How government decision to build a large international convention centre in Munyonyo has been its best THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Recently, I had a debate with some Ugandan friends on the decision of government to build an international convention center in Munyonyo in partnership with Sudhir Ruparelia. Uganda will …
Read More »Uganda’s policy on Ukraine war
Why Kampala abstained from condemning Russia at last year’s crucial UN general assembly vote THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | On June 27, NBS journalist Canary Mugume had a screening of his documentary on the war in Ukraine at the residence of the Swedish ambassador in Kampala. Canary had been to …
Read More »Uganda’s politics of frustration
How Besigye’s failure to inspire Ugandans out of Museveni’s failures led to Bobi Wine’s narrow ethnic base THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The government of President Yoweri Museveni is old and exhausted. It has no zest for anything new or imaginative. Lacking its own project of national transformation, it now …
Read More »Uganda’s budget rat hole
Why government’s biggest problem is not the size of its debt but its cost of borrowing THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Uganda’s 2023/24 budget, like all previous ones in the last few years, has generated a lot of controversy about the role of public debt in our national life. Growths …
Read More »Shooting oneself in the foot
How Western threats of sanctions are bad for the struggle for the rights of homosexuals in Uganda THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Last month, Uganda passed the most draconian and barbaric anti-homosexual law in the world. The law has a death sentence for some acts of homosexuality but does not …
Read More »Time to get out of Somalia
Why UPDF, the AU and Western powers should let Al Shabab take over power in Somalia THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Last week, Al Shabab militants made a devastating attack on a UPDF base in Somalia. They claimed to have killed 138 of our soldiers and taken many more hostage. …
Read More »Politics in plural societies (Part 2)
How good institutions become dysfunctional in heterogenous countries with deep interethnic divisions THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | So, we begin from where we stopped last week with lessons from my former lecturer at the University of London, Mushtaq Khan. Studying South Korea and Pakistan, he found that what makes …
Read More »Retreat from neoliberalism
Lessons for the rest of Uganda’s economy from the local content rules enforced in our oil sector THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | For over thirty years now, Uganda government generally and President Yoweri Museveni specifically, have promoted an open-door policy on Foreign Direct Investment. Foreign firms are given freedom to …
Read More »Remembering John Ntambirweki
A dynamic intellectual of unsurpassed brilliance, great teacher, loving husband and doting dad dies THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I was going through my Instagram on Thursday morning when I read that Prof. John Ntambirweki is dead. If someone asked me to describe him, I would say that John …
Read More »A tale of two cities
How political calculations have shaped the destinies of Kampala and Kigali THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | On Sunday April 2nd, I went running in Kigali from Serena Hotel to the airport at Kanombe and back a total of 20km. It was a comfortable and relaxing run. The streets were …
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