Category: Daily Monitor

What does ‘full monetisation of the economy’ mean?

Full monetisation of the economy refers to a situation where all individuals, households, and businesses conduct most of their economic activities through money and formal financial channels rather than through subsistence production, barter arrangements, or informal transactions.

Monetisation occurs when people earn income in monetary form, save through formal or semi-formal institutions, make payments through financial channels, access credit, and participate in markets beyond immediate household consumption.

It is linked to the broader process of economic transformation. It involves moving people from subsistence activities into market-oriented production, integrating them into the financial system, and enabling them to participate more fully in the formal economy.

Full monetisation does not imply that every transaction must pass through a bank account. Rather, it means that economic activity is increasingly market-based, financially connected, and visible within the broader economy. This creates opportunities for savings mobilisation, investment, productivity growth, and efficient revenue mobilisation by the government, as well as better targeted interventions for improved livelihoods.

What is the Bank of Uganda doing to support monetisation of the economy?

The Bank of Uganda is supporting monetisation through policies and initiatives aimed at expanding access to financial services, strengthening payment systems, and maintaining macroeconomic stability.

First, the Bank is modernising the national payments ecosystem. Through the National Payments Systems framework and the development of interoperable payment infrastructure, individuals and businesses can transact seamlessly across banks, mobile money platforms, and other financial service providers.

This reduces transaction costs and makes digital financial services more accessible. For instance, the modernised financial architecture is currently supporting the delivery of Government funds such as Parish Development Model funds to the intended beneficiaries who are targeted to join the money economy.

Second, the Bank promotes financial inclusion. Access to formal and semi-formal financial services has expanded significantly over the past decade, supported by mobile money, agent banking, microfinance institutions, and digital financial innovations. Increased access enables more Ugandans to save, borrow, invest, and transact through formal channels.

Who participates in the monetary economy, and who is still outside it or only partially included?

Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) defines the households within the subsistence economy as those unable to satisfy their basic needs that encompass both food and non-food items. The assessment of a household’s capacity to fulfil these basic needs is crucial in identifying those within the subsistence economy.

This category includes households involved in subsistence farming, those receiving wages that fall short of meeting basic needs, businesses generating insufficient returns, and households that are economically inactive and unable to meet their basic needs.

Conversely, households classified outside the subsistence economy belong to the money economy. These households are characterised by their ability to adequately meet their basic needs and remain with savings. The 2024 Uganda National Population and Housing Census report indicated that one third (33.1 percent) of households were in the subsistence economy while two-thirds of households (66.9 percent) were in the money economy.

Using available data on financial inclusion, employment, urbanisation, census and economic activity, we can identify those who are substantially integrated into the money economy and those who remain only partially integrated.

Those in the money economy include:

81 percent of Ugandan adults have access to formal or informal financial services, according to the 2023 Finscope survey). These individuals are likely to save, borrow, make payments, and receive income through monetary and financial channels.

More than 59 million registered mobile money accounts facilitate millions of daily transactions and have become the primary entry point into the financial system for many Ugandans.

Individuals employed in the formal private sector and public sector, who receive regular monetary incomes and routinely use financial institutions.

Uganda has an estimated 686,700 business establishments, of which about 18.3 percent sit in the formal bracket with clear corporate governance, fiscal status (filing corporate income tax, Pay As You Earn (PAYE), VAT registered), labour structures, credit lines and full legal formalisation.

Most urban households which are generally more connected to markets, financial services, and digital payment platforms.

Those not yet fully in the money economy include:

Approximately 3.5 million households (33.1 percent of all households 2024 census vs 39 percent in 2019) remain predominantly in the subsistence economy, producing largely for their own consumption with limited engagement in formal markets and financial services.

Although financial inclusion has improved significantly, a sizeable number of adults remain financially excluded and therefore have limited access to savings, credit, insurance, and digital payment services.

A large proportion of Uganda’s business sector remains informal. According to available enterprise statistics, approximately 18.3 percent operate in the formal sector, while 81.7 percent operate in the informal sector (micro enterprises: kiosks, retail shops, downtown wholesalers that do not keep audited financial books, lack structured employment contracts, and do not separate owner’s personal and business money). The predominance of informal enterprises highlights the significant scope for further monetisation and formalisation of economic activity

Individuals in remote and underserved areas still face challenges in accessing financial infrastructure despite the expansion of mobile money, agent banking, and digital financial services.

Children and youth below working age, who constitute a substantial share of Uganda’s population, are not yet active participants in the economy and therefore remain outside the money economy, according to the 2025 Labour market survey.

While Uganda has made progress in monetisation and financial inclusion, a large segment of economic activity remains only partially monetised. The challenge is therefore not a lack of economic activity, but ensuring that more households, farmers, and enterprises are integrated into formal markets and financial systems.

The key point is that monetisation should be viewed as a continuum rather than a binary condition. Many Ugandans already participate in the money economy to some extent. But the depth of participation varies significantly across regions, sectors, and income groups.

Why does full monetisation matter for Uganda’s economy as a developing country?

Monetisation enables economic activity to be transformed into higher productivity, greater incomes, and broader prosperity.

Monetisation mobilises savings. When households participate in the financial system, their savings can be intermediated into productive investments that support business expansion, job creation, and economic growth.

Second, monetisation improves access to credit. Individuals and businesses with transaction histories, savings records, and financial identities are better positioned to access financing to invest, expand production, and improve productivity.

Third, monetisation enhances monetary policy. Financially connected households and firms respond more readily to monetary policy signals, strengthening the transmission of policy actions to the broader economy.

Fourth, monetisation supports domestic revenue mobilisation. As economic activity becomes increasingly market-based and formalised, it becomes easier to measure, document, and incorporate into the tax system, thereby broadening the resource base available for public investment.

Fifth, monetisation promotes resilience and inclusion. Households that can save, access credit, make digital payments, and use insurance products are better able to manage economic shocks and invest in their future.

Most importantly, monetisation is a critical ingredient in attaining Uganda’s ten-fold growth program. Achieving sustained high growth and transforming Uganda into a prosperous upper-middle-income economy will require the full participation of households, farmers, entrepreneurs, and businesses in an increasingly formal, market-based, and financially connected economy.

Therefore, monetisation should not be viewed merely as a financial sector objective. It is a national development objective that supports productivity growth, structural transformation, job creation, and economic prosperity.

Vocational and technical training institutions in Uganda’s Ankole sub-region have asked the government to restore a cost-sharing arrangement for trainees, warning that rising training costs are limiting access to practical skills education.

Administrators and tutors made the appeal on Monday during discussions on challenges affecting Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) at Rwentanga Farm Institute in Mbarara District.

They said the funding gap emerged after the closure of the Shs100 million-dollar Uganda Skills Development Project (USDP), a World Bank-funded programme that ended operations in Uganda in 2021.

The project had supported more than 500 trainees in different institutions, particularly learners from vulnerable backgrounds, according to education officials.

Mr Onex Twebaze, the acting Deputy Principal of Uganda Technical Institute Bushenyi, said competency-based training requires significant investment in equipment and materials, which many learners and institutions cannot afford.

He said the previous cost-sharing model, where government covered 80 percent of training costs while students contributed 20 percent, improved access to vocational education for disadvantaged learners.

‘The cost of materials used in practical training continues to place a heavy burden on both institutions and learners,’ Mr Twebaze said.

‘To achieve our dream as vocational institutions of a practical human resource, we need government to subsidise the cost of education. A skill is a skill; you must achieve it and you must be well equipped.’

Officials said practical courses such as manufacturing, engineering and agriculture require expensive materials, making them unaffordable for many students.

Mr Gilbert Tukahirwa, a tutor at Uganda Technical College, said some programmes require millions of shillings in training materials.

‘A course in a programme like manufacturing requires between Shs12 million to Shs13 million, which is very expensive for the majority of our people. There is no shortcut because you have to offer practical and relevant skills,’ he said.

At Rwentanga Farm Institute, Principal Mr William Tukwasibwe cited inadequate equipment and poor digital infrastructure as major challenges affecting training quality.

‘We lack equipment to run this programme. We have about 70 computers for 900 people, which is not enough to facilitate teaching,’ he said.

He added that limited internet connectivity has also affected efforts to introduce online learning.

‘Internet connectivity is very key, but we don’t have it. We cannot do online training; the internet is a very important tool in training,’ he said.

Mr Tukwasibwe also called for a clear government policy on staffing structures and remuneration to strengthen vocational institutions.

The Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board (UVTAB) said reforms were underway to address some of the challenges affecting TVET.

Mr Narasi Kambaho, the board’s communications officer, said the revised curriculum is designed to focus more on practical skills demanded by employers.

‘As UVTAB, we have made sure that the new curriculum addresses these gaps whereby 70 percent will be practical and 30 percent will be theory,’ he said.

He said the new approach would help graduates acquire skills that match industry needs.

Mr Kambaho added that concerns raised by vocational institutions would be submitted to relevant authorities through the Ministry of Education and Sports.

He also noted that the TVET Act 2025 promotes employer-led, competency-based training developed in partnership with industry players.

Vocational institutions argue that restoring government support would increase enrolment, reduce dropout rates and help Uganda develop a skilled workforce capable of addressing unemployment challenges.

The Masaka Grade One Magistrate, Her Worship Selsa Biwaga, has ordered the deportation of 67 Congolese nationals who were arrested on Sunday from Sumayiya Church in Masaka City.

ICYMI: 67 Congolese arrested from Masaka church over illegal entry into Uganda

The court on Tuesday found the group guilty of illegally entering and settling in Uganda without the required travel documents.

The prosecution, led by Abraham Akandehako, alleged that 54 of the Congolese nationals entered Uganda illegally without the required identification or travel documents.

Explaining that they were found worshipping on Sunday at Sumayiya Church, a Pentecostal church located in the Nyendo-Mukungwe Division of Masaka City.

Among those arrested, 54 were adults and were therefore charged, while 13 children were not prosecuted. Most of the accused admitted the charges.

However, one of them, Amin Ibrahim, denied the accusation and told the court that he possessed a Ugandan national identity card, which security officers allegedly confiscated at the time of his arrest.

Akandehako asked the court to issue a cautionary sentence warning the accused not to return to Uganda illegally and requested that they be repatriated to their home country.

President Judge, Her Worship, Biwaga agreed and noted that the offence carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of three million Ugandan shillings.

Before sentencing, the accused pleaded for leniency. Some told the court that they had fled to Uganda because of conflict in Congo and had been living in Uganda for about two years.

The magistrate convicted them upon their plea of guilty, and ordered the Immigration Department to deport them back to Congo.

While delivering the judgment, Biwaga explained that she had considered the fact that many of the accused were women with very young children under their care, making imprisonment inappropriate in the circumstances.

She ordered that they remain in the custody of security authorities until arrangements are made for their repatriation.

However, Amin Ibrahim, who denied the charge, was asked to apply for bail, but his sureties lacked LCI letters, and his case will be heard on July 2.

Dear Tingasiga:

The ease with which the Uganda Government spends money on self-congratulatory celebrations, gifts to religious groups, and all manner of luxury spending is mind-boggling. The ease with which the same government dismisses the worth of medical interns who have spent five long years learning to keep us alive speaks volumes.

A nation’s budget is a moral document stating what-and whom-a society values most. Uganda’s current spending priorities reveal a deeply disturbing paradox.

Members of Parliament take home massive car grants, extensive travel stipends, and millions of shillings daily. Meanwhile, medical interns-the literal backbone of our public healthcare infrastructure- are paid small change, if paid at all, and they are forced to strike just to secure basic food, housing, and frequently delayed allowances. This spending model reflects a critical public health failure that directly threatens ordinary citizens.

This paradox is amplified by the rapid expansion of medical training. Over the last two decades, the number of accredited medical schools in Uganda has ballooned to roughly 12 institutions. Where once Makerere University stood alone, Uganda now features public facilities like Mbarara, Gulu, and Busitema, alongside private setups like Kampala International University. While the state celebrates this institutional growth, the healthcare system meant to absorb these graduates is collapsing under fiscal neglect.

Can Uganda truly afford the high cost of running medical schools if it refuses to pay its medical interns competitive, liveable salaries? When a government funds the production of a highly specialized asset but starves its operational maintenance, it engages in economic self-sabotage. Training a single doctor is the most expensive undertaking in tertiary education, requiring heavily subsidized tuition, high-end laboratory equipment, and vast clinical training networks.

For five years, scarce national resources have been poured into every student. The true return on this investment is only realized when these graduates begin practicing. However, the state’s current framework treats these graduates as disposable labour, even irritants, leading to massive friction. Persistent official attempts to strip away or aggressively slash medical intern allowances have sparked continuous nationwide strikes.

The national budget allocation to the health sector remains highly volatile, hovering at roughly 8 percent of total spending. This falls significantly short of the 15 percent baseline mandated by the 2001 Abuja Declaration, to which Uganda is a signatory. By starving the frontline clinical workforce, the country effectively writes off its own multi-million-shilling educational investments.

To understand why this compensation structure is backward, one must look at the gruelling reality of a public hospital ward. A medical intern in Uganda is not an apprentice quietly shadowing a senior consultant. Because of severe, chronic staffing shortages across the health care system, these young professionals function as the primary clinical engines running our medical system. Interns routinely work exhaustingly long shifts, managing overcrowded maternity wards, performing emergency surgeries, and monitoring dying patients under immense pressure.

Contrast this with the daily schedule of a Member of Parliament. A politician’s week consists of flexible committee meetings, plenary debates, and caucuses. While writing laws matters, a temporary pause in parliamentary sessions does not cause immediate fatalities. Conversely, if medical interns stop working for even a single morning, emergency rooms stall, treatable labour complications become fatal, and preventable deaths spike instantly. The proximity of an intern’s work to the immediate survival of our citizens justifies premium compensation that surpasses that of politicians.

Furthermore, the extreme physical environments where medical interns work demand financial protection. Frontline clinicians handle acute traumas, highly contagious pathogens, and complex bodily fluids daily in under-equipped public wards that frequently lack basic personal protective equipment (PPE). This regularly exposes them to life-threatening infectious diseases. They absorb this intense occupational risk while completely sleep-deprived and without any robust institutional safety nets.

MPs experience no comparable physical hazards, working inside secure, legislative chambers and committee rooms. Compensating politicians with lavish vehicle grants and high salaries while leaving frontline medical workers exposed to poverty and disease is an unjustifiable policy. Premium pay for interns is necessary hazard pay for those who regularly jeopardize their own health to protect us.

This structural failure triggers an immediate, aggressive brain drain. Deprived of basic amenities and predictable pay, newly graduated doctors realize their expertise is completely undervalued domestically. This financial neglect turns Ugandan medical schools into heavily subsidized recruitment pools for our neighbours and wealthier nations. Foreign regional and international healthcare networks gladly absorb these highly trained assets. Uganda bears the steep, front-end cost of academic production, while foreign economies reap the lifelong operational benefits. A developing country cannot afford to act as a free training academy for the rest of the world.

The standard official defence is that Uganda simply lacks the fiscal space to offer competitive salaries to its medical interns. Yet, this narrative of absolute financial scarcity is flatly contradicted by the cost of medical tourism for select citizens. Uganda spends $150-$175 million annually to export select citizens for medical treatment in India, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Thailand, South Africa, and Europe. This means the state spends far more on sending a privileged few to overseas clinics than it would cost to properly pay every single medical intern running the nation’s domestic hospitals.

This capital flight inflicts a double wound. It actively drains foreign currency reserves that could otherwise stabilize the domestic health budget, and it demonstrates a complete lack of institutional trust in the very healthcare infrastructure the state is supposed to manage. If the hundreds of billions spent on favoured people’s medical evacuations were re-routed internally, the funds would easily secure competitive salaries for interns, eliminate regional medical shortages, and properly supply public wards. The money is clearly there. The state has simply prioritized political privilege over public health survival.

Ultimately, building new medical universities to pump more graduates into a toxic, underfunded hospital system does not improve public health. It simply increases the volume of frustrated, underpaid professionals waiting for their first opportunity to leave.

A medical school is not just a collection of buildings or a factory for printing degrees. It is the starting point of a covenant between a doctor and their country. Uganda cannot afford the prestige of medical schools if it refuses to invest in human capital for the long haul.

Until the state stops exporting its capital to foreign hospitals and its best medical minds to foreign shores, expanding medical education will remain an expensive exercise in futility.

As darkness falls over Nkokonjeru Street in Mbale City, several young girls aged between 15 and 16 can be seen lining the roadside, hoping to attract clients.

Behind their presence are stories of hardship, broken families and struggle for survival.

Susan, not her real name, is one of the young girls engaged in commercial sex work. She says she was introduced to the trade by friends from Busamaga Ward in the Industrial City Division in Mbale City who convinced her it was a quick way to earn money.

‘My friends told me I could make money and support myself. At the time, I had very few options,’ she says.

She says life became difficult after her parents separated and she was left living with a father who rarely provides for the family.

‘Sometimes there is no food at home. My father spends most of his time drinking and does not care much about our welfare. I had to find a way to survive,’ she says.

Mariam, also not her real name, tells a similar story. She says she dropped out of school after her parents failed to raise school fees.

She says she was later introduced to sex work by women in Bugema Ward who were already involved in the trade.

‘They told me there was no need to keep lamenting about my situation when I could earn money and take care of myself,’ she says.

Another girl, a Senior Two pupil aged 15, said she also engages in commercial sex to meet personal and school needs. She says clients pay between Shs5,000 and Shs10,000 depending on the arrangement.

Ms Ruth Apio, a resident of Nkokonjeru, said the number of young girls seen on the streets at night is worrying and reflects failure by parents to take responsibility.

Mr Joseph Okware, a bodaboda rider, said some men have abandoned families in preference for commercial sex workers, warning that this could fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS and domestic conflict.

Mr Patrick Omare, a local leader, said the practice has degraded social and moral values in the area.

Ms Agnes Kasiira, a social worker and councillor, said poverty, family breakdown and peer influence are driving young girls into prostitution, exposing them to risks including sexual exploitation, violence, unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.

She called for coordinated action by parents, leaders and government agencies to protect vulnerable girls through education, guidance and economic empowerment programmes.

Mr Robert Wandwasi, the Mbale District HIV/AIDS focal person, said more than 20 percent of children in urban centres in Mbale are involved in commercial sex, and that the practice is common in trading centres along highways used by long-distance truck drivers.

He added that many of the girls come from private hostels and poorly regulated schools.

Ms Rehema Wangiro, Mbale City HIV focal person, said there is also increasing commercial sex work among men.

According to the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, child prostitution in Uganda is on the rise, with an estimated 7,000 to 12,000 juveniles engaged in risky commercial sex activities.

In a dramatic twist that caps two days of intense domestic and international outrage, the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, announced he will release veteran opposition politician and lawyer Erias Lukwago.

Writing on the social media platform X, Gen Muhoozi stated: “Today, I will release this IDIOT (Erias Lukwago) to police. I have run out of diapers. Never test me again! My beloved wife Charlotte has convinced me to release the criminal Lukwago. I will release him because of my love for her….I am a descendant of the Great Bachwezi! They will ALWAYS rule Uganda!”

The condescending announcement follows hours of mounting pressure from civil society activists, lawyers, and political organisations demanding to know the whereabouts of the former Kampala Lord Mayor. Lukwago, who serves as the leader of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) and lead counsel for four-time presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye, was abducted from his home by armed men in military uniform on Monday morning.

Prior to Gen Muhoozi’s social media post, the military chief had fueled public anger by sharing photographs of a blindfolded and distressed Lukwago at an undisclosed location. The abduction came just days after Lukwago successfully secured a court order requiring Gen Muhoozi to defend himself against allegations that he threatened to kill Dr Besigye.

A pattern of “drone” abductions

Lukwago’s high-profile disappearance has cast a harsh spotlight on what critics call a systematic machinery of state-sponsored kidnappings. The legal fraternity and opposition figures warn that Uganda is slipping back into the dark eras of past regimes.

Just last month, Amuria District Woman MP Margaret Etilu was whisked away by security operatives, only to be released after Parliament pressured the Executive. Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi recently questioned the government’s disregard for due process, noting that another party member, Christopher Gody, was taken by the military in April and remains missing.

Similarly, National Unity Platform (NUP) activist Agatha Nazziwa was held for over a month in a military facility where she was reportedly tortured. NUP Secretary General Lewis Rubongoya stated that upon her release from the Defence Intelligence and Security (DIS) headquarters in Mbuya, she was warned never to associate with the opposition again. NUP continues to demand answers for supporters like John Bosco Kibalama and John Ddamulira, who vanished in 2019 and 2020.

Echoes of Idi Amin and Milton Obote

For many Ugandans, these modern-day “drone” van abductions carry a chilling sense of déjà vu. Former Minister of Internal Affairs, Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire, recently remarked that the current spate of disappearances mirrors the tyrannical rule of Idi Amin.

Historically, such state overreach has targeted the legal mind. In September 1972, Amin’s state research personnel abducted Chief Justice Ben Kiwanuka from the High Court after he angered him by releasing a British detainee for lack of evidence. Kiwanuka was never seen again.

Similarly, under Milton Obote’s regime in the 1980s, state machinery extended beyond Ugandan borders. In 1982, rebel leader Balaki Kirya was kidnapped from his home in Nairobi, Kenya, with suspected local police complicity, and secretly flown back to Uganda to face treason charges.

Political backlash

Gen Muhoozi’s erratic behavior and the military’s involvement in civilian arrests have drawn fierce condemnation. Responding to the CDF’s social media posts, NUP President Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, launched a scathing attack on X, accusing Gen Muhoozi of disgracing the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).

“You’re a wannabe badman, masquerading as a fierce military General, but deep inside you’re weak, insecure, and desperate for attention,” Kyagulanyi wrote. “Your actions are such an embarrassment… History will remember you and your father with shame.”

While Lukwago’s impending transfer to the police offers brief relief to his family and legal team-who were previously blocked from filing a missing person’s report at Nateete Police Station-the episode leaves a profound stain on the country’s human rights record. By treating a constitutional crisis as a personal favor to his wife, Gen Muhoozi has intensified fears that Uganda’s security apparatus operates entirely outside the law.

The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) has so far registered 1,403,169 candidates from the three sets of national papers: the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE), and the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) as of June 15, 2026. ‘It is 15 days to the end of the extended period of normal registration of 2026 candidates. Provisional candidature stands at one million, three hundred and four thousand, one hundred sixty-nine (1,403,169). This is for all the three assessment levels,’ Ms Jennifer Kalule Uneb’s principal public relations officer, said. According to a Uneb statement, of the 1,404,169 candidates, 844,341 are PLE candidates, with 444,133 (52.6 percent) females, while 400,208 (47.4 percent) are males.

The statement shows that 539,954 (64 percent) of the PLE candidates are registered under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) Programme sponsored by the government while 304,387 (36 percent) are privately sponsored. It adds that the candidature at UCE provisionally stands at 401,509. Of these, 213,421 (53.2 percent) are females, while 188,088 (46.8 percent) are males. At least 152,043 (38 percent) of the UCE candidates are sponsored by government under the Universal Secondary Education Programme (USE), while 249,466 (62 percent) are privately sponsored. At A-Level or UACE level, 157,319 candidates have so far registered. These include 76,383 (48.6 percent) females, and 80,936 (51.4 percent) males.

Some 57,933 (37 percent) of these are funded by government under the Uganda Post O-Level and Training Programme (UPOLET), while 99,386 (63.1 percent) are privately sponsored. The Uneb report shows that 91.5 percent of the PLE centres have so far submitted their registration data, while 76.6 percent of the UCE centres and 69 percent of the UACE centres have registered candidates. A total of 23,421 centres are expected to register candidates. These include 15,999 PLE centres, 4,436 UCE centres, and 2,986 UACE centres. Ms Kalule explained that normal registration of candidates continues until June 30, 2026. Late registration will take place in July, for those who fail to register in June. However, late registration attracts a surcharge of 100 percent for PLE candidates, and 50 percent for UCE and UACE candidates.

Late registration shall end on July 31, 2026. Thereafter, there will be no more registration for 2026 candidates. Ms Kalule advised heads of centres with candidates supported by the government to ensure they register them before the end of the normal registration period. The Uneb has also tasked headteachers to register all prospective candidates so that no learner is left out. Ms Kalule explained that the registration fees structure has been maintained at Shs34,000 for PLE candidates, Shs164,000 for UCE, and Shs186,000 for UACE. Parents have in the past raised an alarm of hiked registration fees by some schools.

Ms Kalule cautioned schools that according to the Uneb Act, CAP 259 section 33, it is an offence to charge fees not prescribed by Uneb and refer to such fees as ‘Uneb fees’.

‘Heads of centres and school directors are therefore cautioned ‘against calling any other administrative costs’- Uneb fees,’ she warned. The examinations body also emphasised that it is the responsibility of candidates, parents and heads of centres to confirm that the biodata of the candidates is correct. Candidates are also required to verify the correctness of the details and append their signatures as proof that they have verified the information.

Uganda has long occupied a singular place in the global refugee debate, as a lower-income country that grants refugees the right to work, move freely, and access public services in a region where most governments do the opposite.

That model is now facing its most serious stress test in a generation.

Uganda was hosting 2,011,234 refugees and asylum-seekers as of April 30, 2026, according to data from the government’s Office of the Prime Minister and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a milestone that cements the country’s position as Africa’s largest refugee host.

The population reflects worsening crises on multiple fronts: refugees come primarily from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which accounts for 52.5 percent of the total, followed by South Sudan at 32.8 percent, with Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Burundi, Rwanda and Ethiopia making up most of the remainder.

The numbers alone would be manageable if the money followed. It has not. By the end of 2025, Uganda’s refugee response was only roughly 25 percent funded.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned in January that with just 6 percent of required funding secured for 2026, nearly 2 million refugees risk losing access to basic health and nutrition services, driving further clinic closures and preventable illness and deaths.

Funding cuts have already forced the IRC to shutter health services across 11 refugee settlements. UNHCR itself indicated a shortfall of approximately pound 6.5 million, affecting over 90 percent of its health funding budget in the country.

The UNHCR estimates that it costs roughly $16 per refugee per month to provide essential services. Without additional funding, the agency can deliver only $5 worth of aid per month per person.

The urban escape valve

As settlement conditions deteriorate, refugees are voting with their feet, moving to cities. While 91 percent of refugees officially live in settlements, a massive and largely invisible migration is reshaping Kampala, as thousands trade dwindling rations for the grit and opportunity of the capital.

With 2026 funding cuts slashing settlement rations to near-zero, this migration has become a survival strategy, a shift away from aid dependency and toward active economic participation.

Urban life offers no guaranteed soft landing. In Kampala, refugees enter the same informal economy as Ugandans, paying rent, competing for customers, borrowing from social networks and absorbing household shocks without safety nets.

The right to work exists on paper; income depends on capital, documentation, market access, and employer trust. For most new urban arrivals, the gap between those two things is wide.

Evidence on what actually closes that gap is beginning to emerge. The IRC’s Re:BUiLD program, backed by the IKEA Foundation, ran a rigorous randomised controlled trial among urban refugees and Ugandan host residents in Kampala.

The trial involved 2,000 inexperienced and prospective entrepreneurs aged 18 to 45, alongside 600 experienced entrepreneurs who served as mentors. Participants assigned to the cash-grant group received $540.

The findings showed that cash grants had large and persistent positive effects on economic outcomes: monthly profits increased by approximately $23 on average, and participants improved household well-being across food security, assets and savings.

Mentorship, however, proved more complicated. While adding mentorship to cash support did not improve business outcomes on average, qualitative evidence revealed that mentorship experiences varied widely in quality.

Some participants benefited from advice, motivation and connections, while others faced poor mentor commitment, mismatched skills and weak communication.

Women, particularly those paired with female mentors, fared worse, a gap the researchers attributed to heavier household responsibilities and fewer business opportunities rather than any failure of intent.

The self-reliance push

The evidence base is now informing a wider policy shift, from aid delivery toward economic graduation.

Two initiatives- Sustainable Market Inclusive Livelihood Pathways to Self-Reliance (SMILES) and GER- are moving over 14,000 vulnerable refugee households toward economic independence through integrated poverty graduation and market development strategies.

A recent Learning Summit highlighted an 89.4 percent graduation rate amid declining humanitarian aid.

The SMILES project, funded by the IKEA Foundation and running through 2027, focuses on Kyaka II and Kyangwali settlements.

At the national level, the World Bank’s Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project is scaling further.

Phase I created jobs for more than 174,660 people, including 27,380 refugees. Phase II is designed to create at least 60,000 new jobs and improve access to basic social and economic services for 3 million more people, including 1 million refugees, with a project value of $328 million.

But structural barriers persist. Re:BUiLD’s Securing Documentation Campaign found that refugees in Uganda continue to face obstacles linked to documentation, urban registration, language, service centralisation, high travel costs, banking access, NSSF registration, and recognition of qualifications.

Economists at Uganda’s Economic Policy Research Centre argue the government must shift from a purely humanitarian response to a developmental approach, embedding refugee economic integration within national planning frameworks and working with commercial banks and fintechs to roll out digital ID-linked microcredit services.

A model under pressure

Uganda’s open-door policy has earned it international admiration and, for years, international funding. The two are now decoupling.

As the government begins to restrict refugee status for certain nationalities in response to funding deficits, observers warn the focus must shift to urgent reforms, increased accountability and sustainable local financing to prevent a total collapse of the refugee response system.

One fellow at Refugees International, himself a refugee living in Uganda, has argued that as global humanitarian aid decreases, the best refugee policy is no longer to keep assisting but to provide genuine access to work, a win-win for refugees and their Ugandan-born neighbours.

The Kampala trial data suggests that is achievable, at least in part. A $540 cash grant, deployed to a refugee entrepreneur with no business experience, produced measurable and lasting gains.

The policy question Uganda now faces is whether that kind of practical economic support, involving capital, documentation, and financial products, can be delivered at two-million-person scale, without the international funding that made the model famous.

So far, the world has not provided an answer. Uganda is left to improvise one.

Marvin Kibirige did not try too hard to force things and it somehow gladly paid off for him to assume a one-shot lead at the inaugural Pro-Tee Series by MTN at Entebbe Club on Tuesday.

Opting to go for a cautious approach, Kibirige fired six birdies in an opening round of three-under 68 at the par-71 course.

‘It was okay, not bad,’ said the man from Namulonge’s Mary Louise Memorial Golf Club. He struggled to recall the time he last led a local pro golf event on the opening day.

When memory served him right, Kibirige noticed he last led at the same stage back in 2025 during the Pearl of Africa (POA) Series leg at Kitante.

In Entebbe, the conditions tested Kibirige’s mettle. ‘It is a bit hard because of the drought,’ he said of the course conditions.

He fired birdies on Holes par-5s No.1, No.11 and No.18 as well as the par-3 Hole No.12 and par-4s No.3 and No.14. ‘My putting was good though I was struggling with the long irons because I was just pulling to the kind of grass in Entebbe,’ he explained.

Kibirige is using the tournament as a warm-up before he engages gears to return to play on the Professional Golfers Tour of India (PGTI) next month. ‘I am taking it as a practice round and building a competition mindset and muscle,’ he added.

He however scratched with three bogeys on the par-4 Hole No.5 where he struggled to beat the wind only to hit a tree, the par-3 Holes No.8 and No.16 where he missed the greens, chipped and missed the putt.

Kibirige plans to keep the same style of play on Day Two of the 72-hole competition despite pressure from Rodell Gaita and Vincent Byamukama who are both tied in second place on two-under 69.

Joseph Mawejje is fourth at level-par 71 while the trio of Silver Opio, Abraham Ainamani and David Kamulindwa are tied in fifth place at one-over 72 and five others including female pro Irene Nakalembe are joint-eighth on 73.

MTN ENTEBBE PRO-TEE

DAY ONE LEADERBOARD

1 Marvin Kibirige 68 -3

T2 Rodell Gaita 69 -2

T2 Vincent Byamukama 69 -2

4 Joseph Mawejje 71 E

T5 Silver Opio 72 +1

T5 Abraham Ainamani 72 +1

T5 David Kamulindwa 72 +1

T8 Abbey Bagalana 73 +2

T8 Tom Jingo 73 +2

T8 Emma Ogwang 73 +2

T8 Ronald Otile 73 +2

T8 Irene Nakalembe 73 +2

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development says despite the global fuel prices starting to drop after the US and Iran agreeing to sign a peace deal, Uganda’s pump prices will not be adjusted.

Dr Patricia Litho, the Director of Communication at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, said the global changes will not bring instant local cuts, noting that Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), through Vitol, purchased fuel at high prices.

‘Despite the global fuel prices starting to drop after the US and Iran agreeing to sign a peace deal, Uganda’s pump prices will not be adjusted accordingly because UNOC, through Vitol, purchased it at high prices,’ Dr Litho said.

UNOC imports fuel through a government-to-government deal with Vitol. Cargoes are bought months ahead, so current retail prices reflect stock secured when global rates were high.

Uganda has kept pump prices lower than Kenya and Rwanda for three months straight, even as global oil markets remain shaky. But energy experts warn the relief at the pump may soon run out.

It’s impossible to predict the future of oil prices. Several factors determine the movement of oil, but it ultimately boils down to supply and demand. Again, when threats of economic downturn, war, etc. are high, the oil trajectory can turn rapidly.

The next two months will be key. If crude stays lower and UNOC secures cheaper cargoes, Uganda may hold its edge. If costly Vitol stock continues to supply the market, prices could rise even as neighbours see relief.

Peter Ochieng’, a Regional Fuel Marketing Expert Downstream, agrees with the ministry, saying deregulation gives dealers flexibility but also creates a lag when world prices move.

‘The market will catch up with the earlier stock. When that happens, the advantage we have seen over Kenya and Rwanda could narrow or disappear,’ he said.

Data compiled by Ochieng shows Kampala’s highest pump prices as of June 15, 2026 were Shs6,499 for premium petrol and Shs6,599 for diesel. In Kenyan shilling terms, that is Kshs217 and Kshs220 respectively.

The numbers put Uganda ahead of Kenya and Rwanda but behind Tanzania. Nairobi’s revised prices effective June 15 show petrol at Kshs214.03 and diesel at Kshs 222.86. Kampala’s petrol is just Kshs2.60 higher than Nairobi’s, while diesel is Kshs2.89 cheaper.

Dar es Salaam remains the region’s cheapest. Tanzanian motorists pay the equivalent of Kshs195 for petrol and Kshs206 for diesel. Kigali is the priciest, with petrol at Kshs 260 and diesel at Kshs 259.

‘Uganda pump prices are deregulated. In Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania pump prices are regulated,’ Ochieng’ noted. His analysis used pump prices in Nairobi, Kigali, Dar es Salaam and Kampala, with Kampala’s figures based on the highest recorded rates.

Subsidies continue to influence the regional spread. Kenya applied a subsidy of Kshs 34.07 per litre on diesel. Tanzania gave a subsidy of Tzs 534.91, equal to Kshs 26.34, per litre on diesel. Uganda runs no direct pump subsidies.

Oil sold for $84.62 per barrel (using Brent as the benchmark, which we’ll get into momentarily). That’s 67 cents lower than yesterday and approximately an $8.63 rise over the past year.

Despite Uganda’s three-month streak as a low-cost market, Ochieng’ says the trend is fragile. ‘Much as Uganda’s pump prices have enjoyed low rates in the region for three months, this may soon not be the case,’ he said.

Using exchange rates of Kshs 1 to Shs 30, Kshs 1 to Tzs 21, and Kshs 1 to Rwf 11.3, Nairobi petrol is Shs 78 cheaper than Kampala’s highest price, while diesel is Shs 87 more expensive.

For now, motorists enjoy rare stability. The big question is how long it will last.