Image source, Reuters

Zimbabwe says it will join its neighbours in banning imports of processed meat products from South Africa after a deadly listeria outbreak there.

South Africa's government has blamed a sausage known as polony for the listeria poisoning which has killed 180 people. It advised people not to eat any processed meat.

It ordered a recall of the product, prompting shops to clear their shelves.

Namibia, Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana and Zambia later followed suit, all ordering a recall or suspending imports.

Nigerians have reacted angrily to billboards welcoming the president's son home after medical treatment abroad following a motorbike accident.

"Nigeria children are grateful to the almighty God for your life - we will always pray for you," reads one of the signs on display in the capital Abuja. The other says "Uncle Yusuf we love you".

Some see the decision to erect billboards praising the president's son as tone deaf at a time when efforts to rescue more than 100 schoolgirls kidnapped by militants are under scrutiny.

One Twitter user called the posters a display of "sycophancy":

Another labelled it absurd:

Prudent Nsengiyumva
BBC Great Lakes

Police in Rwanda have arrested six church leaders including Bishop Innocent Rugagi, one of the famous pastors in the country, for plotting to defy a government order requiring churches to comply with building regulations and noise pollution.

About 700 churches have been closed down for failing meet these requirements.

Bishop Rugagi, who leads the “Abacunguwe church” (Redeemed Gospel Church), was allegedly heard criticising what he called an abrupt decision to stop the churches from operating.

The arrest of these preachers comes after President Paul Kagame publicly criticised what he called a huge number of illegal churches in the country.

Mr Kagame questioned whether these churches, in his words, bring any worthy benefit to the people.

He also said that they cause security risks.

Our African proverb of the day:

Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.

Welcome to BBC Africa Live, where we will bring you the latest news and views from around the continent throughout the day.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live page today, where we have been keeping an eye on Mugabe's rumoured political ambitions, a charcoal feud in Kenya, and the arrest of an Egyptian journalist - among many other stories.

Keep scrolling down to see more, and keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website.

A reminder of Tuesday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs

And we leave you with this photo from Instagram user maile_tadese of a mock wedding in Ethiopia.

Sammy Awami
BBC Africa, Dar es Salaam

Herders in Tanzania are killing more than 200 lions every year according to a conservationist at Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute.

Dennis Ikanda says given the global status of lions, an intervention is required to resolve the conflict between wildlife and pastoralists bordering national parks.

The increased population of cattle and scarcity of grazing areas have been sending pastoralists closer to the boundaries of the national parks, where encounters with lions and other wildlife become unavoidable.

So, as lions kill their cattle, pastoralists kill the lions.

But even though the number appears high, Mr Ikanda says the figure does not necessarily amount to the extinction of lions in the near future.

“Tanzania has a very stable lions’ population and the main reason for this is mainly due to the amount of land that has been set aside for conservation of lions and other species," he told the BBC.

"We estimate that the lion population of 16,000 or 17,000 is well within the protected areas which are far from the reach of the conflict. So we will always have the lions as long as we can maintain the integrity of the boundaries of these protected areas.”

However, Dr Ikanda said education and conservation awareness was vital for the communities - along with a "diversification" of their livelihoods.

Ruaha national park in southern Tanzania is believed to be hosting more than 10% of the world’s lion population.

Sierra Leone goes to the polls to vote for a new president, as well as MPs, mayors and local councillors, in two days time.

There is a possibility the turn-out could be record-breaking.

So what do Sierra Leoneans want their new leaders to do for them?

The BBC's Umaru Fofana looks at the challenges which lie ahead for the victor.

The World Health Organisation ( WHO) has said the listeria outbreak which has killed 180 people since January 2017 is the largest ever recorded globally, an official has told news agency Reuters.

Peter K. Ben Embarek, who manages the WHO International food safety network, said: "Yes, this is the largest ever recorded outbreak of this severe form of listeriosis globally."

South Africa has been found to be the source of the listeria poisoning.

Read our earlier post.

Image source, AFP

The US says the release of a graphic helmet video of an American soldier killed in Niger in October last year shows the "depravity" of the Islamic State (IS) group.

The US Defense Department said it was "aware of alleged photos and IS propaganda video".

IS published a video purporting to show an ambush in Niger in which four US soldiers were killed.

The video consists mainly of raw footage, including images apparently filmed using a helmet camera belonging to one of the soldiers.

The propaganda film begins with still images showing an alleged pledge of allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by members of the Sahel-based group Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).

JNIM was formed from a number of West African jihadist groups in March 2017, and originally had pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.

The video seems to suggest that the attack was carried out by IS militants.

Read: Niger country profile

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) wants two musicians arrested over a Kikuyu song allegedly insulting members of the Kamba community, external.

KFCB Chairperson Ezekiel Mutua said the song titled ‘Ikamba’ by Isaiah and Waharaka mocks the Kamba community and castigates Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu, external.

“Its translation and real meaning and objective is to mock the community and deride its members over the ongoing controversy on charcoal burning (sic) in Ukambani,” he said, adding that it amounts to incitement, violence and hate speech.

In January, Governor Ngilu banned charcoal and sand trade in the county, citing their negative impact on the environment.

Residents reportedly started impounding trucks and arresting drivers transporting the banned items from the region.

The music video opens with footage of a saloon car transporting charcoal being burnt by protesting residents.

On 7 February, a charcoal truck was burnt, leading to protests by transporters from the central region of Limuru.

They called for Ms Ngilu’s arrest for inciting residents against charcoal traders and accused her of negative ethnicity.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Chairperson Francis ole Kaparo summoned the governor, who denied claims that her remarks targeted certain ethnic communities.

She also said the ban has been in place since 2014 and is only being enforced.

Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jr has filed a complaint to NCIC and the Director of Public Prosecutions, saying the song “is bound to excite tribal bigotry between the Kikuyus and Kambas”.

NCIC has said it is investigating the contents of the song.

Image source, Reuters

Namibia is the latest country to suspend meat imports from South Africa over listeria, news agency Reuters reports quoting the agriculture department.

The government identified the cold meat polony as the source of the listeria poisoning -which has killed 180 people since January 2017.

Supermarkets in South Africa have been clearing the popular sausage from the shelves.

Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana have also banned the sausage.

The listeria outbreak was finally traced after infecting people for more than a year.

In some people the disease - known as listeriosis - causes high temperatures, vomiting and diarrhoea. The elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and babies - both in the womb and newborn - are particularly vulnerable.

It is believed to have originated in an Enterprise Food factory in the northern city of Polokwane.

Read Africa Live's earlier post on the panic gripping South Africa here.

A prominent Egyptian journalist has been released on bail after he was arrested on allegations of insulting the police, news agency AFP reports.

Khairy Ramadan was detained on Sunday after he allegedly discussed low salaries paid to policemen on his show called Egypt Today on the public broadcaster Channel 1.

He had presented a breakdown of the officers' salaries of £282 ($390).

His detention follows a crackdown on what authorities called the spreading of "false news" ahead of presidential election on 26-28 March.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will run against a little-known candidate in the election, which he is expected to win.

The prosecutor's office said last week it would monitor news outlets and social media "in light of recent observed attempts to harm the security and safety of the homeland by publishing lies and false news".

It ordered state law officers to take "necessay measures under crimianl law" against false statement and rumours that harm the public or bring terror into the hearts of individuals".

Last week, Egypt demanded the BBC apologise over a report into its use of torture, which the government said was an "absolute falsification and fabrication".

The BBC, however, said it "stands by the integrity of its reporting teams".

Tanzanians living in South Africa are not being specifically targeted, a foreign ministry official in Dar es Salaam has said following the death of a PhD student in Johannesburg.

Adolf Mkenda spoke out after Baraka Leonard Nafari died in a hit-and-run near Johannesburg University halls of residence in Sophiatown 10 days ago.

It has been alleged he was chased down and hit by a taxi driver in the early hours of 23 February, although officials have not confirmed it.

Colleagues claim to have seen footage of Mr Nafari and a friend running for their lives, before he was struck and killed, according to South Africa's Times Live, external.

But Mr Mkenda, the Permanent Secretary in Tanzania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said ex-pats living in the city should not fear a return to the xenophobic violence which has gripped South Africa in the past.

Speaking to Tanzania's Daily News, external, he said it was most likely "one of the criminal acts currently painting South Africa red".

Mr Mkenda added: “It’s too early to suspect or insinuate the resurgence of xenophobic attacks in South Africa because that was an isolated case; you see even during the violence episodes of 2008 when foreigners from other African countries were being targeted, a lot of Tanzanians were spared based on their nationality."

Elsewhere, people have been paying tribute to Mr Mkenda, who studied in Belgium and Tanzania before moving to Johannesburg, on social media:

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

The daughter of Angola's former president, Isabel dos Santos, has denied allegations of corruption when she was head of the state oil firm, Sonangol.

She described as entirely legitimate a payment of nearly $40m (£29m) to a Dubai-based company after she was dismissed from Sonangol.

She said, under Angolan law, public officials must continue in their roles until a replacement was found.

Last week, the public prosecutor's office opened an investigation into the alleged graft.

Angola's new president Joao Lourenco has taken a number of steps to tackle corruption and nepotism.

Ms dos Santos was fired in November. Her brother José Eduardo dos Santos was removed as head of the country's $5bn (£3.7bn) sovereign wealth fund months later.

Image source, National Patriotic Front

The leader of Zimbabwe's newest political party has met up with Robert Mugabe, leading to speculation about whether the former president is really done with politics.

Retired Brigadier Ambrose Mutinhiri says he visited the politician at home to update him on his new role as presidential candidate for the National Patriotic Front (NPF), which is made up of former Zanu-PF members who were ousted alongside Mr Mugabe in November.

Mr Mutinhiri, a veteran of the 1970s fight for independence, resigned from the ruling Zanu-PF last week, saying he believed the military intervention which unseated Mr Mugabe was unconstitutional.

The BBC's Shingai Nyoka in Harare says many there believe Mr Mugabe and other ousted ministers have been working to form an alternative party which will challenge President Emmerson Mnangagwa in this year's elections.

An unnamed government source told state-owned newspaper the Herald that "essentially, what it means is it's the former president who is trying to stage a 'second coming' behind the person of the dutiful and beholden Ambrose Mutinhiri".

According to the press release, however, it was a courtesy visit, and a chance for Mr Mutinhiri to thank Mr Mugabe for "a cherished opportunity to work with and under him in various national capacities".

The Reuters news agency reports that NPF is planning to challenge the legality of President Mnangagwa's government at the Constitutional Court.

The High Court previously ruled the administration was legal.

Zimbabweans are set to go to the polls later this year.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, Reuters

Across Ethiopia's Oromia region, shops and markets are closed and transport paralysed as protesters begin the first of three days of a boycott called by activists.

In some places, public buses and minivans withdrew their services leaving many people stranded.

Schools have also been affected.

The strike action is against the state of emergency announced by the government last month, which was controversially ratified by parliament last week.

But the Command Post - the body which oversees the martial law - has warned protesters against disrupting normal life in the country.

Over the weekend at least five people died in clashes between security forces and demonstrators opposed to the emergency rule, which is the second in just two years.

Oromia has been the epicentre of anti-government protests, which erupted in Ethiopia in 2015. The government admits hundreds of people have died since then.

Jose Tembe
BBC Africa, Maputo

Image source, EPA

Authorities in Mozambique's capital Maputo say they have demolished 150 houses near a rubbish dump which collapsed two weeks ago killing at least 17 people - including children.

They said demolitions would continue in areas around the Hulene dumpsite and a further 300 homes would be affected.

The 19 February collapse happened after a pile of waste, some 15m (49ft) high, gave way in heavy rains.

Some 150 families were left homeless.

The dump is known to be home to some of the city's poorest residents, who build makeshift camps amid the rubbish.

Ivete Maibasse, a state official in charge of land and environment, said the demolitions were aimed at ensuring that the dwellers don’t return to the risky area.

She said the displaced families will be resettled.

The acting leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party has taken to Twitter in an apparent attempt to quell tensions between the group's factions.

Nelson Chamisa took over the running of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) following the death of its long-time leader Morgan Tsvangirai last month.

However, the party has long been riven by internal tensions, with vice president Thokozani Khupe making her own bid for the leadership.

They boiled over at the weekend and descended into violence - as Africa Live reported earlier.

On Monday morning, Mr Chamisa used his social media channels to address the issue, albeit not directly:

Jose Tembe
BBC Africa, Maputo

A Mozambique orphanage is begging the government for help after its children were attacked and raped by criminals.

The Mensageiro de Deus, in Chimoio town, says it has been forced to start moving its children elsewhere after its pleas for assistance from local prison guards went unheard.

The orphanage manager Jose Baptista said criminals had taken goods and raped some of the young girls and the women caring for them.

He said prison guards had refused to help as it was not their job.

"That’s why we are asking the government to come to our rescue," Mr Baptista explained.

"Maybe, with the government intervention, the guards can accept to protect us.”

Chimoio district administrator Daniel Andissene promised the government would step in after Mr Baptista agreed the centre could be used as a police station.

"This should take place within 30 days. It will all depend on the work to be done in the transformation process of the given infrastructure.”