NIGER REBELS FREE WOUNDED TROOPS !
Many Tuaregs say they are marginalised by the government. Rebels in Niger have handed over 30 wounded soldiers to an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team in the Sahara desert. They are being moved to the nearest town of Airlit for treatment before being handed over to the authorities and their families, the ICRC said.
The troops were part of a group of 72 seized when Tuareg rebels attacked their military base last week. A BBC reporter says it was the biggest attack since unrest began in 1991.
A rebel Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) statement urged Amnesty International to investigate the disappearance of 253 civilians, after being rounded up by the army.
The army denies killing civilians.
That uprising ended with a 1995 peace deal but earlier this year the MNJ took up arms, saying the terms of that deal were not being implemented. In April, the rebels, who say Tuaregs are marginalised by the government, attacked a uranium mine in northern Niger.
The north of Niger is rich in uranium and the country is one of the world's top five uranium producers.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
NIGERIA'S NEW LEADER 'WORTH $5m' !
The new president of Nigeria, Umaru Yar'Adua, has publicly declared his assets, in an effort to combat official corruption, his spokesman says.. Correspondents say it is the first time in Nigeria's history that a sitting president has done this. Public officials have to declare their assets to authorities by law, but are not compelled to make them public.
According to Mr Yar'Adua, he is worth about $5m (£2.5m).
Transparency International, which monitors corruption in different countries, says Nigeria is seen as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
"President Yar'Adua intends to work with the leadership of the National Assembly to see what can be done to make assets declaration an effective weapon in the fight against corruption and abuse of office," AP news agency quotes presidential spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi as saying.
YAR'ADUA'S ASSETS
House given by brother: $940,000
Inheritance from brother: $820,000
Two farms: $196,000
Savings, salaries, campaign funds: $40,000
Furniture: $23,500
Cars: 31
No assets outside Nigeria
Source: Presidential statement
Mr Adeniyi says much of his wealth was inherited from his late brother Gen Shehu Yar'Adua, who was second-in-command when former President Olusegun Obasanjo was military ruler from 1976 to 1979. He says he has some $40,000 from his salaries, savings and campaign donations. He is a former university chemistry teacher and state governor. Meanwhile, attempts by Mr Yar'Adua to form a government including opposition parties have received a setback.
A large faction of the Action Congress (AC), led by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, pulled out of talks with him on Thursday. The AC wants the government to investigate the workings of the state-owned electricity and petroleum companies, as well as a review of how state assets were privatised.
Mr Yar'Adua is reported to have been willing to consider this, but only if the AC withdrew all its legal challenges to his election in April, something they refused to do. International observers described the polls as "not credible".
Earlier, Mr Yar'Adua reached an agreement with the largest opposition party, the ANPP. It is not yet clear how many ministerial posts the ANPP has been offered and party leader Muhammadu Buhari condemned the decision to join the government.
A month after taking power, the president has not yet appointed the members of his government.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ROCKET FIRED AT IVORIAN PM PLANE !
A rocket has been fired at a plane carrying Ivory Coast Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, who was not hurt in the attack, his New Forces group says. Three people were killed in the attack in Bouake, the headquarters of Mr Soro's former rebel group, it says.
Reinforcements have reportedly been rushed to Bouake airport. Shooting has been reported in the town. Mr Soro was named prime minister in April under a deal to end Ivory Coast's four-year division.
A government spokesman has told the BBC that the rocket was fired from Bouake's airport. Reuters news agency reports that members of Mr Soro's entourage arrived at their Bouake headquarters with visible injuries.
New Forces spokesman Alain Lobognon told Agence France Presse news agency the attack had come as Mr Soro's plane was landing.
"The plane carrying our delegation was attacked with a rocket at about 1030 (1030 GMT), while we were landing at Bouake. There are at least three dead but the prime minister escaped," Mr Lobognon said.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner condemned the "cowardly attack", urging all parties to stick to the timetable for peace outlined in the Ouagadougou accord.
New Forces rebels seized northern Ivory Coast in September 2002 and accused President Laurent Gbagbo of discriminating against northerners and Muslims.
Mr Gbagbo and Mr Soro agreed a deal this year to reunite the country and hold elections, which have repeatedly been cancelled.
Under that deal, a buffer zone patrolled by United Nations and French peacekeepers between the two forces has been dismantled.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
PROTESTS CLOURD KENYA ABORTIAN DEBATE !
Protests cloud Kenya abortion debate.
By Juliet Njeri - BBC News, Nairobi.
Four Kenyan women, who were set to share their personal stories about undergoing abortion, had to pullout of a discussion forum at the last minute following threats and intimidation from anti-abortion activists. The mock tribunal seeks to inform everyone that making abortion illegal will not stop women from having abortions
The forum, organised to initiate discussion on unsafe abortions, was disrupted by activists claiming to represent the rights of unborn children. The pro-life campaigners stormed the event in the capital, Nairobi, waving placards and shouting that legalising abortion was tantamount to legalising murder.
Abortions are banned in Kenya unless the procedure is necessary to save the mother's life.
However, over 300,000 Kenyan women undergo backstreet abortions every year say human rights groups, and at least 2,600 of them die as a result of the often dangerous procedures. The Kenya Human Rights Commission says the issue of unsafe abortions in Kenya is an "epidemic of gigantic proportions" which has received no government attention.
To address this issue, a mock tribunal was organised to encourage public debate and discussion about the highly sensitive issue. But on the day, only audio recordings of the four women's stories were heard after it was felt too dangerous for them to appear in person - highlighting how controversial and emotive the issue is and why abortions are conducted in secret.
The majority of those who seek abortions are young girls under the age of 25, who are afraid of ostracism and social stigma, and lack the financial means to take care of a child. Margaret's story was a tale of double tragedy. The 24-year-old resident of a Nairobi slum told the audience that her mother died while procuring an illegal abortion in 2001.
Margaret herself got pregnant a few years later and gave birth to a boy, despite pressure from her boyfriend to procure an abortion. Then years later, she got pregnant again but this time, she knew that she was not ready to have another child although her cousin talked to her about adoption. With her boyfriend's help, she managed to get her hands on $80 needed to pay a backstreet abortion.
The four women's voices wavered with emotion as they narrated their stories, and at times ragged breathing suggested that the women were crying. The audience gasped in horror as the women listed the tools used by these abortionists - knitting needles, water pipes, wires and herbal concoctions. One of the stories was narrated by the sister of a 14-year-old girl, Sandra, who died after a botched abortion.
Health professionals also testified about their difficult and often hopeless attempts to treat victims of botched abortions. Nurse Anne Mulinge told of a 16-year-old girl who was brought to the hospital in a septic coma after an abortionist perforated her rectum and her uterus during an abortion. The girl's life was eventually saved but doctors had to perform a hysterectomy and she has a permanent colostomy bag.
"It is time to decide how we will save these powerless and voiceless women," Mrs Mulinge told the audience. "This could be your sister, daughter, mother or wife."
Amid the protests, Maximillia Muninzwa, the director of a pro-life organisation called Heartbeat Kenya, said from outside the venue that dissenting views must be acknowledged. He argues that Kenya would be signing its death warrant if it legalised abortion. "We have seen it happen in the West and if we legalise abortion, we are doomed. In Europe today, women are being paid to give birth and they are coming here to kill our babies," he told the BBC.
Assistant Health Minister Enoch Kibunguchy urged sobriety when discussing the issue. Dr Kibunguchy, who is also a qualified gynaecologist, said abortion was a public health concern, and said it was impossible to address the issue of unsafe abortion without addressing the prevalence of poverty. "It is time to think outside the box on this issue. Those who speak loudest against abortion speak from inside the box. Life is neither black nor white and I hope that we will strike the delicate balance in between," Dr Kibunguchy said during his address.
Dr Stephen Ochiel, a gynaecologist and the chairman of the Kenya Medical Association, told the forum that he was once vehemently opposed to abortion but changed his stance when one of his young patients died after an unsafe abortion.
"The law [banning abortion] is the greatest killer of women because it does not criminalise sex, but it criminalises abortion," he said. "Maternal death in this country is scandalous. Women are dying from causes that can be prevented," he said, calling for the legalisation of abortion to save women's lives.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
AFRICAN PLANS LARGEST GAME PARK !
African plans largest game park
By Letlhogile Lucas - BBC Focus on Africa, Gaborone.
Plans to create the world's largest game park are being finalised at a meeting in Botswana in southern Africa. The planned conservation area will straddle the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is hoped the park will bring in tourists to such attractions as the Victoria Falls, Okavango swamps, Chobe National Park and Caprivi Strip.
Officials believe it will also help regional tourism ahead of the 2010 World Cup taking place in South Africa. The prosposed Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Park will cost an estimated $100m to set up and is expected to contribute significantly to job creation in the five countries.
Africa's biggest game park at the moment is the 35,000-square-kilometre Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park on the borders of Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
While the southern African region has big potential as a tourist destination, those meeting in Botswana's capital, Gaborone, say much needs to be done to attract tourists to the region.
The Victoria Falls are known as one of the seven wonders of the world.
At Thursday's gathering tourism ministers and environmental experts are hammering out a joint conservation policy. "The major issue is about sustainable tourism," Botswana's Tourism Minister Kitso Mokaila told the BBC. "Tourism is a revenue generator and therefore if we can get the conservation issue right then I think we can start talking more positively and more confidently about sustainable tourism."
Among the obstacles cited were the landmines scattered in the Cuando Cubango region of Angola, where a 27-year civil war ended in 2002.
"What we want right now is to make sure that the funds that are available for the de-mining to proceed as soon as possible," said Eduardoa Chingunji, Angola's tourism minister. "But let's not forget that at times also the question of landmines in Angola is overblown... there are specific areas where there were battle lines for a long time - that's where you find the concentration. "The priority right now is to de-mine a major part of the border that is between the countries," he said.
Another issue the ministers have been grappling with is the bad image associated with Zimbabwe that could well tarnish their park project. Tourists tend to shun Zimbabwe because of the political and economic strife there.
But Mr Mokaila said he did not see politics coming in the way of business. "When I was in the Victoria Falls all I could see were tourists all over the show. Obviously if the Zimbabwe situation were to change it would also enhance what we're doing. "But I think that the very fact that we're also involved with them in these negotiations also assists their issues."
As well as finding a common position on issues of tourism and the management of the wildlife, it is also hoped that the project will assist in region's economic integration.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
AFRICA BODY TO IMPROVE AIR SAFETY !
The ACAA will license and inspect equipment and aviation staff.A body to standardise air safety measures across Africa has been inaugurated in Namibia. The Africa Civil Aviation Agency (ACAA) will be based in the capital, Windhoek, and will train pilots and co-ordinate aviation policy across the continent.
Africa accounts for only 3% of global air traffic, but is responsible for 17% of fatal air crashes.
The agency's director says it will bring Africa's safety standards into line with those in Europe and the US.
The BBC's Frauke Jensen in Windhoek says most accidents are deemed to be human error, often not caused by a lack of skills but pressure from operators.
Flying in the face of adversity. Our reporter says the ACAA wants to change the attitudes of aviators, companies and governments, many of whom have little regard for safety and regulations when there is money to be made.
"What we're trying to pull away from the African aviators' way of looking at things, is the culture of 'Nobody's looking at you so you don't have to adhere to the rules'," ACAA head Mwangi waKamau told the BBC.
"What we're trying to develop here is a culture where you yourself feel fully responsible when you're in an aviation situation when you're handling an airport and you're maintaining an aircraft to maintain the safety culture with or without someone looking over your back," he said.
The ACAA will also have five regional bodies based in Libya, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa to serve as networking agencies under its auspices.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
MBEKI URGES END TO SUCCESSOR TALK !
Thabo Mbeki will step down as president in 2009. South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki has warned members of the governing African National Congress that they are not meeting to choose his successor. Delegates in the hall were seen parading posters of a front-runner and the former vice-president, Jacob Zuma.
The four-day policy conference is threatening to be overshadowed by the question of who succeeds him after 10 years as party leader in December. They would then be the favourite to be president of the country in 2009 polls. "This policy conference... has nothing to do with who is or will be a leader of the African National Congress (ANC)," he told the 1,500 members gathered in Midrand.
Mr Zuma, who is still ANC deputy leader, and the business tycoon, Tokyo Sexwale - have shown an interest, although in keeping with party tradition, they are not actively campaigning.
The ANC has dominated South African politics since it ended white rule 13 years ago, but observers say there is increasing dissatisfaction with the growing gap between rich and poor, at a time when the economy is booming.
Addressing the conference, President Mbeki said there was a limit to what the ANC could achieve in the time it had been in power: "It is not possible to solve problems that have accumulated over 350 years in a mere 13 years of our democracy."
Mr Mbeki and his ANC deputy Mr Zuma are putting up a united front. Mr Sexwale also made a plea to the ANC for the race to be open and honest. "There is a growing tendency to carry out dirty character assassinations and the dissemination of lies about other comrades. This has reached uncontrollable proportions," he said quoting from an internal ANC document warning of the danger of dishonest politics.
The ANC leader must first be nominated by ANC branches around the country and other candidates are certain to emerge in the coming months.
But BBC reporters in Johannesburg say all the key candidates will be lobbying very hard over the next four days if they want to succeed.
The ANC has been experiencing serious internal division, and there is a strained relationship with its traditional alliance partners - the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party.
The ANC is open to acknowledging even some of the most difficult issues around existing antagonism -
Tokyo Sexwale .
Much of the debate has centred around the widening gap in South Africa between rich and poor. An ongoing strike by public servants, which has so far cost the economy an estimated $418m, is among them. Earlier Mr Sexwale said the various policy discussion documents promised robust debate.
"Contrary to speculations from our critics, the ANC is open to acknowledging even some of the most difficult issues around existing antagonisms and tensions which threaten to undermine our very own organisational unity."
The demands from the left of the governing coalition have created tensions within the business-friendly wing of the ANC led by President Mbeki. Policies that will be discussed in the four-day conference will help determine whether or not the ANC will rule successfully in the next decade or so, our reporters say.
As the continent's economic power house, the way the party resolves its internal tensions will have an impact on the business climate, they say.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ETHIOPIA 'READY FOR ERITREA WAR' !
Ethiopia is strengthening its defence every day, Mr Meles said. Ethiopia's prime minister says he is strengthening his army in preparation for an attack by long-time foe Eritrea. "Our defence forces have the capacity to deter aggression and to repulse it if it occurred," Meles Zenawi told MPs.
Eritrea has yet to comment. The two neighbours fought a border war from 1998-2000, in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed. They back rival sides in Somalia and there had been fears that they could clash there through local proxies.
United Nations peacekeepers are monitoring a buffer zone along the border but Ethiopia has long accused Eritrean troops of infiltrating the zone. Under the deal to end their war, an independent boundary commission ruled on where the countries' border should lie in 2002. It awarded the town of Badme to Eritrea but Ethiopia has not handed it over.
Mr Meles told parliament that he did not agree with the border ruling but said he accepted it. "We believe the ruling was wrong, we still believe it is wrong, but we accept the ruling even though it is wrong."
Eritrea wants the international community to put more pressure on Ethiopia to comply with the ruling but has not commented on Mr Meles' statement.
In November 2006, the commission gave the rivals a year to physically demarcate their border or risk having it set for them.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
WHITES JAILED FOR S. AFRICA MURDER !
Three South Africans have been sent to prison after being found guilty of the 2003 murder of a farm worker. Welile Motawane was tortured and killed after entering a "whites-only" section of a lodge, the Pretoria News reports.
Sunset Lodge owner Kenneth Broodryk and two others then confronted him, stripped him, tied him up and beat him for four hours. Broodryk was sentenced to 14 years in prison, the others to 10 years. All three had pleaded not guilty.
The men's actions were "callous, calculated and inexcusable", said Rustenburg High Court Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng. "At one point Motawane had petrol poured over him. "There is evidence that when he was assaulted he was crying and screaming, but to no avail," the judge said.
He said they had shown no remorse. After the assault, Motawane was taken to a police station where he was accused of robbery. A police officer said Broodryk and the others were advised to take him to a nearby hospital.
Instead they drove him to his home, 35km away, where he was found dead the next morning.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE TO CUT PRICES 'BY HALF'
Zimbabwe has ordered factories and firms to cut the price of basic goods and services by up to half, in a bid to tackle rampant inflation. The price of basic commodities such as oil and bread must be reduced with "immediate effect" said the government.
But the benefit to consumers will be limited in view of overall inflation, which hit 3,700% in April on a yearly basis and 300% in the last week alone.
Manufacturers say they need to raise prices to buy foreign raw materials. As the local currency becomes less valuable, the cost of importing raw materials becomes more expensive in relative terms for Zimbabwean firms.
Economists warn that the measures are likely to lead to shortages, as companies either stop producing because they cannot afford to, or sell their goods on the black market.
The new decision obliges companies and retailers to revert to prices quoted on 18 June. Among the items to be reduced in price following the decision are oil, bread, milk, salt, sugar and newspapers.
Industry and International Trade Minister Obert Mpofu told the AFP news agency the price rises were "unscrupulous".
"Government is aware that these price increases are a political ploy engineered by our detractors to effect an illegal regime change against the ruling party and the government following the failure of illegal economic sanctions."
The US and European Union have imposed a travel ban and an assets freeze on President Robert Mugabe and scores of other top officials. Critics blame the government - and especially its seizure of farm land - for the economic collapse.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Indigenisation and Empowerment Paul Mangwana has told Reuters news agency that mining companies and banks would be included in new measures to make companies have a majority of black shareholders.
Parliament is to debate the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Bill shortly.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
GADDAFI URGES PAN-AFRICAN STATE !
Muammar Gaddafi came to power in a coup in 1969.Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi has described the African Union as a failure and vowed to press ahead with plans for a single African government. Speaking in the Guinean capital Conakry Mr Gaddafi said there was no future for individual African nation states.
He urged leaders attending next month's African Union summit in Ghana to decide to create a United States of Africa. Mr Gaddafi has long been a leading proponent of the idea, but some observers say it is not realistic. "At the Accra summit we are going to get straight to the point. Let those who are hesitating, get out of our way," he told tens of thousands of people at a rally in Conakry. "For 40 years all the summits have failed," said. "Our micro-states have no future."
The Libyan leader is also visiting Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast before travelling to the summit in Accra. The idea of a single pan-African government was first promoted by Kwame Nkrumah, who led Ghana to independence in 1957.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Zimbabwe proposes black-run firms !
Robert Mugabe aims to give more ownership to indigenous people. President Robert Mugabe's government has published a bill to move majority control of "public companies and any other business" to black Zimbabweans. The goal is to ensure at least a 51% shareholding by indigenous black people in the majority of businesses.
Critics say it could hurt investor confidence in Zimbabwe, suffering from the world's highest inflation and food, fuel and foreign currency shortages. Now the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Bill will go to parliament.
It is expected to back the bill, which stipulates that no company restructuring, merger or acquisition can be approved unless 51% of the firm goes to indigenous Zimbabweans. The empowerment bill says that "indigenous Zimbabwean" is anyone disadvantaged by unfair discrimination on race grounds before independence in 1980.
It also provides for the establishment of an empowerment fund which will offer assistance to the "financing of share acquisitions" from the public-owned firms or assist in "management buy-ins and buy-outs."
And all government departments and statutory bodies will be asked to obtain 51% of their goods and services from businesses in which controlling interest is held by indigenous Zimbabweans.
"For a start, it's not very clear how they are going to implement this, but going by their record it could be another chaotic and disastrous exercise," Zimbabwean economic consultant John Robertson told Reuters news agency.
"Those [companies] already here are likely to hold back on any expansion programmes, while possible new foreign investors are likely to also hold back to watch how this is going to work."
Some firms dually listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and London Securities Exchange firms include Old Mutual, NMB bank and Hwange.
Multi-national firms that may be affected by the new policy include Barclays Bank, Bindura Nickel Corporation and miner Rio Zim.
bBBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE PROPOSES BLACK-RUN FIRMS !
Robert Mugabe aims to give more ownership to indigenous people. President Robert Mugabe's government has published a bill to move majority control of "public companies and any other business" to black Zimbabweans. The goal is to ensure at least a 51% shareholding by indigenous black people in the majority of businesses.
Critics say it could hurt investor confidence in Zimbabwe, suffering from the world's highest inflation and food, fuel and foreign currency shortages.
Now the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Bill will go to parliament. It is expected to back the bill, which stipulates that no company restructuring, merger or acquisition can be approved unless 51% of the firm goes to indigenous Zimbabweans. The empowerment bill says that "indigenous Zimbabwean" is anyone disadvantaged by unfair discrimination on race grounds before independence in 1980.
It also provides for the establishment of an empowerment fund which will offer assistance to the "financing of share acquisitions" from the public-owned firms or assist in "management buy-ins and buy-outs."
And all government departments and statutory bodies will be asked to obtain 51% of their goods and services from businesses in which controlling interest is held by indigenous Zimbabweans.
"For a start, it's not very clear how they are going to implement this, but going by their record it could be another chaotic and disastrous exercise," Zimbabwean economic consultant John Robertson told Reuters news agency.
"Those [companies] already here are likely to hold back on any expansion programmes, while possible new foreign investors are likely to also hold back to watch how this is going to work."
Some firms dually listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and London Securities Exchange firms include Old Mutual, NMB bank and Hwange.
Multi-national firms that may be affected by the new policy include Barclays Bank, Bindura Nickel Corporation and miner Rio Zim.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ACTOR FREEMAN GETS MANDELA ROLE !
Freeman travelled to South Africa to meet Mr Mandela last year. Actor Morgan Freeman is to play former South African president Nelson Mandela in forthcoming film The Human Factor. The 70-year-old actor will co-produce the film, which is based on John Carlin's book of the same name.
It is set during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, when Mr Mandela used the country's hosting of the tournament to help heal divisions between blacks and whites.
Oscar-winner Freeman said it would be a "great honour" to play Mr Mandela, 88, who left office in 1999. Freeman travelled to South Africa last year to discuss the project with the former president. "I have known Nelson Mandela personally for quite some time, and am continually in awe of his enormous presence in the world," Freeman - who won a best supporting actor Oscar for Million Dollar Baby in 2005 - said.
The film is being made by Freeman's production company, Revelations Entertainment, with a script by South African writer Anthony Peckham.
In 2003, Freeman was named as lead actor in a film version of the statesman's autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom. But this project, announced by Indian-born director Shekhar Kapur, has yet to come to fruition.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Cathy Buckle's Weekly Letter from Zimbabwe !
Dear Family and Friends,
I am writing this letter late at night when the electricity is on because
supplies during the day, both in the week and at weekends, are now very
sporadic. At any time, without warning the power goes off, sometimes for just an
hour or two but more often it is for solid chunks of 8 or even 10 hours at a
time. When all these power cuts began we were told that it was because all the
electricity we had was going to go to the wheat farmers who needed to irrigate
the crop for the nation's daily bread. Some people sort of half heartedly
believed that story but not for long. As it was last year and the two previous
years - the growing wheat crop is just not there for us to see.
This week the propaganda peddlers began preparing the way for yet another
disaster. As always they treat us like complete idiots! Ignoring the fact that
we are all sitting in the cold and dark because they'd told us all the
electricity was irrigating wheat, this week they told us that the projected crop
is going to be far less than anticipated. This is apparently because the wheat
farmers can't irrigate because of the electricity cuts.
Even this ludicrous irony doesn't ring true because for most of us the last
report we saw on the winter wheat crop was in the government sponsored Herald
newspaper and that took the Emperors clothes off for all to see. Written just
ten days before the last date for planting wheat in late May, the report said
that Secretary for Agriculture Dr Shadreck Mlambo had addressed a Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee. The report stated, and I quote: "of the projected 76 000
hectares, only 8 000 hectares have so far been put under wheat."
It's hard to believe that a massive 68 thousand hectares of wheat were planted
in those last few days of May - before it was too late - but now, another new
spin is emerging.
Government agricultural voices have begun warning that quelea birds are
preparing to decimate the country's winter wheat crop - the crop that either
wasn't planted in the first place or hasn't been watered because there's been no
electricity for the irrigation pumps.
We are told that there is only one aeroplane in the country that can be used to
spray the birds and apparently four are needed to "cover the whole crop". Its
not being said if the whole crop consists of 8 thousand hectares spread out in
lots of little squares or if its actually 76 thousand hectares.
Keeping up with both the facts and the propaganda about events in Zimbabwe has
become almost impossible as electricity cuts silence all but the most determined
and innovative lines of communication. It took a message from outside of
Zimbabwe to tell me what our Minister of Lands said this week and for millions
of cold, tired and hungry Zimbabweans, they are sickening words. Lands Minister
Didymus Mutasa said: "The position is that food shortages or no food shortages,
we are going ahead to remove the remaining whites. We would all rather die of
hunger but knowing full well that the land is in the hands of black people."
Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy.
Copyright cathy buckle 23 June 2007.
www.cathybuckle.com
My books: "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from:
orders@africabookcentre.com
NIGERIA STRIKE TALKS IN DEADLOCK !
Police have been clearing barricades set up by strikers. Talks between Nigerian government officials and trade union leaders have collapsed again, sending the general strike into a third day.
The new government refused to back down on a recent petrol price increase and in response the workers said they will not be suspend their strike.
Most businesses, schools and offices remain closed in the main cities.
Riot police have been deployed in Lagos where activists have blocked some roads and buses were reportedly attacked.
Unions called the strike over rises in fuel prices and value-added tax and the sale of two major oil refineries. The strike is seen as the first major test for new President Umaru Yar'Adua.
Correspondents say the streets are a bit busier than they were on the first and second day of the strike, but only a few taxis and vehicles are on the roads in Abuja, Lagos and Kano.
However, oil exports - which are 90% of the budget - are not affected yet, as it takes about three days to shut down an export terminal.
Although crucial oil exports are continuing, there is an acute shortage of fuel for sale within the country.
Petrol stations in the capital, Abuja, remain shut, giving black marketers a business boom.
Electricity workers and the Nigerian Medical Association are also threatening to join the strike, an action that is likely to weaken the economy and medical services in Africa's top oil producer.
In Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos, some roadside stalls have opened but the usual morning traffic jams were absent. The Nigeria Labour Congress says the strike is indefinite but previous industrial actions have often petered out after a few days.
The unions are angry at a series of measures pushed though in the last days of the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, who stepped down last month.
The price of petrol was increased from 65 naira (51 US cents) a litre to 75. The government has now reportedly offered to reduce this to 70 naira (55 cents). Transport fares have doubled in some areas following the fuel price hike. The government has also offered to increase civil service salaries by 15% - another union demand.
The BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says that subsidised fuel is one of the very few benefits Nigerians have seen from their oil wealth since the government has failed to provide even basic services.
This is why the unions are insisting in a complete reversal in the fuel price rise. Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer but has to import most of its petrol because of the poor state of its refineries.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
PAYOUT FOR IVORIAN TOXIC VICTIMS !
Victims suffered headaches, vomiting and breathing difficulties.The Ivory Coast has announced details of compensation to victims of last year's toxic waste scandal in Abidjan. The families of 16 people who died when poisonous waste was dumped in the city will get $200,000 (£100,000) each, with $408 each to thousands who became ill.
But the amount is less than half the total allocated to the state. The Dutch company which chartered the vessel that allegedly dumped the waste said it would pay $198m (£102m) to the government for a clean-up and inquiry.
The oil-trading group Trafigura agreed to pay the money in February but said it was not liable for what happened.
Some of its compensation money was intended to upgrade medical and sanitary facilities, and some to compensate the state for its costs in cleaning up Abidjan. Instead of being incinerated the waste was dumped.
President Laurent Gbagbo's spokesman said the payments to victims were equal, irrespective of the age of the deceased, because it would be wrong to distinguish between the dead.
The 75 people who were hospitalised should receive about $4,000. Officials say the money will be made available from the middle of next week.
The BBC's James Copnall in Abidjan says the public release of the compensation scheme will go some way to alleviating the criticism the government has faced on this issue.
Many people had worried that the state would simply pocket everything it received from Trafigura, he says.
But the fact that so much of the money goes to the state rather than individuals will certainly leave some people unhappy. Victims associations have already complained. One told the BBC that they had not been consulted at any stage.
Our correspondent says at the time the scandal was intensely political in a country which is heavily divided following a civil war. All sides used the disaster as an opportunity to blame their rivals.
It is still believed that there is a substantial amount of toxic waste which has not been cleared up.
Trafigura first attempted to discharge the chemical slops from one of its tankers, the Probo Koala, in the Dutch port of Amsterdam in early August 2006. But the company that was to dispose of the waste suddenly increased its charges dramatically - asking for more to treat the waste. Trafigura refused, and the tanker proceeded to Nigeria.
There it failed to reach an agreement with two local firms about offloading the waste and only in Ivory Coast did it find a company to handle the waste.
On 19 August the waste was discharged near Abidjan. Two weeks later the first complaints arose. Instead of being incinerated as it should have been, the waste had been dumped.
Trafigura said it had been given to a local accredited company in Abidjan's main port to deal with properly.
BBC NEWS REPORT,.
MIGRANTS DROWN OFF MALTESE COAST !
Migrants drown off Maltese coast
By David Willey - BBC News, Rome.
Many immigrants die or drown trying to cross to Europe by sea every year Twenty-four Africans have drowned after a dinghy capsized south of Malta, according to the captain of an Italian fishing boat. The captain of the trawler said the incident happened some 21 miles (33km) south of Malta.
A single survivor was rescued and other vessels are searching the area for more possible survivors. Almost every day this month, Italian coastguards have been picking up dozens of exhausted African migrants.
They attempt to make the choppy crossing from North Africa in fragile and unseaworthy rubber dinghies. Few of the passengers know how to swim and few of the traffickers operating the rubber dinghies provide life jackets.
A boatload of 39 illegal immigrants has just been landed by coastguards on the small Italian holiday island of Lampedusa. Another 27 people from Somalia, including six women, landed during the night.
The Italian authorities have recently extended the reception centre for illegal immigrants on the island, but it is already overflowing with people.
As quickly as the police process the immigrants and fly them out or put them on a ferry to the mainland, more arrive.
Laura Boldrini, a spokesperson for the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sicily, says this summer looks like establishing new records of people drowned or missing in the Mediterranean.
It has become a sad ritual of death and desperation, she said.
BBC NEWS REPORT,
UGANDA PROBE INTO 'ORPHAN TRADE' !
There are few figures about human trafficking in East Africa.Ugandan police have launched a probe into allegations that two orphanages are involved in child trafficking. Police Inspector General Kale Kayihura made the disclosure at a media briefing during a conference to look at fighting human trafficking in East Africa.
Ugandan academic Moses Okello told the BBC that a spate of recent cases showed the scale child trafficking in Uganda "could get out of hand". He blamed porous borders and lax immigration controls for the problem. "There is a local joke here that it's quite difficult to pass drugs through the Ugandan immigration ports, but it's easy to pass humans," said Mr Okello, who runs the Refugee Law Project at Makerere University.
He told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that Uganda had fairly progressive child-protection provisions, but lacked resources to implement them. "I can totally understand why border controls can be very problematic for the immigration officials - given that quite a lot of them are not skilled enough to understand or even to detect how child-trafficking rings operate," he said. "Besides, Uganda's naming system is so fluid that anybody could pass off as being the parents of a kid."
In the last couple of weeks, some Ugandan children had inexplicably ended up in Kenya without any parental protection, he said. "We also know that from our legal aid clinic here [that] there are quite a bunch of people who have showed up in the last month claiming to have been trafficked or to know people who have been trafficked."
Correspondents say little is known human trafficking in East Africa and the conference in Uganda's capital, Kampala, hopes to come up with an action plan to address the lack of information and find ways to curb it.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Sierra Leone Prisons "Threaten Peace" !
Sierra Leone's failure to protect the rights of prisoners is threatening the country's peace and stability, a United Nations reports says. Many inmates endure squalid conditions, including overcrowding, poor hygiene and inadequate food, it says.
The report was presented to the government by the UN's Victor Angelo. He said that not protecting the human rights of any group endangered the consolidation of peace in Sierra Leone after its decade-long civil war. About 50,000 people were killed, and many more maimed and raped in the conflict which ended in 2002.
The report - called Behind Walls: An Inventory and Assessment of Prisons in Sierra Leone - says a large number of prisoners across the country are on remand or awaiting trial. Many prisoners had been in lock-ups for two years without indictment or a court appearance, including a sizeable number of children. About 90% of prisoners interviewed in the country's 13 prisons did not have any legal representation during their trials.
Many prison windows not large enough to admit sufficient natural light and have no wire mesh - exposing inmates to mosquitoes and therefore malaria, the report says. The BBC's Umaru Fofana in the capital, Freetown, says problems with the country's prisons are not a new phenomenon.
Prison officers often complain of a lack of resources with some paid less than $30 a month. This has dampened moral to the extent that prisoner escapes are common place, he says.
Minister of Internal Affairs Pascal Egbenda told the BBC the judiciary should do more to attend to cases and the finance ministry should increase the budget for prisons
There is a chronic shortage of judges and prosecution lawyers because of poor pay, our reporter says. As part of an emergency measure, the government recently recruited new graduates, trained them as magistrates and dispatched them across the country.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
