Kenya’s Raila Odinga and William Ruto in final election push ft.com/content/602c2b…

Deputy president William Ruto has been declared winner of the presidential election in Kenya - but his main rival’s supporters and some election commissioners disputed the result. ft.com/content/435947…

“Since people decided to call me a chicken seller, I decided to continue being one,” Ruto told Financial Times. “Now I have like 200,000 chickens.” For his followers his (disputed) victory is one for all the Kenyan hustlers. ft.com/content/4940d3…

“The figures announced … are null and void and must be quashed by a court of law,” Raila ‘Baba’ Odinga said on Tuesday as he rejected the results of the Kenyan presidential election. ft.com/content/1abc9f…

William Ruto’s triumph heralds move away from ethnic voting and signals shift from Kenya’s independence-era political families: “Old dynasties are gone, possibly new dynasties will come. Ruto himself is evolving as a dynasty.” ft.com/content/68f376…

Combo of private guards, naval ops and pirates finding smuggling weapons, people and coal less risky has led to suppression of piracy off Somalia w/Andres Schipani and Aanu Adeoye Shipping industry says piracy off coast of Somalia is no longer a threat ft.com/content/3c6776…

Makau Mutua, a lawyer and chair of Odinga’s campaign, told Financial Times on Monday that the aim is “to declare invalid the declaration” that William Ruto “is the president-elect”. Raila Odinga challenges Kenyan election result ft.com/content/373af3…

Patrice Lumumba was 35 when he was killed by firing squad. His body was never found. Decades later his tooth turned up in Belgium. This is the strange, appalling, heartbreaking story of Lumumba’s tooth - and its return, by Andres Schipani @ftmag enterprise-sharing.ft.com/redeem/e0e14ac…

Terrific writing on the 60-year, 4,000-mile journey home of Lumumba’s tooth Andres Schipani via the mighty FT Weekend Magazine ft.com/content/eca1ba…

Crowds chanted “père de la patrie”, “héros des opprimés”. Lumumba lookalikes wore tailored suits, thin ties and semi-rimless glasses, their hair neatly parted to one side. “He is our father and, finally, after 61 years, we can mourn,” his ­daughter said. ft.com/content/eca1ba…

Russia’s presence in the Central African Republic includes some 1,500 Wagner paramilitaries, gold and diamond operations, and even a small distillery producing 15 cent sachets of Wa Na Wa vodka. ⁦david pilling⁩ ⁦Andres Schipani⁩ enterprise-sharing.ft.com/redeem/2b78fac…

This is fascinating by ⁦david pilling⁩ and ⁦Andres Schipani⁩ on the great game Russia is playing from the Sahel to Sudan on.ft.com/3lfPN5Z

How has Russia gained a foothold in Africa? Immerse yourself in david pilling and Andres Schipani's excellent Financial Times Big Read on how Moscow bought a new sphere of influence on the cheap ft.com/content/0c4595… #gistribe

From the Central African Republic to Mali to Burkina Faso, Russia is gaining influence in Africa with fewer resources than its Western rivals. An Financial Times Big Read. By david pilling, Andres Schipani + reporting from me. With maps by Steven Bernard. on.ft.com/40CLG3S

1/ #Kenya’s intervention in the D.R.#Congo risks backfiring. The local Congolese population are rioting against insecurity particularly the fact that the #M23 rebels keep expanding despite Kenya’s forces who are deployed but who are not fighting them. nation.africa/africa/news/pr…

Second in series on Russia in Africa, this one led by Andres Schipani & Aanu Adeoye How Russia’s propaganda machine is reshaping the African narrative ft.com/content/d427c8…

“The only country that truly fights against terrorists in the world today is Russia…I want western countries to stop harassing us about Wagner. They should stop disrespecting Africans.” w/ Andres Schipani & david pilling. ft.com/content/d427c8…

“People talk about Russians killing people and not respecting human rights — that’s nonsense,” the leader of a group in Bangui that often wears T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Je suis Wagner” told Financial Times, with david pilling and Aanu Adeoye ft.com/content/d427c8…

Important scoop from alicemhancock and Andres Schipani on governance standards at the world’s largest multilateral bank

“The superheroes of my childhood looked like their creators, and those creators did not look like me,” wrote Maaza Mengiste. Despite their superpowers, Wonder Woman or Superman “lacked” what she possessed: “My heritage. My Africanness. My Ethiopianness.” ft.com/content/2fcbe1…