By Ivan Rugambwa New taxes to make Ugandans poorer, increase cost of doing business When the Finance Minister, Maria Kiwanuka reads the budget, she will announce a tax increment on fuel that experts fear will hike transport fees and prices for commodities. The increment was first announced on April 10, …

By Julius Odeke Outgoing French Ambassador Aline Kuster-Ménager spoke to The Independent’s Ronald Musoke. What has been your impression of Uganda? Before coming to Uganda, I read the book, My African Journey, written by Winston Churchill in 1906 describing Uganda as the “Pearl of Africa.” During my stay, I confirmed …

By Joan Akello The civil society is urging least developed countries (LDCs) to rethink signing treaties because they may get raw deals in the end. Ambassador Nathan Irumba the CEO of Southern and East African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) says the onus is on the negotiators for LDCs …

By Priscilla Muhairwe Leonah Mborimpa the Corporate communication Officer of NITA says “ National Information Technology Authority,[NITA] is partnering with Uganda Communication Commission and International Telecommunication Union on another project still in the pipeline to enable the effectiveness of innovation in the country to be called UG- CERT [Uganda- Computer …

By Ronald Musoke Judith Payne, the e-business Advisor at USAID in Washington has reminded agriculture-dependant countries like Uganda to harness the potential of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) if their farmers are to improve their livelihoods. With about 70% of Ugandans believed to derive their livelihood directly from agriculture, Payne said …

By Julius Businge The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has urged strongly telecom subscribers to register their SIM card registration before the set deadline of Feb. 28. In a statement released on Feb. 8, the commission said no unregistered SIM Card will be connected on any network in Uganda after Feb. …

By Joan Akello MTN has announced that it has started installing Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, a ‘standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminal’, known as 4G technology. The network infrastructure upgrade plan will provide its customers with faster data access and speed of …

By Ronald Musoke With about 50 days to go, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) says it will not give any additional time to Ugandans who may not have registered their SIM cards by then. The deadline for registering SIM cards in Uganda is March 1, which is about 52 days …

2012 was truly a year of lows; such as the crash of the UPDF choppers in Kenya, the unending tales of corruption in high places, and the spate of virulent attacks of Ebola and Marburg. But it is also a year when Uganda was lifted high when an unknown runner, …

By Ronald Musoke The Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) has come out with a roadmap that will see the gradual elimination of counterfeit mobile phones off the Ugandan market with effect from January. According to a statement from Uganda’s regulator of communications, this task will be implemented in four phases with …