Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

Image source, Abiy Ahmed/Twitter

Ethiopia says a second turbine of a controversial dam over the Blue Nile has started generating electricity.

The $4bn (£3.2bn) mega dam has been a huge source of controversy between the East African country and the two downstream countries Egypt and Sudan that depend heavily on the Nile for their essential water supplies.

It is expected to generate more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity upon completion.

Despite repeated talks, there still hasn’t been a binding agreement among the three countries. It is not clear if they are going to return to the negotiating table soon and whether the latest development will have an impact on that.

Cairo and Khartoum want a deal on the management of water and mitigation of possible drought and were angered that the dam started filling before an agreement was reached.

Ethiopia first began generating electricity in February this year.

Speaking on Thursday at a ceremony at the site of the dam in the country’s north-west, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said there hasn’t been any impact on the water supplies of the downstream countries.

Ethiopia sees the dam as instrumental in its efforts to electrify tens of millions of households particularly in rural areas across the country. It also plans to export electricity to its neighbours.

The construction of the dam took more than a decade.

Read more on this story:

• Ethiopia starts generating power from River Nile dam
• River Nile dam: Why Ethiopia can't stop it being filled

Marco Oriunto
BBC Focus on Africa radio

Image source, Reuters

Sierra Leone's information minister, Mohamed Rahman Swaray, confirmed that the lives of security personnel "had been lost" amid mass protests that hit the country on Wednesday.

Demonstrations have taken place across parts of the capital, Freetown, and other cities known as opposition strongholds.

They are rallying against the high cost of living, corruption and police brutality. Some are also calling for the president to step down.

Crowds in the city of Makeni have been filmed chanting “we want peace, Maada must go,” in reference to Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio.

“You now see visible presence of the army,” said Mr Swaray, who confirmed that the army had been deployed in an attempt to quell protests that, according to him, had not been agreed with the police.

Mr Swaray accused “self-seeking politicians” of masterminding the violent demonstrations by exploiting “joblessness” among the youth.

Youth employment rate in Sierra Leone rose to almost 11% in 2021, according to the World Bank, external.

According to the minister, police stations in various parts of the country had been torched.

He said “our government condemns this in the strongest of terms”.

Dickens Olewe
BBC Africa

Four Africa-based election observer missions have been giving their preliminary report at a press briefing in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

Voting day was "calm, peaceful and orderly," said former Tanzania president Jakaya Kiwete, who led the East Africa Community mission.

He praised the electoral commission for its management of the election, saying his team was "satisfied" by the way the poll was conducted.

His comments were echoed by Dr Mulatu Teshome, who led the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) team.

"Preparation was visibly strong and its election management performance by all measure has been commendable," he said.

But added that the postponement of the poll in two counties had "caused anxiety and uncertainty."

Mr Kiwete also praised the use of technology saying its use in registering voters, identifying them and transmitting votes "had increased efficiency in the transparency."

The EAC mission proposed that in future elections party agents should be allowed to also monitor voter verification not just the putting of ballots in boxes.

Mr Kikwete also urged Kenyans to maintain peace.

Image source, Igad

Igad also noted that its observers had noticed high representation of young people and women working as poll officials as well as party agents.

The two missions also praised the security put in place at the poll stations they visited.

The African Union mission led by former Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) also sent observer teams.

Some 18,000 local and international observers were accredited for Kenya's 9 August election.

Kenya's elections chief has warned the media not to announce the winner of the presidential poll before his own organisation does.

"Please don't declare anybody the winner, it is our job to declare who is the winner," IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said on Thursday.

"This is a transparent process, you can log in and verify what's there," he said, referring to the IEBC's website, external.

"The results in the public portal are the same results that the [electoral] commission will use to complete this process," he added.

Nigeria topped Africa's medal table at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, and the event retains its significance across the continent.

A Kenyan MP who is wanted by police as a suspect in the killing of his rival's bodyguard has won re-election in his Kimilili constituency, following Tuesday's voting.

Police say Didmus Barasa has been on the run after being linked to the deadly shooting that happened at a polling station on voting day.

A government source in the local Star newspaper says he is suspected to have escaped from the scene on a motorcycle taxi, and headed towards neighbouring Uganda.

The public prosecutor has told police, external to have the MP arrested and record a statement

"According to police in Bungoma, the MP is still at large and his phone is switched off," said prosecutor Noordin Haji.

But on Thursday Morning, a post on the MP's Twitter account thanked his constituents for re-electing him:

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

Mali's interim President Col Assimi Goïta said he held a telephone conversation on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a post on Twitter, external, Mr Goïta said: "We spoke of the Russian Federation's support for Mali's political transition, and I praised the quality of our partnership, which respects Mali's sovereignty and the aspirations of its people."

On Tuesday, Mali’s air force officially unveiled several new combat aircraft supplied by Russia during a ceremony presided over by Mr Goïta at Bamako’s international airport.

The Soviet-era warplanes are the latest batch of military deliveries from Moscow under close ties forged between Russia and Mali since the Sahel state suffered a coup in August 2020.

Mali has pivoted towards Russia after falling out with the West, particularly France, which is opposed to the presence of Wagner mercenaries in the Sahel country.

Mark Pivac
BBC World Service Newsroom

Mali now says 42 of its soldiers were killed in an Islamist attack on Sunday, raising the death toll from 17.

Officials said a further 22 troops were wounded, while 37 militants affiliated to the Islamic State group were killed.

The attack took place at Tessit, a town in the troubled region where the borders of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger converge.

It was one of the bloodiest to afflict Mali in a 10-year Islamist insurgency.

Thousands of residents have fled the area, adding to an estimated two million displaced by fighting in the wider Sahel region.

Richard Kagoe
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has commended Kenyans for observing peace during the elections.

In a statement, he commended the electoral commission and Kenyan authorities for ensuring that voters were able to exercise freely their right to vote.

He has urged politicians and voters to be calm and restrained as they wait for results.

More than 65% of the country’s 22.1 million voters turned up to vote on Tuesday.

The polls body is yet to provide the final turnout figures but the initial estimates suggest a decline from the 2017 election - when 80% of the registered 19 million voters turned out to vote.

Provisional results show a tight race for the presidency between the two frontrunners - veteran politician Raila Odinga and Deputy President William Ruto.

The electoral body has so far received roughly 99% of the results.

The commission is constrained to make the final announcement until all physical forms tabulating the presidential results are received and ratified at the national tallying centre.

The commission has seven days to announce the results.

Meanwhile, it is an anxious wait for Kenyans eagerly waiting for the outcome of the presidential race.

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Rwanda on a highly-awaited visit for talks on the country's alleged support to M23 rebels operating in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Blinken is also expected to pressure Kigali to release Paul Rusesabagina, the subject of Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda, whom the US government says is “wrongfully detained in Rwanda”.

Rusesabagina was sentenced to 25 years for terrorism by a Rwandan court last year in what supporters called a sham trial.

The US State Department says that in Kigali, external, Mr Blinken “will meet with Rwandan leaders and civil society members on a range of key issues”.

Replying on Twitter on the expected pressure by the US, President Kagame said, external: “No worries...there are things that just don't work like that here!!”

Mr Blinken arrived in Kigali on Wednesday night from Kinshasa where authorities asked the US to sanction Rwanda for “supporting the M23 rebels” who now control parts of North Kivu province in eastern DR Congo.

Rwanda has denied supporting the M23, and the rebels deny claims they fought alongside Rwandan troops.

Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o has congratulated her father on winning a second and final term as governor of Kenya's Kisumu county.

Her father, Anyang Nyong'o, was announced winner on Wednesday following Kenya's general elections on Tuesday.

The Oscar-winning actor was raised in Kenya, before moving to the United States.

Nyong'o, who won a best supporting actress Oscar for 12 Years a Slave, thanked the people of Kisumu for "their overwhelming support" to her father at the polls.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo are searching for more than 800 prisoners set free by armed rebels.

Army and other sources said two police officers and one rebel were killed in the assault on Kakwangura central prison, in North Kivu province.

About 50 of the escapees were recaptured.

Fighters of the ADF, a group linked to the Islamic State group, are being blamed for the jailbreak, which reportedly freed a rebel leader.

One report said local people stoned to death three ADF fighters.

The group has killed thousands in the eastern DR Congo.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News

Image source, Reuters

Leaders of the West African regional bloc Ecowas have condemned the violence that erupted in various parts of Sierra Leone on Wednesday.

Sierra Leoneans have been rallying against the high cost of living, corruption and police brutality. There are also calls for President Julius Maada Bio to step down.

Some protesters and policemen were killed on the third day of violent protests that have taken place in the capital, Freetown, as well as several other towns.

The government on Wednesday imposed a nationwide curfew in response.

In a statement in Abuja, Ecowas called on all to obey law and order and for the perpetrators of the violence to be identified and brought to justice.

Protesters on Wednesday blocked off the main entrance into the country's Lungi airport and clashed with security agencies.

President Bio is currently out of the country with his family and has left Vice-President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh in charge.

The vice-president announced the curfew on Wednesday in a short state broadcast.

He said security forces had been authorised to deal with lawbreakers, accusing the protesters of destroying and burning down public facilities.

Sierra Leone is due to go to the polls next year to elect a new president. The protesters say that President Bio should not seek re-election.

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From José Eduardo dos Santos to Robert Mugabe, disputes have broke out over burials.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live for now. There will be an automated news feed until we're back on Thursday morning Nairobi time.

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 an Egyptian man picking prickly pears at a farm in Al Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt.

Image source, Getty Images

Emery Makumeno
BBC News, Kinshasa

The Congolese army has blamed militant Islamist group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for a prison break which took place in Butembo in the east of the country on Tuesday.

During the jail break in Kakwangura central prison more than 800 inmates escaped.

About 80 heavily armed militia attacked the prison to free inmates, including 12 ADF women that were in custody, in an operation that lasted for about a quarter of an hour, Captain Anthony Mualushayi said.

Two policemen guarding the prison were killed and three ADF fighters were captured by civilians and burnt alive, bringing the official death toll of at least five dead.

Lebo Diseko
BBC News, Johannesburg

Image source, Getty Images

The parents of a group of teenagers who died in mysterious circumstances at a pub in South Africa in June say they want authorities to release the results of forensics tests by Friday.

Twenty-one people - most of them teenagers - died at Enyobeni Tavern in the Eastern Cape, with the youngest just 13 years old in an incident that shocked the nation.

A month on and parents are still waiting for answers, with police yet to establish a cause. However, alcohol and carbon monoxide poisoning have been ruled out.

Forensics experts have said traces of methanol - commonly found in cleaning chemicals - had been found in the blood streams of all victims, but it’s not clear whether that was a contributing factor

Meanwhile the owner of the bar has been charged with selling alcohol to minors and is due to appear in court later this month.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News, Nairobi

Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions has ordered the arrest of MP Didimus Barasa who is alleged to have shot an aide to his opponent in Tuesday's general election.

The Kimilili MP has been missing since the shooting incident in the western town of Bungoma.

Police have launched a manhunt for Mr Barasa, as we reported earlier.

Voting was largely peaceful across the country but there were at least three gun related incidents involving politicians.

Authorities are separately investigating an aspiring MP who drew his gun at a polling station in Siaya county in western Kenya.

Earlier on Monday, a man was shot and killed in Eldoret town in another incident involving a prominent businessman who is running for the governor's seat.

Image source, Getty Images

The boss of Ghana's Electricity Company Ghana (ECG) has defended the decision to cut off electricity to Yilo and Manya Krobo municipalities in Ghana's Eastern Region, saying no one has a birth right to electricity.

"The funny thing is we walk around thinking that it is our right to electricity. It is not a right. It is a privilege," Samuel Mahama said whilst speaking on Hard Truth on Accra based Joy News.

Some residents of Yilo and Manya Krobo allegedly refused to accept new prepaid meters. Those new meters would mean customers would have to pay before receiving electricity.

Relations between local residents and the ECG have disintegrated so badly that the energy company has required support from the army to install the pre-paid meters in people's homes, Mr Mahama told Joy News.

"The prepaid is not negotiable. They should not for a second believe that the prepaid will be negotiated. The soldiers are also not going anywhere. My people need to be protected. They equally have families as anyone," Mr Mahama continued.

The communities have been cut off from the national grid, leading to some businesses in the area threatening to fire their workers, as employers are being made to choose between buying fuel to boot up generators or shutting up shop until they get electricity back, according to Ghana's Joy News. , external

Some residents have said that their lives are becoming unbearable with some students unable to study for exams, Joy News reports.

In addition, families say mortuary workers are asking them to collect their loved ones from morgues as fears grow that the dead bodies will decompose due to no electricity.