An MTN advert in South Sudan

Due to the situation which has been attributed to an economic crisis caused by civil war, leading to the collapse of South Sudan’s currency and surging inflation, MTN South Sudan has cut 54 jobs and made changes to the way it sells airtime to help it survive. These changes include asking local traders to purchase airtime from MTN via bank transfers and sell to customers electronically, eliminating the need to import, and then distribute scratchcards.

“We are trying to manage what we have and make sure we continue operating,” the company’s chief executive officer, Philip Besiimire, said “We have now positioned ourselves to be lean and efficient until the situation changes.”

MTN South Sudan boasts of over eight million subscribers.

According to Oxfam, South Sudan is currently facing an acute humanitarian crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity due to an on-going conflict; more than 2.3 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to brutal war. Out of these, 1.6 million have been internally displaced in South Sudan and more than 777,000 have sought safety in neighbouring countries, mainly Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. All this has led to a spiral into an economic free-fall.

The post MTN downscales in South Sudan first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

The state minister for Finance Fred Omach  told parliament  Chaired by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanya that government wants a supplementary budget of 50 Million us dollar to pay for the Membership to enable the Chairperson of the World League of Islamic Call Society Isaac Musumba represent Uganda in Arab world for this conference.

Omach says scams where Billions of Shillings have been lost have affected the Economy since some donors pulled out of supporting the government budget. 

This angered the MPs and ordered that the government to present to the Nation the state of the Economy as soon as possible.

The Mp for Rukungiri Municipality Rolland Mugume says this is an indication that the country is in crisis. He says it would be bad if the country failed to get this money so that Uganda is effectively represented in the World League Islamic Call Society where government gets considerable funding for development projects. 

Ajuri County in Alebtong District, Denis Obua says the government should quickly act on the corrupt and deal with the corrupt so that donors are able to fund these projects which benefit the people of Northern Uganda.

The post Uganda fails to subscribe to World League Islamic SOciety first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

We have learnt sad news thatUgandatelecom is in deep financial and management crisis. As a result, the company has deactivated lines of almost half of the company’s customers.

Hundreds of the company’s customers tell us that whenever they switch on their phones it is displayed that “sim card registration failed” yet they have been active for the last many years!

Hundreds of the company’s customers are blaming UTL for its Poor Internet services.

However the company has posted on facebook that it wishes to inform its prepaid customers who have been affected by the recent service outage that most of the customers affected now have voice services restored, and that any remaining customers will be restored to service very soon.

UTL claims that it is happy to confirm that the SMS service was not affected by this outage and has remained operational. Uganda Telecom values it customers deeply and regrets any inconvenience this may have caused. Uganda Telecom wishes to reassure its Post-Pay customers, Fixed Line, Fixed data, Internet andEnterprisecustomers that there was no adverse effect on their services.

Ends

The post Uganda telecom in management and financial crisis, closes down first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Following intelligence reports that sections of the Batwa, Bamba and Babwisi were planning to kill the Rwenzururu king (Kabaka), Charles Mumbere, the security has been beefed up in Kasese town council and around his palace.

Rwenzururu King, Charles Wesly Iremangoma

It is said that , the Batwa, Babwisi and Bamba ethnic tribes don’t subscribe/ recognise Mumbere as their King. These groups of people have been protesting against Mumbere’s leadership for along time. They accuse Mumbere of buildings shrines in worship of his small god widely known as Satan.

The security reports indicate that the three ethnic tribes who do not subscribe to the Rwenzururu Kingdom want to attack Mumbere’s palace in Kirindi Trading Centre, Kirindi Parish,BusaruSub-county and they kill him from there.

The people of Kasese and Bundibugyo are on tension now; every person fears for his/her life. The ministers in charge of cultures have already held crisis meeting over the matter.

Every tribe in Mumbere’s kingdom has its own traditional values, virtues and norms and therefore they don’t pay allegiance to Rwenzururu Kingdom though they share the same names.

Sources say that the tension is being perpetuated by prominent people in government who don’t want Rwenzururu to get a king.

The post Security stepped up in town over plot to kill ‘Kabaka’, ministers hold crisis meeting first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Africa Action offers academic semester and summer internships for International undergraduate and graduate students in Washington, DC.

Interns will develop a more comprehensive understanding of how an Africa advocacy organization utilizes policy analysis and organizing to affect national policy.

An internship at Africa Action will provide participants an opportunity to support the organization’s current work, focused on three primary campaigns to cancel Africa’s debt, end the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, and stop genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Interns will work primarily in either the Public Education and Mobilization Department (DPEM) or the Policy Analysis and Communications Department (DPAC), depending on their talents and interests.

Qualifications:

Applicants should be organized, self-motivated and reliable, with a strong interest in Africa, human rights, and economic and social justice.

Relevant coursework is highly desirable. Computer/web literacy required.

To Apply:

Interested students should submit their resume, short writing sample (3-5 pages), references and cover letter to africaaction[at]igc.org or the address below.

Africa Action internships run in three sessions during the year:

• Fall/Winter internships run from September through December,
• Winter/Spring internships run from January/February through May,
• Summer internships run from June through August.

However, Africa Action is willing to be flexible to accommodate other academic schedules. Contact:Africa Action, Internship Program, 1634 Eye Street NW, Suite 810, Washington, DC 20006

Apply for Africa Action Internship Opportunities

Africa Action offers academic semester and summer internships for International undergraduate and graduate students in Washington, DC.

Interns will develop a more comprehensive understanding of how an Africa advocacy organization utilizes policy analysis and organizing to affect national policy.

An internship at Africa Action will provide participants an opportunity to support the organization’s current work, focused on three primary campaigns to cancel Africa’s debt, end the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, and stop genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Interns will work primarily in either the Public Education and Mobilization Department (DPEM) or the Policy Analysis and Communications Department (DPAC), depending on their talents and interests.

Qualifications:

Applicants should be organized, self-motivated and reliable, with a strong interest in Africa, human rights, and economic and social justice.

Relevant coursework is highly desirable. Computer/web literacy required.

To Apply:

Interested students should submit their resume, short writing sample (3-5 pages), references and cover letter to africaaction[at]igc.org or the address below.

Africa Action internships run in three sessions during the year:

• Fall/Winter internships run from September through December,
• Winter/Spring internships run from January/February through May,
• Summer internships run from June through August.

However, Africa Action is willing to be flexible to accommodate other academic schedules. Contact: Africa Action, Internship Program, 1634 Eye Street NW, Suite 810, Washington, DC 20006

The post Apply for Africa Action Internship Opportunities first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

The workers at the bar have told us that they are soon beading farewell to its customers.

We hear the workers at Bead for life bar have started looking for other jobs. Now we take this opportunity to ask the government and  banks to save Bead for life bar before it completely close shop and Ugandans working there lose jobs.

The post Bead for life bar in Bugolobi soon closing shop first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

According to sources, Sharita working on advice from Kayihura is touring idle prison land across the country and if found Kayihura will ask the prison heads to let the police use it for cultivation purposes.

The police are currently in deep financial crisis because much of their budget has been used up, especially in querying walk to work protests.

Sharita tells this reporter that the more number of policemen the police deploy to control the demonstrators the more food the force buys. Police commissioners Abongo Apio and Sabuni Mwesigye and Samuel Luvumba confirm that Kayihura has instructed police to start growing own food.

By Christine Kate

The post Police in Uganda to grow own food first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Insiders in the party have told our informers that the party needs at least 10 billion shillings to rejuvenate its activities on the grand and pay off its accumulating debts.

A source in DP, tells this journalist that the money is also needed to build its offices because at any time, Kampala’s business tycoon, Shudir Rupereria is demolishing City house building, which houses the DP head offices.

We hear the party has now resorted to organising several dinners to sensitize its members about the need to contribute towards the party activities. The forthcoming dance and dinner will take place in Masaka on Sunday.

By James Okello

The post DP Uganda in serious financial crisis first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.