Why Uganda’s pro-democracy activists get it wrong when they support radical extremist cults as alternatives to Museveni THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | In their misguided (even though, perhaps, well-intentioned) war against President Yoweri Museveni, many pro-democracy (but mostly pseudo-democracy) “activists” bring three fundamentally erroneous assumptions. First, that …
Read More »Here’s why Uganda needs special oversight mechanisms for COVID-related guidelines
COMMENT | Crispin Kaheru | It is increasingly clear that Uganda will head to the polls in 2021 despite some calls for the postponement of the elections until when THE COVID-19 pandemic wanes. In principle, elections thrive on three fundamental elements (call them liberties) The first is Freedom of movement (mobility), which …
Read More »Universal health coverage key to Uganda attaining middle income status
Adopt Universal Health Coverage to support the fight against COVID -19 and other related diseases in Uganda COMMENT | JOHN OKIIRA | According to the first global monitoring report published by the World Health Organization (WHO), universal health coverage is viewed as an intervention that enables all people to receive …
Read More »Impunity and corruption at Bank of Uganda
THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Last week, Bank of Uganda (BOU) issued a press statement in which it promised to appeal a ruling by the Court of Appeal in a case against businessman Sudhir Ruparelia over Crane Bank. Yet the statement did not deal with the …
Read More »Elections in the age of COVID
How a scientific election opens opportunities for the opposition in Uganda to perform better THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | There is a popular Chinese saying that a wise person looks for an opportunity in every problem while a stupid looks for a problem in every opportunity. …
Read More »The time to save the Ongo communal forest is now
Ongo communal forest becomes another victim of the COVI-19 pandemic; a case of custodians becoming destroyers COMMENT | Daniel Abowe | The Ongo communal forest in western Uganda is shared by four villages of Ogadra, Kibali, Onieni, and Abangi in Kasenene parish, Budongo sub-county, Masindi district. In 2017, ECO-TRUST supported the Ongo …
Read More »Inside Uganda’s election budget
Why opportunities that theoretically exist to cut wasteful public spending are politically impossible THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | This year, Uganda has been hit by three major disasters: a locust invasion, floods and COVID-19; a combination of which will shrink economic growth. COVID-19 has been the most …
Read More »Uganda’s misguided COVID response
Why the utopian dream of a COVID-free Uganda may have become a springboard for private profiteering THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | On June 24 morning I walked into Kikuubo, the epicenter of Uganda’s trade, in Kampala city. I found tens of thousands of people congested on …
Read More »One year later
Reflections on the passage of an icon who did so much to shape who I am today THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | It is exactly one year this week since our mother, Mrs Constance Kabakali Muhangazima, left us! While we were happy that she had retired from …
Read More »The trouble with URA
Why Museveni’s focus on corruption as the biggest problem of tax administration misses the big picture THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | During his national address after the reading of the 2020/21 Budget, President Yoweri Museveni decried the low ratio of tax to GDP in Uganda, which …
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