Social media is a rapidly evolving platform for people lately to communicate, express themselves and share content of all kinds regardless of the distance that separate them. It has given rise to a new cultural paradigm that drives technology and businesses while changing the way people interact. As a tool, social media is a double-edged sword; while it has many benefits, it can also influence people in unhealthy ways. The study focuses on the impact of social media on cultural practice. The study used non-probability sampling. It employed both the qualitative and quantitative data collection tools which included questionnaires, and, interviews. The study used both qualitative and quantitative and quantitative data collection tools in order to ensure efficiency and accuracy in data collection. Qualitative data was analyzed the thematically by coding, while information from questionnaires was analyzed by use of statistical package for Social Science (SPSS) which generated the tables and percentages. The findings of the study revealed that social media has been a major part of our lives. It has totally affected our cultural practices in both positive and negative ways. There are so many positive impacts of social media on culture. Social media has increased connections between people and created an environment in which you can share your opinion, pictures and share knowledge on different spheres of life been academic, spiritual materials and just about life in general. It has also become important for businesses because at the same point, you need to use social media in your business for example for marketing and advertising. On the other hand, social media has influenced our cultural practices in negative ways. People can share whatever they want to on social media and some of this information might be inappropriate. People have become more conservative about each other’s perceptive related to political views, religion, social rights and culture. The ugly part of social media is that there tons of unnecessary information shared by people and also bullying and harassment on social media has been increased.

The general objective of the study was to determine the role of local governments in Disaster management and preparedness in Uganda. The study was guided by a general objective and specific objectives which included: To evaluate the role of local government in disaster management and preparedness, to investigate the challenges faced by local governments in disaster management and preparedness in Sibanga sub-county in Manafwa district and to evaluate the available measures for disaster management and preparedness in local government. The study used both primary and secondary methods of data collection guided by research questions which generated reliable findings. The study found out that local governments have a wide range of tasks in disaster management and preparedness which included, risk mapping, providing relief services and resettling the victims among others. The study also found out that local governments face a lot of challenges including limited finance, political interference from the central agencies, and community resistance among others. They concluded that local governments need to reinforce their partnerships with other stakeholders for effective management of disasters in their areas and the central government should be committed to fully funding the activities of the local authorities on time and also organize capacity building workshops to empower local officials. The government should become supportive to the local governments through prioritizing funding so as to enable local officials to implement their budgets, fund their activities and provide adequate compensation to the real victims and potential victims for their properties as well as provide relief services to them.

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of workplace conflict on employee performance and organizational productivity at Kagadi General Hospital. As the hospital provides critical medical services yet faces resource constraints, optimizing productivity through strengthened workplace harmony is paramount. However, the facility lacked data on specific conflict issues and their consequences. The research employed an explanatory mixed methods design. In March 2022, quantitative data was collected using a survey distributed to 200 purposively sampled clinical and support staff. Questions examined frequency and sources of conflicts experienced, as well as perceived impacts on job functioning. Concurrently, qualitative data was gathered through in-depth interviews with 20 staff members across varied departments who had worked at the hospital for at least three years. Interviews explored personal perceptions of conflicts, observed effects, and suggestions for improvements. Following data collection, survey responses were analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics identified dominant conflict types and their correlation with job engagement indicators. Interviews were transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis using NVivo. Prominent themes centered on root causes of tensions like understaffing and inadequate supervision, in addition to resultant decreased morale and productivity witnessed. From the findings, it was observed that 30 (75%) of the sample strongly agreed that Inter-group conflict kills loyalty in the organization or department and diminished workers’ productivity of the enterprise and as a result, fraud was mitigated, 8 (20%) agreed to the assertion and 2 (5%) disagreed. This implied that indeed Inter-group conflict kills loyalty in the organization or department and diminishes workers’ productivity of the enterprise when using the internal conflicts and as a result, fraud was mitigated since the majority agreed to the assertion. The researcher also recommends that organisations should prioritize the information management department since it is a very vital cost center

This study aimed to assess the effects of workplace conflicts on employee performance and organizational productivity at Kazo General Hospital in Uganda. A mixed methods research design was employed incorporating questionnaires, interviews, and productivity data analysis to achieve the stated objectives. A total of 40 hospital staff members representing various clinical and support departments were purposively selected and administered pre-tested structured questionnaires to identify the prevalent forms and causes of conflicts experienced. Relevant productivity indicators such as staff turnover, absence rates, and service delivery targets for the past year were also obtained from hospital records for comparative evaluation. The findings revealed that interpersonal conflicts stemming from differences in work ethics and personalities most commonly manifested as verbal abuse, gossiping, and isolationism. Organizational factors like understaffing, unsupportive supervision, and uneven workload distribution also significantly contributed to disputes. Both questionnaires and interviews established that conflicts notably increased stress levels, lowered morale and commitment, and impaired concentration at work. Productivity losses from overtime working, reworks and absenteeism that followed disputes were additionally evident in records. Employee turnover was found disproportionately higher in departments reporting frequent conflicts. Therefore, the results strongly demonstrated that unresolved workplace conflicts negatively impacted individual job performance and compromised organizational effectiveness through reduced productivity and higher retention costs at Kazo General Hospital. This emphasized the need for pragmatic conflict resolution to enhance staff welfare and optimize service delivery. The study provided implementable recommendations focusing on open communication platforms, supportive supervision, structured grievance procedures, and regular trainings to help minimize future disputes.

The study sought to find out the influence of cattle rustling on pupils’ access to primary education. A case study of selected primary schools in Apac district. With such magnitude of violence in place Schools have closed to prevent attacks and the government may be reluctant to reopen schools because threats of attack may still be present. The instruments used in collection of data included questionnaires and interview guides. They were designed for the different groups of sample representatives. The study established that cattle rustling had various causes such as need to expand boundaries, incitements by politicians, competition for grazing fields and it was a lucrative business to some people. The study also established out that cattle rustling had effects on pupils’ access to primary education. Some pupils dropped out of school as a result of cattle rustling others became orphans, others feared attacks while at school therefore they stopped going to school and teachers stopped going to school for fear of being the targets. All this crippled accessibility of education by pupils in Apac district. The study recommended that in order to improve the situation on the area the government in partnership with Non-Governmental Organizations should set up more boarding schools to shorten the distance and improve on security by building police camps near the boarding schools. In order to stop the practice of cattle rustling the government to eradicate black markets for cattle. Also, all security agencies and relevant line ministries should collaborate with each other and with key education stake holders to ensure that the cattle rustling is promptly and effectively resolved so that pupils can continue with their education without fear.

This study aimed to investigate the major causes of unemployment among the youth in Mabira Town Council, Kyenjojo District, Western Uganda. Unemployment has been a persistent challenge facing the youth in the area for many years. A cross-sectional study design was employed where both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to comprehensively understand this issue from different perspectives. Through a survey questionnaire, primary data was gathered from 380 randomly selected youths in the town council regarding their educational background, skills training, job-seeking attitudes and challenges faced. Additionally, 20 key informant interviews were conducted with local leaders and administrators to gain insights from their governance role in the community. The findings revealed that lack of practical vocational skills necessary for available job opportunities was the leading cause of unemployment reported by 71% of the youth respondents. This was attributed to the community prioritizing academic education over skills training as well as inadequate facilities and funding for vocational institutions. Secondly, the study uncovered that 64% of unemployed youth lacked start-up capital required to establish their own businesses due to limited access to affordable loans. Corruption and nepotism during recruitment in the few existing companies and organizations also emerged as another major challenge according to 59% of respondents. Furthermore, the interviews with leaders validated these quantitative results and added that poor road network inhibiting movement of goods and services exacerbated the problem.

This study examined the relationship between corporate governance practices and financial performance of commercial banks in Uganda. Corporate governance has increasingly become an important issue for regulators, investors and banks themselves given its role in boosting sustainable growth and stability in the financial sector. However, weaknesses in governance were reported among some Ugandan banks that threatened their stability and profitability. The research adopted a quantitative approach using a sample of 40 banks out of the 34 licensed banks in Uganda as of 2021. Primary data was collected using questionnaires distributed to senior risk, audit and compliance managers while secondary financial data was obtained from annual reports for the period 20162020. Findings revealed that board independence had a statistically significant positive effect on return on assets, implying greater independent oversight enhanced profitability. However, no other board attributes influenced return on equity. It deviated from the average values of the sampled commercial by 4.36. The financial performance of the sampled commercial banks that is measured by the net profit margin (NPM) for the four years averaged 33.61. The maximum value of the net profit margin was 55.0, the minimum value was 26.0 and it shows a deviation of 8.29 from the mean value. Further tests established internal audit function moderated the relationship between independence and return on assets such that the positive governance impact was strengthened by effective internal controls. The researcher also recommends that the commercial banks in the Republic of Uganda should strive towards maintaining a minimal number of members in the audit committee as revelation from the study indicate negative impact and influence on most of the banks‟ performance indicators. This is because of the fact that too big audit committee size brings about issues of consensus and too small sized committee is susceptible to manipulations by strong headed and influential managers and inside shareholders which may derail the transparency with reports are expected to be compiled and presented.

The enactment of the SACCO Act of 20018 established SASRA as an entity or state authority that regulates the Cooperative societies in Kenya, with the regulation covering deposit taking and to some extent non-deposit taking SACCOs. The enactment of SASRA regulation requires SACCOs to improve on corporate governance. This study was thus carried out with the aim of understanding the effects of corporate governance on the performance of SACCOs in post SASRA era. Specifically, the study focused on analyzing the effect of board of director’s tenure, board diversity and meeting frequency on the financial performance of SACCOs. The study used cross-sectional study design and had a target population of 49 that comprised of deposit talking SACCOs in Kenya. The researcher collected data from the respondents through secondary data and analyzed the same through SPSS. Data was analyzed using SPSS with regression analysis, ANOVA, and co-efficient of determination (R2) used to interpret the results. The study revealed that corporate governance practices affect the financial performance of SACCOs. This was by 28.4% and 28.6% without control and with control variable respectively. Specifically, without control variables the results showed (0.061), 0.002, 0.017, 0.026, (0.004) and 0.018, indicate the effect of professional expertise, gender diversity, average tenure of directors, frequency of meetings and age of board members. On the inclusion of control variable, the results indicated that gender and director tenure was significant while the rest of the variables were not significant. The study concludes that social heterogeneity and director tenure affect financial performance of SACCOs. Thus, the study recommends the need effective implementation of gender diversity and director on tenure regulations. The study recommends that SACCOs need to embrace gender mainstreaming into their boards. The study further recommends that SACCOs should not necessarily pay attention on improving age and expertise diversity in boards as these variables seem to be insignificant.

Prevalence of teenage pregnancy in Kamuli District was reported to be 35.8% in 2021, higher than the average rate for rural areas in Uganda estimated at 27%. The research used a cross sectional study that employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. Research administered questionnaires were given to 25 on school going teenagers in five randomly selected schools in Kamuli Municipal Council while oral observation and interviews were conducted on 35 participants that included 10 pregnant teenagers, 5 teenage mothers, 5 parents to such teenagers, 10 school administrators, and 5 religious and political leaders. The questionnaire turn-up was 23 and oral interviews were conducted on 27 participants. Microsoft excel and SPSS were used to analyze the data and that then after was presented in form of frequency tables. The study revealed that COVID-19 outbreak was the major key contributor to teenage pregnancy on school going children in Kamuli. It was clear that socio-cultural factors such as low literacy, cultural practices associated poor parenting, child marriages, school dropout and cultural changes combine with the poverty situation generated and perpetuated the problem. Political interference made it difficult to redress the problem. Girls who fell victims of teenage pregnancies end up facing stigma and discrimination and their access to education and career development was radically reduced. The study also showed that teenage pregnancy had a great effect on education and affected the girls’ future and economic development of a country. The study further revealed that teenage pregnancy contributed to girls’ poor performance in school and in final exams. The study showed that most underage mothers had terminated their education for fear of shame, stigmatization and ridicule from the school and school and being rated as ill-mannered children. They should be counselled by their parents, and guidance and counselling teachers to give them strength and hope of continuing with their education and getting brighter futures. Counselling will also help in their job skills and psychosocial development that will help them after schooling and life ahead. The researcher also observed that parental and community involvement in openly advising their children and not shy away, sensitization of parents to support (especially) the girl child, counselling of both parents and learners about effects of early pregnancy and the responsibilities that come with it, community care and responsibility to keep girls in school, and using the law to legally prosecute offenders could be the appropriate strategies for combating teenage pregnancy in Kamuli district.

The study aimed at investigating the impact of credit management on the financial performance of financial institutions in Uganda with a case study of centenary bank, Gulu branch and it was guided by the following objectives; To examine the effect of credit terms on financial performance of Centenary Bank, Gulu Branch, to analyse the effect of credit assessment on financial performance of Centenary Bank, Gulu Branch and to investigate the relationship between credit control and financial performance of Centenary Bank, Gulu Branch. Purposive sampling was used whereby the researcher used his own decision and experience to determine which employees have in-depth information to take part in the study. Thus, the selection of the respondents was based on the researchers understanding with the respondents’ possession of the required information. Therefore, purposive sampling was conducted for the top management staff of the bank branch. SAQs with one open ended question per section was designed for SME employees to give additional or express their mind while the rest was close-ended aimed at testing perception using a five-point likert scale measuring from Strongly Disagree as response 1, Disagree as response 2, Not sure as response 3 Agree as response 4 and Strongly Agree as response 5 for easy measurements of variables. From the findings, it shown that there was a strong relationship between credit financing and the growth of bank. At Pearson correlation coefficient r =0.669. The results as depicted from the table above (r2=0.669, P=0.035) suggest a positive and significant effect on credit financing on the growth of bank in Centenary bank. Financial institutions should put in a provision of loan repayment periods extension for the bank. More credit needs to be availed to the bank given their significant role in the economic growth and development.