COLUMNISTS

  By Prashant Thakker With forward-looking regulation and technology, MFIs can provide more access to financial services Microfinance is, at its heart, an effort to provide financial services to people who are not served – or are under-served – by the formal banking system. With appropriate, accessible, and fairly priced …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Uganda needs social reform built around collectivities and not another constitution per se The year 2014 is going to be the year that sets the tone for the 2016 elections. The politician with an argument for the future of Uganda is Beti Kamya. She has been …

By Morris DC Komakech Shows how the NRM’s centrist politics undermines the foundation of national sanity The tension rising now in Kampala over the Justice Catherine Bamugemeriere’s report was expected. The KCCA/Tumwebaze Tribunal manufactured prima facie “facts” of misconduct, abuse of office and incompetence upon which the Kampala City Council …

By Werner Bergholz Technology advances have reduced the price of  simple, universal, scalable photovoltaics by as much as 75% An estimated 1.2 billion people worldwide, including 550 million in Africa and 400 million in India, have no access to electricity. Most live in rural areas where the population is sparse …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why the opposition leader cannot dare seek a compromise with Museveni because he would be accused of selling out Now that we have finished mourning and burying Nelson Mandela, we can celebrate his life by asking ourselves: can opposition leader Kizza Besigye act like him? If …

By William Lacy Swing For several years I have been saying that migration can be summed up by a series of D words: Demographics, Disasters, Demand, Disparities and Dreams. This year I am adding a new D: Desperation. The world watched in horror in October when some 360 African migrants …

By Martin Kimani ICC backers shouldn’t ignore steps Kenyans have taken to deal with the violations of human rights that happened In the years before South Africa became a beacon of democratic progress, it was the site of some of the world’s most notorious human rights violations. In addition to …

By Joseph E. Stiglitz The euro was supposed to bring growth, prosperity; instead, it has brought stagnation, instability, and divisiveness It has been three years since the outbreak of the euro crisis, and only an inveterate optimist would say that the worst is definitely over. Some, noting that the eurozone’s …

By Andrew M. Mwenda It’s possible to risk one’s political career and compromise without being compromised The younger Mandela was a militant who believed that apartheid could only be defeated through armed struggle. As he grew older, Mandela re- alised that this would be a long and costly route. He …

By Andrew M. Mwenda An inside account of the war between Museveni and Mbabazi In 2012, President Yoweri Museveni wrote an unusual letter to the Governor of the Bank of Uganda, Emmanuel Tumusime-Mutebile. The President, sources say, told the governor that he had received persistent reports that Amos Nzeyi, the …