Seeking a change in Africa
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In July, Britain will be hosting the G8 summit and the issue of how to alleviate poverty in Africa will be on the agenda. Former Africa correspondent Colin Blane looks at what steps might be taken to try to solve the problem.
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 All these years later, it is still hard to understand how any of us survived the blast 
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There is a corner of Addis Ababa I have been avoiding for the past 14 years.
I have been in the Ethiopian capital quite a few times since 1991, but I somehow never felt the need to go back out on the Debre Zeit road, to revisit that doom-laden place where I used up all the luck of a lifetime in a single morning.
Five of us had driven to report on a fire at an ammunition dump. As we tried to find cover to film from, there was an explosion so huge it shattered the windows of buildings two miles away. Shacks were demolished. Trees left scorched and blackened. One of my colleagues was killed. Another was badly injured as rockets and bullets flew through the air. All these years later, it is still hard to understand how any of us survived the blast.
A couple of weeks ago, I agreed to go back to the scene to talk through what happened with a young man, Salim Amin, whose late father Mohamed lost his arm in the explosion. Mo Amin, of course, was the cameraman whose pictures of the 1984 famine in Ethiopia helped provoke such a worldwide outpouring of emotion and financial generosity. Walking back round the ammo dump with Mo's son, I found bulldozers levelling the vast site and tipper trucks driving away the remains of long-abandoned jeeps and tanks.Men with pickaxes foraged among the rubble.A guard wore body armour in case of accidental detonations. A small heap of rusting grenades and artillery shells were all that was left of a stockpile which had previously stretched hundreds of metres in every direction. In the days of the dictator Mengistu this was once Africa's biggest, most lethal ammunition store.
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Africa is the only continent which is getting poorer as the Asian economies expand and Europe and the United States consolidate
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Over the next few months, it will be filled in and flattened, turned over to a peaceful, civilian purpose. Blocks of flats for families going up where there used to be concrete bunkers for weapons.
I am sure Mo Amin would have approved. He died a few years after the explosion and although he spent much of his working life covering wars and famines, he believed good things as well as bad could happen in Africa. Mo was no saint. Even his friends called him a sharp operator but he was also an advocate for Africa.
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Zimbabwe set to nationalise land.
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The move will prevent white farmers reclaiming land
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Zimbabwe is to proceed with plans to nationalise all farmland, a ruling party official has said.
Zanu-PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira said the party would amend the constitution so as to abolish rights to private ownership of land.
He said the move would end "ceaseless litigation" by white farmers whose property has been expropriated by decree over the past five years. Under the proposed new system, land would be leased for 99-year terms.
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All the former farmers can do after these amendments would be to contest the amount of compensation
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The statement appeared in state media.
"Through the amendments we are going to push for when parliament resumes sitting in June, all land will become state land, with farmers leasing it on a 99-year lease basis," Mr Shamuvarira said. "This will dispense with the ownership litigation process. "All the former farmers can do after these amendments would be to contest the amount of compensation."
Zanu-PF has a large enough parliamentary majority to push through constitutional changes. However, some party officials who are themselves landowners are understood to be unhappy with the proposal. The move comes after some white farmers won court cases against the government after contesting the expropriation of their land.
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Zimbabwe
'House of stone' crumbles.
Great ruins of Zimbabwe,
how sad & ironic!
In exile I watch.
My dream to return fades
as my motherland dies.
Sjambok welts expose
a bloodied spine across
a dark land, devoid of hope.
Mottled tears of Victoria
drown a nation's grief.
written by Jackal.
A CHILD CAN ASK QUESTIONS THAT A WISE MAN CANNOT ANSWER!
Elephants hit hard in Ivorian war.
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By Elizabeth Blunt - BBC News
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Many Ivorian elephants may have left the country
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Among the sufferers in Ivory Coast's civil war have been the elephants which originally gave the country its name.
In 1980, the biggest concentration was in the Tai forest near the Liberia border - some 3,000 elephants.
By 2002 - the last attempt to count elephants - there were fewer than 100 left. Now, no-one knows. With a peace plan to reunite the country going ahead, the government is beginning to think how to protect its remaining elephant population. The lack of elephants in Ivory Coast has been a sensitive issue for years.
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Ivory poaching could be on the increase in the region, experts warn
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The Tai forest area is in government hands, but is the stamping ground of some of the armed militia groups which support President Laurent Gbagbo.
The other main concentration of elephants is in the Comoe National Park in the north-east, near the border with Burkina Faso.
That lies in rebel territory, so government wildlife protection staff currently have no access to it. Ivory Coast's head of wildlife told Reuters news agency this week that since elephants are shy creatures and hate disturbance and noise, many of them have probably left the country and crossed into neighbouring countries. But other wildlife experts suggested this might be wishful thinking. Even if elephants have been vanishing from Comoe, a spokesman for the environment ministry in Burkina Faso said there had been no sign of any major arrivals of Ivorian elephants. What forest guards had reported, he said, was an increase in the number of Ivorian poachers coming across the border since the conflict started.
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Dear Family and Friends,
This week I find myself as a stranger in my home town. Familiar faces have
gone, familiar stopping places have been demolished. Men and women who
would nod, wave and smile as I passed, have disappeared and I feel an
overwhelming sadness at what has happened to them and to their struggle to
make a decent living in these most desperate of times.
Around the corner from my home a woman used to sit on a concrete block
with her vegetables laid out for sale on a piece of cardboard in front of
her: butternuts, tomatoes and onions. She has gone, chased away by Police.
At the end of the road a young woman, sometimes with her little boy in his
bright red jersey, sat on the ground under a tree with a few things to
sell to passers by. She had pushed four sticks into the ground and
fashioned a little table to hold her products: popcorn, matches and
vegetables. Often her little boy would smile and wave when I passed by,
but they have gone, chased away by the Police.
Outside the junior school four women waited every day to sell their wares
to parents and children when the last bell of the day rang. They sold
frozen drinks, toffees, peppermints and bubble gum balls. They have gone,
chased away by Police. Opposite the hospital eight or ten women, many with
children at their feet or babies on their backs, stood selling fruits and
vegetables to nursing staff, patients and visitors. Their stalls were
substantial and made of treated gum poles with thick plastic sheeting
overhead to protect them and their produce from the weather. Here you
could buy bananas and apples, avocado pears, cucumbers, cabbages, tomatoes
and almost any fruit or vegetable in season. They have gone, chased away
by Police.
On the main road through Marondera town there were at least a dozen places
where young men stood with pockets of oranges, potatoes and butternuts for
sale and on upturned crates they had jars of golden nectar which they were
adamant was honey but we all knew was syrup. They too have gone, chased
away by Police. Near the main petrol station a group of men used to weave
baskets, stools and wicker chairs which they sold on the roadside along
with hand woven rugs and mats. For years those men have been there, their
fingers twisting and pulling the canes into intricate designs with such
skill that it was a delight to watch them work and an insult to bargain
with them over their prices when you knew how much work had gone into the
finished product. These men too have gone, chased away by Police. Outside
the main Post Office the woman with her battered enamel basin crowded with
bananas and twisted cones of newspaper filled with ground nuts or nyimo
beans has gone, chased away by the Police. In this case out of sight to
the authorities is not out of mind to us, the ordinary people.
What I am describing is the tip of the iceberg. In towns and cities across
the country the Police are embarking on what they call a clean up
campaign. It is not only street vendors who are having their stalls
demolished and goods confiscated but also people who the police say have
built illegal houses in illegal areas. On Thursday night I watched in
shock as the main TV news carried film footage of a crowd of riot police
standing watching a bulldozer demolishing "illegal houses" . The camera
focused on three young children, one with a school satchel on her back,
watching the brick house being torn down; the walls were plastered and
painted blue and I cried inside knowing exactly how it felt to have the
place you call home stolen from you.
It is winter here in Zimbabwe. Last night the temperature in Marondera
dropped to just seven degrees Centigrade. In Harare last night over 500
families spent their second night out in the open as their homes had been
demolished by Police. I have seen such cruelty and such a lack of
compassion and humanity this week that I cannot imagine which way now for
Zimbabwe. No one can understand what this is about or why it is happening
now.
There are already so few voices speaking out for the desperate ordinary
people in Zimbabwe that it is with overwhelming sadness that we heard this
week that Short Wave Radio Africa is about to stop broadcasting as they
have run out of money. Through SW Radio Africa ordinary people could tell
of their own struggle to survive and for those of us who have listened
faithfully every night, I do not know how, now, we will find the courage
to go on without our voice of hope. We feel more alone now than ever
before. Until next week, with love, cathy.
Copyright cathy buckle 28th May 2005.
http://africantears.netfirms.com
My books on the Zimbabwean crisis, "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are
available from: orders@africabookcentre.com ; www.africabookcentre.com ;
www.amazon.co.uk ; in Australia and New Zealand:
johnmreed@johnreedbooks.com.au ; Africa: www.kalahari.net
www.exclusivebooks.com
Dont know about everyone else who has read this last letter from Cathy, but I have to say I was in tears for all the good folks trying to make ends meet. How CAN this be happening? Why cant we care enough to actually DO something for them? Why does the United Nations not demand that BASIC human rights are observed? Why does the world turn a BLIND eye to what is going on in Zimbabwe? WHY, OH WHY, OH WHY, OH WHY........
Police in Zimbabwe have begun destroying shack settlements in the capital, Harare, as part of a plan to clean up the city.
An opposition parliamentarian told the BBC that thousands of people had been left homeless.
Police say the demolitions are part of an ongoing operation to deal with illegal activities across the country.
They have arrested 17,000 people over the past two weeks, most of them street traders and minibus drivers.
Homes torn down
Shack demolitions began in Harare on Thursday afternoon.
On Friday morning, about 2,000 police were involved in the destruction of several poor settlements in the capital.
In the Hatfield Extension area in the north of Harare, police dismantled more than 500 dwellings, and some shack dwellers were forced to tear down their own homes.
Harare police commissioner Augustine Chihuri warned that any one resisting would be dealt with.
Police say people evicted will be taken to alternative accommodation.
But Trudy Stevenson, MP for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in the constituency that includes Hatfield Extension, said people had nowhere to go, and that thousands were homeless.
She said she had been phoned on Thursday night by residents who said truckloads of police had arrived under cover of darkness.
"They told me they were burning everything but I better not come as I might get shot in the darkness," Mrs Stevenson said.
LET NOT THE SANDS OF TIME
GET IN YOUR LUNCH!
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By Joseph Winter - BBC News website.
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Anyone wishing to learn Zimbabwe's main language, Shona, now has a new option - the Shona podcast.
Si and Cecilia - the Richard and Judy of Shona podcasting
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A podcast is basically a radio show that can be downloaded over the internet and then listened to on a portable digital music player, such as an iPod or an MP3 player.
The British man behind the Shona podcast, Si Brindley, wanted to learn Shona because his wife, Cecilia, is Zimbabwean and he wanted to understand more about her culture.
"I liked the idea of podcasting and I wanted to get into it. But I didn't want to be just another person talking about nothing," he told the BBC News website. So he is the guinea-pig learning Shona on behalf of anyone else who is interested.
Mr Brindley says the show is not only the first podcast on Shona but the first about Zimbabwe.However, they do not touch on politics because many of Cecilia's relatives are still in Zimbabwe and they do not want to risk angering the authorities.
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I'm the technical geek and she wasn't sure. But just the other day, she was telling me how much she loves it now
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The great thing about podcasting is that, like the internet, it is open to anyone.
You don't need anything more sophisticated than a microphone, a computer and an internet connection - no need for a licence - and you can become a podcaster, with people listening to your shows across the world.
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Sacking in Kenya aristocrat case.
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Thomas Cholmondeley could have faced the death penalty if convicted
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Kenya's director of public prosecutions has been sacked after being involved in the dropping of a high-profile murder charge against a British aristocrat.
Philip Murgor told a court last week there was insufficient evidence to proceed against the great-grandson of Lord Delamere, Thomas Cholmondeley.
Mr Cholmondeley had denied murdering a Maasai game warden on his Angry protests followed the termination of the case, with Maasai warriors threatening to invade the farm.
A government source told AFP news agency Mr Murgor had been fired because he "acted unprofessionally". Mr Cholmondeley, 37, admits shooting Maasai ranger Samson Ole Sisina, but denies murder. He says he was acting in self defence because he because he says he mistook the warden for an armed robber.
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Posted by: Mara at May 26, 2005 21:21 |
link | comments |
WE HAVE TWO EARS AND ONE MOUTH,
SO THAT WE CAN LISTEN TWICE AS MUCH AS WE SPEAK!
RSA coach slams Man Utd boss.
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Baxter is furious with Man Utd over Fortune's operation
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South Africa coach Stuart Baxter has slammed Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson after being forced to omit Quinton Fortune for the World Cup qualifier in Cape Verde on 4 June.
Baxter wanted United to delay an ankle operation on Fortune until Bafana Bafana fulfilled crucial World Cup fixtures against Cape Verde and Ghana.
"We tried to postpone the operation and were in constant contact with the medical team at Manchester United, who told us Quinton could wait to get a protruding pin removed from his ankle," Baxter said. I think Sir Alex showed a lack of understanding for our situation. "He was more interested in having Quinton ready for a lucrative tour of the United States. I'm very disappointed."
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Major Zimbabwe police crackdown.
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Commodities like sugar can often only be found on the black market being sold at three times official prices
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Almost 10,000 people have been arrested since Wednesday in a police operation in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.
Paramilitary units armed with batons and riot shields have been smashing up stalls of street traders as they target the huge informal sector.
"Police will leave no stone unturned in their endeavour to flush out economic saboteurs," Police Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka told the state media. The black market has thrived as jobless Zimbabweans struggle to make a living.
The country faces shortages of many basics like petrol, maize and toothpaste, and the head of the UN's emergency relief agency is visiting this week to discuss importing food aid. The police chief said informal business operators had been arrested and fined for operating without licences or possessing scarce staple items such as maize meal, sugar and petrol intended for resale on the black market. But many of the flea market traders selling second-hand goods have been licensed. Police have destroyed 34 flea markets and netted some Z$900m ($100,000) in fines and seized some Z$2.2bn of goods.
Zimbabweans in Harare are said to be absolutely furious at the police operation codenamed "restore order". Police are hoping to prevent a repeat of protests seen in the last few days by stopping city-bound commuter minibuses.
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President Mugabe blames the West for the nation's economic crisis
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Angry demonstrators clashed with police at the weekend in what AP news agency described as the most serious unrest seen since the ruling party won March parliamentary elections.
In recent days only a few government buses have been running, leaving thousands of commuters stranded. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said President Robert Mugabe was seeking an excuse to impose a State of Emergency and had ordered the crackdown to stop second-hand dealers undercutting cheap imports from China.
Similar operations are taking place in the cities of Gweru and Bulawayo.
The Zimbabwean dollar was devalued by 45% last week.
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THE KINDEST WORD IN ALL THE WORLD
IS THE UNKIND WORD,
UNSAID.
Egypt arrests 15 on eve of poll.
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Protesters have held several rallies against previous arrests of Brotherhood members.
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Police in Egypt have arrested 15 members of the banned opposition Muslim Brotherhood on the eve of a referendum on planned electoral changes.
They were seized for possessing fliers urging a boycott of the referendum.
More than 800 members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been arrested this month for protesting against the vote. Opposition groups say the proposals allowing multi-candidate elections contain too many constraints for anyone to challenge President Hosni Mubarak.
In a recorded speech on state television on the eve of the poll, Mr Mubarak said the referendum would be "a decisive moment in our contemporary history". "I have full and unlimited confidence that you will turn out to take part, through the referendum, in making a new tomorrow for our country and exploring new and broad horizons in our political life," Mr Mubarak said.
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SUCCESS IS HOW HIGH YOU BOUNCE
WHEN YOU HIT ROCK BOTTOM.
SA housing protests turn violent.
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Access to housing remains a pressing concern
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South African police have arrested 21 people amid housing protests in two Cape Town townships.
Protests began in Guguletu at the weekend as people occupied vacant land.
About 500 people blocked roads and put up burning barricades, in protest at the lack of housing and services 11 years after the end of apartheid.
Protests spread to Khayelitsha township, where on Monday people emptied night-soil buckets onto a road to protest the lack of flush toilets. Reports from both areas say the police fired rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.
Police spokesman Randal Stoffel said the police had taken action after protesters threw stones and that those arrested would be charged with public violence.
But Khayelitsha resident Mbuyiseli Peter, who was shot in the leg, said "the police were aggressive and shot at people indiscriminately".
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Harmony bid for rival in tatters .
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The bid by Harmony has seen Gold Fields' share price drop by half
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Harmony Gold, the world's sixth-biggest producer of the precious metal, has failed in its hostile takeover of larger rival Gold Fields.
A South African court ruled that the bid expired five months ago and an extension of the offer was not valid.
The extended offer was due to expire at 1000GMT on Friday.
The ruling means that Harmony only managed to acquire 11.5% of Gold Fields after months of bitter fighting and costs of over $50m (£27m; 40m euros).
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A SMILE IS A POWERFUL WEAPON
YOU CAN EVEN BREAK ICE WITH IT !
Zimbabwe farmer hint wins support.
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Since 2000, 75% of white farmers have lost their property
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White farmers still in Zimbabwe have welcomed a suggestion by the central bank chief that some white farmers who have left should be allowed back.
Bank governor Gideon Gono suggested farmers forced off their land in controversial reforms could come back to boost flagging agriculture.
The white farmer-dominated Commercial Farmers' Union said Mr Gono's plan would need to be backed by government. Since 2000 more than 75% of white farmers have lost their property.
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