By Agather Atuhaire Why the economy is the main loser The government announcement of a new electricity tariff regime on Jan.12 could still backfire but, on paper, it looks like a perfect stroke. Part of the problem is that the tariff regime does not address the real problems in Uganda’s …
Read More »Control it; don’t eradicate it
By Stephen Kafeero Fighting malaria the wrong way kills 20 people every minute in Uganda On December 19, 2011, a speeding lorry at Namanve, near Kampala city, hit a taxi and killed 6 of the 16 people on the taxi. Several others were injured. The story was headline news. There …
Read More »Electricity cost going up 40%
By Andrew M. Mwenda But who benefits most from subsidies to UMEME? A cabinet sitting on Wednesday Jan. 11 discussed increasing electricity tariffs by 40 percent. Cabinet should remove these subsidies altogether because they are not economically sustainable and benefit the rich at the expense of poor citizens. Over the …
Read More »Looking at failure of public services
By Andrew M. Mwenda It is not corruption per se but the fragmentation of power that explains Uganda’s crisis. Two things stand in contradiction of one another regarding corruption in Uganda: On a positive note, it seems not to have undermined economic growth – at least, not yet. Uganda has …
Read More »Chinese invasion
By Independent Team & Agencies Why Beijing’s defence ministers visited Kampala with US$2.3m cheque Little by little China is forming military links in Africa and in the Indian Ocean in order, experts say, to protect Beijing’s economic interests in the region. With trade exchanges between China and Africa totaling US$ …
Read More »Disagreements in Durban
By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Poor countries come away empty handed from 17th UN conference on global warming Climate smart agriculture, green economy, green city, renewable energy, green climate fund, moral obligations, voices of farmers, and the need for binding agreement on extension of Kyoto Protocol, last December competed for attention …
Read More »Ministry of Health scholarship money stolen?
By Eriasa Mukiibi Sserunjogi There could be a racket in the Ministry of Health swindling money meant for medical students A number of students who had been sent to study abroad have had their scholarships cancelled and they have been advised to return to Ugandan universities, The Independent has learnt. …
Read More »Media challenged on anti-corruption fight
By Victor Bwire Most of the reports now being discussed in Parliament relating to corruption have been lying in newsrooms As the demand for accountability in the use of public resources in Uganda intensifies, with parliamentarians on top of the efforts, one wonders how Ugandans will be mobilised to join …
Read More »A battle six years in the making
By Andrew M. Mwenda My latest attempt to qualify Rwanda’s progress to the incredulous mind of a critic Over Christmas, Timothy Kalyegira and I got involved into a heated SMS exchange about Rwanda, a subject I am deeply interested in and one that he is equally obsessed with without noticing …
Read More »The political value of corruption
By Andrew M. Mwenda How theft of public resources has been used to build a broad multi ethnic coalition that sustains Uganda’s political system The last Quarter of 2011 in Uganda was filled with one corruption scandal after another. Yet in spite of many corruption scandals unearthed, the mass media …
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