𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐏

𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄 307
🄴🅅🄴🄽🄸🄽🄶 🄴🄳🄸🅃🄸🄾🄽
𝐌𝐀𝐘 24, 2023

🇺🇬  President Museveni applauds Greater Masaka model farmers
📌 President Museveni has applauded model farmers in Masaka for embracing  Government’s development programs such as the Parish Development Model and Emyooga aimed at empowering them get out of the subsistence to a money economy. The President made the remarks on Wednesday – day two of his tour in  Greater Masaka.
“I insisted to be on the ground so that I could see for myself how people have changed their livelihoods. I didn’t want hearsay or to read it in the newspaper, rather I wanted to see plantations that people have made for themselves,”  he said.
He echoed that the PDM is not for the rich but the most vulnerable, and referred to the rich to instead get loans from Uganda Development Bank (UDB). He also commissioned the Greater Masaka industrial skilling hub aimed at skilling the youths.

🇺🇬 Eunice Apio is UPC’s flag bearer in Oyam North by-election
📌Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) has fronted Dr. Eunice Apio as a flag bearer for the upcoming by-election after Crispus Ayena Odong stepped down. Sharon Oracha Oyat, the spokesperson of UPC on Wednesday revealed that the party chose to participate in the upcoming by-elections after reaching consensus with other members following the release of the electoral map.
“We would like to inform members and the general public that UPC shall participate in the Oyam North forthcoming by-elections, following the release of the electrical road map. And we promise to update the membership and as well as the people of Oyam North about the upcoming by-elections,” Oyat said. “In the same way, we would like to thank our comrade Ayena Odongo for exhibiting the spirit of togetherness for our party, and putting the interests of the party before self. We also thank the UPC Lango region for the spirit of togetherness,“ she added.
The Oyam North County seat fell vacant after the death of Rtd Col Charles Okello Engola who was shot by his bodyguard on May 2, 2023, at his home in Kyanja, a Kampala suburb.

🇺🇬 Maize is now Uganda’s second leading export earner after coffee
📌Maize has for the first time in Uganda’s history become the second leading Export foreign exchange earner after coffee, Ministry of Finance has revealed. The big raise in earnings from maize exports is attributed to the easing of non-trade barriers in Kenya, the opening of the Uganda-Rwanda border and the general rising demand for Ugandan food from neighbouring countries. According to a report on the performance of the economy, monthly earnings from maize exports increased to $42.7m (about 159b) in March 2023, up from $30.7m (about shs114. 3b) earned in February 2023 and $35m (about 130.3b) earned in January 2023.

🇺🇬 BUHWEJU: Pilgrims led by their MP set off to Namugongo ahead of Martyrs Day
📌 About two hundred Catholic pilgrims from the Buhweju District have started their pilgrimage to the Namugongo shrine ahead of this year’s Martyrs Day celebrations. The pilgrims who are from the parishes of Butare, Kashorwa, Bihanga and Nyakitoko are in the company of Buhweju County MP Francis Mwijukye and will walk for around ten days before reaching Namugongo.

🇺🇬 SEMBABULE: Leaders want Government to allocate more funds for roads maintenance
📌 District Leaders in Sembabule and Kalungu Districts have asked Government to allocate more money for road maintenance to ease pressure on the current alternative route, which passes through Mpigi-Kanoni-Sembabule-Villa Maria-Masaka. The leaders say Sembabule Districts currently receives 700 Million shillings for roads, while Kalungu receives a paltry 450 million shillings annually.

🇺🇬 MAYUGE: Communities optimistic on getting clean water
📌 Communities in Mayuge District are yet to get clean after Life Water International, a non Governmental organisation launched a 5-year water sanitation and hygiene project. The project has seen several boreholes constructed in several villages, increasing coverage from 43 to 69 percent.

ACROSS BORDERS

🌍 🌍 🌍

🌍  UN seeks USD 7 billion to address food crisis in Africa
📌 The United Nations (UN) is seeking USD7bn to address the food crisis in Africa. According to the UN, some communities in Africa lack access to sufficient food and now want member states and partners to commit financial support to the food crisis.
The International Rescue Committee said that until now, the appeals have received less than a quarter of the needed donation yet efforts to combat food insecurity need to be urgently scaled up.

🌍 Ghanaian peacekeeper named UN Gender Award Winner
📌 A Ghanaian peacekeeper serving in the disputed  Sudan-South Sudan border region of Abyei has won a UN award for championing the rights of women.  Captain Cecilia Erzuah, 32, will receive the 2022 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year award from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday.
“On every front, Captain Erzuah’s work has set the standard for ensuring that the needs and concerns of women are reflected across our peacekeeping operations,” said Mr Guterres in a statement.  Captain Erzuah has served in Abyei since March 2022 as the commander of the Ghana engagement platoon.  Ghana is currently the largest contributor of women peacekeepers in the UN with 375 now deployed.

🌍 Zimbabwe ranked World’s most miserable country
📌The Hanke’s Annual Misery Index (HAMI) which judges nations basing on economic conditions has indicated that Zimbabwe is the most miserable country. Other countries on the list of the top 15 most miserable nations as per the New York Post are Venezuela, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, Argentina, Yemen, Ukraine, Cuba, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Angola, Tonga, and Ghana. Steve H. Hanke, a professor of Applied Economics at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland noted that the high levels of unemployment and the striking inflation rate, among others, have contributed to Zimbabwe’s miserable state.
“Thanks to the stunning inflation, high unemployment, high lending rates and poor real GDP growth, Zimbabwe clocks in as the world’s most miserable country in the Hanke 2022 annual misery index,” Hanke said.