Summary

  • Mugabe 'forgot' he fired Mnangagwa

  • Investigation ordered after rape claims in Kenyan hospital

  • Children 'freed' from al-Shabab school

  • Nigeria's failed primary teachers can reapply for jobs

  • Ugandan leader talks up death penalty

  • Rehabilited Boko Haram fighters 'to rejoin society'

  • Gambians reflect on Adama Barrow's first year

  • Former Ivory Coast minister jailed

  • Nigerian head teacher suspended over corporal punishment

Live Reporting

Natasha Booty and Dickens Olewe

  1. Ex-PM returns to Guinea-Bissau five years after coup

    The ousted former prime minister of Guinea Bissau, Carlos Gomes Junior, has returned to the country amid a political crisis, AFP reports.

    The news agency reports that Mr Gomes, who has lived in Portugal since being ousted in a 2012 coup, was met at the airport this morning by singing crowds - some held placards which read "the son of the country is back".

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    "Today, I have returned to embrace my brothers, my friends, to encourage them to find a way out of this crisis through dialogue," he reportedly told supporters of the governing African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).

    "I believe that reconciliation is possible," he reportedly added, telling reporters he had no intention of returning to politics.

    Mr Gomes and his PAIGC government were overthrown in a coup in 2012 led by the army chief. At the time, Mr Gomes was running in the presidential election and was expected to win.

    Guinea-Bissau has been gripped by a power struggle since August 2015, when President Jose Mario Vaz sacked the then prime minister Domingos Simoes Pereira.

    On Sunday, Prime Minister Umaro Sissoco Embalo resigned his post, in a bid to end a two-year political crisis.

    Last month, the West African regional group Ecowas urged Guinea-Bissau's leaders to resolve the crisis within two months or face sanctions.

    President Vaz and former Prime Minister Pereira have accused each other of blocking the implementation of an accord reached in October 2016, AFP reports.

    Read more: Guinea-Bissau country profile

  2. Ugandan president reconsiders death penalty

    Sammy Maina
    BBC Monitoring

    Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni says he is re-thinking his position on the death penalty because execution stays are making people think they can get away with murder.

    "On the death penalty, I have not been assenting to hanging of convicts because of my Christian background but being lenient is causing people to think they can cause harm and get away with it. I will revise my position," President Museveni wrote on his official Twitter account.

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    Uganda has 28 offences that attract the death penalty, the highest number in east Africa. Juveniles, pregnant women and the mentally ill are, however, exempt from the punishment.

    The last execution in the country happened in 2005, according to privately owned Daily Monitor newspaper.

  3. Ivory Coast former minister jailed

    BBC World Service

    A former defence minister in Ivory Coast has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for conspiring against the government.

    Moise Lida Kouassi served under President Laurent Gbagbo, who was ousted from power in 2011 and is now in the custody of the International Criminal Court.

    The Abidjan court ruled that six years ago, Mr Kouassi plotted with former army officers exiled in neighbouring Ghana to topple the government elected under President Alassane Ouattara.

    The trial is the latest in a series involving former government ministers.

  4. The Gambia marks one year under President Barrow

    Gambians are marking President Adama Barrow's first year in office.

    A year ago today, he was inaugurated following his shock election win against former President Yahya Jammeh, who after 22 years in office did not accept defeat until regional leaders intervened.

    Speaking to BBC Newsday, Information Minister Demba Ali Jawo said Gambians have been "impatient" but says the government needs more than a year to fix the "broken economy":

    Unemployment is a challenge, Gambian youths used to try to reach Europe and many died in the Sahara... some were being enslaved. I can assure you fewer people are leaving now than in the past."

    He also hinted at the lack of respect for human rights and freedom of speech under the former president, which he says his government is working to change:

    The reality is that there are a lot problems we've inherited. We're doing quite a lot in that regard. In the area of freedom for instance, people are so free to express themselves and they are not scared as they used to be in past."

    Listen to the full interview here:

    Minister says Gambians need to give President Adama Barrow more time

  5. Mnagangwa: Mugabe forgot he fired me

    Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said that his predecessor, Robert Mugabe, forgot he had fired him as his deputy as he tried to quell the crisis that eventually led to his being ousted as leader of the country.

    Mr Mnangagwa made the comments on Thursday during a one-day visit to Mozambique, New Zimbabwe news site reports.

    He said that he had a telephone conversation with the 93-year-old leader who asked him why he was out of the country.

    He recounted the conversation while mimicking Mr Mugabe's voice:

    Emmerson. Where are you? 'In South Africa'. What are you doing there? 'You fired me...you fired me last week."

    A video of his remarks has been shared on YouTube:

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    Mr Mnangagwa said that Mr Mugabe then urged him to return to Zimbabwe, but says he replied that "there are people who surround you want to eliminate me".

    He said he feared for his life.

    Behind the scenes, Mr Mnangagwa had been involved in an intense campaign against First Lady Grace Mugabe to succeed Mr Mugabe as president.

    He was subsequently fired as deputy vice-president leading the military to launch a dramatic takeover which ended Mr Mugabe's 37-year rule.

    Mr Mnangagwa returned to the country from South Africa and was sworn in as president on 24 November.

    Read: Emmerson Mnangagwa: The 'crocodile' who snapped back

  6. Today's wise words

    Our African proverb of the day:

    It's the stick within your reach - regardless of its size - that could kill a snake."

    A Samia proverb sent by Dan Ogalo in Kampala, Uganda

  7. Good morning

    Welcome to BBC Africa Live where we will bring you the latest news from around the continent.