COMMENT | CRISPIN KAHERU | As Uganda marks 64 years of independence, one word lingers in my mind to explain both our progress and our unfinished work. It is organisation. Way before 1962, the development question in the area that became Uganda was, how could people, land and capital combine …
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COMMENT | CRISPIN KAHERU | Whereas some people are defined by the battles they fight or what they do when the guns fall silent, General Caleb Akandwanaho, better known as Salim Saleh, is uniquely understood by both. His place in Uganda’s military history is well established. Yet Saleh has always …
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COMMENT | CRISPIN KAHERU | Anyone who watched Olara Otunnu face the UN General Assembly in this week’s interactive dialogue saw something different in modern diplomacy. He answered hard questions without notes, without hedging, and without losing his composure, meeting probing queries from ambassadors with clarity and, occasionally, his characteristic …
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COMMENT | CRISPIN KAHERU | Africa stands at a defining crossroads: unite or perish. A fragmented continent will remain comparatively poor, insecure and vulnerable. A united Africa has all it takes to be prosperous, stable and influential, transforming the right to development from a legal aspiration into a lived reality.Economically, Africa …
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COMMENT | CRISPIN KAHERU | Before any serious building rises in Uganda, the first thing to go up is the mabaati – corrugated iron sheets that seal off the site. Behind them, foundations are dug, concrete is poured, and steel is welded. There is noise, dust, and confusion. Trucks …
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COMMENT | CRISPIN KAHERU | Somewhere in Kampala today, a signboard reads “For Sale”. Passersby are nodding knowingly. They have worked it out. The name is right there, embedded in the transaction. Sale. Salim “Sale(h)”. It is practically a confession. Somewhere else, another board reads “Not For Sale.” The nodding continues. …
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COMMENT | CRISPIN KAHERU | Come to think of it, the problem is not democracy. The problem is the bureaucracy of democracy. It is the forms, the noise, the elbowing, and the sudden appearance of all manner of candidates who discover public service only when a chair is about to …
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The Politics of God & god in Africa COMMENT | CRISPIN KAHERU | With President Museveni’s swearing-in 12th May 2026 and a new Cabinet expected to follow shortly after, the scramble for ministerial positions has once again turned into an industry. An industry that feeds not only political brokers …
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COMMENT | CRISPIN KAHERU | Sunday, 3rd May 2026, was World Press Freedom Day. I showed up at the UBC grounds in Kampala for a simple reason – to walk, listen, and absorb wisdom. Indeed, we marched about seven kilometres. That was light work. My step counter barely noticed. Then …
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COMMENT | CRISPIN KAHERU | Nation-building is like construction. Different leaders play different roles. Some break ground. Others raise the walls. Others will one day roof. Yet history often praises the finished building. It forgets the hands that dug the foundation. The real story begins long before the finishing mouldings …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
