COLUMNISTS

By Kanayo F. Nwanze An open letter to African Union heads of state on the occasion of the 23rd African Union Summit Judging from the daily outpouring of commentary, opinions and reports, you would think that there were two African continents. One of them is the new land of opportunity, …

By Kavuma-Kaggwa This time, commemoration of Buganda’s ` day of darkness’ had special significance On May 24, 2014 the Baganda from all areas of Buganda converged at Mengo Palace to remember May 24, 1966, the day of “darkness”, when Milton Obote, who was the Executive Prime Minister, ordered his troop …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How Lincoln made history on slavery and Museveni succumbed to the pressures for social conservatism I have been forced by friends and fans to reply to Joseph Bossa’s otherwise good defence of former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (The Independent May 02-08 and Daily Monitor May 11). …

By Yusuf K. Serunkuma Nothing wrong with artists trying to respond to the pervasive beat of western power, capital, and tastes Early this year, local Ugandan artistes brawled with radio and television music show hosts. The local music producers and singers were unhappy that local disk jockeys appeared to favour …

By Elizabeth J. Walt & John Dabney The power to surrender power When President Joyce Banda spoke at Nelson Mandela’s funeral this past December, she reflected on what she believed to be the most important thing that she had learned from Madiba, “leadership is about falling in love with the …

By Ahmadou Moustapha Ndiaye Can Uganda’s pension system contribute to reducing vulnerabilities? Today, Uganda has 15 million people in its workforce. Out of these, 2.5 million are employed in formal wage jobs. Around 750,000 employees (all in formal jobs) qualify for retirement benefits under the country’s current pension system. The …

By Andrew M. Mwenda How the arguments advanced to explain nations that have rapidly transformed are the same for the nations that failed What made South Korea (and Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia) develop so rapidly that was absent in sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri …

By Morris DC Komakech The debate raging between top American entrepreneur and former Microsoft CEO, Bills Gates, and the world celebrated micro-economist, Jeffrey D. Sachs of the Earth Institute at Columbia University touches on the core of Global Health. (Refer to Uganda’s The Independent magazine: Why Jeffrey Sachs matter by …

By Jude Kagoro Why homosexuality and alternative sexuality will be tolerated in Uganda in the near future In the course of my recent working visit to Uganda I, on countless occasions, found myself holding discussions on the Anti-homosexuality Bill (now law). This was not surprising because the discourse surrounding the …

By Peter Nyanzi The unaddressed issues in President Museveni’s State of the Nation address At any particular time, there are five things that should be of utmost interest to any head of state.  These are the things they are expected to talk about at any opportunity; more so during mandatory …