Priscilla Namwanje

Urbanist | Researcher | Educator

[Uganda Medical Association @TheUMAofficial]

Let us be honest: the issue is not that medical interns are too many.
It is not that Uganda has no money.
It is that medical interns are not being treated as a priority.

Consider the choices being made:

• Parliament keeps growing.
Parliament’s budget reportedly doubled to about 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟭. 𝟮 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻. The money going to 529 MPs rose from about 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟰𝟬𝟬𝗯 in 2020/21 to 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟳𝟰𝟰.𝟰𝗯 in 2026/27, an increase of about 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟯𝟰𝟰.𝟰𝗯.
What direct return does this give the common Ugandan in a crowded hospital?

• Two offices alone tell the story.
The Speaker and Deputy Speaker offices had about 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟳.𝟭𝗯 combined in 2020/21. In 2026/27, they stand at about 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟱𝟬.𝟮𝗯 , an increase of about 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟰𝟯.𝟭𝗯 for only two offices.
That increase alone can pay 𝟯𝟬𝟬𝟬 interns 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟭𝗺 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿, with money left.

• Questionable spending continues.
In 2025/26, selected Speaker’s office lines reportedly included 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟮.𝟰𝗯 for foreign travel, 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟵𝟲𝟲𝗺 for fuel, 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟰.𝟴𝗯 for incapacity, death benefits and funeral expenses, and 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟱.𝟮𝗯 for donations. Total: about 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟭𝟰.𝟮𝗯. What lasting public health return does this produce compared with doctors on wards?

• RDC structures are being funded.
Uganda reportedly has 146 RDCs, 170 Deputy RDCs and 432 Assistant RDCs, total 748 officials. Their proposed salary enhancement requires an extra 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟮𝟵.𝟬𝟳𝟵𝗯 every year.
Add the reported 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟯𝟬𝗯 for LC I to LC V political leader facilitation, and that is about 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟱𝟵𝗯. In what way does this benefit the common Ugandan?

• Donations are funded.
State House donations reportedly consumed 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟳𝟱𝟭𝗯 over seven financial years. In 2023/24 alone, donations were budgeted at 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟭𝟴.𝟭𝗯, but actual spending reached 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟴𝟬.𝟭𝟴𝗯. If tens and hundreds of billions can be found for donations, how does 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟮𝟰𝗯 to 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟯𝟲𝗯 for over 2,000 medical interns become impossible?

• Health was not protected with the same urgency.
The Ministry of Health vote fell from about 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟭. 𝟲𝟵𝟯 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 in FY2023/24 to about 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟭. 𝟯𝟰𝟰 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 in FY2024/25, a reduction of about 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟯𝟰𝟵𝗯. Even the 2025/26 estimate of 𝗦��𝘀 𝟭.𝟱𝟲𝟰 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 remains below the 2023/24 level. Yet health is the sector that directly touches mothers in labour, accident victims, children with malaria, emergency patients and families in public hospitals.

Now compare:

• 2,000 interns × Shs1m × 12 months = 𝗦𝗵𝘀 ��𝟰𝗯 per year
• 2,500 interns × Shs1m × 12 months = 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟯𝟬𝗯 per year
• 3,000 interns × Shs1m × 12 months = 𝗦𝗵𝘀 𝟯𝟲𝗯 per year

Even using the Ministry of Health’s own gross figure of Shs15.6m per intern per year, the reported 2,706 eligible interns would require about Shs42.2b. That is still small compared with what is being found for political comfort and administrative expansion.

That money is not a handout.

✨ It avails doctors on wards.
✨ It keeps emergency units covered.
✨ It supports maternity care.
✨ It fills staffing gaps in regional referrals.
✨ It protects patients.

So let us stop pretending.

This is not a numbers problem.
This is not a money problem.
It is a priority problem.

Medical interns are doctors under apprenticeship, not free labour!

#InternsNotSlaves

[Agora Discourse @AgoraCFR]

#PayMedicalInterns

[Jim Spire Ssentongo @SpireJim]

While there is no money for medical interns, there is lots of money for …

[Uganda Medical Association @TheUMAofficial]

Oh Uganda
May God uphold thee!

[Douglas Lwanga @DouglasLwangaUg]

At this rate if you sleep you miss breaking news😇

[Crazy Kennar @crazy_kennar]

CURRENCIES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[ຸ @omolxlu]

Friends are soulmates, too. There is so much love in friendship.

[PeePee🎀 @peegzy1]

Every time I write "Wednesday," there's a small voice in my head that says, "Wed-nes-day."😭

[Solyricon @Solyricon]

shaming women for loving men (who wear masks to disguise their poor character) instead of shaming men for having poor character is also internalized misogyny, btw.

hope this helps!

[اليكس @Tusk8rman]

Stop calling people plundering your country‘elites’ please. They’re thieves. All of them including their children.

[Susan Nsibirwa🇺🇬 @SueNsibirwa]

'Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those we cannot resemble'. Samuel Johnson #Tuesday

[NTV UGANDA @ntvuganda]

Pictorial: Hundreds of participants turned up for the 2026 Kabaka Birthday Run, with both the young and old taking part to celebrate the Kabaka’s 71st birthday.

The event was marked by vibrant scenes of joy and unity, with some participants dancing along the way, while others celebrated in their own unique ways.
#NTVNews
#KabakaBirthdayRun2026
#KabakaAt71

📷 @GeofreyMutumba2

[Chetuya Chinagolum @Chetuyachinago]

When will Africans finally outgrow this embarrassing and childish tourist syndrome?
An African flies to a European country, sees a shiny building or a fancy train, whips out their phone, and immediately runs to social media to cry, "When will our country have this?!"

SPOILER ALERT : those train rides are not free.
They are directly subsidized by the missing wealth and uncollected taxes of the developing world.

Truth is that, while the rest of Europe was tripping over themselves to aggressively extract African resources by sending gunboats, missionaries, and colonial administrators to do their dirty work, Luxembourg was playing 3D chess.

They did not need to get their hands bloody or dirty. Instead, they quietly positioned themselves as the ultimate offshore tollbooth for the wealth being plundered from the Global South.

Here is how their white-collar criminal network operates: A massive multinational conglomerate digs up copper in Zambia, pumps crude in Nigeria, or mines cobalt in the DRC Congo.
By any standard of fairness, the immense wealth generated from those resources should be taxed locally to build the exact same roads, schools, and train networks we keep drooling over.

But the global financial system is rigged. Instead of paying their fair share, that corporation sets up a shell company and often literally just a dusty P.O. Box in Luxembourg.

And then through the dark arts of corporate accounting known as "profit shifting" and "transfer pricing," the company manipulates its books. The African subsidiary, the one doing the actual extraction, magically records zero profit.

Meanwhile, the Luxembourg P.O. Box records billions. Africa gets the environmental degradation, the exploited labor, and a depleted national treasury. Luxembourg gets the capital.

Now, Luxembourg taxes these phantom P.O. boxes just enough to make it look legitimate, pulling in about 5% of their GDP. But that’s just the cover charge. When you factor in the massive ecosystem built to service this racket,the armies of corporate lawyers, wealth managers, auditors, and bankers designing these tax-dodging schemes, it accounts for a staggering 30% of Luxembourg’s entire GDP.

Put the math together, and you realize that nearly 40% of their national wealth is a monument to laundered money.
It is the most flawlessly executed heist in modern history. They managed to siphon the wealth of a continent without firing a single bullet or toppling a single regime.

[No filter Skin @NoFilterSkin]

Moms… be honest.

Do you ever stay up late just because it’s the only quiet time you get all day?

I know I can’t be the only one 😅

[𝗄𝖺𝗄𝗁𝗈𝗓𝖺 @simphiweyinkoc_]

imagine what women could achieve if we, too, had a wife at home

[Cali @calidaysay]

Parenting turns you into a morning person the same way being chased by a bear turns you into a runner.

[Granite Man 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @GraniteDhuine]

Staying informed these days is a form of self harm.

[The Spectator Index @spectatorindex]

World university rankings, 2026.

1. 🇬🇧 Oxford
2. 🇺🇸 MIT
3. 🇺🇸 Princeton (tied)
3. 🇬🇧 Cambridge (tied)
5. 🇺🇸 Harvard (tied)
5. 🇺🇸 Stanford (tied)
7. 🇺🇸 Caltech
8. 🇬🇧 Imperial College
9. 🇺🇸 UC Berkeley
10. 🇺🇸 Yale
11. 🇨🇭 ETH Zurich
12. 🇨🇳 Tsinghua
13. 🇨🇳 Peking
14. 🇺🇸 University of Pennsylvania
15. 🇺🇸 University of Chicago
16. 🇺🇸 Johns Hopkins
17. 🇸🇬 NUS

(Times Higher Education)

[carina adly mackenzie @cadlymack]

I thought it was a rom com and I needed a little pick-me-up. I should have just stabbed myself in the lung instead

[Muhanuuzi @dorah_muhanuuzi]

Uganda is really special. I can’t imagine the president’s son, also head of the army, tweeting assault photos of the wife of the main opposition leader and it just being government business as usual.