Arrests made over Kenya's 'chickengate' scam
South African pastor 'serves rat poison' to congregation
Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed elected Somalia's president
Case to prove President Mugabe unfit to hold office dismissed
#ThisFlag pastor freed on bail in Zimbabwe
South African police 'behind killings of Nigerians'
Equatorial Guinea 'tests jungle capital'
Arrest of militia leader 'Big Man' prompts CAR clashes
South Africa to get national minimum wage for first time
South African anger over army deployment to parliament
Ethiopian runner Genzebe Dibaba breaks 2,000m indoor record
Kenya police commander shot in clashes with pastoralists
Email stories and comments to africalive@bbc.co.uk - Wednesday 8 February 2017
Image source, AFPThe PM came fourth in the first round
Somalia's Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke has dropped out of the presidential race, leaving three people in the second round (see earlier entry).
Shingai Nyoka
BBC Africa, Harare
Image source, ReutersEvan Mawarire was arrested on his return home last week
Evan Mawarire was not in court when Zimbabwe's High Court granted him bail (see earlier entry), overturning a lower court's decision made last week.
He is charged with posting videos on social media calling for a revolt against President Robert Mugabe’s government. He has denied the accusation.
The high court judge said the case against Mr Mawarire was weak and that he was not a flight risk.
He was granted $300 (£240) bail and ordered to surrender his passport.
His trial date has not been set.
The BBC's Poly Muzalia says the floodwater in Kinshasa - the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo which is home to 10 million people - has started to recede after heavy rains on Monday night.
Andre Kimbuta, the governor of Kinshasa province, has said today that in total four people died in the flooding.
He said the authorities would start to remove sand from the bottom of the rivers, to stop them breaking their banks in future.
Here are some photos our reporter snapped while trying to get through the water yesterday:
Water levels rose rapidly after torrential rains
Some smaller rivers also burst their banks
Image source, APEvan Mawarire has been in custody for a week
Zimbabwean pastor Evan Mawarire, who has been at the heart of a social media campaign known by the hashtag #ThisFlag, has been freed on bail, our reporter in Zimbabwe tweets.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
The pastor was arrested last week on his return to the country after six months abroad.
He launched a campaign last year, denouncing the government's management of the economy, and backed a stay-at-home strike in July - one of the largest anti-government protests in years.
The authorities tried to charge him with subversion and inciting public violence, but the case fell apart on technicalities last July.
He was detained last week at the airport and has been charged with subverting a constitutionally elected government.
The high court judge granted him bail today, saying the state's case against him was weak and Mr Mawarire was not likely to abscond and showed a willingness to stand trial.
Image source, ReutersCameroon came from behind to beat Egypt 2-1 on Sunday
Cameroon's President Paul Biya is holding an official reception for his Indomitable Lions, Africa's football champions.
His tweet has a link to a live stream of the event, although we haven't been able to get it to work:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Image source, AmisomSo that's 17 candidates out - and one round down...
The top two from the next round go forward to a third and final vote.
Incumbent Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke are through to the second round of voting:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Fadumo Dayib, a former Somalia presidential contestant, who pulled out the race saying the system was unconstitutional and corrupt, has tweeted that she is following the ongoing elections, which she refers to as selection:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
She has also retweeted a post by a journalist about a banner with a "powerful" message that has been displayed at the venue in an airport hangar in the capital, Mogadishu:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Alex Duval Smith
BBC News, Abidjan
Ivorian government spokesman Bruno Kone has said discussions with mutineers are ongoing.
He would not go into detail of demands of the special forces in Adiake, where shooting has resumed today (see earlier post).
He said two had been injured in the mutiny, civilians hit by falling cartridges from bullets fired into the air.
Mr Kone added that the mutiny tactic was becoming a "regrettable" trend and was bad for the country's image.
A satirical promotional video about Namibia - with a voice over mimicking US President Donald Trump - has been shared on YouTube.
It is the latest in a series of parody videos being made to introduce Mr Trump to countries around the world.
In the video, produced by a tourist company, it calls Namibia "the best country in Africa", boasting about its culture, weather, its canyons and idiosyncrasies.
It also says that it has a wall:
Quote MessageWe also know how much you love walls. Guess what? We also have a great wall. It’s around out state house – a big wall. And guess what? We made China build it. It's true... so true!
Some people have been sharing the link on Twitter:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
A South African pastor has been offering rat poison to his congregation as a test of their faith, the country's eNCA website reports, external.
Light Monyeki, who heads the Grace Living Hope Ministries in the capital Pretoria, says consuming the poison is meant to show that death has no power over them.
Photos on his Facebook page , externalshow him seeming to dissolve pellets of a poison used to kill rats before sipping the solution and sharing it with his church members.
Mr Monyeki is the latest preacher to be reported on involving in controversial practices.
Read more: The men who claim to be Africa's 'miracle workers'
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Counting is under way in the airport hangar where Somali MPs are voting for a new president.
A BBC reporter at the airport in Mogadishu tweets:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
This is only the first round - so don't hold your breath yet.
Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, South Africa
Hundreds of people from South Africa have gathered today in Cape Town’s St George’s Cathedral for what they dubbed the “real state of the nation”.
It was organised under the Save South Africa campaign and comes a day before President Jacob Zuma’s annual state of the nation address in parliament.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Many speakers took to the podium to condemn the 74-year-old president’s style of leadership.
The campaign’s leader, Sipho Pityana, an anti-apartheid activist and a member of the governing African National Congress (ANC), told the meeting that the speaker of parliament should not address Mr Zuma as “honourable”.
He added:
Quote MessageYou must know that as a nation we no longer have confidence in you as a president.
Quote MessageYou have used every opportunity to bring shame to a glorious movement the African National Congress.”
There has been wide ranging condemnation of President Zuma’s decision to deploy 441 troops in parliament to assist the police with “law and order” for his national state of union address.
Mr Zuma has been dogged by corruption allegations for more than a decade, but has repeatedly denied any wrong doing.
Image source, ReutersMembers of the special forces are rarely seen in public and considered loyal to the government
An elite unit of Ivorian soldiers, who mutinied yesterday in Adiake, still don't seem to be happy – despite negotiation attempts by the chief of staff's office.
According to the AFP news, the special forces have been shooting in the air again today.
Quote Message"The shooting has started again. Today, it's market day, and they [the troops] told the women to return to their houses. Everyone is terrified, and holed up in their homes."
A resident of Adiake
The Ivorian special forces, who report directly to the president's office, have accused their commanders of stealing part of their salaries.
The trouble comes a month after regular soldiers staged a mutiny over pay and conditions.
The government agreed to the demands of the mutinous soldiers, some of whom were former rebels who backed President Alassane Ouattara.
But the payout has angered other segments of the military, raising fears of a resurgence of the violence seen during Ivory Coast's 10-year civil war, which ended in 2011.
It looks like someone has just saved a crucifix from a Lagos rubbish dump in this shot that has been tweeted by the BBC's Nigeria reporter:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Nancy Kacungira
BBC Africa, Nairobi
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
A former chief executive of Kenya’s electoral body has been arrested and arraigned in court today on corruption charges.
James Oswago and three others are accused of taking bribes from a British firm contracted to print materials including ballot papers in Kenya’s last general election. They all denied the charges.
The scandal has been dubbed "chickengate" by the Kenyan media.
It was unmasked when a London court prosecuted and jailed the directors of British printing firm Smith and Ouzman for paying Kenyan officials bribes of more than $374,000 (£300,000) in exchange for printing contracts for examinations and ballot papers between 2008 and 2010.
It is alleged that Mr Oswago, the former chief executive of the electoral commission, worked closely with middleman Trevy Oyombra, who was also arrested today, to inflate the prices of printing ballot papers so as to conceal the hefty bribes.
The bribe was code named “chicken”.
In 2016, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office handed over email exchanges, shipping invoices and local purchase orders used as evidence in the British case to Kenya’s public prosecutor, who began investigations.
The men have all been released on bail.
Rebels in Cabinda have called on people in Angola’s oil-rich region to boycott parliamentary elections in August, Reuters news agency reports.
Flec is a rebel movement that has for decades been seeking independence for the exclave which is sandwiched between Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo.
Its statement, received by Reuters, says it will not participate in a “foreign” election.
Quote MessageThe Flec does not accept the permanence of a foreign power on our territory, but does not want to interfere in the internal affairs of Angola."
Last week, Angola's President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, confirmed he would step down before the elections.
Image source, AFPFlec's last high-profile strike was in 2010 when it attacked the bus carrying Togo's national football team
Flec - in one form or another - has been fighting a low-level insurgency since the 1960s - first against Portugal and then continued against the Angolan government.
According to Reuters, Flec has stepped up activities since the death of its 88-year-old founder Nzita Tiago last June.
Farhan Jimale, from the BBC Somali service, is tweeting about the Somali presidential election, which is being broadcast live.
He says the speaker now says the number of candidates is down to 21. It was 24 on Monday.
Here they all are in the front row of the airport hangar:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
MPs in Somalia have began voting in the first round of the presidential election taking place at an aircraft hangar in the heavily guarded airport in Mogadishu.
BBC colleagues have been tweeting that MPs are being called up in 10s to cast their ballot:
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Image source, AFPNigerian officials allege that South African police carried out many of the killings
A total of 116 Nigerians have been killed in South Africa through extrajudicial means over the last two years, Nigeria's Daily Trust newspaper reports, external quotes a government official as saying.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, a senior official at the foreign office, made the disclosure after meeting Lulu Louis Mnguni, the South African ambassador to Nigeria in the capital, Abuja.
She reportedly said that nearly seven in 10 of the killings were carried out by the South African police:
Quote MessageIn the last two years, 116 Nigerians have been killed in South Africa and according to statistics, 63% of them were killed by the police."
Nigeria's Premium Times newspaper does not specify over what period the 116 killings took place, but quotes her concern about criminalisation of Nigerian migrants in South Africa, external:
Quote MessageWe are worried in particular about the criminalisation of Nigerian migrants in South Africa. Yes, some do commit crimes and deserve to be punished, but the extra-judicial killings worry us a lot."
The latest killing of a Nigerian in South Africa occurred in December 2016 when police in the city of Cape Town suffocated Victor Nnadi, to death, the papers say.
Mr Mnguni promised the killings would be investigated and those involved would be punished.