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Shaw Deputy Headteacher Steve Hill has returned from his latest inspiring and action-packed trip to Uganda, where he completed the Uganda Marathon for the seventh time and played a key role in helping several transformative community projects.

The Uganda Marathon, held annually in the town of Masaka, is known not only for its physically demanding course, but for its deep roots in community development. 

Participating in this extraordinary event for the seventh consecutive time, Steve continues to embody a commitment to endurance, service, and global citizenship.

Speaking about the experience, he said: "Running the marathon is always an incredible challenge, but the real reward is the time spent with local communities and seeing the difference the charitable support makes first-hand."

A key focus of the trip was visiting the many projects that Team Hill Charitable Trust supports throughout the region. 

Much of the visit was dedicated to supporting local schools and education initiatives - from building a chicken coop, undertaking building work, painting classrooms, helping to organise a sports day and engaging directly with hundreds of pupils and teachers, the Deputy Headteacher took an active and heartfelt approach to every opportunity.

"Education is a powerful force for change, and it’s been incredibly moving to see how Team Hill’s ongoing support is helping schools thrive despite significant challenges," Steve added.

With each trip to Uganda, Steve’s relationship with the community deepens - something his is very keen to share with pupils and staff back at St Joseph’s Primary School in Shaw 

As he reflected on this latest journey, Steve is already looking ahead.

He added: "It’s humbling to be welcomed back year after year.

"Uganda feels like a second home and I’m already planning the next adventure.

"There’s still so much to do and it’s a privilege to be part of something so meaningful." By Oldham Evening Chronicles

Questions are multiplying about the role of military-appointed prime minister Kamil Idris and his ties with Islamist activists vying for control of the government in the east 

New Prime Minister Kamil Idris’s decision to dissolve the government in preparation to form a new cabinet breaches the 2020 peace agreement, according to some political parties, including the Justice and Equality Movement. 

Appointed on 31 May, Idris is the first civilian prime minister since Abdalla Hamdok resigned in 2022, and the collapse of the Transitional Government that took office as a result of the Juba peace accord (AC Vol 63 No 19, Junta's double-talk on transition). Hamdok told Africa Confidential in Marrakech that he totally rejects Idris’s appointment, adding that most states in the African Union would vote against the readmission of Sudan to the AU as long as it stays under military rule.

JEM’s political secretary Mutasim Ahmed Saleh warned that dissolving the government ‘threatens the credibility of commitments to peace parties and weakens trust in the political transition process’.

Under the Juba deal, JEM was assigned the finance and social welfare ministries, as well as several government bodies, including the Social Security Fund and the Tax Authority.

A former civil servant with the UN at the World Intellectual Property Organization, Idris’s career has been peppered with disputes. Some have accused him of corruption. His bid to run against former President Omer Ahmed Hassan el Bashir as an independent candidate in 2010 was widely seen as a ploy on behalf of the Islamists to make the highly-orchestrated elections look more credible.

That also positioned Idris as a useful apparatchik for Beshir and his Islamist supporters. Given the growing political and military influence of Islamist groups over the current regime in Port Sudan and Khartoum, this raises alarms about Idris’s credibility.

Idris’s appointment is widely seen as an attempt by Sudan Armed Forces leader General Abdel Fattah el Burhan to legitimise a SAF-dominated government in Khartoum. Idris has announced the launch of a comprehensive national dialogue, and has held talks with Shamsaldin al Kabbashi, a member of the Transitional Sovereign Council and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army (AC Vol 64 No 2, History won't repeat itself). By Africa Confidential

According to his father, Meshack Ojwang Opiyo, his son Ojwang was arrested at their home in Kakoth Village, Kokwanyo Location, Kabondo Kasipul Constituency, on Saturday at around 1.30 pm. 

Giving an account before and arrest the arrest, Opiyo narrated that they were having lunch when, suddenly, two motorcycles rode into the homestead —one approaching from the back and the other from the side of the house. Each motorcycle carried two plainclothes police officers.

“They introduced themselves as police officers from different stations. One of them identified himself as Sigei. They ordered my son to put down his plate, saying he was under arrest, and then handcuffed him. 

“They claimed my son had insulted their boss on X (formerly Twitter). When I asked which boss they were referring to, Sigei told me to stop asking too many questions and to follow them to Mawego Police Station,” he recounted. 

He was initially booked at Mawego Police Station before being transferred to the DCI headquarters in Nairobi and later detained at Central Police Station.

According to Opiyo, he and his brother followed the officers to Mawego Police Station.

“They told me they had been hunting for my son and another young man who was arrested in Kisii for allegedly tarnishing the name of their boss by calling him corrupt. They advised me to follow my son to Nairobi,” he said.

Opiyo added that he managed to speak to his son while he was being taken to Nairobi.

He asked him to plead with the officers not to place him in a position where he could not breathe, as he is asthmatic, but the officers did not respond.

On Sunday morning, Opiyo went to Central Police Station but was not attended to. Instead, the officers told him to go have breakfast and return at 10 am to “see” his son.

All the while, he had no idea that his son had died the previous night while in police custody.

“I was getting anxious because I hadn’t seen him,” he stated at the station after learning Ojwang had long died. 

At around 10.10 am, Opiyo returned to the station, where the station’s chaplain and some of the officers involved in the arrest escorted him to the OCS’s office. The OCS then referred him to the sub-county police commander’s office.

“They told me that my son had committed suicide by banging his head against the wall. They also said he had been placed in an isolation cell,” Opiyo recounted.

Ojwang, a teacher, was his only child. Opiyo said his son was newly married and was a father of a two-and-a-half-year-old child.

“I am broken. I have struggled to raise him and to educate him to university level. I have worked in a quarry for 20 years just for him to get a degree and support me in my old age. What did he do to be killed like that? I wish I could meet that boss because I want him to kill me too,” Opiyo said at the station.

Officials at Mbagathi Hospital confirmed that Ojwang was brought to the facility but was declared dead on arrival.

Later, in a press release, police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga, reaffirmed that Ojwang was lawfully arrested by DCI detectives for false publication and placed in custody.

“While in custody, the suspect sustained head injuries after hitting his head against the cell wall. Police officers on duty promptly noticed the injuries and rushed him to Mbagathi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival,” said Nyaga, adding that the Independent Policing Oversight Authority has launched an investigation into the incident.

Although the officer informed Ojwang’s father that the son died by suicide as a result of hitting his head against the cell wall, records at City Mortuary showed that police recorded cause of death as ‘sudden death’.

Opiyo also questioned why police at the station told him that the body was at Mbagathi Mortuary only for find out that it was taken to Nairobi Funeral Home (formerly City Mortuary.

The inconsistencies in the timelines raised more questions into the death of the young man.

According to a friend who sought anonymity, Ojwang called him at 9.48 pm on Saturday when he arrived at Central Police Station.

But he was not allowed to see him and by the time he was leaving the station at 10.35 pm, Ojwang had not been booked at the Occurrence Book (OB)as is the procedure.

However, when they went back to the station on Sunday morning and insisted on getting the OB number, the OCS informed them that Ojwang was booked on Saturday at 9.05 pm.

At the Nairobi Funeral Home, Ojwang’s body had visible marks on his arm, his face was swollen and oozing blood from the nose and the mouth.

“I have viewed his body and I am shocked because how I found him, does not show anything similar to what the police explained to me. His eyes, nose are swollen. He has so many injuries on his face,” said Opiyo.

“All I want is justice for my son. He was picked in good health and the officers assured me that nothing would happen to him,” he added.

He dismissed the police account that his son committed suicide.

“Why would someone knock his head on the wall to a point of killing themselves? He would have stopped if it had become too painful. I don’t believe that narrative by police,” he added.

The Standard has established that the alleged defaming statement was posted on Kelvin Moinde’s X account, where Ojwang is one of the four administrators.

Moinde was arrested on Thursday last week in Tendere village, Gucha sub-County in Kisii County. He was booked at the Kenya police station in Kisii before being transported to DCI headquarters in Nairobi.

Moinde is being held at Kamukunji Police Station in Nairobi. By Jacinta Mutura and Irene Githinji | The standard

 

While addressing the public during the welcoming ceremony of the new Governor of Warrap State in Juba, Gen Ayieny made a comment that sparked public debate.

Referring to Bol Mel, he stated:

“Tell Bol Mel not to behave like an incoming president. Wani spent 12 years as Vice-President and Deputy Chairman of the SPLM but never thought of succeeding President Salva Kiir.”

Regardless of the individuals involved, the core issue that merits discussion is this: why has political ambition become a chargeable offense? Has contemplating leadership transition turned into an act of hostility that warrants public scolding?

This article is not a defense for any individual, but an attempt to rationally interpret the underlying messages in the Ayieny remarks.

Ayieny did not critique a political platform or present an alternative vision. Instead, he relied on broad assumptions and rumors to launch a direct attack on Bol Mel. The core of his criticism is that simply thinking or aspiring to leadership is unacceptable—a stance that raises a fundamental question: is political ambition inherently wrong, or is its rejection conditional on who expresses it?

In democratic systems, political ambition is seen as a legitimate right of every citizen and a key indicator of political vitality. When ambition becomes an implicit crime, we are faced with a closed political logic that rejects plurality and reduces the state to a single individual or a narrow elite—an unsustainable situation that inevitably leads to serious consequences.

Bol Mel may not be an ideal candidate, nor is he above criticism. However, his public denial of any intention to run—along with the absence of any direct statement suggesting otherwise—places him in an unfair position of being attacked without evidence.

For some observers, Bol Mel symbolizes a possible figure within a new generation of potential leaders, given his well-known legacy in the liberation struggle and his relative distance from entrenched ethnic polarization. Should the mere circulation of his name as a possible alternative justify political accountability?

Ayieny’s remarks are not limited to Bol Mel; they send a broader message: that thinking outside the boundaries of the current ruling power structure may be interpreted as betrayal or rebellion. This reflects a more serious political crisis—the closure of any peaceful path toward leadership transition.

Ironically, these remarks come at a time when efforts—at least on paper—were underway to prepare for elections. How can we genuinely call for a democratic environment while instilling fear in those who consider participating in shaping it? 

If we view Bol Mel as a political-military figure, it makes sense to pose the following questions:

  • Does he have a popular base? Possibly, but there are no clear indicators of a political movement under his leadership.
  • Does he possess a mature political vision? This remains unclear and would require practical testing.
  • Does he face real obstacles? Absolutely—the most pressing being the closed political structure, the rhetoric that vilifies ambition, and the weakness of political parties as platforms for genuine contestation.

Yet if every citizen has the right to be evaluated based on qualifications, then it is unjust to condemn someone based solely on rumors.

It is concerning that the primary standard for acceptance within the ruling circle appears to be silence and loyalty. Conversely, anyone who shows independence—or is merely perceived to be ambitious—is viewed as a threat.

What is needed is a renewed political discourse that respects the right to ambition and competition. As a military and political figure, Ayieny would have done better to offer a critique backed by facts rather than reproducing exclusionary rhetoric that contradicts the principles of pluralism.

The reality is that South Sudan cannot progress without opening the door for new leaders with different visions. Political ambition is not betrayal, nor is it a conspiracy. It is an essential part of any dynamic, resilient political system.

Bol Mel may not be the solution, and he may not even be interested in the presidency. But the mere act of considering him as one of the alternatives should not be met with suspicion or reprimand—it deserves discussion, critical review, and peaceful competition. By Mahmoud Akot

The alleged incident happened last month after a group of soldiers visited a bar in Nanyuki - the town where the body of 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru was found in a hotel septic tank in 2012.

A British soldier based at an army barracks in Kenya has been arrested on suspicion of rape. The alleged attack happened last month after a group of soldiers visited a bar in the town of Nanyuki, close to the Batuk (British Army Training Unit Kenya) camp. 

An investigation is being carried out by the Defence Serious Crime Command, which probes serious crimes alleged to have been carried out by British servicemen and women in the UK and overseas.

Military police have questioned the bar owner along with security guards who were on duty on the night of the incident, according to The Sunday Times, which first reported the allegations.

According to the paper, the owner of the bar said: "They [the soldiers] like this place and when I meet some of them in the supermarkets, they tell me they have been banned from coming here. 

"Sometimes they get too drunk and I drop them at the gate for free."

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "We can confirm the arrest of a service person in Kenya.

"As the matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Defence Serious Crime Command, we will not comment further."

They added: "All soldiers who visit or train at Batuk have clear direction about how to behave, on and off duty, must complete mandatory training and attend compulsory briefings on conduct. We will have zero tolerance for unacceptable behaviour. 

"To ensure the highest possible standards, the Army has launched a comprehensive Service Inquiry into allegations of unacceptable behaviour by UK Service Personnel in Kenya which would violate MoD and Army policy."  Sky News

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