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Weekly anb11144.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 14-11-2002      PART #4/7
* Ethiopia. Drought stimulates outbreaks of violence - At least 20 women have been shot dead in northeastern Ethiopia, humanitarian sources have said. The women, all ethnic Afars, were killed as they were on their way home from a market, the sources confirmed.The shooting, which took place in late October, is believed to be part of increasing tensions in the Afar Regional State sparked by a severe drought affecting many parts of the country. In a separate incident, at least 11 ethnic Ittus have been killed in a shoot-out in Fentale, Oromiya Regional State, also hit by the drought.Fierce clashes have occurred in Afar, particularly in Zone Five, between ethnic Afars and Issas competing for scare water resources. The zone is currently off-limits to UN staff. Skirmishes between Afars and Issas have been gradually escalating over the years with the Afars accusing the Issas of persistently encroaching on their territory from the southeast. "If the [current] conditions continue, tensions will only increase," one source told IRIN. "Depending on the drought and the rains, if you can't move freely it's going to heat up. There is a drought and there is a lot of fighting." The recent clashes, which took place near the Somali Regional State, are believed to be revenge attacks by Issas after Afars raided them for cattle earlier this year. (IRIN, Kenya, 8 November 2002)
* Ethiopia. PM warns of massive famine - 11 November: Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has warned that his country faces a famine worse than that of 1984 which killed nearly one million people and sparked a big international relief effort. He said that some six million people already needed food aid and the number facing starvation could rise to 15 million early in the new year if international donors did not come to the country's aid. The Ethiopian Government was already barely able to keep its people alive let alone supply adequate food, he said, and could not afford to buy in extra stocks itself. Bob Geldof, the driving force behind the 1984 relief effort Live Aid, said the new crisis suggested that famine relief programmes of recent decades were "untenable". Mr Meles said it was "like living through a recurring nightmare". If the 1984 famine was a nightmare, then this will be too ghastly to contemplate," he said. He predicted that the number of people who could be hit as a result of the new drought might be three times the number affected during the earlier famine. Mr Meles said he feared that people in developed countries might be lulled into thinking that the drought was a manageable problem because there were no pictures on TV screens of skeletal figures as there were in the 1980s. Ethiopia still lacked the facilities to conserve rainwater, Mr Meles added. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 11 November 2002)
* Ethiopie. Menace de famine - Une énorme famine menace de frapper l'Ethiopie dans les mois qui viennent, si la communauté internationale n'apporte pas une aide d'urgence, a déclaré le 11 novembre le président Meles Zenawi. A la suite de la sécheresse persistante, 6 millions d'Ethiopiens ont déjà besoin d'aide alimentaire. En janvier, leur nombre atteindra les 15 millions, a affirmé M. Zenawi. "Nous ne pouvons pas nous en sortir seuls", a-t-il déclaré. Il estime que le nombre de personnes menacées est deux à trois fois plus important que lors de la grande famine de 1984. La Croix-Rouge a lancé un appel, considérant avoir besoin de 11 millions d'euros afin de faire face à la catastrophe humanitaire. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 12 novembre 2002)
* Ethiopie. Projet d'adduction d'eau - Le Fonds africain de développement (AFD) a accordé un prêt de 26,3 millions de dollars à l'Ethiopie pour financer un projet d'adduction d'eau et d'assainissement dans la région du Harar (est), ont annoncé les autorités éthiopiennes le 12 novembre. L'accord a été signé le 8 novembre à Abidjan, au siège de la Banque africaine de développement (BAD), dont l'AFD est un des organes. (Le Figaro, France, 13 novembre 2002)
* Gabon. Elections locales le 29 décembre - Les élections locales, qui renouvelleront les conseillers municipaux et départementaux, auront lieu le 29 décembre prochain, a annoncé le 12 novembre un communiqué du gouvernement gabonais. La campagne électorale se déroulera du 14 au 28 décembre. Par ailleurs, le chef de l'Etat, M. Omar Bongo, a demandé aux partis politiques de mettre des femmes à des positions éligibles sur leurs listes électorales. Il a formulé le même souhait en faveur des jeunes, pour lesquels il a souhaité "une représentation juste et équitable". D'autre part, M. Bongo veut mettre un frein au cumul des mandats. Dorénavant les fonctions de maire, de maire adjoint, de président ou vice-président de conseil seront incompatibles avec celles de membres du gouvernement et avec le mandat de député ou de sénateur, a-t-il fait savoir. (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 13 novembre 2002)
* Ghana. Drug dealing hits yam exports - Ghana's lucrative yam export business is under attack from the illegal smuggling of cocaine, according to local press reports. The concerns were voiced by the president of the Ghana Root Crops and Tuber Exporters Union at a press conference in Accra on 6 November. The union claims that drug traffickers are using the cargoes of yams destined for the United Kingdom and the United States to conceal narcotics. The cargoes of yams are then stripped of the valuable drugs, while the vegetables are often given away or sold for next to nothing. Kofi Asiedu, president of the tuber exporters union, says this is flooding the marketplace and destroying prices. "Ghana loses more than half the potential foreign exchange earnings from the yam export trade," Mr Asiedu is reported to have said. Ghana produces more than five million tonnes of yam a year, and should reap at least $20m from exports. But the real figure is thought to be significantly less than this. The union is now calling for a national policy to tackle the problem and save the jobs of farmers and traders across the country. (BBC News, UK, 8 November 2002)
* Ghana. Two held for Dagbon chief's murder - 13 November: The authorities in Ghana have arrested two people in connection with the beheading of a prominent northern chief earlier this year. The chief or "Lion" of Dagbon, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani was killed in gruesome fashion with about 40 others in the town of Yendi in March, in a chieftaincy dispute between two royal clans. The incident led to the resignation of some prominent people in government and still threatens the peace and security of the northern region of Ghana. The police re-arrested Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Jahanfo, for their alleged role in the murder of the Dagbon king. A security source said the two men were arrested on 8 November in Yendi by police officers from the capital, Accra. They were flown to Accra that same day. Yidana Sugri was first arrested in April by the security agencies but the office of the attorney general ordered that he should be released. The Wuako commission -- which was set up by the government to investigate the crisis -- also ordered the arrest and prosecution of Iddrisu Jahanfo for his alleged complicity in the murder of the king, but again the attorney general ordered the court to stop his prosecution. He was subsequently released because the commission was thought to have acted prematurely and improperly in asking for the prosecution. The re-arrest of the two suspects, which was obviously done rather quietly, sends signals that the government has started to act on the report of the commission. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 13 November 2002)
* Equatorial Guinea. Africa's oil star strives to shine - 13 November: The tiny West African nation of Equatorial Guinea, home to just 500,000 people, is Africa's economic star. With a staggering gross domestic product of about 65% last year, it boasts the fastest growing economy in Africa -- and probably in the world. Previously almost unheard of by corporate America, it has become the fourth largest destination for US investments in sub-Saharan Africa, trailing only South Africa, Nigeria and Angola. The reason for its sudden rise to fame is the oil reserves which remained largely untapped until the mid-1990s. Oil production has increased more than tenfold since 1996, and output is expected to rise to a daily average of more than 200,000 barrels this year. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 13 November 2002)
* Kenya. Children's deadly find - 6 November: A group of Kenyan schoolchildren has discovered an arms cache while playing during their break in the central town of Isiolo. The Daily Nation newspaper says that Isiolo is a bandit-prone district and illegal guns are regularly smuggled from Ethiopia. Local police chief Williams Manya says he children found a G3 gun buried near the school fence. "They took it to the headmaster, who called me," he said. Six more weapons were uncovered, including AK-47 and M-13 machine-guns. Mr Manya denies that Isiolo was awash with guns smuggled across the border. He says that no arrests have been made in connection with the arms cache. The guns had been lying near the school, wrapped in clothes and plastic, for about a week, the local police chief said. Mr Manya says he could tell that the earth had been disturbed recently because it had been raining. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 6 November 2002)
* Kenya. Mau Mau Kenyans threaten court action - 9 November: Kenyans who fought in the Mau Mau rebellion against colonial rule in the 1950s say they are preparing to take the British Government to court for alleged human rights abuses. More than 13,000 Africans were killed in the fighting -- including Mau Mau guerrillas, troops and civilians -- and about 100 Europeans. Now a welfare group with more than half-a-million members, the Mau Mau Trust, claims many veterans were tortured and illegally detained by the British. The Mau Mau Trust claims that many of its fighters were regularly beaten and tortured by British forces throughout their fight for independence. Some were alleged to have been battered with rifle butts, stabbed with broken bottles and forced to do slave labour. This treatment is said to have left many mentally scarred and unable to walk again. Last year, the Mau Mau Trust tried to take legal action in Kenya, but failed to win the Kenyan Government's backing. Now, they have hired English lawyer Martin Day, who recently won compensation for British prisoners of war detained by the Japanese, as well as for some Jews who were forced to work for the Nazis. Mr Day predicts that victory in the British courts could win many thousands of Mau Mau veterans six-figure sums in compensation. Should they fail, the trust's chairman is threatening to campaign for a boycott of all British products in Kenya. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 9 November 2002)
* Kenya. Les évêques et les élections - L'Eglise catholique du Kenya est préoccupée par les élections générales qui se dérouleront le 27 décembre prochain. Le 9 novembre, une prière publique a été conduite par les évêques dans la basilique de la Sainte Famille à Nairobi. La veille, à l'issue d'une réunion de la Conférence épiscopale, les évêques ont publié une lettre pastorale mettant en garde les politiciens contre d'éventuels troubles au cours des élections, condamnant toute forme de contrainte. Dans leur message, les évêques ont affirmé que l'Eglise n'a pas l'intention de se désintéresser des questions politiques, car elles influent sur les nécessités socio-économiques et spirituelles de la population. Ils ont souligné que l'Eglise promeut le respect des droits de l'homme et désire recomposer le tissu social lacéré par la violence. L'épiscopat désire donc l'organisation d'élections libres, correctes et sans effusion de sang, dans l'intérêt de tous les citoyens. (Misna, Italie, 11 novembre 2002)
* Kenya. New blow for ruling party - 12 November: Kenya's ruling party Kanu has suffered another blow in the run-up to the December general elections after another minister announced he was quitting the government and the party. The resignation of Joseph Nyagah, a minister in the office of the president, comes several weeks after the issue of President Moi's successor split the party down the middle and led to the resignation and defection of key Kanu and government officials to the main opposition alliance. The National Rainbow Coalition has come up with a sole candidate --former Vice President Mwai Kibaki -- while Kanu has nominated Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr Moi's preferred candidate and the son of Kenya's first president. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 12 November 2002)
* Kenya. La KANU se désagrège - La KANU (Union nationale africaine du Kenya), parti au pouvoir, se désagrège. Après la défection, il y a quelques semaines, de ministres et de membres de première importance, un autre ministre a abandonné le gouvernement ce 13 novembre. M. Joseph Nyagah, ministre d'Etat délégué à la présidence, a démissionné de l'exécutif et du parti. Le choix du chef de l'Etat d'indiquer son successeur en la personne de Uhuru Kenyatta est au centre de la querelle qui divise la KANU. Un large groupe de dissidents a formé la grande Coalition nationale de l'arc-en-ciel (ANC), dont le candidat unique sera Mwai Kibaki, ex-vice-président. Ce cartel a, pour la première fois, les cartes en main pour saper la KANU, au pouvoir depuis près de 40 ans. (Misna, Italie, 13 novembre 2002) 

Weekly News - anb1114.txt - #4/7