COLUMNISTS

By Alfred Stepan and Etienne Smith The army has a tradition of non-intervention and let the president know the result had to be respected Many commentators doubted whether democracy in Senegal, a country whose population is 95% Muslim, would survive its most recent presidential election, in which the incumbent, Abdoulaye …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why South Korea succeeded where Uganda failed A common argument to explain (the better term would be to “caricature”) post independence failures in Africa is always in comparison to East Asia. It is often argued, for example, that by 1960, Ghana and South Korea had the …

By Andrew M. Mwenda What the leaders of South Sudan need to avoid as they begin the task of building a state and moulding a nation Last week I was in Juba, South Sudan on the invitation by friends from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). It is an invitation …

By Joseph Bossa Former Bank of Uganda Governor Nyonyintono Kikonyogo exhibited exemplary depth of character worth being emulated Ugandans should be most interested in the character of the person who aspires to occupy any of the three, in my estimation, most important public offices in this land. In no particular …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How Khartoum is using South Sudan to hide a rebellion by its own people The low intensity conflict between the new state of South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan has escalated into a near full-scale war. On Monday April 9, the Sudanese Peoples’ Liberation Army …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How government politically miscalculated the threat in spite of activists having lost strategic positioning in their struggle for change As fate would have it, last week the Uganda government banned the civil society advocacy group, Activists for Change (or A4C as it is popularly known). Ironically, …

By Jagdish Bhagwati It should have been clear that a most remarkable candidate – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – was already at hand The selection of a successor to Robert Zoellick as President of the World Bank was supposed to initiate a new era of open meritocratic competition, breaking the traditional hold …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How human rights groups exploit Rwanda’s positive brand to build their own and what can be done about it There has been an intense contest over “Brand Rwanda” in the international sphere. Many visitors to Rwanda are impressed by what they see. Physical observations – clean …

By Jeffrey D. Sachs Kim combines professional expertise, global experience, and management know-how Last month, I called for the World Bank to be led by a global development leader rather than a banker or political insider. “The Bank needs an accomplished professional who is ready to tackle the great challenges …

By Andrew M. Mwenda President should not jump from one arbitrary position to another in service of popular sentiment Since The Independent broke the story of businessman Hassan Basajabalaba’s Shs 169 billion “compensation” last year, two ministers have resigned and three members of staff at State House have been fired. …