Supporters of the Ugandan musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine may have been banned from the country's airport, but a small group of them have been spotted outside his home in the capital, Kampala.

He is due to land at the country's main airport soon on the final leg of his journey back from the United States.

He was there receiving treatment for injuries he alleges he received while in police custody.

Before leaving on this leg of the journey he said he thought the government was "panicking" (see below).

Ugandan musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine has said he is afraid of returning home "because of the way the government is conducting itself".

He was speaking at the international airport in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, before boarding a flight to Uganda.

It's the final leg of his journey back from the United States where he was seeking treatment for injuries that he alleges he got when tortured in custody.

Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, is facing charges of treason relating to an alleged attack on the convoy of President Yoweri Museveni during a by-election campaign.

Roads have been sealed off and barricades erected around Uganda's Entebbe Airport ahead of his return.

There's a tight armed police cordon around the airport, with helicopters circling overhead.

"I'm feeling better and I hope to recover slowly by slowly. I'm going back him, although the situation back home is uncertain," he said at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta airport.

"The government is evidently panicking because they've never seen so many people united and speaking with one voice," he added.

Nigeria has suspended plans to relaunch its national airline two months after the attempt to revive the carrier was announced.

Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika released a statement on Twitter after Wednesday's cabinet meeting saying that ministers had made "the tough decision" to suspend the project.

"We thank the public for the support as always," he added.

The airline, which is set to be called Nigeria Air, was launched with some fanfare at an international air show in July.

It was due to start commercial flights in December.

The plan was for the federal government to own just 5% of the airline in a public-private partnership. The proposal was designed to allow for professional management and avoid previous mistakes.

"This will be a national carrier that is private sector led and driven. It is a business, not a social service," Mr Sirika said at the time.

Reactions to his tweet on Wednesday announcing the suspension of the plans have been very critical:

South African Kessie Nair has been arrested after using a racial slur to describe President Cyril Ramaphosa in a video that has been widely shared online.

In the nearly five-minute long rant Mr Nair says that the president should be charged with "frauding this nation, for oppressing this nation, for high treason for failing and he's the source to all crime violence poor healthcare, poverty that prevails in a so-called true democracy".

Image source, News24

Mr Nair is due to appear in court on the charge of crimen injuria, which is defined as impairing the dignity of another.

Earlier this year, Vicky Momberg was jailed on the same charge.

Mr Nair has defended his commments, which he posted on Facebook, saying that he was trying to get the nation's attention, News24 reports, external.

"Nobody wakes up one morning and makes a statement and a video like that on social media," he is quoted as saying.

In the video, Mr Nair criticises the current government saying that it is continuing the policies of racial division.

His family says he has mental health problems and needs help, the Citizen newspaper reports, external.

Thursday's proverb:

Image source, AFP

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

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

BBC Africa Live
Farouk Chothia

That's all from BBC Africa Live for now. You can 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 Wednesday's proverb:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with a photo of groundnuts laid down in front of a home near Zimbabwe's capital, Harare:

Image source, EPA

A 25-year-old South African man has been ordered to leave Italy after he flew a drone near the Vatican while the pope was leading Sunday prayers, Rome police have said.

The man's drone and camera had been seized, police added in a statement.

Last year, two French tourists were fined about $3,000 (£2,300) for flying a drone near Rome's famous Colosseum, AFP news agency reports.

Andrew Harding
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa’s top banks have accused the governing African National Congress (ANC) of pressuring them to help out a notorious business family implicated in high-level corruption.

The accusations have been made this week at a judicial inquiry into the activities of former President Jacob Zuma, the Gupta family, and what’s become known in South Africa as the crime of “state capture”.

On Wednesday, it was Nedbank CEO Mike Brown’s turn to describe, under oath, how a senior minister had put pressure on him to support the Gupta family, whose business accounts had been shut down by local banks concerned about alleged corruption.

“I found it particularly strange. It felt like a form of threat,” said Mr Brown, explaining that Mosebenzi Zwane, the former mining minister, had suggested that “things could happen to your [banking] licence if you don’t behave in a particular way” and help the Guptas to resume their banking activities.

Mr Zwane has yet to respond to the allegations raised at the inquiry.

The Guptas, who have since fled South Africa but maintain their innocence, are close friends of ex-President Zuma.

It’s alleged they conspired together to place allies in key state institutions in order to win control of lucrative state contracts and to avoid prosecution - allegations that eventually helped force Mr Zuma out of office and prompted the creation of a Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

The ANC has promised to co-operate fully with the commission, and has urged South Africans not to prejudge its findings.

Mr Zuma has repeatedly ridiculed the notion of “state capture” and insisted he’s innocent. His son, Duduzane, who was employed by the Guptas, recently said he would be ready to testify.

To some extent, this feels like a momentous time for South Africa, as the alleged corruption of the Zuma era is exposed and, perhaps, purged from the system.

But the ANC is deeply divided. The forces accused of looting the state and undermining key institutions may be weakened, but they’re not defeated.

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka

Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu has fired the minister in charge of community development and social welfare, making her the first casualty of an investigation into what happened to about $4.3m (£3.3m) meant for poor families.

Mr Lungu acted "swiftly" by relieving Emerine Kabanshi of her post following allegations of the "misuse" of money in her ministry, chief government spokeswoman Dora Siliya said in a tweet.

The money had gone missing from the Social Cash Transfer programme, and had been used to buy expensive vehicles, according to the UK-based journal Africa Confidential.

The UK has suspended direct financial aid to Zambia following the allegations, saying it takes a "zero-tolerance approach" to corruption and fraud.

Ireland, Sweden and Finland have also freezed aid to the country.

Zambia’s biggest opposition party, the United Party for National Development (UPND), said it was "heartbreaking that donor funding meant for the old, women and children who have no other means of survival" was being "plundered", UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema said.

In a Facebook post, Mr Lungu said he had also dismissed the Postmaster General, McPherson Chanda.

He had ordered a "clean-up" of the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services and the Ministry of Transport and Communications, especially Zampost, the state-owned postal company, Mr Lungu said.

Anti-corruption agencies have been instructed to carry out a speedy investigation to establish whether there was "criminal liability" over the Social Cash Transfer programme, Mr Lungu said.

The aid freeze by the UK is believed to affect the education, health and nutrition sectors, as well as social cash transfers for the poorest Zambians.

On Wednesday, the UK's Department for International Development said there was "no evidence that confirms any loss of UK taxpayers' money".

BBC Sport

Four men are competing to become the next president of the problem-hit Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).

The polls, scheduled for Thursday in Katsina State in northern Nigeria, are expected to go ahead despite moves from some quarters to prevent them from taking place.

A faction claiming to run the National Association of Nigerian Footballers wants the elections halted and Nigeria's Sports Minister Solomon Dalung has labelled the electoral gathering as 'illegal'.

However football's world governing body, Fifa, has given the election process its seal of approval by sending two observers, Luca Piazza and Solomon Mudege, while the president of the Burkina Faso Federation, Sita Sangare, is expected to oversee the event on behalf of the Confederation of African Football.

The four men hoping to take charge of one of the hottest seats in African sport are incumbent Amaju Pinnick, former president Aminu Maigari, Taiwo Ogunjobi and Chinedu Okoye.

Read more about them here

Liberia's former central bank governor Milton Weeks says he is fully co-operating with the police as they investigate allegations that at least one container-load of newly printed banknotes has gone missing.

Mr Weeks told the BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh in the capital, Monrovia, that he was "definitely" not aware of any money missing after it was printed abroad, and brought to the country between November last year and August this year.

"I myself want to get to the bottom of this to understand where these allegations are coming from," he added.

Mr Weeks said he still had all his "civil liberties".

Earlier, the Ministry of Information said he was among a list of people barred from leaving the country while investigations take place into the alleged disappearance of the money reported to be worth between $60m (£45.6m) and $100m.

See earlier post for more details

Image source, AFP

Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has rejected calls by the African Union to retract comments he made referring to African migrants as "slaves", AFP news agency reports.

Mr Salvini said his comments had been distorted.

"In fact, in Vienna I said exactly the opposite, to defend asylum seekers and immigrants who some people in Europe use as slaves," AFP quoted him as telling journalists.

Mr Salvini's made the comments during a row with Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn at a migration conference on Friday.

Mr Asselborn had suggested that Europe needed immigrants because of its ageing population when Mr Salvini, according to AFP, replied by saying: "In Italy we feel it's necessary to help our children make more children. And not to have new slaves to replace the children we're no longer having."

The AU said in a statement , externalon Tuesday that he should "retract his derogatory statement about African migrants".

"It is the view of the African Union that name-calling will not resolve the migration challenges facing Africa and Europe," it added.

Liberia's government has banned 15 people, including the son of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, from leaving the country while it investigates the alleged disappearance of tens of millions of dollars intended for the central bank, the Ministry of Information has said in a statement.

Border posts have been informed that Charles Sirleaf, the deputy governor of the central bank, and Milton Weeks, the former governor of the bank, are among those barred from travelling abroad, the statement added.

Mr Sirleaf and Mr Weeks have not yet commented.

However, Mrs Sirleaf was quoted by the Front Page Africa news site, external as saying that the bank had given "full evidence and clarification" to refute allegations that the money had disappeared.

Image source, Getty Images

The government has ordered an investigation into the alleged disappearance of the newly printed bank notes that had reportedly come from abroad between November last year and August this year.

"The government... takes the ongoing investigation seriously because it has national security implications," the statement added.

The statement did not say how much had allegedly gone missing. Some reports put the number at around $60m (£45.6m) and others at around $100m.

The central bank had flatly denied that containers packed with the money had disappeared from the port in the capital, Monrovia, Liberia's Daily Observer news site reported., external

Mrs Sirleaf, a former Nobel Peace Prize winner, stepped down as president in January after her two terms ended.

She was succeeded by former football star George Weah, following his stunning victory in elections a month earlier.

See earlier post

Temidayo Olofinsawo
BBC Yoruba editor, Ilara-Mokin

Image source, bb

The residents of Ilara-Mokin, a town in Nigeria’s western state of Ondo state, celebrate the harvest season in an unusual way – by beating themselves with sticks during the New Yam Festival.

Last Monday, the revellers danced and sang with joy without showing any sign of pain despite the welts on their backs.

The festival sees many people returning home from neighbouring states to join in.

Some even send money back to relatives to help them buy canes ahead of their arrival.

The King of llara-Mokin, Oba Aderemi Adefehinti, told BBC Yoruba that he was trying to stop the practice of self-flagellation, but he said it was difficult as people loved it and the cultural event attracted many participants.

During the festivities, prayers are offered by the monarch and local chiefs for a bountiful harvest in the coming year.

Whistle-blowers explain how bribery has impacted on all levels of football in Algeria.

Over three years, BBC Arabic spoke to referees, players, club chairmen and two match fixers, known as “intermediaries”, about how it works day-to-day.

Kheireddine Zetchi, the president of the Algerian Football Association, has told the BBC that cleaning up football "is one of the priorities of the current management team".

Animated by Darren Wall

Police in Uganda have warned that any welcoming rally for musician-turned-MP Bobi Wine will be unlawful.

Police said they expect Bobi Wine - whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi - to abide by traffic laws when he returns on Thursday. He has been in the US for medical treatment after allegedly being tortured by the military.

Security agencies had received intelligence of "countrywide mobilisation" to welcome him at the Entebbe International Airport, police said.

Only his immediately family would be allowed to receive the MP at the airport, and he would be "availed security" to go to his home, police added.

The government's media centre has been tweeting details about the police's press conference:

Bobi Wine hit back in a tweet, saying: "Well, for your information, no single family member will receive me at the airport."

He added: "I am a free Ugandan with the right to move freely in my country. The police has no business telling me who receives me and who cannot or where I go and where I cannot. This impunity must stop now. Wama see you friends tomorrow."

The MP - who has been charged with treason - also gave a glimpse of his itinerary:

See earlier post for more details

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

MPs in Somalia say at least three children have been killed by air strikes in the south of the country.

The children died when their school was hit in the town of Sakow.

The school is run by the militant Islamist group al-Shabab, which controls the area.

The main hospital in Sakow district was also hit, and is said to have been destroyed.

There are reports that two senior members of al-Shabab were in Sakow, but it is not clear what happened to them.

The US and Kenya have carried out frequent air strikes in the region.

Read: Who are al-Shabab?

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa's leading euthanasia campaigner, Sean Davidson, has been freed on 20,000 rand ($1,357; £1,030) bail following his arrest on a murder charge.

Mr Davison, the founder of Dignity SA, was arrested over the death of medical doctor Anrich Burger in 2013.

Mr Burger had become a quadriplegic following a motor vehicle accident.

Mr Davison's colleague at Dignity SA, Willem Landman, told the BBC that he was kept overnight at a Cape Town police station.

Mr Landman said the elite police unit, known as the Hawks, had confiscated his computer and mobile phone.

“There’s clearly a distinction between this sort of assisted death and to kill someone with evil intent,” Mr Landman added.

Mr Davison made it clear that he would deny the murder charge.

His lawyer read an affidavit on his behalf in court in Cape Town.

“It is and always has been my intention that I have not committed any offence as alleged in this matter," the affidavit stated.

State prosecutor Megan Blows told the court that "new info has come to light", indicating that Mr Davison "might have committed other similar offences", local media reported.

See earlier post

BBC Sport

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has cleared Liberian referee Jerry Yekeh from all allegations of corruption.

Yekeh was one of many African match officials secretly filmed by investigative Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

He was filmed at the 2017 West African Football Union Nations Cup finals in Ghana. However the footage did not explicitly show him receiving money.

The Fifa referee was among several officials provisionally banned in July pending submissions to a Caf disciplinary board.

Caf has now exonerated Yekeh "after a thorough check of the elements presented to them regarding the violation of Caf regulations".

Read the full BBC story here