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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 165
08 - 14 March 2003


CONTENTS:

DRC: Calm restored in Bunia, Rwanda warned to stay away
DRC: Rights group decries atrocities by "false" Mayi-Mayi factions
DRC: Dialogue in South Africa to end last week of March
CAR: Government struggles to reduce HIV/Aids prevalence
CAR: WFP needs US $6.1 million for food aid
CAR: President orders army to ease up on offensive
CAR-ROC: UN worried by the volatile situation in CAR
ROC: Ebola toll still rising in Cuvette-Ouest Region
BURUNDI: WFP appeals for 16,000 mt of food
BURUNDI: AU observer team now complete
RWANDA: Kigali ready to defend its security, Kagame says
RWANDA: Diaspora to vote in elections
UGANDA: Rebels fail to meet gov't peace team
KENYA: Maasai women to sue British army for alleged rape

ALSO SEE:

DRC: Focus on the proliferation of small arms in the northeast at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32761

UGANDA: Feature - Hopes for peace in north and an end to suffering at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32787

KENYA: Focus on International Women's Day at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32717

DRC: Calm restored in Bunia, Rwanda warned to stay away

Humanitarian access to the embattled city of Bunia in Ituri District of
northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is once again possible
following a takeover on 6 March by the Uganda People's Defence Forces
(UPDF) from the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC) rebel group, according
to humanitarian sources.

"For the first time, we hope to have access to the population to provide
them with humanitarian assistance following several years of interruptions
due to violence committed by ethnic militia groups who have been fighting
in the region," Michel Kassa, head of the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the DRC, told IRIN on Monday.

He said calm had returned to the city and that its inhabitants were
resuming their daily routines. "Businesses reopened this morning. The road
toward Beni, to the south, has reopened. This is the first time that
soldiers of the UPDF are a stabilising factor, because they are not
conniving with the local ethnic militia that has gained the upper hand in
the city," he said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32732]

Subsequently dissent emerged among Ugandan members of parliament over the
continued presence and redeployment of the UPDF in northeastern DRC in the
wake of fighting in Bunia. Adonia Tiberondwa, head of political affairs
for the opposition Uganda People's Congress (UPC), on Monday criticised
the redeployment of the UPDF in the DRC without the approval of
parliament, saying that such action was again exposing parliament as a
"toothless dog", according to the independent Monitor newspaper.

"UPC is expressing concern, because parliament is abdicating its
responsibility by allowing the president to send the daughters and sons of
Uganda to fight in other countries without permission of parliament as
prescribed in the constitution," Tiberondwa was quoted as saying.

The dissent follows a public inquiry made last week by Ugandan MP Ben
Wacha, who asked the government to clarify allegations that the UPDF had
participated in massacres in Ituri. "I would like to know if Uganda's
presence in the Congo is for massacring the Congolese," The New Vision
government-owned newspaper quoted Wacha as telling parliament. The
ministers of defence and foreign affairs were not in the House, so Wacha's
question had not been answered. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32764]

For its part, the UPDF on Monday alleged that a "foreign force" had been
fighting alongside the UPC in Bunia.

"It is true that there was a foreign force fighting against our troops in
the eastern town of Bunia when they attacked our forces, but I cannot name
the force," Maj Shaban Bantariza, the UPDF spokesman, told IRIN on Monday.
"This force, of course, has not been on good terms with us for some time
now, but at least we managed to repulse them all, together with the
rebels." Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32762]

The Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma)
rebel movement had on 8 March petitioned the UN Security Council to impose
sanctions on the Kinshasa government for its alleged involvement in the
Bunia fighting.

"We expect a condemnation from the Security Council of the Kinshasa
government for the role it has played in hostilities in Ituri,"
Jean-Pierre Lola Kisanga, the RCD-Goma spokesman, told IRIN.

Reacting to the accusation, DRC President Joseph Kabila told Radio Okapi
on Monday that his government had no forces in Bunia. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32766]

On Wednesday, the spokesman for the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC),
Hamadoun Toure, said a MONUC team had held talks in Bunia with UPDF
commanders and with representatives of the UPC, of civil society and of
different communities in Ituri District on the possibility of ending
hostilities in this part of the country. The team had also discussed who
would participate in a meeting of the technical preparatory committee for
the establishment of the Ituri Pacification Committee. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32814]

Finally, on Friday, The New Vision reported the signing of a ceasefire in
Bunia by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and a DRC delegation
representing his counterpart, Joseph Kabila, led by Human Rights Minister
Ntumba Luaba. The ceasefire agreement, which was signed in the northern
Ugandan town of Gulu, will become effective on Monday. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32834]

DRC: Rights group decries atrocities by "false" Mayi-Mayi factions

A human rights group has protested against the impunity with which certain
Mayi-Mayi factions in the isolated region of Malemba Nkulu in central
Katanga Province of the DRC continue to terrorise local populations,
perpetrating widespread acts of pillage, murder and even cannibalism.

The allegations are contained in a report issued on Monday by the local
NGO Commission de vulgarisation des droits de l'homme et de developpement,
based in the city of Lubumbashi in southern Katanga.

The report singles out a certain Kabale Makana a Nshimba and his followers
as being ringleaders of rampant human rights abuses in the region, where
they have installed themselves as the de facto rulers in the absence of an
authoritative local government. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32791]

DRC: Dialogue in South Africa to end last week of March

The final session of the inter-Congolese dialogue (ICD) will be held in
South Africa in the last week of March, the talks facilitator, Botswanan
former President Ketumile Masire, said on Tuesday.

The announcement was made in the Botswanan capital, Gaborone, shortly
after he had received copies of the Global and All-Inclusive Agreement for
the Transition in the DRC, and the Transitional Constitution from
Moustapha Niasse, UN Secretary-General special envoy for the DRC peace
process, in the presence of South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is on
a state visit to Botswana.

With discussions and negotiations complete, all parties to the ICD must
now ratify the agreements at its final session, in addition to those
agreed in Sun City last year. According to Masire's office, this act will
legalise all agreements and pave the way for a transitional government to
be installed in the DRC. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32786]

CAR: Government struggles to reduce HIV/Aids prevalence

The Central African Republic (CAR) hopes to reduce the HIV/Aids prevalence
in the country from the current 14.8 percent to 5 percent in the next five
years, President Ange-Felix Patasse said on 8 March. According to research
carried out in December 2002 by the Institut Pasteur in the capital,
Bangui, and the national anti-HIV/Aids committee, HIV/Aids prevalence
increased from 14 per cent to 14.8 per cent in 15 months.

"I am very frightened by this figure" Patasse said when he laid the
foundation stone for the construction of the US $230,000 Centre de
Tritherapie Ambulatoire, an anti-HIV/Aids treatment, research and training
centre, expected to begin operations in six months. "By a relentless
struggle, we hope to reduce that prevalence rate to 5 percent in five
years and to less than 2 percent in seven years," Patasse said. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32749]

CAR: WFP needs US $6.1 million for food aid

The World Food Programme (WFP) needs US $6.1 million to distribute 8.2
million mt of food aid in war-torn CAR, according to Christiane
Berthiaume, the agency's spokeswoman in Geneva. "We hope that today's
appeal will be heard by some donors who will be interested in the fate of
victims of this war, because, with this little amount, we can do a lot to
alleviate their suffering," she told reporters on Tuesday.

A rebellion by supporters of the former army chief of staff, Francois
Bozize, which erupted on 25 October 2002, had, she said, had a
"devastating effect" on the CAR's poor and vulnerable, "who account for
two-thirds of the country's population".

Estimates, she said, were that 66 percent of the population earned less
than $1 dollar a day. Farming had stopped because of the fighting, she
said, and if nothing were done health conditions would continue to
deteriorate. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32789]

CAR: President orders army to ease up on offensive

Patasse said on Wednesday that he had ordered his army ease up on the war
against rebels so as to create an atmosphere conducive to a national
dialogue on the country's ongoing political crisis.

Speaking a day after a visit to Gabon for talks with President Omar Bongo,
Patasse said they had discussed the possibility of holding some of the
national dialogue in a country other than the CAR. This is the first time
that Patasse has suggested that the dialogue talks could be conducted
outside the CAR.

On Monday, the coordinator of the dialogue, Bishop Paulin Pomodimo, was
given charge of two buildings that are to serve as a secretariat. Before
the dialogue opened, Pomodimo told IRIN on Wednesday, the belligerents and
some political parties would hold preliminary talks, under the auspices of
Sante Egidio - an Italian Roman Catholic body. "It will be a meeting of
the main protagonists to prepare the ground for the dialogue," he said.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32810]

CAR-ROC: UN worried by the volatile situation in CAR

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is "extremely
worried" by the volatile situation in the CAR, UN News reported on 7
March. It said a new influx of asylum seekers from the CAR had entered the
Republic of Congo (ROC).

It quoted NGOs working in Betikoumba as saying that the new refugees had
started arriving on 6 March, following a night of fighting in nearby CAR
town of Mongoumba, on the border junction between the CAR, the ROC and the
DRC.

The Wednesday night violence followed a five-day standoff between
government troops and their Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) allies
from the DRC. The CAR minister of state for the interior, Jacquesson
Mazette, told IRIN on Friday that there had been a misunderstanding
between the government troops and the MLC forces, but it had been settled.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32751]

ROC: Ebola toll still rising in Cuvette-Ouest Region

By 8 March, 115 probable cases of the highly contagious and often-lethal
Ebola virus were reported in the ROC, with the death toll rising to 97,
according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in the
ROC, Dr Lamine Sarr.

"Case search and case management are continuing apace, and suspected cases
and contacts are being systematically monitored," said Dr Paul
Lusamba-Dikassa, the Regional Adviser for Communicable Diseases
Surveillance and Response at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, who
recently returned to Brazzaville from a visit to the outbreak area.

An isolation centre had been set up at Kelle District Hospital, and
another at Mbomo District Hospital to contain the spread of the disease
and to provide patients with adequate care, Lusamba-Dikassa said. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32728]

Meanwhile, a multisectoral programme for the research and prevention of
Ebola in the ROC was adopted on 6 March at the conclusion of three-day
meeting in the capital, Brazzaville.

It will be overseen by a newly created permanent coordination committee,
whose mission will be to assure coordination among the different groups
involved and the elaboration and implementation of a plan of action.

The conference was attended by some 70 medical researchers,
anthropologists, virologists, physicians, veterinarians, and
representatives from tropical disease research centres in Europe, the US,
and from the UN, seeking a better understanding of the virus and its
environment.

Specific actions to be taken to control the emergence of the virus and new
epidemics among humans included reinforcing basic health structures;
applying existing laws on hunting and sales of bush-meat; educating people
living in forest regions about the risks of contact with wild animals,
particularly apes, and the risks of contact with humans suspected of
infection; creating emergency alert networks, a common health information
system, and mechanisms for coordination and follow-up; and improving
access to remote regions to facilitate provision of aid to the sick. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32750]

It was reported on Friday that the EC had approved E2 million (US $2.16
million) to help the ROC meet humanitarian needs arising from the spread
of Ebola and the war. Of this sum, the EC said from Brussels, E500,000
would be targeted at controlling the current Ebola epidemic, and E1.4
million spent on improving the conditions of people affected by conflict
in Pool Region (with E100,000 held in reserve). The EC statement also
quoted the WHO as saying that the number of registered cases of ebola had
risen to 119 and deaths from the disease to 109. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32831]

BURUNDI: WFP appeals for 16,000 mt of food

The UN WFP said on Tuesday it needed "immediate pledges" of 16,000 mt of
cereals, pulses and vegetable oil to feed some 1.2 million people in
Burundi until the end of June.

It said a recent government and UN inter-agency Food and Crop Yields
Assessment report indicated that the number of people needing relief aid
during the first six months of the year had doubled those for the same
period in 2002.

"We are doing everything possible to respond to heightened food needs in
the last couple of months, but we simply do not have enough resources to
tackle the full magnitude of this crisis," Mustapha Darboe, the WFP's
Country Director in Burundi, said.

The lack of rain and continuing insecurity in the country are the causes
of the food shortage. The assessment report, WFP said, "noted a decline in
the nutritional situation of the population", with a marked increase in
the number of children being admitted to therapeutic feeding centres in
the Ruyigi, Ngozi and Kayanza provinces. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32783]

BURUNDI: AU observer team now complete

Eight Gabonese soldiers arrived in the capital, Bujumbura, on Wednesday,
thus bringing to 43 the number of the African Union's (AU) ceasefire
monitors in Burundi. Their arrival brings the force to its full
complement.

They are joining their colleagues from Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Gabon and
Togo to monitor Burundi's fragile ceasefire, signed by the government and
all but one of four Hutu rebel factions, the exception being Agathon
Rwasa's Forces nationales de liberation. The first observers had arrived
on 12 February and started work immediately, the AU's resident
representative in Burundi, Mamadou Ba, told IRIN. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32792]

RWANDA: Kigali ready to defend its security, Kagame says

Returning from an official visit to the United States, President Paul
Kagame reacted to the fighting in Bunia by saying that Rwanda would defend
its security interests "without provoking anybody", Radio Rwanda reported
on Tuesday.

According to the radio, Interahamwe (Rwandan extremist Hutu militia) and
the former Rwandan Armed Forces (ex-FAR) combatants in Bunia "are uniting
with Kinshasa troops to destabilise the region". The radio quoted Kagame
as saying that Rwanda was watching the activities in the DRC with great
interest.

"As you know, we withdrew our forces from the DR Congo, and we had
expected the Kinshasa government, the UN and others who were involved in
the Pretoria [South Africa] agreement or even in the wider agreement of
Lusaka [Zambia] - we thought these people would take care of what remained
of the problem, that is, after we withdrew, we were supposed to see action
taken on ex-FAR and Interahamwe and their activities," Kagame said. "But
if they continue and come close to Rwanda and threaten our security,
naturally we shall take measures that are appropriate to deal with that
situation." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32811]

Also on Tuesday, Rwanda denied that it was massing troops along its border
with Uganda. In an interview on Radio Rwanda, an army spokesman, Jill
Rutaremara, instead accused Uganda of spreading "rumours" about increased
Rwandan army deployment along the border. He said the rumours were "to
divert public attention" from the fighting in Ituri.

The radio quoted Rutaremara as claiming that the Ugandan army was forming
an alliance with "genocidal" forces in the DRC to destabilise Rwanda. "We
have actually not amassed any troops at our border with Uganda. The troops
that are there are a small sizeable force that we usually keep at our
border with Uganda," he said. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32785]

RWANDA: Diaspora to vote in elections

The Rwandan diaspora will be allowed to vote in all elections scheduled
for 2003, the Rwanda News Agency (RNA) reported on Monday. However, only
those registered with Rwandan embassies will vote, according to Damien
Habumuremyi, the executive secretary of the Rwandan electoral commission.

RNA said Rwandans who had declared their status, as refugees would not
vote in the referendum on the new constitution scheduled for May, nor in
presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled for August and
October, respectively.

RNA quoted Habumuremyi as saying that more than four million people were
eligible voters with 1,600 polling stations in the country and 10,000
polling centres. He said the electoral commission had invited 350
observers from different countries. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32790]

UGANDA: Rebels fail to meet gov't peace team

Rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) failed on Wednesday to attend a
planned meeting with the government peace team, led by Salim Saleh, saying
it was too late and that they could not identify each other in the dark.

A member of the peace team and MP for Pader District, Santa Okot, told
IRIN that a driver had been sent to an arranged meeting point, but he
returned with a message that it was not possible for the meeting to take
place. The rebels had suggested another meeting on Thursday, she added.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32809

On Wednesday, on a Kampala based radio station, Monitor FM, Salim Saleh
said, "We are going to meet the LRA rebels and we are going to negotiate
peace and resettlement with them so that they can give the people of
Acholi peace."

Earlier, The UPDF had dismissed accusations that they deliberately
sabotaged efforts by the government's peace team to meet LRA commanders on
6 March. UPDF spokesman Shaban Bantariza told IRIN the army had not yet
been ordered to stop fighting the LRA.

"If he [President Yoweri Museveni] tells us to stop fighting because they
are now [engaged] in peace negotiations, then we will follow the orders
and stop fighting until the negotiations are over," Bantariza said. "[LRA
leader Joseph] Kony himself broke the so-called ceasefire he is claiming,
by committing nine offences which include abducting and killing innocent
civilians," Bantariza added. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32727]

KENYA: Maasai women to sue British army for alleged rape

A group of Maasai women are to bring a civil case against the British army
for alleged rapes, which took place close to army training grounds in
Samburu, northern Kenya, over a 25-year period.

So far, about 300 women have come forward alleging that they had been
raped, about 200 of whom were "likely to be genuine", said Martyn Day, a
British lawyer representing the women, who was in Kenya last week
conducting investigations.

Despite the fact that the alleged rapes took place between 1975 and 2000,
Day said a body of evidence against the army was available: medical
records proving that 30 to 40 of the women were raped, which included
accusations against the army; contemporaneous records from the police and
district officials containing accusations against the army; and a number
of mixed race children.

A British defence ministry spokeswoman told IRIN that the ministry had not
been aware of the allegations before the case was taken up by Day. Neither
had it received any formal legal notification about the alleged rapes,
with a presentation of the evidence, she said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=32757]


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003


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