Author: Robert Atuhairwe

Sugarcane cultivation has emerged as a pivotal component of plantation agriculture in Bunyoro sub-region, essential for providing raw material for milling and supporting the burgeoning industrialisation efforts. Notably, Bunyoro hosts several prominent factories such as Bwendro Dairy Farm, Hoima Sugar, and Kinyara Sugar Works, collectively employing over 8,000 individuals. These establishments contribute not only to the local economy but also to national development by producing various goods and byproducts, including sucrose, jaggery, syrups, cellulose fiber, fodder, fuel (such as bagasse), and alcohol. The push for industrialisation, fuelled by the need for affordable energy sources, has been instrumental in supporting these…

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) Limited, has embarked on offering skills training to young people through a vocational training programme. The programme which was launched on February 28 in Hoima City, will be implemented at selected institutions Hoima and Masaka as part of the livelihood restoration package of eligible project affected households along the pipeline districts. This is hoped to increase their opportunities to restore and improve their livelihood and to set up and or grow new enterprises, thereby increasing their incomes. The short-term (three-months) vocational courses will be given to two youth in each of the eligible…

It is indisputable fact that the idea of electoral reforms in Uganda is a total and unremediated chimera. It is as unnatural expectation, an insane delusion, almost a hallucination. It is consequently equally logical and pertinent to query: Has Uganda then become a madman’s bevy? And in which respects? And what….as everyone knows, after a power-hegemony 50 years magnitude virtually, down the road, moreover following regular “free and fair” elections, the patent panegyric is automatically and inevitably meaningful and effectual electoral reforms. Even a mere child could perceive that those 10 magnitude-plus general elections could not even remotely have been…

The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) has faulted the Masindi district procurement department over what it calls a big and growing problem of corruption among the local government officials and contractors. Andrew Emejeit, the senior officer in charge of performance monitoring at PPDA, said the latest report was based on investigations conducted in November last year after they sampled some contracts which had been awarded by selective bidding in the financial year 2022/23. He said the investigations discovered a lot of chilling irregularities. Emejeit said it was discovered that most bidders are not comfortable with submitting bids…

Airtel Uganda has said their Smartphone Network is now ready for the trailblazing 5G technology. The development was announced at their Clement Hill office in Kampala by the Managing Director, Manoj Murali on Wednesday. Uganda’s communications and information technology service 5G is the fifth generation of wireless technology which enables a new kind of network and that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices at very high speeds. It delivers higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. 5G can…

TotalEnergies EP Uganda has successfully achieved 10-millionman hours without Lost Time Injuries (LTI) on the Tilenga Project. This crucial health and safety industry milestone was achieved on January 13th, 2023. Measurement of LTI is a lagging indicator which is aimed at measuring a company’s incidents in the form of past accident statistics. It measures all on-the-job injuries that require a person to stay away from work for more than 24 hours, or which result in death or permanent disability. “Safety is a core value at TotalEnergies EP Uganda and our achievement of 10-million-man hours without injuries is testament to the…

The Uganda Development Bank’s (UDB) performance for 2022 was largely excellent that the bank officials have vowed to continue supporting the growing spirit of entrepreneurship to tap the enormous potential and drive socio-economic growth. UDB IS Uganda’s national development finance institution that lends loans to qualifying enterprises in different sectors at between 8% and 10% interest rate. That is 12 and 10 percentage point rate lower than the current lending rate of 20% per annum by commercial banks, majority of which are foreign originated. On February 10, 2023, the bank held an annual press briefing at Bwendero Dairy Farm in…

Twenty schoolgirls who got first grades in the 2022 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) in the districts of Buliisa and Nwoya have received scholarships. On Wednesday, February 15, the beneficiaries from Buliisa were given scholastic materials at the district local government headquarters by TotalEnergies EP Uganda, the Ordinary (O) Level Education girls programme funders and one of the oil firms licensed by the government to operate Tilenga oil field. This followed a selection exercise that was conducted in partnership with St. Andrea Kaahwa’s College, Hoima and Sacred Heart Secondary School, Gulu in collaboration with the respective district education departments. The scholarships…

The National Unity Platform (NUP) leader, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine on Thursday, February 16, passed through Hoima City on his way from delivering a donation of relief items to residents who were evicted from their ancestral land in Kigyayo village in Kiziranfumbi sub-county, Kikuube district. The over 300 families who were violently evicted by Hoima sugar limited to pave way for sugarcane growing in 2014 live in an internally displaced camp in squalid conditions. Ssentamu, who donated maize flour, cooking oil, clothes, beds and beans, accused the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party of being indifferent to the…

Over 1,000 residents have been evicted from a contested piece of land in Kapapi 2 village, Kapapi Sub-County in Hoima district. Residents said the eviction which took place in the wee hours on Sunday left several houses demolished, burnt, property including domestic animals and crops allegedly stolen. The residents were evicted from two titled pieces of land owned by tycoons based in Hoima and Kampala, respectively. One of the titles measuring 2,545 acres (1,030 hectares) is owned by six people who include; Gafayo Ndahura, Aston Muhwezi, David Mpora, Monica Rashindika, Wilber Kiiza and Agaba H. The title also stretches some…