After their meeting of March 23, 2010, Abazzukulu ba Buganda wrote a strong open letter to Katikkiro JB Walusimbi, demanding that he reverses his recent decisions and announcements in connection with the damaged Kasubi tombs. Abazzukulu ba Buganda is the best-known and most consistent Buganda nationalist pressure group. They are known to be fully independent of Mmengo.

In brief, the Luganda open letter by Abazzukulu says that  the arrangements which Katikkiro Walusimbi and has made in connection with repairing Kasubi are dangerous to Buganda. That they will not be tolerated and must be cancelled immediately for the reasons below:

1. Restoring the royal tombs must be led by those concerned with culture, the Abataka (clan leaders). The Katikkiro is only an administrator who should work to support the Bataka and carry out their decisions.
2. The various committees that Mmengo has formed for Kasubi have history of failure. They failed on other kingdom projects, including Bulange Plaza, Iand others. Muzibu-Azaalampanga is owned by Buganda and the Katikkiro must not tell us what to do.
3. Muzibu-Azaalampanga must be restored first before anything else is done at the Kasubi Nabulagala tombs compound.
4. Forget about closing off the tombs site. The Baganda you are trying to lock out are responsible for doing all the work on the tombs through their clans. Why do you seem to believe that you know it all and can call in Baganda only to show them what to do?
5. You must immediately stop working under the orders of foreign donors such UNESCO. Such organizations came to us because we had achievements to show. We shall not change our way of life to please UNESCO and our so-called friends.
6. Forget the idea of modernizing the royal tombs. The tombs are our cultural treasure, which we must jealously guard. The Baganda blood that we spilt a few days ago was not a joke. If you want to build modern structures, do it at Kakeeka Mmengo in Muteesa I Royal University, where you are currently teaching our children under tarpaulin tents.
7. In summary, do not too much and put yourself at risk since the Buganda nation is very angry. Your arrangements look like they are based on a plan to destroy Buganda. Don’t put yourself in that situation.

The full Luganda open letter is reproduced below:

OLUKIIKO LW’ABAZZUKULU BA BUGANDA

23.03.2010

EBBALUWA EY’OLWATU ERI KATIKKIRO J B WALUSIMBI

Olukiiko lw’Abazzukulu ba Buganda olutudde nga 23.03.2010, lwetegerezza entekateeka yo ku kuzzaawo “Amasiro” gyewayanjulidde Obuganda. Enteekateeka eyo tugizuddemu obulabe obw’amaanyi era bwetutasobola kugumiikiriza. Bino wammanga tukusaba bituukirizibwe mbagirawo:

1. Okukwasa omulimo ogwo be kikwatako ng’eNnono yaffe bweragira. Abataka be bannanyini nsonga eno era nga bo be balina okukola enteekateeka, gwe Katikkiro n’okola kusinziira ku bye basazeewo, bwe baba tebakontana na Nnono. Olwo gwe n’oyambako kukunga bazzukulu baabwe n’Obuganda bwonna mu kutuukiriza omulimo ogwo. N’olwekyo tukusaba ossattulule ebikiikokiiko by’otaddewo nti bye birina enkizo mu kukola omulimo ogwo.
2. Okusazaamu ekirango ky’oyimbirira nti Obuganda bugira buleka okuleeta ebikozesebwa buleete sente zokka nga bwe bulinda Entegeka yo. Obukiiko n’enteekateeka zammwe “ez’ekikugu” zisooke kutulaga kye zikoze okumaliriza Bulange Plaza, Twekobe n’ebirala, ziryoke z‘esigibwe. Obuganda tebisobola kulinda ng’eno ba Ssekabaka bwe bakubwa enkuba n’okwaakako omusana. Okuleeta kw’ebikozesebwa ng’essubi, n’emmuli ammangu dala ng’ekikangabwa ky’akagwa ku Buganda kisaanye okukulaga Abaganda bwe batwalamu ensonga y’okuzzaawo Muzibu Azaala Mpanga era n’obwangu bwe baagala omulimo ogwo gukolebwe. Sebo Obuganda bunnannyini Muzibu-Azaalampanga bwe buteekwa okukulaga n’okukubuulira eby’okukola so si ggwe.
3. Okutandikira ku kuzzaawo Muzibu -Azaala –Mpanga nga tonaba kukola Kintu kyonna kirala mu Masiro ge Kasubi Nabulagala. Mu ntegeka yo walaze nti ogenda kusooka kuggyawo buli kitatuukana na gw’otwaala ng ‘Omutindo’ mu masiro olwo oly’oke osembyeyo Muzibu… Amasiro obutaba ku mutindo si ky’ekiruma Obuganda essaawa eno. Obwetaavu bw’Abaganda buli mu kuzzaawo Muzibu-Azaalampanga amangu dala. Amalala  g’omutindo gebaakutaddemu gegira galindako. N’olwekyo teweetantala kukola Kintu kyonna nga Muzibu tannaddawo nga bweyabadde.
4. Sebo eky’okuggala Amasiro kiviireko dala kubanga Abaganda b’ogenda okuggalira ebweru be bannanyini kukola mulimo mu bika byabwe, bw’oba tootwalibwe ng’ayagala okulemesa omulimo. Lwaki oyagala okutulowozesa nti ogenda kubayita buyisi obalage omulimo oguwedde nga bo be bettanira okugwekolera?
5. Osaanidde ove ku ky’okukolera ku biragiro oba obukwakkulizo bw’abagabi b’obuyambi nga UNESCO. Twasooka kubeera kye tuli “mikwaano gyaffe” egyo ne giryoka gitwagala. Atatwagala tubeere nga bwe tuteekwa atuveeko. Tetulina kukyuusa kyaffe nakimu ku lw’okusanyusa UNESCO ne “mikwano” gyaffe emirala.
6. Eky’okuteeka amasiro ku “Mutindo” kyerabire. Amasiro ago kya buwangwa bwaffe kye tulina okukuuma obutiribiri.  Omusaayi ogwayiise tegwabadde gwakusaagamu busaazi. Oli wa ddembe okuzimba ebintu binji nnyo obiteeke ku “Mutindo” bwe bitaba bya buwangwa oba bya byafaayo ng’amasiro. Omutindo osobola okugwoleseza mu kuzimba ebizimbe by’omutindo wali e Kakeeka Mmengo ku Muteesa I Royal University abaana baffe gye basomera mu weema (tent) ng’ate ettendekero eryo liri mu mikonogyo.

Mu bufunze, tukusaba oleme kwemenya na kweteeka mu kabenje kubanga Obuganda bunyiivu nnyo. Enteekateekaayo ekwataganira dala bulungi n’enteekateka y’okusanyawo buli kantu akalaga nti waaliwo obwakabaka bwa Buganda obw’amaanyi, obwefuga. Tukusaba oleme kugwa mu ttuluba eryo.

M.Jjunju Kamulali
(Ssentebe)
Wangaala Buganda
Awangale Ssabasajja

Below is a statement from Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise executive director, Dr. Alan Bernstein.  The Enterprise (http://www.hivvaccineenterprise.org) is a global alliance of researchers, funders, policy makers and advocates that includes the African AIDS Vaccine Program, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), the AIDS Vaccine Asian Network, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology, the Chinese AIDS Vaccine Initiative, the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD), the Department for International Development, the European Commission, Europrise, Eurovacc, GlaxoSmithKline, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), Merck & Co. Inc., the National Agency for AIDS Research (ANRS), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Novartis Vaccines, sanofi pasteur, the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI), the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP), UNAIDS, USAID, Vaccine Research Center (VRC), Wellcome Trust and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Dr. Bernstein is available to speak with journalists to help put the Thai trial results into perspective and to comment on their significance for the future of HIV vaccine research.  To interview Dr. Bernstein, please contact Mark Aurigemma at (212) 600-1960, (646) 270-9451 or mark@aucomm.net; or Jennifer Brunet at (212) 46i-3693 or jbrunet@vaccineenterprise.org.

“This is a historic day in the 26-year quest to develop an AIDS vaccine.  The results of the Thai Phase III HIV vaccine clinical trial of the “prime-boost” combination of ALVAC-HIV vaccine and AIDSVAC B/E vaccine demonstrate that a safe and effective AIDS vaccine is an achievable goal. This trial is the first demonstration in humans that, with more research, it will be possible to develop a vaccine that is fully protective against HIV.

These results represent the most significant advance in HIV vaccine research to date, and a ray of hope for the more than 2.7 million women, men and children who become newly infected with HIV every year across the globe.  Current prevention efforts can lower HIV risk, but a safe and effective vaccine will be essential to ending this epidemic.

We owe an enormous debt of thanks to the people of Thailand, and especially to the more than 16,000 women and men who selflessly participated in this clinical trial. This significant scientific milestone – the first vaccine study to reduce HIV infections in humans – would not have been reached without their engagement and the efforts of the trial sponsors – Enterprise stakeholders including the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP), the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and sanofi pasteur – as well as the Thailand Ministry of Public Health and Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases (GSID).

The reduction in HIV infection risk measured in this study, 31.2 percent, was modest, but raises important implications for future research directions. HIV vaccine researchers, funders and advocates must now continue to work together, as quickly and effectively as possible, to understand why this vaccine regimen worked as it did, how its efficacy can be improved, whether and how it may work in other parts of the world, and how to develop new vaccine candidates that expand on the level of protection achieved here.

This study also demonstrates the importance of global cooperation and collaboration – the central values of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise – in accelerating the search for a safe and effective HIV vaccine.  Researchers, advocates, funders and policy makers are working together through the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise process to develop and test new vaccine candidates. Full data from the Thai trial will be presented at the Enterprise’s annual scientific conference, AIDS Vaccine 2009, in Paris on October 19-22. http://www.hivvaccineenterprise.org/conference/2009/

Finally, these results are an immediate call to action to governments, funders, policy makers, researchers and advocates to dramatically step up our efforts to develop and make globally available a safe and effective HIV vaccine. Stakeholders of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise will continue to lead this fight, but developing a safe and effective AIDS vaccine will require the full and collective efforts of every individual and organization worldwide committed to ending this devastating epidemic.

Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise partners will be working aggressively in the months ahead to address the many scientific questions raised by this study, and to develop and test other vaccine candidates.  The findings of this trial will also help inform strategies outlined in the updated Enterprise Scientific Strategic Plan, the global strategy for HIV vaccine research currently being developed by over 150 scientists from around the world, to be released in spring 2010.

We look forward to hosting the ongoing discussion of results of this trial and the discussion of next steps in the journey to find an AIDS vaccine at the AIDS Vaccine 2009 conference in Paris, October 19-22.

Uganda is on the forefront of a new initiative in Africa from the Global Humanitarian Forum. The new program was launched at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction meeting in Geneva. This new project intends to deploy 5,000 automatic weather stations across Africa mounted on mobile phone masts. These weather stations will gather data such as rainfall and wind conditions and distribute the information to national weather agencies across the continent. The first 19 stations have been established around Lake Victoria in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Kofi Annan, former U.N. chief and current president of the Global Humanitarian Forum, said, “The world’s poorest are also the world’s most vulnerable when it comes to the impact of climate change, and the least equipped to deal with its consequences.” He went on to add, “Today you find cell phone towers in almost every part of Africa. We have never been able to establish weather monitoring on that scale, until now.”

Today about 70% of income in Africa is from farming, most of which relies on natural rainfall. However, up to know the ability to accurately predict rainfall and wind patterns has not been available to the majority of farmers. In comparison to Europe’s thousands, the entire continent only has about 200 weather stations.