Two suspected kidnappers of US tourist Sue Endicott, guide arrested- police
Suspected kidnappers of US tourist Kimbley Sue Endicott have been arrested. Endicott and a Ugandan tour guide Jean Paul Mirenge Remezo were kidnapped by four gunmen, who hijacked their safari vehicle from Queen Elizabeth National Park on April 2.
The gunmen had demanded a ransom of $500,000 (about Shs1.8b) using Ms Sue and Mirenge’s cell phones.
Police said the two were rescued from the Democratic Republic of Congo by a joint effort involving the Uganda police force, Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) and sister security agencies.
Reports indicate that the US military also provided support to Ugandan security forces to accomplish the mission. The support included intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets and liaison officers, according to US news outlets.
Ms Sue was handed over to the US Embassy in Kampala by Inspector General of Police Martin Okoth Ochola on Monday.
Two of the four gunmen have reportedly been apprehended. The two were only identified as Hakim and Kwarishiima. Sources said the suspects were flown from Kanungu District in western Uganda where they were tracked using a device which was placed in the ransom money they received before setting Ms Sue and Mirenge free.
"The joint security team actively investigating the kidnapping incident and successful recovery of an American tourist Ms. Kimberly Sue Endicott and a Senior Tour Guide, Jean Paul Mirenge- Remezo, has made some arrests of suspects, on suspicion of being involved in their kidnap," police tweeted on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga confirmed to URN that there were some arrests made in regard to the kidnap. He, however, declined to divulge details.
"I can confirm that there were some arrests but I am yet to get details. I will brief you when I get the information," Enanga said.
US President Donald Trump on Monday tasked the Ugandan government to hunt the kidnappers and bring them to book.
“Uganda must find the kidnappers of the American tourist and guide before people will feel safe in going there. Bring them to justice openly and quickly,” President Trump tweeted.
The kidnap cast a shadow on Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of the most visited tourist attractions which is home to lions, hippos, crocodiles and various types of antelopes.
Credit: Daily Monitor Uganda
Umeme counter rallies large trading volumes in three days
Kampala. Following a growth in dividends by five times for 2018 to Shs40 per share from 2017’s Shs7.6 per share, foreign institutional investors are buying Umeme shares as others opt out.
The Umeme counter has grossed Shs8.68b in the past three days from a sale of 28 million shares.
This has been a generally rare occurrence on the Uganda Securities Exchange given the volume and amounts involved.
According to an industry source who asked not to be quoted because they are not authorised to speak officially on the matter, the trend is driven by institutional investors.
“These are institutional investors,” he said, adding: “The ones that are selling have held the Umeme shares for a while and at this point they have nothing to lose as the share price itself is not bad.”
For those who are buying the aggregated 28 million shares bought in the past three days would fetch a dividend of more than Shs1.12b, which is worth the investment in that short time.
In 2017, regulatory requirement chopped off Shs115b off its profits to close that year with only Shs35b.
In 2018 the company almost quadrupled its profits at Shs132b thus the accruing dividend.
Umeme has been recording some good growth, especially in customer numbers which have grown to 1.3 million customers as of close of December 2018.
The shift to prepaid metering for most of its customers has greatly improved Umeme’s revenue streams.
However, the company still faces challenges such as collecting outstanding debts from government, where arrears of power bills are increasingly becoming exorbitant.
In the last six months, Umeme connected at least some 46 new industrial customers that have greatly boosted its numbers.
Source: Daily Monitor
Zuma pulls out of South African graft inquiry
Former South African president Jacob Zuma on Friday withdrew from testifying to an inquiry into corruption under his rule, citing biased treatment and harsh questioning.
In the corruption scandal popularly referred to as "state capture", Zuma is accused of overseeing mass looting of state assets during his nine-year tenure.
"We are here today to say that we will take no further part in these proceedings," Zuma's lawyer Muzi Sikhakhane told the inquiry commission in Johannesburg.
"Our client from the beginning... has been treated as someone who was accused."
An agitated Sikhakhane said the inquiry had become "a political process," drawing loud clapping and cheering from Zuma loyalists in the public seats at the inquiry.
Zuma, who started testifying on Monday, had dismissed all accusations made against him by previous witnesses to the inquiry.
He was due to give a final day of evidence on Friday after the inquiry was adjourned on Wednesday when he complained that the questioning was effectively a court cross-examination.
Zuma was ousted by the ruling ANC party in 2018 and replaced by his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, who has vowed to clean up the government.
On the first day of his testimony, Zuma gave a rambling address saying he was the victim of conspiracies and years of "character assassination", and accusing foreign intelligence agencies and spies of working against him.
He also said he had received multiple death threats and attempts on his life.
The former president, 77, later replied to many questions at the inquiry by saying he did not remember or was unaware of meetings and conversations that other witnesses had mentioned.
Possible prosecutions
Zuma was not legally summonsed to attend the inquiry, but was invited to reply after being implicated in graft by several previous witnesses.
"I expected that he would cooperate, which he did by agreeing to come," said judge Raymond Zondo, who is chairing the inquiry.
"The first purpose was to give him an opportunity to tell his side of his story."
The inquiry is investigating a web of deals involving government officials, the wealthy Gupta business family and state-owned companies.
The Indian-born Gupta brothers -- Ajay, Atul and Rajesh -- have left South Africa and are now based in Dubai.
One witness, former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene testified that Zuma pushed policies on nuclear power and aviation that were designed to benefit the Gupta family.
"Mr Zuma and his legal team are in effect asking to be excused from the application of the rules," the inquiry's lead lawyer Paul Pretorius said.
"If the questions are detailed and if the questions and difficult... so be it.
