African press review 9 June 2011

Uganda tightens its belt. Kenya ditches British-based budget secrecy for US-style transparency. Spanish police find a thief in a suitcase, a sex change helps a criminal evade police in Mexico and a Liberian politician sues a servant. And are you an apartment person or a house one?

Changes to the state budget are making headlines in Kenya, as well as in Uganda.

According to the Daily Monitor, Uganda decided to tighten its belt. The government plans to increase spending without raising taxes.

The cost of living in Uganda is on the rise, which is why the minister says she will not ask citizens to hand over more money. Instead, she hopes to shave off budgets of government ministries and agencies.

That’s easier said than done, since she faces stern opposition in parliament.

Kenya’s Daily Nation focuses on the social aspect of the budget, reporting on the end of an era. The content of the finance minister’s briefcase is no longer secret.

Before, the budget would be kept from the population - leaking it was even a state offence - and read publicly at a ceremony. A big event for Kenyans that some say will be missed.

The old, ceremonial reading and waving of the briefcase was based on the British system. The new one, which is much more transparent, is closer to that in the United States.

This year Kenyans were even asked to give their view on the next year’s budget before it was published officially.

Also in the Daily Nation, a report on  what the article calls  “a very flexible thief” in Spain.

The man apparently squeezed into a suitcase, plundering luggage placed next to him in a Spanish airport bus. Police opened a “suspicious bag” to find the man curled up in the suitcase.

His partner, who would ride the bus and reclaim the bag at the end of the journey, has also been arrested.

South African paper The Star also reports on a rather unusual crime, “Man becomes woman to evade police.”

According to federal prosecutors in Mexico, a man took on a female identity after having a lot of plastic surgery. And all that so he wouldn’t go to jail after defrauding a government health agency.

In Liberia, a former finance minister is suing a personal servant for allegedly stealing 13,600 euros in cash.

According to the Daily Observer in Liberia, Emmanuel Shaw used to keep the money in a drawer in his bedroom, a place that on only he and his houseboy of 12 years had access to.

Along with theft, the charges are “unauthorised control over property,” since the servant should have known not to take Shaw’s money.

And lastly, the Daily Monitor in Uganda has published a feature giving real estate advice. The article asks: “Do you need a bungalow or flat?”

It looks at the advantages - and disadvantages - of both. For hygiene, for example, the paper recommends a bungalow since it is more spacious and the bathroom and kitchen tend to be far apart.

On the other hand, it says an apartment is smaller and therefore easier to clean. Flats also win when it comes to security, since you generally have your neighbours close by.