Cover Story

By Peter Nyanzi Extravagance, high expenditure eroding workers’ savings As the NSSF top bosses sing high praises about their financial statements for 2011, financial experts have started punching holes in it. In a statement issued last week, NSSF managing director Richard Byarugaba said for the first time in 10 years, …

By Agather Atuhaire President desperately fails to control a rebel parliament Barely a year into his fourth five-year term, President Yoweri Museveni for the first time in his 26-year rule appears to be losing his grip. Ten of his 15 top ministers have either resigned over alleged corruption or face …

By Haggai Matsiko Corporation is sinking as former star manager faces probe The news out of Plot 39 Jinja Road, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) head office in Kampala, is not good. In several interviews with The Independent, top officials of the corporation have sought to allay widespread …

By Haggai Matsiko Tullow, CNOOC and Total get $2.9 bn oil deal amidst allegation of corruption What could prompt Tullow, CNOOC and, Total to disregard a raft of cases in international courts, a court injunction at home and a resolution of parliament and sign a deal with Uganda? Money. Possibly …

By Eriasa Mukiibi Sserunjogi Being allowed to hold rallies recently after a long unofficial ban meant the jury was always out on opposition leader Kizza Besigye. Would he pull crowds? Would his message resonate with the public? Or would he self-destruct? At the rallies, it became immediately clear that supporters …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati As the National Resistance Army/Movement (NRM) celebrates 26 years in power, residents of Katebwa, a village that falls in Bunyangabu county, Kabarole district, which was at the heart of the bush war are yet to enjoy the benefits of their support for the fighters about 30 …

By Agather Atuhaire Why the economy is the main loser The government announcement of a new electricity tariff regime on Jan.12 could still backfire but, on paper, it looks like a perfect stroke. Part of the problem is that the tariff regime does not address the real problems in Uganda’s …

By Andrew M. Mwenda But who benefits most from subsidies to UMEME? A cabinet sitting on Wednesday Jan. 11 discussed increasing electricity tariffs by 40 percent. Cabinet should remove these subsidies altogether because they are not economically sustainable and benefit the rich at the expense of poor citizens. Over the …

By Agather Atuhaire Museveni’s New Year message shows lack of focus and solutions to urgent problems, experts say On November 30, 2011, the Euro Rate Forecast, a website designed to advise clients about currency valuing noted that the Euro had shot up by 2.25 cents to the dollar and called …

By Haggai Matsiko UK and Germany firms use government officials to grab 20,000 peasants’ land As people celebrate Christmas, it is a luxury that others can even hardly afford to think about and have spent their last 10 Christmas like that—sad, poor and displaced. One of them is Mzee Matayo …