Image source, NBS

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been speaking to local media, external about the controversy over a block on social media platforms, chat apps and mobile banking services, which has affected many voters on polling day:

Watch the full interview here., external

Meluse Kapatamoyo
BBC Africa, Lusaka, Zambia

Zambia's opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) leader, Hakainde Hichilema, has complained about the partial application of the Public Order Act under the Patriotic Front government. 

Mr Hichilema said if left unchecked, the abuse of the act, especially the clauses referring to the freedom of movement and association, will result in an unprecedented breakdown of law and order. 

Opposition political parties have frequently expressed concerns that the government is not applying the act fairly. 

It requires people to alert the police of the intention to hold a public rally seven days in advance of Public Order Act, and there are complaints that this enables them to block opposition demonstrations.

Patriotic Front deputy spokesperson Frank Bwalya responded saying that those who valued order should support the current act.

Image source, AFP

A freelance journalist has been posting videos from the scene on Twitter: 

Uganda's NTV channel is reporting that President Yoweri Museveni has now voted.

Earlier, it tweeted a screen grab of him joining the queue of voters:

Mr Museveni has governed for 30 years and is running for a fifth term in office.

He's facing seven challengers.

As part of the BBC’s mental health series, BBC Africa is holding a live Facebook Q&A on maternal mental health. 

Dr Simone Honikman, founder of the Perinatal Mental Health Project, is joining us from South Africa to answer your questions. 

Join us now on the BBC Africa Facebook, external page  to ask your questions on everything from post-natal depression to anxiety.

Brian Hungwe
BBC Africa, Harare

Zimbabwe riot police have fired teargas to disperse several hundred war veterans who gathered for a rally in the capital, Harare. 

They were hoping to get together to discuss the state of the nation and the divisions within the governing Zanu-PF party.

The veterans ran for cover, regrouped and started singing defiant songs directed at the police.

The number of people killed in last night's bus crash in northern Ghana has now reached 53, the AFP news agency reports, quoting a police spokesman.

There are 23 survivors, Christopher Tawiah told AFP.

Journalist Albert Azongo took pictures of the scene following the collision of the bus with a truck carrying a cargo of tomatoes.

Image source, Albert Azongo

Image source, Albert Azongo

Image source, Trendsmap

Despite an apparent block on mobile networks in Uganda, preventing access to social media networks, chat apps and mobile money services, #UgandaDecides, external is still trending on Twitter across the country. 

Many people have found ways to get around the block, by using internet proxies known as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). 

Earlier, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), told local media that it had been instructed to block the services after instructions from the electoral commission (EC), but the EC says it's "not aware" of any directive. 

However, Uganda's leading mobile operator MTN, which has 10 million users, confirmed that it had received an order to shut down social media services in a post on its Twitter profile:

Many Ugandans have been mocking the authorities for what they see as a failed attempt to restrict freedom of information:

The Somali militant Islamist group al-Shabab has dismissed a Kenyan statement that its intelligence chief Mohammed Karatey had been killed in an air strike.

The Kenyans said that Mr Karatey and 10 other al-Shabab commanders were killed in a strike in southern Somalia on 8 February.

The BBC reporter in Nansana, just outside the capital Kampala says that from what she has seen and heard from elsewhere, the numbers of those voting in the polls are up from the last election in 2011:

We reported earlier on comments by the Ugandan Communications Commission that the electoral commission asked for a shutdown of social media and mobile money services (see 10:07 entry).

But in an interview with the NTV channel, electoral commission spokesman Jotham Taremwa said that he did not know of such an order:

We posted a picture earlier of one of the presidential candidates, Amama Mbabazi, casting his vote.

But we didn't realise how he arrived at the polling station in western Uganda.

Ugandan TV channel NTV has posted pictures of him flying in:

Despite the delays in voting in some parts of the country, Ugandans have been casting their ballots in the presidential and parliamentary elections and have been tweeting pictures to prove it.

Gunmen in the town of Malakal in South Sudan have opened fire on a camp which is home to tens of thousands of people displaced by the conflict there.

Reports from the camp which is inside a United Nations base say that they attacked overnight with assault rifles and machine guns. 

One resident said at least seven people were killed. The UN has confirmed that there was an incident but would not give details.

It is not clear who the gunmen are but Malakal has changed hands several times during the conflict which began in late 2013. The town is currently held by the South Sudan government but rebels are still known to be active in the area.  

Malakal: The city that vanished in South Sudan

A Kenyan air strike has killed the intelligence chief of Somalia's militant Islamist group al-Shabab, an army statement has said.

Mohammed Karatey and 10 other al-Shabab commanders were killed in the strike in southern Somalia on 8 February, it added.

He played a key role in last month's deadly attack on a Kenyan military base in Somalia, the army said.

Al-Shabab has not yet commented on the claim that Mr Karatey has been killed.

Read more in the BBC News Online story.

Image source, AP

One of President Yoweri Museveni's seven challengers, Amama Mbabazi, has tweeted pictures of himself casting his vote: 

Mr Mbabazi, a former prime minister, is seen as one of the main contenders trying to unseat the president.

Social media and mobile money services have been shut down on election day in Uganda "for security reasons", according to the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC). 

UCC head Godfrey Mutabazi told local media the block was introduced after a request from the Ugandan electoral commission. 

NTV Uganda has been tweeting the reasons given for the unexpected shutdown:

He said they were awaiting instructions from the electoral commission before turning the services back on. 

There has been a furious response from many Ugandans on social media, who have been forced to use workarounds to access the services. 

Uganda's electoral commission has acknowledged that there have been delays in the voting process in some parts of the country.

But it said in a statement that "polling materials have now been delivered to all these places [where there have been delays] and polling has commenced in most of the places".

It also called on everyone to be "calm and tolerant... during the polling process".

Image source, AP

Sammy Darko
BBC Africa, Accra

At least 50 people have died in one of the worst road accidents in Ghana in many years. 

A coach full of passengers travelling on a major highway in the north of the country is said to have collided with a truck loaded with tomatoes on Wednesday evening. 

Ghana’s President John Mahama has described the accident as “sad news” on Twitter and has said the emergency services are dealing with the situation:

Some survivors have told police that the brakes failed on the coach, but the cause of the crash is being investigated.

But there is anger and condemnation on social media as horrific pictures of the aftermath have been shared by some people.