Back Issues

The politics of corruption

Russell Grinker

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/17631

Recent political discourse in South Africa has been characterised by a preoccupation with allegations of sleaze and government corruption. Senior government bureaucrats and party officials are alleged to have received kickbacks in return for favours; there were allegations of an internal ANC plot by black businessmen to undermine the President; and Deputy President Jacob Zuma has been accused of taking bribes. Director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka has in turn been accused of being an apartheid agent by Zuma's allies, giving rise to a spate of accusations and counter-accusations which threaten to destabilise the ruling ANC.

While South Africans concentrate on their homegrown scandals, it is important to understand that an obsession with sleaze and corruption is today an international phenomenon. There is a worldwide dynamic to 'scandal politics', which runs far deeper than the latest allegations. Today scandals seem to be one of the central features of politics throughout the world. The political classes in Japan, Italy, the USA, Britain and even Germany are no less immune to the disease than our local politicians. While scandals take different forms in different countries, if we look beyond the specifics, there is a broader pattern at work.

Politicians everywhere have power but usually not wealth. They are therefore often tempted to translate the one into the other. Given the history of apartheid oppression and black exclusion in South Africa, it might be argued that the power-wealth gap - and hence the temptations - are even greater than usual in this country. This form of corruption – an abuse of political power that might be termed “the corruption of politics” is however a very different thing from something that increasingly characterises politics everywhere today: the politics of corruption.

In the Western democracies this phenomenon usually started as a public crusade by opposition politicians or the press against government. While there was often some substance to allegations against government politicians, there was also a lot of hypocrisy. Longstanding petty corruption that had always been accepted as part of the everyday business of politics was suddenly cast in a new light. What had up to then been seen as perks of the job was now presented as evidence of corruption.

The politics of corruption has since transformed public life in a number of countries. In Britain it destroyed the Conservative Party and then came back to haunt the new Labour administration which had previously gained by playing the corruption card. Throughout the 'nineties and into the new millennium, a succession of political scandals accelerated the dislocation of traditional party politics in the West:

* Italy: In 1992 corruption charges were brought against leaders Craxi, Andreotti, and Silvio Berlusconi;
* Britain: The ‘Cash for Questions’ scandal 1994 – 1997; the recent resignation of prime minister Tony Blair's director of communications Alastair Campbell in the middle of Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of David Kelly;
* Ireland: A beef scandal rocked the administration of premier Albert Reynolds;
* France: In 1998 the ministerial flats scandal damaged Jacques Chirac;
* United States: President Clinton was exposed in the Monica Lewinsky and Whitewater affairs in 1998; the current Bush administration remains tainted by allegations of voting irregularities;
* Belgium: A ministerial cover-up in a child torture case shook Jean-Luc Deheane’s government in 1998;
* Switzerland: 1998-2000 saw a sustained campaign over Jewish bank deposits;
* Germany: The CDU was hit by a funding scandal in 2000.

For the opposition, crying “corruption” was a way of attacking governing parties while essentially leaving their politics uncriticised. There was, after all, usually little significant difference between the political programmes of any of the major parties. Making an issue out of their opponents alleged corruption or immorality was a way of criticising governments whose politics the opposition largely agreed with. The cry of “corruption” allowed politicians to reap votes where they had not sowed a political alternative. For the media, corruption exposés seemed to be a way of demolishing governments with a strong grip on power. As was the case with the exposés of SA's ANC government, digging the dirt on a scandal seemed to be a way of breaking a powerful grip on parliament, which was based on the popular vote.

In many parts of Africa so-called 'structural adjustment' also encouraged an obsession with the corruption of African elites. The structural adjustment 'package' imposed on the majority of sub-Saharan African countries since the early 'eighties consisted of privatisation and an attack on state spending. Given the high level of dependence of the African elite upon the state, this further frustrated their advancement. Western obsession with 'good governance', conducted in the name of anti-corruption, was a frontal assault upon the networks that were necessary for the ruling elite to rule.

In most Western countries the crusade against corruption has transformed the political landscape. The reputation of parliament can no longer merely be restored by a change of government. Through campaigns around issues of corruption and personal rectitude, opposition parties and the media have changed the nature of politics. In the absence of genuine political differences, personal morality becomes the only basis on which politicians can be judged. Under these circumstances the meaning of politics has become more and more narrow. Neither government nor opposition even bothers to pretend that significant principles are at stake in their little debates. Unsurprisingly, many people have become cynical. They are ready to put the knife into those who are seen to have responsibility for the mess in which ordinary people have to live. There are no strong opposition parties to provide a voice for the angry and alienated, or to suggest political, economic or social alternatives to the problems of the modern world.

In the absence of an alternative standpoint from which to criticise, it is difficult to criticise at all. In these circumstances it seems as if the only thing open to scrutiny is the individual behaviour of politicians. Personal character has become the substance of modern politics. Given the dominant discussion and debate here in recent months, it seems that South Africa will be no exception to this trend.

Even progressives have been swept along with this disastrous approach to politics. Many seem to harbour the illusion that the ruling classes can be stopped in their tracks as long as the dirty secrets they hide are exposed. This fantasy arises out of a passive relationship between the governed and the governing. And it side-steps the difficult business of building political alternatives to government policies.

Even worse, this kind of outlook encourages a growing reliance on the high and the mighty to decide on issues which should be left to democratic political contestation. In Britain an unelected official, Ulster Judge Lord Hutton, is relied on to sort out the Kelly scandal. South Africa promptly follows suit with the appointment of Judge Hefer to look into the Ngcuka spying allegations. In the process the scope of authority of judges over elected government is enlarged. This is unlikely to be in the long-term interests of the people. Thus is democracy downgraded in favour of enlightened despotism.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

WORLD DAY AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY: 10 OCTOBER 2003

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/17632

Initiatives will take place in more than 45 countries on October 10 to mark World Day Against the Death Penalty. The initiative is launched by the Worldwide Coalition Against the Death Denalty (http://www.worldcoalition.org/bcoaljm01.html#710) which gathers international NGOs, Bar Associations, Unions and local government from all over the world. The Coalition aims at encouraging the constitution of national coalitions, the organisation of common initiatives and the coordination of international lobbying efforts to sensitize the states that still maintain the death penalty. A worldwide internet appeal will take place on the website www.worldcoalition.org, intended to question/challenge the authorities of countries that retain the death penalty. Below are some facts and figures on the death penalty, compiled from information available on the web site of Amnesty International. (http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-index-eng)

THE DEATH PENALY: SOME FACTS AND FIGURES
* The past decade has seen more than three countries a year on average abolish the death penalty.
* 76 countries and territories had abolished the death penalty for all crimes by April 2003.
* Known executions in 31 countries were recorded at 1,526 people during 2002. At least 3,248 people were sentenced to death in 67 countries.
* In 2003, for the first time, the UN Commission on Human Rights has urged states that still maintain the death penalty "not to extend its application to crimes to which it does not at present apply".
* More than half the countries in the world have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice. 76 countries are abolitionist for all crimes, 16 abolitionist for ordinary crimes only and 20 Abolitionist in practice
* 112 countries are totally abolitionist in law or practice while 83 are retentionist.
* Does the death penalty deter crime? A United Nations survey done in 1988 and updated in 2002, concluded that "it is not prudent to accept the hypothesis that capital punishment deters murder to a marginally greater extent than does the threat and application of the supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment". (Reference: Roger Hood, The Death Penalty: A Worldwide Perspective, Oxford University Press, third edition, 2002, p. 230)
* Two African countries – the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria – have executed children in the last decade, despite a prohibition on the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people younger than 18 under international human rights law.
* During 2002, executions were known to have been carried out in the following African countries: Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
* In 2002, the death penalty was imposed in the following African countries: Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
* As long as the death penalty is maintained, the risk of executing the innocent can never be eliminated. Since 1973, 107 prisoners have been released from death row in the USA after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were sentenced to death.
USEFUL LINKS:
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-index-eng
http://www.hrea.org/feature-events/world-day-against-death-penalty-2003.html
http://www.worldcoalition.org/bcoaljm00.html

Fatoumata Toure

Kampala, Uganda

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/17525

Glenn Ashton

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/17524

Sizani Weza

Zimbabwe

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/17543

I will correct Nimene’s unfortunate misunderstanding about the situation in Zimbabwe. (Pambazuka News 126, Letters and Comments) It is more complex than the propaganda the Mugabe regime has been peddling at every international forum they attend.

The political violence associated with elections and the land redistribution efforts was a deliberate move. Mugabe called the actions "peaceful demonstrations" after admitting that Zanu PF has "degrees in violence". In any case, there is ample evidence that the laws and policies implemented by the Zanu PF government are worse than those promulgated during the colonial Rhodesian era. How does one explain the emergence of the Public Order and Security Act to curtail the activities of the opposition and civic society, the coming in of AIPPA to control the independent press and, even worse, changing electoral laws over five times within seven days before a crucial presidential election?

These and other actions will forever condemn Robert Mugabe as the worst dictator to emerge in the history of Zimbabwe and Rhodesia. If not contained, his actions and policies will ruin any hopes of restoring democracy and economic viability in the country. And this certainly will affect the southern African region.

Arts Under Pressure: Promoting Cultural Diversity in the Age of Globalisation

Joost Smiers

2003-10-09

http://zedbooks.co.uk/

Arts Under Pressure analyses the relevant forces behind decision making in cultural matters worldwide under the influence of economic globalisation. The book deals with all the arts, in all parts of the world and focuses on the cycle of creation, production, distribution, promotion, reception and influence. It asks: who has the power to decide what reaches audiences, in what quantities, with what contents and surrounded by what kinds of ambiances?

Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity

Francis Bok

2003-10-09

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?cds2Pid=280&isbn=0312306237

In this modern slave narrative, Francis Bok shares how in May 1986 Arab raiders on horseback burst into a quiet marketplace, murdering men and gathering the women and young children into a group. Strapped to horses and donkeys, Francis and others were taken north into lives of slavery.

J.M. COETZEE WINS NOBEL LITERATURE PRIZE

2003-10-09

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1594

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2003 has been awarded to the South African writer, John Maxwell Coetzee, "who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider," according to the Swedish Nobel Committee.
Related Link:
* Nobel for JM Coetzee does black African writers no favours
http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#875

Men Love Chocolates But They Don't Say

Mildred Kiconco Barya

2003-10-09

http://www.africanbookscollective.com/

A first collected works by a Ugandan woman poet, who has had her poems published in journals in Uganda and the US. The work is divided into sections entitled: 'Poems of Challenge'; 'Poems of Sunshine and Loneliness'; 'Poems of Loss and Contradiction'; and 'Poems of Release'.

Re-examining Liberation in Namibia

Henning Melber (ed.)

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/17586

This volume takes stock of emerging trends in Namibia's political culture since Independence and highlights the question of political liberation and tolerance - or lack thereof. The book examines in an introductory chapter the consolidation of political power and control by the former liberation movement, SWAPO. The chapters include case studies on the SWAPO ideology prior to Independence, a comparison of constitutional developments in Namibia and Zimbabwe, an overview on minority rights and policies concerning indigenous people and a case study on cultural policy with regard to music. Analyses also cover the issue of the SWAPO "ex-detainees", a critical reading of the Namibian President's biography and an exploration of the institutionalised public memory. The book ends with an essay challenging the limited tolerance currently existing in post-colonial Namibia.
********************************************************************
THE NORDIC AFRICA INSTITUTE'S BOOK LAUNCH
********************************************************************

Henning Melber (ed.)
Re-examining Liberation in Namibia
Political Culture Since Independence
Published October 2003
(paper back, 187 pp, ISBN 91-7106-516-4)

This volume takes stock of emerging trends in Namibias's political culture since Independence and highlights the question of political liberation and tolerance - or lack thereof. The book examines in an introductory chapter the consolidation of political power and control by the former liberation movement, SWAPO.

The chapters include case studies on the SWAPO ideology prior to Independence, a comparison of constitutional developments in Namibia and Zimbabwe, an overview on minority rights and policies concerning indigenous people and a case study on cultural policy with regard to music. Analyses also cover the issue of the SWAPO "ex-detainees", a critical reading of the Namibian President's biography and an exploration of the institutionalised public memory. The book ends with an essay challenging the limited tolerance currently existing in post-colonial Namibia.

The contributors are mainly from Namibia or Southern Africa and all of them have a long-term commitment to the struggle for national liberation and democracy. The editor, Henning Melber, had joined SWAPO in 1974. He was Director of the Namibia Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU) in Windhoek between
1992 and 2000 and has been Research Director at The Nordic Africa Institute since then.

This book was presented to a Namibian public on 18th September in Windhoek and launched at the Gothenburg Book Fair, Sweden, on 26th September. It will also be presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The book launch in Frankfurt is organised jointly by The Nordic Africa Institute, The Human Science Research Council (HSRC) from South Africa (presenting another volume by the same editor on "Limits to Liberation in Southern Africa") and Brandes & Apsel Verlag from Germany (who published a German version of the volume entitled "Namibia -
Grenzen nachkolonialer Emanzipation").

********************************************************************
You are cordially invited to our reception on Friday 10th October at 15.00 at The Nordic Africa Institute's stand
8.0 L 984 at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

********************************************************************
The Nordic Africa Institute P O Box 1703 SE-751 47 Uppsala, Sweden Phone +46-(0) 18 56 22 00 Fax +46-(0) 18 56 22 90 E-mail: nai@nai.uu.se Internet: http://www.nai.uu.se/ Order the Nordic Africa Institute's publications online!
http://www.nai.uu.se/webbshop/ShopGB

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WEIGHT OF WHISPERS

2003-10-09

Adhiambo Owuor

http://www.kwani.org/

"The collection of teeth on the man’s face is a splendid brown. I have never seen such teeth before. Refusing all instruction, my eyes focus on dental contours and craters. Denuded of any superficial pretence; no braces, no fillings, no toothbrush, it is a place where small scavengers thrive." Read Weight of Whispers by Adhiambo Owuor. Just visit the website of the Kwani Literary Journal and click on the link that says 'Stories'.

CONGO: A HELL ON EARTH FOR WOMEN

2003-10-09

http://www.peacewomen.org/news/October03/hell.html

“She came in last evening. Five armed men had raped her the night before, a few kilometres from here," explains Mathilde Muhindo, director of a social assistance agency of the Roman Catholic diocese of Bukavu, on the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. "This morning, she was still crying. I cried with her," says Muhindo, in whose eyes traces of tears are visible. It all began in 1994. Rwanda's Patriotic Front, dominated by ethnic Tutsis, seized power in that country and halted the genocidal attacks against the Tutsi community planned and perpetrated by the Hutus, in which an estimated 800,000 people died.

ghana: Women Poised for a Manifesto to Address Their Concerns

2003-10-09

http://allafrica.com/stories/200310060020.html

Consultations continue as the initiators of the proposed Women's Manifesto in Ghana seek to gather more information and to get more groups to give their support for the manifesto. The document seeks to give women a common platform for addressing crucial concerns of women in Ghana through helping more of them to take up leadership positions in politics, and especially in Parliament.

liberia: Many Women Dying From Pregnancy Related Problems, Unfpa Says

2003-10-09

http://allafrica.com/stories/200310060564.html

The number of displaced Liberian women who have contracted reproductive tract infections and those dying from pregnancy related complications that could be treated is alarming, the United Nations population fund (UNFPA) said.

RWANDA: genocide widows dying of HIV/AIDS

2003-10-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37064

Mediatrice Ilibagiza, 38, is a widow and mother of three who, like thousands of other Rwandan women, lost her husband during Rwanda's 1994 genocide. She was also among the hundreds of women who were raped by Hutu militiamen known as the Interahamwe and soldiers of the old army, the Forces armees rwandaises, leaving her infected with HIV/AIDS.

rwanda: Marriage by Abduction Worries Women's Groups

2003-10-09

http://ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=20493

Judith Kanzayire, a 29-year-old mother of three children from northern Rwanda, admits that she was the victim of 'marriage by abduction'. "What can you do? It's the tradition here. We have no choice but to accept it,” she says. When asked if she is happy with her life and if she has learned to love her husband, she laughs out loud. “I'm his wife, and that's the end of it,” she replies.

swaziland: Women Fight for a Place in the Constitution

2003-10-09

http://ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=20482

The Swaziland branch of Women in Law in Southern Africa is concerned that guarantees of women's rights that were announced in the draft constitution, soon to be ratified by King Mswati, are not as secure as first thought. “When the draft constitution came out, there were many parts that we greeted with enthusiasm, because they called for equality for women. But upon further reflection, it is apparent that all rights, whether granted to women or anyone else in the form of human rights, may not be absolute,” said Manzini attorney Fikile Mthembu.

zambia: Give Women Land, says minister

2003-10-09

http://allafrica.com/stories/200310020034.html

Government has with immediate effect directed local authorities throughout the country to intensify land allocation to women to empower them through ownership. Lands Minister Judith Kapijimpanga also urged traditional rulers to encourage women to own land - of which 90 per cent was under utilised and was controlled by chiefs.

africa/global: Human Rights Education – Towards the End of the UN Decade

2003-10-09

http://www.hrea.org/erc/Library/display.php?doc_id=1259&category_id=4&category_type=3

This article from the Nordic Journal of Human Rights gives a brief overview of activities during the UN Decade of Human Rights Education (1995-2004). The author concludes that "...although the UN Decade will be over in 2004 there is little hope that governments will improve their actions towards the fulfilment of their obligations in human rights education. With or without a second UN Decade and a Voluntary Fund for Human Rights Education, the obligations for States will last and the duty to cooperate meaningfully in human rights information will remain.

africa: human rights and trade

2003-10-09

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/hchr/cancunfinal.doc

A human rights approach to agricultural trade liberalization reminds States of their commitment to a just international and social order and encourages more concerted efforts on behalf of wealthy countries to reduce and remove distortions to trade given the inability of most other countries to offer similar protections to promote the right to food and the right to development of their populations. This is according to a report on Human Rights and Trade by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, submitted to the 5th WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico.

africa: No Respect for Human Rights

Evans Wafula

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/17555

When Africa entered the final decade of the 20th century, interesting words had replaced the traditional political vocabulary. In came new catchwords like democracy, transparency, accountability and human rights. It was a tremendous improvement. Sadly, by the time the millennium dawned, these new words had lost their meaning and the continent had once again reverted to its previous wretched state. The blame in many ways lies with the continent’s political leaders and their foreign allies.
No Respect for Human Rights in Africa
By Evans Wafula
Advocacy Officer
Independent Medico Legal Unit
When Africa entered the final decade of the 20th century, interesting words had replaced the traditional political vocabulary. In came new catchwords like democracy, transparency, accountability and human rights. It was a tremendous improvement. Sadly, by the millennium dawned, these new words had lost their meaning and the continent had once again reverted to its previous wretched state.

Coups and countercoups were in the political menu as electoral fraud and brutal civil wars became the order of the day. The political and civil gains that ordinary people had died for in order to wrest freedom from long entrenched oppressive governments appears at times to have been in vain, especially for countries consumed by fresh onslaughts brought about by some African leaders obsessed with power. These are the topics the media and human rights groups in Africa have been addressing. It does not help to blame the ordinary folk for the tragic human rights record that Africa carries as the century dawns.

The blame in many ways lies with the continent’s political leaders and their foreign allies who do not seem to have come to terms with the order. It took demonstrations and wars to democratize these countries, yet some leaders have chosen to ignore this.

Additionally, the obtaining concept of politics in Africa is largely borrowed from the residues of the western political culture and norms, and therefore its destructive to the greater vision of a liberated, independent, prosperous and a human rights responsive Africa. The need to design a new concept a homegrown concept of politics is a priority agenda for Africa.

The Genocide

These leaders seem to think it was a mistake to grant their countrymen their rights and political freedoms. They claim to be representing their countries and people, yet it is not lost to many and should not be to them that such loud claims are being met by even louder and bolder statements from their citizenry who have not hesitated to let it be known that their patience is running out.

A case in point is the 1994 genocide in Rwanda in which over 800,000 people were slaughtered in 100 days. The killings went down in the annals of history as the most catastrophic phenomenon in the African continent in the millennium. The genocide can perhaps only be compared to the holocaust, the slaughter of 6 million Jews by Hitler and his sympathizers and the slave trade of the 17th century in which millions of Africans were uprooted form their homes and shipped to foreign land to start a life of slavery. The Rwanda Tribunal in Arusha has been set up by the United Nations to try the perpetrators, but no one can really get the full reprieve of the horror that left millions scared and traumatized for life.

In June this year, I was privileged to be in Rwanda attending an International Workshop on Capacity building jointly sponsored by the Centre for Victims of Torture Minneapolis-USA and USAID.

I used the opportunity to make a visit to the Gisozi Memorial site, which lies at the center of the genocide and symbolizes Africa’s darkest moments; about 250,000 people were buried in mass graves at this site. The site carries with it the memories of a forgotten genocide and a haunted nation. Inside the site is a storage facility where human skulls, clothes and crud weapons used in the genocide have been stored for historical purposes.

Rwanda stands between a fragile transition and a conceptual reconciliation period. The memorial sites both in Kigali and in Gisozi represents a wounded generation. According to Mrs. Murebwayihe Alphousine, the site was built in 2002 significantly to the healing and reconciliation process and plays a central role to the genocide survivors. The occurrence of the genocide goes way back in 1957 to 1994. The genocides used savagery methods to attack, both the Tutsi-led Banyamulenge and the Hutu-led Interahamwe militia shoot, clobbered and hacked to death many innocent civilians. The guerrilla-styled attacks organized against women and children were the most degrading form of human treatment ever perpetuated by human race. Tutsi pregnant mothers were attacked, brutally beaten and subjected to gang rape; in the process most of the Women miscarried.

My visit to Rwanda was a soul-searching one and carries with it great lessons for Kenya. The current transition needs to be reconciliatory with the past human rights violations.

Troubled region
In the troubled great Lakes, genocide minded-armed faction and militias have not given any indications that they learnt any lesson from the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi. The armed factions that continue to roam this troubled area have left no doubt that they have unfinished business and they will not rest until they annihilate certain ethnic groups. On the other hand, the national armies in these two countries in the course of their duties and out of ethnic concern have not hesitated to show their displeasure. The number of internally displaced persons in this region has continued to rise over time to become the highest in the continent. Thousands have been forced out of their homes due to insecurity and fear of recurring attacks. The Gisozi memorial site is significantly symbolic to the region if peace is to become a reality.

Human rights organizations have confirmed that the interahamwe and their counterparts, the former soldiers of the Habyarimana regime, the ex-FAR, have now settled in refugees camps in western Tanzania having disguised as genuine refugees fleeing the conflicts in Burundi. But while these killers and torturous may have decided to change their bases, their mission remain the same- kill all Tutsi even if that involves destabilization of the whole region.

It seems now that after many years of ineffective attacks on Rwanda, these death squads have now decided to switch to Burundi, a country that in recent weeks has been tethering on the brink. Since last December, Hutu rebels have stepped up their attacks in Burundi. The recent power sharing deal is acting as a catalyst. The rebels have taken advantage of the deal and have opted to mount attacks on innocent civillians. Burundi’s Tutsi –dominated army has not taken these lightly and is now squaring with some of the internally based rebel groups who continue to run the power game.

The consequence of this increased turmoil is a rise in civilian toll and serious human rights violations. By the end of December the rebels had step-up their onslaught to an ethnic protracted war thus threatening the peace process. At the same time the power sharing government in Burundi ticks as the rebels continues to mobilize hundreds of thousands of its supporters to scuttle the transition arrangements.

Though it is easy to understand why the militia has turned its attention on derailing the deal, ethnic persuasions remains a factor in the conflict. It only needs the correct timing and willing ethnic demagogues. Like elsewhere in the continent, the latter are in abundance and one of these, the interahamwe, has offered to inflame the conflict in Burundi.

Refugees

This turmoil has precipitated an unmanageable refugee crisis aptly described by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees; the fate and conditions of refugees and internally displaced persons remain pathetic. Refugees continue the exodus from their countries of origin and settle in hostile environments, most of them are housed in shabby shelters that lack basic amenities. The conflict in the Great Lakes Region and the 19-year-old civil war in the Sudan, the absence of a central government in Somalia have compelled hundreds of thousands of refugees to settle almost permanently in neighboring Kenya and Uganda as the situation continues to deteriorate. From the dismal performance of president Joseph Kabila of the Republic of Congo to the armed skirmishes between foreign troops in Congo to the eruption of a brutal border clash between Eritrea and Ethiopia, a consensus seems to have emerged among the populace and human rights activists that will have a long way to go.

More...

BURKINA FASO: Suspected coup plotters arrested

2003-10-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37051

Twelve people, most of them soldiers, have been arrested in Burkina Faso since last week allegedly for planning with a foreign country to overthrow the government of President Blaise Campaore, State Prosecutor Abdoulaye Barry told reporters on Tuesday.

kenya: Reconsidering the Mau Mau

2003-10-09

http://www.africana.com/articles/daily/bw20031001mau.asp

Perhaps it's true after all that prophets are readily dismissed, if not crucified as felons within their backyards. It's certainly true in Kenya, where a battle is afoot regarding the remains of "Field Marshall" Dedan Kimathi, a hero of Kenya's war of independence and a leader within Africa's inaugural guerrilla movement, the Mau Mau. But while Kimathi's body, currently buried in an unmarked grave within the grounds of a penitentiary, may yet find a more respectful home, his story only hints at the larger re-evaluation of the Mau Mau and their era.

nigeria: unions call off strike

2003-10-09

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3175174.stm

The main trade union in Nigeria has suspended plans for a general strike on Thursday originally called to protest at a sharp increase in the cost of fuel. A statement by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) said they had decided to call off the stoppage after oil marketing companies agreed to revert to the previous oil prices.

rwanda: Ruling Party Wins Elections

2003-10-09

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3220932,00.html

The party of President Paul Kagame emerged as the victor last Thursday in Rwanda's first multiparty legislative elections since achieving independence in 1962, the head of the election commission said. A five-party coalition led by Kagame's ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front, or RPF, won 40 of the 53 elected seats in the 80-member Chamber of Deputies or lower house.

zimbabwe: Mastering Patience...or Mastered by Apathy?

2003-10-09

http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/econ/030829ciz.asp?sector=ECON

The crisis facing Zimbabwe continues to eat away at the nation's economic and social fabric. While political party actors debate the possibilities for negotiations, the standard of living for the vast majority of Zimbabweans continues to decline drastically. This update from the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition outlines the critical concerns currently facing the Zimbabwean population, and then discusses scenarios for transition and prospects for settlement.

Zimbabwe: union chiefs arrested in nationwide swoop across country

2003-10-09

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-259_1427422,00.html

At least 200 trade union activists were arrested on Wednesday for participating in protests against soaring prices and high taxes in the latest crackdown on dissent in the troubled southern African country.

BURUNDI/TANZANIA: using film to improve lives of refugees

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/17636

For the 49,000 Burundians at the Mtendeli Refugee Camp, in Kibondo, western Tanzania, the prospect of a night at the movies is a sure crowd puller; but for aid officials it is a chance to pass on important development messages to the needy.
BURUNDI-TANZANIA: FOCUS on using film to improve lives of refugees

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]


KIBONDO, 9 October (IRIN) - For the 49,000 Burundians at the Mtendeli Refugee Camp, in Kibondo, western Tanzania, the prospect of a night at the movies is a sure crowd puller; but for aid officials it is a chance to pass on important development messages to the needy.

So, as dusk fell on Mtendeli on 30 September, part of the camp's dusty football field disappeared under a sea of bodies as children, men and women gathered at one end. At first there was just music, then the children began to dance to the rhythms of Congolese tunes. However, once the crowd had gathered, the screen - an enormous sheet draped down the side of two containers - flickered into life and the real show began.

"We play the music to attract the crowds," Roisin Gallagher, the project manager for FilmAid, told IRIN. "People hear the music and come towards it and, because the children are often there first, we film them while they are dancing and then project it on the big screen later."

To the excitement of the crowd, images of dancing children filled the enormous screen and the more provocative moves were greeted with cheers. Soon, an episode of Tom and Jerry followed. This may have been new to many refugees, but it had them hollering support for Jerry, the inevitable underdog.

Another cartoon, "Watoto wa Karate" (Swahili for the Karate Kid), dealing with the challenges street children face, and a short health education video shot by refugee women on how to look after oneself during pregnancy, were next. The feature presentation was "Majuto" (Swahili for suffering), a tale of a girl becoming pregnant while still at school.

Turnout that evening was lower than most - a mere 20,000. Other evening shows have attracted up to 33,000 people, Dr Geoffrey Okumu, the health coordinator for International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Kibondo, said.

Film professionals who were trying to help Kosovar refugees after the conflict in the Balkans conceived the idea of FilmAid, which is a project of the IRC, in 1999.

"It was found to be a positive thing. People who were bored and idle with nothing to do did come together and wanted the opportunity to see films," Gallagher said. "And film had a great potential for reaching wide groups that were not easily reached in a classroom situation or individually. So the idea of film was to inform, educate and entertain people."

It has since come to East Africa to help refugees from the conflicts in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Sudan.

And, over the last year, FilmAid has been working in refugee camps in Tanzania with day and night time screenings, as well as giving video training to help the IRC deliver messages on health, reconciliation and peace-building.

Some of the films are silent. Others are in Swahili, with a fellow refugee providing simultaneous interpretation for the audience. In addition, the interpreter sometimes provides additional explanation to what is being said or done on screen, to make it easier for the crowd to understand.

"For me, I found that quite hard to understand because I have been brought up watching films and TV, but if you have never seen films and TV, you mightn't always understand what is happening," Gallagher said.

The night's films tackled HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancies and child abuse, issues that the Refugee Advisory Committee, a body of religious and opinion leaders from the camps that pre-screen the films, decided were pertinent and suitable for showing

"They are the ones in the best position to decide what is suitable and they also make recommendations on what topics they would like," she said. "We have also gone around and spoken to the health departments to decide the most important topics to tackle."

And Okumu said that the efforts were paying off. He said one of the areas where progress had been made was with HIV/AIDS.

"Through screening the films that contain messages on HIV/AIDS, it has recently enabled us to triple the number of people willing to know their [HIV] status."

He said similar progress had been made in getting refugees to participate in malaria prevention activities.

Okumu said one big advantage was that films attracted large crowds and was, therefore, a more effective way in passing on messages than relying on small groups to do so.

Films shown to refugees are not limited to health issues. With a view to provoking discussions and new ideas for resolving the decade-long war in Burundi, FilmAid has broached the subject of peace and reconciliation.

"When we showed [Mahatma] Gandhi in the area of peace and conflict resolution, there was a huge debate afterwards as the Burundians were trying to work out if there was a peaceful resolution to the Burundian situation," Gallagher said.

But just as important, Okumu said, was the entertainment factor the films brought in relieving the refugees' emotional pressures.

"You'll find many of the refugees in the camps have been traumatised and just having an opportunity to get their minds off their problems goes a long way to making them more comfortable here in the camps," he said.

But, while the spectators clearly found the films entertaining, openly expressing amusement, shock, approval or otherwise as the plots unfolded, the messages of the various films were not lost on the crowd.

"The films are appreciated by the refugees because they are educating us, amongst other things, about pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and how to use a condom," Gervais Athuman, a Burundian refugee who worked as an interpreter for the crowd, said.

"They are useful because they show the things that we are seeing in the camps - things like prostitution and teenage pregnancies. It advises them on these issues," he said.


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zambia: Angolan refugees repatriated

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2003-10-09

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africa/global: Work completed on UN treaty to fight corruption worldwide

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ETHIOPIA: Corruption reportedly worsening

2003-10-09

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Corruption is worsening in Ethiopia and the levels are higher than in previous years, according to the anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI). Ethiopia was listed joint 92 on an index of 133 countries, scoring 2.5 on a scale of 10. TI, which is based in Germany, said a lack of coherent rules and regulations, red tape and poorly trained staff were contributing to corruption.
ETHIOPIA: Corruption reportedly worsening

ADDIS ABABA, 9 October (IRIN) - Corruption is worsening in Ethiopia and the levels are higher than in previous years, according to the anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI).

Ethiopia was listed joint 92 on an index of 133 countries, scoring 2.5 on a scale of 10. TI, which is based in Germany, said a lack of coherent rules and regulations, red tape and poorly trained staff were contributing to corruption.

"Corruption is a serious problem in Ethiopia," Jeff Lovitt from TI told IRIN. "There is a problem in developing countries because they lack strong public services."

The African Union - which has pledged to stamp out corruption on the continent - estimates graft has cost Africa around US $148 billion.

"Corruption is currently one of the major afflictions seriously confronting Africa," Desmond Orjiako, spokesman for the AU, told IRIN.

"Good governance is part of peace and security and tackling corruption is a key part of good governance," he added. "The AU has been at the vanguard of ensuring that corruption does not spread on the continent."

In Ethiopia, the federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has been waging war against corruption in the country.

Spokesman Abraham Gozguze welcomed the report and said international support to fight corruption was sorely needed in the country.

"We also have to create awareness because in many cases what we are trying to do is change the mentality of people," he noted.

He told IRIN that the most recent case of alleged corruption in the country involved a doctor taking a bribe to move patients up a waiting list so they could receive treatment.

Other Horn of Africa countries such as Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti were not covered by the report as insufficient material was provided to enable analysis.


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A critique of the World Development Report by Citizens’ Network on Essential Services (CNES)

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africa: Engaging Citizens In Re-Building Failed States

Dr. Norman Reynolds

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/development/17554

The United Nations, the US led Allies and new bodies like the African Union are faced with the task of re-building society and economy in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Liberia – and soon hopefully in Zimbabwe, the DRC and other failed states. They typically attempt to do so by taking prime responsibility, directly or indirectly through a weak transitional government, to “supply” security, infrastructure and services. This method seldom works. As a 'supply-side' model, it is encumbered by 'patronage' and hence is open to local elite capture, be it by warlords or opposition groupings or to disruption by “terrorists”. The answer is to move to a higher conception of local renewal and local responsibility in partnership with the central authority facilitated by the UN and allies. The key is to shift from 'supply' to demand-side management, and from patronage and central control / responsibility to economic rights programming that enables, resources, partners and builds competent citizens, argues this article.
September 2003


Engaging Citizens In Re-Building Failed States

Dr. Norman Reynolds

The United Nations, the US led Allies and new bodies like the African Union are faced with the task of re-building society and economy in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Liberia – and soon hopefully in Zimbabwe, the DRC and other failed states.

They typically attempt to do so by taking prime responsibility, directly or indirectly through a weak transitional government, to “supply” security, infrastructure and services. This method seldom works. As a ‘supply-side’ model, it is encumbered by ‘patronage’ and hence is open to local elite capture be it by warlords or opposition groupings or to disruption by “terrorists”.

Its main weakness is that it ignores the condition of society. The best definition that captures what has happened in such countries is that in each case there has been a “massive loss of competence” by citizens. Competence is here used in the old English sense of the ability to look after oneself, one’s family and to contribute to society. The need, therefore, is to “restore the competence of all citizens”.

The old orthodoxy of “supply”, which has often in the past been the means to control populations, acts to further marginalize citizens. After years of civic trauma, politically inspired violence and mounting poverty, the supply model asks populations to ‘wait’ for improvements; that is, to remain dependent. Passivity often becomes anger. It is this resultant vast gulf between inactive citizens and frustrated donor / emerging new government that leaves space for resistance and warlord and political / religious machinations.

It also fails to build local demand and economy; thereby punishing those who try to produce but cannot sell locally.

The answer is to move to a higher conception of local renewal and local responsibility in partnership with the central authority facilitated by the UN and allies.

The key is to shift from ‘supply’ to demand-side management, and from patronage and central control / responsibility to economic rights programming that enables, resources, partners and builds competent citizens.

Citizens can be ‘offered’ membership in programmes that confer rights and responsibilities upon them within programme rules. Programmes can be designed that confer community investment (and thus work) rights to build citizen ownership, management and access to productive resources. Other programmes can confer child, health, school and training rights and help to realise the right to live in a working local economy.

As demand-side measures, they also swell local expenditure and, together with other pieces of a localisation strategy, can raise the local multiplier, that is effective local demand, two or three times within a few years.

Programme membership is placed on “offer” to all citizens who organise locally to register to become ‘programme members’. This places the responsibility for implementation on communities of citizens formed for each programme purpose – and rewards local initiative, organisation and the acceptance of responsibility.

Programme rules define the broad aims, the rights and responsibilities of ‘member’ community groups, internal democratic ordering, and attach the related resources. The latter is a fundamental right, to know the available resources. All businesses, agencies and wealthier families enjoy such a basic right in the form of an annual budget. Why not include communities for different purposes as ‘constituent units of society’ with the same resource rights as official departments?

The ‘offer’ of programme rights engages all adults – the best form of politics – and sets out to make them competent in the sense of being able to look after themselves, their families and to contribute to society. It, moreover, allows the authorities to stand back, to “see the wood for the trees” and to assume a supportive, facilitation role.

Citizens organise as communities against known programme rules. These communities will often overlap and can be re-ordered as members decide and experience suggests.

Citizens are rewarded for organising: they qualify to manage the different programmes’ rights, to take responsibility and to receive the associated resources so that they can ‘act’. In doing so, they form and build institutions, perhaps upon existing bodies, such as democratic property companies, Child and Health Societies and the like that give strength to civic society.

This method quickly ‘calls forth’ a dynamic civic society and a local economic, service and community business system to partner the weak state and foreign powers. It also provides capable civic partners for the renewal of local government. It shifts responsibility, as loosely promised in all the current UN and allied rhetoric, to enabled, mobilised and organised citizens. This is the surest foundation for democracy. It also engages citizens in creative and mutual ways so that other and disruptive forces are ignored.

Three Programme Rights

1. Child Rights become the primary responsibility of all adults within a Child Rights Society formed at street, neighbourhood or village level in an “Ubuntu” formulation that is often common to traditional societies; that is that “All children are my children”. The programme provides a grant to each child. These grants are assembled at the ‘Society” so that effectively all adults come to guarantee the rights of all children in their communities.

The rights may flow from country constitutions or UN resolutions but, as programme rights, can be set at country, programme or community level. Early Childhood Development, including the moral and intellectual growth of the child, good parenting, safety, shelter, nutrition and primary health would be the core aims of the programme.

2. Investment Rights are a form of sophisticated community public works programme. A Community Investment Programme (CIP) issues annual investment rights to all adults registered within Community Development Associations (CDA).
The CIP provides roughly US$300 per adult per year registered in a CDA at street, neighbourhood or village. The transfer goes to form a combined ‘community investment budget’ and thus costs little to transfer.

This sets up a state funded civic society investment programme to inter-act with the public expenditure of local governments. Municipalities, for instance, build main roads and irrigation canals when CDAs in those areas agree to build the related minor roads and field channels.

The CDA investment budget belongs to all adults equally. It creates the fundamental economic right that all businesses, employed people and agencies enjoy but no communities are provided - the right to know the available resources. This is the start to ‘help people help themselves’. They explore the options and the costs; learn to invest across a front and over time; and to become democratic owners and managers of joint assets.

The result is a ‘learning society’ in which tens of thousands of experiments occur at the periphery. If something goes wrong, it is a chance to discover why, to correct it and to broadcast the learning. At present failure of all kinds is far too common and mostly hidden. Most poor countries have learnt almost nothing about local development for many years, including the last decade.

The poor are great investors when they have some cash to which they can add their considerable under-used labour. The simple institutional and administrative model allows them to convert the broken down village into an asset holding, investing and managing democratic and economic body, essentially a property company with equal adult – men and women - owners.

Members begin and remain equal as owners, investors and managers. Each year they issue equal ‘use rights’ over gardens, irrigation, grazing, orchards, grinding mills etc. that they trade amongst themselves, allowing each to optimise their economic activity as against others whilst achieving prices over their assets.

The Chinese village, for twenty years, has enjoyed the greatest and longest economic growth known to man upon the back of an informal, locally managed form of rural industrial co-operative. There are strong parallels with the CIP.

The members choose investments and from those decisions construct a labour budget at a wage they agree to pay themselves. In the 1992/93 hundred-year drought in South Africa, a similar economic rights based US$15 million ‘Relief and Development Programme’ (RDP) granted communities investment budgets for the first time ever. Villagers paid each other an average of US1.00 per day when the going official casual wage was US7.00. Why? Because they paid each other, they asked of each other, “How much will you give to earn the total labour budget?” Members sought the maximum investment result.

That programme, beginning with one staff member, reached 940 rural communities, generated 940 great people and development stories, spent the fund using just 25 staff within two years and ‘lost’ some US$1,000 misappropriated. Sadly, a new government, new political turf battles, and the rapid rounds of fashionable development approaches, often driven by donors, drove that expereince from the agenda – until now when it is making a comeback under local economic development driven by residents and local councils.

The CIP adds an investment loop to state expenditure before members earn wages and fees for local services. This raises the local circulation of cash considerably. In the model coming through, CDAs can enter into a social compact with the province. They ‘borrow’ from the province against their ability to raise the local multiplier and to enhance the local productive base and thus future incomes and welfare. They repay these loans by agreeing to pay higher school and health fees. Why? Because school and health form 70% of provincial budgets and, if paid directly as salaries, leak out to central cities. CDAs can use the money better in the first instance, enabling the state to become primarily an investor in and through citizens.

The CIP is affordable. If paid in local currency that in turn can pay all fees and taxes to the local government, it is especially economically dynamic.

3. The Right to Working Local Economies can be fostered by a programme that helps regions to install effective rotating markets, service delivery and intra-district transport systems so that economies of scale and low transaction costs, with access to services, are brought to each locality on market day. This can be once or twice a week within cities and, perhaps, fortnightly in the countryside. A hierarchy of spatial and temporal planning emerges so that each neighbourhood is linked to market and administrative centres and to regional economies regularly and on other days the market is known and can be visited. This programme may build upon an existing market system or pension payout points. It fits in well with sectoral production programmes, such as irrigation and small farmer dairy as it provides the means to bring seller, buyer and payment agents together and to swell local cash circulation.

The model produces a developmental and a ‘learning society’ with numerous local experimentations so that, if things do go wrong, they can be isolated, investigated and corrected without threat to the whole. The result is a positive joint learning opportunity, the results of which are sought by all programme communities to avoid wasting their time, effort and budgets. Programme rules and policies can then be reviewed in a broad participatory manner with the member communities.

Moving from supply, and often control and central dictation, to economic rights opens up citizen participation, responsibility and experiential learning of sectoral management but also of democratic action. It also builds local demand fast, as it places all expenditure in local hands so that the local multiplier is higher than otherwise and local economies gain strength, leading to greater national performance. Community members will give enormously of their time, labour, local knowledge and responsibility; something seldom ‘bought’ by higher authorities!

The model has been used in South Africa in the drought of 1992/93 and is now emerging as the key reform to instituting Local Economic Development amidst the devastating legacy of racial apartheid, 40% unemployment rates nationally but far higher in marginalised areas, and high dependence on central places.

It has been used in the UN Country Team’s Relief and Recovery Plan for Zimbabwe – which I wrote and which awaits the political decisiveness of the African Union to get rid of Mugabe and to move to new elections.

Economic rights under-pin citizens as democratic and as economic ‘actors’ and thus provide the citizen partner to local government success and to international efforts everywhere.





Appendix 1.
Busiesvlei

Getting Community Support Right

Norman Reynolds

The drought of 1992-94 saw the then South African government provide R15 billion to commercial farmers, mostly to cancel debt due to its own Land Bank. Very little from any source was provided for small black farmers and for farm labour which lost jobs.

The Independent Development Trust (IDT) asked me to design a drought relief and development programme. This was approved and R100 million set aside to run it for one to two years.

Calamities are often the best, maybe the only time to introduce significant reforms. The main reform introduced in this programme was that each community received a budget designed, upon flimsy information after a first visit, to employ themselves on community public works for about three to four months; i.e. a wage and a materials, transport and services budget to be used to build or maintain worthwhile structures, roads, wells and the like.

A legal letter on a proper letterhead was sent to each community days after the visit. The letter offered support and announced the budget provided to each community. The letter did not necessarily go to the “right” party as one visit could not reveal much beyond rough numbers of families without regular income – wage, remittance or pension. It was presumed, and worked in practice, that a public letter, nailed as it were the church door, which placed funds on the community table (albeit within a budget) would mobilise all members of a community. The letter required the community to organise to gain control of the budget. The community had to: -
· Hold a democratic community meeting, audited by two local dignitaries like a priest or headmaster, which elected or nominated an existing committee or chiefs council or whatever to run the programme
· Committee members had to accept operational portfolios like Treasurer
· Open a bank account
· Accept the controlling role of Annexures to the letter on procedures etc.

The programme set aside 7% to monitor and audit the use of monies. Funds were passed to the communities in tranches related to planned work for the next month or so. The same professional firm transferred funds to community accounts as tranches were approved upon field reports of expenditure and activity. This outlay guaranteed that there was practically no fraud and gave confidence to all the players, especially the community committees. A further 10% was set aside for management and technical support. The total administrative cost, 17% of R17 million, was provided over and above the R100 million for community budgets.

The aim was to prove two economic and constitutional points as central to development management: -

A. That, given the same economic rights as most households and all businesses enjoy, communities would show a new level of capability and financial know how. The rights are: -
1. To know the available resources – the budget. Unlike many official and donor programmes, the communities received their “drought” budgets as theirs – for all time. There was no closing date.
2. Having a budget, the communities knew the resources available. Holding the budget, they were able to explore alternative uses. This is a great improvement upon the fashionable but fallacious concern of donors with “needs assessment” separate from a budget. With the budget, the communities were able to exercise the most powerful economic conception of all, opportunity cost. That is, the opportunity foregone if one chooses to spend funds in a particular way is the real cost of that choice, not the cash cost.
3. To invest on a broad front – not just what the donor gives you, like a community hall; e.g. to paint a house and to build an extra room and from the savings against a new house to invest in education.
4. To invest in a sequence over time so that returns rise. To open the bar first and from its profits to build the hotel.
5. To explore how to keep monies active in the community, circulating for as long as possible. This is the local multiplier. To do that means hiring and buying locally whenever possible and first investing in projects which bring a return that can pay for social expenditure like the salaries and materials for early childhood development.

B. If a community has a budget and the freedom to optimise its use across a front and over time, it gains another right that communities have never been given: the right to define and manage its business boundary.

All the 940 odd communities that received budgets ranging from R40, 000 to R1, 000,000, illustrated these two inter-related forms of basic economic rights.

Busiesvlei, which received a R40, 000 budget, is a small farm labour township set amongst farms in the old western Transvaal. Most families who lived there, about 90%, lost their jobs as many surrounding farms went into the hands of the Land Bank.

We followed our normal procedures: -
· Two of us, an engineer in charge of that region and I dropped in to Busiesvlei after spending some time finding it.
· We asked if we could meet residents and any committee or other community body.
· They were suspicious. About twenty people of all ages slowly arrived in a classroom.
· We explained that we came from a Trust that wished to assist them survive the drought and the loss of jobs. The Trust was not prescriptive. It needed information in order to engage the community. Would they tell us about themselves, how many families lived there, how many had regular income and anything else we should know.
· Some senior people arrived during the meeting and stated that the community wanted a clinic. We accepted that but countered that the Trust would provide a budget that the community would use as best it could to solve income and other problems. We would hand deliver a legal letter shortly informing the community about the budget provided and the procedures and a staff member would then help them work out how best to use the funds. This did not satisfy some present: a clinic or nothing was their attitude. We explained that the budget probably could not build a clinic. A clinic could only be built if the authorities accepted it and agreed to man and service it. We left after about two hours, leaving behind an unhappy group.
· A legal letter awarding them R40, 000 was hand delivered three days later. With it were annexures that spelt out the procedures. With money on the table, as the theory stated, the community did meet and did elect a committee for the purpose. And a social audit confirmed the same.
· The engineer and I returned a couple of weeks later together with the local facilitator. We faced considerable anger. How could R40, 000 build a clinic? Why were we wasting their time? Did we not hear what they had said? Slowly, over several hours, working through the Committee, we turned the meeting around. We had them playing simple role model and other games that showed that they had more than R40, 000; they had rights that would reward imagination, courage, persistence and discipline. They had a crucial element of autonomy, something they had never had before. Not once did we prescribe what they should do – just questions and games about who they were, what was their surrounding and internal economy, their management boundary, how they related to agencies, farmers and the like.
· After about six weeks the facilitator began to report interesting activities of the kind that the programme predicted.
1. The Committee hired a taxi and travelled to see the Provincial Health Department at its headquarters. This cost R640. The officials were intrigued by a rural labour group that sought a clinic but “put on the table” as their negotiating piece some R39, 000. This had never happened before. It was agreed that a follow up meeting would take place in the nearest “white” town, nine kilometres away, in a month with the Town clerk and the Sister who ran that clinic.
2. When they returned there was a celebration; for the first time they were working with the authorities.
3. Because of the uncertain timing of any official solution, the Committee then spent R260 to travel in a taxi to a hospital to see a white doctor who had a good reputation. They travelled past two other hospitals to see him in the third hospital. It turned out that he was the Hospital Administrator. He was taken with their concern to obtain a health service for the community and that they had a budget to use. He invited them to treat his hospital as their clinic cum hospital for the next few months until they achieved some more efficient solution.
4. On its return, the Committee called a meeting to announce their success; the community had a clinic cum hospital. The celebration was spoilt when someone asked how anyone could afford to visit that distant hospital. The Committee then phoned the doctor. “Don’t worry,” he told them, until a particular date, his ambulances would fetch them on a regular basis and answer emergency calls. For R900 they had a complete health service, at least for a short while.
5. A month later, the meeting took place in the Town Hall of the nearby town. The Town Clerk was adamant. His over stretched clinic could not take people from another place for which his town had no responsibility. The Sister suggested that she could work extra hours on two days a week if the people from Busiesvlei could organise to come at those times. The Town Clerk would have none of that “infiltration”. The town could not afford it. The Sister then enquired if there was a place at Busiesvlei where a clinic could be run. She would come out on her own if the community could provide a suitable place. Like the song about Henry and the hole in the bucket, the Committee reminded everyone present that the lack of a clinic was what had started the whole business. Then an administrator from Head Office remembered that there was a manager’s house at Busiesvlei. Could a part of that be used for an occasional clinic? “No”, said a Committee member, “It has been locked for years. There is no manager.” A phone call followed to Head Office and the manager’s house was made available for the clinic. The community, after spending R980 of R40, 000, now had a permanent clinic. It had taken just four months from the time the letter with the budget had been delivered to Busiesvlei!
6. Two months later a manager in the IDT wrote a letter to the Committee noting that little money had been spent and threatening, which was illegal in terms of the programme rules and the letter conferring the budget, that if the balance of R39, 020 was not spent soon it would be cancelled, lost to Busiesvlei. The Committee then organised the building of a simple youth centre. By now they had so many friends that most of the material was donated by the Department of Health and the Police which at the time, prior to the first “national” elections of 1994, were given community development funds. Labour cost R12, 000. At the opening, the Police came in two big trucks and lifted everyone from their homes the few yards to the Youth Centre!
7. The Committee then invited the engineer and myself to a meeting to discuss how best to spend the balance of R27, 000. We reminded them of the games we had first played, particularly two that involved analysing the local economy that created jobs and business opportunities and the principle of investment rather than expenditure. After some time members began to explore, with rising excitement, the fact that the nearby commercial farmers, their previous employers, could not plant the next crop of maize because they were too indebted to raise loans. But Busiesvlei had funds. It did not take long for the community to instruct the Committee to choose the three or four best farmers – not the nicest – to enter into negotiations about joint farming ventures. Busiesvlei, with a R27, 000 deposit could raise additional funds with which to finance crops. In return for finance, farmers would hire labour from Busiesvlei, pay wages and interest and share the profit. Looked at another way, Busiesvlei was hiring the farmer as manager, renting his land and equipment and sharing some of the risks inherent in raising their own crops and employing themselves. R40, 000 had bought an economic, organisational and service revolution for about R240 per family.

All the 940 odd communities that received budgets had successes. The most common was that, paying themselves, they paid very low wages, around R7 per day. Work on official sites, like road building, paid R55 per day. Knowing the total wage bill, they gave as much as possible for the total, not the daily wage, that could be earned.

Some communities completed projects without paying wages. They knew that they had earned the total wage bill. The task was to match the output to that expenditure. Hence, as labourers and as community members, they were able to lift their sights to aim for the greatest output for a given total wage.

The programme became highly popular. Committees began to ask if they could take more responsibility for the running of the programme by forming a League of Reform Communities. Numerous issues had arisen about the workings of communities, investment in and the management of common properties and how investment in individual productive capacity, like a well or pigsty, could be undertaken. They sought regional and then national workshops. A key idea was that in a second round of budgets, a bank might advance an additional 30% as a loan to each community. As they gained confidence in their abilities to invest well, so they were prepared to face a rising cost of the funds provided, knowing that that opened up the far larger resources of the financial institutions. The aim that was discussed was to achieve 60% loan, 40% grant after four years.

The only unresolved problem was that in some communities those who were selected to work tended to form a protective monopoly over the right to work. The answer, from the second year, was to distribute the labour budget equally to all adults as work rights with a monetary face value for a days work. These would be bought and sold within the community. In that way no group could capture the right to work. The work right has been developed theoretically and offers a dynamic mobilising way to invest in people organised in communities and groups. This allows the state to partner communities, suitably organised, which invest in themselves, accepting, as financially competent bodies, in return an obligation to pay school and clinic fees. This sets up a high local multiplier, releases the state from the limitations of budgetary expenditure to the dynamics of finance, and propels the whole economy to higher levels of performance and of participation. There is a separate paper on the subject.

The drought programme ended in what, if publicly known, was a disgraceful and self-serving decision. Just as the programme was reinventing itself, so the head of the IDT was informed by the head of the South African National Civic Organisations (SANCO) that it was too popular. It must either pass the funds to SANCO or leave the field. The IDT passed a ridiculous rule that no community could receive a budget twice, stopping in its tracks the most innovative and successful rural programme ever, not only in South Africa but at least as good as anything elsewhere. And that to save a few individuals careers.

It is time that such a programme is re-launched with work rights and a growing component of loans, mainly for private asset creation but also for commonly owned and used infrastructure. There are moves in this direction, including turning the broken down tribal village into a Trust Company, converting a meaningless birthright “of access to a free good, land” into a community of equal, male and female, adult owners of the common properties. Again there are papers available on the subject.

More...

africa: IRIN Interview with outgoing AU commissioner for Trade, Industry and Economic Affairs

2003-10-09

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000553/index.php

Vijay Makhan is the outgoing African Union Commissioner for Trade, Industry and Economic Affairs. In an interview with IRIN, just days after returning from the failed trade talks in Cancun, Mexico where he led the AU mission he argues that rich nations have let down Africa once again despite their repeated promises and he calls for a radical overhaul of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

africa: NEPAD: What is it? What is missing

2003-10-09

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000550/index.php

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) has gone by many names. NEPAD is typically depicted by architects and foremost proponents as an attempt to address Africa's vast development challenges. Some have even called it Africa's 'Marshall Plan". More others see it as a development strategy and a programme of the African Union (AU). Critics on the other hand depict NEPAD as a 'neo-liberal' project, clearly contrary to the views of its supporters who see NEPAD as a revolutionary plan. Critics have even called NEPAD the 'Africanisation of GEAR'. Whatever name and epithet one chooses, NEPAD has clearly generated a great deal of debate, says this paper prepared for the labour research organisation Naledi.

africa: Stand and deliver! Analyses of the World Bank's World Development Report 2004

2003-10-09

http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/news/WDR2004.html

This year's World Development Report (WDR) addresses the challenges of making essential public services reach the poor by confronting the power relations that govern resources, exploring institutional complexities and recognising the centrality of politics to service delivery. But does it go far enough? This feature on the website of the Institute for Development Studies raises questions about three issues: Accountability, Service Delivery Performance and Health Systems.

africa: the reality of aid

2003-10-09

http://www.afrodad.org/issues/aid.htm

Aid has become a much contested issue. Orthodox approaches treat foreign Aid as a critical factor for redressing capital deficiencies in poor nations, boosting local demand and supply and through positive multiplier effects, establishing conditions for sustainable long-term growth. Donors expect Government to adopt policies and programmes that will create a conducive environment for improved economic performance. The reality however, indicates that Aid is driven by other motivations, argues this article one the website of Afrodad, a research, lobby and advocacy regional organisation seeking to secure positive policy changes to redress Africa's debt and development crisis.

Angola: Coffee industry shows signs of recovery

2003-10-09

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1593

Angola's once flourishing coffee industry is beginning to show signs of recovery after decades of civil war that virtually destroyed production. Until 1975 Angola was the 4th largest coffee producer in the world. Today its coffee output barely satisfies local needs.

africa/global: Drugs giants close to HIV giveaway for Third World

2003-10-09

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/story.jsp?story=449982

Seven of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, are in talks with a leading international workers' organisation that could result in HIV drugs being given free to some of the world's poorest nations. The talks are being held between the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the main producers of HIV drugs.

africa: hiv/aids - a progress report

2003-10-09

http://www.unaids.org/html/pub/Topics/UNGASS2003/UNGASS_Re port_2003_en_p df.pdf

Using the mandates of the UN General Assembly Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS in 2001, the UNAIDS Secretariat and Cosponsors collaboratively developed a series of global/ regional and national indicators to measure the global community's progress in reaching the Declaration's targets in line with the Millennium Development Goals. This report, by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS, which presents data from the first use of these indicators, represents the most comprehensive assessment to date of the state of global, regional and national responses on the broad range of challenges posed by HIV/AIDS.

DRC: Red Cross warns of persistent cholera in Mbuji-Mayi

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/17500

Despite concerted efforts by relief agencies, a recurring outbreak of cholera continues to affect Kasai Oriental Province and the city of Mbuji-Mayi, in particular, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the International Federation of the Red Cross reported last Thursday.
DRC: Red Cross warns of persistent cholera in Mbuji-Mayi

NAIROBI, 3 October (IRIN) - Despite concerted efforts by relief agencies, a recurring outbreak of cholera continues to affect Kasai Oriental Province and the city of Mbuji-Mayi, in particular, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the International Federation of the Red Cross reported on Thursday.

It said that in spite of considerable efforts to contain it, there had been 5,000 cases of the disease since September 2002, resulting in 263 deaths. "The endemic nature of cholera in this area and the fact that it has the potential to spread into neighbouring provinces makes it critical to immediately put in place measures to control and reduce the epidemic," the Federation said.

It noted that the geographic spread of the epidemic indicated that 68.32 percent of reported cases were in Mbuji-Mayi, while 31.68 percent were from the interior of the province, particularly from diamond-mining areas, where sanitary conditions around the mines were particularly poor.

It went on to say that data gathered by the local Stop Cholera Committee showed that the duration of the epidemic was unusual, as cholera outbreaks normally did not last longer than three months.

It cited two reasons to explain this anomaly: first, an inadequate number of domestic latrines because of rocky ground, which made digging very difficult - according to the provincial Red Cross branch, as at January 2003, only 17.37 percent of the compounds visited had family toilets or latrines; and second, poor access to potable water: only 21.3 percent of the visited compounds had access to water distributed by Regideso, the national water company, while the rest drank water from wells or unprotected sources, such as springs located beneath housing zones where the few existing latrines were less than one metre deep.

"Given the urgency of the situation, and the real potential for further deterioration", the Federation has launched an appeal for support, which would be followed by its 2004 annual appeal for the DRC, featuring a strengthened cholera project as a key component.

[For the complete IFRC report and appeal, go to ]http://www.ifrc.org/cgi/pdf_appeals.pl?03/2103.pdf]
[ENDS]

[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
to change your keywords, contact e-mail: Irin@ocha.unon.org or Web:
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post
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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003

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GHANA: struggle to stop exodus of doctors and nurses

2003-10-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36969

Ghanaian doctors warn that the health services will break down unless the government takes urgent action to pay health professionals a decent wage and curb the activities of overseas recruitment agencies enticing them to accept salaries up to 20 times higher.

South Africa: Civil society key champion against HIV/Aids, says Tshabalala-Msimang

2003-10-09

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1605

Civil society and private business are making invaluable contributions to the war against HIV/Aids, national health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Saturday.

SUDAN: Suspected whooping cough outbreak in Equatoria

2003-10-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36985

Over 100 children, mostly under five, have died from a suspected outbreak of whooping cough in Kimatong Budi county, Equatoria state, according to the NGO, Medair.

ZIMBABWE: Disease outbreaks feared as water authority moves to cut supply

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/17498

Plans by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) to disconnect water services to all towns owing it money could trigger widespread outbreaks of disease, which the health ministry may not have the capacity to control, warned Zimbabwe's Directorate of Disease Prevention and Control. The directorate, part of the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, said there was a danger of diseases spreading to neighbouring countries and blossoming into regional epidemics as people moved from one country to another.
ZIMBABWE: Disease outbreaks feared as water authority moves to cut supply

BULAWAYO, 3 October (IRIN) - Plans by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) to disconnect water services to all towns owing it money could trigger widespread outbreaks of disease, which the health ministry may not have the capacity to control, warned Zimbabwe's Directorate of Disease Prevention and Control.

The directorate, part of the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, said there was a danger of diseases spreading to neighbouring countries and blossoming into regional epidemics as people moved from one country to another.

Dr Stanley Midzi, director in the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in the ministry, said they were already overstretched in terms of human and material resources and funding.

ZINWA, a statutory body charged with managing the country's water resources and catchment areas, announced this week that it would disconnect water services to all towns in arrears. The collective debt owed to ZINWA runs into hundreds of millions of Zimbabwe dollars.

The exercise was set to begin this week in Matabeleland South, where a total of six towns including Gwanda, the provincial capital, owe ZINWA over Zim $100 million (about US $122,977) in unpaid water tariffs.

The other towns are: Beitbridge, on the border with South Africa; Plumtree, on the border of Botswana; Esigodini, an agricultural and district capital about 50 km southwest of Bulawayo; Kezi and Maphisa on the edge of the vast Matopos National Park; and Filabusi, the district capital for Insiza constituency.

Tommy Rosen, the ZINWA manager for Umzingwane Catchment area which supplies water to the towns, warned that only a full payment of debts would result in reconnection of the water supply.

Although it was not possible to get a credit breakdown for each of the towns, sources in ZINWA told IRIN that Beitbridge owes Zim $56.1 million (about US $68,990), Gwanda owes Zim $37. 4 million (about US $45,993) and Plumtree's arrears reportedly stand at Zim $29 million (about US $35,663).

"There will be a massive disconnection of water supplies [starting at the end of September] to force the authorities and institutions to pay up," said Rosen.

However, the directorate of disease control has encouraged dialogue, saying that since ZINWA is an arm of government under the Ministry of Water and Rural Resources, it should not "deliberately start problems that will strain other ministries".

"ZINWA is a statutory body and, as such, we expect them to understand the various problems facing the ministry of health in terms of facilities, human resources, equipment and most important of all, drugs. So we assume that they know that disconnecting water supplies is the quickest way to trigger wholesale disease outbreaks," Midzi explained.

He added that "disconnecting the towns will create unhygienic conditions, where nothing can be cleaned and ablution facilities cannot work. The first outbreaks to expect would be of hygene-related diseases like general diarrhoea, and then bloody diarrhoea, followed by deadlier diseases like dysentery and cholera, which thrive in dirty environments".

"In the light of such fears, I think ZINWA should act responsibly and engage the local authorities in dialogue to find an amicable solution to their standoff on debts. We cannot afford to control any outbreaks because of the economic problems that have filtered down to all government ministries," said Midzi.

ECONOMIC CRISIS AFFECTING LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Thandeko Zinti Mnkandla, the mayor of Gwanda, the only municipality in Matabeleland South, expressed the same fears of disease breaking out. He said the affected local authorities had tried and failed to meet ZINWA officials to discuss the debt problem in the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing on two occasions within the past fortnight.

"Last week, the meeting failed to take place because of the burial of the late Vice President Simon Muzenda. We have not been given a reason for the failure of the meeting which was supposed to take place on Tuesday, 30 September," Mnkandla said.

The affected local authorities had made various proposals for paying off the debt to ZINWA. "I do not have the exact details, but I know that every concerned authority has proposed one way or another to settle the debt. So, ZINWA's plans represent major health hazards, which no local authority can control," the mayor stressed.

"For Gwanda we had proposed a steady payment of the debt beginning this month. This decision was taken after considering the precarious state of our finances. Residents owe us millions in unpaid water and other general service rates. Therefore, the situation is that local authorities are caught between service providers demanding payments, and residents who obviously are failing to pay because they are affected in various ways by the economic crisis in the country," Mnkandla explained.

He added that "local authorities are trying to engage [residents] in discussions to encourage them to pay".

"We cannot afford to disconnect them and risk disease outbreaks. It would be illogical and disastrous in public health terms if ZINWA goes ahead with this plan," Mnkandla warned.

By the end of the week there had been no confirmed reports of a town being disconnected.

CUTBACKS CONTINUE

When the government announced two months ago that it did not have the resources to issue grants to local authorities for essential services, the Bulawayo City Council appealed to the United Nations for help in the procurement of water treatment chemicals.

The council also announced that it had stopped testing the city's drinking water for cyanide and mercury, the chemicals widely used by gold panners and mining concerns based along the major rivers that feed the city's five supply dams.

ZINWA officials declined to comment on the possible health and environmental effects of the disconnection exercise, should it be carried out.

The water authority last month increased water tariffs by between 80 percent and 100 percent, to Zim $180 (about US $0.22) per cubic metre for those who consume up to 10 cubic metres of water per month, while those who consume up to 25 cubic metres now pay Zim $280 (about US $0.34) per cubic metre.


[ENDS]

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[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or
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zimbabwe: malaria kills hundreds

2003-10-09

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=30316

Health authorities in Zimbabwe have confirmed in a statement that 786 people have died of malaria in that country in the nine months to the end of September this year.

ZIMBABWE: Rising costs of medical drugs impacts on poor

2003-10-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37054

The cost of health care in Zimbabwe finally went beyond the reach of most people this month when medical drug suppliers and pharmacies hiked prices by more than 1,000 percent, citing an increase by the same margin in import costs.

africa/global: Hitting the mark: can under five mortality be cut by two thirds?

2003-10-09

http://www.id21.org/health/InsightsHealth4Editorial.html

In 2000, the nations of the world pledged to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. These ambitious targets included a commitment over the period 1990 to 2015 to: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (50% reduction in the numbers of people living on less than US$1/day); Reduce under five mortality rate by two thirds; and Reduce maternal mortality rates by 75%. As the World Bank estimates and projections for progress show, the goals for reduction in child mortality will be achieved in only a few countries.

africa/global: one in three in slums in thirty years

2003-10-09

http://www.guardian.co.uk/population/Story/0,2763,1055787,00.html

One in every three people in the world will live in slums within 30 years unless governments control unprecedented urban growth, according to a UN report. Africa now has 20% of the world's slum dwellers and Latin America 14%, but the worst urban conditions are in Asia, where more than 550 million people live in what the UN calls unacceptable conditions. The world's 30 richest countries are home to just 2% of slum dwellers; in contrast, 80% of the urban population of the world's 30 least developed countries live in slums.

car: Immunisation drive resumes in northwest

2003-10-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37049

Health authorities resumed on Monday the immunisation of children in the northwestern Central African Republic towns of Bozoum, Paoua, Bocaranga and Ngaoundaye, which had been cut off for a year by war and insecurity, state-owned Radio Centrafrique reported. "Children who were born between October 2002 and now were not vaccinated," Xavier Tomanga, the area's chief medical officer, said on the radio from Bozoum.

ghana: Danger in disguise: spotting the warning signs of severe childhood illnesses

2003-10-09

http://www.id21.org/health/InsightsHealth4art1.html

Many children die in developing countries without ever reaching a health facility. What stops caregivers from accessing medical services? Why are they accessed late? Are caregivers able to spot the symptoms and signs of severe illnesses? Research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine tackles this question in rural Ghana.

ivory coast: Funding Needed Urgently As Schools Resume

2003-10-09

http://allafrica.com/stories/200310070001.html

As children go back to school after a year of disrupted classes, Cote d'Ivoire is calling on donors to help rebuild the war-ravaged school system. On Monday, tens of thousands of primary and secondary school children returned to their classrooms in government-held areas.

kenya: University lecturers want 2,000 per cent pay raise

2003-10-09

http://www.eastandard.net/headlines/news07102003012.htm

Public university lecturers want a salary increment of more than 2,000 per cent. Under the new demand, professors want their monthly pay raised from about Sh40,000 to Sh895,000 while ordinary lecturers want Sh232,000, up from the current Sh12,000. Assistant lecturers, on the other hand, want Sh120,000. The University Academic Staff Union, (Uasu), representing about 6,000 members, says the lecturers want the new demands effected immediately.

MOZAMBIQUE: Lack of documents deny children access to social benefits

2003-10-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36999

The lack of an identity document (ID) or birth certificate has denied many Mozambican children access to social services. Eighteen-year-old Manuel Fernando is one of them. Like many youths in Mozambique, his life has been a struggle from birth. And, like many other children, the basic right of receiving a birth certificate has been denied him.

Namibia: Aids grant to boost food scheme

2003-10-09

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1601

About 5 000 needy people, as well as orphans and volunteers affiliated to Catholic Aids Action, will receive emergency food relief over the next six months.

nigeria/benin: Join Forces to Fight Child Trafficking

2003-10-09

http://ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=20511

Barely two weeks after 116 children were returned to neighbouring Benin, another set of 120 children kidnapped from that country have been rescued by the Nigerian police. They are victims of child trafficking and forced child labour.

rwanda/tanzania: Globalisation and skills for development

2003-10-09

http://tinyurl.com/qaxm

This report from the UK Department for International Development is based on a study whose overall aim was to create a context-relevant knowledge base of the implications for education and training policy of globalisation in two low-income sub-Saharan African countries, namely, Rwanda and Tanzania.

south africa: Chronic poverty and older people

2003-10-09

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1608

This report includes a comprehensive review of existing research, both published and unpublished, on the old in South Africa. The reports looks at the extent of poverty, saying South Africa has one of the most rapidly ageing populations in Africa, with a particular increase in the 64-73 year age category, from 25.8% of the total population of older people in 1996 to 26.5% in 1999.

south africa: New Children's Bill Falls Short of Welfare Mark, Say Critics

2003-10-09

http://allafrica.com/stories/200310080160.html

The revised draft of the Children's Bill did not adequately address the huge impact the HIV/AIDS crisis was having on the social welfare system for children, civic society organisations said this week.

swaziland: Schools Filling Gaps Left by HIV/AIDS, Famine

2003-10-09

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=20244

Some schools in Swaziland are filling "many of the gaps" left in the country by the "double whammy" of HIV/AIDS and famine by feeding AIDS orphans and teaching them how to farm. Swazi Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini in January said that the country's official HIV prevalence had reached 38.6%, up from 34.2% in January 2002.

africa/global: a brief history of race

2003-10-09

http://general.rau.ac.za/sociology/Groenewald.pdf

Race has been exceptionally controversial in South African legislation through different dispensations. This has fuelled a great degree of sensitivity around the labelling of race groups. The result is that writers and analysts are constantly faced with questions on how to handle race in their work. Questions such as these are not limited to South Africa, however, says this study, which looks at the concept of racism and several other relevant terms.

africa/global: Poor Countries to Dominate Fish Industry in 2020

2003-10-09

http://www.ifpri.org/pressrel/2003/20031002.htm

Developing countries will shape nearly all growth in the fish industry in the next two decades, while greater reliance on fish farming could force a trade-off between the health of wild fisheries and the environment, and the well being of the poor. These findings come from Outlook for Fish to 2020: Meeting Global Demand, a report released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the World Fish Centre. The study forecasts trends in supply and demand for fish and seafood products over the next twenty years and their impact on fisheries.

ETHIOPIA: Call for Africa to accept GM crops

2003-10-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37038

Africa must “seize” the opportunity offered by controversial genetically modified food, a conference in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa heard on Tuesday. Biotechnology can boost food production and cut back environmental degradation, Kingsley Amoako, who heads the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), told a three-day conference on sustainable development.

ETHIOPIA: More help needed to tackle ivory smugglers

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/17633

Ethiopian wildlife experts have appealed for more support to help crack down on ivory smugglers after returning 37 seized elephant tusks to Kenya. Mohamed Abdi, from the Ethiopian Wildlife and Conservation Organisation, told IRIN the country needed more support to combat poachers and smugglers.
ETHIOPIA: More help needed to tackle ivory smugglers

ADDIS ABABA, 9 October (IRIN) - Ethiopian wildlife experts have appealed for more support to help crack down on ivory smugglers after returning 37 seized elephant tusks to Kenya.

Mohamed Abdi, from the Ethiopian Wildlife and Conservation Organisation, told IRIN the country needed more support to combat poachers and smugglers.

"We are trying our best but we lack the manpower to monitor every check point," said Mohamed, who is based in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

The tusks, weighing 140 kg and believed to have come from Kenyan elephants, were returned to the Kenya Wildlife Service at the border town of Moyale on Tuesday.

"There is a long border between Kenya and Ethiopia so it is easy for smugglers to get across," said Mohamed. "The smugglers are very well organised.

"Until we get financial support to help fight the smugglers then this sort of thing will continue."

He said combating the smugglers - drawn by the lucrative profits from selling ivory - was an uphill battle and one that wildlife conservationists were struggling to win.

Mohamed added that the smugglers were probably trying to cross the Kenyan border into Ethiopia and to Addis Ababa where a flourishing black market exists in carving ivory.

The tusks were handed back more than a year after Ethiopian customs seized them from smugglers as they tried to cross into Ethiopia in April 2002.

According to the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) seized ivory has to be returned to the country of origin.

Gebremedhin Belay, Ethiopia's deputy agriculture minister who is in charge of conservation, has pledged to crack down on smugglers.

"Smuggling is very difficult to control," he told IRIN. "But we will crack down on any smugglers that we find."



[ENDS]

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Fax: +254 2 622129
Email: IRIN@ocha.unon.org

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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003

More...

nigeria: Shiroro Dam: Communities Plead for More Compensation

2003-10-09

http://allafrica.com/stories/200310020311.html

Sixteen years after 36 communities were displaced for the construction of Shiroro Hydro-Electric Dam Station, the people are calling for proper compensation for their land. Speaking through the Gala-dima-Pogo village head, Alhaji Aliyu Dada, the affected communities said that the Federal Government and the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) - the owners of the dam - have neglected them since 1984 when they were moved from their land for the construction of the dam.

southern africa: A CRITIQUE OF TRANSBOUNDARY NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

2003-10-09

http://www.iucnrosa.org.zw/tbnrm/publications/book1.pdf

The meteoric rise of transboundary approaches is due to several factors, including the need to better manage shared resources; the drive for economic growth through regional integration and development; the need to promote peace and security; and more external factors such as globalization and the agendas of international donors and organisations. However, there are numerous concerns arising from these initiatives ranging from community marginalisation to inter-state inequity in the distribution of benefits, according to this paper by the World Conservation Union.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: PRESSURE TO Manage Water Resources

2003-10-09

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=20451

Water wars are unlikely to be fought in Southern Africa, but as the region anxiously awaits the return of summer rains to accompany the new planting season, the current ongoing food security crisis has put new pressure on nations to manage their shared water resources. "Water usage has to be controlled by treaty between countries, and controlled by water policy within countries, or there won't be equitable distribution,” hydrologist Samuel Kunene of Swaziland's Ministry of Natural Resources told IPS.

zimbabwe: Fire rages in Zimbabwe park

2003-10-09

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3170794.stm

A fire has devastated vast tracts of Zimbabwe's Matopos National Park and is threatening many of its wild animals. Reports say that three-quarters of the central part of the 43,000 hectare park has been engulfed by a raging fire that has forced hundreds of wild animals to flee the flames.

ethiopia: Journalist assaulted by unidentified men in military uniform

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/17565

Araya Tesfa Mariam, a journalist with the Amharic-language weekly newspaper "Itiop", was beaten up by unidentified individuals on 1 October 2003, while on his way home. He sustained very serious physical injuries and is receiving medical treatment at Addis Ababa's Menelik Hospital.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE/ALERT - ETHIOPIA

7 October 2003

Journalist assaulted by unidentified men in military uniform

SOURCE: Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA), Addis Ababa

(EFJA/IFEX) - The following is a 6 October 2003 EFJA statement:

Journalist beaten up

Araya Tesfa Mariam, a journalist with the Amharic-language weekly newspaper
"Itiop", was beaten up by unidentified individuals at about 9.00 p.m. (local
time) on 1 October 2003, while on his way home. He sustained very serious
physical injuries and is receiving medical treatment at Addis Ababa's Menelik
Hospital.

The journalist, who sustained injuries to his head, arms and legs and has broken
teeth, said three unidentified men in military uniform jumped out of a police
vehicle and beat him up.

He added that the individuals brutally beat him, dumped him under a bridge and
left. Police patrolling the area picked him up and informed his family of the
attack. Family members then reported the incident to Police Station No. 12.

Efforts are currently being deployed to move Araya to another hospital, where he
can receive better treatment, as Menelik Hospital's emergency unit is crowded
with patients suffering from injuries sustained in car accidents. No details are
available concerning a possible motive for the beating or the identity of the
journalist's attackers.

The EFJA will continue to monitor the case and provide information as it becomes
available. Police Station No. 12 has launched an investigation into the case.
The EFJA calls on the government and the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO)
to follow up on the case and make their findings public.

The Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association - EFJA

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
6 October 2003

Kifle Mulat
President, EFJA

For further information, contact Kifle Mulat, President, EFJA, P.O. Box 31317 /
33232, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, tel/fax: +251 1 55 50 21, mobile: +251 1 (09) 222
939, e-mail: efja@telecom.net.et, efjakifle@hotmail.com

The information contained in this press release/alert is the sole responsibility
of EFJA. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
EFJA.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Suite 403,Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879
alerts e-mail: alerts@ifex.org general e-mail: ifex@ifex.org
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________

More...

kenya: "East African Standard" editor David Makali charged

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/17523

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed deep concern over the criminal charges that have been brought against an editor from the "East African Standard", Kenya's oldest newspaper. The organisation is also concerned about the apparent pressure tactics used by Kenyan police to try to force the journalist and two of his colleagues to reveal their sources for an article in the newspaper's 28 September edition. On that date, the paper published leaked excerpts of confessions to the police by a suspected murderer of Crispin Odhiambo Mbai, who headed a key committee at Kenya's Constitutional Review Conference. The article reported that some of the suspects had accused a prominent politician in President Kibaki's governing coalition of having masterminded the murder.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ACTION ALERT UPDATE - KENYA

3 October 2003

"East African Standard" editor David Makali charged

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

**Updates IFEX alerts of 30 September 2003**

(CPJ/IFEX) - In a 2 October 2003 letter to Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, CPJ
expressed deep concern over the criminal charges that have been brought against
an editor from the "East African Standard", Kenya's oldest newspaper. The
organisation is also concerned about the apparent pressure tactics used by
Kenyan police to try to force the journalist and two of his colleagues to reveal
their sources for an article in the newspaper's 28 September edition.

On that date, the paper published leaked excerpts of confessions to the police
by a suspected murderer of Crispin Odhiambo Mbai, who headed a key committee at
Kenya's Constitutional Review Conference. The article reported that some of the
suspects had accused a prominent politician in President Kibaki's governing
coalition of having masterminded the murder.

After the excerpts were published, police summoned managing director Tom
Mshindi, associate editor Kwamchetsi Makokha, and Sunday editor David Makali to
a police station in the capital, Nairobi.

The three editors reported to the police at around 1:00 p.m. (local time) on 29
September. Mshindi said that he and his colleagues were separated for
questioning, and that police repeatedly asked the journalists to reveal their
sources, which they refused to do.

Mshindi and Makokha were released after about six hours and told to report to
the police the next morning, but Makali was kept in custody. Mshindi and Makokha
said they spent the evening of 29 September trying unsuccessfully to discover
Makali's whereabouts. On 30 September, Makali was allowed to meet briefly with
Mshindi and Makokha and with members of his family, said Mshindi.

After failing to get the journalists to reveal their sources, authorities
pursued charges in court against Makali and a police officer. According to
"Standard" lawyers, Makali and the police officer were taken to High Court in
Nairobi on 1 October, and charged with stealing a cassette that belonged to the
police and contained videotaped confessions.

The newspaper, whose original article on the confessions referred to a police
report, not to a tape, denies that it ever had a police videotape. Makali, who
faces a maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment if convicted, pleaded not
guilty.

Makali and the police officer were released on bail of 5,000 Kenyan shillings
(US$66) each. The judge directed that the case be heard on 3 November.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to the president:
- expressing concern over Kenyan authorities' harassment of Makali and his
colleagues
- noting that the right to protect a source's confidentiality is an
internationally recognised standard of the journalism profession and a necessary
element of a free press
- further noting that the formal charges of theft appear to be nothing more than
a pretext for preventing the media from reporting on sensitive subjects
- reminding him of his government's election promises to support press freedom
- calling on him to do everything within his power to ensure that charges
against Makali are immediately dropped, and that the Kenyan media are allowed to
practice their profession freely, without fear of intimidation or reprisals

APPEALS TO:

His Excellency Mwai Kibaki
President of Kenya
Harambee House
Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: +254 20 21 01 50

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact Adam Posluns (ext. 107) at CPJ, 330 Seventh
Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465 1004, fax: +1 212 465 9568,
e-mail: africa@cpj.org, Internet: http://www.cpj.org/

The information contained in this action alert update is the sole responsibility
of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit CPJ.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Suite 403,Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879
alerts e-mail: alerts@ifex.org general e-mail: ifex@ifex.org
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________

More...

kenya: Culture of Intimidation Resurfaces

2003-10-09

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=20435

Mitch Odero, a veteran Kenyan journalist, remembers vividly how he used to be locked up behind bars for publishing investigative reports which exposed the government. As an editor of one of the local daily newspapers in 1994, he was continuously picked up by police, harassed and tortured for trying to “malign” the KANU government.

Mozambique: Former editor grilled in private imprisonment case

2003-10-09

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1592

The case in which Mozambican journalist Cassimo Ginabay is suing three of his former colleagues for the crime of "private imprisonment" neared its end on 30th of September 2003, with aggressive questioning from the defence lawyer, Inacio Matsinhe, making it seem as though Ginabay was the one on trial. Ginabay claims that Evans Langa, Virgilio Mabota and Elias Cossa deliberately locked him in the offices of the weekly paper "Demos", which he was then editing, on the night of 4 April 2002.

niger: CPJ protests journalist's detention

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/17551

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over the continued imprisonment of Ibrahim Souley, the publication director of the private weekly "L'Enquêteur". Souley is expected to face trial on charges of spreading propaganda and "inciting ethnic hatred".
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ACTION ALERT UPDATE - NIGER

6 October 2003

CPJ protests journalist's detention

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

**Updates IFEX alert of 18 September 2003**

(CPJ/IFEX) - In a 6 October 2003 letter to President Mamadou Tandja, CPJ
expressed concern over the continued imprisonment of Ibrahim Souley, the
publication director of the private weekly "L'Enquêteur". Souley is expected to
face trial on 7 October on charges of spreading propaganda and "inciting ethnic
hatred".

The charges stem from an article published in September in "L'Enquêteur"
alleging that businessmen from eastern Niger had complained that the government
was awarding too many contracts to a businessman from the west. On 13 September,
police officers arrested Souley, along with Soumana Maïga, the newspaper's
founder, in the capital, Niamey.

Maïga was released after several hours, during which he was questioned about his
work at the newspaper, the journalist told CPJ. However, Souley was held for 48
hours at police headquarters before being transferred to Niamey's Central
Prison.

A lawyer working for Souley's defense told CPJ that the journalist could face a
maximum of five years in prison.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to the president:
- condemning the incarceration of Souley and calling for his immediate release
- expressing your opinion that journalists should never be imprisoned for their
work
- calling on him to ensure that Niger journalists can practice their profession
freely, without fear of criminal punishment

APPEALS TO:

His Excellency Mamadou Tandja
President of the Republic of Niger
Niamey, Niger
Fax: +227 733 430

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact Adam Posluns (ext. 107) or Alexis Arieff (ext.
117) at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465 9344,
fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail: africa@cpj.org, aposluns@cpj.org, aarieff@cpj.org,
Internet: http://www.cpj.org/

The information contained in this action alert update is the sole responsibility
of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit CPJ.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Suite 403,Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879
alerts e-mail: alerts@ifex.org general e-mail: ifex@ifex.org
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________

More...

nigeria: NUJ CONDEMNS EXPULSION OF REPORTER FROM STATE HOUSE

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/17601

The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has condemned the recent expulsion of the correspondent of The Monitor newspaper from the Presidential Villa. Cyril Mbah was banished from Aso Rock over a commentary which was critical of President Olusegun Obasanjo's style of administration.
MEDIA IN NIGERIA #02 - 38 (06 OCTOBER 2003)

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= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
MEDIA IN NIGERIA is a weekly publication on
developments within and
affecting the media/communication/freedom of
expression sector in Nigeria.

It is an initiative of the Institute for Media and
Society (IMS), a non-profit,
non-governmental organization based in Lagos, Nigeria.
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NEWS

MEDIA - GENERAL
-OMOLEWA, NIGERIAN, HEADS UNESCO
-WEB SITE: GOVERNOR COMES TO NUJ'S RESCUE

PRINT MEDIA
-NUJ CONDEMNS EXPULSION OF REPORTER FROM STATE HOUSE

BROADCAST MEDIA
-NTA, OTHERS FOR PARTIAL COMMERCIALISATION

INFOTECH
-LONGE VS FIRST BANK: SHAREHOLDER RESTRAINS BANK
DIRECTORS
-ECONET, FIRST BANK SETTLE OUT OF COURT
-GLOBACOM ROLLS OUT IN MAJOR CITIES
-HYPERIA MOVES TO AVOID SANCTIONS OVER USE OF
FREQUENCY

ADVERTISING
-LAGOS GOVT SETS NEW RULES FOR OUTDOOR ADVERTISEMENT
-NBC BANS ADVERT OF UNVERIFIED DRUGS






MEDIA-GENERAL

OMOLEWA, NIGERIAN, HEADS UNESCO

A Nigerian, Professor Michael Omolewa, has been
elected President of the General Conference of the
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organisation, UNESCO. He was unanimously picked by
the 190 members of the organisation during the 32nd
Conference at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France.
He succeeds Iranian, Ambassador Ahmad Jalali.

Before the new appointment, Omolewa was Nigeria's
ambassador to UNESCO.

An elated Omolewa described his election as an
acknowledgment of Nigeria's loyalty and faithfulness
to UNESCO. He outlined the goals of eradicating
illiteracy and ignorance as the major challenge before
his presidency. Omolewa's first assignment in his
new office, was to usher the wife of American
President, Mrs. Laura Bush, to announce the return of
her country to UNESCO, after a 19 - year absence.

WEB SITE: GOVERNOR COMES TO NUJ'S RESCUE

The governor of the Niger delta state of Bayelsa,
Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, has donated N2 million to the
Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) for the
establishment of its web site.

Zee Debekeme, Chief Press Secretary to the governor
who presented the cheque to NUJ President, Smart
Adeyemi, in Abuja, expressed the governor's commitment
to modernization of the media in Nigeria and the
sustenance of press freedom.

The governor descried the media as an ally in the
struggle to improve the lives of the people.

The NUJ President, in his response, commended the
governor for his kind gesture, while also pledging to
ensure that the money was utilized for the purpose for
which it was given.

In a related development, the wife of the governor,
Margaret Alamieyeseigha, has condoled families of the
three journalists who perished recently in a boat
mishap in Ekeremor, Bayelsa / state. Mrs.
Alamieyeseigha who described the incident as painful,
observed that the development should be seen as a
challenge to stamp out the negative vices of sea
piracy and reprisal attacks from the state.

The journalists got drowned when the boat in which
they were sailing to Ekeremor to witness the
presentation of relief materials to victims of
inter-communal crises, capsized following an accident.




PRINT MEDIA

NUJ CONDEMNS EXPULSION OF REPORTER FROM STATE HOUSE

The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has condemned
the recent expulsion of the correspondent of The
Monitor newspaper from the Presidential Villa.

The Abuja council of the union in a statement by its
secretary, Iyobosa Uwugiaren, described the action as
"cruel and unpresidential".

The union equally frowned at the failure of the
presidential spokes-person, Remi Oyo, who, until her
appointment, was President of the Guild of Editors, to
protect the journalist.

Cyril Mbah was banished from Aso Rock over a
commentary which was critical of President Olusegun
Obasanjo's style of administration.

In another development, the zone 'B' of the NUJ has
called on the Nigerian government to arrest the
prohibitive cost of newsprint in order to avert the
looming crisis. Cost of newsprint, a major raw
material for newspaper production, has increased
forcing some media establishment to resort to the use
of equally expensive bond paper.

Nigeria depends largely on importation for her
newsprint requirements.




BROADCAST MEDIA

NTA, OTHERS FOR PARTIAL COMMERCIALISATION

Leading state - owned electronic media organisations
in Nigeria, the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA,
the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, and
the wire service, News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, are to
be partially commercialized.

The three media establishments are among 24
organisations earmarked for partial commercialization
by a new bill seeking to repeal the Public Enterprises
Decree No. 28 of 1999.

The bill which is already before the House of
Representatives, the lower arm of the national
parliament, the National Assembly, seeks to replace
the National Council on Privatisation with the
Privatisation Advisory Council (PAC) and to
restructure the Bureau for Public Enterprises.

The bill equally seeks to enhance popular
participation in privatization process.




INFOTECH

LONGE VS FIRST BANK: SHAREHOLDER RESTRAINS BANK
DIRECTORS

As parties in the suit involving First Bank of Nigeria
Plc and its former Managing Director, Bernand Longe,
await judgment, a shareholder of the bank, Babatunde
Kehsinro, has asked a Federal High Court in Lagos to
restrain directors of the financial institution from
further acting in their various capacities.

Kensinro wants the directors restrained because he
believes that their third parties status in the suit
by the bank, which is before Justice Aliyu Gumel,
makes its impossible for them to realistically protect
the interest of the bank and the plantiff.

Kensinro is asking the court to determine whether it
would not amount to a conflict of interest for the
directors to retain their offices "being potentially
liable to First Bank on account of the suit".

"As a Shareholder and member of the bank, my interest
and that of the bank cannot be properly and adequately
protected by a group of directors whose duty is to
protect the bank, but who are potentially liable to
the bank", he declared.

The action is a new twist to the legal battle. Longe
had won a personal victory by getting Justice Gumel to
include FBN's 13 directors as third parties in the
bank's action against him.

Longe has been contesting his removal as managing
director over the $131.7 million loan facility granted
Investor International (London) Limited in the botched
attempt at acquiring a 51 percent equity stake in the
Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL).

The judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos on the
suit by Longe earlier fixed for September 30 did not
hold following the transfer of the presiding judge,
Justice Reginald Nwodo, to PortHarcourt.

ECONET, FIRST BANK SETTLE OUT OF COURT

Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM) operator,
Econet Wireless Limited has reached an agreement with
one of its financiers, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, FBN,
with a view to settling the dispute between them over
loan-repayment and shareholding, out of court.

The agreement signals the withdrawal of the case
instituted against the GSM company by FBN demanding
among others, that the company's extra-ordinary
general meeting and moves to alter its shareholding
structure by considering bids from South Africa based
telecoms company, Vodacom, be put on hold.

However, the new agreement which would see Econet
Wireless Nigeria allot N2.5 billion equity to First
Bank in the company at the rate of N2 per share, while
paying off the balance of N1.9 billion out of a total
of N4.4 billion indebtedness to the bank, clears the
way for the company's extra-ordinary general meeting
scheduled for October 6, 2003.

The new understanding was said to have been made
possible by opposition to litigation by majority of
First Bank directors.

The extra-ordinary general meeting is expected to sort
issues surrounding the recent board and management
crisis in the company.

GLOBACOM ROLLS OUT IN MAJOR CITIES

After the official inauguration of its Global System
of Mobile Communication (GSM) Services in Abuja, the
nation's Second National Operator, Globacom has kept
faith with its promise to extend its services to
leading Nigerian cities with the roll out of its
services, in quick succession, in Ibadan, Lagos and
PortHarcourt.

The launch has increased the GSM options available to
Nigerians and increased competition within the
industry. So far, Globacom's selling point, is its
per-second billing system.

At the ceremony to herald the company's operation in
Lagos, communications minister, Cornelius Adebayo,
applauded the quality of service provided by the
network and advised them not to take subscribers for
granted.

In Ibadan, Oyo State, Southwestern Nigeria, the state
governor, Rasheed Ladoja praised the company for
introducing the per-second billing system into
Nigeria. "People believe business means exploitation;
it should not be so. If there is no competition, we
will think that the best is what we have but now we
have seen the dividend of privatization by Glomobile
per second billing", he offered.

In PortHarcourt, the company's promoter, Mike Adenuga,
declared that Globacom was poised to make the
difference in GSM service delivery. "We are here to
prove that a Nigerian company can provide the same GSM
service available in other parts of the world", he
declared.

HYPERIA MOVES TO AVOID SANCTIONS OVER USE OF FREQUENCY

One of the leading internet service providers (ISPs)
in the country, Hyperia, is taking steps to avert
sanctions from the industry regulator, the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC).

NCC recently indicted Hyperia of illegal use of radio
frequency spectrum (3.5 GHZ band) for which they are
not licenced, thereby committing an offence punishable
under section 31 of the Nigerian Communications Act.

The Commission which said its enhanced monitoring
effort unmasked Hyperia's illegal operation which
caused interference to all Licenced fixed wireless
operators, had threatened legal action against the
ISP.

By virtue of the Act, an illegal operator risk a jail
term or fine, ten times the value of the initial fee
in addition to confiscation of the equipment used for
the illegal operation. But media reports indicate
that Hyperia's management have reached out to the NCC
with a view to resolving the matter amicably.



ADVERTISING

LAGOS GOVT SETS NEW RULES FOR OUTDOOR ADVERTISEMENT

The quarell between the Lagos State government and
Outdoor Advertising Practitioners may not be over
afterall. In a renewed move to regulate and control
the use of outdoor structures for advertisement,
display of signage and hoarding, the state government
has churned out fresh regulations which require
outdoor practitioners to register with the government
and obtain relevant permits before they can practice
their profession.

According to a release by the state Ministry of
Environment, the new order "will remove visual blight
and enhance the physical environment". It also said
that the measure will eliminate quackery and allow
only accredited professionals to practice in the
state. "No company or person, whether for commercial,
professional or personal purposes, is allowed to erect
any kind of advertising structure or to display any
kind of advertising message(s), without first
complying with the requisite procedure and payment of
the prescribed fees, and possession of the applicable
permit(s)", the ministry stated.

Practitioners who have already erected any kind of
advertising structures, have until March 31, 2004 to
regularize their statuses.

NBC BANS ADVERT OF UNVERIFIED DRUGS

The National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has given
broadcast stations in Nigeria a September 30, 2003
deadline to stop airing advertisements of traditional
medicine whose efficacy has not been scientifically
proven.

The commission observed that there has been an
avalanche of such advertisements on radio and
television stations nationwide making spurious claims,
"the most notorious being claims that they can cure
cancer, fibroid, epilepsy, hepatitis, syphilis and
HIV/Aids".

It regretted that the trend which violates section
8.4.16 of the Nigeria Braodcasting code, has enabled
charlatans, advertisers, and the stations to exploit
alternative medicine for commercial gains.

Broadcast stations who violate the code, will as from
October 1, 2003, face sanction ranging from fines to
outright loss of broadcast licence.

In a similar move, the National Agency for Food Drug
Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has directed the
Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, the leading TV
network in Nigeria to desist from airing adverts of
alternative medicine whose potency is not
scientificable verifiable. The agency frowned at the
activities of charlatans who parade themselves as
having the cure for all ailments.




-----ENDS----


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More...

Southern Africa: MISA lobbies SADC secretariat for greater press freedom

2003-10-09

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1606

The Southern African Development Community has been urged to take action on threats to press freedom in the region, particularly in Zimbabwe. At a meeting with the SADC secretariat in Gaberone, the capital of Botswana, a Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) delegation raised concerns that the mandatory licensing of journalists could be open to abuse by governments.

sudan: Newspaper suspended by state prosecutor in charge of subversion cases

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/17522

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has condemned the recent closure of the newspaper "Al-Azminah" and the continued harassment of the independent daily "Alwan" by the state prosecutor in charge of subversion cases. "We call on the authorities to respect the presidential decree giving the National Press Council the responsibility to oversee press matters, rather than the subversion prosecutor, who continues to shut down newspapers," said Robert Ménard, the organisation's secretary-general.
Les versions française et espagnole suivent.
Las versiones en francés y español se encuentran más abajo.
The French and Spanish versions follow.

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT AND UPDATE - SUDAN

3 October 2003

Newspaper suspended by state prosecutor in charge of subversion cases

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

**New cases and update to IFEX alert of 5 September 2003**

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has condemned the recent closure of the newspaper "Al-Azminah"
and the continued harassment of the independent daily "Alwan" by the state
prosecutor in charge of subversion cases.

"We call on the authorities to respect the presidential decree giving the
National Press Council the responsibility to oversee press matters, rather than
the subversion prosecutor, who continues to shut down newspapers," said Robert
Ménard, the organisation's secretary-general. "The prosecutor, Mohamed Farid
Hassan, is defying the Ministry of Justice," he added.

On 30 September 2003, Hassan suspended "Al-Azminah" indefinitely following a
complaint against the daily by the army. The prosecutor has close ties to the
intelligence services, whose authority over the press was ended by a 12 August
decree that reaffirmed press freedom and transferred media monitoring to the
National Press Council. The intelligence services continue to resist the order.

The army accused "Al-Azminah" of publishing an "inaccurate" report saying
pro-government militias had been disbanded after the 25 September signing of a
peace agreement with rebels of the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation
Army.

The agreement is aimed at ending the 20-year civil war in the country. It
provides for the withdrawal of government troops from the south of the country
within six years and the creation of new military units made up of soldiers from
both sides. The army is very sensitive about these matters.

Prosecutor Hassan said "Al-Azminah" continued to publish false news with the aim
of undermining the peace agreement. The paper was suspended under Article 130
(paragraphs 1 and 3) of the 1991 code of legal procedure, which allows for the
suspension of publications pending completion of legal investigations.

"Alwan" was similarly suspended on 2 September pending examination of a
complaint against the daily by the National Security Agency for "inciting
sedition". The Justice Ministry gave the paper permission to reappear on 24
September, but Prosecutor Hassan banned it again two days later.

In addition, the daily "Al-Sahafa" was suspended by the National Press Council
for three days under the press law, as of 1 October, for printing an
advertisement by Ethiopian Airlines praising the quality of the wines on its
Khartoum to Paris flights. Alcohol has been banned in Sudan since 1983.

For further information, contact Virginie Locussol at RSF, rue Geoffroy Marie,
Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail:
northernafrica@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org

The information contained in this alert and update is the sole responsibility of
RSF. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
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Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________
IFEX - Nouvelles de la communauté internationale de défense de la liberté
d'expression
_________________________________________________________________

ALERTE ET MISE À JOUR - SOUDAN

Le 3 octobre 2003

Un journal suspendu par le procureur en charge des crimes contre l'Etat

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

**Nouveaux cas et mise à jour d'une alerte de l'IFEX du 5 septembre 2003**

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condamne la suspension du journal "Al-Azminah" et rappelle que
le quotidien indépendant "Alwan" est toujours victime du harcèlement du
procureur en charge des crimes contre l'Etat . "Nous demandons aux autorités
soudanaises de respecter le décret qui donne au Conseil national de la presse
l'autorité sur toutes les affaires de presse, et non au procureur des crimes
contre l'Etat, dont ce n'est pas le mandat et qui ne cesse de s'illustrer par
des fermetures de journaux. Mohamed Farid Hassan va même à l'encontre des
décisions du ministère de la Justice !", a déclaré Robert Ménard, secrétaire
général de RSF.

La censure qui frappe "Al-Azminah", à compter du 30 septembre 2003, ne laisse
aucun espoir sur une éventuelle reparution. Le journal a en effet été interdit
indéfiniment par le procureur en charge des crimes contre l'Etat, Hassan, suite
à une plainte déposée par l'armée.

Ce procureur est déjà tristement célèbre pour son acharnement contre la presse
et ses liens avec les services de sécurité. Ceux-ci, dépossédés de leur
omnipotence depuis le décret présidentiel du 12 août qui garantit la liberté de
la presse et prévoit de la placer sous l'autorité du Conseil national de la
presse, refusent toujours l'effectivité de cette mesure et s'en remettent
souvent au procureur.

L'armée accuse "Al-Azminah" d'avoir publié un article "incorrect" qui rapportait
que des milices progouvernementales auraient été dissoutes à la suite de la
conclusion des accords de paix avec les rebelles sudistes.

Le 25 septembre, le gouvernement soudanais et l'Armée populaire de libération du
Soudan ont signé un accord relatif aux questions de sécurité en vue de mettre un
terme à vingt ans de guerre civile. Cet accord prévoit notamment, dans un délais
de six ans, le retrait des troupes gouvernementales dans le sud du Soudan et la
formation de nouvelles unités militaires représentant les deux parties. L'armée,
qui reste très vigilante sur ces questions, n'a pas hésité à imposer le silence
à "Al-Azminah" en s'adressant à Hassan. Ce dernier a déclaré que "ce journal
continuait à publier de fausses informations dans le but de fausser le contenu
du cadre de l'accord signé entre le gouvernement et l'Armée populaire de
libération du Soudan". C'est au titre de l'article 130 du code de procédure
pénale de 1991, alinéa 1 et 3, que ce procureur a suspendu le journal, "jusqu'à
ce que l'enquête entreprise soit terminée".

C'est suivant le même dispositif, que le quotidien "Alwan" avait été suspendu le
2 septembre, en attendant qu'une plainte déposée par l'Autorité nationale de
sécurité, pour "incitation à la sédition", soit examinée. Bien qu'ayant reçu
l'autorisation de reparaître le 24 septembre par le ministère de la Justice, le
quotidien avait, deux jours après sa reparution, été à nouveau interdit par
Hassan.

Par ailleurs, c'est pour avoir publié une publicité de la compagnie aérienne
Ethiopian Airlines, vantant la qualité des vins sur les lignes Khartoum-Paris,
que "Al-Sahafa" a été suspendu pour trois jours, à compter du 1er octobre, par
le Conseil national de la presse, en vertu de l'article 25 alinéa 1 du code de
la presse de 1999. L'alcool est interdit au Soudan depuis 1983.

Pour tout renseignement complémentaire, veuillez contacter Virginie Locussol,
RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tél: +33 1 44 83 84 84, téléc:
+33 1 45 23 11 51, courrier électronique: norddelafrique@rsf.org, Internet:
http://www.rsf.org

RSF est responsable de toute information contenue dans cette alerte et mise à
jour. En citant cette information, prière de bien vouloir l'attribuer à RSF.
_______________________________________________________________
DIFFUSÉ(E) PAR LE SECRÉTARIAT DU RÉSEAU IFEX,
L'ÉCHANGE INTERNATIONAL DE LA LIBERTÉ D'EXPRESSION
489, rue College, bureau 403, Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 téléc: +1 416 515 7879
courrier électronique: alerts@ifex.org boîte générale: ifex@ifex.org
site Internet: http://www.ifex.org/
_______________________________________________________________
IFEX - Noticias de la comunidad internacional de la libertad de expresión
________________________________________________________________

ALERTA Y ACTUALIZACIÓN - SUDAN

el 3 de octubre de 2003

El fiscal encargado de crímenes contra el Estado suspende un periódico

FUENTE: Reporteros Sin Fronteras (RSF), París

**Nuevos casos y actualización de la alerta de IFEX del 5 de septiembre de
2003**

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF condena la suspensión del periódico "Al-Azminah" y recuerda que
el diario independiente "Alwan" continúa siendo víctima del acoso del fiscal
encargado de crímenes contra el Estado. "Pedimos a las autoridades sudanesas que
respeten el decreto que da al Consejo Nacional de Prensa autoridad sobre todos
los asuntos de prensa, y no la da al fiscal de los crímenes contra el Estado. El
fiscal no está encargado de esos asuntos, pero no cesa de hacerse ilustre con
los cierres de periódicos. ¡Mohamed Farid Asan va incluso en contra de las
decisiones del Ministerio de Justicia!", ha declarado Robert Ménard, secretario
general de RSF.

La censura que afecta a "Al-Azminah" desde el 30 de septiembre de 2003 no deja
ninguna eventual esperanza sobre una eventual reaparición. En efecto, Asan,
fiscal encargado de crímenes contra el Estado, ha prohibido indefinidamente el
periódico, tras una denuncia presentada por el ejército.

Este fiscal ya se hizo tristemente célebre por su encarnizamiento contra la
prensa y sus relaciones con los servicios de seguridad que, desposeídos de su
omnipotencia a partir del decreto presidencial del 12 de agosto, que garantiza
la libertad de prensa y prevé situarla bajo la autoridad del Consejo Nacional de
Prensa, continúan negando la efectividad de la medida y acuden con frecuencia al
fiscal. El ejército acusa a "Al-Azminah" de haber publicado un artículo
"incorrecto", que contaba que algunas milicias pro gubernamentales se habrían
disuelto tras la firma de los acuerdos de paz con los rebeldes sudistas.

El 25 de septiembre, el gobierno sudanés y el Ejército Popular de Liberación
firmaron un acuerdo relativo a cuestiones de seguridad, con el objetivo de poner
término a veinte años de guerra civil. Entre otras cosas el acuerdo prevé, en un
plazo de seis años, la retirada de las tropas gubernamentales del sur de Sudán,
y la formación de nuevas unidades militares, representando a las dos partes. El
ejército, que permanece muy vigilante sobre estas cuestiones, no ha dudado en
imponer el silencio a "Al-Azminah", acudiendo a Asan, quien ha declarado que "el
periódico continuaba publicando falsas informaciones, con el objetivo de falsear
el contenido del marco del acuerdo, firmado entre el gobierno y el Ejército
Popular de Liberación de Sudán". El Fiscal ha suspendido el periódico aplicando
el artículo 130, apartados 1 y 3, del código de procedimiento penal de 1991,
"hasta que termine la investigación iniciada".

Siguiendo el mismo dispositivo, el 2 de septiembre suspendió el diario "Alwan",
en espera de que se examine una denuncia presentada por la Autoridad Nacional
de Seguridad, por "incitación a la sedición". A pesar de que el 24 de septiembre
el Ministerio de Justicia le autorizó a reaparecer, Asan volvió a prohibirlo,
dos días después de su reaparición.

Por otra parte, el Consejo Nacional de Prensa ha suspendido, por tres días a
partir del 1 de octubre, a "Al-Sahafa", en aplicación del artículo 25, párrafo
1, del código de prensa de 1999, por haber insertado una publicidad de la
compañía aérea Ethiopian Airlines, alabando la calidad de los vinos en los
trayectos Jartún-París. En Sudán, el alcohol está prohibido desde 1983.

Para mayor información, comunicarse con Virginie Locussol, RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy
Marie, Paris 75009, Francia, telef: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51,
correo electrónico: norddelafrique@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org

Esta información es responsabilidad de RSF. Favor de reconocer a RSF al
difundirla.
_________________________________________________________________
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EL INTERCAMBIO INTERNACIONAL POR LA LIBERTAD DE EXPRESION
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sitio Internet: http://www.ifex.org/

More...

tunisia: Concern about harassment of journalist Néziha Rejiba

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/17520

Reporters Without Borders has called on the Tunisian government to stop its three-year campaign of harassment against journalist and human rights activist Néziha Rejiba ("Om Zied"), who has angered the authorities by material she has posted on the Internet and remarks she has made on foreign satellite TV stations.
**We apologise for any cross-posting - The following is being forwarded exactly
as received**

To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), norddelafrique@rsf.org

TUNISIE

Reporters sans frontières s'inquiète des mesures de harcèlement dont est victime
la journaliste Néziha Rejiba

La journaliste Néziha Rejiba, plus connue sous son nom de plume Om Zied, subit
des menaces préoccupantes. La dernière en date est sa convocation, le 25
septembre 2003, par la direction des enquêtes douanières, bureau des infractions
de change, qui lui reproche d'avoir donné à un jeune Tunisien 170 euros en
devises, ce qui risque de lui coûter cinq ans de prison ferme et une amende.
Pourtant, Om Zied n'a commis aucune infraction, puisque la loi lui donne une
semaine pour changer le reste de ses devises de voyage.

" Cette mesure relève d'une nouvelle pratique de harcèlement destinée à
entretenir une pression permanente sur cette journaliste dont les écrits et les
prises de positions sur les chaînes satellites étrangères dérangent le pouvoir.
La Tunisie maintient une chape de plomb inadmissible sur la liberté de la presse
et parvient à trouver tous les stratagèmes pour harceler les journalistes
indépendants et bâillonner toute liberté d'expression. Nous demandons au
gouvernement tunisien, très fier d'organiser le Sommet mondial sur la société de
l'information en 2005 à Tunis, de donner enfin des garanties à la liberté
d'information et d'expression et de cesser immédiatement toute forme de pression
sur Madame Néziha Rejiba ", a déclaré Robert Ménard, secrétaire général de
Reporters sans frontières.

Om Zied, militante des droits de l'homme, est journaliste au magazine en ligne
Kalima (www.kalima.com), interdit en Tunisie dès sa parution en octobre 2000.
Alimenté depuis l'étranger, ce site est toujours inaccessible en Tunisie, mais
le titre est parvenu à diffuser une version imprimée qui circule sous le
manteau. Om Zied subit depuis deux ans des persécutions sans relâches. Agressée
et harcelée régulièrement depuis 2000 par des policiers à la sortie de réunions
du Comité national pour les libertés, elle est constamment surveillée à son
domicile. Son téléphone est sur écoute, quand il n'est pas coupé, comme c'est le
cas en ce moment.

**********************************
TUNISIA

Concern about harassment of journalist Néziha Rejiba

Reporters Without Borders called on the Tunisian government today to stop its
three-year campaign of harassment against journalist and human rights activist
Néziha Rejiba ("Om Zied"), who has angered the authorities by material she has
posted on the Internet and remarks she has made on foreign satellite TV
stations.

Customs detectives summoned her on 25 September for giving a young Tunisian 170
euros in cash, an offence in some circumstances punishable by five years in
prison and a fine. However, she was not at fault, since the law allows her a
week to convert foreign currency into Tunisian dinars after returning from
abroad, during which time she is free to do what she likes with the money.

"This is just more harassment as part of the long-standing pressure on Rejiba,
whose writing and comments the government dislikes," said Reporters Without
Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard. "Tunisia has no press freedom at all
and pesters independent journalists in countless ways."

"We call on the government, which is very proud of hosting the 2005 World Summit
on the Information Society in Tunis, to allow freedom of the media and freedom
of expression and stop all harassment of Mrs Rejiba," he said.

Rejiba writes for the foreign-based online magazine Kalima (www.kalima.com),
which has been banned in Tunisia since it started up in October 2000. Despite
access being blocked, a printed version has been secretly distributed in
Tunisia. Rejiba has been physically attacked and harassed for three years by
police after meetings of the National Freedom Committee, her home is constantly
watched and her phone is either tapped or (as at present) cut off.

**********************************
TÚNEZ

Reporteros sin Fronteras preocupada por el acoso a que está sometida la
periodista Néziha Rejiba

La periodista Néziha Rejiba, más conocida por el pseudónimo Om Zied, está
sufriendo amenazas preocupantes. La última en el tiempo es la citación, el 25 de
septiembre de 2003, de la Dirección de Investigaciones Aduaneras, oficina de las
infracciones del cambio, que le acusa de haber dado 170 euros en divisas a un
joven tunecino, lo que podría costarle cinco años de cárcel incondicional y una
multa. Sin embargo, Om Zied no ha cometido ninguna infracción, ya que la ley le
da una semana para cambiar el resto de sus divisas de viaje.

"Esta medida supone una nueva práctica de acoso, destinada a mantener una
presión permanente sobre la periodista, cuyos artículos y manifestaciones en los
canales extranjeros por satélite molestan al poder. Túnez mantiene una
inadmisible chapa de plomo sobre la libertad de prensa, y consigue encontrar
todas las estrategias para acosar a los periodistas independientes, y amordazar
cualquier libertad de expresión. Pedimos al gobierno tunecino, tan orgulloso de
organizar en Túnez la Cumbre Mundial sobre la Sociedad de la Información en
2005, que finalmente dé garantías a la libertad de información y expresión, y
que cese inmediatamente en cualquier forma de presión sobre Néziha Rejiba", ha
declarado Robert Ménard, secretario general de Reporteros sin Fronteras.

Om Zied, militantes de los derechos humanos, es periodista en la revista digital
Kalima (www.kalima.com), prohibida en Túnez desde su aparición en octubre de
2000. Alimentado desde el extranjero, el sitio sigue siendo inaccesible en
Túnez, pero se ha conseguido difundir una versión impresa, que circula bajo
manga. Desde hace dos años Om Zied sufre una persecución sin tregua. Agredida
frecuentemente, desde 2000, por algunos policías a la salida de las reuniones
del Comité Nacional para las Libertades, está constantemente vigilada en su
domicilio. Tiene el teléfono pinchado, cuando no cortado, como ocurre en este
momento.

--
(norddelafrique@rsf.org / northernafrica@rsf.org / iran@rsf.org)
Bureau Nord de l'Afrique - Iran / Northern Africa - Iran desk

Reporters sans frontières / Reporters Without Borders
Agnès Devictor
5, rue Geoffroy-Marie
75009 Paris - FRANCE
Tél. (33) 1 44 83 84 84
Fax. (33) 1 45 23 11 51

**The information contained in this autolist item is the sole responsibility of
RSF**

**RSF est responsable de toute information contenue dans ce message**

**Esta información es responsabilidad de RSF**

More...

zimbabwe: Daily News Reporters Charged

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/17519

The police in Harare charged six journalists from the Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday on 1 October for practising without accreditation from the Media and Information Commission (MIC). The six journalists are Philemon Bulawayo, Margaret Chinowaita, Kelvin Jakachira, Sydney Saize, George Muzimba and Lawrence Chikuvira.
Media Alert
1 October 2003
Daily News Reporters Charged



The police in Harare charged six journalists from the Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday on 1 October for practising without accreditation from the Media and Information Commission (MIC).



The six journalists are Philemon Bulawayo, Margaret Chinowaita, Kelvin Jakachira, Sydney Saize, George Muzimba and Lawrence Chikuvira.

The six brought to 15 the number of journalists from the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe who have been charged for breaching the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).



The Act reads (1) No person shall carry on or a mass media service without a valid registration license or permit issued in terms of this Act or any other law.

The other nine charged for the same offence the previous week are Luke Tamborinyoka, Pedzisai Ruhanya, Fanuel Jongwe, Precious Shumba, Chengetai Zvauya, Conelias Mabasa, Conway Tutani, Gladwin Muparutsa and Darlington Makoni and Francis Mdlongwa.



Police recorded warned and cautioned statements from the six journalists before releasing them. The police say they will proceeed by way of summons. Police spokesperson Assistant police Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said they intend to charge all 45 journalists employed by the two sister papers that were closed down for not registering with AIPPA on 12 September 2003.

Update.

END





Rashweat Mukundu
Research and Information Officer
MISA-Zimbabwe
84 McChlery Ave
Eastlea
Box HR 8113
Harare
Zimbabwe
Phone 00 263 4 7761 65
Mobile 00 263 11 602 685
E mail misa@mweb.co.zw

More...

COALITION against WATER PRIVATISATION: sign the declaration

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/17600

As a result of privatisation, water has ceased to be a public good that is accessible and affordable to all South Africans. The collective impact of water privatisation on the majority of South Africans has been devastating. Water is a natural resource that, by its very nature, must be collectively owned and enjoyed.
Please circulate and sign on, and return to
george@sn.apc.org or trevorngwane@hotmail.com)

COALITION against WATER PRIVATISATION

DECLARATION


One of the most celebrated achievements of South
Africa's transition to democracy is the Bill of Rights
enshrined in the Constitution. The Bill of Rights
provides that, "everyone has the right to have access
to sufficient water". The privatisation of water
violates that constitutional (and human) right in
every way imaginable. As the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (to which the
South African is signatory) explicitly acknowledges,
"water is a public good fundamental for life and
health . the human right to water is indispensable for
leading a life of human dignity, it is prerequisite
for the realisation of other human rights". At all
levels of life - political, social, economic and
cultural - the privatisation of water is
anti-democratic, anti-social and anti-human.

As early as 1994, the South African government
introduced its policy on water in direct violation of
the RDP commitment to lifeline supply. This gave the
water bureaucrats the authority to provide water only
if there was a full cost recovery of operating,
maintenance and replacement costs. The GEAR policy in
1996 located the policies of water and other basic
needs within a neo-liberal macro-economic policy
framework.

Following the neo-liberal economic advice of the World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund and various
Western governments, the South African government
drastically decreased grants and subsidies to local
municipalities and city councils and supported the
development of financial instruments for privatised
delivery. This effectively forced local government to
turn towards commercialisation and privatisation of
basic services as a means of generating the revenue no
longer provided by the national state. Many local
government structures, using the enabling legislation
provided by the Municipal Services Act, began to
privatise public water utilities by entering into
service and management 'partnerships' with
multinational water corporations.

As a result of privatisation, water has ceased to be a
public good that is accessible and affordable to all
South Africans. Instead, water and sanitation have
become market commodities to be bought and sold on a
for-profit basis, notwithstanding the 'free' 6000
litres of water per household per month. That is not
enough to cover basic needs. Households are charged
for every additional drop they use, in order to recoup
the income foregone due to the first 6000 litres
provided. Moreover, millions of the poorest South
Africans do not have access to water services and thus
receive no allocation of free water.

The policy of 'cost-recovery' has seen the price of
water rising, necessarily hitting poor communities the
hardest. Unable to pay, poor families have been
cut-off from their water supplies - more than ten
million by the latest count. Additionally, over 2
million have been evicted from their homes, often as a
part of the associated legal process to recover debt
from poor 'customers'. Those poor communities without
previous access to clean water have either suffered
the same fate once infrastructure was provided or have
simply had to make do with sourcing water from
polluted streams and far-away boreholes.

The collective impact of water privatisation on the
majority of South Africans has been devastating. The
desperate search for any available source of water has
resulted in cholera outbreaks that have claimed the
lives of hundreds. Inadequate hygiene and 'self-serve'
sanitation systems have led to continuous exposure
(especially for children) to various preventable
diseases. There has been an increase in environmental
pollution and degradation arising from uncontrolled
effluent discharges. There is a scarcity of water for
food production. And, the human dignity of entire
communities has been ripped apart, as the right to the
most basic of human needs, water, has been turned into
a restricted privilege available only to those who can
afford it.

Water is a natural resource that, by its very nature,
must be collectively owned and enjoyed. Privatisation,
by its very nature, turns water into a commodity,
owned by corporate monopolies and enjoyed only on an
individualised basis. Nowhere is this monopolised and
individualised hijacking of the collective, human
right to water more apparent than in the latest
manifestation of privatised water provision, pre-paid
water metres. In the communities of Phiri (Soweto),
Orange Farm and in several other poor communities
across South Africa, private water corporations (with
the full backing of national and local government
officials) are installing pre-paid metres as a
technological tool to enforce both 'cost-recovery' and
self-disconnection. Those community members and
activists resisting privatised water in Phiri and in
other 'guinea pig' communities have been summarily
arrested. Many have been denied bail or have been
placed under apartheid-era bail conditions in order to
silence their voices and to crush collective community
resistance. Like the effect of the opposition from
government and corporate capital to apartheid
reparations, the majority of South Africans are being
intimidated and/or forcibly pushed into foregoing
their collective socio-economic rights, thus allowing
private corporations to continue profiting from their
poverty.

In light of the above, we demand that:
¨The criminalisation of dissent and opposition to the
privatisation of water be immediately stopped
¨Pre-paid metres be immediately outlawed and removed
from all communities where they have been installed
¨The government reverse its policy of privatising
water and all other basic needs by cancelling all
'service' contracts and 'management' agreements with
private water corporations
¨The government publicly affirm the human and
constitutional right of all South Africans to water by
ensuring full public ownership, operation and
management of public utilities in order to provide
free basic services for all
¨The government make a firm political and fiscal
commitment to roll-out universally accessible
infrastructure


The coalition includes the Phiri Concerned Residents
Committee, Anti-Privatisation Forum, Jubilee South
Africa, Landless Peoples Movement, Environmental
Justice Networking Forum, Freedom of Expression
Institute, Khanya College, Municipal Services Project,
ceasefire Campaign, Gender and Trade Network in
Africa.

Join the Coalition! Defend the right to water! Contact
011 339 4121



COALITION against WATER PRIVATISATION
PETITION against PRE-PAID WATER METERS

The government is privatising basic water services -
in particular the provision of water. The
privatisation of water is being implemented through
the installation of pre-paid water meter systems. The
working class and the poor will only have access to
the water they need for a decent life if they have
money.

In Phiri, the government in alliance with the big
bosses - Johannesburg Water and the French
multinational, Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux - have forcibly
attempted to install pre-paid water meters - they
called it Operation Gcin'amanzi. The residents of
Phiri are resisting these pre-paid meters and they
have been beaten, arrested and jailed for resisting.
It is not only in Phiri that these hated pre-paid
water meter systems are being installed. In Orange
Farm and throughout the country, poor working class
areas are being targeted with these water systems.

We are saying that the privatisation of water in the
form of the pre-paid water meter system is a violation
of people's basic human right to water and therefore
unconstitutional. From experience elsewhere in the
country and the world, it is clear that the
privatisation of water leads to massive increases in
the price of water that hit the poor communities the
hardest. It means that the working class and the poor
will be unable to afford water and therefore die. This
is exactly what happened in Kwa-Zulu Natal in 2001
when over 200 people died of cholera after having been
forced to drink water from polluted streams because
they could not afford to pay for water.

We the undersigned therefore demand:
1. The immediate scrapping of the pre-paid water
system.
2. The immediate stopping of the privatisation of
basic services like water.
3. The immediate end to the criminalisation of those
opposing privatisation.

Name Address Signature












The Coalition includes the Phiri Concerned Residents
Committee, Anti-Privatisation Forum, Jubilee South
Africa, Landless People's Movement, Environmental
Justice Networking Forum, Freedom of Expression
Institute, Khanya College, Municipal Services Project,
Ceasefire Campaign, Gender and Trade Network in Africa

Join the Coalition! Defend our right to water! Contact
011 339 4121

More...

waste incinerator: take action now

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/17528

Enviroserve, a waste company in South Africa, is in the process of conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for a Medical Waste Incinerator in Shongweni in Durban, South Africa. The proposed plant makes use of two existing incinerators, one of which was closed due to community pressure. Those concerned are requested to sign and fax letters to the Department of Agriculture and Environment Affairs in KwaZulu Natal (DAEA).
Take Action Now !

Enviroserve a waste company in South Africa is in the process of conducting
an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Medical Waste Incinerator in
Shongweni in Durban South Africa. The proposed plant makes use of two
existing incinerators one of which was closed due to community pressure in
Prospecton and is now proposed to be relocated to Enviroserve's Shongweini
Landfill Site.

The proposal includes the establishment of an the incineration plant
together with a filtration unit which we are not convinced will meet the
requirements of removal of heavy metals or dioxins and furans. We have
requested that this matter be taken up by the Legal Resources Centre in
Durban on our behalf. We are also in the process of forming a community
alliance around the site together with other NGOs in the Durban area.

We would like to request that people sign and fax letters to the Department
of Agriculture and Environment Affairs in KwaZulu Natal (DAEA) who will
issue the Record of Decision. Please fund the a copy of the letter and
contact details of the relevant people. Please fax or e-mail a copy of the
letter to us too. The cut off for objections and comments is the 13 October
2003.

Regards
Bryan Ashe

****************************************************************

From:................
...............
Code.....
Email / Fax.............
....October 2003


TO: The Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs
Att. Sarah Allan (DAEA)
E-mail: sarah.allan@dae.kzntl.gov.za
Fax:+27 33 3559122


RE: HIGH RISK MEDICAL WASTE INCINERATOR AT SHONGWENI

Dear Mrs Allen
I wish to place on record my opposition to the proposal for a High Risk
Medical Waste incinerator to be built at Shongweni.
i) There is no need whatsoever for an incinerator of this type to be built,
let alone in the Shongweni area. Incineration is not the only method to deal
with medical waste. Autoclaving is an alternative that Envisroserv should
rather employ. In any event, there is an autoclaver in nearby Westmead that
can treat the majority of the medical waste. The small percentage that
cannot be autoclaved can be treated chemically or disposed of in an
alternative no-impact manner
ii) It is unacceptable that they intend polluting our atmosphere with
carcinogenic pollutants that will negatively affect the health of the
community in the cause for financial gain. I am very unhappy that
Enviroserve just assumes that the incinerator will comply with legal
standards, but provides no proof that it can. Nor has it done a technical
feasibility study.
iii) I am also concerned about emissions of dioxins, furans, mercury,
cadmium, arsenic and chromium. Our constitutional right to an environment
that is not adverse to our health and well being demands that you refuse
permission for Enviroserve to build this incinerator.

I demand that any proposal for an incinerator at Shongweni Landfill be
refused.
Yours sincerely


..................
ID No: ............

cc: bryan@earthlife.org.za
fax: +27- 866728081

_____________________________________
Bryan Ashe
Earthlife Africa eThekwini (Durban) Branch
P.O. Box 18722
Dalbridge
4014
South Africa

Local:
Cell: 0826521533
Tel: 031-2011119
Fax: 0866728081

International
Mobile: +27-826521533
Tel: +27-31-201119
Fax: +27- 866728081

e-mail: bryan@earthlife.org.za
bryan@mweb.co.za

Website: www.earthlife-ct.org.za

Become a cyber activist Subscribe to Earthlife Africa Action Alerts by
sending a blank e-mail to : ELA_Action-subscribe@topica.com

Subscribe to Earthlife Africa eThekwini's "Sustain the Future" listserver
by sending a blank e-mail to: ELA_Sustain_the_Future-subscribe@topica.com
****************************************************************************
****************************************************************************
*****
Dump Eskom's PBMR Nuclear Project and keep EsKom out of the Bujagali Power
Dam Project
In Uganda
****************************************************************************
****************************************************************************
*******

More...

write to the sudanese authorities protesting illegal arrest

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/17527

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has been informed by the Sudanese Organisation against Torture, a member of the OMCT network, of the arrest, detention and concerns for the personal integrity of Osman Ahmed Fagharay, a Beja tribe member, in Sudan. He was arrested following his participation in a symposium at Alnilain University, which was organised by the Beja Students Association, where he criticised the health, economic and food security policies in the Red Sea province and demanded action by the government. Those concerned are requested to write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to take all necessary measures to guarantee his safety and release him in the absence of legal charges.
Case SDN 02B1003
Risk to personal integrity

The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT
intervention in the following situation in Sudan.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a Sudanese
Organisation against Torture, a member of the OMCT network, of the
arrest, detention and concerns for the personal integrity of Osman
Ahmed Fagharay, a Beja tribe member, in Sudan.

According to the information received, on Saturday, September 28th,
2003, the National Security Agency (NSA) arrested 54-year-old Osman
Ahmed Fagharay, who is a member of the Beja tribe. He was arrested at
an unknown location and then taken to his house in Shambat Alaradi,
Khartoum North. He changed clothes and informed his family that he
was under arrest by the security agents. At 8 p.m. he was permitted
to call his family and informed them that he was well. He told them
that he was being questioned at the NSA offices and would likely be
released on the same day or early the next day. Mr. Fagharay has not
yet been released. Furthermore, Mr. Fagharay suffers from diabetes
and does not have his medication with him. Reports indicate that Mr.
Fagharay's son has taken him his medicine, but it is unclear as yet
whether the security forces have allowed it to be delivered to him.

Mr. Fagharay is a retired Police Chief from Al a'Mra'ar, one of the
clans belonging to the Beja tribe in eastern Sudan, and a former
administrator of the Red Sea province during the late 1980s. He was
arrested following his participation in a symposium at Alnilain
University, which was organised by the Beja Students Association,
where he criticised the health, economic and food security policies
in the Red Sea province and demanded action by the government.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is concerned for Mr. Fagharay's
physical and psychological integrity, given his medical condition and
the risk that he runs of being subjected to ill-treatment or
potentially torture while in detention. OMCT therefore urges the
authorities to guarantee his integrity at all times and ensure that
Mr. Fagharay has immediate access to appropriate medical assistance,
notably his medication. Furthermore, OMCT calls on the authorities to
immediately release him in the absence of valid legal charges that
are consistent with international law and standards.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:

i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and
psychological integrity of Mr. Fagharay;
ii. guarantee his immediate access to appropriate medical assistance,
notably medication for diabetes;
iii. order his immediate release in the absence of legal charges that
are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such
charges exist, bring him before an impartial and competent tribunal
and guarantee his procedural rights at all times;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental
freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and
international human rights standards.

Addresses

· President of the Republic of Sudan, His Excellency Lieutenant-
General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President' s Palace, PO Box 281,
Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +24911 771651/783223/779977

· First Vice-President, Mr Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, People's Palace PO
Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax : +249 11 771651/ 779977

· Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mr Ali Mohamed Osman
Yassin, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 11
771479/774842/774906

· Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Mustafa Osman Ismail, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax :+249 11 779383

· Advisory Council for Human Rights, Dr Yasir Sid Ahmed, PO Box 302,
Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 11 779173/770883

· Minister of Internal Affairs, Major General Abdul-Rahim Muhammed
Hussein, Ministry of Interior, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249
11
774339/776554/777900/773046/770186

· Minister of Federal Government, Dr Nafie Ali Nafie, Office of the
Presidents People's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax : +24911
771651/783223

· His Excellency Ambassador Mr. Ibrahim Mirghani Ibrahim, Permanent
Mission of the Republic of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO
Box 335, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 731 26 56, E-mail:
mission.sudan@ties.itu.int; mission.sudan@bluewin.ch

Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective
country.

Geneva, October 2nd, 2003

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this
appeal in your reply.
Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard
Case postale 21
CH-1211 Geneve 8
Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : omct@omct.org
http://www.omct.org

More...

africa/global: shattered lives - an investigation of the arms trade

2003-10-09

http://www.controlarms.org/downloads/shattered_lives.htm

The uncontrolled proliferation and misuse of arms by government forces and armed groups takes a massive human toll in lost lives, lost livelihoods, and lost opportunities to escape poverty. An average of US$22bn a year is spent on arms by countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America - a sum that would otherwise enable those same countries to be on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals of achieving universal primary education (estimated at $10bn a year) as well as targets for reducing infant and maternal mortality. The Shattered Lives Report, by Amnesty International, Oxfam and the International Action Network on Small Arms, provides facts and arguments about the global arms trade.

africa: beyond the headlines

2003-10-09

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/conflict_disasters/beyond_the_headlines.htm

Since the atrocities of September 11th 2001, the leaders of the major international powers have been focused upon confronting what they perceive as the greatest threat to world security: the combination of weapons of mass destruction and international terrorism. Though those threats are very real, terror is nothing new for millions of people caught up in the world’s seemingly intractable conflicts. Since 2001, there have been trends which may have made civilians even more vulnerable than before, notes this report from Oxfam.

burundi: Burundi's balancing act

2003-10-09

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=30490

Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye and the leader of the strife-torn central African country's largest Hutu rebel group signed an agreement here early on Wednesday to implement a ceasefire deal hammered out late last year. The comprehensive agreement, signed by Ndayizeye and Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) leader Pierre Nkurunziza in the South African capital, included a compromise deal on political and military issues with both leaders declaring an immediate halt to hostilities.

drc: At least 23 massacred

2003-10-09

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=30390

At least 23 people, the majority of them women and children, were hacked or shot to death Monday in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN said, in the first reported massacre since UN peacekeepers began patrolling the troubled northeast last month.

ERITREA/ETHIOPIA: UN tells Ethiopia to implement border ruling

2003-10-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36979

The UN Security Council has rejected calls by Ethiopia for a new body to rule on contested areas of the border with neighbouring Eritrea. In a one-page response, the UN body expressed “deep regret” at the move by Ethiopia and urged it to implement the controversial April 2002 border ruling.

LIBERIA: Government, rebels trade accusations

2003-10-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36980

Liberia's Interim President Moses Blah and the chairman of the main rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) Sekou Damate Conneh, have traded accusations over last Wednesday's shootout in the capital, Monrovia in which nine people died.

senegal: 'separatist war is over'

2003-10-09

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3171058.stm

A 21-year secession war in Senegal's southern province of Casamance has finished, says the rebel leader. Jean-Marie Francois Biagui was speaking at a gathering of hundreds of rebel delegates in the Casamance capital, Ziguinchor.

Southern Africa: RELIGIOUS LEADERS COMMIT TO HELP RESOLVE CONFLICTS

2003-10-09

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1591

Religious leaders in southern Africa have pledged their commitment to help resolve some of the conflicts and civil strife inherent in the region in order to maintain peace and stability.

Sudan: Peace Process Moves Ahead

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/17598

After negotiations between Dr John Garang and the First Vice President, Ali Osman Taha, in Naivasha, Kenya, the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) have signed an agreement on one of the most contentious issues, security arrangements during the Interim Period. This marks an important step forward in the peace process and is an indication that a peace deal will be reached in the coming months, although probably not before the end of the year, according to the Sudan Focal Point Monthly Briefing, distributed in this briefing from the Africa Action Africa Policy E-Journal.
AFRICA ACTION
Africa Policy E-Journal
October 8, 2003 (031008)

Sudan: Peace Process Moves Ahead
(Reposted from sources cited below)

This postings contains two items on the recent breakthrough in
peace talks to end the war in Sudan: a short update from the UN's
Integrated Regional Information Networks, and a longer analytical
briefing from the Sudan Focal Point.

Sudan Focal Point is affiliated with the Southern African
Catholic Bishops' Conference - for further information contact John
Ashworth, Coordinator, Sudan Focal Point, SACBC, P.O. Box 941,
Pretoria 0001, South Africa; Tel: ++27-(0)12-323-6458; E-mail:
sudan@sacbc.org.za Sudan Focal Point is also regularly posted on the
web by Africa Files, based in Toronto [http://www.africafiles.org].
The full text of the most recent agreement is also available on the
Africa Files site.

+++++++++++++++++end summary/introduction+++++++++++++++++++++++

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
http://www.irinnews.org

SUDAN: Breakthrough security agreement signed

September 25, 2003

NAIVASHA, 25 Sep 2003 (IRIN) - A key stumbling block in Sudanese
peace negotiations was overcome on Thursday with the signing of a
security agreement between the government of Sudan and the rebel
Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in Naivasha,
Kenya.

Under the deal, Sudan will have two separate armed forces as well
as integrated units and an internationally monitored ceasefire
agreement once a final deal has been signed.

The breakthrough, achieved after three weeks of unprecedented talks
between SPLA leader John Garang and Sudanese Vice-President Ali
Osman Taha, has raised hopes on all sides for a final peace
settlement.

"Your persistence in the matter...was a clear demonstration that
you have both decided to put the interests of your country, the
Sudan, before your own interests and that you are determined to
realise a just and durable peace," Kenyan mediator Lazarus
Sumbeiywo told the sides at the signing ceremony.

"We are now sure that you will bring to a close the remaining
issues of power sharing, wealth sharing and [the] conflict areas
[Southern Blue Nile, Abyei and the Nuba mountains]," he added.

Garang told reporters he had spoken to Sudanese President Omar
al-Bashir on Wednesday night and they had congratulated each other
on the step taken towards a "just and fair settlement".

"With this agreement, the direction and orientation for peace in
Sudan is irreversible," he said. The parties would return to the
negotiating table immediately to resolve the remaining issues with
the same "commitment and resolve".

"We will not lose momentum," he stressed.

Garang added that this deal, unlike others, would be binding
because guarantees had been built into it. The SPLA had been
allowed to keep its own army, and "neither of the parties will have
the capacity to break it", he said. "The Sudanese people will not
allow it to be tampered with."

Speaking of a final peace settlement, Sayeed El-Khativ, the chief
negotiator for the Sudanese government said: "Nothing is going to
be beyond our attainment - we are going to achieve this."

Domenico Polloni, deputy head of mission at the Italian Embassy in
Nairobi and one of the observers to the talks, said it was the
first "substantive agreement" between the two sides since the
Machakos agreement was signed in July 2002. "It's really a big
breakthrough," he said.

************************************************************

Sudan Focal Point Monthly Briefing

September 2003

[published October 1, 2003]

The Peace Process

After negotiations between Dr John Garang and the First Vice
President, Ali Osman Taha, in Naivasha, Kenya, the Government of
Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A) have signed an agreement on one of the most contentious
issues, security arrangements during the Interim Period . This
marks an important step forward in the peace process and is an
indication that a peace deal will be reached in the coming months,
although probably not before the end of the year. Dr John told
supporters in Rumbek, "The road to peace is irreversible." It is
significant that two such senior figures entered the negotiations,
as many have felt that the two delegations were unable to make
decisions without referring back to their leaders. Talks are
expected to resume in October.

It would be churlish indeed not to recognise the achievement of the
parties and the mediators in finding an acceptable compromise on
the thorny issue of security arrangements. There is no doubt that
this is a positive development. However there is still need for
caution, as pitfalls abound at various levels. Dr John Garang
himself, while calling the agreement "a major step to peace,"
cautioned that there were still "many issues" to be resolved.

Firstly, the agreement itself must be analysed. The parties had
held diametrically opposed positions, with GoS demanding a single
integrated army while SPLM/A demanded two separate armies. The
compromise allows both. There will be two separate armies in north
and south during the Interim Period, made up of the current Sudan
Armed Forces (SAF) and SPLA respectively. However there will also
be "Joint/Integrated Units" (JIU) made up of equal numbers of SAF
and SPLA, which will serve as a symbol of unity and sovereignty
during the Interim Period, and as the nucleus of a future armed
force if the result of the self-determination exercise at the end
of the Interim Period should be unity. Apart from the JIU, SAF will
withdraw from south of the 1956 colonial boundaries and SPLA will
withdraw from the Nuba Mountains, the Funj Region (also known as
southern Blue Nile) and the eastern front. The JIU will have
24,000 troops in southern Sudan, 6,000 in the Nuba Mountains, 6,000
in the Funj Region and 3,000 in Khartoum, with the parties still to
discuss deployment of JIU on the eastern front. Two and a half
years is allowed for redeployment of forces, with international
monitoring and assistance. A "Joint Defence Board" will be
established "under the Presidency" (it is to be hoped that this
refers to the collegiate presidency envisaged in the Nakuru draft
document, and not to the person of the northern president) to
coordinate the two separate armed forces and to command the JIU.

The parties agreed to reduce the size of the forces on both sides,
"at a suitable time following the completion of the comprehensive
ceasefire arrangements", a ceasefire which will be internationally
monitored. "No armed group allied to either party shall be allowed
to operate outside the two forces," and there is provision for
demobilised southerners to be absorbed into institutions of the
Government of Southern Sudan, including the army, civil service,
police, prisons and wildlife services.

Broadly this agreement is a good compromise for both the parties.
GoS gets its symbol of unity, is allowed to maintain some forces in
the south as part of the JIU, and gets the SPLA out of northern
Sudan as an independent entity. SPLA keeps itself basically intact,
and gets rid of independent GoS forces from the south, thus
maintaining its military leverage to help guarantee that GoS will
not renege on the agreement. However there are also significant
losers. Even though there will still be SPLA forces present as part
of the JIU, the people of the Nuba Mountains and the Funj Region
have suffered yet another blow to their hopes of being connected
with the south rather than the north in a final peace deal. A
second group of losers are the non-SPLM/A southern factions. There
is no place for them in this agreement, except to disband and be
absorbed by the SPLM/A, into the police, prisons and wildlife
services - echoes of 1972. A third group are the northern armed
opposition forces within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
They have very little military capacity of their own so the
withdrawal of SPLA forces from the eastern front leaves them with
little leverage in their own conflict with the ruling regime.

Once again we are reminded that the Inter-Governmental Authority on
Development (IGAD) talks are between only two of the warring
parties in Sudan. What is good for those two parties is not
necessarily good for all the parties, factions and people of Sudan.
Already some opposition parties in Khartoum have given the deal a
lukewarm welcome, predicting it will fail in the long-term because
it lacks widespread support. Again, IGAD addresses only one of the
conflicts within Sudan (the "southern problem"), but does not
address the issues of the people of east or west Sudan, nor does it
address the fundamental problem of most northern Sudanese, who live
under an oppressive military dictatorship which enforces a
particular interpretation of Islam not shared by the majority of
Sudanese Muslims. Unless a way is found of addressing all these
issues, whether inside or outside IGAD, there will be no
sustainable peace in Sudan.

Secondly, an agreement is in itself worthless unless it is
implemented. Southerners are deeply suspicious of any northern
government as a result of their bitter experience of agreements
dishonoured since 1947. International involvement in the
redeployment of forces and monitoring of the ceasefire is very
welcome, but international forces must be deployed more quickly,
with greater resources and with greater effectiveness than the
current international monitoring bodies, whose performance has been
disappointing.

Thirdly, an agreement on security issues does not automatically
mean that the peace process as a whole will be successful. There
remain significant obstacles. Power-sharing, wealth-sharing and the
status of the marginalised areas are still contentious issues.
While the security agreement does give hope that the parties will
be able to reach compromises in these other areas, each compromise
which is acceptable to the two negotiating parties will raise a new
set of problems and may not be acceptable to other parties,
factions and communities within Sudan.

All of the above validates the ongoing concerns about transparency
and inclusivity which have often been expressed by Sudanese civil
society. Unless ownership of the process is broadened, the two
warring parties may make a deal which suits them but which does not
necessarily answer the needs of significant sections of the
population of Sudan and will not be sustainable. Human rights and
democracy must also be concretely addressed. "Any lasting peace
agreement in Sudan must provide meaningful guarantees for the
protection of the human rights of all segments of Sudanese society
including their rights to participate in post-conflict political
processes," according to Human Rights Watch.

Some argue that it is unrealistic to expect everything all at once.
They envisage a two-stage process whereby first a deal is reached
to stop the war, then other considerations (inclusivity, ownership,
human rights, democracy, justice, the root causes of the war, etc)
are addressed in the new climate of peace. But the two-stage
approach can only work if the first step, which stops the war, is
open-ended enough to lead to the second step. The mere absence of
war does not constitute peace if institutional violence continues.

The church in Sudan has played a leading role in civil society
activism, and has borne its fair share of victimisation from GoS
and misunderstandings with SPLM/A. Pope John Paul II has now
created Sudan's first ever Cardinal , Archbishop Gabriel Zubeir
Wako of the Archdiocese of Khartoum. Only days earlier it was
announced that Dr Haruun Ruun, Executive Secretary of the New Sudan
Council of Churches, has been awarded his second prestigious
international peace prize, the Raoul Wallenberg Award. These
expressions of the global community's solidarity with the voiceless
people of Sudan to whom the church gives voice - and hope - are
important morale-boosters.

Southern Sudanese youth met in Karen, Kenya, in August. They
criticised elderly southern Sudanese politicians and blamed the
current south-south conflict on "old fashioned politicians who
divide the people along ethnic lines", but were positive about the
SPLM/A representatives at the peace talks. They discussed the
"House of Nationalities". This envisages a form of parliament
representing the different ethnic communities of southern Sudan,
with the aim of preserving diversity and unity within the south.
The concept has been floated for a couple of years but has not yet
found its way into mainstream discussions of the political future
of southern Sudan.

A 45-day ceasefire agreement which allows for "free and unimpeded"
humanitarian access was signed between GoS and the Sudan Liberation
Movement/Army (SLM/A) in Darfur at the beginning of September, but
there have been repeated reports of attacks by GoS and its allied
militia since then. Meanwhile the governor of West Darfur State,
Major General Suleiman Abdallah, admitted that a GoS warplane
killed 26 civilians in August after it mistakenly identified them
as rebel forces. Another 32 people were wounded in the attack.

The Region

UNHCR reports that up to 65,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to Chad
to escape fighting in Darfur. Sudanese militia are reportedly
launching raids across the border into Chad.

Uganda has repeated allegations that GoS is still supporting the
Lord's Resistance Army , despite denials from Khartoum. The Ugandan
army has said it is recruiting Karamajong warriors as a militia
force to fight the LRA. This represents a dangerous escalation of
the conflict. A Catholic priest was among 25 people killed in an
LRA ambush on the road between Soroti and Namasale.

The last of a group of more than 24,000 Sudanese refugees who were
displaced from Achol-Pii refugee settlement in August 2002
following a series of attacks by the LRA have now been relocated to
two new sites in Uganda's West Nile region. The relocation was
initially marred by violence.

GoS minister of external relations, Dr Mustafa Uthman Isma'il, said
in Cairo that it was possible to restore relations with Eritrea
only if Eritrea ceased interfering in the internal affairs of Sudan
and supporting and arming opposition groups. Meanwhile Eritrean
President Isayas Afewerki has accused Sudan of embracing "terrorist
groups".

Plans to relocate 24,500 Sudanese refugees from Fugnido in Gambella
Region, western Ethiopia, where ethnic clashes killed some 100
people a few months ago, have been abandoned following serious
flooding at the new site at Odier. However, an alternative site is
being sought and the relocation should be done by the end of the
year, according to UNHCR.

Humanitarian

Despite the current cessation of hostilities, the UN Operation
Lifeline Sudan (OLS) still rated around 40 locations "red no go"
during September.

Average rates of malnutrition in southern Sudan have been steadily
worsening since 2001, according to UNICEF.

Only 34% of the UN's proposed US$ 262.9 million 2003 emergency
appeal has so far been funded. "There is no time for complacency,"
said Kofi Annan in his latest report to the UN General Assembly on
humanitarian assistance to Sudan. "The humanitarian imperative to
save lives and reduce human suffering cannot await the completion
of the peace process." The UN has prepared a new US$ 142.3 million
package of quick-start programmes to bolster confidence and provide
tangible peace dividends if peace comes. The Quick Start Peace
Impact Programme has been developed in consultation with both
parties and has been presented to donors, but has been criticised
for its lack of engagement with other Sudanese stakeholders.

The international community's focus on terrorism has led donors to
lavish aid on countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, while
neglecting the plight of civilians caught up in less strategic
conflicts such as Sudan, Liberia and Burundi, according to a report
by Oxfam.

Human Rights

Human rights abuses have continued unabated in GoS-controlled areas
of Sudan, with the closure of newspapers, harassment and
intimidation of churches, arbitrary arrest, and torture.

At the end of September GoS security services arrested retired
senior police officer and deputy leader of the Beja Congress,
General Osman Ahmed Fegerai, on undeclared charges and removed him
to a secret location, according to the group's political
coordinator Salih Mohamed Hassaballah.

The US Embassy in Khartoum criticised GoS for failing to lift press
restrictions despite pledges to do so, drawing attention to the
continued closure and suspension of several papers, including the
Khartoum Monitor and Alwan . At the end of September Al-Sahafa
was suspended for allegedly promoting alcohol (in an Ethiopian
Airlines advertisement carried by the paper) while Al-Azminah was
suspended for publishing a report on the Popular Defence Forces .

According to UNICEF, Health Minister Ahmed Osman Bilal has
committed GoS to eradicating female genital mutilation (FGM) at all
levels. Sudan has the highest prevalence of FGM in the world,
predominantly in northern Sudan. The UN Resident and Humanitarian
Coordinator for Sudan , Mukesh Kapila, said FGM was "a clear
indicator of Sudanese society's broad condoning of gender
inequality, violence against women and children, and the violation
of women's reproductive and health rights, as well as children's
rights".

The US "War on Terrorism"

In August Sudanese officials released sketchy details of a
terrorism case. A Sudanese court said it had convicted a Syrian of
holding classes in Sudan to train Saudis and Palestinians to carry
out attacks against US forces in Iraq, and had convicted two
Sudanese of helping the Syrian and of providing information to help
others plan attacks on government and Jewish targets in Eritrea.

Following the security agreement within the IGAD framework, GoS
Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail announced that the USA had agreed
to lift its sanctions on Sudan and remove the country from its list
of nations sponsoring terrorism. The time-frame was not mentioned.

Uganda has offered the old Entebbe Airport to be used as a regional
military base for the USA, according to Ugandan security sources.

+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++

Date distributed (ymd): 031008
Region: East Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +security/peace

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More...

uganda: Growing up with war

2003-10-09

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/106543980795.htm

The conflict in northern Uganda, one of many forgotten wars around the globe, took a dramatic turn for the worse in June 2002 when a government offensive sparked fierce rebel retaliation. The LRA has abducted at least 8,000 children in the past year alone; and an estimated 25,000 have been taken since the beginning of rebel activity in the late 1980s.

ZIMBABWE: "PREVENT STARVATION AND DESTITUTION" UN APPEALS TO DONORS

2003-10-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37045

There's still time to "prevent the twin spectres of starvation and destitution" from occurring in Zimbabwe, said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in a plea for more assistance from donors. UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Zimbabwe, J. Victor Angelo, said the generous support of aid efforts in 2002/03 had saved lives but that "the relief needs in Zimbabwe have increased in 2003”.

Information technology needs fertile ground

2003-10-09

http://www.scidev.net/Editorials/index.cfm?fuseaction=readEditorials&itemid=90&language=1

Much emphasis has been placed on the need for the North to help bridge the 'digital divide' with the South. Equal emphasis is required on creating the conditions in the South that will allow individuals to exploit the full potential of information technology, says this www.scidev.net editorial.

Nigeria's satellite launch gets mixed reaction

2003-10-09

http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=1035&language=1

Government officials, as well as many in the scientific and technical community, are hailing the launch of a satellite, known as Nigersat 1, not only for its potential practical contributions to the country’s development objectives, but also as a symbol of its progress in science and technology. However others have criticised the government for investing between US$15 million and US$20 million in a 'grandiose project', which, they claim, will do little to address poverty.

Strategic use of ICTs by civil society and engaging civil society in ICT policy

APC’s Latest Annual Report

2003-10-09

http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=14516

In the course of 2002 the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) focused its energies primarily in two areas - strategic use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by civil society and engaging civil society in ICT policy processes.

THE END OF DIVERSITY? Knowledge, ICTs and the Development Gateway

2003-10-09

http://www.dgroups.org/groups/OKN/docs/ACF20CE.pdf?ois=no

An analysis of the World Bank’s ‘Knowledge for Development’ indicates that this new development paradigm may adversely affect the validity and diversity of the knowledge needed for equitable and sustainable development. The deployment of knowledge management and ICTs, most notably through the implementation of the Development Gateway, is based on a narrow understanding of knowledge, often indistinguishable from ‘information’, and on the separation of knowledge, people, and power. The proposed alternative requires appropriate communication systems, knowledge creation in the South, and the cultivation of knowledge diversity through a focus on the knowers, the people who hold, use and create knowledge.

tips for effective email use

2003-10-09

http://news.gilbert.org/clickthru/redir/4860/15863/rms

There is a new problem related to email that will long outlast the current debate over spamming. That's the sheer volume of email that people receive and actually want to read - but often don't have time for. In this situation conversations become meaningless and nobody knows what to do when or how. This article contains some basic tips for effective email use.

Adili - a news service from Transparency International-Kenya

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/17605

The latest edition contains the following: Missing files: fertile grounds for corruption; E-procurement: a means to fight corruption; Professional body to address corruption in supplies; E-government and access to information and Corruption news. Subscribe online at http://www.tikenya.org/newsletter.asp or by sending an email to newsservice@tikenya.org

e-africa: journal of governance and innovation

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/17603

The October edition of e-africa, the electronic journal of governance and innovation, contains the following articles: Peer Review: Who Owns the Process?; Cancun Crashed, Now What?; Becoming My Brother’s Keeper; Peer Review in Practice; How Should Civil Society Respond to Peer Review?; and The Harmful Effects Of Handouts in Africa. To subscribe, email your name, job title, organisation and country to eAfrica-subscribe@saiia.wits.ac.za To unsubscribe, email to eafrica-unsubscribe@saiia.wits.ac.za

Moyo's mouthpiece not worth a cent

From the Zvakwana newsletter

2003-10-09

http://www.zvakwana.org/

“C'mon people! Everywhere Zimbabweans are saying that they are too scared to do this or that because of this brutal regime. Stopping buying the Herald is a small sacrifice in the face of the trampling of freedom of expression in Zimbabwe. If newspapers register with the regime's media commission, the commission can then interfere in the content of the said registered paper. This is not acceptable.” This is an extract from an article on the Zvakwana website. To read the full article visit the website, where you can also subscribe to their website.

Seatini bulletin - The fifth ministerial

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/17507

Headlines in the latest edition of the Seatini bulletin include:
* African delegations leave Cancun with a sense of foreboding;
* No deal is better than a bad deal;
* Vijay Makhan speaks out on WTO;
* Editorial: A New Road Map for the WTO.
For more information and subscriptions, contact SEATINI, Takura House, 67-69 Union Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe, Tel: +263 4 792681, Ext. 255 & 341, Tel/Fax: +263 4 251648, Fax: +263 4 788078, email: seatini.zw@undp.org,Website: www.seatini.org

Celebrity “Drive for Charity” Event Gears Up a Notch in south africa

2003-10-09

http://www.sagmj.org.za/

South Africa's first "Drive for Charity" event - initiated by the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) - is gaining momentum. A prizefund-raising campaign has just been launched, celebrity and charity competitors will be announced on 28th October 2003, and on Valentines Day, 14th February 2004, at least 16 top South African celebrities and their benefiting charities will vie for the largest portion of a R1m plus pool of prize money.

funds allocated to south african provinces

2003-10-09

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=391

BuaNews reports that the National Development Agency (NDA) has earmarked R67 million for poverty alleviation projects in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, funded by the European Union (EU) as part of the European Programme for Reconstruction and Development.

New figures for disbursement of south african Lottery funds released

2003-10-09

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=383

So far, during the current financial year, the Lottery has generated R1.6bn for "good causes". The bulk went to charities, with the arts and culture sector as the second largest recipient and sports and recreation as the third.

Norway ends aid grants to Zimbabwe

2003-10-09

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=vn20031009042738947C994087&set_id=1

Norway has dropped Zimbabwe from its select list of main development aid recipients because of the deterioration in governance there.

Southern Africa: OSISA’s Call for ICT Proposals

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/17574

OSISA is inviting organisations in Southern Africa to submit proposals and engage OSISA on effective proposal development. The call for proposals forms part of OSISA’s recently launched ICT Programme Guidelines.
Grants will be awarded on the following sub-categories:
- Advocacy Initiatives in the ICT area for policy development,
- Consortia Development in Knowledge Application and New Content
- Civic Networking and Community Information Systems
- Electronic Governance, E-Democracy and Cyber Liberties
For more information please contact Mr. A. Patel on email: ashraf@osiafrica.org or tel: +27(011) 403-3414

Conservation In Crisis: Experiences and Prospects for Saving Africa's Natural Resources

International Symposium, 10 - 12 December 2003, Mweka

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/17592

In celebrating its 40th anniversary, the College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka, is organising an International Symposium to be held on 10th to 12th December 2003. The Symposium is titled "Conservation In Crisis: Experiences and Prospects for Saving Africa's Natural Resources".
In celebrating its 40th anniversary, the College of African Wildlife
Management, Mweka, is organising an International Symposium to be held on
10th to 12th December 2003.

The Symposium, titled "Conservation In Crisis: Experiences and Prospects for
Saving Africa's Natural Resources"

The themes that will be discussed during this Symposium will give the
participants an opportunity to the following:

i. To discuss with alumni, wildlife professionals, students and interested
parties on various facets of wildlife management experiences, challenges and
opportunities.
ii. To discuss the contribution and link between wildlife management and
sustainable development.
iii. To synthesise notes, presentation, and ideas to be raised during the
symposium and be assimilated in the College's dynamic syllabus.
Thus, to streamline wildlife training to go in line with the new challenges

To achieve our aims we hope for a good number of the number of the
participants, with varying experiences. We are kindly requesting you to help
the College by placing the announcement on your website. If we need to
manually post the announcement, please inform us how.

Details of the conference can be found on:
http://www.mwekawildlife.org/conference_call_for_papers.asp, please include
this link on any announcement.

More...

Managing Public Goods in Favour of the People

03-06 December 2003, Johannesburg, South Africa

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/17597

Public goods or services (supply and access to water, electricity, land, education, health care etc.) and their availability, financing, ownership and management are contested issues in almost all countries in the world. In the contemporary global neo-liberal context, privatising of what was once public services is seen and ideologically justified as the 'only way'. In recognising the impacts of different policies, politics and ideologies on public services, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation together with its partners, is with this Conference staging a forum for discussion, debating, exchanging of views and experiences.
Contact arndt@rls-sa.org.za for more information.

Open Invitation
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and its partners take pleasure in inviting
you to a Conference on
Managing Public Goods in Favour of the People
to be held in Jo'burg from 03-06 December 2003
Public goods or services (supply and access to water, electricity, land,
education, health care etc.) and their availability, financing, ownership
and management are a generally contested issues almost all countries in
the world. In the contemporary global neo-liberal context in which
privatising of what was once public services is seen and ideologically
justified as the 'only way'. South Africa too is caught in the middle.
At the centre of these processes is the ideologically driven goal of
curving a cost efficient 'lean State'. The privatisation of public assets
is claimed as to be the 'only alternative' in addressing socio-economic
problems (unemployment, jobless economic growth, and 'budget constrains')
In recognising the impacts of different policies, politics and ideologies
on public services in this country, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation together
with its partners, is with this Conference staging a forum for discussion,
debating, exchanging views and experiences. Furthermore, it can be a
platform not only to reflect on current forms of resistance and their (in)
adequacy but also to deliberate on effective methods of engagement with
the forces bent on commercialising every aspect of our lives.
The Conference should aim, among other things, to tackle the role of the
current nation-state and the resultant 'crisis of public services'. At the
end we should at least have a clearer picture of what role can/should the
nation-state, the people and their organisations have in matters of public
goods. How best can these goods be financed, owned, maintained, and
managed?
The format of the envisaged Conference will provide space to more general
keynote contributions as well as to working group discussions on different
topics (water, electricity, housing, land, health care, education etc.)
We kindly request you to distribute this invitation widely to any
interested party.
All registered participants will receive a confirmation, the conference
materials and a detailed programme by 11 November 2003.
The deadline for confirmation of your participation is the 1st November
2003. Please fill in the requested information and send the attached form
back to us to cater for your participation.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Arndt Hopfmann
(Head of the RLF Regional Office, on behalf of the organising committee)

ROSA LUXEMBURG FOUNDATION
Sable Centre (9th Floor), 41 De Korte Street
Braamfontein, Johannesburg 2001
PostNet Suite 96, P.B. X42
Braamfontein, Johannesburg 2017
Phone: +27(0)11-3393130
Cell-Phone 082-4194242
Fax: +27(0)11-4032344

More...

TRAINING COURSE ON AGEING IN AFRICA

16 - 20 February 2004, Nairobi, Kenya

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/17591

If you are a mid-level or senior programme manager, social worker, senior government officer or planner, a health care professional, or have an interest in ageing issues, then this course is for you. (Please note the change in dates from previous announcements.)
All you need to know about ageing in Africa

If you are a mid-level or senior programme manager, social worker, senior government officer or planner, a health care professional, or have an interest in ageing issues, then this course is for you.

Topics to be covered include:

· Demographic situation and socio-economic implications for Africa

· HIV/AIDS and its impact on older people

· Gender dimension of ageing

· Poverty

· Research and Policies on ageing

A course fee of US$400 is chargeable for those requiring accommodation and US$150 for those who make their own arrangements.

For more information, write to helpage@helpage.co.ke

More...

** VOLUNTEER NEEDED **

Pambazuka News

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/17593

Fahamu (http://www.fahamu.org) is looking for a volunteer to work on
Pambazuka News (http://www.pambazuka.org), our electronic newsletter on
social justice in Africa that is distributed weekly to more than 10,000
subscribers.
We are looking for applicants who have:
- 2-3 hours access to the internet per week;
- A keen interest and knowledge of Africa;
- The ability to write clearly and accurately;
- The ability to comply with strict deadlines;
- The ability to work independently;
- A knowledge and interest of two or more of the following areas would be an advantage: Refugees and Forced Migration; Racism and Xenophobia; Media; Internet and Technology; and Fundraising.
The volunteer will be required to use the internet to research information relating to these subject categories for inclusion in Pambazuka News. Information and guidelines will be provided. Because the newsletter has to keep within strict deadlines, we are looking for someone who will make a clear commitment of 2-3 hours per week. Work will need to be completed each week before Wednesday evening. Applicants may be located anywhere in the world, but preference will be
given to those in Africa. Please send CV and a brief covering letter to patrick@fahamu.org.za

angola: Rural Water& Sanitation Officer

Danish Refugee Council

2003-10-09

http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/89ED3E0114FC6967C1256DB100439BAE

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) hereby invites applications for the above-mentioned international vacancy with its emergency and reintegration programme in Angola. In 1996, DRC began a programme assisting IDPs in the province of Uige. A peace-agreement was signed in April 2002 between the government and the rebel forces UNITA, which lead to the end of the civil war in Angola. The peace has allowed DRC to expand the operation to new geographical areas and co-operation has been begun with several new donors.

ethiopia: COUNTRY DIRECTOR

Oxfam GB

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/17549

Are you ready to act with poor people as a force for change in addressing the causes of poverty, suffering and injustice, and alleviating their symptoms? We are looking for someone like you to fill the position of Country Director in Ethiopia.
COUNTRY DIRECTOR

Location : BASED IN ADDIS
Country : Ethiopia
Company : GMBM Communications


Description :
In Oxfam GB we believe that all people have a right to life and security.

Are you ready to act with poor people as a force for change in addressing the
causes of poverty, suffering and injustice, and alleviating their symptoms? We
are looking for someone like you to fill the position of Country Director in
Ethiopia.

Oxfam has been working in Ethiopia since 1974. The programme covers a range of
development, humanitarian and policy advocacy initiatives and seeks to work
with others to find long-term solutions to the problems of underdevelopment
with its projects and partners. The threat of famine is never very far away
and the programme aims to support affected people to help themselves by
improving their range of skills and resources to increase their ability to
survive consequences of disasters. Oxfam GB's programme in Ethiopia is
focusing on the following areas - sustainable livelihoods, pastoral
development, basic social services and civil society capacity building.




Qualifications : This post requires a highly experienced manager to provide
strategic leadership and top quality management of people and resources. You
will need to have considerable experience of programme management within
complex and difficult contexts, including security management. Additionally,
experience in managing humanitarian response is essential. The ability to make
hard choices and difficult decisions and to lead strategic planning processes
to convert strategy into clear implementation plans will be essential. You
will have highly developed interpersonal skills and the ability and assurance
to represent and contribute to Oxfam GB at regional, national and local level.
A mature social and political analysis from grass root to international levels
with insights into its relevance to working to address poverty and a knowledge
of the history and contemporary economic, political and cultural context of
the country is desirable. You will further need to demonstrate a strong track
record in integrating gender at all levels of programme analysis and a
commitment to equal opportunity. The post is on an open-ended contract with
accompanied status plus comprehensive benefits. The starting salary is GBP
20,100 net per annum. The closing date for the post is 24th October 2003.
Please use the title: Country Director - Ethiopia in your application,
attaching your CV, a letter explaining how your experience makes you the
candidate for this job, details of where you can be contacted and two referees
preferably current line managers to: hecajobs@oxfam.org.uk


Contact Details


Contact Person :
Telehone :
Fax :
E-mail : hecajobs@oxfam.org.uk
Apply Online :
Website : www.oxfam.org.uk
Reference : FJA-GMB-DIRE



_______________________________________________________________________________
Information service provided by AFFORD: AFFORD (www.afford-uk.org) helps to
publicise career opportunities that will enable Africans in the diaspora to
work for the benefit of Africa in the private, public and non-profit sectors.

Forget the brain drain; let's go for brain gain!

Submit job openings to afford@afford-uk.org

AFFORD (African Foundation for Development) Ground Floor, 31/33 Bondway,
London SW8 1SJ, UK

t: +44 (0)20 7587 3900 (switchboard)
f: +44 (0)20 7587 3919
e: afford@afford-uk.org
w: http://www.afford-uk.org

Expanding and enhancing the contribution that Africans in the diaspora make
to African development

African Diaspora & Development Day [ad3] 2004!!! Saturday 3 July 2004 - The
day for Africa's biggest "aid donors"! Register your interest at ad3-
2004@afford-uk.org

Join the "Africans without borders" online discussion group - a forum to
explore the practical ways in which the African diaspora can contribute to
Africa's development. Send an email to Africans_Without_Borders-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To join AFFORD's "African diaspora jobs alert service" send an email to AFFORD-
Jobs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

More...

zimbabwe: Liaison Officer

Catholic Institute for International Relations

2003-10-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/17594

Reporting to the Southern Africa Programme Manager (SAPM), the Zimbabwe Liaison Officer (ZLO) will work to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of CIIR / ICD's programme in Zimbabwe. The postholder will be supporting CIIR / ICD's skillshare and advocacy work in the country. She/he will also be expected to help the SAPM to maintain a broader perspective of the Southern Africa Region. The ZLO will provide supervision and support to CIIR / ICDs Development Workers (DWs) and maintain and build key partnerships with local partner organisations in response to CIIR / ICD's HIV & AIDS and disability strategies for Zimbabwe.
Catholic Institute for International Relations - CIIR, is an independent London based charity tackling the causes of poverty and injustice internationally through an integrated approach of skillsharing and advocacy. ICD is the skillshare programme of CIIR. We work with people of all faiths and none. For over 30 years, ICD has been placing workers in development projects and has on average around 100 skilled professionals working in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.


We are looking to recruit a candidate from Zimbabwe to be our
Zimbabwe Liaison Officer - based in Harare, Zimbabwe
Salary between £490 - £600 Sterling per month (depending on skills and experience), full time, Contract - from November 2003 until March 2005

Reporting to the Southern Africa Programme Manager (SAPM), the Zimbabwe Liaison Officer (ZLO) will work to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of CIIR / ICD's programme in Zimbabwe. The postholder will be supporting CIIR / ICD's skillshare and advocacy work in the country. She/he will also be expected to help the SAPM to maintain a broader perspective of the Southern Africa Region. The ZLO will provide supervision and support to CIIR / ICDs Development Workers (DWs) and maintain and build key partnerships with local partner organisations in response to CIIR / ICD's HIV & AIDS and disability strategies for Zimbabwe.

The postholder should have degree or appropriate qualification in social sciences or related field and three to five years of relevant work experience, preferably within a non-governmental organisation, preferably with senior responsibility.

You should have excellent administration skills and sound book keeping and financial management experience. Competent IT skills, excellent self-organising, and prioritising skills, as well as experience of providing support to and of monitoring personnel is essential. Due to the nature of the post experience of being able to work effectively within the current social/economic and political environment in Zimbabwe is essential.

Good interpersonal and communication skills to liaise effectively with people at various levels and good oral and written communication skills in English and in Shona and/or Ndebele are important. It is essential to have a proven ability to think and act strategically in response to HIV & AIDS as a development issue and a good grasp of gender analysis and dynamics in southern Africa. Last but not least you must have a valid full driving licence and willingness to travel extensively by car within Zimbabwe.


Closing date 31 October 2003
Interviews Early November


For further information and an application form visit http://www.ciir.org/ciir.asp?section=jobs or email icd@iway.na alternatively fax ++264 61 232317.


CIIR / ICD are committed to equal opportunities
Charity No. 294 329

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