By Onghwens Kisangala Next month, the minister of Finance will engage in the annual ritual of reading the Budget to Parliament. The question, however, is whether this time round we will get our national priorities right. The Independents Onghwens Kisangala talked to Prof. Edward Kakonge, the Board Chairperson of Uganda …
Read More »Rail vandals target Uganda economy, hurt Kenya more
By Independent Team On April 15, transport ministers of the East African Community countries were locked in a meeting in the Tanzania city, Arusha where the body is headquartered. The topic of their meeting was: Railways Master Plan; the EAC Transport Strategy and Road Sector Development Programme. In attendance was …
Read More »On Uganda’s growing pains
By Jeffrey Love Five markets have burned in Uganda in the past two weeks. Two dozen schools have been reduced to embers in the past month. Three buildings have recently collapsed in the capital. Hundreds of Ugandans are dead, billions of shillings lost, and a government is thoroughly embarrassed. Theories …
Read More »Who owns Naguru- Nakawa estate land?
By John Njoroge The battle for the Naguru-Nakawa housing project has now taken a new twist with another group of land seekers joining the ranks in a manner that resembles the 19 century scramble and partition of Africa. According to Alaka and Company Advocates, the law firm that was representing …
Read More »Can Uganda beat the proverbial curse of oil?
By Henry Zakumumpa A growing body of evidence suggests that oil, far from being a blessing to African countries is a curse. Without exception, every developing country where oil has been discovered has seen its standard of living decline and its people suffer, while its less endowed neighbours have gone …
Read More »Uganda democracy wont come effortless – US expert
By Onghwens Kisangala Steve Wymer, an American communications and media relations expert, was in Uganda recently under a programme by the US Embassys Public Affairs Department, to engage the public, the media and electoral officials on civic affairs and democracy The Independents Onghwens Kisangala spoke to him about his impression …
Read More »Farewell Republic of Uganda, welcome Rwakitura kingdom
And so, we have finally neared the summit of our journey from the Republic of Uganda to the Kingdom of Rwakitura under the Kaguta dynasty. The crowning moment of this journey was two weeks ago when President Yoweri Museveni appointed his wife, Mrs Janet Museveni, to cabinet. That there has …
Read More »Family rule in Uganda
By The Independent Team How Museveni’s ‘clan’ runs the government In his inaugural address as professor of history at Makerere University on June 18, 1986, the highly respected Ugandan historian, Samwiri Karugire, spelt out the problems of Africa. In a lecture titled ‘Wind of Change or Merely Change in the …
Read More »What does the new Dar rail link mean for Uganda’s export trade?
By Michael Madill Rift Valley Railways (RVR) is off the rails. The January 15 deadline for RVR to meet a Shs100b ($50 million) investment commitment expired, triggering action by Kenya and Uganda to revoke RVR’s concession and to negotiate the construction of a competing rail line. Though RVR is fighting …
Read More »Court ruling puts Uganda torture in the spotlight
By Rosebell Kagumire Questions about the clandestine operations of Ugandan security agencies have once again been raised after a Canadian court denied asylum to a former worker of the Internal Security Organisation (ISO). Fahad Huthy Mutumba, 35, a Montreal resident, claims to have worked as an office clerk with ISO …
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