U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

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e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 191
6 - 12 September 2003


CONTENTS:

RWANDA: President Paul Kagame sworn in
CAR: Bozize opens reconciliation conference
CAR: Regional force says no rebel forces in northwest
CAR: ADF grants US $8.3 million to help region fight HIV/AIDS
BURUNDI: Mozambique, South Africa set condition for full deployment of troops
BURUNDI: Thousands displaced by rebel fighting need aid, official says
BURUNDI: EC signs Country Strategy Paper for 2003-2007
BURUNDI-TANZANIA: 260 refugees return home through new border crossing
DRC: ICRC provides drinking water for 15,000 residents of Uvira
DRC: President completes his ministerial team
DRC: Three RCD-Goma officers summoned before military court
DRC: MONUC's Ituri Brigade facilitates Fataki evaluation mission
DRC: Mayi-Mayi, RCD-Goma begin reconciliation efforts
UGANDA: Thousands of unaccompanied children stranded
UGANDA: Army recruits Karamojong warriors to fight rebels
KENYA: Government encourages public to give evidence on stolen wealth

ALSO SEE: 
IRIN interview with Mayi-Mayi leaderhttp://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36509
IRIN interview with UN human rights rapporteur Antoanella-Iulia Motochttp://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36477

RWANDA: President Paul Kagame sworn in

President Paul Kagame was sworn for a seven-year term on Friday at a
colourful ceremony attended by leaders of several African countries.

"I have no doubt that, thanks to your strength and will, the term you have
given me will focus on finding solutions to the serious issues still
facing us on the path of developing a country that each of us would like
to see," he told some 30,000 people in attendance.

Kagame's inauguration followed his 25 August victory in which he won 95
percent of the vote, on the ticket of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The
inauguration marked an end to a nine-year transitional period since the
front seized power to end the genocide against hundreds of thousands of
Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

The Presidential election was followed is to be followed by parliamentary
elections. Three parties and a multiparty coalition, along with 19
independent candidates, will stand in the polls scheduled for 29 - 30
September and 2 October, with up to 207 candidates in the race. The RPF
has allied with four other parties to run a joint campaign.

The parliamentary polls and Kagame's electoral victory are seen as
landmark events in helping the central African country along the path to
democracy in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. [Full story on
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36447]

CAR: Bozize opens reconciliation conference

The head of state of the Central African Republic (CAR), Francois Bozize,
officially launched on Tuesday a national political conference aimed at
reconciling a nation torn by years of civil war.

"The ultimate goal of the dialogue is to ensure the return to a
constitutional democracy within a realistic timeframe," he said in Bangui,
the capital.

Bozize had recently announced that a constitutional referendum would be
held in mid-2004, and parliamentary, municipal and presidential elections
in the second half of the same year. He said he would not contest the
elections and would step down in January 2005, when the current transition
to democracy ended.

The coordinator of the national conference is the Rev Isaac Zokoe. The Rev
Josue Binoua, former Prime Minister Enock Derant Lakoue and former Mines
Minister Charles Massi are assisting him.

At most 350 delegates from all political, social, religious and
professional affiliations are expected in Bangui, where the conference
will be held. Some 30 foreign guests are expected to be invited.

A 40-member technical team is preparing the agenda of the forum. [Full
story on http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36474]

Fifteen experts from the UN Peace-building Office in CAR and other UN
agencies have been taking part in preparations for the national conference
scheduled to start on Monday.

The UN is also providing logistics and money for the effort.[Full story on
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36538]

CAR: Regional force says no rebel forces in northwest

The peacekeeping force of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central
African States (CEMAC) says it has not found any evidence of
anti-government rebel activity in the northwest of the CAR.

A 120-man contingent of Republic of Congo troops (ROC), which forms part
of the CEMAC force, reconnoitred the area from 6 -9 September. The
commanding officer of the Congolese troops, Col Jose Mongha, told IRIN
their mission was to verify reports that Abdoulaye Miskine, an ally of
ousted President Ange-Felix Patasse, was terrorising residents in the
northwest.

"None of Miskine's men are in the area. However, there are highwaymen and
cattle raiders," Mongha said.

Believed to be of Chadian origin, Miskine commanded a 300-man pro-Patasse
militia in the president's war against Francois Bozize, the current leader
of the CAR. [Full report on
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36522]

CAR: ADF grants US $8.3 million to help region fight HIV/AIDS

The African Development Fund has approved a US $8.3-million grant to
finance a project in support of countries bordering the Congo, Oubangi and
Chari rivers to control HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases,
the African Development Bank (ADB) reported on Thursday.

It said the objective of the project was to strengthen regional
integration on HIV/AIDS control among ROC, CAR, DRC and Chad.

ADB recalled that sub-Saharan Africa was the area of the world most
affected by HIV/AIDS, as it accounted for 29.4 million people living with
the disease, representing 70 percent of all known cases. [Full report on
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36524]

BURUNDI: Mozambique, South Africa set condition for full deployment of
peacekeepers

Mozambique and South Africa, two of the three countries contributing
African Union (AU) peacekeeping troops to Burundi, will only deploy all of
their contingents when the number of rebel combatants reporting to
cantonment centres increases significantly, South African Defence Minister
Patrick Mosiwo Lekota told IRIN on Thursday.

"We are ready to deploy, even Ethiopia [the third country] is ready to
deploy troops, but we have to watch whether the numbers of cantoned
combatants justifies the deployment of a large number of peacekeepers," he
said, at the end of a one-day visit to the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.

He was with the Mozambican deputy defence minister, Henrique Banze. The
two were in the country to discuss with AU officials the funding of the
peacekeeping force, known as the African Mission in Burundi (AMIB). They
were also in the country to inspect the cantonment process.

"We must deploy the troops when we see that many former combatants are
coming forward for cantonment," Lekota said. "We will also be guided by
the response of the ex-combatants."

Cantonment and demobilisation of former rebel fighters began at the end of
June, as part of the implementation of ceasefire agreements signed in 2002
between the transitional government in Burundi and various rebel
movements. [Full report on
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36563]

BURUNDI: Thousands displaced by rebel fighting need aid, official says

Some 3,500 civilians fled to the Mubimbi communal office, in Bujumbura
Rural, on 6 September to escape fighting between the rebel groups, the
Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) and Forces pour la defense de la
democratie (FDD) rebels.

The governor of Bujumbura Rural, Ignace Ntawembarira, told IRIN on Tuesday
that an appeal for aid had been made for food and medicine. [Full story on
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36461] [Also see
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36433]

BURUNDI: EC signs Country Strategy Paper for 2003-2007

The EC reported on Tuesday it had signed a Country Strategy Paper (CSP)
for Burundi outlining its cooperation with the country between 2003 and
2007.

The EC said the main objective of the strategy was to support the
government's poverty reduction strategy and its efforts to rebuild after
10 years of civil war.

"EC assistance will focus largely on rural development, good governance
and macroeconomic support. The strategy is backed by a budget of E172
million (US $193 million) from the ninth European Development Fund," it
said.

Some of the EC money would go to reviving the rural economy, where 90
percent of the population lives and living conditions are harsh. The EC
said the plan was to provide aid for agriculture, which employs
three-quarters of the working population, and also to diversify productive
activities. Other operations will include rehabilitation of social
infrastructure and support for rural health care facilities, and provide
help with the resettlement of refugees and displaced people.

Funds will also support good governance in order to provide institutional
help for Burundi's administration, particularly at provincial and local
level.

"Other activities will include support for disarmament and
demilitarisation and the resettlement of demobilised fighters," the EC
said. [For background information on EU relations with Burundi see:
http://europa.eu.int/]

BURUNDI-TANZANIA: 260 refugees return home through new border crossing

Some 260 refugees from camps in Tanzania have returned to Burundi via the
northeastern border point at Gahumo, the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Wednesday.

It said this was the first convoy it had organised through this newly
opened border crossing in Cankuzo Province. UNHCR reported that 161 of the
refugees came from camps in Kibondo, western Tanzania, and 99 others from
Ngara to the northwest. It said some 1,500 Burundian refugees in Kibondo
District had signed up for voluntary repatriation via Gahumo. [Full UNHCR
item on www.unhcr.ch]

DRC: ICRC provides drinking water for 15,000 residents of Uvira

The International Committee of the Red Cross has rehabilitated a
long-defunct water network to provide safe drinking water to some 15,000
residents in the town of Uvira in South Kivu Province of eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the agency reported on Wednesday.

The gravity-fed system, which was first installed in the Kalundu
neighbourhood in 1958, was badly damaged in 1991 following a massive
landslide. Since then, residents have had to draw water directly from Lake
Tanganyika or the Kalimabenge River. [Full story on
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36512]

DRC: President completes his ministerial team

DRC President Joseph Kabila named on 6 September the remaining minister
and vice-ministers to his two-year transitional government.

According to a presidential decree read over national television,
Pierrette Gene was named culture minister, while Ferdinand Chimanuka was
named vice-minister of civil service and Masika Yalala the vice-minister
of primary, secondary and professional education.

Kabila's complete government of national unity now comprises 36 ministers
and 24 vice-ministers. [Full report on
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36441]

DRC: Three RCD-Goma officers summoned before military court

The military chief of staff of the DRC, Lt-Gen Liwanga Mata Nyamunyobo,
summoned on Tuesday three officers of the Rassemblement congolais pour la
democratie (RCD-Goma) to appear before the Military High Court for having
refused to take part in the inauguration of the newly unified national
army.

Liwanga said that Brig-Gen Laurent Nkunda, colonels Elie Gichondo and
Erick Ruhorimbere, who had been named commander and deputy commanders,
respectively, of three of the country's 10 military regions, would have to
appear before the court "for indiscipline and refusing [to obey] orders".

The three men remained in the eastern city of Goma when they were due to
be in Kinshasa, the capital, for the new army's inauguration. Liwanga said
he would punish any officer who stepped out of line, in the new unified
army.[Full item on http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36504]

DRC: MONUC's Ituri Brigade facilitates Fataki evaluation mission

A helicopter reconnaissance patrol of the village of Fataki, 85 km
northeast of Bunia, the main town in the troubled northeastern district of
Ituri took place on Monday under the auspices of the UN Mission in the
country, known as MONUC.

MONUC said the objective of the mission was to gain the confidence of
local inhabitants, as well as to evaluate the security situation in the
village for the future deployment of the Ituri Brigade. MONUC delivered
high-energy biscuits, plastic sheeting and first aid medication, which
were distributed to the population by the UN Children's Fund. It said
similar missions were planned in the near future.

According to MONUC, some 800 Fataki residents, primarily of the Hema
ethnic group, but also Lendu, Alur and Ndo-okebo, emerged from nearby
forests upon the mission's arrival and recounted how their village had
been repeatedly attacked, particularly on 19 July, 31 July and 5 August by
soldiers they said belonged to the Forces armees populaires du Congo and
the Front des nationalistes et integrationnistes militias. MONUC reported
that most traditional homes had been completely destroyed, while more
permanent structures were torched, after their roofs were removed. [Full
report on http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36466]

DRC: Mayi-Mayi, RCD-Goma begin reconciliation efforts

Mayi-Mayi militias and RCD-Goma fighters began reconciliation efforts on
Tuesday in Burale, 60 km southeast of Bukavu in the eastern province of
South Kivu, MONUC reported.

The new political leader of the Mayi-Mayi, Marcel Munga, confirmed the
report, saying that a joint mission of six military officials from the two
movements had been sent to the field to begin the peace-building process.

MONUC's Radio Okapi reported that the team would be responsible for
creating a joint police force with soldiers from the two factions.

Despite the participation of both the Mayi-Mayi and RCD-Goma in the
Congo's newly-inaugurated two-year transitional government and unified
national military, ostensibly bringing an end to over four years of war,
fighting has persisted between the two groups.

During the war, the Mayi-Mayi fought against Rwanda and Uganda troops on
Congolese territory, as well as against RCD-Goma. [Full story on
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36521]

UGANDA: Thousands of unaccompanied children stranded

Some 4,000 children fleeing Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) attacks in
northern Uganda's troubled Pader District are now stranded in neighbouring
Karamoja, unable to rejoin their families, according to government
officials.

"They are scattered throughout Kotido district [northern Karamoja]," Peter
Lokeris, the minister of state for Karamoja, told IRIN. "The number isn't
clear, but we estimate it at around 4,000. Most of them are staying in
various schools around the area."

He said the children had been trickling into the district since the
beginning of the year. He said the children were quite well looked after,
in spite of the fact that Kotido is under resourced. "The World Food
Programme is giving them food and they are being educated and given
clothes. All things considered, they are quite healthy," he told IRIN.

Kotido District Chairman Calistus Adoma said an appeal was to be launched
in Pader district, where the children come from, to help pay for their
upkeep. [Full story on http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36518]

UGANDA: Army recruits Karamojong warriors to fight rebels

The Ugandan army has said it is recruiting Karamojong warriors as a
militia force to fight the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group in the
east of the country.

Tens of thousands of Karamojong warriors are to be armed. The military
assistant to President Yoweri Museveni, Brig Kale Kayihura, told IRIN that
the first recruits would be from the "Anti-Stock Theft Unit", a group used
to combat cattle rustling. "But we are recruiting a whole load more on top
of that," he added.

Some of the warriors are to remain in Karamoja while others will be
deployed to Teso district, recently attacked by the LRA.

Karamoja has long been the scene of banditry and unrest due to a glut of
semi-automatic weapons there causing widespread lawlessness. [Full story
on http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36465]

KENYA: Government encourages public to give evidence on stolen wealth

As part of the Kenyan government's efforts to regain vast wealth stolen by
corrupt officials and politicians, it is encouraging "whistle blowers" to
come forward with information, Assistant Minister for Justice and
Constitutional Affairs, Robinson Githae, told a conference on Friday.

He said people giving evidence would receive "protection" and that they
should approach the Ministry of Justice, the attorney general or the
anti-corruption police directly.

Kenya was focusing on the "Philippine method" of asset recovery, said
Githae, which involved seeking redress through the courts. This method was
slow, he said, and the danger remained that the accused would hire "top
lawyers" to delay the process in the courts, as they had done for 10 years
in the Goldenberg "circus" - Kenya's most infamous scam in which millions
of dollars were looted through an export compensation scheme. [Full report
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=36553]


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


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