By eriasa mukiibi sserunjogi He comes to a downgraded office with a common man’s agenda. Will it work? I have not beaten only Sematimba, I have won against President Museveni and the entire state machinery.” That was the declaration of a triumphant Erias Lukwago, moments after Kampala District Returning Officer, …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Thus like many millenarian cults, many people supporting Besigye believed in their own self-righteousness and assumed everyone shared their outrage Last week, opposition leader Kizza Besigye, claimed to have won the February presidential election. He claimed that by the time his own party’s tally centre was …

By matthew stein Where are the Somalis as AMISOM troops pay the ultimate price? Somewhere in Nairobi there is a Somali man, a member of parliament or a minister perhaps, who has his hand wrapped around a good drink or his mouth filled with the smoke of a fine cigar …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Will Museveni use his 2011 national victory to retire gracefully like Mandela and Nyerere or entrench himself in power like Fidel Castro and Gaddafi? Now that President Yoweri Museveni has won re-election with an increased mandate, what should he do? This election has been important for …

By eriasa mukiibi sserunjogi Budadiri was not the only place where bigwigs in the government, like Wabudeya, fought to avoid defeat “In President Museveni’s home district of Kiruhura, where he garnered 94 percent of the valid votes, the District Returning Officer, Apollo Musinguzi, was forced to cancel results from four …

By Andrew M. Mwenda “Where Besigye projected himself as a national statesman, Museveni positioned himself as a local politician. Where Besigye articulated a grand, national vision, Museveni focused on mundane local issues. Besigye came across as idealistic with a high sense of morality; Museveni was realistic, pragmatic and practical if …

By Joseph Were “Unfortunately for Besigye, his team missed even the well known view that polls, even bogus ones, create the so-called “herd” mentality of voters swing to the side of the one reported to be winning.” “A voter told The independent: “Besigye forgot that he has to get the …

By melina plates By 2016 Ugandan will be 40 million, 25% of the youth. Museveni’s win in 2011 shows why the opposition should pay attention to such demographic changes among voters. “The youth of Uganda today are more educated and more socially interconnected than any generation before them. Over 40% …

By eriasa mukiibi sserunjogi The failure of Kizza Besigye’s third shot at the presidency has been described by an unlikely source as having been partly occasioned by what was hitherto viewed as his most potent weapon, the Interparty Cooperation. In a surprising twist, a donor source who was instrumental in …

By rukiya makuma & joan akello IMF, donors withhold support for Uganda Rachel Kimono could not hide her excitement on the eve of the Feb. 18 general election.  She was waiting for money promised by mobilisers for the ruling NRM party in her Nakaloke village in Mbale district to potential …