Africa Daily

More than 50 defendants are being tried for an attempted coup attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On May 19th, armed men dressed in military attire attacked the home of the economy minister, Vital Kamerhe and later moved on to President Felix Tshisekedi’s offices in Kinshasa.

Former Congolese military officer, Christian Malanga, is still expected to face charges for leading this alleged coup, despite being killed by security forces during the attack. Also on trial are three US citizens, one of them is Christian Malanga's 21-year-old son, Marcel.

Africa Daily's Alan Kasujja speaks to the BBC's reporter in the capital Kinshasa, Emery Makumeno.

Millions in Africa live without a consistent supply of electricity, something which has caused a lot of socio-economic setbacks.

Some countries, like Ghana, are turning to power ships to solve their energy problems.

These floating power plants are a quick fix, providing an electricity supply and that helps to reduce those frequent blackouts. However, money troubles still loom large. Unpaid bills can lead to more power cuts, this has happened in Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone. And there are questions about the sustainability of dealing with a country’s electricity needs in this way.

“I think historically, science or STEM related subjects have not been encouraged for young girls to participate in. It’s generally been viewed as a male dominated industry” – Lerato Kubushi, African Leadership Academy

Back in 2002, Mark Shuttleworth gained worldwide fame when he became the first South African in space. 20 years later Sara Sabry became the first Egyptian and African woman to go to space.

“We believe our president has taken a very, very wonderful initiative and we support it 100%... Our president is a Christian and he believes in the power of prayer.”

For months now, a plan to send a thousand Kenyan police to quell gang violence in Haiti has been surrounded with uncertainty.

There have been a series of hold ups to the deployment including challenges in the Kenyan courts, changing leadership in Haiti, and general opposition from the Kenyan public.

It has now emerged that alongside pushing hard for the deployment, Ruto has also been making plans for faith diplomacy and has turned to a group of evangelical pastors close to him and the first lady for support.

For the Africa Daily podcast, Peter Musembi speaks to one of the evangelical pastors Serge Musasilwa on why and how they are involved. He also speaks to international affairs expert Dr Kizito Saballa.

"This could be one of the greatest teams we’ve ever seen out of Africa… they were the hope of Africa for the 1994 World Cup. And that was taken away instantly.”

In 1993, a plane carrying almost all of Zambia's national football squad crashed in Gabon, killing 18 players. The young team was carrying the hopes of many Africans as they progressed towards the 1994 World Cup.

But out of that tragedy, an amazing story unfolded, as a team was rebuilt from scratch. That team later went on to win the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012.

Now 30 years later, the BBC podcast Amazing Sport Stories been speaking with the family members of those who died – who to this day have never received compensation - as well as to those who rebuilt the team.

Presenter: Mpho Lakaje. Guests: Robert Earnshaw, Welsh former international footballer and the host of the podcast, and his mother Rita.

Last week Nigeria’s labour unions suspended a general strike, that caused widespread disruption across the country, for one week.

Residents of Ongata Rongai, a suburb in the Kenyan capital Nairobi have recently had to be on their guard after a number of lions have been sighted roaming their neighbourhood.

Concern peaked three weeks ago when a video circulated of a lion climbing over a perimeter wall into a homestead – only to re-emerge with a dog in its mouth moments later.

Since then the residents have received alerts from wildlife authorities, as more carnivores have been sighted.

The increase in such incidents has reignited the debate over whether humans are able to live so closely to wild animals within a city. Nairobi is the only city in the world to contain a national park.

For today’s Africa Daily podcast, Peter Musembi speaks to Sylvia Koira, the college student whose family dog was taken and eaten by the lioness, their homestead’s caretaker Joshua Isiga, and the BBC’s Ruth Nesoba- also a resident.

It was the news that Malawians had been dreading: on Tuesday President Lazarus Chakwera announced that his vice president, Saulos Chilima, had been killed in a plane crash.

Vice President Chilima had been travelling to the funeral of a former government minister. The military aircraft he was on had been flying in bad weather and disappeared from airport radars on Monday. When it was found by rescuers, the aircraft was completely destroyed. There were eight others onboard, including the former first lady, Shanil Dzimbiri.

Africa Daily’s Mpho Lakaje has been looking at the reaction to Tuesday’s announcement with Bayana Chunga, a journalist in Blantyre and Felix Njawala, the spokesman for Vice President Saulos Chilima’s UTM party.

President Bola Tinubu has signed into law a bill to reintroduce Nigeria’s old national anthem which was dropped by its military government in 1978.

He said the country’s old anthem composed in 1959 symbolised Nigeria's diversity. But many have questioned his priorities amid the cost of living crisis which is shaking the country to the core.

Africa Daily’s Alan Kasujja has been hearing more about this change and its impact from the BBC’s Chris Ewokor in the capital Abuja and Nigerian gospel singer and song writer Chidinma Okebalama, better known as “Chee”.

Before most marriages in South Sudan go ahead, men will typically give the woman’s family a dowry in the form of money and most often cattle.

For some it’s seen as an important tradition and a sign of respect. However, there are growing concerns from both men and women that providing dowries has become a burden and is leading to more sinister outcomes. This includes forced marriages and men resorting to violent cattle raids to steal the cows they need to get married.

In today’s Africa Daily, Alan Kasujja hears from young men and women in South Sudan on what the tradition means for them.