Politics

Court documents show 3 Ugandan lawmakers facing corruption charges

Published

4 months ago

June 14, 2024

According to a charge sheet obtained by Reuters, three lawmakers from the ruling party in Uganda have been accused of corruption for attempting to persuade a rights organization to inflate its budget.

The nation in East Africa has a high rate of graft, but it rarely prosecutes high-ranking officials, particularly those connected to the long-reigning National Resistance Movement (NRM) party and President Yoweri Museveni.

Mutembuli, Paul Akamba, and Cissy Namujju Dionizia, the three parliamentarians, were accused of corruption late on Wednesday before Kampala’s High Court.

They were charged with trying to persuade the head of the publicly financed Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) to inflate the organization’s 2024–25 (July–June) budget in exchange for providing the legislators with 20% of the inflated budget, according to the charge sheet.

“Mutembuli, Akamba and Dionizia … solicited an undue advantage … by asserting that they were able to exert improper influence over the decision-making of the budget committee of parliament of Uganda to increase the UHRC budget,” the charge sheet said.

After entering not guilty pleas, the three were sent to a high-security facility. One of the accused’ attorneys, Asuman Basalirwa, told the judge that the allegations could not be “categorised as grave” and requested bail.

Judge Joan Aciro detained them until June 14, when they are scheduled to return for a decision on the bail application. Museveni claimed last week that he had nformation indicating certain legislators were working with government department representatives to inflate their budgets in return for a fee.

The government of Museveni has been under fire from the opposition for a long time for not prosecuting high-ranking officials for graft, claiming that political allegiance precedes accountability for public resources.

Politics

Ivory Coast: Ex-minister challenges ex-Credit Suisse boss Thiam for presidency

Published

58 mins ago

October 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Jean-Louis Billon, the former commerce minister of Ivory Coast, announced on Friday that he would challenge party head and former CEO of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam, for the opposition PDCI party’s candidacy in the country’s 2025 presidential election.

The PDCI party, which dominated Ivory Coast from independence until the late 1990s but has had difficulty regaining power because of internal strife, may become even more divided due to Billon’s choice to run.

Thiam just won the PDCI leadership contest and returned to the country that produces the most cocoa worldwide.

His triumph stoked rumours that he may challenge or succeed President Alassane Ouattara. Neither man has made an official announcement about his plans.

Historically, the PDCI’s presidential candidate has been the organization’s leader.

The 59-year-old Billon was Ouattara’s trade minister and the former head of SIFCA, Ivory Coast’s leading agro-industrial organisation. In order to fairly choose the party’s presidential candidate, he demanded that a PDCI convention be held.

“I hope that this convention will be democratic, honest, and transparent, with no tricks or favouritism, no violence, and free from any tribal bias,” Billon said in a statement

Politics

Sources suggest Sahel jihadis finding safety in Ghana

Published

2 days ago

October 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to seven sources cited by Reuters, Islamist militants in Burkina Faso are covertly utilising Ghana’s north as a medical and logistical rear camp to maintain their insurgency. This could allow them to increase their presence in West Africa.

According to the sources, which include regional diplomats and Ghanaian security officials, Ghanaian authorities seem to be largely ignoring the insurgents who are crossing over from neighbouring Burkina Faso to obtain food, fuel, and even explosives, as well as to receive medical attention for wounded fighters.

However, they said that strategy runs the risk of enabling terrorists to establish themselves in Ghana and recruit in some marginalised local areas, even though it has so far spared the country from the kind of devastating Islamist attacks that have afflicted its neighbours.

Ghana and Burkina Faso, which is at the centre of an insurgency that has killed thousands, displaced millions, and, according to some experts, made the Sahel region the epicentre of global terrorism as groups loyal to al Qaeda and Islamic State increase their presence, share a 600-kilometre (372-mile) border.

With the rise of JNIM, a pro-al Qaeda organisation, Burkina Faso has lost control of more than half of its territory. This week, a JNIM senior told French station RFI that the organization’s goal was to expand into Ghana, Togo, and Benin. Unlike Benin and Togo, Ghana has not experienced a significant attack.

Ghana’s ambassador to Burkina Faso, Boniface Gambila Adagbila, told Reuters that the militants were exploiting Ghana’s open borders and viewed the country as a “haven.”

However, he refuted claims that the government had inadvertently reached a non-aggression pact with the jihadists.

According to him, Ghana and Burkina Faso were collaborating to “flush them out”.

Since the beginning of October, attacks on companies have resulted in at least three fatalities and four injuries, according to an official.