Wednesday, 24 January 2018
Tuesday, 16 January 2018
J & M BWEBAJJA HOTEL TAKEN BY UGANDA GOVERNMENT TO ACCOMMODATE MINISTRIES
The users of Entebbe Highway cannot believe the new development
that will see Government Ministries accommodated in what has previously been J
& M Bwebajja Hotel when the Highway for the stretch between Zana and
Entebbe has not been upgraded to a dual carriage way or good effort made to
improve alternative routes that can be used by motorists instead of Entebbe
Highway.
The Government of Uganda in September 2016 around EID
Adha Celebrations announced its wish to buy J & M Bwebajja Hotel to
accommodate Government ministries.
Ugandans were taken by surprise Monday, January 15,
2018 to learn that Government Ministries were to be accommodated at the Hotel.
One feature of the Hotel is that part of it is in the
Entebbe Highway road reserve. The development is at the time before the whole
of Entebbe Highway is made a dual carriage way.
The Hotel first made news when some workers were
buried during the construction. This was followed by the death of its alleged
owner after a Parliament Committee (PAC) quizzed him on CHOGM monies.
J & M Bwebajja Hotel had been up for Auction and
the date for Auction had been set. Barclays Bank had instructed Quickway
Auctioneers and Court Bailiffs to auction J & M Hotel to recover a loan
amounting to more than Shs 4.7bn.
A notice published on July 4, 2016 indicated that the
property, sitting on approximately 30.5 acres would be auctioned to the highest
bidder on August 5, 2016.
The facility belonged to the Late Joseph Behakanira
who secured the loan in 2005.
Late Joseph Behakanira
The property which could have been sold more than 5
years back, was temporary saved from auction when a Chinese businessman slapped
a caveat on it claiming that the owners owed him $9.5m (more than Shs 31bn) in
materials supplied to erect the facility.
Rahul Modi, the proprietor of Hong Kong based Five
Line Trading Company, said at the time that he supplied building materials
including glass blocks, Polly carbonate sheets, furniture, tiles, laundry
machines, swimming pool items and locks, decoration, lighting as well as rail
fittings worth $12 million (Shs 40bn) but only a quarter of it was paid.
Rahul claimed that Behakanira approached him in 2006
to ship the assorted items to enable him complete his hotel in time for the
planned November 2007 Commonwealth Head of Government meeting in Kampala.
Behakanira, the principle signatory to the contract
died suddenly in 2010 shortly after the Parliament Public Accounts Committee
(PAC) grilled him on the $1.3m (Shs 4.36bn) cash he got from the Government to
prepare 200 rooms to accommodate CHOGM guests at the hotel, only three days to
the Summit!
Behakanira who died shortly after meeting PAC.
Part of President Museveni's letter to Hon. Tumwebaze
dated November 5, 2012 said, "The widow of the Late Behakanira has
appealed to me to buy their hotel at Bwebajja so that Government can use the
properties they have built there and turn them into Government offices, a
University, a hospital or whatever else we may want to utilize them for."
Late Behakanira and wife.
Uganda Government spends Shs 100bn per annum on rent.
The Late Joseph Behakanira was also proprietor of
Avemar Shopping Arcade in Kampala.
Avemar Shopping Arcade
Joseph Behakanira died a day after being interrogated
by PAC investigating CHOGM fraud allegations.
He was accused of illegally misusing CHOGM money in
2007 at a tune of $1.3m.
President Museveni and ministers on the cabinet Sub -
committee on CHOGM were accused of releasing $1.3m of tax payers' money to J
& M Hotel three days to CHOGM.
President Museveni and his ministers on Cabinet Sub -
Committee on CHOGM directed that the money be given to J & M Hotel well
knowing that this facility was not even part of the CHOGM Hotels.
President Museveni receives the Queen for CHOGM in 2007
Surprisingly, I had opportunity to get someone who
works at J & M Hotel who told us that following the death of Joseph
Behakanira, the wife was completely ignorant of what was stocked as assortment
of items believed to have been imported prior to CHOGM and are believed to have
had a tax waver. It is possible that these items were eventually offloaded on
to the open market in Uganda.
This article has benefited from a number of sources in
an attempt to give an insight into a hotel turned accommodation for Government
Ministry offices.
Traffic Jam on Entebbe Highway pictorial
Sunday, 7 January 2018
RETIRED ARCHBISHOP DR. LIVINGSTONE MPALANYI NKOYOYO LEAVES UGANDANS DESTITUTES
Given the big heart of concern about the people of Uganda, it is correct to say that he has left us destitutes.
Nkoyoyo in Office
Nkoyoyo doing pastoral work
When Nkoyoyo returned from treatment in UK
Ruth Nkoyoyo after the death of the retired Archbishop
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Retired
Church of Uganda Archbishop Dr. Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo who has been
battling cancer, has passed on after a pneumonia attack. Reports just in
indicate he died aged 80 on Friday morning at a Kampala hospital where he had
been admitted in a critical condition.
Archbishop
Nkoyoyo has since December 2016 been undergoing cancer treatment and returned
from the UK in June 2017 after a prolonged and costly stay abroad. He then
required over sh200 million for his hospital bills, with contribution coming
from many including sh82 million from President Yoweri Museveni.
Nkoyoyo,
who led the Anglican Church from 1995-2004 has been battling cancer of the
throat. Initial reports indicate that Nkoyoyo will be buried at Namugongo
Anglican shrine on Tuesday, after service on Sunday evening.
Ugandan
Christian University Mukono broke the news on twitter early today. “Our first
Chancellor and former Archbishop of the @ChurchofUganda Bishop Livingstone
Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo has gone to be with the Lord. Rest in Peace,” UCU said.
Nkoyoyo was the
third Uganda archbishop after Silvanus Wani 1980–1984, Yona Okoth 1984–1995. He
handed over in 2004–2012 to Henry Luke Orombi. The archbishop today is
Stanley Ntagali.
“I
thank God for the life of Archbishop Nkoyoyo. He was a passionate evangelist
and a visionary leader. He was a man full of hope for the Lord’s work and he
never gave up. He has now been promoted to glory. Well done, good and faithful
servant,” said Archbishop Ntagali.
President
Yoweri Museveni said, “He was a principled shepherd of the flock. A religious
leader whose actions matched his words. He was also passionate on improving the
welfare of his flock and led by example. He will be missed. May he rest in
peace.”
THE LIFE OF Nkoyoyo
Retired
Archbishop Nkoyoyo served as Archbishop of the Church of Uganda from 1995 to
2004. During his leadership, he pioneered many visionary initiatives, including
upgrading the Bishop Tucker Theological College in Mukono into Uganda Christian
University, the first university in Uganda to be privately chartered.
The
university has grown from the original 120 students to more than 12,000
students on the main campus, at two constituent colleges, and a number of study
centres around the country.
A
statement from the Church of Uganda (COU) described Archbishop Nkoyoyo as “a
tireless advocate of the least, the last, and the lost.”
COU
said that when the government of Uganda gazetted the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
as a National Park, the Batwa were displaced with no place to go. In 1995,
Archbishop Nkoyoyo took up their cause and helped secure land in the Diocese of
Kinkiizi for permanent resettlement of the Batwa, including educational and
health facilities and life-skills training in agriculture.
Early on in his ministry, he and his
wife, Ruth, began taking care of orphaned and abandoned children. He leaves a
legacy of several orphanages and primary school, including ones that care for
the blind and other physical disabilities. The CHAIN Foundation orphanage and Martin
Nkoyoyo Primary School in Mukono are both “inclusive” because they cater for
abled and disabled students, especially the blind. The school is named after
his son who pre-deceased him.
In retirement, Nkoyoyo was able to combine his entrepreneurial
gifts and ministry passions into such projects as building the Rest Gardens
Retreat Centre in Bweyogerere, establishing the Words of Hope Radio Ministry,
and leading the fundraising and construction efforts for the Uganda Martyrs
Museum in Namugongo.
In addition to all the projects and ministries he
initiated, Archbishop Nkoyoyo was, at heart, an evangelist. He was a tireless
preacher, taking every opportunity to give his testimony and calling people to
repentance and into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and
Saviour.
Born in 1938
Archbishop Nkoyoyo was born in 1938 as one of 25 children to
Erisa Wamala Nkoyoyo, a sub-county Chief in Busimbi, Mityana. He attended
Mpenja Primary School, in Gomba, then later moved to Aggrey Memorial School and
Mityana Junior Secondary. His father’s work caused the family to move often, so
Nkoyoyo dropped out of school after completing Junior Secondary School and
became an auto mechanic, something that has been a lifelong interest.
In 1959 Nkoyoyo got saved at a youth camp at Ndoddo Church in
Gomba. Not long after that he gave up auto mechanics for full-time ministry,
beginning as a Church Teacher. He did an ordination training course and on 3rd June 1969
(Martyrs Day), he was ordained a deacon at Namugongo.
On 1st May 1965 Nkoyoyo married Ruth Nalweyiso at
St. Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe. Originally reluctant to have his daughter wed
a Church Teacher, Ruth’s father eventually gave his permission. Together,
they have five children – Isaac, Naomi, Martin (deceased), Margret and Julius –
and, over the years, have supported hundreds of other orphans and disadvantaged
children.
In 2015, Nkoyoyo and Mama Ruth celebrated 50 years of marriage.
During the Thanksgiving service, Archbishop Stanley Ntagali said, “You have been
an example to man. You have shown that you have built up a family and the
results are the children that you have brought up and grandchildren. We praise
God for that.”
Mama Ruth credited the success of their marriage to love and
trust. She said, “He loved me unconditionally, and, because of this, I found it
very easy to love back.” She also praised her husband because of his
willingness to trust her with their home affairs, including the family finances.
After serving as a Suffragan (Assistant) Bishop in Namirembe
Diocese, Nkoyoyo was elected and enthroned as the first Bishop of Mukono
Diocese in 1983. Then, in 1995 he was elected by the House of Bishops to be the
6th Archbishop
of the Church of Uganda.
In 2015 he received the Bible Leadership Excellence Award from
the Bible Society of Uganda for outstanding and faithful leadership and for
retiring “scandal-free.”
Nkoyoyo takes around President Museveni
Inside the museum
Nkoyoyo Hall
Named after UCU’s first chancellor, retired
Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo, this hall is a gathering place for the
community during Sunday services, weekly community worship,
and student events.
IMAGES OF NAMUGONGO MARTYRS MUSEUM - NAKIYANJA
Pope Francis at Nakiyanja
