Category: Daily Monitor

Quraish Kalyango lives with a spinal cord injury (SCI). Since he survived an accident in December 2013, the 32-year-old has struggled to have children through sperm injection, in vain.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a specialised form of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). During the procedure, a single sperm is injected directly into an egg. The method is used to treat severe male infertility or when standard IVF has failed.

SCI is a devastating event in a man’s life. In most cases, although the victims continue to have normal sperm production, they cannot ejaculate naturally and require medical assistance to retrieve sperm.

Kalyango, a resident of Tula Village, Kawempe Division, Kampala City, has never succeeded in having children through sperm injection due to the high costs involved.

In government health facilities, a sperm injection procedure costs Shs10m, and more than Shs25m in private facilities.

‘In 2020, I got capital to start a business of selling shoes. I planned to save the profits for a sperm injection. In 2023, I visited Mulago National Referral Hospital twice, thinking that the medical team would sympathise with me, but the amount is fixed and cannot be reduced,’ Kalyango narrates.

Before the sperm is retrieved, one has to undergo extensive examinations to determine if they can still produce sperm. Kalyango was asked to pay Shs500,000 for the medical examinations.

‘After the checkup, the doctor said I was able to have children. However, I did not have the Shs10m to continue with the procedure. I only had Shs1m. My business can only cater for my rent and my daughter’s school fees,’ he says.

Kalyango’s wife abandoned him after the accident. His desire to have more children has pushed him into different relationships in the hope that when he gets funds, the women go through IVF treatment.

‘However, whenever I fail to raise the money, those women leave me. Unfortunately, during the relationships, I spent a lot of money on them to keep them interested in me. They needed active men. When you are disabled, women disrespect you,’ he laments.

With his daughter in Primary Seven, Kalyango wishes to have two more children.

A devastating fate

On December 19, 2023, Kalyango, then a driver, travelled with his boss to Lyantonde District. During the night, on their way back, his boss told him to rest and took over the wheel.

‘I slept off. When I woke up, it was 3pm, and I was lying on the floor at a hospital in Kyotera District. I heard someone calling my family members using my mobile phone. All the beds were occupied, but when my relatives came in, a doctor removed a dead body from a bed and I occupied it,’ Kalyango recalls.

He was paralysed from the waist down. In early 2014, he was transferred to Mulago Hospital for better treatment, where he remained for more than a year.

‘The medical bills were too high. The medication alone would cost between Shs250,000 and Shs500,000. My property was sold so that I could have another chance at life. When I was discharged, I found that my wife was living with another man in my home,’ he says.

In disappointment, Kalyango returned to his parents’ home in Mutukula Town. However, there was no one to care for him, as his mother was a businesswoman and often away from home.

‘I developed sores on my back and buttocks from lying in the same position for days. In November 2015, my wife called me to pick items from our home since she had moved on. She abandoned our two-year-old child in the house. She said she could not live with someone she could not have sex with,’ he says.

Like Kalyango, Andrew Mutebi, a resident of Njeru Municipality, Buikwe District, also suffered a SCI. The high cost of sperm injections has also blurred his hopes of having a child.

‘At the time I had an accident in 2015, I had not yet fathered a child. I had a girlfriend and we were planning to get married in 2016. During the accident, my spinal cord was fractured and I underwent several operations at Mulago Hospital, each costing Shs800,000,’ he narrates.

When the doctors informed his girlfriend that Mutebi would not have children sexual intercourse, she abandoned him. She eventually got married to another man in 2019.

‘The cost of a sperm injection has affected me mentally and psychologically. Sometimes, when I look at other men’s children, I cry,’ Mutebi says, tears flowing down his cheeks.

A study, Quality of life of patients with traumatic spinal cord injuries: a cross-sectional study at a tertiary hospital in Uganda, published in the African Health Sciences Journal in 2023, found that the overall self-reported quality of life among patients with traumatic spinal cord injury was generally poor.

‘Most participants (58.3 percent) had incomplete spinal cord injuries, and 84.5 percent had complications. The presence of complications and injury severity significantly affected quality of life,’ the study reads in part.

Traumatic SCIs are devastating and disruptive to an individual’s life. The study found that with the increasing long-term survival after SCI, health-related quality of life has become crucial in the rehabilitation process.

‘The self-reported quality of life in the vast majority of participants was rated as poor because a majority had no functional independence and already had complications. Uganda, as a country, does not have a single specialised institution or program dedicated to the rehabilitation and reintegration of SCI patients back in the community,’ the report reads.

The study further found that most patients with SCI are discharged from the hospital without any comprehensive follow-up or rehabilitation program. Oftentimes, they are referred to peripheral health facilities in their home districts for follow-up and rehabilitation.

However, most of these facilities are poorly equipped, do not have physiotherapists or occupational therapists, and community support is inadequate. Further, the available physical and occupational therapists have limited experience in managing these patients, and this predisposes them to complications and frequent hospitalisation.

‘All factors in this study were significantly associated with psychological well-being and social relationships. Furthermore, married participants reported a better quality of life than the single or separated individuals. They benefit physically and emotionally from their spouses and easily adapt to their new life situation,’ the report reads.

Spousal support also offers the much-needed social support and facilitates societal integration. On the other hand, caring for a patient living with SCI places a heavy economic, physical, and emotional burden on the primary caregivers.

A call to action

Myleen Kyomuhendo, a para-athlete and chairperson of the Spinal Injuries Association Uganda (SIAU), decries the limiting costs of artificial insemination.

‘Of the 372 men with SCIs, only five can afford sperm injections. These injuries torment them mentally and break their marriages because they cannot have sex normally,’ she says.

Kyomuhendo calls on the government to subsidise IVF services to enable these men to have children.

Sperm injections are more expensive than the usual IVF procedure because they involve injecting the sperm directly into a woman’s egg. Failure to conceive through ICSI is generally not due to the procedure but rather to challenges in sperm acquisition and sperm quality.

A 2022 study, Sexuality, intimacy, and reproductive health after spinal cord injury, found that SCI is a life-altering event often accompanied by a host of anxiety-provoking questions and concerns in the minds of affected individuals.

Questions regarding the ability to resume sexual activity, partner’s satisfaction, as well as the ability to have biological children are just a few of the unknowns facing patients following the devastating reality that is SCI.

‘Following SCI, men face numerous complications, including erectile dysfunction and infertility. It is estimated that 90 percent of men with SCI cannot father a child naturally. However, women with SCI can conceive and deliver children with nearly the same success rate as the general population,’ the report reads in part.

When surveyed, patients affected by SCI ranked sexual and reproductive functions as major factors affecting their quality of life.

‘To date, multiple safe and effective treatments are available to address many of the sexual and reproductive obstacles posed by SCI. Safe and effective methods of sperm retrieval maximise the chances of biological fatherhood in men with SCI,’ the report reads.

The availability of, the cost, and applying multiple pharmacological treatment modalities for sexual dysfunction strengthens relationships.

Government says an efficient, accountable, and responsive public sector is the engine of private sector competitiveness, especially in less diversified economies such as Uganda.

Speaking at the Second Annual Doing Business Forum in Kampala, a forum that brought together senior government officials, private sector leaders, development partners, and civil society representatives, key speakers including head of Public Service and secretary to Cabinet Lucy Nakyobe, permanent secretary and secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi and head of private sector development at the Ministry of Finance Dianah Nannono, acknowledged that for the private sector to thrive, the public sector must be accountable and strong.

Ms Nakyobe, who opened the forum, underscored the importance of efficiency in achieving Uganda’s ambitious target of a $500b economy by 2040, noting that despite projected economic growth of 7 percent in the next financial year, progress would depend on cutting bureaucratic delays, streamlining licensing, and improving access to industrial parks and utilities.

‘Efficiency must be measured not by promises but by results; faster service delivery, lower costs, and reduced red tape,’ she said, citing reforms such as the Online Business Registration System at URSB and enhanced digital tax administration at URA, which collected Shs31.6 trillion, as examples of how technology is improving service delivery and reducing business costs.

The progress

Mr Ggoobi, on the other hand, highlighted progress made under the Public Sector Transformation Programme, which seeks to improve staffing, transparency, and digital service delivery, expansion of the National Backbone Infrastructure with over 4,387 kilometres of optic fiber laid across 56 districts, establishment of 300 Wi-Fi hotspots in major business centers, and rollout of the e-government procurement system in 62 ministries, departments and agencies and 134 local governments, as key in powering private sector growth.

Government is also finalising the Doing Business Portal, an online feedback system that will allow businesses to track reforms and communicate directly with policymakers

‘Efficiency is a shared responsibility between government and the private sector. Together, we can make efficiency the driver of competitiveness,’ Ggoobi said.

Ms Nannono outlined several interventions supporting enterprise growth, including the capitalisation of UDB with Shs1.5 trillion, additional funding of Shs1 trillion, and a $74m programme to improve electricity reliability for SMEs as well as a Shs176b commercial agriculture financing scheme targeting large-scale farmers and continued improvements in land registration through Uganda National Land Information System, which has cut registration time to days as key drivers that continue to support private sector growth.

‘We are building a public sector that is efficient, responsive, and predictable, creating an environment where businesses can flourish,’ she said.

In a retail landscape once dominated by big regional and international names, China Town’s entry into spaces where giants like Uchumi and Game burnt their fingers is both daring and strategic.

The retailer’s latest move, the opening of its third outlet at Freedom City Mall in Namasuba, on Entebbe Road, occupies the very space once held by Uchumi, and later Outlet Supermarket, which also closed recently, signaling a bold statement about local resilience where multinational and regional chains stumbled.

The official opening, held on November 2, featured fanfare, discounts, and family-friendly entertainment.

Agnes Maggimbi, the China Town International marketing and corporate affairs manager, says the launch feeds into the wider expansion plan, in which China Town plans to ‘open up more outlets both in Kampala and other cities countrywide’.

‘Our goal is to provide [Ugandans] with affordable prices, high-quality products, and excellent service, all under one roof,’ she says.

Volatile tale

Uganda’s retail sector, and East Africa as a whole, has been a volatile tale, with high-profile exits of giant supermarket stores in the last decade.

The exodus of Shoprite, Game, Uchumi, Tuskys, and Nakumatt reads like a cautionary tale in East Africa’s retail sector.

Each entered Uganda with grand ambitions: sleek stores, imported brands, and polished service, but left behind empty shelves and unpaid suppliers. Their collapse stemmed from structural mismatches between their models and local realities.

High overheads driven by expensive leases and foreign staff models made profitability elusive.

Overreliance on imported goods rendered their pricing uncompetitive in a market where affordability rules.

Most importantly, they failed to localise their business approach, treating Ugandan consumers as a uniform middle class, while ignoring the vast, price-sensitive customer base that dominates informal markets.

In contrast, China Town has studied these missteps closely. Its model is lean, locally integrated, and mass-market-oriented, with a supply mix that balances imported efficiency and local adaptability.

The chain thrives on fast-moving consumer goods, high turnover, and affordability rather than margin-heavy prestige goods.

Maggimbi says China Town is built on a ‘culture of shopping unique products without creating any social class’, offering shoppers ‘affordable, yet reliable and satisfactory [goods] for everyone’.

Localisation over legacy

From its first store at YK Mall (formerly Lugogo Mall, where Game once operated) to Akamwesi Mall on Gayaza Road, and now Freedom City Mall, China Town’s strategy of reclaiming failed supermarket spaces has become a signature move.

The difference lies in philosophy. China Town doesn’t chase class appeal. Its stores deliberately blur social lines, offering products that are affordable, reliable, and satisfactory for everyone.

This approach resonates in a market where aspiration is high but disposable income remains modest.

The location of the new branch, Freedom City Mall on Entebbe Road, is strategic. It sits amid bustling suburbs like Makindye, Katwe, Kibuye, Namasuba, Najjanankumbi, and Zana, home to a large working-class population.

Here, shopping convenience often trumps luxury.

Thus, by positioning itself in such catchment zones, China Town taps into consistent foot traffic and community loyalty, something the failed multinational chains largely ignored as they targeted corporate and expatriate consumers.

Will it hold where others failed?

Experts say the success will hinge on whether China Town can sustain its operational discipline as it scales.

David Sempala, the chief executive officer of Royalway Media, a specialized marketing agency, says that with the retail sector projected to grow 8 percent annually (according to World Bank forecasts), China Town is poised to endure where others faltered.

‘Provided it evolves beyond pure price predation into a culturally attuned hybrid. This isn’t just survival; it’s a blueprint for resilient foreign investment in Africa’s informal economies,’ he says.

Thus, going by the above, China Town must maintain affordability without compromising quality, strengthen its balance between local sourcing and efficient imports, and continue building customer trust through reliability rather than glamour.

If it keeps these elements steady, it may well succeed where Shoprite, Game, Uchumi, and Tuskys faltered.

With three established outlets, YK Mall, Akamwesi Mall, and now Freedom City Mall, China Town is charting a confident expansion path, with plans to grow into other cities across Uganda.

If it holds, China Town won’t just survive; it will redefine the narrative of modern retail in Uganda, experts say.

President Museveni has warned foreign powers against interfering in African affairs, saying some external actors are attempting to destabilise the region because they are threatened by Uganda’s growing industrial capacity and upcoming oil production.

The President made the remarks on Saturday during a radio talk show at Mbale State Lodge, where he engaged journalists from Bugisu Sub-region.

‘Most of these children being misled in Tanzania and other countries are being confused by European powers that are worried about Uganda’s progress. Our industries are growing, our oil is coming, and they want to control Africa’s resources. But I must warn those confusing them that we shall crush them,’ Mr Museveni said.

The President reiterated that peace and stability remain the cornerstone of Uganda’s progress under the NRM government, saying unity and discipline have enabled the country to build strong national institutions.

Tracing the roots of the NRM to 1965, Mr Museveni said the Movement was formed to counter the politics of identity that had divided Ugandans along tribal and religious lines.

‘What is important for the people is their needs, not their tribes. Prosperity comes from production and markets, not from tribal identity,’ he said. He emphasised that the NRM’s ideology rests on four key pillars peace, development, wealth creation, and regional integration. ‘When the earlier sectarian groups collapsed and Amin came in, we decided to fight for a new Uganda built on unity and purpose,’ he added.

Uganda’s development

On development, the President said Uganda has made significant progress in infrastructure, such as roads, electricity, and schools, but poverty remains in some areas because many people have not fully embraced wealth creation. ‘Africa has been underpopulated for a long time. People can survive without progressing unless leaders wake them up, that’s what I did with the Banyankore,’ he said. Mr Museveni encouraged Ugandans, especially the youth, to create jobs through commercial agriculture, ICT, services, and industries rather than depend on government employment.

‘Before colonialism, Africans had emyooga (talents), but the colonialists diverted people into administration. Jobs come from production, not from government offices,’ he said. The President revealed that a new industrial park will be established in Busumbu, Mbale, to process vermiculite a mineral used in satellite technology. Reaffirming his commitment to national stability, the President declared: ‘Nobody can disturb our peace. Anybody who tries will be dealt with.’

The interactive session was attended by NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong, among others.

President Museveni never tires of reminding us that Uganda’s economy has leapt from $4.2b in 1986 to over $50b today.

To him, this is ‘steady progress,’ the kind of miracle that should make angels clap and the rest of us sing the national anthem before breakfast.

He preaches this gospel at every campaign rally and state occasion, sometimes with the conviction of an evangelist certain that the congregation will not ask where the offering went.

But to the ordinary Ugandan, this prosperity exists only in PowerPoint slides, somewhere between the closing prayer and the promise of another miracle.

Yes, GDP has grown, but mostly in the accounts of foreigners who discovered that investing here is like fishing in a pond where the fish jump willingly into the net.

According to the Bank of Uganda, foreign direct investment now makes up nearly 38 percent of national output. In plain Luganda, we have become tenants in our own economy.

Take oil: 85 percent of the rights belong to TotalEnergies and CNOOC, while Uganda National Oil Company remains a minority partner in its own backyard.

Banking is dominated by Stanbic and Absa, and telecom profits beam to Johannesburg and Mumbai faster than ‘mobile money failed’ can be said in a queue.

Even Kampala landlords have joined the liberation struggle, liberating Ugandans from their rental spaces. They prefer ‘investors’ with shinier passports.

The rest are pushed to the city’s outskirts, where the only traffic jam is caused by mud and gossip.

Downtown traders, meanwhile, have mastered the art of the closed shop. Every few months they protest, furious that foreign nationals, rebranded as ‘investors,’ sell tax-free goods from warehouses anointed by government grace.

The Ministry of Investment calls it competition; the traders call it eviction. When they complain, the government lectures them about regional integration, as if patriotism means surrendering your business to someone without a work permit.

In the countryside, the comedy continues. Local leaders, desperate to impress the President, sing PDM success hymns.

‘Your Excellency,’ they beam, ‘our people have built houses and bought motorcycles!’ Meanwhile, those same ‘beneficiaries’ are hiding from moneylenders in banana plantations. The PDM miracle, like most miracles, is still under construction.

Travel north, and the story gets muddier, as roads vanish with every raindrop. But when citizens complain, the President asks: ‘Do you eat tarmac? Do you sleep on it? Do you want tarmac to transport poverty?’

A brilliant philosophy, if development makes you itch. Still, one must ask: is it this improved GDP that is attracting children from Karamoja to the streets of Kampala?

Who owns this ‘improved GDP’ that drives children from classrooms to streets, and the youth from Uganda to the Arab countries to work as housemaids? If GDP were a bus, surely it should drop children at school, not deliver them to traffic lights with begging cups.

Meanwhile, in the city, thousands of Ugandans employed by foreign-owned firms earn so little that they trek to and from work every day. Paying for transport would mean arriving home with nothing.

A cheap commuter train could have spared them the daily trek, but in Uganda, public transport remains a campaign promise rather than a policy.

Economists in Kampala continue to toast to ‘macroeconomic stability,’ quoting growth figures with the confidence of people who have never priced beans in Owino Market.

The numbers look good, but for whom? Rent rises, jobs vanish, and posho grows costlier by the week. Growth here is like a cow tethered to a foreign farm; we milk it, but the cream goes elsewhere.

Uganda has, however, perfected investor romance. We offer tax holidays, free land, and cheap labour, then applaud when profits fly abroad. Our leaders call them ‘strategic partnerships,’ but to the naked eye, they look like economic babysitting.

Of course, not every investor is a villain, Uganda needs capital and technology, but must we forever play waiter in our own restaurant? The ruling elite dine well on this dependency. Every foreign deal means another ribbon-cutting ceremony, another contract for the connected.

Those who profit by proxy have no reason to change the script; after all, it is hard to bite the hand that funds your campaign poster.

Uganda’s economy today is like Shakespeare’s smiling villain, handsome on the surface, bleeding underneath. We are told to celebrate GDP growth, but it is growth on someone else’s terms, in someone else’s ledger.

We are told to celebrate GDP growth, but it is growth on someone else’s terms…

Members of Parliament on the Parliamentary Forum on Ethics and Integrity have asked the government to provide more resources to boost ethics and morality in the country.

According to the forum chairperson, Dr James Nsaba Buturo, building ethics and integrity will harness Uganda’s transition to a middle-income status.

‘Uganda is still categorised as a developing country. It is beginning to emerge out of the shadows of least developed nations, but for how to successfully break through ranks of least developed nations and graduate into the club of nations that are developed, it has to make a quantum leap over vestiges of ethical malfeasance which continue to constrain her efforts,’ he said as he gave a key note address during a belated Global Ethics Day commemoration event, organised by Makerere University in conjunction with Directorate for Ethics and Integrity, Office of the President.

An initiative of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, the day encourages individuals and organisations to reflect on and discuss ethical issues.

The day is officially marked on the third Wednesday of October every year.

Launched in 2014, the day also provides an annual moment for individuals and organisations to reflect on and act on the importance of ethics in various aspects of life.

The former Ethics minister also asked Ugandans to play their part by ensuring that their actions, deeds and relationships are honestly informed by imperatives of ethics.

He also advised educational institutions at all levels to make learning of ethics and morality a mandatory course.

‘Ethics and good governance are intertwined principles that guide individuals, institutions and governments to act with integrity, accountability, and fairness for the public good,’ he added.

He said that Uganda will rise and shine as well as become blessed with more stability, security, peace, unity and development when it integrates ethics and good governance in her development goals and architecture.

Dr Nsaba Buturo said that whereas the government is investing large sums of money to bolster Uganda’s pace of modernisation in fields such as education, health, road infrastructure and technology, a more urgent strategy should be made to invest more resources in the moral and ethics infrastructure, both of which are the bedrock of Uganda’s successful transformation.

Mr Joel Wanjala, Under Secretary at the Directorate for Ethics and Integrity in the Office of the President, who represented the Permanent Secretary, said the government has played its part in rejuvenating ethics and integrity, although more effort is needed.

‘As a government, we have done our part, but we are not yet there. The legal and policy frameworks are in place, the Leadership Code Act, which is now Cap 33, is in place to hold all leaders accountable, the anti-corruption act is in place, the Inspectorate of Government Act is in place, the Whistle-blower Protection Act is there,’ he said.

About the anti-corruption act in place, Mr Wanjala said the directorate is doing whatever it takes to close the existing gaps in it to ensure its enforceability.

According to the Principal College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), Prof Hellen Nambalirwa, the day brought back the very critical aspect that has been forgotten.

‘We are where we are because the Humanities and Social Sciences have been ignored. We are the bridge between science and society. If science is made without ethics the society can never take it up in an ethical manner,’ she said.

With death, the soul separates from the body, and the former lives on. With death, again, our life-choice becomes definitive; our life stands before the judge. For those who have suppressed the truth and all love within themselves, all would be beyond remedy and the destruction of good would be irrevocable. This is what we mean by the word Hell.

On the other hand, there can be people who are utterly pure, completely permeated by God, and thus fully open to their neighbours; their journey towards God only brings to fulfilment what they already are.

Since nothing blemished, impure, imperfect, selfish, or in the slightest way defective can enter the all-pure Presence of the Most Holy, something must happen after death to many human beings to transform them, if they are to enter heaven. Otherwise, we have to say that the overwhelming majority of humankind will be forever lost, and will enter hell for eternity!

This brings us to the early Jewish idea of an intermediate state, which includes the view that these souls are not simply in a sort of temporary custody but, as the parable of the rich man illustrates, are already experiencing a provisional form of bliss. This state can involve purification and healing which mature the soul for communion with God. The early Church took up these concepts and gradually developed them into the doctrine of Purgatory.

The word purgatory comes from the Greek for ‘fire,’ as in purification. The first thing to know about purgatory is that every soul who goes there is assured of heaven. The strife is over, the battle won for those in purgatory; that is why we call them ‘holy souls.’ All that is needed is final cleansing from any attachment to venial sin, or imperfect contrition, or negative thoughts, or self-destructive tendencies, and then these souls are ushered into heaven.

St Paul says that Christian life is built upon a common foundation: Jesus Christ. This foundation endures. If we have stood firm on this foundation and built our life upon it, we know that it cannot be taken away from us even in death (1 Cor 3:12-15).

The meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus is summed up in the Song of Songs, ‘love is stronger than death’ (8:6). We are all called by God to participate in the mystery of life and love, here on earth, and finally in eternity (The path of descent).

Some theologians believe that the fire which both burns and saves (purgatory) is Christ himself, the Judge and Saviour. This encounter with Him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves; there lies salvation. Hence, our defilement does not stain us forever if we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love.

Now, a question arises as to how we can intervene to pray for the souls in Purgatory. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The Christian belief in the communion of saints implies that the faithful departed are still in the Church. It is, hence, our first and foremost duty to pray for each other, especially the faithful departed.

Our prayers can play a small part in their purification. The Luganda proverb ‘Atamanyi mpewo y’emagombe, yamma omufu olubugo’ (one who has not experienced the clod in the underworld, refuses to bring a barkcloth for the dead), applies very appropriately.

St Paul’s confirms that death cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38, 51).

In Ephesians 6:18, he reminds us of the necessity of prayer for the whole faithful. Since death does not cancel Church membership, it also does not prevent the mutual responsibility to pray for each other. In 2 Timothy 1:16-18 Paul provides a solemn remembrance of a departed Christian named Onesiphorus: ‘May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.’ It renders authenticity to the condolence prayer: ‘May they rest in eternal peace’ (RIP).

Yet, as some saints have counselled, Purgatory can be avoided if we avoid sin, do penance, accept suffering, make frequent confession of sins, receive Holy Communion, pray with faith and perseverance, and prepare for death.

The mention of the word ‘ghetto’ conjures an image of squalor, congestion, and breakdown in social order; a place for the wretched of the earth. ‘Ghettos’ date back to the 16th Century Italy, where they were settlements mainly for Jews. Today, even first-class cities have a cusp where the good part of town turns bad. In Uganda, ghettos gained a reputation in Bobi Wine and Nubian Lee’s song, Ghetto, in the run-up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2007. The song took a swipe at the government for its pre-CHOGM preparations targeting slums around Kampala, and politicians habitually looking down upon certain classes of people, only thinking about them around election time.

Four-time presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye, currently in prison on treason charges, won over Kampala in all the elections in 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016, and in the urban parts of several other districts, ostensibly due to the high level of disillusionment among urban dwellers. Long before pondering politics, Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, conducted most of his business in Kamwokya, one of the largest ghettos in the Central Kampala Division.

Then came his entry into politics in 2017 when he threw his hat into the Kyaddondo County East by-elections ring, and ultimately declared to run for the presidency in August 2020, starting a stampede for the soul of the ghettos around Greater Kampala. At his swearing-in as an MP in 2017, Mr Kyagulanyi even remarked that the ghetto had now come to Parliament. The truism is largely true as the once-coveted August House has been reduced largely in quality, but Mr Kyagulanyi, who polled 3.6 million votes in the 2021 presidential polls against the incumbent’s six million votes, remains a thorn in the foot of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) base when it comes to ghetto dwellers and the youth population.

He has sway over the youth electorate and ghetto dwellers, while the NRM has learnt to employ the carrot and stick method; money or tormenting them using the military. Initially, regime acolytes, and pundits generally, wrote Mr Kyagulanyi off as merely an embodiment of Buganda ethno-nationalism. After the 2021 National Unity Platform (NUP) wave, which saw the NRM losing massively in the central region, the stage was set again to woo the two voting blocs.

Since the blood-stained 2021 presidential polls, the government has been on a charm offensive with different programmes not limited to Emyooga, Parish Development Model (PDM), and skilling through the Presidential Initiative Skilling programmes, as an antidote for unemployment and disillusionment. The plans involve the penetration and the invasion of the inner circles of youth/ghetto groups allied to particularly NUP. Kyagulanyi’s close associates and supporters have ditched his vase for the other camp.

The sweeteners

In 2023, President Museveni began the fight for the youth groups, along poverty alleviation lines by launching Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (Saccos) within the Kampala Metropolitan area and injecting Shs1.2 billion in 12 ghetto Saccos. The President then appointed Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Maj Gen Christopher Ddamurila, the director of Crime Intelligence, to mobilise the ghetto and form Saccos. For about four years, AIGP Ddamulira has been attempting to convert hardcore criminal groups and organising ghetto youth for socio-economic development. This approach has not only yielded significant results in reducing crime rates but also empowered countless young people to break free from the cycle of poverty and violence.

AIGP Ddamulira’s initiative, backed by President Museveni, aims to mobilise and transform the lives of ghetto youth, boda boda riders, and taxi operators who are often exploited by politicians and criminal syndicates. What followed was the formation of a community taskforce designed to address crime proactively rather than a top-down approach, the strategy that has embraced cooperation and shared responsibility in many Kampala divisions that were known to be hubs of hardcore criminals like Kawempe, Rubaga, and Kampala Central Divisions.

‘We appeal to the government to prioritise more funding to ghetto youth and boda boda Saccos, among others, in order to stimulate employment and household incomes as a way of living,’ Ddamulira said. All was going well with the youth anti-poverty campaign until Ms Hadijah Namyalo, the head of the office of the NRM National Chairman, appeared on local television and questioned the operations of the ghetto Saccos structure and how the Shs1.2 billion that the President advanced to them had so far been used.

‘There are people in the police who claim to be under the State House, they were given money to get the ghetto youth out of poverty. My question is, did those children get that money? But still, the boys kept on grabbing people’s property, if it is true that these children actually got the money, what else are they looking for if they are well off?’ Ms Namyalo wondered.

Money talks

AIGP Ddamulira, however, told Sunday Monitor that Shs1.2 billion was advanced to the 12 ghetto Saccos in the Kampala Metropolitan Area. ‘Each of the Saccos got Shs100 million, which was remitted directly to their bank accounts from the Bank of Uganda. Unlike what was the case in the past when people would lobby the government on behalf of the ghetto youth, get resources, but never remit the same to the intended recipients, the ghetto youth were trained and helped to elect leaders at all levels,’ he said.

Fast track to 2025, as he concluded his PDM tours around Greater Kampala in Kampala, Mukono, and Wakiso, President Museveni and the different NRM structures continued to throw more money at youth and ghetto groups. In July, 150 entrepreneurs in Kamwokya were gifted with startup equipment under President Museveni’s Youth Wealth Creation Programme.

In the same month, the President announced a financial donation of Shs1b to each of the five divisions in Kampala to support ghetto groups. On July 18, while in Kawempe, he donated Shs20m to a ‘ghetto youth’ who painted his portrait. On July 20, he revealed that Kampala had received nearly Shs40b in the last three years.

On July 30, State House Comptroller Jane Barekye gave Shs200m to 2,000 Kampala fruit vendors, each receiving Shs100,000 to boost their capital as she allayed their fears of being driven off the streets by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). For his 81st birthday in September at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds, the President threw the first-ever boda boda union festival and Expo during which he highlighted the government’s efforts to protect boda boda riders from exploitative boda loans and moneylenders.

‘My agreement with the boda bodas is that it is criminal for someone to give you a rabbit and then demand a cow in return. Moneylenders give you Shs5 million and expect Shs15 million back, that is robbery,’ he said. In an effort to improve the welfare of boda bodas, he contributed Shs10.2 billion to 102 boda boda Saccos in the Kampala Metropolitan area, each Sacco taking Shs100m.

Money vs sway

Mr Shafik Kalyango, a leader of a ghetto youth group, however, told this newspaper in a phone interview that many of the youth are yet to benefit from the Shs1.2 billion but argued that it is because of the stringent rules and preconditions that have been set before one gets to access the funds. ‘Saccos are member-managed, member-financed, and member-owned. Every ghetto youth who wishes to be a member is free to join the Saccos and become part of the ghetto structures. Those to benefit must first open up accounts with the Saccos and also in the bank because if you are to borrow, the money goes directly to the applicant’s bank account. No one receives cash,’ Mr Kalyango said.

For what is worth, the ghettos have lately turned into the go-to places for politicians, including President Museveni. Politicians now attest that the once neglected ghettos have slowly uplifted their status to attract attention by turning into territories where the political ambitions of politicians in urban areas are made or destroyed.

The Democratic Party spokesperson, Okoler Opio Lo Amanu, said the ghettos largely comprise the youth. ‘We are a country with over 70 percent of the population as youth. So if we are going into an election you have to go to them, to mimic them,’ he said. With the next general election barely three months away, both the NUP, currently the main opposition party, and the NRM are in fierce competition to outshine each other.

On October 26, another oblique campaign dubbed ‘Unstoppable UG for Museveni’s re-election’ was flagged off by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa and featuring local musicians including Bebe Cool (Moses Ssali) going around the country throwing money at the youth in several towns. Throughout his engagements, Mr Kyagulanyi mostly draws crowds of youth who are seemingly enchanted by his persona and rags-to-riches story, not necessarily the message. Without a doubt, he has also opened their political consciousness to national problems.

The NUP secretary-general, Mr David Lewis Rubongoya, explained that their political party paved the way for the other players into the ghettos.

‘We came on the scene and said it is wrong to have a big section of the population to be overlooked. That is our continuous message,’ Mr Rubongoya.

For 38 harrowing days, Kenyan activists Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo were held incommunicado in Uganda, enduring what they now describe as a horrifying ordeal of torture, starvation, and psychological torment at the Kasenyi Military Barracks in Entebbe.

The two men, leaders of the Free Kenya Movement, were abducted in Kampala in early October and vanished without trace, their families left in anguish, their government silent, and their fate uncertain.Their release came quietly, after intense pressure from human rights groups and discreet diplomatic manoeuvres. Ugandan authorities eventually handed the pair over to the High Commission of Kenya in Kampala, where High Commissioner Joash Maangi received them with the Kenyan military attaché at the embassy escorting the two to the Busia border. There, they were formally handed over to the Busia County Commissioner, who processed and cleared them for release. Exhausted but alive, Njagi and Oyoo then travelled to Kisumu and later on to Nairobi, where they are now recuperating under the care of friends and family. ‘We were 50/50 on whether we would come out alive or dead. My father told me he was sure we were alive, and I thank God he was right. To every Kenyan who stood with us, thank you. We came back by road. All the police in the region are the same. Activism is not something we do for pay, we do it for the good of humankind,’ Bob Njagi told the Nation via phone call yesterday.Njagi and Oyoo, both youthful organisers with a pan-African streak, had travelled to Uganda to meet opposition figures and civil society leaders. Their abduction sparked a regional outcry and mobilised activists and rights defenders from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, who saw it as a dangerous precedent in cross-border repression.Shortly after their release, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni broke his silence during a Saturday evening radio talk show, confirming for the first time that the two Kenyans were indeed being held by his security forces.’Here we have very good intelligence. we know them. We have got two Kenyans whom we arrested. They have been with us, I have their names. but I don’t remember them. They came, and they were working with Kyagulanyi’s group. They are experts in riots,’ said Museveni, referring to opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine.He accused the pair of plotting to destabilise Uganda in collaboration with his political opponents. ‘They are working with Kyagulanyi to cause riots. They are worried about Uganda. Uganda is moving, very strong. industries growing. We don’t lack anything, we have all the food, all the raw materials, industrial products. we are now going to get our oil, so they are very worried,’ he said.Museveni’s statements confirmed what many activists had feared, that Njagi and Oyoo’s abduction was not a rogue act by overzealous officers, but a state-sanctioned operation targeting regional networks of pro-democracy campaigners.Upon their release, Njagi and Oyoo revealed chilling details of their captivity at Kasenyi Military Barracks, a heavily guarded facility on the outskirts of Entebbe. They said they were interrogated daily, beaten, and denied food for long stretches. The interrogators accused them of espionage, of funding protests, and of plotting regime change in Uganda.Boniface Mwangi, activist and Ukweli Party leader, says the ordeal exposes a worrying trend of coordinated crackdowns across East Africa.’The trend of abductions across East Africa shows that our leaders fear the unity of the region’s youth. That is why intelligence agencies from these countries are working together to instil fear and suppress collaboration,’ he said.Mwangi insisted that the civil society has a clear mission in East Africa.’Our unity has a purpose. We went to Uganda to fight for Kizza Besigye’s release, then to Tanzania to champion for Tundu Lissu’s freedom. But now, people fear crossing borders because they could be abducted and deported. We are not scared, we will continue working together,’ he said.Mr Mwangi called their abduction a criminal offence, accusing Ugandan authorities of lying to the courts and the public.’The police and military lied, that’s perjury and contempt of court. You cannot abduct people and deny their existence for weeks. The presidents of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania remained silent until they realised that killing or harming them would have been disastrous,’ he said.Kenya Human Rights Commission spokesperson, Ernest Cornell said Museveni’s public admission amounted to self-incrimination.’A habeas corpus petition was filed in Uganda seeking information on the whereabouts of Bob and Nicholas, but state officers lied to the court, a serious criminal offence,’ Cornell said.’Museveni himself confirmed they were held for 38 days. That’s an admission of enforced disappearance. The two victims have confirmed they were tortured, which makes this a violation of both Ugandan and international law.’He said the psychological toll of such captivity would linger for years.’The worst form of torture is psychological. It never leaves you. Uganda’s courts are complicit, and we will now explore other avenues, including regional or international courts. Justice may be slow, but it eventually comes,’ he said.As the days turned into weeks, the families of the abducted activists oscillated between hope and despair.Florence Kanyua, National Women’s League leader of the Free Kenya Movement, called their return a God-given miracle.’We spent 38 sleepless nights not knowing if they were alive or dead. They have been tortured, yes, but we’re thankful they are alive. We now await medical reports to determine their full condition,’ she said.Ms Kanyua detailed the diplomatic effort that led to their release.’President Museveni confirmed that they had been taken and held by his government and later handed over to the Kenyan High Commission in Uganda, then to the County Commissioner in Busia. Their passports were red-listed, barring them from travel. It took several hours and high-level intervention to resolve,’ she said.She credited former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s intervention for pressing the final button.’We had engaged the Foreign Affairs Ministry, protested at the Ugandan Embassy, and kept the pressure on. When Uhuru finally intervened, the timing was perfect,’ she said.For Frank Njagi, Bob’s father, the experience tested both his faith and patience.’I always had quiet confidence that my son and his colleague were alive. I believed this deeply, it was a conviction from what I call the government of heaven,’ he told the Nation.He praised the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s role.’We approached CS Musalia Mudavadi, whose ministry wrote to its Ugandan counterpart. I believe this diplomatic effort, alongside public pressure, led to their release,’ he said.On Uhuru Kenyatta’s role, he was cautious but appreciative.’Uhuru can only represent the government of Kenya. Even if he talked, he talked in agreement with the government and not on his own. The official thing was what Mudavadi wrote to the Ugandan Foreign Affairs, and eventually, the duo was released to the High Commission of Kenya in Uganda,’Joash Maangi (High Commissioner in Uganda) arranged their coming, and they were escorted by the military attaché, who delivered them to the County Commissioner in Busia where they were sorted out. They were processed and told to go home. I want to stick to the official route because, other than Uhuru who has a good name and I thank him for what he did, other people also struggled,’ he said.Amnesty International Kenya’s Executive Director Irungu Houghton said the abductions highlight a disturbing erosion of civic freedoms across East Africa. Amnesty International Kenya, together with Vocal Africa, the Law Society of Kenya and Free Kenya Movement, held several press briefings, sent lawyers to Ugandan court to follow up on the abduction of the two as well as drafted petitions to secure their release.’Across the region, we’re witnessing arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and the criminalisation of dissent. Their abduction, prolonged incommunicado detention, and release without charge reflect a culture of impunity. President Museveni’s own admission that his government abducted them should alarm everyone,’ Mr Houghton said.He warned that Kenya’s silence was dangerous.’Silence in the face of injustice is complicity. The use of abductions and torture is becoming a regional playbook. This cross-border erosion of rights requires a united response,’ he said.Felix Wambua, the Free Kenya Movement’s national coordinator, believes Njagi and Oyoo were targeted because of their efforts to link East African youth movements.’President Museveni’s public admission is proof of abduction. It shows that East Africa’s judiciaries can no longer be trusted to deliver justice independently,’ he said.He argued that without Mr Kenyatta’s intervention, the duo might never have been released.’There were only two options for them, death or forced recruitment into the Museveni regime. After interrogation, when they refused to cooperate, they were marked for execution. We raised the alarm at Amnesty International,’ he said and criticised President Ruto’s silence.’His (President Ruto) silence signalled comfort with their continued detention and torture. Uhuru acted. His friendship with the Odinga family helped, Nicholas Oyoo is Ida Odinga’s relative an dthat is the channel we used,’ he added.

In the 2026 elections, a paradox defines multi-party democracy: nearly half of parliamentary candidates are Independents, primarily party rebels. These candidates defy their parties’ local flagbearers while pledging allegiance to the same parties’ presidential candidates; an implication that loyalty is split between institutions and individuals.

It raises critical questions: why do party leaders command more loyalty than the parties themselves? This trend, likely driven by charismatic authority, threatens to hollow out party institutions, concentrating power around individuals and undermining the foundational structure of organised politics in Uganda.

Let us return to the seminal moment of 2005 and the historic return to multi-party politics. Philosophically, this transition aimed to institutionalise politics-to shift power from individuals to ideologies, and from personal networks to structured systems. In practice, however, the transition manifested as a complex adaptation of a political order characterised by integrating multi-partyism into a well-established ‘no-party’ system.

The adaptation resulted in a hybrid system that blends legal-rational authority (the formal rules and Constitution) and persistent charismatic authority.

In this model, the party leader operates not merely as a first among equals, but as the central gravitational force in the political party. The party institution itself often functions as a component within a broader, leader-centric ecosystem. This is the practice in all significant political parties in these elections.

Candidates dissatisfied with ‘unfair processes’ in the party primaries are not just sore losers; they are pointing to a foundational fault. When party primaries are perceived as rigged, the party ceases to be a legitimate vehicle for ambition. It is no longer a meritocratic institution but a tool for anointing favourites. The social contract between the member and the party is broken. But why then cling to the presidential coattails? The reasoning is pragmatic.

In a system dominated by a charismatic figure, the party brand is fragile, but the leader’s brand is compelling. Voters, fatigued of abstract party ideologies, often transfer their loyalty directly to the individual they see as the most captivating personality.

An Independent candidate knows that aligning with the Big Man is a smarter electoral strategy than aligning with a party structure that just betrayed them. It is not about principle, but power lines. In this framework, party flagbearers often command popular support because they, before the voters, have the good will of their charismatic party leaders. They are banking on the leader’s charisma to pull them across the finish line, a phenomenon known as the ‘coattail effect’.

The implication for the future of political parties is dire. They risk becoming vessels used only during election season and then discarded.

This reality fosters a politics of individualism over ideology, of personal patronage over policy matters. Disciplining party members will become increasingly difficult because interpersonal relations will overshadow the ideal questions. It will be hard for parties to build coherent platforms and holding the representatives accountable.

Resultantly, the Legislature will be crowded with ‘self-made’ Independents whose primary loyalty will be to the party monarchs, not to the parties and their bureaucratic fundamentals.

This dangerously concentrates power and undermines the very checks and balances multi-partyism was designed to create. In the end, the political landscape is becoming a forest of ambitious individuals, all growing in the shadow of a single, large tree. The parties, meant to be the fertile soil, are instead turning to dust.

Until parties can become more than just electoral vehicles for a single leader by building institutional integrity, legitimately enforceable internal democracy, and brands that transcend personalities, they will continue to be defied by their own members and supporters, who have correctly leaned that in the theatre of politics, it is often not the dance, but the dancer, that truly matters. And for now, everyone is trying to identify with that one dancer!