Move would force citizens, companies, and policymakers to bring all Africans into the financial sector By Carl Manlan India has lately been pursuing an ambitious goal: a cashless economy. Despite early missteps and frustrations, it will turn out to be a change for the better for the country’s 1.31 billion …
Read More »COMMENT: Insights into Afrobarometer polling
Asserting that ordinary people cannot form valid opinions on issues of democracy or governance is over-stated By Francis Kibirige The Independent magazine Issue Number 469 of May 12 – 18 carried an article titled `Afrobarometer: Right poll, wrong people.’ This article raised two major issues relating to public opinion polling. …
Read More »Car window tints can be dangerous
After years of intermittent, mainly soft window tinting, the practice is getting bolder and the shades of tint darker. If the earlier shades were lighter; allowing in more than 70% light, the current trend is for darker shades; sometimes letting in about only 5% light. We will not go into …
Read More »Happiness and meaning in life
Discovering the sweet spot where one does not have to give up one for the other By Thaddeus Metz On the face of it, there are many situations in which doing something that makes us happier fails to make our lives more meaningful. Some recent examples from my life include: …
Read More »COMMENT: Bitter truth about sugar
COMMENT: Uganda’s claim to have surplus sugar is mistaken and obscures a bigger regional problem Uganda and Kenya are learning a bitter truth about ordinary added sugar used in homes, industries, and service facilities. Just six months ago in September 2016, the two countries were fighting a trade war over …
Read More »INTERVIEW: High-tech enterprises to benefit from speedy customs clearance
Kenneth Kamukago is the CEO of Afro Freight Clearing and Forwarding Company based in Kampala. He shared with the Independent’s Agnes E Nantaba about the growth opportunities in the clearing and forwarding industry. What are the key elements in your management philosophy? Management is about defining team work and understanding …
Read More »Rwakafuzi: free justice for the poor
Ladislaus Kiiza Rwakafuzi is a human rights advocate. For more than 25 years he has provided free services to the needy whose rights have been abused. Beneficiaries include victims of the September 2009 Buganda riots victims, suspects in the murder of Muslim clerics, and others. But the 54-year says he …
Read More »AVIATION: Open the East African skies
Aviation experts say the Open Skies initiative will increase passenger traffic and increase connectivity in the region Flying from Entebbe to Nairobi is generally considered as a massive undertaking. This is because a passenger has to pay an average of US$400 (Shs1.4million) for a return ticket for a journey that …
Read More »Art with message
Why are artists finally ditching tourist art? In the heat of the recent tide of arts and culture festivals in Kampala, one can easily conclude that this is an unprecedented moment in the arts scene. This impression could be because, until recently, there has been no coverage of art news. …
Read More »Moderate drinking may not ward off heart disease
Many people believe that having a glass of wine with their meal – really a metaphor for moderate drinking any kind of alcohol — will protect them from heart disease. But a hard look at the evidence finds little support for that. That’s the conclusion of a new research review …
Read More »