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Many rituals are performed to prepare a girl for marriage in Uganda. In most tribes, this role is mainly played by the girl’s paternal aunty. Some of the rituals are very painful and are done as soon as a girl becomes an adolescent. Being a Munyankole girl, Eunice Musiime had …

National mental health hospital offers serenity treatment to tortured souls Healthcare in Uganda is generally underfunded. But it is worse for mental healthcare. In the 2015/16 Financial Year, health generally was allocated only 5% of the budget. Of that, mental healthcare took just 01%. Despite the little money it receives, …

One of the temporary inconveniences that are making branding Uganda more complicated Amos Wekesa, arguably the face of Uganda’s tourism industry and self-confessed ‘brand ambassador’ for the country, rarely, if ever, makes negative comments about his country in public. He travels around the world marketing the country in his ‘I’m …

Japan’s first “naked restaurant” opens in Tokyo next month with draconian rules of entry — podgy prospective diners will be weighed and ejected if found to be too fat. Following the lead of establishments in London and Melbourne, “The Amrita” — Sanskrit for ‘immortality’ — also has strict age restrictions, …

As more Ugandans resort to fried snack foods, experts warn of the danger ahead In a queue at a fast food restaurant, two girls are chatting. “I’ve eaten a lot of chaps recently. I need a change today, how are their chips?” One asks her friend. “They are tasty and …

  Uganda gets technology, improved care to extend life for sufferers When Evelyn Mwesigwa, a social worker thought of settling down – marrying and having children, she considered a lot of things. Religion, love, respect and of course her partner’s HIV status. What never crossed her mind was a sickle …

Patients, radiologists worried, officials say the effect is small For two months, Patrick Mangeni had stayed at the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) awaiting his Mar.28 appointment for radiotherapy.  Despite the pain and uncontrollable bleeding, the 46-year old was hopeful that his problems would soon be attended to as this treatment …

Paris, France | AFP | The ICC’s failure to try top Kenyan leaders for crimes against humanity in the country’s worst violence since independence spells “doom” for global efforts to fight impunity, former Kenyan leader Raila Odinga told AFP. Despite this setback, African countries must not quit the International Criminal …

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | When she was being tortured under Brazil’s military dictatorship, Dilma Rousseff could never have imagined becoming the country’s first female president. But four decades on from those dark days in 1970, when Rousseff belonged to a violent Marxist underground group, she did indeed …

Cancer prevalence in Uganda is growing rapidly. It currently stands at between 80,000 and 100,000 with cervical cancer, the commonest in addition to Kaposi’s sarcoma, breast and prostate cancers. Outside of the scary statistics, there is a side of cancer that doctors in Uganda do not have tools to fix. …