Africa highlights: Boko Haram 'forces university exodus', Congo gun battle

Ferdinand Omondi/BBCCopyright: Ferdinand Omondi/BBC

Kenya's Makonde community will be voting for the first time when they visit the polling booths in tomorrow's general election.

Originally from Mozambique and south-eastern Tanzania, the Makonde ethnic group are believed to have migrated to Kenya in the 1930s to work on sisal plantations.

Makongeni village, where they live in south-eastern Kenya, is in fact derived from the Swahili word makonge, which means sisal.

Their exact numbers are not known, but an estimated population of 20,000 Makonde live in Kenya.

They were only recognised as citizens earlier this year when, after countless petitions, President Uhuru Kenyatta finally ordered they be issued with identity cards.

Ferdinand Omondi/BBCCopyright: Ferdinand Omondi/BBC

Some 2,000 received IDs, a must-have document before registering to vote.

Before that point the Kenyan government never considered them to be Kenyans, rather immigrants.

Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo have accused a political-religious sect of being behind the violence which has hit parts of the capital, Kinshasa, AFP news agency reports.

Members of the Bundu Dia Mayala carried out attacks while chanting "prayers and slogans hostile to legally established institutions", police spokesman Pierrot Rombaut Mwanamputu was quoted as saying.

Stray bullets killed 12 people and two police officers were in a critical condition after being "lynched", he added.

See earlier post for more details.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk is the only man who has ever run the 100m in under 10 seconds, the 200m in less than 20 seconds, the 300m in under 31 seconds and the 400m in less than 44 seconds.

In fact no-one has ever run faster than him over the latter two distances.

Tomorrow evening he will defend his 400m title at the IAAF World Championships in London, but tonight he begins his bid for 200m glory, taking part in the heats to earn a place in Wednesday’s semi-finals.

What's his secret weapon?

Van Niekerk puts his success down to his 75-year-old coach Ans Botha - or Tanie (Afrikaans for Aunt) Ans as she is known - the disciplinarian who guides him:

Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo say 12 people have been killed during a gun battle with the security forces in the capital, Kinshasa.

Earlier, AFP news agency reported that shooting had broken out close to the central prison.

A wave of mass jailbreaks and attacks on police stations have swept Kinshasa in the past three months and several thousand inmates have managed to escape.

South Africans have wasted no time in giving their take on the news that a secret ballot will be held in parliament tomorrow on the fate of President Jacob Zuma.

Here are just some of the thousands of reactions posted to Twitter using the hashtag #secretballot in the past couple of hours:

See earlier post for more details

Abdinoor Aden/BBCCopyright: Abdinoor Aden/BBC

Extra security measures have been taken to minimise the possibility of violence disrupting tomorrow's general election, electoral commission CEO Ezra Chiloba has told the BBC.

Polling staff will be accompanied by security officials and polling stations will be heavily guarded to enable voters to exercise their democratic rights, he added.

Asked if voters will be relocated from areas where there are security fears, Mr Chiloba replied that "any changes will depend with the security situation".

Comission chairman Wafula Chebukati has asked his staff to be honest and professional to ensure that the elections are credible.

Abdinoor Aden/BBCCopyright: Abdinoor Aden/BBC

AFPCopyright: AFP

South Africa's lawmakers are on the "cusp of history", the vice-chancellor of the prestigious University of Witwatersrand has said, as he urged them to vote out President Jacob Zuma tomorrow.

In an article, Adam Habib said:

Quote Message: It should be remembered that history is a harsh judge on those who fail in their fundamental responsibility when the moment arises.

It should be remembered that history is a harsh judge on those who fail in their fundamental responsibility when the moment arises.

Quote Message: Think of the German prison guards of the gas chambers who claimed that they were simply following orders or the priests in Rwanda who refused to protect those being hunted in the genocide, or even some of our fellow white citizens who claim that they were unaware of the atrocities of apartheid.

Think of the German prison guards of the gas chambers who claimed that they were simply following orders or the priests in Rwanda who refused to protect those being hunted in the genocide, or even some of our fellow white citizens who claim that they were unaware of the atrocities of apartheid.

Quote Message: They all have been harshly condemned by the scribes of history, and all have to hide their complicity in these acts. It is a fate you want to avoid for yourself."

They all have been harshly condemned by the scribes of history, and all have to hide their complicity in these acts. It is a fate you want to avoid for yourself."

With Kenya due to hold a general election tomorrow, people have been using Twitter to raise some of the issues that they see as threatening to the credibility of the tightly contested poll.

They are most concerned about an alleged plan to shut the internet on election day.

People have been using the hashtag #hourstokeinternetshutdown to oppose it and to share ways to go around what they anticipate as a block of some websites and social platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

Some have been sharing their plans to download Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications to enable then to bypass limitations to some websites:

Others have been allaying the these fears:

Another hashtag being used is #Ikonetwork (there's network) to fact check a list put out by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which says that more than 11,000 (25%) of polling stations are in areas without the 3G and 4G network coverage needed to allow a quick transmission of results.

These areas are said to be covered by 2G network and can only facilitate the fast transmission of text data.

The commission has ordered its presiding officers in these areas to move, after results have been announced, to areas where they can get the necessary network coverage to send the official scanned copy of the results to the nominated tallying centre for aggregation.

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati explained the process to a local TV station:

South Africans on Twitter are pessimistic about the chances of governing ANC lawmakers voting out the scandal-hit President Jacob Zuma in tomorrow's secret ballot:

South Africa's main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has urged MPs to do "the right thing" by voting out the scandal-hit President Jacob Zuma in tomorrow's secret ballot.

The no-confidence vote will succeed only if at least 50 lawmakers from the governing ANC break ranks with their party by backing the opposition's no-confidence motion.

The DA tweeted:

The second-biggest opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, said the decision to hold a secret ballot was a victory for South Africa and its constitution.

Parliamentary speaker Baleka Mbete agreed to hold a secret ballot, following pressure from the opposition.

Read: Zuma the great survivor

South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) says it welcomes the decision to hold tomorrow's no-confidence vote in President Jacob Zuma by secret ballot.

It has no doubt that the "frivolous motion", brought by opposition parties, will fail, the party adds in a statement posted on its Twitter account:

The decision by South Africa's parliamentary speaker Baleka Mbete to allow a secret ballot in tomorrow's no-confidence vote in President Jacob Zuma does not come as a surprise, reports the BBC's Nomsa Maseko from Cape Town.

Ms Mbete wants to be seen as impartial, and many were expecting the decision.

Mr Zuma has survived previous no-confidence votes, but this is the first time MPs will decide his fate in a secret ballot.

Governing African National Congress (ANC) chief whip Jackson Mthembu has warned that voting out Mr Zuma will be like "throwing a nuclear bomb" at the country, and will trigger political instability.

The opposition pushed for a secret ballot, arguing that ANC MPs will be scared of voting out Mr Zuma if the vote is transparent.

AFPCopyright: AFP

"I don't have a voting card," one young voter tells our reporter.

"I'm not interested," says another 18-year-old.

How can Kenya's political leaders convince young people that their vote matters?

More highlights from BBC Newsday.

Ivory Coast's star sprinter Marie-Josee Ta Lou started celebrating when she, and countless others watching around the globe, thought she had won last night's 100m World Championship final.

EPACopyright: EPA

But a photo analysis showed that the US's Tori Bowie had in fact snatched the title by a millisecond, by lunging forward as she crossed the finish line.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Ivorians have nonetheless been celebrating Ta Lou's achievements of a personal best time and a World Championship medal.

"Ta Lou has given us a silver medal for independence day how generous of her," says one fan in French:

"It's not over... Keep it up Ta Lou," tweets another supporter looking ahead to the athlete's future events:

But others, like this fan, still feel raw. "She was robbed[,] all the commentators shouted 'Ta Lou is the winner' but oh well," he tweets:

More protesters are streaming towards South Africa's parliament in the coastal city of Cape Town to demand the removal from office of the scandal-hit President Jacob Zuma, as a BBC reporter tweets from the scene:

The vote, due to take place tomorrow, is being seen as a test of unity within the governing African National Congress (ANC) as senior party figures have been increasingly critical of their leader.

However, it is unlikely to succeed in toppling the president, reports the BBC World Service.

Mr Zuma has been implicated in multiple corruption scandals.

A protest is taking place outside South Africa's parliament against President Jacob Zuma.

Paliamentary speaker Baleka Mbete is addressing the media on whether she will agree to opposition demands to hold tomorrow's no-confidence vote in Mr Zuma in secret.

We'll bring you the details as soon as we get them.

Aid agencies say escalating violence in northern Mali is restricting the delivery of food and healthcare to millions of people.

The United Nations said humanitarian operations have been disrupted about 70 times this year, with aid workers attacked and robbed.

The charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres, said it had been targeted four times in a month, with its offices looted and staff shot at.

The UN says nearly four million people are in need of aid in Mali, up from 2.5m last year.

Sustained gunfire has broken out near the main prison in the Democratic republic of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, residents and activists have said, AFP news agency reports.

It quoted prisoners' rights activist Emmanuel Cole as saying:

Quote Message: For about an hour, there's been shooting around the Makala prison, there's no more traffic and the avenues are empty here in Selembao."

For about an hour, there's been shooting around the Makala prison, there's no more traffic and the avenues are empty here in Selembao."

The prison is located in Selembao, a poor neighbourhood in Kinshasa.

A wave of attacks have taken place on prisons in DR Congo to free inmates.

In May, more than 3,000 prisoners were believed to have escaped from Makala prison.

eutCopyright: eut