Category: Daily Monitor

M23/AFC rebels say they’re ready to release captured FARDC soldiers, with registration for release process underway in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“Soldiers who wish to return to Kinshasa can register to begin the release process,” M23/AFC Chief of Staff Major General Sultani Makenga said in a statement.

The move follows the capture of hundreds of FARDC soldiers and Wazalendo fighters during the fall of Goma city in January 2025. Makenga urged affected soldiers to register without fear, describing the move as part of the peace process. He added that soldiers who wish to join M23/AFC are free to do so.

The Congolese government hasn’t reacted to Makenga’s statement, but FARDC authorities recently paraded seven individuals, described as Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) soldiers, allegedly captured on the front lines. Lt Col Mak Hazukay accused Rwanda of deliberately violating the Washington Agreement and UN Security Council Resolution 2773, saying the arrests prove Rwandan troops are on Congolese soil.

Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olivier Jean Patrick Nduhungirehe, rejected the accusations, calling them a “hoax”. He said no RDF soldiers have been arrested on Congolese territory and denied any Rwandan military presence in eastern Congo.

Nduhungirehe stated that one of the accused individuals had previously been presented as an RDF soldier, but questioned the authenticity of the claim. He accused FARDC of attempting to divert attention from hate speech allegedly made by FARDC spokesperson Major General Sylvain Ekenge, targeting the Tutsi ethnic group.

The Congolese government has consistently accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels, claims denied by Kigali and the group. M23 says its objective is to fight corruption, xenophobia, and discrimination within the DRC’s political leadership. The conflict has heightened fears of a broader regional conflict.

Jonah,19, was quiet, thoughtful, and easy to miss in a crowd. To most people, he looked like any other young man finding his way through life: neatly dressed, polite, a guitar slung across his back like an extension of himself. Music was his refuge. When he played, his fingers spoke the words he struggled to say. He had just begun university, pursuing a degree in Music, the one thing that had loved him back since childhood.

But beneath his calm exterior lived a storm no one saw. Jonah had been battling depression since his early teens, ever since he lost his mother-his only living parent at the time. The grief crept in quietly, disguising itself as tiredness, as a sense of being ‘different.’ As the years passed, that heaviness grew into something deeper: a persistent emptiness, a crushing belief that he was a burden to everyone around him.

He learnt how to hide it well. When asked how he was, Jonah smiled softly and replied, ‘I am fine.’ He laughed when others laughed. He attended lectures but at night, alone in the darkness, his mind refused to rest. Assignments piled up, but his concentration slipped through his fingers. He skipped classes. His appetite vanished. Slowly, painfully, he stopped playing his guitar, the one thing that had always steadied him. His roommate, Mafabi, noticed.

‘Hey man, you alright?’ Mafabi asked one evening.

Jonah nodded. ‘Just tired.’ When he attended class, he sat quietly at the back, head lowered, as if trying not to take up space. One night, Jonah wrote a long letter. He apologised to his classmates and friends, insisting it was not their fault. He thanked his lecturers for their patience. And to Mafabi, he wrote words that would later haunt him: ‘You were a good friend, even when I couldn’t say it.’

That was the last night Jonah was seen alive. His body was found on a nearby football pitch. The boy with the guitar had chosen silence forever. Jonah’s story is not an isolated tragedy. It is a reflection of a growing mental health crisis among young people in Uganda and across the world. Today’s youth are navigating academic pressure, social media scrutiny, family instability, and unspoken grief often without adequate support.

Why youth are struggling

Academic pressure weighs heavily on many students. The constant push to excel, to meet expectations, and to avoid failure can become unbearable. For some, poor performance feels like a public verdict of worthlessness-sometimes with fatal consequences. Social media, while offering connection, also fuels comparison, cyberbullying, and impossible standards. Many young people measure their value in likes and followers, quietly internalising anxiety and low self-esteem. Family challenges such as loss of parents, neglect, conflict, or lack of emotional support leave deep scars. Like William, youth who grow up carrying unresolved grief often struggle to process emotions, especially when they feel they must stay strong.

The hidden cost of depression

Depression drains joy from life. Emotionally, it brings sadness, numbness, and self-loathing. Physically, it disrupts sleep, appetite, and energy. Academically, it steals focus, motivation, and hope. Left untreated, depression can spiral into self-harm, substance abuse, and suicide. Long-term, it can shape adulthood-damaging relationships, careers, and overall well-being. The loss is not just personal; it is societal.

What must be done

We cannot keep losing young people in silence. Breaking stigma is the first step. Mental health conversations must move from whispers to open dialoguein homes, schools, and communities. Schools need stronger counseling systems, peer support groups, and teachers trained to spot early warning signs. Parents and guardians must create safe spaces for honesty, empathy, and emotional expression and seek professional help when needed. Healthy digital habits should be encouraged, helping youth navigate social media without losing their sense of self.

Accessible mental health care affordable counselling, therapy, and crisis support-must be a priority, backed by government and community investment.

Healthy lifestyles, including exercise, sleep, nutrition, and creative outlets like music, can offer powerful protection against mental distress. Jonah played music because words failed him. When his pain grew louder than his songs, no one heard in time. If we listen closely, ask twice, take quiet suffering seriously, perhaps fewer guitars will be left untouched, and fewer young lives will end before time.

Pian Upe National Park opens up slowly, with long, unbroken horizons of grassland and stone. The vast wilderness in eastern Uganda is the country’s second-largest protected area, managed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).

It sits between Mount Elgon and the Karamoja plains, a semi-arid ecosystem of open savannah, acacia woodland, rocky ridges and seasonal rivers. Unlike Uganda’s forested parks, Pian Upe offers space and ecological beauty.

Travel writer and safari enthusiast Jonathan Benaiah once captured it simply after a sunrise drive across the plains. Watching light spill over the grasslands, he reflected on the calm and openness of Pian Upe, noting that the stillness itself was the attraction.

Pian Upe’s ecological value is immense. It is home to Uganda’s only remaining population of roan antelope, alongside eland, zebra, impala, oribi, Uganda kob and reedbuck. Cheetahs still move across these plains, making Pian Upe one of the few places in the country where the world’s fastest land mammal can occasionally be seen.

Ostriches stride through the grasslands, raptors ride thermals overhead, and during the dry season animals gather quietly along seasonal rivers such as the Girik. The absence of crowds means encounters feel personal and unfiltered-often just you, a ranger, and the vast land.

Yet Pian Upe is not only about wildlife. It is also a landscape layered with human history. Pastoral communities have lived with and moved through this terrain for generations, and nowhere is that connection more tangible than at Pian Upe Cave House. Tucked into volcanic rock on a ridge within the reserve, the cave is not a themed lodge or novelty stay.

It is an actual ancient cavern that once served as a shelter for Karimojong warriors and later as a resting place for pastoralists and their cattle. Today, it has been carefully adapted into one of Uganda’s most unusual wilderness stays. The cave house is offered exclusively to one group at a time, preserving the private and quiet experience. It has three cave rooms carved into stone, with thick rock walls that naturally regulate temperature.

Stays are full-board, with meals prepared by a private chef and served in the stone dining space or outdoors, overlooking the plains. Solar power provides lighting and hot water, while evenings are defined by firelight, stars and an almost complete absence of artificial noise.

There are no neighbouring guests, no televisions, and no distractions beyond the movement of wildlife and the changing light. Guests can enjoy guided game drives, birdwatching directly from the rocky outcrop, nature walks with rangers, or simply sit and watch the savannah shift colours through the day.

It is an experience that blends conservation, culture and solitude. It is precisely this combination of scale, biodiversity and cultural depth that has strengthened calls to upgrade Pian Upe from a wildlife reserve to a national park.

Pian Upe is now considered a national park, having been elevated from its former status as a Wildlife Reserve, officially gazetted as a national park in April 2025, representing a different but equally vital Uganda, one of savannah, openness and resilience.

In its peaceful magnificence, it rewards those willing to travel a little further and slow down a little more. In its silence, it offers perspective, and in its vastness, a reminder of how wild Uganda can still feel. Pian Upe is one of Uganda’s last great open savannah ecosystems.

About Pian Upe

Location: Eastern Uganda, within the Karamoja Sub-region, between Mbale and Moroto. Getting there: You can get there by road from Kampala via Mbale, for approximately eight to nine hours.

A 4×4 vehicle is strongly recommended, especially during the rainy season. Wildlife highlights: Roan antelope which is unique in Uganda, cheetahs, eland, zebra, impala, Uganda kob, oribi, ostriches, hyenas, jackals, serval cats, and rich birdlife, including raptors and savannah species.

Activities: Guided game drives during the morning and evening hours, birdwatching, nature walks with UWA rangers, landscape and wildlife photography and cultural encounters with neighbouring communities.

Accommodation options: Pian Upe Cave House (Inside the Reserve, exclusive private stay (one group at a time), three cave rooms carved into volcanic rock which have full-board meals at $350 (Shs1.3 million) per double per night, half board: $305 (Shs1.1m) per double per night.

There are UWA bandas and campsites. Bandas range from $30 (Shs109,000) to $40 (Shs145,000) per night, camping: from $10 (Shs36,000) per person per night. There is also the option of nearby town accommodation, for example guesthouses and lodges in Mbale or Moroto for travellers combining Pian Upe with Mount Elgon or Karamoja itineraries.

Park Entry Fees (Indicative, UWA): Foreign non-residents part with $35 (Shs126,000) per day, foreign residents: $25 (Shs90,000) per day and East African citizens: Shs20,000 per day.

Joy filled maternity wards at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital after the facility successfully delivered 244 babies during the festive season, hospital figures show.

The births were recorded between December 24, 2025, and January 1, 2026, a period typically marked by staff shortages and strained emergency services across the country.

When Daily Monitor visited the hospital on Friday, mothers recovering in the postnatal ward spoke of relief and gratitude, with several saying they had been referred to the regional hospital after developing complications at lower health facilities.

Ms Judith Tusiime, who delivered by caesarean section, described her newborn as a ‘miracle girl’ after days of uncertainty.

‘We had spent five days here on the advice of doctors. I was very worried because I knew the days I was supposed to deliver had elapsed, but when I finally delivered, I knew it was God’s blessing – my baby is a miracle,’ she said.

Another mother, Ms Phiona Ainembabazi, was referred from Rubindi Health Centre III in Mbarara District after developing complications close to her expected delivery date.

‘I knew I was going to give my family a Christmas gift because it was when I was supposed to deliver, but after I was referred to Mbarara Hospital, I got scared and started crying out to my God. I am very happy that God answered my prayers and here is now my baby girl,’ she said.

Her husband, Mr Jonan Tumusiime, said the referral was emotionally draining.

‘You know what it means when doctors tell you your person has been referred to a higher-level facility. You expect two things, death or survival, but majorly what races in your mind is if death occurs. I am excited to thank God for his mercy,’ he said.

Hospital officials said the festive period passed without the loss of any mothers or babies.

The hospital’s public relations officer, Mr Halson Kagure, said all mothers and newborns were in stable condition.

‘We did not lose any babies during this period, and all the mothers that delivered are in good shape,’ Mr Kagure said.

He attributed the outcome to heightened emergency preparedness, including round-the-clock staffing in key departments.

‘We had a 24/7 emergency team in obstetrics and gynecology, radiology and laboratories. We also strengthened our ambulance system,’ he said.

Mr Kagure added that improved capacity at lower health facilities and faster referrals played a key role.

‘We did not register the death of either mothers or unborn babies because of the capacity building we have done with lower health facilities. They made referrals very quickly, and unlike in the past, many of them remained operational during the festive season,’ he said.

For the Opposition, a concerning question is how it will perform in Bugisu sub-region in the January polls. Observers say this is because despite the increasing urbanisation, which sometimes correlates with Opposition gains, the opposite has happened in the sub-region, with the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) instead concretising its support in the area.

The 2021 General Election didn’t return good results for the Opposition in Bugisu sub-region, with its leading candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, managing to win only in Mbale City where he defeated the incumbent with a difference of 12,550 votes. In Mbale District, candidate Yoweri Museveni beat Kyagulanyi by just 8,171 votes.

As the vote count progressed into rural Bugisu, the Opposition fared badly, with Museveni defeating Kyagulanyi in Manafwa by a difference of 8,171 votes. In Namisindwa, Museveni beat Kyagulanyi with a difference of 27,783 votes. In Bulambuli, Museveni still beat Kyagulanyi by 28,184 votes, and he also defeated him in Bududa by 14,558 votes. Even in Sironko District, where Nathan Nandala Mafabi, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) secretary general, for many years, had positioned himself as the kingmaker, Museveni defeated Kyagulanyi with a difference of 14,375 votes.

Fallout

Though Mafabi managed to secure his Budadiri West slot and also aided FDC’s Johny Isaias Ssasaga to secure Budadiri East, his relevance in Opposition politics in the last five years has been called into question. This is especially so following the manner in which the FDC disintegrated. It all started in 2023 when a faction of the FDC, which has now gone to form another political party known as People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), accused Mafabi of failing to account for large sums of money that the party gained access to before the 2021 polls. It is alleged that the so-called ‘dirty money’ had its roots in the State House, Uganda seat of political power.

‘FDC is a public institution, when people are asked to account then it’s internal. How can issues of accountability be an internal matter? How can issues of elections in a political party be an internal matter? These issues are public,’ Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the Kira Municipality legislator, said. Mafabi, on the other hand, has chosen to define the fight as an effort to save FDC from the National Unity Platform (NUP), which is now the biggest Opposition party, going by its numbers in the 11th Parliament. The FDC secretary general, who is now the party’s presidential flag bearer, claimed that Ssemujju and Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, during the last general election, abandoned FDC candidates and vouched for those of NUP.

Rising star

Though issues of accountability for funds were raised, if you wind back to 2001, Mafabi’s star was rising, and his niche was holding public officials accountable.

Mafabi’s grip on tax and financial issues made him stand out early on and earned him the position of chair of the significant House Committee on the National Economy. During this time, the committee was known for producing exhaustive statistics on the performance of the economy, on the quarterly level and for putting pressure on the government to find means of reducing its national debt, then standing at Shs3 trillion.

Mafabi’s star, however, shone perkiest when he chaired the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), another House Committee, during the 8th Parliament. Appearing before the PAC became one of the most feared responsibilities for many public servants. Private individuals who got questionable deals from the government weren’t spared as the case was for the proprietor of JandM Hotel and Avemar Shopping Centre, Joseph Behakanira. Behakanira died in 2010 a few days after being questioned by the Mafabi-led PAC over the Shs2.6 billion he got from the national coffers two days before Uganda staged the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November of 2007.

Behakanira was diagnosed with high blood pressure before he met his Waterloo at Case Clinic. Whilst heading PAC, Mafabi cut an image of a daring interrogator. He made famous the practice of locking away officials who declined to reveal some information or to produce vital documents. He would soon acquire demi-god status in Bugisu Sub-region, not for his politics or attachment to the FDC, but for his work as chairman of the powerful Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU), a position that earned him the nickname, ‘Mr Coffee’.

Top performer

In Uganda, Bugisu is home to Arabica Coffee, and BCU is the biggest trade partner. When Mafabi took over as chairman in 2008, the Union was on its knees and had not made a profit in many years. Many of its assets had been attached over failure to pay debts, and it could only offer farmers Shs800 for a kilogramme of coffee. Mafabi, together with a new management team, resuscitated the Union. By the time he was controversially suspended in 2010, farmers were paid Shs6,200 per kilogramme. It, consequently, came as no surprise when he was appointed Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP) in June of 2011 ahead of equally experienced politicians like Abdu Katuntu.

Mafabi had not only beaten the NRM’s Beatrice Wabudeya, who was also backed by the State apparatus, but also ensured the Budadiri East constituency and all local council positions in his home district of Sironko were in the blue column. If, 14 years ago, Mafabi was at the peak of his political powers, the 2021 General Election was an indicator that he had waned politically. With the emergence of NUP, which had morphed from the People Power movement, FDC had a hard time in the Buganda region. With Buganda firmly in NUP’s grasp, FDC’s strategists had counted on Mafabi’s influence for the party to secure more legislators from Bugisu. There were opportunities that FDC could have taken advantage of to make up for their eventual losses in Buganda, because after the creation of Mbale City, two parliamentary slots were created. The FDC, which had dominated the city’s politics, with Jack Wamai Wamanga representing Mbale Municipality, was expected to reap big.

Flagging fortunes

Yet by 2021, Mafabi, who had played a critical role in the election of Wamanga in 2010 had fallen out with him. In Wamanga’s last term, the two former allies exchanged words over the degazetting of Mbale forest. Wamanga specifically was accusing Mafabi of grabbing the forest, an accusation the Budadiri West legislator vehemently denied. Known for not going down without a fight, Mafabi shot back, accusing Wamanga of absconding from parliamentary proceedings. Wamanga’s final accusation against Mafabi was that he was engaging in what he termed as ‘petty fights instead of mobilising for the party in a bid to take over from Museveni’s NRM.’

In light of such fights, it didn’t come as a surprise that FDC lost all parliamentary positions in Mbale, including in Bungokho North, which had been represented in the 10th Parliament by Gashomu Sizomu. Though FDC’s Casiim Namugali won the inaugural Mbale City mayoral seat, the losses FDC suffered in Mbale, party members said, were indicative of Mafabi’s waning powers. For NUP, the only good news in the parliamentary races came from Bududa, where John Baptist Nambeshe, who had just crossed from the NRM, managed to retain his Manjiya County seat.

Though Kyagulanyi had won Mbale City in the presidental race, NUP couldn’t replicate the same performance at Parliament because their candidate Ivan Masaba lost the Mbale City Northern Division to NRM’s Seth Wambede by 441 votes. Masaba took the battle to the courts of law, where he asked both the High Court and Court of Appeal to cancel Wambede’s victory on the grounds that he had falsified the results from Makosi Trading Centre polling station in Bukonde, but his prayers were rejected by both courts.

In January of 2026, Masaba, who has once again been given the NUP ticket, will have a chance to claim the Mbale City Northern Division as he is up against NRM’s Hudu Hussien and Paul Mugoya Wanyoto, an NRM-leaning independent. Wanyoto is said to be backed by the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), whose principal is Museveni’s son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

NUP is also hopeful in the sense that in the Mbale City Industrial Division constituency, Karim Masaba, who in 2021 won as an Independent, is defending his seat as NUP candidate, having decamped to the party. Karim Masaba will be tussling with NRM’s John Wekesa Wambogo.

This week, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (Maaif) unveiled its strategic development plan for 2025/2026 to 2029/2030, along with the Maaif Service Delivery Standards and the Maaif Client Charter, aimed at transforming Uganda’s agriculture sector.

The documents will provide a comprehensive framework for agricultural transformation, aligning with the Fourth National Development Plan and National Planning Authority Development Plan Regulations of 2018.

The strategic development plan outlines six strategic objectives, supported by programme implementation action plans and a robust monitoring-evaluation framework. The plan’s budget for the next five years is approximately Shs17 trillion.

That the government has come up with a strategic development plan for the agriculture sector for the next five years is a welcome move. However, many followers of governance in Uganda will tell you that the lack of strategic plans has never been our problem. The problem has always been how to implement these beautiful plans.

As stated by Maj Gen David Kasura Kyomukama, the Ministry of Agriculture Permanent Secretary, during the launch, the sector employs more than 65 per cent of the labour force and contributed 26.1 per cent to GDP in FY 2024/25, making it the backbone of our economy.

However, the sector has gone through some serious challenges over the past decades that need serious intervention. The majority of Ugandan farmers rely on rainfall for farming, and the increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns, droughts, and floods have greatly affected their yields.

The outbreak of diseases and pests such as Banana Bacterial Wilt, Cassava Brown Streak Disease, and Foot and Mouth Disease, among others, has left many farmers counting losses.

Also, post-harvest challenges, such as inadequate storage, poor sanitation, and limited processing capacity, that have sometimes led to our products being rejected by neighbouring countries because of contamination, this strategic plan could not have come at a better time.

However, these documents and their effects need to be felt by the common farmer if we are to transform our agriculture-led economy.

To begin with, Parliament must ensure that the Shs17 trillion needed by the sector over the next five years is made available to them. The excuse of lack of funds should be a thing of the past if we are to enhance our production and competitiveness.

The Maaif Client Charter, which allows farmers and stakeholders to hold agencies accountable for service delivery delays, should be taken seriously. Targets should be set for the various levels, and people should be held accountable for the failures.

This strategic development plan gives Uganda a chance to overcome the hurdles facing the sector and improve productivity. But it has to be fully implemented for it to be effective.

Thousands of applicants turned up on Saturday, January 3, for recruitment interviews for polling assistants and presiding officers ahead of Uganda’s January 15 general elections.

The interviews were held at Soroti Secondary School in Soroti city.

The Electoral Commission in Soroti shortlisted 1,262 applicants for polling assistant positions and 347 for presiding officer roles. Of these, 648 candidates are expected to be selected as polling assistants, and 162 as presiding officers.

Luke Osele, the Assistant Returning Officer for Soroti City, said written interviews were conducted due to the overwhelming number of applicants and limited time ahead of the elections.

“We have been conducting interviews for polling officials but due to the big number of applicants we decided to conduct written interviews,” Mr Osele told Monitor.

He explained that with less than two weeks before polling day, oral interviews were not feasible. The commission prioritized scrutinizing applicants, selecting candidates, and providing training.

Mr Osele also noted that Soroti City has increased the number of polling stations from 147 in the last general election to 162 for 2026. Each station will have at least four polling assistants and one presiding officer.

He urged voters to turn out in large numbers to exercise their right to choose their preferred candidates.

“As of today, the Electoral Commission in Soroti City has not received any official resignation letters from any politicians,” Mr Osele added.

Applicants welcomed the process, describing it as fair. Gloria Anyait, applying for a polling assistant position, told Monitor that: “All of us want to work so the officials should consider recruiting applicants on merit.”

However, some expressed concerns about limited positions. Tom Nobert Odeke, a presiding officer candidate, said the scarcity of openings may disappoint some applicants.

Ugandans are set to vote on January 15, 2026, to elect the President and Members of Parliament across the country.

US-based satellite internet company Starlink has moved to block the use of its services in Uganda, following directives from the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).

Starlink, which is locally represented by Starlink Global Internet Services Uganda Ltd (Starlink Uganda), says its satellite internet services have been operating illegally in the country because its Ugandan subsidiary has not yet been licensed to sell or market them.

In a letter to UCC dated January 1, 2026, Ben MacWilliams, Director for Market Access at Space Exploration Technologies Corp, clarified that Starlink Uganda has never sold, marketed, imported, or distributed Starlink terminals in the country.

He explained that while some individuals were using Starlink in the country, those terminals had been purchased and activated in countries where the service is authorised, then illegally imported into Uganda.

“Starlink Uganda has never sold, marketed, imported, or distributed Starlink terminals in the country,” MacWilliams said. “The company is committed to complying with Ugandan regulations and is working with authorities to finalise the licensing process.”

As a result of concerns raised by UCC, Starlink implemented a new service restriction tool for Uganda on January 1, 2026. The company says that, following this action, there are currently no active Starlink terminals operating within Uganda.

The development follows a leaked memo issued on December 19, 2025, by the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). Signed by Commissioner for Customs Asadu Kigozi Kisitu, the memo instructed customs officers to restrict the importation and clearance of Starlink communication equipment unless accompanied by a clearance letter from the Chief of Defence Forces of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).

The directive sparked public debate and concern, particularly over why the UPDF leadership, currently under Muhoozi Kainerugaba, would be involved in approving the importation of civilian communication equipment. Many Ugandans interpreted the move as part of broader efforts to control information flow ahead of the mid-January general elections, amid fears of a potential internet shutdown or restrictions.

Starlink has since emphasised that any prior use of its services in Uganda was without the company’s approval, violated its terms of service, and occurred before the completion of regulatory licensing. The company says it is continuing to engage with authorities to finalise the licensing process before any lawful rollout of services can take place.

Meanwhile, fears of an internet blackout have driven political activists and sections of the public to seek alternative communication tools.

One of the most discussed options is Bitchat, a peer-to-peer encrypted messaging application that operates without internet access. Bitchat allows users to communicate via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mesh networks, enabling message transmission without mobile data, cellular networks, user accounts, or centralised servers, features that have made it attractive during periods of digital uncertainty.

Church leaders, political authorities, and security officials in Kabale District have raised concerns over an alleged unverified exercise collecting voters’ names and National Identification Numbers (NINs), reportedly linked to Senior Presidential Advisor on Agriculture and Local Peopla, Peace Rugambwa.

The issue surfaced after Kabale Diocese issued a letter dated December 31, 2025, to priests, religious leaders, catechists, and Christians across the six Kigezi districts of Kabale, Kisoro, Kanungu, Rukiga, Rukungiri, and Rubanda.

The letter warned Catholics against participating in the collection of personal information from national identity cards.

Rev. Fr. Christmas Philip Austen, Rector of Rushoroza Cathedral Parish, said the Diocese received complaints that individuals were moving through villages, allegedly targeting Catholic-majority areas, particularly Kyanamira Sub-county in Ndorwa East Constituency.

‘Ms. Rugambwa confirmed the exercise was intended to support people financially after the elections. However, no official communication was provided to the Diocese or the public to clarify the purpose, legality, or timing,’ Fr. Austen said.

He directed all Christians under the Diocese to refrain from participating until credible clarification is issued.

Kabale District NRM Chairperson Bridget Asinga said her office received numerous complaints about the exercise and the use of abusive language by some organizers.

She warned the actions could confuse voters and potentially reduce support for incumbent President Museveni, who is facing seven opposition candidates in the January 15 General Election.

Speaking on January 1, 2026, in Nyabikoni, Kabale Municipality, Ms. Rugambwa cited past election results, noting that Rushoroza Hill had recorded only seven votes for Museveni, and said voting patterns in Ndorwa East had affected development.

But Asinga criticized Ms. Rugambwa for failing to coordinate with local NRM structures and authorities.

‘Political mobilization should be a team effort involving party and security officials,’ she said, adding that government services such as roads, schools, and health centers exist throughout the district and that more development would follow strong support for NRM leadership.

Kabale Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Rtd. Major Godfrey Katamba, said mobilizing support for the President is legitimate but must be done through proper channels.

He confirmed complaints about the methods allegedly used and warned that such actions could backfire.

‘I have initiated efforts to convene a meeting involving the Church, security agencies, and Ms. Rugambwa’s team at the district headquarters to resolve the standoff,’ the RDC said.

Residents of Kigata Parish, including Byamugisha Gasper and Niwagaba Valence, said people were being registered using full NIN details, sometimes late at night, raising fears of possible election malpractice.

Telling religious leaders to ‘back off,’ Ms. Rugambwa denied all allegations, stating that the exercise aimed to identify people in need and help them fight poverty.

She affirmed her intention to mobilize support for Museveni and ensure NRM flag bearers work closely with him to deliver services to the people.

The end and beginning of the year is often a time of making wishes and predictions. I like to pivot to something else – to reflect on the meaning of life, the essence of being. I have written about this a few times in the past, but this is one of those subjects I find worth returning to given the philosophical nature of the question and elusiveness of any answer one can attempt.

The question of the meaning of life has exercised the finest of thinkers since at least the ancient Greak philosophers. Why we live and the end purpose of life is arguably one of the most pertinent puzzles that transcends time and space.

Even more puzzling is what happens after life, where we go when we die or what happens once we stop breathing. Many people have found solace in religious teachings and Holy Books that promise life after death, which is supposedly made possible by the same Creator who it is believed brought us into this world.

But when you read the scholarly works of theologians schooled in Hebrew texts and Christian literature, the picture becomes far more complicated than what is conveyed by conventional religious teachings.

One of the most compelling works is that of Bart Ehrman, a professor of the Bible, focussing on the New Testament, whose historical account of the evolution of beliefs around life and death calls into question much of the received wisdom of mainstream religious denominations.

Whether humans believe there is heaven and hell, or any kind of life after death, Ehrman argues with rich historical evidence, has shifted and transformed in quite dramatic ways during different historical epochs over the long stretch of time.

The world has been here for, who knows, a difficult to nail down long past while what we spiritually believe today is of very recent history. The allure of spirituality and faith is precisely because of the inherent mysteriousness of what life is about and what death means, whether the human person totally terminates at death, as some believe, or if there is some adaptation and continuity in the other life.

Religious faith is also a handy solution as it provides a somewhat simple and straightforward answer to an otherwise fundamentally complex puzzle.

All equal, even intellectually sophisticated people prefer simplistic explanations to complicated arguments, yet if there is any question requiring complicated reasoning, it is the matter of what life means and what death entails. In that spirit of the human inclination to simple answers, I would like to set aside the rather abstruse world of complex ideas about cosmology (origin of the universe), epistemology (theory of knowledge) and eschatology (the remit of religion, focussing on death and end-life) that are necessarily hard to disentangle and certainly not a very productive use of this column space. What I like to do with this start of year reflection is to speak directly to the everyday life difficulties, the human condition and what I believe should be our shared moral compass.

I must, of course, confess that I write from a very privileged status and standing, of an academic with a middle-class livelihood, who most certainly lives a better life than, literally, billions of fellow humans around the world.

If you take the totality of the global community of human beings, you realise that only a small percentage live under desirable and befitting material conditions. We easily forget that most of the world’s population live under circumstances that are, broadly conceived, materially poor; also, that until very recently, by today’s standards and measures nearly all the people in the world were poor. This fact alone raises a deep philosophical question about the meaning of life and essence of being, and arguably a question that faith and spirituality cannot convincingly answer.

My own personal ethic and moral orientation predispose me towards an empathetic attitude to all who are not fortunate to live better lives precisely because there is no particularly compelling reason why I should be better off than the next person.

What is more, the elusive meaning of life, but especially the utter mystery of death, should imbue humans with humility and empathy rather than cruelty and greed.

As some readers of this column may know, I have often found a reliable fallback position in the ethos and values that informed my father’s life, a man of admirable goodness who went about life with grace, gratitude, moral clarity.

No child can never be like their father or mother, but my life’s quest has entailed living up to at least a portion of my father’s sense of life purpose, to do good and recognise the inherent feebleness of our nature as beings, which is equally matched by the incredibly short life-span of our lives however long one may live.

In the hopes that the year ahead brings more of the goodness of humanity, and a deeper reflection on what it means to be human, to live and die. My very best wishes!