The long running show adds another season COVER STORY | IAN KATUSIIME | At exactly 11:50am, beneath Kampala’s unforgiving midday sun, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni took the oath of office at the Kololo Independence Grounds for another term as a 21-gun salute cracked across the capital, announcing not so …
Read More »Data, democracy, and Uganda’s 2026 elections
Unwanted Witness report exposes personal data misuse in the past election cycle COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | On May 12, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, 81, will take the oath of office once again, extending a presidency that has shaped Uganda’s political landscape for four straight decades. His victory in …
Read More »Thrones wobble?
Anita Among’s carefully built dominance faces its first real political stress test as Nobert Mao and others join the race for speakership COVER STORY | IAN KATUSIIME | The once-seemingly impenetrable fortress surrounding Speaker Anita Among is showing its first visible cracks. The first signs emerged months ago …
Read More »U.S-backed health systems transition to Ugandan control in major digital shift
After years of U.S-backed investment, the transfer of data systems marks a shift from external support to state control COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | In a district hospital in eastern Uganda, a mother waits as a clinician opens an electronic medical records system instead of reaching for a paper …
Read More »Museveni, Muhoozi court US General to mend Kla-Washington ties
U.S. sanctions have targeted Ugandan leaders over rights abuses, corruption, and opposition repression COVER STORY | IAN KATUSIIME | Last week, a retired U.S. general drew widespread attention in Kampala with a rare, high-profile visit, moving with unusual access through Uganda’s senior political and military circles. During his stay, …
Read More »Rise of the AI soldiers
Ukraine has become the world’s premier testing ground for AI weapons on Russian troops, foreign mercenaries COVER STORY | AGENCIES | The Phantom MK-1 looks the part of an AI soldier. Encased in jet black steel with a tinted glass visor, it conjures a visceral dread far beyond what …
Read More »Missiles in the Gulf, inflation in East Africa
Rising oil prices, disrupted air travel, and a shift in Sudan’s conflict COVER STORY | IAN KATUSIIME | The US–Israeli war against Iran may be unfolding thousands of kilometres away, but its consequences are already being felt far beyond the Middle East. For East Africa’s fast-growing economies—Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania—the …
Read More »Are disabled Ugandans being left out of digital ID system?
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 …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price