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Businessman Frank Gashumba has challenged Ugandan apostles, prophets and generally Pentecostal pastors to walk into the Intensive Care Units of hospitals and heal the sick. Mr Gashumba promises to part with more than Shs200 million for any pastor who can pull off this miracle.

Gashumba, who frames the men and women of God as certified crooks, is questioning their contribution to national development. Many Ugandans have joined Gashumba’s taunting of pastors, demanding specific signs and wonders as proof of their relevance to society.

We, the Anglicans, Catholics, Muslims and atheists, seem excited to not only contribute to the sarcasm against the pastors but also scandalise the debate. Whereas Gashumba and his ilk chest thump as doing the Lord’s work in calling out pastors, they are only calling on the pastors to become magicians. It is the magicians who pull off stunts for entertainment and profit. We have, nonetheless, seen some pastors who have turned the ministry of evangelism into entertainment and trade. It is, therefore, unsurprising that pastors are being dragged to pull off stunts as though they were magicians.

Pastors find themselves in a similar place Jesus Christ found himself when he entered Galilee. The Sadducees and Pharisees approached Jesus demanding a miracle to prove his authority (Matthew 12: 38). Jesus’ response was that only an evil and adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign.

To the extent that Biblical theology imagines one’s relationship with God as a marriage covenant, Jesus’ response indicated that only men and women whose relationship with God was questionable could ask him for a miracle. Jesus refused to perform the miracle.

Several pastors have, however, responded to Gashumba’s challenge with fury. The fury, much like Gashumba’s frustration, is misguided. If Gashumba truly feels for the unbearably sick in Ugandan hospitals, the right question to ask should be whether, as a country, we are doing enough to guarantee quality health care services to our citizens.

Gashumba’s critique is punctuated with a political disingenuity which scapegoats pastors for the failures of our health system. Pastors are not a government. It is government that is expected to safeguard society from different afflictions of life. Gashumba is thus behaving like the Jewish Zealots who only imagined Jesus as a political messiah who would overthrow the Roman Empire for them.

The pastors are, however, also failing to realise that Gashumba’s challenge emerges from a deep-rooted theological waywardness.

Gashumba, who began his critique of pastors with a reaffirmation of his Christianity, is winding it up with a celebratory revelation of how prominent traditional spiritualists are in defence of him. If the major calling of any Christian worth the identity is to make disciples of all nations, Gashumba is making disrupters of all disciples and bragging about it. Gashumba ought to be reminded that when pastors perform miracles, the act is supposed to only be part of bringing glory to God, not to prove anything about the pastors.

Of course, some pastors perform miracles and take all the glory away from God. These pastors turn churchgoers into their own followers instead of followers of Christ. The pastors’ conscription of Christians into their own followers has generated an unhealthy competition among them as though they were not working for the same cause of winning souls for Jesus Christ.

During the time Jesus walked the earth, the temptation for His Apostles to compete among themselves was also alive. On one occasion in the village of Capernaum, Jesus overheard His disciples debating who among themselves was the greatest. Jesus assured them that the greatest among them was he who was willing to take the last place and be a servant of everyone else (Mark 9: 33 – 35). The pastors thus ought not only to shun Gashumba’s invitation to a performance of their pride but also to manifest the fruits of the Spirit of God.

Graduates have been urged to rise above the limitations of their humble origins, stay ambitious, and renew their determination whenever they face life’s challenges.

The call was made on Friday by the Rubanda West Member of Parliament, Mr. Bruce Balaba Kabaasa, while speaking as the chief guest during the 27th graduation ceremony of Bishop Barham University College (BBUC), a constituent college of Uganda Christian University (UCU), held at the Rugarama Cathedral headquarters in Kabale Municipality.

A total of 410 students, including 10 international students, graduated across various academic disciplines, with 10 students recognized for attaining first-class degrees. The ceremony was held under the theme: ‘Renewed, transformational mindset’.

Addressing the congregation, Mr. Kabaasa cautioned the fresh graduates against letting their background dictate their future possibilities, using his personal journey as an example of resilience.

‘Some of you may be tempted to believe that your humble background has already determined your future. Never allow your background to imprison your mind, aspirations, and possibilities. I went through modest schools, but here I am not only as a Member of Parliament, but as a leader with a record of service and achievement in this country,’ Mr. Kabaasa said.

He shared that his career included two decades of uninterrupted service at Makerere University, a journey marked by significant obstacles. He noted that every time he was confronted with challenges, he chose to renew his faith to prepare for the next phase, advising the graduates to adopt the same mindset.

Speaking at the same event, the Principal of Bishop Barham University College, Dr. Alice Jossy Kyobutungi, challenged the graduates to lead with integrity, competence, and faith, drawing inspiration from Matthew 5:14. She reminded them to remain firmly grounded, quoting an African proverb that states when roots are deep, there is no reason to fear the wind.

Dr. Kyobutungi also highlighted several operational hurdles facing the growing institution, including limited academic programs, financial constraints, stiff competition from rival tertiary institutions, and deficits in staffing, infrastructure, accommodation, research funding, and transport.

Despite these setbacks, she assured stakeholders that university management, in partnership with the governing council and UCU administration, remains committed to prudent financial management, accountability, and strategic partnerships to transform these challenges into opportunities for growth. She reiterated BBUC’s goal to build a Christ-centered institution that combines academic excellence with practical skills, research, entrepreneurship, and Christian service.

In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University, Prof. Canon Aaron Mushengyezi, who represented the university chancellor, advised graduates to measure their success by the trust they earn and the lives they impact rather than material wealth or public recognition. He emphasized that Uganda and the wider region require professionals who serve with competence and humility across all sectors, urging the cohort to let their faith shape their conduct and their knowledge inform their decisions.

The United Nations Security Council members will today, October 30, 2026, hold a seventh straw poll to determine, per Article 97 of the UN Charter, who will be the next Secretary-General of the UN.

The latest straw poll will have a new candidate added after the United Arab Emirates nominated Lana Zaki Nusseibeh for the UN Secretary-General post 10 days after Macky Sall (Senegal) withdrew his candidacy. The other candidates still in the race include Olara Otunnu (Uganda), Ivonne A-Baki (Ecuador), María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (Ecuador), Rafael Mariano Grossi (Argentina), Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett (Guyana) and Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (Costa Rica).

Straw polls are informal ballots used to assess the viability of candidates before the Council makes its formal recommendation through a resolution adopted during a private meeting. Latvia and the UK were appointed as tellers. For Otunu, the only remaining candidate from Africa, today’s straw poll provides a clear direction of where his campaign is headed.

Otunnu, who has so far run his campaign on the need to reform the world body, reiterated his stance on Thursday, asking-rhetorically-what will become of the UN without the much-needed reforms.

‘Will the United Nations matter in the lives of ordinary people in the years to come? This question is at the heart of the search for the next Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). It is also at the centre of my decision to offer to serve,’ he said, adding, ‘I believe that the UN can rise to the moment, but only if we are willing to change how it works.’

The former UN Under-Secretary-General said a rigorous reform agenda requires the world to refocus on the fundamentals of the UN Charter, going back to basics in the three core mandates (pillars) enunciated in the Charter: Peace and Security, Human Rights, and Sustainable Development.

‘The purpose of reform must be to regenerate greater legitimacy and effectiveness, in order to yield tangible impact on the ground. As Secretary-General, refocusing, restructuring and reorganising the UN system would be a commanding priority of my mandate. This begins by consolidating, expanding and institutionalising the efforts already begun under the UN reform programme, dubbed ‘UN80′. We cannot afford to lose momentum or falter in our resolve,’ he said.

Reform agenda

He said while the first phase of reform has already generated some savings through reductions in posts, the relocation of staff and the consolidation of administrative functions. Such a status quo should be seen as the beginning of a more fundamental institutional transformation in which reform becomes part of the cultural DNA of the UN and a continuous process of assessing priorities, challenging entrenched practices and delivering measurable impact.

‘From day one, I would use my prerogative as Secretary-General to laser-focus on eliminating duplication and redundancy, strengthening coherence and accountability, and aligning priorities with commensurate resources. Reform must produce an institution that is leaner, more focused, and more closely connected to the people it serves,’ he said.

While Otunnu has pledged broader reforms, his core focus has been on bringing UN closure to the people, through relocation of substantive political, humanitarian and development posts to the regional level to advance sustainable development. This, he said, will deepen cost savings and bring expertise geographically closer to the member States and the communities the UN serves.

‘Political analysis should be closer to political realities. Humanitarian expertise should be better connected to the communities facing crises. We must do much more to connect the global UN to the local level, thus increasing the impact of the UN on the lives of ordinary people,’ he said.

‘The UN cannot credibly claim to represent the international community if its own composition fails to reflect that community. A more efficient UN must also be more representative and inclusive. As Secretary-General, I would prioritise geographic diversity, gender parity and multilingualism as crucial aspects of my reform agenda. This is integral to the legitimacy and effectiveness of the UN,’ he added.

Otunnu, who also previously served as the first UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, said the reform agenda must refocus the UN on its core Charter mandate of maintaining international peace and security and promoting conflict resolution, which remain an important component of the global peace and security agenda and the UN’s efforts to end conflicts.

‘It is essential that these operations are more focused, realistic and achievable in their mandates; that they are results-oriented, clearly time-bound and accountable to Member States; that transition arrangements are planned and designed from the beginning to avoid open-ended, never-ending UN operations; that critical concerns about burden-sharing in financing and troop contributions are addressed; that the sovereignty of affected Member States is respected; and that there is better consultation with national stakeholders, including civil society and local communities who are on the frontlines of conflict and post-conflict peacebuilding,’ he said.

‘As Secretary-General, I would lead the effort to overhaul peacekeeping and bring UN Peace Operations back to these fundamentals,’ he added.

Global wars

A number of permanent members of the UN Security Council are currently engaged in brutal wars, including Russia, which invaded its neighbour Ukraine in 2022, the US that launched blistering attacks against Venezuela and together with Israel attacked Iran.

Otunnu said while the UN has a mandate to maintain peace and security, tragically, major wars continue to ravage communities around the world.

‘Ending these deadly conflicts would constitute an immediate and absolute priority for me. I know that the ultimate decisions rest with the protagonists and the major powers. But as Secretary-General, I would fully and impartially engage in mediation efforts, listening patiently to all parties, probing opportunities to be helpful, and coming up with innovative ideas to break deadlocks,’ he said.

‘Reforming the UN to be ‘fit for purpose’ also entails rebuilding consensus on Human Rights. As Secretary-General, I would refocus on fulfilling the vision, spirit and promise of the UN Charter for ‘fundamental human rights and the dignity and worth of the human person’. For a human rights-centered approach to be credible and enjoy broad legitimacy, we must guard against the politicisation or instrumentalisation of human rights, perceived or otherwise. As Secretary-General, I would invoke the UN Charter and its principles in a completely impartial and non-selective manner,’ he added.

Back to undifferentiated voting

Internal sources say while the sixth straw poll featured coloured ballots to distinguish between the votes cast by the five permanent members (P5) and the 10 elected members (E10), it appears that undifferentiated ballots will be used in today’s straw poll. Sources say the issue of moving back to undifferentiated ballots was discussed on Thursday at an informal meeting among Council members after the conclusion of the Council’s dialogue with Nusseibeh.

While some members, including Bahrain, Russia, and the US, wanted the straw poll to again feature coloured ballot papers, sources say the majority of members preferred going back to undifferentiated ballots. They cited several reasons in support of this approach.

‘Colombia and Panama apparently observed that the Council has not had the opportunity to test the new candidate’s strength to the same extent as it did with longer-standing candidates. Among other issues, there appeared to be concern that admitting the new candidate directly at the colour-coded stage might appear as non-transparent and could potentially give her an unfair advantage over the other candidates, particularly the emerging frontrunners, all of whom are from Latin American countries and all of whom have participated in several rounds of straw polls,’ sources said.

Although some permanent members stressed the need to accelerate the Council’s decision-making-including through colour-coded ballots, which may induce lower-scoring candidates to withdraw-they appear to have eventually agreed to return to undifferentiated voting for today’s straw poll.

A close call?

The first colour-coded poll did not identify a clear favourite among the permanent members. All candidates emerged with ‘discouraged’ ballots from P5 members, including Grynspan, Rodrigues-Birkett, and Grossi, who received two each. Grynspan and Rodrigues-Birkett each received three ‘encouraged’ votes from the P5, while Grossi received two.

Among the three leading candidates, Grossi is the only one who recorded a ‘no opinion expressed’ vote from a P5 member. Both Grynspan and Grossi received six ‘encouraged’ votes from the E10, while Rodrigues Birkett received five.

Rodrigues-Birkett recorded the strongest overall improvement compared with the fifth straw poll, gaining three ‘encouraged’ votes and reducing her ‘discouraged’ votes by the same amount. Grynspan and Grossi also improved their overall scores. Grynspan garnered one less ‘discouraged’ vote, while Grossi acquired two additional ‘encouraged’ ballots and shed one ‘discouraged’ vote. Otunnu’s result also showed some improvement, but his ten ‘discouraged’ ballots remain a significant obstacle.

‘Discouraged’ votes either reduced or stayed the same, while ‘encouraged’ ballots either increased or stayed the same across all candidates, and the overall number of ‘discouraged’ votes decreased from 67 in the fifth straw poll to 60 in the sixth. At the same time, no candidate secured a level of support that would clearly indicate that a consensus is emerging within the Council.

The recent recall of all batches of ZAHA Suspension, an essential antibacterial drug manufactured by India’s Ajanta Pharma Ltd, over quality failures is a critical action to protect public health.

While this swift response by the National Drug Authority (NDA) is commendable and vital to catch what slips through the cracks, it should not be our primary line of defence. There is a need to strengthen interventions to prevent importation and the entry of substandard drugs into the market.

According to an October 16 statement by NDA, during routine post-market surveillance, their teams sampled the ZAHA Suspension and found that the bottles were overfilled with no space for shaking the suspension to ensure uniform dosing.

This headspace for shaking the suspension prior to dosing is a critical step to ensure uniform distribution of the active pharmaceutical ingredient.

NDA indicated that the product was creaming, some bottles did not have powder suspended, and the leaflet does not indicate the physical appearance of the product at normal storage conditions.

This is not the first time NDA is recalling a medical product. Between 2020 and 2022, there were about 48 product recalls, with 2020 alone having 27 recalls. Some, if not most, of the recalls are made when many patients are already affected.

These procedures are intended to protect the health of the consumer from harmful effects which may be caused by the use of unsafe, ineffective or poor-quality medicines and other medical products, in line with National Drug Policy 2000 sec.3.6.

The recalls are often made following verified reports of serious adverse reactions not stated in the package insert, unacceptably high frequency of adverse reactions which are mentioned in the package insert, incorrect labelling, and incorrect formulation.

For this ZAHA Suspension, fresh information obtained by Weekend Monitor from NDA, indicates that the recall of all batches was a scaling up of the initial October 16 directive issued by the NDA secretary, Dr David Nahamya, to the local technical representative Abacus Pharma (A) Ltd, which targeted particular batches of the drug.

Mr Abiaz Rwamwiri, the NDA spokesperson, told this newspaper that through deeper investigations, they later discovered the problem was bigger, hence recalling all batches of the drug.

All costs associated with the recall of a product will be for the account of the importer, according to NDA guidelines. Any costs associated with NDA recall-related activities (such as recall announcements, storage, disposal/destruction) will be invoiced to the importer, NDA states further.

Exim Bank Uganda Limited has launched Exim Global Pay, a new cross-border payment platform powered by TerraPay’s global financial infrastructure. The platform allows individuals and businesses across Uganda to execute international transactions seamlessly. By integrating directly into TerraPay’s network, financial institutions eliminate the technical complexity and high expenses associated with building multiple bilateral routing systems. While cross-border payment platforms exist in the region, bank officials emphasize that Exim Global Pay offers enhanced security features, faster transaction clearing, and improved convenience.

Private sector leaders view the platform as a significant driver for cross-border trade, which generates between $2.2 billion and $2.5 billion annually according to Bank of Uganda estimates. The system also supports international remittances from Ugandans working abroad. Ministry of Finance data indicates that overseas Ugandans sent home nearly $3 billion in the last financial year, representing a growth of nearly $2 billion compared to the previous period. Remittances remain a central source of foreign exchange, investment capital, and household revenue in Uganda, reinforcing the demand for reliable digital financial architecture. Connecting local banking networks to international corridors directly aligns with the digital inclusion objectives outlined in the National Development Plan framework.

Despite the economic benefits of digital financial channels, transaction costs remain a key hurdle for widespread consumer adoption. Market players acknowledge that the investment required to build and deploy digital infrastructure is frequently passed down to end users. Speaking at the launch event in Kampala, Francis Mulero, Head of Personal and Business Banking at Exim Bank Uganda, noted that high transfer charges limit the uptake of financial tech products. To address this issue, the institution adjusted its pricing model for individual corridors to maintain lower rates. Industry experts note that overall transfer fees exceeding $15 create significant barriers to mass adoption.

Hidden charges within international money transfer networks present an additional challenge for consumers. Samuel Muyingo, Country Manager for TerraPay in Uganda and regional lead for East and Southern Africa, explained that unaccounted charges reduce the final amount received by recipients, disrupting international trade transactions. He noted that under TerraPay’s infrastructure model, transaction fees are transparently disclosed upfront, ensuring that recipients receive the exact amount sent without intermediary deductions.

High costs continue to affect local technology adoption patterns across the country. A mini-survey conducted across Kampala’s five divisions by Business Weekend Outlook revealed that nine out of ten respondents avoid using digital innovations due to high operational fees, despite recognizing their utility. Research by the Economic Policy Research Centre confirms that substantial upfront fees generate a dual burden of high costs and digital exclusion for Ugandan households.

These cost challenges are further complicated by network disruptions caused by power grid instability and national internet shutdowns, which temporarily freeze mobile money and electronic banking services. Financial institutions and tech providers face ongoing pressure to deliver scalable infrastructure that remains affordable for everyday consumers.