By Mubatsi Asinja Habati A round wattle hut painted black at the bottom and gray at the top stands 200 metres ahead. As one gets nearer, four circular unbaked brick but grass thatched huts emerge. A young woman in her late teens is baby-sitting one yard from the kitchen door. …
Read More »Jobless super-graduates
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati What use is a First Class degree if holder cannot earn a living? When the Music Dance and Drama (MDD) degree course was introduced at Makerere University in 1971 many students looked at it with contempt. They coined a derogatory name for whoever enrolled for the …
Read More »Private clinics have worst anti-malaria drugs
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati But should National Drug Authority be celebrating that? A new report has found that 26 per cent of anti-malaria drugs in use in Uganda are substandard. That should be very bad news for a country where on average 12 people, mostly children, die of malaria every …
Read More »Besigye, Otunnu face tough times without FM radio
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati & Joshua Masinde Is it cynical to say opposition leaders should use adverts in the media, emails, sms, and fliers? While in Pader recently, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) President Kizza Besigye was scheduled to be hosted on the local radio station, Luo FM radio. He …
Read More »Why the big number of first class degrees at Makerere?
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Two weeks ago Makerere University held its 60th graduation ceremony in which some 13,766 students graduated in various disciplines with different degrees. One thing that got many people talking is the high number of first class degrees doled out at this graduation ceremony – 220 in …
Read More »PPDA e-register: Solution to corruption?
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) has launched an electronic register of providers of procured materials to the government. PPDA Executive Director Edgar Agaba said the e-register will provide details to enable the government to identify local companies and providers who are …
Read More »Guards earn peanuts to watch over millions
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati John Okumu was recently recruited as a guard with Saracen Uganda Limited, a private security firm. Okumu says his financial situation has been harsh ever since he began his job. After the six weeks of training Okumu and his colleagues spent footing the rent and feeding …
Read More »Dilemma and relief of Uganda’s heart patients
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati At the age of 11, Nina Nahabwe underwent open heart surgery in the USA in 2003. Her parents could not have afforded the cost without the help of Kampala Rotary Club and Gift of Life International, a humanitarian body allied to overseas rotary groups that help …
Read More »Uganda among worlds hunger prone countries
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati In todays world with improved technology that enables breeding of improved and drought resistant seed varieties, there is no reason for anyone to go hungry. Yet more than 1.6 billion people worldwide are hunger stricken. And some 8 million Ugandans are at the verge of hunger. …
Read More »Swine flu mystery; is it exaggerated or genuine scare?
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Joan Katushabe, a Senior Four student at Ishaka Vocational Secondary School in Bushenyi district, is scared of the AH1N1 virus (swine flu) that attacked Kitabi Seminary which is about 20km from her school. She says the press reports and strict guidelines the school authorities have issued …
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