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Weekly anb11156.txt #6
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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 15-11-2001 PART #6/6
* Zambia. Carter Centre in Lusaka to observe elections - In preparations
to observe Zambia's upcoming tripartite elections, the US-based Carter
Democratic Institute has set up an office in Lusaka, local press reports
confirmed on 7 November. The Zambia news agency said the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs invited the institute to observe this year's elections. Dr
David Carroll, associate director of the Carter Centre Institute, said in a
statement that the 2001 elections are important to the democratic
development of Zambia and the Southern African region. He said the role of
the Centre in Zambia's elections would be to demonstrate the international
community's support for free and fair elections as well as provide an
impartial assessment of Zambia's electoral process. The Centre will oversee
pre-election activities, including the deployment of five election
volunteers across the country to observe and report on technical
preparations for the vote aside from plans to deploy 25 observers
throughout Zambia on elections day. (PANA, Senegal, 7 November 2001)
* Zambia. Zambia's silver linings - Ali Zulu makes the journey across the
Stanley Bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe every day. He returns with his
bicycle dangerously overladen with boxes and plastic bags full of groceries
and bottled drinks. Mr Zulu is one of hundreds of Zambian traders who take
advantage of Zimbabwe's falling currency to earn a living. But many more
make the two-way journey from Livingstone, in the south-west corner of
Zambia, on foot. Favourable exchange rates against the Zimbabwean dollar
and price controls make the basic goods in the shops of Victoria Falls far
cheaper than across the border. The unofficial exchange rate has fallen to
Z$275 to the dollar from Z$145 in June. It touched a low of Z$350 last
month. But the official rate is pegged at $55 to the dollar. The most
popular trade is in bottled drinks: Coca-Cola, Fanta and Zambezi beer.
Before the Zambian border post closes in the evening, a throng of women
traders press for the gate with sacks of bottled drinks strapped to their
backs. In the melee of taxis, trucks, cyclists and pedestrians, they make a
lumbering dash past ill-tempered soldiers and immigration officials to
avoid paying the small duty on their wares. Others push wheelbarrows and
makeshift trolleys laden with bottles towards the waiting minibus taxis for
the 10km onward journey to Livingstone. Zambian buyers have not always
found themselves popular in Victoria Falls in spite of the hunger for hard
currency. The Spar supermarket, the biggest in town, routinely has its
shelves cleared by the traders from across the border bearing Zambian
kwacha and US dollars, leaving little for locals. According to Mr Zulu, the
Zimbabwe government has introduced measures to protect local consumers in a
country facing food shortages before the end of the year. The government,
with the help of "war veterans", has tried to stop Zambians from buying
sugar and bread. (Financial Times, UK, 8 November 2001)
* Zambie. Incursion de soldats angolais - L'ambassadeur angolais a été
convoqué par les autorités de Lusaka en signe de protestation contre les
incursions perpétrées le 9 novembre par des troupes gouvernementales
angolaises en territoire zambien dans le district de Shangombo. L'incursion
s'est soldée par la mort de 7 civils et l'enlèvement de nombreuses
personnes. L'ambassadeur a promis qu'une enquête serait menée et que les
responsables seraient recherchés. On est encore sans nouvelles d'une
vingtaine de civils emmenés par les soldats; les autres ont été libérés et
ont pu rentrer chez eux. On suppose que les militaires ont passé la
frontière en poursuivant un groupe de rebelles de l'Unita et qu'ils s'en
sont pris ensuite à la population locale. (Misna, Italie, 13 novembre 2001)
* Zambia. Zambians killed by Angolan troops - Seven Zambian nationals
have been shot and killed, apparently by Angolan troops who abducted them
on 9 November. Another 56 women and children who were abducted from the
district of Shang'ombo in Zambia's western province have been released. The
Angolan soldiers crossed the border in hot pursuit of Unita rebels. Zambian
police spokesperson Lemmy Kajoba confirmed the killings, saying among them
is the headmaster of a local school. Mr Kajoba said two others -- both men
-- are said to have serious gun-shot wounds, which might prove fatal. He
said at least 20 Zambian men are still being held inside Angolan territory.
It is not known where exactly in Angola they are being held. The Angolan
troops have not yet established contact with Zambian security personnel. A
few Zambians who managed to escape capture by Angolan soldiers are now
slowly returning to their villages, some of which have been ransacked. This
year, Angolan troops have frequently entered Zambia chasing Unita forces
but on many occasions they have ended up looting property, destroying
houses and stealing several herds of cattle. (BBC News, UK, 13 November 2001)
* Zambie. Observateurs payants - La Zambie a annoncé le 12 novembre que
les étrangers qui veulent être observateurs aux élections à la fin de cette
année, devront payer chacun 40 dollars pour obtenir leur accréditation. Les
observateurs zambiens auront à payer 2,66 dollars. Une mesure fort rare. La
date exacte des élections présidentielles, législatives et locales n'est
pas encore connue, mais se situera probablement juste avant
Noël. (D'après De Standaard, Belgique, 13 novembre 2001)
* Zimbabwe. Foreign observers banned from elections - The Electoral Act
will be amended before the end of the year to allow only civil servants to
monitor the polls, a state-run newspaper reported on 7 November. In open
defiance of European Union and US efforts to ensure free and fair
elections, Patrick Chinamasa, the justice minister, will propose the new
measure on November 20, when parliament resumes. Zanu-PF, the ruling party,
has enough seats in parliament to guarantee the amendment will be passed,
giving the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC) sole responsibility for
recruiting and training election observers. Mr Chinamasa said foreign
observers, or local monitors trained by foreign non-governmental
organisations, could not be relied upon to be impartial. In last year's
parliamentary elections, which were marred by widespread violence and
intimidation and narrowly won by Zanu-PF, 24,000 independent observers were
deployed. The situation then was "undesirable", Mr Chinamasa said,
"considering the fact that most NGOs are partial, foreign-funded, loyal to
their funders and therefore produced monitors who were partisan". The
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the main opposition party, said the
move to amend the Electoral Act "shows clearly that Zanu-PF wants to cheat"
because the ESC has close links to the ruling party. (Financial Times,
UK, 8 November 2001)
* Zimbabwe. Responsables du Daily News arrêtés - Le rédacteur en chef du
seul quotidien indépendant à Harare, le Daily News, ainsi que le fondateur
de la maison éditrice, ont été interpellés par la police à leurs domiciles
le 8 novembre, sans qu'aucune raison leur soit notifiée. Ils pourraient
être entendus sur un changement d'actionnariat qui, selon un article paru
le 6 novembre dans le quotidien progouvernemental Herald, justifierait
l'interdiction de la dernière voix dissidente dans le pays. (Le Monde,
France, 9 novembre 2001)
* Zimbabwe. The "Daily News" under attack - 3 November: The Minister of
State for Information and Publicity, Jonathan Moyo, orders the ejection of
Mduduzi Mathuthu, a reporter with the Daily News, from a meeting in
Bulawayo, after a heated argument erupted over allegations made by the
minister. 6 November: Nhlahla Masukuk, chairman of the Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe, has accused the High Court of failing to understand
the administration of airwaves in the country. 7 November: Zimbabwe's
leading independent daily newspaper, the Daily News, faces immediate
closure, as the state-run Zimbabwe Investment Centre moots allegations of
fraudulent activities at the Associated Newspapers Company, and the holding
company that owns the daily newspaper. 8 November: The editor of the Daily
News is arrested in Harare. He is charged with fraud. (ANB-BIA, Brussels,
9 November 2001)
* Zimbabwe. Vers les élections - Le 7 novembre, le gouvernement
zimbabwéen a annoncé qu'il envisageait de modifier sa loi électorale en vue
d'interdire la supervision du scrutin par des ONG locales et des groupes
étrangers dont la plupart sont perçus comme favorables aux partis
d'opposition. Selon le ministre de la Justice, la commission chargée de la
supervision électorale, créée par le gouvernement, est seule responsable de
la coduite des élections. D'autre part, le 8 novembre, un institut de
sondage a donné une avance de 6% au chef de l'opposition, Morgan
Tsvangirai, sur le président Mugabe pour l'élection présidentielle de mars
2002. - Par ailleurs, le 11 novembre, le président Mugabe a déclaré que les
agents des ONG auraient interdiction de distribuer des secours humanitaires
à la population. D'après les dernières estimations du PAM, les personnes
souffrant de carences alimentaires sont près de 700.000 dans les zones
rurales et 250.000 dans les zones urbaines. Mais le ministre de
l'Information a précisé que seules les personnes chargées par le
gouvernement seraient autorisées à distribuer des secours parce que "aucun
étranger ne sera autorisé à errer dans le pays en interférant dans les
affaires de politique intérieure". (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 13
novembre 2001)
* Zimbabwe. La réforme agraire - Le 12 novembre, le ministre de la
Justice a fait savoir que le Zimbabwe's Land Act (décret qui permettra la
saisie des proprétés des Blancs) avait été approuvé. Cette nouvelle mesure
permettra au gouvernement d'attribuer les lots de terrain sans devoir
attendre les verdicts des tribunaux appelés à gérer les controverses en
cours. Le ministre a expliqué que les propriétaires recevraient la
notification du gouvernement et devraient ensuite interrompre les travaux
et quitter leurs habitations dans un délai de trois mois. (Ndlr.: Selon le
quotidien belge De Standaard, mille fermiers blancs auraient déjà reçu
cette notification). Selon l'Union des fermiers commerciaux (CFU) cette
mesure est en désaccord total avec ce qui a été décidé en septembre à Abuja
(Nigeria) dans le cadre du Commonwealth, où le président Mugabe s'était
engagé à faire cesser les occupations des fermes et où la Grande-Bretagne
avait offert d'importants financements pour indemniser les propriétaires
expropriés. (Misna, Italie, 13 novembre 2001)
* Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's white farmers face eviction - Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe has passed a decree, amending the country's Land Acquisition
Act so that white farmers can be forced off their land with immediate
effect. The move means that farmers who have been issued with acquisition
orders by the government will have to stop farming immediately and remain
confined to their houses, which they will have to vacate after three
months. Previously, land-acquisition orders had to pass through the courts
first, now the courts will examine cases retrospectively which
correspondents say could take months. Zimbabwe's white farmers say farming
is likely to stop on almost 800 farms immediately. Zimbabwe's economy is
already in crisis, blamed largely on President Mugabe's land-reform
programme. Militants loyal to the government have occupied an estimated
1,700 white-owned farms over the last 18 months, demanding that they be
redistributed to landless blacks. This, and the violence that has
accompanied it, has meant that farming activities have been massively
disrupted. The World Food Programme is due to begin a huge relief operation
next month to feed over 500,000 Zimbabweans who face hunger or starvation.
The white farmers have reacted with shock and anger to the presidential
decree. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 14 November 2001)
Weekly anb115.txt - End of #6/6
THE ENDS
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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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