COLUMNISTS

THE LAST WORD: How Africa’s obsession with ‘governance’ issues is too much ado over little or nothing THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Let me articulate a heresy: the argument that Africa’s failure to prosper economically is fundamentally due to “governance” i.e. that our leaders are greedy, selfish, …

   THE LAST WORD: How the nullification of the presidential elections in Kenya has put that country on a slippery slope Andrew M. Mwenda | THE LAST WORD | The Kenya Supreme Court annulled the election of President Uhuru Kenyatta and ordered a re-run because the balloting and transmission of results …

THE LAST WORD: How the obsession with our internal weaknesses has obscured the international dimension of Africa’s problems Andrew M. Mwenda | THE LAST WORD | Now in his 32nd year as president, Yoweri Museveni faces a dilemma. Uganda is still a very poor rural agricultural economy in spite of …

How the U.S. president has exposed the hypocrisy of his nation’s media and academia Andrew M. Mwenda | THE LAST WORD | Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump did what he does best: hold a mirror to his country. And the American elite hate the image they see of themselves. …

A new Mulago arises: The challenge the new hospital will face and what can be done to protect it from Uganda’s politics THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |  Last week, I visited the new specialised maternal and neonatal center being constructed at Mulago Hospital. With a built up …

  KENYA, RWANDA: How voting in these two East African nations reflects our understanding of democracy THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | East Africa has recently witnessed two presidential elections – in Rwanda and in Kenya. The two nations are different. Rwanda is a small country with one …

How Africans have been mentally enslaved to hate everything about themselves and how Rwanda is defying it THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda |“In these bloody days and frightful nights when the urban warrior can find no face more despicable than his own, no ammunition more deadly than self hate …

Why Kagame won 99%  | How Rwandans reacted to the west’s war against the symbol of their nation’s success Kigali, Rwanda | ANALYSIS | ANDREW M. MWENDA  |  Last week, Paul Kagame won presidential elections in Rwanda by 98.6%. Historically, such margins have only been won in countries like Saddam …

  When land is understood in cultural and political terms, its value is not only monetary COMMENT |MWAMBUTSYA NDEBESA| Tensions over land threaten state integrity in Uganda. The proposed constitutional land amendment seems to have generated a lot of passion and tension both in the political and non-political class in …

Hubris of The Economist: How this British newspaper ignores Rwanda’s context in its neocolonial desire to define that country THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | According to The Economist, a United Kingdom-based highly opinionated newsmagazine, President Paul Kagame runs a tight autocratic political system in Rwanda. The Economist …