KAMPALA, UGANDA | Gertrude Kamya Othieno | Not long ago, I hailed an Uber in Kampala, expecting nothing more than polite small talk. But what the young driver told me lingered far beyond that ride: “Uganda is not my home; it’s my business place. I wake up, go out to …
Read More »The politicisation of development
COMMENT | Gertrude Kamya Othieno | Politics and development are deeply intertwined in practice, yet they are conceptually distinct and studied separately in most institutions of higher learning. Political science typically examines questions of power, governance, authority, and statecraft, while development studies explore economic growth, poverty reduction, social transformation, and human …
Read More »Lent Reflection: Were there other sons of God? Rethinking miracles, meaning, and memory
COMMENT | Gertrude Kamya Othieno | Lent invites us into a journey of remembrance and revelation—a time to reflect deeply on Christ’s ministry and the divine power he embodied. Jesus healed the blind, raised the dead, calmed the storm, and fed the multitudes. These acts affirmed his divinity and his profound …
Read More »COMMENT: Policies to prevent drink-driving require evidence, not ideology
COMMENT | RODRIGO DE CASAS | A recent report by Vital Strategies urges governments to end all collaboration with the alcohol industry in drink-driving prevention (See story below). While we fully support accountability and scrutiny in public health, recommendations based on ideology – rather than evidence – risk undermining life-saving work. …
Read More »COMMENT: Why UEDCL story about deploying 113 transformers is unbelievable
COMMENT | GUEST COLUMNIST | I watched a news report on TV on April 10, 2025 that left me with more questions than answers. In the report, Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UECDL) Managing Director Paul Mwesigwa (see video below) made several assertions and allegations that deserve a response. He …
Read More »Palm Sunday: Sacred processions and the power of symbol
COMMENT | | Today is Palm Sunday, marking Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Crowds gather, laying down cloaks and palm branches, singing “Hosanna!” It is a moment of joy and symbolism, filled with expectation. Yet it is also full of tension, the very same people who welcome him will, days …
Read More »Sankara and Traoré: Ancestral echoes and the politics of reincarnation
COMMENT | Gertrude Kamya Othieno | In many African cosmologies, time is not a straight line but a sacred circle. Life and death are not opposites but phases of a continuum. The departed do not disappear. They live on as ancestors, guiding the living, and sometimes returning through them. It is …
Read More »The foundation of Trump’s tariffs
How the American president is using the playbook his predecessors have used for far too long THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I am an admirer of President Donald Trump because I find him more realistic about issues and brutally frank in the way he expresses himself. He lacks the hypocrisy and …
Read More »Busy but Broke: The curious case of Uganda’s enterprising women
Ugandan women top global entrepreneurship charts, but without real support, their hustle risks, becoming a lifelong struggle. COMMENT | Gertrude Kamya Othieno | In 2021, the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs ranked Uganda second globally for the proportion of women-owned businesses, at an impressive 38.4%. Only Botswana ranked higher. It’s a …
Read More »A lottery that’s changing lives in Uganda
COMMENT | ERIC MABUZA JNR | When we launched the Uganda National Lottery just a few months ago, we didn’t simply introduce a game. We introduced a promise—a promise of fairness, opportunity, and national progress. And today, I can confidently say: that promise is already coming to life. Every …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price