Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The skies over Luzira, a suburb in Kampala, Uganda came alive with a burst of colours displaying diverse kite designs as the Indian Community in Uganda recently celebrated the International Kite Flying Festival 2024 at GEMS International School along Butabika road, some 13km …
Read More »Uganda, America and Israel
Lessons from the US war in Afghanistan for Uganda’s mission in Somalia and Israel’s in Gaza THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | While thinking about Uganda’s involvement in Somalia sometime last year, I read Craig Whitlock’s book, The Afghanistan Papers, The Secret History of the War. Just after I had finished …
Read More »When Uganda works
The inspiring story of a young man whose life was saved because different components of our country functioned. THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Maurice Mark Kiyemba is a 24 years-old Ugandan. Throughout his growth experience, he was falling sick regularly with strange fevers, headaches and general body weakness. He went …
Read More »Museveni’s brand atrophy
How the president has lost connection with young people in Uganda and why nothing can be done about it THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Cederic Babu Ndilima is a son of Francis Babu. Both are NRM and President Yoweri Museveni diehards. Babu Sr was an NRM MP and also a …
Read More »The strategic aim of Israel
Why a two-state solution is anachronistic and a one state solution the most viable solution THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I argued in this column last week, that arbitrary violence by Hamas has always played right into the hands of hawks in Israel. Today, the forces for peace inside Israel …
Read More »The tragedy of Western self-indulgence
How America’s decision to remove Uganda from AGOA over the AHA hurts homosexuals more than homophobes THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Two months ago, President Joe Biden removed Uganda from the preferential trading arrangement with the USA, the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). I suspect the main reason was …
Read More »The myth of land grabbing
Why the president and chief justice are making a mistake of trying to resolve commercial disputes using ethnic lenses THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The Chief Justice, Owiny Dollo, was quoted in Daily Monitor raising alarm bells on the problem of “land grabbing” in Acholi region. “I told him,” Dollo …
Read More »NAM and G77 summits
Uganda’s lost opportunities at next year’s big international conferences and what can be done to salvage the situation THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | January next year, Uganda will host two big international conferences back-to-back: the Nonaligned Movement (NAM) summit and the Group of 77 (G77) summit. This is an important …
Read More »How the West lost Russia
A visit to Russia and witnessing the lost opportunities for cooperation with the West THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | This week, I landed in St. Petersburg, my first time to visit Russia, to attend a BRICS conference. There were very few people at the airport, so I went through immigration …
Read More »The clash of fundamentalisms
How Netanyahu and Hamas have worked hand-in-glove to undermine the peace process in the Middle East THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Israel’s genocidal bombing of Gaza continues with merciless impunity. Thousands of innocent children are being bombed in their homes, in hospitals and restaurants. Meanwhile, Western leaders, who spent most …
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