Atuhaire failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed sixty-fifth overall on the first day of prelims, more than 21 seconds behind the top-seeded swimmer and eventual Olympic champion Domenico Fioravanti of Italy.

[4] Four days after the swimming competition, while still in Sydney, Atuhaire was arrested and charged with raping a seventeen-year-old girl near the main Olympic athlete's village.

[5][2] New Vision, a major newspaper in Uganda used the case to complain lack of discipline is "he single big reason why our sportsmen have failed to achieve any recognisable success.

[7] Later that year, Atuhaire again represented Uganda at the FINA World Championships in the 50 metre freestyle event.

After working in Japan as a car dealer, in 2005 he began efforts to build an Olympic swimming pool in Kampala in order to help other athletes gain the times and experience to qualify to future high level competition.