The head of Kenya’s census has defended the release of national census figures that include tribal affiliations. The decision has been criticised by some as stoking ethnic divisions. In early 2008, more than 1,000 Kenyans were killed and 300,000...

With the start of Ramadan - the Islamic holy month characterized by fasting - residents of Mogadishu are facing a difficult economic situation as well as the prospect of more fighting and shelling, say civil society sources.

The three American veterans from three different wars had only one good leg among them. But that didn’t stop them from summiting Africa’s highest mountain. The three soldiers - veterans of Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam - scrambled, clawed...

The EU’s anti-piracy task force says Somali pirates have hijacked a chemical tanker carrying lubricating oil in the Red Sea. The force says pirates attacked the Marshall Islands-flagged MT Motivator on Sunday in the northern Strait of Bab al...

For Nigeria, a new era began today with the swearing-in of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as the nation’s 14th head of state, following Wednesday night’s demise of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The oath of office was administered on the...

You may soon withdraw money from an Automated Teller Machines without using your credit or debit card, thanks to a face recognition technology in the making. Known as the Basic Intelligent Automated Teller Machine, if the new device is incorporated in...

Hidden among the umbrella-shaped acacia trees are walls of dull tarpaulin which form a funnel toward the ramp of a truck that waits with its back door open. It is chilly and quiet in the break-of-dawn light. Khaki-clad wildlife rangers wait in silence...

The Democratic Republic of Congo army has used vaccination clinics as “bait” to attack civilians, says aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). Thousands of Hutu civilians were targeted when they visited sites set up to combat a measles...

What have you been up to since returning to Kenya last year? Some media reports have it that you are still in self-imposed exile... I have been very much around, just not in Nairobi. I have spent a good deal of time lately travelling around Kenya,...

Rival ethnic groups in Kenya who fought after the 2007 election are rearming in readiness for violence at the 2012 poll, a BBC investigation has found. It is feared villagers in Rift Valley province are moving from traditional weapons such as spears to...