By Patrick Kagenda Chris Okumu Opoka is a Uganda member of the East African Legislative Assembly from the opposition UPC party. Before going to EALA he was Secretary General of UPC during the Maama Miria Obote presidency. He spoke to The Independent’s Patrick Kagenda. You have never attended a UPC …

By Haggai Matsiko Who is winning on social media? No Ugandan presidential candidate has created as much activity on social media as former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi who in a June 15 YouTube video announced his intention to stand against the incumbent, President Yoweri Museveni in the 2016 elections. His …

By Joan Akello In 1999, Barbra Ofwono Buyondo, a trained secondary school teacher, got a dream to start a kindergarten. Using the little personal savings and contributions from her family, she put together about Shs 1 million to start a kindergarten that she christened Victorious Education Services at Old Kampala. …

By President Yoweri Museveni Some irresponsible people have, apparently, been using social media to spread falsehoods About two or so weeks ago, I made a voice recorded message that I caused to be transmitted to the listeners over the social media network known as WhatsApp that some irresponsible people have, …

By Ivan Rugambwa In light of former Prime Minister and former NRM Secretary General Amama Mbabazi’s announcement that he would be seeking the  party’s flag to run for President, the Current NRM Secretray General, Justine Kasule Lumumba spoke to The Independent’s Ivan Rugambwa. Today Mbabazi, the man who you replaced …

By Haggai Matsiko Can Besigye, Bukenya, Mbabazi, Muntu work together? The morning after about 98 percent of the top contenders against President Museveni launched a coalition dubbed The Democratic Alliance (TDA) on June 10, there was a lot of excitement among hundreds of supporters gathered at Hotel Africana in Kampala. …

By Edgar Tushabe Muhairwe Surge of activists at FDC Delegates’ Conference worries moderates Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party president, retired Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu, knows how to say the right things at the right time. This skill was on test on June 12 in Kampala when the FDC …

By Gerald Padde Auku Citizens, government must appreciate the fact that fighting corruption is a collective responsibility Uganda is one of the countries with a very good institutional framework in place to fight corruption. However, in the 2014 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Uganda was ranked 142 out of 174 countries …

By Keith Muhakanizi The New Budget: What is in there for you? The new budget, like has been the case before, is focussing largely on infrastructure development and improving service delivery. A major accomplishment during this fiscal year 2014/15 was Parliament’s adoption of the Public Financial Management Act (PMFA) of …

By Flavia Nassaka Experts call for urgent interventions to deal with suicide as a public health issue The death of an American  Oscar winning actor and  comedian Robin Williams through committing suicide in August  last year got the world wondering about how a person with such a sense of humor …