"We are stronger than ever, and our support base in Acholi remains solid." These comments come following recent defections of key FDC leaders from Acholi, such as Anthony Akol, the Kilak North Member of Parliament, and Michael Lakony, the Amuru District Chairperson, to the NRM party.
Uganda Radio Network also established that the Defence team’s visit was meant to assess the views of the affected communities in Uganda on the value and desirability of absentia proceedings against Kony.
The move comes against the backdrop of recent backlash from African lawyers who criticized the ICC registry of bias in selecting lawyers to represent Joseph Kony.
Speaking at the opening of the three-day local government regional budget consultative meeting in Gulu City on Monday, Auma says the government must prioritize the promotion of high-value crops like coffee and Hass avocado citing the land favours their growth.
The protestors carried placards with messages such as "Uganda is not poor, they are stealing its wealth," and one with a more vulgar message, "Corruption has ...me. I am here to moan," alongside another that read, "Say no to Corruption, for the Children."
Benson Wokorach, the Regional Manager for the Northern Uganda Agriculture and Trade Show, says this year’s event targets to promote and market the agricultural potential of Northern Uganda.
During the regional ULGA meeting on Friday in Nabilatuk district, local leaders in the Karamoja sub-region demanded recognition as an independent region to unify their communities and promote development.
One by one teachers who attended the event called on the government to empower French learning and encouraged school heads to embrace the language, claiming that it has an important role in opening employment opportunities for students.
According to Onen, while the Lamogi cultural institution had believed it was for investment, they later realized the investor was targeting Guru Guru Hill where he had begun excavating rocks for personal gains.
Taddeo Mivulo, the Kwania District Senior Agricultural Engineer, provided insights into the functionality of the irrigation system, noting that five farmers have already fully paid for and are being connected to the system. He emphasized the importance of proper maintenance to prevent damage to the systems.
Maria Kamara Mabinti, the ICC Outreach Coordinator for East Africa says they have noted concerns that some organizations are now registering the war victims in the case locations to benefit from the reparation program.
Sidronius Okasai Opolot, the Minister of State for Energy told URN in an interview that his Ministry is currently in talks with the Ministry of Trade Industry and Cooperatives to initiate a total ban on the buying and selling of metal scrap as one of the ways of ending the rampant vandalism of electricity infrastructure by the suspected scrap dealers.
Ongwen said that the physical and psychological torture he underwent while in the bush including being forced to drink human blood and eat human flesh, left him with permanent trauma.
The grounds raised to challenge the Trial judgment include the Chamber’s conducting proceedings based on a Confirmation of Charges Decision which was legally defensive, violation of Ongwen’s right to notice by expanding the material, temporal and geographic scope of the charges beyond the parameters of the charged crimes and relying on evidence of acts not charged, thus "causing prejudice and making the trial unfair".
Ongwen’s defense team led by Crispus Ayena Odongo filed its appeal briefs against the conviction and sentencing of Ongwen on October 21 and 26 last year.
Martin Okwir, the ICC Outreach Coordinator says many organizations sent their requests but court only selected 25 of which 19 are Ugandan based while 6 are foreign.
However, some of the projects which received funding have stalled, raising concerns from district leaders. Some of the projects include the construction of a community access road of 58 million Shillings from Rwot Obilo Health Centre III to Atiaba village and the Institutional greening at Zion Nursery and Primary School worth 22.1 million.
Martin Okwir, the ICC Outreach Coordinator told URN in an interview that the chambers invited experts, victim’s organizations and Civil Society Organization among others with deeper knowledge on the victims’ situations to write and request the court to permit them to offer advice and opinions on how best the reparations should be conducted.
