ANB-BIA - Av. Charles Woeste 184 - 1090 Bruxelles - Belgium
TEL **.32.2/420 34 36 fax /420 05 49 E-Mail: anb-bia@village.uunet.be
_____________________________________________________________
WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 31-05-2001

PART #3/4 - From GHANA - SOUTH AFRICA

* Ghana. Rawlings loses military guard — Ghana’s former president Jerry Rawlings lost his military guard this week in a move that has angered him and his opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). The NDC failed to block the move to replace soldiers with 12 civilian police. They said that Mr Rawlings’ safety was compromised as the policemen did not know him whereas the soldiers had been with him for 20 years. The government says that the plan is simply part of their effort to demilitarise civilian institutions. Government spokeswoman Ms Elizabeth Ohene said President John Kufuor’s own security guards were from the police service. She said the government would not accept a situation where 24 soldiers from one unit were permanently outside the control of their commander. (BBC News, UK, 25 May 2001)

* Guinée. Evacuation quasiment achevée — Le 25 mai, le porte-parole du HCR a annoncé que l’évacuation de dizaines de milliers de réfugiés du Bec de perroquet dans le sud de la Guinée est quasiment achevée. Quelque 2.000 réfugiés restés en petits groupes dans des camps et des villages à l’intérieur du Bec, une région instable jouxtant la Sierra Leone, seront transférés dans les deux prochains jours au camp de transit de Katkama au nord. La majorité des camps de la région sont désormais vides et ont été incendiés par les villageois locaux. Jusqu’à présent, 12.000 réfugiés ont été évacués du Bec depuis le début de l’opération organisée par le HCR à partir du 2 mai. (IRIN, Abidjan, 25 mai 2001)

* Guinée/Libéria/Sierra Leone. Appel de Kofi Annan — Le secrétaire général des Nations unies, Kofi Annan, a appelé les dirigeants du Liberia, de la Sierra Leone et de la Guinée à engager des pourparlers aussi vite que possible afin de mettre un terme aux conflits régionaux qui ont provoqué le départ de la Sierre Leone d’un million de réfugiés. Dans un rapport, M. Annan a qualifié le déracinement de la population “d’une des crises humanitaires et politiques les plus graves qu’ait à affronter la communauté internationale aujourd’hui”. Selon les derniers chiffres de l’Onu, début mai, 2,3 millions de personnes ont été déplacées en Guinée, 400.000 en Sierra Leone, et 120.000 Libériens ont fui en Côte d’Ivoire. (AP, USA, 30 mai 2001)

* Kenya. Quotas from COMESA sugar proposed. — A confidential report by a government fact-finding mission which returned recently from five Comesa countries, suggests that Kenya should impose quotas on sugar imports from the Comesa region, to protect the local market from saturation by more efficient producers in Sudan, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. The fact-finding mission found out that the factories in these countries had capacity utilization rates much higher than even the most efficient producers in Kenya. The threat to the local sugar market is further underlined by a finding that the four countries are all net sugar exporters, with surplus stocks that could be readily exported to Kenya. The mission’s main recommendation is that Kenya should create an arrangement whereby sugar is imported into the country, only through agreed quota levels, especially whenever there are national deficits. The mission visited Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mauritius, all of which have acceded to the zero-tariff regime, which came into operation within the Comesa region on 31 October 2000. Kenya is a party to the same agreement on a total duty waiver on products. As a result of this, the country experienced a dramatic increase in imports of agricultural commodities, particularly sugar, to the detriment of Kenya’s sugar industry. (T & C Inc, Kenya, 24 May 2001)

* Liberia. War in the north — 23 May: The Liberian government says that it has recaptured a crucial town in Lofa county in the north of the country from rebels. Foya, about 250 km north of the capital Monrovia, is an important centre close to the Guinea and Sierra Leone border. The town has changed hands at least twice since March. But a spokesman for the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) said the government statement was «a lie». The rebels say that they are moving closer to Monrovia. This is the latest exchange of claims in this 10-month insurgency. The fighting is part of a series of regional conflicts in neighbouring Sierra Leone and Guinea. The Liberian Government said on 22 May that the army had launched a «major offensive that resulted in the massive retreat of dissident forces». Lurd on the other hand say that it is trying to establish a civilian administration in Lofa county and there is no fighting there at all. Meanwhile, Liberian President Charles Taylor has called for a meeting with his Guinean and Sierra Leonean counterparts in order to settle the region’s conflicts. The Guinean President Lansana Conte, however, will not meet Mr Taylor because he says Mr Taylor is backing rebels movements in the other countries that are destabilising the region. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 24 May 2001)

* Liberia. Regime under threat — The Liberian president, Charles Taylor, has called in the Sierra Leonean Revolutionary United Front (RUF) guerrillas to help fight off an insurgency which threatens his rule. With UN peacekeepers deploying throughout Sierra Leone, the RUF‘s survival has become contingent on Mr Taylor, whose arms-for-diamonds deals have sustained their 10 years of war. But analysts say the insurgency in Lofa county, in northern Liberia, by the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) poses a serious threat to Mr Taylor and could topple him, dramatically increasing the chances of peace in Sierra Leone. Liberian refugees at Daru, a ransacked town near the southern border of Sierra Leone, said the RUF had not stopped the dissidents sweeping Mr Taylor’s ragtag security services before them. UN intelligence sources said LURD were in control of Lofa and had been reported as far south as Salayei, 125 miles from the capital, Monrovia. LURD are thought to be a loose alliance of Mr Taylor’s disgruntled former officers and rival warlords, galvanised by Guinea since it was attacked by RUF and Liberian fighters last year. (The Guardian, UK, 28 May 2001)

* Malawi. Child labour rampant in tobacco industry — The umbrella organisation, Tobacco International Growers in Africa, has noted that the tobacco industry in Malawi, the country’s major forex earner which contributes 70 percent of Malawi’s foreign exchange earnings, is promoting child labour. It seems that many young people are either employed on the tobacco estates or sell cigarettes in the markets or drinking joints. Addressing the Press, the International Tobacco Growers in Africa Chief Executive, Garbett Thyangathyanga, said it happens because children in Malawi provide cheap labour. Most most of the children employed on the tobacco estates are sent there by their parents whose aim is to earn more income. «This is an abuse of the children’s rights, such as the right to education. Primary education in Malawi is free so that children who work in the tobacco industry do so at a time when their friends are in class,» said Thyangathyanga. The Ministry of Gender and Youth says it is aware of the problem. (Frank Jomo, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 24 May 2001)

* Nigeria. Corruption hearings open — In the first case brought by Nigeria’s anti-corruption commission, three senior officials have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. One of the accused Mika Anache was a member of an official panel set up by the government to investigate the management of the state-run airline, Nigeria Airways. He is accused of receiving money to influence the outcome of the hearings, and the three others are accused of paying him. One of them was not present in court, and has yet to plead. The commission was set up last year by President Olusegun Obasanjo as part of his attempts to stamp out corruption in a country which correspondents say is regularly voted one of the most corrupt in the world. (BBC News, UK, 29 May 2001)

* Rwanda/Belgium. The Brussels trial — 23 May: The lawyers for the plaintiffs claiming damages, call for justice vis à vis the widows of those killed in the genocide. 28 May: The lawyer for the plaintiffs claiming damages against two of the accused, Vincent Ntezimana and Alphonse Higaniro finishes his speech, roundly denouncing the two accused as being guilty of genocide. 29 May: The final speeches of the lawyers for the plaintiffs are made today. In particular, the guilt of the two nuns is insisted on. The procedure in the coming days is: 30 May — The lawyers for the defence begin their case; 5 June — Both the defence and the accusation should have ended the presentation of their cases; 6 June — Replies to both defence and prosecution cases; 7 June — The verdicts. 30 May: The defence opens its case. The lawyers defending Vincent Ntezimana plead that a strong element of doubt exists and call for a acquittal verdict for their client. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 31 May 2001)

* Rwanda. Ten sentenced to death — A court in Rwanda is reported to have sentenced 10 people to death and 23 more to life imprisonment for leading the 1994 genocide in which around half a million people died. The state run radio said the court in Gisenyi, 80 kilometres north of the capital Kigali, had found them guilty of organizing the militias that carried out the killings of Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. The radio said that a former member of parliament under the last extremist Hutu government, Wellars Benzi, was among those sentenced to death. Mr Benzi was accused of inciting Hutus to kill Tutsis through articles published in the Kangura newspaper. Correspondents say the judgement comes as Rwanda is trying to set up an alternative legal system to speed up trials of genocide suspects, and reduce overcrowding in the country’s prisons. (BBC News, UK, 26 May 2001)

* Rwanda. Former president under house arrest — The former president of Rwanda, Pasteur Bizimungu, says he has been put under house arrest. Mr Bizimungu told the BBC programme, the Great Lakes Lifeline, that the measure was taken against him as he was planning to launch a new political party, together with other prominent Rwandan politicians. Mr Bizimungu resigned in March following disagreements within the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front. He was succeeded by his former vice-president, General Paul Kagame. (BBC News, UK, 30 May 2001)

* Sénégal. Démission du ministre de l’Economie — Le 23 mai a été une journée pénible pour la vie politique sénégalaise. Le ministre de l’Economie et des Finances, M. Mamadou Seck, personnalité importante du Parti démocratique sénégalais (PDS, au pouvoir), a démissionné dans l’après-midi suite à la diffusion d’informations concernant son implication présumée dans une affaire judiciaire. Selon la presse, il aurait été condamné en 1998 à deux ans de prison pour détournement de fonds. M. Seck a démenti ces accusations, en affirmant que l’affaire avait été classée. Plus tard dans la soirée, une communication officielle annonçait le limogeage de M. Abdoulaye Seye, directeur de la Brigade nationale de la Sûreté de l’Etat, le commissaire qui devait garantir la moralité des ministres avant qu’ils ne soient nommés. Ce sont les premières difficultés du nouveau gouvernement mis en place le 12 mai. (Misna, Italie, 24 mai 2001)

* Senegal. Rebel movements in Casamance — 25 May: Senegal says it has suspended an offensive against separatist rebels in Casamance. Over the past week, the Senegalese Government has been involved in operations against the rebel Movement of Democratic Forces in Casamance (MFDC) trying to eliminate their bases. 26 May: The MFDC says peace talks between the rival factions due to be held in The Gambia next week, have been postponed. The MFDC‘s leader, Augustin Diamacioune, says continuing differences between the rival factions and an upsurge of fighting in Casamance has forced the delay. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 26 May 2001)

* Sénégal. Affrontements en Casamance — 200 rebelles auraient été tués par l’armée lors d’une offensive qui visait à reprendre possession de bases rebelles en Casamance, a annoncé le 27 mai une agence de presse publique sénégalaise, qui affirme aussi qu’un grand nombre de villages ont été partiellement ou totalement brûlés la semaine passée. - D’autre part, près d’un millier de réfugiés casamançais, qui s’étaient installés depuis plus de dix ans au nord de la Guinée Bissau, ont été rapatriés de force par l’armée de ce pays depuis le 18 mai. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 28 mai 2001)

* Senegal. Casamance clashes — Guinea Bissau pushes back refugees — More than 200 are dead and many are injured after a recent military «combing out» operation by the Senegalese army in the separatist Casamance region. For some time, the army has been working through the Bignona region on the border with The Gambia, to capture armed bands responsible for acts of terrorism. During the operation the army clashed with members of the armed wing of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), struggling for independence since 1982. A military spokesman told Fides that the army is determined to clear the region of these bandits responsible for a series of massacres over the past few months. The MFDC‘s secretary general, a Catholic priest, Rev. Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, says the bandits are led by Salif Sadio, leader of a break-away faction of the MFDC. On March 16, this year, with the mediation of Bishop Maxient Coly of Ziguinchor, the Senegalese government reached a peace accord with the MFDC, but not all the rebels factions signed. A meeting to bring the different MFDC factions together, planned for the end of May, was postponed after the recent violence which forced more than 2000 people across the border to Gambia for safety. In the meantime Guinea Bissau has expelled from its territory about 1500 Casamance refugees who since 1990 had settled in villages along the Senegal-Guinea Bissau border. The army pushed the people back over the border, burning homes and killing livestock. The government justified the operation as an action to prevent war from spreading to its territory and because the refugees had always refused to report MFDC members hiding in their midst. Senegal’s internal minister said he agreed with Guinea Bissau’s policy. Humanitarian sources say about 7500 Casamance refugees are registered in Guinea Bissau. (Fides, Vatican City, 28 May 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Désarmement — 25mai. Ce sont à présent 2.500 ex-combattants du RUF et des Forces de défense civile qui ont adhéré au plan de désarmement prévu par les accords de paix d’Abuja et de Freetown. La procédure prévoit qu’ils détruisent eux-mêmes leurs armes au moment de leur remise, en présence de membres de la Minusil. Les ex-combattants sont alors pourvus de documents et emmenés dans des camps où ils reçoivent une assistance en vue de leur réinsertion dans la société. L’opération, qui s’est effectuée dans les districts du nord-ouest, s’étendra à partir de ce 25 mai à la zone de Lunsar. Ce 25 mai encore, plus de 600 enfants soldats âgés de 8 à 15 ans, forcés de combattre dans les rangs du RUF, sont remis au représentant spécial de l’Onu, M. Adeniji. Le 30 mai, a commencé le processus de désarmement et de réinsertion dans le district oriental de Kono. L’opération a été avancée parce que, ces dernières semaines, cette zone a été le théâtre d’escarmouches entre rebelles et milices pro-gouvernementales (Kamajors). D’autre part, à la demande du RUF, l’armée sierra-léonaise a déployé ses formations dans le district septentrional de Kambia, le long de la frontière guinéenne. Les dirigeants du RUF semblent enfin déterminés à éviter de nouveaux incidents. (D’après Misna, Italie, 25-30 mai 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Rebels free child soldiers — Rebels in Sierra Leone have released nearly 600 child soldiers as part of a process of ending the west African country’s decade-long civil war. Oluyemi Adeniji, the head of the United Nations mission in Sierra Leone, said the release «clearly demonstrates the commitment of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) to the total stoppage of war». It comes a week after the RUF released more than 200 child soldiers — but thousands of children have been forced or cajoled into the conflict. Children have carried out some of the worst atrocities of the war, including hacking off the limbs of enemies and civilians. The release of the child soldiers is another sign that progress is being made towards ending the civil war in the country, after an announcement ten days ago that rebels and pro-government militias had agreed to start disarming. A joint statement after the talks said both sides had agreed to give up child soldiers who had fought for them after being abducted from, or cajoled, to leave their villages. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 26 May 2001)

* Somalia. Somaliland votes on its future — Ten years after they unilaterally broke away from Somalia, the people of Somaliland vote on 31 May in a referendum on a new constitution that would in effect confirm their independence. The region declared itself a separate state from Somalia when that country was descending into civil war in 1991. The BBC Africa analyst says Somaliland’s leaders have achieved a level of stability not seen in the rest of Somalia —but its independence has never been accepted internationally. (BBC News, UK, 31 May 2001)

* Somaliland. Référendum — Les habitants du Somaliland, ce petit territoire au nord-ouest de la Somalie qui a proclamé son indépendance il y a dix ans, sont appelés ce 31 mai à ratifier par référendum leur première Constitution. Le référendum devrait faire avaliser l’indépendance qui n’a jamais été reconnue par la communauté internationale. Le secrétaire général de l’OUA, M. Salim Ahmed Salim, a encore affirmé la semaine dernière que l’organisation panafricaine ne soutient aucune action mettant en cause l’unité et la souveraineté de la Somalie. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 31 mai 2001)

* South Africa. Inquiry begins into Pretoria arms deal — South African investigators begin public hearings on 28 May into alleged corruption by senior politicians in the hugely controversial purchase of £4bn worth of weapons from European manufacturers. But scepticism about the effectiveness of the public protector’s investigation — one of three by government agencies looking into the accusations of corruption — has grown as the African National Congress has sought to use its overwhelming majority in parliament to limit the political damage. The public hearings will examine dozens of allegations of financial irregularities, nepotism and other wrongdoing. One part of the deal under scrutiny is how British Aerospace won a £420m contract to supply training planes for fighter pilots. South Africa’s air force chiefs selected an Italian aircraft that is cheap and modern, but the politicians later amended the specifications to favour the ageing British Hawks, twice the price of the Italian tender. The government says the changes were made for operational reasons. The air force has quietly derided the claim. The investigators are examining claims of a link between the contract and BAe’s funding of overseas trips for cabinet ministers and MPs, and its donation of £500,000 to the ANC‘s military veterans’ association. The weapons deal came under fire even before the contracts were signed. Critics, ranging from the unions to churches, questioned why the country needed to spend twice its housing budget on warships and fighter aircraft. The finance ministry warned that such vast spending could destabilise the economy, particularly if the rand fell sharply against the dollar. The government dismissed such fears, claiming that the deal would create 65,000 jobs and bring in three times the cost of the weapons in foreign investment and trade. (The Guardian, UK, 28 May 2001)

* South Africa. Arms inquiry — 28 May: Public hearings in South Africa into a controversial $6 billion arms deal have been postponed — after getting bogged down in legal arguments as they get underway, today. The two-week delay is agreed after the Ministry of Defence requests more time to prepare its evidence, and local broadcasters ask for permission to televise the proceedings. The hearings are intended to look into allegations of fraud and corruption surrounding the deal which was signed a year and a half ago. (BBC News, UK, 28 May 2001)

* South Africa. Mbeki blames big business over economy — On 29 May, Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, criticised large corporations for not doing enough to foster economic growth and black empowerment within the economy. He said he intended to intervene to ensure that the large companies that dominate the South African economy played a greater role in achieving economic growth. «I want to engage these large corporations on an individual basis and ask them about their investment plans,» he said in interview with the Financial Times. While the government had done all it could to put in place a strong macroeconomic framework, the private sector had lagged behind. «The government has done all it could to create the right climate and to attract investments, but the response from the private sector has not been as good as it could be,» he said. Mr Mbeki also laid some of the blame for the perceived failure of black empowerment at the door of large business. «One of the reasons black economic empowerment stalled is that many companies simply did not take it on board as part of their challenges,» he said. (Financial Times, UK, 30 May 2001)

* South Africa. Truth Commission closes shop — They came by the thousands: traumatized mothers wanting to know the fate of their children, unapologetic policemen seeking absolution for unspeakable crimes and self-righteous politicians, shunning responsibility for the brutality they presided over. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up following South Africa’s first all-race elections in 1994, laid bare the cruelty of the racist apartheid regime and worked to help the country come to terms with its past by granting amnesty to perpetrators willing to tell the whole story behind their crimes. As the commission’s last remaining committee prepares to shut down on 31 May, many South Africans are still debating the success of their country’s historic exercise in confronting its past. (InfoBeat USA, 30 May 2001)

* Afrique du Sud. Visite de L. Jospin — Le Premier ministre français Lionel Jospin est arrivé au Cap, ce 31 mai peu après 9h., pour une visite officielle de deux jours à l’Afrique du Sud, destinée à resserrer les liens politiques et économiques de la France avec la première puissance du continent africain. M. Jospin est accompagné de ses ministres des Affaires étrangères, de l’Agriculture et du Commerce extérieur. Après un entretien avec le président Mbeki, trois accords seront signés, sur la coopération bilatérale, les opérations de sauvetage en mer et l’entraide judiciaire entre les deux pays. Au cours de l’après-midi, M. Jospin s’adressera aux deux Chambres du Parlement. Le 1er juin, il se rendra à Johannesburg, où il rencontrera Nelson Mandela et participera à un forum de 300 chefs d’entreprises. (AP, USA, 31 mai 2001)