Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Eng. Patrick Amuriat Oboi has taken oath of office as president of Forum For Democratic Change (FDC), marking a remarkable rise to the top of Uganda’s leading opposition party. Beaten in the last parliamentary elections in Kumi, Amuriat looked the underdog at the start …

Paris, France | AFP |  Ahead of World AIDS Day on Friday, here is a snapshot in numbers, based on UN data, of the deadly disease which was identified in the early 1980s. – 17 seconds – Roughly 1.8 million people worldwide contracted the virus that causes AIDS in 2016. …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  Zimbabwe’s new president named his first cabinet Thursday, appointing two senior military officers to key portfolios and dropping close allies of Robert Mugabe who resigned after the armed forces took control of the country. President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed as foreign affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo, the …

UPDF retires 1101 Officers and men Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A week after making 334 promotions, President and Commander In Chief President Yoweri Museveni has promoted Brig Sam Kavuma and appointed him Deputy Commander of the UPDF Land Forces. According to the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) Spokesperson Brig. Richard …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The top stories in this week’s The Independent. COVER STORY Kutesa’s dodgy deals: How American bribery case sucked in Museveni. THE LAST WORD The meaning of Muntu’s defeat: How Besigye’s hold over FDC has undermined its pretence to be a vehicle for democracy. AFRICA …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health will this month start registering residents of Wakiso and Kampala as it prepares for distribution of free Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN) in a nationwide campaign against Malaria. Village Health Teams (VHT) members accompanied by the area Local Council One (LC1s) …

Zagreb, Croatia | AFP |  Bosnian Croat war criminal Slobodan Praljak died Wednesday after drinking poison in a dramatic courtroom scene after UN judges upheld his 20-year sentence, Croatia’s state-run news agency said. The 72-year-old died in hospital, according to the HINA agency quoting a source close to Praljak, after …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Maj.Gen Mugisha Muntu will continue serving Forum For Democratic Change (FDC) after he hands over to the new president Eng. Patrick Amuriat on Friday. “In whatever I do I will look at how FDC can be improved,” he said at a press conference at Hotel Africana on …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Following his defeat in the Forum For Democratic Change (FDC) presidential elections, Maj.Gen Mugisha Muntu will outline his future plans in a press briefing today. The fallout from the FDC polls has raised speculation that Muntu could break away from the party. Soon after …

United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States on Tuesday threatened to take unspecified measures against South Sudan’s government unless it moves to end the nearly four-year war and stop harassing UN peacekeepers and aid workers. US Ambassador Nikki Haley put the onus squarely on President Salva Kiir …