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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-Up 284
18 - 24 June 2005


CONTENTS:

RWANDA-DRC: EU may support military action against Hutu rebels
DRC: Voter registration begins in Kinshasa
BURUNDI: CNDD-FDD confirmed winner of communal polls
BURUNDI: Paramilitary youth in protest over demob payments
CAR: Disarmament of former combatants begins
CAR: Newly-appointed premier names cabinet
CONGO: Ebola epidemic over for now, WHO says
TANZANIA: Sacked medical interns reinstated
TANZANIA-SOMALIA: Government grants 182 Somalis citizenship


RWANDA-DRC: EU may support military action against Hutu rebels, Ajello
says

The EU special representative to Africa's Great Lakes region, Aldo
Ajello, said on Friday the Union might support military action against
Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo if they
refuse to disarm and return home.

"Since the political option is not working for the time being, because
we don't have the feeling that FDLR [Forces Democratiques de Liberation
du Rwanda] are trying to implement what they said in their declaration
[to disarm], then we are moving into the military option," Ajello said
at a news conference in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

His warning to the rebels followed a meeting with President Paul Kagame.

The Hutu-dominated FDLR signed a declaration in Rome in March announcing
that it was ending its war against Rwanda and denounced the 1994
genocide in which many of its core members are suspected to have taken
part.

Despite that declaration three months ago, Ajello said the rebels had
shown no commitment to return freely.

Ajello said six Congolese army brigades would be deployed to eastern
Congo to root out the FDLR, a move that the European bloc would support
logistically. Rwanda has also been demanding similar action of the
Congolese government, in the past. Ajello said two of the brigades would
be deployed to the troubled northeastern district of Ituri, while the
rest would be deployed to the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu
to deal with the Rwandan Hutu rebels there.

The government in Kinshasa has not yet given public confirmation of the
deployment details outlined in Ajello's comment. Ajello also said the EU
would also support a proposed African Union force to be deployed to the
east to help disarm the Rwandan rebels. [Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47814 ]


DRC: Voter registration begins in Kinshasa

Despite prevailing insecurity in the east and northeast of the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the postponement of presidential
elections, the Independent Electoral Commission launched its
registration campaign of 3.5 million voters in Kinshasa on Monday.

The three-week voter-registration process in the capital city is the
first step of the nationwide registration programme, which will extend
to other provinces in the next 45 days, starting with the Bas-Congo and
Orientale provinces, Apolinnaire Muholongu Malumalu, the chairman of the
Independent Electoral Commission, said. The enrolment of voters in the
North and South Kivus and Bandundu provinces would follow.

Before the registration could take place, the transitional government
took measures to stabilise the capital city, where opposition groups
threatened to protest against election delays.

On Friday, parliament extended the government's transition period by six
months, at the request of the electoral commission, to allow for a
constitutional referendum on 27 November. Opposition members in Kinshasa
called on residents to demonstrate on 30 June, the original date
designated as the end of the transition period under the current
constitution.

Some 9,000 voter-registration centres are due to open nationwide in the
coming weeks. Donors will finance the lion's share of the process, which
will cost US $430 million in all. The DRC government will contribute 10
percent. [Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47735 ]


BURUNDI: CNDD-FDD confirmed winner of communal polls

The Independent National Electoral Commission, or CENI, released on
Thursday the final results of communal polls held countrywide on 3 June,
confirming the outright victory of the country's former main rebel
group, the CNDD-FDD, now a political party.

"Out of 3,225 seats in competition, CNDD-FDD won 1,781 seats, followed
by FRODEBU [Front pour la Democratie au Burundi] party with 822 seats,"
Paul Ngarambe, the electoral commission chairman, said.

He said the CNDD-FDD, or Conseil national pour la defense de la
democratie-Forces nationales pour la defense de la democratie, polled an
overall 57.3 percent of the votes cast. The largest mainly Tutsi party,
the Union pour le Progres National (or UPRONA) came third with 260
seats, followed by Movement for the Rehabilitation of Citizens with 88
seats. Ngarambe also announced voter turnout at 80.6 percent of the
registered voters. [Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47812 ]


BURUNDI: Paramilitary youth in protest over demobilisation payments

Members of a government-supported self-defence paramilitary organisation
known as Guardiens de la paix (Guardians of Peace) disrupted activities
on Thursday in several provinces in Burundi, demanding payment of
demobilisation money they said had been delayed.

Members of the unit claimed that because they had fought on the side of
the government army, they would not receive payment if the CNDD-FDD took
control of government following its absolute majority win in communal
elections held across the nation on 3 June.

However, the director of information at the national secretariat in
charge of demobilisation, Brig-Gen Libere Hicuburundi, said the
demobilisation money for all members of the unit was available.

"Each peacekeeper will be disarmed and given 100,000 Burundian francs
[US $100] in a single payment, but we are still waiting for an updated
list to know who is entitled to get the money," Hicuburundi said during
a weekly news conference at the UN Mission in Burundi, known as ONUB.
[Full story on: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47818 ]


CAR: Disarmament of former combatants begins

A weeklong disarmament of 2,000 former combatants began on Saturday in
eight districts of Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic
(CAR).

The disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) process, for a
total of 7,565 combatants, will be extended to the rest of the country's
provinces this week, officials said.

The combatants, who were also known as "liberators" were
non-professional soldiers who joined a rebellion led by Francois Bozize
from October 2002 to March 2003. The rebellion ended with Bozize
overthrowing former President Ange-Felix Patasse and seizing over.

The regions most affected by the conflict include Bangui and its
surroundings as well as the provinces of Ouham, Ouham-Pende,
Nana-Grebizi and Kemo. These are also the places where the DDR will be
conducted.

The government launched the US $13-million DDR and community support
programme, known by its French acronym PRAC, in December 2004 in the
town of Bossangoa in the north. [Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47733 ]


CAR: Newly-appointed premier names cabinet

The newly-appointed CAR prime minister, Elie Dote, named his 27-member
cabinet team on Sunday.

In a communique read over state-owned radio Centrafrique, Dote announced
that President Francois Bozize, who was elected on 8 May, retains the
Defence Ministry portfolio, which he has held since March 2003 when he
ousted President Ange-Felix Patasse.

The newcomers in Dote's cabinet include Jean-Eudes Teya from the
political coalition Convergence Nationale Kwa na Kwa (KNK - the local
Sangho language for "work, nothing but work"), who is the minister for
water and forest; a Member of Parliament from the coalition, Brigitte
Epaye; Minister for Industry and Commerce and KNK coalition member
Fidele Ngouandjika as minister for telecommunications.

Former Prime Minister Jean-Paul Ngoupande, who lost the first round of
the presidential poll and threw his weight behind Bozize during the 8
May runoff, is the new minister for foreign affairs and regional
integration. Another unsuccessful presidential candidate, Charles Massi,
is the minister for transport.

Bozize's nephew, Sylvain Ndoutingaye, retains his position as minister
for mining, a post he has held since March 2003. Desire Kolingba, son of
former President Andre Kolingba, remains minister for Youth and Sport.

Lea Koyassoum Doumta, who Bozize sacked from the ministry of justice on
7 January 2005, makes a comeback as minister for public health and
population. [Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47736 ]


CONGO: Ebola epidemic over for now, WHO says

The deadly Ebola haemorrhagic fever that has ravaged the northern
Cuvette-Ouest region of the Republic of Congo since April is now under
control, UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

"On 17 June, the last people [who came into contact with infected
persons] will be removed from the monitoring list. The epidemic will be
regarded as epidemiologically over," WHO said in a statement issued in
Brazzaville, the nation's capital.

However, WHO clarified that "the official declaration of the end of the
epidemic would come only at the end of 21 days, on 8 July."

The most recent epidemic was declared on 27 April for a forested area of
the Cuvette-Ouest region that borders Gabon. WHO confirmed the finding a
month later. Since the start of the outbreak, the virus has killed 10
people in Cuvette-Ouest: in the locality of Etoumbi and one in Mbomo.
[Full story on: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47737 ]


TANZANIA: Sacked medical interns reinstated

The government announced on Friday that the crisis at Muhimbili National
Hospital, the country's largest, had ended after the reinstatement of
medical interns sacked recently following a week-long strike for more
allowances.

"The government has started to deal with the problems, including
allowances and salaries of medical cadres to be paid effective this
month," Frederick Sumaye, the prime minister, told reporters shortly
after visiting the hospital.

He said the government understood the plight of the interns but had been
unable to improve their emoluments because of the country's financial
difficulties.

A total of 148 interns had been on strike: 111 doctors, 24 pharmacists
and 13 nurses at the 1,400-bed hospital in central Dar es Salaam, the
nation's largest commercial city. They were demanding an increase in
their monthly allowance, which is 80 percent of the 201,000 Tanzanian
shillings (US $200) monthly salary of a newly hired government doctor.

The interns said they wanted at least a 20-percent raise in their
allowances because, they said, their workload was greater than their
fully employed colleagues and senior professionals. [Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47816 ]


TANZANIA-SOMALIA: Government grants 182 Somali refugees citizenship

As part of activities to mark the World Refugee Day, the Tanzanian
government granted citizenship on Monday to the first 182 of 1,320
Somali refugees.

The naturalisation ceremony was held at a refugee camp in Chogo village,
in the northeastern Tanga region, which is home to 472 Somali refugee
families. Those to receive citizenship are from 44 families.

The representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) in Tanzania, Chrysantus Ache, said on Friday his agency
and government authorities were considering the applications for
citizenship from a total of 1,320 Somali refugees.

The refugees, referred to as Somali Bantus, number about 3,000 in total
and are said to be descendants of slaves who were captured from Malawi,
Mozambique and Tanzania by a ruler of Zanzibar and other slave traders
and sold into Somalia. [Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47711 ] [On the Net: Focus
on the return home of Somali Bantus:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=37866 ]


[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
2005


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