Statistics House, Kampala – July 1, 2025 | Eye Media Reporter
The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) has officially handed over 500 data collection tablets to Busoga Kingdom, a donation hailed as a major boost in the region’s push for evidence-based planning, improved service delivery, and strategic development interventions.
The symbolic handover took place on June 30, 2025, at Statistics House in Kampala, with Busoga Kingdom among several cultural and academic institutions selected to benefit from the post-census digital equipment distribution.
Speaking during the handover, Busoga Kingdom’s 2nd Deputy Prime Minister, Alhaji Owek. Osman Noor Ahmed, thanked UBOS and the central government for recognizing the Kingdom’s role in advancing national development through grassroots data.
“We have had a lot of raw information that we have not been submitting to the national data system. These tablets will now enable us to collect, process, and consolidate data for proper planning—both at the Kingdom and national level—to spur the development of Busoga,” Owek. Osman said.
He called on community stakeholders to cooperate with data teams and offer accurate information that can guide key decisions, particularly in lobbying government for services that reflect the region’s actual needs.
In a passionate submission, Owek. Yudaya Babirye, the Kingdom’s Minister for Kyabazinga Affairs and Acting CEO of Kyabazinga Initiatives, noted that a portion of the tablets would be assigned to the “Abasadha n’Empango” (Men are the Pillars) campaign—a flagship initiative designed to mobilize men and boys in the fight against teenage pregnancies and school dropouts in Busoga.
“This donation is a result of a direct request made by His Majesty the Kyabazinga to the UBOS Executive Director before the 2024 census,” Babirye revealed. “He also asked for support to establish a statistical unit in the Kingdom.”
The initiative, she explained, targets drivers of teenage pregnancy, such as school dropout, youth unemployment, erosion of community values, poverty, poor parenting, food insecurity, and lack of awareness on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues.
“Using these tablets, our technical teams at sub-county and village levels—under the supervision of Kyabazinga Initiatives—will now be able to track key community data: how many children are out of school and why, which households need agricultural inputs, or what programs are keeping our youth engaged,” Babirye stated.
She clarified that the tablets remain Kingdom property and are to be used as official working tools by secretariat staff and cultural leaders in their line of duty.
The Executive Director of UBOS, Dr. Chris Mukiza, emphasized that the donation followed requests from Busoga and Buganda Kingdoms, prompting the UBOS Board to extend the offer to other cultural institutions and tertiary government institutions as well.
“In total, 5,195 tablets have been donated to twelve public higher learning institutions and four cultural institutions. These are the same gadgets that were deployed during the 2024 National Population and Housing Census (NPHC),” Dr. Mukiza revealed.
The tablets will now serve a second life—bridging the gap between statistical research and grassroots reality, and empowering institutions like Busoga Kingdom to lead with data.
Follow Eye Media Uganda on Facebook and @eyemediauganda on X for more updates from the Kingdom and beyond.
