African press review 3 March 2014

One smiling face dominates the websites of the Kenyan newspapers this morning.

The Daily Nation gives the story the full width of its front page, with a giant headline reading "History as Lupita Nyong'o scoops Best Supporting Actress Oscar".

Lupita Nyong'o was left breathless and tearful, the Nairobi-based Standard says, as she was named best supporting actress at the Oscars in Los Angeles for her role in 12 years a slave.

Lupita Nyong'o is the first ever Kenyan to win an Oscar.

"This golden statue reminds me that no matter where a child is born, they can be whatever they want with hard work," she said clutching her Oscar. The Kenyan actress went on to thank her parents and family for her education.

Her father is the Kisumu Senator Peter Anyang' Nyong'o.

The mining stike continues in the South African platinum sector.

According to Johannesburg-based financial paper BusinessDay, the strike will have "absolutely dire" consequences for the industry.

More than 70,000 platinum mineworkers downed tools in Rustenburg on 23 January.

According to Terence Goodlace, boss of Impala Platinum, it will take between three and six months to normalise operations because conditions underground have become unsafe during the lay-off.

After five weeks without underground activity, Impala's inspectors found that about 16 per cent of the rock panels at its Rustenburg operations were unsafe.

Talks with the striking Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which is demanding a nearly 100 per cent increase in the basic monthly wage, will resume later this morning.

BusinessDay also reports that Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo party yesterday picked Defence Minister Filipe Nyusi, a close ally of current two-term President Armando Guebuza, to be the party candidate for an election in October that will choose the country’s next leader.

Frelimo’s Central Committee voted by a two-thirds margin for 56-year-old Nyusi, after an internal debate in which Guebuza loyalists beat off a challenge from a rival group backing former Prime Minister Luisa Diogo for the top job.

Whoever wins the 15 October vote will have to supervise major coal and offshore natural gas investment projects that have the potential to bring in billions of dollars.

Buoyed by accelerating foreign investment, Mozambique’s economy is forecast to grow by up to 8.3 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, which calls it "one of the most dynamic economies in sub-Saharan Africa".

Uganda's controversial anti-homosexuality law is still making news.

According to this morning's Daily Monitor, Archbishop Stanley Ntangali of the Church of Uganda has responded to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, saying Uganda is ready to break away from the Church of England if its views on homosexuality are not respected.

Addressing Christians at St Andrews Church, Bukoto yesterday, Archbishop Ntangali said the Ugandan-born Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, recently wrote to him, saying the Church of England was concerned about the Church of Uganda’s anti-homosexuality stand.

Archbishop Ntangali said he had written back to say that Uganda was prepared to work outside the Church of England. He accused the hierarchy of being "spiritually blind.” The Ugandan archbishop accused the West of double standards by preaching homosexuality at the same time as they send missionaries to spread the gospel of Christ.

In the Cairo-based Egypt Independent, it's reported that one of the lawyers representing deposed President Mohamed Morsi says the defense has "surprises" that will lead to the disqualification of the judge presiding over the case in which Morsi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders are being tried their alleged roles in the deaths of protestors.

The defence claims that one of judges from the court panel appeared as a guest on a state TV program and expressed his opinion on the case, violating the law which bars judges from voicing an opinion on a trial before a case has ended. Normally, this requires the judge to be dismissed from the case.

The deposed president's defence team have promised that even more surprises will follow.