Governance

IS ELECTRICITY POWERED TRANSPORT VIABLE IN UGANDA?

Amidst the galloping fuel prices, His Excellency President Museveni took to national TV on Wednesday, 27th 2022  to push for electric cars and railways as a long term solution to crude oil supply shocks. “This is the answer. The correct way is to start moving away from petrol to electric cars and we have already started,”  President Museveni said, rejecting fuel subsidies that are suggested in some quarters to lower costs. Currently Diesel in Kampala is going for over Ush6,500 …
Governance

ASSESSING THE GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE OUTBREAK.

pin up Over the January 2020 to August 2021 period, 100 districts reported at least one case of foot and mouth disease,according to a September, 14, 2021 statement to Parliament by Hon. Bright Rwamirama, the Agriculture State Minister. In areas where people graze communally, it is a challenge to control Foot and Mouth Disease. In response the government has undertaken a vaccination intervention as well as enforcing quarantines in affected districts. The vaccine drive has been hampered by inadequate funding …
Governance

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN PRESENT TIMES: Uganda human rights commission report 2021.

In accordance with Article 52 (2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, the Uganda Human Rights Commission is mandated to publish periodic reports on its findings and submit annual reports to Parliament on the state of human rights and freedoms in the country. Therefore, in fulfilment of this mandate, the Uganda Human Rights Commission presented its 24th Annual Report to Parliament. This report comprises 12 chapters dedicated to the general thematic issues and areas that the Uganda Human …
Governance

High Unemployment rates among youth graduates in Uganda: What needs to be done?

Youth unemployment remains a serious policy challenge in many sub-Saharan African countries, including Uganda. The third National Development Plan estimates that the  unemployment rate is 13.3% as insufficient creation of quality and gainful jobs remains a significant development challenge.   Given the rapid growth of the Ugandan population—three-quarters of the population are below the age of 30 years which represents at least 31 million people, the government recognises this as a development resource of cheap labour.Yet the youth bulge presents …
Governance

Does Uganda need a minimum wage to cope with rising cost of living today?

There is a steady but consistent rise in the cost of living in Uganda, fueled by the recent rise in prices that is making it unbearable for majority workers to have decent lives. On Thursday 19th May 2022, Wizarts Foundation hosted a Twitter space to discuss the strategic direction of the Government of Uganda, in protecting and promoting the rights and welfare of vulnerable workers. This discussion was intended to bring together government duty bearers, academic and former finance Minister …
Governance

Contextualizing efforts to address staff gaps within Uganda’s health sector

KAMPALA: The Daily Monitor recently reported that government, owing to financial constraints, is currently unable to address acute shortage of health workers in Uganda. The report quoting the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Health, Dr. Diana Atwine, was published  just days before Hon. Amos Lugoloobi, Uganda’s State Minister for Planning, tabled to Parliament the annual budget estimates for the Financial Year 2022/23. This came at the height of public debate on reported funeral costs of the Late Rt. Hon. …
Governance

Breaking the barrier to Women economic empowerment in Uganda

KAMPALA: Uganda has over the years, grappled with different socio-economic barriers impeding gender inclusion and Women economic participation in the country. Government in efforts to narrow this gender gap, through Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP), launched in 2015, sought to improve the income and contribution of Women towards Uganda’s economic development. Though some strides are seen to be made towards empowering women economically through UWEP, a 2018 report by the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) found that the program, …
Governance

War reparation, truth telling & dialogue in Teso, Lango and Acholi Sub-regions

Ahead of the imminent launch of the repayment of war claimants in Acholi, Lango and Teso sub-regions by President Museveni on 26th March 2022 in Soroti, attention is being drawn towards conflict victims being at the centre of the nation building process in Uganda. Article 50(1) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda as amended states that: any person who claims that a fundamental or other right or freedom guaranteed under this Constitution has been infringed or threatened, is entitled to …
Governance

Media practice and the urge to curb Uganda’s growing inflation

On Tuesday 22nd March 2022, Hon. Matia Kasaija, the Minister for finance, planning and economic development issued a media statement on Uganda’s rising inflation, explaining that the current hike in commodity prices are due to forces external to the country, temporary and that government on its own, can do little to deal with the problem. Shocks in prices for essential goods and services in Uganda are currently being experienced for cooking oil, laundry bar soap, fuel, education services and transport …
Governance

Parliament’s failure to censure Jim Muhwezi and the implications on MP independence

In the wake of multiple  accounts of torture, while in State custody, by survivors including the dissident author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, Opposition Members of Parliament led by the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Mathias Mpuuga saw it fit to censure the Security Minister, Hon. Jim Muhwezi. Specifically, Hon. Mpuuga cited the Minister’s inaction despite widespread reports of torture, some of which were tabled by Hon. Mpuuga in the Minister’s presence. Ultimately, the motion to censure the Minister failed as it lacked …
Education

Navigating fees dilemma in the wake of schools reopening

The COVID-19 pandemic has battered the Ugandan economy, with lockdown measures instituted by government to mitigate community spread of the virus affecting access to basic social services like health and education. Although government of Uganda moved to reopen all sectors in January 2022 to reverse the downturn caused by the pandemic, the effects of COVID-19 are coming back to affect people’s livelihoods. In the education sector, the National Planning Authority projected that 30% of 15 million leaners in Uganda were …
Governance

What the Public Records say about Capacity of Parliament to check illegal detention in Uganda

The recent account of Kakwenza Rukirabaishaija’s torture ordeal in State custody, has intensified public debate on whether illegal detention and torture in Uganda is institutionalized or rather isolated actions of some errant officers within the security forces. Kakwenza has written, tweeted and narrated his own experience with the security forces in Uganda. The author’s account is one of many testimonies by survivors of torture in Uganda, that casts doubt on the familiar claim that the government does not condone torture. …