World Briefs … Jail time for those wearing red beret in Uganda

KAMPALA – Uganda designated the red beret and tunic as official military clothing that could land civilians who wear them in jail, essentially banning the uniform of opposition leader Bobi Wine and his supporters.

The pop star-turned-leading opposition figure, who has announced he is running for president against longtime leader Yoweri Museveni in 2021, has made the red beret his signature, calling it a “symbol of resistance”. However, the beret, also worn by some soldiers, was included in Uganda’s first-ever gazette of all military clothing, which states that any member of the public found in possession of the items “is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.” Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, said in a statement emailed to AFP that the beret ban was “a sham”. His party’s youth leader, Ivan Boowe, said they would not stop wearing it.

PRETORIA – President Cyril Ramaphosa will host Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari today for a state visit, the first for South Africa’s 6th administration. “One of the main features of the visit will be a joint business forum, with a focus on trade and investment,” Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko, said on Tuesday. “The state visit will not only provide an opportunity for the two presidents to strengthen and deepen political, economic, social and cultural relations between the two countries, but will also create space for deliberations on issues of mutual interest and concern pertaining to the continent and global governance.” Diko said formal relations had been conducted through a bi-national commission established in 1999. This structured bilateral mechanism provided for political, economic, social, cultural, scientific and technical cooperation, she explained.

DAR ES SALAAM – Tanzania’s president, John Magufuli, announced an extension to an economic crimes amnesty on Monday after prosecutors were flooded with 467 requests in the initial seven-day period. Demand for the amnesty, which allows suspects to negotiate their freedom from jail, has been so great that Magufuli agreed to extend the offer for another week. The amnesty allows suspects held in jail for non-bailable economic crimes – mostly money laundering – to pay the government, and have charges dropped against them. Director of public prosecutions (DPP) Biswalo Mganga said 467 people had applied for the amnesty, and were willing to pay a total of 107,84 billion Tanzanian shillings (US$46 million) to the government.

JOHANNESBURG – Somali farmers were the victims of a US Africa Command (Africom) air strike in Somalia this year in March, not Islamist militants as America claimed at the time, says Amnesty International. Amnesty says Africom has failed to investigate the killings, and following its own investigation, it was established that the three victims were actually farmers returning to their homes in the capital, Mogadishu, and Leego and Yaaq Bariwayne in Lower Shabelle when their car was targeted. Eleven people interviewed, including co-workers and family of the men killed, “were adamant that none of the men was a member of al Shabaab,” it added. “It’s bad enough that Africom appears not to know who its air strikes are actually killing and maiming in its secretive war in Somalia,” Abdullahi Hassan, a Somalia researcher for Amnesty, said in a statement.

– Nampa-AFP-ANA-News24

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