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The Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) has set the Zakat Nisab for 2026 at UGX 2.4 million, meaning Muslims whose qualifying wealth equals or exceeds that amount for one lunar year are required to pay Zakat. Nisab is the minimum amount of wealth a Muslim must possess before Zakat, the obligatory annual charity in Islam, becomes due. It serves as a threshold to determine who is financially eligible to pay Zakat.

Once a Muslim’s savings, cash, trade goods, or other Zakatable assets remain above the Nisab for one lunar year (Hawl), they are required to contribute 2.5 percent of that wealth as Zakat. In an announcement issued on Thursday, the Head of the UMSC Zakat and Sadaqa Department, Sheikh Kaloozi Abdulbarri Muhammad, said the Nisab was determined using the prevailing market values of gold and silver.

Kaloozi said the gold Nisab is equivalent to 85 grams of gold valued at UGX 40,536,500, while the silver Nisab is equivalent to 595 grams of silver valued at UGX 2,391,900. “Based on the prevailing market values of gold and silver, the current Zakat Nisab has been set at UGX 2,400,000,” Kaloozi said. He explained that any Muslim whose qualifying wealth reaches or exceeds the Nisab and remains in their possession for one lunar year is obligated to pay Zakat at the prescribed rate of 2.5 percent.

Kaloozi emphasized that Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam and is intended to purify wealth, support vulnerable members of society, and strengthen social solidarity. Quoting the Holy Qur’an (9:103), Kaloozi said, “Take from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase, and invoke blessings upon them,” adding that Zakat is both an act of worship and a means of promoting social justice.

He urged Muslims to fulfil their obligation through the council’s official Zakat payment channels or by depositing directly into the UMSC Zakat Account at Diamond Trust Bank. He also encouraged those seeking guidance on calculating or paying Zakat to contact the Zakat and Sadaqa Department at the UMSC headquarters in Old Kampala.

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International cyber scam syndicates that previously operated in Southeast Asia have shifted part of their operations to Uganda, exposing unsuspecting job seekers to human trafficking through forced participation in online fraud, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has warned.

The ministry says the criminal networks are exploiting Uganda’s expanding digital economy, affordable operating costs and youthful labour force to establish cyber scam centres that target victims across the world. Authorities say the syndicates rent apartments, office spaces and commercial buildings, where they set up makeshift scam centres staffed by both Ugandan recruits and foreign nationals, including individuals from Pakistan and Cambodia.

Victims are reportedly lured through fake job advertisements circulated on WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok and other digital platforms promising attractive salaries, remote work, accommodation and jobs requiring minimal qualifications. Instead, recruits allegedly have their passports and identification documents confiscated before being forced to participate in online fraud under threats, intimidation and violence.

Derek Basalirwa Kigenyi, the Deputy National Coordinator for Counter-Trafficking in Persons at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said the trafficking model has evolved significantly. “Initially, we used to talk about trafficking in persons happening overseas, particularly online scamming operations linked to countries outside Uganda. However, the trend has changed. The scammers have now migrated their operations into Uganda,” Kigenyi told Uganda Radio Network. He said the criminal groups relocated their operations largely to reduce operational costs.

Kigenyi warned Ugandans not to assume that jobs advertised within the country are automatically genuine. “People may assume that online job opportunities within Uganda are legitimate, but they can easily be duped. We must be extremely cautious because these scammers are now operating from within the country,” he said.

He also cautioned landlords and property owners to be vigilant when renting out buildings. “The scammers are renting your apartments. They are renting your buildings. They buy computers and other equipment locally, and some people may unknowingly facilitate these criminal activities,” Kigenyi added.

The warning comes as global agencies, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), increasingly classify forced participation in cyber fraud as a modern form of human trafficking involving forced criminality. Sadat Muhairwe, a Ugandan survivor rescued from a cyber scam compound in Myanmar, said he was deceived in 2022 after accepting what he believed was a lucrative information technology job. “I was lured by promises of a high-paying IT job, but everything turned out to be a lie,” Muhairwe said. “When I arrived, my passport was confiscated. I was subjected to torture and held by armed gangs. Together with many other victims, we were sold several times between different criminal networks before, by God’s grace, we were eventually rescued and repatriated to Uganda.”

Uganda’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, Ambassador Dr. Betty Bigombe, said trafficking for forced cybercrime has become one of the fastest-growing forms of organised transnational crime. “There are hundreds of thousands of human beings from all walks of life, especially from developing countries, that are being targeted,” Bigombe said. She attributed the growing trend to high youth unemployment, which makes many young people vulnerable to fake job offers.

Meanwhile, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Uganda Chief of Mission Sanusi Tejan Savage said strengthening safe migration policies remains critical in preventing exploitation. “Target 10.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals explicitly commits countries to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies,” Savage said.

Government data shows that Uganda has recorded 4,835 trafficking in persons cases involving more than 7,581 victims since 2020, with children accounting for over 80 percent of those affected. The 2025 Annual Crime Report also documented the rescue of 26 Ugandan nationals from cyber scam compounds in Myanmar, while authorities have secured 864 trafficking-related convictions as efforts to dismantle the criminal networks continue.

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Retired Major General Emilio Mondo has revealed that the late Gen. Moses Ali became leader of the Uganda National Rescue Front I (UNRF I) after proposing the formation of a rebel force to return thousands of West Nile refugees who had fled into exile following the fall of Idi Amin’s government.

Speaking during Gen. Moses Ali’s burial in Adjumani on Wednesday, Mondo said the decision was made at a meeting of former military officers and leaders in Yei, South Sudan, after refugees from West Nile had settled in camps.

According to Mondo, the meeting was convened by the late Gen. Mustafa Adrisi to discuss how displaced people could return home.

“There is nothing else that we can do to ensure the return of our people home. We have got to form an army and fight and open the way for our people to return home,” Mondo quoted Moses Ali as telling the meeting.

He said delegates unanimously endorsed Moses Ali as the supreme leader of the new force because of his proposal and determination to lead the struggle.

Mondo added that the new movement immediately tasked Moses Ali with mobilizing military equipment and other resources from contacts he had built during his time in government.

“We told General Moses Ali… you are going to go out and look for resources. Without the resources you cannot fight. He did successfully. He brought us the guns, and today we were able to come here because the organization won and opened the way for us to come back home,” Mondo said.

He credited Moses Ali’s leadership and organizational skills with keeping the movement together during the rebellion and later helping to restore peace in the region.

Former minister and one of the remaining members of the UNRF executive, Obiga Kania, described Moses Ali as a commander who fought for what he believed was a just cause and urged West Nile residents not to forget the history of the struggle.

“We are pleased with the comments that we have received from so many people that the person we appointed our commander was a good man; he has done his deed, and he fought for a good cause,” Kania said. He urged younger generations to preserve the region’s history, saying understanding the past was essential to shaping the future.

“A people who forget their history will not know where to go. We are here because of the history of the struggle that was started by a number of people, including General Moses Ali as the chairman,” he said.

The burial also came amid renewed calls by some leaders from West Nile for the government to fully implement outstanding commitments under the peace agreement signed between the National Resistance Army (NRA) and the Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF).

However, in a message delivered on his behalf by former spy chief and ambassador Phillip Idro, Gen. Caleb Akandwanaho, popularly known as Salim Saleh, said the concerns repeatedly raised by Gen. Moses Ali had been addressed.

Saleh recalled that Moses Ali had once bluntly warned him not to attend his burial unless the government settled the outstanding welfare concerns of former UNRF soldiers.

“General Saleh, if you don’t pay off my soldiers and their debts, if I die, don’t come to bury me,” Saleh quoted Moses Ali as saying. According to Saleh, the government fulfilled that obligation before Moses Ali’s death.

“On September 5, 2025, I was able to visit Adjumani because we had settled that obligation. It was a visit that brought me peace, and I believe it brought him reassurance,” the statement read.

Saleh added that although verification of beneficiaries was still ongoing, funds for former UNRF soldiers had already been secured.

He said payment delays were now being caused by the verification process rather than a lack of government commitment.

Idro also displayed copies of correspondence that Gen. Moses Ali had written to President Yoweri Museveni and Saleh, highlighting issues affecting former fighters and the wider West Nile region, including compensation for ex-combatants, resettlement support, compensation for frozen bank accounts, road infrastructure and electricity.

Gen. Moses Ali, who died last week aged 87, led UNRF I before later signing a peace agreement with President Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army government and serving in various senior government positions for decades, including as Second Deputy Prime Minister.

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By Jennifer Kayera (PO 046)

Uganda’s fight against corruption needs leaders bold enough to go to the ground and expose the rot.

That is exactly what Hon. Balaam Barugahara, Minister for Local Government, has been doing since President Yoweri Museveni appointed him to the docket in May 2026. And because of that, the corrupt are uncomfortable, especially the suspects across government systems.

The problem in service delivery in Uganda is not President Museveni. In my view, Hon. Balaam’s drive demonstrates that government resources do reach the lowest levels of our local government structures. The challenge lies with individuals entrusted with public office who abuse that trust.

This is why Hon. Balaam is doing the job many Ugandans have long demanded. Since taking office, he has taken the fight to where it hurts, and the record speaks for itself.

During an impromptu inspection at Naiku Health Centre III in Mbale District, he found that government was paying salaries for 19 staff at the facility, yet only three had reported for duty by 9:00 a.m. Nine of those on the payroll reportedly did not exist, prompting the seizure of records to establish who had been collecting their salaries.

Still in Mbale, his team uncovered alleged payroll fraud and inflated enrolment figures in various schools, leading to the arrest of a headteacher implicated in the scheme.

Working jointly with State Minister Justine Nameere, he has extended a nationwide inspection drive, dubbed “Expose the Corrupt in Local Government,” into Bulambuli, Jinja, and other districts across eastern Uganda, resulting in the arrest of officials accused of misusing public funds.

He has also proposed ending the practice of officers serving twenty years in a single station, arguing that such long deployments have entrenched corruption networks that outlast administrations. In addition, he convened Chief Administrative Officers, town clerks, district chairpersons, and mayors at a national accountability summit to implement the President’s directive to root out graft in local government.

That is what oversight looks like. That is what accountability looks like.

Why are some people attacking him? In my view, the answer is simple. Those benefiting from corruption are unhappy. When tenders are blocked, kickbacks disrupted, and suspected wrongdoers publicly exposed, resistance is inevitable. According to the minister, he will not be deterred, insisting he will not be frightened by threats—including alleged threats of witchcraft—as he continues the inspection exercise.

Hon. Balaam is taking on networks that have allegedly benefited for years, so resistance should not come as a surprise. Yet Ugandans on the ground—in Mbale, Bulambuli, health centres, schools, and other local government institutions—are beginning to see a renewed emphasis on accountability.

The Patriotic League of Uganda stands for discipline, service, and truth. It should not condemn a minister for doing exactly what leaders are elected to do: serve the people and protect public resources. In my opinion, Hon. Balaam is not fighting government; he is helping protect it from the few bad elements within it. He is supporting President Museveni’s efforts to improve service delivery to every village, and with Local Council elections on the horizon, that objective is more important than ever.

To Ugandans, my appeal is this: let us stop blaming the President or the system alone when the challenge often lies with individuals entrusted with public resources. Let us support leaders who are willing to go to the ground and demand accountability. And to those involved in corruption, the message is clear: your time is running out.

I stand with Hon. Balaam Barugahara. Exposing the corrupt is patriotism.

The author can be reached on +256 784 364125.

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The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of the Red Pepper. Email: redpeppertips@gmail.com

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Weasel Manizo earned a place on Kalifah AgaNaga‘s “Nassanga” remix after surprising everyone with a verse he wrote himself.

AgaNaga revealed that the Goodlyfe singer did not feature in the original plans for the remix.

Instead, Weasel showed up with a fresh verse, rehearsed it and convinced the team to include him on the song.

Speaking during an interview on Galaxy TV Uganda, AgaNaga said Weasel’s performance injected fresh energy into the remix and gave the project an unexpected boost.

What started as an unplanned visit ended with Weasel delivering one of the remix’s most memorable moments.

In the mid 2010s, Kalifah AgaNaga released “Nassanga” as a love song. It enjoyed its moment, became a favourite for many fans and, like most hits, gradually faded from the spotlight.

Ten years later, something unexpected happened.

Without a new release or a major campaign, “Nassanga” began appearing across TikTok.

Ugandans picked it up for dance challenges, lip-sync videos and comedy skits, turning the decade-old song into one of the platform’s biggest local trends.

Before long, a whole generation that barely knew the original was singing along, while longtime fans welcomed the song back with equal excitement.

The response caught AgaNaga’s attention.

Instead of treating the viral moment as another passing trend, he decided to celebrate it.

The singer announced the Nassanga Festival Mukibira, an 18-hour music event set for Saturday, August 1, 2026, at Forest Resort Lweza.

The name Mukibira, meaning “In the Forest,” reflects the venue’s surroundings, but the festival itself tells a bigger story. It celebrates the fans whose support brought “Nassanga” back to life.

The comeback did not stop there.

As anticipation for the festival grew, AgaNaga brought together Eddy Kenzo, Winnie Nwagi, Weasel Manizo and Lil Pazo for the official “Nassanga” remix.

Rather than replace the original, the collaboration gave it a fresh sound while keeping the heart of the song intact.

Producer Rinex understands that journey better than anyone.

Having worked on both the 2015 release and the remix, he watched “Nassanga” connect with two different generations of listeners.

For him, the song’s return proves that good music never really disappears. Sometimes it simply waits for the right moment to be discovered again.

Today, “Nassanga” is no longer just a song from the mid 2010s.

It has become a reminder that music can find a second audience, even after a decade, when the fans decide its story is not over.