Weekly anb04113.txt #6

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 11-04-2001      PART #3/6

* Ethiopie. Recrudescence de sida  -  Le VIH/SIDA serait, à l'heure 
actuelle, responsable d'environ 50% des hospitalisations à Addis Abeba, où 
le nombre des victimes de cette maladie aurait également augmenté, a-t-on 
appris de sources médicales. Sur les quelque 300.000 personnes qui vivent 
avec le VIH en Ethiopie, 30.000 patients environ ont développé la maladie. 
A peu près 20.000 enfants sont des orphelins du sida dans le pays, dont la 
population est estimée à 60 millions d'habitants.   (PANA, Sénégal, 9 avril 
2001)

* Ethiopie. La dette belge annulée  -  Le 9 avril, le secrétaire d'Etat 
belge à la Coopération et le Premier ministre éthiopien ont signé à Addis 
Abeba un accord portant sur l'annulation de la dette bilatérale entre la 
Belgique et l'Ethiopie, dette qui s'élève à 711,8 millions de FB. Par 
ailleurs, les deux pays ont signé un accord général de coopération. L'aide 
belge portera sur quatre secteurs: l'éducation, la sécurité alimentaire, 
l'environnement et le sida.   (Le Soir, Belgique, 11 avril 2001)

* Guinea. Plight of refugees  -  In a Press Release on 4 April, Amnesty 
International said that refugees must not be forced to choose between death 
in Sierra Leone or death in Guinea. The organisation calls for a vigorous 
international presence in Guinea to protect hundreds of thousands of Sierra 
Leonean and Liberian refugees and Guinean civilians caught in vicious 
six-month old insurgency in Guinea.   (Amnesty International, UK, 4 April 2001)

* Kenya. Problems in the flower-growing industry  -  If you're not a nature 
lover before you come to Lake Naivasha, you certainly will be after your 
stay. The beauty is staggering. There's the lake itself, a smooth, gleaming 
expanse of water - 150 square kilometres of it. There are the 15,000 hippos 
in the lake which pop out of the water with alarming frequency. And within 
only two minutes I spotted a Goliath Heron, two Fish Eagles and a Pied 
Kingfisher out of the 350 recorded bird species in the area. On shore, not 
far away, I also saw Colobus monkeys and water buck. Joy Adamson, of "Born 
Free" fame, used to live on this shore. Elsa the Lion was one of my 
favourite childhood animals. No wonder Lake Naivasha is an environmental 
treasure and designated wetlands of international repute. It is situated at 
the bottom end of the famous Rift Valley in Kenya and is special not only 
because of its beauty but also because the lake water is fresh and its 
surrounding soil very fertile. No wonder, too, that it has become the 
centre of Kenya's flower growing industry. There has been a drought in 
Kenya for three years and water is a precious commodity but the lake has 
plenty. So the growers have located most of the farms on its shores and 
irrigate them from the lake. And that's where the trouble begins. I was 
taken out on the lake by Margaret Otieno, an environmentalist, who works at 
the Elsamere Conservation Centre which is based in the grounds and house of 
Joy Adamson's old home. According to Mrs Otieno, there is a serious 
over-exploitation of the lake's water and the levels have gone down. 
Apparently the lake could disappear if this continues. Also she says, "We 
are concerned about the fertilizers and pesticides being used by the flower 
growers they could be using banned substances." She continues, "it is very 
difficult for us to penetrate the flower farms. They think we are the 
police for the environment. They think we are enemies." And here's the rub: 
the flower industry is very profitable. In export and employment terms, it 
is catching up with Kenya's main foreign earners, tea and coffee. In fact, 
most of the roses and carnations grown on the shores of the lake, end up in 
supermarkets in the UK.   (Rosie Goldsmith, BBC News, UK, 5 April 2001

* Kenya. Moi moves on Central Bank  -  Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi has 
appointed a new Central Bank governor, just days after the departure as 
head of the civil service of Richard Leakey, a former opposition activist, 
who had been asked in 1999 to root out corruption and inefficiency in the 
public sector. Micah Cheserem, governor since 1993, is not due to retire 
until July, but has been placed on immediate leave until then. No reason 
for the decision has been disclosed, although there is speculation that he 
had fallen out of favour with the president. Widely credited with reviving 
confidence in Kenya's battered banking sector, Mr Cheserem was regarded as 
an outspoken reformer who enjoyed good relations with the International 
Monetary Fund and World Bank. Nahason Ngige Nyagah, his replacement, has 
served at the Central Bank with three previous governors, including Eric 
Kotut, who left in 1993 amid intense public criticism over the collapse of 
several commercial banks, hyperinflation and a high-profile corruption 
case. Mr Nyagah comes from one of Kenya's most prominent political 
families. Jeremiah Nyagah, his father, is a former cabinet minister; Joseph 
Nyagah, his brother, is minister of lands and resettlement, while Norman 
Nyagah is an MP. Mr Cheserem had earlier denied reports of his imminent 
departure, telling friends there were tasks he hoped to complete before the 
expiry in July of his second four-year term. Technically, the post has 
security of tenure, making his outright dismissal very difficult. With the 
removal of Mr Cheserem, the three most sensitive administrative positions 
related to the economy -permanent secretaries at the finance ministry and 
Treasury and Central Bank governor, are all now in new hands. Publicly, 
donors say they are anxious to see the process of reform deepen in Kenya, 
and that they have less interest in the personalities involved. Privately, 
however, they express concern that some of the very forces that have held 
back the Kenyan economy are now again the political 
ascendancy.   (Financial Times, UK, 5 April 2001)

* Kenya. Reactions to Leakey's resignation  -  Daily Nation: (Issue of 29 
March) -- "There are at least two possible ways to interpret yesterday's 
sweeping civil service changes and the previous days resignation by Dr. 
Richard Leakey as Head of the Public Service. The first is that President 
Moi has moved a motion of no confidence in the "Dream Team" of technocrats 
appointed two years ago to clean up the public service. the there could be 
that the President is preparing Kenyans psychologically for the final leg 
of his protracted presidency. The East African: (Issue 2-8 April) -- "Dr 
Richard Leakey's efforts to "isolate" Kenya's President Daniel arap Moi 
from donors apparently led to the decision to drop him from the government 
five weeks before a public announcement was made last week".   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 6 April 2001)

* Kenya. Maladie mystérieuse: Ebola?  -  Le 8 avril, la peur et 
l'appréhension étaient perceptibles dans la ville de Nyeri, au centre du 
Kenya, où une jeune recrue de l'école de police est décédée des suites 
d'une affection dont les symptômes rappellent la maladie d'Ebola, tant 
redoutée. Mlle Onyango est morte à l'hôpital catholique de Mathari, où elle 
avait été admise une semaine auparavant. Lorsqu'elle a été amenée à 
l'hôpital, du sang sortait de tous les orifices de son corps. Des 
échantillons de sang ont été envoyés pour analyses supplémentaires; les 
résultats devraient sortir vers la fin de ce mois.   (PANA, Sénégal, 9 
avril 2001)

* Kenya. Boys charged with 67 murders  -  On 9 April, two Kenyan teenagers 
were charged on 67 counts of murder in connection with the death of fellow 
pupils in a fire which destroyed their dormitory block last month. The 
trial of Felix Mambo Ngumbao (16), and Davies Otieno Onyango (17), was 
adjourned until 23 April. The head and deputy head of Kyanguli secondary 
school, David Mutsio Kiilu and Stephen Kasyoka Makau, were charged with 
failing to prevent the fire.   (The Guardian, UK, 10 April 2001)

* Libéria. Le président et la dissidence  -  Le 7 avril, à la surprise 
générale, le président libérien Charles Taylor a exprimé sa volonté de 
dialoguer avec les opposants politiques et les dissidents exilés du Libéria 
qui combattent son gouvernement dans le nord du pays. "Si Ellen 
Johnson-Sirleaf de l'opposition veut discuter avec moi, je suis prêt. 
Quiconque souhaite dialoguer avec moi est le bienvenu. Je suis le président 
de tous les Libériens, qu'ils le veuillent ou non", a déclaré le président 
Taylor. Plusieurs opposants politiques et anciens chefs de factions 
belligérantes, qui ont combattu Taylor pendant la guerre civile qui a duré 
sept ans, ont fui le pays depuis son accession au pouvoir. Plus d'une 
douzaine de ces exilés politiques et anciens chefs de guerre sont également 
accusés de trahison, un délit passible au Libéria de la réclusion à 
perpétuité ou la peine de mort.   (PANA, Sénégal, 8 avril 2001)

* Liberia. 15,000-strong force called up  -  President Charles Taylor has 
ordered a 15,000-strong force mobilized to counter what Liberia says is a 
cross-border offensive from Guinea. A number of former battlefront 
commanders in Taylor's old rebel movement have volunteered, officials told 
The Associated Press on 8 April, speaking on condition of anonymity. 
Liberia says Guinea-based Liberian dissidents have been attacking northern 
border towns in force since Wednesday. Control of at least two embattled 
towns, Foya and Kolahun, was uncertain on 8 April, according to reports in 
the capital, Monrovia. Heavy fighting was reported overnight 7-8 April when 
more dissidents tried to cross over near Foya. Government troops heading 
for the Kolahun fight also were reportedly attacked. The government has 
declined to reveal casualties. A deputy government minister, also speaking 
on condition of anonymity, said the fight had been difficult because 
soldiers there are inexperienced in guerrilla tactics. The retired veterans 
who are volunteering fought in the area, Lofa County, under Taylor during 
Liberia's seven-year civil war. More than 200,000 people were killed in 
fighting that ended in 1996. Taylor won the presidency in 1997 
elections.   (CNN, USA, 8 April 2001)

* Libya. Mandela pledges to help end sanctions against Libya  -  Former 
South African President Nelson Mandela on 8 April pledged to continue his 
mediation efforts as Libya seeks to lift the UN sanctions imposed on it 
after the Lockerbie bombing, Libyan television said. Mandela was 
instrumental in convincing Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to hand over two 
Libyans suspected of the 1988 bombing of Pan American flight 103 over 
Lockerbie, Scotland for trial in the Netherlands. Libyan television said 
Mandela told Gadhafi he would pursue "efforts to make other parties 
concerned with Lockerbie fulfil their pledges." It showed footage of 
Gadhafi greeting Mandela outside a tent in the garden of his official 
residence in Tripoli before they held talks in the tent. The 15-nation UN 
Security Council imposed sanctions including an air and arms embargo and a 
ban on some oil equipment in 1992 and 1993. They were suspended when Libya 
handed over the suspects in April 1999. Washington and London say the 
sanctions can be lifted entirely only when Libya accepts responsibility for 
the bombing and agrees to pay "appropriate" compensation to the victims' 
families.   (CNN, USA, 8 April 2001)

* Libya. Tripoli to host AIDS conference  -  The Tripoli-based African 
Centre for Applied Research and Training in Social Development is 
organising a two-day meeting beginning on 10 April "AIDS Challenges in 
North Africa Countries". The gathering is one of the preparatory meetings 
ahead of the African summit later this month in Abuja, Nigeria, which would 
focus on the impact of HIV/AIDS on African society. The main focus of the 
Tripoli meeting will be to examine the impact of the pandemic on the 
development of North African countries.   (PANA, Senegal, 8 April 2001)

* Mali. Gen. Toure's possible candidacy makes headlines  -  The possible 
candidacy of former Malian president, Gen. Amadou Toumani Toure (ATT) in 
the country's 2002 presidential election made headlines in local newspapers 
this week. Under the headline: "ATT's 2002 candidacy an open secret", the 
by-weekly L'Aurore said that "for a long time, people close to the virtual 
candidate discreetly revealed that the general bears a grudge against 
Malians for not calling for him to stand". Meanwhile, the weekly Liberté" 
wrote that "ATT's candidacy is gradually becoming a reality. By merely 
listening to his statements on national issues in the media, one realises 
the regret felt by the chairman of the Childhood Foundation over leaving 
power, or his desire to regain it", the paper explains. It cited the 
setting up of several support groups for ATT's candidacy, which the general 
has never opposed. For its part, the independent daily Nouvel Horizon 
quoted statements by the chairman of the Friends of ATT Club. "We will 
mobilise all Malians behind ATT to beat the ADEMA (ruling party) in 2002", 
the chairman said, adding that "Gen. ATT is the only one capable of beating 
the ADEMA, because his name and his record can mobilise a lot of 
people".   (PANA, Senegal, 8 April 2001)

* Mauritania. Opposition leader arrested  -  Police in Mauritania have 
arrested the opposition Popular Front leader, Mohamed Lemine Ch'bih ould 
Cheikh Melainine, on allegations that he has incited violence. Party 
officials say Mr Melainine, who was runner-up in the 1997 presidential 
election, was detained at his home in the capital, Nouakchott, on 8 April. 
The Popular Front Secretary-General Mohamed ould Fadel ould Mohamed Sidya 
said police searched the house before making the arrest. The party has 
called for Mr Melainine to be released, saying his arrest was arbitrary and 
brutal   (BBC News, UK, 10 April 2001)

Weekly anb0411.txt - #3/6