Opposition leader Raila Odinga has been denied entry into Shakahola forest in Kilifi County where bodies of over 100 members of a cult have been recovered.

The cult's leader Paul Makenzi is said to have lured his followers into praying and fasting for long periods of time "so they can meet their maker".  

While some of the victims, who included children, died from starvation, there are those who died from strangulation, according to autopsy reports. 

And on Friday, the commander of the operation investigating the deaths, Mr Peter Ndung’u, asked Raila to seek permission from the Inspector General if he wanted to access the forest. 

“I want to access the forest so that I can be able to see the graves, I can't travel all the way and go back without seeing the scene,” Raila said. By Marion Kithi, The Standard

The head of Vladimir Putin’s Wagner Group “private army” threatened on Friday to pull his troops out of the eastern town of Bakhmut after a ferocious bust-up with Russian army chiefs.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces would on May 10 leave the Ukrainian town which has seen some of the fiercest fighting in Europe since the Second World War.

He made the announcement after unleashing a tirade against Russian army chiefs for not supplying his mercenary soldiers with enough munitions, displaying the bodies of several of them in a video to highlight how they are being slaughtered leading the fight for Bakhmut.

Prigozhin said: "I declare on behalf of the Wagner fighters, on behalf of the Wagner command, that on May 10, 2023, we are obliged to transfer positions in the settlement of Bakhmut to units of the defence ministry and withdraw the remains of Wagner to logistics camps to lick our wounds. 

"I’m pulling Wagner units out of Bakhmut because in the absence of ammunition they’re doomed to perish senselessly."

Wagner has been spearheading Russia’s attempt to capture Bakhmut since last summer, in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war in Ukraine.

Putin has made it a prized aim to seize the town.

But Ukrainian military chiefs surprised defence analysts by deciding to fight to hold onto the town, despite it having no strategic importance.

Keeping control of it has now, though, taken on symbolic importance.

It was not clear if Prigozhin will see through his withdrawal threat or whether he is just seeking to pile pressure on Russian army chiefs to give his forces more ammunition.

But his anger was clear in an expletive-filled video published early on Friday in which Prigozhin, surrounded by dozens of corpses he said were Wagner fighters, yelled and swore at Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

He said they were to blame for Wagner's losses because they had starved it of ammunition.

The clash between Putin’s military chiefs came as Ukraine is on the brink of launching a major counter-offensive to try to recapture land seized by Russia since the invasion in February 2022.

The White House estimates 20,000 Russian soldiers, including from the Wagner Group, have been killed since December as Putin and Prigozhin have thrown units into “meat grinder” battles, mainly to try to capture Bakhmut.

The West has supplied Ukraine with tanks, including British Challenger IIs, as well as long-range artillery for its counter-offensive.  By Nicholas Cecil, Evening Standard

JUBA, APRIL 29, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan government has said that it is working hard to convince the warring Sudanese generals for a ceasefire that would last longer in an attempt to bring them to a negotiating table.

In a statement, South Sudan’s ministry of foreign affairs highlighted the country’s engagement with leaders of the Sudanese warring parties in the hopes of achieving a sustainable ceasefire and cessation of hostilities.

“President Salva Kiir Mayardit continued to engage with the two leaders of the Sudanese conflict, speaking on the 25^th April 2023 with H.E. Gen. Abdel Fatah Al Burhan, the Chairperson of Sovereign Council and Commander in Chief of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and on the 29^th April 2023 with Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF),” the foreign ministry statement said.

“During those conversations, President Salva Kiir conveyed the need for the two leaders to respect the ceasefire and allow humanitarian access, restocking of medical and food supplies as well as providing safe corridors for evacuation of foreign and Sudanese nationals to safe areas,” the statement added.

It said that President Salva Kiir “has also advised the two parties to enter a more constructive and concrete face to face dialogue and further refrain from reinforcing positions” pointed out that South Sudan “wants to build a more sustainable and prolonged ceasefire and cessation of hostilities through confidence building measures between SAF and RSF that can pave the way for an amicable political settlement.”

“The Government of the Republic of South Sudan welcomes assistance from its International Partners in helping the People of the Republic of Sudan in realizing peace and stability,” it stressed.

The ongoing conflict in Sudan has led to loss of lives, displacement of people, and a humanitarian crisis in the region. The efforts by South Sudan’s government to help de-escalate the situation are commendable and offer hope for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

Sudan on April 15 descended into a deadly conflict after the paramilitary militia Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched attack on the several Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and government positions in the capital Khartoum and other towns.

Hundreds of civilians have been caught in the violence and calls by regional and international community for the parties to cease fighting have fallen into deaf hears as several ceasefires singed have been violated even before they go into effects. - Sudans Post