Martha Leah Nangalama: August 2017

Thursday, August 31, 2017

Donny Osmond - Any Dream Will Do ~ Give Me My Colored Coat

I am passionate about the arts for kids. Rebecca was only age 2yrs and I kept getting told that they would kick me out if the toddler cried. One of my friends had season tickets to the Meadowvale Theatre in Mississauga just outside of Toronto. That kid would get so animated and behave.

When Natasha came along, it got worse. The kid used to sing in a very high pitch as soon as she would wake up and all day. She still does it when not in class or at work.

But these people who work at the desks to get into theatres. I do not think they like kids. I would show up with small kids and they would give me a lecture that all the kids needed their own tickets. Which was never an issue because I always bought the bloody tickets or Annie and Doug paid for them and I would sit the girls on my lap and they would not make a sound at all.

But this one time, we park in a rush downtown Toronto and I am carrying a baby and holding the hand of the older one and we run into the theatre. Instead of the gentleman asking me for the tickets, he proceeded to lecture me in front of a crowd how I would be kicked out with both kids if they cried.

Then the beauty. He had to use his flashlight to take us to our seats and opens the door as the others are skeptic. Natasha could barely talk except (BAD MOMMIE) and then she is singing Mama Mia! It was rather funny for everyone because the baby in my arms was singing in perfect pitch. The guard said "I guess you are at the right theatre for the right show".

Where was I even going with this story?

So noticing that the girls enjoyed music, soon it was music lessons, music this and music that. I used to work in Moncton. The music teacher lived in Riverview. The kids went to school in Shediac (about 30 mins drive). So I jump out of work, scoot to Shediac, grab the kids, head to Riverview (45 mins) then wait. Then bring them back home. Homework. Supper. Bedtime stories. Practice on the piano. Not in order but I half went insane.

Ladies and gentlemen, the girls are now independent young women who love the arts and STEM and will be okay. They are very responsible. So when Albarka - Daniel and Alherri - Moses now pound the piano like to kill it, I know both my grandsons will be okay. Moncton does not have broadway shows and I miss that I cannot take these two cute boys to experience theatre in front of their own eyes. For now, we shall keep them hunting in our forest or jumping on the trampoline and throwing them in the swimming pool. But this weekend, they are gonna learn to make cup cakes (me too since I do not know).

Martha Leah Nangalama

Passionate about parenting anyway that works. HUMANITIES ARE NOT USELESS.

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) helps with use of technology

This is a widely researched topic and has been around since computers went from big warehouses to desktops to now our hand as smart phones.

HCI is one of those things some of us had to learn in school but no one cares anymore or those who care do not give a damn.

Let me talk about this for Uganda.

Some of you people have a tendency to write everything in capital letters. In those days before every moron had a kachupuli, we used to think of writing in all CAPS as screaming. Why are you screaming at your readers?

Then we have the ones who use colours. Go change the template of your blog and make it plain. Like white background and front in black or blue. Some of you have black backgrounds and write in red. Do you know that the average human eye is very colour specific and the colours of the rainbow need to be used gently?

THEN OF COURSE the flash. About 15% of the world's population suffers from motion sickness. Stop putting moving things on your blog or news paper. Actually my web designer finally blocked me (maybe I blocked him). He has this TRENDING STORIES and the bloody sticker kept moving each time I looked at the sight. I ran out of gravol. I explained. He did not get it. But it got so bad I was not even looking at the freaking sight because I suffer from very severe motion sickness. But Saint Peter fixed it. I woke up one day and nothing was moving. Everything was static.

Back to the CAPITALIZATION of what you post on Facebook or WhatsApp. Some of us do not read it and yet you could be saying something very important. Please only use CAPS for emphasis but do not write 3 freaking paragraphs in caps. AND go easy on those colours because I may be a girl but cannot stand things written in pink (only wearable though).

Martha Leah Nangalama
University of Toronto, Masters in Information Science

Bring back the reading culture to #Uganda

Yesterday, I wrote 2 stories which totally pissed off some Ugandans.

1) I am tribal and hate Basoga and Bagisu.
2) Ugandans must learn to use Social Media properly.

Both posts were meant to entice Ugandans so they could read.

My long time followers read other stories I share and were not jumping at me for the 2 stories. I thank all my followers because they encourage me to keep on writing, researching and writing. I will never thank them enough.

Many of these friends have told me that they read everything I share. It is a lot of responsibility when people tell you to speak truth. Then you must for you have no choice or else you dissapoint your people.

Uganda media is so gagged some of you must stop asking why media does not write about some things. The regime will shut you down anytime so we do not have media freedom.

Journalists and reporters get beat up on live camera. Being one of these groups means you live in fear and must watch what you say all the time.

Where is Uganda media on the most landslides in Bududa and Sironko? Where are the stories on the Kasese slaughter and the mass graves?

"Poor reading habits are the enemy of civilization". Because when you do not read, you cannot write or articulate our problems. Reading helps you to ask questions.

We are now living in a global village. Yet far too many of you only read the headline and nothing after. You make a very big mistake. Read the whole damn story.

If you are dead set on attacking me, remember that I am 95% vegetarian and not paid by anyone in Uganda unlike some of you who line up for UGX 5k to abuse and sing #MuseveniPakaLast. I could get fired by ExxonMobil or Esso tomorrow but will walk away with a descent package in dollars.

Please read with a fury. It will be good for your brain.

Martha Leah Nangalama
Passionate about Education and Social Justice!

#Museveni is smuggling sugar into #Uganda through #Somalia - Raila Odinga

Since 2015 Uganda and Kenya trade relations have been dominated by the ‘sugar politics'. Kenya has persistently suffered a deficit whereby its local sugar production could not meet the demand. Uganda was cleared to export an average of 9,000 metric tonnes of sugar to the Kenyan market.

However, around late 2016 Kenya blocked Uganda's sugar exports to the Kenyan market accusing it of exploiting regional trade agreements. Kenya claimed that Uganda was simply importing sugar from Brazil and Egypt which is repackaged before being exported to Kenya. Note: Kenya produces more sugar than Uganda but because of poverty, Ugandans consume less sugar than Kenya thus supply in Uganda exceeds local demand. In many Africa governments, affordability of sugar by individual households is a key barometer of an ordinary person's wellbeing. At the height of the sugar price crisis, a kilo of Sugar in Kenya rose from Ksh. 200 (7,000 Ug shs) to Ksh. 350 (13,000 UG Sh.) and in Uganda it rose from 5,000 to 7,000. This disparity boosted smuggling across the Kenya-Uganda border.

For the last two years now, Uganda has repeatedly and vehemently denied the allegations of sugar repackaging and exporting to Kenya. In July 2017 Museveni ordered leaders of sugar producing districts not to grant any new licences to new sugar factories unless there is sufficient supply of sugarcane. He had earlier decreed that for any new sugar factory to be established anywhere it must be at least 50kms away from an already existing one. This directive was contested by out growers, prompting a bitter row with district leaders. They argued that the directive is unfair as it favours well to do sugar producers and not the ones trying to come in. Museveni is all out to protect the three traditional sugar producers who have sustained his 31 years’ stay in power. He warned that police would step in "to protect the territorial integrity of sugar factories" if his directive is not heeded.

Last week the proprietor of the newly established Atiak Sugar Factory, Amina Hersi Moghe accused the three leading sugar factories of illegal importation of sugar for resale in order to meet the demands. Her revelation corroborates the earlier argument by Kenya that Uganda was repackaging and exporting sugar imported from Brazil and Egypt. The Somali by origin, recently got a 64M shillings bail out from Museveni before he described her as "a gift from God to the people of Amuru".

Coupled by her high level political, economic and social connections, the assertion is very credible. On the eve of the Kenya general elections, Raila Odinga told NBS Television that Uganda was exporting to Kenya the sugar it smuggles into the country through Somalia. Given the Museveni regime's historical reputation of involvement in plundering and illicit trade wherever it has military expeditions, Odinga's assertion could be true. The Old Airport at Entebbe, which is exclusively used by the army, has in the past played a significant role in aiding smuggling. We have heard of commanders selling arms, ammunitions, food and fuel supplies, training for Al-Shabaab etc. and why not smuggling?

INFORMATION IS POWER AND DEFIANCE IS THE WAY TO GO!

change of guards blog

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

#US journalist Christopher Allen killed by #Uganda army for writing about Museveni in South Sudan

US JOURNALIST CHRISTOPHER ALLEN 'S BODY HANDED OVER TO US EMBASSY

First let me send my condolences to the people of Bududa and Sironko for their loss that nobody seems to care about. The people of Bududa have suffered such a calamity and dictator Museveni is busy campaigning to amend the constitution to stay in power. Martha Nangalama was very right in calling out most MP's specifically NRM MPs from Bugisu for sleeping with Museveni who does not care about that area. We are better people and a fund should be established to help the people of Bududa.

Back to the headline story. The body of US journalist Christopher Allen who was killed by UPDF near the Uganda-South Sudan boarder has been handed over to the US representative in South Sudan. Christopher Allen in the picture was a 25 year old young man assigned to report on the South Sudan war. The committee that governs journalists has called for an investigation into Christopher Allen's death by the Ugandan forces.

According to the complaint, Allen was deliberately shot and killed for his criticism of Museveni fueling the civil war in South Sudan. Allen had written numerous articles criticizing UPDF killing of civilians and Museveni's arming of the government of South Sudan. Allen was embedded with a unit of the SPLA-IO when he was shot .

According to sources Allen was clearly wearing a press vest when he died. According to Michael Makuei, South Sudan's minister for information any one on the SPLA-IO's side is always a target but regretted his death. He went on to say that the journalist had entered the country illegally after being denied a visa because of his hostile reports about UPDF.

He further said that Allen was a criminal and was treated as such. He was shot when he was taking UPDF pictures in South Sudan fighting alongside South Sudan's army.

According to Col. Paul Lam Gabriel, UPDF, forces just took him out without warning. This has proven that Museveni's political belief is to eliminate those that disagree with his political views similar to what happened to Dr. Kayiira.

DON'T LET THE SMARTPHONE BE SMARTER THAN YOU.

STOP THE MADNESS.
Nathan Span

#Uganda must learn how to use the phone and Internet.

I grew up around phones and later computers. Our phone had a padlock. Mzee used to lock it at 9pm and unlock it at 9am. This was to prevent us from calling people after 9pm and before 9am.

For the life of me, I do not understand why Ugandans call me at 5am their time (11pm my time). When I used to answer the phone, I would ask why they were calling me at 11pm. Some would proudly tell me it is 5am in Uganda. Seriously? Get a wife, life or both! What happened to manners? You roll out of bed at 5am and before going to dig and grow cassava you call Leah. It is an insanity of immense proportion. And please learn time zones.

God is my witness. I never call Uganda or send SMS outside 9pm and 9am.

But it gets worse. Some people joyfully use video calling. I come from a very big clan and never video call any of my siblings. You on the other hand call me even at 2am using video. I could be naked and in bed. I could be getting lucky. I could be asleep and rushing to the phone as it might be an emergency and my family might be calling because someone is sick. Or it could be France calling looking for their son. So I grab the phone only to hear "tsap dia". Kumanina. I can use other big words.

Most people who call at strange hours are total strangers. A phone directory has some 5 million names and numbers. Do you randomly call them any time because you see their number?

India has become India. Some idiots call me in the middle of the night telling me the home server has a virus and may I work with them to resolve it. They will proudly tell me they work for Microsoft. As if Microsoft does not know timezones!

😡

Then marketing companies. My kid is burned out from school and now it is midnite and we are correcting the last paragraph on Dead Poet Society essay. "Miss Marta, we will sell you Internet for cheap. How much are you paying now?" Me "I am sorry but this kid needs to go sleep and we are finishing her essay". The tumbafu proceeds to tell me "okay. After essay we talk?". Yeah buddy, it will be 1am.

Of course some of you will say I should not make my phone public. You are wrong.

One time at 10pm my time (4am Uganda time), a total stranger called me from Kampala. He was a genius. Straight away "I got a your number from Facebook. My wife is dying. Please help me". I asked some questions. In the end it turned out the woman had been vomiting all night and was now very weak. The husband was unsure if the wife was preggo. At 4am in Uganda it is not easy to find an open clinic or medics in a hospital. So I stayed on the phone for 4hrs till it was day time at home. This is when I wrote about ORS. He had sugar, salt and water. We boiled the water and did the migix. The lady drunk. We had to rehydrate her. By daytime when they got to Mulago she was okay. Turned out to be pregnant.

🙄

🙄
Are you thinking what I am thinking? The baby was named Leah. Bang! #IthinkIamFunny!

Please do not randomly call me unless you have an emergency. I have no medical training but I raised 4 girls so I can talk with you to help you till you see a professional doctor.

Martha Leah Nangalama
Mobile / WhatsApp +15068716371. I am 6hrs behind Uganda but will be 7hrs behind in October.

If you call me in the night and it is not an emergency, I will hack your kachupuli and take you off the Internet. Nange ndi mukoowu.

Some 2 million #Ugandans will fall off the Internet - assuming their govt is good in ICT

Telecom companies in Uganda make money by selling airtime and data for accessing the Internet and social bundles. In Uganda, Social Bundles is a package you buy for UGX 2000 and it lasts you 7 days. I think it translates into $0.75 USD.

Most Ugandan families live on $1 per day so you can imagine the impoverishment. Nevertheless, you find youth all over Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp groups attacking Ugandans in Diaspora and so far, I am a prostitute in Winnipeg Manitoba (a province I have never lived in) or a street sweeper (Canada uses machines to sweep streets and snow) or a sex slave (my family would kill me for this). But apparently I have also been known to clean toilets and change diapers on elderly people. The Ugandans who say these things spend $0.75 per week to use all their time abusing and attacking total strangers.

In Uganda if you tell the unemployed youth to use Google or click on a link, they draw a blank. Yet they are superb at abusing total strangers.

Ugandans abroad remitted USD $2 billion in 2016 to Uganda. Yet we are called a lot of bad names by the same people who soon turn around and beg us for food, school fees or to pay for their medical care.

So we are faced with 85% unemployment with graduates facing 92% unemployment in the first 7 years after getting their degree or diploma. BUT they happily abuse people who could help them. The whole country has gone to the dogs. These kids eat only one meal a day if lucky or many times, it is one meal every 3 days. I am sitting here in Canada and would want to buy food for them or pay school fees for their kids or care for their parents when they get sick but I am a malaya.

The money these kids expend on useless things on Social Media could be used by them to start small business projects. BUT try to tell them that and they will tell you that they know someone who knows someone who will help them get a job as they walk the streets of Kampala till their shoes get worn out and always with their kachupuli to abuse Leah who by the way is not hungry or begging for food. Kachupuli is used for Made in China. The kids cannot even open a web link on their phones.

Initially, I was angry at the Uganda government and the Telecom companies for forcing them to register their phones. Now I fully support the government. What is the use of having them on the Internet and Social Media when all they do is post nudes or abuse strangers continents away.

Surely UCC must be good. Let us wake up on August 30th and find all useless phones off the grid and maybe then the youth will go get a job or grow a garden. It is lamentable to give access to people to access the world but they do not realise how much they can benefit from the world.

Martha Leah Nangalama
Journalist, Editor, Writer and Blogger (Probono)
Global Computer Network Infrastructure Analyst
I am passionate about education.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

#Oil report for August 29, 2017

•   Hurricane Harvey slammed into the coast of Texas over the weekend, walloping the high concentration of oil and gas assets in the region.

•   As of Monday, an estimated 2.3 million barrels of refining capacity per day was knocked offline.

•   A fifth of the Gulf’s offshore production was sidelined, and although data was a little more opaque, Texas shale production may have seen 400,000 to 500,000 bpd disrupted.

•   Major Texas ports are still closed, causing major disruptions in the global oil and gas trade.

Market Movers

•   Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) shut down its Corpus Christi and Three Rivers refineries late last week ahead of the hurricane, and said on Monday that it is trying to figure out when they will reopen.

•   The refining disruptions have helped spark a rally in refining stocks because gasoline prices are soaring. Major refiners including Valero (NYSE: VLO), Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX), Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) and others all saw share price increases.

•   Oil companies saw share prices decline as the Hurricane will weigh on crude prices.

Chart of the Week

Oil prices sank on Monday as Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston and other parts of the Texas coast. The outage of key oil ports have disrupted shipments, leaving Texas shale drillers without a destination for their crude. The fear is that oil supplies will build up within Texas, which is why crude prices sank. The flip side is that the refinery outages have caused gasoline prices to skyrocket, opening up a wide crack between crude and products prices.

Refining outages disrupt fuel supply. An estimated 2.3 mb/d of refining capacity has been shut down temporarily, with major refineries such as ExxonMobil’s (NYSE: XOM)massive Baytown complex shuttered. Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A), Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and others also shut down refineries. Gasoline from Texas supplies much of the U.S. East Coast, but it also supplies Latin America and Europe, so the outages will be felt around the world. As for crude, the refiner closures mean demand will take a temporary hit, and plunging oil prices in the last few days reflect that. The rain is expected to continue through much of this week.

Oil production curtailed. An estimated 20 percent of the Gulf of Mexico’s offshore oil production was sidelined from the storm, or roughly 400,000 bpd. The outages offshore aren’t expected to last very long.

Corpus Christi port closed. An oil drilling ship sank in the port of Corpus Christi, blocking the ship channel. The drill ship, owned by Paragon Offshore, could delay reopening of the port. Corpus Christi has grown in importance recently because the volume of crude oil exports leaving the U.S has exited through the city’s port.

Refining outages could get worse. ExxonMobil may begin shutting down its Beaumont, TX refinery today, a facility with a capacity of 362,000 bpd, due to rising waters. It also plans on shutting down a 240,000-bpd crude distillation unit. Motiva Enterprises will make a decision on Tuesday on whether or not to shut down its refinery in Port Arthur, TX, the nation’s largest oil refinery. The facility has a capacity of 603,000 bpd, but Reuters reportsthat high water and problems obtaining crude oil are affecting operations. At the time of this writing, no word has come from Motiva. The outages of these two refineries would seriously exacerbate the growing gasoline shortage.

IEA: No need for SPR release. The IEA said that despite the catastrophe in Texas, there is no need to release crude oil from strategic stockpiles because the oil market is well supplied. In any event, the shortages will be in the refined products market much more so than for crude oil.

Saudi Arabia and Russia push for three-month extension. Saudi Arabia and Russia have hinted that they would be open to extending the coordinated production cuts for another 3 months after the expected expiration date in March, pushing the deal through the end of June 2018. “There are concerns that if OPEC and non-OPEC producers exit the market in March, traders will react quite negatively to it and behave as if the market is in a free fall,” one senior Saudi oil official told the WSJ. “This also ensures that producers won’t pump full tilt and push prices down,” he said. Still, even if the deal is extended for another 3 months, the group has not coherently sketched out an exit strategy.

Libyan oil fields shut down. Three large Libyan oil fields have been shut down because of a confrontation with militants. One group shut down a pipeline leading to the Sharara field, Libya’s largest. The nearly 300,000-bpd field has been shuttered for a week. Two other fields – the El Feel and Hamada – have also been disrupted. Data is murky right now, and the fields could restart at any moment, but after exceeding 1 million barrels per day recently, Libya’s output is likely been reduced by about 350,000 bpd.

U.S. issues new round of sanctions on Venezuela. The U.S. government slapped new sanctions on Venezuela on August 25, aimed at preventing Venezuela from tapping U.S. debt markets, a major escalation from Washington. The first phase of sanctions targeted individuals, but these new measures prohibits U.S. institutions from trading new bonds with the government of Venezuela or state-owned oil company PDVSA, a move intended to choke off the regime’s finances. Crucially, however, the U.S. exempted Citgo, PDVSA’s U.S.-based subsidiary. Citgo has refining and retail gasoline operations in the U.S.

Statoil strikes out in the Arctic. Statoil (NYSE: STO) reported that it found no oil when it drilled its highly-anticipated Korpfjell field, thought to be a huge oil field in the Norwegian Arctic. Statoil had thought the field could hold more than a billion barrels of oil, which would have made it one of the largest fields in Norway and really opened up the Barents Sea for development. “The results are of course disappointing, but it is too early to draw any conclusions on how this will impact the Barents Sea south-east area,” Jez Averty, Statoil’s head of exploration in Norway and the UK, said in a statement.

OILPRICE.COM

#Uganda government is killing women and what does @BBC @AlJazeera @Business @VOA @DWnews say?

During Gen. Iddi Amin's reign, all global media houses kept announcing to the world that Amin was killing people in Uganda.

During Dr. Milton Obote's 2 regimes, the same media houses announced how Obote was killing people.

Now, during President Yoweri Museveni's regime, genocides are committed in Uganda and neighbouring countries and all these media houses keep praising Uganda for welcoming refugees and even go as far as promoting raising funds for Uganda for the refugees. These rif rafs would not even be in Uganda if UK, US, EU and UN were not actively promoting Museveni to invade neighbouring countries to cause an influx of refugees. The shame of the UN Secretary General showing up in Uganda to try to raise USD $8 billion for refugees is lamentable. Did he even stop to ask the Ugandans whose land is grabbed at gun point to provide land for those rif rafs you like to praise as refugees?

Non. Because media is biased. You want to make the world think that Uganda is a great country that welcomes every refugee. We are sick of these foreigners. These people are given up to $250 to resettle and given land grabbed from Ugandans. Many Ugandans have been displaced from their family lands to allow thugs from South Sudan, Somalia, DRC, CAR, Rwanda, Burundi and of course the Chinese and Indians to take our land and displace us. The options for Ugandans are to be sold into modern slavery in the Middle East, Asia or some strange places like Turkey or even Thailand or Malaysia.

Go ahead and pretend that #UgandanLivesDoNotMatter. For your information, we have 85% unemployment and 92% of our university graduates go 7 to 9 years with no job in sight and end up being slaves in the Middle East.

I AM NOT DONE YET.

The governments of UK, US, EU and Canada fund Uganda. Then of course some other despotic supporting regimes and given how impoverished we have become and the people going up to 3 days with only one meal, my people are forced to pretend that everything is okay.

Uganda has now apparently gotten a porno machine. But did this government act on the missing Radiotherapy machine for the increasing cancer rates in the country? Apparently SEX sells and some morons are celebrating porn being monitored. A very STUPID idea. We do not need a machine to monitor porn. The committee which was appointed this week to monitor porn via a machine is full of school drop outs. They obviously do not know that porn can be filtered at the high level on the Telcom provider.

Give a graduate from one of the universities in Uganda a chance to filter porn. They will cost you maximum $1000 but here we are paying $2 million for a machine. The last time Uganda bought machines was for elections of 2016 for Biometric voting and it was too funny. The bloody machines did not even work so numbers had to be fudged. How could you use a voting biometric system when you do not even have a birth and date database?

UGANDA ELITES ARE USELESS.
Just look at our parliament. It is full of women MPs and even the speaker of the house is a woman. Have you seen them protesting loudly about the women being raped and killed in Entebbe? I hear a pin drop. But worse, speaker of the house Rebecca Kadaga and that Secretary General for the ruling party (NRM) are from Busoga. Apart from their places and their people being infested with jiggers, their neices and daughters are being sold as wives for sh. 20,000 ($4.5) a piece.

May Bugisu curse me if I join Uganda parliament. May my people curse me if I join NRM and there is no medicine or water for my people. May all of Bududa put a curse on me if I join government and show up with a convoy of 7 cars with body guards to protect me from the wrath of my people. In fact, should I ever even show up with a single body guard, it will mean that I did nothing for my people and lost their love and they cannot protect me. Then I shall join the multitudes who have risen up for their people.

My voice will never be for sale. My people deserve more and if jiggers invade Bugisu, I shall fly home and take a pin and take them out from all my people, nurse them back to health and grow food to feed my people. Some things are worth standing up for. It is a damn shame that the Uganda MPs are mute while women are being killed in Entebbe and other areas. May thunder strike you. May lightening follow the GPS programming. May the aliens invade your lands. May the army worms eat all your crops. May the drought make you suffer so badly that you must sell your body to get 3 pawpaws to feed your children? May you...wait, where was this story even going?

You elites. Today you are doing well and remaining silent but one of these days, the land of milk and honey will dry up. International investors will exit. You will regret your silence. May all the arcades and malls multiply their rents by 1000% so that you remember our relatives used to sell things on the streets of Kampala and those in the markets watched the markets burn down. May your children in those expensive schools bring home report cards which have multiplied the fees by 100% so that you know that Bridge Academy schools were affordable.

Nay - may you get involved in a car accident like Agaba of KCCA, get thrown onto a stone quary truck and be rushed to Mbarara where the doctors are missing or there is no equipment. May malaria strike you and we get Entebbe airport shut down because of a terrorist being on Kenya airlines so that you gasp for breath and pray that you get a private jet to fly you to Hamburg Germany if lucky.

LIFT MY CURSES or become Human.

Martha Leah Nangalama
Who is your brother's keeper? One day, we shall remember how hard you worked for our people and your SUV will be sold to buy you a nice coffin while we party that for your selfishness, it is a good thing you dropped dead on Massacre Road! OR, MAYBE, we shall remember that women are being killed daily and you do not give a fuck! We shall also remember the young lady who RAN into your convoy.

VIDEO: #Homelessness and why we should all watch @zammit_marc upcoming film on it

No one chooses to be homeless. We all prefer a warm home and North America is not gentle on homelessness.

When I was aged 39 years, I had a stroke and spent a lot of time in hospitals in Toronto and then got air ambulanced back to the province of New Brunswick.

I had small kids and to wake up from the medically induced coma, I was lost for words because my kids needed their mother.

There was a support system around me via my employer and my Parish of Shediac Anglican Church. All the driving for treatments were arranged and in fact the Anglican Church Army of Saint John in New Brunswick put aside a house for my husband to drive the girls to see me and spend the weekends watching me receiving treatments and spend time with them. My children are my life line. In fact in Hamilton Ontario (MacMaster University Hospital), when the doctors asked me to sign a paper to acknowledge that I could die in the air (flight time was 2.5hrs), I signed it because Thierry had flown back with the girls and I had to be near them.

When I was discharged from Saint John Regional Hospital, my priest drove down to bring me home (Fr. Richard McConnel). The nurse (Vicky) told him that I might have an allergic attack on the way home. Fr. Richard told Vicky "she is riding with the man of God so we will be okay" but he still accepted the Benadryl to give me in case I had an attack on the way home.

Fr. Richard is our family priest. Retired but nearby. In the car, he looked at me and I was so dazed from the steroids and anti histamines and then told me that I had to become active in our Parish. Steroids are used to suppress the immune system so that you do not react to organ transplant but in my case, I was reacting to every unit of plasma which was being given to me.

That is how I became a member of the Vestry (Board of Directors). You really cannot argue half dead and it worked out perfectly.

Fast forward. I was put on the committee which had to verify all the NGOs which were asking for money from our Parish. My priest was right. Because I attended all meetings then proceeded to vet the NGOs which were asking for help. In this process, I landed on our homeless shelter in Moncton that really needed financial help. They were under threat to be shut down and had lost their charity registration. Fr. Richard knows that I look at numbers and financials. This is when I started the hard work (un appreciated to this day) and proceeded to go into that homeless shelter telling them "donors will not give you money if you do not align your financials".

By this time, I was receiving plasmopherisis in the Moncton City Hospital. It is a very tough treatment. Every morning, showed up at the shelter, did the Admin work. Sharon Connors is an angel. She used to work at the church in the morning then drive to the shelter to do filing and bill payments. I would work alongside her and my job was to talk to the politicians for bills, taxes, etc. Then drive to the hospital for my 24 to 30 units of plasma. At the end of the treatments, Stephanie or Larry would come pick me up and drive me home and Thierry or some other friend would drive to the hospital to collect the car. I was a signature in the hospital because it was daily.

BUT LET ME TELL YOU WHY I CARED ABOUT HOMELESS.

One time when I jumped off the subway for a meeting on Bay Street, there was a gentleman waiting at the station asking for change. I had no money. I told him that I would come and take us out for lunch on my break. When I went back, he was there. We walked into a descent restaurant and some idiot proceeded to tell us that we had no right to be there. But I had made reservations. I gave him my business card and we landed in a private booth and enjoyed great food. At the end, I gave him 10 subway tokens for him to find his way home. NEVER laugh at homeless people because not all of them choose to be homeless.

Then there was this one time when Rebecca and I exited off the McCowan exit in Scarborough Ontario and there was this gentleman asking for change. It was winter. The kid told me to stop and help but the traffic was insane so I told her we could not stop. We get into our house and she is saying "mommy, can we go back and take for him soup at least because it is cold". We did and again gave the subway tokens.

Another time when I had to go to Montreal for an Options Trading workshop, we went to one of the cathedrals in Montreal and it was so bloody cold the gentleman opening the door had icicles in his beard. Our little one Natasha pulled out her $5 bill (her only money) and gave it to the gentleman. What a shocker. So I took all the money we were giving in church and gave it to the gentleman and I told him "go to a coffee shop and buy soup and warm up". He looked at me with tears welling in his eyes saying "your children are very lucky. Thank you".

Soon after we are all settled in New Brunswick, we had this great gentleman Joe who used to thumb for rides. We would pick him up because I had to drive the girls to school and always took him with us. First ride, he sat in the back of the car. Subsequent rides, the girls always sat in the back and let him have the front seat. Joe taught us things daily. He hated fruits you do not peel and always talked about eating only fruits you can peel because it avoids pesticides. So the girls soon got into the habit of always packing bananas in case Joe was riding with us. Joe never asked for money at all. We would take him to the soup kitchen and then pick him up.

One winter, he gets into the car and is freezing. His pension was delayed and his medication needed to be bought and then Rebecca reaches into my purse and takes out the only $20 bill I had and gives it to him to go get his medicine. Natasha is talking like a radio... "look, his feet and hands are freezing". Rebecca being older took off her mittens and gave them to Joe. The next day both girls insisted that I stop at Salli Ann and buy a pair of winter boots and a jacket for Joe before we pick him up. By this time the kids knew his shoe size so it was a no brainer.

We pick Joe up and he has winter boots and a jacket and was wearing the knitted mittens which by the way the kindergarten teacher's wife used to knit for the kids at Shediac Cape School.

Joe also told us something one time. He said if you like grapes, soak them in a sink of water mixed with vinegar and all the pesticides will get washed away. In reality, we had never thought about it but soon our fruits became peeled.

Yeah. Kids can teach us a lot and can learn a lot. We make a very big mistake to ignore the minds of kids. Kids are a sponge. If you want to teach about poverty and homelessness, go to the nearest school in your community and teach them how to become compassionate. In reality kids are born loving and caring and this is something we must not forget. A child in a private school insisting on helping the people in her local community speaks volumes. Meanwhile grown ups are chasing nice expensive cars, big houses and vacations in places they hardly know anything about.

I shall watch the movie on Homelessness because I am sure it will make a difference.

Martha Leah Nangalama
Who will be your brother's keeper? If you think that homeless people are lazy and only want your money, I dare you to go homeless and earn your income on the streets. It will teach you humility.

I come from #Uganda which has one of the most impoverished populations in the world. I know poverty and hunger. And soon many Ugandans will lose their land to a despotic regime set on displacing them.

#HOMELESS ASHES - Please watch @Zammit_marc upcoming film

You make a big mistake to think that you are safe from suffering. Just look at Texas today and you will know why #KarmaWearsHeels.

#Uganda unemployed youth paid $1.50 to demonstrate for #AgeLimit removal

The NRM supporters marching through the streets of Kabale

Hundreds of the ruling party, National Resistance Movement (NRM) supporters in Kabale district took to the streets yesterday to stage another demonstration to agitate for the removal of the presidential age limit.

Led by Edison Turyahabwa, the NRM publicity secretary for Kabale district and Sheikh Kassim Kamugisha the Kabale district NRM youth league chairperson, the demonstrators carried placards with some of them bearing words like; ‘Kick Age Limit out of the Constitution (KALOC)’.

Others had; ‘Below 35 years for Presidency Above 75 years for Presidency, and ‘Kabale Taxi drivers support lifting of the Presidential Age limit’ among others.

The demonstrators matched from Kabale police barracks playground through Kabale Main Street up to Kisoro Taxi Park at ESSO and converged in front of NRM offices.

They claimed that Article 102 (b) of the Constitution which sets the presidential age limit between 35 and 75 years is unfair, discriminative and must be amended.

The NRM supporters also handed a petition to Pauline Bigyirwa, the Kabale district NRM vice chairperson and told her to forward it to President Yoweri Museveni demanding for the removal of the age limit.

*The demonstrators with the symbolic dry banana leaves calling for another term for President Museveni*

Sheikh Kamugisha says that Article 102(b) is discriminative to Ugandans that are above the age of 75 who still have potential to lead the country. Kamugisha says that this is the time for all legislators to quickly act and amend the article.

“Our campaign has been named KALOC - Kick Age Limit Out of the Constitution and other laws. Therefore members of parliament from Kigezi and Kabale, we want you to expeditiously handle this campaign and dispose off the age limitations disposal bill because we must take power of our country today not tomorrow”, he said.

“Ageism and discrimination is against the Constitution of Uganda because we are equal before the law. The elderly are also equal before the law. Why deny them the chance to contest for all positions in the country.

Today, we are saying no and our voice must be heard within Uganda and across boundaries. The time is now, it can never be tomorrow. The [elderly] are one million, why do you want them to vote for you but you don’t want them to contest for positions. This must be a question to be answered now not tomorrow.”

President Museveni turns 75 in 2019, two years before the next general elections scheduled for 2021.

Ronald Hakizimana Bifabusha, from Lower Bugongi in Northern Division, Kabale Municipality, says that he supports the removal of age limits to give way for President Museveni to stand again because he has played a big role towards the development of the country.

Emmanuel Niwagaba, from Northern Division in Kabale Municipality, says that the age limit must be removed because limiting people who are above the age of 75 gives the country a bad image.

“It is a problem in general because our Constitution is not favouring all sides. You see, the Constitution of Uganda needs some amendments [so] we, the youth stand on the posts we want and the president of 80 years like it is in America”, he said.

‘DECEIVED TO DEMONSTRATE’

Erisa Twinmomujuni, a 70-year-old Local Council (LC) one official for Keishamunyoro Cell in Kitumba sub-county, says that they were deceived by the NRM local leaders to converge in Kabale town for a discussion about development issues.

Twinomujuni however says that he was dismayed when they were given placards supporting the removal of age limits and were later told to march through Kabale town.

“I was invited by one of the councillors in my area that we are needed in Kabale. So I had to come to see exactly what is going on – [only] to find that they had written so many placards mentioning that we are supposed to support the lifting of age limit of which am not in the support myself”, he said.

“Therefore we are just seeing, in fact the majority of people moving they, don’t know what is happening. Definitely, I can’t support that because I have seen most of these governments coming and going, therefore I don’t simply support. I have to analyse things how they are going on.

I haven’t seen anything good going on. It is just bluffing of the public of what is going on. The fact [is] many people are going to get disappointed. I’m very much regretting because I don’t see why I should waste my time like that.”

Bigyirwa promised to forward their petition to the office of the Kabale district party chairperson. The demonstrators were later seen lining up and being served a bottle of soda each and Shs 5,000.

This is not the first time NRM supporters across the country have staged a demonstration in support of removing the presidential age limit from the constitution.

On Saturday, NRM supporters in Lango held a similar demo demanding that the presidential age limit be lifted to give room to all Ugandans who aspire to become president to compete for the position without any limitations and prejudice.

Last month, another group mainly from Lira town held a similar peaceful demonstration.

THE OBSERVER

Monday, August 28, 2017

VIDEO: Jamil Mukulu can’t get justice under the #Uganda #Museveni regime - #MuslimPersecution

The government of Uganda is persecuting Muslims and no one is talking about it. Al Jazeera did a documentary on the killings of the Muslim Clerics in Uganda and every month we have Muslims being profiled and persecuted. This is a disaster and we will not see Uganda media talking about it because we have a silent gag order.

What we must fear is the engineered possible terror where we will have "terrorists" attacking Uganda and so far we know that if Al Shabaab or Al Qaeda were interested in helping their own in Uganda, it would long be over. Uganda government keeps tempting and inciting by arbitrarily arresting Muslims, torturing them, prosecuting them and recently throwing them in jail and throwing the keys in the Nile. Mark my words. We will pay a high price.
Martha Leah Nangalama
===========

First published by Change of Guards Blog on June 5, 2015

Who is Jamil Mukulu?

Jamil Mukulu is a Ugandan, Muganda by tribe and a Muslim. He came to prominence in the early 1990s when as a member of the Tabliq sect became one of the outspoken Muslims over the role of Museveni in the killing of Muslims in Mbarara in 1979 and Butambala in 1983. In 1991 the Tabliq sect had had a bloody confrontation with Museveni's security forces commanded by James Kaziini around the Old Kampala Mosque over Muslim leadership wrangles. Jamil Mukulu went into hiding until in 1996 when the ADF rebels struck western Uganda and Jamil Mukulu was alleged to be the leader of the group. With bases in eastern Congo, the ADF managed to survive and in the late 90s, it was about getting accepted in some parts of Bunyoro, Rwenzori and Ankole regions.

The rebel outfit is an alliance of a couple of rebel groups fighting the Museveni dictatorship notably NALU hence tagging it to Islamic fundamentalism is a wrong diagnosis. ADF is alleged to have carried out massacre of innocent civilians in both Congo and Uganda notably the alleged massacre of students of Kichwamba Technical Institute in western Uganda. Recently, it was linked to the spate of assassinations of Muslim Clerics in Uganda in which he is accused with others including the Australian based Cardiologist Dr. Aggrey Kiyingi who is intending to run for the Presidency against Museveni.

Arrest

Uganda had initiated an Interpol arrest warrant for Jamil Mukulu and the USA had placed him on a sanctions list. Around April 2015 Jamil Mukulu was arrested in Tanzania by the Tanzanian authorities on other grounds since it had not identified him as Jamil Mukulu.

Extradition

Extraction is a formal legal process by which persons accused or convicted of crime are surrendered from one state to another for trial or punishment. It takes place in accordance with bilateral treaties or multilateral conventions entered into by sovereign states. It is a form of international cooperation in criminal matters intended to promote cooperation in enforcement of criminal justice. However, any extradition law must contain appropriate safeguards for individuals where they would in the event of extradition suffer manifest injustice and oppression.

Many countries have domestic laws governing matters of extradition. In Uganda, it is the Extradition Act of 1964 that provides for matters of extradition. In Tanzania, there are three pieces of legislation that deal with matters of extradition thus:

- The Extradition Act Cap 368

It applies only where there is extradition agreement with the requesting country. It lists extraditable crimes i.e. Murder and the related offences, injury to person amounting to homicide, abduction, rape and similar offences, narcotics and drugs, damage to property, falsification of currency and similar offences, forgery, misappropriation, fraud, piracy, slave dealing etc. However, it gives exception if the extradition fugitive has committed crimes in Tanzania or is serving a sentence.

The Act strictly prohibits the extradition of political offenders. The request for surrender of the fugitive criminal is made to the Minister by a diplomatic representative or by a Consular officer of the requesting country. The Minister may signify a Magistrate that a request has been made and require him/her to issue a warrant of arrest and detention in respect of the fugitive criminal. However, if the offence is of a political nature the Minister may refuse and in the same regard, the Magistrate must adjourn the case and refer the proceedings to the Minister pending his decision.

- The Fugitive Offenders (Pursuit) Act 57

This Act arises from the East African Community (EAC). The Act enables Police officers of contracting states to pursue within Tanzania fugitive offenders from such countries. In this Act, extraditable crimes are those identified under the Extradition Act Cap 368. The requesting country must have reciprocal provision for it to exercise that right. Under the EAC treaty Article 124 (5), member states agree to enhance cooperation in handling of cross border crime and provision of mutual assistance in criminal matters, including the arrest and extradition of fugitive offenders.

- Mutual Assistance on Criminal Matters Act Cap 254

This Act arises from the Commonwealth member states. It provides for mutual assistance in criminal matters between Tanzania and any Commonwealth member state. There must be an existence of an extradition pact that binds them in the commonwealth family together with an arrest warrant from Interpol or from the requesting country.

In all the Acts, there must be a functional extradition treaty and the fugitive criminal offender is protected from extradition if the offences are of a political nature and not of criminal act. The criminal fugitive suspect has a right of appeal.

Uganda pushes for extradition

During May 2015 Uganda government lodged an extradition request for Jamil Mukulu through the Attorney General of Tanzania. The application seeks to have Jamil Mukulu extradited to Uganda to face charges of murder and aggravated terrorism. Attached to the application were indictment and affidavit of Uganda's Senior Police Officer SSP Oludu Francis, the Uganda Criminal Procedure Act, a copy of Mukulu's passport with picture and in names of Thomas Rwanga Musisi, arrest warrant issued by Jinja Magistrate court, Interpol arrest warrant, etc.

The matter is being heard by the Magistrates Court in Dar Er Salaam where the Attorney General of Tanzania is leading the petition. After a short delay for the Commissioner of Prisons to grant permission for Jamil Mukulu's Lawyers to access him for an interview, his affidavit countering the extradition application is submitted. In his affidavit, among other arguments, he is supposed to argue that he will not get a fair trial in Uganda if extradited.

Uganda's criminal justice system is incompetent

A recent report by World Justice Project (WJP) ranked Uganda amongst the worst performing countries when it comes to observance and upholding of the rule of law. It is the 95th out of 102 countries; 15th out of the 18 countries sampled in Sub-Saharan Africa and 12th of the 15 low income countries.

Scores and ranking was across eight categories among which is fundamental rights, government powers, regulatory enforcement and government powers. Launching the report, the Founder and CEO of WJP Mr. William Neukon said: "Effective rule of law helps reduce corruption, alleviate poverty, improve public health and education, and protect people from injustices and dangers - large and small."

The government's Human Rights Commission recently released its annual report in which the Army and Police were topping the rights violations. Illegal detention, torture, killing and maiming, and forced disappearances are the order of the day in Uganda under Museveni. In particular, illegal arrest and detention of Muslims of the Salaaf Sect to which Jamil Mukulu belongs for alleged links to rebel ADF is a decade old practice.

Victims are moved to various detention places where their families can not locate them. They are sometimes released without charges and Police often denies knowledge of their arrests. During a recent retreat of local government and intelligence officers at Kyankwanzi, Museveni expressed his disappointment with Police's poor investigation methods accusing them of "not doing enough to interrogate suspects in the murder of Muslim clerics." It has been widely reported in the local Uganda media houses that Museveni is irking to personally interrogate Jamil Mukulu once he is extradited to Uganda!

Since when did a head of State interrogate suspects or he wants to hold talks with him as earlier advised by Tanzania's Jakaya Kikwete? Since government has not come out to deny it, it can be taken as the true. A case in point is the recent escape from illegal detention of five victims four of whom were linked to terrorism related charges. They had been held in the notorious Kireka based Special Investigations Unit (SIU) since 2012. The four Ugandan victims had been arrested from the Rwenzori and Bukwo region on suspicion of being linked to rebel ADF.

The fifth victim was a Rwandese senior army officer Brigadier Rutinywa who had been held for over two years without trial on suspicion of having illegally entered the country with the intention of destabilising Rwanda. In spite of the existence of an extradition agreement with Rwanda, the Brigadier was not handed over; leave alone his anti-Rwanda political activities for which he deserves protection.

Brigadier Tomas Kwoyelo

Is a former commander in the LRA rebel group who was captured in 2008. Like others before him who were even more senior, he applied for amnesty under the Amnesty Act. In 2010 the Amnesty Commission forwarded his application to the DPP for consideration. The DPP did not respond but instead charged him with murder. Kwoyelo petitioned the Constitutional Court seeking a declaration that he was being discriminated since his colleagues like Brig Kenneth Banya and others had earlier been granted amnesty.

The Constitutional Court ruled that he had indeed been discriminated contrary to Article 21 of the constitution. The AG appealed to the Supreme Court which in April 2015 ruled that Brig Tomas Kwoyelo should stand trial in the Internal Criminal Division (ICD) of the High Court arguing thus: "it is immaterial that other persons with similar circumstances to the application have been granted amnesty because each case is decided on its own merits."

James Katabazi Vs Secretary General of EAC and AG of Uganda - 119 (EAC 2007)

The above ground breaking case highlights the sad picture of Uganda's criminal justice system with regard to political opposition to Museveni's military dictatorship. Katabazi was arrested in 2004 with others over allegations that they were members of the rebel PRA that had been linked to opposition leader Dr. Besigye. As usual they were detained without trial till 06 November 2006 when the High Court granted them bail but before they could get their freedom the regime unleashed armed commandos who surrounded the High Court, threatened the Judges before re-arresting the suspects and remanding them again.

On 11th November, the same suspects were taken to the Court Martial and charged with terrorism and illegal possession of firearms. The Uganda Law Society petitioned the Constitutional Court seeking a declaration that the act of re-arresting and charging the suspects before the Court Martial was unconstitutional. The court made a ruling in favor of the petitioners but the regime refused to comply thus the detainees petitioned the East African Court of Justice.

The respondents conceded the facts as pleaded by the petitioners but pleaded that the deployment of security at the High Court was meant to prevent them from escaping to resume rebellion and that their re-arrest was for purposes of ensuring that they answer to charges of terrorism and illegal possession of firearms before the court martial. The EAC Secretary General initially claimed ignorance about the incarceration of the claimants but was reminded by the claimants' Legal team that under Article 71(1) (d) of the EAC treaty one of the functions of the Secretariat of which the SG is the head is to undertake either on his own initiative or otherwise of such investigations, collection of information, or verification of matters relating to any matter affecting the community that appears to it to merit examination.

Court ruled thus: ".... if is immaterial how that information comes to the attention of the Secretary General. As far as we are concerned, it would have sufficed if the complainants had shown that the events in Uganda concerning the claimants were so notorious that the 1st respondent (Secretary General) could not but be aware of them."

The EAC had not concluded the necessary protocol giving the court jurisdiction to entertain matters of human rights. However, court reflected a bit on the objectives of the EAC as set out in Article 5(1) (2) and (3) on legal and judicial objectives. Article 6(d) rule of law - promotion and protection of human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and peoples' rights. Article 7 on rule of law, social justice and the maintenance of universally accepted standards of human rights. The court concluded that it would not assume jurisdiction but would not also abdicate from exercising its jurisdiction of interpretation under Article 27(1).

It ruled thus: "We on our part are alarmed by the line of defense offered on behalf of the government of Uganda which if endorsed by this court would lead to an unacceptable and dangerous precedent, which would undermine the rule of law."

The petition succeeded but the regime in Uganda refused to comply and continued to hold the victims in illegal detention until some of them died in detention (Kifefe - brother of Dr. Besigye) and others sought Amnesty. Capt. James Katabazi - the lead petitioner died last week in a motor accident.

Conclusion

Jamil Mukulu if it is true that he was the leader of the ADF rebels was pursuing a political goal of dislodging the Museveni dictatorship. Therefore, he can not only be extradited but qualifies for Amnesty under the Amnesty Act like many others who have benefited after committing worst crimes in pursuance of a political goal. If Museveni manages to have Jamil Mukulu extradited from Tanzania by whatever means, it will set a very dangerous precedent for Ugandans who are struggling to free themselves from his 30 years of military dictatorship.

Unfortunately, because of the terror link, Ugandans have shied away from decampaigning the impending extradition of Jamil Mukulu yet they strongly believe he like other Ugandans can not get justice because of his political belief. This is not to tolerate impunity; and there is a high possibility that Jamil Mukulu may have committed the alleged crimes but he remains innocent until proved guilty by a competent and impartial court of law which is not present in Uganda under Museveni.

INFORMATION IS POWER

change of guards blog