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Uganda president ousts army boss amid dispute
By RODNEY MUHUMUZA | Associated Press
21 hrs ago

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni fired his top military commander Friday, the ouster apparently linked to turmoil over Museveni's alleged plan to have his son succeed him as head of state.

Sacked army chief Gen. Aronda Nyakairima was appointed minister of internal affairs, effectively cutting his links to the army's chain of command. Some other government officials were also moved around in a sudden shuffle of civilian and military officials.

Police, meanwhile, occupied for the fifth straight day the premises of a Kampala newspaper that had published details of a letter by another army general who asked for an investigation into reports that high-ranking officials opposed to the rise of Museveni's son could be assassinated. In letter late last month to the chief of the internal security service, Gen. David Sejusa Sejusa cited himself, Nyakairima and Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi as among those officials who are at risk of being murdered in the alleged plot.

Police on Monday disabled the Daily Monitor's printing press after forcibly entering its premises to look for evidence against Sejusa, nearly two weeks after the independent newspaper published details of the letter. They cordoned off the premises of with yellow tape Thursday, officially designating it a crime scene. Media watchdogs condemned the attack on press freedom.

Sejusa, who has postponed his journey back home from a trip to London, is wanted for questioning by Ugandan police who have searched his house and arrested four of his aides on unspecified charges.

After Sejusa's letter became public, Nyakairima dismissed it, saying it was divisive and full of opposition propaganda. Karoro Okurut, a spokeswoman for the government, has since said the Sejusa case is "a matter of national security."

Sejusa is a decorated hero of the bush war that brought Museveni to power in 1986, a four-star general with a seat on the army's high command. He is also in charge of the country's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies, the reason some in this East African country say his concerns about a purported plot to assassinate people should be taken seriously. Some lawmakers have called for an inquiry.

Rumors that Museveni is grooming his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, as a future president have been fueled in part by Kainerugaba's meteoric rise in the military. Kainerugaba was promoted to the rank of brigadier in changes last year that saw him take full charge of the country's special forces, an elite unit that protects the president and guards national assets such as oil fields. Analysts say Kainerugaba's powerful position in the army has alienated senior army officials including Sejusa and Nyakairima.

Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi, a prominent Ugandan lawyer and political analyst, said the new changes by Museveni are clearly part of the ongoing fallout from discontent over the alleged succession plan.

"In my opinion it is true that the army leadership has been grumbling about its loss of power to the first son," he said.

Journalists at the Daily Monitor there insist they will not reveal who gave them a copy of Sejusa's letter or give a copy to the police. Details of the letter were published May 7. The Daily Monitor says on Twitter that "police have defied the court order directing them to vacate the Monitor Publications premises they seized since Monday. Instead of opening the gates to allow employees to access their offices, police deployed more officers."

Uganda's army code of conduct bars serving army officers from speaking to journalists without official authorization. If the police can prove that Sejusa himself leaked the letter, he could face a court martial. Frank Tumwebaze, a government minister who speaks for Museveni, says Sejusa has "clear presidential ambitions."

Museveni, who says he was born in 1944 but doesn't know the exact date, has held power for nearly three decades. His current term expires in 2016.

http://news.yahoo.com/uganda-president-ousts-army-boss-amid-dispute-131730052.html
 

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President's son says Uganda not a monarchy after succession row

President's son says Uganda not a monarchy after succession row
Reuters
4 hrs ago

KAMPALA (Reuters) - The son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said he would not inherit power like a monarch, after a general accused Uganda's veteran leader of grooming his son to take over.

But son Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who commands an elite military unit, did not rule out standing for election for the post in the future in comments published by his spokesman on Facebook.

Speculation has been growing that Museveni, in office since 1986 and one of Africa's longest serving leaders, is lining up his son to take power at the end of his term in 2016, although some say that, aged 68, the president could continue for years.

The issue, often a subject of private discussion, erupted into a public debate last month when a newspaper published a confidential letter by General David Sejusa referring to a plot to kill those opposing a plan to hand power from father to son.

Now in London, Sejusa accused Museveni of creating a "political monarchy" in a BBC interview.

"He says that he has not declared that he wants to stand for presidency," spokesman to Kainerugaba, Edison Kwesiga, wrote on Facebook. "He says that Uganda is not a monarchy where leadership is passed on from father to son."

"However, he is a Ugandan who qualifies to stand for any elective position of his choice. This would require him to retire from the army, offer himself to the electorate who would either vote him in or choose not to," the spokesman added.

Museveni won international accolades during his early years in office for stabilising the nation and introducing a raft of economic measures that delivered strong growth.

Critics say he has turned into the kind of African strongman many hoped he had replaced and was cracking down on dissent.

In what critics said was part of another move to silence them, opposition leader Kizza Besigye, repeatedly detained in recent years, was briefly arrested on Thursday over accusations he had held an unsanctioned a rally, a charge an aide denied.

http://news.yahoo.com/presidents-son-says-uganda-not-monarchy-succession-row-063919144.html
 

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As HIV rises, Uganda activist tries to stop AIDS

As HIV rises, Uganda activist tries to stop AIDS
By RODNEY MUHUMUZA
November 30, 2014 12:30 PM

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — The dreadlocked 26-year-old, a reformed thief and onetime drug peddler, Hood Katende is now an anti-AIDS activist respected in his Kampala slum. He urges young men to wear condoms if they can't avoid premarital sex and encourages teenage girls to reject the sexual advances of older men with money.

"At night you find boys waiting for girls to rape, and I go to them and I try to talk to them not to do it," he said. "I used to be with them, smoking weed the whole day in the ghetto and moving around at night. I was a member of a gang, but now they see that I have changed day and night."

As World AIDS Day is marked Monday, Katende is trying to stem a troubling resurgence in Uganda of HIV, which now infects more than 500 young women between the ages of 15 and 24 each week, according to the Uganda AIDS Commission. Between 2007 and 2013 the number of Ugandans infected with HIV rose from 1.2 million to 1.6 million, according to Uganda's Ministry of Health.

Uganda's HIV prevalence rate now stands at 7.4 percent, up from about 6 percent a decade ago, raising concerns among AIDS activists who want President Yoweri Museveni's government to step up the old prevention campaigns that in the 1990s made Uganda a global leader in controlling the spread of HIV. The deteriorating situation is also being watched by Western donors who contribute substantially toward the cost of AIDS treatment for poor Ugandans.

More than 250,000 Ugandans have reliable access to AIDS treatment through U.S. government.

Ugandan researchers say the virus has been spreading particularly fast among married couples, fueled by the phenomenon of "side dishes," the popular term here for secret lovers or mistresses. Many of those mistresses tend to be vulnerable teenagers who are targeted by wealthy, but often HIV-infected, men.

For Katende, the activist, those most in danger are girls in Kampala's Kamwokya slum who have to scavenge for everything, including food and clothing. Many girls he knows well have been repeatedly raped, and others have sought the services of crude abortionists because of unwanted pregnancies, he says.

Katende walks through his neighborhood, observing quirks of behavior among teenagers with the curious intensity of a researcher. Recently he watched about a dozen children in a dance troupe perfect their hip gyrations before they accompanied him as dancers in an AIDS awareness performance that they will take to eastern Uganda.

Katende is now widely seen as a "change agent" within his neighborhood because of his activism, and he is paid to perform at functions sponsored by the U.N. children's agency, raucous events where singers on a moving truck belt out rap to encourage voluntary HIV testing. Last year Katende led an event in which hundreds of men were circumcised, a procedure research has shown can reduce HIV transmission rates.

Lawrence Mukiibi, the youth coordinator of Treasure Life Center, a group whose recording studio is operated by Katende and other artists, said activists with street credibility and a compelling story are needed to reach out to young people in a community where violent crime and poverty leave many exposed to HIV. The group, which is funded by local and foreign donors, is increasingly focusing on what it calls "edutainment," public activities like dramas through which young people can be enlightened as well as entertained about reproductive health.

"Infections are going back up again, and we need to get back to the drawing board as young people and see what relevant techniques we could use if we are going to a school outreach," he said. "That's the reason why we are working with (Katende). If you don't integrate music, if you don't integrate drama into the message you are trying to carry out forward, some people may not realize how grave the situation is."

http://news.yahoo.com/hiv-rises-uganda-activist-tries-stop-aids-153132918.html
 

PussyMan

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Lots of lovely women with cute curvy bums. Enjoy the view but touch at your own risk... I love Kampala.
 
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