How a journey from a small town in northern Uganda to our capital city feels like from the first world to the third world THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Anaka is a small town on the road between Gulu and Nwoya, just before you enter the highway to Arua. Why …

Why we need to rethink the ethics of our inherited state institutions and the democratic politics that underpin them. THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The revelations of massive abuse of public resources by our legislators led by the speaker, Anita Among, continues to animate public debate on social and traditional …

How Ugandan commentators are missing the story behind speaker Among’s loot of public funds THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The hashtag parliamentary exhibition has caused a storm on social media. The speaker of our parliament, Hon. Anita Among, and her apparatchik have been caught with their fingers deep inside the …

Why the deployment of international forces without addressing internal problems will achieve nothing. THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | There is “fresh” fighting in the eastern Democratic DRC between government forces and the predominantly Tutsi rebel group, M23. I put fresh in inverted comas because DRC has been at war almost …

What Tel Aviv’s massive bombing of Gaza tells us about that country’s actual intentions for Palestine THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Nothing has recently occupied my mind more than Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza: the merciless violence of it, the brutality with which it bombs that tiny space of land, …

Why Uganda should stop deluding itself that it is in Somalia to protect the people of that country THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |  Last week in this column, I argued that Uganda’s mission in Somalia is like America’s mission in Afghanistan. This lesson was hammered into my head reading a …

Why government of Uganda, the AU and Western powers need to rethink their involvement in Somalia THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | On May 26, 2023, Al Shabab attacked a UPDF base in Somalia with devastating effects. UPDF said 54 soldiers were killed while Al Shaba claimed to have killed 137. …

Lessons from the US war in Afghanistan for Uganda’s mission in Somalia and Israel’s in Gaza THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | While thinking about Uganda’s involvement in Somalia sometime last year, I read Craig Whitlock’s book, The Afghanistan Papers, The Secret History of the War. Just after I had finished …

The inspiring story of a young man whose life was saved because different components of our country functioned. THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Maurice Mark Kiyemba is a 24 years-old Ugandan. Throughout his growth experience, he was falling sick regularly with strange fevers, headaches and general body weakness. He went …

How the president has lost connection with young people in Uganda and why nothing can be done about it THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Cederic Babu Ndilima is a son of Francis Babu. Both are NRM and President Yoweri Museveni diehards. Babu Sr was an NRM MP and also a …