Africa highlights: 40 charged in Nigeria for homosexuality, Ethiopia lifts state of emergency
Bringing you the latest news from around Africa on Friday 4 August 2017 and every weekday at bbc.com/africalive
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- Forty charged in Lagos over alleged gay sex
- Ethiopia's parliament votes to end the state of emergency
- Senegalese musician detained for comments about the president
- Rwandans choose next president
- Nigerian government set to legalise mini-refineries in oil-rich Niger Delta
- Kenya pastor Gilbert Deya, who claimed he could cure infertility, sent home from UK
- Trump reportedly agrees to sell military surveillance planes to Nigeria
Live Reporting
By Natasha Booty and Damian Zane
All times stated are UK
Scroll down for Friday's stories
We'll be back on Monday
That's all from the BBC Africa Live page today. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website.
A reminder of today's wise words:
Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.
And we leave you with this image from our pictures of the week of two wrestlers at the Francophone Games in Ivory Coast:
Kenyan elections 2017: Get the facts here
Polls suggest that the outcome of next week's presidential election in Kenya is too close to call.
So who are the two men most likely to take the top job?
Read our profiles of challenger Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta, on the BBC Africa website.
We've been following the twists and turns of the political campaigns over the past couple of months, and you can find all our coverage of Kenya's general elections here.
But for a round-up of the key issues, look no further than these eight things you need to know about the Kenyan elections.
Getting ready for the World Championships
African athletes have been posting on Instagram in the build-up to the World Athletics Championships, which start in London tonight.
Ghana sprinter Gemma Acheampong shared this picture from inside the stadium:
Botswana's Nijel Amos - one of the contenders for the 800m title - posted this image of his preparations:
And fans outside the stadium are also sharing in the excitement:
Read more: African athletes to look out for.
Counting starts as voting closes in Rwanda
The polls have shut for Rwanda's presidential election and votes are now being counted.
It is widely expected that President Paul Kagame - in power since 2000 - will win a third term.
"Generally the process went well. The process was peaceful and calm," Reuters news agency quotes the executive secretary of the electoral commission Charles Munyaneza as saying.
Provisional results are expected at 21:00 GMT.
Kenya elections: Expert analysis in our final series podcast
With four days to go before the Kenyan elections, many people still have a lot questions.
Who will win the presidential race? Are the opinion polls to be believed? Is the the electoral commission ready? And what effect is fake news having on it all?
Dickens Olewe discusses these topics with five political analysts in the final episode of BBC Africa's special weekly podcast, Kenya Election Watch.
Listen here:
'Huge explosion' heard in Mogadishu
Witnesses have told the Reuters news agency that there has been a "huge explosion" in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. Gunfire has also been heard.
People have also been tweeting the details:
Africa's chance to shine - again
The biennial World Athletics Championships are due to start in London tonight and Kenyans will be hoping for a repeat of the country's performance two years' ago in Beijing when they topped the medal table.
But two South Africans, Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya, could deliver the outstanding performances of the ten days of competition.
Here are some of the stars to look out for:
Men
Women
Van Niekerk has been talking to the BBC about his chances in London and his future:
Celebrity author's spelling and grammar mocked on social media
South African radio host and TV presenter Bonang Matheba has fallen foul of eagle-eyed social media users apparently taking instruction from the title of her new book, Bonang From A to B.
Some people even broke out the red pen to pinpoint the multiple spelling and grammar errors in Ms Matheba's autobiography:
Ms Matheba's publishing house, BlackBird Books, has told South Africa's Times Live new site that it is wholly responsible for the errors - including incorrectly listing the author's birthday as 24 June when it is in fact 25 June.
"I take full responsibility for what happened. The last thing I want is for black people to be accused of mediocrity and I should do better. It's on me as the publisher.
"I ought to have done better," BlackBird Books Publisher Thabiso Mahlape said.
Vote against Zuma would be like 'throwing a nuclear bomb'
The chief whip of South Africa's governing ANC has issued a warning to any of his party's MPs contemplating voting in favour of next week's no-confidence motion against President Jacob Zuma.
In a statement, Jackson Mthembu said that "voting in favour of this motion will be tantamount to throwing a nuclear bomb".
"The removal of the president will have disastrous consequences that can only have a negative impact on the people of South Africa," he added.
It is not yet clear if MPs will be allowed to vote in secret after Tuesday's no-confidence debate.
All of the main opposition parties went to the Constitutional Court to ask for a secret vote, but the judges ruled that it is up to the speaker to decide.
Kenya elections: ‘My age is a bigger barrier than my gender’
Political newcomer Suzanne Silantoi Lengewa, 23, is running for a seat representing Nairobi in the Senate in next week’s election.
She’s one of several young people hoping to be elected and says she chose to run as an independent candidate because “the main parties have divided us”.
Ms Silantoi says that she was inspired to pursue a political career after an internship spent working with people who live in the slums exposed her to real-life challenges.
She says campaigning has been a mostly positive experience: “I think because I come from a minority ethnic community people have been willing to hear me out.”
She has however had some challenging times on the trail:
Ms Silantoi says if she is elected she will focus on improving services for Nairobi’s residents. Her campaign message calls for “restoring Nairobi to its former glory”.
Her chances may appear slim, with a recent opinion poll placing her third in the race behind the Jubilee party's Johnstone Sakaja and Edwin Sifuna of the Nasa-affiliated ODM party, but Ms Silantoi says she will continue campaigning right up until Saturday’s official campaign deadline.
Senegal still waiting for Sunday's poll results
Alex Duval Smith
BBC News, Senegal
Voters in Senegal are still waiting to be told the final results of last Sunday's parliamentary election.
The electoral commission and the interior ministry, who jointly organised the poll, claim there are several reasons for the delay.
These include difficulties in transporting ballot boxes and officials, caused by the rainy season, and the fact that the election featured an unprecedented number of lists of candidates - 47 - which complicates the count.
But opposition politicians, such as former president Abdoulaye Wade and the coalition supporting jailed Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall, claim foul play.
The backers of Mr Sall, who is in jail awaiting trial on alleged charges of misspending city funds, claim the delay is evidence of ‘’a regression in democracy’’ in Senegal.
Partial results are being issued day by day and yesterday it was announced that President Macky Sall’s ruling coalition, Benno Bokk Yaakaar (BBY), had won all seven of Dakar's parliamentary seats, scoring 53% of the vote.
The mayor's party, Manko Taxawu Senegal, came second, just 2,700 votes behind.
Pistorius back in prison after night in hospital
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who was imprisoned for murdering his girlfriend, is now back in jail after spending a night in hospital.
He was taken to hospital on Thursday for an undisclosed reason, but local media reported that he had been suffering from chest pains.
"Oscar has been discharged and is back in prison," Reuters quotes a prison official as saying.
The former athlete quickly rose to fame in the Paralympics, and made headlines when he became the first track and field athlete to compete in both the Paralympic and Olympic Games.
But in February 2013, he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp at his home, alleging that he had mistaken her for an intruder.
His trial became the subject of widespread international attention, as he was initially cleared of murder in favour of a manslaughter charge, then convicted of murder on appeal in 2016 and given a six-year sentence.
Celebrating refugees in Uganda
Patience Atuhaire
BBC Africa, Kampala
The diverse cultures of the 1.3 million refugees living in Uganda have been celebrated in the capital, Kampala, today with a food festival.
Local NGOs that work with refugees got people to showcase their countries' dishes.
The South Sudanese made steamed maize and cassava flour which is eaten with stew:
Ethiopians made a beef stew:
And the Somalis made their traditional bread:
And everyone was invited to tuck in:
Including your correspondent:
According to the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, out of the 1.3 million refugees in Uganda:
Zambian opposition leader charged with defaming president
Kennedy Gondwe
BBC World Service, Lusaka
The leader of a Zambian opposition party, who was arrested yesterday, has been charged with defaming the president.
Saviour Chishimba, president of the United People’s Party, was picked up at a privately-owned television station in the capital, Lusaka, where he had gone to record an interview.
He was charged in connection with comments he made about the president during a press conference last month.
Mr Chishimba has made no comment about the charges.
He is now the second opposition leader in Zambia to currently be in detention.
Hakainde Hichilema, who heads the country's largest opposition party, was arrested in April and is facing treason charges.
Rwanda's foreign minister and human rights chief spar on Twitter
The head of New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has been slapped down on Twitter by Rwanda's foreign minister for his criticism of the country.
Rwandans are voting today in a presidential election which is widely expected to be won by long-time incumbent Paul Kagame.
HRW's boss suggested there was no real contest in the election:
The country's foreign minister chose some undiplomatic language in response:
Ndera is the name of a Rwandan psychiatric hospital.
Others have weighed into the debate with many supporting Ms Mushikiwabo:
But some have been critical of the way the minister responded:
Meanwhile, people are continuing to vote in Rwanda:
Severed head 'discovered in backpack in South Africa'
Police in Durban are looking for the body of an unidentified man whose severed head was found in a backpack, news site IOL reports.
It says that "two men have been arrested in connection with the discovery" and alleges that one man was attempting to sell the head to another for ritual use.
IOL adds that "it is not clear who tipped off the police, but both [men] were arrested before the sale could take place".
It reports that Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane of Durban police says officers are still trying to establish a full picture of what happened.
Kenyan court sets date for ruling on 'miracle babies' pastor
We reported earlier today that Gilbert Deya, the controversial leader of a London evangelical church, has been extradicted to Kenya where he appeared in court today on child trafficking charges.
Mr Deya is charged with five counts of child abduction between 2002 and 2004.
A Kenyan court ordered today that Mr Deya be remanded at Kamiti maximum security prison until 10 August, when a ruling will be made on whether or not he will be granted bail.
Mr Deya has claimed over the years that he can deliver "miracle babies" to post-menopausal or infertile women.
In 2004 his wife, Mary Deya, was arrested and charged in Kenya with stealing babies who were found at her house in an upmarket estate in Nairobi.
Kenya election puts strain on ethnically mixed couples
Dickens Olewe
BBC Africa, Nairobi
"Mommy, do you hate Raila or Uhuru?"
Naomi Wangui and Malaki Samson were shocked by their young daughter's question about the two main candidates in Kenya's election, President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
The question stunned Naomi and, even though she tried to explain to her daughter how political competition works, she was taken aback by her characterisation.
"Hate is a strong word, even for a six-year old," Naomi said.
"I think it's the perception she has picked from the TV stations who project political competition as a zero sum game, them versus us."
Malaki is a Luhya, a community that chiefly supports the opposition, while Naomi is from the Kikuyu community of President Kenyatta, who is seeking a second term. .
Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga, who is a Luo, have harnessed support from several ethnic communities and it has become part of Kenyan political culture to presume that people from allied ethnic groups automatically back them.
These perceptions complicate the lives of mixed ethnicity couples.
Read the full story on BBC Africa.
Senegal fails to send athletes to World Championships
While Kenya will be hoping to repeat its 2015 performance of topping the medal table at the World Athletics Championships, Senegal already knows that it will not feature at all.
That's because the country is not sending a single athlete to the games - thought to be the only African country to be in this position.
Senegal is home to one of just three high-performance centres, backed by the athletics' world governing body IAAF, in the whole of Africa.
It's located in Dakar, from where the BBC's Arwa Barkallah sent this report:
Al-Shabab take control of strategic Somali town
BBC World Service
Somali militant Islamist group al-Shabab has taken control of the strategic town of Leego, on the main road between the capital, Mogadishu, and the town of Baidoa.
They were able to move in after Somali troops and African Union forces left Leego.
It was not immediately clear why they pulled out.
In previous years, troops from the AU force, Amisom, had fought to defend the town.
Senegal singer arrested for 'insulting president'
A popular singer in Senegal has been arrested after she shared an audio recording on WhatsApp in which she is alleged to have made disaparaging comments about President Macky Sall.
Amy Colle Dieng, a well-known singer in the local Mbalax style, is said to have shared the content in a WhatsApp message group for supporters of Karim Wade, the son of former president Abdoulaye Wade currently exiled in Qatar.
News site Dakaractu reports that Ms Dieng has admitted to police that she made the insulting remarks.
She is currently being held by the national police's criminal investigations unit.
Ethiopian minister arrested for corruption
BBC Monitoring
The world through its media
Ethiopia has arrested its first senior government official in an ongoing campaign to crack down on corruption.
The state-owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation website said Alemayehu Gujo, a finance and economic development minister, was arrested after parliament removed his immunity in an extraordinary session today.
The authorities have arrested 50 former state officials since 25 July.
Forty men arrested for 'homosexual acts' in Lagos released on bail
Forty people who were arrested in Nigeria over the weekend for performing homosexual acts have been released on bail.
The 28 adults and 12 minors, all of them male, were charged with "permitting male persons to have carnal knowledge of themselves against the order of nature".
In its statement, the Lagos State Ministry of Justice says the 40 individuals had been "caught in the act of homosexuality at a popular hotel in the area simply known as Vintage Hotel".
They were released yesterday by a magistrate court in Nigeria's main city, Lagos.
Homosexual acts are punishable by up to 14 years in jail in Nigeria, while gay marriage and displays of same-sex affection are also banned.
The court hearing has been adjourned to 8 September.
Political skaters turn out in Kenyan campaign
As Kenyans prepare to go to the polls next week political campaigns are ramping up a notch.
Our reporter Abinoor Aden spotted these skaters sporting T-shirts, flags and caps for the governing Jubilee party in the capital, Nairobi:
Meanwhile supporters of the opposition Nasa alliance have attended a rally in the western city of Kisumu wearing the coalition's trademark orange:
Watch: Kenya Election 2017 - everything you need to know.
Rwandans choose next president
People in Rwanda are voting in a presidential election widely expected to secure a third term of office for current President Paul Kagame, who has been in power for 17 years.
The electoral commission says preliminary results will be announced later today (19:00 GMT).
The two other contenders are Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and the independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana.
Mr Kagame is widely credited with improving Rwanda's economic development, but his critics accuse him of suppressing dissent.
Two voters have been speaking to the Reuters news agency about why they have turned out:
Will history return to Nigeria's school curriculum?
Nigeria's Education Minister Adamu Adamu says the federal government is planning to bring history back into the curriculum for pupils in primary and secondary schools.
Mr Adamu told News Agency of Nigeria:
He added:
The move to reintroduce history as a subject in the national schools curriculum has been approved by the the National Council on Education, Punch newspaper reports.
Nigerian journalist Sola Odunfa said that it was during the military rule of General Ibrahim Babangida in the 1980s and early 1990s that the studying of history began to disappear from schools.
Letter from Africa: Why Nigerians need to learn their history
Ethiopia's parliament ends state of emergency
Today's vote by Ethiopia's MPs to end the state of emergency means that it will be lifted as the decision does not need further approval from the president or prime minister.
The initial decision to introduce it last October was made by the cabinet, but it needed parliamentary approval, and MPs also voted to extend it earlier this year, the Addis Standard reports.
It adds that this means that the constitutional rule of law will return as opposed to emergency law, which gave additional powers to the military. But it is not clear if those detained during the emergency will be released.
Among things banned under the emergency were:
The measures were introduced to curb the anti-government protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions.
'More than 250 killed' in DR Congo's Kasai region
BBC World Service
The UN says that more than 250 people, including 60 children, have been victims of ethnic massacres in the volatile Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The killings took place between March and June and UN investigators say many were carried out by the Kamuina Nsapumilitia group which is largely made up of young people.
The UN says that a pro-government militia, the Bana Mura, assembled to defeat the rebellion in the area is also responsible for many killings.
The report was drawn up by the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raa'ad al-Hussein and is based on testimonies from people who have fled into neighbouring Angola to escape the violence.
BreakingEthiopia 'lifts state of emergency'
Ethiopia's parliament has voted to lift the state of emergency imposed last October to help curb anti-government protests.
It was initially introduced for six months and was then extended for another four months.
Nigeria to combat oil theft with 'mini-refineries'
BBC World Service
The Nigerian government has said it will legalise mini-refineries in the oil-rich Niger Delta and supply them with crude oil at a reasonable price by the end of the year.
The move is aimed at ending the theft of oil from pipelines in the delta, which has many illegal refineries that process the stolen oil.
Communities there feel they do not benefit from the oil in their region.
The plan was announced after a meeting between Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and community leaders.
The presidency also said it would discuss with oil companies about moving their regional headquarters to the Niger Delta.
Trump 'approves sale' of military planes to Nigeria
The White House has given the go-ahead for the sale of military planes to Nigeria to aid in the fight against Islamist militant group Boko Haram, the AP news agency is reporting.
President Donald Trump told Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari in a phone conversation in February that he backed the deal.
The deal, said to be worth up to $600m (£490m), was agreed by the Obama administration, but was reportedly halted on the day it was due to be sent to Congress, after a catastrophic incident involving the Nigerian military.
About 90 people, mainly women and children, were killed in January when the Nigerian Air Force mistakenly bombed a camp in the country's north-east, which was hosting thousands of those who had fled Boko Haram.
'Miracle babies' pastor extradited to Kenya on trafficking charges
Wanyama wa Chebusiri
BBC Africa
Controversial Kenyan pastor Gilbert Deya has been extradited from the UK to face child trafficking charges.
Mr Deya runs an evangelical church in London and claims he can deliver “miracle babies” to post-menopausal or infertile women.
Kenyan police spokesman Charles Owino told the BBC that Mr Deya, 65, arrived in Nairobi early this morning on a Kenya Airways flight after his appeal was rejected by a UK court.
Mr Deya had appealed against the extradition citing fear of torture and of facing the death penalty.
In 2004 his wife, Mary Deya, was arrested and charged in Kenya with stealing babies who were found at her house in an upmarket estate in Nairobi.
Police say the pastor is likely to be charged in court today.
Today's wise words
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