Museveni’s frying pan and parliament’s fire

Why putting more money into the health sector is like putting more meat in a butchery controlled by hyenas

The recent “stand-off” between parliament and President Yoweri Museveni on whether to allocate Shs 39 billion to health or defense is one of the many false debates about the budget process in Uganda. An uninformed observer may easily think that there is a serious policy difference between the legislature and the executive. For those who have followed the budget making process in Uganda over the last 15 years, parliament is posturing, not trying to correct executive excesses.

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The story of Rwanda Dignity Fund

Donors who cut aid to Kigali inadvertently made it discover a new aspect of its potential – citizen solidarity

 

When the governments of United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Germany cut aid to Rwanda three months ago, I was among those who did not shed a tear. I have always argued that aid is a dysfunctional tool of development policy. In many instances, it forces recipient governments to adopt institutions, policies, and practices that donors fancy rather than what citizens need. All too often, they are good for the donor country (because they evolved organically out of its experience) but are often inappropriate for the recipient nation given its unique history and social structure.

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The corruption of anti-corruption bodies

How commission agents have used the media and turned the procurement process in Uganda into a circus

 

It is now highly probable that the US$ 2 billion tendering process for the 600MW hydro electricity dam at Karuma will be declared a `mis-procurement’. If this happens, I can bet that it will take the next seven years of wrangling before another contractor is named to build Karuma.

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FDC and Museveni’s myth of invincibility

How false accusations have undermined the opposition and why Muntu is the best leader to resolve this dilemma

As the opposition Forum for Democratic Change searches for a successor to Dr. Kizza Besigye,  its biggest challenge might be how to overcome a couple of myths about the man its choice has to beat; President Yoweri Museveni.

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Uganda’s state building in Somalia

Why UPDF’s superior ideology has succeeded where America’s superior force failed
 

Over the last four years, I have had numerous debates with my friend Mohamed Ahmed Yahya aka Mo, a Briton of Somali descent about UPDF involvement in his motherland. My view is that state consolidation is primarily an endogenous process. External agents can help; but that assistance can only be successful if its role is secondary, aimed at improving the capacity of already existing strong and committed local actors.

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Dr Suruma and the IGG have opened a Pandora's Box

This morning, September 7^th, 2012, newspapers reported that the PPDA has cancelled the tender to construct a 700MW electricity dam at Karuma. For a country that has been experiencing electricity shortages for the last 25 years, this is a major setback. However, the story of cancelling the Karuma tender is not isolated. The article below was published in my column in Sunday Monitor, Without Mincing Words, on February 6^th 2006.

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Rwanda’s Congo PR failure

By responding to allegations about its involvement in DRC, Rwanda has allowed its detractors to define the debate

 

Over the last two months, there has been a barrage of attacks against Rwanda accusing it of involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo by supporting rebels hostile to the regime in Kinshasa. The nature of these accusations is shocking but not surprising. However, what has been frustrating is the response of Kigali. They have allowed themselves to be drawn into the wrong debate i.e. on whether they are aiding rebels fighting Kinshasa. In the process, Rwanda has handed its critics a public relations coup.

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