"Is your husband falling out of love? Come and see me and I shall give you the cure to capture his love permanently."

That's the kind of promise you might find on an advert for the services of a traditional healer or herbalist, who claim to offer cures for every problem under the sun. 

The ads are everywhere in Kenya: In newspapers, on lamp posts, on hand-painted signs.

But Kenyan doctors may be about to start a fightback, thanks to the lifting of a ban on qualified medical professionals advertising their services. 

Read the full piece here from Joseph Warungu, as part of our series of Letters from Africa.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

What's your view on traditional healers? Have you ever consulted one yourself, and if so, what was the experience like? 

Get in touch via email on africalive@bbc.co.uk or by WhatsApp +44 7341070844

Ferdinand Omondi
BBC Africa, Mombasa

A two-year wait for justice in Kenya following terror attacks near the coastal town of Mpeketoni has ended in frustration for police and victims' families. 

At least 60 people were killed over two nights of terror in June 2014. 

But the High Court in Mombasa has acquitted the two main suspects - Dyna Salim and Mahadi Swaleh – on all 60 counts of murder. 

Justice Martin Muya said the police failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the pair was culpable.

He said resources and manpower had been wasted, describing police investigations as poor. 

During his ruling, Justice Muya asked the government to address some security concerns. 

He singled out a communication breakdown in the police units during the Mpeketoni attack and castigated the department for refusing to respond to the midnight attack for fear of an ambush.

The police have long accused the judiciary of frustrating the war on terror by releasing suspects on bail or being too lenient on suspects. 

This ruling makes it clear that the onus is on officers to gather evidence if they want to secure convictions. 

Image source, AP

Somalia's prime minister has publicly backed a campaign to ban female genital mutilation (FGM) in his country.

It is currently against the constitution but parliament has not yet passed a bill outlawing the practice.

Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke has joined more than a million others by signing an online petition calling for a comprehensive ban.

The UN children's agency, Unicef, estimates that more than 90% of Somali girls undergo FGM.

Image source, Ifrah Ahmed

Read the full BBC News story

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Bauchi

Image source, AP

One of the immediate challenges facing Niger’s President Muhamadou Issoufou, who won Sunday’s presidential run-off which was boycotted by the opposition, is to form a stable government.

International monitoring bodies have advised he negotiate with the opposition and other aggrieved citizens to ease the tense political situation.

Another challenge is the issue of insecurity, particularly from the Islamist Boko Haram insurgency on the border with Nigeria, and the need to secure borders with Mali and Libya, which both have active militant groups.

In a speech after his re-election, President Issoufou acknowledged some of these problems and the need for national unity.

Niger is currently part of a multi-national task force fighting Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region.

Poverty, unemployment, infrastructure and food security are also big issues that need attention in the uranium-rich nation.

Recently, the UN said about two million people would need urgent food aid this year as a result of drought.

After three months of wrangling, Nigeria's multi-billion budget has eventually been passed:

The lower House of Representatives is also set to pass it today after a joint parliamentary committee agreed to some changes to the original 31bn (£20.8bn) budget submitted:

It is not clear yet what changes the MPs have made.

The Senate president also made a cheeky reference to the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari's first budget has faced numerous difficulties since he presented in person at the end of December:

Read more about the saga of Nigeria's budget fiasco.

Burundi has banned people from owning two sim cards from the same mobile provider, local Bonesha FM reports, external, quoting a press release from the finance ministry.

Mobile phone companies will have two months to comply with the new regulations, it adds.

Phone companies will also have to register all sim card users, or face fines of up to $3,000 (£2,100) for each case where they fail to block an unregistered user. 

The move comes amid continuing civil unrest in the country, which was sparked last April when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he was running for a third term. 

Image source, Reuters

Nigeria slapped mobile phone giant MTN with a multi-billion dollar fine last year for failing to disconnect unregistered sim cards, with President Muhammadu Buhari blaming the company for fuelling the Boko Haram insurgency.   

Abuja has become the 400th city where the taxi-hailing app Uber has launched its services.

In a statement it said the Nigerian capital was a growing city and “a place where entrepreneurs are born”. 

“This is a reason why Uber loves Abuja - its people, energy, innovation and beauty really speaks for itself.” 

It already has drivers in Lagos and according to Nigeria tech website Techcabal, external, “the choice of Abuja is puzzling, because compared to Lagos, taxis are ridiculously cheap”.

The firm is also launching in Mombasa today despite anger in Kenya about the company - see our post for about an Uber taxi that was set alight in Nairobi overnight. 

Uber has expanded aggressively in recent years, but has not always had an easy ride - often sparking conflict with regulators and traditional taxi companies.

Image source, Uber

Here's the line-up for today's African Cup of Nations qualifiers, as nations compete for a place at Gabon 2017:

• Sao Tome v Libya
• Chad v Tanzania
• South Sudan v Benin
• Guinea-Bissau v Kenya
• Zambia v Congo-Brazzaville.

Read Fifa's preview of the day's action: Five things to watch in Afcon qualifying, external.

BBC Monitoring

Guinea's new security minister has said his country has taken measures to ward off potential terror threats which have recently affected other West African states.

"Nothing can be ignored. We are not seeking to find out if they are there or not but where and when they are going to strike. As a result, we are preparing ourselves. By the grace of God, we will ensure that does not happen to us", Almamy Kabele Camara told Guineenews website, external.

Guinea contributes to the UN mission in Mali which is fighting jihadist groups -  and has lost nine soldiers during attacks there.

During the in-depth interview, the minister also touched on the problems his department has had introducing new biometric identity cards, but he said he hoped these would soon be resolved.

Image source, Guineenews

Fifa's new chief Gianni Infantino has chosen South Sudan as one of his first official international trips since his election as head of football's world governing body last month.

Photos show him arriving in the capital, Juba, where he opened the office of the South Sudanese Football Association this morning.

He is expected to meet President Salva Kiir later and attend South Sudan's African Cup of Nations qualifier against Benin. 

Image source, AFP

Officials dressed Mr Infantino in traditional robes and made him dance, AFP news agency reports.

Image source, AFP

Mr Infantino was also presented with a cake by his hosts to celebrate his 46th birthday, which coincides with the visit. 

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwe’s government is to send teams overseas in an attempt to get the country’s diaspora to invest about $1bn (£705m) in its ailing economy this year, the Bloomberg news agency reports, external.

Investment Minister Obert Mpofu said they would be visiting the US, UK, Canada, Australia and South Africa to seek funds in addition to the $500m Zimbabweans typically send home each year to family and friend.

Image source, Reuters

BBC Monitoring

Image source, L'Intelligent

Ivorian newspapers today have highlighted the search for the presumed mastermind of the beach attack at Grand-Bassam earlier this month, Kounta Dallah, in which 19 people died.

The headlines in privately owned papers Le Jour and Le Patriote read:" Here is the Mastermind":

Image source, Le Jour and Le Patriot

While government-owned Fraternite Matin considers the attacks in Mali, Grand-Bassam and yesterday's bombs in Brussels with the headline: "The Macabre Walk of the Jihadists":

Image source, Fraternite Matin

South Africa's government has tweeted about its plans to exhume the human remains of 83 political prisoners who were hanged on the gallows by the apartheid regime and buried in unmarked graves:

Madeleine Fullard, from South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authorities Missing Persons Task Team, has also been tweeting from the event at the museum at Kgosi Mampuru II prison in the capital, Pretoria

Her team looks for the remains of those who disappeared during apartheid.

The justice department says a total of 130 political prisoners were hanged at this Pretoria prison between 1960 and 1990.

Forty-seven of these prisoners have been exhumed while 83 of them remain buried in unmarked graves.

The prisoners were mainly members of the Pan Africanist Congress (POQO) and United Democratic Front (UDF). 

The government says their remains will be handed over to their families once they have been positively identified.

Image source, Getty Images

Werder Bremen defender Papy Djilobodji has been banned for three games after making a throat-slitting gesture during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Mainz.

Referee Manuel Graefe missed the incident, but German football officials reviewed the matter.

Senegal international Djilobodji, on loan from Chelsea, made the gesture towards Mainzwinger Pablo de Blasis.

Read the full BBC Sport story

Prime Ndikumagenge
BBC Africa, Bujumbura

New figures from the UN indicate that 474 people have been killed in Burundi since last April, when a crisis broke out over President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term. 

Experts presented their findings from a visit to Burundi earlier this month at the UN Council for Human Rights in Geneva.

But the leader of a Burundi human rights organisation said the number of victims exceeded 600. 

A Burundian government representative said the killings have been perpetrated by insurgents.

On Tuesday, a senior army officer and ally of the president was shot dead inside the defence ministry compound on Tuesday. 

An army major was also reportedly shot dead last night while leaving a bar in the centre of the capital, Bujumbura.

Image source, AP

BBC Monitoring

An Uber taxi was last night torched in the ongoing fight between the car-hailing app and traditional taxis in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

Police said the vehicle was burnt down in Nairobi's Riruta area by four men who had been waiting for it but the driver escaped unhurt, Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper reports.

“The four were joined by the man who had hired the taxi as the driver jumped out and escaped on foot,” said Nairobi police boss Japheth Koome.

This is the second such incident in a month to happen in the city. 

In February, local taxi operators held a protest in Nairobi and gave the firm a seven-day notice to cease operations in Kenya, after accusing it of flouting local laws and engaging in "neo-colonialism".

Kenya’s Star paper, external has a photo of the taxi:

Image source, Kenya's Star newspaper

Today’s African proverb:

Image source, AFP

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