The common message against President Paul Kagame of Rwanda is that he is a “media predator.” The Ugandan “democracy” crowd claim I cannot host a show like Andrew Mwenda Live in Rwanda. Yet the threat to the show would not be Kagame perceived intolerance. The show would fail if it adopted the Ugandan format because of poor strategic positioning largely due to the fact that Rwanda’s political context is different.
Andrew Mwenda Live was a success because it was rooted in Uganda’s reality – of widespread government corruption and incompetence in delivery of public goods and services taking place alongside a rapidly growing economy. I knew myriads of our people who suffer one million and one indignities when trying to access basic public services in medical care and education, and many other Ugandans who see the unresponsiveness of power to the concerns of ordinary people would form the bedrock of my listenership.
However, I also knew that all statistical and even anecdotal evidence showed there was economic growth. There is a broad elite consensus in Uganda in support of this view. The middle and upper classes are accumulating wealth. I focused the show on debating corruption and incompetence which were increasing as rapidly as the economy was growing. This meant that the vast majority of Ugandans were not sharing in this growing wealth of our nation. Read More
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