BBC News Africa

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One of the most high-ranking officials of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has been asked to step aside pending the outcome of a multi-million corruption case against him, local media report.

Party secretary-general Ace Magashule has denied any wrongdoing over the awarding of a $16m (£12m) government contract in 2014 to private firms for the removal of asbestos from low-cost homes in Free State province.

The party's integrity commission - in a report to the ANC's top leadership body, the national executive committee - said the rules requiring party members who are facing formal corruption charges to step aside pending the outcome of court processes must be followed, according to reports.

The executive committee will have a final say on the report.

Mr Magashule is the most senior ANC official to be charged with corruption since President Cyril Ramaphosa took office in 2018.

The alleged corruption took place when Mr Magashule was the head of the provincial government in the Free State.

Top government officials in Nigeria say "everything possible" is being done to ensure the release of two musicians being held by the police in Uganda.

Ugandan police say the Nigerian singers, Omah Lay and Tems, their manager, and four others had risked spreading coronavirus with a concert held on Saturday in Kampala.

They were charged on Monday for "negligently doing acts likely to spread an infectious disease" and police say they will be detained until Wednesday when they are expected to be re-arraigned in court.

Nigeria's Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama tweeted that the government was engaging with the Ugandan authorities at the "highest level", while the head of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, tweeted that "tremendous diplomatic progress has been made and they will be back [very very ] soon by Gods grace."

Uganda's opposition presidential candidate and music star Bobi Wine expressed support for the musicians, tweeting that there was "absolutely no reason why our brothers should still be detained yet their concert was under police watch":

Uganda's government has suspended social gatherings, including, controversially, election campaign rallies to limit the spread of the virus.

Nigerian musicians and fans have tweeted in support of the detained singers, but Ugandan police have insisted that the laws of their country must be obeyed.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has said it was behind the kidnapping of hundreds of school pupils in north-west Nigeria.

If true the announcement represents a worrying sign that the jihadist group has extended its influence in the region.

In a four-minute audio message, a man claiming to be Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, said the attack was against western education.

Children as young as 10 years are among those missing.

The governor of Katsina state has said 333 boys are still unaccounted for, but they’re in negotiations to rescue the pupils.

The attack in President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state follows fierce criticism of the government’s record on security.

In July, the radical Islamist group claimed in a video to have extended its influence to the north-west of the country.

This year hundreds of people in the region have been killed in attacks by what authorities here call "bandits".

Until now it’s been unclear whether these criminal groups had links with Boko Haram. However Ansaru, a splinter group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, is known to be active in the region.

Boko Haram have waged a brutal insurgency since 2009, mostly focused in north-eastern Nigeria.

The conflict has led to tens of thousands of deaths and displaced more than two million people.

Read more on Boko Haram:

• Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist group?

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The Democratic Republic of Congo will build a mausoleum for its independence hero Patrice Lumumba, President Félix Tshisekedi said on Monday.

The president also said Belgium will return remains of the former prime minister, but did not give specifics.

The mausoleum will be built before the country celebrates its 61st independence anniversary in June 2021.

"On the sidelines of the celebration of the 61st anniversary of our independence, the country will show its gratitude to the Prime Minister Patrice Emery Lumumba, one of the national heroes whose relics will be repatriated and who will finally be given a tomb worthy of his sacrifice for the nation," President Tshisekedi said.

Patrice Lumbumba was killed by a firing squad in January 1961. His body was never found and one of his teeth was believed to be kept in Brussels by one of the people who participated in his elimination.

A court in Belgium in September said that the tooth should be given to Mr Lumumba's daughter, Juliana Lumumba, who had written a letter to the Belgian king asking for its return, according to the Brussels Times website.

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Malawi's Homeland Security Minister, Richard Banda, has signed extradition papers for fugitive pastor Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary, local media report.

This follows an extradition request from neighbouring South Africa where the couple is wanted to face charges of money laundering and fraud.

The couple has denied any wrongdoing.

A high court in Malawi is set to decide on their arrest after they were released unconditionally by a magistrates court that said there was no formal extradition request from South Africa.

The court will determine the case on 22 December, according to the Daily Times newspaper.

The Bushiris escaped from South Africa last month, defying bail conditions that barred them from leaving the country.

Pastor Bushiri at the time said his life was in danger hence the decision to leave the country.

The Malawian and South African governments had to issue statements on the escape after Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera - who was on a state visit to South Africa - was accused of aiding the pastor's escape.

Boko Haram has said it was behind the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolboys in Nigeria's north-western Katsina State, hinting at the group's continued expansive and deadly reach in recent weeks, the private Daily Nigerian website has reported.

At least hundreds of schoolboys at the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina state are still missing in the wake of the Friday night attack.

According to Daily Nigerian, Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, said in a four-minute audio message that his group carried out the attack "because Western education is against the tenets of Islam".

"What happened in Katsina was done to promote Islam and discourage un-Islamic practices as Western education is not the type of education permitted by Allah and his holy Prophet," the website quoted Shekau as saying.

The site said that Shekau did not give details about the attack, the number of schoolboys abducted or confirm reports of negotiations with the government.

Read more:

• Nigeria gunmen who seized children 'surrounded'

Kenya has ordered 24 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, the Star newspaper has reported, citing health ministry officials.

The Kenyan government will spend 10bn Kenya shillings ($89m; £66m) for the vaccines, the newspaper reports.

The ministry submitted it's request to the Global Vaccine Alliance Initiative (Gavi) last week, according to the report

This will be enough to cover 20% of the country’s population.

The World Bank puts the population of Kenya currently at more than 52 million.

It is not clear which vaccine the East African country has ordered.

Mid this year Gavi said that each dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will go for about $3.

Top on the list of those who will be vaccinated are frontline workers, the elderly and those with underlying conditions.

Gavi has signed agreements with manufacturers of about nine vaccine candidates.

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The federal government of Somalia has cut diplomatic ties with neighbouring Kenya.

It has recalled all its diplomats from Nairobi and given Kenyan diplomats in Mogadishu seven days to leave the country.

The announcement was made by the Minister of Information Osman Abukar Dubbe on state media.

"The Somali government, based on its national sovereignty guaranteed by international law and order, and fulfilling its constitutional duty to safeguard the nationhood, unity and stability of the country, has decided to sever diplomatic relations with the Kenyan government," he said.

The announcement was made after Somalia submitted a letter of protest against Kenya to Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who is also chair of the regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

It also comes as Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta hosted the President of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, Muse Bihi. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but is not officially recognised by the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU) or any country.

Somalia recently accused Kenya of meddling in its internal affairs.

BBCCopyright: BBC

GettyCopyright: Getty

South Africa has announced new restrictions to try to contain a second wave of Covid-19.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said a sharp rise in new infections was a cause for great concern as he announced plans to close some beaches and limit mass gatherings over the holiday period.

The nation’s teenagers are being blamed for fuelling a second wave of infections with crowded, drunken parties.

President Ramaphosa said nearly 1,000 young people had tested positive for the coronavirus after just one day-long beach party.

In response, he said, beaches in several provinces – but not those around Cape Town - would be shut during the holidays.

A longer curfew from from 23:00 to 04:00 local time would also come into force.

Numbers at social gatherings will be capped at 100 people per indoor event, and 250 people at an outdoor event. All post-funeral gatherings will be prohibited.

Alcohol sales will now only be allowed between 10:00 and 18:00 local time from Monday to Thursday.

Mr Ramaphosa warned that the second wave could prove deadlier than the first, if people failed to behave responsibly.

But the government is reluctant to take tougher steps that could further threaten the country’s precarious economy.

Read more:

• Coronavirus: What's happening to the numbers in Africa?

Our African proverb of the day:

Quote Message: A visitor does not finish food." from A Shona proverb from Zimbabwe sent by Kakoma Chinyawezhi in Mongu, Zambia.

A visitor does not finish food."

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Click here to send us your African proverb.

That's it from the BBC Africa Live team for now. There will be an automated service until the morning.

Our wise words of the day:

Quote Message: A hen that scratches too deep into the ground will meet its mother's bones." from A Krahn proverb sent by William B. Quiwea in Liberia.

A hen that scratches too deep into the ground will meet its mother's bones."

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of bathers jumping into a river on the border of Sudan and Ethiopia:

AFPCopyright: AFP

The governor of Nigeria’s Katsina state, Aminu Masari, says the gunmen who kidnapped hundreds of schoolboys from the town of Kankara have made contact and "discussions" are under way to ensure the boys' safe return.

The governor made the comments after meeting Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari in his hometown of Daura.

He has not given details of the negotiations or whether the kidnappers have made ransom demands, but said ‘"we are making progress and the outlook is positive".

The governor also restated that the Nigerian military have identified the children's locations.

More than 300 remain missing after armed men attacked their school on Friday night in the north-western state of Katsina. The boarding secondary school had 800 students.

Maj Gen John EnencheCopyright: Maj Gen John Enenche

The Nigerian army has told BBC Focus on Africa that 333 boys are still unaccounted for after an attack on a boarding school in Katsina state, but says "common criminals" are to blame rather than Islamists.

About 800 pupils were enrolled at the Government Science Secondary School for boys in Kankara town.

"We increased our deployment in the whole of that area where we have some volunteered information about them," army spokesman Maj Gen John Enenche also told the BBC.

Earlier, the Nigerian presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said he believed just 10 children were still being held. Many may simply have fled.

Maj Gen told the BBC that lot of students "ran out of the school into the surroundings. Of course the bandits still went ahead to kidnap some of them".

Armed groups often kidnap people for ransom in north-western Nigeria. But so far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack on Friday, or demanded ransom.

News of the arrest and charging in Uganda of two Nigerian singers - Omah Lay and Tems - is being shared widely on social media with the hashtags #FreeTems and #FreeOmahLay.

Fellow musician Burna Boy is among those who've tweeted demanding that the pair be released:

Fireboy DML is another artist to have expressed his shock at the arrests:

Police say the singers, their manager, plus others had risked spreading coronavirus with a concert held on Saturday in Kampala, and will now be detained until Wednesday.