OWN CORRESPONDENT, Freetown | Wednesday 3.00pm. THE West African intervention force Ecomog needs at least 2000 additional troops to put an end to the war in Sierra Leone. Ecomog spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jimoh Okunlola said on Tuesday: “Ivory Coast, Gambia and Mali have promised their support. We need at least 2000 men, real fighters, as […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kampala | Wednesday 8.30pm. A FORMER Ugandan cabinet minister and nine others have appeared in court in Kampala charged with treason. Assistant Police Superintendent Charles Dickens Ojakol, leading the prosecution, said that the 10 accused, and others still at large, plotted in Kampala and the Buganda region of central Uganda to overthrow the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 10.00am. THE government is making a push for low-cost housing rental in a bill that abolishes rent control and sets up a host of housing rental tribunals. The Housing Rental Bill, published this month for comment, argues that there is a general agreement that rent control curtails investment. The abolition […]

SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Tuesday 5.45pm. LOCAL stock had a disappointing day on Tuesday, closing flat despite expectation that the latest bull run will roll on into the week. Dealers said the pullback was surprising, as all major indices except gold ended in negative territory. Markets were influenced by a both international and domestic factors, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Tuesday 6.45pm. THE South African hitsquad en route to plant a bomb in the African National Congress offices in London ran into numerous predicaments that almost blew the entire operation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard in Pretoria on Tuesday. Former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock told the amnesty hearing that […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Freetown | Tuesday 11.00pm. THE Sierra Leone government announced on Tuesday that it had foiled a jailbreak plot that would have led to the release of dozens of collaborators of the ousted military junta who are being tried for various offences. Attorney General and Minister of Justice Solomon Berewah told reporters in Freetown […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 8.30pm. THE strike by employees belonging to the South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union on Monday forced the Edgars group to close certain operations, including shops in the Johannesburg CBD. Workers toyi-toyied outside shops, and several scuffles with police ensued, resulting in four workers being injutred and 10 […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kampala | Tuesday 7.30pm. A SMALL aircraft carrying civilians and a top Ugandan army officer to a town controlled by rebels in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has gone missing, a Ugandan army spokesperson said on Tuesday. Captain Shaban Bantariza said the aircraft, chartered from Tropical Airways, left Entebbe for Bunia, about 370km […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 10.15pm. A NATIONWIDE strike by retail group Edgars workers moved into the second on Tuesday, with an increasing number of branches being forced to close their doors as the strike gathered momentum. By Tuesday afternoon the group had closed 11 branches and subsidiaries. The workers demand that management lift a […]

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Nelspruit | Monday 6.00pm. THE town council of Ekangala, Mpumalanga, has been ordered to take disciplinary action against the chairman of its housing committee and a senior housing official, after they illegally issued promissory notes worth R78-million. The African National Congress also announced a review of councillor Jacob Masango’s role in the scheme. […]