We are told by impeccable sources in Statehouse that president Museveni is bitter with some of the statehouse officials who receive his letters and ‘sit’ on them. The problem came after a prominent lawyer in Town Mukasa Fred Denis Mbidde, who is also a member of the East African Community Legislative Assembly petitioned president Museveni over the death of MP Nebanda and the statehouse staff reportedly hid the petition.

Sources told us that Mbidde petitioned the president in December 2012 but the president learnt of his petition in February. The visibly bitter Museveni threatened to eliminate the services of the ‘undisciplined’ staff at statehouse of they continue with ill habits. Our sources at statehouse now bring you some of the details in Mbidde’s letter. The petition was on the Violation of Articles 6 (d) and 7 (2) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community Treaty. Mbidde expresses that he has the honour, to address the preside on the above captioned. His reference was of particulars regarding Museveni’s address to the press at Nakasero State Lodge on Monday 24^th /December /2012 on matters pertaining to the death of the former Butaleja Woman MP Cerinar Nebanda, and the subsequent police and other security agencies’ actions against members of the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda in the same regard.

Mbidde claims that the Contents of Museveni’s address, and the said actions constitute a violation of Art 6(d) of the Treaty for the establishment of the East African Community that states.

Mbidde further says that the parliament of Uganda is the legislative arm of government, and a substantive pillar of democracy that by law should be harnessed and accorded its separate power from the executive for it to function properly in a free and democratic society contemplated under the instant provision.

He says that Museveni’s address, the subject of this letter, put parliament in a position of disrepute and scorn and presented to the Ugandan Public and the world at large, members of Parliament as dishonorable in contravention of the provision sighted above.

Art 7 (2) of the Treaty enjoins all partners states to the East  African community to abide by the principles of good governance, democracy and the rule of law and it states as hereunder:-

“The Partner states undertake to abide by the Principles of good governance, including adherence to the Principles of democracy, the rule of law, Social Justice, and the Maintenance of Universally accepted standards of human Rights”.

Writing good laws and signing treaties does not constitute the rule of law, but just a promissory note.It is acting in accordance with provisions thereof that amounts to the rule of law, Mr President, youAND THE GOVERNMENT AT LARGE have defaulted on this promissory note.

Today, Members of Parliament Hon CHRIS BARYOMUNSI and HON NSEREKO MOHAMMED are being detained at Jinja Road Police Station and Special Investigation Unit Kireka respectively without charges beyond the constitutional 48 hours.

Your comments as against parliament and the Right Honourable Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga were improper. Parliament does not derive its powers from you or the executive in its entirety and accordingly its functions are not prescribed by your office.

Chapter six of the Constitution deals with the establishment, composition and functions of Parliament all of which are prescribed by the provisions of the same Constitution. Thus, Article 77(1) provides that “there shall be a Parliament of Uganda (2) The Composition and functions of Parliament shall be as prescribed by this Constitution”.

The contents of your address Mr President  should be regretted as occasioning a dire abuse of the authority of the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda as the Supreme Legislative Arm of Government; this position was further fortified by the Supreme Court Decision in the case of Brigadier Henry Tumukunde V Attorney General  Const Appeal No 2of 2006.

‘The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995, placed Parliament, the supreme representative body of the people, first, and ordained that henceforth the acts and decisions of the Executive including those of the President and Cabinet shall be subjected to the scrutiny and approval of Parliament.’

The contents of the subject address may be construed further, asintended to cause panic and construed as your intended attempts to unlawfully intermeddle in the direction of   the investigations especially where you stated :-

“People like MPs Theodore Ssekikubo, Chris Baryomunsi, and WilfredNiwagaba –who have now been joined by MPs Lyomoki and Emmanuel Dombo – who said in Parliament………….”,

Mr President these utterances have tended to unlawfully direct the course of investigations.  It should be noted Mr President, that all the MPs mentioned herein and others still at large are destined for detention. It is equally noteworthy that the acts of the state have not exhibited innocence as to the cause of death of Hon Cerinar Nebanda and to this end, investigations as on-going will continue to suffer for want of legitimacy.

Parliament is by law mandated to pay tribute to fallen comrades and those proceedings are privileged occasions under the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act Cap 258 Section 2 thereof provides that

‘No civil or criminal proceedings may be instituted against any member for words spoken before or written in any report during those proceedings’

The whole process until burial was parliamentary proceedings which are covered by that Act.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Hon Cerinar Nebanda have still remained enigmatic, debates and discoveries over the cause of her death are still important to us.

Your address, MrPresident, the above not withstanding appears to condone Wanton Killings.  This is contained in the statement where you said on account of Hon. Moses Ali’sfailed addressat Butaleja that;

‘…..Unfortunately our intelligence is poor- they were told, but they did not counter the hooligans. We were lucky that nobody was shot, but they can’t continue giving our country a bad name.’

Mr President, the law does not create any justification for wanton killings and this statement appears to have created a blanket permit for the same and is to this extent unlawful.

Finally Mr President, the Constitution of The Republic of Uganda, Art 8A and objective XXVIII is couched in Mandatory terms that the Foreign Policy of Uganda shall be based on the Principles of respect for International Law and treaty obligations.

The East African Community treaty and particularly the provisions sited herein have grossly been violated by the actions i have complained of.

The Treaty and all laws enacted thereunder are supranational thus above all national laws of Partner states whose continued violation makes it a logical impossibility for our continued membership to the community.

As the Chairman of the Summit of the Heads of State of the East African Community, it is within your interest to uphold the treaty establishing the community that you chair.

It is noteworthy that the recent East African Legislative Assembly report of the on-spot assessment of good governance in Partner states as at 1^st-5^th October 2012 placed Uganda at very low levels of accountability, the fight against corruption and democracy compared to Rwanda ,Tanzania and Kenya whose sub-committee i personally chaired.

Kenya, a country that has had challenges on corruption prevalence has excelled on the establishment of a robust legal base for the establishment of anti corruption institutions.

The above standard is only achievable for Uganda through Parliament as the only surviving institution championing an amendment of the constitution to establish a full chapter on the required standards of integrity for public officials, providing for further legislations on commissions and public reviews for all appointments and a restructuring and re-vetting of all public service jobs and other appointments.

Parliament, under Art 79 of the constitution of Uganda is the body mandated among others, to protect this constitution and promote democratic governance for Uganda and accordingly it should be accorded its due space for the achievement of the same.

Mr President, the world has now become a global village and as the President of the Republic of Uganda, your hands are tied and are not at liberty to take back this country towards un-constitutional rule.

I am mandated by the same treaty particularly Article 61 of the Treaty Establishing the East African Community, to put you to notice of the anomalies cited and as a Ugandan, by the Constitution to do so.

In the event of continuity of aforesaid illegal acts either by you or those on your behalf, we shall have no other remedy Mr President than to invoke all the necessary national and regional legal machinery for the enforcement of the same at the cost and constant embarrassment to our country.

Please, Mr President, accept the assurances of my highest regard to your good office. Mbidde signed the petition while indicating that he is an MP of

the East African Legislative Assembly. He copied his petition to the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda.

Ends

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Prof. John Ddumba Sentamu, Vice Chancellor of Makerere University

The team led by Professor Francis Omaswa today appeared before the education committee of parliament and gave some highlights of their findings.

The team says that the tuition fees at Makerere are low compared to the actual unit cost of university education and other public universities.

The task force has also observed that the delay in remittance of tuition fees for the students sponsored by state house has also affected the operations of the University.

According to the findings state house now owes over 4 billion shillings to Makerere University.

Now the committee chairperson Sylvia Namabidde is asking that all the arrears owed to public universities be cleared immediately.

The task force was set up to see how staff remuneration could be improved after the staff complained of poor pay.

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This follows the constant quarrels and reports of mismanagement of the university assets.

The latest has been the reported connivance between lecturers and technicians that has led to the loss of over 100 computers from the university.

Committee member Joseph Sewungu says there is need to have all staff overhauled for the university to effectively move forward.

Recently the university’s vice chancellor Prof Isaiah Ndiege was forced out of office for reported mismanagement of the university’s assets.

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There was joy among students and parents of Kyambogo University on Tuesday as the striking lecturers resumed work suspending three week long strike that last month led to the closure of this university.

In a meeting today between the university staff and National Union of Educational Institutions agreed to call off the strike after the embattled Vice Chancellor mr. Isaiah Ndiege agreed to step aside on Friday.

Ndiege is accused by the university low staff of running down the 10-year–old institution by undermining his subordinates.

Ndiege told the press that those fighting him want to grab university property and run away from its accountability.

Ends

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Also over the same period of time, the number of Senior Six candidates rose from 15,023 to 110,637, without a proportionate increase in the UNEB staff. The statistics further show that the number of candidates at Primary level also rose from 156,188 in 1985 to 564,778 in 2012 thus the need to expand UNEB staff.

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Mulago National Referral hospital needs 39.4 billion shillings to admit 150,000 patients, conduct 88,944 X-ray images and over two million laboratory tests.

He says the same money would be used in the construction of the women hospital at Mulago and completion of the hospital staff block.

The Executive Director of Mulago Hospital, Dr. B. Byarugaba says that the hospital is still faced with the issue of understaffing, underfunding, overwhelming workload, absenteeism, and poor attitude of the hospital staff towards work.

The doctor however urges the members of the public to stop the habit of demonizing Mulago National Referral Hospital.

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“Get on the Bus” Scholarships: The Get on the Bus scholarship programme sponsors 25 students each from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania through an initiative supported by the Nation Media Group (NMG) company staff.

The scheme takes on a school bus icon to signify transition to excellence.

The programme enables top performers from primary schools who cannot pay the requisite school fees an opportunity to further their education by offering them a full scholarship that caters for their four years of secondary school education.

A large number of the scholarship beneficiaries are orphans and vulnerable children who have excelled, and are nationally in the top tire.

The project seeks to improve the quality of future leaders and scholars by encouraging excellent performance.

The programme provides both scholarships for secondary education as well as a formal mentorship opportunity by experts and NMG staff.

Identified as part of the scholarship scheme, the mentorship includes career guidance, imparting life skills and job placement for students during the holidays, equipping them with exposure to the work environment.

Additionally, it also provides opportunities for staff members to be part and parcel of the excellence programme by ‘adopting’ a student. For more scholarship information and application: “Get on the Bus” Scholarships

“Get on the Bus” Scholarships: The Get on the Bus scholarship programme sponsors 25 students each from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania through an initiative supported by the Nation Media Group (NMG) company staff.

The scheme takes on a school bus icon to signify transition to excellence.

The programme enables top performers from primary schools who cannot pay the requisite school fees an opportunity to further their education by offering them a full scholarship that caters for their four years of secondary school education.

A large number of the scholarship beneficiaries are orphans and vulnerable children who have excelled, and are nationally in the top tire.

The project seeks to improve the quality of future leaders and scholars by encouraging excellent performance.

The programme provides both scholarships for secondary education as well as a formal mentorship opportunity by experts and NMG staff.

Identified as part of the scholarship scheme, the mentorship includes career guidance, imparting life skills and job placement for students during the holidays, equipping them with exposure to the work environment.

Additionally, it also provides opportunities for staff members to be part and parcel of the excellence programme by ‘adopting’ a student. For more scholarship information and application: “Get on the Bus” Scholarships

The post Join the “Get on the Bus” Scholarships for Africans first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

This programme is designed to give young people from developing countries opportunities to engage in policy development and programming; to help build the capacity of young people; and to sensitize both the young people and UNFPA staff on partnering to address adolescent and youth issues.

Grants/Financial Support

All selected candidates will be provided:

– Cost of return travel from country of origin

– Assistance with travel documents and visa requirements

– Health insurance

– Housing arrangements

– Subsistence allowance (for meals and other basic needs)

– A workstation and internet access

– Opportunities to be mentored by UNFPA staff on issues of interest<

– Administrative assistance as required

Candidates should:

– be between 20-24 years old during the fellowship

– be residents and nationals of a developing country (Applicants from developed countries will not be considered for this programme, but are invited to apply for UNFPA’s regular internship programme)

– have established interest and dedication to development issues through previous experiences or affiliation with a youth network or NGO working on development issues

– have basic leadership and advocacy skills

– have basic understanding of issues of importance to UNFPA and what the organization stands for

– have English language skills (written and oral)

– have a commitment to return to home country to undertake follow up work with young people For more information and application: awasthi[at]unfpa.org & website: UNFPA Special Youth Programme Grants

 UNFPA Special Youth Programme Grants

This programme is designed to give young people from developing countries opportunities to engage in policy development and programming; to help build the capacity of young people; and to sensitize both the young people and UNFPA staff on partnering to address adolescent and youth issues.

Grants/Financial Support

All selected candidates will be provided:

– Cost of return travel from country of origin

– Assistance with travel documents and visa requirements

– Health insurance

– Housing arrangements

– Subsistence allowance (for meals and other basic needs)

– A workstation and internet access

– Opportunities to be mentored by UNFPA staff on issues of interest<

– Administrative assistance as required

Candidates should:

– be between 20-24 years old during the fellowship

– be residents and nationals of a developing country (Applicants from developed countries will not be considered for this programme, but are invited to apply for UNFPA’s regular internship programme)

– have established interest and dedication to development issues through previous experiences or affiliation with a youth network or NGO working on development issues

– have basic leadership and advocacy skills

– have basic understanding of issues of importance to UNFPA and what the organization stands for

– have English language skills (written and oral)

– have a commitment to return to home country to undertake follow up work with young people For more information and application: awasthi[at]unfpa.org & website: UNFPA Special Youth Programme Grants

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The objectives of the Internship Programme are to promote among the participants a better understanding of the United Nations and of the World Food Programme.

Internships provide Divisions at headquarters or country offices with the assistance of outstanding young students specializing in fields relevant to WFP activities.

WFP will cover the intern for medical insurance during working hours, and provide a stipend. Travel and upkeep is not covered by WFP.

The following criteria are used to determine eligibility for the Internship Programme:

• Applicants must be currently enrolled in a university or graduate school and have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies.
• Spouses, sons, daughters, brothers or sisters of staff members will not be considered eligible for this Programme.

Queries regarding internship opportunities maybe sent to intern[at]wfp.org.

WFP announces Internship Programme for Undergraduates

The objectives of the Internship Programme are to promote among the participants a better understanding of the United Nations and of the World Food Programme.

Internships provide Divisions at headquarters or country offices with the assistance of outstanding young students specializing in fields relevant to WFP activities.

WFP will cover the intern for medical insurance during working hours, and provide a stipend. Travel and upkeep is not covered by WFP.

The following criteria are used to determine eligibility for the Internship Programme:

• Applicants must be currently enrolled in a university or graduate school and have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies.
• Spouses, sons, daughters, brothers or sisters of staff members will not be considered eligible for this Programme.

Queries regarding internship opportunities maybe sent to intern[at]wfp.org.

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UNICEF Internships: The UNICEF Internship Programme offers eligible/qualified students at both Headquarters and country offices the opportunity to acquire direct practical experience in UNICEF’s work under the direct supervision of experienced UNICEF staff.

Eligibility requirements:

• You need to be a currently-enrolled graduate or post-graduate student in a field related to UNICEF’s interests. You must be enrolled during the full duration of the proposed internship period. At this time we do not accept undergraduates.
• You should be fluent in English and one other UNICEF working language i.e. French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian or Chinese.
• Your academic performance should be excellent, as demonstrated by recent university or institution records.
• Your application for an internship should be supported by your university or related institution. A minimum requirement is a letter from one of your professors supporting your application. This is only needed when an internship assignment has been offered to you.
• Applicants must have a demonstrated interest in the field of international development, particularly in areas of UNICEF priorities.
• Ability to adapt and work in a multi-cultural setting.
• Has strong commitment to the values and principles of the United Nations and UNICEF’s mission, guiding principles and Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Additional consideration will be given for any past work experiences.

For more information and application please see: UNICEF Internships

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