In the news

A 35-year-old woman in Bugweri District in Uganda has spent 15 years bedridden, battling a mysterious disease. Amat Naigaga, who can only speak, but can neither walk nor sit upright on her bed or feed herself, says her sickness started in 2005 when she was in Primary Five. “It started …

Nigerians are mourning popular Nollywood actor John Okafor, better known as Mr Ibu, who has died at the age of 62. The comic actor was originally from Enugu, in south-east Nigeria. The actor’s health issues first came to public attention last year. One of his legs was amputated in November …

A colonel in Mali’s army has been arrested over his recently released book, which contained accusations that the army has committed human rights abuses against civilians. In the 400-page book titled Mali: The Challenge of Terrorism in Africa, Col Alpha Yaya Sangaré, citing human rights groups, wrote: “Since 2016, the …

The East African Community (EAC) regional bloc has dismissed a post on X, formerly Twitter, which claimed that the bloc’s member countries have launched a common regional currency. The post had been shared on Sunday by a fake X account named “Government of East Africa” which said that the currency …

A prisoner has been found hanged to death in his cell in the Akatsi district of Ghana’s Volta region, according to reports. The deceased accused of murder was going through committal at the Akatsi District Court and was remanded to reappear on March 13. But, he hanged himself ahead of …

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has declared a national disaster to tackle the prolonged drought affecting the country. Addressing the nation on Thursday afternoon, Mr Hichilema said 84 districts out of a total of 116 were affected. Zambia has been experiencing poor rain, with fears mounting that the country may experience …

The Ho High Court has sentenced three individuals to life imprisonment for killing four people at the Omanhene Palace at Pai Kantanka in the Oti Region, Ghana. “The convicts were involved in the shooting and killing of four people,” accroding to reports. Two of the culprits now convicts broke down …

Nearly 50,000 victims of Ugandan militia commander Dominic Ongwen should get a total of over 52 million euros ($56 million) in compensation, International Criminal Court judges ruled on Wednesday, in a record reparations order. Judges said Ongwen, a former child-soldier who rose through the ranks to become one of the …

Tanzanian presidency has announced the death of former president Ali Hassan Mwinyi, famous with introducing the East African nation to a market economy, at the age of 98. Mwinyi succeeded Tanzania’s first post-independence president, Julius Nyerere, who left office in 1985 after 22 years in power. The presidency said the …

The speaker of Kenya’s parliament has directed the education ministry to investigate allegations that a university in the country has been forcing Muslim students to attend Christian religious services. Daystar University, a private Christian institution on the outskirts of the capital, Nairobi, is also accused of withholding grades of students …