The News Today

THE LAST WORD: Uganda’s stalled transformation: Andrew Mwenda on Why Museveni has not transformed agricultural Uganda into an industrial economy and what can be done. COVER STORY: Americans to build refinery? Technocrats at the Energy Ministry and the Ministry of Finance who are working on the country’s pet project, the …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  Kenya, Senegal and Chad will each nominate a candidate to become the new head of the African Union, which failed to choose a successor to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in July. A list of candidates, obtained by AFP but not yet made public, includes Kenya’s foreign …

The High Court has acquitted the widow of murdered businessman Eria Ssebunya Bugembe aka Kasiwukira. Sarah Nabikolo Ssebunya was acquitted Wednesday by Justice Wilson Masalu Musene but her co-accused, including cousin sister Sandra Nakungu and a Muyenga-based policeman Jayden Ashiraf, were found guilty and convicted for the 2014 murder of …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  South Africa and Kenya vowed Tuesday to “soften borders” between the two regional powerhouses by easing trade and visa barriers, part of ongoing efforts to boost low levels of commerce within Africa. While both nations are economic giants in their respective regions, South Africa’s Jacob …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will be prosecuted for fraud, officials said Tuesday, in a move that sent the rand tumbling over concerns about political rivalry and the country’s fragile economy. Gordhan, 67, was appointed only late last year to calm panicked investors …

President Yoweri Museveni has congratulated the people of Sudan upon conclusion of a historic national dialogue that places the country on a new political path. “I came here to salute Bashir and the people of Sudan for after 60 years of trouble, sitting down in a national dialogue and finding …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP |  Rwandan leader Paul Kagame warned Monday of a “showdown” with Paris after French investigators last week said they would reopen a probe into the genocide-triggering assassination of president Juvenal Habyarimana. The shooting down of Habyarimana’s French-crewed plane on April 6, 1994, kickstarted the genocide that …

Just weeks after the World Bank froze new lending to Uganda because of the government failure to fully use already borrowed money, the country’s parliament has come under fire over alleged “incompetence”, writes Ronald Musoke and Flavia Nassaka. The Deputy Leader of Government Business, First Deputy Prime Minister Moses Ali is …

President Yoweri Museveni has reassured Ugandans that plans are fully on track for the country to have a national airline. The president said the airline is finally viable, as Ugandans alone are now spending up to $420 million (sh1.4 trillion) annually on travel. “We are now finalizing the modalities,” Museveni told the nation as …

 Since 1962, we have seen history repeating itself This October 9, Uganda celebrated 54 years of Independence. It is a good point to look back and ponder what 2016 has in store for Ugandans. Looking at our nation’s history since Independence from the British colonialists in 1962 shows that years with …