Weekly ANB0925_07.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 25-09-2003      PART #7/7

* Uganda. Abducted children freed  -  23 September: The Ugandan army has 
rescued 149 children who were being held by the northern-based rebel Lord's 
Resistance Army (LRA). The army spokesman, Major Shaban Bantariza, says 
that in the week-long operation, 24 rebels were killed while the army lost 
three soldiers. "The children were abandoned by the rebels after army units 
closed in on them in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts," said Major 
Bantariza. He said that the children were in poor health --many were 
suffering from malaria and malnutrition and are now being cared for by 
local humanitarian organisations.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 23 September 2003)

* Ouganda. 3e mandat pour Museveni?  -  Le 23 septembre, le gouvernement 
ougandais a présenté une demande de modification de l'article de la 
Constitution qui limite à deux le nombre de mandats présidentiels. Ces 
derniers mois, de nombreux observateurs avaient noté l'intention du 
président Museveni de se présenter aux prochaines élections présidentielles 
prévues en 2006, en dépit de la charte constitutionnelle rédigée en 1995. 
Le gouvernement a aussi présenté un paquet de 88 amendements, prévoyant des 
modifications grâce auxquelles le président aurait la faculté de choisir le 
Parlement et de promulguer des décrets en matière d'investissements 
publics, environnement et santé. Y figure également la demande de retirer à 
l'Assemblée nationale la possibilité de rejeter d'éventuelles nominations 
ou démissions ministérielles. Des observateurs ont déjà mis en garde contre 
le risque de concentration du pouvoir aux mains du président 
Museveni.   (Misna, Italie, 24 septembre 2003)

* Zambia. Blow for ruling party  -  24 September: Defence Minister Michael 
Mabenga has lost his job and been stripped of his parliamentary seat after 
the Supreme Court annulled his election victory. The Supreme Court in 
Zambia delivered its final judgements on two cases outstanding from the 
country's controversial presidential and general elections nearly two years 
ago. After the elections in December 2001, which brought current President 
Levy Mwanawasa to power, the opposition launched a series of legal 
challenges to the results of both the presidential and parliamentary polls. 
Today's verdict is a major blow to Mr Mwanawasa's ruling Movement for 
Multi-party Democracy (MMD) party. The court upheld the complaints of the 
runner-up, Sikota Wina, of the opposition United Party for National 
Development (UPND).   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 24 September 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Restructuring ZANU-PF  -  Faced with the increasingly 
formidable challenge from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change 
(MDC), the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) 
has called for a restructuring process so as to pave the way for President 
Mugabe's exit. The election of new party officials (starting this month and 
ending in November) is designed to strengthen the party in time for the 
2005 parliamentary elections. A restructuring exercise was carried out only 
three years ago, but party chiefs want to replace local leaders before 
their term of office ends. There are rumours that Mr Mugabe has agreed to 
step down from the helm in December at ZANU-PF's conference.   (Stan Dongo, 
ANB-BIA, Zimbabwe, 12 September 2003)

* Zimbabwe. "The Daily News" -- Media reaction  -  The closure of 
Zimbabwe's leading independent newspaper The Daily News earlier this month 
set off a heated debate in the Zimbabwean press. In the rest of the region, 
however, the story went largely unnoticed. South Africa, where angry papers 
called for a drastic change of policy on Zimbabwe, was a notable exception. 
"So now we have no free daily paper," mourned Zimbabwe's opposition 
Financial Gazette. "Will Zimbabwe become... completely cut off from the 
outside world, with no news either coming in or going out? [The ruling] 
ZANU-PF would love that, so that they can carry out their acts without fear 
of exposure." The opposition weekly Standard said the Supreme Court's 
ruling, which found the paper in breach of controversial new media 
legislation, set a "dangerous" precedent. "It has not taken long for the 
enemies of the free press to pounce on The Daily News"" the paper said in 
an editorial headlined "Travesty of Justice". Zimbabwe's pro-government 
Herald, on the other hand, argued that the opposition paper was guilty of 
"wanton disregard for the laws of the country and got exactly what it 
deserved. It boggles the mind to think that a newspaper which purports to 
"tell it like it is" does not live up to its motto... but instead opts to 
paint a gory picture of a repressed people cowering before an omnipotent 
dictator who does not even allow people to speak their minds". In South 
Africa, Business Day argued that the media legislation was itself "intended 
to muzzle the private media". Kenya's Daily Nation -- one of the few 
African papers outside Zimbabwe and South Africa to comment on the closure 
of The Daily News, said: "South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki seems 
determined to split the Commonwealth along racist lines by insisting that 
President Robert Mugabe be invited to the club's December summit in 
Nigeria". In neighbouring Zambia, The Post said the closure of The Daily 
News was just another entry in Zimbabwe's sorry record of media 
oppression.   (BBC News, UK, 19 September 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Vice-President dies  -  20 September: Vice-President Simon 
Muzenda, a close ally of Robert Mugabe, has died in hospital after a long 
illness, the president has said. A sombre Mr Mugabe announced the news in a 
live broadcast on state television with "a heavy heart". "Vice President 
Muzenda... is and shall always remain a great revolutionary leader," he 
said. "He took it upon himself to join the struggle for the freedom of this 
country from British settler colonialism." Local media had reported in 
recent months that Mr Muzenda was ill, however the official Herald 
newspaper had dismissed reports that his condition was critical. He would 
have turned 81 next month.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 20 September 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Décès du vice-président  -  Le 20 septembre, le vice-président 
du Zimbabwe, Simon Muzenda, longtemps un des plus proches collaborateurs du 
président Mugabe, est décédé à l'âge de 80 ans, à la suite d'une longue 
maladie. Cette disparition ne devrait toutefois pas laisser un grand vide 
dans le pays. Ancien charpentier au caractère quelque peu bourru, Muzenda 
était considéré comme l'un des hommes politiques les moins cultivés du 
pays, mais avait été récompensé de sa fidélité par un poste de 
vice-président. Il faisait régulièrement l'objet de moqueries en raison de 
ses maladresses. Cependant, il s'était distingué dans le combat contre le 
pouvoir blanc britannique de Rhodésie et avait passé une grande partie de 
la décennie 1962-1972 derrière les barreaux. Il avait fui en Zambie, puis 
au Mozambique, avant de rejoindre Mugabe dans la réorganisation du parti 
ZANU (Union nationale africaine du Zimbabwe). Mugabe l'avait nommé 
vice-président en 1987.   (D'après AP, 21 septembre 2003)

* Zimbabwe. "The Legend of the Sky King"  -  A team of Zimbabweans has 
produced what they say is Africa's first full-length animated feature film, 
to international acclaim. "The Legend of the Sky Kingdom" was made in 
Harare on a minimal budget and pioneers a technique called "junkmation". 
The characters and sets in the film are made from discarded items such as 
car parts, tools, kitchen utensils, pipes and pieces of wood. The film took 
four years to make and has been chosen among the top five of 1,300 entries 
at the World Animation Festival in France. "It's a movie made out of junk, 
coming out of a country that is last in the alphabet and pretty much last 
in everything at the moment, made by a complete bunch of unknowns," said 
director Roger Hawkins. "Junkmation" was inspired by the ability that 
Zimbabwean craftsmen have to make pieces of art from wire, tin and other 
discarded items. Mr Hawkins said that the level of skill and natural 
ability that people have to recycle objects is a goldmine. "I thought if we 
could put this into a film we'd come up with something really unusual," he 
said. "We became junk purists, we invited friends to dump rubbish outside 
our studio and we had a "junk librarian" who sifted through it all." 
Fifteen people worked on "The Legend of the Sky Kingdom" in two studios, 
costing less than $1 million. The film is targeted at children, and has the 
theme "Seeing is believing." Three orphans escape the Underground City 
ruled by the Evil Emperor and go in search of the Sky Kingdom, facing many 
challenges along the way.   (BBC News, UK, 22 September 2003)

* Zimbabwe. "The Daily News" under attack  -  18 September: Zimbabwe's High 
Court has ordered the re-opening of the only independent daily newspaper in 
the country. The Daily News, which is critical of President Robert Mugabe, 
was shut by the government for breaking a new, stringent press law. The 
paper has not been published since 12 September, when it was closed down 
and riot police sealed off its premises. In its ruling, today, the High 
Court says police had no right "to prevent the applicant and its employees 
from gaining access to the premises of the applicant and carrying on its 
business". The court also said equipment seized in raids must also be 
returned to The Daily News. The paper's chief executive Samuel Nkomo 
welcomes the ruling. "I am anxious that we get back to work, and I am 
hoping to produce a newspaper tomorrow," he says. But acting Attorney 
General Bharat Patel says the government is going to appeal. The Zimbabwe 
state controls the country's two other daily papers and the single 
television and radio broadcast station. During the night, the police again 
shut down the newspaper's offices in defiance of the court order. 20 
September: Zimbabwean officials have blocked an attempt by The Daily News 
to resume publication. The paper had applied for a licence from the 
government-appointed Media and Information Commission. But the Commission 
ruled that the paper's publishers -- Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe 
(ANZ) -- had "failed to meet the requirements of the law". The paper had 
applied eight and a half months after the expiry of a government deadline 
for registration, the Commission ruled. The Daily News had also failed to 
supply the Commission with free copies of the paper, as required under the 
new media law, it said. 22 September: Four directors of The Daily News have 
been charged under strict media laws. Police have also raided the offices 
of The Daily News. Associated Newspapers group chief executive Sam Sipepa 
Moyo, and three others were questioned by police and then charged with 
illegally publishing a newspaper, says the company's legal spokesperson. 
ANZ's chief executive, Sam Sipepa Nkomo, has vowed to keep up the fight 
through the courts. The same day, Reporters sans Frontières says it is 
"outraged" at the news of the Media and Information Commission's unanimous 
decision to silence The Daily News. 23 September: Police say The Daily 
News's entire editorial staff are to be charged for working without 
accreditation. A police spokesman says the police also want to question the 
Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe's board chairman, Strive Masiyiwa, who 
lives in South Africa, "over his role in the illegal operation of the 
group".   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 23 September 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Presse indépendante muselée  -  Le jeudi 18 septembre, la Haute 
Cour de justice du Zimbabwe a ordonné la réouverture du Daily News, seul 
quotidien privé du pays. Sa fermeture avait été ordonnée le 12 septembre 
par le régime de Robert Mugabe. La Cour a également ordonné la restitution 
du matériel saisi par la police au siège du journal. Le gouvernement a 
annoncé son intention de poursuivre cette décision en appel. Depuis sa 
création, le Daily News et ses journalistes sont régulièrement harcelés par 
la police et les partisans de Mugabe. Début 2001, son imprimerie a été 
victime d'un attentat à la bombe dont les auteurs n'ont jamais été 
retrouvés. Mercredi dernier, une centaine d'activites et trois journalistes 
avaient été arrêtés à Harare, alors qu'ils manifestaient contre la 
fermeture du Daily News. - Le 19 septembre, le Daily News n'a pas pu 
reparaître. La police qui avait brièvement quitté les locaux du journal, le 
jeudi, et restitué une partie des ordinateurs, y est revenue et a empêché 
le personnel d'y entrer. - 21 septembre. La commission nationale des médias 
du Zimbabwe a refusé d'enregistrer le groupe de presse privé Associated 
Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), éditeur du Daily News. La Cour suprême avait 
ordonné à ANZ de s'inscrire auprès de cette autorité. Pour justifier son 
rejet de la demande d'inscription, la commission a soutenu que le groupe a 
violé les lois du pays sur la presse, dont le recrutement de journalistes 
non accrédités. -Mardi 23 septembre. Selon la police, les 45 journalistes 
du Daily News seront inculpés pour exercice illégal de leur métier. Ils 
risquent une suspension de leur permis de travail et une radiation du 
registre de la profession. 5 des 9 membres de la directiondu journal ont 
déjà été entendus lundi par la police et inculpés pour publication d'un 
journal sans autorisation.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 23 septembre 2003)

Weekly anb0925.txt - #7/7 - 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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