More MPs sign to impeach President

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1367408/-/axaj4pz/-/index.html

SOURCE: THE DAILY MONITOR, 16 MARCH 2012

IN SUMMARY

Gathering signatures. Most of the signatures are coming from opposition MPs, with NRM lawmakers saying the grounds for the petition are not watertight.

More opposition legislators yesterday signed on a landmark petition to impeach President Museveni as their counterparts in the ruling NRM party remained hesitant to sign, saying the grounds given by the opposition are baseless.

By close of yesterday, the opposition said it had collected about 40 signatures but Daily Monitor could verify only 30.

“We are on course and people are signing on our impeachment petition. NRM MPs say they will sign later,” said Lubaga South MP Ken Lukyamuzi, who is one of the lead petitioners.

By yesterday, Mr Lukyamuzi and Aruu County MP Odonga Otto had collected five and eight signatures respectively while Kyaddondo East MP Ibrahim Ssemuju had collected only two. Bukholi Central MP Wafula Oguttu had gathered eight signatures and Bernard Atiku (Ayivu County) had seven signatures.

Determined
In a closed-door opposition meeting yesterday, Mr Ssemuju was appointed coordinator of the impeachment process while other MPs were tasked to gather signatures according to regions.

Mr Joseph Sewungu (Kalungu West) boasted of having gathered 15 signatures but we could not access his list as it was reportedly locked up in his office.

“The grounds the opposition is raising are weak and the exercise will be futile and besides that, they will not get the quorum to push through their petition,” said NRM Deputy Chief Whip David Bahati.

Rwampara County MP Vincent Kyamadidi said the opposition was being diversionary.

The opposition on Wednesday signed on a petition to impeach President Museveni.

They launched the impeachment process which requires at least one-third of Parliament’s 386 members to sign for it to progress. They accuse President Museveni of committing economic crimes.

They accuse President Museveni of committing economic crimes.

The MPs also want President Museveni to take responsibility for the withdrawal of $735 million (Shs1.7 trillion) from Bank of Uganda to buy fighter jets and other military hardware without prior parliamentary approval.

Information minister Karooro Okurut commenting on President Museveni’s listed crimes, defended him saying the opposition must prove their allegations.

“On corruption, those who were found guilty have left their offices after the intervention of President Museveni. He could not act on rumours to fire the Prime Minister (Amama Mbabazi) and Mr Hilary Onek (Internal Affairs),” Ms Karooro said.

The two ministers are accused of taking bribes in oil deals.

Kony 2012

MPs seek signatures to impeach President

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1366734/-/axb60yz/-/index.html

SOURCE: THE DAILY MONITOR, 15 MARCH 2012

Lead petitioner Ken Lukyamuzi signs the impeachment papers as his co-petitioner Odonga Otto waits for his turn at Parliament yesterday. Seven MPs signed the papers on Day One. 

IN SUMMARY

Petitioners accuse Museveni of economic crimes, citing purchase of his jet and rising external debt, among others.

Seven opposition lawmakers yesterday set out on what is likely to be an uphill task when they signed onto an unprecedented petition seeking to impeach President Museveni.

The lawmakers say the President, who faced a similar though unsuccessful challenge during the 7th Parliament from former MP Aggrey Awori, is guilty of economic crimes.

However, pro-ruling party members, who enjoy a commanding majority in the House, were quick to pour cold water on the attempt to unseat the President under Article 107(1)b of the Constitution, describing it as “diversionary, irresponsible and unwarranted.”

“Those MPs who want to impeach the President are jokers,” Information Minister Karooro Okurut said. “Impeaching the President
would be taking an aimless walk in the political desert”.
President Museveni’s Spokesperson Tamale Mirundi later described the MPs as an “impotent lot”.

He said: “There is no serious Ugandan who is going to take them seriously. In fact, they are like a married man who spends a lot of time in a bedroom with his wife but cannot produce a kid.”

Mr Odonga Otto (Aruu, FDC) and Mr Ken Lukyamuzi (Rubaga South, CP) yesterday morning launched the impeachment process which requires at least one-third of Parliament’s 386 members to sign for it to progress.

“We the undersigned MPs do hereby append our signatures fully persuaded that Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the President of the Republic of Uganda, be removed from office on grounds that he has abused his office and willfully violated the oath of allegiance and the presidential oath and other provisions of the Constitution,” Mr Otto announced shortly before the legislators appended their signatures.Other members who appended their signatures are Wafula Oguttu, (Bukholi Central, FDC) Ssemujju Nganda Ibrahim,(Kyaddondo East, FDC), Joseph Gonzaga Sewungu (Kalungu West, DP) Deo Kiyingi (Bukomansimbi, DP) and Bernard Atiku (Ayivu, FDC).

Allegations
Mr Otto and Mr Lukyamuzi first revealed their intention to try to impeach Mr Museveni in January, listing 74 grounds for their cause.
“We strongly believe that the continued stay of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in office as the President is against the national interests of Uganda,” Mr Lukyamuzi said yesterday.

The legislators alleged that President Museveni diverted over Shs100 billion from a British government grant intended for recovery programmes in post-war northern Uganda in 2008 to the purchase of his presidential jet without parliamentary approval.
The MPs also want President Museveni to take responsibility for the withdrawal of $735 million (Shs1.7 trillion) from Bank of Uganda to buy fighter jets and other military hardware without prior parliamentary approval.

“President Museveni has conducted himself in a manner which has brought the office of the President into hatred, ridicule, contempt and disrepute. He has dishonestly done acts and omissions prejudicial and inimical to the economy and the security of Uganda,” said Mr Otto.

The petitioners further accuse the President of disregarding parliamentary resolutions by allowing Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and Internal Affairs minister Hilary Onek, who were accused of taking bribes from oil exploration, companies to continue working.

They say the President has also frustrated the prosecution of individuals who caused financial loss, citing the Shs142 billion businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba was paid in inflated compensation.

The MPs also cited the Shs500 billion Chogm scandal, and the country’s external debt standing at $4 billion which they attributed to the President’s “reckless public expenditure”.
The MPs have also profiled 112 loans the government has contracted between 1996 to 2011 which they say the government has abused.

Opposition MPs seek to impeach President

Besigye shot xvid

A4C hold peaceful rally

Ministry pulls down website after hackers post Besigye photo

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1356694/-/axwpjfz/-/index.html

SOURCE: THE DAILY MONITOR, 1 MARCH 2012

The website of the Ministry of Works has been pulled down after a hacker posted a picture of FDC leader Kizza Besigye seated on a stool in a rather pensive mood.

The image stayed superimposed on the site for several hours yesterday until authorities shut down the website at about 5pm. It is the second time in as many months that the website has been hacked into and pulled down as a result.

Web visitors had been greeted by a post on the site’s front page that read: “Welcome to Ministry of Hackers and Jobless Ugandans Republic of Uganda.”

Works ministry’s Senior Information Scientist Isaac Ojok admitted in an interview that he was dumbfounded by the hack job. “I really don’t understand this. I have just seen this,” he said.
“I have escalated the issue and contacted the people who host us.”

It is understood that local firm, Uganda Home Pages, manages the ministry’s website, as well as several other government sites. The Ministry of Works website was redesigned in August 2011 after being hacked into a few months earlier.

A hacker going by name Kaka Argentine posted a photo of Adolf Hitler with a Nazi party symbol on his chest on the State House website in May 2010. A year earlier, hackers calling themselves “the Ayyildiz team” posted pro-Palestine items on the website of the Ministry of Defence, accusing Israel of killing innocent Palestinians.

No one has since claimed responsibility for the Works site hacking. “It is beyond our responsibility,” said Mr Ojok, when asked how the hackers were able to breach the website. “The database is not with us. It is with our service providers.”

“They called us and we are sorting this out,” said an official at Uganda Home Pages who could only identify himself as Ernest.

Officials at the National Information and Communication Technology Authority (NITA) admitted that it would be difficult to apprehend the hackers. “That is one of the biggest challenges,” said NITA spokesperson Charlotte Ampaire. “The hackers may not even be in Uganda.”