COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Sometimes, it seems like Ugandan news headlines are stuck in a depressing loop – like a demented algorithm that constantly drones despair and discouragement into our ears, stoking our deep-seated grievances and insecurities. The headlines blare dysfunction and regression – the good news stories cannot …
Read More »Corruption: The road ahead is long and arduous
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | On Sunday, August 18, residents of Lwengo district gathered for a thanksgiving service. The Nile Post, an online news website, reported that the residents of Lwengo were particularly jubilant that Sunday. They were thankful for the release of their Member of Parliament (MP), Cissy Namujju, …
Read More »Dear NRM, read the room!
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Dear National Resistance Movement (NRM), the July 23 ‘March2Parliament’ against corruption might be your best opportunity yet. Think not of it as a jigger you must crush with your brute force, tear gas, and stray bullets. A true yellow-blooded NRM member in the manner of …
Read More »Ugandans negative about govt, can ‘simple branding’ fix the works?
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama |The Daily Monitor newspaper has carved out a prestigious place in the president’s heart as ‘the bad paper.’ High praise coming from the fountain of honour who regularly takes umbrage with the newspaper’s ‘Truth Everyday.’ The July 9 Daily Monitor article on the ICT report titled, ‘Report shows Ugandans very …
Read More »Anite’s fight against corruption and the mirrors NRM refuses to use
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Corruption in Uganda has a thriving soft life despite the endless haranguing by President Yoweri Museveni. Museveni and his audience have lost count of the number of times he has promised to do something about corruption. He has talked about corruption (even walked about it), …
Read More »Kinyamatama: Newest poster child of SUSU – Steal from Ugandans, Share with Ugandans
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | The member of parliament (MP) position is so exalted and privileged that elected MPs automatically earn the title of ‘Honourable’ before proving their capacity for honour. Over the past week, Rakai District Woman MP Honorable Juliet Kinyamatama has faced a baptism of fire and brimstone owing …
Read More »State of the Nation Address and the preacher who successfully preached nothing
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Years ago, probably after the sun-kissed year of 1986, I heard a story that tickled me. Dear reader, I present to you an embellished version of the story. One Sunday, a preacher stood at the church pulpit, looking back at the expectant congregation. Unbeknownst to the …
Read More »Prime Minister Nabbanja has the best idea for improving service delivery
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Prime Minister Robbinah Nabbanja is onto something. A brilliant idea to lift Uganda’s dysfunctional service delivery off the floor where it resides in chronic malaise. The crux of Nabbanja’s idea entails that for service delivery to improve, civil servants should be direct beneficiaries of that service. …
Read More »Impunity 101: Lessons from the Media Council, UHRC and MUK
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | A worrying trend is upon us. Flammable snowflake leaders have made a mockery of shame. Shame no longer lives here. Instead, brazen impunity parades its wares. Consider these three exhibits. Exhibit 1: The Uganda Media Council is responsible for regulating media as mandated by the Press and …
Read More »Sam Mugumya: Unbowed in dissent
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | “I think of you as the freest person I know…Then everyone you know is a slave.”This haunting line is from the Ayi Kwei Armah’s classic book, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, on the failure of post- independence African leaders. Enter Sam Mugumya. In 2014, …
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