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: 05-07-2001

PART #3/4 - From NAMIBIA - TCHAD

* Namibia. Farmers push for land reform — Black and white Namibian farmers joined forces on 2 July to put pressure on the government to speed up land reform to avoid Zimbabwe-style farm invasions. «Although many of our people... need land to improve their living conditions, political anarchy, violence, land grabbing and farm invasions and mismanagement should be avoided at all costs,» Moses Katjiuongua said at the launch of a farmers’ group called Beyond 2000 Movement. He warned the government to deal swiftly with land reform or face «another Zimbabwe,» where hundreds of mainly white-owned farms have been seized by veterans of the 1970s liberation war with the support of President Robert Mugabe’s government. Although Namibia has suffered no farm invasions, farmers fear landless people soon will grow impatient with the slow pace of reform. Since independence from South Africa in 1990, only about 35,000 Namibians have been resettled on commercial farmland. Some 243,000 are still waiting for land, and to resettle them the government needs $112 million to buy 9.5 million hectares (23 million acres). Namibia has 4,045 commercial farms. About 30.5 million hectares (75 million acres) of land is owned by white farmers and 2.2 million hectares (5.4 million acres) by black farmers, according to government statistics. (CNN, USA, 3 July 2001)

* Niger. Journalists to set up Press Centre — Managing Editors and Editors-in-Chief of media houses in Niger, have decided to set up a Press Centre in Niamey, the private daily Tenere Express reported. It is  to co-ordinate communication and dialogue among journalists. The Centre will also help to negotiate the price, purchase and distribution of newsprint, films and other items needed by journalists in the gathering and dissemination of news. Niger’s private press has been boosted by the democratisation process following the national conference in 1991. Since the conference, several news organisations especially in the print media, a news agency and periodic publications have been launched. However, most of the publications only survived for a year and disappeared due to the lack of funds mainly from advertisements, small circulation and a low purchasing power on the part of readers. Only the private daily, Le Republicain, whose publisher has a printing press, is regular on the news-stands. (PANA, Senegal, 3 July 2001)

* Nigeria. Violences interethniques — Des policiers ont été dépêchés en renfort dans l’Etat de Nasarawa, au centre du Nigeria, en raison de la recrudescence des violences interethniques, qui durent depuis 17 jours et ont fait environ 200 morts, rapporte l’agence PANA le 28 juin. Les heurts ont éclaté le 12 juin dernier entre les Azara de langue haoussa, les premiers habitants de la région, et les Tiv, originaires de l’Etat voisin de Bénoué, à la suite du meurtre d’un chef azara par des inconnus. Les violences ont connu cette semaine une escalade, avec des attaques menées contre les villages de Tudun Adabu, Aguchi, Agaza et Giza. Dans la seule journée du 26 juin, 40 personnes ont été tuées et plusieurs autres blessées. Des jeunes se sont déchaînés dans la ville de Lafia, brûlant plusieurs habitations. Les habitants ont cherché refuge ailleurs. Le gouverneur de Nasarawa a lancé un appel au calme. - Selon le quotidien français Libération du 3 juillet, plus de 22.000 personnes ont fui leurs habitations de l’Etat de Bauchi, dans le nord du Nigeria, à la suite de violences communautaires entre chrétiens de l’ethnie Jarawa et musulmans haoussas, qui durent depuis le 12 juin. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 3 juillet 2001)

* Nigeria. Violence claims 10 victims in Delta State — A fresh outbreak of communal violence in the trouble-prone Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta State has claimed 10 lives and left many others injured, the local media reported on 3 July. The fighting, between the two Ijaw communities of Odimodi and Ogulagha, erupted again on 1 July after about three months lull. The communities have been fighting over patronage from oil companies operating in the area. Seven persons were reported killed in the first round of violence in April. (PANA, Senegal, 3 July 2001)

* Nigeria. Abiola death inquiry opened — Nigeria’s human rights commission has opened hearings into the death of Moshood Abiola — the man believed  to have won the annulled presidential election of June 1993. Proceedings were postponed until 19 July, however, to enable former military ruler General Abdusalami Abubakar to give evidence. Mr Abiola died in jail in July 1998 during the time of General Abubakar’s rule. Mr Abiola’s death was put down to a heart attack at the time, but his family suspected foul play. Mr Abiola was a key figure in Nigeria’s democracy movement and his death, at a time when the country was taking steps towards re-establishing democracy, sparked riots. (BBC News, UK, 3 July 2001)

* Rwanda. Rwandan tribunal investigator in court — A Rwandan investigator for the UN Criminal Tribunal has appeared in court in Arusha for the first time since his arrest in May. Simeon Nshamihigo pleaded not guilty to three counts of genocide and crimes against humanity in the 1994 genocide. The prosecution said he organised and participated in the killing of Tutsis in southwestern Rwanda where he worked as a deputy prosecutor. Mr Nshmihigo was identified by witnesses to the court while working as a defense investigator for a former Rwandan military commander, who operated in the southern Cyangugu region during the genocide. He is the first member on the tribunal’s staff to face genocide charges. (BBC News, UK, 29 June 2001)

* Rwanda. Infiltrations — Le 29 juin, un policier rwandais a été tué et le maire du district de Ndiza (province de Gitarama) grièvement blessé par des combattants extrémistes hutu, a-t-on appris de source locale. Joseph Sibomana a été pris sous le feu de deux “infiltrés” alors qu’il circulait en moto sur une piste du mont Ndiza; un policier qui l’escortait est mort sur le coup. Les auteurs de l’attentat, deux rebelles âgés de 13 et 20 ans, ont été capturés. Les miliciens Interahamwe et les ex-FAR tentent depuis la fin du mois de mai de s’infiltrer sur le territoire rwandais via la forêt des volcans séparant le Rwanda et le Congo. (La Libre Belgique, 3 juillet 2001)

* Rwanda: «No quick pull-out from Congo» — The Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, has said the international community should not expect a quick withdrawal of Rwandan troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr Kagame said his soldiers needed to remain in Congo for the time being because Kinshasa was continuing to support Hutu rebels entering north-west Rwanda. The authorities in Kinshasa have previously denied similar accusations. Mr Kagame was speaking ahead of the 4 July National Day celebrations which mark the liberation of the Rwandan capital, Kigali, from Hutu extremists in 1994. (BBC News, UK, 4 July 2001)

* Sahara occidental. Mandat de la Minurso prolongé — Le 29 juin, le Conseil de sécurité de l’Onu a décidé de prolonger le mandat de la Mission des Nations unies au Sahara occidental (Minurso) pour cinq mois encore jusqu’au 30 novembre. Selon M. Kofi Annan, cela permettra  aux deux parties, le Maroc et le Polisario, d’avoir le temps de négocier un accord-cadre qui leur a été proposé en vue de sortir de l’impasse. (Il s’agit d’une large autonomie pour le territoire). M. Annan prévoit aussi un référendum dans cinq ans pour déterminer si oui ou non le Sahara occidental doit intégrer le Maroc ou devenir indépendant. (PANA, Sénégal, 29 juin 2001)

* Sao Tomé et Principe. Candidats à la présidentielle — Cinq candidats à l’élection présidentielle, prévue le 29 juillet 2001, ont été retenus par le Tribunal suprême. Il s’agit de l’ancien président Manuel Pinto da Costa, du capitaine Victor Monteiro, du candidat de l’Alliance démocratique indépendante Fradique de Menezes, du président de l’Assemblée nationale Francisco Fortunato Pires, et de l’ancien ministre Carlos Tiny. La campagne électorale commencera le 14 juillet. (AFP, France, 1er juillet 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Rebels release hostages — 30 June: Rebels in Sierra Leone have freed 38 Guinean hostages who had been abducted during fighting along the border between the two West African countries. The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR says the civilians — mostly women and children — were handed over to it in the Kaliahun district of Sierra Leone. Correspondents say two of the women, held captive for six months, claimed to have been gang raped by the rebels. 2 July: A total of 7,642 rebels have laid down their arms since January. 4 July: About 30 RUF fighters from the important eastern, diamond-mining region of Kono which they hold, have surrendered their weapons. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 4 July 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Processus de paix — Un total de 7.642 rebelles sierra-léonais, ex-enfants-soldats, membres d’une milice civile ou soldats renégats, a rendu les armes depuis le mois de janvier, a annoncé le 2 juillet un responsable de l’Onu à Freetown. La milice progouvernementale et les rebelles du Front révolutionnaire uni (RUF) se sont engagés en mai à  désarmer leurs combattants. - Le 4 juillet, le RUF a reconnu le gouvernement civil de la Sierra Leone comme une “autorité légitime” et réclame un statut légal pour pouvoir se préparer aux élections prévues cette année. Ce processus pourrait mettre un terme à une rébellion qui dure depuis 1991. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 5 juillet 2001)

* Somalia. Crackdown signalled in Mogadishu — A rare day of celebration took place in the capital, Mogadishu, on 1 July, to mark the 41st anniversary of Somalia’s independence. It marks the first time that independence festivities have been held under the auspices of the transitional national government. A flag-raising ceremony was held in Mogadishu’s main stadium and the city was lit up with coloured lights, a sight not  seen in the capital for the past 10 years. But the lights were mainly concentrated around the government houses and the streets leading to them, with most of the roads remaining as dark as before. At the ceremony, Prime Minister Ali Khalif Gallaydh spoke about the history of the day, but also the current issue of security. Mr Gallaydh vowed that his government would soon be able to control the capital. «Major operations will start immediately after today,» he said, sending his condolences to the families of two police officers killed three days ago. «I promise the noble cause in which these two men were killed will continue and we will crush all the banditry in Mogadishu,» he said. (BBC News, UK, 2 July 2001)

* South Africa. A queen with power over the skies — On 1 July, South Africa buried the last in a line of rain queens, Mokope Modjadji V, who was also the country’s only woman tribal leader of modern times, media reports said. Queen Modjadji, whose name means «the woman who belongs to the sun,» governed the tiny Lobedu tribe and was believed to have power over rain that she inherited from her ancestors. She died on 28 June. A leading regional politician told mourners her death had occurred just days after an eclipse had plunged portions of southern Africa into darkness. «I think the African heaven chose to mourn her demise in this spectacular way,» Northern Province premier Ngoako Ramathlhodi said in remarks reported by the local SAPA news agency. (CNN, USA, 2 July 2001)

* South Africa. Discount car scheme to be probed — DaimlerChrysler, the German car manufacturer, tried to distance itself on 3 July from a policy of supplying discounted cars to senior South African government officials by a subsidiary company participating in a R43bn ($5.3bn) defence deal. The Scorpions, an investigative arm of the South African police, has launched an inquiry into the supply of 30 Mercedes Benz vehicles, at favourable prices, to influential South Africans by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (Eads). «We know nothing about what Eads did. It’s a company our mother company owns some shares in. The relationship is purely at a shareholder level and definitely not at management or operational level,» Lulama Chakela, a spokeswoman for DaimlerChrysler South Africa, said. «There is a longstanding relationship with the mother company to supply them [Eads] cars... We sell vehicles and we should be allowed to determine the price. What Eads does with the cars after the sale is none of our business.» DaimlerChrysler also issued a statement claiming it was the victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by forces wishing to damage the South African economy. On 29 June, the Scorpions questioned Tony Yengeni, the former chairman of the parliamentary joint standing committee on defence, on subpoena about the terms under which he bought a Mercedes Benz. Opposition parties have called for the resignation of General Siphiwe Nyanda, the head of the South African National Defence Force, after he  admitted buying a discounted car arranged by Eads. (Financial Times, UK, 4 July 2001)

* South Africa. Top policeman arrested — One of South Africa’s top policeman has been arrested on fraud charges. The national head of detective services dealing with organised crime, Assistant Commissioner Albert Eksteen, was suspended without pay early last month. He is alleged to have submitted false travel expenses worth R40 000 between 1999 and 2000, according to division commissioner Johan de Beer. The commercial crime court in Pretoria released him on bail, but he is not allowed to leave his state and has had to surrender his passport. A warrant was issued by a magistrate in Pretoria on 2 July. Mr De Beer told the South African press agency that Mr Eksteen’s arrest came after «intensive investigations. This will send a clear message to both serving members and the public that the South African Police Service is committed towards uprooting acts of criminality and corruption within its ranks,» he said. Eksteen has been ordered to appear in court again on 27 September. (BBC News, UK, 4 July 2001)

* Soudan. Plan de paix égypto-libyen — L’opposition soudanaise a approuvé à l’unanimité une version révisée d’une initiative égypto-libyenne pour la paix au Soudan, qui prévoit un gouvernement de transition avec la participation de toutes les parties soudanaises, a déclaré le 29 juin un porte-parole de l’Alliance nationale démocratique (AND), une coalition regroupant l’opposition nordiste et la rébellion sudiste. Le porte-parole a indiqué que le gouvernement soudanais avait rejeté cette proposition, mais le ministre soudanais des Affaires étrangères a déclaré que “les autorités examinaient toujours le mémorandum”. - Le 4 juillet, l’agence officielle soudanaise SUNA a annoncé que le Parti national du Congrès, au pouvoir, avait accepté l’initiative de paix conduite par l’Egypte et la Libye. “Nous acceptons le texte et nous appelons toutes les forces politiques soudanaises à faire de même”, a déclaré le secrétaire général du parti, selon SUNA. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 4 juillet 2001)

* Sudan. Peace plan accepted — The Sudanese Government has accepted a Libyan-Egyptian initiative aimed at ending the civil war. The decision, by the ruling National Congress Party, comes a few days after the peace plan was backed by the Opposition. The initiative calls on both sides to set up a committee leading to a national reconciliation conference. Also for constitutional reforms and a transitional government. However, it does not include a referendum on self-determination for the south. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 5 July 2001)

* Swaziland. Threats over monarch’s decree — Swaziland’s trade union movement warned on 2 July that the tiny African kingdom faced a series of  mass protests similar to that last year when several people were injured in clashes with the police and army, news agency DPA has reported. A spokesperson for the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) said a mass meeting organised by the SFTU and political parties would be held this weekend to finalise mass worker protests. Tension has been building in the country for the past week, since King Mswati III’s issued a decree giving him more powers, the report said. Spokesmen for the SFTU and political parties were quoted saying the protests would also be connected to a raging chieftaincy dispute in the Macetjeni and KaMkhweli areas. Two traditional chiefs, Mvuso Dlamini and Mliba Fakudze were removed last year to make way for the king’s elder brother, Prince Maguga, according to the report. The two chiefs on 2 July refused to meet the king and his advisory body, the Swazi National Council Standing Committee, to explain why they went into exile in South Africa for over nine months. «We will not entertain such harassment because it’s them who expelled us with our followers last year. We did not leave on our own, they forced us to leave,» Fakudze said. According to reports from within the royal family circle, a clash was looming between the king, Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini and his legal advisor, Phesheya Dlamini, for formulating the controversial decree purported to extend the powers of the king, the report said. The decree, issued on 22 June, removed powers from the courts from hearing certain traditional and civil matters pending before Mswati and his advisory body. It also gave the government the power to ban newspapers and books at will. (IRIN, Southern Africa, 3 July 2001)

* Tanzania. $1bn needed to fight AIDS — Tanzania’s President Benjamin Mkapa says his country needs $1bn a year to fight AIDS. In an end of the month address, Mr Mkapa said his government would make anti-retroviral drugs available to all those infected with HIV. The president also urged pharmaceutical companies to support Tanzania’s efforts to fight the disease. «We must now rise up to the challenge and (take) collective responsibility for saving ourselves and our society from imminent extinction,» said Mr Mkapa in his speech broadcast by state-owned radio and television. «This is a very heavy burden for us because the amount (needed) is equivalent to the government’s annual revenue collection,» he added. President Mkapa said the best way to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS was through a change of sexual habits. (BBC News, UK, 1 July 2001)

* Tanzania/Zanzibar. Zanzibar Film Festival — The Zanzibar film festival, the largest cultural event in East Africa, opened in historic venues across the Indian Ocean archipelago. At least 40 countries are participating in the fourth film-and-music festival, dubbed Festival of the Dhow Countries, which opened on 19 June. The festival, which runs through July 14,  includes film, video, music, dance and theatre performances, events for women and children, seminars and workshops for artists, and village cultural events in rural areas.Some 100 films and documentaries will be screened and judged for awards. Sorious Samuro, a documentary film-maker from Sierra Leone, is screening three films about his war-ravaged West African nation. (InfoBeat, USA, 2 July 2001)

* Tanzania. Vice-President dies — Tanzania’s Vice-President, Dr Omar Ali Juma, has died of a heart attack at the age of 60. Dr Juma, who comes from Pemba, was a veterinary surgeon before entering politics. He served as the Chief Minister for Zanzibar for the ruling CCM party before moving to Dar-es-Salaam to become President Mkapa’s Vice-President. Seven days of national mourning have been announced. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 5 July 2001)

* Tchad. Le dispositif Epervier — Le délégué national à l’Afrique du Parti socialiste français (au gouvernement en France), M. Guy Labertit, a suggéré le retrait du Tchad du dispositif Epervier, dans un article publié à Paris en début de semaine. “Paris entretient toujours un dispositif coûteux mis en place à titre provisoire... en février 1986 pour aider les autorités tchadiennes à préserver la souveraineté de leur Etat”, constate M. Labertit qui précise que “rien ne justifie aujourd’hui, sur les plans politique et militaire, pareil dispositif”. Même si aucune réaction officielle tchadienne n’a pu être obtenue ce 3 juillet à Paris, les observateurs estiment que cette prise de position compliquera encore davantage les relations entre Paris et N’Djamena. Au lendemain de la dernière élection présidentielle tchadienne, le Parti socialiste français avait, rappelle-t-on, dénoncé des fraudes massives. (PANA, Sénégal, 3 juillet 2001)