Minister of State for Labour,Employment & Industrial Relations, Col. (Rtd) Charles Okello Engola, was shot dead on Tuesday morning by his body guard in a Kampala suburb. The bodyguard identified as Private Wilson Sabiti, later turned the gun on himself

According to the Police Spokesperson, Fred Enaga, Engola was shot at close range at his residence in Kyanja on Tuesday while entering his vehicle to go to work.

Enaga also said that Ronald Otim, who was Engola’s ADC sustained severe injuries and is seeking treatment at Mulago Hospital.

Enaga says that Sabiti fired several shots at close range, killing Engola instantly. Enaga adds that after shooting the Minister, the bodyguard fled from the scene up to the trading center at Kyanja, Ring Road where he entered a salon and also shot himself dead.

Enaga says that they are yet to establish the motive of the shooting. He says that a team of detectives has been dispatched to the crime scene team for further investigations.

While in the military, Engola was the commander of the UPDF 501 Brigade, at Opit, in Gulu District.

He was then promoted to the rank of colonel and retired from the military in 2007.

During his political career, he served as Oyam District LCV Chairperson on the ruling NRM party ticket for two terms.

In 2016, he was elected Oyam North Member of Parliament and re-elected in 2021.

He also served as State Minister of Defence from 2016 until 2021.

This last week Murchison Falls National Park hosted the thrilling Invitation Fishing Tournament which is a catch and release experience that takes place every year.

This year 2023 tournament attracted 6 adventurous clusters in 21 groups. This time a total of 1672.4kg of fish was caught and released back into the water. This year’s catch indicated an improvement in the net catch compared to last year’s catch of 972kgs.

This sport fishing tournament was won by Team Tango Samani. The winning catch was 246.77kgs who were followed by the Flying Dutchman who came with 171.3kgs, and the Dream Team taking the scooped the third position with 82.5kgs catch.

UWA awarded a gorilla and Rhino tracking permit to the winner, an annual fishing permit to the first runner-up; and a Chimpanzee tracking permit for the third-best.

Sports Fishing in Murchison Falls National Park

Being Uganda’s largest National Park by size, Murchison Falls National Park doubles with being the most visited National Park in Uganda. Am the thrillers of the park is the mighty Victoria Nile that flows to form the Africa’s unique Murchison Falls National Park. Alongside the game drives, boat cruises, hiking, visiting the top of the falls and many others adventures done here, even sports fishing lines among the thriller to engage in when visited the park.

Along the Big Five expectation of the park, sports fishing makes a wonderful adventure to the park. Sport fishing experiences at Murchison falls national park involves the use baits and casting lures, tourists here have a wider opening to catch amazing fish species in particular Nile perch the main catch as well cat fish and tiger fish.

Travelers are accompanied by a guide using small motorized boats rid at the banks of the river or at the rocks on the foot hills of the falls and at the Nile delta. The catch can weigh about 50kg, after the catch take photographs weigh your clasp and discharge the back in waters.

Visitors engrossed in fishing activities come with three meter or 2.4 meter rod with a mounted spool or multiplier fishing reel, seven rotating rod with 3/5 kilogram line for catching small fish species and for cat fish and the Nile perch, you can use any fixed spool or multiplier with 30 to 35Ib line.

You will need a sport fishing permit to allow you partake this most exhilarating adventure in Murchison falls national park which will also offer you opportunity to catch at least a 108kgs  Nile perch.

Sport Fishing permits at Murchison Falls

When wishing for a sport fishing adventure, it can be done throughout the year. There are three categories of permits to purchase when interested in the adventure. The first permit is a one day fishing permit costs $50, there is a 4 day fishing permit which costs $150, and an annual fishing permit costing $300. All these costs exclude park entrance fees. With an annual permit, it means at any time in Murchison Falls you can go and fish on the Victoria Nile.

Although it is not uncommon to support people facing calamities with relief items such as food, clothing and shelter, it shouldn’t be the modus operandi all the time. After the storm has calmed down, people affected by natural and even man-made disasters should instead be helped to rise again. If we continue feeding them, they will become comfortable to put in the hard work necessary for their development. It is not sustainable too.

Karamoja has been a story of relief for as long as Uganda has existed despite its massive potential in animal husbandry and of recent mineral exploration. With large swatches of land, and a culture around cattle keeping or pastoralism, how can people in the area be helped to move from holding cattle for bragging rights into a commercial activity? The world has never been short of demand for beef and other animal byproducts.

However, it seems we have always looked at Karamoja as a place that deserves pity hence the massive plan to donate cheap iron sheets that we hear didn’t even reach those who needed them. A 28-guage galvanized iron sheet on average costs Shs30,000 which is approximately US$8 and if a family was to get 10 sheets, that would still be less than a price of an emaciated calf.

But like the popular Chinese proverb urges, you need to teach people how to fish instead of giving them fish. If we are giving Karamoja people iron sheets, we are denying them an opportunity to shift into decent and meaningful work that is sustainable.

If anyone wants to build an iron sheet roofed house, how can they be enabled to afford it on their own? The idea is to empower them and introduce animal husbandry that is geared at turning a profit. That one can sell some of their cows and don’t necessarily have to raid a neighbor’s and with some profit made, they can be able to build these houses on their own.

Milk could be another area that can enable people in Karamoja get decent sustainable incomes. Cows in whatever form produce some bit of milk which the farmers or pastoralists can be able to sell and get sustainable income.

In the western Uganda milk shed, government and indeed some development partners have supported the installation of milk coolers in every single trading centre. What farmers now do is to deliver the milk every morning to a trading centre where a cooler has been installed. The farmers formed associations and SACCOs that own the coolers.

So once they got themselves into these associations, development partners such as Agricultural Business Initiative (aBi) offered farmers grants where they only paid back 50 percent and fully owned the cooler. A cooler came with a standby generator and a lab kit to test that the milk being delivered is of the required quality. Farmers also got aluminum cans to transport the milk. That has significantly changed the fortunes of farmers in the western Uganda milk shed.

People no longer move long distances to transport milk to major towns such as Mbarara where many times they would find coolers full to capacity hence pouring the milk. You heard that milk flows in Mbarara, it was because of lack of cooling capacity. Today, there is no milk being poured on the streets of Mbarara because of these coolers. Milk factories and indeed some traders simply pick from these cooling centres. Farmers are paid every month by their SACCOs.

But these SACCOs have gone ahead and expanded creating credit and even food facilities. A farmer who needs money simply gets a low interest loan from the SACCO where they supply milk and then the money is deducted at the end of the month. Also the SACCOs have established drug shops and food stores. A farmer who wants rice or salt simply gets it from the shop and money is deducted at the end of the month.

Some of these groups like Abesigika and the one in Ntungamo collect thousands of litres of milk per a day. To ensure they get more from every litre, many SACCOS have bought their own trucks so they transport the milk to the factories.

In areas like Rushere, SACCO managers told me that even banks like Uganda Development Bank enable them borrow billions of shillings collectively to improve their farms with water and pasture.

Women who were previously excluded from the milk industry are now involved with many forming additional groupings to make ghee, yoghurt, butter and such other things from their milk.

Nobody I believe in the western milk shed needs a few iron sheets to roof their houses. What is so difficult in replicating this model in Karamoja?

Allan Ssewanyana, the Makindye West Member of Parliament couldn’t make it into the premises of the International Crimes Division High Court in Kololo due to ill health. The legislator was ferried to the court in a white Alphard vehicle on Monday morning.

His lawyer, Samuel Muyizzi Mulindwa said that they advised the legislator to stay away from the court session considering that he was ill. With a cannula on his arm, Ssewanyana remained to lie in the vehicle as the court session proceeded.

Muyizzi told the court that Ssewanyana was ready to appear before the court on a stretcher but he talked him out of it because “it is not the practice of the court to have suspects stretched to court,” and that even the defense team would not be able to proceed with the court in such a manner.

He further told the court that Ssewanyana was also intending to appear before the registrar of the court to apply for the release of his passport to allow him to seek further treatment in Nairobi, Kenya. Muyizzi asked the court to give his client a month to seek the necessary treatment. Robert Muhereza, who represents John Mugera, one of the co-accused didn’t object to the adjournment except for the period.

He said that since his client is still incarcerated, a month’s period is unreasonable and asked that only three weeks be granted. The prosecution led by Richard Birivumbuka, the Masaka Resident Chief State Attorney did not object to the adjournment, saying that they don’t want to appear as persecutors since the issue of one’s health is so critical.

However, he said a month is too much considering that there are other suspects still on remand. Like Muhereza, he asked for three weeks. The other suspects still on remand are Jackson Kanyike, Bull Wamala, Mike Sserwandda, and Jude Muwonge who are represented by Counsel Geoffrey Turyamusiima who the court heard is still in Bugisu sub-region where his partner Counsel Anthony Wameli was laid to rest over the weekend.

The Kawempe North Member of Parliament, Muhammad Ssegirinya was supported by two men to walk into the court hall. The Judge, Alice Komuhangi hence adjourned the matter to March 27th, 2023 when the case shall return for pretrial conferencing.

Except for the two Members of Parliament who are out on bail, the remaining five suspects were further remanded. Speaking to journalists after the court session, Muyizzi said that his clients are not ready, both physically and mentally to start pre-trial.

He added that they let Muhammad Ssegirinya attend court such that the counsels to the other suspects appreciate the situation themselves and see merit in the prayer for adjournment. He also said that they shall now proceed to seek for release of Sewanyana’s passport to allow him get treatment in Nairobi.

On Feb 13th, 2023, Masaka High Court Resident Judge, Lawrence Tweyanze granted the two legislators a cash bail of Shillings 20 million each after spending more than a year in prison following numerous attempts to make bail in vain.

The suspects are charged with a string of charges including attempted murder, murder, and terrorism. The prosecution alleges that the two MPs and their co-accused people participated in the machete murders in Greater Masaka with the intent to intimidate the public for political, religious, social, or economic gains.

The two MPs who were arrested on September 7th, 2021 are also facing charges of terrorism and aiding terrorism, which they allegedly coordinated between January and August 2021 in the greater Masaka sub-region.

Through the Ministry of Lands, the government had finally handed over certificate of land titles to about 5,000 residents of Bunyangabu district.

In 2009 and 2022, the government bought land from the renowned Tooro Kingdom Queen Mother Best Kemigisha. The land was on bloc 44 plot 2 in Kibito Town Council and bloc 32 plot 1 in Nyakigumba. The two blocks measure about 5. 2 square miles.

3,500 tittles have dully been processed while 1,500 were still waiting the beneficiaries to meet all the requirements including presenting valid ID’s and payment of stamp duty.

The titles were handed over to the benefactors by the Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja who represented president Yoweri Museveni at a function held at Kibito Play ground on Saturday.

President Museveni asked the beneficiaries to avoid land fragmentation and focus more on sharing what comes out of the land as a single unit, in his message.

The president noted that the program to settle all Bona Fide Occupants through the land fund is meant to stop land evictions but also help land owners to boost production.

Will delivering her message, the prime minister asked land owners to use their titles as security to boast their household incomes.

Minister of Lands Judith Nabakoba said that government is also discussing with other land lords in the district and across the country to reach an agreement so that all bona fide occupants can get titles.

Mrs. Nabakoba noted that 92 of the titles given out in Bunyangabu were for government institutions.

Andrew Nyumba, the acting secretary for the Ministry of Lands part of government efforts to rectify and regularise the land ownership to stop the mischief of having dual ownership of land that was created by the colonial government.

Peace Mutuzo, the Bunyangabu district woman member of parliament who is also the state minister for Gender, said the insecurity on land has for long hindered the development of the area because people were always fearing to be evicted.

Mutuzo, however appealed to government to also process the titles of Burongo and Bwenjojo.

Selivestri Nyakairu from Kabonero Sub County who together with 34 other community members has been spearheading the demand for titles, says he is relieved after spending more than 25 years pursing their titles.

Whereas he has done some developments on the land, he noted that he has been in fear of being evicted by the landlord.

Jeska Tanah, from Kabonero Sub County told URN that she and the family will now focus on how they can effectively use their land to boost their incomes.

Because she didn’t have a title, the widow noted that it has been difficult to acquire loans form most financial institutions.