NEWS ANALYSIS

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Military vehicles took to the streets of the Zimbabwean capital and prolonged gunfire was heard near the presidential residence early Wednesday as questions mounted over Robert Mugabe’s grip on power, even as the army denied a coup in a state broadcast. Tensions between the 93-year-old …

How coffee marketing arrangement is putting more money in farmers pockets, improving quality Kampala, Uganda | ANDREW S. KAGWA | 80-year old widow Anna Kyamulabi grows coffee on her half acre farm in Bulwanyi village, near Kyengera in Wakiso District. She is a Fairtrade producer, although it unclear if she knows …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  Zimbabwe was reeling Tuesday after the army warned it could intervene if President Robert Mugabe continued to purge veteran ruling party figures in an apparent effort to help his wife succeed him. Both the ruling party’s youth wing and the main opposition party called for …

But is there a catch? Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA | Tackling cancer requires high investment in training and infrastructure says Meg O’Brien, the Managing Director Global Cancer Treatment at the American Cancer Society. She told The Independent on Oct.25 that her organisation has brokered a deal with two pharmaceutical companies …

Foreign Minister fingered in dodgy deal in Seychelles Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO | Days after it emerged that Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa set up a company in a tax haven, the move continues to be scrutinised. Apparently, in 2012 Kutesa hired Appleby, a company renowned for creating offshore account …

MPs say Museveni is panicking Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME, FLAVIA NASSAKA | With opposition politicians currently traversing the country chanting ‘Togikwatako’- the brand of the resistance to the constitutional amendment aimed at removing the presidential age cap of 75, the campaign appears to have engulfed the nation. Ibrahim Semujju …

Tehran, Iran | AFP | From a Yemeni missile attack to the resignation of Lebanon’s prime minister, the “Cold War” between Middle East rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran has been heating up. Experts believe the risk of a direct military clash is low, but why have tensions escalated now and how …

Ljubljana, Slovenia | AFP | Slovenia’s internet-savvy President Borut Pahor on Sunday won a second term in a runoff vote that was marred by an abysmally low turnout. Centre-left ex-premier Pahor, 54, had been touted to win in October, but a record low 44-percent turnout triggered a repeat vote, with 1.7 …

Belgian in alleged US$1bn scam Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO | President Yoweri Museveni commissioned it on Feb.20 amidst pomp and celebration, but just nine months later African Gold Refinery (AGR) has run into big trouble. Its Belgian owner, Alain Goetz, has been uncovered as a dealer in so-called “conflict or blood …

Danang, Vietnam | AFP |  The leaders of the US and China laid out sharply divergent visions for the future of global trade on Friday, with Donald Trump doubling down on his “America First” rhetoric, leaving counterpart Xi Jinping to defend the “irreversible” tide of globalisation. Xi, who has emerged …