By Andrew M. Mwenda The obstacles to building an effective opposition and advancing democracy without “regime change” Last week, the NRM and opposition leaders agreed on 43, out of 48 proposed electoral reforms. This is contrary to the doomsday scenarios its hecklers have been presenting that there is no chance …

By Joan Akello Following the expiry of the first five year phased National Trade Sector Development plan last year, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC) is developing a new one. The ministry has hired consultants to engage different stakeholders to input into the next five year NTSDP- 2015/16-2020/21. …

By Julius Businge  The Dutch government through its foreign affairs ministry announced a US$1.2mn (approx. Ush3.4bn) support to 30 Business Process Outsourcing companies of Uganda under the Netherlands Trust Fund III.  While announcing the support in Kampala, the capital city ON Feb. 5, the Netherlands Ambassador to Uganda, Alphons Hennekens …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why poor countries may need a more activist president, one willing to intervene to get them to work Let me do what the Germans call Gedanken (a thought experiment). Political power in most of post-colonial Africa has tended to be personalised. We feel that this is …

By Haggai Matsiko What did the country do wrong? When he arrived in Kampala from Paris in October 2014, the tough talking new Total E&P (Exploration and Production) boss Francois Rafin had one mission on hand; securing a production licence. Where the man he was replacing, Loic Laurandel, had cooed …

By Flavia Nassaka Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have criticized the move by government through the ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health to export highly qualified health workers including psychiatrists, ophthalmologists and neurologists to a Caribbean country, Trinidad and Tobago. While speaking to journalists on Feb.05, Denis Odue, a …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How it has facilitated a politics that has undermined the ability of public institutions to serve the common good To explain the dysfunctions in the public sector in Uganda, we need to understand how political power in our country is organised, how it is exercised and …

By Julius Businge   Rwanda’s home carrier, RwandAir has launched its daily flights to Nairobi from Entebbe; a move that officials said is a fulfillment of their expansion strategy in the region and beyond. Speaking at Entebbe International Airport, on Jan. 29, John Mirenge, the CEO of RwandAir said the …

By Haggai Matsiko Brig. Muhoozi’s role and why UPDF might produce President’s successor President Yoweri Museveni has stirred up dust with his assertion that he cannot leave power for as long as he is still energetic and has control of the army.  Soon after his utterances became the highlight of …

By Andrew M. Mwenda African intellectual elites personalise their analysis even as they accuse African leaders of personalising the state On Jan.1, I went to Nsambya Hospital in Kampala where my cousin was hospitalised. The hospital is owned and run by the Catholic Church. The buildings many of which were …