Image source, Getty Images

South Africa may face severe chicken shortages as a result of the power crisis that is affecting the slaughtering of the chickens, a poultry association has warned.

The South African Poultry Association (Sapa) says it has had to reduce the number of chickens slaughtered with abattoirs unable to keep up because of the power cuts.

Local media quote Sapa as saying that it also had to cull 10 million chicks in the past weeks.

Some franchises such as KFC are reportedly already feeling the impact, with the situation likely to get worse.

It comes amid a warning that the issue could become a long-term problem, affecting retail and wholesale markets

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has warned against campaigns supporting rights of homosexuals in the country.

Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda.

The president termed gay rights as "nonsense" during remarks made on Wednesday at a graduation ceremony at the National Defence College.

He added that he was glad to have attended a recent meeting in the US where issues of gay rights were not brought up.

The president said:

Image source, Reuters

Kenyan Foreign Minister Alfred Mutua says there are nationals in the diaspora brewing illicit alcohol in Arab countries where it is not allowed.

“It breaks my heart.. there are Kenyans there with chang’aa [a local home-brewed illicit spirit] dens, selling chang’aa to other Africans, an illegality of illegalities in a Muslim country,” he said at an interview with local television station, Citizen TV.

He said Kenyans doing illegal activities were undermining the government's efforts in dealing with issues of welfare for its citizens abroad.

He was responding to concerns about some Kenyans facing difficulties including reports of abuse of people working in the Middle East.

He said the government was doing everything possible to improve the welfare of Kenyans there.

He said he found the situation not as “bad as it sounds” when he initially visited Saudi Arabia soon after being appointed a minister.

“The problem is that some Kenyans engage in illegal and criminal activities when they go there,” he said.

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A new investigation by Time Magazine claims OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research firm, paid Kenyan workers less than $2 (£1.60) to make its ChatGPT chatbot less toxic.

The workers were tasked to help build a filter system that would make ChatGPT suitable for everyday use, Time reported.

They were forced to read graphic detail like child sexual abuse, bestiality, murder, suicide, torture, self harm, and incest.

Their working conditions and pay are considered exploitative even as their work contributes to billion-dollar industries.

OpenAI outsourcing partner in Kenya was Sama, a San Francisco-based company that counts Google, Microsoft, Salesforce and Yahoo among its clients.

The Kenyan workers employed by Sama on behalf of OpenAI were paid a take-home wage of between around $1.32 and $2 per hour depending on seniority and performance, Time reported.

A spokesperson for Sama is quoted by Times as saying that employees were entitled to both individual and group sessions with professionally-trained and licensed mental health therapists.

Sama cancelled all its work for OpenAI in February 2022.

More on this topic:

• ChatGPT: New AI chatbot has everyone talking to it
• Why Big Tech pays poor Kenyans to teach self-driving cars

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

UN peacekeepers in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo have found dozens of bodies in mass graves.

The discovery comes after a series of attacks by armed groups in the region of Ituri.

A UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, said the bodies of 42 people including women and children had been discovered in the village of Nyamamba, and a further seven men in the village of Mbogi.

The peacekeepers had launched patrols in the area after reports of attacks by Codeco militias.

Its fighters are mainly from the Lendu farming community which has long been in conflict with Hema herders.

Our proverb of the day:

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Nigerians are fascinated by the latest revelations from the Sussexes, especially Prince Harry's encounter with a leopard.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now.

There'll be an automated news feed until Thursday morning. You can also get the latest news from the BBC News website and listen to the Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of Wednesday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

We leave you with a photo of an antique vehicle at a museum in Omdurman city in Sudan:

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Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromoo

Hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Christians have marched through cities and towns in Ethiopia ahead of celebrations to mark Timket, or Epiphany, which commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan.

Each church took its Tabot, a model of the Ark of the Covenant, on the procession.

The parade to a river is led by the most senior priest of each church who are dressed in their religious robes and carry crucifixes and umbrellas.

They are accompanied by spiritual singers and worshippers.

On Thursday priests will sprinkle the holy water on the participants, re-enacting the baptism of Jesus.

Traditionally, Timket is also seen as a meeting ground for young singles looking for a partner.

A local saying reflects the importance of dressing up: “Let a dress not meant for Timket be shredded”.

A state-linked broadcaster has tweeted some photos from the celebration:

Senegal hope to follow up their Nations Cup success with victory at the CHAN - but can their coach Pape Thiaw emulate his 2002 World Cup team-mate Aliou Cisse?

The son of Equatorial Guinea's president orders his half-brother's arrest over the sale of a jet.

A man at the centre of a BBC Africa Eye investigation has been found guilty of trafficking disabled people in Kenya, and ordered to pay a fine of 30,000,000 Kenyan shillings ($242,000; £196,000) or face 30 years in prison.

Last June, a BBC undercover investigation exposed a human trafficking network smuggling disabled children from Tanzania to Kenya.

Many were taken from their parents with the promise of a better life. Instead, the children were forced to beg on the streets - often for years - while their captors took all of the profits.

Some of the victims alleged they were beaten if they did not make enough money.

James Zengo Nestory was arrested and has now been convicted by a court in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

“I have also noted that you are disabled. Prison might not be a good environment for you," said magistrate Agnes Wahito.

"This is your first offence so I have given you the minimum sentence to pay 30,000,000 [shillings]. If you don’t have [that] you will be jailed for 30 years in prison.

Omar Wally
The Gambia

The Gambia's President Adama Barrow has declared seven days of mourning following the death of Vice-President Badara Alieu Joof at the age of 66.

Mr Joof died in India after a short illness.

He was thought to have been receiving treatment there, but the government has not confirmed this.

Once his body returns, it will lie in state in parliament until his funeral.

No date has been set for his funeral.

A government statement described Mr Joof as a "scholar of profound intellect", and an "honest Gambian who spent his entire life trying to improve the lot of mankind".

Nicola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Image source, Nicola Mandil/BBC

Concerns about the health of Pope Francis have led to a change in his itinerary for his forthcoming trip to South Sudan.

The Catholic Archbishop of Juba, Stephen Ameyu Martin, said that plans for the pontiff to visit a camp for people displaced by conflict had been dropped.

“Certainly with the health of the Holy Father Pope Francis, it is not easy for him to go to the IDP camp that we have here in Juba," he added.

Instead, at least 2,000 of them would be invited to meet the pontiff at the city's Freedom Hall.

Since May last year, the Pope - leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide - has walked with the aid of a stick, or used a wheelchair.

He will be visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan between 31 January and 5 February.

BBC Monitoring

Equatorial Guinea's Vice-President Teodorin Obiang ordered the arrest of his half-brother after an inquiry found he had illegally sold a state-owned jet to a Spanish company, and pocketed the money, a government statement says.

The vice-president "expressed indignation" when he learned that Ruslan Obiang Nsue, the assistant director of state-owned Ceiba International airline, had sold the jet, the statement said

He has asked his father - the president - to suspend his half-brother from "all his functions in the state company", it added.

President Teodoro Obiang has ruled the tiny oil-rich state since 1979 and has filled senior government positions with members of his family.

In 2021, French courts sentenced the vice-president, widely known as Teodorin, to a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of 30m euros ($32.6m; £26.2m) for money laundering.

He was accused of buying luxury apartments and other property in France with the proceeds of the theft of Equatorial Guinea’s resources.

Image source, AFP

Image source, Getty Images

Hashim Amla, South Africa's second highest Test run-scorer of all time, has retired at the age of 39.

Amla scored 9,282 runs - second only to Jacques Kallis' 13,206 - at an average of 46.64 in 124 Tests.

Former England captain Alec Stewart described him as "a great of the game".

Read the full BBC story here

A mother of two in South Africa has passed her final-year school exams at the age of 31, the local Daily Sun newspaper reports.

Slindile Cele said she was older than some of the teachers at her school in Ndwedwe town in KwaZulu-Natal, but she told herself that "I must respect them" in order to achieve her goal.

She now hopes to study nursing, external.

Mary Harper
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The appeal by Burkina Faso's army for free transport smacks of total desperation.

The government has no money and jihadists attack the military convoys that attempt to deliver food and other essential items to those in need.

The announcement is probably a reaction to the kidnapping last week of about 50 women as they foraged for wild berries in the north of the country.

With violence preventing farmers from going to their fields and nearly one million people living in areas blockaded by the militants, more and more people are going hungry.

One man said even leaves were running out.

About 10% of the population has been displaced by a seven-year insurgency with more than a third of the country outside government control.

Image source, Getty Images

Abdi Dahir
BBC Monitoring, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said the government will soon launch the second phase of an offensive against al-Qaeda-allied al-Shabab militants in the south-west, where the group controls several towns and villages.

Speaking at a reconciliation conference in Baidoa on Tuesday, the president said al-Shabab had blockaded some towns in Bay and Bakool regions.

He added that after recent military successes in the central regions of Somalia, the planned offensive would take a shorter time “because al-Shabab is weakened”.

Mr Mohamud’s remarks came after the Somali National Army, with the help of pro-government clan militias, recaptured three strategic towns from al-Shabab.

The president added that his government had prepared a military strategy to eliminate al-Shabab in Somalia.

Cape Verde's men's handball team are on a quest to make history as they head into the main round of the Men's World Handball Championship.