Two Ugandan men have been charged in a court in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa for being in possession of a snake without a valid licence, and for operating a business without necessary documentation from the Kenyan wildlife authorities, the Daily Monitor reports., external

Yassin Lokorobe and Ronald Nganga are said to be part of a gang of five who stage-managed a supposed display of witchcraft in the city on Wednesday.

In the incident, which drew a lot of attention, two Kenyan men pretended to be possessed by a spell after they allegedly stole a car from a man who had consulted a witch doctor to catch the alleged thieves.

The duo, who the court ordered to undergo psychiatric testing, danced and drank their own urine while performing several other bizarre acts for close to an hour, the Monitor reports.

Lokorobe and Nganga then appeared at the scene, posing as witchdoctors to exorcise the two men.

Police say that the whole spectacle was a ploy to "boost their sorcery business".

The prosecution told the court they had more evidence from CCTV cameras at the scene, which they say gives proof that the event was stage-managed.

The story was widely shared on social media:

Image source, .

BBC World Service

The US military says it has carried out an air strike in Somalia against the Islamist group al-Shabab, killing one militant.

In a statement, the US command in Africa, known as Africom, said it had launched the attack yesterday afternoon near the town of Baraawe, south-west of the capital, Mogadishu.

It's the second such strike this week, in which a total of four Islamist militants have been killed.

Al-Shabab is fighting against Somalia's UN-backed transitional federal government and wants to impose a strict form of Islam in the country.

For the first time, Lagos is hosting a fashion week dedicated to the plus-sized woman.

The new event in Nigeria's commercial capital embraces body positivity, organisers say:

One of the models, Praise Oulaye, told the BBC how she had almost lost hope before landing a modelling contract with an agency in London:

British public relations firm Bell Pottinger, which was censured for running a campaign to stir up racial tension in South Africa, is expected to go into administration, the firm has said.

Acoording to UK media reports, an announcement was made to its UK staff late on Thursday saying that the firm could go into administration next week.

South Africa's main opposition party Democratic Alliance had reported Bell Pottinger to the UK's industry trade body, over what it called a "hateful and divisive campaign", leading to the company's expulsion.

Bell Potinger was found to have broken industry standards by running a social media campaign emphasising the power of white-owned businesses which used the #WhiteMonopolyCapital hashtag.

The campaign was run for Oakbay, a firm owned by the wealthy Gupta family, who have close links with President Jacob Zuma.

Read more on the BBC News website

Image source, Reuters

Ride hailing-app Uber has condemned Thursday night's violent clashes between its drivers and metered taxi-drivers in South Africa's largest city of Johannesburg, EWN reports. , external

The company said that it was investigating the circumstances that led to the violence and that it was relieved that the driver of one of the torched cars was not injured, the report says.

According to News24, external, the Uber drivers retaliated when a group of men, believed to be operators of metered-taxis, poured petrol on Uber vehicles and set them alight.

The clashes are over operating routes, with the metered taxis saying that Uber has encroached into their turf.

South Africa National Taxi Council (Santaco) spokesperson Thabisho Molelekwa condemned the violence on both sides:

He blamed “unequal competition” from Uber for sparking the violence, and added:

The security forces in Togo fired tear gas in the early hours of this morning to disperse hundreds of anti-government protestors taking part in a late-night sit in in the capital, Lomé.

News agencies have been filing photographs of demonstrators bedding down for the all-night vigil:

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Police moved in following 48-hours of mass country-wide demonstrations demanding an end to 50 years in power of the Gnassingbe family.

There's been no word on casualties.

The protests went ahead despite a pledge by President Faure Gnassingbe to reintroduce a two-term limit for Togo's heads of state.

The authorities have ordered widespread internet cuts over the past two days hours in an attempt to curb the demonstrations.

Today's African proverb:

Image source, Getty Images

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