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/ 9 November 2007
Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony has arrested his deputy on suspicion of spying but denies executing him, a top peace mediator said on Friday. Norbert Mao, a top regional politician, said he had just spoken to the fugitive head of the Lord’s Resistance Army by satellite phone at an undisclosed location.
No image available
/ 9 November 2007
Until this year, Robert Kazini had never given much thought to whether he was fishing in Congolese or Ugandan waters; it didn’t matter. Nor did it matter much to Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — until prospectors found oil here. Now, with both countries dreaming of billions of petrodollars that could flow from Lake Albert, an ugly and at times deadly dispute over their border is jeopardising the livelihoods of locals like Kazini.
The Ugandan army said on Thursday it killed eight armed Kenyan bandits and lost one of its own soldiers in a gun battle on the two countries’ border. Army spokesperson Major Felix Kulayigye said Pokot cattle raiders from western Kenya crossed the border and launched two attacks on Ugandan army positions on Tuesday, killing an officer.
Surging demand for African coffee is a unique opportunity for producers, but they must not let quality slip or assume processing is the best way to capitalise on it, a coffee official said on Thursday. East African Fine Coffees Association director Philip Gitao told Reuters Africa’s market has come of age.
As the miracle-healer descended from the sky in an immaculate white helicopter, his disciples cheered with joy: ”Hallelujah! Praise Jesus.” Gospel songs thundered through the speakers as televangelist Benny Hinn landed outside Uganda’s national stadium last month, before addressing 40 000 enraptured faithful.
Rwanda and Burundi officially joined the East African Community (EAC) on Monday, signing accession treaties that will expand the regional economic bloc to five nations and boost trade. Officials said their entry into the EAC, alongside Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, would be effective from July 1.
Poking out of northern Uganda’s tangled bush and tall elephant grass, a crucifix of two welded metal poles painted white marks a mass grave. On the stone slab below it, an epitaph in the local Acholi language: ”Here lie 28 people who were killed on August 19th 1986.” It does not say how.
Pasca Lakob doesn’t see much point in punishing the Ugandan guerrilla leader whose fighters murdered many of her family and friends. ”His atrocities are so evil, there’s no punishment that could fit the crime. They might as well pardon him,” she said of Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony.
At a rally denouncing a government raid on Uganda’s High Court, a lawyer beaten by security men during the invasion held aloft his bloodstained shirt as colleagues shook their heads in disgust and anger. Kiyimba Mutale suffered head wounds during an hours-long siege at the court on March 1 aimed at re-arresting bailed treason suspects.
Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army rebels said on Friday they would return to peace talks in south Sudan if the government there increased security to keep the Ugandan army from attacking them. The rebels quit talks with Uganda in the south Sudanese capital, Juba, in January, denting hopes for an end to two decades of bloodshed in northern Uganda.