Ishaq Khalid
BBC News

Image source, AFP

A group of lawmakers in Niger has backed a motion seeking to criminalise same-sex relationships in the country.

The vast majority of Niger’s population is Muslim, but it has a secular government and there is currently no specific law on same-sex relationships.

The MPs say same-sex relationships are against the religious and cultural beliefs of the people.

The proposal was presented to the Speaker of Parliament by Nana Djibou Harouna, a lawmaker from the southern region of Maradi.

She told a press conference on Thursday in the capital, Niamey, that the move was meant to protect the "rights and interest of the public".

Mrs Haruna described homosexuality as a "problem affecting our society".

She said they had carried out wide consultations and that the proposal had received the support of Nigerien citizens as well as nearly all MPs.

It’s not yet clear when the matter will be formally debated in parliament. It is also unclear what sort of punishment they want stipulated in the legislation.

The move comes just weeks after a court in Maradi acquitted two young women of charges relating to lesbianism because there was no clear legislation criminalising same-sex relationship.

They were instead jailed for two years after being found guilty of posting their nude videos on social media in which they were seen allegedly in a lesbian act.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Seychelles is one of the first countries to map its seagrasses nationwide, which are a huge store of carbon.

Raufeon Stots says Danny Sabatello's trash talking is just a 'defence mechanism' as the bantamweights prepare to settle their rivalry Bellator 289 in Connecticut on Friday.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team. There'll be an automated news feed until we're back on Friday morning.

In the meantime, you can get the latest news from our website and the Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this picture by Ghanaian photographer and artist Derrick Ofosu Boateng:

Kenya's former captain Victor Wanyama decides to return to the national side, just over a year after his retirement from international football.

University College Cork plans to hand over the objects, which also include a sarcophagus, in 2023.

BBC Focus on Africa radio

Image source, Patricia Mashale/BFS

A South African winner of a whistle-blowing prize who is now in hiding has said that her efforts to expose alleged corruption in the police force were worth it despite threats to her life.

"I am doing this as a mother for a better future for my children. I want to rebuild South Africa and I will stay in South Africa until I see justice," Patricia Mashale told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme.

The international group Blueprint for Free Speech has named her as one of its five winners of its 2022 Whistleblowing Awards, external

She was working as an administrator in a police unit in South Africa's Free State province when she reported corruption in appointments as well as disciplinary hearings, the Mail and Guardian reported, external.

She was charged with misconduct for bringing the police into disrepute at the beginning of the year. Then "after 15 years of service, Ms Mashale was dismissed after she refused to attend a misconduct hearing chaired by one of the police officials she had implicated in corruption", Blueprint for Free Speech says.

Ms Mashale heard that some people in the police were trying to kill her because of these accusations.

She told the BBC that she was recently involved in a high-speed car chase after she had left the place where she was in hiding to go and see her children.

Despite the consequences, she felt that blowing the whistle was a duty. "It's just being ethical; the fact that I signed an oath of office to speak out about corruption," Ms Mashale said.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Religious leaders in South Sudan are calling on parties to the conflict in the oil-producing Upper Nile State in the north of the country to implement a ceasefire amid escalating hostilities.

There are growing concerns that the renewed fighting might derail the implementation of the revitalised peace agreement, which was signed in September 2018 to end a five-year civil war.

There are also fears that the fighting could cause a humanitarian catastrophe in the region.

The ceasefire monitoring body says the violence began in mid-November when tensions started building up between rival groups.

Father Paolino Tipo Deng, chairman of the interdenominational Upper Nile Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation, said that heavy weaponry was being used by tribal youth in the ongoing hostilities.

“We pastors of different churches regret the tragic violent deaths and displacement of so many innocent people, especially women, children and elderly caused by the tension in Upper Nile State," Fr. Tipo told reporters in the capital, Juba, on Thursday.

"At the same time, we condemn and reject such a senseless and unnecessary war amongst people of one nation who were supposed to be living in peace and harmony.”

He urged President Salva Kiir, First Vice-President, Riek Machar, and all parties to the peace agreement to take immediate action to stop the fighting in Upper Nile State.

BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

Nigeria's top general has dismissed as nonsense a report that the army has run a secret, mass abortion programme, external for the past decade.

Chief of the Defence Staff Lucky Irabor said he would not waste his time investigating something that wasn't true.

According to the Reuters news agency, at least 10,000 abortions have been carried out, many involving women who had been raped by Islamist militants.

Women interviewed by Reuters said the terminations were performed without their consent.

The US government has described the report as harrowing and said it was seeking further information.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

The authorities in Ghana say more than eight million unregistered Sim cards have been blocked in the country after their owners failed to meet a final registration deadline.

The disconnection of the mobile lines means their owners will no longer be able to make calls or access the internet, neither will they be able to use mobile money services.

Ghana’s Ministry of Communication and Digitisation and the National Communications Authority had said the mandatory Sim card registration was to help fight crimes such as fraud and to ensure digital security.

The process started in October last year when the government issued a directive for people to register their mobile lines.

The first stage of the registration involves mobile phone customers linking their Sim cards with their national identity card details.

They then have their biometric data captured by mobile phone service providers to complete the registration.

The deadline had been extended several times.

The last given date was 30 November.

A significant number of Ghana’s population of 31 million have yet to acquire a national identity card, making it difficult to register their Sim cards.

The authorities say more than 20 million lines have been fully registered so far. Individuals are allowed to register a maximum of 10 Sim cards with their national ID card.

BBC World Service

A leading human rights group says that a domestic violence law introduced five years ago in Tunisia has failed to protect women.

In a new report, Human Rights Watch has concluded that poor implementation of what it describes as one of the strongest laws against domestic violence in the Middle East and North Africa has left Tunisian women at risk.

The group alleges that the Tunisian authorities have failed to systematically respond, investigate and provide protection to women who report violence.

Read more on this story:

• Women in Tunisia: Has a female prime minister changed Tunisia?

Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describes his priorities and why Nigerians should vote for him.

Mercy Juma
BBC News, Nairobi

Ahmed Rashid, a controversial Kenyan police officer facing murder charges over the 2017 killing of two suspected thieves, did not enter a plea in court on Thursday, as had been expected.

His lawyer Danstan Omari, who says Corporal Rashid acted within the law, told the court that his client was unwell and had been in hospital since 5 December. He also said the policeman had never been personally served with a summons to appear in court.

The policeman is accused of carrying out extra-judicial killings in the Eastleigh, Pangani and Mathare areas of the capital, Nairobi, without any consequences.

In an interview with BBC Africa Eye, Corporal Rashid admitted to killing alleged criminals.

A video that went viral shows him shooting the two unarmed teenagers in 2017. They had both surrendered and were lying down. This happened in broad daylight and with dozens of people watching.

Corporal Rashid is loathed and loved in almost equal measure.

At the court, were the families of about 43 young men who were allegedly killed by the policeman. His supporters were also there, most of them from the Eastleigh business community, who say gangs that used to terrorise them are now a thing of the past.

Corporal Rashid is now expected to appear on 23 January.

You can watch more about him here:

Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Tanzanian musician Harmonize has apologised over the content of his new song, called Weed Language, saying it violates the values ​​and culture of his home country.

The song, about marijuana, is a collaboration with Jamaican dancehall artist Konshens and was released last week.

The lyrical refrain throughout the song is: "How do you call weed in your language?". It then lists the terms for the drug in different countries.

Some of the words in Swahili describe the feeling that results from smoking marijuana.

In a statement, Harmonize's managers said the song has been pulled down from social media platforms and its lyrics will be replaced by words that do not offend Tanzanian values.

Social use of marijuana is criminalised in Tanzania and attracts a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

This comes a day after the musician was summoned by the Tanzania Drug Control and Enforcement Unit for promoting consumption of marijuana in the song.

Harmonize also met with officials from the arts regulatory authority, Basata, before putting out the apology.

“The general leadership of Konde Gang Music Worldwide is apologizing over the content of my latest song Weed Language. The song has gone against the morals of our nation,” the statement by his managers said.

Harmonize had earlier said that the song was one of his main projects this month.

The musician was previously been summoned over allegations, which he denies, of illegal consumption of marijuana.

Victor Komen
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, ROSE WANYUA

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly says his country "wants to make sure" that the family of a Kenyan woman allegedly killed by a British soldier a decade ago gets justice.

The body of Agnes Wanjiru, 21, was found in a septic tank at a hotel in central Kenya in 2012, nearly three months after she had spent an evening partying with soldiers.

Last year the UK defence ministry said that it was co-operating with a Kenyan inquiry into the death following allegations of a cover-up.

Mr Cleverly, who was in Nairobi on Wednesday, said Ms Wanjiru’s murder was discussed in his meeting with Kenyan President William Ruto.

“We take our responsibility incredibly seriously to ensure that there is a proper legal process and that any perpetrators are brought to justice and we will continue working closely with the Kenyan government on this,” he said.

Ms Wanjiru, who dropped out of high school and later became a sex worker to look after her baby, was last seen by witnesses on the night of 31 March 2012. She was walking out of a bar in the town of Nanyuki accompanied by two British soldiers.

Kenyan judge Njeri Thuku concluded after an inquest in 2019 that Ms Wanjiru had been murdered by one or two British soldiers.

Mr Cleverly will on Thursday be in Ethiopia.

Read more on Agnes Wanjiru's murder:

• Kenya family's anger over UK army 'cover-up'

Pele famously said an African team would win the World Cup by 2000 - could Morocco finally achieve his dream?

Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Geneva

Image source, Getty Images

The World Health Organization says that malaria cases and deaths remained stable last year, after a worrying rise during the first year of the Covid pandemic.

But, in its world malaria report released on Thursday, external, the WHO warned of new challenges including mosquito resistance to insecticides and parasite resistance to drugs used to treat malaria.

Ninety-five per cent of all malaria cases are in Africa, with children under five most at risk.

Despite ongoing disruption to health services caused by Covid-19, malaria deaths fell last year by 6,000, to 619,000.

New cases rose slightly to 247 million, a much slower rate than the previous year.

The WHO says the relatively good results are due to countries strengthening their response to malaria prevention, testing and treatment.

But the increasing resistance to insecticide used in bed nets is a worrying development - as well as mosquitoes changing their habits, biting during the day, outside, where they can avoid bed nets.

So although the WHO has praise for countries working hard to tackle malaria, there is no room for complacency – without renewed global effort, malaria could race ahead of the campaign to control it.

Investigators say the civilians - including 12 children - were "arbitrarily executed" by M23 rebels.

Kenya's government has promised to offer an unspecified number of free scholarships to Kenyans who will attend Monday's Jamhuri Day celebrations - to mark the day the former British colony gained independence in 1963 as well as the day it became a republic a year later.

An official from the interior ministry, Raymond Omollo, made the announcement when he inspected a stadium in the capital, Nairobi, that will host the event.

The scholarships on technology certification courses will be offered to "any eligible adult attending the celebrations in person".

"This in a bid to make Kenya the top talent of the world and the region in the technology and digital economy," the interior ministry added in a tweet.

The free courses are being offered "in the spirit of the technology and digital economy theme" for this year's celebrations, it said.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has announced plans to hold parallel celebrations on the same day at a venue in the city - about 18km (11 miles) from where the official event will be taking place.