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Weekly anb06218.txt #8
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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 21-06-2001 PART #8/8
* Uganda. Freer market gives coffee farmers more cash - The
liberalisation of the coffee industry in Uganda improved the farmer's share
of the export price from below 20% in early 1990 to about 70% today,
Uganda's Prime Minister Prof. Apollo Nsibambi has said. Nsibambi said this
in a speech read for him by the former Chief Justice of Uganda Samuel Wako
Wambuzi at the opening of the regional conference on coffee and other tree
crops at the Sheraton Hotel, June 17. The one-week regional conference,
organised by the Eastern African Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA) has drawn
participants from Eastern, Central and Horn of Africa states, as well as
global coffee organisations. "While the farmers would have had cause to
celebrate however, the prices in the terminal markets have moved negatively
against them," Nsibambi said. He however said the situation was not so
desperate for the farmers to lose hope. "The answer lies in your coming
together and exchanging views and agreeing on a common strategy that you
will adopt and follow in order to improve the well being of the producer,"
he said. Nsibambi hailed EAFCA for their vision of enhancing quality and
competitiveness of regional coffees in global markets. (New Vision,
Uganda, 19 June 2001)
* Zambia. Tribunal begins probe of ministers - An independent tribunal on
18 June began probing allegations of corruption and abuse of office against
three senior Zambian ministers who are close aides to President Frederick
Chiluba. The tribunal is investigating the ministers for allegedly
diverting more than $700,000 meant for road repairs to financing the April
elections of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). Finance
Minister Katele Kalumba, Home Affairs Minister Peter Machungwa, and Works
and Supplies Minister Godden Mandandi have publicly denied any wrongdoing.
The three ministers are among Chiluba's most trusted aides and are also
members of MMD's powerful policy-making national executive committee. The
tribunal, chaired by deputy chief justice David Lewanikawhich, will examine
whether the ministers' conduct breached parliamentary ethics. If the
tribunal finds them guilty, they could lose their parliamentary seats and
cabinet jobs. The scandal emerged after a divisive congress of the MMD
voted in April to allow Chiluba to seek office for an unconstitutional
third term. Each term lasts for five years. Under intense pressure and a
cabinet revolt, Chiluba chose to step aside. Western countries that provide
millions of dollars in foreign aid to the poor southern African country are
watching the hearings closely. (CNN, USA, 18 June 2001)
* Zambia. "I was a stranger and you welcomed me" - Zambia's Catholic
Bishops have issued a Pastoral Letter on the Situation of Refugees and
Asylum Seekers in Zambia, on the occasion of World Refugee Day (20 June).
It is also by way of preparation for the World Conference Against Racism,
Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia, scheduled to be held in Durban, South
Africa, later this year. In the Letter, the Bishops state that it is the
human and religious duty of every Zambian to welcome refugees and to offer
them the opportunity of taking part in their social setting. The Bishops
insist that while the refugees arrive in Zambia destitute and looking for
protection, at the same time they come with all their potential to
contribute to humanity. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 20 June 2001)
* Zambie. Appels des évêques pour les réfugiés - A l'occasion de la
journée mondiale des réfugiés (20 juin) et en vue de la Conférence mondiale
contre le racisme, la discrimination raciale et la xénophobie, les évêques
zambiens ont publié une lettre pastorale ("J'étais étranger, et vous m'avez
accueilli") à lire dimanche 24 juin dans toutes les églises du pays. Devant
des accusations systématiques de plus en plus nombreuses contre des
réfugiés qui cherchent asile, les évêques mettent en garde la société
zambienne contre un accroissement de la xénophobie. La Zambie a toujours
gardé une tradition d'accueil pour les réfugiés venus d'autres pays
(Zimbabwe, Namibie, Afrique du Sud, Mozambique, Angola, Grands Lacs...).
Mais, selon les évêques, cette tradition semble mise en danger par la loi
zambienne qui ne garanti pas aux réfugiés la liberté de mouvement, le droit
à l'emploi ou à posséder des biens, et la nationalité à leurs enfants nés
en Zambie. Les évêques demandent aux autorités d'accorder tous leurs droits
aux réfugiés obligés de rester en Zambie pour de longues périodes et de les
protéger de tout abus ou geste arbitraire. A la population, ils demandent
de leur donner la possibilité de participer à toute la vie sociale, afin
qu'ils puissent s'intégrer dans le pays et refaire leur vie dans la
sécurité. Après avoir invité les fidèles et leurs pasteurs à ouvrir leurs
communautés et leurs services sociaux à tous ces réfugiés, quelles que
soient leur origine ou leur religion, les évêques parlent de la nécessité
de réfléchir sur ce qui a amené les réfugiés dans le pays et sur la manière
dont ils sont traités. Forcés par la guerre et la persécution à quitter
leurs maisons et leurs familles, ils arrivent souvent dépourvus de tout,
mais, riches de leurs traditions et de leur culture, ils apportent un
potentiel humain qui peut contribuer à faire avancer le développement et à
enrichir la société. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 20 juin 2001)
* Zimbabwe. Restrictions pour la presse internationale - Dans une lettre
adressée au ministre zimbabwéen de la Communication, Jonathan Moyo,
Reporters sans frontières a protesté contre les nouvelles restrictions
imposées aux journalistes étrangers. RSF a demandé au ministre d'annuler
ces mesures et de laisser les correspondants étrangers travailler en toute
liberté sur le territoire zimbabwéen. Le 13 juin, le gouvernement a annoncé
que les journalistes étrangers devront dorénavant demander leur
accréditation auprès du Département de l'information au moins un mois avant
leur entrée dans le pays. Les formalités de voyages ne pourront être
engagées qu'après l'accord exprès du Département. Les correspondants
étrangers déjà présents au Zimbabwe se sont vus intimer l'ordre de quitter
le territoire afin d'effectuer leur demande d'accréditation depuis leur
pays d'origine. (RSF, Paris, 15 juin 2001)
* Zimbabwe. Foreign reporters restricted - Zimbabwe has announced
stricter conditions on foreign reporters requiring them to apply for
official press accreditation at least a month before an intended visit.
State media announced that applications now have to be submitted to the
Information Ministry in Harare or through Zimbabwe's diplomatic missions
abroad. And journalists have been warned not to make travel plans until
approval is given. The government has been waging a campaign against the
independent media in Zimbabwe, with one eye on presidential elections
scheduled for 2002. The BBC's Joseph Winter and another foreign reporter
had to leave in February after officials accusing them of biased reporting
against the government. Earlier this year, the printing presses of the
Daily News, the country's leading independent newspaper, were blown up.
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo accuses opposition groups, independent
and foreign journalists of working together to fuel violence. The
government's new conditions came a day after it announced the price of fuel
was increasing by 70%. (BBC News, UK, 15 June 2001)
* Zimbabwe. Human rights group goes bankrupt - The Zimbabwe Human Rights
Organisation (ZimRights), once the leading human rights watchdog in the
country, is bankrupt. The human rights watchdog went broke following the
withdrawal of funding by its major donors who are unhappy with the
organisation's in-house squabbles and the alleged infiltration of the group
by agents of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), the Daily News
reported. Munyaradzi Bidi, ZimRights' national director, said: "We have
serious financial problems. We have failed to pay our workers their
salaries for May. I have not been paid either. Some donors have pulled out.
We simply do not have institutional funding to meet our administrative
functions. We are now poorer than we were four years ago." Twelve
organisations were ZimRights' major donors. They included Norwegian
People's Aid, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Hivos, Danida, USAid, the
European Union, Oxfam GB and the Norwegian and Swedish embassies. ZimRights
sources said all donors had since stopped funding the
organisation. (IRIN, Southern Africa, 15 June 2001
* Zimbabwe. Rapidly deteriorating political and economic situation - 19
June: The Financial Times says that President Mugabe has agreed to allow a
top-level group of Commonwealth ministers to help resolve Zimbabwe's
rapidly deteriorating economic and political crisis. The expected
initiative is expected to focus on the explosive question of land
redistribution to landless black farmers, as well as on Zimbabwe's wider
economic plight. But, Reuters has quoted Mugabe's spokesman as saying he
was not aware of any talks around letting a Commonwealth team come to
Zimbabwe. Reuters reports that riot police in Zimbabwe cleared barricades
erected in a Harare township yesterday after protests against the 70% rise
in petrol prices. Witnesses in the capital say new barricades were erected
elsewhere. However, a bright note for a sombre situation -- Zimbabwe hopes
a solar eclipse this week will help revive an ailing tourism industry hit
in the past year by the country's political crisis. Travel agents say
hundreds of tourists, mostly from Europe, have flocked to the country in
the past week ahead of the eclipse on June 21, the first of this
millennium. Northeast Zimbabwe, home to the spectacular Mana Pools resort,
will experience a total eclipse of the sun on June 21 while in most other
parts of the country at least 85 percent of the sun will be in shadow.
Leslie Gwindi, who heads a committee promoting the eclipse to tourists,
says most of Zimbabwe's hotels, especially in the northeast, are already
fully booked. This is good news for a tourism industry struggling to
survive a decline in arrivals after the political violence that marked
parliamentary elections last year and the government-sanctioned invasion of
white farms by war veterans. Industry officials estimate that Zimbabwe's
tourism receipts fell by one-third to US $100 million last year from $150
million in 1999. "The eclipse gives us an opportunity to re-market Zimbabwe
as a safe international tourism destination and everyone that comes here is
going to be an ambassador for the country afterwards," Gwindi told
Reuters. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 19 June 2001)
* Zimbabwe. Mugabe backs plan for overseas land mission - President
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe on Wednesday "welcomed" a Nigerian initiative for
a ministerial mission of seven Commonwealth states "to look into ways of
easing the difficulties in relations between Zimbabwe and Britain on the
land issue". A statement issued after talks in Nairobi with Daniel arap
Moi, Kenya's president, marks a softening of Harare's stance on foreign
involvement in the dispute over land expropriation. But it is seen by
opposition parties in Harare as an attempt to deflect attention from the
broader issues of the breakdown in the rule of law and the conduct of free
and fair elections. The joint statement refers also to "the recent failure
of the British government to honour its obligation [to finance land reform]
was noted to be the fundamental cause of the current misunderstanding
between the two countries". This interpretation is also to be rejected by
Britain, which argues that it is not the principle of land resettlement but
the manner in which Harare has conducted it that accounts for the
withdrawal of UK and other donor support. Donors are also likely to reject
the Zimbabwe claim -- also in the joint statement -- that illegal
occupation of land has been legalised by the government's recent rural Land
Occupiers Act. Political analysts say the focus on land in the statement is
part of Harare's strategy to split the mission by building a coalition with
Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa against the "old" Commonwealth of Australia
and the UK. The seventh member is Jamaica. (Financial Times, UK, 21 June
2001)
Weekly anb0621.txt - #8/8 - THE END
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Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous se tait devant la tyrannie
(W. Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature) - Everytime somebody keep silent when
faced with tyranny, someone else dies (Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for
Literature) *
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