COLUMNISTS

By Andrew M. Mwenda How politicians and civil servants use Museveni as a cover to make payments to claimants from which they earn huge commissions At the height of his power, Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire appeared as if he was in complete control of the country and its …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The new rules are regressive because they do not seek to get money from the thieves per se, but to tax those thieves who want to invest In July this year, Uganda Revenue Authority introduced new rules on transferring or registering property (cars and houses). Under …

By Morrison Rwakakamba What does it tell you that Uganda is absent from the countries embracing ‘open’ government values? On September 20th in New York, USA, President Barack Obama launched the Open Government Partnership (OGP, see www.opengovpartnership.org) – a powerful, new effort to make governments more open to their citizens. …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Gaddafi’s pitiful death, the celebration of it, Obama’s speech and the looming tragedy of post “liberation” Libya Fate is a great joker, it always laughs last. And it did last week at former Libyan ruler Muammar El Gaddafi. He suffered a gruesome death at the hands …

By Deus Mukalazi Supporting the EITI is a good thing; understanding how it works is even better One of the resolutions passed by the 9th Parliament on Oct.11 was a demand for the government to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Seeing and hearing the members of Parliament chorus …

By Ahmed M. Mohamoud Silyano Obsessed with Mogadishu, the UN and AU are blind to growing sanctuaries of progress in the Horn – escpecially Somaliland Drought, famine, refugees, piracy, and the violence and terrorism endemic to the shattered city of Mogadishu, a capital ruined by civil war: these are the …

By Dani Rodrik But it is nearly impossible to be a Friedmanist in the original sense of the word Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of Milton Friedman’s birth. Friedman was one of the twentieth century’s leading economists, a Nobel Prize winner who made notable contributions to monetary policy …

By Owen E. Sseremba Forest soils are only ‘fertile’ for one type of sustainable land use, that is; forestry. Several writers on the contested give away of Mabira forest have not given the public: obvious, basic knowledge, and facts about the soil ecology of rain forests. Mabira is a rain …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The lack of basic values as the basis of politics in Uganda is the source of our country’s constant state of crisis. “It is not easy to stand apart from mass hysteria, to argue against something that everyone – especially the most respected political leaders, academics …

By Eric Chivian and Rigoberta Menchú Amid the richness of the Ecuadorian Amazon, 30% of the population lives below the poverty line Charles Darwin would appreciate the irony of Yasuní National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Yasuní, home to one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity in the world, is …