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 312
31 December 2005 - 6 January 2006


CONTENTS:

KENYA: President declares national disaster in drought-hit areas
BURUNDI-RWANDA: UN agency prepares camp for asylum seekers
DRC: Tens of thousands of IDPs flee fighting in Katanga
DRC: Opposition politician ends boycott of upcoming polls
UGANDA: Opposition leader freed on bail
TANZANIA: More women, new faces in Kikwete's cabinet
CAR: Schools reopen as two-month strike ends
CAR: Paraffin, petrol prices up
CONGO: World Bank grant to help disarm 30,000 ex-fighters


ALSO SEE:

[DRC: Crisis in Katanga ignored:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50923 ]

KENYA: President declares national disaster in drought-hit areas

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared on Sunday a state of national
disaster in areas of the country hit by severe shortages of food and
water following a prolonged drought. He also appealed for donations to
alleviate the plight of those affected.

"In the next six months, up to 2.5 million of our people will be in need
of famine relief," he said in his New Year speech to the nation.

The region most affected by the drought is Northeastern Province where,
according to news reports, at least 20 people died of malnutrition
related illnesses in Mandera and Wajir districts. The situation is also
critical in Marsabit District in the north.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50909]


BURUNDI-RWANDA: UN agency prepares camp for asylum seekers

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, is expanding a transit site at Musasa in
northern Burundi to accommodate thousands of Rwandans seeking refuge in
the country, an agency official said on Friday.

Some 2,000 people have arrived in the northern provinces of Ngozi,
Muyinga and Kirundo since December 2005, bringing the number of Rwandan
asylum seekers in Burundi to an estimated 8,000, said Didier Bukuru, the
UNHCR information officer in the capital, Bujumbura.

He said the agency was planning the first transfer of the asylum seekers
from the border area to Musasa, in Ngozi, by 15 January. The agency was
augmenting its facilities there to welcome the new arrivals. Thousands
of asylum seekers live in informal sites in the northern provinces.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50972]


DRC: Tens of thousands of IDPs flee fighting in Katanga

Some 49,000 civilians who have fled fighting between the Congolese army
and Mayi-Mayi militia in the northern province of Katanga are living
under very difficult conditions, according to an official of the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"We need clothing, plastic sheeting, kitchen utensils, soap and other
things," said Anne Edgerton, the OCHA spokeswoman in Kalemie, a town in
Katanga Province, on 30 December.

Humanitarian organisations have also received reports of similar dire
conditions for IDPs in Malembankulu Territory, but they have not yet
carried out an assessment.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50970]


DRC: Opposition politician ends boycott of upcoming polls

Veteran politician Etienne Tshisekedi reversed on Monday his call for a
boycott of general elections due in 2006. Tshisekedi, leader of the
Union pour la democratie et le progres social (UDPS), had repeatedly
called for a boycott of the constitutional referendum on 18-19 December
2005 as well.

The final ruling on the results of the referendum is still pending,
although the Independent Electoral Commission, which conducted the
polls, has said that so far of 88 percent of the ballots cast, 78
percent were "yes" votes. Faced with such overwhelming public support of
the constitution, the UDPS may have found it politically expedient to
reverse its stand.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50922]


UGANDA: Opposition leader freed on bail

Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who is charged with treason and
rape, was freed on bail on Monday after the High Court in Kampala ruled
that his continued detention was illegal.

High Court Judge John Katutsi said the defence's argument that Besigye
faced separate terrorism and possession of weapons charges before a
military tribunal could not be used as an excuse to keep him in prison.

Besigye, 49, was released soon after the woman he allegedly raped in
1997 testified against him. He was driven out of the court compound
accompanied by his wife, Winnie, as his supporters ululated and sang in
his praise.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50914]


TANZANIA: More women, new faces in Kikwete's cabinet

Newly elected Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete announced his cabinet
on Wednesday, comprising 29 ministers and 30 deputies. The cabinet has
many new faces and the highest number of women the country has had since
independence.

The women in the new cabinet are seven ministers and 10 deputy
ministers. The previous cabinet had four female ministers.

Among the women holding key positions in the new cabinet are Zakia
Meghji, former minister for natural resources and tourism, who becomes
the minister for finance, and Asha-Rose Migiro, the new minister for
foreign affairs and international cooperation. Migiro was formerly
minister for community development, gender and children. Kikwete also
appointed women to head the ministries of education, justice, livestock
and community development.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50938]


CAR: Schools reopen as two-month strike ends

Schools across the nation have reopened and services have resumed in
other sectors since civil servants ended their two-month strike over
salary arrears on Thursday.

"Our demand over unpaid salaries was partly met, as the government has
accepted to pay three months' wages in 30 days," said Noel Ramadane, the
vice-chairman of the country's largest trade union, the Union syndicale
des travailleurs de Centrafrique. "This shows the goodwill of the CAR
authorities to find a solution to our grievances."

However, he said the government had yet to meet all of the workers
demands, including the lifting of a freeze on salary increments. [Full
story on: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50955 ]


CAR: Paraffin, petrol prices up as Bozize begins ruling by decree

In his first major action since parliament granted him the right to rule
by decree, President Francois Bozize announced on Wednesday a 35-franc
CFA ($0.06) increase in the price of paraffin, a basic commodity for
most of the country's 3.5 million people.

Residents who use paraffin as cooking fuel will now pay 385 francs
($0.7) per litre, up from 350 francs ($0.6). In such an impoverished
nation, even a slight price increase has a large impact on the
purchasing power of its citizens.

In the decree, broadcast on national radio, Bozize also increased the
price of petrol from 650 francs ($1.18) to 700 francs ($1.30) per litre
and diesel from 575 francs ($1.04) to 675 francs ($1.20) per litre.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50942]


CONGO: World Bank grant to help disarm 30,000 ex-fighters

The World Bank and the signed an agreement on Tuesday for a US
$17-million grant to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate 30,000 former
combatants in the country.

The agreement, signed in the Congolese capital, Brazzaville, falls $8
million short of the $25 million request the ROC made to the bank in
February 2005, under the framework of the Multi-country Programme for
Demobilisation and Reintegration. Midou Ibrahima, the World Bank
representative in ROC, said any additional funding requests would be
subject to separate negotiations.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50937]


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