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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 06-07-2000

PART #3/4 - From GHANA to SENEGAL

* Ghana. Fury over women’s killings — Women’s activists are calling for the dismissal of Ghana’s interior minister and the inspector-general of police, after the murder of the 25th woman in Accra in less than two years. The police have not managed to solve any of the killings in the Ghanaian capital. The latest murder, which was the second within a week, has led to a mixture of fury and fear. Women’s organisations have threatened a one-day national strike throughout the country to protest at the police’s failure to solve the murders. (BBC News, 4 July 2000)

* Kenya. Children’s Rights Bill — The much-anticipated Kenya Children’s Rights Bill is ready and would soon be tabled in parliament, the country’s Home Affairs, Sports and National Heritage Permanent Secretary, Joshua Terer, has disclosed. The bill, Terer said, seeks to enforce the recommendations contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Kenya has ratified the three conventions. He, however, expressed concern that implementation of most recommendations will be compounded by other factors outside the law. The permanent secretary said abject poverty, the HIV/AIDS scourge and armed conflict need to be addressed as a measure to curb rampant child abuse in the continent. Terer made the remarks during the official opening of an international workshop on children’s rights. The conference, a follow-up to the commitments made by governments during the 1990 Children’s summit in New York, is organised by UNICEF and the Commonwealth Secretariat. It brings together 160 participants from Africa and representatives of children-focused Non-Governmental Organisations. UNICEF programme co-ordinator, Helena Eversole, painted a gloomy picture of the future of children, pointing out that statistics indicate that the situation is moving from bad to worse. Life expectancy is declining, infant mortality is on the increase and more children are dropping out of school, she said. (PANA, Dakar, 29 June 2000)

* Kenya. Famine dans le nord — Neuf personnes, un homme de 60 ans et 8 enfants, seraient mortes de faim dans le département d’Isiolo, au nord-est du Kenya, frappé par la sécheresse, ont annoncé les autorités locales le 3 juillet. Plus de mille familles dans le village de Bulla Guddul, actuellement occupé par des familles somaliennes déplacées suite aux récentes escarmouches tribales dans la zone, connaîtront le même sort si des secours d’urgence ne sont pas mis en place dans les deux prochaines semaines, ont-elles indiqué. Le Kenya est frappé par une sécherèsse sévère que les météorologues ont qualifié de la pire que le pays ait connu en 40 ans. (PANA, 3 juillet 2000)

* Kenya. One of its worst drought in decades — More than three million Kenyans are threatened with starvation after a series of droughts, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). The WFP has launched an urgent appeal for $88 million in food aid, and said a quick response was needed because emergency food stocks would run out by August. Kenya is suffering once of its worst droughts in decades. Seasonal long rains failed this year and in the northern and eastern areas of the country, 80% of the livestock has already died. The WFP‘s deputy country director for Kenya, David Fletcher, says people are selling their camels, cattle and goats for knock-down prices. (BBC News, 5 July 2000)

* Libya. Gaddafi’s great trek — Libya’s President Gaddafi is continuing a 5,000 km journey by road and desert track from Libya to Togo where he is to join other African leaders at next week;s Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit. The journey is highly symbolic, drawing attention to Gaddafi’s efforts over the years to extend his influence and patronage in the Sahelian region, to the south of the Sahara and in West Africa as a whole. Crowds have turned out to fête Gaddafi on his long trans-Saharan safari. (BBC News, 5 July 2000)

* Malawi. Is Parliament really concerned with the people? — Alison Mala, a vendor, is greatly concerned with the business of day-to-day survival. Selling neckties, Mala often returns home empty-handed because due to the current economic hardships in Malawi, people prefer to go without neckties. Food is their priority. Mala says: «I’m lucky to make the equivalent of US $1.7 a day. How do you expect me to feed a family of six on that?» Many people blame the crisis on President Bakili Muluzi’s six-year-old administration. But what can the President do if the country’s parliament does not debate seriously the crucial issues facing the people. For example, the special budget session has suspended until June 2001, opposition leader Gwanda Chakuamba, for persistently boycotting state functions. It took parliament three days to discuss this suspension when Members should have been discussing the budget. Members are said to arrive late in the House and to waste time debating trivial issues. (Charles Masapi, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 29 June 2000)

* Malawi. Catholic schools may have to teach the Koran — Catholic schools in Malawi may be forced to teach the Koran, if a proposed reform regarding religious education for the Junior Certificate Examination Syllabus goes ahead.The reform, which is supported by the Muslims and has been stopped by protests on the part of Christian Churches, would abolish the subject, «Bible Knowledge», and replace it with «Religious and Moral Education» (RME), to include teaching the Koran and Traditional African Religions. This reform, FIDES points out, connected with other facts, would appear clearly to be in step with a plan to Islamise the country. In December 1999, the Muslim Eid feast was made a national holiday, and recently the school calendar was adapted to Muslim culture. Behind all this, there is obviously pressure from Muslim donor countries (Libya and Saudi Arabia). The reform, for the moment suspended, would take effect in all schools, state-run and grant-aided (run mainly by the Catholic Church and a few other Christian denominations). This would mean Catholic schools would have to include in the curriculum the study of the Koran and Traditional African Religions and employ teachers to give the lessons. The Catholic Bishops sent a Memorandum of Protest against the reform to the Minister of Education, denouncing, also, the unilateral procedure adopted. (FIDES, Vatican City, 6 July 2000)

* Mali. Prêt de la BMplain D — La Banque mondiale (BM) a approuvé l’octroi au gouvernement du Mali d’un prêt de 115,1 millions de dollars pour l’aider à lutter contre la pauvreté et à renforcer son infrastructure rurale de base. Les fonds viseront à améliorer l’irrigation, à réhabiliter les routes, et à fournir des services d’adduction d’eau potable et d’assainissement dans les zones rurales, a indiqué la BM. Ces 30 dernières années, le Mali a connu des précipitations de moins en moins abondantes et de plus en plus irrégulières, et une accélération de la désertification. De graves sécheresses dans les années 80 ont laissé quelque 1,4 million de ruraux dans une situation de grande vulnérabilité aux pénuries alimentaires, a encore relevé la BM. (IRIN, Abidjan, 30 juin 2000)

* Mayotte. Consultation — Le 2 juillet, la population de Mayotte (île française dans l’archipel des Comores) a voté dans le calme, lors d’une consultation sur un nouveau statut politique qui doit mettre fin à une situation provisoire depuis 25 ans et confirmer le maintien dans la France de cette île de l’océan Indien, la transformant en “collectivité départementale”. Ce statut pourra être modifié en 2010. Selon les résultats publiés le 3 juillet, le “oui” l’a emporté avec 72,5% des suffrages exprimés. Les autorités comoriennes ont dénoncé les résultats. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 4 juillet 2000)

* Mauritania. EU aid for drought-affected children — The European Commission has decided to earmark about US $345,000 for children suffering from malnutrition as a result of drought in northern Mauritania. The regions of Adrar, Inchiri and Tiris Ez Zemmour had been affected by a particularly severe drought for three years. Adaption and survival mechanisms the areas’ residents have traditionally used, had been gradually eroded. and the food and health situation was now critical. The new EU assistance will go to more than 2,500 severely malnourished children under the age of five and their mothers in five therapeutic nutritional centres and 31 supplementary feeding centres. The project will be implemented by the Italian Red Cross which is well established in the regions worst hit by drought. (IRIN, West Africa, 29 June 2000)

* Niger. Le président refuse la charia — Le 28 juin, le président nigérien Mamadou Tandja s’est déclaré opposé à l’institution de la charia (loi islamique) dans son pays à plus de 90% musulman. “Nous ne voulons pas qu’on nous amène des problèmes, comme cela se voit ailleurs”, a-t-il déclaré, par allusion au Nigeria. “Le Niger est un pays laïc et tolérant, évoluons ainsi et restons musulmans”. Le chef de la confrérie Tidjane avait demandé l’instauration de la charia au Niger. (D’après La Croix, France, 30 juin 2000)

* Nigeria. Abacha’s funds — On 29 June, President Olusegun Obasanjo said he expected Switzerland to return in July a first instalment of the roughly $600 million allegedly stashed in the country by late dictator Sani Abacha. Obasanjo said that his elected government was trying to recover an estimated $3 billion in embezzled state funds taken abroad by Abacha and his entourage during his 1993-98 rule. So far, Nigeria has succeeded in freezing nearly $2 billion deposited in banks worldwide, he told a news conference in Geneva before addressing a UN summit on poverty. «We have got frozen nothing less than 1.8 billion dollars, very close to two billion. All of that is not in Switzerland, but a substantial part is in Switzerland. There is some in other countries in Europe. Of course the investigation continues...We reckon that it might be close to three billion dollars.» Sources close to the Nigerian government said about $600 million in accounts belonging to Abacha, his son Mohammed, widow Mariam and brother Abdulkadir and entourage are currently frozen in Switzerland. Another $620 million are frozen in Luxembourg. Obasanjo said: «We are leaving no stone unturned because as you know, corruption impoverished (Nigerians). It is stealing from the poor and making them poorer.» (Reuters, 29 June 2000)

* Nigeria. Obasanjo «worried» over Sharia — 29 June: The Nigerian government has expressed concern about the decision of the most populous northern state, Kano, to adopt Sharia Islamic law. President Obasanjo has sent his special adviser, professor Alphonsus Nwosu, to the state, to express his worries. Kano has become the third state in the mainly Muslim north to adopt Sharia, despite strong opposition from north Christians. There are fears that Kanos’ move could revive the sectarian violence in which hundreds have died in Nigeria this year. (BBC News, 29 June 2000)

* Nigeria. Les militaires et la démocratie — Les membres des Forces armées nigérianes vont suivre une formation spéciale sur les idéaux de la démocratie et le respect des droits de l’homme, selon le ministre de la Défense T. Danjuma. Il a déclaré que le gouvernement désignera un plus grand nombre de militaires pour suivre une formation dans des institutions civiles à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur du pays, afin d’assurer qu’ils comprennent correctement les rouages et le fonctionnement de l’autorité civile. Depuis son accession au pouvoir, le gouvernement s’est lancé dans une vaste opération de restructuration des forces armées et a entrepris aussi de les rééquiper, de relever le niveau de vie des officiers et des hommes de troupe, et de réformer le personnel militaire pour renforcer le professionalisme. Le ministre de l’Information, M. Jerry Gana, a dit que si les Nigérians avaient réussi à défendre la démocratie dans d’autres pays, ils pouvaient parfaitement faire la même chose dans leur propre pays. (D’après PANA, 3 juillet 2000)

* Nigeria. Strikes and civil unrest — Industrial unrest has spread across Nigeria for the second time in a month amid doubts about President Obasanjo’s ability to reach an early agreement on economic reforms with the International Monetary Fund. John Odeh, secretary general of the Nigerian Labour Congress, said public sector workers in a third of the country’s 36 states had joined striking civil servants in the commercial capital, Lagos, demanding payment of a new minimum wage. The strike coincides with the first visit to Africa of Host Kohler, the IMF‘s new managing director, which started on 3 July in Nigeria. (Financial Times, UK, 5 July 2000)

* Sénégal. Carrefour de l’information — Le Sénégal a inauguré le premier système de câble sous-marin à fibres optiques reliant l’Amérique du Sud, l’Afrique de l’Ouest et l’Europe. Dénommé Atlantis 2, il est doté d’une grande capacité permettant d’acheminer la parole, l’écrit et l’image. “Nous allons être le carrefour des autoroutes de l’information”, a déclaré le ministre sénégalais de l’Information, à l’inauguration de ce cable d’un coût global de 244 milliards de fcfa, auquel le Sénégal a participé pour 7 milliards. (Reuters, 4 juillet 2000)

* Senegal. Torture charges against Habré dropped — A criminal court in Senegal has dismissed a case against the former president of Chad, Hissene Habré, who faced charges of complicity in torture and crimes against humanity. Mr Habré has been in exile in Senegal since being overthrown in a coup ten years ago. Early this year, seven human rights groups filed a criminal complaint against him — the first attempt to try an African ruler in a foreign country for abuses committed at home. (BBC News, 4 July 2000)

* Sénégal/Tchad. Habré échappe aux poursuites — Le 4 juillet, l’ancien dictateur tchadien Hissène Habré en exil au Sénégal, qui avait été inculpé en février dernier par le doyen du tribunal de Dakar pour actes de torture de centaines de personnes pendant ses huit années de pouvoir, a échappé à la justice. Le tribunal vient d’abandonner les poursuites, se déclarant incompétent pour des crimes commis à l’extérieur du Sénégal. La veille, le nouveau président sénégalais, Abdoulaye Wade, avait muté le doyen, le juge Demba Kandji, et l’avait remplacé par un proche. “Une pantalonade digne d’une dictature et indigne de la démocratie sénégalaise”, s’est insurgée une association des droits de l’homme. Les organisations des droits de l’homme ont annoncé qu’elles feraient appel. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 5 juillet 2000)