Cranes beat stiff competition from DR Congo and Senegal to the team of the year award after making history by ending a 38-year wait to qualify for Afcon.

Uganda Cranes team that qualified for the African Nations Cup finals in Gabon.

Meanwhile, Onyango got the better of Mamelodi Sundowns teammate Khama Billiat and TP Mazembe’s Reinford Kalaba, collecting 252 votes in the process. Billiat finished second behind Onyango with 228 votes, while Kalaba came in third with 206 votes according to Confederation of African Football (CAF)

The Uganda international helped the Brazilians lift their maiden Caf Champions League crown at the expense of Zamalek and was also influential in Uganda’s qualification to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.

The former Bidvest Wits shot-stopper becomes the first South African-based player to win the continental award.

On the Other hand, Riyad Mahrez become the first Algerian and maiden North African to win the best African player of the year accolade since its inception by the Africa De Football (CAF) in 1992.

The play-maker played an instrumental role in the historic Premier League triumph by English Club, Leicester City in the 2015/2016 season.

The winners were decided by the votes from the head Coaches or Technical Directors of the National Associations affiliated to CAF, members of the CAF Media Committee, members of the CAF Technical and Development Committee and a 20-member panel of experts.

Full list of Winners:

African Player of the Year – Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Leicester City)

African Player of the Year – Based in Africa: Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns)

Women’s Player of the Year: Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Arsenal Ladies)

Most Promising Talent: Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria & Manchester City)

Youth Player of the Year:  Alex Iwobi (Nigeria and Arsenal)

Coach of the Year: Pitso Mosimane (Mamelodi Sundowns)

Club of the Year: Mamelodi Sundowns

National Team of the Year:Uganda

Women’s National Team of the Year:Nigeria

Referee of the Year: Bakary Papa Gassama

Football Leader of the Year: Manuel Lopes Nascimento, President of Guinea Bissau Football Federation

Legend Award: Laurent Pokou, Former player of Cote d’Ivoire and Emilienne MBANGO, Former player of Cameroon

Africa Finest XI

Goalkeeper: Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns)

Defenders: Serge Aurier (Cote d’Ivoire & Paris Saint-Germain), Aymen Abdennour (Tunisia & Valencia), Eric Bailly (Cote d’Ivoire & Manchester United), Joyce Lomalisa (DR Congo & AS Vita)

Midfielders: Khama Billiat (Zimbabwe & Mamelodi Sundowns), Rainford Kalaba (Zambia & TP Mazembe), Keegan Dolly (South Africa & Mamelodi Sundowns)

Forwards: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Borussia Dortmund), Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Leicester City)

Substitutes
Aymen Mathlouthi (Tunisia & Etoile du Sahel), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli), Salif Coulibaly (Mali & TP Mazembe), Islam Slimani (Algeria & Leicester City), Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Roma), Kelechi IHEANACHO (Nigeria & Manchester City), Alex  Iwobi (Nigeria and Arsenal)

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The draw will involve 16 finalists and will be heavily represented during the ceremony in Libreville at the ASMG Tent in Stade de l’Amitie.

Uganda will be represented by Uganda Cranes head coach Milutin Sredojevic and Commissioner for physical Education in the Ministry of Education and Sports Omara Apita after ending a 38-year wait for a place in the African Nations Cup finals.

The Uganda cranes achieved this by securing a 1-0 win over the Comoros Islands in Kampala on 4th September 2016 to qualify as one of the best runners-up in the 13 qualifying groups for the 2017 African Cup of Nations.

A statement by  FUFA Communications Manager Ahmed Hussein confirmed that Micho and  Omara Apita will represent the nation in Gabon.

“FUFA will be represented by both Cranes Head coach Milutin Sredojevic and Commissioner for physical Education in the Ministry of Education and Sports Omara Apita in Gabon” said Hussein

‘Delegations of the 16 finalists at the draw will also conduct a familiarisation tour of the four cities where stadium, Hotel and training grounds are located for 2017 AFCON Finals’, he added.

Uganda is the best ranked country in the East African region and will hope for a good draw.

AFCON 2017 Pots

Pot 1: Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Algeria

Pot 2: Tunisia, Mali, Burkina Faso, DR Congo

Pot 3: Cameroon, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt

Pot 4: Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Guinea Bissau

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Uganda Red Cross Society recently deployed the first Red Cross unmanned aerial vehicle – a drone – in Africa to monitor the situation at a vast refugee camp on the border with South Sudan. The drone footage from northern Uganda revealed that a swathe of countryside is becoming home for the hundreds of people crossing the border each day.

On 8 September, the day the drone took to the air, 4,373 new refugees crossed into Uganda, according to the most recent update from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The Bidi- bidi reception Centre in Yumbe district, where many refugees are being initially registered, is 300 kilometres north of Kampala, but is within walking distance of the border with South Sudan, where fighting has erupted. Red Cross volunteers and staff are providing aid and care to the refugees passing through the reception centre.

According to the Red Cross, 57,900 people have passed through the Bidibidi centre – just over a month after it opened. The reception centre is expected to be over its capacity of 100,000 people within the next month.

Nearly 130,000 South Sudanese refugees have arrived since 1 July, bringing the total number in Uganda to nearly 360,000 (Source: UNHCR).

‘A decent life’

On 29 August the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched an emergency appeal for 700,000 US dollars to support the Uganda Red Cross Society’s efforts to assist 40,000 refugees for six months with safe water, sanitation, hygiene promotion, emergency shelter, and health care.

Regional leaders in the Greater Horn of Africa has also raised concern over unending wars that often leads to emergency situations that majorly  affects women and children.

While addressing leaders at a recent world leaders’ summit on Refugees in New York during the ongoing United Nations General Assembly, President Museveni called on world leaders to respect the rights of refugees in their countries.

According to reports, Uganda currently has a refugee population of 690,000 coming from the countries such as Burundi, DR Congo, South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda among others. The president predicts the numbers to increase further to 810,000 by the end of this year.

Museveni said that it is wrong to treat African refugees as if they are seeking to consume resources of the indigenous people.

“I tell Ugandans that these (refugees) are our unfortunate brothers and sisters having a misfortune, for the moment, being misgoverned or being unprotected against demonic rebels,” he said.

The Red Cross and other Humanitarian agencies have often raised concern over escalating violence especially in Burundi and South Sudan which they say often causes suffering to the local populations.

“The vast majority of people crossing into Uganda from South Sudan are women and children or people with special needs, such as the elderly and those with complex health issues,” said Andreas Sandin, IFRC operations coordinator for East Africa. “Having travelled more than 400 kilometres from Juba, they arrive exhausted, hungry, and in need of shelter. With more families arriving daily, we need to ramp up our activities quickly.”

Gracious Kyagaba, Water and Sanitation Coordinator at the Uganda Red Cross Society, said: “The appeal launched by the IFRC will support us to address issues related to inadequate supply of water and limited access to health facilities, as well as curb outbreaks of diarrhoeal diseases.

“We will also support refugees to set up shelters so that they are able to live as decently as possible.”

Red Cross volunteers are assisting with the registration of new arrivals, who come in on UNHCR buses and then disperse into the surrounding countryside.

Emergency operation

Volunteers are also operating a treatment plant to produce safe drinking-water, and working to raise awareness of hygiene and sanitation – crucial in maintaining good health for the refugees.

The drone used by the society to document its work in Bidibidi was supplied by the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre as part of its forecast-based financing programme for large-scale climate-related disasters in Africa supported by the government of Germany and the German Red Cross.

Following its successful first flight, the device may now be deployed from its base in Kampala elsewhere in Africa on forecast-based financing assignments and climate-related emergencies.

The first forecast-based financing response to a disaster was triggered in Uganda last November when Red Cross volunteers distributed 5,000 relief items to flood insecure communities in Kapelebyong after forecasts of rising water-levels reached a predetermined risk threshold.

Uganda
H.E. Mr. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
President
General Assembly Seventy-first session: Opening of the General Debate 71 United Nations, New York

Museveni however, wants world leaders to stop supporting armed conflicts especially on the African continent which result in an influx of refugees arguing that sponsoring such groups by external forces prevents peace building.

“If a conflict is really justified, in order to fight for justice with war being the only means of resistance and national salvation, the people can successfully wage a people’s struggle without external sponsorship,” said Museveni. He added that conflict situations are being propelled by puppets looking for external sponsors and by chauvinists looking for puppets.

He cited what he called sectarian persecution occasioned by the “ideologically bankrupt” groups who rely on undisciplined and criminal armies or militias” as one of the main causes of the refugee problem in Africa.

The president called on refugee hosting countries to ensure that refugees are given the necessary assistance to avoid degrading the environment. He also called on humanitarian organizations to empower refugees through educating the children, imparting skills in order for them to be more advantaged when they return to their countries.

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Hon. Francis Mwijukye the MP who has started a debate tasking government to explain the situation of Ugandans in detention abroad.

The matter has been presented to the floor of parliament by the MP for Buhweju County in Bushenyi district Francis Mwijukye who claims that a number of Ugandans are detained in foreign countries without trial.

He gave a case in point of Sam Mugumya former Dr. Kiiza Besigye’s aid who has now spent over two years in DR. Congo detention without access to his lawyers or relatives.

Aruu County MP in Pader district, Odonga Otto wants the minister of foreign affairs to explain to parliament whether there is a possibility of all Ugandans incarcerated in different foreign countries to be brought back and tried in Uganda.

The speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga after listening to the 2 MPs making their submissions on the matter later directed the ministers of foreign affairs Sam Kutesa and his deputy to make a statement over this matter.

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DR. Congo qualify for the final of the 2016 African Nations Championship, beating Guinea 5-4 on penalties. The Wednesday semi-final ended the 90minutes in a goalless draw at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali.

DR. Congo’s Jonathan Bolingi put the Leopards in the lead with a diving header during the first half the extra time before Ibrahima Sory Sankhon equalized to send the match into penalties.

CHAN 2016: DR Congo vs Guinea Full Time (1-1) Penalty shootouts (5-4)

@CAF..FCFA-Congo, GFA-Guinue

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The signing of an agreement aimed at bringing back peace in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo will take place in Addis Ababa on Sunday and it would attract observers from Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Congo Brazzaville, Tanzania, South Africa and Kenya.

Others to attend the signing ceremony include the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Hon. Ban Ki-moon and presidents from Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola, South Africa and Tanzania.

The agreement will lay out a security plan for the Democratic Republic of Congo which is expected to tighten the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

UN has over 19,000 garrisons in the Democratic Republic of Congo and it has been there for the last 12 years. However, despite its presence in Congo, over one million people have lost their lives and property in hands of the rebel groups and government forces fighting in Congo. Some of the rebel groups fighting the government of Joseph Kabila in Congo include M23, FNL, FDLR and ADF-NALU.

Ends

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This follows a leaked 44 paged report by the UN Security Council group of experts pinning Rwanda and Uganda for backing the M23 rebels, who have been fighting the DR Congo army since April.

The document that builds on a UN report published in June, further says that army units from Rwanda and Uganda have helped the M23 expand its control of territory in the war-torn east of DR Congo.

However speaking to Journalists  this morning the Permanent Secretary in the ministry of foreign Affairs Ambassador James Mugume said these are wild allegations accusing the group of experts of being used by some countries that do not want stability in DR Congo.

He however says government will not be derailed in its efforts to bring stability to DR Congo.

Rwanda too has often denied the allegations as totally baseless.

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Uganda’s warlord (read president Museveni) has reportedly given back US $ 1,000,000 in form of donation to war ton Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo).

But the forum for Democratic Change’s deputy information officer, Toterebuka Bamwenda says that Museveni gave this US$1,000,000 to DR Congo refugees out of the trillions he (Museveni and his army officials) looted from them years ago.

The US Secretary of State, mrs Hilary Clinton last week warned president Museveni and his counterpart, the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame against recruiting and funding M23 Rebels that are causing the Congolese to flee their Country into Uganda.

FDC’s Bamwenda says that Museveni is trying to fool the world that he cares about the people of DR Congo by giving back US $1,000,000 yet, he is ‘killing’ them through DR Congo rebel chief, Gen. Ntaganda.

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Ugandan president Gen. Museveni and Rwandan president Paul Kagame are planning to deploy troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo to fight the different rebel groups in the eastern part of the country.

Other African heads of state that want to deploy in DR Congo are, Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete, Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi, and Kenya’s Vice president, Kalonzo Musyoka.

Sources in Great Lakes Region, told us that the African Union, United Nations, president Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo and defence ministers from, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi have nodded positive to the move.

But these great lakes region leaders are yet to define the size, composition and nature of the forces to be deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Uganda soldiers have disarmed over 600 troops who flee into Uganda’ yesterday after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Warlord, Bosco Ntaganda seized Uganda-DR Congo Border Town OF Bunagana. Uganda shares the town with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The authorities in DR Congo allege that the Ntaganda rebels are trained, supported and funded by Uganda and Rwanda to oust President Kabila of DR Congo.

Recently, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda said Uganda-Rwanda borders should be open. A source in DRC told our correspondents that Uganda and Rwanda want to extend their political influence to DR Congo through Ntaganda.

Ntaganda, is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes committed against humanity.

Ends

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