In every election cycle, history is summoned to the dock, not as a witness to be questioned, but as an exhibit to be defended. In Uganda’s current political season, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s enduring slogan, “Protecting the Gains,” has re-emerged with renewed force and urgency. I
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — One figure looms large ahead of Uganda's elections Thursday, although he is not on the ballot: the president's son and military commander, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.Kainerugaba, long believed to be the eventual successor, stood down for his father, President Yoweri Musev
There are moments in a nation’s life when an external decision, seemingly adverse, even unfair, forces an uncomfortable but necessary reckoning.The recent tightening of United States visa conditions for Ugandans, including the introduction of substantial visa bonds, is one such moment. I
Police officers at the entrance to National Unity Platform headquarters in Kampala in 2021. Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty ImagesUganda’s police have long faced criticism for politically charged interventions. These include episodes in which lethal force has been used in ways tha
Research shows Uganda’s police operate as a pillar of the ruling NRM, shaping campaigns, suppressing opposition and mobilising youth ahead of the 2026 elections, raising concerns over partisan policing.How Uganda’s police became Museveni’s political weapon ahead of the 2026 elections
Supporters of Uganda's opposition leader Kizza Besigye participate in the 'walk to work' campaign that protests higher food and fuel prices in Kalerwe suburb on Thursday, April 21, 2011 (Photo/Ronald Kabuubi/AP)By Oweyegha-AfunaduulaI do not usually argue with my children, whose age
Kampala streets in 1960sUganda’s development story is shaped by two powerful histories.The first is our real, lived past. Before colonialism, Uganda had functioning kingdoms, trade networks and organised communities. This was violently disrupted by European colonization – a clea
Ssemakadde’s remarks drew attention not just for their content, but for their style—an unrelenting mixture of legal reasoning, political argument, and rhetorical flourish. He described the Bar’s failure to embrace citizen responsibility as “a collective failure of moral courage” and cal
National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu has promised a by-election for the Bukedea Woman MP seat once he defeats President Yoweri Museveni in the 2026 general election.Kyagulanyi made the pledge following the controversial blocking of three aspirants
When Gen. Caleb Akandwanaho (Rtd) Salim Saleh presented his long, detailed analysis of Uganda’s economy and structured recommendations for improvement in the form of the Third National Development Plan (NDPIII) to President Museveni, he laid out the kinds of problems that many Ugandans feel eve
