the KING of Toro Oyo nyimba Kabamba Iguru has turned 20 and his birthday will been privately celebrated in the UK, the kingdom’s information minister, Arthur Namara says.
Oyo ascended to the throne when he was only three years old after the death of his father, Patrick Olimi Kaboyo.
However, as has always been the case, Oyo is not celebrating his 20th birthday with his subjects because he is away studying.
Namara said the king is busy with studies at Manchester University in the UK and the queen mother, Best Kemigisa, flew out recently to prepare a private party for him.
He, however, said it will be a closed party. King Oyo’s sister, Ruth Komuntale, will be among the people in attendance. Namara said the king’s subjects in Toro will only congratulate him in October when he comes back to celebrate Empango.
“We cannot combine the two functions of Empango and his birthday, but we shall congratulate him upon making 20 years,” Namara added.
Oyo was born on 16 April 1992 to King Patrick David Mathew Kaboyo Olimi III and Queen Best Kemigisa Kaboyo and he is the 12th ruler of the 180-year old Kingdom of Toro.
Meanwhile, preparations for the wedding of Toro’s Princess, Ruth Komuntale, to her American fiancé, Thomas Christopher, have kicked off. The wedding is set for July 14 at St. John’s Cathedral in Fort Portal.
President Yoweri Museveni is one of the high-ranking guests expected to attend, alongside friends of the kingdom and cultural leaders.
Linda Makulima, a member of the organising committee, said the wedding will be preceded by a traditional introduction ceremony on July 12, at the home of Charles Kamurasi, the princess’ paternal uncle and head of the ruling Babiito clan.
King Oyo's sister komutaale
According to the Toro culture, King Oyo Nyimba will not attend the traditional introduction ceremony of his elder sister. Komuntale, 23, is presently in the US and will graduate next month from the American University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Her fiancé Christopher is a student at the same university.
As part of the wedding activities, a charity has been set up for Princess Komuntale to raise funds to support women, orphans, children and the elderly, as well as renovating the old palaces in Toro kingdom.
According to Derek Karamagi, a kingdom official, an account has been opened in Bank of Africa, Jinja Road branch, account number 01236530007, with the title “Princess Fund.”
The kingdom aims to raise sh2b and has appealed for contributions from the pu
Ayoub mzee with HON GORDON BROWN FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER
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| Press release
Thursday 14 June 2012
For immediate use
Empowering Communities to Improve Transport
Labour has today launched a Policy Review document on Empowering Communities to Improve Transport.
Passengers could benefit from improvements to the quality and affordability of local transport if communities were given greater control over how services are delivered, according to findings from Labour’s Policy Review. Labour’s transport team has been looking at the experience of countries including the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, where local and regional transport authorities have significantly greater powers and control over funding, enabling them to plan and integrate services. Labour’s Policy Review is looking at what lessons could be learnt for the transport system across England and specifically how other parts of the country could improve public transport if they had ‘London-style’ powers over local and regional bus, tram and rail services including the ability to set fares, protect services, integrate timetables and introduce ‘Oyster-style’ smart multi-modal multi-operator ticketing. Ideas emerging from this work include strengthening the powers of the existing Integrated Transport Authorities while encouraging and incentivising other city regions to look at the benefits from developing similar models of governance; supporting transport authorities that wish to use the legal powers introduced by Labour to re-regulate bus services by giving the Secretary of State a new power to specify an area as a Deregulation Exemption Zone; and bringing all the various strands of bus funding together into a single pot, devolved to transport authorities. Labour is also looking at increasing accountability over regional transport by enabling transport authorities to forge regional partnerships to take on responsibility for rail services and funding for major transport schemes (as an alternative to the Government’s proposals to hand over this funding and responsibility to LEPs); and enabling the review of the Highways Agency to explore the potential for devolving more of the road network and relevant funding to the regions. Maria Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said: "Many communities feel that they have little influence over the local transport on which many depend. It can prove impossible to prevent the loss of a much valued bus service or improve the condition of a local train station. Services often do not join up and the absence of integrated ticketing and co-ordinated time tables put barriers in the way of making use of public transport. The nature of the privatised train industry and deregulated bus market outside London make it difficult to influence decision-making, not least over the loss of services and increases in fares. "Labour’s Policy Review has heard how we should also have been more willing to tackle the consequences of the Tories’ disastrous privatisation of the rail industry and deregulation of bus services outside London. Passengers have been left frustrated by the lack of any influence in decisions over services and fares. Many increasingly feel priced off public transport with consequences for their quality of life as well as for congestion and the environment. "The Tory-led Government’s decision to cut transport funding too far and too fast has made this situation worse with one in five supported bus services already lost and inflation-busting increases in rail and bus fares filling the gap in funding. Transpo rt is now the single biggest monthly cost for many households, greater even than mortgage or rent payments. "I am clear that we need a new approach that enables people to have a real influence over the local transport services on which they depend. I want to see the rest of England benefit from London-style powers to manage bus and train services in the way that can make integrated transport a reality. It’s time that fares and services were agreed not with profits but with passengers in mind. A real commitment to devolving powers and funding over transport will require a cultural change away from the ‘Whitehall knows best’ approach. It will mean being willing to take on the vested interests in the private train and bus companies that benefit from the current system. "Labour has listened to the call for more accountability over how decisions are taken over local transport fares and services. It is clear that without greater support to intervene in the local b us market, take responsibility for local and regional rail services and make the strategic decisions over investment in major local transport schemes, communities will not be able to match London’s ability to deliver high quality reliable and affordable integrated transport networks."
Cllr David Wood, Chair, Tyne & Wear Integrated Transport Authority said:
"Tyne and Wear residents and businesses tell us that a more integrated bus network with consistent standards across all services with fewer service changes and cuts are what are needed to halt the current decline in bus use. I strongly believe that we can do more to imp rove bus services with the many millions of pounds of public money currently channelled into the bus operators with a greater ability to regulate fares, routes and service standards."
Cllr James Lewis, Chair, West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority said:
"The North would be able to have a much greater say over the operation and future development of rail services if the franchise was devolved out of London. Key service and investment decisions will be made much closer to the communities we serve and tied into our need to boost economic growth and jobs. Local planning will make integrating trains with buses, trams, cycling a nd other modes much easier."
Stephen Joseph OBE, Chief Executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said:
"One of the big challenges in transport is how to make our transport system work for local communities. Transferring responsibility down from central government down to local or regional structures could mean simply passing the buck, so it is very welcome that the Labour Party is seriously looking at what needs to be done differently to make decentralisation work in practice. Local communities need to know that they can make a difference and deliver a decent high quality transport system."
Ends
Editor's Notes:
1. Please click here to download ‘Empowering Communities to Improve Transport', Labour's Policy Review document. 2. Labour's Policy Review is a comprehensive process of discussion, engagement and policy development. 3. Work undertaken as part of the Policy Review will feed into Partnership into Power, the democratic process by which Labour develops its policy programme.
4. Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Maria Eagle MP will launch the policy document ‘Empowering Communities to improve transport’ during a visit to Newcastle on Thursday 14th June 2012. She will meet the Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority and hear about plans to pursue greater powers to improve bus services and, in partnership with other ITAs, to take on responsibility for regional rail services.
5. Members of the shadow frontbench transport team have visited France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark in the past month to learn from their experience of devolving transport to cities and regions.
Case studies:
• A partnership approach to delivering high quality bus services in Copenhagen, Denmark Movia, the Greater Copenhagen Transit Authority, delivers a high quality bus network through a fully tendered system. While operators remain responsible for drivers, rostering, buses, depots and service quality, it is the elected transport authority that manages fares, timetables and marketing. Services are tendered on six year contracts with options for extensions if incentivised quality targets are met. Both Movia and the largest operator Arriva believe that the incentivised tendered service model has acted as a catalyst for partnership working and led to improved passenger satisfaction and an improved image for both transport authority and private company. • Devolving rail services to the region, enabling integration with local transport in Skåne, Sweden Skånetrafiken, the transport body covering Sweden’s southernmost region of Skåne, is responsible for transport within the capital Malmö and across the region. The ability to coordinate train, bus and cycle routes has enabled the regional authority to develop strong identifiable branded transport services and passenger surveys show that 8 out of 10 customers are satisfied with the public transport in the region. The ability to develop and implement a regional transport strategy has seen the number of car journeys fall from 52% of all journeys in 2003 to 41% in 2008 with equivalent big increases in rail, bus and bicycle traffic recorded in the region. Through control of rail services, the region has been able to drive forward a strategy to improve connectivity including a new rail ring line around the City and construction of a City Tunnel enabling direct services from Denmark to reach the centre of Malmö city centre via the Öresund Bridge, boosting the region’s economy, supporting jobs and growth. 6. Department for Transport Bus Statistics Source: Department for Transport Bus Statistics Table BUS0103 October 2011http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/tables/bus0103.xls |
