Africa highlights: Cameroon blasts Amnesty, Uganda detains dozens of activists

Summary

Cameroon tortures Boko Haram suspects, Amnesty says
Cameroon government responds with accusations against Amnesty
Uganda police arrest 56 opposition activists over 'illegal gatherings'
China's top e-commerce businessman Jack Ma arrives in Kenya
Cecil the lion's son killed by hunter in Zimbabwe
Six Burundi teenagers in the US for a robotics competition are reported missing
Nigeria court seizes Alison-Madueke's luxury apartment block
Burundi's president leaves country for first time in two years

Live Reporting

Paul Bakibinga and Damian Zane

Kenya court rules that presidential ballot papers can be printedpublished at 11:28 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Kenya's court of appeal has dismissed a lower court's ruling that stopped the printing of presidential ballot papers over alleged problems with the way the tender was awarded to the Dubai-based firm, Al Ghurair.
The election is due on 8 August.
The high court had said that there should have been public participation in the tender process.
But the appellate judges said the high court erred in finding that public participation is a requirement in direct tendering.
The judges also said that the high court had not considered that the election is now just a few weeks away.
Image source, AFP
Image caption,
Next month's election sees incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta face seven challngers
TP Mazembe's Congo league title 'is for all the people'published at 11:19 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Kennedy Gondwe
BBC World Service, Lusaka
Exiled Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Moise Katumbi has dedicated his football team's domestic league title to the Congolese people.
TP Mazembe, the five-time African champions, beat bitter rivals AS Vita 1-0 on Wednesday to take the title for a record 16th time.
Katumbi, who is now in exile and faces a three-year sentence for selling property illegally, says winning the title has not been easy.
He told the BBC on the phone from Morocco:
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We're the only team that doesn't receive any support from the provincial government. All other teams are given transport monies to fulfill their fixtures. Ever since I resigned as Governor of the Katanga province, my team has suffered sanctions.
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But this victory is for the Congolese people because football unites everybody."
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Mr Katumbi has a big following in his home region
Read more: Could football boss Moise Katumbi become DR Congo president? - BBC News
Analysis: Ma is an inspiration for Kenyanspublished at 11:05 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Nancy Kacungira
BBC Africa business reporter, Nairobi
Asia's richest man and e-commerce guru Jack Ma is in Kenya on his first trip to the continent (see earlier entry).
The venues where Mr Ma will appear in the capital, Nairobi, are fully booked and he is trending on Twitter here.
A self-made billionaire who started out with no money and no connections – that’s a story that resonates with young Kenyans.
Inspiring memes and quotes about the rejections leading up to Mr Ma’s success are shared widely on social media.
In one example, out of 24 people who applied for jobs at KFC in China, the billionaire says he was the only one rejected.
The fact that he made his money using the internet is also a big draw.
Kenya is a leading technology hub in Africa, and is receptive to the core message in the man's story – that going online can make you big money, and it can do so for anyone.
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Nkurunziza leaves Burundi for first time in two yearspublished at 10:39 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
BBC World Service
Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza is making his first foreign trip since a failed coup attempt more than two years ago, reports the BBC's Prime Ndikumagenge from Bujumbura.
He has travelled with a number of senior ministers to Tanzania, home to about a quarter of a-million Burundian refugees.
They fled during the crisis sparked by Mr Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term in office.
He was attending a summit in Tanzania when the coup attempt was made in May 2015.
Hundreds of people have been killed since the crisis began, mainly alleged opposition supporters.
Image source, AFP
Image caption,
The failed coup attempt in 2015 came amid anger over President Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in power
Cameroon accused of torturing Boko Haram suspectspublished at 10:30 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Martin Patience
BBC News, Nigeria correspondent
Dozens of suspected Boko Haram members have been tortured to death by the Cameroonian security forces since 2013, says Amnesty International in a new report, external.
The international rights NGO says hundreds of suspects have been detained by the Cameroonian security forces, often with little or no evidence.
Most were men of fighting age but the detainees also included women and children.
he organisation says many of the victims were beaten, forced into stress positions, and water-boarded.
The far north of Cameroon – along with north-east Nigeria, and parts of Chad and Niger - have been devastated by the Boko Haram insurgency which is being fought by Islamist militants.
Amnesty also says it presented evidence of the alleged war crimes to Cameroon’s government but received no response.
Image source, AFP
Image caption,
Cameroon has been fighting the Boko Haram militants
'Public not pubic!' - editor apologises for typopublished at 10:10 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
The CEO of the Uganda's New Vision newspaper, Robert Kabushenga, has apologised for a mistake in a headline in today's paper.
"Public service" was described as "pubic service":
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Many have welcomed his "swift" apology:
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Maasai in spacepublished at 09:59 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Jacque Njeri is a 26-year-old artist from Kenya.
In her latest project called #MaaSci she imagines what the Maasai people would look like in space.
Here's how the idea came about and what message she hopes to send:
Zambia's opposition leader Hichilema complains about prison conditionspublished at 09:22 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Kennedy Gondwe
BBC World Service, Lusaka
Zambia's detained opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has marked 100 days in prison by complaining about the inhumane conditions that prisoners are being held in.
He was arrested after a convoy he was travelling in allegedly got in the way of the presidential motorcade.
He is facing treason charges following the incident.
Mr Hichilema, who is now in a maximum prison, wrote on his Facebook page, external that he harbours no hate for anyone.
He says his love for Zambia has not changed.
But he said:
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We believe that regardless of the crimes these inmates committed, they need to be treated in a humane manner and in accordance with local and international conventions regarding the treatment of people and respect for human rights.
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It is even worse for some of us who are still searching for answers as to what crime we committed, but already being punished under these inhuman conditions."
Image source, AFP
Image caption,
Mr Hichilema was detained in April
Nigeria vows to free kidnapped womenpublished at 09:13 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Nigeria's Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has condemned what he called the "atrocious and cowardly" abduction of women by Islamist militants Boko Haram last month in Borno state in the north-east.
Mr Osinbajo said in a statement that the government will be doing everything to ensure their quick and safe return.
According to the statement, the acting president has instructed the country's military and intelligence agencies to take all measures including "coordinating with our international partners" to rescue the women as well as to tighten security around Borno State.
On Monday, Boko Haram released a video showing the captured women pleading with the government to negotiate their release.
The women, thought to number 14, were captured in June when the miltant Islamists ambushed a convoy being escorted by the military in Borno state.
Image source, AFP
Image caption,
Mr Osinbajo vows "to do everything" to ensue safe return of the abducted women
China's e-commerce giant Jack Ma in Kenyapublished at 08:59 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Asia's richest man Jack Ma is on a trip to East Africa on a mission to inspire young entrepreneurs.
Mr Ma, whose e-commerce business Alibaba is reported to account for 11% of retail sales in China, will be speaking to young business people in Kenya today before going on to a UN conference in Rwanda.
Joining him on the trip is a group of "super-rich" Chinese business people who are looking to for opportunities, Business Daily, external newspaper reports.
#JackMainKenya is trending on Twitter in Kenya as people wait for him to talk.
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Good morningpublished at 08:58 British Summer Time 20 July 2017
Welcome to the BBC Africa Live page where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with news stories on the continent.
Today's African proverb:
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The child who knows how to wash their hands will eat with the elders."
An Akan proverb sent by Edgar Yaw Opoku-Mensah in Budd Lake, New Jersey, United States
Image source, iStock
Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.