By Rosebell Kagumire Govt drafts law to save the President from prosecution Uganda has officially become the second African country after South Africa to block a visit by Sudanese President Gen. Omar al-Bashir. Bashir faces a similar situation in 28 other African countries and more than  90 others worldwide which …

By Andrew M. Mwenda When you are poor, every Tom, Dick and Harry steps over your nose. This was the impression I got when I read the lecture (as opposed to a speech) by US President Barack Obama in Ghana. The uncritical enthusiasm with which some elites in Africa received …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Finally, the dust has settled over the death and burial of Michael Jackson. Throughout his career, Jackson fought two battles; one with himself, the other with general societal norms. The battle within himself was an attempt to discover the childhood denied to him by his father’s …

By Obed K. Katureebe Why does America expect 4,000 AU troops to do what 38,000 UN troops failed to do? Sometime in late February 1995, 2,400 Pakistani and Bangladeshi peacekeepers made the now famous amphibian retreat from the Somali capital, Mogadishu. They were the last of 38,000-strong UN peacekeeping force …

 By Andrew M. Mwenda In the 1997/98 budget, government allocated Shs 200 billion to education; in the 2009/10 budget, Shs 1.1 trillion. Although the budget for education has grown fivefold in twelve years, there is little (save for a spike in student enrolment and new buildings) to show for it. …

By Obed K. Katureebe Amount is half the budget of Local Govt Ministry In early May 2009, President Yoweri Museveni summoned all the district chairpersons and their chief administrative officers (CAO) to a retreat at the Kyankwanzi Institute of Leadership. While the attendance was broadly national, the setting was clearly …

By Andrew M. Mwenda For three weeks now, Western media have covered the elections and resultant demonstration in Iran with unparalleled zeal. But the reporting has been a one sided affair without even the slightest attempt to show balance. The partisan way they have covered the opposition to the complete …

By Patrick Kagenda Lead oil exploration firm, Tullow Oil Plc says it has nothing to hide.  But the government continues to hide the Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) it has signed with Tullow and others. Why? Research shows that the more resources a country has, the fewer chances it has to …

By Patrick Kagenda The Independent’s Patrick Kagenda talked to Brian Glover, Tullow Oil’s Business Unit Manager for Uganda and East Africa. When is the Early Production Scheme (EPS) likely to begin? We are finalising details to put together an early power project in the Kaiso-Tonya area. Hopefully we shall have …

By Obed K. Katureebe & John Njoroge  Uganda on the brink of ethnic explosion Two weeks ago on June 16, a group of at least 200 Bunyoro politicians, political heads and elders met President Yoweri Museveni at State House Entebbe. High on agenda was the ethnic dispute between Banyoro and …