|
LISTEN TO THIS THE AFRICANA VOICE ARTICLE NOW
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Steve Mokaya and Maurice O. Ndole Contributed to this Report
As the number of bodies buried in shallow mass graves recovered in Shakahola Forest surpasses 200, a magistrate court in Shanzu, in Kilifi County, Wednesday ordered that cult leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, remain in custody for more 30 days.
The court said that that would allow the police to continue their inquiry into the deaths of more than 200 of his followers. The founder of Good News International Church is alleged to have encouraged them to starve themselves to death with promises they’ll see Jesus.
According to the Associated Press, autopsies conducted on more than 100 bodies last week showed the victims died of starvation, strangulation, suffocation and injuries sustained from blunt objects. And some local media have reported cases of missing internal organs, prompting speculation that the cult was involved in organ trafficking.
State prosecutors in Mombasa had wanted permission to hold Mackenzie, who was arrested in April, for another three months.
The magistrate said that even though the pastor had not yet been charged, he and 17 others being held alongside him, would be safer in detention.
President William Ruto, a staunch Christian, whose inner circle, including his wife Rachel, have been seen on stage together with Mackenzie said his government would not spare anyone involved in the Shakahola deaths. He urged Kenyans to support the task force he created to investigate Kenyans were lured into the doomsday cult leading to their deaths and fight religious extremism.
Police in Kenyan are mounting a crackdown on other cult leaders. Recently, police detained Eliud Wekesa, the leader of the New Jerusalem Church, who has proclaimed himself the christ, calling himself “Yesu wa Tongaren,” the Jesus of Tongaren. Wekesa’s detention comes just a few weeks after he escaped crucifixion during Easter when some Kenyans demanded he be crucified to demonstrate he is, in fact, the Christ. A court has ruled that Yesu wa Tongaren should undergo a mental health evaluation and gave the police permission to search his home.
A court in Bungoma Friday detained the leader of New Jerusalem Church for four more days.
Eliud Wekesa, alias Yesu wa Tongaren, will undergo a mental health evaluation, the court ruled. The court also allowed police to search his home.
1/4 pic.twitter.com/jFI7bPoYLu— Africana Voice (Formerly Hotseatnews) (@AfricanaVoice) May 12, 2023
Kenyans are deeply religious with a vast majority practicing christianity. People claiming to be anointed by God have declared themselves pastors, prophets, bishops and apostles to tap into this massive number of Kenyans looking for spiritual direction to help them through life challenges common in the country.
While the search for more bodies continues in Shakahola, reports indicate that more than 600 people are still unaccounted for.
Safaricom gets a license to operate mobile money services in Ethiopia
On Thursday, Ethiopia issued Safaricom a license to operate mobile money services in the country. Safaricom thus became the first foreign firm to get such a permit in Ethiopia.
In August last year, Safaricom launched its operations in Ethiopia. Prior, the state-owned Ethio telecom had been the sole provider of telecom and mobile money services for the country of over 110 million people.
On Thursday, the National Bank of Ethiopia said the issuing of the mobile money license reflected its ongoing objectives of “fostering financial innovation and inclusion in the Ethiopian market”.
NBE said it welcomes the shift to the use of digital financial services to bring greater efficiency, safety, and transparency to the country’s rapidly growing economic system.
“Looking ahead, the NBE will continue to take measures to deepen Ethiopia’s digital finance ecosystem. To this end, we will strongly support the spread of digital payment systems as a substitute for cash-based transactions within the economy. The National Bank of Ethiopia wishes Safaricom’s M-PESA service well as it launches its operations in the very near future,” the bank added.
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the company would roll out mobile financial services in the country before the end of this year.
Ruto defends the proposed 3% salary deduction
President Ruto Thursday defended his controversial 3% housing levy calling it a mortgage for hustlers. He dismissed claims that the levy was a tax, terming it a contribution and a saving. He told off critics of the levy, saying they were themselves beneficiaries of mortgages
“Sio lazima uwe na mapato kiwango fulani… Tunataka hata yule mtu ambaye analipa rent ya shilingi elfu tano aweze kulipa mortgage baada ya miaka kumi na tano awe na nyumba yake,” Ruto said.
“The contribution you make in the housing fund is not a tax…sio ushuru, ni pesa yako, si pesa ya ushuru. It is the shillings that will become thousands, millions, and billions, and that is the money we are going to use to build affordable housing,” he added.
The President criticized elected and union leaders for standing between the hustlers’ way to prosperity, particularly housing.
“Every leader, MP, and MCA has a mortgage. Sasa tafadhali tupange ya hao wananchi tutapanga hapo kwa housing fund. Kama wewe ni mtu unawakilisha wafanyikazi na wewe hutaki huyo mfanyikazi awe na nafasi awe na nyumba, apatiwe na tajiri yake pesa ya kununua nyumba wewe ni mfanyikazi ama umenunuliwa na tajiri utetee haki ya tajiri badala ya mfanyikazi?” Ruto posed.
Robbers attack a radio station in Nakuru on a live programming
A radio station in Nakuru County was robbed while presenters were live on air on Thursday night.
The robbery at the Mwinjoyo FM studios, caught on camera, occurred as the presenters normally went about their show.
Midway through the show, a group of gun-wielding men in dark clothing and masks are seen storming the studio and ordering the presenters to switch off the transmission and lie on the floor.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Saturday said it had launched a search for the suspects and appealed to the public to volunteer information that may lead to their arrest.
“In the unfortunate incident recorded live on camera, the thugs who were armed with a firearm and machetes were captured as they made their way into the Mwinjoyo FM recording studio, where they ordered the presenters to lie down before they ransacked their pockets for money and other valuables. “Zima hiyo kitu! Lala chini,” one of them ordered as two shocked presenters, a man, and a woman, sprung to the floor,” DCI’s statement read in part.
“The miscreant gang of four made away with eight mobile phones, over Sh35,000 in cash, and eight pairs of shoes. Five cameras were also damaged by the thugs before they escaped by jumping over the establishment’s perimeter, located in Nakuru’s posh Milimani suburbs,” the statement added.
AFRICA
ourt in Senegal jails Ousmane Sonko for six months
A court in Senegal on Monday, May 8, handed a six-month suspended sentence and a $300,000 fine to Ousmane Sonko, a leading opposition politician who intends to run in next year’s presidential elections.
Sonko, who was found guilty of defaming the country’s tourism minister – received a two-month suspension in March.
But the prosecution called for a heavier sentence following an appeal.
Sonko did not appear in court for the appeal hearing. He said he would no longer respond to court summonses unless his security could be guaranteed.
Court in Malawi orders learners with dreadlocks to be allowed in school
A high court in Malawi Tuesday ordered the education ministry to admit learners with dreadlocks in public schools nationwide.
The court ruled on a petition brought by two Rastafarian children who were refused admission to public schools in 2016 and 2010.
Judge Zione Ntaba ruled that barring children with dreadlocks from attending school breached their right to education.
“The Ministry of Education should issue a statement to allow all children of the Rastafarian community with dreadlocks to be allowed in class. The circular should be done by June 30,” Justice Ntaba ordered.
Tanzania acquires its first bone marrow transplant center
Tanzania Wednesday opened its first bone marrow transplant center in Dodoma.
The center at Benjamin Mkapa Hospital marks a milestone for the country’s health sector. It will focus on treating patients with sickle cell.
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa Majaliwa graced the launch.
Only a few countries in Africa offer bone marrow transplants. Tanzania now joins Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, and Tunisia, which provide the same treatment services.
Court in Nigeria bars state media regulator from imposing fines
A court in Nigeria Wednesday barred the media regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), from imposing fines on TV stations in the country.
Presiding Judge James Omotosho, in a permanent injunction issued on Wednesday, said NBC lacked the judicial powers to impose penalties on broadcast stations.
Justice Omotosho also set aside the $1,084 fine imposed on 45 TV stations over an alleged breach of code in March 2019.
He said the court would “not sit idle” and watch the body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law.
Two babies found floating on Lake Kivu after floods
Two babies were on Monday found floating near the shores of Lake Kivu days after floods killed more than 400 people in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
“It is a miracle. We were all amazed,” local community leader Delphin Birimbi told the BBC.
Their parents died in the floods.
It is unclear how the babies survived three days in the lake, but onlookers say they were floating on debris.
One was rescued in Bushushu and the other in Nyamukubi, the two villages worst hit by last week’s floods.
More dead bodies were found Wednesday, raising the number of dead to 411. Of these, 317 have been buried. However, identifying all the deceased is a challenge as some of them were not village residents but traders visiting from neighboring towns.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said the floods were another illustration of accelerating climate change.
Children in Mozambique find a corpse’s parts in a man’s house
A man was arrested Thursday in Mozambique for having a man’s head and genitals.
Children discovered the body parts in a plastic bag in the Nhamatanda District and alerted the police, said Dércio Chacate, spokesperson for Sofala’s police command.
Investigations led to the arrest of the man who confessed to killing a man and then cutting off his head and genitals so that he could sell them.
The suspect admitted to killing and decapitating the bodies of three other people, the BBC reported.
US accuses South Africa of providing arms to Russia
The US ambassador to South Africa Thursday accused the country of having provided arms to Russia despite its professed neutrality in the Ukraine war
Ambassador Reuben Brigety told a media briefing the US was “confident” weapons and ammunition had been loaded onto a Russian freighter that docked at a Cape Town naval base in December.
“The arming of the Russians is extremely serious, and we do not consider this issue to be resolved, and we would like (South Africa to start) practicing its non-alignment policy,” Brigety said.
Earlier this year, SA held a joint military exercise with Russia and China, and last month a sanctioned Russian military cargo plane landed at an air force base in the middle of the night to deliver what defense authorities described as “diplomatic mail”.
“Among the things, we noted was the docking of the cargo ship in the Simon’s Town naval base between 6th to 8th December 2022, which we are confident uploaded weapons and ammunition onto that vessel in Simon’s Town as it made its way back to Russia,” Brigety said.
LEAVE A COMMENT
You must be logged in to post a comment.