Daily Monitor
Sunday May 16 2021
Summary
It was revealed recently how Uganda’s public debt has surged to Shs65.82 trillion, forcing government officials to say they are attempting to sweet talk Uganda’s creditors, who include Western institutions such as World Bank and International Monetary Fund. But when this week he was swearing in for another term, President Museveni attacked the West that has largely bankrolled his government. Derrick Kiyonga & Joel Mukisa look at how this complicated relationship started and how it will pan out.
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Shortly after President Museveni took what now looks to be a ritual of swearing-in at Kololo Independence Grounds – to lead Uganda for at least another five years – his military moved to flex muscle, sending a message to anonymous adversaries.
Departures Podcast with Michela Wrong
By Editor | Published: May 10, 2021
Near the end of this episode, host of the Departures podcast Robert Amsterdam tells his guest, “This is perhaps the best book I’ve ever read on Africa, and I’ve read a lot of books.”
Such is the esteem we hold for Michela Wrong, a British journalist who has covered Africa for decades for outlets such as the BBC and the Financial Times. Her latest book, “
Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad,” tells the inside story of the authoritarian regime of President Paul Kagame in Rwanda through the lens of one specific murder case – the 2013 killing of Patrick Karegeya, the former head of external intelligence, and extrapolating that investigation to reveal so much more about the country and the region.
Voices are raised against the NBA launching its new African league in Rwanda
May 6, 2021
According to Field Level Media, “The NBA’s Basketball Africa League is slated to open its inaugural, 14-day season on May 16 in Kigali, Rwanda. The league will feature a dozen club teams from across Africa, with all 26 games being held at Kigali Arena in Rwanda and concluding with the title game on May 30. The BAL was initially expected to debut in March 2020 in Dakar, Senegal,” the date postponed due to the pandemic.
Human rights groups are concerned that using Rwanda as a backdrop would provide a public relations boost for its autocratic leader.
Interview with Michela Wrong: The tool of power in Rwanda is fear
25 Apr 2021
‘Kagame’s victims’: A protest against Rwanda’s president in Pretoria in 2014 after the assassination of the country’s former intelligence chief, Patrick Karegeya. His death prompted Michela Wrong (below) to write a book about the murder and the dictatorial regime. Photo: Alexander Joe/AFP
It is widely believed that after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which claimed nearly one million lives, Paul Kagame led a group of rebels known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) based in Uganda to oust a murderous regime and usher in an era of peace and stability. In fact, Rwanda is today often held up as a model developmental state and a poster child for Western aid.