African press review 23 September 2016

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela says South Africa's ruling African National Congress needs to find a fresh way to tackle corruption. The country is one of eight bribery and corruption hotspots on the African continent. The United Nations refugee agency says some people fleeing South Sudan into Uganda are being forced to pay bribes at checkpoints run by South Sudan’s warring factions.

The ruling African National Congress needs to find a fresh way to tackle problems in South Africa‚ notably corruption‚ according to party veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

According to the front page of the Johannesburg-based BusinessDay, she told journalists yesterday that a lot of things are wrong in South Africa, and the ANC can not pretend otherwise.

Madikizela-Mandela said the one word on everyone's lips is corruption.

She said the ruling party needs a layer of fresh leadership with the courage to ask how things have gone so wrong since the end of white minority rule in 1994.

South Africa tops continental corruption table

BusinessDay also reports that South Africa is one of eight bribery and corruption hotspots on the continent, with a steep increase in incidents in the past 24 months‚ according to law firm ENSafrica’s 2016 antibribery and corruption survey.

The survey reveals a significant increase in incidents of bribery and corruption in Africa‚ with 79 percent of incidents reported in South Africa.

Most respondents came from the financial services‚ manufacturing‚ retail and wholesale sectors.

"The survey results show that 39 percent of respondents experienced incidents of bribery or corruption in the last 24 months‚ and highlight a marked increase in bribery and corruption in South Africa in particular‚" according to the report.

Other countries on the hotspot list are Mozambique‚ with 12 percent of the reported incidents‚ Kenya with 9 percent‚ Namibia 7 percent‚ Ghana 7 percent‚ Tanzania 5 percent‚ Democratic Republic of Congo 5 percent and Uganda with 5 percent.

The report reminds companies that corrupt activities may be brought before foreign courts.

With a global intolerance of bribery and corruption‚ corporates in Africa may incorrectly believe that they can escape the reach of foreign regulators, warns the report, adding that US regulators are monitoring the corruption landscape in Africa‚ as evidenced by the FBI’s arrest of Samuel Mebiame, the son of a former Gabonese prime minister‚ for allegedly paying bribes on behalf of a US company in‚ among other countries‚ Zimbabwe‚ the Congo and Libya.

Refugees forced to pay to leave South Sudan

The Sudan Tribune reports that some people fleeing South Sudan into Uganda are being forced to pay bribes at checkpoints run by South Sudan’s warring factions, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).

According to the world body, over 100,000 South Sudanese have fled to Uganda after fighting errupted between the country’s warring factions in July.

A spokesman for UNHCR described as “disturbing” reports of South Sudanese refugees being forced to pay bribes to reach places of safety outside the country.

The world body said it has received reports of physical and sexual assaults on a number of refugees fleeing South Sudan.

Dead Ugandan bishop provokes protest

Regional newspaper the East African reports that Catholic parishioners in northern Uganda clashed with police and army officers yesterday in a row over a dead bishop.

Irate Christians accused the new Bishop of Arua, Sabino Odoki, of neglecting the grave of Fredrick Drandua, his long-serving predecessor, who died on 1 September.

The Uganda Radio Network reported that the trouble began following rumours that Bishop Odoki had directed that his predecessor’s body be moved to a burial site outside the cathedral.

This allegation angered some Catholics in the diocese who began camping at the graveside.

According to privately-owned Daily Monitor newspaper in Kampala, Bishop Odoki had unsuccessfully tried to get the parishioners, who had kept vigil at the graveside, to leave to allow renovation work to continue. Odoki then requested the police to intervene.

Teargas and live bullets were fired in the ensuing scramble, with 16 people arrested.

Ugandans evicted from Juba market

The Monitor also reports that at least 2,000 Ugandans operating in the market commonly known as Owino II in South Sudan’s capital Juba are facing eviction after one of the landlords cancelled a 14-year lease.

The Ugandan traders told the Daily Monitor that they signed a lease agreement with some South Sudanese landlords led by Sultan Ladu for a 14-year period. This agreement has not been respected as business at the market has increased spectacularly.

The chairman of the Ugandan traders in Owino said he is worried that members are going to lose property and money because of the illegal take-over.

An official at the Ugandan embassy in South Sudan said traders’ livelihoods in Owino are under threat because of rivalry between Ugandan directors who manage the market.