Does Makerere university need a CEO instead of a vice chancellor? Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | Since he was named vice chancellor of Makerere University Kampala, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe has cast himself as a no-nonsense, no compromise manager. His style has earned him several nicknames. The latest is `Ostrich’ …
Read More »Proposed fisheries law to stir sector growth
MAAIF, FAO advance efforts towards regulation of fisheries and aquaculture Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT TEAM | Uganda will soon have a new Fisheries and Aquaculture law, if the proposed Fisheries and Aquaculture Bill, 2018, is reviewed and approved by Cabinet and Parliament. The proposed law is a revision of …
Read More »S.Africa ‘disappointed’ by West’s corruption charges
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa has rejected reported criticism of its record on corruption by five Western countries, including the US and Britain, who insisted they were only drawing the government’s attention to a serious issue. The Sunday Times reported on its front page that the five countries — the US, Britain, …
Read More »Economists want gov’t to review social welfare financing
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Economists have called for a review of the different social welfare programmes designed by the government to ensure that they transform the targeted beneficiaries. Some of the programmes highlighted for a possible review include the Youth Livelihood Program, Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment and the …
Read More »Obesity-linked cancers on the rise in young adults
Paris, France | AFP | A sharp increase in the rate of obesity-linked cancers among young adults in the United States could foreshadow a reversal in the overall decline in cancer mortality, researchers warned Monday. In a sweeping study covering two-thirds of the US population, they showed that half a dozen …
Read More »MTN Uganda troubles
MTN told to fulfill the National Broadband Policy as a condition to have its licence renewed Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | It is impossible to tell a story about the Uganda’s telecom revolution that began more than 20 years ago without mentioning MTN. The South African firm entered the country’s …
Read More »UN shines spotlight on dying indigenous languages
United Nations, United States | AFP | There’s Ojibwe in Canada, Ami in Australia and Ayapanec in Mexico: these are among the world’s nearly 2,700 indigenous languages at risk of disappearing unless new initiatives are taken to revive them, UN officials say. The United Nations is hoping to raise awareness …
Read More »Uganda’s big China debt
CHINA: Minister of Finance Kasaija’s secret letter to Museveni Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT TEAM | When, on October 18, 2018, Uganda signed an agreement with China for a US$212.6 million loan (Approx. Shs78 billion) for rural electrification, the issue of Uganda’s increasing debt and the unfair terms of some …
Read More »Hip-hop turns 40 — and its parents are beaming with pride
Washington, United States | AFP | Forty years ago, hip-hop was little known outside its birthplace, New York — until the Sugarhill Gang decided to record their rhymes, launching the genre’s rise as a dominant cultural and commercial force. The result was the group’s 1979 smash “Rapper’s Delight” — which is …
Read More »Major DR Congo oil deal could be ‘void’: watchdog
Paris, France | AFP | A major deal allowing a company to drill for crude reserves in areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo bordering Africa’s largest protected rainforest may contravene the country’s own oil law, a watchdog said Friday. The transparency group Global Witness said that an agreement signed in …
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