𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐏

𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄 291
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𝐌𝐀𝐘 08,  2023
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🇺🇬 Spike in cough and flu infections points to a likely outbreak of Covid 19 – Medics
📌The rising cases of cough, flu and  airway diseases, reported in hospitals across the country have caused fear of a likely outbreak of Covid 19. This comes in the wake of news from Mulago National Referral Hospital that some two patients had presented with severe Covid illness over the past two weeks. Mulago National Referral Hospital physician Dr Christine Sekaggya says they are still getting Covid-19 patients with severe disease.
“But we are waiting for [reports for] further evaluation. We still get a few patients and they come here with severe symptoms. So people have to take care. We have two Covid-19 patients admitted in the last two weeks with severe disease,” Dr Sekaggya said.
Several families have reported loved ones being bedridden for days or losing their voices with the onset of intense cough, flu and fever. In a number of cases, children have failed to respond to medication previously effective against the airway or respiratory diseases, as some have had to be admitted to hospital and placed on oxygen machines. Health experts have linked the current wave of flu and cough in the country to Covid-19, but the Health Ministry says they are finalising their assessment to determine the actual cause. The World Health Organisation (WHO) last week declassified the Covid 19 pandemic, which killed more than 3,600 people in Uganda from 2020 and millions globally, as a global health emergency. WHO however tasked countries to continue with mitigation measures.

🇺🇬  Six arrested over possession of explosives in Nabweru
📌Six people have been arrested in an ongoing joint operation between UPDF and Police in Nabweru North, Nansana Division, Nansana Municipality, Wakiso District after they were allegedly found in possession of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).  The Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy Spokesperson, ASP Luke Owoyesigyire has identified the suspects as Hamidu Ssekidde, Muhammad Kalyango, Abdul Katamba, Arafat Ssali, Emmanuel Asiimwe and Hamidu Muyondi.
“After getting our technical and human intelligence information last night, our forces came to this place (Nabweru) and managed to arrest four people. These people are having gadgets that make Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The IEDs are mostly used by negative elements in countries like Somalia, DRC and recently in Uganda” Major Charles Kabona, UPDF’s 1st Division spokesperson said. According to Major Kabona, the armed forces had already surrounded the area by Monday morning as they searched for more suspects.
“We will find out their collaborators. We call upon the general public to be extra vigilant and alert. Surprisingly, none of their neighbours knew that these people are criminals. We have a threat amidst us and therefore, we must work very closely to ensure that we curb such criminality. We shall not allow anybody to distablise our country,” he said.

🇺🇬 Uganda to host high level regional Peace and Security meeting in 2024
📌Uganda has been selected to host the 12th high-level meeting of the regional oversight mechanism of the Peace, Security, and Cooperation (PSC) framework for the DRC. Burundi hosted the 11th High-Level oversight meeting under the chairmanship of H.E. Evariste Ndayishimiye. The summit held in Bujumbura was attended by the heads of State and Government representatives from Angola, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. It was agreed that the leaders will meet again in Kampala, Uganda, in 2024 to further review the implementation of the PSC Framework. According to the secretariat, the purpose of the meeting was to review recent developments in the region as well as progress and challenges in the implementation of the PSC Framework, ten years after its signing on February 24, 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
H.E. Ndayishimiye, who is also the incoming PSC chair, thanked President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who was in attendance, for playing a vital role in ensuring peace and security in the region. The outgoing PSC Chair, H.E. Felix Antoine Tshishekedi (President of DRC), who handed over leadership to Burundi’s Ndayishimiye, appreciated participating countries for their endless efforts in ensuring that DRC regains stability. He also lauded the peace process facilitator, the former President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, for the job well done in ensuring that the DRC gains stability.

🇺🇬  PALLISA: Environment activists launch One Million tree campaign
📌A group of environmental activists in Pallisa District under their umbrella, Activista Network, have launched a campaign of planting one million trees to combat environmental degradation. Ivan Adakun, their chairperson, during the launch, said that no trees means no future.
“You have had your future as elders with minimal climate change, what will we have as the next generation? It is time we come together and create sustainable solutions to mitigate climate change. As Activistas, we are willing to have more similar peaceful climate change campaigns until we realise change,” he said.
The RDC of Pallisa District, Dhikusooka Majid, thanked Activista Pallisa, District Youth Council, ActionAid International, Uganda and CIDD-UG, for the tremendous positive gesture of planting trees as a means of preserving the environment. He said that planting trees is one of the measures to mitigate climate change.

🇺🇬  GULU: New Cancer Centre set to open in July
📌The construction of Gulu Regional Cancer centre has been finalized and is set to be commissioned in July this year, Health Minister, Dr Ruth Aceng, has said. Aceng said the center will mainly handle patients from the northern and eastern parts of the country, as the Government seeks to decentralize Cancer services. Similarly, the new regional center will help Ugandans who have been travelling long distances to access treatment especially from the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI), the comprehensive national treatment center. The facility has a 100-bed capacity and will offer Cancer services like screening, diagnosis, investigations, treatment, follow up of patients, admissions, emergencies and referrals.

🇺🇬 TORORO: Minister cautions PDM beneficiaries against reckless spending and marrying more women
📌Benefeciaries of the Parish Development Model (PDM) risk arrest and prosecution should they spend the money on merry making and marrying more women. The State Minister of Defense, Jacob Oboth Oboth, while officiating at the launch of the disbursement of the funds from the parish savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOS) accounts to individual accounts at the Tororo district headquarters on  Friday, cautioned the beneficiaries to utilize the money for production to improve their livelihood and household income.  Oboth told them that  the money was given to them as a revolving fund to alleviate poverty in every household.

🇺🇬  FORTPORTAL CITY: Woman finds husband’s missing body parts in swamp
📌A 34-year-old resident of Butebe ward, North Division, Fort Portal City on Sunday discovered the decomposing body of her husband in a swamp.The deceased, whose body was found in Mugunu swamp, was identified as Charles Twesige, 40, a resident of the same area.Twesige went missing on April 19 after his wife, Jenice Giramia, allegedly found him with another woman in their marital home.
“It is alleged that in the morning of April 19, Giramia the wife of the deceased, went to her place of work at Mucwa, leaving the deceased at home,” Vincent Twesigye, the Rwenzori regional Police spokesperson said.

ACROSS BORDERS
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🌍 DR Congo floods death toll rises to  nearly 400
📌The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to nearly 400, an official said on Sunday. At least 394 bodies have been recovered after last week’s floods, said Thomas Bakenga, administrator of Kalehe territory where the affected villages are located. He had announced a toll of at least 203 people on Saturday. Heavy rainfall in the Kalehe region of South Kivu province on Thursday caused rivers to overflow, triggering landslides that engulfed the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi. The hillside also gave way at Nyamukubi, where the weekly market was held on Thursday, Bakenga has previously said. The provincial Government has sent a boat filled with beans, flour and other food, tarpaulins and medicine, he said.
On Saturday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres offered his condolences to the victims of the “catastrophic floods” in Rwanda and DR Congo.

🌍  IGAD  implores warring Sudan Generals to ‘silence the guns for unconditional ceasefire’
📌The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on Sunday urged the warring parties in Sudan to immediately and unconditionally agree to a humanitarian ceasefire.
The regional bloc’s call comes one day after representatives of the Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) start their first face-to-face dialogue in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Jeddah. The “pre-negotiation talks” aimed to secure a ceasefire are sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia. In a statement issued Sunday, IGAD said it is closely following the humanitarian ceasefire talks between the two parties. IGAD’s Executive Secretary, Mr Workneh Gebeyehu urged the two sides to seize the opportunity of the ongoing direct talks to silence the guns.

🌍  Gunmen shoot dead Cameroonian journalist
📌Gunmen shot dead a journalist late on Sunday in Bamenda, a city in Cameroon’s troubled northwest region, the local journalists’ union said, in at least the third killing of a media worker in the country this year. Anye Nde Nsoh, the west and northwest region bureau chief for weekly newspaper the Advocate, was in a pub in Bamenda’s Ntarikon neighborhood when unidentified assailants opened fire on him, said colleague Melanie Ndefru, who was close to the scene of the attack. Earlier this year, a radio presenter and a journalist were killed in two separate attacks in or near the capital Yaounde, prompting the United Nations to express concern about the media environment. The Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) confirmed Nsoh’s death and called for an investigation.
“This latest attack on a journalist is one too many. The long-drawn conflict in the northwest and southwest regions has pitched journalists into grave danger,” said CAMASEJ President Jude Viban.