East Africa

Kenya’s Education Minister, Prof. George Magoha apologised over the controversial and abrupt decision to close schools early in the country. According to the minister, it was a “necessary pain” to ensure that preparations for next week’s general elections go on unimpeded. Hundreds of primary and secondary schools are normally used …

Eight school children, a teacher and a driver died after a minibus carrying them to primary school fell into a roadside ditch in southern Tanzania, local media reported citing a police source. Nineteen other pupils from King David School were injured in the accident on Tuesday morning, the police chief …

Technology giant Meta removed thousands of posts targeting Kenyan users on its social media platform Facebook for violating its policies ahead of the August elections. Four years ago, bosses at the now-defunct British consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica were apparently caught on camera boasting of the control they had exerted in …

The leader of the opposition Democratic Party in Uganda, Norbert Mao, has signed a cooperation agreement with the ruling National Resistance Movement party of President Yoweri Museveni. It was signed on Wednesday following a meeting between the two leaders at State House, Entebbe. President Museveni praised leaders of Democratic Party …

Several Malawians took to the streets of the capital, Lilongwe, to demand the resignation of President Lazarus Chakwera. Protesters accuse the president of not dealing with the high cost of living. They want a fresh presidential election to be held, local media reported. A high court is reported to have …

Efforts to meet the one-third quota for female representation in all institutional bodies in Kenya are stalled as female parliamentarians face online abuse. Rights activists are warning that the process of advancing women’s representation in Kenya could slow down as a result of online abuse and harassment faced by women …

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday dismissed the recent World Bank report which classified Uganda as still a low-income country. In a July 1 economic update, the World Bank maintained that Uganda’s per capita gross national income stood at $840 (Shs3.1 million) per annum, according to its data for the …

Police in Ethiopia arrested the head of the Disaster Risk Management Commission, Mitiku Kassa, on suspicion of corruption, state-run television reported. The arrest follows a major investigation on a corruption case involving Mitiku and a non-governmental organization called Elshadai. Mr Kassa is accused of conspiring with the non-governmental organization, which …

Authorities in Tanzania are investigating a mysterious illness in the south of the country that has killed three people, the BBC reported. In total 13 cases have been reported in Lindi region, with patients having symptoms similar to Ebola or Marburg. They have been experiencing fever, severe headaches, fatigue and …

A French court sentenced Laurent Bucyibaruta, the man who planned one of the bloodiest episodes of the Rwandan genocide, to 20 years in prison. Laurent Bucyibaruta is the highest-ranking Rwandan to have faced trial in France over the 1994 massacres, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died. …