In The Magazine

By Independent Team and Agencies How one man’s action could change the way the world looks at a continent The relatively affluent upbringing of the Nigerian would-be bomber Umar Abdulmutallab is not too dissimilar to that of some of the Sept. 11 attackers or Al Qaeda recruits for other attacks, …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Last week, a friend brought me a pirated copy of the recently released Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon movie, Invictus. It is a gripping story of how Nelson Mandela used rugby to assuage the fears of white South Africans regarding the dawn of majority rule. As …

By Matsiko wa Mucoori The riddle of his retirement story On January 9, Bukenya called NRM supporters to his hotel in Garuga in Entebbe and denied he intended to retire from politics this year. Instead he stamped his resolve to stay in politics much longer than the public thinks. I …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Every delegate at this year’s 5th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at State House on January 12 must have been aware of the rifts threatening to tear the ruling National Resistance Movement apart. Talk of factions had been in the news all week before. There are …

By Independent Team Buganda, security, opposition leaders speak out Basing on current statistics, a first round win for President Yoweri Museveni in the 2011 presidential elections appears unlikely. His margin of victory against the opposition has shrunk from 52 percentage points in 1996 when he got 76 percent of the …

By Independent Team Kyanjo is not the first to warn of war if the 2011 elections are mishandled. On April 27, 2009, the Chairman of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, who is former Museveni campaign strategist and confidante, wrote an open letter to Museveni warning of rebellion. …

By Rukia Makuma A report on the Transitional Justice Bill that seeks protection for victims and witnesses and prosecution for war crimes perpetrators in Uganda has distributed responsibility among the LRA and government forces. The UNDP report, ‘Transitional Justice in Northern, Eastern Uganda and some parts of West Nile,’ was …

By Jocelyn Edwards At the Imperial Hotel in Entebbe last month, MP David Bahati moved around the room handing out copies of his anti-gay bill to religious leaders of all the major faiths and denominations. Muslim imams in their embroidered skull caps, Anglican and Catholic priests in their collars were …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The opposition parties’ agreement to field one presidential candidate come the 2011 elections is possibly a good move. However, previous presidential elections have shown that there is no need for a joint opposition candidate. Indeed, the combined vote of third candidates has always been statistically insignificant …

By Joshua Masinde & Mubatsi Asinja Habati Vote rigging still a big worry, strengths and weaknesses of each side On December 15 last year, four opposition political parties signed a protocol in which they agreed to front a joint presidential candidate in the 2011 presidential elections. Fielding a joint opposition …