BLOGS

COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | In 2021, acclaimed Filipino journalist Maria Ressa won the Nobel Peace Prize (alongside Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov) in unprecedented recognition of the role of journalism in today’s world. Underscoring the award, the Nobel Committee stated, “Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of …

COMMENT | OFWONO OPONDO |  The National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has just suffered a heavy defeat in the Kawempe Division North parliamentary byelection held last week to replace Muhammad Ssegirinya. Through many of our own missteps, Ssegirinya made a great name for himself, and now, even in death, he …

Why the president and his handlers are misguided on their party’s electoral prospects in Kampala THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |  I have been asking myself why someone in UPDF unleashed the violent crackdown on journalists and the people of Kawempe during recent byelection in that area. I talked to the …

OPINION | Dr QU Dongyu | Our forests play a vital role in feeding the world. From wild foods to fresh water, from shelter to energy, forests sustain billions of people and biodiversity. Yet we continue to lose them at an alarming rate through deforestation and land degradation. Between 2015 and …

COMMENT | Gertrude Kamya Othieno | Dear Ugandan Policymakers, CEOs, Managers, and all those wielding power, Judge Lydia Mugambe’s conviction in the UK should be more than a headline. It should be a wake-up call. She, a judge of international standing, connived with Uganda’s former deputy high commissioner in London …

OPINION | Miranda Bageine Musoke | Financial inclusion is more than just a buzzword; it’s a powerful tool for economic empowerment and societal transformation. Across the globe, access to financial services has proven to be a critical enabler of poverty reduction, sustainable development, and economic growth. For many emerging economies like …

COMMENT | PATRICK OYULU |  In Uganda, when someone wakes up with swollen legs or mysterious pain, explanations abound. In Buganda, they’d say, “Yalinye Etalo,” meaning they stepped on something supernatural. Among the Alur, it’s “Enyonu Tho,” an ominous declaration that someone has “stepped on an illness.” But in urban …

THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |  Vladmir Zelensky, the comedian-turned-president of Ukraine, had been puffed up (the Batoro call it “kuteera ekitigi”) by European leaders and the Biden regime (pun intended) into thinking he was a man of boundless importance. To use Akena Adoko’s words, of the hundreds of human bubbles …

COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama |  The signs are ominous – the growing militarism is steadily revealing itself as the masked bandit it always has been. In May 2024, the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC) at Makerere University released a gem of a report, ‘GUNS, BREAD AND BUTTER: Militarization of Economic …

COMMENT |  Desmond Lachman |  At the first cabinet meeting of his second term, US President Donald Trump declared his intention to impose a sweeping 25% tariff on all imports from the European Union. But before opening a European front in his trade war, Trump might want to consider the continent’s …