COMMENT | IAN BURUMA | Compared to other Western democracies, the United States is still a profoundly religious country. Around 24% of Americans identify as evangelical Christians. Five US Supreme Court justices are conservative Catholics (the only other conservative on the bench, Neil Gorsuch, was raised and educated as a Catholic but is …
Read More »The MUSHEGA REPORT: Reform or a missed opportunity for an education revolution?
COMMENT | Gertrude Kamya Othieno | Following the release of the Amanya Mushega-led Education Policy Review Commission (EPRC) Report in February 2025, Uganda’s Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, hailed the recommendations as “game-changing”. The report, commissioned in 2021, proposes key reforms in education governance, language policy, vocational training, and assessment …
Read More »The dent in American’s soft power
How Donald Trump and Elon Musk are tearing America’s most insidious instrument of domination THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The “reforms” to government spending by President Donald Trump and his newfound friend, Elon Musk, are the logical conclusion of the way “democracy” in America has evolved. America has, anyway, …
Read More »Life in Medieval Europe: Governance, culture, and belief
What happens when a continent is torn apart by a hundred years of war, while another flourishes with trade, innovation, and unity? COMMENT | Gertrude Kamya Othieno | The medieval era offers a stark contrast between Europe, struggling with feudal conflicts and the devastating Hundred Years’ War, and Africa, where empires like …
Read More »Is the PROFESSIONAL UPDF YELLING at the CONSTITUTION
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama |Dear reader, as we say in Ugandan speak, let us be guided. Today’s class will revisit the use of UPPER CASE (or CAPITAL LETTERS as my teachers taught) in online communication. The great internet code deems typing in CAPITAL LETTERS offensive, equivalent to YELLING. Typography and …
Read More »Will DeepSeek upend US tech dominance?
COMMENT | ANGELA HUYUE ZHANG | In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world’s first artificial satellite into orbit, sparking fears in the United States that, unless it took radical action to accelerate innovation, its Cold War adversary would leave it in the technological dust. Now, the Chinese startup …
Read More »Future-fit financing for African mining hinges on ESG
COMMENT | Dean Hack & Chetan Jeeva |The world is rewriting its rulebook. It’s no longer just about what you produce but how you produce it. For resource-rich regions like Africa, the implications are profound: the value of its vast reserves of critical minerals is now tied not only …
Read More »Challenge of the Congo
How politics in Kinshasa combines with international power politics to undermine regional efforts for peace in DRC THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Once again, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is on fire. This week, M23 rebels captured the strategic town of Goma and are now advancing on Bukavu. At …
Read More »Let’s protect our wetlands for posterity
COMMENT | KEN MWATHE | On 2nd February every year, the world celebrates World Wetlands Day to raise awareness about conservation of wetlands and spotlight their value. This year’s campaign theme is Protecting wetlands for our common future highlighting the critical role of these ecosystems, and the need …
Read More »The 2026 hunt is on! Musings on the political life cycle of Lucky Bosmic Otim
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | The hunt is on. ‘Tis the season. The 2026 elections beckon. Every election cycle, the stakes are higher as the entrenched ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party desires to sink its 39-year-old corpulent posterior deeper into Uganda. In consolidating its unwieldy bulk, the NRM increasingly discards …
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