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[Monitor] Finance minister Matia Kasaija was last night on the defensive following accusations that he irregularly dangled a top government job to secure the exit of his opponent in a parliamentary contest.
\t On Friday, internet and international calls were cut off across the West African nation in anticipation of the election results, according to locals and international observers in the capital, Conakry.
\t This was the third time that Conde matched-up against Diallo. Before the election, observers raised concerns that an electoral dispute could reignite ethnic tensions between Guinea's largest ethnic groups.
[Nation] Hundreds of people appointed as chairpersons and members of boards of State corporations between March and July 2016 were in office illegally, the High Court said on Friday.
\"This mask must be worn all the time when you are in public.
Since many people raised the issue that they cannot afford these masks, the gov't has decided to provide these masks to all Ugandans 6 years and above,\" Mr Museveni said in a televised address to update Ugandans on government efforts against the spread of the virus which has left 227 people in the country infected.
Public transport will resume around June 2, 2020 after all Ugandans get face masks.
\"For the bars and salons, since they cannot observe the rules of social distancing, they will not be allowed to open for another 21 days, this includes, gyms and swimming pools,\" Mr Museveni said.
This will require you to wear a proper mask,\" Mr Museveni said.
The Electoral Commission (EC) yesterday announced the 2021 revised electoral roadmap and told all those interested in elective offices in the next election to use the media for campaigns.
Mr Henry Muguzi, the national coordinator for Alliance for Campaign Financing Monitoring (ACFIM), a loose coalition of civil society activists advocating for transparency in financing political parties and election campaigns, said the decision to do virtual campaigns may double the cost of campaigns.
Media houses will also aim to make a killing out of the campaigns with high costs of talk-shows,\" Mr Muguzi said.
Also to suffer the blunt of high costs to get media space will be the new comers, women and youth who may not have the financial muscle to manage such expensive campaigns.
Mr Muguzi also warned that Opposition politicians are likely not to have equal access to the radios and TVs because most media houses are either owned by the NRM party members or its sympathisers.
Eight new cases of Covid-19 have been registered by the Ministry of Health pushing Uganda's tally to 665.
Additionally, 31 foreign truck drivers (16 Kenyans, 8 Tanzanias, 5 Eritreans, 1 Burundian and 1 South Sudanese) were handed over to their respective countries of origin after testing positive for the virus.
In his Heroes' Day speech on Tuesday, President Museveni warned of tough times ahead if Ugandans are not keen on adhering to the given guidelines to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
He said having done his best in guiding the country, Ugandans should not blame him in case of any deaths.
Mr Museveni's remarks come in the wake of a rise in the virus spread, which has now reached community level.
Judy Rugasira, the managing director of estate agency Knight Frank, says closing retail businesses that depend on the day-to-day cash flows for 60-days was damaging.
But as the country started to close down, sales in the retail sector slumped by 68 per cent, Rugasira said.
For the real estate sector, coronavirus came at a time when it was already struggling to attract demand and more properties were flooding the market.
A lot of space was being given up by government ministries as they built their own buildings, there was reduced Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the sector and more expatriates were leaving the country.
Rugasira says coronavirus will have a long term impact on the real estate sector, indicating that the non-performing loans that might come out of this might see interest rates up and reduce the ability of developers to borrow.
President Museveni has rejected a proposal to split oversight over the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), saying it should be placed wholly under the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
However, in a separate letter that Daily Monitor has seen and addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, President Museveni indicates that the full control of NSSF must be transferred to the Finance ministry.
Ms Margaret Rwabushaija, the Workers MP, said NSSF is a fund for workers and cannot be managed by the Ministry of Finance.
Mr Kenneth Lubogo, the Bulamogi County MP in Kaliro District, said the Ministry of Gender should not be completely locked out of NSSF because NSSF funds are private funds contributed by workers and not appropriated by Parliament.
Meanwhile, Mr Patrick Isiagi, the vice chairperson of the Finance Committee, said he okayed the proposal of President Museveni having the Ministry of Finance control the fund since it has more knowledge as far as financial modeling is concerned.
Willis Otto Olanya employs people at Owel Architecture Limited and warns employers about the potential for liability should employees fall sick at the workplace.
For property owners, challenges of social distancing may be hard to enforce in tenant premises but can only be limited to public areas so reminder notices of the four meters could emerge.
Psychologist Paul Nyende suggests companies will rope off parts of offices to enforce social distancing.
Even with the easing of the lockdown, there is still a general feeling that the pandemic will shift the modern workplace from demand for office spaces to remote working.
Before Corona, there were some companies that were already experimenting with working from home and deliberately had less space in their offices so that only a few people can come and plug into their work place,\" Olanya says.
Violence rocked Guinea's capital Conakry on Friday as supporters of opposition leader Cellou Diallo clashed with security forces who tried to disperse them.
They threw stones and blocked roads. Police responded with teargas and bullets. The clashes erupted as soon as provisional results released by the electoral commission showed president Alpha Conde winning with a big margin.
Conde, 82, won twice as many votes as his nearest rival, opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo, with 37 of 38 districts counted, according to preliminary results from the commission.
Opposition supporters accuse the electoral authorities of rigging the vote for incumbent president Alpha Conde.
Sekou Koundouno, head of mobilisation for the opposition coalition FNDC said Conde had committed 'high treason'.
\"He is an illegal and illegitimate candidate who is stubbornly pursuing his obsession to turn Guin ea into a monarchy in which, by the way, he will dictate orders to his subjects,\" said Kounduno.
Diallo maintains that he won with a landslide despite irregularities, according to his own tally. He remains barricaded in his home which security forces have besieged since Monday.
ICC warning
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor warned on Friday that warring factions in Guinea could be prosecuted after fighting erupted.
“I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages and contributes in any other way to crimes … is liable to prosecution either by the Guinean courts or the ICC,” she said.
#ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda: "I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages or contributes, in any other way, to the commission of #RomeStatute crimes, is liable to prosecution either by #Guinean courts or by the #ICC."
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) October 23, 2020
Many people have been killed since clashes began on Monday. Scores too had been killed in the run up to the vote as protestors marched against Conde's bid for a third term.
[Monitor] Uganda will next month start tests for Covid-19 vaccine as the country steps up its efforts in search of medication for the virus that has so far killed 201 citizens and infected 20,145, President Museveni has said.
