East Africa

Rwanda began its COVID-19 vaccine campaign on Friday, becoming the first nation in Africa to use pharmaceutical company Pfizer’s doses that require ultra-cold storage. Authorities began transporting Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots round the hilly nation of 12 million people after they arrived earlier this week, using helicopters to reach far-flung …

The Supreme Court has allowed the runner-up in the January 14 presidential elections Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine to withdraw his presidential election petition seeking to overturn the victory of the incumbent President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. The decision by a panel of nine Supreme Court Justices led by the …

Seychelles is opening up to receive visitors from around the world from 25 March, irrespective of whether they are vaccinated or not. South Africans will however not be allowed be enter the country until further notice. In January, Seychelles had announced said that it had opened up to vaccinated travellers. …

The Catholic Church in Kenya has voiced its support for the Covid-19 vaccine after the country received more than a million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The church also dismissed an advisory issued by a group of Catholic doctors in the country, who had termed Covid-19 vaccinations as unnecessary. “Pope …

Rwandan YouTuber Yvonne Idamange Iryamugwiza has been arraigned in court in the capital Kigali on six charges including insurrection and incitement to public disorder. She is accused of “spreading rumours using technology”, “contempt for genocide memorials”, “obstruction of the implementation of government policies” and “using counterfeit bank checks” among other …

At a joint news conference in Cairo on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Sudan and Egypt met to discuss bilateral cooperation. They also discussed the urgency of reaching a legal agreement on the filling and operation of the Ethiopian Renaissance Grand Dam on the Nile, which has sparked controversy in …

Rwandan health minister received this day first batch of Covid-19 vaccine doses from the UN-backed Covax distribution initiative. The country received 240,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, and with a further 102,960 doses of Pfizer vaccine expected to arrive later in the day, according to the health ministry. Rwanda expects …

The new vice-president of Tanzania’s semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar has been sworn in less than two weeks after his predecessor died. Othman Masoud Othman Sharif replaces Seif Sharif Hamad who died on February 17 at the age of 77. No official reason has been given for his death but it …

The authorities in Tanzania’s semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar have urged tourists to dress decently and respect the “sensibilities” of the local culture or they will be fined. Tourism Minister Lela Muhamed Mussa told BBC Swahili that some visitors walked “almost naked” on the streets. She said that tour guides will …

President Yoweri Museveni has once again accused tech giant Facebook of being biased against Uganda’s ruling party and its supporters. The social media platform suspended several accounts linked to the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party days to the January election, accusing them of being involved in Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour (CIB) …