THEFT

Museveni guards cited in State House ‘billions’ theft

Share Bookmark Print Email Rating

By Tabu Butagira & Richard Wanambwa  (email the author)

Posted  Tuesday, September 20  2011 at  00:00

In Summary

The theft, yet to be reported to police, allegedly happened last Friday night at Okello House.

Share This Story

85Share

KAMPALA

Soldiers of the Special Forces Group (SFG), the elite presidential guard unit, have been named in the alleged theft of large sums of money, reported to be in billions, from the State House Cash Office at Okello House in Kampala.

The theft is being inquired into by the investigations unit of the same crack force, according to Spokesman Capt. Edson Kwesiga, who approached us yesterday, to say none of their soldiers was involved.

This newspaper has been told by inside sources that three presidential guard soldiers have gone missing since last Friday’s disappearance of the money from the office, located just off the presidential lodge in Nakasero. Daily Monitor could not independently verify if any SFG soldiers remain unaccounted for by press time.

“I have been told that the (presidential) guards, probably having colluded with the cashiers, accessed the cash office at night on Friday and took the money using a vehicle,” a source, whom we cannot name due to the sensitivity of the matter, said.

It emerged last evening that two cashiers, both civilians, who were on duty the day of the heist - at one of the country’s presumably most protected offices - have been suspended as the SFG investigation got underway.

Whereas a whistleblower and another source within State House separately told this newspaper that anywhere between Shs8 billion and Shs17 billion could have been stolen, Capt. Kwesiga said Shs20 million was stolen, while Presidential Spokesman Tamale Mirundi later said it was Shs2 million. But the hunt for the masterminds has resulted in the reported, though independently unverifiable, flight of three SFG soldiers who were allegedly deployed as part of the guard detail at the building, an annex to Nakasero State House. It was still too early to pinpoint the actual thief, investigators reported.

Nothing of that kind involving SFG soldiers happened, Capt. Kwesiga said during an unsolicited visit he made to our Namuwongo head office after learning that this newspaper was investigating the story. He said: “The truth is that some money went missing at Okello House and an investigation by SFG is ongoing. The leads point us to the people working in the Cash Office which is manned by civilians.”

Theft is a criminal offence and under the Penal Code Act, any person convicted of the crime faces up to seven years imprisonment. But the case has not been reported to police and is being handled as an in-house affair at State House.

Comptroller Lucy Nakyobe, the State House accounting officer, did not answer our telephone calls and it was not clear how cashiers under her came to hold such vast sums overnight when standing public financial regulations apparently do not allow government officials to keep more than Shs20m a day in cash for recurrent expenses.

The money was for operations and as petty cash, officials said. Investigators did not explain how the theft happened at a place of round-the-clock security and surveillance.

Capt. Kwesiga also denied parallel reports that SFG was under some kind of internal strain because the Force commander and First Son, Lt. Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, allegedly mistreats some of his juniors, including cutting back on allowances.

Capt. Kwesiga said SFG soldiers pick only salary and an extra Shs120,000 as monthly “food basket” allowance, and receive no other perks unless deployed outside the country. “Nothing has been touched of this allowance, nothing has been scrapped,” he said.

Barely an hour after Capt. Kwesiga left our offices, Mr Mirundi telephoned this newspaper to say that the story was manufactured. “That story that you are writing that Shs18 billion was stolen from State House is a Fool’s Day story. Stealing billions from State House is like a devil attacking the Vatican, impossible! That Fool’s Day story you are writing is ‘palace politics’. A small cashier using his tricks took Shs2 million – that’s true,” Mr Tamale said.

THE KAMPALA JULY 11.2011 TERRORISM TRIAL

KAMPALA

Day Two of plea-taking at the International Crimes Division of the High Court yesterday saw surprises when two suspects pleaded guilty to terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism acts, respectively.

Edris Nsubuga and Muhamoud Mugisha are part of 14 suspects facing 92 counts in connection with last year’s Kampala bomb attacks that claimed at least 76 lives and left scores injured.

Nsubuga pleaded guilty to three charges of terrorism but denied counts of murder and attempted murder before Justice Alphonse Owiny-Dolo. He was part of 12 people, including his two brothers, facing 89 charges of terrorism, murder and attempted murder.

Nsubuga, alias Eddy, was charged with his brother Isa Ahmed Luyima, while Muzafar Luyima is facing two counts of being an accessory to terrorism and murder.

The suspect amused court when he raised his hand and asked to speak. He then revealed that he was intimidated by his co-accused on Monday as he sought to plead guilty. “But I was threatened; my friends looked at me and I immediately changed my plea to deny the charges,” Nsubuga told the court.

Muhamoud Mugisha pleaded guilty to the only charge of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism he faced alone. Justice Owiny-Dolo adjourned the case to today to enable the state prepare the brief facts to allow court determine the fate of the accused persons.

The court on Monday discharged Kenyan human rights activist Al-Amin Kimathi, ending a year-long diplomatic row, after the state dropped charges against him and four others, including a Ugandan doctor Ismail Kalule.

Who are they?

Muhamoud Mugisha, 25, is a resident of Nakulabye in Rubaga Division, Kampala. He is of Rwandan origin. He allegedly confessed to being al-Qaeda’s linkman in Uganda in an extra-judicial statement before the High Court in Kampala.

He was arrested a few days after the July 11 terrorism attacks that targeted soccer fans watching World Cup final at Kyadondo Rugby Club and Ethiopian Village, both in Kampala. Nsubuga was intercepted at Malaba border point on his way to Kenya enroute to Somalia.

Nsubuga also confessed to being a close friend of Isa Ahmed Luyima, who has since recorded an extra-judicial statement admitting to have been the man in charge of smuggling suicide bomb jackets used by terrorists into the country. The jackets were allegedly assembled in Somalia.

For Edris Nsubuga, he was until his arrest, a businessman dealing in garments mainly imported from Asia. The resident of Church Zone, Najjanakumbi, a Kampala suburb on Entebbe Road, is charged with his two brothers, Isa Ahmed Luyima and Hassan Haruna Luyima. They all made extra-judicial statements before magistrates when they were first charged in court.

WORLD TRADE CENTER PHOTOS OF DEMOLITION & RECONSTRUCTION

KWETU PAZULI - AMBASSADORS OF CHRIST CHOIR-RWANDA

WORLD TRADE CENTER OF SUN. 11.SEPT.2001 AT 9:59AM

WORLD TRADE CENTER September 11, 2001

Collapse of the World Trade Center

The collapse of 2 World Trade Center seen from Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, as a result of al-Qaeda's September 11 attacks,^[1] in which terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners, flying one into the North Tower (1 World Trade Center) and another into the South Tower (2 World Trade Center).^[2] The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m., less than an hour after being hit by the hijacked airliner, and at 10:28 a.m. the North Tower collapsed. Later that day, 7 World Trade Center collapsed at 5:21 p.m. from fires that had started when the north tower collapsed.^[3] As a result of the attacks to the towers, 2,752 people died, including all 157 passengers and crew aboard the two airplanes.^[4] The collapse of the twin towers also caused extensive damage to the rest of the complex and nearby buildings. Debris from the collapsing towers severely damaged or destroyed more than a dozen other adjacent and nearby structures.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) completed its performance study of the buildings in May 2002. It declared that the WTC design had been sound, and attributed the collapses wholly to extraordinary factors beyond the control of the builders. While calling for further study, FEMA suggested that the collapses were probably initiated by weakening of the floor joists by the fires that resulted from the aircraft impacts. According to FEMA's report, the floors detached from the main structure of the building and fell onto each other, initiating a progressive "pancake" collapse.^[5]

FEMA's early investigation was revised by a later, more detailed investigation conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which also consulted outside engineering entities. This investigation was completed in September 2005. Like FEMA, NIST vindicated the design of the WTC, noting that the severity of the attacks and the magnitude of the destruction was beyond anything experienced in U.S. cities in the past. NIST also emphasized the role of the fires, but it did not attribute the collapses to failing floor joists. Instead, NIST found that sagging floors pulled inward on the perimeter columns: "This led to the inward bowing of the perimeter columns and failure of the south face of WTC 1 and the east face of WTC 2, initiating the collapse of each of the towers."^[6]

The cleanup of the site involved round-the-clock operations, many contractors and subcontractors, and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The demolition of the surrounding damaged buildings continued even as new construction proceeded on the World Trade Center's replacement, 1 World Trade Center (Freedom Tower), which reached its half way point of 52 floors on December 16, 2010. Only 7 World Trade Center has been replaced as of 2011.

UGANDAN TEACHERS

The terms and conditions set by government will force some teachers to go class in fear losing jobs, but this is NOT the best solution in as far as their salaries are concerned. what they will do in class will not correspond with what they were doing before.They are (teachers) the  basis of this country. The government should not aim at buying expensive cars to MPS, MINISTERS, and buying fighter jets and etc when pupils and students in classes are suffering.

LIBYA

The Conflict
In February 2011, following a spate of protests in countries around the region, protests broke out in several areas of Libya challenging Col. Muammar Qaddafi's 42-year rule. In late February, as the government's response to these protests turned increasingly violent, the UN Security Council responded by passing Resolution 1970 to impose sanctions on Qaddafi and refer the situation in Libya to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In early March, the UN General Assembly suspended Libya's membership to the Human Rights Council.
On March 17th, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973 calling for a no-fly zone to deter the bombardment of civilian targets by government forces. Resolution 1973 marks the first time the Security Council passed a resolution to authorize the use of force with an explicit reference to the responsibility to protect.
An ad hoc coalition composed of the US, France, and the UK began implementing the no-fly zone immediately after the adoption of Resolution 1973. On March 27th, NATO assumed command of the military operation in Libya. NATO follows Resolution 1973 in banning all flights in Libyan airspace, except those for humanitarian and aid purposes, to make sure that civilians and civilian populated areas cannot be subjected to air attack by Qaddafi forces.
The Libyan rebels and pro-Qaddafi forces have both gained and lost territory as NATO's airstrike campaign continues. While pro-Qaddafi forces, armed with better weapons, were initially able to force the Libyan rebels back, increased coordination between the rebels and NATO have led to more effective NATO airstrikes and territorial gains. Britain, France, and Italy have sent military liaison officers to help the rebels organize their nascent forces. The fighting continues, often intensely, in several parts of the country.
Qaddafi's forces have reportedly used cluster munitions and landmines, and have targeted civilian areas and medical facilities. These allegations are documented by both the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as independent human rights organizations.
CIVIC's Work
CIVIC consistently calls on all parties to the conflict to avoid civilians, including pro-Qaddafi forces, the rebels, militias and NATO.
In the absence of any means by which to evaluate the effectiveness of actions taken in accordance with either Resolution 1973 or 1970, CIVIC calls for the immediate and comprehensive recording of all civilian casualties, followed-up by full investigations as soon as feasible. NATO should develop a civilian casualty tracking, analysis and response mechanism with personnel in both Naples and in Benghazi. In addition to cataloguing all available known data, the cell would also recognize and investigate all allegations of civilian casualties, in anticipation of future development of an amends system. The mechanisms employed should be transparent and open to public scrutiny.
CIVIC traveled to Eastern Libya in April 2011 to work on practical ways the Libyan opposition and NATO can track and investigate civilian harm, and make amends when appropriate. Access to many parts of the country, including Tripoli, is not possible at this time. This work is ongoing.