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 204
6 - 12 December 2003


CONTENTS:

GREAT LAKES: Five countries face food shortages
DRC: Integration of former rebels into army begins
DRC: British minister pledges US $38 million to help peace process
DRC: Assistance against HIV under preparation
BURUNDI: Former rebel leader returns to Bujumbura
BURUNDI: UK commits more funds for peacekeepers
RWANDA: ICRC cuts food aid to prisons
CAR: Bozize dismisses Goumba's government
CAR: Population census begins
CAR: FAO distributes canoes to fishing community affected by conflict
ROC: With 29 dead, Brazzaville says Ebola outbreak is "stabilizing"
UGANDA: Army denies Lira death toll
KENYA: Landmark sentence for sexual offence

ALSO SEE:

CAR: Special report on the disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration of
ex-fighters at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38283

TANZANIA: Focus on impact of water reforms on Dar's poor at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38261

GREAT LAKES: Five countries face food shortages

Five countries in the Great Lakes region are among 23 sub-Saharan states
facing food shortages, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
reported on Monday. The five are Burundi, the Central African Republic
(CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo
(ROC) and Tanzania.

In its Global Information and Early Warning System Africa Report, the FAO
said the shortages in Burundi, CAR and ROC were due to civil strife and
internally displaced persons; in the DRC there was an added problem of
refugees, while in Tanzania the shortages were due both to refugees and
drought in parts of the country.

In Burundi in 2003, total food production had remained below the average
of the pre-civil war period and a marked decline in pulse production had
reduced an important source of dietary protein. In CAR, FAO reported that
the food security situation remained precarious due to civil strife from
October 2002 to March 2003. In the ROC, insecurity continued to disrupt
agriculture, said FAO. In northeastern DRC, in Bunia, the nutritional
situation was reportedly "very poor". Meanwhile, in Tanzania, forecasts
for 2003 food crop production indicated a 10 percent decline compared to
2002, causing serious serious food shortages in several areas. [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38303]

DRC: Integration of former rebels into army begins

The integration of former rebels into the new unified army of the DRC
began on Monday with a ceremony in the eastern town of Kisangani, attended
by Belgian Defence Minister Andre Flahaut.

Some 150 soldiers paraded for the occasion in a common uniform. They
included 40 men from the former government army, 40 from the Rassemblement
congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) and 40 from the Mouvement de
liberation du Congo (MLC) - the two former principal rebel movements. The
soldiers symbolically handed over the scarves which denoted their previous
attachment.

According to DRC Defence Minister Jean-Pierre Ondekane, 3,700 soldiers
would be trained at Kisangani in the next three months and would form a
joint brigade of the DRC army. They would then be deployed in Ituri
District, northeastern DRC, to work alongside soldiers of the UN Mission
in the DRC to restore peace in the region. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38300]

DRC: British minister pledges US $38 million to help peace process

British Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn on
Tuesday pledged US $38 million to support the peace process in the DRC.
"We are committed alongside the efforts of the international community to
reducing poverty," Benn told a news conference in the capital, Kinshasa,
at the end of a two-day visit to the country. He said the peace process
was an opportunity for the UK to involve itself more fully in the fight
against poverty in the country and the Great Lakes region.

The aid would go towards the development of a strategic document on
poverty reduction, the fight against HIV/AIDS and social service benefits,
Benn said. The process of disarming, demobilising and reintegrating former
armed combatants would also receive financial help, as would the police
and justice departments.

Benn noted that the UK wished to encourage good relations between the DRC,
Rwanda and Uganda, after a war in which the latter two countries supported
rebel Congolese groups.

DRC: Assistance against HIV under preparation

The World Bank is preparing a package worth up to $100 million for the DRC
government to help it fight HIV/AIDS, a World Bank official said on
Tuesday. Jean-Charles Kra, the World Bank representative in the DRC, told
IRIN in Kinshasa that negotiations with the government could take place in
January 2004. "At present we are finalising the dossier," he said.

According to a survey carrried out in 2003 by the national organisation
fighting HIV/AIDS, the Programme national de lutte contre le sida (PNLS),
the epidemic could threaten more than half the country's population of
about 50 million within 10 years.

PNLS Director Jack Kokolomani told IRIN the prevalence of the epidemic
among people aged between 15 and 40 was 15 percent to 19 percent higher
than in many other countries. "The vast majority of people who die today
from AIDS in our country are aged between 15 and 40. Infection begins very
early, around 10, 11, 13 or 14 years," he said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38312]

BURUNDI: Former rebel leader returns to Bujumbura

The leader of the former rebel Conseil national pour la defense de la
democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD), Pierre
Nkurunziza, arrived in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, on 6 December, for
the first time since war broke out in 1993 between the then government,
dominated by members of the Tutsi minority, and rebel groups made up
predominantly of majority Hutus.

Nkurunziza was appointed minister of state for good governance in the
transitional government of President Domitien Ndayizeye after a cabinet
reshuffle on 23 November. He arrived in Bujumbura accompanied by CNDD-FDD
Secretary-General Hussein Radjabu and 10 other officers who are to take up
positions in the army and the police.

Some 20 CNDD-FDD officers and 100 political leaders have officially
returned to Bujumbura in the past week. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38277]

BURUNDI: UK commits more funds for peacekeepers

The UK said on Tuesday it would contribute a further £2 million ($3.5
million) to help sustain the African Union (AU)-led peacekeeping force in
Burundi. "This support demonstrates that the UK sees peace and security in
Burundi as a vital component in our wider Great Lakes strategy," Secretary
of State for International Development Hilary Benn and Foreign and
Commonwealth Minister for Africa Chris Mullin said in a joint communique.

"We firmly believe that the African Mission in Burundi is a significant
step for African peacekeeping operations, and we are pleased to be
contributing to supporting it during this vitally important phase of the
peace process in Burundi," they said. "This builds on our support to the
217-strong contingent of Mozambican peacekeepers, who are now on the
ground and performing well."

The UK government said its contribution was in direct response to an
appeal made by the AU to the international community for support for the
peacekeepers. It said the UK had provided $6.4 million to Mozambique to
help equip and transport its 217-strong contingent to Burundi. [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38350]

RWANDA: ICRC cuts food aid to prisons

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will cut its food aid
to 17 prisons in Rwanda from January 2004, an official told IRIN on
Wednesday. An estimated 15,000 inmates would be affected by the move.

"It will be a first step in a long-term process that is intended to fully
shift the responsibility of feeding the prisoners to the Rwandan
government," Pascal Jequier, the head of ICRC's communication unit in the
country, said. "We have agreed this with the Rwandan government." The move
to cut food aid was also due to the ICRC's budgetary constraints, he
added.

On 4 December, while presenting the government's 2004 budget, Finance
Minister Donald Kaberuka proposed an allocation of $2.72 million to be
used to feed the inmates, to counter ICRC's planned partial withdrawal.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38326]

CAR: Bozize dismisses Goumba's government

On Thursday, CAR leader Francois Bozize dismissed Prime Minister Abel
Goumba and his government, Communications Minister Parfait Mbay announced
on state-owned Radio Centrafrique. Mbay read a presidential decree signed
on Thursday by Bozize, but did not indicate whom Bozize had appointed to
replace Goumba.

The dismissal came after weeks of discontent among the residents of the
capital, Bangui, following a number of assassinations of civilians blamed
on the security forces and Chadian mercenaries. The killings had prompted
the population to demonstrate on the streets in protest against human
rights violations and the impunity apparently enjoyed by the perpetrators.
Human rights bodies and political parties had denounced the violations and
called on Bozize to take vigorous action to end insecurity and punish
violators.

Goumba, 77, was appointed prime minister on 23 March, eight days after
Bozize overthrew President Ange-Felix Patasse. In late March, Goumba
formed a 28-member government, which included all political parties. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38360]
 
CAR: Population census begins
 
A nationwide population census began on Monday in the CAR, with financial
and logistic support from the EC, the UN Population Fund and the UN
Development Programme (UNDP). The census, due to end on 22 December, is
aimed at preparing the country for forthcoming general elections and to
enable the government to plan developmental programmes. Some 4,000 trained
agents are conducting the census.

The last general population census in the country was carried out in 1988.
It indicated that the CAR had a population of 3.5 million.

The 8-22 December census coincides with the government’s electoral
calendar, according to which the electoral census and lists would be
completed between December 2003 and January 2004. It is being conducted at
a time when some people are still in hiding and others in exile due to
insecurity, especially in the north, where most of the October 2002-March
2003 rebellion against President Ange-Felix Patasse took place. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38278]

CAR: FAO distributes canoes to fishing community affected by conflict

The FAO on Tuesday began distributing canoes to fishing cooperatives in
Bangui and surrounding areas, to help them recover from the consequences
of a May 2001 coup attempt, according to an official. Nicolas Bokossi, the
FAO consultant for farmers affected by the coup attempt by a former
president, Andre Kolingba, told IRIN on Wednesday that 23 of 127 locally
made canoes had been given to the fishing cooperatives. "We will
distribute them as they are completed," Bokossi said.

The distribution began two months after the FAO distributed materials to
make fishing nets and hooks. A total of 43 cooperatives, each with some 20
members, are benefiting from the programme. The fishing community lives
along the Oubangui river, where fishing activities slowed down after the
coup attempt.

FAO said it was also helping fish-farming cooperatives, which were
likewise affected by the coup attempt. It said that in November it
distributed hooks, basins and fish food to the cooperatives. In the coming
weeks, the fish farmers would also be given highly productive fish types
for their pools, Bokossi said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38329]

ROC: With 29 dead, Brazzaville says Ebola outbreak is "stabilizing"

The health ministry of the Republic of Congo reported on Thursday that the
current Ebola acute haemorrhagic fever syndrome outbreak in the country's
northwestern Cuvette Ouest Department was stabilising, with 29 deaths
among 42 registered cases to date. According to Damaze Bozongo,
director-general of the health ministry, since 2 December, no further
deaths had been registered in either Mbomo or Mbanza, two villages that
were among the worst-affected in Cuvette Ouest, 800 km north of the
capital, Brazzaville.

The World Health Organization (WHO) meanwhile reported that other suspect
cases were still under investigation, while 47 people who came into
contact with infected individuals were being monitored. It added that
surveillance and social mobilisation activities were also continuing.

[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38389]

UGANDA: Army denies Lira death toll

The Ugandan army has denied reports from local leaders in the country’s
troubled northern Lira District that up to 70 bodies from Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA) attacks were recovered in the past week. "This
figure is simply false," Lira-based army spokesman Lt Chris Magezi told
IRIN. "We know the rebels killed four over this last weekend in a place
near Okude, but our investigations in this area revealed nothing further.
There is no way that there could be a killing on that scale and we fail to
know."

The Lira District chief, Franco Ojur, was quoted last weekend as saying 70
bodies of people hacked to death by the LRA had been found in the bushes.

Father Sebhat Ayele of Lira Catholic mission claimed that the figure was
correct, saying many of the bodies were decomposed and had probably been
there for weeks. "They were found over a wide area near the scene of the
latest attack, and some were possibly up to three weeks old," Ayele told
IRIN. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38275]

KENYA: Landmark sentence for sexual offence

Kenyan lawmakers have welcomed an historic court ruling, in which a man
convicted of raping a four-year-old girl was jailed for life, terming it
an important step towards deterring rising cases of sexual violence
against children in the country. The 18-year-old offender, Paul Ngure
Ngigi, was sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty in a trial described
as one of the shortest-ever. This was also the harshest penalty ever
served in Kenya for a sexual offence.

The landmark judgement was made possible by the recently passed Criminal
Amendment Bill, which raised the penalty for child rape to a mandatory
life sentence. The bill, approved by parliament in July, also raised the
age of sexual consent from 14 to 16 years.

Hailing the judgement, Joyce Majiwa, Kenyan chairperson of the
International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), said the new law had
helped overcome one of the biggest legal hurdles faced by victims of
sexual violence in Kenya. "If it were not for the amendment, the offender
would have walked off with a very light sentence, served at the discretion
of the magistrate," she said, adding that said FIDA would now push for
another law aimed at providing compensation for victims. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=38306]


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


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