Opinion

Enlisting Museveni’s help to solve the refugee crisis is like hiring an arsonist to lead a fire brigade  COMMENT |Helen C. Epstein| When United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres traveled to Uganda in June, his stated mission – to raise billions of dollars for the country’s growing refugee crisis – seemed …

  Why attempts to provide too much too fast are the cause of corruption and institutionalised incompetence The Last Word | ANDREW M. MWENDA|  Last week I moderated a World Health Organisation panel on providing universal healthcare in Africa. These ambitions assume that poor countries have the ability to deliver the set …

  THE LAST WORD: How Ugandans get angrier as government does the right thing when it comes to spending money THE LAST WORD |Andrew M. Mwenda| Two contradictory things are happening in Uganda. First, large sections of the public, especially the elite public, are angry, very angry with government. They …

This column is a slightly edited version of a speech I gave at a conference of liberals in South Africa on May 24, 2017 By Andrew Mwenda I want to argue that liberty is taking root in Africa.  Not as fast as we would like. But this should not discourage …

How Zuma has brought South Africa’s democracy and Mandela’s “miracle” from honour to shame! THE LAST WORD | By Andrew M. Mwenda Last week I was in South Africa and listened to the disaster bad leadership can inflict on a country. President Jacob Zuma and his confederates have indulged in …

Asserting that ordinary people cannot form valid opinions on issues of democracy or governance is over-stated By Francis Kibirige The Independent magazine Issue Number 469 of May 12 – 18 carried an article titled `Afrobarometer: Right poll, wrong people.’ This article raised two major issues relating to public opinion polling. …

His contract was renewed because his enemies inside the government underestimate him while the opposition demonise him By Andrew M. Mwenda Parliament last week approved President Yoweri Museveni’s reappointment of Gen. Kale Kayihura as Inspector General of Police (IGP). With 12 years at the helm, Kayihura is now the longest …

  What Uganda’s current and future politicians can learn from the life and character of Mzee Byanyima By Andrew M. Mwenda Although I knew he was old (at 96) and was aware of his declining health I was still shocked when I heard the news of the death of Mzee …

What psychology tells us about FDC’s claims to have won last year’s presidential election By Andrew M. Mwenda This column is a logical thought experiment. Recently, opposition presidential candidate, Dr. Kizza Besigye, claimed on a television show that he won the last presidential elections and that he has evidence to …

How the detention and trial of a Makerere academic exposes the moral bankruptcy of Uganda’s elites By Andrew M. Mwenda Dr. Stella Nyanzi, an academic at Makerere University, has been jailed for using foul language to criticise President Yoweri Museveni and his wife, Janet. It is permissible to call the …