African press review 20 August 2016

UNICEF accuses South Sudan warlords of mass recruitment of child soldiers; Ugandan army closes barracks' businesses to curb shooting incidents by drunk soldiers; Questions about Team Nigeria's Olympic budget of  6.3 million euros and a giant seizure of jewels, worth a house, from an ex-Nigerian Minister.

We begin with a disturbing revelation by the UN children's Fund UNICEF, about a spike in the recruitment of child soldiers to fight in South Sudan's civil war.

Daily Vision

The Ugandan newspaper quotes the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF Justin Forsyth, as saying that that an estimated 16,000 children have been recruited by armed groups -- including the national army -- since civil war began in December 2013.

The UN official told the paper that 650 children have been recruited since the start of the year adding that children had been among the many victims of "rape, sexual exploitation and abduction as a weapon of war".

Daily Monitor

The daily takes up a directive issued by the country's army chief ordering the closure of shops, bars and other businesses situated inside military barracks in the country in a bid to curb growing incidents of shooting where many people have been killed by drunken soldiers.

The paper says the decision isn't likely to go down well with many soldiers’ families inside the barracks who will find it hard to move their small businesses outside the barracks.

Some of the affected people, speaking on condition of anonymity told Saturday Monitor that the banned businesses inside the army barracks have been run mostly by soldiers’ families to earn additional income to supplement their husbands’ salaries.

Daily Nation

The Kenya publication splashes out for athletics superstar, Vivian Cheruiyot who according to the paper produced one of her finest performances when it mattered most by sensationally clinching the women's 5,000m gold with a new Olympic record of 14:26.17 early on Saturday morning.

The paper reports that on her way to her first gold medal at the Olympics, Cheruiyot got the better of pre-race favourite Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia as she led her teammate, Helen Obiri to a 1-2 Kenyan finish that turned out to the perfect tonic to her heart-breaking defeat in the 10,000m gold medal by Ayana seven days ago.

In Nigeria, the press is calling for an inquiry into what the country's sports ministry did with the N2.5 billion (6.3 million euros) President Mohammadu Buhari approved and released for the Rio Olympics Games.

Vanguard

The newspaper says it learnt from its investigations that it was the hosts Brazil who practically took care of the accommodation, feeding and transportation of all the athletes and officials from the Games Village to different venues and back.

Premium Times

In related news, the paper reports that the Nigerian government has admitted its failure to properly prepare the country’s representatives to the 2016 Olympics which cost the country the chance of winning medals.

It quotes the Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, as saying that the performance so far reflected the level of preparations Nigerian athletes received. Nigeria has yet to win a medal, with the Rio Olympics almost coming to a close, according to the paper.

The Nigerian Tribune

It carries shocking revelations by Nigeria's finance minister that the price of just a single piece of jewellery seized from past government officials could buy a house.

Kemi Adeosun reportedly spoke at a media parley in Abuja on Friday after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed that its agents had seized jewellery worth billions from the home of a former minister in Abuja. The Tribune reports that Adeosun, who declined to give details about the identities of those who forfeited the jewellery.

Times Live

And the South African newspaper reviews reactions in the US media to the lies of American Swimmer Ryan Lochte who made up tales of being robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro.

That was after surveillance footage and Brazilian investigations showed that Lochte, and three other U.S. swimmers, vandalised a gas station bathroom and urinated in public on their way home from a party last weekend.

"The Lochte Mess Monster", ran the front page of the New York Daily News, adding in an editorial that the 12-time Olympic medalist was "dripping with juvenile entitlement" and would go down in history as "as an emotionally stunted lying fool". The New York Post was equally scathing. "Liar, Liar, Speedo on Fire while the The Post brands him "The Ugly American" in its front page headline.

According to Times Live, Ryan Lochte's belated apology posted on his Instagram page, has won him few friends. "Your apology was poor. Try again. Shame on you," wrote one of his followers in her Twitter account.