The EastAfricanComment /OpEd/comment/-/434750/434750/-/1h0hnv/-/index.html AU defence of Bashir et al has sinister echoes http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/AU+defence+of+Bashir+et+al+has+sinister+echoes/-/434750/1319976/-/716rl9/-/index.html The African Union has just held its annual heads of state and government summit in Addis Ababa. No one, in good faith, can say that the AU has not come a long way since its transformation from the OAU, that prodigiously inept body. The AU has made progress on a number of key fronts: 2012-02-04T07:22:57Z Uganda’s peasantry deserved proper political parties, all they got was NGOs http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/-/434750/1319974/-/4nltwpz/-/index.html A couple of weeks ago, Andrew Mwenda, one of Uganda’s liveliest political analysts, wrote a provocative piece in these pages about Uganda’s regime of bloated electricity subsidies. He documented a severe distortion in the Ugandan economy, and then attempted to explain the politics of this distortion. His political analysis deserves further reflection. 2012-02-04T07:21:55Z Doctors’ strike: Pinda loses the healing touch http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Doctors+strike++Pinda+loses+the+healing+touch/-/434750/1319970/-/mjlj7y/-/index.html Tanzanian medical staff have been striking for about a week now, a strike that everyone hopes will be resolved soon. There are a few professions, life-affirming vocations, that I don’t think should be interrupted by concerns with money. Healers of all stripes fall into that category. However, in this case, let us admit that as a society we simply haven’t given our public health system the respect it deserves, let alone our doctors. Strike they must, and their grievances are valid. 2012-02-04T07:18:58Z Someone tell police chief Kale Kaihura his cops have been turned into statues http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/-/434750/1319966/-/4nltxjz/-/index.html As the minister’s car drove on the wrong side of the road, the traffic constable stood stock still.” 2012-02-04T07:17:12Z Think of Bad Black and her ilk as Investment Promotion Centres http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Think+of+Bad+Black+and+her+ilk+as+Investment+Promotion+Centres/-/434750/1319962/-/15j58n8/-/index.html I am very angry with the German Embassy in Kampala. The local press said they recently denied a visa to a top mobiliser of foreign investment in Uganda. The reports indicate that the embassy officials did not even allow Ms Bad Black to fill out an application form for the visa. They reportedly just turned her away on learning who she was. 2012-02-04T07:15:58Z The third judge and the mafias he couldn’t see http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/The+third+judge+and+the+mafias+he+could+not+see/-/434750/1319958/-/vdhbnrz/-/index.html He held that the ‘Kalenjin warriors’ and Mungiki do not qualify to be called ‘organisations’.” 2012-02-04T07:14:29Z MPs need money from taxpayers to bribe voters, what excuse do the doctors have? http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/MPs+need+money+from+taxpayers+to+bribe+voters/-/434750/1319952/-/b5lmks/-/index.html It’s bizarre to hear grown-ups make arguments like this. You do not have to be crazy to be mad” 2012-02-04T07:10:04Z Mwanza shows the way forward for small EA towns http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Mwanza+shows+the+way+forward+for+small+EA+towns/-/434750/1319950/-/cbhteoz/-/index.html A group of towns have avoided the decay and chaos that marks most big urban areas.” 2012-02-04T07:09:16Z For the first time in 50 years of Independence, Kenya’s elites are finally running scared http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Kenya+elites+are+finally+running+scared/-/434750/1319946/-/42cibg/-/index.html The formal charging of three prominent Kenyan politicians, (and one hanger-on) with crimes against humanity presents Kenyans with possibly the first opportunity to witness an example of their leaders being held accountable for their actions, since Kenya became independent 50 years ago. 2012-02-04T07:04:47Z Media cried ICC havoc, but Kenyans didn’t buy it http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Media+cried+ICC+havoc+but+Kenyans+didnt+buy+it+/-/434750/1315956/-/34fsr4/-/index.html When, during the presidency of Bill Clinton, the Republicans took over both houses of Congress, the American media, including normally sober publications like Time magazine, were gripped by an intemperate verbiage. 2012-01-29T12:10:09Z Finance ministry’s public hearings drown participants in deluge of data http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Hearings+drown+participants+in+deluge+of+data+/-/434750/1315954/-/t27sgfz/-/index.html Government agencies in Kenya are fond of reminding us that public participation is a cardinal virtue of the new Constitution. And indeed, participatory spaces (of varying quality) are multiplying. 2012-01-29T12:07:49Z A protest a day keeps the govt broke, so what is poor Uganda to do? http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/+So+what+is+poor+Uganda+to+do/-/434750/1315950/-/14s5j2lz/-/index.html It is not easy to sympathise with a regime that has been in power for 26 years, but I really feel for the Uganda government in its heads-I-win-tails-you-lose situation. 2012-01-29T11:59:08Z Uhuru and Ruto must not run for the presidency http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Uhuru+and+Ruto+must+not+run+for+the+presidency+/-/434750/1315946/-/e75lgpz/-/index.html Not-so-clever words by Attorney General Githu Muigai notwithstanding, Kenya’s Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta the Head of the Civil Service Francis Muthaura have been forced to vacate office, pending determination of their cases by the International Criminal Court, now that it has confirmed charges against them. 2012-01-29T11:54:29Z As Museveni and Kagame tango, puzzled analysts try to call the tune http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/As+Museveni+and+Kagame+tango/-/434750/1315944/-/118p18m/-/index.html On January 26, the government of Uganda celebrated President Museveni’s 26 years in power. 2012-01-29T11:54:01Z Filbert Bayi, conqueror of Christchurch, hero of Tanzania’s 50 years of freedom http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Hero+of+Tanzania+s+50+years+of+freedom+/-/434750/1315942/-/eaku4s/-/index.html The starting gun went off and the beanpole sprang forward, took the leading position and kept it, staying there all the way down to the wire. 2012-01-29T11:50:34Z I’m 900 today, but do I miss the good old days? http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Im+900+today+but+do+I+miss+the+good+old+days/-/434750/1315940/-/11mmmhg/-/index.html This is the 900th edition of The EastAfrican. It is also my 900th column. I have written 900 columns, although only 899 got published on time. There was one I filed from a freshly reunified Germany in 1996. 2012-01-29T11:44:09Z Brick walls, textbooks do not a classroom make http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Brick+walls+textbooks+do+not+a+classroom+make+/-/434750/1315936/-/9lgc51/-/index.html The aftermath of the Standard VII results are worth revisiting: Close to 10,000 examination candidates have had their results cancelled. 2012-01-29T11:36:20Z African Union must pressure Sudan to allow food aid into Kordofan and Blue Nile http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/AU+must+pressure+Sudan+to+allow+food+into+Kordofan+Blue+Nile+/-/434750/1315922/-/wm9rf7/-/index.html On Sunday, heads of state from across the continent convene for the annual African Union Summit in Addis Ababa. Africa’s most pressing concerns will be discussed this week, but one looming crisis is missing from the agenda. 2012-01-29T11:31:43Z Do you know who I am? Yes, and your time is past http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Do+you+know+who+I+am+Yes+and+your+time+is+past+/-/434750/1311918/-/ufxdek/-/index.html One of the more memorable responses during the interviewing process for the position of Deputy Chief Justice came from Nancy Baraza, the eventual appointee to the position. 2012-01-22T12:11:16Z Lessons that East Africa’s frustrated taxmen can learn from the harambee http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/-/434750/1311916/-/4nremcz/-/index.html Among the more vexing problems of our era, and one of considerable importance in East Africa, is the high degree of informality in emerging markets. 2012-01-22T12:08:46Z Resist US attempts to police Internet globally http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Resist+US+attempts+to+police+Internet+globally+/-/434750/1311914/-/efqn8w/-/index.html The Internet used to be a fun place. I grew up with it through the late 1990s when static websites were still exciting and computer teachers believed that their students should learn some programming skills. 2012-01-22T12:05:56Z Where d’you want me to go? Museveni continues to dodge talk of succession http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Museveni+continues+to+dodge++succession+talk/-/434750/1311912/-/muhh1f/-/index.html There is a notable peculiarity of discussions about politics in the East African Community these days: Elections and presidential term limits pop up again and again. 2012-01-22T12:01:05Z ‘It was 10 at night when I shook the dust of Uganda from my feet’ http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/It+was+10+at+night+when+I+shook+the+dust+/-/434750/1311910/-/13pyf0fz/-/index.html A plump, middle-aged woman appears on the TV screen, seething with anger. She grabs a big stick and starts hitting her teenage daughter with all her might. The daughter does not even bat an eyelid. 2012-01-22T11:57:43Z Nigeria is big, but greatness has eluded it; who will rescue the nationhood project? http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Nigeria+is+big+but+greatness+has+eluded+it/-/434750/1311908/-/exri0v/-/index.html The Federal Republic of Nigeria denotes a big country that has all the hallmarks of a great nation but has sadly failed to make the transition from bigness to greatness. 2012-01-22T11:54:03Z Ivory Coast, Libya and the politics of intervention http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Ivory+Coast+Libya+and+the+politics+of+intervention+/-/434750/1311906/-/9tp4uo/-/index.html The African Union’s January Summit takes place this week. Apart from the official theme, the elections to the AU are expected to be a key focus of discussion. 2012-01-22T11:49:05Z