Urban Magazine

The police Criminal Investigation Department has dismissed controversies about the death of AlP David Openy. The late David Openy who was one of the top investigators on the state house anti-corruption unit headed by Lt Col Judith Nakalema passed on on 4th June 2020, at St Francis Nsambya Hospital. In a statement, CID spokesperson Charles Twiine clarifies that the officer died of natural illness as indicated on the death certificate given to his immediate family members. Sections of media have been relating his death to unconfirmed reports that it was because he was investigating theft of food and procurement scandals in the prime minister’s office. Twine notes that such allegations are not only immoral but also criminal.

A section of Kenyans were in high hopes that President Uhuru Kenyatta would ease down if not remove some of the restrictions set by the government to curb the transmission of the coronavirus disease. In his Seventh Presidential address on the coronavirus pandemic on May 27, Kenyatta hinted at a possibility of reopening the economy triggering anxiety and excitement that would in the end be short-lived. However, on Saturday, to the much-disappointment of many Kenyans, the President extended the COVID-19 containment measures for another 30 days saying that even though he personally wanted to reopen the economy he was strongly advised against the move. “I must admit that opinion was divided on how we are to advance against this virus. Some, including myself, wanted to open up now.  That was, and is still my desire. I want to open up at the earliest opportunity and get the economy going,” he said. nted to reopen the economy he was strongly advised against the move" T

Ms Judy Obitre Gama, the executive director National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) will vacate office immediately the process to replace her starts. Ms Gama, who has been at the helm of the Authority since 2015, will not have her contract renewed on the orders of President Museveni. Gama's contract expires on July 15, 2020. In a May 18, 2020 letter to Internal Affairs Minister, Jeje Odongo, Mr Museveni directed that a new executive director with legal and information technology background be identified to head the Authority. "I have been informed that the contract of the current executive director is due to expire. Given the problems faced by NIRA especially relating to the issuance of national identity cards, there is need to identify a new executive director preferably with a legal or Information Technology background. I am, therefore directing you to work with the Board of Directors of NIRA and identify a suitable candidate. Consult me

As Singer Eddy Kenzo waits for the reaction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to offer him consular services in order to resume to his home home country Uganda, the  Tweyagale  singer is achieving continental recognition. Just a few days back, he was listed and rated amongst the most viewed artistes on Youtube by the internationally acclaimed music magazine Billboard. This comes just weeks after receiving a Gold Play button by Youtube for passing one million subscribers. With an average viewing of 109.73m, the  Tweyagale  singer is rated 13th on the list of the viewed top Sub Saharan African artistes. According to this site’s website, this was based on his digital sales and number of online views, for the period from June 2019 to June 2020. However, it is also said that list was compiled with data from the listed artistes over the period of the last 20 years (since 2000). The list is topped by Nigeria’s self proclaimed African giant Burna Boy (435.57m), Diamond Platnu

Today, Minister of Health Jane Ruth Aceng together with Hon. Robinah Nabbanja, Team from the Ministry of Health- Uganda and Hon.Stephen Kangwagye Visited Isingiro district to access the district response. She said the communities are alert, Vigilant and are well guided by the district. I guided the district on the creation of a buffer. This is intended to actively engage the communities using VHT, increase awareness, report illegal crossings etc, Aceng added. She urged the communities to be each other's keepers to help in the prevention of COVID-19

Azawi is a multi-talented singer-songwriter. She was inspired to do music and dance years ago after frequently visiting the Ndere Cultural Centre to watch the dance festivals. She later on joined Kika Dance Troupe in 2005. After leaving Kika Dance Troupe, Azawi started singing in school with the help of a friend, and brother, who mentored her as a singer/songwriter. That is when Azawi started writing for a few artists locally, in Uganda. Azawi has written songs for Lydia Jazmine, Nina Roz, Eddy Kenzo, etc. During her journey as a songwriter, Azawi was discovered by Swangz Avenue and this has put her on a path to stardom. She is currently have  five trucks under a Album Titled, LO-FIT. Among others are; Lo Fit Repeat it  Quinamino Crazy Lover Mbinyumira.

A COVID-19 patient who was admitted at Fort Portal regional referral hospital has been discharged after testing negative.  The 29-year-old Ugandan truck driver who tested positive for coronavirus on 8th May was tracked and intercepted at Kyarusozi tea factory in Kyenjojo.  Hospital administrators have called on the Covid-19 district task force in Fort Portal to be on the alert since the numbers are growing each day.

Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga this Afternoon toured the site of the new Parliament Chambers, which was expected to be completed by July 2020. She said so far the contractor, ROKO Construction Ltd, has only completed three and a half levels on a building meant to host nine levels. Kadaga added she advised the Contractor to consider having night shifts if they are to complete the works in the extra one year they’ve been given. The new building will host the debating chamber with a capacity to sit 600 MPs as opposed to the current chamber whose capacity is 100. The new Parliament building will in addition have facilities such as health clubs, museum, a state-of-the-art archiving facility, gallery, restaurant and offices. The project is expected to be completed by July 2021.

H.E Y.K Museveni in His state of Nation address speech said Uganda is still standing and copying with the virus, landslide, floods and rising water level in the lakes, locusts, floating highlands, security of the country, crime, feeding millions of the population etc. He added it is on the account of the ideas that has been implemented though some few oppositions are still existing. View the full speech here. https://drive.google.com/file/d/15Fbm74xTs3A9dMl2F91lKKVYxJ5Kp7Ww/view?usp=drivesdk

Today the US Government through the U.S Africa Command provided 1,000 N95 respiratory Masks, 5,000 examination gloves, 100 plastic aprons, and 100 safety glasses to the Ministry of health, Uganda during the donation ceremony. The Personal protective Equipments will be distributed by the government's Covid-19 Response Logistics sub-committee in accordance with the existing logistics Protocol. This donation represent another critical piece of assistance provided by the U.S government to help Uganda's Covid-19 response. To-date, the U.S government have provided both technical assistance and more than $15 million or UGX 56 billion in funding to meet the urgent need of Uganda's covid-19 response.

The Ministry of Health today Thursday said more 15 cases of Covid-19 had been confirmed, pushing Uganda’s tally to 522. Six of the new cases are truck drivers, four of whom arrived via the Mutukula border and two from Busia. The ministry says the other nine cases are from alerts and contacts to previously confirmed cases. These are from Amuru (3), Kyotera (2), Buikwe (1), Nakaseke (1), Lira (1) and Kampala (1) districts. Additionally, 33 foreign truck drivers who also tested positive were denied entry into Uganda. The total number of recoveries currently stands at 82. No fatalities have been reported yet.

Northern Uganda artist and also Laroo Division councillor Justine Obol Simpleman was instructed to undergo quantum after he came into contact with a patient whose sample turned out to be positive of  COVID-19.  It is also noted that Gulu's LC V chairman Hon Ojara Martin Mapenduzi and more than three radio journalists are also under quarantine.  It resulted that on Tuesday 26th May 2020, senior officials from the ministry of health visited Gulu in regards to the fight against COVID-19. Among the officials were two commissioners who interacted with district officials and had radio talk shows in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. As required by the standard operating procedures and precautionary measures, all those officials were subjected to COVID-19 tests and some results turned out positive including one of the two commissioners who were in Gulu last week. Now all the district officials and media practitioners who were in contact with these individuals had to be directed for quara

This is an annual celebration held on 3rd June; the feast of the Uganda Martyrs as decreed by the act of canonization in 1964 by the Universal Catholic Church.  Photo by Okwanga Oscar.  The celebration of 2019 In Uganda. the government declared this day a national public holiday in commemoration of the first Christian Martyrs in the country.  The Uganda Martyrs Day attracts pilgrims from all corners of the world making it one of the biggest Christian events in the world.  This celebration has a series of events that start a month earlier; with most of the Christians footing to the Shrine as a pilgrimage and homage to the Catholic Martyrs and Saints. Among other events is the Novena which begins on 25th May and ends on the 1st of June.

The Uganda Martyrs Shrine Parish Namugongo started as a sub-parish of Nsambya with a grass thatched church at Kyaliwajjala trading center, about a kilometer from the current location of the Shrine. On 6th June 1920, as the Uganda Martyrs were being beautified in Rome, a young Dutch priest, Rev. Fr. Stephen Walters together with a group of pilgrims from Nsambyamade a pilgrimage to the site where St. Charles Lwanga was martyred. It was during this pilgrimage that the priest conceived the idea of acquiring land and building of a church at this very spot.  This dream was realized when eight acres of land were bought around the spotof martyrdom of St. Charles, and this led to the transfer of the church from Kyaliwajja to Namugongo, construction of a small rectangular but beautiful structure and finally the appointment of Rev. Fr. Peter van Rooyen as the first parish priest of Namugongo Shrine Parish in 1935.  In 1967, His Eminence Emmanuel Cardinal Nsubuga decided to build a be

President Museveni has appointed former deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma as the new board chairman of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The appointment of Justice Kavuma was announced earlier today by Information and ICT minister, Judith Nabakooba. "It is true cabinet on Monday, approved Justice Kavuma as the board chair for Civil Aviation Authority for a three-year contract," Ms Nabakooba said by telephone on Wednesday morning. Justice Kavuma replaces Eng Edward Mike Ndawula, whose three-year term lapsed last month. Other board members who were approved by Cabinet include; Mr Lubowa Moses Paul ,Ms Ethel Kamba, Dr Alayo Ocero, Mr Thomas James Kiggundu, Mr James Kubeketerya, Ms Angela Kiryabwire Kanyima and Mr Musoke Zubairi. Ms Kiryabwire and Mr Kubeketerya were retained from the old board. The core mandate of the board members of CAA is to give an oversight role to the country's aviation activities. Justice Kavuma retired from

Children gathered around a television set. Government will have to purchase over 137,000 television sets if they are to facilitate distance learning as proposed by President Museveni.  Government will have to purchase over 137,000 television sets if they are to facilitate distance learning as proposed by President Museveni. In his televised address on Monday, Mr Museveni postponed the partial reopening of schools for another one month but said “children must continue studying under the distance learning programme” on televisions and radios. “Distance learning must be done. The only thing that is being discussed now is how,” said Mr Museveni. He made a number of proposals to facilitate the programme, among them; provision of two television sets to each village and a radio set to each home. “Radios are simpler, you can give each house its radio, but the problem with a radio is that you hear but you don’t see, with TV it’s like you are in a classroom, you hear and see,” adde

Makerere University Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabus  Nawangwe Makerere University will reduce the undergraduate admissions this year by 10 per cent to increase its research capacity. In an interview on Saturday, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, the vice chancellor, said they are cutting down the undergraduate admissions by 1,200 because they want to raise the number of students on graduate programmes from the current 6,000 to 10,000. “We are cutting the undergraduate admissions to increase the number of graduate students because they contribute to research,” he said. Prof Nawangwe said they currently admit around 12,000 students annually. Last week, Mr Yusuf Kiranda, the acting university secretary, said much as the university previously thought it was generating revenue from the high number of student admissions, they have found out that the current enrolment overstretches university’s resources. Last week while releasing their findings on research, Prof William Bazeyo, the

Environment experts have warned that with the return of public transport, air quality is likely to deteriorate due to the increase in pollution. Following the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and subsequent suspension of public transport for the last 2 months, the National Environment Management Authority reported a 60% improvement in the quality of air in the city. However, the authority’s executive director Dr Tom Okurut said that this is expected to change now that private cars are back on the road and public transport is expected to resume soon. He, however, says some measures have been put in place to check this air pollution

Private education institutions have faulted the government for sidelining them in some of its programs. According to Rev Canon John Senyonyi, the chairman of vice-chancellors for private and public universities, the government has largely ignored private institutions when it comes to research. Senyonyi says oftentimes, they are not given a chance to take part in some of the important research in the country yet they also have the capacity like that of public ones. “We have been asking, can we take part in that research, let’s fall out because we are not able. But what does the government do, they bring the taxpayers money and says it’s only for public universities and you wonder whether other Universities are training non-Ugandans,” said Canon Senyonyi. He is now calling for engagement and harmonization of this issue from the ministry of education.

A regional body that monitors climate in the Greater Horn of Africa has warned of more floods and landslides in parts of East Africa, Uganda is inclusive and other countries from June to September. According to the seasonal forecast that was released over the weekend by the Inter-government Authority on development’s Climate Prediction and Application Centre, a wetter than usual season is forecasted for Eastern and central Uganda, Western and central Sudan, south-western Ethiopia, southeastern South Sudan and in western Kenya. The forecast reveals that the rest of the region is expected to receive the usual rainfall, except for a limited area of coastal of Somalia, where less than usual rain is expected. In Uganda for-instance, experts have warned that this season will increases risks of floods, landslides, and will continue to lead to high water levels of Lake Victoria in the country. Post-harvest losses and waterborne diseases should also be expected in Uganda according to