Burundi: En bref ce 28 MAI 2006 ...

Burundi : Les douanes à l’heure d’internet

Jérémie Kaburundi, correspondant
Date de parution : dimanche 28 mai 2006.

BUJUMBURA, 28 mai (Infosplusgabon) - L’administration burundaise des douanes est dirigée depuis novembre 2005 par Mme Justine Semondo. Avec l’avènement des nouvelles technologies de la communication, les déclarations en ligne en douane font leurs entrées dans les services, ce qui constitue une avancée importante, alors que les secteurs de la douane et des impôts sont gagnés par la corruption.
Auparavant, l’importateur faisait sa déclaration de douane auprès d’un receveur des douanes à l’un des dix postes qui composent la carte douanière du pays. Un débat avait permis d’envisager la réduction des quantités des marchandises déclarées, ce qui faussait les déclarations.

Or actuellement, l’opérateur désigné par l’Etat pour vérifier les déclarations des marchandises des opérateurs économiques n’aura plus à se déplacer vers le bureau du receveur. L’opérateur a le choix aujourd’hui entre faire sa déclaration sur Internet ou alors confier cette opération à une agence en douanes laquelle le fera aussi en ligne.

Pour ne pas perdre de l’argent, l’Etat a signé un contrat avec la Société générale d’expertise et de surveillance (SGES) qui possède les pleins pouvoirs et la capacité technique de vérifier la nature et la quantité des marchandises.

Alors que cette nouvelle mesure enchante certains commerçants, d’autres la regrettent comme cet importateur qui a déclaré que « cette technologie vient mettre un terme à notre dialogue avec les douaniers qui étaient devenus nos amis ».

Cette constatation est reprise par un douanier qui pense que « ce système est impersonnel et les machines ne tarderont pas à tomber en panne (...), ce qui pourrait occasionner des pertes pour l’Etat ».

Ce propos, même s’il cache mal une frustration ne manque pas d’intérêt dans un pays où on pratique le délestage électrique. Sur les dix postes de douanes, il n’y a que ceux de l’aéroport international et du port national de Bujumbura qui sont connectés en permanence sur le réseau Internet. Pour les autres postes, on a encore recours au système de batteries et de téléphonie qui sont incompatibles avec internet.

Le bilan de Mme Semondo est positif comme le témoigne l’augmentation des recettes depuis son arrivée. Elle collecte 8 milliards de francs bu soit 4 milliards de FCFA par mois alors que les recettes trimestrielles avant son affectation à ce poste n’atteignaient pas ce montant.

La clé de sa réussite réside dans sa connaissance du milieu car au bout de 20 ans de service, elle a pu circonscrire les circuits de la fraude douanière.

De son côté, le ministère des Télécommunications a sollicité l’exonération des équipements informatiques destinés à faciliter la déclaration en ligne. Une période transitoire de trois mois a été accordée aux déclarants et aux autres postes de douanes pour se mettre en conformité avec la nouvelle loi qui pourrait être généralisée, lors de l’exercice fiscale 2007. FIN/IPG/JRM/2006

Pourparlers de Paix : Les équipes sont en place, il ne reste plus que le coup de sifflet.
dimanche 28 mai 2006. http://www.burundi-info.com

La délégation gouvernementale chargée de négocier avec le Palipehutu-Fnl est arrivée à Dar-es-Salaam, la capitale tanzanienne, ce samedi 27 mai 2006 en fin d’après midi.

Dirigée par le Général de Brigade Evariste Ndayishimiye, actuel ministre de l’Intérieur et de la Sécurité Publique, cette délégation est composée de onze personnes au total : Ambassadeur Salvator Ntacobamaze, Chef du Protocole d’Etat ; Général de Brigade Lazare Nduwayo, Conseiller Principal à la Première Vice-Présidence de la République ; Melchiade Nzophabarushe, Chef de Cabinet Adjoint à la Présidence de la République ; Madame Anatolie Muzakare, Conseiller Juridique à la Première Vice-Présidence de la République ; Ambassadeur Jérémie Ngendakumana, Ambassadeur du Burundi au Kenya ; Colonel Pierre Claver Gahungu et le Colonel Léonard Ngendakumana tous deux de la Police Nationale du Burundi ; Colonel Etienne Ntakarutimana et Colonel Bernard Bandonkeye, tous deux de la Force de Défense Nationale ainsi que Willy Nyamitwe, Conseiller Presse & Communication à la Présidence de la République.

Dans la délégation du Palipehutu-Fnl Rwasa, d’après une source proche de ce mouvement, on note entre autres la présence de Rwasa Agathon lui-même, Méthuselah Nikobamye (Pasteur Habimana) son porte-parole, Sixbert Musavyimana (Ibrahim Ntakarutimana) et Rubin.

Le facilitateur sud-africain, M. Charles Nqakula et sa délégation sont arrivés ce dimanche matin (28 mai) à Dar-es-Salaam. Les activités débuteront ce lundi 29 mai 2006 à 9h00’ Heure de Bujumbura.

Cinq pays africains bénéficent de deux projets agricoles financés par l'Italie

2006-05-28 ROME, 28 mai (XINHUA) -- Deux nouveaux projets de développement agricole d'une valeur de 4,5 millions de dollars, financés par l'Italie, doivent améliorer la sécurité alimentaire dans cinq pays de l'Afrique orientale et australe, selon un communiqué de la FAO publié sur son site internet.

Ces deux projets, dont les bénéficiaires sont le Burundi, le Malawi, l'Ouganda, le Rwanda et la Zambie, s'inscrivent dans le cadre du "Fonds fiduciaire pour la sécurité alimentaire" de la FAO et visent à moderniser les systèmes agricoles et, surtout, à offrir des débouchés à une agriculture traditionnellement de subsistance.

Le Fonds fiduciaire pour la sécurité alimentaire a été lancé par le directeur général de la FAO, Jacques Diouf, en 2001 dans le cadre du suivi du Sommet mondial de l'alimentation en vue de relancer le combat contre la faim dans le monde.

Les cinq pays bénéficaires de ces deux projets, en dépit de leurs spécificités nationales respectives, partagent des traits communs, a indiqué la FAO. L'agriculture y est le secteur dominant et fournit, pour certains d'entre eux, notamment le Burundi et le Rwanda, jusqu'à 90 % des emplois.

Le premier projet, d'une valeur de 3 millions de dollars, sera réalisé dans les districts frontaliers séparant trois pays dans la région des Grands Lacs: Burundi, Ouganda et Rwanda. Il vise à renforcer la coopération entre ces trois pays.

L'irrigation y étant limitée, le projet encouragera la gestion efficace des ressources en eau disponibles et renforcera les petites organisations paysannes grâce à des cours de formation et à des "écoles champêtres".

Faible taux d`accouchements assistés au Burundi

Bujumbura, Burundi, 28/05 - ANGOP - Le taux d`accouchements assistés ne dépasserait pas les 24 pour cent au Burundi du fait de la tradition ancestrale ou par manque de moyens financiers quand ce n`est pas l`éloignement des structures sanitaires compétentes qui maintient à domicile les futures mères, constate le bureau local du Comité international de la Croix rouge (CICR) dans un communiqué parvenu vendredi à la PANA.

Les accouchements à domicile compteraient par ailleurs parmi les principales causes de mortalité maternelle et infantile dans le pays, selon la même source.

Le CICR dit avoir dénombré 24 décès de nouveau-nés entre les mains des accoucheuses traditionnelles dans cinq sites que l`organisation humanitaire a encadrés durant le premier trimestre de l`année 2006.

La cause principale de ces décès serait liée à la souffrance fotale due à un travail prolongé et non surveillé, affirme encore le communiqué du CICR.

Pour toutes ces raisons, le CICR a initié un projet de santé maternelle et infantile qui cible principalement la formation continue des accoucheuses traditionnelles (AT).

Le CICR a également recruté une sage femme qui organise sur une base hebdomadaire, un programme de formation des AT essentiellement consacré aux soins obstétricaux, à ceux des nouveau-nés, au planning familial et à la sensibilisation contre le VIH/SIDA.

De Janvier à mars 2006, les AT ont dirigé 718 accouchements dans les cinq sites du pays supervisés par le CICR, poursuit le communiqué.

Le CICR rappelle qu`une AT au Burundi est souvent une maman âgée entre 30 et 70 ans et qui dirige les accouchements à domicile ou accompagne les femmes enceintes à l`hôpital.

L`AT est aussi une personne très influente, bien acceptée dans la communauté et qui sert souvent de vecteur principal des informations sanitaires dans le milieu rural.

Tripartite Peace Process Tackles Tough Issues at Kigali Meeting
Intelligence sharing and sanctions on rebels are chief topics
By Jim Fisher-Thompson, Washington File Correspondent

26 May 2006 -- Kigali, Rwanda -- Four Great Lakes nations in Africa continue to grapple with rebel forces that plague the region as the 14th session of a two-year-old subregional conflict-resolution process called the Tripartite peace talks got under way May 26.

The chief U.S. facilitator of the two-day meeting in Kigali, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Donald Yamamoto addressed delegates from Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda.

Representatives from the United Nations and U.N. Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) also attended.

“This process is your effort -- an affirmation of the efforts and commitment by your countries to work together, coordinate and cooperate in addressing the fundamental problems afflicting all of you,” particularly the problem of rebel forces, Yamamoto told the delegates. (See related article.)

The talks are taking place just one month before national elections in DRC, whose eastern Congo region has been the scene of rebel and militia activity that has spilled over into neighboring countries. Uganda and Burundi also are grappling with violence by rebels operating mainly in rural areas.

The Tripartite process, kick-started in 2004 by then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, became the “Tripartite Plus” after a fourth nation, Burundi, joined the talks. A Tripartite Plus Joint Commission (TJC) was established at the highest ministerial level with a number of subcommissions charged with examining issues like security and diplomatic relations.

SHARING INFORMATION ON REBEL GROUPS

The session in Kigali -– sitting as the Subcommission on Security and Defense -– is meeting to discuss recommendations made in January by a group called the Kinshasa Security Experts on how to improve information sharing on rebel movements and activities.

The subcommission also will discuss how to develop a formal system to process legal sanctions against rebels and arms traffickers.

Yamamoto told delegates the talks were at a “very critical point.” At issue is whether confidence-building measures that the Tripartite has fostered over two years are strong enough to allow parties to move forward on complicated issues like improving information gathering, processing and sharing through the “Tripartite Fusion Cell,” a data clearinghouse that the TJC operates in eastern Congo.

The other major issue on the Tripartite agenda -– implementing legal sanctions against warlords and arms traffickers -– also is challenging because it involves international law. Countries will have to agree on issues such as drawing up a "most wanted" list, sharing data for sanctions on travel and assets, and establishing procedures for arrest and extradition.

Yamamoto was optimistic about the Tripartite’s ability to work through any problems. “[T]he example of cooperation you have shown thus far to date has been exemplary and a model for other areas” dealing with conflict, he told the delegates.

AFRICAN ENVOYS UNDERSCORE IMPORTANCE OF TALKS

As host of the meeting, Rwandan Special Presidential Envoy for the Great Lakes Region Richard Sezibera told delegates, “We have come a long way since this process began, I want to thank the United States as the facilitator [of the Tripartite process] and welcome their continued support.”

Burundi, which recently held national elections but whose government is still battling rebels who refuse to join peace talks, was represented at the meeting by Colonel Godefroid Niyombari, deputy army chief of staff.

He told the gathering it was especially important now to counter “armed groups that have sown death and destruction in our subregion so that elections about to take place in Congo [DRC] can take place in security.”

The Ugandan representative, Dennis Kamugisha of the External Security Organization, whose country is battling a rural insurgency by a group called the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), also thanked the United States for its help. “We attach great importance to this [Tripartite] process,” he added.

The DRC representative, Mbadu Khonde of the diplomatic office of the presidency, reminded the delegates: “We are all here for a shared objective: To make this region a better area for the development of our people.”

For additional information on U.S. policies in the region and Deputy Assistant Secretary Yamamoto's trip to the Great Lakes area, see Africa.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Ban Feels 'Sense of Duty' in Rwanda
05-28-2006 By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon, left, shakes hands with Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the presidential office in Kigali, the capital of the east-central African country, Saturday. /Yonhap
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon arrived in Rwanda on Saturday on the second leg of his three-nation tour in Africa where he expressed a ``sense of duty'' to make the United Nations work better in the future.
He became the first South Korean Cabinet minister to visit the central African nation, the ministry in Seoul said on Sunday.

Before holding a dialogue with his Rwandan counterpart Charles Murigande, Ban visited the Kigali Memorial Center, located in the country's capital, to pay tribute to the victims of the 1994 genocide.

Answering a question from a Rwandan journalist, Ban said at the memorial site that he feels a ``sense of duty'' as a candidate for the U.N.'s top post to address ``international issues'' in a more efficient and effective way.

Ban declared his candidacy for U.N. secretary-general in February.

After the visit, he held talks with Murigande over measures to enhance bilateral cooperation. The Korean minister highly estimated Rwanda's peace building efforts and explained Seoul's ``Africa Initiative,'' a foreign ministry official said.

During President Roh Moo-hyun's visit to Nigeria on March 10, Roh announced that Seoul would triple its Official Development Assistance (ODA) bound for Africa to around $100 million by 2008.

The Rwandan minister asked for Seoul's help in developing its manpower and IT industry, saying his government has taken South Korea as a role model for economic development, the ministry official said.

Murigande said his country has been transformed into the ``safest'' country in Africa from the rubble of the 1994 genocide that resulted in the deaths of up to 1 million people.

After finishing his tour to Tanzania, Rwanda and South Africa, Ban will travel to New York on May 31 where he plans to attend a U.N. consultation session on HIV/AIDS, and to Washington where he will meet with his U.S. counterpart, Condoleezza Rice.

He returns to Seoul on June 4.

Rwanda: 1500 light firearms to be blazed out

May 28, 2006 - Source: New Times - By Andnetwork .com

The government is to set ablaze over 1,500 light arms and ammunition in Ruhango district, Southern Province on June 9, the Deputy Commissioner General of Police, Mary Gahonzire, has said.

T Gahonzire was speaking during a joint government-civil society meeting on the UN Programme of Action Review conference at the Hotel des Mille Collines, said the government is aware of the dangers of small fire arms, especially when in possession of wrong hands.

Gahonzire, who is also the Coordinator of the Rwanda National Focal Point on small arms and light weapons, expressed the government’s total commitment to get rid of small arms.

“As a government in charge of maintaining of law and order and ensuring sustainable stability in the region, we are taking bold steps to destroy all firearms. We have created public awareness campaigns on the dangers of small arms and light weapons; we have integrated civil society organizations working in Rwanda and recovered illegal weapons through community policing,” she said at the meeting that was part of activities to mark the week of action to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons.

The meeting also aimed at preparing ground for the United Nations Review Conference on Small Arms to be held from June 26 to July 7 in New York. She revealed that, according to global security statistics, at least one person is killed every minute by small arms.

“Over sixty percent of all small arms in the world are owned by civilians. This is the highest compared to what is in possession of the police and army,” Gahonzire added.

The DCG said Ruhango was selected because it has a high prevalence of small arms and light weapons. Police sources also say that Southern Province has the highest number of robbery cases in the country. This is the second time arms are being set ablaze, with the first having been carried out in April last year in Mushya in Eastern Province, where 261 tonnes of weapons were destroyed.

The destructions of the weapons will coincide with the sixth anniversary celebrations of the Nairobi Declaration on Small Arms and Light Weapons. The conference, which was organized by South African Institute of Security Studies and Safer Rwanda, a civil society organisation that deals with the problem of the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Rwanda, was attended by various stakeholders.

The Rwanda National Focal Point was established in 2000 and was officially inaugurated in March 2003. It is composed of key government ministries and departments that include the ministries of Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Justice, and Finance. Other institutions are the Rwanda National Police, Immigration Department, civil society organizations and Safer Rwanda.

UGANDA

Uganda: Kony earns US$20 000 gift from Sudanese SPLM

May 28, 2006, Source : Monitor By Andnetwork .com

Uganda is bitter over the $20,000 (Shs36 million) gift the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army recently gave Lord’s Resistance Army chief Joseph Kony as a goodwill gesture.

Uganda fears that Kony could use the money to rearm, plan and launch more atrocities against Ugandans as he has done in the past 20 years in which hundreds in northern Uganda have died, thousands maimed and 1.5 million displaced into camps.

President Museveni was the first to raise the protest during a meeting he held with the SPLM/A leader and Sudan First Vice-President Salva Kiir in Kampala on May 13, sources said yesterday.

But Mr Henry Okello Oryem, a nominated minister and former minister of state for International Relations, downplayed Uganda’s protest.
“As far as we are concerned these people [LRA] are like on a holiday,” he said. “Our view was that before they are given the money, there should have been deeper discussions...the LRA should have given an irreversible commitment that they are ready for the talks.

“The SPLA gave an explanation which we felt was genuine...that Southern Sudan needs peace so to give Kony money was in good faith.”

Daily Monitor on Thursday published a photo on its front page of Kony receiving a brown envelope containing $20,000 from Mr Kiir’s deputy, Riek Machar, at a meeting they held on April 11 somewhere in Southern Sudan.

Dr Machar said at the meeting that the money was from Kiir to facilitate Kony buy food and not arms.

If Kony does not follow the gentleman’s agreement he reached with Machar, he can use the $20,000 in his pocket to buy 40 Sub-Machine Guns on the black market, enough to energise his shrinking rag-tag band of fighters. In some bush markets in Southern Sudan, for $100 apiece, he can buy 200 used SMGs.

However, a Geneva-based international negotiator is angry about the leakage of the details of the meeting to the media saying it was going to reduce Kony’s confidence in the process towards peace talks. The negotiator claims that Kony did not know he was being secretly filmed and that the pictures would be splashed in the media all over the world.

The other problem is that of the International Criminal Court which in September last year indicted Kony and four other top LRA commanders for crimes against humanity. The Hague-based court is unhappy that Uganda is negotiating an amnesty for the LRA leaders when the indictment is on.

The Museveni government has given Kony up to the end of July to make peace in return for possible immunity from prosecution. Unofficially, Ugandan officials argue that even international court proceedings can be put aside to enable a national peace process to take place.

As the diplomatic efforts continue, Uganda is involved in negotiations with several players in the Great Lakes on how to rout the LRA now encamped in Garamba National Park in the northeast of the DR Congo.

During his swearing-in ceremony on May 12, Mr Museveni called on regional powers to join hands to resolve the Kony rebellion. “Some of these issues are not as difficult to resolve as they appear,” the President said.

“The region, working with Burundi political parties, successfully resolved the issue of Burundi that had been paraded around as unsolvable. IGAD contributed decisively to the solution of the problem of Southern Sudan. The region had, earlier on, singly solved the problem of Idi Amin and stopped the genocide in Rwanda.”

The Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, and the Chief of Military Intelligence, Col. Leo Kyanda, on Friday returned from the DR Congo after a bilateral meeting over Kony.

As Aronda and Kyanda were talking in Kinshasa, another regional meeting was simultaneously going on in Kigali where dissidents operating out of DR Congo, including Kony, were on the agenda. The Kigali meeting was expected to end by close of the weekend.

Another security meeting was being planned in the Sudan in which Kony has been invited. Earlier reports indicated that this last one had already taken place in Juba, Southern Sudan on Thursday but the Director General External Security, Mr Maku’Iga Angalefo, said he doubted that such a meeting took place.

But these meetings are not a surprise to many observers of the northern Uganda conflict and the Great Lakes generally.

On May 16, Dr Jendayi Frazer, America’s top diplomat on Africa, spoke confidently about solving the Kony menace this year.

“There’s this nasty little group called the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda which is just creating havoc, killing kids, kidnapping people and we have to take care of that problem, and we need to work together to do so,” Frazer told a gathering at the Chatham House think-tank in London.

To drive the point home, the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs said: “Certainly it’s going to be a priority of President Bush’s administration to get rid of the LRA before the end of this year, if we can.”

On the same day President Museveni told British Overseas Development Minister Hillary Benn that Uganda and Southern Sudan had given Kony up to the end of July to end hostilities.

A statement from the British High Commission quoted Mr Benn as saying: “We agreed that there must be regional co-operation to tackle the threat of LRA, which would be helped by the appointment of a special UN envoy for the region.”

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