DJ Edu
Presenter of This Is Africa on BBC World Service

Image source, Bahati

Bahati is a Kenyan singer who some might say lives up to his name, which means lucky in Kiswahili. But luck has nothing to do with this man's rise to fame.

He was born in the Nairobi slum of Mathare and lost his mother at the age of six. His father remarried and moved elsewhere leaving Bahati and his brothers to fend for themselves.

"You have two options. You either become a street child or you end up in crime. You have no-one to look up to."

He tried to survive on the streets collecting scrap metal. "It was so tough for me."

But then a woman from Iceland came to take photographs of the living conditions in Mathare, and Bahati tried to ask for help in his poor English.

"I remember telling her: 'I need school, and stomach!' She took me in and started a children's home. I was actually one of the first kids she took in."

At the children's home he had regular meals and went to school where he started playing guitar and writing music.

He completed his secondary education but then had to leave the children's home to give someone else his place. On his return to Mathare, he began trying to contact musicians via social media, as he saw music as his only option to progress.

"I wrote DMs to every big super star in Kenya. One thing I believed was that you can make it from anywhere if you push yourself."

As a result he met music producer RK who worked on his first big hit, Mama, written in appreciation of his mother. "I always wanted her to be proud of me as I fight to make it in life."

Bahati made his name in Gospel music winning Best Gospel artist at the Afrima Awards. He then decided to change genres to play more contemporary music.

"I'm a risk taker. I believe by taking risks you get to new markets."

In 2023 he wants to undertake more projects to help the youth through his foundation.

He also wants to conquer the rest of Africa and become one of the biggest Afrobeats artists.

Bahati is married to fellow performer Diana B, and as well as having his own children, he adopted a boy from the same children's home he grew up in.

"Living with him for eight years, reminds me of my roots and most importantly it keeps me humble".

The full interview will be broadcast on This Is Africa on the BBC World Service. More details here

Nemes Tarimo, who was in prison in Russia, joined the Wagner Group to get a pardon, his family says.

Image source, AFP

Gabon's Foreign Minister Michael Moussa Adamo has died after suffering a heart attack during a cabinet meeting on Friday.

The 62-year-old died despite "despite efforts by specialists" to revive him, a government statement said.

"He was a very great diplomat, a true statesman. For me, he was first of all a friend, loyal and faithful, whom I could always count on," President Ali Bongo tweeted.

Mr Adamo was a well-known television broadcaster before joining politics.

He had served in several government roles, including as Mr Bongo's special advisor, before becoming foreign minister last year.

Kyla Herrmannsen
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Electricity has been restored at the Nigerian consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa, after city officials disconnected the power on Wednesday due to non-payment.

The consulate owes the power utility City Power over 400,000 rand ($23,000; £18,000).

Consulate staff refused City Power officials access to the property but the utility was able to disconnect the premises from the power grid remotely.

The last few days have seen revenue collection efforts by City Power to disconnect various businesses whose accounts are in arrears.

The utility is owed $232m in unpaid accounts overall.

Following the consulate’s disconnection, the Consul-general visited the City Power offices and arranged to pay a deposit of $7,000 promising that the balance of the outstanding account will be settled by the end of January.

The consulate’s power was then restored that same day.

City Power’s actions come in the midst of rolling scheduled national blackouts as Eskom, the beleaguered national power utility, struggles to keep the lights on.

Women will now have to make up at least 30% of public and private sector jobs.

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa's governing African National Congress is mulling selling its properties in the country and abroad to plug a hole in its finances, external, news site Semafor reports quoting the party's internal report published last month.

The properties being considered for sale include a storied building in London - a key base during the apartheid era. Another building Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, is also under consideration, the report says.

The report also listed 20 properties in South Africa valued at a total of just over $7m (£5m).

The internal financial report revealed that the party has a “deficit” of 245m rand ($14m), having spent 2.1bn rand ( $211m) in the five-year reporting period up to November 2022.

Paying salaries and running election campaigns were the most significant expenditure items, together with advertising and events, Semafor reports.

The ANC has governed South Africa since the beginning of the democratic era and the end of white-minority rule in 1994. The party, which celebrated its 111th anniversary two weeks ago, has been hobbled by infighting and claims of corruption among its top leaders.

BBC World Service

The Somalia National Army and the Islamist militant group, al-Shabaab, have fought for control of the central town of Galcad for the second time in a week.

The army drove al-Shabaab from Galcad on Monday in what it said was a major victory for its forces.

But al-Shabaab fighters stormed the town early on Friday and say they are now back in control.

The Somali army disputes that and say it's repulsed the attack, though with the loss of one of the commanders of their elite US-trained Danab unit Major Hassan Mohamed Osman.

Both sides claim to have killed dozens of opponents, though such claims are often exaggerated.

BBC World Service

Friends and relatives of John Williams Ntwali have called for an independent international investigation into his death in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

Police say Mr Ntwali - one of the last independent journalists in the central African nation - had died in a road accident.

But he hadn't been seen since reporting to a police station on Tuesday.

His family were only notified of the death on Thursday.

Several critics of President Paul Kagame have died in suspicious circumstances both inside and outside of Rwanda.

The country's human rights record has been repeatedly questioned and Kigali has also been accused of launching a proxy war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda has dismissed all these allegations.

Teklemariam Bekit
BBC News Tigrinya

Residents from different parts of Ethiopia's northern Tigray region have told the BBC that soldiers from neighbouring Eritrea are withdrawing in large numbers from the areas they have been controlling.

An eyewitness in Adwa town told the BBC that Eritrean army vehicles have been passing through the town since Friday morning.

"They [soldiers] have been travelling in a lot of vehicles," he said.

Describing the number of soldiers as "like ants" the resident said the vehicles "were sounding trumpets" and the soldiers were singing.

"They were singing with flags and also posting various slogans on their vehicles," he added.

Meanwhile, the Ethiopian federal army was guarding the outskirts of the town, the resident said.

According to the peace agreement between the federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the withdrawal of foreign forces and non-federal armed groups from Tigray would take place when Tigray forces handed over their heavy weapons to the federal government, which they have.

Another resident of Aksum town also told the BBC that dozens of vehicles transporting Eritrean troops and weapons have been passing through the town.

"I have counted 70 vehicles, 12 tanks, and many others. The soldiers were in different vehicles. They are coming in the direction of Adwa and heading towards the city of Shire," said Berihu Kahsay, who was among residents who lined the streets to witness the withdrawal.

Several sources in Eritrea have also confirmed the mass withdrawal of the troops and military equipment.

Eritrean soldiers were deployed in November 2020 to back the Ethiopian government's offensive in Tigray.

The war which ended in a peace agreement late last year killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.

Several human rights organisations accused all parties, including Eritrean soldiers, of committing atrocities during the conflict.

South Africa's netball team want to make a statement when they play the world's top three teams over the next five days, says coach Norma Plummer.

48-year-old former Algeria international Nassim Akrour, thought to be Europe’s oldest outfield player, on his long career and facing Ligue 1 giants Lyon.

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka

Zambians will now experience power blackouts for eight instead of 12 hours a day, the energy minister has announced, attributing the change to increased capacity.

“With the restoration of a 150 megawatts generator at Maamba Collieries Limited, the current available generation as at January 2023 is 1,910 megawatts against the power demand of 2,380 megawatts,” said acting Energy Minister Douglas Syakalima.

This means that people can expect planned power blackouts twice a day each lasting four hours.

Mr Syakalima also disclosed that water levels at Kariba Dam was rising thanks to the heavy rains.

Two weeks ago Zambia’s power utility firm, Zesco Limited, announced 12 hours of power rationing due to maintenance works at Maamba Collieries as well as low water levels at Kariba Dam, which generates the county’s hydro electricity.

Kadiatou and Ibrahima, Ebola orphans from Guinea, share their experience of stigma and loss ten years since the outbreak.

BBC World Service

A hearing is getting underway in the High Court in South Africa to determine whether 140,000 Zambian women and children can bring a class action suit against the mining conglomerate, Anglo-American.

The alleged victims, inhabitants of the town of Kabwe, claim they have suffered extreme levels of lead pollution after nearly 50 years of metal mining and smelting operations by the company.

They argue that children in one of the most polluted places on earth have suffered significant brain damage.

A study in 2020 found average levels of lead in the blood to be nine times above internationally accepted thresholds.

Anglo-American contests the claim, which it called opportunistic. It says it's not responsible for lead poisoning.

A hearing late last year ruled that UN experts could play a role in court proceedings.

More on this story:

• Anglo American sued for 'mass lead poisoning'

Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Ride-hailing giant Uber has resumed it services in Tanzania after a nine-month suspension that was caused by government’s regulatory changes.

It suspended services in the country last April after the regulator capped commissions that Uber charges its drivers at 15% from the previous 33%.

Uber had argued that the changes would dent its earnings.

Talks held in December saw the regulator increase the commissions to 25%.

"We are excited to kick-off the year on such a positive note by re-entering the Tanzanian market," Uber said in a statement.

One Uber driver told the BBC that the new rates would lead to an increase in their income.

Users in the commercial city of Dar es Salaam said the return of Uber will give them more options.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Image source, AFP

South Sudanese civilians who fled conflict between 2013 and 2016 are being discouraged from returning home because soldiers are still occupying their houses, peace monitors say.

Lt-Gen Asrat Denero Amad, an Ethiopian army general who heads a ceasefire monitoring team, told members that dozens of civilians’ homes were still occupied by government forces.

He did not indicate the locations of the buildings that were being occupied.

Gen Asrat said occupation of houses by government soldiers was preventing resumption of normal life.

South Sudan defence forces commanders who were present during the forum did not comment on the matter.

Thousands of civilians who fled the violence during the war are still living in some UN-run camps and say they can’t return to their homes.

Image source, Getty Images

Chadian activist Delphine Djiraibé has won the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.

She won the award along with jailed Kashmiri rights activist Khurram Parvez and Feliciano Reyna, a rights activist from Venezuela.

"The common denominator between the 2023 Laureates... is their courage, passion, and determination to bring the voice of the voiceless to the international arena, despite the ongoing, sometimes life-threatening, challenges they endure," the award's jury chair Hans Thoolen said in a statement, external.

The award ceremony will take place in Geneva on 16 February.

Delphine Djiraibé is one of the first female lawyers in her country.

For over 30 years, she challenged the authorities to secure basic rights for all Chadians, including the right to life, justice, freedom of opinion, food, education and health, a statement by the organisers said.

It said Ms Djiraibé is renowned for initiating the prosecution of Chad’s former dictator, Hissène Habré, who was convicted for war crimes after 14 long years in 2016.

The Martin Ennals Award is named after the late British lawyer who became the first head of the human rights organisation, Amnesty International.

Image source, Getty Images

Kenyan President William Ruto has backed the transformation of a known cyber crime hub into an innovation hub.

Fraudsters operating in Mulot trading centre, located in the Rift Valley, are believed to be behind illegal transfers and withdrawals of huge amounts from bank accounts, according to local media reports.

They are said to work in cahoots with rogue employees of banks and mobile phone service companies.

There have been calls to tap into the unemployed talent to fight online fraud.

President Ruto has now given the go-ahead for the construction of a multi-billion Kenyan shilling software development factory in the area, the Daily Nation newspaper, external reports.

He has asked the local governor to secure 100 acres of land where the facility will be built.

"In the shortest time possible, I want you to secure land and report back within two months on the progress made so we can move with speed and set up the ICT centre and turn the area to a software development hub in the region," President Ruto is quoted as saying.

Image source, AFP

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

The head of Ethiopia’s central bank has been replaced as the country continues to grapple with high inflation rates.

Yinager Dessie was appointed as governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) in 2018 shortly after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power.

He has been replaced by Mamo Mihretu, who was previously the PM's economic adviser and later ran the Ethiopian Investment Holdings, a sovereign wealth fund with large state-owned corporations like Ethiopian Airlines and Ethio Telecom in its portfolio.

The outgoing governor's tenure was marked by the devaluation of the country’s currency, birr, against the dollar and a high rate of inflation.

Year-on-year inflation has remained above 20% since 2020, reaching above 33% last year.

Mr Abiy has also appointed four new ministers to take recently vacated positions including ministries of mines and transport.

All the appointments have to be approved by the lower house of parliament

Beverly Ochieng
BBC Monitoring

Image source, Somali Journalists Syndicate

The head of one of Somalia’s union of journalists has appeared in court for a third time in an ongoing trial on charges of incitement, after criticising a government ban on media reporting of the activities of the extremist group al-Shaabab.

Abdalle Mumin was arrested in October after saying that the directive could be used to target government critics.

Somalia launched a large-scale offensive last year against the militant group and appears to be having the upper hand.

Lawyers representing the journalist asked the court to summon high-ranking government officials linked to his arrest last October.

Mr Mumin, who is the secretary-general of the Somali Journalists Syndicate, is facing incitement charges for criticising a government ban on reports about al-Shabab.

The case was adjourned to an unspecified date next week.

Since issuing the directive, Somali authorities have shut down hundreds of outlets affiliated with al-Shabab and ordered the media to refer to the group as “khawarij”, meaning ultra-extremists.

Mr Mumin’s court case has underscored continued risks journalists in Somalia face while reporting on the al-Shabab insurgency or agitating for press freedoms.