By Onghwens Kisangala In January, Mohammed Kezaala, mayor of Jinja municipality, was arrested and charged by the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Faith Mwondha, with abuse of office and of misappropriating municipal funds. The IGG alleged that 100 iron sheets and 820 bags of cement earmarked for charity organisations were …
Read More »What is a free and fair election?
By Rosebell Kagumire For Justice Benjamin Odoki, that is the central question for activists calling for elector al reforms In 2011, two years from now, Ugandans are scheduled to vote in presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections. Many are resigned to another rigged electoral process. But a few who are …
Read More »When the financial crisis hits
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Has Africa been spared the brunt of the global financial crisis, as many believe? Not if experts from the World Bank are to be believed. Addressing African leaders at the 12th African Union summit in Addis Ababa last week, the bank’s president, Robert Zoellick, said: “We …
Read More »Foreign competition threatens indigenous insurance companies
By Patrick Kagenda After failing to take over the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) in 2005 in the teeth of competition from Nigeria’s Industrial and General Insurance (IGI), the Kenyan firm Apollo Pan African (APA) Insurance has at last made its way on to the Ugandan financial market. APA, which owns …
Read More »Genesis of Kamya-FDC rift
By Patrick Matsiko wa Mucoori Is she power hungry or a victim of bad politics? Former minister of Agriculture in the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) shadow cabinet Beti is described by many who know her as ‘excessively ambitious’ but also shrewd. To them, the current friction between her and …
Read More »Museveni’s many security organs: A ticking time bomb
By Independent Team President Yoweri Museveni built his government on its reputed ability to provide security. For many Ugandans, the knowledge that nobody is going to break into their house in the middle of the night to rob them, or waylay them by the roadside to snatch their little possessions …
Read More »The long way home
By Kalundi Serumaga This is the second and last part of this Outlook as the author comments on technocrats and leaders `who remain silently loud on issues they once propagated. In Africa, capitalism first came in search of free labour giving rise to the transatlantic slave trade. It then developed …
Read More »Why has Kony survived UPDF fire for 22 years?
By P. Matsiko wa Mucoori & Steven Kibuuka The LRA rebellion dates way back to 1987. It has now lasted about 22 years under Joseph Kony. Its quite intriguing how Kony, a semi-illiterate man who hardly went beyond Primary Seven and is not a known military strategist, could sustain a …
Read More »Uganda rail at crossroads as attention shifts to Dar
By Patrick Kagenda US gives Shs 1.8 trillion for rail link from Dar to Kigali Businessmen and women importing and exporting goods into Uganda often complain about high taxes. But they complain more about the high cost of transport. They say transport costs are the single leading cause of high …
Read More »AU exchange rejected
By Independent Reporter AU experts reject Pan-African stock exchange, South Africa goes it alone When the African Union surveyed its members on the viability of a Pan-African stock exchange, it got a wake up call. It sent out 139 questionnaires to 53 state members but only 29 returned them. The …
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