Africa highlights: Thursday 14 September 2017 as it happened
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Ethiopia clashes are sparked by tensions between the Oromo and Somali regions, Zimbabwe's president kick-starts the voter registration process, and more.
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We'll be back tomorrow

That's all from the BBC Africa Live page today. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website.

A reminder of today's wise words:

Quote Message: The child who hasn’t seen their mother in her youth thinks their father wasted the dowry." from A Luhya proverb sent by Allan Chagira in Kenya

The child who hasn’t seen their mother in her youth thinks their father wasted the dowry."

A Luhya proverb sent by Allan Chagira in Kenya

Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo from Instagram of young Ethiopians enjoying themselves at a coffee shop in the capital, Addis Ababa:

US and UK back Libya election plan

BBC World Service

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson say they are committed to restoring a functioning government in Libya.

Speaking in London, Mr Tillerson said he did not want Libya to become a place where the Islamic State group could re-emerge as a force.

Mr Johnson said UN-led proposals for elections to be held in Libya within a year represented the right timescale.

He said a lot of political groundwork needed to be done to make the country ready, but that there was support among many Libyans for an election to happen.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Somaliland khat market quiet after Ethiopia clashes

We've been reporting on the clashes in Ethiopia between Oromo and Somali ethnic communities. Thousands of people are reported to be fleeing the violence.

It is also having an effect on neighbouring Somaliland.

The region where the fighting is talking place is also the area where khat - the popular leafy plant, which acts as a stimulant when chewed - is produced. Those who prepare the leaf for export have been caught up in the violence.

And today the khat market in Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa is quiet as this short video from a BBC Somali colleague shows:

'How I negotiated with al-Qaeda'

Stephen McGown was held hostage in Mali by al-Qaeda for six years.

The BBC World Service's Outlook programme has been looking into how his release was negotiated.

The programme heard from Stephen's father Malcolm and from Dr Imtiaz Sooliman who supervised the negotiations with the hostage takers.

The BBC's Matthew Bannister has been talking to all those involved in the edition of the programme:

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SA court considering case on Zuma corruption charges

BBC World Service

South Africa's Supreme Court has delayed giving a judgement in a case over whether nearly 800 corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma should be heard.

Mr Zuma's lawyer conceded that a 2009 decision to set aside the charges was irrational, but wants the chance to make further representations to the national director of public prosecutions.

Last year, the High Court ruled that the president should face charges, after a legal challenge brought by the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance.

Mr Zuma has always insisted he is innocent.

Corporal punishment 'is a tool to discipline my children'

Education authorities in South Africa's KwaZulu Natal province are investigating a teacher who has been seen caning a female pupil in a video that has emerged on social media.

Corporal punishment has been banned in many countries, and was outlawed in South Africa 20 years ago, but is still a reality in many schools.

BBC Focus on Africa reporter Randy Joe Sa'ah has been discussing the issue with a parent, Paul Verdzekov, and a student Ferdinand Bangha in Yaounde, Cameroon, where the practice is also banned.

The father of three told Randy that he uses corporal punishment.

"When you put a cane beside a child you see them on their heels and they follow you."

Bill Gates' African lunch tour

American entrepreneur and philanthropist Bill Gates has shared an immersive 360 degrees video of his trip promoting nutrition for schoolchildren in Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya.

Mr Gates says that ensuring that schoolchildren are well fed will help improve their education.

He is particularly keen on promoting school lunches:

Quote Message: School lunch in particular is really about education: getting kids to come... so that they are energetic enough to really learn while they are there. [School lunches are] a great thing. It doesn't solve all the problems but it's definitely part of the solution. "

School lunch in particular is really about education: getting kids to come... so that they are energetic enough to really learn while they are there. [School lunches are] a great thing. It doesn't solve all the problems but it's definitely part of the solution. "

Watch the full video here:

'Tunisian women now free to marry non-Muslims'

Tunisia's presidency has announced that women are now free to marry non-Muslims, the AFP news agency reports.

The announcement upending the decades-old law comes a month after President Beji Caid Essebsi called for the government to scrap the ban dating back to 1973.

A spokeswoman for the president posted on Facebook:

"Congratulations to the women of Tunisia for the enshrinement of the right to the freedom to choose one's spouse."

Until now, a non-Muslim man who wished to marry a Tunisian woman had to convert to Islam and submit a certificate of his conversion as proof.

Human rights groups in Tunisia had campaigned for the ban's abolition, saying it undermined the fundamental human right to choose a spouse.

Tunisia is viewed as being ahead of most Arab countries on women's rights, but there is still discrimination particularly in matters of inheritance, the report says.

'My neighbours turned against me'

Pictures of lorries evacuating people from the Ethiopia's Somali region following clashes there are being widely shared on social media (see earlier entry).

Abdulhakim Mohammed Kamil, who fled Jijiga town with his wife and child told the BBC:

Quote Message: My own neighbours turned against me and the Somali [regional] police are also abusing Oromos residing in the town.”

My own neighbours turned against me and the Somali [regional] police are also abusing Oromos residing in the town.”

He expressed his concern for Oromo people still remaining in Jijiga and other towns in the Somali region.

The Oromia regional government spokesperson said his colleagues are working with the federal government and other stakeholders to safely evacuate those people still in the Somali region.

Lesotho king says top commander killing had 'scarred' nation

Lesotho's King Letsie III has told mourners at the funeral of the country's army commander, Khoantle Motsomotso, that his killing was an "embarrassment" and had "scarred" the kingdom, the AFP news agency reports:

Quote Message: [ It has ] embarrassed us as a nation... making us a laughing stock of other nations."

[ It has ] embarrassed us as a nation... making us a laughing stock of other nations."

Lt Gen Khoantle Motsomotso was gunned down last week by two officers at his office in a military barracks in the capital, Maseru.

AFP quotes the king as telling political leaders to stop using the army for "dirty" work:

Quote Message: My plea to all leaders is to stop sneaking around, approaching soldiers to do our dirty political missions while we promise them all sorts of things.

My plea to all leaders is to stop sneaking around, approaching soldiers to do our dirty political missions while we promise them all sorts of things.

Quote Message: Let us stop engaging in activities that throw this country into disarray."

Let us stop engaging in activities that throw this country into disarray."

He urged the army to support the new acting commander, Major General Lineo Poopa to "work hard to get the army out of these serious, consistent problems".

Thousands flee Ethiopia clashes

Thousands of people are fleeing Ethiopia's Somali region following clashes in recent days.

Eighteen people are confirmed dead following protests which erupted in towns in the east of the country, Adisu Arega, spokesperson of the Oromia regional government, told the BBC.

He said 12 of the dead were ethnic Somalis while the remaining six were Oromos.

The spokesman said that the trouble began when a special unit of police from the neighbouring Somali region arrested officials from Oromia, who were then killed.

This sparked protests and clashes between the two communities in eastern Ethiopia.

Over the past few weeks there have been clashes in several villages on both sides of the border separating Ethiopia's Oromia and Somali regions.

The spokesperson of the Oromia regional government alleged that a special police and militia force of the Somali regional government as well as armed soldiers from the republic of Somalia had carried out killings deep inside Oromia region.

Officials on the other side of the regional border have a very different view on the events.

Mohammed Bile, an adviser of the Somali regional state president, told the BBC that the Oromo regional police were carrying out attacks against civilians at the regions common border.

“They are targeting unarmed peaceful Somali civilians in those areas,” he said.

'Three people shot' in tense south-east Nigeria

Stephanie Hegarty

BBC Africa, Lagos

Eyewitnesses have told the BBC that three people have been shot by men in a military van outside a local government building, in Umuahia, south-east Nigeria, following clashes earlier in the week between the army and members of the separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob).

Two people died and one was rushed to hospital.

Tensions have been escalating in the area since clashes erupted earlier in the week and today’s shooting seems to be related.

On Tuesday, Ipob members hurled stones at a military convoy when it came close to the house of their leader Nnamdi Kanu.

After the incident, videos emerged online which have stoked tensions even further.

One video shared widely seems to show Ipob members being forced to lie face down in mud, the person filming says that one man was killed, but the BBC has been unable to independently verify that claim.

In a statement today, the Nigerian army said they were investigating these videos but also accused Ipob of publishing "bogus, manipulated and photo-shopped photographs as well as video clips".

In the city of Aba residents have been subjected to a curfew for four days after reports of local youths setting up road blocks to search for Hausa people, suggesting the clashes have taken on an ethnic dimension.

In Port Harcourt a police spokesman said that an officer was killed after youths seized his gun and a police hut was burnt down, 32 people have been arrested in the city.

'Nigeria treats us like slaves' - but is Biafra the answer? - BBC News

All smiles at Mogadishu's book fair

People have been sharing pictures from the book fair in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

Among the participants is Boniface Mwangi, who has been promoting his book, UnBounded.

Organisers of the Mogadishu Book Fair say that as well as promoting books and culture, it also brings together writers, poets with members of the public.

Mr Mwangi, who is also a photo-journalist, has been enjoying the seaside too:

Chibok girls 'anxious' to go back to school

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

We reported earlier about the more than 100 young women who were kidnapped from a school in Chibok, north-east Nigeria in 2014, who will now be starting school at a special course at the American University in Yola, Adamawa state.

Many of this group were freed in May and have been in the care of the state, receiving counselling and other help.

Last night, the government held a farewell party for them in the capital, Abuja, where Minister of Women Affairs Aisha Alhassan spoke to the BBC:

Quote Message: It's a very happy night... because when these girls came back they were so traumatised they didn't believe that they were free. They were having nightmares, you could see a lot of trauma in them... so we had to do a lot of therapy on them.

It's a very happy night... because when these girls came back they were so traumatised they didn't believe that they were free. They were having nightmares, you could see a lot of trauma in them... so we had to do a lot of therapy on them.

Quote Message: To the glory of God, they have now settled down, they have fully recovered.

To the glory of God, they have now settled down, they have fully recovered.

Quote Message: They are very anxious to go home. Before when you talked about going home they would tell you that they didn't want to go to Borno state, where the insurgency is happening, but now any time you tell them: 'You will soon go home,' they start shouting, singing and dancing, and they are also very anxious to go back to school."

They are very anxious to go home. Before when you talked about going home they would tell you that they didn't want to go to Borno state, where the insurgency is happening, but now any time you tell them: 'You will soon go home,' they start shouting, singing and dancing, and they are also very anxious to go back to school."

More than 100 of those who were taken by Boko Haram three years ago are still in captivity.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The man who brokered the deal to release the Chibok girls - BBC News

Mugabe kicks off voter registration ahead of 2018 poll

Shingai Nyoka

BBC Africa, Harare

BBCCopyright: BBC

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace Mugabe have become the first people to register as voters ahead of next year's election.

The president however complained that the process took a bit too long.

All Zimbabweans, including those who have voted in previous elections, will have to register afresh using a new system which will capture their biometric data: fingerprints and facial features.

Only 400 of the 3,000 voter registration machines have arrived in the country from China to kickstart the process which ends on 15 January 2018.

The electoral commission says it's targeting seven million voters.

Mr Mugabe, 93, who has led the country since 1980, is expected to be the ruling Zanu-PF candidate in the election, which is expected to be held in the middle of next year.

Angola court upholds election result

Angola’s constitutional court announced that last month’s general election result is valid and accused an opposition party of fraud.

The ruling MPLA won with 61.07% of the vote, continuing its record of being the only party to rule the country since independence in 1975.

Last week, opposition parties filed a complaint in court about alleged irregularities in the vote.

Today's top story in Angola's government newspaper has the headline “opposition accused of fraud”.

The newspaper reports that the court said there were strong indications of forgery in the documents presented by Unita, as well as copies of electoral rolls, summary records and other documents that, the electoral commission thinks, were obtained in a fraudulent way".

Unita did not appear before the court yesterday to receive the judgement, it adds.

Angola election watchers are wondering what the next step is for the opposition.

The court also dismissed complaints from smaller opposition party Casa-CE that 10,085 votes had been subtracted, reports Jornal de Angola.

Straight after the announcement, Cesinanda Xavier from Casa-CE told reporters "we were never going to be satisfied".

Arrests made amidst politically-motivated killings in KwaZulu-Natal

Police in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province say they have arrested six people alleged to have been involved in a spate of politically-motivated murders.

They say that they seized firearms and ammunitions in an operation that will help them in their investigations.

At least 35 people have killed in the region since the beginning of last year.

Sindiso Magaqa, a high-profile ANC figure who was once secretary-general of the influential ANC Youth League, was among the latest victims.

He died early this month after his car was sprayed with bullets in July.

KwaZulu-Natal has a troubled past, with thousands dying in political violence in the 1980s and 1990s.

Read: KwaZulu-Natal killings could engulf South Africa

Chad accused of 'brutal' crackdown

BBC World Service

Rights group Amnesty International has accused the Chadian government of a brutal and growing crackdown on its critics.

It says that in over two years 65 organisations were refused authorisation for peaceful protests, and last year over 10 critical websites were blocked.

Amnesty says the government uses repressive laws and the intelligence service to muzzle human rights defenders, trade unionists and journalists.

The government has not responded to the report.

A BBC correspondent says Western countries often temper their criticism of Chad's human rights record because of the country's role in fighting jihadist groups in the region.

In pictures: Life after the mudslide

One month ago, a mudslide devastated parts of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Estimates suggest about 800 people were killed and at least 7,000 are now displaced.

The government has now erected two official camps, in Juba and Hill Station, supported by UN agencies and non-governmental organisations.

But what has happened to the displaced. Photo-journalist Olivia Acland has been hearing some of their stories:

Olivia AclandCopyright: Olivia Acland

Since the mudslide, Kadi Kamara and her one-year-old daughter, Esme, have been sleeping in a windowless, half-built house without mattresses or bedding.

"I heard that they were going to move us out to one of the official camps," says Kadi, "but we're still here. I think they've forgotten about us. We haven't had anything to eat since yesterday morning. Many people are getting sick."

Olivia AclandCopyright: Olivia Acland

Twelve-year-old Mariatu Bangura has packed her bag and is waiting to be transferred to the camp in Juba. She stands in the spot where her house once was, alongside her aunt. She was staying with her granny on the morning of the mudslide, but both her parents were killed.

"I am looking after seven children now," says her aunt, Mariah. "It's very hard because I can barely afford to feed my own family. I know that there are problems with fake victims signing up for aid, but we are the real victims and we need more help".

See more pictures on BBC News Online.

Kenyatta's party disowns plot to remove Chief Justice

We reported earlier that an MP from Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party had filed a petition calling for the removal of Chief Justice David Maraga over claims that he was influenced to annul Mr Kenyatta's win in the 8 August election.

The Daily Nation is now reporting that the party's secretary general has distanced the party from the petition: