Tag Archives: Agather Atuhaire

By Agather Atuhaire Tough finance law flat-foots Finance Ministry It is general election time. Politicians need money. But the shilling is fast depreciating. The budget is performing poorly. Although the government has put up Shs 1.4 trillion worth of TBs and bonds, it has attracted interest worth barely Shs 400 …

By Agather Atuhaire Just six years ago, Henry Peter Mayega was a member of the opposition Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) party. Then he switched sides to the ruling NRM party. Today he is Uganda’s ambassador designate to the Peoples republic of China. At any time these days, Mayega is all …

By Agather Atuhaire Quiet general was chief of defense forces for 10 years On June 7, 2003, President Yoweri Museveni who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces took a decision that would have far-reaching implications for the Uganda army and the country. He removed Maj. Gen. James Kazini …

By Agather Atuhaire Why experts want both Besigye and Mbabazi to contest Journalist Daniel Kalinaki starts his book titled, Kizza Besigye and Uganda’s Unfinished Revolution with an April 2011 meeting between former FDC President Kizza Besigye and Western donors and diplomats. At the meeting, the author says Besigye was scolded …

By Agather Atuhaire Why Besigye has its vote, Muntu its heart Weeks after Uganda’s main opposition party voted retired Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye to be its flag-bearer in the 2016 presidential elections, members remain divided over the likely implications of the decision. Within the FDC, The Independent has been told, …

By Agather Atuhaire 2016 parliament election cycle tosses planning into the unknown Who will pass Uganda’s next budget? That is the question on the lips of finance policy makers since unforeseen procedures related to the new budgeting cycle in an election year started emerging.  Under the old budgeting cycle, the …

By Agather Atuhaire How politics defeated financial logic In the run-up to the last presidential and parliamentary elections in 2011, Irish Times reporter Jody Clarke wrote a story under the headline “How to keep winning elections –Uganda style”. It reported on the frustration caused by last-minute demarcation of new electoral …

By Agather Atuhaire How dangerous can confusion between Leader of Opposition and Opposition Chief Whip be? But not one opposition MP followed him out.   Only four of the 67 opposition MPs ended up outside with their leader. In fact, even the Opposition Chief Whip, Cecilia Ogwal (Dokolo Woman) who is …

By Agather Atuhaire President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Yoweri Museveni’s talks during the former’s three-day visit cleared huddles that could make trade between the two countries smoother.The major outcome of the talks was the agreement between the two presidents over the route of the planned oil pipeline expected to cost …

By Agather Atuhaire Activists should not have expected much from Parliament If civil society organisations and the opposition still had any hopes left for electoral reforms, they were this July dashed by the report of Parliament’s Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee on the Constitutional Amendment Bill. The Bill attracted criticism …