UNEB SETS DATES FOR 2022 EXAMS
The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has set dates for the 2022 national examinations which kick off in October, with Uganda Certificate of Education exams (UCE).
Releasing the 2022 examination timelines at Uganda Media Centre yesterday, the Uneb executive director, Mr Daniel Odongo, said Senior Four candidates will sit for their exams from October 14 to November 18.
Mr Odongo said Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) will be conducted from November 7 to November 9 while Senior Six candidates will sit their papers from November 18 to December 9.The dates for the three sets of the national examinations have been communicated at a time when schools across the country are registering their candidates.
According to Mr Odongo, the registration of candidates commenced on February 2 and will go on until May 31 for normal registration.
He revealed that schools that will register candidates after the May 31 deadline will be subjected to a surcharge of 50 percent of the total fee for UCE and UACE and 100 percent for PLE.

The examination body also revealed hefty penalties for school heads who will misappropriate registration fees.
Mr Odongo said Section 32 of the UNEB Act 2021 stipulates that anyone who fails to remit registration fees for students commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding Shs40m (2,000 currency points) or a term of imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or both.
“Such a person shall also pay back the money collected to the concerned students or their sponsors. Where the person convicted is a registered teacher, the person shall be disciplined under the relevant laws regulating the teaching profession,” he said.Similarly, headteachers who charge more than the set registration fees will also be fined Shs40m or imprisoned for 10 years.
According to the fee set by Uneb, PLE candidates are paying Shs34,000, UCE candidates Shs164,000 while Senior Six students are slated to pay Shs186,000.
However, school heads claim they charge more because the set fees do not cater for other costs incurred during the registration of candidates.
The chairperson of National Private Education Institutions Association, Mr Hasadu Kirabira, told Daily Monitor that schools incur extra costs while taking passport photos for candidates and feeding , among others.

Novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has fled the country for Europe.

According to his lawyer Eron Kizza. Kakwenza who’s facing charges related to insulting President Museveni and First Son Muhoozi reportedly feared being tortured further or poisoned by SFC.

Torture took centre stage yesterday as the National Unity Platform (NUP) party president, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, addressed the fifth Annual Africa Week Conference on Socialists in Brussels, Belgium.The annual conference organised by the European Parliament brings together European Union (EU) partners within Africa and Europe to address global challenges and help to strengthen democracy and human rights, foster sustainable economic and human developments in societies.

Bobi Wine was invited as keynote speaker at this year’s conference. In his address, Bobi Wine pointed out failed leadership as a major obstacle to good governance and development in Africa.

For Uganda, he cited torture; abuse of human rights, failed institutions; lack of rule of law and democracy as the major issues affecting the country.

On torture, Bobi Wine said: “Our media in Uganda has pictures of tortured people in detention such as writer Kakwenza [Rukirabashaija] and NUP coordinator [Samuel] Masereka. Our country is where the President tweets something and someone comes and retweets the same opposing his idea and he will be arrested and tortured. That is how bad it is and the EU is quiet,” Bobi Wine.

“The torture in my country does not just need EU to issue a statement but do more. We are in a country where people are being killed for opposing the government. I will give you an example of the November 18 and November 19, 2020 incidents where more than 100 people were killed in broad daylight by security forces that are funded by the West.”

He added: “We have seen on many occasions that the West has been associated with dictators and yet this shouldn’t be the case in this generation.”

Torture is prohibited under the laws of Uganda and criminalised by the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act (2012). The law also protects the right to freedom from torture. Article 24 of the Constitution states: No person shall be subjected to any form of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Bobi Wine asked the EU and the international community to re-evaluate their partnerships with African countries to focus on the people and not leaders.

“The idea from EU and the entire international community would be to foster poverty alleviation, enhancement of government institutions and not to fund the governments which at the end torture the ordinary people,” Bobi Wine said.

He added: “We long to see international partnerships with African States not being abettors of crime and supporting the abuse of human rights; but rather standing with victims of torture and bad leaders. We call on the EU to set real democracy and observance of the rule of law and respect for human rights as a precondition for giving support to Uganda.”

Bobi Wine’s address came at the backdrop of rising incidents of human rights abuse and alleged torture of suspects in detention by the security agencies on accusations of criticising the government or annoying the person of the President.

Last week, media outlets were awash with graphic pictures of book author Kakwenza and Mr Masereka.
The duo displayed healing wounds and torture marks all over their bodies before the media, accusing the security forces of inflicting pain on them while in detention.

Both Mr Masereka and Mr Kakwenza have since run to court pursuing the government on torture and other claims.

On two separate occasions, both the EU and the US issued statements condemning the torture of Ugandans, arbitrary arrests of people by security forces, and holding people in ungazetted places for long without producing them before courts of law. Although Bobi Wine indicated that 100 people were killed during the riots, the official government position put the number at 54. Of these, security forces shot 52 people, and two were run over by a car, according to the government report compiled by police’s Criminal Investigations Department.

More than 1,300 NUP supporters were arrested by different security agencies before and after Election Day on January 14 last year and held in unknown detention centres for days. Many who were released cite torture during and after being arrested and to date, NUP leaders say some of their supporters are still in prison.
In his response to Bobi Wine claims, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, the government spokesperson and minister in-charge of ICT and National Guidance, yesterday said Bobi Wine and others were looking for cheap popularity, and defended the ruling National Resistance Movement government’s human rights record.

The minister condemned the torture of suspects and indicated that investigations into the abuses had started, and warned that anyone caught in the act will be apprehended and handled in accordance with the anti-torture laws of Uganda.

“We know the NRM government has been at the forefront of observing human rights and we don’t need lectures from anybody. There might be cases of torture but these are isolated and less than a handful. There is no need to focus on that now but the individual officers will be charged because the government doesn’t condone torture,” Dr Baryomunsi said.

The Police in Nakasongola District are investigating circumstances under which a truck driver was robbed of his vehicle and later gruesomely murdered at Kakooge Zone, Kakooge Town Council in Nakasongola District on Tuesday morning.The unidentified thugs are believed to have hired the truck driver, one Charles Kalanzi, a resident of Kawanda village in Wakiso District on Tuesday, to transport sawdust using his vehicle Reg No. UBH262B but later turned against him at Kakooge zone, Kakooge Town Council.

The suspects reportedly used a knife to cut the victim’s lower part of the throat, killing him instantly before disappearing with his truck to an unknown destination.Savana Region Police Spokesperson, Mr Isah Semwogerere, on Tuesday said the incident was reported to Police by the Kakooge Zone LC1 Chairperson Mr John Kyeyune after discovering the lifeless body of the truck driver lying in a pool of blood near abandoned sacks of the sawdust.

“The police at Kakooge police station rushed to the scene and recovered a killer knife. The body was transported to Nakasongola Health Centre IV mortuary for postmortem. The hunt for the suspects and the vehicle is ongoing,” he said.

The robbery of the vehicle and murder of the driver is the second incident in a period of one week registered by the Savana Regional Police following the murder of another truck driver identified as David Ntambi and robbery of his tipper truck Reg. No. UAT840 C at Mabaale village in Luweero Town Council on January 29th 2022 in Luweero District.

The suspects in the murder of David Ntambi were later intercepted and are in Police custody helping with the investigation process before they finally appear in Court.

GOVT: TORTURE IS NOT OUR POLICY
Torturing incarcerated suspects, whether government opponents, critics or criminals, is not an official government policy, a minister told Parliament yesterday.Mr Muruli Mukasa, the Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister, said the government was not aware of the reported grotesque rights violations allegedly orchestrated by security personnel.

Two men, satirical novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija and National Unity Platform (NUP) party coordinator in Kasese District, Mr Samuel Masereka, have become the latest faces of alleged State brutality after they publicly displayed a maze of whip marks and torture wounds on their bodies.They claimed that they were tortured at the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) headquarters in Kampala’s suburb of Mbuya.

CMI was until last month, led by Maj Gen Abel Kandiho, whom the United States sanctioned in early December 2021.

His crime, according to Washington, included superintending an organisation whose personnel illegally held incommunicado and tortured critics and political opponents of President Museveni’s government.

In accounts offered to journalists in Kampala, Mr Rukirabashaija and Mr Masereka separately said while in custody, they were assaulted and deprived of sleep, their flesh torn off with pliers, and they were scalded with hot water.

The former also said tormentors repeatedly struck his ankle with batons, painfully disabling his feet, even though he was forced to dance non-stop, while Masereka said his genitals were squeezed and on occasion hit with sticks.

Their harrowing tales alongside an Opposition walk-out of the August House over unabated torture claims added to a chorus of condemnation of the government by rights activists and development partners, most notably the US and the European Union.After weeks of scrutiny, both at home and abroad, the government capitulated to demands for an explanation about the state of torture in the country in contravention of the Constitution and provisions of the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture Act, 2012.

“Criminal offences in Uganda are a creation of the law. So too are the procedures of arrest of suspected offenders. Political party affiliation does not invite criminal liability under our laws… Breach of due process in enforcement of the law also has remedies for those who feel mistreated or unlawfully treated,” Mr Mukasa said, reading from a prepared two-page text.

He said the “government does not know and doesn’t intend to know the political inclination of all the suspects in custody”.

He warned that nobody is above the law and any attempt to politicise the handling of offenders breaches the spirit of the Constitution and the impartial administration of justice.

“It would also promote impunity,” he said, adding: “Those suspects the Honourable members of the Opposition claim to speak for, and indeed all the suspects in custody, are entreated to have recourse to the remedies provided for in our laws in pursuing the management and conclusion of their cases.”

He spoke in the chambers yesterday afternoon, shortly after the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP), Mr Mathias Mpuuga, announced that they had formally notified the Speaker of their intention to table a censure motion against Security minister Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi.

The minister’s fault is taking a “backseat” in the face of violations by security personnel, according to the legislators currently absconding from House proceedings for a fortnight as a disapproval of government’s handling of the torture complaints. Minister Mukasa said those who commit such atrocities do not act on behalf of the government, and if, or when found guilty, would be held accountable.

“Torture is not a policy of government nor is it even a method of interrogation. The law on this is very clear. The President has in his own words stated the position and policy of government… Any person who conducts himself or herself in such a manner does so in his or her personal capacity and shall be handled in accordance with the Iaw,” he said.

Following minister Mukasa’s statement, lawmakers subscribing to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party and their Independent counterparts, as well as Deputy Speaker Anita Among, voiced concern over the unchecked rights abuses.

They argued that continued reports of torture of civilians in detention smudge the reputation of the government and Uganda as a country.

Ms Among said the commissions are a breach of the Constitution, and a vote of no confidence in the government that should be accountable to, and for, all its citizens.

“Reports of human rights allegations by security operatives keep coming up, day in and day out. There is need for security agencies to provide us information so as to build confidence and transparency among the public…the public needs to know if someone has been arrested, where that person is, why he has been arrested,” the Speaker said.

She added: “I know people are being tortured, we may not understand why or where…when you look at Chapter Four of the Constitution, and see what the State operatives are doing, you feel ashamed and wonder if we should continue having Chapter Four of the Constitution.”The cited provisions of the supreme law of the land entre civil liberties, among them the right to be treated with dignity and protected against torture, while enjoying the freedom to associate, including politically.

In a rare rebuke, Deputy Speaker Among, herself a member of NRM party, enjoined the different branches of government to respect the Constitution that prohibits degrading and inhuman treatment.

“The errant persons who are causing problems must be brought to book. And who makes them do that? Are they above the law? Government must be accountable for all its citizens,” she said.

Meanwhile, the government is investigating cases of missing persons based on submissions by the Opposition to the Security minister. However, officials said they are finding it hard to locate the supposedly missing persons due to unclear particulars.

Mr Felix Odoi, the chairperson of the Parliament Committee on Human Rights, said they will file a comprehensive report within 45 days after thorough investigations into the state of human rights abuses.

The speaker of parliament Jacob Oulanyah has been secretly flown to Seattle, United States of America for specialized treatment.

Oulanyah was flown out of the country in the wee hours of Thursday, February 3 after being discharged from Mulago National Referral hospital where he had been admitted. He travelled aboard Uganda Airlines’ Airbus A330-800 neo which reportedly flew from Entebbe to Keflavik, Iceland in a flight time of 10 hours and 42 minutes.

According to our source, on Friday, February 4, Uganda Airlines flew from Keflavik to Seattle in a connection flight time of 7 hours and 28 minutes. It appears that the plane just refuelled in Iceland because it was on the ground for just a few hours before setting off for Tacoma International airport in Seattle; its final destination.

The flight was operated with the flight number UR2, a mismatch from the ordinary Uganda Airlines’ flights which are operated with flight numbers in the UR4XX range.

“Uganda Airlines Airbus A330-800neo landed in Seattle on Friday afternoon. This was the first time a Uganda Airlines plane flew to the United States, so that’s cool to see. I’m still not sure what the purpose of this flight is, though I suspect we’ll be able to figure this out with a bit of patience,” an aviation publication onemileatatime.com stated.

In the same publication are several conspiracy theories about the unusual flight, by an airline that has only gone to Dubai in the recent past and only planning to launch flights to London, United Kingdom.

“Maybe I am reading too much into this, but the fact that the UR2 flight number was used (and presumably UR1 will be used on the way back) suggests to me that maybe someone important was onboard? It’s also entirely possible that’s not the case, of course,” OneMile publication further stated.

The speaker was last seen in parliament on December 21, 2021. Last year, shortly after his swearing-in as speaker, Oulanyah disappeared from the public eye for a month after presiding over parliament at the reading of the 2021/2022 financial year budget at Kololo Independence grounds.

His deputy Anita Among has mostly been in charge of the parliamentary business since the beginning of the term in May, a matter that triggered speculation about his health. Reports had initially indicated that Oulannyah was battling COVID-19.

Meanwhile, several sources within parliament and government departments never wanted to comment on the matter although they acknowledge that the speaker is unwell.

“I don’t want to invade his privacy but all I can tell you is that Oulanyah flew out of the country for a medical review and is out of danger,” a source privy to the information said. Another source who preferred anonymity said the speaker has been “visibly weak” but was unsure about the medical condition that has kept the speaker out of office for several months. Also, a legislator who requested not to be mentioned said Oulanyah’s continued absence in parliament has become a great concern to many Ugandans including members of parliament.

“I know the matter will be raised on the floor when plenary resumes next week,” the lawmaker said.

URN made repeated calls to the head of public diplomacy in the ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Alfred Nnam and ministry of Internal Affairs spokesperson Jacob Siminyu, but all went unanswered.

Martha Okumu-Ringa, the head of communications at the ministry of Foreign Affairs referred our reporter to the ministry of Internal Affairs for any response regarding the speaker’s travel to the United States.

“That information is with the ministry of Internal Affairs – immigration, because they handle immigration, it is for anyone entering the country or leaving,” she said.

Meanwhile, Anthony Kujawa, the US Embassy spokesperson, referred us back to the Office of the Speaker and government when we contacted his office about the matter.

Uganda Airlines operates four midrange Bombardier aircraft and two A330-800 neo for longer routes. The Bombardier aircraft fly to regional destinations in Juba, Mogadishu, Nairobi, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, Bujumbura, Kinshasa and Johannesburg.

While one of the two A330-800 aircraft operates the Entebbe – Dubai route, the second one has largely remained parked at Entebbe with plans underway to open up the routes to the United Kingdom and China. Our reporter noticed, however, that the aircraft has not been at its usual parking spot since FRIDAY.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Jane Frances Abodo has denied that the state tortured satirical novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija whilst in detention.

Kakwenza who’s currently out on bail was arrested on December 28, 2021 on charges of offensive communication when he allegedly used his Twitter handle, @KakwenzaRukira to disturb the peace of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and his son Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba between December 26 and 28, 2021.

Before his release from prison, he narrated to the leader of opposition (LoP) Mathias Mpuuga that he was tortured by state operatives including injecting him with substances in his feet and hands six times every six hours, being denied sleep and made to dance with a jerrican full of water.This week on Tuesday, Kakwenza through his lawyers led by Eron Kiiza, made five requests before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s court presided over by the chief magistrate Dr Douglas Singiza including returning his passport to enable him to attend an event in Germany. His passport was deposited with the court last week as one of the bail conditions.

Besides asking for the return of the passport, Kakwenza also asked court to quash the charge sheet forming the offenses against him on grounds that it lacks focus and precision since it doesn’t show exactly the offensive words that he reportedly put on his Twitter handle.

The court was also asked to quash the charges on grounds that the court has no jurisdiction to try them because the prosecutors do not exactly state where Kakwenza allegedly committed the crimes from. Further, they asked Buganda Road court to refer the case file to the High court and stay the proceedings at Buganda Road court until the High court determines whether Kakwenza’s rights were violated at the time he was in detention by the beatings that resulted in wounds, injured legs and scars.

But magistrate Singiza ordered them to make written submissions. In the submissions, the prosecutors, submitted to the court a letter written by DPP Abodo to the Attorney General seeking his advice on the issue of returning Kakwenza’s passport saying that previously they have not had applications related to his request involving foreign missions.

The DPP says that they received a copy of a letter addressed to the chief magistrate from the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in which they were asking the court to allow Kakwenza to attend an event where he will be appointed an honorary member of Pen Center. But the prosecutors say the attorney general has not yet responded to them.

On the issue seeking to have charges dismissed, the DPP contends that the law does not require them to include the actual offensive words and how they affected the victims, saying that it’s an issue that will be adduced during evidence.

They also contend that by the time Kakwenza reportedly committed the crimes against him, he was in Kampala and his MTN phone number shows based on the call data on the dates in question.

The DPP also denies the torture allegations on grounds that the medical reports Kakwenza attached to his application, do not draw any medical conclusions that his current state of health resulted from torture while in detention after his arrest in December.

“The medical reports also do not give a period within which the injuries resulting into the noted scars could have occurred. It is, therefore, speculation by the defense attorneys to conclude that the accused was tortured and developed all the listed injuries during detention,” reads in part the state submissions.

However, the chief magistrate did not deliver the ruling saying that the parties had made lengthy submissions which required him to have sufficient time to read through them in order to make an appropriate decision. He adjourned the case to February 8.

One of Kakwenza’s lawyers Nalukoola Luyimbazi said that the charges against him are baseless and unfounded.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Jane Frances Abodo has denied that the state tortured satirical novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija whilst in detention.

Kakwenza who’s currently out on bail was arrested on December 28, 2021 on charges of offensive communication when he allegedly used his Twitter handle, @KakwenzaRukira to disturb the peace of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and his son Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba between December 26 and 28, 2021.

Before his release from prison, he narrated to the leader of opposition (LoP) Mathias Mpuuga that he was tortured by state operatives including injecting him with substances in his feet and hands six times every six hours, being denied sleep and made to dance with a jerrican full of water.This week on Tuesday, Kakwenza through his lawyers led by Eron Kiiza, made five requests before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s court presided over by the chief magistrate Dr Douglas Singiza including returning his passport to enable him to attend an event in Germany. His passport was deposited with the court last week as one of the bail conditions.

Besides asking for the return of the passport, Kakwenza also asked court to quash the charge sheet forming the offenses against him on grounds that it lacks focus and precision since it doesn’t show exactly the offensive words that he reportedly put on his Twitter handle.

The court was also asked to quash the charges on grounds that the court has no jurisdiction to try them because the prosecutors do not exactly state where Kakwenza allegedly committed the crimes from. Further, they asked Buganda Road court to refer the case file to the High court and stay the proceedings at Buganda Road court until the High court determines whether Kakwenza’s rights were violated at the time he was in detention by the beatings that resulted in wounds, injured legs and scars.

But magistrate Singiza ordered them to make written submissions. In the submissions, the prosecutors, submitted to the court a letter written by DPP Abodo to the Attorney General seeking his advice on the issue of returning Kakwenza’s passport saying that previously they have not had applications related to his request involving foreign missions.

The DPP says that they received a copy of a letter addressed to the chief magistrate from the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in which they were asking the court to allow Kakwenza to attend an event where he will be appointed an honorary member of Pen Center. But the prosecutors say the attorney general has not yet responded to them.

On the issue seeking to have charges dismissed, the DPP contends that the law does not require them to include the actual offensive words and how they affected the victims, saying that it’s an issue that will be adduced during evidence.

They also contend that by the time Kakwenza reportedly committed the crimes against him, he was in Kampala and his MTN phone number shows based on the call data on the dates in question.

The DPP also denies the torture allegations on grounds that the medical reports Kakwenza attached to his application, do not draw any medical conclusions that his current state of health resulted from torture while in detention after his arrest in December.

“The medical reports also do not give a period within which the injuries resulting into the noted scars could have occurred. It is, therefore, speculation by the defense attorneys to conclude that the accused was tortured and developed all the listed injuries during detention,” reads in part the state submissions.

However, the chief magistrate did not deliver the ruling saying that the parties had made lengthy submissions which required him to have sufficient time to read through them in order to make an appropriate decision. He adjourned the case to February 8.

One of Kakwenza’s lawyers Nalukoola Luyimbazi said that the charges against him are baseless and unfounded.

The Congolese army on said Friday that its troops killed 33 armed men in fighting against local militia allied to Burundi rebels in the east of DR Congo.The “large-scale operation” was carried out from Wednesday to Thursday in South Kivu province in the restive east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The army was fighting members of the Mai-Mai militia, which is allied to the Burundi FNL (National Forces of Liberation) and RED-Tabara rebels.Regional army spokesman Lieutenant Marc Elonga Kyondwa said the toll at the end of the fighting was “33 militiamen neutralised (killed), including three leaders”.

“This was the army’s response against these rebel groups operating in the mountains overlooking the town of Uvira” after an attack on one of its positions, the spokesman told AFP, adding that the troops were now in control as mopping-up operations continued.

The FNL and RED-Tabara rebel groups have bases in eastern DR Congo, a region destabilised by the presence of dozens of local and foreign armed groups.

The Congolese army regularly accuses Burundi rebels of allying with local militias and causing insecurity in South Kivu province.