𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐏

𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄 244
AFTERNOON 𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇 22, 2023
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🇺🇬  UMSC announces commencement of Ramadan on Thursday
📌Dr Ziyad Swalleh Lubanga, Director of Sharia at the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) has announced that the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan will begin Thursday, March 23. Lubanga said that Taraweeh prayers at the National Mosque and other mosques across the country will commence every evening at 08:30 pm and  that Islamic seminars, ‘Darasas’  will be conducted every Sunday from 10:00 am throughout the month of Ramadan.

🇺🇬  Uganda deploys Doctors at Mutukula border in the wake of Marburg outbreak  in Tanzania 
📌Uganda health teams on high alert following an outbreak of Marburg disease in Kagera in Tanzania. Ainebyona Emmanuel the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health has confirmed  that Uganda is now deploying senior doctors at the Mutukula-Tanzania border and Kasensero-Miziiro porous borders to do surveillance.  Authorities in Tanzania Tuesday reported that seven people were suffering a strange disease in the northwest Kagera region and it was found out it was Marburg disease.

🇺🇬 President Museveni hails Rotarians for serving communities 
📌President Museveni has hailed Rotarians for serving the under-privileged communities specifically focusing towards maternal and child health. In his speech read by the Prime Minister Robinnah Nabbanja during a handover of village ambulances donated by the Rotary International in Munyonyo. The President said the NRM Government has improved the wellbeing of Ugandans through control and management of epidemics and resource mobilisation.

🇺🇬  Ministry of Health introduces Cervical Cancer self-test kits 
📌Makerere University’s Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) in conjunction with the Ministry of Health has introduced self-testing swabs for Cervical Cancer as part of measures to detect the disease. Dr Aggrey Semeere,  a researcher at IDI noted that the self-testing swab is simple and can be done at any place where women feel comfortable.
“The difference with the new initiative is that most ladies aren’t comfortable with being screened so we have to find simple ways of availing them a chance to test themselves and get the cancer treated early,” said Semeere.

🇺🇬 Government set to recruit 78,000 primary teachers 
📌Government will recruit 78000 primary teachers beginning financial year 2024/2025, the State Minister for Primary Education, Ms Joyce Kaducu has said.
“Government is planning to recruit a total of 78,888 primary teachers to fill the teacher- pupil ratio gap in the Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools and this decision follows a Cabinet approval to enhance quality free and compulsory UPE and Universal Secondary Education (USE) and ensuring that teacher to learner ratio of 1:40 is achieved as recommended by international standards,” said Kaducu. Currently, the country has a total of 12,433 UPE schools, with 136,819 teachers teaching 8,624,264 learners in these institutions.

🇺🇬 KABALE: Missing University student found dead in her room 
📌Police in Kabale are investigating circumstances under which Naturinda Sarah, 20 years old and a student of Kabale University mysteriously died. According to the regional police spokesperson Elly Maate, Naturinda Sarah, a second year student at Kabale University and resident of Kamukira cell, Mwanjari ward, Southern division was found dead in her room after missing for two days. Police found her body lying on the bed with hands tied  with clothes stuck in her mouth. A case of murder has been recorded.

🇺🇬  NAMUTUMBA: Ministry of Health warns saboteurs of IRS program
📌The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr Diana Atwine has warned leaders against sabotaging the indoor residual spraying (IRS) program but rather embrace it as a Government intervention aimed at reducing the spread of Malaria.  Dr Atwine explained that the drugs used in the spraying have been scientifically proven to be good in killing mosquitoes any time.
“Some leaders want to fight this program of the IRS by spreading rumour that after spraying in the house, the drugs cause jiggers and bed bugs, which is not true,” Dr. Atwine said.

ACROSS BORDERS
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🌍 Kenya backs a review to sell Kenya parastatals without ‘bureaucratic’ MPs’ approval
📌Kenyan President William Ruto has backed a push to sell parastatals without the approval of Parliament, in a constitutional change that will give the Treasury unchecked powers in the privatisation plan. The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Privatization Bill, 2023, which gives power to the National Treasury to privatise public-owned enterprises without the approval of Parliament, describing an early process seeking the legislators’ nod as “bureaucratic”.

🌍  Somalia to hold elections by universal suffrage
📌Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said the country will organise the next national elections by universal suffrage, a departure from an indirect voting system that has often triggered crises. This Horn of Africa nation has not held a one-person, one-vote election in more than 50 years.
“The next election God willing will be a one-person-one vote that is based on a political party system,” Mohamud said.

🌍 UN cites bureaucracy as a hindrance  to deliver aid to DRC
📌The United Nations Humanitarian Agency Tuesday said that the rampant insecurity and bureaucratic hassles are hindering efforts to rush aid to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. In a report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said help was being delayed by insecurity, bureaucratic constraints and restrictions on movement such as roadblocks.

🌍  MALAWI: Cyclone Freddy death toll surpasses 500
📌The death toll from tropical cyclone Freddy has risen to 507 in Malawi with 1,332 injuries, the government announced Tuesday as rescue and recovery teams continued their operations. The Department of Disaster Management Affairs released a statement on Wednesday reflecting that the death toll has risen from 499 to 507 with 1,332 injuries. The number of reported missing persons is at 537 from 427. The Malawi Defence Force (MDF), the Malawi Police Service (MPS) and the United Kingdom search and rescue and recovery teams are continuing with their operations.

🌍  Russia defies arrest warrant, probes ICC prosecutor,  judges over Putin arrest warrant
📌Russia has hit back at the International Criminal Court (ICC) with a probe of its own, targeting officials of the global judicial organ after it issued arrest warrants issued against President Vladimir Putin for war crimes. The move signals defiance of the arrest warrant issued three days ago against President Putin and Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights Maria Lvova-Belova for the war crime of deporting children from Ukraine to Russia.