Members of Parliament have convened this afternoon at Parliament for the first funeral service in honour of Hon. Sarah Mateke Nyirabashitsi, who served as the Kisoro Woman Member of Parliament and State Minister for Defence and Veteran Affairs. Mateke passed away from a heart attack on Saturday morning at the age of 50.

Parliament has organized the program in consultation with the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, Mateke’s family, the national organizing committee, and other stakeholders.

In a statement yesterday, Speaker Anita Among announced a slight amendment to the send-off program. The funeral service, originally scheduled for 3:00 PM in Nsangi, was moved to the Parliament parking lot starting at 2:00 PM. After the service, the body will be taken to her residence in Nsangi. The rest of the program will proceed as previously communicated.

The Archbishop, Church of Uganda, Stephen Kaziimba who led the funeral service, expressed concern over allegations of poison among leaders, saying the topic has become so trendy to the extent that when MPs attend church functions, they run away and do not eat the food served, for fear of being poisoned. “When we lose our people, yes we can cry, but that isn’t the end of it all. Only that when some people cry, they utter some bad words, this one has been bewitched, this one has been poisoned. I think poison has become a common language. And that is why, when we have you (MPs) visiting at church, many people when it comes to lunch time, they disappear, they fear to be poisoned even at church,” Kazimba said.

James Nsaba Buturo (Bufumbira East) in leading the intercession prayers thanked God for the life he gave to the late Sarah Mateke and prayed for grace to be extended to her family and all the people whose lives were touched in her lifetime. “As we mourn one of us who has come to be with you, we do so in the full knowledge that it will be our turn someday, so encourage us to be one, encourage us to remember that we are one people. As for our friend who has left us, we say thank you for the life that you gave her, thank you for the things you did for your people through her. In remembering all that, we not only say thank you, we call for your grace to be upon Dr. Mateke and the family and all of us who have been able to come to you,” prayed Buturo.

Official Program:

• Today: The body will be at Parliament for prayers in memory of Mateke. Following the service, the body will be taken to her home in Nsangi, Wakiso District, for a night vigil.
• Tomorrow: A second service will be held at All Saints Cathedral, Nakasero, starting at 8 AM. Afterward, the body will return to Parliament for a special sitting dedicated to honoring Mateke. Once the session concludes, the body will be taken back to A Plus Funeral Home.
• Wednesday: The body will be transported to Nyakabingo, Kisoro District, where a council session will take place at 2 PM, along with prayers and a vigil.
• Thursday: A church service will be held, followed by the burial.

Members of Parliament will also pay tribute to Mateke during a special sitting tomorrow in the August House.

The Minister of state for Defence and Veteran Affairs who is also Kisoro District Woman Member of Parliament, Sarah Nyirabashitsi Mateke has passed away at the age of 50. Her brother, Dr. Gedion Mugisha, confirmed that she suffered a heart attack at her home in Kampala during the early hours of Saturday and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Mengo Hospital for treatment.

Dr. Mugisha expressed his sorrow over her untimely death, highlighting the significant loss to both the family and the Kisoro District community. He mentioned that burial arrangements would be discussed in a family meeting and noted the expectation that the government would assist with the burial program.

Nyirabashitsi’s father, Dr. Philemon Mateke, a former state minister, described her passing as a substantial blow to the family. Various community leaders including Kisoro municipality deputy mayor Augustine Mbonigaba and district council speaker Amos Hakizimana, praised Nyirabashitsi’s contributions as an exemplary legislator who was dedicated to her constituents. They stressed her commitment to development, unity, and empowerment particularly of women and youths.

Born on July 15, 1974, in Kisoro District, Nyirabashitsi received her education from local schools and universities, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Public Health, among other qualifications. She was actively involved in family businesses and founded the Nyirabashitsi Foundation to support children’s education.

 She was the chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan International University and Makerere Metropolitan Management Institute, Kampala.

Her political career began as the Assistant Town Clerk for Kisoro before successfully running for Woman Member of Parliament in 2021. Initially serving as Minister of State for Gender, Labour and Social Development, she was later appointed as Minister of State for Defence and Veteran Affairs earlier this year amid a cabinet reshuffle by President Museveni. The community has expressed deep sorrow at her passing, recognizing her as a pivotal figure in local governance and development.

State House Comptroller, Jane Barekye has acknowledged the challenges of managing the influx of Presidential donations during her testimony before Parliament’s Presidential Affairs Committee on August 13, 2024. She highlighted issues stemming from persistent demands from ministers during Cabinet meetings, stating, “It’s impossible to plan for these donations. We can’t budget UGX 500 billion without knowing the recipients.”

Barekye’s comments responded to concerns raised by Members of Parliament, including Kazo District Woman Member of Parliament, Jennifer Muheesi, about the backlog of unpaid pledges causing distress in communities. Muheesi warned, “The outstanding donations are causing significant problems. We need a solution.”

For the 2024/25 national budget, State House has requested an additional UGX 30 billion for donations, citing an inadequate existing budget amid rising demands. This sentiment was echoed by Hon. Stephen Kangwagye(Bukanga), who urged colleagues to support the request for more funding to sustain the President’s philanthropic activities.

The Minority Report on the budget revealed that out of a total UGX 160 billion allocated for donations, more than half of it is designated for the Presidency. The report indicated that the Presidency plans to spend UGX 77 billion on community outreaches and UGX 57 billion on initiatives, totaling UGX 136 billion.

Other government entities, including the Office of the Prime Minister, Parliament, and the Government Chief Whip, have various donation budgets, adding to the overall financial landscape of presidential and governmental contributions.

The atmosphere in Katiti village, Makulubita Subcounty in Luwero District has been one of profound sadness while residents gathered to pay their respects to former Justice Minister and Attorney General, Prof. Edward Kiddu Makubuya, who passed away today Monday, August 19 in the morning.

Patrick Kisekwa, a former Luweero District Councilor and bush war veteran, shared the community’s sorrow, highlighting Makubuya’s remarkable journey from a District Councilor for Makulubita sub county to an MP for Katikamu South Constituency and serving in various high-level government roles, including being a Cabinet Minister and Attorney General, from 1988 until his retirement in 2015.

He expressed his sadness at the loss and revealed that they were heartbroken by the news of Makubuya’s demise. In Makulubita Sub County, which he represented before going to Parliament,the people grieve the loss of a son who served them diligently across different levels of government.

Prof. Victoria Nakiboneka Mwaka, a former Luweero District Woman MP who also offered her condolences, noted, “This is not only sad news but a tremendous loss for the nation and the people of Luweero District. I extend my sympathies to the family, relatives, and the entire country. Makubuya was not only my colleague but also my brother.”

Rebecca Nabaggala, a daughter to Makubuya, informed our reporter that her father passed away Sunday at Nakasero Hospital, where he had been battling illness for a long time. Nabaggala revealed that the bereaved family will gather at their Ntinda, Kampala based home to discuss the burial arrangements.

Born in 1949, Makubuya embarked on his political career in 1988 as a District Councilor for Makulubita Sub County in Luweero District. He later represented Katikamu South Constituency as an MP, holding various significant ministerial positions, including State Minister for Luweero Triangle, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Education and Sports, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and Attorney General. He resigned from the Cabinet in 2012 and served as the MP for Katikamu South from 1996 until 2016. His legacy of dedication and service will be remembered by many in Luweero and beyond.

Political commentator and former Presidential Advisor on media matters, Joseph Tamale Mirundi, has passed away. He died on Tuesday at approximately 11:40 PM due to lung-related complications at Kisubi Hospital in Kampala, as confirmed by family sources.

Mirundi had been hospitalized for over a month and was reportedly showing signs of improvement in the days leading up to his death. According to one of his sons, he had appeared to be recovering but on the day of his passing, his health rapidly deteriorated. Doctors had been treating him for fluid buildup in his lungs, but during attempts to remove the fluid, it turned to blood.

Joseph Tamale Mirundi served as the Presidential Press Secretary for approximately 13 years until his dismissal by President Museveni in July 2015. Following his departure from the role, he became a prominent political commentator, frequently appearing on various television stations and digital platforms to share his insights on politics and current affairs.

Born in 1964 to Molly Namatovu and Yowana Mirundi in Matale village, Rakai district. He was the ninth child of his parents. He received his secondary education at Rubaga Senior Secondary School which he joined in 1979 and started writing for Munno Newspaper in 1981 while in senior three. He attended Makerere University for higher education from where he graduated with a Bachelors degree in Mass Communication.

He left Munno in 1998 to start his own newspapers,The Voice and Lipoota which did not do well in the market.

Mirundi was known for his outspoken support of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and was recognized for his candid views on political matters in Uganda. His contributions to political discourse will be remembered by many.

Civil Servant officials have been urged to always supervise contractors’ work done on projects brought in their areas of supervision.

The call was sounded by the State Minister for Kampala, Hon Kabuye Kyofatogabye during roads and markets benchmarking done by the Ministry of Kampala Capital City and metropolitan affairs under the office of the president funded by the World Bank in Isingiro District yesterday.

Minister Kabuye said there is poor supervision of civil works observed on the ongoing projects by the responsible civil Servant from the District, thus urging all civil servants to be kin on supervising contractors who attend to these projects for accurate and quality work.

The minister however revealed that the Ministry of Kampala Capital City and metropolitan affairs under the office of the president funded by the World Bank came up with the Greater Kampala metropolitan urban development program intending to create connectivity and solving jam problems, a project worth 619 Million dollars targeting to construct over 330KM of roads in the metropolitan areas, that is six Municipalities surrounding the City, three Districts plus the Capital City.

He urged political leaders in the District to also have time to benchmark for projects brought in their Districts.

AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish multinational Pharmaceutical and biotechnology company that manufactured a COVID-19 vaccine, Vaxzevria says the vaccine is being withdrawn worldwide. This comes months after the pharmaceutical giant admitted for the first time in court documents that the vaccine can cause very rare but life threatening injuries.

The drug maker has withdrawn the vaccine from European Union market and has gone an extra mile to voluntarily withdraw its “marketing authorisation”. The company’s application to withdraw the vaccine from the market was made on March 5th, 2024 and came into effect on Tuesday May 7th, 2024.

The decision to withdraw it brings the use of the jab, that was praised by former UK Premier, Boris Johnson who referred to its production as “a triumph for British Science” to an end. He went on to credit it for saving more than six million lives.

AstraZeneca said their vaccine, Vaxzevria was, however, being removed from markets for commercial reasons. It said the vaccine was no longer being manufactured or supplied, having been overridden by modified vaccines which are able to tackle new COVID-19 variants. 

Vaxzevria vaccine was first given a nod for usage in January,2021 and in few weeks, concerns arose about the vaccine’s safety. Following that, a number of countries halted the use of the vaccine after what was described as ‘unusual but rare blood clots’ were detected in a number of people who were immunised using the same vaccine.

Fragmentary results from Vaxzevria’s first major trial, used by Britain to grant permission to the usage of the vaccine were surrounded by a manufacturing mistake that was not immediately acknowledged by researchers. Some countries, worried about effects of the vaccine and how well it would protect older people, restricted its use to only younger people. This was attributed to insufficient data about the same vaccine but the course was later reversed so that the elderly also took jabs of the vaccine.

Vaxzevria has come under intense survey recently due to a very rare side effect, that causes blood clots and thrombocytopenia. AstraZeneca admitted in court documents lodged with the High Court in the UK in February 2024 that the vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS”.

TTS – which stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome – has been linked to at least 81 deaths in the UK as well as hundreds of serious injuries. AstraZeneca is being sued by more than 50 alleged victims and grieving relatives in a High Court case.

AstraZeneca vaccine doses, in billions were given to third world countries through a United Nations coordinated programme and was considered cheap, easy to produce and distribute. However, studies later revealed that the more expensive messenger RNA vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna provided better protection against COVID-19 and its many variants. This compelled a number of countries to switch to other shots, leaving the one manufactured by AstraZeneca.

The Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament, Rt. Hon. Annet Anita Among, has been slapped with sanctions by the government of United Kingdom(UK). The UK government says that Among is a beneficiary of returns from the Karamoja iron sheets scandal; a scandal that saw a number of ministers spend nights in the coolers.

The Deputy Foreign Secretary for the UK government, Andrew Mitchell, in a statement released on April, 30th, said that the Bukedea Woman Member of Parliament together with the former Minister for Karamoja Affairs, Mary Goretti Kitutu and her deputy, Agnes Nandutu will be faced with asset freezes and travel bans.

The speaker of the 11th parliament has been accused of opening the wallet endlessly to splash the tax payers hard earned money. Social media activists like Dr.Jim Spire Ssentongo and journalist Agather Atuhaire unearthed her weekly spending figures which shocked Ugandans. She claimed that the duo and those who backed their campaign dubbed #UgandaParliamentExhbition were agents of foreigners who were against her for steering parliament into passing the anti-homosexuality law last year.

The UK government has used the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions for the first time on individuals involved in corruption in Uganda as a way of forcing accountability amongst regime agents.

“Today, the UK is sending a clear message to those who think benefiting at the expense of others is acceptable. Corruption has consequences and you will be held responsible,” Mr. Mitchell stated.

The UK insists that the persons of Hon. Among, Hon. Kitutu and Hon. Nandutu, using their offices, denied services to Karamoja sub region. In this region, more than 60% of the people live in abject poverty culminating from drought and insecurity.

It is believed that these sanctions will aid in putting funds to the target beneficiaries deterring economic resources from going to the people who should actually be aiming at lobbying for more to uplift the status of needy persons and communities.

Under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971, an affected person must be refused to leave or to enter or to remain in the United Kingdom.

Previously, the UK sanctions under the Global Anti-Corruption sanctions regime, targeted persons involved in corruption scandals across the world, including Russia, South Africa, Venezuela among other countries.

Parliament, in December 2021, passed a supplementary budget to support a number of programmes in the Karamoja sub region worth Shs39b meant to purchase 100,000 iron sheets, a number of relief items such as food among others. In 2022,the iron sheets were purchased but instead of delivering them to Karamoja ,it was established that 14,200 iron sheet pieces were shared among some ministers in the current government.

Amos Lugoloobi,Uganda’s state minister for Finance and Planning had used the iron sheets to roof a goat barn but to the surprise of many, when President Museveni made a mini shakeup in his cabinet, Amos Lugoloobi was kept in his portfolio, slashing the other two key culprits, Nandutu and Kitutu. However, the trio is still facing charges before the anti-corruption court.

“The Ugandan courts are rightly taking action to crack down on those politicians who seek to line their own pockets at their constituents’ expense,” Mr. Mitchell noted.

As a way of combating graft globally, these sanctions have been slapped on 42 entities and individuals since April, 2021 across the world. Uganda’s Speaker is a key figure in the current regime that has been sanctioned by a foreign nation over graft. It should also be remembered that last month, she was praised by the fountain of honour for putting up a multibillion health facility in her home district using what observers say is a tax payer’s money.

Dr. Pius Ruhemurana, the former mayor of Kabale Municipality has gone to be with the Lord. He succumbed to stroke at around 2:00am on Wednesday April,24,2024 at Rugarama Hospital in Kabale Municipality.

The hospital authorities said that the 76 years old veteran politician had been battling stroke for over two years.

Ruhemurana, a trained medical doctor, a staunch supporter of Dr.Kiiza Besigye and a Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) stalwart was a distinguished gynaecologist who ran a private clinic in Kabale municipality and as well held a number of leadership positions.

Ruhemurana enjoyed a long career, serving as the mayor of Kabale Municipality for over 20 years in the movement system and retained this seat severally on the FDC ticket after multiparty system of governance was introduced . He was elected mayor of Kabale in 1996 until 2016 when he lost this seat.

In a hot contest of polls in 2006, he defeated his arch rival, NRM’s George Mbonigaba to retain his seat but lost it in 2016 to Emmanuel Byamugisha Sentaro, the current mayor for Kabale Municipality.

Despite this defeat, he remained an influential figure in FDC until the time of his demise. He will be remembered for his straightforward speech and boldness especially at times when many in his area found it hard to speak out when faced with difficulty.

He also served as the chairperson for FDC in Kabale Municipality as well as the Kabale district FDC vice chairperson.He will also be remembered as one who embraced both science and God’s ways, serving as Head of Laity for Kabale Diocese and the chairperson Board of Trustees of Kabale Gold club.

Police is set to release a list of seven private security companies whose licences have been cancelled over failure to meet guidelines on handling firearms. The list, according to police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, will release the list next week.

Over the years, police have monitored several firms, many of which it has been established that they do not adhere to the set guidelines relating to storage, transportation and handling of firearms.

“We are concerned with an increase in the number of incidents resulting from poor handling of firearms by private security organisations.  Many of the private security guards have been cited in attacking each other, committing crimes and violence against their clients at factories, homes and betting companies among other places,” Fred Enanga said. Enanga explained that there is a rise in crimes committed by security guards using firearms.

According to Enanga, they have directed police commanders to arrest individual private security guards moving alone with guns and those using boda bodas.

He also noted that the force has written to the association of private security firms to intensify supervisory measures to guard against incidents of negligence. Enanga further stated that territorial commanders have been directed to arrest guards moving alone and to as well confiscate poorly handled firearms by these security guards.

Police’s mouthpiece further said that they have compiled a list of seven security firms which are being vetted with intensions of having their licences cancelled and that an additional twenty firms are being evaluated for suspension for a period that would be specified.

Police have also emphasised the involvement of Crime Intelligence Directorate in doing background checks on all private security firms to facilitate the process of suspending or/and cancelling of licences of those that have not adhered to the guidelines.