Category Archives: EAC

I love Donald Trump says Ugandan President Museveni

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Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said he loves the United States President Donald Trump who was recently reported to have referred to Africa countries as “shithole”.

Addressing members of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) at its opening in Kampala on Tuesday, Mr Museveni said the US president was frank.

“I love Trump because he tells Africans frankly. I don’t know whether he’s misquoted or whatever. He talks to Africans frankly,” he said.

He said Africans need to solve their own problems through integration.

“You can’t survive if you are weak. It is the Africans’ fault that they are weak… that’s why we need East African integration.

“We are 12 times the size of India, but why are we not strong?” He posed.

The East African Community has six member states — Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. Somalia is also seeking admission to the bloc.

Apology

Meanwhile, earlier Tuesday, the US ambassador to Uganda Ms Deborah Malac apologised over Mr Trump’s comments terming them insensitive.

“For people like me and many of my colleagues who have spent many years working in Africa, we have many relationships and friendships across the continent, [the comments] are obviously quite disturbing and upsetting…” Ms Malac told Uganda’s Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga.

“…I can assure you that we remain engaged and committed to working not just in Uganda but in all the other countries that we work with on the continent and our programmes continue,” she added.

Ms Malac was responding to Ms Kadaga’s query about the comments attributed to Mr Trump.

President Trump, in a meeting with US lawmakers on January 18 is reported to have dismissed Haiti, El Salvador and Africa as “shithole countries” whose inhabitants are not desirable to immigrate to America. But Mr Trump later denied using the derogatory term saying that he only used “tough language”.

His remarks were criticised across the world with many African nations calling for his apology.

Uganda’s neighbour Kenya said it had no problem with Mr Trump’s comments since he did not necessarily direct them at the country.

Eala

The regional assembly began its plenary session in Kampala this week amid division over the election of the Speaker with Burundi refusing to recognise Rwanda’s Martin Ngoga as the new Speaker.

“In a nutshell, integration is about the future of our people,” Mr Museveni told the MPs, adding that “It’s not about positions. When I hear you quarrel about positions, I feel sorry.”

Nelson Wesonga The East African

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Dushyigikiye DR KIZZA BESIGYE, INTWARI izahora iratwa n’ urubyiruko rw’Abaharanira Demokarasi muri Afurika.

Besigye

Dr KIIZA BESIGYE, Umukandida wa FDC

Twakomeje gukurikiranira hafi akarasisi karanze amatora aherutse kuba mu gihugu cy’abaturanyi cya UGANDA, hari taliki ya 18/2/2016.Twashimye by’umwihariko ibiganiro-mpaka bibiri byahuje abakandida bahataniraga umwanya wa Perezida wa Repubulika : Icyambere cyabaye taliki ya 15/1/2016, icyakabiri kiba ku itariki ya 13/2/2016. Twaribwiraga tuti wabona igihugu cya Uganda giciye agahigo kikaba intangarugero muri demokarasi, abaturage bagasubizwa uburenganzira bwabo bwo kwihitiramo abayobozi bashatse binyuze mu matora adafifitse. Twarishukaga ngo wabona Perezida KAGUTA Museveni umaze imyaka 30 yose ku butegetsi noneho yibutse rya jambo rikomeye yavuze mu mwaka w’1986 ngo » Icyorezo gikomeye kizahaje Afurika si abaturage b’ibihugu ahubwo ni abaperezida bihambira ku butegetsi mu buryo buteye isoni « . Twari twaheranywe n’inzozi twihenda ngo n’ubwo Museveni yahindaguye itegekonshinshinga rya Uganda kenshi kugirango arambe ku butegetsi, ubu noneho nk’umukambwe wabonye ibipfa n’ibikira yashyira mu gaciro akereka abanya Uganda n’isi yose ko inyota y’ubutegetsi nayo igira iherezo.

Twarihendaga.

Nk’uko bigaragarira buri wese, Museveni yiyatse amahirwe yo gusezera ku butegetsi mu nzira yari kuzamuhesha icyubahiro mu minsi itari myinshi asigaje kuri iyi si, none ahisemo kwiyandikisha bidasubirwaho ku rutonde rw’abakuru b’ibihugu badashobotse, barangwa n’ikinyoma gusa, bubakira byose ku kwikunda, igitugu n’iterabwoba, badashishikajwe n’inyungu rusange, batunzwe no gusahura ibya rubanda, bahonyora uburenganzira shingiro bw’abenegihugu, mbese bene babandi bazahora bibukirwa ku mahano y’urukozasoni yaranze ubutegetsi bwabo.

Mu gutekinika amatora yo mu 2016 , mu kogera uburimiro ku mukandida DR KIIZA BESIGYE no guhohotera abo muri Opozisiyo , abarasa, abakubita, abafungira ubusa… Museveni yeretse urubyiruko rwa Uganda ndetse n’urw’Akarere kose k’Ibiyaga bigari ko nta cyizere na gito bakwiye kongera kugirira aba bayobozi bafashe ubutegetsi bamaze kugarika ingogo ! Ahubwo Museveni abaye nk’uhagamariye urubyiruko rukunda Dr KIIZA BESIGYE kurushaho kwisuganya no guhagurukana umuriri bagahangana bagashyirwa bahangamuye ubutegetsi BWIBA AMAJWI izuba riva, bugasuzugura ibyifuzo nyakuri by’abenegihugu.

M7VSDRBESIGYE

Dr Besigye (ibumoso) na Kaguta Museveni

Muri make, ibidakorwa Perezida Museveni ariho akora i Bugande muri iki gihe, bimutesheje agaciro bidasubirwaho ndetse birasa n’ibitangije ibihe bidasanzwe bya Revolisiyo ya rubanda itazabura guhitana umukambwe Kaguta Museveni ndetse n’abandi banyagitugu nka we bo mu Karere.

Nanone kandi byumvikane ko ibiri kubera mu gihugu cya Uganda bifite igisobanuro n’amasomo menshi arenga kure imbibi z’icyo gihugu . Umuryango mpuzamahanga wo warangije kurunguruka umunyagitugu Museveni no kumukura ho amaboko. Ariko igiteye inkeke kurushaho ni uko Urubyiruko rw’ibihugu bigize Akarere ka Afurika y’Uburasirazuba (EAC) rwarangije kumva neza ko ari ngombwa kwitabaza INTWARO kugira ngo bariya bategetsi bigize INDAKOREKA n’IBIGIRWAMANA bashobore kwigizwayo no gushyirwa mu mwanya bakwiye .

Umwanzuro

KAGAME NA SEWABO

Kaguta Museveni na Kagame Pahulo (iburyo)

Nkatwe twiyemeje guharanira gufasha Abanyarwanda kugera ku mpinduka nziza bakeneye dushyize imbere inzira y’amahoro , turareba tugasanga ibiriho kubera i Bugande bigenura urudutegereje! Niba mu mpera z’umwaka wa 2015, Perezida Pahulo Kagame yarariye isoni akagerageza guhindura Itegekonshinga ( n ‘ubwo byakozwe uko atabishakaga!)kugirango azagwe ku butegetsi, nta cyemeza ko mu matora ya 2017 azibuza kugenza nka Sewabo KAGUTA Museveni ndetse no gukora ibirenzeho kugirango akunde anige ijwi rya rubanda itakimukeneye, bityo akomeze ategeke abatamushaka.Niyo mpamvu rero abifuza kwitangira impinduka nzima mu Rwanda dukwiye gukomeza urugendo nta mususu ariko tukanakura isomo ku biri kubera i Bugande maze tukarushaho kunoza intego n’ingendo kugira ngo tutazatungurwa! Ndongera guhamagarira cyane cyane urubyiruko rw’u Rwanda, ari abari mu gihugu no hanze yacyo, kwitabira  » « RASSEMBLEMENT ANTI-TROISIEME MANDAT » kugira ngo duhamye « Stratégies » zikwiye guhangamura ingoma y’igitugu y’Agatsiko kiyemeje kuduhindura Indorerezi n’Abagereerwa mu gihugu cyacu.

 

Turashima UBUTWARI bwa Dr BESIGYE n’urubyiruko rwa Uganda rumushyigikiye kandi tukaba tubifuriza ko bakomeza umutsi bagaharanira uburenganzira bwabo batitaye ku bikangisho bya Perezida Museveni kandi ntibakangwa ubugome bwose bashobora kagirirwa. Abafaransa babivuze ukuri ngo : « A vaincre sans péril on triomphe sans gloire ». Tubahanze amaso kandi turabashyigikiye.

Padiri Thomas Nahimana,
Umukandida w’Ishyaka ISHEMA na Nouvelle Génération mu matora ya Perezida wa Repubulika yo mu mwaka wa 2017.

UGANDA Polls: US encourages those who wish to contest results.

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Press Statement

Mark C. Toner
Deputy Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 20, 2016

 


The United States commends the Ugandan people for participating actively and peacefully in the February 18 elections. While the vote occurred without major unrest, we must acknowledge numerous reports of irregularities and official conduct that are deeply inconsistent with international standards and expectations for any democratic process.

Delays in the delivery of voting materials, reports of pre-checked ballots and vote buying, ongoing blockage of social media sites, and excessive use of force by the police, collectively undermine the integrity of the electoral process. The Ugandan people deserved better. We are also concerned by the continued house arrest of opposition presidential candidate Kizza Besigye. We call for his immediate release and the restoration of access to all social media sites.

We encourage those who wish to contest the election results to do so peacefully and in accordance with Uganda’s laws and judicial process, and urge the Ugandan government to respect the rights and freedoms of its people and refrain from interference in those processes.

Source: US Department of State

Uganda poll fails fairness, credibility test

On February 18, Ugandans went to the polls with high hopes that the country had turned the proverbial corner, following the political maturity exhibited during the three months when the presidential candidates ran largely issue-based campaigns.

Coming in after the 2011 elections that were characterised by voter apathy and low turnout, these elections promised to be different and the excitement of a people eager to choose their leaders was palpable. The social media was abuzz, with Ugandans rallying their friends and family members to turn up and exercise their democratic right.

Unfortunately, the outright mismanagement of the voting process by the Electoral Commission and the arrests and harassment of opposition leaders even before the announcement of the final results (the incumbent, unsurprisingly, was declared the winner) dampened the spirits of citizens and cast doubts on the Uganda government’s commitment to a transparent and credible election.

On Thursday voters, many of whom turned up at their polling stations before the 7.00am (0400 GMT) opening time, spent hours in long queues waiting for the voting to start after materials arrived late.

Some of the delays were simply inexcusable: How do you explain failure to deliver polling materials on time to a station that is 200 metres away from the headquarters of the Electoral Commission? In the end, some of the voters gave up and left. Voters in some 38 polling stations had to return the next day to vote, an inconvenience they had not anticipated.

In some polling stations, thousands of voters’ names were not in the voters’ register, which locked them out of the exercise. The net effect of the delays and hitches is that thousands of voters were disenfranchised.

As former Nigerian president and head of the Commonwealth Observer Mission Olusegun Obasanjo observed, delays of three, four, five and even six hours, especially in Kampala, were absolutely inexcusable and did not inspire trust in the system or process.

In addition to the mismanagement of the polling process, the aftermath of the voting has been anything but civil. Leaders of the opposition were harassed, arrested and their offices and homes raided, forcing at least one foreign mission to caution its citizens to stay indoors.

The vote-tallying process also left a lot to be desired. There were reports of candidates’ agents being denied access to the results coming into the national tallying centre from the districts. Matters were made worse by claims that some of the results being announced at the national tallying centre differed from those announced at polling centres.

Elections should provide an opportunity for people to choose the leaders they want, and reject those they don’t want. It would be unfortunate if it turns out the 2016 election failed to offer Ugandans this democratic right.

Source:http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/editorial/Uganda-poll-fails-fairness-and-credibility-test-/-/434752/3086010/-/11964ryz/-/index.html

Kikwete and Kagame break the ice at EAC summit

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East African leaders from left; President Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), President Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), President Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania), President Paul Kagame (Rwanda), President Pierre Nkurunzinza (Burundi) and Deputy President William Ruto during the 16th Summit of EAC Heads of State at KICC, in Nairobi.

Heart-warming gestures by President Jakaya Kikwete and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda injected hope of a new beginning in the strained relations between the two countries during the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit here yesterday.

Midway through the summit, with President Kikwete having taken the Chair, the Rwandan leader approached the Tanzanian leader and exchanged warm gestures as the latter apparently reported that he had to rush back home.

Packed to capacity, Tsavo Hall at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre briefly went silent as the two presidents spoke in low tones before President Kagame left. President Kikwete appeared quite relieved.

A senior official of the EAC hinted this could be the first time the two leaders have been seen in a friendly mood in public for some time and affirmed that relations between the two Heads of State have always been cordial but not visibly so in public.

President Kagame told the Chair he had to leave for home, having been in Kenya for two days during which he commissioned a 140mw geothermal plant.

Relations between Tanzania and Rwanda have been strained since mid-2013 over the ex-Rwandan rebels operating in eastern DR Congo. At some point, this led to a spat between senior officials of the two EAC member countries.

Despite the leaders having regularly attended EAC Summits and other international meetings outside the bloc, there had been no public and recorded instance of such a friendly gesture.

Summit host Uhuru Kenyatta sat between the Tanzanian and Rwandan leaders at the podium as the 16th ordinary summit started before the Rwandan leader left the hall. His place was taken by his country’s EAC minister, Ms Valentine Rugwabiza.

The Tanzanian leader showered special praise on his predecessor, President Kenyatta, and the EAC secretary general, Dr Richard Sezibera, for steering the regional organisation to the current level that has seen intra-regional trade soar to $5.8billion. “Ambassador Sezibera, thank you for the trust,” he said. “Tanzania will not let down the EAC.”

He said he was impressed by Kenya and Rwanda, which were ahead of other EAC partner states in implementing outstanding decisions of strategic importance to the bloc–as shown in a recent study.

President Kikwete did not waste time after taking the Chair, about three hours behind the scheduled time, in declaring that the Summit of Heads of State, which is the supreme organ of EAC, has now devised a new way of doing things. “We (leaders) consult intensively before the plenary sessions,” he said as he pledged to secure the Community. “We come here after exhausting all the crucial matters to announce the major decisions made.”

The traditional pre-summit consultations of all the five presidents–Mr Kikwete, Mr Kagame, Mr Kenyatta, Mr Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi and Mr Yoweri Museveni of Uganda–had to be re-rescheduled to early yesterday from Thursday evening.

President Kikwete, with the chairperson’s baton firmly in hand, steered the Summit for about three hours but was categorical that he was stepping down later this year a happier citizen of the bloc though concerned over the slow pace of integration.

“After October, I will be a prominent retired Tanzanian,” he said to applause and noted that the challenges the economic bloc have endured over time had made it much stronger.

Analysts suggested that his reference to stepping down was an indirect message to President Nkurunziza, who is reported to be seeking another five-year term as president of his violence-wracked country–which has raised tensions there.

President Kikwete, as the new EAC Summit Chairperson, alternated the podium with Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, the EAC Cooperation minister who is now the Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers and the EAC Secretary General Dr Sezibera.

The Tanzanian leader outlined the main challenges the EAC faces–including infrastructure deficits, non-tariff barriers and threats to peace and security in the region posed by neighbouring countries.

Source: The citizen

EALA resumes with motion on Bhanji

By Zephania Ubwani

Arusha. The East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) resumes business in Nairobi next week with the officials tight-lipped on whether an aborted motion to expel a Tanzanian legislator Shy-Rose Bhanji from the Eala Commission for alleged misconduct will be brought up again.

The motion was tabled before the House during its last sitting in Kigali on October 29, but could not sail through for lack of quorum. Only two members from Tanzania were  in the House although other partner states had the required number of MPs, enough to seal the expulsion.

Eala’s Rules of Procedures (13) provide that the quorum of the House shall consist of half of the elected  members provided that such quorum shall be composed of at least three of the elected nine members from each partner state.

Burundi and Kenya had seven legislators each while Rwanda and Uganda had nine and seven MPs respectively when the matter was raised in the House on October 30th by Ms Susan Nakawuki (Uganda) who brought the matter of objection to the quorum to the notice of the Speaker Ms Margaret Natongo Zziwa.

Dora Byamukama (Uganda) tabled the motion on the previous day, calling for the removal of the outspoken  Bhanji, alleging that the Eala Member had exhibited  misconduct while on a European Union benchmarking trip to Brusells in September this year. She further alleges that during the same trip, Ms Bhanji was accompanied by other Eala Members, the legislator from Tanzania made derogatory remarks about some East African Community (EAC) partner states, some members at the Summit of the EAC states and verbally insulted members of the delegation.

She wanted the legislator in question removed from the Commission, the policy organ of Eala, by a way of a secret ballot. The issue was on the Order Paper on the morning of October 30th but the House business was interrupted as the required number of Tanzanian Members did not show up.

Ms Bhanji has denied the allegations, saying until the House was adjourned indefinitely, she had not been served with any written notice on her alleged misconduct from Eala or other authorities.

Source: The Citizen