Weekly anb10317.txt #7

[anb-bia <anb-bia at village.uunet.be>]

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 31-10-2002      PART #7/7

* Swaziland. Royals under fire over "kidnap"  -  29 October: Swaziland's 
chief justice criticised the royal family for continuing to frustrate a 
woman's lawsuit seeking to prevent the king from marrying her daughter. 
Lindiwe Dlamini had asked the court to force the royal family to release 
her daughter, Zena Zoraya Mahlangu, 18, from a royal guest house. Mahlangu 
and two other women were picked up by King Mswati III's aides last month 
after the king decided they would be his 10th, 11th and 12th wives. "The 
continued protraction of the case is not helping anyone," Chief Justice 
Stanley Sapire said at a hearing on 29 October. The court had ordered two 
women to meet with Mahlangu to determine whether she was being held against 
her will, but they were refused entrance and told the royals were in 
mourning over the death of a member of the royal family. In an interview 
with reporters on 28 October, Mahlangu said she was ready to marry the king 
and nothing would make her change her mind. "I am happy with everything and 
I am preparing to take my place in the royal household and be a good wife 
to my husband," she said. Sapire said the two women appointed by the court 
must speak with Mahlangu by the next court hearing on 31 October to 
determine her true intentions. Without her side of the story, Sapire said, 
she should be released to her mother's care because women under the age of 
21 are minors in Swaziland.   (CNN, USA, 30 October 2002)

* Tanzania. $84 million needed for 8,500km road maintenance  -  Tanzania 
needs an estimated $84 million per year to finance maintenance of the 
country road network, assuming all those targeted are in maintainable 
condition. Tanzania's road network is approximately 8,500km long with 
4,430km categorised as paved and 80,570km unpaved. According to the Annual 
Report of the Roads Fund Board, an increase of 10 per cent to cater for 
development activities will push the total requirement to $94 million per 
annum. The report further states that, "on the other hand, the estimated 
total collection of fuel levy for financial year 2000/2001 was only $45.8 
million which corresponds to only 42 per cent of estimated actual 
requirement of roads in maintainable condition." Inadequacy of maintenance 
funds means losses to the economy as a whole. The World Bank estimates that 
a reduction of $1 in the road maintenance budget causes an increase of $2 
or $3 in vehicle operating costs. According to the study, 30 per cent of 
the 10,300km trunk roads are in good condition, with 39.2 per cent being in 
fair condition and 30.8 per cent in poor condition.   (The East African, 
Kenya, 28 October 2002)

* Togo. Elections législatives  -  Le dimanche 27 octobre, près de trois 
millions de Togolais étaient appelés aux urnes pour élire leurs députés. Le 
scrutin, boycotté par les principaux partis d'opposition, a été reporté à 
deux reprises en trois ans. Toutefois, 14 petits partis, également 
d'opposition, on maintenant présenté des candidats. Le parti au pouvoir, le 
Rassemblement du peuple togolais (RPT) est cependant assuré de remporter 
largement ces élections, ses candidats étant pratiquement seuls dans 39 
circonscriptions électorales. Le scrutin s'est déroulé dans le calme. Selon 
le ministère de l'Intérieur, le taux d'affluence aurait été de 60 à 65%, ce 
qui indique que l'appel au boycott n'a pas été écouté. Le scrutin a été 
correctement organisé, selon les observateurs, qui estiment cependant qu'il 
ne résout rien sur le fond de la vie politique intérieure. Le dialogue 
politique intertogolais, lancé en juillet 1999, ne sera pas débloqué par 
cette consultation. Rappelons toutefois que le président Eyadéma, au 
pouvoir depuis 35 ans, a promis de se retirer en 2003. Mais les opposants 
se préparent à faire face à une éventuelle modification de la Constitution 
destinée à permettre au président de rester au pouvoir. -29 octobre. 
D'après les résultats définitifs des élections, le RPT a obtenu 72 sièges 
de députés sur les 81 à pourvoir. Le taux de participation a été de 
67,43%.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 octobre 2002)

* Togo. Elections  -  27 October: Parliamentary elections. The elections 
are reported as being carried out in an atmosphere of apparent calm, with a 
turnout of over 70%. An appeal had been launched by the Opposition to 
boycott the elections. 31 October: The Rally of the People of Togo (RPT) 
have won 72 seats out of the 81.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 31 October 2002)

* Tunisie. Grèves de la faim  -  Deux membres du Parti communiste ouvrier 
tunisien (PCOT), Abdeljabbar Madouri et Ammar Amroussia, actuellement en 
détention, ont entamé "une grève de la faim illimitée" pour revendiquer 
leur "libération immédiate et sans condition", annonce un communiqué du 
PCOT du 24 octobre. Les deux hommes motivent leur recours à la grève de la 
faim (le premier depuis le 17 octobre, le second depuis le 18) par "la 
détérioration de leur état de santé, en raison des mauvaises conditions de 
détention et l'absence de soins". Deux autres membres du parti condamnés 
avaient été libérés sous condition en septembre dernier pour des raisons de 
santé. Le PCOT réitère par la même occasion son appel à la libération de 
tous les détenus politiques en Tunisie, "quelle que soit leur appartenance 
idéologique". Estimés à un millier par les ONG, dont Amnesty International, 
ceux-ci appartiennent pour la plupart au mouvement islamiste tunisien 
interdit Ennahdha. Deux personnes de ce groupe sont également en grève de 
la faim.   (D'après AP, 24 octobre 2002)

* Tunisie. Parti d'opposition reconnu  -  Le 25 octobre, l'agence 
tunisienne de presse TAP a annoncé l'autorisation accordée à un nouveau 
parti politique, le "Forum démocratique pour le travail et les libertés" 
(FDTL). En fait, celui-ci, présidé par le Dr Mustapha Ben Jaâfar, tente 
d'exister depuis une dizaine d'années, en vain jusqu'à ce vendredi. Fondé 
en 1994, le FDTL opérait depuis dans la semi-clandestinité. Ce nouveau 
"geste" du pouvoir s'adresse à un mouvement sans base sociale, mais qui 
tient un vrai discours d'opposition. Désormais, le paysage politique 
tunisien compte sept partis d'opposition reconnus, outre le parti au 
pouvoir.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 26 octobre 2002)

* Uganda. AIDS death toll  -  AIDS has killed nearly one million Ugandans 
since the disease was first identified in the country in 1983, a government 
report has said. The country's health ministry said the figure included 
94,755 people aged under 16. A million of Uganda's 24 million people have 
HIV.   (The Guardian, UK, 25 October 2002)

* Ouganda. Sida: un million de morts  -  Selon un rapport annuel du 
ministère ougandais de la Santé, publié le 24 octobre à Kampala, près d'un 
million d'Ougandais sont morts du sida depuis qu'il a été diagnostiqué pour 
la première fois dans le pays. Sur les 947.552 décès recensés, 427.153 sont 
des femmes, 425.644 des hommes, et 94.755 des enfants de moins de quinze 
ans. La prévalence du virus VIH/sida est de 5%. La population du pays est 
de 24 millions d'habitants. -- Notons par ailleurs que Mgr Cordes, 
président du conseil pontifical Cor Unum (dit "de la charité du pape) 
séjournera du 25 au 30 octobre en Ouganda, où il viendra soutenir plusieurs 
projets, en particulier en faveur des enfants malades du sida.   (ANB-BIA, 
de sources diverses, 25 octobre 2002)

* Uganda. Help for Uganda's terminally ill  -  The lives of thousands of 
terminally-ill people in Uganda are being transformed by a ground-breaking 
palliative care programme. The programme, established just four years ago, 
provides pain relief and care to people with cancer and other terminal 
diseases. The scheme has been so successful that the Ugandan Ministry of 
Health has decided to introduce a comprehensive palliative care service 
across the country. Dr Anne Merriman, medical director of Hospice Africa 
which runs the programme, said they had helped many people living with 
terminal illness. Average life expectancy in Uganda is just 41 years. 
Cancer is a major killer but few people are able to get medical treatment 
for the disease. Only a small proportion receive pain relief to help them 
cope with cancer and other illnesses. Most die at home after months of 
suffering excruciating pain.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 26 October 2002)

* Uganda. Millions missing from Missions abroad  -  An audit of Uganda's 
missions abroad has found that millions of shillings in visa and passport 
fees, have not been remitted to the national treasury -- suggesting that 
the money may have been misappropriated. A number of missions were also 
found to have overshot their expenditures by millions of shillings above 
the authorised spending -- an act described by the Auditor General's report 
as "either unrealistic budgeting or weaknesses in expenditure control." 
Several of Uganda's property abroad such as houses and vehicles are not 
insured, not only contravening the law of the host countries, but also 
putting at risk property worth millions of dollars. According to the 
Auditor General's report to parliament, the main culprits are Uganda's 
missions in Europe. For example, none of the country's properties in 
Copenhagen, including vehicles, the chancery and official residence, were 
insured.Auditor General John F.S. Muwanga said Uganda's High Commission in 
London had failed to account for Ush21 million in passport and visa fees 
for the past financial year. The High Commission also failed to remit Ush20 
million. The money was the balance from the 2001/2002 expenditure. 
According to the government accounting regulations, all money not spent 
must be returned to the Treasury at the end of every financial year.   (The 
East African, Kenya, 28 October 2002)

* Zambia. GM food aid rejected  -  29 October: The Zambian Government has 
finally decided not to accept a donation of GM food for nearly three 
million of its people facing famine. The decision was taken after the 
Zambian Government despatched a team of scientists around the world to 
study the potential effects of GM crops. The food aid was initially offered 
by the international community to Zambia and five other South African 
countries, but President Levy Mwanawasa referred to the food as "poison". 
The Government's controversial decision has sparked a huge political row in 
Zambia, with the Opposition claiming people will die as a result. Indeed, 
the government's decision will complicate relief efforts, say relief 
agencies. The US government says it disagrees with Zambia's 
decision.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 29 October 2002)

* Zambie. Refus des OGM  -  Frappée de plein fouet par la crise alimentaire 
affectant l'Afrique australe, la Zambie a confirmé, le 29 octobre, qu'elle 
n'acceptait pas de denrées contenant des organismes génétiquement modifiés 
(OGM). Les Etats-Unis fournissent 75% de l'aide proposée par le Programme 
alimentaire mondial à la Zambie.   (La Croix, France, 30 octobre 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Tobacco crop to halve  -  24 October: Zimbabwe's tobacco 
harvest is expected to halve next year due to the difficulties facing 
farmers. Farm disruptions caused by the land seizures have already reduced 
this year's tobacco crop to about 162 million kg, from 202 million kg last 
year. Now that figure is expected to halve again, with many farmers unable 
to transplant their seedlings during the critical pre-rain season between 
15 October and 15 November. "We're falling behind," Chris Molam, chief 
executive of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association said. "Farmers haven't been 
able to get onto the land. November is looming and we really need to get 
the crop out." Economists say the reduction of tobacco output could be 
devastating to the country's ailing economy.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 24 
October 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Daily News: nouvelle inculpation  -  Le directeur du seul 
quotidien privé du Zimbabwe, The Daily News, a été inculpé pour un article 
affirmant qu'un jeune opposant avait été torturé par des policiers. Il est 
accusé de "saper l'image de la police". Geoff Nyarota a expliqué qu'"il est 
de notoriété publique que Tom Spicer a été torturé", les accusations de 
torture ayant été formulées devant un tribunal.   (La Croix, France, 25 
octobre 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Mugabe wins key by-election  -  28 October: Zimbabwe's ruling 
party has won a key by-election in the south-west of the country. President 
Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF took the seat of Insiza from the opposition 
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Meanwhile the MDC says its offices in 
Bulawayo were extensively damaged in an attack. A spokesman for the party 
said a crowd of about 100 youths stoned the building on the morning of 28 
October, shattering windows. The spokesman described the attack as 
unprovoked and said the assailants wore ZANU-PF youth militia 
uniforms.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 28 October 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Division chez les fermiers blancs  -  Le président et le 
directeur du Syndicat des fermiers commerciaux du Zimbabwe (CFU) ont 
démissionné de leur poste. Tous deux étaient considérés comme des modérés. 
En août, des membres du CFU l'avaient quitté pour créer Justice pour 
l'agriculture (JAG), favorable à une politique plus ferme à l'égard du 
gouvernement.   (La Croix, France, 31 octobre 2002)

Weekly anb1031.txt - #7/7 - THE END




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Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous se tait devant la tyrannie 
(W. Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature)
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Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies 
(Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) *
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