Category: Daily Monitor

Wakiso District has adopted a five-year communication strategy aimed at improving public awareness and rebuilding trust in government programmes after a study found widespread information gaps among residents.

The strategy, covering 2026 to 2030, follows research that found many residents lacked information about key government initiatives, including the Parish Development Model (PDM) and projects under the World Bank-funded Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Urban Development Programme (GKMA-UDP).

According to the study conducted by Ultimate Multimedia Consult (U) Ltd, 72 percent of residents lacked trust in district communication channels, while 71 percent had never attended district meetings. Only 12 percent understood their rights and project timelines under GKMA-UDP.

The research also found a 68 percent information gap regarding the PDM, with only 14 percent of respondents saying they understood how the programme operates.

“There’s a lot of dissatisfaction in communities, with many residents expressing grievances about district authorities,” said Gerald Businge, the lead researcher.

The study, conducted across Wakiso’s municipalities, town councils and sub-counties, surveyed 1,500 residents and included interviews with district leaders, focus group discussions, digital communication audits and media assessments.

Researchers also identified staffing shortages within the district’s communication unit, which currently relies on a single senior communications officer to serve a population estimated at 3.4 million people.

The report recommends recruiting additional communications officers, holding quarterly community barazas and strengthening engagement with local council leaders to improve information flow and feedback mechanisms.

“If this is done within 12 months, we expect an improvement in the flow of information from the district to the intended recipients,” Businge said.

Senior Communications Officer Prossy Nakalembe acknowledged existing communication challenges and said the strategy would help improve public engagement and participation in government programmes.

“All the loopholes are going to be fixed in this strengthened communication line to ensure that the district serves its people satisfactorily,” she said.

Officials said poor communication has previously affected implementation of government projects, citing resistance by some traders to register for stalls at the newly constructed Kawuku Market because of fears of eviction.

The district hopes the new strategy will improve access to information, strengthen public trust and encourage greater participation in government initiatives.

In an era when novels about colonialism tend to preach to the converted or drown in solemn misery, Yáng Shuang-zi’s Taiwan Travelogue arrives like a perfectly braised bowl of pork rice; modest, unassuming, and utterly devastating in its quiet brilliance. The 2026 International Booker Prize winner is that rarest of literary creatures; a romance that doubles as an incisive postcolonial critique, a metafictional puzzle that never loses its emotional core, and a translation that sings.

Love under the gaze of empire

The premise is deceptively simple. It is May 1938. Aoyama Chizuko, a young Japanese novelist with a famously monstrous appetite, arrives in Japanese-occupied Taiwan. She has no interest in the colonial government’s banquets or imperialist agenda. What she wants is real island life, authentic cuisine, and freedom. Enter Chizuru; a Taiwanese interpreter younger than Chizuko, sharing the same characters in her name, who proves equally adept at arranging scenic train rides and cooking exceptional meals.

What follows is a slow-burn romance conducted across braised pork rice, winter melon tea, and lively banter. But this is no mere period love story. As judge chair Natasha Brown observed, the novel teases out an agonising question: ‘Can love overcome a power imbalance?’ The answer, Yáng suggests, is both yes and no, and the ambiguity is the point.

The cipher and the stomach

Chizuru is the novel’s great achievement; a character so carefully constructed that her unknowability becomes the engine of the plot. She is enchanting yet distant, professional yet intimate, always holding something back. Every attempt by Chizuko to pierce her mask fails. It is only after a heartbreaking separation that the truth begins to emerge; that the power dynamics of coloniser and colonised cannot be dissolved by good intentions or romantic longing, no matter how genuine.

Yáng, who is Taiwanese, has spoken about the ‘conflicted mix of distaste and nostalgia’ with which many Taiwanese regard the Japanese colonial period. Unlike the uniformly resentful memory of Japanese rule in Korea, Taiwan’s relationship with its colonial past is more tangled. Taiwan Travelogue refuses to flatten this complexity into easy outrage. The novel acknowledges oppression without reducing Taiwanese identities to suffering alone. As translator Lin King puts it: ‘To suggest otherwise is to reduce a culture to its trauma.’

A metafictional masterstroke

The novel’s formal invention deserves equal praise. Disguised as a translation of a rediscovered Japanese travel memoir, complete with introductions, footnotes, and afterwords, Taiwan Travelogue wraps an intriguing metafictional layer around its core love story. King’s translation, maximalist, rule-breaking, and experimental, perfectly conveys the novel’s layered narrative voices. She worked closely with editor Yuka Igarashi at Graywolf to produce what she calls ‘an experimental, multilayered work.’ The footnotes alone are a delight, occasionally veering into scholarly deadpan humour, never disrupting the emotional momentum. This is a book that knows it is a translation, knows it is playing with authenticity, and wants you to know it too. Rather than breaking the spell, this transparency deepens it.

Why it won

The 2026 judges, a panel including mathematician Marcus du Sautoy, translator Sophie Hughes, and novelist Nilanjana S. Roy, chose Taiwan Travelogue from a strong shortlist that included Shida Bazyar’s The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran and Marie Ndiaye’s The Witch. What tipped the scales, I suspect, was the novel’s double feat; succeeding as both a tender romance and a sharp postcolonial novel, without ever letting one mode undermine the other.

Yáng has joked that researching the novel’s food and travel themes ‘made my savings go down and my weight go up.’ That pleasure principle, the belief that humans ‘always manage to find flickers of levity and deep wells of love’ even under oppression, infuses every page. This is historical fiction that refuses to be strictly miserable, and it is all the more truthful for it.

The opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) is mourning yet another tragic loss following the death of Sarah Nantumbwe Ddamulira, the wife of missing opposition supporter John Ddamulira.

Nantumbwe’s passing on Saturday, June 13, 2026, marks a painful chapter for families of missing persons in Uganda. She spent her final five years desperately searching for her husband, who was abducted by security operatives from his shop at Kisekka Market in 2020.

Nantumbwe’s death mirrors the tragic demise of Monica Nabukenya Kibalama, who died in November 2025. Nabukenya was the wife of another missing NUP supporter, John Bosco Kibalama, an accountant who vanished on June 3, 2019. Top NUP leadership expressed profound heartbreak over Nantumbwe’s death, emphasizing the heavy psychological toll inflicted on families of the disappeared.

“Like other family members of those disappeared, Sarah has spent the last five years moving everywhere looking for her husband. It is most painful that she has passed on without finding any answers. Kitalo nnyo (How sad),” announced NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya. The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, revealed that Nantumbwe had a premonition of her death during a recent hospital visit.

“She shared with us her feeling that her life was nearing its end, but she was deeply pained by the possibility of leaving without knowing what happened to her husband,” Ssenyonyi said. “Her children are now left without a father and mother. May God see it fit that justice be served to families like Sarah’s.”

The trauma confronting these families was previously highlighted by the mysterious death of Monica Nabukenya Kibalama. Nabukenya was found dead in her bathtub by her children at their home in Seeta Village, Kasangati Town Council.

At the time, Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango stated that an initial autopsy at the City Mortuary was inconclusive, forcing police to dispatch samples to the Government Analytical Laboratory. Before her death, neighbours reported that Nabukenya was under immense emotional distress, facing property disputes with her husband’s relatives and carrying severe security fears that prompted her to install CCTV cameras. Her mother, Joyce Mwetise, noted that Nabukenya had developed diabetes and high blood pressure following her husband’s disappearance.

John Bosco Kibalama, who had defected from the ruling NRM to join Robert Kyagulanyi’s People Power movement (now NUP), was forced into a Toyota Hiace ‘drone’ van by armed men on Lumumba Avenue. His vehicle was found abandoned on the Gayaza-Kampala road.

In a twist of events in 2023, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja claimed in Parliament that Kibalama was in government custody over murders in Luweero District, a statement she later retracted under intense pressure from the opposition. Nantumbwe’s death occurs against a backdrop of mixed developments regarding state-engineered disappearances. Just a day prior, on June 12, 2026, the Amuria District Woman Member of Parliament, Margaret Etilu, was released. MP Etilu had been missing for weeks after being picked up by security operatives, sparking nationwide outrage.

While Etilu’s safe return brought brief relief to the political landscape, it stands in stark contrast to the fate of ordinary citizens. NUP maintains a list of at least 18 prominent members who have been missing for years across Kampala and other parts of Uganda.

NUP President Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, previously lamented the heavy burden placed on these families, stating that it remains deeply painful for young children to be left entirely helpless while the state continues to withhold answers regarding their fathers’ whereabouts.

There are moments, Sam Mwesigwa, aka Xamie says, when even he does not fully understand what just happened. He will be on stage, guitar in hand, fingers moving almost instinctively, and the audience moves with the music.

‘It is a beautiful feeling. You are not speaking, but you are playing notes that somehow speak louder than words ever could,’ he says.

And then, sometimes, he pauses just to say thank you.

‘I just say, ‘God, thank you for this gift.’ Because sometimes what I play blesses me first.’

Mwesigwa did not think he would be a guitarist. He thought he would be a dancer because he was good at it, dancing for his mother, training church groups, even leading his school’s dance team to victory at the first high school Kadanke competitions. But guitar was also there, in the background. During his Primary Seven vacation, he heard a neighbour playing and ran to his place immediately to ask for lessons. The neighbour was busy, but Mwesigwa sat on his veranda every single day, waiting. Sometimes he would get the guitar for five minutes. He would sit with it for hours, figuring things out.

‘When I learnt my first three chords, I went and played for my family. They were impressed. I think I was about 14,’ he says. His first paid gig came in Senior Four for a birthday party where he earned Shs100,000. ‘I realised, oh, guitar can actually pay.’

The moment that decided

In October 2016, everything changed. Travelling at night on a hilly murram road to a show, the driver lost control. The car flipped about eight times. Mwesigwa was in the front seat without a seatbelt and his guitar between his legs. When the car stopped, he was already outside. No one knows how. He hit his head, spine, and pelvis. He had internal bleeding and a concussion. When he woke up, he had no memory of the accident.

‘I kept asking my dad, ‘What year is it? Where is my guitar?’ I could not even recognise my own phone.’

His whole body was paralysed except for his hands and neck. But when they brought him a guitar, he played it. His fingers still knew.

‘That moment gave me so much relief. I realised I had not lost everything.’

Doctors said he might never walk again. He spent five months lying flat on his back. Slowly, he started moving, then walking. It took three to four years to recover. That was when he accepted that dancing had to stop. From that point on, he focused entirely on guitar.

Goal changes

Like many young musicians, there was a time when the goal was to be seen. But somewhere along the way, that changed. Now, he is intentional when playing for secular audiences and for worship.

‘In a concert, yes, you can shine. But in worship, you have to know that it is not about you. It should never be about you,’ he says.

The temptation is always there; the fast runs, the impressive solos, the moments that make people turn their heads.

‘You can play the most beautiful, complex things and people will leave saying, ‘That guitarist was amazing.’ But the real goal is for someone to get lost in worship.’

To him, success is not applause. It is invisibility. The kind where the music becomes a bridge, and he becomes almost invisible within it.

On leading others

One morning on his way to the gym, a young man stopped him on the road.

‘He said, ‘Excuse me, sir. I am really blessed by what you do. I follow you online.” Mwesigwa did not recognise him. Just someone who had been watching from a distance.

There have been other encounters too. A girl at a school camp saw him play in Senior One. She went home and told her parents she wanted a guitar. Now she plays and sings.

And there are the messages on social media: ‘You inspired me to start playing guitar.’

Income and discipline

‘In this line of work, income is unpredictable,’ he says plainly.

There are seasons when the money flows and you can make about Shs3m in a week, and months when earnings drop to Shs300,000 a month or less. What has sustained him is discipline.

‘While I was still living with my parents, I always saved 100 percent of my income.’ Even now, he saves 70 to 80 percent of what he earns. ‘If I get Shs300,000, I can save Shs250,000 and live on the rest. I do not consider it as mine. It is untouchable,’ he says.

Faith

Growing up in church, there were expectations about where one should play and who one should work with. But being a working musician forced him to confront a deeper question.

‘I realised my relationship with God has to be personal. Not based on what my church expects. Not based on what my parents expect. But what I truly believe.’

That clarity has shaped his boundaries. He does not drink. He avoids substances. ‘I know how it could affect me. Being on stage, travelling, working with big artistes all comes with pressure. So I try to be as sober as I possibly can.’

On rejection

Rejection has shaped him too.

‘I used to be very shy. Even afraid to approach people because I feared being rejected.’ But over time, his understanding changed. ‘Now I see rejection as redirection. Sometimes it is simply not the right time. Sometimes it is God saying, ‘This is not for you.” ‘I became mostly self-taught. The people who trained me gave me 10 percent, the rest I learned by listening, watching, and practising for hours. I cannot read music, but I can hear and play.’

He studied a diploma in Software Engineering while paying his own tuition through gigs. By 2018, his music career took off. He toured Europe with Vision for Africa; Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in three months.

‘That experience completely changed my perspective,’ he says. ‘I wanted to become a versatile musician, someone who can fit anywhere, adapt, and keep evolving.’

He chose to focus on gospel music because that is where his heart is, but he developed a unique sound influenced by RandB and neo-soul. Today, whether on stage or alone in his room, the guitar is the first thing he plays when he wakes and the last thing he plays when before he sleeps.

‘Because sometimes what I play blesses me first,’ he says. ‘And that is enough.’

Globally, agriculture faces mounting pressures. These are driven by climate change, land degradation, labour shortages, supply chain disruptions and the demand for food from a growing population.

At the same time, productivity is uneven. For example, maize yields in the US often exceed 9,071 kilogrammes per hectare.

These high yields are driven by mechanisation, improved seed varieties, irrigation and efficient input use, supported increasingly by precision agriculture technologies. In contrast, yields in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa remain around 2-3 tons per hectare.

This reflects constraints like limited access to inputs, reliance on rain-fed systems and weaker infrastructure and institutional support.

Smallholder farmers make up around 80 percent of farmers in developing countries. They often struggle with low yields due to limited access to key agricultural inputs such as improved seeds, fertilisers and agrochemicals (herbicides and pesticides).

They are less likely to rely on irrigation and farm mechanisation. They also have high vulnerability to climate shocks.

Conventional farming practices, including reliance on rain-fed agriculture, the use of low-yielding local seed varieties, sub-optimal input application and heavy dependence on manual labour, are increasingly insufficient to meet the demands of 21st Century food systems.

AI has strong potential to improve agricultural productivity and resilience. But this potential depends on supportive policies, reliable infrastructure and equitable access. Without these, the technology could reinforce existing inequalities rather than reduce them.

The potential and the gaps

Patterns of AI adoption: including the extent of uptake across regions, and types of AI applications used in agriculture (such as precision farming, disease detection, yield prediction, and smart irrigation) Levels of infrastructural readiness: including the availability of electricity, broadband connectivity, digital literacy support, data management systems, smart devices, and extension or technical support services necessary for effective AI adoption

Key concerns around ethics and data governance: including data ownership, privacy and security, informed consent, algorithmic bias, transparency, accountability, and equitable access to AI-driven agricultural technologies. AI is increasingly shaping agriculture in developed countries. Technologies such as precision farming tools are helping improve fertiliser use, irrigation, yield prediction and pest management, while also supporting more efficient resource use and greater resilience to climate variability.

The factors that made this possible included:

Digital infrastructure: In many developed countries, reliable internet, satellite systems, cloud platforms and connected sensors enable continuous data collection and analysis. This supports real-time farm decisions and the seamless use of precision agriculture technologies.

Strong institutional support: This has enabled rapid uptake of innovations in agriculture. The support includes established governance frameworks that provide operational clarity on data privacy, transparency and accountability. This enabled more responsible technological innovation.

Reliable electricity: This is essential for AI-driven agriculture. It ensures the continuous operation of digital systems and technologies such as sensors, automated irrigation, drones, and data platforms.

But we found that AI adoption remains limited in developing countries, where smallholder farmers dominate food production. The limiting factors included:

Frequent quarrels and conflicts are major drawbacks in farming households. Failure to be transparent about financial matters and inability to agree about how to handle family income are big stumbling blocks to development and poverty eradication.

Many people are poor not because they have no income-generating projects but because they lack financial discipline. It is one thing to plant coffee or to invest in livestock keeping and another to achieve a satisfactory regular income and progress.

It is no use getting Parish Development Model (PDM) or Emyoga loans or whatever financial support if the husband and wife are not transparent and ready to manage the activities that generate it.

Take the example of Henry who planted coffee on about an acre of the family land some five years ago. His wife takes care of the banana garden and also grows vegetables and some potatoes and cassava. Henry always refers to the coffee garden as his, personally.

He alone usually works in that garden. Sometimes, as head of the family, he orders their grown up sons and a daughter to do some work in the garden if he is around to supervise whatever they do. The sons and daughter go to secondary school but it is the mother who struggles to meet their school needs.

Henry likes spending his evenings in the nearby shopping centre where he also drinks some alcohol. He is also known to have two girlfriends in the shopping centre.

When he harvests the coffee, it is sold at once and no other family member ever gets to know how much money he gets.

Sometimes the adolescent children use his absence to go to his garden to harvest and sell the coffee without his knowledge in order to buy books and other school requirements that their mother cannot provide.

The mother grows and sells vegetables in the local market. She is always careful never to let her husband know where she hides her money. Last year she was granted a PDM loan, which must be paid back.

However, there is an urgent need for a new pit latrine in the home and she has contracted some men to do the work.

The boys own a pig, which is about to deliver piglets. They want to buy a solar-powered lighting system just for their bedroom so that they can read their books at night.

Defending champions Namuwongo Blazers sent a powerful statement to the rest of the National Basketball League on Friday night, dismantling UCU Canons 82-39 to clinch the regular-season crown and secure the top seed heading into the playoffs.

Needing victory to leapfrog rivals City Oilers at the summit of the standings, the Blazers delivered one of their most dominant performances of the campaign, overwhelming UCU from the opening tip and never looking back.

What many anticipated would be a competitive showdown quickly turned into a one-sided affair as Stephen Nyeko’s men imposed themselves at both ends of the floor.

UCU struggled to find any rhythm offensively and were restricted to a mere 12 points in the entire first half, while the Blazers piled on the points to storm into a commanding 46-12 halftime lead.

The defending champions continued their relentless display after the break, extending their advantage with ease and putting the game beyond doubt long before the final buzzer.

Congolese forward Fataki Nyembo spearheaded the rout with a game-high 23 points, leading a balanced offensive effort that saw ten of the twelve Blazers players on the scoresheet.

Moses Mugisha provided an instant spark off the bench with 13 points, while Anthony Chukwurah contributed nine points and seven rebounds in another impressive all-round performance.

For UCU, Alier Jongroor and Daniel Muganzi were the only bright spots, finishing with 11 and 10 points respectively on an otherwise difficult night for the Mukono-based side.

The victory marked Namuwongo’s 20th win of the regular season, capping an outstanding campaign with a 20-2 record.

More importantly, it ensured they finished above City Oilers and earned the coveted No.1 seed for the postseason.

With momentum firmly on their side, the Blazers will now turn their attention to the playoffs, where they will face the eighth seed in the quarterfinals as they begin their quest to successfully defend the championship they won last season.

Lady Canons Dominate JKL

Earlier in the evening, UCU Lady Canons produced an equally convincing performance in the women’s division, brushing aside JKL Lady Dolphins 71-48.

The victory underlined UCU’s playoff credentials as the Lady Canons controlled proceedings throughout the contest, comfortably securing a win to maintain their good run.

Nicholas Natuhereza’s charges will play their last game of the regular season against KCCA Leopards on Sunday.

Sylvia Nakituuka scored 19 points and gathered seven rebounds to lead the Lady Canons on the day.

With the regular season concluding on Sunday, attention will shift to the playoffs where both the Blazers and the Lady Canons will be among the leading contenders for silverware.

The Blazers head into the postseason brimming with confidence after securing top spot in emphatic fashion, while the Lady Canons will look to carry their strong form into the knockout stages as they chase championship glory.

National Basketball League

Friday results

W: UCU 71-48 JKL

M: Nam Blazers 82-39 UCU Canons

Masindi District leadership has been thrown into early-term controversy after the removal of its vice chairperson, following revelations he did not meet the minimum academic qualifications required by law.

The development has triggered debate among residents, political leaders, and civil servants, raising fresh questions about the strength of vetting procedures in local government appointments.

Barely three weeks after taking office, the new District Executive Committee led by Chairperson Patrick Wobusobozi was forced into a sudden reshuffle that many observers describe as both embarrassing and revealing.

The changes were announced during an extraordinary council meeting on June 11, 2026, at Masindi District headquarters.

During the meeting, Wobusobozi confirmed that Vice Chairperson Cleophas Bigirwa had been removed after it was discovered he lacked the minimum academic qualification required for the office. Under Uganda’s Local Governments Act, a district vice chairperson must possess at least a Senior Six certificate or its equivalent.

‘We realized that the former Vice Chairperson did not possess the minimum qualification of a Senior Six certificate as required by law,’ Wobusobozi told the council.

He explained that the issue came to light during a routine verification exercise when executive members were asked to submit their academic documents for payroll processing and official verification.

‘This was discovered during verification. His appointment was an oversight, and he could not continue in that office,’ Wobusobozi added.

Following the removal, Bright Mugume, the directly elected councilor for Kimengo Sub-county, was appointed as the new District Vice Chairperson and Leader of Government Business. Mugume had initially served as secretary for Production and Technical Services before his elevation.

In the same reshuffle, Nelda Asaba, councillor for Bwijanga Sub-county and Bulima Town Council, was moved from secretary for Finance to secretary for Production. Simon Byaruhanga, councillor for Pakanyi Sub-county, was appointed secretary for Finance and Administration, while William Mwambu, the councillor representing persons with disabilities, retained his position as secretary for Social Services.

The extraordinary council meeting was not without tension. District Speaker Patrick Tibigambwa questioned how such an oversight could occur in the first place and demanded clarity on whether proper vetting procedures had been followed before Bigirwa’s appointment.

Wobusobozi defended the process, saying both he and the Chief Administrative Officer had reviewed available documents at the time of appointment. Chief Administrative Officer Samuel Kaija Ruhweza also confirmed to the council that the academic papers presented did not meet the required standard of equivalence to Senior Six.

However, the removed Vice Chairperson, Cleophas Bigirwa, has disputed the decision, insisting that he possesses valid academic qualifications.

‘I was appointed and sworn in, and no one raised a red flag. They should have followed the right procedure before removing me,’ he said.

Bigirwa said he holds an equivalent Senior Four certificate and a certificate in public administration, and argued that the National Council for Higher Education should have been involved in verifying his documents.

‘I am seeking legal guidance because this decision has damaged my reputation,’ he added. He also expressed frustration that he was removed entirely instead of being reassigned to another docket within the executive.

The incident has raised broader concerns about how leaders are screened before assuming public office. Masindi resident Enock Mugisha said the verification process should be completed before appointments are announced.

‘When these issues are discovered after an appointment, it embarrasses both the institution and the individual,’ Mugisha said. ‘The law is clear. Local government leaders must meet minimum qualifications because they handle public resources and policy decisions.’

Another resident, Musa Mugenyi, said the incident reflects weaknesses in the recruitment and screening system.

‘This shows that proper checks were not done before announcing leaders. It is worrying,’ he said.

The reshuffle also comes amid growing concerns from Muslim leaders in Masindi District about representation in top leadership positions. Khalifan Balikagira, speaking on behalf of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council in Masindi, said the current executive does not reflect religious balance.

‘We have been completely excluded from key leadership positions in the district,’ he said.

During the same council sitting, attention also turned to the District Service Commission, which had been non-functional for six months. The council approved Adolf Kato, a former Deputy District Education Officer, as Chairperson of the DSC. Sharif Kahwa, a retired head teacher, was also appointed as a member representing urban entities.

Councillor Babyesiza Wahid raised concerns about lack of professional diversity among the new members, saying most come from education backgrounds.

‘We need wider professional representation in future appointments,’ he said.

Despite the controversy, the council proceeded to approve the new appointments, signaling a desire to move forward and stabilize district operations.

For Chairperson Wobusobozi, the reshuffle represents an attempt to correct an administrative error and restore compliance with the law. But for many observers, the incident remains an early test for the new leadership in Masindi District.

Ugandan pre-teenage duo Joseph Sebatindira and Patience Anyango did not win medals at the WTT Youth Contender Helsingborg 2026 but coach Alvin Katumba picked lessons which could be valuable in the coming tournaments especially the African Youth Championships next month.

Sebatindira has won multiple titles at WTT Under 11 championships since the age of nine, but reproducing the same dominance at the Under 13 category may take some more time and hard work. Inside the Helsingborg Arena late last week, Sebatindira won all his three matches in the

U13 Boys’ Singles. He defeated Max Takkavuori of Finland 3-2, Sigge Leigert of Sweden 3-0, and Vilgot Almroth of Sweden 3-1 to lead Group 1 on six points.

But he lost the quarterfinal to 2-3 to Israel’s Ilay Davidov, who would later lose the semi-final 3-0 to eventual champion Hachim Tissafi Idrissi of France.

Sebatindira tried his luck at the U15 Boys’ Singles. He lost Sweden’s to Erik Kogerfelt 1-3 in the group and defeated Luxemborg’s Vincent Schlotthauer 3-1 to reach the Round of 16. He, however, lost 3-0 to Poland’s Hubert Kwiecinski.

Meanwhile, in the U13 Girls’ Singles, Anyango, a two-time and reigning African U12 champion, finished third in a group of four, thus failing to qualify for the next round.

Anyango first lost to Finland’s Kamilla Kadar 0-3 and to France’s Alyssia Bataille 2-3, rendering her 3-0 victory over Sweden’s Nina Lazic useless in the qualification bid as Kadar and Bataille advanced with six and five points respectively.

This was quite an opportunity missed because unlike the boys’ U13 singles category which had four groups, the girls’ entries were only seven, split into two groups. That means reaching the knockouts was just inches loser to the medal bracket.

In the U15 Girls’ Singles, Anyango defeated Sweden’s Alice CHEN 3-0 and France’s Lisa Zhao 3-0 to lead Group 3 on four points. But she lost the Round of 16 tie to Spain’s Eloisa Barreda 3-1.

Sebatindira and Anyango defeated the Swedish pair of Erik Kogerfelt and Alicia Enbom 3-2 in the groups of the U15 Mixed Doubles but lost to another Swedish pair of Emil Ellermann and Siri Benjegard 3-1.

‘The performance was good but not the best as we expected,’ Coach Katumba told Daily Monitor. ‘We picked up some lessons that as we improve, others also improve, and thus we must keep working 100%. Plus, some players are not technically gifted but are tactically good in game situations. So, we need to focus more on our tactics.

‘Thirdly, the losses came at a time when we have a training camp here, though it is short, but at least it gives us room to improve on our weak areas and also sharpen our players in the game situation as we prepare for the Africa Youth Championship next month.’

U13 Boys’ Singles – Group 1

Sebatindira 3-2 Max Takkavuori (FIN)

Sebatindira 3-0 Sigge Leigert (SWE)

Sebatindira 3-1 Vilgot Almroth (SWE)

Quarterfinal

Sebatindira 2-3 Ilay Davidov (Israel)

U15 Boys’ Singles – Group 7

Sebatindira 1-3 Erik Kogerfelt (SWE)

Sebatindira 3-1 Vincent Schlotthauer (LUX)

Round of 16

Sebatindira 0-3 Hubert Kwiecinski (POL)

U13 Girls’ Singles – Group 2

Anyango 0-3 Kadar (FIN)

Anyango 2-3 Bataille (FRA)

Anyango 3-0 Lazic (SWE)

U15 Girls’ Singles

Anyango 3-0 Lisa Zhao (FRA)

Round of 16

Anyango 1-3 Eloisa Barreda (SPA)

U15 Mixed Doubles – Round of 32

Sebatindira / Anyango 3-2 Kogerfelt / Enbom

U15 Mixed Doubles – Round of 16

Sebatindira / Anyango 1-3 Ellermann / Benjegard

When the Covid-19 lockdown forced the world into an unfamiliar stillness, Doddridge Busingye found himself in a quieter studio than he had ever known. Exhibitions were paused. Conversations faded. Nothing seemed urgent. For an artist whose earlier work leaned heavily on social commentary, the silence was unsettling. But instead of scrambling for a new external subject, Busingye turned inward.

He tells this story from his studio, where he describes himself as an upcoming artist. He explains that he understands growth as a man who has steadily built his craft, expanded his medium, and refined his gaze over time.

The boy who drew

The isolation reshaped him and his ideas. Art had already claimed him, but the slowdown tickled something innate. As a child, Busingye grew up in a household where drawing was usual. His older brother pinned sketches to the walls of their shared bedroom. He watched closely, absorbing technique without formal instruction. By Primary Five, he was drawing with confidence. Even earlier, he had illustrated Bible stories into cartoon panels, inspired by the storybooks he encountered at school. Art unfolded naturally in his life. His father, a lawyer, sometimes used drawings instead of reprimands. If someone had taken sugar from the kitchen, a sketch of a mouse with crystals on its whiskers would appear as a silent message. Busingye learnt early that images could communicate what words did not need to shout. Suggestion could be more powerful than accusation. That lesson stayed with him.

Recognition and reward

In secondary school, Busingye’s talent began to translate into recognition. He won art competitions against older students. He was paid to complete assignments and design lettering. Creativity became more than self-expression; it became utility and income. After completing his undergraduate degree in 2015, he pursued a master’s degree, finishing in 2019. During these years, his work centred on portraiture and direct social commentary. He painted what he observed; youth navigating relationships, political symbolism, the tensions of modern urban life. His gaze was outward.

A shift in medium

A significant shift began in 2018 during the Kampala Art Biennale. Exposure to installation art expanded his understanding of medium. He saw how objects, space and context could carry meaning just as effectively as paint. That year, he created ‘The Master Bedroom’, relocating the image of a slum dweller’s bed into gallery space to explore class contrast and urban realities. When the piece sold, it confirmed something fundamental: Busingye’s ideas, not just his brushwork, held value. His practice widened.

Lockdown arrives

Then came lockdown. With public life suspended, Busingye confronted an unfamiliar question; what remains when the outside world goes quiet? The answer was not immediate, but it was honest. He began examining mental health, loneliness, vulnerability and identity. Instead of painting society’s fractures, he painted his own. Instead of reacting to politics, Busingye filtered it through personal experience.

The triptych self-portrait

This inward turn culminated in ‘Tender, the Fractured and the Quietly Extraordinary’, a body of work anchored by a triptych self-portrait. In one panel, he appears fragile and forming. In another, he is boxed in, constrained by invisible pressures. In the final frame, he sits upright, crowned subtly in homage to Basquiat, acknowledging strength without erasing vulnerability. The progression reads like biography: tenderness, fracture, emergence.

Politics with restraint

Even when he addressed politics, his approach shifted. A painting created during an election season depicted a woman holding a cigarette as multiple arms extended flames toward her. The metaphor was clear yet restrained. The citizen stood at the centre while politicians scrambled to offer promises. He chose suggestion over spectacle.

Busingye believes art can ignite conversation, but he also believes it must be handled responsibly. He thinks carefully about bias, interpretation and the emotional consequences of imagery.

Finding an audience

During lockdown, as he shared his work more consistently online, audiences beyond Uganda began to engage. A solo exhibition abroad followed, and recognition grew. Yet he continues to describe himself as upcoming. The word reflects his philosophy more than his status. He views art as an unfolding process. Authenticity, for him, lies in owning the story, not in remaining loyal to one medium or style. If he moves from acrylic to charcoal tomorrow, that shift is growth.

Outside the studio

He confesses that he is a wide consumer outside the studio. Because reading strains his eyes, he listens to audiobooks and lectures. Blues music, especially Leonard Cohen, occupies Busingye’s long listening sessions. He watches films and series for how characters negotiate identity and power. Everything becomes research.

The unfinished work

Isolation reshaped Busingye’s art, but perhaps more importantly, it reshaped his gaze. He no longer paints simply to observe the world but to understand his place in it. And by continuing to call himself upcoming, he signals that the work of understanding is far from finished.