Ethiopian members of parliament have elected Sahle-Work Zewde as the country’s first female president. Ms Sahle-Work is an experienced diplomat who has now become Africa’s only female head of state. Her election to the ceremonial position comes a week after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed a cabinet with half the…
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has appointed women to half of his government’s ministerial posts, including the job of defence minister. Explaining his decision in a speech to Parliament, Mr Abiy said women were “less corrupt than men” and would help restore peace and stability. Ethiopia is now the only…
Police in South Sudan say at least 10 people have now died after a hand grenade exploded in a club on Friday night in the western town of Yambio, news agency Reuters reports. Dozens were injured in the attack but six who were in critical condition have been moved to…
The former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Pierre Bemba, is due to be sentenced later today by international judges for bribing witnesses during an earlier war crimes trial. The International Criminal Court in The Hague acquitted the one-time rebel leader three months ago for war crimes and crimes…
Officials in Zimbabwe have declared a health emergency in the capital, Harare, after the death toll of people infected with cholera rose to 20, news agency Reuters reports. At least 2,000 people have been infected after drinking contaminated water. It came about after burst sewers contaminated water in boreholes and…
Ugandan police may not have heard the gunshots which killed senior police officer Muhammad Kirumira because of the loud noise from a nearby church, President Yoweri Museveni has said. Gunmen on a motorcycle taxi, known in Uganda as a boda boda, shot dead Mr Kirumira on Saturday as he was…
A military court in South Sudan has sentenced 10 soldiers to jail terms ranging from seven years to life for a rampage in which a journalist was killed and foreign aid workers raped. The court also ordered South Sudan’s government to pay each rape survivor $4,000 about 40 thousand Kwacha…
Classes will resume at all Tshwane University of Technology campuses on Wednesday. The institution was shut down after the death of law student Katlego Monareng last week. He was allegedly shot by police during protests over SRC election results. There have been disruptions at the Pretoria and Soshanguve campuses. TUT…
South Africa’s Health Minister has announced the end to the world’s worst recorded listeria outbreak after it killed 216 people and caused illness to more than 1,000 people since early 2017. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told a news conference that no new cases had been recorded for three months. “The…
More than 6,000 workers from the mainly white union – Solidarity – have begun a three-week strike in South Africa over their exclusion from a company share scheme by petrochemicals company Sasol. Sasol recently introduced a new 10-year staff share scheme, Khanyisa phase 2, which excludes white workers and foreign…