Guest column

State Messaging, Personal Power, and the Collapse of Coordination COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | Last May, following a meeting with President Museveni, the State Minister for Communication and National Guidance, Owek. Joyce Ssebugwawo, inaugurated a body with the rather grand title National Strategic Communications Committee (NSCC). Its stated purpose was …

  COMMENT | ALI SSEKATAWA |  They say “the sun that rises slowly lasts till evening,” and 2026 is shaping up to be such a year for Uganda — one unfolding with steady confidence and carrying the weight of significant national promise. January is quietly taking its bow, February waits in the …

  COMMENT | TIMOTHY MUGENYI |  I am reminded of an interaction I had in the rural setting of Nakivale refugee camp. We stopped by a Rolex stand and spoke with some young gentlemen who were deeply engrossed in a video whilst sharing a smartphone. When we asked if they …

    COMMENT | IVAN SSERUNJOGI | In the just-concluded year, several reports indicated that Namutumba District faced a high teacher absenteeism rate, and the sector was allegedly rife with the recruitment of “incompetent teachers”. Such reports alarm the public, suggesting a collapse in teacher accountability as the academic year 2026 is set …

“Wrong must not win by technicalities” — Aeschylus COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | I am often asked why I return, almost instinctively, to history when reflecting on the failures and possibilities of Africa’s contemporary political order. Why, some wonder, do I insist on excavating the past when addressing the present? …

Globally, citizens often display their national flags at homes, offices, and public spaces as expressions of pride. Uganda is no exception COMMENT | JULIUS BUSINGE |  As Uganda journeys toward the January 15 general elections, the national flag has once again taken centre stage in public debate—raising questions not only …

  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” …

  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 …

  COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | On the occasion of Congo’s independence in June 1960, King Baudouin addressed the people of the Congo, declaring, in a condescending tone, “The independence of Congo is the end result of the work started with the exceptional personality of King Leopold II, which he …

When Loyalty Becomes a Lie: The Hidden Machinery of Political Manipulation Around President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni! COMMENT | ALEX ATWEMEREIREHO | There is a grave and unsettling tragedy quietly metastasizing within the bloodstream of Ugandan politics, one that threatens not only the legacy of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni but also the …