BLOGS

#OccupyParliament, #RejectFinanceBill are an opportunity for a new mode of emancipatory democracy COMMENT | JOEL MUKISA | If you asked a think-tank team leader or a social sciences professor at Kabarak or Nairobi University if they anticipated the scale and popularity of the protests that rocked East Africa’s economic powerhouse Kenya …

  COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Corruption in Uganda has a thriving soft life despite the endless haranguing by President Yoweri Museveni. Museveni and his audience have lost count of the number of times he has promised to do something about corruption. He has talked about corruption (even walked about it), …

Why Rwanda’s election campaigns are different and what others can learn from it THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |  I am in Rwanda for the presidential election campaigns. The campaigns here are different. There are no billboards everywhere of candidates and posters do not litter city walls and buildings. Rallies are …

What the July 15 presidential elections tell us about how Rwandan citizens view President Kagame THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Yesterday Rwanda celebrated its 30th year since liberation. It has been an incredible journey. In 1994, no one gave this country a chance. The state had been dismembered, the economy …

COMMENT| Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko | For over sixty decades, from the Mali Empire through to the OAU Summit of May 1963 and incrementally to date, African unity has remained but a collective dream. One that has been sustained more by a recognition of its essence rather than a conviction for its …

Why the Kenyan president may have opened the pandora’s box that will grievously impair his government THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Many people have hailed President William Ruto of Kenya for yielding to popular pressure not to sign the controversial Finance Bill. A friend in diplomatic circles in Kampala texted …

COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | The member of parliament (MP) position is so exalted and privileged that elected MPs automatically earn the title of ‘Honourable’ before proving their capacity for honour. Over the past week, Rakai District Woman MP Honorable Juliet Kinyamatama has faced a baptism of fire and brimstone owing …

COMMENT | JULIET BAGGYA NSIYONA | As a parent, one of the greatest challenges to your resolve and financial planning skills is managing school fees payments. While school fees payments may appear to be due only at specific times of the year, managing these periods requires deliberate planning and discipline. …

Why Congolese leaders should be wary of US and UN involvement in their country’s affairs THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | We begin from where we stopped in this column last week. Staff at the U.S. embassy in Kampala deliberately distorted my discussions with them regarding M23 rebels. They claimed I …

COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Years ago, probably after the sun-kissed year of 1986, I heard a story that tickled me. Dear reader, I present to you an embellished version of the story. One Sunday, a preacher stood at the church pulpit, looking back at the expectant congregation. Unbeknownst to the …