Andrew Mwenda

Why government of Uganda, the AU and Western powers need to rethink their involvement in Somalia THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | On May 26, 2023, Al Shabab attacked a UPDF base in Somalia with devastating effects. UPDF said 54 soldiers were killed while Al Shaba claimed to have killed 137. …

Lessons from the US war in Afghanistan for Uganda’s mission in Somalia and Israel’s in Gaza THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | While thinking about Uganda’s involvement in Somalia sometime last year, I read Craig Whitlock’s book, The Afghanistan Papers, The Secret History of the War. Just after I had finished …

The inspiring story of a young man whose life was saved because different components of our country functioned. THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Maurice Mark Kiyemba is a 24 years-old Ugandan. Throughout his growth experience, he was falling sick regularly with strange fevers, headaches and general body weakness. He went …

How the president has lost connection with young people in Uganda and why nothing can be done about it THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Cederic Babu Ndilima is a son of Francis Babu. Both are NRM and President Yoweri Museveni diehards. Babu Sr was an NRM MP and also a …

The Hitlerization of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Nazification of his Likud-led coalition government THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |  After years of frustration, I am finally proud of South Africa. It has restored my faith in the goodness of “man.” It has acquired a soft spot in my heart by doing …

Why a two-state solution is anachronistic and a one state solution the most viable solution THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I argued in this column last week, that arbitrary violence by Hamas has always played right into the hands of hawks in Israel. Today, the forces for peace inside Israel …

How America’s decision to remove Uganda from AGOA over the AHA hurts homosexuals more than homophobes  THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Two months ago, President Joe Biden removed Uganda from the preferential trading arrangement with the USA, the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). I suspect the main reason was …

Why the president and chief justice are making a mistake of trying to resolve commercial disputes using ethnic lenses  THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The Chief Justice, Owiny Dollo, was quoted in Daily Monitor raising alarm bells on the problem of “land grabbing” in Acholi region. “I told him,” Dollo …

Uganda’s lost opportunities at next year’s big international conferences and what can be done to salvage the situation THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | January next year, Uganda will host two big international conferences back-to-back: the Nonaligned Movement (NAM) summit and the Group of 77 (G77) summit. This is an important …

A visit to Russia and witnessing the lost opportunities for cooperation with the West THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | This week, I landed in St. Petersburg, my first time to visit Russia, to attend a BRICS conference. There were very few people at the airport, so I went through immigration …