Members of Gabon’s lower house of parliament have voted to decriminalise homosexuality, becoming one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa to reverse a law that punishes sexual relations between people of the same sex. Last year, the central African nation criminalised homosexuality and made gay sex punishable with six months in prison and a large fine. Forty-eight members of ...

An Accra High court has ruled to allow the Ghanaian units of Vodafone and MTN to share subscriber data with government to help it track down the contacts of coronavirus cases. This follows initial claims that the two giant telcos were already sharing subscriber data to government without a court permission. According to Bloomberg, the presiding Judge on the case, ...

The human rights campaign group Amnesty International has called for the end of impunity for rapists in Sierra Leone after the death of a five-year-old girl.The girl, known just as Khadija, died on 17 June from complications after she was raped.Subsequently, hundreds of protesters took to the streets to demand justice.The BBC’s Umaru Fofana reports that protesters dressed in black-headed ...

Niger’s state prosecutor says there is evidence that the country lost almost $50m (£40m) through a military procurement scandal. Referring to an audit by the defence ministry, Maman Sayabou Issa said there had been overcharging for items and military equipment that was paid for but never delivered. A preliminary audit had found more than twice as much money had been ...

Ivorian authorities on Monday announced the capture of a terrorist leader who led a deadly attack on a military post at Kafolo, on the northeastern border with Burkina Faso on June 11 following a large scale raid. According to defense minister Hamed Bakayoko, the raid resulted in the arrests of other people directly involved in the attack. “We traced it ...

It is not uncommon to see many Ghanaians traveling outside the country to seek greener pastures. Most often, these individuals, especially women are lied to and taken advantage of by agents who take their monies, promise them heaven on earth but end up selling them as ‘Domestic Workers’ across the globe. With this increasing and worrisome trend at hand, the ...

A team charged with developing Nigeria’s economic recovery plan from the coronavirus pandemic says about 39.4 million people could be jobless by the end of 2020 if government fails to act. The Committee on Economic Sustainability Plan, led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, said restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus had mainly affected agriculture, manufacturing and tourism sectors. It ...

Child labour has robbed many young boys and girls of a memorable childhood. For years, this practice has gone on in almost every part of the world violating the rights of children. It has, therefore, become necessary more than ever to safeguard children from forced labour. A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations indicates that ...

Abantu for development and the Women’s Manifesto Coalition (WMC) have expressed worry about the increasing rate of attacks on women who take up leadership positions in the country, cautioning those involved in such brazen act to desist from it. “We are deeply saddened that women in leadership positions have faced multiple insults and acts of degradation over the years while ...

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is ramping up its support to the Government of Ghana’s efforts to provide comprehensive care for COVID-19 patients in isolation facilities, with a contribution of 10,800 bags of specialized nutritious food worth Three Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC300,000). The supply is enough to cover three months of feeding for 4,000 patients.   “We are ...