"We were scared that the vessel might sink since there are strong winds which form large waves over lake Victoria at the moment. These winds are very strong from April to June every year so sailors and passengers must be careful because boats and vessels can sink if they get problems like engine failure or engines getting stuck in fishing nets," Kalemba says.
Katumba noted that the composition of the committee and subcommittees are timely because most of the search and rescue missions on water have been adhoc. He cited the example of November 24th, 2018 when MV Templar sank, killing 33 passengers while 26 people were rescued mainly by the local communities including a village chairman and fishermen.
During the meeting, the officials noted that there are over six million nationals from the region working abroad. They noted that the workers face similar challenges such as lack of access to health care, delayed payment or non-payment of wages, physical torture, mistreatment, confiscation of personal and travel documents, sexual harassment and long working hours.
Dr. Fatuma Ahmed, the Consultant on Gender and Social Protection for the IOM's Better Regional Migration Management Project, says female migrant workers abroad are doubly disadvantaged because they are discriminated as females and as migrants.
Ssemanda, Mutebi and other boat operators at Kasenyi landing site say the sailors should have first removed the laid fishing nets that had entangled the boat engines before embarking on the journey to Kisaba landing site.
Mabirizi said he initiated private prosecution proceedings against Rajiv Ruparelia as a responsible citizen precisely because the National Environment Management Authority-NEMA and police would most likely not arrest or charge him for dumping soil in the lake.
Silver Ggingo is one of those civilians who still bear the scars of war after sharp fragments of a rocket, launched by Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF), hit him and shattered his leg. Ggingo remembers 5 April 1979 as if it was yesterday.
Court has now summoned Ruperalia to appear in court on April 13 over the blatant abuse of Lake Victoria which he is being accused of perpetrating. This is after he failed to appear on the three occasions when the case was brought up in court.
Mwebesa has directed all private laboratories to exit border points immediately "as it is no longer necessary to conduct any COVID-19 tests at land border points of entry."
The National Institute for Health Research is among key partners of the East Africa Consortium for Clinical Research-EACCR. The partnership involves 23 research institutions and universities in Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, and the consortium's Secretariat is hosted at Uganda Virus Research Institute-UVRI.
Nakamya wants to save the lake from pollution resulting from discharge of untreated sewage, dumping of chemicals, soil and other substances that could affect aquatic life and water quality.
Kikaire says the main objective of the third round of EACCR is now to see scientists do research in the five focus areas, encourage junior scientists to spearhead these research projects, and most importantly close the gender gap by giving at least half of the scholarships for short courses, masters degrees to females.
Tumwebaze says cash donations are tempting and also items to be procured could take longer because of the procedures that must be taken such as domestic and international bidding among others.
The 72-bed capacity facility has three operating theatres, six intensive care units, 16 high dependency unit beds, and one Isolation room. It has six clinics, a radiology room, a laboratory with a blood bank, a CT scanner, pharmacy, auxiliary services, and guesthouses for patients from far, among other facilities.
The fisheries directorate at the agriculture ministry and the Uganda People's Defence Forces Fisheries Protection Unit-FPU has today, Wednesday , distributed some of the impounded immature fish to Uganda Prisons Services and the vulnerable who include orphans and widows within Kampala Metropolitan area.
Dr. Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, the WHO Representative in Uganda is convinced that Uganda will meet the target of ten million children within three days based on its past polio vaccination record.
Tegegn however hopes that the exercise will not disrupt or be disrupted by the ongoing Covid-19 mass vaccination campaign.
The trucks, destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo, were impounded in Kasese and driven today to the Fisheries Directorate head office in Entebbe pending further investigations.
Eng.Mohamed Kaggwa Maseko, a Ugandan who is a permanent resident in South Africa says that it has been a hustle having to stop over in Nairobi or Addis Ababa for long hours, moreover worsened by the increase of (health) procedures at every airport in transit which is already hectic.
Dr Albert Byamugisha, the Board chairman of Uganda National Bureau of Statistics, says that Uganda is best placed to host the bureau since the UBOS office in Entebbe was established in 1946 to collect and disseminate statistics for the East Africa Protectorate under the British colonial government.
