COLUMNISTS

  When land is understood in cultural and political terms, its value is not only monetary COMMENT |MWAMBUTSYA NDEBESA| Tensions over land threaten state integrity in Uganda. The proposed constitutional land amendment seems to have generated a lot of passion and tension both in the political and non-political class in …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

  Why attempts to provide too much too fast are the cause of corruption and institutionalised incompetence The Last Word | ANDREW M. MWENDA|  Last week I moderated a World Health Organisation panel on providing universal healthcare in Africa. These ambitions assume that poor countries have the ability to deliver the set …

  THE LAST WORD: How Ugandans get angrier as government does the right thing when it comes to spending money THE LAST WORD |Andrew M. Mwenda| Two contradictory things are happening in Uganda. First, large sections of the public, especially the elite public, are angry, very angry with government. They …

THE LAST WORD: Why other political parties in Rwanda have endorsed the candidacy of Paul Kagame The Last Word | ANDREW M. MWENDA|  The government of Rwanda has been working with a concept called “Ndi’omunyarwanda” i.e. I am a Munyarwanda. It seeks to facilitate people to see themselves as Rwandans, not …

How money is an important a political resource that allows Museveni to manage power The Last Word | ANDREW MWENDA|   Last week, the government presented the national 2017/18 budget totalling Shs24 trillion in spending. For many commentators on the Ugandan traditional and social media scene, the budget is as an economic …

This column is a slightly edited version of a speech I gave at a conference of liberals in South Africa on May 24, 2017 By Andrew Mwenda I want to argue that liberty is taking root in Africa.  Not as fast as we would like. But this should not discourage …