unshackling

When you feel that your voice cannot be heard because you have a different sexual orientation, belong to a certain religion, are from a certain tribe, or support a certain political party, what president Yoweri Museveni said about intolerant leaders of the past may not make sense to you. I refer to the article titled “Intolerant leaders are bad, says Museveni” that appeared in the Daily Monitor of Thursday April 10th 2014. While speaking at the burial of former Transport minister Stanislaus Okurut in Ngoro district, Mr. Museveni reportedly blamed Uganda’s post-independence political turmoil on the intolerance of past leaders. His remark received mixed reaction from some politicians, mainly those in the opposition, as well as from the academia, many of who consider some of our present leaders just as intolerant as those in the past. The English dictionary describes tolerance as “a fair, objective, and permissive attitude towards those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, natio...

In the Daily Monitor of January 27 2014, it was reported that Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel leader Joseph Kony wrote to Ugandans seeking forgiveness and resumption of peace talks. This comes amidst unconfirmed media reports that Kony’s health is deteriorating. Joseph Kony was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2005 for war crimes and crimes against humanity, he has since been on the run and divining his intention is very difficult. He has disappointed Ugandans in a number of peace talks with the latest being in 2008 when he refused to sign the final peace deal after a long period of negotiation. Many Ugandans will not take Kony’s new peace talk demands seriously. In his attempt to show his innocence, Kony purportedly claimed that some of the massacres in Northern Uganda were committed by the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) to spoil his name. Vague as it may sound, this latest accusation is similar to a narrative shared by a number of victims of the war tha...

In December 2003, the government of Uganda, a state party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), referred the situation concerning the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) of murder, rape, violence and crimes against humanity to the Prosecutor of ICC. The prosecutor opened investigations into this matter in 2004 and issued an international arrest warrants for five leaders of LRA alleging crimes against humanity. Kony is still on the run and has been the biggest war criminal talked about in 2012. He was particularly made popular by the Invisible Children movie KONY 2012. This movie was viewed over 93 million times on YouTube and an estimated 4 million people reportedly pledged their support for efforts to arrest Kony and bring him to justice. Many including the first prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo believed by the end of 2012, the LRA leader would have been captured. However, more than a year since the US President Barack Obama deployed US Special Forces to support local troops in...

NRM’s loss in the hotly contested Jinja East constituency by election to Forum for Democratic Change’s Paul Mwiru, Kyadondo East Member of Parliament, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda reportedly referred to the NRM as “a dead government that needed a successor”. Kahinda Otafiire, a prominent NRM party member, also Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs reportedly said support for his ruling NRM party is fading, citing poor leadership, corruption and patronage in the government. These political remarks are not entirely new to most Ugandans. Over the last few years, Uganda has been confronted with several challenges, among them are; high inflation rates, soaring oil prices, lack of food, poverty and not to mention, corruption and embezzlement. In light of all these challenges, many Ugandans have questioned whether President Yoweri Museveni and his National Resistance Movement (NRM) party have done enough to make life better for common Ugandans. The NRM has ruled Uganda for over 26 years ...

By Alex Ouma Okello The post presidential and parliamentary election has already presented numerous challenges for Uganda; political violence, inflation, drought, high level of unemployment, corruption, soaring cost of living and increased hunger. Yet just recently, the NRM Caucus reportedly approved 1.7 trillion Uganda shillings from the country’s treasury to procure jet fighters and other military equipments and Parliament (largely dominated by representatives from the NRM party) is now set to approve the already spent money. In a recent Daily Monitor publication (see the Monitor of Thursday April 7, 2011), the NRM Secretary General Mr. Amama Mbabazi reportedly said “the transaction was lawful because at the moment the country is faced with regional threats where the country has to prepare for any emergencies that can arise in advance so that the country’s security is not compromised”. Experts on global security and governance however look at this claim as a myth. They claim that the...

August 26th this year will mark five years since the government of Uganda and the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels signed the cessation of hostilities agreement that paved way for the Juba peace. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan described it as a “step in the right direction that could pave the way for a comprehensive settlement after decades of violence”. Many in northern Uganda however received the news with some skepticism and uncertainty because of the unpredictable nature of the LRA leader Joseph Kony and his lack of commitment to previous peace talks. After more than two years of negotiation and the signing of 5 protocols in Juba, Joseph Kony refused to sign the final peace deal on November 29, 2008. Following this development, the UPDF declared war to wipe out the LRA in December and the peace talks came to a collapse. Since then, Kony and his remnant forces have reportedly been traversing the Congo, South Sudan and Central Africa Republic, killing and abducti...

By Alex Ouma Okello ( email the author ) Posted Monday, March 8 2010 at 00:00 At Okol Primary School in Omot sub-county in Pader District, class sessions under trees or tents is common. One of the pupils described it as “very hot.” “Some children come from as far as four kilometers to school because of their desire and willingness to learn but the harsh and unfriendly school environment scares them away,” the head teacher Mr Ben Robert Omech claims. Okol PS has no classroom structure except for tent that was supplied by Unicef. Mr Omech adds that since the start of the first term of 2010, his school has registered an increase in enrolment from 150 to close to 300 children but he worries about the retention of such children in such conditions. Difficult environment Mr Omech laments that the children often drop out when they find the school environment unfriendly; they face rude teachers, lack of seating facilities, lack of class rooms, lack of playing facilities and latrines, among oth...