Ugandans Leon Ssenyange, Ronald Ssebuguzi, Kephar Walubi and Anthony Mugambwa have entered the Mitsubishi Evolution X as they debut in the Kenya Safari Rally due to take place next month.

The 2019 Safari Rally will run as a World Rally Championship (WRC) candidate event as well as an Africa Rally Championship (ARC) round.

The event will take place from July 5th to 7th rally while the entries will close on June 19th.

Twenty one (21) drivers including three foreigners from UK and Zambians have so far registered for the three-day event which is in its 67th edition.

The Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, will play host to the first competitive stage of the event.

A specially created Super Special Stage of 4.3 kilometres within the vicinity of the stadium and the start ramp will be the curtain raiser for the Safari Rally.

Designed specifically for the spectators, expected in the thousands, the special stage will showcase the excitement that comes with an event of this magnitude.

Cars will thereafter proceed to the super special Gatamaiyo stage then head to Naivasha for service and the first overnight parc ferme at the Naivasha Sopa Resort.

The second and third days will see the crew tackle Naivasha and Gilgil areas to conclude a 881km rally.

The Safari Rally is a rally race held in East Africa. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1960 it was renamed the East African Safari Rally and kept that name until 1974, when it became the Safari Rally. It is one of the most prestigious and celebrated rallies of its time, as well as one of the toughest.

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Military staff officers serving in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have been awarded medals for their outstanding contribution to the restoration of peace and security in Somalia.

The 58 officers, working at the Mission’s Force Headquarters, were honored at a ceremony held in Mogadishu on Tuesday, presided over by the AMISOM Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn.

Lt. Gen. Tigabu commended the officers for their commitment and service to Somalia.

“Because of you, the people of Somalia and the Somali government are able to enjoy peace and security, not only in Mogadishu but in other parts of the country,” he said.

Lt. Gen. Tigabu, who was joined by the AMISOM Deputy Force Commander in charge of Operations and Plans, Gen. Nakibus Lakara, noted that AMISOM troops were in the process of securing population centres and main supply routes (MSRs) to prevent Al-Shabaab militants from targeting the local population.

Protection of population centres and MSRs are some of the key priorities of AMISOM, as it continues to implement the Somali Transition Plan.

The two strategic objectives being implemented by AMISOM troops and the Somali National Army (SNA) are in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 2431 of 2018; the Somali Transition Plan (STP) and the AMISOM Concept of Operations (CONOPs).

AMISOM officers who serve more than six months at the Force Headquarters as staff officers are normally awarded African Union medals in appreciation of their work.

At the same event, the Force Commander received a trophy won by the Force Headquarters team in a volleyball tournament organised by AMISOM as part of Africa Day celebrations.

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Forty bodies have been pulled from the River Nile in the Sudanese capital Khartoum following a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests, opposition activists said on Wednesday.

Doctors linked to the opposition said the bodies were among 100 people believed killed since security forces attacked a protest camp on Monday.

Reports said a feared paramilitary group was attacking civilians.

Sudan’s ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) vowed to investigate.

Residents in Khartoum told the BBC they were living in fear as members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) roamed the streets. The paramilitary unit – formerly known as the Janjaweed militia – gained notoriety in the Darfur conflict in western Sudan in 2003.

“Forty bodies of our noble martyrs were recovered from the river Nile yesterday,” the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said in a Facebook post.

An official from the group told the BBC that they had witnessed and verified the bodies in hospitals and that the death toll now stood at 100.

A former security officer quoted by Channel 4’s Sudanese journalist Yousra Elbagir said that some of those thrown into the Nile had been beaten or shot to death and others hacked to death with machetes.

“It was a massacre,” the unnamed source said.

Demonstrators had been occupying the square in front of the military headquarters since 6 April, days before President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown after 30 years in power.

Their representatives had been negotiating with the TMC and agreed a three-year transition that would culminate in elections. But on Monday, forces swept in and opened fire on unarmed protesters in the square.

On Tuesday TMC leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced that negotiations with protesters were over, all previous agreements were cancelled, and elections would be held within nine months. Demonstrators had demanded a longer period to guarantee fair elections and to dismantle the political network associated with the former government.

International condemnation of the crackdown was swift and on Wednesday Gen Burhan made another televised speech in which he said the TMC was willing to resume negotiations.

“We regret the events,” he said, without elaborating.

A TMC spokesman later said an investigation into the deaths of protesters had been launched.

Sudan’s military has faced international condemnation for its attack, but there were clear signs this was likely to happen. The country has been driven backwards by a military elite intent on holding on to power.

The TMC has scrapped agreements reached with the opposition Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), saying this will speed up the transition to democratic elections. That plan is likely a fiction.

The military also enjoys another advantage. In an age of international division, the notion of an “international community” pressuring the regime is fantasy. Sudan’s crisis has exposed the reality of international politics – that force can have its way, without consequence, if the killers and torturers represent a valuable asset to other powers.

It is impossible to say whether the FFC can come back as a street-driven force. What will not change – in fact what has been deepened – is the alienation of people from their rulers.

Protesters had called for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Fitr, marked on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, to be celebrated in the streets, as a gesture of defiance against the military.

However, much of Khartoum is under lockdown. Witnesses said protesters had retreated to residential areas where they were building barricades and burning tyres. – BBC reports

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United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned the violence and excessive use of force to disperse the protestors at the sit-in site in Sudan.

Mr. Guterres reminded the Transitional Military Council of its responsibility for the safety and security of the citizens of Sudan, and urged all parties to act with utmost restraint, including their responsibility to uphold the human rights of all citizens, including the right to freedom of assembly and of expression.

He also called for unimpeded access to deliver essential care at the sit-in site outside army headquarters in the capital Khartoum, and in hospitals where the wounded are treated and urged the Sudanese authorities to facilitate an independent investigation into the deaths and to hold those responsible accountable.

“I urges the parties to pursue peaceful dialogue and to stay the course in the negotiations over the transfer of power to a civilian-led transitional authority, as required by the African Union (AU)”, he said.

UN chief’s expressed commitment to working with the AU in support of the process, saying that the UN stands ready to support the Sudanese stakeholders in their efforts to build lasting peace.

For her part, High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called the peaceful demonstrations in Sudan an inspiration as the protesters worked to engage with the Transitional Military Council. “I utterly deplore the apparent use of excessive force in the protest camps” she said.

Ms. Bachelet noted that reports stating that live ammunition was used by security forces next to, and even inside, medical facilities are extremely alarming.

“I urge the security forces to immediately halt such attacks, and to ensure safe, unimpeded access to medical care for all”, she asserted.

Ms. Bachelet stressed that those exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression must be protected, not targeted or detained, calling it a fundamental tenet of international human rights law.

“The use of excessive force must be promptly and independently investigated and those responsible brought to justice she spelled out, adding that the human rights violations that have marked Sudan’s history, and sparked the sustained protests over the past six months, must not be allowed to continue. This is a real setback”, she concluded.

When the three-decade autocratic rule of President Omar al-Bashir ended in a military takeover in April, hope sprung anew in the African nation. However, as talks faltered between the ruling Transitional Military Council and protesters’ leaders over the timetable for civilian rule, violence ensued.

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