Andrew Mwenda

By Andrew M. Mwenda Those arguing against corruption are not wrong but neither are the leaders who depend on it Recently, I said on my NTV show that the existence of corruption in a country does not automatically impede its ability to develop. With those words, I let loose the …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Ugandans seem unhappy with Museveni but they don’t seem to be willing to accept his opponents either. Here is why We are exactly six months away from elections and recent opinion polls are already giving us a glimpse of things to come. The polls reveal that …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How corruption becomes a necessary vice for successful politicians who win elections by denouncing it Here is a thought experiment. Imagine you are a presidential candidate for the 2016 elections in Uganda. You have all the good policies and ideas. And you want to build a …

This article was written for The Guardian How regurgitating stereotypes and prejudice about Africa easily gets you audience in Western media So I chanced upon an article by a one Patience Akumu (`Why Obama doesn’t understand the lust for power of our African leaders’, The Guardian UK, Aug.2). To Akumu, …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why obsession with presidential term limits in Africa is a secular gospel based on faith than historic facts US President Barack Obama excited a section of Africa’s elite when he denounced African leaders who rule for very long, some even dying in office. This seems common …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Although Obama behaved better in Nairobi compared to Accra, here is why I still have a bone to pick with him So finally, U.S. President Barak Obama visited his ancestral homeland of Kenya to a rousing welcome. This was understandable because for most of recorded history …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why Rwanda should follow the judgment or misjudgment of its citizens rather than the dictates of theory In mid-July, the World Economic Forum (WEF) published its Global Competitiveness Report where it listed Rwanda as having the 7th most efficiently ran government in the world. It was …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How political debate is divorced from our revenue and skills reality on state delivery of public goods and services When I was in boarding secondary school in the late 1980s and early 1990s, we used to eat maize porridge every morning for breakfast, posho and boiled …

By. Andrew M. Mwnda How Museveni and the opposition are likely to structure their campaigns and the risks and advantages of their likely strategies The battle between President Yoweri Museveni and his erstwhile ally and Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi is likely going to be nasty. The president’s handlers are likely …

By Andrew Mwenda On May 20, the American Congress held a hearing on the “deteriorating human rights situation in Rwanda”. The timing was surprising because there have hardly been incidents of human rights abuse in Rwanda for a while. Instead the hearing took place against the backdrop of widespread demonstrations …