Tag Archives: Andrew M. Mwenda

By Andrew M. Mwenda Last week, the Constitutional Court declared the sedition law unconstitutional. The judgment marked a major and symbolic watershed in Uganda’s democratisation process. For almost a century, the law of sedition has been used by successive regimes in Uganda to stifle free speech. Although introduced by the …

By Andrew M. Mwenda On Tuesday August 10th, The Independent Managing Editor, Andrew M. Mwenda, hosted President Paul Kagame of Rwanda on a radio show on Contact FM in Kigali, a day after the voting in that country’s presidential election. Mwenda had started the show titled Rwanda Decidesto promote public …

By Andrew M. Mwenda It is rare to read an opinion about politics in Uganda in our media whose premise is our reality. Largely because of the hegemonic influence of Western ideas, most commentators begin with an abstract theory of politics based largely on a context other than our own. …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The former Tanzanian Prime Minister sat down with The Independent’s Managing Editor Andrew Mwenda to discuss the recent Rwanda elections. Salim was sent to Rwanda to lead the Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) to observe preparations for the election, assess the process and make future recommendations. As …

By Andrew M. Mwenda President Paul Kagame last week won presidential elections by 95 percent of the vote. Such high performance was common in Sadam Hussein’s Iraq and other dictatorships. Basing on this analogy, many observers have concluded his victory was a product of political repression. But such an approach …

By Andrew M. Mwenda In the summer of 1995, former US president, Jimmy Carter, organised a conference on Rwanda in Tunis to ‘convince the RPF to be more ethnically inclusive by appointing Hutu politicians to cabinet’. In attendance were the presidents of Rwanda’s neighbours: Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko, Uganda’s Yoweri …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Iam currently in Rwanda witnessing their presidential election campaign. The campaign lacks the usual drama of many African general elections: the rallies of opposition candidates are not broken up by the police, their supporters are not beaten by private militias, candidates do not appeal to ethnic …

By Andrew M. Mwenda   I read with particular keenness President Yoweri Museveni’s article on July 25 where he defended Ugandan troop presence in Somalia. I use the words ‘particular keenness’ because I highly respect Museveni’s analysis of security issues. While his article is strong and persuasive, I was not …

By Andrew M. Mwenda   Since Uganda was bombed on 7/11, Al-Shabaab ‘terrorist’ group in Somali claimed responsibility. There has been a lot of tough talk in Kampala. President Yoweri Museveni has promised to hit back at Al-Shabaab by increasing our troops in that country. Many Ugandans support the government …

By Andrew M. Mwenda   Critics of the government of Uganda accuse it of allocating less money to priority sectors like infrastructure, education and health. Although it is evident that the cost of political patronage and the presidency/first family has grown, it is not true that this has been at …