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President Museveni has called on Ugandan scientists to intensify research into the medicinal potential of local herbs and natural plants, directing experts to collaborate with pharmaceutical companies to validate and commercialise herbal remedies for both local and international markets.

In a speech delivered by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa at the 20th anniversary ceremony of Quality Chemical Industries Limited (QCIL) in Kampala on Wednesday, the President said Uganda’s rich biodiversity presents vast opportunities for innovation in natural medicine.

The event also marked the groundbreaking for a new modern factory at Luzira Industrial Park. The facility will expand QCIL’s annual production capacity from 1.4 billion to 2.4 billion tablets and introduce new production lines for tuberculosis treatments, currently not manufactured anywhere on the continent.

‘I want to see companies like QCIL partner with Ugandan researchers, universities, and traditional practitioners to develop and commercialise scientifically validated herbal medicine,’ Mr Museveni said.

‘This will not only diversify our pharmaceutical base but also strengthen Uganda’s position as a global leader in natural medicine innovation.’

He noted that QCIL stands as a premier model for import substitution and industrialisation, calling on other sectors to emulate its example through agro-processing, textiles, and machinery production to build a resilient economy.

The President emphasised that QCIL’s contribution to reducing the disease burden in Uganda is not merely a business success but a public health victory.

‘Our people can now live longer, healthier, and more productive lives,’ he said.

HIV medicine

Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Health minister, commended QCIL for its continued investment in local pharmaceutical manufacturing.

She described the company’s new factory and the launch of paediatric HIV medicines as milestones in advancing Africa’s self-reliance in healthcare. ‘As the Ministry of Health, we celebrate this milestone with QCIL,’ Minister Aceng said.

‘The expansion of QCIL to manufacture more pharmaceutical products moves us towards self-reliance, timely availability, and quality of products, and most importantly, Africa’s independence.’

QCIL’s new paediatric HIV formulation, a combination of Abacavir, Dolutegravir, and Lamivudine, ensures children can take their medication safely and consistently.

Minister Aceng reflected on lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic, which, she said, underscored the need for African nations to develop homegrown solutions.

‘During the Covid-19 pandemic, we experienced profound discrimination that sent a clear message: do it yourself. African solutions for African problems,’ she emphasised.

She also revealed that Uganda is finalising the National Drug and Health Products Authority Bill to ensure locally manufactured products meet international standards. This, the Health Minister noted, represents a higher level of regulation.

Highlighting the significance of the new paediatric ARVs, Minister Aceng observed that children have often been overlooked in HIV care.

According to the 2024 UNAIDS statistics, about 72,000 Ugandan children below 15 years are living with HIV, but only half of them are virally suppressed.

Minister Aceng said the launch of paediatric ARVs marks a major step toward improving these outcomes.

Founded in 2005, QCIL is sub-Saharan Africa’s leading producer of WHO-prequalified HIV/Aids and malaria treatments, supplying 31 African countries.

The Church of Uganda has acknowledged that its stand on homosexuality and same-sex marriage has led to a significant decline in donor funding. However, the church remains optimistic that God will continue to bless it with supporters who share its mission and vision.

According to Mr Balaam Muheebwa, the acting Church of Uganda Provincial Secretary, the church’s main sources of funding include offertory, thanksgiving, tithe, personal commitments, and donations.

However, donations have greatly dwindled following the donor pull-out triggered by the church’s decision to condemn homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

Despite the decline in donor funding, the Church of Uganda has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Paxtel Telecom, which will guide their partnership and potentially lead to new opportunities.

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu, described the partnership as a “Kingdom opportunity to transform the lives of God’s people.”

“We treasure the coming of Paxtel Telecom. We are forever grateful,” Mr Muheebwa said amid thunderous applause. The partnership aims to harness the power of technology to serve the community, foster development, and create a more connected and prosperous society.

The Church of Uganda has been vocal about its stance on homosexuality, with Archbishop Kaziimba recently opposing the appointment of Rev. Sarah Mullaly as Archbishop of Canterbury due to her reported support for behaviors that contradict biblical doctrines.

Despite the challenges, the church remains committed to its mission and vision. Mr Muheebwa noted that the church is seeking like-minded partners who can support its work.

“Our stand as Church of Uganda is very clear, and we are not about to compromise that, and we have no apologies,” he said.

The partnership with Paxtel Telecom comes at a time when the church is facing financial challenges, including a decline in offertory collected during services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The church has to finance various projects, including the pension scheme for retired church leaders and investing in its idle land.

Paxtel Telecom and the Hamilton Telecom family donated Shs50 million to the Church of Uganda to improve the welfare of retired bishops. The company also donated Shs 10 million to the diocese of Karamoja. The chairman of Paxtel Telecom, Mr John Kamya, said the strategic partnership is a shared vision to harness the power of technology and serve the community.

In 1937, Chief Ajai of the Madi people stood before his council and made a decision that would echo through generations: to set aside an expanse of land along the Nile for the protection of the white rhinoceros. For the Madi, the rhino was never just another animal. It was their emblem, a symbol of strength, identity, and continuity. Its image was etched into their folklore and culture, representing the greatness of a people whose history is deeply tied to the wild plains of northwestern Uganda.

Chief Ajai foresaw a looming danger; the majestic creatures were being hunted for their horns and meat. By creating a protected sanctuary, he hoped to save them from extinction. But history, as thinker G. Michael Hopf once wrote, moves in cycles: ‘Hard times create strong men, strong men create easy times, easy times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.’

Despite Chief Ajai’s foresight, the Madi people would face their own cycle of hard times. By 1967, the reserve still held 60 rhinos. By 1978, only seven remained. The political upheavals of the 1970s turned Uganda’s wild places into hunting grounds for soldiers and poachers. By 1980, just two rhinos walked the land of the Madi. Within a few years, there were none. Today, four decades later, the Madi people are preparing for an extraordinary homecoming. In December, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) plans to reintroduce 20 southern white rhinos to the Ajai Wildlife Reserve, a move hailed as a significant cultural and ecological milestone.

The Homecoming

For the people of Madi Okollo District, the return of the rhino is personal. ‘The white rhinoceros is more than an animal,’ says Nights Zahara, the district tourism officer. ‘It is part of our cultural heritage. There are even places named after it, like Rhino Camp. This shows how deeply it is part of our identity.’ The Ajai Wildlife Reserve, covering over 140 square kilometres, is at the heart of this identity. It is a landscape rich with rivers, hills, and history. Zahara says that while the reserve has long been home to species like kob, warthog, and bushbuck, it has always felt incomplete without its signature species.

‘Beyond the rhinos, our district has unique attractions like Ajai Hill, where a Madi forefather is buried, and Onji crater lake,’ she explains. ‘But the rhinos were always the centrepiece. Their return will not only restore the ecosystem but also heal something spiritual for our people.’

Community Expectations

The return of the rhino also brings expectations of development. Zahara says locals are eager to see tangible benefits. ‘The community has high hopes,’ she says. ‘They expect roads to be improved, jobs to be created, and a fair share of tourism revenue to come back to them.’ Infrastructure remains a pressing concern. Currently, access roads are rough, especially during the rainy season. ‘For tourists to come and for the rhinos to be safely transported, the roads must be upgraded,’ Zahara adds.

The community also wants to be directly involved in conservation. ‘People here want to be trained, not just in tourism jobs, but also in financial literacy and wildlife management,’ Zahara explains. ‘They need to understand how to coexist with wildlife and benefit from it.’ For many residents, the reintroduction of the rhino is seen as a second chance, a way to revive both their culture and their economy.

Preparing the Land for Rhinos

According to UWA spokesperson Bashir Hangi, the decision to reintroduce rhinos to Ajai followed a careful feasibility study comparing several potential sites, including Murchison Falls and Kidepo Valley national parks. ‘Ajai ranked as the most suitable location,’ Hangi says. ‘It has the right habitat, strong cultural significance, and support from the local community.’

Preparing the reserve has been a massive undertaking. ‘We are building a secure sanctuary with an intelligence fence, ranger outposts, and water systems,’ he explains. ‘Rhinos are highly vulnerable to poaching, so security must be extremely tight.’ Hangi emphasises that local support has been vital. ‘We have compensated community members for crops inside the reserve to address past encroachments,’ he says. ‘The leaders here understand that the rhino is their cultural symbol, and they’ve been very supportive.’

A Carefully Orchestrated Move

Dr. James Musinguzi, UWA’s executive director, says the translocation will be part of a larger 10-year national rhino strategy. ‘At Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, we currently have 48 rhinos,’ Musinguzi explains. ‘The population there has grown so much that they now need additional space. Moving 20 to Ajai is essential not only for tourism but also for genetic diversity to prevent inbreeding.’

The relocation will involve meticulous planning. ‘We are manipulating the habitat at Ajai to ensure there is enough food and water,’ he says. ‘Rhinos like to wallow in mud to cool themselves, so water reticulation is a priority.’ Musinguzi likens the move to a gift to the nation. ‘Our goal is to complete the critical infrastructure by December so that the rhinos can be moved as a ‘Christmas gift’ to Ugandans,’ he says.

Global Support

The effort to restore Uganda’s rhino population has attracted international attention. H.E. Lisa Chesney, the UK High Commissioner to Uganda, visited Ziwa to see the progress firsthand. ‘What has impressed me most is the deep connection between the rangers, the community, and conservation efforts,’ Chesney says. ‘It’s not just about protecting rhinos, it’s about creating jobs and ensuring that nature looks after people.’

She adds that the UK has been a long-term conservation partner with Uganda. ‘For over 30 years, we’ve supported projects that combat illegal wildlife trade and promote biodiversity,’ she explains. ‘Conservation done well also boosts tourism and economic growth.’ Chesney says she plans to return on September 22, World Rhino Day, to participate in UWA’s ‘Name and Save the Rhino’ campaign. ‘It’s not just a symbolic gesture,’ she says. ‘It’s a way to sustainably fund conservation and raise awareness about why rhinos matter for Uganda’s development.’

The Name and Save the Rhino Campaign

Juliana Kagwa, CEO of the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), says the upcoming campaign will be a celebration of progress and possibility. ‘We’ve multiplied the rhino population from six to 48 at Ziwa,’ Kagwa says proudly. ‘Now we have 17 baby rhinos that need names, and this campaign will help us raise funds to relocate them to Ajai.’

The event, to be held on World Rhino Day, will bring together government officials, private partners, and international stakeholders. President Yoweri Museveni is expected to preside over the ceremony. ‘This isn’t just about conservation,’ Kagwa emphasises. ‘It’s about marketing Uganda to the world. We want everyone to see that our conservation efforts are world-class and that Uganda is a premier destination for responsible tourism.’

A Future Beyond Ajai

While the December move will focus on Ajai, UWA has broader ambitions. Dr. Musinguzi says that future phases of the strategy will include reintroducing rhinos to Kidepo Valley and Murchison Falls National Parks. ‘Our vision is to have thriving rhino populations across Uganda,’ he says. ‘This will diversify our tourism products and create new opportunities for communities.’ For the Madi people, however, the immediate focus is on their own reserve. Zahara believes the return of the rhino will inspire pride and unity. ‘This is about more than tourism,’ she says. ‘It’s about healing a wound that has been open for decades.’

Investing in Security

Challenges Ahead: Despite the optimism, challenges remain. Hangi notes that improving the road network is critical. ‘Rhinos are sensitive animals, and a rough journey could harm them,’ he warns. ‘We’re working closely with the Ministry of Works to ensure safe transportation.’ Poaching is another concern. Dr. Musinguzi says UWA is investing heavily in security and community engagement to prevent past mistakes. ‘Conservation must be community-driven,’ he stresses. ‘If the local people see benefits, they will become the first line of defence.’ Chesney agrees, pointing out that awareness must start young. ‘Education is vital,’ she says. ‘When children understand why conservation matters, they grow up to be stewards of the land.’

When Robert Kyagulanyi , alias Bobi Wine, won the 2017 Kyaddondo East by-election, he vowed to bring the ghetto to Parliament.

Having grown up in Kamwokya, one of Kampala’s biggest ghettos, Bobi Wine’s statement was interpreted as a dig aimed at the parliamentary decorum wherein a legislator is expected to follow established rules and conventions that dictate proper behaviour, respectful conduct, and orderly conduct of debate to maintain the dignity and effectiveness of the House.

The parliamentary decorum that Bobi Wine seemed to despise includes adherence to a formal addressing protocol, avoiding personal remarks, maintaining silence when the Speaker is speaking, and wearing appropriate attire.

After being ushered into the marbled halls of Parliament, Bobi Wine found himself at the centre of the debate that resulted in the removal of presidential age limits from the Constitution. This allowed President Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, to rule forever.

In a sign that he meant it when he said he was bringing the ghetto to the House, during the chaotic debate, Bobi Wine joined other think-alike legislators like Francis Zaake (Mityana Municipality) to physically engage the elite Special Forces Command (SFC) soldiers, who had raided Parliament. It was the kind of chaos Bobi Wine had envisioned and ran counter to the decorum that, in his assessment, enabled Museveni to entrench himself in power.

‘Museveni should know that we are not going to massage him like other people have been doing. We shall run out of patience if he doesn’t handle us carefully because we want him out of power,’ Bobi Wine said at one of his initial rallies back in 2017.

Eight years on, the debate on whether so-called elites should continue to dominate Ugandan politics has emerged in the aftermath of the disclosure by Bobi Wine’s party of its flagbearers ahead of next year’s parliamentary poll. A can of worms was specifically opened after the National Unity Platform (NUP) party dumped Medard Lubega Sseggona (Busiro East), one of the best constitutional law lawyers in the country, for Mathia Walukagga, a Kadongo Kamu artiste who struggles to put together sentences in English. Since this is the language used in Parliament, an emotive debate has been ignited on which way to go: elitism or the subaltern.

Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the Kira Municipality legislator who belongs to the Opposition People’s Front for Freedom (PPF) party, has led the way in castigating NUP for dropping Sseggona.

‘Parliament needs serious leaders; not wheelbarrow pushers. From December to May, you only do one thing-budgeting. Spend two months reading and understanding. That’s why when they are apportioning the Budget and I am not there, Parliament will miss me,’ he told NBS television.

Ssemujju, who has been in Parliament since 2011, didn’t restrict his criticism to Walukagga. He went back to 2020, saying if it were up to him, he wouldn’t have given Muhammad Sseggirinya the NUP party ticket for Kawempe North.

Like Walukagga, Sseggirinya, who has since died, wasn’t proficient in English. Still, NUP gave him the ticket ahead of so-called elite candidates like Suliaman Kidandala. NUP reasoned then that their choice was informed by the fact that Sseggirinya had overwhelming support ‘on the ground.’

Ssemujju’s critics have been quick to remind him that the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) regime has since time immemorial been dominated by elites who have reportedly only succeeded in leaving the country on a downward spiral.

They add that after emerging from a guerrilla war, President Museveni appointed Dr Samson Kisekka as vice president. Museveni replaced Kisekka with another medical doctor in Specioza Wandira Kazibwe. The first female to be appointed vice president on the continent, yet Kazibwe lurched from one corruption scandal to another.

Eventually, she was replaced by Prof Gilbert Balibaseka Bukenya, another medical doctor. Once Bukenya got entangled in various corruption scandals, Museveni replaced him with Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, a lawyer, who had served as House Speaker for a decade. Once Ssekandi was dumped by his Bukoto Central voters, following the NUP wave of 2021, Museveni replaced him with Jessica Alupo, a teacher.

A similar pattern can be traced when prime ministers under Museveni’s presidency are considered. Elites were at the front of the queue, starting with Kisekka, a medical doctor. He was replaced by George Cosmos Adyebo, an economist. Museveni then turned to Kintu-Musoke, a journalist.

Once Kintu-Musoke had served his role in the NRM regime, Museveni replaced him with Prof Apollo Nsibambi, an academic. Then there was Amama Mbabazi, a lawyer, and Ruhakana Rugunda, a medical doctor, in quick succession.

Dr Rugunda’s replacement, Robinah Nabbanja, has incidentally been used by Ssemujju as an example of how Museveni has now moved to weaken statutory positions by appointing non-elites.

‘Now we have a lot of comedians in Parliament who turn up in Parliament to just vote without even knowing what exactly they are voting on. Those comedians are mainly in NRM. We have a person like Nabbanja, who can’t even be an executive director of a garbage collecting company, as the prime minister,’ Ssemujju once said.

Indeed, in 2018, when he was campaigning for an NRM candidate, Nathan Igeme Nabeta, in the Jinja East by-election, Museveni said the competence of an MP didn’t matter.

‘Even if the NRM MP was sick and sleeping, he is still better than a very active Opposition MP. When an NRM MP is sleeping and it is time for passing a resolution in Parliament, he wakes up and votes for NRM. He can be weak at other issues, but when he/she votes for government policies, he is putting a brick of peace on our country. We need enough MPs to support government programmes,’ Museveni said at a rally at Masese-Walukuba Division in Jinja on March 14, 2018.

Defenders of the non-elites have moved to remind Ssemujju that it’s during the NRM elite era that the Constitution was de-toothed to remove the presidential term limits.

In fact, at the time term limits were removed from the Constitution, Prof Edward Khiddu Makubuya, who has since died, was the Attorney General.

Although Makubuya was a decorated professor of Law, he not only supported the removal of term limits but also gave a legal opinion in 2005 that Opposition doyen Dr Kizza Besigye couldn’t stand for the presidency just because he had been criminally charged.

Prof Makubuya would later resign from the Cabinet for his role in the irregular compensation of more than Shs150b to city businessmen Hassan Basajjabalaba and Col John Mugyenyi, who are linked to the NRM party.

Anti-intellectualism

In his book Wretched of the Earth, decolonial scholar Frantz Fanon insisted that urban elites in the post-colonial context had internalised colonial values, becoming a new form of oppression that perpetuated, rather than dismantled, colonial power structures and perpetuated exploitation of rural areas and the urban poor.

Fanon critiqued their focus on self-enrichment, their mimicry of Western lifestyles, and their role in centralising development and resources in the city, thus failing to achieve true national liberation and instead creating a new form of class division within the newly independent nation.

Critics of elites in Uganda have knowingly or unknowingly borrowed from Fanon to assert that elites from the ruling NRM and the Opposition have become complacent and have got entangled in corruption instead of trying to uproot the regime.

They point a finger of blame at elites like Thomas Tayebwa, who quit the Opposition to join the NRM, and he has been rewarded as the Deputy Speaker of Parliament.

Also in the crosshairs is Norbert Mao, the president general of the Democratic Party, who is now campaigning for Museveni after he was appointed Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister.

Yet the debate of elitism is also within NUP where Bobi Wine, for instance, had to drop his dreadlocks once he entered into elective politics. He, however, retained his ghetto walking style (Okugooma). Notwithstanding, what appears to have a spring in its step currently is the question of whether NUP should cast its lot with elites or not. The debate started over who was to replace Mathias Mpuuga, seen then-as now-as being part of the elites.

This was during his reign as the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP). Bobi Wine is said to have toyed with the idea of appointing Zaake as Mpuuga replacement before his hand was forced and he had to settle with Joel Ssenyonyi, who is depicted as an elite.

‘We asked Zaake to be the LoP such that he can cause chaos. They gave us Ssenyonyi, who speaks English. Yet now they have kicked out a seasoned advocate who speaks English. It’s confusing,’ Dr Yusuf Serunkuma (PhD), a social-political commentator, observed.

NUP faced the same conundrum on who to replace Sseggirinya in Kawempe. NUP paid no heed to its foot soldiers who were advocating for Umar Magala. Instead, the party ended up choosing an elite in Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola, a seasoned lawyer. This was much to the chagrin of its foot soldiers.

Dr Serunkuma insists those who want to burnish the elites entirely are inadvertently playing into the hands of Museveni.

‘Museveni’s anti-intellectualism has really eaten deep. While ‘school fees week’ is a serious thing, we are now saying educational excellence is useless at the top. While Parliament indeed ought to have very educated people, Museveni has so cheapened education that it makes no difference whether one is educated or not. We are now arguing in favour of Museveni’s way,’ Dr Serunkuma said.

At his swearing-in as the new president of Uganda in January 1986, former guerrilla commander, Mr Yoweri Museveni, famously remarked that the problem of Africa was not the people but the leaders who overstay in power.

In recent years when reminded about this laconic remark, he cleverly, if cavalierly, adds a convenient qualifier – that he meant leaders who stay in power when not elected, without the people’s mandate! Of course, the people’s mandate can be manufactured.

Mr Museveni’s closest peer, among African rulers, in the club of incredible longevity in power is Paul Biya in Cameron, who has ruled that country since 1982. Even at a staggering 92 years old, 10 years older than Uganda’s ‘old man with a hat’, to be sure, Mr Biya is seeking ‘re-election’ this month.

Like our Ugandan ruler-for-life, the Ssabalwanyi (chief fighter) and General of the revolution, Biya ‘wins’ elections every five years. While our Ssabwalwanyi has ruled for 40 long years, Biya has held the seat for 43 years, only bettered by Equatorial Guinea’s Teodore Obiang at 46.

Unlike both Museveni and Obiang, Biya has established an incomparable record of ruling mostly from abroad, in Paris and Zurich, occasionally returning home to visit on days marked by celebration and public displays of unflinching support for the autocrat.

There is a popular but erroneous view in Uganda’s political discourse that elites are to blame for the country’s political mess, including the sobering fact that one man, who is way past the retirement age for any job, is way beyond the country’s average life-expectancy, has nevertheless ruled a country of more than 40 million people for 40 long years.

The word elite is liberally bundied around as a catch-all for anyone who is educated enough and has some decent income or property. Years back while still leading the political front against Mr Museveni, Opposition veteran leader Dr Kizza Besigye categorically castigated ‘elites’ for ostensibly letting down the country by tacitly or actively abating Museveni’s dictatorship.

Beyond the catchy headline of calling out elites, a thoughtful and experienced Dr Besigye must have had a more nuanced message than a sweeping condemnation of ‘elites’, because at any rate, there is no homogeneous class of elites that espouses uniform values and is united by one set of interests.

In the current main Opposition political party, the National Unity Platform, there is a somewhat veiled anti-intellectual sentiment trumpeted by fiery foot soldiers and fuelled by the party’s top echelons. This is the more bewildering given the party’s top and inner circle comprises a set of elite actors both at home and in diaspora circles. There is a simultaneous hoisting of credentials in some cases and convenient sleight of hand of chastising those who ‘speak good English’.

Whether it is elites or the masses to blame for Uganda’s current condition, there is an old saying worth rehashing: societies get the leaders they deserve, not those they desire.

Museveni has ruled the country this long not just because of what elites have done or not done, but certainly with the active and passive roles of the masses. To gloss over the latter is to deny the agency of the masses, which in turn obstructs grasp of the sources of change.

The so-called elites are a very tiny minority in Uganda, and no one appreciates this better than Mr Museveni, precisely a key factor why he has ruled the country this long – he knows all too well where the real threats to his power are located.

As a guerrilla-man fighting for State power, the genius of Museveni was not in doing anything individually heroic or extraordinary; it was in persuading a bunch of young people to fight for him and to convince the masses that he was fighting their war, for their good. As a ruler, he has skilfully stayed ahead of the game in ensuring the masses do not revolt against him either at the ballot or in the streets, but he has also co-opted and kept sufficient agents in the armed forces and political sphere who work for him.

Obviously, this is utterly unsustainable, and matters will undoubtedly come to a head at some point, most likely sooner than later. Once there is a mass-tide, in one form or the other, whatever the elites do or do not, speak or stay silent, counts for nothing in a revolutionary moment. That said, no serious society takes pride in discarding its best brains or resourceful individuals, ideationally and materially.

There is an annoyingly lazy recounting of how many Master’s and PhD degree holders we have in the current Parliament to make a facile argument that elites are useless!

What is more, reference to a corrupt and dysfunctional civil service and State bureaucracy supposedly nails home the point. The irony is that it is Uganda’s elites who make the absurd claim that Uganda’s number one problem is the elite class!

It has been 14 years now since Paul Mwiru started a rivalry with the National Resistance Movement (NRM)’s Nathan Igeme Nabeta over Jinja South Division East constituency, formally known as Jinja East.

During this duration, Nabeta and Mwiru have faced off five times, with the former sticking to the ruling party, while the latter has moved from the Forum to the Democratic (FDC) to the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) and now the National Unity Platform (NUP).

In the five times they have faced off, Mwiru has never won at the first time of asking. He twice won a by-election, though. Specifically, when Mwiru first contested in 2011, on the FDC ticket, Nabeta won the election with 8,203 votes (49.5 percent) whilst Mwiru came second with 7,060 votes (42 percent).

Mwiru challenged Nabeta’s victory in the High Court, saying the NRM flag-bearer had no requisite academic papers and that he had bribed voters. Both the High Court and Court of Appeal agreed that Nabeta’s academic papers hadn’t been evaluated by the National Council for Higher Education in consultation with the Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb).

‘The evidence on record proves that there was no consultation between Uneb and the third respondent on the totality of the first respondent’s academic qualification before the issuance of the certificate dated 4th August 2010. The only inquiry that the third respondent made about the first respondent’s academic papers concerned the authenticity of his O-Level certificate. Uneb replied to that query. It stated that the O-Level certificate was genuine. This inquiry, in my view, did not satisfy the requirements of the law. There was no other evidence showing the participation of Uneb in the equating exercise,’ Justice Constance Byamugisha, who has since passed on, ruled in her lead judgement.

The Court of Appeal also agreed with Mwiru that Nabeta had bribed voters when he gave out welding and spraying machines to mechanics in Jinja City.

‘I, therefore, find that the evidence of Mutebi Muhammed, Magezi, Kalema, Lwala and Bamuranki proved to the satisfaction of the court that the first respondent [Nabeta] is the one who personally distributed the said machines, thus committing an illegal act of bribing voters. This act alone is sufficient to nullify the 1st respondent’s [Nabeta] election as a Member of Parliament,’ Justice Byamugisha said.

In the resultant by-election, held in early 2012, Mwiru, who was still on the FDC ticket, beat Nabeta with a difference of 2,000 votes.

By-election 2.0

Again in 2016, the battle for Jinja East was a two-way battle between then incumbent Mwiru and Nabeta the challenger. Nabeta once again beat Mwiru at the first time of asking, albeit by just 135 votes. Mwiru sought redress in the High Court, saying the Electoral Commission (EC) had doctored the results.

In his petition, Mwiru accused Nabeta of conspiring with EC officials to inflate votes at Danida A-D polling station. In particular, Mwiru said whilst the correct vote obtained at this polling station indicated that Nabeta had got 187 votes against his 226 votes, the forged declaration forms, which the EC relied on, showed that Nabeta had got 502 votes against his 226 votes.

Justice Lydia Mugambe agreed with Mwiru that Nabeta’s victory was a work of fraud, and ordered that there shouldn’t be a by-election since the results clearly indicate that Mwiru had won.

‘The evidence produced in court proved that the first [ Nabeta] and second [EC] respondents collaborated to deny the complainant the win. The Court declares Paul Mwiru the winner,’ Justice Mugambe ruled.

Nabeta appealed, but he only succeeded in terms of the Court of Appeal ordering another by-election. Mwiru wouldn’t be denied, again, as he won another by-election. This time with 6,654 votes against Nabeta’s 5,043 votes.

Mwiru’s victory, however, came at a time when his FDC was beginning to disintegrate, with one faction headed by Dr Kizza Besigye and another by Gregory Mugisha Muntu.

Mwiru backed Muntu’s faction and once Patrick Oboi Amuriat won the FDC presidency in 2018 by defeating Muntu at Mandela National Stadium, he was among those who formed ANT.

In the 2021 General Election, Mwiru would, for the first time, swap the FDC ticket for the ANT ticket. He, however, came second in the parliamentary poll with 5,580 votes. Nabeta emerged victorious with 5,817 votes.

The slim difference of just 237 votes prompted Mwiru to once again seek redress in court, contending that Nabeta connived with the EC to inflate and manipulate results in several polling stations.

Mwiru singled out polling stations like Masese Polling Station, N-M, where he indicated that Nabeta purportedly garnered 650 votes from the 678 people who turned up to vote on polling day.

Third time lucky

Mwiru’s lawyers, led by constitutional law giant Peter Walubiri, argued that the quoted number of people couldn’t have turned up between midday and 5pm when the voting ended.

At the High Court level, Justice Isaac Sserunkuuma dismissed Mwiru’s case on the grounds that he lacked sufficient evidence to support the allegations. Mwiru wasn’t done, though.

He took the battle to the Court of Appeal, saying Justice Sserukuuma failed to evaluate the evidence brought before him properly and ended up making a wrong conclusion about the matter.

The Court of Appeal panel that included Justice Christopher Madrama, Hellen Obura and Elizabeth Musoke didn’t go into the merits of Mwiru’s case because they dismissed the appeal on the account that he filed the record of appeal out of time and did not serve the notice of appeal within the required timeframe of seven days.

The record of appeal is supposed to be filed within 30 days after the memorandum, a document which shows the grounds of appeal have been filed.

Much to Mwiru’s amusement, the trio ruled that after filing the document late, Mwiru did not make use of the rules enshrined in the Court of Appeal, which provide for filing applications for validation of documents filed out of time.

With ANT not gaining traction, Mwiru would soon join the NUP bandwagon. ‘I’ve not defected but rather joined the National Unity Platform for several reasons; however, the objective remains the same,’ he explained his defection.

‘My decision followed a series of engagements with people from my constituency and involvement of different stakeholders, who later found it right for me to cross to the mainstream Opposition party, and as the situation stands at present, I have to play the NUP politics.’

Mwiru was among those candidates who recently got the NUP ticket after going through a process that many have castigated as fraudulent. This means he will once again face-off with Nabeta. Despite being defeated in the NRM primary by Richard Mbaziira, Nabeta has insisted on standing as an Independent.

‘The primaries have lost relevance because now candidates just ship in voters from other areas. I’m confident that I will win because I still have a lot of support as an individual in this area,’ Nabeta explained.

In September 2025, The Parliament of the Republic of Uganda invited the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to submit its views on the Forensic and Scientific Analytical Services Bill, 2025. To the DPP it was not entirely true to say that there has not been any legal framework to regulate forensic services in Uganda; some of the elements of forensic services provision are already ring-fenced in the Police Act and the Identification of Offenders Act. Health workers, who offer forensic services, are guided by the Uganda Medical and Practitioners Act.

In the Bill, one of the functions of the Government Analytical Laboratory is to create a forensic and scientific database. The Bill, however, does not define what a forensic and scientific database is. Nevertheless, from the functions of the GAL, as spelt out in the Bill, the composition of the database can be deduced. The Bill empowers the GAL to conduct forensic and scientific analysis including ballistics and tool marks.

This would imply that the GAL would be mandated to have a database of firearms, a function which by law is already a classified function of the Armed Forces.

The function of computer and cybercrime means that the GAL would have a database of electronic communications or data, which is also a preserve of law enforcement agencies under the Interception of Communications Act and the Uganda Communications Council Act. Keeping a biometrics of persons is already a mandate of the National Identification and Registration Authority under the Registration of Persons Act.

Questions Raised

The DPP has also questioned the designation of the Department of Inspection and Legal Services, an already existing department in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as the regulator of forensic services in the country. There are questions of whether the old department will take on new roles or whether a new department will be crafted and what will happen to the old one.

There have also been questions raised by other stakeholders about this department including who man this department and what qualifications the regulators hold and whether they are competent to regulate forensic services in the country. The existing department is headed by the Commissioner of Inspections and Compliance of Citizenship and Immigration Control who reports to the Director Immigration who is also known as the Chief Citizenship and Immigration Control Officer.

The Director reports to the Board who then reports to the Minister. But the Forensic Bill, 2025 establishes another avenue of the Commissioner reporting directly to the Minister. The DPP questions whether the Bill intends to introduce a second department of Inspections and Legal services in the same Ministry or to vest the regulatory functions, as outlined in the bill, in the same old department. If the intention is to use the existing department, it does not have the necessary technical competency to regulate forensic services whose expertise is domiciled in different ministries and sectors.

And if the Bill is intended to introduce a separate department, it is bound to encounter problems in the reporting mechanisms for the two departments which will cause conflict in administration, let alone a conflict of interest. The Bill does not also provide details of the composition of the department to objectively evaluate its expertise to carry out the listed functions.

An illegal entity?

The DPP has also raised questions about legally designating the GAL as the national referral for forensic and analytical services. The key question is how the GAL has been existing and what the legal consequences would be to the various reports previously issued by them in the various courts of law. Has the GAL been an illegal entity that this anomaly must now be rectified?

It is a fact that the GAL has been in existence and performing legal duties. Providing for its establishment in the Bill may create questions as to its current legitimacy and give room to legal challenges to its existing technical reports. Another question raised by another stakeholder is what GAL has not been able to do that this Bill will automatically cure.

Legally mandating the GAL as the national referral for forensic and analytical services implies that the GAL will have a mandate to review reports from the other laboratories and for the GAL to do this it must have personnel with superior expertise.

To the DPP review of expert forensic reports does not usually mean review by third parties in an appellate manner. In many instances the forensic testing processes degenerates samples and makes it impossible for further analysis.

The Acts

Scientific reviews should preferably be done by the same expert for specific reasons. If one party disagrees with a specific result then that party is free to have the sample tested in another laboratory. If the two results contradict each other, the two experts are evaluated and inference drawn from their presentations. The Magistrate’s Act, the Trial and Indictments Act and the Evidence Act already have a standard of whom of the experts court should believe in the event of contradictions and the law has provided guidance to judicial tribunals on who to believe and disbelieve in such cases.

To the DPP the law should instead provide for conclusiveness of expert findings in a report. The law should focus on mechanisms for developing reliable scientific internal standards as a measure of authenticity of the findings. An expert opinion can only be challenged through the conventional process as opposed to administrative reviews by third party laboratories. The DPP also faulted some sections of the bill that appeared to be redundant and one of these is the category of other laboratories that the law does not apply to. It is not clear whether this section covers all government-related laboratories or only those specifically created by law. Some of these laboratories are, in fact, created as a matter of policy, not law.

The section of the Bill on DNA seems to target voluntary testing only. The section requires that DNA samples are collected by the Analytical Laboratory. This conflicts with policing procedures. This section does not provide for DNA samples involuntarily taken from persons in conflict with the law or from objects during investigations where the DNA donors are not known.

As Uganda’s political landscape intensifies ahead of the 2026 General Election, a crucial question demands answering: are our presidential candidates and policy aspirants providing substantive solutions or merely amplifying the nation’s challenges for political gain?

With the electoral cycle gaining momentum, the nature of political discourse emerging from rallies and media appearances reveals a troubling pattern that threatens the quality of our democratic engagement and national progress.

The context framing this political conversation remains deeply concerning. The fundamental concern among political analysts and civil society observers is the prevalence of what might be termed “problem-centrism” where aspirants meticulously catalogue national challenges from unemployment to corruption, from healthcare gaps to infrastructure deficits, without providing coherent, costed implementation plans.

This approach creates a political discourse rich in criticism but alarmingly anemic in constructive policy prescriptions. The recent Civil Society Organisation assessment of political rallies found that nearly 80 percent of campaign messaging focuses on identifying problems, while only 20 percent offers specific, actionable solutions.

The consequences of this imbalance are profound and damaging to our democracy. First, it cultivates widespread cynicism and political apathy, particularly among the youth, who constitute over 78 percent of the population. When citizens are consistently told what’s wrong without being shown credible pathways to improvement, they disengage from the democratic process altogether.

Second, it reduces complex governance challenges to simplistic soundbites. Multifaceted issues like healthcare delivery involving intricate systems of financing, human resources, and infrastructure become mere weapons for attacking incumbents rather than subjects of serious policy debate.

The effect of this problem-oriented campaigning represents a fundamental disservice to citizens and weakens our democratic foundations.

An electorate presented with clear, alternative policy options cannot make informed decisions, often defaulting to voting based on ethnic affiliation, personality cults, or short-term material inducements.

The way forward requires nothing less than a transformation of our political campaign culture. For presidential and parliamentary aspirants, this means transitioning from vague promises to specific, costed policy proposals.

Instead of merely lamenting education standards, candidates should present detailed plans addressing pupil-teacher ratios, currently standing at 55:1 in government primary schools, according to the 2025 Ministry of Education statistics. Rather than simply citing unemployment figures, they must articulate sector-specific strategies for supporting small and medium enterprises and aligning educational curricula with market demands.

The responsibility for this shift extends beyond politicians themselves. Civil society organisations should develop standardised “policy report cards” to evaluate and compare aspirants’ proposals objectively.

The Electoral Commission could consider mandating detailed policy manifestos as a condition for nomination.

Ultimately, the power to demand better rests with Ugandan voters. We must collectively elevate our political consciousness and reward substance over spectacle.

Through community meetings, social media engagement, and direct questioning at rallies, citizens must insist on clarity, feasibility, and evidence behind every political promise.

The future of our nation will be determined not by who best describes our challenges, but by who presents the most credible, innovative, and executable vision to overcome them. As we approach 2026, we must demand that our aspiring leaders provide not just criticism, but concrete solutions worthy of our nation’s potential.

In Kijunjubwa Sub-county, Samuel Kaigi oversees a thriving herd of goats – now numbering more than 400. He started with 80 animals just last year and has since turned his small enterprise into a fast-growing venture. Although he has never lost money in his short farming journey, there was something he didn’t know: a national safety net exists to protect his savings should a bank collapse.

Kaigi made this revelation during the Seeds of Gold Farm Clinic at Bulindi Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Zardi) in Hoima, where he had come to learn more about productive goat farming. ‘I didn’t know that a product like the Deposit Protection Fund (DPF) was there to protect farmers. I thought only business people benefited from such things,’ he admitted.

He was among the hundreds of farmers who gathered at the Farm Clinic to learn from researchers, extension officers and financial experts.

But amid the demonstrations on climate-smart technologies and livestock management, it was a team from the Deposit Protection Fund of Uganda (DPF) that delivered the most unexpected message: where farmers keep their money matters as much as how they grow their crops.

Why farmers avoid banks

In Bunyoro, many farmers keep their money in cash or entrust it to informal savings groups. The region’s rural banking penetration remains low, with few commercial bank branches reaching the more remote sub-counties. Long distances to banking facilities and a lack of proper documentation of farming activities keep many farmers outside the formal financial system.

Meanwhile, mistrust has grown around some Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs), with reports of mismanagement and some operators disappearing with farmers’ savings. This has left farmers vulnerable – without safe places to store their earnings or build up reserves that could cushion them during hard times. As a result, farmers remain vulnerable and miss opportunities to save or invest safely.

Rural banking penetration in Bunyoro is low: only about 13 per cent of adults have bank accounts, leaving the vast majority outside the formal system.

Nationally, 32 per cent of rural adults hold bank accounts, and just 7 per cent save in commercial banks. The informal and semi-formal systems – such as SACCOs and mobile money – help bridge the gap, but they cannot fully replace the protection and growth opportunities offered by formal banking.

The safety net

The Deposit Protection Fund of Uganda (DPF) is a government-backed institution designed to protect depositors if a bank closes. According to Patrick Ezaga, the Director of Communications at DPF, the fund guarantees payment of up to Shs10m per depositor in case a financial institution fails. This coverage includes 98 per cent of deposit accounts in the country – the majority belonging to low-income earners like farmers. Uganda has more than 24 million bank accounts, but many rural farmers are not among them.

‘Agriculture remains the backbone of livelihoods. We need to be where the farmers gather. Some of them are depositors, and we have to be there to build confidence that their money is safe,’ Ezaga noted during the farm clinic. Ezaga urged farmers to update their personal information and embrace formal banking to reduce the risks associated with idle cash and unregulated financial groups. ‘If you don’t have a bank account, open one today. Idle money is bad money and risky. We want to build confidence that you move your money to safe custody,’ he said.

Why financial inclusion matters for agriculture

Financial inclusion plays a crucial role in agricultural productivity. Farmers who access formal financial services can buy quality inputs, invest in livestock, irrigation, or storage, and plan for the future. Savings and credit also help farmers withstand shocks like droughts, floods, or pest infestations without being forced to sell assets at a loss or take high-interest loans. When farmers keep their money within the formal financial system, they gain access not only to protection like DPF but also to opportunities for growth through credit, insurance, and secure transactions. This financial stability is especially vital in regions like Bunyoro, where climate change has made rainfall increasingly erratic, exposing smallholders to greater risks.

In Uganda, agriculture employs about 70 per cent of the workforce and contributes around 24 per cent of GDP, yet most farmers are underbanked. By linking farm incomes to secure banking, farmers can stabilise their operations, access credit, and improve productivity – all while contributing to broader food security and rural economic growth. For Kaigi, the clinic was more than just a learning opportunity for goat management – it opened his eyes to the importance of securing his earnings. ‘I am going to encourage farmers in my community to open bank accounts,’ he said.

His story mirrors a broader shift that financial experts hope to see in rural Uganda: farmers embracing financial services not just as clients, but as active participants in a system that can protect and grow their wealth. Still, the journey toward full financial inclusion in Bunyoro will require sustained outreach, infrastructure development and trust-building. For many farmers, opening and maintaining a bank account remains a distant idea. But initiatives like the Seeds of Gold Farm Clinic are slowly changing attitudes by bringing information to where farmers are.