THE LAST WORD: How racial prejudice led The Guardian to publish an article that is basically a hit job on Rwanda THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | On January 14, The Guardian newspaper in England published a 5,800 word long article by Michela Wrong titled “Rwanda’s Kashogi.” It accused …
Read More »Museveni’s anti-graft crusade
Why the president’s efforts against corruption may be politically appealing but are strategically of little value THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Last week, President Yoweri Museveni launched an “anti-corruption unit” in his office. This is one in many efforts the president has tried and failed in the last …
Read More »Uganda’s boat tragedy
Why accidents like the one that killed tens of revellers will continue to happen THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | The sinking of a boat in Lake Victoria killing many revellers on November 24 was a classic tragedy. And typical of the Ugandan character, social and traditional media have …
Read More »Bobi Wine’s Kyarenga concert
Why Uganda (like other African countries) keeps rotating around the same roundabout THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Last weekend, Kyadondo East Member of Parliament (MP), Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, held a “mega” Kyarenga (it’s too much) concert at his One Love Beach in Busabala near Kampala. Drovees …
Read More »Understanding why nations fail
THE LAST WORD: How a book celebrated by the world’s leading economists is actually an intellectual absurdity THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Last Saturday, my intellectual friends and I held a thrilling debate on a book by James Robinson and Daron Acemoglu titled `Why Nations Fail’. The book …
Read More »RPF celebrates 30 years
How the struggle to liberate Rwanda has shaped the character of post genocide reconstruction THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | This year, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) celebrated its 30th birthday in a magnificent conference hall at its headquarters in Gasabo, 15km outside of Kigali. The party headquarter complex …
Read More »Why our nations remain poor
African elites are victims of their own delusions about distorted history of developed countries THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | On Dec.01, I attended the Joseph Mubiru Memorial Lecture hosted by Bank of Uganda and featuring Prof. Ha Joon Chang of the University of Cambridge. A brilliant economist lecturer, …
Read More »Rethinking politics in Africa
How events in Zimbabwe expose the false assumptions that inform explanations of developments on this continent THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | There is a widespread assumption that presidents in Africa who rule for long do so out of personal greed for power. This accusation has been made against Robert …
Read More »The meaning of Muntu’s defeat
How Besigye’s hold over FDC has undermined its pretence to be a vehicle for democracy THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | “Follow an idea from its birth to its triumph,” Bertrand de Jouvenel observed in his 1948 volume, On Power, “and it becomes clear that it came to power at …
Read More »Africa’s highway to nowhere
Why our continent’s faith in foreign direct investment as a solution to our poverty is a pipedream THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Many presidents in Africa believe the development of our nations will come from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). If a “foreign investor” – most especially a white man …
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