As democracies wrestle with problems they once seemed to manage, authoritarians watch with satisfaction COMMENT | CHRIS PATTEN | The most compelling argument for liberal democracy is that it empowers citizens to choose their own leaders, effectively placing the country’s present and future in voters’ hands. The system is underpinned by …
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The prosecution and likely conviction of a popular, respected, charismatic author, will probably backfire COMMENT | SHASHI THAROOR | Last month, the lieutenant governor of Delhi granted the police permission to prosecute Indian activist and prize-winning author Arundhati Roy under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Back in 2010, Roy said …
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#OccupyParliament, #RejectFinanceBill are an opportunity for a new mode of emancipatory democracy COMMENT | JOEL MUKISA | If you asked a think-tank team leader or a social sciences professor at Kabarak or Nairobi University if they anticipated the scale and popularity of the protests that rocked East Africa’s economic powerhouse Kenya …
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Orientation around it would be a better approach to development, climate action, and global governance COMMENT | GILBERT F. HOUNGBO & LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA | It is easy to be pessimistic in these fraught, uncertain times. Instability is on the rise, and conflicts are unfolding on our screens every …
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Politicians and activists who tout the importance of work-life balance shouldn’t impose rigidity on them COMMENT | TODD G. BUCHHOLZ | Gig-economy firms and workers – or “giggers” – are like magicians and alchemists, only their tricks are real. Although physicists assure us that new matter cannot be created, the gig …
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The Washington Consensus has been wobbly for some time, challenged by abundant research COMMENT | DANI RODRIK, LAURA TYSON & THOMAS FRICKE | Paradigm shifts in mainstream economic thinking usually accompany crises demanding new answers, as occurred after stagflation – low growth and high inflation – gripped advanced economies in the …
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Many people have less reason to identify themselves only with what the workplace affords them COMMENT | JAMES LIVINGSTON | Critics of identity politics argue that close attention to matters of race, gender, and sexuality distracts from “real” politics, by which they typically mean the struggle between labour and capital over …
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Religious and cultural leaders must lead on the path of strengthening and guiding the family COMMENT | JOSHUA KITAKULE | In today’s rapidly changing world, the traditional African extended family structure stands as a beacon of resilience and strength amidst modern challenges. While divorce rates rise and parenting struggles intensify, the …
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Settling the Palestinian Question could consider `de-Zionisation’ of Israel as propagated by a number of scholars COMMENT | NNANDA KIZITO SSERUWAGI | At the beginning of this year, Uganda hosted the two twin global conferences of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Third South Summit. Chairing both the NAM and G77 + …
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Is the NRM now a mourdant organisation hurtling towards history’s oft unflattering heap of once promising African Political Organisations? COMMENT | ANDREW BESI | Last month, President Museveni arrived in Bukedea district to officially open Bukedea Teaching Hospital constructed, in its entirety, by House Speaker Anita Magogo, more commonly known as …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price