In The Magazine

By Ivan Rugambwa New taxes to make Ugandans poorer, increase cost of doing business When the Finance Minister, Maria Kiwanuka reads the budget, she will announce a tax increment on fuel that experts fear will hike transport fees and prices for commodities. The increment was first announced on April 10, …

By Haggai Matsiko Making resource rich regions become food poor Deep in Bukuya Sub County in Mubende district, a gold-mining company, AUC Mining Ltd owned by the British and some influential Ugandans, evicted about 400 peasants. At the gate to the mining company, one finds not ordinary security guards but …

By Stephen Kafeero Uganda is currently engulfed in a blood shortage crisis with deaths being reported across the country and Mulago heart institute suspending all major operations. In her statement to the press, the minister of state for Health in charge of primary health care, Sarah Opendi, attributed the current …

By Independent Investigations The Inside Story On Friday May 10, the Managing Director of Monitor Publications Limited, Alex Asiimwe, received an unusual phone call. The operator of the State House telephone switchboard told him President Yoweri Museveni wanted to talk to him. Can you hold the line? the operator asked. …

By Harold E. Acemah Africans are no longer at peace and their leaders are restless May 25, marked the 50th anniversary of African unity. Unlike May 1963 when the OAU was established, African leaders who assembled in Addis Ababa for the recent AU summit, such as YahyaJammeh of Gambia, Teodoro …

By Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Lack of democracy and peace, corruption and weak states  interfere with the building of the economy As far as Uganda is concerned, you cannot build a robust and sustainably developing economy if you do not deal with the following eight bottlenecks: A human resource that is …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The closure and reopening of Daily Monitor and Red Pepper exposed the weaknesses, not the strength, of the state Finally, the government re-opened Daily Monitor and its affiliate radio stations KFM and Dembe on the one hand and the Red Pepper and her sister newspapers Kamunye …

By Julius Odeke Outgoing French Ambassador Aline Kuster-Ménager spoke to The Independent’s Ronald Musoke. What has been your impression of Uganda? Before coming to Uganda, I read the book, My African Journey, written by Winston Churchill in 1906 describing Uganda as the “Pearl of Africa.” During my stay, I confirmed …

By Julius Odeke Dr Ian Clarke aka Busuulwa is the LC III Chairperson for Makindye Division. He spoke to The Independent’s Julius Odeke about his political plans, the future of Kampala City, and the challenges of urbanization. More Ugandans are moving into urban areas. What are the implications of this …

By Ronald Musoke The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has come out to deny claims carried in both local and some international media that a bullet was fired near President Yoweri Museveni shortly after he had finished addressing members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) on June 5. “The …