Ongwen’s defence lawyer, Krispus Ayena Odongo argued that he (Ongwen) was a victim who was abducted when he was 9 years old and forcibly conscripted along the LRA ranks raising questions about his mental abilities. Ayena wants to challenge various components of the ruling like for instance, the court did …
Read More »Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde appointed new prime Minister of DR Congo
Former sport minister, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, is the new prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Before being appointed he was the Director-General of Gecanine, DR Congo’s biggest parastatal mining company. The 43-year-old has a month to form a government that will lead the so-called Sacred Union, the new …
Read More »Opposition candidates call for protests in Somalia
Somalia’s opposition presidential candidates have called for protests on Friday over what they call “illegal stay in power by the president”. Former President Sheikh Shariff Sheikh Ahmed said, while making the announcement on behalf of other candidates, that the government had failed to organise both parliamentary and presidential elections. President …
Read More »Ethiopia’s Tigray region is ‘one step from famine’ – EU
The European Commission on Thursday warned that the Tigray region of Ethiopia could be approaching a famine, as the country’s three-month-long conflict continued. The European Commission on Thursday warned that the Tigray region of Ethiopia could be approaching a famine, as the country’s three-month-long conflict continued. The region is largely …
Read More »Kenya: panic in the parliament after a MP carries gun
There was a scare on Thursday when a Kenyan member of parliament said colleagues were unsafe during proceedings because one member was armed. The MP, Elisha Odhiambo, informed the speaker that he had seen what looked like a gun behind the coat of his colleague, Mohamed Ali. Speaker Justin Muturi …
Read More »Russia is ready to cut EU ties if hit with painful sanctions
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Moscow is ready to sever ties with the European Union if the bloc hits it with painful economic sanctions, according to extracts of an interview posted on the ministry’s website on Friday. Relations between Russia and the West have come under renewed pressure …
Read More »What’s really going on in Ethiopia’s Tigray region?
It’s been 100 days since fighting broke out in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. In that time, hundreds of thousands of people have been forced out of their homes. Many are going hungry. “I’m sheltered at my friends and I rely on them … I have no work,” one of the …
Read More »CAR : army recaptures border town from rebels
With Russian and Rwandan allies, the Central African Republic’s army has recaptured the western border town of Beloko from rebels. Several groups that have controlled most of the country for the last eight years formed an alliance in December, and started a rebellion to try to seize power. The recapture …
Read More »UN ‘strongly condemns’ attack on peacekeepers in central Mali
The United Nations has strongly condemned an attack on a peacekeepers base in central Mali. 28 peacekeepers from Togo were injured when the temporary UN base in Kerena, near Douentza, was hit by fire early Wednesday morning. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Islamic extremists linked to …
Read More »Ethiopia ‘indiscriminately shelled towns in Tigray’, said HRW
Human Rights Watch has accused the Ethiopian military of indiscriminately shelling urban centres during the conflict in the northern region of Tigray last November. The US-based group said the attacks violated the “laws of war” and urged the government to investigate. The government has not immediately reacted to the accusations …
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