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Live Reporting

Wycliffe Muia and Gloria Aradi

All times stated are UK

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  1. Police scatter Togo opposition event amid tensions

    Policemen barricade access to supporters of opposition leader and presidential candidate of the National Alliance for Change (ANC) party Jean-Pierre Fabre during ANC's last election rally of the campaign in Lome on February 20, 2020
    Image caption: Police say the event was not authorised (file photo)

    Police in Togo have broken up an opposition news conference that was called to address a controversial constitutional reform.

    On Monday, the parliament voted for a new constitution which changes the presidential system to a parliamentary one.

    But with less than a month before legislative elections, the opposition fears the change will clear the way for the long-serving President, Faure Gnassingbe, to remain in power indefinitely.

    Around 30 police officers armed with truncheons broke up the gathering called by opposition parties and civil society groups on Wednesday.

    Police said the event in the capital, Lome, was not authorised.

    Nathaniel Olympio, the event organiser, termed the new constitution a "coup" that seeks to deprive the Togolese people of the right to choose their president, AFP news agency reported.

    "I call on the Togolese people to stand up and stop this disastrous plan," Mr Olympio said.

    It is not clear when the changes, proposed by lawmakers mostly from the ruling Union for the Republic (UNIR), will come into force.

  2. Video content

    Video caption: Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Christopher Gwabin Musa: Nigeria insecurity a ‘rude shock’

    Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, speaks to the BBC.

  3. Museveni launches Uganda's first-ever Islamic bank

    President Yoweri Museveni in a white shirt
    Image caption: Salaam Bank Limited will be the first institution to offer Islamic financing in the country

    Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has officially launched the country's first-ever interest-free commercial Islamic bank.

    Salaam Bank Limited, a subsidiary of a Djibouti-based bank, is the first institution to offer Islamic financing in the country.

    Mr Museveni said the institution had a potential to significantly contribute to the development of the country's financial sector and attract more Muslim investors.

    "I encourage you to fight poverty and create wealth,” the president said shortly after launching the bank on Wednesday in the capital, Kampala.

    In September last year, the Salaam bank was granted its first Islamic banking license after the Ugandan parliament passed legislation authorising Islamic banking, which Mr Museveni signed into law.

    It is not allowed to pay and receive interest in Islamic banking, but rather it is based on profit sharing.

  4. Police link prominent SA businessman to rapper's murder

    South African rapper AKA during the exclusive launch of AKA Beam World App powered by Vodacom at the Pivot, Montecasino on Johannesburg, South Africa.
    Image caption: AKA and his friend Tibz Motsoane were gunned down outside a restaurant in the coastal city of Durban in February last year

    A businessman who is a member of a powerful South African family has been linked to the murder of popular rapper AKA.

    AKA, real name Kiernan Forbes, and his close friend, Tibz Motsoane, were gunned down outside a restaurant in Durban on 10 February last year.

    A statement presented to court by the investigating officer said that a company owned by businessman Sydney Mfundo Gcaba allegedly sent over 800,000 rand ($42,000; £33,000) to the bank account of one of the suspects currently on trial over the rapper's killing.

    The payment was allegedly made a day after AKA's murder.

    The prosecutor, citing phone records, also said that the suspect who received the money, Mziwethemba Harvey Gwabeni, allegedly made a call to Mr Gcaba before the transaction was completed.

    Mr Gcaba is yet to comment on the prosecutor's statement.

    The prosecutor alleges that the money was then split equally between the seven suspects.

    Mr Gwabeni said in an affidavit that he received the funds as payment for consultation services he provided to the company.

    But the prosecutor argued that there's no evidence showing that Mr Gwabeni provided any services to the company to warrant the payment.

    Mr Gcaba is a member of the powerful Gcaba family, which owns a taxi empire and several other businesses in the coastal KwaZulu-Natal province and across South Africa.

    A motive for his alleged involvement in AKA's murder is yet to be established.

    Read more:

  5. Poll results show large win for Senegal's Faye

    Thomas Naadi

    BBC News, Dakar

    Senegal's president-elect Bassirou Diomaye Faye speaks during a press conference in Dakar, Senegal March 25, 2024
    Image caption: The Constitutional Council is expected to confirm Mr Faye's win in the coming days

    Senegal's opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye has won Sunday’s election with 54.28% of the total votes, according to official provisional results released by the electoral commission on Wednesday.

    Presidential candidates have until the end of Thursday to file appeals challenging Mr Faye's win, after which the Constitutional Council will confirm him as the president-elect.

    Mr Faye's main challenger, former Prime Minister Amadou Ba of the ruling coalition, secured 35.79% of total votes.

    The election recorded a voter turnout of 61%.

    Mr Ba, along with several of the other 15 presidential contestants, have already conceded and congratulated Mr Faye. It is considered unlikely that they will appeal against the results.

    Outgoing President Macky Sall had attempted to delay the polls initially scheduled for February, which sparked violent protests and resulted in three deaths.

    Mr Faye has said he will rule Senegal with humility and fight corruption.

    He has also promised to put measures in place to address youth unemployment and the high cost of living.

    Expectations remain high for Africa's youngest democratically elected president.

    Read more:

  6. Court shortens Liberian ex-rebel leader's life sentence

    The Newsroom

    BBC World Service

    Court of Justice in the French town of Tours, which is located in the Loire Valley. The Loire Valley (French: VallÃe de la Loire) is known as the Garden of France and the Cradle of the French Language. It is also noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns. copyright BBC
    Image caption: But a French court again found Mr Kamara guilty of war crimes

    A French court has reduced the life sentence of Liberian former rebel, Kunti Kamara, to 30 years in prison for his role during Liberia's civil war three decades ago.

    At his first trial in 2022, following his arrest in France, he was found guilty of crimes against humanity and violence against civilians and given a life term, but appealed against the ruling.

    Although the Paris criminal court reduced his sentence on Wednesday, it again found him guilty of the war crimes.

    The prosecution had urged the court to uphold his life sentence.

    Kamara was a regional commander of a faction of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy which fought the National Patriotic Front of former President Charles Taylor.

    The conflict between 1989 and 2003 killed more than 250,000 people.

  7. Wise words for Thursday 28 March 2024

    Our African proverb of the day:

    Quote Message: The forest yields when you are tired." from A Shona proverb sent by Kudzai Makomva in Harare, Zimbabwe
    A Shona proverb sent by Kudzai Makomva in Harare, Zimbabwe

    Click here to send us your African proverbs.

  8. Rwanda 30 years on

    Video content

    Video caption: Rwanda's journey towards healing and reconciliation after the 1994 genocide

    BBC journalist Victoria Uwonkunda returns to Rwanda for the first time after fleeing the genocide in 1994, to find out how the country, and its people, are healing.

  9. Scroll down for Tuesday's stories

    We're back on Thursday morning

    That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now - we'll return with more updates on Thursday.

    In the meantime you can listen to the BBC Focus on Africa podcast here.

    A reminder of Tuesday's wise words:

    Quote Message: A dish that is going to be tasty will smell good when it boils." from A Wolof proverb sent by Coura Fall in Dakar, Senegal
    A Wolof proverb sent by Coura Fall in Dakar, Senegal

    We leave you with this photo of people breaking their Ramadan fast in Cairo:

    People sitting down to a mass iftar meal in the street.
  10. Kenya Airways reports profit for first time since 2017

    Kenya Airways planes are seen through a window as the Jomo Kenyatta international airport
    Image caption: Kenya Airways is one the continent's most well-known airlines

    One of Africa’s largest airlines, Kenya Airways, made an operating profit in 2023 – the first time since 2017.

    Chairman Michael Joseph called the $80m (£63m) excess a "significant milestone", the AFP news agency quotes him as saying.

    Part of the reason for the success was a more than 50% jump in revenue thanks to an increase in passenger numbers.

    Kenya Airways, which is partly owned by the government, has had troubled recent past with huge debts and it was hit hard by the fallout from the Covid pandemic.

    "These figures highlight the airline's remarkable performance over the year and provide encouraging signs of continued recovery within the air transportation sector," Mr Joseph said in a statement reported by AFP.

  11. Relief as heatwave passes and schools set to re-open

    Nichola Mandil

    BBC News, Juba

    A large water bottle being filled from a tap.
    Image caption: Water and ventilation are key, say authorities

    South Sudan's government says all schools will reopen next week - they had been closed due to a severe heatwave that's seen temperatures soar well above 40C.

    People are relieved that the rainy season is expected to begin soon. At least 15 people died because of last week's "excessive heat", according to the authorities.

    They say teachers should remain cautious when students return, keeping any playground activities to the early morning and holding them preferably indoors.

    The advice is also to ventilate classrooms, provide water for learners during school time, and monitor children – especially the young ones – for signs of heat exhaustion, and heatstroke, and alert medics in the eventuality of such cases.

    The ministries of general education, health, and environment said they will continue to closely observe the weather conditions in South Sudan and will advise the public accordingly.

  12. Cocoa prices at record high after drought hits harvests

    BBC World Service

    A recently opened cocoa pod in Ghana. Photo taken in 2020.
    Image caption: Ivory Coast and Ghana are world's biggest cocoa exporters

    The price of cocoa hit a new record fuelled by climate change and adverse weather conditions - impacting a market that has already seen high Easter chocolate prices in Europe.

    In the latest price hike, the cocoa bean traded above $10,000 (£8,000) per tonne on world commodity markets, $2,000 more than last week.

    The world's largest cocoa exporters - Ivory Coast and Ghana - suffered poor harvests after droughts in February following heavy rains in December.

    Popular brands of Easter eggs will now cost 50% more than last year, forcing companies to promote non-chocolate Easter treats like biscuit bunnies.

    Read more on this story: