Saturday , February 8 2025

Tag Archives: Comment

Parliamentary democracy could be a blessing

A major advantage is the relevance it gives small parties as long as they can send a member to parliament COMMENT | MAGEZI KIRIINJJU | The minister of internal affairs, Maj General Kahinda Otafiire was recently quoted in the media addressing another person at a gathering saying; “we fought for democracy, …

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Agora and the crisis of digital media

New communication technology-enabled activist journalism needs empirical frameworks of accountability COMMENT | JOSEPH WERE | The recent public flaying of Agather Atuhaire, Godwin Toko and Jimmy Spire Ssentongo should be a top discussion issue for anyone involved in news media. It is discouraging that most discussion so far has centred on …

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The rise of techno-colonialism

Where colonialism of old was about seizing territory, techno-colonialism controls our daily lives COMMENT | HERMANN HAUSER & HAZEM DANNY NAKIB | In 1853, under orders from President Millard Fillmore, U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew Perry led four warships on a mission to persuade Japan to end its 200-year-old isolationist policy. When …

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A new worldview for troubled times

The last time a radically new worldview emerged was during the 17th  and 18th century Enlightenment COMMENT | DENNIS J. SNOWER | Not only is climate change moving faster than global efforts to stop it, but our capacities for dealing with such large problems of our own making seem to be …

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Why demonstrating is a universal human right

  In a functioning democracy, the Government derives its legitimacy from the consent of the governed COMMENT | PETER NYANZI | Public debate is raging over whether or not the government should allow public demonstrations against the marauding monster of corruption in Uganda to go on. Well, it’s not my intention …

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Will Democrats win after Biden’s withdrawal?

One challenge is the `Hubert Humphrey dilemma`; how to appear loyal to Biden without being weighed down COMMENT | RICHARD HAASS | U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to step aside as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate this fall has transformed American politics. It caps a historic July in the United States, …

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Can democracy win in 2024?

As democracies wrestle with problems they once seemed to manage, authoritarians watch with satisfaction COMMENT | CHRIS PATTEN | The most compelling argument for liberal democracy is that it empowers citizens to choose their own leaders, effectively placing the country’s present and future in voters’ hands. The system is underpinned by …

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The show trial of Arundhati Roy

The prosecution and likely conviction of a popular, respected, charismatic author, will probably backfire COMMENT | SHASHI THAROOR | Last month, the lieutenant governor of Delhi granted the police permission to prosecute Indian activist and prize-winning author Arundhati Roy under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Back in 2010, Roy said …

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Kenya’s protests as metaphors

#OccupyParliament, #RejectFinanceBill are an opportunity for a new mode of emancipatory democracy COMMENT | JOEL MUKISA | If you asked a think-tank team leader or a social sciences professor at Kabarak or Nairobi University if they anticipated the scale and popularity of the protests that rocked East Africa’s economic powerhouse Kenya …

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Social justice is the best policy

Orientation around it would be a better approach to development, climate action, and global governance  COMMENT | GILBERT F. HOUNGBO & LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA | It is easy to be pessimistic in these fraught, uncertain times. Instability is on the rise, and conflicts are unfolding on our screens every …

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