Lessons from ordinary people on Kampala streets regarding the effect of good example on effective leadership THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | A couple of years back, advocate David Mpanga wrote a powerful article on “whataboutism.” He was criticising people in Africa that respond to Western intrusions into …

  How our country has imposes draconian COVID-19 restrictions in spite of glaring evidence that they are not necessary THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Very smart people can make humongous mistakes and stick to them for very long with little effort to change course in spite of …

  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 …

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 …

  How Dubai, a city state ruled by an absolute monarch, challenges Western notions of rationalism and individual autonomy THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | I spent the whole of this week in Dubai, the second richest emirate of the United Arab Emirates. It is a city-state that …

Why Uganda and other African countries have consistently taken extreme and inappropriate Covid interventions THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | This week, President Yoweri Museveni addressed the nation on Covid-19. With infection and death rates down, the President did little to open up the country. Most especially; he left …

  Why Ugandan pundits are mistaken in their understanding of why some foreign firms have quit our market THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | A couple of multinational firms have pulled out of Uganda in the last one decade. Oil giant Shell sold itself to Vivo, Barclays Bank …

How Kampala’s cold war with Kigali harms Uganda’s national interest and what can be done about it THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Last week, Uganda’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) arrested the Vice Chancellor of Victoria University, Lawrence Muganda, apparently on charges of espionage. Muganga is not …

The life and work of the former Deputy Inspector General of Police who made a lasting contribution to Uganda THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | On the morning of Saturday August 21, I was driving to Fort Portal but got a puncture 20km before Mityana. While trying to …

Why poorly armed Taliban triumphed over the US military after two decades of war THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | The rapid collapse of the Afghanistan government before a rag tag army of (apparently) “poorly trained, poorly armed, poorly resourced and poorly commanded Taliban” (or so the lords …