By Odoobo C. Bichachi For three straight days, riot police and the military battled rampaging demonstrators in Kampala and several parts of Buganda who were protesting the government’s decision to block Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi (king) from touring Kayunga district, where he was due to preside over Buganda Youth Day …
Read More »NSSF: Govt, stop babysitting us
By Andrew M. Mwenda Almost every two years we are treated to the spectacle of all the ills at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). An inquiry into the Fund has always exposed rot leading to the board and top management getting fired, ministers responsible being reshuffled, sometimes the managing …
Read More »Kiboko Squad revealed
By Independent Team Members revealed Command structure Tactical base at CPS Sticks kept in UTODA, KCC outlets At first it was the Black Mamba. Then came the Kiboko Squad. When these two squads first unveiled themselves in 2005 and 2007 respectively, it was a puzzling experience. They emerged from total …
Read More »Give Darfur war a chance
By Andrew M. Mwenda I have increasingly grown sceptical of international humanitarian intervention. Although largely driven by moral reasons, it has often inflicted more harm than good on its intended beneficiaries. It is with this view that I went for a public lecture by Prof. Mahmood Mamdani at Makerere University …
Read More »2011 polls: Is EC playing foul on voter register?
By Andrew M. Mwenda On June 25, fifteen companies submitted bids for a contract with the Electoral Commission (EC) to update the Voter Register. According to the bid documents, each bidder was supposed to submit three envelops: a technical proposal, a financial proposal and a third envelop was supposed to …
Read More »Why Uganda has no citizens
By Andrew M. Mwenda Last week, I was in Stanbic Bank to pay tuition fees for my niece, Cynthia. My sister Florence died when Cynthia was only seven. Now she is 19, pretty, vibrant, ambitious, intelligent and ready to take on the world and change it. Although she qualified for …
Read More »Rich Baganda, poor Acholi
By Joseph Were New report reveals economic imbalance among Uganda’s tribes From a distance it looks like a giant quilt of different shades between brown and black spread on the side of the gradually slopping hill. Getting nearer, however, reveals tinny brown unbaked brick buildings, squashed next to each other …
Read More »Colonialism reclaiming Africa?
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 …
Read More »Gambling on Otunnu
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 …
Read More »A tale of two presidents, two nations and two revolutions
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 …
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