NAIROBI, 10 September 2009 (IRIN) - A Darfur security scorecard: figures for 2009 from OCHA (as of end-August 2009):

• Seven national humanitarian staff and three UNAMID staff have been killed.

• 12 humanitarian staff and 10 UNAMID staff have been wounded or injured.
• 11 humanitarians (seven international) have been kidnapped.
• 26 humanitarians and three UNAMID staff have been physically or sexually assaulted.
• 18 humanitarians and 11 UNAMID staff have been abducted during carjackings.
• 44 humanitarians and 12 UNAMID staff have been arrested or temporarily detained by the Government of Sudan.
• 64 humanitarian vehicles and 31 UNAMID vehicles have been hijacked or stolen.
• There have been 103 assaults or break-ins on humanitarian agency premises, and 22 on UNAMID premises.

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BURETI, 9 September 2009 (IRIN) - When he completed high school six years ago, Frederick Chepkwony chose a career in farming. Now 25, he owns almost 1ha on which he practises mixed farming in Bureti District in Kenya's Rift Valley province, an area unaffected by the poor rainfall witnessed in other parts of the country this year.

However, agricultural officials have urged him and other farmers in the area to redouble their efforts and maximise crop production during the El Niño rains, due from mid-September. Chepkwony spoke to IRIN about factors hindering his farming efforts:

"Apart from maize, which I grow on about a quarter of an acre [0.1ha], I have dedicated the rest of my farm to producing crops such as cabbages, beans, potatoes, pumpkin and chillies. I did this when I realised that maize required rainwater to do well whereas I can use borehole water for the rest.

"Right now my greatest impediment is a dependable water supply; I do not have a pump to help me make use of the borehole that I have dug; I am currently getting the water by lowering a bucket into the hole and pulling it up using a rope. I can’t rely on this system to be able to water the crops regularly.

"With a dependable water supply, my production would almost double; it fact it would transform my farm as I would almost double what I produce.

"Right now, for example, I get about 1,500 cabbages from [0.1ha] but I can only plant the vegetables on this patch because it is nearest the borehole. I would extend the acreage if I could water it adequately. As for the potatoes, I know I can get bigger sizes if I water them at the stage they need adequate moisture. As you can see, the potatoes I harvest from areas near the borehole are bigger than those further away.

"Marketing is the other challenge that small farmers like me face. If you go to the local market, you will find that most of the crops I produce are plentiful, so we end up selling them cheap to avoid spoilage. If the government could help us by assisting us in transporting what we produce to the areas that are now facing hunger then we would help reduce the food scarcity being experienced in those parts.

"I will continue farming as it is my main source of income for my family but without a dependable water supply and better marketing of our crops I am afraid our input in cutting hunger and starvation in parts of the country will be very little.”

irinnews

NAKURU, 9 September 2009 (IRIN) - For decades the water pan in Daniel Waatho's farm at Njoro in Kenya's Rift Valley province never dried up - until drought hit the area this year.

"I normally harvest rainwater, but last year [2008] was the last time we had some proper rain, so my water pan has dried up," he said.

The drought killed his premature maize crop, while the beans shrivelled and died before reaching the podding stage.

That, however, is just one of Waatho's worries. With the weatherman predicting El Niño rains across Kenya soon, he is torn between preparing his farm for maize or diversifying into short-term crops such as beans, sorghum and cassava.

"I am told El Niño rains are coming. Will my crops recover or will the water pan fill up with soil from the upper farms?" he asked, pointing to the pan at the lowest point of his farm.

Be prepared

Although it is believed this year’s El Niño will not be as severe as that of 1998, the Kenya Meteorological Department has urged the country to be prepared for the rains, expected between mid-September and December.

Joseph Mukabana, the department's director, told a news conference in late August that the El Niño impact was likely to be aggravated by the prolonged drought in many parts of the country.

At least 20 million people are food insecure in the greater Horn of Africa, which includes Kenya, because of the drought, according to the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net).

These countries, it added, suffer chronic poverty, civil war or insecurity, refugees and internally displaced persons, environmental degradation, poor marketing mechanisms and constrained income opportunities.

"The environment is quite sick, it is not wearing any clothes, the pastures are degraded and the impact is likely to be more soil erosion and siltation," Mukabana said. Flooding and mudslides, he added, were likely to occur in parts of the country.

The good and bad

Waatho said El Niño would enable him to resume farming. "Although I can't say I have given up [maize-planting], I am seriously thinking about going into other crops," Waatho told IRIN in Njoro.

"I will need seed for these crops; I am therefore appealing to the government to help us farmers with seed and the fertilizer for us to make use of the rains."

The government has set up a crisis centre in the prime minister's office to coordinate emergency interventions and is working with relief agencies, NGOs and development partners to plan for the adverse impact of El-Niño-related rains.

"The effects of El Niño are not the flood waters but the after-effects," Davies Okoko, the disaster preparedness manager for the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), said on 9 September. "Soon after the floods pass, there will be waterborne diseases, contamination of water sources and other effects."

Rapid response

Like other relief agencies and the government, KRCS has designed a preparedness plan that includes training members from its 62 branches in emergency response in health, water and sanitation, relief, logistics, communication and reporting.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, it has also put in place a structure for rapid deployment and response coordinated by its Emergency Operation Centre.

The society believes the rains will have a beneficial effect. "Favourable conditions are expected by the end of the year," Abdishakur Othowai, the KRCS special programmes manager, said.

"El Niño will lead to food production, especially in the [marginally agricultural] Ukambani areas since they rely on short rains."

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BUJUMBURA, 10 September 2009 (IRIN) - More than 2,000 refugees in Burundi have rejected UN appeals to move to a new camp for fear they could be exposed to attack.

The refugees, from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Banyamulenge community, are housed in a camp in Gihinga, in Burundi’s central Mwaro province. The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, and the Burundian government have announced that Gihinga camp will close at the end of September and have called on all those living there to agree to be moved to Bwagiriza, in the northeastern Ruyigi province.

Once Gihinga closes, the refugees will only be able receive assistance in Bwagiriza. About 140 have already made the move, but some 2,300 have refused to do so.

The refugees say Bwagiriza is too close to a part of Tanzania that is home to members of the Bembe ethnic group, long-time foes of the Banyamulenge.

"We hear rumours about residents in Ruyigi who want to attack us when we get there, for reasons we do not know. So, the Ruyigi province is not safe for us. We hear all the time cases of killings there - albinos, residents, even policemen. We fear the same can happen to us,” Freddy Gakunzi, representative of the Congolese Banyamulenge refugees, told IRIN.

Although the Bwagiriza camp is quite a distance from the Tanzanian border, the sense of threat was real, said Gakunzi. "People coming to sensitize us [about the proposed relocation] tell us 80km is far from the border, but we consider this distance is short enough for the Bembe to easily come to attack us.”

He said there was also concern that, should they move, the refugees might get caught up in any violence resulting from elections scheduled for 2010.

"Here at Gihinga, we know the local residents very well, so they cannot do any harm to us. They often bring us food to us.

“If they [UNHCR and Burundian officials] do not allow us to stay here or assist us in returning to our country, we are ready to walk for months to reach Congo. We will take the risk of walking the long way to the border,” Gakunzi said, pointing out that many of the refugees were too sick to walk more than a few kilometres per day.

Repatriation talks

A UNHCR spokesman, Bernard Ntwari, said: “We cannot move them by force; refusing to go is their right. If they do not go, it means they have another alternative.”

He added that UNHCR would not be a position to help the refugees move back to their home country until talks with the governments of Burundi and DRC delivered a formal tripartite agreement.

In any event, said Ntwari, “an evaluation should be made to find out if the conditions are conducive for their [voluntary] return” to DRC.

He added that this did not preclude “spontaneous repatriation… which means refugees are generally free to voluntarily and spontaneously repatriate to their countries of origin if they do not need assistance to do so and if they assume there is no more threat in their home countries”.

The latest report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on South Kivu paints a grim picture of the eastern DRC province, where the Banyamulenge originate, and which is the theatre of a joint operation by government and UN forces against Rwandan rebels.

Attacks against civilians in the province include “rape, looting, arson, hostage-taking, illegal roadblocks and forced portering of military equipment”, said OCHA’s weekly update (available in French only).

irinnews

HARGEISA, 10 September 2009 (IRIN) - The number of street children in Hargeisa, capital of secessionist Somaliland, is on the rise as more Ethiopian children cross the border in search of a better life.

The immigrant children are adding to the burden of local street children, most of whom have been forced on to the streets by drought and insecurity within Somaliland and further south, in Somalia.

“You can see old women accompanying about 20 children, of different ages, crossing the border into Somaliland from Ethiopia. These women may be their grandmothers, aunts or mothers,” Khadar Nour, chairman of the Hargeisa Child Protection Network (HCPN), told IRIN.

"The children, who are mainly from the Oromo [region of Ethiopia], beg in the streets of Hargeisa with their mothers," Nour said. Some work as shoe shiners, sending their earnings to relatives in Ethiopia.

Hargeisa is also a popular transit point for those seeking to travel further. “About 100 to 200 immigrant children cross the border from Ethiopia into Somaliland [annually] on their way to [the self-declared autonomous region of] Puntland, or to Yemen,” he said.

Poverty and family break-ups have also fuelled the rise in numbers. There are about 3,000 children, most of them boys between five and 18, living on Hargeisa's streets.

Crime threat

With the rising numbers, officials are concerned about an upsurge in crime. “They [the street children] are becoming a threat to the town's stability,” said Nour.

“When they grow up, they still find themselves living in difficult conditions; it is for this reason that they grab mobile phones."

Consequently, a number of the children are now in conflict with the law. In August, Nour said, a 16-year-old was sentenced to death in a Berbera regional court after being found guilty of murder.

"The grown-up street children have become the new gangsters," Mohamed Ismail Hirsi, Hargeisa's Central Police Station commander, told IRIN.

"In the last 72 hours, we have arrested more than 30 street children who have committed crimes such as stealing mobile phones in different parts of the town."

In the past two years, some 5,000 knives and other weapons, which are commonly used in robberies, have been recovered from the street children, prompting calls for more focused interventions.

"People say good words in workshops, but few interventions for street children have been [implemented]," said Nour of HCPN, which recently started providing food and education support for the children.

Once arrested, the children are charged as adults because a 2008 juvenile justice law has yet to be implemented.

Glue sniffing

The children living rough are turning to drugs. "I use glue because when first I came to the streets I saw my friends sniffing it," Ahmed Omar, 12, told IRIN. "Whenever I use it, I am able to survive a difficult situation."

The lack of a family support system also means more children may end up on the streets, as Abdi-Qani Ahmed’s experience illustrates. "When my mother and father divorced, there was no one left to take care of me," Ahmed, 11, said. "I used to get my food from restaurants in Hargeisa where I fed on leftovers.”

During Ramadan, however, few if any restaurants are open. "I have to wait to see if someone gives me something to eat or not," he said.

Living on the streets puts the children at risk of abuse from other street children as well as strangers. For protection, the children often seek refuge outside the police station at night.

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NAIROBI, 10 September 2009 (IRIN) - Thousands of people affected by a severe drought in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, are in desperate need of assistance, with officials describing the situation as “very critical”.

"We are at a critical stage and if help does not come within weeks the situation could develop into a catastrophe,” Abdullahi Abdirahman Ahmed, head of the Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Agency of Puntland (HADMA), told IRIN.

He said a recent assessment by his agency showed that almost all of Puntland was affected by the drought.

“We saw livestock, including camels, dying by the roadside. Others were being abandoned by their owners because they were too weak,” he said.

He said the authorities had started water trucking to the worst-affected parts of the region.

“The government effort can only cover about 30 percent of those who need help,” he said, adding that Puntland did not have the capacity to mount the kind of operation needed. “The resources are simply not there.”

Ahmed said HADMA had informed the agencies of the severity of the situation. "This is not a situation like any we have seen and so I hope that agencies don’t treat it as business as usual."

''On my tour we did not see people dying but what we saw was close to it''
Livestock dying

Haji Muse Ghelle, the governor of Bari region, one of the worst-affected areas, told IRIN some 30 percent of livestock in his region had died and the remaining animals were in very poor condition.

He said the Gu (long) rains had failed, leaving the barkads (water catchments) in the area dry. “Eighty percent of water comes from barkads and they are almost dry.”

Hundreds of families were moving from their villages in search of water and food, he said. Ghelle, who toured parts of his region from 25 August to 4 September, said he had found villages “totally abandoned… They are moving wherever they think they can find water and food."

He said both people and the remaining livestock were weak and "could not last long without help".

The priority should be to save the lives of the people and what is left of the livestock, the economic mainstay of the area. "On my tour we did not see people dying but what we saw was close to it."

Said Waberi Mohamed, the district commissioner of Qandala, in Bari region, one of the hardest-hit areas, said some 13 settlements in the district, with 1,000 families (about 6,000 people), had been abandoned. He said the district was entirely dependent on barkads, which had run dry. “We are facing one of the worst water shortages I have ever seen," he said.

Ahmed of HADMA said many nomadic families were moving to towns in search of assistance. He said the first priority was to deliver water to affected areas and to distribute food to those who had lost their livestock. “If something major is not done to intervene within the next few weeks, we will be facing a serious crisis,” he warned.

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JOHANNESBURG, 9 September 2009 (IRIN) - Reports and estimates of the impact of climate change appear almost daily, but those by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change remain the authoritative voice.

The World Economic and Social Survey (WESS), published annually by the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs, has devoted its 2009 issue to climate change. It includes an accessible, if unsettling, guide to some of the major impacts of climate change in various African countries, based on the IPCC's reports.


Here is a quick tour of the guide.


Food security

Northern Africa from Morocco to Egypt

By 2100, losses in agricultural production might amount to between 0.4 percent and 1.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Egypt: By 2050, rising temperatures could shrink production of many crops, ranging from 11 percent for rice to 28 percent for soybeans.

A projected decline in precipitation will also affect the flow of the Nile River, while a rise in sea level will affect food production in the Nile Delta.

West Africa

By 2100, agricultural losses might represent two percent to four percent of GDP. Rising annual global temperature, causing warmer seas, will affect fisheries in northwestern Africa.

Gulf of Guinea: Lagoon fisheries and aquaculture could be hit when the low-barrier beaches that limit coastal lagoons are destroyed by the rising sea level. A change in rainfall could also affect the quantity of water in the rivers that feed the lagoons.

Guinea: Between 17 percent and 30 percent of the existing rice-field area could be lost to permanent flooding by 2050.

Benin and Cote d'Ivoire: The inundation and subsequent salinization of coastal soil could threaten palm oil and coconut production.

East Africa

Rainfall is expected to increase in some parts of the region. The loss of about 20 percent of plant and animal life in Lake Tanganyika is projected, with a 30 percent decrease in fish yields.

In Kenya a one-metre rise in the sea level could affect the production of mangoes, cashew nuts and coconuts, causing losses of almost US$500 million a year.

On the plus side, in parts of the Ethiopian highlands a combination of higher temperatures and better rainfall may lengthen the growing season.

Southern Africa

More frequent El Niño conditions - in which sea surface temperatures become warmer across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean - could disrupt rains, bringing a notable drop in maize production.

On the other hand, growing seasons may lengthen in parts of Southern Africa, for example Mozambique, owing to a combination of increased temperature and higher rainfall.

South Africa: In Africa's major grain producer net revenues from crops could shrink by up to 90 percent by 2100.

Water resources

Northern Africa

More people could be experiencing water stress by 2055, particularly in Egypt, where a rapidly expanding population - expected to reach between 115 and 179 million by 2050 - might be demanding more water as the climate gets hotter.

East and West Africa

Rainfall is likely to increase in these regions, easing droughts in the east of the continent but bringing more frequent floods in the west.

Southern Africa

Large areas of the region are already experiencing water shortages, or are arid and trying to prevent encroaching desertification, so there is likely to be a greater number of people living with water stress by 2055 as rainfall becomes more erratic or declines.

Health

West Africa

Good news! By 2050 and beyond, a large part of the western Sahel will probably become unsuitable for malaria transmission.

East Africa

Based on parasite survey data, the previously malaria-free highland areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi could experience modest incursions of malaria by the 2050s, with conditions for transmission becoming highly suitable by 2080s.

In central Somalia, areas that now have low rates of malaria could develop high prevalence of the disease.

Rift Valley fever epidemics - evident during the 1997-1998 El Niño event in East Africa and associated with flooding - could become more frequent and widespread as El Niño events increase.

Southern Africa

More areas are likely to become more suitable for malaria, with a southward expansion of the transmission zone into Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Parts of the Angolan highlands where there are low rates of malaria transmission could see the disease become rife by the 2080s.

irinnews

Three people have been killed in the second day of riots between Uganda security forces and rioters over a row between the government and the kingdom of Buganda.

The violence was triggered over land and power disputes between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's government and leaders of Buganda - one of Uganda's four ancient kingdoms.

As the riots got worse in the town of Kayunga and capital Kampala, the king of Buganda, Kabaka Ronald Mutebi, postponed his planned visit on Saturday to the flashpoint Bugandan town of Kayunga to the east of Kampala.

Rioters blocked streets as gunshots rang out in Kampala on Friday. Deputy police spokesman Richard Musesi told Reuters that three people, including a teenager, were killed.

Around 50 injured were admitted to Kampala's main Mulago Hospital and about the same number were arrested.

"This kid was not in the protest. They (security forces) shot him in the head in a shop," the boy's mother told Reuters.

At least eight people were killed and several others were injured on Thursday.

On Friday evening, Kampala's streets were mostly deserted, and thick plumes of black smoke from burning tires rose over the city's hills.

presstv

10 Sep 2009
Somalia's president is in neighboring Djibouti to appeal for the deployment of Djiboutian troops to his war-torn nation as part of the UN-backed peacekeeping mission.

President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed met his Djiboutian counterpart Ismail Omar Guelleh on Wednesday to discuss the troops' deployment, a Press TV correspondent quoted a spokesman for the presidential office as saying.

Djibouti, which hosted the Somali reconciliation talks that saw the election of Ahmed last year, has recently pledged to send a contingent of its troops to participate in the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM), heeding to Ahmed's June appeal for troops from neighboring countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen to shore up his fragile administration from the powerful insurgency.

AU has more than 5,000-strong peacekeeping troops from Uganda and Burundi who are helping the weak but internationally recognized government fight against militant groups in the restive capital Mogadishu.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting in the Somali capital between rebel fighters and Somali forces backed by AU troops left at least than six civilians killed and scores injured.

Eyewitnesses say heavily armed al-Shabaab fighters carried out the attacks on AU and government troops in the capital's northern neighborhoods of Hodon and Hawlwadag

Several mortar shells fired by both sides slammed the busy Mogadishu seaport, killing at least 2 workers and injuring seven others.

presstv

09 Sep 2009

A court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has sentenced two Norwegian citizens to death for espionage as well as murder and ordered Oslo to pay $60 million in damages.

A military court in Kisangani found Tjostolv Moland, 28, and Joshua French, 27, guilty of the charges. Both had denied all allegations.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere described the sentence as “completely unacceptable” and said he would protest to his Congolese counterpart, Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, over the verdict.

"Norway also repudiates the verdict of espionage and the decision that the Norwegian state must bear joint and several liability for damages. Norway is not a party in this case," he said in a statement.

The two Norwegian men were held after their Congolese driver was found shot dead on May 5 in the northeast of the country.

The two accused say that their driver was killed in an attack by gunmen near the city of Kisangani.

French was arrested on May 9 in the Epulu district, around 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Kisangani. Moland was arrested two days later in the Ituri district, a few hundred kilometers further northeast.

Moland had reportedly set up a security company in the Ugandan capital Kampala where he had hired French as a member of the staff.


presstv

9 September 2009

Johannesburg — THE soldiers' violent protest outside the Union Buildings two weeks ago raises doubts about the military's grievance procedure.

Last year, Parliament's defence committee heard that the military had more than 4000 unresolved grievances, some having dragged on for three years without a conclusion.

The recent protest has given the impression of a defence force overwhelmed by problems, forcing frustrated soldiers to join trade unions.

But unionisation and military tradition make for strange bedfellows in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

Defence analyst Lindy Heinecken says early concerns in the SANDF were that unionisation -- a controversial trend also found in some European countries -- would politicise soldiers, divide troops and undermine operational effectiveness. But a weak grievance procedure and outstanding issues of transformation have resulted in unionisation gaining strength.

Parliament heard last year that the Military Bargaining Council (MBC) and the Military Arbitration Board were not functional. MPs were told the grievance procedure was out of date and did not keep up with changes in the command structure.

However, the military maintains that the grievance procedure is fully operational. Last Friday, the chief of the army, Lt-Gen Solly Shoke, conceded there were delays. But, he said, cases remained open when soldiers were unhappy with the outcome.

While there were five military unions in SA last year, only 20% of soldiers belonged to a union.

Shoke sought to emphasise that discipline comes before negotiations. "I don't mediate. I am a commander and I will take a command decision," he said of the chances of about 1300 soldiers involved in last month's protest keeping their jobs.

While d efence legislation prevented soldiers from joining unions, the constitution provided the legal basis for challenging this .

But resistance to unionisation has lingered after the initial "shock" of a 1998 Constitutional Court ruling that soldiers could join trade unions, says Heinecken, professor of sociology at the University of Stellenbosch.

She says unions do not create grievances. "It is the inability of the military leadership to deal effectively with the grievances which led to unionisation in the first place."

Where armed forces are obliged to deal with discontent, Heinecken says the first response is to create internal channels to address collective grievances, often in an attempt to pre-empt trade unionism.

"The fact that a union might sell itself as the only one that can truly represent the interests of members is in total conflict with the military tradition that an officer's first duty is to take care of his men."

The police and prison services -- also essential services -- have allowed staff to join trade unions. The intelligence services have not.

Having won the right to operate, the South African National Defence Union (Sandu) has had to fight a numbers game. The military has argued that the union , organiser of the recent protest, does not meet the 15000-member threshold required to sit on the MBC.

But Sandu claims to have 17500 members. Sandu is in the MBC after obtaining a court order in June compelling the Department of Defence to negotiate with it. Chief negotiator, Jeff Dubazana, says recent negotiations broke down when military negotiators revealed they had no mandate over salary issues. "Starting from the 7th of July, we were sitting with them in the MBC," he says .

The military now blames the union for walking out of negotiations in favour of an "unnecessary" protest. At the same time, it says an audit is under way to establish whether it actually has enough members to meet the required threshold for sitting in the MBC.

Dubazana attributes the contradictory positions to the military's "habit" of avoiding negotiations.

Meanwhile, in true military fashion, Shoke's main concern is discipline. "Mutinous behaviour in other countries is punishable by death; in other countries you face a firing squad," he says.

It is the inability of the military leadership to deal effectively with the grievances which led to unionisation in the first place.

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allafrica

9 September 2009

Kinshasa — AN MDC-T delegation that was lobbying Sadc to take "stern measures" against President Mugabe and Zanu-PF left Kinshasa disappointed yesterday after regional leaders made it clear that they would not be pressured into making decisions by political parties.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an MDC-T official said "the lowest point" was when their ally Lieutenant-General Seretse Khama Ian Khama of Botswana conceded that the biggest threat to the inclusive Government was the negative attitude of the West towards Zimbabwe.

Sadc, Lt Gen Khama said, needed to redouble efforts to help Zimbabwe counter these negative attitudes.

The development came against the backdrop of MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai's admission that a summit on Zimbabwe was not on the cards, and he did not have the power to convene one.

The MDC-T delegation came here hoping to get Zimbabwe on the agenda in the hope that regional leaders would deal with the "outstanding issues" of who should head the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Attorney-General's Office.

When it became evident that this was not going to happen, the party's spin-doctors told the media that Sadc leaders were going to arrange a "special summit" that would specifically deal with Zimbabwe "without being clouded by issues like Madagascar".

Though the final communiqué was yet to be released at the time of writing, a senior Zimbabwe Government official close to deliberations said it was highly unlikely that Zimbabwe would be "mentioned except perhaps in passing or in relation to the issue of sanctions".

Sources privy to the discussions in the closed-door session said Lt-Gen Khama had agreed with President Mugabe that economic sanctions were the most pressing issue facing Zimbabwe and not who occupied what office.

The MDC official said, "We had an opportunity to brief President Khama on what was happening in the country and he told us that our report coincided exactly with what President Mugabe had also told him.

"He then said it seemed to him that we were in agreement on what was happening in Zimbabwe and hence there was no real conflict to speak off."

A source close to the proceedings said after South Africa's President Jacob Zuma tabled his report in his capacity as out-going Sadc chair on developments in Zimbabwe, Lt-Gen Khama pointed out that there was need for concerted effort by the bloc to help the country recover.

"Yesterday (Monday), President Zuma tabled a report on Zimbabwe and the report clearly registered enormous progress in the country since February this year when the inclusive Government was formed.

"President Mugabe then gave the Heads of State (and Government) a blow-by-blow account of the events and developments since the constitution of the inclusive Government.

"President Khama then said Zimbabwe's problem was not one of 'outstanding issues' but rather one of perceptions and this cannot be dealt with by the people of Zimbabwe alone.

"He said everyone in Sadc at every level must speak out vouching for the workability of the inclusive Government. He said it was important that Sadc committed itself in a very specific way to taking this campaign to Europe and America.

"President Khama suggested that the new Sadc chair (DRC President Joseph Kabila) must be mandated to lead this campaign. It was amazing because Lt Gen Khama has been sceptical of the inclusive Government."

Another source said President Zuma's recommendation to the summit was that Zimbabweans must resolve any other matters pertaining to the Global Political Agreement because these are "domestic issues". President Mugabe, the source said, indicated that the appointments of the Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney-General were never in the GPA and President Zuma agreed to this.

"President Zuma, however, pointed out that the MDC party led by (Professor Arthur) Mutambara had said a previous Sadc summit had said the three parties must go and discuss these appointments.

"It was here that President Mugabe said he was aware of this and the matter had been discussed. The result of the discussion, President Mugabe told his colleagues, was that the answer to the MDC's demands was 'no'.

"He said the summit had asked them to discuss and had not ordered Zanu-PF to acquiesce to every MDC demand. His exact words were there were only two possible outcomes to the discussion; either yes or no. In this case it was a 'no'."

It is also understood that President Mugabe had said the issue of appointing Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture minister could not be considered a "make or break issue" for the inclusive Government.

"He said this appeared to be a matter of prestige on the part of MDC-T and pitching the matter highly would not make him relent to their search for prestige.

"He said the higher they pitched the issue the harder their egos would be bruised because he was not prepared as a matter of principle to swear into office someone who was facing criminal charges.

"He said he had not taken away the portfolio from them and they could proceed to nominate someone else in Bennett's stead if they were so concerned about the issue. "President Mugabe said he was baffled by the fascination MDC-T had with the 'appointment of this particular white man with the kind of history he has into Government as if they are short of manpower'.

"A senior Sadc secretariat official told this writer that they were not going to have an extraordinary summit on Zimbabwe anytime soon.

"We know where this talk is coming from and you should be careful who you are taking as your authorities. "The people who told you this are not aware of how Sadc works and I suspect they are trying to soothe their egos after they lost out on having your country placed on the summit agenda.

"And I think it must be pointed out that Zimbabwe was not removed from the agenda as some are saying. It was never on the agenda in the first place," he said.

President Mugabe's spokesperson Mr George Charamba echoed the same sentiments saying Sadc leaders were more concerned right now over how minutes from a meeting of regional heads on the Sadc Tribunal last year were "distorted" and consequently implemented incorrectly.

He said: "A representative of the Sadc tribunal tabled the two so-called judgments against Zimbabwe. It emerged that whilst Sadc leaders had last year asked their Ministers of Justice to look into the mandate and terms of reference of the tribunal, the minutes of that meeting were recast to suggest that the ministers must examine the implications of Zimbabwe's non-compliance with the rulings.

"Clearly someone was lobbied to distort a resolution of summit and to every man, every Head of State expressed consternation at the role of the tribunal as a vanguard of minority interests and as a bulwark against the objectives of the liberation struggles of Southern Africa.

"Last year President (Jakaya) Kikwete (of Tanzania) said 'we have created a monster that will devour us all. Can our Justice Ministers make sure that this monster is destroyed before it devours us all'.

"It would appear that there is some minute-taker who has decided to feed the monster. President Mugabe has said that the issue of ratifying a protocol entails a country ceding some of its sovereignty to a regional body and this is not a matter that should be taken lightly."

On the issue of a "special summit" on Zimbabwe, Mr Charamba said it was not going to happen and he was happy that "Mr Tsvangirai has admitted that he does not have the power to coerce Sadc into convening one".

"Sadc is not an inter-party body, it is an inter-governmental organisation. An extraordinary summit is only convened by member states to deal with an urgent and threatening issue.

"The remarkable progress registered by the inclusive Government is far from being a menace and is in fact a happy occurrence in which Sadc leaders are celebrating and will not call an extraordinary summit for.

"While the GPA provides for a review of the arrangement, it does not say this should take the form of a summit, let alone an extraordinary one. I am quite happy that Mr Tsvangirai has corrected himself on the issue."

allafrica

HARARE, 8 September 2009 (IRIN) - The government, NGOs and donor countries in Zimbabwe are rushing to distribute agricultural inputs ahead of the summer rains, but ending donor dependency and returning to food security in 2010 will still be a close-run thing, analysts told IRIN.

In the first quarter of 2009 nearly seven million Zimbabweans relied on emergency food aid; initial forecasts by aid agencies are that about 2.8 million people will require food assistance in the last few months leading up to the April 2010 harvest.

The unavailability of agricultural inputs like seed and fertilizer during Zimbabwe's economic implosion, as well as unseasonal dry spells, made the country - once known as the breadbasket of southern Africa - dependent on food aid to stave off starvation for several years.

Renson Gasela, agriculture secretary in the break-away faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Arthur Mutumbara, told IRIN there was a marked change from previous years in helping farmers access inputs, but warned that the effort may have been left to late. October is the main planting season.

"We are hearing discussions about providing inputs to farmers at a much earlier stage than in previous years, but one feels that this should have happened two or three months ago in order to ensure that farmers are adequately prepared for the oncoming farming season," Gasela said.

''Corruption is so endemic in Zimbabwe, and there are no reasons to assume that it will go away this time around. There is a likelihood that those in influential positions, as has happened in the past, will benefit at the expense of needy and vulnerable farmers''
The unity government of President Robert Mugabe, leader of ZANU-PF, and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC, recently launched a US$210 million scheme targeting both small- and large-scale farmers with subsidized inputs for the 2009/10 season, to be distributed through the 80 depots of the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), a parastatal monopoly.

Vice-President Joyce Mujuru told residents of Murewa district in Mashonaland East Province that the government placed great importance on ensuring food security at "household level", and was working with NGOs to "make sure that all intended beneficiaries get the inputs ... without favour on political or any other grounds".

She said the government scheme would be complemented by other projects that would make inputs available to about a million communal farmers, who produce around 70 percent of the country's cereals.

On 8 August 2009 the state-run broadcaster announced that fertilizer from South Africa was being transported to GMB depots for distribution. The European Commission (EC) to Zimbabwe is to provide free seed and 25 percent of the required fertilizer for about 180,000 rural farming households.

A report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in July 2009 noted that "About 600,000 households will be receiving agricultural input support from non-governmental organizations and other humanitarian organizations." More than 10 NGOs pledged US$60 million to provide inputs to cover two hectares for each family.

Gasela said the US$210 million the government had set aside for inputs "sounds small to me, considering that we have around 220,000 resettled and needy farmers", but "it is bound to go a long way in addressing the problem of inputs shortages, considering that farmers will also get free inputs from other ... [sources]".

''It is a good thing that the government has decided to sell inputs to us at half the price, but it looks like the majority of farmers will have problems raising the money to buy the fertilizer and seed that we need''
Corruption

Gasela also had other concerns. "Corruption is so endemic in Zimbabwe, and there are no reasons to assume that it will go away this time around. There is a likelihood that those in influential positions, as has happened in the past, will benefit at the expense of needy and vulnerable farmers."

Thomas Sakarombe, 56, a farmer in Mazowe district, about 40km east of the capital, Harare, told IRIN he intended to put 60 hectares of his plot under maize and sorghum, but was struggling to raise a loan to buy government-subsidised inputs.

He was recipient of the fast-track land reform programme that began in 2000 and redistributed more than 4,000 white commercial farms to landless blacks.

"It is a good thing that the government has decided to sell inputs to us at half the price, but it looks like the majority of farmers will have problems raising the money to buy the fertilizer and seed that we need.

"Our farmers' unions have told us that we can raise the money for the loan from banks, but when I visited my bank I was referred from one branch to another ... The sticking point seems to be collateral, as the bank is unwilling to accept the offer letter that I have," Sakarombe said.

The government issued letters to beneficiaries of the land reform programme, conferring proof of formal occupation on the new farmers; however, the land is on a 99-year government lease and banks are reluctant to accept the land as collateral for loans.

NGOs struggle to support farmers

Fambayi Ngirande, head of communications at the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO), an umbrella body for local NGOs, told IRIN that NGOs assisting farmers with inputs were encountering financial obstacles, as food security was not the only consideration.

"The NGO sector is finding it a bit difficult because of low funding levels and overwhelming demands ... There is preoccupation with meeting needs in such areas as school fees, feeding schemes for vulnerable people and the fight against cholera, especially as the rains are about to come," Ngirande said.

A cholera epidemic that lasted from August 2008 until July 2009 claimed more than 4,000 lives and afflicted nearly 100,000 other people. Humanitarian workers expect the waterborne disease to return with the rains.


irinnews

9 September 2009

Abuja — The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has so far recovered over N70 billion from individuals and corporate organisations owing the five banks whose chief executives were recently sacked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The affected banks are Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic International Bank Plc, Union Bank Plc, FinBank, and Afribank.

EFCC's Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Babafemi, told THISDAY on telephone last night that the Chief Executive Officer of Zenon Oil, Mr. Femi Otedola, was one of those who showed up with their cheques in the last few days.

Otedola paid over N3 billion last Friday to FinBank, while other recoveries were made from some other companies.

Babafemi gave a breakdown of the total amount recovered so far for the five banks, which showed that Afribank has the biggest recovery of over N24 billion.

Afribank is followed by Intercontinental Bank Plc with N15.5 billion; Oceanic Interna-tional Bank Plc with N15 billion and Union Bank with over N10 billion in that order.

Babafemi did not give the amount recovered for FinBank, saying he did not have the exact figure.

CBN had three weeks ago published the names of debtors owing the five affected banks a total of N774 billion.

EFCC then moved in picking up 68 of the debtors in a bid to recover the money.

By Wednesday last week, the commission had reportedly recovered N45 billion for the five banks. Another N21.2 billion was added to the amount last weekend.

Babafemi said the commission was not leaving any stone unturned in a bid to recover the money owed the five banks, saying EFCC Chairman Farida Waziri was committed to the task.

allafrica

8 September 2009

For the first time a Sierra Leonean is serving as acting prosecutor of the United Nations-backed Special Court trying those accused of violating international humanitarian law and national law in the civil war that tore the West African country apart between 1996 and 2001.

Appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, senior Sierra Leonean lawyer Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara took up his post today pending the naming of a new prosecutor to replace Stephen Rapp, who resigned earlier this month to become UN Ambassador-at-large for War Crimes.

Mr. Kamara, who worked for eight years as prosecutor in Sierra Leone's Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, rising to the rank of senior state counsel, joined the Special Court's Office of the Prosecutor in 2004 and was named Deputy Prosecutor a year ago. Earlier this year he was elected President of the Sierra Leone Bar Association.

Set up jointly by the Government of Sierra Leone and the UN in 2002, the Court is mandated to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and national law committed in Sierra Leone since 30 November 1996.

In July, Mr. Rapp told the Security Council the Court had been ground-breaking in several respects, including the first-ever convictions on the charge of sexual slavery, both as a war crime and crime against humanity, as well as convictions on the use of child soldiers.

The Court, which normally sits in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, has completed three multiple-accused trials. A fourth trial, that of former Liberian president Charles Taylor on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, is currently under way in The Hague.

allafrica

8 September 2009

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today used the inauguration of a newly-elected president in Guinea-Bissau to pledge United Nations support to enhance peace and development in a country that has been plagued by grinding poverty and periodic bouts of civil war, coups, assassinations, and drug trafficking.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban said the West African country was turning a new page in its history with the inauguration of Malam Bacai Sanhá of the ruling African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, who beat Kumba Ialá of the opposition Social Renewal Party in a run-off election in July.

The election followed the assassination of then-president João Bernardo Vieira in March. Since then a presidential candidate and a former defence minister were also killed.

"The Secretary-General reiterates the support of the United Nations for the consolidation of peace and the promotion of socio-economic development in the country," the statement said. "He is confident that, with the support of international partners, the people and leaders of Guinea-Bissau will continue their efforts to strengthen democracy and foster respect for the rule of law."

In July, Mr. Ban commended the Government, security forces, election officials and political parties for the peaceful staging of the run-off round.

allafrica

8 September 2009

The number of people hit by deadly floods across West Africa has now topped 600,000, and the heavy rains have also destroyed crops and infrastructure in a region already hard hit by poverty, the United Nations humanitarian arm reported today.

The rains that began in June have claimed nearly 160 lives, with Sierra Leone, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Niger among the countries most affected by flooding, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Roads and buildings have been ruined from Mauritania to Niger, while a key hospital in Ouagadougou, the capital, of Burkina Faso, lost medicine and equipment. In the town of Agadez in Niger, almost 400 hectares of vegetable crops and hundreds of livestock were washed away.

"It's a very worrisome situation that further weakens already impoverished populations," said Hervé Ludovic de Lys, head of the OCHA in West Africa.

"Natural disasters have lasting consequences that will have an impact for decades to come and take us back to square one in terms of the fight against poverty."

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has started distributing vital food supplies to over 100,000 people in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania.

Adults are being given a 15-day ration of cereals, pulses and vegetable oil, while children receive a monthly supply of food, including sugar and a nutritious corn-soya blend.

"People's lives have been turned upside-down overnight and WFP is moving as swiftly as possible to provide life-saving food assistance," said Josette Sheeran, the agency's Executive Director. "It is always the poor and vulnerable who suffer most from floods like these as their few remaining assets are swept away, leaving them hungry and destitute."

Many of those in urgent need of help in Ouagadougou, where WFP has already reached 500,000 people since last week, were already receiving the agency's help, but those rations were lost in the floodwaters.

In Niger, WFP started providing supplies yesterday to 41,000 people, while it is planning aid distributions to some 12,000 people in Mauritania.

West Africa regularly experiences torrential rainfall during the annual wet season, and the rain can often devastate communities in a matter of hours. In 2007, for example, about 300 people died and 800,000 others were affected.

OCHA noted today that climate change is driving these natural disasters, with the region possibly paying a high human cost due to global warming. Ahead of December's UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, when nations are aiming to reach agreement on slashing greenhouse gas emissions, West African nations have been holding frequent high-level and expert meetings on the issue.

allafrica

08 Sep 2009

Colonel Qaddafi's son has said Libya will resist compensation demands from the families of IRA victims, as scandals over the event rumble on.

Seif al-Islam Qaddafi said on Monday that Libya would contest any claims for compensation over Tripoli's supply of weapons and explosives to the now-defunct Irish Republican Army (IRA).

"Anybody can knock on our door and ask for money. But you go to the court, we have lawyers," Seif told Britain's Sky News television.

His comments came a day after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown personally vetoed a campaign seeking compensation for victims of the IRA, who killed more than 1,000 people during their battle for sovereignty.

The premier found himself in hot water over his refusal, which is said to have jeopardized giant British oil deals with Libya.

In a move to quiet the raging scandals, Brown promised to set up a dedicated Foreign Office team to assist IRA victims, adding that the Tripoli embassy staff would also help them seek direct talks with Qaddafi, when they travel to Libya.

Libya has already paid 1.5 billion dollars to compensate victims of terrorism, including the Lockerbie bombing, following its normalization of ties with Washington and the West.

Britain's improving relations with Libya have come under close scrutiny after the early release of a former Libyan agent -- Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi -- convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing, in which 270 people were killed.

The 'terminally ill' Megrahi -- the only man convicted over Britain's worst terror attack -- was released from a Scottish jail on August 20 on grounds of compassion and returned to Libya.

However, official reports say that the prisoner transfer agreement was part of a wider set of negotiations aimed at advancing lucrative oil deals with the oil-rich African country.

Brown has denied the reports saying last week that "there was no conspiracy, no cover-up, no double dealing, and no deal on oil" involved in Megrahi's release.

Muammar Qaddafi's influential son has meanwhile accused Britain of "disgusting behavior" over the Lockerbie case.

"They are trying to use this human tragedy for their own political agenda," he said. "It is completely immoral."

presstv

8 September 2009

LATE Local Government and Housing minister Benny Tetamashimba who died last Saturday will be buried tomorrow in Solwezi, Chief Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has said.

Lieutenant General Shikapwasha said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that the burial would be preceded by a Church service today at Lusaka's Cathedral of the Holy Cross, where mourners are expected to be seated by 09:00 hours.

"After the Church service, about noon, the body will be transported to Solwezi where it will lay in state overnight in readiness for burial the following day. "The burial arrangement will be drawn and announced by the local provincial administration," said Gen Shikapwasha.

United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema sent a message of condolences to Mr Tetamashimba's family following is death on Saturday.

Mr Hichilema said in a letter to the bereaved family that the UPND had learnt with a sense of deep sorrow the death of Mr Tetamashimba. The Local Government Association of Zambia (LGAZ) has put off its annual conference scheduled for this week, following the death of Mr Tetamashimba.

The association expressed shock and sadness at the death of the Local Government Minister.

LGAZ president Charles Mumena said in an interview yesterday that the minister would be greatly missed because of his contribution to enhancing the performance of councils in the country.

allafrica

8 September 2009

CHIEF Government spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has said it is puzzling that former Finance minister, Ng'andu Magande's can call on Government to state its position on whether it will appeal against former president Frederick Chiluba when he knows the law.

Lieutenant General Shikapwasha said in Lusaka yesterday that as a former Cabinet minister, Mr Magande was aware that the Government was committed to upholding the independence of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and would not interfere with its decisions.

He said in an interview that the Government did not want to comment on former President Frederick Chiluba's acquittal because it did not want to influence the DPP's decision.

Gen Shikapwasha was reacting to Mr Magande who asked the Government to tell the nation whether it would appeal against Dr Chiluba's acquittal or not. He said the DPP was constitutionally mandated to decide on behalf of the Government on matters of appeal in cases such as that of Dr Chiluba.

"The Government does not come up with positions on matters which have something to do with the DPP. It has nothing to do with the decision on whether to appeal or not. We did not give our position on Dr Chiluba's acquittal because we did not want to sway the DPP's mind because we wanted to uphold the independence of the office," he said.

He said the Government had nothing to do with the decision on whether to appeal against any court verdict or not and urged the public, especially political leaders like Mr Magande to appreciate that fact.

Gen Shikapwasha, who is Information and Broadcasting Services minister, said according to the Republican Constitution, the office of the DPP was an independent entity, whose operation should not be influenced by any other office or individual.

He said it was equally puzzling that Mr Magande, who is a member of Parliament (MP) for the ruling party, could choose to rush to the media to discuss the issue when he had access to all the relevant offices including that of the DPP with whom he could have discussed the matter.

Gen Shikapwasha called on the people to take time and study what the law stipulates on various constitutional offices for them to fully understand their operations.

He said people should not politicise the office of the DPP because it was non-partisan which operated autonomously.

In another development, Gen Shikapwasha said the onus was now on Muvi TV and My TV to obey the ministerial directive to stop broadcasting the former's programmes countrywide or face sanctions.

Gen Shikapwasha said it had come to the Government's attention that My TV had entered into a contract to broadcast Muvi TV programmes nationally through its satellite broadcasting system programme by Muvi.

He said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that the Government did not want to reach a level where it would close down a station but would not tolerate blatant disregard for the law.

He said he was not after punishing any of the organisations involved for the sake of it but that as minister, he was there to ensure that the laws were adhered to by all the stakeholders in the sec

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