Tag: Uganda

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7 confirmed cases amid Uganda’s rare strain of Ebola virus

New Ebola case confirmed in DR Congo: WHO.(PHOTO: https://twitter.com/WHOAFRO)

Ebola is a severe, often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates. It has six different strains, three of which, Bundibugyo, Sudan and Zaire, have previously caused large outbreaks…reports Asian Lite News

Uganda has reported seven confirmed cases, including one death, amid the latest outbreak of the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus, announced Henry Kyobe, incidence commander in Uganda’s Ministry of Health.

Kyobe made the announcement on Thursday at an online press briefing held by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, based in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, adding that the epidemic “appears to have started around the beginning of September”.

Kyobe said that the country has reported seven cases that possibly died of Ebola before the confirmation of the outbreak, noting that the health authorities are working on contact tracing and repurposing Covid-19 treatment centres.

The WHO said on Tuesday that a sample taken from a 24-year-old man was identified as the relatively rare Sudan strain. It is the first time in more than a decade that the Sudan strain has been found in Uganda, which also saw an outbreak of the Zaire strain of Ebola virus in 2019.

Existing vaccines against Ebola have proved effective against the Zaire strain but it is not clear if they will be as successful against the Sudan strain, according to WHO in an earlier statement.

Ebola is a severe, often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates. It has six different strains, three of which, Bundibugyo, Sudan and Zaire, have previously caused large outbreaks.

Case fatality rates of the Sudan strain have varied from 41 per cent to 100 per cent in past outbreaks. The early roll-out of supportive treatment has been shown to significantly reduce deaths from Ebola, according to the WHO.

ALSO READ-Kenya on alert as Ebola resurfaces in Uganda

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UTA call for repatriation of Uganda’s artefacts

He is also against the proposal to have the tangible and intangible heritage managed by different ministries and departments…reports Asian Lite News

The Uganda Tourism Association (UTA) has called for the establishment of a committee to lead the return of Ugandan artefacts from foreign museums.

Herbert Byaruhanga, the President of UTA made the call on Tuesday, 30 August 2022, as he and association members appeared before the Committee on Tourism, Trade and Industries chaired by Hon. Mwine Mpaka.

According to Byaruhanga, who was presenting on the Museums and Monuments Bill, 2022, several artefacts were taken from different archeological and historical sites by different entities like the British, and to date, these have never been returned.

The Museums and Monuments Bill seeks to repeal the outdated 1967 Historical Monument Act. It among other things seeks to provide for the development, management, and maintenance of museums and monuments and formalise, control, and protect tangible and intangible heritage and works of art collection.

Byaruhanga said that it was a great achievement for several countries including the DR Congo (DRC) that are returning their furtively taken or stolen items – and besought that the Ugandan authorities do the same.

AUDIO: Mr Herbert Byaruhanga

“We only have pictures in museums. The bill should start the process of bringing these artefacts back. We need to constitute a committee to survey, investigate and bring back the artefacts that were taken from places like Bigo bya Mugenyi, Ntuusi, Bwogero, and Nshogezi among others,” he said.

On specific provisions of the bill, Byaruhanga proposes that the administration and management of museums or sites should be done at district, community, and supervised levels by a government department.

He is also against the proposal to have the tangible and intangible heritage managed by different ministries and departments.

“The management of imbalu site is under the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities and management of rituals is under the Ministry of Gender, this confusion will affect tourism promotion and development.” He said.

Byaruhanga said that every city or district should have a monument for instance the Bull in Mbarara and the Elephant in Gulu among others.

Hon. Hannington Musoke Wakayima the Nansana Municipality MP questioned whether it is not pricy to repatriate the artefacts.

“It is expensive to maintain these artefacts when they are brought back, there are several items that were once returned and some of them are still in boxes, how can you help the committee to see how we can work on them despite these challenges?” he asked.

Hon. Ronald Afidra, the Lower Madi County MP said it is important for the association to begin by sharing the profile of the heritage that could have been taken away by colonialists. He says that as legislators, this will help them in the process of searching for the artefacts.

ALSO READ-Uganda adopts Kiswahili as official language

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Uganda adopts Kiswahili as official language

Uganda has adopted Kiswahili as an official language, a top government official has said…reports Asian Lite News

Chris Baryomunsi, Minister of Information Communication Technology and National Guidance told reporters that the Cabinet has approved the implementation of a directive by the 21st East African Community (EAC) Summit that Kiswahili be adopted as an official language of the community, Xinhua news agency reported.

Uganda now has two official languages, English and Kiswahili.

ALSO READ:Kenya, Uganda to woos foreign tourists

EAC brings together seven member countries including Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Baryomunsi said the Cabinet also directed that the teaching of the Kiswahili language in primary and secondary schools should be made compulsory and examinable.

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Kenya, Uganda to woos foreign tourists

Two east African nations are already leading source markets for each other’s tourism sectors

Kenya and Uganda will begin to conduct joint marketing efforts to attract foreign tourists, officials said.

Fred Kaigua, CEO of the Kenya Association of Tour Operators said in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital that the partnership by the Kenya and Uganda tourism stakeholders will help the sector recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our tourism sectors have a symbiotic relationship because we have diverse attractions that will boost overall foreign arrivals into the region,” Kaigua said during the launch of a roadshow by the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) to reposition Uganda as a leading tourism destination in Africa.

Kaigua noted that the two east African nations are already leading source markets for each other’s tourism sectors.

Claire Mugabi, marketing manager, UTB said that the growth of the tourism sector in Kenya will also have a positive effect on Uganda’s travel sector due to their close proximity.

“Foreign tourists who come to Kenya and then proceed to Uganda will have a better overall travel experience through experiencing Africa’s rich cultural heritage,” she added.

ALSO READ: Kenya launches strategy to guide tourism recovery

Mugabi noted that Kenya’s developed travel trade sector, coupled with its connectivity to the rest of the world, could attract more tourists to Uganda from Kenya.

Fred Odek, chair of Kenya Association of Tour Operators said that Uganda will benefit significantly by partnering with Kenya owing to its geographical proximity and long history of good relations with Kenya.

Evans Aryabaha, Uganda’s deputy high commissioner to Kenya, hailed the tourism industry as a powerful catalyst that will enhance the bilateral and cultural relations between the two countries.

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Africa News Woman

Catherine Kitandwe: Breaking the barriers

Ugandan flight instructor Catherine Kitandwe inspires girls into male-dominated field

 Like many children, Catherine Kitandwe’s dream was to become a pilot. Along the way she digressed but later in her adult life, she found a footing in a profession she dreamt of.

Kitandwe is now one of the only two women flight instructors in Uganda, according to the Uganda Professional Pilots Association (UPPA), an umbrella organization bringing together pilots and aeronautical engineers.

Kitandwe graduated in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in public health. A year after her studies, Kitandwe embarked on pursuing her childhood dream of flying planes. Her first hurdle was convincing her parents to allow her to follow her childhood dream.

“It was tricky talking to them about this crazy dream. But I was determined. This is what I wanted. I had faith,” the 28-year-old told Xinhua in a recent interview.

She started applying to various schools both within and outside Uganda until she was admitted to Vine Air Flight Academy, a local flight school. The admission into the flight school left Kitandwe’s parents apprehensive because of the costs involved. Evelyn Kitandwe, her mother, said they were not sure they would manage to take her through the training.

“We feared the heights involved, the possibility of there being accidents and all sorts of things,” Evelyn Kitandwe added.

June 2020 was a memorable time for Kitandwe in flight school. It marked the shift from “ground to airwoman.”

“This was the first time I had my successful solo flight. This is when I gained my weight as a pilot,” she said.

ALSO READ: US Senate confirms first African-American woman for SC

After getting her commercial pilot license in 2021, Kitandwe went for further training as a flight instructor, and in April 2022, she graduated, joining Captain Esther Kyokunda, another woman in the category.

“This also called for more passion as it was more challenging. It was not easy switching seats and going up there with someone who has no much experience flying planes,” Kitandwe said.

INSPIRING OTHERS

The UPPA described Kitandwe’s graduation as a flight instructor as an inspiration and is optimistic that many other women would take on the role.

“We are happy taking on this role ad hope to see more ladies become instructors in the future,” the association said.

“It is not about gender but the skills one acquires. Nothing is impossible,” Kitandwe said, advising more girls to follow their dreams.

With the training she received, Kitandwe said she is now ready to impart the same skills to others.

Kyokunda, the other woman flight instructor, described Kitandwe as a hardworking young woman.

“I am happy she became an instructor. She has all the qualities of a good mentor,” Kyokunda said. “She is a good role model and other girls should learn from her.”

Kyokunda advised other girls to join them in the cockpit. “Let them know that it is possible for them to become pilots and even instructors. Today we are two female instructors, we want to be three or even more tomorrow.”

Catherine Kitandwe, a commercial pilot and flight instructor, takes a walk after an interview with Xinhua in Kampala, Uganda, on April 16, 2022. (Photo by Kiggundu Joseph/Xinhua)

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Mission Chinese in Uganda

Ugandan teacher on a mission to spread Chinese language teaching … writes by Ronald Ssekandi, Xinhua…reports Asian Lite News

“Ni hao,” students in Kitoro, a tiny village on the shores of Lake Victoria in the central Ugandan district of Wakiso, chorused as they responded to greetings from their Chinese language teacher, Florence Nakijoba.

Murmurs of students passing by, mimicking their peers, indicate a new wave of youngsters in the school eager to learn Chinese, the latest foreign language that was included in the school curriculum by the government back in 2019.

Nakijoba, 26, has been a proponent of this at Entebbe Comprehensive Secondary School, one of the government schools selected to teach the Chinese language.

“I always wanted to be a linguist, learning different languages, and Chinese is one of them,” she told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Mission Chinese in Uganda

Nakijoba was teaching Luganda and computer studies in 2019, before she took a nine-month training course in Chinese language teaching, as the government rolled out Mandarin in the school curriculum.

“I was very scared at first, but with time I got used to the language,” she said. “By the end of nine months, I had reached level four.”

In her class of about 90 students, Nakijoba teaches intonations, tenses and sentence construction of Mandarin.

The class, which is composed of students in their early teenage years, is still at the elementary level of learning the language.

Some students said that learning the Chinese language is one of the ways of widening their opportunities, especially as the Asian country deepens its ties with Africa.

Charles Bwebale, one of the students, said being multilingual widens one’s opportunities.

“We hear China is one of the successful countries in the world, so when you know Chinese, you can engage them, you can do business (with the Chinese),” he said.

Ephraim Muwonge, deputy headmaster of the school, told Xinhua that parents have embraced the idea of their children learning the Chinese language, one of the sure ways of deepening the people-to-people relations between Uganda and China.

“We should teach Chinese,” he said. “At the end of it, we shall benefit.”

Nakijoba has extended Chinese language teaching beyond the school premises, offering online lessons for some learners.

ALSO READ: India to repair Ugandan Sukhoi Su-MK30 jets

She said that online learning was at its height during the lockdown last year as the country grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many parents put their children on online Chinese language learning programs.

One major highlight of her Chinese language tutoring came earlier this year, Nakijoba said, when she was tasked with teaching Chinese songs to Ugandan musicians who were preparing for a Lunar New Year performance.

Back home, Nakijoba’s siblings and parents are all excited that she speaks and teaches Chinese.

“My parents, up to now, still cannot believe I can speak Chinese,” she said.

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Africa News Gallery

Uganda Fest in Kampala

Uganda Fest in Kampala

A visitor views paintings during the Uganda Arts and Cultural Crafts Expo in Kampala, Uganda. The expo was held at the Uganda National Cultural Center (UNCC) Gardens.

(Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua)

Uganda Fest in Kampala

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Gallery

World Theatre Day

Artists perform at the Uganda National Cultural Center during an event to mark World Theatre Day in Kampala, Uganda. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua)

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India to repair Ugandan Sukhoi Su-MK30 jets

India and Uganda have yet to disclose the financial details of the agreement…reports Asian Lite News

The government of Uganda has tapped the Indian defense industry to provide maintenance and technical support for its Sukhoi Su-MK30 jet fighters.

A memorandum of understanding was signed earlier this month between the African nation and Indian state-owned aerospace firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, which was granted a Sukhoi manufacturing license by Russia.

According to the Indian High Commission, the agreement is the first major defense deal signed with Uganda after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the “10 Principles of India-Africa Engagement” in 2018.

India and Uganda have yet to disclose the financial details of the agreement.

However, the move has sparked debate among military analysts regarding the future of the country’s combat jets since they are regarded as among Uganda’s “most prized” military assets.

Uganda used the Sukhois to bomb several Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) camps last year in DR Congo.

Based on the Su-30, the Su-MK30 is a multi-role two-pilot combat fighter aircraft equipped with a fly-by-wire flight control system.

It includes a passive electronically scanned array radar, a laser-optical locator system, and a target designation pod to guide air-to-surface missiles and munitions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEJdQ_rMSao

The plane is armed with a 30-millimetre cannon and can launch various air-to-surface missiles, including the Kh-31A/P, Kh-59M, and Nirbhay.

The Su-MK30 is powered by two Al-31FP turbojet engines, providing a maximum speed of Mach 1.9 (2,346 kilometres or 1,457 miles per hour).

The aircraft has a maximum flight range of 3,000 kilometres (1,864 miles) without refueling.

ALSO READ-Australia to grant temporary visas to Ukrainian refugees

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Museveni Seeks African Unity To Face Challenges

Ugandan, Equatorial Guinea leaders call for African unity to address challenges … reports ADD Newsdesk

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and visiting Equatorial Guinea Vice President Teodoro Nguema Mangue have called for African unity to address the challenges facing the continent.

According to the State House statement, the two leaders while meeting at State House Entebbe, 40-km south of the capital Kampala, said security and social economic problems can be solved if countries worked together, Xinhua news agency reported.

Nguema Mangue said the current global changes and instability in parts of Africa are a challenge to the continent. The vice president is in Uganda on a two-day working visit. He delivered a special message to Museveni from his Equatorial Guinea counterpart Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

Uganda Economy

Uganda’s economy showed signs of recovery in the first half of the 2021/22 financial year despite the impact of new COVID-19 variants during the period, according to the country’s ministry of finance.

The ministry of finance in its half-year economic report, spanning July 2021 to December 2021, said high-frequency indicators of economic activity reflected continued recovery in business activity.

The indicators including the Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA), Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) and the Business Tendency Index (BTI) showed that although there was a bit of economic struggle during the month of July as the economy had just emerged from the second lockdown, the economy bounced back in the months that followed.

The CIEA on average grew at 5 percent compared to the same period the previous year while the PMI and the BTI both recorded indices above the 50-mark threshold from August to December 2021 as the gradual easing of the June-July lockdown measures led to growth in output and new orders. The threshold of 50 is a baseline to indicate an increase or a decline in business conditions.

The report showed that the first quarter of the financial year registered economic growth of 3.8 percent, reflecting an improvement in the gross domestic product (GDP) from the same quarter of the previous financial year. This is attributed to increased growth momentum in both the industry and services sectors.

The services sector grew by 7.9 percent compared to negative growth of 4.5 percent in quarter one of the previous financial year while the industry sector grew by 0.3 percent compared to negative growth of 2.7 percent in quarter one of the previous financial year. The agricultural sector continued to grow although at a slower pace of 3.6 percent compared to 6.8 percent in the same quarter of the previous financial year.

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The report projected that the economy will grow at 3.8 percent this financial year from 3.4 percent registered in the previous year. This is on account of the expected recovery in production, aggregate demand and trade following the full reopening of the economy in January.

Growth will also be driven by government policy interventions such as support to small businesses as well as an accommodative monetary policy.

“The anticipated global recovery is expected to boost Uganda’s international trade further supporting economic growth,” the report showed.

The global economy is projected to grow at 5.9 percent in 2021 and 4.4 percent in 2022 from the negative 3.1 percent in 2020, as vaccination and policy support continue, said the finance ministry, warning new variants of the COVID-19 virus, associated lockdown measures and supply chain disruptions would pose concerns for the outlook.