Rights groups have decried Kabendera’s arrest, saying it is part of the president’s crackdown on press freedom. The health of a Tanzanian journalist, allegedly arrested for political reasons as part of a continued crackdown on freedom of expression in the country, has been deteriorating behind bars, he and his lawyer said during a court appearance. […]
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Even in death, Robert Mugabe, the former strongman leader of Zimbabwe, has remained a source of contention, this time caught in a dispute between his family and the government over where to bury him. Mr. Mugabe, who spent more than three decades in power before being ousted in 2017, died last week […]
Schoolchildren have become pawns in the fierce conflict between Cameroon’s mainly French-speaking government and separatist fighters demanding independence for the country’s English-speaking heartlands. The separatists are enforcing a lockdown across cities, towns and villages in the North-West and South-West regions to ensure schools remain shut for a fourth academic year in a row. The regions […]
A schoolgirl in Kenya has taken her own life after allegedly being shamed in class for having her period and staining her uniform. The 14-year-old’s mother said her daughter hanged herself after being humiliated by a teacher, Kenyan media reported. Police used tear gas to disperse a crowd of about 200 parents protesting outside the […]
The Islamist militant group Boko Haram has been active in north-eastern Nigeria for well over a decade. President Buhari says its activities have been largely brought under control since he assumed office in 2015. His political opponents disagree and say the situation has recently deteriorated both in terms of the number of attacks and kidnappings […]
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has been in power for 35 years but is seeking another seven-year term. His longevity in office is a talking point at home, while the amount of time he spends out of the country has stirred international comment – as Paul Melly, an associate fellow of Chatham House, explains. Criticised by […]
A murdered former Rwandan intelligence chief was advising South African and Tanzanian intelligence as they prepared to send troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo to battle the Rwandan-backed rebel group M23, BBC Newsnight has learned. On New Year’s Eve, Rwanda’s former chief of external intelligence, Col Patrick Karegeya, went to his suite at the […]
A fresh bout of mob violence in South Africa has left two people dead. It began after a speech in the commercial hub Johannesburg by a veteran politician, who was trying to quell tensions over xenophobia. Mangosuthu Buthelezi was heckled by a rowdy section of the crowd on Sunday, who later clashed with security forces. […]
Riek Machar is a man who wears many labels: rebel leader, former vice-president, warlord and now, possibly, peacemaker. Emerging from enforced isolation in South Africa, Mr Machar, a central figure in Sudanese and South Sudanese politics for decades, and his bitter river Salva Kiir are expected to hold a meeting which could mark the beginning […]
CAIRO (AP) – Sudan has sworn in its first Cabinet since the military ousted autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April following mass pro-democracy protests. The new members include Sudan’s first woman foreign minister, Asmaa Abdalla, and a former World Bank economist as finance minister. The Cabinet is part of a power-sharing agreement between the military […]