How Besigye’s hold over FDC has undermined its pretence to be a vehicle for democracy THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | “Follow an idea from its birth to its triumph,” Bertrand de Jouvenel observed in his 1948 volume, On Power, “and it becomes clear that it came to power at …
Read More »A frank memo to Winnie Byanyima
Stop faking …. you supported and defended a government that banned all activities of political parties THE LAST WORD by Andrew Mwenda Last week, Oxfam Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, accused me of losing my soul by “supporting dictatorship” and “defending gross human rights abuses”. This was after she said police …
Read More »Lessons for Uganda from Rwanda
Why Uganda needs to reintroduce a broad-based government but this time handle it differently It is impossible for anyone to convince Dr. Kizza Besigye and his supporters that he lost the just concluded elections. It is equally impossible to convince President Yoweri Museveni and his supporters that they did not …
Read More »Why I prayed for Besigye to win
How Museveni’s victory saved Besigye from confronting the hard reality of Uganda’s politics President Yoweri Museveni has again defeated his main rival, Dr. Kizza Besigye, in an election the opposition claim was stolen. Whatever the merits of this accusation, Besigye’s defeat is also his greatest triumph. It has saved him …
Read More »The second presidential debate
Inside Museveni’s greatest moments and Besigye’s political maturity even at great cost to himself So finally President Yoweri Museveni defied all predictions and attended the presidential debate. I can say without any fear of contradiction that Museveni did so in defiance of the advice of everyone in NRM and immediate …
Read More »Myths and realities about Africa
Why poor countries have poor services and rich nations have better services Joseph Mukasa is a peasant in Uganda. He has been performing well in expanding the output of his three acres piece of land. From an income of about Shs5,000 per month in 1995, (which when adjusted to inflation …
Read More »Is Obama a black man?
How he has accepted the categorisation imposed upon him by a racial system that subjugated black people US President Barak Obama calls himself a black man. Indeed, America and the rest of the world refer to him as a black man. Yet we all know he is actually a person …
Read More »Beyond campaign rhetoric
How journalists have allowed campaign rhetoric to obscure issues that are fundamental to the election President Yoweri Museveni’s campaign strapline; `Steady Progress’ sounds like a slogan from a communist pamphlet, not a marketing sound-bite in a competitive election. With it, the President is not promising anything new or spectacular but …
Read More »Lessons from NRM primaries
Why the chaos and violence in the ruling party are a signal of its strength and weakness of the opposition The just concluded parliamentary and district primaries of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) were characterised by unprecedented violence, vote rigging and organisational chaos. For many analysts, this is evidence of …
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