Dakar, Senegal | AFP | Above the sacks of seeds and coal, three kerosene lamps gather dust in the tiny shed that Kenyan chicken farmer Bernard calls home. He prefers to use solar energy to light up his evenings, listen to the radio or watch television, after abandoning a diesel …
Read More »Danger from Museveni’s new permanent secretaries
President Yoweri Museveni’s recent reshuffle of Permanent Secretaries is the latest sign of his ad hoc way of appointing government officials which experts warn is detrimental to public service.Museveni on Nov. 04 reshuffled permanent secretaries, dismissing some of the longest serving permanent secretaries and transferring others. Prominent among those removed …
Read More »Mama Merkel: Austerity queen to democratic torch-bearer
Berlin, Germany | AFP | A Protestant pastor’s daughter who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, Angela Merkel rose to become the “chancellor of Europe” who has outlasted a generation of world leaders. Unlike her one-time partners on the global stage, George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and Silvio …
Read More »What next as Museveni loses ‘cadre judges’?
Justice Kanyeihamba warns of looming vacuum in judiciary Chief Justice Bart Katureebe will be 70-years old in 2020 and, under current law, he must retire then. That is four years away but already anxiety is mounting about who will replace him. Part of the reason for the anxiety is that …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Obama to pass torch to Merkel on farewell visit
Berlin, Germany | AFP | US President Barack Obama pays a farewell visit Thursday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, widely seen as the new standard bearer of liberal democracy since the election of Donald Trump. On the last leg of his final European tour as president, Obama will underline shared …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Defeated Democrats grapple with loss of working class whites
Washington, United States | AFP | Shut out of power, US Democrats are in the throes of self-examination, trying to figure out how to reconnect with a neglected constituency: white Americans disenchanted with globalization. “We just got a shellacking, we got an unexpected defeat. And we’ve got to recalibrate, and …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Bridge Academies closure
What it says about politics of education provision The High Court in Kampala on Nov.4 confirmed the closure of Bridge International Academies, the American-owned schools that operate in Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and India and funded by American billionaires Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg and institutions such as CDC, IFC, and …
Read More »What launch of Single Electronic Window means for Uganda
Single Electronic Window: The new system will see a 30% reduction in transaction costs for the private sector Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has launched the Uganda Single Electronic Window system. The new system will see a 30% reduction in transaction costs for the private sector, writes Juddie Kilungu. It will also …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Cash for refugees better than food
UNHCR to expand cash-based assistance to vulnerable refugees after study in Uganda shows benefits to local economies Uganda has for a long time been praised for the way it treats refugees. While many countries keep refugees in camps away from citizens, the Uganda government has for decades allowed refugees to …
Read More »Lion Assurance’s AIG takeover
What happens after `minnow’ swallows former giant of Uganda’s insurance sector? When regional insurance firm Lion Assurance Company (LAC) confirmed plans to take-over agents and business formerly under the American International Group (AIG), the first question was “how?” AIG-Uganda has been the third leading insurance company by assets in Uganda, …
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