By Andrew M. Mwenda Since April, Ugandans have sustained protests over many issues including wages, commodity prices and foreign exchange rates Here is widespread discontent in most of Uganda against President Yoweri Museveni and the NRM. The mainstream opposition should, however, not think that this automatically means there is widespread …
Read More »Why NATO overthrew Gaddafi
By Andrew M. Mwenda MI6 was spying on Libyan dissidents in Britain and passing the information to Gaddafi New revelations of the secret relationship between Libyan intelligence under Maummar Al Gaddafi and America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Britain’s MI6 are shocking but not surprising. America and Britain have always …
Read More »HRW report misunderstood Gacaca
By Andrew M. Mwenda In the last 14 years and with US $2.1 billion spent, less than 50 cases have been heard in the Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any ideas of them …
Read More »Inside Uganda’s democratic contests
By Andrew M. Mwenda The disastrous collapse of public services under NRM is a product of the way in which democracy has evolved rather than its absence On Saturday September 24, I went to my old school, Busoga College Mwiri, to attend celebrations marking its 100th birthday. It was a …
Read More »Gaddafi is gone, what next?
By Andrew M. Mwenda I hope that my prediction is wrong because future generations of Libyans will be happy that I was wrong. I am writing this column on the morning of Monday August 22nd. By the time it is read, Libyan leader Muammar El Gaddafi might no longer be …
Read More »When is a group marginalised?
By Andrew M. Mwenda In an ethically diverse state, change in government is not change in governance; it’s replacement of one looting coalition by another. A lot of studies show that societies, nations and communities that have high levels of ethnic, racial or religious diversity tend to be poor at …
Read More »Give ordinary peasants a voice
By Andrew M. Mwenda Politics everywhere tends to be rigged in favour of the powerful. But in Uganda it has been made worse. Last week, the mass media reported that the vast majority of rural Ugandans are at risk of malnutrition, especially in the northern region. It was a simple …
Read More »Besigye’s choice on Shs 20m bribe
By Andrew M. Mwenda The only difference between our politicians is one of power, not policy; eating, not serving Last week, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) held a meeting to discuss whether its members of the 8th Parliament who took the Shs20m “bribe” from President Yoweri Museveni to pass …
Read More »Who will defend the rural poor?
By Andrew M. Mwenda The benefits of high food prices go to the rural poor (the majority) while the costs are incurred by urbanites, a minority. As I write this article, food prices in Uganda are falling rapidly. For instance, the farm-gate price of a kilogram of maize in Kiryandongo …
Read More »NATO-imposed regime won’t liberate Libya
It is difficult for a foreign country to dismantle the military, administrative and intelligence infrastructure of another country and establish a stable political order thereafter Last week the French parliament voted to continue their country’s involvement in NATO airstrikes in Libya to remove Muammar Gaddafi. I hold a strong scepticism …
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