weekly anb04194.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 19-04-2000      PART #4/7

* Ethiopia. War continues...and so does the famine  -  13 April: UN
special envoy Catherine Bertini, is to meet with Prime Minister
Zenawi today, to coordinate their response to the drought
situation. She will discuss the humanitarian situation and the
logistical problems of supplying over 800,000 tons of food aid this
year. In the meeting, Prime Minister Zenawi says that Ethiopia will
not bow to international pressure to end the war to help the relief
effort. he says the war is not hampering the aid effort. Later, the
prime minister says the spectre of mass starvation in Ethiopia is
receding now that foreign governments have promised enough grain to
feed the estimated 8 million people at risk. Canada's ambassador to
Ethiopia says the looming famine in the Horn of Africa can be
prevented if donor nations pledge more food aid in the next two
weeks. The Red Cross has begun flying emergency food supplies to
the south-east. 14 April: NGOs working in Ethiopia have issued the
following statement: "We wish to state that the present food crisis
is not yet a repeat of 1984/85. We affirm that there is a critical
situation in the south and east that could have been averted -- and
a widespread crisis can still be averted, with prompt and
appropriate action". 15 April: The UN will spend millions of
dollars developing djibouti's port and roads this year, in an
urgent effort to bring in enough food to avert the famine in
Ethiopia.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 17 April 2000)

* Ethiopia. Where lies the answer?  -  There are no easy answers to
a problem as complex as Ethiopia's. Global warming undoubtedly has
its part to play in a shift in weather patterns which has cheated
Ethiopia of its rain and dumped it cruelly upon Mozambique. Yet
drought in other countries does not turn to disaster, unless they
too scrape such a marginal existence, even in the good years, that
they live constantly on the edge of disaster and can be pushed over
the edge by the smallest crisis. Long-term development is the
answer to that, which means better soil and water management
scheme, improved farming techniques and building roads to get goods
to market. That is needed for years after the television cameras
have gone. It may also mean changes in government policy. Since
Mengistu's fall, farmers in fertile areas have been free to sell
their surpluses on the open market. But radical land reform may
also be needed to avoid the ever-growing population breaking down
farms into smaller and less viable plots. (...) Change is needed in
the hostility between Addis Ababa and its northerly neighbour,
Eritrea, which invaded Ethiopia two years ago (...).   (Paul
Vallely, The Independent, UK, 14 April 2000)

* Kenya. UK envoy summoned over remarks  -  On 6 April, the Kenyan
Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Bonaya Godana, summoned the British
High Commissioner to explain his remarks on the constitutional
review process. The remarks alleged to have been made by Mr.
Jeffrey James, were published in the East African Standard on 4
April. The envoy was quoted as expressing his disappointment that
the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Reform and the
parallel Ufungamano Initiative led by religious leaders, opposition
MPs and civil groups, had failed to work together. The press
article quoted Mr. James as saying that "time was running out for
Kenya". Mr. James later said the contents of the article distorted
what he really said. The article stated that Mr. James was alleged
to have suggested that the two groups should come together even if
it means adopting the necessary legislation, and appealed to both
the Parliamentary Select Committee and the Ufungamano group "to
swallow their pride and put the interests of Kenyans first." Dr.
Bonaya particularly took issue with part of the article which
equated the Ufungamano Initiative with Parliament. He added that
Britain should be the last country to advise Kenya to disregard its
Constitution, because it was bequeathed to Kenya by Britain at
independence. The minister also took issue with other parts of the
article which characterised the current Constitution as not based
on law and not respecting human rights.   (James Pod, ANB-BIA,
Kenya, 13 April 2000)

* Kenya. CITES meeting  -  13 April: Four southern African
countries have maintained their pressure at the on-going Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in
Nairobi to have the ban on ivory trade lifted. Botswana, Zimbabwe,
South Africa and Namibia have also denied having any "secret
agenda" to their proposals, as some delegates have alleged.
Botswana's wildlife deputy permanent secretary, Gayland Kombani,
Namibia's permanent secretary for environment, Tangeni Erkana,
Narend Singh from South Africa and Charles Chipato of Zimbabwe
tells journalists in Nairobi that their proposals are based on
rational arguments aimed at development. "We are for the
preservation of elephants. Our intention is to sell ivory from
elephants that have died from natural mortality and stockpiles that
have accumulated over the years," said Chipato. They observe that
their collective position on trade in ivory and the elephant in
general was made public long before the CITES conference. Kombani
said the decision was based on a sustainable regional protocol on
conservation signed by the four countries much earlier. The
countries deny that they are negotiating for any trade-off with
Japan and Norway which are canvassing for support to be allowed to
resume trade in some species of whales. Kombani explains that the
Nairobi conference was similar to other UN conferences where people
are free to lobby for support to their national positions. Singh
said that his country backs the need for a more efficient
monitoring system for the trade on ivory. The SADC representatives
say they are still negotiating with Kenya and India, which are
calling for the total ban on ivory sales to curb a resurgence of
poaching. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has maintained that it will continue
trading in ivory, arguing that the country only culls elephant for
ecological reasons and not to produce ivory for trade. 17 April:
Delegates debate a proposal which would allow limited trade in
ivory. During the course of the day, Botswana, Namibia, South
Africa and Zimbabwe reach a compromise deal on the ivory trade.
They have agreed to delay any ivory sales until an effective system
is in place to prevent the widespread poaching of elephants.  
(ANB-BIA, Brussels, 17 April 2000)

* Libya. Unity gathering  -  In a packed conference hall in
Tripoli, delegates from nearly 70 African and Arab countries have
been gathering to discuss their future. The three-day conference of
Non-Governmental Organisations, opened on 14 April in Tripoli, with
the aim of uniting Arab and African society. This was an occasion
for Africans to talk about Africa without having to listen to
European leaders. nearly 700 delegates listened while speakers
talked of the need for Africa to unity to confront its problems --
some of them also criticising Western policies towards the region. 
 (BBC News, 14 April 2000)
* Madagascar. Jublee release of prisoners  -  The President of
Madagascar, Didier Tarsiraka, has ordered the release of 3,000
prisoners, thanks to a plea made by the local Church that the
Jubilee should also be apllied to penitentiaries. This is a
response to Pope John Paul II's call, that Christians should give
special attention to the situation of prison inmates.   (Fides,
Vatican City, 18 April 2000)

* Malawi. Planning for debt relief  -  Malawi is one of the African
countries fighting to have her debt relieved. However, the
international donor community led by the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) are setting tough conditions. The
IMF has just warned Malawi to cut down her expenditure if debt
relief is to be considered. The IMF has warned the government
against over-expenditure and waste of resources. The IMFs Resident
Representative in Malawi, Thomas Gibson, said in a statement that
the warning comes in the wake of results obtained from an IMF
mission which visited the country between March 23 and April 8 this
year, assessing Malawi's economic prospects and discussing
programmes of economic reforms, poverty reductions and debt relief.
While in Malawi, the IMF team met senior government officials in
President Bakili Muluzi's government including the President
himself as well as the newly appointed Finance and Economic
Planning Minister, Professor Dr. Mathews Chikaonda. According to
Gibson, Malawi has a problem in controlling public expenditure,
preventing waste of scarce resources and of fraud. However, on a
happier note, the IMF hailed the recently introduced ten-point
financial plan by the new finance minister Chikaonda, saying if
implemented, it may help in improving spending control procedures
and consolidate the country's fiscal programme.   (Aubrey
Sumbuleta, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 12 April 2000)

* Maroc. Clandestins et contrebandiers s'affrontent  -  De violents
affrontements entre candidats a l'emigration clandestine et des
contrebandiers ont fait un mort et 13 blesses dans la nuit du 10 au
11 avril aux environs de la ville de Fnideq (260 km au nord de
Rabat), a-t-on appris le 13 avril de sources policieres. Ces
affrontements se sont produits dans une zone montagneuse, lieu de
transit des candidats a l'emigration clandestine qui trouvent
refuge dans des grottes avant de tenter de passer le detroit de
Gibraltar a destination de l'Espagne sur des embarcations de
fortune. Cette zone est egalement frequentee par des contrebandiers
qui vivent du trafic de marchandises en provenance de l'enclave
espagnole de Ceuta. Selon les sources policieres, la grande
majorite du groupe de migrants clandestins impliques dans ces
affrontements est d'origine senegalaise.   (AP, 13 avril 2000)

* Maroc. Droits de l'homme  -  Le gouvernement marocain a debloque
une enveloppe de 40 millions de dirhams (4 millions de dollars)
pour indemniser les victimes de detentions arbitraires entre 1960
et 1990, a indique le 15 avril Driss Dahak, le president du Conseil
consultatif des droits de l'homme cree par le roi Hassan II en
1990. M. Dahak a evoque ces indemnisations en presence de Mme
Robinson, haut commissaire de l'Onu aux droits de l'homme, lors de
la cloture des travaux d'une rencontre internationale sur les
droits de l'homme a Rabat. Mme Robinson y a souligne "l'evolution
positive et remarquable des droits de l'homme au Maroc" qui "touche
egalement la situation des femmes et des enfants".   (ANB-BIA, de
sources diverses, 17 avril 2000)

Weekly anb0419 - end of part 4/7