☎️ Check your land title

January 01, 2024

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Happy New Year 🎉 Welcome to a special edition of TLDR Weekly. There’s a smidge of news to ensure you’re not entirely lost during this holiday purgatory, plus many links to send you down rabbit holes. This issue will go well with your leftovers.

Have a great year!

—Gloria Mbabazi, Shem Opolot

HEADLINES
☎️ Check your land title

The Ugandan government halted the processing of applications to convert customary land in the Acholi sub-region to freehold titles. This follows legal guidance from the Attorney General advising such transactions to be paused pending investigations by a verification committee into land ownership issues in the area.

Customary land is traditionally owned communally by ethnic groups, while freehold titles grant perpetual individual ownership rights. 

There have been increasing concerns about “powerful individuals” irregularly acquiring large swaths of customary land, displacing indigenous people. The influx of cattle-keeping Balaalo herders from western Uganda has also caused conflicts. While some Balaalo legally bought and fenced land, others are accused of intimidating locals to sell cheaply or destroy gardens. 

The verification process will examine the legitimacy of ownership claims by those seeking to register acquired customary land as freehold. If irregularities are found, freehold applications will not be approved. While the Attorney General clarified this guidance was specific to Acholi due to ongoing issues there, customary land problems exist countrywide and might come knocking on your doorstep soon. New year, same Uganda.

🚗 Expressway

The Kampala-Entebbe Expressway, Uganda's first tolled road, is operated and maintained by Egis Road Operation on behalf of the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA). As of December 28, 2023, a total of Shs. 75 billion in toll fees had been collected since tolling began on January 8, 2022. All revenue is collected by Egis and passed directly to UNRA. Chinese contractor China Communications Construction Company constructed the 26.2 km expressway for $350 million. Different vehicle classes pay varying toll amounts between Shs. 3,000 to Shs. 18,000 per trip, and UNRA has also introduced discounted 'Upesi cards' for regular users. The toll fees collected are used to repay the loan to fund the expressway project. 
A debate for your lunchtime: UNRA should publicly trade the road and allow Ugandans to invest in its maintenance once the loan is paid off. Start this debate at lunch today. Discuss.

EAST AFRICA

President Yoweri Museveni with Sudan's RSF leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo at Rwakitura in Kiruhura District, Uganda | Source: PPU

🇸🇩 Hemedti making rounds. While you were sunbathing in a food coma, a prominent Sudanese rebel leader was making rounds around the region. Sudan's Rapid Support Forces Commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti) recently made trips to Uganda and Ethiopia in a rare appearance outside Sudan, signaling an attempt to undermine his rival Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. While ostensibly seeking peace talks, Hemedti's trips show he feels confident in Sudan's ongoing civil war against the army. However, peace efforts have stalled as both sides commit atrocities and fighting enters its ninth month.

🇧🇮 Burundi's President attacks Rwanda. President Evariste Ndayishimiye accused neighboring Rwanda of backing the rebel group RED-Tabara, which Burundi blames for a deadly attack near its border with the DRC last week that killed 20 people. However, Rwanda denies the accusations. RED-Tabara emerged in Burundi in 2011 and has an estimated 500-800 fighters based in eastern DRC. Relations between Burundi and Rwanda have been strained in recent years due to Burundi's involvement in joint operations against rebels in eastern DRC. While ties had improved after Ndayishimiye took office in 2020, tensions flared up amid Burundi's claims of Rwandan support for RED-Tabara rebels conducting attacks within its borders.

THE REST OF AFRICA

🇿🇦 SA draws a line in the sand. South Africa (SA) filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. While SA is requesting that the court order Israel to halt its ongoing military operations, Israel strongly rejects the genocide accusations.

The case, which provides an opportunity for the highest UN court to scrutinize Israel's actions using the Genocide Convention, will likely take years. Still, the court may issue an interim order in the coming weeks or months. South Africa argues Israel is violating international law and committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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THE REST OF THE WORLD

🌐 Marriage isn’t easy, even for businesses. Global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) fell to their lowest level in over a decade in 2023, totaling $2.87 trillion, according to the London Stock Exchange Group. This represents a 17% decline driven by economic uncertainty and tight financing markets. The US saw a smaller 6% decline to $1.36 trillion, aided by some large late-year deals. Private equity buyouts fell nearly 30%. Japan was the only region to see increased M&A activity, up 32%, led by Toshiba's $14 billion acquisition. Deals under $500 million, which make up most deals, declined 27% in dollar value and 6% in number. The largest announced deals of 2023 were ExxonMobil's $65 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron's $60 billion deal for Hess Corp. Feel poor yet?

🇷🇺 The biggest Russian assault. Russia launched a major aerial attack on Ukrainian targets with around 122 missiles and drones on December 29th, according to Ukraine.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • The attack hit multiple cities across Ukraine, including Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa.

  • At least 30 civilians were killed in the attacks, which struck residential buildings and critical infrastructure.

  • Photos from the scene show damaged and destroyed buildings, debris in streets, and firefighters battling fires in apartments hit by missiles.

  • According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the attack was one of the largest since the beginning of the war in February 2022.

Also…

The New York Times is suing Microsoft and OpenAI for using their articles without permission to train AI chatbots, resulting in a potential loss of revenue. Other parties, including major authors, have also filed similar lawsuits against OpenAI.

An Israeli airstrike on a house in the Gaza city of Khan Younis killed 20 Palestinians who were sheltering there after being displaced from their homes. The Palestinian health ministry said the death toll in Gaza from Israeli attacks since October 7th has risen to over 21,000.

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, heiress to the L'Oréal beauty empire founded by her grandfather, has become the first woman to amass a $100 billion fortune according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index

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NN’EBIGENDERAKO
For your browsing pleasure

To round out the year, here are a few excuses to send you down a rabbit hole on the internet:

The year’s strangest Guinness World Records

Science developments to watch out for in 2024

3 minutes of the best GoPro videos from 2023

81 scientific facts that’ll blow your mind

Games and Puzzles

From Braingle.
Touched by fire, I am bright.
Constant use changes my height.
Alive at night, out all day,
Use me too much, and I will disappear away.

Answer at the bottom.

Games answer

Answer: A candle.

Happy New Year!

— Too Long; Didn’t Read (TLDR)

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