COLUMNISTS

By Andrew.M.Mwenda Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf had promised not to run for a second term. However, she recently changed her mind. In 2002, Mwai Kibaki of Kenya had made a similar promise only to renege on it immediately after his election. Now, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, has abandoned …

By Andrew M. Mwenda As the elections for next year get closer, the contours of its alignments are becoming apparent. The election of Norbert Mao to lead DP and Olara Otunnu to lead UPC ‘ Uganda’s founding political parties ‘ adds an important dimension to the leadership of NRM by …

By Bob Kasango The troubling history of the Catholic Church and abuse of children has Pope Benedict embroiled in yet another pedophile scandal. This time it started with Pope Benedict himself when as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and his handling of the case of a priest accused of pedophilia. Cardinal Joseph …

By Bob Kasango Eugene Terreblanche, the 69-year-old White South African supremacist, was attacked on Saturday evening at his home on his farm near the town of Ventersdorp, North West province in South Africa. South Africa’s history is littered with killings and so the killing of a White farmer far away …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Mugisha Muntu’s challenge to Kizza Besigye for the presidential candidature of FDC reveals the major dilemma facing the opposition in Uganda. Besigye has twice demonstrated extraordinary courage by challenging President Yoweri Museveni. Yet the factors that made him galvanise Ugandans in support of his candidature also …

By Joan Akello Aggressive Besigye, diplomatic Otunnu, ambitious Mao Since the main opposition parties in Uganda formed a joint platform, fielding a joint candidate in the 2011 presidential candidate has been top of their agenda. The leaders of the parties are supposed to unanimously agree on a leader from among …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Let me speculate. There are always ominous signs when a leader or regime is about to collapse. Take the example of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: There was the rum’s heart; then Cleopatra’s dream and later the soothsayer’s warning. There were equally also many ominous signs in 1969 …

By Article 29 Coalition Cabinet is currently reviewing the proposed amendments to the Press and Journalist Act 2001, which is the law that governs media practice. Like all citizens and well-meaning people in the government, every Ugandan journalist wants to work in a media industry that is responsible, respected, and …

By Isaac Mufumba The International Criminal Court Bill 2006, that was passed on March 10, (more than five years after it was first tabled before parliament) continues to raise eyebrows. If President Yoweri Museveni approves it, the Uganda’s War Crimes Court will become operational and pave the way for the …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The killing of three Baganda youths by President Yoweri Museveni’s security detail at Kasumbi tombs is shocking but not surprising. There is a quiet battle between Museveni and Mengo. The president knows that Mengo is becoming a major pillar of resistance to his authority. Although this …