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

Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 230
5 - 11 June 2004


CONTENTS:

GREAT LAKES: Stick to peace accord, regional leaders tell Burundi
GREAT LAKES: Meeting of anti-malaria network opens in Bujumbura
DRC: Kinshasa calm after coup attempt
DRC: Dissident forces withdraw from Bukavu, loyalists take over
DRC-BURUNDI: Congolese Tutsis flee over fears of attack
DRC-RWANDA: Kigali closes its border with Congo
RWANDA: Former president gets 15-year prison term
UGANDA: Rising numbers of rescued children "overwhelming" agencies in the
   north
UGANDA: Rebels kill 19 in fourth raid on IDP camps in a month
UGANDA: Tractors to boost crop production by IDPs in the north
KENYA: Food distribution stepped up in two districts after contaminated
grain kills 81
KENYA: Food distribution delayed as situation worsens in Turkana and
   Marsabit


ALSO SEE:

AFRICA: Anti-FGM strategies discussed at Nairobi conference at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41616

DRC: UN appeals for peace as violence curtails relief operations at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41439


GREAT LAKES: Stick to peace accord, regional leaders tell Burundi

Leaders from Africa's Great Lakes region on 5 May directed Burundi to 
begin its electoral process immediately so that polls could be held by 31 
October, as stipulated in the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Accord of 
August 2000. The leaders gave the directive at end of their summit in the 
Tanzanian commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. They rejected a Burundian 
government proposal to extend the three-year political transition by one 
year.

During the 5 May summit, the leaders said the elections must proceed at 
once in a manner that "ensures expeditious implementation of the electoral 
process, through undertaking simultaneous implementation of activities".

Meeting under the auspices of a regional initiative to restore peace in 
Burundi, presided over by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, the regional 
leaders also imposed immediate "restrictions" on the Forces nationales de 
liberation. This is a dissident Hutu movement led by Agathon Rwasa that is 
the only group yet to sign a ceasefire agreement with the government. 
Three other former dissident groups have signed ceasefire agreements and 
are participating in the transitional government. [Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41440 ]


GREAT LAKES: Meeting of anti-malaria network opens in Bujumbura

A meeting of the East African Network for the Monitoring of anti-Malaria 
Treatment opened on Tuesday in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, with 
participants calling for the establishment of a system to monitor the use 
of a new anti-malarial combination therapy.

The delegates, from Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya and Uganda, 
said the Network should play a key role in advocacy for countries to put 
in place useful and acceptable anti-malaria policies.

During the meeting - the Network's 22nd general assembly - the delegates 
are due to discuss country reports on anti-malarial therapy, the Network's 
work plan and budget for 2004 and to propose a programme for a 
policy-makers' meeting scheduled for August. [Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41474 ]


DRC: Kinshasa calm after coup attempt

Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was 
calm on Friday following an attempted coup by a section of the 
presidential guard, a UN official told IRIN. "However, it is difficult to 
assess the security situation for the general population and the 
humanitarian community in the city," said Maj Abou Thiam, the military 
spokesman of the UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC.

Earlier, DRC President Joseph Kabila addressed the nation over state radio 
and television radio, urging the public to continue with their daily 
activities as the situation was under control.

Foreign Minister Antoine Ghonda had told IRIN at 05:15 local time (4:15 
GMT) that the coup attempt had been foiled, and those responsible 
arrested. A group of presidential guards had announced on state radio and 
television at 02:40 local time that they had neutralised the institutions 
of the transitional government. Ghonda noted that the coup plotters did 
not have support from either the members of the current government or 
external forces. [Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41627 ]


DRC: Dissident forces withdraw from Bukavu, loyalists take over

Dissident army troops have largely withdrawn from the embattled eastern 
town of Bukavu, but about 100 of them have remained in the town, while 
others are stationed around an airport to the north, UN News reported on 
Monday, quoting the UN spokesman, Fred Eckhard.

Speaking to reporters at the daily briefing at the UN headquarters in New 
York, Eckhard said reports from MONUC, indicated that 100 dissident troops 
loyal to Col Jules Mutebutsi were in Bukavu, "having left the cantonment 
site they were in outside the town".

The dissidents seized Bukavu on Wednesday in what their leaders termed an 
attempt to protect the minority Congolese Tutsi, known as Banyamulenge, 
from persecution by a military commander assigned to the region by the 
transitional government. [Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41462; also see: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41619 ]

Loyalist troops commanded by Gen Mbuza Mabe re-entered Bukavu on Wednesday 
without a fight, according to Sebastien Lapierre, a MONUC spokesman in the 
town. He told IRIN that the dissident troops led by Col Mutebutsi had 
withdrawn from the town late Tuesday, with some heading towards Uvira, 118 
km to the south, and others northeast towards the border with Rwanda. 
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41584 ]

Also on Wednesday, MONUC said it would retain its troops in Bukavu and its 
environs so as to provide assistance to civilians in conjunction with the 
South Kivu provincial authorities and the transitional government in the 
capital, Kinshasa. It added that the return to Bukavu of loyalist troops 
was "likely to facilitate the restoration of order and the rule of law" 
and enable the governor and vice-governors, recently appointed by the 
transitional government, to assume their duties immediately. [Full story 
at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41592 ]

MONUC was largely involved in the successful withdrawal of dissident 
troops from Bukavu, Maj Abou Thiam, another MONUC spokesman, said on 
Wednesday. "The withdrawal took place because of pressure from MONUC," he 
told a news conference Kinshasa. "The presence of MONUC commanders from 
Bukavu and Goma had a direct impact on the outcome of the situation. They 
met with Gen Nkunda to deliver a strongly worded message," Thiam said. 
They reminded the dissident soldiers that MONUC's mandate carried a number 
of obligations to the Congolese people, Thiam added.

They told Mutebutsi that the withdrawal of his soldiers needed to be 
completed under official MONUC supervision and insisted that soldiers who 
wished to return to the government forces should be allowed to do so 
freely, Thiam said. [Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41599 ]


DRC-BURUNDI: Congolese Tutsis flee over fears of attack

At least 1,000 Congolese Tutsi, known as Banyamulenge, crossed into 
Burundi on Tuesday after they fled their homes in eastern DRC over fears 
of an attack by the sympathisers of former Mayi-Mayi militias. "Since this 
morning [Thursday], we have already registered 70 families," Prosper 
Banzambe, the head of Gatumba suburb in Bujumbura Rural Province, said. He 
added that the number of arriving refugees was increasing.

The refugees were mainly women and children from the DRC border regions of 
Sange, Uvira and Kiriba in South Kivu Province. They were directed to a 
transit centre set up by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) for registration.

One of the refugees, Nabihogo Nabatutsi, who fled Uvira with her five 
children, told IRIN that since the outbreak of fighting in Bukavu on 26 
May, Banyamulenge communities had been subjected to various forms of 
violence from the former Mayi-Mayi militia. "They enter houses and take 
everything, even some children have been abducted," she said. [Full story 
at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41603 ]


DRC-RWANDA: Kigali closes its border with Congo

Rwanda announced on 6 June that it had closed its border with the DRC, 
following accusations that Rwandan forces had supported dissident DRC 
soldiers in the capture of Bukavu, in South Kivu Province.

A statement issued by the Rwandan foreign ministry said the border with 
the DRC would remain closed until the UN and the African Union set up a 
verification mechanism to "expeditiously investigate" the allegations made 
last week by DRC President Joseph Kabila.

Kabila made the claim in response to the fighting which broke out on 26 
May in Bukavu, culminating in the seizure of the town on 2 June by 
dissident army soldiers led by Gen Laurent Nkunda and Col Jules Mutebusi, 
both of whom were formerly members of the Rassemblement congolais pour la 
democratie-Goma, a dissident group that once controlled the area. [Full 
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41444 ]

On Tuesday, the UNHCR expressed concern over ongoing tension in eastern 
DRC near the border with Rwanda, saying this could hinder its efforts to 
help refugees on both sides. The agency reported that following Rwanda's 
closure of the border, no new arrivals had been reported in Rwanda's 
western province of Cyangugu. The government had given assurances that 
Congolese refugees would still be allowed to cross into Rwanda, it added. 
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41575 ]


RWANDA: Former president gets 15-year prison term

A Rwandan court sentenced the country's former president, Pasteur 
Bizimungu, to 15 years in prison on Monday for embezzling state funds, 
disseminating literature to incite public violence and forming a militia 
group that threatened state security.  "The court finds Bizimungu guilty 
of [the] three charges," Fred Mulindwa, the president of the Court of 
First Instance in the capital, Kigali, said.

Each charge carried a maximum sentence of five years. Bizimungu's former 
minister and close ally, Charles Ntakirutinka, was also sentenced to 10 
years in prison. However, Bizimungu was acquitted of the charge of 
illegally possessing a firearm. The court also ordered that government 
refund him the US $10,000 confiscated during his arrest.

Bizimungu's trial started in April after nearly one and a half years in 
detention, but the prosecution accused him of deliberately stalling his 
trial by filing appeals for the dismissal of the charges and for bail. 
Bizimungu's lawyers said they might appeal the verdict. [Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41461 ]


UGANDA: Rising numbers of rescued children "overwhelming" agencies in the 
north

Childcare agencies working with former captives of the rebel Lord's 
Resistance Army (LRA) in war-ravaged northern Uganda are getting 
overwhelmed by the increasing number of children rescued or escaping from 
rebel captivity, a relief worker said. Michael Oruni, the coordinator of a 
programme run by the Christian charity, World Vision, to rehabilitate and 
reintegrate former child captives into society in the northern region, 
said the capacity of the childcare centres had been stretched thin.

World Vision's centre, for example, had been set up in 1995 to handle 250 
children, he said. Now it had 500 children plus 141 internally displaced 
adults, and required twice as much funds as it had in order for it to 
manage. "We now have a budget gap of US $250,000 [of which] our partner 
sponsors have promised to meet $90,000," Oruni told IRIN from Gulu, 360 km 
north of the capital, Kampala.

"We wanted to reunite some of the children with their families, but we 
were told that they could not travel because some routes were very 
dangerous. We get at least 15 new arrivals every day. Now we are planning 
to just fly them to their district towns," Oruni said. [Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41445 ]


UGANDA: Rebels kill 19 in fourth raid on IDP camps in a month

LRA rebels launched a fourth raid within a month on a camp for internally 
displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Uganda on Tuesday, killing at least 
19 people and burning over 200 huts, the Ugandan army and witnesses said.

The army spokesman in the area, Lt Paddy Ankunda, told IRIN from Gulu 
town, 360 km north of the capital, Kampala, that the LRA had attacked the 
camp located 50 km southeast of the town, at sunset and ignited several 
huts. "They [rebels] killed 19 civilians, the majority of whom were burnt 
inside their huts," Ankunda said on Wednesday. "Other people were killed 
during crossfire as they tried to scamper for their lives, and 10 injured 
people have been admitted in Ngai hospital."

Tommy Ayieko, a teacher in the area, told IRIN that over 100 rebels raided 
the camp. He said in an exchange of fire with the army, many 
grass-thatched huts caught fire, burning some of the victims inside. [Full 
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41576 ]


UGANDA: Tractors to boost crop production by IDPs in the north

The government on Thursday unveiled a new programme it said would give 
priority to food security and increased incomes for families displaced by 
the war against the LRA. Presenting a budget speech to parliament, Finance 
Minister Gerald Ssendaula said the programme included deployment of 40 
tractors to help cotton farmers under a scheme obliging cotton ginners to 
open up land for IDPs living in the camps, enabling them to produce food 
crops and grow cotton on contract for income purposes.

"The government is concerned about the plight of the people of the north 
and northeast living in the internally displaced persons' camps," 
Ssendaula said. "While the restoration of peace is being addressed, there 
is urgent need to improve the welfare of these people."

"Under this programme, 40 tractors have been procured. For the efficient 
management of the scheme, these tractors will be operated through 
participating cotton ginners under a subsidised leasing scheme, managed by 
the Cotton Development Organisation," Ssendaula said. [Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41618 ]


KENYA: Food distribution stepped up in two districts after contaminated 
grain kills 81

The authorities have stepped up food distribution in two districts where a 
total of 81 people died after eating maize contaminated with aflatoxin, a 
poison produced by fungi which grow on cereals harvested or stored under 
damp conditions, officials said on Wednesday. The director of medical 
services, Dr James Nyikal, told IRIN that 81 people, or 41 percent of the 
197 cases of aflatoxin poisoning reported since the first week of May in 
Makueni and Kitui districts, had died.

He said the most effective way of dealing with the problem was to destroy 
all the contaminated food stocks and give residents in the affected areas 
fresh rations to make sure they did not eat the bad grain out of 
desperation.

Large areas of Makueni and Kitui districts in south-central Kenya are 
semiarid and frequently experience food shortages caused by droughts. 
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41581 ]


KENYA: Food distribution delayed as situation worsens in Turkana and 
Marsabit

Food shortages persisted in the arid northern districts of Turkana and 
Marsabit last month as logistical problems delayed the launch of relief 
deliveries, a famine alert agency said, adding that inadequate May 
rainfall would lead to a deficit in the country's harvest.

"Food distributions were delayed, and an estimated 125,000 people (out of 
the 181,000 who are estimated to need emergency food assistance [in 
Turkana]) had still not received their food allocation by the third week 
of May," the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network said in a 
report.

It said although distribution had now started, the delay would only deepen 
the effects of an already critical situation, noting that rates of child 
malnutrition were well over the World Health Organisation's Global Acute 
Malnutrition Rate critical threshold of 15 percent, exceeding 20 percent 
in all areas where the distribution was intended to take place. [Full 
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=41596 ]


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