Capping a momentous week, the Inspector General of Police -IGP Okoth Ochola fired Police spokesperson SSP Emilian Kayima in the new Police shakeup announced Saturday, January 12.
Ochola tapped Fred Enanga as the new Police mouthpiece who will be deputised by Polly Namaye.
Enanga who once held the same position was dropped along with his deputy Namaye by former IGP, Kale Kayihura in 2016.
He was replaced by the later AIGP, Andrew Felix Kaweesi before he was assassinated in March 2017.
The shakeup also saw Patrick Onyango posted as Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson.
Onyango has been deputising Kayima who was transferred to the office of Political Commissar.
In other changes, Luke Oweyesigire, who has been the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, was dropped to deputise Onyango.
The opposition “Minority government” says that the police system has greatly affected the image of the Police and killed the public confidence in the force.
Betty Nambooze who was recently tapped the new shadow cabinet mouthpiece in a statement saidreshuffling officers around will not improve the image and efficiency of the Police force.
“Our strong view is that the force needs a complete overhaul, depoliticisation, and demilitarization,” said.
In other news, Pastor Martin Ssempa, the founder of the Makerere Community Church, was fired from the Pornography Control Committee (PCC), over incompetency and underperformance, Uganda Radio Network (URN) reported.
Fr. Simon Lokodo, the Ethics and Integrity Minister, announced the suspension in a letter dated December 18, 2018, according to URN’s Blanshe Musinguzi.
The minister in the suspension letter also cites earlier warnings to Pastor Ssempa, who has in the last few days been in the media castigating alias Bobi Wine for trying to be like Jesus Christ in his new song Tuliyambala Engule.
Ssempa has since remained tightlipped on matter.
In the same week, The United States Foreign Policy Magazine named Bobi Wine among the top 100 Foreign Policy Global Thinkers of 2018.
Bobi Wine features alongside leaders such as the International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and New Zealand’s 38-year-old Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.
Bobi Wine whose phenomenon rise in the political arena continues to attract global attention was listed in the Arts and Activism section of Foreign Policy Magazine.
The Magazine described Bobi Wine as “Uganda’s firebrand singer-turned-politician (who) grew up poor in Kampala.”
According to the magazine, Bobi Wine has been recognised for representing youth in parliament.
While still celebrating the news, the singer turned politician also received news that he was listed among the most inspirational Africans to watch in 2019 by The Africa Yellow Wall Magazine
“If anyone was going to challenge Yoweri Museveni, the 74-year-old wouldn’t have expected it to be a reggae star who wasn’t even born when he married Janet in 1973. But Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu has constantly being a thorn in Museveni’s flesh and for once, many consider him as the beginning of the end of Museveni’s 32-year rule,” the Yellow Wall Magazine wrote.
“All by himself, Bobi Wine has galvanized support for a new line of thinking that is beyond Museveni. He has helped unseat three incumbent ruling party MPs.
“He was an outsider and nobody invited him but he brought his own chair and sat at the table. The rural votes Museveni once relied on to win elections is now being split with Bobi Wine, whose cult-like following is growing in rural Uganda and among the lower and middle classes, especially young Ugandans.
As things stand, if there is anyone who can end Museveni’s reign through a free and fair election, it is Bobi Wine. He is only 36,” the Magazine wrote.
Although Bobi Wine is widely named, Museveni directly seems unbothered on his future plans.
The President is now pushing the Uganda airlines team to launch as earlier planned.
Sources say Museveni called for a meeting in an attempt to heal a widening rift between the airline’s interim board and the implementation team as it is stalling progress.
Initially slated to launch in April, the carrier’s start date has now been pushed to June, after key milestones such as securing an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) — which is contingent on having key post holders in place — were missed.
Five in total, the key posts, which include chief pilot, director of operations and director of maintenance, are responsible for compliance with the terms of the AOC at the airline level.
This website has learnt that initial slots for training pilots at manufacturer Bombardier’s facility in Montreal, Canada, were missed and new slots are now being sought at alternative facilities in the US and Europe.
Uganda Airlines will need 36 pilots for its four Bombardier jets and training slots had been secured for September, October, and November.
At, Makerere, as the academic staff ponder withunanswered questions surrounding the mass sacking of top lecturers’ by
Makerere will hold its 69th Graduation ceremony from January 15-18 2019, at the university main campus.
Students from the college of business and management sciences and college of computing and information sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resource and Bio-Security will graduate on Wednesday, January 16.
Students from Makerere University Business School (MUBS) will graduate on Thursday, January 17.
The following day, Friday, January 18, students from the College of Humanities and Social sciences colleges of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT) and College of School of Law will be the last to graduate.
In the neighboring DR Congo, presidential runner-up Martin Fayulu challenged the outcome of the country’s election in court.
He claims he defeated opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi by a wide margin.
Fayulu’s opposition coalition said he captured 61 percent of the vote, citing figures from the Catholic Church.
The coalition said Tshisekedi won 18 percent of the vote.
Congo has never seen a peaceful transfer of power since winning independence from Belgium in 1960.
Last week’s election was originally scheduled for 2016 but was delayed as Kabila stayed in office past the end of his mandate, sparking protests that were crushed by security forces, leaving dozens dead.
