Image source, AFP

A planned presidential debate in Kenya ahead of elections next month is to go ahead on Tuesday evening despite two of the four candidates saying they will not attend, the organisers have said.

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, one of the two frontrunners, said on Sunday that he would skip it in favour of a parallel town hall forum.

He alleged his main rival, Deputy President William Ruto, had demanded that some issues, like corruption, be taken off the agenda.

Mr Ruto has confirmed his attendance, urging Mr Odinga to come along and mocking him for “running away”.

The debate was to be two-tiered, meaning Mr Odinga and Mr Ruto would face each other after George Wajackoyah and David Mwaure Waihiga - who have each scored less than 5% in opinion polls - had debated.

But Mr Wajackoyah, who has been campaigning on a platform to promote the production of marijuana in Kenya, said as he was not going to feature in the main debate, he would not attend.

It is not clear if Mr Waihiga and Mr Ruto will now be facing each other or standing alone answering questions.

The debate is being organised by a collection of media houses, and behind the scenes they are likely to be still trying to convince the two who have withdrawn to reconsider.

Should Mr Odinga decide to attend at the last minute, issues likely to be thrashed out are how to tackle corruption, debt and the rising cost of living.

Observers says the debate is not expected to have any significant sway on the voters either way, arguing that issues rarely decide how people vote - with the region the candidate is from being of more importance.

Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Eight children, a teacher and a driver have died after a minibus ferrying them to primary school fell into a roadside ditch in southern Tanzania.

Nineteen other pupils from King David School were injured in the accident on Tuesday morning, the police chief of the Mtwara region, Nicodemus Katembo, said.

The injured are being treated at the Mtwara's Ligula Referral Hospital.

The authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has sent condolences to the families of the deceased.

Hanna Temuari
BBC News, Addis Ababa

The authorities in Ethiopia’s eastern Somali region say the army, working with regional forces, has killed 85 members of the Somali Islamist group al-Shabab.

The army says they captured many other militants in an operation concentrated on five towns on the border, where the al-Qaeda-linked group has bases.

The action comes in response to an attack last week on Ethiopian forces near the border with Somalia.

Witnesses told the BBC they saw the militants in several vehicles crossing into Ethiopian territory and that intense fighting had taken place.

In that attack al-Shabab said it had killed more than 80 soldiers.

Ghana coach Otto Addo admits it has not been easy to convince dual-nationality players to commit to playing for the West African country.

President Kais Saied's reforms giving him almost unlimited powers are approved, exit poll indicates.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

The leader of Ethiopia's rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has said the group will not negotiate on the disarmament of the "Tigray army" as it prepares for peace talks with the federal government.

The TPLF-run Tigray TV reported that Debretsion Gebremichael made the comments during a briefing to local media.

He added that "Western Tigray" should be given back to Tigray.

"According to the constitution, Western Tigray belongs to Tigray. So they [Ethiopian government] should hand it over to Tigray. This benefits the people of Tigray, if at all they hand it over."

The two sides are preparing to hold peace talks to end the civil war that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions since November 2020.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, AFP

A herd of about 50 elephants said to have escaped from a conservation area in Zimbabwe have reportedly entered residential areas and destroyed food crops in neighbouring Mozambique.

A Mozambican official said that the elephants had crossed into Machaze district in the central Mozambican province of Manica that borders Zimbabwe.

Francisca Tomas, the governor of the province, told Mozambican state television TVM, on Monday that residents had complained to the authorities about the elephants.

The governor said technicians were sent to scare away the animals, believing that they were “only a few elephants, as has been usual” in the region.

But “it was, in fact, a herd of 50 elephants”, she said, adding that they had not attacked any people.

She did not give details of what would be done about the matter.

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

Tunisian President Kais Saied has been celebrating his apparent victory in a referendum on a new constitution that gives him almost unlimited powers.

Mr Saied appeared in front of jubilant supporters in the early hours of the morning - after an exit poll indicated that more than 90% of those who had voted had supported the president's plan.

But turnout was low - less than 30%.

Mr Saied said it would have been higher if voting had taken place over two days.

He promised that Tunisia would now enter a new phase after a decade of political deadlock that followed the Arab Spring of 2011.

Image source, AFP

Following three weeks of the worst power cuts in South Africa’s history, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a raft of interventions aimed at solving South Africa’s energy crisis.

These include improving the performance of state-owned power company Eskom as well as opening up electricity generation to private companies.

It follows 10 days of extensive discussions with energy experts to address the country’s immediate and long-term electricity requirements.

The main priority is fixing embattled Eskom: the utility’s maintenance budget will be increased to fix its ageing fleet of power stations.

Surplus electricity from independent power producers will be bought by the government and fed into the grid.

Eskom will also be sourcing power from neighbouring Botswana and Zambia through the Southern Africa Power Pool.

Other measures announced by the president include removing red tape for renewable energy projects and offering incentives to businesses and individuals to install and sell surplus power to the national grid.

Pointing to the future, President Ramaphosa said Eskom would have to coexist with private companies to ensure a diversity of electricity supply.

However the national grid will continue to be owned entirely by the state.

Read more on South Africa's energy crisis:

• Can South Africa embrace green energy from the sun?
• Why the lights keep going out in South Africa

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

The Nigerian government has shut down one of its secondary schools in the capital, Abuja, over fears of an attack by an armed gang.

In a statement on Monday, the education ministry said the closure of the Federal Government College in the suburb of Kwali was necessary because of insecurity in the area.

Kwali incorporates the villages of Sheda and Lambata on the outskirts of the city, where security breaches had recently occurred, it said.

The Federal Government College, which has some students who board, is located within Sheda village, which came under attack on Sunday by gunmen who went on to kidnap a resident.

The education minister directed the college's management to make alternative arrangements for final-year students to finish writing their exams.

He also asked principals of government schools across the country to liaise with security agencies to ensure adequate security for their students.

Nigeria is grappling with rising attacks by gunmen, many of them targeting individuals, priests and students for ransom.

In 2021, armed gangs, known locally as bandits, carried out abductions in at least 10 schools in north-western Zamfara, Kaduna, and Kebbi states as well as Niger state in central Nigeria.

BBC World Service
Newsroom

Image source, AFP

Supporters of Tunisian President Kais Saied have been celebrating his apparent victory in a referendum on a new constitution which tightens his grip on power.

Hundreds took to the streets in the capital, Tunis, after an exit poll indicated that more than 90% of those who voted backed the president's plans.

But turnout was low - about one in four voters took part.

The opposition staged a boycott, accusing Mr Saied of taking Tunisia back towards autocracy.

Correspondents say the president's popularity appears to have waned since he suspended parliament and sacked the government a year ago.

Read more on Tunisia's referendum:

• Tunisia vote marks the death of a dream for some
• Tunisia's president - saviour or usurper of power?

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Gold weights were significant objects in pre-colonial Ghana as they were used to weigh gold dust during social and political engagements such as births, deaths, funerals and marriages. Gold weights come in a variety of shapes and sizes and in this episode, we focus on the spirit of the Sankofa gold weight.

Awakening in the Museum of Bad Vibes, Sankofa nostalgically recalls its former life and laments its loss of use and companionship. In his prime, he played an important role in trade and commerce in Ghana, but also embodied esoteric properties related to ancestral knowledge.

On this sonic museum tour, Hanna Adan, with the assistance of experts, explores traditional Akan religious beliefs, speculates on this gold weight’s unclear but but fascinating provenance and unpacks what we can still learn from its teachings.

Produced and Presented by Hanna Adan With story by George Bailey

Assistant Producer and Editor: Kwaku Dapaah-Danquah Researcher: Seyi Bolarin Starring: Derek Oppong and Maria Gbeleyi Contributors: Dr John Giblin and Dalian Adofo Production Mentors: Jane Thurlow and Corinna Jones Sound Designer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Tech Producer: Bob Nettles Executive Producers: Khaliq Meer & Leanne Alie Commissioned for BBC Sounds Audio Lab by Khaliq Meer Artwork by Joshua Obeng-Boateng

A motorbike adorned with a zebu skull is one of the central images of Djibril Diop Mambéty's classic 1973 film, whose title translates as The Journey of the Hyena. Listed as one of the 100 greatest films of all time in the Sight and Sound magazine poll, it mixes West African oral traditions with influences from the French New Wave and Soviet cinema. Mory and Anta are two young people growing up in a newly independent Senegal who fantasise about leaving Dakar for a new life in France, but how can they realise those dreams and do they really want to leave? Matthew Sweet is joined by New Generation Thinker Sarah Jilani, Estrella Sendra Fernandez and Ashley Clark. Touki Bouki is being screened at the BFI London on July 27th as part of the Black Fantastic season of films drawing on science fiction, myth and Afrofuturism. The curator of that season Ekow Eshun joined Shahidha Bari in a recent Free Thinking episode which you can find on BBC Sounds and as the Arts and Ideas podcast.

Sarah Jilani is a lecturer in English at City, University of London and has written on neocolonialism in Francophone West African cinema.

Estrella Sendra Fernandez lectures in film and screen studies at SOAS, University of London. She directed the award-winning documentary film Témoignages de l’autre côté about migration in Senegal.

Ashley Clark is curatorial director at the Criterion Collection. He is the author of the book Facing Blackness: Media and Minstrelsy in Spike Lee’s “Bamboozled”

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

In the Free Thinking archives you can find a series of programmes exploring silent film, star actors including Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marlene Dietrich, Dirk Bogarde, and classics of cinema around the world including Kurosawa's Rashomon, Satyajit Ray's films, the films of Jacques Tati and Charlie Chaplin.

President Uhuru Kenyatta wants Raila Odinga to win next month's presidential poll and not his deputy.

Each coin will be priced at the international market rate for an ounce of gold plus 5% for costs.

Tobi Amusan is the new 100m hurdles world record holder and world champion, but still remembers her father burning her running gear.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team, but we'll be back on Tuesday 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 African proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with something a bit different tonight. It is a video of young Nigerian students at Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School, Ijebu-Ode, celebrating former pupil Tobi Amusan's after her World Championships victory.

Ben James
BBC, OS

Image source, Getty Images

Some of the next generation of Nigerian athletes told the BBC's OS news programme that they are motivated and got emotional after the gold medal victory and world record of their very own Tobi Amusan at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Amusan broke the 100m hurdles world record with a stunning semi-final time of 12.12 seconds, before taking gold in the final.

"I cried so much" 21-year-old Miracle Thompson from Abia state, but now living in the US, told the BBC.

“I was like, Tobi has done it again. Who is going to break this record? It actually motivated me to keep going. Nigeria is a country that people don’t expect something like this to come out from," she continued.

She hopes it will make Nigerians value their athletes more.

Another athlete called Mercy Umoibang from Akwa Ibom, but now also living in the US, said Tobi Amusan’s gold has changed what Nigerian athletes believe is possible.

“She just changed that aspect of the way I see Nigerian athletes," she said.

You can listen to their full interview here.

Image source, drew mahin

Hanna Temauri
BBC News

The UN Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia is in the country’s capital, Addis Ababa, for the first work visit since its establishment in December last year.

The commission is an independent entity mandated to conduct investigations to establish the facts and the circumstances surrounding alleged violations and abuses committed by all parties during Ethiopia's current conflict which has been going on since November 2020.

The Ethiopian government had initially rejected the resolution calling it an alternative way to meddle in its internal affairs and had announced it will not acknowledge or cooperate with any mechanism.

But it seems relations have since softened, after the commission announced last month it is has initiated the process of dialogue with the government.

There are hopes that the consultations in Addis Ababa will result in access for the investigators to sites of alleged violations, as well as access to survivors, victims and witnesses.

But it is not clear when or if that will happen.

The Tigrayan forces have welcomed the visit but say any unilateral agreement with the Ethiopian government that does not take into account the people of Tigray constitutes reasonable grounds for it withholding cooperation with the commission .