Vice President, Edward Ssekandi

Government has urged the  banking sector to design friendly loans that can be accessed by farmers and informal sectors in Uganda.

Currently many banks are offering short term loans which do not favor farmers who have long term investments.

Speaking during the Annual banker’s conference recently,  the Vice president, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, said that much as government is moving to re-capitalize Uganda development bank to help farmers, available financial banks must be lenient to farmers as well.

He said that farmers are potential bank customers, thus engaging them will give banking sector a mileage.

“These farmers should be the people you should favour most because they will be your customers of all seasons,” Sekandi said.

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Sekandi being awarded at a previous function for his contribution to the decentralization process in Uganda.

The President said this in a speech read for him by the Vice President, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, during the annual commemoration of the African Day of Decentralization and local Government at Masaka Liberation ground on Wednesday.

Museveni, said that decentralization was a key milestone that enabled the involvement of Ugandans in the decentralization process from the beginning in order to bring services nearer to the people.

The event was held under the theme; ‘Decentralization at 24: Re-engineering Locally initiated Development decision-making and leadership at all levels’.

Museveni also revealed that the Country’s GDP has shifted from about 300 dollars per capita in 1985 to the current about 800 dollars.

“Uganda’s average GDP is growing at 6.2 percent annually. This is one of the fastest growing economies on the continent,” he said, adding that the number of Ugandans living below the poverty line of less than 20 percent of the population has also significantly reduced.

Museveni however, said there was need for more concerted efforts to reduce absolute poverty for the East African region and on the continent in general.

He said this can mainly be achieved through investing in infrastructure improvement and that this in turn would reduce the cost of doing business and hence attract more investment and link markets.

Tom Butime, the Local Government Minister revealed that Local Governments have established business economic forums, which comprise all economic development stakeholders identifying comparative viable economic ventures which will propel the country to the desired middle income status by 2020.

He said that among other achievements, decentralization has provided leadership from the village to national level, adding that civil servants who deliver the basic services are recruited based on need of the respective local Government.

Thomas Ole-kuyan, the Deputy Country Director United Nations Development Programme, said that with Uganda’s focus on local governance, its people will have greater access to services, security and have their priority development goals met.

He pledged UNDP’s support to the decentralization process in Uganda in order to achieve uniform growth across all districts.

Ole-kuyan added that during the 24 years of decentralization, Uganda has evolved in the areas of; political and administrative governance, financial management, Service delivery and economic development functions which, he said are imbedded in the power shared across the government administrative spectrum.

During the same function, Sekandi was among individuals honored for their exemplary public service records and support to the decentralization process in Uganda.

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All this saga comes in after her failure to be endorsed as the FDC flager bearer for EALA. It is rumoured that the FDC president, Col. Kiiza Besigye backed a junior Ingrid Turinawe. And the party’s national Mobiliser Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu and a team of his youth backed Anita Amongi who is also been seen as a junior to Salaamu Musumba. This has very much annoyed the senior Salaamu Musumba and other elders in the party.

The post Salaam Musumba to quit FDC over loss of EALA elections first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

The Senior Private Secretary to His Excellence the Vice President of Uganda, Hajji Hassan Nakabaale says that the office of the Vice President has got requests from England among other countries in Europe to send their qualified pharmacists, nurses and doctors.

He says that a doctor will be paid $30,000 per annum, a pharmacist $15000 per year and a nurse $12000 per annum.

He has told our informers that there are thousands of opportunities for Uganda medical practitioners both in Uganda and abroad. So Nakabale has urged students to opt for science subjects in order to target the increasing job opportunities for doctors, nurses, midwives and pharmacists among others.

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What has been rumoured is now confirmed. The embattled Ugandan former Vice President, Prof. Gilbert Balibaseka Bukenya is to appear in Iryn Namubiru’s ‘Nabuulo’ song video.

The song ‘Nabuulo’ is in praise of Bukenya’s mother for producing the former Vice President who is currently seen as an upcoming pillar in the country’s politics and a growing threat to the ruling National Resistance Movement government.

We hear that Bukenya has coughed in millions of money into the formation of this album. The full names of Bukenya’s mother are Francesca Nabuulo, a Muganda by tribe and Bukenya is her only son in life.

Bukenya is going to be the second richest man in Uganda to have hired a musician to compose a song in praise of his mother. The first one was Charles Mbire who hired Bobi Wine and Juliana Kanyomozi to produce ‘Maama Mbire’ hit in praise of his mother.

Ultimate Media

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Mbabazi shocked people in Kakiri town council yesterday when he told them that he and Bukenya are good friends and they are birds of the same feather. Mbabazi said that he rarely spends a day without talking to Bukenya or any of his family members.

The prime minister also told the people that he fought hard to have Bukenya out of prison when the former Vice President was jailed recently over mismanagement of CHOGM funds. Amama also thanked the people of Busiro north to vote Bukenya during the parliamentary by elections.

Amama also caused laughter when he denied that he was not part of the mafias Bukenya announced not so long ago that they were haunting him. When he stood up to address the people who went to the former Vice President’s home to welcome Mbabazi, Bukenya too said that he was a friend of Mbabazi.

By Moureen Nakyanzi

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Security agencies in Kampala are reportedly spying on Col. Kiiza Besigye’s home in Kasangati, in Kampala, headquarters of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), and Besigye’s up country home in Rukungiri. Besigye is the president general of FDC and he has contested for president thrice and lost the polls.

A source in security tells us that the cameras were installed five years back. The Vice president of FDC, Salaam Musumba says that FDC and Besigye are aware that UPDF and other security agencies are spying on them.

She says that the surveillance on Besigye’s home and FDC villas is now an open secret among Ugandans. Musumba however says that this invades peoples rights to privacy. Musumba further urges Uganda’s security agencies to leave Besigye and other opposition politicians in peace.

Police spokesman Asuman Mugyenyi however says he is not aware about the presence of spy cameras at Besigye’s home.

By Walakira Nyanzi

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Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi

In his first public address since he became the Vice President this month, Sekandi told the Christians who were at the Martyrs day celebrations at Namugongo in Kampala on June 3 that like the church, the government of Uganda also condemns some western cultures like homosexuality, lesbianism, drug abuse and other immoral acts.

The Vice President (VP) thanked the churches for the good partnership they have with government in shaping the society.

The VP said that the immoral acts are not only a threat to the Church or nation but also to the entire humanity.

He said that government will not condone immorality in the context of human rights as the western countries commend.

By Issa Asuman

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