Ferdinand Omondi
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Kenyan TV journalist Jacque Maribe has been arraigned in court today in connection with the murder of a woman in the capital, Nairobi, last week.

Jackie Maribe, a news anchor with Citizen Television, has been held in custody along with her fiance.

Ms Maribe will be detained for 11 days to give police time to investigate her possible involvement in the death of businesswoman Monica Kimani, whose body was discovered in a bathtub last week with her hands tied behind her back and her throat slit.

Police say they have already identified Jackie Maribe’s fiancé, Joseph Kuria Irungu to have been at the home of the deceased on the night of the murder.

But police have now told the court that they have evidence the couple were together that night, and have recovered crucial evidence from their shared apartment.

Police have also impounded Ms Maribe’s car for forensic examination after it was identified as the vehicle her fiance drove to the victim’s house.

This is the second, high-profile arrest in as many weeks to have created a social media frenzy in Kenya.

In a separate case, a governor, Okoth Obado, is also in custody after being charged with the murder of his pregnant lover, who was discovered in a forest with seven stab wounds.

Kenyans are closely following how police and prosecution are handling the cases, in a justice system where many murder mysteries have become cold cases.

French-Congolese artist Nicholle Kobi draws empowering images of black women, the kind she wishes she had seen growing up.

In this BBC Africa One Minute story she explains her motivations.

Princess Abumere
BBC News

Image source, AFP

Nigeria is committed to ending attacks by militant Islamists in the north-east of the country and making the region “safe for all”, President Muhammadu Buhari has said in his speech marking the 58th anniversary of independence from British rule.

He said that it was "a day of celebration and solemn reflection”.

He paid tribute to the victims of militant group Boko Haram and praised the armed forces for “working under the most difficult conditions”.

“We know that the goals of the Boko Haram terrorists include capturing territories, destroying our democracy and denying our children the right to education. We will not allow them to succeed,” he vowed.

Mr Buhari, who is seeking re-election next year, also spoke of how his administration is tackling environmental pollution, corruption, and the economic crisis.

“Developing a thriving democracy is not an easy task. There can be no quick fixes or short cuts. These are the most important lessons that we have learnt in our 58 years as an independent nation,” he said.

* If you are looking to find out more about Africa's most populous state, here are some books by Nigerian authors that can offer you a quick history lesson:

Half Of A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

For many millennials, Adiche’s novel was their first exposure to events surrounding the civil war and the campaign for the independent state of Biafra in fiction.

How to be a Nigerian by Peter Enahoro

The title of this book sums it up. Through his words and humour, Enahoro captures the conduct and characteristics of Nigerians in different scenarios.

A Platter of Gold by Olasupo Shashore

It tells the story of how Nigeria came to be. It also explores the colonial and pre-independence history of the country.

The Trouble with Nigeria by Chinua Achebe

Published in 1983, the book raises serious questions about leadership. Achebe explores ethnicity, patriotism and corruption.

There Was A Country by Chinua Achebe

This story is a powerful documentation of the coming of age of Nigeria, the experience of the civil war and its effects. Achebe writes about his experience during the civil war and his understanding of the effects.

The Complete Nigerian by Peter Enahoro

An observation of the peculiarities of Nigerian men and women.

Louise Dewast
Kinshasa, DR Congo

Felix Tshisekedi, son of veteran Congolese opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi, is one of four Democratic Republic Congo politicians seeking to become the presidential candidate of an alliance of seven main opposition parties to face President Joseph Kabila’s chosen successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, in elections scheduled for 23 December.

With 21 candidates in a single-round election, alliances are key to get a majority of the 40 million expected votes.

Former vice-president and ex-warlord, Jean-Pierre Bemba, and former Katanga governor, Moise Katumbi, who have both been barred from running, are part of the opposition pact.

Mr Tshisekedi told a joint opposition rally over the weekend that they will "sit down" this week to decide on "a common plan" and "common candidate."

"If I'm the candidate, I will win,” Felix Tshisekedi told the BBC in an interview in the capital, Kinshasa:

He however added:

The opposition failed to unite against President Kabila in 2006 and 2011 elections and several opposition parties also have to deal with internal rivalries.

One point the seven opposition parties agree on unanimously is the condemnation of electronic voting machines that the electoral commission wants to use.

They, along with some international observers, worry the machines could be used to cheat, as Mr Tshisekedi said:

The December election comes two years after Mr Kabila's term officially ended. He came to power in 2001 after his father Laurent-Désiré Kabila was assassinated.

The electoral commission had said that conflicts in some parts of the country were not favourable to hold an election but critics said that President Kabila was clinging on power.

Mr Tshisekedi told me that Congolese people were tired of President Kabila's rule and are ready for change:

Mr Tshisekedi also spoke about his late father, who he described as his "master".

"I want, if I can, to accomplish his dream."

The senior Tshisekedi died last year in Belgium but attempts to bring his body back to DR Congo for burial have been hit by a stand-off between the family and Congolese authorities.

His son says that his father had a dream for a better DR Congo governed by the rule of law:

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka

Image source, Zambia police

Police in Zambia arrested two Chinese nationals over the weekend over allegations that they were giving illegal military training to members of a local security firm.

One was arrested on Saturday and another on Sunday in the country’s tourist capital, Livingstone, police said.

In total, at least 11 people, including Zambians, were arrested in the operation, police added.

A Zambian director of Alert Safety Security in Livingstone was also detained, Southern Province Police Commissioner Bonny Kapeso said in a statement.

Police had confiscated shotguns, a pistol and ammunition, he added.

The security company and the suspects have not yet commented on the allegations.

Image source, Zambia Police

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has come in for strong criticism - most recently from the United States, but also from many African nations.

Tasked with bringing to justice perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, it has been accused of political and regional bias, and of failing to achieve convictions in some of its most high profile cases.

BBC Reality Check investigates:

Militant Islamist group al-Shabab says it carried out the car bomb attack in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, targeting an EU convoy, news agency Reuters reports quoting the group's operations spokesman.

"We targeted officers of EU forces with [a] suicide car bomb. We shall give details of casualties later," Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters.

Police said that there were no casualties.

An eyewitness told Reuters that the targeted vehicles had EU number plates (see earlier report).

A VOA journalist has tweeted that an Italian military vehicle was hit:

Read more:Who are Somalia's al-Shabab?

Image source, Getty Images

Asamoah Gyan has been recalled to the Ghana squad for their upcoming 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone.

Gyan, Ghana's all-time leading scorer, missed the Black Stars surprise 1-0 loss to Kenya in September.

The 32-year-old has played just twice this season for his Turkish club Kayserispor and is yet to score.

Ghana host Sierra Leone on 11 October and travel to Freetown to face the same opponents four days later.

There is still no place on coach Kwesi Appiah's list for the Ayew brothers, Andre and Jordan.

Inter Milan's Kwadwo Asamoah retains his place in the squad after returning to the team for the 1-0 loss to Kenya after a four-year absence.

The Black Stars loss to Kenya means that all four teams in Group F have three points from two matches.

Read more on the BBC sport website

A suicide car bomb has hit a European Union armoured convoy in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, news agency Reuters reports.

It quotes police as saying that there were no causalities but one vehicle had been damaged.

A Reuters witnessed saw men towing the damaged vehicle after the explosion hit its rear end.

The armoured vehicles had Italian and EU flags on them.

An image showing a plume of smoke rising over the capital has been shared on Twitter;

No group has claimed responsbility but Islamist militant group al-Shabab frequently carries out similar attacks.

The EU is one of the major funders of the African Union-mandated peace keeping force Amisom which helps defend Somalia's central government against the Islamists.

A 48-hour curfew was imposed on Sunday in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon ahead of Monday's first anniversary of a symbolic declaration of independence by Anglophone separatists.

"The movement of people between areas in the north-west is banned for a period of 48 hours from Sunday, September 30 until Monday, October 1," Adolphe Lele Lafrique, governor of the primarily English-speaking region, said.

Similar measures were in force across Cameroon's other Anglophone areas, officials told AFP.

Gatherings of more than four people are prohibited and bars and shops selling alcohol will be closed.

The proclamation last year of the self-declared republic of Ambazonia sparked a violent crisis in which hundreds of people have died.

A top UN official has called for the government and separatists to enter into dialogue to end the crisis (see our earlier post).

Cameroon will hold presidential elections on 7 October which the separatists have vowed to disrupt.

President Paul Biya, 85, who has ruled the country since 1982 will be running for an unprecedented seventh term.

The division between Cameroon's French-speaking majority and its English-speaking minority has its roots in the colonial era.

The central African country was colonised by Germany and then split into British and French areas after World War One.

After French-administered Cameroon gained independence in 1960, the two parts of the country formed a single nation the following year.

This followed a referendum, when British-run Southern Cameroons voted to join the French-speaking Republic of Cameroon in 1961, while Northern Cameroons voted to join English-speaking Nigeria.

President Joseph Kabila has highlighted the problem of poaching in the Democratic Republic of Congo by setting alight a stockpile of captured elephant tusks and pangolin scales.

The symbolic act took place at a nature park on the outskirts of the capital, Kinshasa.

A top Congolese conservationist, Cosma Wilungula, said the ceremony was aimed at deterring poachers and other criminals involved in trading illicit animal parts, adding that he had lost nearly 400 guards to violent confrontations with poachers over 20 years.

Civil unrest in DR Congo, particularly in North Kivu province, home to a major national park, has seen militia groups fighting over land and natural resources.

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC Africa, Kampala

The treason case against Ugandan lawmaker and musician, Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, and 34 of his co-accused has been adjourned to 3 December.

The government told the Magistrate’s Court in northern Gulu that it needed more time to conclude its investigations before the trial can begin.

The accused were arrested following a by-election campaign in the northern town of Arua in August and are alleged to have stoned President Yoweri Museveni’s convoy. They deny the charges.

Treason charges have been brought against Mr Museveni’s political opponents in the past but the cases either drag on in court or the charges are eventually dropped.

At the last hearing in August, there were 33 people charged in this case but since then two more of Bobi Wine’s associates have been added to the charge sheet, making a total of 35 people.

Read more: The president and the pop star

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Nairobi

The UN special adviser on prevention of genocide has called for immediate investigations into a wave of killings in Cameroon's English-speaking regions.

Adama Dieng described the atrocities being committed in the country as "concerning” and said both sides of the conflict should "sit around the table and dialogue to end the conflict".

"The crimes committed by both parties need to be properly and independently investigated and perpetrators of those crimes need to be brought urgently to justice so that people know that no-one is above the law - that all Cameroonians are equal," he said.

Groups calling for independence of the region they call Ambazonia have been staging attacks against government forces, which have responded with what has been condemned as a brutal crackdown.

The separatists are riding on long-held complaints by residents of the South-West and North-West region over what they see as marginalisation by the French-speaking majority.

They say they are forced to use French in schools and courts.

Both sides have been accused of kidnappings, extra-judicial killings and the burning of villages.

"My worry is that we still have many people being killed, so far more than 400 people. We have seen atrocious crimes being committed. We need to have political dialogue but also demand for justice," he told me.

Cameroon is to hold presidential elections on 7 October. "It is true that one could not exclude some form of violence [around the polls] but for the time being things seem to be under control," Mr Dieng said.

Cameroon government forces have also been accused of human rights crimes against civilians in their fight against Islamist militant group Boko Haram in the far north of the country.

Recently, a BBC investigative report analysed a horrifying video that showed two women and children being blindfolded and shot multiple times by Cameroonian soldiers.

The Cameroon government has since arrested some of the soldiers shown in the video despite initially dismissing the footage, which was widely shared on social media.

Mr Dieng also defended the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after US President Donald Trump made scathing attacks against the Hague-based court, saying it lacked legitimacy and jurisdiction.

Some African countries have also threatened to withdraw from the Rome Statute that set up the institution.

"It is very unfortunate that there is today this perception that the ICC is selective. That’s not true," Mr Dieng said.

He said the court was an important deterrent to war crimes being committed in the world.

“History has shown that the ICC is an independent court governed by the law. We saw the case against Kenya’s current President Uhuru Kenyatta being closed, and we also saw what happened with the case of [ex-Democratic Republic of Congo warlord] Jean-Pierre Bemba, who on appeal was also acquitted.”

"I supported African leaders when they said they wanted to have their own court, but since they adopted the protocol to set it up, how many Africa states have ratified the protocol? Not more than five. It’s very unfortunate," he added.

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