Journalist Andrew Mwenda has spent his career fighting for free speech and economic empowerment throughout Africa. He argues that aid makes objects of the poor -- they become passive recipients of charity rather than active participants in their own economic betterment.
Why you should listen to him:
Andrew Mwenda is a print, radio and television journalist, and an active critic of many forms of Western aid to Africa. Too much of the aid from rich nations, he says, goes to the worst African countries to fuel war and government abuse. Such money not only never gets to its intended recipients, Africa's truly needy -- it actively plays a part in making their lives worse.
Mwenda worked at the Daily Monitor newspaper in Kampala starting in the mid-1990s, and hosted a radio show, Andrew Mwenda Live, since 2001; in 2005, he was charged with sedition by the Ugandan government for criticizing the president of Uganda on his radio show, in the wake of the helicopter crash that killed the vice president of Sudan. He has produced documentaries and commentary for the BBC on the dangers of aid and debt relief to Africa, and consulted for the World Bank and Transparency international, and was a Knight Fellow at Stanford in 2007. In December 2007, he launched a new newspaper, The Independent, in Kampala.
Blog Posts on TED
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Andrew Mwenda's newspaper, the Independent, now online – March 4, 2008
You can now read journalist Andrew Mwenda's newspaper, The Independent, online. Based in Kampala, Uganda, the paper promises "uncensored news, views and analysis" -- a promise that has already led to government threats against the paper's printer. Mwenda spoke at TEDGlobal 2007 and was a panelist on the BBC debate hosted last week at TED in Monterey. In today's Independent, a headline reads: "Andrew Mwenda summoned to CID" -- the Uganda police's Criminal Investigations Department. More on this story as it develops.
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Andrew Mwenda launches independent newspaper in Kampala – December 20, 2007
This week, journalist Andrew Mwenda (watch his TEDTalk) launched a weekly newspaper, The Independent, in Kampala, Uganda. His journalism has been critical of the Ugandan government, and he writes in an email that the president warned off his first printer. From his email:we have been through a lot of hell. our launch was supposed to be friday last week with the maiden issue of the newspaper. then, president's office called our printers and asked them not to print us on thursday morning for our launch issue of friday morning. we ran desperately to other printers all of whom told us that they had been warned against printing us.
however, we finally managed to get someone beyond state control and the paper is out. the lesson is that we need our own printer to be independent. the other, is that the road to freedom and liberty is a tough one. however, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. and we are marching on that road with greater confidence now.
Reporter Tim Cocks, writing for Reuters, confirms this report, speaking to the printer in question; a spokesperson for the Ugandan president said he knew of no such order.
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UPDATE: Andrew Mwenda out on bond, must report to police – April 28, 2008
Andrew Mwenda writes to the mailing list Africa Club:
I want to thank all of you for your support and encouragement. I am now out and free, although reporting to police tomorrow, unsure of the outcome. The struggle for freedom in Uganda is not going to be easy. The challenges are enormous and so are the risks. But we will not be intimidated from the cause of liberty by state harassment. I believe ever more strongly now that liberty is critical for the advancement of Africa. As a people we need to stand up and challenge bad government whenever it rears its ugly head. We have for long left it to others; we the educated elite escape to the comfort of the West seeking protection instead of staying home and fighting for freedom.
The consequences on me as an individual are not particularly important. What is important are the ideals for which I and The Independent stand. Please do not think that I am underestimating the resolve of the Uganda government to harm me -- possibly jail me or torture me or worse still even kill me. I suffered the violence with which they kidnapped me on Saturday. I could have disappeared. However, I know that although they can imprison or kill me, they cannot imprison or kill the ideals for which I and The Independent stand. We may suffer setbacks along the way, but I have profound faith in the final triumph of the cause of liberty in Uganda.
Andrew
Earlier: James Shikwati reports that journalist Andrew Mwenda has been released on bond, but must report to police tomorrow. Mwenda was arrested Saturday night, along with other staffers of Uganda's Independent newspaper, following a Saturday-night raid on the paper's offices. Shikwati writes:
I talked to Andrew this morning. He is strong and as usual an optimist! Listen to Andrew "…if anti-democratic forces in Africa do nothing, it will mean they are not noticing our work."
He asked me to [write] that he is very strong, energetic and will not be cowed by government intimidation.
The Free Andrew Mwenda Facebook page is collecting news and calls to action. Though Mwenda has been released on bond for now, this is the second raid on the paper in two months. Read the Independent's minute-by-minute account of the raid and arrests >>
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Controversial journalist Andrew Mwenda profiled in the Guardian UK – August 7, 2008
Anne Perkins of the Guardian UK offers a fascinating profile of controversial journalist and activist Andrew Mwenda, who in 2007 told his TEDGlobal audience that aid is poisoning African governments. Mwenda's incendiary writings, which fearlessly confront corruption, have earned him 17 arrests and status as a symbol of free speech and transparency. Not to mention the dislike of a Ugandan government that has grown ever more frustrated and desperate to silence him. Perkins writes,
[It] isn't hard to find him in his well-guarded office in one of Uganda's business districts. Well-guarded, because Mwenda's business is to offend people, usually in the government, and he does it with a whole-hearted commitment that is definitely the rash side of sensible.
Not a lot of people have in their CV a resignation letter which ends with a declaration of a willingness to die in the name of free expression.
The Independent is Mwenda's weekly newspaper. -
Taking a new look at Africa: Andrew Mwenda on TED.com – September 4, 2007
Andrew Mwenda is a journalist from Uganda and an active critic of many forms of Western aid to Africa. In this provocative talk, he asks us to reframe the "African question" -- to look beyond the media's stories of poverty, civil war and helplessness and see the opportunities for creating wealth and happiness throughout the continent. Most important, he says, the solution to Africa's problems is not more aid. (Recorded June 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania. Duration: 17:19.)
Watch Andrew Mwenda's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Andrew Mwenda on TED.com.
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Four TEDsters named 2008 Young Global Leaders by WEF – March 11, 2008
[Updated 3/12, 10am] Crusading journalist Andrew Mwenda and think tank leader James Shikwati -- both stars of TEDGlobal Africa last summer -- as well as TEDGlobal Fellow Paul Van Zyl and architect Cameron Sinclair, winner of the 2006 TED Prize, have all been named Young Global Leaders for 2008 by the World Economic Forum.
Each year, the World Economic Forum selects around 250 leaders under 40 to work on a grand vision for the world of the future. Mwenda, Shikwati, Sinclair and Van Zyl will work with the other young leaders on a strategic plan to solve critical problems facing the world, such as climate change, genocide, state aid and microfinance.
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Bono vs. Mwenda: Around the blogs – June 5, 2007
On the first day of the conference, the discussion between Andrew Mwenda and Bono electrified the audience and those following the conference via blogs. Here's what bloggers both inside and outside the conference had to say: Felix Salmon's Market Movers blog for Portfolio.com gives an overview:
... the conference kicked off with [William] Easterly-by-proxy Andrew Mwenda. Ethan Zuckerman was there to hear Mwenda run down the standard Easterly talking points –- but at TED conferences, the points have a way of talking back. And when Mwenda challenged the audience to name a country where aid had led to development, Bono, of all people, stood up and named Ireland, in the days of the potato famine.
Bono was scheduled to speak [in Session] Two, and he devoted his time not to his own ideas but to rebutting Mwenda's. ...
And a report on the confrontation as it went down comes from fifthculture:Andrew Mwenda [is] a journalist and social critic (read troublemaker – my kind of guy), and passionate speaker. ... [A]ccording to Andrew, all of us bleeding hearts from rich countries are doing the absolute wrong thing by giving aid to African countries. Andrew asked "has anyone in this room benefited or had a relative who benefited from aid?" A surprise answer came from Bono (all I could make out of the comment was "bullocks," but Bono would elaborate a little later).
Liz Dolan from the Huffington Post reports in detail:Addressing the growing feeling that debt relief will not get African nations nearly as far as western direct investment, Bono said "You'd think somebody farted in here when the words 'debt relief' came up -- ooh, that's so uncool. Well, I will tell you that 20 million children in Africa are going to school today as a direct result of debt relief, 3 million right here in Tanzania alone.
David McQueen reports on the talks and the reaction:... Talking to a number of people afterwards there were many mixed messages. Most believed that trade should be the primary focus but with incumbent governments still very dependent on aid that the focus should change. Personally I lean more to the position of Mwenda. Here is a man looking at the situation from the ground, and with possible prison sentences hanging over him from his native Uganda. OK he may not have all the solutions but his disdain for people looking down at Africa trying to solve issues from the outside in definitely resonated with me and many others.
Ecorica-Blog offers some more background on Andrew Mwenda's analysis:One important remark: He admits that aid can bring humanitarian relief and can save lives, but he does not believe in the idea that aid can support long-term development of a society.
Live-blogging hero Ethan Zuckerman writes at length about both Mwenda's and Bono's talks. (The title of this blog post is borrowed from his indispensable blog.) White African also offers a good look at the talks, as does Ramon Thomas. -
Andrew Mwenda arrested, newspaper office raided – April 26, 2008
Reuters Africa is reporting that Andrew Mwenda and two other staffers of the Independent have been arrested by Ugandan officials. Reuters reports:KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan security forces on Saturday raided the offices of a magazine seen as critical of President Yoweri Museveni's government, arresting three journalists and taking computers, a lawyer said.
Read more >> The story in the Independent has more detailed coverage of this second raid since the launch of the newspaper in October. In March, Andrew Mwenda was named a Young Global Leader for 2008 by the World Economic Forum. Watch the recent BBC World Debate in which Mwenda participated at this year's TED.
