By Joe Powell The term of Prof. Livingstone Luboobi, Makerere Universitys Vice-Chancellor, has come to an end. The Independents Joe Powell spoke to the leading reformist candidate to take over the top job, the Dean of the Faculty of Computing and Information Technology (CIT), Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba. Excerpts below. How …
Read More »Hands-on minister gets shock in clinic
By John Njoroge & Molly Lister Health State minister Kakooza’s fact-finding mission reveals why drugs seem to be missing in hospitals Sitting in a health centre in western Uganda in a T-shirt, jeans and open-toed shoes, State Minister of Health James Kakooza witnessed a nurse send a patient to a …
Read More »EA report exposes Uganda’s most corrupt institutions
By Joe Powell Corruption continues to be endemic in Uganda with bribes either solicited or expected in a startling 35% of service interactions. The first ever East African Bribery index found that Uganda has the dubious honour of having the highest impact bribery in the region. This is measured by …
Read More »New TV brings a smile to GTV subscribers
By Patrick Kagenda The first ever Chinese run Television station is set to open shop in Uganda in the next one month. Star TV, which is to operate pay TV services, is to begin testing its signal soon. ‘We have already given them license and we should expect them …
Read More »EU risks, hands Shs 87bn to govt Treasury
By Patrick Kagenda When the European Union last week donated 30 million Euros (Shs 87billion) to the Uganda government, its emphasis was less on the purpose and more on the risk it was taking. The money is part of the 175 million Euro (Shs511billion) to be disbursed in six phases, …
Read More »Is Africa prepared for broadband?
By Molly Lister Mobile growth has shaped the past ten years, but broadband will shape the next ten years. An ITU Human Capacity Development Forum for Africa held in Kampala on July 8-10, 2009 addressed Africa’s readiness for broadband. Clive Shepherd, an expert in human resource development, says the ICT …
Read More »Jackson triumphed over media
By Andrew M. Mwenda Finally, the dust has settled over the death and burial of Michael Jackson. Throughout his career, Jackson fought two battles; one with himself, the other with general societal norms. The battle within himself was an attempt to discover the childhood denied to him by his father’s …
Read More »To keep or end 1.5 free points for varsity girls?
By Asio Rafealla & Mubatsi A. Habati Makerere grapples with contradiction of more girls joining university but more boys graduate at end of course In 1990, government introduced affirmative action of 1.5 extra points for all female students joining public universities. Since then the number of female students in public …
Read More »Eritrea’s entry changes face of Somalia conflict
By Obed K. Katureebe Why does America expect 4,000 AU troops to do what 38,000 UN troops failed to do? Sometime in late February 1995, 2,400 Pakistani and Bangladeshi peacekeepers made the now famous amphibian retreat from the Somali capital, Mogadishu. They were the last of 38,000-strong UN peacekeeping force …
Read More »Zain going, going ‘gone again?
By Patrick Kagenda After spending over one month making headlines in the African media, the impending sale of Zain Africa operations to Vivendi the French entertainment group appears to have been concluded. Business daily Africa of Kenya Saturday 4 July said Zain has been sold. “Europe’s largest entertainment group Vivendi, …
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