Features catergory

By Rukiya Makuma Women and children often face hard times when the head of the family dies. The situation is compounded if there is poverty and disease. Jane Nalwadda, 48, is a typical case. Her husband died in 2000 leaving her to fend for their 10 children. Soon after he …

By Jocelyn Edwards Margaret Ngoya, 15, awoke in early hours of Mar. 7 to the sound of gunshots.  The soldiers who had invaded her village in northern Karamoja yelled her family and their neighbours to come outside. When they brought us outside, I was beaten.  They used the handle of …

By Iva Skoch A billion condoms, 40,000 sex workers CAPE TOWN, South Africa  The taxi drivers hustling around the bars on Long Street in Cape Town say they are ready for all the soccer fans that will flood the city in June for the World Cup. So are hotels, restaurants, …

By Maya Prabhu A story of abused authority and the victimised vulnerable Helens* work environment is more dangerous than most. On the night-time streets and alleyways of Kampala, her short skirts and revealing blouses flag down cruising clients, but also attract unwanted, and all too frequently violent, attention. Crucially, Helen …

By Dicta Asiimwe Shs150bn loan at stake as ministry of Education faces opposition over professional training institutions A meeting between ministry of Education officials and their counterparts from the ministry of Health on May 6 had an unusual agenda; formerly endorsing a World Bank-backed position on which ministry controls medical …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati One man called into a radio show to brag about it. By morning he was dead. When Esau Karimunda and his son, Enoch Karimunda, stopped to have a drink at a bar in Kikolegyi suburb in Kabale town on April 8 after the days work, nothing …

By Jocelyn Edwards The lone referral mental hospital  offers little respite for patients Its just before noon at Butabika Mental Hospital and the patients are in the yard of the womens in-take ward. About two dozen patients are lying on the grass sleeping.  Many of those up and wandering around …

By Rukiya Makuma Despite high numbers, Ugandan women fail to hook top jobs Uganda has more women in parliament compared to Kenya and Tanzania. UP to 33 percent of MPs are female and regionally, only Rwanda with 49 percent female representation is higher. Kenya trails with only 18 female representatives …

By Jocelyn Edwards Buliisa residents surrounding Tullow Oils Kasamene oil field became alarmed recently when they saw representatives of the company surveying and marking off land that they see as theirs.  Residents say pegs and poles started appearing on the communal land about a month ago despite their objections to …

By Isaac Mufumba He is perched on a heap of second hand clothes in a stall in Jinja central market. He turns his head to have a clearer view of us. The face and arms bear scars. His left eye, he says, no longer functions. This is Godfrey Dhikusooka, the …