Nairobi — They routinely come under attack from insurgents and have already lost 80 of their colleagues, so the least you would expect is that the African Union soldiers in war-torn Somalia would be paid on time.

But as incredible as it sounds, that is not the case, and the 4,500 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi have not seen their salaries for the past six months.

Each soldier is supposed to earn about $550 per month, which puts the total arrears at around $15 million.

Officials blame the situation on the failure of donors, who pledged $295 million to Somalia last April, to release funds on time.

So far, only $3 million of the money has been disbursed.

And still on matters legal.

In June 2006, Ugandan shopkeeper Teddy Seezi Tayebwa was arrested for "tickling' a woman, Lydia Baryomunyena, 56, against her will.

Last week, after three years in remand, High Court Judge Yorokamu Bamwine handed Tayebwa five years in addition to the three he had already served, telling him that his action was against public morality.

For some reason, Tayebwa seemed unbothered by the ruling, and was seen happily conversing with other prisoners.

Still, think about it. Eight years in the slammer for tickling. How do you explain that to your grandchildren?

Goat's head blues in Lira

Municipal officials in the Ugandan town of Lira were on Monday morning last week stunned to find a goat's head dumped in the office of the town clerk.

The head, which is believed to have been used to perform witchcraft rituals, was decorated with beads in the nose and pins on both ears, while the lips bore a shiny balm.

Town officials have offered a $400 reward to anyone with information on the mystery head.

"We are not going to desert our offices because of witchcraft," said town clerk Paul Omoko.

Massive buffalo slaughter in Nepal

Believe it or not: Devout Hindus last week sacrificed over 15,000 buffalo and what some say was double that number of goats at a shrine in southern Nepal.

The animal slaughter at the Gadhimai temple is thought to be the biggest ever anywhere on earth.

The animals were sacrificed to appease traditional deities and to seek their favour.

Animal rights activists however contend that the mass slaughter, which is done every five years, is the cruellest spectacle not involving human victims.

I hereby name thee Crazy Kiwi Fruit

A New Zealand court last week saved a nine-year old from the eternal embarrassment of going by the name Tatula Does The Hula From Hawaii (you got that right!) given to her by her parents.

But giving children crazy names is apparently a fairly common habit there.

Other names that have been blocked by officials include Sex Fruit, Keenan Got Lucy, and Yeah Detroit.

But for some reasons, authorities have allowed some hapless children to be christened with such names as Number 16 Bus Shelter, Midnight Chardonnay, and Violence.

Now imagine a teacher reading the roll-call in her class: MaryAnne Mandela, John Nyerere, Number 16 Bus Shelter... Isn't it enough to have the parents jailed for child-abuse?