Singer Moses Ssali aka Bebe cool is in fear after unknown man in Ireland reportedly sent him messages threatening to go for his mother’s life.

According to Bebe cool, the threatening messages are alluded to his political affiliation of the ruling party Nation Resistance Movement (NRM) and supporting President Yoweri Museveni who has been in power for 34 years.

Bebe Cool’s mother according to Kojja Omugezi a person threatening to kill her, is reportedly in the USA and they have established where she stays and they are about to finish her off.

“No body knew that your lovely mum who’s over 70 years can be out in snow doing petty jobs for survival when you who’s supposed to help her retire peacefully you are busy running after Lumpens who are abusing and killing mothers on daily basis,” Kojja omugezi wrote on Facebook.

Adding “We know for sure that you dumped your mum in US where she’s illegally to have peace because she was becoming a burden to you. Shame upon children like you who treat their parents like you.” He wrote

According to WhatsApp conversations between Bebe Cool and Kojja Omugenzi, the assailant said he would have killed Bebe Cool but his bosses are so kind and patient.

“Just wait, you will regret why you crossed and started supporting Museveni. Something you and your family will never forget, open your eyes widely we are following you,” he said in WhatsApp messages published by Bebe Cool.

In his response, Bebe Cool said threatening him won’t work, my mother is over 70 and she has seen it all. You causing harm to her won’t make me support your ideas. Uganda’s opposition supporters think they will threaten their way to leadership, wish you luck. He said he will catch the assailant before he executes his plans.

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Ugandan investigative reporter and news anchor Solomon Serwanjja has won the 2019 BBC World News Komla Dumor Award.

Serwanjja is a presenter at Uganda’s NBS TV, where he hosts one of the channel’s prime-time shows.

He has also produced award-winning reports, including one for BBC’s Africa Eye programme about the illegal sale of prescription drugs.

The award was created to honour Komla Dumor, a presenter for BBC World News, who died suddenly aged 41 in 2014.

Serwanjja is the fifth winner of the award, following in the footsteps of Waihiga Mwaura, Amina Yuguda, Didi Akinyelure and fellow Ugandan Nancy Kacungira.

As part of the prize, he will spend three months at the BBC in London and travel back to the continent to report on a story there.

He is a well-known journalist and his passion for investigative journalism highlighted his desire to make positive change in his native Uganda.

“Komla brought so much to the African narrative – his perspective was a breath of fresh air, as he believed Africa was rising and that the world needed to see the continent from a different angle,” said Serwanjja.

“His reports always struck a chord with me, and I feel the same passion for our continent that he demonstrated. I want to continue his legacy by telling stories that cast a spotlight not only on the critical challenges we face in Africa, but also the progress and successes that have been made.”

Serwanjja impressed judges with not only with his eloquence and passion for telling African stories, but also with his commitment and bravery in uncovering what’s in the public interest.

Jamie Angus, director of BBC World Service Group, said: “To recognise and empower some of Africa’s leading talent in journalism, in honour of Komla, is really important to us.

“Komla’s reporting made a huge impact with audiences all over the world, and we’re excited to have Solomon at the BBC, to harness Komla’s commitment to telling African stories.”

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Africa’s first ladies, led by Sierra Leone Fatima Maada Bio brought their campaign to ban early child marriage and sexual violence against women and girls before a global stage in a passionate appeal for the world to support their “Hands Off Our Girls! Campaign.

In a no-holds barred conversation organized on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Wednesday, Bio flanked by her husband President Julius Bio, spoke to “lift the lid of silence” taboo and stigma surrounding rape and early marriage in Sierra Leone and other parts of the continent.

The high-level meeting was organised to rally support for the end of early marriage and rape in Africa, a movement which the Bios have spearheaded.

This year’s General Assembly has been dominated by delivery of the sustainable development goals, of which number 5 is Gender Equality.

In brief opening remarks, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina spoke out forcefully against all forms of early marriage and said the economic empowerment of women is a critical tool to end the vicious cycle of marginalization and gender imbalance.

“That’s why the Bank is raising $3 billion to support women,” Adesina said, referring to the Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women In Africa (AFAWA) initiative.

“Early marriage is not only a human rights abuse it is an economic issue,” Rachel Yates, Executive Director of Girls Not Brides, said.

Sharing intimate personal details, Maada Bio, recounted her personal story of running away from an arranged marriage to an older man in her early teens. Aided by an older sister, she took a flight out of her native Sierra Leone to the United Kingdom – without her father’s knowledge or permission. “I come from a family where girls are married at 12 years,” she said.

Three months later from the safety of the UK, her resolve was set.

“From that moment I vowed that I would not see a child being abused,” she said.

President Bio, responding to a question on how deeply set cultural mindsets could be changed, said it would take patience and persistence. “We have to leave some aspects of culture behind. We have to establish institutions and cascade our campaigns down across the entire country.

Sierra Leone has one of the highest incidences of rape and sexual assault on the continent. In February, President Bio declared a state of emergency due to the high incidences of rape.

Other prominent first ladies at the event included Jeanette Kagame of Rwanda, Clar Weah of Liberia, Antoinette Sassou Nguesso of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the first lady of Zimbabwe, Auxilla Mnangagwa, and Ermine Erdogan, first lady of Turkey.

Speaking passionately in support of her “Sierra Leonean sister,” Weah said it was time to collectively say no to abuse. “We renew our commitment to create a safe world for our girls in Africa. We entreat all presidents and heads of states to join us,” she said.

Ermine Erdogan, an ardent advocate against child marriage in Turkey and who made a special appearance to support the event, said the key to the empowerment of women was education.

“There is no excuse for early marriage. The place for a school-going child is school,” she said.

Other voices in support of the first ladies included Djereje Wordofa, UNFA Deputy Executive Director who said protection of girls and women and preventing abuse must become a national  priority.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organisation said it was a subject he dreaded but had to talk about. “Child marriage reinforces poverty…It is totally unacceptable. We must speak out against political, religious and social practices,” he said.

Since his election to office in 2018, President Bio has strongly advocated against early marriage and has tightened legal and policy frameworks for sexual offenders and rapists. The campaign is gaining traction and has been endorsed across the continent with the support of the African First Ladies.

The High-Level meeting follows a First Ladies Meeting on Combatting Child Marriage and Promoting Education of Girls in West Africa, which took place in Niamey in Niger on the Margins of the Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State of the African Union.

“Every time I get the opportunity, I say the fight against early marriage is not a political statement, it is a personal one. We need help,” Maada Bio said.

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