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 …
Read More »The tragedy of human hubris
How Israel’s plan to enter Gaza ignores the lessons of history and will only lead to tears THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Israel is preparing a ground invasion of Gaza in a vain effort to destroy Hamas. It is incredible how stupid human beings can be, especially our inability to …
Read More »Lessons for Israel from Rwanda
Why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should call President Paul Kagame of Rwanda for some advice THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | As Israel prepares for a ground invasion of Gaza to “destroy” Hamas, it is important to remind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his confederates that this is an exercise in …
Read More »The Israel-Palestinian conundrum
How Hamas and the hardliners in Israel politics need each other for their political survival and success THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The successful attack by Hamas on Israel last week illuminates the folly of the human mind. Israel has been boasting of having built an “Iron Dom” to protect …
Read More »Rwanda’s biggest brand problem
How and why Kagame’s enemies have been successful at branding him a tyrant THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I asked a young friend to visit Rwanda and assess the state of the country. He returned last week completely mesmerised at how a poor country can have such excellent infrastructure, a …
Read More »The fall and fall of the FDC
Lessons for NUP from the continuing crisis in Uganda’s previously largest opposition political party THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) continues to tear itself apart. This is perhaps the final phase of the party’s existence. When time comes to write its postmortem, what would have …
Read More »The real threat to liberalism
Why democracy crusaders should worry less about Putin and more about its home front, the West THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, the liberal democracies of the West have been on a “moral” crusade against President Vladmir Putin. According to them, Putin is a tyrant, …
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