Category: Daily Monitor

The Rukungiri District Health Officer, Dr Akasiima Mucunguzi, has decried persistent understaffing and inadequate staff accommodation, saying the challenges have significantly undermined health service delivery in the district. While receiving an ambulance for Bwambara Health Centre III last Saturday, Dr Akasiima said the district has very few health workers, most of whom lack proper accommodation.

‘The district’s health staffing level stands at 69.5 percent, yet government-provided accommodation caters for only 10 percent of the workforce. A housing unit meant for one health worker is often shared by several others because of the shortage,’ he said.

Dr Akasiima added that the complaints from the public stem from the fact that ‘we are too few compared to the district’s growing population”.

‘Yes, there are a few undisciplined staff who absent themselves or report late, but such issues cannot cripple service delivery where staffing levels are adequate,’ he said.

According to the 2024 National Population and Housing Census, Rukungiri District has a population of 376,110 people, of whom 169,608 (52.3 percent) are female and 169,502 (47.7 percent) are male.

The population is served by 41 Health Centre IIs, 10 Health Centre IIIs and four Health Centre IVs, staffed by a total of 417 health workers and supported by 462 Village Health Teams (VHTs). However, many facilities, particularly in hard-to-reach areas, lack electricity, have limited infrastructure and are without basic amenities such as toilets and incinerators.

At Bugangari Health Centre IV in Bugangari Sub-county, the officer in-charge, Dr Willy Rukundo, said the facility frequently experiences drug stockouts due to an overwhelming number of patients.

‘Right now, we have run out of Artesunate. We diagnose patients and refer them to drug shops to buy the medicine, but some cannot afford it,’ he said.

Similarly, at Nyakagyeme Health Centre III, a midwife, Ms Bony Kyatuhaire, said frequent stock-outs are linked to the high patient load.

‘Some essential drugs run out from time to time. In Nyakagyeme Sub-county, we receive many malaria patients, and TB cases are also on the rise. Because of this, medicines for these illnesses often run out, and patients complain when we refer them to private clinics,’ she said.

Speaking at the same event, the Minister for Security, Mr Jim Muhwezi, commended the government for funding the purchase of the ambulance.

‘This is a great achievement and a relief to mothers who have been struggling to access timely referrals during childbirth. I thank the government for taking this important step,’ he said.

Mr Muhwezi added that the issues of understaffing and drug stock-outs will be addressed. ‘On drug stock-outs, I will engage the National Drug Authority to ensure medicines are delivered on time so that patients can access them. The other concerns will be reported to the relevant ministry,’ he said.

The Islamic Solidarity Fund (ISF) has officially handed over a state-of-the-art Nursing School Building to the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), marking a significant step in strengthening health sciences education and women’s empowerment in the country.

The handover ceremony took place at the IUIU Female Campus in Kabojja and was attended by senior officials, including Mr Muhammad Suleiman Aba Al-Khail, Executive Director of the ISF, and Mr Aftab Ahmad Khokher, Assistant Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), alongside members of the IUIU Council.

“This nursing school is not a standalone project,” said Ambassador Nusura Tiperu, Uganda’s Ambassador to Trkiye and Chairperson of IUIU’s Estates Planning and Development Committee. “It marks the beginning of a broader vision to develop a full-fledged medical and health sciences complex on this campus, one that will serve Uganda, the region, and the wider Muslim world.”

The newly commissioned facility, supported through ISF funding, is designed to enhance training capacity for nursing students by providing modern lecture rooms, skills laboratories, and learning infrastructure aligned with national and international standards.

Mr Aftab Ahmad Khokher underscored the importance of education as a foundation for societal progress, describing the project as a strategic investment in human development.

“The global demand for skilled nurses presents opportunities for Ugandan graduates to contribute both locally and internationally,” he said.

University officials and council members commended ISF for its sustained partnership with IUIU, which has included support for land acquisition, infrastructure development, and scholarships.

They reiterated the institution’s commitment to mobilising additional resources to complement donor funding and accelerate implementation of its development master plans.

The ceremony concluded with expressions of gratitude to ISF and OIC, with speakers describing the partnership as a long-term commitment to advancing education, healthcare, and women’s empowerment in Uganda and beyond.

The leader of a suspected criminal gang that led a violent attack on supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, in Gulu City has been arrested, police have confirmed.

Ms Fatuma Aleng, also known as the “Ghetto Youth President”, was arrested on the night of December 17, 2025, along with 41 of her alleged members.

According to police, Aleng mobilised a group of 50 youth who went on a rampage in Gulu City on December 6, when Kyagulanyi was in the city to campaign. The violence left five people seriously injured and one dead.

“We managed to arrest 41 suspects and they are currently being detained at Gulu CPS. Among those arrested is one Aleng Fatuma who allegedly led the mobilization of the suspected criminal gangs using various media platforms like TikTok among others,” said ASP David Ongom Mudong, the Aswa West Region Police Spokesperson.

In a verified 4-minute and 7-second video clip, Aleng is seen planning the attack on NUP supporters, telling her members that they will be rewarded with money for disrupting the rally.

“There will be money after the mission has been executed successfully. Small amount of money will be given and big one will follow,” she said.

Aleng also accused leaders of exploiting the youth and promised to lobby for brick making machines and motorcycles for ghetto youth leaders.

“Shs5 million will never change your life. Those who have been in the ghetto know this,” she said.

The video, recorded on December 1, shows Aleng telling her members to execute the attack on December 6, after yellow t-shirts are delivered. She warned security agencies against firing tear gas on the ghetto youth when they are executing the task.

“We are going to the ground, but no tear gas should be fired at us,” she said.

The arrest comes after intense public criticism from politicians, cultural and religious leaders, who demanded accountability and prosecution for those behind the violence.

According to research conducted between 2018 and 2019 in Gulu City, the rising number of children branded as Aguu on the streets of Gulu City is attributed to violent land wrangles and the over two decades’ long LRA insurgency in northern Uganda.

The research, titled “Aguu: From Acholi Post War Street Youth and Children to a Criminal Gangs in Modern Day Gulu City, Uganda”, found that the initial groups of street children dubbed Aguu in Gulu came from families who lost access to their lands, night commuters and those who were uprooted from their land due to the LRA conflict.

The police have called for calm, saying those responsible will face the courts of law. “As we earlier on promised that those found culpable will be either summoned or arrested, we urge the general members of the public of Acholi to remain calm as we promise to have all those culpable brought to book so that justice prevails for all,” ASP Mudong said.

People like to argue that Uganda does not have beaches, but only lake shores. Bugala Island does not bother with that debate. The moment your feet sink into its soft white sand and Lake Victoria stretches wide and calm before you, definitions lose their urgency.

What remains is a feeling of warmth and a slow, deeply restful pace of life. You could say the beach experience does not get any better. Bugala Island lies among the Ssese Islands in Kalangala District, far enough from Entebbe’s busy waterfronts and Kampala’s traffic to feel like another world altogether.

This is an island that gently allows you to drift away. Even the journey prepares you for what awaits. Leaving Kampala, the road eases as you head towards Entebbe. The MV Kalangala departs daily from Nakiwogo, near Entebbe, at 2:00pm and arrives at Lutoboka Bay in Kalangala around 5:30pm.

Boarding begins earlier, around 1:00pm, and arriving early is advisable to secure a ticket, as the ferry carries both passengers and vehicles. The crossing itself is part of the experience. As you cruise across Lake Victoria, you are met by a cool, fresh breeze and quiet scenes of life on the water, birds gliding overhead, boats moving across the lake, and fishermen setting out or returning with the day’s catch.

On board, there are two sections: ordinary and VIP. Snacks, soft drinks, and hot beverages are available for purchase, and sometimes a movie or television programme plays to entertain travellers. Photography is allowed, and it is a good idea to keep your devices charged. Internet access is available for much of the trip, allowing you to stay connected, listen to music, watch a movie, or get some work done as the minutes melt away. For those in a hurry, other water transport options exist. Motorised canoes and privately operated speedboats can take you to Bugala in about an hour, roughly half the time of the public ferry.

Upon arrival, the air feels fresher and the sounds softer. If you arrange for your lodging to pick you up, keep the car windows open and take in the calls of birds from the trees, the gentle brushing of water along the shore, and leaves moving in rhythm with the lake breeze. The shorelines are wide and clean, and most properties offer direct views of and access to Lake Victoria.

You are free to walk barefoot along the beach, sit quietly by the shoreline, or take photographs as the sun rises or sets. If you choose to explore the island, short paths wind through thick greenery alive with birds and butterflies. Life on Bugala moves at an island pace. Breakfast does not have to be at dawn; you can linger, stretch the morning, or even request it to be served in bed.

Afternoons invite you to dissolve time by reading, swimming, or doing nothing at all. The lake is a constant companion; sometimes blue and bright, sometimes silver and still. If you are not directly supervising a construction site, you might give your phone a break, loosen its habitual pull, and open yourself to slow conversations.

Mid-morning and evening hours are especially inviting for light activities such as canoeing and kayaking, gliding across calm waters while reflections ripple beneath you. Swimming offers quiet relaxation, and fishing remains an enduring part of island life. Bugala provides privacy for couples, solitude without loneliness for solo travellers, and generous space for families. Children roam between sand and shade, while parents rediscover the pleasure of unhurried time together.

ABOUT BUGALA ISLAND

Location: Bugala Island, part of the Ssese Islands, Kalangala District, on Lake Victoria. Getting there: From Kampala, you will head to Entebbe and to Nakiwogo Landing site, from where you can board MV Kalangala at 2pm or use a private speedboat from Nakiwogo to Bugala Island. You will part with Shs10,000 for the ordinary class and Shs14,000 for first class (VIP) per person. The ferry has space for you to travel with your car. You will be charged Shs50,000 for a saloon car and Shs20,000 for a motorcycle.

You can buy tickets at the pier before departure, though vehicles might need booking. The speedboat fare is anywhere from Shs400,000 to Shs700,000 per person, varying by group size and season. Where to stay: For mid to high mid-range, Brovad Sands Lodge has rooms from Shs300,000 with amenities including a swimming pool and spa options. Ssese Island Beach Hotel, Mirembe Resort Beach Hotel, and Victoria Forest Resort have rooms from Shs250,000 per person a night.

Things to do and fees: Canoeing or kayaking costs from Shs50,000 per hour, boat cruise or sunset ride costs from Shs150,000 per person, guided nature walk and birdwatching are charged from Shs50,000, half-day fishing from Shs250,000 per person, and horse riding from Shs100,000 per hour. Family and child-friendly: Open beaches and shaded spaces for play, calm shoreline for supervised swimming, and nature walks that double as learning experiences.

What to pack: both light clothing and swimwear, comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen and insect repellent, a book, a journal, or a board game.

Police in Kayunga District dispersed a group of angry residents who had stormed the Resident District Commissioner’s (RDC) office on Wednesday, protesting against Ms Mariam Seguya’s continued occupation of the office despite her alleged transfer.

The protesters, mostly youths claiming to be NRM supporters, alleged that Seguya had been transferred to Luweero District but was still occupying the office and transacting RDC work.

wz”The RDC was recently transferred to Luweero District, what is she still doing in this office? Let her go and we get a new one,” one protester shouted.

The protesters, who did not provide reasons for their protest, claimed they were concerned NRM supporters. Seguya, the daughter of late Ahmed Seguya, a first NRA bush war commander, is a native of the district and has often expressed pride in working in Kayunga, her home district.

However, Seguya dismissed reports of her transfer, saying, “I didn’t deploy myself here in Kayunga District as RDC. If the appointing authority transfers me, I will leave but I cannot just leave.” She wondered why some people were fighting, saying, “Those are malicious acts and whoever is behind them is doing so for selfish interests.”

Seguya vowed to continue working despite the protests. “If I was transferred as they allege, let them show you my replacement with his or her appointment letter,” she said.

The protesters, who had gathered outside the RDC’s office, dispersed after police officers from the nearby Kayunga Central Police Station ordered them to leave, boarding a waiting truck. The Kayunga district police commander, Mr Hussein Mugarura, declined to comment on the matter.

President Museveni has raised concern over Uganda’s housing deficit while commissioning a Shs418 million skilling hub in Tororo District.

The project, established by the Rotary Club of Innsbruck, Austria, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Uganda, honours the late Rotary International president-elect Sam Owori.

Through a message delivered by Vice President Jessica Alupo, Museveni revealed that the country faces a shortfall of more than two million housing units and praised the hub for supporting government efforts to spur socioeconomic transformation and improve living conditions.

‘Vocational training is one of the key concepts that the NRM government has put emphasis on,’ the president said, adding: ‘Since 1986, our message has centred on ensuring every adult in Uganda has an area of economic specialization that earns them money.’

Museveni traced Uganda’s focus on productivity to pre-colonial systems, where communities encouraged members to join productive groups such as blacksmiths, carpenters, and clay makers.

He said contemporary households must adopt manageable enterprises in commercial agriculture, manufacturing, and goods and services to eliminate poverty and unemployment.

‘Some youth have gone into offering services like boda boda, taxis and music,’ Museveni noted, ‘but we need to encourage them to join manufacturing to stop importation of textiles, electronics, leather, alcohol, and beverages that can easily be made locally.’

He emphasized that skilling hubs would transform the youth from being a liability to an asset, spurring the economy through import substitution and export promotion. ‘Now that we have enough electricity, good roads, peace and security, the government is prioritising industrialisation to cut down costs associated with excessive importation,’ he said.

Museveni warned that importing goods means exporting both money and employment, leaving Ugandans jobless, and stressed that local industries would create jobs and generate taxes to fund development projects.

The Paramount Cultural Leader of the Tieng Adhola Cultural Institution, Kwar Adhola Moses Stephen Owor, welcomed the initiative, highlighting that Tororo’s high poverty levels require projects targeting mindset change.

‘Once communities acquire life skills and put them into practical use, they will not remain the same. This will position beneficiaries to be job creators,’ he observed.

Tororo Municipality MP Yeri Apollo Ofwono urged government support to expand the hub, allowing it to serve the wider Bukedi South region.

Evelyn Francis Aguti, programmes director at Habitat for Humanity Uganda, explained that the hub will train masons in twist block making and construction to help address Uganda’s housing deficit.

The event also saw participation from Tororo South MP Frederick Angura and Budama North MP Max Ochai, among others.

Kenya and Uganda’s newly-signed Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on agricultural produce is a diplomatic document with potentially wider ramifications on regional trade and food security. Signed in Lusaka on December 4, 2025, on the sidelines of the 46th COMESA Council of Ministers meeting, it commits the two East African neighbours to recognise each other’s inspection, testing and certification of staple foods. In a region where non-tariff barriers, not tariffs, now do most of the work in blocking trade, that formal shift from suspicion to structured trust is significant.

And the timing matters because across Eastern and Southern Africa, droughts, currency weakness, and conflict are pushing up food prices, even as governments promise that the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will open regional markets.

Non-tariff barriers

Up to 70 percent of reported non-tariff barriers in the COMESA region stem from technical regulations and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. The Kenya-Uganda MRA is one of the first attempts to address this problem at its source, by aligning how countries assess whether food is safe and meets the agreed standards.

COMESA reckons that the agreement is a key outcome of the ‘Enhancing Regional Agricultural Commodity Trade in COMESA’ project, backed by the agriculture development agency, AGRA and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). It focuses on maize, groundnuts, soybeans, rice, beans and sorghum – the six heavily traded staples in the region.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry, Lee Kinyanjui, and Uganda’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Francis Mwebesa, signed the pact in Lusaka with the COMESA Secretary General as the witness.

In practical terms, a mutual recognition agreement on conformity assessment means that, once the deal is fully implemented, test results and certificates issued by recognised laboratories and authorities in Kampala will be accepted by officials in Nairobi, and vice versa.

Instead of re-sampling a consignment of maize at the border and sending it for new tests, customs and SPS officers will rely on existing certificates, as long as they were issued under agreed standard operating procedures and within trusted systems.

This goes to a core friction that has, for years, slowed down regional food trade. Even where countries already share regional standards, they often do not trust each other’s enforcement. For example, maize imported into Kenya from East African Community partners must comply with the East Africa Standard EAS 2:2013, which sets limits on moisture, aflatoxin and grain quality. Yet consignments are still subjected to repeated sampling and testing on both sides of the border, raising costs and causing delays, particularly for small traders.

Research by COMESA and partners has recently shown how costly these frictions can be. One policy brief cites work in the East African Community, which found that non-tariff barriers account for about 35 percent of the total cost of moving maize across borders.

Eliminating those barriers could generate social welfare gains estimated at U$2.3 billion in Kenya, US$0.8 billion in Uganda and US$1.8 billion in Tanzania in maize and beef value chains alone.

A separate COMESA-linked analysis notes that SPS and technical measures make up the majority of reported non-tariff barriers in the bloc.

The political fallout from past food safety disputes helps explain why the new agreement is significant. In 2021, Kenya imposed a sudden ban on maize imports from Tanzania and Uganda, citing high levels of aflatoxin contamination. The East African Law Society branded the move a violation of EAC protocols and described it as yet another non-tariff barrier undermining regional integration.

Long queues of trucks formed at border posts, and traders complained of lost income and wasted stocks. While the new MRA does not stop either government from acting in a crisis, it creates a shared framework that should make unilateral bans harder to justify if trusted systems are in place.

The Lusaka signing also crowns a long and uneven technical journey. COMESA’s first attempt at a mutual recognition framework for aflatoxin-safe maize between 2015 and 2017 built common sampling protocols, laboratory proficiency testing schemes and grading systems, but collapsed before any agreements were signed, largely when funding ended.

In 2021, COMESA, AGRA and the UK’s FCDO relaunched the effort on a broader footing, covering six countries (Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and six commodities. Under that project, experts developed and validated core ‘pillars’ for mutual recognition to include harmonised sampling and inspection protocols, agreed test methods, a regional testing scheme for laboratories, and common grading criteria for grains.

In effect, this work aimed to prove that labs in Nairobi and Kampala could generate comparable results, and that inspectors were working to the same rules at silos, warehouses and border posts.

Even with those technical foundations, politics proved a drag. COMESA’s own policy brief notes that getting MRAs cleared and signed has taken more than four years, slowed by the political nature of legal vetting and the failure to fully fund key governance bodies such as the project steering and technical committees. The Kenya-Uganda deal, and an earlier MRA between Malawi and Zambia signed in Lusaka, suggest those bottlenecks are now easing, but they also show why implementation cannot be taken for granted.

The new agreement is, therefore, best read as a bridge between technical alignment and real-world trade. If it works as intended, a trader moving a truck of maize or beans from Uganda into Kenya will face fewer duplicative tests and shorter waiting times at the border.

The direct savings are fees for laboratory tests and inspections. The indirect gains are lower spoilage, fewer informal payments and more predictable delivery schedules. For small and medium-sized enterprises, which COMESA identifies as central to regional economy, those margins can decide whether cross-border trade is viable.

There are, however, reasons for caution. A recent study on SPS barriers under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) highlights persistent weaknesses in African non-tariff barriers, including inconsistent legal frameworks, under-resourced regulators and limited infrastructure such as accredited labs and cold storage.

These structural gaps mean that, even with an MRA, enforcement at busy border posts like Busia and Malaba could remain uneven. Some officials may continue to re-test consignments out of habit or fear of blame if something goes wrong, while traders may struggle to secure certificates from recognised labs in rural areas.

Food safety advocates also worry that mutual recognition can be misused to lower standards if governments recognise each other’s systems before they are fully equivalent. That means the credibility of the Kenya-Uganda arrangement will depend on how rigorously these safeguards are applied, and how transparent governments are about lab performance and incident reporting.

Meanwhile, the digital side of the agenda remains unfinished. One of the original project objectives was to design and pilot an electronic MRA system, embedded in COMESA’s planned Digital Free Trade Area and regional single window. That would allow certificates and test results to move electronically, reducing the scope for forgery and easing verification.

Yet project documents note that work on this ‘e-MRA’ has lagged, partly because the broader COMESA digital trade infrastructure is still under development and partly because partners agreed to get the legal agreements in place first.

Ultimately, the Kenya-Uganda signals to other COMESA States that political leaders are willing to sign what technocrats have spent years preparing. If more pairs of countries follow, the bloc could gradually stitch together a web of mutual recognition arrangements that, in effect, create a zone of trusted standards for key staples across Eastern and Southern Africa. And in the broader AfCFTA context, this is one of the more concrete examples of how regional economic communities can advance continental goals.

But even with the agreement signing milestone, parliamentarians and line ministries in Nairobi and Kampala still need to domesticate the MRA into national law and practice. Border agencies must train staff, update manuals and align internal incentives so that officers actually rely on recognised certificates. If, over the next two to three seasons, traders report fewer disputes over test results, shorter clearance times and lower costs, the Kenya-Uganda MRA will stand as proof that technical cooperation can move the dial on food security.

Public debt continued to rise in the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, largely driven by increased public expenditure, even as government attempts to keep borrowing in check.

The Debt Statistical Bulletin and Public Debt Portfolio Analysis published on Tuesday by the Ministry of Finance shows the stock of public debt rose to Shs119.4 trillion ($34.2b) in the three months to September, a 2.5 percent increase from Shs116.19 trillion ($32.3b) in June.

In dollar terms, external debt rose during the review period, but in shilling terms it declined due to exchange-rate movements. External debt stock rose from $15.54b in June to $15.89b, while in shillings, external debt reduced from Shs55.85 trillion to Shs55.44 trillion, due to appreciation of the shilling against the dollar during the period.

The Ministry of Finance noted that external debt rose mainly because the disbursements of $590.84m exceeded principal repayments of $277.52m.

A major contributor was Afrexim Bank’s budget financing of $316m, disbursed in the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. The report also notes that exchange-rate effects added about $30m to the external debt stock.

Despite the rise in nominal external debt, external debt as a share of GDP fell from 24.7 percent to 24.3 percent, largely due to the appreciation of the shilling (from 3,594.6 per dollar at end-June to 3,490 at end-September) and an upward revision of the 2024/25 financial year nominal GDP figures by Ubos in October.

Domestic debt rose sharply, reflecting heavier reliance on Treasury securities, with the stock surging to Shs63.94 trillion ($18.3b) from Shs60.34 trillion ($16.8b) in June due to higher financing requirements, with a notable shift toward longer-term borrowing.

Between June and September, government issued domestic securities worth Shs6.057 trillion, of which Shs2.692 trillion (44.4 percent) were Treasury bills and Shs3.365 trillion (55.6 percent) bonds, which aligns with government’s strategy to issue more long-term debt.

The cost of servicing debt also increased over the review period, with interest payments to GDP rising from 4.4 percent to 4.7 percent. Domestic interest payments increased from 3.8 percent to 4.1 percent of GDP, while external interest costs remained broadly stable at 0.6 percent of GDP.

Ministry of Finance reported that average interest on total debt remained around 8.6 percent, with external loans staying largely concessional at 2.3 percent and domestic debt remaining high at an average of 14.5 percent.

Fixed-rate debt accounted for 63.81 percent ($10.14b), variable-rate (20.51 percent, $3.26b), and no-interest-rate (15.69 percent, $2.29b).

Fixed-rate and no-interest debt shares fell slightly, while variable-rate debt increased, largely attributed to disbursements including $316m (Afrexim Bank), $5.12m (AfDB), and $0.65m (Standard Bank).

Among bilateral variable-rate creditors, China held the largest stock ($779.01m), followed by commercial creditors such as Standard Bank ($727.6m) and Afrexim ($631.18m). Under multilateral creditors, the African Development Bank contributed $386.71 million to variable-rate debt.

Friday morning’s clash between Gladiators and Blasters is the final chance to keep the Maxx T20 Challenge Cup alive as a contest.

Victory for Kenneth Waiswa’s Blasters seals the title with a game to spare, but a Gladiators win would drag the race into the final day, opening the door to net run rate calculations and late drama at Entebbe Oval on Sunday.

Gladiators arrive for this fixture riding momentum rather than comfort. Their 34-run victory over Strikers Thursday morning was not pretty, but it was purposeful.

Grinding it out

Defending a modest 104, they bowled with discipline, fielded sharply and showed the kind of collective urgency that defines teams still fighting for relevance late in a tournament.

On a sluggish surface, Gladiators’ batting was about accumulation rather than dominance. Suleman Sharif (25) provided early resistance, while Paul Mulongo’s unbeaten 24 ensured the innings held together. The late burst from Musa Majid Ramathan (18) pushed the total past 100 – not imposing, but defendable with intent.

Bowling blueprint

The win was built by the ball. Aziz Abdul Tandia (1/6 in 4 overs), Suleman Sharif (2/13 in 4 overs) and Ramathan (2/11) strangled the Strikers through the middle overs, while Edwin Nuwagaba (2/6 in 1.5overs) cleaned up the tail. That same discipline will be essential against a Blasters side stacked with top-order firepower.

Who must deliver

To unsettle the table-toppers, Gladiators will look to Dan Keith Amani (135), their leading run-scorer, for stability at the top, while Mulongo (121 runs)’s calm finishing has become increasingly valuable.

With the ball, Tandia (12 wickets) and Nuwagaba (11 wickets) must strike early to disrupt Blasters’ rhythm, particularly against in-form batters Simon Ssesazi (279 runs) and Charles Musemeza (209 runs).

MAXX T20 CHALLENGE CUP

Result

Gladiators 104/7 | Strikers 70/10

Gladiators won by 34 Runs

Warriors 146/7 Titans 114/8

Warriors won by 32 runs

Fixtures – Friday

Gladiators vs. Blasters – 10am

Titans vs. Royals – 2pm

Maj Gen (Rtd) Mugisha Muntu, presidential candidate for the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), has assured President Museveni of maximum security and full retirement benefits if he agrees to a peaceful handover of power ahead of the January 15, 2026, elections.

Speaking during a campaign tour on Thursday in Kisoro, a district bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Muntu said Museveni fears prosecution for alleged crimes if he relinquishes power.

‘The reason President Museveni is unwilling to relinquish power is his fear of revenge and prosecution for alleged crimes,’ Muntu told supporters.

He promised that an ANT-led government would protect Museveni and guarantee all privileges due to a former head of state.

Muntu criticised the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) for perpetuating poverty in Kisoro despite strong voter support, citing poor healthcare, failing schools, deteriorating roads, and limited electricity.

He highlighted Uganda’s natural resources, including oil, gold, cobalt, and uranium, and blamed annual corruption losses of over Shs10 trillion for citizens’ suffering.

Describing himself as a strategic leader focused on long-term institution-building rather than populist theatrics, Muntu urged voters to choose change in 2026.

Residents at the rallies cited high taxes, poor school performance, hospital extortion, cross-border challenges, and harassment of small traders by local authorities.

In Bunagana Town Council, near the DR Congo border, Muntu called for regional and international action to resolve prolonged conflicts in eastern DRC, including recent escalations by the M23 rebel group.

He appealed to the East African Community (EAC) and neighbouring countries to act collectively, noting that the DRC borders five EAC member states whose trade is disrupted by instability.

Muntu also pledged to revive Kisoro’s neglected tourism sector, particularly gorilla tracking, which attracts numerous visitors annually.

‘I urge immediate improvement in the tourism sector, which has been ignored despite Kisoro hosting many tourists,’ he said.

Campaigning alongside ANT’s Bufumbira South parliamentary candidate Adam Munyambabazi, Muntu promised a government based on integrity, accountability, and competence, free from bribery and nepotism.

He urged voters to reject vote-buying and embrace transparent leadership.

The campaign tour began in Kyanika Town Council, proceeded to Nyarusiza Sub-county, and concluded in Bunagana Town Council. Poor roads prevented a rally in Kisoro Municipality, according to district ANT administrator Laban Niyongabo.

Muntu, a former military chief, is among seven opposition candidates challenging Museveni’s bid to extend his rule beyond 40 years in the 2026 election, a race that also includes former presidential challenger Bobi Wine.