US sanctions Tanzania police official over assault of Kenyan, Ugandan activists

WASHINGTON, United States 

The United States Department of State has imposed sanctions on Tanzanian Police Force (TPF) Senior Assistant Commissioner Faustine Jackson Mafwele over violations of human rights.

Mafwele was involved in the torture of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi (R) and his Ugandan counterpart Agather Atuhaire (L) while in Tanzania.

In a statement on Thursday, May 21, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US government has credible information that Mafwele was involved in the torture of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and his Ugandan counterpart Agather Atuhaire while in Tanzania.

Rubio noted that the senior Tanzanian police official will be barred from entering the US following the sanction.

“The Department of State is designating Tanzanian Police Force (TPF) Senior Assistant Commissioner Faustine Jackson Mafwele under Section 7031(c) based on credible information that he was involved in gross violations of human rights.

“One year ago, members of the TPF detained, tortured, and sexually assaulted Ugandan Agather Atuhaire and Kenyan Boniface Mwangi, who were in Dar es Salaam to observe the judicial trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu. This designation prohibits Mafwele from entering the United States,” read the statement.

Mwangi and Atuhaire had travelled to Tanzania in May 2025 to attend court proceedings of Tundu Lissu, a Tanzanian opposition leader facing treason charges.

The two were arrested from their respective hotel rooms and taken into custody, where they were tortured and sexually assaulted.

Mwangi resurfaced on Thursday, May 22, in Ukunda, Kwale County, after he was deported from Tanzania. The activist was taken to the hospital to receive medical treatment.

Speaking after his release, Mwangi revealed that he was inhumanely tortured during detention.

 “I have gone through four very dark days. I have been tortured very badly. I can barely walk,” Mwangi said.

“We were tortured and told to strip naked and bathe. We couldn’t walk and were told to crawl and wash off the blood.”

Angry crowd sets Ebola hospital tents on fire in DR Congo

By Emery Makumeno, KINSHASA DR Congo 

An angry crowd set alight a section of a hospital at the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after family and friends of a young man thought to have died from the virus were prevented from taking his body away for burial.

"They started throwing projectiles at the hospital. They even set fire to tents that were being used as isolation wards," local politician Luc Malembe Malembe told the reporter about the scene he witnessed at Rwampara General Hospital.

In the chaos, police fired warning shots to disperse the crowd.

The body of a dead Ebola victim is highly infectious and the authorities need to ensure safe burial to stop the spread of the virus.

Medical workers at the Rwampara hospital, located near the city of Bunia in Ituri province, where almost all of the cases have been reported, were placed under military protection as the police moved in to restore order.

A healthcare worker was injured by stone-throwing protesters before law enforcement agents intervened, a hospital worker told the AFP news agency.

The man who died was a popular figure in the local community and those upset by his death did not "grasp the reality of the disease," Jean Claude Mukendi, who is co-ordinating the security response to Ebola in Ituri, told the Associated Press.

Witnesses told Reuters the young man was a footballer who had played with several local teams. His mother told the news agency she believed her son had died of typhoid fever, not Ebola.

Malembe said the crowd did not believe the virus, which has so far killed more than 130 in eastern DR Congo, was real.

"People are not properly informed or sensitised about what is happening. For a certain segment of the population, especially in remote areas, Ebola is an invention by outsiders - it does not exist," the politician said.

"They believe it is the NGOs and hospitals creating this to make money, and this is tragic."

He said two tents had been burned down, along with a body that had been due to be buried.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends "safe and dignified burials" for Ebola victims, with trained teams using protective equipment to handle bodies.

Six patients had been receiving treatment in the tents on the grounds of the hospital - and it was reported they may have fled in the mayhem.

But according to the medical charity Alima, which reportedly ran the tents, they are all accounted for and "are currently being cared for at the hospital".

The unrest came as it was announced that DR Congo's national football team had cancelled its pre-World Cup training camp in the capital, Kinshasa, because of the outbreak.

The WHO has called it a "public health emergency of international concern", but said it was not at pandemic level.

On Wednesday, the WHO said 139 people in DR Congo were thought to have died from Ebola, out of 600 suspected cases.

However, on the same day, Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba told state broadcaster RTNC TV that authorities had registered 159 deaths.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 22/5/2026

 

Iran steps up claim to control Strait of Hormuz

TEHRAN, Iran 

Iran has said it is significantly expanding the area around the Strait of Hormuz over which it claims military control in an effort to assert its sovereignty of the key trade route.

A map published by Iran's newly-created "Persian Gulf Strait Authority" claims "Iranian armed forces oversight" across more than 22,000 sq km (8,800 sq miles).

It extends into the territorial waters of Oman and the UAE. The UAE described Iran's claims of control as "nothing but fragments of dreams".

Iran's new authority added that all transit through the strait "requires coordination with and authorization from the Persian Gulf Strait Authority".

The US and Gulf allies have repeatedly rejected Iranian attempts to assert control over the strait. The US has told ships not to comply with Iran's rules.

The diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, Anwar Gargash, said Iran is "trying to consecrate a new reality born from a clear military defeat, but attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz or encroach on the UAE's maritime sovereignty are nothing but fragments of dreams".

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ships are guaranteed safe passage through another country's waters - but Iran has not ratified this convention.

Media linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) this week published footage showing what it claimed was a "punishment" strike on a tanker in the strait.

Iran's push for greater control over the area around the Strait of Hormuz comes as US forces boarded an Iran-bound oil ‌tanker on Wednesday. The US military's Central Command (Centcom) said it was ⁠suspected of violating the American blockade of Iranian ports.

Footage published by Centcom shows US marines rappelling from a helicopter on to the deck of a ship, said to be the oil tanker Celestial Sea, in the Gulf of Oman.

In a post on social media Centcom said the ship was "suspected of attempting to violate the US blockade by transiting toward an Iranian port".

"US forces subsequently released the vessel after conducting a search and directing the crew to alter course," according to maritime risk management company Vanguard.

Celestial Sea has previously been sanctioned under a previous name by the US for its links with Iran.

Tracking data from MarineTraffic shows the ship is now reporting its destination as the port of Duqm in Oman.

Centcom said on Thursday it had redirected 94 commercial ships and disabled four vessels since the US blockade of Iranian ports came into effect on 13 April.

Donald Trump said on Monday he was holding off a military attack on Iran planned for the following day at the request of Gulf states because "serious negotiations are now taking place".

In a post on Truth Social, the US president said he had been asked to do so by the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Pakistan's military chief is reported to be visiting Tehran on Thursday in an attempt to mediate peace efforts between Iran and the US.

Iranian state media reported Asim Munir will be continuing talks with senior Iranian officials.

The Iranian foreign ministry said it was reviewing the latest proposals from the US on ending the war.

Trump suggested he could wait a few days for Tehran to agree to the new deal but was also willing to resume attacks on the country.

"Believe me, if we don't get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We're all ready to go," the president said.

DR Congo cancels World Cup training camp over Ebola outbreak

KINSHASA, DR Congo 

The Democratic Republic of Congo has cancelled its pre-World Cup training camp in the capital, Kinshasa, because of an Ebola outbreak in the east of the country.

Preparations have been moved to Belgium amid the upsurge, which is thought to have killed more than 130 people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called the outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern", but said it was not at pandemic level.

Jerry Kalemo, a spokesperson for the national football team, told international media that pre-tournament games in Europe would go ahead as planned, as the squad gears up for their first World Cup since 1974.

DR Congo are due to play friendly matches against Denmark, on 3 June in Belgium, and Chile, on 9 June in Spain, ahead of the World Cup finals.

They play their first match of the tournament in the US city of Houston on 17 June against Portugal.

A spokesperson for the DR Congo team told the Reuters news agency that the squad's training camp had been cancelled due to travel restrictions imposed by the US, who are hosting the World Cup this summer, along with Mexico and Canada.

The US' public health agency has banned entry from non-Americans who have been in the DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, in response to the Ebola outbreak.

All DR Congo's players, as well as the team's French coach, Sébastien Desabre, are based outside the central African country and will therefore not be affected by the restrictions now the training camp has been cancelled.

Some team staff based in DR Congo left the country on Wednesday, Kalemo told the Associated Press, ahead of the 21-day deadline.

The high-profile event in Kinshasa was supposed to have been attended by fans, along with DR Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi, according to Reuters.

Kinshasa is roughly 1,800 km (1,120m) away from the eastern Ituri province, the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak. There have not yet been any reported cases in the city.

On Wednesday, the WHO said 139 people were thought to have died, out of 600 suspected cases. However, on the same day, Congolese health minister Samuel Roger Kamba told state broadcaster RTNC TV that authorities had registered 159 deaths.

The outbreak has been caused by a rare species of Ebola known as Bundibugyo. There is currently no vaccine for this species and the WHO has said it could take up to nine months for a jab to be ready.

Sierra Leone welcomes first US deportation flight under Trump crackdown

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone 

Sierra Leone has become the latest African nation to receive deportees from the United States as President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign continues to expand, with a first batch of nine migrants landing at Freetown International Airport on Wednesday.

Witnessed by an our journalist, a plane carrying the migrants touched down outside the capital in the morning.

Foreign Minister Timothy Musa Kabba initially stated that 25 people would arrive, but later confirmed: “We have received nine deportees this morning from the US.”

According to authorities, the deportees come from Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, and Senegal. Among them were seven men and two women, heads bowed as they boarded a minibus under police escort.

Health ministry official Doris Bah described the group’s condition: “All were traumatised due to the months in chains during detention in the US.” She added that most wished to return to their home countries.

“Some of the deportees were arrested on the streets and their place of work, while another was arrested while playing football in the US,” Bah said.

The migrants will be housed in a hotel and are expected to be sent back to their respective nations within two weeks at the latest.

Freetown has agreed to take in up to 300 people annually expelled by the United States, but only nationals from ECOWAS member states.

Some of the deportees hold Sierra Leonean residence permits obtained years ago, Kabba noted, adding that they have the right to stay in the country for 90 days before returning to their country of origin.

A foreign ministry document seen by our journalist shows the United States is providing $1.5 million to support the programme, covering “humanitarian and operational costs linked to this agreement.”

Freetown has not disclosed whether other concessions were made.

A US State Department spokesperson said Wednesday that removing migrants from US territory is a “top priority” but did not explain why Sierra Leone was chosen or what incentives were offered.

Sierra Leone joins a growing list of African countries accepting US deportees, including Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Sudan.

In return, Washington provides financial and logistical support. Some nations, such as the DRC, have even taken in migrants from Latin America.

In September, Human Rights Watch urged African nations to reject such arrangements, arguing that the “opaque deals” were “part of a US policy approach that violated international human rights law.”

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 22/5/2026

 

Ghana to face Ivory Coast in Afcon 2027 qualifying

CAIRO, Egypt 

Ghana have been paired with Ivory Coast in a potentially tricky qualifying group for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals.

The Black Stars were not included in the top pot of seeds for the draw, having slipped down the world rankings after their failure to reach the previous edition of the tournament which was held in Morocco in December and January.

The two West African heavyweights will meet in Group C, where they will also face The Gambia, who made the quarter-finals of the 2021 Afcon on their debut, and Somalia.

"Why always us? This group is a difficult group," said former Ivory Coast international Max-Alain Gradel, who lifted the trophy with the Elephants on home soil in 2022 and was one of the assistants for the draw in Cairo.

"But we will do everything that we can to qualify. I believe in the team so there is no problem."

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will co-host the next Afcon, which will be held from 19 June to 17 July 2027.

The 48 teams looking to reach the finals have been split into 12 groups of four, with the top two sides qualifying after six rounds of fixtures.

However, things are complicated by the fact that the three co-hosts are all assured of a place at the tournament, so only one other team in their respective groups will book a ticket.

Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia all have little margin for error after being drawn alongside one of the three hosts.

Kenya will face Eritrea, who are back in Afcon qualifying for the first time since preliminaries for the 2008 finals, Guinea and South Africa in Group A.

Elsewhere, record seven-time champions Egypt have been drawn alongside Angola, Malawi and South Sudan.

The first four rounds of qualifying will be spread across September, October and November this year, with the final two fixtures to be held in March next year.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 20/5/2026