Right activists in Burkina Faso have been raising concerns over the safety of the West African country’s young talented reggae king, Sam Samsk le Jah, who receives anonymous death threats. The revolutionary singer who anchors a music programme on Radio Ouaga FM is warned to either “stop your silly things on the radio or risk being killed.”

Hundreds of people – journalists, human rights organisations, trade unionists and others – thronged the streets of the Burkinabe capital Ouagadougou on Saturday to celebrate that country’s assassinated investigative journalist – Norbert Zongo.

The village of Guié in central Burkina Faso may not have much name recognition in the grand scheme of things. But for more than a decade, this community has been the site of an initiative that provides hope in the fight against desertification.

Health authorities in Burkina Faso have launched a mass vaccination campaign in the capital, Ouagadougou, to combat a rapidly spreading meningitis epidemic that has claimed more than 800 lives. “Ouagadougou has been hit to an extent that we did not expect,” said Jean Gabriel Wango, secretary general of the country’s health ministry.

The death toll from a meningitis epidemic in Burkina Faso rose to 324 on Friday and the United Nations says outbreaks and deaths have also been recorded in seven other West African countries this year.