Category: Daily Monitor

A report by the World Bank has revealed that the current trend of granting tax exemptions, particularly to large firms and now to new small businesses by the government, poses a significant threat to Uganda’s tax revenues.

The report shows that exempting large firms, which typically contribute a substantial portion of total tax revenues, leads to budget deficits and reduced funding for public services.

‘This creates an uneven playing field, disadvantageously compliant, tax-paying firms and fostering resentment. The proposed Income Tax Amendment Bill, 2025, which intends to exempt new small businesses for three years, further exacerbates this issue,’ it indicates.

It further states that when both the largest and smallest firms are exempt, the tax burden disproportionately shifts to middle-compliant firms. The report adds that exemptions form a significant portion of the corporate income tax base.

This means the government must rely more heavily on the remaining tax-paying firms to meet revenue targets. It adds that this leads to more frequent audits, and higher penalties for these firms, contributing to the perception of URA’s ‘high-handedness’.

Mr Qimiao Fan, the division director for Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, and Uganda Africa Region, says the tax holiday was intended to stimulate new investments or reinvestments by large firms, but has not succeeded in fostering growth in firms’ fixed assets.

‘Beneficiaries’ depreciation allowances are 2.6 to 3.3 times higher than those of comparison group firms, indicating that benefiting firms are more likely replacing worn-out assembly lines or adding minimal infrastructure rather than significantly expanding assets,’ he said, adding that the Ugandan government should rethink its tax exemption policy.

Continuing the current path risks undermining the integrity and sustainability of the entire tax system. Specifically, eliminating the 10-year tax holiday could improve tax revenues by a minimum of Shs101.57b or 0.1 percent of GDP.

As the uncertainties in the global economy continue to spread worries in the national economies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has directed that central banks, including the Bank of Uganda (BoU), to preserve price stability.

Ms Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF managing director, said the global economy is undergoing a profound transformation, and uncertainty runs high.

Major policy shifts across several countries-spanning trade, digital money, immigration, and spending priorities, including national security and foreign aid-are reconfiguring global markets and redefining policy frameworks.

‘These changes bring prolonged uncertainty and associated risks but also present opportunities, including to build more resilient supply chains and diversify trade relationships. Navigating this transition will hinge on the strength and integrity of core national economic institutions, which are critical for effective and credible policymaking,’ she added.

In Uganda, BoU said in its State of the Economy report that it is imperative to maintain a flexible policy framework underpinned by key measures such as sustaining adequate foreign exchange reserves and ensuring sufficient liquidity in the foreign exchange market.

‘These actions are essential to sustaining investor confidence and enhancing the economy’s resilience to external and domestic shocks,’ the BoU report read in part.

Work cut out

Uganda’s central bank explained that in the face of elevated global risks, such as geopolitical instability, volatile commodity prices, climate shocks, and still tight global financial conditions, monetary policy must strike a balance between price stability, financial sector resilience, and supporting growth.

Amid a shifting global environment that presents both opportunities and risks, Uganda’s lender of last resort remains vigilant to challenges such as falling commodity prices, declining aid inflows, and rising geopolitical tensions.

To cushion Uganda against these shocks, economists in BoU stressed that the Bank will ensure foreign exchange reserves remain adequate and liquidity in the financial system is sufficient to support macroeconomic stability. As of August 2025, Uganda’s gross foreign reserve stood at $4.711b (Shs17.04 trillion) up from $4.3b (Shs15.55 trillion ) in June,an increase by 9.55 percent.

‘This requires a moderately tight, flexible, and forward-looking monetary policy that protects against inflation, stabilises the exchange rate, supports financial system health, and remains agile in responding to external shocks. By preserving price stability, boosting investor confidence, and shielding the economy from external risks, the Bank is laying the foundation for Uganda’s tenfold growth strategy,’ BoU explained.

The strategy prioritises agro-industrialisation, tourism, minerals (including oil and gas), and science, technology and innovation (ATMS) to drive industrialisation, foster inclusive growth, and enhance value addition.

However, the report stated that while the Central Bank’s commitment to macroeconomic stability remains critical in unlocking the full potential of these sectors for long-term transformation, continued progress in economic diversification, structural reforms, and building resilience will be critical to maintaining growth momentum in an increasingly uncertain global environment.

Independence

Ms Georgieva of the IMF said history has shown that central bank independence and clear communication are essential for keeping inflation in check and preserving financial stability. Monetary policy credibility can also support fiscal stability by helping reduce risk and foster more stable interest rates.

Building public trust also requires further enhancing the quality of inflation forecast, which has been more challenging in a shock-prone world. In countries imposing tariffs, central banks will likely face a sharper trade-off between price stability and output.

‘Conversely, in countries facing tariffs, gradual easing may only be feasible once disinflation is firmly established. Exchange rates should continue to act as a shock absorber, where applicable. Where exchange rate movements become disorderly, the Integrated Policy Framework (IPF) provides country-specific guidance on exchange rate interventions and capital flow measures,’ she said.

Ms Georgieva added:’Our monetary policy advice to countries remains grounded in rigorous analysis.

The World Economic Outlook (WEO) examines the price effects of higher tariffs, drawing lessons from past episodes. It also highlights the cost of political interference in central banks, finding that this tends to loosen policies, weaken currencies, and raise inflation and inflation expectations-often accompanied by higher risk…and impaired market functioning.”

Related research shows that rising fiscal risks-high debt and deficit-compromise the credibility of monetary policy. Financial sector policies must guard against rapidly evolving risks.

Recent market developments have exposed risks from abrupt asset price corrections, disruptions in sovereign debt and FX markets, and the growing link between banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), which play an increasingly important role in sovereign and private debt markets. Ms Georgieva said this calls for enhanced oversight, including systematic liquidity stress testing, and for bolstering capitalisation of weak banks, with full implementation of internationally agreed standards.

Strengthening the resilience of bond markets requires reducing fiscal risks, along with enhancements to market structures. Furthermore, better data collection, coordination, and analysis- including cross-border cooperation-will be pivotal for effective oversight of NBFIs and digital assets.

The IMF is closely monitoring risks across financial markets and emerging macrofinancial vulnerabilities, including from climate risks where macrocritical.

‘The latest Global Financial Sector Report (GFSR) examines risk and resilience in global FX markets and the evolving landscape of emerging market (EM) sovereign debt. Meanwhile, our Article IVs and Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) provide in-depth country-specific advice to strengthen financial sector resilience,’ she said.

After exploring the genesis and the results of the just-ended elections that left Tanzania with egg on its face, this last instalment proposes what should be done. The Tanzania we used to know is long gone. Its hyped-up cohesion, peace, and unity are also long gone. Therefore, it needs practical and true reconciliation. Will Tanzania save itself from itself? It’s hard to tell without the likes of African icons Nelson Mandela and Julius Nyerere.

Where to start

I) Tanzania must locate, isolate, and admit all flaws which triggered the violence.

II) It must admit its root causes.

III) Tanzania should avoid looking for somebody else to blame. Some leaders have claimed that demonstrators were foreigners!

IV) Authorities need to be true to themselves and all Tanzanians. The ‘island of peace’ will be revived if rulers do and preach justice for everybody and stop calling for peace without justice.

The authorities must reach out to all parties in the conflict, release all detained opposition leaders and demonstrators, and then pardon each other to build trust for reconciliation to start.

The root causes

The demonstrators clearly said they opposed (and still do) chronic abductions, corruption, despotism, forced disappearances, injustices, joblessness, murders, nepotism, the absence of a new constitution, and a truly independent electoral commission, which all stakeholders should equally and fully participate in making. Such bottlenecks must be genuinely and practically addressed, and justice should be done and seen to be done.

Symptomatically, another problem revolves around the abuse of police power and gross human rights violations, as recently evidenced in the post-election bloodbaths. Thus, Tanzania must prosecute all the culprits regardless of their affiliations or positions. Then, parties must be ready for a give-and-take agreement (if the victims agree to it) wherein mutual understanding must lead the process.

Further, dented rulers must agree to relinquish their positions to allow the creation of a transitional government that’ll conduct new credible, fair, and transparent elections wherein all stakeholders must equally and fairly participate, agree, and decide on their informed modality.

Why fresh elections?

As per regional and international observers, who form the backbone of credible, fair, and transparent elections, there were no elections. Thus, president Samia Suluhu is illegitimate as per former Botswana president Ian Khama (Daily Nation, November 9). The Southern African Development Community (SADC) observers concluded that the Tanzanian elections didn’t meet standards. For example, there are reports that there were many more police officers at certain voting stations than voters.

The African Union Election Observation Mission report, signed by former Botswana president Mokgweetsi Masisi concluded that ‘the 2025 Tanzania general elections did not comply with AU principles, normative frameworks, and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections’. Of all observers, it was only the East African Community which ‘congratulated’ Tanzania on its elections.

Many Tanzanians wondered how a president who garnered close to 100 percent of the vote would be sworn in hurriedly without any public participation.

Tanzania is in a catch-22 situation that it must work hard to pull itself out of.

It is nearly three years since a windfall of Shs7 billion from the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) landed in SC Villa coffers. But what do we have to show for it? A deafening silence under the gaze of its very owners, the fans. The money was meant to be a lifeline, but it is probably still stuck in the club’s bank account.

Let us be clear: this is not an attack on club president Omar Ahmed Mandela’s dedication. His love for Villa is not in doubt. But love is not a strategy. The root of this stagnation is visible for all to see: a tired, aged board, which cannot possibly resonate with the dynamic, commercial, and digital demands of modern football. This is not an indictment of its service, but a stark reality check. Football has evolved.

Gone are the days when the Villa boardroom was fortified by giants like Balamaze Lwanga, Faison Ddamulira, Andrew Kasagga and Kevin Aliro, among others. They were a team, a collection of minds that complemented each other and challenged one another for the club’s betterment. There is no doubt that as much as Vipers may be dominating domestic football, a strong SC Villa is the face of Ugandan football. Its current weakened state has a negative trickle-down effect on the entire league and, most crucially, on the millions of fans who have always put Villa’s interests first. This cannot continue.

So, it is not enough to criticise; we must prescribe the cure. The Shs7b must not be allowed to gather dust. Hajj must demonstrate his true leadership by initiating an immediate and voluntary overhaul of the board. We need an injection of young, dynamic, and professionally diverse blood-marketers, financiers, digital experts and legal minds who live and breathe the modern game. The board’s role is to create policy and provide oversight, not to rubber-stamp decisions. Meanwhile, the culture of secrecy must end. The club owes its fans a detailed, public-facing investment plan for the Shs7b. This is the club’s money, paid for its historical home at Villa Park.

What’s more, why not embrace the community with a Villa Sacco?

It may seem outlandish, but this would be a masterstroke waiting to happen. For instance, membership could be tied to purchasing a seasonal ticket and an official jersey. This does two things: it provides the club with a direct, recurring revenue stream and, more importantly, it gives fans a tangible stake in the club’s success. It transforms them from spectators into shareholders of the dream. Unlike Vipers or KCCA, whose ownership has inherent limits, Villa is a community institution. This is its greatest strength.

The club must leverage this by aggressively pursuing corporate partnerships, stadium naming rights [for our future home], and merchandising that connects with the ordinary fan. So, the time for silence is over. And the administration must have the humility to listen. That Shs7b is not just money; it is the last, best hope for a sleeping giant. It is a test of whether SC Villa will stride into the future as a modern, community-owned powerhouse or fade into oblivion. The choice is theirs, but the club belongs to us all.

Tanzania and Uganda have made their intentions known after kick starting their AFCON U-17 CECAFA Zonal qualifying campaign with huge Group B wins in the city of Dire Dawa.

In the opening match, Tanzanian humbled Sudan 6-0, while Uganda collected a 4-0 win against Burundi in matches played at the Dire Dawa International stadium.

In the first match Tanzania started pressing early for goals and were already three goals up by the 21st minute.

Dismus Athanasi scored a quick brace in the 10th and 16th minutes, while Nhingo Luzelenga added the third to take a 3-0 lead.

After recess Tanzania showed their intent and thirst for more goals as skipper Kassim Juma also netted two more goals.

Sudan were outpaced by the fluid flowing Tanzania forwards who created good spaces and chances. Soann Shabani and Hamisi Barbara would then score in the 74th and 80th minute.

Tanzania coach Elieneza Nicolaus termed the victory as a result of a well prepared team that has taken time to build across a year and he expressed positivity of great performances in next lined up match against Djibouti.

In the second match, braces from Thomas Ogemba and team Captain Owen Mukisa were enough to see Uganda defeat Burundi 4-0.

Kingston Laryea, the Uganda Cubs coach said he was happy to start with a good win.

Group B action continues in Dire Dawa on Tuesday as Uganda face Sudan, and Tanzania take on Djibouti.

Group B table standing

P W D L GF GA GD Pts

Tanzania 1 1 0 0 6 0 6 3

Uganda 1 1 0 0 4 0 4 3

Burundi 1 0 0 1 0 4 -4 0

Sudan 1 0 0 1 0 6 -6 0

Namuwongo Blazers wiped the floor with City Oilers in the fourth quarter of the marque National Basketball League game to win 60-54 and condemn the champions to their first defeat of the season.

Led by Joseph Chuma, Paul Odongo and Peter Cheng, the Blazers brought the fight to the Oilers and despite trailing for the larger part of the game, finished strong to end the fans into wild celebrations.

Stephen Nyeko’s charges had relied on Chuma’s jumpers to stay within touching distance in the first half. The former Oiler, limited by foul trouble in the second half, short seven for 12 from the field on the way to a game high 18 points.

Titus Lual had drained threes to give Oilers early offence as they led 36-28 at the half but it was the Blazers who came back from the locker room stronger for the win.

As Chuma watched on from the bench, team captain Odongo and Cheng took matters into their own hands. The two attacked the basket to draw fouls and punish City Oilers from the free throw line.

Odong and Cheng shot four for seven and five for eight respectively from the charity line as the Blazers outscored City Oilers 32-18 to show their title credentials.

Odong would end the game with 12 points and seven rebounds while Cheng got a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Things fall apart

City Oilers head coach Andrew Tendo attributed the defeat to fatigue amongst his key players, who were with the Silverbacks side that competed in the first window of the Fiba Afrobasket Qualifiers in Monastir, Tunisia.

‘We are a better team than this and we’ll bounce back,’ Tendo said in the aftermath of his first defeat as Oilers head coach.

Lual, Tonny Drileba, Ivan Muhwezi and Fayed Baale are the players who represented Uganda and all struggled to impress on the night as things fell apart for the nine-time champions.

Only Lual (13) and Mer Maker (11) managed to score in double figures for an Oilers side that was outrebounded 58-44.

The Blazers picked up the momentum in the fourth quarter and not even the delay caused by a cup of beer thrown onto the floor by an excited fan could stop the bleeding.

National Basketball League

Results

Women

JKL 75-68 UCU L. Canons

A1 Challenge 57-43 Kampala University

Stormers 62-4 UPDF

Men

Nam Blazers 60-54 City Oilers

Ndejje 61-73 JKL

UCU Canons 65-69 KCCA

A newly donated ultrasound machine and other medical equipment are set to improve healthcare services for expectant mothers at Kasanje Health Centre III in Wakiso District, officials said.

‘The scanning machine is going to go a long way in offering good service to the people. We have been referring some of the expectant women to Entebbe Referral Hospital, yet there is a distance from here to Entebbe and you have to take a ferry,’ said Mr Adam Mbayi, the facility in-charge.

He received the equipment, valued at Shs 62 million ($16,700), from the Rotary Club of Kampala East and the Church of Latter Day Saints over the weekend.

‘Some mothers have been going to Mpigi Health Centre IV, about 11 kilometres away, but with the scanner now, we shall be able to observe whether the baby is safe or if there is a complication with the pregnancy,’ Mr Mbayi said.

The facility has faced challenges when expectant mothers arrive in labour with complications, often detected late due to the absence of scanning services, he added. Staff have been identified for training to operate the new equipment.

‘I am sure the one who is going to be helping us might not be coming every day, so we shall get two staff members trained so that from Monday to Friday, we put the machines to good use,’ Mr Mbayi said.

Mr Rodney Twagarukaho Bagamba, President of the Rotary Club of Kampala East, said the donation followed community outreach findings that mothers lacked essential maternal and child care support.

‘We found they barely had electricity or machinery, yet women were coming from different areas seeking support,’ he said. ‘There was a need for an ultrasound machine, a blood counter, foetal dopplers, and proper medical waste disposal. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints generously donated $18,000 worth of equipment for this project.’

Mr David Mutesasira, a counselor with the Church, said the contribution aims to reduce prenatal deaths, a persistent challenge in Uganda.

‘When approached, we provided funds through our humanitarian aid program to equip the health centre with the basics needed to support life and help mothers,’ he said.

Kasanje Town Council Mayor Jonathan Gayiira said the equipment will benefit residents across all 37 villages of the town council.

‘People were struggling, especially mothers needing scans. Many were forced to go to private facilities at high costs. This equipment will greatly improve local healthcare delivery,’ he said.

In December 2010, the United Nations adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. In the same text, August 30 was gazetted as International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, starting in 2011. Earlier in December 2006, the UN detailed that when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed at any civilian population, a ‘forced disappearance’ qualifies as a crime against humanity and is not subject to a statute of limitations. This gives victims’ families the right to seek reparations and demand the truth about the disappearance of their loved ones.

In Uganda, two recent cases have left a stain on the conscience of the Judiciary. In October 2023, High Court Judge Esther Nambayo dismissed a case filed by the National Unity Platform (NUP) seeking to force the Executive to produce dead or alive its 18 supporters missing before and during the 2021 election campaigns. The judge cited insufficient evidence to enforce the demands. During the court hearings, the Attorney General (AG) argued that the victims’ disappearances were not reported to the police as relatives allege.

The AG attached separate search requests from the National Identification and Registration Authority, Interpol, Police Forensic Laboratory, and Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control. All results showed ‘record seen,’ ‘no record found,’ ‘not availed,’ ‘many matches found could not zero to one’. The court didn’t say the people never existed but rather relied on the AG’s opinion, based on police assertions that the people have never been in any police register.

Shadow State

Amid the heightened kidnapping of civilians and Opposition supporters between 2019 and late 2021 by a motley gang of security personnel riding in ‘drones,’ the victims’ relatives often accused police of shirking their responsibility to inquire into the matter. During various press conferences, police authorities often feigned ignorance about the kidnappings and urged the victims’ relatives to report to the police. To date, the whereabouts of the 18 NUP supporters remain unknown. NUP specifically points fingers at the Defense Intelligence and Security, formerly Chieftance of Military Intelligence and the Special Forces Command (SFC) for the abductions.

Last month, High Court Judge Simon Peter Kinobe dismissed the habeas corpus petition filed by local human rights lawyers seeking the release of two Kenyan activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo. The lawyers filed the petition on October 6, seeking the release of the duo, who were abducted by armed men ahead of a campaign rally of NUP presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, on October 1.

The police and military consistently denied their whereabouts, and the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) director for joint staff legal services, in his affidavit, responded that inquiries had been conducted across all detention facilities under the control of the army and military intelligence, confirming that the applicants are not held in any of these facilities. Justice Kinobe dismissed the case 15 days later, categorising it as case of missing persons. A fortnight later, Ngagi and Oyoo were handed over to Kenyan authorities following intense pressure on Kampala and back-door diplomacy.

Blast from the past

Last Sunday, President Museveni revealed that ‘we have two Kenyans whom we arrested. They came, they were working with Kyagulanyi’s group that they are experts in riots.’ Such flip-flopping followed the November 2020 protests. November 18, 2020, started like any other day. The two main presidential candidates were slated to campaign in Kamramoja and eastern Uganda: Mr Museveni in Moroto and Mr Kyagulanyi in Luuka District. By noon, hell had broken loose. In spontaneous acts that broke out in parts of the country, Mr Kyagulanyi’s supporters barricaded roads as news of his arrest in Luuka for ‘flouting’ Covid-19 rules filtered through.

As police engaged in running battles with the demonstrators, seemingly overwhelmed, military reinforcements joined in, including a motley gang of security operatives dressed in civilian attire that went about shooting brazenly. After two days of riots, it was a macabre tableau. A police inquiry into the matter would put the official death toll at 54, of whom 49 were running for cover. Scores were injured, and close to 1,000 arrested. When he weighed in on the matter in an address on November 28, the President, who scoffed at the protesters he claimed were lapdogs of foreign forces whose agenda was to fan the flames of violence, attributed the fatalities to ‘stray bullets.’

The President then directed police to probe the phenomenon of the stray bullets and publish their findings. Half a decade later, mid this week, neither the findings of the incident have ever been made public nor has any trigger-happy officer been brought to book. In the subsequent address on the state of security on August 14, 2021, the President appeared to contradict himself, saying it is unacceptable for security forces to kill anyone for any reason. In his address on key national issues at the Mbale State Lodge last Sunday, Mr Museveni flip-flopped, saying the [youthful] protesters had been misled.

‘I must warn those who are misleading these children. Because sometimes these children, like when we had those riots of November 2020; that Kyagulanyi has been arrested and there will be riots to ‘kwokya’ [burn] Kampala, then the army intervened and crushed them…So the ones who are doing that in Uganda will end up badly,’ he said, in a thinly veiled warning against possible youth-led protests that nearly threw Kenyan President William Ruto off-balance and elsewhere have toppled governments in Madagascar and far away in Nepal.

The President also divulged the arrest-kidnappings of the Kenyan activists, who told Kenyan media, that they rotated around military facilities, including one run by SFC in Entebbe. There, the duo claim they found about 150 detainees, including NRM mobiliser in Mbarara City Amos Rwangomani, who is said to have been abducted by security personnel in mid-September just like activist Sam Mugumya.

By the end of February 2026, the country will have a whole set of newly elected leaders. The election will be the first since the release in February of a report by Afrobarometer, which worryingly revealed that 66 percent of the respondents believe that corruption has increased, 55 percent of them saying it has increased ‘a lot’.

About 68 percent of citizens believe that ‘most’ or ‘all’ police officials are corrupt. Some 59 percent saw widespread corruption among tax officials, 57 percent saw it in the civil service, 56 percent in the Judiciary. At least 47 percent perceive ‘most’ or ‘all’ MPs as corrupt.

This is a vote of no confidence in our civil service, the Judiciary, Legislature and by extension the Executive. It also points to the feeling that there is no will to fight corruption. A few days ago, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions ‘lost interest’ in cases of alleged corruption that were before the courts. We are by no means suggesting that the people who were before court were guilty. We just think that the processes should have been allowed to run their course. The courts would have, in any case, been able to prove the accused innocent.

Such developments feed into the narrative that there is selective application of the law and selective prosecution of cases of alleged corruption. There is need for us to have a serious conversation on the fight against corruption and abuse of office and public resources. Failure to prosecute cases of corruption and abuse of public resources is fueling impunity and eroding public confidence in public institutions and offices. The need for radical action to restore public confidence cannot be understated.

That the manifestos of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and of the Opposition parties, the National Unity Platform (NUP); the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) are emphasising the need to fight corruption and abuse of public offices and resources is testimony that the country badly needs that action. The problem is that promises to fight and stamp out corruption are never fulfilled. That is the first point at which the fight is being lost.

Part of the problem is that some elected leaders are not fully aware of what is required of them. The process of conscientisation must begin immediately after the elections. The lessons should go beyond educating them about their roles and functions under the Constitution, to include lessons on morality, etiquette and rules of decorum. That should help us take our first steps in the fight against corruption.

It was a cold Thursday night, in 2014. I had been writing poetry for public consumption on social media for about five years. Thus, in the poetry circles, I was known as the proverbial coming man. That Thursday, at a Kampa suburb of Bugolobi bar and restaurant called Gatto Matto, I was slated to perform.

My only issue here was that I had never performed poetry; I only wrote it. Moreover, I had never written poetry for an exclusively poetry audience. Facebook, my primary vehicle for sharing my poems, was a mishmash of famous unknowns, friends, poets, poetasters, mischief-makers, and trolls. They loved my poetry because they mistook it for something of a lesser vintage. Erotica, possibly.

At Gatto Matto that Thursday, Kwivuga Poetry Session was staging its Christmas show. The place was packed to overflowing. Linda Butare Umuringa, affectionately known as Nunu, invented Kwivuga in partnership with the late Cedric Babu and some other ‘cat’ called Agaba Tumusiime. Their names were already a fixture in Kampala’s blue book, its social register. So, the show was full of people who knew them, people who knew of them, alongside poetry and party lovers. There must have been 1,000 people in attendance, if I am to understate matters.

First impression

A sorority of sashed and sashaying female ushers channeled the flood-tide of attendees to where they could take in the verse of Kagayi Ngobi, Jason Ntaro, Lindah Nabasa, to name but three. Poets were typically backed up by a band and often accompanied by a musician and a microphone. Each performer grew 10 feet tall after every performance, indicating that the stage was not for those short on performance skills. Yet there I was, going for my freshman stage performance with no notes or memory of what I had written in my notes. In short, I was going to have to read my poem on a stage where nobody read unless they were reading the room.

Terrified, I clutched my precious poem. I was sixes and sevens about what to say and what to leave unsaid. I had not read the room, hoping for a recital, not a performance. Big mistake. After prior performances by better-known performance poets, I was left shaking in my boots. Literally. Beads of sweat collected on my brow like some liquefied ornament, crowning my starkest fears. That’s when David Mulindwa Butare, Nunu’s younger brother, sidled over to me as I stood by the bar, petrified.

‘Matogo, what’s up?’ he asked. ‘Man, bro, I don’t know. I am damn scared,’ I replied. ‘Eh, my poet. Let’s take a shot of tequila. It will calm your nerves. My treat,’ David said. After assenting, I gulped down the tequila. I was hoping for calm to wash over me. It did, momentarily. But the fear resurged to stoke the maelstrom within anew. ‘Take another,’ David offered, after he saw that tequila had as much impact on my sobriety as a Mirinda Fruity. I gulped down another.

One shot too many

Again, my fears defined me wholly. David offered a third. I was apprehensive about that because of a certain phrase. The phrase is the title of a song that humorously refers to drinking multiple shots of tequila until you fall. It has been used in multiple songs, such as ”1 Tequila, 2 Tequila, 3 Tequila, Floor” by JD Walker and Mark Cooke, and ‘3 Tequila Floor’ by Josiah Siska. Still, since my abject fear was a clear and present danger, David bought me a third tequila. At this rate, it was either the audience or I that would be floored, performance or no. After knocking back the third, the MC, Agaba Tumusiime, announced it to me. David escorted me partway to the stage, then I climbed onto it and completely fell flat; performance-wise.

The MC said my performance approximated a frightened man reading the news on a very slow news day. I was crestfallen. David, on the other hand, reassured me that first-time performers usually crashed and burned on stage. This emboldened me. To him, I was a diamond in the rough. For some reason, his opinion of me shaped my opinion of myself. His enthusiasm was that infectious. It was on this basis alone that I decided to try my hand at performance poetry again. That’s when David’s faith in me was parlayed into fine but somewhat forgettable performances. At that time, the mantra was ‘poetry is performance’. So, my becoming a performer turned me into a poet, all thanks to David. If you think that’s a stretch, try going on stage without a wingman like David. You’ll rue the day you never came close to being floored by tequila.

Troubled mind

That’s the sort of friend David was. Someone who knew my craziest stories but would be a part of them with a comedic twist. He lightened the mood. To be sure, he had dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian. Even though his sister, Nunu, gave comedians stage time and thereby boosted their careers, David only took advantage of this opportunity once. The rest of the time, he was just like me on that sweat-swept Thursday night in 2014. I tried to encourage him the way he encouraged me.

But I couldn’t reach him the way he reached me. He had the gift of friendship that I lacked. A good guy to the core, I felt he was often too hard on himself when he felt he fell short of the values that imbued his self-worth. This sent him on a downward spiral toward unrestrained self-harm. I wondered what made him essentially sad. Losing both his parents might have played a role. Being fatalistic could be closer to the mark. David spoke about death as an unavoidable release. He didn’t talk to me about the hereafter, but you could see it preoccupied his mind to the extent that he viewed this life as a straw not worth clutching to. ‘Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know,’ wrote American writer Ernest Hemingway, which is a fitting epitaph for David Mulindwa Butare.

Friendship

He had the gift of friendship that I lacked. A good guy to the core, I felt he was often too hard on himself when he felt he fell short of the values that imbued his self-worth. This sent him on a downward spiral toward unrestrained self-harm.

Brief biography

David Mulindwa Butare was born on May 10, 1983 to Tito Butare and Rosette Kyampaire Butare. He died on November 3 and was buried in Kasangula- Namungo, Mityana District on November 6. He is remembered as a ”great brother, father, uncle, and friend”. Also described as ”a warm spirited man! Kind and loving and passionate about children”.

He had two children. Mulindwa Butare attended Kampala Kindergarten, Nakasero Primary School,Kabojja High School, Green Hill Academy, Namasagali College and University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Mulindwa Butare worked as a business developer at DHL International Ltd.