In The Magazine

By Andrew M. Mwenda In the summer of 1995, former US president, Jimmy Carter, organised a conference on Rwanda in Tunis to ‘convince the RPF to be more ethnically inclusive by appointing Hutu politicians to cabinet’. In attendance were the presidents of Rwanda’s neighbours: Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko, Uganda’s Yoweri …

By Haggai Matsiko Gaping illiteracy, poverty and ethnic tensions stand in the way of participatory governance Along the dusty roads of Kaluguuza, a small town in Kibaale district, western Uganda, Moses Kahwa, a local shopkeeper, passionately debates the upcoming elections with other local self-proclaimed political analysts. Baguma cannot win Matia, …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Now health experts debate wisdom of switching chemical sprays Lying on flat land near the swampy Lake Kyoga, Apac district in northern Uganda, Lango sub-region, is not only the most malaria infected region of Uganda, but perhaps of the entire world. A study conducted from 1994 …

By The Independent Team An estimated 2.85 billion people worldwide were at risk of contracting malaria in 2009, according to a report published in the journal PLos Neglected Tropical Diseases. Researchers mapped out the prevalence of the common malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax and found that it was more widespread than …

By The Independent Team Scientists have discovered a new metabolic pathway used by malaria-causing parasites that apparently helps them survive inside human blood cells. The finding, by researchers supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, clarifies the picture of …

By Andrew M. Mwenda It is August 2 and I am attending an election campaign rally by Paul Kagame, presidential candidate for the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). Many people are wearing Kagame and his party campaign souvenirs. However, one man, Jack Mutabazi, 52, a peasant and resident of rural Bugesera, …

By Muganwa Gonzaga Paul Kagame is re- elected easily on his record The Rwandan Patriotic Front’s (RPF) Chairman, Paul Kagame, and his well-placed campaign machine drew unprecedented crowds wherever they went this election season. It opened on July 20 at Amahoro stadium in Kigali and got bigger in the countryside. …

By Rukiya Makuma Independence babies that wont grow up 2010 is the year for Africa as 17 countries celebrate 50 years of independence since colonial rule. Africans resisted the colonialists on grounds of segregation, slavery, exploitation and domination. But 50 years after, how have these countries performed? Are they still …

By Haggae Matsiko Independent reporter buys birth certificate for Shs 35,000, offered passport for Shs150,000, no questions asked It is Thursday afternoon when I arrive at the reception of the Registrar of Births and Deaths office at Amam House near the Central Police Station in Kampala. I tell the receptionist …

By Timothy Kalyegira Africa has become important not just as an intelligence listening post and army and naval base for counterterrorism originating in the Middle East, but also as a haven and breeding ground for home-grown terrorism ranging from the Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb that acts to destabilise North Africa, …