Jamaican American reggae singer Alaine Laughton last night beat Konshens to his concert at Lugogo Cricket Oval.

I would call it the strength of a woman but yes Alaine put up an amazing performance better than the ladies’ man Konshens who came to the country on a concert for the second time.
Over 20,000 fans attended the concerts

Lugogo Cricket Oval was full to capacity by 7:30pm, both the VIP and Ordinary sections were packed and with Rabadaba, Vampino, Irene Ntale, Navio, Remah, Chameleone, Yung Mulo among other Ugandan artistes raising the curtains for main artistes.

The Jamaican lady, clad in all black took to the stage at 9:30 pm getting both the guys and girls screaming their lungs out as she sang All or Nothing.

It was after her first song performance that the slim beauty requested to take off her high heels and be able to sing her heart out to Ugandans for whom she’s waited all her life to perform to as she said.

Alaine took to the stage barefooted as she performed hits like Giving It All To You, Keep Lovin You, Make Me Weak, No Ordinary Love, Rise In Love, Spin Mi, You Nuh Ready Fi Me and some Bob Marley for the Rastafarian fans.

Towards the end of her performance Alaine choose from the crowd a random male fan whom she took to the stage, sang to and danced with that made every man wish he was the one up the stage dancing with the sexy Jamaican in front of over 20,000 fans.

Alaine ended her performance with her latest club banger Nakupenda Pia in which she features Kenya’s Wyre that got the whole crowd singing along.

The ladies’ man Konshens then took on to the stage at 10:30 pm clad in a black suit and tie, as ladies screamed on top of their voices. Konshens performed the crowds’ favorites like Gyal Bubble, Do Sum’n, Am Coming, Sidung, Stop sign, Walk and wine, Gal Dem a talk, Rasta, Imposter, Trust No One, Love This Life among others.

Although Konshens equally performed for long, he didn’t so much connect with the crowd like Alaine did, besides the strength of a woman, you would say it’s because it was Alaine’s first time performance here as opposed to Konshens who in less than a year came back in another concert.

In conclusion, if Alaine didn’t tag along Konshens, the concert would have been boring. If you attended, you’ll for sure agree with me!

The concert was organized by Pepsi Uganda.

The Mirinda Miss Teen search team was in Mbarara at Eden International School. The team was in search for the finest “Eve” to represent the school at the grand finale in Kampala.

Just like the biblical Garden of Eden, stuffed with choices, the same was Eden International, the Miss Teen Judges had a rough time selecting the best in almost all categories.

“The girls are on point, bright, creative, and beautiful, making a choice here is not an easy task,” said the reigning Miss Uganda who is one of the judges.

Ahabwe Evelyn was voted Mirinda Miss Teen from Eden International and she immediately vowed to use her crown to fight early marriages.

“It’s disheartening, to see a girl of school going age with babies. This girl hasn’t matured enough to take care of herself, how could she manage a family, I am going to fight that with all my energy, “said Ahabwe. Adye Faith was voted Miss Ambitious and Irimbere Vera Claudia was voted Miss Fashionista.

Mirinda Miss Teen is an annual talent contest that aims at showcasing the great talents and characters of today’s teenage girls. The Mirinda Miss Teen Season 5 search, themed Selfie Edition, will have teenage girls battle it out once again for the coveted Miss Teen, Miss Ambitious and Miss Play hard titles at the grand finale in Kampala.

This weekend, the Mirinda Miss teen search team will be in northern Uganda.

Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, has announced the launch of its luxury private jet service which can now be booked on www.emirates-executive.com. Customers seeking unsurpassed luxury in travel can book a tailor-made experience on Emirates Executive, the ultra-spacious Airbus 319 aircraft, and enjoy new technology and design to meet the most discerning traveller’s requirements.

Available in English and Arabic, the Emirates Executive website offers visitors a glimpse of the bespoke experience through a video that takes the customer on a journey showcasing the aircraft and offers an insight into its premium features. Customers can then ‘start their journey’ via the request form and define a travel experience that meets their exacting demands and specifications.

“Everybody who flies economy commercially wants to be in first class and everybody who’s in first class wants to fly private,” said Khalid Al Zarouni – Emirates’ Country Manager for Uganda. “We have seen an increasing demand in the private travel segment, and now with the launch of Emirates Executive online consumers can book their luxury travel experience conveniently from anywhere and enjoy the high-quality of service and attention to detail associated with Emirates.”

Providing a private charter service to most locations worldwide and beyond the existing Emirates network, the aircraft offers a new configuration with a high level of comfort and service for up to 19 passengers. Always pioneering, Emirates Executive introduces many firsts from private suites to a large multi-functional lounge area on-board, making it a service versatile enough to provide diverse travel options for both the private customer and corporations alike.

The configuration of the A319 Emirates Executive aircraft is based on two main zones. The first area is a wide dining and executive lounge at the front of the aircraft designed to seat up to 12 passengers, combining a work area and a rest zone with two large sofas surrounding four mechanically-activated tables and two 42” HD LCD screens. The second distinct area comprises 10 Private Suites each featuring a fully lie flat seat and a 32” HD LCD screen.

The suites are complemented by a large and elegant Shower Spa, equipped with a full-height shower, featured innovations like a floor heating system, decorative serigraphy on mirrors and marble accents, as well as luxury, all-natural skincare products.

Customers can also enjoy a variety of multi-course culinary options from Emirates’ award-winning menus, and the finest selection of hot and cold beverages, as well as customised options to suit any palette or dietary requirement. The aircraft is equipped with state-of-the-art technology including Emirates’ award winning in-flight entertainment (ice) with up to 1,500 channels of on-demand entertainment, as well as a live TV, video conferencing facilities and high-speed internet and mobile phone connectivity.

The personalised service for customers includes booking an aircraft at short notice and a premium chauffeur drive service. The A319 aircraft is supported by a dedicated team of highly trained and experienced inflight crew and ground staff.

This year, the World Tourism Day celebrations will be held on the 27th of September 2013 at Booma Grounds in Fort Portal town.

The international theme for this year’s World Tourism Day celebrations is
“Tourism and Water, Protecting Our Common Future” and will be focusing on Mount Rwenzori as the biggest source of fresh water and livelihood for this country.
Uganda Tourism Board has lined up several activities to commemorate the WTD week including the following
1. An 5 days exhibitions showcasing the various attractions of Uganda, the ways of life of the people of Uganda, culture, history and tourism facilities and services
2. Bird Watching in Kibale National Park
3. Chimp tracking in Kibale National
4. Nature walks and community tours
5. And the Mount Rwenzori Climbing Challenge dubbed Royal as it will be led by His Majesty King Oyo
As you are all aware, we use the World Tourism day Celebrations to promote Domestic Tourism and to encourage Ugandans to visit the numerous attractions within their vicinity and beyond. I therefore wish to invite all Ugandans to come down to Fort Portal and to actively participate in these various activities.
UTB is organizing a fundraising Dinner for World Tourism Day celebrations to interest the corporate institutions in taking part in the planned activities. This dinner is slated for Thursday 29th of August 2013 at the Sheraton Hotel Rwenzori ballroom
The objectives of the dinner are:
a) Launch of a behavior change campaign targeted at all Ugandans to embrace local tourism (recently, the UNWTO Secretary General remarked that “a country that is not visited by its own people should not be visited at all”)
b) Working towards improving the image of our country through promoting its unique tourism endowments.
c) Lobbying the government and members of the private sector to embrace tourism marketing campaigns both locally and internationally that are aimed at promoting the tourism potential in our country.
The activities we have lined up are good opportunities for various private and public companies and organizations to not only contribute to the promotion of tourism in this country but also in the process enhance great visibility and good relations with the government.
The Ministry and UTB have teamed up with youthful event managers, led by Wasp Limited in addition to the Tooro youth who were requested by His Majesty the King Oyo to spearhead preparations for this event. Tourism has the potential to address the rampant unemployment growth in Uganda if the youth embraced it and so this is an opportunity for all of Uganda’s youth.
I therefore urge our young people and my fellow countrymen and women to come together to bring our heritage to life and tourism potential to the forefront.
Henry Ford once said: “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Let us therefore work together to succeed in reviving our domestic tourism potential for our own benefit and for the benefit of future generations.
I thank you all and implore the media to also wholeheartedly support us in our campaign to promote behavior change in regard to embracing domestic tourism.
For God and My Country

Hon. Dr. Maria Mutagamba
Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities

Hillary while covering floods in Kasese, Western Uganda a few months ago. This is Hillary Ayesiga a Ugandan journalist. I met Hillary in 2007 when we started working for Nation TV Uganda (NTV), a part of the Aga Khan’s Nation Media Group. It was the new station in Uganda, fairly professional- more than most TV stations to the best of my judgement.

Hillary was a colleague for close to two years when i worked at NTV and he is a friend. He’s a hard working journalist. He never shies away from stories.

On Saturday, Hillary was arrested in Juba, South Sudan together with Justin Dralaze, a video journalist that has worked with Reuters for long time until recently. The two had gone to South Sudan to do stories for Feature Story News (FSN), a US-based company.

These two journalists, well known, well respected in Uganda have been in detention at the National Security Headquarters in Juba. They were arrested while filming along the airport road in Juba without permission. This is the building where they are being held.

The government of South Sudan has detained them for more than 48 hours without a charge or even a statement.

On the evening news i learnt that Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs was talking to President Salva Kiir’s government but nothing much is coming out.

It is very easy to prove that these are journalists and if they filmed without permission necessary steps can be taken but their detention at a military facility without charge further taints Kiir’s government as a government that is intolerant to the press.

Early this month, South Sudan’s parliament passed two bills to improve press freedom but journalists there continue to face arbitrary detention by the security forces.

In 2013 press freedom index compiled by the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders South Sudan slipped 13 places to 124 out of 179 countries.

Hillary and Justin situation comes at time when President Salva Kiir has sacked his entire Cabinet so the president’s involvement is vital to secure this release it might be difficult to get someone responsible.

Ugandans have so far gone on twitter , put out a campaign calling on Salva Kiir to ensure release of the Ugandan journalists.

Join the conversation!

1. Tweet, blog and share your opinions about the upcoming elections with us.
2. Comment and share blog posts, photos and videos on this website with your friends.
3. Do NOT sue us for sharing your photos and stories 🙂