Column

OPINION | Samir Yassine | Imagine opening a bank account in minutes, without stepping into a banking hall, queuing up, or filling out piles of forms. Just you, your phone, and a few taps. That’s the power of digital account opening—and if you haven’t tried it yet, you’re missing out …

Why the US president’s visa restrictions and aid cuts are good for the development of our continent THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |  Many people are angry with President Donald Trump for canceling the visas of many students studying in the USA. This is bad for individual families and students. I …

COMMENT | APOLLO BUREGYEYA | Allow me to take you back to class today. No assignments. Just a group discussion. Seventeen (17) bags of cement give us 680 hollow blocks, each measuring 200 × 200 × 400 mm, with a compressive strength of 3.5 MPa. Yes, 3.5 megapascals. In wall-building terms, …

The new traffic fines: Road safety improvements vs financial gains COMMENT | Samson Tinka | Road safety is a multifaceted issue that requires the cooperation of individuals, communities, and governments for it to work. By promoting awareness, enforcing laws, improving infrastructure, and encouraging community involvement, we can work towards safer roads …

  How this dynamic Ugandan combined a talent for sports with business, politics and entertainment THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |   Last week, Uganda lost one of its most dynamic citizens, Cedric Babu Ndilima, to a heart complication. On social media, opposition activists, who claim to be humane, went on …

Toronto, Canada | TIMOTHY SNYDER |  Over the past two months, financial investors have hit upon a new trading strategy, based on a simple rule: TACO – Trump Always Chickens Out. America’s president threatens to slap massive import tariffs on friends and foes alike, or to remove the Federal Reserve …

Toxic. Clingy. Everywhere. Uganda needs to break up with plastic! COMMENT | Sarah Musumba | Once upon a dusty Saturday in Kampala, a Fuso truck rumbles past, stacked high with buveera (plastic paper bags), water containers, soda bottles, and jerry cans. Now imagine 120 of those rolling in every single …

When they were done beating the soles of my feet, they said, “weka moto” (put fire), and that’s when someone applied some lubricant on my anus, and they started shoving objects that l have no idea what they were. They laughed as they shoved the objects, and others would encourage …

How the West seeks to dominate poor countries using the language of democracy and human rights THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |  We return to EU ambassadors expressing concern over human rights abuses by the Uganda government at a meeting with Gen. Salim Saleh last month. The German ambassador made a …

TRIBUTE | BY CHARLES ONYANGO-OBBO | Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (January 1938 – 28 May 2025) was one of Africa’s most celebrated literary figures. He never just wrote books. He staged revolts, each title a well-aimed Molotov hurled at the colonial cannon, the neocolonial bureaucrat, and the post-independence sell-out. …