Andrew Mwenda

By Andrew M. Mwenda Parliamentary intervention in government contracts has been consistently counterproductive because MPs do not look at all sides (…continued from last week) I argued in this column last week that parliamentary intervention stopping the signing of oil contracts is likely to make a bad situation worse. First, …

By Andrew M. Mwenda We should be suspicious of parliamentary interventions in lucrative government contracts because they often make a bad situation worse Recently, President Yoweri Museveni ordered government of Uganda officials to sign oil Production Sharing Agreements with companies. This was in spite of a resolution by parliament stopping …

By Andrew M. Mwenda After charging Agaba and Komakech with murder, will KCCA be able to bite again? The near unanimous public condemnation of former KCCA director of planning, George Agaba and his bodyguard, Santos Komakech has caused them to be charged with murder before investigation. Their crime was video …

By Andrew M. Mwenda We need to place their actions against international practice even in democracies like the USA, France, and Italy Since the late January shooting incident in Luzira that killed one person and injured two, the public has been baying for the blood of the “culprits” to wit …

By Andrew M. Mwenda NRM had historically suffered major defections before every election but it enjoyed a big infusion of opposition figures in 2007-11 It is almost a year since last year’s presidential elections. The dust over the recriminations over it has settled. We have had sufficient time to reflect …

By Andrew M. Mwenda With only 8% access to electricity and 75% of subsidies going to big businesses, why are MPs supporting subsidies? Last week, a parliament committee passed a resolution cancelling the increase in electricity tariffs. Many Ugandans genuinely believe that in many of its actions, the 9th parliament …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Is the standoff between government and traders the tip of an irreparable breakdown of their relationship? Last week, striking traders paralysed business in Kampala. Negotiations between their association, KASITA, and the government did not yield much. As with all previous strikes and demonstrations in Uganda over …

By Andrew M. Mwenda But who benefits most from subsidies to UMEME? A cabinet sitting on Wednesday Jan. 11 discussed increasing electricity tariffs by 40 percent. Cabinet should remove these subsidies altogether because they are not economically sustainable and benefit the rich at the expense of poor citizens. Over the …

By Andrew M. Mwenda It is not corruption per se but the fragmentation of power that explains Uganda’s crisis. Two things stand in contradiction of one another regarding corruption in Uganda: On a positive note, it seems not to have undermined economic growth – at least, not yet. Uganda has …

By Andrew M. Mwenda My latest attempt to qualify Rwanda’s progress to the incredulous mind of a critic Over Christmas, Timothy Kalyegira and I got involved into a heated SMS exchange about Rwanda, a subject I am deeply interested in and one that he is equally obsessed with without noticing …