Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The top stories in this week’s THE INDEPENDENT. COVER STORY MTN licence expires,rivals fight renewal: Dirty details of telecom sector exposed. THE LAST WORD The poverty of Africa’s elites: Why the tendency of African intellectuals to blame leaders for the failures of our nations …

  Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI |  The Court of Appeal on Friday ordered fresh elections be conducted in Jinja Municipality East constituency after discovering that the Electoral Commission (EC) did not conduct the last polls in accordance with electoral laws. Basing on reported fraud that marred the said election …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | The African Union said Friday that President Donald Trump’s reported description of African nations as “shithole countries” broke with “accepted behaviour” and was “extremely upsetting.” Ebba Kalondo, spokeswoman for AU Chairperson Moussa Faki, told AFP that Trump’s statement “truly flies in the face of …

  Gaborone, Botswana | AFP | Botswana’s government on Friday summoned the US ambassador to complain about remarks reportedly made by President Donald Trump describing African nations as “shithole countries”. The alleged comments, first reported by The Washington Post, were apparently made during a meeting at the White House about …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Education and Sports Minister Janet Museveni has today released results from the Primary Leaving Examinations of 2017. Janet Museveni said she was happy to see that yet again more girls had taken the Primary Leaving Exams, but was critical of continue malpractices. “I condemn …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Thirty two matches will mark the start of the round of 64 stage of the 44th edition of the Uganda Cup later this month. The big premier league sides should all go through easily, with the likes of holders KCCA tavelling to take on …

Rabat, Morocco | AFP |  Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology will debut in Africa midway through the Nations Championship (CHAN), which kicks off Saturday with hosts Morocco among the title favourites. The system allows off-field match officials to assist referees in “game-changing” situations such as goals, penalty kicks, straight red …

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 …