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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 116
30 March - 05 April 2002


CONTENTS:

DRC: No commitments made at Lusaka peace summit
DRC: RCD and Banyamulenge battling in South Kivu
ROC: Supreme court confirms Sassou-Nguesso's victory
ROC: Guerrillas attack government positions NW of capital
RWANDA: ICTR-gov't joint commission in dispute, "military trial" adjourned
BURUNDI: Some 4,800 families displaced in Rushubi
BURUNDI: Germany resumes aid; mining to resume
BURUNDI-TANZANIA: ICVA, Jesuits warn against refugee repatriations
UGANDA: Irish aid to continue despite concern at executions
KENYA: Muted opposition reaction to KANU-NDP merger

ALSO SEE:

UGANDA-SUDAN: Focus on missing child abductees at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27126

TANZANIA-UGANDA: Interview with outgoing World Bank representative Jim
Adams at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27076

KENYA: Focus on forest excisions at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27017

DRC: No commitments made at Lusaka peace summit

A one-day summit held in Lusaka, Zambia, on the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) peace process ended on Wednesday evening with no new
commitments made by participating regional leaders. The respective
presidents of the DRC, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa attended
the meeting, while Uganda and Angola were represented at ministerial
level. The leaders of the rebel movements in the DRC were not present. A
communique issued after the four-hour closed-door meeting reaffirmed the
parties' existing commitments under the Lusaka ceasefire agreement,
underlining "the necessity to accelerate the withdrawal of foreign
troops", but not mentioning a timetable.

The communique called for the deployment of more UN troops before the
final withdrawal of foreign forces. It noted positive developments at the
inter-Congolese dialogue (ICD) in Sun City, and called on the participants
to reach a political agreement as fast as possible, to restore the
country's unity.

Meanwhile, progress is being held up at the ICD by disagreement in two of
the five committees, where the political system and national defence are
being discussed. "The talks are blocked in those committees," said a
spokesman for the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) armed
opposition movement, Kin Kiey Mulumba, on Tuesday. The political committee
had managed to agree on the need to preserve the sovereignty and unity of
the DRC, but failed so far to reach agreement on the details of a
transitional constitution, and in particular whether a new president
needed to be appointed at the ICD, he said. The rebel groups are insisting
that a new president be appointed to head the transition, an idea ruled
out by government officials.

A subcommittee on the political and legal system was subsequently set up
on Tuesday to try to find convergence between the positions of the
government and the other parties. However, the subcommittee spent most of
the day arguing about who should be its rapporteur, finally agreeing to
appoint five people, plus its chairman, as joint rapporteurs, a source at
the ICD told IRIN. The defence committee also remained split on Tuesday,
over the issue of who would choose the high command of a new national
army. It did not meet on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a statement issued on Thursday by the UN Observer mission in
DRC (known by its French acronym, MONUC) said that as of Tuesday there was
no military presence in the town of Moliro, Katanga Province, southeastern
DRC. MONUC added that it was closely monitoring movements in Moliro, and
sending a team of observers there every other day. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27100]

DRC: RCD and Banyamulenge battling in South Kivu

A delegation of community leaders has been sent to the Hauts Plateaux of
South Kivu Province, where clashes have been in progress between
Banyamulenge (ethnic Tutsi) fighters and the rebel RCD-Goma, a
Banyamulenge spokesman, Enoch Sebeniza Ruberangabo, told IRIN on Monday.
The dispatch of the mission followed weeks of fighting between RCD forces
and the Banyamulenge, who have been joined by other tribes, Ruberangabo
said. RCD Secretary-General Azarias Ruberwa also confirmed that fighting
had been taking place.

Ruberangabo, who has written to the RCD authorities to criticise their
handling of the problem, is the coordinator of Shikama, a collective of
Banyamulenge associations in the DRC. He is also a civil society
representative at the ICD in Sun City. In his letter to the RCD, he warned
that in trying to crush Banyamulenge resistance, the RCD would increase
the risk of the extermination of the DRC Tutsi community.

The Banyamulenge spokesman told IRIN that the image of the RCD as a
Banyamulenge movement was false, and could cause grave prejudice in terms
of people's perception of his community. Ruberangabo said that since the
Banyamulenge uprising broke out in January, its ranks had been reinforced
by hundreds of RCD soldiers, led by Commandant Patrick Masunzu, an ethnic
Banyamulenge officer in the RCD. "When I left Bukavu [the main town in
South Kivu] on 22 February," Ruberangabo said, "there were already 21 dead
from the conflict and 42 wounded in the general hospital."

Thousands of RCD soldiers had been sent to put down the revolt, he said,
but a delegation of Banyamulenge leaders had also been organised by the
Rwandan government. It was intended that the delegation would isolate
Masunzu, said Ruberangabo. "It will be very difficult for them to
negotiate with Masunzu as the delegation was constituted in Kigali," he
added. The Banyamulenge constitute the oldest Tutsi community in the DRC,
and it is said that most Congolese Tutsis belong to it. Although they are
prominent in the RCD, and have provided many troops for the movement,
there have been several previous clashes between the Banyamulenge and
Rwandan-backed RCD.

ROC: Supreme court confirms Sassou-Nguesso's victory

The supreme court in the Republic of Congo (ROC) has officially confirmed
the first-round landslide victory of Denis Sassou-Nguesso in the
presidential election held on 10 March. The official results are nearly
the same as those announced by Interior Minister Pierre Oba on 13 March.
According to a statement released by the Congolese supreme court,
Sassou-Nguesso received 1,075,247 votes - more than 89 percent of the
1,295,319 total votes cast from a body of 1,733,943 registered voters in
this country of some three million people. None of the six challengers who
remained in the race garnered more than 3 percent of the vote.

Former Prime Minister Andre Milongo, considered to be Sassou-Nguesso's
main challenger, withdrew from the race on 8 March, claiming
irregularities. Former President Pascal Lissouba, who defeated
Sassou-Nguesso in the country's last presidential election, held in 1992,
and former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas were barred from entering the
race by the revised constitution, which requires candidates to have
resided continuously in the country for at least two years before the
election. Both are living abroad in exile, having been tried and convicted
in absentia for crimes allegedly committed during civil war that plagued
the nation throughout the 1990s.

This was the first time Sassou-Nguesso was elected to the presidency, an
office he first seized in 1979 and held until 1992, and then seized again
in 1997 until this month's elections. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27061]

ROC: Guerrillas attack government positions NW of capital

Guerrillas have attacked several government military positions in the Pool
region northwest of the capital, Brazzaville, the government of the
Republic of Congo (ROC) reported on Friday. The attacks on the Forces
armees congolaises (FAC) in the locales of Intsini, Kindamba, Kingoyi,
Louloubo and Mayama are believed to have been launched by rebels belonging
to Rev Frederic Bitsangou's (alias Ntoumi) "Ninjas". Humanitarian sources
in Brazzaville told IRIN on Friday that "a couple hundred" displaced
people from Mayama had arrived in the capital, and that an assessment
mission of the situation was imminent. No death toll was available on
Friday, although military spokesman Col Jean-Robert Obargui told AP that
army casualties had thus far come to two dead and many wounded. Obargui
added that while there was no firm word on rebel casualties, he believed
them to be high.

On Tuesday, at least two people were killed and 12 wounded in an attack on
a passenger train traveling from the coastal town of Pointe-Noire to
Brazzaville, said to have taken place in two separate locations near
Kinkembo, some 150 km west of the capital. The route, Congo's main railway
line, has since been shut down by the government for security concerns. AP
reported that the closure has resulted in gas shortages in the capital on
Friday, with long lines forming at pumps. Food stocks remained plentiful
in the city, but authorities warned they, too, could start running out
soon.

Following 1999's ceasefire agreements, the process of demobilising an
estimated total of 25,000 militia fighters has been underway in ROC. It
includes members of the Cobras (loyal to current President Denis
Sassou-Nguesso), the Cocoyes (loyal to former President Pascal Lissouba),
and the Ninjas (loyal to former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas). Since the
end of the civil war, many former militiamen have surrendered their
weapons in exchange for civilian jobs. Through the UNDP/IOM programme for
the "Reintegration of Ex-Combatants and Collection of Light Weapons",
which has been operating since November 2000, more than 7,500
ex-combatants have been assisted in the transition to civilian life
through funds and training to start small businesses. Some 1,800 have been
reintegrated by the government, primarily into the army. The initiative
has also collected and destroyed 12,000 small arms. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27135]

RWANDA: ICTR-gov't joint commission in dispute, "military trial" adjourned

Rwanda and the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) are at
odds over the mandate of a joint commission to investigate allegations of
mistreatment of witnesses. In a statement dated 28 March, the ICTR said it
had proposed to the government of Rwanda "out of concern for transparency
and fairness, to establish a joint commission to investigate the
allegations of mistreatment of witnesses coming from Rwanda, echoed by
certain Rwandan authorities and nongovernmental organisations in recent
public statements". However, the government of Rwanda had contended that
the commission was also intended to investigate allegations that genocide
suspects were working within the ICTR.

The ICTR had already denied that allegation, saying that "the recruitment
and employment of United Nations staff are governed by rules from which
there can be no exception... and that there was no question of expanding
the commission's mandate to include matters that are the exclusive
responsibility of the [ICTR], which works in close consultation with the
United Nations Office of Human Resources Management in New York".

The ICTR stated that it looked forward to a positive response from the
Rwandan authorities regarding the establishment of the commission "within
the time-limits prescribed, on the basis of the initially proposed terms
of reference, solely consisting of the joint investigation of the
allegations of mistreatment of witnesses coming from Rwanda". [Full report
at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27111]

Meanwhile, the trial of the alleged mastermind of the 1994 genocide in
Rwanda, Theoneste Bagosora, and three other Rwandan former senior military
officers was on Wednesday postponed to September, UN spokesman in New
York, Fred Eckhard, told journalists. "The judges felt that more time was
needed by both the prosecution and the defence to ensure the trial would
proceed smoothly," he said.

The trial, dubbed the "military trial", opened on Tuesday at the ICTR; the
accused, however, were not present in court, but were represented by their
lawyers. Bagosora, former directeur de cabinet in the defence ministry,
has been accused along with Lt-Col Anatole Nsengiyumva, former commander
of military operations in Rwanda's northwestern Gisenyi sector, Maj Aloys
Ntabakuze, former commander of the para-commando battalion, and Brig-Gen
Gratien Kabiligi, former chief of military operations. They were charged
at the joint trial with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide,
complicity in genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide,
crimes against humanity for murder, extermination, rape, persecution and
other inhumane acts, an ICTR press release said. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27102]

BURUNDI: Some 4,800 families displaced in Rushubi

Some 4,800 families have been displaced in Rushubi town in Isare District,
in Bujumbura Rural, east of Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, a humanitarian
source reported local authorities as saying on Wednesday. This figure
applied to the displacement which started on Monday after a clash between
the Burundian army and rebels, the source said, noting that it was
additional to the 1,800 families displaced in Rushubi since January. "Not
the United Nations nor the nongovernmental organisations [NGOs] could
reach these people even today [Wednesday] because of the security
situation in that area," Helena Mazarro, Humanitarian Affairs Officer for
the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told IRIN.
"The authorities have said that these people are now living with other
families or in schools and they [authorities] are requesting assistance
for them," she said. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27081]

On Thursday, Medecins Sans Frontieres-Belgium (MSF-B) managed to reach
Rushubi, MSF-B Head of Mission Stephan Goetghebuer told IRIN on Thursday.
"Our team evacuated seven people who were wounded to hospital. The
situation is virtually quiet," he said. A small assessment conducted by
the MSF-B team in the area on Thursday noted that the number of 4,800
families reported as displaced was "a possibility", he said. They also
observed that the general health of the people looked fine and that they
had access to free health care offered by NGOs. "They reported, however,
two suspected cholera cases," he said, adding that the team had said the
hygiene situation in the sites was poor. The team had also noted lack of
some non-food items.

The Burundi army spokesman, Col Augustin Nzabampema, said on Wednesday
that 29 rebels had been killed in an army operation which was now in its
fourth week in Bujumbura Rural. "The operations started at Kabezi and have
been going on for three days in Isale commune in an area called Kibuye.
The operations are being carried out to our entire satisfaction," Burundi
radio quoted Nzabampema as saying. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27113]

BURUNDI: Germany resumes aid; mining to resume

Germany is to resume aid to Burundi following a nine-year break, the
German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development announced in a
press release on Tuesday. A total of 45.2 million euros (almost US $40
million) has been earmarked for projects involving the reintegration of
Burundi refugees, HIV/AIDS-related activities, and rural water-supply
projects, which had also been financed by Germany prior to 1993, the
statement said.

The decision put Germany "in harmony" with the rest of the international
community, which committed itself to assisting Burundi at a Geneva
conference held in December 2001, in support of the transitional
government, the statement quoted Parliamentary State Secretary Uschi Eid
as saying. It was to be hoped that the money allocated towards
reintegration programmes for refugees would contribute to the
stabilisation of the Great Lakes region in general. German aid to Burundi
was suspended in 1993, when civil war erupted between Hutu rebels and the
predominantly Tutsi military. The war has claimed the lives of an
estimated 250,000 people, most of them civilians. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27103]

Meanwhile, the Australian mining company, Argosy Minerals, will resume its
operations at its Musongati nickel project, southeastern Burundi, after a
two-year suspension, a statement from the organisation said on Tuesday.
The company suspended its operations in April 2000, due to escalating
political tension and the resulting deterioration in security in the
country at that time, the statement said. However, over the past year,
according to the company, there have been significant political changes in
Burundi resulting from the peace initiative introduced by Burundi's peace
process facilitator, Nelson Mandela, it said.

The Musongati complex lies within what has been referred to as the East
African nickel belt, but is more correctly termed as the Kabanga-Musongati
Ultramafic Alignment - a recognised metallogenic province hosting nickel
and cobalt sulphide mineralisation to the north (Kabanga, Kasese), and
platinum mineralisation to the south (Mibango), the statement said. [Full
report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27085]

BURUNDI-TANZANIA: ICVA, Jesuits warn against refugee repatriations

The International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), an advocacy
association representing over 70 NGOs, has added its voice to those
warning against the mass repatriation of Burundi refugees from Tanzania.
With the Tanzanian president, Benjamin Mkapa, referring to refugees as "an
unbearable burden" in recent statements, and Burundi officials encouraging
the refugees to return home, "there is a risk that refugees are being put
in a position where return to Burundi may not be entirely voluntary", the
ICVA says in an article in its latest newsletter entitled "When going home
is not an option".

"The reality on the ground in Burundi should point strongly in the
direction of not promoting refugee return at this time," the ICVA states.
The agency cites a number of factors which determine this: the hundreds of
thousands of Burundis who are displaced within the country, the
mono-ethnic composition of the upper echelons of the army (Tutsi), which
has been responsible for many of the killings in the country's civil war,
impunity for past killings, unresolved land rights issues and continued
fighting and insecurity in many parts of the country.

The issue of land was a major one that needed to be resolved before any
mass repatriation takes place, said ICVA, emphasising that efforts would
have to be made to ensure that both internally displaced persons and
returning refugees had access to land. As the majority of the Burundi
population earned its living from farming, without access to land or
alternative sources of livelihood, return would be unsustainable, it said.
Any forcible return of the 345,000 Burundi refugees into the current
situation in Burundi would be "potentially disastrous".

Recent statements and visits to the camps by both the Tanzanian and
Burundi governments were putting a "tremendous amount of pressure" on the
refugees to return home. "As a result of this pressure it is not clear if
those that are registering to return are doing so because they feel the
conditions in Burundi are right or if they feel that a decision on return
will soon be made for them by the governments," ICVA said. [Full report
at: www.icva.ch (Talk Back Newsletter, Volume 4)]

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), meanwhile, has reiterated its warning
against the repatriation of the refugees. The international advocacy
organisation noted that only days before the repatriation of some 430
people by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to
Burundi last week, the president of Burundi, Pierre Buyoya, had warned
that violence was threatening the peace process in Burundi. Speaking
during talks with his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, he had given
"a clear warning that the work of the transitional government, put in
place after the peace accord of 2000, was being hindered by the continuing
violence", JRS stated in its bi-monthly news bulletin on 2 April. [Full
report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27083]

UGANDA: Irish aid to continue despite concern at executions

The Irish government has expressed concern about the killing of an Irish
priest in Uganda on 21 March and the subsequent execution of two soldiers
summarily convicted of killing him, but said its aid programme will
continue to help the poor of Uganda. The two Uganda People's Defence Force
(UPDF) soldiers were found guilty by a field court martial of shooting
dead Fr O'Toole, his driver and a passenger as they travelled along the
Kotido-Moroto road, northeastern Uganda, four days before they were
convicted and executed.

There had been a measure of pressure in Ireland to reconsider the level or
scope of Irish assistance to Uganda as a result of the media stir
O'Toole's killing and the soldiers' executions caused, but Liz O'Donnell,
the Irish Minister of State for Overseas Development and Human Rights has
stated in a Department of Foreign Affairs press release that "the aid
programme [to Uganda] will continue as it is meant to help the poor
people."

Uganda is one of six priority countries for Ireland Aid, with development
assistance expected to reach some 35.5 million euros (over US $31 million)
this year, according to projections made in October 2001. [see
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12582]

O'Donnell said the Irish government's concerns about the case had been
conveyed to the Ugandan authorities, and the Irish Ambassador to Uganda,
Mairtin O'Fainin, had sought a meeting with President of Uganda Yoweri
Museveni to address the matter. "As part and parcel of Ireland Aid's
programme for Uganda, frank dialogue should take place on all issues
relating to governance and human rights," she added. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27064]

KENYA: Muted opposition reaction to KANU-NDP merger

For the past three weeks, Kenyan newspapers have been replete with reports
about the merger between the Kenya African National Union (KANU) and the
National Development Party (NDP), but the opposition's reaction to it has
been low-key. What appears to have interested the opposition more is the
recent announcement by the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC)
that it will be unable to have a new constitution in place within the year
as previously planned. The CKRC said in a statement on Wednesday 27 March
that it could not conduct constituency hearings, draft a report and
circulate a draft bill on the constitution for national debate by October,
in time for general elections scheduled to be held by December.

There has been keen media speculation since that CKRC chairman, Professor
Yash Pal Ghai, was "hijacked" by other members of the commission and about
the potential effect the CKRC announcement could have on the holding of
elections, reform of electoral laws or an extension of the life of
parliament.

Meanwhile, the 18 March meeting at Kasarani Stadium in the Kenyan capital,
Nairobi, at which the formation of the "New KANU" was announced,
highlighted the confidence and strength of the new line-up as another
challenge facing the opposition. Once again, the opposition finds itself
having to react to what the ruling party does instead of creating its own
agenda and momentum, according to political analysts.

Perceiving this shortcoming, the Social Democratic Party chairman and
Ugenya MP, James Orengo, cautioned his colleagues, at a rally at Busia in
western Kenya on 25 March, against procrastinating in countering the
challenge.

However, a political science lecturer from Nairobi university, who
requested anonymity, told IRIN that Kasarani was just a beginning, and
there were still too many unknowns for the opposition to want to reveal
its hand just yet. "We still have possible extensions of time for both the
Constitutional Review Committee and the life of parliament," this source
stated. "It is difficult to know how the many disparate elements in the
New KANU will settle down as the politics of this election year develop."
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27044]


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