For policymakers, the clock is ticking on a choice between continuing an expensive experiment or rewriting the rules of Uganda’s mineral wealth Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | For years, Uganda’s decision to give gold special treatment in its tax regime has been defended as an investment incentive. The idea …
Read More »Asia-Pacific Media Forum unveils consensus on shared prosperity
SHENZHEN | Xinhua | A consensus on jointly promoting the prosperity and development of the Asia-Pacific region was unveiled at the Asia-Pacific Media Forum, which kicked off on Saturday in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province. More than 400 representatives from over 40 countries and regions, as well as from …
Read More »Regional experts call for rethinking age of consent as Uganda struggles with teenage pregnancies
Kampala, Uganda | NEWS CORRESPONDENT | Regional sexual and reproductive health experts have called for a closer examination of age-of-consent laws and how they affect adolescents’ access to healthcare, arguing that legal and administrative barriers can prevent young people from obtaining the information and services they need to avoid …
Read More »China’s new Uganda
China-Uganda ties are moving beyond infrastructure, raising questions over who captures the value Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | Mariam, a woman in her late twenties, works at Nice Textiles Uganda Limited inside the Sino-Uganda Mbale Industrial Park. Her work begins with thread and ends with fabric. “Here, …
Read More »Uganda gives its oil a name. Now it has to find a market
20 years after the discovery announcement, ‘Pearl Sweet’ marks the moment Uganda’s crude moves from political promise to commercial test Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | After almost 20 years of waiting, Uganda has finally given its oil a name. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni unveiled the name “Pearl Sweet” …
Read More »Nine days of mourning: What is happening in Tooro Kingdom
Tooro Kingdom is observing nine days of traditional mourning, known as okugaragara, following the death of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. The period runs until his burial on September 12. Among the key activities and traditions being observed are: Royal drum turned upside down: The royal drum has …
Read More »Best Kemigisa: She buried her husband, a king, and now her son, King Oyo
She had been both mother and guardian to a boy whose childhood was lived under the gaze of a kingdom COVER STORY | THE INDEPENDENT | The first time Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, 59, accompanied a king home in death, she was a young widow. It was …
Read More »Refinery rivalry: billion‑dollar oil projects expose East Africa’s long‑running regional tensions
INTERVIEW | East Africa, a region that has been working to deepen economic integration for more than 25 years, has a history of disagreements about the location of energy infrastructure. Uganda discovered oil in 2006 with the potential to pump an estimated 210,000 to 230,000 barrels of oil per day at peak …
Read More »RMB use expands in Africa amid growing financial connectivity, trade
NAIROBI | Xinhua | China’s currency, the renminbi (RMB), is playing a bigger role in Africa as trade with the continent flourishes. From the launch of direct RMB settlement services in Tanzania to expanded connectivity with the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) in Kenya and Namibia, as well as …
Read More »The tragedy of Tooro
Reflections on King Oyo’s Death and Tooro’s Lowest Life Expectancy COMMENT | NNANDA KIZITO SSERUWAGI | On the night of August 27, 2026, social media broke news of the death of Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, the King of Tooro, at a hospital in the United States. …
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