Category: Daily Monitor

The economy is projected to grow by 6.4 percent in the 2025/26 financial year, up slightly from 6.3 percent in the 2024/25 financial year, according to preliminary estimates from Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos). While this growth remains below government’s target of between 6.5 percent and 7 percent, it reflects the economy’s resilience amid global economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and disruptions in international trade. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to rise from Shs227.9 trillion to Shs250.4 trillion, highlighting continued expansion across key sectors.

Backbone of the economy

The services sector remains Uganda’s largest economic pillar, contributing 42.1 percent of GDP in the 2025/26 financial year. The sector also recorded growth of 5.5 percent, slightly higher than the 5.4 percent registered the previous year, supported by trade and repair services, which grew by 6.9 percent. Financial and insurance activities expanded by 8.3 percent, while accommodation and food services increased by 7.7 percent. Information and communication services grew by 6.6 percent, while transport and storage activities expanded by 5.0 percent. The strong performance of financial services, tourism-related activities, and digital communications demonstrates the increasing importance of modern service industries in Uganda’s economy.

Agriculture

The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector contributed 26.2 percent of GDP, up slightly from 26.1 percent in the previous financial year. The sector grew by 6.5 percent, making it one of the strongest performers. Growth was driven mainly by food crop production, which expanded by 4.9 percent, and cash crops, which registered a robust growth rate of 12.1 percent. Agriculture continues to play a critical role in supporting rural livelihoods, food security, exports, and household incomes. The strong growth in cash crops reflects improving performance in export-oriented agriculture.

Industry

The industry sector accounted for 24.1 percent of GDP, slightly down from 24.3 percent the previous year. However, the sector still achieved a solid 6.4 percent growth rate. The sector’s performance was driven by construction, which grew by 8.2 percent, manufacturing, which expanded by 5.5 percent, and electricity generation and supply, which recorded an impressive 14.4 percent growth. The strong performance in construction reflects continued investment in infrastructure, while growth in electricity supply signals increasing industrial capacity and economic modernization.

Government expects growth to accelerate towards 8 percent and beyond in the medium term, supported by oil and gas investments, increased exports, foreign direct investment (FDI), higher remittances, the Parish Development Model (PDM), and Emyooga. The long-term ambition is to achieve double-digit growth, reduce poverty, create nearly 885,000 jobs annually, and double the size of the economy by the 2029/30 financial year.

The latest figures show that while services remain the dominant contributor to gross domestic product, Uganda’s growth is becoming increasingly broad-based, with agriculture and industry also posting strong gains and providing a foundation for sustained economic transformation.

The pitch at Makerere University is called the Graveyard. It is an apt name for a club that spent the better part of two years flirting with extinction and then refusing to stay dead.

Makerere Impis were relegated from the Uganda Rugby Premiership in 2024, dropping to the Central Regional Championship and facing what looked like a long road back.

They had tumbled out alongside Lifeguard Rams, a fellow Makerere-based club, which created a punishing problem. Because both relegated teams came from the same Central Rugby Championship, only one could return immediately. To get back, Impis would first have to beat their neighbours.

The story of how they did it, and what has followed since is for another day.

Building from the schools

The seeds of the crisis were visible before the axe fell. Impis were caught mid-cycle, shifting from one generation of experienced players to another of rookies who were mostly playing their first senior rugby. And within two years from 2022, they had been relegated from the Premiership and lost core status in the National Sevens Series.

Then came Alvin Nkamba, a coach leading a Premiership side for the very first time. He arrived after a decorated run at St Mary’s College Kisubi where he had won an East Africa Games gold medal, two consecutive Central Schools finals and the 2025 Central Schools Sevens title.

He brought with him Syrus Sebuliba as a deputy. Sebuliba had coached Impis himself in 2023, and joined a part of a backroom staff that included strength and conditioning coach Brian Wambedde and reserves coach Emmanuel Sama, a former referee and Victoria Sharks technical team alumnus.

Nkamba’s approach was structural.

“One of the things we looked at has been extending our culture into the age-grade community most especially the rugby-playing schools,” he explained.

“Having that message go out to these young boys has enabled us to get a very strong base from which we pick the best of the best.”

The players he recruited already knew each other, bonded across six years of schools rugby. “Trying to get them together wasn’t actually hard,” he adds, “These are friends and brothers. Our job was to get them within the Impis system and get the best out of them.”

Impis went through the Central Championship unbeaten, edging Rams 14-13 at the Graveyard. Then they won all three Promotional Playoff games, including a 24-13 defeat of Gulu City Falcons that ultimately bounced the back into the topflight division and confirmed that the Graveyard would host top-flight rugby once more.

Season two

Before the 2026 campaign began, Nkamba sat with players and staff to evaluated the fixture list and set their targets and assigned roles.

The executive committee led by chairman Sylvester Egumire Nnyombi built a gym, approximately 60 percent complete, at the Graveyard. An attack coach was added to the staff.

“Everyone being able to comfortably sit into their shoes and do their part has enabled us to achieve most of our goals,” Nkamba said.

They opened with a 44-16 demolition of Warriors, the biggest win of their season. In week two, they edged former champions Heathens 16-10, with Darren Aine slotting two penalties and racing clear from his own half to seal the result. After two rounds, the promoted side sat top of the Premiership.

Over thirteen games, they have won seven, scoring 26 tries and conceding 31, recording the seventh-best attacking and sixth-best defensive numbers in the league.

Daring Aine

Their skipper Darren Aine has been the season’s defining individual. According to data shared by Isa Metrics, the fullback and backline captain has amassed 131 points, the most ever recorded by a player in their debut Premiership campaign, surpassing Malcolm Okello’s 130 for Heathens in 2024.

He is Impis’ second-top try scorer with four, has converted 42 of 65 attempts at goal, and has been named Man of the Match in wins over both Heathens and Rhinos.

“He is literally at the beginning of a very impressive career,” Nkamba said of his point man.

“Not only because of his talent and athleticism but because he is a very good leader. He knows how to get those around him comfortable and playing even when things are not happening.”

Leading the try count with five is captain Clarence Muhumuza, a hooker and one of the youngest skippers in the competition. Veteran Pius Mpoza provides the experience and loose forward guidance the younger crop needs. And flyhalf Edgar Akimanzi delivered arguably the knockout’s most dramatic moment, a 40-metre drop goal that closed the aggregate gap on Kobs to a single point before Impis swept away to win the game by 20.

Comeback kings

Defeats to Plascon Mongers and then a 31-9 hammering by Black Pirates mid-season checked their ambitions but they qualified for the knockouts and drew Kobs in the quarterfinals.

The first leg ended 23-12 to Kobs, and most felt their season had been buried at their graveyard but what followed has already entered Ugandan rugby folklore. Mpoza marked his 100th appearance for the club with two tries and a man-of-the-match show as Impis overturned the deficit to stun Kobs 30-10 at Kampala Rugby Club to advance 35-33 on aggregate.

Now they face Toyota Buffaloes in the semifinal. Two teams nobody anticipated would still be standing at this stage.

Nkamba is measured when asked what comes next. “We are only getting started,” Nkamba said.

The Graveyard, as it turns out, is where Impis’ resurrections happen.

In the other semifinal, Pirates will cross to Kyadondo to face Heathens in another classic. The Graveyard, it turns out, is where resurrections happen.

Some residents in Masaka District are of the view that the absence of academic requirements presents challenges, especially when councillors are expected to debate complex issues, interpret council procedures and scrutinise government programmes.

After a spat online following the failure by many councillors to take oath in English, there has been a call and a series of social media trolls by sections of the public to have qualifications attached to all lower elective positions. In Lale Sub-county, Soroti District, some elected councillors, who could not take oath in English, excused themselves and took the oath, in the local Kumam language. The same was seen in Arapai Sub-county, where a section of the parish councillors turned to Ateso to take their oath.

Mr Samson Okwerede, a teacher in Kidongole Sub-county, Bukedea District, said as much as the elites are making jokes of the calibre of the councillors taking elective positions as representatives at parish and sub-county level, the elites themselves are part of the problem. ‘When the Electoral Commission makes calls for the people to express interest in lower elective positions, even at the MP level, the elites who assume to be educated don’t show up. Rather, it is the uneducated who express confidence,’ he explained.

Mr Okwerede said every parish has over 100 graduates who are unemployed, adding that if such people take interest into elective positions at the lower level, there would be vibrant lower council debates, and checks and balances would be top notch. ‘It costs nothing for a graduate in either education or social work to compete as a parish council as they hunt for a job. If a job comes your way, you resign. Why should you continue having people elected as councillors but can’t scrutinise government documents?’ he wondered.

In the central region, some residents in Masaka District are of the view that the absence of academic requirements presents challenges, especially when councillors are expected to debate complex issues, interpret council procedures and scrutinise government programmes. Mr Francis Ssendyowa, a resident of Mpigi District and former councillor who represented Muduuma Sub-county, said there is a need to review the existing laws and introduce minimum academic standards for councillors.

“I think councillors should possess at least a Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE). Council sessions are conducted in English, and councillors are expected to understand documents, budgets and rules of procedure. A minimum qualification would help them discharge their duties more effectively,” Mr Ssendyowa said.

His remarks come amid discussions in some local government circles about whether councillors should be allowed to debate in local languages to accommodate members who are not proficient in English. Mr Ssendyowa however questions the practicability of local languages in council operations. “If debates are conducted in local languages, do councils have the capacity to interpret proceedings accurately for all members? The focus should not be on mocking councillors with limited education but on ensuring they can effectively represent the people and understand the matters before them,” he said.

Mr Richard Kiberu, a resident of Maggya Cell, Bongole Ward in Buwama Town Council, said educational qualifications can improve the quality of deliberations but should not ‘automatically disqualify leaders who enjoy public confidence,’ “Leadership is not determined by certificates alone. Some councillors may have limited formal education but understand the challenges affecting their communities and represent residents well,” he said. Ms Sarah Naava, a resident of Mpigi Town Council, said the issue should be approached carefully to avoid excluding capable leaders from rural areas.

“The electorate should continue to have the final say. However, councillors should be provided with regular training on council procedures, budgeting and legislation so they perform their responsibilities effectively,” she said. Mr Hamid Nawandagala, a resident of Nabyewanga Village in Nkozi Sub-county, added that council business has become increasingly technical and requires leaders who can understand official documents and government policies. “Councillors are expected to debate budgets, development plans and accountability reports. While academic qualifications may help, continuous capacity-building is equally important,” he said.

Get educated leaders

Mr Ramathan Ssegawa, a councillor for Namulanda Upper, in Kajjansi Town Council, Wakiso District said there should be a minimum qualification in place for people contesting for the councillor positions, to ensure that they can interpret rules of procedures. ‘I don’t support having illiterate leaders in council. This is a modern era where the people we are representing are learned. A person who can’t even read their swearing-in oath, doesn’t deserve to sit in council’ he said. He added, ‘Even in council, all the documents and debates are in English, we don’t have interpreters in council. How will they contribute to a discussion they haven’t understood?’

Mr Ssegawa argued that having councillors with minimal education standards makes their oversight role difficult on people in higher public offices like town clerks, who he said are at times master’s degree holders. Mr John Mugabi, the director of Action for Liberty and Economic Development (ALED) and political analyst in Entebbe Municipality, called for a change in policy shift, to allow councillors use a language they prefer and is easily understood by them. ‘If I was to propose, the first council would start with voting the preferred language to be used by the councillors. Countries such as Morocco use their local language which is Arabic, but put translators so that people are not only easily understood, but also serve diligently without losing their self-esteem’ he said.

Mr Mugabi said this would enable the councillors to put other public servants to accountability in the local government. ‘Campaigns are done in the local language, but then comes an unfortunate scenario when after winning using the local dialect, they go to council where everything is being done in the official language’ he said. He added, ‘If they [government] say it’s going to be English, let them set a standard, where one must have a certain qualification. It’s a disservice to the councillors who interact with people and understand their needs to be challenged by a language which inconveniences their deliberations on behalf of their constituents’.

However, Mr Benson Ekwee, the executive director of Public Affairs Centre Uganda (PAC) is of a different view, adding that the measure of leadership isn’t an equation that should be tied on qualifications. ‘We previously had a councillor from Asuret Sub-county, Soroti District who was not much learnt, but was a step ahead in articulating matters than the educated,’ he said. Mr Ekwee said the problem at hand is not having the less educated in the councils but the corrupt and deceptive system we are operating in. ‘For instance, we have a parliament with professors but what is happening there is disheartening,’

Vouching for local languages

In Arua District, Mr Bosco Odama, former Logiri Sub-county councillor and former LC3 chairman said most of the council sessions were conducted in Lugbara because not all the councillors understand English. “The technical officers have to break down complicated terms in the simplest language for them to understand,’ he said. Mr Odama added that even in council sessions where debates are conducted in Lugbarati, the secretary takes minutes in English. But Ms Loyce Bileru, a resident of Arua City, said: ‘There was a need for the level of academic qualifications needed for the councillors because they are the ones who implement most government programmes. So, it would be good if one can understand what is in the documents.’

She however added that deliberating in local language would not be a problem because some are more eloquent and articulate with confidence in local language. According to the Local Council Act, there are no formal academic qualifications required for division and district councillors. The only requirement is that one must be a citizen of Uganda with a valid National ID. Mr Eugene Mwale, councillor representing the people of Nkonko Ward in Wakisi Division, Njeru Municipality, Buikwe District, explained that swearing-in ceremonies are conducted in English before a magistrate, as guided by the clerk to the council. However, during council sessions, proceedings are often conducted in local languages.

Mwale emphasised that councillors are the ‘eyes of the local people’ in villages, many of whom did not attend school, and the law allows them to express their views in their native language. ‘It is the responsibility of the clerk to the council to interpret and record the proceedings into official working documents. It is not mandatory for us to present our views in English as local councils,’ Mwale said. Mr Michael Mbulalina, councillor representing Malindi Ward in Wakisi Division, echoed this view. He noted that the law permits the use of local languages, especially since many councillors struggle to express themselves in English.

In most cases, clerks interpret the constitution and rules of procedure into the local language during sessions, ensuring inclusivity and understanding prevails.

Retired Supreme Court Judge Eldad Mwangusya has publicly criticized the Masaka Chief Magistrate who presided over the controversial vote recount that overturned the election of Masaka City Woman MP and declared Junior Local Government Minister-designate Justine Nameere the winner.

Justice Mwangusya faulted Chief Magistrate Abert Asiimwe for authorising a vote recount in Nameere’s application despite having previously declined to order recounts in other election disputes that were based on similar grounds.

‘In the other Masaka case, the magistrate said no, no, no…the jurisprudence has to change, and we should recount,’ Justice Mwangusya said.

‘But why do you refuse to recount in one and you recount in another? That is where the problem was,’ he added.

The retired judge made the remarks on Friday during the closing session of a two-day training for justices of the Court of Appeal organised by the Judicial Training Institute (JTI) in Kampala.

The training focused on the effective handling of election appeals expected to arise from petitions currently before the High Court.

During a plenary discussion, Justice Christopher Gashirabake, who moderated the session, sought Justice Mwangusya’s guidance on how judicial officers should handle situations where ballot box seals are found broken.

‘My lord, shouldn’t it be useful for us to know when to conduct a recount and when not to?’ Justice Gashirabake asked.

In response, Justice Mwangusya said judicial officers should proceed to inspect the contents of ballot boxes regardless of whether the seals are intact.

‘Let’s look into the ballot boxes, with or without broken seals. If there are broken seals, I will go inside and find out why they were broken. As I had earlier explained, there was a scenario where we found tampered contents in a sealed ballot box,’ he said.

The Masaka City Woman MP vote recount remains one of the most disputed electoral exercises arising from the January 2026 General Election.

Following a tense three-day recount exercise, Chief Magistrate Asiimwe declared National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate Justine Nameere the winner of the parliamentary seat, overturning the Electoral Commission’s earlier declaration of National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Rose Nalubowa as the duly elected representative.

The recount attracted criticism from legal observers and election stakeholders who argued that it appeared to disregard statutory provisions and judicial precedents established by the High Court more than two decades ago.

The guidance has generally been interpreted to mean that ballot boxes with broken seals should not be subjected to recounts because the integrity of their contents may have been compromised.

Critics also pointed to the fact that the same magistrate had, in at least two earlier applications involving similar circumstances, declined to conduct recounts after finding that ballot box seals had been broken.

Nalubowa has since petitioned the High Court challenging the outcome of the recount. The matter is yet to be heard and determined.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Justice-designate Moses Kawumi Kazibwe underscored the importance of timely and credible adjudication of election disputes, describing elections as central to democratic governance and public trust in institutions.

‘Over the past two days, we have reflected on one of the Judiciary’s most important constitutional responsibilities: the adjudication of electoral disputes. Elections lie at the heart of democratic governance, and election petitions directly affect public confidence in democratic institutions and the rule of law,’ Justice Kawumi said.

Judiciary records indicate that 118 election petitions arising from the January 2026 General Election have so far been filed before the High Court.

According to Justice Prof. Andrew Khaukha, the Executive Director of the Judicial Training Institute, 107 of the petitions challenge parliamentary election results, while 11 relate to local government elections.

The Judiciary is yet to assign judges to hear the petitions, setting the stage for what is expected to be an intensive period of election-related litigation across the country.

Businesses in the hospitality industry, and tour operators in particular, have taken serious issue with the communication related to Ebola put out by Uganda’s Ministry of Health (MoH).

Some have complained that the communications are sensationalist, others that they are inaccurate or simply exaggerated. Still others have suggested that the MoH should simply remain silent on the matter.

The messages coming out of the MoH, they have stated, are simply destroying the tourism industry and have adverse effects on their tour or hotel businesses. In response the MoH, has stated that they are duty-bound to be transparent, and that silence will have even more detrimental effects.

That they must not jeopardise the trust that international actors have in MoH. MoH officials have also stated that it is their primary mandate to save lives over and above anything else.

Our argument is that the issue here is less about sensationalism or exaggerated communication or silence, and more about accurate and appropriately contextualised messaging, and it is to the President Museveni’s messaging regarding Ebola to which we turn for some guidance. The President has argued that relative to Covid or other airborne epidemics, Ebola is easier to control.

Let us expand on the President’s position in order to create some convergence between the positions of the actors in the hospitality industry and the position of the Ministry of Health Ebola is transmitted only when the fluids of an infected person gain access into the body of a health person. The key phrases here are ‘infected person’ and ‘gains entry’. Let’s reflect on these two phrases more carefully.

An infected person will only transmit Ebola if they are symptomatic. What does this mean? Not all persons infected with Ebola are contagious—only those that are have symptoms will transmit the Ebola virus. One of the first symptoms of Ebola is elevated temperature, and this is why temperature screening at places such as airports, is the first line of defence. This is why efforts must be made to detect Ebola symptoms as early as possible.

Second, what does ‘gain entry’ mean? The President has explained that Ebola can gain entry into the body of an infected person through very limited channels: the eyes, mouth, broken skin membrane, sexual intercourse.

Transmission via these channels is extremely easy to prevent through proper handwashing, use of sanitiser solutions, avoiding touching eyes and mouth, and sexual intercourse. All these are relatively easy behaviour modification strategies, and relatively easily SOPs to implement in hotels, restaurants, vehicles etc. The President has aptly pointed this out.

The third issue is related to Ebola’s transmission hotspots. By far the majority of transmission cases have occurred in medical facilities. Why? When a person begins to feel sick with symptoms-temperature, vomiting, diarrhoea, their first destination is the medical facility. However, medical workers often lack the essential personal protective equipment (PPEs), and will typically touch patients without wearing gloves, etc. This is why medical facilities are major transmission hotspots. In addition to early detection, the MoH should ensure that PPEs are available in sufficient supply in medical facilities and that all medical workers use them all the time, including when there is no Ebola outbreak.

The first, second and third issues outlined above suggest that the probability of being infected with Ebola by persons, including tourists, who practice the SOPs, and whose hosts in turn adhere to SOPs is close to zero.

This must be part of the core messaging related to Ebola. This is why, unlike Covid, Ebola is not widespread and the rest of us, including tourists that are here are going about our business relatively normally.

Finally, we need a strategic and regional, rather than a reactionary approach, to managing Ebola outbreaks, of which we have had since 1975. What would a regional Ebola prevention strategy look like?

First, communities in the DRC and Uganda should be sensitised about Ebola, how it spreads, and prevention measures. Second, our governments should adopt a proactive, as opposed to a reactive approach to Ebola.

The border regions of Uganda, DRC, South Sudan, Rwanda should be equipped with more health facilities generally, and a robust system of early detection of all major tropical disease outbreaks (Marburg, Mpox, Ebola, etc.) through prompt testing of all persons having symptoms, and strict isolation and quarantine of all persons who test positive.

Accurately and well contextualised messaging around Ebola, and other disease outbreaks, prompt testing and disease management of cases, should mitigate against the stigma associated with Ebola, prevent the panic such as we have seen with Ebola 2026, and alleviate the detrimental impact of incomplete or inaccurate messaging.

One person has been killed and four others injured in Omoro District following four separate armed robbery incidents over the past month, in a wave of violence that has left security agencies struggling to make arrests or recover firearms.

Police say no suspect has been arrested and none of the weapons used in the attacks, including a police rifle stolen from an officer, has been recovered.

On May 11, unknown assailants took advantage of a heavy downpour and raided Lalogi Police Station at about 8:30 pm, attacking a 50-year-old officer, Beatrice Awor, attached to Lalogi Sub-county Police Station.

The attackers reportedly stormed her house, strangled and assaulted her before fleeing with her rifle.

According to police, Awor was seated inside her unit on a mat when the assailants entered and overpowered her.

‘The assailants managed to escape with gun No. UG POL 48014235-15938 containing 30 rounds of ammunition. A case of aggravated robbery was registered at Lalogi Police Station vide SD Ref: 14/11/05/2026 and now Omoro CRB 320/2026. Suspects remain unknown and our hunt is on to recover the gun,’ a police statement said.

Security sources say that on May 27, a businessman was robbed at gunpoint in Lalogi Town Council, less than 200 metres from the police station, and more than Shs 10 million was stolen.

Four days later, a food vendor survived a separate attack when armed men, reportedly three in number, sprayed bullets at her and a boda boda rider who had carried her from Rom Cell, Abuga Parish, Abuga Sub-county.

The vendor, identified as Gloria Ajok, who operates at Lacor Centre in For-God Parish, Gulu City, was robbed of her handbag. The boda boda rider survived with serious injuries after a bullet pierced through his stomach at about 10:00 pm, according to sources.

Before investigations into the June 1 shooting could conclude, residents of Koch-Ongako Trading Centre in Koch-Ongako Sub-county, Omoro District, were again shocked on June 3 when three armed men raided a mobile money shop and killed an agent before fleeing with an unspecified amount of cash.

The incident occurred a few minutes after 8:00 pm. Eyewitnesses said the attackers arrived on a motorcycle, parked in front of the shop, and pretended to be customers making a deposit before opening fire.

‘One of them remained on the motorcycle and two entered the shop, inside which two other clients were transacting,’ said Alfred Ojok, a boda boda rider at Koch-Ongako Trading Centre.

Ojok said the attackers shot the agent five times in the chest after he refused to hand over money.

‘The robber with the gun stood by the door and shot the agent multiple times. His accomplice went behind the counter and grabbed the money. The shots also injured the two other clients,’ he added.

The mobile money shop is located about 400 metres from Koch-Ongako Police Station.

Omoro District Police Commander Amiir Magulu declined to comment on the incident, citing ongoing investigations.

Another eyewitness, Christopher Okello, said the attackers were dressed in black jackets and caps and fled towards Koch Goma in Nwoya District.

He said the victim, Raymond Onen, was rushed to St Mary’s Hospital Lacor on a boda boda but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police spokesperson for Aswa West, David Ongom Mudong, said the attackers used a Hero Hunter motorcycle and were armed with an AK-47 rifle.

‘The assailants were dressed in black jackets with caps. They used a motorcycle and an SMG AK-47 rifle and exited the scene unidentified through the back,’ he said.

Omoro Resident District Commissioner Emmanuel Okot said no suspect has been arrested and neither the stolen police gun nor the weapons used in the attacks have been recovered.

‘This is not the first time. Remember the May 11 incident when they grabbed a gun from Lalogi Police Station, and on the night of Eid, a businessman was robbed in Lalogi, and then the woman shot at in Abuga,’ Okot said.

Security agencies say joint operations by police and the UPDF are ongoing.

UPDF 4th Division commander Maj. Gen. Felix Busizoori earlier said the army was working with other security agencies to contain rising gun violence in the region, which has been linked to armed cartels operating across Lango, West Nile and Acholi sub-regions.

However, despite the operations, none of the guns used in several robberies in Gulu City and Gulu District have been recovered.

Police say a joint counterforce has been deployed to track the attackers, though details remain limited for operational reasons.

In Gulu City, a separate gun attack at LT Energy Petrol Station in Laliya Trading Centre left a security guard dead after three masked men stormed the station on May 5 and stole a firearm.

Ten days later, businessman Wilfred Ojok was shot dead in a separate attack at Paromo Cell, Awach Town Council, after armed men attempted to break into his shop.

Police say investigations into all incidents are ongoing as armed violence continues to spread fear among residents and the business community.

Past incidents

1.April 30. Michael Komakech, a mason in Gulu City robbed of Shs3 million by an armed boda-boda rider at Wii Layibi, a Gulu City suburb.

2. May 2: Armed robbers waylaid Morris Onen Onna and robbed him of his motorcycle, UG Boss registration number UFM 917 C, at For God, located about 500 meters from the St Joseph’s Cathedral in Gulu City.

3. May 4. Denis Kilama, a security guard attached to Corporate Security Ltd, is held for robbing Sh5 million from a businessman in Gulu City.

4. May 5. Fedenaldo Ocora, a boda boda rider, is robbed of his motorcycle registration UGD 940F by unknown gunmen Keyi ‘B’ Cell via Kabedopong trading centre.

Kulika school fees week, how many times did you attempt to run away?

Run away? I am the Old Testament stock of men, we do not run away; we face the Red Sea.

You have the name, yes. Naye nga oli kyamagero kweli?

A name is inherited. Character is earned. Many people carry great surnames. Few carry the responsibility attached to them. Every morning life asks, ‘Have you grown into your name yet?’ I am still answering that question.

Let’s talk skeletons in your closet, biki byokwese?

Nze, at my age I have discovered that the skeletons in most closets are not scandals. They are abandoned versions of ourselves. The business we never started. The apology we never made. The person we should have forgiven. The risk we were too afraid to take. The cemetery is full of dreams that were never attempted.

You are tasked with planning the ultimate boys camping trip. Which three politicians are making the list?

One from government, one from opposition, and one independent. Then I take away all their phones for 48 hours. If they survive each other without microphones, perhaps there is hope for the country.

What’s the most ridiculous reason you have seen Ugandans and Kenyans go to war over online?

Chapati. Mukwano, the continent that gave the world kingdoms, empires, minerals, innovation, music, and culture has reduced itself to debating flour. Meanwhile other countries are discussing AI.

What is the one fashion trend you tried once and quietly never repeated?

Skinny jeans. Gwe, there are certain battles a man should not fight. One of them is competing with circulation. I reached a point where removing the trousers required strategic planning.

As a married man observing from the sidelines, what is the most confusing thing about dating in 2026?

Many people are looking for a spouse while still negotiating with wounds they have not healed from. We have a generation seeking a covenant from a place of survival. People are asking, ‘Who will love me?’ before asking, ‘Have I become lovable?’ People want emotional safety while remaining emotionally unavailable.

If you were single today, what would scare you more: dating apps, talking stages, or being discussed in a podcast afterwards?

The podcast. At least heartbreak used to be private. Today your disappointment can trend before lunch. Imagine trying to recover from rejection while strangers are analysing your personality from three screenshots and one voice note.

What is something you are officially too old to understand but keep pretending you do?

People recording themselves crying. Nze ndowoza if I am crying, my first thought is not, ‘Where is the camera?’ My first thought is, ‘Where is the tissue?’

You have one rare opportunity to take charge of Uganda’s X timeline for one day. What is the first account you are muting?

Any account whose primary source is, ‘Trust me.’ Uganda has suffered enough from confidence without competence.

You receive a call and on the other line is Namere asking you to be her PA. Ozilya?

‘Would I take the job?’ Absolutely. Not because I want to be a PA. Because Uganda has taught me that some opportunities are jobs, and some opportunities are documentaries.

Being Nameere’s PA would be the only job where your weekly report sounds like a Netflix trailer: ‘This week we survived three controversies, four rumours, six WhatsApp screenshots, and one national debate. Productivity was excellent.’

If you were to write a thesis on the current fuel prices, what would the title be?

‘From Point A to Point B: An Economic Journey Through Grief.’ Nowadays you do not fuel a car. You negotiate with it. You put 20K and both of you pray.

Complete this sentence: ‘If you really want to understand Uganda, spend one hour in a taxi park, one hour on X, and one hour…’

At a village funeral. The taxi park teaches you economics. X teaches you opinions. The funeral teaches you humanity. And between those three places, you will discover that Uganda is not one country. It is many countries sharing one flag.

If you could sit down with any personality, dead or alive, for a two-hour interview with guaranteed honest answers, who would you choose and why?

My grandfather. Not because he was famous, but because nations archive history in books and families archive history in old people. Every African family has stories that disappeared because nobody asked questions before the elders left.

Not every woman is wife material. Discuss.

And not every man is husband material. The tragedy is that many people evaluate marriage the way they evaluate fruit in a market. They look for beauty. Marriage is not a beauty contest. Marriage is a nation-building project. In African thinking, marriage was never merely about romance. It was about continuity, identity, legacy, stability, and partnership. The question is not, ‘Is she wife material?’ The question is, ‘Can she carry responsibility?’ And before asking that, every man should ask, ‘Can I?’ Because marriage does not test love.

Marriage tests capacity. Love starts the journey. Capacity carries it. Communication protects it. Character sustains it. Shared vision grows it. Beauty survives photographs. Character survives Tuesday. And marriage is mostly Tuesdays. The strongest marriages I know are not built by perfect people. They are built by two imperfect people who keep choosing the same future, again and again, especially on Tuesday.

What is the funniest way your success has inconvenienced you?

The day people believe you are doing well, your phone becomes a community project. Suddenly every emergency in the district has found your number. You become an ATM, career coach, therapist, marriage counsellor, motivational speaker, and transport solution. I once realised people were more aware of my potential than my limitations. Success teaches you something important: access is not ownership. Just because someone can reach you does not mean they are entitled to you.

Lately, for largely business reasons, I have found myself spending a lot of time in and around high-end Nairobi hotels. You might already know this city as a vastly expanding concrete jungle with streets clogged by multi-coloured, loud music playing in dingy matatus, whose bodies look to have been made from mildly chewed steel, hastily welded together and sent out to pollute the environment with noise and bellowing smoke from their noisy exhausts. It is a city on the move; the undisputed finance capital of East Africa.

But Nairobi also seems to have a thriving hotel industry, whose magic bullet might not be the hundreds of thousands of tourists that flock Kenya for the Wildebeest migration and other tourism delights on offer. During my stay in some relatively pricey, upmarket hotel along Waiyaki Way, I might have inadvertently stumbled onto the secret financial dope powering Kenyan hotels. Eureka! During weekdays, this hotel that is bordered by high rise office blocks on one side and the expressway on the other side, seems to see a surge of traffic between noon and 2:30pm.

The parking lots are full but the restaurants and conference facilities do not reflect this traffic. Curious, I casually asked a Kenyan buddy about it. She laughed so hard and then said just one word: Uasherati! That is Swahili for ‘promiscuity, fornication, or debauchery’. I must have looked confused because she immediately volunteered more information. ‘Here, unlike you people in Uganda, married people tend to cheat with married people. It is the way marriages have been strengthened in these parts of the world. It is safer too because both have a lot to lose if word gets out. These plush hotel walls are the best at keeping secrets. The Askari will not even bother looking your way if you went in with a crisp, nicely worn blouse and walked out with it inside out and your bra on the head. They mind their own business and we appreciate it.’

My curiosity was peaked.

She continued: ‘Marrieds here have pooped out their souls for a stolen piece of lunchtime pleasure.’ I told her in Uganda, we call this ‘lunch hour fellowship’ and the suburbs of Kyanja and surrounding areas have thriving AirBnB businesses, thanks to it. Yes, our people wanna enjoy some off home turf rendezvous but on a budget. The economy is tough. In Kenya, it looks like the big boys are happy to fork out $500 for an hour of fun.

Hotel owners are not complaining. Not sure if they have special discounts for ‘day use’ but if I owned a hotel in Westlands, I might seriously consider this offering. My buddy told me, Nairobi couples somehow know this open secret but do not want to talk about it. The loving girlfriend or wife who used to pack lunch for her partner and dash to his office for a surprise lunch date stopped because of repeated ‘I am stuck in a client meeting in Kilimani’ excuses.

She also learnt to return the favour by ‘going for lazy lunch with the girls’. It is band for band in these lunchtime Olympics. Aura for aura; every inch is earned. No pun intended. She told me it is not uncommon for couples who vacation together, go to church together, raise kids together to somehow have regular weekly lunchtime Olympics with each other’s partners. It is a type of twisted swinging not uncommon on these streets. It also happens like clock work. Strictly one hour. Things in Nairobi run fast and on a very tight schedule; even the cheating.

At the busy dusty border towns of Lia and Odramacaku, both in Arua City, traders are sighted crossing from the Democratic Republic of Congo into Uganda using illegal border entry points. Some are crossing using the designated routes with UPDF soldiers patrolling the areas as a measure to control the movement of people. But when Daily Monitor visited one of the illegal border crossings in Lia on Wednesday afternoon, women were seen walking across the border with baskets of cassava and smoked fish on their heads. Boda boda riders were also ferrying passengers through the muddy paths, following a downpour.

At another unmanned border point at Lia, a UPDF soldier and a plain-clothed colleague emerged from the nearby bush. They then stopped the Daily Monitor reporters and asked them where they were coming from and where they were going. People have always crossed freely between the two countries. After assuring them that the team was heading to Arua City, they allowed the reporters to proceed. At the two border towns, residents depend on cross-border interactions with people from the DR Congo. However, this way of life is now restricted due to an outbreak of Ebola in the DR Congo. Despite the movement restricts issued by the government, people are still sneakily crossing the border for trade, among others.

For weeks, health workers have been on high alert after Ebola broke out cross the border in eastern DR Congo. The Ministry of Health and the district Ebola task force committee have intensified screening at official border points, established screening/quarantine centres and banned movements from DR Congo to Uganda and vice versa. However, the hundreds of illegal crossing routes are negating government’s effort to contain the spread of Ebola. Ms Leticia Avako, a resident of Arua City, speaking to the Daily Monitor said: ‘I usually cross to the DRC in Ariwara every market day.

It is where I earn money for survival. But now, this disease will affect my business because I cannot go to that side because life is important.’ She added: ‘No money can buy life.’ Ms Avako was quick to mention that there are still loopholes at the borders due to undesignated crossing points. ‘Some youth use the panya routes to cross for disco in Ariwara or even smuggle. They should stop,’ she said. On May 27, security personnel used teargas and live bullets to disperse revellers from disco halls in Arua City.

The measures

During a taskforce meeting for Arua City on Monday, it was resolved that all social gatherings, border markets and cultural events be suspended until further notice. Security agencies have been directed to fully enforce these measures. ‘Security deployment along border lines will be increased to enforce the suspension of cross-border movements, except for authorised transit.

And any boda-boda rider found crossing the border will be arrested,’ the Arua City Resident City Commissioner, Maj (rtd) Betty Akello, said. Arua City has so far tested and isolated 18 suspected cases, all of whom tested negative and have since been discharged. Dr Paul Onzubo, the Maracha District health officer, said community sensitisation, screening and early isolation of suspected cases should be intensified, in order to contain the spread.

Laxity and myths

Last week, videos circulated on social media showing community members in Mongbwalu Town in Ituri province of Bunia and Mahagi areas in DRC removing dead bodies from the Ebola burial teams, with some disputing the outbreak of Ebola. Days later, those who came into close contact with the dead body tested positive, according to health officials in DRC. The Alur Kingdom issued a statement against cross-border movement. ‘All people on both sides of the border should avoid all non-essential travel across the border and to and from the epicentres in the DRC.

The temporary limitation is not a punishment but done in good faith to protect all of us,’ Dr Amos Nyathirombo, the minister for Health in Alur Kingdom, said. He appealed to communities to avoid public places that may be hot spots for the spread of the diseases such as border markets, cultural festivities and rites and any other uncontrolled public gatherings.

Weekly markets stopped

Border markets in the district bordering the DR Congo have also been closed indefinitely. Health workers say many communities still lack adequate knowledge about Ebola symptoms and transmission, especially in remote villages near the border. At the border of Vurra, Ms Jennifer Onzia, said: ‘Some people here still believe that Ebola only affects Congolese. Community sensitisation should be strengthened because we had such outbreaks in Uganda years ago and many people died.’

As a result of locals’ disregard for government’s directive stopping cross-border movements, the authorities have been compelled to deploy police officers and soldiers along the border to enforce the directive. At Birijaku border point in Koboko District, soldiers were seen chasing Congolese women attempting to enter Uganda with their merchandise.

Schools tighten SOPs

Schools countrywide have also instituted measures to prevent the spread of Ebola. In Soroti District, Mr Bernard William Okello, the head teacher of Teso Boarding Primary School, told Daily Monitor that access to school has been restricted to only teaching staff. At Jeressar High School, Soroti City, parents with fees balances have to pay the money at the gate, with teaching staff subjected to temperature checks before accessing the premises. A number of washing points have also been placed across the compound.

In the western part of the country, in Kisoro District, local leaders in the border communities have been put on high alert to guard against illegal entry from DR Congo into the country.. ‘In liaison with the district security committee members, we have beefed up security in the border communities by alerting local leaders to be vigilant to curb illegal entry,’ said Mr Richard Ndyana, the Kisoro District LC5 chairperson. He added that they have established checkpoints on different roads that connect Uganda to the DR Congo.

Training and screening

The Ministry of Health and district health teams have been training village health workers to enable them detect symptomatic Ebola suspects so that the district task force members can isolate them. Ms Adah Nasiima, the Resident District Commissioner Isingiro District, said they have put screening points at the border entry points of Bugango, Kakagati and Nakivale and Oruchinga refugee settlements. She said the Ebola threat is not only from the border points but also refugee camps because some of the people they host come from the DR Congo, where the disease originated from.

In Ntungamo District, Ms Mirriam Kagaiga Mugisha, the Resident District Commissioner said: ‘We are working with people to identify those who would have crossed illegally. At the Kizinga and Mirama hills, we screen everyone who crosses,’ she said. While Rwanda and Tanzania have not registered any Ebola cases, both countries are transit routes for people from DR Congo.

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces and police have increased patrols along known illegal routes. Village Health Teams have been instructed to report suspicious illnesses immediately. Community radios broadcast messages urging residents to avoid unauthorised crossings and report newcomers with Ebola-like symptoms. Still, enforcement is proving difficult.

Water transport

Buliisa District authorities have intensified security on Lake Albert and temporarily banned cross-border movements. All landing sites on the lake have been closed as a preventive measure to stop possible spread of the disease. Mr Watt Atuhairwe, the Buliisa District LC5 chairperson, said security forces have been deployed to stop the spread of the virus in communities living around the lake.

At a median monthly income of roughly Shs190,000, 96 percent of Ugandans cannot afford the cheapest house formally built by a private developer, according to official records from Uganda’s own Fourth National Development Plan that runs from 2025/26 to 2029/30. It means that the formal housing market, as currently constituted, is structurally irrelevant to the overwhelming majority of the people it is supposed to serve. This is not a market failure in the conventional sense. The developers are rational. The banks are rational. The investors are rational.

Everyone in the chain is making the best decision available to them, given the incentives in front of them. The failure is systemic, a compound of tax policy, infrastructure neglect, and financing structure, and it has produced a city of gleaming towers and two and a half million households without a decent place to sleep.

Who builds, and for whom

Walk through Bukoto or Muyenga on any given morning, and the property boom is visible, marred by glass facades, gated compounds, rooftop terraces surveying a city that is, by several measures, genuinely growing. The economy is expanding. Kampala is urbanising at 5.2 percent a year, one of the highest rates on earth, according to data from Uganda Bureau of Statistics. All of that should be fuel for housing construction across every income segment. Yet it is not. The country needs 200,000 new housing units every year to keep pace with demand. But roughly 50,000 are produced. The other 150,000 households are left to incremental self-construction, which involves buying sand when they have money, laying a foundation when they have more, leaving the roof for another year, another decade, perhaps forever.

The result is a landscape of permanently unfinished structures that are also, by any formal definition, not houses. Vincent Agaba, the managing director of Avarts Housing and president of Africa Real Estate Practitioners Alliance, says: ‘The truth of the matter is that at the moment, the demand side is not being addressed from A to Z’. Reason? ‘Because all these are private investors and they are looking at return on investment.’

The anatomy of a price

To understand why affordable housing costs what it costs in Uganda, it helps to take a unit apart. Take a modest apartment at Shs100m, which, in the current market, passes for entry-level. That price is not primarily a product of what it costs to build. It is a product of everything that happens before and around the building. Land accounts for roughly 10 percent. Infrastructure like roads to the site, water connections, power lines, and sewage adds another 20 percent. In most middle-income countries, a developer builds on land that a municipality has already serviced. In Uganda, the developer arrives on raw land and leaves with a fully serviced estate – financing every metre of road and every water pipe themselves.

Then comes the value-added tax (VAT). VAT on residential construction is not recoverable. If you build a commercial office block, the VAT paid on contractors and materials can be reclaimed. It, however, becomes a permanent, unrecoverable cost of 18 percent absorbed into every unit when it’s a residential house. On a Shs100m house, that is Shs18m in tax that neither the developer nor the buyer can do anything about. NSSF portfolio manager for real estate, Matthew Rukaari, notes: ‘Suddenly, a product that would be 18 percent cheaper if the VAT component wasn’t part of it becomes expensive by that margin.’ Then comes finance. Developers borrowing locally pay between 18 and 25 percent interest per annum on construction loans, short-term money used to fund long-term assets.

On a Shs100m project, the cost of borrowed capital adds another Shs20m before a single wall is built. Add approvals, design, environment assessments, council fees, and a developer’s margin of about 10 percent. The arithmetic is damning. Land, infrastructure, tax, finance, approvals, and margin account for roughly 65 percent of the price of a house. The actual cost of construction, which involves the bricks, the steel, the concrete, and labour, is what remains. Moses Lutalo, the Broll Uganda managing director, says the cost of financing is high in double digits, the tax regime around that is costly, and then the cost of infrastructure is daunting.

‘When you back all that up, plus the demand, which is unmatched, most of the developers have run away from affordable, low-cost housing,’ he says. The demand is ‘unmatched’ because, without mortgage access, which most Ugandans do not have, potential buyers want homes but cannot finance.

Building for banks

Kenneth Kaijuka, the National Housing and Construction Company chief executive, says: ‘I will tell you, for starters, that all the products you see on the market, just take an assumption that they belong to the banks. And the banks dictate it.’ Why? A developer borrows Shs10b from a bank to build, but the bank requires the title of the development land, say, worth Shs2b, plus additional prime assets worth 120 percent of the loan as collateral. The bank now holds Shs24b worth of assets against a Shs10b loan. It wants the money back in four years. The developer needs 10 to 15 years to sell the units at prices ordinary buyers can afford, which creates a structural mismatch.

When the bank calls the loan, the developer has two options: sell quickly at whatever price, or default. Both options produce units priced for whoever has the cash, not for whoever has the need. So, you end up with the developer who is not choosing to build for the rich because the bank’s loan terms are making that choice for them. Lazarus Mugabi, a real estate developer who is also the President of the Association of Real Estate Agents Uganda, explains that Ugandan developers borrowing domestically cannot compete with foreign developers who arrive with their own capital, or access capital at near zero-interest. ‘Borrowing locally and developing a project and expecting to sell it and breakeven is next to impossible,’ he says.

Government’s answer: Studying

Government is not unaware of these problems. The Ministry of Finance knows the VAT argument, and has heard it for years. Yet Moses Kaggwa, the Ministry of Finance director of economic affairs, says: ‘It is something we can study and see’. He acknowledges that residential construction bears input VAT that cannot be reclaimed, while also noting that developers are already exempt from output VAT on sales.

But the industry wants to reclaim the input and benefit from a waiver on the output. Dave Khayangayanga, Commissioner for Human Settlement at Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, understands the infrastructure problem intimately. His prescription is that government must put in the roads, the water, the power lines before developers arrive, not after. ‘In Jinja, which is a city now, government has gone ahead and put roads and water lines and power lines, people have gone and developed those spaces,’ he notes.

It simply has not been applied at scale, with consistency, or with the urgency that 2.5 million households in deficit require. But the challenges are wider than meets the eye. For instance, Kaijuka says the ‘national budget for the last 40 years doesn’t have a single shilling allocated for housing delivery’. It is an uncomfortable reality in a country that has spent four decades treating housing as a private sector problem, while the deficit has been compounded slowly behind the rhetoric. NSSF deputy managing director Gerald Kasaato has done the calculation of what government intervention would actually mean. ‘The Fund can bring the cost of the house down by 50 percent if there are interventions on land, interventions on infrastructure, and interventions on taxes,’ he notes. That would almost be half price, not achieved through subsidy or charity, but simply by removing the costs that the current system forces the developer to carry alone and pass to the buyer.

The coordination failure

Uganda’s housing crisis isn’t a market failure. It’s a coordination failure. Developers build upmarket because banks only finance upmarket, and banks only finance upmarket because collateral is reliable there. Thus, there must be deliberate steps to fix several housing layers, such as tax incentives for affordable developers, government-serviced land in designated zones, concessional construction finance at a rate of 5 percent instead of 20 percent, and a mortgage refinance company to extend tenures and lower rates. Tanzania did exactly this, and its mortgage market grew tenfold. Kaijuka thinks that the binding mechanism should be standardised housing prototypes as a prerequisite for concessional financing, giving developers something to quote, plan, and deliver at scale. The 2.5 million families who need a home are helpless, for now.