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Weekly anb06145.txt #8
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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 14-06-2001 PART #5/8
* Kenya. Sida: oui aux médicaments génériques - Le projet de loi
autorisant le gouvernement à contourner les brevets des sociétés
pharmaceutiques pour fournir aux 2,2 millions de porteurs du virus du sida
des médicaments meilleur marché, a été adopté à l'unanimité par le
Parlement kényan, mardi 12 juin. Le Kenya est ainsi le deuxième pays
africain, après l'Afrique du sud, à autoriser le recours à des médicaments
génériques, copies de produits encore sous brevet. La loi kényane, soutenue
par l'opposition et adoptée par acclamation, sera réexaminée par des
comités parlementaires pour ces aspects techniques, avant d'être
représentée pour un vote final. 2,2 millions de Kényans, soit 14% de la
population adulte, sont touchés par le sida, déclaré "urgence nationale"
par le président kényan Daniel arap Moi en 1999. (ANB-BIA, de sources
diverses, 13 juin 2001)
* Kenya. Parliament passes AIDS drugs bill - On 12 June, Kenya's
parliament passed a controversial bill opposed by the global pharmaceutical
industry that would allow the east African country to import and
manufacture cheap medicines. MPs voted to accept the Industrial Properties
Bill 2001 unanimously, a move that effectively loosens the pharmaceutical
giants' hold on much-prized patent rights for a variety of medicines,
including AIDS drugs. AIDS activists say the bill will allow more of
Kenya's 2.2 million HIV-positive population access to the drugs, which have
helped reduce AIDS deaths in the West by 75 percent. Kenya becomes only the
second country in Africa to pass such a bill. The drugs industry was badly
bruised in South Africa in April when it abandoned a court case seeking to
challenge a similar law. The industry fears the bill could cause a domino
effect across the rest of the world's poorest continent, where 25.3 million
people are infected with the virus, cutting profits it says are essential
for research into new medicines. (CNN, USA, 13 June 2001)
* Libéria. Combats à la frontière guinéenne - Le président libérien
Charles Taylor a affirmé, le 9 juin, que ses forces avaient remporté de
nouvelles victoires contre les "dissidents" dans le nord du pays,
frontalier de la Guinée, tuant "des centaines d'ennemis". Les forces
gouvernementales ont "l'ordre impératif de ne pas pénétrer en Guinée", a
précisé le président Taylor. (Le Figaro, France, 11 juin 2001)
* Madagascar. Naufrage: 40 disparus - Au moins 40 personnes sont portées
disparues après un naufrage, dans la nuit du 11 au 12 juin, d'un bac
assurant la navette entre Mananara-Nord et Maroansetra, sur la côte
nord-est de l'île de Madagascar, a annoncé la radio nationale. Le naufrage
du Saifiah est le deuxième en un mois dans la même zone. Le 10 mai, 27
personnes avaient disparu quand une barge de débarquement, datant de la 2e
guerre mondiale et transformée en bac, avait coulé. Les deux bacs
transportaient notamment une équipe de football local. (La Libre
Belgique, 13 juin 2001)
* Malawi. Muslims angry with Muluzi - Malawi's Muslim community have
joined their Christian counterparts in attacking President Bakili Muluzi
over his ambition to stand as President for the third time. The Muslims
have also attacked Muluzi over his poor economic policies. Muluzi who is a
Muslim, is also accused by his fellow Muslims of being a fake Muslim,
spending most of his time in Christian churches and that he has swindled
money meant for the construction of mosques. Muluzi has counter-attacked by
saying there is nothing wrong in him attending church services as this is
done by other reputable international Muslim leaders. Recently, the police
arrested over 600 Muslims including some senior Sheiks who went to the
Sanjika Presidential Palace in Blantyre to present a 13-page letter to
President Bakili Muluzi petitioning him not to stand for the third term.
The letter was signed by 13 leaders of the Sunni Muslim Supreme Council of
Malawi. Four of the detained Sheiks were denied bail. The police said they
had done this so they could have time to fully investigate the case.
However, political analysts said this was meant to silence the Sheiks who
are opposition sympathizers. (Frank Jomo, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 31 May 2001)
* Malawi. "Young Democrats" spreading fear - Malawi's "Young Democrats",
one a peaceful youth group fighting for democratic reforms, have now turned
violent and are a threat to Malawi's young democracy. Formed at the hight
of Malawi's struggle for human rights and emocratic reforms in 1993, the
Young Democrats were a a youth wing of the various groupings rallying
against dictator Kamuzu Banda's regime. Made up of illiterate cadres, their
task was to mobilise the masses behind the tide of democracy sweeping the
country in 1993. Today, armed with petrol, matches, pangas and knives, the
Young Democrats are at the forefront of disrupting opposition rallies,
beating up supporters and burning vehicles. And they do so in the name of
Banda's democratically-elected successor, President Bakili Muluzi and his
governing United Democratic Front. (Sunday Nation, Kenya, 10 June 2001)
* Malawi. Ex-minister quits parliament and party - President Bakili
Muluzi of Malawi has accepted the resignation from the ruling party of a
former Finance Minister, Cassim Chilumpha. He was sacked from his
government post in November when he was charged with corruption. He has
also said he is standing down as a member of parliament with immediate
effect. Mr Chilumpha -- a lawyer and a possible contender to succeed
President Muluzi -- denied suggestions that he might be planning to join
the recently formed opposition pressure group, the National Democratic
Alliance. Last month, a judge in the capital, Lilongwe, dismissed the
corruption charges against Mr Chilumpha on a technicality. He had been
accused of accepting bribes, a charge he denies. (BBC News, UK, 11 June 2001)
* Mali. Anger as Bamako buses stop running - People in the Malian
capital, Bamako, have been describing the situation in their streets as
"chaos" or "anarchy". For the second time in a week, hundreds of thousands
of people are being forced to make their way through town on foot because
public transport drivers refuse to take passengers. The drivers of the
ubiquitous green vans, known as Sotramas, the only means of transport for
about 90% of the population, are retaliating after a police operation on 7
June in which 60 drivers were arrested and their vehicles seized. Some
people say they fear the week-long dispute between the police and some
20,000 Sotrama drivers with their apprentices is starting to resemble a
gang war, with attacks and counter-attacks. (BBC News, UK, 9 June 2001)
* Maroc. Réforme du système électoral? - Le 12 juin, Driss Basri, ancien
ministre de l'Intérieur, a préconisé l'établissement d'une véritable
démocratie au Maroc par le biais d'une réforme du système électoral.
Rompant pour la première fois le mutisme qu'il observait depuis son
limogeage par Mohammed VI en 1999, Basri écrit dans les colonnes de
"L'Economiste, publié à Casablanca, que le scrutin uninominal à un tour
pratiqué dans le passé ne correspond plus à la réalité socio-politique du
pays. Driss Basri prône le scrutin de liste à la proportionnelle pour les
municipales et une élection à deux tours pour les législatives. Il faut
un"gouvernement qui gère, administre et gouverne" et un "Parlement qui
légifère et qui contrôle", soutient M. Basri. (La Libre Belgique, 14 juin
2001)
* Mauritanie. Enseignement primaire obligatoire - L'enseignement primaire
est désormais obligatoire pour tous les enfants mauritaniens des deux sexes
de 4 à 16 ans, a annoncé le 13 juin à Nouakchott le porte-parole du
gouvernement. "Malgré un taux de scolarité de 90%, il y a encore des
enfants qui n'ont pas eu la chance d'aller à l'école", a précisé M. ould
Saleh. La nouvelle décision du gouvernement "rend obligatoire, pour chaque
enfant, une scolarité d'au moins six ans". (AFP, France, 13 juin 2001)
* Mozambique. On détruit les armes - Les opérations de destruction des
armes, intitulées Rachel, se sont achevées sur une septième édition
particulièrement fructueuse. Financées par l'Union européenne et surtout
par l'Afrique du Sud, elles visent à éviter que les armes cachées au cours
des treize années de guerre civile au Mozambique ne viennent alimenter les
réseaux du banditisme ou ne soient utliisées par des groupes criminels pour
déstabiliser à nouveau la région. Depuis 1995, date de la première
opération, 13.550 armes légères et 3,4 millions de caisses de munitions ont
été retrouvées. (J.A., France, 5-11 juin 2001)
* Niger/Nigeria. Contrôle des frontières - Les forces de l'ordre du Niger
et du Nigeria patrouilleront désormais ensemble le long des quelque 1.500
km de frontière qui sépare les deux pays. L'accord, officialisé le 6 juin,
est dû à l'énorme augmentation du nombre de délinquants qui passent d'un
Etat à l'autre pour échapper à la police. La présence de personnes
recherchées est surtout signalée aux environs du lac Tchad. Selon la
presse, la montée de la présence criminelle à la frontière serait due à la
récente introduction, dans plusieurs Etats du nord du Nigeria, de la loi
islamique qui prévoit des peines de mutilation pour des personnes coupables
de vol. (Misna, Italie, 7 juin 2001)
* Nigeria. Running out of power - Nepa, Nigeria's state-run electricity
company, said on 7 June that a third of the country would be without power
for two weeks in the latest setback to faltering government attempts at
reviving electricity supplies. Nepa officials said vandals had attacked a
vital transmission line last weekend, plunging 13 states in the east of
Africa's most populous nation into darkness and cutting power to several
main cities, including Port Harcourt where the 2.2m b/d oil industry is
centred. The blackout comes amid growing disillusionment with President
Olusegun Obasanjo's government and doubts about its ability to address the
chronic infrastructural and institutional deficits he inherited when the
military handed power back to elected civilians two years ago. Mr Obasanjo
took personal control of the power sector early last year after dismissing
senior management at Nepa following a series of nationwide blackouts. There
has been little sign of a turnround since then. On a good day Nepa produces
scarcely more electricity than nearby Ghana, which has a population seven
times smaller. Improving on this has become one of Nigeria's most
frustrating challenges for Mr Obasanjo who only recently began to champion
accelerated liberalisation of the power sector after a series of staff
changes at Nepa and increased public investment failed to produce
significant results. The frustrations were such that, late last year, Jerry
Gana, the information minister, said "thieves and vandals" were sabotaging
Nepa in what he described as an orchestrated ploy by political enemies to
undermine the government's reform programme. (Financial Times, UK, 8 June
2001)
* Nigeria. Doctors' strike spreads to Lagos - Doctors in the Nigerian
commercial capital, Lagos, have decided to join a strike over pay which has
already caused widespread disruption to hospitals in other parts of the
country. The strike was called 11 days ago by the Nigerian Medical
Association, which complains that doctors earn much less than the $500 per
month claimed by the government. Until now, though, it had not been widely
observed by locally-employed doctors in Lagos. The BBC correspondent in
Nigeria says the strike has left nurses and volunteers struggling to cope
with the sick and injured. He says the latest development comes at a bad
time for the government: besides a strike by university lecturers, there
has been a rise in food prices, widespread power cuts, and a fall in the
value of the currency. (BBC News, UK, 8 June 2001)
Weekly anb0614.txt - #5/8