By Naomi N. Karekaho Government recognises the challenges in managing petroleum waste and the need to agree on a solution On June 15, The Independent magazine published an article: `Living in fear of oil waste’. The article was rooted in the conservationist ideas usually advanced by NGOs and civil society …

By Prof. Mahmood Mamdani Consolidating Makerere’s core mission: the pursuit of scholarship The Makerere of today is a product of two historical periods:  its early establishment during the colonial period and its reform under neo-liberal influence.  I shall begin by asking whether colonialism and neoliberalism are living legacies or pasts …

By Eriasa Mukiibi Sserunjogi Lukwago wins hearts as minds change over Musisi Kampala Capital City Authority Executive Director Jennifer Musisi scored sweet victory on July 9 when the High Court threw out, with costs, a suit by city Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago challenging her powers. Unfazed by the loss, Lukwago …

By Stephen Kafeero To boost their compensation awards, land owners are building in sections marked for demolition Plans to construct a modern highway have sparked a feverish property boom along Entebbe-Kampala Highway, as land owners construct new buildings, targeting to profit from generous compensation funds. Over the past three or …

By Charles Onyango-Obbo Recently I was visiting with Andrew Mwenda, the Strategy and Editorial Director of The Independent at his Butabika home when he squeezed me for a favour. He asked that I write about what I thought President Yoweri Museveni was trying to achieve with his “reconciliatory” actions towards …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati One mother tells of fleeing to save her children, the screams of her dying husband ringing in her ears Sara Ndiozi lost more than her husband in Rutshuru, when fighting broke out between the M23 rebels and government troops in the eastern part of the Democratic …

By Haggai Matsiko Will a pact to check the illicit gun trade have an impact on Uganda? United Nations diplomats from over 190 countries, including Uganda, are at the organisation’s headquarters in New York discussing a pact to regulate the global arms trade. The Global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) would …

By Dr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi A lot more still needs to be done to prevent a culture of mediocrity The osition of the government relating to the need to improve customer service in Rwanda is simple.  A lot more still needs to be done. President Paul Kagame summarises the current …

By Esther Dyson Communities can measure the state, health, and activities of their people and institutions, and hopefully improve them. I have written previously about the Quantified Self movement – individuals equipped with the tools (monitoring devices and software) needed to measure their own health and behavior (and, by doing …

By Joseph Were Museveni’s schmoozing with Stiglitz bad news for Mutebile When President Yoweri Museveni spoke at this year’s Joseph Memorial lecture in Kampala of the desirability of a “hybrid” economy, he marked a retreat from the current free market regime to his mixed economy days of the 1980s.  Time …