Weekly anb0168.txt #8

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 16-01-2003      PART #8/8

* Uganda. The burden of Uganda's business tax  -  9 January: Evidence is 
mounting that local government taxes are hurting small business badly. In 
recent surveys, small business in Uganda has blamed unfair taxes for their 
poor profits and in some cases, their business failure. "The plethora of 
local taxes and their maladministration is damaging local enterprise and 
undermining the credibility of government," a report by the Ministry of 
Finance published in December read. It is the second participatory poverty 
assessment report. Business anger at this situation is real. A woman in 
Butema, Bugiri, told the Ministry of Finance report: "I brew kwete (local 
brew) and take it to the market. I am required to pay dues for the same 
jerry can of kwete today and tomorrow if it is left over. Sometimes, most 
of the kwete is not bought, it is goes stale and I have to pour it away. I 
make a loss, yet I have paid all the market dues." Behind the initial anger 
at the damage to their profits, there is a deeper anger at where the taxes 
that are being paid are actually going.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 9 January 2003)

* Uganda. Kony offers peace talks  -  13 January: Rebel leader Joseph Kony, 
has reportedly expressed interest in having ceasefire talks with the 
authorities. Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also 
called for direct talks with President Yoweri Museveni. A member of 
parliament, Norbert Mao, said that Mr Kony had telephoned him and spoken 
for more than two hours on 11 January to make fresh proposals to end the 
conflict in the country. President Museveni has since expressed no 
objection to dispatching a military delegation to discuss a ceasefire with 
Mr Kony, but he vowed to pursue the rebels in the meantime, Mr Mao said. 
The LRA has been conducting a campaign of violence in northern Uganda since 
1987 to overthrow Mr Museveni's government.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 13 January 
2003)

* Ouganda/Rwanda. Tensions?  -  L'Ouganda a promis de ne pas s'engager dans 
un quelconque conflit armé avec le Rwanda, en dépit du discours des 
autorités de Kigali, qualifié de "ton guerrier" à Kampala. Le ministre des 
Affaires régionales, le colonel Otaffire, a déclaré: "Nous devons observer 
une certaine modération et agir de manière responsable à la restauration 
des relations de bon voisinage avec le Rwanda". Cependant, le ministre 
ougandais de la Défense, Amama Mbabazi, a confirmé que des troupes 
supplémentaires avaient été envoyées la semaine dernière vers la frontière, 
à la suite de renseignements militaires qui parlaient de la possibilité 
d'une attaque du Rwanda.   (PANA, Sénégal, 13 janvier 2003)

* Uganda. Cattle clashes leave 30 dead  -  15 January: Fighting between 
rival tribesmen in a remote area of north-eastern Uganda has left dozens of 
people dead. The clashes erupted on 12 January when ethnic Pian Karamojong 
attacked ethnic Bokora in a bid to steal their cattle, army sources say. At 
least 30 people from the Bokora tribe were killed and a dozen injured 
during those recent ethnic clashes over cattle and grazing land. The 
clashes are a frequent occurrence, especially during the dry season when 
local communities move with their herds in search of pasture and water. 
Pian attackers made off with more than 600 heads of cattle.   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 15 January 2003)

* Ouganda. Affrontements interethniques  -  Au moins 30 personnes ont été 
tuées et une dizaine d'autres blessées dans des combats interethniques dans 
la région de Karamoja au nord-est de l'Ouganda. Des tribus se seraient 
violemment affrontées pour le contrôle des pâturages et des points d'eau, 
devenus rares en raison de la forte sécheresse.   (Libération, France, 16 
janvier 2003)

* Zambia. Government completes GM guidelines  -  The Zambian government has 
completed its proposed guidelines on genetically modified (GM) food and 
expects to submit these to cabinet later in January, Abel Chambeshi, 
Minister of Science and Technology said on 8 January 2003. The guidelines, 
which are expected to fill a legislative void on the controversial subject, 
were drawn up after President Levy Mwanawasa banned the import of GM food 
aid last year, calling it "poison". The ban and the subsequent order to 
withdraw in-country stocks left food relief agencies cutting rations and 
scrambling to find alternate food sources for about 2.9 million people. 
"We've done all the preliminary work and as ministers have completed all 
the requirements. There may be a few amendments but the guidelines will be 
presented to Cabinet. It will then become a parliamentary bill and will 
then become law," Chambeshi said.   (IRIN, Kenya, 8 January 2003)

* Zambia. Officials charged with corruption  -  8 January: Seven senior 
government officials have been charged with the theft of public funds, say 
Zambian police. Those charged include Treasury Secretary David Diangamo and 
a former official of the state-owned Zambia National Commercial Bank 
(Zanaco) Samuel Musonda. The move is significant, as it comes just days 
after Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa complained that an investigation 
into corruption which was launched last March, was proceeding too slowly. 
The police say the seven officials are accused of diverting about $2.5 
million from the bank and the Finance Ministry. They have been charged with 
a total of 59 counts for abuse of office and theft by public servants. 14 
January: Police say they have detained former Foreign Minister Katele 
Kalumba for questioning as part of the widespread corruption 
probe.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 14 January 2003)

* Zambie. Ex-ministre accusé de corruption  -  Le mardi 14 janvier, 
l'ex-ministre des Affaires étrangères, Katele Kalumba, a été arrêté par la 
police pour être soumis à un interrogatoire dans le cadre d'une vaste 
opération anti-corruption lancée il y a quelques mois par le président 
Mwanawasa. M. Kalumba occupait la fonction de ministre des Finances sous le 
président Chiluba, et fut ensuite appelé à la conduite du ministère des 
Affaires étrangères par l'actuel chef de l'Etat. En juillet 2002, il a 
abandonné sa charge sans fournir d'explications. Il y a quelques semaines, 
le président Mwanawasa a dit que Kalumba et Chiluba sont impliqués dans des 
actes de corruption qui ont provoqué des dommages pour des millions de 
dollars aux caisses de l'Etat. Jusqu'à présent Kalumba a toujours rejeté 
ces accusations.   (Misna, Italie, 15 janvier 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Food supply threatened  -  Zimbabwe appears headed for another 
season of food shortages in 2003-2004 with poor rains and reduced plantings 
likely to dent output, a US-based food monitoring organization said on 9 
January. Although Zimbabwe was once the bread basket of southern Africa, 
sharply reduced domestic food production has forced the country into 
dependence upon food aid, and nearly half Zimbabwe's estimated 14 million 
people now face starvation. In its latest update on the situation in 
Zimbabwe, the Famine Early Warning System Network known as FEWSNET said 
below-average rains ranging from 40 to 60 percent of normal, as well as 
hot, dry weather in late 2002 had cut plantings and exerted extreme stress 
on the staple maize crop already in the ground. "If things do not improve, 
food security will once again be of major concern in 2003-2004," the group 
said, adding that "the (weather) prospects for 2002-03 are beginning to 
look quite gloomy."   (CNN, USA, 9 January 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Fuite de cerveaux  -  Environ 5.000 Zimbabwéens ont quitté leur 
pays pour rejoindre les rangs de l'armée britannique, alors qu'une fuite 
massive des cerveaux se poursuit, a indiqué la semaine dernière M. Mascule, 
porte-parole du Forum consultatif national économique. Des sources de 
l'ambassade britannique à Pretoria ont également confirmé ce fait nouveau. 
Concernant l'exode massif des compétences du Zimbabwe, Masuku a imputé ce 
phénomène à l'incertitude politique et économique, aggravée par les 
programmes de réformes agraires. Selon lui, les Zimbabwéens ont été attirés 
par des propositions attractives. La plupart d'entre eux sont allés en 
Angleterre, en Nouvelle-Zélande, en Australie et au Canada.   (PANA, 
Sénégal, 13 janvier 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Cricket World Cup controversy  -  9 January: Zimbabwean exiles 
in Johannesburg call on countries to show their abhorrence of Zimbabwe's 
President Mugabe's policies, by boycotting next month's World Cup cricket 
matches. However, Ali Bacher, the South African chief executive of the 
World Cup says any team that refuses to go to Zimbabwe will be penalised. 
And Dr Bacher says it is for governments -- not cricket authorities -- to 
decide whether there should be a boycott. Zimbabwe and sport are two highly 
emotive subjects in South Africa, so it is not surprising that the World 
Cup row is arousing strong feelings. In fact, most of the World Cup matches 
will be held in South Africa but six teams are scheduled to travel to 
Zimbabwe. --English cricket is facing its biggest crisis in 30 years after 
a crucial meeting today between ministers and England and Wales Cricket 
Board (ECB) officials fails to resolve the impasse of the World Cup match 
with Zimbabwe. The government has called on the ECB to withdraw from the 
fixture because of human rights abuses by Robert Mugabe's regime, but 
refuses to meet ECB demands to compensate it for losses of up to £1m it 
could incur by boycotting the match. After a "frank" exchange of views, the 
gulf between the two sides is as wide as ever. Tim Lamb, the ECB chief 
executive, says he is disappointed at the outcome of the meeting and says 
his first responsibility is to the financial wellbeing of English cricket. 
He criticises the government for making its views clear just six weeks 
before the game is scheduled. "If we sacrifice this match it will, in 
effect, be at the government's request -- and for the wider national 
interest," he says. "We don't understand therefore the government's refusal 
to compensate us out of the national purse for any consequential losses we 
incur. These losses could damage cricket enormously. Surely, it is only 
fair that the government should at least discuss this with us". 10 January: 
England's World Cup fixture in Zimbabwe is to go ahead, however, the 
players will be told by the ECB not to shake hands with President Mugabe 
who is patron of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union. 14 January: The England and 
Wales Cricket Board (ECB) says it will honour its commitment to play a 
controversial World Cup match in Zimbabwe next month. The decision, which 
follows a three-hour delay after protestors stormed Lords cricket ground in 
London, comes despite UK ministers urging the ECB to boycott the match on 
political grounds. Human rights groups claim that by going ahead with the 
match English cricket is supporting President Robert Mugabe's controversial 
and often violent redistribution of white-owned farmland to landless 
blacks. But Tim Lamb, ECB chief executive, says it is unfair to expect a 
sporting organisation, operating on commercial basis, to make political 
decisions. "It is not our role to make subjective moral judgements. These 
are matters for the elected government to consider and to take a decisive 
and early lead. We are fully aware of what is happening in Zimbabwe and we 
don't condone or endorse the political regime in that country. But we don't 
believe that the cancellation of one match would make any difference," he 
added.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 14 January 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Rumeurs d'exil démenties pour Mugabe  -  Selon le quotidien 
britannique The Times dans son édition de dimanche, le président Mugabe 
accepterait de quitter le pouvoir en échange d'une impunité judiciaire pour 
les violations des droits de l'homme commises sous son régime. Le journal 
assure que des responsables du parti au pouvoir, la ZANU-PF, et de l'armée 
ont proposé au chef de l'opposition Morgan Tsvangirai un plan prévoyant la 
démission du chef de l'Etat et la mise en place d'un gouvernement d'union 
nationale. Mugabe, 78 ans, obtiendrait en échange la garantie de son 
immunité et la possibilité de trouver asile à l'étranger. Au Zimbabwe, le 
lundi 13 janvier, pouvoir et opposition ont démenti ces informations. "Les 
Britanniques prennent leurs désirs pour des réalités", a réagi le 
porte-parole de la ZANU-PF. "Cet article est faux, c'est de la pure 
spéculation", a également déclaré le porte-parole du MDC, le principal 
parti d'opposition.   (Libération, France, 14 janvier 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Exit plan for Mugabe -- wishful thinking?  -  13 January: 
Zimbabwe's ruling and opposition parties are considering proposals for 
President Robert Mugabe to step down. Two of the most powerful figures in 
Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party are allegedly involved in the plan which 
would allow a power-sharing government to address the country's famine and 
economic crisis. There is nothing new about suggestions from Harare that 
President Mugabe is about to step down. But there are some key differences 
this time. Firstly, the main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, said his 
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party will back the new plan -- 
including seeing Mr Mugabe granted immunity from prosecution for his 
alleged abuses of human rights. It is also reported that two top 
power-brokers from ZANU-PF are involved -- parliamentary speaker Emmerson 
Mnangagwa and the chief of staff of the armed forces, General Vitalis 
Zvinavashe. But perhaps most importantly, Zimbabwe's famine and economic 
crisis is worsening by the day. The crisis was sparked by Mr Mugabe's 
programme of land seizures, and has been compounded by poor rainfall. Later 
in the day, senior ZANU-PF officials deny the reports. 14 January: 
President Robert Mugabe has denied he has any intention of stepping down 
and fleeing Zimbabwe until his land reform programme is complete. Speaking 
on his return to Africa from a two-week holiday in Malaysia, Mr Mugabe said 
it would be foolish for him to leave office just months after he had been 
re-elected. "I am not retiring yet until this business is done [land 
reform]," he told reporters in neighbouring Zambia at a ceremony to honour 
their country's founding president Kenneth Kaunda.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 14 
January 2003)

Weekly anb0116.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)
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Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies 
(Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) *
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