Fresh financing, skills and business support set to fuel factories, jobs and local businesses The Sino-Uganda Mbale Industrial Park is set for a further boost following a strategic partnership between Equity Bank Uganda and Tian Tang Group to expand access to finance, strengthen businesses and create more opportunities across the industrial ecosystem. Tian Tang Group has built a manufacturing ecosystem supporting more than 2,000 enterprises and providing employment to about 15,000 Ugandans. Through the partnership, Equity Bank will provide tailored financial solutions, including working capital, business loans and corporate banking services to help businesses expand production, invest in machinery and strengthen day-to-day operations. But the partnership goes beyond financing. Equity Bank Uganda will also support entrepreneurs and workers through financial literacy and business management training, focusing on practical areas such as cash-flow management, bookkeeping, financial discipline and corporate governance. Stronger financial management will help businesses build credible records, improve their...

KAMPALA — Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) is facing scrutiny over the reliability and cost of its electricity vending system supplied by Spanish technology giant Indra, after recurring software failures raised concerns about customer service and potential revenue losses. The vending system, which went live on December 4, 2024, is used to process prepaid electricity purchases. The system has often experienced recurring breakdowns. And towards the end of the month it is always worse. The failures have raised questions about the system’s reliability, capacity and technical support, especially given the critical role it plays in collecting electricity payments from millions of consumers. Indra has now Officials have been asked to provide details of the system’s procurement, specifications, certification, supplier and cost. INDRA’S MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR UGANDA DEALS Indra is not new to Uganda’s critical infrastructure sector. The Spanish technology company was brought in by UEDCL predecessor Umeme at US$2.2 million contract...

‎University students have demonstrated that decent and sustainable housing can be designed for as little as Shs13.2 million, challenging conventional estimates of what constitutes affordable housing in Uganda. ‎ ‎The innovation by Kyambogo University students impressed State Minister for Housing Persis Namuganza, who said their designs had forced her to question figures previously presented to her by officials in the housing sector.‎‎Namuganza said she had been told that a house costing about Shs100 million could be considered affordable, only to see students produce an attractive design at a fraction of that cost. ‎“These young people have demonstrated the house of 30 million is very beautiful. Let us appreciate them,” Namuganza said. She was speaking on Thursday at Hotel Africana in Kampala during the University Students Affordable Housing Design Competition awards ceremony organised by Habitat for Humanity Uganda with support from Citi Foundation. ‎Rodney Talemwa Mubiru, speaking on behalf of the...

By Pepper Intelligence Unit The bombshell order by President Yoweri Museveni sending top officials of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) on leave pending investigations did not, according to documents and insiders who spoke to Red Pepper, come out of nowhere. At the centre of the storm is Gilbert Agaba, the Commissioner for Business Registration, whose bitter dispute with the URSB management and Board allegedly triggered a chain of events that eventually reached the Office of the Attorney General under the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and, ultimately, State House. The fallout has now engulfed the very leadership of the institution. Registrar General Mercy Kainobwisho, Assistant Commissioner for Business Registration Walid Kule, Commissioner for ICT Arthur Kwesiga, and Deputy Registrar General for Finance and Administration Alex Anganya are among officials affected by the presidential directive. President Museveni ordered the officials to go on leave as investigations into allegations of...

KAMPALA — Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has arrested one of its senior customs officials after he was allegedly caught receiving a USD60,000 (about Shs222 million) bribe from a taxpayer at a Kampala restaurant. The suspect has been identified as Ssozi Geoffrey, the Manager of External Operations in the Customs department. URA Assistant Commissioner, Public and Corporate Affairs, Robert Kalumba, confirmed the arrest, saying Ssozi allegedly approached a taxpayer whose company was undergoing a tax audit and offered to help stop or circumvent the process in exchange for money. “There was an audit that was being done on the taxpayer and this team got in touch with the taxpayer, with the help of the clearing agent, and tried to convince them that they can help the taxpayer cut out that audit,” Kalumba said. The alleged deal was initially set at USD100,000, but was later negotiated down to USD60,000, according to URA....

The Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has appointed Maj Gen Felix Busizoori as the new deputy commander of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), replacing Maj Gen Joseph Ssemwanga. Ssemwanga has been appointed General Commanding Officer of the UPDF Reserve Forces, replacing Lt Gen Charles Otema Awany, who is due to retire from the army next week. Busizoori, who was previously commander of the UPDF 4th Infantry Division, will be replaced by Maj Gen Wilberforce Sserunkuma, the former commander of the 3rd Infantry Division. Brig Gen Michael Hyeroba, the former 1st Deputy Commander of the Infantry Division, has been appointed commander of the 3rd Infantry Division. The changes were announced on Saturday by Col Chris Magezi, the UPDF Acting Director of Defence Public Information, who said the appointments and transfers take immediate effect. Until his latest appointment, Busizoori had been overseeing the implementation of Executive Order No. 3,...

Move targets higher productivity, better genetics and more money for farmers ENTEBBE: Parish Development Model (PDM) farmers are set for a major boost in livestock production as the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Data Bank (NAGRC&DB) rolls out a new five-year plan to make quality dairy, piggery and poultry breeding stock more accessible and affordable. The move is expected to give thousands of farmers a stronger foundation for building profitable livestock enterprises and moving from subsistence production into the money economy. NAGRC&DB made the commitment on August 12, 2026, during the launch of five major institutional documents designed to transform Uganda’s animal breeding sector and improve services to farmers. The documents include the Client Charter for FY2025/26 to 2029/30, Service Delivery Standards, the Uganda National Animal Breeding Strategy and Action Plan (NABSAP), the Strategic and Investment Plan for 2025/26 to 2029/30, and the Communication and Knowledge Management Strategy for...

Parliament’s Committee on Natural Resources has demanded a detailed account of how Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) is spending a US$50 million loan secured in January 2026 for capital projects, amid concerns over the company’s ability to improve electricity supply. The committee, chaired by Kazo County MP Dan Kimosho, wants UEDCL to provide a breakdown of the specific projects being financed by the facility, the amount allocated to each project and the extent to which the funds have so far been absorbed. UEDCL officials told the committee that the loan is financing capital investments covering substations, transformer injections, medium-voltage projects and other distribution works. The officials said implementation of the projects had already started, but did not provide the committee with a detailed breakdown of the expenditure during the interaction. Kimosho directed UEDCL to furnish the committee with an absorption plan and details of the targeted projects, seeking to...

The High Court in Kampala has found Senior Accountant Dr Francis Onebe and his former employee, private security guard Bonny Oriekot, with a case to answer. Onebe is accused of the alleged murder of his wife, Immaculate Mary Asio. The Criminal Division Judge, Professor Justice Andrew Khaukha, found Onebe and his co-accused with a case to answer on Friday after the prosecution closed its case with evidence against them from 17 witnesses in the trial. Khaukha said the court had examined the evidence presented by the prosecution and found sufficient grounds requiring the two accused persons to defend themselves against the murder charge, and that a prima facie case had been established against them. The judge said the prosecution alleges that between January and September 2021, at Mawanga Zone, Munyonyo, in Makindye Division, Kampala District, Onebe, Oriekot and others still at large, with malice aforethought, unlawfully caused the death of Asio...

Three prison officers were injured after unknown assailants attempted to break into Kyegegwa Government Prison in Kyegegwa District in the early hours of Thursday morning. According to a statement released by Frank Baine Mayanja, the Spokesperson of the Uganda Prisons Service, the incident occurred at about 1 a.m. on Friday when the attackers attempted to force their way into the prison and attacked three officers who were deployed for the night as sentries. Baine identified the injured officers as Sergeant Titus Kalisa, Sergeant Suzan Margret Nakuya Suzan, and Warder Joshua Odongo, who are currently receiving treatment at Kyegegwa General Hospital. Baine added that two firearms, each loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition, were taken by the attackers during the incident. However, he explained that no prisoner escaped during the attack. “Sister security agencies were immediately called in, and investigations are underway. Efforts to apprehend the assailants and recover the stolen...