22 September 2009



Amnesty International is warning of a "human rights emergency" in Sierra Leone, which has one of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world. One in eight women in the west African country risk dying during pregnancy or childbirth, compared with one in 4,500 in the developed world, an Amnesty report says.

Many women and girls are too poor to pay for lifesaving treatment, the report adds. Thousands bleed to death after giving birth. Most die in their homes. Some die on the way to hospital – in taxis, on motorbikes or on foot. Less than half of deliveries are attended by a skilled birth attendant and fewer than one in five are carried out in health facilities.

"These grim statistics reveal maternal deaths are a human rights emergency in Sierra Leone," said Irene Khan, Amnesty's secretary general, launching the report in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown. "Women and girls are dying in their thousands because they are routinely denied their right to life and health, in spite of promises from the government to provide free healthcare to all pregnant women."

Women in poor rural areas are particularly vulnerable, due to a lack of transport and infrastructure. Campaigners say that the issue is partly a legacy of the country's 11-year civil war. Abigail Renner, of Women in Peace Building in Sierra Leone, said: "We are a postwar country. The cost of living is very high, the roads are bad, drugs are very expensive and we don't have enough hospitals." She added: "Before the war, women were not afraid to have children. Now they are."

The Amnesty campaign coincides with tomorrow's United Nations general assembly meeting, where Gordon Brown is expected to announce finance packages to provide free healthcare for millions more women and children in the developing world, including Sierra Leone.

Amnesty's research found the difficulties experienced by women in Sierra Leone were exacerbated by women's low status in society, the fact that many girls marry and become pregnant at a young age, and the ongoing practice of female genital mutilation. Women's health is often treated as a low priority.

Gareth Thomas, Britain's international development minister, who is visiting the country this week, said: "There has got to be a huge change in the way that women are seen in Sierra Leone. The numbers of women raped and killed during the conflict partly reflects a culture where they are far from equal."

Thomas said postwar improvements in governance should now be matched by basic services. Britain will put £16m into a healthcare plan, working with Unicef and other non-government organisations. "In the 21st century it is unacceptable for people to die because they are too poor to see a doctor or nurse," the minister added.


guardian

22 September 2009

Plans by the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) to roll out a warehouse receipt payment system by November is a step in the right direction considering the severe constraints most farmers face in accessing credit.

Though the concept has widely featured in the public domain since 2007, its implementation has remained a tall order for its proponents such as the private-sector driven East African Grain Council (EAGC) mainly due to lack of produce storage capacity.

The entry of the resource endowed NCPB should, however, rekindle fresh hope particularly if it comes to play a complimentary role to the projects already conceived by other players such as EAGC.

World over warehouse receipts systems have today become important and effective tool for creating liquidity and easing access to credit besides offering extra benefits such as streamlining the supply chain and prices in the market, improving grower incomes, and reducing food losses.

Kenya should not miss out such benefits if we have in place a properly functional system to replace the current scenario where reckless government interventions in commodity markets have suppressed the economic returns to private storage and affected the need for private credit.

It is common knowledge that with the opening of markets and the liberalisation of global as well as regional trade, concepts such as the warehouse receipts are becoming vital in reducing uncertainty and enhance efficiency.

Notable gains from the warehouse receipt system is that it helps mop-up credit to agriculture by creating secure collateral for the farmer, processor, and trader, smoothing market prices by facilitating sales throughout the year rather than just after harvests and reducing risk in the agricultural markets thus improving food security and credit access in rural areas.

It also helps increase market power of small-holders by enabling them to choose at what point in the price cycle to sell their crops besides helping to upgrade the standards and transparency of the storage industry since it requires better regulation and inspection.

But like any other initiatives aimed at addressing mass and sensitive issues such as commodity trade, there must be a sound legal and institutional framework to guarantee performance and keep cost at manageable levels.

Foolproof legal backing has an advantage of providing a secure system whereby stored agricultural commodities can serve as collateral, be sold, traded or used for delivery against financial instruments including futures contracts.

The NCPB has had its fair criticism over its institutional capacity in areas such as corporate governance and its management must first prove to the public its commitment to change in order to win back the confidence of the farmers it targets through the scheme.

Perhaps it would be prudent to give the private sector a frontal role in the whole warehouse scheme so that the concept can be handed an urgent image boost, which is critical at this time when the economy is loaded with caution over wasteful or risky ventures.

allafrica

September 22, 2009

More than 100 people have been killed in clashes in the Jonglei state in southern Sudan, officials have said.

The extent of the clashes, which erupted one day earlier when fighters from the Lou Nuer tribe raided a rival village, emerged on Monday after officials reached the remote settlement.

Kuol Diem Kuol, a spokesman for the South's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), said a total of 51 villagers and 28 soldiers, police and national security officers had been killed.

"From the attackers, 23 bodies were found on the ground. These attackers were found in uniform with arms and organised in a military organisation in platoons with G3 rifles," Kuol said.

Soldiers attacked

Mayen Ngor, the commissioner of Duk County, said the attackers had burned down 260 huts, the police station and local government buildings.

"This is a campaign against the Comprehensive Peace Agreement [the 2005 accord that ended Sudan's north-south civil war] and against the people of Duk," he said.

The attack injured 46 people and forced thousands to flee, according to Ngor.

"It is way too early to call this a civil war, but it is a significant law and order problem and one that the government of southern Sudan need to stand up and address."

David Gressly, United Nations Missions in Sudan
David Gressly, a regional co-ordinator in south Sudan for the United Nations Missions in Sudan, said the attack appeared to have targeted SPLA forces based in the village.

"It is quite clear that the focus of the attack was on the organised forces themselves," he said.

"It is way too early to call this a civil war, but it is a significant law and order problem and one that the government of southern Sudan needs to stand up and address," he told the AFP news agency after visiting the area.

A surge of tribal killings this year has sparked fears for the stability of Sudan's under-developed south.

The United Nations estimates more than 1,200 people have died in ethnic attacks this year.

The Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which heads an autonomous regional government in the south, fought a two decades long civil war with the northern National Congress Party (NCP), now headed by Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president.

The two parties signed a peace treaty in 2005, but tensions have remained.

North blamed

Yien Matthew, a spokesman for SPLM, told Al Jazeera that his movement believed the NCP was behind Sunday's attack.

"Some of the civilians who witnessed the attack saw they [the armed men] had big weapons and thuraya [satellite] phones - a clear indication that they are directed by the NCP.

"We cannot expect that in such an area armed men have satellite phones and big weapons, which proves that they have been directed by the NCP in Khartoum," Matthew said.

"All evidence at the moment proves the NCP is behind this."

Southern politicians have accused the north of arming rival tribes to destabilise the region in the build-up to elections in 2010 and a referendum on southern secession in 2011.

The government in Khartoum denies the accusation.

Analysts say many of the northern political elite are nervous about the referendum, and the prospects of losing the south, the source of most of Sudan's oil reserves.

aljazeera

2009-09-21

Jose Eduardo Dos Santos celebrates 30 years as President of Angola on Monday. He is now Africa’s second longest serving leader after Moamer Kadhafi of Libya.

“He was brought into Angola as a kind-of compromise candidate,” Nicolas Shaxon, an oil industry analyst, told RFI. “He turned out to be an incredibly sophisticated operator and he very quickly established his control. He’s been very, very dominant in Angola ever since,” he added.

But the anniversary coincides with a period of upheaval for Dos Santos’ ruling MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) party, after delayed presidential polls.

“He will definitely get his way with a new constitution, the ruling MPLA has the overwhelming majority in parliament after elections last year,” said Shaxon. “They have on occasion in the past shown very small signs of being prepared to concede minor points to opposition parties, but generally the MPLA is absolutely dominant,” he added.

The polls will not take place until a new constitution is adopted, which will outline the electoral system.

There are no significant plans to mark Dos Santos’ 30th anniversary on Monday, in one of Africa’s biggest oil producing countries.

“There’s huge amounts of corruption, lots of members of his family have built up very large stakes in the economy,” said Shaxon.

But the London-based analyst, who specialises in West Africa, questions whether he is worse than other African leaders, “is he any more corrupt than other oil-rich leaders? Probably not,” he said.

Angola has crude oil reserves of 9.5 billion barrels, and in 2008 exported 64 billion dollars of petroleum. It joined Opec (the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) at the start of 2007. But in the UN’s Human Development Report of 2007/2008 Angola remained at the bottom of a list measuring human poverty, ranking 162 out of 177.

www.rfi.fr

21 September 2009

Harare — Zimbabweans with emergency travel documents purportedly issued in Bulawayo and Gweru have been barred from entering South Africa because of a flood of fake documents acquired in those two cities.

Zimbabwe asked the South African authorities to stop clearing travellers with ETDs obtained from the two cities while police investigate a major theft of these documents from Gweru Passport Office and follow up leads that many ended up in Bulawayo.

A number of travellers last Friday were left stranded after being turned away across the Limpopo despite having been cleared on the Zimbabwean side.

A South African senior immigration official said clearance of Zimbabweans with ETDs obtained from the two cities had been suspended.

"We have, with effect from Friday, stopped clearing Zimbabwean travellers with ETDs obtained from both Bulawayo and Gweru at the request of our Zimbabwean counterparts," she said.

"They said investigations were underway into a massive scam of people fraudulently issuing fake travel documents in those cities."

She said the suspension would be lifted as soon as the Zimbabwean Government was through with its investigations and had tabled before the South African government a credible way of issuing the documents.

Home Affairs Co-Minister Cde Kembo Mohadi said last Friday the suspension would remain in force until investigations were completed at the passport offices in the Midlands and Bulawayo provinces.

He said the arrangement came into effect following the disappearance of a substantial batch of ETD forms at the Gweru Passport Office.

Chances were high some of the forms had been taken to Bulawayo Province.

"A number of ETD books went missing in Midlands Province and currently we are conducting intensive investigations into the matter," he said.

"We also want to check on the missing books' serial numbers so that we issue a directive to all ports of exit across the country that these should be withdrawn from the holders."

Minister Mohadi said a substantial number of fake ETDs that were being produced in Gweru and Bulawayo were recently intercepted at Beitbridge and Plumtree border posts, hence the need to investigate the matter.

"In light of this, we have requested our counterparts to stop accepting such documents until investigations are conclusively done," said Cde Mohadi. He said some employees at the passport offices were among the prime suspects in the theft.

A Zimbabwe immigration officer at Beitbridge said officials were in the midst of collecting documents deemed fake and obtained through unscrupulous means.

They had also notified their South African counterparts to only let in those with ETDs authenticated by Zimbabwe immigration.

However, the South Africans are applying a blanket approach to all the travel documents from Gweru andBulawayo.

Travellers from the two cities, most of them cross-border traders who regularly go to South Africa to sell wares, had their hopes dashed as they were left counting their losses.

Mrs Sukholuhle Mpala of Mzilikazi in Bulawayo, who wanted to collect the body of her son who died in South Africa recently, could not hide her anguish.

"This is frustrating. Zimbabwe immigration should have notified us before we proceeded to this side of the border. I am disappointed as I was on my way to collect my son's body in Thohoyandou in Limpopo Province," she said.

South Africa scrapped stringent visa requirements for Zimbabweans wishing to work or travel to that country in May this year. Since then, there has been a steady increase in the number of people travelling across the Limpopo.

allafrica

21 September 2009

Masaka District has launched a mass immunisation against Tetanus, following an outbreak of the killer disease that has claimed lives of women and children.

A nursing officer, Ms Tereza Namisango said: "Fourteen children and 11 adults last year died of tetanus," adding, "out of the 57 per cent of people immunised against tetanus, only 5 percent were pregnant mothers."

Ms Namisango said the immunisation is targeting about 2.000 expectant mothers and girls between the age of 13 and 49, who are more susceptible to the disease. The immunisation exercise started last Friday in primary and secondary schools and will run for three days.

The District Education Officer, Mr Xavier Ssekadu, warned the public against misconceptions that if girls or women are immunised, they will not produce children. Ms Betty Irwasi, an official from the Ministry of Health, said Masaka, Mityana, Mubende, Busia and Nakapiripit are among the high risk district with cases of tetanus.

allafrica

21 September 2009

Johannesburg — IN A BID to smooth over relations with its increasingly impatient alliance partners, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) yesterday called for an urgent meeting and a fresh alliance summit.

"It is important not to take the relationship for granted," ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said at a media briefing yesterday.

Long lapses between alliance meetings had contributed to an atmosphere of "unnecessary misunderstandings and negative perceptions", Mantashe said, a day after the party's national executive committee meeting in Johannesburg.

The proposal, on the eve of ANC ally the Congress of South African Trade Unions' (Cosatu's) national congress, comes as the ANC is desperately trying to quash debate about possible challenges to the top six position holders.

In recent weeks ANC leaders have been forced to declare their support for President Jacob Zuma . Cosatu and the South African Communist Party have also entered the fray, supporting the leadership.

"It had to happen on the eve of conference because all of Cosatu's documents have been in the press and the ANC would have realised that this is not just (Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima) Vavi's rants, but actually well-thought-out positions in the alliance, which make it more dramatic," said Adam Habib, deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Johannesburg.

The ANC and Cosatu have been at loggerheads over strikes by construction and municipal workers, the unionisation of members of the armed forces, the controversy over ministers who have bought expensive new cars, and the role of the National Planning Commission.

"All suggest tensions in the alliance ... but the alliance is much stronger today than it ever was under (former president Thabo) Mbeki and I think (the tensions) can still be managed," Habib said.

Differences between the ruling party and Cosatu are still likely to bubble to the surface during the congress, which begins today.

One issue on which the two will lock horns is the party's push to de- unionise the South African National Defence Force in the wake of last month's protests by soldiers at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

Other issues up for discussion are SA's response to the economic downturn, corruption, the proposed national health insurance scheme and the planning commission.

Mantashe said that the ANC's top brass had ordered all party structures to stop the succession debate.

"The ANC and its allies must not engage in the succession debate now. It is not appropriate. There is no crisis," Mantashe said.

Members who contravened the decision would be taken to task, he said. "You cannot go against the grain of a decision of the party. Loyalty and organisational discipline are part and parcel of being in the ANC," Mantashe said.

allafrica

21 September 2009

Members of the notorious Boko Haram religious sect that scattered from Maiduguri after their violent clash with the authorities last July are regrouping in Kano State, state Controller of Prisons Alhaji Lawan Abubakar said in Kano yesterday. He also said security reports indicated there were plans by the sect members to attack prisons in Kano State in order to free their detained colleagues who were captured in the wake of the sect's ill-fated uprising.

In the wake of the uprising, dozens of Boko Haram members were arrested in Wudil town, some 40 kilometers away from Kano. The leader of the sect has been at large since the Kano government destroyed his house and the Boko Haram mosque in the area. Police authorities confirmed the arrest of 53 sect members in Wudil and another five in Bachirawa area in Kano metropolis.

Abubakar, who was explaining to Daily Trust why men of the Prisons Service fired sporadically into the air while arraigning sect members at a court in No Man's Land last week, said adequate measures had already been taken to beef up security around all prisons where members of the sect are being detained. He said armed policemen and men from the Civil Defence Corps have also been deployed to strengthen security around the prisons.

He said his men fired those shots at No Man's Land court premises in order to disperse the surging crowd that turned out to witness the arrival of the prison Black Maria truck conveying the sect members to court.

The prisons controller said security reports indicate that sect are now regrouping in Gezawa Local Government area of Kano State with the intent of launching attacks on some prisons where their colleagues are being detained.

Abubakar also said long before the security reports came in, his men were on red alert to forestall any threat to prisons, especially where Boko Haram members are held. That was why, he said, the prison wardens took pre-emptive action at the court premises because sect members could be lurking among the crowd.

However, the Prison Controller's claim that the Boko Haram members were regrouping in Kano was disputed both the police and the State Security Service (SSS) in the state, which said they were not aware of any such plan. Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Kano State Police Command Alhaji Baba Mohammed said he was not aware of any such reports and that all is calm in Kano State. He said, "There is no cause for alarm as we are always on top of any security situation."

Kano State Director of State Security Service Alhaji Bello Tukur Bakori said such security reports as indicated by the Prisons boss did not emanate from SSS. He demanded to know where it came from.

allafrica

21 September 2009

Johannesburg — EXPERIENCE was not the only factor the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) should consider in making appointments, chief justice- designate Sandile Ngcobo said in his interview before the JSC yesterday.

While a judicial candidate did not need to be an expert in certain areas of law, he must have the "capacity to grow," Ngcobo said. "Judicial temperament is the key."

What was, and what should be, considered by the commission when deciding who to recommend for appointment dominated yesterday's interviews for four Constitutional Court posts due to become vacant next month.

Candidates were quizzed on what weight the JSC should give to the constitutional injunction to consider racial and gender representivity and whether the constitution envisaged a "hierarchy" in which experience was primary and representivity was secondary.

Ngcobo said the JSC should also look for scholarship, experience, dignity, rationality, capacity for articulation, diligence, intellectual integrity, energy and courage -- "the ability to stand alone when the circumstances call for that".

Ngcobo said Constitutional Court judges came from different backgrounds.

"We learn from one another and we educate each other. That kind of representivity enriches us. Experience is not the only factor."

Candidates Eberhard Bertelsmann and Geoff Budlender said they believed demographic representivity was a constitutional imperative. But Bertelsmann said no matter how good a transformation candidate was, he would not be appointed without qualifications.

Budlender provoked the ire of a number of commissioners when he said it had been reported to him that one reason for him not being appointed previously to the Cape High Court was because the previous administration had been "angry" at his litigation for the roll- out of HIV treatment.

Budlender, interviewed three times to be a judge but never appointed, said he believed the approach of the previous administration had changed and that was why he was back before the JSC.

Commissioner Marumo Moerane said he found this assertion "astounding" because it implied that about 25 commissioners had been taking instructions from former president Thabo Mbeki 's administration.

Two others, who had been on the JSC at the time Budlender was not appointed, African National Congress (ANC) MP Cecil Burgess and Inkatha Freedom Party MP Koos van der Merwe, told Budlender that he was "operating under false information" and that had never been a factor.

Budlender said he had not referred to all commissioners or to any particular one. By the end of the interview, he said he regretted what he had said and apologised for "stepping on any toes".

He said that despite people who used his non-appointment to argue that white men should never stand for judicial office, he had never been a standard-bearer for disaffected whites and had never been critical of the JSC for failing to appoint him. He said he was simply trying to respond to a question as to why he was trying for appointment again.

Moerane also asked almost every candidate whether they had been one of the four people former Constitutional Court judge Johann Kriegler had persuaded to stay in the race, despite misgivings.

Bertelsmann and Budlender said no. Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Azhar Cachalia said he was uncomfortable with the question, saying to Moerane: "You cannot get at Kriegler through me." He said he had discussed his candidacy with Kriegler but in the context of a number of issues.

On how the JSC should make its appointments, Cachalia warned of the dangers of a numbers game. He said the Constitution wanted a competent judiciary and it wanted a nonracial, nonsexist judiciary. This did not mean the judiciary had to reflect every ethnic group in proportion, he said.

But ANC MP Ngoako Ramatlodi said "the national question" was not something to be treated lightly. As Africans were in the majority, the need to broadly reflect the population meant that the court would be majority African, he said.

Outgoing Chief Justice Pius Langa said his understanding of the approach was that good people should not stand back , but that it was for the JSC to decide what the constitution said it must do.

allafrica

21 September 2009

Any moment from now, President Umaru Yar'Adua shall be travelling to Saudi Arabia again. He recently returned from the country where he had gone for medical check-up and allegedly performed Umrah, the lesser Hajj.

This is coming on the heel of the revelation that the president will not be attending this year's United Nations General Assembly starting tomorrow and has also cancelled scheduled meetings with the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, and US President Barack Obama.

He will now be represented at the UN by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, who will only speak after presidents and heads of government have addressed the General Assembly.

The purpose of the current trip to Saudi Arabia is still unknown as there has not been any official statement. A government source close to the president said it could be a state visit, adding, "But it is curious that a state visit will be so shrouded in secrecy. And besides, it doesn't make diplomatic sense to cancel one top state function at the UN at the last minute and replace it with another."

The last time Yar'Adua travelled to Saudi Arabia, it was a well-publicised event as it should be for a sitting president.

There are, however, strong indications that Maduekwe will not be allowed to take part in tomorrow's meeting between President Obama and heads of state from Africa.

A reliable source within the US Department of State told Leadership correspondent in New York that the meeting had been scheduled for only the African presidents, adding that the hierarchy within the system would not allow the minister to attend such crucial meeting.

However, a diplomat the Nigeria Mission to the UN told Leadership yesterday that Maduekwe would attend the meeting with Obama.

He disclosed that as at Friday, the Nigerian Mission was yet to receive confirmation of Maduekwe's attendance from the US Department of State in Washington.

"When we got the form on Friday, September 18, 2009, we filled the names of the Minister and his wife, Mrs Ucha Maduekwe, as the ones representing President Yar'Adua and his wife at the meeting, and that serves as a confirmation that they both will be allowed to meet with President Obama alongside other African heads of state.

"We also returned the confirmation forms back to the United States Mission on that same Friday, though. We are yet to get a new confirmation from the Department of State through the US Mission to the United Nations."

The Nigerian diplomat, who pleaded anonymity, revealed that the United States Permanent Representative and President of the UN Security Council, Ambassador Susan Rice, had confirmed, in a meeting at the end of last week, that Nigeria's foreign affairs minister would be allowed at the meeting.

"She told us that since President Yar'Adua is not available for the meeting, then the Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Maduekwe, who is the head of Nigerian delegation, automatically stands in for the president and he will attend the meeting with President Obama," the diplomat hinted.

A source at US Department of State said the government was not happy over the common attitude of Nigerian leaders, who turn down this kind of invitation at the last minute without any tangible reason.

"We are still in shock that President Yar'Adua, who has a vital role to play, will not attend the meeting. Investigation is in progress to know the reason behind his 'unjust' action," he hinted.

The source, a senior official in the Department of State, further revealed that Yar'Adua's absence from the African heads of state's meeting with Obama could jeopardise Nigeria's election for a seat on the UN Security Council.

It was gathered that Nigeria has commenced an impressive campaign to clinch a non-permanent slot on the UN Security Council between 2010 and 2011.

A source close to the Nigeria Mission to the UN told Leadership that President Yar'Adua had been expected to discuss Ambassador Joy Ogwu's chance of clinching the seat in an election slated for October 15 with other African heads of state as it appears that Nigeria still needs almost 128 votes to get the seat in spite of the country's endorsement by other African countries.

In a related development yesterday, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, refuted media reports that his office was blocking the request of the London Metropolitan Police to send witnesses to London in the money laundering case involving the president's Principal Private Secretary, Mr. David Edevbie.

Speaking to LEADERSHIP yesterday from London, Aondoakaa, who was upset that such an act should even be attributed to him, said he had not seen the request from the London Metropolitan Police, but said he would act on it with despatch whenever he saw it.

LEADERSHIP checks showed that the request might still have been with the EFCC and has indeed not got to the AGF's desk.

By Emmanuel Iffer and Mojeed Jamiu in Lagos and Abiodun Oluwarotimi in New York

allafrica

21 September 2009

Pretoria — The sports ministry has expressed its dissatisfaction with Athletics South Africa's (ASA) President, Leonard Chuene, for admitting that he lied about his knowledge of gender tests conducted on Caster Semenya.

Chuene admitted during a press briefing at the weekend that gender tests were conducted on Semenya before she left for the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) world championships in Berlin.

He said that he had thought he was acting in the best interests of the 800m gold medallist and wanted to guard her privacy and confidentiality.

"Chuene has not only lied to us as the ministry but to the whole country, and this is not acceptable," said Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation Gert Oosthuizen.

He said the department was convinced that the perpetual denial of the knowledge of the tests had fuelled the continuous violation of Semenya's rights and dignity, by foreign and some local media.

"We do not agree with Chuene's insistence that he lied in Semenya's interest, in fact we are of the view that his lies were to Semenya's detriment."

Oosthuizen requested the membership of ASA to not only take disciplinary action against Chuene, but to fire him from his position as the President of ASA. "If they fail to do so, they will be running the risk of being led by a liar," he said.

He further urged ASA to get their house in order, and act in the best interest of sport.

The minister said the resolutions adopted at the Athletics South Africa Council last weekend had also been based on a lie.

At that meeting, ASA called on Chuene to withdraw his resignation from the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) and resume his responsibilities after it approved the manner in which he handled the issue of Semenya.

At the time, ASA confirmed its support and confidence in Chuene and said that he had handled the matter exceptionally well and advised him to continue defending the athletes.

On two occasions, the ministry requested a report from Chuene on what happened prior, during and after Berlin and they still have not received the report.

allafrica

21 September 2009

Nairobi — President Paul Kagame spoke to Michael Wakabi and Ali Zaidi on September 1 at the President's Office in Village Urugwiro, Kigali, about the challenges he is facing in his quest to build Rwanda from a war-ravaged country to a prosperous nation. Part II of the interview:

There is a widely held perception that there is no media freedom in Rwanda. In certain quarters, you have yourself been named enemy number one of the press. Given the burden of history on the media here and the capacity constraints on the industry, what is your strategy for seeing the emergence of a free and responsible press?

If somebody were accusing me, saying President Kagame is not doing enough as a president to finance or to promote the quick development of a vibrant press and media, I would say maybe he has a point.

Maybe there are some things I haven't done that I could have. But to accuse me of stifling the media or being anti-freedom of the press -- that is really absurd.

I think this is where the media or some members of the press indict themselves, raising the question of whether, after all, these are not all innocent people trying to the good work of exercising freedom of analysis; that maybe some of them have a different agenda.

If you look at the facts on the ground and still end up with such a conclusion, then there is something terribly wrong.

Prove your point: How does Kagame become number one enemy of the press, or even number 20? Where do you get that from? If you were saying can you do more to help the press; why not?

For me, the single point we should be talking about is lack of capacity. We have certainly been trying. We have financed a school of journalism at our national university.

Even when it comes to the media law here -- first of all, I was not involved, the government did not have a direct hand in it.

Most of it was formulated by the media practitioners themselves. In the end, I think in their discussions, they took a wrong turn, and they are the ones who went to parliament.

Then after that, they came to me saying that something had been slipped into the law that they didn't like. And I said, "Fine, I am not going to sign it; you go back and discuss it again and put in what works for you and works for everybody."

They went back, they tinkered with it and added whatever they wanted to add. I think they fell short of one or two clauses out of the many they had wanted, then it came back. This time I signed it because it was just going back and forth.

[This reputation for being anti-press] can't be because we have put journalists in prison or because we have hidden them somewhere. I have seen media people in the neighbourhood -- they are always in and out of prison.

Ever since 1994, when I came into government as vice president, I have never asked the police or anybody else to arrest a journalist. I have the authority to order the arrest of anybody, but I have never caused the arrest of a journalist or asked any other person to do it on my behalf.

Even when people have written in the papers insults on me and other people have become agitated and come to me, I have always told them, "Please ignore that fellow. It is me who is being insulted, and I have no problem with it because, after all, it does affect me. I remain me; I don't change into something else.

Let's talk about the role of the media in sensitive situations, especially in conflict situations...

If am annoyed with the media, I say it, I don't hide it. There were times when I got seriously annoyed with Ugandan journalists for fuelling conflict.

When we had problems with Uganda, it was as if they were enjoying the conflict.

Then we had a few people here who began doing the same thing and it became a war fuelled by journalists. Sometimes I would call our own people and ask them what benefit they saw in fuelling a war between two countries.

When I am not happy about something, I say so, there is no underhand dealing. I have quarrels with the media here but they are open quarrels, there is nothing under the table.

I also have the freedom to express my views. Whether I am right or wrong is a different matter, but I have the right to express those views.

That said, I think there is a lot of politics being played out in the media, either by journalists themselves or on behalf of others.

That is the only explanation I can find for some of these misrepresentations. On media and human rights, you will find that in the reports that Human Rights Watch writes about Rwanda, the story of 1995 is the same as that of 2009. They seem to see no difference between the Rwanda of 1995 and that of 2009.

So what do we do about it? We try to explain [our stand] because sometimes things are misrepresented merely because you have not explained them enough. But sometimes you are misrepresented because someone doesn't want to understand you, however much you try.

So what we do is explain as much as we can, and also concentrate on doing the right thing. In the end, the facts will speak for themselves. Interestingly, the very people who say there is no freedom of the press are the ones who have been here and enjoyed full access to everyone and exposure to everything that is happening.

Maybe they are trying to say the Rwandans don't allow their own people access to information?

The interesting thing here... is that we have wholeheartedly embraced information and communications technology precisely because it empowers people, including journalists. In fact, it turns ordinary citizens into journalists because you can blog, you can express yourself and send information to wherever.

That is how, even in tight situations, such as the elections in Iran and some cases in China, information was filtering out. Ordinary citizens acting as journalists were taking pictures with their cellphones and putting them online.

In other words, with our embrace of ICT, we are not only empowering the few journalists we have with unlimited means to express themselves, we are doing this for every citizen in the country.

As outlined in our Vision 2020, the key areas that we want to invest in are our people, their health, and their education. And specifically to create a knowledge-based economy because people are the main asset we have.

The Vision will be facilitated by modern infrastructure -- I emphasise the word modern because when it comes to information and communications technology, we want to reach the next generation.

This is one way of adding value to our main asset, the Rwandan people. ICT is a facilitator that eases progress in areas such as education and health, and adds value in other areas of knowledge.

We have put in place a national plan for laying out the broadband connectivity infrastructure on which we shall build many other things.

As we wait to be connected through either Mombasa or Dar es Salaam, we are doing our homework.

We already have a master plan for laying out a fibre-optic backbone internally and reaching every district so that every school, hospital and administrative centre is wired. We shall have reached every district by December this year.

Your ICT focus is indeed exciting; in the whole region, yours is perhaps the one country that is taking the new technologies with the seriousness they deserve. Assuming the leaders of the region get things right, what does the future hold for East Africa in let's say 10- 20 years?

In 20 years, East Africa should be one country -- I think that is not unattainable.

There are building blocks you need to put in place, but this is already happening -- the Customs Union, Common Market and later on a Monetary Union which should lead up to a Political Federation.

There will necessarily be obstacles, concerns and apprehension. These are natural, because people have different reasons for coming into the Community and they think differently -- so they may complain about one thing here and another there.

allafrica

21 September 2009

A secret document, made public this weekend by a South African newspaper, details the plans the government has sanctioned to intensify the forcible seizure of commercial land across the country.

According to the Sunday Times, recommendations for intensified farm attacks have been authored by Lands Minister Herbert Murerwa, who presented the document to cabinet last month. The document, which is in the Sunday Times' possession, said that the "government should continue to acquire land" from white farmers, and also recommended that the "prosecution of farmers resisting to move off the acquired land should be expedited."

"The refusal by these former farm owners to vacate gazetted farms has disadvantaged 251 (beneficiaries of the land grab) who hold offer letters," Murerwa reportedly said in the paper.

The document appears to confirm speculation that the new wave of farm invasions is the result of a directive from the top levels of the government, despite the Global Political Agreement that committed the government to "ensure security of tenure for all land holders." Such a document could also be the cause of the recent intensified attacks on farmers, both physically and in the courts. Just last week, tobacco farmer Murray Pott was brutally beaten by land invaders, while cattle farmer Mike Surtees was convicted after a lengthy court battle for 'failing to vacate' his farm.

The revelations of the cabinet document come after Robert Mugabe last week implored investors to plough cash into the country, saying at a mining indaba that "the sanctity of property rights and the rule of law in all its dimensions are fully respected." But it is obvious that Mugabe was merely trying to butter-up potential investors, as the secret cabinet document continued that "no foreigner should be allowed to own rural agricultural land," which "should be excluded from the protection afforded by the bilateral investment promotion and protection agreements."

The South African government meanwhile has made no move to protect their citizens in Zimbabwe, who have already lost farms or are facing imminent land seizure. South African farmer Louis Fick has been forced off his farm, where his livestock worth more than US$250 000 are now at risk of starving to death. Fick was evicted from his Friedawel Farm by Edward

Mashiringwani, the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank, who arrived on the farm with 15 'bodyguards' and started threatening and harassing Fick's staff. Fick has since been barred from entering the farm, and about 1000 pigs and 100 piglets are being left to starve. Local journalists who tried to gain entry to the farm over the weekend have reported hearing the "eerie squeals of hundreds of starving pigs."

Fick is one of 78 commercial farmers who won a landmark legal battle in the human rights court of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) last year. The Tribunal ordered the government to protect the farmers' rights to their land, and this year ruled the government in contempt for ignoring the earlier ruling. The government has since been in the process of 'pulling out' of the Tribunal, saying it will not respect any current, or future rulings of the court.

African lawyers have since warned that Zimbabwe's blatant disregard of regional court rulings was setting a bad precedence for respect of continental bodies and called on the African Union (AU) and SADC to take decisive measures to defend their institutions of justice, before they become irrelevant. Representatives of the African bar associations and rule of law organizations said in a statement that "failure by the SADC and AU leadership to vigorously defend regional and sub-regional judicial organs from such a blatant assault is likely to have a contagion effect throughout the continent."

allafrica

21 September 2009

Nairobi — The government on Monday admitted that it would not keep the promise it made to the International Criminal Court to set up a local tribunal by September 30.

Instead, it will write to the ICC asking for more time to pass the law which will set up the tribunal.

This is the third time the government is failing to honour deadlines in bringing to justice those who masterminded the violence that erupted after the 2007 presidential election...

allafrica

21 September 2009

Abuja — In spite of the alarm raised by concerned groups, the Federal Government might be unable to save 57 Nigerians facing the death row in different countries.

Besides, the Chinese government has requested the permission of Nigeria to cremate the corpses of about 30 Nigerians in that country.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Joe Keshi, told THISDAY that several efforts by the government at the bilateral level is unlikely to change the course of those governments regarding the accused.

"If you ask me whether I am optimistic that these Nigerians will find their way back home, the answer is no, I am not. I am talking about the Nigerians on death row in countries all over the world," said Keshi.

The ambassador stated that the government is "between the devil and the deep blue sea" because of the questionable conduct of some of its citizens abroad.

He explained that about 14 people in Libya are accused of murder, while 18 are facing the same accusation in Indonesia. In total, there are about 57 Nigerians facing the death penalty in Indonesia and China, he stated.

Keshi explained that the country is confronted with huge consular problems given the "problematic" nature of some of these immigrants. He explained that unlike the first and second wave of Nigerians that left the country, the third wave is more often than not unskilled, uneducated, and unaccustomed to rules in their host countries.

Consequently, the government is forced to deal with the high incidence of illegal immigration and unwillingness by some immigrants to adapt to the culture of the new environment, he argued.

"They do not understand the language and the culture. And to crown it all, they are not even ready to understand some of these things. Most of them have been lured into going abroad by syndicates with the promise of jobs and a better life abroad. Regrettably, apart from Edo where the issue is of the girls going into prostitution, the areas most affected are the Eastern state. Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Abia and a little bit of Ebonyi," he said.

He explained that many risk their limbs to cross the Sahara desert, sometimes ending up in Libya. Others that are desperate get involved in illegal drug trafficking, racketeering, and all sorts of crimes.

Part of the difficulties faced by the Nigerian authorities is that some of the immigrants use fake names unidentifiable by their relations. This problem has become so big that it is difficult to track people, he said.

As for China, he noted that the government is reluctant to allow the authorities over there to burn the corpses of Nigerians. He explained that the Chinese have decided to burn the bodies because their relations have not stepped forward to claim them.

"We are reluctant to burn these bodies but my fear is that we have to make the decision within the next few days because they have given us the last notice and if we cannot find relations, we are going to ask them to cremate the bodies and keep the ashes until some people begin to look for their fellows and we give them," he said.

Another hurdle in China is that the penalties for overstaying one's visa is severe, making it more difficult for offenders to pay up and leave the country voluntarily, he stated. Consequently, the Nigerian authorities have met with the Chinese government on how some of the rules could be relaxed to enable offenders leave the country.

However, some of them are not willing to leave, he added.

"But, then the most difficult thing is that the people we are trying to plead for are not even ready to go. It will be unfair for anybody to assume that government is not doing enough. That not withstanding, I am very confident that based on recent talks with some countries we will be able to find our way through," he said.

Commenting on the way forward, Keshi said the government should mount enlightenment campaigns across the country. Also, the state and federal governments need to provide opportunities for citizens, he said.

"The onus is on the state and federal governments to accelerate development, expanding this country's industrial and agricultural base in order to accommodate the growing population. Also, we have to look into seriously controlling our population," said he.

He disclosed that the government had negotiated a series of agreements with the British and other European countries to encourage voluntary repatriation. The problem with that policy is that many do not want to come back home, he said.

In his view, the immigrants are responding to the hostile environment back home, the reason why effort should be geared towards improving conditions at home.

Keshi further disclosed that Nigeria had entered into agreement with a number of countries with regard to prison transfer. No country will appreciate illegal immigrants roaming its streets and breaking its laws, he argued.

He explained that the government steps in once it is aware that Nigerians have been arrested for any reason. It tries to negotiate their release and encourages deportation, he said. However, there are legal processes for deportation in the countries concerned, he added.

Chairperson of House of Representatives Committee on the Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa had raised an alarm on the plight plight of Nigerians on death row in Libya.

Since then, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) had asked the Libyan government to suspend their execution. It is not certain the course of action to be taken by Libya.

allafrica

21 September 2009

A Dutch-based oil trading company has offered to pay more than 30 million Euros (U.S. $48 million) to up to 31,000 Ivorians who said toxic waste dumped in Abidjan made them ill in 2006, reports the Dutch news agency, ANP.

However, the company, Trafigura Beheer BV, made the offer without admitting liability, and company director Eric de Turckheim asserted in a statement: "This settlement completely vindicates Trafigura.”

A separate joint statement agreed to by the company and the British law firm representing the Ivorians, Leigh Day and Co., said independent experts had been “unable to identify a link between exposure to... chemicals released from the slops [waste] and deaths, miscarriages, still births, birth defects, loss of visual acuity or other serious and chronic injuries.”

The statement went on to say that Leigh Day “now acknowledge that the slops could at worst have caused a range of short term low-level flu-like symptoms and anxiety.”

De Turckheim said the acknowledgement had opened the way to settlement talks. He said while Trafigura denied liability, it regretted the incident, which followed the dumping of toxic waste from a company vessel, the Probo Koala, by an Ivorian company, Compagnie Tommy.

“Trafigura… recognises that the slops had a deeply unpleasant smell and their illegal dumping by Compagnie Tommy caused distress to the local population,” said De Turckheim. “This settlement is the mark of a company that fully recognises its social and economic commitment to the region.”

No statement was published by Leigh Day. It said in the joint statement that it denied that any of its clients “made any deliberately false claims.”

Hundreds of Abidjan residents flocked to local hospitals three years ago, complaining of the effect of toxic fumes from waste dumps. Angry Ivorians barricaded roads and the country’s Cabinet resigned in response to the anger over the incident. In 2007, Trafigura was reported to have paid $198 million to the Cote d'Ivoire government, also without accepting liability.

allafrica

2009-09-21

DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania will host the 2010 World Economic Forum on Africa which President Jakaya Kikwete says is an honor for the East African country, the local Daily News reported on Monday.

"It is an honor for Tanzania to host the 2010 World Economic Forum on Africa. We are looking forward to welcoming the community, which I am confident will continue to make important contributions in our collective quest for a better world," Kikwete was quoted assaying.

He noted that it is heartening to see the positive impact that the World Economic Forum has on key issues of global concern as the unique gathering regularly convenes a very diverse group of friends of the continent, who are united in their optimism of what Africa can, must and will achieve.

The gathering is scheduled to be held in Dar es Salaam from May5 to May 7, 2010, which makes Tanzania the first East African country to play its host, according to a statement released by the Swiss-based forum.

Andre Schneider, managing director of the World Economic Forum, said they are looking forward to holding the meeting in Tanzania at a time when the whole East Africa region is expected to experience stronger growth.

Katherine Tweedie, director and head of Africa at the World Economic Forum, placed the development in its historical context.

She termed 2010 as a special year for the community. "Not only will it be the 20th anniversary of the World Economic Forum on Africa, it is also the first time that the Forum's Africa meeting will be held in East Africa," she said.

The World Economic Forum on Africa takes place over three days and is renowned for its informal style that engenders frank and open discussions among the most influential leaders with a stake in the region.

The 2009 gathering was hosted in Cape Town by newly elected President Jacob Zuma of South Africa in June this year.

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas, the report noted.

xinhuanet

2009-09-21

NAIROBI, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government has appealed to the United Nations for the elevation of the Nairobi-based UN Environment Program (UNEP) into a fully fledged UN organization.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the world body will enable UNEP deal comprehensively with the emerging environmental challenges across the world.

Speaking during a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moonin New York late Sunday, the PM said the agency, which is struggling to stem the tide of environmental degradation, is however stifled by duplication and scattering of roles.

According to a statement issued here on Monday, Odinga said Africa has begun to feel the heat of global warming while it is least prepared to deal with it.

Odinga said strengthening UNEP will boost Africa's capacity to tackle global warming.

He asked the UN to help with environmental issues Kenya is grappling with adding that the collapse of the ecosystem in Kenya would have serious implications for the entire Eastern Africa and beyond.

Odinga said Kenya is making substantial contributions to reducing carbon emissions by restoring its forest and water towers and promoting green energy.

These efforts, the PM said, deserved the support of the UN.

The PM said Kenya is playing a leading role in rallying African states to take a united stand during the upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen.

xinhuanet

2009-09-21

MOGADISHU, Sept. 20, (Xinhua) -- The radical Somali Islamist rebel leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, on Sunday called for more suicide attacks against forces of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), days after deadly twin suicide car bombs targeted the troops' headquarters in Mogadishu.

Aways, who heads the armed opposition Islamist faction of Hezbul Islam, was speaking after a mass prayer on the outskirts of Mogadishu to celebrate Eid Ul Fidr festival marking the end of the month-long fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"I ask Somali Muslim people to carry out more suicide attacks against the African Union enemy forces in Mogadishu," Aweys told people at the annual gathering held in his group's stronghold of Elashabiyaha, 18 km west of Mogadishu.

The call comes less than a week after the AU forces was targeted by two suicide car bombs that left 21 people, including 17 peacekeepers, dead and wounding as many as 40 others.

The attack, strongly condemned by Somali government and the international community, was claimed by the other more hardline Islamist movement of Al-Shabaab which controls much of the south and centre of the war ravaged country.

Nearly 5,000 African Union peacekeeping forces from Burundi and Uganda are currently stationed in the Somali capital Mogadishu providing protection to senior Somali government officials and main installations in the coastal city including the sea and air ports, the presidential residence and the roads linking them.

Aweys, who is wanted by the Washington for links with terrorism, accused the U.S. of meddling in Somalia's affairs and of supporting what he calls "the apostate government" of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist who was once an ally of Aweys but broke ranks over reconciliation with the then former Somali government early last year.

The firebrand cleric condemned the recent killing by U.S. air raid in south Somalia, of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan national who was prominent member of Al-Shabaab but wanted by Washington for links with bombings in Mombasa, coastal city in Kenya.

Aweys, whose group is waging a deadly insurgency against Somali government and AU forces, reiterated his call for the African Union peacekeeping forces to leave Somalia, a country that lacked functioning government for the past nineteen years.

xinhuanet

21 September 2009
At least 17 people, mainly combatants, have been killed in clashes between the al Qaeda-inspired Al Shabaab militia and government forces in the town of Yet on the border with Ethiopia, local witnesses say.

AFP - Islamist insurgents battled government forces in western Somalia and at least 17 people, mainly combatants, were killed, elders said Monday, as both sides claimed victory.

The fighting broke out late Sunday when fighters from the Shebab, an Al Qaeda-inspired group that controls much of southern Somalia, attacked government forces in the town of Yet on the border with Ethiopia.

"We are getting that 17 people, mainly combatants, died in the fighting and some vehicles were destroyed," Ali Moalim Kerow, an elder in the nearby town of Rabdhure, told AFP.

A local aid worker speaking on condition of anonymity gave a similar death toll but warned that it could rise.

The Shebab claimed victory in their battle with government forces but local residents said Monday that it was unclear who controlled the town after the previous night's fighting.

"We took control of the town after defeating the remnants of the apostate government who were planning attacks against us," Sheikh Hassan Mohamed, a Shebab commander for Hodur district, told AFP.

"Many of their dead are strewn in the streets of the town and our forces pulled out this morning," he said.

The Shebab commander said insurgent forces attacked government troops that had previously retreated from the city of Baidoa, further south, where the transitional administration's parliament was based.

A government military official acknowledged the attack but claimed his forces had defeated the Shebab.

"They attacked us in the evening but with no success. They retreated and we killed more than ten of their fighters. Our forces are in full control of the town," Shine Moalim Nurow said.

The Shebab group and Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys's more political movement Hezb al-Islam launched on May 7 a broad military offensive aimed at toppling Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

One front has focused on further boxing Sharif into a tiny perimeter in Mogadishu, where he owes his survival largely to the protection of African Union peacekeepers.

The other front has pitted the insurgents against government forces and their allies on the main arteries leading from the capital to the borders with Kenya and Ethiopia.

Since Ethiopia put an end to its two-year intervention in Somalia in January, the country's hardline Islamists have focused their rhetoric on the African peacekeepers, whom they accuse of being the foreguard of a Christian crusade.

At least 21 people, including 17 AU peacekeepers, were killed Thursday in twin suicide car bomb attacks on their headquarters at Mogadishu airport, the deadliest such attack since the AU force was deployed in March 2007.

france24