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- ♻️ Change of guard
♻️ Change of guard
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Good morning 🌤️ Retired NFL player and man whose NFL checks must’ve dried up, Michael Oher blindsided the [sports] world this week by claiming the Tuohy family exploited him for fame and fortune. Oher claimed the premise (and his profits) from the hit movie ‘The Blind Side’ were sus at best. While we nursed our shock, some people on Twitter (not ready to let go yet) called for Sandra Bullock’s Oscar to be revoked on grounds of ‘too great an acting job,’ we surmise.
If you haven’t watched The Blind Side and therefore have no idea what we’re talking about, we highly recommend you Netflix and Chill to it.
—Gloria Mbabazi, Shem Opolot
Headlines
♟️ Party power play
The embattled Secretary General of the FDC, Nandala Mafabi, is getting a re-education on how democracy and party policies are supposed to work. Nandala has twice tried to remove the major thorn in his side, Ssemujju Nganda, as party Chief Whip without success. Nandala wrote to the Speaker, naming Mawokota South MP Yusuf Nsibambi as the replacement, but Among vetoed the request, informing him that the change was not made with the formal blessing of the party. Nandala, in turn, accused the Speaker of meddling in the party’s internal affairs.
♻️ Change of guard
After an eight-month dress rehearsal, Patrick Ayota is ready to juggle the financial fate of over two million members and assets worth Shs. 17 trillion as the new managing director of Uganda's National Social Security Fund (NSSF). The previous managing director, Richard Byarugaba, was ousted amidst allegations of irregular payments and insubordination, leading to a legal battle for reinstatement after he sued Betty Amongi for refusing to renew his contract. While we wish Ayota well (mostly because our paltry savings depend on it), if history is anything to go by, there’s a scandal waiting in his future.
Running on empty
The fallout from the World Bank missive continues, as the announcement sends Richter-scale shockwaves throughout the economy and society: Bank of Uganda reassured the banking and financial industry of its commitment to ensuring the stability and sustainability of the microeconomics of the country; while our president, in a less than conciliatory mood, accused the World Bank and other external actors of being insufferable, shallow, and arrogant, adding that they have no capacity to interrupt Uganda’s transformation journey. President Museveni’s colorful language extended to blaming the “neo-colonial misplanners,” the corrupt parasites in the public service, and the political class for delaying Uganda’s progress.
🇰🇪 Kenya
A small fuel subsidy was reinstated in Kenya as an attempt by President Ruto to douse public fires fueled by high living costs.
🇷🇼 Rwanda
The 20th anniversary of Giants of Africa Fest in Rwanda wrapped up with Davido and Tiwa Savage on stage in a festival designed to unite youth continent-wide.
🇹🇿 Tanzania
With inflation knocking and African currencies taking a dollar-coaster ride, the Tanzanian shilling hit rock bottom vs. the US dollar, turning imports into luxury goods.
Other headlines
Ruto visits Museveni to discuss trade and security
Muhoozi visits Teso and Among's mansion
Katonga bridge works delayed by government negotiations
NSSF savers to qualify for mid-term
Local Content Bill returned by M7 to Parliament for second time
BOU bringing more measures to safeguard fintech operations
Perennial petitioner Mabirizi drags Speaker, Muhoozi to court
Crypto denied green light by Government
Legalization of marijuana polarizes government bodies
‘Kawunyemu’ operations resume in Kampala
Shs. 35Bn silkworm project plagued by trouble
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Beyond Borders
🌍️ Africa
Niger | Source: BBC
🇳🇪 Niger update. A delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met with the ousted president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, and held talks with the junta leader, General Abdourahmane Tchiani. The delegation arrived in the capital city of Niamey on Saturday, following fruitless threats from ECOWAS military chiefs to intervene militarily to reinstate Bazoum. Relatedly, in a special wartime edition of Niger’s Got Talent, thousands of Nigerien civilians responded to a call to volunteer as auxiliaries in support of the armed forces. The volunteer initiative allows the junta to conscript tens of thousands of individuals to provide various forms of support, including fighting, medical care, and logistics, on demand.
🇸🇴 New kid on the bloc. Somalia is one step closer to becoming the eighth member of the East African Community (EAC), according to EAC Secretary-General Peter Mathuki. Mathuki announced that negotiations for Somalia's accession to the bloc will begin this year after a verification mission in January assessed Somalia's readiness. The negotiation report will be submitted to the Council of Ministers and ultimately to the Heads of State Summit, where Somalia is expected to be admitted as a member. Somalia's membership in the EAC would benefit both parties due to Somalia's connectivity to the Middle East and its diaspora in Europe and America.
Other headlines
UN Convention on disability rights ratified in Sudan
~60 people feared dead after a migrant boat was found off Cape Verde
Google to train 20,000 Nigerians in digital skills
M-Pesa mobile money service goes live in Ethiopia
SADC extends troop deployment to DRC and Mozambique
Xi Jinping to make state visit to South Africa for the BRICS summit
Ransom kidnappings thrive in South Africa as crime soars
UN forces in Mali speed up withdrawal as security deteriorates
Angola takes up one-year rotating presidency of regional bloc, SADC
Kenya bans 5 churches linked to Starvation Cult
🗺️ The rest of the world
Ships clogging the Panama Canal | Source: Sydney Morning Herald
🚢 Congestion in the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is looking a lot like Bukoto-Ntinda at 6 p.m. on a Monday evening. The Canal, which handles a third of all maritime trade between the Americas and Asia, is experiencing a backlog of ships due to an extended traffic restriction caused by drought. The traffic delays that have left several ships waiting in the water will likely increase cargo costs, which could get passed along to consumers during the holiday season. But never fear; you live in Africa, so your friend traveling from abroad is still your best bet for “international shipping.”
🇨🇳 Crisis? What crisis? In research science, one of the first posited reasons for the increase in the incidence of an event is “increased reporting.” Meaning you tend to find more of what you’re looking for. We assume China is adapting this logic to curb its apparently abysmal youth unemployment rate. The world’s most populous country, whose economy is grappling with deflation (see our previous writeup), has stopped publishing unemployment data for specific age groups to ostensibly hide the high youth unemployment rate.
🇷🇺 Russian ruble trouble. Russia's central bank raised interest rates from 8.5% to 12% last week in an emergency meeting, the highest rate since April 2022. This came one day after the ruble dropped past 100 against the US dollar. The decision to raise rates is likely due to war-related spending, a surge in domestic demand, a deteriorating trade position, reliance on imports, Western sanctions on Russia, and inflation, which currently stands at 4.4%. It’s almost like wars are costly. Who knew?
Nn’ebigenderako
Politics and Government
Deadly mudslides in India | US, S. Korea and Japan deepen ties
Business and Finance
It’s a good time to be an AI engineer
Swiss banking giant UBS to pay $1.4Bn in civil penalties
PayPal and Kraft Heinz get new CEOs
Science and Technology
OpenAI claims GPT-4 can be used for content moderation
A successful kidney transplant using a pig’s kidney
Apple won’t move the “end call” button after all
The recent room temperature superconductivity allegations were false
Sports
Neymar rides the Saudi football wave for 160 million euros
Spain won the Women’s World Cup
Lifestyle and Entertainment
Progress to end the Hollywood writers’ strike
Barbie has made more money than ‘The Dark Knight’
Jay-Z-themed library cards
Procrastination corner
Games and Puzzles
From Braingle.
In Handland the currency is fingers. What does the cost of the following sale item represent?
1 T-shirt
Normal price: 19 fingers
Sale price: 14 fingers
Answer at the bottom
Our picks
👶🏾 How to talk to children
🥤 The science behind carbonated beverages
🐽 The softest and most tender prime pork cuts for your next BBQ can be found here: +256703001409
🥰 Secrets from the world’s happiest man (no one asked us)
*This is sponsored advertising content
Games answer
Answer:
5 finger discount.
If you steal something, it is often called a five-finger discount.
Have a good week!
— Too Long; Didn’t Read (TLDR)
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