African press review 24 December 2013

Nelson Mandela trained by Mossad, an answer to a letter in Nigeria and rules against drinking are among today's top headlines in the African press.

Today's edition of the South Africa Times claims that Nelson Mandela was trained by Isreal’s Mossad secret service.

The newspaper explains that a letter written by a Mossad official to the South African foreign minister in 1962 revealed these facts earlier this week. The document was released by Israel's state archives.

 
The letter says Nelson Mandela was trained by Mossad agents operating in Ethiopia in hand-to-hand combat, weaponry and sabotage.

What's interesting, and surprising, according to the Times, is that at the time Israel was one of South Africa's closest allies. That's when Pretoria, which had imprisoned Mandela, was facing UN-led sanctions in the late 1970s.

Ugandan paper the Daily Monitor shares good news about education this morning.
 
According to the Kampala based newspaper, the Ugandan government is expecting primary school enrolment to hit the 21 million mark by 2025.

There are currently 35 million people living in Uganda.

That's the good news, but, warns the daily, if the education ministry cannot find new sources of funding, the projected surge in enrolment could quickly become a burden on the government.

So, why these costs?

Well that's simply because, on average, 15,000 teachers will be required per year for primary schools while at least 5,000 will be needed for secondary schools.

In Nigeria the Daily Vanguard headlines an answer to a letter.

Yesterday Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan replied to accusations of corruption made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

 
Jonathan said he was innocent and accused Obasanjo of manipulating facts and figures.

Today the Vanguard says that Obasanjo stands by his first letter and but gave no further comments.

Jonathan’s response to the former president’s letter was met with mixed reactions, explains the Vanguard. While some hailed Jonathan’s response, others said it was shallow and disappointing.

The Nairobi-based Daily Nation is talking about a man on a mission.
 
That man is John Mututho. He runs the Kenyan National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) and this year he has drawn up a list of rules on drinking.

Mututho says he wants to make sure everybody can enjoy the holidays while drinking responsibly.

So here are a few rules: don't drink alcohol in liquor shops, don't sell alcohol to your guests and, of course, don't drive while being drunk.

According to the Daily Nation, which seems to thinks it's a bad news for fans of cheap alcoholic drinks, Mututho has said he will publish a list of genuine and illegal drinks by New Year’s Eve.