By Haggai Matsiko FDC leaders face tough choices on Muntu On May 8, a top ring of supporters of Gen. Mugisha Muntu, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) President held a very special meeting at an undisclosed place in Kampala. The meeting was exclusive to strictly top Muntu supporters because …
Read More »Will protests propel an East African ‘spring’?
By Muthoni Karubiu Increased demonstrations are harbingers of trouble for a region in transition Blood runs down the street. Dark and menacing. Young men gather in a tight circle. Chanting. At the centre of the crowd are a large sow and her piglets. The animals do not seem to notice …
Read More »‘Has the road to your home been completed?’
By Julius Businge The government plans to send you that SMS soon, but is it what you really want? A few weeks after Maria Kiwanuka read the budget, officials from her Finance ministry and the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) are showing how transparency and accountability will drive its implementation. At …
Read More »Standard Chartered’s interest rate gamble
By Ivan Rugambwa & Julius Businge Second largest commercial bank shakes up loan market with 13 percent cut in interest rate If, as is often said, timing is money; then Standard Chartered Bank could be minting quite a bit of it if its recent sharp interest cut pays off. …
Read More »Planning in the dark
By Ronald Musoke Why does Uganda government fear to count its people? The National Planning Authority offices on Plot 15B, Clement Hill Road, in Kampala is a bee-hive of activity. The elderly executive director of the authority, Dr Wilberforce Kisamba-Mugerwa, darts in and out of a meeting on the ground …
Read More »How Museveni nearly quit NRM
By Haggai Matsiko Election case haunts President’s party On Friday October 22, 2010, President Yoweri Museveni held a heated meeting at State House, Entebbe, with a little-known former aide of his, Capt. Daudi Ruhinda Maguru. Present at the meeting was Adolf Mwesige, who was then-minister in the Prime Minister’s office …
Read More »Kiwanuka’s budget strategy
By Haggai Matsiko & Ronald Musoke Good news: Why the minority private sector is praising it Bad News: Why the majority poor are cursing A day after Finance Minister Miria Kiwanuka presented 2013/14 FY budget, a meeting of the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU) on June 14 praised her …
Read More »Nile water war threats
By Independent Team & Agencies Was President Museveni right to join the heated exchanges with Egypt? If a single drop of the Nile is lost, our blood will be the alternative,” Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi warned on June 10, “We are not warmongers, but we will never allow anyone to …
Read More »Don’t underestimate Muhoozi, Museveni tells top commanders
By Haggai Matsiko It was in the last part of his speech to the UPDF High Command, but President Yoweri Museveni’s comments about his son, Brig. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, have become the talking point among the officers that The Independent has spoken to since. On May 22, just a day before …
Read More »Museveni’s `stress’ of the nation
By Peter Nyanzi President’s frustration, lamentations at poor service delivery fail to lift population from hopelessness Of course it will be built, the question is when?” was a mechanic’s terse response to President Yoweri Museveni’s assertion during the State of the Nation Address on June 7 that the 600 MW …
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