Andrew Mwenda

By Andrew M. Mwenda Unhappy with their officials, what the two presidents are asking for is a return to the past, not a leap to the future Three weeks ago, President Paul Kagame; during a government leadership retreat, expressed disaffection with top officials for delaying government projects unnecessarily. Then last …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why government should separate financing of education in order to allow poor families access quality education On Sunday, I attended a global education forum in Dubai. Sheik Mohammed Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda were there as well as former presidents, …

By Andrew M. Mwenda What Batooro have failed to do about the kingdom and how it forced the king to live in Buganda In early March, David Kijanangoma, a grandson of King George Rukidi III announced that he had overthrown King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba’Iguru Rukiidi IV of the great Kingdom …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How U S uses the language of freedom and human rights to undermine the cause of democracy in other countries Almost a month ago, Fareed Zakaria hosted Barack Obama on his CNN show, GPS. Zakaria asked the U.S. president why America supports dictatorships like the ones …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The pathologies of Uganda’s LC system and the need for a new conversation on how to reform it On the temple of Apollo at Delphi is inscribed the motto “meden agan” (nothing in excess) in honour of the ancient Greek statesman, Solon (circa 638 to 558 …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why we should stop complaining about what our country has failed to do and ask what we can do It is very hard to get things done, even at the smallest level. But it is very easy to sit and complain about things. Reading social media, …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The obstacles to building an effective opposition and advancing democracy without “regime change” Last week, the NRM and opposition leaders agreed on 43, out of 48 proposed electoral reforms. This is contrary to the doomsday scenarios its hecklers have been presenting that there is no chance …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why poor countries may need a more activist president, one willing to intervene to get them to work Let me do what the Germans call Gedanken (a thought experiment). Political power in most of post-colonial Africa has tended to be personalised. We feel that this is …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How it has facilitated a politics that has undermined the ability of public institutions to serve the common good To explain the dysfunctions in the public sector in Uganda, we need to understand how political power in our country is organised, how it is exercised and …

By Andrew M. Mwenda African intellectual elites personalise their analysis even as they accuse African leaders of personalising the state On Jan.1, I went to Nsambya Hospital in Kampala where my cousin was hospitalised. The hospital is owned and run by the Catholic Church. The buildings many of which were …