China 'agrees huge Zimbabwe loan'!
Mr Tsvangirai says Western countries have pledged $500m
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China has agreed to give Zimbabwe a loan of $950m (£573m) to help it revive its battered economy, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said.
Mr Tsvangirai had been criticised by supporters of President Robert Mugabe for failing to get more support during his recent trip to the West.
Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe formed a power-sharing government in February.
The government says it needs some $8bn to rebuild the country following years of collapse.
"The government through the minister of finance, secured credit lines of almost $950m from China," Mr Tsvangirai said in a news conference.
China was one of the few countries to retain economic support for Zimbabwe in recent years.
"We will encourage and facilitate more Chinese companies to seek development in Zimbabwe," Chinese official Zhou Yongkang told state news agency Xinhua.
The prime minister visited the US and Europe earlier this month in an attempt to raise funding for the struggling nation.
The US promised $73m in aid while the UK pledged to boost its funding by about $8m, taking its total to $98m for the year.
Mr Tsvangirai said he had received pledges totalling $500m during his trip.
"The amount of assistance that was raised on my visit to Europe and the United States does not reflect the enormous support we will be able to utilise if we are to fulfil all our political obligations," he said.
Mr Tsvangirai has been forced on several occasions to defend his decision to enter a power-sharing government with Mr Mugabe - as the two men spent years as bitter political rivals.
The prime minister said he had joined the unity government to save the country from disaster - it was battling a cholera outbreak, while water, health and education services had collapsed.
Senior members of Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Monday boycotted a cabinet meeting chaired by Mr Mugabe, saying he had treated their party with contempt and disrespect.
And the president himself said last week the unity government had so far not lived up to its promises.
"Money cannot be found to pay those who are working. Not even the ministers, not the president," Zimbabwe's Herald newspaper quoted him as saying.
Mr Mugabe said he had been promised $100 in salary this year - but had so far received nothing.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Niger court dissolution 'is coup'!
Mamadou Tandja says the people of Niger want him to stay in power
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An opposition leader in Niger has accused the president of carrying out a "coup d'etat", by dissolving the country's highest court.
Bazoum Mohamed of the PNDS party told the BBC that President Mamadou Tandja did not have the right to scrap the court and suspend the constitution.
The court has three times ruled against the president's plan to change the law to let him seek a third term in office.
On Friday, Mr Tandja, 71, announced he would rule the country by decree.
His plans to remain in power have sparked domestic protests and been criticised by international donors.
Meanwhile, prominent human rights campaigner Marou Amadou was arrested on Monday night and accused of sedition, calling for a military uprising and demoralisation of the army.
The opposition is calling for a general strike, or "Operation dead city", on Wednesday to oppose the president's plan.
They are also calling for nationwide protests on Saturday to call on him to resign.
Despite the opposition of parliament and the courts, President Tandja has scheduled a referendum for 4 August on changing the constitution to let him seek a third term in office.
He has already dissolved parliament - new elections are due on 20 August.
Mr Tandja has governed the West African nation since 1999, serving two terms. He is due to step down in December.
But supporters of Mr Tandja say he has brought economic growth to one of the world's poorest nations and so deserves the right to seek re-election.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Zambian nurses defy sack threat!
Zambia's health services are heavily dependent on nurses
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Striking nurses in Zambia have defied a government deadline to return to work or face dismissal.
They have been on strike for more than three weeks demanding an increase in pay and a variety of allowances.
Unions have also urged them to return to work as the government says it will only negotiate if the strike ends.
There has been a public outcry about the strike after a woman gave birth in a hospital car park in the capital Lusaka and the baby died minutes later.
All nurses, with the exception of senior managers, are demanding a 25% wage increase - the government has offered 15% - and an increase in uniform, night duty and housing allowances that have not been changed for six years.
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 Firing is not the answer - it is failing leaders that should fired 
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The BBC's Musonda Chibamba in Lusaka says health services in the country are heavily dependent on nurses.
At the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka, for example, the out-patients department is being manned by student nurses.
Our reporter says the nurses defied expectations when they continued their strike on Monday.
Instead, a large crowd of the nurses gathered on the lawns of the UTH where unarmed policemen were present, she says.
The nurses privately expressed their disappointment at what they called government failure to meet them half-way.
They have also been angered by an assertion by government spokesman Ronnie Shikapwasha that once dismissed, they would be replaced by nurses from neighbouring Zimbabwe, our correspondent says.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
"THE HARDER THE CONFLICT,
THE MORE GLORIOUS THE TRIUMPH" !
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Posted by: Mara at June 29, 2009 16:00 |
link | comments |
Militants attack Nigeria oil base!
Militant attacks have sharply cut Nigeria's oil output
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The main militant group in Nigeria's Niger Delta says it has attacked an oil facility, the second attack since a government amnesty offer last Thursday.
Royal Dutch Shell said it was stopping some production as a precaution after reports of an attack on two oil well clusters near its Forcados terminal.
The militants said the facility was on fire after the early morning attack.
The army has denied militant claims that a gunboat with soldiers on board was sunk during the raid.
Military spokesman Lt Col Rabe Abubakar said the Joint Task Force was sticking to the terms of the amnesty and would not attack militants unless fired upon.
The amnesty for militants is a bid to end years of crippling attacks, which have sharply cut oil production.
Some of the militant groups which operate in the Niger Delta's lawless swamps have agreed to disarm, on condition that they meet the president to iron out various issues.
The main group - the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) - has said it will not disarm until militant leader Henry Okah is freed from jail.
He is facing trial on charges of gun-running and treason after being arrested in Angola in 2007.
On Friday, the government offered to free him - but only if Angola agrees.
Before the amnesty, a JTF operation was under way in Delta State to hunt down Mend fighters which had forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
The militants claim they are fighting so local people benefit more from their region's oil wealth.
But many attacks are undertaken for financial gain and they have reduced oil production to 1.3m barrels per day, officials say. Nigeria's Opec quota is 2m.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
US envoy to meet Darfur's rebels!
More than two million people have fled their homes in Darfur
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The US envoy for Sudan, Scott Gration, is due to meet Darfur rebel leaders in neighbouring Chad in a bid to revive the stalled peace process.
Mr Gration is hoping to talk to officials from two rebel groups - the SLA and Jem - as well as Chad's President Idriss Deby.
Chad and Sudan accuse each other of backing rebel groups which operate across their troubled border.
Some 300,000 people have died in the six-year conflict, the UN says.
The BBC's Celeste Hicks in N'Djamena says it is an open secret that leaders from the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) are often in Chad's capital.
Many are from the same Zaghawa ethnic group as President Deby.
Leaders of Abdul Wahid's faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) are also in Chad for the talks.
Diplomatic sources say that the US envoy is hoping for a sign of the rebels' willingness to agree to a cessation of hostilities and to become more of a political force.
However just four weeks ago Jem said they took and briefly held the towns of Kornoi and Um Baru in Darfur, and Jem sources told the BBC that they may consider trying to retake Kornoi if the circumstances are right.
Although Mr Gration initially said it was not in his mandate to talk to Chadian rebels who recently staged an attack in the east of Chad, it is thought that he may now try to look at their role in the whole destabilisation of the region.
Chad accuses Sudan of backing these rebel groups.
Recent peace talks have stalled, partly because the rebels have split into so many different groups.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
MDC snubs Mugabe cabinet meeting!
The former rivals formed a unity government in February
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Ministers from Zimbabwe's ex-opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have boycotted a cabinet meeting chaired by President Robert Mugabe.
The meeting, usually held on a Tuesday, was brought forward as Mr Mugabe is off to Libya for an African Union summit.
When Mr Mugabe is away, MDC leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai chairs the cabinet gathering.
The MDC deputy leader said it showed "contempt" for the power-sharing unity government formed in February.
Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party "has not welcomed MDC as an equal", MDC Vice President Thokozani Khupe said.
She said the decision to move the meeting "reflects unilateralism, disrespect, contempt and refusal to recognise the reality and the letter of the global political agreement", AFP news agency quotes her as saying.
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Is this inclusive government a government of hunger?
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Mr Tsvangirai arrived back in Zimbabwe on Monday morning after touring the West lobbying for aid for the poverty-stricken country.
He managed to drum up just over $200m (£121m) in aid, but not the $7bn the country's finance minister says the country needs to revive its devastated economy.
Much of the money raised is not going directly to the government as donors are wary of sending money which could be misused by Mr Mugabe and his allies.
But Mr Tsvangirai defended his move to join Mr Mugabe in government.
"Those who accept me have to accept Robert Mugabe… If there is a problem, we go and fail together," he told reporters in Johannesburg on Saturday, AFP reports.
However, last week Mr Mugabe said the unity government was not living up to its promises.
"Our inclusive government came with the expectation that since we were all in this partnership, there would be aid from all quarters of the world," Zimbabwe's Herald newspaper quoted him as saying.
"Money cannot be found to pay those who are working. Not even the ministers, not the president," he said.
"So is this inclusive government a government of hunger? I had never received a US$100 in salary but this year that is what I was promised - not a single cent has come to me so far."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
South Africa passes World Cup test!
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By Piers Edwards
BBC, Johannesburg
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Not everybody liked the vuvuzela trumpets
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The final whistle has been blown at the Confederations Cup in South Africa - Brazil walked off with the cup after beating the USA and Spain beat South Africa into third place after extra time.
However, beyond what went on on the pitch, the point of the tournament was to act as a dress rehearsal for next year's World Cup.
So has South Africa passed the test?
During the competition, there were international complaints about the vuvuzela, the long, plastic trumpet loved by local fans.
But in truth, this isn't really an issue - it is part of South African culture and seemingly here to stay.
However, Danny Jordaan, who heads the Local Organising Committee, says that the event has thrown up some fundamental issues that he is keen to address.
"The first one is the Park and Ride which is a new addition to South African sport," he told the BBC.
"Secondly we have to work harder on getting our fans into the stadium early. These are the two that we have to deal with for the World Cup but, overall, we're happy with what we've achieved so far".
Happy they may be but it is no surprise that Mr Jordaan is concerned by the Park and Ride for it has been shambolic at times and needs real improvements.
The state of the pitches here has also been a problem but that is easy to fix - as organisers are unlikely to play rugby matches on them days before the World Cup.
Getting to the stadiums was a problem for some fans
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That was the case ahead of the visit of the British Lions, which in terms of audience numbers is far bigger than the Confederations Cup.
Some 35,000 rugby fans are in the country, stretching South Africa's air capacity to the full.
Tom Corcoran, a British travel agent, says it has not been an easy ride.
"Of our clients, about a third of them have lost their luggage at the airport. It doesn't bode well."
"It has been chaos at the airports, and it is small numbers now - about a tenth of what we are expecting next year.
"A lot of the internal flights are used to business travel so the airlines are used to passengers with just hand luggage but these guys are international travellers so they are coming with 20kg each.
"The airlines seemed to think there was too much luggage for the planes so they had to leave bags behind," he said.
Yet the real problem was that it took two or three days for the bags to arrive, so leaving some fans stranded in shorts during this fierce South African winter.
Equally concerning has been the various thefts, with possessions having gone missing from the media centre, as well as already reported incidents involving the Brazilian and Egyptian camps.
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Look at the crowds - everyone is happy and this is what Africa is all about
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Although many sought to gloss over those incidents, the hard reality was they were there.
"I don't think this is any good for South Africa," said Egyptain defender Ahmed Fathi.
"I don't know why it happened but I know everyone is sad about the loss of the money. I don't know what else could be done but i think it is sad."
Nonetheless, other players have been effusive in their praise, including victorious Brazilian Kaka, who said the tournament was exactly what he was expecting from Africa in terms of excitement and passion, particularly from the fans.
Many locals were slightly dismayed by the organisation of the event but many were proud with the way it went.
"Whoever said that Africans can't organise anything is eating humble pie now.
"Look at the crowds - everyone is happy and this is what Africa is all about. The doomsayers are under the bed now that the World Cup has come to Africa. We have to show the world our culture," one South African told me.t
But one issue was highlighted by South Africans who attended the matches. One man told the BBC that the women who sold local foods had been stopped from selling their wares in the stadiums.
Food-sellers have been banned from the stadiums
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"We need to see these people at the World Cup. We sing, we dance, we need energy and we need to eat in the stadium," he said.
This is an issue that may run and run, with voices being raised about the sidelining of hawkers from the stadium perimeters.
But things have, on the whole, gone well, not only for the locals but also many international observers.
Andy Anson, who is heading England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup, said he had been greatly impressed.
"It has been a fantastic football competition, I think it has been one of the most exciting Confederation Cups that there has been.
"So they have clearly done a very good job of staging the event and I think you have to focus on the positives. But I do know that there are things that the organisers want to improve on for next year.
"So that is one of the reasons for having this event - that you learn from it and you make things better. But overall it has been a tremendous success," he said.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Scant return from Tsvangirai tour!
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By Jonah Fisher
BBC News, Johannesburg
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Mr Tsvangirai's Western friends were more generous with kudos than cash
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Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai embarked on a three-week tour hoping to convince world leaders that the time had come to re-engage with Zimbabwe.
On the surface things went well.
A photo inside the White House of a friendly handshake with Barack Obama and meetings with European leaders all helped convey the message that this is a man the West feels it can work with.
Ultimately, though, this was not about goodwill but the cold hard cash that Zimbabwe's government needs to get the country back on its feet.
And of that, Mr Tsvangirai secured very little.
Just over $200m (£121m) is a scant return when the country's finance minister says they need $7bn.
Tellingly, very little of that money will go into the hands of government ministers.
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TSVANGIRAI'S WORLD TOUR
From 7 to 25 June 2009
Visited US, UK, Belgium, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Norway and France
$200m in aid secured
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"To us that is neither here nor there," Prime Minister Tsvangirai said on the French leg of the trip.
"The funds that are being given are going to Zimbabweans."
But the channelling of funds through international aid agencies is a very public rejection of the government Mr Tsvangirai is supposed to be leading, and of his claims that Zimbabwe has embarked on "an irreversible transition to democracy".
On a basic level there is no doubt that things have improved in Zimbabwe since the signing of the power-sharing agreement in February.
The scrapping of the Zimbabwe dollar has put an end to hyperinflation and there are now goods in the shops - available of course if you have the hard currency to pay for them.
Mr Tsvangirai appealed for exiles to return to Zimbabwe
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Schools and hospitals are also starting to function again, thanks to salaries being paid.
The maize harvest for this year, thanks to good rains and the liberalising of the grain market, has doubled.
But crucially, there is still little to show that on key political issues Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is being treated as an equal partner, or even heard, by President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
Differences over appointments are unresolved, activists are still being detained and media laws restrictive.
Amnesty International recently released a report saying "persistent and serious" human rights violations were still taking place.
Despite that, there are many in Harare willing to give the prime minister the benefit of the doubt.
"Any kind of re-engagement is good," a 24-year-old from the University of Zimbabwe said. "Zimbabwe has finally returned to the family of nations."
And here in Johannesburg there are signs that some Zimbabweans believe things are changing for the better and are heading back.
This month voluntary repatriations organised by the United Nation's International Organization for Migration got underway.
Sixty people were packed onboard the bus as it left early in the morning with more than 100 left disappointed on the side of the road.
"I'm concerned about my security but the degree of concern has actually decreased because of the coalition government," a man called Hardlife told the BBC from his seat on the bus.
Others are returning out of a sense of civic duty.
"More than 10% of Zimbabweans are in exile, so I'm calling for them to go back and rebuild their country," a teacher called Tafudzwa said.
"I'm going back to school I will be teaching on Monday."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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Police deny Kenya torture claims !
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Kenya's police have denied claims of torture and rape when they disarmed rival clan militias last year.
Human Rights Watch says there should be an inquiry into the "collective punishment" of civilians in Mandera.
The US-based organisation said its research showed thousands of people had been tortured and women had been raped.
But police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told the BBC there had been no torture or beatings and asked HRW to produce evidence to back up its findings.
"Certainly we should look into the laws in this country which allow any street boy to come here and publish very disparaging lies about our internal security forces," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
Earlier this year a UN investigator into allegations of extrajudicial killings elsewhere in Kenya, Philip Alston, said the police were a "law unto themselves".
According to Human Rights Watch, a joint police and military operation to disarm the warring militias in the north-eastern town of Mandera took place between 25 October and 28 October 2008.
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A woman who was raped in Elele:
"One held my head on the ground, and the other one started raping me.
I fainted because I was pregnant and when I woke up I just found myself damaged from the rape.
I ran to the bush where our livestock are. I went with the five children that I could see. After three days, I found the rest of my kids in the bush.
I came back after six weeks to give birth in Elele. I haven't seen any doctor or hospital."
Source: Human Rights Watch
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It followed deadly clashes between the local Garre and Murulle clans, which had killed 21 people earlier in the year.
"Unfortunately, that joint operation pursued a brutal strategy of basically rounding up all of the civilians in various villages and then, in a sense, collectively punishing them," the report's author Ben Rawlence told the BBC.
"Requiring them to turn over weapons, to disclose the whereabouts of the militias who've been fighting, torturing thousands of people and raping some women… destroying property and causing between 20,000 and 30,000 people to flee the area."
In February, Human Rights Watch researchers visited five of the towns and say they documented consistent accounts from more than 90 victims.
The interviewees said security forces entered early in the morning and rounded up all of the men they could find.
They were made to lie on the ground for hours and were beaten with rifle butts, sticks, canes and iron rods.
"In front of the police station, they made us lie down. They were beating us with sticks, rungus [clubs], anything. They weren't saying anything except beating us and then: 'Bring the gun or you'll die,'" a victim in El Wak said.
Other said the security forces twisted, crushed or ripped open their testicles.
"This is not a question of a few bad apples disobeying orders," Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch's executive director said.
"This operation was the result of a strategy devised by senior officials to use brutal force against Kenyan citizens."
Mr Kiraithe has denied previous accusations of police brutality and said if Human Rights Watch had evidence of torture in the Mandera district, the organisation should hand it over.
"We have well over five institutions in this country prepared to carry out public prosecutions and ensure that justice is done," Mr Kiraithe said.
The region around Mandera is prone to conflicts between rival clans, often for control of scarce water and pastures.
The area is largely inhabited by Somali-speaking nomads.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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Somali 'killer' stoned to death !
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The radical Islamist al-Shabab are accused of links to al-Qaeda
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Hardline Islamist militiamen in Somalia have stoned to death a man accused of raping and murdering a woman.
The execution took place in front of a large crowd in the town of Wanlaweyn, about 90km (55 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu.
The man was convicted by an unofficial court set up by the al-Shabab movement.
On Thursday in Mogadishu, al-Shabab - which advocates a strict form of Sharia - publicly amputated a hand and a foot from each of four men accused of theft.
"This man was accused of raping and killing an 18-year-old girl in May this year. The court found him guilty of the charges brought against him," Sheikh Mohamed Saleban, a local al-Shabab official, told AFP news agency on Sunday.
"He was a married man, which is why the court sentenced him to be stoned to death," he added, explaining that a rape conviction only incurs flogging.
Local resident Abdullahi Husein said most of the town's population turned out to watch the lynching, where gunmen banned cameras and mobile phones.
"Ten masked men from the al-Shabab forces stoned him to death in front of everyone. They had dug a hole, buried him to his neck before throwing stones at him," he told AFP.
In October last year, al-Shabab ordered a 13-year-old girl to be stoned to death in public in the southern city of Kismayo.
She was accused of adultery after reporting she had been raped by three men.
The radical Islamists, who are accused of links to al-Qaeda, already control much of the south of the country.
Since last month, al-Shabab's guerrillas have been locked in ferocious battles with forces loyal to the fragile UN-backed government in Mogadishu.
Last week, the administration appealed to neighbouring countries urgently to send troops to help.
A moderate Islamist president took office in January but even his introduction of Sharia law to the strongly Muslim country has not appeased the guerrillas.
Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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Sudanese 'suspect' back in Canada !
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Abousfian Abdelrazik says he went to Sudan in 2003 to visit his ailing mother
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A man with dual Canadian-Sudanese citizenship has arrived in Canada after being stranded in Sudan for six years.
Abousfian Abdelrazik was arrested while visiting his sick mother in 2003, and accused of having links with al-Qaeda.
Canada refused to renew his passport, but after his release he stayed at the Canadian embassy in Khartoum.
On 4 June a Canadian court ordered the government to allow him to return. He denies any links to terrorism and has not been charged with any crimes.
Mr Abdelrazik was greeted by dozens of well-wishers as he arrived at Toronto airport late on Saturday.
"I want to say to my supporters from coast to coast, every town, every city, every village, thank you very much for supporting me," he said.
During his six years in Sudan, he was twice detained as a terror suspect. He has said he was tortured.
Mr Abdelrazik's Canadian passport expired when he was in prison. After his release he found that he was on a United Nations air travel blacklist.
He had lived in the lobby of the Canadian embassy in Sudan since April 2008, fearing arrest by local authorities.
Canadian intelligence officials have acknowledged there is no information linking him to any crime.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
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Somali pirates free Belgian ship
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Somali pirates have released a Belgian dredging ship, the Pompei, and its crew two months after they were captured, the Belgian prime minister has said.
"We were... informed that the entire crew is in good health," Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy said in a statement obtained by AFP news agency.
No details were given about the circumstances of the ship's release.
The MV Pompei's crew include a Dutch captain, two Belgians, three Filipinos and four Croats.
The first Belgian ship to be seized by Somali pirates, it was hijacked on 18 April around 150km (93 miles) north of the Seychelles.
BBC NEWS RPORT.
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"EXPERIENCE IS NOT WHAT HAPPENS TO A MAN.
IT IS WHAT A MAN DOES WITH WHAT HAPPENS TO HIM"!
_________________
Egypt reopens crossing into Gaza!
Students and medical patients were among those allowed through
Egypt has opened its Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip for three days, allowing some Palestinians to leave the blockaded territory.
On the Egyptian side, 700 people and 10 trucks with medical aid from Arab countries were waiting to enter.
Some 550 people waited to cross the other way, with priority given to students, patients and officials.
Gaza has been blockaded by Israel, and much of the time by Egypt, for two years since Hamas took control there.
But a spokesman for Unrwa - the UN agency for Palestinian refugees - said the opening would not help the reconstruction of Gaza.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya expressed hope for a "complete" re-opening
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"It's going to make a very small difference, if any," Chris Gunness told the BBC's Newshour programme. "Rafah is designed not for industrial levels of building materials and other humanitarian supplies that need to go into Gaza."
Among those who have been given permission to pass through are officials attending the latest round of Palestinian unity talks in Cairo, students, and Palestinians needing urgent medical treatment.
Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniya made a surprise visit to the crossing and expressed hope for a "complete" re-opening.
"We are prepared and ready [to operate the crossing] according to arrangements undertaken with our Egyptian brothers, the Europeans, [President Mahmoud Abbas's] presidential guard and the [Hamas-run] government," he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
Despite considerable criticism in the Arab world, the Egyptian government has kept Rafah largely shut since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June 2007, insisting that the authority of President Abbas be restored.
However, Cairo is continuing to play a significant diplomatic role, including acting as a go-between for Israel and Hamas.
It is exactly six months since the start of Israel's military offensive in Gaza, and relations with the Palestinian Islamists of Hamas remain extremely tense.
In recent days there has been increased speculation about a possible deal to exchange captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for Palestinian prisoners.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
GOLD AND DIAMONDS !
Dear Family and Friends,
A few months ago a friend was approached by a vendor who had a large
walnut -sized transparent stone. The vendor didn't want to say where
he'd got the stone from but claimed it was a diamond and he was
trying to sell it. The stone had a sharp edge which made a deep
scratch in a steel drill bit without damagaing the stone.Was it a
diamond? Who knows but there are plenty of stories like this doing
the rounds. People in Mutare tell of deals going down all the time,
men in dark glasses, cars with tinted windows and little bundles
changing hands. Some talk of clear stones, others are grey or cloudy
but whatever the colour we are all wondering just who died while
digging for these stones.
A chilling report has just been released by Human Rights Watch
implicating Zimbabwe's military in horrific abuses at the newly
discovered diamond fields in Chiadzwa. Human Rights Watch collected
evidence of violence, murder and forced child labour at the diamond
deposits in Marange. The report talks of military helicopters gunning
people down, of teargas being thrown into shafts and of people buried
alive. It says that at least 214 people were killed during a three
week military operation in October 2008 and of people buried in mass
graves. Press reports quote Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at
Human Rights Watch as saying: "The police and army have turned this
peaceful area into a nightmare of lawlessness and horrific violence."
Human Rights Watch says that: "Zimbabwe's new government should get
the army out of the fields, put a stop to the abuse, and prosecute
those responsible."
It is incomprehensible that this is going on even now as Prime
Minister Tsvangirai tries to persuade the west that we have changed
and are deserving of their money.
The Human Rights Watch report could not be more damning, or more to
the point when it notes:
"The government could generate significant amounts of revenue from
the diamonds, perhaps as much as $200million US dollars per month, if
Marange and other mining centres were managed in a transparent and
accountable manner. This revenue could fund a significant portion of
the new government's economic recovery programme."
There remains little doubt in anyone's mind just exactly why Zanu PF
refused to concede defeat in the 2008 elections: from farms and
wildlife to gold and diamonds.
Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy.
©Copyright cathy buckle 27th June 2009.
25th June 2009
Dear Friends,
There has been a religious foundation on the Southwark site where the present Cathedral stands for over a thousand years. I wonder if, in all those centuries, there have been many scenes that matched in sheer drama what happened there on Saturday June 20th.
Southwark Cathedral has strong ties with Zimbabwe and the Bishop of Southwark is himself clearly in sympathy with the Movement for Democratic Change and has links to many parishes in Zimbabwe. There was thus no reason for him to think that Saturday's address by the Prime Minister would be any other than a joyful occasion. Zimbabweans had travelled from all over the UK to be present to hear Morgan Tsvangirai address them. The vast cathedral was crowded with over a thousand Zimbabweans. I was one of them and what follows is my personal reaction to the tumultuous scene we witnessed.
After two weeks of travel to various capitals and being feted by Heads of State, including President Obama of the US., Morgan Tsvangirai arrived in London. Perhaps the Zimbabwean Prime Minister was a touch complacent about the welcome he would receive from his own compatriots but whatever the reason he was certainly ill-prepared for what happened. It started so well; he entered the Cathedral to a warm welcome from the huge crowd. There was no doubt at all that we all loved him and wished him well. So what happened, where did it all go wrong? There had been press reports all week that the Prime Minister was going to urge the people to go back to Zimbabwe. Indeed on that very Saturday, the UK Independent carried a whole page headed 'Come home, Tsvangirai tells ex-pats. Prime Minister comes to London with message for the Zimbabwean diaspora.' I read it on the train going into London; we knew in advance what he was going to say and they were almost his first words as he stood in the pulpit of this ancient church. That was Morgan Tsvangiral's biggest mistake. He totally failed to gauge the mood of his audience and he failed to understand the strength of feeling among his compatriots, many of whom had lost everything and been brutalised and tortured by the Mugabe regime. By the time he was telling the audience that 'peace and stability prevailed in Zimbabwe,' that schools and hospital were open again and that there were goods in the shops, Morgan Tsvangirai had completely lost his audience. He was hit by a wave of highly vocal anger and he stood apparently bemused by what he was hearing. Instead of raising his voice and reasserting his authority he simply left the pulpit; that was the very worst thing he could have done. When he returned some minutes later, he made things even worse by asking in a rather aggrieved way, 'Did I say start packing now? No, I said you should be thinking about going home.' As if we don't think about that all the time, the audience muttered angrily. The questions from the floor, apart from being very badly organised, were direct and to the point. 'What is there for us to go back to while Mugabe is still there?' And that was the focal point for the crowd's anger; a huge shout went up, 'Mugabe Out, Mugabe Out' but of course, Tsvangirai couldn't respond to that. After all, he sits in partnership with the same man who has given and is still giving the orders to continue the oppression of all dissenting voices. The 'change' we all long for has not come about and the original MDC slogan, 'Chinga' has become no more than an ironical comment on the path the MDC has taken.
Utterly sickened by it all, I walked out of the cathedral only to find hundreds of people already outside. Intensely angry and profoundly disappointed, they sang out their fury at the Prime Minister's message. I spoke to lots of people and I heard nothing but intense disappointment: 'The struggle continues' was the message from everyone I spoke to. What should have been an occasion for renewed hope and belief in the future had turned into a miserable fiasco. One woman, shaking with anger, said “I was raped, my children were beaten and traumatised and Morgan Tsvangirai tells me to go back, go back to what?” she demanded.
I was no longer in the cathedral when Tendai Biti attempted to speak but I understand he was drowned out and the meeting ended with the MDC team being led out of the cathedral by the clerics. It was all over, at least an hour earlier than expected. There are many possible explanations for the ignominious failure of the Prime Minister to make his case. While I understand the choice of Southwark Cathedral as a 'neutral' venue, the setting itself did not make for a suitable meeting place. All the chairs had been removed so the crowd were standing for a long time; the PM was late arriving; the sound system was so poor that much of the input was practically inaudible; there was no obvious chairman to control the meeting and the question and answer session was consequently chaotic. My own impression, however, is that Morgan Tsvangiri himself was not prepared. I had the distinct feeling that he had given little thought to what he was going to say. Perhaps, after weeks of international adulation he just could not believe that his harshest critics would be his own countrymen and women? Yes, there may have been trouble-makers in the audience but if there were, they were tapping into the very real anger of the crowd. Whatever the reason, Saturday June 20th was a disaster for Morgan Tsvangirai and the media, who were present in force in the Cathedral, were not slow to pick up the story. For Zimbabweans in the diaspora their Prime Minister himself had given the British authorities the perfect reason to send them home. Why should the British Home Office allow them to stay here when the Zimbabwean Prime Minister tells his own people that there is 'peace and stability' in Zimbabwe? Just the day before the Prime Minister made that nonsensical claim, the Woza women were savagely beaten by the police and the violent farm invasions were continuing but the Prime Minister made no mention of those unpleasant truths.
As they left the Cathedral, people were asking why could Morgan Tsvangirai not just have told them the truth; that things were not yet right at home but that he and his fellow MDC ministers were working hard to rectify the situation? Instead, he was assuring them all was well. He forgets that all of us in the diaspora are in regular communication with families and friends back home. We understand very well the reality on the ground. He also forgets that without the hard-earned cash contributions from Zimbabweans in the diaspora, thousands of families at home might never have survived. Yet, still, he tells us to Go home. Go home to what? To a country where there is, on Tendai Biti's own admission, 94% unemployment and NGO's are feeding an estimated 5 million people, expected to rise to 7 million next year. It was all utterly incomprehensible and has left Zimbabweans in the UK diaspora stunned and bereft of hope. Instead of an honest and realistic assessment of the situation, the truth was distorted and the man we trusted, the man who was our hero has shown himself no more honest than any other politician.
Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF will be laughing all the way to the ballot box.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.
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Hoping for change in Guinea-Bissau !
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By Luis Cardador
BBC News, Bissau
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Voters in Guinea-Bissau hope presidential elections on Sunday will be a turning point for the deeply troubled state which has become a major transit route for cocaine smugglers and witnessed a spate of political assassinations.
Despite the recent turmoil and a serious cash crisis, the atmosphere has taken a distinctly carnival atmosphere.
In past elections, voting has largely gone along ethnic or religious lines, but many people are now so fed-up with the situation that this seems to be changing.
The country is cash-starved and heavily dependent on just one product - the cashew nut, which 75% of its people rely on for income.
Only 40% of the population has been to school. Many teachers have not been paid for more than a year.
However, one Bissau resident told me that the cash crisis had one positive side - the army did not have enough ammunition to cause any trouble.
The authorities say everything is in place for a smooth election - only the heavy seasonal rains could upset the plans.
Yet beneath the apparently relaxed atmosphere on the streets, all is not well.
Earlier this month a presidential candidate and a former defence minister were shot dead by soldiers who accused them of plotting a coup.
Presidential hopeful Baciro Dabo was said to be resisting arrest at his home when he was shot dead, but his allies insist he was asleep with his wife at the time.
And former Defence Minister Helder Proenca and two of his guards were also killed.
These killings follow the assassination of President Joao Bernardo Vieira in March - the reason why this election was needed.
He is thought to have been killed in revenge for the murder of the armed forces chief a few hours earlier
These deaths highlighted what many see as a culture of impunity in the country.
There is still no word from the authorities on who was responsible for the president's assassination let alone the other murders, death threats and beatings which many believe are politically motivated.
Only 40% of people have been to school in cash-strapped Guinea-Bissau
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One legal expert told the BBC that Guinea-Bissau has a very advanced legal system but "the rules are simply ignored".
European Union election observer Johan Van Hecke believes the rule of law must be enforced.
"There now has to be a serious fight against the feeling that some people are above the law. Whoever is elected president of Guinea-Bissau, I believe that should be one of their first priorities."
This sense of impunity has helped turn Guinea-Bissau into a major centre for the drugs trade.
It has been nicknamed the "cocaine warehouse of West Africa".
Recently members of the US Senate accused Colombian drug barons of being involved in trafficking here, and earlier this week US Assistant Under-Secretary for Africa Johnnie Carson declared Guinea-Bissau to be the continent's first narco-state.
Many Bissau-Guineans believe these descriptions are overstated; nonetheless, all presidential candidates agree that drug-trafficking must be tackled.
"But what can we do without outside help?" asked one of the presidential front-runners, Malam Bacai Sanha.
"Our navy only has one ship. How can we secure all our coast with its many islands?"
Voters are not deprived of choice: There are 11 candidates running for president, of whom three are seen as likely winners.
Koumba Yala may have changed his name but not his trademark hat
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Mr Sanha is the candidate of the ruling PAIGC, the party of the 1970s struggle against Portuguese colonial rule.
This is the third time he has fought for the job, having been defeated once by Koumba Yala and in 2005 by Mr Vieira, the president who was assassinated last March.
No wonder is motto is "Hora Tchica" meaning "the time has come".
But he is facing a strong challenge from Henrique Pereira Rosa.
Mr Rosa is running as an independent and some commentators suggest his campaign is gaining ground and he might even win on Sunday.
He is seen as a man able to bring a degree of stability to the country.
He headed a caretaker government between 2003 and 2005 after a coup deposed then-President Yala.
Mr Yala - who has recently changed his name to Mohamed Yala Embalo but he still wears his trademark red bobble hat - is the third main player.
He is the leader of the opposition PRS and for many people the man responsible for changing the political and economic course of the country for the worse.
During Mr Rosa's interim rule, Mr Yala once infamously forced his way into the presidential palace and proclaimed himself president.
During his own presidency the IMF and the World Bank suspended aid to the country after accusations of mismanagement and a string of sackings in the government.
But he is believed to have wide support within the military.
His share of the vote could be a decisive factor in the outcome of a second round, should none of the candidates win outright on Sunday.
Twenty-one observers from 14 countries have arrived to monitor the elections.
Henrique Pereira Rosa is gaining ground in the campaign
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Ahead of the polls, Mr Hecke seemed satisfied with the preparations.
"What most impressed me was the fact that the Cacheu Regional electoral commission had carried out the process in a transparent and inclusive way," he said.
He joked how one candidate's agent had told him it was common to see rival candidates' officials playing cards together.
But he remains worried about the lack of security for candidates despite the violence earlier this month.
And the observers are keen to ensure that in small towns and villages, the voters are genuinely free to choose between candidates.
There is however one common denominator in this campaign: The need for unity, peace and stability.
Bissau-Guineans say they are tired of broken promises, violence and political turmoil.
For them the priority is that there is no return to the bad old days.
BBC NEWS REPORT
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Ethiopia looks to revive past railway glories!
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By Elizabeth Blunt
BBC News, Ethiopia
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A major project is under way to restore Ethiopia's 100-year-old imperial railway, and there are even plans to build a new national network.
The French built it for the Emperor Menelik in the early 1900s, and French influences are everywhere, from the glazed canopies of the Addis Ababa railway station to the startling sight of the Ethiopian station staff in Dire Dawa talking to each other in French as they dispatch a night goods train down the line to Djibouti.
Like so many rail systems, the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway was neglected for years in favour of road transport, but the loss of its main ports when Eritrea gained independence left Ethiopia totally dependent on Djibouti for an outlet to the sea.
This passenger may face a long wait for the next train
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The country needed the railway more than ever, but the line was in no fit state for intensive use.
The system is narrow, one metre gauge, with steep gradients on the long haul up from sea level to the Ethiopian highlands.
Some stretches of track are more than a century old; crumbling embankments and decaying bridges limit the weight and speed of the trains.
Recently it has been averaging one derailment a week, and attracting so little traffic that for a time staff frequently went unpaid.
But now, with European Union support, a major restoration project is under way.
Almost a third of the track is being re-laid, using heavier weight rails - 40kg per metre instead of the 20kg rails still in use on some stretches of the line.
The section from Addis Ababa to Dire Dawa has been closed while the work is going on.
The railway to nowhere?
A spectacular stretch of line, near the town of Metahara, where the track runs on a narrow causeway across a volcanic lake, has already been completed.
Workers are strengthening bridges, consolidating embankments, and casting 25,000 concrete sleepers to replace the lightweight metal sleepers which were there before.
Meanwhile, a little desultory traffic still runs on the lower stretch of the line from Dire Dawa to Djibouti - a trainload of fruit and vegetables once a week for sale in Djibouti, coffee for export, trainloads of live camels destined for the meat markets of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.
Coming the other way are all the construction materials needed for the project itself.
When the work is finished, in perhaps 18 months time, the system will still be narrow gauge, but much safer and more robust, able to take heavier trains at faster speeds.
The railway's general manager, To'om Terie, who now sits in his comfortable office in Addis Ababa above a silent, deserted station, says he expects a volume of something like 10 trains a day and a comfortable operating profit.
Mr To'om, who has worked for the railway for more than 30 years, is happy about the prospects for his own railway, but excited too that national policy now officially embraces rail transport.
The government is starting to plan a completely new rail system, with a further 5,000 km (3,100 miles) of lines.
It is early days yet, and Ethiopia is still looking for partners to build such a network.
But the man in charge of the project, Getachew Betru, confirmed that this would be a standard gauge railway, electrified to take advantage of the abundant, cheap electricity expected to be produced by ambitious new hydro-electric schemes soon to come into operation.
It would be primarily designed to carry freight, and although the proposed routes are still confidential, it might - for instance - serve the coffee-producing areas of western Ethiopia, the light industries of the north, the commercial food producing areas south of Addis Ababa, and the fertile, but as yet undeveloped farmlands near the Sudan border.
The French influence is still strong
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Mr Getachew talks with enthusiasm about rail transport as the engine of development, and of his conviction that railways are inherently more "pro-poor" than any other transport system - of much more use to Ethiopia's rural dwellers than an expensive network of tarmac road, driven on mostly by tourists and aid workers.
At the moment the new network is still a dream, but given Ethiopia's dramatically-rugged terrain, if it does get built, then it will surely be one of the outstanding railway engineering feats of the 21st Century.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Emergency powers for Niger leader!
Mamadou Tandja says the people of Niger want him to stay in power
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The president of Niger says he will assume sweeping emergency powers, after a court again said he could not extend his rule.
Mamadou Tandja, 71, made his announcement after Niger's top court ruled against a referendum that could give him three more years in office.
Mr Tandja has governed the West African nation since 1999, serving two terms.
His plans to remain in power have sparked domestic protests and been criticised by international donors.
But supporters of Mr Tandja say he has brought economic growth and so deserves the right to seek re-election.
In a televised address, the president said he was assuming the special powers "because the independence of the country is threatened".
His address came hours after the Constitutional Court rejected his request for a review of an earlier decision that ruled his referendum unlawful.
Mr Tandja announced his referendum plan in May. But it drew protests from the opposition and trade unions, who turned to the court.
The president then dissolved parliament and assumed executive powers.
The country's electoral commission, meanwhile, has set parliamentary elections for 20 August - two weeks after the referendum's proposed date.
NNC NEWS REPORT.
