Mugume

Ferdinands said to be Ugandan!

The Ferdinands' family have been rumored to be Ugandans, this has been barked by the fact they have frequented Uganda, The Pearl of Africa. Now that Anton is coming to Uganda, roumers have it that he is even on the blink og getting Ugandan nationality such that he can play for Uganda. England watch out!
First, Julian Ferdinand visited Uganda. Next was his son and England international Rio Ferdinand. And shortly after, Rio’s cousin Les Ferdinand came to Uganda on a charity trip. Now Rio’s younger brother Anton Ferdinand has confirmed to Daily Monitor he will visit Kampala in June.

Anton should have come with Rio last year but was involved in the European U-21 Championships where England finished in the semi-final.
“Rio told me the terrific reception he got and how fantastic the Ugandan people are. I can’t wait to be there,” said Anton, who will be accompanied by former West Ham team-mate Nigel Reo- Coker (now at Aston Villa) and cousin Max Ferdinand.

His visit however will mostly be concentrated on Rio Ferdinand’s Proline Soccer Academy. The 23-year-old has been moved by the confidence and ability of Proline on its first tour to England and believes the team can get better.

Anton’s father Julian is the patron of the Academy and is at Manchester’s Carrington Complex today with the rest of the team for the trial match against Man. Utd reserves.

Proline’s first match on Wednesday ended in a convincing 2-0 triumph over Millwall but today’s test is expected to be tougher. The youthful team is in the Kakungulu Cup semi-finals and has conceded just one goal enroute – to Kabale’s Fulham in a 3-1 away victory.

Disabled 13-year-old girl gives birth in Uganda

MUGUME-Rwanda

Iganga-Uganda

Uganda's daily Monitor today run a story of this small girl whose future lies in balance after having a baby at age 13.

She is blind, crippled and deaf. At the age of 13 she is already a mother. Namusoga (not real names) last week gave birth to a bouncing baby boy in Iganga hospital.

The father of the new born baby is unknown. It was a defilement case that never got reported to the police, because the victim can neither speak nor see. Defilement is the leading reported form of abuse against the girl child in Uganda, according to reports from human and child rights organisations.
But to the chagrin of rights groups, many cases of child abuse, especially defilement, are resolved at home.

Under the Uganda Penal Code Act: “ Any person who unlawfully has sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 18 years is guilty of an offence liable to be punished by death.” Offenders can be sentenced to death if found guilty of rape and defilement, but judges have the discretion to give a convict a lesser sentence.

The doctor who made sure Namusoga had a successful operation, Dr. Moses Cheriso said the teenage girl was incapable of pushing the baby normally. According to Namusoga’s mother, Naigaga (not real names) who is also breast feeding a four months old baby, the newly born baby is in good health, but could not suckle from her mother’s breasts because of her disability.

However, the residents of Kawete village in Namungalwe Sub-county were as surprised as anyone else would be when they heard of the 13-year-old disabled girl’s pregnancy.

The pregnancy was only discovered when she started passing blood from her private parts. On being taken for medical examination, doctors told the family that the disabled girl was actually pregnant.

“She started passing blood in her private parts, it was when the examining medical doctor told us our daughter had conceived. This surprised everybody at home. We kept on wondering who did it when and where from,” Ms Naigaga who is nursing her daughter told Saturday Monitor this week.

Ms Naigaga who says that the girl is often locked in the house as the members of her peasant family go out to cultivate, says that whoever impregnated her must have taken advantage of the absence of family members who had gone out to the gardens.

Ms Naigaga says that the pregnancy called for extra support for her daughter who has to depend on others for everything. According to Ms Naigaga, at the time of her birth, the teenager who is the sixth born in the family was a healthy child, but was devastated by a deadly attack of Malaria that nearly killed her. It left her crippled, dumb, deaf and blind.

For a family that can barely fend for itself, the baby is an extra burden and medical doctors here have since suggested that orphanages and children’s homes come in to and take care of the baby.

Female inmates share cells with males -MPs

MUGUME

Africa- Uganda
Ugandan parliament has established that both male and female inmates do not have separate cells leaving “venerable women” “at mercy of men” with no chances of surviving rapes and sexual exploitation.
According to The Uganda Monitor story, during a stormy meeting of the Parliamentary Defence Committee, Pader Woman MP, Judith Akello Franca (FDC) told her colleagues that due to congestion in Patongo Prison, the only detention centre in the district, women share accommodation and other facilities with men. “What is happening at Patongo prison is unacceptable and pathetic,” Ms Akello said.
“These women have got unwanted pregnancies yet many others have contracted HIV/Aids in the process. It’s a shame that the government can allow these cruel acts as if these women are not human beings.”
Interestingly, the committee chaired by Nakaseke Woman MP, Ms Rose Namayanja (NRM) heard that although the practice has been on-going; it only came to light a month ago.
“I have just learnt that there is nothing like privacy because prisoners share everything whether male or female and this is ridiculous. There is need to separate women from men before it is too late,” Ms Akello pleaded.
But when contacted, the State Minister for Internal Affairs, Mr Matia Kasaija said he was hearing about cell sharing for the first time.
“To be honest, this is news to me,” Mr Kasaija said. “I am going to investigate this matter as soon as possible and if this is true whoever is responsible will be punished.”

He added; “In fact right now I am going to instruct the Commissioner [for Prisons] to explain those allegations. But as far as I am concerned I can’t believe it because we can’t do such a thing.”
Ths is not the first time MPs complain about excesses in prisons. Early this month, at a meeting of the House’s Presidential Affairs Committee, Ms Karooro Okurut (NRM, Bushenyi), said young offenders continue to be sodomised in various Police cells across the country.
Committee Chairperson Ms Namayanja insisted yesterday that the Internal Affairs minister should appear before the committee to explain the claims.

Mugume

Manutd supporters can remain happy for years!

According to the Mirror story, Giggs has appreciated the current Manchester United team saying that it will last for a long period still a strong team.

"I don't see why this team can't dominate for the next few years," Giggs told the Mirror. "Everything is in place for that to happen. It just depends whether the younger players have the hunger and desire to keep on winning trophies, but I'm sure that's the case.

"I think this group of players is up there with the 1999 lot, which was obviously a really good squad.

"But this is probably the best squad we've had in terms of the balance between the young lads and the experienced players.

"That mixture of experience from the older players and the enthusiasm of the younger ones has created the perfect blend for continued success.

"But you're judged on what you win. The 1999 team set the benchmark by winning the Treble. That's what this team is capable of doing. But you've got to go out there and do it.

"This team is the right age to achieve success for a long time. There are only a few of us over 30.

"Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown are in their late 20s and have several more good years ahead of them.

"Then you have the younger lads, which is the majority of the team, who are in their early to mid 20s, so they're going to be around for even longer."

Mugume/Rwanda

One of Rwandan leading English newspapers the New Times today had this sorrowful story of a young girl who lost her father through brutal killings. Such and many stories continue to run amidst a number of these perpetrators not yet brought to trial. Yesterday, I was at Remera sector (Kigali City) where one old lady bust into tears after listening to a story of another genocide survivor who seemed traumatized and instead of comforting her, also bust into tears which, luckily a Sector worker came to her rescue.
According to the New Times Story, it says that fourteen years after the horrendous Genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda, but Simone Kasine has no hope that she will ever burry the remains of her clubbed father.
Kasine is among those silent Rwandans who saw their beloved ones being cut in pieces and their body parts shared by their killers.
“After they killed my dad, they divided his body parts amongst themselves to go and show their colleagues as evidence that they had finished him off. I have since not been able to trace any of his parts,” Kasine, who is in her 20s, told mourners last week.
She was speaking during a commemoration function organised to mark the Genocide in Remera, Kigali. The nation completed the fourteenth annual Genocide remembrance week on Sunday.
Kasine, who was bitter that some of the killers of her own family were currently walking free on the streets, broke down as she narrated the atrocious conditions in which both of her parents and her relatives, were killed. Thousands of Genocide suspects are out of prison on presidential amnesty.
Kasine, who now lives in one of orphanages in Kigali, said her family was resident in Gasabo District during the Genocide.
“One of my father’s killers took his private parts to his wife who used to work with (my father),” narrated Kasine, who on several occasions fought back tears, during her testimony. She said her father was beheaded and his head taken away by somebody she does not recall.
“Others took fingers, legs, and other amputated parts. They did not leave behind even a single limb,” she recalled agonizingly.
She said her father had been a top target for his assailants for long, adding that the killers always reported to a lady who had a long list of wanted Tutsis, who in turn marked against the name of the killed person.
“Everything was conducted systematically.”
She told of how they had pleaded with a soldier known as Suleiman to kill them using a gun, and gave him money for “that service” but he declined.
“The whole family beseeched him (Suleiman) to use a gun and kill us but he took the money and never did as we requested him. He instead called Interahamwe (a militia that largely perpetrated the Genocide) and they killed my people with crude weapons,” she narrated.
“The soldier said bullets were too expensive to be wasted on my family.”
Most of the Genocide victims were killed using such traditional weapons as machetes, clubs, hoes, spears and arrows.
Kasine said she survived because the Interahamwe dumped her unconscious among dead bodies thinking that she had breathed her last.
She recalled how she was on several occasions sent away from school because she was a Tutsi during the pre-Genocide days.
“Teachers used to ask Hutus to stand up and I also stand ignorantly only to be told to sit down and wait until they ask Tutsis to do the same,” she testified.
She also told of how French soldiers had taken over ownership of her family’s property shortly before the Genocide, saying that they always used to come to their home and take away any property without bothering to seek consent from their family
Many other stories remain untold, at least if the survivors tell these stories, they some how get relived of the burden (Psychological explanations). These stories need to be compiled such that people can get to know better about the 1994 Rwandan genocide ordeal.

Mugume

One of Rwandan leading English newspapers the New Times today had this sorrowful story of a young girl who lost her father through brutal killings. Such and many stories continue to run amidst a number of these perpetrators not yet brought to trial. Yesterday, I was at Remera sector (Kigali City) where one old lady bust into tears after listening to a story of another genocide survivor who seemed traumatized and instead of comforting her, also bust into tears which, luckily a Sector worker came to her rescue.
According to the New Times Story, it says that fourteen years after the horrendous Genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda, but Simone Kasine has no hope that she will ever burry the remains of her clubbed father.
Kasine is among those silent Rwandans who saw their beloved ones being cut in pieces and their body parts shared by their killers.
“After they killed my dad, they divided his body parts amongst themselves to go and show their colleagues as evidence that they had finished him off. I have since not been able to trace any of his parts,” Kasine, who is in her 20s, told mourners last week.
She was speaking during a commemoration function organised to mark the Genocide in Remera, Kigali. The nation completed the fourteenth annual Genocide remembrance week on Sunday.
Kasine, who was bitter that some of the killers of her own family were currently walking free on the streets, broke down as she narrated the atrocious conditions in which both of her parents and her relatives, were killed. Thousands of Genocide suspects are out of prison on presidential amnesty.
Kasine, who now lives in one of orphanages in Kigali, said her family was resident in Gasabo District during the Genocide.
“One of my father’s killers took his private parts to his wife who used to work with (my father),” narrated Kasine, who on several occasions fought back tears, during her testimony. She said her father was beheaded and his head taken away by somebody she does not recall.
“Others took fingers, legs, and other amputated parts. They did not leave behind even a single limb,” she recalled agonizingly.
She said her father had been a top target for his assailants for long, adding that the killers always reported to a lady who had a long list of wanted Tutsis, who in turn marked against the name of the killed person.
“Everything was conducted systematically.”
She told of how they had pleaded with a soldier known as Suleiman to kill them using a gun, and gave him money for “that service” but he declined.
“The whole family beseeched him (Suleiman) to use a gun and kill us but he took the money and never did as we requested him. He instead called Interahamwe (a militia that largely perpetrated the Genocide) and they killed my people with crude weapons,” she narrated.
“The soldier said bullets were too expensive to be wasted on my family.”
Most of the Genocide victims were killed using such traditional weapons as machetes, clubs, hoes, spears and arrows.
Kasine said she survived because the Interahamwe dumped her unconscious among dead bodies thinking that she had breathed her last.
She recalled how she was on several occasions sent away from school because she was a Tutsi during the pre-Genocide days.
“Teachers used to ask Hutus to stand up and I also stand ignorantly only to be told to sit down and wait until they ask Tutsis to do the same,” she testified.
She also told of how French soldiers had taken over ownership of her family’s property shortly before the Genocide, saying that they always used to come to their home and take away any property without bothering to seek consent from their family
Many other stories remain untold, at least if the survivors tell these stories, they some how get relived of the burden (Psychological explanations). These stories need to be compiled such that people can get to know better about the 1994 Rwandan genocide ordeal.

Mugume

I am not ashamed to express here that This past week in Rwanda was a genocide commemoration week= Mourning week.
In this week, much of both private and public work is put on halt as Rwandans remember over 1000.000 people who lost their lives during the 1994 Genocide.

during this time, some of "un buried" remains are given "respect" and buried by their relatives and families.
Leisure is none existent in the whole country and no sports activities are allowed country wide. Even on the private FM Radio Stations which are very fond of sports programs, are not allowed to air out sports programs.

Genocide survivors tell their survival accounts which are unbelievable except if you already have a clue to what happened in Rwanda! Just imagine for example people being buried alive, dumped in pits, floating on water for over three days only to be saved by fishermen who only mistake the body to dead!

Just imagine a woman being buthered so as to remove "the cockroach" from its mother's belle as if the woman can survive, what about a 9 year old girl being gang raped by Interahamwe militias! Its all unbelievable!!!!!

If you want to know much about what happened here as the World watched, just feel free to ask me.

As a human rights advocate, i feel that none should be killed because of race or colour. Surprising enough is that some genocidaires are still at large (have not been brought to trail). During the deliberations to establish the ICTR which is the responsible to try genocide crimes and other crimes committed on the territory of Rwanda and her neighbours during the 1994 genocide, Kovanda, One of the statesmen in the UN security Council remarked " murder, leave alone genocide should be punished"

If such Crimes are not punished, similar acts are eminent, just imagine the Drfrur Crisis and the Tibet issue!

Mugume
Lawyer, LLB, National University of Rwanda (2007)