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The President on Wednesday nominated ODM’s John Mbadi to Cabinet Secretary National Treasury; Opiyo Wandayi to Energy and Petroleum; Ali Hassan Joho to Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs; and Wycliffe Oparanya to the Ministry of Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development.

A Reuters witness saw the detentions being made, while a video posted by NTV Uganda on the X social media platform also showed a small group of young people being intercepted and detained by police while they were marching.

Although President William Ruto succumbed to the protesters’ pressure and withdrew Finance Bill 2024, sacked his entire Cabinet and attorney-general, and called national dialogue among other pledges, the youth are demanding more— with some openly calling for the resignation of the besieged head of State.

Kagame has won more than 93 percent of the vote at each of the three previous elections. Eight candidates had applied to run against him, but only two were retained in the final list validated by the electoral commission.

The country marked Independence Day on July 9 with little fanfare. But it also elicited concerns after the Transitional National Legislative Assembly passed controversial amendments to the National Security Service (NSS) law. Those changes mean the National Security Service can arrest and detain suspects for long periods without need for a court warrant.

This week, the United States of America weighed in, raising concerns that that trade is making it difficult to tame the arms flow into the battlefield.

Uganda denied involvement, saying it is cooperating closely with the Congolese government forces.

Mogadishu beat the Democratic Republic of Congo, which joined the bloc two years ago and is yet to contribute a cent.

Congo’s army has been fighting the M23 insurgency for more than two years, as well as facing other militia violence, with around 2.7 million people displaced within North Kivu province. The rebels advanced into strategically important territory last week.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Tuesday named Zanzibar revenue chief Yusuph Juma Mwenda as the new TRA boss in place of Mr Kidata who had held the position since April 2021, moving him to an unspecified advisory role in State House.