Lord’s Resistance Army rebels killed a villager and abducted dozens during two weekend raids in a remote diamond-producing area of Central African Republic, local residents and officials said.

The incidents represent the largest kidnapping by the Ugandan rebel group – headed by notorious warlord Joseph Kony – in recent months in the former French colony, which is also reeling from years of inter-religious bloodshed.

The LRA, known for massacring and mutilating civilians as well as abducting children to serve as fighters and sex slaves, raided a mine near the village of Diya, around 600 km (370 miles) east of the capital Bangui,on Saturday.

“In the first abduction, they kidnapped 10 people. Six were freed. The others are still with them. In the second abduction, around 20 people were taken and are still with the attackers,” said local government official Herve Omere Fei-Omona.

He said one person was also killed and a vehicle was burned during the attacks.

News of the kidnappings emerged on Tuesday due to the raids’ isolated location and Central African Republic’s poor communications infrastructure, made worse by violence between Muslims and Christians that has split the former French colony.

Local residents said the gunmen wore uniforms and did not speak French or the national language, Sango.

“Those kidnapped went to sell their products at the market in Diya and were kidnapped in order to carry what the LRA had looted in the village,” said local humanitarian worker Gaston Gazale.

After a military crackdown by Kampala, the LRA left Uganda about a decade ago and its fighters have roamed across lawless parts of Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic ever since.

The United States has backed Ugandan-led regional military efforts to defeat the rebels, who are now believed to number just several hundred battle-tested fighters in addition to Kony and other leaders wanted by the International Criminal Court.

However, despite some progress, notably the surrender of senior commander Dominic Ongwen last year, the LRA continues its attacks on civilians.

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Parties to the South Sudan peace agreement signed in August 2015 willon Thursday for the first time reveal names of national ministers they have nominated to compose the membership of cabinet for a transitional government of national unity, the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) announced.

In meeting with participation of all parties to the peace agreement chaired by JMEC chairman, former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae, the parties also agreed to allow unimpeded humanitarian access to all parts of the country.

The government, SPLM in Opposition (SPLM-IO), former detainees and other South Sudan political parties selected their respective ministerial portfolios last week. The exercise, seen as a breakthrough in implementing the peace agreement, was done through consensus.

The parties have not yet nominated their officials who will fill the selected positions of institutions, but this would now happen on Thursday.

“The Parties committed to naming their ministers for the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) by 14 January 2016, and that the TGoNU would be formed by 22 January 2016, as provided for in the implementation calendar issued earlier by JMEC,” said a statement from JMEC extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

“Additionally, the parties committed to the expeditious convening of the Strategic Defence and Security Review Board, to begin the vital process of security sector reform and transformation provided for in the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan,” the statement added.

TGoNU will run for thirty months as a coalition government before elections will take place at the end of the transitional period in 2018..

JMEC added that the transitional government of national unity will be sworn in on 22 January, 2016.

Former vice-president and first vice-president designate, Riek Machar, is expected to return to the national capital, Juba, for formation of the government. It however remains unclear whether his forces will be deployed in the capital for his security before his arrival.

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The Kenyan government has turned the heat on evangelical churches in the East African country.

Through a raft of proposals that require all religious bodies to register and for preachers to have police clearance Attorney General Githu Muigai, said last week he would hold public consultations on the matter before drafting of the legislation.

The proposals include among others, all preachers having to undergo theological training at a reputable seminary; certification from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission that clergy are not corrupt and, for foreign pastors to have a work permit and a recommendation from their government. Also, all religious institutions would also be required to submit their statements of faith to a government-backed body for examination.

According to the media, the proposals seem to target self-proclaimed Christian prophets and faith healers whose influence is growing, as well as Muslim preachers who promote extremism in a country where militant Islamist group al-Shabaab is active.

But the evangelical churches are up in arms against the proposals, with the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya condemning the move and saying it is aimed at stopping the growth of the evangelical churches.

“Registration of churches was stopped since 2014. We believe this is meant to stop evangelism and growth of the church since other societies are being registered freely,” said EAK chairman Bishop Mark Kariuki.

The EAK said it would launch a campaign to obtain three million signatures to block the government from enforcing the proposals, and Bishop Karuiki warned that the EAK would urge its followers not to vote for the government in elections next year if it implemented the proposals.

“2017 is very close and we will not hesitate to use those [voter] cards,” He said.

However, Anglican Church of Kenya cleric Bishop Beneah Salah welcomed the proposals as an attempt to end the ‘commercialisation’ of religion, and said government intervention was needed because the church was not in a healthy state.

“Horrible things are happening in the church today. There is a lot of commercialisation of the gospel with this prosperity gospel,” he is quoted by the media as saying.

“Perhaps God is using the state to punish the church as he did in the past, where he used kings or nations to discipline the church,” he added.

The head of the tiny Atheists in Kenya group, Harrison Mumia, said the government had a responsibility to protect desperate Kenyans from faith healers who took advantage of them.

Christians form the majority in Kenya, while Muslims are the second-largest group.

Their main body, the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, was also opposed to the proposals, warning they could violate ‘freedom of worship and amount to a clampdown on religious institutions’.

The Catholic Church – the largest Christian denomination in Kenya and to which President Uhuru Kenyatta belongs – has not yet commented on the proposals.

in Kenya

in a related development, last week Kenya’s Communications Authority published new broadcasting regulations which will ban preachers from soliciting money on air.

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