East Africa

Tanzania’s main opposition leader has demanded information on the health of President John Magufuli, a prominent COVID-19 sceptic whose absence from public view has brought speculation he is receiving medical treatment abroad. Rumours have swirled on social media about possible coronavirus contamination, especially in neighbouring Kenya under the hashtag #pray4magufuli. …

Ugandan Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng receives a COVID-19 vaccine injection as the first person in the country’s inoculation campaign. Healthcare workers have received the AstraZeneca jabs as part of a phased rollout. Uganda launched its mass COVID-19 vaccination program on Wednesday, joining a host of countries in Africa to …

On Tuesday, Bobi Wine the Ugandan opposition leader called for peaceful demonstrations to oppose the poll results just days after he withdrew from the Supreme Court his election petition seeking to overturn President Museveni’s victory. “Museveni has betrayed the blood of our people and done worse than the regimes he …

In a statement, Burundian Ministry of Commerce has banned maize grain and flour imports for the next six months starting 8 March. The statement said recently imported maize was found to be “not good” and could affect people’s health but didn’t specify which countries the imports were from. “While this …

A man linked to the violent riots at the US Capitol was on Monday arraigned at a federal court in New York after being deported from Kenya over the weekend, according to media reports. Isaac Sturgeon was seized by FBI officials on arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in …

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 …