When Brenda Comfort Mhlanga’s face was plastered across the media when she was hired as a police officer in 2022, her appointment was met with accusations of preferential treatment. Just a year on the job and this woman living with albinism dreams of one day becoming the Inspector of …
Read More »Flutterwave surmounts legal obstruction to boost its offering in Kenya
The removal of legal challenges leaves the continent’s most valuable fintech startup free to pursue growth in East Africa’s top digital money market – – and take on regional giant, M-Pesa. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | Fintech giant, Flutterwave has overcome legal challenges that threatened to cripple an ambitious …
Read More »Arrests and intimidation over EACOP
New Human Rights Watch report documents outcry from Ugandan ‘environmental defenders’ Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Environmental defenders and anti-fossil fuel activists in Uganda continue to face arbitrary arrests, harassment, and threats for raising concerns over a planned oil pipeline popularly known as EACOP, according to a new report published …
Read More »Behind Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians
They are standing in the way of the Ben Gurion Canal Project, an alternative to the Suez Canal through Gaza ANALYSIS | YVONNE RIDLEY | I hate conspiracy theories and fake news. They degrade my profession as a journalist and incite fear, hate and tribulation with the deliberate intention of causing …
Read More »Africa shifts towards genetic modification to boost food security
Ghana is the latest African nation to commit to GM in an attempt to unlock economic benefits from agriculture. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | The designation of Ghana as the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) collaborating center for Africa, focusing on plant breeding and associated technologies for food and …
Read More »Water startup initiates safe water access for Lake Victoria residents
A clever water provision solution built by two local entrepreneurs is providing clean drinking water to thousands of residents at two Lake Victoria beach communities. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | When Odak Onyango and Vallery Adhiambo were growing up along the shores of Lake Victory in western Kenya, clean …
Read More »Government creates fuel import monopoly
Analysts hail UNOC’s ambitions but reality of fuel business complex COVER STORY | ISAAC KHISA | The decision by the government of Uganda to directly enter the oil importation and cut out middle players has blown a cloud of uncertainty in the US$2 billion business that is the heartbeat of the …
Read More »How hybrids are affecting seed sovereignty of small-scale farmers in Acholi
Gulu, Uganda | JULIUS OCUNGI | On a bright Sunday morning in Rwot Obilo village, Owor Sub-County in Gulu district, Justine Nantume, a small-scale farmer is busy weeding her one-acre rice garden, some 18 km outside the bustling Gulu city. Adjacent to this rice garden is Nantume’s maize farm sitting …
Read More »Bill Gates gives $40m in science funding
Talks gene drives, mRNA at Grand Challenges meeting ANALYSIS | NONTOBEKO MLAMBO | Infectious diseases are major causes of deaths in Africa. The burden of existing, emerging and re-emerging diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, cholera, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, sleeping sickness, Ebola and SARS continues to grow – and once you move …
Read More »EACOP: First batch of 100km of pipes ready
Petroleum Authority bosses visit China to verify and validate quality Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Panyu Chu Kong (PCK) Steel Pipe Co., Ltd, the Chinese company contracted to supply line pipes to the East Africa Crude Oil pipeline (EACOP) has said the first batch of 100 kilometres of pipes are …
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