Summary

  • The pilot was rehearsing ahead of independence day celebrations

  • Light aircraft in SA snared by mountain zipline

  • South Sudan political prisoners and political detainees to be released

  • Kenyan tea workers to take Unilever to court

  • US calls Cameroon to hold soldiers accountable

  • Fire guts popular Nigeria fruit market

  • Five charged in plot 'to assassinate' Ethiopian PM

  • Nigerians urged not to incite violence via social media

  1. Scroll down for Friday's storiespublished at 17:46 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    We'll be back on Monday

    BBC Africa Live
    Dickens Olewe

    That's all from the BBC Africa Live page this week. 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 today's wise words:

    Quote Message

    An ant-hill that is destined to become a giant ant-hill will definitely become one, no matter how many times it is destroyed by elephants."

    Sent by John Cyprian, Lagos, Nigeria.

    Click here to send in your African proverbs.

    We leave you with this picture of a capella singers competing at the National Isicathamiya Competition in the South African city of Durban. It is from our selection of the best pictures from this week.

    A capella singers compete at the National Isicathamiya Competition in DurbanImage source, AFP
  2. Light aircraft in SA snared by mountain ziplinepublished at 17:32 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Milton Nkosi
    BBC Africa, Johannesburg

    A light aircraft has been snared by a zipline in the famous South African holiday resort of Sun City.

    Reports by local media said that a couple was believed to be inside the small plane at the time of the crash on Friday morning.

    Spokesperson for North West police Col Adel Myburgh confirmed the incident.

    She told the BBC that a couple in their 60s were “rescued at about 15:00 (13:00 GMT) afternoon after their small aircraft flew into a zipline.”

    “It’s a miracle that there were no serious injuries. They were only dehydrated and were taken to a local hospital for further observations.”

    Public broadcaster (Sabc) shared a video of the aircraft dangling on the zipline.

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  3. Liberia bans foreign travel for 23 people over missing cashpublished at 17:07 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Mary Harper
    Africa editor, BBC World Service

    A court in Liberia has banned 23 more people from travelling abroad following the disappearance of more than $100m (£76m) worth of freshly printed banknotes.

    All of them are employees of the Central Bank.

    The authorities are investigating what happened to two shipping containers full of $16bn Liberian dollars in new banknotes which were brought into the country last year.

    They were printed abroad and destined for the Central Bank.

    Last week, 15 others were banned from overseas travel, including a son of former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

  4. Burundi suspends foreign NGOspublished at 16:49 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    BBC World Service

    Burundi has suspended the activities of most foreign non-governmental organisations (NGO) until they comply with a new law imposing tighter controls on their operations.

    The authorities said most of the estimated 130 NGOs in Burundi were not following regulations.

    NGOs have denounced the new law which imposes ethnic quotas and administration fees and obliges them to keep their accounts in foreign currency in the central bank.

    Burundi is experiencing foreign currency shortages due to European Union sanctions. NGOs provide essential services in the country.

    More about Burundi

  5. Curfew imposed on Nigerian city of Jospublished at 16:33 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Ishaq Khalid
    BBC Africa, Abuja

    Map of Nigeria

    A dusk to dawn curfew has been imposed on the city of Jos, in Nigeria's central Plateau state, and its surrounding area following hours of ethnic and religious tension.

    Angry youths protested against an attack by suspected cattle herders, who are predominately Muslim, on Friday morning.

    They destroyed properties belonging to Muslims, which sparked more tension and skirmishes between the two sides. Many shops remain closed.

    Plateau state commissioner of information, Yakubu Datti, told the BBC the curfew was put in place to prevent a further escalation of violence

    The skirmishes in Jos, the Plateau state capital, were in response to an attack on Thursday by suspected cattle herders on a predominantly Christian community on the outskirts of the city.

    Gunmen killed at least four people and wounded around two people, a spokesman for the special military task force in the area, Umar Adamu, told the BBC.

    The attack on Thursday is believed to be in retaliation to the killing of a herder the day before.

    The area has a decades-long history of violence between settled farming communities and nomadic cattle herders competing for land.

    These tit-for-tat clashes have erupted into inter-communal warfare, killing thousands in 2017.

    Read more:Fake news and Nigeria's herder crisis

  6. 'I paint African history with sand'published at 15:23 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Chiekh Mbacke Sow is a Senegalese artist based on Goree Island near Dakar. He creates beautiful paintings of African history using sand he imports from all over the world.

    Video Journalist: Faith Ilevbare

    Media caption,

    Senegal's sand painter: Creating beauty with grains

  7. Kenyan denied permit to head Tanzania Vodacompublished at 14:51 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Athuman Mtulya
    BBC Africa

    Tanzanian authorities have denied a Kenyan corporate manager, Sylvia Mulinge, a work permit to head the country’s biggest telecom company.

    Vodacom Tanzania, which is a subsidiary of UK’s Vodafone, appointed Ms Mulinge as CEO five months ago but she had to apply for a permit to work in the country.

    After months of silence and speculation, Vodacom Tanzania announced today that Ms Mulinge was denied the permit by the country’s labour commissioner.

    “Naturally we are disappointed and regret the labour commissioner’s decision and we will be engaging with the authorities. We are confident that Vodacom Tanzania has a strong management team in place to lead the company effectively until the search for a suitable candidate is finalised,” Vodacom Tanzania chairman was quoted as saying in the statement.

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    Ms Mulinge was on Thursday reemployed at Kenya’s largest telecommunication company Safaricom.

    This incident comes in the middle of a trade war between Kenya and Tanzania, the two biggest economies of the East African Community (EAC).

    The neighbouring countries are hitting each other with tariffs on a select number of goods, Tanzania’s The Citizen newspaper , externalreported on Friday.

    Last year, Tanzania seized and auctioned cattle from Kenya with the country’s President John Magufuli saying Tanzania was not Kenya’s grazing ground.

    In 2015, Kenya banned Tanzanian vehicles from accessing Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and Tanzania hit back by cutting the frequency of Kenya Airways' flights to the country by 60%.

    The spat was resolved by President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and the Tanzania’s former President Jakaya Kikwete.

  8. Nigeria Air Force pilot killed in jet crashpublished at 14:32 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    One of the two Nigerian air force pilots involved in an accident earlier today near the capital, Abuja, has died, the Air Force spokesperson has tweeted:

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    The planes were taking part in rehearsals ahead on Monday's independence day celebrations.

    Security men have cordoned off the area with emergency vehicles sighted in the area taking away what seems to be a body bag, the BBC's Chris Ewokor reports.

  9. Bids in for Ivory Coast's biggest cocoa producerpublished at 14:18 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Russell Padmore
    Business correspondent, BBC News

    A cocoa producer harvesting the cropImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    Defaulting cocoa farmers have made Ivory Coast's banks worried

    Creditors of the biggest cocoa exporter in Ivory Coast, which went bankrupt in July, will decide on Monday which company will be allowed to buy its assets.

    Three international agri-industry companies are reported to be interested in buying the operations of SAF Cacoa, which was liquidated following an order from the Ivorian Cocoa Board, the CCC.

    Ivory Coast is the world's biggest exporter of cocoa.

    SAF Cacoa, which purchased up to 200,000 tonnes of cocoa beans every year, collapsed owing about $143m (£109m) to Ivory Coast's Cocoa Board and double that to banks in the country.

    The American agriculture giant Cargill, plus its rivals Wilmar, which is based in Singapore, and Touton of France, are considered the serious bidders by the Ivorian authorities to acquire the firm's assets.

    It's thought that Wilmar and Touton are interested in SAF's Choco-Ivoire grinding plant, as well as its other cocoa and coffee factories.

    The U.S group Cargill is most interested in large storage warehouses.

    The cocoa board and other creditors want a swift decision on a sale, so that banks can be reimbursed quickly.

    Exporters of cocoa are major borrowers in Ivory Coast, but a wave of defaults has raised fears of the banking sector being destabilised.

  10. Kenyan MPs' Japan trip 'not happening'published at 13:52 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    The speaker of Kenya's Senate has denied a local newspaper , externalreport that he gave the go-ahead to five lawmakers to attend the women’s World Volleyball Championships in Japan.

    Ken Lusaka said some senators had wanted to travel to Tokyo but that he did not approve the 14-day tax-payer-funded trip because there was no money, The Star newspaper reports.

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    The senators were reportedly set to get a daily allowance of 100,000 Kenya shillings ($990; £760) during the trip.

    The daily allowance for volleyball players is $37, the Star reports.

    The report of the now cancelled trip comes two months after a group of 20 MPs went to Russia in June to watch the football World Cup.

    The lawmakers who went to Russia, ostensibly to learn how Kenya could host an event as big as the World Cup, presented a report to parliament in August which the Standard newspaper reported, external had mostly "been plagiarised without a whiff of attribution".

    Kenyan MPs are believed to be among the best paid in the world but last year they got a 15% pay cut reducing their salary to $6,100 a month.

    They also lost some of their generous allowances, such as for mileage and attending parliament.

    An average person in Kenya lives on $150 a month.

  11. Salva Kiir releases all prisoners of warpublished at 13:12 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    BBC World Service

    Salva KiirImage source, AFP

    South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has ordered the release of all prisoners of war and political detainees.

    The move is part of a peace agreement signed last month with the rebel leader Riek Machar.

    A number of Mr Machar's fighters and supporters are in detention, along with activists and other critics of Mr Kiir's government.

    Many of the prisoners are being held in military facilities in the capital, Juba.

    The aim of the peace deal is to end more than five years of civil war in South Sudan which became independent in 2011.

    It states that Mr Machar should return to government as one of five vice presidents.

  12. Zimbabwe ministers given ultimatum for new lawspublished at 12:49 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Shingai Nyoka
    BBC Africa, Harare

    President Emmerson MnangagwaImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected president on 30 July

    Zimbabwe’s speaker of parliament, Jacob Mudenda, has given government ministers 30 days to submit draft legislation in line with the 2013 constitution or face censure.

    Five years after Zimbabweans voted to pass a new constitution several outdated pieces of legislation remain on the statute books.

    President Emmerson Mnangagwa's party appears to be injecting some urgency to scrap outdated laws.

    Mr Mudenda has warned ministers they will be summoned to answer to parliament if they do not meet the deadline to produce draft legislation for some 30 laws prioritised by the president in his state of the nation address.

    In 2013, Zimbabweans voted overwhelmingly to overhaul the country’s constitution, strengthening human rights and capping presidential powers..

    Some of the major pieces of legislation highlighted by Mr Mnangagwa will decentralise political power, strengthen child rights and allow dual citizenship.

    Critics however say the government continues to drag its feet on other draconian laws affecting freedom of speech and association.

    Mr Mnangagwa became president last November after his predecessor, Robert Mugabe, was forced to resign. He then went on to win July's presidential election.

  13. Nigeria aircrafts 'involved in accident'published at 12:21 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Mayeni Jones
    BBC News, Lagos

    Two Nigerian air force planes taking part in rehearsals ahead of Monday's independence day celebrations have been involved in an accident.

    An air force spokesperson says no lives were lost.

    Unverified footage on social media appears to show that at least one of the jets crashed.

  14. Five charged for plot 'to assassinate' Ethiopian PMpublished at 11:50 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Mary Harper
    Africa editor, BBC World Service

    Abiy Ahmed supporters in massive rallyImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    A blast rocked the 23 June rally which was organised to show support for reforms being pushed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

    Five people in Ethiopia have been charged with terrorism in connection with what prosecutors say was an attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

    Two people were killed and more than a 100 injured in a grenade attack in June at a rally in Addis Ababa in support of Mr Abiy.

    Prosecutors allege the plot was masterminded by an Ethiopian woman based in Kenya. She was not in court.

    The prosecution said the attack was carried out by members of Ethiopia's largest ethnic group, the Oromo, because they believed Mr Abiy would not act in their interests.

    Mr Abiy is himself an Oromo.

    Read more about Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

  15. Fire guts popular Nigeria fruit marketpublished at 11:25 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Karina Igonikon
    BBC Pidgin, Lagos

    Aftermath of market fire

    A popular fruit market in Nigeria's south-eastern city of Port Harcourt went up in flames on Thursday night.

    Eyewitness Nteiro Elyon Elijah told me the fire started around 18:45 local time (17:45 GMT), but it was not clear what caused it.

    The suspicion is that it was set off by a spark form an electrical fault, he added.

    Mr Elijah also said that the fire service did not turn up despite traders making several phone calls.

    People who live in the area and members form a church called Living Faith, which shares a fence with the market, pumped water from their storage tanks to help put out the fire.

    Aftermath of market fire
  16. BBC Tigirinya unveils poetry competition winnerpublished at 10:48 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Biemnet SemereImage source, Biemnet Semere

    Biemnet Semere is the winner of BBC Tigrinya's inaugural poem competition.

    The 41-year-old's poem - Just Call Me By My Mother's Name! - impressed the judges with its quality of language, and conformity to Tigrinya poetry rules in terms of rhyme, rhythm and theme.

    It explores how some young men betray young women after impregnating them.

    The competition was launched on 30 July to revive, celebrate and enrich local poetry.

    Siltan Haylay from Ethiopia, and Solomon Gegrekirstons, an Eritrean living in South Africa, were first and second runners up respectively.

    Here's a translation of the winning poem:

    Just Call Me By My Mother's Name!

    Birth pangs, and a tragic end

    When two hearts refused to blend

    I heard the cry of my dear mother

    Mixed with sighs for unfaithful father

    Midwives at work, unable to notice

    The sound of pain and pure injustice

    Push! they shout and press and squeeze

    A life of lost love and broken dreams

    How she sang with love and danced with joy

    Trusting a love that was only a ploy

    Memory lane strewn with sorrow

    Bitter tears starting to flow

    And then came along

    The Good Lord

    He made the pain to go away

    And allowed me to see the day

    Well, let me stop here and just close

    the story

    For too many are my mother's woes

    People talk of customs and laws

    Just any father from friends and foes

    But my wish is to have a father of my own

    And not one who sires and is speedily gone

    But again why should I need a father

    When I am alreay born and rightly here!

    Well, let me tell you a little secret

    To love someone who has no respect

    For me and for all the rest

    Is to be feared like a pest

    It is all the same to me folks, all the same

    You can just call me by my mother's name!!!

  17. US calls Cameroon to hold soldiers accountablepublished at 10:07 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    The US has called on Cameroon authorities to hold soldiers, revealed by the BBC's investigative unit Africa Eye to be behind atrocities against civilians, to account, VOA reports. , external

    Pentagon spokeswoman Maj Sheryll Klinkel said the US military was working with the State Department to "ensure the government of Cameroon holds accountable any individuals found to be responsible".

    BBC Africa Eye's investigation looked into a horrifying video which had been circulating on social media.

    It showed two women and two young children being led away at gunpoint by a group of Cameroonian soldiers. The captives are blindfolded, forced to the ground, and shot 22 times.

    The investigation revealed where the incident happened, when it happened, and who is responsible for the killing.

    The government of Cameroon initially dismissed the video as “fake news” but subsequently arrested some of the soldiers captured in the video.

    The US has about 300 military personnel in Cameroon as part of an international effort to stop the spread of violent extremism in West Africa, VOA reports.

    Watch the full BBC investigation below:

    Media caption,

    Cameroon atrocity: Finding the soldiers who killed this woman

  18. Kenyan tea workers take UK company to courtpublished at 09:07 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Ferdinand Omondi
    BBC Africa, Nairobi

    Tea workers in Kenya have filed a case against multi-national company Unilever in the UK's Supreme Court for allegedly failing to protect them during the violence that followed the 2007 elections in which over 1,000 people were killed.

    They say Unilever failed to respect its own human rights policy during the attacks, a claim the UK-Dutch company denies.

    According to court documents, seven Unilever workers were killed and 56 women were raped in the ethnic violence.

    In a letter to Unilever CEO Paul Polman, the workers say local management put workers at risk by ignoring death threats reported by employees, including those from co-workers.

    Many employees, who came from other areas of the country, fled the tea plantation in western Kenya for six months, during which time they claim Unilever stopped their salaries.

    But Unilever insists every employee was compensated, and that it gave significant support to workers during that period, including more than $500,000 (£382,000) to help affected families.

    Tea workerImage source, AFP
  19. Friday's wise wordspublished at 09:01 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

    Our proverb of the day:

    Quote Message

    An ant-hill that is destined to become a giant ant-hill will definitely become one, no matter how many times it is destroyed by elephants."

    Sent by John Cyprian, Lagos, Nigeria.

    AnthillImage source, Getty Images

    Click here to send us your African proverbs.

  20. Good morningpublished at 08:58 British Summer Time 28 September 2018

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