Weekly ANB0918_04.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 18-09-2003      PART #4/7

* Guinée. Lansana Conté candidat  -  Le 12 septembre, la Convention 
nationale du Parti de l'unité et du progrès (PUP, au pouvoir) a désigné le 
général Lansana Conté comme son candidat à la présidentielle du 14 décembre 
prochain. Cela fera grincer des dents au sein de l'opposition, qui a 
toujours soutenu que cette candidature serait illégale. En novembre 2001, 
la Constitution a été révisée, permettant à Conté de briguer un autre 
mandat au-delà des deux premiers. La candidature annoncée de Conté pose 
aussi problème en raison de son état de santé (il souffre de diabète aigu). 
Le chef de l'Etat ne participe plus aux conseils de ministres depuis 
décembre 2002.   (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 12 septembre 2003)

* Guinée-Bissau. L'armée reprend le pouvoir  -  Le dimanche 14 septembre au 
matin, les militaires se sont à nouveau emparés du pouvoir en 
Guinée-Bissau. Le putsch s'est apparemment déroulé sans violence. Le chef 
de l'état-major, le général Verissimo Seabra Correia, a annoncé qu'il 
assurerait la présidence du pays "par intérim". Un comité militaire a été 
mis en place jusqu'à la tenue d'élections générales, mais aucune date n'a 
été fixée. Le président démis, Kumba Yala, et son Premier ministre ont été 
placés en résidence surveillée. Des législatives, quatre fois reportées, 
devaient avoir lieu le 12 octobre, mais vendredi, la commission électorale 
avait fait savoir qu'elle n'était "techniquement" pas prête. Entre juin 
1998 et mai 1999, la Guinée-Bissau avait connu une crise politico-militaire 
qui l'a laissée exsangue. L'arrivée au pouvoir de Kumba Yala en janvier 
2000 avait soulevé un grand espoir, mais les promesses du gouvernement se 
sont vite perdues dans l'agitation sociale et les limogeages répétés de 
ministres. Les opposants accusaient Yala de favoriser son clan. Les ONG 
s'étaient récemment émues du départ forcé de hauts magistrats et du 
harcèlement dont était victime la presse indépendante. Les putschistes 
disent vouloir "préserver la démocratie". -Plusieurs pays de la région ont 
condamné le coup d'Etat. La CEDEAO a annoncé qu'elle enverra dans le pays 
une mission composée de ministres des Affaires étrangères. --15 septembre. 
Les putschistes ont entamé des consultations sur la façon de rétablir la 
démocratie. Les partis politiques et la société civile se sont empressés 
d'apporter leur soutien au nouveau régime. L'évêque catholique de Bissau a 
été nommé à la tête d'un comité chargé de proposer les premières mesures 
susceptibles de mener à la création d'un gouvernement de transition. Les 
soldats qui patrouillaient dimanche dans les rues, ont pratiquement disparu 
ce lundi. L'aéroport a été rouvert et la circulation a presque repris son 
cours normal dans la capitale. Une délégation de cinq pays de l'Afrique de 
l'Ouest a commencé des entretiens avec le général Seabra Correia. Elle a 
aussi rendu visite au chef d'Etat déchu, M. Yala, qui, selon le général 
Seabrea, est llbre de rester ou non dans le pays. -- 17 septembre. Le 
président Kumba Yala a accepté de quitter le pouvoir "dans l'intérêt 
supérieur de la nation, au nom de l'unité nationale et pour la paix", 
a-t-il annoncé ans une déclaration aux médias d'Etat. Plus tôt dans la 
journée, quelque 5.000 personnes avaient manifesté dans les rues de Bissau 
pour témoigner leur soutien aux putschistes. Ceux-ci se sont entendus avec 
la mission de la CEDEAO sur lee moyens de rétablir la démocratie dans le 
pays, déclarant qu'"ils n'avaient aucune envie de rester en place et 
partiraient au plus vite".   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 17 septembre 2003)

* Guinea-Bissau. Coup d'etat  -  14 September: General Verissimo Correia 
Seabre has declared himself president of Guinea-Bissau after seizing power 
in a coup. The army chief of staff says he will remain leader until 
elections are organised in the West African state. Soldiers have announced 
they are setting up a transitional government to include "all national 
political orientations". They are holding President Kumba Yalla in 
detention, although they have promised to release him later. A curfew is 
imposed during the night in the capital, Bissau, with soldiers patrolling 
the streets, but the city is reported to be calm. All government ministers 
have been ordered to report to a public building in the capital of the 
former Portuguese colony. President Yalla dissolved the government last 
November, promising new elections but they have been postponed four times 
since. The coup came at dawn, following an announcement on 13 September 
that the president would have to cancel them again. Radio stations 
broadcast a message from the army saying it had seized power because 
President Yalla had failed to resolve the country's problems. "I am going 
to assume the presidency of the republic until there are elections," 
General Seabre told Portuguese state television. "As a person, I have 
nothing against Kumba Yalla," he said. "He can stay in Guinea-Bissau as 
well as leave the country." The fate of Prime Minister Mario Pires, who is 
in the south of the country, was not clear with reports that the army was 
seeking to detain him. Portugal condemned the coup and called on the army 
to allow long-delayed elections to go forward in its former colony. -- The 
coup makers name a 25-member Military Ruling Council for the Restoration of 
Constitutional Democratic Order (CMROD). -- ECOWAS is sending a 
fact-finding mission to Guinea-Bissau. -- The Nigerian Govt. calls on the 
military in Guinea-Bissau to immediately "reconsider the overthrow of 
President Yalla and to return the country to constitutional order". 15 
September: Bissau is reported to be calm with traffic returning to the 
streets. Soldiers have been heading back to their barracks and the 
international airport is expected to re-open soon. General Seabre is 
holding talks with political parties and other groups. 16 September: 
Guinea-Bissau's President, Kumba Yalla, will not be allowed to return to 
office. Commander Zamora Induta, a spokesman for coup leader General 
Verissimo Correia Seabre, said that visiting West African envoys are 
"putting pressure on us to let him come back. But it's out of the question. 
It's irreversible". The army says that Mr Alley will remain under house 
arrest until a new transitional government takes over which could be within 
days. West African officials led by Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh 
Tidiane Gadio had held talks 15-16 September with members of the military 
committee which is now running the country. At an earlier meeting between 
the military and members of political parties, civil society and the 
judiciary, Archbishop Camnate Na Bsim was appointed to head a team and 
given 48 hours to draw up a plan for Guinea-Bissau's transition. This is 
intended to lead to the establishment of an interim government which can 
guide the country to elections. 17 September: MISNA reports that ECOWAS has 
managed to negotiate an agreement between the military junta and the 
toppled President, Kumba Yalla. Mediators have persuaded the Head of State 
to read out a letter of resignation. In a recorded resignation speech, Mr 
Yalla says he is resigning "in the name of national unity, and in the 
interest of resolving our problems peacefully".   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 17 
September 2003)

* Kenya. Moi resigns as party chairman  -  Former president Daniel arap Moi 
of Kenya has relinquished the chairmanship of the former ruling party but 
has shocked many by failing to name a successor. Mr Moi made the 
announcement today at a meeting attended by all the MPs of Kenya's official 
opposition party, the Kenya African National Union (Kanu). Mr Moi is now 
expected to dedicate more of his time to the Moi Foundation, whose main aim 
is broker regional peace. Mr Moi astounded party followers gathered outside 
the meeting's venue by not naming a successor. Kanu ruled Kenya from 
independence in 1963 to 2002 when it lost in hotly contested general 
elections to an opposition alliance led by Mwai Kibaki -- the current 
president. Since the December 2002 vote, many of the party functions have 
been overseen by Uhuru Kenyatta. Mr Kenyatta is one of Kanu's two 
vice-chairmen and was Mr Moi's controversial choice to be the party's 
presidential candidate. The party has been hit by internal wrangling in 
recent days and this is probably why Mr Moi failed to name Mr Kenyatta as 
his successor, preferring instead to wait until party elections are held. A 
section of MP's from Mr Moi's Rift Valley province is said to be opposed to 
Mr Kenyatta taking over from Mr Moi. Prior to the 2002 elections a number 
of influential Kanu officials, including several former cabinet ministers 
in Mr Moi's government, quit the party after Mr Moi chose Mr Kenyatta as 
his successor.   (BBC News, UK, 11 September 2003)

* Kenya. Départ d'Arap Moi  -  Le 11 septembre, l'ex-chef d'Etat du Kenya, 
Daniel arap Moi, a abandonné la charge de président de la KANU (Kenya 
African National Union), le parti qui a conduit le pays de 1963 à 2002. 
Mais à la grande surprise de tous, il n'a pas nommé de successeur. 
L'absence d'indication quant à un possible successeur à la direction du 
parti aurait pour origine, selon certaines sources, des divisions qui se 
sont créées au sein de la KANU. Aux élections de décembre 2002, Uhuru 
Kenyatta, le "dauphin" choisi par M. Moi comme candidat à la présidence, a 
connu un échec face à Mwai Kibaki, l'actuel chef d'Etat. Kenyatta semble ne 
pas être apprécié par une partie de sa propre coalition politique. Son 
choix pour les présidentielles avait déjà provoqué un exode des cadres de 
la KANU, dont certains sont passés dans le camp adverse et siègent 
aujourd'hui dans le gouvernement de Kibaki.   (Misna, Italie, 11 septembre 
2003)

* Kenya. Key official in Constitutional Review Talks shot dead  -  On 14 
September, Dr. Odhiambo Mbai, chairman of the Devolution Committee of the 
National Constitutional Conference, was killed in an attack at his Nairobi 
home. The raid was described as an "assassination" by minister Raila 
Odinga, who was among the first to arrive at Nairobi Hospital, where Dr 
Mbai was taken by neighbours. A shocked Constitutional Review chairman, 
Professor Yash Pal Ghai, also said he suspected the killers were hired 
gunmen. "The Committee had made great progress and it is possible that 
there were some people who were not happy with its work and wanted to slow 
it down", he told The Nation.   (The Nation, Kenya, 15 September 2003)

* Lesotho. Culture undermines efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS  -  Social and 
cultural norms and traditions in Lesotho are hampering efforts to combat 
the rising HIV/AIDS epidemic, government officials told IRIN. Mathoriso 
Monaheng, Director of Administration at the Lesotho AIDS Programme 
Co-ordinating Agency (LAPCA), said the first case of HIV/AIDS was detected 
in Lesotho in 1986, when "a medical practitioner from East Africa, working 
in the Mokhotlong district, about 8 hours drive from [the capital] Maseru," 
was diagnosed as HIV-positive. "As a result, everybody concluded that it 
was a disease for the foreigner. It was perceived to be a disease for 
Makwerekwere [a derogative term for foreign Africans]." Ignorance about 
HIV/AIDS has been a major stumbling block for efforts at halting the spread 
of the disease, she said. Monaheng used as an example of this the belief 
among some that condom's were responsible for the spread of the disease. 
The government has committed itself to disbursing 2 percent of its budget 
-- an estimated Maloti 53.2 million (about US $5.6 million) -- to various 
ministries for their HIV programmes in a bid to improve knowledge of the 
disease and boost prevention efforts.   (IRIN, Kenya, 16 September 2003)

* Liberia. The challenge of rebuilding  -  Inside Liberia's parliament, the 
large chamber used for joint sittings of the upper and lower houses is a 
wreck. Only a handful of yellow chairs remain fixed in rows, on strips of 
red carpet. The other 150 or so seats have been ripped from their moorings 
and scattered over the auditorium's bare floor, the victims of nocturnal 
theft and destruction thought likely to have been carried out by forces 
loyal to Charles Taylor, the departed president. The damage highlights the 
challenge facing the transitional government that is due to take office 
next month with the job of rebuilding a country whose institutions have 
been all but destroyed by tyranny and conflict. "I don't think that the 
task is impossible," says Jacques Paul Klein, special representative of the 
United Nations secretary-general in Liberia. "We have a limited population, 
we have resources here -- we have to find out, however, who owns them." For 
him the question is: "How quickly can we generate international investment 
and employment for the population in a country that has really been totally 
destroyed over the past 14 years?" The government of Mr Taylor, a former 
warlord who last month bowed to international pressure and went into exile, 
is widely seen as having left a legacy of corruption and waste. Among the 
documents scattered in the corridors and side-rooms of the looted 
parliament is the annual report for last year of the ministry of state for 
presidential affairs, with details of how the department spent its budget 
for 2002-03. The department's staff of 1,261 included a 127-member choir 
while the Executive Air-Wing is reported to have taken delivery of five 
helicopters, with Ukrainian pilots and engineers.   (Financial Times, UK, 
16 September 2003)

* Liberia. Annan urges UN force  -  16 September: The United Nations 
Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has proposed that a force of 15,000 UN 
peacekeepers be sent to Liberia. The Security Council is due to consider 
the proposal later today. The force would begin to be deployed at the start 
of October but would not be expected to reach full strength until next 
year. In a report to the Security Council, Mr Annan said one of the most 
important tasks would be the disarmament of armed groups, including child 
soldiers. Mr Annan is clearly aware of the scale of the task a UN 
peacekeeping force will face once it is operational in Liberia. For that 
reason he is proposing a force which would operate under a Chapter Seven 
mandate -- a technical term that would give them the most robust mode of 
operation available under the UN charter. In his report to the UN Security 
Council, Mr Annan says that despite positive political developments in the 
Liberian capital, Monrovia, the country as a whole remains highly unstable. 
More than 30,000 members of militia groups, armed forces and paramilitary 
personnel are still active in the countryside. Among these are large 
numbers of child soldiers. Mr Annan says that the disarmament and 
demobilisation of these armed groups is one of the greatest challenges in 
Liberia. While UN agencies working in co-ordination with peacekeepers will 
be expected to assist in this task Mr Annan says that, ultimately, the 
success or failure of the disarmament and demobilisation process rests in 
the hands of the warring parties themselves.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 16 
September 2003)

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