The South African student who threw human excrement at Cecil Rhodes's statue says he feels vindicated by the University of Cape Town's decision to take it down.

Chumani Maxwele told the local News24 site, external that the dignity of black academics who faced discrimination at the university during white rule has been restored.

Somalia's government has placed bounties on 11 leaders of al-Shabab following a cabinet meeting.

Top of the list is Ahmed Diriye with $250,000 (£169,000) offered - the other amounts range from $150,000 to $100,00.

James Copnall
BBC Africa, Khartoum

A prominent Sudanese politician Farouk Abu Issa and a leading human rights activist Amin Makki Medani have just been released from jail. The two have been in detention since December, and were arrested after they signed an agreement with a rebel group.

BBC Monitoring

South Africa's Daily Maverick highlights the need for more reforms. "The specific legacies of Rhodes and Kruger are largely meaningless… the statues are a symbol of all that remains to be done, of real transformation," says the paper's op-ed, external.

The Citizen is less optimistic, suggesting , externalthe "race war" in South African universities shows that "our academics are not succeeding at their most fundamental task: producing critical but tolerant graduates".

BBC Monitoring

South Africa's media has been debating how the country should deal with its troubled past following the decision to remove the Cecil Rhodes statue. "Symbols aren't inanimate objects, they are powerful devices that must be removed if they pay homage to a dark and oppressive past," argues the Mail & Guardian, external.

But writing in the News24 website, Vusi Kweyama warns against "erasing" history: "We must teach our children how to remember in a way that is empowering and educational."

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is finishing his state visit to South Africa with a visit to Soweto, where he placed a wreath on the memorial to Hector Pieterson, the schoolboy who died in the 1976 riots against inferior education for black people.

David Smith, Africa correspondent for the UK's Guardian newspaper, tweets, external: As Mugabe climbs into his car, a man in Soweto shouts: "Long live the president!" Mugabe pauses and acknowledges him.

Akwasi Sarpong
BBC Africa

I'll be your host on BBC Focus on Africa radio at 15:00, 17:00 and 19:00 GMT. Here are some stories on our radar:

• The Kenyan government dismisses claims regarding the number of students still unaccounted for following the Garissa University College attack

• We gauge the impact of the closure of 13 "hawalas" - the cash transfer services offered by Somali businessmen

Image source, AP

• A look ahead to next week's elections in Sudan, which are widely expected to extend President Omar al-Bashir's 25-year rule, despite continued unrest and a faltering economy

• And a Paris court to rule on the case of the Algerian singer accused of plagiarising a colleague's song.

Plus a round-up of African sports stories. You can text us some your comments on +44 77 86 20 50 75.

Mary Morgan
BBC Africa

tweets, external from London: "Went to Lampedusa play @sohotheatre last night. Interesting, positive perceptive on immigration etc- and made me cry! http://sohotheatre.com/whats-on/lampedusa/ …"

Rajitha Kariyawasa, who is visiting South Africa from Sri Lanka, says he has seen a fire close to Table Mountain in Cape Town.

He took these pictures of fire-fighting helicopters trying to douse the fire at noon local time (10:00 GMT).

Image source, Rajitha Kariyawasan

Image source, Rajitha Kariyawasan

BBC education correspondent Sean Coughlan reports on why the world couldn't keep its "Education for All" pledges - is it a lack of political will?

Ignatius Bahizi
BBC Africa, Kampala

We are getting some interesting statistics on the number of prisoners in Africa from a meeting of prison chiefs. There are 1.15 million of them in jails across Africa, excluding Eritrea and Somalia. In East Africa, Kenya has 54,000, Uganda 42,000 and Tanzania 35,000.

How can the Kenyan police force be expected to respond to terror attacks if it's under-funded and poorly equipped? That's the question Kenyans have been debating online after an investigation by Kenya's NTV was rebroadcast last night.

Originally aired two years ago, the documentary Serve and Suffer details how monthly wages of about 23,000 Kenyan shillings ($250; £168) for some officers and inadequate housing makes it difficult for them to do their jobs properly.

Francis Waithaka, in Nairobi, tweets, external a photo of corrugated-iron huts which are used as accommodation for police officers in Kericho county: "Houses for our police officers. Then we expect them to secure our borders? Never gonna happen #ServeAndSuffer"

Nasir tweets, external: "Going by this @ntvkenya story, we demand so much from our police yet invest so little in them. How do they then fight crime so ill equipped?"

Kenyan writer Maina Wambui tweets, external: "As a country we must prioritize the equipping, renumerating and training our police force, that will help in the war on terror."

Image source, EPA

Mohamed Moalimu
BBC Africa, Mogadishu

The wife of Puntland's former President Abdirahman Farole has been shot dead. Amina Abiib was killed when a gun went off accidentally.

Every year thousands of people flock to a tiny island off Guinea-Bissau to party hard at a three-day music festival.

Musicians from across Guinea-Bissau, as well as France, Portugal and Senegal, attended the festival last weekend.

MC Lady, pictured, travelled from across the water from Bissau.

Image source, Ricci Shryock

The festival is in its sixth year.

Image source, Ricci Shryock

Most of the revellers come from Bissau in ferries put on especially for the festival. The ride is over five hours long and people were flagging on the way back.

Image source, Ricci Shryock

More photos are on BBC Africa.

Umaru Fofana
BBC Africa, Freetown

Sierra Leone's Vice-President Samuel Sam-Sumana is challenging his dismissal in the country's highest court. He is seeking an injunction to stop his successor from occupying the position while the court considers whether President Ernest Bai Koroma acted constitutionally by sacking him last month.

Image source, Reuters

Milton Nkosi
BBC News, Nairobi

Kenya's government has started giving coffins to the relatives of those killed in the Garissa massacre so that they can prepare for their burials. You can watch my report here.

Preparations are underway for the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes at the University of Cape Town, expected at around 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT). Members of the construction crew are testing the strength of the crane "to see if we can lift him", according to South Africa's News 24 website, external.

Image source, Joshua Nott

Oluwashina Okeleji
BBC Sport

tweets, external: "Knee trouble: Veteran #Mali Seydou Keita, 35, has suffered an injury setback which has ruled him out of AS Roma's weekend trip to Torino."

Kenya's government has dismissed claims that 162 students from Garissa University College have not been accounted for, a week after al-Shabab's assault on the campus. It says the claims, made by Kenyan university academics, are unfounded and only worsen the pain and suffering of relatives in mourning.

Yesterday it was #RhodesMustFall, today #RhodesHasFallen is trending on twitter in South Africa, after the decision by the University of Cape Town to remove a statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes.

Image source, AP

Speaking to the BBC's Newsday programme, external, governing party MP Christian Martin argued that such statues are of historical significance and should not be vandalised.

"It's all about how we as citizens of South Africa can live together with each other's history... The good history of South Africa should also be told with the bad history," he said.