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Despite the ongoing teachers’ strike, the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams kicked off smoothly yesterday across Kampala City, with private teachers stepping in to fill the gap.

Before the exams began yesterday, striking government teachers protesting unmet government promises for salary rise, had vowed not to supervise the exercise, raising fears of disruption.

But Monitor has learnt that private school teachers, who are not paid by the government and are not part of the strike, took charge of supervision at most centres, ensuring the exams went on without any interruption. Mr Twaha Ssemakula, a teacher from Green Hill Academy, was among the invigilators deployed to Kololo Secondary School in Kampala to monitor the candidates.

‘For Uneb supervision, I was sent here as an invigilator. Our colleagues in Unatu are on strike, but we from private schools are not. We had to work to cover the gap created,’ Mr Ssemakula said.

At Kololo SS, the candidates had checked in and settled for their first Uneb examinations by 9am, and the school officials said the exercise started smoothly, with tight supervision to ensure compliance with regulations.

Mr Geoffrey Nyende, the Kololo SS deputy head teacher in charge of academics, said: “We have not been affected a lot by the strike because we sat down with our teachers and told them the importance of having the learners prepare for the exams and they agreed to teach despite their strike.’

Ms Madinah Babirye, the chief invigilator at Kitante Hill SS, said they have enough invigilators and that the teacher’s strike has not disrupted exams in the city schools.

‘We have enough invigilators here, and the teachers’ strike has not affected the supervision of exams. The situation might be different in rural schools where the strike might have had a greater impact.’

Mr Danson Bank Nagaba, the Kitante Hill SS deputy head teacher, said all the 243 candidates registered at the school were able to sit for their first paper.

At Kakungulu Memorial SS in Kibuli, Senior Four candidates began the day with a prayer at 8am. Ms Sharifah Nampeebwa, the deputy head teacher in charge of welfare, said the school registered 403 candidates this year, up from 250 in 2024, thanks to the Competence-Based Curriculum, which has promoted more learners.

‘They have completed the syllabus, done all their projects, and completed other activities. We are confident they will pass,’ Ms Nampeebwa said.

She said the school allowed fees defaulters to sit the exams after agreeing with parents to clear balances later in line with Ministry of Education guidance.

At Muyenga High School, 98 students were registered to sit for the UCE exams, including students from Namuwongo Community SS. But the exams did not start as stipulated as it arrived at 9.20am, and started at 9.30pm.

Headmistress Unia Nantongo said the delay was caused by some supervisors who didn’t turn up. ‘Our area was assigned four supervisors, but only two turned up. The two had to count and distribute the papers, which took some time. We got to know that one of the invigilators was sick, but we got two more,’ Ms Nantongo said.

At Mengo SS and Mackay Memorial College at Nateete, the candidates had settled in by 8am. At Kalinabiri SS in Ntinda, the deputy head teacher, Ms Anne Scovia Kabuye, said it is mostly primary schools that seem to have been affected by the strike.

The State minister for Higher Education, Mr John Chrysostom Muyingo, who addressed journalists at the Uganda Media Centre yesterday said the exams were moving on smoothly.

‘I also conducted some spot checks at various schools in Kampala City to ensure the smooth conduct of the exercise and to ensure teaching was taking place. I want to assure that teaching was taking place as well as UCE as expected. I want to thank teachers and all stakeholders who worked tirelessly to ensure a smooth exercise,’ Mr Muyingo said.

Uganda suffered their first setback at the ongoing All Africa Ultimate Pool Championship in Mpumalanga, South Africa, falling 15-10 to the hosts on Tuesday.

The defeat came against a composed and seasoned South African side whose veteran players dictated the pace from the opening racks to the end. The result pushed Uganda to third place on the 14-team men’s standings after the morning session.

Team captain Rashid Wagaba admitted that South Africa’s experience was a key determinant.

‘We lost to a more experienced team. They controlled the table well and punished every mistake we made,’ Wagaba said.

Despite the setback, Wagaba remained optimistic about Uganda’s campaign, emphasising that qualification for the knockout stages remains within reach.

‘We still have a strong chance. We just need to win our remaining games to secure a place in the quarterfinals. Our team has depth and character-we can bounce back and challenge for the title once we reach the knockouts,’ he added.

Uganda was scheduled to play four more matches later in the day before Wednesday’s conclusion of the group phase, with the top eight teams advancing to the quarterfinals.

Mixed results

Meanwhile, in the women’s category, Uganda’s Team B endured mixed fortunes. They narrowly lost 13-12 to Kenya B in their opening match before producing a dominant 19-6 victory over Namibia in the morning session. The result kept the Ugandan ladies within the top seven, maintaining their hopes of a quarterfinal berth.

Action continues through to Saturday, when the top teams and individual players will be crowned. The continental event has drawn participants from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Namibia.

Ultimate Pool Championship

Results

Men

Namibia B 1-24 Uganda

South Africa C 15-10 Uganda

Women

Kenya B 13-12 Uganda

Namibia 9-16 Uganda

The Constitution of Uganda under Article 21 stipulates: ‘All persons are equal before and under the law in all spheres of political, economic, social, and cultural life and in every other respect and shall enjoy equal protection of the law.’

It further states that a person shall not be discriminated against on the ground of sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, tribe, birth, creed or religion, social or economic standing, political opinion or disability. However, despite these clearly expressed regulations, women and girls in the country are still rampantly discriminated against. This discrimination starts right from the smallest unit of society, the family, with parents prioritising educating sons at the expense of their daughters.

Parents, especially in rural areas, pull out all the stops to ensure that their sons are educated but little is done to ensure girls stay in school, with many married off under the pretext that there is no money to keep them in schools. Greed for bribe price usually plays a key role in this decision, with parents and other relatives of girls viewing them as a source of wealth.

Harmful cultural norms perpetuated by our patrilineal communities also deny women the right to inherit their parents’ properties. On the demise of their parents, the properties are taken over by their brothers and other male relatives, leaving them with nothing. In the same vein, women are robbed of properties that, by law, they are entitled to inherit after the death of their husbands.

This injustice renders widows virtually unable to care for their children. In many cases, these greedy, heartless in-laws collude with unscrupulous security personnel, clan elders, local council officials, and district leaders. When it comes to employment, some companies and organisations do not provide maternity leave for women, meaning pregnancy and childbirth lead to automatic job losses. Sexual harassment is also rife in workplaces, with women getting little or no protection at all from the culprits. In many cases culprits get a mere slap on the wrist. Violence against women, especially from intimate partners is widespread, with some misguided men falsely thinking they are within their rights to beat their wives.

Sadly, some ill-informed women think this mistreatment is justified under some circumstances. Some progress has been made in women emancipation, with a number of women appointed to key government jobs and others holding senior positions in private companies and NGOs. However, it is disheartening that few of these women use their positions to fight for the rights of fellow women.

We therefore call upon women who have made it to the top to give other women who are still struggling to climb the hill a helping hand. Government and parents must do more to ensure that women are educated to enable them rise to their full potential. Women’s property rights must also be upheld and domestic violence combated. It is incumbent upon the government to ensure that labour laws are followed to make places of work conducive for women. Women, just like men, have rights that should be upheld to enable them thrive.

Citizens will be among key stakeholders who, starting this Friday, will appraise judicial officers in a bid aimed at ensuring high standards of justice delivery in the country.

Speaking on Tuesday to the media ahead of the Friday launch, Supreme Court Justice Mike Chibita explained that over the past decades, there has been an increasing demand for greater accountability and transparency, hence the need for public participation.

‘It’s not about writing a judgment, but how do you treat course users when they come before you? How do you handle them?’ Justice Chibita said.

Adding: ‘For court users and the public, the performance enhancement tool provides a voice to start with. Users can now contribute to assessing service quality, which will in turn reduce delays, enhance efficiency, and build public trust.

The tool dubbed ‘The Performance Enhancement Tool’ (PET) is a web-based system that will help the Judiciary track and improve performance across the institution.

The tool is designed to monitor how judicial officers and court staff are doing, using clear standards and feedback, so that justice is delivered more efficiently and transparently.

Joseph Ssinabulya, the Principal Information Management Officer of the Judiciary, explained that the new performance tool will not do away with the earlier set case disposal targets for the judicial officers, where a High Court Judge is expected to dispose of 300 cases annually translating into 25 cases per month, a registrar, 400 cases annually, translating into 33 cases per month, and a chief magistrate, 600 cases per year translating into 50 cases per month.

Instead, Ssinabulya said the earlier set targets will still be used alongside the new performance tool.

‘The new tool is not actually doing away with the earlier set targets; it’s just providing an objective way of measuring your performance,’ Ssinabulya explained.

‘Those targets are going to still remain there, and the weights are actually attributed to the number of cases that you complete, so you can’t do away with the targets because we are still counting the numbers and then multiplying by the weight,’ he added.

Justice Chibita further said that different cases have different weights and that they will be considered so during the appraisal of the judicial officers.

‘In some cases, we have applications that we can hear and rule on in one day, while in other cases, we have to wait. Do you all remember the 2010 bombing?. It took over a year and had 100 witnesses, ‘Justice Chibita explained.

Adding: ‘How do you judge if one handles 100 applications and another handles a complicated one like the one of the 2010 Kampala bombing case. Will you say that this one handled many and the other only one?’

He said that those who perform well, management will reward them, and those who perform poorly, there will be a need to explain why.

Pius Bigirimana, the Permanent Secretary to the Judiciary, listed some of the benefits associated with the new performance tool.

They included: improve efficiency in case handling, build public trust through transparency, provide reliable data for decision making, guide professional development and training, and strengthen accountability within the Judiciary.

On why the Judiciary decided to embrace the new performance tool, Bigirimana explained that the old manual appraisal system was slow, subjective, and not data-driven.

How the tool works

The Performance Enhancement Tool uses a 360-degree appraisal model.

Performance is assessed not only by a supervisor but also by the officers themselves, their peers, subordinates, and court users such as lawyers, prosecutors, and litigants. Everyone’s perspective counts, which makes the evaluation fair and comprehensive.

Four visually-impaired candidates who are set to begin their UCE exams on Tuesday at Hornby High School in Kabale District have expressed confidence to pass with better grades because they have been prepared well by their teachers.

The candidates include Kugonza Atuweredwa (19), Brenda Musimenta (16), Sharot Tukamushaba (16) and Isaac Nowamani (20). ‘We shall excel in these examinations because our teachers prepared us very well. We also prepared ourselves through group discussion, private reading in the evening and early morning,’ Mr Kugonza Atuweredwa said in an interview with Daily Monitor yesterday.

The candidates also said they liked the new curriculum because it helped them exercise their competencies and capabilities despite their disabilities.

‘The new curriculum has helped us in brainstorming with the sighted students while doing some projects and some of the sighted students that have been taking us for granted because of our disabilities, appreciated our potential.

‘The new curriculum has broken the barriers that existed between the visually-impaired and the sighted students since its competence based,’ Nowamani said.

He added that there was a need for allocating more time to the visually-impaired candidates while doing the national examinations because they are not as swift as their sighted colleagues.

The students described their education journey as a rough one that has been characterised by challenges that include lack of school fees and the required scholastic materials, among other social aspects such as being orphans.

‘My education journey has not been straight because being an orphan, my mother could not afford raising all the needed requirements for my special needs education.

I am grateful to God that I have been cleared to sit for the Uneb exams after which I will get a Uganda Certificate of Education. My dream is to become a journalist so that I can serve the community, my second dream is to become a lawyer so that I can advocate for the rights of the marginalised people,’ Tukamushaba said.

On his part Nowamani, who lost his sight at the age of three, due to a strange disease said his dream is to become an entrepreneur so that he can employ people.

The head teacher at Hornby High School, Mr George Aturebire Tumusiime, said a total of 40 candidates, including 4 candidates with visual impairment were cleared to sit for the Uneb exams at his school.

Initiative

Mr Tumusiime said the blind section that was started at his school in 1981, is currently accommodating 48 students, of which 18 are boys. He added that the conducive teaching and learning environment at his school has helped the visually-impaired students to excel in academics at both O-Level and A-Level despite challenges of inadequate equipment and special scholastic materials.

‘We need support on computers and scholastic materials so that we can offer timely quality education services to the visually impaired students at our school.

Although we are grateful to the different organisations and individuals for supporting the education needs of our visually-impaired students, we need more financial support to enable us to offer quality education.

‘Currently, we have only 20 computers available for the visually-impaired students yet we have a total of 48 and this means that we need 28 more computers so that each student can use a computer instead of sharing with another one,’ Mr Tumusiime said.

He also appealed to the government to consider the recruitment of more special needs teachers to solve the problem of manpower gaps.

Boyz II Men’s End of the Road won’t be making the Cranes playlist anytime soon – it would hit too close to home.

And that’s because it really is the end of the road. Uganda’s hopes of reaching the 2026 Fifa World Cup playoffs evaporated in late drama on Tuesday night, as Algeria came from behind to snatch a 2-1 victory in Boukhalfa.

Steven Mukwala gave the Cranes a dream start in the sixth minute, finishing calmly past Luca Zidane – the great Zinedine’s son – after Kenneth Ssemakula had dispossessed an Algerian player to set him up.

Jude Ssemugabi went close to doubling Uganda’s lead before halftime, narrowly missing Mukwala’s low cross, while Allan Okello also dragged his low-angled shot inches wide after gliding past three defenders early in the second half.

Algeria, already qualified for the World Cup, gradually turned the screw, with Mohamed Amoura and Riyad Mahrez – the latter later withdrawn – leading waves of pressure down both flanks.

Full-backs Toby Sibbick and the impressive Aziz Kayondo were kept busy – with Elio Capradossi and Jordan Obita solid early on in central defence – but the backline finally broke in the 81st minute when Mukwala’s handball in the box handed the hosts a lifeline.

Amoura converted the resulting penalty to make it 1-1, and deep into stoppage time, further chaos in the Ugandan area saw goalkeeper Salim Jamal penalised for a foul before being stretchered off injured.

Substitute goalkeeper Denis Onyango’s first action was to face another Amoura penalty – but the Algerian forward again sent the veteran the wrong way to seal victory in the 90+9 minute.

The defeat left Uganda on 18 points, seven behind group leaders Algeria, and outside contention for the best four runners-up slots in the Caf World Cup playoff round.

The Cranes will now shift focus to the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco, scheduled from December 21, 2025, to January 8, 2026.

The construction of Masaka Recreation Stadium, a flagship project aimed at boosting sports infrastructure in the region, is nearing completion, with works currently standing at 76 per cent.

The first phase of the project, which kicked off in August 2024, is expected to end next month, with the government having released Shs18.5 billion out of the total project budget of Shs150 billion.

According to Eng. John Lule, the supervising consultant for the project, despite the slow release of funds, the contractor is optimistic that the first phase will be complete by the end of November.

“We could have been at 85 percent if we had not experienced some delays. But all in all, we are progressing well and most works are nearing completion,” he said.

The project includes the construction of the eastern and western pavilions, as well as the laying of an artificial turf.

Once completed, the upgraded stadium will have a sitting capacity of 15,000 people, with space for several indoor games, including basketball and volleyball courts.

Masaka City Council Clerk, Mr. Daniel Kaweesi, expressed satisfaction with the project’s progress, praising the contractor for their hard work and dedication to completing the project on time. “We are impressed with the progress so far, and we are confident that the stadium will be a game-changer for sports in the region,” he said.

Resident Hajji Musa Gava said the stadium will enable sportspeople to enjoy various games in a better facility, leading to the development of sports tourism in the region. “We are impressed with the work that has been done so far. There is no doubt that when the stadium is completed, it will lead to the development of sports tourism in this region,” he said.

The stadium, which was opened in 1954, has not had a major renovation in 71 years. The renovation project is a welcome development for sports enthusiasts in the region, who have been longing for a state-of-the-art facility to showcase their talents.

Then there is Cameroon’s long standing and suffering President Paul Barthelemy Biya’a bi Mvondo who goes by the political stage name Paul Biya. Two days ago at the ripe old age of 92, he was on the ballot paper, seeking his 8th term of office. The terms are now 7 years long. Biya who has been President for 43 years; since 1982 was previously the prime minister from 1975 to 1982.

He is the second longest serving ruling African President after Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasongo of Equatorial Guinea. Insah Allah, if he wins then goes on to complete the next term, he will be 99-years-old at its end. Biya is no ordinary President. He rarely appears in public because he is reportedly away in France most of the time. He only returns to attend to important occasions like these elections which take place every after 7 years.

His party is a movement like Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM.) In English it is the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM.) In French it passes off as Rassemblement democratique du Peuple Camerounais (RDPC). It has dominated Cameroon politics since the 1960s when it was called the Cameroonian National Union (CNU) before it mutated for relevance. Like NRM it dominates the legislature. Currently it controls the Senate with about 94 representatives out of 100 and the National Assembly with 152 seats out of 180. Like NRM, it almost by default, always endorses Biya as the only leader with a vision to prosper Cameroon. Cameroon is one hell of a mess with Biya at the helm. A third of the 29.9 million population lives on less than $2 dollars a day. Youth unemployment is rampant.

The government is grappling with a Jihadist insurgency in the north of the country and the Anglophone separatist in the West. In one of those rare moments Biya’s daughter, Brenda Biya took to social media App TikTok and claimed that her father had made too many people suffer. In a post that was later taken down, she urged the voters to reject him at the polls. Over the years the voter turn up has kept dropping amidst violence visited on government opponents. The opposition itself is fractured with 11 opposition figures vying against Biya this time round. There is hardly a realistic chance of giving the nonagenarian a contest worth its name. What makes these leaders go on even when it looks obvious that they are well past their sell-by date is their mastery of entrenched and perpetual dictatorship with good benefits for a few.

They also carry the steel along the way to deal with the many who are bound to raise questions. It thrives not necessarily by having the masses behind the autocrat. Only a critical mass is needed in the right and decisive places. The president losing power is equivalent to loss of wealth, opportunity and privilege by an ethnic group. In striving to guard it jealously, they fight to keep the main man; the aging patriarch, warts and all, in power. Most important is to create a very weak populace. One with very little or no economic power, for it is easier to load it over very impoverished people. However much the economy grows by impressive figures, he makes sure most of the cream goes into the pockets of a few people, the cronies and foreign investors many of whom act as faces for the former. The rest especially the elite and middle class, should be hustling from day break till dawn; year after year, living from hand to mouth.

Any slight slip pushes them into unimaginable poverty. So they live and grumble quietly and are an ineffective force as far as opposing the government is concerned. They run a system that keeps the taxes high accompanied by costly, endless regulations on everything in place. The people who read and run the rules are well fed from their salaries and with lucrative opportunities of corruption. The proceeds of corruption which is never punished despite the pretence and pronouncements, is used to strengthen the ruling clique. It is used to weaken the rest by buying them off their lands, distorting markets to crowd out the rest using the vast amounts of easily acquired, ill-gotten money. The ruling clique are grateful for the indulgence granted by the dictator. They will do everything to ensure that he remains in power as the best option for the country even if he is visibly and realistically incapable.

He is simply a figure head they rally around. The glue that holds the cabal together. All institutions of state and government are padded with cronies, relatives, people from the president’s circle and other hangers on. There include the electoral commission, the civil service and the judiciary. They take decisions to disadvantage the opposition. In Cameroon the courts barred the most serious opposition candidate Maurice Kamto from standing. The opposition in Uganda may learn from Paul Biya that the old age or health of the principal does not mean much. As long as he has fashioned an effective system of influence and control of the people manning the vital organs of the state, he has a head start. If he still appoints the ones who (dis)organise the election and (mis)count the final tally he is unbeatable.

If he commands the gunmen that police the process and has limitless and unquestioned access to public finance, his opponents have a mountain to climb. He may even buy them, plant moles and split them leaving them quarrelling amongst themselves instead of focusing on him. Above all if he has the knack to allow them enrich themselves through corruption and privilege, even at the expense of destroying the state and the country, its health, education, economy and road network, he is the man to beat. The massive crowds and undying support on social media mean very little save for good pictures. The manifestos, policy promises and messaging will all amount to nothing and end in tears. That is now the puzzle for Uganda’s opposition. How to walk through a mine field set up by the 40 years of NRM under Gen Yoweri Museveni and his appointees. Many of them act like they don’t know the difference between NRM the party plus its head and the state of Uganda they are supposed to serve.

Shock and grief gripped residents of Nkarakara Cell, Rubaba Ward in Kamwenge District after a 39-year-old man allegedly killed his five-year-old daughter, buried her in his compound, and was later lynched by an angry mob.

Police identified the suspect as Peter Bagonza, a resident of Kahunge Town Council, who reportedly suffered from mental illness for more than 20 years.

According to Rwenzori West Regional Police Spokesperson SP Vincent Twesige, the incident occurred on Monday at around 10pm when Bagonza returned home and found his wife missing. ‘It’s alleged that when Bagonza, who was reportedly mentally unstable, returned home and did not find his wife, he proceeded to his mother-in-law’s residence in the same cell to search for her,’ Twesige said.

Upon seeing him, his wife and in-laws fled, leaving their daughter, Mary Cynthia, behind.

‘He carried the child back to his home, where he allegedly killed her by cutting and later buried her in his compound,’ Twesige added.

On Tuesday morning, neighbours passing near Bagonza’s home reportedly noticed a freshly dug grave with what appeared to be a child’s hand protruding from the soil. Alarmed, they alerted local leaders, who in turn called the police.

‘The neighbors saw a new grave with a child’s hand visible and immediately notified local authorities, who then contacted the police. At that time, the suspect was not at home. The locals mobilized themselves, tracked him down, and lynched him at around 11:30 a.m.,’ SP Twesige said.

Police teams from Kahunge and Kamwenge Police Stations later visited the scene and obtained a court order to exhume the child’s body.

‘The body of Mary was exhumed and examined by a doctor at the scene, along with that of Bagonza, who was killed by the angry mob. Both bodies were later handed over to their relatives for decent burial,’ Twesige noted.

The police spokesperson described the incident as tragic, urging the public to seek medical help for people suffering from mental illness rather than resorting to violence.

‘We continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding this horrific event,’ he said.

Police said investigations are ongoing.

The Indian Association of Uganda, together with its High Commission, say they have partnered with the Ruperalia Group to organise the annual Diwali food festival involving all Indian sects this year.

In an interview with this newspaper last Saturday, Mr Paresh Mehta, the chairman of the Indian Association in Uganda, said this year’s festival, scheduled for next Sunday, will be held at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

The occasion is expected to attract all sects in the country, to showcase India’s varied regional delicacies, cultural and traditional, as well as promote the culture of unity in diversity and heritage.

‘Diwali is an Indian festival that is celebrated in all corners of the world, including in the United States. In Kenya government has gazetted it as a public holiday, and at State House Entebbe, in the past the President [Museveni] has organised Diwali celebrations for the community. We have been celebrating this festival under an umbrella association,’ he said.

He added that the impact of the partnership between the association, the High Commission and the Ruperalia Group has led to some of their projects such as blood donations and free heart surgeries for Ugandan children.

The ties have also generated a lot of demand for the celebration as a flagship festival for the community living in Uganda.

Asked to explain the significance of the festival, he said among the Indians, they celebrate it as victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. He added that Diwalu contributes to social harmony and fosters a sense of belonging. ‘It is a festival that transcends religion and geography, offering a universal message of hope, renewal, and togetherness, and reminds people of the enduring power of light through times of darkness. It is also a time for new beginnings in business, personal growth, and spiritual enlightenment,’ he said.

Sasi Nair, the secretary of Indian Association of Uganda, explained that Dewali is an Indian culture of celebrating victory over darkness. He said it is a way of encouraging their community to always be righteous and nurture the younger and future generations to keep alive the culture of good behaviour for future generations.

‘We inherited the culture of good behaviour which we have to pass onto our children and the next generations. We have so far registered more than 100 food stalls and over 15 cultural performances from various Indian regions and every diaspora community will be represented,’ he said.

He added that Ugandans and international communities are free to attend and witness some of the biggest Indian cultural performances.