NEWS ANALYSIS

Why a Rwanda-inspired bill to broaden ban on polythene bags across East Africa might drag on forever Plastic carrier bags could remain in use for the foreseeable future within the East African Community as debate on the East African Community Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2016 drags on in the East …

Paris, France | AFP |  Nearly 47 million French voters go to the polls on Sunday in the first round of the country’s presidential election. – Why is it important? – France is the EU’s second-biggest economy and also one of the world’s biggest military and diplomatic powers. With two …

Paris, France | AFP | The steady drip of jihadist attacks in Europe, including the slaying of a policeman on Paris’s world-famous Champs Elysees Thursday, might give the impression the Islamic State group is thriving — but experts say that’s wrong. Under the pressure of the international coalition in Iraq …

Yumbe, Uganda | AFP | Michael O’Hagan Ugandan motorbike taxi driver Sadiq Agotre grumbles as he waits for a rare client among thousands of South Sudanese refugees hoping to receive food rations in the outskirts of his town. “Business is not good. These people don’t have money,” he says, gazing out …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | British Prime Minister Theresa May’s surprise call for a snap general election comes with the country facing a host of challenges — all closely bound up with the country’s exit from the European Union. Here are some of the major issues May or her …

New approach makes cells resistant to HIV Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found a way to tether HIV-fighting antibodies to immune cells, creating a cell population resistant to the virus. Their experiments under lab conditions show that these resistant cells can quickly replace diseased cells, potentially curing …

European Union joins religious leaders to pile pressure on Museveni Ever since the last general elections to date, a host of organisations and individuals, including two former presidential candidates, have called for a national dialogue over Uganda’s political trajectory. They argue that it is the best way to secure the …

  News coming out the most recent regional meeting in Soroti indicates more bad news for Uganda’s largest opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change. Part of the problem according to experts, is the refusal of the leaders, Dr Kizza Besigye and party President Mugisha Muntu to square with their …

Dormancy of once vibrant parliament watchdog committee shines light on leadership and funding Budadiri County MP Nandala Mafabi has not been on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament since 2011 but the chartered accountant and lawyer remains the most recognisable name to have led it. His adeptness with numbers, …

ANALYSIS: ‘You’re to blame’. District bosses grill government officials, minister The trucks rolled up suddenly, without warning. But soon enough, the district Chief Accounting Officer (CAO), Esau Ekachelau, was informed of their mission: They had brought 800 bags of cassava cutting for distribution to farmers in the district. It was a …