In this third and final part, we look at the deaths of prominent personalities that rocked Uganda and the world in 2025. Ngugi wa’ Thiong’o, Novelist, 87, May 28, 2025 To test authenticity, in the hip hop world, a question is asked of every new entrant on stage, “Do you live your raps?” Kenyan writer…
As we approached the mid-point of 2025, death continued to stalk, snatching those we least expected. Below is the second part of our special series on deaths that shocked us in 2025. *********************************************************************** Shaka Ssali, Journalist, 71, March 27, 2025 Uganda’s most famous journalist for the last 30 years, Ssali was a host and editor…
2025 has been full of shocks. In this two-part series, we look back at some of the more notable deaths that left Uganda and the world, and whose passage will have ramifications for years to come. ******************************************************************************** Risdel Kasasira, Journalist, 45, January 2, 2025 One of Uganda’s finest security reporters, Risdel Kasasira, was a journalist…
In late May 2025, two activists, Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire revealed how they had been tortured and raped in Tanzanian custody. The Kenyan and Ugandan activist had travelled to Dar-es-Salaam to demonstrate solidarity for the country’s main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, who had a court appearance. Lissu faces treason charges he calls trumped up,…
On October 22, 2025, Uganda woke up to horrifying news that an accident on the Kampala-Gulu highway had claimed 46 lives. Four vehicles, two of them buses, had been involved in this deadly crash near Kitaleba village. Cause: initial Uganda Police Force reports indicate the two buses, coming from opposite directions, were simultaneously trying to…
Title: Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher Number of Pages: 320 Main Thrust Tech CEOs and their companies have too much, unchecked power with no interest in serving the interests of their ill informed customers unless forced by governments. There is little to no regulation for these multinational behemoths that influence elections…
This week, I found myself going back to a book that has sat on my shelf for four years: The Life and Legacy of Lapwony Micheal Ocan as told by family and friends. First published in 2020, the book was put together by Ocan’s eldest son Jimmy Odoki Acellam with the help of co-writer Dennis…
I bought The New Vision newspaper for the first time in many months last week. When was the last time I bought a copy of a newspaper and New Vision in particular? So long that I can hardly remember. More than a year has passed since I bought a personal copy. I was, therefore, not…
May has been a terrible month, not just for Uganda, but East Africa. Off the jump, May announced its entry with a bang and has not let up. Charles Were The month started with the shock assassination of Kenyan legislator Charles Were in the capital Nairobi. Little known outside East Africa’s most vibrant economy, Were…
The return of Donald J. Trump to the White House and US leadership in November 2024 was a bombshell few expected ever to go off. In the last Trump bite at the cherry of US presidency (2017-2021), as president, he had encouraged worldwide skepticism about the Coronavirus pandemic that the World Health Organisation estimates killed…
In November 2024, I wrote a review of Barbara Kimenye’s Kalasanda Revisited. In that review, I said Kalasanda Revisited is one of the best short story collections ever written. Anywhere. You have no idea what you are missing if you have never read Kalasanda Revisited. Kimenye was unusually inspired when she penned these stories in…
I have not read a better book this year than Sarah Wynn-Williams’ Careless People: A cautionary tale of power, greed and lost idealism. Neither are you likely to. Careless People is a scandalous tell-all book about what it was like to work at Facebook for Mark Zuckerberg from 2011 to 2018. The book spills how…
Let me begin off by telling you about what I’m reading. I should have been done with this book by now but I had to slow down and start taking notes. Savour it like I do a Café Javas Black Current cake on Sunday morning after church. There is another reason. I could not speed…
As Uganda’s longtime president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni approaches his 40th year in power, the question of succession is becoming an urgent concern because Museveni will be 81 in September. First son and army commander General Muhoozi Kainerugaba first publicly expressed interest in succeeding his father in May 2022. Muhoozi’s announcement via his X (then Twitter)…
No, I did not stop reading books. I don’t think I could even if I wanted to. There is a lot to read but I wanted to tell you about a special book I stumbled on that I have not in a long time. A dangerous book that can influence your mind, seduce, remind you…
Phew! Have you caught your breath yet? 2025 is threatening to be the shortest 12 months we have ever had in a long time. Nearly every day brings with it an event whose impact will take years to unpack but we have to move on quickly because of what happens next. A quick rundown! Besigye…
