A journey to a South Indian state and the contradictions in its egalitarian ideals THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | I had been battling continuous fatigue and exhaustion, largely mental and partly physical. A friend advised me to seek traditional Indian treatment. He chose ShinShiva, a treatment center in …
Read More »Daily Monitor 30th birthday
The factors and combinations that make that newspaper survive, flourish and promote democratic freedom THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | This week, Monitor Publications Limited celebrated its 30th Birthday. Daily Monitor (the newspaper) and its affiliate radio station, KFM, are the ground on which my teeth as a …
Read More »In admiration of Nobert Mao
Why the cooperation agreement between NRM and DP should form the example in the evolution of our democracy THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | The cooperation agreement between NRM and DP is an important political innovation in our country’s politics. Uganda needs this kind of cooperation between competing …
Read More »Uganda’s fictitious disagreements
How our political elites waste so much time indulging in misguided debates about our development THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | President Yoweri Museveni and his critics have been locked in a debate on when or whether Uganda will achieve the much hyped “middle income” status. There …
Read More »Mob rule in Sri Lanka
How this South Asian country is transiting from a stable liberal democracy into a chaotic illiberal mobocracy THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | The news from Sri Lanka is intriguing and confounding both as politics and as economics. Let us begin with its politics. Sri Lanka has, since …
Read More »Uganda’s biggest handicap
How low levels of skill impact our nation’s ambitions in government, private sector and our homes THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | A friend has lived in America for the last 15 years, having left the country in her early twenties. Before, during and after her graduate studies, …
Read More »The risks of the war in Ukraine
How America’s current leadership is leading the world into a slippery slope towards nuclear war THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | The war between Russia and Ukraine has brought important insights. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the U.S. has become a bull in a …
Read More »Uganda’s Prisoners’ Dilemma
Why public investments and appointments are economically inefficient in multi ethnic societies THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Game theory has the concept of the “Prisoner’s Dilemma.” This refers to a situation where two members of a criminal gang (John and David) are arrested by the police and …
Read More »Museveni’s Umeme mistake
Why the refusal to renew their concession is not a big loss to Ugandan workers and investors and a boom to foreigners THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | For some strange reason(s), President Yoweri Museveni has a very hostile attitude towards Umeme, Uganda’s main electricity distributor. Sources …
Read More »On America’s sense of self
How self-righteousness is far more dangerous than self-interest and leads to human disaster THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Rolling Stone magazine in the U.S. published a story claiming former president Donald Trump wanted to close every embassy in Africa. This is revealed in a new book …
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