https://www.scmp.com/rss/520231/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A man has admitted stabbing four children to death at a kindergarten in Uganda, saying he believed killing them as human sacrifices would make him wealthy, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The defendant, Christopher Okello Onyum, 39, who holds both Ugandan and American citizenship, appeared in court to have the charges formally put to him. He is thought to have gained access to the kindergarten by posing as a parent, before attacking children with a knife, killing four of them – ranging in age... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3349434/uganda-man-says-he-killed-4-children-human-sacrifices-bid-get-wealthy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3349434/uganda-man-says-he-killed-4-children-human-sacrifices-bid-get-wealthy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 19:56:41 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Across major African cities such as Nairobi, Lusaka, and Abuja, governments are using surveillance technologies and credit lines from China to monitor public spaces and curb crime, a new survey shows. The UK-based Institute of Development Studies (IDS) said Chinese banks were increasingly funding African governments to build and maintain digital infrastructure – including surveillance cameras and command and control centres – under the “safe city” project, also known as “smart city”, which is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348916/chinese-surveillance-tech-rolled-out-africa-zte-hikvision-and-huawei-helm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348916/chinese-surveillance-tech-rolled-out-africa-zte-hikvision-and-huawei-helm?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:30:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Four children were stabbed to death on Thursday at a kindergarten in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, police said. The male suspect, in his thirties, gained access by posing as a parent before attacking children aged around two and three with a knife, police said. “We confirm a tragic incident at the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school in Makindye Division, Kampala City, where a male suspect brutally stabbed and killed four juveniles,” police spokeswoman Racheal Kawala said. The suspect... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3348855/man-stabs-4-children-death-uganda-kindergarten?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3348855/man-stabs-4-children-death-uganda-kindergarten?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2026 15:14:57 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Kenya has revived construction on its multibillion-dollar Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) extension that stalled more than six years ago, replacing heavy sovereign debt with innovative financing after renegotiating its loans with China. According to Kenyan officials, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) and its subsidiary, China Road and Bridge Corporation, will build the railway’s two remaining sections at an estimated cost of US$5.4 billion. Kenyan President William Ruto earlier this... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348406/china-and-kenya-partner-finish-most-consequential-rail-project?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348406/china-and-kenya-partner-finish-most-consequential-rail-project?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Mar 2026 04:00:11 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Kenya secured trade and infrastructure financing deals during Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng’s visit this week, but analysts cautioned that deepening ties were complicated by rising debt and Nairobi’s balancing act between global powers. The “early harvest” Economic Partnership Agreement between the two countries grants Kenyan products – including tea, coffee and avocados – duty-free and quota-free access to the Chinese market starting in May. After talks with Han on Tuesday, Kenyan President... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348071/kenya-secures-trade-deal-china-rising-debt-us-competition-complicate-deeper-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348071/kenya-secures-trade-deal-china-rising-debt-us-competition-complicate-deeper-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Mar 2026 07:00:07 +0000 Reuters Reuters More than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight on Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine, according to a Kenyan intelligence report presented to lawmakers this week, five times more than authorities had previously estimated. The Russian embassy in Nairobi denied on Thursday that Moscow was involved in illegally recruiting Kenyans to fight in Ukraine, though it said ‌foreign citizens could voluntarily join its armed forces. Reading the report of Kenya’s National Intelligence Service to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3344104/over-1000-kenyans-recruited-fight-russia-ukraine-war-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3344104/over-1000-kenyans-recruited-fight-russia-ukraine-war-report?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 06:44:23 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Africa’s top regional body is hosting its annual summit in Ethiopia this weekend to discuss the future of the continent of some 1.4 billion people, as the organisation faces widespread discontent. Set up to “promote the unity and solidarity of the African States,” analysts say the African Union faces a legitimacy crisis among youth for failing to meet their expectations. Meanwhile, several African countries battle military coups, disputed elections and protests inspired by economic hardship... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3343583/african-union-youth-anger-mounts-over-corruption-lack-accountability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3343583/african-union-youth-anger-mounts-over-corruption-lack-accountability?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Feb 2026 09:54:30 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press An immigration judge on Wednesday granted asylum to a Chinese national who he said had a “well-founded fear” of persecution if sent back to China after exposing human rights abuses there. Guan Heng, 38, applied for asylum after arriving in the US illegally in 2021. He has been in custody since being swept up in an immigration enforcement operation in August as part of a mass deportation campaign by the Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security initially sought to deport Guan to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341605/chinese-national-guan-heng-who-filmed-xinjiang-facilities-granted-us-asylum?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3341605/chinese-national-guan-heng-who-filmed-xinjiang-facilities-granted-us-asylum?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jan 2026 23:53:24 +0000 Reuters Reuters Uganda’s opposition leader Bobi Wine’s wife was taken to hospital after soldiers invaded their residence, partially undressed and choked her, the couple said. Wine, a pop star-turned-politician, was not at the property and is in hiding after he escaped a previous raid on his home last week ⁠hours before he was announced as the runner-up in the January 15 presidential election. Incumbent ruler President Yoweri Museveni, 81, president since 1986, was declared winner of ‍the vote with 71.6 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3341129/uganda-opposition-leader-bobi-wines-wife-hospitalised-after-soldiers-invade-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3341129/uganda-opposition-leader-bobi-wines-wife-hospitalised-after-soldiers-invade-home?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jan 2026 16:03:06 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won his seventh term with 71.65 per cent of votes, according to official results Saturday, in an election marred by an internet shutdown and fraud claims by his youthful challenger, who rejected the outcome and called for peaceful protests. The musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine took 24.72 per cent of the vote, the final results showed. Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has condemned what he described as an unfair electoral process... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3340282/ugandas-president-yoweri-museveni-wins-seventh-term-election-marred-fraud-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3340282/ugandas-president-yoweri-museveni-wins-seventh-term-election-marred-fraud-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Jan 2026 15:48:56 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Uganda’s opposition said its leader Bobi Wine was under house arrest on Friday, after an election that also saw a member of parliament accuse security forces of killing 10 people at his home. President Yoweri Museveni, 81, is seeking to extend his 40-year rule of the east African country and has been accused of “brutal repression” of the opposition. Uganda’s Electoral Commission said on Friday that Museveni was on 75.4 per cent to Wine’s 20.7 with close to 60 per cent of votes counted. Final... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3340215/uganda-election-bobi-wine-under-house-arrest-amid-violence-claims-museveni-nears-5th-term?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3340215/uganda-election-bobi-wine-under-house-arrest-amid-violence-claims-museveni-nears-5th-term?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Jan 2026 12:58:56 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Ugandan authorities shut down internet access nationwide on Tuesday, two days ahead of elections in which President Yoweri Museveni has overseen a crackdown on the opposition as he seeks to extend his 40-year rule. The 81-year-old leader, who once said African rulers should not overstay their time in office, was widely expected to win a seventh term on Thursday due to his total control over state and security bodies. But he was taking no chances against a popular opponent, Bobi Wine, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3339812/uganda-shuts-down-internet-museveni-seeks-extend-long-rule?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3339812/uganda-shuts-down-internet-museveni-seeks-extend-long-rule?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 03:27:37 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Washington is securing bilateral health deals with countries across Africa to ensure direct access to critical pathogen data and specimens following the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). Analysts say the US’ strategic retreat from multilateral organisations has created a vacuum that China is likely to exploit to deepen its influence within global health bodies and position itself as the main partner for the developing world. Under the “America First Global... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3338042/washington-lines-slew-health-deals-us-and-china-vie-influence-across-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3338042/washington-lines-slew-health-deals-us-and-china-vie-influence-across-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2025 04:00:09 +0000 Reuters Reuters A US judge on Thursday ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose wrongful deportation became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, ruling the US government never secured a formal order for his removal from the United States. The order from US District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland means Abrego Garcia will at least temporarily be allowed to return to his Maryland home despite repeated declarations from Trump administration officials that he would never... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336124/judge-orders-release-salvadorean-kilmar-abrego-garcia-amid-trump-era-immigration-saga?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3336124/judge-orders-release-salvadorean-kilmar-abrego-garcia-amid-trump-era-immigration-saga?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 16:04:38 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The opposition leader in Uganda’s Parliament sees Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York mayoral race as inspiring but somehow too distant. “It’s a big encouragement even to us here in Uganda that it’s possible,” said Joel Ssenyonyi, who represents an area of the Ugandan capital of Kampala. “But we have a long way to get there.” There was some excitement at Makerere University in Kampala, where Mamdani’s father was a senior academic until a few years ago. “Seeing Zohran up there, I feel like I... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331674/ugandan-born-mamdanis-new-york-win-sparks-hope-political-change-african-country?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331674/ugandan-born-mamdanis-new-york-win-sparks-hope-political-change-african-country?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Nov 2025 16:00:11 +0000 Reuters Reuters The death toll from a landslide in western Kenya’s Rift Valley has risen to 26, a government spokesman said on Sunday, following heavy rains on Saturday. Twenty-five people were still missing and 26 others had been rescued after devastating floods in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said in a statement. Most of the rescued people were receiving treatment. The government has deployed military planes and disaster response specialists to conduct a search and rescue... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331253/landslide-and-floods-leave-26-dead-western-kenya?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3331253/landslide-and-floods-leave-26-dead-western-kenya?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Nov 2025 17:42:41 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Two buses collided on a major highway in Uganda early on Wednesday, killing 46 people and injuring several others, police said, lowering the death toll from 63. The east African country has a notorious road safety record, frequently recording bus or truck accidents along poorly maintained highways. The latest incident occurred on the Kampala-Gulu highway in Kiryandongo district just after midnight, when two buses “met head-on during the overtaking manoeuvres”, police said in a statement posted... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3329925/buses-collide-head-uganda-killing-least-46?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3329925/buses-collide-head-uganda-killing-least-46?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Oct 2025 08:20:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A US immigration judge on Wednesday denied a bid for asylum from Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has become a proxy for the partisan power struggle over immigration policy. The judge in the Baltimore immigration court denied an application to reopen Abrego Garcia’s 2019 asylum case, but that is not the final word. Abrego Garcia has 30 days to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Salvadorean national has an American wife and children and has lived in Maryland for years, but he... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3327686/kilmar-abrego-garcia-denied-asylum-us-immigration-case-appeal-pending?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3327686/kilmar-abrego-garcia-denied-asylum-us-immigration-case-appeal-pending?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Oct 2025 15:22:30 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Rebels affiliated with Islamic State killed at least 89 people in a machete and gun attack in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said on Tuesday. Congolese officials said that 71 people were killed at a funeral in Nyoto on Monday, and 18 others were killed in Beni in a separate attack on Tuesday. Both attacks took place in the North Kivu region of the country. The attacks was carried out by the Allied Democratic Force, or ADF, in Ntoyo, North Kivu, after residents gathered at a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3324994/dozens-slaughtered-gun-and-machete-attack-eastern-dr-congo-funeral?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3324994/dozens-slaughtered-gun-and-machete-attack-eastern-dr-congo-funeral?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Sep 2025 04:42:56 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Several poor countries, mostly in Africa, have agreed to take deportees from the United States as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants. What motivates them? The African nations of Rwanda, South Sudan and eSwatini have already accepted deportees – almost entirely citizens of other countries – as has El Salvador in Central America. Uganda, too, has agreed to take deportees, including one of the most high-profile cases, a Salvadorean man named Kilmar Armando Abrego... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323498/why-are-so-many-nations-accepting-deportees-trumps-america?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323498/why-are-so-many-nations-accepting-deportees-trumps-america?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Aug 2025 09:27:11 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who has become the face of US President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration agenda, wants to seek asylum in the United States, his lawyers told a federal judge on Wednesday. Abrego Garcia, 30, was detained on Monday in Baltimore by US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) after leaving a Tennessee jail on Friday. The Trump administration said it intends to deport him to the African country of Uganda. Administration officials have said he is part of the dangerous MS-13... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323398/kilmar-abrego-garcia-seeks-asylum-us-twist-after-trump-deportation-battle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323398/kilmar-abrego-garcia-seeks-asylum-us-twist-after-trump-deportation-battle?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Aug 2025 14:08:00 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Kilmar Abrego Garcia surrendered to US immigration authorities in Baltimore on Monday and faces possible efforts by the Trump administration to deport him immediately. The 30-year-old Maryland construction worker and Salvadorean national spoke at a rally before he turned himself in. “This administration has hit us hard, but I want to tell you guys something: God is with us, and God will never leave us,” Abrego Garcia said, speaking through a translator. “God will bring justice to all the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323103/kilmar-abrego-garcia-surrenders-ice-faces-possible-deportation-uganda?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323103/kilmar-abrego-garcia-surrenders-ice-faces-possible-deportation-uganda?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Aug 2025 12:37:19 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US immigration officials said they intended to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda after he declined an offer to be sent to Costa Rica in exchange for remaining in jail and pleading guilty to human smuggling charges, his defence lawyers told a court on Saturday. The Costa Rica offer came late on Thursday and included a requirement that he remain in jail for the time being and then serve whatever sentence he would receive for pleading guilty, according to a brief filed in Tennessee, where the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322943/us-seeks-deport-abrego-garcia-uganda-after-he-refused-costa-rica-plea-offer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322943/us-seeks-deport-abrego-garcia-uganda-after-he-refused-costa-rica-plea-offer?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Aug 2025 14:58:01 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Uganda has agreed to receive migrants who do not qualify to remain in the United States, a foreign ministry official said on Thursday, in Washington’s latest attempt to speed up deportations. US President Donald Trump’s administration has negotiated arrangements to send people to third countries, among them El Salvador and eSwatini, which have been fiercely criticised by rights groups. At roughly 1.7 million, Uganda already hosts the largest refugee population in Africa, according to the United... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322671/uganda-joins-trumps-deportation-push-becoming-latest-country-accept-us-migrants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322671/uganda-joins-trumps-deportation-push-becoming-latest-country-accept-us-migrants?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Aug 2025 09:54:10 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage China is reaching out to Africa’s top coffee-producing nations as part of a broader strategy to secure new supply chains overseas. Observers say the shift – which coincides with Brazil seeking new buyers in China because of a fresh 50 per cent US tariff on Brazilian coffee – is driven by China’s strong domestic demand. The scale of this push is clear: last week, Beijing authorised 183 new Brazilian coffee companies to export to China. This is in addition to a US$2.5 billion deal signed in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320908/booming-coffee-class-and-zero-tariff-policy-drive-chinas-push-african-bean-imports?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320908/booming-coffee-class-and-zero-tariff-policy-drive-chinas-push-african-bean-imports?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Aug 2025 06:00:15 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage China has reaffirmed its support for peaceful development in the Horn of Africa, saying it will “actively engage” in regional initiatives to promote the concept. Beijing’s special envoy Xue Bing made the pledge at a conference on the topic in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Tuesday, a Chinese-led event that involved representatives from eight countries in East Africa. Xue said Beijing would offer military assistance and training, as well as help to develop the region’s infrastructure and boost... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320638/china-pledges-support-peaceful-development-horn-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320638/china-pledges-support-peaceful-development-horn-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Aug 2025 04:18:28 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Saturday sought nomination for a seventh term, a move that would bring him closer to five decades in power in the East African country. Museveni, 80, has defied calls for his retirement, as critics warn that he has veered into authoritarianism with virtually no opposition, including within his governing National Resistance Movement party. He was welcomed by a large crowd of supporters as he went to collect nomination papers from the party’s offices in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3316246/uganda-president-80-seeks-7th-term-despite-calls-his-retirement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3316246/uganda-president-80-seeks-7th-term-despite-calls-his-retirement?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Jun 2025 23:27:39 +0000 Hong Kong have had to be “open-minded and flexible” to navigate the organisational chaos that is affecting their critical Challenge League B campaign in Uganda. The tournament represents the first leg of the city team’s three-year quest to recapture their one-day-international status. Hong Kong were indebted to a fabulous Babar Hayat century for a tense three-wicket victory over Bahrain in their opening match, after Yasim Murtaza claimed four cheap wickets with the ball, but they suffered a... https://www.scmp.com/sport/cricket/article/3285949/flexible-hong-kong-aim-overcome-organisational-chaos-key-uganda-cricket-tournament?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/cricket/article/3285949/flexible-hong-kong-aim-overcome-organisational-chaos-key-uganda-cricket-tournament?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Nov 2024 08:00:16 +0000 Zeeshan Ali says Hong Kong are aching to escape the backwaters of Challenge League cricket and “show what we are capable of” on the world stage. Hong Kong begin the latest three-year Challenge League B cycle with five one-day matches over the next nine days in Uganda. Head coach Simon Willis and captain Nizakat Khan have united to emphasise the importance of the competition, which provides a potential gateway to Hong Kong recapturing their one-day international status and all the benefits that... https://www.scmp.com/sport/cricket/article/3285326/hong-kong-cricket-fighters-craving-global-spotlight-ahead-crucial-uganda-tournament?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/cricket/article/3285326/hong-kong-cricket-fighters-craving-global-spotlight-ahead-crucial-uganda-tournament?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Nov 2024 00:45:08 +0000 A Ugandan construction deal could provide the impetus needed to see China hand over extra financing to a stalled rail project in Kenya, according to observers. On Monday last week, Uganda awarded Turkish construction firm Yapi Merkezi the contract to build a 272km (169-mile) section of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from capital Kampala to Malaba at the Kenyan border, at a cost of US$3 billion. It comes just over a year since funding delays saw Kampala terminate a 2015 contract it had with... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3282745/could-ugandan-rail-deal-convince-china-help-get-kenyan-project-back-track?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3282745/could-ugandan-rail-deal-convince-china-help-get-kenyan-project-back-track?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Oct 2024 04:00:08 +0000 Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after being doused in petrol and set alight by her former partner, was due to be buried on Saturday with full military honours. Cheptegei returned to her home in the highlands of western Kenya, an area popular with international runners for its high altitude training facilities, after coming 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics on August 11. It would be her final race. Three weeks later her former boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3278529/slain-ugandan-olympian-rebecca-cheptegei-buried-full-military-honours?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3278529/slain-ugandan-olympian-rebecca-cheptegei-buried-full-military-honours?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Sep 2024 07:38:37 +0000 The man who attacked Ugandan runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died from injuries sustained when he poured petrol over the Olympic athlete, the Kenyan hospital treating him said on Tuesday. Police said that Dickson Ndiema Marangach assaulted Cheptegei in her home in western Kenya on September 1. The mother-of-two sustained 80 per cent burns and died last week. In the course of the attack, Marangach also incurred 30 per cent burns and was being treated in the intensive care unit at the Moi Teaching... https://www.scmp.com/sport/paris-olympics-2024/athletics/article/3277955/alleged-killer-ugandan-olympic-runner-rebecca-cheptegei-dies-burns-hospital-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/paris-olympics-2024/athletics/article/3277955/alleged-killer-ugandan-olympic-runner-rebecca-cheptegei-dies-burns-hospital-says?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Sep 2024 09:22:13 +0000 A Ugandan shrine owner is under investigation for human sacrifice after 24 skulls were discovered at the site on the outskirts of the capital Kampala, police said on Thursday. The grisly find on Sunday comes only a month after 17 other skulls – including those of children – were unearthed in a separate case in the East African country. “We recovered 24 human skulls in Nateete and investigations are going on to establish the source,” Kampala metropolitan deputy police spokesman Luke Oweyesigire... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3276462/uganda-police-find-24-human-skulls-kampala-shrine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3276462/uganda-police-find-24-human-skulls-kampala-shrine?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Aug 2024 15:04:33 +0000 The number of people killed when a mountain of garbage collapsed in Uganda’s capital last week has risen to 35, 12 of whom were young people, police said on Friday. At least 28 others are still missing. The accident occurred late last Friday, when a large chunk broke off the mound of trash at the Kiteezi landfill on the northern outskirts of Kampala. Dozens of homes near the dump were buried while residents slept. Nine more bodies have been retrieved since Wednesday, when 26 were reported... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3274835/death-toll-uganda-rubbish-dump-landslide-rises-35?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3274835/death-toll-uganda-rubbish-dump-landslide-rises-35?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Aug 2024 14:00:13 +0000 The death toll from a landslide at a vast rubbish dump in Uganda’s capital Kampala has risen to 21, police said on Sunday, as rescuers continued to dig for survivors. After torrential rain in recent weeks a chunk of rubbish from the city’s only landfill broke off late on Friday, crushing and burying homes on the edge of the site as residents slept. President Yoweri Museveni said in a statement he had directed the prime minister to coordinate the removal of all those living near the rubbish... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3274082/uganda-death-toll-landslide-capitals-only-rubbish-dump-rises-13-1000-displaced?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3274082/uganda-death-toll-landslide-capitals-only-rubbish-dump-rises-13-1000-displaced?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Aug 2024 11:22:29 +0000 Ugandan security forces on Tuesday arrested dozens of people who tried to walk to the parliament building to demonstrate against high-level corruption in protests that authorities said were illegal. Police and the military deployed heavily in various parts of Kampala where small groups of protesters had gathered. Police roughed up some campaigners as they were forced into trucks. The police frequently use force to break up demonstrations by opposition leaders and others. The protests were... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3271622/uganda-anti-corruption-demonstration-follows-successful-protests-kenya?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3271622/uganda-anti-corruption-demonstration-follows-successful-protests-kenya?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Jul 2024 22:58:24 +0000 Uganda are training hard for their first-ever Twenty20 World Cup, a “dream come true” in a nation where cricket is overshadowed by football as the most popular sport. But they have a tough road ahead in the tournament, which is being jointly hosted by the United States and West Indies and runs from June 1 to June 29. Among their opponents are New Zealand and West Indies, as well as Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea, with the fixtures being held in Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. Time is not on... https://www.scmp.com/sport/cricket/article/3264373/cricket-t20-world-cup-uganda-enjoy-dream-come-true-they-prepare-face-new-zealand-west-indies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/cricket/article/3264373/cricket-t20-world-cup-uganda-enjoy-dream-come-true-they-prepare-face-new-zealand-west-indies?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 May 2024 07:00:10 +0000 China has stepped in to bankroll the building of a controversial oil pipeline in Uganda as Western-backed lenders abandoned the project. But the move is driven “more by geopolitics than by geoeconomics”, according to observers. The assessment follows Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s revelation earlier this month that his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, had promised his “unwavering support” for the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), set to run from Uganda’s Lake... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3259641/what-has-driven-china-bankroll-controversial-ugandan-crude-oil-pipeline?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3259641/what-has-driven-china-bankroll-controversial-ugandan-crude-oil-pipeline?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 May 2024 06:00:11 +0000 Hong Kong’s men have been drawn alongside Spain, Papua New Guinea and Brazil for the pool stages of the final sevens Olympic qualifying tournament in June. Unlikely to reach the Games in Paris this summer after missing out on the regional qualifying spot to Japan, Jevon Groves’ side have at least avoided South Africa, Canada and Great Britain in the opening rounds. The city’s women have a slightly easier task ahead of them, having been grouped with Uganda, Paraguay and Jamaica for the World... https://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/international-rugby/article/3259799/paris-olympics-hong-kongs-men-face-spain-last-chance-sevens-qualifier-while-uganda-among-womens-pool?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/international-rugby/article/3259799/paris-olympics-hong-kongs-men-face-spain-last-chance-sevens-qualifier-while-uganda-among-womens-pool?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Apr 2024 09:00:23 +0000 Uganda’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a bid to scrap a controversial anti-gay law that is considered one of the toughest in the world. “We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in its entirety, neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement,” Justice Richard Buteera, Uganda’s deputy chief justice and head of the court, said in the landmark ruling. The legislation was adopted in May last year, triggering outrage among the LGBTQ community, rights... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3257708/uganda-top-court-declines-block-controversial-anti-gay-law-sees-some-rights-infringed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3257708/uganda-top-court-declines-block-controversial-anti-gay-law-sees-some-rights-infringed?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Apr 2024 08:39:29 +0000 Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday ruled that prosecutors can bring a hearing on charges against fugitive Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony in his absence on October 15. Kony, the founder and leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), is the ICC’s longest-standing fugitive. An arrest warrant was issued against him in 2005. ICC prosecutors are looking to charge Kony with 36 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, rape, using child soldiers, sexual... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3254159/icc-allows-absentia-hearings-case-against-ugandan-warlord-joseph-kony?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3254159/icc-allows-absentia-hearings-case-against-ugandan-warlord-joseph-kony?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Mar 2024 17:27:38 +0000 Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has praised his country’s long-standing relationship with China, while asking the Asian economic giant to open up more of its huge market to goods from Africa. In a meeting on the sidelines of last week’s Non-Aligned Movement summit in Kampala, Museveni told Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong that greater market access for African products would benefit Africa and China. Museveni pointed to China’s decades of support for Uganda, saying “we are happy both with... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3249459/uganda-asks-china-go-further-opening-its-market-african-products?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3249459/uganda-asks-china-go-further-opening-its-market-african-products?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Jan 2024 09:00:11 +0000 Uganda is expected to start building the US$5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in January after the first shipment of pipes arrived from China, as opposition to the massive project intensifies. Chinese steel pipe manufacturer Panyu Chu Kong (PCK) Steel Pipe Co – which is contracted to supply the line pipes – delivered the first 100km of pipes on Tuesday. Ugandan and Tanzanian officials marked their arrival at a storage yard operated by EACOP’s Tanzania logistics partner,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3246803/uganda-start-building-oil-pipeline-pipes-china-opposition-mounts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3246803/uganda-start-building-oil-pipeline-pipes-china-opposition-mounts?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Dec 2023 08:01:15 +0000 Lilian Nabulime hasn’t forgotten the time in the 1990s when the Ugandan capital had just one commercial art gallery, a small space that emerging artists struggled to get into. Now there are at least six in Kampala, including one whose curator recently exhibited the sculptor’s work. Nabulime’s show, which has attracted audiences for its conspiratorial take on the peculiarities of urban “gossip”, might never have happened if she hadn’t approached Xenson Art Space and asked for the opportunity to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3245548/how-growing-art-scene-uganda-mirrors-increased-global-interest-african-art?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3245548/how-growing-art-scene-uganda-mirrors-increased-global-interest-african-art?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Dec 2023 03:15:17 +0000 Uganda is facing a Catch-22 as it courts financiers to bankroll its multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects, including a railroad and an oil pipeline. The landlocked East African nation wants to build a US$5 billion pipeline that would transport crude oil from its Lake Albert oilfields in the northwest of the country to Tanga on Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast. It also wants to upgrade its internet infrastructure and construct a major railway line running from the capital Kampala to the Kenyan... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3243529/uganda-chases-chinas-cash-after-western-lenders-baulk-bankrolling-projects-over-human-rights-issues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3243529/uganda-chases-chinas-cash-after-western-lenders-baulk-bankrolling-projects-over-human-rights-issues?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Dec 2023 12:00:12 +0000 North Korea is closing its embassy in Uganda, officials said, ending a half-century of diplomatic presence in one of its longest-standing African allies. The move was announced after a meeting on Monday between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and North Korean ambassador Jong Tong-hak. “Ambassador Jong informed the president that North Korea has taken a strategic measure to reduce the number of embassies in Africa, Uganda inclusive, in order to increase efficiency of the country’s external... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3239067/north-korea-closes-embassy-uganda-dating-back-idi-amins-brutal-rule?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3239067/north-korea-closes-embassy-uganda-dating-back-idi-amins-brutal-rule?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Oct 2023 02:05:25 +0000 Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine said on Thursday he was under house arrest after being seized by security officials on his return home from a trip abroad. Wine, a pop star-turned-politician who ran against veteran President Yoweri Museveni in Uganda’s last election in 2021, has been arrested numerous times. “They picked me illegally like you saw and as we speak right now I’m under house arrest. Soldiers and police are all over,” Wine told journalists at his home north of the capital... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3236922/bobi-wine-ugandan-opposition-leader-arrested-airport-supporters-can-greet-him?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3236922/bobi-wine-ugandan-opposition-leader-arrested-airport-supporters-can-greet-him?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Oct 2023 09:41:41 +0000 Chinese lenders will provide more than half of the US$3 billion debt that Uganda requires to build a crude oil pipeline after financiers from the West backed out following strong opposition from environmental groups. According to Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, the East African nation expects to finalise talks with the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) and the Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank) by next month to finance the construction of the East... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3235472/china-steps-save-uganda-oil-pipeline-western-lenders-back-out-over-environmental-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3235472/china-steps-save-uganda-oil-pipeline-western-lenders-back-out-over-environmental-concerns?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Sep 2023 12:00:13 +0000 A bereaved Ugandan border town began burying the victims of a brutal attack on a school by suspected extremist rebels that left 42 people dead, most of them students, as security forces stepped up patrols along the frontier with volatile eastern Congo. One of eight people wounded in Friday night’s attack, in which 38 students were killed, died overnight, said Selevest Mapoze, mayor of the town of Mpondwe-Lhubiriha. “Most of the relatives have come to take their bodies” from the morgue, he... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3224529/grieving-families-bury-their-dead-after-41-killed-brutal-uganda-school-attack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3224529/grieving-families-bury-their-dead-after-41-killed-brutal-uganda-school-attack?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Jun 2023 18:07:50 +0000 Militants linked to Islamic State group hacked and burned 37 students to death in Western Uganda in the country’s worst such attack in over a decade, army and police officials said on Saturday. The army said it was pursuing militants from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) after the cross-border raid late on Friday on a secondary school in Mpondwe in Kasese district near the Democratic Republic of Congo. Investigators said dormitories were set alight and students cut down with knives in a brutal... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3224455/37-killed-children-slashed-machetes-brutal-militant-attack-school-uganda-worst-decade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3224455/37-killed-children-slashed-machetes-brutal-militant-attack-school-uganda-worst-decade?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Jun 2023 12:40:50 +0000