Guinea-Conakry's leader Alpha Conde has been elected chairman of the African Union, taking over from Chad's Idriss deby. 

The election for the tightly contested post of AU commisson chief is yet to be held. 

See earlier post for more details

Ferdinand Omondi
BBC Africa, Mombasa

Image source, AFP

Kenyan soldiers will rejoin the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan after controversially leaving last year. 

A statement from Kenya’s State House says the UN also offered to return command of the peacekeeping force to Kenya.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guteress met on sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on Sunday. 

According to the statement from State House, the two agreed to reset relations which led to Kenya’s exit in November. 

The UN had fired the mission commander, Kenya's Lt-Gen Johnson Mogoa Ondieki, following reports that troops failed to respond to attacks on civilians and aid workers in South Sudan’s capital, Juba. 

Kenya said the decision was unfair and retaliated by withdrawing its 1,500 troops.  

Mr Guteress said he offered back command of the peacekeeping mission as a sign of confidence in Kenya’s military.

When the Ugandan government banned plastic bags, Rusia Orikiriza was a young student, but she spotted a business opportunity.

She began manufacturing and supplying bags and boxes made from recycled paper. Before she had graduated she was employing almost 80 people.

Kenya's representative in the 2017 Miss Universe competition found herself in the middle of the divisive American politics by saying President Donald Trump was not the voters' first choice in response to a question about Mr Trump's first week in office. 

Mary Esther Were, 27, said many Americans preferred Hillary Clinton inviting jeers from the audience in Manila, Philippines. 

She ended her answer by saying that Mr Trump had unified the country angering many more who had been protesting against Mr Trump's travel ban which targets people from seven mainly Muslim countries - three of them in Africa.

Others on Twitter said that she had been given the most difficult question:

Mr Trump was the co-owner of the Miss Universe pageant before selling it in 2015.

Miss France was crowned the 2017 winner. 

Mohammud Ali Mohamed
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Somalia’s presidential race has attracted 24 candidates with 16 holding dual citizenship, as a local radio station has pointed out in a tweet: 

The elections, planned for early February, will mark a turning point for the country that has not seen stability since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991. 

From the look of it, it appears to be the most contested elections in Somalia. The candidates - all male - had to pay a fee of  $30,000 (£23,000) and also get signatures from at least 20 members of parliament. 

For the first time, parliamentarians who were elected by selected citizens will elect the president. 

The top contenders incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud , a former president, and two previous prime ministers.  

The process faces a credibility test as allegations of corruption and intimidation marred the election of MPs. 

For many Somalis, the election represents yet another opportunity to rebuild their country after 26 years of endless civil war.

Read: Aleppo dentist brings 'Hollywood smiles' to Somalis

Image source, AFP

A request by Morocco to rejoin the African Union (AU) will be discussed by heads of state at at their two-day summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. 

The debate follows months of a high-level diplomatic push by Morocco to rejoin the pan-African body, 32 years after it quit its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, over its recognition of Western Sahara as an independent state. 

Morocco sees Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, as part of its territory. 

Algeria and South Africa are the major allies of the Polisario Front (PF), which is campaigning for Western Sahara's independence. 

They are unlikely to agree to Morocco rejoining the AU unless its resolves its dispute with the PF.  

After talks with PF leader Brahim Ghali last month, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma said:  

African heads of state are meeting in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa for the annual African Union (AU) summit. 

One of the main issues on the agenda is the election of a new AU commission chief, following the end of the term of South Africa's Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. 

Five candidates are vying for the position: 

• Botswana's foreign and international co-operation minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi
• Chad's foreign minister Moussa Faki Mahamat
• Equatorial Guinea foreign minister ApgapitoMba Mokuy, 
• Kenya's foreign minister Amina Mohamed and 
• Senegal's Abdoulaye Bathily, a special former UN envoy for Central Africa. 

The candidates and their supporters have been travelling across the continent to lobby for support from member states.

The Kenyan government, for instance, waged an intensive campaign to canvas for votes for Ms Mohamed.

But by tradition, the post rotates between Anglophone and Francophone countries. Ms Dlamini-Zuma, from English-speaking South Africa, succeeded French-speaking Jean Ping in 2012.

Candidates from French-speaking Chad and Senegal would be in prime position if this principle is observed once more.

Critics have rejected the notion that choosing a successor should be based on a rotational system, saying that the best candidate should be chosen irrespective of their origin.

Image source, AFP

Image source, Getty Images

A former Muslim preacher in Nigeria who had at least 86 wives has died at the age of 93. 

Mohammed Bello Abubakar died at his home in central Niger state on Saturday after battling an undisclosed illness. 

A large crowd attended his funeral on Sunday. 

Nigeria's Daily Trust newspaper reported, external that while he had 86 wives in 2008 - when he was at the centre of media attention - the number had risen to 130 at the time of his death. 

Some of them were pregnant, it reported. 

The BBC reported in 2008 that he had at least 170 children, but the newspaper said he left behind 203 children. 

BBC Monitoring
News from around the globe

Sudan’s Foreign Ministry yesterday summoned the US charge d’affaires in Khartoum to protest against President Donald Trump's decision to ban its nationals from entering the US. 

Sudan said the move was a negative signal following positive developments to improve relations between the two states, including easing economic sanctions on the African state and cooperating in the fight against "terrorism". 

Mr Trump's executive order halted the entire US refugee programme and instituted a 90-day travel ban for nationals from Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Yemen.

In a tweet, Mr Trump said: 

Read: Trump stands firm over travel ban

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