09: 05 GMT: “Mutilated bodies in Burundi”
Mutilated bodies are being found once again in Burundi where politically-motivated violence will soon enter its third year, according to a U.N. human rights inquiry.
The central African nation has been in chaos since April 2015, when President Pierre Nkurunziza sparked widespread protests and an attempt to overthrow him by saying he would seek a third term.
The U.N. Human Rights Council set up a three-person commission of inquiry in September last year to identify perpetrators of killings and torture and ensure they were brought to justice.
“On the basis of a first set of interviews that we have conducted with various sources, it’s clear that the trends that were observed in 2015 and 2016 still exist,” the commission’s chairman Fatsah Ouguergouz told the Council.
09: 01 GMT: “Zimbabwe wants new power deal”
Zimbabwe is negotiationg a new deal to continue importing power from South African utility Eskom to make up for shortfalls in generating capacity at its Kariba hydropower station, the energy minister said on Monday.
In January last year Eskom agreed a one-year deal to sell up to 300 megawatts of capacity to Zimbabwe, which was facing biting shortages of electricity caused by low water levels in the Kariba dam. Generation capacity fell to a low of 275 MW from 750 MW, causing widespread blackouts.
Samuel Undenge told reporters after a meeting between Eskom and state power utility ZESA Holdings that the two utilities were still discussing how much Eskom would supply to Zimbabwe, adding that imports would be paid for upfront.
08: 55 GMT: “Mother of baby arrested”
The mother of the baby whose alleged abduction sparked a national manhunt in South Africa has been arrested. One-month-old Siwaphiwe Mbambo was found alive and well around midnight on Saturday.
The mother had told police that she was taken during a car-jacking outside a shopping centre in the South African city of Durban on Friday.
But a police official has accused her of making the crime up, after the baby was found with her boyfriend.
08: 40 GMT: “Kenyan Medics fight contentious clause”
Public service doctors have removed a contentious clause barring them from private practice in a document filed in court yesterday.
The doctors version of the return-to-work formula (RTWF) struck off the clause, which reads: “All medical doctors, pharmacists and dentists shall strictly adhere to their terms of employment in regard to engaging directly or indirectly in any other gainful employment and/or private practice as a partner, employee, consultant, director, manager, agent, associate or otherwise.”
They also want the government to be compelled by law to pay them the three months salaries and arrears since December 5 last year, when they went on strike.
08: 35 GMT: Niger Opposition Leader Jailed
A court in Niger has sentenced main opposition leader Hama Amadou to a year in prison for child smuggling.
Amadou stood against President Mahamadou Issoufou in elections in March. He is now in exile in France and was tried in absentia.
His lawyers were also not present in court in protest over a trial which they said was a parody of justice.
Amadou has repeatedly denied charges that he profited by buying new born babies from neighbouring Nigeria.
08: 30 GMT: “Somali Pirates hijack ship”
Somali pirates are suspected to have hijacked a Sri Lankan-flagged fuel freighter after the ship sent a distress call, turned off its tracking system and altered course for the Somali coast, a piracy expert told Reuters on Tuesday.
The Dubai-owned Aris 13 is believed to be carrying eight crew members, said John Steed of the aid group Oceans Beyond Piracy.
Steed, a former British colonel, has worked on piracy for nearly a decade and is in close contact with naval forces tracking the ship.
08:25 GMT: Good morning and welcome to “Africa Feeds Live” for today. Stay with us for the latest happenings in Africa and beyond.
