(Juba, southern Sudan) – Traders importing goods from Uganda are complaining of double taxation in southern Sudan.More news from SRS - Sudan Radio Service:
They claim that import tax is imposed on their goods in Nimule and in Juba by revenue authorities.
Some traders spoke to SRS in Juba on Monday.
[Trader 1]: “We clear twice. Why should we clear in Nimule as we are entering and here in Juba? In other countries, we clear once. You clear at the border and you go and offload. But not here. We clear twice; you clear from here and in Nimule. We pay for documents here and in Nimule. Don’t you see? Everything is affecting us.”
[Trader 2]: “In most of the countries, we pay once except Sudan. I don’t know why. The government of Southern Sudan has to do something about this issue!
SRS spoke to the Head of Central Equatoria Revenue Authority, Samuel Modiyang.
He explains why there is double taxation on imports.
[Samuel Modiyang]: “There are levels of government. We are in the level of state. The policy in every state is that every state has to collect money to meet the cost of government machinery. So, those local revenues are collected from the goods brought from abroad. Here, Goss and Gonu are also collecting for the national duty, which is excise duty. It is always collected at the entry point, at Nimule. When they arrive here, we collect our taxes for the state. We have a legal basis for that. We have a law which was passed by the Legislative Assembly that authorizes us to collect those taxes.”
Samuel Modiyang, the head of Central Equatoria Revenue Authority, was speaking to SRS in Juba on Monday.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Traders importing goods from Uganda are complaining of double taxation in southern Sudan
From SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Tuesday, 27 April 2010:
Thursday, April 22, 2010
LRA rebels surrender in Yambio, Western Equatoria, southern Sudan
Lord’s Resistance Army rebels surrender in Sudan
From Afrik.com by Geof Magga Thursday, 22 April 2010
From Afrik.com by Geof Magga Thursday, 22 April 2010
Two Lords Resistance army (LRA) rebels yesterday surrendered to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in Yambio town in Western Equatoria state of southern Sudan.
According to SPLA spokesman, major general Kuol Deim Kuol the two fighters surrendered peacefully without fighting.
"Two soldiers of the Ugandan rebel group Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have surrendered in Yambio in Western Equatoria State. They said that they escaped from Central African Republic where they recently survived an ambush by Uganda peoples defence force.
Kuol said one of the fighters who surrendered was at the rank of captain in the rebel army, while the other was a private.
LRA rebels led by Joseph Kony have killed thousands of people in Uganda, southern Sudan Democratic republic of Congo and of recent in Central African Republic.
The LRA rebel group started in northern Uganda in mid 1980’s by former alter boy Joseph Kony who claimed that he was fighting bad governance but using the bible’s ten commandments as guidelines for his war.
During the late 1990’s Ugandan government troops mounted pressure on the rebels making them flee to southern Sudan where they built a base.
In 2006 the rebels accepted to talk peace with the Ugandan government, but they dragged on for two years.
When the talks were concluded in 2008, Joseph Kony refused to sign the final peace agreement which led to the joint force of Uganda, Congolese and southern Sudanese troops to attack his base in Garanba forest at the boarder between Southern Sudan and Congo.
Joseph Kony and his fighters escaped to Central African Republic where they have been killing and mutilating people. Ugandan forces have pursued them there.
Last month, Ugandan President announced that Joseph Kony had fled into Darfur which is under the government of Sudan. He also announced that the feared and ruthless rebel leader will not be allowed to stand trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague and that he will definitely be hanged, should the authorities lay their hands on him.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Economist is looking for a new Africa correspondent to be based in London
Africa correspondent
From The Economist print edition, 15 April 2010:
From The Economist print edition, 15 April 2010:
The Economist is looking for a new Africa correspondent to be based in London, to edit and commission articles, to write on African issues, and to report from any part of the continent. Please send applications, including a covering letter, cv and two past articles, to newafricapost@economist.com by May 3rd.Where is the Telegraph's David Blair these days, I wonder. He'd do a great job as Africa correspondent for The Economist. I miss his reporting on Africa.
The Economist is looking for a new Africa correspondent to be based in London
Africa correspondent
From The Economist print edition, 15 April 2010:
From The Economist print edition, 15 April 2010:
The Economist is looking for a new Africa correspondent to be based in London, to edit and commission articles, to write on African issues, and to report from any part of the continent. Please send applications, including a covering letter, cv and two past articles, to newafricapost@economist.com by May 3rd.Where is the Telegraph's David Blair these days, I wonder. He'd do a great job as Africa correspondent for The Economist.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Uganda: Gaddafi and 100 kings from all over the world to attend King Oyo's party
This sounds fun.
Uganda: Gadaffi coming to King Oyo's party
The New Vision (Uganda) -April 13, 2010 (via www.afrika.no):
Uganda: Gadaffi coming to King Oyo's party
The New Vision (Uganda) -April 13, 2010 (via www.afrika.no):
Kampala (Uganda) — Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi is to attend this week the 18th birthday and coronation celebrations of the king of Toro, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.Looking forward to seeing photos.
Former premier Stephen Nyabongo said Gaddafi and at least 100 kings from all over the world are expected to attend the three-day event.
President Yoweri Museveni has also confirmed attendance and will be the chief guest. Officials said they expect all Ugandan kings, including Kabaka Ronald Mutebi, to attend.
"Kabaka Ronald Mutebi, who is also a guardian to the young king, will attend to see the person he has been taking care of come of age," officials said.
"The King of Kings (Gadaffi) is expected in Toro this Saturday," Nyabongo told journalists at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel yesterday.
Gadaffi got the title in August 2008, from over 200 African kings and traditional rulers, including a delegation from Uganda, when they met in the Libyan city of Benghazi.
Toro kingdom shares close ties with Libya. Gaddafi was instrumental in funding the renovation of the king's palace in 2003 and has been funding other kingdom activities.
Oyo will be taking over the administration of the kingdom from the regents who have helped him since he was crowned 15 years ago at the age of three, after the death of his father, Patrick Olimi Kaboyo II.
Explaining the significance of the day, Nyabongo said: "The king will outline his programme of action for the next five years."
He said Oyo will focus on education in the kingdom. "His immediate focus will be on informal education which forms a basis for primary and secondary education," the official said.
"The indiscipline and corruption we see are associated with the lack of informal education in the families and communities."
The king is also expected to call upon his subjects to build granaries like in olden times as a means to creating food security.
Being a youthful king, Oyo will also promote education which is particularly important to the youth, said James Murungi, the kingdom's protocol minister.
The Saturday coronation anniversary will be preceded by the celebration of the king's birthday on Friday beginning with a church service. After this, the youthful king will host a party named "Kasiki" in which he will be saying goodbye to childhood.
Leading singers Jose Chameleone, Juliana Kanyomozi, Radio and Weasel, Bobi Wine and Aziz Azion are expected at the party.
Minister Murungi said beautiful girls from Toro kingdom will be "paraded" at the kasiki and a cultural dance "amakondere" as the king becomes an adult.
The celebrations will be concluded on April 18, with court cases and judgements being handed over to the king. A special meal called "Oruhango rwa nyakacaki" (the Toro royal luncheon which is prepared by men) will be served. Traditionally, the king's food is not prepared by women.
Meanwhile, Oyo's mother Best Kemigisa has hailed Kabaka Mutebi for being an exemplary guardian to the young king. She said this when the Kabaka made a courtesy visit to Oyo's palace in Buziga in Kampala yesterday.
Mutebi also marks his 55th birthday today beginning with prayers at Kibuli Masque in Kampala.
Commenting on Oyo's coming of age, Mutebi said: "It has been my pleasure through the past years to be one of the guardians on the Omukama. This was not something I found a burden. Rather, it was taking a responsibility of looking after a young brother. It is special joy for me to be relieved of my responsibilities, to see that the Omukama has come of age and is taking on the responsibilities of Toro."
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Uganda enlists ex-rebel forces to end a war
Ugandan soldiers on patrol in the Congo look for tracks of the Lord’s Resistance Army in late March 2010. Former rebels of the LRA have now been given the mission to hunt down their one-time boss Joseph Kony and his remaining forces. (Jeffrey Gettleman / New York Times News Service)
Uganda enlists ex-rebel forces to end a war
By Jeffrey Gettleman / New York Times News Service
Published: April 11. 2010 4:00AM PST
OBO, Central African Republic — The night is inky, the helicopters are late and Cmdr. Patrick Opiyo Makasi sits near a dying cooking fire on a remote army base, spinning his thoughts into the darkness.
“It was either them or me,” Makasi said of the countless people he has killed. “Them or me.”
The Lord’s Resistance Army, a notoriously brutal rebel group, snatched him from a riverbank when he was 12 years old, more than 20 years ago, and trained him to burn, pillage and slaughter. His name, Makasi, means scissors in Kiswahili, and fellow soldiers said he earned it by shearing off ears and lips.
But now he has a new mission: hunting down his former boss.
In an unorthodox strategy that could help end this seemingly pointless war, the Ugandan army is deploying special squads of experienced killers to track down the LRA’s leader, Joseph Kony, one of the most wanted men in Africa, who has been on the run for more than 20 years.
These soldiers, like Makasi, are former LRA fighters themselves, and just about all of them were abducted as children. They recently surrendered and are now wading through black rivers and head-high elephant grass across three of the most troubled countries in the world — the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan — where the last remnants of the LRA are believed to be hiding. They say they know all of Kony’s tricks.
Some critics may not think this wise, putting so much trust in men whose moral compass had been turned upside down for so long.
But the Ugandan government is desperate to finish this conflict, which has raged for more than two decades and killed thousands. The government’s policy is to grant amnesty to all LRA fighters except the top three, who have been indicted by the International Criminal Court: Kony; Okot Odhiambo, his deputy; and Dominic Ongwen, another commander who is widely believed to have planned a massacre in Congo in December in which hundreds of civilians were bludgeoned to death.
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Uganda Government News: Two LRA rebels surrender to UPDF in Congo
Two Lords Resistance Army rebel fighters have surrendered to the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces and Democratic Republic of Congo forces in Faradje today.
The army spokesman, Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye says they will be flown back to Uganda anytime.
Kulayigye says he has not got the details of these two rebels but he says they are child soldiers whom Kony recruited in his force.
He says these two rebels have been privates in LRA ranks. Kulaigye says the two young returnees claim that Joseph Kony, the leader of LRA rebels is still hiding in the Central African Republic. UPDF is still hunting for Kony and his troops in Central African Republic.
Source: Ultimate Media (via www.ugpulse.com) Saturday, 03 April 2010 - Uganda Government News: Two LRA rebels surrender to UPDF in Congo
The army spokesman, Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye says they will be flown back to Uganda anytime.
Kulayigye says he has not got the details of these two rebels but he says they are child soldiers whom Kony recruited in his force.
He says these two rebels have been privates in LRA ranks. Kulaigye says the two young returnees claim that Joseph Kony, the leader of LRA rebels is still hiding in the Central African Republic. UPDF is still hunting for Kony and his troops in Central African Republic.
Source: Ultimate Media (via www.ugpulse.com) Saturday, 03 April 2010 - Uganda Government News: Two LRA rebels surrender to UPDF in Congo
Friday, April 02, 2010
U.S. Army Africa photos of Operation Natural Fire 10: Oct. 16-25 2009 joint military exercise in N. Uganda involving about 450 U.S. troops
Copy of a comment kindly received from U.S. Army Africa:
US Army Africa has left a new comment on your post "Operation Natural Fire 10: Oct. 16-25 joint milit...":
Here is a full collection of photos from Natural Fire 10 - as well as some background on the military exercise in Uganda.http://www.flickr.com/photos/usarmyafrica/collections/72157622583364062/
Posted by US Army Africa to Uganda Watch at Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Hunger pushes Kony out of Darfur - Okot Odhiambo has maintained his base in CAR?
Late last year, Kony directed all fighters to follow him to Darfur, but reports by human rights organisations operating in the area say his deputy Okot Odhiambo has maintained his base in CAR.
Full story: Daily Monitor (Uganda)
By Risdel Kasasira, Friday, April 02 2010
Hunger pushes Kony out of Darfur
Full story: Daily Monitor (Uganda)
By Risdel Kasasira, Friday, April 02 2010
Hunger pushes Kony out of Darfur
Kampala
Lord’s Resistance Army rebel leader Joseph Kony and his fighters have crossed back to the Central African Republic from southern Darfur looking for food, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces has said.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye said on Tuesday that Kony, with an estimated 200 fighters, returned to CAR last week, four months after they withdrew to Darfur in western Sudan.
Fleeing pressure
He said the rebels were fleeing food shortages and pressure from a UPDF unit pursuing them.
“They crossed back to Central African Republic last week because there is no food to loot and no vegetation to use as cover,” Col. Kulayigye said.
“We we will make sure they don’t come back here.”
Late last year, Kony directed all fighters to follow him to Darfur, but reports by human rights organisations operating in the area say his deputy Okot Odhiambo has maintained his base in CAR.
The rebel leader is also reportedly trying to link up with Odhiambo to carry out more attacks in the area. According to a new report by Enough, a human rights organisation, Dominic Ongwen, another LRA commander, is also said to be operating in DR Congo where he has allegedly abducted 1,400 people in the last 18 months.
The report also says LRA has killed 1,800 civilians in Congo during the same period.
But Col. Kulayigye refuted the figures. “I don’t know what these organisations want. Logically, the dynamics in those areas are not like in northern Uganda where they could easily carry out raids in camps,” he said.
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