African culture

Godfrey Ntanzi BY OUR REPORTER The family of the late Peter Male in Kisubi has accused the Kajjansi RDC, Patrick Mubiri, of being behind land grabbers who have come to take their kibanja, which has even led to them being abducted and severely beaten, almost losing their lives. Godfrey Ntanzi, 68, a resident of Ndejje, complains that this Resident District Commissioner has gone out of his way to prevent them from utilizing their late father's land measuring about two acres located in Buwaali, Kisubi Parish. He adds that he is working together with his sister Immaculate Namakula and other people to reclaim their land. L to R, Godfrey Ntanzi and Peter Male Junior Ntanzi says that as the heir, he had gone to the land to inspect it and to install cameras to protect it from grabbers, but he was shocked when this RDC came with a vehicle type known as a "Drone" [security drone van] and they beat him with hammers and tore his trousers, while his colleague he was with was hac...

By Samson Ssemakadde NAIROBI Uganda’s Aaron Isabirye announced himself on the regional stage on Saturday, delivering a commanding performance at the Mid-year Junior Squash Tournament in Parklands, Nairobi.  The 10-year-old P.5 pupil from St. Benedict Primary School in Kabulengwa, Nansana, swept past Kenya’s Henry Sishia 3-0 in both the Under-10 and Under-13 finals.  Competing against older opponents, Isabirye also reached the semifinals in the U15 and U19 categories before bowing out to Kenyan challengers. The tournament drew 80 junior players from across Africa, aiming to spotlight emerging talent. Isabirye, who trains at Kampala Club under coach Michael Raymond Kawooya, has been on a tear this year.  His 2026 trophy cabinet already includes titles from the Mutebile Memorial tournament, Kinyara Invitational, and Bank of Uganda Open. “Isabirye is a very promising player who improves every time. I’m happy to work with him,” Kawooya said after the matches. Isabirye’s rise h...

Ziada Kabahuma By Our Reporter Zaida Kabahuma, 41, is contesting DNA results that ruled out one of the two children she says she had with retired Lt. Col. Steven Kananula, 79. She accuses the soldier’s son of orchestrating the dispute. Kananula, a resident of Kisigula, Mutundwe, became paralysed after an accident in December 2016. Kabahuma claims he fathered her two children, now aged 8 and 11, and says she has received no support from his family for eight years. In 2018, she took the matter to court seeking child support. According to Kabahuma, Col. Kananula did not deny paternity in court. He cited his accident and instructed his son, Titus Twesige, to work with his wife to provide for the children and his own care. Kabahuma says those instructions were never carried out. Twesige, she claims, refused to accept the children as his father’s and requested DNA testing. Kabahuma alleges he argued that one child could not be his father’s because the child has sickle cell disease, whi...

By Paul Galiwango, Entebbe Environmentalists and human rights defenders under Luv 4 All Foundation Uganda, LFAU, have launched a nationwide campaign that puts plant-based foods at the center of Uganda’s fight against malnutrition. The launch, held at Lake Victoria Hotel Entebbe, drew local leaders, researchers, and community advocates who say small-scale urban farming could be a game-changer for nutrition in space-constrained communities. The scale of the problem LFAU director Mike Musisi opened with stark numbers from the 2025–2026 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report and UNICEF data: Group Estimated cases of acute malnutrition Coverage Children 6 months – 5 years 428,000 Across 43 districts Pregnant or breastfeeding women 84,000 Across 43 districts Musisi argued that Uganda, as a food basket for East Africa, shouldn’t be seeing these numbers. The gap,...

By Peter Ssuuna Walton Members of the Red Cross Kawempe North branch have expressed frustration over the sale of blood in hospitals, yet they collect it voluntarily to save patients. They are asking the Government to intervene. From 2022 to 2026, the branch collected 30,000 units of blood through voluntary donations. Members say that when they go to hospitals, the same blood is sold to patients. One member, Ssanya, tabled a motion saying this practice discourages volunteers who collect and donate blood for free with the goal of saving lives, only for it to be sold at high prices in hospitals. They asked the Government to track down those who have made it a habit to sell blood to patients. The members also want their branch to start income-generating projects like poultry farming, liquid soap making, and others, instead of only relying on aid during disasters. The newly elected chairperson,  Alex Luganda , said that the Red Cross has no control over blood once it is handed...

By Our Reporter A Wakiso landowner is behind bars after the brokers he hired to survey his land tricked him into signing a sale agreement instead. The scheme ended in court with the victim remanded alongside his alleged conmen. Vincent Ssekatawa, 56, of Kiganda Zone, Kayunga Ward, Wakiso District, trusted brokers Peter Mwesigwa, 42, and Paul Balya, 27, to bring surveyors for his five-acre plot in Maate Village, Mityana. He promised them a commission once the work was done. On November 28, 2025, in Lungujja, Lubaga, Mwesigwa and Balya asked Ssekatawa to sign a document. They told him it was to allow surveyors to start work. In reality, it was a land sale agreement. Ssekatawa signed, unaware he had just “sold” his land in Singo Block 101, Plot 08. The brokers then sold it to Moses Mugagga for UGX 35 million. No surveyors ever showed up. Instead, Mugagga appeared with the agreement, claiming ownership. A shocked Ssekatawa denied selling, but Mugagga insisted the paperwork made t...

By PETER SSUUNA Mothers in Kasangati and surrounding areas who use Kasangati Health Centre IV now have reason to smile. Many will no longer face the risk of losing their newborns minutes or hours after birth. This follows the efforts of the Rotary Clubs of Kasangati and Bulindo, who mobilized partners to construct and equip a Neonatal Unit at the government facility. The unit is designed to care for newborns with health complications. The unit has been fitted with modern life-saving equipment, including ventilators to help babies breathe, infant warmers, oxygen monitors, phototherapy machines for jaundice, and other tools aimed at giving critically ill newborns a chance at survival. The Rotarians handed over the equipment to the hospital in-charge, Dr. Joseline Akugizibwe, who thanked them for responding to the hospital’s urgent appeal. Dr. Akugizibwe said the health centre delivers over 4,500 babies annually between 450 and 500 each month. “With those numbers, many babies are bor...

By Our Reporter Excitement is building in the Busiro county team camp ahead of Sunday’s Masaza Cup opener against Gomba at Trinity College Nabbingo. The squad received a major boost of food supplies this week, with players vowing to give everything on the pitch. The team was handed 200kg of rice, 50kg of maize flour, 50kg of sugar, 25kg of beans, and 20 mattresses for the players. The donation came from Godfrey Ssennoga, a Busiro native and proprietor of Kings Bar and Lounge in Busiro. “This gesture came from the heart,” Ssennoga said. “As a Munnabusiro, I want the best for our county.” He urged other well-wishers to support the team in its bid to overcome all challengers. Head coach Simon Ddungu, popularly known as ‘Ddunga’, thanked the county leadership for entrusting him with the role and hailed Ssennoga’s intervention as timely. “This came when we needed it most,” he said, appealing for continued support, especially with food. Ddunga promised fans a victory and called on them t...

The case of Sheikh Umar, widely known as “Omulombi w’edduwa”, has begun to be heard. His sister-in-law has testified about his sexual harassment of her daughter. Sheikh Kassim Umar Muwonge Kamoga, known as Seeka Umar of Nansana, has had testimony given against him in a case of attempting to defile a 13-year-old girl (name withheld). He allegedly took the child from her parents and sexually harassed her in an abusive manner. He is appearing before Judge Alice Komuhangi Khaukha of the High Court’s International Crimes Division. Led by State Prosecutor George Bigirwa, Cissy Naluwooza, 39, Seeka Umar’s sister-in-law and a resident of Kiboga, is the mother of the alleged victim. In a calm but visibly pained voice, she told the judge everything that happened. Naluwooza told the judge that all she narrated was told to her by her daughter, since she was not present at the time she had gone to Kalangala to work after separating from her husband. She has two children with him, including the ...

Bazzukulu ba Ipolito nga bajaguza Kkooti ya Kisekwa e Mengo esazizzaamu obwa “Kajubi” katikkiro w’ekika ky’Ensenene obubadde bumaze emyaka egisukka mu 120 mu bw’ensowole n’eragira balonde omuggya nga balambikibwa ennono ya Buganda era ayanjulwe obutasukka nnaku 30. Bino byasaliddwawo olukiiko lw’abalumuzi ku kkooti eno abaakulembeddwa kisekwa, Dr. Robert Ssonko Kanakuloopa, Lubega Ssebende n’abalala oluvunnyuma lw’omusango KD/01/2023 okutuuka ku nkomerero yaagwo. Bazzukulu ba Ipolito Lule Gyolyabalamu ab'e Nsenene abawangudde omusango, baawawaabira bazzukulu ba Marko Kironde okulya ensowole ku bwa Katikkiro bw'ekika era bazze bazuzumba okuva 1920. ku kkono ye Ian Kabali Katikkiro gwe baggyeko ne Dr. Frank Ssebbowa mu ntuula za kkooti eziyise Bano nga bakulembeddwamu Charles Sserebe ne Mulindwa Magatto beemulugunya nti Ian Kabali Katikkiro aliko kati si y’ateekeddwa kubanga tava mu lunyiriri lwa Ipolito oluvaamu Kajubi.   Bisoba bitya? Okusinziira ku Sserebe omuwaabi agamba nti...

For 22 years, Arsenal fans in Uganda had only seen the Premier League trophy on TV. On Sunday night, they finally touched the dream. Supporters across Kampala spilled into the streets after Arsenal clinched the league title, their first since 2004. The celebrations peaked at Ce’lavile Bar in Kabuusu, where Arsenal Uganda chairman Patrick Mbaziira hosted a raucous victory party. Lubaga Mayor Zacky Mawula Mberaze, Samuel Muyizi, and hundreds of red-clad fans joined the feast. Cows, goats, and chickens were slaughtered. Grills smoked, drinks flowed, and speakers shook as fans danced until their legs gave out. Ululations pierced the night. Throats went hoarse. For once, the songs weren’t about “next season.” “We waited 22 years,” Mbaziira said, raising a toast. “We’ve buried goats for funerals. Tonight, we bury the drought.” From 2004’s “Invincibles” to 2026’s champions, a generation of Ugandan fans had grown up taunted by rivals. That ended this weekend.

Pr. Benson Matovu  BY PETER SSUUNA A pastor wept openly in court after being found guilty of defrauding a former congregant of UGX 10.7 million money she sent home from Saudi Arabia to buy land, only to return and find nothing. Benson Matovu, lead pastor of Ambassadors of Life Church International in Matugga, Mabanda, broke down at Nateete Lubaga Court in Mengo as Magistrate Adams Byarugaba convicted him of obtaining money by false pretenses. The complainant, 32-year-old Cossey Namutebi of Kanyanya, told court she entrusted the pastor with over UGX 40 million while working as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia between 2021 and 2024. She said she trusted him because he was her spiritual leader. “I was sending him money to buy me land so I could build a small house when I returned,” Namutebi testified. “When I came back, he had no land to show me. When I asked for my money back, there was nothing.” Instead, court heard, Pastor Matovu used the funds to purchase land for his c...

By PETER SSUUNA Various people have come forward to praise the legacy of the father of Victory Church Ndeeba pastor Joseph Sserwadda, the late elder who passed away at age 99. During the memorial service held at Dr. Sserwadda’s Church in Ndeeba, former Kimaanya-Kabonera Member of Parliament Pr. Dr. Abed Bwanika, who represented the people of Masaka, said Pr. Sserwadda served them well and is one of the people who put Masaka on the map. A person who benefits society receives training from many places like school, religion, and family which he said is the most important. He urged the Government to reduce the time children spend at school so they can return home and be taught by their parents in order to have people of value. He praised the work that the late Ssaalongo Emmanuel Musigire did in Pastor Sserwadda’s life and called on parents to always give their children time and mentor them in life skills. He said a person doesn’t need school alone but also home training, adding t...