By Mubatsi Asinja Habati Kabula County MP James Kakooza, who is also Minister of State for Health, has sparked controversy with a proposal to extend the five-year term of elected politicians at all levels of government to seven years. He spoke to The Independent’s Mubatsi Asinja Habati about it. Why …
Read More »Museveni won elections because he has been a bad, not good, president
By Charles Onyango-Obbo People have lost faith in elections and stayed away in 2011. That’s why he did not use violence this time because people were not fighting back. President Yoweri Museveni’s victory in the February 18 elections, and the fact that his percentage of the vote increased from 58 …
Read More »A glimpse at the next five years
By Andrew M. Mwenda Will Museveni use his 2011 national victory to retire gracefully like Mandela and Nyerere or entrench himself in power like Fidel Castro and Gaddafi? Now that President Yoweri Museveni has won re-election with an increased mandate, what should he do? This election has been important for …
Read More »Was it bought or stolen?
By eriasa mukiibi sserunjogi Budadiri was not the only place where bigwigs in the government, like Wabudeya, fought to avoid defeat “In President Museveni’s home district of Kiruhura, where he garnered 94 percent of the valid votes, the District Returning Officer, Apollo Musinguzi, was forced to cancel results from four …
Read More »Why Museveni won and Besigye lost and what can be done for the future
By Andrew M. Mwenda “Where Besigye projected himself as a national statesman, Museveni positioned himself as a local politician. Where Besigye articulated a grand, national vision, Museveni focused on mundane local issues. Besigye came across as idealistic with a high sense of morality; Museveni was realistic, pragmatic and practical if …
Read More »How Museveni gained 10% and Besigye lost it
By Joseph Were “Unfortunately for Besigye, his team missed even the well known view that polls, even bogus ones, create the so-called “herd” mentality of voters swing to the side of the one reported to be winning.” “A voter told The independent: “Besigye forgot that he has to get the …
Read More »Wake up call
By melina plates By 2016 Ugandan will be 40 million, 25% of the youth. Museveni’s win in 2011 shows why the opposition should pay attention to such demographic changes among voters. “The youth of Uganda today are more educated and more socially interconnected than any generation before them. Over 40% …
Read More »Museveni reveals strategy in Buganda
By Dicta Asiimwe Forget the Kabaka, just look at the money The relationship between President Yoweri Museveni and the King of Buganda, Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi is fated to be acrimonious. What else could have led Museveni to be campaigning in the controversial district of Kayunga on Feb.2, just a …
Read More »Besigye enters Museveni’s home!
By Eriasa Mukiibi Sserunjogi Campaigns on vote-rigging, ethnicity President Yoweri Museveni’s traditional political stronghold, western Uganda looks like the wrong place for an opposition candidate to spend two precious weeks at the end of an election campaign. But the Interparty Cooperation (IPC) candidate, Kizza Besigye took the gamble on Feb.2 …
Read More »Feb. 18 vote changers
By Melina Platas Three factors that could determine if Besigye or Museveni wins As ears ring with protests calling for the end of an era, longtime rulers shift uncomfortably. Amidst palpable unease, the run-up to the 2011 elections has been eerily calm. Seasoned analysts debate whether President Yoweri Museveni’s vote …
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