a sack on the motorcycle. The officers were suspicious of what he was carrying and on asking for a search they found a dead body of a male adult suspected to be in his early 20s in the sack and immediately arrested him.”

He added that the body also had two wounds suspected to be as a result of stabbings.

Owoyesigire noted that a team of investigators was called in at the scene and the body of the deceased was taken to Mulago city mortuary for a post mortem while the suspect is being detained at Kawempe Police Station on allegations of murder.

By Racheal Nuwahereza

Flamboyant Kenyan politician, Mike Sonko and his family have been banned by the US state department from travelling to the US over corruption while in office.

Sonko who was the governor of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, was impeached in December 2020 over charges of abuse of office, misconduct, gross violation of the constitution, and crimes against national law.

According to the announcement by Counselor for Public Affairs, Eric Watnik at the US Embassy in Nairobi on Tuesday, Sonko’s ban from the US is based on “involvement in significant corruption” during his short tenure at City Hall.

The US says while in office he “solicited bribes and kickbacks in exchange for awarding government contracts to his associates.”

Watnik said the State Department has declared Sonko, his wife Primrose Mbuvi, his daughters Saumu and Salma and his underage son ineligible for entry into the US.

Sonko becomes the second Kenyan to be publicly banned from travelling to the US during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s era over corruption allegations.

On Tuesday, while appearing in a live video via his known Facebook page, Sonko vehemently denied the allegations and said he was being targeted wrongly.

In 2019, Busia Senator Amos Wako, the former Attorney General, was banned from the US over similar allegations, alongside his wife and son.

By Racheal Nuwahereza

Gen Edward Katumba Wamala; the Minister of Works and Transport has revealed that construction works of Kampala-Mpigi Expressway have delayed due to some people who demand Shs500 million as compensation for cutting down a tree housing ancestral spirits for the works to proceed.

Gen Katumba told Parliament on Wednesday that Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) is on behalf of government trying to negotiate with the clan heads who claim that all their spirits are in that one tree but the talks are yet to yield fruits.

“We don’t take land without compensation an example is a tree along Mpigi-Kampala Expressway where one clan says all their spirits are in that one tree. They are asking for Shs500m and we can’t move. They have been offered Shs150m and they say it can’t appease the spirits,” Katumba told Parliament.

The Minister made the revelation while presenting the Report on the delay in compensation of Project Affected Persons (PAPs) of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project.

Katumba also noted that any further delay in acquiring land will increase the cost of compensating the Project-affected persons.