Andrew Mwenda

How politics in Kinshasa has united with interests in the “international community” to sustain Congo as a failed state THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Rwanda is a very unlucky country. It is the most developmentalist state in Africa. Yet its ambitions to modernise do not depend entirely on its own …

Why we need to remove Western lenses when analysing politics in Africa THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | During the USA-Africa summit in December last year, President Paul Biya of Cameroon was videotaped in a highly compromising situation. Old and senile at almost 90, he entered the conference hall unaware of …

It is now time to allow Al Shabab take over power in Somalia and form a government THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | It is almost two years since the United States withdrew from Afghanistan with its tail between its legs. This was in spite of spending $2.01 trillion on that …

How the nationalisation of Umeme is going to cause massive disruption in the distribution of electricity THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |  The decision by the government of Uganda to nationalise Umeme is yet another disaster on the same scale as the one to absorb UNRA into the Ministry …

Why the merger of UNRA back into the Ministry of Works is going to be an unmitigated disaster THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | In the last few years, the government of Uganda has been latching from one bad policy move to another with incredible consistency. One of such policy …

How government’s recent borrowing and spending binge has put us on the highway to Ghana THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Ghana is in a serious economic crisis. In November, its inflation rate was 50.3%. On December 19, it all but declared bankruptcy. In a press statement, its government announced …

Visit to the historic city offers intriguing, exciting, interesting and fascinating experience THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |  Last week I visited the historic city of Jerusalem. I decided to take a tour following the journey Jesus took 2000 years ago when he visited the city – from Gethsemane …

How our country has descended into the ideology of a nanny state that is ruining youths THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | There has grown and consolidated a depressing mindset in our country that for anything good to happen, government must be the one to do it. This mindset …

What makes successful laws and why some are easily violated and others upheld THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | This week, I watched a 2013 video clip of Prof. Joe Oloka-Onyango talking about constitutionalism in Uganda. In a very eloquent speech, he decried the continued defilement of Uganda’s constitution. …

Why efforts to export liberal democracy abroad are likely to undermine it at home – in the West THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | On September 25th, Italy held an election, which was won by the center-right coalition led by Giorgia Melon’s Brothers of Italy, a radical right-wing political …