Column

 Stop faking holiness. You supported and defended a government that banned all activities of political parties THE LAST WORD: Last week, Oxfam Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, accused me of losing my soul by “supporting dictatorship” and “defending gross human rights abuses”. I asked her to name a single incident where …

Rev Diana Mirembe Nkesiga is the Vicar of All Saints’ Cathedral Kampala the highest position to be held by a female Anglican priest. She spoke to Agnes E Nantaba Born Diana Mirembe Barlow in 1960 to Mary Nantongo and Hugo Barlow, Rev Diana Mirembe Nkesiga remains the first woman to …

Why the competition for power is always a quarrel over delusions rather than a contest over public policy I argued in this column last week that governments in poor countries cannot govern by delivering a large basket of public goods and services associated with a modern state because they don’t …

Why leaders of poor countries are not as cruel and selfish as Western media portray them In a moment of madness, I toyed with the idea of running for president of Uganda. I had the hubris to imagine I am the guy who can solve its myriad problems because President …

OPINION: Last week on Saturday, the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta participated in setting to fire 11 pyres and finished ivory goods representing more than 6,000 dead elephants. But will this action really save the elephants which are facing extinction? Many think it’s a gamble and evidence is there to …

President Yoweri Museveni is believed to have spent more than $7 million on his 2016 presidential election campaign. Amama Mbabazi and Besigye spent $951,000 and $279,000 respectively. These individual expenditures came complementary to the Electoral Commission’s own budget which continues to bloat every five years. One thing is certain, if …

Ingrid Turinawe, the 42-year old secretary for mobilisation of the opposition Forum for Democratic (FDC) is renowned for her run-ins with police during protests.  She told The Independent that she would rather die like a lion than live like a rat. Turinawe says her fighting spirit stems from growing up …

OPINION Why we should downplay anecdotal evidence by looking at scientific data that gives a broader picture So last week the cancer machine at Mulago Hospital collapsed, causing uproar in mainstream and social media. Every newspaper columnist or television/radio pundit of any heft weighed in. Daily Monitor devoted its whole …

By Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba (Former Vice Chancellor, Makerere University) “No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No steam or gas drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, …

Factors such as a history of war and violence, the curse of having natural resources, constitutional designs, ethnic divisions and regional neighbors contribute, writes Pippa Norris Africans recently went to the polls in Benin, Cape Verde, the Republic of Congo, Niger and Zanzibar. The outcome was decidedly mixed. In Congo, …