COMMENT | OBED K KATUREEBE | Scholars have defined political opportunism as aiming to increase one’s political influence at any price, or a political style that involves seizing every and any opportunity to extend political influence, whenever such opportunities arise. Typically, opportunist political behavior is criticized for being short-sighted or …
Read More »Forced circumcision of Bamasaaba ‘defaulters’ is Illegal, unnecessary, outdated and unhelpful
COMMENT | ALFRED GERESOM MUSAMALI | I have seen an alarmist letter (attached) allegedly written by one Joram Khamboson Mayatsa, who calls himself Umukuuka IV uwa Inzu ya Masaaba (IYM), mobilising all Bamasaaba of Uganda, Kenya and the Diaspora to participate in and support the upcoming “Circumcision Day” for …
Read More »As families gather this Christmas season, our homes tell a bigger economic story
COMMENT | Simon Peter Tumwebaze Kyoma | This Christmas season, as the air fills with warm laughter, the smell of chicken luwombo, and the promise of a new year, we find ourselves thinking about the true meaning of home. It should be more than the four walls that make it, but, …
Read More »The Afterlife of Empire – Cape to Cairo, Darfur to Kivu
How Old Empires Rebranded Themselves and Learned to Rule Through Chaos COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | On Christmas Day in 1497, Vasco da Gama rounded the southern tip of Africa. He named the land he encountered Natalis—Portuguese for Christmas. Today, it is known as KwaZulu-Natal. Da Gama’s voyage opened …
Read More »Desperate vote hunting and the need to control reckless tongues
COMMENT | OBED K KATUREEBE | In one of our animated discussions in a journalists’ chat group, a colleague, Derrick Wandera of the Daily Monitor, questioned why the National Resistance Movement (NRM), and particularly the security agencies, are placing so much emphasis on what he described as “ghetto political slogans” …
Read More »On Trump’s National Security Strategy
How the US president is breathing fresh air into international affairs that had been poisoned by too much moralism THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | For the first time in my adult life, I have read a United States National Security Strategy that speaks sense. What President …
Read More »The failure of Congo and Africa’s moral reckoning
Why East and Southern Africa Must Choose Justice Over Silence, and Regional Truth Over Convenient Sovereignty COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | On July 4, 1876, American Congressman James A. Garfield declared, “The people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If it is corrupt, it is because the …
Read More »A peaceful election is a duty of every peace-loving Ugandan
COMMENT | OBED K KATUREEBE | Uganda is in the middle of an election cycle, with campaigns steadily ongoing at the presidential, parliamentary, and local council levels. While the general process has largely been orderly and the public continues to enjoy the campaign season, there have unfortunately been reported …
Read More »What you need to know about the BVVK ahead of the Uganda elections
Kampala, Uganda | NANTEZA SARAH KYOBE | In just 34 days, Uganda will hold a general election. As the country approaches the polls scheduled for January 15, 2026, focus will turn to the Biometric Voter Verification Kit that will be used to confirm voters’ identities. The Biometric Voter Verification Kit (BVVK) is …
Read More »Uganda’s energy development under Museveni
COMMENT | NNANDA KIZITO SSERUWAGI | President Yoweri Museveni views investment in energy as one of the fastest ways to transform a society and reduce poverty. Multiple studies back this perspective. One such study by the World Bank and the International Energy Agency (IEA) finds that the single biggest driver of …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price