Debbie Franches Reynolds is dead.

Us actress Debbie Franches Reynolds dies grieving for daughter Carrier Fisher. She died a day after the death of her daughter. May her soul rest in peace.

breaking news: carrie fisher dies

Star wars actress carrier fisher (1956 - 2016) carrie fisher dies. She suffered cardiac arrest and was being treated in the UCLA medical centre. The actress found fame playing princess Leia. May her soul rest in peace.

Nelson Mandela's Hospital Dream Comes True in South Africa

The Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital is the fourth of its kind on the continent and will provide highly specialised services for children. The Hospital was a fulfilment of one of Madiba's greatest dreams. The world class hospital is only the fourth of its kind on the continent, while a country like Canada has 23 such hospitals.

 The Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital began construction on 22 April 2014. Its construction was funded by donations from corporations, key partners and citizens to a total of 1 billion.

 "Every child counts and matters...

Zimbabwe: Why Should I Die If the Lord Hasn't Called Me? - Mugabe

President Robert Mugabe has claimed some of his once-trusted lieutenants wanted him to die so that they could take over.

I'm Already President, Says Zimbabwe's First Lady

Grace Mugabe has reportedly claimed that she is already the president, as she "plans and does everything with President Robert Mugabe".

President Robert Mugabe looks on as First Lady Grace Mugabe talks to Army Chief Constantine Chiwenga (file photo).

South Africa: Middelburg - Protests Over South Africa Coffin Assault

Demonstrators have protested against racism outside a South African court where two white men face assault charges for allegedly forcing a black man into a coffin and threatening to set him on fire.

The two accused, Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Martins Jackson, appeared briefly in the Magistrates Court in Middelburg, east of Pretoria, on Wednesday before the case was postponed until January 25.

The men will remain in custody until the case resumes.

The 20-second video, which was widely circulated on social media, shows the victim, Victor Rethabile, cowering inside a coffin as one man pushes a lid on his head and the other threatens to put petrol and a snake inside the coffin.

Rethabile escaped, although it is not clear how. He told reporters outside court he wanted justice.

"They were accusing me of trespassing. They beat me up and forced me into the coffin," he said.

The left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, which campaigns for a more even distribution of wealth between white and black South Africans, led a rally outside the court.

"This humiliation can be based on nothing else but his blackness, which means it is in actual fact a humiliation of black people as a whole," the EFF said in a statement.

Hundreds of South Africans condemned the white men's behaviour on social media under the hashtag #coffinAlive.

Black people make up 80 percent of South Africa's 54 million population. However, most of the economy remains in the hands of white people, who account for about 8 percent of the population.

(Story from Aljazeera) 

Makerere Lecturers Strike Over Arrears

The university's academic staff has decided to strike because the management failed to pay their outstanding incentive arrears.

Nigerian President Meets Freed Chibok Girls

President Muhammadu Buhari has promised that the government will sustain the ongoing rescue efforts until all the remaining abducted Chibok girls return safely.

Freed Chibok Girls Reunite With Families in Nigeria

It is unclear how the release was negotiated, but an official says talks are under way to free more girls.

Kenya: Donald Trump invites Malik Obama to be his guest at presidential debate in U.S.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has invited President Barack Obama’s half-brother Malik Obama to be his guest at the third and final presidential debate on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Trump campaign unveiled the candidate’s list of invited guests as he prepared to spar with Hillary Clinton.

Clinton also unveiled her list of guests, including Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman, a former Republican California gubernatorial candidate. Cuban and Whitman are both billionaires and the Clinton campaign is subtly questioning Trump’s claim to being immensely wealthy.

US CITIZEN
Malik, who is a US citizen, has been an outspoken critic of Clinton and has thrown his support behind the Manhattan billionaire. During an interview with the New York Post, Malik blasted Clinton for her performance as secretary of state, blaming her for the chaos and violence in the Middle East.

He said ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was a good friend of his. “Check out the situation in Libya now,” he said. He also questioned the sincerity of the women who have accused Trump of kissing and groping them.

“I don’t believe them,” Malik said of the women. “Why didn’t they come forward before?” In an interview with the same paper in July, Malik announced he would vote for Trump, saying he likes the candidate and was unhappy with his half-brother’s leadership. He criticised President Obama, saying he has not done much for the American people and his extended family back in Kenya despite high expectations.

‘BROTHER STORY’

Earlier this year, Malik complained that when he last visited the White House, President Obama did not extend to him a “warm and loving” reception. The Kenyan-born Malik has been a darling of right-wing conservative media outlets, which sought to further the "brother" story that claims President Obama was born in Kenya.

In 2015, he sold a handwritten letter from the president that seemed to shed light on why the US leader chose to enter politics. Trump is currently in a free fall, with the latest polls showing him trailing Clinton by between six and 12 points.

Africa: Rwanda Third Best Place to Be a Girl in Africa

 

Rwanda is beating the United States in gender equality

The United States has plummeted to 28th place on an annual ranking of the world's most equal countries for men and women, falling behind Rwanda, an East African country ravaged by genocide in 1994.

Rwandan women beat American women in both labor force participation and government representation, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report. Eighty-eight percent of women in Rwanda have jobs, compared to 66 percent of women in the U.S. A whopping 64 percent of the African nation’s politicians are women, compared to our 19 percent.

It's important to note that Rwanda, which placed sixth on the list, also boasts more gender equality than France (15th), Spain (25th), Germany  (11th), Switzerland (8th) and Denmark (14th). Each country was graded on labor participation, health, political empowerment and educational attainment.

 

Seychelles: Annoucement

Vice-President Danny Faure and Mrs. Jeannine Faure have announced their divorce, which has been pronounced by the Supreme Court earlier today. They have asked that their privacy and that of their children be respected.

France Avoiding Rwanda Genocide 'Responsibility'

The government says that France's decision to re-open the investigation into the death of former Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana that sparked the 1994 genocide is part of a strategy to avoid culpability.

Remains and belongings of Genocide victims who were killed at Ntarama Catholic Church during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi (file photo).

Gunmen Attack Train in Mozambique

The Mozambican police has accused Renamo of attacking a coal train.

Mafia teacher dismissed!!

Education minister Joyce Ndalichako announced the dismissal of the 'mafia' teachers. In 24 hours, the Mbeya video, lasting only 30 seconds, had triggered emotional condemnation far and wide and jolted cabinet ministers, the police and Mbeya Regional authorities into swift action.

In her statement, Prof Ndalichako noted that "...the trainee teachers lost the legitimacy to continue pursuing a career in education."

That was not all. Before nightfall, two other steps had been taken - the school's head teacher, Ms Magreth Haule, had been demoted through a direct order from the Minister in the President's Office (Regional Adminsitration and Local Authorities, Mr George Simbachawene.

Tanzania: 5 Teachers Held Over Brutal Beating of Mbeya Schoolboy

Police in Mbeya Region are holding five teachers from Mbeya Day Secondary School in connection with the much-documented brutal beating of a student at the learning institution - both in print and video.

A video clip purporting to show more than three teachers brutally beating the student, including on the head and at one point kicking him and throwing him on the floor, went viral on various social networks within and outside the country.

Speaking to the 'Daily News' in a telephone interview, Mbeya Regional Police Commander (RPC), Mr Dhahiri Kidavashari, said the five teachers were being held as part of the ongoing investigations into the brutal beating of the student, Sebastian Chinguku from Form 3A.

"We cannot at the moment categorically say these teachers are the ones appearing in the video clip making rounds in the social media; but we believe interrogations will shed light on the matter," Mr Kidavashari explained.

The video clip shows more than three heavily set men allegedly brutally beating up the frail male student who was wearing a dark green cardigan, blue trousers and white shirt - at one point throwing him down on the concrete floor, heating his head in the process. One of the men, dressed in khaki trousers, held the boy's face down with one hand and raining heavy blows or slaps on the student's face.

The clip shows the teachers throwing the boy down several times, heating his head on the floor as they continued beating him, while in the background a female voice could be heard pleading with the men to stop beating the boy as they could badly hurt him.

The atrocity, done by the three men described as trainee teachers from different universities attached to the school, has prompted the Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Mwigulu Nchemba and the Mbeya Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr Amos Makalla, at different times yesterday to issue statement condemning the act and directing state organs to arrest the culprits involved.

Mr Nchemba said police were interrogating the teachers and also recording a statement from Sebastian in addition to ensuring that the student gets proper medical treatment.

"I have directed state organs in Dar es Salaam to find and arrest the culprits who apparently have gone back to their respective universities," he explained.

 The three teachers, who beat up the Form 3 student according to the minister, are Frank Msigwa and John Deo, both from DUCE the constituent college of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and Sanke Gwamaka from Nyerere Memorial University (NMU) at Kivukoni, also in Dar es Salaam.

Mr Makalla said police in Mbeya Region are holding several teachers, including the school's headmaster, for interrogation and getting a statement from the student. "I want to assure the public that the police will find the trainee teachers involved in the matter so that they face the full wrath of the law," Mr Makalla vowed.

The Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, condemned the corporal punishment, explaining that her ministry did not condone such violent acts against defenceless children.

"We are not saying that children shouldn't be punished. But what those teachers did amounted to an act of violence against a child and not punishment as such.

There are regulations on caning students and on particular parts of the body," she explained, adding that she could not herself bear to watch the entire clip because of the cruelty involved in it.

She added that her ministry will continue to promote and advocate safe environment in both primary and secondary schools where pupils/ students will feel safe, stressing that such cruelty will scare children from going to school.

Preliminary investigations show that the altercation stemmed from unfinished homework in English subject that had been issued by one of the trainee teachers, Frank Msigwa.

The trainee teacher decided to punish the students who did not complete their homework, making them do pushups and kneeling, to which Sebastian said he could not do because he had a bad knee.

This angered the trainee teacher, who took the student to the staff room and with the help of his colleagues, proceeded to brutally beat up the student.

The student has not been seen in school since the incident, which took place on September 28. The trainee teachers also left at the same time and have also not been seen at the school since then.

Kenya: Chris Brown Smashes Fan's Phone in Mombasa

American music star Chris Brown has been accused of smashing one of his fan's mobile phone on the ground as she tried to take a selfie with him on arrival in the coastal town of Mombasa.

The musician was walking to his car at the Moi International Airport, when the incident occurred, sparking harsh comments on social media where Kenyans called for his deportation coming less than three months after Koffi Olomide was deported for slapping a member of his band at the JKIA, Kenya's main airport in the capital Nairobi.

"I was with my sister and we had gone to receive a guest at the airport and that is when we saw Chris Brown and I got excited and asked him if I could take a selfie with him," Brenda Sugut told journalists in Mombasa, "he did not answer me but I went ahead and followed him while trying to get the selfie and that is when he grabbed my phone and smashed it down."

Brenda said "My phone cost me Sh81,999, it's an Iphone 6."

She said the screen protector and cover were damaged during the incident that was witnessed by several onlookers as well as journalists who later interviewed her.

"I am not happy of what he did to me, he should always think twice before doing anything because what he did was not right at all," she said, "If I knew he would do that I could not have even moved closer to him."

The fan said she had planned to attend Chris Brown's show but "now I will not go, because of what he has done to me."

"We take selfies all the time with celebrities here, I don't understand why he acted that way."

There was no immediate comment from the musician's promoters or himself and it was immediately clear if the incident had been reported to police.

Kenyan Govt Urged to Ban Use of Plastic to Protect Sea Life

The Ocean Sole Foundation has revealed that once plastic is consumed by fish, it also exposes people to the risk of cancer due to the chemicals found in it.

Photo: Wachira Mwangi/Daily Nation

Volunteers at Jomo Kenyatta Public beach in Mombasa to mark the World International Coastal Clean up day.

Mozambique: Government Planning to Ban All Exports of Logs

Maputo — The Mozambican government is proposing a total ban on all exports of unprocessed logs, regardless of the tree species from which they come, reports Tuesday's issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”.

The national director of forests in the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Xavier Sakambuera, told the paper a bill on this matter has already been drafted and deposited with the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.

There have been many haphazard attempts in the past to outlaw the export of logs from particular species of hardwoods, but this would be the first blanket ban on the export of all logs. As such it is bound to meet with ferocious opposition from logging interests, who are busy destroying Mozambique's forests to sell unprocessed wood to foreign buyers, often from China.

A complete ban means that forest wardens and customs inspectors will no longer have to determine what kind of trees the logs come from, since all log exports will be illegal.

Current estimates are that Mozambique is losing 220,000 hectares of forest a year. This is due not only to logging, but to the uncontrolled bush fires associated with slash and burn agriculture, and the clearing of land for building purposes.

Sakambuera said the government hopes a ban will greatly reduce illegal logging, and will create more jobs in the timber processing industry.

“There will be a modernization of technology in the timber industry”, he forecast, “which will add value to the product at all stages in the production chain”.

Sakambuera added that, with an export ban in place, the government hopes to harmonise the prices charged in marketing wood throughout the country.

Earthquake 'Exposed' Tanzania's Response Weaknesses

Experts have said the catastrophe which killed 17 people has showed the unpreparedness of government in response to disasters.

The Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, walks past Ihungo Secondary School, which was hit by the earthquake that occurred in Bukoba Municipality Kagera Region.

Tanzania: World 'Moved' to Tanzania As Solar Eclipse Occured yesterday

Tanzanias and other international visitors yesterday witnessed the annular solar eclipse that witnessed in Rujewa and Wang'ing'ombe in Mbeya and Njombe regions respectively.

The two areas, according to astronomy experts, were the best sites for viewing the rare event in which the sun's disk will change to a ring.

Experts say that the next eclipse in Tanzania is expected to occur after 15 years, thus this global astronomical event is expected to attract a number of scientists, researchers, celebrities and eclipse chasers within and outside the country.

Kenya: Female Officer Shoots Herself At JKIA

A female police officer attached to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Wednesday morning shot herself dead while at work.

The officer shot herself in the head in a toilet at around 7a.m, according to the Kenya Airport Police Unit Deputy Commandant Rono Bunei.

"She has been on leave and resumed work today (Wednesday). She had been interacting well with her colleagues and did not show any signs of being frustrated. In fact, she was very jovial," Mr Bunei said.

He said the officer, who was a corporal, removed her beret and swagger-cane and placed them on a table at the Control Room before going to the toilet.

"All we heard was a gunshot and we found her seated on the toilet seat, dead, with an official Jericho Pistol in her hand," Mr Bunei said.

The body of the officer who is a mother of one, was taken to the City Mortuary.

The incident comes just three weeks after an officer attached to the traffic department in Kisumu shot himself dead.

Police Constable Alfred Ndalana, a rider, shot himself using a colleague's rifle after expressing fear about the vetting exercise.

Mali: Djeba - My Child Marriage Nightmare

In her family’s house in a rural village in the municipality of Baroueli, located in the Segou region of Mali, 20-year-old Djeba gives a broad smile as she sits her son on her lap. But behind the smile are memories of pain and trauma.

Djeba was a brilliant student who had big ambitions for her future. But at 14, her dreams of a successful academic career were shattered when her family married her off to a man 17 years older.

With no understanding of the implications being married would bring, she moved to the next village to serve as the man’s child bride.

Six years later, Djeba now has 2 children - a boy, 2 and a girl, 4.

Marrying off girls while they are still children is a very common tradition in the conservative area of Baroueli. According to research, over 20% of marriages in Baroueli involve children under 15. These early marriages leave the girls with physical and psychological impacts.

Child marriage trauma

Recounting her ordeal, Djeba compares her life to hell, "I’m suffering a lot”, she says.
During each of her pregnancies, she fell ill and could not even stand. But her mother-in-law wasn’t moved by this.

“She used to tell me that I’m lazy. I want to end the marriage. It’s a nightmare for me", she says.

Such treatment is common for child brides across Mali. Often girls suffer complications
during pregnancy as their bodies are too immature to cope with childbirth. In some cases, they have died while giving birth. Most do not go to hospital to seek treatment for post childbirth complications which, if left untreated, can develop into more serious conditions.

Plan International is working in partnership with the local non-governmental organisation ERAD (Studies, Research and Action for Sustainable Development) and has implemented a campaign to reduce early marriages in 26 villages in Baroueli.

Speaking out and changing lives

Through her involvement with this NGO, Djeba now goes into her community to speak about the issue of child marriage. She has become an active social campaigner, going from door to door and inviting people to participate in open discussions.

Using initiatives like these, community leaders, traditional communicators, local officials and religious leaders are beginning to understand the negative consequences of early marriage.

Imam El Hadj Koke Coulibaly, thinks that behavioural change is imminent. "We understand that this tradition has harmful consequences for girls. It weakens couples and does not allow girls to realise their full potential. Most probably, we will open discussions on it in the mosques.”

For Djeba, her only hope of ending her suffering is by ending her marriage. To do this she
will need the support of the village chief and Iman, who is the only authority empowered to end a marriage.

A proud advocate of preventing child marriage in the village, Iman Koke has ended 15 child marriages over the past year.

Photos of Bride Running From Her Wedding Go Viral

The bride running and followed by family and friends

Over the weekend, photos of a Nigerian bride seemingly making a run for her life went viral on social media, leaving a lot of questions unanswered about where she was running to and why.

Lindaikeji.com reports that the bride in Eket, Akwa Ibom state, was actually running away from her wedding because she discovered her husband-to-be had lied to her about who he really was.

According to the report, the bride was made to believe the groom was an employee of Chevron. His Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Badoo accounts said he was a staff of the multinational oil and gas company but the bride later found out that this was false.

She therefore decided to abandon the wedding that morning by making a run for her life.

However, a few people believed to be involved in the marriage caught up to her and tried to convince her to go ahead with the wedding.

Nigeria: Parents of Chibok Girls 'Wounded' After Watching Boko Haram Video

Parents of Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram more than two years ago said on Monday they felt wounded after watching a video posted by the Islamist militants that showed dozens of the girls.

In the video published by the militants on social media on Sunday, a masked man stands behind a group of the girls, and says some of them have been killed in air strikes.

Many of the girls' parents in the northeastern town of Chibok said they tried to watch the video straight away, but were unable to see it due to the poor internet connection.

Three of the parents on Monday drove two hours to the nearby town of Mubi, where they used a computer in a church to watch the video - hoping to see their daughters alive.

"I couldn't identify my daughter among the girls," Yana Galang, the women's leader of the Association of Parents of the Abducted Girls from Chibok, said after watching the video.

"It wounded my heart," Galang told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone, describing how she broke down in tears and found herself unable to watch the whole video.

Boko Haram kidnapped 219 girls from their school in Chibok, in April 2014, as part of a seven-year-old insurgency to set up an Islamic state in the north that has killed some 15,000 people and displaced more than two million.

Some girls escaped in the melee but parents of those still missing accused former President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's then leader, of not doing enough to find their daughters, whose disappearance sparked a global campaign #bringbackourgirls.

In the video, one veiled girl could be seen holding a baby, while unidentified bodies could be seen on the ground.

"Some of the girls, about 40 of them with God's permission have been married, some of them have died as a result of bombing by the infidels," said the masked man in the video.

The two other parents, who travelled with Galang to Mubi, were able to identify their daughters in the video.

"This thing has become a wound for us," said Zannah Lawan.

"We are praying ... that we can one day see our daughters. If not, there is nothing you can say now," Lawan added.

One of the Chibok girls, Amina Ali, was rescued from Boko Haram in May by soldiers and a civilian vigilante group.

She told her mother earlier this month that the girls were starved and resorted to eating raw beans and maize, and that some had died in captivity, suffered broken legs or gone deaf after being too close to explosions.

Nigeria: Mother of Nigerian Schoolgirl Rescued From Boko Haram Fears for Her Future

Abuja — "Before she was kidnapped, she wanted to further her education. But now she is afraid of schooling"

Held for months by the Nigerian government and confined to a house in the capital for the foreseeable future, Amina Ali, a schoolgirl who was rescued after two years in Boko Haram captivity, may never be the girl she once was, her mother fears.

Amina, one of more than 200 girls abducted from a school in Chibok in April 2014, and her four-month-old baby were rescued in May near Damboa in the remote northeast, by soldiers working together with a civilian vigilante group.

After a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, in the hope she would shed light on the fate of the other kidnapped girls, Amina has since been held in a house in the capital Abuja for what the Nigerian government has called a "restoration process".

But her mother, Binta Ali, who has spent the last two months in the house, is concerned about Amina's welfare and future.

"Before she was kidnapped, she wanted to further her education," Binta told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Chibok, having briefly returned there to seek medical treatment.

"But now she is afraid of schooling, and she wants to be close to me at home," said Binta, adding that Amina wants a sewing machine so that she can start a business making clothes.

Binta said she was also worried that her daughter was being pressured into following Islam, having been forced to convert from Christianity to Islam by Boko Haram militants during her captivity.

"Amina herself does not want to remain a Muslim," Binta said, explaining how an Islamic teacher had visited the house several times and told her daughter to maintain her new faith.

"She did not want to see him," Binta said, adding that the teacher had stopped visiting after she complained about him.

Garba Shehu, Buhari's spokesman, said that Amina's confinement in the house had nothing to do with religion.

NO LONGER AFRAID"

Boko Haram kidnapped 219 girls from their school in Chibok, northeast Nigeria, in April 2014, as part of their seven-year-old insurgency to set up an Islamic state in the north that has killed some 15,000 people and displaced more than 2 million.

Some girls escaped in the melee but parents of those still missing accused former President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's then leader, of not doing enough to find their daughters, whose disappearance sparked a global campaign #bringbackourgirls.

Binta said she was shocked to hear about the hardships faced by her daughter as a captive of the Islamist group.

Amina and the other girls, starving and with nothing to cook with, resorted to eating an entire bag of beans and maize raw.

"I cannot imagine how a human being can eat raw maize and beans like a goat," Binta said.

Amina also told her mother how some of the kidnapped girls had died in captivity, while others suffered broken legs or went deaf after being too close to explosions. But she pleaded with her mother not to break the news to the families in Chibok.

"Other parents have been coming to visit me since I returned," Binta said. "But I have not told them anything, even though I know some of those whose daughters have died."

Despite her fears over Amina's religion and education, and uncertainty over when she will be allowed to return home, Binta said she still had reason to be positive about her daughter.

"She used to be very afraid," Binta said, explaining how Amina would talk to herself during the night prior to her kidnap.

"But now she sleeps soundly. She is no longer afraid."

- Reporting by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Writing by Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Ros Russell

Snow and Storms Hit South Africa

Snow has fallen in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal while alerts have been issued for flooding in certain areas.

The heavy snowfall that has blanketed several areas in the northern parts of the Eastern Cape is melting.

South Africa: 57 Kids Trafficked From Malawi Found At Back of Window-Less Delivery Truck - Rescued in South Africa

Fifty-seven Malawian children between the ages of 11 and 21 have been rescued from three suspected human traffickers in South Africa.

Three Malawian nationals who were transporting the children have since been arrested by South African police.

Accoridng to Times Live, the suspectes appeared briefly at the Rustenburg Regional Magistrate's Court on Tuesday morning. Their case was postponed to September 13. They are facing 57 counts of human trafficking.

The men - aged between 25 and 36 - had refused to open the back of truck when they were apprehended by the police on Sunday near Rustenburg.

Accoridng to acting National Police Commissioner Kgomotso Phahlane , when police opened the truck' two children fell to the ground.

"On investigation and during the search, 57 undocumented children between the ages of 11 and 21 were found in the back of a delivery truck which did not have windows," Lieutenant General Phahlane is quoted by Eye Witness.

Phahlane said the Malawian children were being transported "as if they were goats."

The children are now being cared for at a place of safety by the social development department in North West. . Eighteen of them are girls while 39 of are boys.

"They are well looked after by under the auspices of the Department of Social Development in the North West Province [as] these centres provide support and care in line with the Child Care Act'" said Phahlane.

Phahlane says it's unclear at this stage whether the children were being trafficked for labour or sexual exploitation.

"These children were transported by the three adult occupants, including the driver, who are Malawian nationals. These adults could not provide a satisfactory account on the status of all the children," said Phahlane as quoted by IOL.

"The driver and his two companions were arrested for human trafficking. Further probe has revealed that all children were also Malawian nationals. An investigation is currently underway which involves authorities and law enforcement agencies including engagements with our counterparts in Malawi."

Kenya: Koffi Olomide - Controversy Has Always Stalked Singer

By Amos Ngaira

When popular Congolese crooner Koffi Olomide kicked one of his female dancers when he arrived in Kenya, he was just living up to his second name -- controversy.

Olomide is one of the continent's most colourful but controversial singers. He has a long history of violent altercations with band members and numerous fights with his counterparts back home in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Back in Kinshasa after being deported, the veteran musician will need to reflecting deeply on how his failure to manage anger blew his chances of a show at the Bomas of Kenya, a concert his fans were looking forward to.

LATEST HIT

His tour promoter Jules Nsana, who was devastated by the turn of events confirmed that Mr Olomide arrived in Kinshasa on Saturday afternoon.

"After his arrest, arrangements were made for him and three dancers to travel home. His passport will be taken by the rest of the band members who are due to leave on Saturday night," he said.

Mr Nsana was non-committal on the amount he had lost in airline tickets and talent fees. But he apologised to Kenyans who had booked to attend the show.

"Those who booked online will get refunds," he said.

Speaking to the Nation on phone from Kinshasa on Saturday, Dr George Masafu, the Kenyan ambassador to Democratic Republic of Congo said he was liaising with the country's embassy in Nairobi to get details of what transpired at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

Dr Masafu also confirmed that Mr Olomide had arrived home with the three dancers.

The veteran singer, who recently celebrated his 60th birthday, was put on a Kenya Airways plane by immigration and security officials, scuttling a performance that many fans, who love his latest hit song, Selfie-Ekoti Te, were looking forward to.

This followed an outcry when a video footage of the moment of madness at the airport went viral.

A flamboyant musician with a high sense of fashion, Mr Olomide seems to love controversy, and he has a copious choice of nicknames.

His many stage names include "Grand Mopao" and "Sarkozy", after former French president Nicholas Sarkozy.

At one time, to the chagrin of the largely Catholic DR Congolese, Mr Olomide christened himself "Pope Benedict".

He defied the widespread condemnation and still often uses the name.

What particularly appears to have incensed Kenyans was the apparent lack of remorse during the Citizen TV interview, in which he tried to spin an unconvincing tale about "pickpockets" who were harassing his dancers. This lie infuriated top government officials even more, and after considering several options, a decision was reached to revoke his visa and bundle him onto the next plane.

ATTEMPTED RAPE

During the interview, not only did Mr Olomide deny ever kicking the dancer identified as Pamela, but also attempted to draw his victim into declaring that there was no bad blood between them.

"I have no grudge with women and what was seen was just a bad internal scuffle," Mr Olomide said. He seemed not to know that the incident captured on a phone camera by a bystander, was already doing the rounds on social media in Kenya and beyond and it showed him as sadist.

This is just one of the many incidents that Mr Olomide has been involved with his female dancers.

In the mid 1990s, he allegedly tore the passport of one dancer whom he accused of attempting to blackmail him during his maiden tour of Kenya.

It took the intervention of the Congolese Embassy in Nairobi for the dancer to get temporary travel documents back home .

Mr Olomide's reputation would be sullied a few years later when he was arrested in Paris, after one of his dancers accused him of trying to rape her.

He allegedly escaped conviction after jumping bail and flying back to Kinshasa.

Ever since that incident, Paris has been more of a no-go zone for Mr Olomide with French authorities waiting to arrest him should he set foot there.

According a Congolese musician, who spoke to the Nation by phone from Paris, Mr Olomide has also been targeted by anti-President Joseph Kabila activists opposed to musicians seen as being too cosy with the Kinshasa leadership.

In 1998, the musician was involved in another scuffle with one of his then promising singers, Suzuki Luzubu, after a show in Kenya's capital, and reportedly snatched and tore his travelling documents.

Mr Suzuki also needed temporary papers to return to home to Kinshasa.

Other musicians have also accused their band leaders of disrespect and cruelty.

DR Congo's Koffi Olomide Arrested

Congolese musician Koffi Olomide has been arrested and questioned in his home town of Kinshasa, adding woes to the famed singer who was deported from Kenya for kicking a woman.

"May the righteousness of man be just and fair," Mr Olomide, one of Africa's most celebrated musicians, updated in his Facebook page moments after his arrest in Congo.

The BBC has reported that reasons for his arrest are still unclear. He was arrested on orders of the Attorney-General.

Mr Olomide's troubles have extended across the borders after the Agricultural and Commercial Society of Zambia bowed down to public pressure and cancelled his planned shows in Lusaka.

The Society said that the "disappointing" incident was behind its decision to ban the 60-year-old musician, who rivals the recording prowess of the legendary Franco (Luambo Luanzo Makiadi), the legend of Congolese music who died in 1989, but one with an explosive career characterized by violence.

On Sunday, the Zambia Association of Musicians, in a statement, announced that during his last tour in Zambia, on New Year eve 2013, Mr Olomide beat up one of his dancers and photojournalist at a music concert. He escaped a police dragnet to arrest him.

According to Zambia's Post Newspaper, in 2011, Mr Olomide also escaped arrest by police exiting Zambia on a motorbike over differences with his promoter.

"Koffi has proved to be violent when musicians are generally peace ambassadors," the association said.

After his deportation from Kenya, Mr Olomide, who is recognized as the most celebrated and distinguished Zaire modern artist, returned home to the welcome of jeers and boos at the airport.

In Togo, lawyers of a cultural promoter have called for his arrest and prosecution after he failed to turn up in Lome for a music concert which he had been paid partly.

In August 2012, he received a light suspended sentence of three months after he was found guilty of assaulting his producer over a debt.

On February 15, 2012, a French judge charged Mr Olomide with three counts of rape and illegal confinement, after complaints from three of his backup singers.

In 2008, he was arrested after he fought a cameraman at a concert in Kinshasa. Reconciliation was later brokered.

Mr Olomide whose other names are Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba is a celebrated singer, dancer and producer with classic hits and a number of his albums listed in the international list of 1001 albums one must hear before they die.