The Independent Uncensored News Views And Analysis

Kenya politics frustrates Uganda move against RVR

Since the Tanzanian government terminated its contract with a rail concessionaire early this month, pressure has been mounting on Uganda to throw out non-performing Rift Valley Railways.But Uganda`s Minister of State for Works John Byabagambi told The independent that the government is determined to throw it out but since RVR signed  a concession with two countries, Uganda has to move together with Kenya. “We can’t throw RVR out ourselves i...

Cost of credit in financial sector remains a challenge

51- year old Louis Kasekende was recently re-appointed as the Deputy Governor of Uganda’s central bank. The Independent`s Patrick Kagenda talked to him about his vision for the banking sector.  Well come back. What new things are you bringing to Bank of Uganda? I have over the past three and a half years been working as the chief economist of a premier development bank. A bank whose mission is to fight poverty, assist African countri...

One Year of Obama: Any Change for Africa?

January 20 was the one-year anniversary of Barack Obama’s presidency. It has provided analysts and critics an opportunity to reflect on the President’s achievements and failures, in domestic and foreign policy alike. As an American with a Kenyan father, Obama’s foreign policy could have been expected to hold Africa as a greater priority than previous administrations. Yet how much has American foreign policy toward Africa changed under Obama...

Good deeds in Uganda prisons come at a price

In the office-cum-waiting room of the African Prison Project (APP) house in Luzira, a big green poster board is plastered with photographs of groundbreaking ceremonies and newspaper clippings extolling the many achievements of the NGO and its 24-year-old founder and Director General, Alexander McLean. Also, emblazoned is a reproduction of the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights which proclaims that “everyone who works has the right ...

Hell in Haiti

How would Uganda handle an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude? When the 7.0 magnitude earthquake, the strongest felt in the western hemisphere since 1965, ripped through Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince on Jan.12, it devastated its infrastructure and destroyed the lives of thousands of its inhabitants. Up to 90 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince was flattened. Even the president is homeless after the presidential palace, built in 1914, was decimate...

DP’s difficult road to reconciliation

A Buganda region reconciliation meeting that was convened by the National Executive Committee at Pope Paul in Ndeeba raised more questions than answers about a possibility of the two DP factions working together any time soon. The participants, mainly district chairpersons thought they would resolve the empasse over the position of the secretary general.. The acting chairperson, Betty Nambooze, sitting in for the chairman, Joseph Balikuddembe ...

Women start 400 days of protests

How they plan to beat police with new ‘guerrilla-style’ protests  “Surprise” is their weapon of choice Lumbe! This is to remind you of the Thursday 14th meeting at Christ the King; 8am please come with a list of your ‘10’. Lumbe oye, Lumbe no change.” This is just one of the three messages sent to over 300 women members of the Women’s League of the Inter Party Cooperation (IPC) between January 10 and 13. On the face of it, th...