NEWS ANALYSIS

How it could boost basketball on the continent ANALYSIS | JOHN NAURIGHT AND SARAH ZIPP | Former US president Barack Obama’s decision to invest in the National Basketball Association’s Africa venture reflects a lot about his past – his basketball playing youth and his African roots. It also signals that …

Analysts on how the former guerilla leader practices self-preservation after 35 years in power Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | News this week of a coup in Guinea surprised many people not least its victim President Alpha Conde whose photos of him looking disheveled in a half buttoned shirt seated …

An over-confident president, weak police, and political intrigue Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Late evening on July 23, two men were riding home on a bicycle when they were ambushed and attacked by machete-wielding assailants. John Kabanda and Vincent Kalya were both hit on the head and left to …

Shanksville, US | DENG XIANLAI & XU JIANMEI – XINHUA |  The weather turned crisp and clear after a sudden downpour that sheeted the site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Airlines Flight 93, the fourth plane of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, crashed 20 years ago, claiming all lives onboard. Windy …

Entebbe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Children’s Surgical Hospital in Entebbe municipality, the first of its kind in Uganda, has started bearing fruits less than five months since it opened. Built at a cost of 117 billion shillings, the hospital was built under a public private partnership with the ministry of …

Beijing, China | XINHUA | Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, which ushered in a global war on terror. Despite the progress made in international efforts to fight terrorism, the world remains beset with its tangible threats. If history is any guide, military predominance and hegemony …

Beijing’s outreach is largely driven by the desire for support on the international stage from the continent’s 54 countries | THIERRY PAIRAULT | For all the talk of China’s growing presence in Africa, its economic engagement is surprisingly limited. In 2020, Africa accounted for 4 percent of China’s trade with …

Opposition fear foreign-based critics could become new targets of government following disappearance of notorious Turkey-based vlogger Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | The Independent recently held a very revealing interview with the Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, on the whereabouts of Fred Kajjubi Lumbuye; the missing critic of the government and …

Donors offer relief but locals have different ideas Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | The north-eastern sub-region of Karamoja is notorious for its perennial food shortage. And once again humanitarian aid is flowing in. This time, the aid is in form of a Shs16.69billion (€4 million) project known as the …

Number of school dropouts likely to increase due to teenage pregnancies Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | The Ministry of Education and Sports has yet to announce the dates for schools to re-open again after being shut down at the height of the Second wave of COVID-19. But the delay …