COLUMNISTS

Why last month’s scuffles in parliament excited the public but did not lead to popular protests THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Last week, poorly trained security operatives entered the parliament’s main chamber and removed opposition members who were protesting plans by the ruling party to amend the constitution …

Why the removal of age limits may be the best way to get a peaceful succession in Uganda THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | There is consensus among Ugandan, African, and even global elites that presidents who rule for long make peaceful succession impossible. This informs the current …

  Why many Ugandans are addressing the wrong issue in the debate on lifting age limits THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Last week the NRM caucus did the expected and recommended the removal of age limits on the presidency so that President Yoweri Museveni can rule for …

THE LAST WORD: How Africa’s obsession with ‘governance’ issues is too much ado over little or nothing THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Let me articulate a heresy: the argument that Africa’s failure to prosper economically is fundamentally due to “governance” i.e. that our leaders are greedy, selfish, …

   THE LAST WORD: How the nullification of the presidential elections in Kenya has put that country on a slippery slope Andrew M. Mwenda | THE LAST WORD | The Kenya Supreme Court annulled the election of President Uhuru Kenyatta and ordered a re-run because the balloting and transmission of results …

THE LAST WORD: How the obsession with our internal weaknesses has obscured the international dimension of Africa’s problems Andrew M. Mwenda | THE LAST WORD | Now in his 32nd year as president, Yoweri Museveni faces a dilemma. Uganda is still a very poor rural agricultural economy in spite of …

How the U.S. president has exposed the hypocrisy of his nation’s media and academia Andrew M. Mwenda | THE LAST WORD | Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump did what he does best: hold a mirror to his country. And the American elite hate the image they see of themselves. …

A new Mulago arises: The challenge the new hospital will face and what can be done to protect it from Uganda’s politics THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |  Last week, I visited the new specialised maternal and neonatal center being constructed at Mulago Hospital. With a built up …

  KENYA, RWANDA: How voting in these two East African nations reflects our understanding of democracy THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | East Africa has recently witnessed two presidential elections – in Rwanda and in Kenya. The two nations are different. Rwanda is a small country with one …

How Africans have been mentally enslaved to hate everything about themselves and how Rwanda is defying it THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |“In these bloody days and frightful nights when the urban warrior can find no face more despicable than his own, no ammunition more deadly than self hate …