08 Sep 2009
Over 250,000 people have fled violence in Mogadishu since May, bringing the total number of displaced within Somalia to over 1.5 million, the UN says.

The two main opposition groups, the al-Shabab and Hezb al-Islam, have been fighting with government forces to topple the US-backed interim President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who came to power earlier this year.

On Monday alone, heavy clashes between the rebels and government forces left at least 15 people dead and many more injured.

The Somali government had earlier said it's in direct talks with local fighters to try to end months of deadly violence.

Al-Shabab fighters are still in control of some southern cities and parts of the capital, Mogadishu.

The renewed fighting -- kicked off early in the year -- is part of a bloody insurgency that engulfed the conflict-torn country following the 2007 Ethiopian invasion of Somalia.

The clashes between government forces and local fighters in residential areas of the capital Mogadishu, has claimed the lives of over 18,000 people.

According to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, the fighting has left over 1.5 million people displaced -- the majority of them women and children.

Further more, over half of the Somali population is now dependent on food aid due to the conflict and drought.

Somalia has been embroiled in chaos, lacking a functioning government, since warlords overthrew Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

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Widespread flooding in West Africa has displaced over a quarter of a million people: The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of the floods in Burkina Faso

GENEVA, 8 September 2009 (IRIN) - Climate scientists describe Africa as an information "black hole". The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) notes that there are only 744 weather stations, but only a quarter of them are of international standard; at least 3,000, evenly spaced across the continent, are needed, with another 1,000 in densely populated areas; ideally, Africa should have at least 10,000 stations.

The need for better weather information is clear - last week, floods inundated West Africa, dislocating over 250,000 people; a quarter of the normal annual rainfall was dumped on Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, in one day. In contrast, the Horn of Africa is reporting a major drought every two years, and the countries there are taking up to five years to recover.

At the World Climate Conference (WCC3) in Geneva, Switzerland, Michel Jarraud, Secretary General of WMO noted: "Strengthening weather observation in Africa will benefit Africa, but it is also going to benefit the rest of us. It's a win-win situation." Government representatives at the conference did not have the required mandate to commit but the meeting laid out a blueprint for moving forward towards a global framework for collecting and analyzing climate information for adaptation to climate change.

Jarraud's sentiments were echoed by Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who stressed that it was important to standardize data and set up a global framework for providing climate services, so that experts and weather services could work from the same page.

"Different countries have different philosophies about information related to the climate," she said. "It is not that one is right and the other wrong; it is that they need to be harmonized."

''Different countries have different philosophies about information related to the climate''
The proposed framework has four components: observation and monitoring; research, climate modelling and prediction; a climate services information system; and a user interface programme. The first two components already exist but need strengthening. The last two components will constitute a "World Climate Service System".

An intergovernmental meeting at the end of 2009 will establish a task force to draft a blueprint for designing and implementing the framework, and submit its report to the WMO congress in 2011 for action.

Plans to improve climate services are already underway. One reason is that the wealthier industrialized countries realize that they are also being affected by climate change.

Thomas Karl, who heads the NOAA's climate services, reported that the US has been experiencing reduced rainfall in its western states and unusually heavy precipitation events in the northeastern states.

New opportunities

Growing recognition of the seriousness of the problem is opening the door to innovative ideas like "Weather Info for All", a global public-private partnership initiative to put automated weather stations on the cellular phone towers springing up across Africa.

The project involves the WMO, Ericsson, an international telecommunications and information technology company; Zain, a Middle Eastern telecommunications company; the Earth Institute at Columbia University in the US; and the Global Humanitarian Forum, an annual gathering of humanitarian community leadership in Geneva, Switzerland.

The automatic weather stations draw electric power from the cell phone towers and use sensors to measure temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, wind speed, precipitation and sunshine.

The information is transmitted to national meteorological and hydrological services, analyzed, and fed back to national decision-makers in Africa, and eventually to farmers and other clients in the field.

In the first phase of the project, 19 such stations are on a trial run in Tanzania; in phase II, 489 stations will be set up across the rest of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, and become operational after technical kinks have been ironed out. The initial roll-out of 508 automated weather stations is expected to cost just under US$9 million, and the partnership hopes to expand the programme to the rest of Africa.

One of the functions of the climate services framework will be to provide hard data to demonstrate to decision-makers and the public why it is important to act now.

In Africa, especially, there has been an understandable tendency to spend on pressing short-term problems and worry about the weather later, but it is becoming increasingly clear that major climate events like floods, droughts and cyclones are driving more people below the poverty line.

Sudden increases in rainfall also increase health risks, ranging from malaria to red fever and meningitis, and decision-makers need a broader understanding of the hidden threats of climate change.

Climate emergencies cannot be avoided, but with good planning based on solid information, a country's vulnerability to such events and the often crippling costs of recovery and reconstruction can be reduced considerably. For these reasons, climate is emerging as a major factor in development.

Reducing greenhouse emissions is likely to prove more complicated, but NOAA's Lubchenco told reporters in Geneva that the urgency of dealing with the climate is now becoming apparent, even to sceptics who previously questioned global warming.

"Regardless of what happens in Copenhagen [where the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will meet in December to set new targets for emission cuts] the need for information will only increase."

irinnews[/font]

08 Sep 2009
Uganda has announced that it will send some 300 police officers to Somalia, as part of a UN-backed peacekeeping mission to stabilize the war-torn nation.

Major General Kale Kayihura, Uganda's Inspector General of Police said on Tuesday that the deployment would begin in December, adding that it would be independent of other UN operations in Somalia.

Kayihura said that some Ugandan police units are also to be deployed in the troubled western Sudanese region of Darfur.

Uganda, which is one of only two African Union countries sending troops to Somalia, currently has some 2050 soldiers in the war-wracked country.

The 5,100-strong AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which began its operations in March 2007, is made up of soldiers from Burundi and Uganda and is mandated to guard strategic sites in the volatile Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The mission also provides backup to government forces fighting a violent insurgency.

Mogadishu has witnessed fierce fighting and attacks on a daily basis since May, when rebel forces launched a major offensive against President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's UN-backed interim government.

The mission is the only foreign force currently present in Somalia, which has been mired in civil war since 1991.

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Children displaced by LRA attacks in Mundri, Western Equatoria State.
NAIROBI, 8 September 2009 (IRIN) - Conflict-affected areas of Southern Sudan, such as Ezo County in Western Equatoria State where Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have been active, are facing a high risk of epidemics, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns.

Conflict in Southern Sudan, WHO said, had damaged health facilities, displaced health workers and prevented people from accessing facilities that were still functioning.

LRA rebels have continued attacks in Western Equatoria, looting and ransacking homes, churches and health facilities, stealing food, killing innocent civilians and abducting children.

In recent weeks, the rebels have forced 80,000 people out of their homes. On 13 August, they looted and burnt local houses and churches in Ezo, ransacked health facilities, killed and wounded civilians and abducted 10 girls.

"The total number of people displaced following the recent attacks in Ezo is unclear," WHO said. "Many IDPs [internally displaced persons] are still hiding in the jungle due to persistent fear of LRA attacks, while most displaced are now living in camps organized by local authorities or host communities."

Humanitarian workers were evacuated following the attacks. "The humanitarian situation remains serious," the agency said. "Local churches have asked for emergency supplies of food, safe drinking water and medicines.

"The severe shortage of food may lead to malnutrition in children and pregnant women. Many healthcare workers were among the displaced, and very few health facilities are operational... National Immunization Days scheduled to take place in August were not conducted due to the insecurity."

Spreading panic

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the LRA has triggered widespread panic and fear in areas along the borders of Southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR).

"There are some 3,500 refugees from the DRC and CAR and an estimated 25,000 IDPs in Ezo and neighbouring districts," it said on 21 August. "These people are now without protection or assistance."

Altogether, an estimated 360,000 Congolese have been uprooted in successive LRA attacks in Orientale province of northeastern DRC while 20,000 have fled to neighbouring Sudan and the CAR.

During a recent visit to Dungu in northeastern DRC, Ann Veneman, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), referred to the “Christmas Massacre” of 26 December, when the LRA attacked a Catholic church, hacking to death innocent worshippers.

"The population of Dungu live in constant fear of attacks from the LRA, who inflicted 20 years of terror in Uganda and other neighbouring countries," she said. "The LRA is notorious for kidnapping children, forcing them to kill and maim innocent victims and enslaving young girls as their concubines."

An estimated 320,000 people have been displaced from their homes since December 2007. In July, the rebels were believed to have been responsible for approximately 1,200 civilian deaths.

"The people are stuck between a rock and a hard place," Katharine Derderian, a humanitarian adviser for the aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Belgium, said recently. "They are too scared to return to the rural areas, so they are unable to cultivate their fields, or to even send their children to school because they fear the LRA will attack."

irinnews

07 Sep 2009
Gabon's defeated presidential candidates vow to challenge the election of Ali Bongo Ondimba, who succeeded his father -- late president Omar Bongo Ondimba.

Jean Eyeghe Ndong, acting as a spokesman for the coalition of 16 candidates, declared in a statement on Monday, "These results have no element of truth. They are all lies. This whole thing of an election was a farce which was imposed by police batons."

The opposition leaders demanded a recount, as they claim the vote count was interrupted by the president of the CENAP, the country's electoral commission.

Violence erupted in Gabon -- a former French colony -- when Bongo, 50, was declared the winner of the August 30 election.

The opposition candidates also charged that the unrest's death toll was "much higher" than the officially announced three deaths.

The opposition coalition includes former interior minister Andre Mba Obame, the runner-up, and Pierre Mamboundou, who finished third in the election.


pressv

ACCRA, 7 September 2009 (IRIN) - Dozens of farmers in northern Ghana claim they have been forced off their land with no alternative source of income after a multinational firm bought their farms to cultivate jetropha, a non-food crop whose seeds contain oil used to produce biofuel.

Biofuel Africa Ltd has acquired over 23,700 hectares of Ghanaian land forcing out the inhabitants of seven villages – all of them farming communities -- in Tamale district.

Farmer Mumud Alhassan Adam, 50-year-old father of five, lost his eight-hectare plot on which he cultivated maize and rice.

“I went to the farm one day but I realized somebody else was on the farm and then I was told the land had been sold off. Since then I have not been allowed to farm."

Local chiefs own most of the land in northern Ghana and rent it out to farmers or sell it to anybody who wishes to buy.

“There was no consultation with us (farmers) before the land was sold and I have not been paid any compensation since I was displaced,” Adam told IRIN.

He added: “A few of the farmers were offered employment on the jatropha plantation but many others were left with hunger and no sourceof income, while others like myself had to raise money to rent another plot of land several kilometers away. It has been a very difficult time for my family.”

But BioFuel Africa’s chief executive officer Steinar Kolnes said the company offered the farmers options: “We don’t pay compensation…We gave the farmers two options: To stay and farm their crops alongside the jetropha or leave to other more fertile lands we had provided for them.” He said those who chose to leave were given plots up to 10 times the size of their previous plots.

Adam said he knew of no farmers living in the area who have been given alternative land to farm.

Many farmers are trying to make the best of the change, rather than fighting for their land back. “If I get a job with any of these firms I will abandon crop cultivation and join them. And many of my colleagues would do the same,” John Akerebo, a farmer in the region, told IRIN.

Over 20 companies from around the world, including from Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Norway, are acquiring land in Ghana to produce biofuels, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Between 15 million and 20 million hectares of farmland around the world have been subject to biofuels negotiations since 2006, according to the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Kwadwo Poku, a local consultant for several of the multinationals with business in Ghana, told IRIN: “With so much land uncultivated [in Ghana], these firms are doing this country a favour by…employing many more farmers."

In a communiqué on its website, BioFuel Africa says only 10 percent of the land in question was being cultivated for food crops and that its project is providing farmers with much-needed employment during the lean season.

The Agriculture Ministry estimates that just 16 percent of Ghana’s arable land is cultivated, despite agriculture employing 60 percent of the country’s workforce.

Multinationals are attracted to Ghana by the land availability, soil types and a lack of regulation on acquisitions, according to the Food Security Policy Advocacy Network (FoodSPAN), based in the capital Accra.

But David Eli, FoodSPAN chairman, said the growing practice of carving up cultivable land for biofuel production could worsen Ghana’s food insecurity. "As a country we don’t produce enough food to feed everybody so if the argument is that we have enough land then why don’t we invest to cultivate that land for food crops?”

UP to 1.2 million Ghanaians are food insecure, according to the World Food Programme’s latest estimates, 453,000 of them in Northern Region. The government is drafting a US$10-million national food security plan, according to Agriculture Ministry director Nurah Gyiele.

The government has recognized the need for more clarity on the rights of farmers and companies in land deals concerning biofuels, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, and has called on the government's Energy Commission to draft legislation on land acquisitions.

Head of the Agriculture Workers Union, Kingsley Ofei Nkansah, said the legislation, which is currently being developed, must ensure that biofuels cultivation be limited to marginal lands; that all acquisitions include compensation for farmers and that chiefs prioritize land for food crop cultivation over biofuels.

irinnews

OUAGADOUGOU, 7 September 2009 (IRIN) - Recent floods have shut down Burkina Faso’s main hospital, interrupting dialysis treatments, preventing HIV diagnoses and overloading health centres ill-equipped to take on surgical cases, according to the Health Ministry.

To date, there have been seven reported deaths and more than 100,000 people made homeless by the storms. Most of the displaced have sought refuge in dozens of sites throughout the capital Ouagadougou.

The Health Minister Seydou Bouda told IRIN on 7 September that the three wards still open at the hospital – maternity; ear, nose and throat; and eye care – are only taking emergency cases. “Even in normal times, Yalgado [hospital] needed heavy repairs,” said the health minister. “Now this situation has come, which has made the renovations more pressing.”

Bouda told IRIN the hospital must suspend its activities in order to rebuild and replace equipment. “There is no use in rushing to reopen as if nothing had happened.” On 1 September, the city received one-quarter of its typical annual rainfall in an hours-long deluge.

HIV care

Equipment in the hospital’s HIV laboratory that was used to diagnose the disease countrywide has been destroyed. Three of the capital’s five reference laboratories capable of high-level accurate diagnoses – for more diseases than just HIV – have been damaged, the Health Ministry’s Secretary General Adama Traoré told IRIN. “We are in the process of contacting the makers of the CD4 count machines [used to diagnose HIV] in the hospital to find out how to make repairs or what can be done.”

He said the hospital needs to contact patients who are on anti-retroviral treatments for HIV in case the patients’ homes have been destroyed and medicines are lost, but it has lost contacts for most its patients. “If I had a patient before me right now, I could not tell you that patient’s medical history because we simply have no records. They washed away. Computers were damaged. Paper files destroyed.”

Nationwide there were about 10,000 people on ARV drugs as of June 2009, according to the government’s national HIV and sexually transmitted diseases council.

Health Minister Bouda told IRIN the government has requested emergency assistance from The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Dialysis

The hospital’s director general, Lansande Bagagné, told IRIN on 6 September that some dialysis patients were in a critical state and had started vomiting when their treatment had been discontinued for days. “We were able to get three generators working to continue their care.”

Altogether 50 dialysis patients had to stop treatments when the machines were destroyed, said the Health Ministry’s Traoré. “We are at a loss as what to do. We are simply lost. No other health structures are equipped to take them on,” said Traoré.

Traoré told IRIN the hospital is relying on radio and television advertisements to redirect people to other health centres. “We are managing and the health system has been able to react quickly, but we are still in the process of assessing how much we lost.”

Traoré told IRIN though the major stock of donor-funded medicines – including anti-malaria pills and anti-retroviral medication for HIV patients – were stored safely outside the hospital, any medicine at the hospital was destroyed.

When asked health centres’ operation plans if and when additional rains come, Traoré replied: “For the long-term, we should not build health structures in flood-prone zones. For the short-term, we move our papers to a higher and drier spot.”


irinnews

08 Sep 2009
Somali pirates active in the Gulf of Aden have reportedly demanded a ransom of some $20 million for the release of a Turkish-flagged bulk carrier Horizon 1 and its 23 crew members.

"The ransom they asked for is $20 million, but negotiations on kidnappings such as these usually end with agreement on 10 to 20 per cent of the amount asked," Nilgun Yamaner, who represents the owner of the ship, told AFP.

"In our case, that amounts to a figure between USD 2 to 4 million," she added.

The cargo ship MV Horizon-1 -- owned and operated by the Istanbul-based Horizon Maritime Trading Co. -- was carrying 33,000 metric tons of sulfur ore from Saudi Arabia to Jordan when seized on July 8, 2009.

As reported by the Turkish Navy, the vessel was brought first to the Somali port of Hordio, where it anchored on July 9. A day later, the Horizon-1 left Hordio and sailed to the so-called pirate haven of Eyl in northern Somalia's breakaway Puntland region.

Piracy off Somalia, one of the world's busiest shipping areas, and other coasts of Africa has increased sharply over the past year, earning the pirates millions of dollars of ransom payments and pushing up maritime insurance rates.

Dozens of international naval ships are patrolling the waters off the Somali coast but despite efforts they have not been successful to stop pirate attacks.

presstv

HARARE, 7 September 2009 (IRIN) - The fault lines between Zimbabwe's political parties are causing disruption at the opening of the third term in public schools, continuing years of decline in a sector once regarded as sub-Saharan Africa's finest.

It was hoped the formation of the unity government in February 2009 would resurrect the ailing schooling system, but lack of finance, teacher shortages and political spats between teachers' unions are stalling the sector's recovery.

The country ditched its own currency, the Zimbabwe dollar, to tame rampant hyperinflation. In a bid to revitalize public services, employees across the board are paid a similar wage in US dollars, which was initially welcomed but has since been derided as paltry by recipients.

The 40,000-member Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA), seen as having strong ties to President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, is calling for a national strike, which some teachers are already heeding. The union said the current US$140 salary was inadequate and has demanded a US$500 monthly wage.

The usually militant Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), aligned to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is urging its 20,000 members to refrain from strike action.

"Our position as PTUZ is that the government has no money; going on strike now would not solve anything because there just isn't any. So what we are saying is that teachers are not going on strike - we are in talks with the ministers responsible for education and finance, and we believe that something positive is going to come out of those deliberations."

A teacher at a public school in the capital, Harare, told IRIN: "We are getting tired and confused by conflicting statements from our union leaders, and we get the feeling that we are being used in political games."

The allocation of portfolios in the unity government gave the MDC responsibility for many of the social services ministries, while ZANU-PF maintained their grip on the security ministries.

Western donors have adopted a wait-and-see approach to Zimbabwe's unity government as they are deeply uncertain of the extent of ZANU-PF's commitment to democracy, so billions of dollars of support remain on hold.
''I would like to appeal to the teachers to return to school because the third term is quite crucial ... public examinations like the Ordinary and Advanced Levels are just round the corner''

David Coltart, minister of education, sport and culture, and a member of a breakaway MDC party led by deputy prime minister Arthur Mutumbara, has called on teachers to appreciate the country's precarious financial situation and the importance of the third term to pupils.

"I would like to appeal to the teachers to return to school because the third term is quite crucial ... public examinations like the Ordinary and Advanced Levels are just round the corner," he said.

Teachers already not teaching

ZIMTA secretary-general Richard Gundani told IRIN: "It is actually not possible for teachers to continue because of inadequate incomes. We have done our assessments and established that a large number of teachers are not teaching - the few teachers still at work are in affluent suburbs, where parents and guardians have offered them extra incentives."

Secretary-general of the MDC, Tendai Biti, who, as Zimbabwe's finance minister is also responsible for coordinating the payment of public servants, told the state-controlled daily newspaper, The Herald, that the unity government could not afford any wage increases.

"Unless there is a dramatic improvement in the economy and revenue improves by 300 percent we have no extra fiscal space for a salary increment at the moment; there is no money, and government is currently operating on a cash budget."

He said the unity government had realized its largest revenue so far in July 2009, but the bulk of it went towards paying the country's 236,000 public servants.

"We paid around US$52 million for civil servants' salaries and the rest has gone to the hospitals for drugs, the various embassies across the world, food, and inputs for agricultural activities, among other expenses."

irinnews

NAIROBI, 7 September 2009 (IRIN) - The number of conflict- and drought-displaced Somalis has reached 1.55 million, despite a drop in the past two months in the rate of displacement from the capital, Mogadishu, according to the UN.

Roberta Russo, a spokeswoman for the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, told IRIN on 7 September that hundreds of families were still fleeing the city, despite a significant drop since the beginning of July, with almost 95,000 leaving all areas “in the last two months”; 77,000 of whom were from Mogadishu.

The UN estimates that up to 3.8 million Somalis, almost half the population, urgently need humanitarian aid.

“The displaced people are among the most affected by the crisis,” Russo said.

The displaced, most of whom are women and children, are living in desperate conditions, she said.

The main reason for their flight is insecurity, although drought and the lack of livelihoods are also cited as causes, Russo added.

Ali Sheikh Yassin, the deputy chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Human Rights Organization, told IRIN that people were continuing to flee Mogadishu, “because the insecurity is increasing, not decreasing. As we speak, people are leaving and I am sure many more will join them. There is nothing to stay for. No peace and no hope for peace.”

He said indications were that the violence - pitting government forces and African Union peacekeeping troops (AMISOM) against two insurgent groups, Al-Shabab and Hisbul-Islami - would get worse.

“All sides are preparing for what they think is a final battle but nothing is ever final in Somalia,” Yassin said.

He said the main losers in any such encounter would be civilians. “Neither side cares what happens to them so the displacement will probably go much higher in the next few months.”

According to Jowahir Ilmi, head of Somali Women Concern (SWC), a local NGO, the displaced from Mogadishu are still going to the Afgoye [30km south of Mogadishu] area.
"Every day we are registering new arrivals. Unfortunately, even the month of Ramadan has not led to a truce."

The fighting has been going on in Mogadishu since Ethiopian troops withdrew from the country in December 2008, leading to thousands of deaths and injuries as well as the displacement of hundreds of thousands from Mogadishu and parts of southern and central Somalia.

Yassin said the fighting was spreading beyond Mogadishu.

“In the past we had displaced from Mogadishu only but almost every town in parts of central Somalia is being touched by the violence," he said. "From Jowhar [south central] to Harardhere [to the northeast] people are being displaced by violence.”

He said the current drought was another factor. More and more drought-displaced pastoralists were heading into towns in search of help after losing all their livestock, he said. “The only problem this time is the town’s people are as badly off as they are, so cannot help them,” Yassin added.

He urged donor agencies to reach out to the displaced in remote and often inaccessible areas.

Many of the humanitarian agencies, however, lacked access to those who need their help.

“Access is still very limited due to insecurity in the areas hosting the majority of the displaced," said Russo.

irinnews

BALAKA, 7 September 2009 (IRIN) - Demeke Zualede, 28, fled drought, conflict and hunger in his homeland, Ethiopia, in 2008. He reached Mozambique but was deported and now lives in Dzaleka Refugee Camp in central Malawi. This is his story.

"There are so many problems in Ethiopia and I had to leave. I was a farmer and when drought hit my area for two years there was no food for everyone. The war in Somalia has affected us too - young men have to join the army to defend our country.

"I left Ethiopia with many other friends, seeking a better livelihood in other countries. We arrived in Kenya some days later, but even there life was not as good as we expected. We kept moving and arrived in Tanzania. There, too, things did not work out for us. The journey from Ethiopia to Malawi took us four months. Most of the trip was covered on foot, hence the long time to arrive in Malawi.

"When we arrived in Malawi we were put in a refugee camp. Most people think we are soldiers, and a danger to society, but some of us are just farmers. The authorities won't let us live in townships. They say we have to be in the camp, but life in the camp is not easy. The food is not enough. We receive a food ration of six kilograms every fortnight.

"In the refugee camp we face a number of problems. We need money, enough food, and all the essentials that one needs to lead a good life. We can't be offered any employment because our status is that of a refugee. We have to live in a camp until the time for repatriation comes.

"The other day we escaped and thought of going to Zimbabwe, where some of our colleagues are working. We heard that our colleagues there are doing fine. With no money, we have to walk long distances. When we crossed over to Mozambique we were arrested and brought back to Malawi.

"My dream to work in South Africa or Zimbabwe has been shattered, but I am not going to give up easily. If an opportunity avails itself I will jump on it and travel to South Africa. I cannot live in camp forever."

irinnews

September 8, 2009
More than 140 MONUC personnel have been killed

KASASA, Congo | On a winter night shortly after dark, a group of armed men burst out of the jungle and attacked a small camp here for displaced families.

By dawn, the rebels had massacred scores of civilians, pillaged crops and other valuables and left tents and huts ablaze.

But U.N. peacekeepers in a base camp less than a mile away did not hear the guns, grenades or screams, nor were they alerted by villagers who had the base's cell phone numbers, the local U.N. commander said.

The most expensive peacekeeping operation in U.N. history, with an annual budget of $1.24 billion, the Democratic Republic of the Congo mission known by its French acronym as MONUC has an authorized strength of 20,575 soldiers and military observers, and hundreds of civilians. Despite its size and resources, the 9-year-old mission has failed to pacify this tumultuous region.

"We have a large mandate, the country is huge, and there is obviously no peace to keep," U.N. Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Alain Le Roy told The Washington Times.

Col. Nambir Singh Vashishta, commander of the Indian battalion at the time of the raid in Kasasa, said Congolese expectations are too high.

"There are only so many soldiers here, for an area the size of Western Europe," he said. "We have one soldier for every thousand people."

The active combatants in eastern Congo — a patchwork of Rwandan- and Ugandan-financed militias and the unstable Congolese national army — have pushed MONUC into a more aggressive stance, closer to peace enforcement than peacekeeping.

washingtontimes

NAKURU, 7 September 2009 (IRIN) - The El Niño-related short rains that are expected from mid-September to December could help a significant recovery of drought-affected crops in parts of Kenya's Rift Valley Province, says an official.

"We had planned to hit 30 million, 90kg bags this year; we put in a lot of effort to ensure this target was met but we were relying on rainfall which did not come on time and was unevenly distributed; now we are hoping rains will help us recover part of the crop," Leonard Ochieng, provincial director of agriculture in the Rift Valley, said.

He said the province had the potential to feed Kenya, but its cereal yield this year had been affected by low, erratic and poorly distributed rainfall in some areas.

Up to 40 percent recovery of the maize crop is possible in the North Rift, which was adversely affected by the poor rainfall, Ochieng said, while the South Rift could recover up to 60 percent of the crop.

Michael Makokha, the food security and early warning systems specialist for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), urged farmers in Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western Provinces to take advantage of the anticipated rains to plant off-season crops and bridge their food gaps.

"It is high time communities... re-oriented their tastes and preferences towards agro-ecologically adaptable crops such as cassava, sorghum, sweet potatoes, green grams and cow peas to avoid recurrent household food insecurity," he told a multi-agency food security assessment team on 5 September.

Agriculture officials in the region called for seeds and fertilizers to be given to farmers by mid-September to take advantage of the rains.

A combination of poor rainfall, declining soil fertility from over-cropping, deforestation and high food prices has led to significant maize crop failure in parts of the three provinces.

Traditionally, these were considered Kenya's grain basket, but agriculturalists predict a maize deficit this year of at least 12 million 90kg bags.

Ochieng urged farmers to harvest water during the El Niño rains by investing in roof-catchment structures and water storage tanks.

"We need to look at all aspects of food security and water is an important component; we need to ensure that roof catchments are tapped at household level and each family should at least have a water storage tank," he said.

Rain damage fears

Some farmers, however, expressed fear of damage to the maize and bean crops that are nearing maturity stage.

Zablon Koech, a maize farmer in Nandi North District, said: "If we receive too much rain, we could lose the crop we have in our farms as it would rot before or during harvest. If the rains come before the maize dries, we might have to cut it and sell it as green maize."

However, agricultural officials have warned maize farmers against selling most of the crop as green maize as this would impact on food security in the long run.

Odoyo Bittar, the district agricultural officer for Bureti District, said public campaigns to sensitize farmers against selling all their crops as green maize were under way.

"We want to encourage them to keep the crop until its harvest as grain as this will boost food security in the region," Bittar said.

The Ministry of State for Special Programmes and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA Kenya) have called a workshop on 15 September in Nairobi to discuss El Niño-preparedness plans.

irinnews

08 Sep 2009
At least 10 civilians have been killed and scores of others have been wounded in heavy clashes between Somali fighters and African Union-backed government soldiers in Mogadishu.

Eyewitnesses said that clashes erupted on Monday evening in the north and south districts of the restive capital where insurgents carried out attacks on government and AU troops' positions.

AU troops responded with heavy artillery that rocked some parts of Mogadishu's deserted neighborhoods, including Hodon and Shibis, a Press TV correspondent reported late Monday.

The dead include a mother and her two children who were killed by a mortar shell that landed on their house.

Emergency health workers say at least 36 wounded people were admitted to Mogadishu's Medina Hospital, with the number of casualties expected to further rise.

The United Nations reported that the renewed violence since May 7 in Mogadishu has increased the number of internally displaced Somalis to 1.55 million.

It said that a large section of the displaced is comprised of women and children, "who are victims of human rights violations committed on a daily basis."

They are concentrated in Afgooye, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Mogadishu, where 524,000 Somalis are living in makeshift shelters without adequate access to basic necessities such as water, sanitation, medical care and education.

presstv

6 September 2009

Lagos — Renowned lawyer and frontline human rights activist, Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi (SAN), yesterday morning succumbed to a long fought battle with cancer of the lung. He was 71.

A statement from the family announcing the passage of the legal icon reads: "Chief Gani Fawehinmi, LLD, D.Litt, SAM, SAN is dead. He died at the early hours of today, Saturday, September 5, 2009 at the Lister Medical Center, Ikeja as a result of the cancer of the lung We thank all Nigerians for their strong support during the period of his illness." The statement was signed by his eldest son, Barrister Mohammed Fawehinmi.

One of Gani's two wives, Mrs. Ganiyat Fawehinmi who painted Gani's last moments said the late activist wanted his colleagues in the law profession to continue the struggle and as he would join them in the struggle, even in his grave. He said Gani regretted the fact that he was denied the opportunity to serve in elective capacity.

Also, yesterday, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and other eminent Nigerians, some of whom personally visited the Ademola Close, GRA, Ikeja residence of Gani however paid glowing tributes to the man they all acknowledged lived and died for the mass of the Nigerian populace.

Although, the deceased was known as a muslim, arrangements for his burial are yet to be scheduled. Family however said "the burial arrangements will be communicated to the public as soon as possible," the statement further stated in part.

Remains of the deceased has since been deposited at the morgue of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja. His corpse was sighted in LASUTH at about 11.58 am when it was being conveyed by a hearse with registration number TOS-3. After driving through the GRA to Maryland and back in LASUTH at 12.25 pm, apparently to shake off newsmen who were trailing it to know where the body would be kept, the hearse returned the remains of the late lawyer back to the mortuary of the teaching hospital.

Officials of the hospital told reporters that the deceased's family had planned to move his remains from LASUTH to a private mortuary in Lagos for reasons known to them. It was later gathered that the information was part of the decoy to confuse newsmen. The ploy, THISDAY later gathered may have been designed to disperse the herd of journalists who had gathered at the hospital following the news of Fawehinmi's death.

Fawehinmi recently returned to the country from the United Kingdom where he was receiving treatment for cancer.

But Ganiyat who spoke of Gani's resolve to fight on even in grave said the deceased believed he would have showcased the essence of his struggles and dogged opposition against maladministration that has pervaded the system over the years if only he was given the opportunity to serve.

According to Ganiyat, "he insisted that lawyers should continue to fight the battle to free the masses from oppressive tendencies. Gani says he would continue the struggle in the grave, but that it's unfortunate he never had the opportunity to serve the people in government.

"He knew he was going to die of the disease because it all started when he was locked up in prison during the Babangida military era till he eventually died. He was an unparalleled genius. He has gone to join Pa. Abraham Adesanya," she said.

In his condolence message, Yar'Adua said Gani would be remembered for his role in opening the political space which contributed to the development of the nascent democracy in the country.

The President, who spoke through the Minister of Information and Orientation, Prof. Dora Akunyili, said: "I am here to condole with the family of late Chief Gani Fawehinmi and the human rights community of Nigeria over the death of our brother, Chief Gani Fawehinmi. He said the nation had lost an illustrious son in Gani, whom he described as a great Nigerian.

"A Nigerian brand is gone. Gani was a human rights activist. He was an internationally renowned lawyer. He proved his activism in the law court to fight for the rights of the oppressed, the poor and the weak. Gani's numerous battles led to many positive developments in this country including the opening up of the political space with the registration of many political parties. He did not just open the political space, he also participated. Gani raised the bar of the legal profession with his weekly law report. I pray, we pray that God will raise many more Ganis for us in this country. May his soul rest in peace," he said.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) who called at the deceased residence at about 4.50pm said his emergence as governor was enhanced by Fawehinmi's doggedness for the enthronement of genuine democracy.

He said Fawehinmi's belief for true federalism amongst other democratic ideals paved way for his emergence as governor, adding that Fawehinmi played a pivotal role in ensuring that more parties were registered in the country.

"In fact, that really was what he was about. And as I said at the NBA conference in my inaugural address, it was the work of people like Gani that made it possible for people like me to be a governor today because I am standing on a platform of a party that would not have been registered at that time if Gani had not gone to court at that time to challenge the ceiling placed on party registration and it was those form of public spirited litigations that made him the enemy of some," Fashola said.

The governor said though, "Chief Gani Fawehinmi had battled with terminal illness that the physical separation has finally become imminent and in that regard, we never believed that people like Chief Gani Fawehinmi could really die. There, it is the mortality of our essence has come home to take away an icon of this country."

Senator Ganiyu Solomon who was amongst the early callers at the Fawehinmis residence said the deceased gave service to the people without minding the cost. "He served as a watchdog to successive governments. There's never been a government that did not fear Chief Gani Fawehinmi because he was always there to monitor them and his position has always been that of the masses."

Former President, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olisa Agbakoba said "it is very sad that after 50 years of the struggle, you deserve to rest. Take care, sir".

National Coordinator of the Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG), Comrade Joseph Evah, described Gani's death "as a sad chapter in the history of African people's struggle against bad governance, poor leadership, poverty and corruption." He said "Gani was born at the right time but he died at the wrong time in the continent of Africa. He was a blessing to our generation."

Speaking on Gani's death, factional leader of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun said: "Again, we have lost another personality whose doggedness, bravely epitomized liberation for the masses." His counterpart, Otunba Gani Adams said "Nigeria has lost a great son in the person of Gani. He remains the epitome of democracy."

Senator Ibikunle Amosun, on his part, said: "Adieu, you are a fearless and fiery fighter for the Nigerian masses. You sacrificed your entire life for Nigeria's yesterday, today and indeed tomorrow. May all your struggle for a better Nigeria not be in vain and comfort your family."

Barrister Bisi Adegbuyi, senatorial candidate of the Action Congress (AC) for Ogun East said "Gani, the lion of the Nigerian human rights community has gone to join Senator Edward Kennedy, the lion of the US Senate- two great men who doggedly fought for the defenceless common people. It's a case of holy death in holy month. May Allah grant him Aljana."

Others who called at the home of Fawehinmi to identify with the family included former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Musiliu Smith, Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, former Military Administrator of Lagos State, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, former Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh, former Health Minister, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, Spokesman of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Mr. Yinka Odumakin, President, Campaign for Democracy (CD), Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, former NBA Scribe, Mr. Dele Adesina (SAN), former NCP chairman, Mr. Segun Sango, former NUJ President, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, Special Adviser to Fashola on Transport, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, Mr. Toyin Hamzat, Constitutional lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, Baba Omojola, Mr. Richard Akinola, Chief Dele Momodu and Mr. Kayode Oladele who represented the Ogun State Government amongst others.

allafrica

6 September 2009

Lusaka — Pressure is mounting on Zambia's director of public prosecution (DPP) to appeal against the acquittal of former president Frederick Chiluba on $500,000 (Sh38.5m) public funds theft charges.

Some civil society organisations, lawyers and ordinary Zambians are demanding that the DPP, Mr Chalwe Mchenga, and Vice-President George Kunda, who is also Justice minister, resign if they will not appeal.

Mr Chiluba, who served as Zambia's president between 1991 and 2001, was last month acquitted of any wrong doing in relations to theft charges that were pressed against him in 2003.

Mr Chiluba claims that his $8.5 million private money was kept in a Zamtrop account belonging to the Zambia State Intelligence and Security Services (ZSISS) in London and he wants the Zambian Government to give him back the money.

Corruption case

The Taskforce on Corruption, which was set up to probe corruption cases during Mr Chiluba's 10-year rule, filed a notice of appeal in the Lusaka High Court against the magistrate's verdict. But Mr Mchenga withdrew that notice of appeal.

In his notice of withdrawal of the notice of appeal, filed in the Lusaka High Court on August 26, 2009, Mr Mchenga stated: "Whereas on the 24th day of August, 2009 a Notice of Intention to Appeal against the said acquittals was purportedly lodged on my behalf by a public prosecutor; Now these presents I, Chalwe Mchenga, DPP of the Republic of Zambia, do hereby give notice of the withdrawal of the said Notice of Intention to Appeal."

The government consequently sacked the head of the Taskforce on Corruption, Mr Maxwell Nkole, after indicating his organisation's intention to appeal against Mr Chiluba's acquittal.

An MP for main opposition political party, Patriotic Front (PF), has since filed a notice of judicial review in the Lusaka High Court to review the DPP' withdrawal of the notice of appeal against Mr Chiluba's acquittal.

A Lusaka lawyer has also challenged the DPP's action, while several law experts and civil society organisation are demanding that the DPP rescinds his decision.

Mr Chiluba still faces a civil case, in which the London High Court ordered him to repay $46 million to Zambia.

The London judgment is yet to be registered in the Lusaka High Court for it to be enforceable.

allafrica

6 September 2009

Arusha — The East African Community wants the dispute between Kenya and Uganda over the Migingo island to be sorted by the two countries amicably.

Ms Beatrice Kiraso, EAC deputy secretary general (Political Federation) said in Arusha, Tanzania, over the weekend the community does not have any solution to the border dispute.

"We cannot say anything on this. Migingo is a political issue which we hope can be resolved by the two countries amicably," she told reporters.

Kenyan and Ugandan leaders had agreed during the 10th EAC heads of state summit in April to await findings by experts assigned to find out the truth on the disputed borderline.

Ms Kiraso was briefing journalists on joint military exercises in Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions which started near Arusha on Sunday. Soldiers from all five member states of the community, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, are taking part.

The journalists had wondered if the military manoeuvres, to involve nearly 1,600 military personnel, would truly reflect the spirit of EA unity with two member states almost at "war" over the small island.

Meanwhile, daily fish harvests from Migingo Island have dropped from ten to five tonnes, according to fisheries officials.

The row over the island's ownership was now affecting the operations of fish processing plants in Nyanza.

Most of them were now operating only once a week due to lack of Nile Perch, said Mr Simon Munguti, the Migori District Fisheries Officer.

On Sunday, Ugandan marine police directed Kenyan fishermen and traders to stop discussing ownership of the island in public.

Businesses on the island now display the portrait of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. A few Kenyans who tried to display the portraits of President Kibaki and Mr Odinga were harassed and forced to remove them from the walls.

allafrica

6 September 2009

Ghana's Black Stars became the first African soccer team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup when they beat Sudan at home in Accra by two goals to nil.

Although the win was widely anticipated, the team's place at the top of its group was sealed by a 1-1 draw between Benin and Mali, two other teams in the group, in Cotonou.

But Nigerians were disappointed when Tunisia held the Super Eagles to a 2-2 draw in Abuja. As a result the North Africans retain the top slot in the group, while Nigeria trails them in second place. In the other match in the group, Mozambique beat Kenya 1-0 at home in Maputo.

In Lome, Togo drew its match against Morocco (1-1). In the same group, Cameroon, playing away in Libreville on Saturday, prevailed over Gabon by two goals to none, but Gabon remains at the top of the group.

Also on Saturday, Côte d'Ivoire crushed Burkina Faso 5-0 at home in Abidjan, putting it on the verge of also qualifying for 2010. In that group, another home team, Rwanda, went down in Kigali to visiting team Egypt, 0-1.

In a statement issued in Johannesburg Sunday, the local 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee congratulated Ghana, saying it was "fitting that the first country to gain independence on the African continent is also the first country from Africa to qualify for the first World Cup on African soil."

The committee's chief executive officer, Danny Jordaan, added: “I am overjoyed that one of the continent’s greatest teams will be playing in Africa’s first FIFA World Cup."

allafrica

6 September 2009

Nairobi — An aircraft carrying 37 pirates was on Sunday still being held at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport under heavy guard as high-level negotiations continued.

President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga had been informed about the aircraft and its human cargo and were said to be in negotiations with both the Seychelles and Somali governments.

The government was said to be navigating the diplomatic minefield on the implications of allowing the pirates into the country, which is perceived by the international community to be helping in the fight against piracy and terrorism.

Police remained tight-lipped about the saga despite heavy presence of General Service Unit (GSU) officers at the JKIA.

The Nation has established that the 40-seater Dash-8 aircraft arrived at JKIA from the Seychelles on Saturday night and was immediately surrounded by the police officers.

The passengers and crew of three were not allowed to disembark. The crew comprises pilot Jimmy Owino; a Mr Anil, the first officer; and flight attendant Lorraine Nyaboke.

The aircraft, which belongs to a local company, was hooked onto a ground power unit for its lighting, air conditioning and toilet system so that the occupants use its facilities and not have the excuse to disembark.

According to sources in the aviation industry privy to the incident, the owners of the aircraft had been hired by a person in Kenya who told them that the passengers had been cleared by both the Kenyan and Seychelles governments to fly from Seychelles International Airport in Victoria city on Mahe Island.

The pirates are said to have been released by the Seychelles Government before their Kenyan contact made arrangements and paid the aircraft company to fly them through JKIA on their way to Mogadishu.

They were scheduled to disembark from the plane and enter Nairobi from where they would have either sneaked back into Somalia or remained in the country to enjoy their ill-gotten riches.

The aircraft was, however, intercepted and the passengers detained after it was established that it had no clearance and neither had any been arranged between Kenya and Seychelles or Kenya and Somalia. By late Sunday afternoon, the aircraft was being guarded at a secluded location of the JKIA near the military barracks.

allafrica

6 September 2009

Addis Ababa — The African Union will send a mission to Gabon to help restore order.

Former Senegalese Prime Minister Moustapha Niasse will lead the AU delegation to Libreville.

Mr Niasse was in Gabon until recently to mediate between competing political parties following the death of Omar Bongo.

The AU Commission has in the meantime urged all Gabonese parties to exercise utmost restraint and desist from further violence.

The commission appealed to all parties to work together to resolve the political stalemate amicably.

allafrica