Ugandan police have foiled a plot by Islamic State-linked militants to bomb churches in central Butambala district, President Yoweri Museveni has said.

Two bombs were linked to public address systems and sent to pastors, disguised as gifts, Mr Museveni said.

Members of the public became suspicious of the devices and told the police, he added on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The president blamed the plot on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militant group linked to Islamic State.

The ADF has not yet commented.

Formed in 1990s, the ADF took up arms against President Museveni, alleging persecution of Muslims.

After suffering heavy setbacks at the hands of the Ugandan army in 2001, it relocated to North Kivu province in neighbouring DR Congo.

The group pledged allegiance to IS in 2016.

It has been blamed for a series of deadly attacks in Uganda, including the killing of more than 40 people, mostly students, at a boarding school in June.

Mr Museveni said the militants had planned to detonate two bombs in churches in Kibibi, about 50km (30 miles) from the capital, Kampala, on Sunday, but the devices "were reported to police and defused".

"The evil plan was foiled," he said, urging people "not to accept gifts from strangers".

Earlier on Sunday, Mr Museveni said Ugandan forces had carried out air strikes against four ADF positions in DR Congo.

"It seems quite a number of terrorists were killed," the president said.

He warned that the ADF "are re-entering Uganda and trying to commit some random terrorist acts". RadioTamazuj

Two very disturbing occurrences happened in the last few days. Disturbing because they are a throwback to a very dark recent past. Worse, they symbolise a government, elected on promises of erasing those very dark days memories, decisively turning its back on key election campaign promises.

Let’s start with the shocking eviction of Kenyans from the East Africa Portland Cement land in Athi River over the weekend. The Athi River-based cement manufacturer has been embroiled in a legal tussle for a decade with squatters who had encroached on its land. A week ago, the courts confirmed the factory was indeed the rightful owner. President William Ruto then said all squatters must leave. 

As if on cue, bulldozers, accompanied by a phalanx of security officers, descended on the hapless squatters. Homes, churches, mosques, schools built on the land were flattened. Residents had no time to respond. Many were thrown out in the cold with their household goods. The shattered, nay, betrayed faces, of women in tears beseeching the President to come to their aid were heart wrenching. 

The absolute callousness of this eviction is shocking. Many of the squatters who had constructed houses here had bought that land from land cartels, who have been operating in this area selling this land in full knowledge of government agencies! True, people encroached on land. They thought they had bought genuine property. It happens all the time in Kenya.

This government was elected to bring in a regime that is sensitive, caring and listening, given the predecessors’ imperviousness and high-handedness. It has failed that simple test big time. 

All that was required was to give people 48 hours to get their household goods out, and get places to seek refuge as they figure out what next, before bulldozers moved in. That simple gesture would have earned President William Ruto a lot of credit. As it were, the government’s image is now soiled.

The eviction only compares in crudity to that of thousands of families one dark and rainy night in May 2020, in the middle of a lockdown of Nairobi during the Corona pandemic. That eviction, under former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government, was roundly condemned. The outrage was palpable.

Uhuru’s government never recovered from that monstrosity. Kenyans were done with it! There are very critical lessons in the Athi River evictions for Ruto from the Kariobangi North debacle. On this, he will be lucky to get an ‘E.’

The second test, on which this regime is lowering its marks every day, is abductions. In the last two weeks alone, businesswoman Shankara Adan Hassan and Zachariyah Kamala have been abducted in full view of the public. Nothing has been heard from them since. Shankara was abducted as she went to work at JKIA in Nairobi while Kamala was accosted on the streets in Mombasa, abducted, and shoved into a waiting vehicle. The two incidents have all the hallmarks of previous police abductions, where victims’ bodies were later found dumped in rivers and forests.

Ruto was very emphatic in October last year that the era of extrajudicial killings, always preceded by abductions in broad daylight by ‘unknown gunmen’, was over, affirming ‘never again would Kenyans live under fear of killer police squads’.

Worryingly, the tempo is starting to rise, and ticker timer on abductions has started counting. By all means, security forces must fight terrorism. Nobody knows the pain of terrorism more than Kenyans who have suffered several terror attacks. But abductions and extrajudicial killings have become a big threat to security of Kenyans, and have been misused to settle all manner of scores under the guise of fighting terrorism.

These are very worrying signs, and one hopes that the government is not abandoning its promises to the people. The message from Kenyans to President Ruto is simple, do not return Kenya to the dark days from whence it is just emerging. By Gathu Kaara, People Daily

Helium One Global Ltd (AIM:HE1, OTCQB:HLOGF) told investors drilling was back underway in Tanzania after a rig repair, with the Tai-3 well programme resuming progress down to its planned depth of 1,100 metres.

Drilling resumed at 14:00 BST on Sunday 15 October, the company confirmed.

“We remain resilient and continue to proactively address any hurdles we encounter,” chief executive Lorna Blaisse said in a statement.

“The wider Helium One team, both at the rig site and elsewhere, have pushed exceptionally hard over the past week to troubleshoot the issue, source a replacement part from the USA, reinstall and repair the rig and I am pleased that we are now back on track in an extremely short period of time.”

Meanwhile, civil works are ongoing to prepare the well pad for the company’s next well, Itumbula-C, which is expected to be completed before the onset of the wet season.

Blaisse added: “We very much look forward to drilling ahead into our target reservoirs at Tai-3 over the coming days and to evaluate the well, prior to rigging down and moving the rig to our next location at Itumbula." Proactive

SPLA-IO deputy spokesman Col. Lam Paul Gabriel speaks to media about the progress and challenges facing the transitional security arrangement in Juba on October 2, 2019. [Photo by Getty Images]

JUBA, OCTOBER 15, 2023 (SUDANS POST) –

The main armed opposition SPLA-IO led by First Vice President Riek Machar has said that its former sector two commander Gen. Simon Maguek Gai who defected last week to the SPLM and SSPDF under Kiir is planning an attack on its bases in southern Unity State.

South Sudan’s main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) led by First Vice President Riek Machar has said that its former sector two commander General Simon Maguek Gai who defected last week to the SPLM and SSPDF under President Salva Kiir is planning an attack on its bases in Unity State’s Leer County. 

In a statement extended to Sudans Post, SPLA-IO spokesman Col. Lam Paul Gabriel said Maguek who arrived in Leer on October 12 was mobilizing troops from the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces to attack its bases in southern Unity State and said that the plan is aimed at causing more violence which he said would displace civilians.

“Tension is high in Leer County as Lt. Gen. Maguek Gai who recently defected to the SPLM-IG is preparing to launch an attack against the SPLA-IO bases in and around the county using the SSPDF,” Col. Lam said. “This intentional violation is aimed at causing another round of unrest and displacement of civilians from not only Leer county but the whole of Unity State.”

The SPLA-IO statement said that General Maguek’s defection to Kiir’s ruling SPLM faction “exposed how the SSPDF is being controlled by a party rather than the constitution of this country. This in a nutshell is a remedy for destruction” and reiterated that the opposition group “respect(s) the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and will work hard towards its peaceful implementation but any further act of aggression towards any of its bases will never be tolerated.”

The statement further called on the country’s peace monitoring mechanisms established under the revitalized peace agreement Kiir’s government signed with the SPLA-IO in September 2018 “to investigate this intentional violation and hold those responsible to account.”

Maguek defected on October 7, 2023 along with five other senior opposition commanders, two of which crossed from the SPLA-IO Kitgwang faction led by former SPLA-IO chief of staff General Simon Gatwech Dual. He had accused Machar of nepotism and claimed in an interview with Sudans Post that he defected with over 3000 officers and expected more to follow.

South Sudan is expected to hold its first democratic elections in December 2024 as per the 2018 peace agreement. But given disagreements between Kiir and Machar’s parties, it is unclear whether the potential elections will take place next year. 

While President Kiir says he will go for elections with or without the opposition, First Vice President Machar, Kiir’s main rival, says the world’s youngest country is not ready yet citing incomplete implementation of key provisions of the revitalized peace deal. Kiir has already been endorsed for another term by his party, but Machar has not yet shown any sign of facing Kiir in the potential elections.

I have removed the phrase “reinvigorated peace agreement” and replaced it with “revitalized peace agreement.” I have also removed the phrase “would-be elections” and replaced it with “poten. Sudans Post