Uganda’s motorcycle taxis riders threaten to derail the country’s fight against HIV because of risky sexual behaviours, including sex with clients in lieu of payment, according to a new study.

At least 12% of a sample of 281 commercial riders, a common informal job known as boda boda and dominated by young men, admitted to engaging in transactional sex with customers who failed to pay their fares; 65.7% reported having had sex with more than one partner in the past 12 months; and 23% had had multiple partners in the same period, with 57.1% reporting that they did not use a condom at all in the six months prior to the survey, conducted by Makerere University College of Education and External Studies (CEES).

“Engaging with multiple sexual partners is a high-risk sexual behaviour, especially in the absence of condom use. It leads to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, and unwanted pregnancies,” said Lillian Mbabazi, a researcher at CEES, presenting the research findings at a workshop in the capital, Kampala, last week.

“It shows a need to educate young Ugandans to understand unsafe and irresponsible sexual behaviour.”

The study was conducted in the districts of Wakiso and Namayingo.

“The revelation from this study, that customers who can’t afford to pay their service freely offer sex and a high proportion are actually engaging in risky sexual behaviours with multiple partners without a condom, is concerning,” Daniel Byabakama, head of HIV prevention at the Uganda Aids Commission (UAC), said.

“The HIV infections will definitely go up. The boda bodas need to know that HIV is still real and people are still contracting the virus,” he said. Uganda has a 5.6% HIV prevalence rate.

“This study is a wakeup call that if we keep on scaling down the targeting of these boda bodas as a high priority, then we may end up in shock,” said Byabakama.

“We should continue prioritising them, helping them and offering HIV prevention services, such as free condoms, so that they don’t contract or transmit the virus.” Some of the boda boda riders in Wakiso said transactional sex and multiple sexual partners were occupational risks.

“What do you expect me to do with a client who can’t afford to pay the fee and offers you sex instead?” said Patrick*, a boda boda rider at Kyaliwajjala. “I can’t just let her go free. Of course I will have sex with her in exchange.”

“Some of these clients are just stubborn and tempt us. The ladies intentionally refuse to pay and offer you a sex deal. If you are interested, you fall and go for it,” said Joseph*. “Of course, most of the time you might not be having a condom. You end up having live [unprotected] sex.”

Byabakama said it was a worrying picture: “We are seeing resurgence of bad sexual behaviours among this group, they are having sex with multiple sexual partners, they don’t first test for HIV, and a good number of them don’t use condoms. This is worrying.

“They don’t care about avoiding HIV because they think there are ARVs [antiretrovirals]. It’s a misconception. We continue to encourage them to practise HIV prevention measures as we have always taught them. We need to rekindle and reinvigorate the campaign.”

Paul Birevu Muyinda, deputy principal at CEES, said the “nomadic” industry was booming and employed more than 50% of people aged 18-35 in the east African country, but riders face myriad health risks.

“The solution is to organise and bring order to the industry. Make it a safe and gainful industry and provide continuous professional training aimed at bringing positive behavioural change,” said Muyinda.

“These project findings will go a long way in helping the government to develop scientifically proven evidence-based interventions aimed at influencing behavioural change of boda boda riders in Uganda,” said James Katunguka, road safety officer at the ministry of Works and Transport. - via The Observer

 “Praise God. God is good all the time,” Seth Mahiga proclaimed at the altar of Life Church International in Nairobi, Kenya. Just two days earlier he announced his resignation as general secretary of the Atheists in Kenya Society.

“I’m just grateful to tell you I was the … general secretary of the Atheists in Kenya Society. It is the largest in Africa. … It represents more than around 5 million atheists in Africa,” Mahiga said in the Apostolic church. “I think a couple of days ago I’ve been going through some difficulties in life, and then I decided to resign as the secretary. I’m so happy to be here.”

Mahiga is now in the majority in the country of about 55 million people. More than 85 percent of Kenyans are Christian, according to 2019 numbers from Statistica, with more than 20 percent of Christians there described as evangelical, and more than 33 percent identifying as Protestant. Statistica counted 1.6 percent of Kenyans as “nones.”

Mahiga’s May 30^th profession of faith was broadcast live on the church’s Facebook page and Elevate TV, which regularly broadcasts the church’s services.

As the church prayed for Mahiga, Pastor Mark Mutinda described Mahiga as “a point of contact (for) all those people who are in darkness and all the atheists who say there is no God,” and encouraged prayer that “the grace of God reach out to wherever they are.”

As Mahiga prayed the sinner’s prayer, led by a member of the church’s pastoral staff, he described himself to God as “a new creature no longer doubting about your existence. Indeed you are my God, and I will forever confess you are God. In Jesus’ name I accept you and I give my life to you.”

Atheists in Kenya was formed in 2016 in Nairobi, but suspended for two years after Christians complained. It regained active status in 2018 and describes itself as an organization of secularists who believe no deity exists.

The secular group announced Mahiga’s resignation in a press statement, including a link to a portion of the May 30^th worship service.

“Seth’s reason for resigning is that he has found Jesus Christ and is no longer interested in promoting Atheism in Kenya,” group chairman Harrison Mumia said. “We wish Seth well in his newfound relationship with Jesus Christ. We thank him for having served the society with dedication over the last one and a half years.” Baptist Press

Germany’s offer to fund projects in Namibia worth more than €1 billion ($1.22 billion) over 30 years to atone for its role in genocide and property seizures in its-then colony more than a century ago is not enough, Namibian Vice President Nangolo Mbumba has said.

“No amount of money in any currency can truly compensate the life of a human being,” Mbumba told journalists as Windhoek officially briefed the nation on the outcome of six years of negotiations with Germany which concluded last month.

“We need to recognise that the amount of €1.1 billion  agreed upon between the two governments is not enough and does not adequately address the initial quantum of reparations initially submitted to the German government.”

Germany apologised on May 28 for its role in the slaughter of Herero and Nama tribespeople in Namibia more than a century ago and officially described the massacre as genocide for the first time, as it agreed to fund projects. 

Thousands of Herero and Nama people were killed by German colonial forces between 1904 and 1908 after the tribes rebelled against German rule of the colony, then named German South-West Africa.

Survivors were driven into the desert, where many ended up in concentration camps to be used as slave labour, many dying of cold, malnutrition and exhaustion. Herero paramount chief Vekuii Rukoro last week dismissed the deal agreed by the two governments as “an insult” because it did not include payment of reparations.

“These are historic choices we have to make, very difficult as they are. If there were other opportunities to squeeze money out of the Germans, we could have done it,” Mbumba said. “I don’t think that any Namibian would think that the money is enough to compensate for all that happened – to be killed, to be chased out of your country; no amount of money can do that,”  – Reuters/The Herald

South Sudan information minister and government spokesman Michael Makuei Lueth speaking in an interview with Eye Radio [Photo: screen-grab from interview with Eye Radio]

JUBA – South Sudan government announced Friday that it is cracking down on fake academic documents including PhDs main brought from the neighboring Uganda and Kenya, according to information minister Michael Makuei Lueth.

Speaking to reporters following a cabinet meeting in Juba on Friday, Makuei who is also the government spokesman disclosed that the ministry of general education has been examining university certificates of government employees and referred many of them to Uganda and Kenya for authentication and the result, he said, came out that the certificates were faked.

“These documents were disqualified and the number is big. In Uganda, there were over 400 certificates, diplomas, degrees, or even PhDs and master degrees,” Makuei told reporters in Juba.

Lueth disclosed that the cabinet meeting has passed the resolution to trace down, arrest and arrange those found with the forged document before the court of law.

“All these who will be found in possession forge documents, their names should be released officially and they should be prosecuted before the court,” he said.

“Some of these people who acquired these certificates or degrees or documents through fraudulent, are the people who failed to deliver in the offices,” he said.

He added that “You find a person holding a very high degree and a very high level of document of being a Ph.D. or a master degree or a degree and if you give that person an assignment, he will not be able to deliver.”

The Cabinet directed the Ministry of General Education, of Higher Education and of Public Services to come with appropriate mechanism to control and prevent forgery of the document, he said.

“They should come up with a mechanism for identification of forged document and it seem that there are a group of people, Universities and other institutions of  learning that handle over a certificate to people  without students attending any classes,” a government spokesman said.

“If you are an honest person, you are not supposed to acquire fake document and use it for employment only and I fact, in the course of doing that, you are harming the government and you are harming your own people and the country because you will be given an assignment in which you will know performance because you have done a study and not qualified it,” he added. - Sudans Post