At the end of the eventful week, Police in Kampala have rolled out an investigation into the source of an anonymous death list that has names of political, religious and cultural leaders including Bobi Wine and Buganda Kattikiro Charles Peter Mayiga.
The list also has Members of Parliament Gerald Karuhanga, Mubarak Munyagwa, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and Kampala Minister Beti Kamya among others.
Others are MP Moses Kasibante, deputy police spokesperson Patrick Onyango, former Kampala South Regional Police Commander Siraj Bakaleke, titular head of the Kibuli Muslim sect Prince Kassim Nakibinge and Kibuli deputy mufti Sheikh Mahmudu Kibaate.
Police spokesperson Emilian Kayima says precautionary measures will be undertaken to protect people on the list.
Speaking about the murders, President Yoweri Museveni in a lengthy statement on Saturday directed the Police to make available to the public the telephone contacts of the nearest police posts to allow proper flow of communication.
Museveni made the comments days after Arch Rwego, a sales manager at Boma Tiles was murdered in front of his children and wife.
According to reports, Rwego and his wife Dora, who is a sister to CID Director Grace Akello, had retired normally to their home in Kira Zone, Kiira Municipality, Wakiso District was attacked by armed men with knives and iron bars.
Subdued, the thugs made off with household items such as a TV set, clothes, and money. Faced with a badly injured husband yet without any communication, since the thugs had taken away the phones, Dora rushed to Esella Country Hotel, which is in the vicinity.
There she was able to get a phone that she used to call her father, who happens to stay around the area.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Luke Owoyesigire said that on the introduction of the sniffer dogs, it was found out that the assailants had waited at a certain place for a long time before storming the house.
“The canine led experts to a place where the assailants took a long time while hiding and waiting to carry out their mission,” Owoyesigyire said.
He said that blood samples and fingerprints had been taken from the scene of crime to help in Police investigation.
Museveni however, blamed the incident on lack of vigilance and laziness of the police but said the police is becoming more efficient having removed some of the ‘kawukumi‘ (the bean weevils).
Away from looming murders, in the same week, Tom Voltaire Okwalinga popularly know as TVO, in a social media battle with Titus Seruga also a blogger was unmasked
For those who spend some quality time on Facebook, know both bloggers. according to new ‘exposes’ between TVO and Titus Seruga, the blogger has been identified as Roland Kaweesi.
TVO has troubled security forces, despite the invested resources in unmasking the face behind the man who keeps leaking top exclusives to the public through their Facebook page in the last 8 years.
TVO arrived on the scene in 2010 as the country was preparing for the 2011 presidential election and started leaking ‘credible’ information to oppositions through Facebook.
TVO for the last years has targeted President Museveni and his inner circle including the family and top state agents and government officials who appeared to enjoy the favour of the NRM government.
How the battles started; On Wednesday, TVO claimed that the blogger using the identity of Titus Seruga was a fake and that the real person behind him was an operative of the External Security Organisation (Eso).
He said Titus Seruga was seeking asylum in Brussels, Belgium.
The duo then started a war of words with TVO, as the faceless Tom Voltaire Okwalinga is popularly known on social media, says Titus Seruga is a Rwandan agent within Ugandan security currently battling immigration-related issues in Belgium.
The two are thorns that have penetrated the flesh of security to the extent of hurting the bone marrow have gone for each other’s
On Friday, TVO claimed that their new nemesis, which they only refer to as the “Eso guy,” was being detained after Belgian immigration officials grew suspicious of his identity of the veracity of his asylum claims.
“The ESO guy’s lawyer had applied for bond, he was finally released as he waits for his appeal from the immigration court,” TVO said of Titus Seruga.
He claimed Titus Seruga’s first asylum request was based on claims that he was afraid to live in Uganda because he was a Rwandan refugee and that former IGP Kale Kayihura was kidnapping Rwandan refugees in Uganda and forcibly deporting them.
Kayihura, his [Titus Seruga’s] asylum request was rejected and his identity questioned. He was detained,” TVO wrote on Facebook, adding that the rival blogger was continuing to push for asylum under a different excuse now.
TVO also alleged that Titus Seruga had worked with Internal Security Organisation agents to extort $50,000 from Simpson Birungi during the time the Movit boss was detained on murder charges.
Museveni writes to Kagame after military shake-up: Uganda’s foreign affairs minister Sam Kuteesa on Thursday delivered to Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame a ‘Special Message’ from his Ugandan counterpart, President Yoweri Museveni.
According to Uganda Media Centre, the duo also discussed issues of bilateral interest and pledged to work closely to broaden and deepen corporation between the two neighboring countries.
Museveni’s letter comes days after President Kagame announced an unexpected shake-up in his Cabinet, military and police command dropping his long-serving defence minister Gen. James Kabarebe and Police boss Emmanuel Gasane.
Although Museveni’s letter to Kagame was undisclosed to the media, pundits say the letter included among others the ‘frosty’ relations between Kampala and Kigali and the recent cabinet and military reshuffle.
The two leaders have recently denied there was no love lost between them and their countries.
Former employees of the defunct Crane bank are demanding for compensation of Shs 48bn (about Shs 120 each) from Bank of Uganda and dfcu bank arising from wrongful breach of contract.
The 400 former Crane bank employees are represented by ten of their former workmates – Catherine Kate Achan, Teddy Akullo, Janet Mector Angwena, Mactose Arinaitwe, Edward Bukenya, Dianah Loy Kiwumulo, Abbey Mivule, Benjamin Muchwa, Robert Mwanje, and Emmanuel Ngororan.
Until October 26, 2016, the group was being employed by Crane bank. Bank of Uganda (BoU) took over Crane bank on grounds that it was incapacitated and would pose a systematic risk to the stability of the country’s financial system.
Now through their lawyer, Isaac Semakadde, the former employees argue that on January 27, 2017, BoU informed the general public that it had transferred and conveyed the assets and liabilities of Crane bank to DFCU bank limited.
The former employees argue that the purchase and takeover agreement was concealed from the employees whose rights were directly affected in the takeover process.
Semakadde contends that during the takeover process, BoU acted in bad faith, and in breach of its duties under the constitution and the law in as far as the protecting employees’ rights is concerned.
According to the complainants, on February 24, 2017, after the said takeover of Crane bank, DFCU wrote a memo to its entire staff to the effect that several employees would be collectively terminated effective immediately.
“The former workers of Crane bank that DFCU laid off on 24th February 2017 were paid three months salary or whatever terminal benefits that they wrote in the letter of dismissal.
In the very same letter, DFCU gave an unjustified reason and lied about the purpose of dismissal, and now that makes the entire transaction unlawful,” Semakadde said.
In others new, NTV top news anchor quit the station as the mass exodus of employees continues at the Serena-based television.
Ms. Rachael Mwine on Thursday night appeared on TV for her last time where she also anchored the 9 pm bulletin and announced that she was leaving the station.
In entertainment, American rapper Curtis James Jackson alias 50 Cent is reportedly coming to Uganda with the aim of boosting the country’s tourism sector.
According to Amos Wekesa, the CEO Great Lakes Safaris through his Facebook page, the International music star will be in the country anytime and he alerted his social media followers to watch out for the rapper’s arrival.
This comes days after rapper Kanye West and his wife Kim Kardashian have just the country over the same.
