This study investigated the role of local governments in safeguarding women's rights in Uganda, using Malere Parish in Hoima District as a case study. Given the constitutional and statutory mandate of local governments to promote gender equality and protect women, the study examined how policy implementation, service provision, community sensitisation, and enforcement of legal protections relate to the safeguarding of women's rights. A cross-sectional survey design with a mixed-methods approach was adopted, and data were collected from 170 respondents comprising women community members, local government officials, and civil-society representatives using questionnaires and interviews. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression were used for analysis. The results revealed a strong positive and significant relationship between local government interventions and the safeguarding of women's rights (r = 0.63, p < 0.01), with the interventions jointly explaining 48.7% of the variance in the safeguarding of women's rights (R² = 0.487). Enforcement of legal protections and community sensitisation were the strongest predictors. The study concludes that local governments play a significant role in safeguarding women's rights and recommends strengthening enforcement, sensitisation, and service provision.

This study investigated the effect of public financial management reforms on service delivery in local governments, with specific reference to Wakiso District. Uganda has pursued an ambitious sequence of public financial management reforms since the 1990s, encompassing the Integrated Financial Management System, the Programme Based Budgeting framework, the Treasury Single Account, and progressively strengthened internal audit and procurement regimes, all premised on the proposition that improved fiscal discipline, transparency, and accountability translate into better public services. Wakiso District, the most populous local government in Uganda and one confronting acute service demand arising from peri-urban expansion around Kampala, provides a demanding test of this proposition. The study adopted a positivist philosophy and a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical survey design, collecting data from 205 respondents drawn from a target population of 430 comprising district and sub-county technical staff, accounting and internal audit personnel, elected councillors, and service unit managers in health and education. Stratified random sampling was applied and data were gathered through a structured questionnaire measuring four reform dimensions, namely budgeting reforms, financial reporting and accounting reforms, internal control and audit reforms, and procurement reforms, against service delivery assessed through timeliness, coverage, quality, and responsiveness. Analysis employed descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression in SPSS version

This study examined the relationship between public health awareness and community engagement in Kassanda District, Uganda. Recognising that effective public health outcomes depend on both informed communities and active participation, the study investigated how health knowledge, access to health information, attitudes towards health, and health-worker communication relate to the level of community engagement in health programmes. A cross-sectional survey design with a mixed-methods approach was adopted, and data were collected from 200 respondents comprising community members, village health team members, and health workers using questionnaires and interviews. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression were used for analysis. The results revealed a strong positive and significant relationship between public health awareness and community engagement (r = 0.66, p < 0.01), with awareness dimensions jointly explaining 50.8% of the variance in engagement (R² = 0.508). Health knowledge and access to health information were the strongest predictors. The study concludes that raising public health awareness significantly enhances community engagement and recommends strengthening health education, information access, and health-worker communication.

This study examined the relationship between regional integration and state behaviour and international cooperation in Uganda, focusing on Uganda's engagement with the East African Community (EAC) framework. Guided by three objectives-assessing Uganda's regional integration engagement, establishing the nature of its international cooperation behaviour, and determining the relationship between the two-the study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional and correlational design. From a target population of 130 foreign affairs, trade, and security stakeholders, a sample of 97 respondents was selected using Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) table and stratified random sampling. Data were collected through a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analysed using SPSS, employing descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression. Results showed a high overall Regional Integration Index (M = 3.62) and a high overall State Behaviour/Cooperation Index (M = 3.52), with protocol ratification/domestication and compliance with regional commitments rated only moderately. A moderately strong, positive, and statistically significant correlation was found between regional integration and cooperative state behaviour (r = 0.579, p < 0.01), and regression analysis confirmed that regional integration significantly predicts state behaviour (β = 0.529, p < 0.01), explaining 33.5% of the variance (R² = 0.335). The study concludes that deeper regional integration engagement is associated with more cooperative Ugandan state behaviour internationally, though this relationship operates within a wider context of domestic political and governance factors, and recommends accelerated protocol ratification, stronger inter-agency coordination, and continued investment in EAC political and security cooperation.

This study examined the relationship between teacher motivation and the academic performance of learners in government-aided primary schools in Mbarara District, Uganda. Motivated by persistent concerns about declining performance at the Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) level, the study investigated how intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors—remuneration, working conditions, professional development, recognition, and school leadership support—relate to pupils' learning outcomes. A cross-sectional survey design combining quantitative and qualitative approaches was adopted. Data were collected from a sample of 210 teachers and 30 head teachers drawn from 40 government-aided primary schools using structured questionnaires and interview guides. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression were used to analyse the data. Results revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between teacher motivation and learners' academic performance (r = 0.62, p < 0.01). Regression analysis indicated that teacher motivation explained approximately 48.6% of the variance in academic performance (R² = 0.486), with remuneration and working conditions emerging as the strongest predictors. The study concludes that improving teacher motivation is central to raising pupil achievement and recommends that the Ministry of Education and Sports, district authorities, and school managers prioritise timely payment of salaries, provision of adequate teaching materials, and structured recognition schemes.

This study examined the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on financial performance in organisations, using DFCU Bank Uganda as the case. Corporate governance has assumed central importance in the banking sector following successive episodes of institutional failure both globally and within Uganda, where the closure and resolution of several commercial banks exposed weaknesses in board oversight, risk management, and disclosure that regulatory capital requirements alone could not remedy. DFCU Bank occupies a distinctive position in this landscape, having grown from a development finance institution into a full-service commercial bank and having undertaken the acquisition of a resolved institution, a transaction that placed its governance arrangements under exceptional public and regulatory scrutiny. The study adopted a positivist philosophy and a cross-sectional survey design, gathering data from 148 respondents selected through stratified random sampling from a target population of 235 comprising board- adjacent staff, senior and middle management, risk and compliance officers, internal audit personnel, and branch managers. A structured questionnaire measured four governance dimensions, namely board composition and independence, risk management and internal control, disclosure and transparency, and shareholder and stakeholder rights, against financial performance assessed through profitability, asset quality, efficiency, and liquidity. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression in SPSS version 26. Results indicated that disclosure and transparency recorded the highest mean while shareholder and stakeholder rights recorded the lowest. All governance dimensions correlated significantly and positively with financial performance, with risk management and internal control strongest (r = 0.724, p < 0.01), followed by board composition and independence (r = 0.667, p < 0.01), disclosure and transparency (r = 0.582, p < 0.01), and shareholder and stakeholder rights (r = 0.503, p < 0.01). The regression model was significant (F = 52.16, p < 0.001), explaining 61.4 per cent of the variance in financial performance, with risk management and internal control (β = 0.389) and board composition

This study examined the influence of budget controls on financial stability in organisations, using Nansana Municipality as the case. Budget controls constitute the principal mechanism through which organisations align expenditure with resources, and their effectiveness determines whether an entity can meet obligations as they fall due, avoid the accumulation of arrears, and sustain operations without recourse to crisis measures. Nansana Municipality, one of Uganda's youngest and fastest-growing urban authorities located within the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area, confronts an acute configuration of rapidly expanding service demand, a narrow and volatile local revenue base, and dependence on central transfers whose timing and magnitude it does not control, making it a demanding setting in which to examine whether budget controls can produce financial stability. The study adopted a positivist philosophy and a cross-sectional survey design, collecting data from 155 respondents drawn through stratified random sampling from a target population of 260 comprising municipal and division technical staff, finance and accounts personnel, internal audit, revenue collection officers, elected councillors, and heads of departments. A structured questionnaire measured four budget control dimensions, namely budget planning and preparation, budget implementation and expenditure control, budget monitoring and variance analysis, and revenue budgeting and collection control, against financial stability assessed through liquidity, arrears management, revenue predictability, and expenditure discipline. Analysis employed descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression in SPSS version 26. Findings indicated that budget planning and preparation recorded the highest mean while revenue budgeting and collection control recorded the lowest. All dimensions correlated significantly and positively with financial stability, with budget implementation and expenditure control strongest (r = 0.701, p < 0.01), followed by budget monitoring and variance analysis (r = 0.669, p < 0.01), revenue budgeting and collection control (r = 0.612, p < 0.01), and budget planning and preparation (r = 0.534, p < 0.01). The regression model was significant (F = 44.91, p < 0.001), explaining 56.8 per

This study examined the influence of microfinance loans on women empowerment in rural Uganda, with specific reference to Kyabugimbi Sub-County in Bushenyi District. Microfinance has been advanced for four decades as an instrument capable of simultaneously alleviating poverty and transforming gender relations, on the proposition that access to credit enables women to establish income-generating enterprises whose returns strengthen their bargaining position within households and communities. This proposition has been contested by scholarship arguing that credit access alone cannot dislodge structural gender inequalities, that loans may be appropriated by male household members, and that group liability can generate social pressure that constitutes a new burden rather than a source of solidarity. Kyabugimbi Sub-County, situated in a predominantly agrarian district of southwestern Uganda characterised by banana and coffee production, smallholder landholding, patrilineal inheritance, and an active landscape of savings and credit cooperatives and village savings and loan associations, provides an appropriate setting for testing these competing claims. The study adopted a positivist philosophy and a cross-sectional survey design, collecting data from 234 women microfinance clients selected through stratified random sampling from a target population of 590 across registered microfinance groups in the sub-county. A structured questionnaire administered through trained enumerators measured four microfinance loan dimensions, namely loan accessibility, loan size and adequacy, loan terms and conditions, and complementary services including training and group support, against women empowerment assessed through economic empowerment, household decision-making, social and community participation, and psychological empowerment and self-efficacy. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression in SPSS version 26. Results showed that loan accessibility recorded the highest mean while loan size and adequacy recorded the lowest. All dimensions correlated significantly and positively with women empowerment, with complementary services strongest (r = 0.694, p < 0.01), followed by loan terms and

This study examined the influence of technology advancement on modern art in the Kampala Metropolitan Region, Uganda. As digital tools reshape how art is created, distributed, and consumed, the study investigated how digital creation tools, social media exposure, online marketplaces, and digital skills relate to the development and commercial performance of modern art. A cross-sectional survey design with a mixed-methods approach was adopted, and data were collected from 160 respondents comprising visual artists, digital creators, gallery owners, and art students using structured questionnaires and interviews. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression were used for analysis. The results revealed a strong positive and significant relationship between technology advancement and modern art development (r = 0.64, p < 0.01), with technology dimensions jointly explaining 49.3% of the variance in modern art outcomes (R² = 0.493). Digital creation tools and social media exposure were the strongest predictors. The study concludes that technology advancement significantly shapes modern art and recommends investment in digital- skills training, affordable tools, and reliable internet access.

This study examined the role of commercial banks in financing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Wakiso District, Uganda. Guided by three objectives-assessing SMEs' access to commercial bank financing, establishing SME growth/performance levels, and determining the relationship between the two-the study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional and correlational design. From a target population of 160 SME owners and managers, a sample of 113 respondents was selected using Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) table and stratified random sampling. Data were collected through a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analysed using SPSS, employing descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and simple linear regression. Results showed a moderate Overall Bank Financing Access Index (M = 2.85), with interest rate affordability rated lowest (M = 2.61), and a moderate-to-high Overall SME Growth/Performance Index (M = 3.42). A moderate, positive, and statistically significant correlation was found between bank financing and SME growth (r = 0.487, p < 0.01), and regression analysis confirmed that bank financing significantly predicts SME growth (β = 0.469, p < 0.01), explaining 23.7% of the variance (R² = 0.237). The study concludes that commercial bank financing meaningfully supports SME growth in Wakiso District but remains constrained by high interest rates and collateral requirements, and recommends the design of SME-specific loan products, streamlined loan appraisal processes, partial credit guarantee schemes, and targeted SME financial literacy training.