Ugandan Journalist to Discuss "Africa and the Curse of Foreign Aid" at Yale

The Poynter Fellowship in Journalism at Yale will host a talk by Andrew M. Mwenda, founding managing editor of Uganda’s The Independent, on Tuesday, March 2.

Mwenda’s lecture, titled “Paved with Good Intentions: Africa and the Curse of Foreign Aid,” will take place at 4 p.m. in the Luce Hall auditorium, 34 Hillhouse Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

The Independent is Uganda’s premier current affairs news magazine and one of the major mainstream news organizations in East Africa.

Previously, Mwenda was the political editor of the Daily Monitor newspaper in Uganda and host of “Andrew Mwenda Live,” one of the most popular prime time radio talk shows in Uganda.

Mwenda was honored with the International Press Freedom Award from the International Committee to Protect Journalists “in tribute to his commitment to a free press in Uganda and the whole world.” He also was selected as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He has written for international news media, and has produced documentaries for BBC television and radio. In addition, Mwenda has been interviewed on CNN, BBC, Channel 4 and SABC Africa, among numerous others broadcast networks.

In 2009, Foreign Policy magazine named him one of the 100 top global thinkers.

He is also a TED fellow and gave a talk on its website, titled “Andrew Mwenda takes a new look at Africa.”

Mwenda has also authored and co-authored articles for international academic journals, and is the co-author of “Elite Politics and Corruption in Uganda.” He is currently a postgraduate fellow in African studies at Yale University.