Eye on Africa FRANCE 24 English

A top court in Namibia has ruled colonial-era laws banning same-sex relationships were unconstitutional, in a case brought by a local LGBTQ+ activist. Also in the programme, Kenyan protesters call for a national shutdown to oppose new tax hikes. We also visit Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, where a chimpanzee refuge is trying to save the threatened apes from the brink. And we meet the man who immortalised Ghana: legendary photographer James Barnor.

In tonight's edition: Young Kenyans take to the streets, protesting tax plans to hike the cost of essential goods. Also, presidents and pharmaceutical bigwigs are in Paris for game-changing talks about what Africa needs to make its own vaccines. The global disparities in access revealed by the Covid-19 pandemic have not been forgotten. And to mark World Refugee Day, our team in Ethiopia heads to a camp in Tigray where forced displacements continue, over a year and a half since the end of the brutal conflict.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been sworn in for a second term. The reelection of the head of the ANC came with the help of coalition parties. It's the first time the ANC has needed to form a government of national unity, or GNU, in 30 years. South Africans are hoping that this new political setup will be able to deliver.

In tonight's edition: Kenya's government has scrapped some proposed taxes in this year's controversial finance bill, including a 16 percent levy on bread, following a public outcry. 

South Africa's political landscape is still settling after the African National Congress's rush to form a government of national unity after failing to win a parliamentary majority in last month's election. Party leader Cyril Ramaphosa has been reelected as the country's president, but the ANC is still announcing new partners. The collective that it's cobbled together so far represents 273 seats in the National Assembly. However, Jacob Zuma's MK party has said it will join an alliance with the opposition.

South Africa holds its first parliamentary session after its historic seventh election in which the ANC lost its majority in parliament. The coalition government as it stands has the ANC joining forces with the opposition DA and the smaller IFP, as well as relative newcomers the Patriotic Alliance.