By Agather Atuhaire Allegations of forged accounts and government meddling leave their once-vibrant union on the brink of closure Coffee prices are at an all time high but farmers of the Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) in eastern Uganda have never seen darker days as a mixture of local and national …
Read More »Ugandan top ministers took bribes from Tullow oil – parliament told
Uganda’s Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi and two other ministers were on Oct.10 have allegedly benefited from bribes from oil companies, parliament heard yesterday at a critical debate about the country’s nascent oil sector. A jam parked parliament that had been recalled from recess heard that Mbabazi, Sam Kuteesa, the …
Read More »Passed budget failed on priorities
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Parliament approved a Shs 10.3 trillion budget, up from the Shs 9.8 trillion minister of finance announced in June. The revised budget has been criticised as unbalanced. The Independent’s Mubatsi Asinja Habati spoke to Felix Okot Ogong, a legislator who sits on Parliament’s Committee on Budget. …
Read More »Kenya to blame over terror suspect trials
By Haggai Matsiko Ladislus Rwakafuzi, a senior Human rights Lawyer in Kampala, spoke to The independent’s Haggai Matsiko about the trial Kenyan suspects of the July 11 bomb attacks, including Kenyan lawyer, Al’Amin Kimathi. Some people say that governments use the war on terror as a pretext to crush dissenting …
Read More »Courting trouble
By Haggai Matsiko Lawyers, public bicker over whether terrorist bombing convicts should have got only 25 and five years in jail for killing 80 people The 25 and five year jail sentences awarded to the self-confessed terrorists involved in the July 11, 2010 twin-bombings in Kampala have sparked heated debate …
Read More »Born lucky
By Rukiya Makuma Birth and death records go digital At 12 noon on Sept.14, Joseph Mutebi, was all wrapped up in shawls and cuddled up in his mother’s tender embrace. He was just one day old and, with baby eyes still tightly closed, was totally oblivious of the excitement he …
Read More »Cut down on teargas, pay teachers more
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Government Primary schools opened for third session without teachers in classrooms and Makerere University remains closed. Teachers and lecturers are demanding pay rises which the government has rejected. The Independent’s Mubatsi Asinja Habati spoke to renowned educationist Prof. William Senteza Kajubi about this and more. When …
Read More »Ladies First, Women Last
By Ian Buruma The two things that get people most excited in cultural conflicts are religion and sex Many people still believe that the attacks of September 11, 2001, were not just acts of political terrorism, but part of a cultural war, a clash of civilizations. The two things that …
Read More »The gravedigger Paradox
How Museveni’s success is creating conditions for his fall On March 16, 1989, six thousand workers on the Seoul subway system in South Korea’s capital went on strike, paralysing the city’s transport system and turning the morning’s rush war into chaos. About 3,000 workers occupied the roundhouse from which the …
Read More »Should the government continue hiding oil PSAs?
162 Members of Parliament want the highly guarded Production Sharing Agreements exposed Uganda’s parliament has been on fire for more than a week now with a group of parliamentarians, both opposition and ruling party (NRM) working around the clock to have the contents of the agreements reached by the government …
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