In The Magazine

By Andrew M. Mwenda Writing about the 2009/10 budget in this column last week, I argued that Uganda has achieved allocative efficiency without realising technical efficiency. The result: Although large sums of the budget are allocated to priority sectors like health, education, infrastructure and energy, these funds are diverted by …

By Gaaki Kigambo Of what relevance is the death of Africa’s longest serving president Gabon’s Omar Bongo to Uganda? It is sure to stoke a running debate about the state of President Yoweri Museveni even as he invests every effort to cling to power, which he has already held for …

By Charles Odoobo Bichachi Olara A. Otunnu is currently President of LBL Foundation for Children, a New York-based independent international organisation devoted to promoting protection, hope, healing and education for children in communities devastated by war. He is widely acclaimed for his leadership, vision, and extensive contribution in the fields …

By Onghwens Kisangala The opposition in Uganda has been blamed for not making the right preparations for the Presidential and Parliamentary general elections in 2011, resulting in public disillusionment about both the opposition and government. FDC Vice President for eastern Uganda, Salaam Musumba, explained to The Independents Onghwens Kisangala why …

By John Njoroge & Ogwens Kisangala In 2001 parliament passed the National Honours and Awards Act. This led to the formation of a nine-member Presidential Awards Committee responsible for vetting and approving Ugandans proposed to be crowned heroes. Since 1987, Uganda has had 22 Heroes Day celebrations. It is not …

By Andrew M. Mwenda The 2009/10 budget in Uganda once again presents the puzzle to many analysts of our nation. In spite of a world-wide recession (advanced economies declined by 7.5% in the last quarter of 2008), Uganda’s economy grew by 7%, an impressive performance by any standard. Indeed, growth …

By Bob Roberts Katende Last week President Yoweri Museveni delivered the state of the nation address to the country. In his address, he provided impressive figures on how the country had improved in various sectors of the economy. The president reminded the country of how the economy has stayed insulated …

By Ron Atinkson In this second part of our commentary revisiting Operation Lightning Thunder in Garamba, DR Congo, Ronald R. Atkinson tells the untold story of UPDF-LRA clashes, deaths and survival in the jungles. A month after Operation Lightning Thunder began, in mid-January, I began hearing accounts of what was …

By Onghwens Kisangala For the first time in two decades, the Acholi sub-region has experienced about two years of relative peace. With people leaving the camps to resettle in their ancestral homesteads, the challenges of this process is yet another hurdle as John Baptist Odama, the Archbishop of Gulu Archdiocese …

By Rosebell Kagumire In December 2008, 15 km from the Ugandan border a British doctor saved the life of a teenage boy in Rutshuru in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, by amputating his shoulder. Dr. David Nott had succeeded in carrying out a life saving operation using his mobile phone …