Image source, Reuters

Ugandan's President Yoweri Museveni has said Europe's return to coal powered plants amid a biting energy shortage makes a mockery of its commitments to climate change targets.

The veteran leader also criticised new conditions that allow for Western investment in African fossil fuel - but only if the oil and gas is being exported to Europe. He termed it the purest hypocrisy.

"We will not accept one rule for them and another rule for us. We will not allow African progress to be the victim of Europe's failure to meet its own climate goals," he wrote in his blog, external.

He said campaigns for African nations to embrace clean energy "leave Africans without electricity when the wind does not blow, and the sun does not shine".

He added: "Europe's failure to meet its climate goals should not be Africa's problem."

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Cop 27: Uganda-Tanzania oil pipeline sparks climate row

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Getty Images

Amnesty International has condemned the sentencing of two TikTok stars in the northern Nigerian state of Kano for defaming the state governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

The TikTokers, Mubarak Muhammad alias Unique Pikin and Nazifi Muhammad, had pleaded guilty and asked for leniency.

But the judge ordered them to be given 20 lashes each, to pay a fine of 10,000 naira (£20; £17) and to clean the court premises for 30 days.

They were also ordered to publicly apologise to Mr Ganduje on social media.

Amnesty International said the "cruel sentences must be quashed" and that the young TikTok stars "must be immediately and unconditionally released".

Parts of the sentences have been carried out. The pair was whipped in public in the court's premises and have paid the fine.

Their lawyer said they would not appeal against the judgement.

Nigeria has seen a growing number of social media stars who use comedy to comment on social and political issues - attracting massive followers to their accounts.

Charles Gitonga
BBC Africa business reporter, Nairobi

Image source, EPA

Kenya Airways' pilots have resumed work after their union, the Kenya Airlines Pilots Association (Kalpa), called off a strike that disrupted flights for days.

The pilots resumed at 06:00 local time as ordered by a labour court.

A judge ruled on Tuesday that they should resume work "unconditionally" pending another court's decision on whether the strike was legal.

Judge Anna Mwaure also ruled that Kenya Airways should allow the pilots to perform their duties "without harassment or intimidation".

The pilots have been protesting against the suspension of their contributions to a retirement fund by their employer.

Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Image source, Reuters

French civil aviation safety investigation experts have already been deployed to Tanzania following the plane crash in Lake Victoria near the town of Bukoba on Sunday.

A statement by the French High Commissioner Nabil Hajlaoui says the team from France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety will assist in the air crash probe.

On Monday, another team of technical advisers from the Franco-Italian aircraft manufacturer, ATR, was on its way to Tanzania to investigate the crash.

The aircraft which was being operated by Precision Air was constructed by two major European aviation firms Airbus and Leonardo.

It had 43 people on board – at least 19 of whom died in the crash.

Tanzanian authorities have also launched an in-depth investigation and say the findings will be made public.

Victor Komen
BBC News

Image source, AFP

The Kenyan government finally made public details of some of the loan agreements it signed with China’s Export and Import (Exim) Bank for the funding of the country’s most expensive infrastructure project - the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

The country borrowed about $5bn (£4.3bn) from Chinese lenders to develop the 700km (435 miles) railway line which runs from the coastal city Mombasa to the central Naivasha town.

The 480km section between Mombasa and Nairobi cost $3.6bn (disbursed in tranches of $2bn and $1.4bn in 2014) before Kenya borrowed $1.4bn more in December 2015 for the 120km section between Nairobi and Naivasha.

The project has however been rocked by concerns about its economic viability, claims of inflation of project costs, corruption and a skewed contract that allegedly put Kenya’s strategic assets at risk of being seized by the Chinese government should the country default on the loan repayment.

Why has the contract been kept secret for so long?

Despite mounting public pressure and a court order directing the government to disclose details of the contract, former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration declined to make it public.

The signed loan deal obliges the Kenyan government to keep the terms of the of deal "strictly confidential".

Are Kenya’s strategic assets at risk in case of defaults on the loan?

According to clause 5.5 of the Preferential Buyer Credit Loan agreement, neither the borrower (Kenya) nor any of its assets “would be entitled to any right of immunity on the grounds of sovereignty or otherwise from arbitration, suit, execution or any other legal process”.

Kenyan authorities have previously denied claims that the country’s assets such as the port of Mombasa had been attached as collateral and were at risk of being seized by China in case of a default.

Were the dispute resolution terms skewed in favour of China?

China has control over dispute adjudication. The contracts stipulates that disputes arising from the deal would only be arbitrated by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Committee(CIETAC) and the arbitral award would be final. The arbitration would strictly take place in Beijing.

“The borrower also agrees that the arbitral award against it made by such tribunal shall be final and conclusive and may be enforced in any other jurisdiction,” clause 15(4) of the agreement reads.

Sadio Mane went off injured 13 days before he is due to play in the World Cup in Bayern Munich's Bundesliga thrashing of Werder Bremen.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

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The popular, self-exiled Egyptian YouTuber Abdullah al-Sherif has said that the authorities in Egypt have arrested his father.

"My father, Mohammed al-Sherif, 74, has been arrested. Now, you [the authorities] have three of my kin: My father and my brothers. I have nothing to lose," the dissident YouTuber tweeted to his 1.9 million followers on Monday.

Mr Sherif said in another tweet on Tuesday that he steered clear of the calls for protests against Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi on 11 November, but the arrest of his father has pushed him to be involved.

"Although I did not tweet on the hashtag 'go out on 11/11 to liberate your country', but when one clicks on it the Twitter algorithms will direct you to my account, as if they [the algorithms] tell you: No more implicit [talk], boy; it is time for explicit [talk]," Sherif tweeted in a sarcastic tone.

The popular YouTuber has 4.4 million subscribers on YouTube, 1.9 million followers on Twitter, 1.8 million followers on Facebook, and one million followers on Instagram.

He occasionally reveals on his weekly show what he alleges are leaked recordings of Egyptian officials, which he claims were procured and sent to him from people inside the country.

These recordings have been repeatedly discredited by pro-government Egyptian pundits, who have also attempted to discredit Mr Sherif and the motives behind his programme.

He has recently published videos which he says were sent to him by Egyptians who vow to participate in anti-government protests called for by self-exiled Egyptian opposition to be staged on Friday.

Image source, AFP

Kenya's ruling coalition has denied having a hand in a proposal by one of its lawmakers to remove presidential term limits and replace it with an age limit.

The country's constitution currently allows for a president to serve a maximum of two five-year terms.

But the MP, Salah Yakub, early this week suggested that the ruling coalition would push for an amendment to end term limits and have the president's age capped at 75 years instead.

Such a constitutional amendment would have to be approved in a referendum. If successful, it would see President William Ruto, 55, remain in office for 20 years.

The proposal has sparked a storm in the country and the president's party, UDA, has distanced itself from it.

"The party has not been part of discussions in regard to term limits. The party is busy implementing The Plan [President Ruto's campaign pledges] and will not be part of sideshows," said the party in a tweet., external.

Uganda's opposition leader, Bobi Wine, urged Kenyans to be vigilant and drew comparisons to the scrapping of term limits by President Yoweri Museveni.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Getty Images

Five teenage sisters abducted by gunmen in June in the northern Nigerian state of Zamfara have been freed.

Their extraordinary kidnap and long stay in captivity had sparked outrage - especially after the kidnappers released a video of them last month, visibly frightened and bewildered.

In the video, the captives were seen carrying guns and their captors threatening to convert them to become the gang’s fighters if ransom was not paid.

The authorities have suggested that they were rescued by the security forces. But the family told the BBC that they paid a ransom of 72m naira ($164,000; £142,000) to the kidnappers to free them.

The mother of three of the girls, Hajiya Hadiza, told the BBC she was overjoyed on seeing her daughters back home.

"I had never lost hope of seeing my daughters again," she said. But she lamented that all of them were "distressed", some with rashes on their bodies apparently "because of mosquito bites".

Mrs Hadiza said the girls told her that they "were allowed to bathe only five times and without a soap" in the entire time they spent in captivity.

The three girls and their two half-sisters were kidnapped five months ago along with their mothers and two brothers when their home in the town of Furfuri was attacked by gunmen.

The two mothers were immediately abandoned by the kidnappers on their way to their hideout because they couldn't walk faster. The two boys were later freed after negotiations, while the five sisters were held.

The Zamfara state governor met the girls after their release on Monday night and ordered a "proper medical check" on them.

Zamfara is one of the states worst hit by armed kidnapping gangs. The release of the five girls came as gunmen attacked three other communities in Gusau, Bukkuyum and Bungudu areas between Sunday and Monday – kidnapping dozens of people and killing at least 11 others.

Nigeria is struggling to tackle an endemic spate of kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs across the country. Thousands have either been killed or abducted by the gangs in recent years.

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on western nations to deliver a financial package they promised to help the nation speed up its move away from coal.

When it was announced last year, western nations and campaigners hoped it could provide a model ending reliance on coal.

The US, Britain, France, Germany and the European Union pledged a deal valued at $8.5bn (£7.3bn), which includes initiatives to help fossil fuel workers move to greener industries.

“As we looked more closely at it we found only 2.7% was grant money. The other proportions were loans,” President Ramaphosa told the BBC at the UN climate summit COP27 in Egypt.

“South Africa already carries a fairly sizeable loan burden, and we require more grant funding. As we were drafting our investment plan, we came up to the figure that will help fund our just transition over the next five years. And it amounted to about $98bn," he said.

He added that he raised this with representatives from western nations and that “the message seems to have been well received.”

When asked if any of the money had materialised, Barbara Creecy, South Africa’s environment minister added the first has come through and that the sum involved was $600m.

When the deal was announced, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the United Nations COP26 meeting in Glasgow that it would help move the world toward meeting its climate targets by "choking off international finance for coal".

Our proverb of the day:

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The Ukraine war shows France's military might be better directed elsewhere than a thankless campaign.

The government sees them as a way to lessen the impact of a lack of rain but some farmers are wary.

Amr Darwish is removed from a COP27 meeting after defending the detention of Alaa Abdel Fattah.

Gambian-Welsh man says his family in Gwynedd hear racist comments such as being told to go home.

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

There will be an automated news feed until then. You can also get the latest news from our website and listen to the Africa Today podcast.

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

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this lush view from Zimbabwe's Honde Valley.

Beverly Ochieng
BBC Monitoring

Image source, Reuters

Sudanese security forces fired tear gas as thousands of pro-democracy activists marched to the presidential palace in Khartoum on Tuesday to demand an end to military rule.

Protesters draped in the Sudanese flag turned out in large numbers despite heightened security and the closure of major roads and bridges in the capital.

Image source, Reuters

Weekly demonstrations have taken place since the country’s junta leader Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan deposed a civilian-led government in October 2021, derailing a transition to democracy.

Since then, the Sudanese Central Doctors Committee has reported about 119 deaths as security forces often used live bullets and tear gas to put down demonstrations.

Political talks to restore civilian authorities have been marred by mistrust between opposition groups and the junta, which has given the latter the upper hand ahead of elections planned for next year.

In recent months, Lt Gen Burhan has reinstated allies of former long-serving president Omar al-Bashir – who was deposed in April 2019 – and concentrated power around the army.

The political stalemate has forced Western donors to withdraw financial support, further crippling Sudan’s battered economy.

Judith Wambare
BBC News

It’s market day at Kimana market in Kajiado, south-western Kenya.

Anxious farmers stand at different strategic points with their animals hoping to attract prospective buyers.

In years gone by they would be hoping to make a lot of money, but every Tuesday for the past few months they have had to sell their emaciated cows at throw away prices. Some prized cows now go for as little as $10 (£8.60).

After two seasons of below average rainfall there hasn't been enough pasture to feed the animals, some are too weak to stand on their own, others collapse and die as their owners wait for buyers.

Farmer James Ndondoti tells us he managed to sell four cows. In good days he would sell his cows for between $300 to $500, but today he got three of them at $150 and a calf for $80.

“We have had previous drought periods but this one is the worst we have ever seen. Our livestock are dying because there is no grass to feed them, no water for them to feed, nothing... so we opt to sell them at a loss because we still have families to take care of," he said.

With the onset of short rainy season, there is some expectation that it will bring relief.

There will however be a period of one month before the grass grows and the farmers are worried that most, if not all, of their livestock will make it.

Omar Wally
Journalist, The Gambia

Education authorities in The Gambia have moved to address a row over religious clothes at the country's best secondary school that many worried was going to get out of hand.

Female Muslim students at St Therese's Upper Basic school have been complaining that their bags were being searched and their veils seized before entering the school.

Veils are not allowed at the Christian-owned school and Muslim students don't wear them in the institution's grounds.

But reports that the female students were being harassed angered many and authorities worried that the issue could get out of hand in the Muslim-majority nation.

An investigation found that school prefects were doing the search and seizure.

The education ministry ordered the act to stop immediately and warned that it would not tolerate anyone trying to instigate religious intolerance.

Congolese fighter planes have bombed M23 rebel positions in the east of the country, causing people to flee into neighbouring Uganda.

A rebel spokesman said the jets deliberately targeted civilian settlements around the Sabyinyo volcano.

The military denied the accusation.

DR Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23, which has seized significant territory in North Kivu province in recent weeks.

Aid groups say tens of thousands of people have fled to camps near the regional capital Goma following the upsurge in fighting.