Female candidates will pay 25 percent less than men to run for parliament in Malawi under a scheme to get more women into power in a general election due next year, authorities have said. The decision, announced on Thursday by the Electoral Commission, follows a fall in the number of women MPs…
Influential Roman Catholic bishops in Burundi have denounced a planned referendum on whether to amend the constitution to allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to stand for two more terms. Mr Nkurunziza has ruled the central African nation since 2005 and if the amendment is approved On the 17 May referendum he…
A South African man has been found guilty of killing his 22-year-old ex-girlfriend in a case that shocked the country last year. The High Court in Johannesburg concluded that Sandile Mantsoe stabbed Karabo Mokoena, and tried to conceal the crime by burning her remains. Her killing sparked outrage with women…
More than 100,000 men in Mozambique are to be circumcised in a bid to help prevent sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/Aids. The health authorities in the central province of Zambezia say their campaign will focus on districts of Ato-Molocue, Ile and Gurue, where circumcision is not a common practice.…
Serious fighting has broken out in Sierra Leone’s parliament, just as the swearing-in of new MPs was getting under way following general elections last month. Members of the All People’s Congress (APC) disrupted proceedings because 16 of their number had been asked to leave the chamber after a high court…
Three opposition politicians in Senegal have been arrested and police have fired tear gas to prevent a demonstration against a controversial government bill. Protesters gathered early this morning near parliament in the capital, Dakar. Some said they wanted to prevent MPs from attending a controversial voting session at the national…
At least 12 people have been killed and more than 1,000 homes burnt down in northern Nigeria. It comes after a fight reportedly broke out earlier this week over a Christian girl converting to Islam, as we reported earlier this week. Local media report that the violence in Kaduna state has…
South Africa’s “Doom Pastor” – who sprayed congregants in the face with insecticide – is to pay a fine in order to avoid jail. Lethebo Rabalago was offered the option of a four-year jail term or paying a 21,000 rand equivalent to 17,000 Kwacha after being found guilty of assault…
At least seven people have been killed in a fight which reportedly broke out after a Christian girl converted to Islam in north-west Nigeria. The fight in Kaduna State also left at least 15 people with injuries after homes were torched. An eyewitness told BBC News Pidgin that trouble started…
A Tanzanian opposition MP has been handed a five-month prison sentence after being found guilty of defaming President John Magufuli, The Citizen news site reports. Joseph Mbilinyi – popularly known as Sugu – from the opposition Chadema party, was convicted by a magistrate’s court in the southwestern town of…