Not all truth should be out there, warns Media Council boss ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | Images of an armoured personnel carrier (Mamba), a war machine, parked at a polling station during the most recent Kawempe North by-election and the beating up of journalists by soldiers of the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task …
Read More »Return of military court martial
Why does Museveni want this law badly? COVER STORY | THE INDEPENDENT | Three months after the Uganda Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the General Court Martial to try civilians, the government on May 14 introduced a Bill in parliament to reverse that decision. The Minister …
Read More »It’s time for an honest conversation about connectivity
COMMENT | SYLVIA MULINGE | Last week, I revisited Uganda’s National Broadband Policy of 2018—and what I found was a compelling vision still waiting to be fully realised. The policy aims high. It promises to make fast, affordable, and reliable internet access available to all Ugandans—urban and rural, rich and poor. …
Read More »Fighting in eastern DRC is worsening gender-based violence against women
Civilians caught in a devastating humanitarian crisis involving sexual and gender-based violence COMMENT | ANNIE BUNTING & HEATHER TASKER | In early 2025, the March 23 Movement (M23) armed group seized control of Goma and then Bukavu, two major cities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). M23’s advance …
Read More »Afreximbank unveils $1bn fund to boost African film
Africa’s film and audiovisual industry generates an estimated $5 billion annually and employs more than 5 million people ANALYSIS | THE INDEPENDENT | Africa’s multilateral lender, African Export-Import Bank, through its impact investment arm—the Fund for Export-Development in Africa (FEDA)—has announced a landmark $1 billion initiative to launch the Africa Film …
Read More »On Museveni’s PDM tours
Government’s misguided plan to turn Uganda into a country of prosperous peasants THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The government of Uganda has been promoting the “Parish Development Model” (PDM). The program seeks to draw farmers from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture and thereby make them rich. It gives each individual …
Read More »10 things to know about Pope Leo XIV
His election represents continuity with the papacy of the late Pope Francis, and he is expected to continue Francis’ reforms of the church as well as his focus on poverty and marginalized people. ANALYSIS | AGENCIES | Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost – now known as Pope Leo XIV — is the first pope from …
Read More »Why handwashing habits are fading again
World Health Organisation is hoping to re-ignite momentum through policy and accountability on hand washing behaviour Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the message was drilled into public consciousness with rare global unity: wash your hands. From Kampala to Kansas, handwashing stations mushroomed …
Read More »Bill Gates plan to give ‘virtually all’ his money away
He plans to end Gates Foundation in 20 years ANALYSIS | CLARE DUFFY | When Bill and Melinda French Gates created the Gates Foundation in 2000, they had planned for the organization to continue its work, using their remaining fortune, for several decades after they died. But now, the billionaire Microsoft …
Read More »Climate change fuels drug resistance in poor countries
Increase in lower-income countries could be as high as 4.1 per cent by 2050 ANALYSIS | DANN OKOTH | It is well known that poorer countries bear the biggest burden of resistance to antimicrobial drugs and that these countries are also most vulnerable to climate change. But little research has been …
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