Tag Archives: Andrew “Pi” Besi

  New ministers, old questions, and Uganda’s unfinished state-building project. COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI |   It is to the late John Nagenda (RIP) that I owe my introduction to Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, an intriguing literary figure of 19th-century France. From his modest but enduring body of work emerged one …

COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | Reader, on May 12th at the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds, President Yoweri Museveni will take his seventh oath of office. As I have previously noted, under his reign, Uganda’s economy has expanded, and, indeed, today Uganda is wealthier than at any time in its 64 years …

  COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI |  Thursday, April 7th, 1994, remains one of the most vivid days of my time at Ntare School. Not because we fully understood what was unfolding, but because we sensed, almost instinctively, that something had shifted. The mood among some of our Banyarwanda classmates and …

COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | For many years, citizens of our ancient continent and beyond have grappled with the question of national growth, or, as Adam Smith framed it, the “wealth of nations”. It was Smith who, exactly 250 years ago this March, offered the first systematic account of this …

  COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | On Sunday, March 1st, the second edition of Jazz with Jajja, organised by Natasha Karugire, took place at President Yoweri Museveni’s sprawling ranch in Kisozi, Gomba District. I am among many Ugandans encouraged by the emergence of this conversation series, the embarrassment of Kasuku’s begging …

    COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI |  War, we know, is rarely the product of a single cause. More often, it is born of a convergence of political, economic, social, and ideological pressures. At its core, every war is an expression of what scholars call geopolitical contestation. It is a …

  COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | In western Uganda lies Kasese — home to the country’s highest peak, Margherita Peak, the crowning summit of Mount Stanley within the majestic Rwenzori Mountains. That our highest point bears the name of an Italian queen is perhaps history’s subtle reminder that even geography …

COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | Lately, I have been reflecting on the Roman Empire and its establishment some 27 or so years before the birth of Christ the Messiah. One of its most enduring political thinkers was Marcus Tullius Cicero. When, like many, I read on social media of Ms. …

  COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | Today, 6 February, Ugandans once again gather in homes, villages, and public spaces to commemorate Tarehe Sita. This year’s main celebrations are taking place in Kabale, the old main town of what was once Kigyezi District. It was on this day in 1981 that …

In the spirit of 1964, Africa must turn indignation into agency and sovereignty into strategy COMMENT | ANDREW PI BESI | I returned from my annual pilgrimage to Rujumbura, undertaken in observance of Christmas, only to be confronted by reports that the United States had, under cover of night, undertaken military …