Zimbabwe's opposition MDC Alliance says some of its activists are still missing following a crackdown by security forces in the wake of last week's election.

The party's spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda said abductions and raids were being organised to deny the party the chance of challenging the elections results.

Six people died after MDC Alliance supporters clashed last Wednesday with soldiers, who used live bullets to disperse the crowd.

The demonstrators were angry over the delay in the releasing of the presidential election results as they suspected that the vote was being rigged.

Twenty-seven party activists have appeared in court at a bail hearing in connection with the violence.

Journalists have been tweeting from a press conference held by Mr Sibanda:

A BBC camera operator has isolated these frames that were filmed during Wednesday's trouble that show that soldiers were also using bayonets:

MDC Alliance candidate Nelson Chamisa lost the presidential election, but has alleged that the figures were massaged.

On Tuesday, he is set to reveal when he plans to go to court to challenge the results.

Five police have been killed in violence in western Cameroon over the weekend, where English-speaking separatists have declared an independent state, reports AFP news agency quoting security sources and witnesses.

AFP says four security force officials were killed in Esu village in the North-West Region on Sunday morning when their unit came under attack.

The same day, a police officer was killed by unidentified attackers at his home in Mutengene, near the South-West region's capital of Buea.

The division between Cameroon's French-speaking majority and its English-speaking minority has its roots in the colonial era - when the former German colony was divided between Britain and France after World War I.

Cameroon later became a federation of two states - one English-speaking, the other French-speaking - under one president. Some people in the Anglophone regions want to return to this model, while others are calling for an independent, breakaway English-speaking state. Both ideas have been ruled out by President Paul Biya.

While there have been long-held grievances among some, this recent wave of protests by English-speaking Cameroonians - which began in 2016 against perceived discrimination and dominance by the Francophone majority - has increasingly turned violent.

Dozens of police and troops have been killed, as well as more than 100 civilians, according to a government report in July.

At least 21,000 people living in the Anglophone regions have fled across the border into Nigeria, and the UN estimates that a further 160,000 are displaced within Cameroon. Many others are still hiding in the forest.

Aid agencies' efforts to assist civilians have been frustrated by the struggle to access conflict areas.

Read more:

• Burning Cameroon - Images you're not meant to see
• Cameroon country profile

A BBC investigation by our Africa Eye colleagues into the illegal sale of an addictive opioid has triggered sweeping reform across Nigeria and beyond:

1. Millions of bottles have been recalled (more than 2.4m to be exact) from the market in Nigeria by the federal government.
2. Arrests have been made in Nigeria for alleged smuggling and possession - that's mostly pharmacists and small-time dealers. But an ex-pharmaceutical executive implicated by the report remains on the run and missing.
3. Ghana has banned all production and importation of codeine syrup.
4. Public screenings of the BBC documentary, Sweet Sweet Codeine, by members of the public and NGOs in Nigeria have attracted big crowds - more than 4,000 students reportedly attended one viewing in Kaduna.
5. Jail terms for possession of up to two years are now enforceable in Nigeria, as are fines of more than $5,500 (£4,260) for possession and related offences.

Read the article in full here.

Image source, Getty Images

In Zimbabwe, more than two dozen activists thought to be from the opposition MDC Alliance have appeared in court on charges relating to the violence witnessed in post-election protests, AFP news agency reports.

Six people died in protests last Wednesday when demonstrators and security forces clashed. Soldiers opened fire on the protesters.

AFP says that the 27 - that's 19 men and eight women - have been linked to the deaths by the prosecution. State prosecutor Michael Reza argued that they should be denied bail.

"There's more than a likelihood that they will reoffend, they will intimidate witnesses, they will interfere with evidence and they will not attend trial," Mr Reza is quoted as saying.

"These are people with unfinished work business outside. The deaths of six people... are directly linked to the accused."

Image source, AFP

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has become the latest African leader to congratulate Emmerson Mnangagwa on his victory in Zimbabwe's presidential election.

Mr Mnangagwa won 50.8% of the vote, which took place last Monday.

The result was announced in the early hours of Friday morning, but has been contested by the president's main challenger Nelson Chamisa. He alleges that the vote count was tampered with.

There was no reference to this in Mr Kenyatta's tweet, who said that the result was proof of the "high regard" Zimbabweans have of his "able leadership".

Mr Chamisa's MDC Alliance is expressed to hold a press conference soon to update people on its legal challenge to the election.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

The Ethiopian government has sent a high-level delegation to Eritrea for talks with the rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), the official Ethiopian News Agency reports.

The delegation is led by Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu and Oromia State Governor Lema Megersa, and is due to meet OLF leader Dawud Ibsa.

The OLF has not yet accepted Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's call to all foreign-based opposition groups to return home and pursue their aims by peaceful means.

The OLF has been fighting for the self-determination of people in Ethiopia's Oromo region.

Until June, the rebel group had been on Ethiopia's list of banned terrorist organisations.

Much of the political unrest in the country has centred on the Oromo region, where people have complained about political and economic marginalisation.

Russell Padmore
Business correspondent, BBC News

Image source, Reuters

The success of the peace deal ending South Sudan's five-year civil war may depend on the economic opportunities that stability in the country could bring.

According to the African Development Bank South Sudan is the most oil-dependent country in the world.

Until conflict disrupted the industry in 2013, oil accounted for 60% of the economy, contributing 95% of the government's revenues.

The sector produces 130,000 barrels of crude a day, but the government in Juba aims to double that after opening negotiations with companies like Total of France and UK-based Tullow Oil.

If stability becomes a reality South Sudan could develop farming. Experts say 70% of the nation's land is fertile, but only 5% is cultivated.

Investment is needed to build modern roads in a country where few exist and provision of electricity will remain a problem with most businesses forced to use diesel generators.

South Sudan will still rely on importing goods and services from neighbours like Uganda and Sudan. In the longer term the aim will be to integrate the country into the economy of the East African Community.

A major problem facing South Sudan is the loss of human capital, as many who would have added to the skilled workforce left the country as refugees during the conflict.

Talks between Ethiopian federal government officials and the local administration in the country's Somali region are continuing, a government source has told the privately owned Addis Standard online publication.

Ethnic violence in recent days has left several people dead. Churches have been burnt and shops have been looted as people got involved in a power struggle between the local and national governments.

The negotiations - which the Addis Standard describes as peace talks - began on Saturday. But there has been no official central government statement on what has been happening in the Somali region.

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Zambia

Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Moïse Katumbi says he has not given up on his bid to stand in this year’s presidential election.

Mr Katumbi was hoping to get into DR Congo, after a two-year self-imposed exile, but the authorities twice blocked his entry, leaving him stranded in neighbouring Zambia.

It means he could miss the deadline to register his candidacy.

Mr Katumbi was sentenced in absentia to 36 months in prison over illegally selling property that did not belong to him. He says the charges were bogus.

The former Katanga governor says he is now seeking the intervention of the African Union and the regional body Sadc to ensure he is allowed to return home and file his nomination.

He told the BBC:

The deadline for presidential nominations is Wednesday.

President Kabila’s term officially ended in December 2016 and is constitutionally barred from standing for a third term.

The former warlord and vice-president, Jean-Pierre Bemba, who was recently acquitted by the International Criminal Court after a 10-year incarceration has registered his candidacy.

Image source, AFP

Three candidates have launched legal challenges disputing the result of last week's presidential election, AFP news agency reports.

A second round run-off is due on Sunday after incumbent President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita took 41.4% of the vote. He's set to face Soumaila Cissé, who polled 17.8%.

But Mr Cisse, along with third-placed Aliou Boubacar Diallo and fourth-placed Cheick Modibo Diarra, has filed a case in court.

AFP quotes his spokesman as saying that Mr Cissé is alleging that ballot boxes were stuffed, along with other irregularities.

Voting in the election on 29 July did not take place at about 700 polling stations following threats by armed groups.

Image source, Tour du Rwanda

The second stage of the annual Tour du Rwanda cycling competition has just started as the competitors leave the capital, Kigali, for the 120km (74.5 mile) ride to Huye in the south.

Algeria's Azzedine Lagab won the first stage - a 104km ride in Rwamagana, in the east.

The ride will finish in Kigali on 12 August.

The Tour's Twitter feed says Rwandan cyclist Eric Manizabayo has taken an early lead on the second day.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has signed a power-sharing agreement with rebel leader Riek Machar and other opposition groups in a bid to end five years of civil war.

Large crowds cheered outside the venue in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, as the deal was signed.

Since the war broke out in 2013, about four million people have been displaced.

Analysts say there's still great concern about whether this new agreement will succeed.

Dr James Okuk has been speaking to the BBC's Newsday programme about the deal.

Image source, BBC Somali

Non-Somalis living the eastern Ethiopian city of Jigjiga are "in hiding", a resident of the city has told the BBC Amharic service.

Jigjiga is the main city in the country's Somali region.

At the weekend angry crowds took to the streets after the Ethiopian military deployed in the city to try to end a power struggle between the Somali region's local administration and the central government.

There has been a wave of ethnic violence in the Somali region in recent days leading to eight churches being set on fire and several priests being attacked.

Fighting between ethnic Somalis and Amharas continued in Jigjiga into Sunday.

On Monday, the situation in the city was calmer, the resident told the BBC..

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Welcome to BBC Africa Live where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with news and developments on the continent this week.