Africa highlights: Rich Nigerians targeted over taxes, Mugabe loyalist denied bail

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The question of what role a country's First Lady - or First Man - should play in a country has been bought into sharper focus with events in Zimbabwe, where Grace Mugabe's political ambitions are seen as central to ending her husband's rule.

So who better to consider the question than two people who know exactly what its like to be married to the country's most powerful person?

Namibia's first Lady Monica Geingos, a successful businesswoman who is not yet completely at ease with her title two years after her husband took power, and Iceland's former first lady, Jonina Leosdottir, speak with Kim Chakanetsa for this week's The Conversation.

You can hear their chat above.

For more from The Coversation, click this link.

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There's less than an hour left until voting closes for 2017's BBC African Footballer of the Year. If you haven't made your choice yet, CLICK HERE to go to the voting page.

For a quick reminder of this year's #BBCAFOTY nominees, check out the video below:

And here's a reminder of some of the special African football coverage we've had to celebrate this year's award:

• Africa's top 10 Premier League moments
• Cracking Liberia's 'grass ceiling' - the girl mixing it with the boys
• The footballer who can't stop saving lives
• How some lesser-known African footballers are making a career around the world

The winner will be announced on 11 December. Use the hashtag #BBCAFOTY to join the debate.

A cake festival is being held in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to celebrate the West African state's history and culture since independence in 1960.

Bakers have been asked to depict key moments in the former British colony's history, and to predict its future.

The organizers say the cake festival is intended to display Nigeria's rich cultural heritage, empower young people, and foster unity.

Here are some of the cakes that were on display:

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A man died after shooting himself with a tranquilizer dart as he helped a game farmer search for an escaped buffalo in South Africa.

The accident happened in Limpopo province on Friday morning, police said.

The 30-year-old man, who has not been named but was reportedly Zimbabwean, had offered to help the farmer and an employee, local media said.

The animal had wandered onto the property where he worked.

It seems he shot himself not long after being handed the gun.

Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo told the Bosveld Review:

Quote Message: He immediately started shivering and was rushed to a hospital in Polokwane where he later died at about 12:00 [local time; 10:00 GMT], apparently due to the effect of the substance in the tranquilizer dart.”

He immediately started shivering and was rushed to a hospital in Polokwane where he later died at about 12:00 [local time; 10:00 GMT], apparently due to the effect of the substance in the tranquilizer dart.”

The game farmer is now facing charges of culpable homicide, as the man did not have the required licence to be using the gun, Brg Mojapelo added.

The authorities in Ethiopia say more than 20 people have been killed in clashes between the Somali and Oromo communities.

Much of the fighting, which is mainly over land, occurred on the borders between the Oromia and Somali regions.

Dozens of people have been killed in clashes between the two communities this year. Tens of thousands have been displaced.

More than 20,000 cases of domestic violence have been reported in Mozambique since the beginning of the year - but there are fears the true number is higher.

More than a quarter of reported cases were against women and children, with incidents including physical violence, sexual abuse and early marriages.

Cidalia Chauque, minister for gender, children and social welfare, said she was "conscious that there are many other cases" as she launched a new campaign to tackle the issue.

Speaking in the southern province of Gaza, which has one of the highest rates of abuse in the country, she added:

Quote Message: Our challenge, currently, is that those cases must be punished in an exemplary fashion. These examples must be submitted to the communities so that people can understand that violence is a crime.”

Our challenge, currently, is that those cases must be punished in an exemplary fashion. These examples must be submitted to the communities so that people can understand that violence is a crime.”

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Zimbabwe's ousted finance minister Ignatius Chombo, charged with three counts of corruption, has been refused bail by a magistrate.

Mr Chombo is the first minister from the former Mugabe regime to be charged.

The magistrate ruled his life could be in danger if he is released on bail, as he could be attacked by the public.

There was also the risk that Mr Chombo could abscond because of Zimbabwe's porous borders, the magistrate said.

Mr Chombo's lawyer said he would appeal against the ruling.

He is accused of trying to defraud the central bank, among other things.

He was among a group of Mugabe loyalists detained by the military when it took power earlier this month, bringing an end to Robert Mugabe's 37-year rule.He was allegedly badly assaulted, and was admitted to hospital for treatment.

Two ousted leaders of the ruling Zanu-PF's youth wing, Kudzanai Chipanga and Innocent Hamandishe, were also denied bail following their arrest during a military operation aimed at targeting alleged criminals around Mr Mugabe.

A Zimbabwean journalist has been tweeting from court:

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Confederation Cup winners TP Mazembe will fly to the Zambian town of Ndola before completing their trip home by road.

Thousands of fans had been expected at the airport in Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo to welcome the team back with their latest trophy.

The squad was due to fly directly back to Lubumbashi from Johannesburg on Monday morning after Saturday's aggregate win over SuperSport United.

Their scheduled flight on Monday morning was delayed by 10 hours before the team decided to change their trip and leave on Tuesday instead.

They will fly to the Zambia town of Ndola before completing their trip home by road.

The reasons for the change of plans are unclear but the club are blaming the fact that their owner Moise Katumbi is the main opposition to the DR Congo president Joseph Kabila.

Katumbi has been in exile in Belgium for the last two years as he campaigns against Mr Kabila and protests the fact that presidential elections have been delayed since 2016.

Read the full BBC Sport here

Seven employees of Uganda's Red Pepper tabloid, including including senior editors, have been charged with defaming President Yoweri Museveni, his brother Gen Salim Saleh and Security Minister Henry Tumukunde, the state-linked New Vision newspaper has reported.

Prosecutors alleged that the accused - who have been remanded in custody - injured the reputation of the three following the publication of an article under the headlline: “M7 plots to overthrow Kagame - Rwanda”, the New Vision reported.

Red Pepper had subjected President Museveni, known as M7, to hatred, contempt and ridicule, it quoted prosecutors as saying.

Red Pepper has not yet commented.

After the report was published on 20 November, Uganda's foreign minister dismissed it as mischievous and said it was aimed at sowing discord between the two states, led by Mr Museveni and Paul Kagame.

The pair used to be close allies before falling out.

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A man accused of being the "money vault" behind Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen has been repatriated to Turkey from Sudan following a joint operation between the two countries.

Businessman Memduh Cikmaz was captured in Sudan after Turkish spies tracked him down two months ago, state media reported.

He is accused of giving money to Mr Gulen, a US-based cleric who the Turkish government claim was behind a failed coup in July 2016.

Mr Gulen denies he had any involvement in the coup plot.

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The Turkish national media agency Anadolu called Mr Cikmaz the "money vault", who sources alleged continued to send millions to Mr Gulen following his relocation to Sudan in January 2016.

Mr Cikmaz, who reportedly owns petrol stations and brick factories, arrived back in Turkey on Monday.

Turkey has created a special team to find Gulenists abroad, Anadolu said.

Find out more about Mr Gulen by clicking here.

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One of Africa's biggest football teams, TP Mazembe, are stranded in South Africa after the DR Congo aviation authorities refused to clear their plane to land, the club alleges.

The Congolese giants are currently in Johannesburg, having successfully defended their Confederation of African Football (Caf) Confederations Cup title by defeating SuperSport of South Africa 2-1 on aggregate.

They were due to arrive in their hometown of Lubumbashi on a scheduled flight this morning but it was pushed to 17:00GMT. The flight has now been cancelled, according to club president and opposition leader Moise Katumbi.

"President Joseph Kabila's government has issued instructions to airlines that they shouldn't fly the team or they risk having their licenses cancelled," a fuming Katumbi told the BBC.

He added:

Quote Message: Why should a team that has just won a continental cup be denied landing rights in their own country; just because the team belongs to me? This is not about Moise Katumbi. The victory is for the Congolese people. That's why I have been saying Kabila is bad for human rights."

Why should a team that has just won a continental cup be denied landing rights in their own country; just because the team belongs to me? This is not about Moise Katumbi. The victory is for the Congolese people. That's why I have been saying Kabila is bad for human rights."

Dr Congo's government has not yet commented on the allegation.

This morning I found players and officials loitering around the airport without knowing when their next flight to DR Congo would be.

Some players I talked to complained of being tired as they had been at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg since 05:00 GMT without knowing what time they will fly out.

Mr Katumbi said he was now making arrangements to fly the team into a neighbouring country and drive the players into Lubumbashi.

Mr Katumbi and Mr Kabila have fallen out after the DR Congo leader refused to step down as president when his tenure expired last year.

His refusal to step down has also resulted in the country's elections being postponed with indications the poll may be held next year.

Zimbabwe's newspapers cashed on the inauguration of Emmerson Mnangagwa as president, thanks to advertisers lining up to congratulate him.

The boom has not gone unnoticed. A media monitoring group has tweeted:

Mr Mnangagwa took power following the forced resignation of his predecessor, Robert Mugabe, 93, a

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Sudan has arrested a milita chief described by a human rights group as "the poster child for Janjaweed atrocities in Darfur" - nine years after he was appointed as a government aide.

Musa Hilal was arrested by Sudan's counter-insurgency forces after fierce fighting near his hometown in North Dafur.

The arrest was carried out by the Rapid Support Forces after the death of 10 of its members, including a commander, on Sunday, the Sudan Tribune reported.

He has been accused of being a leader in the pro-government Arab Janjaweed militia, which carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Dafur in 2003 and 2004.

His militia were blamed for pillaging, rape, and scorching of villages in Darfur.

But Mr Hilal told the BBC's Panorama programme in 2004 the accusations levelled at him had been "exaggerated".

"Where are the graves and the bodies? Yes, there is death in this war. It is not as they exaggerate," he said.

In 2008, he was made an aide to Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, leading Human Rights Watch to hit out at the decision, labeling him the "poster child for Janjaweed atrocities in Darfur".

However, relations have soured in recent years, according to reports.

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A regional court ruling that the sacking of Sierra Leone's Vice-President Samuel Sam-Sumana was unconstitutional is a blow to the West African state's judiciary, some analysts say.

This is because Sierra Leone's Supreme Court had ruled the dismissal, which caused political controversy in 2015, was constitutional.

The government has not yet reacted to the ruling by the Economic Community of West African States' Court of Justice, but its decision is not legally binding.

The government lost the case by default because it did not make any representations to challenge Mr Sam-Sumana's bid to declare his dismissal unconstitutional, and to demand financial compensation

See earlier post for more details

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Nigeria's government plans to write to 500 wealthy Nigerians with property and trusts abroad, urging them to come clean about their tax status or risk being being prosecuted and fined.

In a statement, the finance ministry said it had come across cases where people declared as little as 10 million naira ($28,000; £21,000) as income, but purchased expensive property in Nigeria and overseas, owned "high specification vehicles" and funded luxurious events.

It urged Nigerians should take advantage of a tax amnesty, which expires in March, to regularise their tax affairs.

The statement added:

Quote Message: The first 500 letters are ready and will go out this week but there are many more. Receiving the letter is not an accusation of deliberate wrongdoing, rather a notice that the data suggests possible underpayment and a prompt to check compliance."

The first 500 letters are ready and will go out this week but there are many more. Receiving the letter is not an accusation of deliberate wrongdoing, rather a notice that the data suggests possible underpayment and a prompt to check compliance."

The moves comes as the government plans to to impose special taxes on luxury cars, cigarettes and alcohol in a bid to cushion the deficit in the 2018 budget of 8.6 trillion naira (£21.4bn).

The budget, unveiled on 7 November, aims to help the economy recover from its first recession in 25 years.

The government hopes to raise 60bn naira from duties on cigarettes and alcohol and about 2.5bn from “special taxes” on luxury cars, the local Punch newspaper reports.

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The Chinese government has dismissed speculation it was involved in the overthrow of Robert Mugabe.

Questions over the possible role Zimbabwe's long-time ally may have played were raised after it emerged Gen Constantino Chiwenga had visited Beijing the week before the army stepped in to end Mr Mugabe's 37-year rule.

China had already stressed it was a normal meeting and had nothing to do with Gen Chiwenga's decisions in the following days.

Today, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang reiterated there had been nothing unusual about the visit, as he congratulated Zimbabwe's new leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

According to news agency AFP, he told a press briefing:

Quote Message: It was planned long before and it was also approved by the former President Mugabe. China always upholds the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and this remains unchanged."

It was planned long before and it was also approved by the former President Mugabe. China always upholds the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and this remains unchanged."

He added:

Quote Message: We firmly support Zimbabwe following a path that supports its own national conditions and we believe, under the leadership of Mr Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe's national development will make further progress."

We firmly support Zimbabwe following a path that supports its own national conditions and we believe, under the leadership of Mr Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe's national development will make further progress."

Read more from the BBC about what's next for Zimbabwe by clicking here.

Africa's largest freshwater lake is in danger - and people need to act to protect it for future generations, scientists say.

Lake Victoria is being slowly killed, thanks to pollution and overfishing.

Hear what one fisherman has to say about life on the lake in the video above.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Fighting has forced more than 10,000 Somalis to flee their homes and seek safety in the capital, Mogadishu, during November, the Norwegian Refugee Council has said.

Those running from the recent upsurge in violence in the country's Middle and Lower Shabelle region has put even more pressure on the already overstretched refugee camps, the agency added in a release.

About a million Somalis have been displaced since January, mainly due to drought.

Victor Moses, NRC country director in Somalia, said:

Quote Message: We’re seeing a spike in families fleeing fighting that are arriving in overcrowded camps in Mogadishu. The camps are already overfilled with drought-stricken people, barely surviving in flimsy shelters. The double shock to people fleeing both conflict and drought means that they have to endure multiple crises at once, and this can push them over the brink.”

We’re seeing a spike in families fleeing fighting that are arriving in overcrowded camps in Mogadishu. The camps are already overfilled with drought-stricken people, barely surviving in flimsy shelters. The double shock to people fleeing both conflict and drought means that they have to endure multiple crises at once, and this can push them over the brink.”

The charity is calling for an urgent halt to the fighting and aerial bombardment of the region in order to hopefully halt the flow of refugees.

Somalia has been hit by conflict between militant Islamist group al-Shabab, and the government, backed by the UN and African Union (AU).

The US has carried out many air strikes in the country over the years to target al-Shabab, but has been accused of causing civilian casualties as well.

Kenya has also carried out air strikes.

Zimbabwe's police and army will conduct joint patrols, especially in the central business district of the capital, Harare, as the country returned to normal, the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation reports.

Police chief Augustine Chihuri was booed by the crowd at the inauguration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday after the military and the ruling Zanu-PF party forced long-time ruler Robert Mugabe to step down.

He was accused of siding with Mr Mugabe and his wife, Grace, in their power struggle with Mr Mnangagwa, and police were were not seen on the streets immediately after the military takeover.

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In a joint statement issued with the army, the police said they were now "assuming" their role of maintaining law and order and guaranteeing the safety of citizens.

The police wanted to assure the nation that all its operations would be "people-centred" in accordance with Mr Mnangagwa's vision, the statement added.

Many Zimbabweans accuse the police of being corrupt, and setting up unnecessary road blocks to demand bribes.

They praised the army for helping to oust Mr Mugabe, describing it as "the voice of the people".

Read: The 'crocodile' who snapped back