Category: Daily Monitor

Environmentalists, local leaders, and scholars have expressed concern over the continued mismanagement of waste and polythene bags, which they say are worsening environmental degradation in Kabale Municipality.

The matter came to the forefront on October 9 when teachers and students of St Theresa Girls’ Vocational Secondary School, Rushoroza, joined the Southern Division leadership in a town cleaning exercise held as part of Uganda’s Independence Day celebrations.

Ms Kamusiime Macklean Batwale, the Southern Division Chairperson, said the improper disposal of waste in markets, along roads, and in public spaces has become a major environmental and public health concern, particularly during the rainy season.

‘People often store polythene bags in their homes and later throw them outside or along the roads. This contributes to drainage blockages and flooding, especially during the rainy season,’ said Ms Kamusiime. ‘Although we have introduced ordinances and tried to raise awareness about the dangers of poor waste management, many people still ignore the guidelines.’

She added that the municipality has set up garbage collection centers across various locations to provide residents with proper dumping areas.

Mr. Henry Tumwesigye, the District Natural Resources Officer, said the waste problem is compounded by inefficiencies in the municipality’s waste management system.

‘Dumping sites are poorly managed, and drainage channels are blocked. This leads to flooding in the town, which contributes to waterborne diseases and pollutes rivers downstream,’ he said.

He noted that the district has launched public sensitization campaigns, including radio talk shows, to educate residents on environmental conservation and the dangers of pollution.

Sr. Sophia Natuhwera, the Head Teacher of St. Theresa Girls’ Vocational Secondary School, who led students during the cleaning exercise, emphasized the role of education in fostering environmental responsibility.

‘We teach students to be responsible for their surroundings at school, and today we are extending that responsibility to the entire community. Keeping our environment clean helps prevent disease and promotes public health,’ she said.

Sr. Natuhwera added that the school has established environmental clubs to educate students about environmental protection through advocacy, tree planting, and recycling projects.

‘With the new curriculum, students are learning how to recycle waste and develop practical solutions. This way, all stakeholders, schools, communities, and leaders, can work together to protect the environment,’ she said.

Rising energy demands, infrastructure expansion, and the booming construction industry are driving the rapid loss of natural forests and the degradation of gazetted river catchment areas across east Acholi, investigations by the Daily Monitor reveal.

In Kitgum, Lamwo, and Agago districts, widespread charcoal burning, sand and gravel extraction, and unsustainable farming practices are stripping the landscape bare, leaving behind degraded riverbanks, eroded hillsides, and barren burrow pits.

A field assessment conducted in July found that major rivers such as Pager, Aswa, Aringa, and Orom, vital lifelines for agriculture and domestic use, have been severely affected by siltation and encroachment.

East Acholi’s terrain, once known for its lush forests, rolling hills, and clean rivers, is increasingly being transformed by human activity. While some areas remain under protection – including Orom and Ogili Central Forest Reserves (CFRs) – most lie on private land and are subject to uncontrolled exploitation.

Rivers such as Pager and Aringa, which feed into the Aswa Catchment Management Area under the Ministry of Water and Environment, are losing their ecological balance due to encroachment and poor land use.

According to the Kitgum District Development Plan (2021-2025), natural resources have been steadily degraded.

‘People are cultivating inside riverbanks and penetrating wetlands during the dry season to plant rice and vegetables. As a result, most major rivers are now silted,’ the document notes.

Deforestation, driven mainly by commercial charcoal production, poor farming practices, and human settlement, continues at an alarming pace of about 1.8 percent annually.

Kitgum District alone has 30,704 hectares of central forest reserves under the National Forestry Authority (NFA) and 16 hectares of local forest reserves managed by the district. Mr Martin Anywar, the Kitgum District forestry officer, says all five local forest reserves in the district have been affected.

‘One of the reserves sits right in a division of Kitgum Municipality – the division headquarters and a market are now inside the reserve,’ he said.

At Labongo-layamu Local Forest Reserve, land was erroneously allocated to developers as ‘vacant,’ while Matidi Local Forest Reserve is now 100 percent encroached on.

To counter this, Kitgum authorities have tried sensitising communities on tree planting and enforcing regulations against illegal logging.

A government-led conservation project through Nema has also promoted the sustainable use of threatened savanna woodland species such as shea (Vitellaria paradoxa), establishing shea butter mills and beehives in Omiya-anyima and Orom sub-counties. Data show that Kitgum’s forest cover has plummeted from 20.7 percent in 1986 to 13.3 percent in 2002, with only marginal recovery since then. ‘Encroachment rates on local forest reserves stand between 50 and 97 percent,’ Mr Anywar said.

The Amuru dilemma

In neighbouring Amuru District, the NFA continues to struggle against aggressive community encroachment and illegal charcoal production. The main challenge stems from the delay in reopening forest reserve boundaries after residents resettled following the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency nearly two decades ago.

As a result, more than 1,000 acres of forest reserve land, particularly in Keyo, Wii-Ceri, and Labala, have been lost, with about 60 percent of tree cover depleted due to settlement, farming, and logging. Attempts to demarcate reserve boundaries have sparked violent resistance.

In 2019, residents of Keyo in Lamogi Sub-county blocked the NFA’s demarcation of Keyo CFR, and the following year, NFA personnel torched seven houses allegedly built inside Wi-Ceri Forest Reserve.

Amuru District chairperson Michael Lakony blamed NFA’s ‘inactive’ presence for the worsening situation.

‘They are often seen along the Juba highway but not in areas like Wii-ceri and Labala, where the actual destruction is happening,’ he said.

The Pabbo Local Forest Reserve, once covering eight hectares, has been completely lost.

‘When I visited it three years ago, there wasn’t a single tree left,only houses and crops,’ said Ms Paska Kerren Alanyo, the district forestry officer. She said the district hosts six central forest reserves under NFA and more than nine local reserves, all heavily encroached on.

‘We’ve written to NFA requesting boundary reopening, but underfunding makes our operations ineffective. Restoring these reserves would require evicting people, a costly and politically sensitive process,’ she said.

Charcoal trade devastates tree cover

Commercial charcoal production has ravaged entire villages in Amuru, including Coro, Aker, Luro, Apaa, Goro B, Kalacut, Acut, Zoka, and Kamdini.

In previously intact areas such as Acholi-ber, Gaji, Oyanga, and Rwot-Oromo near Zoka CFR, dealers have cleared large tracts.

Despite President Museveni’s Executive Order No. 3 of May 2023, which banned commercial charcoal trade in northern Uganda, enforcement has been inconsistent.

Since then, charcoal business in Acholi has nearly doubled, driven by weak enforcement and the lucrative profits involved.

Uganda’s demand for forest products continues to outstrip sustainable supply. The country needs 1.8-2 million hectares of plantation forests to balance its timber and energy needs but currently has only 120,000 hectares. According to the Ministry of Water and Environment, forest cover on private land has dropped dramatically – from 3.3 million hectares in 1990 to just 0.7 million in 2015.

Nationally, central forest reserves under NFA now cover about 1.26 million hectares, or 64 percent of Uganda’s permanent forest estate, while the Uganda Wildlife Authority manages the rest.

However, NFA’s 2025-2030 Corporate Strategic Plan acknowledges persistent challenges – population growth (3.3 percent annually), rising demand for agricultural land, construction materials, and energy, as well as corruption and refugee settlement pressures.

‘The refugee population, estimated at 1.8 million by 2025, adds to land pressure, challenging the protection of forest estates,’ the plan states. Between 2020/21 and 2024/25, NFA resurveyed and demarcated 4,766 km of forest boundaries, about 49 percent of the total 9,755km, and protected 1.19 million hectares (94 percent) of forest reserves from illegal activities through law enforcement patrols.

Efforts toward restoration

To replenish forest cover in Acholi, NFA has established nurseries producing indigenous and commercial species such as shea, teak (Tectona grandis), Mvule (Milicia excelsa), and Warburgia ugandensis – a rare medicinal tree.

These seedlings are distributed for community planting and rehabilitation of degraded reserves. But encroachment remains a pressing threat.

‘Vast areas in Acholi have been taken up for farming, settlement, and charcoal burning,’ said Mr Aldon Walukamba, the NFA communications and public relations manager.

‘Over the last decade, thousands of hectares of central forest reserves have been threatened, with hotspots in Lira, Gulu, and Amuru,’ he said.

Recent eviction operations, he said, have reclaimed more than 160,000 hectares of encroached land, restoring forest cover by about 12 percent and reaffirming government control. These interventions have included demolishing illegal structures, removing farms, and cancelling unlawful land allocations.

Background

Forest cover then and now

1990: 4.9 million hectares

2015: 1.8 million hectares

2024: 1.6 million hectares

(Source: Ministry of Water and Environment)

Forest cover in Acholi

1986: 20.7 percent

2002: 13.3 percent

2024: Estimated below 10 percent.

Main drivers

Commercial charcoal production.

Agricultural expansion.

Timber and construction material extraction.

Unregulated human settlements.

The East African Community (EAC), in partnership with the governments of Kenya and Uganda and the African Development Bank (AfDB), will host a market sounding conference between October 20 and 21, 2025, in Kampala to explore financing options for the 193-kilometre Kenya-Uganda Multinational Expressway Project.

The project will link Kakira-Malaba in Uganda to Busia-Kisumu in Kenya.

The expressway is a flagship project aimed at enhancing regional trade, transport efficiency, and cross-border integration through the Northern Transport Corridor.

It will also upgrade major border posts, Busia, Malaba, and Lwakhakha, into modern One Stop Border Posts to ease the movement of goods and people across the region.

‘This project is not just about building a road; it is about creating a modern, safe, and efficient transport artery that connects businesses, people, and opportunities across East Africa,’ said EAC deputy secretary general for infrastructure, planning, productive, social, and political sectors, Andrea Ariik Malueth.

The Market Sounding Conference, he said, will be a turning point in the efforts to build a strategy for sustainable infrastructure development through private sector funding, transforming trade, strengthening regional integration, and unlocking opportunities for millions of our citizens.

Strategic platform

The conference will provide a strategic platform for governments, financiers, and development partners to engage on the Kenya-Uganda Expressway Project, which is being developed as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

Participants will review the findings of detailed feasibility studies, including traffic forecasts, engineering designs, and environmental and social impact assessments.

A key highlight will be the presentation of the Bankability Report, outlining project cost estimates and proposing viable PPP financing models.

‘There will be ample opportunity for rich dialogue on how to mobilize resources effectively and sustainably,’ noted Malueth.

Beyond the technical presentations, the conference will invite investors, bilateral donors, and development finance institutions to shape the project’s overall bankability and ensure it delivers long-term value.

Discussions will focus on how the expressway is expected to transform regional connectivity by reducing transport costs, facilitating cross-border trade, and accelerating economic growth across the EAC region.

The event will also seek to align stakeholder priorities on the project’s implementation roadmap, paving the way for an integrated transport corridor that supports trade, investment, and inclusive development in East Africa.

The Tokyo World Athletics Championships may now be three weeks over but the season is not done yet for Halimah Nakaayi.

The 2019 world 800 metres champion Nakaayi feels she still has unfinished business for 2025 and an overview can be made after she competes at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia next month.

With pretty few races available before Saudi, Nakaayi for a second year running has been privileged to be among the selected few to compete at the lavish Athlos event tonight in New York, USA.

‘I thank the almighty God I am really blessed to be part of Athlos again, I was given this opportunity because of my consistency in the sport,’ said Nakaayi.

Started by tennis legend Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian after the Paris Olympics last year, Athlos is a professional female-only track and field meeting series at Icahn Stadium in New York City.

Only six track events are considered; 100 metres, 200 metres, 100 metres hurdles, 400 metres, 800 metres and the mile each with a field of six competitors headlined by an Olympic or world champion.

Athlos empowers and champions women in sport. ‘It was a very unique feeling,’ Nakaayi recalls in the first edition. She met with Ohanian and his daughter Olympia.

‘Traveling by business class, everything was VIP like car services, luxury accommodations, provision of shopping vouchers with $1000, we received very many gifts and empowering women in the sport through celebrating the athletes’ personalities, their stories and performances.’

In the two-lap event, Nakaayi will face familiar faces like Olympic queen Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson and country-mate Georgia Bell, Commonwealth champion Kenyan Mary Moraa and Jamaican veteran Natoya Goule-Toppin with hefty prize money on offer.

But it’s more than that for Nakaayi. She was disappointed to clocked one minute and 57.79 seconds in the semi-final Heats at the Tokyo Worlds in Japan but it wasn’t enough to make it to the final.

By performing at Athlos, Nakaayi hopes she can boost her mojo ahead of the Riyadh do.

Meanwhile, Ohanian’s team has this year introduced the women’s long jump with a contest set to happen at Times Square in Broadway and it will be headlined by Olympic and world champion Tara Davis-Woodhall.

ATHLOS

Genre: Outdoor track and field

Venue: Icahn Stadium

Location: New York City, USA

Inaugurated: 2024

Founder: Alexis Ohanian (Serena William’s husband)

Ugandan Competitor: Halimah Nakaayi (800 Metres)

Tomorrow’s Race Time: 3.10am (Kampala) / 8.10pm (New York)

The banking sector is walking a tightrope. On one side lies the ambition to lend and grow in a recovering economy; on the other, an unsettling mix of political uncertainty, shrinking donor support, and the explosive rise of digital loans that has left the financial system exposed to new risks.

A Bank of Uganda (BoU) report paints a sobering picture of what lies ahead.

The Bank Lending Survey Report for quarter one of the 2025/26 financial year (July-September) suggests that the credit market could face a spike in loan defaults in the months leading up to December, as borrowers, both corporate and individual, struggle to meet repayment obligations amid tighter liquidity and heightened uncertainty.

Uptick in bad loans

Although most banks told the central bank they expect loan performance to remain largely stable, the data reveals a different story.

Beneath the surface, many are bracing for an uptick in bad loans, with the report showing that 61.6 percent of banks expect defaults on enterprise loans to remain steady, but a net increase of 10.1 percent is anticipated, which is a reversal from the 11.8 percent decline in just one quarter earlier.

The central bank attributes this shift primarily to the country’s political calendar, with the country inching closer to the 2026 general elections.

Banks, the report notes, are increasingly wary of potential disruptions in government spending, delays in project payments, and the economic anxiety that often grips markets during election cycles.

‘The uncertainty surrounding the political climate has increased the perceived risk of business disruptions,’ the BoU report notes.

According to the report, 63 percent of banks believe the current political environment is the single largest factor behind the expected rise in loan defaults.

Businesses dependent on government contracts or state spending are likely to feel the pinch first.

Adding to the problem is a steep decline in donor funding, particularly following the restructuring of Usaid support and reduced NGO inflows.

Nearly a quarter of banks, 22 percent, told the central bank that this reduction has already constrained liquidity in the market, making it harder for them to extend loans.

‘The tightening of liquidity due to reduced donor inflows is limiting financing for both banks and clients. This, combined with political uncertainty, has heightened the overall risk of loan non-performance,’ the report notes.

Another emerging concern is the rise of digital and mobile lending, where loans are approved within minutes, often with minimal verification.

At least 13 percent of banks cited the limited credit history of mobile borrowers as a growing source of default risk.

While such platforms have expanded access to credit, especially for small traders and individuals previously excluded from formal banking, they have also opened a Pandora’s box of repayment challenges.

Pressure on household loans

During the quarter ending September 2025, the default rate on household loans rose by 4.2 percent, continuing an upward trend even though it remained below the 20 percent spike anticipated earlier in the year.

Banks link the rise to multiple pressures, such as the rising cost of borrowing, the festive season, which is traditionally a time of heavy spending, and the boom in digital lending, which has blurred the line between convenience and caution.

‘Digital credit has boosted financial inclusion but created exposure to repayment risk,’ the report observes, calling on banks to tighten credit screening and monitoring in sectors that are politically and economically sensitive.

A sector on edge

In its report, BoU warns that the coming months could ‘test the resilience’ of the financial system as election-related tensions and liquidity constraints converge.

‘The default rate on loans is projected to increase for both enterprises and households during the quarter to December 2025,’ the report notes.

Thus, as the country enters a politically charged period, the central bank urges lenders to tread carefully by balancing lending growth with prudence.

Persistent corruption in government entities, political interference, and low staff motivation are some of the imminent challenges that await the newly appointed Inspector General of Government (IGG), Aisha Naluzze Batala.

In a country that loses close to Shs10 trillion annually to corruption schemes, Justice Naluzze has her work cut out, and in this publication, we highlight some of the hurdles, many of which her predecessors faced too:

Political interference

A few weeks to the end of the four-year tenure of the outgoing IGG, Beti Olive Namisango Kamya, President Museveni wrote a missive, questioning her directive to interdict the Commissioner of Land Registration Baker Mugaino.

Mr Museveni reasoned that since Mr Mugaino was a presidential appointee, he ought to have been informed about the ombudsman’s move to interdict him.

President Museveni, in his May 24 strongly worded letter to Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba, wondered why Mr Mugaino, whom he had sent to her ministry on a special mission, was instead interdicted on the orders of Ms Kamya without his involvement as the appointing authority.

‘.I have now been informed that the Commissioner of Land Registration, who is implementing this solution, has been removed from office on unspecified grounds, apparently acting on the directives of the IGG,’ Museveni wrote in his letter to the minister. He continued: ‘How convenient! Do you have the authority to interdict such an officer (a presidential appointee) without my involvement? Why was I not consulted prior to this action being taken?.’

According to his letter, the President had sent Mr Mugaino to the Lands ministry to find a solution to the persistent inefficiencies, fraud, and mismanagement, particularly in the Land Information System, which he claimed had cost the government over $140 million, yet double tilting, tax evasion, and fraudulent transactions still went on.

The President had sent Mr Mugaino to start the digitalisation process aimed at mitigating the said persistent shortcomings, but he was in the process arrested and interdicted on directives of the IGG.

But President Museveni’s directive was branded by some of the legal minds as ‘overstepping his mandate, impunity, and undermining government institutions on execution of their mandate’.

‘The Constitution demands that the IGG’s work is not interfered with; that is why she is called an ombudsman whose core role is to look into and check the government agencies,’ Mr Caleb Alaka, a senior lawyer, said, adding: ‘If I were the IGG, I would have resigned by now.’

In 2018, Justice Irene Mulyagonja, while IGG, claimed the majority of the powerful corrupt government officials were ‘hiding’ behind the back of the President and using their connection to the country’s chief executive officer to defeat justice. Justice Mulyagonja, who is now a judge of the Court of Appeal, went on to reveal that the corrupt are very powerful and that whenever she attempts to go after them, they fight back and, in most cases, they win the battle.

The President had used the State-of- the-Nation Address of that year to question the effectiveness of the IGG’s office in fighting corruption and said he was to create a new institution under his office to reinforce the fight against corruption in the country. Former Ethics minister Miria Matembe, earlier this week, said corruption in this country can’t be won without the political will.

Demotivated staff

Sources within the Inspectorate of Government said the staff are demotivated due to poor pay in comparison to their peers who work for other government institutions like the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), and Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), among others. ‘.As a result, staff get demoralised and pursue greener pastures elsewhere,’ our sources who are privy to what is happening at IGG’s office said.

They added: ‘The current staff structure doesn’t give room for growth in terms of promotion. For instance, there are staff who have been at the officer level for 10 years, and these have never been promoted.’

Prosecuting the corrupt

The new IGG has her work further cut out as the public expects her to prosecute corruption cases, most especially the big cases involving high profile government officials.

Constitutionally, the IGG is the leading fighter against corruption, but this hasn’t been the case; statistics show that the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has prosecuted twice as many corruption cases as the IGG.

In her four-year term, outgoing IGG Kamya faced two big corruption scandals involving the Karamoja iron sheets and the Parliament exhibition, but never took steps to prosecute any of the accused.

Mr Marlon Agaba, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda, said Ms Kamya’s failures supersede her achievements, especially her failure to prosecute a single high-profile corruption case in her term.

‘We saw a drastic decline in the prosecution of corruption cases, which was unfortunate because we saw a lot of exhibitions on corruption happening, the anti-corruption protests, the Mabaati scandal, but not even a single prosecution happened from the IG,’ he said.

‘Negotiating with thieves’

There was also a concern about the outgoing IGG, where in some scenarios, she negotiated with officials implicated in corruption and they refunded their loot and returned to office, with some being promoted. Examples of such negotiations included officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos).

‘The public wants to see the corrupt being prosecuted. During Kamya’s reign, we saw officials from the Agriculture ministry and Ubos who were involved in corruption scandals refund the stolen money, and they were left to return to their offices with some even being promoted,’ our source said. They added: ‘Since the new IGG is a seasoned prosecutor, let her come and do more of the prosecutions than recovering money.’

Break favouritism

The new ombudsman comes in at a time when there are cliques of officials working with their favourite employees and not on merit. ‘She needs to break the silos.people working with their favourite instead of focusing on teamwork. This kind of work arrangement, derails work,’ the source said.

IGG rating.

‘We saw a drastic decline in the prosecution of corruption cases [by former IGG], which was unfortunate because we saw a lot of exhibitions on corruption happening, the anti-corruption protests, the Mabaati scandal, but not even a single prosecution…’ Marlon Agaba, ED of the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda.

East Africans must move beyond being passive recipients of foreign capital and instead position themselves as active architects of investment, driving the region’s growth and integration.

This call was made during the Stanbic Bank East Africa Business Summit in Kampala, which drew policymakers, private sector leaders, and development partners from across the region.

The summit highlighted the need for East Africa to operate as a unified economic bloc, anchored in efficient transport systems, digital infrastructure, and strong financial linkages.

The summit, during the panel on intra-regional trade, urged the private sector and governments to adopt a bold approach that transforms how East Africa trades within itself and with the rest of the world.

Mr Damoni Kitabire, chairman of Stanbic Bank Uganda, said the region has enormous potential but must act deliberately to convert it into inclusive growth.

‘East Africa’s future is not something we will inherit; it is something we must build. We have the resources, the demographic dividend, and entrepreneurial energy, but these must be translated into productivity, value addition, and innovation,’ he said.

Kitabire also outlined the need for policy action to harmonize standards and eliminate trade barriers, private sector action to invest in infrastructure and technology, and financial sector reform to lower credit costs and support SMEs, women, and youth-led enterprises.

Mr Kenneth Mumba Kalifungwa, Stanbic Bank chief executive officer, said regional transformation depends on strategic investments in cross-border infrastructure, including highways, energy interconnections, and modern border posts that facilitate trade.

‘This connectivity is not just about moving goods, it’s about moving potential. It empowers women traders to reach new markets, helps youth-led enterprises to scale, and allows farmers to access buyers beyond borders,’ he said, noting that they were partners in building infrastructure of growth, such as financing logistics, energy, and trade systems that connect regional markets.

Mr Patrick Mweheire, outgoing Regional Chief Executive for East Africa at Standard Bank Group, said global institutions, including the World Bank, IMF, and AfDB, recognize East Africa as one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.

He noted that the region’s population is projected to double to nearly 600 million by 2050, offering a youthful and energetic labour force.

With fertile soils, vast arable land, and abundant renewable energy potential, East Africa could emerge as a continental food basket and green growth hub.

‘This potential will not translate into prosperity by accident. It will require vision, coordinated execution, and above all, collaborative leadership’, he said.

The World Bank has said economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has maintained momentum amid heightened global policy uncertainty with the region’s growth being projected to reach 3.8 per cent in 2025, up from 3.5 per cent in 2024.

The report has been issued by the World Bank Africa Pulse, which gives an analysis of issues shaping Africa’s economic future produced twice a year. The October 2025 issue states that the 2025 growth forecast has been revised upward by 0.3 percentage point compared to the April 2025 figures.

The projected acceleration in Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth in 2025 is underpinned by improved terms of trade across much of the region, contributing to currency stabilisation and, in some cases, appreciation.

However, on the other hand, the World Bank says despite recent growth, the region has not achieved the scale or inclusiveness needed to sharply reduce extreme poverty or improve the distribution of income. Public service delivery remains weak, and the broader economic environment has struggled to generate sufficient high-quality, well-paying jobs and opportunities for the population.

‘Over the next quarter century, Sub-Saharan Africa’s working-age population will grow by more than 600 million,” said Dr Andrew Dabalen, World Bank Chief Economist for the Africa region.

He added: ‘The challenge will be matching this growing population with better jobs, given that only 24 percent of new workers today land wage-paying jobs. A structural shift toward more medium and large firms is essential to generate wage jobs at scale.’

The World Bank says the East African Community (EAC) exhibits the largest expansion in the subregion, at 4.8 percent in 2024, and it is projected to grow at an annual average rate of 6.7 percent in 2026-27. Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda are the countries with the largest expansions in the EAC.

For 2025, the World Bank says Uganda’s economy is expected to grow at 6.3, percent, Kenya, 4.5 percent, Tanzania 6.0 percent, Rwanda 7.1 percent, Burundi 4.6 percent, Democratic Republic of Congo 5.3 percent, while South Sudan is expected to see a negative growth of -23.8 percent.

In the Africa Pulse, the World Bank states that declining inflation in many countries has allowed for a gradual easing of monetary policy, boosting household purchasing power and creating space for further rate cuts. These favorable conditions are fueling a recovery in private consumption and investment.

However, it says ongoing fiscal consolidation efforts may continue to weigh on overall economic activity, moderating the pace of recovery in some economies.

Due to their relatively low trade exposure to the United States, Sub-Saharan African countries are well-positioned to weather the impact of higher US tariffs. Nevertheless, uncertainty around the implementation and duration of current trade measures remains elevated.

The World Bank explains that this lingering uncertainty, coupled with subdued global investor appetite and a tightening supply of external finance, could constrain growth prospects. Elevated risk of debt distress across many countries in the region leaves them vulnerable to external shocks, limiting their ability to respond effectively to global economic disruptions.

In per capita terms, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has been insufficient to lead to significantly reduced extreme poverty or improved income distribution.

Real income per capita in the region is projected to grow at 1.3 percent in 2025, up from 1.0 percent in 2024, and expected to reach 1.9 percent by 2026-27. While this marks a gradual recovery from a decade of successive shocks, the rebound has yet to gain strong momentum.

After reaching a peak of 50 percent in 2024, the World Bank points out that poverty-measured at $3 per capita per day in 2021 international purchasing power parity-has been forecasted to drop to 48.4 percent in 2027. The total number of poor people in the region is expected to increase from 576 million in 2022 to 671 million in 2027.

As Uganda marked 63 years of independence, Ugandans living in the diaspora used the occasion to deliver a sobering message about the state of governance, democracy, and public welfare in their homeland.

In a joint statement, they expressed deep concern over what they described as the steady erosion of democratic principles and widening social inequality, developments they say betray the dreams of the nation’s founding fathers.

Leading the call, Dr Dennis Daniel Ssemugenyi, a prominent voice within the Ugandan diaspora community, said the country stands at a critical crossroads, urging citizens to reclaim the true spirit of independence and confront the forces of corruption and oppression.

‘We are standing at a crossroads in our nation’s history, and our economy is in crisis. Prices rise day and night while wages remain stagnant. Businesses are closing as corruption flies high. This is not the independence our fathers fought for,’ he said.

Dr Ssemugenyi painted a bleak picture of the current state of social services, particularly in the health sector, which he said had been neglected for far too long.

‘Our hospitals, once symbols of compassion, are now stories of despair. Mothers give birth on the floor, patients wait endlessly for medicine that never comes, and doctors, once the pride of our nation, have been reduced to beggars in their own country,’ he said.

Turning to political governance, Dr Ssemugenyi decried what he termed the slow death of democracy and the shrinking space for independent voices. He cited the recent presidential nomination process as evidence of bias within the electoral system.

‘The recent nominations exposed deep cracks in our democracy. Independent candidates who speak for the people were deliberately excluded and silenced,’ he said.

He revealed that he filed a petition on September 26 demanding fairness, but to this day, the Electoral Commission remains silent.

‘That silence is not ignorance, it is the loudest confession of bias and fear,’ he added.

He warned that the erosion of electoral integrity risks plunging the nation into political disillusionment.

‘When an electoral body becomes a branch of the ruling regime, elections stop being instruments of democracy and become rituals of deceit. A nation that can no longer trust its ballot stands on the edge of its last resort,’ Dr Ssemugenyi noted.

The diaspora leader also criticised Uganda’s justice system, accusing it of shielding the powerful while abandoning the weak.

‘Ordinary Ugandans no longer believe that the courts can deliver justice. Case files disappear, judges are intimidated, and the law serves only the powerful. This is not justice, it is legalized oppression,’ he said.

Reflecting on the meaning of independence, Dr Ssemugenyi urged Ugandans to use the anniversary not merely as a celebration but as a moment of national reckoning.

‘Independence is not real until every Ugandan is free from fear, poverty, and injustice. We must awaken the spirit of our founding fathers, those who dreamed of self-rule, peace, and equality. Let us celebrate the past but reclaim the future,’ he said.

He concluded with a rallying call for civic renewal and unity among Ugandans at home and abroad.

‘The greed for power has become a cancer eating the soul of Uganda. It has stolen our dreams, divided our people, and turned citizens into subjects,’ he said. ‘But while the regime can hold power, it cannot hold the soul of Ugandans. Our destiny belongs to us, and together we can rebuild our nation.’

Dr Ssemugenyi’s remarks have resonated widely within diaspora communities, many of whom say the fight for a just, accountable, and inclusive Uganda must continue, guided by the same ideals that inspired the country’s struggle for independence in 1962.

Professor Fredrick Ssempebwa, a former member of the 1995 Constitutional Commission, has criticised Parliament for failing to provide effective checks and balances on the executive.

Speaking at the second commemoration conference on constitutional governance, Ssempebwa noted that Parliament’s actions are now driven by sectarian interests rather than a commitment to holding the executive accountable.

“It’s simply that if the proposal is coming from the President, we members of the ruling party must agree to it at whatever cost,” Ssempebwa said, highlighting the lack of independence in Parliament. He emphasized that the Constitution had envisioned a different role for Parliament, one that would provide a strong check on the executive.

Ssempebwa pointed out that the decentralization system proposed in the Constitution has been undermined by the lack of financial capacity and autonomy for local government units.

“We had at the initiation of the constitution, 35 local government units or 36, something like that, and these were conceived as relatively sufficient for us to be able to play the role,” he said.

However, Ssempebwa criticized President Museveni for not walking the talk on the number of local government units.

“I saw him on TV last night complaining about the cost of districts. He had just said oh, it’s so expensive, we have too many districts and recently, the president has awarded new districts,” Ssempebwa said, referencing the President’s recent announcement on creating a new district in Oyam.

The conference, themed “Guardians of the Constitution: Strengthening Institutions for Democracy, Justice and Rule of Law,” brought together stakeholders to discuss the progress and challenges of Uganda’s constitutional governance.

The former Principal Judge of the High Court, Justice James Ogoola, emphasized the importance of the judiciary speaking its mind in judicial resolutions.

According to Justice Ogoola, the judiciary’s performance over the 30 years of the Constitution’s existence has been a “mixed bag.” He cited notable cases, including the presidential election petition of 2006, where the court was perceived to have failed in its duty to stand for the courage of its conviction.

In contrast, Justice Ogoola highlighted the constitutional court’s recent ruling on military jurisdiction over civilians, saying, “This time, the court means no words. It quickly, courageously, and succinctly ruled against military jurisdiction over civilians and compelled the state to immediately continue cases that were ongoing and turn them over to the appropriate civilian courts.”

Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, also expressed concerns about the number of members of Parliament, citing the high cost of administration in the country.

“We’ve had a very big debate on the issue of number of members of parliament, they also bother me because the cost of administration in this country, I want to be honest is extremely high,” he said.

The conference highlighted the need for institutions to work together to strengthen democracy, justice, and the rule of law in Uganda. As the country celebrates 30 years of its Constitution, stakeholders are calling for a renewed commitment to upholding the principles of good governance and accountability.