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Weekly anb0528_04.txt #5

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 28-05-2003      PART #4/5
* Nigeria. Bank fraud up 40% - 22 May: Nigeria's banks have seen almost $10m disappear through employee fraud in 2002, a rise of more than 40% on the year before, a survey by the country's banking regulator has found. The total amount stolen was 1.29bn naira, up from 906.3m in 2001, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) reported. Ten times that amount -- 12.91bn naira --was recorded in attempted fraud, up from 11.24bn for a rise of 15%. Most of the thefts, NDIC said, were the result of either forgeries or illegal withdrawals from customers' accounts. The figures may well be an understatement, though, as NDIC said it believes financial institutions routinely underreport fraud losses for fear of negative publicity. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 22 May 2003)
* Nigeria. Avant l'investiture d'Obasanjo - Le Nigeria a déployé 250.000 policiers à travers les 36 Etats et la capitale fédérale Abuja, pour assurer, le 29 mai, une cérémonie d'investiture impeccable, sur fond de menaces de certains hommes politiques de l'opposition de perturber la cérémonie. L'armée a aussi été placée en état d'alerte maximale. La cérémonie aura lieu simultanément dans les 36 Etats. Au moins 47 leaders étrangers sont attendus à Abuja lors de l'investiture d'Obasanjo qui se succède à lui-même. Le principal parti d'opposition, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), soutenu par une coalition de groupes d'opposition, a rejeté les résultats des élections du 19 avril et demandé leur annulation. Mais le 27 mars, la cour d'appel a rejeté la requête introduite par l'opposition pour faire annuler la cérémonie de l'investiture, déclarant que son approbation entraînerait un vide au sommet de l'Etat. (PANA, Sénégal, 25-27 mai 2003)
* Nigeria. Obasanjo faces a rocky start - Plans for the swearing-in this week of Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo for a second four-year term are being overshadowed by opposition attempts to annul his election victory and by a constitutional stand-off between the presidency and parliament. More than 40 heads of state and government, mostly from other African countries, are expected to attend the inauguration, which follows a contested 62 per cent ballot for Mr Obasanjo in elections last month. The country's top police officer last week spoke of widespread concerns about attempts to disrupt Thursday's event - including planned anti-government demonstrations that were also aimed, possibly, at making the country "generally ungovernable". The tense run-up to an event that ought to be a political formality highlights continuing controversy about the conduct of the elections at national and local state level. International and domestic observers pointed to evidence of ballot fraud in parts of the country. Mr Obasanjo, a former military ruler, was first elected four years ago in a return to democratic government after more than 15 years of dictatorship. His chief opponent, Muhammadu Buhari, a retired major-general who thwarted the country's last attempt at democracy, has called for peaceful demonstrations to protest against vote-rigging. He is also trying to obtain a court injunction to stop Mr Obasanjo assuming office. The threat of fresh military intervention in Nigeria's politics is seen as remote. However, in an interview with the Weekly Trust, a newspaper based in his own northern region, Gen Buhari was quoted as saying a bloodless coup d'etat would have been "much, much neater" than the election that took place. Another unsuccessful candidate, Emeka Ojukwu, secessionist leader in Nigeria's civil war in the late 1960s, has also disputed the validity of the election in his eastern region. Despite legal moves to try to block the inauguration and calls for the setting-up of an interim government, most observers expect the ceremony to go ahead. (Financial Times, UK, 27 May 2003)
* Rwanda. Le sanctuaire de Kibeho - "Le sanctuaire de Kibeho deviendra un phare de foi et d'espérance de paix dans toute la région des Grands Lacs". C'est le souhait formulé par Mgr Augustin Misago, évêque de Gikongoro, à la veille de la consécration du sanctuaire le 31 mai. A cette occasion, plusieurs évêques des pays voisins se rendront à Kibeho en signe d'unité entre Eglises. A Kibeho, de 1981 à 1989, il y a eu plusieurs apparitions de la Sainte Vierge, qui ont été reconnues, après enquête, par l'évêque du lieu en 2001. "Dans une Afrique bouleversée par les guerres et les persécutions, nous espérons beaucoup que la Vierge Marie nous aidera à parcourir les voies de la paix", a déclaré Mgr Misago. (Agence Fides, Rome, 23 mai 2003)
* Rwanda. Voting on a new Constitution - 26 May: Rwandans are voting on a draft constitution that the government says will prevent a repeat of the 1994 genocide. Thousands of people queue to cast their ballots on hilltops and at schools. The Tutsi-dominated transitional government says the new constitutional framework safeguards against the dominance of a single political party. However, critics say it is geared toward keeping the Rwandan Patriotic Front in power and includes significant powers to curtail civil rights. Turnout is reported to be high and voting peaceful. The draft Constitution: Prevents one party-dominance; bans inciting ethnic hatred; allows parliament to curtail free speech. At least half of registered voters must have participated for the results to be validated. It has already been approved by parliament. The ballot paper asks the question: "Do you accept the new constitution?" Voters put their thumb-prints in one of two boxes: "Yes" or "No". Up for approval in this vote is a framework of a national assembly, senate, and president eligible to hold up to two seven-year terms in office. Shops and offices are closed to allow people time to vote. It should be noted that Human Rights Watch has voiced concern about the proposed constitution, saying it serves only to perpetuate control of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by President Paul Kagame. 27 May: A huge majority of Rwandans has backed the draft constitution, electoral officials say. Some 93% of the electorate voted "Yes" in the referendum, said electoral commission chairman Chrysologue Karangwa. Turnout was 87% of registered voters. Earlier, President Paul Kagame said that the first presidential elections since 1988 would be held in August and parliamentary polls in September. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 27 May 2003)
* Rwanda. Référendum constitutionnel - Le 26 mai, près de 4 millions de Rwandais étaient appelés à se prononcer sur le projet de la nouvelle Constitution, en chantier depuis 2002. Les bureaux de vote étaient supervisés par plus de 600 observateurs, dont une quinzaine d'observateurs internationaux. Les résultats du référendum conditionneront la suite du programme électoral qui doit marquer la fin de 9 ans de transition politique au Rwanda. Ils devraient être annoncés dans les cinq jours. Tout le monde pense que le "oui" l'emportera largement. -- Le projet de Constitution est à la fois novateur (notamment pour les droits de l'homme et l'environnement) et restrictif, surtout pour les partis politiques. Ainsi, les partis ne peuvent "porter atteinte à l'unité nationale", une notion assez vague pour inquiéter les adversaires du régime, qui voient là une porte ouverte à la répression de ceux qui menaceraient le pouvoir du Front patriotique rwandais (FPR). Le 22 mai, le Mouvement démocratique républicain (MDR), allié du FPR depuis 1992, a dû annoncer son autodissolution, parce qu'accusé d'"idéologie ethniciste". Le Premier ministre, Bernard Makuza, membre du MDR, a officiellement abandonné toute ambition présidentielle "au profit du président Kagamé, un homme plus compétent", selon ses propres mots. -- 27 mai. Selon de premiers résultats provisoires du référendum, le "oui" a recueilli 93% des suffrages, a indiqué le président de la commission électorale. Aucun parti n'avait appelé à voter non. Le scrutin s'est déroulé sans incidents. Le président Kagamé a annoncé que la présidentielle devrait avoir lieu en août et les législatives en septembre prochain, bien que ces dates restent des "estimations". (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 28 mai 2003)
* Sénégal. Décès du fondateur du MFDC - Sidy Badji, fondateur du Mouvement des forces démocratiques de Casamance (MFDC, mouvement séparatiste), est décédé le 26 mai à son domicile de Ziguinchor des suites d'un cancer du foie, a annoncé sa famille. Il avait 88 ans. Il était sorti du maquis casamançais en 1995 pour s'installer à Ziguinchor où il animait une aile dissidente du MFDC. Né en 1915, il n'a cessé, après l'indépendance du pays, de lutter pour la séparation de sa région, fondant le MFDC en 1983. Les autorités sénégalaises ont toujours considéré Sidy Badji comme un extrémiste, contrairement à l'abbé Diamacoune Senghor, chef de l'aile politique du mouvement. Son décès intervient à quelques jours de l'ouverture de nouvelles négociations entre le gouvernement sénégalais et les rebelles de Casamance. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 27 mai 2003)
* Sierra Leone. Fighters turn friends - Although the war is over in Sierra Leone, the fighters -- or at least, the ex-fighters -- still have a role to play. When Rashid Sandy first met Foday Sajuma in Freetown's Talking Drum studios, he was dismayed to find an ex-combatant from an opposing faction. But they began talking and before long found that Mr Sajuma was actually related to Mr Sandy on his mother's side. "All this time we had been throwing bullets at one another," Mr Sandy, a former high-ranking official in the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), said. "Now, besides being a co-worker, Foday is also my uncle. It's amazing." The RUF were responsible for some of the worst atrocities in West Africa in recent times. Mr Sajuma is a former fighter of the Civil Defence Forces (CDF) --also known as Kamajors -- who supported the government of the now President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah. CDF forces held Rashid Sandy for 6 months towards the end of the war. "They could see I was committed to peace, that's why they didn't kill me," he said. This kind of banter continues on and off the microphone -- the two are co-presenting a programme in the local Krio language, originally entitled "Throw Away the Gun". Now that the disarmament process has advanced, they have changed the name to "Let's Build Sierra Leone". It was a brave move by the directors of Talking Drum studios, who are even sponsored by a peace-building organisation, Search for Common Ground. And they went further -- as soon as Rashid was comfortable with his role as a producer and presenter, he was put in charge of the studio's Makeni office in northern Sierra Leone, the former national headquarters of the RUF. The decision to place Rashid in Makeni has had a big impact on the numbers of former fighters coming in on the peace process there. (BBC News, UK, 23 May 2003)
* Somalia. Puntland university seeks peace dividend - 23 May: A new university in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland is giving students the chance to study for degrees for the first time. And the university hopes the recent ceasefire in Puntland between government and rebels will allow it to expand further. The ambitiously named East Africa University opened its doors to students two years ago, but construction of the new campus -- on the seafront close to the port of Bossaso -- is still continuing. Abdi Weli Abdirahman is Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration. Like many of the teaching staff, he has returned from abroad. "I am an economist from the United States. I came back to teach my people in Puntland. I am a Puntlander", he says. But the past two years of fighting in Puntland has made it difficult for the new university to establish itself. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 23 May 2003) 

Weekly anb0528 - #4/5