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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 219
20 - 26 March 2004


CONTENTS:

DRC: Media protection body concerned about jailed journalists
DRC: 9,775 fighters and dependents repatriated to date, says MONUC
DRC: 6,000 IDPs ready to leave Bunia camps to return home
CAR: EU pegs aid on democratic elections
BURUNDI: All parties favour elections, Zuma says
BURUNDI: World Bank approves US $84 million credit for reconstruction
RWANDA: Kigali preparing list of 300 genocide masterminds
RWANDA: Food security update predicts good agricultural season
UGANDA: Army says it has killed 60 rebels
UGANDA: Army cracks down on its officers over safety of IDPs
UGANDA-SOMALIA: EC gives E14 million in humanitarian aid
KENYA: Precarious food situation in the northwest


ALSO SEE:

CAR: Report on the anticipated Sudanese peace accord at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40212

UGANDA: Pabbo IDPs camp a micrososm of activity at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40175

UGANDA: LRA using fear to mould recruits at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40151

UGANDA: Interview with WFP Deputy Executive Director Sheila Sisulu at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40146


DRC: Media protection body concerned about jailed journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said it is "deeply
concerned" about the imprisonment of Jean-Denis Lompoto, the publications
director of the twice-weekly satirical newspaper Pili-Pili, after it
published a corruption allegation story concerning a minister of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

In an open letter addressed to President Joseph Kabila, CPJ said on
Wednesday it was also disturbed about a recent police attack on three
television journalists covering police activity in the capital, Kinshasa.

"Police attacks on journalists who are covering issues of legitimate
public concern have sadly become routine in the [DRC]," CPJ said. It
called on Kabila "to do everything" in his power to ensure respect for the
rule of law and for reporters to be allowed to cover events freely and
"without fear of reprisal".

Lompoto was arrested on 19 March and transferred to Kinshasa Central
Prison on 21 March, the local group, Journaliste en Danger, reported. In
another incident, on 15 March, police attacked and detained three
reporters from private television station Radio-Television Kin-Malebo,
apparently in reprisal for covering a police operation, Journaliste en
Danger said. It said the police manhandled and confiscated the equipment
of Robert Kadima Baruani, Milla Dipenga and Eric Ambago as they attempted
to record scenes of police removing residents from a building whose
ownership was in dispute. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40220 ]


DRC: 9,775 fighters and dependents repatriated to date, says MONUC

A total of 9,775 Rwandan, Ugandan and Burundian combatants and their
dependents have been repatriated so far through the disarmament,
demobilisation, repatriation, reintegration and resettlement (DDRRR)
programme in the DRC, Hamadoun Toure, spokesman for the UN Mission in the
country, MONUC, told IRIN on Wednesday.

In doing so, MONUC said it had achieved a goal set by its chief, William
Swing, to repatriate 10,000 non-Congolese combatants before the end of
March.

Since it began two years ago, the DDRRR programme has overseen the
repatriation of 6,437 combatants and 3,338 of their dependents. Rwandans
have been made up the largest part of this total, with 6,185 repatriated,
of whom 3,032 were civilian dependents; 505 Ugandans, of whom 202 were
dependents; and 3,085 Burundians, of whom 2,635 returned spontaneously to
Burundi without the help of MONUC.


DRC: 6,000 IDPs ready to leave Bunia camps to return home
 
At least 6,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camps around Bunia,
the main town of Ituri District in northeastern DRC, are preparing to
return to their villages of origin, Hamadoun Toure, the MONUC spokesman,
said on Wednesday.

"This return is a sign of the positive evolution of the security situation
in Ituri," he said at a news conference in Kinshasa. "These civilians are
tangible proof of progress that has been made in Ituri."

Many of these people had fled areas such as Fataki and Tchomia following
repeated massacres committed by various armed groups operating in the
region. A total of about 10,000 IDPs are still living in camps around the
Bunia airport. With the aid of humanitarian agencies, the IDPs were able
to build a temporary school in the camp, and a health centre was
established.

Fighting among militias has particularly affected the northeast of the
country since 1999, with the most violent hostilities occurring from April
to June 2003, resulting in massive displacement of civilian populations.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40224 ]


CAR: EU pegs aid on democratic elections

The EU will give aid to the Central African Republic (CAR) after it holds
fair and democratic general elections, the head of the EU delegation in
the CAR, Joseph Loveras, said on Wednesday.

State-owned Radio Centrafrique reported that Loveras made the remarks when
he met CAR Vice-President Abel Goumba in the capital, Bangui.

Loveras was quoted as saying that the EU would only support specific
social and humanitarian projects in the CAR during the transitional
period, scheduled to end in early 2005. He said the EU would intensify
financial cooperation with the CAR only after "transparent, fair and
democratic" elections were held. He urged the administration of CAR leader
Francois Bozize to respect the transitional calendar until its end in
2005.

Bozize seized power on 15 March 2003 from President Ange-Felix Patasse
after a six-month rebellion. During talks with the new CAR officials, the
EU has maintained that it would only recognise the administration if
democratic elections were held.


BURUNDI: All parties favour elections, Zuma says

The South African deputy president and facilitator of the Burundi peace
process, Jacob Zuma, arrived in the capital, Bujumbura, on Tuesday for
talks with key political stakeholders on the country's peace process.

He said on Thursday that all Burundian parties he had held talks with had
expressed their determination to go to elections as scheduled. "What [we
need] to do is to ensure that the conditions are ready for elections, that
is a challenge to all of us," he said at a news conference in Bujumbura,
at the end of his visit.

Zuma said that during his visit, he had held talks with all the key
stakeholders in Burundi's politics, including President Domitien
Ndayizeye, Vice-President Alphonse Marie Kadege, officials of major
political parties as well as those of the former rebel faction led by
Pierre Nkurunziza, representatives of the international community and
leaders of registered political parties that are not part of the peace
process.

"All parties, without exception, want to see elections going ahead," he
said. "All parties want to see favourable conditions for free and fair
elections. We must work on the conditions." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40258 and
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40204 ]


BURUNDI: World Bank approves US $84 million credit for reconstruction

The World Bank has approved a US $84.17-million credit to help the
transitional government return former combatants to civilian life and to
rebuild the country's battered road infrastructure.

In a statement, the Bank said on 18 March that $33 million would go to
support the Emergency Demobilisation, Reinsertion and Reintegration
Programme while $51.17 million would be used for the rehabilitation of
severely damaged primary, secondary and communal roads.

Under the roads rehabilitation programme, the Bank will help to establish
and strengthen analytical, planning and management capacity of the
institutions involved in improving and maintaining the road system. These
institutions include the Ministry of Public Works and Equipment, which is
responsible for overall road sector oversight and coordination; and the
National Road Agency, which is responsible for all road works and the
protection of the environment, the Bank reported.

"This project will provide the essential infrastructure for development
and much needed employment in a critical post-conflict period when there
is high unemployment," Kingson Khan Apara, the Bank's task manager for the
project, was quoted as saying. "The project will also improve access to
agricultural production centres, social services, and national and
international markets," he added. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40173 ]


RWANDA: Kigali preparing list of 300 genocide masterminds

In a bid to have them arrested, the Rwandan authorities are drawing up a
list of some 300 alleged masterminds of the 1994 genocide who are outside
the country, Martin Ngoga, the nation's deputy prosecutor-general, told
IRIN on Monday.

"We want them brought back and prosecuted," he said.

These, he said, were mainly people who planned the genocide and were
therefore the most wanted. He said the list, detailing the suspects'
crimes, would be made public. In addition, he said, Rwanda would seek
international help in tracking down the suspects, some of whom who had
fled to places as far away as Australia. After the genocide, in which an
estimated 800,000 Tutsi and politically moderate Hutu were killed, many
high-ranking officials of the defeated army and government fled the
country as Tutsi rebels entered the capital in July that year, ending the
killings.

The UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda responsible for trying
the masterminds of the genocide is due to complete its work by 2010. The
tribunal, headquartered in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha, has
arrested 66 of the 81 people it indicted for the genocide, a figure that
the Rwandan government finds too small.


RWANDA: Food security update predicts good agricultural season

Normal rainfall from March to May across much of Rwanda is expected to
support a good harvest for most crops, according to a food security update
issued by the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net)
and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

"Despite erratic rainfall in January and February, cumulative
precipitation was close to the long-term average and the spatial
distribution was good, providing a hopeful state to the agricultural
season," FEWS Net and WFP said in the report for March.

However, the update said the drought-prone Bugesera region required close
monitoring. "An assessment in March determined that the sorghum crop
should do well this season; however, a poor bean crop is possible if the
rains stop prematurely in April," according to the report.

It said a disease affecting cassava, known as the cassava mosaic virus
(CMV), continued to be a problem in Bugesera, but added that the Institut
Superier Agronomique du Rwanda and the Agricultural Technology Development
and Transfer were developing new CMV-resistant cassava varieties, of which
10 million cuttings would be distributed to farmers in March and April.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40215 ]


UGANDA: Army says it has killed 60 rebels

The Ugandan army has said it killed over 60 rebels in intense fighting
with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) last weekend, and captured a number
of weapons.

According to army sources, two separate operations were launched, the
first on 20 March, in which government forces ambushed a group of about
100 rebels near the border with Sudan, killing 56 of them; in the second,
on 21 March, five members of a smaller rebel group were killed and eight
captured.

Army spokesman Maj Shaban Bantariza told IRIN on Monday that the successes
were significant, because it was believed that the larger group was
planning to attack civilians in Kitgum District.

"The rebels were trying to enter Uganda from Sudan to commit fresh
atrocities, but our forces repelled them," he said.

The LRA deputy chief, Vincent Otti, who reportedly led the larger group,
survived the battle, Bantariza said. Those who died in Sunday's fight
brought the total number of rebels killed to 61, he added. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40169 ]


UGANDA: Army cracks down on its officers over safety of IDPs

The Ugandan army has said the arrest of one of its unit commanders for
failing to protect an IDPs camp from an attack by Ugandan rebels on 19
March is "a warning to officers who neglect their duties" in the country's
volatile northern provinces.

"We are cracking down on mistakes made by the commanders. They are being
monitored more carefully and are not going to get away with this sloppy
behaviour in the future," the army spokesman in the north, Lt Chris
Magezi, told IRIN on Wednesday.

He said a Capt Kavuma was arrested after LRA had attacked Lira-Palwo camp,
which houses about 6,000 IDPs, on the evening of 19 March. The rebels
killed 12 civilians and burnt over 100 thatched huts. Magezi said Kavuma
had failed to radio for help in time or organise his detachment to fend
off the rebels. Witnesses of the attack have reportedly alleged that
Kavuma's team was ill-prepared and that some of its officers were drunk.

Magezi said the army had repelled a series of other attempts to attack
IDPs camps in the Pader-Lira area, where rebel activity had been most
intense in recent months. "In addition, our forces killed seven of the
group responsible for Friday's attack in hot pursuit," he said. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40218 ]


UGANDA-SOMALIA: EC gives €14 million in humanitarian aid

The EC has allocated €14 million (about US $17.5 million) in humanitarian
aid to vulnerable people in Uganda and Somalia, the EC announced on
Monday.

The funds would be managed by the EC's Humanitarian Aid Office under the
responsibility of Commissioner Poul Nielson, it added.

Uganda was allocated €6 million and Somalia €8 million. The allocation for
Uganda targets about 500,000 people affected by conflict in the north and
east.

"In northern Uganda, a whole generation of children have been damaged by
the ravages of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group, and in Somalia
acute humanitarian needs are exacerbated by security problems and harsh
climatic conditions. While humanitarian needs are obvious, these two
crises have been largely forgotten by the international donor community,"
Nielson said in the statement.

"We feel a special obligation to maintain our humanitarian engagement in
Uganda and Somalia to the benefit of the many victims of these crises."
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40190 ]


KENYA: Precarious food situation in the northwest

About 184,000 people in northwestern Kenya's pastoral districts of Turkana
and Marsabit face a precarious food situation following poor rainfall in
some areas over the past two seasons, and an upsurge in conflict, a report
said on 19 March.

According to the FEWS-Net, food security and nutritional assessments
coordinated by the UN Children's Fund and implemented by the Kenyan
Ministry of Health, the Arid Lands Resource Management Project, Oxfam-GB
and World Vision had confirmed alarmingly high food insecurity in Katilu,
Lokori and Lokitaung divisions in Turkana District, and Maikona, North
Horr, and Loiyangalani divisions in Marsabit District.

FEWS-Net endorsed a recommendation by the Kenya Food Security Steering
Group to immediately distribute 1,268 mt of food to the 184,000 persons in
Turkana and Marsabit districts for the next three months, together with
supplementary and therapeutic feeding programmes for malnourished
individual children. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40184 ]


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004


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