Arrest of Makerere University students protesting tuition increment makes a joke of our democracy COMMENT | MICHAEL ABONEKA | The right to dissent is by and large an extension of the freedom of conscience, expression, movement, religion, assembly and association enshrined under Article 29 of the Constitution of Uganda, 1995. …
Read More »Disinformation, surveillance seen as growing threats to democracy: watchdog
Washington, United States | AFP | Governments around the world are increasingly using social media to manipulate elections and monitor their citizens, in a worrisome trend for democracy, a human rights watchdog said Tuesday. An annual report on online freedom by the nonprofit group Freedom House found evidence of “advanced social …
Read More »Mauritius premier seeks mandate in first poll since succeeding father
Port Louis, Mauritius | AFP | Mauritians will vote Thursday in an election that will see Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth vie to win a popular mandate two years after he was handed the top job when his father stepped down. Nearly a million voters are registered for the parliamentary election in …
Read More »European Union discuss Uganda’s parliament, democracy
Kampala, Uganda | Julius Businge | On Sept.19, the European Union in Uganda in conjunction with Makerere University held a one day event to discuss the role of Parliament in shaping representative democracy in Uganda. Held at Makerere University Main Hall, the event was to commemorate the International Day of Democracy, 2019. …
Read More »Will Tunisia continue to democratise?
Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Despite priding itself on being the sole country to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings as a functioning democracy, Tunisia faces challenges on its new political path. The cradle of the autocrat-ousting movements that swept the region nine years ago, the North African country has been …
Read More »Tunisia airs first ‘great debate’ ahead of presidential poll
Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Days before the first round of Tunisia’s presidential election, the fledgling democracy on Saturday began three nights of televised debates between the candidates, a rare event in the Arab world. The showdown between the 26 hopefuls over three nights is seen as the highlight of the …
Read More »Criminalising being poor
Why governance standards set in the West and imposed on poor countries are dangerous THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Last week, a friend posted on a social media platform an article by a US scholar about life in a democracy and an autocracy as imagined by Americans! …
Read More »U.S. ambassador calls for concrete action against gender based violence
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The United States Ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac has tasked government to come up with Concrete actions against the violence of women in the country. Malac made the remarks at the celebration of the 243rd anniversary of the independence of the United States of America …
Read More »Democracy beyond voting and protests
We should build systems that make us accountable to each other, just as governments account to citizens Project Syndicate | Sasha Fisher | For over a decade now, we have witnessed more elections and, simultaneously, less democracy. According to Bloomberg, elections have been occurring more frequently around the world. Yet …
Read More »Fallacy of better democracy
The claim that democracy fares better in the West than in Africa is a mistake | STEVEN FRIEDMAN | One day, if they follow instructions, Africa’s new democracies will grow up to be “real” like those of Western Europe and North America. This assumption makes little sense – but it …
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