KENYA'S 'MIRACLE BABY' WIFE JAILED !
The wife of Kenyan pastor Gilbert Deya accused of child trafficking has been sentenced to two years in jail by a Nairobi court for stealing a child. Mary Deya claimed that one of her two accomplices had given birth to the child, but the court proved the woman was not the biological mother. "The actions and claims of miraculous birth deserve no mercy," Magistrate Teresia Ngugi said.
He runs a number of churches in UK cities and says he aids infertile couples by prayer. Kenyan police allege the Gilbert Deya Ministries is an international baby-snatching ring, allegations Mr Deya denies.
Some children were taken into care in Kenya when DNA tests showed they were not related to women claiming to be their mothers. "No amount of the sentence can undo the damage done to the life of the child who may never know who his biological parents are," said Ms Ngugi is quoted by Kenya's Daily Nation as saying on Wednesday.
Mrs Deya's co-accused - Miriam Nyeko and Rose Kiserem - were also jailed for two years. The women claimed that Ms Nyeko, who is a British citizen, had given birth to the baby boy. She was sentenced to another one year in prison - to run concurrently - for obtaining a false birth certificate.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZAMBIA'S CHILUBA 'TO STAND TRIAL' !
Mr Chiluba's suits were paid by public funds, a UK judge has said. Zambia's ex-President Frederick Chiluba is to stand trial on corruption charges in Zambia, a Lusaka court has ruled. Magistrate Jones Chinyama rejected arguments that Mr Chiluba, 64, was too ill to be prosecuted for stealing $488,000 during his time in office.
He suffers from a heart condition and was discharged from hospital on Tuesday after collapsing at his home last week.
Earlier in May, a UK court ordered Mr Chiluba to pay back $39m of state funds he allegedly took while in power. The civil action was brought in Britain because the allegedly stolen money passed through bank accounts in London.
UK Judge Peter Smith said Zambians should know that when the former president appeared wearing his trademark designer clothes, they were paid for with public funds.
Mr Chiluba, who served two terms as Zambia's president from 1991 to 2001, denounced the verdict in the civil case as "racist" and "obscene". His handpicked successor, President Levy Mwanawasa, has been pursuing an anti-corruption drive against Mr Chiluba's former government.
The president has offered to pardon Mr Chiluba if he admits the allegations and returns 75% of the cash he allegedly stole, but the ex-leader has always denied the allegations. The court said Mr Chiluba's trial should go ahead after doctors recently examined him in hospital.
Last November, the trial was postponed to allow Mr Chiluba to travel to South Africa for medical treatment.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
FIFA BANS HIGH-ALTITUDE FOOTBALL !
Many of Bolivia's cities, including La Paz, are at high altitude. Football's governing body, Fifa, has banned international matches from being played at more than 2,500m (8,200ft) above sea level. Fifa said the decision was made because of concerns over players' health and possible distortion of competition.
The ruling was greeted with dismay in Latin America, notably in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, where games in La Paz are played at 3,600m (11,811ft).
Bolivia's President, Evo Morales, vowed to lead a campaign against the ban. Speaking after an emergency cabinet meeting, Mr Morales said the ruling amounted to discrimination. "This is not only a ban on Bolivia, it's a ban on the universality of sports," he told reporters.
To play at above that altitude is not healthy or fair - Sepp Blatter, Fifa president.
Mr Morales also said he would send a high-level delegation to Fifa's headquarters in Zurich and called on other countries to join his campaign. "We cannot allow discrimination in soccer, we cannot allow... exclusion in the world of sports," he added.
Many of Bolivia's major cities, including Sucre and Potosi, are at high altitude. Local commentators in Peru, which was hoping to stage upcoming World Cup qualifiers in Cuzco at 3,400m (11,154ft), suggested Fifa made the decision after pressure from South America's two major football powers, Brazil and Argentina.
Both nations have struggled in recent years while playing at altitude, where the thin air hands an advantage to those acclimatised to the conditions. Playing sport in conditions of high altitude places heavy demands on the body, forcing the heart to work harder.
CITIES AT ALTITUDE
Bolivia: La Paz - 3,600m (11,811ft)
Ecuador: Quito - 2,800m (9,186ft)
Colombia: Bogota: 2640m (8,661ft)
Earlier in 2007, Brazilian club Flamengo said they would not play again at altitude after several of their players needed oxygen during a game against Bolivian team Real Potosi, held at nearly 4,000m (13,120ft).
The ban will also affect Ecuador whose national side has qualified for the last two World Cups, winning through on the basis of strong performances in Quito, at 2,800m.
Mexico City, where the 1970 and 1986 World Cup Final was played, just beats the Fifa limit, having an altitude of 2,240m (7349ft).
Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, said the organisation had expected protests from Latin America. "The executive committee have listened to a proposal from the medical committee and have decided to act because to play at above that altitude is not healthy or fair," he said.
BBC SPORTS REPORT.
NIGERIAN EX-GOVERNORS ON THE RUN !
Nigerian ex-governors on the run
By Senan Murray - BBC News, Abuja .
Four former Nigerian governors accused of corruption are on the run from the anti-graft agency, after their terms of office expired on Tuesday. Elected officials enjoy immunity from prosecution while in power. The runaway governors did not hand over power in inauguration ceremonies held across the country.
Anti-corruption officials say they want to investigate most of the 36 outgoing governors but critics say the probes are political. Under Nigeria's federal system, governors enjoy wide-ranging powers. Some control annual budgets of more than $1bn in Africa's largest oil producer.
Plateau State's Joshua Dariye, who skipped UK bail three years ago after he was arrested for money-laundering, failed to turn up for the swearing-in ceremony in Jos.
Insiders say he is running away from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which has been trying to arrest him since he jumped bail in the UK.
We do enjoy very cordial working relationship with the law enforcement agencies of some countries and those of the UK and the US, for instance, have been very helpful - Nuhu Ribadu, EFCC chairman.
What next for corruption crusade?
Local state legislators impeached him last November after they found him guilty of corruption.
Before the EFCC could get to him, however, Mr Dariye gave them the slip but returned to power three weeks ago after the Supreme Court ruled that his impeachment was not constitutional.
Other former governors running away from prosecution are former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's self-proclaimed "political godson" Boni Haruna of Adamawa State. Mr Haruna packed out of government house in the north-eastern town of Yola on Sunday for an undisclosed location. The EFCC is investigating Mr Haruna for allegedly embezzling state funds.
His "godfather", or political backer, Mr Abubakar, who has also been accused of corruption, flew out of Nigeria shortly after he lost out in a presidential election won by the governing party's Umaru Yar'Adua.
Another ex-governor, Chimaroke Nnamani, was not in Enugu to hand over to his successor either. Mr Nnamani, who has had a run-in with the EFCC, is said to have fled to Spain to escape arrest. Former Jigawa State Governor Saminu Turaki is also believed to have fled the country.
EFCC chairman Nuhu Ribadu admits that it would be difficult to bring the runaway ex-governors to justice.
Orji Kalu says he has nothing to hide. "Our jurisdiction does not go beyond the boundaries of Nigeria, so if these people manage to run away from the country, it will be difficult to get to them," he told the BBC in a recent interview. "But we do enjoy very cordial working relationship with the law enforcement agencies of some countries and those of the UK and the US, for instance, have been very helpful in this regard."
Mr Ribadu says his agency is investigating almost all the 36 former governors for alleged corruption. The investigations ran into a legal brick wall while the governors were in power, as their constitutional immunity meant that they could neither be arrested nor prosecuted. Now, stripped of this privilege, they have realised how legally vulnerable they are and have decided to stay as far as they can from the EFCC, which is often accused of being used to intimidate opposition politicians.
But one former governor who is not heading for the frontiers, yet, is Abia's Orji Kalu, who has decided to move to the capital, Abuja, after he handed over government to his ally Theodore Orji, who won the election from prison. Mr Orji, who was being held by the EFCC on charges of money-laundering, was granted bail to attend Tuesday's inauguration in the south-eastern town of Aba.
Just like former President Olusegun Obasanjo handpicked Mr Yar'Adua as his successor, Mr Kalu picked his trusted friend to succeed him, in a move many see an attempt to cover the ex-governor's tracks and keep his financial deals in the state secret.
Mr Kalu says he has nothing to hide and will not run away like the others.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
MOURINHO MOBBED BY FANS IN GHANA !
Mourinho mobbed by fans in Ghana
By Ibrahim Sannie - BBC Sport, Accra.
Chelsea manage Jose Mourinho was mobbed in Ghana. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was mobbed by Ghanaian fans as he arrived in the country for a five-day visit. Mourinho is leading a delegation from the club on a visit to Ghana inspecting projects run by Right To Play, Chelsea's global charity partner.
It took him over an hour to leave the Kotoka International Airport in Accra on Tuesday night. Mourinho said: "I'm thrilled to be here for the charity, as my life is all about supporting the less privileged."
The fans turned up to greet the Portuguese coach and the rest of the delegation despite the fact that local hero Michael Essien was not on the same flight. Essien is expected to join the delegation on Wednesday in the club's first visit to Africa.
"It's also great to come to the country of Essien, who is a very important for us," Mourinho added. "It is a good feeling to come to Africa as I believe I am part of the continent because my wife comes from Angola. "I hope that this visit can bring a lot of hope of many under-privileged children not only in Ghana and Africa but across the world."
During his trip Mourinho is expected to conduct training sessions for children in Accra and Tamale. He will also hold coaching demonstrations for the Right To Play coaches who are integral to the charity's purpose of raising awareness about disease, war and poverty through sport.
BBC SPORTS NEWS
S.A. BABY SURVIVES LATRINE HORROR !
A newborn baby dumped into a long-drop latrine in South Africa has been saved after spending a night in the cold pit. "This is the first time in 13 years that I've taken out a live baby," policeman Jack Haskins said.
The rescuers sank a hole parallel to the toilet and then tunnelled across to reach the baby at a depth of 1.5m.
The child, whose early morning cries had raised the alarm, was covered in maggots. The mother, 23, has been charged with attempted murder.
The overnight temperature had dropped to 8C, during the southern hemisphere winter.
The umbilical cord and placenta were still attached to the little boy, which is what the maggots were feeding on, the South African Press Association reports.
"The paramedics and I stood around like proud fathers," Mr Haskins is quoted as saying by the Beeld newspaper.
The baby, who is recovering in Grey's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg, has been nicknamed Quarter Jack by the rescue team.
"My son's name is Half Jack," Mr Haskins told The Mercury newspaper.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
'RWANDA REBELS ' IN DR CONGO RAID !
The FDLR want an amnesty before returning to Rwanda. At least 17 people have been killed and others abducted by suspected Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, aid workers say.
Victims were slashed with machetes during the night attack.
Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) leader Ignace Murwanashyaka told the BBC his men were not involved.
Some of those who part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide fled across the border into eastern DR Congo after the Hutu government was ousted from power.
"They've just begun burying the dead. Everyone is traumatised. Everyone is afraid," local aid worker Constantin Charondagwa told Reuters news agency.
The Congolese army and UN peacekeepers have been carrying out joint operations in the area against the fighters since January.
The UN Mission in DR Congo (Monuc) says it is investigating the reports of the attack on the South Kivu village of Kanyola.
Mr Murwanashyaka said it was impossible to identify who was behind the attack, as it happened at night.
The rebels have repeatedly said they do not want to go back to Rwanda unless they are granted amnesty.
The Tutsi-led government in Rwanda has twice invaded Dr Congo, saying it wants to wipe out the FDLR.
They include members of Rwanda's former army and extremist Hutu militia, the Interahamwe, who led the 100-day genocide where 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.
Their presence has also led to tensions between DR Congo's own Hutu and Tutsi population.
Former Congolese Tutsi rebel General Laurent Nkunda refuses to fully integrate his forces into the army, citing a need to protect the Tutsi population.
Last year's historic elections were supposed to mark the end of years of conflict and mismanagement in DR Congo.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE TO BOOST POLICE FOR POLL !
Zimbabwe has started a massive recruitment drive to almost double numbers ahead of next year's election, a senior police officer says. Faustino Mazango told the state-owned Herald newspaper that he wanted to have 50,000 officers for the elections, up from 29,000 at present.
Correspondents say this will be seen as the start of preparations for a crackdown on the opposition.
President Robert Mugabe has said he intends to stand for re-election.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) often accuses the police of harassing and beating its members. Almost 200 MDC activists were arrested on Saturday but have been released without charge. A police spokesman had said Saturday's arrests were in connection with recent bombings around the capital, Harare.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa says that some of those arrested were beaten and have gone to hospital.
The government accuses the MDC of stirring up election violence. It denies these charges and says they are a pretext to justify clamping down on its activities.
"We have started a massive recruitment exercise so that we have a minimum of 50,000 police officers by the time we have elections," The Herald quotes Senior Assistant Commissioner Mazango as saying.
The AFP news agency reports that many police officers are leaving the force to seek better paid work elsewhere.
In March, scores of MDC activists, including party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, were severely assaulted in police custody, sparking international condemnation.
President Mugabe has said Mr Tsvangirai deserved to be assaulted for ignoring police warnings not to go ahead with a banned rally.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
NIGERIA STATE HANDOVER 'CORRUPT' !
Mr Kalu and Mr Orji have both denied any wrong-doing. Nigeria's justice minister has condemned as "unconstitutional" the early handover of power in Abia State between two men accused of corruption. Theodore Orji won last month's elections for state governor, even though he was in police custody. He was freed on bail on Friday, ahead of Tuesday's inauguration ceremony.
Outgoing governor Uzor Orji Kalu - who has also been suspected of corruption - stepped down early and has reportedly fled the country. Both deny wrongdoing. Mr Orji was sworn in at the Abia State liaison office in the commercial capital, Lagos, hours after he was freed on bail. He then flew to Abia state with Mr Kalu, no relation, where they were greeted by thousands of cheering supporters. Mr Kalu then reportedly returned to Lagos and flew out of the country.
Elected officials have immunity from prosecution. Justice Minister Bayo Ojo said Mr Kalu was free to resign but could not hand over power to Mr Orji. The government "condemns the flagrant violation of the constitution by former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu and his co-conspirators," he told Nigeria's ThisDay newspaper.
Nigeria's anti-corruption agency, EFCC, has said it wants to investigate Mr Kalu on allegations of corruption. Earlier this year, it also declared his mother a "wanted person". Both Mr Orji and Mr Kalu were members of the governing People's Democratic Party but then switched to join the People's Progressive Alliance. Mr Kalu contested last month's presidential election but was heavily defeated.
The EFCC has said it wants to investigate more than half of Nigeria's governors on corruption charges. It has warned that several could seek to leave the country before their mandates, and immunity from prosecution, expires on Tuesday. Nigeria is regularly ranked as one of the world's most corrupt countries by Transparency International.
Outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo set up the EFCC to tackle corruption.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Cathy Buckle's Weekly Letter from Zimbabwe !
Saturday 26th May 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
A friend phoned recently with the news that her grand-daughter had just had a baby. The words of congratulations for the great grandmother froze when I heard that there were serious complications. The baby had been born with her bowel and intestine outside of her abdomen. Under normal circumstances in a fully functioning country this would be dire news. In Zimbabwe it sounded like an almost certain death sentence. Doctors and nurses strikes, chronic shortages of drugs, ten to twelve hour electricity cuts, interrupted water supplies and worst of all, the brain drain. Seven years of political turmoil, oppressive laws dictating every facet of our lives and the devastating economic collapse has seen professionals pour out of the country in hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions.
Every single step of the way in saving my friends newly born great grand daughter was littered with problems. Nothing at all was guaranteed from fuel for the ambulance to doctors not on strike, electricity being on and water coming out of the taps. From the University of Zimbabwe where we normally hear that the lecturers are on strike, the students are protesting or the student leaders are being arrested - out of this came one professor. A fortnight of delicate operations and proceedures, highly professional expertise and care and then came the wondrous news that the baby girl can go home. By now no one is calling the baby by her name, she is known as 'the miracle baby' and every one knows that without the 'Professor', this little Zimbabwean girl would not have made it.
On Africa Day, a public holiday, I had no water at home and the electricity was off for just over ten hours and I found myself thinking about this little miracle baby and the Professor who had saved her. It is very hard to stay in Zimbabwe when everything around you is collapsing. It is even harder for the young, highly educated professionals to stay. Without a doubt these men and women could get work anywhere in the world and the temptation to leave is very high. Those few who have been able to stay are doing so at great sacrifice to themselves and I don't know how we ordinary Zimbabweans can thank them - but we do.
It would be unrealistic to believe that all the hundreds of thousands of professionals who have left Zimbabwe these past seven years will come home, but we hope some will. The load on Zimbabwe's professionals is very heavy but for many of us it is because they have found a way to stay they have ensured that we too are able to stay. It was a bleak Africa Day for many Zimbabweans but for the family of the miracle baby, it was a day of peace and love and one filled with gratitude.
Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy.
ZIMBABAWE POLICE HOLDING ACTIVISTS !
Zimbabwe police are holding 84 activists without charge a day after they were arrested in party offices, an opposition spokesman has told the BBC. Nelson Chamisa said that most of the 200 people detained on Saturday were freed later in the evening.
A police spokesman said the arrests were in connection with recent bombings around the capital, Harare.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has denied any links to bombings and has condemned the arrests.
Mr Chamisa said the police did not have a search warrant when they raided the MDC headquarters in central Harare. He told the BBC that the meeting was held in party offices to discuss civil issues and insisted the MDC was doing nothing illegal.
The arrests came a day after police extended a ban on political rallies.
In March, scores of MDC activists, including party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, were severely assaulted in police custody, sparking international condemnation.
The Zimbabwe government accused the MDC of being behind the bombing of several police stations.
Following Saturday's arrests, police spokesman Supt Andrew Phiri told the state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper:
"Some suspects arrested in connection with recent petrol bombs have given us leads we are following up."
Mr Chamisa said those detained had been taken to the notorious Law and Order division of the Central Police Headquarters.
South Africa is currently trying to negotiate a political solution to Zimbabwe's escalating crisis.
The BBC's Peter Greste in South Africa says diplomats say Zimbabwe is in danger of breaking into open conflict.
Mr Chamisa said the police raid showed the government's disdain for the diplomatic efforts.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ANGLICANS 'OBSESSE' BY GAY ISSUE !
Anglicans 'obsessed' by gay issue
By Mike Lanchin
BBC News religious affairs correspondent
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called on Africa's Anglican church to overcome its "obsession" with the issue of gay priests and same-sex marriages. He said they should spend time on more pressing issues in the region.
Speaking to the BBC World Service, the South African bishop said Zimbabwe, HIV/Aids and the crisis in Darfur were not getting sufficient attention.
Zimbabwe's Anglican church also lacked courage to stand up to President Robert Mugabe's regime, he said.
This was the 76-year-old Nobel peace laureate touching raw nerves for the Anglican church in Africa on very sensitive subjects.
In his usual forthright manner, Archbishop Tutu told the BBC that the Anglican communion was spending too much of its time and energy on debating differences over gay priests and same sex marriages - a subject, he said, that had now become "an extraordinary obsession".
He said: "We've, it seems to me, been fiddling whilst as it were our Rome was burning. At a time when our continent has been groaning under the burden of HIV/Aids, of corruption. The church had "kow-towed" to Mr Mugabe's regime, he said "There are so many issues crying out for concern and application by the church of its resources, and here we are, I mean, with this kind of extraordinary obsession."
For Archbishop Tutu, the crisis in Zimbabwe was one such issue that had been eclipsed by the sexuality debate. He said he was saddened by the muted response other African governments had shown to the Mugabe regime. But he also said that leaders of his own Anglican Church in Zimbabwe had failed to show more courage in dealing with the Zimbabwean president.
"One seems to have to say they have kow-towed to President Mugabe. Certainly there's not been anything like the same kind of standing up to the evil and exercising the prophetic ministry that one would have expected from the church, and that has been very distressing."
There are growing tensions within the worldwide Anglican communion - pitching liberals against conservatives - mainly over the issue of sexuality.
But as Archbishop Tutu recognised, there are other points of contention that need to be resolved and other issues that the church, especially in Africa, needs to turn its attention to.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE POLICE RAID MDC OFFICE !
Zimbabwean police have cracked down on MDC activities. Police in Zimbabwe have raided the headquarters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Harare and arrested as many as 200 activists. The activists were taken away in police vans, though the MDC's Nelson Chamisa said police had no search warrant.
Mr Chamisa told the BBC that the meeting was held in party offices to discuss civil issues and insisted the MDC was doing nothing illegal. The arrests came a day after police extended a ban on political rallies.
The BBC's Peter Greste, in South Africa, says the police cordoned off a number of blocks around Harvest House and burst into the party headquarters, beating and arresting anyone they found inside.
Mr Chamisa said those inside the building had included the MDC's youth council and another urban council. Mr Chamisa said those detained had been taken to the notorious Law and Order division of the Central Police Headquarters. No senior party leaders were said to be in the building at the time.
In the past, party activists have been arrested for violating a ban on political gatherings and for allegedly planning acts of terrorism.
South Africa is currently trying to negotiate a political solution to Zimbabwe's escalating crisis. Diplomats say Zimbabwe is in danger of breaking into open conflict, our correspondent says.
Mr Chamisa said the police raid showed the government's disdain for the diplomatic efforts.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
CHRISTMAN COMES LATE TO DR CONGO !
Christmas comes late to DR Congo
By John James - BBC, Kinshasa.
Millions of members of a Democratic Republic of Congo sect have been celebrating Christmas. Members of the Kimbanguist church believe Jesus Christ was born on 25 May and not 25 December.
Followers, wearing green for hope and white for purity, have spent the day eating, praying and dancing at a centre in the capital, Kinshasa.
The church has around three million believers, mainly concentrated in central Africa.
It was founded in 1921 by Simon Kimbangu, a self-styled healer and prophet, who was educated by Baptist church missionaries in the west of what was then the Congo Free State.
In 1999 the leaders of the Kimbanguist church decided that after several prophetic "revelations", Christmas should be celebrated on 25 May instead of in December.
This was coincidentally the 80th birthday of one of the church leaders, Salomon Kiangani Dialungana.
They urge the rest of the world to follow suit.
Encouragement to join the all-day ceremony came from a marching band which headed out of the main compound at the conference centre and into the suburbs to literally drum up enthusiasm.
Mama Annie Sita said she had gone to join her fellow Kimbanguists and spend the whole day together at the church dancing, praying and eating. "There's a lot of joy here and everyone's singing, which makes for a great atmosphere. People have walked from far and wide to come and celebrate," she told the BBC.
Alcohol was not allowed but the crates of soft drinks were stacked high.
Beside them people sold photos of church leaders.
There were also photos of the church's headquarters in the village of Nkanda, which was Simon Kimbangu's home and is now called the New Jerusalem.
Many of those celebrating took their own plastic chairs and large colourful umbrellas to create their own patch of shade.
"We have a revelation - we want everyone to celebrate on 25 May," says Bienvenu Sakuameso, a journalist who works for the church's national television station.
"We don't force, but we only ask them. We say that we have found out this day and we ask them to pray and they too will find out and join us."
So what do Kimbanguists do on 25 December, the traditional date of Christmas.
"For us it's just a normal day," he said.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
PROFILE : KENYA'S SECRETIVE MUNGIKI SECT !
Followers of Kenya's outlawed Mungiki sect were once known for tobacco sniffing, trademark dreadlocks and praying while facing Mount Kenya. But the sect, which was banned in 2002, has undergone a metamorphosis since it first emerged in the 1980s.
It was inspired by the bloody Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s against British colonial rule.
Thousands of young Kenyans - mostly drawn from Kenya's largest tribe, the Kikuyu - flocked to the sect whose doctrines are based on traditional practices.
One theory has it that Mungiki was formed in 1988 with the aim of toppling the government of former President Daniel arap Moi. The sect was, at one time, associated with Mwakenya, an underground movement formed in 1979 to challenge the former Kanu regime.
However, the sect members have now turned to horrific crimes leaving behind mutilated corpses and a trail of blood and trauma.
In May, Mungiki followers are said to have brutally murdered six people in the country's central region, in what is said to be a revenge attack on people who had leaked information about their activities to the police.
For weeks, the outlawed sect members have been battling with public transport operators who refuse to pay protection fees to them.
Following the crisis, a crackdown on them was ordered by Security Minister John Michuki.
Police say the latest victims of the sect members were abducted and tortured before being hacked to death and their bodies dismembered.
Today, Mungiki followers no longer sniff tobacco in public and have traded in the dreadlocks and unkempt appearance for neat haircuts and business suits.
They extort, engage in fraud, robbery, murder and even kidnap their victims.
Media reports say the sect has evolved over the years into an organised and intimidating underworld gang with bases in the capital, Nairobi, and parts of Central and Rift Valley Provinces.
They control public transport routes and demand illegal levies from operators.
Mungiki followers reign supreme within city slums, notably Mathare in the east of the capital. Here they provide illegal water and electricity connections to hundreds of makeshift shacks.
Residents of the slums also have to pay a levy to the sect to be able to access communal toilets and for security during the night in the crime infested slums.
Following the latest gruesome murders, the government has vowed to wipe out the group but many Kenyans feel there is a lukewarm approach to counter activities of the sect.
Its leadership has openly claimed to have two million members around the country and to have infiltrated government offices, factories, schools and the armed forces.
"Mungiki is a politically motivated gang of youths," says Ken Ouko, a sociology lecturer at the University of Nairobi.
"The religious bit is just a camouflage. It's more like an army unit. During the previous regime, they seemed to be complementary to the government. But now they seem to be antagonistic."
Mr Ouko suggests that security forces should infiltrate Mungiki to be able to counter its growing influence in Kenya.
But the sect is known to operate in secrecy, a fact that is complicating efforts by the police to identify its members as the crackdown on them continues.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE CRISIS LEADS TO MORAL DECAY !
Judith Melby, an Africa specialist with aid agency Christian Aid, says that Zimbabwe's economic and political crisis has also led to a moral decline. Many workers are unable to afford to get buses to work.
"How do you tell your children it is important to get an education when jobs - if you are lucky enough to get one - have worthless salaries," asks one Zimbabwean mother. "They know that a quick deal on the black market can give them the same amount as a month's salary." Like many people in Zimbabwe, she did not wish to be identified.
Students milling about in the sunshine at the University of Zimbabwe don't have much faith in degrees either. Tuition fees increase every term and students find it impossible to pay even for notebooks, much less books. You have to go on the black market in order to pay for all this. "It is so hypocritical," said one young student.
"All those people in power received free education under [former white minority leader] Ian Smith or from the missionaries. They don't care that we can't afford the education; also all the good teachers have left. Is it any surprise we look for other ways to get money?"
The government has warned there will be wheat shortages in the coming months because farmers have only planted 10% of the required winter wheat crop. Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation of 3,700% is destroying the economy.
Unemployment is already more than 80%, while average incomes are less than $1 a day and life expectancy is just 36 years. The official rate for $1 is 250 Zimbabwe dollars but on the black market $1 can net you more than 40,000 Zimbabwe dollars. That's fine if you can get your hands on foreign exchange, but what happens if you can't? "I earn 200,000 [Zimbabwe] dollars a month," said a security guard. "But cooking oil costs 90,000 and I still haven't paid for food, rent, clothes, school fees and transport to work. How am I supposed to live?"
The worthless currency is also one of the reasons people are fleeing the country; by some estimates up to one-third of Zimbabweans now live abroad. "It is impossible to find farm workers," complains a farmer outside Bulawayo in the south of the country. "They prefer to chance their luck in South Africa where at least the money is worth something. Even if it is dangerous crossing the border and they risk being deported back home."
The Christian Alliance is an organisation, supported by Christian Aid, which is seeking to find a peaceful transition to democracy. It wants to participate in the mediation efforts by South African President Thabo Mbeki. Those without jobs, or family support, have few other options. In March, the governments in southern Africa entrusted him with the job of opening a dialogue between the government and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
But the alliance sees the restoration of traditional values as just as important as the reform of government institutions.
"We are a very divided society," said Christian Alliance coordinator Jonah Gokovah. "As a result we have become very suspicious of each other. People are finding all kinds of ways of surviving and that is turning a large number of our people into criminals."
This struggle for survival corrupts everyone. The security services have infiltrated opposition groups and informing on others is common. "We have lived in a society for a long time now that has tended to reward political criminals," Mr Gokova said. "Those who engage in violence need to be punished openly and those who are seeking to promote peaceful coexistence need to be rewarded for those actions."
The director of an aid agency, who also did not want to be identified, said she felt she was ridiculed when she travelled abroad. "They think that if you are still in Zimbabwe you must be stupid; they say anyone intelligent would have left long ago." And she worries any change may come too late for a return to the Zimbabwe she knew when she was a child, a Zimbabwe that cherished and rewarded education and hard graft.
"The warmth of the people's hearts is slipping away."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
AFRICAN COUNTRIES IN TARIFF MOVE !
African countries hope common tariffs will improve trade. A group of African countries have agreed to adopt common external tariffs in an effort to boost trade and move towards a fully-fledged customs union.
Members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa trade bloc, including Egypt, Libya and Zimbabwe, agreed the move at a summit in Kenya. A single tariff will be set for imports of finished goods and raw materials. The organisation has been held back by the reluctance of some of its members to join its free trade zone.
Angola, Ethiopia and Uganda are among those currently sitting on the sidelines, citing concerns about the possible impact on their economies. Countries such as Kenya and Zimbabwe see tariff harmonisation as a crucial step towards establishing a full customs union next year.
"We must harden our resolve to desist from engaging in practices aimed at protecting our individual markets," said Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.
COMESA MEMBERS
Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe
"Although such interventions may yield short-term relief to our individual economies, they can cause serious distortions in the larger Comesa market and erode investor confidence." Under the new initiative, a common 10% tax will be levied on semi-processed products while finished goods will be subject to 25% tax. Arrangements for how countries will move from their individual tariffs towards a common regime will be set out over the next year.
Despite Zimbabwe's worsening economic problems, President Robert Mugabe was appointed vice-chairman of the organisation at the meeting. Once one of Africa's richest nations, Zimbabwe is facing economic collapse due to stratospheric levels of inflation, high unemployment, and chronic shortages of fuel and food. Mr Mugabe said it was in the region's hands to ensure its members achieved "real and sustainable" economic progress. "While we rightly emphasize trade for our growth and development, it is equally important that we move towards trading what we produce," he told the summit.
The combined trade of the bloc's 19 members totalled $159bn (£79.5bn) last year.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE SLUM EVICTIONS 'A CRIME' !
Thousands of people's homes and livelihoods were destroyed. The forcible eviction of 700,000 people from slums in Zimbabwe in 2005 was "a crime against humanity", according to independent legal opinion.
The human rights groups that sought the legal advice, say the issue could now be referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Zimbabwe's government called Operation Murambatsvina an urban clean-up campaign to remove illegal structures.
But the United Nations condemned the demolitions of shops and homes.
The Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions and another group, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, sought independent legal opinion.
This concluded that the evictions in Zimbabwe were a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population, as part of state policy.
"What happened in Zimbabwe was akin in magnitude to the Asian tsunami," Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Alec Muchadehma told reporters in The Hague.
The finding is that Operation Murambatsvina was a crime against humanity, and the UN Security Council therefore has authority to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court.
"We believe it is now time for the Security Council to take up this issue and we are calling on all 15 members ... to put it on the agenda and officially debate it," said Malcolm Langford, of the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions.
The programme to build new homes to replace those demolished has faltered, says Amnesty International in its 2007 annual report.
"By May (2006) one year after the programmes launch, only 3,325 houses have been built, compared to 92,460 housing structures destroyed in Operation Murambatsvina," it said.
In recent years, millions of Zimbabweans have left the country as it grapples with runaway inflation, high unemployment and food shortages.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
HAGUE COURT PROBES CAR'CRIMES' !
The International Criminal Court is to investigate war crimes allegedly committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2002 and 2003. The Hague court's prosecutor said his investigation would mainly focus on the large number of alleged rapes. The period covers the aftermath of a failed coup by current President Francois Bozize against the government of former leader Ange-Felix Patasse.
The CAR's Supreme Court had referred the matter to the ICC in 2004.
The CAR court said it did not have the ability to prosecute such cases.
The ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, said: "The information we have now suggests that the rape of civilians was committed in numbers that cannot be ignored under international law." His office has taken testimony from hundreds of alleged rape victims, some of whom said they were assaulted in public or in the presence of family members.
Mr Moreno Ocampo said: "These victims are calling for justice." Last year, the CAR court referred Mr Patasse and the Vice-President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba, to the ICC on charges of rape and murder.
A French policeman and two aides of Mr Patasse were also referred. None has been arrested. The alleged crimes took place after Mr Bozize instigated a coup in October 2002. The Congolese Liberation Movement, under Mr Bemba, came to help Mr Patasse.
Mr Bozize finally came to power in the landlocked country of 3.9 million people in 2003.
Mr Moreno Ocampo said no particular suspect was being targeted in the investigation. But he said: "We have a duty to show that massive crimes cannot be committed with impunity."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
UGANDA PLAN FOR FOREST SUSPENDED !
Plans to give thousands of acres of rainforest in Uganda to an Asian-owned sugar company have been suspended after protests left three people dead. The decision to allow a sugar cane plantation in Mabira met intense criticism from environmentalists. They warned of extensive soil erosion and the possible extinction of rare species of wildlife.
Environment minister Maria Mutagamba said the government was trying to find alternative land for the Mehta Group A protest last month in the capital, Kampala, turned violent when police fired live bullets to disperse the crowd.
Mrs Mutagamba said no action would be taken until a cabinet committee had completed a review of the Ugandan sugar industry.The Sugar Corporation of Uganda (Scoul), part of the Mehta group, wants to expand its plantations in central Uganda.
President Yoweri Museveni had backed the plan and other supporters of the sugar bid said the expansion would create more jobs and income for the country. But the government was divided on the matter and the state-run New Vision paper had criticised the move.
The kabaka, or king, of the local Buganda community had offered to give alternative land for the sugar company in a bid to save the hardwood forest. In the capital there has been a car bumper sticker campaign urging people to save Mabira forest.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
