OBI-AFRICA

Nairobi - Dozens of supporters of Kenya's opposition coalition gathered around the Supreme Court building where lawyers are expected to file a petition contesting President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election. Riot police have been chasing the supporters away but they keep returning to hold peaceful protests. Nairobi Police chief Japheth Koome says police want to ensure the court building is secure. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has rejected official results from Kenya's electoral commission, which says Kenyatta won by a margin of roughly 1.4 million votes. Odinga has claimed, without giving proof, that hackers used the identity of a slain election official to manipulate the result in Kenyatta's favor. Friday is the deadline for filing court petitions contesting the August 8 election.

Former Barcelona players, Patrick Kluivert and Edgar Davids, were in Zimbabwe over the weekend. The two former Dutch national team players however made the headlines not for their sporty involvement but for a political reason. Davids, 44, and Kluivert, 41; were present at a political rally organized by the ruling Zanu-PF on Saturday. Their visit is a prelude to a November game involving high-profile former players of the Spanish and European giants. Photos from the rally showed the two players in a front row seat but they did not make any pronouncements at the event. They, however, took photos with Mugabe in what was termed a “surprise appearance” at the Zanu-PF youth rally in the southern town of Gwanda. Before the rally, the duo had met with Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, they presented him with a Barcelona shirt to be given to the president. The number 10 shirt had R. G. Mugabe boldly inscribed at the back. 93-year-old Mugabe has led the country since independence...

Hundreds of people are feared buried in Sierra Leone after a mudslide that followed heavy rains in the capital, Freetown. A journalist in the country, Umaru Fofana, said the office of national security had confirmed the natural disaster but said it was too early to go into casualty figures. He added that the rains that started since Sunday had not stopped as at Monday morning. Photos: Sierra Leone mudslide claims over 300 lives, over 2,000 homeless The affected areas were at an area known as Regent in greater Freetown, “and three communities inundated at Lumley in the west of Freetown,” Fofana added. The United Nations office in the country has confirmed the disaster adding that they were “Assessing damage, preparing response.”

The Nigerian government has stated its intention to legalize local refineries in the Niger Delta oil hub by the end of the year. The government has been in talks with community leaders since last year to end militant attacks on oil production facilities, which cut output by 700,000 barrels a day for several months last year.

Obasanjo, who first ruled Africa’s largest economy as a military ruler from 1976 to 1979, was addressing a congregation at a church service on Saturday when he wished to join the angels to sing. He was attending the 2017 Camp Meeting Concert organised by Apostolic Faith Church Choir and Orchestral in Ogun, a southwestern state. “ Nigeria can be fixed by God but we have to invite Him into our lives. What we have to do about this country is in our hands. ” Obasanjo told worshippers, “If this is an example of what praising God in heaven will be like, then I want to be part of it. If what I have seen here is an indication of how heaven will be, I will like go to heaven”. I want to go to heaven to join heavenly hosts to sing - Obasanjo The 80-year old also urged Nigerians to come together and face the country’s current challenges as a unified force. “Nigeria can be fixed by God but we have to invite Him into our lives. What we have to do about this country is in our hands”, Obasanjo s...

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari says he feels healthy enough to return home and is only awaiting permission from his doctor. The 74-year-old leader has been on medical leave in London since early May raising questions whether he is well enough to run the country. Details regarding his illness have never been disclosed to the public. His absence has sparked numerous protests, including demands that he should resign as well as calls for more transparency about his condition. “I feel I could go home, but the doctors are in charge,” Buhari said in a statement adding that there had been a “tremendous improvement” in his health. “Yes he has said that now he has learnt to obey orders. You know Mr. President is a retired general. He was the one who used to issue the orders but now the shoe is on the other foot and he’s the one that must obey orders so he says he must obey the orders of his doctors so we look forward to the doctors giving him...

The world’s richest man, Bill Gates has joined Instagram while on a philanthropic visit to Tanzania. His handle on the photo-sharing site @thisisbillgates already has 145 thousand followers in just a weekend since he opened it. ‘BillGates’ handle had been taken but still, his handle as a billionaire social influencer is sought after. He is following only 25 accounts including that of entrepreneur Mike Bloomberg and organisation The Malala Fund. His profile reads, ‘Sharing things I’m learning through my foundation work and other interests’. “ Hello from Tanzania, Instagram!I just had a great lunch with some amazing kids at Kicheba Primary School in Muheza and met Upendo Mwingira, a remarkable physician who has dedicated her career to fighting neglected tropical diseases ” “I just had a great lunch with some amazing kids at Kicheba Primary School in Muheza and met Upendo Mwingira, a remarkable physician who has dedicated her caree...

The treason trial of Zambia’s main opposition leader, Hakainde Hichilema, and five others starts today at a High Court in the capital, Lusaka. The United Party for National Development (UPND) leader and five others were arrested in April and hurled before a Magistrate court on three charges – treason, disobeying lawful orders and using insulting language. The 55-year-old has been in prison custody for 126 days. The party urged its supporters attending the hearing to be peaceful and decorous. “ The state will discontinue the treason case in the public interest as both the opposition leader and the head of state are committed to burying their past and starting dialogue envisaged to help address some of the issues the opposition raised after the 2016 elections. ” A journalist at the court tweeted about how filming and taking photos had been banned. Such hearings usually come with heavy security deployment. At court for the @HHichilema treason trial. Filming and...

Communications Minister, Reni Danjinou, confirmed that 18 people were killed when gunmen attacked a Turkish restaurant located in the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou late on Sunday at about 9:30 pm local time. The attack which continued into the wee hours of Monday morning also resulted in injuries to a dozen others in what the government says is a ‘terrorist attack’. A military deployment was dispatched to deal with the attackers at the Aziz Istanbul, a upmarket restaurant in the capital. Police chief Guy Ye is also quoted as saying three or four assailants arrived at the scene on motorcycles and began indiscriminately shooting at patrons of the facility. The attacks brings back memories of January 2016 attack on the Splendid hotel that left over 30 people dead. No group has claimed this attack even though in the case of 2016, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the al-Mourabitoun group said they were behind the attack. Burkina Faso – a landlocked West African nati...