BLOGS

COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI |  In a little over a week, on May 12th, Ugandans will gather at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds and before their television screens to witness the swearing-in of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for an unprecedented seventh term. When he was first sworn in on January 29, 1986, Uganda …

Tororo mourns veteran administrator Okoth Domitian Owor OBITUARY | THE INDEPENDENT | Mzei Okoth Domitian Owor, who passed on May 02, 2026, was a distinguished educationist, cultural leader, public servant, and patriarch whose life of service spanned over six remarkable decades. Fondly known as Otwodo, Mzei Owor, 89, lived a …

  Africa must position itself to turn China’s tariff-free trade opportunity into real gains   COMMENT | JANE NALUNGA | On 1 May 2026, China–Africa trade relations entered a significant new phase as commitments under the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) took effect. These measures extend zero-tariff treatment to nearly 9,000 …

  COMMENT | OBED K KATUREEBE | There have been intense debates about the proposed Protection of the Sovereignty Bill 2026 (Bill no.13). This is not bad because that is the very reason Parliament invited members of the public to present their views to the committee on Defence and Internal Affairs …

    COMMENT | GYAGENDA SEMAKULA ZIKUSOOKA SSAJJABBI | As a critic of Uganda’s criminal justice system, the recently concluded proceedings in the Okello Onyum matter, presided over by Alice Komuhangi Khaukha, present a compelling case study at the intersection of criminal adjudication, judicial temperament, and public confidence in the administration …

    How youth in a small town in Uganda answered Gen Muhoozi’s call and its implications for our country   THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | On April 26th, I met a team of PLU activists from Hima, an industrial town in Kasese District. They rented a minibus …

OPINION | MUMBA KALIFUNGWA |‎ As Uganda approaches the long-anticipated milestone of first oil, it does so at a moment of profound contradiction in the global energy narrative. ‎On one hand, the world is accelerating toward a low-carbon future, with growing consensus around the need to scale renewable energy. ‎ On the other, …

  OPINION | URN | Across Africa, education is often framed as the continent’s most powerful lever for development. It is positioned as the pathway out of poverty, the foundation of economic growth, and the engine of social mobility. But this narrative assumes that schools are functioning as they should. In …

  Investing in frontline health workers is essential to preserving the vital medical safety net that keeps refugee women and girls alive   COMMENT | KRISTINE BLOKHUS | When a sudden flash flood in Northern Uganda’s Lamwo District submerged the road, 28-year-old midwife Alice found her ambulance and life-saving medical supplies stranded …

    Although African countries have made commendable progress in establishing human and animal health reporting platforms, these systems still operate largely in silos   COMMENT | DR SAMUEL KAHARIRI |  What comes to mind when you think about public health threats? Perhaps you picture hospital wards, busy emergency rooms, …