Africa 54, your daily news and feature magazine-style program, from the Voice of America. Host Esther Githui-Ewart and a team of correspondents zero in on the big stories making news on the continent and around the world with context and analysis. Top Stories: Former South African president Jacob Zuma has been found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to prison after failing to appear before a corruption inquiry. Soraya Ali has more. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that the East African nation will receive its first batch of 13 million COVID-19 vaccine shots from Johnson and Johnson in August. Like other nations on the continent, Kenya has struggled to secure vaccines for its citizens, to allow it to fully lift restrictions aimed at containing the pandemic. The nation’s health ministry says only one-million Kenyans, out of 47 million, have had a first jab -- and only 300 thousand are fully vaccinated. As a result of the deal for the J&J shots and other initiatives, the country will accelerate its vaccines deployment plan. Kenya had struck a deal to get 13 million shots from J&J for the price of 10 million doses, according to Kenyatta....... The Democratic Republic of Congo's military is blaming two explosions in the eastern city of Beni on the Allied Democratic Forces - a militant group which claims to have links to Islamic State. Angela Ukomadu has more. When Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari ran for re-election in 2019, he cited his achievements, saying he had “built the foundational work" and that his next job would be to "climb up the stairs to the next level.” But recent headlines of insurgency, lawlessness and kidnappings are raising concerns about his style of governance. Africa 54 Host Esther Githui-Ewart sought the perspective of Ngozi Bell, a native of Nigeria and a Partner at the Trans-Sahara Investment Corporation. She began by asking, what, in her opinion, went wrong. COVID-19 is impacting people's lives and livelihoods around the world. However, observers say women are being affected disproportionately in many aspects -- and the pandemic is having a regressive effect on gender equality. The Generation Equality Forum is underway in Paris Wednesday, bringing together governments, the private sector, and civil society partners, to step up efforts toward gender equality -- and advance women’s rights. As part of the forum, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Wednesday announced a commitment of $2.1 billion over the next five years to advance women’s economic empowerment, strengthen women and girls’ health and family planning, and accelerate women’s leadership. The foundation also released new data that show how the coronavirus outbreak has exacerbated gender-disparities. For more, Africa 54's Linord Moudou spoke with Mark Suzman, the CEO of the Gates Foundation. Many soldiers and civilians have been killed in the fighting in Ethiopia's Tigray region, according to a spokesman for the Ethiopian government task force for Tigray, Redwan Hussein. Wednesday's public statement is the first by any official in Ethiopia's federal government since Tigray's regional capital Mekelle was seized by Tigrayan forces this week. Hussein says the Ethiopian army could, however, re-enter Mekelle within weeks if needed, adding that a ceasefire declared on Monday was for humanitarian reasons. In Ethiopia, Tigrayan troops have regained control of the regional capital of Mekelle this week, prompting the government to declare an immediate cease-fire in the eight-month-long conflict. But U.S. lawmakers warned Tuesday, the cease-fire may be only temporary and will likely not prevent a looming famine from impacting millions of people. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more. Young women in Ghana often feel alone and isolated. But in Accra, Maureen Ahiataku is part of a group of young meteorologists using her skills to empower and encourage young people to pursue careers in Meteorology. For more perspective, Africa 54's Technology Correspondent Paul Ndiho, spoke to Maureen Ahiataku, a Meteorologist with the Ghana Meteorological Agency in Accra