Corridors of power
Jun 14, 2010
<b>MP unmasked<br></b>ALLl is not well with Baamunanika MP Ali Ndawula. The MP had successfully fended off the incessant questions from voters about what he had done for them in the last six years he has been in Parliament.
MP unmasked
ALLl is not well with Baamunanika MP Ali Ndawula. The MP had successfully fended off the incessant questions from voters about what he had done for them in the last six years he has been in Parliament. The answer was always that he had built the Gayaza-Zirobwe Road. However, his luck ran out when President Museveni visited his constituency on Heroes Day. The President said his Government had worked on the Gayaza –Zirobwe road and urged residents to use it carry their produce for sale in Kampala. Those who had bought Ndawula’s explanation started murmuring he shifted uneasily in his seat.
Power of soccer
Despite the magnitude of the first International Criminal Court review that ended on Friday in Kampala, the opening of the first World Cup tournament on African soil proved a mightier event. Delegates attending the conference abandoned the meeting and scampered off to watch the opening match between South Africa and Brazil, forcing the conference chairman, Christian Wenaweser to adjourn prematurely.
‘Suspect’ at ICC
Many people, including delegates to the ICC conference, were stunned when they were told there was a criminal being tried by the court in a special sitting in a tent beside the lake at Munyonyo. Delegates rushed to scene, expecting to see Charles Taylor or Joseph Kony in the dock. Complete with three ICC judges, prosecutors and defendants, in the dock was a “war general†from an imaginary country, accused of having committed “genocide†and was being tried. The delegates were only told later that it was a mock trial to show how the court works. The journalists who had started taking notes walked away upset.
Friendly Ki-Moon
The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, is a down to earth man. During the ICC review conference, Ki-Moon insisted on greeting everybody with a handshake despite the impatience of his bodyguards. At one point after a meeting, he shook every journalist’s hand as he asked for their names and organisation. He also took photographs with them. One mesmerised journalist joked that he had resolved not to wash his hands or bathe that day so as “to bask in the company of Ki-Moon for at least two days.â€
ALLl is not well with Baamunanika MP Ali Ndawula. The MP had successfully fended off the incessant questions from voters about what he had done for them in the last six years he has been in Parliament. The answer was always that he had built the Gayaza-Zirobwe Road. However, his luck ran out when President Museveni visited his constituency on Heroes Day. The President said his Government had worked on the Gayaza –Zirobwe road and urged residents to use it carry their produce for sale in Kampala. Those who had bought Ndawula’s explanation started murmuring he shifted uneasily in his seat.
Power of soccer
Despite the magnitude of the first International Criminal Court review that ended on Friday in Kampala, the opening of the first World Cup tournament on African soil proved a mightier event. Delegates attending the conference abandoned the meeting and scampered off to watch the opening match between South Africa and Brazil, forcing the conference chairman, Christian Wenaweser to adjourn prematurely.
‘Suspect’ at ICC
Many people, including delegates to the ICC conference, were stunned when they were told there was a criminal being tried by the court in a special sitting in a tent beside the lake at Munyonyo. Delegates rushed to scene, expecting to see Charles Taylor or Joseph Kony in the dock. Complete with three ICC judges, prosecutors and defendants, in the dock was a “war general†from an imaginary country, accused of having committed “genocide†and was being tried. The delegates were only told later that it was a mock trial to show how the court works. The journalists who had started taking notes walked away upset.
Friendly Ki-Moon
The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, is a down to earth man. During the ICC review conference, Ki-Moon insisted on greeting everybody with a handshake despite the impatience of his bodyguards. At one point after a meeting, he shook every journalist’s hand as he asked for their names and organisation. He also took photographs with them. One mesmerised journalist joked that he had resolved not to wash his hands or bathe that day so as “to bask in the company of Ki-Moon for at least two days.â€