Al Jazeera profiles the different candidates running to replace Macky Sall as President of Senegal on March 24. Anta Ngom is the first woman to run for president in Senegal in over a decade. Popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has been released from prison along with Bassirou Faye, who he has endorsed in the election. From OkayAfrica, Senegalese youth give their thoughts ahead of voting.

Gambia’s parliament is considering reversing a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM), a move widely criticized by women and civil society organizations within the country. Gambia would be the first country to reverse an FGM ban.

• Kenya’s Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (MPPDU) enters its seventh day of strike action over unfulfilled government promises in the healthcare sector.
• Ghana’s president clashes with parliament over delays to signing anti-LGBTQ bill.
• Abidjan’s Festival of Laughter celebrates stand-up comedians.

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Image: Senegalese voters queueing in Grand Yoff (Dakar) for the 2019 presidential election. 24 February 2019. Photo credit: VOA / Seydina Aba Gueye.

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