Jos Ajabo

Retired journalist with keen interest on environmental protection, disarmament, peace and democracy. Love travelling, photography, skiing

[Uganda Law Society @ug_lawsociety]

WHERE IS SHE?
@Tom_Magambo @PoliceUg @igp_ug1 @mkainerugaba

#LawyersStrike26June #ResistLawlessness
#FreeMiriaMatembe #FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners
#HandsOffMyNTV #HandsOffMyDailyMonitor

[Dr. Bireete Sarah @SarahBireete]

Will President Museveni at one point address the country about the collapse of the rule of law in Uganda? @drsam_mayaja @KagutaMuseveni @StateHouseUg #WhereIsM7 #FreeLukwago

[Lina Zedriga Waru @linazed2]

In solidarity with Senior Counsel Erias Lukwago Ssalongo at Makindye Court today. His beloved wife so strong , the teams very solid. Matt 10: 26-33; courage ! May justice prevail over fear … his freedom and all prisoners of conscience.

[Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3]

How a Staged Highway Crash Triggered the Fall of Uganda Tyrant Idi Amin
ON 19 April 1978, a staged car crash on the Jinja highway nearly claimed the life of Uganda’s Vice President, General Mustafa Adrisi. A station wagon rammed Adrisi’s Mercedes from the front, while his own military escort vehicle struck him from behind, sparking a fatal shootout between his bodyguards and the escort soldiers.
Adrisi survived with severe fractures and was flown to Cairo for treatment. Recognising that the army's Northern officer corps was fracturing along tribal lines, Idi Amin immediately launched an aggressive political counter-offensive.
Using state media, Amin issued a stern warning to the public and the armed forces, declaring that any discussion of an assassination plot or internal division would be treated as treason. He immediately stripped the hospitalised Adrisi of his defense and internal affairs portfolios, initiating a purge of Adrisi’s sympathisers within the government.
The warning backfired. Soldiers of the elite Simba Regiment in Mbarara, loyal to Adrisi, realised they were next on the purge list and mutinied. To distract from this internal military rebellion, Amin ordered the invasion of Tanzania's Kagera Salient later that year—a miscalculation that provoked the counter-invasion that toppled his regime in April 1979.
-Colourised photo of Mustafa Adrisi.

[Dr. Bireete Sarah @SarahBireete]

📌UGANDA TODAY #WhereIsM7
Like the animals’ revolution against Mr. Jones, Uganda’s post-liberation promise was grounded in freedom, equality, and popular sovereignty, yet power gradually became centralized in a small elite that rewrote rules to entrench itself, much as the pigs amended the Seven Commandments.

The use of propaganda (Squealer), militarized force (the dogs), selective memory of history, and the silencing of dissent mirrors how state power can be justified in the name of stability while eroding accountability and the rule of law.

Ordinary citizens, like the other animals, are encouraged to endure hardship patiently while being told that conditions would be worse without the ruling elite. Ultimately, Animal Farm warns that without strong institutions, civic vigilance, and genuine accountability, a revolution meant to free the people can reproduce the very oppression it claimed to overthrow, an enduring caution for Uganda’s political present @KagutaMuseveni

[Dr. Bireete Sarah @SarahBireete]

DRC fans bakoze batya? 😊😊

#FIFAWorldCup #WorldCup2026
#BakozeBatya

[Larry Madowo @LarryMadowo]

BREAKING: Trump administration claims the Somali referee was denied entry because he is a security threat to the US with links to suspected terrorists. He was questioned for 11 hours, including about Al Shabab

Omar Abdulkadir Artan just landed back in Somalia to a hero's welcome

[Jos Ajabo @popstress]

@cobbo3 He is a born again Jehovas witness 😁may be🧐

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

South Africa says it will dispatch envoys across Africa and to other parts of the world, following a wave of xenophobic attacks in the country.

Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa reports from the coal mining town of Emalahleni in Mpumalanga province.

[Dr. Bireete Sarah @SarahBireete]

Why can’t government re-allocate the money saved from public celebrations (24BN) to @MinofHealthUG for medical interns @henrymusasizi1 @CHRISBARYOMUNS1 @ObothOboth @Thomas_Tayebwa ? Medical interns do so much work in hospitals and it’s only fair that they should be paid for their labour @TheUMAofficial

[Charles Onyango-Obbo @cobbo3]

NO 'EXCESSIVE DANCING' IN KENYA. HOW GLOBAL COLONIAL & SLAVER POWERS BANNED 'NATIVE' DANCING, BOOZE, DRUMS, AND PARTYING
Colonial rulers and slave owners often saw music, dance and simple pleasures as dangerous sparks of rebellion. In Kenya local chiefs wielded powers under the Chiefs’ Authority Act, a law rooted in the 1920s and kept after independence. They could ban “excessive dancing” if it seemed too lively, went on too long, or risked stirring up a crowd.
The same rules let them crack down on village brews that brought people together. These controls only ended with democratic reforms in 1997 - 24 years after independence!
In South Carolina the Negro Act of 1740 came straight after the Stono Rebellion. It outlawed drums, horns and any loud instruments among enslaved Africans, along with unsanctioned gatherings. Planters and magistrates enforced it ruthlessly, convinced the beats could help people plan revolts or hold on to their culture.
British officials in India took aim at living traditions too. Devadasis (girls dedicated as children to temple service and trained in sacred song and dance as offerings to the gods), saw their art condemned. In 1910 the Madras Presidency banned dancing inside Hindu temples, calling the graceful performances immoral.
Nautch dancers, professional women who performed intricate storytelling routines with music at private gatherings and courts, faced fierce campaigns by missionaries and reformers that ruined many livelihoods.
Everyday drinks suffered as well. Toddy, the fresh mildly fermented sap tapped from coconut or palm trees, was a traditional village refreshment. Heavy colonial taxes and licensing crushed small tappers while favouring imported liquor.
Under French rule the Code de l’Indigénat, introduced in 1881 and used across Algeria, West Africa and Indochina, gave local administrators power to punish “insolence” or unsanctioned gatherings. They often used it to shut down traditional dances, drumming sessions and celebrations judged too noisy or defiant.
Portuguese authorities in places like Cape Verde suppressed batuku, a vigorous women’s group dance full of clapping, drumming and swaying rhythms. They labelled it primitive and indecent, fearing it encouraged resistance to colonial order.
In the United States the 1883 Code of Indian Offenses, banned indigenous peoples' ceremonies such as the Sun Dance and Ghost Dance together with their songs and feasts. Agents withheld rations or locked people up, seeing these events as obstacles to Christian conversion.
Across these places the goal was the same: to weaken cultural ties, kill collective joy and impose outsiders’ rules on how people should move, sing and celebrate. A drumbeat, a dance or a shared drink carried memory and solidarity, exactly what rulers dreaded. Most of these restrictions only faded in the 20th century under pressure from independence and civil rights movements.
📸This licence is a parody.

[Nicholas Opiyo (Pronouns He/Him) @nickopiyo]

I am here in West Hollywood flipping every news channel to see this Ebola coverage. It seems whenever the subject is broached, Uganda and the DRC are mentioned in the same sentence as affected countries.

All this despite the best efforts of the Uganda comms team. It seems the rest of the world was left with two choices of whom to believe - a world-renowned and expert organization in @WHO or a political outfit out of Museveni’s State House ( a political hack with no expertise to fall back on) in the @UgandaMediaCent.

The choice is a no-brainer, at least for the rest of the world. In choosing a bellicose path towards the @WHO, we may have shot ourselves in the foot and denied the country important expertise perspectives.

Sometimes petty grievances are better left for village brawls. The town square, the global village, is a much more sophisticated and multilayered space, demanding of folks of equal sophistication.

First, we do not have Ebola, now we need 90 million USD or something of the sort! Isn't confounding it?

Strategic comms over petty squabbles any day is the best approach to serving our collective good, not some career-enhancing, favor-carrying posture.

[The Kampala Journal @KampalaJournal]

Dr. Lawrence Muganga, a Rwanda National Intelligence and Security Services operative in External Intelligence, and a Rwandan who has held a Rwandan IDs, has just been appointed as Uganda’s Minister of State for Internal Affairs.

[Anita Annet Among @AnitahAmong]

I join my colleagues in congratulating Rt Hon @ObothOboth and Rt Hon @Thomas_Tayebwa on their election as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 12th Parliament. I have no doubt that your leadership will bolster the legislative agenda and promote outcomes that serve our nation's best interests. I sincerely wish you success in your service to our country.

[Nicholas Opiyo (Pronouns He/Him) @nickopiyo]

The news scripting on @ntvuganda has been top-notch. The new crop of reporters have such depth, diction & perspectives in their reporting that is shoulders above many of their competitors. @SueNsibirwa & @Mizzflav have quietly gone about this job of birthing a new crop of excellent reporters. Kudos

https://t.co/DuU3djOcMJ

[Nicholas Opiyo (Pronouns He/Him) @nickopiyo]

Now that the recent events in Uganda, including the police search of the speaker’s homes, have established, on the preponderance of evidence, that the anti-corruption protestors may have been right after all, we must discontinue all charges against these protestors, unconditionally release those in jail, and wipe the criminal records of those already convicted.

We will address the issue of acquiescent judicial officers in this matter at a later date. They will get their comeuppance, for sure. But if we are indeed serious, these young people should be applauded, not condemned, as they have been, as agents of foreigners, etc.

cc @ODPPUGANDA.

Courtesy web photo

[Dr. Bireete Sarah @SarahBireete]

Uganda’s Speaker Drama: Why It Matters Beyond Parliament

What should have been a routine changeover between parliaments has instead turned into one of the most telling political moments in recent Ugandan history. The contest surrounding outgoing Speaker Anita Annet Among is not simply about who holds the gavel. It has exposed long-standing tensions over power, accountability and who truly controls key institutions in Uganda.

Among rose to the speakership under dramatic circumstances and went on to preside over the 11th Parliament during a period of heated political debate and controversial legislation. To her supporters, she was firm, organised and politically astute. To her critics, she came to symbolise excess, insensitivity and a growing disconnect between leaders and the public. As Parliament transitions to a new term, those divisions have come sharply into focus.

Questions of Wealth and Public Trust

At the centre of the controversy are allegations that have sparked renewed public debate about corruption and leadership ethics. Petitions and reports have questioned the source of Among’s visible wealth, citing luxury vehicles, high-value assets and generous cash handouts at public events. State institutions are now reportedly examining whether there were breaches of Uganda’s Leadership Code Act.

For many citizens, the details of any investigation matter less than the signal it sends. In a country where corruption allegations often fade without consequence, the mere fact that scrutiny is occurring has political significance. It reflects growing public frustration with leaders who appear insulated from the economic hardships facing ordinary Ugandans.

Power Behind the Scenes

The article also highlights how political power in Uganda often operates beyond formal rules. While Parliament is constitutionally mandated to elect its Speaker independently, reality suggests that executive influence remains decisive.

Public support for Jacob Marksons Oboth-Oboth by Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the powerful army chief and son of President Yoweri Museveni, has reshaped the political landscape. Reports of closed-door meetings at State House have further reinforced the perception that Among’s political fate may have been sealed outside Parliament.

This reinforces a familiar reality for Ugandan readers: key leadership decisions are often influenced by loyalty and alignment with power centres, not just merit or parliamentary procedure.

A Divided Verdict on Leadership

Inside Parliament and across social media, opinions about Among remain deeply divided. Supporters argue she strengthened Parliament and defended its authority. Critics accuse her of extravagance and failing to reflect the struggles of ordinary citizens.

These competing narratives point to a broader national dilemma; how leaders can maintain the dignity of high office while remaining accountable to a public facing rising costs of living and political fatigue.

More Than a Chair in Parliament

Ultimately, the fight over the Speaker’s chair is about more than one individual. It reflects how power is exercised in Uganda, how accountability is pursued, and whether Parliament can act independently of the executive.

As the 12th Parliament prepares to choose its leadership, Ugandans are watching closely. Not just to see who wins, but to understand what kind of political culture that choice represents; and whether it brings the country closer to accountable governance, or simply confirms how things have always been done.

[Yusuf Serunkuma🌹 @YusufSerunkuma]

Just to be clear: AAA is not falling because of her corruption. Otherwise, all thieves would be falling – they are soo many and there is just so much evidence if CID had motivation to. AAA is falling because (a) she angered someone deep in the deep state & (b) a major transition is happening. She might not useful to the new sheriffs in town.

Corruption or lacking refinement has never been reason for anyone’s downfall under brother Museveni.