Makerere University has phased out 80 departments following its move to become a collegiate institution next academic year. The 88-year-old institution had 22 faculties, schools and institutes but will now operate under eight colleges and two schools after the University Council approved the recommendations last month. James Okello, the deputy academic registrar in-charge of Senate, said the current structure was overloaded and the new development would help fight red tape, reduce duplication of roles and optimise the available resources.

Uncleared minefields in northern Uganda’s Lamwo district have prevented thousands of people displaced during the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency from returning home, officials said. 'These people can’t go to their villages [in Agoro sub-county] unless the place is cleared and declared free of the landmines,' local government official Mathew Ocen Akiya told IRIN. He said some 10,000 people were unable to go home because of the mines.

Vali Jamal writes about his forthcoming book on Ugandan Asians. The book is called ‘Ugandan Asians: Then and Now’ and should be available in July 2011.

A group of Ugandan organisations and individuals have made an urgent appeal to civil society to support the inclusion of sexual minorities in national health policy.

Uganda has lost more than two million hectares of forest since 1990, mostly converted to farmland by a growing population of smallholders. Carbon finance through the REDD programme is often presented as one way to arrest this destruction, but only if the benefits clearly translate to the grassroots. Almost a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide comes from the destruction of forests – second only to the energy sector. The idea behind REDD – reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation – is to give carbon stored in forests a financial value; financing the protection of forests in developing countries like Uganda with money raised from selling carbon stored in those trees to polluters in the developed world.

Uganda Health and Science Press Association (UHSPA-Uganda), a network of groups and individuals working to mainstream minority rights in Uganda’s public health policies and laws is concerned about the omission/exclusion of sexual minorities from accessing vital health services in the soon to be launched Health Sector Strategic Plan III.

FARUG calls on the minister for ethics and integrity to 'reverse his absurd decision’ to call off a conference for commercial sex workers, in contradiction to the Global Fund’s recommendations and guidelines for fighting HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

The Aga Khan’s bid to build lodges for tourists in Uganda’s national parks has left government unsure of how to deal with a 30-year monopoly agreement it signed with the Madhvani Group while at the same time allow in more investors into this lucrative business. While addressing guests at the opening of Chobe Safari Lodge, President Museveni appeared torn between sticking to the terms of the deal his government signed with the Madhvani Group and opening space for competition in the accommodation business.

High poverty levels and a lack of awareness are among factors preventing parents in parts of northern Uganda from accessing timely care and treatment for their children suffering from a widespread viral cancer, Burkitt’s lymphoma. The disease is a malignant tumour associated with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) that is endemic to central parts of Africa and New Guinea. The EBV virus is linked to lymphomas (immune system cancers) and nasopharyngeal cancers in humans, according to the UN World Health Organisation (WHO).

US President Barack Obama has outlined a plan to disarm one of Africa's most feared rebel militias, the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army. It aims to defuse the spiralling bloodshed in central Africa by removing the LRA's leader, Joseph Kony. LRA fighters will also be encouraged to defect or lay down their arms.

The rapid growth of the ICT market in Uganda has been greeted with optimism over its potential to boost the country’s development. But less attention is being paid to the increase in gender based violence due to the use of information and communications technology. The rapid adoption of mobiles has also seen a rise in invasion of privacy through SMS stalking, monitoring and control of partners’ whereabouts.

Following the discovery of oil in his country, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will be able to keep a 'full tank', says Gado.

Questions have been raised about where the funding for the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone comes from. The tabloid received world publicity for its 'outing' campaign against lesbians and gays.It seems likely that the Rolling Stone’s campaign is designed to increase pressure on the Museveni government, facing a surprisingly strong opposition heading into upcoming elections, to move the Anti-Homosexuality Bill toward passage, says this article.

A total of 1,000 doctors are to be hired to improve the delivery of health services, according to the Health Service Commission. There are about 2,000 doctors employed by the government. But this number is still low, since many health units depend on junior health workers.

Uganda ranks lower than Rwanda and Kenya in putting in place reforms to facilitate doing business, putting the country at risk of losing investments to its neighbours, which would negatively impact employment, the tax base and general economic growth. That is according to the latest Ease of Doing Business Report 2010 released by the World Bank Group in September. The report ranks countries basing on ten parameters, including business procedures, time required, extent of flexibility and financial cost of starting a business. The other parameters are dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business.

A group of Uganda gay rights activists have protested steps by the government to ‘intentionally delete’ LGBTI from accessing vital health services for Most At Risk Population Groups (MARPS) in a national health policy soon to be launched.

Thousands of women were raped during Uganda’s civil war but there have been few government efforts to assist them, especially with psychosocial and counseling services. The two-decades long war in northern Uganda between government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) resulted in the internal displacement of about 1.5 million people and the death of thousands. Women in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps suffered sexual violence from government soldiers and civilians.

'Turning a blind eye when people are targeted because of their real or alleged sexual orientation, makes the authorities complicit in the abuse.' So said Chris Dolan, Director of the Refugee Law Project, a member of Uganda’s Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law. This after gay rights groups in Uganda expressed concern about the deafening silence of political leaders while human rights violations against sexual minorities continue unabated in the heart of Yoweri Museveni’s country.

Doctored photographs of Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni showing him as a rap star are damaging his image, his press secretary has told the BBC. The images started appearing in the local media after a rap remix of a song the president sang became a hit ahead of presidential elections next year. Spokesman Tamale Mirundi said those showing the president half-naked and wearing bling were the most offensive.

Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom has backed a proposal by Dr Kizza Besigye that a portion of oil revenue should be dedicated to fighting poverty in the oil-rich region where the resource has been discovered. Besigye, the candidate for the four-party opposition Inter-Party Cooperation coalition, on Monday promised that his government will give Bunyoro region its fair share of oil revenue if elected president. Besigye’s proposal flies in the face of the ruling NRM party’s position, which considers the oil as a national resource and offers no affirmative action for Bunyoro.