Patience Atuhaire
BBC Africa, Kampala

Ugandan MPs who are backing the lifting of the presidential age limit say they will not be intimidated by opponents to the change.

The upper age limit for how old someone can be to run for president is currently 75.

The change would allow President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 31 years, to be a candidate in 2021.

The MPs, from the governing NRM, appeared in the grounds of parliament wearing T-shirts with 75+ written on the back.

The T-shirts were made by the Kick Age Limit Out of the Constitution youth group which is mobilising for the cause.

At a press conference, some of the MPs said opposition supporters have threatened them.

One said he is ready to be a martyr.

Another said the NRM cannot be intimidated because they have the numbers in parliament.

Earlier this week, MPs agreed to support a motion to begin the process of changing the rules. It is not clear when that will happen.

A high school student in Kenya's western county of Homa Bay is being held in custody and expected to be charged after he was found with a gun, privately-owned Daily Nation reports., external

The 17-year-old student at Orero Secondary School was arrested on Tuesday after other students reported that he had been threatening them with the weapon.

The school's principal, Dickens Bula, said the administration was informed by concerned students who claimed that their colleague had been threatening to shoot them:

The report says that the student was using the gun to extort money and food stuffs from fellow students.

It adds that that after being arrested and questioned the student led officers to a nearby bush where he had hidden the gun.

The Daily Nation reports that investigators said that the pistol is an "American type, and is not licensed to be used in Kenya".

It adds that despite investigators finding out that the gun had no bullets, the school administration and students were thrown into panic, leading to the questioning of more students over the gun discovery.

The area police boss Esau Ochorokodi said the student had told investigators that he got the firearm from a relative who lives in the US.

The student is waiting to be charged with illegal possession of an unlicensed firearm at the Homa Bay Law Courts, the report says.

Image source, Graphic Online

A Ghanaian surgeon has successfully operated the country's first penile surgery implant, privately-owned Joy Online reports. , external

Dr Samuel Amanamah, a sexopathologist with Kumasi South Hospital, led a group of four surgeons to perform the surgery on a 55-year-old man who had been suffering from severe erectile dysfunction, Graphic Online reports. , external

It adds that the patient has started having erections strong enough to have sex.

Dr Amanamah said the treatment was now accessible to Ghanaians:

He said that erectile dysfunction should be seen as a disease like any other and that people should seek help.

He said:

He urged health professionals to be sensitive to needs of their patients saying that for every one patient who comes with erectile dysfunction there are nine others who are embarrassed, Joy Online reports.

Richard Hamilton
BBC News

A group of medical experts say it's possible to close the gap in terms of health between Africa and the rest of the world within a generation.

In a report published in the medical journal the Lancet, the experts say young people in particular will be key to bringing about changes in healthcare.

It warns that health systems should not just focus on hospitals and individual patients but should also focus on prevention using home-grown solutions.

It says that with the youth population of the continent set to almost double to 450 million by 2050, young people will provide the key to bringing about changes in lifestyle and health.

The report also warns that any decrease in international funding would result in a serious deterioration in the health of many of the poorest populations on earth.

It says that most sub-Saharan nations spent less than 3% of their GDP on health, falling well short of global development targets.

Image source, AFP

A group of 106 of the Chibok girls, kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 and freed in the past year have been reunited with their families and are due to begin school in two weeks, Nigerian newspapers are reporting.

They quote Women Affairs Minister Aisha Alhassan as saying that they will start a special education programme at the American University in Yola, Adamawa state.

Eighty-two were released in May and have been receiving counselling and help while in the care of the government.

More than 100 girls are still missing. Originally, 276 were kidnapped, sparking one of the biggest global social media campaigns, with tweeters using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.

The father of a 12-year-old boy who has scored three times in two under-16 internationals for Germany has rejected doubts about his son's true age.

Cameroon-born Youssoufa Moukoko followed his debut goal against Austria on Monday with a double against the same side in a 2-1 win on Wednesday.

He has also scored 13 goals in five games for Borussia Dortmund Under-17s.

"Straight after the birth, I registered him at the German embassy in Yaounde," said his father, Joseph.

"We have a German birth certificate."

According to his official birth certificate, Moukoko was born on 20 November, 2004 in Cameroon.

There have been some questions in the German press over the youngster's true age, but the German Football Association (DFB) has said all the paperwork is in order.

Read more from BBC Sport.

Image source, EPA

A memorial service is under way in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, for nine students who died on a 2 September in a fire that broke out at their dormitory in Moi Girls High School.

A local TV station is covering the event:

A 14-year-old schoolgirl was charged on Wednesday with multiple counts of murder after being accused of starting the fire.

The girl denied starting the fire, the AFP news agency quoted a source in court as saying.

The case was held in camera at the High Court in Nairobi because she is a minor.

The nine girls who died were burnt beyond recognition, and were identified through DNA analysis, AFP reported.

Bobi Wine, one of Uganda's top musicians who in June became an MP, has released a spoken word track lambasting the governing party's MPs who have backed a call to remove presidential age limits.

This change would allow President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for 31 years, to run in the next election due in 2021.

The track, recorded in English, is being shared on social media in Uganda, reports the BBC's Patience Atuhaire.

It is also being translated and aired on local-language radio stations, she adds.

On the track, Bobi Wine says by backing the removal of the upper age limit of 75 the MPs "did the most dishonourable and unpatriotic thing".

He then lists what he sees as the problems in the country including the fact that the "judiciary is a mockery".

"The one-time pearl of Africa is now a laughing stock," he says.

Earlier this week, MPs from the governing NRM passed a resolution among themselves to back a parliamentary bill removing the upper age limit for someone to run for president.

It is expected that they will propose the bill in parliament this week.

A Kenyan MP from the governing Jubilee Party has filed a petition seeking the removal of Chief Justice David Maraga, accusing him of orchestrating a "judicial coup" by leading the Supreme Court judges to annul President Uhuru Kenyatta's win in the 8 August election, the Nation reports. , external

Ngunjiri Wambugu wants the Judicial Service Commission, the employer of judges and magistrates, to investigate the conduct of Mr Maraga since his appointment as chief justice.

He told reporters in the capital, Nairobi, that the "judiciary is [held] captive" by NGOs who have been against the presidency of Mr Kenyatta and that they influenced the court's decision:

Mr Wambugu also alleges that the chief justice blocked one of the judges, Mohamed Ibrahim, from participating in the hearing of the election petition challenging Mr Kenyatta's win.

Mr Ibrahim fell sick on the second day of the hearing and did not participate in rendering the court's summary judgement, in which two of the six remaining judges dissented.

Mr Maraga was widely praised, not just in Kenya, but across the continent for the decision to annul the election. It was seen as an example of judicial independence.

The annulment angered President Kenyatta, who called Mr Maraga a "thug" and promised to "fix" the court after the re-run election set for 17 October.

The judges have until 21 September to make their full judgement public.

Read:David Maraga: The brave judge who made Kenyan history

Tanzanian conjoined twins Maria and Consolata Mwakikuti have begun special computer classes at the Ruaha Catholic University (Rucu) ahead of the start of term, the Citizen reports, external.

Image source, Citizen

The newspaper says that they have arrived earlier than other students in order to settle in and make sure that the facilities are adapted to their needs.

It quotes computer tutor Robert Manase as saying that "I know we have more time and I will do my best to teach them more things regarding computer, this is why they are here earlier than the rest".

It adds that the full academic term is due to start next month.

In May we heard from the twins as they came to the end of secondary school.

They told us that they wanted to become teachers saying they would teach "using a projector and computers".

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