How we lost our collective identity through the glorification of money and what can be done about it THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I argued in this column last week that the neoliberal attack on the state in Uganda eroded public ethics in public service. Some readers feel I did …
Read More »
Why the disaster at the KCCA landfill for city garbage is a sign of worse disasters to follow THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | The collapse of the garbage-filling dump at Kiteezi is symptomatic of the wider governance crisis that has engulfed our country. Uganda is in disarray, without a central …
Read More »
What the inauguration of Kagame for another term told about the Rwanda he is building THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | And so it was that on August 11 we were in Kigali for President Paul Kagame’s inauguration. It happened that a well-known Rwandan with Ugandan roots hosted a wedding of …
Read More »
How Kenya’s Gen Z have exaggerated expectations of their government and president THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I am writing this article from Nairobi where young, educated Kenyans are keeping President William Ruto busy. At the beginning of these protests, naïve commentators commended Ruto for conceding to the demands of …
Read More »
How our political debates over development focus on peripheral issues while ignoring the fundamental problems THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I believe that human beings are inherently religious. We have axiomatic faith in particular beliefs based on our moral intuitions. These are kept alive through narratives. The great British economist, …
Read More »
Why our president is caught in contradictions that he can neither grasp nor overcome THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | So, President Yoweri Museveni declared a “tough war” on corruption; promising to apprehend all thieves and send them to jail. Then young people decided to march onto parliament, the seat of …
Read More »
The software that has gone into producing post genocide Rwanda and how it has shaped voting patterns THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | President Paul Kagame of Rwanda won re-election with 99.18% of the vote. Over 98% of the registered voters turned out to cast their ballot. I was in Rwanda …
Read More »
What the July 15 presidential elections tell us about how Rwandan citizens view President Kagame THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Yesterday Rwanda celebrated its 30th year since liberation. It has been an incredible journey. In 1994, no one gave this country a chance. The state had been dismembered, the economy …
Read More »
Why the Kenyan president may have opened the pandora’s box that will grievously impair his government THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | Many people have hailed President William Ruto of Kenya for yielding to popular pressure not to sign the controversial Finance Bill. A friend in diplomatic circles in Kampala texted …
Read More »
Why Congolese leaders should be wary of US and UN involvement in their country’s affairs THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | We begin from where we stopped in this column last week. Staff at the U.S. embassy in Kampala deliberately distorted my discussions with them regarding M23 rebels. They claimed I …
Read More »
The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price