THE PRAYER TO ALMIGHTY GOD THAT THE NRM ORGANS APPRECIATE THE EXCELLENT WORK SO FAR DONE BY THE RIGHT HON. SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT AND HENCE ENDORSE HER FOR ANOTHER TERM IN OFFICE.

God you created man in your image. Good Lord prevail over the decision by the NRM Organs as they get to nominate the appropriate candidate for Speaker of the Uganda 10th Parliament to do it with your guidance and not malice. Good Lord, a number of Ugandan's are grateful to the good work by your dear servant Rebecca in the execution of her Speaker duties and do pray that You guide the NRM Organs to work within the lenses of the majority of Ugandans to see Kadaga as an impartial personality and one who loves her dear country Uganda.

Lord, the future of Uganda greatly lies in the decisions made today. We pray that selfish interests by the various parties do not overshadow the good Uganda can reap from the fore sight and good vision for the country which Kadaga has already portrayed in executing her work.

Good Lord let all who scheme evel for Uganda by supporting a back boneless person have their schemes flop. In Your name I pray.

AMEN.

THE PEOPLE OF UGANDA MUST THINK BEYOND DR. KIZZA BESIGYE.

I recall in 2014 October I cautioned the people of Uganda, more so the major political players that there was need to get to a consensus and agree to support one Presidential candidate who was no party leader. What I eventually saw was the evolution of the Democratic Alliance and the thing was a flop.

The failure to support one candidate was sorted by the voters who identified Dr. Kizza Besigye as the change candidate.

Whether Besigye got more votes than Museveni is a matter of speculation because the reason why we were for unity was to see that all these issues are addressed. I believe if that unity and cooperation was there, at the end of polling, the declaration forms would readily be available and the tallying would give us the actual position.

Dr. Besigye first contested in 2001, by 2021, it will be 20 years. This period is so long for a country to keep backing a candidate. I am writing this at a time when I see no chance of blocking Museveni's swearing in this May.

As a country we need to go to the drawing board. We realize that Museveni has all the Government organs at his disposal which is termed as the state fused with the party. It is simply joking to imagine that an individual or a single party can un - sit him. The financial resources he spends end with desperate people, so you expect those expenditures to pay off.

The way forward is to think of a joint strategy to implement after the Besigye one has failed to pay off.

I still propose that all those opposed to Museveni organize nation wide and agree on a method to come up with a clean personality who does not need to be a military man nor a President of the party. Such a one can be publicized so that through the 5 year period, people know the person to vote President come 2021.

Presidential candidates come promising heaven and earth but they normally have nothing to show as their effort prior to standing for President. Those opposed to Museveni ought to see this important so that they start early to deliver various services to the people.

When such an arrangement works out, you can trust that people will go United as one front to see NRM go, and you can expect good coordination in advance to see that at each polling station things are done right and result declaration forms duly filled and signed with copies to the secretariat of the joint opposition. Such arrangement can equally ensure that in case of cheating, the evidence is well coordinated because everything shall have been planned over a period of 5 years.

UGANDA CAN STAND TO BOOST EMPLOYMENT THROUGH FACEBOOK CONNECTIONS.

Most of us are ignorant about the opportunities Facebook can generate that may boost employment opportunities in Uganda.

One just needs a smart phone to get exposed to these opportunities.

In Uganda, land as a resource is not that scarce to the extent of collecting plastic bags, packing them with soil and producing.

We need to figure out and see how we can network with people who have made these innovations.

In fact, I see it best for our secondary schools to start teaching students how they can use the smart phone to better their lives. We live in stone age times, that is why we associate phones with evil, but these phones are Gold, it is only the policy makers who are ignorant.

I see no better area to get technologies and partnerships as well as networking as Facebook is.

The images below are all from various players who are showing talent on Facebook.

WHERE IS THE COMMON SENSE OF THE CHINESE WHO WORK ON ENTEBBE EXPRESSWAY?

The Chinese found the road from Bweya to Kajjansi Trading Centre okay.

Their trucks have badly damaged the road. At Muchanga trading centre where two vehicles normally pass, it is one vehicle that can move at the junction.

It should be part of their social responsibility to repair the road as a result of the heavy loads carried by their trucks from their stone quarry in Bweya

OH GOD! ANOTHER 5 YEARS WITH YOWERI MUSEVENI.

In May this year, the son of Kaguta will go to Kololo grounds to again get instruments of power for yet another five years on completion of which he will have ruled Uganda for 35 years, the equivalent of 7 terms in office, in a country where majority of the people are for 2 consecutive terms!

One thing which many Ugandans are fed up with is the corruption which is better taken as the official way of doing business such that even in instances where it is Government doing the procurement, the rules are not observed and it is only reported how things went wrong.

The unfortunate thing is that Museveni many times does not take advice. What he wishes to do is what prevails.

You can imagine the number of youth longing for employment. Museveni's administration has put the country in so desperate a situation such that many youth now long to leave the country at least to get some work. The projection is such that with his level of tiredness, it will be a miracle to steer the country to any greater heights.

Museveni's priority to militarize is again going to eat into the national budget and other more economy driving sectors are to be given peanuts.

We are again going to see the NRM Parliamentary Caucus not delivering brcsiit dances to the tune of one man and his wishes yet they are among the most highly paid in the country.

We are again going to see the Auditor General's office which waits for funds to be spent the wrong way (stolen) and it comes to report, instead of intervening before the expenditures are made.

We are again going to see peanuts put into the Agricultural sector where majority of the people are found and the highest concentration of poverty.

We are going to see Ministers in place whose duties are actually performed in State House.

We are going to see a Parliament where two fifth of the Members have no sits.

We are going to see a civil service devoid of morale.

We are to see more power generated without capacity to afford it later on be able to use it in industrial undertakings simply because it is very expensive.

We are to see the continuation of Government sponsorship of the so - called excelling students many of whom are a product of cheating to pass national exams, while majority have benefactors who can afford to pay.

A health service with so much donor support yet with workers the least motivated in East Africa.

Remember, many have supplied Government, but what awaits them is the auctioning of the security they used to get money from financial institutions, yet a good number of others have lost properties because Government failed to pay in time.

And so on

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY APPOINTMENTS BOARD

RESPONSE TO: UGANDA'S PASSPORT OFFICE NEEDS TO MODERNIZE

Dear Willy Kituuka (Mr.),

Thank you for your concerns on the working conditions in Passport Office. I pledge to escalate your complaint to the highest possible level.

I agree with you on some of the issues you raised such as the impossible working conditions under tents as an office difficulty to deliver under a tent on a rainy day, seemingly confusion caused by working under the tent. I also do not support over taking at any service point.

However, in the circumstances there are a few changes that bring a smile on our faces:

       i.            Currently we are able to call our clients whenever there is a problem with the application.

     ii.            We are now meeting the turn-around-times for both services. And as already noted, in case of a problem we happily reach out to our clients.

 iii.            We have also separated the different services with different tents, so that those who have Express applications where they pay UGX 300,000 and get the passport in two (2) working days are in a separate tent; those who are submitting new normal applications where they pay UGX 150,000 and get the passport after ten (10) working days are in a separate tent and those who are submitting renewals under the normal passport application service are also in a separate tent. We a separate tent for those waiting to submit their Receiving Slips to collect their passports and another small shelter where those who have submitted their Receiving Slips sit as they wait to sign for their passports.

  iv.            Many of these changes are quite new and now we are working on the most appropriate signage after the separation of services (tents). Next time you check on us you will find the tents well labeled with clear signage.

     v.            We have also designed a special signage (A1 Boards) for applicants which will soon be displayed in the open for every applicant to see what is required of his/her category of application and the order of arrangement of documents in the file: I am attaching for you a picture of the A1 board for your view.

  

Frankly it looks like a tent bonanza. And I am not just being proud of the tents, actually I detest to the limit like you and any other Ugandan does, but those are the circumstances that we are, charged with the responsibility delivering passports to Ugandans. We must do whatever we can to achieve the goals, albeit in difficulties.

While we deserve better conditions and our new minister is working tirelessly under the grand plan of the wider Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) to build/ expand the current office space for the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control to shelter most of the services that are in under tents. We are patiently waiting for the construction to commence.

The National identification and Registration Authority has never handed over the database for use by the stake holders. We are anxious to use it to issue passports in the case of those who are registered. We still have to issue passports to those who registered and those who are not registered.

Finally, I thank you for the concerns and I am pleased to find that there are Ugandans who care about us. We also doing whatever is within our means to make Ugandans get travel documents as easily as possible. I pledge to forward this to the highest office in the ministry.

Best Regards, 

Jacob Siminyu 

Spokesperson

TIME IS RIPE TO DISCUSS DR. BESIGYE'S SAFETY IN THE VAN DRIVEN RECKLESSLY.

Dr. BESIGYE and Hon. Erias Lukwago have expressed concern about the recklessness of the driver (s) of the Besigye van. This van, God forbid can get involved in a terrible accident anytime. What will be next.

The Uganda Police force Chief has to think about it, but also Dr. Besigye and his supporters.

God helps those who help themselves.

Kaihura should tell Ugandans why that van is driven in a very irresponsible manner.

It may be easy for Government to compensate the police occupants' families, but what can come next?

Let's think about this. In Luganda they say: "Ekigya omanyi. .."

UGANDA'S PASSPORT OFFICE NEEDS TO MODERNIZE.

The first thing the passport office has to sort is the conducting of business under tents. It is unacceptable. You may not imagine what goes on when its a rainy day. Business just has to be at a standstill. The water then drains through the clients and some may have no where to go to get shelter. The Ministry of Internal Affairs should immediately relocate the services conducted under tents to some suitable locality which can accommodate the numbers and conveniently.

Secondly, it bothers to see staff who should be on their desks busy chasing passports and helping all sorts of clients. In the process, they not only make the system inefficient, but the way they jump the queue gets disgusting. This should be banned. Each staff should remain in his/her seat so that the duties for which they were recruited meet them there.

On arrival at the Passport office, you just see confusion. There is no proper directions given to clients, that is: where one is received, etc. Operating under tents greatly contributes to this confusion.

It is not clear why the passport office does not use the National IDs information and possibly add to what there is already in the N.ID's data.

Applicants should be helped to know what has to be attached to the application. It is very frustrating to reach the reception table for interview when either a personal application letter is missing or a photocopy of some pages of the passport for those re -knowing. The profession aspect is also not well handed. May be this calls for the applicant attaching academic documents and the office makes a decision.

The issue of a passport size photograph. If we have the National IDs but then it is found necessary to take photos, it is best for the office to provide that service. Imagine you ask an individual to attach passport size photos and he/she calls back to collect the passport and its when you tell them how their photos were rejected! The office should have cameras which can be used to take clients photos that are acceptable.

The office should be able to use the client telephone contact to inform them of any matter that calls for clarification. It is very disappointing to call at the office hoping to collect the passport and instead you are referred to room 6 to see the security officer over a matter you could have sorted if only the office had rang you and informed you.

People call at the office to check for passports. These days organizations have come up with electronic measures by which such information can be checked so that one travels from home sure that the travel document is fully processed.

MY FREE ADVICE TO NRM GOVERNMENT TO SUBSTITUTE THE BESIGYE VAN WITH A STRONGER AND WORTH CAR IF THEY HAVE TO TRANSPORT BESIGYE AT ALL.