The election of Jacob Zuma as President of Africa’s richest
and most sophisticated country, South Africa, once again manifests the pitfalls
of democracy in Africa. Zuma was on trial for rape (but was acquitted) and
corruption (charges of which still remain). If he was a candidate in Western
democracies, it would have been extremely difficult for him to get a party
nomination. Why then did South Africans embrace him in spite of ‘ or could it
be because of ‘ his apparent poor moral standing?
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Dictatorships don’t serve the people; they give privileges to their cronies
Dear Colin, I read your letter regarding my views on the
President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, with interest and disappointment. Although
you raise some legitimate issues, I was disappointed by its innuendoes and
insinuations where you accuse me of being “journalist of fortune” and of
‘selling my soul’ ‘ something uncharacteristic of you. However, I will not
stoop that low to trade false accusations but instead address the otherwise
legitimate issues you raised.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Why Uganda’s democracy fails
Why, given the apparent democratic space in Uganda compared
to Rwanda, is the delivery of public goods and services in our country so poor
compared to our southern neighbour? Colin Barigye, in last week’s issue argued
that such services are easy to deliver under a dictatorship because ‘autocrats
make things happen because they work through unilateral decrees and autocratic
directives.’
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Who is sacrificing for Uganda?
Sometime in the middle of April, I spent three days with my
colleague at office, Melina Platas, ‘working’ at Mulago Hospital.
We saw patients lying on rotten mattresses, on broken beds
(for the lucky ones) while many were on the floor in overcrowded wards and in
the corridors with no medical attention at all.
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