Africa Live: Uganda parliament waters down anti-gay law

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

South Africa’s prison authority has issued notice to terminate a contract with the multinational security firm G4S.

The company is responsible for running Mangaung Prison from where convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester escaped last May by faking his own death and planting a corpse in his cell.

The escape only came to light last month - until then it was thought Bester had died in a mysterious blaze in his cell.

He and his celebrity girlfriend were arrested last month in Tanzania.

G4S has admitted to security breaches at the facility but would not take responsibility for Bester’s embarrassing escape.

Its contract to run the prison was set to end in 2026.

However, Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola told MPs he was ending the contract early on the advice of lawyers.

Bester is now being held in another maximum security prison and will appear in court later this month on new charges related to the escape, including one count of murder.

Known as the "Facebook rapist" for using the social networking site to lure his victims, Bester was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his then girlfriend.

A year earlier, he was found guilty of raping and robbing two other women.

More on this topic:

• The South African rapist who faked his own death to escape prison

AFPCopyright: AFP

A bus and a lorry have reportedly been set blaze in separate incidents in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, amid protests organised by the opposition.

Police have clashed with protesters in some parts of the city, but most areas have remained calm.

In the central business district, some protest leaders who attempted to drop a petition a the president’s office were dispersed by police with teargas.

Police have been deployed around the city to maintain security.

In the western counties of Kisumu and Homa Bay, protesters blocked some roads by lighting fires.

Many shops in Kisumu were closed with traders wary of the looting and destruction witnessed during previous protests.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Parliament in Uganda has watered down an anti-homosexuality bill that originally criminalised people for simply identifying as LGBTQ+.

The proposed legislation, first approved in March, was returned to the house after President Yoweri Museveni suggested changes.

He said the clause penalising people who identify as gay would have led to the prosecution of people simply for their physical appearance.

The bill still prescribes the death penalty for what it calls aggravated offences - such as child abuse.

The public will be required to report to the authorities any form of homosexual abuse against children or other vulnerable people.

Landlords who knowingly rent premises for homosexual acts risk going to prison for seven years.

The bill was passed with an overwhelming majority, with only one MP opposing it.

It has been widely condemned by international human rights groups.

A similar law was struck down by Uganda's constitutional court in 2014.

Tagreed Abdin thinks about leaving Sudan every day, but for now in her corner of the capital, people are trying to "return to normalcy" in small ways.

Her local vegetable market re-opened two days ago in western Khartoum. She says she has running water in her home and plenty of rice and pasta left over from Ramadan.

The neighbourhood is "relatively quiet", Ms Abdin tells the BBC, between periods of very heavy shelling, military planes flying overhead and anti-aircraft missiles being fired.

Sudanese people have mostly been relying on cash since the debit card system went down, she explains, but the main banking app is now working again:

Quote Message: I just got a message that the mobile bank apps have started running again, so I tried it out and I made a transaction to make sure. However people also use it to buy phone credit and make payments [for pre-paid electricity] - so I'm not sure if they were able to fix that part." from Tagreed Abdin Resident of Khartoum

I just got a message that the mobile bank apps have started running again, so I tried it out and I made a transaction to make sure. However people also use it to buy phone credit and make payments [for pre-paid electricity] - so I'm not sure if they were able to fix that part."

For now, she tells the BBC she is staying put and starting "preliminary planning what to do in case of an emergency".

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

More on Sudan's crisis:

• 'Fighter jets are roaring over my home in Omdurman'

AFPCopyright: AFP

The leader of a Kenyan cult group and six others have been rearrested minutes after a court in Malindi released them.

Magistrate Ivy Wasike freed Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and his suspected accomplices after an application by the prosecution to close the file.

State prosecutor Vivian Kambaga said she wanted them to be tried in another court - on charges that will include terrorism. They have been driven to neighbouring Mombasa county, which is further south along the coast.

They were initially charged with murder, radicalisation and threatening public safety after more than 100 followers of the cult group were found in mass graves last month.

Mr Mackenzie, the leader of the group, was accused of encouraging them to starve themselves to death. He denies any wrongdoing.

A post-mortem report showed that the some of the victims were also killed through suffocation and strangulation.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Eritrea's president has accused the two warring generals in Sudan of hijacking the 2019 revolution, saying the country could only have one army.

Isaias Afwerki said there was an urgent need for the "tragic and deplorable conflict” to end and the best way forward was to allow the regional grouping Igad to resolve the crisis.

While the current situation in Sudan was a matter of global concern, Igad's initiative would help the Sudanese people transition to what they had hoped to achieve after long-time leader Omar al-Bashir was ousted four years ago, Mr Isaias said.

Eritrea was willing to provide assistance to this end, he said.

More than 100,000 people have already fled the fighting in Sudan between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). A further 334,000 people have been displaced within Sudan.

President Isaias said his country's sea, land borders as well as its airspace were open for Sudanese and others affected by the conflict, but he said he would not allow refugee camps to be set up in Eritrea.

Uganda parliamentCopyright: Uganda parliament

A Ugandan national army soldier has shot and killed a government minister he was guarding.

Retired Col Charles Okello Engola, the deputy minister for labour, was shot at his home in the capital, Kampala, on Tuesday morning.

It is not yet clear whether there was an argument between the soldier and his boss.

Some eyewitnesses say the soldier walked around the neighbourhood shooting in the air.

The soldier, who is yet to be officially identified, then shot himself dead minutes later.

Reports say a number of people were injured in the incident.

Videos on social media show locals gathering at the scene in shock.

Col Engola had previously served as a deputy minister for defence.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult has appeared in court, after more than 100 of his followers were found in mass graves last month.

Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, is accused of exhorting his followers to starve themselves to death to enter heaven before the world ended.

Another pastor, the televangelist Ezekiel Odero, is due in a separate court on charges including murder and aiding suicide.

On Monday, Kenya’s chief pathologist said the first autopsies of victims - nine children and a woman - indicated death by starvation, and in two cases, asphyxiation.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The wife of a Kenyan pastor who is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday over the deaths of his followers has been arrested.

Paul Nthenge Mackenzie's wife, Rhoda Maweu, was detained in the coastal town of Mtwapa on Monday night after weeks on the run, local media said.

She was arrested alongside her aunt Everlyne Nduku Muema and is expected to appear in court on Tuesday alongside her husband.

He is accused of leading a doomsday cult, urging his followers to starve themselves to death.

A mass grave has been found, with more than 110 bodies exhumed in Kilifi’s Shakahola. Post-mortems show some died of starvation others by suffocation and strangulation.

Mr Mackenzie has denied wrongdoing but has been denied bail.

Another pastor, Ezekiel Odero, who was arrested over similar deaths in his church also based in Kilifi county, is also being arraigned in court on Tuesday.

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has said that it has resumed its operations in Sudan as the fighting in the country threatens millions with hunger.

The distribution of food was expected to commence in the states of Gedaref, Gezira, Kassala and White Nile in the coming days.

“We will take utmost care to ensure the safety of all our staff and partners as we rush to meet the growing needs of the most vulnerable,” the UN agency said in a statement on Monday.

The WFP suspended operations when three staff members were killed on the first day of the conflict between Sudan’s army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The agency noted that more than 15 million people were already facing severe food insecurity in Sudan before the outbreak of conflict, and these numbers are expected to increase significantly as the fighting continues.

Meanwhile, UN's emergency relief co-ordinator Martin Griffiths is expected to arrive in Sudan on Tuesday to assess the humanitarian situation in the country.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Police officers have been deployed on the streets in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, ahead of planned protests by the opposition.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has vowed to resume protests amid a warning from the authorities that they will not allow them “in the interests of national security” and citing violence during past demonstrations.

But Mr Odinga insisted they would start on Tuesday at 06:00 local time and said that the protests would be peaceful and in compliance with the constitution.

He said the police could not decide in advance that there would be violence as the basis for banning protests that were protected by the constitution.

Kenyan law provides for protests and they do not require police approval to go ahead.

On Tuesday morning, the city's central business district was calm with people going about their business - amid a heavy presence of police officers on some streets.

Mr Odinga recently announced that protests, that began in March against the high cost of living and alleged electoral malpractices, would resume this week.

At least three people were killed in the violence as police confronted protesters who burnt tyres and barricaded roads. Property were also looted and destroyed.

They demonstrations had been suspended after Mr Odinga and President William Ruto agreed on talks through a parliamentary team.

But there has been disagreement on the composition of the two teams selected to represent the opposition and the government in the talks.

Mr Odinga has also accused Mr Ruto of being insincere about the so-called bipartisan talks.

AFPCopyright: AFP

The United Nations is warning that more than 800,000 people could flee Sudan because of the ongoing clashes between rival military factions.

Fighting is continuing in the capital, Khartoum, despite promises of a ceasefire between the two sides.

The clashes, which started more than two weeks ago, triggered an exodus of tens of thousands of Sudanese to neighbouring countries including Egypt, Chad and the Central African Republic.

"UNHCR, with governments and partners, is preparing for the possibility that over 800,000 people may flee the fighting in Sudan for neighbouring countries," UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi tweeted.

"We hope it doesn’t come to that, but if violence doesn’t stop we will see more people forced to flee Sudan seeking safety."

The UN's Humanitarian Co-ordinator in Sudan, Abdou Dieng, said the conflict was turning into a full-blown catastrophe.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Sudan's warring rivals have agreed to send representatives for negotiations, potentially in Saudi Arabia, the United Nations' special representative in the country said.

Volker Perthes told the Associated Press news agency on Monday that the talks would initially focus on establishing a “stable and reliable” ceasefire monitored by national and international observers.

He said the two sides had already named their representatives for preliminary discussions but cautioned that logistics for talks were still being worked out.

Mr Perthes also said that in the past week he had noticed a "change in tone" from the two warring sides, noting their realisation of how dangerous the situation had become and that any victory would be won at "too great a cost".

No definite information is available on the when and where of the negotiations. The UN official said both sides would have to agree on the venue.

The mediation efforts continued as the two sides clashed in the capital, Khartoum, despite another three-day extension of a fragile ceasefire.

Explosions and sounds of gunfire were reported in parts of Khartoum and its neighbouring city, Omdurman, on Monday.

The two sides announced late on Sunday that they would abide by a 72-hour extension of their nominal ceasefire of the past week.

More on Sudan's crisis:

• 'Fighter jets are roaring over my home in Omdurman'
• Three ways the conflict could play out

Our wise words of the day:

Quote Message: The cheapest way to improve your looks is to wear a smile." from A proverb sent by Sulaiman Fofanah in Bo, Sierra Leone

The cheapest way to improve your looks is to wear a smile."

Click here to send us your African proverbs.