My friend Kiflu Hussain, a decent man and good Ethiopian journalist who lives in exile in the Uganda capital Kampala, is angry with the Africa Media Initiative for holding its next convention in Addis Ababa. Why? Because the Ethiopian regime is a dictatorship that torments journalists. And he is also unhappy with me, because he […]
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A Military Coup, The Fruits Of Democratic Rent, And The Curse Of Euripides In Uganda
In the space of a few days last week, Uganda’s minister of Defence, Dr Crispus Kiyonga, and then President Yoweri Museveni, suggested that that if Parliament continues to give the Executive headaches, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) might be tempted to step in and stage a military coup. The outcome a military coup could […]
What East Africa’s Cows And Their Milk Teach Us About Why Reform Fails
TODAY I visited with the good people of East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) in Nairobi, to talk about cows and milk in our neck of the woods. Put briefly, EADD works with dairy farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda to help them be smarter and make more money. As I sat with Moses Nyabila, EADD’s […]
Somalia’s Meat Could Be East Africa’s Poison; And The Rise Of A ‘Smart’ Spy Agency From The Ashes Of War
First published in The East African, Sept. 1-7, 2012 NAIROBI: Somalia’s long transition ended on August 20, with its war-battered capital Mogadishu more peaceful than it has been in 20 years. However, the African Union peacekeeping mission, Amisom, which can claim credit for the change in Somalia, is not holding a victory parade yet. In often […]
How Guns And Bombs Dramatically Redrew The Economic And Political Map Of East Africa And The Horn
The two special reports; “Cloak And Dagger Politics And How The New East Africa Was Born From The Fires Of The Old” (http://nakedchiefs.com/2012/06/04/cloak-and-dagger-politics-and-war-how-the-new-east-africa-was-born-from-the-fires-of-the-old) AND “Torn Between East And The Horn; The Tale Of Kenya As A Two-Axis Nation And The Changing Strategic Realties Along Africa’s Indian Ocean Belt” (http://nakedchiefs.com/2012/06/04/torn-between-east-and-the-horn-the-tale-of-kenya-a-two-axis-nation-and-the-changing-strategic-realities-along-africas-indian-ocean-belt) last week examined the political and […]
With Kenya Election Around The Corner, East Africa Steps Into A Make Or Break Season
As Kenya heads into the first election under its new Constitution, the East African Community too will begin its most dramatic transition. The transition season will end in 2017 in Rwanda, when President Paul Kagame is scheduled to step down. How the leaders and East African citizens play their hands over this period, could make […]
Armies, Trade, Refugee Camp ‘Imperialism’ Turning Somalia Into An Anglo-Kiswahili State
WHILE the battle against the Al Shabaab militants is still be going on, East African countries seem to have already won a major war in Somalia — one they never set out to fight. At nearly all events held by AMISOM (the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia) and international organisations operating in Mogadishu, there […]
Article That Annoyed Uganda’s ‘Great’ Revolutionary: In Somalia The UPDF Finally Found Its Freedom And Peace
When I returned from Somalia, I wrote this article that was published in Uganda’s main independent paper, Daily Monitor, on May 3, 2012 with the title “In Somalia The UPDF Finally Found Its Freedom And Peace”. I was afraid when I was writing the article that I had allowed myself to get sentimental and misty-eyed […]
