COLUMNISTS

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 …

By Andrew M. Mwenda A man who can admit to being a liar should not  make claims and they are taken seriously Former director of cabinet in Rwanda, Theogene Rudasingwa, was a major item on BBC World Service. He claimed that President Paul Kagame boasted to him that it was …

By Joseph E. Stiglitz The prescription for what ails the global economy follows directly from the diagnosis: strong government expenditures As the economic slump that began in 2007 persists, the question on everyone’s minds is obvious: Why? Unless we have a better understanding of the causes of the crisis, we …

By Ban Ki-moon Women hold up more than half the sky and represent much of the world’s unrealized potential Late next month, a child will be born – the 7th billion citizen of planet Earth. We will never know the circumstances into which he or she was born. We do know …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The worst danger for the government in troubled times like these is to adopt a public policy position over matters it has no control over Uganda is in bad times and almost everything seems to be going wrong. The country’s electricity supply is drying out rapidly; …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The assumption behind a lot of literature on democracy is that people would care more about their welfare in elections Africa’s poor performance at delivering public goods and services impersonally to anonymous citizens is often attributed to the continent’s democratic deficit. Democratic theory expects that if …

By Ian Buruma The two things that get people most excited in cultural conflicts are religion and sex Many people still believe that the attacks of September 11, 2001, were not just acts of political terrorism, but part of a cultural war, a clash of civilizations. The two things that …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Since April, Ugandans have sustained protests over many issues including wages, commodity prices and foreign exchange rates Here is widespread discontent in most of Uganda against President Yoweri Museveni and the NRM. The mainstream opposition should, however, not think that this automatically means there is widespread …

By Gordon Brown Global policy coordination key to building sustained growth and employment Politics trumped sensible economics in the United States this summer, when Congress and President Barack Obama could not agree on taxes, entitlements, deficits, or an investment stimulus. Europe’s leaders were also paralyzed – ruling out defaults and …