Commercial banks started circulating the redesigned new currency notes that were recently issued by Bank of Uganda.

Bank of Uganda Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile (Pictured left) refuted allegations that the new currency notes would increase the amount of money in circulation and result into inflation.

The central bank was not also planning to officially recall the old notes and instead, the two sets of currency were to be used simultaneously until commercial banks suck the old ones through ordinary financial transactions.

Ugandan wins bounty to research mosquito-eating plant

Professor Jasper Okeng of the Pharmacology department of Makerere University and his team won a grant of sh 200m ($100,000) one of the latest 78 grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support innovation in global health in 18 countries.

PROF. Okeng said that certain carnivorous plants that grow in swamps and on the dry land in Uganda have bladders which can swell, surround, eat and digest both the adult insect and the larvae.

Kiggundu closes door on by-elections

The Electoral Commission Chairman, Hajj Badru Kiggundu, has said that the commission was not to conduct any more by-elections to fill vacant posts in districts and municipalities.

Kiggundu attributed the blackout to the ongoing national update of voters' register.
Vacant LCV posts in Mayuge, Masindi, Kabale and the mayoral seat in Masaka municipality are to await for the 2011 general elections .

Kiggundu was reacting to calls from Mayuge district councilors to have Bakali Tigawalana's vacant post of district chairman filled after he was sentenced to death for murder.

Mbale, Rukungiri and Kabaale ravaged by landslides

Landslides ravaged Mbale district in eastern Uganda and Kanungu in the west, causing loss of house hold property, lives and farm produce.

Makyese village residents in Mbale district said that heavy down pour in the area set off big stones and soil that rolled down hill, destroying about 30 homes.

Motor traffic stalled in Rukungiri, several acres of banana, cassava, beans, potatoes, coffee and maize crops were destroyed.

A university student along with other people was killed by land slides which struck Kabale district and displaced 500 families.

Musumba loses by-election petition

Salaam Musumba, the Forum for Democratic Change Vice President, lost the Kamuli LCV by-election petition in a Jinja court.

Musumba sued Stephen Mubiru jointly with the Electoral Commission seeking the nullification of Mubiru's election as Kamuli District chairman in 2007.

Justice Zehurikize ruled that the evidence Musumba adduced in the case did not prove that any of the acts she claimed affected the outcome of the elections significantly. The Judge dismissed the case with costs.

Education tops list of 2010/11 budget winners.

2010/11 budget forecasts indicated that the Education sector was to get Shs 1.16 up from Shs 1.07 trillion.

Other sectors expected to make gains were Security, Public Administration, Agriculture, Water, ICT, Lands and Justice Law and Order Sector.

The Works ministry's budget is expected to reduce from the current Shs 1.2 billion to Shs 919.5 billion.

Other sectors that had their budgets cut included Health, Energy, Oversight, Legislature and Tourism.

600,000 get free secondary education

Universal Secondary Education enrollment was expected to increase by 73 per cent with 600,000 new students recruited into the programe.

In 2007 161,396 students enrolled for the programe in senior one and of these, only 117,511 reached Senior Four, which implies that 43,885 dropped out.

Education Ministry officials said that students may have dropped out mainly due to teenage pregnancies, hidden costs and poverty, while some just lost interest and quit. blog comments powered by Disqus

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