Guest column

COMMENT | SHEILA KASABIITI | For decades, condom use campaigns and advocacy in Uganda have rightly focused on raising awareness of the benefits of condoms, debunking misinformation, and promoting access, affordability, and correct usage. But there is a missing piece in this communication chain: “What happens after use?” With the reduction of …

As EU rules tighten, EAC–SADC leaders should push for state-led traceability and regional compliance mechanisms COMMENT | JANE NALUNGA | The global trade architecture is currently undergoing a shift to one increasingly defined by stringent sustainability mandates and digital traceability requirements. This transition is most visible in the emergence of the …

Uganda’s Oil Export Process Did Not Just Delay; Due diligence was meant to maximise benefits for the country COMMENT | CAROLYNE MUYAMA | Last week, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni met with President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam. The main topic of their talks was the East …

The question before us is larger than aviation. It is about how Uganda manages national projects. Can we build institutions that outlive individuals? COMMENT | GYAGENDA SEMAKULA ZIKUSOOKA SSAJJABBI | When Uganda Airlines returned to the skies in August 2019, it was more than the relaunch of an airline company. It …

  COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | Today, 6 February, Ugandans once again gather in homes, villages, and public spaces to commemorate Tarehe Sita. This year’s main celebrations are taking place in Kabale, the old main town of what was once Kigyezi District. It was on this day in 1981 that …

State Messaging, Personal Power, and the Collapse of Coordination COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | Last May, following a meeting with President Museveni, the State Minister for Communication and National Guidance, Owek. Joyce Ssebugwawo, inaugurated a body with the rather grand title National Strategic Communications Committee (NSCC). Its stated purpose was …

  COMMENT | ALI SSEKATAWA |  They say “the sun that rises slowly lasts till evening,” and 2026 is shaping up to be such a year for Uganda — one unfolding with steady confidence and carrying the weight of significant national promise. January is quietly taking its bow, February waits in the …

  COMMENT | TIMOTHY MUGENYI |  I am reminded of an interaction I had in the rural setting of Nakivale refugee camp. We stopped by a Rolex stand and spoke with some young gentlemen who were deeply engrossed in a video whilst sharing a smartphone. When we asked if they …

    COMMENT | IVAN SSERUNJOGI | In the just-concluded year, several reports indicated that Namutumba District faced a high teacher absenteeism rate, and the sector was allegedly rife with the recruitment of “incompetent teachers”. Such reports alarm the public, suggesting a collapse in teacher accountability as the academic year 2026 is set …

“Wrong must not win by technicalities” — Aeschylus COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | I am often asked why I return, almost instinctively, to history when reflecting on the failures and possibilities of Africa’s contemporary political order. Why, some wonder, do I insist on excavating the past when addressing the present? …