By Haggai Matsiko How often do three helicopters crash at a go? Soroti Flying School, 2kms northeast of Soroti town in eastern Uganda, was on the morning of August 12, a bee-hive of frenetic activity as army pilots jumped onto waiting helicopters while their top brass waved excitedly and gave …
Read More »Kazinda & his godfathers
By Peter Nyanzi Minister lobbied Museveni over disgraced principal accountant Geoffrey Kazinda, the former Principal Account in OPM, the Office of the Prime Minister, who is before the Anti-Corruption Court on 29 counts of embezzlement, false accounting, forgery, conspiracy to commit a felony and causing financial loss amounting to Shs …
Read More »President Bukenya?
By Eriasa Mukiibi Sserunjogi Former VP faces historic test over calls to challenge Museveni Usually, when President Yoweri Museveni schedules a meeting with any power base from Buganda, speculation ratchets. So when he called a hurried meeting with Buganda Caucus MPs on Aug.1, pundits saw a fence-mending overture from Museveni …
Read More »Vision 2040 plan in offing
By Peter Nyanzi Technocrats urge government to prioritize national values in long-term development plans Permanent secretaries and other technocrats want the government to put citizens and national values at the centre of any new plans if the society is to be transformed. The National Planning Authority (NPA) is spearheading the …
Read More »UPE children not learning, says UWEZO report
By Rukiya Makuma P7 pupils in rural schools cannot read P2 material Out of the 348,384 pupils of standard three interviewed across East Africa, only 15 percent can understand standard two reading and maths tests according to the latest UWEZO report released on August 15 in Kenya. The report states …
Read More »Hero against odds
By Eriasa Mukiibi Sserunjogi Why Kiprotich’s win could inspire many When Moses Cherodi, 15, joined the Kapchorwa Runners’ Club a year ago, he did it mainly because his friends who could run were members. A few times when Stephen Kiprotich was training, Cherodi says, he would run with him. And …
Read More »Courting trouble over salaries
By Agather Atuhaire Cases pile up and corruption thrives as Uganda’s cash-strapped judiciary fails to attract judges Although up to 20 vacancies exist in the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and High Court, attempts to fill them are failing because qualified individuals are shunning the bench over poor pay and pension, …
Read More »Gilead’s phony consensus on PrEP
By Agencies The Lancet, American Public Health Association, British HIV Association join AIDS Healthcare Foundation and other health advocates in concern over health impact of Gilead’s unproven HIV prevention pill AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), America’s largest HIV/AIDS nonprofit medical provider, on Aug. 10 reaffirmed its opposition to the Food and …
Read More »Tackling HIV differently
By Eriasa Mukiibi Sserunjogi Hillary Clinton calls for review in strategy in the fight against HIV/AIDS When Hillary Clinton first came to Uganda in the mid 1990s, Uganda had, in her opinion, the best HIV/AIDS prevention and control programme in the world. The HIV prevalence rate had been drastically reduced …
Read More »Beyond the colonised, neoliberal university
By Prof. Mahmood Mamdani Consolidating Makerere’s core mission: the pursuit of scholarship The Makerere of today is a product of two historical periods: its early establishment during the colonial period and its reform under neo-liberal influence. I shall begin by asking whether colonialism and neoliberalism are living legacies or pasts …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price