Andrew Mwenda

 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 …

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 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 …

Why in spite of registering good welfare outcomes we have made little progress at structural transformation I have just been reading the National Population and Housing Census (NHPC) report for 2014. It shows Uganda has registered many welfare improvements, but also reveals that President Yoweri Museveni’s dream of transforming Uganda …

FDC via Monitor and New Vision How the competition between Monitor and New Vision has important lessons for Besigye’s next presidential election I hope FDC takes the critical lesson from this story because many FDC officials downplay the need for organisational infrastructure to win, especially, presidential elections. They believe all …

How Museveni got 60% of the votes and Besigye won the election The subject of who won the February 18 election seems to be settled among supporters of Dr. Kizza Besigye. They believe their candidate won. I have also met supporters of President Yoweri Museveni who suspect Besigye’s claims to …

By Andrew M. Mwenda His death either marks or coincides with the death of something fundamental – moderation It is said that the spirits of our ancestors snatch human souls shortly just before daybreak. And it was at exactly 6am on Friday March 11 that former Permanent Secretary in the …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why NRM needs to rediscover its ideological footing by digging itself out of being a cash and carry government During the last campaigns I drove 3,700km across Uganda holding what Americans call `Town Hall Meetings’ in big and small towns and trading centers from Rukungiri to …

Why Uganda needs to reintroduce a broad-based government but this time handle it differently It is impossible for anyone to convince Dr. Kizza Besigye and his supporters that he lost the just concluded elections. It is equally impossible to convince President Yoweri Museveni and his supporters that they did not …