THE LAST WORD

By Andrew M. Mwenda Uganda is now caught up in the contradiction of extreme wealth alongside excessive poverty and extreme luxury alongside mass deprivation After a long period without any public issue around which to galvanise popular discontent in their favour, the opposition in Uganda has finally found one in …

By Andrew M. Mwenda A great business can close in infancy, not because it is loss making but because it cannot get credit to overcome its initial cash flow constraints. Here is the performance of Uganda’s banks in 2010: Out of the 22 registered banks, 14 made profits, two broke …

By Andrew M. Mwenda An African leader who fights corruption will face resistance from powerful vested interests using democracy to subvert his reforms Next month, Rwanda commemorates 17 years since the genocide. Most of its citizens look back at what they have achieved with both pride and humility. The society …

We need to take responsibility for ourselves, to empower our people. External assistance is okay. But we need to begin with our own solutions. And so it was that on my flight from Amsterdam to Dubai I stumbled upon a documentary on poverty in Malawi by singer Madonna. Like most …

By Andrew .M. Mwenda Foreign intervention should not seek to win the war for Libyans. It should give them the tools to do so themselves. As street protests across the Arab world are forcing governments in that region to reform their authoritarian ways, the ones in Libya have degenerated into …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Thus like many millenarian cults, many people supporting Besigye believed in their own self-righteousness and assumed everyone shared their outrage Last week, opposition leader Kizza Besigye, claimed to have won the February presidential election. He claimed that by the time his own party’s tally centre was …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Will Museveni use his 2011 national victory to retire gracefully like Mandela and Nyerere or entrench himself in power like Fidel Castro and Gaddafi? Now that President Yoweri Museveni has won re-election with an increased mandate, what should he do? This election has been important for …

By Andrew M. Mwenda “Where Besigye projected himself as a national statesman, Museveni positioned himself as a local politician. Where Besigye articulated a grand, national vision, Museveni focused on mundane local issues. Besigye came across as idealistic with a high sense of morality; Museveni was realistic, pragmatic and practical if …

By Andrew M. Mwenda What Uganda needs to change is not just a political party; it needs a social movement whose organisation starts from the village. This has been the most peaceful campaign in Uganda ever but equally the most expensive in our history. President Yoweri Museveni requisitioned for Shs600 …

By Andrew Mwenda Using robust data, it is theoretically possible but realistically improbable Besigye can- not just win, but force Museveni to a second round. On February 18th, Ugandans will go to the polls to elect a new president. All the last three elections have been a two-horse race between …