Cathy Buckle's Letter from Zimbabwe !
Shiny brown seeds !
Saturday 30th August 2008
Dear Family and Friends,
It's a noisy afternoon as I sit writing this letter. The Msasa trees are throwing out their seeds in preparation for the new season. Every few seconds another pod loses control and cracks. There is a distinct click and then the pod splits, curls and falls onto the hard, dry ground, scattering shiny brown seeds into the dust. Summer is almost upon us and change is in the air. Smoke is also in the air as yet again uncontrolled fires burn in every direction and on every horizon but we look upwards as we wait for clouds and rain and pray for relief from the tragedy engulfing our country.
Amidst our desperate struggle to survive eleven million percent inflation and with so very many people going to bed hungry every night, there have been some dramatic developments in Zimbabwe this week that bring change another step closer. Just when we'd given up hope of the people's March 29th votes ever being respected, Parliament was suddenly re-convened and MP's sworn in. Then, for the first time in 28 years, Zanu PF lost control of the House of Assembly as an MDC MP was voted Speaker of The House.
The ceremonial opening of Parliament was a spectacle not to be missed and unbelievably the electricity stayed on during the entire procedure. Even more amazing was that ZBC TV filmed all the events that followed, live and uninterrupted. Zimbabwe saw Mr Mugabe arrive in the black open topped Rolls Royce alone, without his wife. We saw the long, long line of MP's going into Parliament. The MDC MP's were easily recognisable as they smiled and waved to the crowds - perhaps acknowledging that it was their votes and their sacrifices that had resulted in this day. The MDC MP's have not yet got that arrogant, I'm indestructible look that is so common to Zimbabwean politicians.
Many shocking things followed in the next hour, filmed live by ZBC TV for all to see. When Mr Mugabe walked into the House of Assembly only the Zanu PF MP's stood up. For half an hour Mr Mugabe's voice was drowned out by talking, jeering, singing and clapping MDC MP's. Never, in 28 years, has Zimbabwe seen their elected MP's do anything like this. Never, in 28 years, have Zimbabweans seen Mr Mugabe being openly challenged like this.
The final wind of change that blew into Zimbabwe this week came with the government lifting its ban on international and local charitable organisations. People who are hungry, sick and desperate have been given back the right to ask for and receive help from people other than a bankrupt government.
Until next week, thanks for reading,
love cathy
SOMALI REFUGEES FLEE TO CRISIS CAMPS !
By Peter Greste - BBC News, Eastern Kenya.
At least 200 Somalis arrive in Dadaab refugee camp each day. The dusty faces pressed against the chainlink fence that surrounds the Dagahaley refugee reception centre are telling. Mostly young or female, they show a mix of weariness and desperation that only barely hints at what they have been through.
The reception centre is in the midst of the Dadaab refugee camp. More accurately, Dadaab is a collection of three sprawling tented cities on Kenya's frontier with Somalia. Together, they are home to more than 210,000 refugees - almost all of them Somalis.
Relatively safe - Nobody is here because they like it. It is brutally hot in the summer, with dust that grinds its way into every corner.
There are only a handful of wells to provide water, food is carefully rationed by the World Food Programme, and most people live in flimsy huts made from bits of twig bound together with string and covered in plastic sheeting from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The land is flat, and the shrubs are almost exclusively thorn bushes with spines as long and hard as nails.
And yet still the Somalis come, at a rate of at least 200 a day. Those thronging the fence are hoping to jump the queue for registration as refugees - a status that gives them a fighting chance at a relatively safe and stable life denied to them at home in Somalia.
Take Dahawa Mohammed Noor. Back home in Mogadishu, she had a good life as a wife, a teacher and a mother of nine.
But the fighting between the Islamist insurgents on the one hand and Ethiopian forces backing the Transitional Federal Government on the other, has grown ever more bitter over the past few months.
Dahawa and her family managed, but only just. She and her husband struggled to keep their children fed as the cost of food more than trebled over the past six months. But Dahawa and her family were determined to stay - Mogadishu was their home, after all. Then the fighting drifted towards their corner of the city. In one bloody, terrifying night, Dahawa said soldiers raided their neighbourhood.
With tears streaming down her face, she was unable to explain exactly what happened, except that her husband and five of her children were all killed. With the surviving members of her family, Dahawa fled Mogadishu, and spent three weeks trekking and hitching rides through Somalia's western desert to the Kenyan border and the relative security of Dadaab.
Dahawa's story is tragic, but it is hardly unusual. Bloodshed, drought and starvation are all contributing to what amounts to a perfect storm for aid agencies. A UN analysis of food security in Somalia found 3.25 million people desperately in need of humanitarian support - a figure 77% higher than their estimates at the beginning of the year, and one which represents 43% of the entire population.
The escalating battles between the mosaic of factions and clans have forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. They have also created a culture of banditry and piracy that makes it all but impossible for aid agencies to deliver food, medicines or shelter to large parts of the country.
The UN describes the current security situation as the worst since the conflict began 17 years ago. The violence has also contributed to an economic crisis made worse by the uncontrolled printing of cash to fund the war. Together with soaring prices for imported fuel and food, the surplus of Somali shillings has triggered hyperinflation that has forced the cost of food up 700% in the past year.
That, in turn, has created a new class of urban poor, unable to feed themselves. And on top of it all, a drought - now in its fourth year - has all but destroyed crops and livestock across much of the south.
For the UN Secretary General's Humanitarian Envoy, Abdul Aziz Arrukban, the situation is exasperating.
The number of refugees is expected to surge in the coming months He has just completed a tour of the region, including a brief visit to the town of Wajid in the south of Somalia.
On a tour through the Dadaab refugee centre, the Saudi-born diplomat waved his hands in frustration. "In the market (in Wajid), I picked up an egg, and I asked how much it was. Do you know that egg cost 20 US cents?" Mr Arrukban asks.
"That is more than five times what it cost six months ago. That's just too much," he continues. "How can these people pay for that? It's impossible." Mr Arrukban's job is to facilitate the humanitarian response to the crisis, but he was also quick to admit that it is just a band-aid. "I'm telling the Somalis 'enough, enough' - 18 years (they've been at war) and I think it's the right time now that they sit together," he says. "They must figure out some way to find peace because building more camps (like Dadaab) is not the solution," he adds.
That prospect appears a long way off. The UNHCR says while the daily numbers of refugees now arriving in Dadaab are at an all-time high, they expect them to surge still further over the coming weeks and months.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE SWIMMER GETS CASH PRIZE !
Zimbabwe's top Olympic swimmer has been given a $100,000 dollar reward by the country's president, Robert Mugabe. Kirsty Coventry won all of Zimbabwe's four medals at the Beijing games, taking them to 38th in the medal table.
She was given the money, worth £54,890, in a suitcase by the governor of the central bank. In a ceremony carried live on state television, Mr Mugabe called the swimmer "a daughter of Zimbabwe" and a "golden girl".
She smashed the world record to win gold in the women's 200 metres backstroke.
BBC correspondent Jonah Fisher, based in neighbouring South Africa, says Ms Coventry is lucky her reward is in American dollars, because a suitcase of Zimbabwean currency would scarcely have bought her a loaf of bread.
Inflation is currently running at 11,000,000% and there are widespread shortages of food and fuel.
As he presented Ms Coventry the cash, Mr Mugabe said: "You have done well, daughter of Zimbabwe. "We wish you well in life. We should praise her. She is our golden girl. Take care of her."
It was rare praise for a white Zimbabwean, our correspondent notes: Mr Mugabe has spent much of the last 10 years repossessing white owned farms and railing against Britain and the West.
During the ceremony, Mr Mugabe also handed out $10,000 (£5,520) to Zimbabwe's other Olympic finalists, while others who were part of the national team were given $2,000 (£1,103).
The 24-year old swimmer, who also won three silver medals in Beijing, is expected to return to her home in the United States this weekend, after a flying visit to the country of her birth.
Mr Mugabe also gave Ms Coventry $50,000 (£27,450) and a diplomatic passport after the Athens games in 2004, where she won three medals comprising of a gold, silver and bronze.
BBC NEWS REPORT
ZIMBABWE REVERSES FOOD AID BAN !
Zimbabwe's government has lifted a ban on aid organisations, whose work was restricted ahead of the controversial presidential run-off in June. President Robert Mugabe accused the agencies of backing the opposition.
It is estimated that two million people need aid, with that number set to rise to five million by early next year. The lifting of the ban comes as negotiators met in South Africa to try to revive crisis power-sharing talks, which broke up two weeks ago. The negotiations were suspended over how to share power between Mr Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who both claim victory in the polls. The BBC's Karen Allen says both sides appear to have hardened their positions during the hiatus.
President Mugabe says he will form a government alone, while opposition MPs this week jeered him in public. Deputy South African Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said he hoped the negotiation would lead to the "finalisation of... outstanding matters".
The aid agencies always denied government accusations that they were helping the opposition. Critics said the ban was imposed to tighten the government's control of food aid - the ruling party was accused of not distributing aid to opposition areas. Since the ban was imposed, aid agencies were banned from going to rural areas, leaving hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people without food.
Correspondents says another failed harvest has added to the problem for ordinary Zimbabweans who struggle to make ends meet in the midst of economic collapse and hyperinflation. UK charity Save the Children says a 120-strong team will be heading back to its operational areas next week. "It's impossible to know how bad the situation has got until we're on the ground, although our local partners have confirmed our fears of increased rates of malnutrition among children," the aid agency's country director, Rachel Pounds, said in a statement.
"We also know that thousands of children have had to drop out of school in order to try and find food for their families. "We fear some girls will have been forced into prostitution, and that others will have been pushed into early marriage with their families unable to look after them."
On Thursday, the Red Cross federation made an urgent appeal for almost $27m. It said this year the food security situation was likely to be the worst on record, because of soaring prices and the lack of foreign currency to pay for imports. Before the power-sharing talks broke up earlier this month, both sides agreed that Mr Tsvangirai would be named prime minister but they could not agree on how to divide powers between him and Mr Mugabe.
The opposition wants Mr Mugabe to become a ceremonial figure, while the ruling Zanu-PF party wants the president to retain most powers, such as appointing ministers and the security forces. Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says that if Mr Mugabe names a cabinet unilaterally, that would scupper the talks.
The negotiations between senior officials from both parties are taking place at a secret location near the South African capital, Pretoria. South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki has been charged with mediating a solution to Zimbabwe's political crisis. On Tuesday, MDC MPs heckled and jeered Mr Mugabe when he formally opened parliament against their wishes. The MDC has a majority in parliament and its chairman Lovemore Moyo was elected speaker of parliament on Monday.
Following the March elections, Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF lost its majority in the House of Assembly for the first time since independence in 1980. Mr Tsvangirai won the first presidential round in March, before pulling out of a June run-off, citing a campaign of violence against his supporters. The MDC says some 200 people were killed and 200,000 forced from their homes.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIMBABWE VOTERS' VIEWS !
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe says he may form a government without the opposition, as power-sharing talks are deadlocked.
On Tuesday, MPs from the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), now in the majority in parliament, booed and heckled him, accusing him of using violence to rig this year's elections.
Here, Zimbabweans share their views on the country's latest political developments and their expectations for the future with the BBC News website.
DEBBY, 51, FINANCIAL MANAGER, HARARE
After the March elections feelings here were of great anticipation, but then there was the non-event of the second election in June, and since then it's just been downhill. The talks seemed to fail, nothing came of it. We were not happy with the fact that Robert Mugabe was given any executive powers. It's just been a time of "wait and see" and everybody is tired of it and depressed by it.
The fact that parliament is now clearly in the hands of the party that should be ruling this country means everybody's really excited about it. It's the first time that we've had something to shout about in quite a while because the talks process has been very draining.
I'm not overtly leaping up and down. I want to see things translated into something positive. But the fact that the speaker in the house of parliament - and he has a lot of power - is now someone sensible and someone who will adhere to the rule of law, yes, that gives me hope.
I would be in favour of them boycotting parliament until we've got a government. Until there's an infrastructure here, they can sit and make rules and laws in Zimbabwe over a pile of rubble. We desperately need resources from the West and the outside world and that's not going to happen as long as Mugabe is anywhere near the presidency.
To envisage something based on one speaker of parliament being elected from the right party, is a very small step but the most important thing to us is that it's a step. So I can't say that I envisage huge changes - that would be naïve, given the history of our country and recent events - certainly those in 2008.
RICHARD, 53, OPERATING SUPERINTENDENT, HWANGE
My feeling is that this was the democracy that everyone wanted. The way the Zimbabwean people voted meant that they didn't want any one dominant party anymore. They wanted the parties to be united. They wanted a unity government with representatives from all sectors. I'm happy because it's not only that the speaker was elected from the MDC but that the deputy speaker was elected from the smaller parties and that the senate has the president who is from the ruling party the Zanu-PF and that for me is quite ok.
The heckling reflected the feeling of the day. People were venting their feelings. It happens in any democracy but I also think it was because Tsvangirai was not present. When Tsvangirai is there, when he is the next prime minister, I think he will control his crowd.
I feel much more positive about the future. The state of the economy is going to determine what happens in the future. We - who are not in parliament - don't really care very much about what is happening there right now but it is important that the next government is going to comprise both Zanu-PF and the MDC.
It's going to be an inclusive government - that is what we are waiting for. We are waiting for Tsvangirai to sign up so that we can start a new phase in our lives.
When we look and talk about the future, we would rather that when voting came again we would have two or three parties so that it would be difficult for any one government to dominate. But if we are talking of the immediate future right now, our wish is that when Tsvangirai is going to sign and they are going to form government of national unity. The settlement must be negotiated in good faith and whatever agreement comes out is our agreement and the United States, Britain and the world should respect what we are going to say as what Zimbabwean people want.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ORRIGATION BOOST FOR MALAWI FARMS !
Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika has announced plans for a massive irrigation project to increase the country's food production. He said a green belt would be established along Lake Malawi, which straddles a third of the country.
Although Malawi has huge supplies of fresh water, only 2% of the land is irrigated, experts say. Most farming is done on a small scale mainly by peasant farmers who grow maize, the country's staple food.
President Mutharika said he would appeal for international investment to increase food production not just for Malawi, but for the world. "Where there is a river, we will try to start irrigation. We should grow everything so that we have food all the time," he said as he prepared to leave for Norway to attend a conference on how to bring about a "Green Revolution" in Africa. "God gave us water. We have a lot of rivers and lakes. We are going into irrigation farming in a big way," he told state radio.
He said his country would no longer beg for food, and would boost its food production to start exporting to other countries. "We don't eat much rice but we are going to produce a lot of rice to feed the rest of the world."
In 2005, the government imported more than 300,000 tonnes of food as up to five million people faced starvation following drought. The government has also spent $50m on a programme which provides subsidised fertiliser to small-scale farmers.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
S. AFRICA LAND REFORM BILLL SHELVED !
South Africa has shelved legislation designed to speed up a land reform programme by allowing the government to expropriate white-owned farms. A parliamentary committee blamed a lack of consultation and said it aimed to re-introduce the Bill at a later date. The government says it wants to redistribute nearly one third of white-owned farmland by 2014.
At the end of apartheid in 1994, nearly 90% of land was owned by whites, who made up under 10% of the population. But so far just 4% has been transferred to blacks. Critics say the legislation would be unconstitutional as it would stop people going to court if their property was taken.
The expropriation bill, which aims to give the government greater powers to transfer land and property from existing owners, was introduced by the ruling ANC in April.
A committee statement said: "The decision [to shelve the bill] was reached after consultation with various stakeholders both within and outside parliament and in the interest of broader consultation and effective public participation."
The South African government's land restitution programme focuses on returning land to blacks that was seized by whites after 1913. However, earlier this year a think tank concluded that the scheme had failed.
Thousands of claims are still being processed across the country for land and property taken unlawfully from black owners during the apartheid era.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
"Sayings" !
"HAPPINESS IS NOT A STATE
TO ARRIVE AT,
BUT A MANNER OF TRAVELLING" !
ZAMBIA'S MOURNING TURNS POLITICAL !
Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata has told the BBC that he was chased away from a mourning gathering for late President Levy Mwanawasa by his widow. He denied reports that he had been provocative to Maureen Mwanawasa, who is taking the body on a tour of the country ahead of a state funeral. "I said to her: 'I'm very sorry,' then she blew up," Mr Sata said. He went on to accuse her of using the funereal tour as a bid for her to stand for president in three months time. "It is her who has turned the whole funeral into politics," Mr Sata told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme, adding that a widow should stay at home to mourn not tour the country.
He said that he would be standing in the forthcoming elections "My party will participate in the elections, there's nothing politicking about that - but she must also come out in the open instead of hiding in a dead man, instead of exhibiting a dead man all over the country."
President Mwanawasa died in France last week, having suffered a stroke in June from which he never recovered. He will be given a state funeral on 3 September, on what would have been his 60th birthday.
Mr Sata said that despite being chased away on Sunday from viewing the body in Chipata, 580 km (360 miles) east of the capital, Lusaka, no-one could stop him from attending the funeral. He added that he and the late president had reconciled their differences in May.
In the run-up to the last election in 2006, Mr Sata infamously tore apart a cabbage at a campaign rally. The cabbage was a reference to Mr Mwanawasa, who once had a bad car accident which affected his speech "I have said nobody can stop me from mourning my brother, Maureen cannot stop me," Mr Sata said.
Vice-President Rupiah Banda has taken over interim leadership of the country, but elections must be held within 90 days to decide who will succeed Mr Mwanawasa.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
MDC HECKLE MUGABE IN PARLIAMENT !
MPs from Zimbabwe's main opposition party heckled and jeered President Robert Mugabe, as he opened parliament five months after disputed polls. "You killed people, we won't forget that," they shouted, while Mr Mugabe listed government achievements.
Correspondents say such scenes are unprecedented in Zimbabwe, which Mr Mugabe has governed since 1980. At the start of his speech, Mr Mugabe said there was "every expectation" that a power-sharing deal would be agreed.
The opposition says parliament should not have been opened until the deadlocked talks were concluded. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) earlier said it would boycott Mr Mugabe's speech, saying it does not recognise his legitimacy.
Following the March elections, Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF lost its majority in the House of Assembly for the first time since independence in 1980. On Monday, MDC chairman Lovemore Moyo was elected to be speaker of parliament. Zanu-PF's Edna Madzongwe on Monday won the presidency of the upper house, the Senate, where Mr Mugabe's party has a majority. In his speech, Mr Mugabe said he regretted the "isolated cases of political violence" earlier this year and blamed all parties.
The MDC accuses Zanu-PF of organising a campaign of violence to ensure victory in the presidential run-off in June. It says some 200 people were killed and 200,000 forced from their homes. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the presidential run-off, citing the violence. The MDC MPs refused to stand when Mr Mugabe entered parliament, before booing him.
Mr Mugabe's speech was occasionally drowned out as they sang that his party was "rotten". Correspondents say he looked annoyed and raced through the final lines of his speech.
The BBC's Karen Allen says this was humiliating for Mr Mugabe, as the speech was broadcast live on national television.
Meanwhile, the AP news agency reports that an MDC MP was arrested at his home on Tuesday. One of his colleagues is in custody after being detained when he turned up at parliament to be sworn in on Monday.
A second MDC MP was briefly detained on Monday. The MDC says this is part of a campaign of intimidation but the police say those accused are wanted in connection with murder, rape and political violence.
No senior Zanu-PF officials have been arrested over the violence.
Mr Mugabe arrived at the opening of parliament in the capital Harare to cheers from his supporters outside, the AFP news agency reports. As he arrived outside the parliament building in a vintage Rolls Royce, many in the crowd chanted: "He is our father. He is our leader."
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told Reuters news agency it was wrong for Mr Mugabe to address parliament before a power-sharing deal was reached. "The dialogue has not been completed. It is arrogant and reckless for anybody to come and address parliament," he said.
The talks, mediated by South Africa, have stalled over how powers should be divided between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai, who would be named to fill the new post of prime minister. Mr Tsvangirai has opposed the recall of parliament, saying it could jeopardise the talks. But his protests were ignored.
The new speaker of parliament told the BBC's Network Africa programme that he was excited by his election but also "humbled and honoured" by the show of support from his colleagues.
They broke into song and dance when he was announced the winner of the secret vote.
"I feel this is the beginning of the new era in parliament, the era probably when the executive has to find ways of negotiating with the legislature in order to put through programs," he said.
Mr Moyo said he would remain neutral as a speaker but that his decision-making would be influenced by MDC policies. Mr Moyo's position means that he will be able to take charge of controversial debates if no power-sharing deal is reached.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
SUDAN 'KILLS REFUGEES IN DARFUR' !
Sudanese troops have opened fire inside a Darfur refugee camp, leaving 27 people dead, a rebel group has said.
Some 100 government trucks surrounded the Kalma camp, home to some 90,000 people who have fled their homes in Darfur, a rebel spokesman told the BBC. There is no independent confirmation of the reports but international sources have been told that Sudan wants to disarm the camp's residents.
More than two million people have fled five years of conflict in Darfur.
Ahmed Abdel Shafie, who heads a faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, told the BBC that the government wants to force people to leave the camp. Another rebel leader puts the number of those killed higher. Abdel Wahed Mohamed al-Nur, said that 50 people had been killed. "This really is a catastrophe. People are being killed while the world just watches," he said.
Reports from inside the camp put the toll lower. Adam Mohamed, a community leader in Kalma, near South Darfur's capital Nyala, told the AFP news agency that eight people had been killed and 30 wounded. A spokesman for the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur said they had sent patrols to check the reports.
The BBC's Amber Henshaw in Sudan says Kalma has long been a centre of unrest, awash with weapons. Sudan's government has accused armed rebel supporters of taking refuge inside the camp while residents have accused government-backed militias of mounting a series of raids on the settlement.
The reports came on the day that the new joint UN-African Union mediator Djibril Bassole was due to arrive in Khartoum to take up his position. Violence in Darfur began in 2003 when rebel groups complaining of discrimination against black Africans began attacking government targets.
The government mobilised what it called "self-defence militias" in response, but denies any links to the Janjaweed, accused of trying to "cleanse" black Africans from Darfur.
The UN estimates that more than 300,000 people have been killed and two million displaced during five years of fighting.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
EXPLOSION AT NIGER ARMS HANDOVER !
Dozens of mines have exploded as they were being handed over by Tuareg rebels to the government of Niger.
One person was killed and 40 seriously injured when a man accidentally stepped on one of the mines, setting off a chain reaction, officials say. Among the injured is the governor of the Zinder region where the arms handover was taking place.
The Tuareg rebel Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) last week denied it would end their year-long fight.
The dead man was a government official who had been acting as an intermediary between the government and the rebels, the Associated Press news agency reported.
The MNJ says it is fighting for greater autonomy and for a larger share of uranium revenue. MNJ leader Aghaly ag Alambo last week denied a media report his fighters would lay down their arms and participate in a peace process mediated by Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi.
Tuareg militants in Mali and Niger have been engaged in sporadic armed struggles for several decades.
But analysts are divided over whether the Tuareg revolts have been driven by genuine political grievances or efforts to defend control of drugs, arms and migrant-smuggling routes.
Tuaregs are a historically nomadic people living in the Sahara and Sahel regions of North Africa.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
KENYAN ANGER AT TOP SPOUCES' PAY !
Kenyans are outraged by a proposal to pay hefty salaries to the wives of the prime minister and vice-president. A leaked document says the head of civil service Francis Muthaura has directed that they each be paid $6,000 (£3,000) every month.
But MPs have vowed to shoot down the proposal in parliament, saying it is too expensive for the economy. Kenyan tax-payers are already paying heavily for the cabinet - the largest ever - with more than 40 ministers.
A government memo leaked to the local media directs that Ida Odinga and Pauline Musyoka, wives of the prime minister and vice-president respectively, will be rewarded for their roles as hostesses. The pay is also supposed to recognise their role for upholding national family values. But Eugene Wamalwa, an MP and brother for former Vice-President Micheal Kijana Wamalwa, says the tax-payer is already over-burdened and the allowances are uncalled for.
"The prime minister and vice-president attract one of the highest salaries in the world and that will be sufficient for couples," Mr Wamalwa said.
And former head of the Kenyan chapter of Transparency International Gladwell Otieno said the move is a confirmation that Kenyan politicians are just a greedy caste, looking after themselves at the expense of poor Kenyans recovering from the effects of post-election violence.
The two women will join First Lady Lucy Kibaki, whose allowances increased last year to nearly $8,000 a month.
President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga agreed to share power in February after negotiations led by former UN head Kofi Annan to end weeks of violent clashes.
Some 1,500 people died and 600,000 left homeless around the country after last December's disputed elections.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
MDC WINS ZIMBABWE PARLIAMENT VOTE !
The candidate of Zimbabwe's opposition MDC has been elected speaker of parliament, after MPs were sworn in following elections five months ago. MDC chairman Lovemore Moyo becomes the first opposition speaker since the country's independence in 1980.
As the MPs arrived for the ceremony, two MDC law-makers were arrested, a party spokesman said.
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF did not field a candidate for the vote, but backed a rival MDC faction.
The BBC's Karen Allen says this was a tactic to try and engineer control of parliament, which has backfired.
However, the Zanu-PF candidate was elected to be president of the upper house, the Senate, reports Reuters news agency.
As a result of the March elections, the breakaway MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) faction holds the balance of power in the House of Assembly. But Mr Moyo won with 110 votes, against 98 for Paul Themba Nyathi from the smaller faction. Our correspondent says the results mean at least one Zanu-PF MP voted for Mr Moyo in the secret ballot.
The MDC has 100 seats - one seat more than President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF - while the Arthur Mutambara-led MDC faction has 10 seats. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai opposed the recall of parliament, which Mr Mugabe is to officially open on Tuesday. He says it could jeopardise power-sharing talks, which are currently deadlocked.
After being sworn in, the opposition MPs sat on the government benches, reports the AFP news agency. "You sit on that side. You are now in the opposition," they shouted at their Zanu-PF rivals.
MDC MPs sang and cheered when it was announced that Mr Moyo had won the vote and carried him shoulder-high.
Zanu-PF's Rural Housing Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, long seen as a possible successor to Mr Mugabe, offered his congratulations. "Mr Speaker, Sir. This is a truly historic event and I would like, on behalf of the president, our party and this side of this august House, to congratulate you," he said in parliament, Reuters reports.
The MDC had warned that 15 of its MPs would not attend the swearing-in ceremony, as they were in hiding following a state-sponsored campaign of violence.
The police had accused them of murder, rape and political violence.
PARLIAMENTARY SEATS
House of Assembly
* MDC Tsvangirai: 100
* Zanu-PF: 99
* MDC Mutambara: 10
* Independent: 1
Senate
* Zanu-PF: 30
* MDC Tsvangirai: 24
* MDC Mutambara: 6
* Traditional chiefs: 18
* Provincial governors: 10
* Presidential appointees: 5
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told AFP that MP-elects Shuwa Mudiwa and Eliah Jembere had been detained. "We have been informed they want to arrest 15 MPs. It's all about the vote for the speaker. Nothing to do with the law."
Mr Mudiwa was later released and was sworn in but not Mr Jembere. Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Mr Jembere was wanted on rape charges, while Mr Mudiwa had been questioned over alleged political violence. He said that police wanted to question eight MPs, reports the AFP news agency.
Ahead of Monday's swearing-in, Mr Mugabe appointed three non-constituency members of parliament's upper house, the Senate, and eight provincial governors, state media said.
"Clearly they have chosen the path of arrogance, unilateralism that's a serious blow to confidence-building in the talks," Mr Chamisa told Reuters.
Zanu-PF has the most seats in the Senate and Mr Mugabe has the power to appoint a further 15 members, along with 18 traditional chiefs, seen as pro-Zanu-PF.
The South Africans-mediated talks are stalled over how powers should be divided between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai, who could be named to fill the new post of prime minister.
The opening of parliament in Harare comes with the blessing of the regional body, the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Mr Tsvangirai won the first presidential round in March, before pulling out of a June run-off citing a campaign of violence against his supporters.
The economy continues to deteriorate, with the latest figures, showing annual inflation of 11m% - by far the highest in the world.
Foreign donors will only agree a rescue package if power-sharing talks are finalised.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
"SAYINGS"
"MAKE THE MOST OF YOURSELF,
FOR THAT IS ALL THERE IS OF YOU" !
__________________
WESTERNERS 'KIDNAPPED' IN SOMALIA !
An Australian journalist and his Canadian colleague have gone missing in Somalia and are feared to have been kidnapped along with their interpreter. The pair failed to return to their hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, from a trip to see displaced people, according to a hotel official.
He named the two journalists, both freelancers, only as Nigel and Amanda. The sister of the Somali journalist said she had been unable to reach the group by phone. "We are not sure, but it seems that they were kidnapped", said Sadia Mohamed.
That view was echoed by the director of the hotel, Abdifatah Ajos Sanura. "It is (clear) that they were kidnapped because their schedule was to come back to the hotel before 12 in the afternoon and we don't have their whereabouts", Mr Sanura said.
Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991, and journalists and humanitarian workers are frequently kidnapped.
On Friday, Islamist fighters seized the strategic southern port of Kismayo from pro-government militia.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
MARATHON GOLD FOR KENYA'S WANJIRU !
Sammy Wanjiru won Kenya's first ever gold in the men's marathon, breaking the Olympic record despite the soaring heat in Beijing. Wanjiru, who was among the leading pack which set the fast early pace, pulled away in the final kilometres to win in 2 hours six minutes and 32 seconds.
Morocco's Jaouad Gharib won silver, trailing by 84 seconds, while Ethiopian Tsegay Kebede took bronze. Dan Robinson, Britain's only representative, finished in 24th spot. The Briton was in 74th place after the first five km, which was run in a blistering 14mins 52secs in hot and humid conditions.
"They went off so quickly in the first kilometre I deliberately backed off the pace," said the 33-year-old who finished in a time of 2:16.14. "But I always thought more athletes would start coming back and they did. "I'm a little disappointed not to make the top 20, but you can only do what you can. Maybe I didn't get my pacing quite right, but I'm satisfied with the run."
Wanjiru, 21, and compatriot Martin Lel set a punishing pace in the first five km which reduced the leading pack to eight, with Spain's Cheme Martinez the only non-African. The leading pack was then whittled down to five as Wanjiru upped the pace a notch at the 15km mark, and 20km later only Wanjiru, Gharib and Ethiopia's Deriba Merga could sustain the phenomenal tempo.
Wanjiru, who was running in his third marathon, always looked the stronger of the trio and the Kenyan broke clear to win comfortably, breaking the 24-year-old Olympic record set by Carlos Lopes. His margin of victory was such that Wanjiru had time to raise his left arm aloft and clap to the crowd in the Bird's Nest stadium several times during his final lap. Two-time world champion Gharib and Merga were left to fight it out for silver and bronze, but the latter fell away in the last two km to finish fourth.
Wanjiru, runner-up in the London Marathon in April, said: "I had to push the pace to tire the other runners. I had to push the pace because my body gets tired when I slow down. "In Kenya we have many medals, but I'm glad to have this one. It feels good to make history for Kenya and win the gold."
Several of the favourites, including defending champion Stefano Baldini of Italy, failed to cope with the hot conditions. The 37-year-old was out of contention early on and had settled for a 12th-placed finish.
"It was incredible what the Africans managed to do in those last 10km," said the European champion. "This was my last marathon and my last international event. I want to carry on running, but without the stress."
BBC SPORTS REPORT.
Cathy Buckle's Letter from Zimbabwe !
Less than a tin of jam !
Saturday 23rd August 2008
Dear Family and Friends,
Our days and weeks blur into ongoing nightmare as we reel from one crisis to another. I'm not talking about the politics of our country where talks have either collapsed or stalled, or become corrupted - at this time it's not really clear what is happening. The only hint we are getting that any chance of a deal or coalition between the two main parties is collapsing, is the barrage of blaming and finger pointing against Mr Tsvangirai that is being aired by the State controlled ZBC radio and television.
The crisis that I'm talking about is the one of living every day. Food supplies are lower than they've ever been. One morning this week in my home town, four of the five main supermarkets were simply shut - doors closed, bars up, gates padlocked: no notice, no apology, nothing. The one supermarket which has a South African franchise was open, but the prices were completely out of reach. A 250 gram bag of salt cost 150 dollars, a small tin of jam was priced at 250 dollars. These amounts are the figures after ten zeroes were removed a fortnight ago. In real terms the salt was 1 and half trillion dollars and the small tin of jam 2 and a half trillion dollars. To put this in perspective you need to know that a junior school teacher I met this week told me she currently earns 2 trillion dollars a month (200 dollars without the zeroes). A month in the classroom for less than one small tin of jam.
I chatted with a man from a rural village and he said that the situation in the countryside had reached critical levels as people have started running out of grain from their last harvest. He said that there was no help at all coming to his village. The village Headman and the local Chief had not been given any food supplies from the government to distribute to hungry villagers. He said that the international organizations like the World Food Programme weren't coming anymore and neither were the smaller NGO's or even the Churches. He told me that feeding programmes for pre school children had been banned by the government and even the monthly distribution of food packs to pensioners had ceased. Elderly men and women, many in charge of looking after orphaned grandchildren, had been receiving maize meal, sugar beans and cooking oil before the March elections but now they were getting nothing at all. People with HIV and AIDS in the village who had been tested and registered and who had been receiving anti-retrovirals from NGO's have also been abandoned due to the government prohibition on outside help. The man shook his head sadly as he told me about the cessation of the drugs and said: "This is a death sentence for these people; what's left for them now is only to die."
I asked him if the villagers were able to get the cheap food through the latest government "People's Shops" scheme. He said 120 villagers had been identified for the programme and 10 were chosen each week to travel to the nearest People's Shop warehouse. It is 40 kilometre journey, one way, but so far only the first group of 10 people had managed to buy cheap food. For the others, every week 10 people went but every week the warehouse was empty. They persisted for six weeks in a row but now, he said, they have given up going, it is wasting precious money travelling the 80 kilometre round trip and returning empty handed.
The only hope is in the coming rainy season but with just six weeks until the planting season, rural villagers have yet to see any seed or fertilizer. "If they won't let anyone give us food or medicines, do you think we have a chance for seed or fertilizer?" the man I was talking too asked. I looked at the ground in shame and could find no words in response.
Until next time, thanks for reading,
love cathy.
OBITUARY : ZAMBIA'S LEVY MWANAWASA !
Levy Mwanawasa had been in poor health for several years. The world may remember Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa, who died aged 59 at a Paris hospital on Tuesday, as the African leader who dared to criticise Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.
But Zambians will remember him for standing up to his predecessor, Frederick Chiluba. He proved he was no puppet, despite being Mr Chiluba's chosen successor, within months of taking office in 2002 he had stripped the former president of his immunity from prosecution for corruption.
He has also won plaudits from the international community for his fight against corruption and his economic policies. But his local critics accuse him of persecuting his political rivals, using the fig-leaf of corruption, and say he was just fortunate to benefit from a huge rise in the price of copper - Zambia's major export.
Critics also say the benefits of the financial windfalls have not reached ordinary people. Some 70% of the population lives on less than $1 a day.
The burly looking Lusaka lawyer and committed Christian could, however, point to his reputation for integrity, which he had built up over many years. He was famous for taking up cases that few lawyers would even contemplate
Many people who worked with him like George Kunda, the former chairman of the lawyers' association, said he did not tolerate injustice in any form and was vehemently opposed to the death penalty. In 1994, he resigned as vice-president, saying his integrity had been "put in doubt", following a row with minister without portfolio and cabinet enforcer Michael Sata, who later challenged him for the presidency.
Regionally, he broke with tradition when he spoke out about the crisis in Zimbabwe, once comparing the economic situation there to "a sinking Titanic". Then as chairman of the Southern African Development Community, he said he sympathised with Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai when he withdrew from a controversial run-off vote in June because of attacks on his supporters.
He suffered a stroke in Egypt on Sunday hours ahead of the opening of an African Union summit where Zimbabwe's election was to be addressed - and where he was expected to sit next to Mr Mugabe.
Questions about Mr Mwanawasa's health dominated his presidency. In the early 1990s he was involved in a near-fatal road accident and was hospitalised in South Africa for almost a year. Since the accident his speech was slurred, something that may have hindered his popularity in the political arena where he was not noted for his charisma.
He was first sworn in as president amid opposition protests over alleged fraud in the 2001 elections, but he convincingly won his second term four months after suffering a minor stroke. Although Mr Mwanawasa belonged to a small ethnic group called the Lenje, in central Zambia, he was born and brought up in the Copperbelt province.
In 1970, he entered the law school at the University of Zambia, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree in 1973. He had numerous professional distinctions, among them becoming the first Zambian lawyer to be appointed advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
In Zambia, he was famous for taking up cases that few lawyers would even contemplate. But the one case that pushed him into prominence was a treason case in 1989. He had to defend former vice-president Lt Gen Christon Tembo and others who were charged with plotting to overthrow the government of the then president, Kenneth Kaunda.
Mr Mwanawasa was married to a fellow lawyer Maureen. He had six children.
As befitted his reputation for probity, he was said to be a man of modest habits.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
FRAUD HALTS US REFUGEE PROGRAMME !
The United States has suspended a programme aimed at reuniting refugees from Africa with relatives in the US because of widespread fraud. The US state department said DNA tests showed the majority of those applying had no family relationships in the US.
Thousands of Africans have been allowed to settle in the US under its P3 family reunification programme.
The scheme offers close family members the chance to join loved ones who have already made America their home. But DNA tests on applicants in seven African countries showed that only around 20% of those trying to enter the US actually had a blood relationship. The DNA tests were initially carried out in Kenya on some 500 refugees, mainly Somalis and Ethiopians, who were awaiting resettlement.
"After the samples suggested high rates of fraud, we expanded testing to Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia and Ivory Coast," said state department spokesman Robert Wood.
Apart from Ivory Coast, which had smaller samples, the results from those tests indicated a similar level of fraud, prompting officials to suspend the scheme.
The applicants were not tested with the DNA of a relative in the US, but with each other - for example a woman with children who claimed to be joining a husband in the US. It was found that people claiming to be related often had no link. The Priority Three (P3) programme to reunite families had been running since 1990.
The Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security were now examining the future of the scheme, Mr Wood said.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
