Its within last year that i started freelancing for Reuters and IRIN. Two huge placings that opened lots of other doors for me. I registered countless photos of the day in different publications worldwide among others.

But most importantly are the thousands of encouraging comments i got from you my followers.Both positive and negative feedback certainly played a crucial role in building posts that got published here.

For 2012 ? Well, i haven’t stopped dreaming yet so i will be hoping to live those dreams through the lens. Happy 2012 people and i look forward to interacting with you throughout the year. Here are a few shots of my home town, Soroti.I took them on Christmas night.

 From July 7, 2009, Kampala bombing, security vigilance in Uganda has taken a different turn. Mettle scanners have been erected in almost every corner of Kampala. From discotheques, shopping malls to bars. The threat of Al shabaab remains very much in the thoughts of many.This particular picture was taken by a security detail of President Museveni during a camera check moments before i was cleared to attend President Paul Kagame’s presser at Munyonyo on December 12,2011.I’ve personally had countless checks of this kind this year, a constant reminder of how unsafe we are.

 A  heart broken Ugandan. A  heart broken nation. Uganda’s wait to participate in the African Cup of Nations continues to stretch to well.., three decades and still counting. A win against bitter rivals and neighbours, Kenya would have rewritten that history but it wasn’t meant to be.Instead, a goalless draw attracted angry reactions from the thousands, perhaps millions of Ugandans from every corner of the country who hoped to finally pop a 30 year old champagne.

Walk to Work has certainly been the biggest news making activity in 2011. No wonder it was voted by The Economist magazine as number three of the top African stories this year. These protests were against high food and fuel prices.The Police and Army particularly came to the forefront on criticism by Human rights bodies for their excessive force on unarmed peaceful protesters.In total, 10 people were killed through out the walk to work series.Here a protester prepares to block a road in Kireka,a suburb of Kampala, Uganda’s capital on April 18,2011.

Walk to Work has certainly been the biggest news making activity in 2011. No wonder it was voted by The Economist magazine as number three of the top African stories this year. These protests were against high food and fuel prices.The Police and Army particularly came to the forefront on criticism by Human rights bodies for their excessive force on unarmed peaceful protesters.In total, 10 people were killed through out the walk to work series. Opposition leader for Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Kiiza Besigye “installed” himself as the face of the protests.I needed an up-close with the man who involuntarily imposed himself as the face of the walk to work protests and this shot did it for me.

This picture will remain in my memory for as long as i live. With the rumoured death of opposition leader for Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Kiiza Besigye, after a brutal arrest while participating in the walk to work protests, riots engulfed most parts of the city. These protests were against high food and fuel prices.I was taking pictures downtown Kampala that morning where every street was burning with something.The security was struggling to maintain order and looked over stretched. I was moving with a group of six soldiers who were firing point blank at protesters.I was stunned. Within minutes i saw two nearly lifeless bodies being carried onto the middle of the road. They were still alive but without standby ambulance, they slowly breathed their last on a dusty, smokey downtown Kampala.

Paul Kagame, Rwandan President addresses the media at the Commonwealth Resort Hotel Munyonyo on December 12, 2011. Relations between Rwanda and Uganda have been on the ice for a long time. Paul Kagame’s visit follows a similar one by Museveni in July to Rwanda as the two nations try to at least publicly address their strained relations.It was a significant visit being a first in over a half a decade for a country barely a 30 minute flight away.

Walk to Work has certainly been the biggest news making activity in 2011. No wonder it was voted by The Economist magazine as number three of the top African stories this year. These protests were against high food and fuel prices.The Police and Army particularly came to the forefront on criticism by Human rights bodies for their excessive force on unarmed peaceful protesters.In total, 10 people were killed through out the walk to work series.I found this particular picture very interesting.This protester was arrested,instructed to take off his shirt and forced to sit in the middle of the road awaiting a police patrol pick up.You could see him bargain with the policeman who seemed to be threatening him with a teargas can he’s holding.

A village woman carries a pot to the market in Lira district, north of Uganda’s capital, Kampala. According to a UN report; In agriculture, sub-Saharan Africa’s most vital economic sector, women contribute 60–80 per cent of labour in food production, both for household consumption and for sale. But while they do most of the work, they lack access to markets and credit. In Uganda, women make up 53 per cent of the labour force, but only sell 11 per cent of the cash crops.

I was in Dar salaam, Tanzania on the invitation of AMEND to shoot some of their projects. AMEND is an organization that focuses on the neglected epidemic of childhood traffic injury in Africa. Part of my duty was to shoot pictures of shanty households of Dar es salaam, while asking them simple questions about road accidents in their neighbourhood.I realised that women in these neighbourhoods are restricted indoors.They wake up, clean the house, compound and remain indoors as the men ventured out to work.This was just one of thousands i encountered.

A displaced boy is seen seated near one of many makeshift houses built since the National Forestry Authority (NFA) and Police forcefully evicted up to 20.000 people in Kiboga and Mubende districts to allocate the land to New Forests Company (NFC) to plant trees as part of a lucrative scramble for arable land that can be used to satisfy the multi-billion dollar carbon trading ponzi scheme, which is worth $1.8 million a year to the company

Walk to Work has certainly been the biggest news making activity in 2011. No wonder it was voted by The Economist magazine as number three of the top African stories this year. These protests were against high food and fuel prices.The Police and Army particularly came to the forefront on criticism by Human rights bodies for their excessive force on unarmed peaceful protesters.In total, 10 people were killed through out the walk to work series.

 Opposition leader for Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Kiiza Besigye, is brutally arrested by plane clothed security men on April 28, 2011 while driving to work. His car windshields were broken by a pistol butt, before he was sprayed with pepper spray before being arrested. It was the most brutal arrest Ugandans had ever witnessed. No wonder Walk to Work was voted by The Economist magazine as number three of the top African stories this year.The Police and Army particularly were critisized by Human rights bodies for their excessive force on unarmed peaceful protesters.

A boy mines sand on the banks of river Nile in Kayunga district.Many more like him have dropped out of to mine sandin Kayunga, 74km (46miles) northeast of the capital, Kampala. Child labour remain a pivotal issue in Uganda. On the banks of river Nile in Busaana Sub-County, children usually descend in the middle of the waters, scoop the sand which they transport on the boats to the river banks from where it’s sold at between Shs150,000 (USD 57) and Shs180,000 (USD 69) depending on the size of the lorry truck.

Relatives transport the remains of children wrapped in papyrus mats for burial, on a pick-up truck from a local morgue, in Kiryandongo, 210 km (130 miles) north of Uganda’s capital Kampala, June 29, 2011. A lightning strike killed 18 children and their. Uganda has one of the highest rates of lightning strike deaths in the world and its capital Kampala has more days of lightning per year than any other city, according to the World Meteorological Organization

A child and her teenage mother attend the Isis-Wicce peace expo in Kasese in November of 2011. Almost 40 percent of Ugandan women aged between 15 and 49 have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime according to a 2006 report by the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey. The report further states that one in four Ugandan women said their first sexual intercourse was against their will.

According to the Uganda Population and Housing Census, the elderly (60+) make up about 6.5% of the population. Of these, 85% who live in rural areas live in absolute poverty according to The Aged Family Uganda (TAFU). Among other challenges the elderly face include; poor access to services and utilities, limited income support, exclusion from development programmes, lack of political representation, Isolation. As a result, this age group has resorted to selling their property, begging, forcing their teenage daughters to marry among others. Despite formal representation provided for in local government, a national Department of Elderly and Disability under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, these initiatives have had little impact on improving the daily lives of older persons in Uganda.

Disputed or not, President Museveni got another five year mandate as president of Uganda. A 68% outcome evoked lukewarm national celebrations. But at Kololo Airstrip from where he was sworn in, the mood was definitely hyper.Painted bodies, faces, yellows bandannas, yellow attires, yellow shoes..everything within the vicinity was either yellow or close it it. It was a historical date in Uganda’s history.

Walking a lone street, downtown Kampala.Walk to Work has certainly been the biggest news making activity in 2011. No wonder it was voted by The Economist magazine as number three of the top African stories this year. These protests were against high food and fuel prices.The Police and Army particularly came to the forefront on criticism by Human rights bodies for their excessive force on unarmed peaceful protesters.In total, 10 people were killed through out the walk to work series.

 In my observation, 2011 has been dominated mainly by UMEME, Walk to Work and the Oil debate. Here, i was  walking around the city asking traders how they were copying up with power shortages. This particular one was  Ssentongo Daniel a metal fabricator in Luzira, a Kampala suburb. He told me of how he has failed on several occasions to meet customer deadlines due to power unreliability causing enormous loses for his business. He projects a wider national picture which has been characterised by several protests against UMEME.

Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda is seen during a press briefing at the Commonwealth Resort Hotel Munyonyo on December 12, 2011.

I had a lot of questions for her and so did the world. So I ventured to the social media (Facebook and Twitter) to politely ask them to front Questions for Zonnet. Below, she answers those questions.

Please tell me a brief about yourself – @echwalu

I am called Itungu Zonnet, 19 years old and a mother of three. My first born is 5 years (Mumbere Robert), second born is 3 years (Fiona Muhindo) and the third born is 5 months old (Bombale Richard).

How does it feel being a mother at your age- Paul Menya

I feel proud as a mother. Its problems that have pushed me into being a mum at this age. I wanted to go to school, I wanted to stay in school but the money was not there that’s why I had to opt for marriage.

What was your first reaction when you go to know you were pregnant? @echwalu

I was somehow scared and decided to stay indoors. It was the first time I had slept with a man. It was until after 6 months that’s when I started going for antenatal. But I had just dropped out of school because of school fees and did not have that many options available for me. So I was able to accept my condition.

“Did anyone ever tell you it’s your right to say NO to a man wanting to have sex with you?” Susanne Possing

Its not like i had many options then?

Tell us about your deliveries. @omuteso 

My birth was very normal. I pushed my first, second and third without any complications. So yes, I was lucky to have normal deliveries. I think because I never missed my antenatal visits at Kagando Hospital.

How do you economically handle such a family at your tender age? @pkahill and @maureenagena

I work and dig in different peoples’ gardens and that’s the only way I get money to feed my kids. It from that little that I buy clothes, medicine and food for my children. Accommodation is a problem as I don’t own land and so I live in different homes given to me for free. But right now am living in my in laws rentals.

Do you get support from your Husband? @omuteso

My husband tries to give me help but he too does not have a job. So we do the same all try looking for work in peoples gardens and get paid.

Are you proud of your children? @MeRy71

Yes, of course. I love my children very much even if I am struggling to take care of them.

If you were given a second chance, what would you do with your life @RosebellK

I want to go back to school. I think my life stopped when I started having children. And in five years time, I hope I would be back to school on track to being a nurse so that I would take care of my children.

Do you plan to have more children? @echwalu

Right now, I don’t plan to add another child but I hope to give it a break for 6 years before I can maybe get another child. Hopefully that’s when I would have got a job, earning a salary where I can take care of my kids.

Tell me about today in relation to UMEME

Since morning we have not had power until 4pm, and so we are busy trying to finish up orders on time. We cannot work into the night because we affect our neighbours. I remember times when we used to work into the night. Because we consume a lot of power, we affected peoples TVs and refrigerators.

What are you able to do per day with power interruptions compared to when you have a full day of power?

On a day when power is stable, we can make up to three doors but now we can only make a half a door as a result of power shortage.(On average, a door is Ushs.200.000 ($78).  It has made our business make losses in such a way that, every day you have to eat, every month you pay rent. The Landlord does not care about power. All he wants at the end of the month is rent money.

Are you worried your business is not going to grow?

Our work is now being affected so much. For example, it’s a Christmas and many people who have been building want to enter their houses around this season but we have not been able to cope up with their orders because of power shortage. It is really a big problem.

So how are you copying with situation?

We are sparing the little time we have power to work very hard. (Daniels workshop has not generator. Power blackout paralyses his business as well.)

Sentongo Daniel