Richard Kagoe
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

A Kenyan minister has said that the shortage of 100 ($0.84; £0.69) and 200-shilling notes at the banks is down to politicians using the cash to bribe voters ahead of next month's elections.

"You have seen people who are carrying money in bags, lining up citizens, giving them 200 bob (shillings)," Interior Minister Fred Matiang'i is quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

"People are not working. They are standing on the roadside just to get 200 shillings from all these money launderers."

The minister also warned that the next parliament could be captured by individuals involved in economic crimes if they are allowed to use dirty money to buy their way to victory.

Speaking at a meeting on money laundering and terrorism financing on Wednesday, Dr Matiang’i said such a move could undermine the war against corruption.

He said individuals involved in money laundering and dealers in fake cash could influence the country’s laws to protect themselves if elected.

Elections in Kenya are often driven by personalities and money more than ideologies, and this year’s election is no different.

On 9 August, Kenyans will be electing a new president, parliament and country administrations.

The political campaigns have been characterised by opulence raising questions about the source of funding.

Kenyan politicians shot down an earlier proposal by the electoral commission to cap election spending on election for presidential campaigns at $40m.

A report that was launched on Wednesday cited fraud and forgery as the leading financial crimes in Kenya.

Experts say money launderers and other criminals are exploiting the country’s weak regulatory framework to sponsor or fund campaigns posing a threat to the credibility of the August elections.

The red carpet was laid out for Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his four-nation tour.

Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Image source, Jamii Forums

Tanzania's health authorities have banned the use of a popular traditional herbal treatment branded Hensha that was sold on the basis that it helped improve male sexual performance.

The Traditional and Alternative Health Practice Council chairman, Prof Hamisi Malebo, said the decision to ban it followed recent investigations.

He said laboratory tests on the herbal compound showed it had elements of the drug sildenafil, which is better known as Viagra. He said that Hensha was unsafe and its producer did not abide by council's regulations.

The herbal powder is usually made from a blend of leaves, roots and bark of a Mkongo tree, found in East Africa.

It is sold by other producers under different brand names.

The producers of Hensha have been asked to immediately withdraw it from the market.

Prof Malepo said promotion of traditional medicines, herbs or alternative drugs without "having the registration and certification of the council is an offence".

Tanzania encourages the use of traditional medicine and in 2020 approved the sale and use of five traditional treatments in the market to boost sexual performance.

Azeezat Olaoluwa
Women’s affairs reporter, BBC News, Lagos

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that the country's women's football team "deserve equal pay" to the men.

He made the call at a ceremony to welcome home the female players who had just won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations after beating Morocco 2-1 at the weekend.

"I have been told that you get 10 times less than what the men get when they play, and that has to come to an end," he told the women, who cheered his announcement.

He urged the country's ministers of finance and sports to increase the bonus.

"We are a non-racial, democratic and non-sexist country. I am hugely opposed to non-equal pay and it must come to an end."

The president said South Africa should outlaw pay discrimination and embark on a programme to bridge the gender pay gap.

His statement follows a public debate around equal pay in the country after the Wafcon victory.

It was earlier reported that the players would receive less money in prize bonuses than their male colleagues did for reaching the quarter-finals of the men's tournament in 2019.

Image source, Getty Images

A conservation group has fitted 14 Southern giraffes in Zimbabwe with GPS tracking devices at the Hwange National Park.

The devices are solar-powered and will allow conservationists at the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to follow the movements of the mammals online.

The tagging was the first of its kind at the park.

“Gaining a better understanding of giraffe and their movements in this landscape is the first step in their protection," Zimparks ecologist Daphine Madhlamoto is quoted as saying.

Joseph Okal will carry Kenya's hopes and look to continue the legacy of Kipchoge Keino when he competes in the men's triathlon at the Commonwealth Games.

Image source, @HelpingRhinos

Prince William has made a plea for "swift justice" following the killing of South African park ranger Anton Mzimba.

Mr Mzimba was shot and killed outside his home on Tuesday night following death threats, according to conservation group Helping Rhinos, external.

It said the killing of Mr Mzimba, who was head of ranger at Timbavati Game Reserve, highlights the daily threat facing rangers.

The Duke of Cambridge said he was "deeply saddened" by the death of the wildlife ranger whom he described as "committed and brave".

"Rangers like Anton are central to the conservation of Africa’s fantastic wildlife. Those responsible must swiftly be brought to justice," he tweeted.

"My thoughts are with his family."

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Morocco is imprisoning journalists after flawed trials on non-political charges in order to silence them, Human Rights Watch says.

The New York-based group said two of the most prominent cases are those of Omar Radi and Soulaimane Raissouni, both sentenced this year on sexual abuse charges to at least five years in jail.

Another journalist, Taoufik Bouachrine, was jailed in 2018 for 12 years, accused of rape and people-trafficking.

All three have been critical of the authorities, and have denied the charges against them.

Morocco has insisted that its justice system is independent and that the cases had "nothing to do" with the journalists' work.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

Tunisian President Kais Saied says draft decrees will be prepared for the holding of an election for a new parliament and a second chamber for regions.

It came a day after preliminary results of a referendum indicated a controversial constitution was approved though turnout had been low.

The president noted, during a meeting with Prime Minister Najla Bouden Romdhane on Wednesday, the need to prepare a draft decree related to the election of a new parliament and the Council of Regions and Districts, the presidency said in a statement.

The president also noted that a draft decree related to the Constitutional Court would be prepared, in accordance with provisions of the new constitution, the statement added.

Tunisia's election commission said late on Tuesday that preliminary results indicated that a referendum on the constitution delivered a yes vote of 94.6% with a turnout of 30.5%.

The vote result has caused an outcry among Mr Saied's opponents.

The Speaker of Nigeria's lower house has apologised after tweeting pictures of himself at Harvard Kennedy School while universities back home remain closed over a lecturers' strike.

Nigerian universities have been closed since February after lecturers accused the government of reneging on an agreement on their allowances and improved funding for public universities.

On Tuesday, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, tweeted pictures of himself while at Harvard on a leadership course.

He said: “Back to class. In a leadership course at @Harvard @Kennedy_School. Forget the number of grey hairs one is never too old to learn, broaden or sharpen your skills.”

The photos drew angry reactions from university students.

The Speaker apologised on Wednesday, although the photos remain on his Twitter account.

"That post was not sensitive to the present feelings of fellow citizens, especially parents and students who are presently bearing the brunt of the ongoing closure of public universities," he said, external.

“I apologise for the post at this time, and I hope you will understand that it was not my intention to cause disaffection," he added.

Dorcas Wangira
Africa health correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

New UNAids data shows that one person died every minute from an Aids-related illness in 2021.

It also estimates that “every two minutes in 2021, an adolescent girl or young woman was newly infected with HIV”.

The report, In Danger, was released at this year’s Global UNAids conference in Montreal, Canada.

Globally, women and girls accounted for 49% of all new infections in 2021. However in sub-Saharan Africa, they accounted for 63% of all new infections in the same year.

At least 1.5 million people were newly infected with HIV last year according to the data.

The report further shows that new HIV infections are rising where they had previously been falling.

“The data revealed in this report will disturb and shock - but the report is not a counsel of despair. It is a call to action. Failure would be fatal, but it is not inevitable. We can end Aids by 2030. But the curve will not bend itself. We have to pull it down,” said Winnie Byanyima, the UNAids executive director.

Globally there are 38.4 million people living with HIV. Eastern and southern Africa bears the highest global burden with more than half of those with the virus (20.6 million) being accounted for in this region.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The army in Mali says 15 soldiers and three civilians have been killed in co-ordinated attacks in the south-west of the country where a jihadist insurgency is raging.

A statement said the assaults on military camps in Sokolo and near Kalumba were repulsed with almost 50 militants being killed.

A third attack near Mopti caused no casualties.

Mali has seen a decade-long insurgency by militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

The country's military authorities have begun turning to Russia for help, after rejecting long-standing French support.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

The UN says it has no evidence so far that its peacekeepers fired at civilians during three days of protests against its forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nineteen people have now been confirmed to have died in the violent clashes in multiple towns that targeted UN camps. Three UN personnel were among the dead.

Demonstrations erupted in eastern DR Congo on Monday with people accusing the UN of failing to contain violence by armed groups.

The UN Deputy Special Representative in the country, Kassim Diagne, said investigators have already been sent to help the authorities analyse the bullets that killed the civilians in the towns of Goma and Butembo.

Mr Diagne said initial findings however showed that the UN peacekeepers exercised restraint as protesters stormed into their bases and burnt vehicles, offices and looted food stores.

Demonstrators have accused Congolese security forces of the killings.

This comes even as the civilian death toll increases after four protesters were electrocuted on Wednesday in the city of Uvira when troops fired shots that hit an electric cable which fell on them.

The UN Security Council has condemned the violence and asked the Congolese government to fully investigate and prosecute those involved.

The mission in DR Congo is the second-largest UN peacekeeping force in the world but has in recent years began withdrawing and reducing its forces in parts of the country

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The death toll rises to 19, including three peacekeepers, as a third day of demonstrations continue.

The BBC visits the home of presidential hopeful Raila Odinga, where a dramatic deal is paying off.

In the past year the country has recorded 179 elephant deaths due to the ongoing drought.

The Nigerian army says it has found two hostages, who appear to have given birth during captivity.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team, but we'll be back on Thursday morning, Nairobi time.

Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our podcast Africa Today.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave with this photo of a fisherman at Kelibia fishing port, in Tunisia, taken by local based photographer Anouar Labidi.

Image source, Getty Images

Nigerians online are expressing their excitement after former US President, Barack Obama, released his annual summer playlist, which features Afrobeats artists like Tems, Pheelz, Burna Boy and BNXN.

Some of the tracks on his latest playlist include hit song Finesse, by Pheelz and BNXN, featuring Buju, as well as one of Burna Boy's latest and most popular singles to date Last Last.

"Nigerian artist are really winning", one person tweeted., external

"African music to the world" another account said. , external

It is not the first time Mr Obama has included Afrobeats music on his playlist.

Back in 2019 Rema, and once again, Burna Boy, made the cut.

Afrobeats music has been making big waves in the US of late, with Nigerian artists collaborating with artists like Justin Bieber, Beyonce and Chris Brown and others.