A new Mulago arises: The challenge the new hospital will face and what can be done to protect it from Uganda’s politics THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Last week, I visited the new specialised maternal and neonatal center being constructed at Mulago Hospital. With a built up …
Read More »THE LAST WORD: The Kenya, Rwanda elections
KENYA, RWANDA: How voting in these two East African nations reflects our understanding of democracy THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | East Africa has recently witnessed two presidential elections – in Rwanda and in Kenya. The two nations are different. Rwanda is a small country with one …
Read More »Defying the odds, defining oneself
How Africans have been mentally enslaved to hate everything about themselves and how Rwanda is defying it THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |“In these bloody days and frightful nights when the urban warrior can find no face more despicable than his own, no ammunition more deadly than self hate …
Read More »Why Kagame won 99%
Why Kagame won 99% | How Rwandans reacted to the west’s war against the symbol of their nation’s success Kigali, Rwanda | ANALYSIS | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Last week, Paul Kagame won presidential elections in Rwanda by 98.6%. Historically, such margins have only been won in countries like Saddam …
Read More »THE LAST WORD: Hubris of The Economist
Hubris of The Economist: How this British newspaper ignores Rwanda’s context in its neocolonial desire to define that country THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | According to The Economist, a United Kingdom-based highly opinionated newsmagazine, President Paul Kagame runs a tight autocratic political system in Rwanda. The Economist …
Read More »THE LAST WORD: BOU’s war with Sudhir
How the central bank’s handling of the problems of Crane Bank showed lack of imagination and strategy THE LAST WORD |Andrew M. Mwenda| I have always had high respect for Bank of Uganda (BOU) because of its management competences. Since the collapse of Uganda Commercial Bank in 1999, BOU has …
Read More »Colonial boundaries no solution to Tororo District split controversy
Kampala, Uganda | J OLOKA-ONYANGO | Recent newspaper reports about the issue of Tororo state that President Yoweri Museveni has directed that the matter be resolved using the “colonial boundaries” in order to determine where the municipality should be located in the event of a split of the district. Such …
Read More »THE LAST WORD: Too much ado over nothing
Why Museveni is most likely going to succeed in amending the constitution to remove the age limit The Last Word | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Uganda is entering a major political battle that will show us the balance of political forces between President Yoweri Museveni and his opponents. A section …
Read More »COMMENT: Small business, big impact
Why raising micro, small and medium-sized enterprises might avert future backlashes by the poor on the rich COMMENT | Arancha Gonzalez| The fruits of economic growth are not being shared widely enough. In many advanced economies, the anaemic post-2008 recovery has benefited the relatively rich, while large numbers of households …
Read More »COMMENT: Dishonoring Uganda’s refugees
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 …
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