AFRICA

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |South African President Jacob Zuma sacked his finance minister and made ten new cabinet appointments late Thursday in a dramatic reshuffle which could split the ruling ANC party. The African National Congress, which led the fight against apartheid and came to power under Nelson Mandela …

Accra, Ghana | AFP | A Ghanaian lawmaker was on Thursday found in contempt of parliament and ordered to apologise after claiming that a government minister bribed a committee to approve his appointment. National Democratic Congress (NDC) party MP Mahama Ayariga accused Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko of paying members of the …

Ghana’s gender minister causes storm over rape comments Accra, Ghana | AFP | Ghana’s new gender minister has warned schoolgirls that what they wear can attract rapists, sparking controversy and debate in a traditional but evolving society. Otiko Djaba told girls at a senior school in eastern Ghana they should …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Three foreign petroleum engineers abducted by South Sudanese rebels have been released after negotiations brokered by Sudan and Ethiopia, a Sudanese security agency said on Thursday. Indians Midhun Ganesh and Edward Ambrose and Pakistani Ayaz Hussein Jamali, who worked for DAR Petroleum, had been seized …

Historic ground breaking ceremony completed for Rusumo dam to serve Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi have launched the construction activities of the regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project in Ngara, Tanzania. The project, first conceived two decades back, will when completed deliver a shared hydropower plant with installed capacity …

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP |  Some 60 Tanzanian Muslims say they have been held for four years without trial on terror charges and have threatened to boycott any future hearings, local media reported Wednesday. The majority of the suspects, who include preachers, were arrested in the mainly Christian …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The funeral of celebrated South African anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada on Wednesday was transformed into a rally against President Jacob Zuma, who had been barred from the event. The family of the African National Congress (ANC) stalwart, one of Nelson Mandela’s closest colleagues in …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s High Court on Wednesday gave parliament 60 days to enact legislation that would make it obligatory to have more female lawmakers, or face dissolution. The 2010 constitution requires that no more than two thirds of lawmakers should be men, a principle hailed at the …

NAIROBI (PSCU) – Direct flights between Mogadishu and Nairobi resumed Wednesday with the first commercial plane carrying 49 passengers from the Somali capital landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) shortly after 1.00 p.m. The re-launch of direct flights between Nairobi and Mogadishu was agreed upon at bilateral talks between …

Accra, Ghana | AFP | Ghana’s new government is looking to fix a crippling power crisis with a complete overhaul of its deficit-ridden energy sector including a boost for solar energy. Intermittent power supply issues have dogged the west African nation since the 1980s and became particularly acute in the …