NEWS ANALYSIS

Kenya’s Gen Z is converting protest momentum into voter registration. With millions of new voters entering the roll, youth-driven campaigns like ‘Niko Kadi’ are beginning to reshape the country’s electoral arithmetic.   NEWS ANALYSIS | BIRD AGENCY | By mid-morning on a Wednesday, the voter registration desk at Moi Primary …

    The country-specific data remains limited, but the scale of sickle cell disease suggests the implications are considerable   Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA |  For two weeks, a 16-year-old girl living with sickle cell disease was treated for what appeared to be a stubborn chest infection. She had …

Tororo mourns veteran administrator Okoth Domitian Owor OBITUARY | THE INDEPENDENT | Mzei Okoth Domitian Owor, who passed on May 02, 2026, was a distinguished educationist, cultural leader, public servant, and patriarch whose life of service spanned over six remarkable decades. Fondly known as Otwodo, Mzei Owor, 89, lived a …

COMMENT | NICU POPESCU & FREDRIK WESSLAU |  For decades, much of Europe viewed military engagement through the lens of NATO or the European Union, since these structures have long shaped how Europeans thought about conflict, deterrence, and security. But the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have exposed …

Longing to stride down runways of international fashion weeks often collides with realities of conservatism and lack of structural support.   ARTS | MAURA AJAK | Growing up, Khloe Nyanda and the women and girls around her were taught “to be small and not take up spaces”, the 21-year-old says. …

  Uganda’s push for growth is flowing through its water system, where efficiency, equity, and investment will determine who truly benefits   Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Uganda’s ambition to transform into a modern, prosperous economy is often framed in terms of roads, electricity, and digital connectivity. But beneath …

  What lessons need to be learned   NEWS ANALYSIS | NOMALANGA MASHININI | South Africa’s first attempt to establish a binding artificial intelligence (AI) policy framework came to an abrupt halt just 16 days after it was officially gazetted. On 10 April, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies published …

Study looks beyond what they tell researchers   NEWS ANALYSIS | OYENIKE BALOGUN | In some African countries, more than 50% of women regularly use skin-lightening products. In South Africa, the rate is 32%, while in Nigeria it’s 77%. This dwarfs rates in other regions of the world. The health consequences are not …

Inside a landmark case that tested Uganda’s mobile courts, judicial independence, and the legal threshold for the ultimate sentence   COVER STORY | RONALD MUSOKE | On the morning of April 2, 2026, what began as an ordinary school day at a modest childcare centre on the southeastern outskirts of Kampala …

  New forensics facility set to strengthen evidence in Uganda’s Wildlife Court   Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | On the edge of Lake Victoria, at the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre in Entebbe, the mood on April 29 carried a quiet kind of significance. There were speeches, handshakes, and the …