Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine drew enormous crowds in Kampala on Monday as he took his presidential campaign to the capital, stepping up his challenge to President Yoweri Museveni’s four decades in power ahead of elections scheduled for January.
Wine — real name Robert Kyagulanyi — is a 43-year-old musician-turned-politician whose message has resonated strongly with Uganda’s youth.
But he faces a formidable political establishment built around the 81-year-old incumbent, who has ruled since 1986.
Tens of thousands of supporters packed the roadsides and surrounded Wine’s convoy as it wound through Kampala’s suburbs, marking his first major tour of the capital since confirming his second bid for the presidency.
Massive crowds welcomed Bobi Wine in Kampala on Monday as the Ugandan opposition leader stepped up his bid to unseat long-time President Yoweri Museveni ahead of the January elections.
He began the day with a visit to Luzira maximum-security prison, where several officials and supporters from his National Unity Platform remain detained.
Addressing cheering crowds dressed in the party’s red and black colours, Wine declared that Uganda was ready for change and that “the dictator must go.”
He said those he met in prison remained defiant and unwavering in their demand for political transformation.
Large numbers of police and army personnel lined the campaign route, despite the authorities having ordered rallies to remain within predetermined areas to prevent road disruptions.
At one location, officers fired tear gas in an attempt to stop supporters from moving on to the next event, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
Massive crowds welcomed Bobi Wine in Kampala on Monday as the Ugandan opposition leader stepped up his bid to unseat long-time President Yoweri Museveni ahead of the January elections.
Wine previously ran against Museveni in 2021, an election overshadowed by allegations of fraud and widespread violence by security forces.
He has been arrested repeatedly over the years and has accused both the police and military of torturing him while in custody.
Museveni’s son, army chief General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has also made online threats against Wine, including repeated claims he would behead him.
Museveni’s current campaign centres on safeguarding the progress he claims to have achieved and steering Uganda towards high middle-income status.
Yet poverty remains widespread, with around one in six citizens living below the poverty line.
While the president retains support for ending the brutal dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s, critics accuse him of replicating the authoritarianism he once opposed.
Uganda’s political climate remains tense. Last year, long-standing opposition figure Kizza Besigye was abducted in Kenya and returned to Uganda, where he now faces a treason charge carrying the possibility of the death penalty.
Uganda’s government has offered to drop the military trial of opposition leaderKizza Besigye, who has been on a hunger strike since February 10 in protest of his detention.
The 68-year-old Besigye, a former ally of President Yoweri Museveni, is facing treason charges for allegedly threatening “national security.”
Despite the Supreme Court ruling that civilians should not be tried in military courts, the government had initially planned to proceed with a court martial.
However, on Sunday, February 16, 2025, cabinet spokesman Chris Baryomunsi announced that the government would transfer Besigye’s case to a civil court under the court’s ruling.
Baryomunsi, who visited Besigye in prison alongside his doctors, urged him to end his hunger strike while the transfer is processed.
The army, which had previously ignored the Supreme Court ruling, has yet to comment on the development.
Besigye’s health has raised alarm, with his wife, Winnie Byanyima, expressing deep concern for his condition.
Besigye was seen in court on Thursday looking frail, prompting calls from international organisations for the protection of political opposition in Uganda ahead of the 2026 elections.
Amnesty International condemned the trial as a “travesty of justice” and highlighted the increasing repression of political figures in the country.
Ugandan military prosecutors on Monday added a charge of “treachery” – which carries the death penalty – to the list of violations of military law they say were committed by a prominent opposition figure.
Kiiza Besigye, a veteran political foe of President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for almost 40 years, was detained in neighbouring Kenya in November.
He was brought back home and charged with illegal possession of firearms and with undermining the East African country’s security in a military court, despite being a civilian.
He has been kept in prison in the capital Kampala since then, together with an aide, Obeid Lutale, with whom he was detained and charged.
Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of U.N. agency UNAIDS, has said the charges against him are politically motivated. His lawyers have rejected the charges as baseless.
During a court hearing on Monday, a military prosecutor read Besigye and his co-accused the new charge of treachery.
According to a charge sheet seen by Reuters, Besigye and his co-accused possessed intelligence about a plot to undermine national security but “consciously withheld the said vital information from the proper authorities”.
Besigye’s lawyers protested at the extra charge, saying they violated criminal trial procedures.
They also protested at the detention of prominent human rights lawyer Eron Kiiza, who is part of Besigye’s defence team.
At Besigye’s last court appearance on Jan. 7, Kiiza was sentenced to nine months in prison for alleged contempt of court over an altercation with court orderlies.
London-based human rights group Amnesty International has described Kiiza’s detention and jail sentence as outrageous, demanding his release.
Besigye was once an ally and personal physician of Museveni, but the two later fell out. Besigye ran against and lost to Museveni in four presidential elections. He rejected the results of all those votes over alleged irregularities.
Human rights activists have accused Museveni’s government of widespread human rights abuses, including torture and arbitrary detention. The government has repeatedly denied allegations of election fraud and rights abuses.
Kampala on Friday threw Nairobi under the bus in the controversial saga surrounding the abduction of veteran Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye in Nairobi and his subsequent transfer to Kampala to face charges.
Ugandan Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi confirmed on live television that President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s government coordinated with Kenya in the abduction of the opposition leader from Nairobi.
In an interview on Uganda’s NBS TV on Friday, Baryomunsi said the government of Uganda was coordinating with its Kenyan counterpart in the arrest of Kizza Besigye.
The minister went further to question how the arrest could have occurred without Kenya’s full knowledge and support.
“How would you arrest somebody in the middle of Nairobi and then bring him back to Uganda without the full knowledge and support of the government in Kenya?”
This fresh revelation now puts Nairobi in a tight diplomatic spot, after Kenya vehemently denied participation in Besigye’s abduction which has been condemned widely.
Kenya’s Foreign Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei denied Kenya’s involvement after news of Besigye’s abduction from Nairobi emerged.
“There is no reason whatsoever for Kenya to be a party to his arrest, if any,” he said.
He also defended Kenya’s human rights record.
“Our human rights record is enviable in the region.”
Besigye has run against Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in four elections and lost each time, although he has always rejected the results.
On Wednesday, Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, claimed her husband had been kidnapped in Nairobi on Saturday at an apartment complex on Riverside Drive.
According to his family, Besigye was abducted in Nairobi and taken to Uganda and detained in a military prison.
“I request the government of Uganda to release my husband Dr Kizza Besigye from where he is being held immediately. He was kidnapped last Saturday while he was in Nairobi for Hon Martha Karua’s book launch. I am now reliably informed that he is in a military jail in Kampala. We, his family and his lawyers demand to see him. He is not a soldier. Why is he being held in a military jail?” Byanyima posted on her X handle.
Following Besigye’s arrest, his party, through Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) President Patrick Oboi Amuriat, said they would organise protests at the Kenyan High Commission in Kampala on Monday to express their displeasure with Kenya’s hand in the matter.
Kenya’s government has said it was investigating how a prominent Ugandan opposition leader was spirited out of Nairobi this week, amid growing criticism that it had failed to protect foreign dissidents on its soil.
Kizza Besigye, a longtime rival of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, disappeared in the Kenyan capital on Saturday. He reappeared on Wednesday at a military court in neighbouring Uganda, where he was charged with offences including the illegal possession of firearms.
Uganda’s government spokesperson said on Wednesday it did not carry out abductions and that arrests abroad were done in collaboration with host countries.
However in a television interview on Wednesday evening, Korir Sing’oei, principal secretary at Kenya’s foreign ministry, said Besigye’s detention – which he referred to as an abduction – was “not the act of the Kenyan government”.
Sing’oei said the Kenyan interior ministry had begun an investigation into how Besigye had been “forcefully removed from premises in our country and taken to Uganda”.
The Ugandan court’s charge sheet alleges that Besigye was found with a pistol and eight rounds of ammunition in the Riverside neighbourhood of Nairobi, where it claimed he had been seeking support to prejudice the security of Uganda’s military.
Besigye’s wife Winnie Byanyima, who heads the United Nations HIV/AIDS agency UNAIDS, said he has not owned a gun in the last 20 years.
“As a civilian, Dr Besigye should be tried in a civilian court NOT a military court,” she wrote on the social media platform X.
His detention and transfer to Uganda has fuelled criticism of Kenya’s record on human rights and international law.
In July, Kenyan authorities deported 36 members of Besigye’s political party to Uganda, where they were charged with terrorism-related offences.
Last month, Kenya deported four Turkish refugees to Ankara, drawing criticism from the United Nations.
James Risch, the ranking member on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on X that Besigye’s abduction “raises serious questions about important U.S. partners violating (international) norms”.
Besigye, who was Museveni’s physician during the guerrilla war of the 1980s but later became an outspoken critic, had travelled to Kenya to attend a book launch, said Byanyima, who is UNAIDS’ executive director.
His transfer to Uganda was “reminiscent of a terrible period in East Africa’s history when state-sponsored kidnappings and cross-border renditions were the order of the day,” the International Commission of Jurists said in a statement.
Besigye has lost to Museveni in four elections, although he has rejected the results as fraudulent.
The son of Uganda’s long-serving leader Yoweri Museveni said on Saturday he had abandoned plans to run for presidency at the next election in 2026, urging his supporters to endorse his father instead.
President Museveni, who has led the country for 38 years, is widely expected to run for re-election even though he has not yet confirmed his candidacy.
“I would like to announce that I will not be on the ballot paper in 2026,” said Muhoozi Kainerugaba in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
“I fully endorse President Yoweri Museveni in the next elections,” he said, urging his supporters to back his father for a seventh term.
Kainerugaba, currently the head of the country’s military, is widely expected to eventually become his father’s chosen successor but is also known for making controversial comments. Museveni apologised to Kenya in 2022 after his son threatened on Twitter to invade the neighbouring country.
Uganda’s opposition has long accused Museveni of seeking to impose a monarchy on Uganda — a claim the president denies.
Museveni, 80, has ruled Uganda since 1986 and has changed the constitution twice to extend his rule.
Human rights activists and his political opponents including pop star turned politician Bobi Wine have long accused Museveni of using security forces to jail, intimidate or torture opposition supporters. Museveni denies such accusations.
Wine came second in the last presidential election in 2021. He rejected the results, alleging ballot stuffing, intimidation and abductions of his supporters.
After some contemplation and observation, I have come to the conclusion that the MK Project (a hodgepodge ensemble that aspires to install so called First Son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, as successor to Yoweri Museveni) is a hoax and major diversion, orchestrated by the latter, with the former as an excited spoilt kid, buoyed by a brazen cast of unsophisticated fortune hunters, brazen wheeler dealers, ignorant sycophants, and callous felons.
My three brief reasons:
First, I hold the view that Museveni quietly but thoroughly despises Muhoozi for his lack of discipline, rigour, and intellectual depth. He doesn’t see him as a guarantor of the family’s bloodline and loot.
Why do I think so? In my conversations with elders and bush war veterans, they have invariably underscored Museveni’s sheer determination, willpower, thirst for knowledge (even for nefarious motives), and spartan discipline (including his disdain for alcohol and penchant for physical fitness), all of which were part of his formative youthful years. When Museveni was Kainerugaba’s age, he was already considerably published on Marxist philosophy, Pan Africanism, public policy, guerrilla warfare, and politics as a whole. It is a different question whether he has lived up to his writings, but the same cannot be said, even remotely, of his son who can neither compose nor deliver a simple speech at a wedding ceremony, his own birthday party, or a public rally, off-the-cuff. Instead, Kainerugaba relies on what appears to be hastily scribbled, incoherent notes on sticky notes or shabby pieces of paper.
Now in his eighties, the Old Man has evidently lost his shine and verve, but remains a polar opposite of his wayward son in terms of mental acuity and discipline. It doesn’t make sense to me that Museveni would take the gamble of entrusting his life’s work to a lazy, self-absorbed kid born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Second, Museveni’s pathological love for power, in its rawest and finest forms, makes it impossible for him to tolerate, much less support the notion of a successor. In his kingdom Uganda, there is no trinity or line of succession. He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.
Take a look at the fates of all those who were once thought to be potential replacements (many of whom he even cunningly whispered the idea of succession to), from James Wapakhabulo, Noble Mayombo, Amama Mbabazi, Gilbert Bukenya (don’t laugh!), to Rebecca Kadaga. Don’t let the father-son relationship mislead you; in Machiavellian equations of power, being his biological son doesn’t mean much to a despot.
As with the rest of animal kingdom, so with humankind…lions, for example, are known to kill off young male offspring to guarantee their continued leadership of the pride. By the same logic, regardless of his state-of-mind, for as long as Museveni has the basic functions of body temperature, pulse rate, and respiration, it is not conceivable that he can entertain the idea of a replacement or successor, by whatever name called. It’s just not in him.
Gen Muhoozi is the son of President Yoweri Museveni.
Third and finally, Gen. Museveni’s career as a civil servant (i.e., intelligence operative and minister), guerrilla, and head of the ruling junta (so called NRM) has been characterised by countless smokescreens. Museveni trivialises or remains silent about serious issues and overplays the things he doesn’t really care about.
(In)famous diversions include the ruse he sold regarding his commitment to cease fire and fully participate in the Nairobi Peace Talks (also known as the Nairobi Peace Jokes) yet his rebel forces were simultaneously advancing on (and later on captured) Kampala; his perennial mind games on the leadership of religions and kingdoms in Uganda; and the false alliance he made with MPs who zealously supported his bid for the removal of the presidential age limit, only for him to sacrifice them at the altar of the 2021 elections to appease an angry population.
In the words of my friend Betty Nambooze, “if Museveni asks you to wait for him on the road that leads to Masaka, do yourself a favour and instead wait for him on the road that leads to Jinja.” Founding father Milton Obote who was his boss at a time designated him “a pathological liar who only tells the truth by accident.” One commentator whose name eludes me once hilariously quipped that if you shake hands with Museveni, check to see that you still have all five fingers. Against such a backdrop, why would anyone believe that for something as crucial as transition or succession, Museveni would play his cards so openly as to show us his heir apparent?
Let me conclude this way:
The only real utility that the MK Project possesses for Museveni is twofold:
i. By deliberately hyping up a Kainerugaba presidency, Museveni forces the public to look favourably upon his continued rule because he is the Devil we know…and that Muhoozi would certainly be an unmitigated disaster. This reduces the spotlight on his forty-year-reign, as the “bewildered herd” gets distracted by the theatrics of the MK project.
ii. Assuming that a real crown prince exists, the MK Project helps the ruling family to conceal the identity of that person, while we chase after shadows.
In the end, the Ugandan public will be the ultimate loser in this long con. After all, Baalam Barugahara & Co., don’t care who takes power next or what happens to the country, as long as their stomachs are full.
For these reasons, I hold the considered view that the MK Project is the latest in a series of hoaxes, not worth the undivided attention of Ugandans.
Let’s focus on getting rid of Museveni and Musevenism—and the task of restoring our society to its past glory and dignity.
Police in Uganda have surrounded the homes of the opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu popularly known as Bobi Wine and that of the former presidential aspirant Kizza Besigye as the country prepares to swear in President Yoweri Museveni for a sixth term tomorrow.
Museveni won the flawed elections in January 2021 after the country’s electoral commission dismissed all the allegations of vote rigging and intimidation claims made by opposition candidate Bobi Wine.
Wine and Besigye took to their Twitter handles on Monday night where they expressed concerns over heavy police presence around their homes. The two including their supporters have been harassment by law enforcement officers for challenging Museveni’s long dictatorial rule.
Bobi Wine, a pop star turned politician termed Museveni’s action as “cowardly” as Besigye maintains that Museveni’s swearing-in for the sixth time is “illegal”.
The situation around my home is still tense. Dozens of soldiers are surrounding my home, checking every vehicle that comes in or goes out. All this to suppress the citizens' voices as the emperor crowns himself for a 6th term! In this I am confident- WE SHALL OVERCOME pic.twitter.com/IDiTfEIoEz
But Uganda’s National Army Deputy Spokesperson, Deo Akiiki, defended the heavy deployment of police as a move to avert possible chaos during the swearing in ceremony.
“With credible evidence from intelligence, we shall not hesitate to arrest more of these schemers as and when we detect,” said Akiiki.
The long serving president has always ensured that his inaugurations are marred by heavy security presence especially in urban areas and their surroundings.
Ugandan media has reported that close to 4,000 people, including 11 Heads of State, have been invited to Museveni’s oath taking which will be held at the Kololo Grounds in the capital Kampala.
Museveni grabbed power in 1986 after overthrowing General Tito Okello, who had only ruled the country for 181 days but since then he [Museveni] has rigged and ‘won’ all presidential elections in Uganda.
He got 5.85 million votes which represents 58.64 % of the total votes cast in the January 14, 2021 presidential election, while his closest challenger, Wine, got 3.48 million votes (34.83 %). But Bobi Wine said the results were doctored to hand Museveni an illegitimate win.
Election monitors also reported that the confidence in the count was damaged by a three-day internet outage and dozens of people who were killed during violence in the run-up to the election.
But opposition politicians including Besigye who unsuccessfully challenged Museveni in three elections have always been harassed by Museveni’s officers. He wondered why the state deployed police to his home yet he was out of the country.
African countries should avoid electing these extra old leaders who need to be resting at their homes or running their family business, that’s if, at all, they have either of the two. Uganda just like any other suffering African countries is forced to bear the burden of an old-school stone-hearted man at the helm of their leadership structures.
After signing a Bill that Tax social media users, Yoweri Museveni has now instructed his administration through Uganda’s communications regulator to register and monitor activities of Influencers on Ugandan social media and others with large, commercialized online followings.
According to Museveni’s allies and handlers, directive and scheme which also levies a $20 fee, is designed to clamp down on immoral or prejudiced content largely directed to the President, his family, and administration.
I mean everyone should at least agree with me that Museveni’s behaviour and the directive is centuries back a total disgrace to the independence and democracy, which clearly isn’t existing, of the People of Uganda. Museveni is committed to a cause of muting his critics and now wants to suppress online content disapproving of him and his government.
Last week, university lecturer and social researcher Stella Nyanzi was jailed for 18 months on cyber harassment charges stemming from a Facebook post criticizing Museveni. According to digital communications rights watchdog Unwanted Witness, between 2016 and 2018 at least 33 Ugandans have either been summoned and interrogated by police or charged with online communications offences. The registration scheme is “not a positive move, it infringes on the rights to freedom of expression.
People are able to express themselves well when they know that somebody is not watching over them,” said the organization’s chief executive, Dorothy Mukasa.
Ibrahim Bbosa, Uganda Communications Commission spokesman stated that the data communicators to be registered included individuals with heavily followed social media and other online accounts that carried ads alongside other content on platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. That would include prominent musicians, journalists and socialites.
“As a data communicator…you’re pushing out content which could easily violate the known parameters of morality, of incitement, of ethnic prejudice or not be factual. We want online platforms to register with the commission so that we can monitor (them), a process that the $20 fee was designed to fund.” Bbosa said
Robert Ssempala, national coordinator for Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, said that, for many, the fee was prohibitive.
“The spirit of the regulation is essentially to make it extremely unaffordable, to make it extremely frightening for people to engage in sharing information on social media,” he added.
Last year the government introduced a tax on the use of popular social media platforms. Museveni has repeatedly complained that Ugandan social media is a vehicle for lying and spreading unregulated gossip, interpreted referring to information critical of the government.
In a Nutshell, any State that makes a mistake of trusting their leadership structures to leaders who have taken power by force rather attempted to take power through rigging or military force should expect muddles like the ones Uganda is in right now. Museveni has been in power since 1986, one wonders what is this that he has not accomplished for more than 3 decades. And if you think that he’s letting go, then you are the one in the wrong country, Museveni is extensively expected to run again in the next presidential election in 2021.
ODM party leader and the AU’s High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa will host four presidents from East Africa in the official launching ceremony of the Sh3 billion Kisumu port.
The Kisumu Port is one of the biggest rather the face of Raila, projects initiated in the former Nyanza province after the handshake. This is seen as part of the handshake goodies that he had promised and the project is expected to restore the glory of Kisumu City, the once vibrant East Africa hub, an area that had been deliberately marginalized by the previous administrations.
According to sources speaking to the media, RAO will be hosting his close political allies and friends of his allies. On Thursday next week, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga will host President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni leader of Uganda Uganda, Felix Tshisekedi of Congo, and John Magufuli from Tanzania.
Everyone knows that Magufuli and Tsisekedi are Raila’s family and political close friends and even though, Raila might to be in good terms with Museveni, but from recent visits in Kenya and signing some deals, we all know his ties with President Uhuru are way too close and the Port, being the biggest project in Lake Victoria, he definitely wouldn’t miss the opportunity and time to attend.
Yesterday, State House spokesperson Kanze Dena, who is in Jamaica with Uhuru said final communications on the launch of the port will be issued next week. Already Kenya Ports Authority has installed forklift trucks, mobile cranes and tractor-trailers in a clear signal that it’s all systems go.
KPA managing director Daniel Manduku told the Star on Thursday the port will initially create between 100 and 200 direct jobs when officially opened. “We are ready and all the equipment needed is on-site,” said Manduku.
Kenya Ports Authority plans to make the port a regional hub for East Africa to serve Mbita, Homa Bay, Mfangango island, Muhuru Bay pier, Luanda K’Otieno, Usenge beach and Port Victoria.
Lake Victoria is the second largest freshwater body in the world with 13 ports and for Prime minister, Raila has been following the project so close and keenly. RAO has visited the site more than four times and receives updates on every step of the rehabilitation of the port.
Last Thursday Raila, President Kenyatta and DP William Ruto visited the port to inspect the progress of the repairs and Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi stated during the visit that the makeover of the port was a clear testament that the handshake is working
“We are happy with the speed at which this project, among others, is moving. This is a clear testament of what the handshake between the President and the Prime Minister has done. This is one of the major projects that will not only open up the entire western region but will create employment for the thousands of youths and increase trade between Kenya and neighbouring countries.” Wandanyi said.
If the Port project works, Raila will have a smooth way for the people of Nyanza, Western and most probably other regions who will be employed directly or indirectly by the Port. Raila has also assured his Nyanza political turf that his strong-willed plans to revive collapsed Kisumu Cotton Mills (Kicomi), are well on course and the Government is also setting up an industrial park in Muhoroni, Kisumu county.
According to Raila handlers, all the key projects that the region has received are on course due to the famous March 2018 handshake between President Uhuru and Raila Odinga. Some of the projects include the construction of the Koru-Mamboleo road, Kabunde airstrip where Sh128 million has been allocated to pay off the landowner and Sh4 billion allocated to the blue economy.
Water Hyacinth had also choked the lake. Almost all the beaches had been filled with the deadly weed. Lake Victoria Beach Management Units Chairman Tom Guda said for a month now, fishermen in Karachuonyo and Kochia have felt the pinch of water hyacinth infestation.
“Water hyacinth restricts the movement of boats. How do you cast your nets in water infested in hyacinth? Sometimes you set out to go fishing only to be trapped in the water for eight hours,” said Mr Guda.
According to the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute Kisumu (KMFRI), periodic changes in wind patterns and human activities encourage the re-germination of the stubborn weed on Lake Victoria.
According to Dr Aura, by January this year approximately 10,360 hectares of the lake was covered by water hyacinth that tends to settle where there is little pressure from the wind.
“Rachuonyo’s proximity to Homa Hills and trees which act as windbreakers bring water hyacinth to Rachuonyo. At our station, we have water hyacinth prediction map which shows the accurate spatial-temporal availability of weed. Currently the area affected include Kisumu Bay, Homa Bay, Osodo Bay, Kendu Bay, Nyakach Bay and Ngege Bay.” Dr Aura noted.
“The National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) has designated water hyacinth disposal sites. After removal of the weed you are not allowed to throw it away,” said the environmental authority.
Since the Port project was launched, the government has taken measures to hyacinth that had choked the Lake by setting up licensed water hyacinth disposal sites in Homa Bay County. This includes Alara Beach, Oginga Beach, Ngegu Beach, Rakwaro Beach, Achuodho, Kananga and Rarimba Beach.
“We are happy with the progress made so far. The port, a major project in the region, is shaping up and we hope soon our leaders, the President and the former Prime Minister, will be commissioning,” ODM chairman and Suba South MP John Mbadi said
The seriousness of the Port projects can also be felt and seen from a far, NYS and prison workers are clearing bushes around the port and the gates to the port remain locked to members of the public and thorough checks are done before one is allowed access.
Kenya Coast Guard has also been given a go-ahead and has already taken charge of security at the port ahead of the launch and taking pics and videos of the site is a prohibited act.
The project has seen structures around the port demolished including the famous Lwang’ni beach which saw traders lose millions of shillings without alternative places to go.
Kisumu Residents Association Chairman Audi Ogada said following the destruction and public outcry they expect the port once opened to provide opportunities for people.
“Our expectation is that the port is effectively managed to give employment opportunities to our youths and even chances to the business persons whose structures were demolished,” he said.
On June 14, Uhuru and Raila were at the port t to check progress and on July 6, the President made an impromptu tour after a two-day visit to Tanzania. The President also toured the Kenya Marine School and the dry dock where the giant MV Uhuru is docked. He held meetings with officials and was briefed on the project.
President Uhuru ordered the repair of the 1,000-tonne and 91-meter-long cargo ship of which the MV Uhuru engine was switched on and roared for hours.
“Kisumu port was the biggest dry dock inland in the entire African continent where vessels such as SS Usonga, SS Nyanza, MV Victoria and MV Uhuru amongst others were manufactured. We want to see this happening again here,” Raila said.
