By Andrew M. Mwenda Last week, a friend brought me a pirated copy of the recently released Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon movie, Invictus. It is a gripping story of how Nelson Mandela used rugby to assuage the fears of white South Africans regarding the dawn of majority rule. As …
Read More »Ugandans want LRA, UPDF offenders tried for war crimes
By Rukia Makuma A report on the Transitional Justice Bill that seeks protection for victims and witnesses and prosecution for war crimes perpetrators in Uganda has distributed responsibility among the LRA and government forces. The UNDP report, ‘Transitional Justice in Northern, Eastern Uganda and some parts of West Nile,’ was …
Read More »Bahati: The unlikely gay basher
By Jocelyn Edwards At the Imperial Hotel in Entebbe last month, MP David Bahati moved around the room handing out copies of his anti-gay bill to religious leaders of all the major faiths and denominations. Muslim imams in their embroidered skull caps, Anglican and Catholic priests in their collars were …
Read More »How opposition can defeat Museveni
By Andrew M. Mwenda The opposition parties’ agreement to field one presidential candidate come the 2011 elections is possibly a good move. However, previous presidential elections have shown that there is no need for a joint opposition candidate. Indeed, the combined vote of third candidates has always been statistically insignificant …
Read More »Queries hang over State House-backed power firm
By John Njoroge UETCL says company is not competent But State House, Migereko want deal done In November 2008, a public hearing was held at Sunset Hotel in Jinja. Its purpose was to get feedback from stakeholders over an application for a licence to generate and sell electricity. The application …
Read More »Bush war agreement; what more payback does Buganda want?
By Henry L. Sserunjogi After the three-day riots that rocked parts of Buganda but with a heavy presence in Kampala, many have distributed blame and opined on the cause. Surprisingly, this incident has greatly reignited the curiosity in whether during the five-year guerrilla war that brought the NRM to power, …
Read More »Donors blackmail on gays bad
By Andrew M. Mwenda Since Ndorwa West MP David Bahati introduced a bill to kill homosexuals, I have become wary of the behaviour of Uganda’s international donors. They have threatened to cut off aid if the government goes ahead with the bill. This way, they are literally using their money …
Read More »Conservatism blocking dynamic thinking in Africa
By Awel Uwihanganye My political commentaries, which sometimes are published in The Independent Magazine, mostly analysing Uganda’s political trends and supporting President Museveni on a number of issues, have been a source of nasty words thrown at me, with many responses and unfairly harsh and negative reactions from those who …
Read More »Gay Bill should be about crime first, then morality
By Opiyo Oloya Dear Members of Uganda Parliament; The international spotlight is on you, the elected representatives of the people of Uganda, as you work your way through the proposed Bill 18, also known as the Anti-homosexuality Bill 2009. This legislation has created the equivalent of a tsunami response around …
Read More »Can corruption do any good?
By Andrew M. Mwenda Every discussion on how to improve the delivery of public goods and services in Uganda ends up focusing on how to fight corruption. In public services like health, education and infrastructure, public officials divert resources from their intended purpose to private pockets. We are thus saddled …
Read More »