By Andrew M. Mwenda Gaddafi’s pitiful death, the celebration of it, Obama’s speech and the looming tragedy of post “liberation” Libya Fate is a great joker, it always laughs last. And it did last week at former Libyan ruler Muammar El Gaddafi. He suffered a gruesome death at the hands …
Read More »Understand the transparency initiative on oil
By Deus Mukalazi Supporting the EITI is a good thing; understanding how it works is even better One of the resolutions passed by the 9th Parliament on Oct.11 was a demand for the government to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Seeing and hearing the members of Parliament chorus …
Read More »The other Horn of Africa
By Ahmed M. Mohamoud Silyano Obsessed with Mogadishu, the UN and AU are blind to growing sanctuaries of progress in the Horn – escpecially Somaliland Drought, famine, refugees, piracy, and the violence and terrorism endemic to the shattered city of Mogadishu, a capital ruined by civil war: these are the …
Read More »Police engaged in political contest
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Inspector General of Police and the Director of Public Prosecution have charged demonstrators in the renewed Walk-to-Work campaign with treason – attempting to overthrow the government of Uganda. Livingstone Sewanyana executive director of the local NGO Foundation for Human Rights Initiative told The Independent’s Mubatsi Asinja …
Read More »Milton Friedman’s magical thinking
By Dani Rodrik But it is nearly impossible to be a Friedmanist in the original sense of the word Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of Milton Friedman’s birth. Friedman was one of the twentieth century’s leading economists, a Nobel Prize winner who made notable contributions to monetary policy …
Read More »Why go for Mabira? It has the poorest soils
By Owen E. Sseremba Forest soils are only ‘fertile’ for one type of sustainable land use, that is; forestry. Several writers on the contested give away of Mabira forest have not given the public: obvious, basic knowledge, and facts about the soil ecology of rain forests. Mabira is a rain …
Read More »The simple words we tell people can have lasting impressions on them
By Julius Mucunguzi Shaka Ssali and Andrew Mwenda: My two mentors On Sept.20, while in Washington DC for the annual meetings of Commonwealth finance ministers, I met two men who have been my professional mentors: Dr Shaka Ssali of Voice of America, and Andrew Mujuni Mwenda of The Independent Magazine. …
Read More »Museveni’s oil spin
By Agather Atuhaire Government officials tell blatant lies even as Museveni begs public to trust him On Oct. 12 journalists in Kampala received messages at around 9am summoning them to a meeting with President Yoweri Museveni later that day at State House Nakasero. This was unusual because press conferences of …
Read More »Besigye predicts: Museveni’s regime is collapsing
By Haggai Matsiko When three of President Yoweri Museveni’s ministers appeared before the anti-corruption court in Kampala on Oct. 13, the who-is-who in the government showed up to show solidarity. But it was also not lost on many that dragging people who are in the inner core of Museveni’s government …
Read More »Lies and blackmail undermining democracy
By Andrew M. Mwenda The lack of basic values as the basis of politics in Uganda is the source of our country’s constant state of crisis. “It is not easy to stand apart from mass hysteria, to argue against something that everyone – especially the most respected political leaders, academics …
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