- Uganda’s leader, Yoweri Museveni, has defended the appointment of his wife into cabinet saying no other ministers were willing to work in the country’s troubled Karamoja region.
President Museveni reshuffled cabinet mid February, creating a junior post in the country’s cabinet for his wife Janet, a move that the opposition parties has bitterly criticised saying it was a clear nepotisms.
Mr Museveni has however denied nepotism charges stating that he had been against his wife going into politics. He said supporters had lobbied for the first lady to stand as Member of Parliament for the south-western seat of Ruhama in 2006.
"I said: 'No. I don't want my wife to be involved'. So I had to relent and the lady went and stood and she got the biggest majority in the whole country," Mr Museveni said.
The February cabinet reshuffle which has sacked the Finance Minister, Ezra Suruma, has created a position for Mr Museveni's brother, Caleb Akandwanaho, who will become senior presidential adviser on defense.
The opposition has also criticised the new posts saying it was a clear indication that the president was securing his position in power by bringing close relatives into government controls. Mr Museveni's son, Lieutenant Colonel Muhoozi Kaneirugaba, is also commander of the country’s Special Forces.
Once revered as Africa's most progressive leader, Mr Museveni turned the tables in 2006 when he pushed for a constitutional change to allow him stand for a third term.
Brought to power in the 1986 military coup, Mr Museveni has since been at the helm, having won the 1996 multiparty elections and a second term in 2001, before the current constitutional change re-election.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
front page
| news
| countries
| archive
| currencies
| news alerts login
| about afrol News
| contact
| advertise
| español