Africa

South African ex-president Jacob Zuma said he will no longer appear before a commission investigating corruption during his presidency, defying last week’s order by the Constitutional Court. The scandal revolves around allegations that the wealthy Gupta family, who are close friends of the former president, used their relationship to unfairly …

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine filed a supreme court challenge on Monday seeking cancellation of the results of a presidential election that handed victory to incumbent Yoweri Museveni. “We want the poll cancelled and repeated,” said George Musisi, lawyer for Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP). Wine, 38, a pop star …

Seven orphans who were kidnapped from an orphanage on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital, Abuja, two weeks ago have been released. The orphanage was stormed by gunmen in Abaji area on 23 January and they kidnapped children aged between 10 and 13. Some adults who were abducted from their …

Algerian authorities have begun discussions to made Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine in the country. “The two parties agreed to start contacts between the relevant bodies with a view to build cooperation in the field of making the Sputnik V vaccine in Algeria,” said a statement from Prime Minister Abdelaziz …

Nine people died after al Qaeda-linked Islamist insurgents stormed a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu, battling security forces until the early hours of Monday, a police spokesman said. A suicide car bombing on Sunday evening was followed by a shootout between al Shabaab militants and security forces at the …

Niger’s Constitutional Court confirmed in a ruling pronounced on Sunday that a second round of the presidential election is to be held on February 21. The court noted that no candidate had obtained an absolute majority of votes in the first round whose annulment, partial or total cancellation claimed by …

The Nigerian military says it does not have in its custody any of the schoolgirls abducted seven years ago in the northern town of Chibok, amid reports that some of the girls had escaped from their abductors. Those who managed to escape are believed to be in Maiduguri, the capital …

The Ugandan Minister of Information and Communication Technologies Judith Nabakooba has issued arrest warnings to people spreading false information on plans to shut down the country this week. According to the the minister, the authorities were aware of a plan to cause chaos between the 3rd and 7th February. “I …

According to the authorities, at least 5,500 families in Mozambique’s central Manica province, have been stranded without access to aid after last weekend’s Cyclone Eloise. The National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD) has been unable to reach them because of flooding. Manica Governor Francisca Tomás says the …

Three young Tunisian men are reported to have been sentenced to 30 years in prison for smoking cannabis at a football stadium. A spokesperson at the regional court that delivered the sentence said that it was based on three separate laws which include 10 years for drug consumers and traffickers …