Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | In July 2022, BBC Africa Eye released a documentary on gang activity in northwestern Nigeria. The programme, The Bandit Warlords of Zamfara, examined the raids on villages, abductions and murders that have plagued swaths of the country. Notably, it included interviews with so-called bandits, who …
Read More »Mexican president accuses U.S. of meddling in internal affairs
Mexico city, Mexico | Xinhua | Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday accused the U.S. State Department of “interfering” in the internal affairs of other countries. “There is currently more democracy in Mexico than in the United States,” the Mexican president said at his regular daily press conference. On …
Read More »U.S. influence in Mideast declines due to biased policies
U.S. botched retreat from Afghanistan, as well as its military withdrawal from Iraq and Syria, signaled that Washington had stumbled over its Mideast policies Cairo, Egypt | Xinhua | The United States is attempting to enhance its presence in the Middle East through visits and military cooperation. However, its influence on …
Read More »Is Western democracy failing in Africa or Africa is failing western democracy?
COMMENT | Nkwazi Mhango | Western democracy has been synonymous with western countries, which glorify themselves as being ‘successful and mature democracies’, even though they’re practically not, if analysed historically and compared and contrasted to realities on the ground. I must say it from the outset, democracy wasn’t born in …
Read More »MPs pay glowing tribute to veteran Paul Ssemogerere
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Parliament has paid tribute to the late Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere, a veteran politician, praising him for his unincumbered service and advocacy for democracy in the country. Ssemogerere died on Friday 18, November 2022 aged 90 years at his home in Lubaga, a suburb of Kampala. …
Read More »The future of liberal democracy
Why efforts to export liberal democracy abroad are likely to undermine it at home – in the West THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | On September 25th, Italy held an election, which was won by the center-right coalition led by Giorgia Melon’s Brothers of Italy, a radical right-wing political …
Read More »U.S. democracy is the height of hypocrisy
United States is gearing up for the mid-term elections Beijing, China | Xinhua | Democrats are funding Republican primaries to try to nominate more potentially beatable candidates. Republicans are transporting migrants to Democratic-led cities in protest over immigration policy. Both parties are busy gerrymandering to get an upper hand. Former President Donald …
Read More »The bastardisation of civil society
Why the struggle against NGOs in poor countries is a struggle not to undermine democracy but to defend it THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | In this column last week, I wrote about the ignorance, recklessness and even subversive work of Uganda’s leading opposition figure, Robert Kyagulanyi aka …
Read More »Biden says not consider Trump supporters as threat
Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday that he does not consider supporters of former President Donald Trump to be a “threat.” Biden made the clarification after a nationally televised speech in which he referred to “MAGA Republicans” — those who support Trump — as a threat …
Read More »Civil society actors worried as DGF project nears end
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Civil society actors are operating in uncertainty of their future as the deadline for the Democratic Governance Facility-DGF to wind down its operations in Uganda draws closer. The facility, a pool of funds from different international donors is the major funder of over 60 Non-Governmental Organisations-NGOs, …
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