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



Saturday, December 26, 2020

A tribute to a great friend, Ezra Bunyenyezi

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW MWENDA |  And so it was that on the morning of December 24th, while going through Instagram, I saw a post on the wall of Lucy Bunyenyezi (Smize) announcing the death of her uncle Ezra Bunyenyezi.

For a brief moment I lost my balance. What? How? When? Why? I just could not believe it! How can Ezra, a man of boundless love and and an abounding generosity, die? He was so full of life and zest, the world needed more and more of him.

Monday, December 21, 2020

Bobi Wine is selfish, power-hungry politician

He is leading his supporters and admirers to COVID-19 mass suicide with recklessness and irresponsibility

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine has been hosting large rallies across the country. In all of them, tens of thousands of his supporters gather in close contact with each other and vast numbers are without masks, in total disregard for the COVID19 pandemic SOPs. In one video, which I have watched from the beginning to the end, he tells his supporters: “those with masks should wear them and those without masks it is okay”.

Monday, December 14, 2020

Uganda’s prosperity paradox

 How rapid economic growth and improving quality of life are causing mass discontent

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | There is widespread anger especially among the youths in Uganda’s urban areas, but most pronounced in Kampala. Very many commentators on current affairs think this is a result of poor economic performance, resulting in joblessness and poverty. These people argue that if we could sustain growth that creates jobs for the unemployed or underemployed, and if these jobs earned these youths good money, this anger would disappear. These arguments make logical sense but they are empirically wrong.

Monday, December 7, 2020

Bobi Wine’s roaring campaign

The things Museveni needs to look at as he battles a youthful musician out to oust him

THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | I have just been re-reading President Yoweri Museveni’s 1981 masterpiece on why he chose a protracted armed struggle to fight the government of Milton Obote. It provides an incredible insight into how a weak group can employ its weaknesses as strengths and turn the strength of a powerful but oppressive state into handicaps. It is incredible how, even without strategic thought but sheer gut, Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine is using the same strategy and quite successfully against Museveni.