Kampala - Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been banned by leaders of the only Ugandan tribe that carries out the practice, a month before the seasonal tribal ritual begins, press reports said Thursday.

Elected councillors representing the Sabiny tribe at their main district seat in Uganda's eastern town of Kapchorwa have vowed to have anybody involved in the practice arrested and prosecuted, according to The Daily Monitor newspaper.

"In line with the UN resolution against FGM adopted last year, we have already passed a by-law banning FGM in the district and although it is yet to be verified by the Attorney General, we are determined to end this practice," the paper quoted the district's chairman, Nelson Chelimo, as saying.

Kampala - Seven people were killed when a building under construction in the Ugandan capital Kampala collapsed Tuesday, police said.

Rescue work was continuing into the night, with workers pulling away mud and rubble of the structure belonging to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). Seven more people were feared still trapped.

Heavy rains may have caused the soil around the building's foundation to cave in under the hollowed-out basement, burying the workers, police spokesman Simeon Nsubuga said.

Kampala - The Ugandan government said Saturday it would strengthen anti-gay laws and step up police operations against homosexuals amid concern over the "mushrooming" number of gays and lesbians in the East African nation.

"The state of moral health in our nation is challenging and we are concerned about the mushrooming of lesbianism and homosexuality," Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo told a news conference.

"Ten years ago, this phenomena was not there, but the disease has penetrated everywhere," he added.

Kampala - Anti-gay Christian bishops from around the world are meeting in Uganda as a follow-up to their last conference in Jerusalem, in which they formed a movement that threatens to split the 70-million-strong Anglican Church. 

About 40 bishops from Africa, Australia, the United States, India, Canada and Britain are taking part in the conference, which began Monday near the Ugandan capital Kampala. 

The conservative anti-gay clergy formed the Global Anglican Future Conference Movement (GAFCON) this year after the mainstream Anglican church refused to condemn the 2003 consecration of an American gay cleric. 

Kampala  - A heavily loaded boat capsized on a north-western Ugandan lake Wednesday, drowning 18 people, a radio news report quoted police officials in the area as saying.

The Kampala-based Central Broadcasting Service (CBS) said that the boat carrying fish, passengers and traders sank under the heavy weight on Lake Albert, which lies along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kampala - One of Uganda's main tribal kings Henry Wako Muloki was buried Monday during a state funeral attended by President Yoweri Museveni.

Muloki, who at 87 was the country's oldest monarch, died of cancer on September 1st. Monday was declared a public holiday in his honour.

The late king ruled over the Busoga tribe, which with over 3 million people is one of the largest in the country.

The East African nation has several kings presiding over their respective tribes after the era of kingdom rule, which was abolished in the 1960s, was revived by Museveni
15 years ago.