Peter Mwai
BBC Africa, Nairobi

A senior official at the Kenya’s electoral commission (IEBC) has left her post and fled to the US.

Roselyn Akombe gave several reasons for her decision:

1. Security

Ms Akombe said her life was in danger and that her brother had been receiving threats too.

She cited the murder of the electoral commission's ICT manager, Chris Msando, killed about a week before the 8 August election, as an example of why she took the threats seriously.

She said that she also feared for the safety of the commission’s staff in the capital, Nairobi, and in opposition strongholds where supporters had vowed to disrupt the re-run of the election.

2. Divisions within IEBC

She said the electoral body was divided and had "become a party to the current crisis”.

“It has become increasingly difficult to continue attending plenary meetings where commissioners come ready to vote along partisan lines and not to discuss the merit of issues before them,” her statement said.

3. The IEBC is not ready

Ms Akombe believes the commission is not ready to organise “a free, fair, and credible election” next week.

She said commission should be frank and clearly state the challenges it faces.

4. Collective responsibility

Dr Akombe said her conscience did not allow her to defend some of the positions arrived at by the commission.

“It has become increasingly difficult to appear on television to defend positions I disagree with in the name of collective responsibility.”

Image source, Getty Images

US President Donald Trump told the widow of a soldier killed in an ambush in Niger that "he knew what he signed up for", an opposition lawmaker has said.

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson said she heard some of the "insensitive" remarks made by phone while she was in a car with Sgt La David Johnson's family.

Mr Trump, she said, then added: "I guess it still hurt."

A White House official said Mr Trump's conversations with the families of fallen servicemen were private.

Sgt Johnson, 25, was among the four US soldiers killed on 4 October in an area where Islamist militants, including al-Qaeda fighters, operate.

His widow, Myeshia, is expecting the couple's third child.

In an interview with CNN,, external Ms Wilson said Mr Trump's call happened shortly before Sgt Johnson's casket arrived in Miami.

The Democrat congresswoman said she listened to part of the conversation on speaker phone.

Read the BBC News story for more

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that the country will hold prayers over the weekend ahead of next week's election.

Mr Kenyatta's statement came after a top commissioner at the electoral commission fled the country saying she had received death threats.

Roselyne Akombe told the BBC the re-run election was not going to be credible.

Mr Kenyatta said that Kenyans should spend the weekend in "extended period of prayer and reconciliation" ahead of the re-run of the presidential election on 26 October.

His main rival opposition leader, Raila Odinga, withdrew from the race last week.

The president did not address Ms Akombe's resignation.

Kenya's electoral commission has responded to the shock resignation of one of its top officials a week before the re-run of the presidential election.

It tweeted that it "regrets" the resignation of Roselyne Akombe, who has fled to the US, saying she had received death threats:

Dickens Olewe
BBC Africa

The resignation of Roselyne Akombe, a top official at Kenya's electoral commission, is a big blow for the beleaguered commission - whose credibility had already taken a big hit after the Supreme Court annulled the 8 August election.

The commission was already reeling from last week's surprise withdrawal of opposition leader Raila Odinga from the election re-run scheduled for 26 October.

Mr Odinga had said that the reason for pulling out was because the commission had allegedly refused to implement changes to the electoral system and to fire staff who he blames for bungling the August vote.

Image source, Getty Images

Ms Akombe's revelation, in a BBC interview, that the commission is beset by internal wrangles and is pliable to partisan interests dispels any illusion that it is an independent body.

Moreover, she has also questioned the commission's preparedness for next week's election, saying that it was not going to be "credible".

She also said that electoral commission staff were being targeted in opposition areas as supporters of Mr Odinga try to scuttle plans to hold the repeat election.

Ms Akombe also questioned the commission's leadership, saying the chairman Wafula Chebukati was ineffectual.

Her assessment of Mr Chebukati lays credence to media reports that he has been undermined by other commissioners as he tries to implement changes before the repeat election.

He had promised to make staffing changes after the Supreme Court ruled that the last election had incidents of illegalities and irregularities.

All eyes are now on Mr Chebukati to see if he will stay.

Ms Akombe also said that she fled the country because she had been receiving death threats and mentioned the killing of the IT head of the electoral commission, Chris Msando, who was brutally murdered ahead of the August poll.

It is hard to see how the commission will recover from these shocking revelations to organise an election that meets the free and accountable standards.

When the commission settled on 26 October as the date for the repeat election President Uhuru Kenyatta supporters were quick to point out that it was also his birthday.

It seems right now that the only thing that is certain is that Mr Kenyatta will turn 56.

Image source, AFP

The plague outbreak in Madagascar has now killed 74 people, with 805 cases recorded in more than two months, the health ministry says.

Ten days ago, the death toll stood at 33 with 230 people infected.

There are normally about 400 cases of plague every year on the Indian Ocean island nation.

This year the majority of cases are of pneumonic plague, which affects the lungs and is transmitted through coughing.

Moreover, the current outbreak is unusual as it has affected urban areas, including the capital, Antananarivo, the World Health Organization says.

According to the AFP news agency, passengers at the city’s transport hubs are subject to medical inspections, infected areas have been fumigated to kill fleas.

Public gatherings have also been banned and schools and universities are shut.

The less deadly bubonic plague, which is more common on the island, is often spread by rodents fleeing forest fires.

Humans usually become ill after being bitten by infected fleas.

Two men have been wounded after a shooting at South Africa’s busy Cape Town International Airport, police say.

It is believed to be gang-related, sources told the News24 website.

Suspected Sexy Boys gang leader Jerome "Donkie" Booysen was shot four times after apparently being chased into the airport, the news site says.

This is the third time that Mr Booysen, who is now in hospital, has been targeted, it says.

"A man, about 50 years of age, was shot in a drive-by shooting and in the process a bystander, a 30-year-old man, was also hit," police spokesman Vish Naidoo said, without commenting on the motive.

Operations at the airport in Cape Town, a tourism hub, had not been affected by the early morning shooting, he added.

Image source, AFP

Today's African proverb:

Image source, AFP

Click here to send us your proverbs.

Welcome the BBC Africa Live page where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with news and trends across the continent.