Category: Daily Monitor

The heightened demand for portions of Kaunda Grounds and neighbouring Green Valley by several developers could cost Gulu City its Shs6 billion greening project, the Monitor has learnt.

Mr Alfred Okello, the Gulu City Landscape Officer, expressed fears that the city administration could lose the World Bank-funded project following growing interest and protestations by private developers who have applied to the Uganda Land Commission seeking ownership of nearly 65 per cent of the total land.

Two years ago, the city council submitted its application to ULC seeking a title for the entire Green Valley land at Kaunda Grounds, a key requirement to benefit from the Uganda Support for Cities and Municipal Infrastructure Development project.

According to Mr Okello, the protestations and delays in granting the city’s application could see the project slip away.

‘With that World Bank project, any slight interruptions, they will withdraw from here and redirect the money elsewhere,’ he said.

‘At the introduction of the UCMID project, we were asked to identify an area for the greening project, and we identified that area. We were given the opportunity to produce a green park design with an attachment of Shs6bn,’ Mr Okello stated.

Once complete, the park will boast of a museum to preserve Acholi culture, an amphitheater, and spice gardens, among other facilities.

Two days ago, a ULC delegation led by Senior Lands Officer Ronnie Bahungule met Gulu City officials and the applicants to update them on the status of the applications. During the engagement, leaders accused ULC of bulldozing the city’s Physical Planning Committee and Land Board to favour developers.

‘This kind of top-bottom approach is questionable because instead of these applicants starting their processes from here, they are running to ULC,’ Mr Arthur Owor, the Gulu City Land Board chairperson, said.

‘It is worrying that more applications are coming and more individuals are demanding the land. In the last meeting in early December 2025, we were introduced to three applicants, but we are shocked today to learn that the numbers have climbed to 16, including the city council,’ Mr Owor stated.

Wondering how ULC received and validated 12 more applications in less than eight months, Mr Owor claimed the commission had sidelined the city’s land management structures and prioritised individuals.

Early this month, ULC wrote to Gulu City authorities stating that several people had applied for leases and their requests were granted upon inspection.

‘As part of the procedure associated with processing leases at the Commission, inspection in respect of the land was carried out and the applicants were allocated the land accordingly,’ Mr Andrew Nyumba, the ULC secretary, wrote to the City Town Clerk.

Daily Monitor established that when ULC requested deed plans from the Gulu Land Ministry Zonal Office, it was informed that Gulu City Council had an interest in the same land, halting the lease process.

ULC records show 15 applicants including NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong, who applied for four acres, and 14 others seeking one acre each.

Leaders demanded ULC postpone the meeting since only two private applicants attended.

‘The city has applied to use the entire green belt, and all these applications take 18 acres away, leaving us with largely nothing. Organise another meeting in which all applicants are summoned so that when we go for inspection, they show us their plots,’ Mr Patrick Okello, Bardege-Layibi Division mayor, demanded.

‘We want to know them physically because 17 acres have been applied for, part of it 11 acres sit in a wetland gazetted by the Environment ministry,’ Mr Okello added.

The city needs the title to benefit from UCMID beautification projects at Kaunda Grounds and Pece stream Green Park in FY 2025/2026. For a city to access the Shs2.7 trillion program, it must prove land ownership.

Leaders implored ULC to speed up the city’s title processing over fears Gulu could miss the multi-billion opportunity.

Key conditions for financing are valid land titles for all project sites to confirm ownership and allow smooth implementation without disputes.

During the meeting, Ms Claire Acen Olal confirmed she applied for an acre pending Physical Planning Committee approval, while Mr Brian Cana, representing Mr Todwong, admitted they applied for four acres.

In a previous interview, Mr Todwong said he suspended his interest following an ownership dispute between ULC and Gulu City Land Board.

‘We are waiting for the resolution because if ownership is the problem, ULC claim it is theirs, and the city claims the same, that renders any allocation null and void until resolved,’ Mr Todwong stated. He clarified he sought the land to establish a leisure park.

Mr Bahungule said ULC had received and allotted the applications but title processing depended on the city’s Physical Planning Committee.

‘The commission has received all applications, and now it cannot proceed without the Physical Planning comment. What we are waiting for are comments that will determine whether these applications pass, fail or collapse,’ Mr Bahungule stated.

‘We are not saying we went ahead to give them the land; we can survey, but that is subject to Physical Planning Committee comments,’ he added.

He tasked city authorities to scrutinise applicants’ development plans to ensure they match the city’s physical development plan.

Abraham Ainamani is a man of few words and often, the man from Palm Valley Golf and country Club as well as Entebbe Club prefers that his actions speak for him.

And for a second time running in a space of weeks, Ainamani did it the hard way to edge David Kamulindwa at a local professional golf event.

This time, he struck a sweet eagle on the par-5 Hole No.18 to beat Kamulindwa by two shots and win the inaugural 72-hole MTN Pro-Tee Series’ first leg at Entebbe Club last week.

By finishing on one-under 70, Ainamani topped the leaderboard and thereby took the biggest share of the Shs15m kitty by MTN with a best aggregate score of four-under 280.

‘I have been working so hard to be ready for the upcoming tournaments,’ a pretty delighted Ainamani told this paper.

‘So I came to test my potential after adequately preparing for it. Even though it (tournament) came on short notice, as pros, we have to be ready anytime.’

Ainamani turned professional in 2018 and weeks prior, he had beaten Kamulindwa at Three Ways tournament by Bro Group at Tooro Club in Fort Portal via a sudden-death play-off.

In Entebbe, he had maintained a top-five placing right from Day One. ‘As professionals, we work hard to win such a tournament. We pray for many like such and so when they come, we give them our best. I came to win, not just to participate. I thank MTN for this opportunity.’

But, Kamulindwa was left dejected after a mishap. He rued the double-bogey at the par-4 Hole No.14 in his closing round of level-par 71.

“I feel bad, this is my second tournament that I am finishing second,’ the hardworking Kamulindwa reacted. ‘I came here to win. No one recognizes the second person. Everything was in my hands. I made a wrong decision, that’s why I am second.’

The duo were tied when Ainamani bogeyed par-3 Hole No.16 and par-4 Hole No.17 while Kamulindwa had already finished. The latter was unsettled as he paced around the 18th green before Ainamani sunk the eagle, one of his four across four days.

‘I aimed at playing greens on regulation, keeping balls in play, and maintaining a good mental attitude throughout my time on the course,’ Ainamani said of his final day.

‘There was a bit of pressure knowing that Kamulindwa had finished. All I had to do was to keep on the fairway on Hole No.18 and attack the green for two to give me a birdie advantage and or better to win the tournament. A birdie turned to an Eagle. That was a good feeling,’ he added.

The pressure indeed was visible on Ainamani’s card as he made six bogeys in total but another eagle on the 15th green and three birdies indeed set him apart.

MTN PRO-TEE SERIES

LEG 1 – FINAL LEADERBOARD

1 Abraham Ainamani 72 70 68 70 280 -4

2 David Kamulindwa 72 66 73 71 282 -2

3 Rodell Gaita 69 72 72 72 285 +1

T4 Bulhan Matovu 74 70 68 74 286 +2

T4 Vincent Byamukama 69 70 69 78 286 +2

6 Irene Nakalembe 73 73 69 73 288 +4

T7 Silver Opio 72 74 69 74 289 +5

T7 Andrew Ssekibejja 74 68 72 75 289 +5

9 Grace Kasango 74 70 70 76 290 +6

10 Abbey Bagalana 73 73 71 74 291 +7

11 Samuel Kato 76 71 73 72 292 +8

12 Emma Ogwang 73 74 76 73 296 +12

13 Deo Akope 75 72 71 79 297 +13

14 Tom Jingo 73 72 72 82 299 +15

The detention of former Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago-best known as the lawyer representing Opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye, and his aide Obeid Lutale Kamulegeya-has ignited widespread alarm across Uganda’s political and legal landscape.

Mr Lukwago is widely known as a leading Opposition politician. He is also a senior advocate, who has played a prominent role in defending Opposition leaders. He is also the interim president of an Opposition party, the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF).

He was arrested under circumstances that legal experts have described as an abduction and later remanded to Luzira prison. His case has quickly become a flashpoint, raising concerns that extend far beyond partisan politics.

Unsurprisingly, Mr Lukwago’s detention has raised questions about whether lawyers handling contentious political cases can operate freely without fear of interference. Legal analysts argue that Mr Lukwago’s detention carries profound implications for the right to legal representation in politically-sensitive cases.

As Dr Besigye’s lawyer, Mr Lukwago has long been at the forefront of defending Opposition figures against State actions. His arrest sends a chilling signal: if prominent lawyers themselves can be targeted, others may be discouraged from offering defence to individuals facing politically-charged prosecutions. This, experts warn, undermines the principle of fair trial and weakens the Judiciary’s independence.

Ms Sarah Bireete, a lawyer, human rights defender, and political activist who serves as Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG), warned that Mr Lukwago’s detention reflects a deeper crisis.

‘I think the bigger problem is the total breakdown of rule of law in Uganda,’ Ms Bireete told Weekly Politics.

Ms Bireete noted that the country is only one month into a new political term, yet the constitutional obligations of the presidency are already being undermined. She emphasised that the oath of office requires the President to protect the Constitution and the laws of Uganda. In addition, Article 99 of the Constitution explicitly ties the exercise of Executive authority to safeguarding the Constitution and upholding the law.

Mr Lukwago was on Wednesday charged with misprision of treason, becoming the latest suspect in a case that has already seen Opposition politician, Dr Besigye and his aide, Mr Lutale remanded on treason-related charges. Mr Lukwago was arraigned before the Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court after spending two days in incommunicado detention.

This followed his arrest by armed men at his home in Wakaliga, Rubaga Division, Kampala, as he attempted to serve the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, with court papers in connection with the Dr Besigye treason case.

Curious timing

The arrest comes amid a stalemate in the treason and national security case involving Dr Besigye and Mr Lutale, in which Mr Lukwago serves as lead defence counsel.

Recently, the defence team-including Lukwago and Kenyan senior counsel Martha Karua-boycotted an evidence review session at Luzira Upper Prison, citing access restrictions. The accused persons themselves have also refused to physically attend court proceedings.

Two Thursdays ago, Justice Emmanuel Baguma gave Gen Muhoozi seven days to respond to a petition filed by Dr Besigye and Mr Lutale over alleged social media threats. Mr Lukwago confirmed last Friday that the Attorney General had been served, but Gen Muhoozi, Col Peter Ahimbisibwe, and Lt Col Ephraim Byaruhanga were yet to be served.

The timing of Mr Lukwago’s arrest and subsequent remand has fuelled speculation that it may be linked to the ongoing legal proceedings or signal an impending escalation in the case. For many observers, the move raises questions about whether the State is using criminal charges to intimidate defence counsel and restrict access to justice in politically-sensitive trials.

Ms Bireete said the pattern of abductions and torture carried out by military forces is not only unlawful but also signals a loss of legitimacy by President Museveni and his administration. Such actions, she argued, erode public trust in State institutions and weaken the very foundations of constitutional governance.

Her remarks underscore the growing concern among legal experts and civil society leaders that Uganda’s democratic framework is under severe strain. The detention of Opposition figures and their lawyers, she warned, risks normalising impunity and silencing dissent, ultimately threatening the rights of all citizens.

Mr Job Kiija, the associate director at Innovations for Democratic Engagement and Action (IDEA), described the abduction and subsequent charging of Mr Lukwago with misprision of treason as a direct strike against the constitutional right to legal representation.

‘Under Article 28 of the Ugandan Constitution, every accused person has the right to a fair hearing, which fundamentally includes choosing their own advocate,’ Mr Kiija said.

By targeting Mr Lukwago-lead counsel for Opposition figures such as Dr Besigye-the State, Mr Kiija argued, is dismantling the parity of esteem required in a court of law. The implication that defending an Opposition figure could expose a lawyer to personal criminal liability creates a chilling effect across the legal fraternity.

Mr Kiija pointed out that Mr Lukwago was held incommunicado beyond the constitutional 48-hour window, even as the CDF, Gen Muhoozi, publicly admitted to ‘basement’ detentions. The IDEA associate director called this a blatant violation of constitutional guarantees against arbitrary arrest and torture.

He stressed that this incident is part of a growing trend of institutional lawlessness over the past decade, where enforced disappearances and unauthorised State actors are used to resolve political disputes.

Implications

The experts have emphasised that the issue should not be reduced to a partisan dispute. Instead, they frame it as a fundamental challenge to constitutional protections and the rights of all Ugandans.

The right to legal counsel is enshrined in both national and international law, and its compromise threatens the integrity of the justice system. Mr Lukwago’s detention, therefore, is not just about one man’s fate but about the trajectory of Uganda’s democratic institutions.

The symbolism of Luzira prison adds weight to the incident. Known for holding high-profile political detainees, Luzira has become a stark reminder of the State’s power in politically-sensitive cases. For many Ugandans, the image of Kampala’s immediate past Lord Mayor-who also serves as Dr Besigye’s lawyer-behind bars represents a broader erosion of legal safeguards and civic freedoms.

The incident has already sparked debate about whether the country is sliding further into authoritarian practices, where political opponents and their defenders face intimidation and detention.

As the controversy deepens, Mr Lukwago’s case has become a rallying point for lawyers, activists, and ordinary citizens who fear that the erosion of legal protections could have lasting consequences. Whether his detention will mark a turning point in Uganda’s political landscape remains uncertain, but the alarm it has triggered is unmistakable.

Mr Kiija criticised President Museveni’s failure to act against abuses within the security apparatus, particularly those linked to his son.

‘If indeed the President is serious about his self-declared mandate of a ‘term of no more sleep and no more corruption,’ he must begin by addressing the blatant abuse of power within the security forces,’ Mr Kiija said, noting that this inaction breaches the oath Museveni swore on May 12.

Mr Kiija further highlighted the erosion of public trust caused by arbitrary detentions, the use of unmarked ‘drone’ vehicles, and Lukwago’s retroactive inclusion on a charge sheet for a case he had defended for nearly two years.

He argued that the timing-coming only after Lukwago attempted to serve Gen Muhoozi with High Court summons-strips the prosecution of credibility and confirms the Judiciary’s weaponisation for political containment.

He warned that such impunity fuels lawlessness and vigilante justice, citing the brutal killing of national rugby player Sydney Gongodyo as a tragic example of citizens replicating State lawlessness on the streets.

‘If the law cannot protect a former Lord Mayor and senior officer of the court, it cannot protect anyone,’ he offered.

For Mr Kiija, Mr Lukwago’s case sets a dangerous precedent: moving State crackdowns from Opposition politicians to their defence attorneys narrows the legal space for peaceful contestation, criminalises dissent, and threatens the very fabric of multi-party democracy in Uganda.

A bad look

Mr Timothy Chemonges, a lawyer and human rights defender, said the manner of Mr Lukwago’s arrest raises the gravest concerns. Images and videos showed heavily armed security personnel surrounding his home, with some officers scaling walls-scenes many Ugandans associated more with an abduction than a lawful arrest. Given Mr Lukwago’s public profile and the fact that he posed no immediate security threat, Mr Chemonges argued that authorities could have simply issued a summons or conducted a routine police arrest.

‘When the State deploys excessive force or dramatic tactics in such circumstances, it creates the impression of intimidation rather than law enforcement,’ Mr Chemonges noted.

That perception, he warned, undermines respect for due process, weakens confidence in security agencies, and raises serious questions about the protection of constitutional rights.

The development has prompted debate within legal circles about the extent to which advocates can effectively discharge their professional duties when representing clients involved in politically charged disputes.

Some members of the legal fraternity argue that any action perceived as targeting lawyers risks creating uncertainty among practitioners who take on sensitive cases. Others say the incident highlights the need for stronger safeguards to ensure legal representation remains independent and free from undue pressure.

Mr Chemonges stressed that incidents perceived as arbitrary arrests or detentions can significantly erode public confidence in the rule of law. Citizens expect State institutions to exercise power fairly, transparently, and within the limits of the law.

‘When security agencies use methods that appear excessive-especially against prominent Opposition figures-many begin to question whether the law is being applied equally or selectively. Over time, this weakens trust in the police, the courts, and other democratic institutions, making it harder for citizens to view them as impartial guardians of justice rather than political actors,’ he said.

He further emphasised that Mr Lukwago’s case sets an important precedent as Uganda moves closer to future elections. The treatment of Opposition leaders and the lawyers who represent them sends a powerful signal to political actors, civil society, and ordinary citizens.

If arrests and detentions are perceived as tools to intimidate critics or restrict dissent, many may become more cautious about participating in politics, activism, or even providing legal representation in sensitive cases.

Mr Chemonges warned that such a climate shrinks democratic space and weakens civic engagement at precisely the moment when Uganda most needs open political competition and strong protection of constitutional freedoms.

Low confidence

The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party president, Mr Patrick Oboi Amuriat, said the erosion of the rule of law and justice is now the most pressing concern for Ugandans.

‘There is abuse of the law and no respect for human rights in the case of Lukwago and others. This will negatively affect democracy,’ Mr Amuriat told Weekly Politics.

The FDC president argued that while there is an attempt to dispense justice, the manner in which it is being carried out is not in accordance with the law. As a result, citizens have lost confidence in the Judiciary, believing it serves the interests of those in power rather than the people.

He warned that advocates are increasingly being treated as though they are the accused, facing harassment and intimidation simply for representing high-profile individuals.

‘This undermines the legal profession,’ he said.

He noted that Mr Lukwago’s case took a troubling twist. Initially, many believed he was being harassed because he served as lead counsel to Dr Besigye. However, the court later charged him with a separate case, which Mr Amuriat described as an attempt to criminalise Mr Lukwago as an advocate.

‘We believe these charges were brought in bad faith. We are waiting to see what kind of evidence the State will present in court,’ he added.

Legal experts note that Uganda’s Constitution guarantees the right to personal liberty and protection from unlawful detention. According to them, transparency regarding arrests and detentions is critical to ensuring public trust in the justice system and preventing perceptions of abuse of power.

Political analysts say incidents involving high-profile figures often become a test of a country’s commitment to democratic governance. They argue that actions taken against Opposition leaders and lawyers are closely scrutinised by the public, civil society organisations, and the international community.

Transition question

Mr Amuriat predicted that more advocates are likely to be arrested, creating fear among the population and discouraging citizens from speaking out about their rights. He linked this climate of intimidation to succession politics, suggesting that the actions are preparing the ground for Gen Muhoozi to replace President Museveni.

‘Gen Muhoozi has already condemned Lukwago. Many political players who are outspoken are being threatened, and more leaders are likely to be jailed as a way to silence them,’ he warned.

The one-time presidential candidate further observed that several prominent political leaders, including Dr Besigye, have been forced into silence under the current environment of repression.

For Mr Amuriat, the Lukwago case is emblematic of a broader strategy to shrink democratic space, intimidate opposition, and weaken the independence of the legal profession.

More than 200 residents have been left homeless and property worth millions of shillings reduced to rubble after a devastating Saturday afternoon fire tore through Kikade Trading Centre in Kassanda District.

The blaze, suspected to have been triggered by an illegal electricity connection, broke out at around 4:40 PM in Lwensambya Village, Kitumbi Sub-county.

Preliminary police investigations indicate that the fire originated from an electricity pole where a resident identified only as Kiiza, who is now on the run, was allegedly carrying out an unauthorized power connection.

According to eyewitnesses, sparks were seen shooting from overhead electrical wires moments before a massive fire quickly spread across the densely populated trading centre, consuming both residential and commercial structures.

“It is alleged that the suspect had climbed the electricity pole and was illegally connecting power when sparks emerged and ignited the fire. Upon realising the danger, he reportedly jumped down and fled the scene,” said regional police spokesperson, Mr. Lameck Kigozi.

Despite frantic efforts by residents to contain the flames, the fire rapidly engulfed several permanent and semi-permanent buildings. Retail shops, clinics, boutiques, food stores, bars, and homes were completely reduced to ashes.

The incident has sparked widespread anxiety among locals, as this is the second major fire outbreak to strike the exact same trading centre in less than a month.

In the previous incident, several houses in Kirombe Kikadde were gutted, leaving residents with heavy losses. Local leaders noted that Saturday’s fire started from the very point where the earlier blaze had been contained, spreading to newly rebuilt homes of families who were just beginning to recover.

The recurrence has raised serious questions over the safety of electricity installations in the area and the growing prevalence of illegal power tapping. Police have repeatedly warned that unauthorized connections remain a ticking time bomb in many fast-growing trading centres.

While the exact value of the destroyed property is yet to be established, local leaders estimate the losses to be in the millions. Many victims were left with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.

Mr. Lwamulinda Stephen, the chairperson of Lwensambya Village, described the incident as one of the worst disasters the area has witnessed in recent years.

The list remains incomplete as more victims continue to come forward to register their losses.

Following the disaster, officers attached to Kassanda Central Police Station rushed to the scene. The area was cordoned off and documented by Scene of Crime Officers (SOCOs), who recorded statements from eyewitnesses and local leaders.

A General Enquiry File has been opened as detectives intensify efforts to establish the precise technical cause of the blaze.

Mr. Kigozi confirmed that investigators are pursuing the prime suspect while liaising with electrical experts to determine whether the illegal connection was the direct trigger.

“As investigations progress, we are appealing to members of the public to desist from engaging unlicensed electricians or making illegal power connections. Such acts not only contravene the law but also expose communities to grave danger,” Mr. Kigozi warned.

Security has been heightened in Kikade Trading Centre to prevent looting as heartbroken families continue to sift through the debris in search of salvaged belongings.

Two guns have been recovered following a three-week intensive crackdown by a joint security taskforce in Aswa West police region targeting a recent spate of armed robberies and killings in Gulu City, Gulu and Omoro districts.

The Monitor has established that the operation, conducted by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, police and the Internal Security Organisation, also resulted in the arrest of eight suspects.

According to the UPDF, the intelligence-led operation covered Gulu City and the districts of Nwoya, Omoro, and Gulu.

In a weekend statement, the army released details of six suspects, all arrested from Nwoya district, but withheld the identities of two others, citing ongoing operations.

The identified suspects include Ronald Bob Komakech and Yassin Okot, both arrested from Got-apwoyo village, Got-apwoyo Sub County, and Vincent Opiru and Stephen Ayella from Koyo village in Purongo Sub County. Others are Solomon Ojok, a resident of Ayugi Village, Purongo Sub County, and Raymond Komakech, a resident of Kiba East, Purongo Town Council in Nwoya district.

The joint operation also recovered two sub-machine gun rifles with 30 rounds of ammunition, alongside other military hardware.

Capt David Kamya, the UPDF 4th Division public information officer, said the operation ‘was in response to escalating armed criminal activities that have adversely affected security and local communities in the region.’

The suspects now face questioning and charges including murder, attempted murder, possession of government stores, aggravated robbery, and theft of firearms from security personnel and institutions.

This newspaper learnt that Daniel Komakech, one of the suspects, succumbed to injuries after being shot while attempting to disarm a security officer on June 18 in Purongo.

‘Komakech was rushed to the UPDF 4th Division army hospital in Gulu City for treatment but died. He attempted to grab a gun from one of our officers and that prompted the use of reasonable force against him,’ a source within security circles privy to the development said.

The suspects and recovered weapons have been linked to poaching inside Murchison Falls National Park, which neighbours Purongo Town Council, Purongo and Got-apwoyo sub counties, after wildlife trophies were reportedly found in their possession.

They are also linked to recent killings, including the shooting of a security guard in Gulu City, a businessman in Awach Town Council, and a mobile money agent in Koch-ongako Trading Centre in Omoro district.

Initially, the army linked the attackers to armed cartels operating across Lango, West Nile and Acholi sub-regions.

The gun grabbed from a security guard at LT Energy Petrol Station in Laliya Trading Centre, Kasubi Ward, Gulu City, is yet to be recovered, though suspects captured on CCTV are still at large.

The fuel station attack left Ronald Obedi, a guard attached to Samurai Security Services, dead when three masked assailants stormed LT Energy Limited on May 5.

Ten days later, businessman Wilfred Ojok was shot dead by armed robbers at Paromo cell, Paduny parish, Awach Town Council on May 16. Ojok was shot at about 9:00 PM while attending the shop on behalf of his father, Silas Komakech.

In Omoro district, one person was killed and four others injured in four separate armed robbery incidents since last May.

On May 11, during heavy rain, assailants raided Lalogi police station at about 8:30 PM and broke into the unit of 50-year-old officer Beatrice Awor attached to Lalogi sub-county police station.

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

The assailants reportedly attacked Awor in her house, strangled and assaulted her before fleeing with her rifle. Police said her uniport was open and she was seated on a mat when the attackers overpowered her.

On May 27, a businessman was robbed at gunpoint in Lalogi Town Council, less than 200 metres from Lalogi police station. The robbers made off with more than Shs10 million. Four days later, food vendor Gloria Ajok, who operates at Lacor Centre in For-God parish, Gulu City, was robbed of her handbag when three gunmen sprayed bullets at her and a boda boda rider in Rom cell, Abuga parish, Abuga sub-county, Omoro district. The rider survived with serious injuries after a bullet pierced his stomach at about 10:00 PM.

In Gulu, security authorities said immobility is hampering efforts to fight the gun crime wave.

Mr Peter Banya, Gulu City deputy Resident City Commissioner for Pece-Laroo Division, told the Monitor that while joint UPDF and police operations have kicked off, lack of transport is jeopardising the efforts.

‘The challenge that we have in the city is that the police have a problem with mobility. They don’t have transport, and that has affected their operations so much to the extent that sometimes we feel maybe that is the reason why the violence has increased, because there’s a gap in mobility of the police,’ Mr Banya stated.

Beyond mobility, Banya said lack of community cooperation is slowing investigations.

‘There’s a joint operation between the UPDF and Uganda police handling some of these incidents, but it’s taking a lot of time because our other challenge is that the local people are not speaking; someone sees somebody somewhere doing something, but they fear coming out and revealing to us for fear of reprisal,’ Banya noted.

Halimah Nakaayi felt at home and largely relieved after she produced a season best (SB) performance at the Wanda Diamond League (DL) leg in Doha, Qatar on Friday night.

On the back of a disappointing day in California, USA during the previous weekend, Nakaayi bounced back to post a third-place finish over the women’s 800 metres in the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.

‘I am so very happy to be competing here!’ Nakaayi said after posting a time of one minute and 58.41 seconds.

‘I have the best memories from Doha, because being here always reminds me of the world title I won back in 2019. Whenever I am here I feel as if I need to defend my title, but finishing in the top three is okay too,’ Nakaayi added.

The result sparked huge confidence in Nakaayi considering she has spent a greater of the build-up to her season with strategic focus on endurance.

A lover of the inside lane, Nakaayi was tucked in early behind pace setter Dutch Lisanne de Witte, who took the field through 400 metres in 56.56 seconds.

Upon the bell, eventual race winner American Addison Wiley got ahead of Nakaayi and the duo surged forward. It was inside the home stretch that Ethiopia’s Tsige Dugume came through lane 2 to beat Nakaayi to second place in 1:58.08.

Already ahead, Wiley had won her first outdoor two-lap race of the season in a time of 1:57.98.

The result for the 2019 world champion Nakaayi came moments after Uganda Athletics (UAt) named her as part of the athletics team that will represent the country at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland next month.

Nakaayi is among the eight female athletes in a 17-member group named by UAt. The cast also includes two-time 3000 metres steeplechase Olympic medalist Peruth Chemutai and impressive long-distance runner Joy Cheptoyek.

Kenya-based Cheptoyek picked a silver medal at the World Athletics Cross-Country Championships in Florida, USA in January.

The more experienced Oscar Chelimo will lead the men’s group that comprises a bunch of rising stars like Keneth Kiprop, Dan Kibet and long jumper David Berkham Otim.

DOHA DIAMOND LEAGUE

WOMEN’S 800 METRES RESULT

1 Addison Wiley (USA) 1:57.98

2 Tsige Duguma (ETH) 1:58.08

3 Halimah Nakaayi (UGA) 1:58:41

UGANDA ATHLETICS TEAM TO COMMONWEALTH GAMES

Women: Maureen Banura and Shida Leni (400 Metres), Halimah Nakaayi (800 Metres), Knight Aciru (1500 Metres), Peruth Chemutai (3000 Metres Steeplechase), Rebecca Chelangat and Esther Chebet (5000 Metres), Joy Cheptoyek (10000 Metres)

Men: Haron Adoli and Kenneth Omuka (400 Metres), Silas Chemutai (Mile), Oscar Chelimo, Dominic Kiprop, Dan Kibet and Keneth Kiprop (5000 Metres), Harbert Kibet (10000 Metres), David Berkham Otim (Long Jump)

Officials: Paul Okello (Coach / Manager), Jimmy Issamat (Coach), Quinto Oding (Coach / Physiotherapist), Suzan Laker (Administrator)

The ongoing process that requires national sports organisations to be registered by National Council of Sports (NCS) will come with extended challenges.

Suddenly federations that have been operating just within Kampala “will need a countrywide structure (to meet the elements of the law that require them to have operations in at least 50 to 75 percent of the districts in Uganda),” according to Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) president Donald Rukare.

However, questions linger on whether the existing sports ecosystem has enough know-how within to handle this growth.

Meanwhile, the sector still struggles with untrained administrators and elite athletes retire with no pathway into the life after. Also, since sports is not considered a viable career sector, a lot of employable talent goes to serve in other sectors.

It is from this background and more that UOC, a convening authority for organizations and individuals in the sports sector, is partnering with human resource firm NFT Consults to pilot a National Sports Employment and Talent Development Initiative (NSETDI).

“This is a timely concept. Call it an internship programme on positive steroids that will create a pathway for national sports employment.

“NFT wants to help us identify (employable) talent, develop it, and look for the requisite placement in the work market. Our people, say in marketing and sales, would like to have that one year of help to develop their talent and we would also like to leverage on NFT’s expertize, knowledge, and connections,” Rukare said.

UOC and Uganda Athletics general secretary Beatrice Ayikoru added that “many of us serving in sports are volunteers and would like to beef up our human resource to help with the day-to-day tasks of the federations. We are open to see how best we can work with each other.”

NFT Consult brings 21 years of deep expertise in talent placement, training design, stakeholder engagement, and programme management across public and private sectors in 12 countries.

“Uganda stands at a pivotal moment. With one of Africa’s youngest populations, a rapidly expanding sports sector, co-hosting rights for Afcon (Africa Cup of Nations) 2027, and deep connections to the global Olympic movement, the country has every ingredient needed to transform sport from an activity into an industry. NSETDI is designed to make that transformation real,” Elizabeth Ntege, the chief executive officer of NFT Consult, said.

Opportunities

The initiative, they believe, could create 5,000 meaningful careers for young Ugandans in the sports economy by 2030.

Those targeted include; transitioning athletes, sports-adjacent graduates, those not in education or employment, women in sport, sports administrators, plus refugees and displaced youth.

NSETDI maps nine career pathway domains in which these jobs can be created. These include; sports development which would target sports officers and the media, business and managements targeting agents and other professionals in sport, elite performance support designed for nutritionists and analysts among others, events and hospitality, leisure and fitness industry, integrity and anti-doping, technology and data, media and content economy, e-sports and gaming.

NFT and UOC – which provides internship, sports administration and management courses, plus athlete career development programmes – also believe that Afcon 2027, which will be co-hosted by Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, could create time-bound demand for thousands of trained sports professionals.

The Olympic movement (IOC, Anoca, Olympic Solidarity, and the Olympic Refuge Foundation) also has active funding programmes targeting career development initiatives and, according to NFT’s proposal “are also actively seeking models for sports workforce development that can be scaled across Africa.”

UOC is a proven employer as it retains some of its best interns. Imagine if the whole sports sector had the capacity to do the same.

“Uganda’s sports sector is trapped in a paradox. It produces world-class athletes but cannot produce the workforce needed to sustain, professionalise, or economically develop the sector. In other instances, employers take advantage of people in sports because they have passion and are willing to serve for anything. We need to professionalize,” Ntege said.

The spate of abductions Ugandans have witnessed since 2016 has now reached alarming proportions. People are living in fear, especially those supporting the Opposition. While social media has created the illusion of free speech, those speaking out sometimes have to use fake names. They know the chances of facing dire consequences are high. At first, many believed abductions targeted individuals posing a threat to national security. The State could argue, with reason, that it was resorting to extreme measures to protect everyone.

But as the government continues to lose popularity, abduction has become a tool to silence the Opposition. It now seems anyone who dares challenge those wielding real power risks being abducted. Worryingly, security forces have inflicted physical and mental torture on victims, sometimes leading to death. Several cases have been documented. The most recent involved a 22-year-old woman named Irene Nakibuuka. She was reportedly abducted on election day in January, tortured and later released – only to die weeks later. The alleged abduction and torture exacerbated her underlying conditions.

On Monday, it was former Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago’s turn. He is one of the senior lawyers representing Dr Kizza Besigye, who was abducted in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2024 along with his aide, Obeid Lutale, and transferred to Uganda to face treason charges. The case against Dr Besigye now looks highly questionable because nearly every Ugandan capable of independent judgment is asking why the State has failed to conduct a proper trial if, as it claims, it has incontrovertible evidence against him and co-defendants.

Mr Lukwago has worked tremendously hard to ensure Dr Besigye gets justice, but to no avail. There is nothing he has done that contravenes the law. In fact, it is the government that has used questionable means in its handling of the case, including arraigning him before a military court, a move his lawyers successfully challenged in the Supreme Court. Even if Mr Lukwago had committed a crime, the government would be obliged to use lawful means of arrest. Instead, armed men believed to be operatives of the Special Forces Command (SFC) abducted him.

A pertinent question many Ugandans are asking is why a lawyer or any law-abiding citizen should be abducted instead of being arrested. The abductions we have witnessed are intended to humiliate those targeted. Mr Lukwago’s wife told reporters that when she tried to stop the armed men from abducting her husband, her arm was twisted and she was kicked to the floor. Her story is reminiscent of what happened to Barbie [Barbra Kyagulanyi], the wife of Opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine. When security forces stormed their home in January, they smashed doors, climbed into the ceiling, pulled her hair and partially undressed her. The couple have since fled the country and is currently living in the United States.

Individuals ordering these abductions appear to operate above the law. When Mr Lukwago was abducted, the Commander of the Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, posted humiliating photos that he claimed are of Lukwago on his X page. Some have cast doubt on the authenticity of the images, but even if they are fake, the intent appears to have been to humiliate him. The real problem for Mr Lukwago and dozens of Ugandans languishing in illegal detention centres is that they have no effective recourse to justice. In Kitalya, many Opposition supporters, especially those backing the National Unity Platform, have been held without trial, some for years.

This impunity should worry every Ugandan. If a lawyer and prominent Opposition figure can be abducted in broad daylight and held illegally, then ordinary citizens are at a much bigger risk. We claim to be a democracy. But the truth is we are an autocracy with a capital A.

In the recent vetting process in Parliament, the provisions of Uganda’s law on dual citizenship were tested to the core. Appointed by the President as Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Dr Lawrence Muganga (PhD), the vice chancellor of Victoria University, was turned down by Parliament’s Appointments Committee on citizenship grounds, specifically that the academic held dual citizenship, and perhaps more.

Ongoing public commentary on social and print media has since framed the matter in starkly different lights: legal purism versus ethnic discrimination, strict statutory compliance versus presidential prerogative, national security versus regional affiliations. Dr Muganga himself alleged that ‘what I experienced in that Committee was not parliamentary oversight. It was hatred. It was discrimination. It was racism.’

Many Ugandans of Rwandan descent probably saw in his rejection the shadow of historical prejudice of Banyarwanda, who are a cross-border ethnicity, being made to feel like outsiders in their own country. But before we rush to label this as xenophobia, we must separate the law from sentiment and identity from eligibility.

Does Uganda’s legal framework provide for dual citizenship or multiple citizenship?

Our Constitution, as amended in 2005, permits dual citizenship, the simultaneous possession of two citizenships, one of which must be Ugandan, as explicitly defined in the Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control (Amendment) Act of 2009. Not three, not more. A person holding three passports, as was alleged of Dr Muganga (Uganda, Canada, and Rwanda), would, therefore, fall outside the legal provisions Parliament designed.

Is the Fifth Schedule enshrined a barrier?

Article 15(7) of the Constitution empowers Parliament to prescribe which State offices a dual citizen is not qualified to hold. Parliament exercised that power through the Fifth Schedule of the 2009 Amendment Act, which explicitly lists the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Cabinet ministers among the positions barred to dual citizens.

The reasoning behind this restriction, captured in the 2009 parliamentary Hansard, revolved around loyalty and security. Then Chua County Member of Parliament (MP) Livingstone Okello Okello asked a question that still echoes today: ‘I wonder what would happen if I belonged to two countries and the two countries went to war. Which one will I support?’ Charles Angiro of Erute North warned of persons ‘who will be recruited to spy either in Uganda or outside.’ These anxieties, however imperfect as predictors of individual conduct, shaped a law that simultaneously expanded citizenship rights and drew boundaries around the most sensitive organs of State.

So, did Parliament’s Appointment Committee act lawfully by red-flagging Dr Muganga?

Whether one agrees with the Fifth Schedule or not, it is the law. The Uganda Law Society (ULS) emphasised that eligibility for high public office must be assessed strictly within the constitutional framework.

Four other ministerial nominees who faced dual citizenship issues were approved after providing proof of renunciation. Dr Muganga, by contrast, was reportedly unable to satisfy the committee on the status of his Canadian and alleged Rwandan citizenships.

Moreover, the Internal Affairs ministry to which he was appointed oversees immigration and citizenship, the very docket in which dual allegiances raise the most concerns.

What I would fault the vetting process on is their failure, at the outset, to ask the basic question: Is there a legal barrier? Not having done that, they missed the wood for the trees. In the event, the Appointments Committee applied the law as written. The rejection was not fundamentally based on xenophobia toward his Rwandan heritage, but on a strict statutory bar against dual and a fortiori multiple citizens holding such ministerial office.

Is the capacity to serve about character of the individual?

Character and qualifications are the true test of fitness for office. Even sole Ugandan nationals can harbour conflicts of interest, to the extent of betraying the country. The vetting process exists precisely to assess the integrity, judgment, and loyalty of nominees.

If a dual citizen, or even a triple citizen, were it legal, can satisfy that scrutiny, why should the law bar him or her? Remember, Dr Muganga, as vice chancellors of one of our universities, was at the helm of an institution trusted and expected to contribute to strategic national interests.

The 2009 Parliament, in my opinion, took a legal-come-constitutional sledgehammer to what might have been addressed with a vetting scalpel. The result is a law that captures many who are not of the ilk the drafters feared. The barrier to ministerial appointment for dual nationals is a blunt instrument.

The character of the nominee, as vetted by the appointing authority, is a far better metric. The vetting tools at the disposal of the appointing authority far exceed the anxieties and suspicions, entrenched in the Fifth Schedule, in screening out individuals who pose a threat to national security and self-interest.

As our nation is increasingly acquiring in its stock dual nationals, especially among the elite, we deprive ourselves of their contribution to governance if we are punitively restrictive to their participation by identity rather than competence.

What about the regional dimension and the hurdle to integration?

The Muganga case raises a question far larger than one man’s appointment. It forces us to confront the awkward gap between our regional integration project and our national instincts. The East African Community Common Market Protocol guarantees free movement of persons, labour, and capital. We aspire to an East African Political Federation, invoking the vision of our founding fathers from independence. Yet when a highly qualified Ugandan of Rwandan descent is nominated for ministerial office, the public response reveals a nation still deeply entrenched in national insulation. Will the same level of suspicion fall on Ugandans whose second nationality is that of a former coloniser as that of another colonised regional neighbour with whom we are pursuing a political project of federation?

The mere fact of a Rwandan name was enough to fuel suspicion, regardless of the legal status of his passport. This is the deeper tragedy of the Muganga affair. Parliament acted within the law, but the societal fallout-the ethnic polarisation, the wounded sense of belonging among Ugandans of Rwandan descent-reveals that East Africans are not yet psychologically ready for the integration we claim to want. Free movement of persons is not the same as free access to political power. The former is an economic convenience; the latter is a profound transfer of sovereign trust. That transfer, as the Muganga case demonstrates, remains a bridge too far for many. If the East African Political Federation is to become more than a summit communiqué, we must cultivate a genuine East African identity that renders the national citizenship of a sister state unremarkable and not threatening.

Should we think deeply about remoulding the blunt instrument then?

The solution is not to ignore the law. Parliament was right to apply the Fifth Schedule as it stands. But the deeper question is whether the Fifth Schedule should stand at all, at least as it applies to citizens of EAC partner states. If we are serious about regional integration, we must eventually ask whether a Ugandan with dual citizenship and cross-border ethnicity, additionally holding the citizenship of a sister EC country, is truly a greater threat to national security than a Ugandan of purely indigenous heritage who chooses to betray his country.

The due diligence of the appointing authority should prevail, given the efficacy of the vetting process for issues of national security. The legal barrier to appointing dual nationals in ministerial office should be re-examined and perhaps repealed. To do this, we must look beyond the letter of the law and draft a new framework that more fairly delivers the spirit of the law, to be enshrined in the vetting tools of the appointing authority, and used for screening all appointments, dual citizen or not.

But until the law changes, we must apply it faithfully and be honest about its implications for our unfinished journey toward a truly united East Africa.

There is a particular kind of confidence that settles on a man who has already won the arguments that matter. Mr Francis Kamulegeya carries it well. At the Fairway Hotel in Kampala on a recent evening, he sits before a room of young tax professionals, comprising of lawyers, accountants, people with MBAs and fresh ambitions, and tells them, without any drama, that credentials will open a door, competence will earn you a seat, but it is character that makes you stay in the room.

To understand where Mr Kamulegeya ended up, you have to start where he began: Masaka, 1967, in a home where his mother Josephine ran a licensed Enguli gin distillery. He grew up in the shadow of Idi Amin, with the military barracks so close they complicated his childhood. He left at eleven, just after the war that ended that particular chapter of Uganda’s misery. He went to Namasagali College, then Makerere University, to study agriculture from 1987 to 1990. Botany. Crop science. Entomology. He can still walk into a room, spot a plant, and tell you it’s Lantana camara. These are not skills that appear on any tax advisory brief.

They are, however, the skills of someone trained to read a system, to understand what something actually is, not just what it’s called. That habit of mind would travel everywhere with him. After graduating, he became a maize trader in Mbiriizi, a town in the southern part of the Central Region of Uganda (Lwengo District). His edge was that he could bite through a grain with his front teeth and tell you the moisture content. He did this for six months. Then he left for England. Between 1991 and 1992, Mr Kamulegeya did a tour of what he calls ‘every job that exists in this hotel’. He cooked potatoes. He cleaned toilets.

He drove a minibus. He worked as a lifeguard. One afternoon when a colleague didn’t show, he put on a white apron and white hat and served lunch to schoolchildren as the dinner lady and got paid double for the double shift. He was raising £5,400 (currently about Shs26.37 million) to enrol in college. Within 18 months, he had more than he needed. ‘For young professionals, it’s very, very important that you get into the habit of distinguishing who you are from what you do, so that when what you do changes, you do not lose your identity,’ he says.

He enrolled in college, qualified as an accountant in 1994, joined PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) London in 1996, and encountered a reform to the UK tax system called self-assessment. Something in his brain lit up and never quite went off again. He sat the exams of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, passed them, and became the first Ugandan ever to qualify as a UK Chartered Tax Advisor.

The poor cousin of audits

In 2000, PwC sent him to Uganda. The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) had only been created in 1991. Value Added Tax (VAT) had been introduced as recently as 1996, replacing a patchwork of sales taxes, and was barely four years old. Many staff had simply been transferred from customs when the institution was set up. The big accounting firms in Kampala called themselves auditing firms. Tax, as Mr Kamulegeya puts it, was ‘a poor cousin of audits.’ He had seen something different. He had lived in a system where tax consulting was its own serious profession and the relationship between advisor and revenue authority was one of adversarial respect.

He walked into Uganda and saw, simultaneously, a problem and an enormous opportunity. Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s late partner and one of the more formidable minds in American finance, spent decades warning against what he called ‘man with a hammer syndrome’, who is the specialist who interprets every problem through a single lens. His antidote was a ‘latticework of mental models,’ drawing from biology, physics, psychology, and law simultaneously. Munger built a multi-billion-dollar fortune on cross-disciplinary thinking. Mr Kamulegeya built Uganda’s modern tax profession on something very similar, and arrived at it via botany, maize trading, and dinner lady shifts in Croydon.

‘Tax sits at the interface of almost everything,’ he says. ‘If you look at it just from a technical perspective and you stay in that very narrow lane, you are going to miss out.’ He built the PwC Uganda tax practice from seven people into a dominant market force, sending specialists abroad for years before the market knew it needed them: Crystal Kabajwara to the UK for transfer pricing, Pamela Natamba for oil and gas, and Trevor Bwanika to South Africa for international tax and mergers. Then he turned his attention to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) itself. In 2004, a new Financial Institutions Act required banks to raise their minimum capital.

Mr Kamulegeya saw a solution URA had never encountered: issue bonus shares, using retained reserves to capitalise the banks. Legal under company law, standard in the UK, completely new in Uganda. The Revenue Authority said: bonus shares are dividends, and dividends are taxable. Mr Kamulegeya said: No; retained reserves already belong to the shareholders. Reissuing them as shares changes the form, not the substance. He won. URA promptly amended the Income Tax Act to define dividends to include bonus shares. Look at Section 2 today; it is there because of this fight. When the other side changes the law in response to your argument, it means your argument worked.

In 2010, Zain International BV, a Netherlands company, sold its pan-African mobile operations to Bharti Airtel in a deal worth $10.7 billion (Shs39.04 trillion). URA raised an $85 million (Shs310.16 billion) capital gains tax assessment on Zain’s Ugandan interests. Mr Kamulegeya took the other side. His instrument was surgical: the Uganda-Netherlands double taxation treaty, he told them, means no capital gain arises here.

You do not have the right to tax this. ‘A few of them,’ he says, with characteristic restraint, ‘that was the first time they knew about the treaty’. The case became one of the most-watched tax disputes in East African history, permanently changing how Uganda thinks about double taxation agreements and how multinationals structure investment through offshore holding companies.

Inclusion

In 2003, Mr Kamulegeya was a senior manager appearing on television to analyse the national budget. Then he ran into Moses Kirangwa (now deceased). Mr Kirangwa was a childhood friend from Masaka. They had grown up in the same village, played Gogolo (also known as the Rainbow Slide) as barefoot boys. Then Mr Kamulegeya left for Kampala, for England, and for PwC. Mr Kirangwa stayed. He was had an hearing impairment. He had never gone to school, not because he couldn’t learn, but because the system had decided there was no place for him. He was a cobbler, working from a bench on a street in Masaka.

When they reconnected after 25 years, communicating through an interpreter, Mr Kirangwa told Mr Kamulegeya something he has been acting on ever since: the difference between us is education. ‘Here I was, senior manager on the TV analysing the budget and people thinking I’m important, and this guy who I grew up with in the village told me that basically, if I didn’t go to school, I could be like him. He told me that because he had never seen me for the last 23 years, he had also assumed that I’d died.’

In 2005, Mr Kamulegeya co-founded the Masaka School for the Deaf with his late sister, Sophia Kafeero, with teachers, classrooms, a curriculum, and a plan. More than 1,200 deaf learners have since passed through it. Seventeen have graduated from university, according to his narration. There is now a vocational training institute alongside it, and a coffee farm where students are taught agriculture.

The man who once bit through maize grains to read their moisture content is now teaching deaf children to grow coffee. He also runs Time to Play, a children’s centre he opened in 2009 after his daughters visiting from England asked their house help, Annette, to take them to ‘the park’, and Annette, interpreting this sensibly for Kampala, offered them a tour of taxi parks. The misunderstanding, Mr Kamulegeya felt, was actionable. For years on Sundays, he would slip into the SpongeBob costume and work the floor. Nobody knew it was the Country Senior Partner of PwC Uganda inside the foam suit.

Retirement

In 2022, after 27 years at PwC, 12 as Country Senior Partner, eight on the PwC Africa Governance Board, the first Ugandan to serve on that body, Mr Kamulegeya left. He refuses to call it retirement. ‘I never ever wanted to be pushed out by a system simply because of a number. At 60 years of age, that’s the retirement age at PwC. But what happens to me at 60? I’ve been doing very, very well. So, I’m not going to just sit there waiting for the clock to tick.’

He left at the height of it. This is, among people who build careers, almost impossibly rare. He went to Thailand, came back looking 10 years younger, and built what he calls his second half; five board roles, including Chairman of IandM Bank Uganda, and a memoir, ‘And Then What? Reflections on Life, Leadership, and Meaning Beyond Success’, launched in April 2026. The question in the title is the most demanding one you can ask yourself. It prevents you from mistaking a milestone for a destination. You get the degree, and then what? You get the promotion, and then what?

More importantly, it is the question you ask once you have, by any reasonable measure, already succeeded. You’ve changed the law multiple times, built a school, mentored a generation. And then what? ‘If everything you’re doing is for yourself, it’s likely to end with you. And that would be very unfortunate. But if you do things that are going to endure, because your time is finite, it’s going to be long, but it’s very finite; you’ll continue.’ Back at the Fairway Hotel, the young professionals are still in the room.

This is one of ‘The Tax Nights’ organised by Edwin Echiba, a tax lawyer, on the first Thursday of the month. All of them have been in the presence of something increasingly rare: a man who built something significant, knows what he built, and is not confused about why. He wants to be remembered, he says, as the person who made a positive difference in whoever he met. ‘There’s no point holding knowledge without sharing it,’ he says. ‘Nobody knows what you know until you share it. And whenever you play it forward, it keeps going.’