Why Dr. Besigye’s party could be no more by 2026 Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | 2024 is the year the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) marks twenty years. Ideally, it should have been a milestone for the first major opposition party in the era of multiparty politics. Instead the party …
Read More »The curse of identity politics and practice
The 7 factors behind the practice of exploiting shared origins and/or beliefs unrelated to performance to gain advantage COMMENT | Kant Ateenyi Kanyarusoke | In his Independence Day address, President Museveni outlined 8 key issues that we should be addressing as a nation to thrive and even make requirement for so called …
Read More »The Israel-Palestinian conundrum
How Hamas and the hardliners in Israel politics need each other for their political survival and success THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The successful attack by Hamas on Israel last week illuminates the folly of the human mind. Israel has been boasting of having built an “Iron Dom” to protect …
Read More »Court martial says nope to NUP 28
But Justice Minister Mao vows to free the civilians COVER STORY | DICTA ASIIMWE & AGATHER ATUHAIRE | This October is a do-or-die month for the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Nobert Mao. It is the month, he has said, that will see him fulfill his pledge to ensure …
Read More »Political party drama and democracy
Why comedy of well-crafted theater scripts has unfolded within FDC which used to be regarded as one of the best COMMENT | MICHAEL WOIRA | In the world of politics, what we learn in theory often doesn’t match up with what actually happens in practice. Speaking as someone who studied political …
Read More »Aging Museveni rides on his past heroics
His government has had to create routines and institutions that remind Ugandans of their recent history of brutality and killings ANALYSIS | DEREK R. PETERSON | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni – Africa’s fourth-longest-serving head of state in 2023 – has cemented his place in history. He brought an end to two …
Read More »Besigye kicked out of FDC?
What it means for Amuriat/Nandala, Lukwago/Ssemujju COVER STORY | JOSEPH WERE | “We are in charge,” proclaimed Patrick Oboi Amuriat; the embattled leader of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, minutes after his nomination on Sept. 21 to recapture his position as president in a new arrangement sparked by …
Read More »Meet the secular mujahedeen
The transformation of democracy from a political form to a religious movement THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Last week, I had an encounter with a democracy jihadist called Jeffrey Smith during a debate on Twitter (X) Spaces. The next day, he took to Twitter (X) accusing me of supporting despotism …
Read More »Pareto and the roots of politics
Why he didn’t politics could be understood from the self-serving narratives of the protagonists COMMENT | ALERTO MINGARDI | Many political disputes in recent years have been framed as battles between economic rationality and eruptions of irrationality that we label populism. But cognitive psychologists and economists would point out that political …
Read More »Expanded BRICS could re-set world politics
But picking new members isn’t straightforward Kampala, Uganda | BHASO NDZENDZE & SIPHAMANDLA ZONDI | Eager to escape perceived western domination, several countries mostly in the global south are looking to join the Brics bloc. The five-country bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is also looking to grow its …
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