Kasese, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Stella,13 and 15-year-old Joy (not real names) got pregnant during the prolonged school closure as part of Uganda’s COVID-19 containment measures. Upon learning that they were pregnant, they were told that there was no more schooling for them – a negative reality for many …
Read More »Clean water access in Ugandan slum brings together Chinese families, locals
Wakiso, Uganda | Xinhua | For Betty Kyabajje, 28 years old, fetching water is an everyday struggle. Like in many African families, women are in charge of finding water, a resource their families need to survive — for drinking, cooking, sanitation, and hygiene. Kyabajje, who lives in Bukasa, a slum …
Read More »Christopher Columbus Sembuya: Uganda’s indigenous industrialist dies at 86
OBITUARY | Ronald Musoke | Christopher Columbus Sembuya, the remaining founder of Sembule Group of Companies, one of Uganda’s indigenous companies renowned in its prime years for making radio and television sets, “landline” telephones and even street lights passed away quietly in Kampala Hospital on Jan.11. But, in perhaps a …
Read More »Rotarian Mutebile: The tough economist with a heart for humanity
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile will be remembered for encouraging people not to worry about the level of individual prominence they have achieved in life, but worry about the individuals around them that need to be helped to become better. In one of his statements as a Rotarian, …
Read More »Holiday reading
Five picks from a great year for African writing BOOKS REVIEW | THE INDEPENDENT | Leading Kenyan author, journalist and academic, Prof. Peter Kimani has listed an exciting analytical compilation of essays edited by renowned Uganda journalist Charles Onyango-Obbo among his top five picks for this Christmas holiday reading. Prof. …
Read More »Military intelligence chief Kandiho battles US sanctions
The United States on Dec.02 imposed sanctions on the head of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Maj. Gen. Abel Kandiho over alleged human rights abuses. Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kandiho was hit with the sanctions over alleged human rights abuses, including for alleged torture and sexual abuse …
Read More »Ending silence around gender-based violence
The period between November 25 and December 10 has been earmarked around the world as “the 16 days of action against gender-based violence.” The Independent’s Ronald Musoke spoke to Susan Achen, the Programme Coordinator, Women’s Rights and Access to Justice at the Uganda Women’s Network, about this year’s event. …
Read More »How start-ups can position and benefit from global acquisition
Kampala, Uganda | TECH FEATURE | In 2020 Beyonic, a home-grown Ugandan startup providing digital payments solutions in five countries was acquired by MFS Africa, the largest digital payments hub in Africa. In a young entrepreneurial ecosystem like Uganda where many startups are fast strapped for cash, and where the …
Read More »National Payment Systems Act: will new regulations deliver growth in fintech sector?
BUSINESS FEATURE | THE INDEPENDENT | It’s been thirteen years since the Ugandan payments landscape was disrupted by the First mobile money system. In 2009, MTN Uganda introduced the first mobile money transaction service and today, the sector has grown to more than 170 private players consisting of mobile …
Read More »Which Uganda Coat of Arms?
There have been distortions about the actual image of the national emblem and the symbolic meaning of some of the imagery which adorn the heraldic device THE ARTS | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | The Uganda Coat of Arms is a national emblem which adorns most government buildings including the Parliament, Judicial …
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