Cover Story

By The Independent Team With big strides made against both malaria and pneumococcal disease, Rwanda is on track to meet UN Millennium Development Goal number four, the reduction of child mortality, officials say. “Rwanda is one of the few countries in Africa that stands a chance of reaching the MDG …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Museveni cash handouts have sparked controversy   On the night of Sept.13, Mandela National Stadium, Namboole in Kampala was a beehive of activity as the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) concluded elections for the party’s national leaders. The elections were chaotic and the results were late …

By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Election chaos and controversy that threatened to derail the NRM primaries two weeks ago continued to haunt the party up to September 12 when it elected its national leadership at Nambole Stadium. Tempers flared and the delegates held their breath as the fire-spitting NRM stalwart Maj. …

By Isaac Mufumba Alex Kamugisha is angry. After losing in the just concluded primaries for the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party flag-bearers’ race for the 2011 general election, he believes the Rujumbura County elections were rigged. Under the NRM constitution, Kamugisha is expected to drop his candidature and support …

By Isaac Mufumba On the morning of September 13, Vice President Gilbert Bukenya walked out of Namboole a lonely and dejected man. His situation was understand able. The elections to the post of Secretary General of the NRM had just left Bukenya with an egg on his face. So emphatic …

By The Independent Team Disagreed on; Northern and Luwero war Election strategy Will UPC departure boost or weaken IPC? When Olara Otunnu returned to Uganda in December 2009 after 23 years in exile, many political analysts predicted that his entry would boost the opposition interparty cooperation, which was then a …

BY Bonny Rwiyamilira A cloud of allegations is leading Rwanda to renege on earlier commitments to peacekeeping The chorus of denunciations over a leaked United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCR) report that accuses the Rwandan Army of genocide in the 1990s against Hutus in the Democratic Republic of …

By Matthew Stein Century old law scrapped symbolising new day for press and civil freedom. On the morning of Aug 25, 2010 a dozen or so journalists clamoured into the registrar’s dingy basement office at the Court of Appeals on Parliament Avenue in the hope of witnessing history. The registrar, …

By Matthew Stein During a recent press conference organised by the Uganda Journalists Association (UJA) in the wake of the Andrew Mwenda and Eastern Africa Media Institute sedition victory, Mwenda recalled his four days of detainment with pride and fondness.  ‘Going to jail for me was a very important milestone,’ …

Situation may get worse in 2011 when opposition enters race Kampala, Uganda | BY THE INDEPENDENT TEAM | Dan Mugarura, the Chairman for Electoral Affairs of the main opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), is a very worried man. ‘If you can shoot your own child and wife, …