13 September 2009

Visiting the world's largest refugee camp, housing refugees from Somalia, on the Horn of Africa nation's border with Kenya, Academy award-winning actress and Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency Angelina Jolie today characterized the site as "one of the most dire" she has ever seen.

"If this is the better solution, then what must it be like in Somalia?" Ms. Jolie asked during her day-long visit to Dabaab, one of three camps that together were designed for 90,000 people but now host some 285,000 refugees.

Children ran to greet her as she made her way to the new arrivals area, where she met a young women with three small children with distended stomachs and streaming noses who just reached the camp in Kenya after walking for days to flee Somalia, where half the population - or some 3.8 million people - are in need of aid.

The Goodwill Ambassador saw first-hand the daily reality of life in Dabaab, where women and children line up for hours every day at water taps which are turned off for hours.

"The the toilets are already overflowing," she observed. "There is not even enough space for trash dumps so people are living amongst the garbage."

Ms. Jolie was told of a cholera outbreak earlier this year by staff from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at the camp, where some families who have made their homes there for years are hosting newly-arrived refugees.

"What is amazing is that as more and more people come into the camp, the Somali families continue to be generous with what little they have, even if that means having one eighth of the water they need and their children suffering from dehydration," she said.

At the end of her visit, Ms. Jolie noted that "the Somali families I met today are full of warmth and affection. I wish more people could meet them [because] then they would have a stronger desire to help."

When he visited Dabaab last month, High Commissioner AntÃ'nio Guterres was assured by the Kenyan Government that it understood the urgency of granting additional land to alleviate overcrowding at the site.

Mr. Guterres, who called Dabaab the "most difficult camp situation in the world," pledged UNHCR's support in the interim to boost the refugees' living conditions by upgrading the aging water and sanitation systems, increasing health services and providing adequate shelter and nutrition.

He also committed an additional $20 million for refugees and the host community in Dabaab, calling for massive international donor support.

UNHCR has recently begun moving 12,000 refugees to the Kakuma camp in northern Kenya as an emergency measure for new arrivals.

allafrica

13 September 2009
Lusaka — Burundi has received euro 4.4 million (US$6.4 million) grant from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) under the adjustment facility.

Burundi, one of the 19 member states of the regional economic bloc, is the first beneficiary of the COMESA adjustment facility.

According to a media statement issued by the COMESA secretariat in Lusaka, Comesa secretary general Sindiso Ngwenya presented the euro 4.4 million cheque to Clotilde Nizigama, Burundi's minister of finance in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura on Friday.

According to COMESA, the euro 4.4 million was a grant to Burundi meant to assist the country integrate into COMESA and the East African Community (EAC).

"Burundi has provided a programme for implementation of commitments which includes the elimination of non tariff barriers; support to the COMESA Common Investment Area; and fiscal and monetary harmonization," said Mr Ngwenya.

According to COMESA, Ms Nizigama said the euro 4.4 million was only 65 per cent of the funds that Burundi expects to get and that data required collection with the view to get the remaining 35 per cent is on an advanced stage.

In 2000, when COMESA launched the Free Trade Area (FTA) it was envisaged that the progress towards achieving the level of integration desired in the region would entail adjustments by governments. Therefore, the COMESA secretariat formulated programmes to support its member countries in this process.

As a result, COMESA created the COMESA fund, with two windows, one of which being the adjustment facility.

"We went through a rigorous process which entailed showing that COMESA is indeed an institution with the capacity and credibility to handle direct provision of such support to its member states through its own mechanism," said Mr Ngwenya.

Other COMESA member states include host Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Comoros, DRC, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

allafrica

13 September 2009

Hie Saidou, AfricaNews reporter in Harare, Zimbabwe Photo: Daniel Sibanba
President Robert Mugabe on Saturday launched a scathing attack on a visiting European Union delegation following progress on the SADC - initiated Global Political Agreement that led to a unity government.
Robert Mugabe rally, photo by Daniel Sibanda
He said the EU delegation he met chose to ask about how Zimbabwe would appoint senior government officials, choosing to ignore “illegal” sanctions imposed “on the country”.

Mugabe was officially closing a Zanu-PF Youth Conference in the capital, Harare. “I met the EU delegation today (Saturday) but instead of talking about sanctions, they talked about (Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon) Gono and (Attorney General, Johannes) Tomana. Coming all the way from Europe just to talk about the appointment of officials! They also talked about (Roy) Bennet and MDC officials who were arrested. However, I told them there were two Home Affairs Ministers from both MDC and Zanu-PF who are in charge of the police. The Ministers have both got two eyes,” Mugabe said.

Mugabe told the youth conference that Zimbabwe was for Zimbabweans and foreigners should keep away. “There are predators, outsiders who want to control us. They are colonialists who are armed to conquer. Therefore, don’t give in to outside interference,” he said. He urged party youths to be “the vanguard of the party and the country at large in the face of persecution by the West”.

“The road to independence was tough. It will remain tough because imperialists will always want to come and take our country. Never to surrender, never ever.
“Zimbabwe is ours, let others keep out of our family. Our resources are ours together, be it agriculture, the forest, birds even the lizards and poor frogs. We share them (resources) together.”

Mugabe and senior members of his party are under targeted sanctions from the EU, Britain and US, among other western countries. President Mugabe insisted that the EU delegation was supposed to lobby for the removal of sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Carlssen, Sweden’s International Development Cooperation Minister, also expressed concern over the slow pace at which the unity government was making progress, particularly in the area of political reforms. “We would like to engage with the Government of National Unity but we are also concerned about some progress not being made. We are worried about the progress that is not being made speedily as we would like to see, specifically when it comes to political reforms,” she said.

“That is why we are here, to meet the signatories of the agreement. To see what are the obstacles and how to deal with them, because it is in the interest of the Zimbabwean people.”

Addressing the Press, after meeting Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai – another signatory to the Global Political agreement in the second largest city of Bulawayo – delegation head, Ms Ganilla Carlssen said the EU wanted to restore relations with Zimbabwe. “Being here is a commitment from the European Union that we care and we would like to come back to normal relations with Zimbabwe.”

Tsvangirai said the issue of sanctions should be left for bilateral discussions with the EU. The delegation arrived in the country on Saturday morning after meeting Global Political Agreement guarantor, South African President, Jacob Zuma.

africanews

12 September 2009
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has said it will settle and re-integrate Internally Displaced People (IDP) into society after the United Nations closes camps in the restive Kivu provinces of that country.
congo_village_home
Government spokesman Lambert Mende is quoted as saying that his government has budgeted for financial and logistical support for the returning displaced Congolese.

He said the government has accepted the move of Non Governmental Organisations and international agencies to close these camps because people are going back home and the numbers of those remaining were low.

He said the presence of remnants of armed groups in the area of Kinshasa will provide adequate security for the returnees.

"The government is well aware of the location of those remnants elements they are not all over the provinces… there are a lot of other places that are secured by the army (and) police," he said.

He however, refuted reports that the displaced returnees were forced out of the camps, saying that they came by their own volition and are going home by their own will.

He added that there is need for the displaced persons to return to the life they know.

It should be noted that the United Nations High Commission for Refugees announced that it will be closing IDP camps after a sharp drop of violence in Kivu.

But political pundits express worry that the government is ill-prepared to provide adequate security because of the presence of armed groups in the area.

africanews

13 September 2009

Kampala — The Radio One talk show host, Mr Kalundi Sserumaga, who was on Friday night grabbed by unidentified people, became the first journalist to fall victim as government continues to clamp down on the media amidst chaotic scenes in parts of the country.

The government yesterday also suspended two other media practitioners on allegations of inciting violence and demeaning the President.

Uganda Broadcasting Council (UBC) yesterday confirmed the suspension of Mr Sserumaga, who is still in police custody, on charges of media-related offences, WBS-TV talk show host, Mr Peter Kibazo, Radio Simba's local dramatist, who hosts Binsangawano morning show, Mr Charles James Senkubuge Siasa.

Mr Ssenkubuge told Sunday Monitor that: "They sent us a communication that we demeaned the President, but I don't know whether I have been suspended."

But Mr Kibazo confirmed his suspension on allegations that he fell short of minimum broadcasting standards during Friday's Talk Show on WBS-TV discussing Mengo-central government relations.

It was after this show that Mr Sserumaga was grabbed.

While the police and army both denied arresting Mr Sserumaga, the Deputy Director for Criminal Investigations in police, David Magara, told this newspaper yesterday; "He (Sserumaga) is in Kireka; he is going to be transferred to Central Police Station."

Police spokesperson, Ms Judith Nabakooba, said yesterday Mr Sserumaga had been taken to CPS pending investigations into what she described as "media-related offences".

"We shall inform you when we are through with the investigations. I cannot tell you the details of the charges as we have to get all the recordings of the case," she said.

Speaking to reporters at Uganda Journalists Association headquarters in Kampala yesterday, Mr Sserumaga's wife, Ms Sarah Nsigaye appealed for the release of her husband.

"He was arrested for no reason, he is a journalist doing his job and his arrest has affected the education of my children and the family members."

She added: "In 1976, Idi Amin got my grandfather and put him in the car boot and later killed him. Today it's my husband and I don't know what is going to happen."

Mr Sserumaga's arrest came after the government shut down four major FM radio stations allegedly due to their consistent breaching of the Electronic Media law, according to Information Minister Kabakumba Masiko.

Addressing a news conference at government's Media Centre in Kampala on Friday, Broadcasting Council chairman, Mr Godfrey Mutabazi, said the suspension of the radio stations was in light of current unrest in the country.

The government also announced a ban on Bimeeza programmes saying they are increasingly becoming difficult to manage due to the inability of radio stations to control content.

Explaining the current clamp down on the media, Ms Masiko said that the government decision was in line with the mandate entrusted to the Council to regulate media houses.

As the government comes down hard on media, at least a dozen journalists in the country are facing prosecution over stories that the State deems either seditious or defamatory.

Besides, the formation of a Cabinet sub-committee to propose a way of reining-in the media and the proposed Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Bill, 2008, commonly known as phone tapping bill, which is before Parliament for consideration are some of the plans the government is seeking to use to clamp down on independent media.

While President Museveni always emphasises the importance of free speech, he has at the same time consistently attacked the media for allegedly "misleading and misinforming" the public.

The President has repeatedly promised to tame the media, accusing particularly independent media of bias and sabotaging national development.

allafrica

13 September 2009

At least 550 people have so far been arrested in connection to the riots that have, for three days, affected business in Kampala city and claimed 14 lives, police announced yesterday.

Police also warned that the arrest the hunt for the ring leaders was still ongoing.

"I can tell you that we are still arresting, this is not all, we are going to arrest more," the Inspector General of Police Gen. Kale Kayihura told journalist yesterday at the CID headquarters in Kampala, adding that 83 of the suspects have been charged in court.

The Police chief also said that the rioters had retreated to the suburbs describing the mayhem as pre-planned by ill intentioned and malicious characters.

"There has been orchestrated violence and lawlessness in the suburbs of Kampala this (Saturday) morning; surburbs like Nateete,Kyengera,Kamwokya and Kireka have experienced sporadic incidents of hooliganism and brief episodes of disturbances,"Mr Kayihura said.

Although he did not name who had organized the thugs into rioting, Mr Kayihura said the rioters targeted security personnel on patrol.

He also disclosed that 82 victims including 13 police officers were being treated for injuries in various hospitals.

The police also paraded 11 suspects who reportedly torched down Nateete police station. The hunt for other suspects was still on by last evening.

The IGP also refuted reports that the Kabaka had been put under house arrest, saying as police they have no intention to place the Kabaka of Buganda under any kind of arrests.

Following the deaths and incidence of excessive use of force by the security agencies, Mr Kayihura ordered no more use of teargas and live bullets against the rioters.

"I don't want to hear cases of live bullets or excessive force, just arrest those causing chaos but do not use excessive for because there is no need now," he told journalists.

He also castigated the way Mr Robert Sserumaga was arrested, saying he will be given police bond as the investigations go on. He also promised to investigate incidence where journalists have been beaten and tortured while covering the riot.

Meanwhile Mr Sserumaga, a senior journalist who was picked after a TV talk show on Friday night, was last evening taken to Kampala Central police station to record a statement after spending a night in unknown location.

allafrica

12 September 2009

A number of mortar shells hit parts of central Mogadishu on Friday evening leaving at least ten dead.

One of the mortars landed in a residential area while another crashed onto the city's main jail.

The worst incident, however, occurred at De Martino Hospital, a former medical facility that had been converted into a lodge for the Somali war veterans of the 1977/78 conflict between Ethiopia and Somalia.

Most of the residents are the Ogaden war veterans and the blast killed six on the spot and left twenty five severely injured.

It was just before Iftar (Futuru) as the residents were waiting to break the fast.

By early Saturday morning, four more wounded veterans lost their lives at Medina Hospital.

"It is one of the most shocking events we witnessed," said Hassan Sheikh Qalli, a resident in Hamarweyne district where De Martino Hospital is located.

The injured persons included the spokesman of the disabled war veterans, Abdi Ali Mahad.

The Transitional Federal Government was quick to blame the Islamist group, Al-Shabaab, for the attack.
Relevant Links

Sheikh Abdirizak Mohamed Qaylow, the spokesman of the pro-government paramilitary unit known as Drawiish condemned what he called the anti-peace (opposition) groups.

"The anti-peace (Al-Shabaab) group engage in this kind of merciless act in the course of their drive to defeat the government in Somalia," said Sheikh Qaylow. "They do not even care who suffers in civilian populated areas," he added.

"We are all shocked," said a legislator who lost a relative, but declined to be named.

Mogadishu residents have been experiencing intense battles between the TFG and the opposition Islamist groups since early May.

Al-Shabaab and Hizbu Islam have declined repeated calls from the government to settle differences through negotiations.

allafrica

13 Sep 2009
Riot police have clashed with angry protestors in breakaway Somaliland, killing at least three people and arresting more, including a number of journalists.

On Saturday, opposition demonstrators tried to enter the parliament building in Hargeysa after police tried to stop a debate scheduled on a motion to impeach the president over delays in the elections.

The protestors, who were chanting anti-government slogans, also set fire to three police vehicles and burned tires in the streets, AFP quoted a police officer as saying.

People within the crowd, however, accused the police of using force against their 'peaceful demonstration' and 'aggressively' dispersing the crowds by 'indiscriminate gunfire'.

Local journalists also reported that police arrested three of their colleagues, identified as Abdiqani Husein, Abdifatah and Abdiqani Abdulahi, as they were covering the demonstrations.

Interior minister of the semi-autonomous Somaliland, Abdulahi Osmail Ali, said a number of protestors were armed and used grenades and guns against government forces, wounding four policemen.

On Tuesday, police stormed the parliament building after lawmakers started fighting among themselves and one of them drew a pistol.

The tensions come amid the impeachment of President Dahir Riyale Kahin, who has been in power since 2002, and the growing calls for him to step-down.

The embattled president is seeking re-election in the upcoming polls in the face of strong challenge from Faisal Ali Warabe, of the Justice and Welfare Party, and Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud, of the Development and Solidarity Party.

The conditions on the ground remain tense in Somaliland with a delay in the presidential election scheduled for September 27, the third such postponement, adding to the intensity of tensions.

A former British protectorate, Somaliland split from Somalia SME/less than a year after Somali dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991 and is seeking international recognition as an independent state.

presstv

10 Sep 2009
Top EU officials are to visit Zimbabwe after seven years, to work on normalizing ties, as African leaders have urged the removal of all sanctions on Harare.

It will be the first such visit since the European Union imposed crippling sanctions on President Robert Mugabe's government in 2002.

The trip dubbed as only a preparatory visit aimed at reviving political dialogue between the West and Zimbabwe.

The EU's Aid and Development Commissioner Karel de Gucht and Swedish Development Minister Gunilla Carlsson will head the delegation in talks with Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and other senior officials, EU officials said on Thursday.

The development comes as South African leaders on Wednesday urged the international community to lift all sanctions against Zimbabwe, arguing that it would help its power-sharing government to work smoothly.

European powers have however ruled out the immediate removal of all sanctions on Harare.

Pro-western opposition leader Tsvangirai wants a removal of sanctions to be conditional on how well the one-year-long power-sharing deal has been implemented.

But this week the leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), along with South African President Jacob Zuma, rejected the proposal, saying there should be no conditions placed on the removal of sanctions.

Mugabe agreed to share power with his long-time rival Tsvangirai last September, in a bid to prevent Zimbabwe from lurching towards total economic collapse.


presstv

12 Sep 2009
Amid uncertainties and anger about the release of Lockerbie bomber, a report reveals that Britain and Libya have been sharing closing relations over the last six months.

The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday that a contingent of between four and 14 men from the Special Air Service (SAS) had been training Libyan forces in the past six months.

An unnamed SAS source told the paper that the training was related to an agreement struck with Tripoli over release of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi.

Last month, Scotland freed Megrahi on compassionate grounds to the anger of many relatives of the 1988 airliner bombing, which killed 270 people.

London says that the decision to free him was taken by the Scottish government and had not been done to improve Britain's trade links with the oil-rich Libya.

On Saturday, the British government confirmed the training, but asserted there had been no defense deal connected to the release of Megrahi.

Britain's Ministry of Defense and Foreign Office also announced that they could not comment on the work of the SAS.

However, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said, "We have ongoing cooperation with Libya in the field of defense, but to suggest that this is part of any deal related to Megrahi is simply untrue."

The spokeswoman claimed there had been defense cooperation with Tripoli since Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi renounced weapons of mass destruction in 2003.

presstv

NAIROBI, 11 September 2009 (IRIN) - Rapid urbanization is fuelling poverty among the urban poor in Kenya, an estimated four million people, almost a third of whom are in the capital Nairobi and unable to meet basic nutritional, health and other needs, says a new report.

"[Despite] a reduction in the level of absolute/overall poverty since 1997... food poverty and hardcore poverty... have actually [increased]," states an Oxfam GB September report, Urban Poverty and Vulnerability In Kenya.

"Urban food poverty increased from just over 38 percent in 1997 to nearly 41 in 2006, while the percentage of hardcore poor rose slightly from under 8 to just over that percentage," it said, adding that in cities such as Nakuru and Mombasa, half the population is now food poor.

A household is deemed to be overall poor if it is not able to meet its nutritional and other basic requirements, food poor if it cannot meet all its nutritional needs due to expenditure on other basic non-food essentials, and hardcore poor if unable to meet basic food needs even by foregoing other essentials.

Food crisis

High food prices, blamed on poor rains, among other factors, have "led a majority of slum dwellers to decrease the frequency and size of their meals as well as [pushed] people into high-risk livelihood activities in order to meet their basic needs", states the report. These include sex work, crime, scavenging and child labour.

With the costs of basic health services, fuel and water up by 16, 65 and 114 percent respectively, expenditure on items such as water, soap, sanitation and education has also dropped.

Oxfam warns that such coping strategies have gradual long-term adverse effects such as asset-erosion, higher illiteracy and crime.

Already, most of the slum population spends at least 75 percent of their income on staple food alone.

In the past year, the price of maize has risen 133 percent while average household incomes have fallen by 21 percent. Over-reliance on markets for food and non-food items has increased susceptibility to external shocks.

Disease burden

Disease and poor social support systems stalk the urban poor. For example, Nairobi residents are twice as likely to be HIV-positive as their rural counterparts; child and neo-natal mortality rates in the slums are also above the national average.

Low immunization coverage, inadequate access to prohibitively costly clean water and poor sanitation also breed disease in slums. Pit latrines, where available, may serve up to 500 people per day.

"Relative to rural areas, ‘social capital’ is thought to be weak in Nairobi and consequently people do not have the same kin and support networks," says the report, which also found the levels of inequality in urban areas to be dangerously high. Social capital refers to family networks, and relationships of trust and reciprocity.

Income disparities have also widened in Kenyan cities. "Rising inequalities can severely hamper both poverty reduction efforts and economic growth, as well as leading to increased conflict and violent crime."

Added to this are some about 2.5 million jobless youth, according to a 2008 World Bank report.

Oxfam recommends that good urban governance should be promoted through an enhanced policy environment; building government and community capacity and improving access to critical urban services such as water and sanitation.

irinnews

NAIROBI, 11 September 2009 (IRIN) - Faced with increasing climatic variability, Africa needs to invest more in irrigation to boost food security, a new report says, pointing out that agricultural land in Asia is six times more likely to be irrigated.

"Much of Africa is expected to experience reduced annual precipitation, which would, along with higher temperatures, enhance the potential productivity-enhancing effects of irrigation," the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), says in a 2 September discussion paper, Measuring Irrigation Performance in Africa.

"African countries produce 38 percent of their crops (by value) from approximately 7 percent of their cultivated land on which water is managed," the report states.

"The disproportionate contribution to agricultural production of Africa’s small irrigated area suggests that returns on additional investment in irrigation would be high, both in terms of greater food security for the continent and greater production of export-quality agricultural goods."

Quoting statistics from a survey conducted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, IFPRI says African countries have less renewable water per unit area and a higher population density than the world as a whole, with about 1ha of cultivated land per person in both sub-Saharan Africa and Africa as a whole.

"They [African countries] withdraw only a quarter as much water for human uses as does the world as a whole, and the irrigated share of their crop land is less than one-fourth of the world average," according to IFPRI.

Sub-Saharan Africa's internal renewable water availability per hectare is less than two-thirds of global availability, IFPRI says, reflecting both regional scarcity and the trans-boundary nature of water flows in the region.

irinnews

DAKAR, 11 September 2009 (IRIN) - Relentless rain in parts of West Africa has worsened flooding, leading governments and aid agencies to step up emergency response efforts.

“It is not yet the end of the rainy season so we do not know just how bad it will get, but we do know the situation is already very serious,” said Moustapha Diallo, spokesperson for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) West and Central Africa office.

Aid agencies estimate that between 400,000 and 600,000 people have been affected by flooding since the beginning of the rainy season – “affected” meaning they have been displaced, they have suffered loss to homes or belongings or their ability to make an income has been stymied, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The number of displaced across the region has not been calculated but government and aid agency figures indicate it is more than 100,000.

Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone are among the worst-affected, says OCHA, which estimated that over 160 people have died thus far across the region as a result of flooding.

Governments in Burkina Faso and Benin have called on international donors and aid agencies to help them respond to the floods.

“The particular force and extent of the flooding this year is really overwhelming governments’ capacity to cope, despite some preparation measures that have been put in place,” said Charles Bambara, spokesperson for Oxfam in the region. This is partly due to the sheer force and magnitude of the downpours – Burkina Faso received one quarter of its average annual rainfall in three hours on 1 September according to the national weather centre.

The impact of 2009 flooding to date is not as severe as in 2007, when the region’s worst floods in decades killed at least 300 people and affected 800,000, according to OCHA spokesperson Yvon Edoumou.

“If the rains continue in some countries – such as Burkina Faso, Senegal and Sierra Leone – we could find ourselves in serious trouble,” he said.

More rain is forecast for Senegal in the coming days, according to regional weather centre ACMAD.

Response

The European Commission’s humanitarian aid department, ECHO, has provided US$4.3 million for flood relief in the region, $3 million of which will go to Burkina Faso. The IFRC has allocated $938,000 to respond to flood damage across the region. It is using pre-positioned supplies of plastic sheeting, blankets, water containers and hygiene materials located in Senegal, Benin and Cameroon to speed up its response to within 48 hours of an alert, according to IFRC’s Diallo.

Read more on the latest flood response in each country

“Tapping into these supplies has enabled us to move more quickly and respond to people’s needs within hours,” Diallo told IRIN.

IFRC has distributed relief supplies to flood-affected families in Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile some 177,500 people in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger are targeted to receive food aid from the UN World Food Programme. Oxfam, Save the Children and World Vision are among several NGOs sending relief items and water and sanitation experts to assess damage.

Governments and aid agencies say the priority is ensuring affected people have access to clean water and adequate sanitation as well as to essential food and non-food items.

“In the short term having people living next to polluted water and household waste could have dramatic health consequences,” Oxfam International’s West Africa director, Gerard Steehouwer, said in a 9 September communiqué.

Even in normal conditions, access to water and proper sanitation facilities is low in much of the region. Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Sierra Leone rank lowest out of 177 countries evaluated by the UN for access to clean drinking water.

Nearly every year the rainy season brings floods, with conditions exacerbated by a lack of urban planning, poor water and sanitation infrastructure and rapid urban population growth, donors and aid officials say.

irinnews

NAIROBI, 11 September 2009 (IRIN) - Ugandan police have used excessive force during clashes with rioting supporters of a local monarch in which at least 10 people died, according to a human rights watchdog.

The clashes erupted on 10 September in the capital, Kampala, sparked off by a planned visit by King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi of Buganda kingdom to the central district of Kayunga on 12 September.

Kayunga is part of Buganda kingdom, but a minority community in the area is opposed to the trip. Kingdom officials say the central government is trying to thwart the visit.

"The available evidence raises serious concerns that police used excessive force in confronting demonstrators," Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a statement. "A thorough investigation is needed to find out who is responsible."

Riots continued across the city and in several neighbouring districts on 11 September, with local media reporting five more people gunned down by the police. The Ugandan police deny the allegations.

The government has also suspended four Luganda language FM stations on the grounds that they were instigating violence.

Kings without clout

Before the British colonized it in the 19th century, Uganda comprised several kingdoms - most of which eventually lost their political clout. In 1976, kingdoms were abolished by President Milton Obote. In 1993, President Yoweri Museveni restored them, but as cultural institutions.

The main kingdoms include:

Uganda's largest and most politically powerful kingdom, Buganda is located in the central region along the shores of Lake Victoria. Kampala is also home to Mengo, the seat of the Kabaka (king).

The Baganda are the largest ethnic community in Uganda, with an estimated five million people.

During the colonial era, Buganda became the most influential kingdom in Uganda when the British rewarded it for its collaboration by giving it territories that belonged to the western kingdom of Bunyoro.

Many Baganda have, for several years, unsuccessfully lobbied the government to introduce a federal form of government that would give some autonomy to the regions.

The current kabaka is Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II.

The kingdom of Bunyoro, with about 700,000 people, is in western Uganda along the shores of Lake Albert. It casts itself as the oldest East African kingdom, and is ruled by an Omukama.

Historically one of the most militarily powerful kingdoms, Bunyoro opposed colonization and paid for it with the loss of some territory.

Much of the oil recently discovered in Uganda is in this region.

The current Omukama is Solomon Gafabusa Iguru 1, the 27th king of Bunyoro.

Traditionally, the Acholi people of northern Uganda were organized in groups of clans presided over by a Rwot, or paramount chief.

Two decades of war in the north between the government and Lord's Resistance Army rebels, however, forced about two million Acholi to abandon their homes and seek refuge in camps.

Currently, the kingdom is using traditional Acholi justice systems - such as mato oput, where the offender confesses his crime and is absolved - to try to build peace and reconciliation.

The current Rwot is David Acana Onen II.

On the eastern shores of Lake Victoria where the source of the River Nile is located, Busoga is one of the country's oldest kingdoms. Ruled by a Kyabazinga, the kingdom has about two million subjects.

A succession struggle followed the death in 2008 of the previous Kyabazinga, Henry Wako Muloki. In June, Prince Edward Columbus Wambuzi installed himself as the new Kyabazinga, but opposition remains.

Also in western Uganda, the Toro kingdom - with about 800,000 subjects - was formerly part of Bunyoro; its leader is also called the Omukama.

The kingdom has close ties with Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi, who was made defender of the Toro kingdom in 2001. The current Omukama of Toro is Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who became the world's youngest monarch at the age of three in 1995.

Located in southwestern Uganda and traditionally ruled by an Omugabe, the Banyankore people are divided into two groups with a total population of 2.3 million - the minority, mainly pastoralist Bahima, and the mainly agriculturalist Bairu.

Although it is one of Uganda's oldest kingdoms, Ankole has not had its title returned, so its leader, John Barigye, is officially regarded only as a prince.

Several other kingdoms and chiefdoms are officially recognized by the government, including the union of Alur chiefdoms, the Iteso paramount chieftancy, the paramount chieftaincy of Lango and the Padhola state.

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DAKAR, 11 September 2009 (IRIN) - The 2009 rainy season in West Africa, with several weeks to go, has caused extensive flooding, affecting hundreds of thousands of people and killing 160, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Here is a synopsis of flood impact and responses in several West African countries.

Burkina Faso
In Burkina Faso at least 100,000 people are currently displaced, over 40,000 of them sheltering at 88 sites – mostly schools – in the capital Ouagadougou and the rest living with friends and relatives, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The prime minister announced on 9 September that school will resume as scheduled on 1 October and temporary shelters will be set up for people remaining homeless.

Mahamadi Sawadogo, one of 2,000 displaced living in the Lycée Venegre in Ouagadougou, told IRIN: “The authorities must help us to find a plot of land and evacuate the schools so that our children can attend school, since October is near.”

Following a government appeal on 7 September funds are pouring into the country, according to aid agencies, including from neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire which donated US$1 million. The European Commission’s humanitarian aid department, ECHO is giving $2 million, mainly for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Food Programme to provide food, essential medicines and mosquito nets, and to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to rehabilitate small farms that were flooded. WFP will provide emergency rations to 125,000 affected people, the agency announced on 8 September.

The IFRC is providing blankets, mosquito nets and plastic sheeting to 40,000 of the most vulnerable families.

An UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team arrived in Ouagadougou on 4 September to assess emergency needs following a request by authorities. The UN will be issuing a flash appeal in coming days.

Senegal
Over 100,000 people have been affected in the outskirts of the capital Dakar and in other regions, including Mbour just south of the capital, Kaolack in the west, and the city of Saint Louis in the north, according to OCHA. Dakar suburb Pikine is the most heavily affected, with 15 out of 16 of its neighbourhoods flooded.

The government activated an emergency response plan at the end of August, calling on public, private and non-governmental actors to intervene.

The IFRC launched an appeal for $2 million and has worked with the Senegalese Red Cross to distribute mosquito nets, blankets, jerry cans, water sterilization tablets and soap to 5,000 families. Meanwhile the Economic Community of West African States – ECOWAS – on 11 September announced $167,000 for the response.

UN agencies are providing medical and non-medical materials, and help with logistics and coordination to the tune of US$540,000.

Guinea
Heavy rains have hit the capital Conakry and the town of Kindia in the west, affecting 15,000 people, according to OCHA. A number of aid agencies, including the Danish and Guinean Red Cross Societies, have responded by improving access to sanitation facilities and providing relief supplies including clean water.

Niger
Floods in Agadez in the north have affected 16,000 families according to OCHA, with many displaced people sheltering in schools and other public buildings.

The government has set up a flood management committee in Agadez to help with communications; distribution of supplies; and nutrition, health and hygiene needs.

The UN Development Programme will provide $200,000 to help rebuild the town, it announced on 9 September.

Chad
Severe floods hit western Chad in August, killing several people in Mayo Kebbi’s capital Bongor, according to the IFRC. Among an estimated 175,000 affected people, 1,000 families are in need of emergency assistance, the agency estimates.

Mauritania
Some 3,000 people have been displaced by floods in the capital Nouakchott and in Rosso on the southern border with Senegal as of 9 September, according to the government.

“We were sinking in the water; our houses are ruined,” Embarka Mint Warzek from the Dar Naime district of Nouakchott told IRIN.

Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf has promised to provide clean drinking water to the displaced. WFP has provided food aid to 11,500 people in Rosso.

UNICEF is working with the national water company to build install water pumps, while the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) distributed 1,350 water containers. Both UNICEF and UNHCR have said they will provide materials to rebuild toilets.

Sierra Leone
Flooding in the capital Freetown in late August left four dead, according to the government. Director of disaster management at the Office of National Security, Mary Kamara, said the government is providing relief supplies to displaced families. The Red Cross is also providing assistance.

Nigeria
The Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said flooding in late August affected 150,000 people and displaced tens of thousands across the north. Kaduna, Gombe, Niger, Benue, Adamawa, Nassarawa, Zamfara, Sokoto and Jigawa states as well as the capital Abuja have been worst-affected.

“From the reports we have received so far floods…have submerged whole villages and washed away burial grounds”, NEMA’s Director General Muhammad Audu Bida told IRIN. He added: “The solace is that no lives have been lost.”

Heavy rains flooded the Apa government district of central Nigeria’s Benue state for the second time in 40 years, leaving thousands of people sheltering in public schools, said Bida.

Rabe Muhammad, a resident of Talata Mafara city in Sokoto state, told IRIN: “We have lost all we have…Our major problem is how to feed our families and rebuild our houses now that we have lost both our homes and our crops.”

In Adamawa state in the northeast officials are trying to control a cholera outbreak, which has so far claimed 70 lives, Aliyu Sambo, NEMA’s northeastern Nigeria coordinator told IRIN. “Our major concern is to maintain sanitation and avoid outbreak of diseases in sites where the displaced are sheltering.”

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KAGUIT, 11 September 2009 (IRIN) - Three women walk through lush forest with bowls of rice plants on their heads. It is a spectacular scene in the verdant Casamance region of southern Senegal, but the beauty is marred by red and white-striped warning tape demarcating areas where a team is scanning the land for deadly mines.

But the warning tape and the signs reading “Danger, mines!” in French and Wolof signify the work underway to clear the land of mines and return it to the people, most of whom live off farming.

One farmer told IRIN: “Landmines compromise our existence”.

Each weekday at dawn 10 Senegalese men and women, trained by the NGO Handicap International, head to villages in Casamance – always accompanied by two paramedics – and meticulously search the ground for landmines.

Patrick Hirard, head of operations for Handicap’s demining programme, said the removal of one mine has an immense impact. “It is just one mine, but that frees up thousands of square metres of land for entire communities.”

Since February 2008 Handicap International, for now the only organization carrying out humanitarian demining in the region, has cleared more than 72,000sqm of land and neutralized 99 mines on-site, according to head of mission Camille Aubourg. Humanitarian demining – as opposed to military demining – is performed by civilians and focuses on areas where mines have a heavy impact on the local population.


Landmines are part of the fallout of the 27-year conflict in Casamance, a region between The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau where instability reigns despite a 2004 peace accord between the government and separatist rebels. Since the height of fighting in the mid-1990s at least 748 people have been injured or killed by landmines, according to the National Anti-Mine Action Centre (CNAMS). But existing data might not reflect the true number of victims, according to a UN report on landmine projects worldwide.

A 2005-06 study led in part by the UN Development Programme – the latest such assessment – showed that of 251 localities investigated, 93 were contaminated by mines and/or unexploded ordnance. Experts say further studies are needed as some areas were inaccessible at the time.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines on 9 September called on African Union members to step up efforts to rid the continent of mines and assist victims. Senegal, a signatory to the Mine Ban Treaty, recently received a seven-year extension – to March 2016 – for the destruction of all antipersonnel landmines.


Funding crunch


Handicap, other aid agencies and CNAMS are seeking funds to continue clearing mines, to run awareness and education campaigns and to provide assistance to people injured by mines.

To date CNAMS has received none of the US$5.1 million budgeted for its 2009 projects, according to Seyni Diop, CNAMS head of education and victim assistance.

Handicap might have to put the demining operation on hold from 1 October unless new funds come in, Aubourg told IRIN. Aside from a contribution from Britain for July-August, since May Handicap has run the operation with its own funds. “It is becoming increasingly difficult,” she said.

Donors that have contributed to Handicap’s operations to date are Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Rotary Clubs of Senegal and the United States, along with the Senegalese government.

Handicap’s Aubourg said a lack of funding would foil important gains made to date. “We now have a true national expertise in humanitarian demining,” she said.

Pending funding, CNAMS hopes to recruit more operators in order to accelerate demining, Diop told IRIN.

Accelerating the removal of mines would be a relief to Casamance residents.

The Handicap team is currently working in Kaguit, a village 30km southwest of the main city Ziguinchor. Kaguit has been hit hard by fighting, mines – with 43 people killed or injured by the weapons – and in recent years pillaging and cattle raids by armed groups. Deminers’ presence is boosting people’s confidence, resident Moustapha Signaté told IRIN.

“Because of the nearby presence of the Senegalese army and the work of the demining team, we have a bit of courage to come back,” said Signaté, who fled Kaguit with his family in 1997 and for the past three years has returned to work the land during the planting season. He hopes to resettle in Kaguit for good.

“Without these two factors it is difficult for us to return, to settle here and work in peace,” he told IRIN. “Before the demining, people were afraid to move anywhere. We lost so many people of Kaguit to mines.”


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KAGUIT, 11 September 2009 (IRIN) - Elisabeth Sambou works with a Handicap International team that sets out out every weekday at dawn in Senegal’s Casamance region to scour the lush land for mines. The demining team members put on vinyl-kneed trousers, a 4-kilogram protective vest and a helmet with a face shield.

They start by testing their equipment, and then they painstakingly go about clearing foliage and scanning the land for signs of the deadly weapons, which since the 1990s have killed and injured at least 748 people; remaining mine contamination continues to block access to thousands of hectares of land in what are mostly farming communities.

“I am really eager to see peace return to Casamance for good. Because the population has suffered for years. When I heard about the job openings with the demining team, I said, why not? Not even really knowing what demining was all about. But I told myself, if there are people living in Casamance who want to resume their livelihoods [and this could help them], I said why not go and help.

“When I started going into the field I felt confident because of the training we received; we know what precautions to take, where to go and not to go.

“I think of the people who over the years have stepped on mines and lost limbs. It sickens me to think about it. Even if they go on living, something is diminished. When I think of these people who have suffered all these years, this is what gives me the strength and morale every day to get up and go to work.

“When we free up land for the people, it brings joy to my heart. The day we destroyed the mines we had found in Dar Salaam [a village in Casamance] it was quite moving. I cried tears of joy. I thought to myself – that explosive was going to strike a person, or several people. So I thank God every day I have the strength and ability to come and do this work.

“My motivation is freeing up the land for the people. Because not everyone can go to [the capital] Dakar and work in offices. There are those who make their living from the land.”


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NKAYA, 11 September 2009 (IRIN) - Degradation of the environment is reaching alarming levels in Nkaya in southern Malawi, where people have to walk ever greater distances to collect firewood and water. Mayi Chambo, a village head in Nkaya, blamed charcoal makers for the deforestation. This is her story.

"In the 1980s we had lush forests here. The rains used to come in time, the soil was fertile and water was not a problem. It was after 1994 when we started experiencing problems that have to do with the environment. People from other areas began settling here in search for fertile soil and products from our forests.

"Soon the trees started to disappear - people wanted rafters for their newly built houses. Even the demand for fuel wood increased because the population had also increased. People began to clear forests for new fields.

"Everything happened just so fast and the trees are gone. We only have shrubs now, and in summer there is nowhere to escape to from the burning sun.

"The demand for charcoal in towns has also worsened matters here. People do not take heed of the messages from government and non-governmental organizations not to cut down trees wantonly.

"They are lured by the money they generate from selling charcoal in the cities, especially in Blantyre [Malawi's second city]. But should we let these people destroy everything because of a bag of charcoal that costs K500 (US$3.57) only? That is not acceptable.

"Women have to travel over 15 kilometres to Rivirivi River to fetch water. Once we had boreholes, but they have broken down. It is not safe for women with babies tied to their backs, walking long distances to fetch water and firewood - there are so many dangers, such as wild animals and robbers.

"All we are asking for now are boreholes or piped water. Government can connect us to the national grid so we can have safe water as well. The water that we drink is not safe because we fetch it from unprotected sources; cattle and other animals drink from the same sources.

"The government has since put the responsibility of looking after forests in our hands; we now fine everyone we find cutting down trees carelessly. It is not easy to deal with people who are burning charcoal, though - they can be dangerous.

"If we continue to destroy our forests at the pace we are going, we will soon have a desert here. The signs are already showing. We do not get the rains in good time, and when we have the rains they are always associated with flooding. The soil needs a lot of fertilizer for the crops to produce, but how many families can afford fertilizer here? Most of us are poor.

"We have destroyed a lot in a short period of time and we are paying heavily for that."

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NAIROBI, 11 September 2009 (IRIN) - The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has released a manual to help build capacity among criminal justice practitioners to prevent and combat human trafficking.

The Anti-Human Trafficking Manual for Criminal Justice Practitioners is a practical guide and training tool based on the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children.

The manual explores a victim-centred approach to effective law enforcement and some content is based on the experiences of more than 45 judges, prosecutors, investigators, academics and NGO and inter-governmental organization representatives.

According to UNODC, more human traffickers are being convicted globally but the process is bogged down by the absence of anti-trafficking legislation in some countries or by the inability to translate legislation into action.

In some cases, human trafficking is mistaken for migrant smuggling, while some victims fear to cooperate because of threats and intimidation by traffickers.

The most common form of trafficking, UNODC noted in a February report based on data from 155 countries, was for sexual exploitation, especially of women and girls.

In 30 percent of the countries, women were the main traffickers. Globally, almost 20 percent of victims were children - although in parts of Africa this proportion rose to 100 percent.

"More must be done to reduce the vulnerability of victims, increase the risks to traffickers, and lower demand for the goods and services of modern-day slaves," UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said during the release of the report.

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NAIROBI, 10 September 2009 (IRIN) - Cholera, measles and polio outbreaks are ongoing in parts of northern Kenya due to a water shortage brought on by drought, and an influx of Somali refugees in the east, say officials.

"About 13 people are reported to have died of cholera in Turkana [in the northwest] since 20 August," Shahnaaz Sharif, the director of public health, told IRIN, adding that five of the deaths occurred in hospital while the rest have been reported by villagers.

New cases are being reported in the Turkana divisions of Kalokol and Kerio, Sharif said.

"The worry is [that] they [Turkana residents] are using water from the Ferguson Gulf, in Lake Turkana, which is contaminated," he said. A broken-down water pump has been repaired to provide clean water. The area also has low latrine cover, contributing to improper waste disposal.

In the capital Nairobi, three cholera cases were reported in the eastern Dandora area seven days ago. "This was caused by the use of water from a well that was sunk close to a latrine," he said.

Dysentery cases are also being reported 250km from the northeastern Laisamis area, where a previous cholera outbreak was reported.

So far, more than 600 cholera cases have been reported in the affected Turkana divisions, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) health coordinator for Kenya, Vincent Kahi, told IRIN.

"Lack of water for Kalokol, Turkana, is the main driver of the disease," Kahi said.

He said NGO partners, with the Health Ministry, were distributing chlorine for water treatment and repairing infrastructure.

The IRC is helping to provide medicine and staff to help in the early diagnosis of the disease.

Polio and measles cases

A total of 18 polio cases have been reported since February in Turkana. The last case was diagnosed four weeks ago, according to the health ministry, which is carrying out control campaigns.

"It looks like it [polio] was imported from Sudan in the north," said Kahi, adding that cross-border movement was rampant in the area.

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease that can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. It can strike at any age, but mainly affects children younger than three.

Before the recent outbreak, the last polio case in Kenya was recorded more than 20 years ago.

In neighbouring Kakuma refugee camp, two measles cases have been confirmed, he said; there are three more suspected cases.

This has prompted intensified surveillance and screening of new refugee arrivals. Some 12,000 Somali refugees are being transferred to Kakuma from Dadaab camp in the northeast to ease congestion there.

Up to 16 August, some 62 measles cases were reported in the Hagadera camp in Daadab, he said adding that currently, there are new suspected cases in the Dagahaley camp.

Dadaab's three refugee sites house at least 284,306 refugees. This is triple Dadaab's capacity.

Measles, which is also a contagious viral disease, affects mostly children and is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons. Initial symptoms include a cold and fever, followed by a fine red rash.

A nationwide measles vaccination campaign is scheduled to begin on 19 September.

The Kenya Red Cross Society is supporting water and sanitation projects in drought-hit northeastern Ijara and Isiolo in the east to reduce the vulnerability of pastoralist communities to recurrent droughts.

KRCS staff and volunteers are also training community members in hygiene and are continuing to distribute relief aid to 573,343 beneficiaries in the region.

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