In The Magazine

By Independent Team   Inside UPDF purchase of Russian fighter jets and missiles On April 5, 2010 the Russian leading business daily newspaper Vedomotsi reported that the Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport had entered a contract to supply the Ugandan government with eight Su-30-MK2 fighter jets and missiles in probably …

By Andrew M. Mwenda   Recently, the Uganda government decided to spend about US$1 billion shopping high tech jet fighters and the accompanying missiles and armament from Russia. There has been outcry from the media, the donor community, the opposition and the wider public against it. How can a country …

By Dicta Asiimwe Makerere University’s new VC hopes a new governing law will give him control over a powerful University Secretary Who controls the purse at Makerere University? That is the question raised by an ongoing power struggle between the university’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba and the University Secretary …

By Isaac Mufumba Last week members parliament went native. They nearly had a fist-fighting in the House. The opposition MPs broke a door of the parliament to force themselves inside after being blocked from re-entering the House where they had walked out to protest the Deputy Speakers refusal to allow …

By Dicta Asiimwe While speaking to The Independent on April 28, 2010, the government chief whip Daudi Migereko said: It is not realistic to expect a completely independent parliament, which is why our constitution provides for the government chief whip to be a member of cabinet. This independence of the …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why the president may fire and throw him in jail When Vice President Gilbert Bukenya refused to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament that was investigating the abuse of over Shs500 billion meant for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2007 to …

By Rukiya Makuma Women and children often face hard times when the head of the family dies. The situation is compounded if there is poverty and disease. Jane Nalwadda, 48, is a typical case. Her husband died in 2000 leaving her to fend for their 10 children. Soon after he …

By Jocelyn Edwards Margaret Ngoya, 15, awoke in early hours of Mar. 7 to the sound of gunshots.  The soldiers who had invaded her village in northern Karamoja yelled her family and their neighbours to come outside. When they brought us outside, I was beaten.  They used the handle of …

By Courtney C. Radsch Although Uganda’s country’s constitution provides for the right to freedom of expression including ‘freedom of the press and other media,’ several laws negate these constitutional guarantees and the government is increasingly cracking down on critical journalists and media houses. Several statutes, like the Press and Media …

The Independent Team As a donor country, the American taxpayer needs to know the dollars being sent to this country are being wisely spent You have held discussions with several people. What impression do you have about Uganda’s 2011 presidential elections? These are important elections. It’s important for this country …