ugnet_: Nemesis
_Nakawa gets traffic lights KAMPALA A team from Japan is here to repair the faulty Nakawa traffic lights on Jinja road. The lights, which have been out of service for over three months, will be repaired by Konoike Construction Company, the Japanese firm that installed them. The works ministry spokesman, Joseph Matovu, yesterday said the lights would resume functioning next week. on education visit JUSTICE PARTY www.dfwa-u.tk WB Snubs Vocational Plan THE World Bank has poured cold water on the introduction of vocational training in schools, saying the programme would not be sustainable. The banks lead education specialist, Jacob Bregman, told journalists at the on-going conference on secondary education in Africa, that education alone could not create jobs without appropriate labour policies. Education does not create jobs. Jobs are created by enterprises and good labour policies. So it is the responsibility of the governments to ensure all the youth reach their educational potential and also create conducive labour and socio-economic conditions that these people can go into, Bregman said when asked about the importance of education amidst rising unemployment. He said some countries like Uganda were confusing vocational education with vocational training. Vocational training is training for jobs. What is happening in Uganda is we are opening up vocational training. This is not sustainable. We need to come to a consensus on what should be the content of vocational education, he added. The five-day conference, the first ever on secondary education in Africa (SEIA), has brought together the donor community and education experts across sub-Sahara Africa. Ends _ bwanika url: www.idr.co.ug Logon & Join in ug-academicsdb discussion list http://www.coollist.com/subcribe.html List ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your Email address: ~~ ~~ url: http://uhpl.uganda.co.ug http://pub59.ezboard.com/fugandamanufacturersassociationfrm1
ugnet_: National Planning Committe- The State & MPs
NPA Budget Outrageous, Say MPs THE parliamentary budget committee yesterday threw out the National Planning Authority (NPA) budget of about sh4b, saying it was outrageous. Milton Olupot reports that the NPA, a newly-created statutory body chaired by P. G. T. Mweheza, had presented a budget of sh3.9b to the budget committee chaired by Beatrice Kiraso (Kabarole), to beat todays budget day deadline. Kiraso said the committee would not be able to make any comments on the budget. The team also comprised other members of the Board, Dr. Frank Nabirisi, Dr. Fatuma Namusisi and Ms. Sylvia Tereka. Among the budget items questioned was sh300m aimed at supporting innovation and initiatives from civil society and the general public which the MPs said was another seed money (Entandikwa) in the making. They also disagreed with sh31m airtime budget for the Board members, sh18m budget for their houses furniture, sh149m for travel to international workshops and sh106m purported to be for facilitating the minister in-charge of NPA. Ends Cut Government Spending THE MINISTER of Finance will this afternoon give an account of the performance of the economy in financial year 2002/03. And also set new targets. It has not been a great year but there is hope for better performance in the new financial year. The potential exists. The economic growth in the ending financial year is 4.9% of GDP. This is not only a drop from the 5.6% growth in 2001/02 but also below the targeted 6.6% growth. What this means is that there has been a slow down in economic growth but its not the worst. Given the prevailing harsh environment 4.9% is good enough. Poor crop in the agricultural sector, low coffee prices, the global war against terrorism spiraling oil prices, drop in foreign exchange earnings and the anti-LRA war in the north explain the fall in growth. But all is not lost. It is common world over, economies suffer but the most important is to find a remedy. For Uganda there is need to boost the export sector. One way is to give support to the private sector to access loans for investment. Uganda will also need to fix the fiscal deficit problem. Government is spending more than its domestic revenue to meet defence and public administration obligations, which is wrong. There is need for more financial discipline in the next year. Usually the taxpayers are urged to tighten their belts this time round government should do like wise and cut spending. __ bwanika url: www.idr.co.ug Logon & Join in ug-academicsdb discussion list http://www.coollist.com/subcribe.html List ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your Email address: ~~ ~~ url: http://uhpl.uganda.co.ug http://pub59.ezboard.com/fugandamanufacturersassociationfrm1
Re: ugnet_: Re: [AcoliForum] Acholi Faggots
Brother Mitayo, You are wonderful! Gook "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."- Malcom X Original Message Follows From: "Mitayo Potosi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: ugnet_: Re: [AcoliForum] Acholi Faggots Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 02:15:50 + Dear Brother "Wilibotek L'Pajule'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, I got this in my mailbox. Was it for me or someone is sending me some insects? I have used [EMAIL PROTECTED] because of problems with <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. Abrahamo wee, kwero lok mere pe bal. Ka in pe iyee ma acoyoni, that is understandable. But I will stick with the notion that Acoli "faggotry" is the least of my interest unless convinced otherwise. So far lakeyu has not made a case for why now the whole of Afrika should know about any real or perceived Acoli faggotry. Is it about Lulokka magulokko dud lutino Acoli metuku gini? Onyo gwok en beddo i kamp nidong aye okello kipwoolani? I hear there was onc` Mitayo Potosi >From: "Wilibotek L'Pajule'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>>Subject: Re: [AcoliForum] Acholi Faggots >Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 14:40:45 -0700 > ><< multipart1 >> _ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE*
ugnet_: Uganda To Ratify US Treaty Today--M7 a Tom Boy?
Uganda To Ratify US Treaty Today By Alfred Wasike UGANDA today signs a controversial treaty which gives US soldiers in global peace keeping operations immunity against prosecution by the new International Criminal Court. the July 1 deadline looms for nations to sign the pacts or lose billions of dollars in US military aid. Also today, the United Nations Security Council votes on an extension of the contentious resolution shielding U.S. soldiers against prosecution by the new International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes. Last July, the Security Council granted a request by the US to exempt US soldiers and those from countries that have not ratified the ICC from arrest or trial. Under US law, countries that have not signed Article 98 agreements by July 1 could lose all of their military aid from the United States. But the exact number of countries affected and the exact amount of aid at stake was not clear. This is because some nations were exempted from the requirement and others have secretly signed the pacts, officials said. US government officials cited Uganda, which they said was expected to sign an Article 98 pact today, as an example. Ends Published on: Thursday, 12th June, 2003 Email this article to a friend. Gook "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."- Malcom X Protect your PC - Click here for McAfee.com VirusScan Online
ugnet_: There is nothing the so called East African Community Peace Committee for Ugand
Fellow Citizens: There is pretty much nothing the so called East African Community Peace Committee for Uganda can achieve other then applying the necessary pressure on the Regime in Kampala to sincerely ( and this is the Key word) seek the ways of peace in Northern Uganda. The dictatorship in Kampala cannot proclaim to the world and Ugandans that they are seeking a peaceful means to resolve the Northern Uganda conflict, meanwhile at the some time the dictatorship is using helicopter gunship to mow down and kill our people. Matek EALA Presses for End to North War New Vision (Kampala) June 11, 2003 Posted to the web June 11, 2003 Richard Komakech Kampala THE East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) has joined the fight for peace in northern Uganda with a resolution seeking to establish a peace committee to negotiate for an end to the war there. EALA sitting in Arusha, Tanzania, passed the resolution on the background of Article Five of the East African Community, which provides for promotion of peace, security and stability within partner states. EALA Uganda chairman Yona Kanyomozi said the resolution is to enforce Article Five of the East African Treaty, which calls for the promotion of peace, security and stability within partner states. At the same occasion, Kanyomozi handed over a cash donation of US$3,200 towards medical treatment of a former teenage LRA abductee, Dennis, whose jaws were shattered in battle. Each of the 32 members donated US$100 and handed it to Gulu Support the Children Organisation programme officer Richard Oneka. Acholi Parliamentary Group chairman Nobert Mao and EALA members Medi Kaggwa, Sarah Baagalaliwo, Lydia Wanyoto and Wandera Ogalo were present. "The Uganda Government has tried using all means in its reach, including the army, amnesty and dialogue, but they have not worked. Let these people have peace by giving peace a chance," Kanyomozi said. The EALA resolution passed on May 24 is a result of their March 23 visit to the war-torn area where they met President Yoweri Museveni and local leaders. The legislators resolved that the Council of Ministers recommend for the appointment of the East African Community Peace Committee for Uganda. If adopted by the Council of Ministers, the Speaker of the EALA will nominate three members of the EALA to the peace committee, while the presidents will appoint a technical committee to support the committee. The Council of Ministers will report to the Assembly on the progress of the recommendations within one month of passing the resolution. Article 124 of the treaty states that partner states foster and maintain an atmosphere conducive to peace and security in the region.
Re: ugnet_: Another Ugandan murdered ( lynched ) in South Africa.
Mr Potosi your analysis of the recent murder of a Ugandan in South Africa is based on a number of erroneous readings of South African Affairs. First, there is no evidence of a campaign of violence against foreigners in South Africa. Foreigners in South Africa are indeed subject to a lot of violence, but South African natives are even more so. The sad truth is that the centuries of repression and segregation creted what is probably the most violent society on earth. Though some of the "toughs" who perpetrate the violence pay lip service to a political struggle, their violence is in fact apolitical, they attack any easily available victim. When the races were segregated goegraphically under apartheid the majority of victims were black, now everyone, black or white, foreign or native, is fair game. The huge majority of violent incidents in South Africa have always been straightforward criminal violence with no discernible political motive. Ugandans in south Africa are well aware of the danger, and many have been obliged to hire armed guards. Second, to blame the hard times and high crime rates on the ANC is simply unfair. The ANC has administered the nation for only eight years. The country they inherited had been run for a century under laws designed to prevent the formation of viable or stable black communities at any level, these laws created cities with no communal norms besides violence. The township uprisings of 1976-89 which finally overthrew apartheid also had an unfortunate side effect. The generation of urban blacks who spent their teenage years on the streets during that struggle ended up without an education, this coupled with rapid population growth and a generally stagnant economy meant that the black townships at the end of the apartheid era were in desperate economic straits. No power on earth could make more than a small improvement to this in eight years. The ANC may have failed to meet it's ambitious goals, but they have in fact done more to advance the housing, employment, water supply, sanitation and health services of black South Africans than most knowledgeable people believed possible in 1994. Your claim that the apartheid era govts created a separation between South African blacks and other Africans is untrue. Thousands of laborers were hired from outside South Africa during the apartheid era. Once the Bantustans were formed there was a need for skilled workers which was filled from African countries, including Uganda. As Ugandans who travelled down south in the 1980s will tell you, immigration officers at Joburg airport would ignore the stamp "not valid for South Africa" in Ugandan passports once they heard that one was headed to the Bantustans. Your clims about the northern frontiers of South Africa are also untrue. Under apartheid any African attempting to sneak across the heavily mined and electrified border was shot on sight as an ANC infiltrator. Today hundreds do so daily in search of work. South African blacks, themselves short of jobs, are of course resentful. This resentment will inevitably be exploited by some politicians but to label it an offical policy of the ANC is wrong. Kigongo
Re: ugnet_: Join us, UPC tell Reform Agenda\ blander
That will be Reform's biggest blander of this century. A reform based on sentiments and "nothing to reconcile" is NOT a Reform. J. Ssenyange -- From: "gook makanga" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: ugnet_: Join us, UPC tell Reform Agenda Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 22:49:28 + _ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail --- Begin Message --- Join us, UPC tell Reform AgendaBy Samuel Wossita June 12, 2003 The Reform Agenda has been invited to join the Uganda Peoples Congress in order to defeat the Movement at the next general elections. The Chairman of the UPC Presidential Policy Commission James Rwanyarare invited the Reform Agenda to join hands during the weekly press briefing at the UPC headquarters at Uganda House yesterday. Mr Rwanyarare said that the Reform Agenda alone would not reform the Movement. He said that the UPC was the party that could defeat the Movement. He said that the Movement government has destroyed the infrastructure that the UPC had built. He cited the Uganda Commercial Bank and the Cooperative Bank that failed under the present government. © 2003 The Monitor Publications Gook "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."- Malcom X Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. --- End Message ---
Re: ugnet_: Join us, UPC tell Reform Agenda\ blander
Bwana ssenyange, I totally agree with you that to join UPC will be Reform's biggest blender of the century. Not to do so would be Reform's biggest blunder of the century. Chris == - Original Message - From: "ssenya nyange" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 12:24 PM Subject: Re: ugnet_: Join us, UPC tell Reform Agenda\ blander > > That will be Reform's biggest blander of this century. A reform based on > sentiments and "nothing to reconcile" is NOT a Reform. > > J. Ssenyange > > -- > > >From: "gook makanga" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Subject: ugnet_: Join us, UPC tell Reform Agenda > >Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 22:49:28 + > > > > _ > STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail >
ugnet_: Join us, UPC tell Reform Agenda\ blander
Mwaami Ssenyange Reform Agenda is NRM in a blue suit. They have been a movement combining every Ugandan under one blanket, what is different from that and accepting publicly in round two that we are going to take every body this time but as a recognised entity? Em The Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" - Original Message - From: "ssenya nyange" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 12:24 PM Subject: Re: ugnet_: Join us, UPC tell Reform Agenda\ blander > > That will be Reform's biggest blander of this century. A reform based on > sentiments and "nothing to reconcile" is NOT a Reform. > > J. Ssenyange > > -- > > >From: "gook makanga" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Subject: ugnet_: Join us, UPC tell Reform Agenda > >Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 22:49:28 + > > > > _ > STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail >
ugnet_: FOREIGN DEBT- A clean state for Iraq
Comment :It's an interesting concept that a country could potentially repudiate it'sdebt on the premise that the money borrowed was used in ways that did notbenefit the people and actually damaged them! The position of InternationalLaw seems to be that debt is attached to a territory and not to a regime,but what of a situation where the territory, as it was (when the debt wastaken) ceases to exist? What would happen if Iraq as we know it today ceasesto exist 5 years from now? If this sounds far-fetched think of what wouldhappen if the U.S. decides that even a post-war, pacified Iraq, is toodangerous and volatile and decides to somehow win over Turkey and give theTurkish/Iraqi Kurds some kind of (complete) autonomy and eventually theirown nation - handing them a large chunk of the oilfield's in Northern Iraqin the process. This could potentially reduce the influence of Iraq's oiloutput on the global markets.How does all of this relate to Nigeria? Well considering the state ofNigeria, and in particular the events of the last 10-15 years, I have cometo a personal conclusion that if the attitude and method of governance usedby our politicians does not change, then Nigeria, as we know it, will, atsome point cease to exist - and that would be a tragedy. Nigerian's justwon't continue to accept a life of poverty and servitude for ever - at somepoint something has to snap! At the present moment Nigeria's oil wealth hashad little or no effect of the majority of Nigeria's population. In additionto the waste of our wealth, we have managed to run up massive debts, whichwe cannot possibly repay and still make the needed changes and additions toour infrastructure.A lot of the political, ethnic and religious unrest in Nigeria is directlyor indirectly related to the inequitable distribution of Nigeria's wealth,and unless this is addressed things will not change! If Nigeria does ceaseto exist (God forbid), I wonder if the Paris/London club would have anysuccess approaching the remnants of the country for the Nigeria's estimated$30+ Billion debt?Peace & God BlessOlu Adaramola---A CLEAN SLATE FOR IRAQ?by James SurowieckiIssue of 2003-04-07Posted 2003-03-31http://www.newyorker.com/printable/?talk/030407ta_talk_surowieckiIn February, 1895, Cuban nationalists seeking independence from Spain tookto the hills and started a campaign of guerrilla warfare. When initialefforts to put down the rebellion failed, the Spanish military relocatedhundreds of thousands of Cuban farmers into fortified concentration camps,where they soon fell prey to hunger and disease. In the United States,publicity about the camps fanned hostility toward the Spanish and,eventually, inspired calls for U.S. intervention in Cuba (where, notcoincidentally, America had important economic and strategic interests). Warbegan in the spring of 1898, and a few months later the Spanish Empire wasgone.The end of the war presented a new dilemma. Cuba had a mountain of foreigndebt, and during the peace negotiations Spain insisted that the Cubans wereresponsible for all of it. The logic was perverse; much of that debt hadbeen run up by the colonial authorities in their effort to crush the Cubanstruggle for independence. But international law seemed to be on Spainsside. Debt, the Spanish argued, was attached to a territory, not to aregime. The money had been borrowed by Cuba, and Cuba, or the occupyingAmericans, had to pay it back. The regime might have changed, but the debtremained.The U.S. rejected that argument. The Cuban people had had no say in thedecision to borrow the money, and it had been spent in ways that damagedthem. Therefore, Cuba should owe nothing. In the end, the new republicrepudiated its debts and started over with a clean slate.Before long, the Iraqi people will likely face a similar dilemma. In 1979,when Saddam Hussein took power, Iraqthanks to the oil boom of theseventieshad a foreign surplus of about thirty-five billion dollars. Adecade later, after the war with Iran, it had a foreign debt of some fiftybillion dollars. And today, after more war and a dozen years of missedinterest payments, the country owes, by many estimates, more than a hundredbillion dollars. Its creditors, which include Kuwait, Bulgaria, and theKorean conglomerate Hyundai, are already jockeying for position to be repaidafter the war.Iraq has no hope of ever repaying its debts. Its annual gross domesticproduct is a mere thirty billion dollars, and even if this war doesrelatively little damage to the countrys infrastructure it will takeyearsand tens of billions of dollarsto repair the damage that Saddam hasdone to the Iraqi economy. Presumably, the U.S. and others will investheavily in reconstruction. But, if Iraq is to become stable and prosperous,it needs to spend public dollars on public goods (health, education, roads),not on debt payments to cr
ugnet_: BAKIGA SHOULD BE RESPECTFULL
Bakiga should be respectfulBy Prof. Yolamu R. BarongoJune 12, 2003 The Bakiga peasants and Banyankole cattle keepers roaming around in search of land in Uganda are victims of a problem inflicted on them by their own people. These are citizens of Uganda who have been or are being pushed out of their ancestral lands by the rich people of their kind. If you visit Kabale and Mbarara Districts, you will see several tracts of land that have been fenced off by the rich people as ranches. They have bought off the poor peasants/cattle keepers and told them to go somewhere else to find land to settle. Many of such people have traveled great distances from their displaced homelands with their properties and heads of cattle to as far away as Karamoja and the Teso wetlands in search of new homes. Many have also settled in gazetted areas and forest reserves in Bunyoro. But they seem to be unaware of the causes of their predicament and suffering, which basically arise from being displaced from their own ancestral homelands. They, therefore, go outward with an air of forcefulness and a conquest syndrome in the belief that they are protected by the powers that, in the first place, forced them to move out. This is what is happening in Kibaale District today. For us, the Banyoro people, we would like to advise the authorities as follows: Government should not overly emphasize the otherwise good idea that every Ugandan has the constitutional right to settle anywhere in Uganda. In the circumstances that have prevailed in Kibaale historically, this would tantamount to promoting internal colonialism in modem times. The rights granted under the Constitution for citizens to settle and live anywhere in Uganda are not absolute; they must be popularly acceptable and relevant to particular situations. The 19th and 20th century British annexation of the Banyoro people of Kibaale District to Buganda and the subsequent ruthless Buganda administrations in the area must be recalled to mind. In the light of this history, the fears and suspicions of the Banyoro in Kibaale District must be properly assessed and understood. Let there be well controlled Bakiga migrations into Kibaale District but not uncontrolled influx.Let the Banyoro people not feel that there is a conspiracy to grab their land by the Bakiga as the Baganda did under colonial tutelage. Let them not feel that another imperial order is about to be imposed on them under the pretext of free movement of Ugandans provided under the Constitution and the Land Act. Secondly, and as the Prime Minister of the Kindom of Bunyoro-Kitara recently said, the Bakiga coming into Bunyoro should abandon their arrogant attitude and avoid giving the impression that they are settling in the area by force. If they want to settle and live in Bunyoro peacefully, they must adjust themselves to their new environment and respect the culture and institutions of the Banyoro people.The writer is Prime Minister Emeritus, Bunyoro Kingdom. The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
ugnet_: Join us, UPC tell Reform Agenda\ blander
I think the UPC leadership has woken up and realized the potential within the Reform Agenda and the former would be proud to be part of them. With UPC being proud in amalgamating the “born again” movementists in the people’s congress, such a welcoming hand should be extended further and disband the Congress (before the new laws do so) and form a new political party/organization. How about: Reformed Peoples’ Congress Uganda Peoples’ Agenda Reformed Congress At least UPC has come out in the open declaring their desire to enroll members of the Reform Agenda in its ranks, would the later reciprocate the same? --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.487 / Virus Database: 286 - Release Date: 6/1/2003 <>
Re: ugnet_: Join us, UPC tell Reform Agenda\ blander
With these rumblings and circles, why should Museveni even bother about Ugandans who are telling the world that he is a dictator? Em The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" - Original Message - From: Ed Kironde To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 8:29 PM Subject: ugnet_: Join us, UPC tell Reform Agenda\ blander I think the UPC leadership has woken up and realized the potential within the Reform Agenda and the former would be proud to be part of them. With UPC being proud in amalgamating the “born again” movementists in the people’s congress, such a welcoming hand should be extended further and disband the Congress (before the new laws do so) and form a new political party/organization. How about: Reformed Peoples’ Congress Uganda Peoples’ Agenda Reformed Congress At least UPC has come out in the open declaring their desire to enroll members of the Reform Agenda in its ranks, would the later reciprocate the same? ---Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).Version: 6.0.487 / Virus Database: 286 - Release Date: 6/1/2003 <>
ugnet_: MUSEVENI'S SPEECH
Following is the text of remarks by the president of Uganda, as prepared for delivery to a reception sponsored by the Agoa III Action Committee at the Mayflower Hotel Yoweri MuseveniWashington, DC Thank you for your warm and gracious welcome. It is gratifying to see Uganda has such friends in Washington and the United States. Congressman Rangel, Congressman Royce, Congressman McDermott, Congressman Payne, Congressman Jefferson. I salute you and your colleagues for your visionary efforts on behalf Africa. We are deeply grateful to have you as wise and tireless partners.This is a momentous time for Africa. As you know -- even if you may not detect it from the daily headlines --old paradigms that kept Africa in poverty and subservience are crumbling.Together we must ensure that what rises from the rubble truly delivers the dream we all share.That dream is of an Africa fully integrated into the global economy, no longer contemptuously dismissed as the land of the permanent future, no longer dependent on the self-interested kindness of strangers, but built with the right policies and the right partnerships.We Africans have taken stock. We know what we have to do to get our houses in order. And with initiatives like the New Partnership for Africa's Development we are starting to chart a new course.We know that unless we have peace and stability, we will never defeat poverty and disease.We know that peace and stability can only be secured by just, transparent and responsive governments, bound by the rule of law, putting our people's health and welfare first.We know that unless we wean ourselves from dependence on aid and concessional loans, we will remain trapped in the very pathologies the aid is supposed to treat.Above all, we know that we must embrace the marketplace and its disciplines. The market is a stern master, but it alone has the power to set us free. It does not tolerate misrule or conflict, mismanagement or corruption. It accepts no excuses for failure -- and we know that we can no longer make excuses if this is to be our century.Uganda, not long ago, was fodder for all the worst stereotypes about Africa. It was a country in the grip of predators. Between 1971 and 1986, per capita gross domestic products plunged by 40%. By 1986, 60% of Uganda's private wealth was held abroad.The National Resistance Movement, which I lead, inherited a failed state. We have shown we can turn things around. Here is what the scholar and economist Paul Collier wrote about us in a recent study: "Uganda's economic performance has been among the most successful in the world during the past decade. Rapid growth is reducing poverty, prices are stable, investor confidence has increased more than anywhere else in Africa...Indeed, Uganda is the main model of successful post-conflict recovery."Here are the facts: For the past decade, our growth rate has averaged 6% a year. In 1992, 56% of our people lived in absolute poverty. Today the figure is less than 35% -- and falling.In eight years, we reduced infant mortality from 122 to 80 infant deaths per 1,000 births. At the same time, we increased primary school enrollment from two and one-half million to seven and one-half million children.In its latest staff report on our economic performance, the International Monetary Fund found that among the nations of East Africa, "Uganda now ranks as the country with the highest potential to attract foreign direct investment, as well as the best performing economy in attracting foreign direct investment in the region."Last, but very far from least, we have shown that HIV/AIDS is not invincible. Nearly one in five adult Ugandans was HIV positive in 1992. Today the figure is 6.1 per cent. That is what determined, homegrown mobilization against the disease can do.I stress homegrown mobilization because unless we map our own way, based on our own experience, and our own understanding of our people, values and predicaments, we will continue to fall short of our aim.We've gained a lot of experience about what works. We know -- not ideologically, not because some expert told us, but because we have seen the fruits firsthand -- that trade and investment, and creating the environment needed to attract them, are the only reliable paths to growth and development.That is why I have always been an ardent supporter of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Enacted in 2000, and improved last year, this historic initiative lifted duties and quotas from essentially all sub-Saharan Africa's exports to the US.With Agoa, America said it was time for the rich nations to end the hypocrisy of keeping us dependent on their aid, while denying us access to their markets.This is why I am so pleased to be here tonight to salute the great visionaries of Agoa. I remember so well -- it was six years ago -- when Congressman Rangel led a delegation of his colleagues to Uganda to consult with us and lis
ugnet_: UN'S INDIFFERENCE TO DRC CONFLICTING DISTURBING
Reports coming out of the DRC, where an estimated 4,7 million people have been killed in what is perhaps Africas bloodiest conflict, make depressing reading and make the sincerity of the United Nations in solving conflicts in Africa questionable. The UN is mandated to stop conflicts and maintain peace and security, yet Congolese nationals in the Ituri province of the vast country have been killing each other while the UN stands by. It was not until fairly recently that the UN decided to move in. So far, its involvement has for want of a better word been lukewarm. Right from the onset of the war, the UN has never been particularly keen on stopping the conflict in the DRC. This is why Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia moved in. It is worth noting that while the three African countries had their troops deployed in the DRC, the Congolese people were killing each other but certainly not at the rate at which they are putting each other down following the withdrawal of the African peace-keeping force. Reports say that the UN has deployed 700 peacekeepers in the war-torn country, a figure which, given the size of the DRC and the complexity of the situation, we feel is negligible. While these few and ill-equipped "monitors" are sauntering about in the DRC, the fighting is raging on. One journalist recently described the situation in Ituri poignantly when he said the area was about "torched villages, macheted babies in the streets and stoned child warriors indulging in cannibalism and draping themselves with the entrails of their victims". The UN will always be what its members want it to be. Africa has never meant much for the United States or other influential members of the UN Security Council, hence the apparent slow manner in which the UN has been moving over the DRC issue. The DRC war has been going on for the past five years. Would the UN have shown the same sort of apparent indifference to the conflict had the DRC been somewhere at the heart of Europe? We feel that the UN has the capacity but lacks the will to mobilise a big enough force to stop the carnage in the DRC. If it had been really serious it would have deployed a substantial force when Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia withdrew their troops. One French Commander in the DRC recently said that several messages had been sent to America that a genocide was imminent and that there was need for more troops but so far nothing has been done. Speaking to a delegation of UN Security Council members on Wednesday, President Joseph Kabila of the DRC said: "You know the situation in Ituri and North Kivu and you are responsible for the international response . . . Rwanda is responsible for fighting in the east and it is time for sanctions to be applied against it." The envoy responded by saying that it would not slap Rwanda with sanctions! It is clear that the UN had the power to act but chose not to. In the meantime, fighting continues under the very noses of UN "peacekeepers". The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
ugnet_: A WARNING TO THE BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER
Deputy News Editor PRESIDENT Mugabe has warned British High Commissioner Mr Brian Donnelly that the Government would expel him if he continued interfering in the affairs of the country by helping the MDC stage illegal and violent demonstrations. Addressing a rally in Nyakomba in Nyanga, Cde Mugabe said the Government would not standby while the MDC called for violent demonstrations and stayaways sponsored by the British. He said the MDC received funding from Britain to stage last weeks failed protest marches to unseat him and the Government and Mr Donnelly helped organise the demonstrations. "If he continues doing it we will kick him out of this country," Cde Mugabe said. Last week the British High Commission exposed its part in the demonstrations when its spokeswoman Ms Sophie Honey revealed to The Herald that the MDC would appeal against a High Court order barring it from organising the mass action when the opposition partys lawyers were still considering whether to lodge an appeal. Cde Mugabe was speaking on the fourth leg of a countrywide tour to assess developmental projects, recovery from the drought, the state of Zanu-PF and explain the role of the Presidential Land Review Committee. The President said the protest marches were declared illegal by the High Court and the Government would not have folded its hands while the MDC defied the law. "We hope they have learnt their lesson. If they havent they will learn it the hard way . . . the harder way." Cde Mugabe said previously, the Government had allowed the MDC to organise demonstrations in the spirit of promoting democracy but each time the opposition held demonstrations, they turned violent. "Enough is enough," he said, reiterating that governments were not changed through stayaways, which he said succeeded only in destroying the economy. President Mugabe said there was no place for white commercial farmers who destabilised the country and the land reform programme. This was after he had been told by the Government and Zanu-PF leadership in Manicaland that Mr Roy Bennet whose farm was designated for resettlement was disrupting operations of newly-resettled farmers. Mr Bennet, the MDC MP for Chimanimani, was said to be claiming that his farm should not have been designated because it had an Export Processing Zone status. Another farmer in the area a Mr de Klerk was inviting new farmers to his farm for purported training workshops as a strategy to help the MDC penetrate the rural areas ahead of the 2005 parliamentary elections. "These whites are not deserving cases in regards to land allocation because they are destabilising our society. They are supporting a party pursuing an illegal course to power. If they have any land left we will take it." Cde Mugabe commended the people of Manicaland for voting for Zanu-PF in recent council elections after having shunned the party in the 2000 parliamentary polls. "We had been surprised by your behaviour in the 2000 elections because as a people who bore the brunt of the liberation struggle by losing many of your children in the war, we expect you to remain loyal to the party. "Yes you might be frustrated by economic hardships but you mustnt forget the suffering you went through to gain the independence, which you must guard jealously." Before the rally, President Mugabe toured Nyakomba Irrigation Scheme which was established in 1997 with help from Japan. The scheme has 529 farmers who grow beans, wheat, maize and paprika throughout the year. The farmers are expected to earn $483 million from crops, which are currently under irrigation. One of the farmers Mr Patrick Nyanhongo said he farms three times ayear, growing maize, wheat, beans and paprika. In the period from October last year to September this year, he expects to have earned $2,5 million after deducting costs, giving him average monthly earnings of $204 000. President Mugabe hailed the farmers and pledged that Government would help set up the two remaining blocks of the scheme, which were shelved after aid from Japan was stopped. "I have been impressed by what I saw. We should intensify irrigation and learn from other countries such as Israel that have highly developed irrigation schemes." The Governor for Manicaland Cde Oppah Muchinguri said the Government had begun fulfilling the promises it made in the run-up to the presidential election. She said five chiefs out of the 30 in the province had had their homes electrified while one chief had a borehole drilled at his home. Cde Muchinguri said some areas in the province would continue to require food aid because of poor harvests. Cde Mugabe said Government would continue to help those in need of food. Cde Muchinguri said the Government should repay the faith the people of Chipinge showed by voting for Zanu-PF in local government elections, by allocating them land. Zanu-PF Manicaland provincial chairman Cde Mike Madiro said the
ugnet_: Interview with Professor Sipho Seepe, physicist and newspaper columnist
Interview with Professor Sipho Seepe, physicist and newspaper columnist Focus 23, September 2001. 'Just because the ANC fought for democracy does not mean it is immune from turning into an oppressor itself. Africa is full of such examples' Where did you grow up? I was born in Soweto in 1959 and grew up there, the eldest of three boys. My father was murdered when I was nine. I don't know the exact circumstances; it was too painful to inquire about. My mother supported us by working in a hospital - the Brenthurst Clinic in Park Lane. My grandfather died violently too - I remember accompanying my grandmother to the spot where he had been killed to clean his blood from the street. Then one of my brothers was stabbed to death in 1985 when I was in America. Soweto has always been a violent place and the political turf battles in the seventies and eighties fed off that violence. Now criminals are running amok and I can see parallels between the two eras. Politicians with their bodyguards try to deny that crime is getting worse, but this is a subject everyone is talking about. Earlier this year my brother Jimmy, the political editor of City Press, was shot four times during a hijacking. Despite the fact that we have handed in information about the robbery and that his cell phone was used subsequently, the police have failed to apprehend the culprits. Significantly, because of Jimmy's job, some neighbours immediately assumed that the hijacking was an assassination attempt. We know it was not, and that the police are just incompetent, but it scares me that it is easy to get rid of people you don't agree with in such an environment. The ANC has a history of violence against its rivals and in exile it developed a culture of intolerance. Reprisals were taken against people for speaking out; this has not been forgotten. You have studied at three universities - Unibo, Wits and Harvard - so you did not miss out on education like many others of your generation. I took part in many of the marches in the seventies protesting against Bantu education and other apartheid measures and I still have lead pellets in my body as a result. Yet, ironically, despite all the criticisms of Bantu education, I think the standard of education we received then was much higher than what I see today. The elementary errors that students make in grammar or arithmetic were addressed at primary level when I was at school. People's appreciation of the importance of education was also higher; excellence and achievement were the focus. Poverty or harsh conditions were never an excuse for not learning - people studied even if they were in prison. I applied for bursaries and went to the University of Bophuthatswana, which had just opened, because it had the lowest fees. Lucas Mangope, with the help of apartheid government money, wanted to make the homeland a model. Unibo was full of idealism and enthusiasm - this was before the onset of the repressive atmosphere that was later to characterise Mangope's reign. I had high quality teachers who had studied abroad: my physics supervisor was a Harvard graduate, for example. Later I went to Wits, which was very difficult for me socially, being part of a minority, but the education was extremely rigorous. My teachers were totally committed to their subjects. What were your major political influences? Growing up in Soweto exposed one to all forms of repression and this made one politically aware. Black Consciousness (BC) as a philosophy resonated with my own daily experience. Steve Biko said we must be our own liberators. He pointed out how the majority colluded in their own oppression and how the state's reliance on force was a sign of weakness, not strength. In his analysis, black on black violence was the result of our displaced aggression and it needed to be channelled into positive action. It was an affirming philosophy that was not anti-white but anti the system. In fact apartheid was unfair on whites too, because it gave them a false sense of superiority. The level of debate within the black consciousness movement was very high - in schools, universities and many publications. The vibrancy of civil society then, with its emphasis on communities helping themselves, seems to have been lost. What happened to that vibrancy? Once the ANC and other parties were unbanned, people started to cast their eyes to their leaders, whether in prison or exile. Instead of relying on themselves they waited for the leaders to deliver. After 1994 people who attempted to sustain the former level of debate or challenge the thinking of the president or the ANC were labelled as being "anti-transformation". This silencing of criticism is not an African tradition - that idea is a distortion of our society's traditional respect for its elders. My own experience in the BC movement proves how critical discussion can
ugnet_: BBC doing the propaganda work for Museveni...
a) Can the BBC conclusively determine for us and for citizens of the world that it is the so called " Kony rebels" who are committing the atrocities about which the BBC is raving? And how did the BBC reach such conclusion? b) About "Kony's pictured shown below, can the BBC determine conclusively that the picture shown , purportedly that of Mr "kony", is indeed that of Mr. " Kony" and NOT of some Ugandan Acholi Peasant farmer in Adilang. Stupid white man! m Who else but a stupid a white man can be easly duped by the Likes of Museveni!!! Matek Uganda's atrocious war By Will Ross BBC, Kitgum, Uganda Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has become synonymous with torture, abductions and killings The rebels chop off noses and ears "They tied me and laid me down. They told me not to cry. Not to make any noise. Then one man sat on my chest, men held my arms, legs, and one held my neck". "Another picked up an axe. First he chopped my left hand, then my right. Then he chopped my nose, my ears and my mouth with a knife." 23-year-old David was abducted by rebels of the LRA, who falsely accused him of being a government soldier. While they were carrying out these atrocities, David pleaded with the rebels to kill him. Instead they wrapped up David's ears in a letter warning people against joining the government forces. Looting The gruesome atrocities of the LRA are designed to instil fear in the civilians, but it is the frequency of the rebel attacks that is causing most alarm. On a daily basis the rebels are attacking to loot and abduct and the army is failing to protect the civilian population. "It's under control," is the usual refrain from the military. One military spokesman recently described the current wave of rebel attacks as "the last kicks of a dying horse." But for the civilians living through the nightmare, the horse is very much alive and kicking hard where it hurts. Abducted teenagers Tens of thousands are not prepared to take the risk that the rebels may strike their homes. So they either sleep in the bushes or at dusk they walk into urban centres to sleep in the grounds of hospitals or on shop verandas. Children are often abducted There is a fear that thousands of children sleeping in one location may soon become too tempting a target for the LRA, which is made up almost entirely of abducted teenagers. Over 5,000 people seek refuge at St Joseph's Mission in Kitgum. Desperate Father Joseph Gerner, from Germany, heads the mission and has lived through the war in the north. He describes the current situation as desperate. "The rebels are all over. I would say practically the whole countryside is in their hands", he says. "The army may be on the roads and in the barracks but they don't really have much say in the bush because there the rebels are completely free." Two months ago there had been much optimism that peace talks with the LRA would bear some fruit. Mistrust However talks between the rebels and the presidential peace team never took place largely due to a total lack of trust between the two sides. The chairman of Gulu district, Lieutenant Colonel Walter Ochora, says that the rebels' past crimes are preventing them from sitting down to talk peace. "The problem of the LRA leadership is guilt. One commander, Vincent Otti, massacred over 300 people in his home area of Atiak", says Colonel Ochora. "Such a guy will not be free to live in Atiak," he tells me, adding that there are rebel commanders who want peace but not the overall leader, Joseph Kony. Kony [r] rarely talks about peaceful end to the conflict I met several teenagers who had just escaped from LRA captivity. One had been in Joseph Kony's group in southern Sudan. He told me that Kony tells the rebels that the government of President Yoweri Museveni will be overthrown within two years and has never spoken to them about finding a peaceful end to the conflict. Uniformed Arabs Alarmingly those escaping describe how supplies are being taken to Joseph Kony's rebels in southern Sudan. "In May this year I saw some Arabs wearing military uniforms bringing in supplies of military equipment and ammunition in trucks," one 14-year-old boy told me. This prompts the suggestion that contrary to agreement, the Khartoum government's links with the LRA have not been severed. However the Sudanese authorities vehemently deny any support for the rebels. Bandits Now President Museveni seems to have completely turned his back on the idea of talking peace. At the recent state of the nation address he declared, "We have given the bandits a chance of saving their wretched lives. Instead they continue to kill Ugandans. The killers of the people in the north will be killed." The army has been unable to end the LRA rebellion In Kitgum I watched two helicopter gunships fly out to an area the rebels had just attacked to the east
ugnet_: Ugandan Rebels Putting Catholic Missions Under Siege
Ugandan Rebels Putting Catholic Missions Under Siege Refugees Starving, Says Agency Director KITGUM, Uganda, JUNE 12, 2003.- The rebel Lord's Resistance Army is now targeting Catholic churches and missions. The director of the Misna missionary agency, who over the last few days has been in the Catholic mission of Kitgum, says the civilian population in Uganda is suffering under LRA violence. "The situation is desperate because the principal inhabited centers are virtually surrounded by rebels, and the rural areas are infested by these 'olum' -- 'grass,' as the LRA guerrillas are called in the Acholi language," Father Giulio Albanese told Vatican Radio. The people's food situation is equally worrying, given that provisions "came basically by land until recently; now, aid arrives only by air, and there are many locations that are practically isolated, where people are literally dying of hunger," he added. In less than a week, the LRA has attacked four missions in the north: Omiya-Anyma, Opit, Madi Opei and Alito, the priest said. During the assault on Alito the guerrillas held Father Alex Ojera hostage along with 50 other people. To Father Ojera, who was subsequently released together with 15 other hostages, the rebels signaled that they were ready to negotiate, but only if they dealt directly with President Yoweri Museveni. Nahaman Ojwe, the top civil authority of the Kitgum district, said that the Acholi region, devastated by constant LRA attacks, is living in a "desperate humanitarian situation," the Misna agency reported last weekend. Out of a population of 281,000, some 250,000 are now homeless. People are living in 18 refugee camps in the district under extremely precarious conditions, according to data reported by Ojwe. Some 200 soldiers have been deployed from Kampala to protect Kitgum. The soldiers work in cooperation with the civil authorities, but their presence must be intensified to guarantee the security of inhabited areas, Ojwe said. According to international observers, in 17 years of conflict at least 20,000 civilians and as many children have been kidnapped and enslaved or enrolled by force in the guerrillas' ranks, L'Osservatore Romano reported Sunday. Led by Joseph Kony, the LRA struggles against the government to create a state based on the observance of alleged biblical concepts. Father Albanese described Kony as a "mad visionary" whose "creed is of a syncretist type, where there is a bit of everything: elements of Christianity, Islam and also animism." "Unfortunately, the kidnapped children are forced to kill, often even under the effect of drugs," the priest lamented. Between Sudan and Uganda, the men of the LRA number 5,000, although some sources estimate the total at half this figure. In any case, Ojwe said the rebels are well organized. Recent reports say they now have antipersonnel mines. "We need the solidarity of the international community in close cooperation with the government of Kampala," Nahaman Ojwe said. He expressed appreciation for the work of the missionaries and the private-group personnel in the area, "because to work here means to constantly risk one's life." The Italian episcopal conference says the time has arrived for an urgent "international pronouncement" over Uganda, the SIR agency reported recently. "The episcopal commission for the Evangelization of Peoples and Cooperation Among the Churches makes its own the appeal of missionaries working in the northern region of Uganda, that there be no further delay to an international pronouncement that will open the way for effective actions of humanitarian aid and credible actions of peace," said a statement issued by the Italian episcopate. The commission appealed to the media to give "precise and objective information on all that happens in the region," and it called on the Italian government to express its concern before international institutions. It also asked the ecclesial community to pray "for peace and concord."
ugnet_: Fears For Extended Crisis in Eastern Congo
Fears For Extended Crisis in Eastern Congo allAfrica.com June 12, 2003 Posted to the web June 12, 2003 Charles Cobb Jr. Washington, DC Trade, investment and the ongoing battle against HIV/Aids top the agenda of Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni's visit to the United States, but the bloody chaos in the eastern Congo and Uganda's role in it has not been erased from official pages that mostly contain congratulatory speeches. For though Ugandan troops pulled out of the Eastern Congo in early May, Museveni's government has continued to back armed militias in the region. This support has caused enough concern that despite President George W. Bush's high public praise of Museveni's economic program and anti-AIDS campaign, in their private session at the White House Tuesday, he also had sharp, impatient words for the Ugandan president over his country's role in the Congo's continuing conflict. Many organizations involved in the region have taken a similar critical stance. Before Uganda's withdrawal, in a March statement, Amnesty International protested human rights violations by the Ugandan People's Defense Forces (UPDF) in Congo. "UPDF personnel have reportedly sold arms to warring ethnic groups and have trained militias, including child soldiers. Repeated shifts in Ugandan political backing to the rival armed political groups in Ituri have also deepened and prolonged the crisis." According to Amnesty, five armed political groups in Ituri "are all in one respect or another, proteges of the Ugandan government." Uganda may be responding to the criticism and pressure. On this Washington visit by Museveni, as well as in recent weeks, Ugandan officials have been indicating willingness to end their support of Congo militias. And just last week, Ugandan Major-General, James Kazini, in charge of military operations in the Congo, was replaced in what is widely considered in Uganda, a forced removal. The United Nations has accused General Kazini of using his position to profit from the Congo conflict. And in a report last month Uganda's Congo Probe Commission seemed to agree with the UN, recommending that disciplinary action be taken against Kazini. Nonetheless, the Kampala government still insists it has major security concerns related to the ongoing conflict in the eastern Congo. An increase of UPDF troops along the border was announced Tuesday because, said army spokesman, Major Shaban Bantariza, the government was concerned that violent elements hostile to Uganda, like the dissident Uganda People's Redemption Army (PRA), might use the distraction caused by fighting in eastern Congo to mount attacks in Uganda. "There is a long history of terrorists using situations like this," he said. And while Uganda has taken much criticism for its actions in eastern Congo, most experts and analysts say Uganda's behavior is hardly unique. The militaries of Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Burundi have all exploited Congo's vulnerability, cultivating militias to advance their economic interests, usually in mining, forrestry or some other profitable venture. Indeed, say experts, there is more than enough blame to go around. When Uganda agreed to pull out its troops, the United Nations promised to secure the Ituri region where, over a four-year period, armed conflict between warring parties left 60,000 dead and 500,000 displaced people. The UN established MONUC - the United Nations Organization Mission in Congo - and sent 712 soldiers with instructions to protect UN property and escort relief workers. Protection of local civilians was not part of MONUC's mission. About 500 people have been killed since their arrival. According to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the four-and-a-half year war in the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken more lives than any other since World War II. An IRC study found that between 1998 and 2002 at least 3.3 million people died in excess of what would normally be expected over this time period. "The worst mortality projections in the event of a lengthy war in Iraq, and the death toll from all recent wars in the Balkans don't even come close," said IRC president George Rupp when the study was released in April. Political scientist Herbert Weiss, speaking as part of a panel discussion on the Congo crisis at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC last Friday, said the UN response to the Congo crisis has been too little, too late. In April of this year a "mechanism of mediation" was created - the Ituri Pacification Commission. While it's a good design for approaching conflict elsewhere in the Congo, Weiss says, "in Ituri it's come too late. It exists, but it hasn't been able to mediate." "It's like window dressing while the house burns down," said John Prendergast of the International Crisis Group, who was on the panel with Weiss and complained about how little attention has been paid to the Congo crisis and United Nations ineffectiveness. "We're fiddling around while the Congo
ugnet_: Kigali Denies Involvement in North Kivu Fighting
Kigali Denies Involvement in North Kivu Fighting UN Integrated Regional Information Networks June 12, 2003 Posted to the web June 12, 2003 Nairobi The Rwandan army has denied taking part in fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo between two local rival militia groups, the Rwandan News Agency reported on Wednesday. In the three days of fighting that began on Friday in North Kivu Province, the Rassemblement Congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) captured three localities from its rival RCD-Kissangani-Mouvement de liberation, or RCD-K-ML, led by Mbusa Nyamwisi. Rwandan army spokesman Maj Jill Rutaremara said Nyamwisi's forces had often accused the Rwanda army of fighting alongside the RCD-Goma. "Rwanda has not had any troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo since last year," Rutaremara said. However, one of Nyamwisi's bodyguards, "Commander" Jacque Hagi, told IRIN on Wednesday that the Rwandans used helicopters and tanks to support seven RCD-Goma battalions take the localities of Kanyabayonga, Mbingi and Alibongo. "We are trying to fight off the helicopters and tanks," he said. The fighting has caused a new exodus of an unknown number of civilians south towards Butembo, an official of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told IRIN. "There were already 140,000 war displaced in the localities of Lubero before this last fighting," Megan Scott, the OCHA's information officer in Goma, said. OCHA Kinshasa reported that the displaced were in need of food, drinking water and medical help. Meantime, the Italian-based Missionary Service News Agency (MISNA) reported that peaceful demonstrations took place on Thursday in towns in North Kivu, aimed at drawing attention of the international community to the fighting. "The entire city of Butembo took to the streets this morning and an identical demonstration should also be under way in Beni," Melchisedec Paluku Sikuli, the bishop of Butembo and Beni, told MISNA.
ugnet_: Acholi Students Plead for UK Peace Keepers
Acholi Students Plead for UK Peace Keepers New Vision (Kampala) June 12, 2003 Posted to the web June 12, 2003 James Odong Kampala ACHOLI students have petitioned the British government to send a peacekeeping force to northern Uganda to restore peace in the war-torn region. George Ochan Ilzoro, the Acholi Makerere Students Association (AMSA) chairman, presented the appeal to British High Commissioner Adam Wood on Saturday. "Because of the humanitarian situation in Acholiland and the fact that the Government of Uganda has so far failed to protect the lives in the North, we urge the British government to do to the North what they did in Sierra Leone, which enabled the Sierra Leonians to achieve peace," Ochan said. In a speech at the University Hall during the inauguration of the new AMSA executive, Ochan appealed to the British government to consider supporting education of the Acholi people through scholarships and other affirmative initiatives. He said this would enable them narrow the socio-economic gap created by the 17-year-old insurgency. But Wood said the situation in Sierra Leone, which necessitated British government intervention was different from that of northern Uganda. He, however, pledged support to initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the people in the north, especially in Acholiland.
ugnet_: Re: [Ugandacom] Ugandan Rebels Putting Catholic Missions Under Siege
The Catholic Church , specifically the church in Northern Uganda, is doing an awesome job to: a) Expose to Ugandans and to members of the International communty, the suffering Northern Ugandans have been going through for the last 17 years under Dictator Yoweri Museveni's Regime . b) Expose the NRM Dictatorships inability to protect citizens in Northern Uganda. ..and for this members of the Clergy in Northern Uganda should be commended, I would like to do just that! Matek In a message dated 6/12/2003 11:26:12 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Ugandan Rebels Putting Catholic Missions Under Siege Refugees Starving, Says Agency Director KITGUM, Uganda, JUNE 12, 2003.- The rebel Lord's Resistance Army is now targeting Catholic churches and missions. The director of the Misna missionary agency, who over the last few days has been in the Catholic mission of Kitgum, says the civilian population in Uganda is suffering under LRA violence. "The situation is desperate because the principal inhabited centers are virtually surrounded by rebels, and the rural areas are infested by these 'olum' -- 'grass,' as the LRA guerrillas are called in the Acholi language," Father Giulio Albanese told Vatican Radio. The people's food situation is equally worrying, given that provisions "came basically by land until recently; now, aid arrives only by air, and there are many locations that are practically isolated, where people are literally dying of hunger," he added. In less than a week, the LRA has attacked four missions in the north: Omiya-Anyma, Opit, Madi Opei and Alito, the priest said. During the assault on Alito the guerrillas held Father Alex Ojera hostage along with 50 other people. To Father Ojera, who was subsequently released together with 15 other hostages, the rebels signaled that they were ready to negotiate, but only if they dealt directly with President Yoweri Museveni. Nahaman Ojwe, the top civil authority of the Kitgum district, said that the Acholi region, devastated by constant LRA attacks, is living in a "desperate humanitarian situation," the Misna agency reported last weekend. Out of a population of 281,000, some 250,000 are now homeless. People are living in 18 refugee camps in the district under extremely precarious conditions, according to data reported by Ojwe. Some 200 soldiers have been deployed from Kampala to protect Kitgum. The soldiers work in cooperation with the civil authorities, but their presence must be intensified to guarantee the security of inhabited areas, Ojwe said. According to international observers, in 17 years of conflict at least 20,000 civilians and as many children have been kidnapped and enslaved or enrolled by force in the guerrillas' ranks, L'Osservatore Romano reported Sunday. Led by Joseph Kony, the LRA struggles against the government to create a state based on the observance of alleged biblical concepts. Father Albanese described Kony as a "mad visionary" whose "creed is of a syncretist type, where there is a bit of everything: elements of Christianity, Islam and also animism." "Unfortunately, the kidnapped children are forced to kill, often even under the effect of drugs," the priest lamented. Between Sudan and Uganda, the men of the LRA number 5,000, although some sources estimate the total at half this figure. In any case, Ojwe said the rebels are well organized. Recent reports say they now have antipersonnel mines. "We need the solidarity of the international community in close cooperation with the government of Kampala," Nahaman Ojwe said. He expressed appreciation for the work of the missionaries and the private-group personnel in the area, "because to work here means to constantly risk one's life." The Italian episcopal conference says the time has arrived for an urgent "international pronouncement" over Uganda, the SIR agency reported recently. "The episcopal commission for the Evangelization of Peoples and Cooperation Among the Churches makes its own the appeal of missionaries working in the northern region of Uganda, that there be no further delay to an international pronouncement that will open the way for effective actions of humanitarian aid and credible actions of peace," said a statement issued by the Italian episcopate. The commission appealed to the media to give "precise and objective information on all that happens in the region," and it called on the Italian government to express its concern before international institutions. It also asked the ecclesial community to pray "for peace and concord."
ugnet_: Re: [Ugandacom] Ugandan Rebels Putting Catholic Missions Under Siege
Matek And that is why they are being attacked day in and day out Em The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 11:58 PM Subject: Re: [Ugandacom] Ugandan Rebels Putting Catholic Missions Under Siege The Catholic Church , specifically the church in Northern Uganda, is doing an awesome job to:a) Expose to Ugandans and to members of the International communty, the suffering Northern Ugandans have been going through for the last 17 years under Dictator Yoweri Museveni's Regime .b) Expose the NRM Dictatorships inability to protect citizens in Northern Uganda...and for this members of the Clergy in Northern Uganda should be commended, I would like to do just that!Matek In a message dated 6/12/2003 11:26:12 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Ugandan Rebels Putting Catholic Missions Under SiegeRefugees Starving, Says Agency Director KITGUM, Uganda, JUNE 12, 2003.- The rebel Lord's Resistance Army is now targeting Catholic churches and missions.The director of the Misna missionary agency, who over the last few days has been in the Catholic mission of Kitgum, says the civilian population in Uganda is suffering under LRA violence."The situation is desperate because the principal inhabited centers are virtually surrounded by rebels, and the rural areas are infested by these 'olum' -- 'grass,' as the LRA guerrillas are called in the Acholi language," Father Giulio Albanese told Vatican Radio.The people's food situation is equally worrying, given that provisions "came basically by land until recently; now, aid arrives only by air, and there are many locations that are practically isolated, where people are literally dying of hunger," he added.In less than a week, the LRA has attacked four missions in the north: Omiya-Anyma, Opit, Madi Opei and Alito, the priest said. During the assault on Alito the guerrillas held Father Alex Ojera hostage along with 50 other people.To Father Ojera, who was subsequently released together with 15 other hostages, the rebels signaled that they were ready to negotiate, but only if they dealt directly with President Yoweri Museveni.Nahaman Ojwe, the top civil authority of the Kitgum district, said that the Acholi region, devastated by constant LRA attacks, is living in a "desperate humanitarian situation," the Misna agency reported last weekend.Out of a population of 281,000, some 250,000 are now homeless. People are living in 18 refugee camps in the district under extremely precarious conditions, according to data reported by Ojwe.Some 200 soldiers have been deployed from Kampala to protect Kitgum. The soldiers work in cooperation with the civil authorities, but their presence must be intensified to guarantee the security of inhabited areas, Ojwe said.According to international observers, in 17 years of conflict at least 20,000 civilians and as many children have been kidnapped and enslaved or enrolled by force in the guerrillas' ranks, L'Osservatore Romano reported Sunday.Led by Joseph Kony, the LRA struggles against the government to create a state based on the observance of alleged biblical concepts.Father Albanese described Kony as a "mad visionary" whose "creed is of a syncretist type, where there is a bit of everything: elements of Christianity, Islam and also animism.""Unfortunately, the kidnapped children are forced to kill, often even under the effect of drugs," the priest lamented.Between Sudan and Uganda, the men of the LRA number 5,000, although some sources estimate the total at half this figure. In any case, Ojwe said the rebels are well organized. Recent reports say they now have antipersonnel mines."We need the solidarity of the international community in close cooperation with the government of Kampala," Nahaman Ojwe said. He expressed appreciation for the work of the missionaries and the private-group personnel in the area, "because to work here means to constantly risk one's life."The Italian episcopal conference says the time has arrived for an urgent "international pronouncement" over Uganda, the SIR agency reported recently."The episcopal commission for the Evangelization of Peoples and Cooperation Among the Churches makes its own the appeal of missionaries working in the northern region of Uganda, that there be no further delay to an international pronouncement that will open the way for eff
ugnet_: UGANDA RANKED 7TH MOST CORRUPT IN AFRICA
Uganda Ranked 7th Most Corrupt In Africa By Vision Reporter THE Geneva, Switzerland-based World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked Uganda as the seventh most corrupt country in Africa. The survey conducted in 21 African countries ranking the nations in terms of corruption and good governance was released in the South African east coast city of Durban. The countries were ranked from worst to best. Scores were given on a scale from one to seven, with seven being the best. War-torn Chad scored the least with 2.36, followed by Africas most populous country of Nigeria at 2.99, Madagascar earned 3.04, Kenya at 3.16, Angola scored 3.16, Zimbabwe got 3.17 and Uganda scored 3.30. Botswana scored highest at 5.45, followed by Tunisia at 5.16, the Gambia earned 4.73, South Africa scored 4.67, followed by Mauritius at 4.61, while Egypt earned 4.18, Ghana scored 3.97, Algeria scored 3.92, followed by its Maghreb neighbour Morocco which scored 3.86. Drought-ravaged Mali scored 3.33, Mozambique earned 3.33, while famine-struck Ethiopia scored 3.69, followed by Zambia earning 3.86. WEF is an independent international organisation committed to improving the state of the world. It provides a collaborative framework for the worlds leaders to address global issues, engaging particularly its corporate members in global citizenship. Ends Published on: Friday, 13th June, 2003 The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
