Africa Daily BBC World Service

Kenyan President William Ruto is on a state visit to the US, the first by an African leader since Ghana’s John Kufour in 2008 and only the 6th state visit Biden has hosted since taking office in 2020
A state visit is the highest level of international visit, and its purpose is to confirm the good relationship between the countries concerned.
For President Ruto it's a significant display of his emergence as leading voice for Africa - particularly in the eyes of the West.
But some observers say that Washington is now playing catch up to Russia and China - which have both grown in influence on the continent in recent years - as well as newer entrants like Turkey, India, and Saudi Arabia.
In this episode of Africa Daily podcast, Alan Kasujja talks to Ambassador Martin Kimani, an international affairs expert and former Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations.

It’s expected to be a bruising election, with 70 political parties contesting for power.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress, and the official opposition, Democratic Alliance, are seen as the frontrunners.

Former president Jacob Zuma’s Umkhonto we Sizwe Party (MKP), are expected to give the ANC a run for their money, particularly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

But on Monday, South Africa's Constitutional Court barred Mr. Zuma from running for parliament, ruling that his 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court disqualified him.

Mr Zuma was convicted in 2021 for refusing to testify at an inquiry investigating corruption during his presidency which ended in 2018.

But he remains the face of the MKP and will continue to campaign.

Presenter: Mpho Lakaje
Guests: Dr. Bandile Masuku, Solly Malatsi and Adv. Dwight Snyman

During the recent floods in East Africa it became quickly apparent just how ill-prepared most cities across the region are in the face of heavy rains.
Some of the continent's major cities are located on the coast, and therefore at risk of flooding due to rising sea levels. And meanwhile, a quarter of African cities are exposed to a high risk of drought.
The continent is home to 86 of the world’s 100 fastest growing cities, with 7 billion people expected to be living in urban areas by 2030.
In this episode of Africa Daily podcast, Alan Kasujja talks to Benin’s former minister for Environment and Urban Planning, Luc Gnacadja, who's currently a consultant with the World Bank, about the capacity of African cities to withstand worsening and more frequent extreme weather events.

During Liberia’s two civil wars, it became normal for children to be abducted by armed groups, often drugged, and forced to fight. 250,000 people are estimated to have died in the conflict which continued between 1989-2003.
In 2006, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission - known as ‘TRC’ - to identity individuals linked to war crimes, but as of yet, no-one has been prosecuted.

So after President Joseph Boakai recently signed an agreement to establish a war crimes court, people started asking whether the victims of war could finally get justice.

For Africa Daily Alan Kasujja speaks to Adama Dempster, a human rights advocate who’s campaigned for the court to be set up, and the BBC’s reporter in Monrovia, Moses Garzeawu.

Male circumcision is deeply rooted in tradition and culture across many African communities but there’s a lot of controversy around the method that is used to remove the foreskin.
Some initiatives that promote voluntary medical male circumcision for the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections have been successful, in Zambia in particular.
But the question remains, is this something that should be done on baby boys or in early adolescence, or is it something that should be left as a personal choice you make in adulthood?
Presenter: Alan Kasujja.
Guests: Anthony Natif and Michael Aboneka.

“The irony and the tragedy at once is that all this happened while the international community are watching it. So I think this is the time to prevent the atrocities that happened in El Geneina from repeating itself in El Fasher.”
Last week a 216 page Human Rights Watch report said it had found evidence that a genocide may have been committed in the city of El Geneina in Darfur – and that ethnic cleansing had occurred. It said thousands of members of African ethnic groups – particularly the Massalit – had been killed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces or RSF in door to door raids and as they tried to flee the city. The vast majority of Massalits have now fled western Darfur.
But now there’s grave concern that a similar massacre could happen in the city of El Fasher – the only city in Darfur not under RSF control. Thousands of internally displaced people are living in the city after fleeing RSF attacks elsewhere. Our guest today describes this as jumping from 'hot water to hot oil' as the group’s fighters have completely cut off all roads and fighting is underway within the city.
The UN has called the situation “gravely concerning”, while the United States has warned of a large scale massacre if the RSF takes the city. But is anyone able or willing to stop it?
For today’s Africa Daily podcast, Alan @Kasujja talks to a resident of El Fasher and to Adeeb Yousif, the former governor of Central Darfur.
The audio for this episode was updated at 1500 BST on 16 May 2024