COLUMNISTS

By Ronald Musoke & Flavia Nassaka Exactly a week after N Ronald Musokeorbert Mao announced his leave from office, one would have expected Mathias Nsubuga, the party’s Secretary General, and John Baptist Kawanga, the national vice president—the two men Mao chose to stand in for him while he recuperates— to …

By Andrew M. Mwenda What Batooro have failed to do about the kingdom and how it forced the king to live in Buganda In early March, David Kijanangoma, a grandson of King George Rukidi III announced that he had overthrown King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba’Iguru Rukiidi IV of the great Kingdom …

By Patrick Kagenda Opposition Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) party president Olara Otunnu on March 04 spoke to The Independent’s Patrick Kagenda about why he was not offering himself for re-election. You have said you do not plan to seek a second term of office. Does this mean you have resigned …

By Edgar Tushabe Muhairwe FDC launches policy agenda amid criticism and praise On March 09, the Victoria Conference Hall at the Serena Kampala Hotel was a sea of sky blue as opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) faithful launched the party Policy Agenda. Titled “Uganda’s leap forward,” an FDC policy …

By Philippe Dongier The time to act is now because rapid urbanisation will offer opportunities and present challenges In 2040, more than 20 million people, or one third of Uganda’s population will live in cities. The urbanisation clock has already started to tick: between 2002 and 2010, Uganda’s urban population …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How U S uses the language of freedom and human rights to undermine the cause of democracy in other countries Almost a month ago, Fareed Zakaria hosted Barack Obama on his CNN show, GPS. Zakaria asked the U.S. president why America supports dictatorships like the ones …

By Cissy Kagaba If we stop the leakages and exaggerations in bills of costs, we can save money and borrow less President Yoweri Museveni has been up and about in various corners of the country commissioning road projects. There is no debate that in this financial year (2014/15), government’s priorities …

By Emmanuel Kwezi Tabaro We do not try to assuage government responsibility and assemble the fire to burn it Writing in his `The Last Word’ column (The Independent Feb. 20), Andrew Mwenda did touch an area that has been a subject of debate recently – whether citizens or government should …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The pathologies of Uganda’s LC system and the need for a new conversation on how to reform it On the temple of Apollo at Delphi is inscribed the motto “meden agan” (nothing in excess) in honour of the ancient Greek statesman, Solon (circa 638 to 558 …

By Dr. Ahmed Heikal A lot has been written and said about the potential impact the collapse in global oil prices might have on East Africa’s nascent hydro carbon industry. After five years of exciting new discoveries, the region had become one of the most promising new exploration frontiers, creating …