ARTICLES 2008-2015

By Onghwens Kisangala Prof. Patrick Rubaihayo was MP for Mbarara Central and Minister for Agriculture and Forestry in the 1981 “ 85 Obote government. He currently trains junior lecturers and supervises post-graduate students at Makerere University’s Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. He has been around both as an active player …

By Patrick Kagenda But analysts warn strategy could backfire if inflation spirals Did the Central Bank intervene late last month in the local foreign currency market? According to media reports, unnamed Central Bank officials confirmed it had intervened on March 25 to prop up an already strong dollar against the …

By Patrick Kagenda Will Kenyan, South African giants leave Ugandan kiosks in the mud? As Kenya’s leading supermarket chain, Nakumatt gets ready to open shop in Kampala, it seems set on competition with Kenyan rival Uchumi and South African stores Game and Shoprite. Retail market watchers, however, say the Nakumatt …

By Patrick Kagenda Existing supermarkets sell about 30% Ugandan goods while the 60% is imported from Kenya, Dubai and South Africa. Ugandan commodities include mineral water, sugar, Mukwano laundry soap, Mukwano cooking oil, Britannia juices and other juices from Ugandan cottage industries, Biscuits, Sweets, Nuts, Soft Drinks, Coffees, Honey, Milk, …

By Agnes Asiimwe Wasula runs Afrigo Band as a business How did you end up in entertainment? I was a fan of the Cranes Band, and Moses Matovu who was the band leader, is a first cousin. When the Cranes collapsed Moses, Sam Tamale, Omar Matta, and I pooled resources …

By Patrick Kagenda Crown Beverages Ltd, the manufacturers of soft drinks Pepsi, Mirinda, Evervess and Seven Up are re-shaping the packaging of their products. Simon Lugoloobi, the Chief Executive Officer at Crown Beverages Ltd, told The Independent that the company was injecting US$13 million (Shs 26 billion) to import the …

By Andrew M. Mwenda President Yoweri Museveni claims he appointed his wife as state minister for Karamoja because ‘elites’ were rejecting the job (never mind only one person, Tom Butiime, turned it down). He also justified the appointment of his family members, e.g. his brother, Salim Saleh, to government positions …

By Caroline Kasondondo Your persistence of writing about the first family and those remotely related to them has not only bred sectarianism among Ugandans, but has caused unnecessary antipathy yet in actual sense it is just an illusion. Timothy Kalyegira, in his article ‘The dynamics behind Museveni’s family rule,’justified why …

By Jeffrey Love Five markets have burned in Uganda in the past two weeks. Two dozen schools have been reduced to embers in the past month. Three buildings have recently collapsed in the capital. Hundreds of Ugandans are dead, billions of shillings lost, and a government is thoroughly embarrassed. Theories …

By Independent Team Between April 7, 2008 and March 11, 2009, there have been at least 95 fire incidents in schools all over the country, according to police statistics. In the last three months alone, at least seven schools and six markets have been set on fire with varying degree …