Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | Uganda’s first commercial export of canned pineapple to China is being presented as more than a ceremonial trade breakthrough. Government officials, investors, and development agencies say the shipment reflects a wider attempt to reposition Uganda from an exporter of raw agricultural commodities to …
Read More »After a government suspension, what’s next for Uganda’s premier journalism training organization?
NEWS ANALYSIS | MAURICE ONIANG’O – GIJN | It all started in January of this year, just days before Uganda’s national elections. That’s when the Kampala-based African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME), a GIJN member, was among several civil society and human rights organizations that received a letter from the country’s National Bureau …
Read More »Why Xi rejects major-power rivalry in China-U.S. ties
NEWS ANALYSIS | Xinhua | In recent years, China-U.S. relations have experienced twists and turns. Some observers fear that China and the United States may repeat the historical pattern of major-power rivalry known as the “Thucydides Trap.” Yet, Chinese President Xi Jinping has rejected this notion: “There is no such …
Read More »East Africa’s accountability problem
Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda have transparency laws, but corruption persists NEWS ANALYSIS | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | Uganda records some of the lowest levels of compliance with access to information requests in East Africa, highlighting a persistent gap between transparency laws and their enforcement across the region. Between 2018 …
Read More »The day Kampala goes offline
What happens when mobile money fails, hospitals lose data, and the invisible infrastructure behind modern life suddenly stops working? NEWS ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | What if, tomorrow morning in Kampala, your mobile phone stopped working – not because the battery died, not because you forgot to buy data, …
Read More »Memes, shutdowns and Museveni’s seventh term
Uganda’s digital public sphere and the 2026 election SPECIAL REPORT | RONALD MUSOKE | As President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, 81, was sworn in on May 12 for a seventh straight term in office, Uganda marked another formal milestone in a presidency that has now spanned nearly four decades. …
Read More »Is the Civil Service the gravest failure of Uganda?
COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | Reader, on May 12th at the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds, President Yoweri Museveni will take his seventh oath of office. As I have previously noted, under his reign, Uganda’s economy has expanded, and, indeed, today Uganda is wealthier than at any time in its 64 years …
Read More »Botswana’s Ex-President Festus Mogae, who tackled H.I.V., Dies at 86
The democrat was considered the architect of the Southern African country’s economic rise and a pioneer in the fight against AIDS Gaborone, Botswana | AGENCIES | The political career of Botswana’s ex-President Festus Gontebanye Mogae can be summarized under one heading: “good governance.” During his time in office from 1998 …
Read More »Uganda’s inhaler gap leaves asthma patients exposed
Asthma is responsible for more than 450,000 deaths globally every year, many of which are preventable Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | Uganda’s response to asthma is facing growing scrutiny as health specialists warn that thousands of patients are still unable to access essential inhalers, even as global treatment …
Read More »Uganda government backs off foreign funding bill, but is the risk fully gone?
Parliament passed a softened but still controversial sovereignty law targeting foreign-funded political activity NEWS ANALYSIS | AYENAT MERSIE | Uganda just passed one of the region’s most closely watched pieces of legislation this year — and even in its watered-down form, it’s leaving a mark. On May 5, Parliament …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price