Andrew Mwenda

By Andrew M. Mwenda Kinshasa accused of breaching agreement and process of integration of rebel CNDP By the beginning of April 2012, tensions were mounting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between the government in Kinshasa and many of its erstwhile commanders in its eastern regions. To defuse the …

By Andrew M. Mwenda On June 30, President YoweriMuseveni was guest of honour at a function in Rutooma village in Kabwohe town in Sheema District – a new district that was carved out of the wider Bushenyi. The event was to celebrate the 110th birthday of Asanansio Rutimbirayo, father of …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The best way to improve service delivery in Uganda is to concession most of it to the private sector Since 1995 the government of Uganda has been trying to build a hydro-power dam at Karuma. Attempts to get a private company to do the work ended …

By Andrew M. Mwenda On June 17, President Yoweri Museveni visited the family of his arch-rival, the late former President Milton Obote, and held talks with the widow, and former presidential candiate Miria Obote. This visit has since been a source of speculation. What has not been said is how …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The complexity of Kigali’s relationship with Kinshasa and the possible way tensions between the two countries could be reduced As fighting recently flared up between Tutsi rebels and government forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Rwanda government has found itself, once again at …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Having removed Mubarak, the revolutionaries in Tahrir Square are realising that the struggle for democracy has just began Last week, Egyptians went to the polls to vote in the second round of their presidential elections. The first round had produced two candidates: Ahmed Shafiq, a former …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How BIDCO’s investment is changing the lives of people in the district and the potential it has to transform agriculture Uganda today consumes 250,000 tonnes of vegetable oil per year, up from 100,000 tonnes in 2005. Of this, 16,000 tonnes was produced locally from oil palm …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Given Museveni’s long rule and potential for family succession, is Uganda now vulnerable to an `Arab Spring’ I argued in this column last week that Africa has almost similar structural conditions as the Middle East on the eve of the Arab Spring – sustained economic growth …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How realistic is the risk of political upheaval in Africa and what can be done about it? Two weeks ago, I was in Nairobi, Kenya to attend a conference on Africa’s political risk profile. The moderator of the first session posed four questions for discussion: Is …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How one of Africa’s distinguished scholars has been misled to become hostile to a government that should be his natural ally Prof. George Ayittey is one of the most thoughtful and influential intellectuals on contemporary Africa. He has been consistent in his condemnation of Rwanda’s President …