By Agather Atuhaire Barely 10 months to the 2016 elections, opposition activists, NGOs, and civil society organisations pushing for electoral reforms are getting desperate. Time is running out. There are about 45 issues raised in the proposals submitted to the executive and they require amending five laws which include the …
Read More »Kadaga’s worst moment
By Agather Atuhaire Why is Parliament afraid of media criticism? A letter from parliament directing media houses to have journalists who have covered parliament for over five years, replaced has sparked public fury and debate. It is seen as a disturbing trend in which parliament has tended towards gagging the …
Read More »Museveni’s 2016 election cabinet
By Agather Atuhaire and Ian Katusiime Analysts say Cabinet line up intended to reward loyalty, as well as winning 2016 votes On March 1, President Yoweri Museveni finally announced the long-awaited Cabinet reshuffle that had caused anxiety among politicians. All along, suspicion has been rife that the people who have …
Read More »Parliament in trouble with Museveni, again
By Agather Atuhaire A contest raging between President Yoweri Museveni and parliament over a new law on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) could result in a constitutional crisis if no one blinks. So far, in quite unusual style, the MPs have twice refused to do what Museveni wants – give him …
Read More »2016 `ghost voters’
By Agather Atuhaire Why MPs fear new law on registration Something unusual happened in parliament on November 25, 2014. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima and his deputy, James Baba, and the Permanent Secretary, Stephen Kagoda, were appearing before the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs to give …
Read More »Catch-22 in government compensation
By Agather Atuhaire Accused of cheating ordinary landowners, the government must find way to move on with projects Compensating affected persons is a major component of any government project. Up to Shs30 billion is budgeted to be spent on about 400 Project Affected Persons (PAPs) when the second phase of …
Read More »After Kyankwanzi: Museveni consolidates grip on MPs
By Agather Atuhaire Ask any National Resistance Movement (NRM) legislator what the biggest outcome of the recently concluded party retreat was and they will point you to the 15 resolutions the party reached. But for President Yoweri Museveni, nothing was bigger than the opportunity to capture the hearts of some …
Read More »Questions over Karuma dam
By Agather Atuhaire & Joan Akella US$ 2 billion project starts with no signed contract? Will electricity finally get cheaper when the 600MW Karuma Hydropower Dam is completed sometime in 2018?Possibly not. But a lot depends on outcome of a meeting that took place in China on Sept.27 between a …
Read More »The people are waking up
By Agather Atuhaire Kasese woman MP Winnie Kiiza’s recent by-election was the latest shocker of the ruling National Resistance Movement Party. A margin of about 40,000 votes by which Kiiza beat her NRM rival Rehema Muhindo wrapped up the despair of the part which has won only one out of …
Read More »Courting trouble over salaries
By Agather Atuhaire Cases pile up and corruption thrives as Uganda’s cash-strapped judiciary fails to attract judges Although up to 20 vacancies exist in the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and High Court, attempts to fill them are failing because qualified individuals are shunning the bench over poor pay and pension, …
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