Africa (except North Africa)

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Guinea’s new military leaders sought to tighten their grip on power after overthrowing President Alpha Conde, warning local officials that refusing to appear at a meeting convened Monday would be considered an act of rebellion against the junta.

After putting the West African nation back under military rule for the first time in over a decade, the junta said Guinea’s governors were to be replaced by regional commanders. A nightly curfew was put in place, and the country’s constitution and National Assembly were both dissolved.

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 5 (Reuters) - South Africa's jailed former president Jacob Zuma has been placed on medical parole because of his ill health, the government's correctional services department said on Sunday.

Last month prison authorities said Zuma, serving a 15-month sentence in Estcourt prison for contempt of court, underwent unspecified surgery at an outside hospital where he had been sent for observation. He remained in hospital with more operations planned. 

CONAKRY, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Soldiers who staged an uprising in Guinea's capital on Sunday said in a short broadcast on state television that they have dissolved the constitution and the government in the West African state.

However, the defence ministry said an attack on the presidential palace by mutinous forces had been put down.

Heavy gunfire had broken out near the presidential palace in Conakry on Sunday morning, with several sources saying an elite national army unit led by a former French legionnaire, Mamady Doumbouya, was behind the unrest.

NAIROBI, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Health on Friday evening received the first consignment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, consisting of 141,600 doses, to intensify the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination program.

The ministry said in a statement that the single-dose COVID-19 vaccine which landed in Nairobi on Friday evening is the third vaccine in Kenya's program with AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines already being administered in the country.

JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday invited investors to explore vast business opportunities in the country's sectors including mining and agriculture as the government has kept improving the business environment.

Ramaphosa made the remark marks at the Limpopo Provincial Investment Conference held Wednesday and Thursday.

ABUJA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari sacked the ministers for power and agriculture on Wednesday in a rare cabinet reshuffle, citing the need to improve economic management and the delivery of public services.

Saleh Mamman was replaced as power minister by Abubakar Aliyu, the minister of state for works and housing, while Mohammed Sabo Nanono was replaced as agriculture minister by Mohammad Abubakar, his counterpart at the environment ministry.

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — New tests show that Ivory Coast did not have its first case of Ebola in more than 25 years after all, the World Health Organization said, reversing course after the reported case last month prompted thousands of vaccines to be deployed.

The initial report sparked fear because the young woman had traveled by bus for several days from Guinea to Ivory Coast, coming into contact with at least 140 people, health officials said.

ABUJA, Aug 31 (NNN-NAN) – At least 35 people died, so far, by an outbreak of diarrhea, in a border town in north-east Nigeria’s Borno state, an official said yesterday.

The outbreak started at the weekend in Gwoza town, Borno State, and killed at least 35 people, with 150 others hospitalised, after showing symptoms of diarrhea, said Ibrahim Bukar, chairman of the Gwoza local government area.

Most sources of water supply in the border communities have been polluted by corpses, chemicals, and wastes, hence they are not good for human consumption, Bukar said.

GABORONE, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Botswana has recorded its first case of the highly mutated C.1.2 COVID-19 variant first detected in South Africa, according to health officials.

Deputy Coordinator for the Presidential Task Force for COVID-19 Mosepele Mosepele made the announcement during a weekly public update on the pandemic.

He said one patient was found with the variant, adding it was difficult to know if it had already spread or was just an isolated case.

DAR ES SALAAM, Aug 30 (NNN-IRIN) – Authorities in Tanzania’s Zanzibar, yesterday expressed concern, over what they described as a slow pace in the vaccination against COVID-19.

Abdallah Suleiman Ali, director general in the Ministry of Health, Social Welfare, Elderly, Gender and Children, said, only 10,866 people have been vaccinated by Aug 24, against 85,000 doses received in June and July.

Zanzibar launched the COVID-19 vaccination campaign on July 22.