News from Africa

Life of man who introduced exotic cows in Uganda     Karegyesa's secondary school studies saw him through Mwiri College School in Busoga with then-future president Milton Obote. A youthful Karegyesa chats with a dignitary back in the day. He died on Tuesday at the age of 93. (Photo source: Nile Post) PROFILE KHAM KAREKAHO KAREGYESA: SEPT 1924 - MAR 2018 The former deputy minister of animal industry, game and fisheries in the Apolo Milton Obote II government died aged 94 on Tuesday. Karegyesa, who also represented Rujumbura in Parliament back in the day, breathed his last at International Hospital Kampala after his health took a turn for the worse at his home in Rukungiri. Here is a profile of the former politician:   Karegyesa was born on September 23, 1924 in Misheruro village, Rukingiri district. This was near the current district headquarters. He was born to Rujumubura chief Edward Suleman Karegyesa and...

Prior to the mid-1700s, the area a Kingdom called Mpororo was formed - This was as a result of agreements between three influencial groups that had emerged out of the wars between Bunyoro,Rwanda and Busongora.These three groups were the Bakimbiri led by King Ryangombe,the abaishekatwa led by Queen Kitami and Bashambo led by Kahaya Rutindangyenzi. After the defeat and death of the King of Bunyoro in a war with Rwanda Kingdom, a power vacuum was formed which led to wars between various groups. By the 17th century, three groups in the region had stood their ground and the most powerful of them being the Bashambo led by Kahaya Rutindangyenzi who took advantage of the power vacuum left by the King of Bunyoro. Kahaya reached out to the three groups that is the Bakimbiri through their King Ryangombe and Abaishekatwa to form one united Kingdom of Mpororo. That was the beginning of the Mpororo Kingdom. The Bakimbiri being mainly businessmen,miners and forgers of weapons were grant...

Ha , also called  Abaha  or  Waha , a Bantu-speaking people belonging to the Interlacustrine Bantu ethnolinguistic family who live in western  Tanzania  bordering on  Lake Tanganyika . Their country, which they call Buha,  comprises  grasslands and open woodlands. Agriculture is their primary economic activity. Sorghum, millet, corn (maize), cassava, yams, peanuts (groundnuts), and other crops were  cultivated  by hoe techniques until efforts were made by the Tanzanian government to introduce plow agriculture. Cattle are raised mostly in the southwestern grasslands of Buha; elsewhere there is less water and problems with tsetse flies. For the Ha, as with a number of peoples of  East Africa , cattle are vital as the gifts that help establish social ties at marriage or on other occasions. Goats and other livestock are also raised. The Ha reside in dispersed homesteads, normally as an  extended family  with a few generatio...

From ancient Sudan to medieval Zimbabwe, there emerged a group of warriors who were later termed as the Bakimbiri or Beine Bakimbiri(as a clan) that influenced the creation of  African kingdoms that made their mark on history. An example of these prominent Bakimbiri warriors were Nimi a N zima  and Luqueni Luansanze's son  Lukeni lua Nimi  the founders of the Kongo Kingdom of Wene Kongo kingdoms. The other was  Nyatsimba Mutota the founder of the Mwene Mutapa empire.These Bakimbiri Mutapa monarchs ruled over a population of warriors who were also farmers  & cattle herders who fought for the ruling elite. mutapa  (aka Matapa, Mwenemutapa, and Monomo tapa) was a southern African kingdom located in the north of modern Zimbabwe along the Zambezi River which flourished between the mid-15th and mid-17th century CE. Although sometimes described as an  empire , there is little evidence that the Shona people of Mutapa ever established such control o...

Africa represents two extremes of paradox. The black continent depicts an epitome of wealth from the apex of the Northern Africa to the tail end of the South. It is inundated with natural resources and treasures that often supposedly elicit envy from the so-called superior continents. South Africa and Ghana are two of the largest producers of Gold in the world today, with South Africa the 6 th largest producer and Ghana the 10 th . Africa remains the largest producer of diamond in the world. Seven out of the top 10 largest producers of diamonds are African countries and 16 out of the 22 top producers are also Africa countries. Other abundant resources mined from African soil include copper, aluminum, platinum, coal, uranium, bauxite, oil, and gas, to mention a few. But these resources would be incomplete without making mention of the human resources. Africa’s Population Analysis Too often than not, most studies on the wealth of Africa have been focused on the mineral reso...

Jane Ndagire blames illegal skin-lightening products, smuggled into Uganda over a dangerous border, for ruining her complexion. She was approaching her 40s, when the women in her circle started hinting at how they could look younger. Someone mentioned a cream called Caro Light saying a close friend had a glow on her face within a week of using it. Ms Ndagire wanted in. "Within three days, I could see a difference. My face had this radiance I had never seen before. I applied it all over my body," she says. Several months in, she started to feel the heat of the sun more, and the skin on her cheeks felt taut. Her supplier recommended mixing the lightening cream with petroleum jelly. "My complexion became too light. But I could not reverse the effects. Then I started getting pimples, which take long to heal. "When I get a small bruise, it takes weeks to dry up. My skin feels flabby to the touch," she adds, staring at her hands which are visibly dar...

"Gender parity at the United Nations is an urgent need – and a personal priority. It is a moral duty and an operational necessity.  The meaningful inclusion of women in decision-making increases effectiveness and productivity, brings new perspectives and solutions to the table, unlocks greater resources and strengthens efforts across all the three pillars of our work. " -  Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres  The United Nations-wide Strategy on Gender Parity sets targets and monitors the following areas: leadership and accountability; senior management; recruitment and retention; creating an enabling environment; and Mission settings. It seeks a fair balance between individual accountability and incentives, recognizes different starting points and challenges, and provides positive tools to empower and encourage staff and managers alike, taking into account that the initial situation and the difficulties e...