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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 11-04-2002

PART #4/4 - From NIGERIA to  ZIMBABWE

* Nigeria. May local elections — 6 April: Nigerians are to go to the polls in local elections on 18 May, after the Supreme Court ruled against parliament’s attempts to postpone a vote for another year. It will be Nigeria’s first nationwide election since the presidential poll which ended military rule in Nigeria in May 1999. The date was set by the State Independent Electoral Commission, which said it wanted to  follow the court’s judgement strictly. Parliament wanted the tenure of Nigeria’s 774 councils to be extended until 2003, when presidential and parliamentary elections are due to take place. But the court ruled that any change to the election timetable would be unconstitutional. The Electoral Commission announced the polling date following a meeting with Nigeria’s 36 state governors in the capital, Abuja, on 5 April. The governors had brought the Supreme Court case against a law, approved by President Olusegun Obasanjo in December, which extended the councils’ mandate until March 2003. They described the court’s ruling — the first time the court has overturned a parliamentary decision since Mr Obasanjo took power — as a victory for democracy. But there are concerns about the planned use of an existing electoral role for the elections, with some politicians claiming that many eligible voters will be disenfranchised. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 7 April 2002)

* Nigeria. Official diverts funds destined for polio eradication campaign — On 7 April, it as revealed that funds destined for a polio eradication campaign in Nigeria have been diverted by a senior Nigerian official, a friend of the wife of President Olusegun Obasanjo, to a local interest-bearing account without the consent of donors. Donor officials said they want to know the whereabouts of an estimated 100m naira ($862,000) in interest earned because of delayed spending of the funds, which are meant for this year’s vaccination programme. The European Union handed over the funds at the end of November last year. Officials said the money was then placed by Dere Awosika, the director of Nigeria’s polio eradication campaign, in an account at Hallmark bank where it has been earning interest of up to 25 per cent. Mrs Awosika is a friend of Stella Obasanjo and at least one Nigerian official has been summoned to the presidency to answer questions relating to the case. However, Mr Obasanjo told the Financial Times he was not aware that EU funds had been allocated inappropriately. Any irregularities in the handling of the polio funds could damage Nigeria’s other health programmes, which need financial help from international organisations. «If the donors are unhappy with the way the funds are being managed for the polio campaign, there could be consequences for Nigeria’s access to other funds such as those for the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria,» one United Nations official said. The director of the polio eradication campaign, Mrs Awosika, refused to comment on details of how the EU money was handled. However she said: «Not one euro has been mismanaged. There is nothing for me to cover.» (Financial Times, UK, 8 April 2002)

* Rwanda. Genocide tribunal ready to indict first Tutsis — 5 April: The international tribunal for Rwanda is to bring its first charges against Tutsis  accused of murdering Hutus during the 1994 genocide, despite Kigali’s attempts to block the investigations. More than 80 Hutu leaders have been indicted for their role in the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis that began eight years ago this week. But so far no Tutsis fighting with the Rwandan Patriotic Front rebel army, which overthrew the Hutu extremist regime, have been charged, despite growing pressure for the victors also to be held accountable for their crimes. Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of the tribunal which sits in Arusha, Tanzania, said on 4 April she was investigating massacres of Hutu civilians by Tutsi soldiers during 1994 and would hand down the first indictments before the end of the year. «We have opened investigations into three massacres. I have spoken to [Rwanda’s president] Paul Kagame. I showed him a list of massacres and said we will be investigating. I said that if Rwanda wants justice and peace there must be accountability on both sides,» she said. But she said General Kagame had not delivered on a pledge to cooperate, and most of the tribunal’s investigations into the massacres had taken place outside Rwanda. «Cooperation inside Rwanda has been very difficult, despite the promises of the president,» Mrs del Ponte said. The investigation is politically sensitive because some Hutu leaders have argued that the massacre of Tutsis was an act of self-defence. Others have sought to equate the killings on each side, to diminish the genocide. (The Guardian, UK, 5 April 2002)

* Rwanda. 8e anniversaire du génocide — Le dimanche 7 avril, les Rwandais ont commémoré le génocide de 1994 dans différentes parties du pays. Cette huitième commémoration s’est déroulée au grand séminaire de Nyakibanda, dans la province de Butare, où les restes d’environ 3.000 victimes ont été enterrés. Une semaine de deuil national est observée chaque année au Rwanda. Le samedi soir, une veillée funèbre avait eu lieu au stade national de Kigali. Le président Kagamé a déclaré que les Rwandais ne devaient pas être les otages de l’histoire. “Il convient de souligner la reconstruction, mais en gardant bien à l’esprit les causes sous-jacentes de ce qui est arrivé en 1994", a-t-il affirmé. Il a aussi accusé les opposants de ”prêcher la division parmi les Rwandais". D’autre part, M. Kagamé a assuré que la période de transition en cours au Rwanda ne sera pas prolongée. L’actuelle période de transition doit s’achever par une élection présidentielle en juillet 2003. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 8 avril 2002)

* Rwanda. Rwanda remembers genocide — After a week of harrowing television footage commemorating Rwanda’s genocide, survivors marked its eighth anniversary on 7 April wanting to lay the gruesome past to rest. «I was national junior volleyball champion,» one survivor, Ephraim, said. «I don’t want to be known for the rest of my life as a survivor, always talking about the genocide. I want a good life.» Most survivors have found the commemoration week of television and radio broadcasts giving blow-by-blow accounts of the killings of their mothers, fathers and siblings punishing. Around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu extremists in Rwanda during the 100 days of bloodshed from April to June 1994. «There is one image they show absolutely every night,» said Jean-Pierre, who had to piece together the hacked remains of his father in 1994 in order to bury him. «It’s a woman agonizing, with all this stuff coming out of her mouth. When it comes on I switch off,» he said. President Paul Kagame travelled to the southern town of Nyakibanda in Butare province where the remains of 3,000 genocide victims were assembled and reburied in one large grave, witnesses said. «We have to ask people to participate in rebuilding a new nation...not to be held hostage by our history, but rather to learn from it, to move forward and to build a better future,» Kagame said late on 6 April at a press conference in Kigali. Solemn ceremonies were held across the country. (CNN, USA, 8 April 2002)

* Rwanda. Alliance de 3 partis en exil — Trois partis rwandais d’opposition en exil ont créé une “alliance” contre le pouvoir en place à Kigali. La nouvelle Alliance pour la démocratie et la réconciliation nationale (ADRN-Igihango) “propose au peuple rwandais la mise en place d’une démocratie consensuelle susceptible de conduire le Rwanda vers l’instauration d’un Etat de droit à même d’assurer la coexistence pacifique entre toutes les communautés rwandaises”, indique un communiqué signé par le porte-parole de l’organisation, l’ancien journaliste Déogratias Mushayidi. (Le Figaro, France, 9 avril 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Kabbah — a political survivor — After six years in office, surviving a series of attempts to topple his government, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah has emerged as a political survivor in Sierra Leonean politics. Last month he was named to lead his Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) in the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 14 May. An almost arrogant President Kabbah told journalists: «I am confident of victory, there will be no run-off because I am going to defeat my opponents hands down.» Emerging unopposed at the SLPP convention in the southern city of Bo was a feat unprecedented in the party’s 50-year history. President Kabbah had outwitted his arch-rival Charles Margai, a barrister whose father and uncle had both served as prime minister of Sierra Leone under the SLPP. Mr Margai was safety and security minister until January when he resigned to contest the SLPP leadership against his former boss. But he was forced out of the race through what his supporters say was a plot by Mr Kabbah’s henchmen within the party. The president’s detractors say Mr Kabbah’s weak leadership has been exposed in times of crisis. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 9 April 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Le RUF à la présidentielle — L’ancien parti rebelle du Front révolutionnaire uni (RUF) a présenté Pallo Bangura, son secrétaire général, à l’élection présidentielle de mai. Le chef de ce parti, Foday Sankoh, actuellement en prison, n’a pas été autorisé à se présenter. Le 10 avril, la Commission électorale nationale a approuvé cette candidature. Le président de la commission a déclaré qu’il était nécessaire d’accepter la branche politique du RUF. Toutefois, certains ex-combattants du RUF ont affirmé qu’ils ne participeront qu’aux élections législatives et qu’ils boycotteront la présidentielle pour réclamer la libération de M. Sankoh. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 10 avril 2002)

* South Africa. AIDS drug — 4 April: South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the government must supply a key anti-Aids drug to pregnant women while another court appeal is pending. The drug, Nevirapine, has been at the centre of a bitter legal battle between the government and anti-Aids campaigners. It is known to cut the risk of HIV/AIDS transmission from mother to child by up to 50%. South Africa’s government has so far prohibited the use of the drug beyond a pilot project, arguing that it is expensive to distribute and potentially dangerous. The government is appealing against an earlier High Court ruling that it has a constitutional duty to supply the drug. The Constitutional Court has now confirmed last month’s judgment by the High Court, which had also ruled that state hospitals with the necessary capacity should provide Nevirapine, and that they should not wait for the results of the government’s next appeal. South Africa, with an estimated one in nine people HIV-positive, has the largest infected population in the world. (BBC News, UK, 4 April 2002)

* South Africa. Mandela backs Mbeki’s second term — 4 April: Nelson Mandela has thrown his support behind Thabo Mbeki’s bid for a second term as South Africa’s president. But even as Mandela backed his successor he also warned Mbeki against his continued scepticism of the link between HIV and AIDS and his policy of denying anti-retroviral drug therapy in most state hospitals. «There’s nobody in the history of his country, no prime minister, no president, (who) can ever boast inside that he has done better than Thabo Mbeki. That is why I will strongly support him for a second term. He is doing a marvellous job both inside and outside South Africa,» the 83-year-old former president said in a national  radio interview on 4 April. But when asked if he regretted his public calls on the government to radically alter its position on AIDS and HIV Mandela said: «That is not a question from which I can retreat. When people are dying -– babies, young people - I can never be quiet.» (CNN, USA, 4 April 2002)

* South Africa. Buying Hawk Jets — 6 April: The South African government has ignored opposition calls to cancel the purchase of 12 British Aerospace Hawk trainer jets in the second part of a fighter aircraft deal expected to cost $2.2bn. Under the agreement with British Aerospace, South Africa had until 1 April to cancel the second part of the arms acquisition deal reached last year. The government has remained silent on its decision, but officials say it has decided to proceed with the purchase of the 12 Hawks at a cost of about $265m. South Africa has already bought 12 Hawks from British Aerospace and nine dual-seat Gripens made by British Aerospace and the Swedish firm Saab. The first batch of Hawks is already being manufactured and will be delivered from 2003. The second batch will be delivered from 2006 following the government’s decision to proceed with the deal. A South African Ministry of Defence spokesman, Sam Mkhwanazi, refused to comment on the deal, saying the government would issue a detailed statement next week. However, sources said the purchase was going ahead and the government had rejected opposition calls to cancel the deal. The government has until 31 March, 2004 to cancel the third and last tranche of the arms deal which will see the acquisition of a further 19 single-seat Gripens. Opposition parties and civic groups have been staunchly opposed to the second and third tranches. The main opposition Democratic Alliance described the decision to go ahead with the second tranche as irresponsible, saying the money could have been saved and used for other more pressing social needs. (The Independent, UK, 8 April 2002)

* South Africa. White supremacists in court — Three men accused of belonging to a white supremacist group and plotting to overthrow President Thabo Mbeki have been taken to court in Pretoria. They will remain in police custody until 12 April, when they are due to be formally charged with terrorist offenses. Police said four men from another but unrelated right-wing group face similar charges for plotting to blow up a major dam. Police spokesman Captain Ronnie Naidoo said: «They were planning to overthrow the government and cause havoc by blowing up prominent targets and people. Police do not consider these people to be a real threat because they are such a small organisation,» he said. He said the three men had been arrested on 5 April. The Johannesburg-based Sunday Times said the 10 arrests follow a year-long police investigation known as Operation Zealot in which underground right-wing  groups were placed under surveillance. It said four men, members of a sect of the ultra-right Afrikaner church «Israel Vision», appeared in court on 2 April for allegedly conspiring to blow up the Vaal Dam wall. (BBC News, UK, 8 April 2002)

* Soudan. Attaques de rebelles ougandais — Le 8 avril, les rebelles ougandais du LRA (Armée de résistance du Seigneur) ont attaqué et pillé de nombreux villages dans le sud du Soudan, à la frontière avec l’Ouganda, selon des sources officielles soudanaises. Un grand nombre d’habitants se sont réfugiés aux alentours de la ville de Juba. Selon certaines sources, les troupes soudanaises elles-mêmes ont dû prendre la fuite. Il pourrait s’agir de représailles du LRA contre le gouvernement de Khartoum, qui a autorisé l’armée ougandaise à opérer sur son territoire pour traquer les rebelles. (D’après Misna, Italie, 9 avril 2002)

* Tchad/Cameroun. Exploration pétrolière — La construction de l’infrastructure d’un projet contesté d’un coût de 3,5 milliards de dollars, qui pompera du pétrole de Doba (sud du Tchad) à travers un oléoduc de 1.700 km vers des installations au Cameroun, a commencé et la production devrait débuter vers 2004, ont indiqué des responsables d’ExxonMobil. Un forage limité a été effectué depuis février dans le cadre du processus d’exploration. 300 puits sont prévus au total. Le projet est une joint venture entre les compagnies pétrolières ExxonMobil, Chevron Texaco et Petronas. Hormis les installations pour traiter le pétrole brut, un pont sur le fleuve M’béré, à la frontière entre le Tchad et le Cameroun a été construit. le Tchad devrait recevoir entre 2,5 et 5 milliards de dollars en revenus directs pendant 30 ans, et 3,5 milliards d’activité économique. Le Cameroun escompte recevoir $500 millions de frais de transit, et $400 millions en activité économique générés par les dépenses locales du projet et l’emploi. (IRIN, Abidjan, 8 avril 2002)

* Tchad. Processus de paix interrompu — Le 7 avril, le processus de paix entre le gouvernement tchadien et les rebelles du Mouvement pour la démocratie et la justice (MDJT, actif dans le Tibesti) a été interrompu. Le 7 janvier dernier, les deux parties avaient signé un accord visant à mettre fin à un conflit qui traîne depuis 3 ans. Début mars, le Parlement avait approuvé une amnistie en faveur des rebelles. Et le 22 mars, des tractations pour l’application du plan de paix avaient été entamées. Ce processus a maintenant été interrompu à l’improviste, le MDJT exigeant la formation d’un gouvernement de transition et le poste de Premier ministre. (Misna, Italie, 9 avril 2002)

* Uganda. Fears for freed Ugandan children — A week after thousands of Ugandan children  were reportedly freed from their rebel captors in southern Sudan, they have still not been seen. The United Nations children agency, Unicef, says it is gravely concerned about the childrens’ fate. The Ugandan army overran the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) camps last week-end and said the children had been freed. The LRA says it is fighting to establish a government based on the biblical 10 Commandments in Uganda, but it has seized around 10,000 children to serve as porters and sex slaves for its fighters. Ugandan officials had said that the children had been handed over to the Sudanese Government, which would then release them to humanitarian agencies, according to Unicef. «But we have yet to see any evidence that the children are being rescued,» said Unicef’s executive director, Carol Bellamy. «We need to find out where these children are and then do everything possible to ensure their protection and, ultimately, their reunification with their families,» she said. (BBC News, UK, 5 April 2002)

* Uganda. Ugandan rebels raid Sudanese villages — Ugandan rebels based in Sudan have been attacking villages near the southern Sudanese town of Juba, according to eyewitnesses. Thousands of villagers have fled to camps near Juba, and say their homes have been looted and burnt by rebels belonging to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The fighting follows the reported capture by Ugandan soldiers 10 days ago, of four LRA bases in southern Sudan, with the help of Sudanese forces. The LRA was an ally of the Sudanese Government for many years — until Sudan and Uganda agreed to restore diplomatic relations three years ago. In the latest incident some reports suggest that Sudanese soldiers also fled to Juba after being attacked by the LRA. The LRA appears to be angry with the Sudanese army for cooperating with Uganda, and the rebels are retaliating by attacking government-controlled villages in the area. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 9 April 2002)

* Zambia. Stop-gap oil deal — Zambia has agreed to a stop-gap oil import deal to cover its domestic fuel requirements. The one-off deal, which will see the southern African country import 180,000 tonnes of crude oil, became necessary following the collapse into receivership of the state oil purchaser. The oil will cover Zambia’s needs for April to July or August. It was needed because of a growing fuel gap, Energy Minister Kaunda Lembalemba said. The contract to supply the oil was awarded to Zambia’s Indeni Oil Refinery and French oil giant TotalFinaElf. Financing is being supplied by South African bank Absa. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 5 April 2002)

* Zambie. Aide aux réfugiés — L’Union européenne a accordé une aide humanitaire de 3 millions d’euros en faveur des réfugiés  angolais et congolais en Zambie, indique un communiqué publié le 9 avril. On compte actuellement en Zambie 235.000 réfugiés angolais et 50.000 réfugiés du Congo-RDC répartis en six camps. L’aide de l’UE est destinée à l’achat de rations alimentaires et à des projets dans les secteurs de la santé et de l’eau. Une campagne de vaccination des enfants de moins de 5 ans pourra être entreprise, ainsi qu’une extension des installations des camps devenus surpeuplés. On espère cependant qu’après la signature du cessez-le-feu en Angola, beaucoup de réfugiés angolais pourront commencer à regagner leur pays. (PANA, Sénégal, 9 avril 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Ultimatum aux fermiers blancs — Des anciens combattants de la guerre d’indépendance ont commencé à lancer des ultimatums aux fermiers blancs pour qu’ils quittent leurs propriétés, a rapporté le quotidien gouvernemental The Herald. Selon un responsable de l’Association des anciens combattants, les “fermiers blancs à qui on a laissé leurs fermes, les utilisent pour se réorganiser contre le parti au pouvoir et le gouvernement afin de donner une image négative du Zimbabwe”. Aucun détail n’a été donné sur le temps donné aux fermiers pour évacuer leurs fermes. (Le Soir, Belgique, 5 avril 2002)

* Zimbabwe. 350 opposants arrêtés — Environ 350 militants réunis dans une banlieue de Harare pour préparer une manifestation contre le pouvoir prévue le samedi 6 avril, ont été arrêtés jeudi et étaient encore détenus vendredi. Parmi eux se trouvent des femmes avec leurs enfants en bas âge. Les militants s’étaient rassemblés dans une maison religieuse à l’ouest de capitale, pour une réunion jugée illégale par la police. Toute réunion de plus de trois personnes doit recevoir l’aval de la police en vertu d’une loi passée en janvier. Selon la police, les manifestations prévues par l’Assemblée nationale constitutionnelle (NCA) pour obliger le gouvernement à adopter une nouvelle Constitution, pourraient entraîner des violences. La NCA, créée en 1997 et regroupant notamment les Eglises et le Mouvement pour le changement démocratique (MDC, opposition), n’a pas reconnu la victoire du président Mugabe à la présidentielle en mars, marquée selon elle par la violence et les fraudes. Selon des groupes de défense des droits de l’homme, des milliers d’opposants auraient été arrêtés durant le mois écoulé. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 6 avril 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Début de dialogue — Le 8 avril, les deux principaux partis politiques, le ZANU-PF et le MDC, ont entamé, sous la médiation de diplomates sud-africains et nigérians, un dialogue autour des résultats contestés du scrutin présidentiel des 9 au 11 mars, et de l’avenir économique et politique du pays. Au cours de la première journée, les deux parties n’ont réussi à s’entendre sur aucun des points  abordés. Le MDC réclame la reprise de l’élection présidentielle, accusant le gouvernement de l’avoir manipulée. Mais le ministre de la Justice, Patrick Chinamasa, chef de la délégation gouvernementale, a indiqué qu’une nouvelle élection était totalement hors de question. Il a ajouté que le ZANU-PF se limiterait dans les discussions à trouver un terrain d’entente avec le MDC sur les moyens de résoudre les problèmes d’ordre national pertinents. (PANA, Sénégal, 8 avril 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Calls for change — 4 April: Civic groups vow to go ahead with a planned weekend rally for a new constitution despite a police ban on the nationwide protest. State radio reported on 3 April that police had banned the planned demonstrations, saying the political situation in the troubled southern African country was not conducive to protests. Today, the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a coalition of student and church groups, political parties and human rights organisations, says its right to hold protests is enshrined in Zimbabwe’s present supreme law which guarantees freedom of expression and association. «We are going ahead with the planned march which is guaranteed under section 21 of the constitution although we know that the police will probably try to stop us,» says NCA spokesman, Maxwell Saungweme. He says the civic groups will seek legal recourse if police tried to prevent the march from going ahead. 6 April: The authorities warn people not to take part in anti-government protests planned for this weekend in the capital, Harare, and elsewhere in the country. Home Affairs Minister, John Nkomo, says the marches are illegal, and warns the opposition that those who take part will be prosecuted. But the NCA) has vowed to go ahead despite the detention this week of hundreds of their supporters, many of them women and children. Earlier, President Robert Mugabe had ruled out another election, warning that he would not accept any challenges to his authority. «The national poll will be held six years hence and let this sink in to Britain and... MDC (Movement for Democratic Change),» he said in a speech to his ruling Zanu-PF party. Mediators from South Africa and Nigeria are in Zimbabwe, trying to reconcile Mr Mugabe’s government with the MDC. They hope to cool the political temperature, possibly with the aim of setting up a government of national unity. — Later on the same day, police quash protests for a new constitution and arrest more than 50 demonstrators in the country’s main cities. Eyewitnesses in Harare say some protesters are beaten as riot police swarm on a group trying to join the march and NCA spokesman, Douglas Mwonzora, says the group’s chairman, Lovemore Madhuku, is among about 30 people arrested in the capital. «At least 15 people have also been picked up in Bulawayo, four in Gweru and seven in Mutare. Madhuku is still in police custody but has not been charged,» he says. 8 April:  ZANU-PF and the MDC start their first face-to-face discussions since the disputed presidential elections last month. The talks are led by mediators from Nigeria and South Africa. But correspondents say hopes for progress are dim, as both sides have dug in their heels on the issue of whether fresh elections are needed. The MDC insists that the March poll was rigged and has called for a rerun — an idea categorically rejected by ZANU-PF. The MDC says fresh elections should be held under international supervision. President Mugabe, for his part, has vowed that no new presidential poll will be held until his current term expires six years from now. 10 April: The talks between ZANU-PF and the MDC are adjourned for a month. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 11 April 2002)