S’Africa: Prison warden in court for stabbing girlfriend 25 times

A Department of Correctional Services (DCS) warden allegedly stabbed his girlfriend over 25 times in front of her 9-year-old son in South Africa.

The suspect, Kakuhle Mpongoma, made an appearance in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, where he was charged with attempted murder.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority, Mpongoma also faces assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm charges.

The 39-year-old is employed as a warden at the Wellington Facility.

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Explaining the merits of the case, Eastern Cape NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the accused allegedly st@bbed his girlfriend more than 25 times all over her body and assaulted his girlfriend’s domestic worker.

“The girlfriend is currently in the intensive care unit (ICU) in the hospital and unable to talk,” Tyali stated.

“The attack on the two women last weekend was allegedly witnessed by the couple’s nine-year-old son.”

The NPA said the matter was adjourned to March 11, 2025 for a formal bail application. Tyali said the State plan to oppose the application.

S’Africa: Prison warden in court for stabbing girlfriend 25 times

Ghanaian lawmakers reintroduce controversial anti-LGBT bill

A group of 10 MPs in Ghana have resubmitted a controversial bill that would impose some of the toughest restrictions on LGBT rights in Africa.

The bill prescribes a three-year jail term for people who identify as gay, and five to 10 years for promoters and advocates.

The legislation was passed by parliament last year, but the former president, Akufo Addo, declined to sign it into law before leaving office in January, citing legal challenges.

It has been widely condemned by both local and international human rights groups, with some describing it as draconian.

The original bill expired at the end of the previous parliament. It’s unclear whether the speaker of the new parliament will admit the bill for consideration.

Gay sex is already punishable by up to three years in prison in the conservative West African country.

President John Dramani Mahama has said he would prefer the bill to be state-sponsored, ensuring broader support and consultation.

“I do think that we should have a conversation on it again so that all of us, if we decide to move that bill forward, move it forward with a consensus”, he said.

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Supporters claim the legislation would help preserve what they consider to be Ghanaian culture and family values.

However rights groups have decried the legislation as draconian.

“The anti-LGBT rights bill is inconsistent with Ghana’s long-standing tradition of peace, tolerance, and hospitality and flies in the face of the country’s international human rights obligations,” said Human Rights Watch researcher Larissa Kojoué last year.

“Such a law would not only further erode the rule of law in Ghana, but could also lead to further gratuitous violence against LGBT people and their allies.”

Va-Bene Elikem Fiatsi, a Ghanaian trans woman and LGBT activist, told the Reuters news agency the bill’s reintroduction was “disheartening and hard to process” but insisted LGBT activism would continue.

The bill’s potential impact on Ghana’s economy is a significant concern.

The country’s former finance minister warned that passing the bill could result in Ghana losing up to $3.8bn (£2.9bn) in development funding from the World Bank and affecting its $3 billion (£2.3bn) IMF support programme.

Opposition lawmaker John Ntim Fordjour told Reuters the country no longer needed to fear economic sanctions, citing the election of US President Donald Trump.

“The global political climate is favourable for conservative values as demonstrated in the bold conservative pronouncements of President Donald Trump,” he said.

The bill was first introduced to parliament in 2021 but has faced many delays.

Ghanaian lawmakers reintroduce controversial anti-LGBT bill

BBC

No sheep for Eid, king tells Moroccans

King Mohammed VI has asked Moroccans to abstain from performing the Muslim rite of slaughtering sheep during Eid al-Adha this year due to a sharp drop in the country’s herd.

The shortages are blamed on seven years of drought.

Eid al-Adha, which falls in June, commemorates the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim, or Abraham, to sacrifice his son on God’s command.

Muslims mark the event by slaughtering sheep or other animals and the meat is shared among family and donated to the poor.

But herds in Morocco have shrunk by 38% in a decade due to dry pastures, according to official data.

Meat prices are rocketing, and 100,000 sheep are being imported from Australia.

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Performing the rite “under these difficult circumstances will cause significant harm to large segments of our people, especially those with limited income,” King Mohammed VI said in a speech read by the minister of religious affairs on national television on Wednesday.

His father, Hassan II, made the same appeal back in 1966 when Morocco also suffered a long drought.

Explaining the challenge in a recent interview, Morocco’s agriculture minister, Ahmed Bouari, said “the need to secure water for priority sectors, such as driving and industry” meant that agriculture was the worst-hit, “with most irrigation areas subject to strict regulations and water rationing”.

Import tax and VAT on cattle, sheep, camels and red meat were recently lifted to help stabilise prices across Morocco.

No sheep for Eid, king tells Moroccans

BBC