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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 181
28 June - 04 July 2003


CONTENTS:

DRC: President names transitional government
DRC: Government, rebels agree on military posts
DRC: Rebel troops begin withdrawal from Lubero, says MONUC
DRC: Thousands of residents returning to Bunia
ROC: Government seeks US $6.1 million in fight against HIV/AIDS
CAR: UN mission's activities to be adjusted
CAR: Government retains dialogue coordination team
BURUNDI: Rebels attack cantonment site
BURUNDI: Rebels free MP, four other hostages
BURUNDI: Displaced civilians return to their homes
RWANDA: Parliament passes election law
KENYA: World Bank denies possibility of withdrawing AIDS funding
KENYA: Government criticised for approving mining project

ALSO SEE: 

DRC: Interview with outgoing MONUC head Amos Namanga Ngongi at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35159

KENYA: Feature - Young refugees keep hopes alive at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35147

DRC: President names transitional government
  	
President Joseph Kabila named on Monday his transitional government that
is designed to lead the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) out of
nearly five years of war to democratic elections in 2005.

The new government comprises 36 ministers and 25 deputy ministers shared
by the outgoing government, the pro-government Mayi-Mayi militia, rebel
movements, the unarmed political opposition and civil society. This
measure conforms to the power-sharing accord for the transitional
government signed in December 2002 in Pretoria, South Africa. [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35097; for full list of
ministers see: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35161

DRC: Government, rebels agree on military posts

Rebels and the government of the DRC agreed on 29 June to share posts in a
new unified military, breaking the deadlock in the formation of a two-year
national transitional government.

Under the agreement signed in the capital, Kinshasa, Kabila will choose
the armed forces chief of staff and the head of the navy. The main rebel
group, the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Goma (RCD-Goma),
will nominate the head of the ground forces; and the smaller rebel
Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo (MLC), will head the air force.

Mustapha Niasse, the special representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, negotiated the deal. Niasse arrived in Kinshasa on 26 June to help
give impetus to the stalled talks. The impasse had threatened the
formation of the government of national unity. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35059]

DRC: Rebel troops begin withdrawal from Lubero, says MONUC

Forces of the RCD-Goma have begun withdrawing from the town of Lubero in
northeastern DRC in accordance with a recent North Kivu Province ceasefire
agreement, the UN Mission in the country, known as MONUC, reported on
Wednesday.

The MONUC spokesman, Hamadoun Toure, told a news conference in Kinshasa
that the withdrawal began on Tuesday at 07:00 to 15 km outside Lubero, as
had been agreed upon during ceasefire negotiations on 19 June in the
Burundi capital, Bujumbura, between the Rwandan-backed RCD-Goma and the
RCD-Kisangani/Mouvement de liberation (RCD-K/ML), a rebel group allied
with Kinshasa.

"We hope that this withdrawal will contribute to the easing of tension in
the region," Toure said. "The time for fighting has passed, it is time now
for reconciliation, discussion and dialogue." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35128]

DRC: Thousands of residents returning to Bunia

Thousands of residents who fled inter-militia fighting in the town of
Bunia in northeastern DRC have begun returning to their homes, MONUC,
reported on Tuesday.

"With a general calm now prevailing in town, people have been returning
since last Thursday," Leocardio Salmeron, a MONUC spokesman, told IRIN.
"They are arriving in small groups - 1,000 one day, 1,200 another day and
1,300 the next - but we do not yet have definitive figures and we are
trying to compile a more accurate estimate," he said.

Humanitarian agencies had estimated that between 200,000 and 350,000
people fled Bunia and the surrounding region when fighting between Hema
and Lendu militias worsened in May. For its part, MONUC estimated that at
the height of the fighting, between 10,000 and 17,000 people sought refuge
in its Bunia compound and at the airport, which was also under its
control.

"Humanitarian organisations had done a tremendous amount of work to ensure
the restoration of water purification facilities, and the Congolese Red
Cross have removed all corpses from the city," he added. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35125]

ROC: Government seeks US $6.1 million in fight against HIV/AIDS

The government of the Republic of Congo said on Tuesday it needed 3.4
billion francs CFA (US $6.1 million) for the fight against HIV/AIDS and
other sexually transmitted diseases.

This was disclosed in a meeting between government and international
donors at a round table conference held in the capital, Brazzaville. The
country's director general of health, Damase Bozongo, said the meeting was
proof of the government's determination to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS,
which has taken on an exponential growth in the country.

A final communique released at the end of the meeting said UN agencies,
which took part in the meeting, also promised $24 million for the
anti-HIV/AIDS effort. Italy, France and the EU said they would give
substantial financial aid. In addition, the Congolese Aid Foundation (La
Fondation Congo Assistance), run by Antoinette Sassou-Nguesso, wife of the
country's head of state, said it would seek funds to help children who
were infected with HIV through birth.

According to UNAIDS, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among the adult
population, defined as those aged 15-49 years, stands at 7.8 percent.

CAR: UN mission's activities to be adjusted

The activities of the UN Peace-building Support Office (BONUCA) in the
Central African Republic (CAR) will be adjusted following the change of
power in March, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday in a report
to the UN Security Council.

"Restoration of security remains the top priority for the new authorities
and is a prerequisite for a smooth transition and the holding of future
elections," Annan was quoted as saying.

He said the overall situation was being brought under control with
considerable difficulty.

"Although there will be no fundamental change in the mandate of the
[BONUCA] office, its activities will be adjusted in light of the
requirements of the new situation [in the country]," Annan said in the
report. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35105;
the Secretary-General's report is available online at: www.un.org]

CAR: Government retains dialogue coordination team

The new administration in the CAR has retained the team appointed by
former President Ange-Felix Patasse to coordinate plans for national
dialogue, due to be held within the next two months.

The dialogue coordinator, Bishop Paulin Pomodimo, and his deputy, Henri
Maidou, met Communications Minister Parfait Mbaye on Monday to discuss the
dialogue. Mbaye said the team would present the government with a number
of proposals on how the talks should be conducted. The government would
then chose one proposal for adoption. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35099]

BURUNDI: Rebels attack cantonment site

Fighters loyal to rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza attacked a cantonment
site near Bujumbura on 29 June. "The rebels struck late Sunday night,
around 01:20 [23:20 GMT] and the fighting continues around the site," Col
Augustin Nzabampema, the army spokesman, told IRIN on Monday.

He said heavy fighting between the army and the rebels was continuing, but
did not give casualty figures. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35081]

BURUNDI: Rebels free MP, four other hostages

Nkurunziza's group released on Wednesday one Member of Parliament and four
others out of 11 people they had kidnapped last week in Ruyigi Province,
eastern Burundi.

"We decided to release five hostages, among them [MP] Mrs Veronique
Nizigama, because they have nothing to do with the conflict between our
movement and the Frodebu [Front pour la democratie au Burundi] party,"
Gelase Daniel Ndabirabe, the spokesman for the Conseil national pour la
defense de la democratie-Force pour la defense de la democratie
(CNDD-FDD), told IRIN on Thursday.

All female hostages were among those released, he said. He added that the
others, who include three MPs, would "probably" be released after
investigation. "We are still questioning them to know what they were doing
in a territory controlled by FDD," he said.

The rebels said the 28 June kidnapping was a warning to the Burundian
government to end a propaganda campaign against the group. The kidnapped
MPs are the deputy secretary-general of the parliament, Pierre
Barusasiyeko; the head of the parliament's Human Rights Commission,
Leonidas Ntibayazi; Fabien Bankinyakamwe and Nizigama, who was released on
Wednesday. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35151]

BURUNDI: Displaced civilians return to their homes

About 44,000 internally displaced people have returned to their homes in
Kayanza Province, northern Burundi, as fighting between government forces
and rebels subsided, an official of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) told
IRIN on Friday.

"They found all their homesteads ransacked and farms looted," Karine
Strebelle, the WFP reports and information officer, said. She added that
WFP was monitoring the effects of the "massive" population displacement
and the ability of the displaced to sustain themselves.

She said about 8,848 households, with an average of five people per
household, fled fighting between government and CNDD-FDD rebels in Muhanga
and Gahombo communes in Kayanza on 19 and 21 June. The displaced sought
refuge at Rukeco and Mivo sites, respectively in Busiga and Ngozi communes
in Ngozi Province.

An evaluation conducted by WFP on 23 June found that the displaced had
left their homes without food reserves. Strebelle said WFP immediately
delivered 174.88 mt of food to 41,715 displaced (8,478 households) as a
seven-day emergency ration. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35173

RWANDA: Parliament passes election law

The Rwandan parliament has passed a draft law on presidential and
parliamentary elections, the Rwandan News Agency reported on 27 June.

The law details requirements that presidential and parliamentary
candidates must meet in order to contest, as well as campaign regulations.

The agency reported that parliament had also passed a bill governing
political parties in the country. The law requires that parties should not
be established on the basis of nepotism, ethnicity, religion, gender or
any other criteria that would foster division. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35084]

On Thursday, the government announced that presidential elections would be
held on 25 August and parliamentary elections on 29 September. The
elections will mark the end of a nine-year transitional government
established after the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of some 800,000
Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

The government also announced that it recognised only two political
parties in the country that had registered with the Ministry of Local
Government. The parties are the Rwandan Patriotic Front of President Paul
Kagame, and the Parti liberal. The transitional government of national
unity comprises eight political parties.

Meanwhile, opposition presidential candidate Faustin Twagiramungu, 58,
said on Thursday that he planned to form a new party before the elections.
"The decision is in the offing," he told IRIN. "Though the time given to
us is very short, it is possible [to form a party]."

The Mouvement democratique republicain, of which Twagiramungu was once its
president, is about to be banned following a parliamentary decision that
the cabinet adopted in May. A new law the parliament passed recently gave
political parties 15 days to register again, ahead of the polls. The law
also allows candidates to contest the presidency as independents. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35179]

KENYA: British legal aid for rape claims

Hundreds of Kenyan women are to receive British legal aid to allow them to
pursue a rape claim against the British Ministry of Defence (MoD).

A total of 650 women - mostly from the Maasai ethnic group - are to
benefit from the funding. They all claim they were raped by British
soldiers stationed in Kenya between 1972 and 2002.

"The legal aid is the start of the process of us suing the MoD for
negligence in failing to take steps to prevent the rapes taking place,"
Martyn Day, the lawyer representing the women, said.

Evidence in the form of police and hospital records, as well as statements
from local authorities, is available for about 100 of the cases. There are
also about 40 mixed-race children, whose mothers claim are the result of
rape. The claimants allege that the soldiers often "hunted them down in
packs", and many stated that they had been gang-raped, according to a
statement issued by Day's office.

He said he hoped to initiate proceedings in the High Court in London
"quite shortly" and that the claims for each victim would amount to
between US $33,000 and US $42,000. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35126; also see:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35149]

KENYA: World Bank denies possibility of withdrawing AIDS funding

The World Bank has denied that it threatened to withdraw funding for
HIV/AIDS projects in Kenya because of allegations of corruption within the
National AIDS Control Council (NACC).

The World Bank country director, Makhtar Diop, said the Bank welcomed an
internal investigation, being undertaken by the Office of the President,
into allegations of corruption within the NACC.

"We welcome this as a sign that the government is taking seriously the
general issue of the proper use of funds," he said.

The Bank, he said, was confident that the government would take whatever
actions may be necessary following the review. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35064]

About 235 NGOs are in the running for US $26 million to be made available
for HIV/AIDS projects from the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and
TB.

The proposals are now being examined by a six-person committee, that must
submit its recommendations to the Ministry of Health by 16 July. The
committee was formed last week, and comprises representatives from the
National AIDS Control Council, the Ministry of Health, the Kenya AIDS NGOs
Consortium (KANCO), the Institute of Community Health and Research, the
Social Science and Medicine Africa Network and the Kenya AIDS Watch
Institute.

KANCO executive director Alan Ragi told IRIN that they were looking at
"which are good proposals, which are addressing the issues, which have the
capacity to implement the projects, and which are credible organisations".
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35119]

KENYA: Government criticised for approving mining project

The Kenyan authorities have been accused of approving a controversial
titanium mining venture in the coastal region without addressing the
economic and environmental concerns raised by the local population.

Environment Minister Newton Kulundu SAID on 27 June his ministry had
approved a Canadian mining company's licence to excavate titanium in Kwale
District. The US $675-million project is considered one of the biggest
mining projects ever planned in Kenya. It is expected to generate direct
employment for at least 1,000 residents.

However, Khalif Khelef, who heads Muslims for Human Rights, the NGO which
has been spearheading the rights of residents in Msambweni, said the
government had ignored the longer term goals of poverty alleviation and
environmental protection for the affected areas. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=35060]


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


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