What Buhari's visit means for Kenya and Nigeria

Buhari leaving Abuja and arriving in Eldoret, Kenya. 

Received warmly by Uhuru Kenyatta

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has today arrived in Kenya for a 3-day State visit and was received with pomp and colour by his host President Uhuru Kenyatta. 

The 21 Gun-salute and parade

After receiving full state honours including a 21 gun salute from Kenya Defence Forces KDF officers,  Buhari joined Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at Moi Barracks. This, for an interdenominational memorial service in honour of KDF soldiers killed in El Adde, Somalia following an Al-Shabaab ambush.

Speaking at the memorial service, Buhari said that peace-loving nations of the world must now come together and deal with the threat posed to global security by terrorism with greater zeal and cohesion.

"Terrorists should not have a place in our communities, villages, towns, cities and countries. We must all rise against the culture of intolerance, hatred and extremist ideologies, which drive terrorism. 

"We must also act with more firmness against radicalization and all those who promote values and principles that threaten our unity and cohesion as a people."

Nigeria and Somalia presidents join Uhuru

Kenyatta in memorial to fallen soldiers

"Nigeria is willing to work with Kenya, other African countries and the global community at large with a view to defeating these undesirable elements. 

"We must take the battle to the terrorists whoever they are and wherever they are. This requires commitment, sacrifice, resources, collaboration and above all a realization that no country is immune to the scourge, as terrorists do not respect national boundaries, race, colour, religion or creed," President Buhari said.

On Thursday, Kenyatta and Buhari will hold private talks, before a bilateral meeting at State House, Nairobi, according to details of the trip released by Kenya Statehouse spokesperson Manoah Esipisu.

Areas of cooperation that President Buhari’s visit to 

Kenya is expected to bolster. 

Kenya – Nigeria relations

Kenya and Nigeria enjoy warm and cordial relations. The two countries concluded an Agreement for the establishment of a Joint Commission for Cooperation in July last year.

The Agreement established an enabling framework for enhancing bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest including, Trade, Tourism, Education, Energy, Agriculture and Technical cooperation.

Kenya and Nigeria have exchanged high level visits: Kenya welcomed former President Goodluck Jonathan to Kenya in September, 2013 and Nigeria reciprocated by hosting President Kenyatta in May, 2014. During these visits, a number of Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding on cooperation in a number of fields including Agriculture, Tourism, Oil and Gas, Immigration and Trade, were signed.

Notable among the agreements was the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on oil and gas matters between the two countries in 2014.

This MOU provided a platform for Kenya to learn from the Nigerian expertise and build capacity in oil exploration. With the discovery of viable oil deposits in the country, Kenya has been working on developing her commercial oil production and such co-operation will go a long way towards achieving that target.

Trade Relations

An active Joint Business Forum has expanded room for further engagement between various sectors, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) launching the Kenya-Nigeria Agro-business Forum which was signed in Nairobi in September, 2014 and an MOU which was signed between the Benue State Chamber and Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Busia Branch in January, 2015.

Warm trade relations between Kenya and Nigeria have enabled a number of Nigerian companies to set base in the country. GZ Industries, which has invested in a can-manufacturing facility in Kenya, and the Dangote Group, which is in the process of setting up a cement factory in Kitui, are two examples of major Nigerian companies that have ventured in the country.

Others include Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank of Africa and Eco-Bank.

The growth of business between Kenya and Nigeria has enable Kenya Airways to operate six flights per week to Lagos and three flights a week to Abuja.

OTHER PHOTOS of the DAY

I have only one wife!

All those relishing news from Eritrea should just remember what happened to a president next door. Unlike President Kibaki who denied allegations of polygamy, Eritrean President will probably hold a press conference to say: "I have more than one wife."

TODAY IN HISTORY: Victorious NRA rebels go east, capture Jinja January 27, 1986

This is how Los Angeles Times newspaper reported the capture of Jinja on January 27, 1986.

The World : Uganda Rebels Seize City

Victorious Ugandan rebel forces consolidated their hold on the East African country, taking control of the eastern city of Jinja, the nation's second largest. Their leader, Yoweri Museveni, said he plans to form a nonaligned government committed to protecting human rights. He also said tribalism will not be a consideration under the new regime. However, an anonymous eyewitness in Kampala, the capital, said he saw five summary street executions by victorious guerrillas hours after the city fell last weekend. And diplomats warned that tribalism may get even worse, noting that the defeated soldiers "are running, fleeing and breaking down along tribal lines."

****

How Orlando Sentinel reported events around January 27

"Rebels Take Over Control Of Uganda, Troops Drive Toward Kenya In Pursuit Of Army Remnants" | January 29, 1986|By United Press International

KAMPALA, UGANDA — National Resistance Army rebels consolidating their control of Uganda swept east across the country Tuesday in pursuit of fleeing government forces. Thousands of refugees fled into neighboring Kenya to escape the conflict.

Mechanized units of the NRA charged out of Jinja, Uganda's second-largest city 45 miles east of the capital of Kampala, and advanced to the village of Tororo, 10 miles from the Kenyan border.

Diplomats said soldiers were putting up token resistance on the highway between Jinja and the border, but rebels officials said the road was expected to be cleared of soldiers by the end of the week.

The whereabouts of the deposed Ugandan leader, Gen. Tito Okello, and army commander Basilio Okello, who is not related to the former head of state, were still not known. Gen. Tito Okello was reportedly in Kenya on Saturday.

The National Resistance Army Tuesday controlled about two-thirds of the country. The NRA proclaimed itself the government of the East African nation on Sunday after capturing the capital in a bitter two-day siege.

The rebels captured Jinja on Monday. The city of 55,000 people houses key railroad intersections and the Owen Falls dam, the main source of power for Kampala and western Uganda.

About 7,000 soldiers -- about half the nation's army -- were captured in the fighting, rebel leaders said. An NRA official said some were permitted to join the rebels but said others would undergo ''political re-education''.

''They will be put to work,'' an NRA official said. ''There are roads to be dug and houses to be built. These troops have destroyed large areas of Uganda and will now rebuild them.''

Kenyan border officials said about 8,000 Ugandans have crossed the border to escape the retreating government forces, who reportedly have looted and committed rape while fleeing the advancing rebel units.

Kenyan officials said 5,000 civilians had crossed the border at the Kenyan town of Busia, near the Ugandan city of Tororo, in the past two days. Another 3,000 crossed at Malaba, an Ugandan city 200 miles northwest of Nairobi, Kenya.

U.N. officials said Kenyan border forces were preventing Ugandan soldiers from crossing into Kenya but were permitting civilians to enter the country, which tried to mediate a settlement to Uganda's long civil conflict.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Nairobi sent officials to the border to help process the flood of refugees, a U.N. official said in Nairobi.

RELATED

Yesterday- January 26 

TODAY IN HISTORY: NRA takes over, Museveni calls for calm on govt-owned radio Jan 26, 1986

RELATED
Today in History Uganda and the world

TODAY IN HISTORY: Last Ugandan Martyr Jean Marie Muzeeyi beheaded at Mengo in 1887

‪Today In History‬ ‪ January 27:
1887 - Jean-Marie Muzeeyi, beheaded at Mengo. The last person killed in crusade against religion by Buganda King Mwanga (Uganda Martyrs)
1949 - Birth day of current Uganda Bank governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile
1945 - Russia liberates Auschwitz & Birkenau Concentration Camp (Poland)
1980 - Robert Mugabe returns to Rhodesia after 5 years in exile
1984 - Michael Jackson is burned during filming for Pepsi commercial
1992 - Mike Tyson goes on trial for rape (he is found guilty)
1993 - DC-3 crashes in Kinshasa, killing 12

The story of the Uganda martyrs

The arrival of the Christian missionaries, Anglican and Catholic, set the stage for new developments, and marked a turning point in the religious life of the people of Buganda; as well as the political structure of the kingdom and the region at large. The history of Buganda from this point on took a different turn. A social revolution that was to transform all aspects of people's lives had set in, and the events that followed, unpredictable as they were, added to the discomfort the new changes had brought about. The untimely death of Mutesa I in 1884 just a few years after the arrival of the missionaries, left the kingdom in the hands of Mwanga II, a youth whose ruling style fell far short of the charisma and political astuteness his late father had demonstrated in dealing with the foreigners, according to buganda.com
Click HERE FOR FULL STORY  and RELATED STORY


Although Mwanga had shown some love for the missionaries as a young prince, his attitude changed when he became king. The once lively and enthusiastic prince in support of the missionaries turned into an intolerant and vicious persecutor of Christians and all foreigners. He felt, with good cause, that the powers and authority his predecessors had enjoyed were dwindling, and had disintegrated under the influence of the missionaries and their converts. The converts had diverted their loyalty to some other authority and their allegiance at all costs could no longer be counted on


Uganda's Christian Martyrs

Name    Birthplace           Clan                Religion           Martyred Date    Place Manner
1 Kakumba, Makko Buganda Ffumbe Anglican Jan 31, 1885 Busega Dismembered Burned
2 Rugarama, Yusuf Ankole Anglican Jan 31, 1885 Busega Dismembered and Burned
3 Sserwanga, Nuwa Buganda Ngeye Anglican Jan 31, 1885 Busega Dismembered Burned
4 Balikuddembe, Yosefu Mukasa Buganda Kayozi Catholic Nov 15, 1885 Nakivubo Beheaded and Burned
5 Mukasa, Musa Buganda Ffumbe Anglican May 25, 1886 Munyonyo Speared
6 Kaggwa, Anderea Bunyoro Catholic May 26, 1886 Munyonyo Beheaded
7 Ngondwe, Ponsiano Buganda Nnyonyi Nnyange Catholic May 26, 1886 Ttakajjunge Beheaded and Dismembered
8 Ssebuggwawo, Denis Buganda Musu Catholic May 26, 1886 Munyonyo Beheaded
9 Bazzekuketta, Antanansio Buganda Nkima Catholic May 27, 1886 Nakivubo Dismembered
10 Gonza, Gonzaga Busoga Mpologoma Catholic May 27, 1886 Lubowa Beheaded
11 Mbwa, Eriya Buganda Ndiga Anglican May 27, 1886 Mengo Castrated
12 Muddu-aguma Anglican May 27, 1886 Mengo Castrated
13 Mulumba, Matiya Busoga Lugave Catholic May 27, 1886 Old Kampala Dismembered
14 Muwanga, Daudi Buganda Ngonge Anglican Namanve Castrated
15 Kayizzi, Kibuuka Buganda Mmamba Anglican May 31, 1886 Mityana Castrated
16 Mawaggali, Nowa Buganda Ngabi Catholic May 31, 1886 Mityana Speared, Ravaged by wild dogs
17 Mayanja, Kitoogo Buganda Ffumbe Anglican May 31, 1886 Mityana Castrated
18 Muwanga Buganda Nvuma Anglican May 31, 1886 Mityana Castrated
19 Lwanga, Karoli Buganda Ngabi Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
20 Baanabakintu, Lukka Buganda Mmamba Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
21 Buuzabalyawo, Yakobo Buganda Ngeye Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
22 Gyaviira Buganda Mmamba Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
23 Kibuuka, Ambrosio Buganda Lugave Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
24 Kiriggwajjo, Anatoli Bunyoro Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
25 Kiriwawanvu, Mukasa Buganda Ndiga Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
26 Kiwanuka, Achileo Buganda Lugave Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
27 Kizito Buganda Mmamba Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
28 Ludigo, Mukasa Adolofu Toro Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
29 Mugagga Buganda Ngo Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
30 Sserunkuuma, Bruno Buganda Ndiga Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
31 Tuzinde, Mbaga Buganda Mmamba Catholic June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
32 Kadoko, Alexanda Buganda Ndiga Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
33 Kifamunnyanja Buganda Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
34 Kiwanuka, Giyaza Buganda Mpeewo Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
35 Kizza, Frederick Buganda Ngabi Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
36 Kwabafu Buganda Mmamba Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
37 Lwakisiga, Mukasa Buganda Ngabi Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
38 Lwanga Buganda Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
39 Mubi-azaalwa Buganda Mbwa Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
40 Munyagabyangu, Robert Buganda Mmamba Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
41 Muwanga, Njigija Buganda Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
42 Nakabandwa, Danieri Buganda Mmamba Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
43 Walukagga, Nuwa Buganda Kasimba Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
44 Wasswa Buganda Mmamba Anglican June 3, 1886 Namugongo Burned
45 Muzeeyi, Jean-Marie Buganda Mbogo Catholic Jan 27, 1887 Mengo Beheaded

MACHAR: I am ready to start a new chapter of peace in South Sudan

Machar and Museveni discuss peace in Masindi, Uganda

 last night. PHOTOS BY PPU

South Sudan’s Opposition leader Riek Machar is ready to work with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to revive peace initiatives in Juba that have stalled.

Museveni and Machar's delegation of 15 met last night at Masindi State Lodge to discuss peace in South Sudan.

The President is camped in Masindi and Hoima where he is campaigning as NRM Presidential flag bearer in the up coming national elections next month.  

A press statement from State House quoted Machar as having told his host that “I want to start a new chapter of peace and friendship.” 

President Museveni, the statement added, responded that he was available to support any peace initiatives to stabilize South Sudan.

"Dr. Riek Machar who arrived in the country with his 15 member delegation that included Ms. Angelina Teny the Chairperson of SPLM national committee for Security and Defense, Ambassador Ezekeil Lol Gatkuoth the SPLM chairperson for the national committee on foreign affairs and Dr. Peter Odwok the SPLM national chairperson for the committee for training and research among other, briefed President Museveni on the progress and steps so far taken to fully implement the negotiated peace process in South Sudan."

"President Museveni and his guest also discussed a number of issues pertaining to the political, economic, security and humanitarian situation in South Sudan as well as the role and mandate of the Inter-Governmental Authority on development in bringing about lasting peace in South Sudan. 
President Museveni commended the progress so far made in bringing about peace and stability in South Sudan and the positive response of the two sides. He pledged the Ugandan government support to ensure that lasting peace returns to South Sudan."

On the constitution, a major issue of disagreement, Machar, the former South Sudan Vice President and current rebel leader had told VOA a day earlier that  the rebels first want to amend the current transitional constitution to incorporate last August's agreement, which recognizes only 10 states. But he said the South Sudan government wants to enshrine Kiir's 28 states in the new constitution.

"I think it is time for President Yoweri Museveni to exercise his influence on President Kiir so that President Kiir drops the 28 states and we go forward and forge a constitution, and the transitional national assembly, then a government can be established," Machar said.


Here is a statement from Machar's camp

#NRMat30: The celebrations, the news and what everyone else is saying

LIVE TWITTER FEED as NRM/NRA celebrates 30 years since taking power on January 26, 1986

Celebrations are in Fort Portal, and chief guest is President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.


#NRMat30: The celebrations, the news and what everyone else is saying

#NRMat30 Tweets

TODAY IN HISTORY: NRA takes over, Museveni calls for calm on govt-owned radio Jan 26, 1986

Museveni at his headquarters in Bulemezi, two years earlier

 in July 1984. Photo via William Pike

Yoweri Museveni's rebel NRA army conquerors Kampala, Uganda on SUNDAY January 26, 1986. Legal Notice No. 1 of 1986 is issued. It established the legality of the NRM Government, vested the legislative powers in the National Resistance council and the President.

Below is the story of the day's events as reported in the Los Angeles Times  a day later.

Ugandan Rebel Leader Proclaims New Regime

Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya — The commander of the Ugandan rebel army said Sunday that he has replaced the six-month-old ruling military council with one of his own and promised to form a broad-based government in Uganda and punish criminals from previous regimes.

Yoweri Museveni outlined his plans during a speech on the government-owned radio a day after his National Resistance Army captured the capital, Kampala, and sent thousands of government soldiers fleeing.

Deserting army troops were robbing and beating civilians and looting as they retreated, said a group of evacuees who reached Nairobi late Sunday afternoon from northern Uganda.

The Radio Uganda broadcast, monitored in Nairobi, was the first time since midday Friday that the radio had been on the air and the first formal announcement to Ugandans that Kampala had fallen to the National Resistance Army. Telephone and telex connections to the outside were cut on Saturday.

Museveni and his top commanders soon after taking power

Meets With Envoys

Earlier Sunday, Museveni met with U.S. Ambassador Robert Houdek, British High Commissioner Colin MacLean and a representative of the European Communities, a spokesman at the British High Commission (embassy) in Nairobi said. The four discussed the evacuation of foreigners and restoration of electric, water and telephone services in the city, the British spokesman said.

In Washington, the State Department said a chartered aircraft will take some embassy personnel and American citizens out of Kampala on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The State Department had no details on how many people were leaving, but it said there were about 170 Americans in Uganda, 21 of them attached to the embassy. All Americans in Kampala were safe, but were advised to stay indoors, the State Department said.

The British, too, were planning to evacuate some of their personnel and citizens but did not have an exact number, the high commissioner said.

The first group of evacuees out of Uganda--seven employees of the U.N. World Food Program and three workers of the Lutheran World Foundation--arrived aboard a crowded Cessna 560 from Moroto, 218 miles north of Kampala.

The 10--two Irishmen, two Kenyans, three Ghanaians, a Filipino, a Bangladeshi and an Ethiopian--asked to be evacuated by air after they found themselves cut off by road and in the path of marauding army deserters.

They said some fleeing soldiers were being massacred by soldiers from rival tribes.

Appeals for Calm

Museveni appealed for calm in his radio broadcast and said he would appoint nonpartisan village committees to handle local affairs in areas controlled by the National Resistance Army. He also promised to form a broad-based, civilian administration "in the shortest time possible."

"Uganda has been messed up by incompetent and politically bankrupt leaders for the last 24 years," Museveni said. "Their main interests have been sectarianism, corruption and subservience to foreign interests."

Since gaining independence from Britain in 1962, Uganda's 14 million people have seen leaders deposed three times by coups--Milton Obote twice and dictator Idi Amin once.

Museveni, a former Ugandan defense minister, began an insurgency in 1981 against the government of civilian President Obote, charging him with rigging the election that brought him to power in the wake of the overthrow of Amin in 1979. Amin had seized power from Obote in a 1971 coup.

When army officers overthrew Obote last July and formed a military council with Gen. Tito Okello as its chairman, four insurgency groups joined the new government.

But the National Resistance Army refused to cooperate. It took control of the southwestern third of Uganda and periodically issued threats to march on Kampala.

Last month, the government and the National Resistance Army signed a peace and power-sharing agreement in Nairobi, but neither side observed all of its terms, and Museveni declined to go to Kampala to take up his post under the accord. Fighting resumed, culminating in Saturday's takeover of Kampala by the insurgents.

The Uganda army had 18,000 men, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The National Resistance Army has never released figures on its size, but Museveni is thought to command 9,000 men who in general are better trained, disciplined and organized than the government army.

The thousands of government soldiers fleeing Kampala headed north toward Sudan and east toward Kenya.