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Dr Kizza Besigye (L) and Obeid Kamulegeya in the court martial

There is a teaching in the Islamic tradition which tells us that God gave us treatment for all illnesses – except old age.

Yes, aging is illness that eats away a thousand pleasures. We might not have discovered the treatment for a specific illness (or the ever-profiteering pharmaceutical companies might be hiding the formula from the world), but this treatment surely exists and is simply yet to be discovered.

The Creator never gave us anything as an anti-ageing remedy. Not nutrition, not exercise, nor plastic surgery can stop the wrath of aging. There is an entire billion-dollar industry nowadays that claims to slow down ageing. But cannot stop it. After some time, the body finally starts to collapse.

This is a fact awaiting all of us: where once fine skin stood, gives way to wrinkles. Where once a beautiful smile charmed the world, ugliness takes its place. Shakespeare talks about the seven ages of man, and in the final age, one loses almost their pack of aesthetics: teeth, hair, speech, agility, memory and several others.

What is true presently is that there is no amount of internal opposition in Uganda – democratic or otherwise – that can overthrow Museveni’s government. Exactly because Ugandans never put Museveni into office. Neither have Ugandans maintained him in that position.

As we know, plenty of evidence abounds, Museveni was put in office by a mutant imperial machine of the Western world. (Thanks to Kalundi Serumaga’s recent review of William Pike’s book, Combatants. It is incredible how William Pike revealed so much about Museveni’s colonial propping by writing so little).

This explains why our entire economy (banking, energy, Umeme, cash crop farming, Lake Victoria, gold mining, telecoms, etc.) is all in the hands of foreign monopolies because that was the deal Museveni negotiated with the UK’s MI6 as Pike would reveal to us.

The point I am making here is that Museveni can only overthrow himself. But this would mean, all of a sudden becoming a communist and trying to promote local capital and enterprise.

But as the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) dissolution recently demonstrated, even at 80, Museveni is not about to flirt with local capital growth. Exactly, because he has a deal, which he has to uphold for his entire lifetime.

IT IS NOT BESIGYE

In being a committed worker for foreign capital, brother Yoweri Museveni has also helped many folks into some form of wealth. These folks, who form most of the visible state (public service heads, high-end dealers) and the deep state are endlessly cutting deals with foreign capital and making sumptuous cuts. (Although, it is my position these cuts are really miniscule compared to what the foreigner takes out of the country. But, granted, they are exciting to an individual).

If I were one of these people, and had a future plan to continue benefitting from the deals cut under Yoweri Museveni for myself and own offsprings, I would be watching Museveni very closely. This does not mean beefing his security personnel against a potential overthrow, but I would be watching and making calculations around Museveni’s time machine.

Its battery life is closer to its limit than ever before. Museveni’s deep state has so short-sightedly taken this democratic joke too far. They have somehow focused on an already-finished opposition – forgetting that Yoweri Museveni is his own opposition.

Look, to stay in power as long as he wants, bwana Museveni has had to play only two cards: be an honest and committed caretaker for Uganda on behalf of the new colonisers (International Monetary Fund, World Bank, the United Kingdom and others in this league), and make sure he stays healthy. On both, the man has done well. Unlike his peers, like his co-president brother, Gen Salim Saleh, the man neither drinks nor smokes.

M7’S TIME BATTERIES

But we need to be honest with ourselves, if Museveni lived to be as old as Cameroon’s Paul Biya, there are no guarantees for a similar presidential life as Biya’s. Born out of different histories, Biya governs from Paris, from where he does the same things as Museveni. But in truth, like a couple other countries in West Africa, France directly governs Cameroon.

But Museveni is never “running” Uganda from London. But even if he were to live and have the same presidential career as Biya (which will be too bad for my friend, Muhoozi Kainerugaba), both men will have to succumb to the wrath of aging at some point. It is the inevitable.

If Museveni presently wobbles when he walks, and, we are told, sleeps through meetings, surely by 2034, he will be in a different world altogether. And as time continues to rain blows on his already haggard frame, the more precarious the fortunes of those harvesting the fruits of his presidency will be.

Thus, if I were in the deep state, I would worry more about the man’s ticking clock, and not an already emasculated opposition – for which we also have an already proven formula to deal with it. Because once the man finally loses himself to age (not necessarily through death, but say become a Joe Biden of sorts), there will be sheer pandemonium both inside the palace and the streets of Kampala.

Now this is an entirely different world. My point is this: I find it entirely useless for the deep state spending creative energies on Dr Kizza Besigye or Bobi Wine or other smaller folks.

It is wasteful to escalate these games, and exhaust yourselves when your man can only end himself. How I wish these energies were spent on cobbling a legit internal replacement. By Yusuf Sserunkuma, The Observer

The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling to organize a high-level conference to implement relevant resolutions and the peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue.

An overwhelming number of UN members in the General Assembly approved the resolution on Tuesday, despite the opposition from the United States and the Zionist regime.

157 countries voted in favor, seven countries abstained and eight others, including the US, Hungary, and Argentina, as well as the Israeli regime, opposed the motions.

By approving the resolution on the peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue, the UN General Assembly called for achieving a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in West Asia without delay.

According to the resolution, a high-level international conference on the peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue will be held in New York in June 2025. It mentions that the aim is to promote irreversible steps to end the conflict between Israel and Palestine and the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

The General Assembly also overwhelmingly approved a Palestine-drafted resolution on September 16, calling on Israel to end its illegal occupation within 12 months. That was adopted with 124 votes in favor, 43 abstentions, and 14 against, including Israel and the United States.

The last resolution also welcomed an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July that declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements illegal and that the regime must withdraw from there. SD/IRN

A wreckage of a lorry involved in an accident along the Nyahururu-Nakuru Highway in Nakuru County 

At least five people reportedly died while several others are nursing critical injuries following an accident along the Nyahururu-Nakuru Highway in the Subukia area of Nakuru County.

The accident which took place on Tuesday, December 3, at around 7 pm occurred after a trailer ferrying logs of wood lost control and hit two pedestrians who were walking by the roadside. It then hit others who were standing along the road. 

Consequently, the trailer rolled over before landing in a ditch. Following the accident, first responders quickly arrived at the scene and rushed the injured to the hospital.

In the videos and images that have since circulated widely on the internet, the trailer was completely damaged on its front side with the images depicting a broken windscreen.

Additionally, residents were captured attempting to pick up the scattered logs of wood. However, they were quickly stopped by police officers who arrived at the scene moments later.

The officers cordoned off the area to pave the way for investigations before the trailer was also towed away from the highway to ease traffic congestion. 

While commenting on the road crash, the area residents expressed concerns over a surge in road carnages along the section of the highway even as they called on the national government to intervene.

Moments after the accident, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo cautioned drivers against reckless driving and using overloaded vehicles along major highways during the festive season.

In a press statement dated December 4, PS Omollo directed all traffic police officers and officials from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to take action on all unlicensed Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) and other forms of indiscipline on our roads. 

"I hereby direct the National Police Service in conjunction with the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) to enforce compliance with traffic rules by all private motorists and commercial passenger vehicles," read the notice. 

Records indicate that this year has seen more fatalities and serious injuries among motorcyclists, pillion passengers, and pedestrians. Between January and November, 4,047 people died from road accidents, compared to 3,726 during the same period last year. 

There have been a total of 20,369 accidents, compared to 19,262 in 2023. Among these accidents, there were 10,124 serious injuries, up from 9,059 last year. By Timothy Cerullo, Kenyans.co.ke

After years of ignoring pleas to sign up to child protection schemes, the controversial messaging app Telegram has agreed to work with an internationally recognised body to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is used by major online services to help them detect and remove CSAM, and prevent its spread.

Telegram had repeatedly refused to engage with it or any similar scheme.

But, four months after its founder Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris for Telegram’s alleged failure to moderate extreme content, the platform has announced a U-turn.

 

The IWF has described Telegram’s decision as “transformational” but warned it was the first step in a “much longer journey” for the app.

“By joining the IWF, Telegram can begin deploying our world-leading tools to help make sure this material cannot be shared on the service,” said Derek Ray-Hill, Interim CEO at the IWF.

‘Dark web in your pocket’

Telegram is used by around 950 million people worldwide and has previously positioned itself as an app focussed on its users’ privacy rather than the policy norms prioritised by other global social media companies.

But reporting from the BBC and other news organisations highlighted criminals using the app to advertise drugs as well as offer cybercrime and fraud services and, most recently, CSAM.

It led one expert to brand it “the dark web in your pocket.”

In August, its billionaire owner was detained at an airport north of Paris.

Mr Durov is accused of a failure to co-operate with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud.

French judges have barred the 40-year-old from leaving France pending further investigations.

The company maintains that his arrest is unfair, and that he should not be held liable for what users do on the platform.

Nonetheless, Telegram has since announced a series of changes to the way it operates, including:

  • Announcing IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate its rules will be handed over to police in response to valid legal requests
  • Disabling features like “people nearby” which it admitted had issues with bots and scammers
  • Publishing regular transparency reports about how much content is taken down – a standard industry practice it had previously refused to comply with

Mr Durov has also vowed to “turn moderation on Telegram from an area of criticism into one of praise”.

The partnership with the IWF appears to be the latest step in that process.

The IWF is one of a few organisations in the world that is legally able to search for child sexual content to get it taken down.

Its ever-evolving list of known abuse content is used by websites to detect and block matches to stop it spreading.

Telegram says that before becoming a member of IWF it removed hundreds of thousands of pieces of abuse material each month using its own systems. The IWF membership will strengthen its mechanisms, the company said.

The app is marketed as a fully end-to-end encrypted messaging service – meaning only the sender and recipient of a message can read it – like WhatsApp and Signal.

But in fact the majority of communication is done with standard encryption, raising questions about how secure from hacking and interception it is.

Mr Durov, who was born in Russia and now lives in Dubai, has citizenship in Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean island nation of St Kitts and Nevis.

Telegram is particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and former Soviet Union states as well as Iran. KBC

Kizza Besigye in court

Tension and drama flared up at the General Court Martial in Makindye today as supporters of Col Dr Kizza Besigye attempted to 'free' him from detention. 

Besigye and Abeid Lutaale are facing charges of unlawful possession of firearms after they were kidnapped from Nairobi, Kenya and brought back to Uganda by Ugandan army operatives. However, their appearance before the army court was delayed by over four hours largely due to the defense team's inability to access the court premises. 

Lawyers comprising Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, Kenyan lawyer Martha Karua as lead counsel, Samuel Muyizi Mulindwa, Eron Kiiza, and Nalukoola Luyimbazi were denied access to court premises by soldiers.   

Lukwago had submitted a list of 35 lawyers contracted to defend Besigye and Lutaale, but some lawyers already inside were reportedly unaccounted for. The legal team also clashed with the soldiers over being barred from bringing their phones into court, which they argued were essential for accessing legal documents online.  

The standoff further escalated when soldiers returned from consultations with inconsistent rulings on phone usage in court. Tired of waiting and frustrated by the lack of progress, the lawyers retreated to a tree nearby, vowing to wait there until called.  

At this point, some supporters attempted to free Besigye during his transfer, leading to a scuffle with the army and the subsequent closure of the court gates. The session, initially scheduled as a mention, marked another chapter in Besigye's legal battles. 

Besigye, previously arraigned before the Court Martial in 2006 on charges of treason and rape—later dismissed—has consistently decried his trials as acts of political persecution. Since his presidential bid, he has faced numerous charges across various courts without any convictions.

Inside the courtroom, the session, chaired by Brig Robert Freeman Mugabe, addressed other cases while Besigye’s case was delayed due to the absence of his lead lawyers. Besigye, clad in a pink shirt and navy blue sweater, and Lutaale were briefly presented before being returned to their cells.  

Besigye's supporters expressed anger over the protracted process and called for Besigye's trial in civilian courts, dismissing the military court as a "kangaroo court."  

Karua was eventually granted entry, but Besigye’s supporters prevented her from proceeding, arguing that she, as a "bishop" should enter last. Complications arose when her assistant, who travelled with her from Kenya, was also denied entry, leading to further protests from the lawyers and supporters. By URN / The Observer

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