The costs and consequences of American primacy on a continent that gave birth to the modern world THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | By 1900, there was no part of this planet that was not directly (or somewhat indirectly) ruled from a European capital – London, Paris, The Hague, Berlin, Rome, …
Read More »The meaning of Trump victory
Why I welcome the victory of Donald Trump over Kamala Harris in the just concluded US elections THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The re-election of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States is a very welcome development for world peace. The US and other global liberal imperialist coalition …
Read More »Nyerere, 25 years later
Remembering the legacy of one of Africa’s most charismatic and iconic post-colonial statesmen THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Last week, I travelled to Tanzania to commemorate Nyerere Day. The event was held in Butiama, a small village in Northern Tanzania where Julius Nyerere was born. It marked 25 years since …
Read More »Africa and the curse of foreign ideas
How our nations’ pursuit of foreign ideologies is an impediment to our growth and transformation THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | By Andrew M. Mwenda | My friends and I have been engaged in a debate about the role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in development. There is widespread belief that development requires …
Read More »Understanding Brand Rwanda
What the inauguration of Kagame for another term told about the Rwanda he is building THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | And so it was that on August 11 we were in Kigali for President Paul Kagame’s inauguration. It happened that a well-known Rwandan with Ugandan roots hosted a wedding of …
Read More »Reply to Mwenda’s politics of ‘nugu’
What have we got out of Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort that was built under same arrangement for CHOGM 2007? COMMENT | KASIM SAJJABI | Refer to: “Uganda’s politics of `nugu’: How government decision to build a large international convention centre in Munyonyo, has been its best” (The Independent July 06). Andrew Mwenda, …
Read More »Lessons for Uganda from Afghanistan
It is now time to allow Al Shabab take over power in Somalia and form a government THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | It is almost two years since the United States withdrew from Afghanistan with its tail between its legs. This was in spite of spending $2.01 trillion on that …
Read More »The future of liberal democracy
Why efforts to export liberal democracy abroad are likely to undermine it at home – in the West THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | On September 25th, Italy held an election, which was won by the center-right coalition led by Giorgia Melon’s Brothers of Italy, a radical right-wing political …
Read More »The Lee Kuan Yew myth
Why I think Singapore would have transformed even with a less able leader THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | There is a widespread myth that Lee Kuan Yew, the legendary prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990, was singularly responsible for the transformation of that island city-state …
Read More »Uganda’s inflation a fetish
Why government policy to control inflation at 5% under whatever circumstances is misguided THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | A fetish is an inanimate object (like a small stone or wood curving of something like an animal) that is worshipped for its supposed magical powers. That is what …
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