Author: Robert Atuhairwe

On Sunday, August 11, 2024, Rev. Canon Jacob Ateirweho was installed as the new Bishop of Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese during a ceremony at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Duhaga Cell, Hoima City. The installation was conducted by Stephen Samuel Mugalu Kazimba, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda. Bishop Ateirweho, who succeeds Bishop Samuel Kahuma upon his retirement at age 65, outlined several key priorities for his tenure. These include preaching a holistic gospel, enhancing leadership, advancing infrastructural development, and striving for self-reliance within the diocese. “We will build on the efforts and successes of our predecessors to further evangelise our communities,”…

On Sunday, August 11, 2024, hundreds of people gathered at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Duhaga Cell, Hoima City, to witness the consecration and installation of Rev. Canon Jacob Ateirweho as the Bishop of Bunyoro-Kitara Anglican Diocese. The consecration was led by Stephen Samuel Mugalu Kazimba, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda. Ateirweho becomes the sixth Bishop of Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese, succeeding Samuel Kahuma, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 65. The event was attended by bishops from across the province, officials from Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom, politicians, local residents, and members of other religious denominations. Kazimba called on Christians and clergy…

Women in the oil-rich Albertine Graben trek long distances into Bugungu Wildlife Reserve, Kibiro salt and Buhuka villages in Buliisa, Hoima and Kikuube districts, to gather firewood. Credit: Robert Atuhairwe/The Albertine Journal

Joseph Isingoma, a student of environmental science at Kyambogo University and a resident of Biiso sub-county, is very concerned that effects of climate change characterised by unpredictable drought and rainfall patterns is becoming common in Buliisa district, in western Uganda. Isingoma observes that the area residents were becoming too vulnerable to such vagaries in the weather patterns arising from unfavourable climatic conditions, often linked to extreme human and industrial activities.  “The community is unable to adapt or to mitigate the effects of the changes. That is why Buliisa is too much affected and the people are homeless after their houses…

The struggle with stray elephants has become a fact of everyday life in Buliisa, an area bordering Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP). The park is situated 34.2 kilometres away from Buliisa Town Council. Reports indicate that elephants have bludgeoned to death up to an estimated eight people in the last two years while unspecified acreage of crops was devastated. Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) the national agency responsible for managing Uganda’s wildlife says due to an enhanced conservation drive, the number of elephants in Murchison Falls National Park has shot up from around 200 in 1990 to 2,726. There are ongoing…

On a quiet neatly paved Hoima-Wanseko road, just metres from Waiga Bridge, splendid arrays of savannah grassland and dispersed tropical hardwoods welcome a first time visitor to Kabwola landing site. It is one of the biodiversity hotspots on the shores of Lake Albert in Buliisa district, Western Uganda. Along the way, chirps from stridulating crickets fill the airwaves as chameleons, venomous snakes and other wild animals roam lazily among fruit trees and drought hit maize and cassava plantations. A sweet aroma from smoking fish wafts through the air as other fish species are left simmering in the hot sun. At…

Murchison Falls National Park, one of Uganda’s crown jewels, is facing an unprecedented crisis as a convergence of oil activities, climate change, and poaching threatens to undermine its rich biodiversity and ecological integrity, a new study has revealed. A July 2024 research by the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), a natural resources’ governance civil society organisation, paints a grim picture of the park’s deteriorating condition and the urgent need for intervention. The Ugandan government’s decision to commercialise its oil reserves has brought the Tilenga oil project, operated by French firm TotalEnergies, into the heart of Murchison Falls National Park.…

Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom subjects have written to the Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka opposing his opinion regarding their impeding case against the United Kingdom government. The subjects under their umbrella organisation Mubende Banyoro United Association (MBA), want compensation from the British government for atrocities committed against Bunyoro by colonialists. The letter dated June 10, this year, followed Kiwanuka’s opinion, dated March 27. Kiwanuka’s letter is addressed to the Kingdom Prime Minister, Andrew Kirungi Byakutaga, dissuading the kingdom from suing the UK government. In his opinion, Kiwanuka said even if Banyoro filed a case against the British government, it would be hard for…

Activists advocate for enhancing Uganda’s renewable energy resources, such as solar and hydropower, for sustainable economic development and energy security without exacerbating climate change.

The focus was comprehensive, addressing infectious diseases such as malaria, typhoid, and HIV, alongside non-communicable conditions like hypertension and diabetes.