Sex can change everything. Jacqueline Uwera Nsenga, 36, was on September 23 convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of her husband, Juvenal Nsenga, 48.
According to the trial judge, Justice Duncan Gaswaga, “the convict had not enjoyed her marriage, especially in the last 10 or so years. This was a family matter that went out of hand.” Among other marital problems, court was informed that couple did not sleep in the same bed though they lived in the same house. They did not greet each other nor discuss or do things together as husband and wife.
It appears that there was a rivalrous love triangle where Jackie Uwera was competing with one Loretta Mutoni, 27, for the love of Juvenal Nsenga (deceased). Loretta was Mr Nsenga’s niece. She was orphaned at an early age and raised by the Nsengas since 2001. Sometime in 2011, Uwera became uncomfortable with Loretta’s continued stay at home and asked her to leave. This was after she noticed that Loretta had become an insolent child who dressed skimpy around her husband and often refused to greet or obey her. To make matters worse, Uwera intercepted an SMS text sent to Loretta by the deceased reading “I don’t hate you, I am just a little bit tired, I love you.”
Twelve days before Nsenga’s untimely death, Uwera was shocked to find Loretta back at the house. A frank discussion ensued among the three. Uwera reportedly said in an angry tone, “By the way I am capable of doing very many things that I myself am scared of the length I can go.” These are words she wishes to take back right now because court did not take them lightly in convicting her.
The lesson to take from this is not new. The English playwright and poet William Congreve (1670-1729) left us an eternal reminder: “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Sex is a huge requirement in a marriage, and there is a lot of damage that can come from its absence.
How well do you know your car? Personally I don’t know much about cars but what I am sure of is this: a car cannot automatically accelerate when “in parking” unless you move it to “drive”. Ms Nsenga testified that on the fateful night, she drove a Toyota Mark X. She parked it at the home gate, got out and rang the doorbell twice. This clearly implies that she must have left the car in “parking” or “neutral”. How then could she have accidentally stepped on the accelerator pedal causing the car to “jerk”? Does this make any sense to all of you who, like Ms Nsenga, have driven for 11 years?
However, I have heard that some people mistakenly press down hard on the “accelerator” pedal instead of the “brake” pedal hence causing accidents. While an anomaly of this kind might have been the cause of death of Uwera’s husband of 19 years, she did not know enough about her car to convince the trial judge. The lesson we should take from this is that all drivers, regardless of gender, are accountable for the actions of their cars.
Having read 698 pages of the testimony recorded by the High Court in the Nsenga case, one truth is inescapable. On January 10, 2013, at about 9:45pm, only two people - Juvenal Nsenga and his wife Jackie Uwera Nsenga - were at that green gate that kept out strangers from their matrimonial home located at Plot 6 Muzindaro Road in Bugolobi. It is not known whether they talked before the incident. So how did our learned friends arrive at the conclusion that Uwera had the intention to kill her husband when he came to open the gate?
Ms Nsenga’s lawyers (all male) argued that what happened on that fateful night was a deeply regrettable accident but court rejected that story and chose to believe evidence adduced by the prosecution lawyers (all female) in support of Juvenal Nsenga’s dying declaration (his last words before he died).
In my view, what we learn from Justice Gaswaga’s analysis is that malice aforethought (intention to kill) may be deduced or inferred from circumstances surrounding the killing in question. For instance, the accumulation of mistrust, hatred, frustration and threats in a marriage over a period of 10 years can result in the formation of a tinderbox which may constitute the bedrock of intention to kill one’s spouse. This should makes us all deeply concerned that by sleeping in separate bedrooms and indulging in other mundane beefs one may become the first suspect if, God forbid, anything happened to one’s spouse.
From a strictly feminist lawyer’s perspective, I am disappointed by the weak and unimpressive mitigation conducted on behalf of Ms Nsenga. Mitigation is that phase of a murder trial after pronouncement of a conviction where the convict is given a chance to provide reasons why he or she should receive a lenient sentence. With proper mitigation, I believe Nsenga could have gotten a lesser sentence than the 20 years imprisonment to which she was condemned.
At the end of the 10-week marathon trial, Justice Gaswaga held the firm and carefully considered view that the Nsengas had lived an estranged life. Yet Uwera and her lawyers downplayed the seriousness of the situation by referring to the chronic, grave and excruciating problems of the Nsenga marriage as “mere challenges”. This was plainly bad mitigation strategy because the trial judge had offered them an olive branch by finding that all these problems had had “a negative impact on Uwera’s life”.
She was the victim of unrequited love in a scornful love triangle between her husband and foster child. The inability of the unrequited lover to express and fulfil emotional needs may lead to feelings such as depression, low self-esteem, anxiety and rapid mood swings between depression and euphoria. I submit that the above feelings characterised Uwera’s state of mind on the fateful night. Given that justice must be tempered with mercy for unrequited lovers and other persons implicated in crimes of passion. In my view, the appropriate sentence for Jackie would have been 10 years imprisonment. And if she had pleaded guilty to manslaughter or even murder at the beginning of the trial, she could easily have gotten at least 6 years imprisonment.
Unfortunately, Uwera’s lawyers gave their mitigation as follows: that she is a first-time offender, who has two children and had been taking care of them by the time she was remanded, and so on and so forth. They also wasted time and resources arguing a futile point at the eleventh hour that there is no prescribed penalty for murder; a clearly erroneous view of the decision of the Supreme Court of Uganda in Susan Kigula versus Attorney General.
In that case, the Supreme Court explained that trial judges had discretion whether to issue a death sentence or imprisonment as the penalty for murder. It follows therefore that the best use of a lawyer’s services after conviction is to make a spirited and exhaustive mitigation but, unfortunately, this was not done for Ms Nsenga.

5TH ANNUAL EAST AFRICAN HEALTH AND SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE OPENS IN KAMPALA, UGANDA

...President Museveni Commends Partner States on Regional Centers of Excellence in the Health Sector

East African Community Headquarters, Kampala, Uganda, 25 March 2015: Uganda's Vice President His Excellency Edward Ssekandi this morning represented HE Yoweri Kaguta Museveni at the official opening of the 5th Annual East African Health and Scientific Conference and International Health Exhibition and Trade Fair at the Kampala Serena Hotel in Uganda.

In a statement read by his Vice, President Museveni commended the EAC Secretariat and the Partner States for initiating the process of establishing Regional Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in the Health sector namely Nephrology and Urology in the Republic Kenya, Oncology in the Republic of Uganda, Cardiovascular in the United Republic of Tanzania and Biomedical Engineering and eHealth in the Republic of Rwanda.

He said this initiative will enhance EAC Competitiveness through highly skilled health workforce in biomedical sciences and also enable the East African citizens access quality and specialized services within the region.

The first phase of the project is expected to cost USD 72.75 million and will be supported by the African Development Bank.  The CoEs are expected to deliver high quality and skilled personnel in the specialized fields and reduce medical tourism, which costs EAC Governments an estimated of USD 150 million annually for treatment of Non-Communicable Diseases abroad.

At the same occasion, the Deputy Secretary General of the East African Community in charge of the Productive and Social Sectors Hon. Jesca Eriyo, who represented the Secretary General Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera, informed the delegates that there was strong evidence that an investment in people's health was a key asset for society and for the economy as a whole.

"As you may be aware, the Health sector is also leading in creating Job opportunities and a driver of innovation and technology" noted Hon. Eriyo, adding that "As such, health systems strengthening have an important role in achieving Millennium Development Goals to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth in the Health Sector and Economy at Large.

The Deputy Secretary reiterated that the overarching goal of the EAC Health Sector Programme was to establish and sustain stronger regional health systems including health research institution. In this regard, the EAC official informed the delegates that, the Protocol for Establishment of the East African Community Health Research Commission (EACHRC) had been ratified by all the five Partner States and instruments of ratification have already been deposited with the EAC Headquarters.

She disclosed that the EAC Council of Ministers and the East African Legislative Assembly had already appropriated USD 924,067 in the EAC Budget for the current financial year (FY 2014/2015) to facilitate operationalization of the East African Health Research Commission in the Republic of Burundi.

Hon. Eriyo also disclosed that the Community had developed scorecard, tools and indicators to track results and resources through the open health initiative (OHI) and that a regional data warehouse for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health and nutrition had been developed and plans were underway to expand and include data for communicable and non-communicable diseases surveillance in order to strengthen integrated approaches for disease prevention, control and management.

Uganda's Minister of Health, Dr Ellioda Tumwesigye informed the delegates that Uganda was proud to host the conference, which was providing an opportunity and a platform for synthesizing, sharing and dissemination of research findings to inform policy makers and programmers on evidence-based decision-making and mobilization of political will and resources for the Health Sector.

Burundi's Minister in the office of the President Responsible for EAC Affairs Hon. Leontine Nzeyimana saluted the EAC Partner States for initiating the Annual East African Health and Scientific Conference and International Health Exhibition, and informed the delegates that her country had initiated several measures geared towards mother and child care which includes, among others, free treatment for mothers and children under the age of 5.

Zanzibar's Minister of Health Hon. Rashid Seif Suleiman said strengthening health care services especially primary health care in the rural areas was very critical in the region and that investing in infrastructure, human resources, diagonistic services in medicine was good but most important of all was how to deliver the health care services to the people in the region.

Health and Social Welfare Deputy Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania Hon. Dr. Kebwe Stephen Kebwe, who is also the Chairperson of the EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers responsible for Health, informed the conference that globally, 2015 was a special year for the health sector in taking stock of what had been achieved during the MDGs of which 3 goals (MDG 4, 5 and 6) were health related.

He said the Conference was an opportunity for the region to re-align itself to the post 2015 era with regard to the health sector. "As we review the progress made to date and share experiences in this conference, it is important that we renew our commitment towards enhancing health sector investments, strengthening of health systems and the attainment of Universal Health Coverage in the EAC", affirmed the Chairperson of the EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers responsible for Health.

He noted that the momentum on regional cooperation had reached a point of no return and the Partner States were working more closely than ever before to improve public health. "Apart from developing robust policies, we are implementing various provisions of the Common Market Protocol which seeks to enhance free movement of people, capital, services and goods across the region, thereby improving the environment for doing business in the health sector and beyond".

The Conference, themed Investing in Health through strengthening regional health systems, and institutions towards the prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases, is being attended by over 700 stakeholders.

In Staten Island, a 6-year-old who used to be proud to call himself Liberian now hesitates because of the teasing. His mother, Oretha Bestman-Yates, who had visited family in Africa last summer, was forced to go on unpaid leave at her hospital job, according to the New York Post.

And in Texas, where Thomas Duncan died and two healthcare workers contracted the Ebola virus, children of African families who were born in this country have been questioned by school authorities.

“A neighbor of mine said her daughter was called to the principal’s office to ask when she was last home,” said Carolyn Woahloe, 33 of Fort Worth. “She was born here, but has an African accent.”

The 13-year-old’s family was from Ghana, where there have been no reported cases. “We joke and laugh about it because she educated the principal that Ebola is not in every African country,” she told NBC News.

“You have to educate people,” said Woahloe, who is president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Liberian Nurses Association.

“The stigma is there,” she said. “Kids go to school and because they have African parents, a lot of their classmates make fun of them, their accents and how they dress.”

Woahloe's 10-year-old was born in the United States and attends a school with “lots of diversity,” she said. “He hasn’t really felt any discrimination, but he says, ‘I feel really bad for the African children.’ I say, ‘What do you think you are?’”

So far, only four people have been diagnosed in the United States with Ebola, a disease that has killed nearly 5,000 in the Western African countries of Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria since the outbreak earlier this year, according to the World Health Organization.

The WHO says Ebola has been contained in Senegal, from which Ousame Drame, the father of the boys who were beaten Oct. 24 in New York City, had recently immigrated.

Charles Cooper, who is president of the African Advocacy Council in New York, said he was “shocked” to hear of the beatings and called for the Bronx school to take action. 

The sixth-grader was punched and kicked the concrete first and when he screamed for help, his brother ran across the playground to help and was also attacked, according to Cooper.

“We have been hearing lots of stories and I am glad this family came forward to ask for help,” Cooper said. “This is affecting the African economy in New York City. They’ve lost a lot of business because their usual customers don’t want to go to them.”

The boys’ father said his sons had been bullied for several weeks before the incident.

“Eventually, a staff member realized what had happened and grabbed them,” Cooper told NBC News. “The injuries were so severe they were bleeding with knocks on their heads and on their arms and legs. They were kicking and punching them and they were screaming.”

New York City’s Department of Education had this response to the incident Monday: “…we are investigating and we take this matter very seriously. DOE school safety staff are on site today to mediate this incident and ensure the 

safety and support of these students, school staff and their families.”

Other predominantly African communities say they have not seen the kind of bullying incidents that occurred in New York City and elsewhere. Samuel Sampson, president of the Liberation Nurses Association of Minnesota, said his group has launched an awareness campaign to preempt any hate crimes.

“Folks are coming in every day from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, but we don’t have to treat them like second-class citizens,” said Sampson. “And kids going to school don’t have to be disrespected just because they are African immigrants.”

The researchers, from the University of East Anglea (UEA) in the UK, publish their results in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

According to the team, ovarian cancer affects over 6,500 women in the UK and 20,000 women in the US each year. Epithelial ovarian cancer - the most common form of the disease - is where the cancer begins in the surface layer covering the ovary.

This type of cancer "remains a highly lethal malignancy," note the researchers, adding that few modifiable risk factors have been established.

However, some previous studies have suggested that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables may be associated with a decreased risk, but subsequent studies have produced inconsistent findings.

Plants contain flavonoids that adjust key cellular signaling pathways and regulate cancer-inflammation pathways, note the team, which suggests flavonoids might be the compounds in plants that could reduce ovarian cancer risk.

Flavonoids include flavonols - found in tea, red wine, apples and grapes - and flavanones - found in citrus fruit and juices.

'Just a couple cups of black tea daily linked with a 31% reduction in risk'

To further investigate the link between flavonoid intake and ovarian cancer risk, the researchers studied dietary habits of 171,940 women aged between 25-55 as part of the Nurses' Health Study and Nurses' Health Study II over the course of 3 decades.

"This is the first large-scale study looking into whether habitual intake of different flavonoids can reduce the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer," says lead author Prof. Aedin Cassidy, from UEA's Norwich Medical School.

To calculate the participants' dietary intake, the researchers analyzed validated food-frequency questionnaires that were collected every 4 years and found that main dietary sources of flavonols were black tea (31%), onions (20%) and apples, while the main sources for flavanones were citrus fruit (36%; 27% from orange intake) and juices (63%; 54% from orange juice).

During the 16-22 years of follow-up, the researchers found that there were a total of 723 cases of medically confirmed ovarian cancer.

Results show that participants who had the highest intakes of flavonol and flavanone had a lower risk of developing epithelial ovarian cancer than those who had the lowest intakes.

The research team, from the University of Montreal's School of Public Health in Canada, publish their findings in the journal Cancer Epidemiology.

According to the researchers, the link between sexual activity and prostate cancer risk remains controversial. Some studies have associated high sexual activity with a greater risk of the disease, while others have suggested the opposite.

In this study, the team set out to determine whether the number of sexual partners men have throughout their lifetime influences their risk of prostate cancer.

They analyzed 3,208 men who were part of the Prostate Cancer & Environment Study (PROtEuS) in Montreal, Canada. Of these, 1,590 were diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2005 and 2009, while the remaining 1,618 men were free of the disease.

As part of this study, all men were required to complete a questionnaire that asked about their sexual activity, as well as sociodemographic, environmental and lifestyle factors.

28% lower prostate cancer risk among men who slept with more than 20 women

The team was not surprised to find that men who had a relative with prostate cancer were twice as likely to have the disease themselves. A family history of prostate cancer is a well-established risk factor.

However, the researchers found that a man's prostate cancer risk also appeared to be influenced by the number of sexual partners he had in his lifetime.

Men who reported never having a sexual partner were twice as likely to develop prostate cancer than those who reported having sexual partners.

However, the team found that men who had slept with more than 20 women in their lives had a 28% lower risk of developing all types of prostate cancer and a 19% lower risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer, compared with those who had slept with fewer than 20 women.

Archbishop Stanley Ntagali has been dragged to the High court for allegedly forcing former Kitgum Bishop Benjamin Ojwanga into early retirement.

Rev Canon Samuel Obol, Rev Laban Awor, Canon Omony Ogabo and Arthur Katongole last week asked court to allow them to file a representative suit against Ntagali, the board of trustees of the Church of Uganda and the house of bishops.

In their application, they allege that last month, at the urging of the house of bishops, Ntagali ordered Ojwanga to retire prematurely from his position.

“There are thousands of Christians in Kitgum diocese and in the church of Uganda generally who are opposed to the unlawful actions and the decisions of the respondents to remove the Right Rev Ojwanga from his office as the bishop of Kitgum diocese or any other bishop for that matter without following the cannons of Uganda, the laws of Uganda and the principles of natural justice,” the application reads.

Through Opwonya and company advocates, they say that ever since Ojwanga was elected bishop of Kitgum in the year 2000, some clergy were not happy with his election.

According to the four, in the recent past, many dioceses of the Church of Uganda have been experiencing restlessness caused by sections of Christians pushing for the removal of their bishops since some have been removed prematurely for various reasons.

In his affidavit in support of the application, Rev Obol, the lead applicant, says his passion is to help prevent the Church of Uganda from imploding due to internal contradictions.

“The instability has been created because the tenure of bishops is not clear, which has led several Christians to revolt. When some rebellious Christians generate pressure in various dioceses, they demand the removal of their leaders hence sometimes the church doesn’t follow set rules,” Obol states.

The applicants want court to issue a permanent injunction restraining Ntagali from installing Benoni Ogwalo as a caretaker bishop in Kitgum.

Source: Observer.ug