BBC News Africa

Raila OdingaCopyright: Raila Odinga

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has endorsed his former rival, Raila Odinga, as presidential candidate in this year's elections.

The incumbent, who cannot run again as he has already served two terms, told a crowd of thousands in the capital, Nairobi, that he had no doubt that Mr Odinga was team captain.

Last month the governing Jubilee party joined a coalition headed by Mr Odinga.

In 2018 Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga declared a truce following deadly post-election violence.

The two families have been arch-political rivals for decades.

The Ethiopian government says it will take action against people seen in a video burning a man alive.

The film of men in Ethiopian army uniforms taunting the man and setting him on fire has been circulated widely on social media.

The authorities said the incident took place in the northern region of Benishangul-Gumuz where there is frequent ethnic violence.

The video has not been verified independently.

It is not clear if the incident is connected with the war in northern Ethiopia, which started 16 months ago.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Rupiah Banda, who was Zambia's president from 2008 to 2011, has died at the age of 85 after suffering from colon cancer.

"His life of service to our country, and to our continent, represents the highest form of patriotism," President Hakainde Hichilema said.

Mr Banda, a former diplomat, was serving as vice-president when, in 2008, President Levy Mwanawasa suffered a stroke and later died. He then took office, becoming the country's fourth president, and won the subsequent election.

But he stepped down in 2011 after losing that year's poll to Michael Sata. Mr Banda was widely praised at the time for accepting defeat, rather than challenging the result.

His time in office was dogged by corruption allegations and in 2013 he was arrested after being accused of stealing millions of dollars.

He denied the accusations, describing them as being part of a witch hunt, and was never convicted.

Alexandre BrucatoCopyright: Alexandre Brucato

The French singer and songwriter of Cameroonian descent, TayC, has told the BBC he is saddened by the conflict in Cameroon and that he wants to spread the "Afro Love mindset" amidst the crisis.

He founded what he calls the Afro Love movement in 2019, a music genre which sounds like a mix of R'n'B and Afrobeats.

"Many sad things happen in Africa and all over the world but especially in my country," he said. "My Mum is Anglophone so each day in my house I see my Mum crying and talking to her sisters about the problem. It's sad man. Afro Love isn't just a kind of music, it's a movement," he continued.

There has been conflict in the country since 2017, due to feelings of marginalisation among the English-speaking minority population in the majority Francophone nation.

TayC, whose real name is Julien Franck Bouadjie, is considered to be one of the greatest figures of R'n'B music in France at the moment.

Born in the French city of Marseille to Cameroonian parents, he's always been very much in touch with his heritage. "My mother was one of nine children, eight girls and one boy, so all my aunties used to bring over Cameroonian food. My parents listened to lots of Cameroonian artists like Douleur and Petit Pays and we used to have a party once a month with all the family and dance a lot. So Cameroon was always in my life," he said. He launched his music career in 2012 after relocating to Paris. His debut album dropped in 2019, but his second, entitled Fleur Froide or Cold Flower was what really launched his international career, with his hit song, N'y pense plus, putting him on the map in France and beyond.

He also worked with the late Cameroonian veteran Manu Dibango on another hit song, Dodo.

"It was amazing. He's a legend. He talked to me as a friend, as a little brother," TayC said. "He passed out too early for me, he told me all this stuff he wanted to do."

This year, he also plans to expand outside of the music sphere, and is writing a film, but the subject matter is yet to be revealed.

You can hear the full interview with TayC this weekend on This Is Africa on BBC World Service radio and partner stations across Africa, and online

Egypt has this week executed seven people convicted of carrying out Islamist attacks, human rights groups say.

Three of them were found guilty of taking part in an attack at Helwan in the suburbs of Cairo in 2016 which killed eight policemen.

The other four were convicted of killing police officers in earlier attacks.

Egypt has handed down hundreds of death sentences in recent years.

Human rights organisations say that not only Islamists but a range of opponents of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have been targeted.

GettyCopyright: Getty

Hundreds of Masai people have volunteered to leave their homes in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) after the government asked the pastoralists to relocate because the rising human population was putting pressure on wildlife.

More than 450 people from 86 households have expressed their intention to move.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa addressed more than 350 Maasai elders, also known as Laigwanans on Friday. He said President Samia Suluhu had expressed her deep concern for the fate of the area, which received Unesco’s Global Geopark status in 2018.

President Samia is believed to be worried about the impact the growing number of livestock and human beings is having on the wildlife.

Mr Majaliwa noted that 110,000 people were now living in the area, up from just 8,000 in 1959.

Nigeria's drugs agency has seized three million capsules of opioids, it said on Friday.

The authorities intercepted about 1,500kg (3,300lb) of Tapentadol and Carisoprodol, according to National Drug Law Enforcement Agency director Femi Babafemi, as quoted in the Punch newspaper.

The capture "followed a similar operation in which anti-narcotic officers of the agency also intercepted 8,613kg of cannabis smuggled in from Ghana," AFP news agency quoted Mr Babademi as saying.

He said the capsules were thought to have originated from China, and were falsely labelled as insulation fittings and industrial office printers.

However further investigation proved them to be from India and some suspects have been arrested, the news report added.

At least 17 people have died and dozens injured in an attack in Jebel Moon in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.

It is being blamed on a militia group, local sources report.

Four villages were also burned down.

The violence started on Thursday morning and continued for hours, according to a quote from Adam Regal, spokesman for the body in charge of refugees and the displaced in Darfur, in the AP news agency.

It is thought the attack was caused by clashes between Arabs and non-Arabs, the same agency reports.

It follows a similar attack that left 16 people dead earlier in the week, according to the Reuters news agency.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Thirteen Tunisian and international rights groups, including Amnesty International, are urging Tunisia to immediately scrap plans for new restrictions on civil society groups.

The leaked proposals would crack down on freedoms gained during the country’s 2011 revolution, Amnesty warned.

“Tunisians know from experience the dangers that restrictive laws can pose to civil society and public debate,” Middle Eastern and North African Amnesty deputy regional director Amna Guellali said.

“During the deeply repressive Ben Ali era, the authorities used restrictive regulations on associations and cumbersome administrative procedures as key tools to smother dissent,” Ms Guellali continued.

A leaked draft law revealed government plans to interfere in the running of civil society organisations, including their funding and freedom of speech, according to Amnesty, although the Tunisian government itself has not commented on a change of law or officially released a draft, the AFP news agency reports.

In 2020, President Kais Saied suspended parliament, meaning any new laws will not have oversight from the legislative body.

Guinea's military rulers have ordered all activities to stop at the Simandou iron ore deposit, believed to be the largest in the world.

They need clarification on how Guinea's interests will be preserved before work can begin again, they say.

The deposit is owned by the mining giant Rio Tinto and a Chinese-backed consortium, with the Guinean government holding a 15% stake.

The development of the mine has stalled many times, largely over rights disputes.

Mining of the 2.5 billion tonnes of high-grade ore was due to start in 2015.

At least 750 civilians were killed in the northern Afar and Amhara regions in the second half of last year, Ethiopia's human rights body says.

More than half died in air strikes and heavy artillery fire, it said. The rest died in extra-judicial killings.

It said fighters from neighbouring Tigray tortured and raped civilians. More than 4,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed and around 2,400 health facilities have stopped working due to war damage.

War erupted in Tigray 16 months ago and spread to the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara.

BBCCopyright: BBC

There were scenes of grief on Friday at a funeral service for the 13 victims of a huge explosion that occurred near the mining town of Bogoso in south-western Ghana.

Seven coffins, including that of a 15 month-old baby killed in the fire, were paraded at the grounds in Appiatse village where the funeral service was held.

Mourners were clad in red and black at the funeral service as they paid their last respect to victims.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The bodies will be buried separately.

The January explosion was caused by a crash of a truck carrying explosives to a gold mine with a motorcycle.

More than 500 homes were destroyed and more than 1,000 residents displaced.

The police are yet to conclude their investigations, but a ministerial committee fined the Spanish company responsible for transporting the explosives $6m (£4.6m)

Survivors of the blast are living in temporary shelters as they wait on a government promise to build them new houses.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Kenya's health ministry is now allowing people to not wear face masks in open places.

The government has however encouraged people attending events indoors to wear face masks and while travelling using public means of transport.

The measures of social distancing and hand washing will remain in place to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

Mandatory quarantine and isolation of confirmed cases has also been stopped.

Indoor meetings and in-person worship in full capacity will resume as long as all those attending are fully vaccinated.

The Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said the inter-faith council would provide more guidelines on the resumption of services.

The changes follow a significant decline in Covid-19 infections in the country. Positivity rates have remained below 5% for the past month, Mr Kagwe continued.

Kenyans have been urged to get vaccinated with more than seven million people fully vaccinated, comprising 28.5% of the general population of adults.

Kenya imposed mandatory mask wearing in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Most South African political parties have approved the choice of Justice Raymond Zondo as the new chief justice, citing his long experience in the judiciary.

But Julius Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters party dismissed Justice Zondo as a "divisive force" who was "prone to descending into the political arena".

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday announced Justice Zondo's appointment after a lengthy process which started with the public submitting names of their preferred candidates to the presidency.

The judge was the chairman of the state capture commission of inquiry that investigated allegations of corruption during the tenure of former President Jacob Zuma.

The commission's findings implicated big players in government and the private sector.

The leader of the Democratic Alliance party described Justice Zondo as "a safe pair of hands".

"Judge Zondo has a clear track record and will go a long way in restoring faith in the judiciary," John Steenhuisen said.

Freedom Front Plus party leader Pieter Groenewald said Justice Zondo's "reasoning is independent of politics, and he shows no favouritism".

Inkatha Freedoom Party spokesman Mkhuleko Hlengwa said Justice Zondo should be "afforded the necessary support and resources to continue to uphold the rule of law and defend the hard-won rights and freedoms".

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The Lagos state government in Nigeria has commenced publishing the details of convicted sex offenders in the state, including names and pictures, according to local media quoting an official.

It is part of a crackdown on domestic abuse and gender-based violence, under provisions given by section 42 of the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency Law.

"This measure is one amongst many deployed by the state government to end the culture of impunity and also serve as a deterrence to other sex offenders," Nigeria's The Guardian paper quoted the Executive Secretary of Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, as saying.

Letters have also been issued to local governments where the sex offenders used to live, Mrs Vivour-Adeniyi added.

In 2021, the Lagos State Government said it had recorded more than 10,000 cases of domestic abuse and sexual violence in the previous two years.