Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, Getty Images

DR Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi has accused Rwanda of being the source of instability in the region, in a sharp response to comments made by a Rwandan cabinet minister, Claire Akamanzi, at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“Sorry madam, the insecurity issue we have in the Great Lakes region is called Rwanda," he said.

Mr Tshisekedi added that “Rwanda is supporting the M23 rebels” to create insecurity in eastern DR Congo - a claim that Rwanda has denied.

He accused the rebels of killing more than 100 civilians in Kishishe to “frighten away" the community from the village, which has “precious minerals in the ground”.

Mr Tshisekedi also said the M23 has not been respecting a peace accord, which required required the rebels to immediately withdrawal from areas they had captured.

“M23 is still there, they act like they are moving but they are not, they’re simply moving around and redeploying elsewhere, and they stay in the towns that they have captured,” he said.

Speaking at a WEF session on Tuesday, Mrs Akamanzi told Mr Tshisekedi that “if security is indeed a big problem for you, and clearly if you were able to solve it as DRC government or DRC army, you would have done it by now”.

“I believe the solution is in your hands to own the problem but [also] to work with those who can solve it... because security is paramount for investment,” Mrs Akamanzi added.

BBC World Service

The army in Burkina Faso has called on companies to provide for free lorries and drivers to transport food and other essential items to volatile areas.

Militant groups have been blockading parts of the country and frequently target military convoys delivering supplies.

Last week about 50 women were kidnapped by suspected jihadists while foraging in the north of the country.

An airlift is under way to take food to the area.

Burkina Faso's military leader, Capt Ibrahim Traoré, said the Islamists had entered another phase, focusing their attacks on civilians.

Image source, Reuters

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News

Image source, Reuters

Police in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have reportedly fired tear gas and live bullets at people protesting against the presence of regional troops.

The East Africa regional force - composed of soldiers from Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Burundi - was deployed in November 2022 to enforce peace if that part of the country.

But activists have accused it of inaction and called for protests on Wednesday in the provincial capital, Goma.

Local reports say tear gas and live bullets were fired at the protesters. At least two journalists were hit by what are believed to be tear gas cannisters, but they survived without injuries.

Two other journalists have been taken into police custody.

On Tuesday, the mayor of Goma had banned the protests and said that only representatives of the activists would be allowed to drop a petition at his office.

The regional force has appeared to be making progress. One of the major armed groups operating in the region, the M23, has already handed over previously seized territories, in line with an agreement reached by heads of state at a summit last year in the Angolan capital, Luanda.

But speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, DR Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi said the M23 rebels had not withdrawn from those areas, but were moving around and redeploying.

President Tshisekedi insists the M23 rebels are supported by neighbouring Rwanda, an accusation Kigali has continued to deny.

People in the resource-rich North Kivu province have lived through armed conflict for decades.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

One of the sons of the president of Equatorial Guinea has been arrested on suspicion of illegally selling a plane belonging to the national airline.

State media said Ruslan Obiang Nsue is alleged to have sold the 74 seater turboprop to a company based in the Canary Islands.

An inquiry was launched last year when it was discovered that the plane had gone missing while undergoing routine maintenance in Spain.

The suspect used to run the national airline in Equatorial Guinea, a country firmly in the hands of the family of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema who has been in power for 43 years.

Image source, AFP

The Gambia's Vice-President Badara Alieu Joof has died in India, President Adama Barrow has announced.

The vice-president died after a short illness, although Mr Barrow did not mention whether he was receiving treatment in India.

Mr Joof was not seen in public for months, reports the BBC's Omar Wally from the capital, Banjul.

Mr Barrow picked him as vice-president after being re-elected in December 2021 for a second term.

In June, Mr Joof expressed dissatisfaction about the conduct of public affairs, saying Gambians had great expectations and "business as usual" would not lead to decisive change, our reporter adds.

Teklemariam Bekit
BBC News Tigrinya

Ethiopian government forces on Tuesday entered Adigrat, a northern town previously held by Tigray rebels in the recently concluded conflict in the region.

Residents told the BBC that the soldiers entered the town on foot while others used buses and military vehicles.

Fitsum, a resident in the town, said things were calm but added: "There is widespread fear in relation to what happened before, but nothing has happened so far."

There has been no official statement from the Ethiopian government or Tigray authorities about the entry of federal forces into the town.

The troops are expected to retake federal military camps and security installations.

Provision of essential services, including electricity supply, telecommunications and banking services has resumed in parts of Tigray following the signing of a peace agreement in November 2022.

But Fitsum said the situation in Adigrat town had not improved much.

“There is no bank yet, no social services have started except the telephone,” he said.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

Leading Tanzanian newspapers have largely ignored a video circulating on Twitter, external of a memorial for a national who was allegedly killed in Bakhmut, Ukraine, last October while fighting for Russia’s Wagner Group.

Tarimo Neves Raymond was a student in Russia and was reportedly recruited by Wagner from a prison in Moscow.

The video shows men in military fatigues holding candles around a casket.

A portrait picture of Raymond, two medals and a certificate are placed on the casket draped with a Wagner flag.

None of the major Tanzanian news outlets have so far carried the story and there has been no comment from the government’s official channels.

Last September a Zambian national died in Ukraine while fighting for Wagner, while several “Black Russians” from the Central African Republic are believed to have been recruited by the paramilitary company.

On 1 January, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin purportedly flaunted a mercenary from Cote d'Ivoire who had joined fighting in Ukraine.

Image source, AFP

A tiger that escaped from a private farm in South Africa over the weekend has been killed.

The tiger was the subject of a massive search after it escaped from a farm in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg. It attacked a person, two dogs and a pig while on the loose.

It was shot on Wednesday morning after it entered a farm where families live and killed a domestic animal, local media reported.

The local organisation Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said the authorities were left with a “very difficult decision to make as the lives of more people and animals were at risk”.

“This case proves why wild animals should not be kept as pets. The SPCA is opposed to the keeping and breeding of wild and exotic animals as pets,” it said.

Image source, Amnesty International

Rights group Amnesty International has urged Algeria to immediately release jailed journalist Ihsane El Kadi,

The prominent journalist is accused of illegally receiving money from people and organisations “in exchange for carrying out activities that could harm state security".

Amnesty said the accusations against the journalist were "trumped-up state security related offences" and condemned what it called a “ruthless campaign to silence critics”.

“El Kadi’s unjustified detention by the Algerian authorities is a grave injustice compounded by the violation of his fair trial rights,” Amnesty said.

The journalist was remanded on 29 December, days after being detained.

On Sunday, a judge renewed the decision to hold him in pre-trial detention.

Amnesty said no lawyers from his defence team were present at that time to challenge the lawfulness of his imprisonment.

Image source, Getty

Kenya's President William Ruto has made sensational accusations of a plot to abduct and kill the head of the electoral commission in the run up to the announcement of the presidential results last year.

Mr Ruto was declared the winner of the presidential election held August 2022, taking 50.5% of the vote, amid dramatic scenes at the vote tallying centre.

At the time, electoral commission chairman Wafula Chebukati said he had done his duty despite receiving threats.

On Tuesday the president claimed the plot to abduct Mr Chebukati was sanctioned by the "highest" office, according to local media reports.

"We know that there was a direct attempt to abduct Mr Chebukati and murder him so that the commission would be paralysed, or a compliant commissioner take over and subvert the people’s sovereignty. It was a hard, cold and lonely time, the threats were dire, the promised rewards lavish and the pressure relentless,” President Ruto said.

He made the remarks during a meeting with commissions and independent offices at State House, Nairobi.

The president's rival at the elections, Raila Odinga’s party, ODM, has scoffed at the remarks, calling it a “well-choreographed chorus".

“They should present the claims before a commission of inquiry when it is formed."

Our proverb of the day:

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Nigerian politicians are hiring social media influencers to spread disinformation ahead of February's elections.

The story of how a coup attempt in Nigeria forced former Australian Open champion Arthur Ashe to flee the court at gunpoint.

That's all 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 the BBC News website and listen to the Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of Tuesday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo from the funeral of Edwin Chiloba, a Kenyan LGBTQ activist, whom friends and well-wishers remember as "an amazing human" and an "iconic fashion designer".

Image source, AFP

David Bamford
BBC World Service News

Image source, Getty Images

Market traders in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo have expressed dismay at being forced to dismantle their stalls ahead of a visit by Pope Francis.

Officials in Kinshasa say they're making the streets clean and tidy in time for the Pope's arrival at the end of the month.

Some traders complained that the police - using crowbars and bulldozers - had been heavy-handed. They also said many people had lost all their goods.

The affected streets include Lumumba Boulevard, the main thoroughfare from the airport, on which a gala welcome will be staged for Pope Francis.

But hawkers are angry that they're also being forced out of the side streets around the city centre.

Omar Wally
Journalist, The Gambia

Image source, BBC/Omar Wally

The International Police Agency, Interpol, has issued a “red notice” for foreign nations to arrest a military officer accused of plotting to overthrow the government in The Gambia last month, local officials have said.

The "red notice" for the low-ranking Gambian officer, Lamin Jadama, means that eight officers have now been identified as suspects in the alleged coup plot.

Gambian officials say he is a fugitive from justice and any person caught aiding or colluding with him, will be dealt with according to law.

Seven of the accused - including the alleged ringleader, Lance Corporal Sana Fadera - have been arrested.

They appeared in the High Court in the capital, Banjul, on charges of treason and conspiracy to commit felony.

Two civilians and a police officer were also in court on charges of treason and concealment of treason.

The accused were expected to file a plea, but this did not happen.

Instead, the case was postponed as the state did not file its indictment and two of the accused soldiers did not have legal representation

Justice Basiru Mahoney ordered the state to file the indictment by 23 January. He also ordered the two unrepresented soldiers to get lawyers or for the state to provide them with legal aid.

Edwin Chiloba's killing drew widespread condemnation but police have not yet given a motive.

Mayeni Jones
BBC News

Historically, mass abductions of women have been affiliated with Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria.

But following the recent kidnap of dozens of women there are now concerns that this could be the beginning of a new development in Burkina Faso, where large swathes of territory have fallen under the control of Islamist extremists.

The country went through two coups last year, with each new military leader promising to tackle insecurity. But so far none of them have been successful.

Insurgents have blocked part of northern Burkina Faso and attacked humanitarian convoys delivering aid to the area.

This has led to acute food shortages.

The women who were abducted were said to have gone to look for fruit, leaves and seeds to feed their families, when they were taken.

More on this story:

• UN, US and France demand release of kidnapped women
• Burkina Faso violence: Bodies of 28 people found in Nouna
• Burkina Faso anger over Russian mercenary link
• Mali and Burkina Faso: Did the coups halt jihadist attacks?

Image source, EPA

Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who in 2021 became the first woman and first African to head the World Trade Organisation, has given a robust defence of her work at a time when global organisations are coming under criticism.

"If you're looking for a place where multilateralism is working despite the tensions, it's the WTO," she told the BBC's HardTalk programme.

In the last few decades, during a time of what has been described as globalisation, the WTO has worked to reduce barriers to trade around the world. But in recent years that approach seems to have come under threat as protectionism has become more fashionable again.

In addition, tensions over Ukraine and other issues, has put multilateral cooperation under threat.

But Ms Okonjo-Iweala sees her work as vital in maintaining the global system where people, particularly those in the developing world, can benefit.

Talking to the BBC's Stephen Sackur, she cited a number of deals that have improved access to agricultural produce, as examples of the continued effectiveness of the WTO. She also said the organisation was vital in brokering an agreement that allowed for humanitarian access to global food supplies, despite the war in Ukraine.

She added that she was determined to show that the WTO was relevant for all people.

"If people in my village do not know what the WTO is about there is a problem, so we need to bring people back into the WTO."

Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromoo

Image source, Getty Images

Football star Lionel Messi has joined a campaign to help visually impaired Ethiopians.

In a social media post, external, Argentina's World Cup-winning captain said he was honoured to team up with assistive devices company OrCam to donate visual aids to Ethiopians.

Impaired vision is one of the main public health issues in Ethiopia, with one study showing the prevalence of blindness in the country to be at 1.18% of the population.

According to OrCam, their visual aid device technology improves "the lives of individuals who are blind, visually impaired, and have reading difficulties".

Last year, with the help of donors, Ethiopia's first lady's office donated the modern visual aid device to 2,000 people - mainly students and government workers.

The office said blind people were then able to read Amharic - which is the working language of the country - and English texts without the help of others.

Artificial Intelligence technology attached to the frame of eyeglasses enable visually impaired people to read and identify colours as it reads them out loud to the user.

The technology has been named one of 2019’s biggest innovations by Time magazine.

The OrCam MyEye glass is however expensive and unaffordable for many people with a single device costing more than $4,000 (£3,200) .