By Gaaki Kigambo Of what relevance is the death of Africa’s longest serving president Gabon’s Omar Bongo to Uganda? It is sure to stoke a running debate about the state of President Yoweri Museveni even as he invests every effort to cling to power, which he has already held for …

By Onghwens Kisangala The opposition in Uganda has been blamed for not making the right preparations for the Presidential and Parliamentary general elections in 2011, resulting in public disillusionment about both the opposition and government. FDC Vice President for eastern Uganda, Salaam Musumba, explained to The Independents Onghwens Kisangala why …

By Magnus Mazimpaka Rwanda increased its spending by 24%, the raise mainly acting as a stimulus package to protect the economy against the current global financial crisis. Expenditure increased to Frw838 billion this financial year 2009/10 from Frw674 billion last year. There was a slight increase of Frw26 billion from …

By John Njoroge & Ogwens Kisangala In 2001 parliament passed the National Honours and Awards Act. This led to the formation of a nine-member Presidential Awards Committee responsible for vetting and approving Ugandans proposed to be crowned heroes. Since 1987, Uganda has had 22 Heroes Day celebrations. It is not …

By Patrick Kagenda As Zain (U) last week launched its Zap Mobile Commerce, a mobile phone based money transfer servicein Uganda in partnership with Standard Chartered Bank, in neighbouring Kenya Safaricom was launchinga similar service, Hello Money in partnership with Barclays Bank (K) Ltd. In Uganda, Standard Chartered Bank becomes …

By Joseph Were Libyan companies pressure Shell, Total This month, the Kenya Petroleum Refinery Ltd in Mombasa is set to close for routine maintenance. As a result, Uganda could suffer disruptions in supply. The Mombasa refinery shutdown also comes at a time of significant developments in the fuel sector. Top …

By Patrick Kagenda The along awaited oil pipeline could be complete by the end of the year if everything goes according to plan. The Independents Patrick Kagenda talked to the State minister for Energy, Simon D`ujanga on the progress made. There are many types of Tamoil i.e. Tamoil Libya, Tamoil …

By Agencies It appears that Heritage Oil Ltd. is the subject of a takeover once again. According to a recent release issued by the company it is in preliminary discussions with a third party regarding a possible merger which would be treated as a reverse takeover under the Listing Rules …

By Ron Atinkson In this second part of our commentary revisiting Operation Lightning Thunder in Garamba, DR Congo, Ronald R. Atkinson tells the untold story of UPDF-LRA clashes, deaths and survival in the jungles. A month after Operation Lightning Thunder began, in mid-January, I began hearing accounts of what was …

By Onghwens Kisangala For the first time in two decades, the Acholi sub-region has experienced about two years of relative peace. With people leaving the camps to resettle in their ancestral homesteads, the challenges of this process is yet another hurdle as John Baptist Odama, the Archbishop of Gulu Archdiocese …