The closure and reopening of Daily Monitor and Red Pepper exposed the weaknesses, not the strength, of the state Finally, the government re-opened Daily Monitor and its affiliate radio stations KFM and Dembe on the one hand and the Red Pepper and her sister newspapers Kamunye and Hello Uganda on the other. For many observers, [...]

With Museveni seeming invincible for now, the only hope of succession is ironically a Muhoozi project Since Gen. David Sejusa aka Tinyefuza kicked off a storm by claiming President Yoweri Museveni wants to make his son, Brig. Muhoozi Kainerugaba his successor, Uganda has not stopped talking. In 2002, Muhoozi authored a concept paper on the [...]

How overreaction to Tinyefuza by closing down Daily Monitor and Red Pepper may launch yet another presidential candidate Since the Coordinator of Intelligence Services, Gen. David Sejusa aka Tinyefuza, kicked off a storm by alleging that there is a plan to have Brig. Muhoozi Keinerugaba succeed his father President Yoweri Museveni as president of Uganda, [...]

How NRM’s level of organization has made it impossible for the Opposition to mobilize the masses against Museveni Sections of the opposition in Uganda have been arguing that it is through violence that President Yoweri Museveni has been able to sustain his political power. While this may have been the case for the first decade, [...]

How Museveni has shifted from reliance on military force to coerce political support to the use of money to rent it My article, “What keeps Museveni in power” (The Independent April 12-18), attracted the most intense debate on our website. Apparently, most critics of President Yoweri Museveni place disproportionate importance on the contribution of violence [...]

Why African countries should follow the example of rwanda, Ghana and Zambia by moving from foreign aid to bond markets Last week, the government of Rwanda issued an international 10-year bond to raise $400 million for infrastructure de- velopment. Within two days, the bond had been oversubscribed as investors placed orders worth $ 3 billion [...]

How our admiration of Western systems has more do with how it perceives itself than the reality of its being I still cannot explain what got into my head recently to re-read William Shirer’s, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a 1,200 pages tour de force. I had first read the book in 1999. [...]

How party’s tolerance of rebel MPs was typical of its tolerance of other ills and a danger to democracy Finally, the NRM decided to expel it’s so called “rebel MPs”. Many critics of President Yoweri Museveni and the NRM have denounced this decision. The MPs themselves are challenging it in a constitutional court. Yet most [...]

How the President’s success in retaining power rotates around his obsessive focus on all threats to it. A friend recently sent me a text message saying: “Man, what’s up with the Mbuya and Bombo attacks and an attempt on Kale. Ankunda’s answers in the Observer and Tinye’s incoherence don’t inspire confidence. I hope I am [...]

Why Western attempts, genuine though they may be, to promote democracy in poor countries is anti-democratic As I write this article, a debate is raging in America on gun ownership – indeed it has been raging for generations. Every other day, there is carnage in America. Some crazy person grabs a gun and goes on [...]