COLUMNISTS

By Andrew M. Mwenda President Paul Kagame last week won presidential elections by 95 percent of the vote. Such high performance was common in Sadam Hussein’s Iraq and other dictatorships. Basing on this analogy, many observers have concluded his victory was a product of political repression. But such an approach …

By Andrew M. Mwenda In the summer of 1995, former US president, Jimmy Carter, organised a conference on Rwanda in Tunis to ‘convince the RPF to be more ethnically inclusive by appointing Hutu politicians to cabinet’. In attendance were the presidents of Rwanda’s neighbours: Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko, Uganda’s Yoweri …

By Timothy Kalyegira Africa has become important not just as an intelligence listening post and army and naval base for counterterrorism originating in the Middle East, but also as a haven and breeding ground for home-grown terrorism ranging from the Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb that acts to destabilise North Africa, …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Iam currently in Rwanda witnessing their presidential election campaign. The campaign lacks the usual drama of many African general elections: the rallies of opposition candidates are not broken up by the police, their supporters are not beaten by private militias, candidates do not appeal to ethnic …

By Timothy Kalyegira These new discoveries of oil have increased Africa’s strategic importance on the world stage, but there is even more to this than these mineral deposits. The last 15 years have also seen countries like China, Brazil, Russia and India registering strong economic growth and with that lifting …

By Frederick Golooba-Mutebi Since he wrote his ‘Is Rwanda an African Success Story’ (The Independent, July 09-15), Timothy Kalyegira, easily the most committed of media skeptics about Rwanda and its President, Paul Kagame, has been the subject of much-animated discussion in Kigali. On a recent visit there, almost everyone I …

By Andrew M. Mwenda   I read with particular keenness President Yoweri Museveni’s article on July 25 where he defended Ugandan troop presence in Somalia. I use the words ‘particular keenness’ because I highly respect Museveni’s analysis of security issues. While his article is strong and persuasive, I was not …

By Edward Tujunirwe Last month, The New Vision carried a headline that went along the lines of ‘You Could Die During the World Cup’. This was a word of caution to football enthusiasts not to get overexcited and indulge themselves in unsafe sexual and other risky activities during the tournament. …

By Andrew M. Mwenda   Since Uganda was bombed on 7/11, Al-Shabaab ‘terrorist’ group in Somali claimed responsibility. There has been a lot of tough talk in Kampala. President Yoweri Museveni has promised to hit back at Al-Shabaab by increasing our troops in that country. Many Ugandans support the government …

By Dicta Asiimwe A mean looking policeman stands on guard. His loaded gun is strapped around his chest. A man in a black suit and neck tie walk speedily past him. He must have come to see his representative in parliament or to listen to the parliamentary proceedings from the …