As the cases of Gender-Based Violence rise across South Sudan, Dr Samuel Legge – the head of Gender-Based Violence at Juba Teaching Hospital has revealed that the hospital has been treating five to seven rape victims every day.
“We have seen bad signs of the increase”, said Dr Legge. ” The bad signs of the increases are teenage girls coming in with pregnancies – we are talking about up to 20 cases that involve rape and GBV, and most of these ladies are below 17″, he continued.
Dr Legge encouraged rape victims to seek medical attention to prevent pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
Go Deeper: Gender-Based Violence in South Sudan is now rearing epidemic proportions as the country now has some of the highest rates of violence against women and girls in the world. While addressing GBV is challenging in all settings, in South Sudan, survivors and service providers face heightened challenges around reporting these allegations of violence, thereby hampering the delivery of medical aid and psychological support to the victims. In a society where gender inequality is so deeply-rooted, it has become almost impossible to bring perpetrators to book.
BURNABOY AND WIZKID ON THE LIST FOR 2021 GRAMMY AWARD NOMINEES
Nigerian artistes Burna Boy and Wizkid have been added to the nominee list for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards.
Burnaboy’s recent album, “Twice As Tall” was nominated under the World Music Album alongside other entertainers like Antibas, Bebel Gilberto, Anoushka Shankar and Tianariwen.
This is the second year in a row that Burna Boy is receiving a nomination in this category.
Wizkid’s feature in Beyonce’s ‘Brown Skin Girl’ earned him a spot on the nominee list for Best Music Video.
In other nominations, Beyonce’s “Black Parade” picked up song and record of the year – which she released on Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free.
Go Deeper: The 63rd annual Grammy Awards is slated to hold on January 31, 2021 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It will recognize the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year running from September 1, 2019, to August 31, 2020
The host of popular TV show ‘The Daily Shows” – South Africa’s Trevor Noah will host the event in January.
UGANDA TO HOST MTV AFRICA MUSIC AWARDS 2021
The Ugandan capital, Kampala, will host the 2021 edition of the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMAs).
MTV announced that the event would take place on February 20, 2021. This year’s awards will be the first-ever live-streamed edition and will be the first time it will be held in Uganda.
“Everyone knows that the Pearl of Africa (Uganda) is one of the most beautiful, most amazing parts of Africa…and the people, the vibe, the music in Uganda…there is no other place that is well and ready to host the MAMAs in 2021”, said Monde Twala, Senior Vice President of ViacomCBS Networks Africa.
Go Deeper: The MAMAs, which were first held in 2008, were last held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2016. The other time the awards were held in East Africa was in 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya.
FORMER HEAD OF RWANDA’S PRESIDENT SECURITY UNIT JAILED
A court has sentenced the former head of President Paul Kagame’s security unit – Tom Byabagamba in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali for stealing a mobile phone.
Mr Byabagamba, who has been stripped of the rank of colonel, was already serving a 15-year prison sentence for disrespecting the national flag, insurrection and endangering state security.
Following Tuesday’s ruling, he will now serve a total of 18 years. Mr Byabagamba told the court that he was not the kind of person to steal such an “insignificant object”.
Go Deeper: Mr Byabagamba also told the court that his troubles started when his older brother and former senior advisor to the president fled the country and became a vocal critic of Mr Kagame. Several Human rights organizations have accused the Rwandan government of not tolerating dissent, which it has consistently denied.
MALAWI’S SELF-ACCLAIMED ‘PROPHET’ SHEPHERD BUSHIRI RETURNS
Shepherd Bushiri – a fugitive preacher and businessman, has returned to his native land, Malawi from South Africa where he is wanted for fraud.
Throngs of jubilant supporters ran behind a procession of motor vehicles chanting and cheering, whisking Shepherd Bushiri away from the magistrate court in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe.
The controversial businessman who was wanted by South Africa on the grounds of money laundering, theft and fraud charges was declared freed following his arrest on an international warrant.
Go Deeper: Bushiri is the multimillionaire leader of Enlightened Christian Gathering – a church that, commands a large following in several African countries, with South Africa alone having more than one million followers.
The preacher is known for his luxurious lifestyle and is often described as one of the wealthiest religious leaders in Africa, with an estimated fortune of 150 million dollars.
