In a recent press address, the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Hon Mathias Mpuuga, has called on Speaker Rt Hon Anita Among to maintain consistency in applying the rules regarding the attendance of Members of Parliament, particularly ministers.

The call comes in response to the Speaker’s warning that opposition MPs could face expulsion if they miss 15 consecutive sittings without seeking permission.

Mr. Mpuuga expressed his concern over what he perceives as a lack of even-handedness in enforcing parliamentary rules. He urged Speaker Among to extend her scrutiny to ministers, citing the absence of prominent figures such as Hon Janet Kataaha Museveni, the Minister of Education and Sports, and Hon Kahinda Otafiire, the Minister for Internal Affairs.

Underlining the importance of ministers’ regular attendance, the Leader of Opposition emphasized that, as ex-officio members of parliament, ministers are required to be present at plenary sessions to address questions raised on the house floor.

The Leader of Opposition argued that if the 15-day ultimatum for expulsion is to be implemented, it should be applied uniformly to all members, regardless of their political affiliation.

“I don’t think there is anybody feeling that the Opposition is out, and therefore, the 15 days are targeting them. The 15 days should target Gen. Otafiire, Kataaha Museveni, and others. The Opposition MPs are doing their work, and even when they are absent, their absence from the House is official,” stated Mr. Mpuuga during the press briefing.

The Leader of Opposition further criticized the Speaker’s recent threat to expel opposition MPs who are boycotting plenary sittings as a form of protest against what they perceive as mishandling cases of missing opposition members. He argued that the opposition members are fulfilling their responsibilities, and even in their absence, their non-participation in the House is considered official.

Speaker Among issued the warning on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, stating that she would invoke parliamentary rules resulting in the loss of seats for opposition members if they fail to seek permission for their prolonged absence.

The opposition MPs, led by the Leader of Opposition, have been boycotting Plenary Sittings for over three weeks, highlighting concerns related to human rights violations that they believe remain unresolved. The ongoing standoff between the opposition and the Speaker raises questions about the enforcement of parliamentary rules and standards for attendance, particularly concerning ministers who hold crucial positions in the government.

In a surprising turn of events, NUP President Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, shared the disappointment of having his invitation revoked just hours before the highly anticipated Busoga Royal Wedding last weekend. Bobi Wine revealed that his exclusion was attributed to the attendance of Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the First Son.

Expressing his frustration, Bobi Wine disclosed that he had cut short his overseas trip to ensure he could attend the historic wedding, to which he had been publicly invited by the Katukiro (Prime Minister) of Busoga. However, at the eleventh hour, organizers informed him that President Museveni, Gen Muhoozi, and their security team had prohibited his participation.

Despite missing the celebration, Bobi Wine graciously congratulated the Busoga royals and the local community during a commemoration event for the Kampala Riots of November 2020. He extended his well-wishes to the Kyabazinga and his Queen, expressing hopes for a happy and fruitful marriage.

The Bosoga royal wedding, a rare event not witnessed since 1954, took place at Christ Cathedral in Bugembe, with the reception hosted at the newly refurbished Igenge Palace. Gen Muhoozi and his wife Charlotte attended the wedding reception, presenting a generous gift of 30 cows to the royal couple on behalf of Muhoozi and President Museveni.

During his speech at the celebration, Kyabazinga William Kadhumbula Nadiope IV acknowledged President Museveni as the most significant contributor to the wedding. He disclosed that Museveni, whom he referred to as the “invisible chairman of the wedding,” had taken on the responsibility of renovating the Budhumbula Palace, where the royals would reside.

The King further revealed that he had informed President Museveni about the impending wedding a year prior, and Museveni willingly took charge of the palace renovations. Museveni’s support for King Nadiope extended beyond the wedding, as he had been a benefactor since the King’s childhood, covering all educational expenses from primary school to his ongoing PhD studies.

In the face of political tensions and personal disappointments, the Busoga Royal Wedding became a symbol of unity and celebration, with the generosity of President Museveni and the well-wishes of Bobi Wine contributing to the complex tapestry of this historic event.

President Museveni has issued a directive for Balaalo, who have non-fenced farmland in Greater Northern Uganda, including Lango, Acholi, and West Nile, to leave the region within three weeks.

During a meeting with residents of Okidi in Amuru district, he emphasized the recklessness of bringing cows into areas without proper control. The President instructed authorities to ensure that those with cows in non-fenced areas vacate immediately.

Additionally, President Museveni ordered Balaalo occupying government land, such as Lakang and Aswa ranch, to leave within three weeks.

He allowed them to hire trucks to move their cows and urged them to sell or dispose of the animals as they see fit. The directive comes as a response to the growing crisis of Balaalo settlement in the region.

The disagreement between Balaalo and the residents of Greater North revolves around issues of crop destruction and land ownership. The President emphasized that destroying crops is unacceptable, and he directed the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General to draft a law criminalizing this type of nomadism.

President Museveni acknowledged differing opinions on the matter and announced plans for a final meeting to reconcile those in favor of immediate eviction with those advocating for a more gradual approach.

He emphasized the need to address the ownership and renting issues separately from the immediate concern of crop destruction.

While recognizing the sensitivity of the Balaalo issue, especially in discussions about land ownership, President Museveni urged caution in public discourse.

He highlighted the importance of serious discussions to find a resolution and indicated that a conclusive meeting would be held in Entebbe to address the various perspectives on the matter.

Government officials in Uganda are actively engaging in frequent meetings to address concerns related to Ugandan businessmen trading in the American market. The discussions aim to secure a position in the AGOA market, initiated by the United States. This initiative follows President Robert Joe Biden Jr.’s announcement that Uganda might be excluded from the AGOA market due to perceived violations of people’s freedom and continuous harassment.

During the meeting in South Africa about AGOA, representatives from Uganda spoke up, requesting the American government not to exclude Uganda from the market.

After the USA officially announced the exclusion of Uganda from the AGOA market, several African nations have been leveraging this platform for exporting their products to Europe. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), initiated in 2000 during Bill Clinton’s presidency, was designed to boost the economies of African countries, encompassing 36 nations on the continent.

This market includes over 1800 products such as clothing, avocados, coffee, fish, bananas, watermelon, pineapples, and more. Some African countries in this market are Angola, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Nigeria, and Uganda. Uganda is at risk of being removed from the market by January 1st of next year, as mentioned by the President of the United States, Joe Biden.

Uganda is facing potential exclusion from the American market due to alleged human rights violations. The U.S. claims that despite numerous meetings, Uganda has not established a peaceful leadership.

The accusations include violations of freedom of speech and suppression. If the U.S. decides to exclude Uganda, over 50 registered companies could lose trading opportunities, resulting in a yearly loss of US$200 million.

Uganda is not alone in facing market exclusion; Niger, Gabon, and the Central African Republic are also under scrutiny. Many popular clothing items in Uganda, mainly from the USA, China, and Dubai, could be affected. Despite the potential impact on the economy, President Yoweri Museveni has expressed plans to ban second-hand clothes, referring to them as “clothes of the dead.”

Museveni, during a recent event in Mbale, assured Ugandans that the government has development plans in place. He mentioned a decrease in inflation from 10% to 2%, one of the lowest globally, as a sign of progress.

The Minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija, acknowledged the efforts to restore relations with the USA, calming concerns among traders. Kasaija emphasized that the government is addressing the situation, and traders should continue their work, assuring them that the Ministry of Finance is managing the country’s economy. Despite challenges, there is optimism that the situation will improve over time.

The UPDF Army tracked down and killed six Suspected ADF fighters on Lake Edward believed to have hatched the attack on tourists in the Queen Elizabeth National Park last month. The attack left two foreign tourists and their Ugandan driver guide dead.

According to the spokesman of the UPDF, the fighters were killed as they tried to sneak back into Uganda on a canoe before the army pounced on them. One of the fighters who has been identified as Njovu, the combatant group leader was captured alive.

“Our forces have been tracking down this group and last night (Tuesday), they tried to sneak against using a boat on Lake Edward off Kayanja landing site and our forces doing night operations managed to get them this time round,” Col Akiiki, Deputy Spokesman of the UPDF said.

He said a combined force of the intelligence, Special Forces Command, UPDF Marine and infantry squads from the 221 and 301 brigades swung into action.

The UPDF had tracked group for over sometime and their time finally came. The incident happened at around 3am or 4am in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

On October, 17, David Jim Barlow,a British citizen and his South African wife, Emmaretia Celia Geyer  who had come to Uganda for the honeymoon holiday vacation together with their Ugandan tourist driver guide Eric Alyai, were killed inside Queen Elizabeth National Park.

The armed assailants would later torch their vehicle and it is said some of the group’s belongings were robbed.

The UPDF has since deployed several units to track the group behind the attack.

Speaking on Wednesday, Maj Gen Dick Olum, the commander of Operation Shuja credited the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) for credible intelligence that was relied on to carry out the operation.

He said after being shot at by the UPDF, the ADF rebels tried to swim back into DRC but their attempts were futile.

“This was a total of seven fighters, on attacking them, four of them were killed and drowned with all their weapons. Two of them were shot at, badly injured and tried to swim back across the lake but could not go further. They only died at the shores of Lake Edward. One of them was injured but is alive and captured,” Maj Gen Olum said.

He said in total, six ADF fighters were killed and one captured alive. Following the operation, several items including solar panels and bags were got from the ADF rebels.

The Operation Shuja commander said from the luggage got from the group, a number of items picked from the tourists who were killed alongside their driver in Queen Elizabeth National Park were recovered.

To this, the Uganda army recovered the driving permit belonging to Eric Alyai, the Ugandan driver killed alongside the two tourists.

Also recovered from the luggage were DRC army uniforms, bullet magazines, sauce pans and clothes.

The splinter group’s commander captured after his juniors were killed has been named as 31 year old Abdul Rashid Kyoto, alias Tembo, alias Njovu, and alias Buffalo.

Maj Gen Dick Olum said the hunt for all ADF splinter groups is still continuing but urged locals, especially in Kasese to be on the lookout for strangers in their area and report them to authorities, or else these could be ADF members.

Panyu Chu Kong (PCK) Steel Pipe Co, Ltd, the company contracted to supply line pipe for the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), said that the first batch of 100 kilometres of pipe has been completed and is in the process of being delivered to the port of Tanga in Tanzania.

Xie Leshan, the president of PCK, told a team from the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, led by Ernest Rubondo, the executive director, that the company was committed to ensuring timely delivery and high quality pipes. The PAU team visited PCK’s pipe mill in Lianyungang as part of a verification and validation visit to the activities of the Kingfisher Development Project and the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) Project in China.

The developers of the EACOP project are CNOOC Uganda Limited, TotalEnergies EP Uganda, Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), and Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC).

“The readiness of the first 100km of pipe for the pipeline is an indication of the commitment of the government of Uganda and the oil companies to deliver first oil,” said Mr Rubondo. “The achievement of this and other milestones is also a result of Uganda’s stable macroeconomic environment and legal and institutional framework, which have enabled and continue to enable the oil industry to thrive,” he added.

During the visit, which coincided with China’s Belt and Road Initiative Forum, Ernest Rubondo and Liu Yongjie, the Chairman of CNOOC International, met at the CNOOC International Headquarters in Beijing on 21 October 2023.

“This meeting marks an important development in the ongoing collaboration between Uganda and China in the oil and gas sector,” said Mr Rubondo.

Mr Liu and Mr Rubondo discussed the progress of the Kingfisher project and received assurances of CNOOC’s commitment to fulfil its responsibilities on the project and to expand cooperation to deliver a ‘Shining Star’ project in Uganda.

They also discussed strategies for the commercialisation of Uganda’s oil and gas resources and ways to maximise the value generated by these projects in the country, extending to local communities and national companies, thereby further promoting economic growth and development.

Mr Rubondo and Mr Yongjie agreed that the timely delivery of the project together with the development of national and community content was the best way to ensure a win-win situation from the Kingfisher project.

The delegation also visited the Shougang Beijing Group’s Qian’an steel mill, which supplies the steel plates used in the manufacture of the pipes.

Mr Rubondo said the visit was not only an exchange with CNOOC and its major contractors, but also an exercise in understanding the achievements of Chinese-style modernisation and the Belt and Road Initiative.

“These collaborations not only have economic implications, but also contribute to the development and growth of the oil and gas industries of both nations,” Mr Rubondo said in remarks at the Qian’an steel plant.

The PAU delegation also met various companies contracted by both TotalEnergies and CNOOC Uganda to provide works and services for the oil and gas projects in Uganda.

These contractors included COOEC (part of a joint venture undertaking the detailed engineering, procurement and construction of the Kingfisher Project central processing plant and other facilities), COSL (drilling services), CENERTECH (well completion tools, core cutting and fishing, drilling software and coating of the Kingfisher feeder pipeline) and CPP (construction of the EACOP pipeline and surface facilities).

The East African crude oil pipeline will have the capacity to pump up to 230,000 barrels of crude oil per day from western Uganda to the Indian Ocean coast of Tanzania through a specially designed 1,443km ‘smart’ pipe. Parts of the pipe will have heat tracing to ensure that the high quality, low-sulphur Ugandan crude, which is waxy at surface temperatures, flows evenly.

The pipeline, which will be buried up to 1.5 metres below the surface along its entire length, will be lined with high-tech insulation and fitted with sensors and shut-off valves to minimise the risk of leaks.