By Rosebell Kagumire For Justice Benjamin Odoki, that is the central question for activists calling for elector al reforms In 2011, two years from now, Ugandans are scheduled to vote in presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections. Many are resigned to another rigged electoral process. But a few who are …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Has Africa been spared the brunt of the global financial crisis, as many believe? Not if experts from the World Bank are to be believed. Addressing African leaders at the 12th African Union summit in Addis Ababa last week, the bank’s president, Robert Zoellick, said: “We …

By Patrick Kagenda After failing to take over the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) in 2005 in the teeth of competition from Nigeria’s Industrial and General Insurance (IGI), the Kenyan firm Apollo Pan African (APA) Insurance has at last made its way on to the Ugandan financial market. APA, which owns …

By Patrick Matsiko wa Mucoori Is she power hungry or a victim of bad politics? Former minister of Agriculture in the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) shadow cabinet Beti is described by many who know her as ‘excessively ambitious’ but also shrewd. To them, the current friction between her and …

By Independent Team President Yoweri Museveni built his government on its reputed ability to provide security. For many Ugandans, the knowledge that nobody is going to break into their house in the middle of the night to rob them, or waylay them by the roadside to snatch their little possessions …

By Kalundi Serumaga This is the second and last part of this Outlook as the author comments on technocrats and leaders `who remain silently loud on issues they once propagated. In Africa, capitalism first came in search of free labour giving rise to the transatlantic slave trade. It then developed …

By P. Matsiko wa Mucoori & Steven Kibuuka The LRA rebellion dates way back to 1987. It has now lasted about 22 years under Joseph Kony. Its quite intriguing how Kony, a semi-illiterate man who hardly went beyond Primary Seven and is not a known military strategist, could sustain a …

By Patrick Kagenda US gives Shs 1.8 trillion for rail link from Dar to Kigali Businessmen and women importing and exporting goods into Uganda often complain about high taxes. But they complain more about the high cost of transport. They say transport costs are the single leading cause of high …

By Independent Reporter AU experts reject Pan-African stock exchange, South Africa goes it alone When the African Union surveyed its members on the viability of a Pan-African stock exchange, it got a wake up call. It sent out 139 questionnaires to 53 state members but only 29 returned them. The …

By Independent Team & Agencies Suruma prays to God as Davos delegates tackle worst slump Global economic growth in 2009 is expected to fall to 0.5% when measured in terms of purchasing power parity and to turn negative when measured in terms of market exchange rates. That verdict is contained …