Umaru Fofana
BBC Africa, Freetown

A leading opposition figure in Sierra Leone has been granted bail on his third attempt in the capital Freetown, where he faces bigamy charges.

Alie Kabbah's marriage to local government minister Diana Finda Konomany, who belongs to the governing party, has been nullified since she made the allegations against him last year.     

He has been campaigning to be the candidate of the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party in the presidential election due to be held by February 2018.  

Mr Kabbah denies being a bigamist but has yet to respond to the charges. 

The Reuters news agency is reporting quotes from a speech that IMF chief Christine Lagarde is giving in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

She said that she is not in Nigeria to negotiate an IMF loan and added that she sees no reason why the country would need IMF money.

The government's budget deficit for 2016 stands at $11bn (£7.5bn).

Ms Lagarde has also said Nigeria's government needs to widen its sources of revenue in order to not rely so much on oil, the price of which has recently plunged.

Image source, EPA

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwe's environment minister says that the country will increase the export of wild animals to China despite criticism, the state-owned Herald newspaper reports, external.

Oppah Muchinguri is on an official trip to China during which she visited the Chimelong Safari Park, which is where at least 20 Zimbabwean elephants were taken last year.

The export of those elephants was criticised by wildlife charities at the time.

Ms Muchinguri said Zimbabwe will continue with the export as "China [has]... done a good job in taking care of those they have already bought from us," The Herald reports.

"We will not apologise to anyone," she added. 

Women have been given key roles in Guinea's new cabinet which was announced on Monday, as the country seeks to rebuild its economy after being declared officially free of Ebola transmission. 

The three ministerial posts of finance, foreign affairs and mining will all be held by women, with seven women making up the 31-strong cabinet in all. 

New Finance Minister Malado Kaba spent most of her career working on development at the European Commission. 

Last September's elections, which were disputed by opposition groups but declared valid by international observers, returned President Alpha Conde to power for a second term. 

Image source, afp

Burundi's former Defence Minister Cyrille Ndayirukiye and four others have pleaded guilty to charges relating to last May's attempted coup, the AFP news agency reports quoting judicial sources.

The five are among 28 people on trial.

Gen Ndayirukiye said that the repression of last year's anti-government protests led him to try and overthrow President Pierre Nkurunziza, AFP reports.

The trial is taking place in Gitega, 100km (62 miles) east of the capital, Bujumbura.

Image source, AFP

Brian Hungwe
BBC Africa, Harare

We are still waiting for the trial of Zanu-PF MP Justice Wadyajena over alleged insults to the first lady Grace Mugabe to begin.

But on the phone from Victoria Falls Mr Wadyajena's lawyer Givemore Muvirimi said his client denies all the charges against him.

He is accused of describing Mrs Mugabe as a "fool".

"My client says he never uttered the words... These are malicious allegations," Mr Muvirimi told me.

BBC Monitoring

Somalia's government has criticised the weekend attack on Saudi Arabia's embassy in Iran's capital, Tehran, by protesters angered by its execution of a Shia cleric.

According to the website of the Somali government-owned Radio Mogadishu, external the embassy attack "was a violation of international treaties" which call for the protection of embassies.

The statement added that Somalia stood in solidarity with Saudi Arabia in its fight against terrorism and supported the measures the kingdom took both at home and in the region to protect its stability. 

Somalia has traditionally been seen as an ally of Saudi Arabia.

Image source, EPA

South Africa's governing ANC party says it will go to the police to lay charges against people recently accused of making racist remarks on social media.

There has been widespread outrage over comments on Facebook made by a white South African woman, Penny Sparrow, describing black people as monkeys.

Derogatory comments by others have also been criticised.

The ANC said in a statement, external that "bigoted comments have the potential for causing irreparable harm to the dignity and reputations of individuals and social groups".

Image source, AFP

During his November visit to Africa, where nearly 200m Roman Catholics live, Pope Francis said that children were some of the greatest victims of Africa's historical exploitation by other powers. 

He also urged young Africans to resist corruption. But should the Vatican be doing more to put its own house in order?

A BBC investigation has uncovered evidence that land owned by the Catholic Church in Uganda is being used for child labour. 

The allegations centre on the dicoese of Kabale, south-west Uganda, where the BBC found evidence that children as young as 10 were working on a tea plantation. 

A local Catholic Church official confirmed to us that there had been a business deal between the diocese and a tea company, Kigezi Highland Tea, since 2013.  

Image source, AFP

Repeated attempts by the BBC to contact Kigezi Highland Tea Limited over the allegations went unanswered.  

The secretary to local Bishop Callistus Rubaramira denied there were underage workers on the church land. 

The bishop himself could not be reached for comment. 

A Vatican spokesman said the allegations concerned local problem, over which it did not have any responsibility. 

Read the full investigation

The Gambia's government has banned its female employees from leaving their hair uncovered at work, a leaked memo quoted by private newspapers says.

Women should use a "head tie and neatly wrap their hair", the memo said, without giving reasons for the ban.

Last month, The Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh declared the Muslim-majority country an Islamic republic.

Image source, AFO

Read the full story

Ferdinand Omondi
BBC Africa, Mombasa

Security forces in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa say they are hunting four terror suspects after finding weapons and explosives in a raid on a house on Monday. 

They say the rifles they discovered were used in previous attacks on police in the coastal region. 

Police have also released pictures of the four whom they say are among al-Shabab fighters stationed in Boni Forest, 500km (300 miles) north of Mombasa, from where the group has been launching attacks.

Explosives were also found in the raid

....as well as large amounts of cash.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is holding talks with International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde as the government looks to fund an $11bn (£7.5bn) budget deficit.

The country is facing a cash shortage because of the plunging oil price - one of the main sources of government revenue.

Mr Buhari is hoping to fund half the budget deficit through money from international lenders, reports the BBC's Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi in Abuja.

Image source, AP

A Zimbabwean MP for the governing Zanu-PF party is due to appear in court in Victoria Falls over insulting the first lady Grace Mugabe.

Justice Wadyajena is being accused of using "abusive language" against a fellow Zanu-PF party member, who had a portrait of Mrs Mugabe on his car.

The incident is being seen as part of internal party wrangling over who should succeed President Robert Mugabe.

Mr Wadyajena was quoted in court papers as having told Jimayi Muduvuri: "You are a fool, as well as that 'mother' of yours."

The first lady is referred to as "amai", meaning mother, by supporters of Zanu-PF.

Image source, AP

Today’s African proverb: "A bird that allows itself to be caught will find a way of escaping." A Cameroonian proverb sent by Nganje Cheryl, Mannheim, Germany.

Image source, AFP

Click here and scroll to the bottom of the page to contribute your proverb.

Welcome to the BBC Africa Live page where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with news developments across the continent.