ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian security forces have killed at least 140 people taking part in mass anti-government demonstrations since November, activists say, according to US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW). The protests have been sparked by fears that a plan to expand the capital’s administrative control into the Oromia region will displace Oromo farmers. HRW also…
LAGOS – Former Nigerian defence minister Bello Haliru Mohammed has been charged with money laundering. He is accused along with his son, Bello Abba Mohammed, of diverting $1.5m (£1m) that was meant to buy arms for soldiers fighting Islamist Boko Haram militants. The two men have pleaded not guilty. President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office…
BANJUL – The Gambia’s government has banned its female employees from leaving their hair uncovered at work, a leaked memo quoted by private newspapers says. Women should use a “head tie and neatly wrap their hair”, the memo said, without giving reasons for the ban. Last month, Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh declared the Muslim-majority country…
JOHANNESBURG – A South African king who is a nephew of the late Nelson Mandela has begun a 12-year prison sentence for kidnapping, assault and arson. King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo reported to prison after his legal attempts to overturn his conviction failed. The case against King Dalindyebo was related to a dispute he had with some…
BANGUI – Polls have opened in the Central African Republic in delayed presidential and parliamentary elections aimed at restoring stable government after years of turmoil. Thirty candidates are vying to replace interim leader Catherine Samba-Panza. UN peacekeepers are patrolling to stop a repeat of the clashes during a recent referendum on a new constitution. CAR…
JOHANNESBURG – Former South African President FW De Klerk has criticised a campaign to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oxford University’s Oriel College. Mr De Klerk said South Africa’s white Afrikaner population had many reasons to dislike Rhodes but “never thought of removing his name from our history”. Campaigners say the statue venerates…
LAGOS – An Islamist-led insurgency has kept more than one million children out of school in four West African states, the UN children’s agency has said. More than 2,000 schools were shut, while hundreds had been attacked, looted or set ablaze, Unicef said. Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency has devastated north-eastern Nigeria, and has spread to…
KIGALI – Rwandans have voted overwhelmingly to allow President Paul Kagame to extend his term in office, initial referendum results show. Some 98% of voters support changing the constitution to allow him to run again in 2017 after his second term ends, the National Electoral Commission said. Mr Kagame, 58, could remain in power until…
KIGALI – Rwandans are voting in a referendum on a constitutional amendment to allow President Paul Kagame to seek a third term in office. Most voters, some 6.4 million, are eligible to vote on Friday, but around 37,000 Rwandans living overseas were able to have their say on Thursday. The change would allow Mr Kagame…
LUANDA – US rapper Nicki Minaj has been asked by a rights group to cancel her performance in Angola on Saturday. The letter from Human Rights Foundation (HRF) says the money to pay her comes from “government corruption and human rights violations”. Angolan rapper Luaty Beirao has been in prison since June, along with 14…
