Cover Story

By Independent Team President Yoweri Museveni built his government on its reputed ability to provide security. For many Ugandans, the knowledge that nobody is going to break into their house in the middle of the night to rob them, or waylay them by the roadside to snatch their little possessions …

By Obed K Katureebe Since Mr Chris Rutimbirayo Rwakasisi walked out of Luzira Maximum Security Prison in Kampala on January 20, speculation has been rife as why President Yoweri Museveni pardoned the man who spent 20 years on death row. Rwakasisi, who was the minister for security in the late …

By The Independent Team Muwanga at murder scene                                                                Witness sees victims being shot This is an edited version of the judgement of court which convicted Chris Rwakasisi on murder and sentenced him to death. Rwakasisi, the former Minister of State for Security in the President’s Office, was one of the …

By David Tinyefuza Last week, we published views of seven generals (both retired and serving) on Operation Lightning Thunder. They criticised the ongoing operation against Kony’s LRA rebels as poorly planned and likely to achieve nothing significant. Coordinator of Intelligence Gen. David Tinyefuza who commanded Operation North in ‘90s writes …

By Andrew M. Mwenda On December 14, 2008 the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) launched Operation Lightning Thunder on the camps of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Later President Yoweri Museveni, in a national broadcast aired on radio …

By The Independent Team Here, The Independent talked to Maj. Gen. Zed Maruru, former army chief-of-staff under Gen. Tito Okello’s short-lived government. Maruru is an air force pilot trained in Czechoslovakia and at Bracknell Staff College of the Royal Air Force of United Kingdom, one of the world’s most respected …

By The Independent Reporter The Independent talked to two retired military officers; one from Britain, one from the United States. Both have worked for the Special Forces of their respective countries. According to these experts, the way UPDF employed its Special Forces in the operation demonstrated a lack of understanding …

By Andrew M. Mwenda  The inside story On December 4, 2008, President Yoweri Museveni called Finance Minister Ezra Suruma and ordered him to suspend the Managing Director of National Social Security Fund (NSSF), David Chandi Jamwa and his deputy, Mondo Kagonyera. For months, Suruma had been psychologically paralysed and unable …

By Andrew M. Mwenda A story of intrigue, bad weather, double-crossing   First, it was his Kaunda suit, then his walking stick, later his military pips, now it is his guitar. Over the years, the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) has captured many of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army leader, Joseph …

By Andrew M. Mwenda What does the appointment of internal affairs minister, Ruhakana Rugunda, as Uganda’s permanent representative at the United Nations imply? Some people believe that this is the beginning of the end of Rugunda’s long political career. Others insist this could mark his rise to a more prominent …