Why the chaos and violence in the ruling party are a signal of its strength and weakness of the opposition The just concluded parliamentary and district primaries of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) were characterised by unprecedented violence, vote rigging and organisational chaos. For many analysts, this is evidence of …

He promised a fundamental change Easily the most quoted statement that Yoweri Museveni has ever made is the one pertaining to the fundamental change he promised at the time he was being sworn in for the first time as Uganda’s president on January 26, 1986. Museveni was emphatic about what …

By Joseph Were How President’s political rivals can give him a serious contest instead of a consecration in 2016 It is a pity the FDC President Mugisha Muntu could attract only a handful of wanainchi to his launch of the party’s Policy Agenda; a 48-page pamphlet in party colours bound …

By Morrison Rwakakamba High water prices and top heavy mechanistic policies are hurting lives in rural communities Over Christmas festivities in Rukungiri district, I conducted a few town hall meetings and village fireplace conversations with real people to discuss issues in their midst. It was sort of an immersion into …

In Sri Lanka, soldiers are fixing roads and bridges, remodelling cities, and selling vegetables President Museveni’s decision to give the controversial National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) to his former bush war veterans who, he claims, are living under abject poverty reminds me of an article I wrote in June last …

By Mwambutsya Ndebesa Christians at the shrines be offered theological guidance Uganda is a superstitious prone country.  There are some Ugandans who must sacrifice an animal and sometimes human beings because they want to be rich.  Ugandans sacrifice in order to get blessings or to cover a new car or …

By Joseph E. Stiglitz Austerity policies have made the downturn far deeper, longer, and with long-lasting consequences Soon after the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, I warned that unless the right policies were adopted, Japanese-style malaise – slow growth and near-stagnant incomes for years to come – could set …

Uganda has moved another step closer to tapping its first oil by signing a memorandum of understanding[MOU] with all the oil companies currently involved in developing the country’s oil resources. The conclusion of the MOU which was signed on Feb.5 by the government and the Chinese National Oil Offshore Company …

The arguments that Rwanda is in Congo to exploit that country’s mineral wealth are misinformed Since the current crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo flared up, most international media coverage has focused on Rwanda’s alleged support for M23, one of over 40 rebel groups fighting Kinshasa. Eastern Congo is …

By Joseph Were Museveni’s schmoozing with Stiglitz bad news for Mutebile When President Yoweri Museveni spoke at this year’s Joseph Memorial lecture in Kampala of the desirability of a “hybrid” economy, he marked a retreat from the current free market regime to his mixed economy days of the 1980s.  Time …