Uganda 2014

Yearbook 2014

Uganda.  Uganda population in 2020 is estimated at 45,741,018. The reactions were strong on the tightening of laws against homosexuality signed by President Yoweri Museveni at the beginning of the year. Several countries decided to withdraw or direct assistance to Uganda as a result of the signing of the law, which means, among other things, that people living in same-sex marriage can be sentenced to life imprisonment. The Swedish government chose to withhold the so-called state-to-state support of SEK 6.5 million in response to the new legislation.

In June, the country’s foreign minister Sam Kutesa was appointed chairman of the UN General Assembly. The appointment attracted criticism because of Kute’s role in developing the criticized law against homosexuality. The same month, the United States announced that the country would impose sanctions on Uganda and that some government representatives were no longer allowed to enter the United States. In July, however, the legislation was rejected by the Ugandan Constitutional Court because too few MPs had been present when the law was passed in Parliament.

According to topb2bwebsites, in early July, about 100 people were killed in a clash between the military and protesters in the province of Rwensori in the west, near the Congo border (Kinshasa). The regime said the protests had ethnic motives, while others described them as the result of political and social contradictions.

In September, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi was dismissed as a result of charges of corruption. However, some believed that the decision was due to a power struggle between Mbabazi and President Museveni. At the end of the month, a death was caused by marburg, a virus that belongs to the same virus family as Ebola. As there was a major outbreak of Ebola fever in West Africa at the same time, strict security measures were taken in the capital, Kampala, where the man had died and some 80 people who had contact with the man were isolated. Uganda has previously suffered from minor outbreaks of Ebola fever and marburg fever.

In celebration of the country’s independence day in October, President Museveni called on other African countries to review his membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which he accused of being biased because it brought a large number of African leaders to justice. The statement came shortly after the trial of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta had begun in The Hague.

October

Bobi Wine is arrested again

October 14

Opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, also the pop star Bobi Wine, is arrested along with several supporters of security forces in the National Unity Platform, NUP’s party premises in Kampala. Police and military are also taking documents with signatures from people who support Kyagulanyi’s candidacy in the upcoming presidential election, and seizing the equivalent of $ 6,200. A spokesman for the police says that the raid was made to search for army uniforms that have been used illegally by civilians. Kyagulanyi later said the raid was carried out with the aim of trying to stop him from running in next year’s presidential election.

September

Ten South Sudanese refugees are killed in attack

September 13

Ten South Sudanese refugees are killed and 19 injured when a mob attacks a refugee camp, Rhino Camp, in northwestern Uganda. Another 10 or so people are missing. At least 13 people are arrested on suspicion of having participated in the attack. The camp, located in the West Nile area, near the border with South Sudan, houses about 100,000 refugees. There have already been reports of tensions between the refugees and the local population. The unrest breaks out in the vicinity of a common water source. The army is deployed to create calm. The UN refugee agency calls on Ugandan authorities to investigate what has happened, what can be done to reduce conflicts between refugees and local people in an area with few resources and to investigate the role played by local authorities. There are about 1.4 million refugees in Uganda,

Uganda and Tanzania sign oil pipeline agreements

September 13

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his Tanzanian counterpart John Magufuli sign an agreement that will allow an oil pipeline to be built from Ugandan oil fields to the port of Tanga in Tanzania. The price tag for the project is set at $ 3.5 billion. Uganda has large oil resources that have not been able to be exploited due to lack of infrastructure, not least how the oil can be exported. According to the aid organizations Oxfam and the International Federation for Human Rights, oil extraction could hit the families living in areas to be exploited hard, as they risk losing their land and the opportunity to earn a living. Others warn that damage will occur in sensitive ecosystems.

Bobi Wine is accused of giving false information about the year of birth

1 September

A court has asked opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, also pop star Bobi Wine, to stand up after allegations that he provided false information about his age to the election commission. According to the school grades he has submitted, he must have been born on February 12, 1980, but his passport states his date of birth to February 12, 1982. Kyagulanyi writes on Facebook that this is the latest of the government’s attempts to set hooks for his candidacy. His party NUP explains the difference with the opposition politician’s father changing the date of birth to 1980 when Kyagulanyi went to primary school because he could not afford to pay the exam fee for all his children.