Category: Daily Monitor

When African governments negotiate with Europe, there is often an assumption that Europeans are fully aware, supportive, and engaged with the policies shaping their relationships with Africa.

Yet one of the great ironies of global politics is that the most consequential decisions affecting millions of Africans are often drafted without the knowledge, let alone consent, of ordinary European citizens.

This is not because Europeans are indifferent. It is because their governments have mastered a political habit that Africa knows too well: making decisions quietly when the public might disagree. Across the European Union, labour-recruitment proposals targeting Africa are not emerging from public debates or citizen-led petitions.

They are being produced in advisory councils, technocratic committees, demographic research units, and foreign-policy subgroups, institutions most Europeans rarely interact with. A Dutch farmer in Groningen, a German nurse in Hamburg, a French teacher in Lyon, none is being asked whether their country should import African labour to fill national shortages. And yet, proposals are moving forward. This disconnect creates a powerful European blind spot, and Africa must understand it clearly.

Europe’s demographic decline is unprecedented. According to Eurostat’s 2025 Ageing Index, the EU will have almost twice as many elderly people as children by 2050. Many experts openly warn that Europe’s welfare model cannot survive without foreign workers. But citizens are hearing a different message.

European political discourse is dominated by pensions, migration fears, cost of living, rising populism, and the cultural anxieties that shape elections. What they are not hearing is this: ‘We will need millions of foreign workers, including Africans, to sustain our societies.’

Governments fear backlash. They fear protests. And they fear the rise of far-right parties who capitalise on anti-immigration sentiment. So they discuss Africa only in policy rooms, not public forums.

Europe’s political class is split between demographic necessity and electoral fear. This is the heart of the blind spot. European leaders know they need migrant labour to prevent economic collapse – especially in elderly care, agriculture, logistics, and low-wage services.

Yet they also know admitting this publicly could cost them elections. Thus, they walk a tightrope: recruit quietly, negotiate discreetly, and publicly talk about ‘border control,’ ‘security,’ and ‘managing migration.’ The result is a contradictory system where rhetoric reassures voters while policies facilitate recruitment.

African governments must see through this duality. When policies lack public endorsement, African migrants face greater hostility. If Europeans do not know that their governments are planning to import African labour, how will they react when large numbers of Africans arrive? History provides an answer.

The post-World War II recruitment of Turkish and North African workers in Europe was initially quiet. When numbers rose, racism surged, integration stalled, and migrant communities were scapegoated for social frustrations.

A repeat is likely if Europe recruits without public discussion. African workers may find themselves entering societies unprepared to receive them, not because Europeans are inherently hostile, but because governments fail to prepare their citizens.

Uganda must recognise this blind spot before signing away its youth. Ugandan leaders, incumbent or opposition, must understand that ‘Europe’ is not a single voice. Negotiating with governments that do not have public support for their policies carries risks.

Uganda must ask: Who will protect our youth when the receiving societies are themselves unaware of, or opposed to their arrival? Because no matter how polished a bilateral agreement appears, its implementation depends on local attitudes, public sentiment, labour unions, regional authorities, and the social mood of the host country.

A policy that lacks public legitimacy is a dangerous foundation for African migration. Uganda cannot base the future of its youth on European political contradictions.

A fierce political contest is unfolding in Mawokota County South Constituency, Mpigi District, where seven candidates are vying for the parliamentary seat amid perennial concerns over land grabbing and the plight of evicted fishmongers, which have taken centre stage in the campaigns.

The race pits the incumbent, Yusuf Nsibambi of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), against six challengers. These include three-time contestant and former two-term National Resistance Movement (NRM) MP, now running as an independent, Mr John Bosco Lubyayi Sseguya, and the NRM’s official flagbearer, Ms Susan Nakawuki Nsambu.

Also in the contest are the current district chairperson running on the National Unity Platform (NUP) ticket, Mr Martine Ssejjemba; Democratic Party (DP) candidate; Mr Benon Nsamba, who is also the Buwama Sub-county LC5 councillor, and two other independents, Mr Tusuubira Ssozi Sobabu and Mr Joseph Lubega. Land grabbing remains the most pressing issue for many voters, with all candidates pledging to address the challenge if elected.

Mr Nsibambi is campaigning under the slogan ‘Mawokota Empya’ (New Mawokota), the same message he used during his 2021 bid. This time, however, he is placing greater emphasis on infrastructure development, including extending power lines, installing street lights, and promoting economic empowerment through his ‘A to Z strategy.’ ‘My focus is on a new Mawokota with better infrastructure. We must ensure residents have money in their pockets. My A to Z strategy empowers farmers with inputs and market access,’ Mr Nsibambi said while campaigning in Nakibanga Village, Kayabwe Town Council. NUP’s Martine Ssejjemba is campaigning on the platform of political change and the rule of law.

‘Voters must trust NUP as the country’s only hope for change,’ Mr Ssejjemba said, pledging to prioritise improvements in education and health services. NRM’s Susan Nakawuki Nsambu has centred her campaign on gender equality and youth employment, with a focus on boosting household incomes.

‘With NRM, I want youth and women to have sustainable sources of income,’ Ms Nakawuki said, citing her recent donation of motorcycles to boda boda riders in Mbizzinya, Mitala Maria, Bukasa, Ggolo, and Kayabwe, as well as the distribution of coffee seedlings to farmers in Buwama, Nkozi, and Kituntu sub-counties, and Buwama Town Council. Mr Lubyayi is also focusing on improving household livelihoods, pledging to provide seed capital to community groups.

‘I will support women and youth groups as I did when I was in Parliament,’ he said, adding that he also plans to distribute piglets and calves to families to enhance household income. Meanwhile, DP’s Benon Nsamba has outlined an ambitious legislative agenda. ‘If elected, I want to table a Bill to restore presidential age and term limits,’ Mr Nsamba said while campaigning at Kanaani Cell, Bongole Ward, in Buwama Town Council. Beyond campaign pledges, residents say they want an MP who will resolve land conflicts, advocate for reduced taxes on goods and services, and closely monitor the delivery of social services. ‘We are tired of poverty. We need an MP who will fight for a reduction in taxes,’ said businessman Ahmed Lubulwa. ‘We want an MP who will monitor social services and ensure they benefit everyone, not just a selected group,’ added Annet Atai, a resident of Kantini Village in Kituntu Sub-county.

Although campaigns have largely remained peaceful, there have been isolated incidents of violence, prompting calls for increased security. Recently, individuals reportedly wearing yellow T-shirts allegedly attacked a NUP camp in Mitala Maria Trading Centre, injuring several of Mr Ssejjemba’s supporters, including his official campaign agent, Mr Joseph Ssenkumba, and a master of ceremonies identified as Mr Salin K. In a separate incident, a scuffle reportedly broke out in Kamaliba Village, Nkozi Sub-county, when the NRM District Chairperson, Mr Sulaiman Kaweesi, and his team allegedly confronted independent candidate John Bosco Lubyayi. Several of Mr Lubyayi’s aides and media personnel were reportedly injured, and his shirt was torn during the altercation. Residents have urged the Electoral Commission and the police to ensure adequate security for all candidates.

BACKGROUND

According to the 2024 National Population Census, Mawokota County South has a population of 129,636 people, with 73,260 registered voters spread across 174 polling stations. In the 2021 General Election, FDC’s Yusuf Nsibambi garnered 20,597 votes, followed by NRM’s Susan Nakawuki with 9,640 votes. Kenneth Joseph Kiyingi Bbosa (Independent) received 4,648 votes, NUP’s Joel Mirembe obtained 2,048 votes, while Joseph Walakira (Independent) secured 1,432 votes.

Exiled Uganda Law Society (ULS) president Isaac Ssemakadde has issued what he termed an executive order, urging lawyers to support opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, in the 2026 General Election-an unprecedented move that has sparked sharp backlash within the legal fraternity and from the ruling party.

In a statement circulated on Monday, Mr Ssemakadde said the legal profession could no longer remain politically neutral amid what he described as ‘state capture and a shrinking democratic space.’

‘The Uganda Law Society hereby unequivocally endorses Mr Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) as a candidate for President of the Republic of Uganda,’ the order reads, adding that it takes immediate effect until the conclusion of the 2026 elections or revocation by ‘lawful authority.’

Mr Ssemakadde also endorsed Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago for another term, Dr Obuku Ekwaro Anthony for Oyam South MP, and all candidates from the National Unity Platform (NUP) and the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) at all elective levels.

‘These endorsed candidates and platforms represent the foremost credible force for restoring constitutional order, economic justice, youth empowerment, accountable governance, and the independence of institutions,’ the directive states.

He further called on ULS members, law students, civil society groups, and ‘patriotic Ugandans’ to mobilise for the endorsed candidates, saying the Society would deploy its resources-within the law-to educate the public on what he termed a ‘historic electoral contest.’

Mr Kyagulanyi is contesting against seven other presidential candidates, including incumbent President Yoweri Museveni of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), Nathan Nandala Mafabi of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), and Mugisha Muntu of the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT).

Presidential polling is slated for January 15, 2026.

Founded to safeguard the independence of the Bar and promote the rule of law, the ULS has historically maintained political neutrality. However, Mr Ssemakadde argued that prevailing conditions warranted a departure from that tradition.

‘The excessive militarisation of civilian and political life, entrenched corruption and impunity, and the total capture of state institutions, including the judiciary, have reached a point where neutrality equates to complicity,’ he said, accusing courts of becoming ‘rubber stamps of political repression.’

He also urged voters to remain within 20 metres of polling stations after voting.

The directive was swiftly contested by a faction of senior lawyers under the banner of the Senior Counsel Bar, who reaffirmed that the ULS remains nonpartisan. In a statement signed by Prof Fredrick Ssempebwa, a former ULS president, the group warned that political endorsements undermine the Society’s statutory mandate and erode public trust in the legal profession.

‘We strongly condemn all attempts to brand ULS as a partisan body,’ the statement read, urging the Society instead to document electoral irregularities and pursue legal redress or electoral reforms through the courts.

The ruling NRM also dismissed the move. Mr Emmanuel Ddombo, the party’s communications director, described the directive as ‘madness.’

‘There is a reason why he is issuing it beyond the borders. He is free to support any candidate, but he should not compromise the neutrality of the Bar,’ Mr Ddombo said.

Mr Ssemakadde fled Uganda earlier this year after being accused of abusing former Director of Public Prosecutions Jane Frances Abodo, now Principal Judge, and was later convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for contempt of court, making him liable to arrest if he returns to the country.

At 17, Lovence Angecheri Manjeri should be worrying about her preparations for Senior Four examinations that are due next year at Dabani Girls’ School in Busia.

Instead, for years, she dreaded a single biological reality – menstruation. One afternoon, her monthly flow came unexpectedly. With no sanitary pad, blood stained her school uniform. Whispers spread across the classroom. Some male classmates laughed openly.

‘I felt so ashamed,’ Angecheri recalls softly. ‘From that day, that period of the month scared me to the bone marrow.’

Like many girls her age, Angecheri often skipped classes during menstruation.

It was not because she did not understand her body, it was because she did not have pads. Her mother, she explains, rarely had money. Her father did – but asking him was very difficult, almost impossible due to fear of being embarrassed. ‘I feared approaching my dad for money to buy pads or even knickers because he is a man,’ Angecheri says. ‘I thought those things were only to be discussed with my mother.’ When her mother sent her to ask her father, Angecheri would retreat into silence. The result was predictable: missed lessons, falling grades, and growing anxiety.

A shared silence

Angecheri’s experience mirrors that of several schoolgirls across Uganda, where menstruation remains cloaked in silence, shame, and cultural discomfort – especially within the father-daughter relationship. In Tororo District, 15-year-old Sheila Anyokorit, a Senior Two student at Great Aubrey Memorial College, says she once believed asking her father for money to buy pads was ‘an abomination’. ‘I used to dodge classes whenever that time of the month came,’ Anyokorit says, smiling now, but admitting it was not funny then. The silence came at a cost. Without pads, some girls turned to men outside their families who offered to buy them sanitary products – often in exchange for sexual favours.

Change came through conversations in the community. In May, Uwezo, in partnership with ALiVE, held community dialogues in Sheema, Tororo, Oyam, Kanungu, Kampala, and Mukono districts. Parents, guardians, and caregivers met weekly, for 10 weeks, focusing on life skills – particularly problem-solving and open communication at home. For Angecheri, the impact was immediate. ‘After the training, my mother advised me to approach my dad,’ she says, her face lighting up. ‘She told me, ‘He is also a human being. He knows girls menstruate.” Summoning courage, Angecheri finally spoke to her father.

‘When I asked him, he wondered why I had feared him all along,’ she says. ‘From that day, everything changed.’

Fathers stepping in

Community leaders say such conversations are quietly reshaping family dynamics. Mr Christopher Arojo, 65, a community leader in Kasipodo Trading Centre in Tororo District, says the new boldness among girls is a turning point. ‘Before, there was distance between fathers and daughters,’ Mr Arojo says.

He adds: ‘Girls would instead run to men who exploited them.’ Mr Arojo explains that following the community dialogues, fathers are increasingly providing essentials like pads, knickers, and bras. Ms Mary Mutonyi, 60, a mother of eight and grandmother of five, agrees by saying: ‘Our girls are now empowered…They are no longer prey for men who exchange pads for sex’

Becoming champions

Angecheri has formed a group of 15 girls who move from school to school, encouraging fellow students to speak openly with their fathers about menstrual needs. They call themselves Champions of Change. David Oteba, a student at Nagalama Secondary School in Mukono District, admits he once mocked girls who stained their uniforms. ‘After the lessons, I stopped,’ he says. ‘Now I understand what they go through.’ Despite these grassroots gains, the bigger structural problem remains unresolved.

In 2015, during presidential campaigns in Lango Sub-region, Mr Museven pledged to provide free sanitary pads to school-going girls nationwide if he were re-elected. The promise, expected to take effect in the 2017/2018 financial year, has never been fulfilled, largely due to funding constraints.

For girls like Angecheri, that promise remains distant. But change, she says, has already begun – at home. ‘I no longer miss school because of pads,’ she says. ‘I just ask my dad.’ And that, she believes, is a quiet revolution.

Menstrual health

In a 2024 Value for Money Audit report on primary and secondary schools (both public and private), the Auditor General said 64 percent of the female learners (138 out of 216) said they had been absent from school or class because of menstruation. The main reasons given included harmful myths and cultural belief, especially in the eastern and northern regions of Uganda; lack of menstrual materials and sanitation facilities, whereby a total of 22 schools, of the 48 visited (46 percent) did not provide any emergency pads and lacked access to water and appropriate sanitation and menstrual disposal facilities.

In Kiyovu village, Lwanda Sub-county, Rakai District, 59-year-old woman named Ruth Nalwadda lies in an almost vegetative state, awake but immobile, unaware of herself or her surroundings. Before she suffered a stroke in 2019, she had owned a small makeshift restaurant in her village. This was an income that supplemented her subsistence farming. She was living positively with HIV. Her eldest daughter, Prossy Nakabazzi, says her mother’s health took a turn for the worse after a neighbour died. ‘The death shocked her. One day, I travelled away from home, and when I returned, she had collapsed. She was unable to walk. I took her to a nearby clinic, and we were informed that she had high blood pressure,’ she says.

After carrying out some tests, the doctor informed Nakabazzi that her mother had suffered a stroke and referred her to Masaka Regional Referral Hospital for a brain scan. ‘The scan did not show that there had been any damage to her brain. The doctors recommended medication and physiotherapy. Since 2019, we have routinely returned to the hospital for medical reviews. On one of those occasions, we discovered that my mother was suffering from diabetes as well,’ Nakabazzi explains. Although the 37-year-old woman has five siblings, she had to abandon her marriage to become her mother’s primary caregiver. Today, she looks after her mother and her 80-year-old grandmother.

‘My husband kept on asking me when I would find time for our marriage since I was caring for my mother. In the end, I left the marriage with my four children. My husband could not afford to take care of his family and my family,’ she says. To take care of her mother and educate her children, Nakabazzi hires herself out as a labourer to dig in people’s gardens. ‘I also raise some domestic animals. Because of my mother’s situation, I have to work at or near the home. I cannot go to town to find employment because that would mean being away from her for an entire day; otherwise, there will be no one to give her food or take her to the toilet,’ the caregiver notes.

Nakabazi’s siblings are also married, but she is the one who sacrificed her marriage and career to take care of their mother. To help, once in a while, they send her money to buy medication and food. While advances in treatment have transformed HIV prevention and care, many, including Nalwadda, cannot afford the newer therapies. The cost of managing complications such as high blood pressure remains a heavy burden. ‘We get our medication from Lwanda Health Centre III. But sometimes, we find there are no drugs. Other times, we are given drugs that last only one month. You find that our mother can go three days without medication,’ Nakabazzi says.

Despite free antiretroviral therapy in government health facilities, frequent hospital visits and the need for additional medication pose challenges. ‘The problem is that I am the one who gets the medication since my mother cannot walk to the health centre. The health workers care more about the patients who physically come to the health centre. So, I am always last in line, and by the time I reach the dispenser, the drugs are over. And nowadays, with the aid cuts, drugs are rationed,’ she notes. For now, the most pressing need is to find the funds to buy a wheelchair for her mother, to ease her mobility. A basic wheelchair that suits her costs Shs500,000. This family’s situation reflects a wider challenge faced by several rural households affected by chronic illnesses like HIV, highlighting the need for social support systems to ease the caregiving burden.

Unpaid casework in Uganda

Unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW) is a development issue is embedded in the Global Agenda 2030, under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, target 5.4. The target specifically indicates the means by which women’s unpaid care workload can be reduced, recognised, and redistributed through the provision of public services and infrastructure, and the implementation and enforcement of social protection policies. In Uganda, care work is not addressed explicitly in policy or service provision.

A report, Gender Roles and the Care Economy in Ugandan Households: The case of Kaabong, Kabale and Kampala Districts, showed quantitative and qualitative data gathered in 2017, that unpaid care work is primarily carried out by women and girls. There is also a stark difference between the time spent by men and women on unpaid care work. On average, women spent 32 hours weekly on unpaid care work and 21 hours weekly on unpaid production of products for home consumption, while men spent 20 and 10 hours per week respectively. This finding further strengthens the notion that care work is still largely carried out by women.

While the proportion of women to men spending time on unpaid care work stays almost the same throughout the day, there are peak periods for care work for women. These are associated with activities which are usually done in the morning (7 am – 10 am), such as cleaning the house, washing clothes, and collecting fuel/water, while meal preparation and childcare account for the peak hours around midday (11 am – 2 pm).

The survey also asked both women and men how they would spend their time if they had to do less care work. The majority of women said they would spend the time doing more income-generating work: Kampala (61.6 percent), Kaabong (46.6 percent), and Kabale (34 percent).

More rural (than urban) women said they would spend the time on agriculture, especially in Kaabong (33.6 percent) and Kabale (30.8 percent), which is to be expected, while more urban (than rural) women said they would spend the time on education (2.6 percent) and religious activities (2.3 percent).

Recommendations

The report recommends that the government and relevant authorities adopt a ‘Triple R’* approach to addressing the unpaid care and domestic workload which is shouldered primarily by women and girls. At national policy level, streamline clear indicators for tracking SDG 5, in government structures. Show how key sectors such as education, health, water and sanitation, and infrastructure can contribute to reducing care work, and raise awareness among stakeholders in these sectors on how their work can contribute to the redistribution of unpaid care work.

At micro level, create awareness about care work by including men in training and advocacy campaigns. Involving men as agents of change in increasing recognition of care work presents an opportunity for promoting positive attitudes towards sharing care roles more equally between men and women. More advocacy work is essential, backed up by evidence to measure status and progress.

Raise awareness and increase availability of family planning services. Childcare is considered to be among the most problematic care activities. It is vital that women and men are enabled to make decisions over the number of children they have, since the fewer the children the smaller the care workload. As the results indicated, men in Kaabong in particular have more say than women on how many children the family should have, and when. Promoting family planning among men as well as women would assist with this.

Provide affordable childcare facilities. These have been proven to significantly reduce the number of hours spent on childcare, allowing women to participate more in paid work activities. While it is recognised that Uganda already has an Early Childhood Development policy, the government should do more to ensure an enabling environment that allows the setting up of childcare development centres in both rural and urban areas.

Invest in affordable technology. This might include the construction of water harvesting reservoirs/dams to improve access to water for family use, and irrigation systems to increase household food production. The provision of energy-efficient stoves could greatly reduce the amount of time women and girls spend on fuel collection, food preparation and cleaning (such stoves emit less smoke and soot and therefore also create less mess and pose fewer health risks than traditional cooking methods using firewood).

Change mindsets. This is one of the most important routes to redistributing UCDW between women and men within a household as well as between poor families and the private sector, the state, and civil society, at the community and at national levels. For this to happen, change must occur at all levels, including shifts in mindsets and social norms. Messages aimed at changing social norms should not be cast in a negative light (e.g. in terms of women subsidising the government by undertaking activities that could be state-provided) but in a positive way – highlighting the benefits to women and men, and whole communities, of sharing unpaid care and domestic work more equitably.

Empower women financially. This can be achieved through formation of savings groups at the community level, enabling women to start up small businesses or trading activities. As well as improving households’ living standards, the additional income will enable families to pay for support with specific UCDW tasks, further freeing up their time for livelihood activities. Empowering women financially will not only benefit women but also their entire families, communities and society as a whole. Oxfam advocates for the inclusion of a fourth R, in reference to the representation of carers in decision-making spaces, so carers’ interests and needs are reflected in policies that shape their lives.

Source: The Oxfam Digital Repository

Carers in mid-life

Research carried out by the Eurocare Project last year in Europe found that unpaid care has a huge impact on mental health. The same research also found that unpaid care is more likely to be provided by people from low income households.

The research showed that for people aged 30-49 years in the United Kingdom, the mental health impact is more pronounced for women compared to men. The research also showed that older carers are more likely to report loneliness.

Gender inequalities in mid-life care: Women are more likely than men to provide care in mid-life and to care for longer hours each week. The gender difference in care hours for those in early mid-life (age 30-49) is particularly strong in European countries that provide less state support for carers.

Socioeconomic inequalities in mid-life care: There is clear income inequality in the likelihood of being a carer in early mid-life, with caring more likely in disadvantaged households. Becoming a carer in mid-life is linked with early retirement for both men and women in high-income and high-wealth households, where carers are more likely to be able to afford to retire.

Mental health and well-being of mid-life carers: Evidence from the UK shows that becoming a carer in early mid-life is linked with declines in mental health. Individuals in mid-life who care for 20+ hours per week or for someone within the household are particularly likely to experience significant declines in mental health.

An American national has died after a train crashed the vehicle she and three other family members were travelling in.

Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesman, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, said Savana Gardener, who was in the co-driver seat, was injured in the crash at Wankoko Railway Crossing in Kampala City on Friday at 5:25 pm, but she was pronounced dead later at the hospital where she had been evacuated to.

“It is alleged that at the time of the incident, a passenger train was travelling from Kampala towards Mukono when it collided with a motor vehicle, registration number UBF 582X, a Mitsubishi Pajero, which was coming from the Luzira side and heading to Kampala City. Following the impact, the train pushed the motor vehicle approximately 200 metres off the road,” ASP Owoyesigyire said.

Mr Owoyesigyire said the car was carrying three other American nationals: Matthew Gardener, a male adult and two children.

Savana and Matthew work with a non-governmental organisation, the Baptist Mission in Uganda.

Police said the injured were taken to the hospital.

Mr Owoyesigyire said police preliminary findings indicate that the crash may have been caused by ‘careless driving and failure to comply with hand signals issued by a railway police officer, who was on duty at the railway crossing at the time of the incident.”

However, the police said they are still carrying on with the investigations, and they would share details of their conclusive findings later.

Most train accidents at the railway crossings happen partly because the signs are obscured by traffic and vegetation. The available railway crossings have no traffic lights.

Most of the time, traffic at the railway crossings is controlled by traffic officers or private individuals.

Virtue is not moral luxury. It is a responsibility, service, restraint and patriotism. It is the quiet discipline to put public interest above private appetite. When virtue exists, institutions work. When it disappears, corruption does not merely grow; it becomes normal, shameless, and finally destructive. Uganda today offers a painful lesson in what happens when virtue collapses.

Public office is no longer widely understood as a trust; it is treated as an opportunity. As long as money is available, it will be stolen, openly, aggressively, and without embarrassment. This is why a hospital meant to be completed in two years takes 10. This is why a road that should cost Shs10b quietly swallows Shs200b. Not because money is unavailable, but because it was diverted.

We now celebrate public servants who have never run a business, never invented anything, never built value, yet own mansions, fleets of luxury vehicles, and properties worth millions of dollars.

In functioning states, virtue is enforced not by sermons, but by systems and culture. In much of the Western world and parts of Asia, leadership begins with character.

A compromised history disqualifies you. A tainted reputation ends your career. Leaders resign not because courts have convicted them, but because public trust has been wounded. In Uganda, resignation is seen as weakness. Some leaders would rather die politically, or even physically, than leave/resign office. But history is unforgiving to such societies.

Take Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko. Between 1965 and 1997, Mobutu and his leadership looted an estimated $5-15b from the State, a sum equivalent to the country’s entire external debt at the time. Roads collapsed. Hospitals became graveyards. Schools decayed. Civil servants went unpaid. By the time Mobutu fell, Zaire had ceased to function as a state.

Today’s Democratic Republic of Congo still lives with those ruins. Decades later, the same script reappeared in South Sudan. Since independence in 2011, it has earned more than $25b in oil revenue. That money should have built a nation. Instead, it built a small political and military elite. Most of that revenue was lost to corruption and conflict.

Today, more than 70 percent of South Sudanese live below the poverty line. Uganda is not exempt from these laws of history. The path we are on has a well-documented destination. Other nations faced similar temptations and chose a different path. Singapore, once as corrupt as many developing States, imposed ruthless accountability. Corruption attracted long prison sentences, asset confiscation, and social disgrace. Leaders were paid well, but punished severely when they stole. Today, Singapore ranks among the least corrupt countries in the world. China, whatever its political contradictions, understands one thing clearly, that corruption threatens state survival.

Senior officials have been jailed for life, stripped of rank, or even executed. The message is brutal but effective. And the result is that several infrastructure projects have been delivered on time, institutions feared, and development at near-supersonic speed. Some countries go even further in training leaders before they assume office. They invest deliberately in civic ethics, public service discipline, and national duty. Virtue is taught, tested, and enforced. Uganda has chosen the opposite path. We bless thieves and expect patriots. We reward impunity and pray for accountability. We celebrate looting and mourn poverty, without connecting the two.

This contradiction cannot survive forever. A society that normalises corruption eventually produces sharper thieves. Each generation learns faster, steals better, and feels less shame.

Over time, institutions hollow out. Courts weaken. Security fractures. The state becomes a shell, still flying a flag, but unable to serve its people. Laws alone are insufficient.

Constitutions cannot restrain leaders who lack character. Anti-corruption agencies cannot function in a culture that worships stolen wealth. We must return to the hard language of virtue: honesty, service, sacrifice, restraint, patriotism, and shame. Leadership must once again be seen as a duty, not reward. We cannot keep blessing thieves and expect patriots to emerge.

President Museveni has threatened to arrest Masaka City leaders for reportedly ignoring his directive to stop the levying of dues on street vendors.

Addressing a campaign rally at Masaka Liberation Square on Monday, the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate said informal business groups such as food vendors were exempted from daily dues many years ago and wondered why such a practice still goes unabated in Masaka City.

‘I will sack the town clerk or sub county chairperson if levying of such dues continues. If it is the opposition politicians doing it, I will arrest them because they are not supposed to collect such dues,’ he said.

Mr Museveni was responding to a call from Justine Nameere, the NRM flag bearer for Masaka City Woman MP seat who asked him to prevail over the city leadership that has adamantly continued to charge dues abolished in 2017.

Street vendors are a prominent feature of urban life in many urban centers across Uganda. The informal trade has long served as a key livelihood strategy in the absence of formal employment opportunities. It offers important livelihood support for a highly marginalised and vulnerable group of urban poor.

Mr Museveni who has been in power for nearly four decades, asked Masaka City dwellers to vote for NRM candidates, whom he said are the only ones who will demand for their share of the national cake, adding that Masaka has missed out on several projects because of voting for opposition politicians.

Masaka is an opposition stronghold and many leaders, including MPs belong to various opposition parties like the National Unity Platform, Democratic Party. The recently formed Democratic Front has also fielded candidates to contest in the coming elections.

If reelected to office to extend his rule to 45 years, Mr Museveni pledged to support the construction of Masaka District headquarters, a project local leaders have been pushing for a long time.

Masaka District NRM chairperson Mr Herman Muwulya had earlier told the President that the district leaders are still operating from the city buildings despite owning 10 acres of land in Kyanamukkaka Town Council, which was donated by former vice president Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi.

‘The government has done several things in Masaka because we know they matter, but other things, which you need in your areas, such as roads, we cannot work on them in time because you vote for the opposition. This time, liberate yourselves and vote for NRM candidates who can push for such projects,’ Mr Museveni added.

Mr Museveni, however, promised to continue fighting poverty among youth who constitute the largest portion of jobless Ugandans, promising to create a special fund for fishermen, ghetto communities, boda boda riders and motor garage operators.

He also talked about operationalising the stalled Bukakkata Industrial Park, whose foundation stone he laid in 2015.

Unlike clerics from other religious denominations who prayed at the start of the rally , those from the Catholic faith were conspicuously absent, which has also been the case at other rallies Mr Museveni has so far held in Greater Masaka like in Kyotera, Lwengo, Rakai Kalungu and Kalangala. Political observers say this could partly be a result of the missing Rev. Fr. Deusdedit Ssekabira, a curate at Bumangi Catholic Parish in Masaka Diocese, who was on December 3, 2025 kidnapped by army men from one of his offices in Katwe, Masaka City suburb.

Fr Ssekabira is also the director of Universal Chastity Education Organisation, which provides counselling services and charity support to HIV-affected needy children and also the director of Uplift Primary School -both in Masaka. Although the Army on December 14 came out and confirmed that he was in their custody, -10 days after concealing details about the arrest, his fate remains unknown.

In a statement, the UPDF said Fr Ssekabira is being held as investigations continue into alleged involvement in subversive activities against the state. The military added that the priest would be produced before the courts of law and charged accordingly.

The Kawempe Chief Magistrate’s Court has declined to grant mandatory bail to 10 supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP) who were arrested and charged with unlawful drilling, ruling that they had not met the constitutional threshold for automatic release.

In a ruling delivered on Monday, Grade One Magistrate Damalie Agumaasiimwe held that the accused failed to prove that they had been on remand for the constitutionally prescribed period without trial, and therefore could not benefit from mandatory bail under Article 23(6)(b) and (c) of the Constitution.

The magistrate agreed with the prosecution that mandatory bail is not automatic and must be strictly proved.

‘Mandatory bail is a constitutional right, but it does not arise by mere allegation. The applicants must clearly demonstrate that they have been on remand for the period provided for by the Constitution without trial.’ the magistrate ruled.

The court noted that discrepancies existed in the remand records presented and that the defence had failed to provide sufficient documentary evidence to support the claim that the constitutional time limit had elapsed.

‘The computation of time for purposes of mandatory bail must be precise and supported by the court record. Where such clarity is lacking, the court cannot grant mandatory bail,’ the magistrate said

The magistrate also observed that the pendency of investigations and the stage of proceedings were relevant considerations in determining whether the constitutional threshold had been met.

‘The existence of ongoing investigations does not automatically entitle an accused person to mandatory bail,’ the court ruled.

However, the court emphasised that the denial of mandatory bail did not bar the accused from applying for ordinary, discretionary bail.

‘This court has not closed its doors to the applicants. They may pursue other lawful avenues for bail,’ the magistrate said.

Although the court found the proposed sureties suitable, it noted that this alone did not address concerns about whether release could pose a risk to the proper conclusion of the trial.

“Where credible concerns exist about interference with witnesses and public interest, court is duty bound to prioritize the integrity of the proceedings,” Magistrate Damalie Agumaasiimwe held.

The court further ordered the officer in charge of the detention facility to ensure that the accused receive prompt medical attention where necessary, particularly directing appropriate medical care for Saudah Madaada.

The accused, who include NUP mobilisers and supporters, were arrested at different times and charged with offences related to unlawful assembly, common nuisance, and acts likely to disturb the public peace. They have been appearing before the Kawempe Magistrate’s Court as investigations continue.

Through their lawyers, the accused had applied for mandatory bail, arguing that they had spent more than 180 days on remand without their cases being concluded or committed to the High Court, in violation of their right to personal liberty.

Defence lawyers submitted that the prolonged detention was unconstitutional and unjustified, adding that the State had failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in investigations.

‘The applicants have been in custody for an unreasonably long period without trial. This court is duty-bound to enforce the Constitution and order their release on mandatory bail,’ one of the defence lawyers submitted.

However, the prosecution opposed the applications, arguing that the applicants had not met the legal requirements for mandatory bail.

The prosecution opposed the applications, maintaining that the accused had not met the legal requirements for mandatory bail. State prosecutors told court that the defence’s computation of time was inaccurate and that some of the accused had not completed the six-month period required under the Constitution.

‘The right to mandatory bail only arises when the accused has been on remand for the prescribed period without trial. That threshold has not been met in these cases,’ the prosecution submitted.

Prosecutors further argued that investigations were ongoing and that delays had partly been caused by the accused, including repeated adjournments and the consolidation of files.

The 10 accused include Edward Ssebufu, Achileo Kivumbi, Calvin Tasi alias Bobi Giant, Edwin Sserukuma alias Eddy King Kabejja, Sharif, Yasin Nyanzi, Tonny Kawesi, Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro, Saudah Madaada, and Doreen Kaija.

The group is among several NUP supporters arrested on February 12, 2025, when security operatives raided the party’s Makerere-Kavule offices in Kawempe Division.

The prosecution alleges that the accused convened a meeting where individuals underwent military-style drills without authorisation from the minister, contrary to Section 45 of the Penal Code Act. Tonny Kawesi faces an additional count of unlawful drilling.

The accused are charged with unlawful drilling, conspiracy to commit a felony, and wearing uniforms resembling those of the armed forces.

The ruling comes amid heightened scrutiny over the detention of opposition supporters following arrests linked to public order operations.

The accused remain on remand as proceedings continue before the Kawempe Magistrate’s Court.

Many years ago, there used to be a popular way of street pole advertising. It always had a headline printed in bold, ‘DO NOT DARE READ THIS!’ Then below there would be an announcement of a disco. Naturally passers by would curiously proceed to read. This call against ‘vote protection’ is like that advert.

For as long as we can remember in the last 40 years, Opposition politicians in Uganda have always told their supporters that the Electoral Commission (EC) is biased. They point out the fact that one of the players in the contest who is the incumbent, President Yoweri Museveni of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), appoints the referee (EC).

Four-time contestant for the presidency, Dr Kizza Besigye, then of the Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party would call upon supporters to guard their vote. They would need to stick around the polling station to frustrate any mischief like ballot stuffing. When Besigye lost all of them, he cried fraud. But the Opposition would not field candidates in a big part of the country.

They therefore had no agents to sign and collect all the Declaration of Results (DR) Forms as proof of the results at polling stations. That would in a way render the ‘vote protection’ call, redundant.With time, vote protection became another rather empty cliché, repeated at campaign rallies with no concrete action to follow it through to its logical conclusion.

In 2021 the National Unity Platform (NUP) became the leading Opposition party. Its flagbearer Robert Sentamu Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, continued with a Besigye-like vote protection message. Hunt for votes. Turn up in big numbers and vote in protest against NRM. Make every effort to protect the vote by staying wide eyed, near the polling station.

In case it is stolen, rise up and demand for it. Just as happened in the days of Besigye, there is no proof in 2021 that any of this happened. NUP and the entire Opposition was thin on the ground. They apparently were going through the motions by repeating a cliché with no structures in place to actualise it.

Apparently, it had become just another of those messages you hear at campaign rallies like, job creation, reducing national debt and ending nepotism and corruption, without demonstrating how it would be done. Interestingly many NRM politicians have also called on their supporters to guard their vote from alleged thieves with in the Opposition, especially in Kampala where victory is hard for NRM to come by.

The vote protection call was bound to go unnoticed. Then like a bolt out of the blue, the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) Deputy Spokesperson Col Henry Obbo made a grand entrance. He stated categorically that VOTE PROTECTION WAS FORBIDDEN! That the people should cast their vote, go home and only return at the time of counting.

Many people became curious about what was wrong with vote protection to prompt the mighty UPDF to prohibit it. It became like the poster on the street pole of old.The EC chairperson who is the gaffer of the electoral process, then came in to echo the Obbo message. Justice Simon Mugenyi Byabakama (yes, he is a judge) said that though Section 35 (4) of the Presidential Elections Act, 2005 allows voters and observers to keep 20 meters away from the voting table after voting, in reality it is not practical. Some polling stations are congested places that it would be dangerous to have 600 people hovering around the polling station. It intimidates polling officials and may cause loss of privacy and violence in case a result goes a different way at the time of tallying.

That vote protectors are ‘masqueraders’ who would be arrested. The practice at most polling stations is for people to keep coming and going. It is rare that they all sit and wait till the end. When did Justice Byabakama learn that the 20 meter rule was a recipe for disaster? He had a good five years to trigger and propose election reforms to do away with the 20-meter provision.

Did he sleep on the job?Suffice to say, the learned Attorney General on the floor of Parliament said ‘without fear of contradiction’ that people are allowed to keep 20 meters away from the polling station as stated in the law. Only the polling officials, candidates, candidates’ agents and accredited observers are allowed are allowed in the polling station. 20 meters away is not the polling station!The Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba who is President Museveni’s son, issued a stern warning while speaking against hanging around the polling station and other vote-related matters. He said those who intend to cause trouble will be dealt with using ‘all the tools we have at our disposal and in accordance with the law.’

That they should vote peacefully and go home. So if you vote and stand 20 meters away from the polling station as provided for by the law, under what law and why are you bound to be dealt with? Creating a situation that calls for security agents to arrest people outside the polling station will only create an opaque situation and suspicion that waters down the integrity of the election.

It also opens a door for the security agents, many of whom have been illegally campaigning for the incumbent NRM party and President, especially in places like Buganda and Busoga where the NRM performed dismally in 2021.They may disrupt peaceful processes and cause voter intimidation and suppression as they arrest people under the grey area of ‘causing trouble.’ What is strange is that the discomfort with vote protection comes at a time when Museveni has made fresh claims of vote rigging by the Opposition in 2021.

In the past he put it at a million votes. This time it is 2.7 million illegally printed and probably stuffed votes. Museveni used to tell us from his granary of proverbs that what is put out in the open does not rot. As a vote rigging victim by presumably a huge margin, you thought he would be the most interested party in having everything in the open. From all parties, whoever is interested, standing 20 meters away from the polling station puts vote thieves on notice that they are being watched.Secondly, with all this knowledge of vote stealing of such a magnitude, Museveni did not sack the EC boss.

He instead renewed his mandate for another seven-year term in January 2024. Interestingly when Gen Kainerugaba warns against vote protection because the process is transparent with enough scrutiny since there are both local and international observers, candidates’ agents and the media, it raises an important question.

In 2021 we had all these parties at the polling stations yet his own father, Museveni was allegedly cheated. What has changed this time? What if he is cheated again?Contested elections led to a war that killed many people between 1981 and 1986. People should be allowed, if need be, in turns, to observe from a distance, to avoid complaints.