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Weekly ANB0925_06.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 25-09-2003      PART #6/7
* South Africa. Promoting 11 official languages - South Africa is to introduce legislation to promote equal use of its 11 official languages and redress the dominance of English and Afrikaans. Adriaan van Niekerk, an MP driving the new legislation, said its essence was to empower the people of South Africa by promoting multi-lingualism. Under the proposed law, South Africa's 11 official languages will be categorised into six language groups because some of the languages are so similar. Government departments would then be required to communicate with the nation in the six language groups. No legislation will be signed by President Thabo Mbeki unless it is translated into the six language groups. At present, South Africa's laws require legislation to be translated from English into at least one other language before it is signed into law. The other language has been mainly Afrikaans. Under the proposed law, each government department will have a language committee to implement the policy and monitor the implementation of the proposed legislation. It has been estimated that the cost involved in implementing the new policy will be 1 per cent of the budget of each government department. Professor Niekerk said a recent survey had shown that only 20 per cent of South Africa's 45 million people understood the Executive when it communicated in English. He said it was unfair that anybody should be expected to do business in their second or third language. He dismissed suggestions that the new policy was not practicable or too difficult to implement. "Those who say multi-lingualism is very costly have never calculated the cost of mono-lingualism," he said. (The Independent, UK, 24 September 2003)
* Sudan. From soldiers to schoolboys - The child soldier is a saddening image of Sudan's long and costly civil war. Boys as young as 10 have fought on both sides in the conflict, which has taken up all but seven of the years since Africa's largest country gained independence from Britain in 1956. The survivors have lost their education, as well as their innocence. But thousands of young soldiers from both the mainly Muslim, northern-based government army, and the predominantly Christian, southern-based rebel forces, are returning to school in the capital, Khartoum. It is not uncommon to see a 23-year-old, perhaps a veteran of 10 years of war, walking to one of the city's volunteer-run schools. Like their younger counterparts, students wear white shirts and have different coloured trousers depending on their grade -- brown for primary pupils and grey for seniors. They have made their own way hundreds of miles from the battlegrounds of the south, many walking. Almost all work in the mornings to support themselves, attending lessons in the afternoons. The Sudanese government devotes just 3% of its expenditure to education. It is thought that 42% of children never receive any education. Of the remaining 58%, most do not finish basic school. (BBC News, UK, 22 September 2003)
* Sudan. A "nodding disease" hits children - Children in southern Sudan are dying of what may be the world's newest and oddest disease -- an illness so rare and mysterious that science has not yet come up with an official name for it. The children are gripped by a series of brain seizures which force their necks to arch forwards, down, and then up again. The people in this isolated corner of southern Sudan are calling the disease, the "nodding disease". Dr Mickey Richar, a tropical disease specialist with UNICEF, says: "We have no clue what is causing this". So far, almost 300 children are known to have caught the disease -- all in one small region of the country. Bizarrely, the seizures normally occur when the sufferers start to eat, or when it is particularly cold. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 23 September 2003)
* Soudan. La paix s'installe - 18 septembre. Les autorités de Khartoum et l'Armée de libération du Soudan (SLA) ont signé un accord pour autoriser l'accès "libre et sans containte" des agences humanitaires à la région du Darfour, où la situation s'est dégradée ces six derniers mois, rapporte l'agence officielle de presse soudanaise. La situation humanitaire dans le Darfour, qui couvre environ 20% de la superficie du Soudan, s'est dégradée en raison des combats et du banditisme, qui ont entraîné le déplacement de 400.000 civils. Avec l'accord, les agences espèrent pouvoir accéder de nouveau aux 500.000 personnes qui bénéficiaient de leur aide auparavant. --D'autre part, le 19 septembre, les pourparlers au Kenya entre le vice-président soudanais, Ali Ousman Taha, et le leader des forces rebelles de l'Armée de libération du peuple du Soudan (SPLA), John Garang, sont entrés dans leur 15e jour. Le secrétaire d'Etat américain Colin Powell a exhorté le président el-Béchir à "accélérer" les pourparlers et "d'intensifier les efforts" de paix afin de parvenir à un accord final. - 20 septembre. Les Nations unies ont soumis un programme de 140 millions de dollars pour une assistance d'après-guerre immédiate si les belligérants venaient à retrouver la paix. -- 21 septembre. Le gouvernement et la SPLA ont décidé de prolonger de deux mois le cessez-le-feu qui devait expirer fin septembre. "Nous espérons pouvoir parvenir à un accord de paix dans deux mois", a déclaré John Garang. -- 24 septembre. Le gouvernement soudanais et le SPLA sont parvenus à un accord de paix définitif lors des négociations engagées au Kenya, a annoncé mercredi le secrétaire soudanais aux Affaires étrangères, Eltighani Saleh Fidail. Selon lui, l'accord conclu prévoit une séparation entre la religion et l'Etat, le droit à l'autodétermination du Sud-Soudan et la formation d'une armée nationale intégrant les forces régulières et les éléments de la SPLA. L'accord prévoit également la tenue d'un référendum d'autodétermination après une transition de six ans et un partage équitable des ressources pétrolières. (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 18-24 septembre 2003)
* Sudan. Peace deal in sight - 19 September: Hopes of an agreement at Sudanese peace talks in Kenya have been raised, with Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail saying a final settlement could be reached within days. Today, delegates are discussing two of the outstanding issues -- the size and the length of deployment of military forces in southern Sudan during a six-year interim period. Both sides have agreed that 36,000 troops should be initially deployed -- the government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) contributing 18,000 troops each. But the SPLA wants the joint force reduced to 6,000 after the first two years of the interim period, which the government objects to. 21 September: The government of Sudan and the SPLA, which controls much of the south of the country, have agreed to extend their ceasefire by two months. The ceasefire had been due to expire at the end of September and is seen as a key element in the peace process aimed at ending a 20-year war which has killed some two million people. The extension was announced by Kenya's foreign minister Kalonzo Musyoka. "One of the things we have agreed as a first measure will be an extension of the cessation of hostilities agreement," he said. SPLA leader John Garang says: "We expect to reach a peace settlement in two months". 24 September: The government of Sudan and the SPLA agree on security arrangements for the south of the country. This has been the main stumbling block at the peace talks. Under the deal Sudan will have two armies under separate command and control during a six-year interim period. "The SPLA army will be commanded by the movement's political leader, John Garang, while the government forces will be commanded by President Hassan al-Bashir," says the SPLA spokesman, Samson Kwaje. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 24 September 2003)
* Tchad. Déby en visite à Paris - Le président du Tchad, Idriss Déby, a effectué une visite officielle en France du 17 au 20 septembre, pour "renforcer les liens de coopération entre les deux pays". Cette visite a été l'occasion de rencontres tant au niveau politique (avec le président Chirac, le chef de la diplomatie française, le ministre de la coopération) qu'économique. Elle intervient alors que le Tchad, l'un des pays les plus pauvres du monde, est en train de devenir un producteur de pétrole non négligeable. Confiée à un consortium exclusivement américain (après le retrait de Elf), l'exploitation du gisement de Doha devrait procurer plusieurs milliards de dollars de revenus annuels au Tchad. Au cours des différentes rencontres avec les responsables français, la délégation tchadienne a soumis un certain nombre de besoins pour lesquels le concours de la France pourrait être nécessaire. Elle a demandé notamment à la France de s'engager plus dans la mobilisation des fonds pour le développement rural au Tchad, a déclaré le ministre tchadien des Affaires étrangères. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 20 septembre 2003)
* Togo. Fuel stealing syndicate smashed - Togo's National Anti-Corruption Commission says it has successfully smashed a syndicate of drivers of public service vehicles, which has been siphoning and diverting official petrol rations for sale on the black market in Lome. The startling disclosure was made on 15 September following the arrest of 10 drivers of official vehicles, while they were in the process of emptying quantities of jerry cans into containers of empty drums in a hidden private garage in Lome. According to a press communique released by the Anti-Corruption and Economic Sabotage Commission, two of the ring leaders of the gang of truant drivers were picked up by the police who caught them right in the act. (Ghanaian Chronicle, Ghana, 22 September 2003)
* Uganda. Revamping the Constitution - Ugandans are losing trust in their ten-year-old Constitution. According to a 2003 Uganda Poverty Report, the proportion of those who feel that the Constitution reflects their values has fallen from 74% two years ago, to 64%. this year. Government officials thought that a participatory approach in constitution-making could yield trust. Yet people's trust is increasingly being eroded as the years go by. Recently, the government has let it be known that it is intent on lifting restrictions on the presidential term of office, to give Museveni an open-ended rule. However the Constitution is very clear -- no more than two terms! Crispus Kiyonga, the National Political Commissar of the ruling National Resistance Movement, has told journalists that the Cabinet has already approved the abolition of the two-terms limits, and will ignore findings of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) in which it is becoming increasingly apparent that most people don't want the limits to the presidential term of office, tampered with. The CRC was set up in 2001 to review parts of the Constitution, so that it will reflect changing social and political aspirations. It was expected to have completed its work within 18 months but the Government extended its mandate for another four months. The Commission is expected to publish its draft Constitution in October this year. (Crespo Sebunya, ANB-BIA, Uganda, 15 September 2003)
* Uganda. Movement Act - The Movement Act gives Dr Crispus Kiyonga, the National Political Commissar sweeping powers over staff at the Movement Secretariat. The Act passed by Parliament on 18 September, only awaits assent by President Yoweri Museveni to be effective. Originally, the National Executive Committee (NEC) chaired by Museveni used to appoint all staff at the Secretariat. The NEC comprises MPs, district chairpersons, women and youth representatives according to the new Act. "Now the power has been decentralised," Mr Latigo Olal, the director of external relations at the Secretariat said. The new law allows the NEC to appoint the 18 directors and deputies. The Movement Secretariat has about 600 employees. (The Monitor, Uganda, 20 September 2003)
* Uganda. 30 killed in cattle raid - 21 September: Ugandan officials say cattle rustlers have killed 30 people in a raid in the north-eastern district of Katakwi. The Karamojong warriors attacked a camp housing displaced people in the Gariang area on 20 September, said Katakwi district commissioner Ndiwa Chemasuet. "They shot people savagely -- they shot anybody on sight". Thirty people -- including three women, a boy and a baby --were wounded and rushed to Soroti hospital, he said. Twenty-one bodies were found at the scene and nine bodies were discovered later in nearby countryside. Ugandan officials say a search is continuing for more bodies. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 September 2003)
* Ouganda. Massacre par des Karimojong - Le samedi 20 septembre, environ 200 guérilleros karimojong, lors d'un raid de vol de bétail, ont perpétré un massacre de civils dans le nord-est de l'Ouganda. Selon des sources locales, au moins 30 personnes ont été tuées dans le camp de réfugiés de Magogo (district de Katakwi). 32 blessés ont été hospitalisés. L'attaque a provoqué un exode de civils vers la paroisse catholique de Toroma (diocèse de Soroti). Le bilan des victimes pourrait encore augmenter, une dizaine de cadavres ayant été retrouvés à l'extérieur du camp. Les pillages de bétail sont très fréquents dans la région de Karamoja. (D'après Misna, Italie, 22 septembre 2003)
* Uganda. Bus crash carnage - 22 September: Almost 50 people have died and another 30 have been injured in a road accident near Uganda's border with Rwanda. The bus was travelling from Burundi and was carrying many Rwandan and Burundian schoolchildren who were returning to study in Uganda. A truck was carrying sacks of maize to Burundi for the UN World Food Programme when it collided with the bus head-on in Kyonyo, just 4km from the Rwanda-Uganda border town of Gatuna. The impact was so great that the bus was thrown into the air and off the road killing a woman sitting in front of her home. The Ugandan police report that 46 people died on the spot, whilst several dozen survivors with serious injuries have been transported to a hospital in the nearby town of Kabale. Schools are currently reopening and eyewitnesses report that amongst the dead were many Rwandan and Burundian schoolchildren who were heading to Uganda to study. Eyewitnesses describe a horrific scene, with bodies and body parts strewn amongst the bus wreckage. Police said they had not conducted a detailed investigation yet but suspected the accident was caused by speeding. One eyewitness said the bus was travelling at excessive speed despite a sharp bend -- and was on the wrong side of the road. The drivers of both vehicles were killed. A team of doctors has been flown in from Rwanda to back up the local medical staff at Kabale hospital, he added. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 22 September 2003)
* Ouganda. Collision mortelle - Cinquante morts et une trentaine de blessés, tel est le bilan tragique d'un accident de la route survenu le 22 septembre entre un bus et un camion du PAM transportant de l'aide alimentaire dans le sud-ouest de l'Ouganda, à six kilomètres de la frontière rwandaise. Selon des sources hospitalières, le bus transportait notamment des Burundais et des Rwandais à destination de Kampala. Des témoignages relatent que le chauffeur du bus a doublé une voiture et est entré en collision avec le camion-remorque. Les blessés ont été transportés d'urgence à l'hôpital de Kabale, à une quinzaine de kilomètres du lieu de l'accident. (Misna, Italie, 23 septembre 2003) 

Weekly anb0925.txt - #6/7