Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC Africa, Kampala

Image source, AFP

Human rights activists have welcomed the sacking of Uganda’s police chief, whose time in office was marred by accusations of torture and a crackdown on public protests.

President Yoweri Museveni fired both Gen Kale Kayihura and the Security Minister Henry Tumukunde late on Sunday night.

Gen Kayihura and Uganda's police force have been under intense scrutiny, especially after a series of unexplained murders.

President Museveni has publicly criticised their ability to tackle crime, while Lt Gen Tumukunde had led a public campaign against Gen Kayihura and the police before he too was dismissed.

Human rights organisations have criticised Gen Kayihura over the years for what they say has been the politicisation of the police, which led to a crackdown on the opposition and activists.

They are calling for a substantial change within the force, not just a change of guard.

However, any hope of real change may be short-lived.

A close ally of President Museveni’s son has been named deputy head of police.

Brig General Sabiti Muzeeyi is expected to wield real power in the police and continue with its militarisation.

Questions have been swirling in the tabloid press as to whether Gen Kayihura held personal ambitions to assume power - and about the nature of his relationship with neighbouring Rwanda.

Several of his aides are before the court for illegally extraditing a Rwandan refugee back home.

Image source, gett

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is to visit the north-eastern Yobe State, home to the town of Dapchi, where 110 schoolgirls were kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram militants.

Mr Buhari also announced he would be visiting Taraba State on Monday, followed by Benue, Zamfara and Rivers states, according to Nigeria's Punch newspaper, external.

All have been badly affected by violence in recent months - some due to conflict between herders and farmers, and some down to the Islamist militants Boko Haram.

The 19 February kidnap in Dapchi has been balmed on suspected Islamist militants from the Boko Haram group.

Mr Buhari has said that the army and air force are in pursuit of the girls and are doing everything it can to find them.

But most of the parents of the missing girls don't feel the government is doing enough, the BBC's Stephanie Hegarty reported when she visited the town last week.

A father of one of of the missing girls, known as Zara, told our reporter that the government reaction has been slow:

"I don't know why the government has not reacted faster ... but these are not the children of senior politicians, they are the children of poor men."

The Dapchi kidnapping has echoes of the Chibok kidnapping, four years later, where militants took 276 schoolgirls.

Read:Dapchi kidnappings: Nigeria families' heartbreak and despair

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

Hundreds of customers have flocked to the South African factories suspected of being the source of the listeriosis infection which has claimed at least 180 lives in the last 14 months.

Members of the public are demanding refunds for some of the meat products they bought and some are returning the goods.

South Africa’s Health Minister Arron Motsoaledi told a media briefing the Enterprize facility in Germiston, east of Johannesburg, was the source of the outbreak.

But he said everyone had a role to play - including agriculture, trade and industry and local municipalities - as he blamed a long food chain and a lack of stringent controls.

He said: “There was no way that they were going to have this outbreak if there was no lapse. It definitely means there was a lapse, there was no good quality control."

The food items the minister demanded be removed from shop shelves include Russian and Vienna sausages, as well as the cold meat polony.

Two of South Africa's largest supermarket chains, Pick n Pay and Woolworths, have wasted no time in removing any products associated with the outbreak.

A Pick n Pay spokesman told TimesLive they would also be cleaning all their fridges to avoid cross-contamination.

National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said the bacterium is widely distributed in natural environment such as soil, water and contaminated food.

Companies implicated in the outbreak are yet to make their statements public.

Image source, AFP

A corruption trial involving oil giants Shell and Eni's business dealings in Nigeria, which was due to begin in a court in the Italian city of Milan today, has been postponed.

The judge said it would be transferred to another Milan court to avoid further delays.

The case involves the purchase of an offshore oil block in Nigeria for $1.3bn (£1bn) in 2011.

It is alleged a large part of the payment went not to the Nigerian state but to Nigerian politicians as a bribe.

The companies deny wrongdoing, saying they acquired the rights in accordance with Nigerian law.

Anti-corruption watchdog Global Witness says it could be one of the biggest corporate corruption trials in history.

The companies are also facing charges in Nigeria over the case, which concerns Nigeria's OPL-245 - an offshore oilfield estimated to hold 9bn barrels of crude oil - secured by Shell and Eni in 2011.

The body of a Catholic priest who went missing last week has been found mutilated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), according to local media.

Florent Mbulanthie was discovered on the banks of the Kasai River, near Ilebo, in the west of the country, Radio Okapi reported.

His colleague Father Gorges Menga told the radio station the priest's face was so damaged, he could not be recognised.

He added: "But when [the police] told me about the trouser, and clergymen shirt he wore, the sandals, the watch and rosary on his neck, I said it is him, bring him please."

Father Florent, 46, was in charge of training priests, but was known for being outspoken within his community.

A community member who knew him, but refused to be named, told Actualite.cd [in French], external: "He openly exhorted the people of Ilebo to take charge of the bad governance of the city."

A local teacher told the news site the body bore "signs of violence" and he had markings around his neck.

Radio Okapi, however, says cause of death is unknown.

Ferdinand Omondi
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

More than 500 senior doctors in Kenya’s biggest referral hospital have boycotted work, demanding the reinstatement of their colleague who was suspended for performing brain surgery on the wrong patient.

Sammy Oroko,the chairman of the doctors’ union, said suspending the Kenyatta National Hospital neurosurgeon was a knee jerk reaction which will not solve the underlying problems at the hospital.

Three other staff - the ward nurse, theatre receiving nurse and anaesthetist - were also suspended.

The union wants an overhaul of the hospital operations, including digitisation of the hospital’s booking systems and setting up more theatres.

Mr Oroko defended the boycott saying this was the opportunity to re-examine the entire system at the Kenyatta Hospital.

The doctors are also demanding outstanding allowances for senior doctors, which they say have not been paid as agreed with the state last year.

It emerged last week that a neurosurgeon had performed brain surgery on the wrong patient.

The hospital has denied reports the patient had since died.

Only last year Kenyan doctors countrywide went on strike for more than three months, demanding better working conditions and pay.

Paralysing operations in Kenya’s largest public hospital may have a knock-on effect on other hospitals countrywide and risk putting lives in danger.

Records show that the hospital receives more than 3,000 patients a day.

Shingai Nyoka
BBC Africa, Harare

Image source, AFP

At least 15 people are believed to have been injured after fighting broke out between rival factions in Zimbabwe's main opposition party.

Supporters of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) vice president Thokozani Khupe clashed with supporters of Nelson Chamisa in Bulawayo on Sunday.

Images of a man lying on the ground while being stoned by his fellow party members have gone viral.

Party officials say violent clashes broke out as Ms Khupe and her allies addressed a meeting at the party offices. A group disrupted the proceedings before stoning rivals.

Police moved in to end the clashes.

It is the latest in a string of violent reprisals against those who oppose the appointment of Mr Chamisa.

Ms Khupe is challenging Mr Chamisa after he was named acting president following the death of long time leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Attempts to bring the two leaders to negotiating table have failed.

Ms Khupe maintains that she is the rightful acting president of the party.

The Oscars ended a few hours ago, and, as usual, alongside the discussions of who did and didn't win are the reviews of the outfits on show at Hollywood's glitziest event.

American comedienne Tiffany Haddish's Eritrean-themed dress is getting special attention.

She wore an embroidered cape, headdress and dress called a "zuria".

African culture news site Okay Africa says that the dress is mostly worn in wedding ceremonies:

The comedian and actress, who presented an award at the ceremony, said that the outfit was in honour of her Eritrean father, who died last year.

Watch her interview below:

Our African proverb of the day:

Click here 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.