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President Uhuru Kenyatta has reportedly fired his private secretary Jomo Gecaga, several sources have claimed.

Gecaga, who is also the President’s nephew, has been working with Uhuru since his time as the Finance Minister in the Coalition Government. State House is yet to comment on the reports.

 

The bad blood between the President and his aide first played out during Uhuru’s visit to Namibia in March 2019. The President questioned why Gecaga, a man he described as a long-serving Personal Assistant, was not taking notes during a meeting with Kenyans living in the Southern African country.

Unconfirmed rumours also claim that Gecaga could have been fired due to his close relationship with ex-Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko. Uhuru and Sonko are in a bear-knuckles fight, following revelations by the President that he engineered the latter’s impeachment.

It is also worth knowing that Gecaga has two kids with former K24 news anchor Anne Kiguta. Kiguta controversially quit from the Kenyatta family-owned in December last year, citing fundamental disagreements with her bosses. Her ‘Punchline Programme’ had been turned into a propaganda tool against Deputy President William Ruto.

 

Gecaga, a brother to KICC CEO Nana Gecaga, recently made headlines after former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero sued him over unpaid rent at a high-end apartment in Riverside, Nairobi. The President’s aide is said to have failed to pay Kshs 540,000 monthly rent, claiming that he had been financially affected by COVID-19 KDRTV

 

KIGALI, Rwanda

Rwandan authorities on Tuesday re-imposed a lockdown in the capital Kigali after a recent spike in new COVID-19 cases and related deaths.

Unnecessary movements are restricted except for essential services such as medical, grocery shopping, and banking among others, according to a government statement.

The Cabinet directed most public and private employees to work from home, with the new measures expected to be reviewed after 15 days.

While inter-districts public transport is restricted, most businesses are closed save those distributing and delivering essential services such as food, medicine, hygiene and cleaning products, and fuel. They are ordered to operate at 30% capacity, and close by 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT).

Educational institutions and places of worship have also been shut with schools, both public and private, advised to revert to remote learning.

Tourism activities such as hotels, tour operations will continue to work in line with health guidelines.

The Kigali International Airport, the country’s main airport, however, will remain open with arriving travelers required to present a negative COVID-19 test taken within 120 hours prior to departure.

Designated hotels for arrivals will remain open in accordance with the COVID-19 prevention measures, whereas departing travelers must also present a negative COVID-19 result.

Majority of the new cases in recent days were registered in Kigali with health officials attributing it to complacency in observance of virus control measures.

A landlocked East African country, Rwanda has so far seen 11,259 cases and 146 related deaths. By James Tasamba, Anadolu Agency

Bobi Wine was the main challenger to longtime leader Yoweri Museveni, who won with 58 percent of the votes [Baz Ratner/Reuters]

Uganda’s government accused the United States of trying to “subvert” last week’s presidential elections after the US ambassador attempted to visit opposition leader Bobi Wine, who has been under house arrest.

US Ambassador Natalie E Brown was stopped from visiting Wine at his residence in a suburb in the northern outskirts of the capital, the embassy said in a statement late on Monday. 

What next for Uganda’s opposition after Museveni’s disputed win?

The mission said Brown wanted to check on the “health and safety” of Wine, who became famous after years of singing about government corruption and nepotism, charges the government denies.

The former pop star-turned-legislator, who came second with almost 35 percent votes, rejected the results and accused his rival, President Yoweri Museveni, of winning by fraud. Wine has so far provided no evidence to support his allegations.

The electoral commission, however, on Saturday declared Museveni the winner with 58.6 percent of the vote. Museveni, 76, has been in power since 1986.

‘Meddle in Uganda’s internal politics’

Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo said Brown had no business visiting Wine.

“What she has been trying to do blatantly is to meddle in Uganda’s internal politics, particularly elections, to subvert our elections and the will of the people,” he said.

“She shouldn’t do anything outside the diplomatic norms.”

The sharp, public rebuke to the US from the Ugandan government is relatively unusual as the two nations are allies.

Kristof Tetica, a professor of international development at the University of Antwerp, noted Museveni’s relations with the international community took a turn for the worse since November, when the president blamed anti-government demonstrations on “foreign groups and homosexuals”.

He added donor support from the international community has been crucial to Museveni’s government since the mid-1980s.

“Particularly, the US has been a key ally of Uganda. On average they support Uganda with $970m a year, they’ve given military support. The country is seen as a key source of stability in the region, and that has given Uganda leeway for transgressions like corruption,” Tetica told Al Jazeera.

“So that’s why it’s so surprising relations have become so hostile.”

There was no immediate comment from Brown or the US embassy. Soiurce: Aljazeera

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