Category: Daily Monitor

Uganda’s State Minister for Primary Education, Dr Joyce Kaducu, has admitted that the country faces a major setback in girls’ education, with low transition rates from primary to secondary schools undermining years of government investment.

Speaking at a three-day conference on girls’ education in Kampala, Dr Kaducu said the problem persists despite the launch of Universal Primary Education in 1997, which boosted enrolment.

‘Whereas enrolment has increased to 52.5 percent following the introduction of UPE, and majority of our learners sit for Primary Leaving Examinations, the transition percent is quite low for the girls as compared to the boys,’ she said.

‘There is a very critical gap. Once a girl completes secondary education, they become empowered and better citizens in terms of motherhood and function, as opposed to a girl who has not completed,’ she added.

Current figures show that only about 21 percent of girls make it to secondary school compared to 23 percent of boys.

The conference, titled What Works in Girls’ Education, has drawn hundreds of educationists from October 1 to 3 to discuss challenges such as negative cultural norms, high costs, and sexual violence that often lead to teenage pregnancy.

Dr Kaducu also raised concern about the performance gap in science subjects. ‘Much as girls outnumber the boys at primary level, the boys perform better than the girls in science subjects and many other subjects. At UCE, there are fewer girls than boys. At UACE it actually reduced further,’ she noted.

She added that the gender imbalance was stark at university level. ‘In 2021, intake for core courses like Medicine and Surgery showed that in some universities like Gulu, no single girl was taken. At Soroti, only one or two girls were admitted. Only Makerere and Mbarara admitted a few girls.’

Mr Cleophus Mugenyi, Commissioner for Basic Education and acting Director for Basic and Secondary Education, stressed the national impact of the crisis. ‘When girls are educated, families are uplifted, communities prosper and nations advance. It is no surprise it has often been said, if you educate a woman, you educate the nation,’ he said.

Dr Mary Gorreti, Executive Director of Uwezo Uganda, echoed the concerns. ‘We are seeing more than ever before many girls entering education systems, but there are still very many factors that stop girls from enjoying the benefits of education. Child marriage, outdated teaching approaches, technology, financial challenges,’ she said.

Executives often hash out the same words to their reports , ‘let us create value.’ And it has become a standard language across the C-suite, value creation, and value propositions.

Everyone is looking for ways of creating more value for the consumer. It could be through better packaging, accessible pricing or even improving the product-service surrounding.

As a result, the customer or consumer is walking away with more value. And then organisations keep wondering – but we are creating all this value yet it’s not reflecting in both the top-line. In fact, it could be eroding the bottom-line as value creation often comes at a cost impact to the company.

What then is the challenge? Why is it that an organisation could create so much value yet not reap benefits of this endeavour? It comes down to the second thing – value capture. It is one thing to create value, it is another thing to capture it. Value creation is like energy generation, it is hard to capture every unit generated. It gets lost somewhere or somebody else captures it.

It then presents the famous two by two matrix, four-quadrant scenario. In the first quadrant are organisations that create low value, capture low value. No one wishes to be in this space. It’s the whisper before total annihilation. In the second quadrant are companies that create high value but capture low value.

So much so little

This is another miserable step. Because it means you are doing so much for so little. Then you have the third quadrant of creating low value but capture high value. It is the dream state, they are the kind of organisations that even sell their breadcrumbs, convert their waste into revenue. And finally, the ideal state of high value creation and high value capture.

One of the FMCG companies in Uganda pulled off the fourth state with one of their brands. They engaged in premiurisation, gave life to the label and the bottle.

Thereafter, they transitioned the new brand from a gin to a liqueur, and this meant a lower alcohol by volume (thus more savings). But because of this remiurisation (adding flavours to the original brand), they were able to sell it at a higher price and sell more volumes.

This was the ultimate signature example of high value creation, and high value capture. Such an endeavour requires a fully integrated innovation team. That is to say, an innovation team with an end-to-end approach around the product.

They can study the entire value chain of the product, create value at every line of the chain, and capture value at every stage of the chain. These are teams with a commercial outlook and financial sensitivity. You could call it strategic innovation that results in competitive advantage. It requires looking within what an organization already has and giving it a whole new approach. That could mean rethinking a process, rethinking a product, rethinking a structure. You could also think of when banks digitised and got many services on the phone. By creating value (convenience), they also captured it (more transactions volume, and thus more charging avenues).

The bottom line here is that organisations must take the conversation of value creation to its natural conclusion – value capture. It is no use creating value that will not be captured. There is no point throwing resources at immature markets, or markets that have not yet hit a critical mass that serves as a precursor to some innovations.

Sometimes, we call this high value creation, low value capture as organisations that were so ahead of themselves. They gave consumers more than what they could pay for at the moment. It is comparable to a technology startup releasing more features than what a user currently requires, rather than saving those features for later releases. Think of it as avoiding over-engineering or gold-plating.

The trap

Most organisations are caught up in the trap of gold-plating and over-engineering. Take the example of restaurants on an online food delivery platform. It is a beautiful thing to have branded paper bags. But does it translate to repeated purchases? Is it worth the cost to currently brand one’s packaging bags? Or would that effort rather translate into improving the quality and taste of the food which will enable one to command higher prices and lead to repeat purchases. The branded paper bag is high value creation, low value capture. The better food is high value creation, high value capture.

Again, it is back to what really matters to a consumer in each industry, as they make a purchase decision. For the food industry, one cares that their food arrives in one piece, it arrives hot and fresh, and it arrives tasty. All else is gold-plating. And the consumer won’t pay for that gold, but it will reflect on the operational cost-line of the organization.

As executives drive conversations in the C-suite, it is also time they drive the conversation of value creation is a futile attempt if it is not followed by value capture. If you do not capture the value that you create, you will be just an example of a company that was ahead of its time but did not survive to see the future. And those examples are endless.

Preliminary budget estimates for the financial year 2026/27 indicate that government plans to reduce the budget to Shs69.3 trillion.

This will be 4.2 percent lower, or Shs3.04 trillion less of the Shs72.4 trillion 2025/26 financial year.

In his first Budget Circular in preparation of the 2026/27 Budget Framework Paper, Finance Permanent Secretary Ramathan Ggoobi said the reduction is part of a larger plan that seeks to phase out certain expenditures.

The Circular also indicates that government plans to increase domestically generated revenue to Shs40.1 trillion, up from Shs36.8 trillion.

Mr Ggoobi also indicated that government’s discretionary funding – net of arrears, interest payments, and domestic debt repayments for the 2026/27 financial year – will amount to Shs31 trillion, down from Shs32.5 trillion this financial year.

In the 2026/27 financial year, government also plans to reduce domestic borrowing by Shs2.42 trillion to Shs8.95 trillion from Shs11.38 trillion as a way of keeping public debt sustainable and reducing interest payments.

The Circular also notes that domestic debt refinancing is projected to drop to Shs9.68 trillion, down from Shs10 trillion, while budget financing will drop from Shs2 trillion to Shs330.9b.

External project financing is projected to reduce to Shs10 trillion, from Shs11.3 trillion.

Mr Ggoobi, however, noted that accounting officers are expected to align their budget plans with the tenfold growth strategy, noting that: ‘Public resources must only finance activities that create economic value and improve service to Ugandans.’

The 2026/27 Budget will be the second in which government is implementing the ten-fold growth strategy, which seeks to grow Uganda’s gross domestic product to $500b by 2040.

The Circular indicates that government will continue to prioritise agro-industrialisation, tourism development, mineral-based industrial development, including oil and gas, science, technology and innovation, including ICT and the creative industry, and human capital development, among others.

Under agro-industrialisation, focus will be placed on reversing low productivity in agriculture by commercialising farming, while under tourism development, emphasis will be on increasing tourist inflows, doubling average expenditure, and lengthening their stay.

The Circular also notes that under mineral-based industrial development, government will prioritise the completion of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline and build an overarching knowledge economy that will drive productivity and efficiency under science, technology, and innovation.

Government, Mr Ggoobi noted that under science, technology, and innovation, government will focus on the commercialisation of innovations by taking to the market products of Kiira Motors, Bio Pharma, Banana, and value-added coffee.

Government will also implement regulatory reforms to strengthen intellectual property rights, incentivise local manufacturing, and foster innovation-driven enterprises.

Government also plans to prioritise the completion of strategic roads and bridges, maintenance of core national roads, rehabilitation of the Metre Gauge Railway, and expedite the development of the Standard Gauge Railway, Bukasa port, and recapitalisation of Uganda Airlines.

The Supreme Court has granted an interim order staying execution of a Court of Appeal decision that struck out an appeal by businessman Patrick Bitature, his companies, and associates in their long-running loan dispute with South African investment firm, Vantage Mezzanine Fund II Partnership.

Justice Elizabeth Musoke, delivering the ruling, said the stay was necessary to preserve the status quo pending determination of the applicants’ substantive application for stay of execution.

‘This Court has powers, under Rule 2 (2) of the Rules of the Supreme Court, to make such an interim order to stay the status quo until the hearing and determination of the substantive application for stay of execution,’ Justice Musoke held on Friday.

The case stems from a December 11, 2014 agreement in which Vantage Mezzanine Fund II Partnership advanced $10 million to Simba Properties Investment Co Ltd, with Bitature and his companies Simba Telecom, Elgon Terrace Hotel, and Linda Properties as guarantors.

The lenders alleged default and initiated arbitration before the London International Chamber of Commerce.

On July 31, 2023, an arbitral tribunal issued a final award against Simba Properties, later supplemented with an addendum on 9 August 2023.

Vantage subsequently moved the Commercial Division of the High Court seeking recognition and enforcement of the award.

In November 2023, Justice Ocaya issued interim orders restraining Simba companies and their guarantors from altering ownership of mortgaged properties or shareholding, to secure Vantage’s interests.

Bitature and his associates filed a notice of appeal but Vantage challenged it. On August 22, 2025, Court of Appeal Justices Egonda-Ntende, Luswata, and Nambayo struck out the appeal, ruling that the Arbitration and Conciliation Act did not allow such an appeal.

The applicants then petitioned the Supreme Court, seeking both leave to appeal and stays of execution.

Counsel for the applicants, Brain Moogi Brian, argued that they had filed a competent notice of appeal on August 28, 2025 and a substantive stay application, satisfying conditions for an interim stay.

Vantage, represented by Kirunda and Co. Advocates, opposed the application, claiming the notice of appeal was defective and that there was no imminent threat of execution.

Justice Musoke disagreed, finding that while there may be some formalistic defects in the notice of appeal, it nonetheless indicates that the applicants are interested in appealing the decision in Court of Appeal Civil Application No. 305 of 2025 and is therefore sufficient for the relevant purpose.

On execution, the judge observed that ‘it should be possible to draw a reasonable inference that every successful party has an interest in ensuring the immediate execution of the decree.’

‘I therefore find, on a balance of probabilities, that there is a likelihood of imminent execution,’ the judge added.

Ruling

The Supreme Court therefore issued the following orders:

An interim stay of execution of the Court of Appeal’s decision in Civil Application No. 305 of 2025 pending determination of the substantive stay application.

Costs of the application to abide the outcome of the substantive stay application.

Justice Musoke stressed that questions over the court’s jurisdiction and competence of the intended appeal would be decided later.

‘The main purpose of an interim order is preservation of the status quo to avoid rendering nugatory the determination of the substantive application for stay of execution and the appeal itself,’ she stated.

The ruling, delivered means Bitature and his companies retain a temporary reprieve from enforcement of the Court of Appeal decision as they pursue further remedies in the Supreme Court.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR), according to Investopedia.com is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.

By practising CSR, companies are aware of how they impact different aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental ones.

Engaging in CSR also means a company operates in ways that enhance society and the environment instead of contributing negatively to them.

Early this week, a selected group of students donated more than 1,000 units of blood in a two-day blood donation drive at Kitebi Secondary School.

The drive, organised by SICPA Uganda in partnership with Uganda Blood Transfusion Services and the school’s administration, was a gesture of solidarity for those in need of blood in Uganda. With a student population of approximately 4,000, the school offers a large pool of potential donors.

According to UBTS guidelines, eligible donors must be aged 17 years and above. This makes students in Senior Three through Senior Six the primary target group for the drive. In addition, the campaign is rallying teachers, SICPA staff and the wider community to step forward and save lives.

For students, the experience was both patriotic and life-changing. Milly Harriet Namata, the school’s Prime Minister, speaking during the first phase of the drive, praised her peers for their courage.

She said, ‘It is not something simple and is a fear to many of the youth. However, those who come forward are not only heroes, but also patriotic,” Namata added.

‘I urge all students to dedicate themselves to this programme as a lifelong practice, because through it we are contributing to saving the lives of mothers, children and accident victims.’

However, according to William Mugisha, the principal blood donor officer at the UBTS, the issue of blood is a responsibility of everyone, whether an individual or an organisation, and donating blood should not be left to students alone.

He explained, ‘Let blood donation be a spiral in a way that it is everyone rising up and understanding that there are people who are needy and in need of blood.’

Mugisha added, ‘If we do it together, it becomes a renewed promise, because blood donation is continuous.’ It should be noted that as Uganda’s population continues to grow, even the need for blood also continues to rise. Upon this backdrop, Mugisha pointed out that while students’ contribution is commendable, relying on them alone is unsustainable.

He warned, ‘Students should not be like slaves or a burden even if they have the passion. Compared to the general population, their numbers are small and if students stopped donating, people would eventually lose out to the crisis.’

During blood drives, professionals conduct pre-donation counselling and rigorous screening to ensure that donors are safe and that only the safest blood is collected. Mugisha noted, ‘There is no pharmacy for life. Blood must come from healthy human beings between the ages of 17 and 60.’

In Uganda, the demand for blood goes far beyond what students alone can sustain. As such, hospitals across the country continue to face shortages, especially during emergencies such as road accidents, maternal complications, and surgeries.

Children suffering from severe malaria and patients battling cancer are also among the most vulnerable who depend on a steady supply of safe blood.

Experts warn that unless more adults embrace blood donation as a routine act of compassion, the health system risks being overwhelmed. However, Mugisha stresses, ‘When someone sees that people are committed to saving lives, they are assured of life tomorrow.’

Susan Kitariko, General Manager of SICPA Uganda, also noted that while blood cannot be manufactured or bought, it must come from people willing to give a part of themselves to others.

‘Every donor is a hero, and every drop counts,’ she said, adding that blood donation is a selfless act that directly saves lives, underscoring the need for communities and institutions to rally behind UBTS.

‘When communities come together, we can rise to meet the most pressing challenges that face us,’ she highlighted.

SICPA has been investing in community health initiatives, with Kitebi Secondary School standing out as a consistent contributor.

The school has now donated blood for the third time, contributing more than 10,000 units over the years. With a student population of over 4,300, Hajji Muhammed Kamulegeya, the team leader at Kitebi Secondary School, pledged continued support.

The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) Appeals Tribunal has raised concerns over persistent delays by accounting officers in making administrative review decisions on bidder complaints.

Speaking to the media during an engagement with officials from government ministries, departments, and agencies in Kampala on Friday, PPDA Registrar Mansour Atiku said such conduct violates the law and undermines confidence in Uganda’s procurement system.

“An accounting officer who receives a complaint is required to suspend the procurement process immediately and issue a written decision within 10 working days. However, many officers go beyond this stipulated time, frustrating bidders and casting doubt on the fairness of public contracting,” he said.

Atiku added that the authority has recorded repeated cases where accounting officers deliberately delay, mishandle, or completely ignore complaints raised by aggrieved bidders.

“The law is very clear. Once a complaint is received, the procurement must issue a decision communicated within 10 days, and going beyond this period is not only unlawful but also weakens the credibility of our procurement processes,” he emphasised.

Such delays deny bidders timely redress, create room for corruption, and undermine the principles of transparency and accountability.

“Procurement is about fairness and safeguarding public funds. When complaints are mishandled, service providers lose trust in the system, and the quality of competition suffers,” Atiku noted.

The PPDA Act requires that, upon request, a bidder who lodges a complaint must receive a report from the procuring entity detailing the reasons for rejection and the stage at which rejection occurred. Paul Kalumba, a member of the tribunal, warned that PPDA will not hesitate to sanction officers who fail to comply with the law. “Accountability starts with the accounting officer, and there will be consequences for negligence and non-compliance will attract personal liability,” he said.

Kalumba also urged officers to guide bidders properly on how to file complaints, including the payment of prescribed administrative review fees, instead of using technicalities to frustrate them.

Common complaints

PPDA data shows that bidders regularly raise grievances about irregularities in how procuring entities handle administrative reviews. These practices, Kalumba said, are damaging not only to bidders but also to the government’s bid to deliver services through credible contractors.

“The tendency to sabotage bid submissions, delay decisions, or cancel processes midway erodes trust. We urge all accounting officers to respect the timelines and procedures provided by law,” he emphasised.

Incumbent Nakasongola County MP Noah Mutebi Wanzala has withdrawn from the 2026 parliamentary race, ending weeks of political uncertainty and pledging loyalty to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).

Mutebi, who has served two terms in Parliament since 2016, announced Thursday that he would step aside barely three weeks before nominations, saying he was putting the party above personal ambition.

‘After careful consideration and consultation with party elders and my supporters, I have decided to withdraw my independent candidature,’ Mutebi said.

He added: ‘The NRM is bigger than any individual, and I cannot be the one to cause division within the party that has given me so much.’

His decision comes after a bruising July 17 NRM primary, in which he lost to rival Stephen Tiberondwa Bujjingo. District registrar Godfrey Batumbya declared Bujjingo the winner with 10,531 votes, ahead of Mutebi’s 7,186.

District Speaker Rogers Bwanga followed with 3,365, while Robert Sekayingo polled 1,867.

Mutebi had rejected the results, citing ‘widespread irregularities and intimidation,’ and declared plans to run as an independent. The NRM tribunal later upheld Bujjingo’s victory.

But Mutebi, now opting for reconciliation, said he would dedicate his efforts to campaigning for President Museveni’s re-election.

‘My personal ambitions must take a back seat to the greater good of our movement,’ he said.

Bujjingo welcomed the move as an act of loyalty. ‘I want to commend Mutebi for this mature and wise decision. He is now being loyal to the party, and this is the kind of sacrifice that builds strong political movements,’ he said.

He recalled that in 2021 he had withdrawn after losing to Mutebi in the primaries.

‘What goes around comes around. Today, he has chosen the path of party unity, and I respect him for that,’ Bujjingo said, urging Mutebi’s supporters to rally behind him.

Mutebi’s exit leaves Bujjingo with a clearer path to the 2026 election in an NRM stronghold, though he is expected to face opposition candidates including NUP’s Ivan Kyeyune.

Mutebi, known for championing agricultural development and rural electrification during his tenure, may still find opportunities within the NRM structure.

His withdrawal mirrors a similar case in nearby Luweero earlier this week, when President Museveni intervened to persuade Cissy Mulondo to drop her independent bid.

With nominations due October 22-23, the NRM hopes Mutebi’s about-face will help calm tensions in Nakasongola and project party unity ahead of 2026.

The National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Mr Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, alias Bobi Wine, has demanded an explanation from Electoral Commission chairperson Simon Byabakama over why he was blocked from holding a campaign rally in Iganga Municipality.

Mr Kyagulanyi was scheduled to address supporters in Iganga on Friday, but was intercepted by police and the UPDF while traveling from Mayuge District, where he had earlier held a rally.

He questioned why he is being singled out, claiming his rival presidential candidates have freely campaigned in the same area.

‘I want Justice Byabakama to tell me why only I am being mistreated,’ Kyagulanyi said. ‘I am a presidential candidate like the others, and I am entitled to be treated the same.’

Mr Kyagulanyi added that ever since he arrived in Busoga sub-region, he has been barred from using tarmac roads and holding rallies in urban centers.

‘I have tested the potholes on rural roads, which has delayed us from reaching other venues on time due to long distances and poor road conditions,’ he lamented.

Mr Nasser Mudyobole, the NUP flag bearer for Iganga Municipality MP, said the actions of the police and army show that NRM’s presidential candidate, Mr Yoweri Museveni, lacks support in the region.

‘We defeated him in Busoga in 2021, and we are going to do it again,’ Mr Nassa claimed.

Ms Mercy Walukanba, NUP flag bearer for Bugweri District MP , said she wasn’t surprised by the blockade, noting that Mr Kyagulanyi had also been prevented from opening a party office in Namutumba Town Council on Thursday.

‘We are not scared. This only strengthens our resolve and shows Busoga loves its candidate,’ she said.

Mr Chris Wakalanga, NUP chairperson for Namutumba District, emphasized that Mr Kyagulanyi deserves equal treatment like any other presidential candidate.

According to Mr Kyagulanyi’s campaign schedule, he is expected to campaign in Namayingo and Bugiri tomorrow.

Biomedical engineers from different universities in the country have been advised to demand an innovation and incubation centre to support them in beginning local manufacturing of medical equipment.

Speaking at the third Uganda National Biomedical Engineering Conference yesterday at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Mr Tadeo Byabagambi, the Assistant Commissioner of Biomedical Engineering Services at the Ministry of Health, said with a lot of innovation of equipment and devices that is currently going on in the country, there is need to create an incubation centre where the ideas can be incubated and supported to spur local manufacturing of medical equipment.

‘There is a lot of innovation in equipment and devices that are needed for treatment and diagnosis, but they are not together in one area. We need to come up with a national medical equipment innovation and incubation centre to ensure that all our medical equipment is manufactured here,’ he said.

He further explained that when the equipment is manufactured locally, it is affordable and even if it breaks down, the spares can be obtained cheaply, and the local manufacturers can be supported to start the manufacturing instead of importing them all the time.

Pulling resources

Asked why they think they can now manufacture medical equipment locally, Dr Robert Ssekitoleko the head of biomedical engineering at the Makerere University School of Public Health, said when they started the Uganda Biomedical Engineering Conference in 2018, the idea was to bring together all the biomedical people working in hospitals to discuss issues affecting them.

He added that they have registered more than 100 prototypes of equipment and devices needed in the medical sector that are failing to make it to the market because of many issues.

‘We know that we share similar problems. We have students who have developed a machine for warming babies using a simple jerry can, we have a machine to support women with pre-eclampsia, we have developed over 100 prototypes that have complicated issues starting from ownership, property rights,’ he said.

He added that getting approval for producing medical devices and equipment is also a expensive and hard process, because it requires extensive research and trials, which require the engineers to pool resources together.

Oxygen tank

Asked what kind of support they are giving the local manufacturers, Dr Martha Mulera, the head of biomedical programme at ShiShi, a company which manufactures equipment, said they do contractual manufacturing.

She said so far, they have been able to get permission to manufacture the laparoscopy keyhole surgery device which has finished clinical trials. They are also going into manufacturing an oxygen storage tank.

Amudat District, in the Karamoja region, is facing a serious health crisis. Many mothers and babies are dying from problems that can be prevented. Even though efforts have been made to improve healthcare, the situation is still bad.

Poor roads, lack of ambulances, faraway health centres, and harmful cultural practices make it hard for pregnant women to get the help they need. In the financial year 2024/2025, the district recorded four mothers who died during childbirth, and 34 babies died before or shortly after birth.

Out of more than 20,000 women who went for antenatal care, only about 4,000 gave birth in health facilities. Most mothers still rely on traditional birth attendants, who often don’t have the tools or training to handle emergencies. Mr Peter Lobot, a retired health worker, said the number of deaths is worrying.

‘Every month, mothers die during childbirth, and many babies don’t survive their first week. If we had more health centres and a district hospital, many of these lives could be saved,’ he said. Many pregnant women do not finish all the recommended antenatal visits. This means problems during pregnancy or childbirth are often discovered too late.

Mothers share their struggles

Ms Pauline Chelain, a 37-year-old mother from Kataboko, said it’s hard to decide where to give birth. ‘Sometimes we have to choose between giving birth at home with a traditional birth attendant or walking many kilometres to the nearest clinic. The roads are bad, there’s no transport, and we suffer a lot,’ she said.

She added that many health centres are far, and some women have to walk over 70 kilometres. By the time they arrive, they’re tired or already in serious condition. The district also has very few health facilities. Most parishes that are supposed to have health centre IIs do not have them, and the sub-counties that should have health centre IIIs also don’t possess them.

Similarly, constituencies that are meant to be served by health centre IVs have none, and the district does not even have a government hospital. Monitor has learnt that the only hospital in the district is owned by the Church of Uganda.

The locals made the remarks during a mobile health clinic organised on Tuesday by ActionAid Uganda with funding from the European Union at Ding-Dinga Village, Kataboko Sub-county in Amudat District. Some relief came through a mobile health clinic run by ActionAid Uganda with support from the European Union.

The clinic visited Ding-Dinga Village in Kataboko to offer health services and raise awareness against harmful practices like early marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM).

The goal is to help communities protect young girls and support women’s health. But local health experts say more government help is needed. They are calling for more health centres, more trained staff, and regular health outreach programmes.

According to the District Health Office, Amudat has a population of over 203,000 people, but with only 11 small health centres, most of which lack enough equipment and staff.

Ms Juliet Chepar, who is six months pregnant, said: ‘The nearest hospital is over 100 kilometres away.

When labour starts, there’s no time. The roads are bad and there’s no transport.’ She explained that many women turn to traditional birth attendants. ‘They try their best, but they don’t have the skills or tools to help when there are problems,’ she said.

Health officials speak out

Ms Esther Acheng, the district official in charge of maternal and child health, said the poor state of health services is putting mothers and babies in danger.

‘People walk long distances to reach a health centre. Some child deaths are never reported,’ she said. Only 46 percent of women give birth in health facilities, and only 14 percent use family planning services in the district.

Ms Daisy Awilo Omech from ActionAid Uganda said they are working with the district to help women and girls in hard-to-reach areas. ‘We have shelters in Amudat for girls facing problems like early marriage or FGM. We provide first aid, legal help, and counselling,’ she said.