COLUMNISTS

 Stop faking holiness. You supported and defended a government that banned all activities of political parties THE LAST WORD: Last week, Oxfam Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, accused me of losing my soul by “supporting dictatorship” and “defending gross human rights abuses”. I asked her to name a single incident where …

Why the competition for power is always a quarrel over delusions rather than a contest over public policy I argued in this column last week that governments in poor countries cannot govern by delivering a large basket of public goods and services associated with a modern state because they don’t …

Why leaders of poor countries are not as cruel and selfish as Western media portray them In a moment of madness, I toyed with the idea of running for president of Uganda. I had the hubris to imagine I am the guy who can solve its myriad problems because President …

OPINION Why we should downplay anecdotal evidence by looking at scientific data that gives a broader picture So last week the cancer machine at Mulago Hospital collapsed, causing uproar in mainstream and social media. Every newspaper columnist or television/radio pundit of any heft weighed in. Daily Monitor devoted its whole …

Buganda’s marked prince If one day can define the life of a man, then Tuesday March 28, 1995 is that day for Besweri Mulondo, who died on April 5, 2016 aged 90 years, writes Kavuma Kaggwa. Back in 1995, Ugandans were drafting a new constitution through delegates to the Constituent …

Why in spite of registering good welfare outcomes we have made little progress at structural transformation I have just been reading the National Population and Housing Census (NHPC) report for 2014. It shows Uganda has registered many welfare improvements, but also reveals that President Yoweri Museveni’s dream of transforming Uganda …

FDC via Monitor and New Vision How the competition between Monitor and New Vision has important lessons for Besigye’s next presidential election I hope FDC takes the critical lesson from this story because many FDC officials downplay the need for organisational infrastructure to win, especially, presidential elections. They believe all …

By Joseph Henrich A novel view of human nature and society is generating important insights the foundation of our communities Imagine a game of survival that pits a troop of capuchin monkeys against you and your work colleagues. Both teams would be parachuted into a remote African forest, without any …

By Joseph E.Stiglitz A great divide appears to have opened up, based not so much on income, education, or gender as on generation Something interesting has emerged in voting patterns on both sides of the Atlantic: Young people are voting in ways that are markedly different from their elders. A …

By Anne-Marie slaughter and Elmira Bayrasli Unlocking human ingenuity is lifting millions out of poverty and helping improve national infrastructure Armenia and Turkey have long been at odds. Divided over a tragic past, the neighboring countries do not have diplomatic ties, and their border remains closed. Despite this, in November …