East Africa

Ezekiel Odero, one of Kenya’s most influential pastors, was arrested on Thursday after being accused of the ‘mass murder of his followers’ The pastor, all dressed in white, Bible in hand, was transferred to the regional police headquarters in Mombasa, local media report. The arrest comes as authorities announced measures …

Uganda’s police detained 11 female members of parliament on Thursday who they accused of staging of an unlawful protest, with some of the lawmakers sustaining injuries during their arrest, Reuters reported. The lawmakers were detained just outside the parliament buildings in the capital Kampala as they prepared to march to …

UK Ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever has moved to neighboring Ethiopia after the embassy temporarily closed due to the conflict in the country. “From Addis Ababa, he will lead the UK’s diplomatic efforts in the region to bring fighting to an end in Sudan,” the British Foreign Office said in …

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has asked the country’s lawmakers to make clear in a proposed anti-homosexuality law that it is not criminal to merely identify as gay, local media reported. This measure is part of an attempt to tone down a bill that has drawn international condemnation. Last month, Ugandan …

A border dispute between Uganda and DR Congo is brewing again in the border town of Padea in the West Nile sub-region after Congolese residents backed by their police entered Uganda and claimed three villages in the deep in Uganda, reports the local media DailyMonitor. Such incursions by Congolese security …

Twenty-six new bodies were exhumed in eastern Kenya on Sunday, bringing to 47 the number of remains discovered since Friday by police. “It comes after an investigation into the deaths of followers of a cult whose leader is said to have been told to fast for meet Jesus,” police said. …

Kenya’s first operational satellite was put into orbit on Saturday by a SpaceX rocket that took off from California (United States), according to images from the American space company. The launch, originally scheduled for Monday evening in the United States, had been postponed several times this week due to bad …

Kenya’s main opposition coalition on Tuesday announced plans to hold “direct engagements” with the public as it prepares for talks with the government on electoral reforms. Azimio la Umoja coalition, led by veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, said it remained committed to easing political tension through dialogue after its anti-government …

A Ugandan court charged a government minister and her brother with fraud and detained them in a rare corruption case against the country’s top official. The minister, Mary Goretti Kitutu, and her brother appeared before an anti-corruption court on charges of stealing roofing sheets for housing in the country’s poorest …

A provincial governor in north-east Burundi has dissolved the decision of a mayor to force a female resident out of the area after others “accused her of taking their husbands”, local media reported. A letter giving the woman 24 hours to leave signed by Butihinda district mayor Gilbert Ndikumasabo made …