Kampala, Uganda | URN | Parliament on Tuesday held a special sitting to pay tribute to the late former Second Deputy Prime Minister, (Rtd.) Gen. Moses Ali, who died on Saturday aged 87. The sitting followed a motion moved by Prime Minister and Leader of Government Business Robinah Nabbanja …
Read More »Gen. Moses Ali, the ‘Lion of Adjumani’s’ final chapter
OBITUARY | URN | For more than five decades, Gen. (Rtd) Moses Ali occupied a rare and complicated place in Uganda’s public life. Soldier, lawyer, rebel commander, cabinet minister and parliamentarian, he moved through vastly different political eras while surviving war, exile, assassination attempts, political upheaval and repeated rumours about …
Read More »Police make arrests in bizarre case of murdered coffee farmer Obote, buried body parts in Rwanda
Rukiga, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Two men accused of killing a coffee farmer in Rukiga District and smuggling parts of his dismembered body into Rwanda have been charged with murder and remanded to prison. The deceased, identified as Milton Bagambira alias Obote, aged 62, was a resident of Nyakisa …
Read More »BOOK REVIEW: UPC’s Bossa gives new perspective into 1966 crisis
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | It is improbable to list events that form a significant part of Uganda’s history and miss the 1966 attack on the palace of Kabaka Fredrick Mutesa II by the army under the command of then Col. Idi Amin Dada. Diverse accounts have been written in …
Read More »Masette Kuuya was Obote’s ‘Bituli Mia’, wanted Mandela Stadium in Nabumali
OBITUARY | Alfred Geresom Musamali | Hon Patrick Masette Kuuya, son of Abner Walyawula of Sibanga in the current Manafwa district, was the “Bituli Mia” of Dr Apollo Milton Obote’s Second Government (1980 to 1985). “Bituli” in some Ugandan languages means gaps, holes, shapes or openings while “mia” is Kiswahili for a …
Read More »Dr. Ssemogerere’s death marks end of an era
OBITUARY | Michael Wambia – URN | Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere aka Ssemo has been described as an “emperor” of Uganda’s democracy and his passing away is the end of an era. Dr. Paul Ssemogerere has been a thread and needle that attempted to bring different opposition groups to unite for …
Read More »Stories from past African leaders
How prejudice has blinded us from seeing the reality of the politics right in front of our eyes THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Recently, a friend sent me a video of former Ghanian president, Jerry Rawlings, telling his experience as a former president to an Italian journalist. …
Read More »What is Africa’s problem?
Revisiting Museveni’s ideas about Uganda and our wider continent after his 35 years (and counting) in power THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | And so it was that recently, while perusing my library, I decided to reread President Yoweri Museveni’s book, What is Africa’s Problem. It is …
Read More »Inside Besigye’s pipedream
Why Besigye’s struggles are not about democratising Uganda but about making Besigye president THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Opposition leader and activist, Dr Kizza Besigye, has launched a new pressure group, the People’s Front for Transition (PFT). Besigye said the strategic objective of the pressure group is …
Read More »Obote speech on eve of Uganda’s Independence 1962
Prime Minister Obote speech on eve of Uganda’s Independence in 1962 “Countrymen and friends, At midnight tonight Uganda shall become Independent. We shall have a Uganda flag, a National Anthem and Coat of Arms. These will be symbols, but independence does not begin and end with the selection and raising …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price