AFRICA NEWS

Heads of State of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have suspended the Republic of Mali from the regional body, ordering the military leaders who are currently in charge of the nation to restore the transitional arrangement put in place in August 2020 with the aim of returning …

Mali’s president and prime minister have been ousted by the officer who led last year’s coup and became vice-president of an interim government. Col Assimi Goïta says President Bah Ndaw and PM Moctar Ouane failed in their duties and were seeking to sabotage the country’s transition. They were arrested hours …

    Kenya MP Moses Kuria has told the BBC he received a US$1,000 bribe in parliament last year to back the appointment of the majority leader.   “It is not unusual for members to get this kind of an inducement,” he said, adding he would return the payment.   …

A boat carrying around 100 people has capsized in the central Nigerian state of Niger. Officials say 28 bodies have been recovered so far while 65 passengers have been rescued by divers. The victims include women and children. The boat was carrying people including traders returning home from a local …

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has dissolved parliament, paving the way for the appointment of MPs from opposing sides in the country’s five-year civil war. Activists and civil society groups say the move is long overdue. A peace deal signed three years ago determined that almost a quarter of the …

Uganda Parliament has passed the Sexual Offences Bill 2019 which reintroduced a ban on homosexuality in the country. In a heated debate on Monday, the MPs also rejected a proposal that allows a person, who had consented to a sexual act to withdraw that consent at any time before or during …

    A Ugandan journalist working for the state broadcaster has been shot dead in a confrontation with security forces.   Robert Kagolo was killed at his late brother’s home that was being guarded by Local Defence Unit (LDU) personnel.   Two LDU officers have been arrested over the incident. …

South African music star, Yvonne Chaka Chaka has reacted to an unknown social media user posting her obituary on the internet and starting a GoFundMe page for her “burial”. Yvonne Chaka Chaka who debunked news of her death, told her followers that a ”fool”  posted her obituary, implying she had died and …

The hymn a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor and four of his members were singing suddenly turned to murmur when armed men stormed their church premises. In a video that has since gone viral, the pastor, two choir members, and a pianist are seen praising God as their activities streamed on Facebook. …

Five members of a single family died in a stampede, as thousands of people paid their respects to Tanzania’s late President John Magufuli at Uhuru stadium in the main city Dar es Salaam on Sunday.       Dennis Mtuwa lost his wife, two children, a nephew and a niece. …