Africa highlights: Nigeria's anti-corruption agency attacked, Kenya's opposition to challenge election result

Our reporter Ayo Bello has sent these photos of scenes at the University of Sierra Leone teaching hospital, where people have been gathering to identify the bodies of their dead relatives:

Ayo Bello/BBCCopyright: Ayo Bello/BBC

Ayo Bello/BBCCopyright: Ayo Bello/BBC

Nearly 400 people are reported dead and 600 are still unaccounted for as rescue efforts continue in the capital, Freetown, following the devastating mudslide three days ago.

Our reporter Umaru Fofana, who visited the scene of the mudslide this morning, has said he was "drenched in tears" and almost overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster.

The authorities have said that mass burials will not take place today, contrary to previous reports.

Meanwhile, Focus on Africa's Mohammed Fajah Barrie has been speaking to some of the victims about their loss:

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Authorities in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, say unidentified gunmen have attacked the offices of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the agency which fights corruption and economic crimes.

A source at the agency told the BBC that the gunmen shot at the empty offices early this morning, and left a letter addressed to one of the officials warning that they would kill him.

The source added that, while the motive was unclear, the agency suspects it could be linked to cases it is prosecuting in court.

No arrests have yet been made, according to Police Commissioner Spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren.

In June, a senior EFCC executive officer was shot at but survived in Port Harcourt, in the southern Rivers State.

The agency has been known to make daring raids to recover stolen money.

During one such operation in April, it uncovered $43m (£34m) in a flat in Lagos.

Supporters of Zambia's main opposition party, UPND, have been celebrating the release of their leader, Hakainde Hichilema, after his treason case was closed and he was set free.

The BBC's Kennedy Gondwe snapped a few pictures of the scene in the capital, Lusaka:

Thousands of people have been gathering in Marikana today to commemorate the massacre of 34 miners who were shot dead by police during a protest against low wages.

Family members, workers and activists all attended the event which was organised by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), and held on the hillside where the killings happened.

Our reporter Pumza Filhani spoke to one woman, Nokwandisa Mkwedini, whose brother was among those killed.

She told the BBC:

Quote Message: It's a sad day for me. It reminds me that my brother died violently.

It's a sad day for me. It reminds me that my brother died violently.

Quote Message: We are still trying to make ends meet but he was the breadwinner... Every day is difficult now."

We are still trying to make ends meet but he was the breadwinner... Every day is difficult now."

Karen Schoonbee/BBCCopyright: Karen Schoonbee/BBC

Karen Schoonbee/BBCCopyright: Karen Schoonbee/BBC

South Africa today marked the fifth anniversary of the Marikana massacre in which 34 miners, who were protesting against low wages, were shot dead by police.

The striking miners who worked for mining company, Lonmin, were demanding that their monthly salaries be nearly tripled to 12,500 Rand ( $945; £734).

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) organised the commemoration event, which was held on the hillside where the massacre occurred.

The miners' killings is believed to be the most lethal use of force by South African police since the dawn of democracy, News 24 reports.

A local South African news publication says no-one has been prosecuted for the killings:

Tens of thousands of people have been killed by the Islamist insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria, and more than 2 million others have been forced from their homes.

Boko Haram, the militant group responsible whose name translates as “western education is forbidden”, has frequently targeted schools and learning institutions.

BBC Minute talks to Jimeh Saleh of the BBC Hausa Service about the effect this is having on people's everyday lives:

We reported that Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has announced in a media briefing that he will move to court to challenge the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Mr Odinga said that he was challenging what he described as "computer-generated leaders," alleging that the electoral commission's systems had been compromised to deliver a victory for Kenyatta.

So what comes next?

Constitutional Lawyer Peter Wanyama explains:

Quote Message: The deadline to file a petition challenging the presidential results in the just-concluded general elections in Kenya will expire on Friday 18 August. The Petitioner will then have three days to serve the respondent and the respondent must reply in a period of three days. "

The deadline to file a petition challenging the presidential results in the just-concluded general elections in Kenya will expire on Friday 18 August. The Petitioner will then have three days to serve the respondent and the respondent must reply in a period of three days. "

Quote Message: A pre-trial conference is called by the Supreme Court in six days after the petition has been filed. The hearing then begins and everything must be concluded within 14 days of the petition having been filed. The Supreme Court must then make a formal judgement on the petition after 21 days of the petition having being filed.”

A pre-trial conference is called by the Supreme Court in six days after the petition has been filed. The hearing then begins and everything must be concluded within 14 days of the petition having been filed. The Supreme Court must then make a formal judgement on the petition after 21 days of the petition having being filed.”

The BBC's Michael Kaloki snapped these people in a pub watching Mr Odinga's televised announcement:

Michael KalokiCopyright: Michael Kaloki

A senior Kenya electoral commission official who wanted to fly to the US for official business was last night removed from a plane at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and taken into police custody.

Dr Roselyne Akombe, an IEBC commissioner, was forced to spend the night at the airport after she was asked to leave her flight on Tuesday night.

It is not clear why she was prevented from flying but the Daily Nation newspaper said "Sources, however, told the Nation that some State operatives feared that Dr Akombe, who reportedly holds both Kenyan and US passports, was fleeing from Kenya".

The commission, however, clarified on its official Twitter account that the incident was a misunderstanding and Dr Akombe was later allowed to travel this morning:

Dr Akombe became known to the wider public last Fridaywhen official election results were being announced after she famously said "I am really going to be disappointing a lot of beautiful, young women out there. Because too bad, our CEO has been taken. He is happily married and he is not Muslim" referring to the IEBC chief executive Ezra Chiloba.

Akombe said Chiloba – or Chilobae as lovingly nicknamed by his female admirers - was Kenya's top-trending search term on Google at the time as Kenyans anxiously awaited the announcement of the results.

Prior to joining IEBC,Ms Akombe worked as a senior advisor to the UN under-secretary general for political affairs at the UN Secretariat in New York, USA.

AFPCopyright: AFP

South Africa's ministry of police has confirmed that Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe is still in the country, contrary to reports that she had returned home after she allegedly assaulted a woman in Johannesburg.

The statement says that Mrs Mugabe failed to report to Sandton police station yesterday after several postponements.

The purpose for her appearance was to obtain "a warning statement and get her version of events if any", the ministry adds.

It says that officials from Zimbabwe's high commission had been in touch and had sought diplomatic immunity for Mrs Muagbe.

The ministry added:

Quote Message: Discussions with the suspect’s lawyers and the Zimbabwean High Commission representatives are taking place to make sure that the suspects is processed through the legal system."

Discussions with the suspect’s lawyers and the Zimbabwean High Commission representatives are taking place to make sure that the suspects is processed through the legal system."

It also says that Mrs Mugabe is in the country attending to private and state matters:

Quote Message: The suspect remains in South Africa and has not departed the Republic, we are advised her itenerary includes amongst private matters her attendance and participation at the scheduled SADC Heads of States/Governments Summit and Bi-lateral Diplomatic Meetings already underway in Pretoria."

The suspect remains in South Africa and has not departed the Republic, we are advised her itenerary includes amongst private matters her attendance and participation at the scheduled SADC Heads of States/Governments Summit and Bi-lateral Diplomatic Meetings already underway in Pretoria."

KNTVCopyright: KNTV

Raila Odinga, the leader of Kenya's opposition alliance Nasa has announced that he will challenge the results of the disputed presidential election in the Supreme Court.

Reading from a statement at press conference in Nairobi, Mr Odinga said:

Quote Message: We have now decided to move to the Supreme Court to lay bare to the world the making of a computer-generated presidency." from Raila Odinga Kenyan opposition leader

We have now decided to move to the Supreme Court to lay bare to the world the making of a computer-generated presidency."

Mr Odinga says that last week's elections were electronically rigged to give President Uhuru Kenyatta victory.

Kenya's electoral commission, the IEBC, and foreign observers said the elections were free and fair.

Mr Odinga called for Kenyans to protest peacefully, and added:

Quote Message: This is just the beginning, we will not accept and move on."

This is just the beginning, we will not accept and move on."

South African news site Eyewitness News reports that Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has "changed his travelling plans to deal with the matter involving his wife".

A 20-year-old South African woman has accused First Lady Grace Mugabe of hitting her over the head with an extension cord during a row at a hotel on Sunday evening.

Mrs Mugabe did not report to police in Johannesburg after saying she would do so, and so far she has not commented publicly about the allegations.

Contrary to earlier reports that Mrs Mugabe had returned to Zimbabwe, Eyewitness News also says that Mrs Mugabe is in fact still in South Africa.

Presdent Mugabe was due to attend the 37th Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in South Africa's capital Pretoria this week.

Rebels from the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) have kidnapped at least ten, but possibly up to 40 people from Kunu village in the north-eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), the AFP news agency is reporting.

The news agency quotes local official Dungu Christophe Ikando as saying the rebels identified as LRA:

"We condemn the kidnapping of 10 people from the village of Kunu by gunmen identified as LRA rebels."

The UN's radio station says that at least 40 people had been taken including two members of the electoral commission.

Etienne Akangiabe, an executive secretary with the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), confirmed the news:

"Two of our agents who were on their way back from a voter registration centre were ambushed by armed men."

He said one of team members had manged to escape.

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The LRA has been operating in Uganda, DR Congo, Central African Republic and Sudan for decades but its presence has diminished following regional and international military operations.

The UN estimates the LRA has killed more than 100,000 people and abducted 60,000 children since it was established by the self-styled mystic and prophet Joseph Kony in northern Uganda in 1987.

In May, Ugandan and American troops announced they were ending their "capture or kill" mission for Kony, who was convicted in 2005 of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

Political tension has been rising in DR Congo as the pressure mounts on President Joseph Kabila to organise a general election.

His mandate expired in December last year and an agreement was reached to hold the elections by the end of 2017.

A foreign journalist based in Kenya has shared this picture of his media colleagues who are gathering for an anticipated media briefing by opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Mr Odinga has promised to release "compelling evidence" about how he was cheated out of a victory in last week's election which he lost to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Mr Odinga had alleged that hackers had infiltrated the electoral commission's database and planted an algorithm that tweaked the results in favour of Mr Kenyatta.

His claim has however been dismissed by the commission who said there was an attempt to access the database and that it had failed.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Zambia’s main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has told the BBC that he is even more determined to rule the country after his release from prison today:

Quote Message: Nobody who understands that what they stand for is correct can get intimidated because of incarceration.

Nobody who understands that what they stand for is correct can get intimidated because of incarceration.

Quote Message: If anything, this brutal arrest and detention has probably made us ten times stronger."

If anything, this brutal arrest and detention has probably made us ten times stronger."

Mr Hichelema, the leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), also said he was grateful to his supporters across Zambia:

Quote Message: We are delighted to be out of detention.

We are delighted to be out of detention.

Quote Message: I just want to thank all our supporters in this country who in a way were also in detention with us."

I just want to thank all our supporters in this country who in a way were also in detention with us."

Mr Hichilema and five others had been in jail since April for treason - a charge he denies - following his motorcade’s alleged refusal to give way to that of President Edgar Lungu.

His release follows pressure from the Roman Catholic church, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo and the Commonwealth.

The news was met with jubilant scenes at the Lusaka High Court and his motorcade drove around the streets of the capital in celebration.

Mr Hichilema is currently waiting to address crowds of supporters who have gathered at the UPND party offices in the capital, Lusaka.

In August 1972, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin announced his plans to expel the country's Asian population. About 60,000 people were given just 90 days to leave Uganda.

Gita Watts tells the BBC's Witness programme about the trauma her family felt on leaving their home:

We reported earlier that a Kenyan rights group had blocked an attempted raid by police at its offices over allegations that it was operating illegally.

A local newspaper is now reporting that the Africa Cente for Open Governance (Africog) has moved to court to stop the NGO Coordinating Board, the government agency that regulates the industry, from interfering with its operations:

I have been told by officials that mass burials will not take place today, contrary to what we were previously told.

Nearly 400 people are reported dead and 600 are still unaccounted for as rescue efforts continue in the capital, Freetown, following a devastating mudslide.

It's now three days since mudslides and flash floods rocked Sierra Leone's capital Freetown.

As if we have not already seen them, expect raw emotions today.

Families are today expected to identify the corpses of their loved ones.

They will file past to inspect bodies, too hard to look at even for a second, before a mass burial is performed.

My own emotions reached a crescendo yesterday and I am finding it hard to sleep.

While at the scene of the disaster, even though the sun shone brightly, I was drenched in tears to the point that I went to the washroom.

The emergency workers thought it was for reasons of hygiene, but it was to wash away my tears.

Listen to my full report here:

Kenya's Interior Minister Fred Matiang'i has blocked a move by Kenya's NGO regulatory body to close two prominent human rights organisations.

The NGOs Coordinating Board made the move over allegations that the pair - Africa Centre for Open Governance (Africog) and Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) - were operating illegally and had been avoiding paying taxes, Capital FM reports.

The two organisations have denied the allegations.

Mr Matiang'i says that no action should be taken against the organisations for 90 days and that a government committee will look into the compliance status of the two organisations.

His order comes hours after police and officials from the revenue authority attempted to raid the offices of Africa Centre for Open Governance (Africog), in the capital Nairobi, the Daily Nation reported.

The organisation's lawyer, Harun Ndubi, said the officers wanted to search for tax returns and other “unclear issues”.

He said the raid was blocked because it was illegal and that the warrant presented was forged:

“It is a forgery or careless work. It is shameful we can have this kind of action.”