About me.

Andrew M. Mwenda is the founding Managing Editor of The Independent, Uganda’s premier current affairs newsmagazine. One of Foreign Policy magazine 's top 100 Global Thinkers, TED Speaker and Foreign aid Critic



Sunday, March 27, 2022

In memory of Jacob Oulanyah

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | On Sunday March 20th, speaker of parliament, Jacob Oulanyah, succumbed to a terminal illness in a hospital in Seattle – three days shy of his 57th birthday. He had been fighting for his life for over nine months. Outside, a crowd of wannabe Ugandans in America were demonstrating against his hospitalization abroad, insisting that government was wasting money to save his life. What has become of us? Many Ugandans believe such advanced and specialized medical services should be available in the country and should be provided for free to all citizens by the government. This is a level of thoughtlessness that is difficult to fathom.

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Behind the Russia-Ukraine conflict

 Why the U.S should beware of the law of unintended consequences

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M MWENDA | There is a huge misunderstanding of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Many people see it as an unprovoked act of aggression by a megalomaniacal President Vladmir Putin against a small neighbor. Yet Moscow has been lured into this invasion by the rich and powerful Western nations led by the USA. This is a war between Russia and USA/NATO, Ukraine is only a playing field. NATO nations have one of greatest advantage in any war – absolute control of the instruments of mass propaganda. Anyone following international news channels now is fed on a biased menu of anti-Russian and anti-Putin propaganda presented as news.

Monday, March 14, 2022

On Mao’s Twitter war

How the radical extremism of NUP is the best recruiting ground for Museveni

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | The current Twitter war by Nobert Mao against the radical extremists of NUP is a manifestation of the major pitfalls that have bedeviled the opposition in Uganda. Slowly, these radicals are pushing Mao directly into President Yoweri Museveni’s embrace. This is because NRM, in spite of its one million and one authoritarian tendencies, has demonstrated it is a very accommodating political organisation. Mao will, ultimately, join a long list of opposition heavyweights that have realised, to their painful disappointment, that the forces that have organised to fight and remove Museveni are equally the most politically intolerant.

Monday, March 7, 2022

The Ukraine tragedy

How America is dragging the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation in a matter of no strategic interest to it

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Western media coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been propagandistic. It demonstrates that they are not independent as they claim. Instead, they are mouthpieces of their governments. How else can they fail to hold their governments to account for dragging Ukraine to war?