Zegabi

Kenya’s High Court on Friday, stopped a government plan to relocate 55,000 mostly Somali refugees from the capital, Nairobi, and other cities to camps, Human Rights Watch said. Such relocation would be a violation of refugees’ dignity and free movement… Read more ›

The Dutch embassy in Kenya has warned that foreigners are at risk of attack, following Wednesday’s discovery of a large quantity of explosives on a bus by police in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. Kenya has seen a series of grenade and… Read more ›

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has held talks with his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir in an attempt to defuse tensions following deadly clashes in Abyei, a region where both sides have claimed ownership, officials said Monday.

This follows appeals by UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the African Union for calm in the flashpoint area following the killing of a tribal chief and a UN peacekeeper on Saturday.

“Our president has been in direct contact with president Bashir… they exchanged ideas about this sad incident,” South Sudan’s Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told reporters.

Both Juba and Khartoum have condemned the fighting which killed Kual Deng Majok, the Abyei leader of the Dinka Ngok, a people viewed as loyal to South Sudan.

Majok and an Ethiopian peacekeeper were shot dead in an attack by gunmen from the Misseriya, a pastoralist people who graze their cattle in Abyei and are seen as supporters of Khartoum.

Several Misseriya are also reported to have been killed, as well as a Dinka colleague of Majok. Two peacekeepers were also wounded.

Ban urged both sides to “avoid any escalation of this unfortunate event,” while the AU, which has been mediating between Khartoum and Juba on Abyei, said they must “ensure that the current situation does not spiral out of control.”

Although Sudan and South Sudan have been taking steps since March to normalise their relations in other areas following months of intermittent clashes along their undemarcated frontier, Abyei’s status has not been resolved.

Abyei’s status was the most sensitive issue left unsettled when South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011. A referendum to determine Abyei’s future was stalled and Sudanese troops shortly after took over the region by force.

Provocative killings
Negotiations on the region’s future are ongoing, but Benjamin said he believed the killings were “done by Misseriya militia… to frustrate the Abyei referendum.”

Khartoum has however affirmed its committment “to all the agreements that have been signed” with Juba, adding that they hope the killings will not impact a recent warming of relations between the former civil war foes.

At least 4 000 Ethiopian troops with the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) are based in the district.

South Sudan “has requested UNISFA search for the perpetrators to bring them to justice”, Benjamin added, calling Saturday’s attack “provocative killings”.

“Sudan’s government should also take steps to find out who committed this crime,” he added.
Majok’s death is the most serious incident since Sudanese troops withdrew in May last year to end a year-long occupation that forced more than 100 000 people to flee Abyei towards South Sudan.

Although Sudan and South Sudan have been implementing timetables for restoring relations between the two countries set out in March, they have not met deadlines to set up Abyei’s administrative structure, including a police service — also agreed upon in March.

Read more ›

(Runner’s World) — While Sunday’s Fukuoka Marathon gave us a new champion, Joseph Gitau of Kenya, whose 2:06:58 was a personal best by nearly 15 minutes, and added two more names, Mo Trafeh and Ryan Vail, to the list of sub-2:12 Americans, the race may best be remembered for adding to the mountain of evidence that Haile Gebrselassie’s status as a threat in major international marathons has ended.

Gitau is a product of the Japanese corporate running system, representing a company called JFE Steel. His roots in Japan are deep; he attended high school in Hiroshima. As the IAAF reports, he ran from 30-K to 35-K in 14:54 and from 35K- to 40-K in 14:41 to seal his victory over Hiroyuki Horibata of Japan, who clocked 2:08:24. Henryk Szost of Poland was third in 2:08:42.

Gebrselassie is a former world record holder with a best of 2:03:59 but his most recent marathon performance was a fourth-place 2:08:47 in February. As David Monti of Race Results Weekly pointed out yesterday, Gebrselassie’s last five marathons have consisted of dropping out three times, that 2:08 earlier this year and one withdrawal before race day.

Officially, the Ethiopian turns 40 in April, though there are suspicions he’s considerably older. He made a pre-race statement that he was capable of 2:05 or 2:06 in Fukuoka if the conditions were right, but perhaps it was his condition that wasn’t. He dropped out after 32-K on Sunday, and later tweeted, “I could not lift my left leg properly anymore and I had to stop. My training went well and I had no indication of this.” He added, “I felt good and easy during the race; the pace was fine. After 25-K, my left upper leg started slowly to cramp up.” Gebrselassie assured his followers, “I will check out the problem and run another marathon, since I feel in good shape.” Perhaps, but the dropouts and disappointments are coming in bunches now.

Martin Mathathi, a Kenyan with a 58:56 half-marathon best, hoped to run under 2:07 and contend for the Fukuoka crown in his marathon debut, but he was out of the race after 38-K, reportedly in part because his final long training run had not gone well and had caused a crisis of confidence.

Mo Trafeh, who ran with the leaders early at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in January before dropping out, took seventh in Fukuoka in 2:11:41, with Ryan Vail just behind in 2:11:45. Vail then tweeted that he was “sore and tired, but headed to Vietnam and Cambodia for a much needed break.”

Three athletes coached in Oregon by Jerry Schumacher, all of whom had planned to do the November 4 New York City Marathon before its cancellation, made it to Fukuoka. Tim Nelson was 12th in 2:14:09, but his teammates Simon Bairu and Brent Vaughn did not finish. Vaughn had also dropped out of the Olympic Trials Marathon in his debut at the distance.

Read more ›

KHARTOUM (AFP) — The only rebel group to have signed a peace deal with the Sudanese government on Thursday accused the army of a deadly attack which authorities then lied about.

“Yesterday, Liberation and Justice Movement forces came under attack from SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) near El Fasher,” the rebels’ chief Eltigani Seisi said in a statement to reporters.

“Two of our troops were martyred and three were detained.”

International peacekeepers in Darfur had warned in October that implementation of the 2011 peace deal between LJM and the government had hit a deadlock, though this is the first clash reported this year between the SAF and LJM.

Seisi said two LJM vehicles had been located near El Fasher, the North Darfur state capital, for 10 days “and SAF knew very well about that”. But the vehicles still came under attack, he said.

Official media then announced the army had killed two members of the Revolutionary Front, an alliance of Sudanese rebels including Darfur’s main insurgents who refused to sign the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur.

State news agency SUNA said the army captured two Revolutionary Front vehicles and rockets being prepared for an attack against El Fasher.

“It’s a lie. The troops attacked yesterday are LJM troops,” said Seisi, who is also effectively Darfur’s top official.

He heads the Darfur Regional Authority set up as a type of government body to implement the Doha deal which is backed by the African Union, United Nations and Arab League.

Seisi said LJM has been in contact with officials to stop the false information, and it has asked the African Union-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to investigate the incident.

“If this media campaign doesn’t stop it will disturb confidence in the Doha declaration,” he said.
The Sudanese government and UNAMID have repeatedly called for non-signatory rebels to join the Doha deal.

Despite the absence of those groups, there was optimism last December that the agreement with LJM — an alliance of rebel splinter factions — would be fully implemented, UNAMID’s acting head Aichatou Mindaoudou said in October.

“Today, we have to note that the process has been very slow” she said at a meeting of a commission tasked with overseeing arms control through the safe storage of the LJM’s heavy weapons, the integration of its fighters into Sudan’s armed forces, and other measures under a ceasefire.

Mindaoudou said “no progress” had been made towards these goals because the first step, the verification of the LJM’s forces and strength, had been “inconclusive”.

That impasse would hinder establishment of a secure environment, which is a prerequisite for voluntary return of Darfur’s more than one million displaced, and for effective reconstruction, she said.

At the October meeting both LJM and the government said they were committed to implementing the security arrangements.

The commission said verification must be finished by November 15, but that deadline was not met.
Ethnic rebels began their uprising against the Arab-dominated Khartoum government in 2003.

Though violence is down from its peak, various overlapping conflicts continue in the form of banditry, inter-Arab and tribal disputes as well as government-rebel clashes in the far-west region.

Read more ›

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A treaty that African nations hope will lead to the fair and humane treatment of people displaced in their own countries went into force Thursday, more than three years after it was conceived by the African Union.

Fifteen African nations have ratified the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, praised by humanitarian groups as a groundbreaking legal mechanism that binds governments to protect the rights of and to help internally displaced people. Swaziland became the fifteenth country to ratify the treaty last month, pushing it past the threshold necessary for it to have legal force.

The convention is the first treaty of its kind to focus on the protection and assistance of people displaced within their countries. It was conceived in October 2009.

Bruce Mokaya Orina of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the treaty “represents a significant step forward in the protection and assistance of internally displaced people” across Africa.

“As a legal document potentially binding all African countries – a quarter of world’s states – the treaty represents a significant step forward in the protection and assistance of internally displaced people in Africa,” said Orina.

The Norwegian Refugee Council, which praised the treaty as “a historic achievement,” puts the number of Africans internally displaced at 9.8 million. Most have fled famine, wars and other brutal conflicts in countries like Congo, Burundi, and Uganda, which until recently had millions of people in its northern territories living in camps because of the brutal insurgency of warlord Joseph Kony. But the problem of internal displacement also exists outside of Africa, in countries wracked by violence such as Mexico, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

There are almost four times as many internally displaced people as there are refugees in Africa, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. But the internally displaced, unlike refuges, do not have a special status under international law.

Humanitarian organizations hope most of Africa’s 53 states will ratify the treaty as soon as possible and that those that have already done so will pass the relevant laws in their countries to make it work. Some 37 states have signed, but not ratified, the treaty in a sign that they are committed to going all the way, the Norwegian Refugee Council said in a statement Thursday.

“The reality is that right now people are forced to flee their homes for a whole host of causes, from natural disasters such as floods and droughts, forced evictions because of development projects such as dam building or logging projects, as well as war, conflict and violence,” said Kim Mancini of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, which is part of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Read more ›

(BBC) – One person has been killed and eight others wounded in a blast in a mainly Somali neighbourhood in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, police say.

A roadside bomb exploded during rush hour traffic in the Eastleigh neighbourhood on Wednesday evening, police said.

Last month, a grenade blast in Eastleigh left seven people dead.

Kenya accuses Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militant group of trying to destabilise the country.

Reuters news agency reports that its correspondent at the explosion site saw pools of blood on the ground, as the wounded were swiftly moved away.

“The explosion was caused by a roadside bomb which had been placed in a hole in the ground,” Nairobi police chief Moses Nyakwama told the AFP news agency.

“No arrests have been made yet, and investigations are already under way,” he added.

Al-Shabab has not yet commented on the blast.

Last month, Kenya accused the group of launching a grenade attack on a bus in Eastleigh, killing seven people.

The attack triggered riots in the area, as angry youths burnt and looted Somali-owned shops.

Kenya’s government has blamed al-Shabab for a spate of explosions and kidnappings on its territory.

Kenya last year sent its troops to fight al-Shabab in Somalia – they have now joined the 18,000-strong African Union (AU) force supporting the UN-backed government.

Read more ›

(BBC) — An Eritrean man who says he will be killed by an Egyptian trafficking gang in Sinai unless a $25,000 ransom is paid within days has spoken to the Today programme’s Mike Thomson.

Mike was given a mobile number to reach 22-year-old Philemon Semere by an Eritrean pastor who knows his family and has been in direct contact with the kidnappers himself. Pastor Mulugeta Mengsteab had earlier contacted the captive Philemon and checked that he was happy to do the interview.

Philemon began by telling Mike, who made it clear that he was calling from the BBC, that he had been held for four months and been treated very brutally.

“I have not enough food, I have not enough water,” he explained. “I’ve been hit by sticks and burnt by fire with electricity. Daily, burnt by fire and hit by sticks. My body is burning.”

Throughout the interview background noises were very audible and it seemed clear that the phone conversation was being conducted on a speaker phone.

Half way through the conversation a man, who said he was in charge of those holding Philemon, butted into the conversation and confirmed that the family will have to pay $25,000 if they want to see him alive again, adding “if he don’t give any money I must kill Philemon here.”

Over the last few years an estimated 10,000, mainly Eritrean, refugees have been kidnapped by people traffickers, largely based in Egypt’s Sinai region. Most disappear on the way to seek a better life in Israel.

During what is often months of captivity the captives are beaten and tortured and their families asked to pay ransoms as high as $40,000 for their release. Those who don’t pay are killed. As many as 2,000 are thought to have died in this way.

Since carrying out the interview with Philemon the BBC has contacted the Egyptian authorities and alerted them to his situation. We have also spoken to charities who have taken up his case including Christian Solidarity Worldwide who first drew attention to his story. The BBC have also spoken to a member of Philemone’s family who have said they are willing for his case to be publicised and for the interview with him to be broadcast.

It is impossible, from so far away, to verify Philemon’s case. But Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and other non-governmental organisations who have studied the kidnap trade, say it bears all the hallmarks of what is now an awful but thriving business in the Sinai region.

Convinced that his family does not have the money to meet the kidnapper’s demands, Philemon is clearly becoming desperate as their deadline nears: “Please help. Please help me Mike. I haven’t enough money, they will kill me. Please help me.”

Read more ›

By E.G. Woldegebriel

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia’s government has begun construction of a 6,000 megawatt (MW) hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile river, a move that has been greeted enthusiastically by many Ethiopians but that is causing concern in the downstream nations of Sudan and Egypt.

The project, which is scheduled to take six and a half years to complete, is being managed by the state-owned power utility company, Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo). The dam is being built about 900 km (560 miles) north-east of the capital, Addis Ababa, and just 40 km (25 miles) from the Sudanese border.

Ethiopia’s government hopes to capitalize on the energy potential of a river that is revered by the Ethiopian population but that until now has not been significantly exploited to feed the country’s growing need for electric power.

Ethiopia is the source of the Blue Nile, and its territory contributes up to 86 percent of the river’s water. The Blue Nile in turn is responsible for more than half of the water in the Nile, the world’s longest river system. The other main source, the White Nile, originates on the Ugandan side of Lake Victoria.

The new project is not the first dam to be constructed on tributaries of the Nile in Ethiopia. Three smaller projects with a combined capacity of about 760 MW have already been completed, and EEPCo is seeking financing for a 278 MW dam on another tributary, the Chemoga-Yeda River. But the planned Grand Renaissance Dam (GRD) dwarfs these projects in scale and cost.

The 6,000 MW dam will be built by Italian construction company Salini Costruttori, which received the construction contract in late 2010, while electromechanical work is being done by a local company, Metal and Engineering Corporation.

Ethiopia has been dubbed “the water tower of east Africa” because of its numerous river and lake systems. The Nile is an emblematic part of the country, immortalized in poems and songs and even on coins and bank notes. But its potential for hydroelectric power has until now gone largely unused.

For many Ethiopians, the new planned dam is not only about lighting their houses and providing power for businesses and to export, but it also holds a symbolic significance, a way of looking forward from memories of famine and conflict.

WORRIED NEIGHBORS

Despite its popularity among Ethiopia’s population, the dam project has caused consternation in neighboring Sudan as well as in Egypt, both downstream countries that rely upon the Nile for almost all their water and fear the dam will cause a reduction in water available to them.

The new dam will eventually create a lake containing more than 60 billion cubic metres of water, twice as much as Lake Tana, Ethiopia’s largest body of water.

There are also concerns about the potential environmental impact of the dam, although the scale of opposition has been smaller than that provoked by the Gibe III dam. Gibe III has provoked opposition from groups concerned about the drying up of Kenya’s Turkana Lake, the world’s largest desert lake, which is fed by the Gibe river, and the possible displacement of tribal people in Ethiopia and Kenya.

Gossaye Mengiste, an official of the ministry of water and energy, which oversees EEPCo, said he believed the environmental impact of the project would be minimal and that because the area around the dam is sparsely inhabited, no mass relocation of people would be necessary.

“The dam will lessen evaporation in downstream areas in Sudan and Egypt, as well as (providing) a reduced risk of flooding and siltation which the Aswan dam in Egypt is particularly affected by,” Mengiste said.

Ethiopia has periodically had tense relationships with Egypt and Sudan, countries which rely heavily upon the Nile for water and agriculture. Concerns about the effects of an Ethiopian dam upon water levels in the Egyptian Nile date back to the late 1970s, when then-president Anwar Sadat reacted angrily to Ethiopia’s announcement of a plan for a dam on the Blue Nile.

Recent articles in Ethiopian newspapers, referring to documents leaked to Wikileaks, have suggested that Egypt might be preparing contingency plans to sabotage the dam with air strikes if it is built.

Magdy Amr, Egypt’s assistant foreign minister for Nile Basin state affairs, dismissed the reports, pointing out that the files in question date back to 2010, before construction of the new dam was even announced. Egypt has about $2 billion in business investments in Ethiopia.

Abdelrahman Sirelkhatim, Sudan’s ambassador to Ethiopia, firmly dismissed Ethiopian fears that his country is conspiring with its northern neighbour to damage the dam, widely known by its initials, GRD.

“I don’t know how we can threaten the GRD when we are trying to contribute financially to build the dam, and our engineers are contributing technically,” Abdelrahman said.

Despite broad public support in Ethiopia for the GRD, the government still faces the challenge of securing enough financing to cover the $4.8 billion cost of the project. The money is meant to come from within Ethiopia, and the government is selling five-year treasury bonds, but a recent report by the International Monetary Fund warns that the dam could be a great burden on the country’s economy, costing as much as 10 percent of the country’s estimated GDP in 2012-13.

The fund said Ethiopian authorities have acknowledged that raising domestic financing for the flagship project for the country is a challenge, but the government emphasises that the GRD is a high priority and that other projects may be postponed if necessary in order to ensure its completion.

E.G. Woldegebriel is a journalist based in Addis Ababa with an interest in environmental issues.

Read more ›

DUBAI (The National) — The Ethiopian government has finished drafting a new labour agreement designed to protect the rights of its citizens who move to the UAE for jobs as domestic workers.

The agreement – to be handed to the UAE Embassy in Addis Ababa – will stipulate a minimum wage, mandatory insurance and outline workers’ rights.

It could also remove within three months a ban on Ethiopians migrating to the UAE for such jobs.

“We are ready to communicate with the UAE,” said Mesganu Arga Moach, the Ethiopian consul general in Dubai. “We are working on the legal structuring. It will be given to the UAE this month.”

In July, Addis Ababa banned domestic workers from applying to work in the UAE until an agreement was drawn up between the two countries to protect them from abusive recruiters and sponsors.

The UAE Embassy in Ethiopia said it was aware the agreement was in its final stages. “We are still waiting to receive it,” said the ambassador, Dr Yousif Eisa Hassan Alsabri. “It is still with the ministry of foreign affairs in Ethiopia.”

He said it would be signed and ratified “some weeks” after it was received but did not give an exact time frame.

The Ethiopian consulate in Dubai said it introduced the temporary freeze on workers moving to the UAE after receiving “five to 10” reports of abuse and unpaid salaries each day.

In August, at the consulate’s request, the UAE stopped issuing visas for domestic and blue-collar workers to Ethiopian nationals.

There have been several recent cases of attempted suicide among Ethiopian maids in the UAE, and a court case is taking place in Abu Dhabi involving an Emirati sponsor accused of torturing her maid to death for “laziness”.

The victim was allegedly whipped and tied up with electrical wire, had boiling water poured over her and pepper rubbed in her eyes. She died after burns became infected.

“It is a very disturbing and sad case,” said Mr Moach. “We want to avoid these kind of things. We are getting a lot of support from the UAE prosecutors. The issue is about abusive sponsors, agencies and individuals, which is why we want to make sure there is a system to protect their rights. Abuse cannot be avoided but with a system, we know they can reach us.

“Ethiopian maids can come back in two to three months time with their rights protected, proper salary and insurance. There will be a minimum salary and insurance will be obligatory. We have checked with other countries for reference. Many have similar problems.”

Mr Moach added that the Ethiopian government had examined the requirements of other countries that send workers to the UAE but will implement a salary scale best suited to its citizens. Training for domestic workers will be an integral part of the system.

“We are preparing the groundwork now,” added Mr Moach. “We will be giving training to domestic workers before coming to the UAE.

“The skills training will inform them of their rights, the nature of the work in the UAE, how to contact missions and everything related.”

The diplomatic mission is also working on ways to include existing workers in the agreement. “This is one of the issues we are negotiating and have to see how they can be incorporated into the system,” said Mr Moach.

Ethiopia will open an embassy in the capital soon to ensure “full diplomatic representation”.

More than 100,000 Ethiopians live in the UAE. Before the ban, it was estimated up to 300 a day were arriving in the Emirates to work as housemaids, security guards and in other blue-collar jobs.

Read more ›

(RSF) – 20 November 2012 – Reporters Without Borders is relieved to learn that the journalist Houssein Ahmed Farah was finally released on 18 November after being held without trial for more than three months.

“Farah has finally been let out of jail thanks to the determination of his lawyer, Zakaria Abdillahi, who submitted a weekly release request that was unsuccessful until this week, when it was granted,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

“While it is a relief to know he is no longer in prison, his release is conditional and he is still under judicial control. We call for the withdrawal of all the charges against him. We continue to be worried by the way the judicial authorities are handling his case. We are also disturbed by the attempts to intimidate his lawyer.”

A reporter for La Voix de Djibouti, an exile news website, Farah was arrested on 8 August and had been held since 11 August in the capital’s Gabode prison despite his poor health and the lack of evidence for any of the charges against him.

He is accused of evading judicial control and distributing “forged” voter cards on behalf of a political party dissolved by presidential decree.

Read more ›

(New Vision) – President Yoweri Museveni has commissioned work on the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway, a four-lane dual carriage toll road linking Kampala to Entebbe Airport.

Museveni Wednesday officially launched the works at a ground-breaking ceremony at Kyengera, off the Kampala-Masaka road.

Museveni hailed the Chinese Government for supporting the construction of the highway through a $350m concessional loan from China EXIM Bank.

The loan is repayable over a 40-year period, at a 2% annual interest while the Government contributes sh324b, in addition to $40m (about sh103b) to compensate land owners living along the route of the proposed highway.

The 51-km highway will also connect to Munyonyo, a prominent Kampala suburb, located on the shores of Lake Victoria.

According to the plan, the road will have 15 overpass bridges, 15 underpass bridges, two swampy crossing bridges and three interchanges at Busega, Kajjansi and Abayita Ababiri along Entebbe road.

The contract was awarded to China Communication Construction Company, which also constructed the Soroti-Lira Road.

According to the executive of the Uganda National Roads Authority, Peter Ssebanakitta, the first 6km of the road have been handed over to the contractor to start work. Compensation of residents affected by the construction is underway, with 250 people so far paid.

Museveni hailed China for not tying its loan to conditionalities, unlike some donor countries, whose support he said was bent on creating subservience instead of independence.

“Chinese support is not like a poor man’s support. If a poor man gives you a cock, he will always remind you about it, and expect you to thank him all the time,” Museveni said.

He urged Ugandans to emulate the discipline and patriotism of the Chinese, which he said had catapulted it from a third world nation in the 1950s to a super power.

“Ugandans should learn from Chinese people. They are organised and when government tells them to do something, they do it. They do not waste time in useless arguments like here, where there are so many political parties and bad behaviour, especially among leaders,” Museveni said.

“In their country, if you are caught stealing, they shoot you dead. If we did that here, we would have fewer thieves,” the President said.

Museveni blasted the Busiro East MP, Medard Ssegona, for asking the Government to return the properties of Buganda Kingdom. He advised Ssegona to focus on uniting the people for development, instead of peddling demands based on ethnic differences. Ssegona had earlier asked the President to ensure that the Government returns the property and pay all rent arrears owed to the Buganda Kingdom.

“Your Excellency, we are grateful for the return of Buganda Kingdom, but please fulfill the rest of our demands. We still demand for federo and we know discussions are ongoing,” Segona remarked.

“In the meantime, at least return our land and pay all rent on it in full,” he added.

In his response, Museveni said: “You cannot come here to lecture me on the Kabaka. I knew him and I know where I found him, and I don’t want to be lectured on that.

“The NRM united all people regardless of their ethnic or religious background. That is what has helped us to prosper. Instead of tightening that bolt, you are loosening it. Besides, if we were not there, the Kabaka would perhaps not have returned.

“I would still have come here and commissioned this project, with or without an area MP. I didn’t expect to find him here anyway, because the presence of an MP was not necessary. It is even my first time to see him in this area,” Museveni said.

Read more ›