Jail order for corrupt Liberian ex-defense minister

The Supreme Court of Liberia has ordered that a former defence minister be jailed for two years in connection with a corruption case.

Brownie Samukai and two colleagues were found guilty two years ago of theft and money laundering in a case involving more than $1m (£748,000).

They were given a two-year suspended sentence at the time and ordered to pay back half of the money within six months.

The jail term has now been imposed as they failed to make the payments within the stipulated time.

A judge said the trio must now pay back all the money – and would remain in jail after the two years if they have failed to do so in that time.

They had organised for money to be routinely deducted from soldiers’ salaries and placed into a private, not public, account, as part of a pension scheme, according to court records.

Ex-Ugandan ethics minister Lokodo dies at 64
Ugandan politician Simon Lokodo, who was best-known outside the country for his promotion of anti-homosexuality measures, has died in a hospital in Switzerland at the age of 64.

The one-time Catholic priest served as the country’s ethics and integrity minister for a decade until June last year.

His backing of a bill that advocated the death penalty for people in same-sex relationships angered pro-LGBT rights campaigners both inside and outside the country.

The measure never made it to law.

In 2015, he was condemned after calling for police to raid guesthouses used for “lunchtime sex” – a euphemism for people engaging in extramarital affairs.

A social media campaign began when he appeared to suggest in 2013 that mini-skirts should be banned.