First Independent Mena Newspaper
Pop star-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine, was officially nominated on Wednesday (24 September) as a presidential candidate for Uganda’s 2026 general elections, reigniting his high-profile rivalry with long-serving President Yoweri Museveni. The 43-year-old Wine will represent the National Unity Platform (NUP), becoming the sixth candidate cleared by the Electoral Commission. Justice Simon Byabakama […]
President Yoweri Museveni has confirmed he will run for a seventh term in Uganda’s 2026 presidential election, potentially extending his rule to over 40 years. The 80-year-old leader made the announcement via social media, stating he had expressed interest in becoming the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM)’s presidential flag-bearer. Museveni, who seized power in 1986 […]
Uganda has abruptly suspended all military and defense cooperation with Germany, citing alleged “subversive activities” by German Ambassador Matthias Schauer. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) announced the decision on Sunday (25 May), accusing Schauer of engaging with “hostile pseudo-political groups” operating within the country. “This suspension will remain in force until the matter is […]
African countries experiencing conflict and with highly restricted freedoms and weak democratic institutions, such as South Sudan, Somalia, Zimbabwe or Libya, occupy the bottom of Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). This ranking places Zimbabwe among Africa’s top 10 most corrupt countries, joining war-torn states like Sudan, Somalia, and Libya. With a score of […]
The latest East African Community (EAC) summit at the weekend focused, among other issues, on the resolution of two conflicts that are threatening the stability of the region — the dispute between Ethiopia and Somalia and the unabated violence by rebel groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Kenya’s President William Ruto has said […]
From Nigeria to Uganda, leaders from across Africa are watching closely the youth-led anti-government protests in Kenya that, according to experts, could inspire youth across the continent. Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday (19 July) appointed the first 11 members of his new cabinet, but he has yet to appoint a finance minister, under whose […]
The leader of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has visited Ethiopia and Uganda on his first trip abroad since war broke out with Sudan’s army in April, as regional diplomats scramble to broker a face-to-face meeting between both warring sides. The RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo Thursday (28 December) met with Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime […]
Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) decided to establish a visa-free regime between the two countries, Sputnik reports citing a joint communique, which was signed by the parties on the eighth Uganda-DRC Joint Commission. “To this end, the two parties agreed to remove entry visa fees on reciprocal bases to facilitate free […]
Somaliland, a breakaway region that declared autonomy from Somalia in 1991, has said it has no plans to discuss reunification with Somalia despite the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s announcement he was willing to act as a “unification mediator” between the two governments. “Any dialogue that transpires between Somaliland and Somalia will not discuss unification, but […]
African countries must reduce their reliance on other Western countries by boosting intra-Africa trade and also by eliminating their exploitation of Africa’s raw materials, according to the AfCFTA Secretary General and Uganda’s president. Speaking at the 2023 Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar on Non-Oil Export, the Secretary General of AfCFTA, Wamkele Mene, said that economic […]