Gabon president defends constitutional change after parliament gives okay Libreville, Gabon | AFP |  Gabonese President Ali Bongo on Wednesday defended a plan to change the constitution after the fiercely-contested draft cleared a key hurdle. Parliament on Wednesday approved a raft of changes that the opposition has slammed as a …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  Angolan President Joao Lourenco removed the son of his predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos from the top job at the oil-rich country’s sovereign wealth fund, the presidency said on Wednesday. Jose Filomeno dos Santos, who was implicated in the “Panama Papers” offshore scandal, will be …

Nairobi, Kenya | THE INDEPENDENT |  President Uhuru Kenyatta is in South Africa where he will meet President Jacob Zuma and later Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, before attending celebrations on Saturday to mark the 106th anniversary of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Kenyatta left Thursday for talks in the afternoon …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Makerere University has offered land and space where the proposed Tumusiime-Mutebile Centre of Excellence for Private Sector Development will be constructed and hosted. Council Chairperson of Makerere University Prof. Charles Wana Etyem confirmed the development at Thursday’s inaugural Tumusiime-Mutebile Center of Excellence (TMCE) business dialogue …

CRISPR-Cas technology is poised to change the world, but those changes need to be positive  COMMENT | TECHNOLOGY | Antoine Danchin |  Since its introduction four decades ago, genetic engineering has been a source of high hopes for health, agriculture, and industry. But it has also provoked deep anxiety, not least …

Women’s NGOs are changing the world…. But research shows they are easily marginalised and trivialised once projects take off NEWS ANALYSIS | Bipasha Baruah & Kate Grantham | In contemporary global development circles, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are now performing many more roles and activities than they did a few decades ago. NGOs …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | State Minister of Health Sarah Opendi has refuted reports that the Crimean haemorrhagic fever, also known as ‘Congo fever’, is ravaging Nakaseke district. She will on Thursday afternoon give a detailed report to parliament. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah instructed the Ministry of …

Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mike Chibita has withdrawn murder, robbery and kidnap charges against former Kampala Central Police Station DPC Aaron Baguma. In a letter dated December 21,  2017 presented by State Attorney Alex Ojok before High Court judge Flavia Ssenoga on …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The deputy speaker of parliament Jacob Oulanyah has directed the Minister of Science and Technology Elioda Tumwesigye to retable the National Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill, 2012 which President Yoweri Museveni declined to sign into law. The bill which seeks to provide a regulatory …

Kampala, Uganda | GODFEY SSALI | Kampala City Hall Court has sent back on remand the six people who were arrested over spraying suspect harmful chemicals on meat and fish  The six were expected to receive sentence on Wednesday after admitting fault last Friday, but when they re-appeared before presiding Grade …