KENYA REFORMS PASSED KENYA’S controversial constitutional reforms passed through their final stage in the largely rubber-stamp parliament, passed by 141 votes to 23. The new law allows opposition parties more room, cuts down on the powers of chiefs and limits the president’s powers to nominate MPs from his own parties. The opposition National Convention Executive Council, which includes some of the more vocal oppostion deputies, has said the reform package will not lead to free and fair elections in a country in which opposition
WEBSTER SHOTGUN DESTROYED The gun used to kill anti-apartheid activist and academic David Webster in 1989 was melted down two years ago, police confirm. Police say they were unaware of the significance of the 12-bore Mossberg shotgun, which was fished out of Donkerpoort Dam near Nylstroom in 1992 by a farmer and handed in to police. The gun is the crucial piece of evidence to link ‘hitsquad’ man Ferdie Barnard to the killing.
RENAMO PROTESTS ARMY BILL THE Renamo opposition group in Mozambique’s parliament walked out in protest on Monday after a bill to resume military conscription was passed. Renamo fears that a conscript army may be both partisan and costly. “We want a non-partisan, professional and small armed forces that have great mobility and combat readiness. Such armed forces must be scaled in accordance with the economic difficulties of the country,” a spokesman said..
POWER HEIST A TRUCK carrying a million rands worth of batteries was hijacked on the highway in the Free State on Monday. Two armed men held up the truck after the driver had stopped on the side of the road because, he said, the truck’s power had failed. They drove off in the truck, worth R350 000, but abandoned it a short distance away. The cargo had disappeared by then.
BIGGEST REPTILE PARK OPENS VISITORS to Nelspruit had a chance to get eye-level with various reptiles on Tuesday as South Africa’s biggest reptile park opened its doors. Phase one of the Croc River Reptile Park contains 88 glass snake exhibits, eight large crocodiles and a mini-desert housing geckos and scorpions. The park also boasts two state-of-the-art research laboratories and reptile disease quarantine facilities.