Category: Daily Monitor

Overcrowding at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital maternity ward has forced management to improvise tents to accommodate caregivers, Daily Monitor has established. Previously, caregivers could occupy corridors within the maternity ward to help the mothers, but rising numbers can no longer allow them to sleep inside the ward. Masaka Regional Referral Hospital Administrator, Mr Robert Mpanga yesterday confirmed the development, saying they provided the tents to address the current congestion inside the maternity ward.

‘The tents in the compound of the maternity ward house caregivers, but not mothers as it is perceived by the public. As management, we decided to have care givers housed out of the ward to create more space for more mothers that seek services at the facility,’ he explained during an interview on Wednesday.

The situation has been exacerbated by the government’s delay to complete the multibillion Maternity and Child Complex whose construction has dragged on for a decade due to delays in releasing funds.

Initially, the project was expected to cost Shs10b, but changes in the designs to include an intensive care unit have since pushed the cost to Shs12.2b. The hospital management had earlier indicated that they need Shs600 million for utilities and another Shs2 billion for equipping the complex. Mr Mpanga said they are currently mobilising local funds to ensure that the complex is utilised.

‘The structure is magnificent, but we cannot occupy it when we cannot pay the utility bills, once we address that, we shall be in position to shift and solve that issue of congestion,’ he added.

The Monitor has learnt that the multibillion ICU equipment which the government donated to the facility during the Covid-19 pandemic is also still lying idle in the hospital store due to delayed completion of the same complex where it is supposed to be installed.

Currently, patients have to seek ICU services from either Kampala or Mbarara both located over 100km away. The hospital management’s decision to house caregivers in the tents has however attracted bitter reactions from health activists in the Masaka Sub-region, who say that it is risky given that the current wet season is characterised by heavy rain, which sometimes last several hours.

Mr Swaibu Makumbi Sulambaaya, a health rights activist, asked the government to swiftly intervene and ensure the new maternity and child complex is operationalised. ‘The new maternity and child complex was aimed at decongesting the old maternity ward constructed in 1950s, but the project has taken long to be completed ,’ he said, adding ‘ In 2017, some of the hospital administrators allegedly mismanaged Shs5 billion meant for the same project, but were simply transferred to other hospitals. Let them be hunted down to refund the money and save our people from sleeping in tents.’

Once completed, the facility will also have two theatres, a gynecology unit, antenatal and neonatal centres, labour and post-natal wards. It will also have a pediatric, nutrition and adolescent health units, all with modern equipment. This complex was set up to decongest the old maternity ward, which has outlived its purpose.

THE HOSPITAL

Constructed in 1927, Masaka Regional Referral Hospital serves eight districts: Masaka, Rakai, Lyantonde, Lwengo, Ssembabule, Bukomansimbi, Kalungu and Kalangala. It takes care of more than two million people. Being on the busy Mombasa- Kampala-Mbarara-Kigali highway, makes it the first point of call for patients, mainly accident victims. Consequently, the hospital’s average daily contact with patients is 1,800, with about 360 admissions daily.

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) have announced the recruitment of Local Defence Unit (LDU) personnel in six districts of Rwenzori and Tooro following a series of deadly attacks in the two sub-regions at the weekend.

The Director of Defence Public Information, Maj Gen Felix Kulayigye, said in a statement yesterday that the recruitment exercise will commence on November 10, in Kabarole District and will process 100 applicants per district.

‘To be able to qualify, one has to have a minimum formal education of S.4 or its equivalent, letters of recommendation from the LC1 Chairperson, Defence Secretary, and DISO/GISO, be a resident of the area without a criminal record, disciplined, and not engaged in other employment,’ the statement reads in part.

Eligibility

Eligible candidates must be Ugandan citizens aged 18 to 25, physically and medically fit, willing to volunteer, and residents of the respective districts. Successful recruits will be transported to a UPDF training school for formal induction. The beneficiary districts include Kamwenge, Kabarole, Bunyangabo, Kasese, Bundibugyo, and Ntoroko. The recruitment follows coordinated attacks by suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels on military and police installations last Saturday in Kasese, Bundibugyo, and Fort Portal. The assaults claimed the lives of a UPDF officer and a woman at the Malindi and Kakuka army detachments in Bundibugyo District.

The attackers also set several soldiers’ houses ablaze before fleeing. Targets also included Nyakasura School and Canon Apollo in Fort Portal City, police barracks on Kilembe Road in Kasese Town, and a police post in Rugendebara, Kikongo Town Council, Kasese District. Local media reported that at least 30 suspected assailants were killed in retaliatory security operations. Security agencies have condemned the attacks and reassured the public that the situation is under control, with additional deployments and heavy security measures instituted to prevent further incidents.

BACKGROUND

This is not the first time LDU recruitment has followed security threats in the region. In 2023, President Museveni directed the recruitment of local defence personnel in Rwenzori Sub-region after suspected ADF rebels killed three people, including two foreign tourists, and set their vehicle ablaze in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kasese District.

Namuwongo Blazers could make history tonight by becoming the only team to ever outsmart City Oilers in a National Basketball League series. Since their promotion to the top flight in 2013, Oilers have never lost a series and have gone on to win 10 titles in a row.

But all that can end on Wednesday.

The Blazers lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and are 40 basketball minutes away from league glory. Dominant in the last three games, Stephen Nyeko’s charges managed to get themselves out of a two-game deficit and into the lead.

They now have the momentum and the crowd behind them to end Oilers’ supremacy. And if they did not have the know-how to win the title in 2022, they have since added that to their roster, with the arrival of four former Oilers stars.

Tonny Drileba’s return from injury brought calm and composure into the team, helping the side manage and close games late in the fourth quarter.

Must win

Andrew Tendo’s charges have struggled to beat the Blazers’ defence in the last three games, with Chad Bowie and Kurt Wegscheider greatly limited. The Blazers now have it in their hands and can close the contest and start celebrations.

Drileba, Jimmy Enabu, James Okello and Ivan Muhwezi formed the formidable Oilers team that dominated Ugandan basketball for a decade.

The quartet is now in the red of Blazers and cannot wait to get one over their former paymasters, with whom they separated unceremoniously.

Okello had his best performance of the finals in Game Five, scoring 17 points and collecting eight rebounds as the Blazers won 71-68 to put one hand on the trophy.

Enabu and Muhwezi have also had their moments in the series. Their championship mentality and leadership will be key in Game Six.

What’s left for Oilers?

That the Oilers are in the final after the dismal regular season they had is some sort of miracle itself. But the record champions know how to win and cannot be written off until the title has been handed over.

The poor form of captain Titus Lual and Fayed Baale has played a big part in the team’s struggles in the series.

Lual has had to come off the bench since returning from injury while Baale lost his place in the starting line up of Game Five following multiple lowkey performances.

Will the two show up to take the burden off Bowie and Wegscheider in Game Six? They have the capacity and now have their backs against the wall.

Veteran Ben Komakech, Moses Maker, Joseph Chuma and Edgar Munaba are the other key pieces that must shine for Oilers to stay alive and force a Game Seven.

The Blazers will know that losing Game Six and handing the momentum to a perennial winner like Oilers could prove costly in Game Seven.

National Basketball League

Finals – Men

Game Six

Wednesday, Lugogo

City Oilers vs. Nam Blazers, 7pm

The floods that ravaged downtown Kampala on October 31, were not just a tragedy; they were a betrayal.

Three lives lost and billions in property destroyed. And yet, the cries of ordinary Ugandans are being drowned out, not by the rain, but by the silence, indifference, and misplaced priorities.

This disaster did not begin with the rain; it began with a presidential endorsement.

In August, President Museveni gave his blessing to city businessman Hamis Kiggundu’s proposal to cover the Nakivubo drainage channel and redevelop the area.

The plan was hailed as ‘godly’ and ‘imaginative.’ But what followed was anything but divine. Instead of prioritising drainage and flood mitigation, the focus shifted to erecting arcades while the city’s lifeline lies buried and broken.

There was no transparent process, no public tender, no environmental audit, no consultation with the people whose livelihoods depend on the Nakivubo corridor.

The Kampala Capital City Authority(KCCA) was sidelined, and the Kampala City Traders Association(Kacita) is now pleading for intervention. And yet, as traders waded through sewage to salvage their goods, thousands of Ugandans gathered at Hamz stadium on November 1 to watch a football match (Masaza Cup Finals).

A match! While families mourned their dead and counted their losses, the city cheered from the stands. This is heartbreaking. We must ask: What kind of society are we becoming? One that celebrates concrete over compassion?

One that applauds development while ignoring the destruction it leaves behind? The cries of the ordinary people must be heard. We need accountability, not just from Ham, but from every official who enabled this disaster.

We cannot normalise this suffering. We cannot let these deaths become statistics buried in bureaucratic reports.

Kampala is bleeding, and we must respond not with silence but with solidarity. We need transparency in urban planning, emergency relief for affected traders, and a public inquiry into the Nakivubo project.

I do not write this as a distant observer; I write this as someone deeply scarred by the heartbreak unfolding around me.

This pain is not abstract. It is the raw grief of a mother who arrived to find her life’s work drowned in sewage. It is the silent devastation of a young man staring at his boda boda, now a rusted relic of dreams washed away. It is the collective cry of a city suffocating under neglect, pleading for help that never comes.

This is not just about water. It is about the lives and dignity of Ugandans. It’s about justice! Kampala is not just flooded, it is wounded, and the silence in response is louder than the storm.

Let this be a message to call for action. Let it stir hearts and move hands. If we do not act now, the next storm will not just wash away our streets, it will wash away our humanity.

The Minister of Transport and Works, Gen Katumba Wamala, has said that MV Rafiki, a new vessel on Lake Victoria, is set to boost transport between the Entebbe mainland and Kalangala islands.

‘It marks one of the government’s commitments to the people of Kyamuswa to provide reliable and safe transport. This has taken a while because when we had planned to have this done, we were struck by Covid, which gave us a setback,’ he said.

Minister Katumba said the government decided to work with the private sector to put in place safe transportation in the meantime, since the government vessel planned for Kyamuswa County was not yet ready.

‘The vessel which the government is planning to construct for them is not ready, yet the people need the transport services. We decided to work with a private operator of MV Nodl, to vary our contract which we have with him, on running MV Kalangala to include trips to Kyamuswa,’ he said on Tuesday at Bukasa during the launch of MV Rafiki that will ply the Entebbe – Bukasa Island, Kyamuswa County, Kalangala District route twice a week.

Mr Katumba said the government is set to construct several landing sites on the islands as it works towards attracting more private vessel operators and also improving inland transport on the islands.

‘Water transport is still a virgin area, and while the government would like to put in place these kinds of vessels, it may not be able to meet the big demand. So, we are opening up to private operators so long as their vessels meet the standards to come and operate in the islands,’ he explained.

According to him, the islands are big and have a lot of inland transport needs.

‘Every district has a road unit, and Kalangala is not any different. It has a road unit. Islands like Bukasa, Bubeke, Butobo, Buyovu didn’t have means of transport and landing sites, and therefore, the equipment stayed only in Bugala….With this kind of landing sites, which are being constructed, now the equipment can be brought and work on the islands.’

The minister noted that the vessel will promote the growing of palm oil on Bukasa Island to enhance the development of the island.

The CEO of National Oil Distributors Limited (NODL), Hajj Sadala Musoke, said MV Rafiki will serve as a vital link between the mainland and the islands of Kalangala District in Bugala (Lutoboka) and Bukasa (Kiwungu), promoting trade, tourism, and social connection.

‘We are also looking ahead to the completion of phase one, the construction of the new landing piers. In phase two, we shall build modern passenger waiting shelters to enhance comfort and safety and residential housing for our employees in phase three,’ he said.

Mr Sadala added, ‘in Phase four, we intend to develop hotel and tourism facilities, to boost travel, leisure, and investment on the Bukasa Island-contributing to the growth of Uganda’s blue economy’.

Kalangala District Woman MP, Ms Hellen Nakimuli, said the arrival of MV Rafiki will end a three-decade wait by the Kyamuswa county residents since the government took MV Babasi for repair.

‘We have spent 29 years without a ferry in Kyamuswa; we have been demanding it for a long time. It’s not the type we would want as residents of Kyamuswa; we need a ferry that also transports vehicles to help interconnectivity and development in the 84 islands of Kalangala,’ she said.

Kyamuswa County MP, Mr Moses Kabuusu, said the vessel is set to boost business development on Bukasa Island.

The second day of the traders’ protests in downtown Kampala was Wednesday marked by running battles, choking clouds of tear gas and a volley of stones hurled from arcade balconies as security personnel moved in to disperse demonstrators.

What began as scattered resistance early Wednesday morning quickly escalated into intense confrontations as traders insisted on keeping their shops closed in protest of what they described as unbearable taxes and enforcement measures.

By mid-morning, groups of traders were seen waving Ugandan flags, some with tape over their mouths, while others blew whistles and chanted ‘high taxes must fall.’ Police and the military patrolled the streets, attempting to break up crowds, but clashes intensified when officers fired tear gas into arcades along Ben Kiwanuka and Kikuubo lanes.

‘We are tired of taxes, we are tired of rent, we are tired of suffering,’ one trader shouted after his arrest before being bundled into a waiting police pickup.

PICTORIAL: Top shots from Kampala traders’ protests over unfair taxes

As police advanced, traders inside arcades pelted them with stones, plastic water bottles and metal objects, forcing officers to take cover. At one point, police struggled to access upper floors of the buildings, prompting the military police to join the operation. Several traders were later dragged out of the arcades, some bleeding from beatings sustained during the scuffle.

‘We have been making noise for a long time, but nobody listens. Water is expensive, rent is high, everything keeps going up,’ said another trader, Mr William Jemba.

‘We are closing to show that we are not happy. We have suffered enough.’

The chairperson of the Uganda National Traders Alliance, Mr Godfrey Katongole said efforts to have the government address traders’ concerns had not yielded results, sparking the renewed strike.

‘Traders think we have betrayed them, everything is high. They have kept and enough is enough now. Let traders take over the city. We have had discussions with the government but nothing has been answered,”Mr Katongole said.

Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson, Mr Luke Owesigwire, confirmed that at least 13 traders had been arrested, 11 for inciting violence and two for assaulting officers on duty.

The traders are protesting what they call unfair VAT, the enforcement of the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing System (EFRIS), import taxes on fabrics, non-refund of the 6 percent Withholding Tax, and the continued operation of petty foreign traders in local retail business.

Traders in downtown Kampala find themselves in a bind with the terrible inevitability of the November rains exacting a high toll in human misery.

Grim predictions are being made with wide-eyed certainty by climate resilience and flooding experts after recent construction activities in flood plains compromised flood management measures in and around Nakivubo.

The financial impact incurred by weather-related damage to properties and possessions in Kampala’s Central Business District (CBD) stands as an ugly reminder of Mother Nature’s rage, if not ruthlessness.

Our deepest sympathies are with people who have, through no fault of their own, found themselves in a spot of bother due to rising flood risks.

Our hope is that the growing evidence of the rising threat posed by extreme weather piques interest about climate resilience and climate adaptation.

Ugandans must keep up the pressure on their leaders to take the rising threat level seriously.

The current blame game that technocrats and bureaucrats at City Hall are currently involved in will only do as much. Evidence-based solutions have to be proffered to ensure lightning does not strike twice, if you will. Before talking solutions, a diagnosis of the problem at hand would be much appreciated. Such a diagnosis would doubtlessly show the spending on flood defences is atrociously bad, compounded by human activities such as those that have contrived to narrow the Nakivubo drainage channel.

Also contributing to the bleak prospects assailing traders in Kampala’s CBD is the poor uptake of insurance packages. Yet the insurance industry must assume a central place in the grand scheme of all things climate risk reduction.

Here is why: Empirical evidence suggests that insurance contributes to climate risk reduction by, as one peer reviewed article points out, using risk transfer and by promoting resilience through incentivising safer practices.

Specifically, aside from doing a range of mundane things, including but not limited to providing financial incentives for policyholders to adopt risk-reducing measures, insurers can collaborate with the government on adaptation plans.

Besides risk assessment and modelling, as well as promoting resilience, insurers can also reduce climate risk through education.

Indeed, they can educate policyholders in downtown Kampala on how best to insulate their businesses against climate risks.

Traders in Kampala’s CBD are, of course, not alone in showing a lack of appetite, trust, and poor comprehension of insurance products.

The uptake of insurance products in Uganda remains desperately low, with less than one percent penetration. That works to about a pitiful 500,000 lives insured out of a population of more than 40 million.

One of the ways in which uptake can be improved, at least in downtown Kampala, is through product innovation.

In the global north, it is a common practice to have climate risk insurance provide incentives for risk reduction. This is done by simply rewarding preventive measures with lower insurance premiums.

Evidently, insurance’s capacity to serve as a critical tool for mitigating the financial impacts of climate disasters such as the one recently witnessed in downtown Kampala is not in doubt. The challenge now is to sensitise people who are in, pun unintended, the eye of the storm.

More than a year after the catastrophic landfill collapse in Kiteezi in August 2024, survivors continue to grapple with profound mental health challenges, unretrieved bodies, and unfulfilled government promises of compensation.

The Ministry of Health has highlighted that many affected individuals remain trapped in a cycle of grief, anxiety, and economic hardship, with little progress toward recovery. Pastor Joshua Ariho, a survivor who lost his entire family in the disaster, shared his ongoing struggle during the World Mental Health Day commemoration held at Kiteezi last week. Speaking to the Daily Monitor, he described how the tragedy erased his home, his wife’s thriving shop, and, most devastatingly, his loved ones whose bodies remain buried beneath tonnes of waste. ‘I was staying in that place, Kiteezi.

I lost my family, wife (Justin Mutesi), and a son (Agasha Innocent),’ he said. ‘Since that garbage covered my people, they have never retrieved the bodies, and we have never been compensated by the government.’ The pastor’s pain is compounded by relentless nightmares and a sense of abandonment. ‘We are not okay. Every day, I’m getting bad dreams of my wife and the child,’ he said. On the morning of the collapse, Pastor Ariho had left home early, unaware of the impending disaster. ‘I left them sleeping, and when the garbage came, it just covered them in the house,’ he narrated. In the chaotic aftermath, he pleaded with authorities to deploy an excavator to search for his family.

‘When it happened, I talked to them to bring an excavator, then they said that they don’t have fuel. I asked them, ‘Am I the one to pay for the fuel, yet they are the ones who brought that problem?’ he said. ‘But they insisted the government cannot get that fuel. In my calculations, I want like Shs100 million. I can build my house and start another business. Right now I am staying at my sister’s home,’ he added. His plea for Shs100 million reflects not just financial need but a desperate bid to rebuild a shattered life. Another survivor, Mr Fred Mutawe, spoke on behalf of the affected community, echoing calls for urgent government action.

He narrowly escaped death but lost everything else. ‘I was inside the house when the tragedy happened. I was not able to recover anything except my life. We have nothing to feed our children. School fees are a problem, and landlords are evicting us from their houses,’ he told Daily Monitor. ‘We are urging the government that we are not criminals. We are people who bought our land to settle on, and this tragedy was brought about by negligence. We have never been compensated,’ he added.

Officials speak

Dr Hafsa Lukwata, assistant commissioner for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Control at the Ministry of Health, confirmed that survivors are experiencing severe psychological distress. She said the ministry will work with partners in the mental health sector to address the issues. ‘Most of them have both physical and emotional problems. So their physical illnesses have not gone down. Also, they continue to worry. They are worrying so much,’ she said. She said the disaster exacerbated pre-existing anxieties and introduced new layers of trauma. ‘They are lacking basic needs. Some of them are not working very well, and some of them were working within that area (landfill), so they lost their work.

And even some people have continued to suffer the anxiety that they had even before, and it has become worse now,’ she added. While initial mental health interventions were provided in partnership with NGOs immediately after the incident, Dr Lukwata acknowledged their limitations. ‘We felt people had become much better, but some of them are telling us that that was then. When we left, things became even worse, and they continued to suffer. But for now, they’re telling us that time is helping them to heal,’ she said. She credited community and religious institutions with offering sustained support. ‘Time has helped them to heal, and also the fact that certain things have been put in place.

They have a church here. They say religious institutions are working very well. They have some mosques in this place; those who are Muslims go for prayers, and the prayer people have helped them a lot,’ she added. Ms Mercy Gracy Omona, a clinical psychologist who heads the Secretariat of the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Mental Health, delivered a message of solidarity and commitment. ‘We deeply acknowledge the courage and resilience of the people of Kiteezi, especially the survivors and families affected by last year’s tragic landfill incident,’ she said.

‘We recognise the psychological and social challenges many continue to face. In this regard, the Uganda Parliamentary Forum on Mental Health, Parliament of Uganda, shall coordinate closely with our mental health partners, professional bodies, and community organisations to ensure that the survivors and affected families receive the support and care they need,’ she added.

Police say the cause of death of Monica Nabukenya Kibalama, the wife of missing National Unity Platform (NUP) supporter John Bosco Kibalama, remains undetermined following a preliminary post-mortem at City Mortuary.

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango told the Monitor that samples from Nabukenya’s body have been sent to the Government Analytical Laboratory for further analysis after the initial autopsy yielded inconclusive results. ‘The death is not yet known despite finishing the post-mortem at the mortuary. Samples have been taken for further examination as we continue with the investigations,’ Mr Onyango said.

‘We have retrieved the home security cameras, but the footage has not yet been reviewed. In the meantime, the family has been handed the body to give their beloved one a decent burial. We are investigating this matter to get to the bottom of it,’ he added. Nabukenya, the wife of Kibalama, who has been missing since June 3, 2019, was found dead in her bathtub by neighbours, who were alerted by her children. The family resides in Seeta Village, Kasangati Town Council, Wakiso District. Nabukenya had just picked up her nine-year-old twins from school for a short holiday as Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) are in progress. Ms Irene Kabejja, a neighbour, said she spoke with Nabukenya the night before her death, noting that she seemed emotionally stressed.

‘She told me her husband’s side was fighting her over the property of Kibalama, one of her children had a fracture on his arm, and that she was lonely,’ Ms Kabejja recounted. ‘She had security concerns, which is why she bought cameras to monitor her compound. When we were called, Monica was in the bathtub naked and lifeless. We covered her with a small cloth and called the police and the village chairman,’ she added. The village chairperson, Mr Jimmy Kityo, confirmed the incident. ‘She indeed told me she had security concerns after her husband’s disappearance and had purchased cameras.

She was a supportive member of the community, and we shall miss her,’ Mr Kityo said. Nabukenya’s mother, Ms Joyce Mwetise, noted that her daughter had previously reported suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure after her husband went missing, though she appeared healthy during her visits. Kibalama, an accountant with British American Tobacco, was last seen at work on Lumumba Avenue on June 3, 2019. His vehicle, a Toyota Prado, was later found abandoned on Gayaza-Kampala road. Witnesses reported seeing heavily armed men forcibly placing him into a Toyota Hiace van.

Background

Kibalama had recently defected from the NRM to join the People Power movement, which later became NUP headed by Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine.

To date, Kibalama’s family continues to search for him. NUP lists him among 18 members allegedly abducted across Kampala and other parts of Uganda.

In 2023, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja stated in Parliament that Kibalama was in government custody on charges related to murders in Luweero District, but later retracted the statement following opposition questioning.

What NUP says.

Monica and her young children have spent six years searching for their father. She has been vocal in demanding answers, especially from [Prime Minister] Robina Nabbanja, who confirmed Kibalama is in the hands of the regime. It is very painful that these children are now without a mother and their father remains missing,- Robert Kyagulanyi, NUP leader.

Police in Kisoro District have arrested two teachers in separate incidents over alleged examination malpractice during the ongoing Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).

The suspects are accused of leaking examination papers and answers through WhatsApp messages before the official exam time.

According to Kigezi Regional Police Spokesperson ASP Elly Maate, the suspects have been identified as Mr Michael Begumisa (38), a teacher at Kashenyi Integrated School in Ntungamo District, and Mr Jonas Twesiime (30), a teacher in Kisoro Municipality.

In the first incident, Mr Begumisa, who was deployed as a UNEB scout at St. Allens Primary School in Kisoro, was caught with a suspected PLE Science paper and its answers on his smartphone.

He was intercepted by Mr Asizua Gordon Okua, a Senior Inspector of Schools from the Directorate of Education Standards and a UNEB monitor in Kisoro District.

‘During his routine inspection, Mr. Asizua found the UNEB scout behaving suspiciously. Upon checking his phone, he discovered a Science paper with answers that had been sent two hours before the official exam time,’ Mr Maate said.

Police were immediately notified, and the suspect was arrested. His phone was recovered and kept as an exhibit for further investigation.

In a separate incident, Mr Twesiime, who was serving as the Chief Invigilator at Reads Primary School in Kisoro, was also arrested after being found in possession of the 2025 PLE English paper two hours before the scheduled start of the exam.

According to police, the case was reported by Ms Mildred Tumukwasibwe, a UNEB Chief Invigilator, who became suspicious when she was denied entry at the school gate despite identifying herself as a UNEB official.

‘She insisted on accessing the centre, and upon checking the invigilator’s phone, she found the English paper already downloaded on WhatsApp. It was shocking,’ Mr. Maate said.

Police investigations later revealed that the same phone contained copies of earlier PLE papers, including Mathematics and Social Studies (SST).

Mr Maate confirmed that the suspects’ smartphones have been sent to the Forensic Services Directorate in Naguru for digital analysis to determine the source of the examination leaks.

‘We shall not tolerate any form of examination malpractice,’ he warned. ‘Those involved will face the full force of the law. Police will continue working with UNEB to protect the credibility of national examinations.’

Both suspects remain in police custody as investigations continue.

On Monday, police also arrested Mr. Bernard Katabire (41), a teacher at Real Quality Primary School, and Mr Samuel Baker Munyantari (52), the Head Teacher at Seseme Primary School, after they were found with photocopied answer sheets containing solutions to Mathematics questions 31 and 32 at Seseme Primary School in Kisoro Municipality.