The crowd was in celebratory mood from start to finish, dressed in yellow, some painted in the NRM party colours. “We didn’t have money 30 years ago however we now have 16,000 billion for the next financial budget. I don’t need orders from foreigners on how to rule our country,” …

By Haggai Matsiko Big money deals loom over election The general elections of Feb. 18 must not only be free and fair, they must be seen to be free and fair. That is the higher bar imposed on the  Electoral Commission  by numerous challenges leading into the elections; including procurement …

By Haggai Matsiko People’s donations to Besigye promote political accountability, experts Mbabazi’s election spend falling Kiiza Besigye, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has collected over Shs100 million worth of donations from supporters during this campaign, estimates indicate. On average he has been collecting Shs1.5 million per rally according to …

By Haggai Matsiko Museveni, Mbabazi,Kayihura on the spot Kidnapped, murdered, and disappeared. Until recently, these were words associated with the past murderous regimes of former presidents Idi Amin, Milton Obote, and Okello Lutwa. But the contradictions surrounding the disappearance of Christopher Aine, the 33-year old head of security of independent …

By Flavia Nassaka One year after it rebranded, the force gains notoriety ‘We come in and disperse them: Violations of the right to freedom of assembly by the Ugandan police ’. This is the title of the report launched on Dec. 07 by Amnesty International, a global NGO.  The report …

By Haggai Matsiko Museveni safe if voters punish `confused’ opposition in 2016 A day after The Democratic Alliance (TDA) failed to agree on a single joint presidential candidate, a top Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) official swore that if confidantes of presidential aspirant Amama Mbabazi wanted to fight, the FDC …

By Agather Atuhaire Why experts want both Besigye and Mbabazi to contest Journalist Daniel Kalinaki starts his book titled, Kizza Besigye and Uganda’s Unfinished Revolution with an April 2011 meeting between former FDC President Kizza Besigye and Western donors and diplomats. At the meeting, the author says Besigye was scolded …

By Edgar Tushabe Muhairwe  Details about likely Besigye, Mbabazi, Museveni race in 2016 On November 12, 2013, a journalist from NTV asked the de facto leader of Uganda’s opposition, Kizza Besigye a direct question. “Are we going to see Dr. Kizza Besigye return as the flagbearer of FDC in the …

By Haggai Matsiko Arrest. Expel. Block. The Independent has learnt that those are the three main options several meetings of NRM leaders on the Amama Mbabazi issue have been discussing. The most anticipated of the meetings is the Central Executive Committee (CEC) slated for early July. The desired outcome is …

By Haggai Matsiko Brig. Muhoozi’s role and why UPDF might produce President’s successor President Yoweri Museveni has stirred up dust with his assertion that he cannot leave power for as long as he is still energetic and has control of the army.  Soon after his utterances became the highlight of …