Tag Archives: democracy

By Andrew M. Mwenda Local councils have undermined the effectiveness of public administration without fostering the expected accountability dividend. In 2000, Frederick Golooba-Mutebi gave me a copy of his PhD thesis written at the London School of Economics titled “Decentralisation and Development Administration in Uganda.” It is a sobering account …

By Andrew Mwenda Past experiences show that America is willing to countenance democracy only when it produces outcomes favourable to its interests. The current protests in Egypt have placed the United States in a big dilemma. America is a leading advocate of democracy around the world. Yet often times, the …

By Andrew M. Mwenda I am in Rwanda to attend a dialogue between journalists and government on the state of media freedom in Rwanda. The subject of press freedom in Rwanda evokes strong passions especially given that democracy in Africa has been constructed like a religion. Debate ignores critical reforms …

By Andrew Mwenda Last Saturday, October 16, I was a guest on Capital Radio’s Capital Gang programme and our debate settled down to the subject of democracy in Africa ‘ specifically on Uganda and Rwanda. Like most debate on anything in Africa, the discussion did not use the facts of …

By Andrew M. Mwenda It is rare to read an opinion about politics in Uganda in our media whose premise is our reality. Largely because of the hegemonic influence of Western ideas, most commentators begin with an abstract theory of politics based largely on a context other than our own. …

By Andrew M. Mwenda   Critics of the government of Uganda accuse it of allocating less money to priority sectors like infrastructure, education and health. Although it is evident that the cost of political patronage and the presidency/first family has grown, it is not true that this has been at …

By Isaac Mufumba   Influential American group says President Yoweri Museveni is an obstacle to the continued growth and expansion of democracy and only works within the limits of formal institutions when his political interests are not at stake, the 2010 Freedom House Report, ‘Countries at the Crossroads’, says. Countries …

By Andrew M. Mwenda It is difficult to conduct a debate on anything in Africa whose premise is the reality on the ground. Most debate ‘ whether on public policies or political institutions, on democracy or accountability ‘ uses as its reference point, the experience of the Western world. Take …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Last week, President Yoweri Museveni was campaigning for Peter Sematimba as chairman for Rubaga Division. The president told the electorate there that they lack public services like roads, hospitals and sewerage systems because they have been sending him ‘the wrong people’ through elections, i.e. have been …

By Andrew M. Mwenda Why, given the apparent democratic space in Uganda compared to Rwanda, is the delivery of public goods and services in our country so poor compared to our southern neighbour? Colin Barigye, in last week’s issue argued that such services are easy to deliver under a dictatorship …