Thursday, March 28News That Matters

Politics

South Sudan is out of foreign exchange reserves

South Sudan is out of foreign exchange reserves

FEATURED, Latest News, Politics
Tumbling oil production and alleged corruption have led to the weakening of the country's currency. South Sudan, battered by years of conflict and corruption, has run out of foreign exchange reserves and cannot stop the pound's depreciation, a senior central bank official in the oil-producing nation said on Wednesday. South Sudan gets almost all of its revenue from crude oil, but current output, at about 180,000 barrels per day (bpd), has plummeted from a peak of 250,000 bpd before the outbreak of conflict in 2013, according to official figures. "It is difficult for us at the moment to stop this rapidly increasing exchange rate, because we do not have resources, we do not have reserves," Daniel Kech Pouch, the bank's second deputy governor, told a news conference. South Sudan ...
Yaya Toure insists Pep Guardiola should have won the Champions League with Manchester City by now

Yaya Toure insists Pep Guardiola should have won the Champions League with Manchester City by now

FEATURED, Politics
'If this was Barcelona, he's in trouble': Yaya Toure insists Pep Guardiola should have won the Champions League with Manchester City by now… as club legend doubts his old boss's man-management skills and questions his cosy Etihad set-up Yaya Toure claims Pep Guardiola's job would be on the line if he was in Spain Guardiola has failed to win the Champions League with Manchester City so farEx-City hero Toure has had a mixed relationship with Guardiola over the yearsToure also talks about City's title chances next term and Lionel Messi's future. There are no algorithms to determine who will make the grade in management. So the only option for Yaya Toure as he studies for his coaching badges? Watch and learn. The past week has certainly given the 37-year-old Ivorian much to cons...
West African states to send delegation ‘immediately’ to Mali.

West African states to send delegation ‘immediately’ to Mali.

FEATURED, Politics
Leaders of the West African group ECOWAS pledged action following a military coup in Mali that sent shockwaves around the region. The junta that seized power announced they will put in place a "transitional government." West African leaders on Thursday called for the ousted president of Mali to be restored to office while also seeking a return of constitutional order following the coup that took place in the country earlier this week. "We have decided to immediately send a high-level delegation in order to ensure the immediate return of constitutional order," said the chair of the regional bloc ECOWAS (The Economic Community of West African States), Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou. "We call for the restoration of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as president," Issoufou said in...
Museveni Appoints Alphonse Owiny-Dollo as new Chief Justice.

Museveni Appoints Alphonse Owiny-Dollo as new Chief Justice.

FEATURED, Latest News, Politics
By Keefa Nuwahereza President Museveni on Thursday appointed Justice Alpfonse Owiny-Dollo as the new Chief Justice, becoming the 13th Chief Justice since 1962 when Uganda got her Independence. Likewise, Supreme Court Judge Richard Buteera was appointed Deputy Chief Justice. The two names have since been sent to Parliament for vetting. Justice Owiny-Dollo has been the Acting Chief Justice since June 20 when then substantive Chief Justice Bart Katureebe retired upon clocking 70 years.  The Chief Justice is the head of the Judiciary, which is one of the three arms of State, and it is the fourth most powerful office in the country after that of the President, Vice president and Speaker of Parliament. Justice Owiny-Dollo becomes the first Chief Justice to be elevated from the position ...
Sudan foreign ministry spokesman sacked after Israel deal comment

Sudan foreign ministry spokesman sacked after Israel deal comment

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics
Haidar Badawi has been fired a day after he said there is 'no reason to continue hostility between Sudan and Israel'. Sudan's foreign ministry spokesman has been dismissed after making allegedly unauthorised comments indicating there were contacts with Israel regarding normalising ties. The development on Wednesday comes after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel announced last week that they were to establish diplomatic ties, a deal denounced by the Palestinians as a "betrayal" of their cause. The agreement makes the UAE only the third Arab nation - after Egypt and Jordan - to have full ties with Israel.  Sudanese acting Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din "has dismissed Haidar Badawi from his position as spokesman and head of the media division" at the ministry...
Why is People Power So Popular in Buganda?

Why is People Power So Popular in Buganda?

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics
By Timothy Kalyegira I've not in a long time seen Baganda, elite and ordinary, feel so motivated, so filled with conviction and an uplifting of their spirit, as during this political phenomenon called People Power. It's something refreshing to witness. The region had in recent years started losing all sense of hope and self-belief. Baganda felt their area was fading into humiliating inconsequence. On Sunday Jan. 26, 2020 during a political discussion on 94.1 Bilal FM in Kampala, the opposition politician Michael Mabbike made a statement that has stuck in my mind all year. Mabbike warned that in the next ten years, Baganda will find themselves the first people in Uganda to have no land of their own. That statement cut through me.  It crystallised the underlying fe...
Sudanese protest a year after power-sharing deal with army

Sudanese protest a year after power-sharing deal with army

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics
Security forces fire tear gas as protesters return to the streets of Khartoum to demand quicker political reforms. Protesters in Sudan have returned to the streets over the slow pace of change a year after a power-sharing agreement was signed between the country's generals and a pro-democracy movement.  Draped in Sudanese flags and chanting slogans calling for more reforms, the demonstrators on Monday gathered outside the cabinet's headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, to hand over a list of demands that include the election of a legislative body. The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), an umbrella organisation of pro-democracy groups that spearheaded relentless protests that led to the overthrow of longtime President Omar al-Bashir last year, said on Twitter that se...
Jose Chameleon abandons his popular stage name.

Jose Chameleon abandons his popular stage name.

FEATURED, GOSSIP, Politics
 By Keefa Nuwahereza. Ugandanmusician Joseph Mayanja says he no longer wants to be referred by the stagename Jose Chameleon. Mayanja, who’s built a fan base acrossEast Africa with hit songs such as Mama Mia, Valu Valu, Tubonge and Kipepeo, says he should henceforth be referred toby the names on his passport and other identification documents. Tostress the point, Mayanja bought space in the dailies to drive the point home.                   “I Mayanja Joseph formerly known as Mayanja Joseph Chameleone, aCitizen of Uganda do hereby absolutely renounce and abandon the use of myformer name of Mayanja Joseph Chameleone and lieu, therefore, assume as fromthe day hereof my new name Mayanja Joseph,” read his statement. “And I herebyauthorize and request all persons to designate and addr...
Remains of over 100 Rwanda genocide victims found in Nyarugenge District.

Remains of over 100 Rwanda genocide victims found in Nyarugenge District.

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics, Rwanda
Remains of over 100 victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi have been exhumed in the Rwandan capital Kigali, a survivors' organisation said on Monday. The remains were discovered from a pit at the backyard of a house in Nyarugenge district, which belongs to a former notorious Interahamwe militia member, Masengo Rutayisire. Head of Ibuka, the umbrella organisation of genocide survivors of Rwanda, told reporters of the discovery at a news briefing at the site.  They were discovered after a local resident heard occupants of the house talking about the mass grave. The resident later informed the authorities. The search for the remains, which started last week, is still ongoing, with two more pits expected to be dug out, he said. Occupants of the home were ...
Is Tribalism Eating Up Democratic Party (DP)?!

Is Tribalism Eating Up Democratic Party (DP)?!

FEATURED, NEWS, Politics
Opinion “This common wisdom fired me up. It led me to the current question, which I pose. Whose party is it anyway? Does DP belong to the top leadership, a section of the membership or does it belong to all the members, supporters and the nation, which looks to it to actualise their aspirations?” The arrogance of these tribalists in Buganda who think they will own us and threaten our existence must be challenged. Mao thanks for standing against “enkwe” I watched and witnessed them conspire against you, not against your character but for your tribe. I heard them describe you as being a product of a Munyakole mother and an Acholi dad and I realised we were dealing with a friend deadly reactionary and silly gang. Let them go! They have gone to their right place, Ku kasas...