20091211

Somali government on Thursday said that a suicide bomber who killed more than 20 people last week at a graduation ceremony of Banadir University was a Somali-Danish citizen from Denmark.
militants
Information Minister Dahir Gelle said that the suicide bomber was a 26 year-old Abdurrahman, who had been living in Denmark for a log time. Gelle stated that suicide bomber Abdurrahman retuned to Somalia in June 2008.

The minister said the bomber was identified by his father after the photographs were released. No information was immediately available from Denmark's embassy in Nairobi.

The suicide bomb killed three government ministers, doctors, journalists and students last Thursday. Government officials and UN envoy to Somalia accused the suicide attack on the Islamist group, Al-shabaab, but the group has since denied being responsible.

Gelle believed that many of the suicide bombs are carried out by young Somalis who grown up western countries.

Suicide bombers were unknown in Somalia until 2007.

africanews

20091211

Somali pirates have released a Greek-owned ship with Ukrainian crews after a ransom was paid, sources said on Thursday.
Somalian pirates in Eyl. Photo by Sheekh Aduun
Somali pirates who held the Ariana cargo ship and 24 Ukrainian crews on broad for more than six months hijacked the ship 250 miles southwest of the Seychelles on May 2.

The owners of the ship confirmed on Thursday that their company had paid a ransom to bandits. But they did not mention the amount.

Spiros Minas, the Greek owner told the media: "We have paid a ransom and are waiting for the pirates to leave the vessel at any hour."

Somali pirates have made tens of millions of dollars in ransom for hijacking ships on the Indian Ocean and strategic Gulf of Aden that links Europe to Asia.

africanews

20091211

The European Union naval force hunting Somali pirates needs to extend its patrol area to reflect the widening scale of their attacks, the admiral in charge said Friday.

Britain's Rear Admiral Peter Hudson told the BBC that attacks in the Indian Ocean were now taking place even further off the Somali coast, up to 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) away and closer to India than Africa.

"I have to keep the balance between area where my aircraft can go, what advice we give to ships, where the pirates operate," Hudson said.

"It's a constant little equation that we're looking at.

"And because we've seen some of these attacks now right nearer to India than Africa, we just have to review where our operating area is and we'll make recommendations to Brussels and see what they think."

The world's naval powers last year deployed warships in the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to curb attacks by ransom-hunting pirates that were seen as a threat to one of the globe's most crucial maritime trade routes.

Pirates have since shifted their focus to the wider Indian Ocean, a huge area much more difficult to patrol, and have ventured as far as the Seychelles and beyond.

AFP Global Edition

20091211

Ethiopian Prime Minister and African Union climate negotiator Meles Zenawi downplayed Friday the chances of a deal to tackle global warming being struck at UN talks in Copenhagen.

"We know for sometime already that there won't be a binding treaty signed in Copenhagen....The question is not the treaty but if we'll have a binding political agreement," Meles told reporters in Addis Ababa.

He said it is important that global warming should not go beyond two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), but stressed the international community must agree upon ways to finance efforts to achieve that goal.

Africa has demanded billions of dollars in compensation from rich countries to cope with climate change. It contributes just four percent of the world's total greenhouse gases, yet it is the continent most ravaged by the effects of global warming.

"On emissions, lots of progress have been made. My primary worry now is not about the emissions, the main issue is the funding," Meles said, warning that failure in the Danish capital "will be primarily a failure for Africa."

According to a study by the UK-based Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, global warming could cost the continent around 30 billion dollars a year by 2015.

That figure could rise to between 50 billion and 100 billion dollars by 2020 due to increasing costs to cope with climate change effects such as frequent and more severe floods, droughts and storms, as well as extreme changes in rainfall patterns, the group said.

AFP Global Edition

20091211



The recent vote in Switzerland banning the construction of new minarets has already become notorious. This is sad of itself and casts an unnecessary shadow on the remarkable history of tolerance, hospitality and integration that is the true story of Switzerland It is important to remember however that this vote in no way changes the fundamental affirmation in the Swiss constitution that "The freedom of religion and philosophy is guaranteed. All persons have the right to choose their religion or philosophical convictions freely, and to profess them alone or in community with others." It is important to note also that the Swiss government, the leaders of the Christian community and most of the media in Switzerland have all expressed their opposition to this amendment and their disappointment that it was approved.

Nonetheless, much as the minaret seems somehow to have stood as a proxy for far wider concerns, the vote itself now stands as a dangerous symbol of the curtailment of the freedom to practice religion and does so in a way that may have ramifications across Europe and beyond, where this freedom needs to be enhanced and safeguarded not diminished.

While the vote on minarets can be seen as a moment of risk it should also be seen as a moment of opportunity. It is not enough to deplore the vote and pass on. What is needed now is a serious engagement with the underlying issues. What were they? What information or distortions led to the opinions and beliefs that entailed the vote? What needs to be done about the fears that were evidently at work?

We write as a mufti from Egypt where Christians and Muslims have lived side by side over the centuries and as a bishop of one of the world's largest and most diverse cities, namely London. As Co-chairs of the C-1 World Dialogue we are joined by a distinguished group including Theofilos the Greek patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal McCarrick, Mustafa Ceric the grand mufti of Bosnia and many other leaders from business, academia and the media. We are united by our commitment to the better understanding of issues causing tension so that we can promote practical work that will bring about real improvement. In that spirit we invite governments and religious leaders in Europe and around the Mediterranean especially, but not exclusively, to join us for a serious reflection upon the issues now raised. We suggest that we do this in Sarajevo, a city painfully redolent of the hard realities of what can happen when interreligious and social tensions are allowed to grow until open conflict is the result. We are inviting the UN's Alliance of Civilisations to join us in sponsoring and organising this event. The conference will not be about Switzerland but rather about the wider if parallel issues faced by many different countries. How are religiously defined minorities and immigrant communities best provided for in ways that respect their needs and those of the wider communities around them? How is integration to be managed without threatening assimilation? Are there general principles of good practice we can all adopt in regard to what it means in practical terms to uphold the freedom of religion and the freedom to practice one's religion as well? How can the religiously informed conscience find its place in our various societies?

It will take courage for each religious tradition truly to hear the criticisms and fears of others, yet we must find ways to facilitate serious engagement with the fears that exist. Each faith must resist the temptation to imagine only the best about itself whilst comparing this with the worst that can be imagined of others. Instead each tradition must model the generosity it desires for itself from others: we must each reciprocate the freedoms we seek for ourselves. But governments need courage too as they cannot be allowed ignore religion or to be party to the denial of the rights which the free practice of faith requires.

Minarets are no more essential to Islam than church spires are to Christianity, yet each is unquestionably evocative of their respective faiths. Perhaps we do well to remember that spires and minarets both have at least one deep symbolism in common: they both seem to point us to heaven and remind us that beside each there is a place of prayer. Let us hope there is a moral here too. While we differ on important matters of theology, every place of prayer and worship, whether it is a mosque a church or a synagogue, speaks to a shared and fundamental aspect of human experience, namely that we are all spiritual beings able to respond to the call of the holy and the call of God. Moreover, authentic religion calls us not only to love God but our neighbour as well. This is a highly practical obligation in which all persons of good will can share. We call upon leaders from religion, government and civil society to gather with us to find the ways that will best allow us all to recognise our differences while uniting in the peaceful pursuit of the common good.


guardian

20091211

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Zimbabwe's president said Friday that internal divisions are destroying the party that has kept him in power for nearly three decades.

Robert Mugabe told about 10,000 delegates at a gathering of his ZANU-PF party that infighting cost them their parliamentary majority in last year's contested polls.

Mugabe, 85, has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. He was forced into a unity government with the former rival party, the Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC, following the 2008 election.

''The reason why we lost in March 2008 elections to the MDC is because of the many factions in the party,'' he said.

''We have many groups opposing each other, fighting each other. This is destroying the party, eating it ... this is how the party is losing power to the MDC, who are supporting this factionalism which is working in their favor.''

Mugabe's tongue-lashing of his comrades comes as concerns mount that the unity government is doomed to fail as the longtime leader scrambles to hold on to power.

The party also has been long divided over who should eventually succeed Mugabe and these are now coming to the fore as many feel the liberation hero is losing his grip on the country.

The party congress will end Saturday when Mugabe is expected to be re-elected as its leader for another four years. This is the first time Mugabe has had to face his party since the formation of the unity government in February and observers say the organization is severely weakened.

Election officials declared a runoff was necessary after the 2008 vote but opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai dropped out, citing attacks against his supporters. Mugabe was later declared the winner, but he formed the unity government in February with Tsvangirai as prime minister.

Zimbabwe is struggling to emerge from political gridlock, economic collapse, and international isolation and sanctions.

Critics blame Mugabe for Zimbabwe's economic meltdown that began after he ordered the seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms in 2000, disrupting the agriculture-based economy in the former regional breadbasket.

The unity government saw many Mugabe cronies lose lucrative positions. Their businesses also have been hampered by international sanctions and they fear they will not benefit from the influx of cash that rebuilding efforts are starting to bring in.

nytimes

20091211

Katine residents with HIV/Aids who were forced to stop taking their medication because of severe food shortages in the region are now receiving food rations.

Domitila Apecho, 50, who is HIV-positive, is one of many in the sub-county in north-east Uganda who had difficulties taking her antiretrovirals (ARVs) because she did not have enough food to take them with. ARVs are strong tablets and require those taking them to have a considerable amount of food in their bodies to avoid severe side effects, such as dizziness and vomiting.

But with the food rations now being distributed in the area by the US-based NGO ACDI/VOCA (formed through a merger between Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance), Apecho, a mother of 10 from Ojama parish, said she was confident she could now keep to her treatment cycle.

"I'm happy now that I can be sure of taking my medication because I have enough food. This has been my problem and it was affecting my treatment schedules," she said.

Although Apecho doesn't know when she contracted the virus, she was diagnosed 10 years ago. She believes the food supplies she will now receive every month for a year will help extend her life.

ACDI/VOCA supplies food to people in need for a year to give them enough energy to work and earn money to support themselves.

To qualify for the food rations people have to be registered with TASO, The Aids Support Organisation, the oldest and largest national NGO providing care and relief for people living with HIV/Aids in Uganda. They must also be taking ARVs. In Katine, TASO has introduced ARV distribution centres.

Judith Apio, the NGO's assistant distribution supervisor for the Soroti district, said the amount of food someone receives depends on the size of their household.

Each person receives 7.5kg of corn soya blend multiplied by the number of people in their home, said Apio. Families are also given cooking oil.

The NGO, which receives funding from USAID, USDA and the World Bank, aims to support 42,000 people living with HIV in Lango, Acholi and Teso sub-regions, some of the poorest in Uganda.

"We expanded to Katine sub-county this year after realising that they badly needed our support," said Apio last week as she showed people in the sub-county the different ways the soya blend can be used. The blend can be eaten as porridge, mixed up with local food or sauce, or used to make cookies.

Every month, the organisation has been supplying 300 tons of food to these regions, but recently the rations have proved inadequate because of the rise in the number of people registering with TASO to get supplies.

A sharp rise in food prices and climatic changes that have resulted in devastating floods and drought in the region have caused severe food shortages in parts of Uganda, and elsewhere in east Africa, which are undermining efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and combat HIV/Aids and malaria.

guardian

20091211

A convicted murderer has been found hanged in a west African holiday resort after leaving the UK illegally while he was on home leave from prison.

John Burt Brown, 57, was found dead in the Gambia on 29 November in what are thought to be suspicious circumstances. He had fled the country while on home leave from Castle Huntly open prison near Dundee in May.

Convicted of murder in 1976, Brown was being prepared for release from prison and was on seven days home leave when he used his passport to fly abroad, breaching his licence and the conditions of his home leave.

His failure to return to Castle Huntly in May prompted a furore at the Scottish parliament after the Tories accused ministers of allowing lax security at open prisons, and of failing to admit he had absconded.

Alex Salmond, the first minister, claimed the incident raised questions about the UK government's policy of allowing prisoners to keep their passports, and said his Scottish government's cabinet would discuss whether it should ask for the power to seize them.

But he added: "This is not a regular occurrence. Officials today have been unable to find any other example of an absconding prisoner who was found dead, in a reasonable period, in another country. It does raise the question of whether the Scottish prison service should have the power to withhold the passport of someone who has been released under licence and under conditions."

Tayside police tried to trace Brown, but only discovered he had fled to the Gambia after the Foreign Office informed them some days ago that his body had been found.

Brown had first been freed in 1997 on a life licence but was taken back in 2003 after breaching conditions; it is believed he applied for his passport in 2002. He had been due for full release in July.

A Scottish prison service spokesman insisted there was no indication Brown was likely to flee. "He only had a few months left on his sentence, and had been on home leave already," he said. "Why would we think he would take off to west Africa?"

The Scottish Conservative spokesman on community safety, John Lamont, said: "Labour's handling of border control might be lax, but it is laughable that the Scottish National party just blame the UK government for the fiasco.

"Instead of trying to shift the blame, Alex Salmond and the SNP should admit their culpability. Their policy of convicts in the community rather than prisoners in prison is dangerous and alarming. Scotland is not safe in the SNP's hands."

Scottish prison service figures show the rate of absconding from open prisons is at a record low, with eight cases so far this year compared to 98 during 1996-97, the last full year of Conservative control from London.

There is only one inmate currently at large from a Scottish open prison, a Dutchman who fled to the Netherlands and cannot be arrested and returned as absconding from an open prison is not an offence in the country.

guardian

20091211

The World Bank and the African Development Bank will finance the rail link between Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi to enhance trade among East African nations. The construction works of the railway line is likely be completed by 2014, according to Burundian officials.

According to officials, the project was approved on the basis that it was bankable, economically and financially feasible, saying it would play a critical role in enhancing trade among east African state.

Rwanda is in charge of coordinating the multi-country project and the current plan for the railroad is to construct a modern high-speed train that travels with a minimum speed of 120 kilometers per hour. Upon completion, most importers and exporters will shift from Mombasa port to Dar es Salaam as it will become possible to travel to Kigali within a single day, as opposed to the six days it currently takes.

afrol News.

20091211

Zimbabwe's HIV/AIDS infection rate has dropped to just more than 13 percent, one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa to have an annual drop in new infections. The country's health service is starting to recover nine months after the unity government was sworn into power.
HIVribbon

Zimbabwe's HIV/AIDS epidemic, which started at least 23 years ago, used to record infection rates of more than 25 percent of the population. A demographic survey conducted in 2006 it found the infection rate had dropped to 18 percent.

Now, the health care authorities, say it has dropped nearly five percent since then and is at 13.75 percent.

Zimbabweans, health-care workers say, changed their behaviour over the years.

The drop in the infection rate was announced at an event in Harare to mark the life of one of the first Zimbabweans to go public with her HIV/IDS status. Auxillia Chimusoro died in 1998 after several years as an HIV/AIDS activist. USAID runs an annual competition in her name to reward community workers who fight the disease.

At the ceremony, Zimbabwe Health Minister Henry Madzorera said when he was appointed in February all public hospitals were closed, most rural clinics had no drugs, and Zimbabwe was recovering from a cholera epidemic that resulted in more than 4,000 dying and 100,000 people infected.

Since the start of the cholera epidemic last year, the salaries of health-care workers and the drugs in the public-health-care system are provided by donors through UNICEF. There is a critical shortage of doctors as many left Zimbabwe during the past 10 years of Zanu-PF rule.

"We still have a deficit in the area of doctors, but I am sure this will be a thing of the past especially if we improve conditions of service," said Henry Madzorera.

To cope with the shortage of doctors, Dr. Madzorera said his ministry embarked on a new training program for nurses since the unity government came to power.

"We are training primary care nurses, we now have an excess of primary care nurses," he said. "That means every clinic has a primary care nurse, in fact we are posting two nurses per clinic."

Zimbabwe had the best one of the best health-care systems in Africa until about 12 years ago. Now women's life expectancy has dropped to 34 years, nearly the lowest in the world, but despite the political and economic crisis there is recovery.

"If the budget that has been allocated for next year 2010 works as intended, and we get the money as intended, I think by the end of 2010 our health-care services will be reasonably normal, not exactly where we were 10 years ago, but very reasonably normal," said Madzorera.

Despite the good news, there are 900,000 children in Zimbabwe orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and only half those who need anti-retroviral drugs to fight the disease receive them.

VOA

20091211

Nigeria's most prominent religious leaders are spearheading an unprecedented effort to tackle malaria. With one quarter of the world's malaria deaths occurring in the African country, religious leaders and health officials are working to deliver 63 million long-lasting mosquito nets to 30 million households by the end of 2010.
West Nile Virus Gains Foothold in Southern California

Under the $1-billion project, 300,000 religious leaders are to be trained in 2010 to carry the malaria prevention message to cities and villages across Nigeria through sermons and the use of nets in their communities.

The Sultan of Sokoto and spiritual leader of Muslims in Nigeria, Sa'ad Abubakar, and John Onaiyekan, Catholic archbishop of Abuja and current head of the Christian Association of Nigeria joined government officials and representatives of international groups at the launch of the interfaith action against malaria in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.

Religious leaders are considered very influential in Nigeria and the health authorities were delighted that the latest effort to tackle malaria has earned the strong support of the country's two most prominent religious leaders.

"We have technical skills as ministers and as physicians, we have all the inputs that we need but penetrating and mobilizing and getting people to believe what you want them to do is a different ball game entirely, and that is why the leadership of His Eminence [the Sultan] and the archbishop and indeed the religious platform is probably the most significant impact that we can make to making this difference," said Babatunde Osotimehin, the Nigerian minister of health.

About 75 million Nigerians, or half the population, are attacked by malaria at least once a year, with children below five most vulnerable.

Attending the Abuja launch was the U.N. Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Malaria, Ray Chambers, who described as profound the impact of malaria on Nigeria's economy. He said the illness cost the country $10 billion a year due to deaths and lost work days.

"We must succeed with Nigeria in this fight against this horrific disease, malaria," said Chambers. "It kills over 300,000 children and women in Nigeria each year. It accounts for 75 million cases in Nigeria and when you think about the cost to the economy because people can not go to work, because 60 percent of outpatient admissions are attributable to malaria, we believe it costs Nigeria over $10 billion a year to the GDP."

Malaria is a disease caused by parasites and transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito. The infection can lead to coma and death if left untreated.

Around 97 percent of Nigerians are at risk of infection. Fighting the killer disease has been hampered by poverty, ignorance and a dilapidated health infrastructure.

Nigeria hopes to reduce malaria deaths by 50 percent by the end of 2010 through the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, indoor spraying with insecticides, and effective medication.

VOA

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Madagascar's government has halted air links with neighbouring Mozambique, stranding senior Malagasy negotiators in Maputo where they had struck a deal on a unity government, the talks' mediator said on Wednesday.

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina, who grabbed power in a March coup, rejected on Tuesday the agreement on the make-up of the unity government that was struck by his rivals in Mozambique, and said it was tantamount to a coup d'etat.

Former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, who mediated the talks, told Reuters that a number of the negotiators had been prevented from returning home.

"It's true ... the government of Madagascar has interdicted the plane which should have come to collect them from Maputo and they have also interdicted any other flight from Maputo to Antananarivo," he said.

Chissano was speaking by telephone from London where he flew after the Maputo talks.

Among those stranded in Maputo are former Malagasy President Albert Zafy and Prime Minister Eugene Mangalaza, who was put in office by Rajoelina under international pressure.

Zafy shook hands on the division of senior cabinet posts and a timetable for setting up transitional institutions with two other former presidents of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana and Didier Ratsiraka, who both live in exile.

International mediators have brokered several power-sharing agreements with Madagascar's feuding politicians in recent months but all have come unstuck.

Chissano said he did not understand why Rajoelina was not willing to discuss Tuesday's deal, especially as parts of the proposal followed requests made by Rajoelina himself.

LUANDA (Reuters) - President Jose Eduardo dos Santos was re-elected head of Angola's ruling MPLA party on Wednesday, a move that signals the 67-year old leader plans to extend his three-decade long rule of one of Africa's top oil producers.

Dos Santos was the only party member running for the top post at a party congress in Luanda. The MPLA also elected new members to its Central Committee, the party's top-decision making body.

The four-day MPLA congress, which ends on Thursday, has been marked by calls from dos Santos for his party to do more to fight graft and poverty in a country where an estimated 60 percent of the 16.5 million-strong population live in desperate conditions, according to dos Santos.

Angola's opposition parties and rights groups have accused dos Santos of clinging on to power after repeatedly delaying presidential elections since the end of Angola's 27-year civil war in 2002.

Dos Santos recently said presidential elections would take place after a new constitution, expected to be ready in the first quarter of 2010, is approved by parliament. His party plans to change the constitution for the president and parliament to be elected through a single poll instead of two -- as is currently the case.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Gunmen ambushed U.N./African Union peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region and exchanged fire with them for 25 minutes in the third attack on the force in less than a week, officials said on Wednesday.

The unidentified attackers opened fire on the Pakistani armed police unit on Tuesday afternoon as it was escorting a convoy just outside Nyala, capital of south Darfur, the UNAMID mission said.

No one was injured and the attackers fled after a force of Nigerian UNAMID soldiers came to the scene to help, said force communications chief Kemal Saiki.

"It is a scandal that our forces are being targeted ... They are impartial. They take no sides," he told Reuters.

"Once again we are having to emphasise the fact that our forces are in Darfur to try and help bring peace and stability."

Saiki said he did not want to jump to any conclusions about whether the shooting was linked to two attacks on UNAMID units on Friday and Saturday in north Darfur that killed five Rwandan peacekeepers.

"There have been successive attacks. But it is difficult to jump to conclusions. This one took place in Nyala which is a different area altogether."

Twenty-two UNAMID peacekeepers have been killed in action in Darfur since the undermanned mission moved to the western region in January 2008. It has regularly been targeted by bandits and car-jackers who have continued to plague the region, despite an overall decline in the levels of military violence.

Darfur's conflict surged in 2003 when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Khartoum government, accusing it of neglecting the region. Khartoum mobilised mostly Arab militias to quell the uprising, unleashing a wave of violence that Washington calls genocide, a term Khartoum rejects.

Government officials and a former Darfur rebel group said two groups of men had been arrested in connection with Friday's and Saturday's attacks. In both cases officials said the gunmen were criminals trying to steal vehicles.

20091209

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mozambique can start unwinding temporary fiscal and monetary policy measures as of next year in the face of an expected pick-up in economic activity, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

In a review of Mozambique's performance under a one-year $176 million IMF loan, the Fund said the economy had shown "unexpected resilience" during the global economic downturn of the past year.

It said it expects economic growth in the southern African country to strengthen to 5.5 percent next year from about 4.5 percent in 2009.

Overall, the country's performance under the one-year Exogenous Shocks Facility has been on track, the IMF said.

"Most of the key quantitative targets for end-June 2009 were met -- though net credit to the government and reserve money growth were higher than envisaged -- and there has been good progress in implementing structural reforms," the IMF said.

20091209

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss logistics group Panalpina said on Wednesday it was close to reaching a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) to settle a probe into its activities in Nigeria and West Africa.

Panalpina had entered settlement talks last week and had already decided to close its organisation in Nigeria and restructure its business units in West Africa, it said.

The company said the probe was in connection to alleged infringements of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and it was coordinating with the DoJ to ensure its practices in West Africa complied with the act.

"In the context of numerous initiatives to strengthen and expand compliance on a global level, Panalpina's compliance department has played an active role in recognising critical aspects of the investigation," the company said in a statement.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has recommended that the mandate of peacekeepers in Congo be extended by just six months instead of the usual year as the force considers a drawdown in the still turbulent country.

President Joseph Kabila is pressing the world body to start winding down MONUC, the world's largest U.N. peacekeeping force, by mid-2010 when Congo marks the 50th anniversary of independence from Belgium. Diplomats say he does not want his country to appear to be still propped up by foreign troops.

Despite reports of continued violence and rights abuses in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the diplomats say Kabila's words have struck a chord with some in the Security Council who would like to cut back the costly MONUC operation.

In a report to the council made public on Tuesday, Ban proposed it extend MONUC's mandate just until June 30, 2010, to allow U.N. talks with Kinshasa on critical tasks to perform so a withdrawal would not trigger "a relapse into instability."

The council will vote on December 21. Ban said that in April he would present the council with recommendations on reconfiguring MONUC so that in June the 15-nation body could draw up a new mandate on its future, including a military drawdown.

The secretary-general admitted the situation in eastern Congo "remained fragile" and that a U.N.-backed Congo army offensive against the Rwandan FDLR rebel group there had taken "a heavy toll on civilians" as a result of reprisals.

More than 5 million people are thought to have died in mineral-rich Congo, many from hunger and disease, as a result of a 1998-2003 civil war and its aftermath. It was that war that led to MONUC being sent there 10 years ago.

The U.N. says says there are still around 2 million internal refugees in camps in eastern Congo, although hundreds of thousands have been able to return home this year.

KAMPALA, Dec 9 (IPS) - Sam Kubo had gone to lease out his 600 hectares of land in Kayunga district. But instead he went to his death.

The land had been the subject of a long-standing dispute between squatters claiming the rights to it and Kubo, who inherited and owned the title to the land.

So when Kubo arrived with surveyors, in part of the process of granting a lease out on the land, the illegal squatters would not let him. They would rather he died than lease out the land. The angry mob lynched him and burnt his body and his car.

The surveyors whom Kubo had hired escaped from the killer residents to tell the story. And it was an incident that sent shockwaves through the country.

But this was not merely a case of mad vigilantism. It unfolded into a story of people desperate for justice, who were unable to access it and resorted to take the law into their own hands. This ugly incident is linked to the judicial crisis that has hit the country, as many feel justice is moving too slowly and more and more people are now taking matters into their own hands.

Mohamed Ndifuna, of the Human Rights Network, says there are increasing incidents of mob justice, because people have lost trust in judicial services.

"People are skeptical, and feel the judiciary will fail them," says Ndifuna, whose organisation runs a campaign against mob justice.

Overwhelmed by the number of unresolved cases, the judiciary is resorting to arbitration as an alternative to what they see as the cumbersome judicial system inherited from Britain.

During a workshop by the Justice, Law and Order sector, a consortium bringing together organisations working on access to judicial services, participants resolved to use arbitration to solve minor disputes.

Bruce Kyerere, president of the Uganda Law Society, says under arbitration the parties agree to an arbiter whose decision will be respected by both. It cuts the court process and eases the clogged judicial system.

"Justice is not about just going to court; it’s also about being able to get the decision and in time," Kyerere says.

A ministerial policy statement for 2008-2009 presented to parliament by justice and constitutional affairs minister, Dr Khiddu Makubuya, says more than 76 percent of cases filed in the courts had not been disposed off by the middle of this year.

By June 30 this year only 34,178 of the 144,444 cases lodged in the courts had been heard.

The judiciary report says 110,266 cases are pending, a backlog of 76.3 percent – meaning the judiciary will have to more than double its efforts to clear the backlog. Also, more than half of the 29,826 people in prisons across the country are on remand awaiting trial.

This state of affairs has made judicial officers adopt arbitration. Uganda chief justice Benjamin Odoki says this will help reduce the backlog. He says arbitration is a legal practice also adopted in Commonwealth countries to settle disputes without going to court. It saves litigants time and money.

Swithin Minyantwali, executive director of the International Law Institute says arbitration is an African way of dispute resolution. He told IPS the system faced resistance at first, because judges and lawyers said it was outside their jurisdiction, but it is now being embraced.

Minyantwali says alternative dispute resolution is a way of promoting judicial effectiveness and legal reform in sub-Saharan Africa.

Meanwhile mobs are on the loose, and the murder of Kubo, a lecturer at Kyambogo University, was not the only incident in Kayunga district. In the three weeks after the highly publicised murder of Kubo, three more cases of mob justice were recorded in the area.

The crisis in the judicial process has led to a blame game, with each section blaming the other. The inspector-general of police, who visited the district, blamed mob justice on the failure by the courts to resolve land conflicts. Many cases in the Uganda courts are related to such disputes.

Odoki says he has too few judges to hear cases. He says the problem is compounded by the fact that the police take long to conclude investigations, which delays prosecution and exacerbates the backlog of cases. "Some of the cases are delayed because the prosecution keeps on asking for extensions, saying investigations are continuing."

With the police blaming the judiciary and the chief justice blaming the police for the backlog, arbitration comes at the right time.

Joseph Bwire, who has been in court for eight years over ownership of a house which he claims to have bought from the Departed Asians Custodian Board, but which another person now claims, sees the problem elsewhere. The board was set up to manage property that was left behind by Asians expelled from Uganda in 1972. Most of the property has been returned to former owners but property that was not claimed is still managed by the board, who are mandated to distribute the property.

He believes corruption causes the delays. "In my case the file has disappeared several times, and where we have been able to put together another file, either the judge is absent or the defence lawyer is allegedly sick."

Bwire, who spoke to IPS at the Uganda High Court, where he had gone to check on the date for the hearing, is not interested in the blame game.

"They are all corrupt. When you go to the police they will ask for transport to go to investigate, the judges will want money to hear the case – it’s a waste of time and money."

Bwire says he has on a number of occasions been asked by the police to provide transport for them to investigate his case. Although the case is civil, the police got involved after reports of the forgery of documents by officials of the custodian board.

Bwire’s allegations are significant after a grade one lower court magistrate, Moses Ndifuna of the Mbarara district, was arrested for accepting a bribe of about 100 dollars to alter a judgment in favour of an accused. The case is before the anti-corruption court, and investigations continue.

But Elias Kisawuzi, spokesperson for the judiciary, says there are many other factors that delay cases. In his opinion all parties, including judges, witnesses and lawyers, are ready to expedite cases.

Kisawuzi says some lawyers are in the habit of seeking unnecessary adjournments. "Some of the parties often ask for constitutional interpretations of matters arising from the case, causing further delays."

Thousands of prison inmates are also affected by the slow judicial process. As the judiciary chokes with cases, so too do the Uganda Prisons. Spokesperson for prisons Frank Baine is worried that arbitration may not reduce numbers in the prisons. He says 57 percent of inmates are facing defilement charges, which might not be among those handled by arbitration.

There are 41 High Court judges after the Judicial Service Commission recruited a few more recently. The number practising has been dwindling. Some go on leave to take up positions abroad, such as Justice Julie Ssebutinde, who is with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Ugandan judge Daniel Nsereko is also working with the ICC, and there are many others whose posts will not be filled because they are "on assignment".

The Judicial Service Commission has decided to increase the number of judges and magistrates, in a bid to clear the case backlog. Odoki tells IPS there is a need for expansion at various court levels.

The Supreme Court will get another five judges to make it 12 in total. The Court of Appeal needs another seven to make the total 15, and the High Court of Uganda needs 32 more to total 82.

But until that happens, all Bwire can do is to continue pursuing his case in the hope that he will eventually get a fair hearing.

(END/2009)
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TSHWANE, Dec 9 (IPS) - Corruption is preventing the world from reducing extreme poverty, from averting child deaths and even from fighting epidemics like HIV/AIDS. And it will have a devastating effect on the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals if not tackled directly by each national government.

The way to do this, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Southern Africa representative Dr. Jonathan Lucas, is through the full implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) which most countries are signatories to.

Lucas was speaking to stakeholders on International Anti-Corruption Day in Tshwane on Dec 9. "The 2009 message is simple: Corruption is a crime against development, democracy, education, prosperity, public health and justice – what many would consider the pillars of social well being."

He said corruption was no longer hidden. "It is now seen by people across the world as a serious crime, a crime which weakens societies, ruins lives, and spurs underdevelopment."

The UNCAC agreement, which was signed in Merida, Mexico six years ago, sets out specific guidelines that countries should follow in order to combat corruption.

On December 14, 2005, UNCAC came into force and became the first legally binding, global anti-corruption agreement, and was "a significant achievement in the fight against corruption" according to Lucas.

In November this year more than 1,000 participants from the 141 signatory countries attended the third conference of the state parties to UNCAC in Doha, Qatar. The "Doha Mechanism of Implementation" was agreed upon as a mechanism to monitor the convention.

According to UNODC executive director Antonia Maria Costa: "This agreement will not end corruption, but will enable us to measure and fight it."

In a statement released today, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the Doha agreement meant that: "From now on, states will be judged by the actions they take to fight corruption, not just the promises they make."

Lucas told IPS that with cases like the recent accusations of nepotism and other corruption made against Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma by opposition leader John Benjamin, Zambia’s unresolved corruption allegations against former President Frederick Chiluba and Uganda’s ongoing battle for democracy amidst claims of election rigging and dictatorship, UNCAC was committed to ongoing engagement with each state. He added each national government was responsible for the implementation of the convention.

The convention is based on four pillars – prevention, criminalisation, asset recovery and international co-operation.

Open, honest and efficient decision-making, fair competition and ethical procurement systems are some of the aims of the convention. UNCAC also calls for a ban on bribery in all investment decisions, both local and international and law enforcement and swift international co-operation that leaves no place for criminals to hide.

"According to the World Bank," said Lucas, "the cross-border flow of money related to corruption is estimated to be 1.6 trillion US dollars per year."

This reflects the huge impact that corruption has on developing states and is why UNODC Southern Africa launched the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network for Southern Africa (Arinsa) in March this year.

Lucas said Arinsa was of critical importance in Southern Africa as it created an informal gateway for anti-corruption information exchange and co-ordination between law enforcement and judicial authorities in the field of asset seizure in countries Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

In a major breakthrough for UNCAC, countries agreed on asset recovery as part of the UNODC/World Bank joint Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR) launched in 2007.

Lucas said asset recovery was a challenge and particularly important for developing countries where corruption eroded much needed public resources. "The work of the StAR Initiative has proven successful in a number of pilot countries including Bangladesh, Haiti, Indonesia and Nigeria."

Key to fighting corruption, is the inclusion of the private sector in the implementation of anti-corruption strategies, said Ki-moon.

"The private sector should not lag behind governments. Businesses must also prevent corruption within their ranks, and keep bribery out of the tendering and procurement processes."

He urged companies not to cheat and to open themselves up to peer review in line with the 10th principle of the UN Global Compact. This principle states that "businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery".

As part of this process, UNODC in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers, released the first edition of the "Anti-Corruption Policies and Measures of the Fortune Global 500" report in November this year. The report provides an overview of measures that 2008 Fortune Global 500 countries have taken to combat corruption and economic crime.

"When public money is stolen for private gain, it means fewer resources to build schools, hospitals, roads and water treatment facilities," said the U.N. Secretary General.

"When foreign aid is diverted into private bank accounts, major infrastructure projects come to a halt. Corruption enables fake or sub-standard medicines to be dumped on the market, and hazardous waste to be dumped in landfill sites and in oceans. The vulnerable suffer first and worst." (END/2009)

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MAPUTO, Mozambique, December 9, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the fifth review under the three-year Policy Support Instrument (PSI) and the first review under the one-year Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF). The completion of the first review under the ESF makes available a disbursement of SDR 14.2 million (about 22.6 US million dollars). The Board’s decision was taken on a lapse of time basis.[1]

After a prolonged period of robust macroeconomic performance, Mozambique has been adversely affected by the global economic crisis. Nonetheless, the economy has shown unexpected resilience, partly because of the authorities’ prompt response to temporarily ease macroeconomic policies. Growth, which averaged 7½ percent over the past three years, is expected to weaken to 4½ percent in 2009. Policy implementation has remained strong and broadly in line with the program. Most of the key quantitative targets for end-June 2009 were met —though net credit to the government and reserve money growth were higher than envisaged—and there has been good progress in implementing structural reforms.

Economic performance is expected to improve in 2010 in tandem with the global economic recovery, with a projected growth rate of 5½ percent. The stronger economic activity should allow the authorities to start unwinding the temporary fiscal and monetary policy stimulus. The authorities reiterated their commitment to their medium-term strategy of prudent macroeconomic policies and structural reforms to support private sector development.


The PSI for Mozambique was approved on June 18, 2007 (See Press Release No. 07/135) to support the country’s economic reform efforts. It is aimed at consolidating macroeconomic stability and at achieving sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. The strategy to achieve this goal remains set in the Mozambican authorities’ national poverty reduction strategy, Plano de Acção para Redução da Pobreza Absoluta (PARPA II).


The ESF in the amount of SDR 113.6 million was approved on May 29, 2009 (see Press Release No. 09/247 ), and SDR 85.2 million was disbursed on approval. The ESF is designed to provide policy support and financial assistance on concessional terms to eligible low-income countries facing temporary exogenous shocks. The IMF financing for Mozambique was approved to help offset the deterioration of its balance of payments.

[1] The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse of time procedure when it is agreed by the Board that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.

SOURCE :International Monetary Fund (IMF)