News Headlines
Inside Gen Museveni, Mbabazi Kisozi meet
January 22, 2020 by Sadab Kitatta Kaaya
Photos of President Museveni and former Prime Minister John Patrick Amama Mbabazi in a private meeting on New Year’s Eve...
NRM to Kadaga rivals: Back off Kamuli seat
January 22, 2020 by OUR READERS
Dr. Betty Naigaga got all the attention and drew the wrath of the ruling NRM politicians in the eastern Kamuli...
Judge: Why Mbabazi lost 2016 petition
January 22, 2020 by Derrick Kiyonga
Justice Jotham Tumwesigye has carefully remained out of the media eye since he retired last year at the end of...
PLE 2019: 66,000 fail, can’t join secondary
January 22, 2020 by Yudaya Nangonzi
In all, at least 66,152 candidates failed flat the 2019 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) and cannot legitimately join any post...
Boda boda rider arrested over UPDF dog tag chain
A boda boda rider Paul Mugerwa has been arrested and detained at Kawempe police station over alleged illegal possession of a Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) chain commonly known as dog tag. Mugerwa, a resident of Kiganda Zone in Kawempe Division, Kampala was arrested by police officers deployed at Paniafrica Company…
Capital Shoppers, Tuskys' bakeries closed over poor hygiene
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has closed several bakeries belonging to top supermarkets around Kampala for failure to adhere to basic health standards.The bakeries include that of Capital Shoppers in Ntinda and Nakawa branches, Tuskys supermarket Ntinda and Nansana branches, and Mega Standard on Burton street. Others are S&S supermarket…
Malawi is home to Africa's first drone academy
Malawi this month opened the first African Drone and Data Academy, with support from the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef). The academy aims to improve drone technology skills across Africa, beginning with Malawi and neighboring countries. Karen Asaba developed an interest in drones at Uganda Flying Labs, a Kampala-based drone mapping…
FAO warns of looming locust invasion in Uganda, South Sudan
The desert locust swarms that have invaded Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia could spill over into more countries in East Africa, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned. The UN agency stressed that the region's unusual climate conditions have favoured the rapid reproduction of the locust swarms and…
Museveni’s beef welcome in post-Brexit Britain - PM Boris
The UK-Africa Investment Summit opened today in London, UK where a number of trade agreements worth and commitments in turbo-charge infrastructure financing and clean energy development were signed. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said as the UK leaves the European Union (EU), it is setting its sight on Africa, where it intends to…
Benin museum celebrates return of precious artifacts from France
More than two years after France promised to return colonial-era treasures to their African homes, Benin — ostensibly the first recipient of the groundbreaking policy — still awaits them. But on Friday, a small museum outside Cotonou celebrated the return of antique royal scepters gifted by a group of Paris…
Three trainees die during police training
Two female and one male trainee have died at the ongoing military training at Police Training School (PTS) at Kabalye in Masindi district.4500 Probation Police Constables (PPCs) and 500 Learner Assistant Inspectors of Police (LAIPs) started a one-year police course in September last year.It is alleged that two female trainees…
Self-testing could be a turnaround in fight against HIV scourge
On December 1, Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate World Aids day, reflecting on the impact the disease has had on the country. Latest figures show that Uganda registers 1,000 new infections and 500 people die of complications related to the virus every week, writes BAKER BATTE…
Police blocks FDC anniversary celebrations in Mbale
Police in Mbale, eastern Uganda has blocked Forum for the Democratic Change's (FDC) belated 15th-anniversary celebrations at Mpumude playground. FDC marked 15 years on December 6, 2019, with national celebrations at Mandela National Stadium-Namboole. Party members in Mbale had planned to hold regional belated celebrations of the party's anniversary but police blocked…
Museveni, Kagame to meet in London
President Yoweri Museveni and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame are expected to meet in London on the sidelines of the UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020 which starts today.If it goes ahead, this will be the first meeting for the presidents since last August when they met in Luanda, Angola and signed…
Kawempe Imam arrested over defiling 15-year-old girl
Residents of Kawempe, a Kampala suburb have arrested and handed over to police the Imam of Bilali Mosque in Bwaise for allegedly defiling a 15-year-old girl.Sheik Muhammad Abdullah Kefeero, 40, a resident of Nabukalu zone in Kawempe division, was arrested by the residents and taken to Kawempe police station after…
Cameroon teachers seek reinstatement of corporal punishment
Cameroon teachers are protesting what they say is growing violence against them by both students and their parents, and the teachers are urging the government to protect them and reinstate corporal punishment. The teachers say the absence of corporal punishment is encouraging abuse of teachers. This week, several attacks on teaching…
Malawi judges offered election petition bribes - chief justice
LILONGWE, MALAWI - Tens of thousands of Malawians took part in protests on Thursday at alleged attempts to bribe judges overseeing a legal challenge to the re-election last year of President Peter Mutharika. People took to the streets after the country's chief justice charged that the five judges presiding over the…
Uneb records improved PLE performance in 2019
The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) registered improved performance in last year’s Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) according to results released on Friday at Kampala Parents School. Although the number of candidates who passed in division one in 2019 reduced by 1.7 per cent compared to 2018, overall performance especially in the…
PLE: Uneb withholds results of 1,512 candidates
The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has withheld results of over 1500 candidates who sat for last year's Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) pending completion of investigations over possible exam malpractice. Today, Friday Uneb released the 2019 PLE results of 695,804 candidates from 13,475 centers. Of these, 473,893 (68.2 per cent) were Universal…
AG seeks Shs 24bn 'facilitation' for $10bn DRC plunder case
The attorney general William Byaruhanga is seeking Shs 24bn to facilitate negotiations between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the settlement of a $10 billion plunder case. In 2005, the United Nation's International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Uganda violated the sovereignty of the DRC and is responsible…
BBS TV journalist arrested over Bobi Wine recounts ordeal
On January 6, Kyadondo East MP and People Power pressure group leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine was set to launch his week-long consultative meetings after declaring his intentions to challenge President Museveni in next year's general elections. The launch was scheduled to take place at Gayaza Our Lady of Good Counsel…
Gunfire rattles Sudan's capital Khartoum
Clashes between Sudanese security forces in the capital this week have raised questions about loyalty and stability in the military and the country’s transitional unity government, with some Sudanese seeing the violence as a serious threat to the nation's security and its move toward democracy. The ongoing violence in Khartoum, coming…
Four more bodies recovered from collapsed Jinja building
Four more bodies have been recovered from the rubbles of the two-storied building that collapsed in Jinja town in eastern Uganda on Wednesday.The dead have been identified as Dennis Muhoofa aged 28, Saad Basalirwa, 18, and Joseph Isabirye while the identity of the fourth victim is yet to be established…
First Lady opposes Museveni's sanitary towel pledge
First Lady and Education minister Janet Museveni is opposed to President Museveni's 2016 campaign pledge of providing free sanitary pads to school-going girls across the country. While on the campaign trail in 2015, Museveni pledged to provide sanitary pads to all primary girls if Ugandans were to vote him back into…
Makerere probed over importing graduation gowns from China
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) has opened an audit into the recent importation of Makerere University graduation gowns from China. Team Uniform Ltd, the sole provider of the patented Makerere graduation gowns, last week imported into the country about 7,000 gowns from China for the 70th…
Mukono hospital halts treating police suspects
Mukono general hospital has halted treating suspects brought in by Mukono police division over lack of facilitation. The division usually takes the suspects to the hospital for examination treatment and other related medical care services. However, the medical officers claim that the suspects spend long hours at the hospital on 'empty…
96 UAE-bound Ugandan girls intercepted in Kenya
A total of 96 Ugandan girls have been intercepted in Kenya en route to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The girls aged between 14 and 18 years were intercepted at Jomo Kenyatta international airport in Nairobi, Kenya where they were due to board a flight to…
MP Ssekikubo rearrested
Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo has been rearrested a day after he was granted bail by Masaka Chief Magistrate’s court. He was arrested from his country home in Lwemiyaga town council in Sembabule district today, Wednesday afternoon. Johnston Kamugisha, the Lwemiyaga sub-county LC V councillor says the legislator was picked…
Ivory Coast rescues 137 child trafficking victims
Authorities in Ivory Coast say they rescued 137 children who were the victims of traffickers and groomed to work on cocoa plantations or in prostitution. Police rescued the children after surrounding the eastern town of Aboisso and carried out a two-day search of cars, farms, and nearby villages. Officials say the…
$1.4m procurement scam rocks education ministry
A whistle-blower has petitioned the Inspectorate of Government (IG) to investigate how two foreign firms won deals to supply, install and maintain solar energy in 89 secondary schools countrywide. The controversy revolves around the bidding process handled by the contracts committee of the ministry of Education and Sports, whose decision to…
Police hunts for top investors over fraud
The Criminal Investigations Directorate has kicked off a manhunt for a couple of top foreign businessmen who jumped bail after being charged with tax evasion and fraud at one of the biggest paint companies in Uganda. Two days before last Christmas, Grace Akullo, the head of the Criminal Investigations Directorate…
War over departed Asian Assets rocks parliament
The request for documents and summons of witnesses — all touted as part of a new expansive parliamentary investigation into the disposal of properties of the departed Asians has escalated the fight between the House, Attorney General and individuals targeted by the probe. Parliament with the nod of approval from speaker…
Museveni trek secrets exposed
In a routine 120-minute appearance on Capital Gang, a Capital radio Saturday political talk show, Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo made a stunning revelation. With a little nudging, Opondo dismantled a carefully constructed government-spun narrative that President Museveni, the chief-walker, trekked 195km in a symbolic journey down memory lane to retrace theatres of…
Riotous students will be fired - Makerere VC
Makerere University has confronted some of the worst student riots in the recent past and vice chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe warned yesterday during the 70th graduation ceremony that errant students will continue to be shown the door. Speaking at the first session of the university’s 70th graduation yesterday, Nawangwe said his…
Makerere has now secured all graduation gowns - Nawangwe
Makerere University has secured all the 15,000 graduation gowns for the 70th graduation ceremony according to the vice chancellor. Addressing the students at the start of the four-day graduation ceremony today Tuesday, the vice chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe said that the university was able to procure all the necessary gowns and…
Security guard killed by wife in domestic brawl
Jinja Road police has arrested a woman identified as Evelyn Nandutu on allegations of killing her husband Justus Okumu, a security guard attached to Saracen during a domestic brawl.Kampala Metropolitan deputy police spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire said Okumu’s body was found about five metres from the couple’s home at Binyonyi, Nakawa…
Mpigi witchdoctor arrested for defiling, impregnating teen sisters
A five-month hunt for Mpigi-based witchdoctor accused of defiling and impregnating two teenage sisters has come to an end following his arrest this week. Magambo Musa also known as Mulangira Musoga allegedly lured the girls in August 2019 when they visited his shrine in Mpigi to seek 'traditional cleansing.'
Disbandment of Aids committee stirs up tensions within Judiciary
As of last year, an estimated 1.4 million Ugandans were living with HIV/Aids while another 23,000 died of HIV/Aids-related illnesses. As of 2018, Unaids estimated HIV/Aids prevalence among adults aged 15 to 49 at 5.7 per cent. The judiciary isn’t spared in all this and in an effort, ostensibly, to…
Gown crisis: Makerere runs back to Wandegeya tailors
Makerere University has run back to local tailors in Wandegeya whom it forsook in 2017 for a sole contractor to secure at least 4,000 gowns for the 70th graduation ceremony for the over 13,000 graduands. Starting tomorrow, Makerere is set to graduate 13,509 students in a 4-day ceremony. Previously, students used…
60 old taxis banned from Entebbe airport
At least 60 airport taxis have been phased out of Entebbe airport by the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) due to being old. The affected taxis were manufactured majorly before 2003 and were phased out between September 2019 and January 7, 2020. The phaseout is in line with an agreement between the airport taxi operators…
EC petitions Supreme court over dismissed MPs
The Electoral Commission has filed an application in the Supreme court seeking to stay the execution of the recent Constitutional court ruling which dismissed the election of six MPs in the newly created municipalities.Last year's judgement affected Apac Municipality MP Patrick Ocan, Sheema Municipality MP Dr Elioda Tumwesigye, Ibanda Municipality…
Mental health patients overwhelm Butabika hospital
The increasing number of mental health patients overwhelming Butabika mental referral hospital with the facility falling short on both financial and human resources. There are only 33 mental health specialists in the country with 20 of these deployed at Butabika. Butabika hospital executive director Dr David Basangwa said they received 100 more…
Starvation stalks counties in South Sudan
In many homes around Jebel Boma county, dinner consists of bitter-tasting leaves that can be picked off the bushes outside. The leaves are neither filling nor nutritious, but in South Sudan’s Jebel Boma and Pochalla counties, there’s not much else to eat. Through a combination of ruinous floods, a lack of decent roads…