Displaying items by tag: Uganda

Friday, 06 October 2023 10:46

Uganda: opposition leader detained?

Uganda’s main opposition party, the NUP, has said its leader Bobi Wine was detained upon returning from a trip abroad. The singer-turned-politician arrived at Entebbe airport on 5 October after visiting several countries, including South Africa. A photo appeared to show two men seizing him by the arms on the tarmac. However, the police said he was ‘successfully escorted by our security team’, and urged people to disregard rumours of his arrest by ‘propagandists’. In September the police announced they were banning rallies being organised by the NUP across the country because of public order issues. There is a long history of authorities using so-called ‘preventative arrest’ to detain opposition leaders, often holding them for several hours before returning them to their homes so as to stymie mass demonstrations. Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, is a prominent critic of President Museveni’s government. He ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2021 against Museveni, who is serving a sixth term in power.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 12 January 2023 21:37

100 hostages rescued from ADF

Recently, a joint military operation between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo successfully rescued over one hundred civilians who were being held hostage by the Islamic extremist group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The military task force launched airstrikes on the ADF rebel camps for over two months before the rescue operation. One of the rescued women said, ‘The soldiers arrived when we were praying. They fired several bullets, which allowed us to flee to the middle of the bush.’ The ADF started as a force opposing the alleged mistreatment of Muslims by Uganda. It later expanded to the DRC, where it has grown and spread. It is the most violent of 120 armed groups in eastern DRC and has committed crimes against Congolese civilians, including many Christians.

Published in Praise Reports
Thursday, 01 December 2022 21:10

Uganda: Ebola quarantine extended

Uganda has recorded 141 infections since the outbreak of Ebola was declared on 20 September. President Museveni has extended by 21 days a quarantine placed on Mubende and Kassanda districts, at the epicentre of the outbreak. Movement in and out of central Uganda is restricted up to 17 December. The aim of this extension is to sustain the gains in control of Ebola which have been made, and to protect the rest of the country from continued exposure. Mr Museveni said, ‘It may be too early to celebrate any successes, but overall, I have been briefed that the picture is good.’ 55 people have died since the outbreak was declared. Although it is gradually being brought under control, he said the situation is ‘still fragile,’ adding that the country’s weak health system and circulation of misinformation about the disease were still a challenge.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 10 November 2022 21:21

Uganda: schools close due to Ebola

Uganda’s education minister has decided to shut all types of schools from 25 November after 23 Ebola cases were confirmed among pupils and eight children died. The virus circulating in Uganda is the Sudan strain of Ebola, for which there is no proven vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire strain which spread during recent outbreaks in neighbouring DR Congo. Ebola is spread through bodily fluids; common symptoms are fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea. Outbreaks are difficult to contain, especially in urban settings. Ebola generally kills about half the people it infects. The decision to close all schools came because densely packed classrooms were making students highly vulnerable to infection. On 5 November the three-week lockdown on Mubende and Kassanda districts, which are at the centre of the outbreak, was extended. The measures include dusk-to-dawn curfews, banning personal travel, and closing markets, bars and churches.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 29 September 2022 20:41

Uganda: Ebola spreading fast

On 20 September, Uganda’s health authorities declared an Ebola outbreak after a Sudan strain was confirmed in central Uganda. Five days later 36 people had Ebola, 26 had died, 399 contact cases were identified, and 104 were in follow-up. Symptoms take two to 21 days to develop. Uganda's excellent road infrastructure allows infected people to travel in any direction for some time before becoming symptomatic, making tracing known contacts significantly more difficult. Pray for the national task force, meeting every day. Pray for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) as they set up an Ebola treatment centre. Pray for WHO as it deploys medical supplies and provides logistics and more staff, to help Ugandan authorities to halt Ebola’s spread. Pray for those setting up isolation units to have all the equipment and protective clothing they need. See also

Published in Worldwide

Islamic teacher, Hiire Sadiki, was poisoned on April 2, shortly after his wife learned he had converted to Christianity. He put his faith in Christ on March 27 after several months of discussions with a Christian pastor. After he didn’t observe the Ramadan fast and his wife noticed him praying in the name of Christ she questioned his mode of praying. He told her he believed in Issa (Jesus]). His wife had studied the Koran and knew verses about apostasy punishment. She left the room and began phoning Muslim leaders, then returned and prepared supper. ‘After 30 minutes, a neighbour arrived, went to the kitchen and then immediately left. After supper Sadiki suffered convulsions and vomiting and phoned the pastor who took him to hospital. Tests indicated his food was tainted with insecticides used to kill rats. The assault was the latest of many instances of Christian persecution in Uganda. 

Published in Worldwide

Security forces in Uganda have shot dead a Muslim cleric, Sheikh Muhammad Abas Kirevu, accused of working with an armed group linked to suicide bombings in Kampala. He had recruited for cells run by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) - rebels who have pledged allegiance to IS. On 16 November four people were killed and over thirty injured by attackers on motorbikes who blew themselves up in the city: IS claimed responsibility, but officials have blamed the ADF. Twenty-one people have been arrested since the attack, in what police have described as the dismantling of ADF terrorist cells in Kampala and across the country. A police spokesperson said 13 suspects, including several children, had been intercepted while trying to cross the border into DR Congo. Also, on 17 November four suspected ADF operatives were killed near the border.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 17 June 2021 21:34

Uganda: Covid surge in the middle of lockdown

On 11 June Uganda recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases in a single day since the pandemic began. Cases were up 137% this week, forcing the state to impose a partial curfew. Last week, the UAE banned flights from Uganda after recording cases of the Indian virus while already struggling with the South African and British mutants. Uganda has a curfew between 9 pm and 5:30 am and has closed all learning institutions. The ministry of health announced a halt to the vaccination process citing the lack of jabs. All intensive care and high-dependency beds in the country are already occupied and vaccination against Covid-19 is progressing very slowly. Barely 750,000 people have received one dose (35,000 have received two doses), in a country of 45 million people.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 21 May 2020 23:52

Uganda: Sarah’s story

Sarah remembers her childhood fondly. She was close to her parents, who were always loving towards her, and she never saw them fight. She pursued her studies and helped her parents care for her four siblings. Tragically, when she was 16, her father passed away. Sarah was forced to leave school and work so that her siblings could continue their education. Next she met Komakech. He won her affection and they began living together. Sarah thought he would take good care of her family. But she slowly became aware of his violent nature. Within three months he became violent, drinking and abusing Sarah physically, and emotionally. One in two Ugandan women experience spousal abuse. Rates are higher in northern Uganda. To read Sarah’s story of freedom. click the ‘More’ button.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 14 May 2020 21:46

East Africa: triple tragedy

Torrential rains causing floods and landslides displaced 100,000 people and killed about 200 in Kenya. Floods destroyed 8,000 acres of crops, and the extreme rainfall will continue until the end of May. In Uganda, a river burst its banks, causing people to flee for safety. The waters of Lake Victoria have risen to unprecedented heights, forcing shoreline communities to abandon their homes. Rwanda, too, has seen houses, roads, and crops destroyed, and many killed by mudslides. At the same time, trillions of locusts have descended on the region. They can travel over 100 miles a day. There are 18 separate swarms in Kenya at present, and weather conditions are expected to favour breeding, so that a third generation could hatch in June and July. Added to these two tragedies, coronavirus is spreading among huge numbers of displaced people and closed borders are delaying delivery of pesticides to locust-affected areas.

Published in Worldwide
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