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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 03-04-2003

PART #3/4 - From GHANA to NIGERIA 

* Ghana. Boost for ruling party — 26 March: The governing New Patriotic Party in Ghana has won a crucial by-election to win control of Parliament, the second this month, making it easier for the government to get its legislation through. Kofi Ada an economist won two-thirds of the votes in the election in Navrongo central constituency in the troubled northern region of Ghana. The result of the election, contested by three other parties, means that the NPP has 101 seats in Parliament out of a total of 200. The party had campaigned hard to win the election to make it easier for the government to pass its legislation. The by-election on 25 March was brought about by the death of the previous MP in a car crash. The poll happened almost a year after the king of the Dagomba was murdered, which plunged northern Ghana into chaos and scores of deaths. Some opposition parties have accused the ruling party of bribing voters, a claim which officials have dismissed as frivolous. The 25 March victory is the second parliamentary by-election the NPP has won this month. A third is due in two weeks in a southern constituency which was held by the NPP but became vacant after yet another MP died in a car accident. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 26 March 2003)

* Ghana. Ship goes missing — A vessel carrying thousands of barrels of crude oil from one of Ghana’s oilfields has mysteriously disappeared from the country’s territorial waters. Officials of the state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) received an emergency call from the oil rig where the vessel had been operating, saying she was sailing away in an easterly direction. She left Ghanaian waters before the country’s navy could stop her. A statement from the Information Ministry said Interpol had been informed, and investigations had begun to locate the vessel. The statement said the storage vessel, MV Asterias, carrying nearly 74,000 barrels of crude oil, worth $2m, was last seen on 28 March moored in the Saltpond Oilfields, off the western coast of Ghana. The MV Asterias is registered in the UK, and owned by a company called Ocean and Oil. Its crew is Russian. Over the past three years, Ghana has stepped up its search for crude oil. There are international oil companies, exploring off the coast of the Volta Region in the east, as well as off the western shores, in joint-venture agreements with the GNPC. (BBC News, UK, 2 April 2003)

* Kenya. Land-grabbing — 2 April: An audit for the Kenyan Government has shown that public land, including cemeteries, fire stations and hospitals has been irregularly allocated to officials since 1990. Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper described the audit as «shocking». Minister for Lands and Settlement Amos Kimunya urged beneficiaries, including government officials and a «powerful Rift Valley MP» to return their land in exchange for remaining anonymous. The audit, carried out for the new government of President Mwai Kibaki, has found 752 pieces of public land, which have been irregularly allocated around the country. But the figure of 752 plots cannot reflect the true level of land-grabbing that has been taking place. Land-grabbing is very emotive in Kenya. Two weeks ago, more than 2,000 peasant farmers invaded a commercial farm near Mombasa, saying the land was stolen from their ancestors by the colonial government. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 2 April 2003)

* Liberia. Combats près de la capitale — Le 27 mars, des combats ont été signalés aux portes de Monrovia. Des responsables militaires et des réfugiés ont fait état de tirs à 5 km de la capitale. Selon d’autres sources, une centaine de rebelles se seraient infiltrés dans la banlieue ouest de Monrovia, attaquant un camp de déplacés avant l’intervention de l’armée. Les assaillants auraient contraint un millier de réfugiés à les suivre. La veille, le président Taylor avait affirmé dans une déclaration rapportée par la presse, que les rebelles du LURD (Libériens unis pour la réconciliation et la démocratie) avaient été “repoussés par les forces gouvernementales”. Des combats ont été signalés ces derniers jours dans d’autres provinces du Liberia. — 31 mars. Le Groupe international de contact sur le Liberia négociera, lors de sa réunion prévue à Accra (Ghana) du 14 au 16 avril, un cessez-le-feu entre le gouvernement de Monrovia et les rebelles du LURD, a-t-on appris de  source officielle à Abuja (Nigeria). Le secrétaire exécutif de la CEDEAO a indiqué que la situation au Liberia ne s’améliore pas et que “la sous-région est préoccupée par une éventuelle détérioration de la situation”. Il a dit que la réunion travaillera, en collaboration avec le gouvernement libérien, à créer un environnement favorable à la tenue d’élections libres et justes d’ici la fin de l’année. Le Groupe de contact est composé de l’Onu, de l’Union africaine, de l’Union européenne, de la CEDEAO, des Etats-Unis, de la France, du Royaume-Uni, du Nigeria, du Ghana et du Maroc. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 31 mars 2003)

* Liberia. Liberia’s civil war — 27 March: Liberia’s President Charles Taylor has accused the United States of indirectly supporting Liberian rebels. He said the United States had given money to help train the Guinean army, which he said was backing Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) rebels. Mr Taylor made the remarks on a visit to a camp for displaced people near the capital, Monrovia, that was attacked by Lurd on 25 March. —President Taylor discloses that Liberia is importing weapons in defiance of a UN ban. 31 March: Fierce fighting is raging between Liberian Government forces and rebels for control of a town in the north-eastern border with Guinea. Defence Minister Chea says that after two days of serious fighting in Ganta, government troops moving from two different directions had managed to encircle the rebels. The attack on Ganta by the rebels of the Liberian United for Reconstruction and Development (Lurd) took place soon after Mr Chea had announced the recapture of the strategically important city of Gbarnga. The rebels, Mr Chea claimed, are now confined to the centre of town and are running out of ammunition. Ganta, about 180km from the capital Monrovia, has historically been seen as President Charles Taylor’s military stronghold because he started his then rebellion from there in 1989. The fighting around Ganta has left thousands of people displaced. They are heading to villages and to rural Nimba county to escape the fighting. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 31 March 2003)

* Liberia. West African arms trafficking and mercenary activities — A new Global Witness report launched on 31 March, exposed the Liberian government’s violent destabilisation of West Africa, through its support of mercenaries in Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone and through its regular import of weapons in violation of UN sanctions. The report, titled, «The Usual Suspects: Liberia’s Weapons and Mercenaries in Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone», outlines the threat posed by Liberia to international peace and security. It details the Liberian government’s backing of the MPIGO1 and MJP2 rebel groups in Côte d’Ivoire and its planned use of mercenaries to destabilise Sierra Leone. Global Witness calls upon the  UN Security Council to take quick and decisive action, by passing a new Resolution recognising Liberia’s realised threat to international security, renewing the current sanctions regime and extending sanctions to cover the Liberian timber industry, which continues to be the Liberian government’s primary source of financial and logistical access to international markets for weapons and mercenaries. (Global Witness, UK, 31 March 2003)

* Liberia. Employés d’ONG enlevés libérés — Des hommes armés non-identifiés ont libéré au moins 7 employés d’organisations humanitaires enlevés au Liberia, mais des dizaines d’autres sont toujours portés disparus, ont affirmé le 31 mars des responsables des ONG. Le 27 mars, une bande de combattants armés avait kidnappé 80 employés dans des combats qui ont éclaté dans la ville de Zwedru (est), a annoncé le PAM. Parmi les employés libérés se trouvaient 3 Libériens travaillant pour le PAM, tandis qu’un quatrième manquait toujours. Deux employés expatriés de Médecins sans frontières ont également été libérés, mais 28 employés libériens de l’ONG manquaient à l’appel. “Action contre la faim” a signalé que 2 de ses employés étrangers étaient libérés, mais n’a pu dire combien d’autres étaient toujours retenus par les combattants. (AP, 1er avril 2003)

* Liberia. Refugees feared drowned — 1 April: Some 14,000 Liberians have crossed the border into Guinea after fleeing heavy fighting between Liberian government forces and Lurd rebels around the northeast border town of Ganta. Aid agencies confirmed that the refugees, mainly unaccompanied children and the elderly, have arrived in the Guinean border town of Bala. Reports say some of the refugees swam across the Macona River, that divides the two countries in that region, as the Guinean side of the common frontier between the two states is officially closed. Humanitarian agencies say that an unspecified number of people, including children, died in the process of trying to cross the river, as they could not swim properly. A UNHCR spokesman in Conakry said that the refugees are being moved to a camp in Leine in Lola Prefecture, where the government has agreed to the building of an extension of the camp for the incoming refugees. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 1 April 2003)

* Liberia. Street preaching banned — 2 April: The Liberian Government has imposed an immediate ban on street preaching by evangelists and church leaders in the capital, Monrovia. A justice ministry press release cited security reasons for the ban but gave no more details. It only warned of stiff punitive measures against would-be violators of the new order. The ban comes just a week after rebels of the Liberian United for Reconciliation and Development (Lurd), who started their insurgency in the north of the county five years ago, came to within 10km of the capital. Until today, nearly every  street corner and public square in Monrovia were scenes of day-time prayer services, with young evangelists and self-proclaimed spiritual counsellors drawing in crowds. Street vendors and students would abandon their daily duties and gather in the burning sun to repeat recitals of prayers for themselves and the nation. Followers were encouraged to present gifts, usually money, to God through the preachers in return for God’s expected blessings. Indeed so widespread had street evangelism become that people with little or no biblical knowledge were also getting involved in the preaching. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 2 April 2003)

* Madagascar. A forgotten famine — Here in what is called the «Spiny desert» in southern Madagascar, it has not rained for weeks. Victor Rabelaha is one of the lucky ones. In return for his work he is given maize to eat, but even so, he says life is very tough. «This community is really suffering and in difficulties at the moment. We simply do not have enough food. Even the food that we normally rely on in times of famine such as cassava does not exist here, because there is just not enough water,» he says. At the nearby village of Ankera, maize is poured into sacks as part of a major food for work distribution organised by the World Food Programme. But the last supplies were back in December and people like Fenosoa have struggled to feed their families since then. «Actually at the moment there is no rain and no harvest so we are suffering from a very bad famine. I am the head of my household because I no longer have a husband. It is very hard to feed five children. Everyday we have nothing to eat except cactus fruit and my children have had nothing to eat before this food arrived today. Twelve years ago we also had a very bad famine but this one seems worse», Fenosoa said. The aid agencies estimate that severe malnutrition amongst young children has doubled in the last few months. The situation here is scarcely known in other parts of Madagascar let alone in the rest of the world. (BBC News, UK, 2 April 2003)

* Malawi. Dissolution du gouvernement — Le 2 avril, le président Muluzi a procédé à la dissolution de son gouvernement, a annoncé un communiqué de la présidence. Aucune explication n’a été donnée à cette décision surprise. Le communiqué indique que toutes les affaires relevant de la responsabilité du gouvernement seront orientées vers les services du président en attendant la nomination d’un nouveau cabinet. - Cette dissolution intervient deux jours après l’annonce, par le président Muluzi, de son intention de renoncer à son projet controversé de briguer un troisième mandat à la tête du Malawi. Il a également indiqué que son parti, le Front démocratique uni (UDF), a choisi l’ancien secrétaire général du Marché commun de l’Afrique orientale et australe (COMESA), Bingu wa Mutharika, comme candidat à l’élection présidentielle du 18 mai 2004. Plusieurs ministres auraient menacé de démissionner après cette  déclaration. Aux élections de 1999, Bingu wa Mutharika s’était présenté contre M. Muluzi sous les couleurs de l’ancien Parti uni. (PANA, Sénégal, 2 avril 2003)

* Malawi. No third term for Muluzi — 31 March: Malawian President Bakili Muluzi has announced in a nationwide broadcast that he will not seek a further term in office. Instead he tells Malawians he has endorsed a cabinet proposal naming his economic planning minister as the governing UDF‘s candidate to be his successor. Mr Muluzi, who is ending his second five-year term as president, says with elections due in Malawi next year, it is time to ensure a smooth transition of power. President Muluzi has come under sharp criticism at home and abroad for his efforts to change the Malawian constitution to allow him to stand for a third term. A bill proposing the constitutional amendment failed to garner the required two-thirds majority when it was first introduced in July 2002. Another bid to push through the amendment failed again in January amid heavy protest from churches, NGOs and the donor community. But the bill was not withdrawn and the ruling party was pushing to put the question to a referendum. So this latest announcement seems to signal his acceptance of an exit from politics. «I am pleased to announce that the (UDF) National Executive Committee and the cabinet have proposed Dr Bingu wa Mutharika as a candidate to stand on the UDF ticket in the 2004 presidential elections,» he said. 2 April: President Bakili Muluzi has sacked his entire cabinet just two days after naming an outsider as his successor. A brief statement from the office of the president does not give any reason for the surprise decision but only says all matters requiring cabinet attention should be directed to his office until a new cabinet is appointed. The Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Alfred Upindi, says he does not know why Mr Muluzi has sacked his cabinet. He says the president just called him into his office at State House this morning where he was told to issue the statement. The decision to dissolve the cabinet comes only two days after President Muluzi announced that the cabinet and the ruling United Democratic Front politburo had anointed Bingu wa Mutharika to be his successor for the elections scheduled for 18 May 2004. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 2 April 2003)

* Maroc. Manifestation pour l’Irak — Le dimanche 30 mars, sans affichage partisan ni récupération politique, même de la part des islamistes, plusieurs centaines de milliers de Marocains (30.000 selon la police) ont manifesté à Rabat contre la guerre en Irak. Hormis quelques jets de pierres à la fin, il n’y a eu de violences que verbales, des appels à des opérations kamikazes “pour punir les Américains, auteurs d’un génocide en Irak”, et des slogans antisémites (“Mort aux Juifs, piétinons-les”). Dans l’ensemble, les manifestants ont respecté les “hautes instructions” du roi Mohammed VI qui  leur avait demandé de “faire preuve de pondération, de sagesse et de discipline”, en précisant que l’ordre public serait assuré “quelques soient les conditions”. Quatre heures durant, l’impressionnant cortège a traversé le coeur de la capitale sans aucun débordement. Des étrangers résidant au Maroc s’étaient joints aux manifestants sans être pris à partie. La communauté juive du Maroc a laissé “à chacun, individuellement, la décision de participer à la marche”, selon son président, mais la plupart des Juifs marocains sont restés à la maison. Les islamistes de la mouvance Justice et Bienfaisance, interdite mais tolérée, se sont fondus dans la foule. (Le Monde, France, 1er avril 2003)

* Mozambique. Govt. appeals for flood aid — On 2 April, Mozambique said it was seeking emergency aid to provide temporary shelter for 15,000 people displaced by floods last week in Sofala province in the centre of the country. The government’s relief agency, INGC, said the extent of the damage caused by the flooding on 29-30 March, in which three people were killed, only became apparent on 1 April. A spokesman for the agency said: «The rains have stopped but many children, women, and the elderly are still living in the open since their houses were washed away». (The Guardian, UK, 3 April 2003)

* Niger. Vente de vivres à prix modérés — Le 28 mars, le gouvernement nigérien a lancé une opération de vente de céréales à prix modérés aux populations déficitaires, malgré l’excédent céréalier enregistré lors de la dernière campagne agricole. L’Etat a injecté 2 milliards de fcfa dans l’achat de quelque 13.000 tonnes de céréales dans les zones excédentaires pour les revendre dans les zones traditionnellement déficitaires du nord. Dans un premier temps, 1.500 tonnes de mil seront mises en vente dans les zones vulnérables au prix de 10.000 fcfa le sac de 100 kg. (sur les marchés traditionnels il se vend entre 15 et 16.000 fcfa). Des comités de gestion seront égalemnt mis en place, afin de prévenir tout détournement. (PANA, Sénégal, 28 mars 2003)

* Nigeria. Affrontements locaux — La tension s’est accrue ces dernières semaines au Nigeria avant les premières élections générales depuis le retour à une régime civil en 1999. Des affrontements ont éclaté le samedi 29 mars à Bakana, près de Port Harcourt, la capitale de l’Etat de Rivers State, entre deux groupes locaux rivaux qui cherchent à contrôler la ville, a indiqué lundi un porte-parole de la police. “Beaucoup de personnes auraient trouvé la mort en tentant de fuir la zone des combats”, a-t-il ajouté. Le quotidien local New Age a indiqué que 100 personnes auraient péri par noyade en se jetant dans la rivière pour échapper aux rixes. Le journal ajoute que ces affrontements opposaient les partisans du parti au pouvoir, le Parti démocratique du peuple (PDP) à ceux de l’opposition du Parti national de tout le Nigeria (ANPP). Mais la police a démenti ces  informations. Les affrontements ne concernaient pas des militants politiques mais des groupes rivaux contestant leurs droits à la terre. Les deux groupes cherchent à prendre le contrôle de la ville et, samedi, l’un des deux a essayé de chasser l’autre, selon elle. - La tension au Nigeria s’est accrue à la veille des élections générales. Les élections législatives sont prévues le 12 avril, la présidentielle et l’élection des gouverneurs le 19 avril, et les élections des assemblées locales des Etats le 3 mai. (Le Monde, France, 1er avril 2003)

* Nigeria. Un autre homicide politique — Une autre personnalité de renom a été victime d’un assassinat à l’approche des élections législatives qui auront lieu bientôt. Un célèbre entrepreneur, Yemi Oni, a en effet été assassiné par des hommes armés dans son appartement à Ado Ekiti, la capitale de l’Etat d’Ekiti, au sud-ouest du Nigeria. Oni était considéré proche du principal parti de l’opposition, l’ANPP (All Nigeria Peoples Party). L’homicide a eu lieu le 29 mars, mais la nouvelle n’a été répandue qu’hier. L’homme d’affaires était à peine rentré d’un meeting électoral tenu par l’actuel gouverneur de l’Etat d’Ekiti, Adeniyi Adebayo, dont il était ami et sympathisant. Ainsi s’allonge la liste des meurtres politiques qui semblent marquer, au même titre que des épisodes de violences ethniques, la course aux élections: au début du mois de mars, Harry Marshall, personnage clef de l’opposition au niveau national; avant lui, un membre de l’opposition et un membre du parti gouvernemental, le PDP (Peoples Democratic Party). Ce climat de violence pourrait permettre, comme le rapporte l’agence de presse internationale Reuters, à certains petits partis d’opposition de demander le report de ce rendez-vous électoral. Cependant, la Commission électorale nationale indépendante (INEC) a maintenu les dates des 12 et 19 avril pour les élections générales, malgré l’appel de douze partis. Elle a également déclaré “sans fondement” les critiques dont elle est l’objet. (D’après Misna et PANA, 2 avril 2003)