In The Magazine

By Independent Team   Top party chiefs plot his downfall Shs7.5bn for delegates sparks chaos at Namboole conference  The National Resistance Movement (NRM) Secretary General, Amama Mbabazi, has shown that he has the proverbial nine political lives, but it will take more than that for him to shed off the …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati No bribe? Don’t expect service at URA, police, UMEME, Mulago If you plan to seek the services of the Uganda police, prisons service, Mulago Hospital, any court, or UMEME, be warned ‘” you must be ready to bribe. According to the East African Bribery Index, a …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati In the 2010/11 National Budget, Minister of Finance Syda Bbumba announced government plans to start paying Local Council I and II chairpersons. She provided Shs 10.7 billon for their salaries next financial year. This was not a surprise. The Independent had reported it in its July …

By John Njoroge The governments failure to act on high level corruption will have implications, and donors under the Joint Budget Support Framework are currently considering a range of actions. This may include withholding disbursements, reductions in aid or re-programming away from direct budget support. These were the final remarks …

The Independent Team The Independents Mubatsi Asinja Habati spoke to Dismas Nkunda, co-director of the International Refugee Rights Initiatives (IRRI) about the first review conference of the Rome Statute, which establishes the International Criminal Court (ICC). How did ICC choose Uganda? I don’t know. There is a notion that they …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati What did the first-ever Review Conference of the Rome Statute, which founded the International Criminal Court (ICC), in Kampala achieve? Between May 31 and June 11 2010,  delegates from 111 state parties to the 1998 Rome Statute, non-state parties like the United States of America, NGOs, …

By Samuel Olara It is generally accepted that election boycotts have no place in a functioning democracy – participation being at the heart of the democratic process. However, boycotts could have a monumental role to play in a non-functioning democracy where fair competition is practically impossible. The problem lies in …

By Bob Roberts Katende & Isaac Mufumba Kiboko Squad: Opposition prepare to fight back Group compared to Mungiki He moves with a swagger. Wearing dark eyeglasses, he keeps rubbing his clenched right hand fist that reveals heavily scarred knuckles against his left hand palm throughout the interview. Thats Juma Ssemakula …

By Andrew M. Mwenda   Uganda has sustained robust economic growth for the last 23 years, a fact that opponents of President Yoweri Musevei ignore actually to their disadvantage. This growth has produced a private sector and a political and bureaucratic class with money and power. In denying it, the …

By Independent Team   At 3pm on Saturday June 19, the Director General of National Security Services in Rwanda, Dr Emmanuel Ndahiro, was in a meeting with international visitors when he received a text message. According to sources in Kigali, the message was that Belgian intelligence had reported that former …