COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | When the opposition party, National Unity Platform (NUP) led by musician Bobi Wine/Robert Kyagulanyi invited itself to the village brawl that is Uganda’s governance, the ruling regime received NUP with wide-open jaws — chomping on NUP supporters for the rather grave crime of daring to support …
Read More »“Why doesn’t Kizza Besigye just EAT?”
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | You cannot miss it. The hauntingly sunken face of Kizza Besigye. Winnie Byanyima, Besigye’s wife, told AFP that Besigye went on a hunger strike on February 10 protesting his continued illegal detention. His detractors, still harping on about the performative antics of activism, claim that Besigye’s …
Read More »Is the PROFESSIONAL UPDF YELLING at the CONSTITUTION
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama |Dear reader, as we say in Ugandan speak, let us be guided. Today’s class will revisit the use of UPPER CASE (or CAPITAL LETTERS as my teachers taught) in online communication. The great internet code deems typing in CAPITAL LETTERS offensive, equivalent to YELLING. Typography and …
Read More »The 2026 hunt is on! Musings on the political life cycle of Lucky Bosmic Otim
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | The hunt is on. ‘Tis the season. The 2026 elections beckon. Every election cycle, the stakes are higher as the entrenched ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party desires to sink its 39-year-old corpulent posterior deeper into Uganda. In consolidating its unwieldy bulk, the NRM increasingly discards …
Read More »In defence of activism: The tragedy of Stephen Mugisa
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Dear reader, Happy New Year! With the customary niceties out of the way, let us resume our dalliance with the state of governance in Uganda. In case you missed it, there is a raging online debate about the relevance of activism in NRM’s Uganda. In one …
Read More »The presidential convoy: From progress to regression
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Dear reader, the presidential convoy is a most curious perk — whether understated or unrestrained. In Uganda, it is a fast and furious display of grandeur. Through the presidential convoy, one can track the metamorphosis of President Yoweri Museveni’s regime. The convoy could tell the …
Read More »An ode to Besigye: Kiki kyo? Ofaaki N’ensi?
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | This is familiar territory. Opposition strongman Kizza Besigye is back in the news headlines, with yet another court case hanging over him; feels like a homecoming. There was a time when the media would breathlessly report about state security forces arresting and manhandling Besigye. The slightest …
Read More »Access to justice: “Today it’s me, tomorrow someone else”
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | An online petition by a section of Christians on behalf of embattled former Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) executives facing prosecution over the Kiteezi garbage deaths sent me down memory lane. The petition questioned the arrest and detention of former KCCA executive director, Dorothy Kisaka and …
Read More »“62 since 62”: Uganda at 62
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Uganda at 62 mirrors many African countries, brimming with hustle and bustle, a vibrant kaleidoscope of landscapes and cultures tethered to demigod leaders with extravagant convoys who promised them a better tomorrow, just not today. In spite of her history, Uganda trudges on like the beehive …
Read More »Museveni at 80: ‘Uganda: Starting Over’
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Luweero has its hold on President Yoweri Museveni – as the cradle, the Mecca, the Rome of the National Resistance Army (NRA) bush war which brought Museveni to power in 1986. Luweero has a special place in Museveni’s revolutionary heart and Uganda’s political history. Capturing the …
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