By Andrew M. Mwenda Colonialism is back; bold and unashamed. The West has decided to reclaim leadership in Africa. Only last week, I watched US Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton, give instructions to Kenyan politicians on how they should manage the affairs of Kenya. She demanded that the democratically …

By Melina Platas Is he worth it or is Besigye, who got 37% of the vote in 2006, better? Olara Otunnu has re-entered Uganda’s political scene. But does this internationally renowned figure come home to divide or unite the opposition? The Inter-Party Coalition (IPC) meetings in the past few months …

By Andrew M. Mwenda For sometime now, my articles comparing Uganda and Rwanda have generated the most intense debate on our website, my private emails and my phone’s SMSs. President Yoweri Museveni’s supporters accuse me of doing PR for President Paul Kagame. Many people ask why I compare the two …

By Melina Platas The facts, the figures and their implications Over the last two weeks, the dispute on “indigenous people of Bunyoro”versus Bafuruki has dominated political debate in Uganda. Sparked off by President Yoweri Museveni’s letter to the Minister for the Presidency, Beatrice Wabudeya, the debate has been short on …

By Andrew M. Mwenda  In this column last week, I argued that after every successive election in Uganda, the quality of government has tended to deteriorate. Many Ugandans think this is because our nation has a sham democracy. ‘Were we to have genuine democracy,’ my friend Erias Lukwago, MP for …

By Andrew M. Mwenda & Molly Lister Did minister Onek touch a live wire? Sometime early this year, then minister of state for micro finance, Gen. Salim Saleh, went to meet the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Keith Muhakazi. He had a couple of documents with him …

By Andrew M. Mwenda It is difficult to conduct a debate on anything in Africa whose premise is the reality on the ground. Most debate ‘ whether on public policies or political institutions, on democracy or accountability ‘ uses as its reference point, the experience of the Western world. Take …

By Melina Platas In my constituency,” says Gilbert Bukenya, “no one listens to Mengo.” It is late Thursday morning and the Vice President has just strolled in to his third floor Parliament office. Wearing a pale yellow shirt and slacks, he looks relaxed as he eases in to his chair, …

By Joseph Were Since President Museveni announced on July 12 while appearing on WBS television that he would never grant Buganda Kingdom the federal system of government, the sense of the Rubicon being crossed has become pervasive. A headline story in the government-run Sunday Vision newspaper the same day did …

By Joseph Were Museveni has not spoken publicly on it, but a common anecdote tells how in February 1993, President Museveni held an Army Council meeting in Gulu and high on the agenda was the proposal to restore kingdoms in Uganda. These   had been abolished by president Milton Apollo …