Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC News, Monrovia

Image source, AFP

The Supreme Court of Liberia has ordered that a former defence minister be jailed for two years in connection with a corruption case.

Brownie Samukai and two colleagues were found guilty two years ago of theft and money laundering in a case involving more than $1m (£748,000).

They were given a two-year suspended sentence at the time and ordered to pay back half of the money within six months.

The jail term has now been imposed as they failed to make the payments within the stipulated time.

A judge said the trio must now pay back all the money - and would remain in jail after the two years if they have failed to do so in that time.

They had organised for money to be routinely deducted from soldiers’ salaries and placed into a private, not public, account, as part of a pension scheme, according to court records.

Samukai, a former police chief, told the court the money was spent on official programmes on the instructions of his superiors.

He was a long-serving defence minister under former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

The politician is now part of the opposition alliance challenging President George Weah in next year's elections.

Last year he was elected senator for Lofa county, but the corruption case has prevented him from taking up his seat.

As of late on Thursday night the men had not been apprehended.

Rhoda Odhiambo
BBC health reporter, Nairobi

Kenya's private hospitals have said they will stop offering some services like dialysis to patients on the government medical scheme as it does not cover the full cost of treatment.

It will be kidney patients most affected by the announcement by the association of private hospitals.

From Monday those wanting dialysis, which removes waste products and excess fluid from the blood when someone’s kidneys stop working properly, will be turned away.

An estimated four millions Kenyans suffer from chronic kidney disease, and the majority get treatment in private hospitals, which have more dialysis centres.

Last year, the government medical scheme paid 3.8bn Kenyan shillings ($33m, £25m) to cover the cover of dialysis treatment for more than 290,000 patients.

After a general review of the scheme, it has decided not to cover full treatment costs, leaving kidney patients with hefty bills.

Those insured by the government scheme are entitled to two weekly sessions of dialysis - meaning they now have to find $60 a week themselves to pay for them.

Comoros players have not woken up from their dream run to the last 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations, says defender Alexis Souahy.

The Gambia keeper Baboucarr Gaye says Cameroon fans can motivate his team when they face the hosts in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final in Douala on Saturday.

Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Geneva

Image source, AFP

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is warning of extreme hunger in northern Ethiopia.

Aid agencies face severe challenges delivering supplies to Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where government forces have been fighting rebels for more than a year.

No UN food convoy has reached Tigray since mid-December - but the WFP says 100 trucks a day are needed to prevent starvation.

In its latest security assessment, it found more than 80% of families were food insecure, less than a third are getting the daily calories they need, and in the Afar region 28% of children under five are malnourished, well above the UN’s emergency threshold of 15%.

The WFP says northern Ethiopia will need food aid throughout 2022, and is appealing to the warring parties to allow supplies in.

Even this security assessment is based on information from last November. Since then, with almost no aid getting in, the situation is likely to have become far worse.

The UN is asking for $337m (£252m) to fund its operation in northern Ethiopia for the next six months.

Kenyan police and wildlife authorities have seized 14 pieces of ivory from two suspected poachers riding a motorcycle.

The two suspects were arrested on Thursday at a road junction in Busia in western Kenya, the police said in a statement.

A 60-year-old man and his 70-year-old suspected accomplice were being held in custody at a police station awaiting charges, the police said, external.

Describing the haul, the statement said: “To us and majority of Kenyans who are passionate about the preservation of our national heritage, these are seven elephants of diverse ages killed for ivory, by humans."

Illegal hunting of elephants for their tusks and habitat loss pose a serious threat to the species.

African elephants are listed as endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, with their population having shrunk dramatically in the last three decades.

However, a crackdown on poaching in Kenya has seen a rise in their numbers since 2014, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service.

On-loan Exeter striker Offrande Zanzala recalls how civil war in his native country made him the footballer he is today.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

The electoral commission in Somalia says 73 out of 275 MP seats have so far been filled.

The indirect elections are ongoing in various constituencies.

The elections started in November and were supposed to conclude by 24 December, but the process has been delayed because of disputes.

Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and regional state leaders reached a deal on 9 January to complete the polls by 25 February.

The complex poll process involves clan elders selecting delegates, who then elect MPs. Members of the Senate, the upper house, are elected by regional state assemblies.

A joint sitting of the two houses will then elect a president.

The date for the presidential elections has not been set.

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

At least six migrants have drowned and another 30 are missing after the boat they were in capsized off the Tunisian coast.

Thirty-four people were rescued by Tunisian navy and coastguard vessels.

Survivors said 70 migrants had been aboard the boat from a range of countries including Egypt, Sudan and Morocco.

A Tunisian defence spokesman said they had set off from Libya and had been hoping to reach Europe.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says that in the first nine months of last year, at least 1,300 migrants disappeared or drowned trying to cross from North Africa to Italy.

Rhoda Odhiambo
BBC News, Nairobi

The French embassy in Kenya has warned of an impending terrorist attack targeting Western nationals living in Kenya.

In a alert on Thursday, the French embassy cautioned its citizens to be extra vigilant.

It said there was "a persistence of serious threats" and a risk of public places, frequented by foreign nationals being targeted.

It cited restaurants and hotels, leisure venues and shopping centres especially in the capital, Nairobi, as being vulnerable - and advised people to avoid visiting them, including over the coming weekend.

The Netherlands and German embassies have also asked their citizens to be alert.

Reacting to the warning, Kenya's police service gave an assurance that security had been scaled up and urged the public to report any suspicious activity.

Kenya has faced numerous attacks from al-Shabab, who are linked to al-Qaeda, since deploying its troops to Somalia in 2011 to combat the Islamist militants.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Morocco has said it will reopen its airspace to international passenger flights next month.

The North African country banned all incoming and outgoing international flights last November to try and limit the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said that the ban would be lifted on 7 February.

Mr Akhannouch urged passengers to comply with Covid-19 guidelines and called on Moroccans to take their vaccine jabs.

Morocco has had just more than 15,000 Covid fatalities so far.

Dr Alvin Helden was leading a student field trip in Uganda when he spotted the rare leafhopper.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

Renewed ethnic violence in the Sudanese region of Darfur has led to loss of lives and displaced more than 15,000 people over the last week, the UN says.

It says a personal dispute between two men from the Masalit ethnic group and an Arab nomadic group sparked the conflict near the city of El Geneina.

Armed nomads then attacked the local market, set fire to part of the village, and killed nine people including two children.

The fighting also forced more than 4,000 people to flee across the border to Chad.

More than two million people still live in camps as a result of the Darfur conflict in the early 2000s.

Last year saw renewed violence in Darfur with frequent attacks on camps and villages by militias.

Image source, AFP

Rwanda has announced that its main border with Uganda, closed in 2019, will reopen on Monday.

Cross-border movement of people and goods at the Gatuna-Katuna border was halted following tensions between the two East African nations.

Produce has only been allowed to pass through two smaller border posts at Cyanika and Kagitumba.

The reopening was announced after Lt-Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, went to meet Rwandan President Paul Kagame over the weekend.

Rwanda had accused Uganda of arresting and deporting its citizens and supporting rebels from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

The Ugandan government denied the allegations - and accused Rwanda of infiltrating its security agencies.

On Tuesday, Uganda sacked the head of military intelligence Maj Gen Abel Kandiho, who Rwanda had accused of working with its dissidents.

The reopening of the main border and the sacking of the official mark a significant thawing in relations.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

A selection of the best photos from across the African continent this week.

Midfielder Pablo Ganet says Equatorial Guinea's team ethic has been crucial in their run to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team until Friday morning. Until then, there will be an automated news feed here where you can keep up to date with the latest news on our website or listen to the Africa Today podcast.

Here's a reminder of Thursday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of fans in Abidjan on Wednesday cheering on Ivory Coast against Egypt, in what was a nail-biting knockout match at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon:

Image source, AFP

Peter Jegwa
Lilongwe, Malawi

Image source, AFP

Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera has named what he calls a "partial cabinet", in which he has left out several senior members.

President Chakwera dissolved his entire cabinet on Monday amid a public outcry over corruption, saying he was taking the decision to "confront all forms of lawless conduct by public officials".

It coincides with a huge investigation being jointly carried by the Anti- Corruption Bureau in Malawi and the National Crime Agency in the UK.

Samuel Kawale is the new lands minister, replacing Kezzie Msukwa, who is facing corruption and bribery charges that he denies. Businessman Mark Katsonga Phiri has been appointed new trade minister, according to a government statement posted on Twitter, external.

The influential Secretary General in President Chakwera's Malawi Congress Party, Eisenhower Mkaka, and party Director of Youth Richard Chimwendo Banda were not included. Vice-President Saulos Chilima was also not assigned any portfolio, as was the case in the previous cabinet.

In total eight ministers were retained and two new appointments were made.

President Chakwera also departed from the tradition of including his own name and that of his vice in the cabinet list.

President Chakwera's first cabinet had 31 members. It is expected he will name more ministers in due course.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has asked the president to reduce the size of his cabinet from 31 to less than 20 ministers.

DPP spokesperson Shadreck Namalomba also urged President Chakwera to reconstitute the cabinet to be “truly representative of Malawians and desist from appointing people from one district, region or faith group”.

Anti-government protests have been held since last November to condemn the rising cost of living, and allegations of nepotism and corruption.

Chiagozie Nwonwu
BBC News

Some 50,000 people have taken part in a combative conversation in Twitter Spaces on the topic of African migration to the US, which has generated wider discussions in Nigeria about the xenophobia faced by people who move abroad.

US filmmaker Tariq Nasheed co-hosted the chat that was titled: "How Does Immigration Benefit Black Americans".

People joined in from various countries in Africa to disagree with the notion that immigration from Africa hurts African-Americans, who Nasheed refers to as "foundational black Americans".

Nigerian screenwriter Dami Elebe said the debate was divisive:

Nasheed said the purpose of the Twitter Space was to move forward the conversation about the place of immigrants in America society.

However, many people who spoke accused him of using terms that promoted xenophobia and divisiveness.

He rejected these accusations and also asked respondents, many of them American citizens by birth: "Where are you from originally?"

#Tariq, #Immigrants #Badagry #Nigerians #Gimba #Yaba are some of the hashtags now trending that have stemmed from the conversation.

Nigerian columnist Gimba Kakanda was among those who rejected the notion that immigrants were "stealing jobs" from black Americans, and Nasheed conceded that as a "high school dropout" he couldn’t do the job that Kakanda's PhD-holding friend does at Microsoft:

Exasperated after the conversation, Kakanda tweeted: “As expected! SMH [shaking my head]” , external.

Others however are finding something light-hearted to say about the whole topic:

And others still are urging caution: