THE LAST WORD

By Andrew M. Mwenda Speakers at the Memorial Lecture at Sheraton spent too much time attacking government than on highlighting his legacy On Oct. 10, I attended the Fourth Milton Obote Memorial Lecture at Sheraton Hotel’s Rwenzori Ballroom. There, I witnessed in silent wonderment the murder of the record of …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The biggest problem with our budget is the growth of political patronage in form of districts, parliament, cabinet, presidential advisors etc In 2006, I joined the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) to do research on the budget for Public Administration and Public Sector Management …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why putting more money into the health sector is like putting more meat in a butchery controlled by hyenas The recent “stand-off” between parliament and President Yoweri Museveni on whether to allocate Shs 39 billion to health or defense is one of the many false debates …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Donors who cut aid to Kigali inadvertently made it discover a new aspect of its potential – citizen solidarity When the governments of United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Germany cut aid to Rwanda three months ago, I was among those who did not shed a …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How commission agents have used the media and turned the procurement process in Uganda into a circus It is now highly probable that the US$ 2 billion tendering process for the 600MW hydro electricity dam at Karuma will be declared a `mis-procurement’. If this happens, I …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How false accusations have undermined the opposition and why Muntu is the best leader to resolve this dilemma As the opposition Forum for Democratic Change searches for a successor to Dr. Kizza Besigye,  its biggest challenge might be how to overcome a couple of myths about …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why UPDF’s superior ideology has succeeded where America’s superior force failed Over the last four years, I have had numerous debates with my friend Mohamed Ahmed Yahya aka Mo, a Briton of Somali descent about UPDF involvement in his motherland. My view is that state consolidation …

By Andrew M. Mwenda This morning, September 7th, 2012, newspapers reported that the PPDA has cancelled the tender to construct a 700MW electricity dam at Karuma. For a country that has been experiencing electricity shortages for the last 25 years, this is a major setback. However, the story of cancelling …

By Andrew M. Mwenda By responding to allegations about its involvement in DRC, Rwanda has allowed its detractors to define the debate Over the last two months, there has been a barrage of attacks against Rwanda accusing it of involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo by supporting rebels hostile …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why the Western powers may keep financing Museveni even when some think he has passed his sale-by date My recent visit to Mogadishu and seeing what our troops have done there made me proud. Yet perhaps the greatest lesson from Somalia was not necessarily the good …