Features

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Ugandans pay high price for governments failure to prosecute Global Fund thieves Rachael Nalubega, 10, sits on her mothers lap near the entrance into one of the childrens wards at Uganda’s top medical facility, Mulago National Referral Hospital. Nalubega’s eyes are motionless and unblinking. The crowded …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati A round wattle hut painted black at the bottom and gray at the top stands 200 metres ahead. As one gets nearer, four circular unbaked brick but grass thatched huts emerge. A young woman in her late teens is baby-sitting one yard from the kitchen door. …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati What use is a First Class degree if holder cannot earn a living? When the Music Dance and Drama (MDD) degree course was introduced at Makerere University in 1971 many students looked at it with contempt. They coined a derogatory name for whoever enrolled for the …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati But should National Drug Authority be celebrating that? A new report has found that 26 per cent of anti-malaria drugs in use in Uganda are substandard. That should be very bad news for a country where on average 12 people, mostly children, die of malaria every …

By Rukiya Makuma The womens movement in Uganda yearns for renewal Dr. Sarah Ntiro, Rhoda Kalema, Specioza Wandera Kazibwe, Miria Matembe  and others  They had there time, held the stage  and gathered lots of support from the women in the country;  but now  some might say –  the time has …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati & Joshua Masinde Is it cynical to say opposition leaders should use adverts in the media, emails, sms, and fliers? While in Pader recently, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) President Kizza Besigye was scheduled to be hosted on the local radio station, Luo FM radio. He …

By Séverine Koen Breakdancing and skateboarding suffer from bad reputations as they are commonly associated with foreign influences in Uganda. Yet, they are now being used as forces for good by two groups, Breakdance Project Uganda and the Uganda Skateboard Union. A look at these groups and how they were …

By S©verine Koen The arrest, on January 18, of about 35 women who were protesting at the Electoral Commission (EC) headquarters in Kampala, is just one recent example of the difficulty and danger of staging a demonstration in Uganda. Yet, in this pre-election year, the ability to voice ones opinions, …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Two weeks ago Makerere University held its 60th graduation ceremony in which some 13,766 students graduated in various disciplines with different degrees. One thing that got many people talking is the high number of first class degrees doled out at this graduation ceremony – 220 in …

By Ariel Rubin In the office-cum-waiting room of the African Prison Project (APP) house in Luzira, a big green poster board is plastered with photographs of groundbreaking ceremonies and newspaper clippings extolling the many achievements of the NGO and its 24-year-old founder and Director General, Alexander McLean. Also, emblazoned is …