Police in Uganda have said there is no foul play in the deaths of a government minister's twins who died by drowning in a swimming pool on Monday, in Mbalala town in Central Region, privately owned newspaper Daily Monitor reports., external

Water Minister Ronald Kibuule's two-and-a-half-year-old sons, Roman Kato and Raiding Wasswa, were playing in the family's vast compound when the incident happened.

Director of police medical services, assistant inspector general of police Dr Moses Byaruhanga, told Daily Monitor that a postmortem did not uncover anything doubtful.

“There was nothing suspicious, the children just drowned," Dr Byaruhanga was quoted by the daily as saying.

The bodies of the twins are currently at the minister's home.

Four workers at Mr Kibuule's home have so far been arrested over the incident.

See earlier post

Umaru Fofana
BBC Africa, Freetown

Image source, Getty Images

Sierra Leone's former President Ernest Bai Koroma - who stepped down last year after serving the maximum two terms in office - says he feels unsafe after being left without state security details.

Regional army and police chiefs in Mr Koroma's home town of Makeni told him last week that his guards, numbering in their dozens, were being replaced with another contingent.

Mr Koroma says he received no prior warning and called the move "suspect, faulty and disrespectful".

But Information Minister Mohamed Rahman Swaray has dismissed the complaint as "much ado about nothing" and merely a "routine change" as part of the guards' "all-round career development".

"He is without guards not because the state has refused him one. It is of his own choosing - that he does not want the guards assigned to him," Mr Swaray adds.

It comes amid tension between the ruling SLPP party and the opposition APC, which Mr Koroma still leads. Three judge-led commissions of inquiry are investigating allegations of state plunder under Mr Koroma's APC, which the party rejects as politically motivated.

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC Africa, Kampala

Uganda’s military court martial has sentenced a ruling party leader to eight years in prison for the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

As well as being a successful politician, Abdullah Kitatta also ran an association of motorbike taxi riders known as BodaBoda 2010.

He was considered one of the most influential people in the capital, Kampala, but BodaBoda2010 was accused of human rights abuses in 2018.

The group was allegedly an unofficial militia of the police, and used to beat up protesters – including a group of primary school students.

When he was arrested, Mr Kitatta was found in possession of a gold-plated gun, a pistol, a sub-machine gun and several rounds of ammunition.

For years, he was considered almost untouchable by the law, despite his ruthless reputation.

Mr Kitatta was seen as the protege of the former head of police, General Kale Kayihura, who is also being tried before the court martial.

President Yoweri Museveni has complained that the police were infiltrated by criminals, leading to a spike in crime.

Mr Kitatta’s lawyer says his client will be appealing his sentence because he has done a lot of work for the government in power.

Image source, Ethiopian Embassy

Ethiopia's President Sahle-Work Zewde has arrived in neighbouring Kenya on what is her first official visit to the country since her appointment in October last year.

In the Ethiopian constitution, the post of president is ceremonial with the prime minister holding the political power.

The purpose of her one-day trip is to discuss bilateral and regional interests with Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, according to Ethiopia's state-owned news agency.

Both countries have been seeking to boost cross-border trade and both play a key role in regional security with troops posted in neighbouring Somalia.

Ahmed Adan
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Secondary school students have been demonstrating in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, after the education minister postponed national examinations, saying test papers were leaked and sold via social media (see earlier post).

The delay applies to students in the 90-odd schools in Somalia's main cities under government's control.

Large parts of south and central Somalia are controlled by al-Shabab, who have imposed their own parallel education system, which teaches hardline Islamist doctrine.

Image source, Getty Images

A blog by a Nigerian policeman advises citizens that they can request officers are searched themselves before starting a search on a member of the public.

The blog, external, written by DCP Frank Mba, a deputy commissioner of police, provides tips on our how to have "safe and cordial" conduct with police during an arrest.

"You may politely request that the officer be searched before searching you," one of the tips says. "Often times, this helps to allay fears that someone may be trying to 'plant' incriminating items on you or implicate you in any other way."

People have reacted angrily on social media, criticising the behaviour of the police.

It follows a series of tweets from the Nigeria Police Force last week advising people how to survive a checkpoint, after a video of an officer demanding a bribe went viral.

The blog also advises readers that they should ask to see the officer's search warrant, tell the officers about any "health challenges" and inform a friend or family member if they are arrested.

Himadou Amadou
BBC Afrique, Niamey

A terror attack on a prison which holds former Boko Haram fighters and drug traffickers was foiled on Monday, Niger's interior minister has said.

Security sources told BBC Afrique about 15 attackers drove up in three vehicles marked with the logo of medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and opened fire on national guard officers on duty at Koutoukalé prison, killing one of them.

The prison 50km (30 miles) outside the capital, Niamey, is Niger's highest-security prison hosting some of the country's most dangerous prisoners.

A similar attack on the prison in 2016 saw assailants arrive with explosives on motorbikes, AFP reports.

It is believed that this time, the vehicles used by the attackers were stolen from MSF earlier this month in the Tillabéri region.

In their retreat from Koutoukalé prison on Monday, the attackers reportedly took with them a national guard military vehicle. Niger's government says security forces pursued the assailants.

The daughter of Zimbabwe's former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is fighting for her life at a hospital in the capital, Harare, after being involved in a road accident on Monday night, state-linked newspaper The Herald reports, external.

Vimbai Tsvangirai-Java was leaving Bulawayo city in the company of two members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party when the accident occurred.

"Two of the passengers who are MDC members died on the spot. She was left with injuries and is battling for her life," party spokesman Jacob Mafume told The Herald.

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa was among tweeters who wished Ms Tsvangirai-Java a quick recovery and sent tributes to the MDC members who died:

A Ugandan government minister's twin boys drowned in a swimming pool at their home on Monday.

Water Minister Ronald Kibuule's family was quoted as saying that two-and-a-half-year-olds Roman Kato and Raiding Wasswa were playing in the family's big compound in Mbalala town in Central Region when the incident happened, the state-owned New Vision newspaper reports, external.

Two workers who were looking after the children have been held for questioning, according to the privately owned Daily Monitor news site., external

Kampala police spokesman Patrick Onyango told New Vision that both Mr Kibuule and the boys' mother, Fortunate, were away when the children died.

The daily says the family believe that one of the twins might have fallen into the pool accidentally and his brother followed him.

People have been offering their condolences on Twitter:

BBC World Service

Facebook says it is urging WhatsApp users around the world to upgrade to the latest version of its messaging service following the discovery of spyware that can monitor people's calls.

The company has confirmed that 10 days ago it discovered that malicious software developed by an Israeli company was being transmitted to people's phones through WhatsApp calls.

Facebook says the surveillance technology was mainly being used to spy on the calls of human rights lawyers.

It says it has warned United States law enforcement of the breaches.

It's understood that the spyware could be installed even if people didn't answer the calls.

WhatsApp said it was too early to know how many users had been affected by the vulnerability, although it added that suspected attacks were highly-targeted.

• Read the full story here

Image source, AFP

Abdullahi Abdi
BBC Somali, Nairobi

Somalia has cancelled national secondary school examinations after papers were sold and leaked via social media.

Students have been sitting their final year exams since Saturday, but the leakage of papers at an examination centre forced Education Minister Abdullahi Godah Barre to go on national television on Monday night to announce their cancellation.

The exams would now be retaken from 27 to 31 May, and social media would be shut during the five days to curb the illegal circulation of papers, the minister added.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has initiated a series of unprecedented reforms in his first year in office.

He's made peace with Eritrea, freed 60,000 political prisoners, unbanned opposition groups and appointed women to half his cabinet.

He's pledged free elections in 2020 and now faces one of his biggest challenges - moving the economy from state-led to market-based growth while overseeing far-reaching political reforms.

If he succeeds, Ethiopia could cement its position as one of Africa’s biggest players.

The BBC’s Jonathan Dimbleby was joined by a panel of leading Ethiopian politicians in a debate led by questions from the audience.

The panel was made up of:

• Mustafa Omer, president of the Somali region
• Merera Gudina, leader of the Oromo People's Congress
• Tsedale Lemma, editor of The Addis Standard newspaper.

Listen to the debate here:

Image source, Reuters

A protester who was part of the demonstrations in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, on Monday has told BBC Newsday that "people in army uniform" fired at them.

Lina Hieba described it as a "major clash", saying some protesters were killed while others were wounded and taken to hospital.

She dismissed the military council's claim that "unidentified elements" shot at the protesters to derail talks between protest leaders and the junta.

"We do not believe that and we do not trust them, basically," said Ms Hieba.

See earlier post

Image source, Getty Images

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's inauguration for a second term will be a low-key affair in order to keep costs down, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said.

Nigeria could "ill-afford" to spend a huge amount of money on the 29 May inauguration, when Democracy Day would be celebrated two weeks later on 12 June, he added.

"The celebration of the inauguration and the advancement of democracy in the country will now take place on 12 June,” Mr Mohammed said.

Mr Buhari, 76, won a second term in elections in February, defeating his main rival Atiku Abubakar by a comfortable margin.

Read: The tough challenges facing Buhari

Image source, AFP

US President Donald Trump has praised French special forces for doing a "great job" in freeing tourists - including an American woman - kidnapped in Burkina Faso last week.

"The French did a great job. We appreciate it very much. And I've already communicated that feeling," Mr Trump told reporters at the White House.

Two French special forces soldiers died during the operation in northern Burkina Faso, which rescued four hostages and killed four kidnappers.

Commanders decided to act because the kidnappers were close to the Malian border and were believed to be planning to hand the hostages over to the Mali-based militant group Katiba Macina.

Nigerian athlete Amon Okechukwu dreams of breaking the world high jump record in para-sport.

He often attracts crowds as he uses one leg to jump over high structures and cars.

"Having one leg does not make me different," he told the BBC, "I feel normal like every other person".

A BBC Africa One Minute Story by video journalist Gift Ufuoma

Image source, AFP

Reports from Sudan say three protesters and a member of the security forces have been killed in clashes in the capital, Khartoum.

The military council running the country since the overthrow last month of President Omar al-Bashir says many demonstrators have also been injured.

Earlier the country's chief prosecutor said Mr Bashir had been charged - along with others - over the killing of protesters.

Reports suggest there has been progress in talks between the military and an opposition coalition towards establishing a joint transitional body to run the country.

Read: 'Why Sudan is shooting medics'

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The authorities in Somalia say a Turkish engineer has been killed in the capital, Mogadishu, by a bomb placed under his pick-up truck.

Islamist militant group al-Shabab says it carried out the attack.

It alleged that the victim had been working at a Turkish military camp in Mogadishu.

A security official, Ahmed Adan, said the motive for the attack wasn't clear.

Read: Who are Somalia's al-Shabab?

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