Parliament to probe communications regulator over its media cuts and bans Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | What, really, is the mandate of the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)? On its face, UCC’s mandate appears clear; it is the country’s communications regulatory agency. It is supposed to promote and safeguard the interests …
Read More »When defiance defeated Muntu
Will new president Amuriat lead FDC forward or backwards to Besigye? Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | With the election of Engineer Patrick Oboi Amuriat as president of Uganda’s biggest opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) behind him, Grant Senabulya, a delegate from Nakaseke district who looks to be in his …
Read More »Nigerian ex-vice president rejoins opposition ahead of 2019 vote
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, announced Sunday that he had rejoined the country’s main opposition party, the latest sign he aims to run for the presidency in 2019. In a live video broadcast on his Facebook page, Abubakar said he was again joining the …
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 »THIS WEEK: Kenyatta sworn in for disputed second term amid protests
Kampala, Uganda | | THE INDEPENDENT & AGENCIES | Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in on Nov. 28 for a second term as police fired teargas to disperse angry opposition supporters, in what many hope is the closing act of a grueling and divisive election drama. The pomp and ceremony ended with …
Read More »Togo: opposition parties promise sustained pressure on president
Lome, Togo | AFP | Togo’s opposition on Wednesday vowed to maintain the momentum of anti-government protests, as thousands again took to the streets before promised talks with the president. The leader of the National Alliance for Change (ANC) party, Jean-Pierre Fabre, led the crowds in the capital but similar …
Read More »A frank memo to the opposition
Stop sloganeering over peripheral issues called “governance” and seriously think about our strategic challenges THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I have a frustration with President Yoweri Museveni’s Uganda: even after 30 years of impressive economic growth rates, Uganda is still far from any significant transition from a backward rural …
Read More »Odinga’s return ruined by Police with tear gas
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Opposition leader Raila Odinga returned to Kenya on Friday only to have his welcome party in Nairobi broken up by police firing tear gas at his convoy and supporters, an AFP reporter saw. Odinga won an unprecedented court victory overturning the result of the August …
Read More »Togikwatako: ‘Museveni is panicking’
MPs say Museveni is panicking Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME, FLAVIA NASSAKA | With opposition politicians currently traversing the country chanting ‘Togikwatako’- the brand of the resistance to the constitutional amendment aimed at removing the presidential age cap of 75, the campaign appears to have engulfed the nation. Ibrahim Semujju …
Read More »Odinga: Kenya moving toward ‘outright dictatorship’
Washington, United States | AFP | Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga sharply criticized the role of Western diplomats and election observers in the recent presidential vote and warned Thursday that the country is moving toward “outright dictatorship.” Odinga boycotted the presidential election held in September and has termed it a “sham.” …
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