COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | As we head into the 2026 elections with nary a whisper about comprehensive electoral and political reforms to guarantee free and fair elections, toward that elusive goal of peaceful political transition, we must ponder the tools in the feeble citizens’ hands. Feeble because our political history …
Read More »Perhaps we should all be police officers
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | As we continue headlong into the regurgitating inanity that is Uganda’s rollercoaster elections, the gross contradictions that embody our governance and politics continue unencumbered. Dear reader, let us review a few instances that should have us questioning why we remain overly yoked to the incumbent ruling …
Read More »Nobel laureate Maria Ressa on the war on facts: Why JATT will continue terrorizing journalists
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | In 2021, acclaimed Filipino journalist Maria Ressa won the Nobel Peace Prize (alongside Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov) in unprecedented recognition of the role of journalism in today’s world. Underscoring the award, the Nobel Committee stated, “Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of …
Read More »Is militarism the biggest threat to Uganda’s peace and stability?
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | The signs are ominous – the growing militarism is steadily revealing itself as the masked bandit it always has been. In May 2024, the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC) at Makerere University released a gem of a report, ‘GUNS, BREAD AND BUTTER: Militarization of Economic …
Read More »In defence of NUP
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | When the opposition party, National Unity Platform (NUP) led by musician Bobi Wine/Robert Kyagulanyi invited itself to the village brawl that is Uganda’s governance, the ruling regime received NUP with wide-open jaws — chomping on NUP supporters for the rather grave crime of daring to support …
Read More »“Why doesn’t Kizza Besigye just EAT?”
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | You cannot miss it. The hauntingly sunken face of Kizza Besigye. Winnie Byanyima, Besigye’s wife, told AFP that Besigye went on a hunger strike on February 10 protesting his continued illegal detention. His detractors, still harping on about the performative antics of activism, claim that Besigye’s …
Read More »Is the PROFESSIONAL UPDF YELLING at the CONSTITUTION
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama |Dear reader, as we say in Ugandan speak, let us be guided. Today’s class will revisit the use of UPPER CASE (or CAPITAL LETTERS as my teachers taught) in online communication. The great internet code deems typing in CAPITAL LETTERS offensive, equivalent to YELLING. Typography and …
Read More »The 2026 hunt is on! Musings on the political life cycle of Lucky Bosmic Otim
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | The hunt is on. ‘Tis the season. The 2026 elections beckon. Every election cycle, the stakes are higher as the entrenched ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party desires to sink its 39-year-old corpulent posterior deeper into Uganda. In consolidating its unwieldy bulk, the NRM increasingly discards …
Read More »In defence of activism: The tragedy of Stephen Mugisa
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Dear reader, Happy New Year! With the customary niceties out of the way, let us resume our dalliance with the state of governance in Uganda. In case you missed it, there is a raging online debate about the relevance of activism in NRM’s Uganda. In one …
Read More »The presidential convoy: From progress to regression
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | Dear reader, the presidential convoy is a most curious perk — whether understated or unrestrained. In Uganda, it is a fast and furious display of grandeur. Through the presidential convoy, one can track the metamorphosis of President Yoweri Museveni’s regime. The convoy could tell the …
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