[Prec. per data] [Succ. per data] [Prec. per argomento] [Succ. per argomento] [Indice per data] [Indice per argomento]

Weekly anb04113.txt #6

_____________________________________________________________
WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 11-04-2001      PART #3/6
* Ethiopie. Recrudescence de sida - Le VIH/SIDA serait, à l'heure actuelle, responsable d'environ 50% des hospitalisations à Addis Abeba, où le nombre des victimes de cette maladie aurait également augmenté, a-t-on appris de sources médicales. Sur les quelque 300.000 personnes qui vivent avec le VIH en Ethiopie, 30.000 patients environ ont développé la maladie. A peu près 20.000 enfants sont des orphelins du sida dans le pays, dont la population est estimée à 60 millions d'habitants. (PANA, Sénégal, 9 avril 2001)
* Ethiopie. La dette belge annulée - Le 9 avril, le secrétaire d'Etat belge à la Coopération et le Premier ministre éthiopien ont signé à Addis Abeba un accord portant sur l'annulation de la dette bilatérale entre la Belgique et l'Ethiopie, dette qui s'élève à 711,8 millions de FB. Par ailleurs, les deux pays ont signé un accord général de coopération. L'aide belge portera sur quatre secteurs: l'éducation, la sécurité alimentaire, l'environnement et le sida. (Le Soir, Belgique, 11 avril 2001)
* Guinea. Plight of refugees - In a Press Release on 4 April, Amnesty International said that refugees must not be forced to choose between death in Sierra Leone or death in Guinea. The organisation calls for a vigorous international presence in Guinea to protect hundreds of thousands of Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees and Guinean civilians caught in vicious six-month old insurgency in Guinea. (Amnesty International, UK, 4 April 2001)
* Kenya. Problems in the flower-growing industry - If you're not a nature lover before you come to Lake Naivasha, you certainly will be after your stay. The beauty is staggering. There's the lake itself, a smooth, gleaming expanse of water - 150 square kilometres of it. There are the 15,000 hippos in the lake which pop out of the water with alarming frequency. And within only two minutes I spotted a Goliath Heron, two Fish Eagles and a Pied Kingfisher out of the 350 recorded bird species in the area. On shore, not far away, I also saw Colobus monkeys and water buck. Joy Adamson, of "Born Free" fame, used to live on this shore. Elsa the Lion was one of my favourite childhood animals. No wonder Lake Naivasha is an environmental treasure and designated wetlands of international repute. It is situated at the bottom end of the famous Rift Valley in Kenya and is special not only because of its beauty but also because the lake water is fresh and its surrounding soil very fertile. No wonder, too, that it has become the centre of Kenya's flower growing industry. There has been a drought in Kenya for three years and water is a precious commodity but the lake has plenty. So the growers have located most of the farms on its shores and irrigate them from the lake. And that's where the trouble begins. I was taken out on the lake by Margaret Otieno, an environmentalist, who works at the Elsamere Conservation Centre which is based in the grounds and house of Joy Adamson's old home. According to Mrs Otieno, there is a serious over-exploitation of the lake's water and the levels have gone down. Apparently the lake could disappear if this continues. Also she says, "We are concerned about the fertilizers and pesticides being used by the flower growers they could be using banned substances." She continues, "it is very difficult for us to penetrate the flower farms. They think we are the police for the environment. They think we are enemies." And here's the rub: the flower industry is very profitable. In export and employment terms, it is catching up with Kenya's main foreign earners, tea and coffee. In fact, most of the roses and carnations grown on the shores of the lake, end up in supermarkets in the UK. (Rosie Goldsmith, BBC News, UK, 5 April 2001
* Kenya. Moi moves on Central Bank - Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi has appointed a new Central Bank governor, just days after the departure as head of the civil service of Richard Leakey, a former opposition activist, who had been asked in 1999 to root out corruption and inefficiency in the public sector. Micah Cheserem, governor since 1993, is not due to retire until July, but has been placed on immediate leave until then. No reason for the decision has been disclosed, although there is speculation that he had fallen out of favour with the president. Widely credited with reviving confidence in Kenya's battered banking sector, Mr Cheserem was regarded as an outspoken reformer who enjoyed good relations with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Nahason Ngige Nyagah, his replacement, has served at the Central Bank with three previous governors, including Eric Kotut, who left in 1993 amid intense public criticism over the collapse of several commercial banks, hyperinflation and a high-profile corruption case. Mr Nyagah comes from one of Kenya's most prominent political families. Jeremiah Nyagah, his father, is a former cabinet minister; Joseph Nyagah, his brother, is minister of lands and resettlement, while Norman Nyagah is an MP. Mr Cheserem had earlier denied reports of his imminent departure, telling friends there were tasks he hoped to complete before the expiry in July of his second four-year term. Technically, the post has security of tenure, making his outright dismissal very difficult. With the removal of Mr Cheserem, the three most sensitive administrative positions related to the economy -permanent secretaries at the finance ministry and Treasury and Central Bank governor, are all now in new hands. Publicly, donors say they are anxious to see the process of reform deepen in Kenya, and that they have less interest in the personalities involved. Privately, however, they express concern that some of the very forces that have held back the Kenyan economy are now again the political ascendancy. (Financial Times, UK, 5 April 2001)
* Kenya. Reactions to Leakey's resignation - Daily Nation: (Issue of 29 March) -- "There are at least two possible ways to interpret yesterday's sweeping civil service changes and the previous days resignation by Dr. Richard Leakey as Head of the Public Service. The first is that President Moi has moved a motion of no confidence in the "Dream Team" of technocrats appointed two years ago to clean up the public service. the there could be that the President is preparing Kenyans psychologically for the final leg of his protracted presidency. The East African: (Issue 2-8 April) -- "Dr Richard Leakey's efforts to "isolate" Kenya's President Daniel arap Moi from donors apparently led to the decision to drop him from the government five weeks before a public announcement was made last week". (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 6 April 2001)
* Kenya. Maladie mystérieuse: Ebola? - Le 8 avril, la peur et l'appréhension étaient perceptibles dans la ville de Nyeri, au centre du Kenya, où une jeune recrue de l'école de police est décédée des suites d'une affection dont les symptômes rappellent la maladie d'Ebola, tant redoutée. Mlle Onyango est morte à l'hôpital catholique de Mathari, où elle avait été admise une semaine auparavant. Lorsqu'elle a été amenée à l'hôpital, du sang sortait de tous les orifices de son corps. Des échantillons de sang ont été envoyés pour analyses supplémentaires; les résultats devraient sortir vers la fin de ce mois. (PANA, Sénégal, 9 avril 2001)
* Kenya. Boys charged with 67 murders - On 9 April, two Kenyan teenagers were charged on 67 counts of murder in connection with the death of fellow pupils in a fire which destroyed their dormitory block last month. The trial of Felix Mambo Ngumbao (16), and Davies Otieno Onyango (17), was adjourned until 23 April. The head and deputy head of Kyanguli secondary school, David Mutsio Kiilu and Stephen Kasyoka Makau, were charged with failing to prevent the fire. (The Guardian, UK, 10 April 2001)
* Libéria. Le président et la dissidence - Le 7 avril, à la surprise générale, le président libérien Charles Taylor a exprimé sa volonté de dialoguer avec les opposants politiques et les dissidents exilés du Libéria qui combattent son gouvernement dans le nord du pays. "Si Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf de l'opposition veut discuter avec moi, je suis prêt. Quiconque souhaite dialoguer avec moi est le bienvenu. Je suis le président de tous les Libériens, qu'ils le veuillent ou non", a déclaré le président Taylor. Plusieurs opposants politiques et anciens chefs de factions belligérantes, qui ont combattu Taylor pendant la guerre civile qui a duré sept ans, ont fui le pays depuis son accession au pouvoir. Plus d'une douzaine de ces exilés politiques et anciens chefs de guerre sont également accusés de trahison, un délit passible au Libéria de la réclusion à perpétuité ou la peine de mort. (PANA, Sénégal, 8 avril 2001)
* Liberia. 15,000-strong force called up - President Charles Taylor has ordered a 15,000-strong force mobilized to counter what Liberia says is a cross-border offensive from Guinea. A number of former battlefront commanders in Taylor's old rebel movement have volunteered, officials told The Associated Press on 8 April, speaking on condition of anonymity. Liberia says Guinea-based Liberian dissidents have been attacking northern border towns in force since Wednesday. Control of at least two embattled towns, Foya and Kolahun, was uncertain on 8 April, according to reports in the capital, Monrovia. Heavy fighting was reported overnight 7-8 April when more dissidents tried to cross over near Foya. Government troops heading for the Kolahun fight also were reportedly attacked. The government has declined to reveal casualties. A deputy government minister, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the fight had been difficult because soldiers there are inexperienced in guerrilla tactics. The retired veterans who are volunteering fought in the area, Lofa County, under Taylor during Liberia's seven-year civil war. More than 200,000 people were killed in fighting that ended in 1996. Taylor won the presidency in 1997 elections. (CNN, USA, 8 April 2001)
* Libya. Mandela pledges to help end sanctions against Libya - Former South African President Nelson Mandela on 8 April pledged to continue his mediation efforts as Libya seeks to lift the UN sanctions imposed on it after the Lockerbie bombing, Libyan television said. Mandela was instrumental in convincing Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to hand over two Libyans suspected of the 1988 bombing of Pan American flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland for trial in the Netherlands. Libyan television said Mandela told Gadhafi he would pursue "efforts to make other parties concerned with Lockerbie fulfil their pledges." It showed footage of Gadhafi greeting Mandela outside a tent in the garden of his official residence in Tripoli before they held talks in the tent. The 15-nation UN Security Council imposed sanctions including an air and arms embargo and a ban on some oil equipment in 1992 and 1993. They were suspended when Libya handed over the suspects in April 1999. Washington and London say the sanctions can be lifted entirely only when Libya accepts responsibility for the bombing and agrees to pay "appropriate" compensation to the victims' families. (CNN, USA, 8 April 2001)
* Libya. Tripoli to host AIDS conference - The Tripoli-based African Centre for Applied Research and Training in Social Development is organising a two-day meeting beginning on 10 April "AIDS Challenges in North Africa Countries". The gathering is one of the preparatory meetings ahead of the African summit later this month in Abuja, Nigeria, which would focus on the impact of HIV/AIDS on African society. The main focus of the Tripoli meeting will be to examine the impact of the pandemic on the development of North African countries. (PANA, Senegal, 8 April 2001)
* Mali. Gen. Toure's possible candidacy makes headlines - The possible candidacy of former Malian president, Gen. Amadou Toumani Toure (ATT) in the country's 2002 presidential election made headlines in local newspapers this week. Under the headline: "ATT's 2002 candidacy an open secret", the by-weekly L'Aurore said that "for a long time, people close to the virtual candidate discreetly revealed that the general bears a grudge against Malians for not calling for him to stand". Meanwhile, the weekly Liberté" wrote that "ATT's candidacy is gradually becoming a reality. By merely listening to his statements on national issues in the media, one realises the regret felt by the chairman of the Childhood Foundation over leaving power, or his desire to regain it", the paper explains. It cited the setting up of several support groups for ATT's candidacy, which the general has never opposed. For its part, the independent daily Nouvel Horizon quoted statements by the chairman of the Friends of ATT Club. "We will mobilise all Malians behind ATT to beat the ADEMA (ruling party) in 2002", the chairman said, adding that "Gen. ATT is the only one capable of beating the ADEMA, because his name and his record can mobilise a lot of people". (PANA, Senegal, 8 April 2001)
* Mauritania. Opposition leader arrested - Police in Mauritania have arrested the opposition Popular Front leader, Mohamed Lemine Ch'bih ould Cheikh Melainine, on allegations that he has incited violence. Party officials say Mr Melainine, who was runner-up in the 1997 presidential election, was detained at his home in the capital, Nouakchott, on 8 April. The Popular Front Secretary-General Mohamed ould Fadel ould Mohamed Sidya said police searched the house before making the arrest. The party has called for Mr Melainine to be released, saying his arrest was arbitrary and brutal (BBC News, UK, 10 April 2001) 

Weekly anb0411.txt - #3/6