Gaps in Uganda’s digital ID rollout could exclude people with disabilities from critical public services SPECIAL REPORT | RONALD MUSOKE | When on Feb. 9, Claire Ollama, the friendly and polyglottic Registrar of the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), declared the nationwide digital ID registration and renewal exercise “successfully concluded,” …
Read More »Ugandan travellers and US visa crackdown
The US$15,000 visa bond places travellers under sharper scrutiny as Washington tightens enforcement COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | When U.S. Ambassador William W. Popp stepped-up to address the press at the American Centre in Kampala on Feb. 5, he was carrying a message that blended diplomacy with warning. The United …
Read More »Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi
Remand of MP and Bobi Wine ally revives fears of MP Ssegirinya’s torture and death COVER STORY | IAN KATUSIIME | Fears for the life of outgoing Butambala County MP Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi have intensified after he was charged with terrorism and remanded to Kitalya Prison, a move that has …
Read More »Ugandans go to the polls
Time to choose: continuity or change COVER STORY | THE INDEPENDENT & AGENCIES | When Ugandans go to the polls on Thursday, they will be voting under the watchful presence of the government, with army boots already visible on the streets of the capital, Kampala, a deployment security chiefs say …
Read More »The post-Museveni question
For a country that has never seen peaceful transfer of power, the future is arriving faster than its readiness for it COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | On the afternoon of December 10, at Hotel Africana in Kampala, Uganda’s political future was discussed quietly, almost cautiously. There were no cameras jostling …
Read More »Who owns Uganda’s mining companies?
Despite recent legal reforms, Uganda’s mining companies keep their true owners hidden, stalling transparency and accountability in a sector worth billions of dollars COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | When Uganda was admitted into the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) fold in August 2020, it was hailed as a political and …
Read More »Federalism and Uganda’s unfinished political settlement
Whether Uganda takes the federal path or not, the country can’t escape debate on how power is distributed, and who benefits from status quo COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | When Frank Bulira Kabinga stepped onto the podium at the Nation Media Group’s televised Presidential Debate on November 30, the Revolutionary …
Read More »The politics of perception
How Museveni’s rallies now reflect a curated campaign era — and what the opposition reveals COVER STORY | JULIUS BUSINGE | On the morning of December 1, 2025, a convoy of police trucks wound through the streets of Mbarara, ferrying what appeared to be a sea of supporters toward La …
Read More »Behind the scenes at COP30
How they reached the final deal COVER STORY | AGENCIES | It was the showdown nobody wanted. But in the end, it saved the climate summit. As the clock ticked past the deadline of 6pm on Friday in Belem, Brazil, the issue that, rightly or wrongly, came to define this year’s …
Read More »Zohran Mamdani
34 years from Kampala to New York city mayor COVER STORY | JOSEPH WERE | The historic rise of Zohran Mamdani who was born in Kampala in 1991 to become the chief executive of the wealthiest and power-packed city in the world has excited Ugandans in the same way the rise …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price