By Andrew M. Mwenda Why obsession with presidential term limits in Africa is a secular gospel based on faith than historic facts US President Barack Obama excited a section of Africa’s elite when he denounced African leaders who rule for very long, some even dying in office. This seems common …
Read More »Obama in Kenya
By Andrew M. Mwenda Although Obama behaved better in Nairobi compared to Accra, here is why I still have a bone to pick with him So finally, U.S. President Barak Obama visited his ancestral homeland of Kenya to a rousing welcome. This was understandable because for most of recorded history …
Read More »Against the democracy priesthood
By Andrew M. Mwenda Why Rwanda should follow the judgment or misjudgment of its citizens rather than the dictates of theory In mid-July, the World Economic Forum (WEF) published its Global Competitiveness Report where it listed Rwanda as having the 7th most efficiently ran government in the world. It was …
Read More »Shattering utopias of African elites
By Andrew M. Mwenda How political debate is divorced from our revenue and skills reality on state delivery of public goods and services When I was in boarding secondary school in the late 1980s and early 1990s, we used to eat maize porridge every morning for breakfast, posho and boiled …
Read More »Heresy about DR Congo’s Mobutu
By Andrew M. Mwenda Why there was never a South Korean but a Congolese miracle Let us present an alternative history of the world. The year is 1960 and we have two countries – Mexico and France – each with a per capita income of $100. Both countries have emerged …
Read More »The trouble with Mbabazi’s candidacy
By Andrew M. Mwenda In challenging Museveni, Mbabazi may have made his boldest political move ever but equally the most fatal one On Monday Amama Mbabazi declared his intentions to challenge President Yoweri Museveni for the leadership of the NRM and the country. The message launching his campaign was the …
Read More »Why Africa should leverage her strength
By Andrew M. Mwenda Our continent needs to focus on its positive attributes and use those to inspire future generations The definitive clash of wills during the Second World War that paved the way for the defeat of Nazi Germany was the battle of Stalingrad. Soviet leader Josef Stalin had …
Read More »African elites and Mzungu worship
By Andrew M. Mwenda Exposing the hidden bias behind our obsession with Western goodness and Africa’s dysfunctions The greatest triumph of the colonial state was not the integration of our economies and social/political systems into the international capitalism system. That could have been achieved without colonialism and via free trade. …
Read More »Rebuilding the FDC brand
By Andrew M. Mwenda What FDC needs to do to reinvent itself and generate morale among its supporters After his defeat in this month’s elections, Ed Miliband did the honourable thing and resigned the leadership of the British Labor Party. Miliband followed an evolving tradition of unsuccessful political party leaders …
Read More »Does government need to buy Bujagali?
By Andrew M. Mwenda The argument sounds attractive, but the numbers and the history of nationalisation say different Recently, media reports indicated that government of Uganda would like to buy Bujagali dam from Bujagali Electricity Limited (BEL). This follows recent trends by the state to own and manage the main …
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