The News Today

The spending plan comes at a time the COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged economies through lockdowns | THE INDEPENDENT | The East African Community has tabled before the East African Legislative Assembly a US$91.7milion proposed budget for the Financial Year 2021/22 compared with US$97.6 million in the Financial Year 2020/21, with a …

Is Tshisekedi dangling an economic deal for non-economic reasons? Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Felix Tshisekedi has been busy on the regional integration front since he became president of the Democratic Republic of Congo two years ago. But he has particularly been busier this year. On June 25, President Tshisekedi …

Why Nabbanja is right and others wrong Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The government is attempting a new way of getting a Shs100, 000 (Approx.US$28) one-off cash relief to people who might have slipped into poverty as a result of the ongoing 42-day lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19. …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The government has started implementing the new 12% excise duty on airtime and internet data, among other fiscal measures for the year 2021/2022 that started Thursday. The new tax was part of the amendments in the Excise Duty Act and replaces the Over the …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 500 girls leave Uganda each day for domestic work in the Arab World, an official from the Internal Affairs Ministry has revealed. Agnes Igoye, the Deputy Coordinator for Prevention of Trafficking in Persons in the Internal Affairs Ministry, says that although several …

Lusaka, Zambia | Xinhua | Zambia has held a grand funeral for the country’s first President Kenneth Kaunda. Held at the Show Grounds, a venue for holding agricultural and commercial shows in Lusaka, the country’s capital, the state funeral attracted hundreds of people, including leaders from different parts of the …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Mobile Money services have now been completely detached from the regulation of the Uganda Communications Commission to that of the Bank of Uganda (BOU), amidst questions and fears from the customers. Last month, the Bank of Uganda started implementing the National Payments System Act …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The National Medical Stores (NMS) has appealed to members of Parliament to address a concern of conflict between the Ministry of Health and NDA on procurement of vaccines and other supplies. The NMS General Manager Moses Kamabare appeared before the 40-member Parliament Taskforce monitoring …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Users of mobile phones will effective Thursday, July 1, have to pay a 12 per cent Excise Duty on the value of data, airtime and other value-added services they use, each time they top up. The tax which has until now been charged at 20 …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & URN |  COVIDEX, a local herbal medicine, has finally been approved by Uganda’s National Drug Authority (NDA) as a supporting treatment for viral infections including Covid-19. The development comes a week after attempts were made to halt the distribution of the medicine that Ugandans were …