Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC News, Nairobi

The post-election power struggle between President William Ruto and his opposition rival Raila Odinga has taken a significant turn.

This is not the first time Raila Odinga has organised large scale protests against election results.

In 2018 the then-President Uhuru Kenyatta built an alliance with him and went on to support him in last year’s vote.

Unlike previous post-election protests Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta found themselves the targets of violence.

The looters at the Kenyatta farm said it was retaliation for losses made by businesses due to the protests organised by Mr Odinga and which they say are sponsored by Mr Kenyatta.

Those comments and their actions seemed to echo the words of the leader of the majority in parliament, Kimani Ichung’wah, who said at the weekend that Kenyatta's property was at risk: "That is my message to none other than Uhuru Kenyatta, the sponsor, sole sponsor, singular financier of Azimio and mercenary that is Raila Odinga."

There is no evidence Mr Kenyatta is funding Mr Odinga.

The offices of a factory linked to Mr Odinga and his family were also attacked.

When I spoke to him after Monday’s attacks, Mr Ichung’wah didn’t provide any evidence that Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta have instigated violence or that Mr Kenyatta was financing Mr Odinga.

I further asked Ichung’wah if people were acting on his words, but he denied it, saying he simply said the "choices" Mr Kenyatta makes will have "consequences at the end of the day".

I also put it to him that the attacks looked organised, but he said only the people who carried out the attacks can tell you who organised them.

The men in this political tussle have all worked with each other at some point. Mr Ruto was Mr Odinga’s running mate in 2007, he then went on to be Mr Kenyatta’s deputy president for 10 years and now MrOdinga and Kenyatta are allies.

After all, Kenya’s political and business elites are tiny in number and often closely linked.

There’s often a sort of gentleman’s agreement reached after each election cycle between opposing sides.

Attacks on individual properties, even though we don’t know how they were organised, call that general understanding into question.

Morocco head coach Walid Regragui says Africa Cup of Nations win must come first before the Atlas Lions look to conquer the world.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Image source, Reuters

US Vice-President Kamala Harris has announced $100m (£82m) to support the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa, while in Ghana at the start of her three-nation tour of Africa.

The coastal countries of Ghana, Benin, Ivory Coast and Togo are to benefit from the package.

The region has been facing security threats from the ever-advancing jihadists operating in the Sahel.

Vice-President Harries acknowledged Ghana's leadership role on the continent and said that America was willing to invest more to promote economic growth.

She indicated that her visit to Ghana was not because of China's influence in Africa but rather to strengthen bilateral ties with its partners.

Her visit comes at a time African countries are recovering from the global pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

President Nana Akufo Addo had expressed concerns about the presence of Russian mercenaries in some West African countries, and the need for Africa to solve its own problems.

Ghana is struggling with inflation which is over 50%.

The country's finance minister has just concluded talks with China on possible debt restructuring to qualify for an IMF programme.

The US has given indications it will support Ghana to overcome its economic challenges and will continue to push for debt reduction for countries in need, including Ghana.

Read more: Can US charm offensive woo continent from China?

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Paul Rusesabagina is set to fly to Qatar, before joining his family in the US, as soon as his request to leave Rwanda is approved.

He was released from prison on Friday night after negotiations brokered by Doha and is believed to be hosted by Qatari representatives in Kigali.

Mr Rusesabagina, a former hotel manager, was portrayed as a hero in the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda, and was sentenced to 25 years for terrorism by a Rwandan court in what supporters called a sham trial.

In 2020 he was tricked to going to Rwanda in a private jet, thinking he was heading to neighbouring Burundi.

On Friday, Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said on Twitter that “the procedure for his transfer” to Qatar was under way, from where Mr Rusesabagina will head to the US.

On Tuesday last week Rwanda's President Paul Kagame was in Doha, where he met Qatar's ruler Amir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. Mr Rusesabagina was released just three days later.

The US has long demanded Mr Rusesabagina's release, but Washington hasn’t been on very good terms with Rwanda for its views on the government's human rights record.

For Washington, Qatar which is a long-time US partner but also “a close friend and big investor in Rwanda’s aviation sector, was a good way to go”, Patrick Karamaga, a political science lecturer in the Democratic Republic of Congo, told BBC Great Lakes.

In 2019, Qatar agreed to invest 60% in the $1.3bn (£1bn) project to build the biggest airport in East Africa in Bugesera, some 40km (25 miles) south-east of Kigali.

The following year Qatar Airways bought 49% of the Rwandan state-owned carrier, Rwandair.

“Rwanda would resist the US pressure but not to a request of a friend who is investing hundreds of million dollars,” Mr Karamaga says.

On Friday, Mr al-Ansari said Qatar had become “a reliable international partner in resolving disputes through peaceful and diplomatic means”.

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC News, Nairobi

While covering protests in the Kibera area of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, a group of national and international journalists was attacked and robbed at knife-point by a gang.

A journalist with the Nation Media group said he was forced to delete his photos by the police while monitoring events in downtown Nairobi. He says his press card was destroyed too.

Two journalists with Africa Uncensored, a media company specialising in investigations, were detained in the back of a truck by police for 30 minutes.

They were released and went to cover the looting at a farm owned by the Kenyatta family. According to Africa Uncensored’s co-founder, John Allan, they were harassed there by members of the large crowd, one of their phones was stolen and they had to flee.

This comes days after Kenya's media regulator threatened to withdraw broadcast licenses of local media houses if they don't "exercise caution" while covering opposition protests.

Ferdinand Omondi
BBC News, Nairobi

I have been watching the protests from a virtually empty highway overlooking the restive Kibera slums.

Some metres ahead of me are baton-wielding, tear-gas-carrying police officers, monitoring shouting protesters below.

Spread around the policemen are stones everywhere - the demonstrators have been hurling projectiles at them all day, before hiding in the safety of the shelters made from iron sheets.

A blast rents the air and there is smoke and coughing. Yet another tear-gas canister has been fired to disperse them.

Further up the highway, an armoured water cannon carrier is bearing down menacingly on another crowd attempting to outflank the police.

Passenger vehicles make swift about-turns as the startled occupants duck in desperation.

In Kibera today, vehicles have been damaged, journalists threatened and a filming crew robbed at knife point.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News, Nairobi

As we reported earlier, hundreds of people have invaded a farm belonging to the family of Kenya’s former Ppresident Uhuru Kenyatta as protests erupt in the country over the high cost of living.

The invaders cut down trees using power saws and stole hundreds of livestock from the huge farm on the outskirts of the capital Nairobi.

The huge tract of land is earmarked for a high-end housing project.

There was no police or security forces at the site during the incident.

Local journalists covering the invasion were also attacked by the mob, meanwhile, businesses near the farm have been shut down.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga called for nationwide protests over allegations that last year’s elections were stolen.

He also says President William Ruto has failed to address the high cost of living in the country.

Mr Odinga, a former prime minister, lost to Mr Ruto in the elections last August. He was backed by former President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Ruth Nesoba
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

One person has been shot dead in Kenya's western city of Kisumu as demonstrators turned out to protest against the high cost of living.

There have also been clashes between protesters and the police in informal settlements in Nairobi.

The government has deployed security forces to quell the demonstrations called by opposition leader Raila Odinga, but this has only served to further inflame tensions.

The Interior Ministry and Inspector of Police have termed the protests illegal.

President William Ruto is curently on an official visit to Belgium and Germany.

Image source, See International

A Namibian doctor who was recently recognised in Forbes Africa's The 50 over 50 List of Africa’s Female Powerhouses, has told the BBC that it was “very humbling” to see her work recognised.

Dr Helena Ndume, an ophthalmologist, has been working with humanitarian organisation See International to help eradicate preventable blindness in Namibia, neighbouring countries and other underprivileged communities around the world.

She says they have performed sight-restoring surgeries to more than 38,000 people, at no cost, in a project that began in 1997.

She told the BBC's Newsday programme it was a work of passion. “No money in this world can pay for the happiness of someone who was once blind.”

“After the surgery that takes 15 minutes and then they say: 'Doctor, I have been blind for 10 years and now I can see - thank you very much that I can now see.'”

But she stressed that it wasn't just her work alone, “there are so many people involved in helping me to fight blindness".

She acknowledges the support of the country’s ministry of health in her work, while indicated that many people go blind because the conditions are not detected early.

Image source, AFP

Frederick Mac-Palm, one of the main suspects accused of attempting to overthrow the Ghanaian government in 2019 has died.

Local media say he collapsed in his house on Saturday and was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Mr Mac-Palm and two others were arrested in September 2019 for allegedly plotting to destabilise the country. He was the owner of the Citadel clinic where security officials reportedly seized several weapons, ammunition and explosive devices.

The three are among six other suspects who have been facing charges of treason since 2019.

They were accused of being part of a group known as the Take Action Ghana (TAG). The group, according to the prosecution, planned to organise a series of demonstrations and also attempted to overthrow the government.

Mr Mac-Palm is a native of Kpando in eastern Volta Region - where separatists have been agitating for secession from Ghana.

He was released on court bail in 2020.

Ruth Nesoba
BBC News, Nairobi

Hundreds of people have stormed former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s farm on the outskirts of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.

They have cut down trees using power saws, stolen livestock and set the farm on fire. The motive is still unknown.

This comes amid opposition protests in Kenya against the administration of President William Ruto.

The BBC will have more on this story as we get it

Image source, Getty Images

A migrant originally from Sierra Leone has told the BBC's Newsday programme that black people have no future in Tunisia due to escalating racial tensions with Arab people in the country.

"In Tunisia, black sub-Saharan Africans will not have a future here and neither will our children," said Josephus Thomas, a construction worker.

"We need evacuation," out of Tunisia he said, "even" if that meant going to another African country, he added.

Some countries have been offering to repatriate their citizens, such as Ivory Coast and Guinea.

The tensions started after President Kais Saied accused sub-Saharan African migrants living in the country of causing a crime wave and described them as a demographic threat.

Since then black Africans have told the BBC they have faced increased racism in Tunisia.

Mr Thomas described one frightening scene where he saw "Tunisian boys who were armed with sticks, sharp metal, knives and stones" chasing some Gambian, Senegalese and Guinean migrants.

He went on to describe the situationion in Tunisia as "messy and horrible" and said he has attempted to leave by boat himself.

“If I have the opportunity to leave by boat I will take it because it’s better than living in Tunisia where you don’t know what they might do to you next.”

You can listen to the full Newsday interview here at 28 minutes in.

Organisers of a proposed new pan-continental cricket competition in Africa shelve plans to adopt the ECB's Hundred format.

Image source, AFP

The eldest son of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni says he will be retiring from the army this year, after almost three decades of service.

Muhoozi Kainerugaba, an army general, made the announcement in a Twitter post.

“I will be retiring from the UPDF this year,” he tweeted, external.

He made a similar announcement on Twitter in March last year when he was the commander of land forces. But the army said it had not officially received Mr Kainerugaba's retirement request.

His latest retirement remarks come days after he deleted a tweet announcing that he will stand for the presidency in 2026.

The tweeting general has not hidden his ambition to take over the top job from his 78-year-old father, who has led Uganda since 1986.

The Ugandan law does not allow serving soldiers to participate in politics.

Read more on the topic:

• Muhoozi Kainerugaba - Uganda's ambitious tweeting general

Image source, AFP

Kenya's riot police are on the streets of the capital, Nairobi, in a bid to prevent protests called by the opposition over the high cost of living and alleged election malpractices.

There is also heavy police presence in Kibera and Mathare - the largest informal settlements in the city - where protesters are being blocked from moving into the city centre.

A car carrying local journalists in Kibera was attacked by a crowd and its occupants robbed at knife point, according to reports.

Shops have been closed in downtown Nairobi as business owners fear looting.

In the western city of Kisumu, an opposition stronghold, tear gas has been fired to disperse crowds of protesters who were being led by their local governor.

Police have said they will take pictures of protesters and file charges against them for participating in illegal protests.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Burkina Faso authorities have ordered France 24 broadcasts off air following an interview with the head of al-Qaeda militant group’s North Africa wing, Aqim.

"France 24 is not only acting as a mouthpiece for these terrorists, but worse, it is providing a space for the legitimisation of terrorist actions and hate speech," Burkina Faso's minister of communication, Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo, said in a statement.

He said the government had therefore decided "in all responsibility, and in the name of the superior interest of the nation, to suspend indefinitely the transmission of France 24 programmes on national territory".

France 24 aired the interview with Aqim’s leader Yezid Mebarek earlier this month, after France killed his predecessor in an air raid.

The relationship between Burkina Faso and France has soured since the coup in October last year.

Burkina Faso expelled French troops who had been unsuccessfully fighting the Islamists, inviting Russian mercenaries in their stead.

Image source, Getty Images

The Kenya Railways Corporation has suspended all its commuter train operations in the capital, Nairobi, ahead of Monday's anti-government protests called by opposition leader Raila Odinga.

In a statement on Sunday, external, the Kenya Railways management attributed the decision to "unavoidable circumstances."

"We do sincerely apologise to all our esteemed customers for any inconvenience caused," it said.

However, the train operator said all its commuter trains between the old railway station in the city centre (Nairobi Central Station) to the Nairobi-Mombasa railway station (Nairobi Terminus) would run as scheduled.

The opposition coalition is holding protests in Nairobi and other parts of the country to push for electoral reforms and reduction of prices of basic commodities.

On Sunday, the police chief banned the protests, but the opposition has maintained that the protests will be held within the law.

Ugandan authorities have closed the boarding section of a primary school in the central Mubende region after seven schoolboys reported to have been sexually abused by the school's caretaker.

Local media report that the caretaker pleaded guilty to the charges in court last week and is waiting for sentencing.

State Minister for Primary Education, Joyce Moriku Kaducu, on Sunday said congestion in the school had provided "fertile ground" for the abuse of learners.

Some 350 boarding pupils at the school were sleeping on triple-deck beds in five small rooms, the Daily Monitor website reports.

“I want you [school management] to tell the parents that you have been operating an illegal boarding section and no guidelines were being followed,” the minister said when she visited the school.

She also faulted local education officials for not inspecting schools.

Schools in Uganda require a government licence to operate boarding sections.

Image source, AFP

Kenya’s interior ministry is proposing changes to security laws that will make it more difficult for people to hold protests.

The constitution gives Kenyans the right to assemble, demonstrate and picket, but the participants must be peaceful and unarmed.

Protests held last week in opposition strongholds left one university student dead after police used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse crowds.

The changes proposed by the ministry seeks to limit the number of people holding protests at any particular occasion, and makes protesters pay the costs of cleaning up.

Protesters must also seek consent from the people affected by the protests. The demonstrators will also be liable for paying damages to those harmed by their activities.

In the proposed changes, the interior ministry also seeks the demarcation of areas where people can assemble and hold protests.

“It is not feasible for security organs to allow masses of people to roam streets and neighbourhoods of their choice carrying stones and other offensive weapons while chanting political slogans and disrupting the daily activities of others,” the ministry said in a statement, external.

The proposed changes have been criticised by some as “an affront to the foundations of an open and democratic society, external” and as a “law that contravenes the constitution”., external

It comes as a defiant opposition vows to continue with protests over the high cost of living and alleged electoral malpractices.

Image source, AFP

The Codeco militia group on Sunday executed 17 people it had captured in the Djugu territory, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The victims were passengers aboard four vehicles heading to Mungwalu, in Ituri province, UN-sponsored Radio Okapi reported.

They were taken hostage after three Codeco members were killed in a clash with a rival militia, the radio added.

Among those taken hostage was a pregnant woman, AFP news agency reported.

Local authorities are yet to comment on the attack.

The Codeco, a militia that claims to protect the Lendu farming community in Ituri, is one of a myriad of armed groups operating in the restive, mineral-rich region.