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Lockdowns: 420,000 Ugandans lost jobs

October 5, 2022 by Ernest Jjingo

An abridged report written by the Makerere University-based think tank, the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), lays bare the fullest...

Climate crisis and how it affects Uganda’s economy

October 5, 2022 by MARK KIDAMBA

To enlist the expression of Chinua Achebe in describing the state of affairs in his native Nigeria, this time in...

Uganda named worst digital rights violator

October 5, 2022 by Frank Kisakye

At last week’s Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2022, in Lusaka, Zambia, Uganda drew unwelcome criticism. Speaker after speaker...

King Charles is a ‘demanding boss’ with ‘a fierce temper’

October 5, 2022 by AGENCIES

Prince Charles is a demanding boss with a ‘fierce temper and a ferocious work ethic’ who sometimes ‘falls under the...

  • Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo sued by justice Esther Kisaakye

    Supreme court justice Esther Kisaakye has sued her boss also the chief justice, Alfonse Owiny-Dollo and five judicial officials over what she termed as a continued witch hunt against her.  In the petition filed before the Constitutional court, Kisaakye who is seeking 24 orders among dozens of other declarations, wants the…

  • Fire guts boys dormitories at Kabale Brainstorm High School

    Fire has gutted Kaguta and Lumumba boys' dormitories at Kabale Brainstorm High school in Kabale municipality. The fire broke out in the dormitories of the privately owned school belonging to local businessmen, Erasmus Habasa and Alex Baguma at around 2:30 pm Tuesday.  

  • Police blocks anti-EACOP protest, 9 arrested

    Nine people including four university students marching to deliver a petition in support of the European Parliament resolution calling for the suspension of the East African Crude Oil pipeline (EACOP) project have been arrested.

  • Electricity Regulatory Authority in tree-planting drive

    The Electricity Regulatory Authority recently launched phase III of its Tree Planting Project at Wambabya Central Forest Reserve in Hoima district, reiterating its desire for ensuring Uganda’s environment is protected for future generations.

  • Museveni fires son Muhoozi, promotes him to General

    President Yoweri Museveni has fired his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba as the commander of Land Forces, a day after he caused a diplomatic storm when he threatened to capture Kenya within two weeks. After dropping him, he promoted him to General, the highest rank in the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF).

  • Who's Ibrahim Traore, the 34-year-old soldier behind Burkina Faso's latest coup?

    As a heavily armed convoy drove through a cheering crowd in Burkina Faso's capital on Sunday morning, the boyish face of the country's latest military ruler, Captain Ibrahim Traore, emerged from the turret of an armoured personnel carrier.

  • Somaliland MPs vote to extend president's term by two years

    Lawmakers in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland have extended President Muse Bihi Abdi's current term of office by two years ahead of its expiration in November, the senate chairman said.

  • Frustrated Bukwo youth stop corruption fight over govt inaction

    Youths who have been championing the fight against misuse of government resources Bukwo district, eastern Uganda have resolved to halt their activities, saying their efforts have not been appreciated by government departments entrusted with fighting the scourge.

  • Oil protests: Schools say they were duped into releasing students

    Still facing tough questions from parents over risking their children without consent to participate in a demonstration against the European Parliament resolution on the East African Crude Oil pipeline (EACOP) project, the headteachers now say they were tricked into releasing the students.

  • Iron bar hitmen kill female lawyer in Kiwatule

    A city lawyer Suzan Alweny, working with Liberty General Insurance is the latest victim of Namugongo street attacks. Alweny was struck on the head with a blunt object on Friday at around 9 pm as she stopped to buy roasted meat along the Kiwatule-Naalya road.

  • Third police officer kills self in 12 days

    A third police officer has committed suicide in a space of 12 days. Police constable 55373 Alfred Obida killed himself on Saturday morning at Kireka police barracks for yet-to-be-known reasons.

  • Court orders transfer of Ssewanyana, Ssegirinya bail applications to Masaka

    Masaka High court is set hear the bail applications for the Kawempe North MP Muhammad Ssegirinya and his Makindye West counterpart, Allan Ssewanyana. This is after the International Crimes Division (ICD) judge Alice Komuhangi Khauka ordered the registrar to immediately transfer the legislator's bail application file to Masaka High court. 

  • What's causing rampant Uganda army helicopter crashes, over 30 soldiers killed

    If the number of Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers killed in helicopter crashes as reported by the media over the last ten years is anything to go by, then the country has lost more than 30 soldiers and several aircraft since then.

  • Ousted Burkina Faso president flees to Togo

    Burkina Faso's ousted coup leader Lt Col Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba left the country for Togo Sunday two days after he himself was overthrown in a coup, while the new junta urged citizens not to loot or vandalize.

  • Tanzanian doctor who succumbed to Ebola buried in Uganda

    Mohammed Ali, the Tanzanian doctor who died of Ebola on Saturday morning at Fort Portal Regional Referral hospital, has been buried in Uganda at a public cemetery in Bukwali Central Division, Fort Portal town.

  • Uganda’s oil: what’s the story?

    Two months ago, the name Malte Gallee was hardly known within Uganda’s oil industry. Today, the young German member of the European Parliament has become a thorn to many players within the industry after he raised accusations that continue to dent the image of Uganda’s oil project.

  • UAE blacklists Ugandans, Nigerians

    The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has blacklisted Ugandans and Nigerians, The Observer has learned. An insider at Uganda’s embassy in Abu-Dhabi said that effective October 6, 2022, no Ugandan or Nigerian will be allowed into UAE without a certificate of good conduct and about 5,000 Dirham (Shs 5.3 million) on…

  • How billions vanish in big hospitals

    The latest reports of the Auditor General and the parliamentary committee on public accounts make one thing abundantly clear: corruption saturates our referral hospitals at virtually all levels.

  • Ambitious youth team up to win contracts in real estate sector

    As the unemployment figures among the youth in Uganda continue to rise, some of them have decided to create their own jobs, using hands-on skills. Fifteen members of Youth Achievers Group are making building and construction materials in spite of starting from adversity and without any funders, writes GEOFREY SERUGO.

  • Serunkuma outs book on brutal Covid-19 lockdown

    In his new book; Non-Essential Humans, author Yusuf Serunkuma Kajura, a columnist with The Observer, casts a bright spotlight on the scale of suffering in Uganda during the Covid-19 pandemic as government enforced restrictions to slow the spread of the virus.

  • Fintechs make 5 years

    On the fifth-anniversary celebration of fintechs in Uganda next month, the 189-member umbrella body; The Financial Technologies Services Providers’ Association (FITSPA) will organize a conference to discuss how to thrive in Uganda’s fintech eco-system.

  • Kenyan lawyer accused of bribing witnesses in president’s ICC case found dead

    A Kenyan lawyer who was charged with bribing and threatening witnesses who were to testify against the country’s current president, William Ruto, has been found dead.   Kenyan police and family members of Paul Gicheru confirmed his death Monday night to local media. It was not immediately clear what caused the 50-year-old…

  • As Ebola spreads, Uganda medical interns strike over safety

    As Uganda reports more deaths from the latest Ebola outbreak in the country, medical interns at the hospital handling most of the cases have gone on strike.

  • UPDF corporal sentenced to 2 years for attempted robbery of Indian businessman

    The army court in Makindye has today sentenced a Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) soldier to two years in jail for attempting to rob an Indian businessman. 

  • China’s African loan waiver fails to make waves

    China made headlines after it announced that it waived 23 loans to 17 African countries offered under the Belt Road Initiative (BRI).

  • Treating Sudan Ebola strain useless, WHO tells Uganda

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned Ugandan health workers against using Ebola therapeutics used to treat patients in the neighbouring DR Congo, saying these will not be effective. 

  • Russia grants citizenship to US top-secret documents leaker Snowden

    Russia President Vladimir Putin yesterday Monday granted Russian citizenship to Edward Snowden, the former American security contractor who leaked information about top-secret documents detailing government surveillance programs and then fled the US to escape prosecution. 

  • Mabirizi petitions court to compel Bigirimana to apologize to justice Kisaakye

    Jailed lawyer Male Mabirizi Kiwanuka has filed an application in the High court seeking orders to compel the secretary to the judiciary Pius Bigirimana to publicly apologize to Supreme court justice Esther Kisaakye.

  • Purity baby powder recalled from market over cancer-causing asbestos

    South African company, Tiger Brands has recalled its Purity Essentials Baby Powder products after finding levels of asbestos, a chemical whose exposure has been linked to various cancers in test samples.

  • Police collect Shs 5 billion from traffic penalty tickets in 5 weeks

    Police have so far collected Shs 4.8 billion from traffic penalty offenders. Although the police headquarters at Nateete police station has not yet divulged the total collection, a senior traffic officer has revealed that by Wednesday last week, they were short of less than Shs 200 million to hit Shs…