BURUNDI :
RWANDA
André Flahaut en visite à Kigali
30-4-2006 www.rtl.be
Le ministre belge de la Défense, effectuait hier une visite de quelques
heures à Kigali pour honorer la mémoire des victimes du génocide de 1994. A
la tête d'une petite délégation, André Flahaut s'est d'abord rendu au
mémorial national de Gisozi, dans la banlieue de Kigali, ou reposent les
restes de 250.000 victimes de ce génocide, qui a fait, selon l'ONU, quelque
800.000 morts. Il était accompagné Martine Dabatty, la sœur de l'un des dix
para-commandos de Flawinne. Tous se sont rendus dans l'après-midi au camp
Kigali, cette ancienne caserne de l'armée rwandaise où les dix Casques bleus
belges ont été massacrés.
M. Flahaut a également rencontré durant plus d'une
heure le Premier ministre rwandais Bernard Makuza, qui s'est étonné de
l'attitude des autorités belges le 6 avril dernier, lorsque des Rwandais
avaient manifesté à Woluwe-Saint-Pierre devant le monument dédié aux
victimes du génocide. "Il est révoltant que l'on continue à nier le
génocide" rwandais, a commenté le ministre belge, qui avait déjà condamné la
tenue de cette manifestation ainsi la présence sur les lieux de l'ancien
numéro deux de la MINUAR, le colonel (désormais en retraite) Luc Marchal. M.
Flahaut a promis de prendre contact avec son collègue de l'Intérieur,
Patrick Dewael, pour tenter d'éviter une répétition d'une telle
manifestation révisionniste.
La visite d'André Flahaut est la première d'un membre du gouvernement
fédéral au Rwanda depuis l'incident créé par l'immobilisation durant trois
jours d'un avion de la compagnie belge SN Brussels Airlines (SNBA) sur
l'aéroport de Kigali en février, pour des raisons qui demeurent assez
obscures mais qui avait tendu les relations entre les deux pays.
RWANDA : 200
000 judges for genocide cases when Gacaca courts re-open
April 30, 2006 - Source : New Times - By
Andnetwork .com
The Gacaca courts will begin hearing cases at the beginning of the next
month, the head of the Legal Department of the National Service of the
Gacaca Jurisdictions (SNJG), has said.
“We decided to continue with the sensitisation of the local authorities on
the safety of the witnesses and survivors of the genocide. We now plan to
start on May 3. But it is not yet definite,” Augustin Nkusi said.
The traditional Gacaca courts have the jurisdiction to try persons suspected
of participating in the 1994 genocide, in which close to one million
Rwandans were killed.
Less than 10% (10,000) of all the traditional Gacaca courts are still in the
phase of legal proceedings since March 2005, while others are still in
preliminary investigations phase.
The Gacaca courts were established three years ago to expedite the hearing
of the backlog of cases, and to support the process of national
reconciliation. The judges (Inyangamugayo) were elected from among the local
communities.
More than 10,000 Gacaca courts, run by about 200,000 judges, shall be at
work when the legal proceedings start next month.
UGANDA
WFP plane missing in Congo found crashed in Uganda
KINSHASA, April 30 (Reuters) - A light aircraft chartered by the U.N. World
Food Programme (WFP) that went missing in eastern Congo has been found
crashed in the mountains of neighbouring Uganda, U.N. sources said on
Sunday.
A search and rescue operation was launched on Friday when contact was lost
with the plane, which was flying from Goma, a town close to the Rwandan and
Ugandan borders, to Bunia, with three people on board.
"The plane has been spotted but it is in Uganda ... It is high up in the
Ruwenzori mountains near a place called Kassese," a U.N. source told
Reuters. The Ruwenzori mountains are close to the Congolese border.
TANZANIE:
CONGO RDC
:
Elections le
30 juillet en RDC pour la 1e fois depuis 40 ans
REUTERS | 30.04.06
KINSHASA (Reuters) - Des élections présidentielle et législatives auront
lieu le 30 juillet prochain en République démocratique du Congo (RDC), où il
s'agira des premiers scrutins pluralistes depuis plus de quarante ans,
annonce la commission électorale.
"La Commission électorale indépendante (CEI) publie le calendrier (...) du
premier tour de l'élection présidentielle et des élections législatives à
l'assemblée nationale, qui seront organisées le 30 juillet 2006", dit un
communiqué de la CEI.
Ces élections avaient été retardées à plusieurs reprises par des difficultés
logistiques, des querelles politiques et des violences. Elles sont censées
tourner définitivement la page de la guerre civile, qui s'est achevée en
2003 après cinq années de violences en ayant fait près de quatre millions de
morts et impliqué six pays voisins.
POLITIQUE-RDC
: Les Congolais rassurés et inquiets à la fois pour la période
post-électorale
Juakali Kambale
KINSHASA, 29 avr (IPS) - La question de la sécurisation des élections
préoccupe les Congolais à quelques semaines des scrutins prévus vers
juillet. En fait, tous les citoyens de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC)
espèrent voir les élections se dérouler dans les meilleures conditions de
sécurité possibles.
Le calendrier électoral de la RDC a été modifié suite au retard pris dans
les opérations d'enregistrement des candidatures aux différents postes
politiques. Initialement fixée au 18 juin 2006, la nouvelle date du premier
scrutin attend la publication de la liste officielle des candidats aux
législatives, mais on parle de début-juillet.
Cependant, un gros point d'interrogation met un bémol à l'espoir général des
citoyens. Que se passerait-il en cas de refus des résultas des élections par
l'une ou l'autre des composantes politiques en présence dans la transition
en cours depuis 2003 dans ce pays d'Afrique centrale après plusieurs années
de guerre civile qui ont fait au moins 3,5 millions de morts?
La question se pose aussi bien aux Congolais qu'aux Occidentaux, parrains du
processus de paix qui amorce les manœuvres d'approche vers l'atterrissage,
avec les élections attendues.
La communauté internationale finance le processus électoral en RDC à hauteur
de 88 pour cent, sur un budget de la Commission électorale indépendante qui
est de 480 millions de dollars, selon des sources diplomatiques à Kinshasa,
la capitale congolaise.
Interrogé par IPS, Floribert Chebeya, de la 'Voix des sans voix', une
organisation non gouvernementale de défense des droits de l'Homme, basée à
Kinshasa, ne cache pas son inquiétude. "Les Congolais ont des raisons
justifiées de s'inquiéter sur l'issue des élections dans un pays où chacune
des anciennes rébellions a gardé intacte sa puissance militaire, donc sa
capacité de nuisance, en dépit des efforts de la communauté internationale
d'aider le gouvernement à réussir l'intégration des armées ex-rebelles".
Il y a effectivement lieu de s'inquiéter quand on considère que tous les
principaux chefs de guerre, au cours des dernières rébellions, sont
candidats à la magistrature suprême pour diriger le pays. Azarias Ruberwa,
pour le compte du RCD (Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie, aile Goma)
allié du Rwanda, Jean-Pierre Bemba pour le MLC (Mouvement de libération du
Congo) supporté par l'Ouganda, et Mbusa Nyamwisi pour le RCD-KML
(Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie, aile Kisangani) soutenu
également par l'Ouganda.
Tous ces anciens chefs rebelles disputeront le fauteuil présidentiel à
Joseph Kabila qui tient à le conserver. A ce nombre, il faut ajouter
d'autres candidats connus ou inconnus qui entretiennent des milices dans
différents endroits, notamment dans l'est du Congo.
Charlotte Kalondero, une Congolaise vivant en France depuis près de 30 ans,
ne cesse d'appeler le correspondant de IPS en RDC pour se rassurer au sujet
des conditions de sécurité au Congo car elle compte faire visiter le pays,
en juillet prochain, à ses enfants qui n'y ont jamais mis le pied.
"Les informations distillées par les médias européens sur la situation
sécuritaire en RDC ne nous encouragent pas à faire le voyage", dit-elle.
''Bien plus'', ajoute-t-elle, "nous n'arrivons pas à comprendre ce que les
soldats de l'Union européenne (UE) viendront faire en RDC de plus que les
17.000 hommes de troupe de l'ONU sur place au Congo, qui n'arrivent pas à
restaurer la paix des esprits''.
C'est probablement parce que les anciens protagonistes de la guerre civile
congolaise n'ont pas encore réussi à mettre sur pied une armée nationale
intégrée que les Européens envisagent une force d'intervention en RDC avec
l'aval de l'ONU, pour soutenir les forces de la Mission d'observation des
Nations Unies au Congo (MONUC), estiment des analystes.
En effet, l'UE se prépare à déployer 1.500 hommes de troupe en RDC pour la
période électorale, dont 500 seront basés à Kinshasa tandis que les 1.000
autres seront cantonnés au Gabon, prêts à intervenir en cas de nécessité.
Libreville, la capitale gabonaise, se trouve à quelques minutes de Kinshasa
pour des avions de chasse européens.
Les tractations diplomatiques sont en cours et le Conseil de sécurité de
l'ONU vient de donner son accord par la résolution 1667. "Le conseil décide
que la force de l'Union européenne sera autorisée à prendre toutes les
mesures nécessaires, dans la limite de ses moyens et capacités, pour
apporter son soutien à la MONUC au cas où elle rencontrerait des
difficultés", indique la résolution.
Cette force appelée ''Eufor RD Congo'' est présumée devoir protéger les
civils, aider à garder l'aéroport de Kinshasa, à protéger son propre
personnel et ses installations, et à exécuter des opérations limitées pour
sauver des individus en danger.
A Kinshasa, comme dans le reste du pays, les réactions des Congolais face à
ce déploiement de nouvelles forces militaires sont mitigées. Si d'une
manière générale, la majorité approuve le déploiement, une minorité
remarquable se demande ce que tous ces militaires viennent faire au Congo.
"Ils vont se marcher sur les pieds tellement ils sont nombreux", affirme à
IPS, Eric Malu, proche des opposants de l'UDPS (Union pour la démocratie et
le progrès social) d'Etienne Tshisekedi.
Les partisans de Tshisekedi disent qu'ils craignent que ces militaires
européens ne viennent pour les tuer en cas de manifestations contre le
processus électoral que leur parti boycotte. "Qu'ils viennent pour nous
tirer dessus, ce n'est pas grave. Nous en avons vu d'autres et nous ne
fléchirons pas", ajoute Jean-Pierre Ilunga, un autre militant de l'UDPS.
Les partisans du déploiement de la force européenne estiment, en revanche,
qu'une précaution de plus, dans le sens de la sécurisation des élections,
est toujours la bienvenue. "Nous sommes fatigués des guerres et des
rébellions", déclare à IPS, Anne Unen, une ressortissante du district de l'Ituri,
dans l'est de la RDC.
"Certains de nos compatriotes ne savent pas ce que sont les réelles
conséquences d'une guerre. Nous avons connu la force Artémis (venue
d'Europe), en 2003, en Ituri. Au moment où tout semblait désespéré, ces
militaires européens ont pu rétablir l'ordre dans la ville de Bunia et dans
les environs. Si Bunia est vivable aujourd'hui, c'est en grande partie grâce
à la force Artémis", explique-t-elle.
Les autorités congolaises semblent subir quelque peu cette avalanche de
forces étrangères sur leur territoire, estiment des analystes. Après les
troupes européennes, celles de l'Union africaine (UA) se préparent à se
déployer également au Congo. C'est le résultat de la visite de Alpha Oumar
Konaré, le président de la Commission de l'UA à Kinshasa, début-avril.
(FIN/2006)
Uganda troops
moved to Congo border - minister
April 29, 2006 Source : Sunday Monitor By Andnetwork
.com
A jittery Uganda has moved its troops to its common border with Democratic
Republic of Congo, as a defensive action against possible attacks by the
Lord's Resistance Army, the Minister of State for Defence, Ms Ruth Nakabirwa,
said yesterday.
The Minister, who was a guest on 93.3 KFM's Hard Talk programme, added that
Uganda was still waiting for word from the United Nations Security Council
after Defence officials advised the council that LRA was a clear and present
danger to security. Nankabirwa said UPDF had closed "infiltration and
ex-filtration routes" at the common border.
Nankabirwa said while Uganda abides by a solution to the problem from within
the UN system, she said she could not completely rule out unilateral action.
"The day we enter DRC, everyone will know; we will not enter quietly," she
said, adding: "LRA did not go to the Congo as tourists."
Her comments come amidst controversy over whether or not the UPDF were
present within DRC territory as alleged in recent press reports that have
quoted sources from Congo. The government of President Joseph Kabila on
Thursday formally protested what it called an intrusion of UPDF in its
territory, an allegation denied by Uganda.
The DRC statement claims that heavily armed Ugandan troops aboard two
vehicles crossed into northeast DRC from the border with Sudan and clashed
with the Congolese army. "During the clash, one Ugandan soldier was killed
and the rest of [other] Ugandan soldiers retreated back towards the border
with Sudan," the statement alleged.
The UN Mission in the Congo, known as Monuc, has said it will look into the
allegations but so far has not confirmed if indeed Ugandan soldiers had
engaged DRC troops.
According to Nankabirwa Uganda's official position is that the Kinshasa
government should be assisted by its neighbours and the international
community to improve its capacity to impose control within its borders.
Uganda also wants the mandate of Monuc to be "upgraded" so that it can use
lethal force, if necessary to reign in the myriad of militia, including LRA,
roaming forests in eastern DRC.
Statements attributed to the Army Spokesman, Major Felix Kulaije, to the
effect that the DRC government was helping LRA threatened to further inflame
the situation. The New Vision yesterday reported that UPDF was annoyed that
DRC was shielding LRA.
Both Nakabirwa and Kulaije denied he made the statements. "That statement [that
DRC is shielding LRA], true or not, can really sour the relationship between
DRC and Uganda" Nakabirwa said. Congolese citizens are bracing for the first
elections in four decades, being supervised by the UN.
Uganda is sensitive that the current allegations of an invasion by Uganda
will play into the political campaigns in DRC. State Minister for Foreign
Affairs Okello Oryem is quoted as saying those peddling information about
Ugandan troops in DRC do not want to see it go through a smooth transition
process. "But for us we are ready to support the DRC," Okello said. However,
Nakabirwa who said LRA does not pose an immediate threat said it was
regrouping and could abduct from neighbouring communities to increase its
numbers.
Relations between DRC and Uganda took a turn for the worse when LRA rebels
crossed into Garamba last September, but had been already soured by
accusations by DRC that Uganda and Rwanda had plundered her resources and
violated human rights, when they sent troops there between 1998 and 2003.
In December the International Court of Justice ruled in favour of Congo in a
case it brought against Uganda awarding reparations of $10 billion.
Yesterday Nakabirwa warned that while Uganda would walk the legal route, it
would not watch LRA recuperate in Garamba. Asked what would happen if the UN
rejected Uganda's desire to pursue LRA inside Congo, she reminded listeners
of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, when despite a several warnings, the UN never
acted to stop the slaughter of close to a million people.
UGANDA :
Property wrangle threatens ex-president Obote's party
April 30, 2006 By Andnetwork .com Source : Monitor Uganda
Wrangling over the composition of the board and the council of the
foundation that manages properties such as Uganda House – the UPC
headquarters – threatens to undermine the party and with it part of the
legacy of Milton Obote, just months after the former President’s death.
The row is deep enough for UPC President Miria Kalule Obote, the former
President’s widow, to threaten legal action against the Milton Obote
Foundation (MOF) governors over what she calls “deliberate manipulations”
intended to keep the family away from the organisation.
Ms Obote is not happy that MOF chiefs Sam Odaka and C.D. Mindra are changing
goalposts after they invited her to fill her late husband’s positions of
permanent governor and president of the council of management of the
foundation.
She is particularly unimpressed that the governors have frustrated her son
Jimmy Akena’s attempt to become a member of the foundation that bears his
father’s name even after he came up with the mandatory $1,000 (Shs1.8
million) membership fee. She describes as “baffling” the reasoning that none
of the governors had invited Akena to become a member of MOF.
To become a member of the foundation, one must be invited by the board. “If
these matters are not urgently resolved I have no other option but to seek
legal redress,” wrote Ms Obote in a March 21 letter to Mr Mindra, the MOF
company secretary.
But Mr Odaka said on Friday that MOF membership is not restricted, adding
that the foundation is a public company limited by guarantee. “Let people
not be excited,” he said. “If they want to do things wrongly, let them not
blame me.”
Clearly, this is a case of a mother pushing her son to watch over the
family’s interests but coming up against other entrenched interests. Obote,
a former President of Uganda who was deposed twice by his own military and
died in exile in October last year, founded MOF in May 1964 to engage in
both commercial and non-profit activities.
In its heyday, the foundation conducted adult literacy and civil education,
ran a printing press and a publishing house, and owned Uganda Schools
Supplies that used to supply school uniform. Now the foundation, though part
of the UPC establishment does not have a direct legal relationship with the
party, makes money from the 14-storey Uganda House in the heart of Kampala,
among other properties.
MOF is run by three permanent governors who also are trustees and are the
same people who make up the council of management. Obote’s death in October
last year left Odaka and Mr J.R.O. Elangot as permanent governors, members
of the council of management and trustees. Odaka, a foreign minister under
the Obote I government in the 1960s, is also the vice president of the
foundation; while Elangot, a former deputy governor of the central bank, is
the treasurer.
On December 2, 2005, Mindra wrote Ms Obote informing her that the board of
governors had decided, at a November 25 meeting, to invite her to fill the
positions of permanent governor and member/president of the council of
management but after becoming a member of MOF upon paying a fee of $1,000
and consenting to taking up the posts.
Ms Obote promptly paid up and noted as much in a March 3, 2006 letter to
Mindra. She further wrote: “After due consideration, I do consent to the
appointment to the position of Permanent Governor and hereby nominate Jimmy
Akena in my stead to the position of member of the council of management and
president…”
The name Akena, who is the Lira Municipality MP-elect, as “member of the
council of management and president” seems to have raised concern at MOF
because Mindra responded to Ms Obote about two weeks later noting that
“members of the Board of Governors have always performed the roles of both
Council of Management and of Trustees”.
The implication was that Ms Obote had to be both a governor and a president
of the council but not split the roles with her son. Interestingly, in his
December 2 letter Mindra wrote: “During the discussion you indicated that,
being the Party President you are likely to be busy to effectively execute
your new roles as MOF Permanent Governor and a Member of Council of
Management… I believe the Board shall understand the position and should
accept your named alternate nominee(s) to these positions.”
It now appears things have changed since that time following what Ms Obote
calls “purported amendments of the Articles of Association” which are “null
and void”.
She is angry that the amendments make her appear as though she is not an
“eligible person/candidate” for the positions yet Mindra wrote in his
December 2 letter thus: “The Board took into consideration your personality,
status and now the Party President as the criteria for your nomination to
particularly fill these two positions.”
She says this all amounts to withdrawing the offer.
“From what is being described as limited and necessary amendment of sections
of the Articles of Association purported to have been done on 20th January
2006; attempts to withdraw the offer even before I was able to fulfil the
first requirement of becoming a member [of MOF] were being effected,” Ms
Obote wrote Mindra in the indignant March 21 letter.
“It is now clear that the Foundation changed its position and offer to me to
appoint me Permanent Governor and President of the Council of Management on
the false basis that I was not an eligible person/candidate,” she added. Ms
Obote declined to comment for this story. And we could not reach Mindra.
What galls Obote’s widow further is that on top of her own woes, she has to
contend with hostility toward her son’s attempt at becoming a member of MOF
because only after he has signed up can he hope to rise to become a member/president
of the management council in his mother’s place.
“I am also now certain that there are deliberate manipulations going on to
see that everything and anything connected with the Founder of the Milton
Obote Foundation be removed far from the very Foundation which bears his
name and should be seeking to carry on with his legacy,” Ms Obote wrote on
March 21.
“Instead I find names of people who do not appear to have any interest in
the legacy of Milton Obote being invited to become members! Your own
reaction to the payment made to the Foundation by Jimmy Akena who is not
only the son of the Founder but someone who worked extremely closely with
him and because of the close working relationship, is the person who best
knows the vision of the Founder of the Milton Obote Foundation, was very
baffling.
“If these matters are not urgently resolved I have no other option but to
seek legal redress.” The 24 people the board invited as new MOF members at
the January 20 meeting include former Museveni minister Gabriel Opio, who is
returning to Parliament to represent Samia Bugwe South; UPC National
Chairman Patrick Rubaihayo; and businessman Mayur Madhvani.
In rejecting Ms Obote’s criticism of the new members as not having any
interest in the legacy of the deceased President, Odaka said admission to
MOF membership was not based on tribe, religion or colour.
No funding for UPC
MOF - which owns significant real estate including Uganda House on Plot 10,
Kampala Road; a building undergoing major renovations on Plot 37/39, 5th
Street; and the undeveloped Plot 8 on Kampala Road - has been funding most
of the UPC activities including paying salaries, wages and allowances for
party officials and employees.
It also funded Miria Obote’s campaign for President in which she emerged
last in the five-horse race with 0.82 percent of the February 23 vote.
Not anymore. Odaka has now asked the party to find new sources of money. In
a February 28 letter to Prof. Rubaihayo, Odaka said MOF would with effect
from March 2006 stop paying allowances for party officials. It will only
meet wages of UPC secretariat workers and a monthly allowance of Shs500,000
for the general running of the party.
Odaka told Rubaihayo that MOF had been picking the party’s bills out of an
obligation to assist borne of a “symbiotic relationship”.
“Unfortunately, this support has been misinterpreted to mean that MOF would
provide all the funds. That misunderstanding has in turn created a
dependence syndrome which must be disabused and which must now change,”
Odaka wrote, adding: “It is our view that the party should attempt both to
change that attitude and to aim at self sufficiency.”
Odaka argued that the party was now registered and therefore allowed to
collect money from its members and to solicit support from institutions and
well-wishers and should therefore go ahead and do so.
KENYA :
Citing Corruption Concerns, Netherlands Suspends Aid to Kenya
By VOA News 29 April 2006
The government of the Netherlands has suspended education, environment and
water programs in Kenya, citing concerns over corruption.
In a statement, the Dutch government said it was suspending aid worth nearly
$150 million to the east African country, because it has not seen enough
proof the Kenyan government is fighting corruption.
The Dutch government said it will continue to fund judicial reform and good
governance programs.
The government of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has been hit by two major
multimillion dollar corruption scandals that have forced the ministers of
energy, finance and education to resign.
Kenya's vice president, central bank governor, former intelligence and
security ministers and other officials are being investigated in connection
with the scandals.
Mr. Kibaki won the presidency in 2002 and pledged to root out the systemic
corruption that marked former President Daniel arap Moi's 24 years in power.
Chinese president concludes Kenya visit
Source: Xinhua 30/04/2006
Chinese President Hu Jintao left Nairobi for home on Saturday after
concluding his three-day state visit to Kenya.
During the visit, Hu and his Kenyan counterpart Mwai Kibaki held talks and
agreed to make joint efforts to further promote long-term, stable and
reciprocal bilateral cooperation in various fields.
The two presidents also attended a signing ceremony for bilateral
cooperative documents covering economy, trade, culture and education.
Kenya is the last leg of Hu's five-nation tour, which has already taken him
to the United States, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Nigeria.
China and Kenya set up diplomatic relations in 1963 and bilateral trade
volume last year amounted to 475 million U.S. dollars, up 29.7 percent year
on year.
Kenya : Chinese First Lady donates Aids drugs worth US$70,000
April 29, 2006 Source : Eastandard By Andnetwork .com
First Lady Lucy Kibaki yesterday received Aids drugs worth over US$70,000
from her visiting Chinese counterpart, Liu Yongqing, at State House Nairobi.
Lucy said the drugs would benefit Aids patients in the rural areas.
"We will take the medicine you have donated to the rural areas where
majority of Kenyans live and are in dire need of such assistance," said the
First Lady.
Earlier, during a meeting with Yongqing, who is accompanying her husband,
President Hu Jintao, on a three-day State visit to Kenya, Lucy invited
Chinese medics to work with their Kenyan counterparts to fight Aids.
She recalled that during her visit to China last year she visited a hospital
where research on HIV/Aids medicine is conducted and was impressed by the
progress China had made.
"Your country has made a lot of progress in herbal medicine which could also
assist us in combating Aids in our country," she said.
Lucy was optimistic that China will send medics to help local doctors to
combat Aids.
The First Lady said: "I hope they come soon so that they can boost our
efforts to fight the pandemic."
Welcoming Yongqing, Lucy encouraged her to visit the countryside and see
some of the world-class tourist attraction sites.
She said more Chinese tourists should visit Kenya to enhance the existing
bilateral relations between the two countries, adding that the national
carrier, Kenya Airways, has increased its flight to China.
The First Lady thanked China for its assistance notably in road
construction.
The Yongqing thanked Lucy for the warm reception and commended her for
playing a leading role in the fight against Aids through the Kenyan
Government and the Office of African First Ladies Against HIV/Aids (OAFLA).
ANGOLA :
Angola: Ambassador Highlights Relations With Egypt
April 29, 2006 By Andnetwork .com Source:
Angola Press
Angolan ambassador to Egypt, Pedro Hendrik Vaal Neto, recently in Cairo
highlighted the "excellent" diplomatic relations between the two countries,
recalling they backdate to the country`s liberation struggle.
During an interview with Angop and "Jornal de Angola" in the Egyptian
capital, the diplomat highlighted the contribute made by Egypt to Angola`s
liberation that was earlier to the creation of the Organisation of African
Unity (OAU).
He said that this move of solidarity continued in an intense way within the
continental organisation, through the OAU Liberation Committee and later,
after independence, harmonious diplomatic relations were established and
persist until today.
In order to relaunch these relations, the diplomatic mission headed by Vaal
Neto has been developing other actions, including some of political nature,
all of them intended to maintain and strengthen the ties of bilateral
cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt.
"We are working to create the conditions for a closer relationship among the
political and social institutions of Angola and their counterparts of Egypt,"
he stressed, adding that "we are seeking to identify those institutions at
all levels, Government, Parliament, civic organisations and others".
To this end, he added, there is need for a sound relationship among the
various sectors of both societies, capable of providing integration, through
an exchange of experience towards the harmonisation of opinions and actions.
He said that such evils like HIV/AIDS, birds flue, malaria, marburg and
ebola, trafficking of women and children, slavery, genocide and war crimes,
are no longer problems to be dealt with within the national framework.
Instead, he added, these are matters that deserve a coordinated job as they
affect the whole humanity.
In this regard, Vaal Neto spoke of the need for a permanent contact among
the organisms and associations of most countries of the world that deal with
these problems, so that firm basis for cooperation are put in place.
As to the sectors in which relations should be strengthened, the former
media minister, said the country is open to all kind of cooperation with
Egypt and the rest of the world, stressing that nowadays there is a
highlight to those associated with national reconstruction Angola is going
through.
AFRIQUE DU SUD :
SOUTH AFRICA : Immigration laws obstacle to economic
growth
April 30, 2006 By Andnetwork .com Source : I-Net
Bridge
International companies have warned that South Africa's immigration
regulations are hurting their operations in the country and could create
obstacles to faster economic growth, the London Financial Times reported on
Wednesday.
Business groups recently called for an amendment to new rules that have made
it difficult for some foreigners to work in the country, the report said.
"Last week the British Chamber of Business in Southern Africa said
immigration problems are having a detrimental impact on the short-term
effective running of local and international business in South Africa," the
Financial Times said.
"This followed a statement in late March by the Foreign Correspondents'
Association of Southern Africa that the new immigration regime had 'created
a lot of problems' for its members."
According to the newspaper, Deloitte, PwC and KPMG are currently circulating
a draft letter among foreign business chambers which will be presented to
ministers in President Thabo Mbeki's government calling for an "easing of
rules on general work permits, intracompany transfers and quotas for skilled
migrants".
The letter, seen by the FT, claims that new immigration rules "impact very
negatively on the availability of skills and experience" to foreign and
local businesses operating in South Africa and could hamper further foreign
investment and economic growth.
"South Africa revised its immigration law last July. The new legislation
removed a number of loopholes and exemptions under which skilled foreigners
worked in the country. It was designed to streamline existing rules," the
Financial Times said.
"Since then some foreign executives and journalists have been refused
extensions to their two-year intracompany work permits, or been asked to
leave the country and apply from abroad. Before the legal changes,
extensions were more easily available.
Foreign companies operating in South Africa have also been requested to
advertise expatriates' jobs locally, including positions for senior
executives with international experience.
"Companies seeking exemptions from the rule say they have been refused or
had to wait for months to secure one," the newspaper concluded.
S. Africa warns of food price hike
www.chinaview.cn
Editor: Yao Runping
JOHANNESBURG, April 30 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's consumers should prepare
themselves for an increase in food and transport costs in addition to more
fuel price shocks, a top economist warned in local daily here on Sunday.
Azar Jammine, an economist in Johannesburg, said businesses tended to pass
the effects of the fuel price on to consumers, thus ensuring that inflation
would rise and people would have to pay more for goods.
The economist was quoted by Sunday Independent as saying: "Prices do not
come down when the price of oil drops, resulting in lower fuel costs,
because so much of industry is in the hands of a few large companies."
The price of petrol will increase by 7 percent or 0.39 rand a liter on
Wednesday, making the cost of a liter of fuel 6.12 rand (1.02 U.S. dollars).
Jammine said the global demand for oil, which saw the cost of a barrel of
oil rise to 73 dollars, would remain volatile because of the heavy demand.
South Africans use 4,000 barrels of oil a day compared with the 88 million
barrels used by the rest of the world. Last year motorists used more than 11
billion liters of petrol, indicating that the latest increase will result in
consumers forking out an additional 350 million rand a month for fuel from
Wednesday.
Jammine said that South Africans were not paying as much for fuel as
Europeans were. "We should not get too afraid of paying 10 rand a liter for
fuel .. most of Europe pays as much because levies make up three-quarters of
the fuel price to dissuade people from using cars and to prevent pollution."
Goolam Ballim, senior economist at Standard Bank, said the price of oil was
likely to remain high for some time, resulting in higher fuel costs over the
next few months. "When the price of oil rises the rand appreciates, but the
appreciation is not so big as to make a significant difference."
The positive outlook of the rand, however, was helping to offset effects of
the rise in fuel costs. "The oil price increase far exceeds gains made by
the rand, so we can look forward to more fuel price increases," Ballim said.
The price of fuel would eventually reach 10 rand a liter because of
inflation, but not in the immediate future. "It is an extreme example. We
won't get there for many years," he added.
SOUTH AFRICA: 'We guard billions, but are paid peanuts’
Leo Zeilig, Johannesburg
[Leo Zeilig is a socialist and activist based in South Africa.]
From Green Left Weekly, May 3, 2006.
Brian Mfisa starts work at 6am each day for the international security firm
Chubb. He guards a large house in the wealthy suburb of Melrose in
Johannesburg. Brian sits in a small wooden box — a “guard hut” — that is
dwarfed by the walls of the house. He works 12-hour shifts and is paid 1600
rand (A$345) per month. Last month he was shot through the arm by a man
attempting to break into the house. The next day he was back at work. Brian
is still refused permission to go to the toilet while on duty and is forced
to use a plastic bucket in the hut.
According to recent research, there are almost 300,000 registered guards in
South Africa, employed by 4200 businesses. There are far more private
security forces than state police officers. Private security has mushroomed
since the end of apartheid, reflecting both the dramatic divisions of wealth
in the country and the outsourcing of state functions to the private sector.
This is big business in South Africa, with an annual turnover in excess of
R14 billion (A$3 billion). There are approximately 2500 private security
firms in South Africa, although the industry is dominated by a few
multinational giants. One of the biggest security firms is Chubb — a
subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, based in the US.
The working conditions for this army of private security officers are
notoriously bad. According to a survey in 2004, almost 60% of private sector
security guards earn less than R1500 (A$320) a month, while over 70% work
more than 45 hours a week. As the workers’ placards explain: “We guard your
millions and billions, but you pay us peanuts.” Even with these conditions,
thousands search for work as security guards. Unemployment in South Africa
is estimated to be higher than 40%.
Since March 23, security guards have been on strike. Talks began in October
with the main employers. The guards are represented by more than 30 unions,
though by far the largest is the South African Transport and Allied Workers
Union (SATAWU). The unions were initially demanding a wage increase of 11%.
But on April 1, five employers struck a deal with 16 unions for an 8.3%
increase.
However SATAWU held firm and refused to accept the deal, calling an
indefinite strike on April 13. The strike has continued with violent clashes
between strikers and scabs and police. On April 19, a security guard was
shot dead by strikers in Durban. In Cape Town on April 20, security guards
levelled the homes of strike breakers in the large township of Khayelitsha.
On April 20, police fired rubber bullets at 600 strikers who were attempting
to reach a demonstration in Johannesburg.
Big business media attention has focused on “violence”. The April 21 Mail
and Guardian was typical in condemning the security guards: “It is not a
case of heroic class struggle ... against repressive capitalist bosses and
their state lackeys. Workers now have a government they chose, and a
worker-friendly labour dispensation.”
SATAWU general-secretary Randell Howard countered these attacks, telling the
April 21 Mail and Guardian: “As long as employers continue to use scabs,
there will always be violence. The blood of replacement labour is on the
hands of employers.”
Demonstrations of striking workers have been outlawed. Since April 8,
metropolitan councils in Pretoria and in the Western Cape have refused
permission for union marches, forcing the guards to picket the offices of
security companies. Still the strikers are unbowed and the strike is set to
escalate.
AFRIQUE
/ U A :
UN /ONU :
USA :
CANADA :
EUROPE :
CHINE :
INDE :
BRAZIL:
