Voters in the oil-exporting Central African state of Congo Republic have turned out to elect a new parliament, with the ruling party of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and its allies seen holding the majority. Opposition parties have complained about a lack of access to state media during campaigning, and voter turnout was thin at a number of polling stations in the capital Brazzaville, some of which stayed open up to two hours late during the voting on Sunday.

Civil society groups have challenged a recent news report on increased transparency in Uganda’s oil sector and repeated their call for the government to publish all oil deals. An article that appeared in The New Vision on 30 June noted in its headline that 'Government discloses oil deals'. However, campaigners argue, only limited information - on petroleum royalty rates - has been released to MPs.

Togolese Prime Minister Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo has resigned. Although no reasons for the resignation were given, TVT said President Faure Gnassingbe accepted the resignation. His resignation comes at a time when the country was preparing itself for the general election to take place at the end of this year.

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed in principle to allow a neutral international force to patrol their borders, reports say. The proposed force would tackle militia groups in the eastern DR Congo. The deal was reached by leaders of the two countries on the side lines of an African Union summit, Rwanda's Paul Kagame told AFP news agency.

Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health on Friday declared a cholera outbreak in the country following the death of five people from the disease. Deputy minister of Health and Sanitation Mahmoud Tarawalie, made the confirmation on Friday while stressing that the authorities were putting measures in place to stem the disease. This follows reports of two deaths because of cases of severe diarrhoea in the provinces. But one of death cases was recorded in one of the slums of the capital, Freetown.