By Mwambustya Ndebesa President Yoweri Museveni has applied to the Registration Service Bureau for exclusive intellectual property rights over the Banyankore Children’s rhyme song under the title “Another Rap”. For the non-Banyankore the general perception is that the two songs/rhymes/poems were a composition of Museveni. Those two songs/rhymes are old …
Read More »Looking for democracy in wrong places
By Andrew M. Mwenda I am in Rwanda to attend a dialogue between journalists and government on the state of media freedom in Rwanda. The subject of press freedom in Rwanda evokes strong passions especially given that democracy in Africa has been constructed like a religion. Debate ignores critical reforms …
Read More »16 days of activism against gender-based violence
By Jerry P. Lanier Violence against women touches Uganda just as it does every other nation. Gender-based violence is a global pandemic that cuts across all borders – ethnic, racial, class, religious, and educational level. It can threaten women and girls at any point in their life cycle – from …
Read More »No racism in South Africa but strict compliance with the rules
By Jon Qwelane I respond to the article ‘Apartheid in post-apartheid South Africa’ by Andrew M. Mwenda (The Independent, November 12-18, 2010). Mwenda’s piece is much like the proverbial curate’s egg “ it is good in places. My summation is that it is very bad in the places where it is …
Read More »Understanding Museveni’s grip on Uganda
By Andrew M. Mwenda With the nominations for LC5 candidates done, Sunday Vision reported that the ruling NRM has candidates in all the 112 districts; FDC has candidates in only 40 districts, UPC 27 and DP 13. The combined opposition has candidates in only 80 districts. Meanwhile, there are 118 …
Read More »Open letter to MP Ahabwe and similar politicians
By Justice Prof. G.W. Kanyeihamba My friend, Dr Abel Rwendeire, was one of my opponents in the Constituent Assembly elections which I won. In the 1996 Parliamentary elections, I did not stand but supported his opponent whom he defeated. Nevertheless, before and after those elections and minor differences, we have …
Read More »Apartheid in post-apartheid South Africa
By Andrew M. Mwenda On October 24th, I went to Entebbe Airport to catch a South African Airways flight via Johannesburg to Namibia. Airline officials said I needed a transit visa through South Africa. I explained that I was not going to enter the country, only to change flights in …
Read More »Buganda trading her support for a political ransom
By Joseph Ossiya You cannot change what you will not confront. When one considers the historical aspects of the birth of the entity Uganda, they are fraught with political landmines and buried skeletons, the types of which have the capacity to unravel its very identity and challenge its existence. The …
Read More »How growth can benefit the masses
By Andrew M. Mwenda On Wednesday last week, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) published results of its National Household Survey which showed that the proportion of people living in poverty has declined from 31 to 23%. It was good news for President Yoweri Museveni who had just been nominated …
Read More »Dictatorships too have not helped Africa to develop
By Kennedy Opalo What is good for the goose ought to be good for the gander or so you would think. In an era when the rise of China and India is forcing the question what the relationship wealth creation has to the type of government; whether democratic or authoritarian …
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