Category: Daily Monitor

President Museveni has blamed poor road conditions and low safe water coverage in Kassanda District on opposition leadership, urging residents to vote for the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) in the 2026 general election.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Bukuya Subcounty on December 17, 2025, Museveni cited figures showing that only 34% of Kassanda’s 569 villages have access to safe water.

‘About 66% of our people have no safe water in Kassanda District. I have now learnt that you people made a mistake to elect opposition leaders. Don’t elect the opposition again,’ he told residents ahead of next year’s election.

Museveni, who has been in power since 1986 and seeks another five-year term in the January 15, 2026 vote, also criticised local MPs and top district officials for failing to raise road maintenance concerns with the central government.

‘For the roads funds, where each district gets at least Shs1 billion annually, nobody among the District leaders raised the matter about the need for additional funding, the roads remain impassable. If the roads maintenance required additional funding, the government would have found a solution for some of the roads,’ he said.

The Ugandan leader highlighted that Kassanda, unlike other districts, has no direct tarmac road but assured residents that the Myanzi-Kassanda-Bukuya-Kiboga Road will be upgraded, despite delays.

‘The people that you have been sending to Parliament have been hindering progress for some of the projects. The guerrilla fighters know the best way of winning a war. You don’t hurriedly attack without planning. This has been the major problem with some of these members of Parliament,’ Museveni observed.

The president also outlined government plans to extend electricity from the district headquarters to sub-counties, covering artisan miners in Bukuya and other areas.

He promised to upgrade schools and health units while implementing the Parish Development Model (PDM) to promote household wealth creation.

‘Development is for all while wealth is for individuals. The Parish Development Model is supposed to facilitate the families to access wealth at household level. We shall ensure that all our people engage in wealth creation programs for better livelihoods,’ he said, warning that those who misappropriate PDM funds are ‘cursed.’

Kassanda District NRM Chairperson Dr Michael Bukenya raised concerns over electricity distribution and land disputes affecting residents, including artisan miners, calling for special government attention.

Residents described ongoing land conflicts with Caleb Ssendagire from Kitongo Village telling Monitor that: ‘We have experienced attacks from people that claim to own this land. Several homesteads have been attacked by goons and property destroyed. We have moved to different offices, seeking help with less success.’

Another resident, Abdul Sseninde, added that threats continued despite prior government interventions through a meeting by lands minister Judith Nabakooba in 2024.

The 2024 census put Kassanda’s population at 314,008, with the updated voter register showing 155,739 voters in 2025, up from 134,798 in 2021.

In the 2021 election, Museveni secured 37,265 votes (44.7%) while his closest challenger Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alias Bobi Wine, won 44,990 votes (53.96%) in the district.

Police in eastern Uganda’s Buyende District are investigating a shocking domestic assault in which two women allegedly cut off their husband’s genitals, marking the fifth such incident in Buyende and Kamuli districts over the past four years.

The incident occurred in Butayunjwa B Village, Buyanja Sub-County, where Mr Robert Bebwa, 51, Vice Chairperson LC I of the village, was reportedly attacked by his two wives, Esther Naluvuma, 44, and Norah Nakayunja, 51.

Authorities say investigations are ongoing to determine the full circumstances of the assault.

Speaking from Kidera Health Centre IV, where he is receiving treatment, Bebwa said the attack followed accusations of infidelity.

‘This was a calculated move by my wives. They put aside their differences and attacked me, accusing me of cheating on them,’ he said on Wednesday.

According to Bebwa, the suspects used a sharp object, causing severe injuries and heavy bleeding. He admitted to an extramarital affair but expressed shock at the severity of the assault.

Bebwa also criticized his wife Nakayunja, saying he had married her out of sympathy after meeting her at a bar, a decision he now deeply regrets.

Medical staff at Kidera Health Centre IV said Bebwa’s injuries did not cause permanent nerve damage, and he is responding well, with a full recovery expected. Despite the attack, he expressed a desire to reconcile with his wives for the sake of their eleven children.

‘We have lived together for many years, and I cannot raise the children alone. Healing and reconciliation are important for their future,’ he said.

Busoga North Police spokesperson, Mr Samson Lubega, confirmed both women have been arrested and are in custody to aid investigations. He condemned domestic violence and urged couples to resolve disputes through lawful and peaceful channels, including police family units, community leaders, or accredited organizations.

Past incidents

The incident is the fifth reported case in Buyende and Kamuli districts in the past four years involving women allegedly mutilating their husbands’ genitals:

On June 6, 2025, A one Rehema allegedly mutilated her 60-year-old husband, Richard Masanka, in Busoigo Cell, Kamuli, after discovering he had a child outside their relationship.

On February 18, 2025, Kevin Nabirye cut off Mathias Bwamiki’s genitals over alleged infidelity and was later sentenced to 20 years for attempted murder. On June 10, 2024, Susan Namuganza allegedly mutilated Moses Kawubanya in Busana Village, Kamuli District, and is now serving a 15-year sentence.

In 2022, Madina Namuwaya allegedly mutilated her husband Abdallah Ibinga in Buyende District; he received treatment at Mulago Hospital, and the couple later reconciled and had two sets of twins.

Uganda is widely praised as one of the world’s most welcoming refugee hosts, opening its borders to families fleeing war and instability in South Sudan, DR Congo, Somalia, Burundi and beyond. But behind this celebrated policy lies a quieter crisis-one unfolding daily in classrooms where refugee children struggle to understand a single word.

For many young refugees, whose schooling was in Arabic, French, or local dialects, Uganda’s English-only education system feels like a locked door. Before they can grasp a lesson, make a friend or answer a question, some are already falling behind, others quietly drop out altogether.

Teachers and humanitarian organisations warn that without urgent, targeted language-bridging programmes, these children risk being permanently left behind, academically and socially, unable to fully integrate into school life or the communities meant to shelter them.

This concern comes as Windle International Uganda (WIU), in partnership with UNHCR and Makerere University’s School of Languages, Literature and Communication, concluded a 10-day specialised training for English teachers from Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement. Funded by the Mastercard Foundation, the programme equips teachers with practical skills to support learners who arrive in Uganda with little or no English.

Mr Muhamood Kimera, Education Programme Manager at Windle International Uganda, says the organisation is running two critical language interventions in Kiryandongo: English for Adults (EFA) and a language-bridging programme for school-going children, designed to run alongside Uganda’s English-based curriculum.

‘These language training services support productivity within the settlement,’ Mr Kimera explained. ‘Most of these refugees come from Sudan, where Arabic is dominant. To integrate into Ugandan society, and to support their children in school, they must at least understand English.’

He added that many learners in both primary and secondary school previously studied under the Sudanese curriculum in Arabic.

‘Now they are in Uganda and want an education, but language is their biggest barrier,’ he said. ‘That is why the bridging programme runs before and after normal school hours, helping learners acquire English while continuing with the Ugandan curriculum.’

Last Friday, Makerere University concluded training for 10 teachers of English, equipping them with tools to better support refugee learners in Kiryandongo. However, the scale of need remains overwhelming. Kimera revealed that the adult programme alone has 364 learners, but only four teachers due to limited funding.

In the absence of adequate support, some students have turned to technology to survive lessons.

‘As teachers teach in English, some Sudanese learners use AI applications on their phones to instantly translate lessons into Arabic,’ Kimera said.

For teachers, the training has been transformative. Mr Charles Rubangakene, a teacher of English at Kiryandongo High School and a beneficiary of the programme, said it has completely reshaped how educators handle linguistically diverse classrooms.

‘This programme has changed our perception,’ he said. ‘It has equipped us with new ways of teaching learners from different cultures and countries.’

Mr Rubangakene added that the training has helped teachers properly assess and place learners with limited English into appropriate classes.

‘We studied approaches such as translanguaging, communicative methods, teaching sounds, and drawing from learners’ lived experiences,’ he explained. ‘We are not the same teachers we were before. This has opened us up to teaching in truly multicultural settings.’

Associate Prof Saudah Namyalo, dean, School of Languages, Literature and Communication at Makerere University, said the university is developing instructional materials for beginner, elementary and intermediate learners to support both bridging courses and adult English programmes.

‘We hope these materials will make your work easier and more effective,’ Prof Namyalo said. ‘And we are committed to supporting this process.’

She also encouraged teachers to continue upgrading their qualifications through Makerere University’s mature-age entry programmes and to invest in continuous research, because for refugee learners, every word learned is a step closer to belonging.

A new assessment by SOS Children’s Villages under the Grow Equal Project has revealed limited consideration of gender equality and social inclusion in district action plans and budgets in Kabarole and Kamwenge districts. The survey reveals gaps that continue to undermine the effective implementation of development programmes.

The assessment, conducted by the Fort Portal Office, covered Harungogo, Hakibaale and Mugusu sub-counties in Kabarole District, as well as Nkoma Katalyeba Sub-county in Kamwenge District.

It found that district and sub-county budgets remain largely general, with few specific allocations for gender and disability-responsive initiatives. As a result, the needs of women, girls and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) are not adequately prioritised.

Ms Damalie Irienge, the Family Strengthening Programme Coordinator at SOS Children’s Villages office in Fort Portal, said sub-county budgets do not provide for disability inclusion measures such as accessible infrastructure and inclusive education.

‘There are no budget allocations for initiatives that promote women’s economic empowerment, such as entrepreneurship programmes, which are centrally implemented. Capacity-building activities to support green economy initiatives are also limited, and resources for gender-responsive interventions at the sub-county level remain inadequate,’ Ms Irienge said during a dissemination meeting in Fort Portal City last week.

According to the 2024 National Housing Census, 1.4 million persons aged two years and above live with disabilities, representing a prevalence rate of 3.4 percent. Disability prevalence is higher among females (3.6 percent) than males (3.2 percent).

Ms Irienge also revealed that closing the gaps requires the deliberate integration of gender and disability considerations into planning and budgeting processes. She called for budget allocations that reflect the needs of women, girls and PWDs, including funding for accessible infrastructure in public spaces and buildings.

The report also noted that despite ongoing efforts to promote the inclusion of women and girls in climate change and green economy initiatives, less than five percent of the town council budgets in Rwamwanja and Nkoma Katalyeba Sub-county is allocated to gender-related activities.

Women continue to face risks from environmental degradation due to their roles in water collection, subsistence farming and care-giving. Ms Irienge called for the development and enforcement of local by-laws that promote gender equality and the inclusion of PWDs in the green economy.

‘Women-led green initiatives in Uganda face a multi-layered funding crisis. Only five percent of the total budget from the Gender ministry is directed towards gender equality initiatives. Local governments are underfunded, including for gender-responsive activities. Our call is for all local governments to allocate at least 10 percent of their development budgets to gender-responsive initiatives,’ Ms Irienge said.

In Kamwenge District, the assessment identified the absence of a clear framework to ensure consistent engagement with different gender groups, particularly vulnerable women and PWDs.

The report recommended increased resource allocation to gender and inclusion initiatives, including training programmes, accessible infrastructure and social protection systems. In Uganda, the government provides specific grants for women and PWDs through programmes managed at district and local government levels.

These include the National Special Grant for PWDs, which provides start-up capital for income-generating activities, and the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP), which offers interest-free credit to women’s groups.

However, women and PWDs from the assessed communities said despite government interventions, funding remains limited and few people benefit. They called on district leaders to increase budget allocations.

Ms Sarah Kabonesa, a smallholder farmer from Hakibaale Sub-county in Kabarole District, said women remain excluded from decision-making despite being most affected by climate change.

‘We are the ones who fetch water, grow food and care for our families, yet our needs are never reflected in the budgets. When there is drought or flooding, women suffer the most,’ she said.

In Mugusu Sub-county, Kabarole District, women engaged in informal income-generating activities said limited access to funding and skills training continues to trap them in poverty.

‘We hear about green economy projects, but women are rarely trained or supported to benefit. If budgets included funds for women’s groups, many of us would start small businesses,’ said Ms Agnes Nyamwasa, a member of a village savings group.

PWDs also raised concerns about the lack of accessible infrastructure and inclusion in development programmes. Mr John Turyamureeba, a wheelchair user from Harungogo Sub-county, said exclusion remains a major barrier.

‘Public offices and meeting places are not accessible to us. When budgets ignore disability inclusion, it means we are automatically locked out,’ he said.

Police in Uganda’s Kigezi region are investigating two separate deaths, including a suspected murder-suicide in Rukungiri District and the killing of a 17-year-old student in neighbouring Rukiga District.

In Rukungiri, authorities said a man allegedly killed his wife before taking his own life by suspected poisoning.

The deceased were identified as Theodoro Tumwekwase and his wife, Bonniconcila Nduhukire, residents of Kamuzinzi Village, Nyabushenyi Parish, Nyarushanje Sub-county.

‘It is alleged that the couple has been having domestic issues for a long time and on December 15, they spent the whole [day] quarreling in loud voices and the man was heard saying that he was going to kill a person and later kill himself,’ said Elly Maate, Kigezi police spokesman, on Wednesday.

A family friend, Peace Arituha, found the home open with the radio playing and no response from the occupants.

Upon checking the house, she discovered Nduhukire lying in a pool of blood with a deep cut on her neck and raised alarm, attracting neighbours.

Maate said the area LC1 chairman, Apollo Kamagara, reported the incident to Kiyenje police station, prompting officers from Rukungiri Central Police Station to visit the scene.

‘Upon reaching the scene of crime, it was discovered that Tumwekwase had also taken suspected poison and was lying under the coffee tree near their home in an unconscious state. He was taken to Rwamahwa Health Center IV for treatment where he was pronounced dead on December 17 at around 0050hrs. The two bodies were taken to Buyanja Health III mortuary for postmortem,’ Maate explained in a statement.

In a separate case in Rukiga District, police are investigating the death of 17-year-old Edward Mugarura, a student at Kihanga Secondary School.

His body was found on December 17 lying by the roadside in Nyakatungunda Village, Nyakarambi Parish, Rwamucucu Sub-county.

‘It is alleged that on December 16 at around 2200hrs, Mugarura was at a local bar in Sindi ward of Mparo Town Council drinking alcohol with friends. When it was time for departure, some boys known to the bar attendant followed him on a motorcycle while smoking cigarettes. On December 17 at around 0900hrs, his body was found lying on the roadside,’ Maate said.

Police discovered bruises and a swollen head, showing signs of beating.

A canine unit led investigators to the Ampumuza Gerald bar, resulting in the arrest of seven people, including the bar owner and attendants, to assist in the investigation.

Mugarura’s body was taken to Kabale Regional Referral Hospital for examination.

The 2024 annual police crime report suggested that at least 25 lives are lost to murder or road crashes in Uganda every day.

Record 17-time league champions SC Villa play their final game against bottom side Calvary on Wednesday before heading into the month-long Afcon break.

They start match-day 11 in third place just three points off leaders KCCA in what can be described as a decent start to the season.

The same can however not be said about arguably their best player over the past two seasons in Patrick Kakande.

The playmaker is yet to start a game for the Jogoos with the situation unlikely to change at lease until next year according to his coach Željko Kovacevic.

‘Kakande is a player who is in our plans but he did not do preseason with the team and when he returned he got injured,’ Kovacevic responded when asked about the player’s absence after a recent game.

Kakande missed pre-season as he alongside Reagan Mpande and Arnold Odong featured for the Chan team.

While Mpande was quickly reintegrated into the team a muscle injury saw Kakande, the 2024 league MVP miss the first five games.

Matters have not been helped by a change in playing style at the club with Kovacevic championing the collective effort instead of reliance on individual brilliance.

The approach has brought the best in a number of players with Najib Yiga, Hassan Mubiru and Aslam Ssemakula thriving and also contributing defensively whenever the team is not in possession.

Even the departure of Reagan Mpande has not translated into a starting role for Kakande with the coach using natural centre forwards Frank Ssebuufu, Charles Lwanga and Andrew Otim.

According to close sources at the club, Kakande also did not do any favours with his situation when he left a team camp without communicating and was reportedly fined by the club in November.

It however still remains a mystery that players such as former Proline forward Jerome Otim seem to have gone ahead of Kakande.

Otim was the final substitute in Villa’s 3-1 win over URA as Kakande remained an unused substitute.

It remains to be seen whether Kakande who signed a two-year contract extension at the start of the season can force his way into the side during the month-long break.

UPL Fixtures – Wednesday

Maroons vs Express, 4pm

Mbarara City vs URA, 4pm

Lugazi FC vs Vipers SC, 4pm

SC Villa vs Calvary FC, 8pm

Ms Patricia Aceng Ogwang, an Independent candidate for Lira City Woman Member of Parliament, has withdrawn from the 2026 parliamentary race, citing a desire to preserve unity within the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and avoid divisions ahead of the elections.

“I have decided to withdraw from the race to maintain party unity and avoid any divisions that may arise during the elections,” Aceng said in a statement. “I believe it is essential to prioritize the interests of the party and the people of Lira City at this critical time.”

Aceng’s decision has left the stage to two heavyweights: Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the incumbent MP and Minister of Health, and Betty Amongi, the Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development.

Dr Aceng sees Aceng Ogwang’s withdrawal as a boost to her campaign, as she is the NRM’s preferred candidate.

“I am confident that my experience and dedication to the people of Lira City make me the best candidate for the job,” Dr Aceng said. “I have been working tirelessly to improve the lives of our people, and I will continue to do so if re-elected.”

Amongi, on the other hand, has expressed confidence in her bid, claiming she already commands over 80 per cent support on the ground.

“I have been working tirelessly to address the needs of the people, and I believe my efforts will pay off come election time,” Amongi said. “I am committed to serving the people of Lira City and working towards their economic empowerment, infrastructure development, and social development.”

With less than a month to the polls, both candidates are combing Lira City in search of votes, preaching about economic empowerment, infrastructure development, and social development.

Lira City has a population of 245,132 people, including 112,439 males and 132,693 females, according to the 2024 National Population and Housing Census. At least 111,772 people registered for the 2021 general election.

Betty Amongi is a seasoned politician with experience in international relations and diplomatic studies, political science, and gender and development studies. She has worked to defend the rights of women and has been involved in global campaigns on peace and security.

Dr Jane Ruth Aceng is a pediatrician expert with vast experience in healthcare management and policy-making. She has served in various roles, including Medical Officer, Senior Medical Officer, and Director General Health Services, before becoming the Minister of Health.

The election is expected to be a closely contested one, with both candidates vying for the support of the people of Lira City.

June 2025 didn’t just close a quarter; it sketched the first clear outline of where Uganda’s attention was piling up online.

In the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) Market Performance Report for the quarter ending June, the country’s social-bundle economy looked like a fast-moving convoy: WhatsApp (9.2 million users) and TikTok (8.8 million) out front, YouTube (6.1 million) holding the middle, and a smaller chase pack; Snapchat (2.2 million), Instagram (1.5 million), X (1.1 million) and Netflix (0.2 million), trying to keep up.

By September, the convoy had picked up speed, with WhatsApp surging to 10 million users, TikTok (9.3 million), and YouTube (6.3 million), reinforcing a pattern that has become hard to ignore: Uganda’s online attention is increasingly concentrated in messaging and video, especially short-form video.

However, UCC does not capture Facebook’s performance, even though it has historically been one of the country’s biggest social platforms. Officially, Facebook has remained blocked since early 2021, even as many users still access it through VPNs.

Within the platforms that are tracked, the September picture also shows a widening spread between the leaders and the rest. Snapchat rose to 2.5 million, while Instagram slipped from 1.5 million in June to 1.3 million. X dropped more sharply, from 1.1 million to 0.7 million, and Netflix halved from 0.2 million to 0.1 million.

Combined reach

Put together, these platforms deliver a combined ‘reach’ that rose from 29.1 million subscribers in June to 30.2 million in September, a gain of 1.1 million. For advertisers, this shows the ‘big-stage’ audience is getting bigger.

WhatsApp’s growth signals expanding reach for direct-to-consumer communication, customer care, and commerce via chat. TikTok’s rise signals a bigger arena for discovery, persuasion, and impulse buying powered by creators and short videos.

YouTube’s steady gains underline a parallel appetite for longer-form explainers, entertainment, and instructional content. The contraction on Instagram and X points to a quiet shift away from older platforms toward formats that reward speed, video, and private distribution.

The shift matters because it changes what ‘visibility’ looks like. A product launch that once lived on a Facebook page and Instagram grid now has to travel through creators, comments, shares, duets, forwards, and groups, more like a chain reaction.

Where the tax story begins

The surge in social media usage has a second, increasingly important implication: taxation of non-resident digital companies that earn income from Ugandan attention.

As WhatsApp, TikTok, and YouTube expand, so does the addressable market for digital advertising, paid promotions, subscriptions, and monetised content, revenues that often accrue to platform owners outside Uganda.

The policy question becomes sharper with every million-user jump: how does Uganda capture a fair share of value created in-country when the seller has no physical presence?

Uganda had for years grappled with the question of taxing corporations without a presence in the country.

Government, under the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2023, introduced a digital services tax, a 5 percent levy on gross income earned by non-residents providing digital services in Uganda.

This kind of tax design spoke directly to platform-driven markets: a growing user base that translated into growing taxable digital-service income, even when the platform’s offices and servers sat offshore.

However, government repealed it with the proposal of replacing it with a 15 percent withholding tax on income derived by non-residents from digital services offered in Uganda.

The tax provided a shift, given that the withholding mechanisms are easier to enforce.

VAT on non-resident companies

Additionally, in 2021, Uganda Revenue Authority instituted value-added tax on non-resident providers of electronic services such as social media, streaming sites, and other internet-based tech giants.

URA said then that VAT on digital services sought to level the playing field between local service providers that already charge VAT and foreign tech giants that were previously not obliged to collect VAT.

However, considering the growth in social media usage, the possibility of tech giants attracting more revenue in ad spend and promotions provides fertile ground for a new debate on how government could sufficiently tax such an expanded revenue base.

The growth strengthens the logic, both politically and economically, for building better tax pipes around non-resident digital earnings.

Thus, UCC’s social media numbers are not just a popularity chart. They are an early-warning dashboard for where Uganda’s digital value is concentrating, and where the next big tax debate around non-resident platforms should focus.

Telecommunication revenues drop by 9 percent

Meanwhile, telecommunications industry revenue declined by about 9 percent in the third quarter of 2025, dropping to Shs1.62 trillion from Shs1.78 trillion in the quarter ending June.

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) Market Performance Report noted that quarter-to-quarter shifts are not unusual and may stabilise when viewed over a longer period.

Telecommunications is widely recognised as a major enabler of economic growth, supporting productivity, innovation, and inclusion across sectors such as trade, finance, education, agriculture, and health.

The industry’s revenues typically come from core connectivity services such as voice, data, network access, and subscriptions, and roaming charges for customers using mobile services outside their home networks.

Operators also increasingly depend on diversified income streams, including bundled services, device and hardware sales, wholesale services, digital advertising and monetisation, and financial services such as mobile money.

Despite the quarterly dip, UCC’s broader revenue picture points to growth over time. In its 2024 annual report, the regulator said total telecom revenue increased to Shs6.47 trillion, representing a compound annual growth rate of about 10.2 percent over the last five years.

UCC also reported that the sector posted 15.5 percent year-on-year growth from 2023 to 2024, reflecting steady expansion driven by data consumption, digital services, and a growing customer base. Mobile money, a major pillar of Uganda’s digital economy, continued to expand during the quarter.

Registered mobile money subscriptions increased to 52.9 million from 51.1 million in a gain of about 3.5 percent.

Active subscriptions within 90 days rose to 35.6 million from 34.6 million, translating into about 2.9 percent growth. UCC also reported that mobile money transaction volumes climbed to 2.3 billion from 2.13 billion in the previous quarter, an increase of about 8 percent, underlining sustained growth in the use of mobile platforms for payments, transfers, and everyday transactions.

The report also shows that Uganda recorded 56.7 million registered mobile subscriptions during the period under review, of which 45.7 million were active within 90 days, up from 44.3 million in the second quarter, an increase of about 3.2 percent.

Active mobile internet subscriptions (30 days) also rose to 17 million from 16.5 million, a growth of 3 percent. Device data indicates that the telecom sector reported 19 million smartphones, 31.5 million feature phones, and 5.6 million basic phones.

The continued dominance of feature phones suggests that, even as mobile internet subscriptions rise, a significant share of users may still be limited in how fully they can participate in data-heavy services, e-commerce, or advanced digital applications.

There is a particular kind of silence Ugandans have learned well. Not the silence of ignorance, but of calculation. The kind that asks whether speaking is worth the trouble. Whether it changes anything. Over time, that silence stops feeling like caution and starts feeling like routine. On December 6, Gulu City offered a different picture.

The city hosted the Gulu City Marathon, themed ‘Running for Culture and Heritage.’ It was a modest event by global standards, but its intention was serious. To suggest that tourism in Uganda can be more than wildlife, that cities like Gulu can invite visitors to stay, spend, and return.

The logic is not complicated. Tourists leave Uganda early and with money unspent because there is often nowhere else to go once the game drive ends. Cultural events, sports tourism, city festivals-these are not luxuries. They are economic tools we can diversify our tourism revenues with.

After Covid-19, tourism is only just recovering. In 2024, Uganda recorded over 1.37 million international visitors and earned roughly $1.28 billion. More than 800,000 people depend on the sector directly.

Many more do so quietly. That context matters. The week Gulu was trying to sell culture, Uganda once again exported images of confrontation. Violence surrounding Robert Kyagulanyi’s campaign stop replaced the marathon in the public imagination.

Admit it or not, a tear gas scene travels further than a picture of smiling runners. The responses were familiar. Condemnations were issued. Distancing statements followed. The police opened investigations. None of this was surprising. One incident is enough to erase months of work by city authorities, tour operators, and ordinary residents trying to rebuild a reputation.

This problem does not end with tourism alone. Investors notice atmosphere before they study policy. Uganda may license hundreds of projects and attract billions in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), but confidence is fragile. Capital has options. So do tourists and investors.Take Kenya, for instance. Despite its own share of post-election violence, it remains a regional leader in attracting investment, partly because it has been careful about maintaining stability.

The political risks are acknowledged, but Kenya has built a reputation for weathering turbulence without significantly damaging its economic environment. It has retained its investment appeal largely by keeping violent disruptions to a minimum.

Stability is not announced; it is inferred. And Uganda’s signals are increasingly mixed. Campaign seasons now come with expected images: young men dressed like soldiers, symbolic displays of force, roadblocks that appear without explanation. These are not official policy, but they communicate something nonetheless. They suggest that politics remains managed through fear as much as through consent.

The greatest danger is not the violence itself, but our acclimatization to it. When apologies follow violence, they are accepted with weary familiarity. When calm appears briefly, it is treated as anomaly rather than progress.Uganda has spent years marketing itself as open, stable, and ready for business. But nations are advertised less by slogans than by behaviour. What we tolerate, repeatedly and publicly, becomes our message.

Silence, in this context, is not neutral. It is instructive. What Uganda projects to the world, through its actions, not just its speeches, is a deeply fragile image. What meets you gaze when you google about Gulu, Fort Portal, or Kampala feels like a nation at odds with itself. As long as the balance between political stability and violence remains precariously tipped, we will continue to lose the narrative we’ve worked so hard to build.

Investors may be swayed away. Tourists may disappear before they even arrive. What are we advertising to the world? If we don’t change course, we’ll be selling the story of a nation at odds with itself.

The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) has turned to Swiss-based Dutch multinational energy firm, Vitol Bahrain E.C, for a $2b (Shs7 trillion) credit line for investment in key oil infrastructure, including acquiring a 35 percent stake in the Kenya state-owned Pipeline Company (KPC).

The transaction sticks out like a sore thumb as the 10-year-old company continues to fast dive at the deep end of the swimming pool, venturing into key infrastructure projects in midstream and downstream, and currently seeking a suitable partner that will bring on board both technical know-how and financial muscle to venture into oil exploration.

This has raised queries about sequencing and some worry that the young company is fast spreading itself too thin. Junior Finance Minister Henry Musasizi tabled the loan request before Parliament yesterday afternoon, chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Thomas Tayebwa. The Attorney General, Mr Kiryowa Kiwanuka, defended the request. The Shs7 trillion credit line will be extended to UNOC, of which $1.2b (Shs4.2 trillion), Mr Musasizi told the House, is for investment in the proposed Kampala Storage Terminal in Kiringete Sub-county, Mpigi District and enhancement of the Jinja Storage Terminal (JST).

The terminal was established in the 1970s by the late President Idi Amin as the country’s reserves for petroleum products but was run down under the current regime until its revival recently. The money will also allow UNOC to partake of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) by KPC, which will grant Uganda unfettered access to use Kenya’s oil infrastructure, from the Kipevu Oil Terminal (KOT), the dedicated oil terminal at Mombasa, to the terminals in Nairobi, Eldoret and Kisumu.

As part of the Shs4.2 trillion credit line, UNOC plans to support early financing of the Greenfield oil refinery, and on another front, embark on the long-awaited Eldoret-Kampala oil pipeline with a spur at Jinja Storage Terminal but planned to terminate at Kampala Storage Terminal.

The pipeline project is expected to cost $330m (Shs1.1 trillion), according to recent estimates. The balance of $800m (Shs2.8 trillion), Mr Musasizi told the House, will be channelled to construct critical national road projects without specifying which ones. UNOC is the statutory body mandated to, among others, handle the country’s commercial interests in the nascent oil sector and propose new investments in upstream and downstream, including bulk supply, locally, regionally and internationally. The company kicked off its engagement with Vitol Bahrain E.C., one of the world’s biggest independent oil traders, in early 2023 for the sole importation of Uganda’s petroleum products to weed out middlemen.

Vitol Bahrain E.C. has previously been mentioned in questionable deals in Mexico, Brazil, and Ecuador. This led to the enactment of the Petroleum Supply (Amendment) Act in November 2023, and UNOC entered into a five-year exclusive petroleum supply to KOT at Mombasa. The arrangement marked the move from Open Tender System (OTS)-based on the freight and premium quoted by sellers for refined petroleum products-to Government-Government (G2G); in this case, KPC to UNOC. About 120 Kenyan companies were locked out of the value chain.

Some of them have been accused of fuelling sabotage in the clearance of the Uganda-bound fuel cargo at Mombasa, adding more headache to the Uganda-Kenya non-tariff trade barriers. Nonetheless, one year and four months into the sole importation business, UNOC executives told Daily Monitor last evening that the company has made a fortune in the region of $150m (Shs530b). The business is thus far the company’s ‘low-hanging fruit’ pending the coming on board of the oil project in the Albertine Graben in mid-Western Uganda by 2027/2028.

UNOC carries a 15 percent stake upstream in each of the nine production licences for the oil fields operated by China’s Cnooc and French TotalEnergies EP in Nwoya, Buliisa, Hoima, and Kikuube districts. The company’s investments are currently borne by the two oil companies. The company carries another 15 percent in the crude oil export pipeline, Eacop, which will transport Uganda’s waxy crude oil from Hoima to Tanzania’s Indian Ocean port en route to the international market.

Method to madness

Currently, the company has a portfolio of 21 businesses across the upstream, midstream and downstream value chain, as cleared by Cabinet, and company executives told this newspaper last night that ‘government was going to fund all the projects sooner or later and in one way or another.’ The Shs7 trillion credit line secured at a SOFR plus one, 3.9 percent+1 percent, or 4.9 percent interest, is payable within a seven-year period. ‘SOFR plus one” typically refers to a floating interest rate calculation in a financial contract, where a margin of 1 percent (or 100 basis points) is added to the prevailing Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).

Mr Musasizi told the House that the financing agreement includes cash flows, up to an agreed minimum amount, from UNOC projects funded by the facility deposited in escrow accounts as security for the term of the loan for up to seven years, an option to increase the loan amount, and utilisation to be made within five years after the execution of the loan. According to estimations, after construction and operationalisation of the infrastructure projects for 15 years, UNOC expects to generate at least $5b (Shs17.6trillion) in revenues. UNOC executives defended that they considered several lending options before settling on financing from Vitol Bahrain E.C.

‘It’s cheaper financing with good terms, and the beauty is that the company is working with us in the sole importation business,’ senior officials argued. ‘Yes, Vitol Bahrain E.C. might have had problems elsewhere, but it’s one of the biggest in the world, and all big companies have issues here and there.’ The officials indicated that Vitol Bahrain E.C. agreed to the financing arrangement with UNOC to further ‘build self-sufficiency’ and expand the downstream business. In this case, after hauling petroleum cargo from the UAE to Mombasa, acquiring a stake in KPC to building the necessary infrastructure, in this case, the new storage terminal in Mpigi and refurbishing the one in Jinja.

Stake in KPC

Kenya has long been planning to sell a 65 percent stake in the KPC, which transaction is marked for completion by March next year. Business Daily, a sister publication to this newspaper, reported at the weekend that the investment banker Dyer and Blair and stock brokerage firm Francis Drumond had been handpicked to guide the IPO in which the Kenyan government seeks to raise Ksh100b (Shs2.7trillion). KPC officials planned to use part of the proceeds from the IPO to kick-start construction of a transport pipeline from Eldoret to Kampala. One realised, it will alleviate all transportation of fuel products by road.

The Eldoret and Kisumu terminals have capacities of 48 million and 55 million litres, respectively, and also double as the supply base for South Sudan, Northern Tanzania, Rwanda, eastern DRC Congo, Burundi, and the Central African Republic. If Uganda operationalises the Kampala Storage Terminal, it could snap up the business from Kenya. The terminal was initially planned as a joint venture but proposals from prospective financiers have been underwhelming. The terminal is also expected to serve as a storage terminal for refined petroleum products from Uganda’s proposed 60,000 barrels per day refinery, which remains a long shot.

Shs17.6t

According to estimations, after construction and operationalisation of the infrastructure projects for 15 years, UNOC expects to generate at least $5b (Shs17.6 trillion) in revenues.

ABOUT UNOC

UNOC is the statutory body mandated to, among others, handle the country’s commercial interests in the nascent oil sector and propose new investments in upstream and downstream, including bulk supply, locally, regionally and internationally.