In the news

Nigerian authorities have announced they will withdraw police officers from VIP security duties in line with a presidential directive. State Minister of Police Affairs Hajia Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim said the police force was currently struggling following decades of neglect that had hampered its ability to fulfil its constitutional mandate. She said …

The government in Kenya declared Monday a public holiday to encourage residents to plant 100 million trees across the country. President William Ruto has pledged that 15 billion trees will be planted by 2032 to boost Kenya’s forest cover following the Horn of Africa region’s worst drought in 40 years. …

Islamist militants tied up at least 19 villagers and killed them with machetes and other weapons in a raid in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo late on Sunday, Reuters reported, citinig a civil society leader. Other villagers fled but may have drowned as they tried to cross the Lamia river …

Former Ivorian Prime Minister Soro Kigbafori Guillaume announced that he had landed in Niamey, the capital of Niger, after five years of exile. Guillaume Soro, who took himself into exile in 2019, says he plans to return home despite having two criminal convictions. He said on Sunday that he wanted …

U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo on Thursday said he hoped Congress would extend a trade program that grants exports from qualifying African countries duty-free access to the U.S. market, hailing the strategic opportunities in the region. Adeyemo told the Reuters agency that the two-decade-old African Growth and Opportunity Act …

Five soldiers died in the accident of an American helicopter which crashed in the Mediterranean during an exercise, the European command of the American army (Eucom) and the Pentagon announced on Sunday. Eucom did not specify the model of the aircraft concerned or its origin, but the United States recently …

A Kenyan cult pastor accused of leading a cult and being responsible for the deaths of more than 400 people, has been found guilty on separate charges. A court in the coastal town of Malindi convicted Paul Mackenzie of illegally operating a film studio associated with his preaching and distributing …

Prosecutors in Burundi are seeking life imprisonment for former Prime Minister Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni, who is on trial for seven charges, including using witchcraft to threaten the president’s life, the BBC reported. Mr Bunyoni’s trial started in September, a year after he was fired by President Evariste Ndayishimiye over suspicions that …

South African opposition leader Julius Malema has criticised Kenya’s President William Ruto for failing to fulfil the promises he made to Kenyans when he ran for office last year. Speaking on Thursday at the launch of the Pan African Institute in Kenya, Mr Malema accused President Ruto of backtracking on …

A diphtheria outbreak has been declared at South Africa’s Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison following the death of a 19-year-old inmate. Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the male inmate, who contracted the disease last month, died on Sunday. Eight more inmates are in isolation after testing positive for the disease. “Two …