Uganda - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Uganda’s fight against cattle raiders is dividing Karamoja communities

IN the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda, a four-year outbreak of violent livestock raiding is finally subsiding – the result of a ruthless, informer-driven disarmament campaign by the army. But even as stability returns, divisions arising from class tensions, intergenerational friction, and animosities between raiders and government collaborators within communities may complicate future peace and reconciliation efforts. In 2022 and 2023, I spent over a year conducting oral history research in Kotido District, an area of northern Karamoja inhabited by the Jie, an ethnic group of 240,000 people. My research demonstrated that to properly address these deep intercommunal antagonisms, peace…

Apr

2024

By PELUMI SALAKO and SADIYA ANSARI

Anti-LGBTQ+ laws in Ghana and Uganda feel the heat from sanctions

NEWS

A ruling this month by Uganda's Constitutional Court to water down a tough anti-LGBTQ+ law may have stemmed from concern to avoid further international sanctions over the controversial legislation, rights activists and analysts say. The court's decision to strike out several of the law's most contentious clauses came weeks after a similar law passed by Ghana appeared to have hit a roadblock amid Finance Ministry warnings it could derail $3.8 billion in international aid. Steven Kabuye, a Ugandan LGBTQ+ activist, said the court's April 3 ruling appeared aimed at appeasing international donors who had raised particular objections about the affected clauses on the grounds that they…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

China invites Uganda’s energy minister for talks on pipeline financing

BUSINESS

CHINA has invited Uganda's energy minister to Beijing to discuss the East African country's $5 billion crude oil pipeline, Uganda's presidency said. The development could signal a possible breakthrough in Uganda's efforts to woo Chinese financiers to fund the pipeline, which the country requires to start crude production from oilfields that were discovered in 2006. Potential Chinese funding is being considered as pivotal after Western banks declined to fund the pipeline after pressure from environmentalists who said the project would add to global carbon emissions. China's special envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs, Xue Bing, delivered a message to…

Apr

2024

By SADIYA ANSARI

What you need to know about Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ+ law

NEWS

A Ugandan court has upheld a sweeping law that introduced the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality", leaving only one legal route to challenge some of the most punitive anti-LGBTQ+ measures in Africa. The Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld the validity of the so-called Anti-Homosexuality Act, while striking down some of its key sections, citing health and privacy concerns. Here's the big picture. What is the Anti-Homosexuality Act? The Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) was signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni in May 2023, and its draconian measures have prompted U.S. and World Bank sanctions. While Uganda had long criminalised gay sex, the new law is harsher than its…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

Ugandan court upholds anti-LGBTQ law but says some rights infringed

NEWS

UGANDA'S constitutional court refused to annul or suspend an anti-LGBTQ law that includes the death penalty for certain same-sex acts, but voided some provisions it said are inconsistent with certain fundamental human rights. The legislation, adopted in May last year, is among the world's harshest anti-gay laws and has drawn condemnation from rights campaigners and sanctions from Western nations. Activists say the law has unleashed a torrent of abuse against LGBTQ people, including torture, rape, arrest and eviction. "We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in its entirety, neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement," said lead judge Richard Buteera,…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Kenya and Uganda resolve oil import row, Uganda says

BUSINESS

KENYA will allow landlocked Uganda's state oil firm to import petroleum products through its port of Mombasa, Uganda's energy ministry confirmed, to end a row between the two neighbours. Uganda has been seeking alternative ways of importing petroleum products, including through a Tanzanian port after its oil retailers for decades received their cargo through affiliated firms in Kenya. Solomon Muyita, spokesperson for Uganda's Ministry of Energy and Minerals, said the first shipment under the new system was expected in May. "Kenya has agreed to give us a licence, UNOC (Uganda National Oil Company) is now free to import through Mombasa,"…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Salaam Bank launches Uganda’s first Islamic bank

BUSINESS

A unit of Djibouti-based Salaam Group launched in Uganda as the country's first Islamic banking-compliant financial institution, the Ugandan president's office said. The launch of the Salaam Bank Limited's operations follows a law legalising Islamic banking in the east African country last year. Islamic finance follows Islamic religious principles such as bans on interest payments and also eschews investments in some activities like gambling. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni presided over the launch of the bank in the capital Kampala, according to a statement issued by his office. Muslims, who constitute about 14% of Uganda's population, have long complained that Ugandan…

Mar

2024

By KAREN MCINTYRE and MEGHAN SOBEL COHEN

Press freedom in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda: what journalists have to say about doing their jobs

MEDIA FREEDOM

A majority of the world’s population has experienced a decline in press freedom in recent years, according to a UN report. In East Africa, the results are mixed and debatable. In Rwanda, both international press freedom rankings and journalists on the ground say press freedom has increased over the past 10 years. In neighbouring Uganda, both international rankings and local journalists say media freedom has declined. In Kenya, rankings reflect declining freedom over the past decade, but reporters acknowledge they have more freedom than their counterparts in Uganda and Rwanda. In our roles as associate professors in journalism and mass…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Bobi Wine: The People’s President – a gripping Oscar-nominated film about Uganda’s fight for freedom

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Bobi Wine is a pop star in Uganda who uses his music for political protest and social activism. Born Robert Kyagulanyi, he became a member of parliament (MP) in 2017 and has gone on to lead a popular opposition movement in the face of state violence and repression. His political journey is now the subject of a documentary. JULIA CAIN, Lecturer in Screen Production and Film Theory & Practice, University of Cape Town Bobi Wine: The People’s President is one of the five films nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2024 Oscars in the US. All five are…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

Uganda says judge’s dissent from World Court ruling on Israel does not reflect its position

NEWS

UGANDA has distanced itself from an opinion written by a Ugandan judge on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) dissenting from the panel's ruling in South Africa's genocide case against Israel and said the remarks do not reflect Uganda's position. Julia Sebutinde was the only judge on the 17-member ICJ panel to vote against all six measures adopted by the court in a ruling ordering Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide as it fights Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. "The position taken by Judge Sebutinde is her own individual and independent opinion and does not in any way reflect the…