In The Magazine

Commodity, tourism dependent economies likely to remain vulnerable over the next 12-18 months | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s commercial banks have recorded a sharp drop in the outstanding restructured loans from Shs7.7trillion in June to Shs4.8trillion in Dec, 2020, signaling improvement in the borrower’s ability to meet their loan obligations, …

  What the company plans for years to come Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | MTN Uganda recorded 9.5% surge in revenue to Shs1.98 trillion in 2020 amidst the effects of COVID-19, citing a sharp growth in customer subscribers. The company’s subscriber numbers increased by 12.3% to 14.2 million, up …

Report shows how dictators exploited COVID-19 to quash opposition Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | In 2018, the American democracy advocacy NGO, Freedom House, gave Uganda a score of 37% in its Freedom in the World Report and labeled the country “partly free”. Then in its 2019 report, Uganda’s score …

 Experts say linking event to oil exploration is far-fetched Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | When hundreds of elephants crossed from Queen Elizabeth National Park to Congo’s Virunga National Park late last year, Congolese conservationists were excited to see the big numbers of the jumbos back after a long time. …

Museveni, CEC, ethnicity feature in second face off Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | The second battle for the Speakership of Parliament between Rebecca Kadaga and Jacob Oulanyah threatens to be more bruising than the first in 2016. Speaker Kadaga and her deputy Oulanyah are wooing a House that has …

  How the government is hindering them Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | An unfavourable national legal policy framework and ignorance of the policy implementers are among issues stopping Ugandans from enjoying their digital rights. Dorothy Mukasa; the Executive Director of Unwanted Witnesses, a civil organisation that defends and protects …

Samia Hassan Suluhu becomes first woman president in traditional East Africa ANALYSIS | THE INDEPENDENT & AGENCIES  | As stipulated in the Tanzanian constitution, Vice President Samia Hassan Suluhu was on March 18 sworn in as the country’s 6th President following the death of John Pombe Magufuli on March 17. …

John Pombe Magufuli, the son of a peasant farmer who became Tanzania’s president in 2015, has died aged 61. Once praised for his no-nonsense approach, he went on to become a controversial leader, especially over his response to the coronavirus pandemic. ANALYSIS | BBC.COM | He was elected for a …

  Lessons for NUP from the failure and disintegration of FDC THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | With former presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine opting out of court and going to the “court of public opinion” (i.e. street protest), the stage is now set for increasing …

Why low pay, government intimidation and spies in the newsrooms  and lack of training make it tough COMMENT | KAREN MCLNTYRE AND MEGHAN SOBEL COHEN | Ugandan journalists are subject to state intimidation and violence almost on a daily basis. During the recent presidential elections, media crews covering opposition candidates …