THE
OBJECTIVES:
It is to develop the elderly of Africa, Uganda financially.
Secondly, it is to assist the needy and disabled.
Third, it is to humanely visit the sick and stressed.
Fourth it is to create financial projects for the needy to generate income for the elderly and young.
This organization has carried out such activities as:
Cake and bread baking.
Members have been involved in rural building construction and road making and repairs.
Members have been involved in decoration on functions.
Members have been involved in all means of assistance in burial ceremonies in the communities.
Publish Date: 22 September, 2014
By Samuel Sanya
MOST working Ugandans are only educated up to secondary level, work for 10 years, six days a week and earn at least shillings 403/- per hour according to a wages survey.
In the wage indicator survey, released recently, 1,306 Ugandans from all administrative regions were interviewed by the Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE) in conjunction with Dutch and Tanzanian researchers.
Conservative estimates place Uganda’s working population at 17 million. The average working week of respondents is almost 60 hours and they work six days per week.
Slightly over half (51%) work evenings, seven of 10 workers report working on Saturdays, while four of 10 work on Sundays.
Nearly half of the workers in the sample were managers. Only two of 10 workers had a permanent contract, three of 10 were on fixed term contract while four of 10 workers said they are entitled to social security.
Despite the low numbers entitled to pensions, respondents indicated having four dependants on average. The analysis showed that 77% of the workers were paid on or above the poverty line of sh403 per hour or $1.25 (about sh3,000) per day.
Five percent of workers had no formal education, 14% studied to primary education 48% had secondary education certificates, 16% had a college education and 17% a university degree. Only 62% of informal workers are paid above the poverty line compared to 97% of the most formal workers.
Workers in trade, transport and hospitality are most at risk of poverty with 30% paid less than a dollar a day. Public servants are best paid. At least 92% earned above the poverty line.
Labour State minister Rukutana Mwesigwa recently revealed that Cabinet is considering creation of a wage board and a minimum wage.
The Government last set a minimum wage of sh6,000 in 1984. In 1975, the Minimum Wage Advisory Council recommended a sh75,000 minimum monthly wage. It remains on paper.
Posted Tuesday, July 5 2016
The Senior Citizens Grant in Uganda is given to the elderly aged 65 and above to help them live decent livelihoods; however, in some districts, it is the young, energetic poor that are being given the money.
SCG is aimed at enhancing access to basic needs such as food security, better nutrition, health care and improving housing among others which is legal onus of the state to provide wellbeing and upkeep for the elderly.
David Lambert Tumwesigye, advocacy advisor at Expanding Social Protection (ESP) at the Ministry Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD) calls upon the new MPs to join the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Social Protection (UPFSP) so that they can advocate care for the elderly.
What do MPs say?
Agnes Taka, Bugiri Woman MP, appreciates the services that have been offered to the elderly through SAGE. However, she calls upon the government to be open and involve grassroots leaders when selecting beneficiaries saying it will help to avoid issues of segregation.
“We need to know what criterion is followed when choosing SAGE beneficiaries. It is perturbing to learn about activities being done in your constituency from locals. Leaders need to be involved,” argues Taka.
She wonders why majority of the 15 districts where SAGE has been enrolled and the next 20 districts targeted to benefit from the programme are not from poverty stricken areas.
She asks her colleagues to push the government hard so that there can be transparency in the enrollment.
Rtd Lt Cyrus Amodoi, MP Tonoma County, Katakwi district, marvels at why the programme in some districts has been shifted from the elderly to the poorest people.
“What I have seen is that there is political interference in some parts where SAGE has been enrolled. In some places they target the poorest people instead of senior citizens,” says Amodoi.
In response to MPs queries, Drake Rukundo, Policy and Monitoring and Evaluation, UPFSP, says they have on ground people who gather information for the befitting citizens. He encourages the MPs to advocate countrywide enrollment for the elderly.
Rukundo says they want government to commit resources as a priority towards social protection to help the elderly live decent livelihoods because they are the bridge between the past and the future.
He applauds the 9th Parliament for being instrumental in ensuring the survival of the SAGE programme and extending it from 15 districts to additional 40 districts in the next five years.
In the FY 2015/16 Budget process, Parliament made a resolution where the SAGE programme was to be rolled out to the whole country covering 100 oldest persons in every sub-county.
Tumwesigye says the 10th parliament and the government did their work and it remains critical that all districts get covered for fairness and equitable development. The new MPs are expected to enlist to become members so that advocacy on social protection is boosted.
The forum undertakes to provide information and create spaces for engagement on issues touching social protection.
The cabinet passed the social protection policy which proposes a myriad of progressive interventions that if implemented will significantly contribute to the journey from third world to middle income status as envisaged in the Vision 2040.
However, even with the current roll-out plan, only a total of 55 districts will be reached leaving out 57 districts. To maximise pressure on government, the Forum has conducted regional consultative meetings that bring together Members of Parliament, District Chairpersons, District Community Development Officers and the civil society.
Reports from the Ministry
Reports from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development indicate that the senior citizens grant is increasing productive investment where 32 per cent of the beneficiaries use the money to buy livestock or engage in petty trading while 27 per cent of the beneficiaries invest their money in hiring additional labour to work in their gardens.
“At least 16 per cent of the beneficiaries save their month’s payment purposely to cover emergencies, 17 per cent use the gratuities to support productive investments, cultivation (15 per cent and meeting the educational needs of children and/or grandchildren taking 14 per cent,” reads the report on expanding social protection programme for senior citizens grant.
According to the report, majority of the senior citizens grant beneficiaries spend the large part of their transfers on food leading to increased frequency, quantity and quality of meals eaten by beneficiary households.
The report further shows that SCG beneficiaries especially women consistently report improved participation in community affairs, sense of self-esteem and empowerment. Older people report feeling less discriminated against in their communities and more valued by their families on account of their ability to make social contributions to community-based social support mechanisms which are based on reciprocity like contributing to funerals and weddings.
About SAGE
SAGE is a financial support programme for people aged 65 years and above. Currently, the programme is covering 15 districts. A total of 40 more districts have been lined up to benefit from SAGE by 2020.
In the 2015/16 budget, over Shs30b was expected for the national rollout where 100 persons per sub-county were to benefit but government committed Shs9 billion only.
jkato@ug.
nationmedia.com
10 June, 2016
By Nelson Wesonga, Kampala
Government says it does not have records of pensioners due to “lack of data and personal files.”
According to the ministry of Public Service, many pensioners do not show up for verification thus leading to delays in payment of their monthly dues and the once off gratuity.
The State minister for Public Service, Mr David Karubanga told MPs during plenary that the ministry will, carry out a census and biometric validation of pensioners starting February 20.
“The ministry of Public Service does not have a national register of pensioners,” Mr Karubanga said yesterday.
“Despite the decentralisation of pension management, a number of votes [ministries] have not verified the records on the payroll.”
A day earlier, Aruu Member of Parliament, Odonga Otto had told the August House that many pensioners have not been paid for several months.
Many were, therefore, depending on their relatives – who already have other financial responsibilities – to pay their bills or to buy basics.
Those without relatives are borrowing items from shopkeepers.
Shopkeepers though can only lend them for a few months expecting to be paid once they get their gratuity.
Following Mr Odonga’s remarks, the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga said the government was treating the senior citizens disrespectfully.
On Wednesday, Mr Karubanga also said the Public Service ministry had for the last four years not carried out verification of pensioners “due to funding shortage and lack of clear addresses" [of the pensioners].
The verification of the pensioners will be done between February 20 and March 24 at the district headquarters by Face Technologies.
According to Mr Karubanga, Face Technologies will do the work, which the ministry failed.
However, it is still not clear how much the ministry will pay the company.
Face Technologies is the company that processes driving permits for motorists.
Workers Members of Parliament Margaret Rwabushaija and the Erute Member of Parliament Jonathan Odur said the government should tell Ugandans when it would pay the pensioners all their arrears.
Mr Karubanga said payments are the responsibility of the Finance ministry.
All that Public Service does is to furnish the Finance ministry with the particulars of the claimants.
Added 28th November 2018
Ababaka baleese ekiteeso ku myaka okusasulibwa abakadde
Ono omuvubuka ye Alex Ndeezi akulira akakiiko k'ekikula ky'abantu
ABABAKA baagala kulinnyisa emyaka okugabirwa ssente za bakadde girinnyisibwe okuva ku 65 okutuuka ku 80.
Biri mu lipooti eyanjuddwa ssentebe wa kakiiko k’ekikula ky'abantu mu Palamenti, Alex Ndeezi bwabadde ayanjula lipooti ya kakiiko.
Alaze nti emyaka gyetaaga okullinyisibwa okutuuka ku 80, kyokka mu disitulikiti ze Karamoja emyaka gisigaleyo ku 60 nga bwe kibadde. Mu nkola eno buli mukadde aweebwa 25,000/- buli mwezi.
Dumped. A hip of garbage infront of Gulu Main Market on Tuesday. PHOTO BY POLYCAP KALOKWRA
GULU. In 2008, National Environment Management Authority (Nema) earmarked Shs2.5 billion for the construction of a recycling plant in Gulu District but the project has since stalled, 10 years later.
By constructing the plant, the government hoped it would convert the municipal solid waste into manure to be sold out as fertilisers to farmers.
The abandoned site is at Pawor Village in Patiko Sub-county, 11 kilometres from the centre of Gulu Town.
Laroo, Bardege, Layibi and Pece divisions are the major areas where most garbage is generated; it is currently being dumped at a landfill in Laroo Division, which is also filled up.
The LC3 chairperson for Laroo Division, Mr Moses Abonga, says: “The surrounding communities have already raised the red flag on the matter, arguing that they are likely to contract diseases related to poor waste management.”
The municipal officials up to now are silent on the plant that was meant to bridge the gap.
“We are not given clear reasons as to why the plant stalled for all this long. In some areas, the locals have resolved to dumping garbage in drainages since there is no way out,” Mr Abonga says.
Mr Alfred Oluba of Layibi Division, who shares a similar plight, adds that waste management is a big threat among the populace.
“Plans are underway to have garbage points in most trading centres but after the collection, what happens?” he asks.
“We are at crossroads, municipal officials who should have been at the forefront to follow up on the matter are also not doing it,” Mr Oluba says.
Mr Richard Nyadru Anyama, the principal health inspector for Gulu Municipal Council, says although the cost of putting up the facility was valued at Shs2.6 billion, they have since received less than Shs1 billion.
“With the funds released, we secured 10 acres of land, fenced it off and put in place a borehole. Nema gave us a wheel-loader, a tractor and a garbage truck,” he says.
He says the cost of putting up the plant was being centrally managed by Nema that immediately ran out of funds before completing it.
“Nema officials told us that they were outsourcing for funds. They also tasked us to outsource for funds as well to get the plant done,” Mr Nyadru says.
Mr Nyadru, however, warns that if the current landfill is not upgraded, it will last less than a year before the town can sink in garbage.
“We have also written concepts looking for funds from non-governmental organisations to seek an intervention over this. The landfill we have been using for the past 10 years in Laroo Division is getting filled up,” Mr Nyadru says.
The landfill at Laroo sits on a six-acre piece of land.
The Nema senior public relations officer, Mr Tonny Acidria, says the project stalled due to miscalculations in the design of the facilities.
“We had eight of them being constructed but only three got completed. The five failed along the way including Gulu because we ran out of fund,” he said.
Previous complaints
NEMA with financial support from the World Bank established Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) compositing plants in which Gulu was part of the 13 municipalities to benefit. Even though Mukono, Jinja, Mbale, Soroti, Lira, Arua, Masindi, Hoima, Fort Portal, Kasese, Kabale and Mbarara municipalities have their facilities functional, that of Gulu has since stalled yet the land to set up the facility was secured five years ago.
Added 21st June 2018
BASSENTEBE b'ebyalo 454 ebikola disitulikiti y'e Lwengo balaajanidde Pulezidenti Yoweri Kaguta Museveni abongeze ensako (bbo gye bayise omusaala) okuva ku mitwalo 120,000/- okutuuka ku 500,000/-
Ssentebe w'e Lwengo ng'ayogera ne bassentebe ba LC 1 mu lukiiko
Okwogera bino basinzidde mu lukiiko lw'okusisinkana ssentebe, George Mutabaazi olugendereddwaamu okulondoola oba buli ssentebe w'ekyalo yafuna akasiimo ke ak'omwaka guno.
Bano nga bakulembeddwamu Mudashiru Kafuuma baagala Mutabaazi abatuusize okusaba kwabwe eri Pulezidenti Museveni nabo bongezebwe omusaala.
Bagamba nti be bakyasinze okutoba n'ebizibu ebigwa ku bitundu byabwe omuli okumalawo ettemu, obubbi bw'ebisolo n'ebirime kw'ossa n'ekisaddaaka baana ekyali kikyase mu Lwengo.
Bassentebe nga basimbye ennyiriri okwetaba mu lukiikoMutabaazi abasekeredde olw'obutaawula akasiimo n'omusaala kuba akasiimo tebakasaba kuba kaba ka kyeyagalire n'abawa amagezi okuddayo basome basobole okwesimba mu bifo ebya waggulu bave mu kululunkanira okubongeza omusaala.
Wano asabye abo abanayitamu ku bwasentebe bwebyalo obubindabinda obutettantala kumubonyaabonya kuba abamu ku bassentebe babadde bayitirizza okwenyigira mu bubbi bw'ettaka so nga abamu bakaddiye tebakyasobola kukola bulungi emirimu gyabwe.
Mu ngeri y'emu Mutabaazi atadde etteeka ku bassentebe abanaayitamu okuzimba kaabuyonjo mu maka gaabwe nga bukyali n'okusimba muwogo nga beetolooza ensalosalo z'ebibanja byabwe ataakikole waakukubibwa kibooko oba okugobwa ku kyalo.
Obukadde 54,480000/- ze zaaweebwa bassentebe b'ebyalo okwetoloola disitulikiti ku ntandikwa y'omwezi guno.
Added 20th May 2018
The absence of good sanitary facilities exposes the public servants to hygiene-related illnesses such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera.
SANITATION
Hoima district local government headquarters at Kasingo cell in Hoima municipality lacks toilets and sanitary facilities for its staff because they are out of use.
Sources say the two flush toilets have not been functional for about a year after they were blocked due to poor usage and lack of water.
New Vision visited the office headquarters on Friday and found all toilet doors with inscriptions reading “flash toilets out of use, use outside latrine. By management”.
This has forced the district officials to resort to utilising the abandoned pit latrine located a few metres from the office block.
A source on condition of anonymity, said it has on most occasions compelled the over 70 public servants who cannot use the unclean pit latrine at the district headquarters to trek for more than two kilometres in town to find a place of convenience.
A district official said they register complaints from workers and visitors that whenever they visit the district offices, they find it difficult to answer nature's call because the sanitary facilities are out of use.
A source said some important visitors who come to the office when in need of convenience are advised to go to the hotels in town or the available pit latrines in the neighbourhood.
On Thursday the district hosted the 2017 Best Performers Awards ceremony. Some guests were seen making efforts to utilise the existing flush toilets, but failed after reading the ‘out of use’ notice.
Jackson Mugenyi Mulindambura, the district secretary for health and education, admits the problem and promises that it will be handled urgently.
Mulindambura said the absence of good sanitary facilities exposes the public servants to hygiene-related illnesses such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera.
Another district official who preferred not to be named said the existing pit latrine is always dirty since it is accessed by the surrounding community.
The source also observed that the toilet has no tissue, soap and water for use although they are usually put in the budget.
Efforts to get a comment from Nathan Lujumwa, the Chief Administrative Officer, were futile by press time.
Bernadette Plan, the Hoima district Secretary for Finance and Planning, said the problem could be due to water shortage.
Perez Kyomuhangi, the acting district information officer, said the flush toilets were closed due to low water pressure, adding that the problem is to be fixed soon.
Added 31st October 2017
Raphael Magyezi ng'annyonnyola ebibadde mu kakiiko nga afulumye okuva mu kakiiko.
OMUBAKA Raphael Magyezi (Igara West)eyaleeta ekiteeso ky’okuggya ekkomo ku myaka gya pulezidenti aweze nga bwataggya kuddamu kugenda mu kakiiko ka Palamenti ake byamateeka olwa babaka baayogeddeko ng’abatalina mpisa nga bateesa.
Omubaka ono alumirwa nyo abakadde obutabasosola mubyobufuzi bya Uganda.
Magyezi eyatuuse mu kakiiko ku ssaawa 4:00 ez’oku makya, yakandaaliridde okutuusa ku ssaawa munaana ababaka bwe baabadde bamulemesezza okwanja ebbago lye tteeka gye bali eriruubirira okuggya ekkomo ku myaka gya pulezidenti.
Wadde Magyezi yamaze n’ayanja ebbago lye mu kakiiko, kyokka tebaamuganyizza kulyogerera nga bagamba nti teryayisiddwa mu makubo matuufu nga lyanjibwa mu Palamenti.
Ssentebe wa kakiiko Jacob Oboth yamulagidde okwetambulira n’amutegeeza nga bwalimuyita ng’amwetaaze oluvannyuma.
Ababaka okubadde Ssemujju Nganda (Kira Munisipaali), Medard Seggona (Busiro East), Mathias Mpuuga (Masaka Munisipaali), Abdu Katuntu (Bugweri), Monicah Amoding (mukazi/Kumi) be basinze okutabukira.
Magyezi bwamaze okufuluma ategeezezza nti ne bwe balimuyita olulala talidda. Yaweze ng’ensonga zino bwagenda okuzitwala ewa nampala wa Gavumenti, Ruth Nankabirwa amutegeeza ku busiwuufu bwe mpisa bwalabye obutakkirizika kuba obwedda buli mubaka kyasanga kyayogera nga tebawulira wadde ssentebe kyabagamba.
Nb
Kwegamba wamala gawandiika etteeka nga omanyi nti omufuzi aganidde mubuyinza bw'ensi Uganda, nga naye bwayagala enyo etteeka lino, aja kuwaliriza Parliament emale galiyisaamu oba Parliament ya Uganda eyagala oba teyagala?
Ate lwaki toddayo nga etteeka lyo eddungi ffe nga abakadde abemyaka 70 nomusobyo obadde otuwolereza tufuuke ko abafuzi bensi eno. Kakati oyagala kutuleka mu banga? Oba otuzanyira kubwongo nomala gawandiika wandiika ebitali bituufu mu mateeka ga Parliament.
Added 17th February 2017
Abamu ku bayizi abaliko obulemu nga bayimba
Bya Phiona Nannyomo
17 February, 2017
KANSALA akiikirira abaliko obulemu ku lukiiko lwa disitulikiti ye Masaka ayambalidde abakulira amasomero g'abaliko obulemu olw’okwongeza ebisale by'essomero buli kiseera
Bruno Mugumya agambye nti enkola eno yeemu ku biviiriddeko abaana abaliko obulemu obutafuna mukisa kubeera mu ssomero ne bayisibwa ng'ekitagasa mu ggwanga.
Abaana bano tebazza nga musango kuzalibwa nobulema buno
Bruno okwogera bino abadde asisinkanye abayizi abaliko obulemu ku kisaawe kya Katwe Liberation square mu munisipali ye masaka.
Bruno agasseeko nti okukuumira omwana ow'ekikula kyonna mu ssomero kibeera kirungi naye abakulu b'amasomero bwe banaagenda mumaaso n'enkola eno ey'okuwanika ebisale by'essomero kijja kwongera okuleetawo obumenyi bw'amateeka olw'abaana okubulwa kye bakola ate nga tebali mu ssomero.
Abaana bano bantu nga ffenna abantu bensi abalina obulamu obutegeera
Mungeri yeemu Mugumya asabye gavumenti wamu n’abakulira eby’enjigiriza mu Masaka okuvaayo obunnambiro okuzimbira abaana bakiggala etendekero ly’eby’emikono kibasobozese okwetandikirawo emirimu.
Wabula bbo abakulira amasomero ag'abaana abaliko obulemu mu kwanukula Mugumya bategeezezza nti kino bakikola olw'okusobola okufuna ensimbi ezinaapangisa abakugu olw'ensonga nti bano abaana tebasomesebwa buli muntu.
WORK PLAN FOR BUKADDE MAGEZI FFENNA TUKULAKULANE ASSOCIATION FOR THE PERIOD 2013-2014.
The above association started way back at the beginning of 2012 with twenty members, whose names we do not wish to disclose, who came up with an idea of working together as volunteers to help the eldely. Afterwards more objectives were added that included other activities that would help in boosting our financial levels. In this way our mission has expanded and our ambition is being fulfilled.
We as Association members have tried our best to do several activities together as an Association and also as individuals and thus learning more from each other.
We are involved in the following activities:
1.Welding although still using or hiring from another person’s workshop.
2.Baking cakes and preparing snacks.
3.Poultry farming
4.Rearing broiler chicks from our local chickens
Because of limited finances as earlier stated, this has hindered us from expansion of our activities. We have got hope that in the future with Government assistance through community development programmes under the Kampala City Council Authority, we shall succeed.
Below is our future planned activity table. With the expectation of the Government Grants in case we are supported, we expect to achieve higher. We hope also to venture into more vocational training skills in order to help our youth members and the community we are in, in trying to transform their lives and change their attitudes towards work so that they embrace hard corrective work as one of the channels of transformation of their lives for the better.
OBUNAFU BWA KCCA ERI ABATUUZE BE KIBUGA KAMPALA
Children seek help to build their collapsing home shelter
Livingstone Ssempebwa (L) and Francis Ssekatawa in their makeshift shelter in Kikooba village, Bukomero Sub-county, Kiboga District.
Posted Tuesday, July 1 2014
by monitor.co.ug
At Kiboga, Luwero, Buganda State, Uganda.
They are 17 and 14 years old respectively, but grief, neglect and misery are painted on their faces. Life’s circumstances have made Livingstone Ssempebwa and Francis Ssekatawa adults since they were little.
Ssekatawa and Ssempebwa might need rain to grow food but they cannot smile whenever skies open as the roof over their makeshift shelter is wide open. Their house in Kikooba village, Bukomero Sub-county, Kiboga District is soon collapsing on them. “Our mother died and left us here,” Ssempebwa says.
By the time she died in March this year, she had separated from their father. The boys had watched as their father repeatedly battered their mother. She later quit the marriage, constructed the makeshift house where she lived until she died.
Ssempebwa and Ssekatawa were left helpless even when their father married a widow a couple of kilometres away. “He doesn’t care about us,” says Ssempebwa.
Their neighbour contacted a local charity organisation; Education and Development Opportunity – Uganda (EDOU), which provides education sponsorships to vulnerable children.
With EDOU’s support, they returned to school. Ssempebwa says he wants to enroll for a motor vehicle mechanics course.
However, Mr Brian Mutebi, EDOU’s founder, says the organisation does not have enough funding for him to get his dream. “I appeal to individuals and companies out there to support efforts of reconstructing the lives and dreams of these children,” Mr Brian says.
“Our immediate need is to build a house for them because the makeshift structure they are living in could soon collapse on them,” he says.
For help: Mobile money number is 0782378219.
Disability bill relegates govt role to private sector:
By Joseph Malinga
In May this year, the government gazetted the Persons with Disabilities Bill, with the aim of repealing and replacing the 2006 act with a more progressive legislative framework.
This bill results from engagement between the persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Uganda and the government, in a bid to achieving full realisation of both the 1995 Constitutional guarantees as well as domesticating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
By gazetting the bill, the government is exhibiting her commitment in promoting the rights of PWDs.
The objective of the bill is to replace and reform the law relating to PWDs and to operationalise Article 35 of the Constitution. But many analysts feel this might not be achieved if the bill is passed in its current state.
For instance, the bill refers to the operationalisation of Article 35 of the 1995 Constitution. Whereas this is not necessarily negative, disability experts find this prohibitive and limiting.
The rights of PWDs are human rights in the first place, and the essence of the bill should be to fully operationalize the Constitution in relation to PWDs. As a means of showing the urgency of the matter, PWDs, on July 11, presented a petition to Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga. A key aspect in the petition is affirmative action, which is enshrined under Article 32 of the Constitution.
A bill of this nature would be best-placed to operationalize the spirit of the Constitution as it applies to PWDs as a whole, as well as to domesticate the rights and guarantees under the CRPD. In this regard, therefore, the narrow focus on Article 35 of the Constitution is a substantial and essential shortcoming of the bill.
The bill also places emphasis on what private persons and entities should or should not do, rather than what the state should or should not do. The reference to private actors is very important, especially given the provisions of Article 20 (2) of the Constitution, which is to the effect that human rights must be promoted and respected not just by the state but by all persons.
This is important given that private actors have in the past been, and continue to be, responsible for some of the most violations of the rights of PWDs in Uganda. But placing emphasis on the duties and responsibilities, as well as potential culpability, of private actors alone amounts to abdication of government responsibility.
A case in point is that Section 6 of the bill (non-discrimination in the provision of health services) exclusively aims at private schools or institutions. There is only peripheral responsibility for the government in the context of schools that are actually ‘owned or aided by the government’.
This is a narrow conceptualization of ‘discrimination’ under this section in so far as it does not seem to incorporate the UNCRPD position, which recognizes that failure to provide reasonable accommodation itself constitutes discrimination. A similar trend is apparent with regard to Section 10 of the bill (Non-discrimination in provision of transport services), which is exclusively directed to private actors, with little regard to the affirmative responsibility that may arise for the state in this regard.
Where the obligations of the government are entailed or where an attempt is made to articulate a broad protection that includes both state and private actors, the rights are stated in narrow terms, which fall short of both national and international legal positions.
Section 7 (non-discrimination in the provision of health-services) is more progressive than Section 6, especially when it is read together with Section 2. But just like Section 6, the obligations are narrow ones, relating mainly to physical accessibility of the premises and to provision of accessible labour beds for pregnant women with disabilities.
The current bill, therefore, appears to be informed by fear of the economic implications that might be entailed by a bill that fully respects, promotes and protects the rights of PWDs. This is evident in the careful language employed in the current bill that is specifically aimed, as far as possible, to restricting the range and scope of obligations of governmental agencies with regard to the rights of PWDs.
In her response to the petition, Margaret Komuhangi, who received the petition on behalf of the speaker, acknowledged the gaps. She promised to facilitate the process of overhauling the current bill in order to meet the aspirations of PWDs. It is thus prudent that members of Parliament, especially those representing PWDs as well as DPOs, join hands to ensure the disability movement realises an effective legal framework.
joseph.malinga@nudipu.org
The writer is a communications manager at NUDIPU.
It’s 11am on a sunny Saturday at Ngandu village in Mukono municipality’s Central division; hundreds of people are gathered, while others march to loud brass band music.
But in the crowd, Concepta Naluyima is carrying a quiet seven-year-old boy on her laps. Before she moves away, she must carefully hand William Darlington over to another person because he cannot stand on his own.
Darlington was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Spina bifida is a birth defect featuring incomplete closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord. According to John Paul Tebita, a medical officer at Ishaka Adventist hospital, the major cause of spina bifida is not known.
“But it can be genetic and lack of iron in pregnant mothers,” Tebita says. “The chemicals people consume in foods and beauty products are also another cause.”
He adds that chances of survival for a child born with this disorder are very minimal because facilities for taking care of the child are very expensive. Pregnant mothers are advised to take Fefo, a drug which contains iron and folic acid whose deficiency is also considered a key factor.
“When you lack it [folic acid] completely, the newborn baby has to get that congenital disease,” Tebita explains.
Hydrocephalus, which Darlington was also born with, involves abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. The condition causes increased intracranial pressure inside the skull and may cause progressive enlargement of the head if it occurs in childhood, potentially causing convulsion, tunnel vision, and mental disability.
NORMAL CHILD
Fortunately for Darlington, he was treated. Naluyima brightens up a little as she reveals that “he reasons” like a normal child. She recalls that as soon as she delivered Darlington in Lubaga hospital, doctors took him away.
“They told me that the baby was very weak. I saw him after three days and I was referred to Mulago [national referral] hospital,” she tells The Observer. “While in Mulago, a certain doctor from Lubaga saw me and my baby and said that the baby should have been operated on immediately.”
Naluyima was later advised to take the baby to Cure children’s hospital in Mbale, where he was operated. He is now in primary one, but his parents don’t know if he will ever be able to stand on his own. But they have hope.
And so today, Naluyima has come to Ngandu to attend the launch of Joy Uganda, a subsidiary of the United States-based Joy Center for the Disabled. Joy Uganda has a learning center, a proposed vocational school, a library and first aid/nursing room. They also provide special education and counseling through home visitation services for children with disabilities who are not able to go to school.
At the launch, the central government is represented by Richard Kityo, a rehabilitation officer from the ministry of gender, labour and social development. He says that since government programs may not reach every PWD, Joy Uganda would help bridge the gap.
“Persons with disabilities sometimes miss out in service delivery due to negative community attitudes, which every leader has to demystify to enhance participation of PWDs in all development programs and actions,” Kityo says. “I am happy Joy Uganda is doing this.”
WHY ME?
Joy Center for the Disabled was founded by Dr Daniel Kim after his wife gave birth to a girl, Joy Joan Kim, with Down syndrome. According to Dr Geoffrey Rwabaingi-Mulindwa, the director of medical services at Uganda Christian University, Down syndrome can result into mental retardation and delayed physical growth.
Joy’s mother, Rim Kim, was told by doctors about the condition of her would-be child when she was three months pregnant.
“I asked myself: ‘Why me? What did I do wrong? What am I going to do?’” she said. “I did not have any experience of how to do this.”
They were advised, by colleagues, to abort the child.
“They stated that she would not have a life worth living. They tried to persuade us not to have the child, saying that she would become a burden not to us but society as well,” Daniel said. “Despite what people were saying, my wife and I could not get rid of our child.”
Joy’s condition forced Daniel to resign from his full-time job as a pastor in Los Angeles to concentrate on his child’s health.
“Back home in Los Angeles, people think disability is a curse. But my husband and I said that this is not the way God created us. We have to live together with those who have disability because God gave them to us,” Joy’s mother said.
When the baby was about three years, Rim and Daniel started hosting parents of children with disability at their home. They could discuss and advise one another on how to handle such children and how useful and resourceful they could be to society.
From such gatherings, the ministry, with branches in the USA, Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, China and Uganda, was born. For now, Daniel and his family of three children say they have sold all their property in Los Angeles to dedicate their lives to helping Uganda’s disabled.
Asked as to why they chose to have their only branch in Africa base in Uganda, Rim said they were attracted by Uganda’s legal framework on disability. Rim speaks highly of the Disability Act 2006; the 2003 National Council for Disability Act, which provides a mechanism to monitor disability-sensitive implementation of all development programmes, and the Disability Policy 2006.
Like Daniel and Rim, Darlington’s mother Naluyima also operates a community-based organization in Bweyogerere, where she meets with parents of children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. They advise one another on how to handle such children.
A Umeme electrician fixing a power transformer
A Ugandan citizen has dragged the government and Umeme to the High court, contesting the manner in which the power distribution company got its concession in 2004.
Rashid Kigemuzi claims that on November 26, 2006, the government and Umeme, through some prominent persons, illegally and fraudulently increased the loss cap from 33 per cent to 38 per cent, for purposes of compensation.
Through Balondemu, Candia and Wandera Company Advocates, Kigemuzi claims that since 2004, Umeme has falsified its levels of investment in the distribution sector.
It has, he argues, claimed to have invested Shs 32bn, yet the real investment has not exceeded Shs 16bn.
“The plaintiff [Kigemuzi] shall contend that the concession agreement is contrary to public policy as far as it inhibits government’s right to terminate the agreement. It renders government liable to compensate Umeme for its own default. And it also erodes government’s qualified and absolute sovereignty over national assets,” the plaint reads.
Kigemuzi argues that during the tendering process, Umeme was not among the six bidders, since it had not yet been incorporated – only to be given a 20-year lease on May 17, 2004, eleven days after its incorporation.
He says that during the drafting of the concession, the government hired Hutton and Williams as well as Shonubi, Musoke and Company Advocates, as external and internal transaction advisors respectively. But at the time the concession was signed, Kigemuzi says, the latter were directors in Umeme. To date, they continue to be the company’s external legal advisors – a case of conflict of interest.
He contends that the power distribution concession is illegal, since the attorney general was not the one who drafted it on behalf of government but, rather, a private legal firm.
Kigemuzi, who accuses government for deliberately ignoring a parliamentary resolution to have the concession terminated, wants court to nullify it. He wants court to order Umeme to refund all monies it has “fraudulently” got as compensation through“falsified losses”.
NB:
Comments and discussions by the Public of Uganda:
This organization for the elderly or senior citizens is registered within the urban zone of Mpererwe Sekanyonyi Zone, Kawempe Division under the Kampala Capital City Authority. Gender, Community Services and Welfare Department.
contact; kabayekka@continentafrica. online
Kampala, Uganda, East Africa.
Unfortunately it is becoming very difficult to be accepted for any government assistance these days. Obuntu bulamu ne Bulungi bwansi gemanyi gaffe mukuwereza abantu baffe.
6th September 2016 okutuuka kakano 6th November 2023
This is one of the many business certificates for many years, from the Kampala City Council Authority, that used to run this organization. No funds have ever been received to run this organization. It depends more from its members who have always been providing voluntary work. This website www.bukaddemageziassociation.com. together with other organizations, promotes the work of the elderly and the venerable in the communities.
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That is for purpose of colluding with legal suit vultures and hyenas, who are scrupulously on the lookout for loopholes in contracts, and in both memorandum of understanding (MOU) and also memorandum of misunderstandin g MOM).
Like for example the recent back and forth handing over, and withdrawing of Buganda land titles, by the Attorney General, Peter Nyombi.
But if it's not for the right motive and purpose, to save taxpayers' money; then Uganda has become a cash-cow for the local, international and the executive crooks in government to milk it to death.
After which other vermin and scavengers: hyenas, jackals, vultures, Kaloli, stray dogs (refugees & illegal immigrants) etc., will clean her up to bare bones, while the rest of world looks on void of sympathy.
They "perform" mistakes on bills and never correct them once it's a benefit to them,then you get NSSF squandering our funds into such "bets",God save Ug.
You may be trying to slaughter M7's many "milkig cows". He will defend her tooth and nails. You are personally vulnerable.
May the good LORD reward you for your sole efforts. AMENBya Yudaya Namyalo, okuva mu Mawulire ga Bukedde,
NNAALONGO Sumayia Nakanwagi omutuuze mu Sserwadda Zooni e Lungujja addukidde ku poliisi n’abaana be mwenda n’agisaba emuyambe ku baana ba bba abaamugobye awaka.
Nakanwagi yategeezezza nti mu ddya lye yasookamu ewa bba Jamir yazaalayo abaana mwenda era nga mwalimu abalongo ba mirundi esatu. Jamir yalaba azaala nnyo n’amuddukako.
Yafuna omusajja omulala ayitibwa Ssaazi Ssebusolo eyamuwasa era abadde tamujuza mu buli mbeera nga yamusuubiza n’okumulabirira n’abana be.
Abadde yamuzaalamu omwana omu naye abaana ba Sebusolo bwe baalabye kitaabwe ng’agenze ku safaali ne bamutabukira ne bamukuba emiggo nga kwe batadde okumusamba ne bamugoba n’abaana be mu nnyumba.
Akulira poliisi y’e Lungujja, Robert Omara yasabye Nakanwagi okudda awaka n’abaana be alinde bba akomewo ku safaali ensonga bazitunulemu.
Yamulagidde amukubire essimu singa abaana baddamu okumukolako effujjo.
Children confined for 7years in Oyam,Uganda, East Africa develop strange language:
Ms Dorcus Aceng with her children in Apac District.
Despite change of environment, the children are still confused and upset.
PHOTO BY BILL OKETCH
Posted Friday, November 14 2014
Their father used to lock them in the house, claiming to protect them from danger. Local leaders could not help fearing his violent nature
The new language, has been nicknamed Leb-adam, literally meaning language of the brain, by the community.
It is alleged that the children’s father, Mr Nickolas Ameny, 43, confined them to protect them from danger.
The children, Janet Amongi, 11, Morris Okello, Nine, and Lillian Akullo, Seven, are normal but cannot speak to other people. They only believe what their father tells them.
According to their mother, Ms Dorcu Aceng, the children survived on a diet of boiled frog eggs and greens, eaten every morning and evening and drank water from a hole dug by their father.
They would only move out of the house when going to a nearby garden and get back to the house immediately.
Ms Aceng said her husband barred her from speaking to the children, as a result, they could not learn the Luo language when they were younger.
“He locked them up in the house and flogged them claiming he wanted to protect them from the dangers of the outside world,” Ms Aceng said. The mother said she was threatened in case she told anyone.
The couple got married in 2003 and shortly after their first child, Mr Ameny reportedly started behaving weirdly. They have four children but the last born was taken by their mother.
“ I thought he only feared responsibility and I tolerated him but things went on like that to date. He has denied children the right to clothing, education and socialisation,” Ms Aceng said.
Mr Jonathan Odur, the deputy executive director of Facilitation for Peace and Development (Fapad), said government should follow up areas where communities have returned to their homes as such cases could be overwhelming in villages.
“It is shocking news to us, but we cannot rule out the effects of the long war in the region. People are still traumatised thus calling for more counselling services in the war-affected regions,” Mr Odur said.
Mr Willy Ojok, Barcal village chairperson, said they knew about the plight of the children, but they could not rescue them because of their father’s violent behaviour.
“Two weeks ago, he fought traffic police officers... They ran and abandoned their motorcycle,” he said.
Last weekend, their mother picked the courage when her husband was away and escaped with the children. They are now staying with their grandmother, Ms Middy Ebu, in Apac District.
Mr Ameny said he was only protecting his children from “wrong people”. “I never wanted my children to learn bad manners or get exposed to diseases. Nobody has the right to tell me what to do with my children,” the 43-year-old said.
Or how they should be groomed,” he said.
Psychiatrist Florence Auma recommends that the couple be taken to Lira Mental Health Unit for medical assessment while the children should see a psychologist for support, which FAPAD has offered to facilitate.
editorial@ug.nationmedia.com
Poliisi y’e Kayunga etubidde ne kiggala
Kayunga | Nov 20, 2014
Owa poliisi Acheru ng’ali ne
kiggala abuliddwaako ababe.
Bya Saul Wokulira
POLIISI e Kayunga etubidde n’omukazi kiggala n’omwana we abatamanyiddwa gye baava nga kati bamaze naye wiiki ssatu.
Atwala ensonga z’amaka n’abaana ku poliisi e Kayunga, Florence Acheru yagambye nti omukazi ono yaleetebwa takisi n’asuulibwa e Kayunga abazirakisa ne bamulonda ne bamutwala ku poliisi e Kayunga.
Acheru yagambye nti omukazi ono obumu ku bubonero bw’akola tebabutegeera, tayogera ate n’okumuliisa kifuuse ekizibu.
Yagambye nti obumu ku bubonero bw’akola alaga nti yaleetebwa takisi kyokka yali asumagira n’emuyisa we yali ateekeddwa okukoma ne bamuleeta e Kayunga ne bamulekayo.
Omutabaganya wa poliisi n’omuntu wa bulijjo Samuel Masolo e Kayunga, yagambye nti omukazi ono agamba nti alina abaana munaana kyokka yatambulako n’omu ekimweraliikirizza.