Amid skyrocketing fuel prices in the country for the past few days with a litre of petrol going for as much as Shs 12,000 in some parts of the country, Uganda Revenue Authority has cleared over 400 fuel tankers at the Malaba boarder.
In a letter written by Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development on January 16th, the increasing fuel prices were attributed to stock out of petrol at some outlets caused by truck delays at the border.
In response, the URA’s Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs, Ibrahim Bbossa says over 370 trucks both fuel and cargo were yesterday cleared.
He expressed the authority’s commitment to clearing the backlog of consignments at the border as soon as possible.
Note that truck drivers had gone on strike after the government of Uganda directed for mandatory covid19 tests at USD30(100,000Ushs).
The strike has since been called off after a council of ministers of the East African Community agreed to 7 days of cost free covid19 tests at both the Busia and Malaba border points.
The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) has cancelled the Uganda Cranes’ trip to the United Arab Emirates due to challenges with flight travel.
Uganda Cranes was set to travel for two intentional matches against AFCON bound sides Gabon and Mauritania in Abu Dhabi on 30/12/2021 and 01/01/2022 respectively.
However, according to Ahmed Hussein, the FUFA communications director, the trip which was slated for today December 29, 2021, has been cancelled due to flight challenges.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) has temporarily suspended flights from Uganda to Dubai until further notice.
The move reportedly comes amid concerns over the COVID-19 Omicron variant and rising infection numbers in the UAE. In a statement by Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), they confirmed this and added that incoming Emirates flights from Dubai are still operational.
Statement from Uganda Airlines.
UCAA has further advised passengers planning to travel to Dubai to contact their respective airlines for guidance on any changes in the restrictions.
According to Emirates, before this suspension, passengers traveling on direct flights or transiting to Dubai from Uganda and other select countries were subjected to do the following:
Must present a negative COVID 19 PCR test certificate with a QR code for a test conducted at an approved facility within 48 hours of departure. Validity must be calculated from the time the sample was collected;
Must present a negative COVID 19 Rapid or Real Time PCR test certificate with a QR code for a test conducted at the departure airport within 06 hours of departure;
Must undergo COVID 19 PCR test on arrival and must remain in self-quarantine until they receive their test results.
The Dubai-based airline said people originating from select destinations will not be accepted for travel to or through Dubai with effect from December 28 until further notice. Uganda, Ghana, and Ivory Coast were yesterday added to the list of affected countries.
The other countries affected are Angola, Nigeria, Guinea, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
Passengers arriving in Dubai from the following countries will be required to take another COVID‑19 PCR test on arrival at Dubai International airport: Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Rwanda, Russia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Somaliland, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
The biggest ADF camp in Democratic Republic of Congo has finally been captured by a joint team of Ugandan and Congolese forces.
On Friday, the 24th of Dec 2021 the joint forces of Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) and Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) completely secured Kambi ya Yua believed to be the HQs of the terrorist organization.
In a statement released by Brig. Flavia Byekwaso, they revealed that (UPDF) mobile forces, together with DR Congo’s assault force, captured and occupied Kambi Ya Yua camp that is estimated to have accommodated over 600 Allied Democratic Forces/ Islamic State Central Africa Province (ADF/ ISCAP) terrorists and their families. Over 100 rebels are said to have been killed and over 60 captured during the joint operation.
The army also revealed that one damaged laptop computer, 129 live rounds of PK machine gun loaded in their chain, 155 live rounds of sub-machine gun ammunition, three solar panels and enemy strength registers were found which led them to believe Kambi Ya Yua was a host to military training and Islamic radicalization.
Some of the ammunitions found at ADF’s Kambi Ya Yua in DRC
Brig Byekwaso said Kambi Ya Yua was a stronghold of ADF/ISCAP terrorists, sitting on eight acres of land in Virunga forest.
Engineers in UPDF are working around the clock searching for possible improvised explosives, bunkers and to acquire more clues about the terrorists.
The joint attack on ADF camps by a combined force of air and artillery fire that started on November 30, has seen at least six camps hit including; Kambi Ya Yua, Tondoli, Belu 1 and Belu 2, which are found in North Kivu province in Virunga and Ituri impenetrable forests of eastern DR Congo.
Col. James Kasule, the UPDF 111 Mountain Brigade commander, said capturing Kambi Ya Yua is a big milestone.
The Uganda National Meteorological Authority warns that the country will experience tough changes in temperature after experiencing the hottest years, that is 2019 and 2020
The Director Training and Research at the authority Dr. Bob Alex Ogwang says the southern and western regions are warming faster than other regions.
Ogwang adds that rainfall trends are increasing in eastern, northeastern and a few areas in southwestern region while a decreasing trend is cited in northwestern, central and western Uganda.
The Kenyan government has accepted to lift the ban it had imposed on Ugandan poultry products.
Kenya banned the importation of poultry products including chicken and eggs from within and beyond East Africa, earlier this year, claiming they wanted to protect and support the Kenyan producers recover from the disruptions occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is still remembered that Kenya has also banned beef, milk and maize from Uganda, making the country lose huge billions in foreign exchange.
Following the approval of a retaliatory measure to the Eastern neighbour, earlier this month, the two countries held a successful talk in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.
And yesterday, delegations from both countries led by Uganda’s Agriculture Minister, Frank Tumwebaze and his counterpart, Peter Munya, leading the Kenyan side, and agreed that the bans be lifted for the benefit of both countries.
The former president and founder of National Unity, Reconciliation and Development Party- NURDP that has since evolved into the National Unity Platform-NUP, Moses Nkonge Kibalama calls upon opposition political parties that want to take political power to invest in strategic planning and external resource mobilization to compete favorably.
Speaking during an end of year plenary meeting for political parties at the National Consultative Forum for Political Parties and Organizations offices in Kansanga yesterday, Kibalama said no political party can canvass for political support without adequate resources that can match those of the ruling party that they want to uproot from power.
He notes that after the election cycle, many political parties waste time lamenting about the monetization of politics, shrinking civic space and intimidation from the ruling party instead of gathering campaign resources to contest in the next polls.
Parliament yesterday afternoon passed into law the Public Finance Management Amendment Bill 2021 into law, that will require lawmakers to approve the budgets estimates submitted by Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) within 15days.
Although Government had in its initial proposal had sought exclusive powers for UNOC to spend money at source, the proposal was rejected by Parliament’s Finance Committee on grounds that it would usurp Parliament’s appropriation mandate but rather recommended to have UNOC’s cash calls scrutinized from time to time and not follow the normal budget cycle.
The Chairperson Finance Committee noted Keefa Kiwanuka was conscious of the fact that money from state coffers must be appropriated by parliament based on annual work plans and budgets the committee recommends that the proceeds should only be used after approval by parliament.
The committee also notes the misalignment between the budgets of the joint venture partners which are based on a calendar year as opposed to our national annual budgeting process which starts 1st July to 30th June.
The Committee also noted the serious consequences in the event that appropriation is delayed among which threats include UNOC losing access to information and data during production as well as loss of voting rights.
Butambala county mp Muwanga Kivumbi authored a minority and warned against the proposal saying the similar approach was adopted in Angola and since then, the company has been riddled in corruption scandals.
