A man has been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of four toddlers at a nursery school in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, earlier this month. On 2 April, Christopher Okello Onyum, 38, entered the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program and fatally stabbed the infants – Eteku Gideon, Keisha Agenorwoth, Sseruyange Ignatius and Odeke Ryan – all aged between one and two years old. While capital punishment has not been abolished in Uganda, it is rarely carried out, with the last recorded case taking place in 2005. Onyum, who holds both Ugandan and US citizenship, has 14 days to appeal…
Author: Montage Africa
By Africanews with AFP Hundreds gathered on Wednesday in N’Djamena to demand the release of Chadian opposition leader and former premier Succes Masra, who has been in custody for almost a year. The activists were members of Les Transformateurs (Transformers), the country’s largest opposition party, which was marking its eighth anniversary at the party’s headquarters in the capital. Most of those attending were young people, protesting under intense heat and carrying signs calling for the release of Masra, one of President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno’s fiercest critics. “An innocent man is today deprived of his freedom and basic rights for…
By Africanews with AFP In the Mauritanian town of Fassala, on the Malian border, many refugees dream of the day they will return to their motherland. Years of instability in Mali have forced thousands to flee to neighboring Mauritania which has so far been spared much of the Islamist violence plaguing Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. “Only those who put an end to the killing among us will allow the farmer, the shepherd and the traveller to no longer die. You [Wagner Group and FAMA], you know that you are looking for armed people. You come across me, when I…
The Management and Board of Directors of Montage Africa Group, publishers of New National Star Newspaper and owners of Montage 99.7FM Abuja and Montage Africa TV, heartily congratulate Her Excellency Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu on her well-deserved elevation from Honourable Minister of State for Foreign Affairs to the substantive Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This appointment is a fitting recognition of your exceptional competence, distinguished diplomatic experience, intellectual capacity, and steadfast dedication to national service. Your remarkable poise, strategic leadership, and deep understanding of international relations have consistently…
By Rédaction Africanews and Agencies The last contingent of Kenyan police officers has left Haiti, bringing an end to the UN-backed Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), that’s been in place since 2024. Haitian authorities expressed their gratitude to the Kenyan officers at a departure ceremony on in the capital Port-au-Prince on Monday. Kenya’s mission objective was to help the Haitian government drive out violent gangs that had taken control of Port-au-Prince and vital infrastructure. But the MSS faced enormous obstacles, including a lack of personnel and funding. Projected to have a budget of $600 million, only about two-thirds of that…
Mali’s military leader on Tuesday insisted the situation in his country was “under control” as he made his first public address since unprecedented large-scale attacks at the weekend destabilised his ruling junta. Jihadists and Tuareg separatists are still positioned in the vast Sahelian country’s north, three days after launching a stunning wave of attacks, in what junta chief Assimi Goita acknowledged was a situation “of extreme gravity.” Goita had made no public appearance or statement for three days, fuelling doubts about his ability to cling to power, but on Tuesday evening — hours after jihadists threatened to blockade the capital…
In a new Child Alert report titled Darfur: 20 Years On, Children Under Threat, UN children’s agency UNICEF warns that while the horrors of 2005 are repeating, the scale of need is now far greater, and international attention is dangerously constrained. A worsening crisis of violence The report draws a chilling parallel between the past and the present. Homes, schools, and hospitals are again under fire, but the modern nature of the fighting between rival militaries has become even more lethal. Since April 2024, more than 1,500 grave violations against children have been verified in the regional capital of El…
It is the most memorable moment of Sir David Attenborough’s broadcasting career. A short sequence of his encounter with a group of playful mountain gorillas in a forest clearing in Rwanda. “There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know,” he tells the camera, as a female gorilla observes him from just a few feet away. The footage for his 1979 Life on Earth series was not just unexpected, it said something profound about our close relationship with the natural world. As Sir David approaches his 100th birthday on…
By Dominic Wabwireh with Agencies Almost two‑thirds of South Sudan’s population — around 7.9 million people — are now facing severe hunger, according to new figures released Tuesday, as renewed fighting between government and opposition forces accelerates the country’s slide toward catastrophe. Hunger surges amid escalating conflict The latest wave of violence is concentrated in Jonglei State, where forces loyal to President Salva Kiir have been battling militias aligned with his long‑time rival Riek Machar since December. The clashes have uprooted hundreds of thousands in a nation already struggling with extreme poverty and chronic instability. Officials warn of acute food…
African migrants in the South African capital, Pretoria, were urged to exercise “heightened vigilance” during an anti-illegal immigration march, amid fears of xenophobic attacks. Ghana’s high commission advised its nationals to close businesses and keep a “low profile”, while the head of the Nigerian Union of South Africa told its members to remain indoors. Another march is due on Wednesday in Johannesburg. Anti-migrant sentiment has gained political currency in recent years with some believing foreigners are taking jobs and unfairly benefiting from public services. But the president said citizens should not allow their concerns to “breed prejudices and hatred towards…