The BBC Hausa Service has announced the winner of its first short-story competition aimed at women writers.

Aisha Muhammad Sabitu's story Sansanin' Yan Gudun Hijira (meaning "Refugee Camp" in Hausa) beat off competition from more than 200 other stories. 

Ms Sabityu, who is from Katsina in Nigeria, says she was inspired to write the story by a visit to an displaced persons' camp in Adamawa state.

Judges said that her story offered a creative and powerful glimpse into the lives of those displaced by the Boko Haram crisis in north-east Nigeria.

The lead judge, Dr. Aliya Adamu Ahmad said the quality of the story's "plot, characterisation, style and language” made it a worthy winner. 

Launching the competition in July, Jimeh Saleh, Acting Editor of the BBC Hausa Service, said: 

BBC Hausa is part of the BBC World Service and reaches more than 23 million people every week. 

Read more: A hunger for romantic fiction in northern Nigeria

Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC Africa, Monrovia

Image source, Getty Images

A radio debate erupted here in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, this morning over remarks by the visiting Senegal-born US hip-hop star, Akon.

He said on Thursday that it was "crazy” that he did not see a single streetlight on the 50km (31-mile) road between Liberia’s main international airport and the city when his motorcade drove in.

Akon is in Liberia to launch his Light to Learn project that takes solar lights to schools in dire need of electricity.

On privately-owned Farbric FM caller Jusu Freeman praised the music icon for flagging up the issue. “We thank God for Akon,” he said.

Charles Kennedy, another caller, speaking with some level of emotion, said Akon was “God sent” to unearth a situation that has been complained about for a long time with nothing done to address it. 

Nebett Kortu agreed with Akon. “We hope our national government will listen,” he said.

But Emmanuel Payne , a diehard supporter of  President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and member of the governing Unity Party, appeared on the FM station to debunk the  criticism, insisting that the government’s efforts to provide for its people “are either yielding fruit or nearing fruition”.

Most people in Monrovia, if they have power at all, rely on private generators.

Image source, Reuters

An extensive investigation by a UN rights body (UNJHRO) has blamed soldiers, police and presidential guards for  "the majority of the documented human rights violations" during two days of deadly street protests in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, last month.

The government has said that 32 people died, but the UN report says the death toll was higher: 

Of those deaths, the authorities carried out "extrajudicial killings of at least 18 persons, including 16 shot dead," the report adds. 

Referring to the first day of deadly anti-government protests on 19 September, the investigation describes corroborated reports of the "distribution by the authorities of machetes and money to about 100 young men, with a view to disturbing the demonstration".

The report also refers to violence and looting by demonstrators. On the same day, it says  that protesters beat four police officers to death, with one of the bodies set on fire. 

Image source, Getty Images

Elections due next month have now been postponed to 2018, with critics accusing President Joseph Kabila of trying to his stay in power beyond his term limit. 

There has been strong reaction within South Africa to the plan for the country to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Former South African judge Richard Goldstone, who has been very involved in international justice, told the BBC's Newsday programme: 

"It's a very sad day for me".

He added that South Africa had played a leading role in establishing the court.

He also dismissed the idea that the ICC was targeting the continent.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Justice Minister Michael Masutha said the controversy last year over South Africa's failure to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir had forced the country to carefully consider the implications of remaining part of the court.

President Bashir, who is wanted for alleged crimes committed in Darfur, was in South Africa for an African Union summit.

Mr Masutha pointed out that South Africa has been asked a number of times to mediate peace talks, at times hosting feuding parties.

South Africa is concerned, he said, that its obligations to the ICC may hinder its own responsibilities to help resolve conflicts on the continent.

The government's decision has been met with mixed reactions. 

Some have been quick to point out that many richer countries, such as the US, are not signatories to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, and this has not hindered their involvement in helping to solve disputes.

Image source, AFP

A BBC reporter in South Africa is tweeting about the press conference of the country's Justice Minister Michael Masutha, where he's explaining the decision to pull out of the International Criminal Court.

The minister was also asked whether parliament needs to approve the withdrawal:

The minister says that South Africa is still committed to justice and peace on the continent:

Image source, AFP

Kenyans on social media have been mourning Afro-Jazz singer Achieng Abura, whose death was announced yesterday evening in the capital, Nairobi. 

Abura was one of East Africa’s most famous musicians. 

She was a popular singer across the musical genres of Afro-jazz, Afro-fusion and gospel. 

She won the Kora Award in 2004 for the Best East African Female artist.

The cause of her death is not known and local media have not been reporting her age. 

If you're not familiar with her music, here's a track from her last album that she shared on her official Facebook page earlier this year:

South Africa's Justice Minister Michael Masutha is giving a press conference in the capital, Pretoria, outlining the reasons behind the country's planned withdrawal from the ICC.

He said that the Rome Statute is in conflict with the country's laws on diplomatic immunity.

This refers to the fact that South Africa's high court ruled that it should have arrested Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when he attended an AU summit near Johannesburg last year.

One of the main criticisms of the International Criminal Court is that it is only concerned with war crimes allegedly committed by Africans.

Every single one of its active cases relates to the continent, including:

• Prosecution of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo
• Indictment of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir
• Prosecution of Bosco Ntaganda, rebel from the Democratic Republic of Congo

In 2013, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said the ICC process had "degenerated into some kind of race hunting".

South Africa's withdrawal is in fact not based on this argument but on the argument that sometimes pursuing justice is not always compatible with ensuring peace.

However, the impression that the ICC is biased is widely held.

Last year, South African human rights activist Karen Williams argued that this was not the case for the Africa Check website, external.

She points out that most of the cases at the ICC were brought by African governments.

And she also says that countries are free to set up their own tribunals to try alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, but have failed to do so.

Kenya had that option following the post-election violence of 2008, but elected to refer the case to the court in The Hague.

Image source, AFP

The head of a leading South African think-tank has questioned whether the country's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court is legally binding. 

Anton Du Plesis, from the Institute for Security Studies told the BBC's Newsday programme that he expected such a move would "need parliamentary ratification and approval", which had not happened in this case. 

The withdrawal, which takes 12 months, would not affect the validity of a pending constitutional court ruling, which could find against the government for failing to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when he visited the country last year, he said. 

Mr Du Plesis added: 

Human Rights Watch says South Africa's plan to pull out of the International Criminal Court shows a "startling disregard for justice".

The head of its South Africa office, Dewa Mavhinga, says that the country has long been seen "as a global leader on accountability for victims of the gravest crimes".

Journalists have been tweeting the note sent by the South African government to the UN informing it of the decision to leave the ICC.

It says that South Africa is "committed to fight[ing] impunity and to bring[ing] those who commit atrocities and international crimes".

But it goes on to say: 

South Africa therefore says it will withdraw form the Rome Statute which led to the creation of the ICC.

South Africa has formally begun the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court. 

South African diplomats have notified the United Nations of the decision, accusing the ICC of bias against African countries. 

The notice of withdrawal highlighted the dilemma South Africa faced last year when it came under pressure to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir at an African Union summit in Johannesburg. 

Mr Bashir is wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes. 

There are conflicting legal opinions as to whether South Africa can leave the Court without parliamentary approval.

Image source, AFP

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