Opinion

How Uganda’s opposition leader helps the incumbent keep winning elections THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Opposition leader and activist, Dr. Kizza Besigye, has been consistent in denouncing the electoral process in Uganda as a sham. In a recent interview with Daily Monitor, he said: “[Lt] Gen [Henry] …

  Why populists like Bernie Sanders fool themselves when they promise to change the way America works THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | As the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries in the USA gather momentum, candidates have made healthcare a central issue in their elect-ability. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth …

  How our government built and has now almost destroyed the country’s oil industry THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Uganda’s upstream oil industry is dead. Ok, let me admit this is a bit of an exaggeration. It is more appropriate to say it is in a coma …

COMMENT | Ronald Kato | When US secretary of state Mike Pompeo began his Africa trip in mid-February, it was clear that countering China’s influence on the continent was top of his agenda. Yet from Senegal to Angola, he had restrained himself from the hard-hitting attacks on China that have come …

  How the death of Peter Otai and the response of government of Uganda reflect our political maturity THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | On January 1st this year Peter Otai, the former minister of state for defense in the second Milton Obote government, died in London. On …

How political competition in our country is conducted on wild promises based on imaginary state capabilities THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | We are entering an election season and many things are going to go wrong in this country. President Yoweri Museveni will not initiate anything serious fearing …

How sustained economic growth influences health through nutrition and better living conditions THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | In this column last week I argued that economic growth, in spite of its many limitations, remains the most important driver of improved wellbeing. A key measure of wellbeing is …

  COMMENT | Ronald Kato | When I first traveled to China in February of 2017, two things happened. Firstly, I was the first passenger to get off the Emirates flight from Dubai to Beijing. When we touched down at Beijing Capital airport, cabin crew announced that a passenger from Uganda …

Evidence of how GDP growth has led to improved wellbeing of the majority of Ugandans THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Critics have been accusing me of being simplistic by focusing on economic growth as a major success of President Yoweri Museveni’s administration. Uganda has sustained an average …

The pros and cons of the President’s long rule and what they portend for the country he has rebuilt THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | This week, President Yoweri Museveni and his NRM celebrate 34 years in power. Museveni inherited a country whose state had disintegrated and economy …