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Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) - Two senior UN officials on Tuesday welcomes the war crimes conviction and life sentencing of an armed combatant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, and her counterpart on Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, lauded the [...]
©- - 25 november 2020 - 05:51:12 - thread Society (510 words)


Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Amnesty International (AI) Monday night asked parties to the Ethiopian conflict in Tigray region to protect civilians. The humanitarian organization, in a press release in Nairobi, said the conflict in the Tigray region was on the brink of a deadly escalation. This was after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy [...]
©- - 23 november 2020 - 21:28:19 - thread Society (359 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Self-proclaimed Malawian prophet Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary on Wednesday handed themselves over to police in the Malawi capital, Lilongwe, five days after they skipped bail and fled South Africa. Malawian media outlets have confirmed their arrest. A Pretoria court on Tuesday issued an arrest [...]
©- - 18 november 2020 - 10:52:08 - thread Society (260 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – A South African court has issued an arrest warrant for Malawian evangelist Shepherd Bushiri and his wife Mary after they fled the country at the weekend. The couple is due to stand trial on charges of fraud, theft and money laundering involving US$6 million. They were [...]
©- - 16 november 2020 - 12:19:21 - thread Society (182 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Tensions ran high in Bloemfontein on Friday when thousands of supporters cheered Ace Magushule, secretary-general of the ruling African National Congress who appeared in court on graft charges. Some supporters burned T-shirts with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s image and leading party leaders were refused entry into [...]
©- - 13 november 2020 - 15:15:22 - thread Society (178 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been rocked by the arrest of its second highest ranking official. Secretary-General Ace Magashule was detained on Tuesday by the Hawks crime-fighting unit on various corruption-related counts. This follows the arrests of seven people in September linked to [...]
©- - 10 november 2020 - 15:40:38 - thread Society (289 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Police Minister Bheki Cele on Monday announced that five people have been arrested in connection with the murder of South Africa’s national goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa in October, 2014. The Orlando Pirates captain was shot dead at the home of his girlfriend Kelly Khumalo. The incident shocked the nation [...]
©- - 26 october 2020 - 13:30:28 - thread Society (281 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa Police have made a dramatic breakthrough in investigations into the murder of the country's national goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa was murdered in Vosvloorus near Johannesburg in October 2014. The Orlando Pirates captain was shot dead by unknown assailants at the home of his girlfriend [...]
©- - 20 october 2020 - 15:08:03 - thread Society (279 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Tensions are running high in the Free State town of Senekal where hundreds of residents and white farmers are squaring off over a recent-high profile murder in the area. Two men have been arrested and charged with the murder of farm manager Brendin Horner on [...]
©- - 16 october 2020 - 12:47:14 - thread Society (199 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – An apartheid-era policeman, who is facing prosecution over the 1971 death of political activist Ahmed Timol, has made a drastic claim that he was granted amnesty after testifying at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Joao Rodrigues was last year charged with the death of [...]
©- - 05 october 2020 - 13:46:32 - thread Society (236 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa's Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo on Monday ordered former President Jacob Zuma to appear before the State Capture commission of inquiry from 16 to 20 November 2020.  He said the commission will hear an application brought by the legal team of the commission [...]
©- - 21 september 2020 - 13:05:21 - thread Society (311 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – The United States on Monday claimed that Iran is considering assassinating its ambassador to South Africa as revenge for the American killing of top General Qassem Soleimani last January. US intelligence officials said they have been aware of the threats against Lana Marks since June, [...]
©- - 14 september 2020 - 14:30:50 - thread Society (206 words)


Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenya's Migori County Governor Okoth Obado and his four children were on Thursday arraigned in court over corruption. The family was arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts, Nairobi, alongside 11 Migori County staff and suppliers. Migori county in western Kenya, borders Kenya's southern neighbour, Tanzania. They are all accused [...]
©- - 28 august 2020 - 08:34:54 - thread Society (413 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Senior members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Monday slammed their own party following a number of high-profile graft cases relating to the distribution of Covid-19 funds and equipment. PANA reports that it emerged over the past few days that millions of dollars [...]
©- - 10 august 2020 - 16:46:28 - thread Society (269 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Police Minister  Bheki Cele on Friday revealed that South Africa’s murder rate is the highest it has been in 10 years, with an average of 58 murders per day across the country over the past year. Sexual offences increased by 1.7% to 42 289 cases, [...]
©- - 31 july 2020 - 13:20:59 - thread Society (159 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA)  - A primary court in Kigali on Wednesday remanded former Prime Minister  Pierre Damien Habumuremyi for 30 days to allow more time for investigation in a case concerning his use of cheques without sufficient money in his account, a judicial source told PANA in the Rwandan capital [...]
©- - 22 july 2020 - 15:12:05 - thread Society (273 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Former Rwanda's presidential guard commander, Col. Tom Byabagamba, currently serving a 15-year term in jail for public incitement, obstruction of justice and denigrating the national flag, on Tuesday appeared before Kicukiro primary court in Kigali to answer a new charge related to theft. It was not clear [...]
©- - 21 july 2020 - 14:58:43 - thread Society (256 words)


Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Malian press organizations said Sunday they were saddened by the “anarchic” occupation of the offices the national broadcasting house (ORTM) by demonstrators here Friday. Members of the Mouvement du 5 Juin-Rassemblement des forces patriotiques (M5- RFP)besieged the offices of the station, ransacked the premises and burnt several [...]
©- - 12 july 2020 - 11:52:39 - thread Society (471 words)


Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The ECOWAS Court of Justice has ordered the Federal Republic of Nigeria to repeal or amend its law on cybercrime to align with its obligation under Article 1 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Delivering [...]
©- - 10 july 2020 - 16:32:58 - thread Society (397 words)


Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Cyber criminals purporting to be government officials are using fake social media accounts and emails to solicit money from unsuspecting citizens, official sources said here Wednesday. The authorities have therefore warned the public of fraudulent Facebook and Gmail accounts operating in the name of Presidential Affairs, Governance [...]
©- - 08 july 2020 - 22:19:34 - thread Society (195 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) -  Former Rwandan Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, who is legal representative of Christian University of Rwanda, has been  arrested for allegedly issuing bouncing cheques worth 100 million Rwandan francs to pay staff of the private academic institution during the COVID-19 lockdown. An official of Rwanda Investigation Bureau [...]
©- - 06 july 2020 - 14:07:36 - thread Society (351 words)


Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – Statistics Mauritius (SM), a   governmental body, on Wednesday said the number of criminal cases lodged in Cours decreased by 20% from 101,208 in 2018 to 80,993 in 2019.   During the same period, the number of criminal cases disposed of dropped by 15.1% from 99,334 to 84,363. It further [...]
©- - 01 july 2020 - 17:20:57 - thread Society (305 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Former South Africa President Jacob Zuma appeared in KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg for a pre-trial hearing ahead of his multi-million dollar corruption case. His co-accused, French arms company, Thales, on Tuesday indicated it will apply for a review of the state’s decision to charge it [...]
©- - 23 june 2020 - 15:09:19 - thread Society (232 words)


Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The number of suicides or attempted suicides in May reached 36 cases of which 72% were committed by men (26), the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights said in its monthly report, published on Monday in Tunis. The 36-45 age group and the under-15 age group [...]
©- - 16 june 2020 - 17:12:44 - thread Society (208 words)


Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A total of 107 bodies found on June 5 at Tarhouna Hospital south of Tripoli, the last stronghold of Haftar supporters in western Libya, have been  presented to the medical examiner for an autopsy.   The Office of the Prosecutor General in Libya said that the prosecution has [...]
©- - 15 june 2020 - 13:54:14 - thread Society (325 words)


Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana Police Service (BPS) has arrested a Zimbabwean for committing cybercrime through publishing false information on social media. Dipheko Motube, Assistant Commissioner of Police, on Tuesday said Gaborone West police station in the capital, Gaborone, has arrested a 37-year old Zimbabwean in relation to false information circulating [...]
©- - 02 june 2020 - 18:15:18 - thread Society (231 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) –  Former President Jacob Zuma's legal team on Tuesday accused the South African National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of using the coronavirus pandemic to justify the postponement of his high-profile corruption trial until next year. As previously reported by PANA, Judge President Mjabuliseni Madondo last week agreed [...]
©- - 26 may 2020 - 17:10:24 - thread Society (258 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa's  elite Hawks crime-fighting unit on Monday announced that they have made a second major drug bust in less than a week. Undercover officers intercepted a haul of cocaine valued at US$1,600,000 at a petrol station on the national N1 highway on Sunday. Thirty-eight parcels [...]
©- - 18 may 2020 - 15:50:50 - thread Society (199 words)


Vienna, Austria (PANA) - Lockdowns, travel restrictions, resource cutbacks and other measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus are putting victims of human trafficking at risk of further exploitation, while organised crime networks could further profit from the pandemic, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime [...]
©- - 07 may 2020 - 05:50:30 - thread Society (516 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Former Wimbledon champion and convicted child rapist Bob Hewitt was released from prison on Friday after serving a three-year sentence. Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said Hewitt was transferred to his Eastern Cape home where he will remain under house arrest until 2023. In [...]
©- - 25 april 2020 - 05:31:11 - thread Society (170 words)


Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has seen a dramatic increase in the number of cyber attacks directed at its staff, and email scams targeting the public at large. This week, some 450 active WHO email addresses and passwords were leaked [...]
©- - 23 april 2020 - 19:38:46 - thread Society (312 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Former South African President Jacob Zuma on Sunday confirmed that he has restructured his legal team ahead of his corruption trial scheduled for next month. Zuma, who has spent years and millions of dollars fighting to prevent his trial from going ahead, has fired his [...]
©- - 19 april 2020 - 13:58:17 - thread Society (344 words)


Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) – Police in Botswana have arrested three men for alleged malicious publication against the government over the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic through through social media. “The trio, two teachers and a University of Botswana student, are due to appear before court on Tuesday,” said Dipheko Motube, Assistant Commissioner of [...]
©- - 12 april 2020 - 10:44:42 - thread Society (126 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Millions of South Africans on Saturday commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre when 69 unarmed protestors were shot dead and 178 wounded by Apartheid-era policemen. On 21 March, 1960, tens of thousands of people marched to police stations around South Africa to protest [...]
©- - 21 march 2020 - 12:16:36 - thread Society (210 words)


Banjul, Gambia (PANA) – Gambia’s notorious financial swindler, Karanta Darboe, on Friday appeared before the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court facing multiple charges including collection of money by false pretence and counterfeiting. Darboe, an alleged economic hit man and serial swindler, is facing charges ranging from obtaining goods by false pretence to possession [...]
©- - 20 march 2020 - 14:55:22 - thread Society (473 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – The man responsible for nearly sparking a full-blown race war ahead of South Africa’s historic first democratic elections in 1994 by killing a high profile politician was denied parole on Monday.   Janusz Walus, who killed former Communist Party leader Chris Hani on 10 April 1993 [...]
©- - 16 march 2020 - 14:36:22 - thread Society (249 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Former President Jacob Zuma’s efforts to avoid standing trial on corruption charges suffered another setback on Friday when the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that his appeal has no reasonable prospects of success. Zuma’s legal team filed papers at the court late last year for [...]
©- - 13 march 2020 - 12:39:44 - thread Society (226 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – North Gauteng High Court in South Africa on Tuesday dismissed convicted rapist Nicholas Ninow's leave to appeal both his conviction and sentence. Judge Mokhine Mosopa ruled that there were no reasonable prospects of success in an appeal and said his life sentence for rape, five years [...]
©- - 10 march 2020 - 18:11:29 - thread Society (184 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) –  Former South African Finance minister Barend du Plessis on Monday confirmed that he will take legal action against the publisher of The Lost Boys of Bird Island, in which he is implicated as having participated in a ‘paedophilia ring’ with other senior apartheid ministers.   As previously [...]
©- - 09 march 2020 - 16:40:16 - thread Society (217 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Mzwanele Nyhontso, the leader of the opposition Pan African Congress, has accused former President FW de Klerk of the killing of five children by Defence Force soldiers in 1993. Mzwandile Mfeya and Sandiso Yose, who were 12-year-old twins at the time and Samora and Sadat [...]
©- - 06 march 2020 - 09:36:39 - thread Society (207 words)


Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - Remains of 7,348 victims of ethnic violence in Burundi have been exhumed from eight mass graves "identified, verified and confirmed" in the Ruvubu National Park, east of the country, the chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Pierre Claver Ndayicariye announced on Tuesday. The TRC is [...]
©- - 03 march 2020 - 15:23:55 - thread Society (338 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Rwanda's General Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday released the report on the death of popular Rwandan gospel musician, Kizito Mihigo, saying that the musician was found dead last week from a suicide while in police custody According to the final investigation report, signed by Rwanda's Prosecutor General, Aimable [...]
©- - 26 february 2020 - 19:58:04 - thread Society (286 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - The famous Rwandan gospel musician, Kizito Mihigo, who police said committed suicide while in their custody, was laid to rest on Saturday at Rusororo, Kigali's main cemetery, in presence of a big crowd of mourners comprising fans, local and foreign musicians. Mihigo, 38, who was found dead [...]
©- - 22 february 2020 - 21:21:06 - thread Society (347 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) -  One of the famous Rwandan gospel musicians, Kizito Mihigo, who was found dead in his jail cell at dawn on Monday a few days after his arrest while attempting to flee the country, used a bedsheet to hang himself, preliminary reports by Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) [...]
©- - 17 february 2020 - 19:52:01 - thread Society (305 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Three days after he was arrested while attempting to cross the border to allegedly join rebel forces in neighbouring Burundi,  one of Rwanda's gospel musicians, Kizito Mihigo, has died in police custody. Rwanda National Police spokesperson, Commissioner of Police John Bosco Kabera, said in a statement on [...]
©- - 17 february 2020 - 10:58:22 - thread Society (259 words)


Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - Human bones and materials of at least 6,000 victims of the 1972 inter-ethnic massacres have recently been unearthed from six mass graves in Karusi, a central province of Burundi, the president of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Pierre Claver Ndayicariye, said on Friday. Alongside the [...]
©- - 14 february 2020 - 16:54:15 - thread Society (721 words)


Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Almost two years after he was released from jail under a  presidential pardon in September 2018, one of the controversial Rwandan gospel musicians, Kizito Mihigo was arrested early  this week by Rwandan security forces while attempting to cross the border to join rebel forces in neighbouring [...]
©- - 14 february 2020 - 15:57:14 - thread Society (233 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Anti-Apartheid activist Keith Coleman on Monday testified how his “broken” friend Dr Neil Aggett ignored him shortly before he was found dead in custody. Coleman was appearing at the reopened trial of Aggett, who died in 1982 while in detention at the notorious John Vorster [...]
©- - 10 february 2020 - 15:47:39 - thread Society (222 words)


Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – The Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for former President Jacob Zuma after he failed to appear for his long-awaited corruption trial citing ill health. High Court Judge Dhaya Pillay suspended the warrant until the trial resumes on 6 May. Zuma's lawyer [...]
©- - 04 february 2020 - 11:14:54 - thread Society (299 words)


Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana’s latest crime report has indicated that men are in the lead in committing crimes, as women trail behind. Statistics Botswana’s (SB) latest crime report indicates that female participation in criminal activities was low when compared to their male counterparts. “Overall, males constituted 92.0 percent of the accused [...]
©- - 29 january 2020 - 17:46:56 - thread Society (248 words)

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