img
21 December 2025

DESPERATE VOTE HUNTING AND THE NEED TO CONTROL RECKLESS TONGUES TURN INTO UPPERCASE

In one of our animated discussions in a journalists’ chat group, a colleague, Derrick Wandera of the Daily Monitor, questioned why the National Resistance Movement (NRM), and particularly the security agencies, are placing so much emphasis on what he described as “ghetto political slogans” used by NUP presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi. According to Wandera, slogans such as Tubayisemu Egaali (a ghetto expression implying the subduing of those one disagrees with through force), Kuzoganya (unsettling one’s enemies), and Mukakuume mukabanje (protect the vote and demand answers if one is dissatisfied with the results) are harmless political statements. In his view, the government, especially security agencies, is panicking by reading too much into these rallying calls, which, he argues, should not be interpreted beyond their face value. He is wrong. To security agencies, these are not innocent slogans. They are deliberately coded statements designed to incite sections of the population to take the law into their own hands during an election season. To understand why security is concerned about such language, one does not need to look far; our region offers painful lessons on what political incitement can do in a highly charged political environment. During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, perpetrators began by coining coded language to incite ethnic Hutus against Tutsis. Words such as Inyenzi (cockroaches) were used to dehumanise Tutsis and justify violence against them. This systematic use of language was a powerful tool of incitement. We all know what people do when cockroaches invade their homes: they exterminate them. The result of this dehumanisation was the genocide against the Tutsi, which claimed close to one million lives in just three months. Similarly, during Kenya’s 2007–2008 post-election violence, explicit and coded language was widely used to incite ethnic hatred and violence. Politicians and their supporters employed terms such as Madoadoa (blemishes or spots), a coded reference in the Rift Valley to “non-host” communities, particularly Kikuyu and Kisii, who were accused of supporting the wrong political choices. The implication was that these “spots” needed to be removed. Other phrases included “beasts from the west,” reportedly used by some Kikuyu politicians to describe Luo supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga, while some Kalenjin supporters retaliated by referring to the Kikuyu as “vermin.” The phrase “clear the weeds from the grass” echoed Rwanda’s genocidal rhetoric and was a coded call for the physical removal of non-Kalenjin communities from the Rift Valley. Another expression, “the mongoose has stolen the chickens,” alluded to historical land grievances, portraying the Kikuyu as land grabbers. The consequences were devastating. Tribal clashes, particularly between the Luo and the Kikuyu, displaced thousands of people. Property, infrastructure, and industries were destroyed; about 1,000 people were killed; and many more were displaced. For the first time, Uganda received hundreds of Kenyan refugees fleeing the violence. Therefore, when security agencies act cautiously in response to inciting statements and innuendoes, they should not be dismissed as panicky or overzealous. Instead, they should be commended for restraining desperate political actors who seek votes by any means, including those that endanger communities and national stability. The use of coded language and slogans by the leadership of the National Unity Platform (NUP) to incite citizens must be condemned by all. While campaigning in Luweero District, NUP presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi crossed a dangerous line when he told a cheering crowd that if one is a true son of Buganda and votes for President Museveni, then “something is wrong with your head.” Such rhetoric is deeply inciting, and his team and advisers should restrain him. Ironically, before entering the often reckless world of politics, he once sang, “Akalulu tekatwawula” (elections should never divide us). For Christians, the Bible offers a sobering warning about the power of words. In James 3:5–6, the apostle uses vivid imagery, comparing the tongue to a small spark capable of setting an entire forest ablaze. He illustrates how reckless speech can cause immense destruction, corrupting individuals and communities alike. The scripture reads: “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting the course of life on fire, and itself set on fire by hell.” These biblical words highlight the disproportionate power of the tongue to cause immense destruction, comparing its small size to the massive scale of a blaze that can consume an entire forest or wild bush.” The writer is Ag. Executive Director Uganda Media Centre

BY OBED KATUREEBE
img
20 December 2025

GREG MUGISHA MUNTU’S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: THE LACK OF GRAVITAS

Only thirty days left to the general election polling day, and retired UPDF Maj. Gen. and former army commander for nine years, 1989-1998 Gregory Mugisha Muntu has still failed to gain visible traction on the campaign trail. If he was a tree in a plantation, many would be right to describe him as the laggard. And yet from the visual demeanor, and a clean-slate career background, of the bee-line candidates, you are perhaps the next best to President Yoweri Museveni, also the ruling NRM presidential candidate. You Mugisha Muntu, what for really. One true bill is a point when in the last election you got only 67,574 votes ( 0.65%) in the national presidential vote. You have come back again but the signs are clearly ominous for you. Second attempt makes a line and that line points to another very poor performance, after which you should hang it up after strike two rather than go down swinging the bat like your friend, and former UPDF comrade Kizza Besigye. Your looming unprecedented rejection makes it even clearer that your return should never have seen the light of day. It may now point to evidence of your vindictiveness against President Yoweri Museveni, the man who propped you up to become his army commander at just 29 years old in 1989 when many people believed you did not possess qualities or expertise to become one. He jumped you in career and professional ladders becoming so far, the only army commander to hold the rank of colonel for only two months, was skipped that of Brigadier, straight a Maj. Gen. and then appointed army commander, which caused murmurs, with Kampala shops closing at midday. I remember, Museveni warning, rumoured coup plotters, that they go ‘six feet underground.’ Muntu, you are now like that prosecutor who tries to return to the same case with the same facts and evidence even when the jury repeatedly declines to endorse a trial. But we should wish him good luck. But listening to the man who was Chief of Military Intelligence, Commander 5th Infantry Division based in Lira, Chief Political Commissar (CPC), and eventually the Army Commander for nine years, and couldn’t end the wars, now speaking so casually as if running government is so easy, baffles me. A steely authoritarian, under whose watch corruption in NRA/UPDF was commonplace, and indisciplinados thrived leading to the terminology of kateebe, Muntu isn’t exceptional. Although Muntu singings of building ‘systems’ but as the Organising Secretary, and later president of FDC, the party stalled and degenerated. And today, we are all witnessing how the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), the party he founded in 2017 is almost a stillbirth. Ugandans do not want Uganda to go that direction. Surely, Muntu, with that record, shouldn’t be so dismissive of Museveni’s overall performance in delivering Uganda from the abyss to security, stability, rebuilding the state, country and socio-economic transformation underway. Watching his public rallies, or rather a gatherings of a few people surrounding him at these sojourns appear not to touch his sides. Muntu is not in competition with any other candidate over crowd sizes or media coverage. A few people who do not know his tour of duty within the NRM, hailing him as ‘disciplined and uncorrupt’ are tempted to suggest that he should possibly be the president Uganda ought to have after President Museveni, but only if, he could return to the NRM. Unfortunately, the cruelty of Uganda’s shallow democratic politics is birthing the kinds, that going by opinion polls, ought not to have been on the ballot paper in the first place, and should be an embarrassment to NRM’s flagship mantra of clean and quality politics.

BY OFWONO OPONDO
img
19 December 2025

GOVERNMENT YOUTH-SKILLING PROGRAMMES ADDRESSING THE UNEMPLOYMENT QUESTION

One of the strategies the Government is using to transform Uganda from a peasant society into a modern and prosperous nation is strengthening economic fundamentals and addressing key development bottlenecks, as outlined in Vision 2040. To tackle the challenge of youth unemployment, the Government has created avenues to empower young people with practical skills that translate into real jobs for both urban and rural populations. Over the past few years, the Government has significantly expanded youth skilling through programmes such as the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP), the Presidential Initiative on Skilling the Youth, industrial training centres, and the broader effort to link skills development with industrial parks and local enterprise growth. These initiatives are already yielding tangible results, moving thousands of young people from unemployment into the money economy. There are many success stories across the country. In Kibuku District, a 22-year-old graduate of the Bukedi Industrial Hub completed training in tailoring and bakery, then used start-up capital from the programme to open a small bakery. He now supplies bread and pastries to local markets daily and earns a steady income. In the Karamoja region, a former street youth trained in welding and metal fabrication has started a workshop repairing motorcycle frames and metal gates. His enterprise now employs two other trained youths, turning idleness into productive work and community service. There are also numerous stories of single mothers who, after completing their training, have joined together to start businesses in tailoring, salon work, baking, and handcrafted shoe production ventures that were previously out of reach. The National Skilling Programme under the State House now operates 19 zonal/industrial skilling hubs across the country, equipping youth with employable skills that foster self-reliance, entrepreneurship, and reduced unemployment. These hubs are located in regions with high unemployment and limited access to technical training. Each hub trains 600 youth per year, totalling 12,600 trainees across all centres annually. By the end of 2023, approximately 2,523 trainees had graduated since the programme’s inception. To support post-training enterprise creation, the Government has committed substantial funding through SACCOs linked to the skilling programmes. So far, UGX 8.8 billion has been injected into these SACCOs as start-up capital for graduates. These figures demonstrate a nationwide push to make skilling a central pillar of economic inclusion. The programmes offer a wide range of vocational skills, including carpentry and joinery; welding and metal fabrication; tailoring and fashion design; hairdressing and beauty therapy; bakery and confectionery; leatherwork and shoemaking; building and construction; masonry; and, in some hubs, agriculture and agribusiness, including farming under the “Four-Acre Model.” These success stories are not isolated. They represent a broader shift in mindset away from the pursuit of scarce salaried jobs toward small enterprise creation, skills utilisation, and participation in local economic transformation. Many university graduates and diploma holders have enrolled for vocational training and are now running thriving workshops that support their families and employ others. Beyond improving individual livelihoods, youth skilling is part of a broader Government vision to strengthen local industry, reduce reliance on imported goods, and stimulate domestic enterprise. Many graduates are now able to supply products and services from baked goods and clothing to leather products and construction services, contributing to import substitution and boosting local production capacity. Efforts to institutionalise vocational training are also underway. Plans to establish a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) University will allow vocational graduates to progress to diploma and degree training without having to rely solely on the traditional academic pathway. By aligning skilling hubs, industrial parks, and enterprise support mechanisms such as SACCOs and start-up funding, the Government aims not only to reduce unemployment but also to build a strong base of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) capable of driving national economic growth. Given that many beneficiaries come from vulnerable backgrounds including urban slums, marginalised regions, and rural poor communities, these interventions also deliver broader social benefits. Access to skills, tools, and start-up capital provides alternatives to idleness, crime, or risky migration. Beyond economic inclusion, vocational skills have restored dignity and confidence to trainees. Many graduates are now self-reliant and productive members of their communities, with some even becoming employers. This promotes social cohesion, reduces poverty, and strengthens local economies. The Government’s efforts to skill the youth have produced undeniable progress. Looking ahead, sustaining long-term economic impact will require strengthening linkages between vocational training, industrial parks, markets, and supply chains to ensure products and services from skilled youth find reliable demand. Expanding access to mentoring, business development services, and financial literacy training will also help graduates grow their enterprises beyond the start-up phase. The writer works with the Uganda Media Centre

By Carolyne Muyama
img
15 December 2025

A PEACEFUL ELECTION IS A DUTY OF EVERY PEACE-LOVING UGANDAN

Uganda is in the middle of an election cycle, with campaigns steadily ongoing at the presidential, parliamentary, and local council levels. While the general process has largely been orderly and the public continues to enjoy the campaign season, unfortunately, there have been reported isolated incidents of violence. The Electoral Commission, the Uganda Police Force, and other security agencies are working collaboratively to manage the situation in a manner satisfactory to all stakeholders. However, the Electoral Commission cannot guarantee a fully peaceful and seamless electoral process if citizens, especially the principal actors in the elections, fail to adhere to established rules and guidelines. Continued violations of Electoral Commission guidelines by some presidential candidates have complicated efforts by both the Commission and the Uganda Police to ensure smooth and peaceful campaigns. In recent weeks, the Uganda Police have been placed under intense public scrutiny, particularly regarding their handling of campaign activities for one presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi, in locations such as Gulu City on December 6; Kawempe on November 24; Kiira on November 25; Kayunga on November 27; and Iganga on November 28, 2025. These incidents are highly regrettable. Nonetheless, a closer examination suggests that such confrontations are likely to persist as long as the National Unity Platform (NUP) continues to disregard Electoral Commission guidelines. The party appears to be following a strategy similar to that once employed by former opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye, who openly advocated political defiance as a means of challenging President Yoweri Museveni’s leadership. It is therefore important for social commentators, election observers, and peace-loving Ugandans to subject Kyagulanyi and his team to equal scrutiny and to ask critical questions about their persistent defiance of Electoral Commission regulations. There is growing concern that Kyagulanyi and the NUP leadership may be deliberately violating these guidelines to provoke confrontations with the police, resulting in negative media coverage that they appear to embrace. NUP seems intent on portraying itself as a victim, potentially laying the groundwork for defiance should it suffer electoral defeat. Notably, the party has already announced a “protest vote,” a signal that it may reject the Electoral Commission’s final results. The situation was further exacerbated when the NUP presidential candidate assembled his own security detail, which reportedly confronted individuals perceived to be opposed to the party, including police officers. Incidents in Lira and Abim on October 28 and 29, 2025, respectively, resulted in attacks on police personnel, damage to police vehicles, and injuries to officers. In response, the police were compelled to adopt firmer measures to contain this emerging indiscipline. These developments appear to have been deliberately orchestrated to destabilise an otherwise peaceful electoral process. All presidential candidates are provided with specialised anti-terrorism police protection, and their logistical requirements are funded by the Electoral Commission. There is therefore no justification for any candidate to establish private security groups or militias under the guise of protection. The Electoral Commission guidelines clearly require peaceful arrivals and departures from agreed venues, the use of designated routes, avoidance of unauthorised rally locations such as markets and trading centres, and strict adherence to traffic regulations. These include prohibitions against reckless driving or riding, unsafe passenger practices, and processions along highways or within towns and cities. A meeting between the Electoral Commission and representatives of all eight presidential candidates was held on December 3, 2025, at the Commission’s headquarters to harmonise positions on peaceful conduct and compliance with campaign guidelines. Despite this, continued defiance, particularly from the NUP camp, has persisted. For instance, the Gulu City confrontation arose after the presidential candidate refused to use an agreed police-designated route that was less than two kilometres from the rally venue. Insisting on passing through the city centre led to the ensuing disorder. The Uganda Police Force has a duty to safeguard the rights and freedoms of both political actors and the general public, including hardworking citizens going about their daily activities. Any individual who breaches the law must be dealt with appropriately. This balance is delicate but essential, and neither interest can be pursued at the expense of the other. The government cannot suspend effective societal management simply because the country is in a campaign period. Statements from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and sections of local and international media alleging that the Government of Uganda is employing repressive tactics against the opposition are misplaced. No country relinquishes its responsibility to protect citizens during election periods. Political competition must not override public order, as some actors may resort to violence in pursuit of victory and must therefore be restrained. The country must remain peaceful and calm throughout this period, regardless of the status of any political actor. There must be zero disruption to daily life, particularly for investors and the business community whose stability is vital to national development. The writer is the Ag. Executive Director Uganda Media Centre

BY OBED KATUREEBE
img
13 December 2025

UNDERSTANDING THE NUP COPYCAT PROTEST VOTE MANTRA

When the process for the general elections now underway was called, the National Unity Platform opposition party, led by Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine chose a mantra, it named ‘Protest vote’ leaving many Ugandans wondering what they meant yet they were participating. In many respects, NUP and some of its leaders look so desperate, more like Dr Warren Smith Kizza Besigye Kifefe of 2006-2011, when in his political heydays hoping to employ bellicosity, intransigence, confrontation, and violent civil disobedience to topple Yoweri Museveni but ended in tears. As political amateurs, NUP leaders seem not to understood or learnt any useful lessons from Besigye’s episodes, and as poor copycats, are trying to practice from the same tired scripts. First, they have tried to cast doubt and sow negativity against key government institutions starting with the electoral commission which is directly responsible for organizing the elections, and lead personnel, the chairperson Justice Byabakama Mugenyi Simon. This is similar to Besigye and FDC against Eng. Badru Kiggundu, then EC Chairperson. Next, they have built a posture of confrontation with the police and other security services by unreasonably defying their instructions on law enforcement regulations even when lawful and necessary for the common good. Many perhaps still remember FDC and the so-called ‘walk-to-work’, defiance and civil disobedience. NUP has tried to disregard every regulation governing the conduct of public campaigns, polling, counting, tallying and declaration of election results so as to create a situation of permanent discontent and tension so that a narrative of unfairness is perpetuated in the public mind. In fact NUP plans, as they did in 2021, that in areas it believes are strongholds, to prevent those who do not support them especially NRM members from voting. These lines are being picked directly from Besigye’s failed notebook where he had the so-called Power10 vote protectors, a private tally centre to declare his victory, and the eventual swearing-in as ‘the people’s president.’ Furthermore, copying from the script of Tanzania’s recent elections, NUP plans to disrupt polling, vote-counting or tallying so as to create situations of anarchy as a precursor for violent riots which they hope to use to overrun government. And of course they expect a hard response from law enforcement agencies that could as well fuel mass arrests and possibly blood on the streets to blight the government. This is the reason NUP is defiantly calling on its supporters to remain at the polling stations countrywide half-cleverly claiming it is meant to protect vote fraud and theft even when they know that the law permits every candidate two official polling agents at the station to observe the entire process. The mavericks aware of their vulnerabilities have recruited heavy-hitting, but shallow ‘foot-soldiers’ to do the lifting. Now eclipsed by NUP, the guards in DP, UPC, FDC, JEEMA, and ANT, fearful to be run down, cannot afford to tell Kyagulanyi gangsters that they are taking the wrong path. PFF and DF, competing with Kyagulanyi for the same tribal attention within Buganda can only whisper from under their beds. None from both groups can dare tell Kyagulanyi that he is incompetent or unfit to lead Uganda, so the pander on, waiting for the nightmare to end, because they cannot topple his ratings. And Kyagulanyi thinks that they may collapse and picks the dregs seeking safe seats as he did in 2021. We foretold FDC and Besigye in their good days when Ugandans still favoured them, that blind political hubris may last for a while but eventually evaporates, and hopefully they have painfully learnt a lesson. FDC and Besigye are empty political shells today. Kyagulanyi and his surrogates ought to read that brief history and know they cannot win a democratic process simply by ramming their heads against the hard wall of the NRM revolution.

BY OFWONO OPONDO
img
12 December 2025

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BVVK KIT AS WE NEAR TO THE 2026 GENERAL ELECTIONS

In just 34 days, Uganda will hold a general election. As the country approaches the polls scheduled for January 15, 2026, focus will turn to the Biometric Voter Verification Kit that will be used to confirm voters’ identities. The Biometric Voter Verification Kit (BVVK) is a portable, electronic device used to verify a voter’s identity by comparing their physical features (biometrics), such as fingerprints and facial features, against a pre-existing voter database. The BVVK will be assigned to the polling station before opening to scan the voters’ register’s Quick Response (QR) code. The station details will then appear on the device. The BVVK is to be used by the operator and the presiding officer to scan voters’ National IDs or Voter Location Slips (VLS) and verify their fingerprints for the voter to use the machine at the polling station. If fingerprints are unavailable or of poor quality, facial verification will be used. Biometric verification is mandatory; therefore, no voter will be allowed to cast their vote without having their fingerprints or facial recognition verified. It should be noted that the machine can only scan original National IDs and Voter Location Slips. In the absence of BVVK, the voter register at each polling station will be referenced, and the QR code on the voter’s register will be used. At this point, the BVVK operator will select the type of ballot displayed on the kit’s screen, such as “Scan Presidential Ballot.” Subsequently, they will scan the QR code from one ballot paper taken from the corresponding ballot paper booklet, which will be carefully removed and handed to the voter. They will then proceed with the other categories, following the same procedure. This process will be repeated for all election rounds. Since each ballot paper is scanned immediately before being distributed to a voter, there is no link between the voter and the ballot they submit. This is because the data of verified voters and scanned ballot papers are stored in separate databases on the machine, thus protecting the secrecy of the vote as mandated by law. Consequently, voters need not worry that their choices at the polling station will be disclosed to anyone. Voting will begin at polling stations once at least ten (10) voters are present to observe the opening of the polls. Each of the ten witnesses is required to have their National IDs scanned and their fingerprints or facial images captured, similar to the procedure used for officials. Each voter will be verified individually until all ten (10) witness positions are filled. Ugandans are advised that all three ballot papers will be distributed at the table of the presiding officer (Table 1). This is because the BVVK will be utilized at this table to confirm voter identities. However, aside from the presidential or chairperson’s ballot (depending on the situation), which will be given directly to the voter, the remaining two ballots will be provided in a pouch to prevent voters from mistakenly placing them in the incorrect transparent ballot boxes. If a voter accidentally damages their ballot, the legislation, as outlined in Section 54 of the PEA (as amended), permits the issuance of a new ballot paper. Nonetheless, alongside the previous procedure, the voter’s identification, VLS, or their QR code from the register will undergo re-scanning, and biometric data will be collected. Subsequently, the spoiled ballot paper will be scanned to ensure its cancellation within the system (kit) before scanning a new one as a replacement. Once all voters present in the queue by 4 pm have submitted their ballots, the officials will proceed to close the polls. The presiding officer and/or the BVVK operator will select the CLOSE POLLS option and follow the prompts as outlined in section 2.2 to finalize the polling process on the kit. Come January 15, 2026, exercise your constitutional right by casting your vote for the candidate you believe will best represent your interests. It is every Ugandan’s constitutional right to vote for their preferred candidate, as stated in the constitution, which declares that “Every citizen of Uganda of eighteen years of age or above has a right to vote.”

SARAH NANTEZA
img
08 December 2025

2026 ELECTIONS: THE RIDING OF A ‘MAD TIGER’ CALLED UGANDA

Seasoned politician and Democratic Party (DP) President who is also the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Norbert Mao in one of those philosophical and witty remarks described leading/ruling Uganda is as tough as riding a mad tiger. Meaning you have to be very brave and extra ordinary skilled to remain on the back of the mad tiger or else the tiger using its rare energy throw you off in a second and you die in pieces. Mao made the observation in positive praise of President Yoweri Museveni who has led Uganda for close to 40 years now. To Mao, this no mean achievement given Uganda’s history and therefore urged Ugandans to give him the respect he totally deserves. Mao could not have described Uganda in any other phraseology than that. Imagine, from 1962 when Uganda attained her independence to 1986 when President Yoweri Museveni came to power, Uganda had changed presidents for a record seven times. And all those changes were either through violent military interventions. The reason Uganda became ‘a mad tiger’ are largely associated with her history. Uganda was never a single political entity at the time of its creation by the British colonialists. The colonizers forcefully created the Ugandan state through merging several kingdoms, several chiefdoms, several tribes and clans to form a country called Uganda. In fact, these kingdoms and chiefdoms were always at war with each other. Therefore, the colonialists forced us into a union that literally became difficult to unite. Consequently, the post-independence elites who took the reins of power failed to achieve that much needed unity and coexistence. People like Dr Milton Obote, Sir Edward Mutesa, Grace Ibingira, and John Kakonge etal failed to achieve unity of these nations that made the entity called Uganda and what followed until 1986 is everybody’s knowledge. While canvassing for votes across the country in the ongoing electoral campaigns, Museveni’s catch word is preserving peace that Ugandans a have enjoyed for sometime time now. In fact, it is the biggest gain that must be jealously protected because it is the anchor for other gains in our socioeconomic transformation journey. Without a doubt, for Uganda to witness radical transformation, we have to keep on attracting foreign capital because we are still a small economy to do it ourselves. It took a lot of persuasions and guaranteeing security in Uganda for investors to begin flocking in and bringing capital and the much needed expertise that Ugandans are benefiting from. Investors provide numerous benefits to developing economies, primarily through capital injection, job creation, and the transfer of essential skills and technology, which act as a catalyst for broader economic development and global integration. All these facilitate the growing of the economy for the benefit of all the citizens. Peace is a fundamental component of development, acting as both a prerequisite and a result of progress, as violent conflict disrupts essential systems like education, healthcare, and commerce. A peaceful environment fosters social stability, trust, and cooperation, which are essential for development to occur. This relationship is recognized in global frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 16, which aims to promote peaceful and inclusive society. For some time, none of the global investors thought of investing in Uganda. Uganda was synonymous with civil wars and military coups. All that skepticism has since changed. Big investors are comfortably flocking the country for big investments. Take the example of companies like Total and CNOOC and until recently Tullow. These are investing billions of dollars in the oil extraction in the Albertine Region. The construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) from Hoima to Tanga in Tanzania is one of the milestone investments Uganda is experiencing because of guaranteed peace. The cost of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) from Hoima, Uganda to Tanga, Tanzania has risen to $5 billion. Its benefits to Uganda include significant job creation, opportunities for local businesses, increased foreign investment, technology transfer, and the potential to de-risk other oil and gas projects in the country. Uganda has witnessed massive Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in the telecoms sector, in the banking sector, agro industrialization, manufacturing and the services sector. All these are taking place because of the prevailing peace in the country. Uganda remains the island of peace in the region. It is no wonder that Uganda the second country in the whole world hosting the biggest number of refugees. These trek into from across the world because of guaranteed peace and of course the best and hospitable refugee policy that Uganda extends to refugees. Question is, as we roll to January 15th 2026 to elect our leaders, should we retain the status quo to maintain this progress or……? My honest take is that Ugandans should to maintain the status quo since the driver is still full of stamina and the correct vision. The writer is the Ag. Executive Director Uganda Media Centre

BY OBED KATUREEBE
img
06 December 2025

THE POLICE TACKLES COULD BOLSTER BOBI WINES ELECTION PROFILE

Forty days left for the heavy-dark election curtain to draw on candidates especially, presidential ones-Robert Kyagulanyi (NUP), Nathan Nandala Mafabi (FDC) and UPDF retired Maj. Gen. Gregory Mugisha Muntu (ANT) who had billed themselves. It had been, so-far-so smooth, on the election campaign trails, that has denied the rumbling, but ineffectual opposition groups the sensational media headlines they crave. There are groups with deceitful foolishness who believe rules should be suspended for Kyagulanyi gangsters to have their own way. In the US, UK and much of developed countries no one dare speak rudely, disobey, let alone tough the uniform of a police officer on duty. Tis week’s police tackle on the well-calculated, deliberate and violent provocations by NUP hoodlums, could foul the campaign, and cast shadows on the electoral process. Police must act firmly, and decisively but evenly. They, however, should know that the henchmen have realized their ground has slipped away, and are now on a deliberate mission to incite, provoke, spread harmful propaganda and violent confrontation to shore-up dwindling fortunes. Police should expose NUP political machinations to the public. Kyagulanyi and NUP after their internal leadership contradictions, failure to deliver the high false expectations, open greed for money and ostentatious soft life, now know that Buganda, their base, is fast slipping away. As a tribal chauvinistic group, the fallout with Mathias Mpuuga who enjoys good relations with Mengo cultural leadership, and the catholic church in Buganda seem to have alienated Kyagulanyi. Equally, his apparent disdain for the so-called educated and enlightened within NUP, also appears to be rubbing him wrong in this election. It is evident that NUP has spectacularly failed to craft a credible manifesto or election message that would help them expand their current political reach which they are finding difficulties to keep grip on, actually losing out. This is partly the reason they have chosen the whirlwind style of roadside shows and rowdy processions that conflicts with the electoral guidelines they signed. They are on an overdrive with AI generated campaign rally crowds, scary manipulated photoshops, images and insults they post on various social media platforms. So, these political strawmen ought to be left to drown by themselves, and the police should be watching them from a safe distance. Otherwise, inflexible policing of NUP electioneering activities could generate more ugly confrontations, and be the tipping points they are desperately yearning for so much. Traveling, while monitoring the ongoing election campaign trails of the different so-called presidential candidates, one comes to the unmistakable conclusion that NRM candidate, Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni is atop, destined to win decisively on 15 January 2026. With forty days left, Museveni had personally campaigned in West Nile, Acholi, Lango, Teso, Karamoja, Elgon, Bukedi, Busoga. Kigezi, Ankole, Rwenzori, Tooro, and now entering Bunyoro, much of which are his, and NRM strongholds, it’s unlikely he is stoppable. The NRM, currently holding the stables in parliament and local governments, is going to stretch its margin as it already has thirteen MPs elected unopposed out of the 419-seater parliament. All the clatter on the campaigns is actually background noise from potentially bad-losers but whom Ugandans are familiar with. As the campaigns enter the final stretch, and Museveni’s well-attended, the various NRM teams must close ranks and loopholes. In particular NRM cadres must now move out and focus more on first-time voters, young and rising affluent people, and non-traditional supporters to persuade them as to why, of all the presidential pretenders, Museveni still holds the key to Uganda’s steady transformation journey. NRM should banish the pettiness among its leaders, and bicker over campaign facilitations, especially money. And with the village, door-door, and person-to-person engagements, NRM must conduct civic and voter education so that all potential NRM supporters actually come out massively on polling day 15 January 2026.

BY OFWONO OPONDO
img
30 November 2025

2026 GENERAL ELECTIONS: GUARDING THE VOTES MIGHT BE TRICKY ON VOTING DAY

As the country prepares to go for the general elections, come January 15, 2026 some political actors are urging their supporters to come out in big numbers and cast their vote and at the same time guard the votes, by not leaving the polling stations when they have finished casting their votes. Urging people to turn up and vote for their preferred candidates is in itself a fantastic idea, but telling them not to leave the polling stations, on the pretext of guarding the votes, is tricky and might be dangerous to the voters, as it probably could disrupt the very voting and counting processes they intend to protect. Organizing popular elections is indisputably a challenging task. Bodies in charge of administering elections have the demanding function of ensuring that many complex election and related processes are managed efficiently, impartially and transparently. This is because the whole process has a direct impact on the quality and integrity of electoral processes and is one of the keys to ensuring the rights of voters and contestants. Having a flawless voting process is, therefore, the main guardian of democratic elections, and their activities are central to fostering public confidence. However, for a country to deliver such a clean election to the satisfaction of the voters and the candidates, it must facilitate and equip the Electoral Commission (EC) with all the required logistical support it requires, to deliver a seamless believable exercise. As required by law, the EC will gazette the polling guidelines to Ugandans a few days before the polling date. These guidelines are meant to educate our people about the entire voting process and how they should conduct themselves during the voting period. Such guidelines are not made in their boardrooms only, they look and compare other best practices, across other democratic nations around the world and then design those that suit our system. The EC has been financed and facilitated to benchmark the rest of the world, on how to deliver a smooth, flawless and impartial election. Therefore, it is very unfair for one to create mistrust about EC’s competence to deliver uncontested results. Consequently, all participants in the voting processes will be required to observe EC guidelines. It is perilous for one to ignore these guidelines and these are the reasons. Firstly, telling people not to leave the polling stations after voting means that you are publicly declaring that you do not trust the EC and, therefore, the voters are now going to manage the voting process! This is dangerous. You cannot have people, who have been emotionally charged during the campaign season, gathering in their thousands at polling stations and you expect them to remain cool, calm and collected when the presiding officer begins announcing the winning candidates, to the detriment of the losers. What will you do if a nasty fight breaks out? Won’t the one police officer deployed, at the polling station, be overwhelmed? And what might follow? Probably death and grievous bodily injuries. For the purposes of guarding against any form of mischief, at any polling station, the EC deploys 8 polling officials at every polling station and each candidate (whether they are presidential or parliamentary) are allowed to deploy 2 polling agents to closely observe the whole process from material delivery, voting, vote counting and announcement. On top of these are journalists and observer groups, as long as they are accredited by the Electoral Commission, to witness the entire exercise. Secondly, I do not think the EC has the capacity to provide sanitary requirements for hundreds of people gathering in over 30,000 polling stations across the country! Many people overcrowding the polling stations, after voting, poses health risks as there might not be places of convenience nearby. Why subject your supporters to such a nightmarish day, if indeed you value them? Therefore, voters are required to vote, return home and follow the results from the many mediums of communication like radio, television and the new media. The argument that they must stay at the polling stations to guard the votes is misleading and not tenable. After all, the entire close observer roles are carried out by agents and the media. Any actions to the contrary will make the agents refuse to sign the Declarations Forms and this is always good weapon for the aggrieved litigant to use in court and cause what had been declared a nullity. Trust in public institutions is a cornerstone of a functional society, because when that trust erodes, it can lead to significant disillusionment and a feeling of disempowerment. Healthy civic engagement often involves questioning institutions and holding them accountable for their performance and adherence to their mandates. Losing trust more often than not leads to mob justice and none of us wants this dear country to degenerate. The writer is the Acting Executive Director Uganda Media Centre

BY OBED KATUREEBE
img
29 November 2025

FR. GAETANO TIBANYENDA, FR. MUSAALA; BALANCING BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Two controversial Catholic priests, Fr. Gaetano Batanyenda of Kigezi, and Fr. Anthony Musaala of Buganda are making the political heads turn this election campaign season, both on the ground and social media, and am saying Kigezi and Buganda, broadly to paint with a thick brush. It reminds of another Catholic priest photographed holding a calculator in front of President Yoweri Museveni towards the 2021 elections. For those who didn’t know, Fr. Batanyenda, first came to the partisan political limelight in 1994 when President Museveni nominated him among the ten Special nominees to the Constituent Assembly (CA) that debated and promulgated the 1995 Constitution. He was, a controversial CA delegate and member of the then NRM caucus who steadfastly defended the NRM political line to the end including shutting out the immediate return to multiparty democracy, and Mengo’s quest for Federo (tribal federalism). Along the way, for undisclosed reasons, he fell-out with Museveni and much of NRM, although some people speculate that he could have expected to climb higher which Museveni did not offer. So, he later turned his support to Warren Smith Kizza Besigye who had become the opposition supremo, later Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) guru, and four-time unsuccessful presidential candidate whose ambitions stumbles on. Batanyenda has been so publicly often unnecessarily vitriolic, toxic and unrestrained that his new change of the political election heart, offering ‘blessing’ to NRM Presidential candidate, YK Museveni, this week at a public campaign rally in Kabale came as a surprise, and should be taken with a pinch of salt. Attention-seeking or relevance are both in order. And well, if the tidings are genuine and positive, there should be little reason to complain. Love at first, second and third sight. At another pole, Fr. Musaala, once excommunicated from priestly duties by Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga (RIP), for advocating ending celibacy, is making rumbling innuendoes on social media, that he posts especially on Tik Tok platform. A few weeks ago, to the surprise of many election watchers, Musaala said, sarcastically, that there was no impeding downpour from the skies, and therefore, Ugandans don’t need an umbrella to shelter under. In Uganda’s political speak, the umbrella, is the election symbol for the buoyant, main political opposition party, the National Unity Platform (NUP) whose leader, Robert Kyagulanyi aka, Bobi Wine is a presidential candidate for the second time, although with little, if no chance of winning. For context, Musaala, was among catholic priests in Buganda, who during the 2021 elections were publicly against Museveni, and routing for Kyagulanyi and NUP. A confession, at the public box, though not near redemption, isn’t bad. Many have understood Fr. Musaala’s sarcasm, to be admonishing NUP leadership, perhaps out of disappointment. And since then, Fr. Musaala continues posting more political sarcasm pointedly towards the opposition. But whatever is lying behind or underneath these developments, NRM supporters should smile. Museveni, a long-experienced political-chess player, could be proving, once more, that he is a political magician, even a witch. No one ever expected that Aggrey Awori (RIP), Beti Olive Namisango Kamya, Beatrice Anywar, Norbert Mao, or Dr Patrick Wakida, after so much and prolonged angry verbose, could join, and now, Lt. Gen. (rtd) Henry Tumukunde would rejoin Museveni, and running for parliament on NRM flag! Welcome back, comrade Tumukunde. So, with Kyagulanyi, and his sideshow men Louis Rubongoya and Benjamin Katana, it is advisable to move cautiously while tackling them, because tomorrow, perhaps, even now, could be on Museveni’s bidding. The grapevine. And when you see, five presidential candidates against Museveni in previous elections, Beti Kamya, Abed Bwanika, Prof. Venacious Baryamureba, Amama Mbabazi, Tumukunde, and Patrick Oboi Amuriat now cozying up, you have to put your hat off for Museveni.

BY OFWONO OPONDO
img
22 November 2025

A vicious NUP; OTHER OPPOSITION LEADERS AT THE STAKE

For good measure, we should begin to like the fight that the National Unity Platform (NUP) has taken to the political courtyard of some opposition figures who have never had kind words for NRM and President Museveni’s leadership. Probably it is becoming pointless to keep arguing with strange fools on the internet. But unfortunately, it is also now the main channel for public communication in a rapidly changing world. A stranger, probably a bot, with a smartphone and some data, lampooning people, some proven experts in their own field. The internet has made public debate so fraught with almost everyone shouting angrily, and the election campaigns making it even worse especially if you treat every opinion seriously. It all started with the now infamous five hundred million shillings said to have been dubiously awarded to parliamentary commissioners almost five years ago as service award, even before they had completed one year on the job. Section of the leadership of the National Unity Platform (NUP), used that opportunity to cut the sculp of its then Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP), Mathias Nsamba Mpuuga. After a year-long dispute, NUP dismissed Mpuuga, who in-turn promptly founded his own political party now called the Democratic Front (DF), taking along with him a few NUP MPs among them the loud Abed Bwanika, Micheal Kakembo Mbwatekamwa, and Juliet Nakabuye Kakande who had seen the purge coming. Those who were his known allies within NUP, like Medard Lubega Ssegona, Joyce Bagala, among others although unhappy with the way Mpuuga was treated, grew cold-feet and stayed back hoping to pick NUP tickets for the ongoing parliamentary elections only to be kicked in the teeth by the vicious team now firmly in control. On social media, NUP trawls have gone bare knuckles, putting up a meme of a dog, mimicking Ssegona. In his constituency, they seem to have organised and staging hostile groups of presumed residents and voters who don’t even permit to address his own public rallies. But as cowardly pretenders, who sought to exploit Robert Kyagulanyi’s abrupt political rise for their own selfish gains, they have now found themselves in a difficult position unable to publicly and directly challenge his political methods of work. And while they loathe him, they nearby, fear to tackle him for fear of losing votes among his loyal constituents, and so have chosen to lie low in humiliation. The old adage, when you keep a dog, learn to have stick has not helped them. Muwanga Kivumbi and Betty Nambooze are now the whistle-dogs of the masterclass of the dark art, hired to demolish whoever tries to raise their political head, and appear to salivate holding the machete. The two are hitting a new low bar in tribal chauvinism, insults, political abrasion, vulgarity and whatever-else accompanies it. Both are running past their own destinations. And, they also have trawls on various social media platforms who repeat, amply and dredge up the worst possible that their rivals could have ever said or done ages back, just to ensure the dirt is flushed down the toilet. It appears they do not appreciate the possibility that where reasonable men disagree there may be some useful truth on both sides even if it is truth only as each one of them sees. It is unlikely that someone will come soon to save this opposition from the Svengalis. Let us all face it, at this rate, there should be no point putting up with NUP decline. And so as the adage goes, they made their bed, and should sleep in it. Mpuuga, Ssegona, Bwanika, Lubega Mukaku, Michael Mabiike, Ssemujju Nganda and Joyce Bagala should live with the effects of Kyagulunyi-mania.

BY OFWONO OPONDO
img
21 November 2025

EC’S BYABAKAMA MUGENYI: STAY RESOLUTE AND IGNORE BLACKMAIL

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, once defined political blackmail as “the threat of exposing, or the actual exposure, of true, but more often invented, stories to cause an opponent political damage, of slandering him, or of depriving him of the possibility of engaging in political activity.” His words ring true today as Uganda’s Independent Electoral Commission (EC) faces a wave of unwarranted attacks. In recent days, the EC has come under intense criticism after declaring Hon. Phiona Nyamutoro, MP-elect for Nebbi District, unopposed on November 13, 2026. This followed the Commission’s decision to nullify the nomination of her sole challenger, Ms. Mercy Rebecca Abedican of the National Unity Platform (NUP). Nyamutoro currently serves as Minister of State for Energy and Mineral Development. Abedican, carrying the NUP flag, fell into trouble after a petitionfiled by one of Nyamutoro’s supporters, who alleged that several of the nominators she submitted had never consented to endorse her. Their signatures were reportedly forged, and in an even more troubling twist, some of those listed were registered supporters of the National Resistance Movement (NRM). The allegations were later confirmed. One Godfrey Ongeria testified before the EC Tribunal that he did not nominate Abedican, his signature was forged, and he was, in fact, an NRM member. With evidence proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the signatures had been falsified, the EC Tribunal had no legal alternative but to cancel Abedican’s nomination and declare Nyamutoro unopposed. What followed was a predictable storm: accusations, insults, and political outrage from NUP sympathizers and select civil society actors who have made a habit of shouting down any decision that does not favour them. Their argument,recycled at every opportunity, is that the EC is “in bed” with the ruling NRM to block opposition candidates.Yet the facts do not support their narrative. Just days earlier, on November 5, the EC also declared Mr. Ofwono Opondo unopposed after his opponent, Mr. Mpande Joram Kigenyi of the Democratic Party (DP), conceded and withdrew his candidature. Kigenyi was also found guilty of forging signatures and obtaining consent from ten of his nominators. The rules were applied consistently, regardless of political party. The Electoral Commission must not be intimidated or pressured into abandoning its responsibility to uphold the law and ensure fraudulent candidates do not make it to the ballot. There appears to be a deliberate and orchestrated effort, particularly among elements within NUP and certain activists, to blackmail the Commission and discourage strict adherence to electoral procedures. It is incumbent upon political parties themselves to conduct due diligence before endorsing candidates. Article 61(1)(f) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda empowers the EC to hear and determine election complaints arising before and during polling. The EC is therefore fully within its mandate. Unfortunately, a distorted political culture has taken root in Uganda’s political class. Too many aspirants are becoming shameless blackmailers, to avoidlegal requirements, yet demanding privileges. One cannot aspire to public office while engaging in forgery and still expect to be treated as a victim. The requirements set by the EC are designed to test integrity; if one cannot meet these basic standards, they cannot be trusted with public leadership. Those now attacking the EC, particularly some opposition actors and civil society organisations, appear to have abandoned any sense of shame. What exactly did they expect the EC to do? Ignore evidence of fraud? Look away when procedures are blatantly violated? If the Commission had done so, it would have violated the law. Political blackmail has become a thriving enterprise in this country. Hours of radio and television airtime are spent on indiscipline masquerading as political analysis. Many of these critics contribute nothing to national progress but dominate public platforms with noise and conspiracy theories. It is time the media denied space to such trivial schemers, whose only interest is to create chaos rather than build the nation. Doing so would offer a lesson to others who may be tempted to follow their path. Uganda urgently needs a shift in political culture,one that rewards diligence, integrity, and respect for the law. All political actors must be held to the same standard. And the Electoral Commission must remain steadfast, resist blackmail, and continue enforcing electoral laws without fear or favour. The writer is Ag. Executive Director Uganda Media Centre

BY OBED KATUREEBE
U.M.C Logo

U M C

Uganda Media Centre
Home
Latest Updates
Media
Press Accreditation
About Uganda
About UMC
Contact Us