East Africa

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has returned to his usual work in the capital, Addis Ababa, after spending days leading federal troops to fight rebels in the north, his office said. “I am returning to the office as I have completed the first phase [of the conflict],” he was quoted …

The authorities in Tanzania say they are planning to lift bans and suspensions on media organisations which had been barred from operating, BBC News reports. Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Constitution and Legal Affairs, Amon Mpanju, said the government has been holding talks with media owners and the …

The fire in the main prison in Gitega, the Burundian capital, left at least 38 dead and dozens injured, the country’s vice-president said. Twelve died of asphyxia as they tried to flee the burning buildings and 26 died of severe injuries, Vice President Prosper Bazombanza told Reuters. The causes of …

A Kenyan police officer has shot dead his wife and five other people and then killed himself in Kabete town outside the capital Nairobi. Police constable Benson Imbasi is said to have asked his wife to close her shop and the couple went home where neighbours heard shots being fired …

The Ethiopian government says the federal troops have retaken the strategic towns of Dessie and Bombolcha seized last month by Tigrayan fighters. The federal authorities say they’ve made significant advances against the Tigrayans in recent days. The leader of the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) says his forces have withdrawn …

A Rwandan court has sentenced to five years in prison, the former director of Kigali’s main prison, Innocent Kayumba for stealing money from a British inmate. Innocent Kayumba, who was sentenced on Friday evening alongside his former deputy Eric Ntakirutimana, has appealed against the judgement, a court document shows. The …

South Sudan’s Vice-President Riek Machar has warned against holding elections before a unified army is formed while President Salva Kiir announced that elections would take place at the end of the transitional period in 2023. In February 2020, president Kiir and the VP formed a unity government to end conflict …

A group of Rwandan activists have called for the cancellation of Congolese musician Koffi Olomidé’s concert scheduled on Saturday in the capital, Kigali. They are evoking the musician’s 2019 conviction by a court in France for statutory rape of one of his former dancers when she was 15, among other …

Two health workers have been suspended in the Tanzanian city of Tabora for having sexual intercourse and disturbing their patients in the hospital. According to reports from the Tanzanian press, a doctor and a nurse trainee used to have sex in a room next to which patients were gathered. Disturbed …

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa for an official visit as battle between federal troops and rebels escalates in the north. Mr. Wang has been welcomed by Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of #Ethiopia, H.E. …