Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

Image source, AFP

The Ugandan army has retrieved the bodies of two soldiers and three government geologists who were killed in the north-eastern region of Karamoja.

The geologists were on a mission to collect soil samples in the mineral-rich region. Their bodies had been handed over to the energy ministry, military spokesman Brigadier Felix Kulayigye told the BBC.

He said that the attackers were Turkana cattle rustlers from across the border in Kenya - and they had ambushed the group about 40km (25 miles) from Moroto town.

The Turkana are said to have collaborated with the Matheniko, a Karimojong clan from Uganda.

Pastoral communities in region often move across borders in search of pastures for their livestock, especially during long dry seasons.

But cattle rustlers also exploit weak border controls to organise raids.

A disarmament programme by the Ugandan army saw many guns removed from the community about a decade ago - leading to some years of relative peace in the region.

But with improvements to roads and with mobile phone access, cattle rustling has become more a commercial affair - and the army began a new disarmament campaign last year.

Brig Kulayigye said that the army was in touch with Turkana elders for the return of weapons stolen from the soldiers.

Ahmed Mohamed Abdi
BBC Monitoring

Image source, Getty Images

Sudan has denied the presence of a Russian private military contractor in the country.

The denial follows a joint statement by British, American and Norwegian envoys that Wagner Group personnel had been engaged in social media disinformation campaigns and illegal gold mining in Sudan.

"The Sudanese government wishes to deny [these reports] in totality," Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The authorities accused the Western diplomats of attempting to draw Sudan into the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

Recently, Sudan’s deputy leader, Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagalo, visited Moscow - and was in the country on the day Russia invaded Ukraine.

Russia’s mercenaries have been accused of committing human rights abuses in neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR). Western countries also say Wagner mercenaries have been deployed in Mali.

The paramilitary group has thousands of fighters in Libya, where they have been backing renegade general, Khalifa Haftar, against forces loyal to a government in Tripoli.

Sudan’s former long-serving President Omar al-Bashir was an ally of Moscow - since he was toppled in 2019 amid mass protests, the country’s military leader have maintained strong relations with Russia.

In a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 2017, Bashir had sought Moscow’s protection from what he called “aggressive acts of the United States”.

Read more:

• Ukraine conflict: How Russia forged closer ties with Africa

Image source, AFP

The Kenyan police service has locked out graduates from its latest drive to recruit 5,000 new officers, the Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper reports quoting a top police official.

It is reportedly keen to avoid pay disputes within its ranks.

The nationwide recruitment starts on Thursday and will target people with a minimum qualification of D+ in their secondary school exams - a score considered to be below average.

"We are advising those with degrees to wait for other positions to avoid labour issues,” John ole Moyaki is quoted as saying.

“We are not discouraging graduates from joining the police service, but there are better opportunities and higher job groups that would suit them, apart from the police."

Kenya has a long history of police officers using excessive force when enforcing law, often resulting in deaths, but security officers are rarely held to account.

A museum says showing works looted in the Benin City sacking will challenge "historical injustices".

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

South Sudan's main opposition party has withdrawn from the country's peace monitoring body, accusing rival forces of unprovoked attacks.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition said the latest armed assault took place on Monday.

The party is led by the Vice-President, Riek Machar, who two years ago formed a unity government with his former enemy Salva Kiir.

Continued tension between the two men has prevented the implementation of a peace deal aimed at ending a five-year civil war in which 400,000 people died.

Nomsa Maseko
BBC News, Lagos

Thirty-four people, including two soldiers, have been killed in north-west Nigeria’s Kaduna state.

The attack, which took place on Sunday, was reportedly carried out by heavily armed criminal gangs known locally as bandits.

Reports suggest at least four locations came under attack in the state by assailants who also destroyed over 200 homes and burnt down shops on Sunday.

One woman remains missing.

A 24-hour curfew has been imposed by the Kaduna state government.

The attack coincided with a raid that killed 16 in neighbouring Zamfara state.

The criminal gangs were officially declared terrorists by the government in January.

Amnesty International has condemned the Kaduna attack and called on the government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, AFP

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced an end to more Covid-19 lockdown restrictions from Wednesday.

Most of the country has been back in business for months, and the latest changes will see the return of popular social gatherings and more economic activities.

President Ramaphosa says local research shows that between 60% and 80% of the population has some kind of Covid-19 immunity, either from previous infection or through vaccination.

As a consequence the government is moving to further reopen some industries and ease mask-wearing for citizens.

The new regulations will see the reopening of stadiums, theatres and music venues to the public, which is expected to help revive sport, tourism and the arts industries.

However, venues will need to make sure that patrons have either been vaccinated or produce proof of a negative test taken within 72 hours - and keep numbers to 50% of a venue’s capacity.

Mr Ramaphosa says that international travellers will still need to produce a negative PCR test or proof of vaccination when they arrive in the country.

Vaccination facilities will also be provided to travellers who wish to be vaccinated on arrival.

Wearing of masks will now only be required in enclosed spaces.

The president said the country was moving away from a disaster management response to relying on health protocols approach to manage coronavirus.

The government will be introducing new legislation next month that will among other things do away with mandatory self-isolation for people who are asymptomatic.

The proposed legislation will be open for public comments until 15 April and will form part of the country’s long-term plan in dealing with coronavirus.

Our proverb of the day:

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Click here to send us your African proverbs.

The struggle of Uganda's Batwa people three decades after they were forced from their ancestral home.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team until Wednesday morning.

There will be an automated news feed until then. You can also keep up to date on the BBC News website, or by listening to the Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of South African fans at the Women's Cricket World Cup match between Australia and South Africa in Wellington, New Zealand on Tuesday. South Africa suffered their first defeat - but remain second in the table and still hope for a semi-final spot:

Image source, AFP

Joice Etutu
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

Kenya has announced it will start looking into how it tests people’s ability to drive following a BBC Africa Eye investigation that exposed corruption by driving school employees.

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) says it will explore measures to automate and standardise testing for drivers in the country.

“The automation of the process will ensure the driver tests are efficient and effective,” the NTSA said in a statement, adding that the reduction in human interaction would improve the quality of testing.

The BBC’s exposé saw employees who, for a fixed fee, allowed inexperienced drivers to get behind the wheel without ever having to take a driving test.

Between 2020 and 2021, deaths on Kenyan roads rose by 20%.

Watch BBC Africa Eye's report:

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in Zambia has charged and arrested the country’s former justice minister for allegedly being in possession of property reasonably suspected to be the proceeds of crime.

Given Lubinda appeared for questioning on Monday at the ACC offices in the capital, Lusaka, where he was formally arrested before being released on bail.

His lawyer, Jonas Zimba, confirmed Mr Lubinda had been charged for allegedly owning a house in Lusaka’s upmarket Kingsland City and having four different bank accounts.

On Tuesday, Mr Lubinda denied the charges at a press briefing, labelling his interrogation as hypocritical.

He also downplayed events, saying there was nothing new in the allegations as he had previously been summoned to answer similar charges.

He said he was happy the charges were proceeding to court so that he could prove his innocence.

Though Zambia’s new government is pursuing an anti-corruption drive after winning elections last year, it is yet to secure any major convictions.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Getty Images

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has opened a new terminal building at Lagos' main international airport that has the capacity to process 14 million travellers a year.

He said it was part of a larger plan to build five new terminals at five different Nigerian airports, explaining that it was part of his government's commitment to build critical and enduring infrastructure.

The terminal is estimated to have cost more than $100m (£75m) and was built thanks to a loan from China secured in 2013.

It was due to be completed in 18 months but work on the Lagos terminal took eight years.

Anna Holligan
BBC News Hague correspondent

Image source, ICC

A former militia leader from the Central African Republic (CAR) has appeared for the first time at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom Gawaka was handed over to the ICC earlier this month by Chad, following an arrest warrant.

A national co-ordinator of a band of mainly Christian militias, he is suspected of committing atrocities against the Muslim population, including murder, torture and the use of child soldiers between at least 2013 and 2014.

His lawyer, Nick Kaufman, told the court the conditions under which he was detained were unacceptable.

He said the authorities in Chad served him mouldy bread and sardines and told Mr Mokum he was not allowed to see his lawyer.

His next appearance at the ICC for a confirmation of charges hearing will be 31 January 2023.

CAR has been mired in violence since a coalition of mostly northern and predominantly Muslim rebels known as Seleka seized power in March 2013. Their ruthless rule gave rise to the opposing "anti-Balaka" Christian militias.

Several of the former leaders of both factions face charges at the ICC.

Two other anti-Balaka leaders are already on trial at the court in The Hague, while one Seleka leader is in custody awaiting trial.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Image source, Getty Images

The Central Bank of Ghana has raised its base interest rate to 17%, the highest since President Nana Akufo-Addo came to power in 2017.

This means commercial banks, which borrow from the central bank, are likely to increase their lending or interest rates too.

According to the central bank, the hike is part of measures to stabilise Ghana’s ailing economy.

The West African country has been struggling to deal with rising inflation, increases in the prices of goods and services and a depreciation of the local currency.

Transport fares also went up by 15% in February, with further increases likely.

Ernest Addison, governor of the central bank, has already warned that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine may further affect Ghana’s economy.

The country imports about 60% of it iron ore from Ukraine and a quarter of its wheat from Russia.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

The failure of Ugandan government to hold security officials accountable for the alleged detention and torture of hundreds of government critics and protesters has been condemned in a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Thirty-four former detainees and witnesses were interviewed by the rights body, detailing incidents of forced disappearances, detention in non-designated places, known as “safehouses”, and torture.

HRW says those detained were held in various places, including a room in the basement of the parliament building, residential properties around the capital, Kampala, and an island on Lake Victoria.

One woman told researchers that security agents had raped her twice, and she had been tied “as if crucified” and left in that position for 12 hours.

Oryem Nkyeko, the HRW’s Uganda researcher, said that the government had condoned the brazen arbitrary arrests, illegal detention and abuse of detainees by its officials.

Forced disappearances and arbitrary arrests surged before and after the 2021 general election.

Opposition politicians, their supporters and hundreds of government critics were grabbed by uniformed and armed men and thrown into unmarked vans, which have come to be known locally as “drones”.

Popular government critics, like writer and activist Stella Nyanzi, author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, and even members of parliament have been grabbed from their homes and held incommunicado for days, only to be produced in court later.

The government has not responded to HRW’s report, but officials have on several occasions insisted that there are no safehouses in Uganda.

Nigeria-born football coach Obi Ojimadu says his children were traumatised after fleeing Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

Daniel Semeniworima
BBC Pidgin, Lagos

Image source, Oluwabamise Ayanwola

The main suspect accused of killing a 22-year-old Nigerian fashion designer on a Lagos bus has pleaded not guilty to four charges, including rape and murder.

The prosecution told the city's high court that he committed the crime with other suspects, who are on the run.

Oluwabamise Ayanwola's death sparked a public outcry over safety on public buses in Nigeria’s commercial capital and lead to the hashtag #JusticeForBamise.

Prosecutors say Ms Ayanwola was thrown out of a moving vehicle at Carter Bridge - causing her death.

She had boarded a bus from Chevron, in the Lekki area of Lagos, on 26 February.

The 47-year-old suspect has been remanded in prison until the court sits again to hear the case.

The judge has set 9 May 2022 for the start of the trial.

Image source, AFP

Up to 28 million people in East Africa are at risk of extreme hunger because of price spikes caused by the Ukraine war and potential lack of rain this March, Oxfam has warned.

Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are experiencing the driest weather in 40 years, meanwhile South Sudan is tackling ongoing flooding, the charity said.

It also highlighted what it views as the distraction of the international community because of the Ukraine conflict, leading to a neglect of the food crisis facing East African.

Describing the global response as “woefully underfunded”, a press release stated that only 3% of the $6bn (£4.5bn) UN 2022 humanitarian appeal for Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan had been funded.

“Areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and beyond are experiencing an unfolding full-scale catastrophe. Even if the rains do arrive this month, full recovery will be near impossible unless urgent action is taken today,” Oxfam’s International Executive Director Gabriela Bucher warned.

“The repercussions of the Ukrainian conflict on the global food system will reverberate around the globe, but it is the poorest and most vulnerable people who will be among those hit hardest and fastest,” she said.

East African countries get up to 90% of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia, Oxfam said.

One farmer, Ahmed Mohamud Omar from Wajir County in Kenya, said the lack of food and water was impacting his cattle:

“Due to the droughts our donkeys have perished and the ones remaining are too weak to pull carts.

“I think about what my family will eat, where will their next meal come from, whether I will get the daily jerrycan of water."

Image source, Getty Images

The Nigerian government says fully vaccinated travellers coming into the country will no longer be required to take a pre-departure PCR Covid-19 test.

This is the first major reversal to the public health safety protocols since Nigeria started seeing a decline in the number of infections.

The chairman of the Presidential Covid Response Team, Boss Mustapha, said in the capital Abuja on Monday that the change would come into effect from 4 April.

He explained that passengers who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated are still expected to take a Covid test 48 hours before departure, or do one on the second and seventh day on arrival.

He said that fully vaccinated passengers will no longer be charged for rapid antigen tests at the airport.

So far, 255,103 Covid-19 cases have been recorded in Nigeria including 3,142 people who have died of related infections since the beginning of the pandemic.