World Bank report says climate shocks could cut GDP growth by up to 3.1% unless urgent adaptation measures are taken COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | Uganda has set its economic development ambitions quite high. The country’s Vision 2040 blueprint lays out a bold goal: becoming an upper middle-income country …
Read More »DR Congo declares 16th Ebola outbreak
Health officials at WHO and Africa CDC are frank that case numbers may rise in the coming days as teams move from confirmation to containment Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | On 4 Sept. 4, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declared its 16th outbreak of Ebola virus disease since 1976, …
Read More »IGAD region pays price of climate inaction
Millions in East and Horn of Africa face hunger, thirst, and debt as rich nations fail to honour climate commitments NEWS ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | At dawn in Lokitoeang’aber, a village in Turkana County in northwestern Kenya, the air is dry, still, and heavy with dust. The cracked earth beneath …
Read More »Ham’s ‘godly’ dream for Nakivubo channel
Why contested redevelopment of Kampala’s critical drainage could lead to a not-smart city COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | On the morning of Monday, Aug. 18, the smartphones of many Ugandans lit up with a novel architectural design of Nakivubo Channel, one of Kampala’s most important rivers. In what …
Read More »Gold laundering capital?
Uganda bets on ICGLR’s mineral certification mechanism as it battles for legitimacy in the global gold market COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | For years, Uganda has carried the uncomfortable label of being “the gold laundering capital of Africa.” Watchdog reports, including investigations by the UN Panel on the Illegal Exploitation of …
Read More »Targeted, tracked, and silenced
New report details Uganda’s surveillance and spyware network that is endangering journalists and human rights activists COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | In July this year, investigative journalist, Canary Mugume of NBS Television, was attacked on his way home from work. It was late at night when a group of men …
Read More »Bots, bias, and ballots
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) dilemma facing Uganda’s newsrooms ahead of 2026 elections COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | As Uganda prepares for the 2026 general elections, the country’s journalism industry, upon which millions of voters depend to vote, finds itself at a crossroads, according to the Uganda chapter of the Africa …
Read More »New push for Uganda’s express penalty system
Controversy over delay to implement tech-driven traffic regulations enforcement system ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | A month after the government paused the Express Penalty System (EPS Auto) for review, road safety experts and activists are demanding its quicker-implementation. The road safety advocates are concerned that the EPS Auto system could easily …
Read More »Qcil pays Shs 19.8bn in taxes, eyes innovation-led growth
The company is establishing a R&D hub, aimed at ramping-up local pharmaceutical manufacturing Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Uganda’s pharmaceutical manufacturer, Quality Chemical Industries Limited (Qcil) paid Shs 19.8 billion in taxes to the government in 2025, up from Shs 15.1 billion a year earlier, following record growth in profits. …
Read More »New HIV prevention tools emerge as donor cuts threaten progress
Innovation, inclusion, and urgency define Kigali HIV conference ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | When the 13th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2025) concluded in Kigali after five dynamic days (July 13–17), delegates left with a mix of hope and concern—buoyed by scientific breakthroughs but unsettled by a deepening …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price