East Africa

Burundi is to free 5,255 prisoners as part of a presidential pardon aimed at emptying overcrowded jails, according to a decree seen by AFP on Monday. In the decree, President Evariste Ndayishimiye said he is “convinced that an exceptional measure of clemency is needed to decongest prisons and improve conditions …

The authorities in Kenya have banned maize imports from neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania over safety concerns, media outlets in the three countries report. They cite a letter from Kenya’s Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) as saying maize imports from Uganda and Tanzania were found to have “high levels of mycotoxins”. …

Suspected thieves in Tanzania stole silverware used to store sacramental bread (Eucharist) from a Catholic church, local newspaper Mwananchi reports. The theft of the cup known as ciborium, worth $2,150, happened last Sunday at Mkoka Catholic parish in the capital Dodoma. Police are still investigating how the cup disappeared from …

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 …