African press review 6 March 2018

What happened to €80 billion of Kenya white elephant projects?

We begin in Kenya where white elephant projects that gobbled up €80 million euros of taxpayers' money have been exposed.  Standard Digital says the findings are contained in a new report published by the country's Auditor General.

According to the newspaper, Edward Ouko shines the spotlight on dodgy projects into which public funds disappeared, some dating back decades.

They reportedly include a fertilizer factory that was never built.The Standard also cites nearly €8 million spent on the renovation of two Kenyan embassies abroad, one which developed cracks soon after completion.

The publication relays concerns the Auditor General raises in the new report about some €21 million spent on the purchase of military aircraft that never flew, seven of which were later dismantled for spare parts.

In Nigeria the Tribune's front page splash is a warm macho-like handshake exchanged by Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and his Liberian counterpart George Weah at the steps of Aso Rock State House in Abuja on Monday.

The paper says the newly-elected Liberian leader came to Abuja to thank Nigeria for the major role they played in bringing peace to the war-ravaged country and also to seek Nigeria's support to jump-start our economy.

The Nigerian Tribune says President Weah's working visit will be dominated by a review of the bilateral teachers’ exchange program under which Monrovia is seeking 6,000 more Nigerian teachers to speed up education and professional training.

Punch also reports that Weah was also counting on Nigeria to boost a Technical Assistance Corps Agreement which facilitated the deployment of Nigerian medical volunteers and agricultural extension workers to Liberia, to improve access to community health, and boost food production as well as human capacity development.

In Uganda, Daily Monitor carries a confession by the country's National Assembly President, that lawmakers are afraid to leave Kampala for their respective constituencies because they betrayed their electors during the vote on the age limit for presidential candidates.

The paper says that Rebecca Kadaga, was speaking to Swedish journalists who had paid her a courtesy call on Monday in Kampala, Ms Kadaga said the age limit debate pitted the people against Parliament calling the vote a betrayal

In South Africa, the Johannesburg Star carries a big ad on its front page reading that «If you spot a sleek Bombardier Global 6000 business jet sporting the tail number ZS-OAK, Canada would love to hear from you.

According to the paper, the jet belonged to South Africa's notorious Gupta family, whose alleged corruption helped trigger the scandals that recently forced President Jacob Zuma out of office.

But as the Star reports the Guptas bought the plane with help from a 33.2 million-euro loan obtained from Export Development Canada, or EDC, Canada's state-owned export-import bank. Now, the publication says that the luxury plane is missing.