Latest news with #Kololo
Zawya
4 days ago
- Politics
- Zawya
Uganda: 11th Parliament Begins Final Session with Spotlight on Legislative Legacy
The 11th Parliament on Thursday, 05 June, 2025 entered its final session, with Speaker Anita Among declaring the House a 'people-centred legislature' that will leave an indelible mark on the country's governance and development landscape. Speaking during the opening of the fifth session held at Kololo ceremonial grounds, Speaker Among delivered a message of resolve and pride, highlighting an ambitious legislative record and the Parliament's expanding role in national affairs. She said that Parliament will continue to prioritise the agenda of the Executive. 'Today marks the beginning of the final year of the 11th Parliament. I will state without any fear of contradiction that this Parliament has been the epitome of the people-cantered legislature,' she said. AUDIO: Speaker Anita Among In the past year alone, Parliament held 75 plenary sittings, passed 35 bills, concluded three petitions, adopted 53 reports, and passed 45 resolutions. Among described the output as 'outstanding,' noting its responsiveness, efficiency, and legislative weight. Among the bills passed were major reforms touching nearly every sector education, agriculture, infrastructure, labour, and tax policy. The Appropriation Bills 2024 and 2025, the Higher Education Students Financing (Amendment) Bill, and the Uganda People's Defence Forces (Amendment) Bill were singled out for their strategic national importance. 'These laws are intended to foster private sector growth, rationalise pension management and improve service delivery,' she said. Among also noted a symbolic moment of the 11th Parliament's term as being its historic regional sitting in Gulu City which she described as a landmark in civic engagement. 'During the fourth session, the Parliament of Uganda held its first ever regional sitting at Kaunda Grounds in Gulu City… We take this opportunity to thank you for gracing the opening of that historic sitting,' she said. The session addressed issues specific to Northern Uganda and involved direct community engagement, signalling a potential new model for inclusive governance. Among acknowledged turbulence along the way including the deaths of two sitting MPs, Hon. Sarah Mateke and Hon. Muhammad Ssegirinya. Speaker Among also announced that at least eight MPs had crossed party lines in recent months, most notably from the opposition National Unity Platform and Forum for Democratic Change to either the ruling National Resistance Movement or the newly formed Democratic Front. 'We wish the members well in the exercise of their freedom of association as prescribed in Article 29 of the Constitution of Uganda, which we so do uphold,' she noted, hinting at the pre-election realignments beginning to shape the political landscape. As Uganda prepares for general elections in 2026, the Speaker closed with a commitment to national transformation. 'We undertake that the fifth session will remain steadfast in effectively executing its mandate in furtherance to the national Vision 2040 that aims in transforming Uganda into a modern and prosperous nation within 30 years,' she said. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
Zawya
4 days ago
- Politics
- Zawya
President Launches Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV) to Drive Uganda's Economic Transformation
President Yoweri Museveni has officially launched the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), a bold and strategic blueprint aimed at addressing Uganda's most pressing development challenges and propelling the country toward socio-economic transformation. The unveiling took place Kololo Ceremonial Grounds before he delivered the address on the State of the Nation on Thursday, 5 June 2025. In her remarks, Speaker Anita Among, described the plan approved by Parliament on January 9, 2025 as a national blueprint for transformation and sustainable development and a precursor to the National Budget Speech, scheduled to be delivered on June 12, 2025. 'I acknowledge the contributions of all stakeholders involved in the formulation of this plan,' Among said adding that 'I request that before you begin your address to Parliament and to the nation, you symbolically unveil NDP IV as the foundation for the upcoming budget speech.' In his address, President Museveni credited the NRM's leadership with laying the ideological and institutional foundations necessary for Uganda's modern development. These, he said, are anchored in four key principles: patriotism, Pan-Africanism, socio-economic transformation, and democracy. 'This ideology promotes the mass line—ensuring social uplift for all, not just a privileged elite,' the President said. 'Policies such as Universal Primary and Secondary Education, mass immunization campaigns, and wealth creation programmes like Operation Wealth Creation, the Parish Development Model, and Emyooga have significantly improved the quality of life in Uganda,' he added. Museveni further cited Uganda's rising life expectancy, now at 63 years compared to 45 in 1986 when the NRM assumed power. He also noted that the population has grown from 14 million in 1986 to 46 million today, according to the 2024 National Housing and Population Census—evidence, he said, that Ugandans are now living longer, healthier lives. The President further highlighted improvements in the literacy rate, which has increased from 43 percent in 1986 to 80 percent today. He also pointed out a dramatic shift in the economy where the percentage of Ugandans engaged in subsistence farming has dropped from 90 percent in 1986 to the current 33 percent. 'This transformation illustrates that mass line programmes are the most effective path to socio-economic change,' he said. In line with this philosophy, the President outlined priority areas for NDP IV: ensuring peace and security across the country; accelerating industrialization by establishing factories that use locally available raw materials; promoting exports and import substitution; strengthening the private sector; increasing market access; and skilling young people through industrial vocational hubs. Spanning the period from financial year 2025/2026 to financial year 2029/2030, NDP IV lays the foundation for inclusive growth and sustained wealth creation. The plan emphasizes sustainable industrialization, full economic monetization, and robust private sector growth. The NDP IV aims to achieve an increase in GDP growth rate by by financial year 2029/2030 and an increase in average monthly nominal household income. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
The Guardian
29-03-2025
- The Guardian
Kenyan man who spent decade on death row sues London police for role in wrongful conviction
A Kenyan man who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death over an attack on British tourists is suing the Metropolitan police over its role in the case. Ali Kololo was imprisoned for more than a decade in what his lawyers called 'appalling conditions' before being released when his conviction was quashed in 2023. He was the only suspect prosecuted over the murder of publishing executive David Tebbutt and the kidnapping of his wife, Judith, on a remote Kenyan island resort in 2011. Tebbutt was shot dead. His wife was taken into Somalia and released following a ransom payment six months later. Kololo, now 45, is seeking compensation from the Met, accusing the force of providing misleading evidence to a Kenyan court that played a key role in his wrongful conviction. The first stage of the case will be heard at the Central London county court on Friday. Emails seen by the Observer reveal that the Home Office authorised the deployment of Met police officers to Kenya despite knowing the case could result in the death penalty. Reprieve, a legal charity representing Kololo, said the decision violated government rules against providing assistance that 'might directly or significantly contribute to ... use of the death penalty, both the imposition of the death sentence and executions'. Preetha Gopalan, Reprieve's joint head of UK litigation, said a series of emails between the Home Office and Foreign Office, released after a subject access request, showed a 'level of panic' about Kololo having been sentenced to death for the offence of robbery with violence. Kololo, a young father who worked as a honey-gatherer and woodcutter on the island where the Tebbutts were holidaying, was accused of directing the gang behind the attack to a hut where the couple were sleeping. Judith Tebbutt later told the Sunday Times she believed that Kololo was innocent and had been scapegoated by Scotland Yard. Kololo's lawyers have accused former detective chief inspector Neil Hibberd, who has retired, of omitting key information that cast doubt on the prosecution's allegations that a footprint linked Kololo to the crime scene. Reprieve said a Kenyan court was not told that the Met Police's analysis of a partially washed-away imprint on a sandy beach had been inconclusive. Kololo did not fit a pair of shoes presented as a match for the footprint during his trial, and said he was barefoot on the day in question. Gopalan said the Met's support for the prosecution and Hibberd's evidence in court was 'the nail in the coffin to secure the conviction'. She added: 'His conviction rested heavily on the footprint, but the whole time, the Met had analysis that undermined the evidence.' An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found that Hibberd would have had a case to answer for gross misconduct if he were still a serving officer, but that it could take no action after his retirement. Emails released by the Home Office to Reprieve also show that officials were warned in 2012 that 'the death penalty remains on Kenya's statute books and may be available for one of the offences', but went on to authorise the Met deployment for the case. 'The death penalty was mandatory for this offence,' Gopalan said. She added that there was a moratorium on executions in Kenya at the time, but this was 'not a sufficient assurance'. The Foreign Office advised the Home Office that it would 'not be seeking explicit assurances on the use of the death penalty from Kenyan authorities' because the moratorium made it a 'low risk'. Gopalan said Kololo's trial had also been structurally unfair because he did not have legal representation and had to cross-examine 20 witnesses, including Hibberd, himself. He was illiterate and did not have an interpreter for proceedings that were not conducted in his first language. Kololo said in a statement via Reprieve: 'Being sentenced to death was torture in itself. It's by sheer luck that I was able to come out of prison with my mind intact. I pray for my case to succeed so that I can live like other human beings. 'I used to work hard to look after my family but my time in prison has left a big gap, which is very difficult to fill. My health has deteriorated and I cannot go back to doing the work I used to do. I have to struggle to provide for my children and look after my mother.' Gopalan said the Metropolitan police should 'put its hands up' over the case, apologise and pay appropriate compensation. '[Kololo] is lucky to be free and to be able to mount a claim, but the question remains: is this still happening?' she said. 'Is the UK government continuing to provide this kind of assistance to countries around the world and becoming complicit in human rights violations because they haven't learned the lessons from the past?' Home Office minister Diana Johnson said last week: 'Under Section 26 of the Police Act 1996, the Home Secretary is responsible for providing consent for the deployment of all serving police officers and staff from England and Wales forces overseas and where advice or assistance is being provided to a foreign agency. The Section 26 process is a rigorous process undertaken by officials ... exercising due diligence on any proposed police deployments, including that assistance overseas meets the UK's human rights obligations and values.' The Metropolitan police said it could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
