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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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-Up 370
10 - 16 February 2007


CONTENTS:

KENYA: Dozens killed, thousands displaced in land clashes
TANZANIA: Zanzibar cholera outbreak contained
RWANDA: Flood victims face food insecurity
DRC: Money needed to repatriate Congolese refugees, resettle
   displaced

ALSO SEE:

TANZANIA: Concern among pastoralists as viral fever spreads
DRC: Prisoners endure appalling conditions


KENYA: Dozens killed, thousands displaced in land clashes

At least 30,000 people have been displaced and 60 killed in continuing
inter-clan land clashes in western Kenya's Mt Elgon District, the
Kenya Red Cross Society said on Wednesday.

Linet Atieno, an Information Officer for the Red Cross, said: "Houses are
being torched and we expect more IDPs [internally displaced people]. Some
of the IDPs who tried to go back to their farms have been hurt and some
killed."

According to the Red Cross, the displaced, mostly women, children and the
elderly, had sought refuge at markets, with relatives in nearby locations
or had fled to neighbouring areas such as Kaptama, Bungoma, Trans-Nzoia
and parts of Busia. The violence erupted when the government
controversially allocated land to squatters and settled 1,732 families in
Chepyuk in 2006. Intermittent clashes were reported throughout the year
and the violence worsened in December 2006.


UGANDA: Army kills 'warriors' in northeast

Fifty-seven people, among them four soldiers, have died since Monday in
fighting between the army and Karamojong warriors in Uganda's northeastern
district of Kotido, Lt Henry Obbo said.

"The fighting started when an armed Karamojong gang ambushed a group of
the UPDF [Uganda People's Defense Forces] and killed four of them,"
Obbo said on Thursday. "They ambushed us and we responded with superior
firepower, captured one of them and killed 45 of them in the wilderness
yesterday," he added.

According to United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, deteriorating
security conditions in Kotido, Kaabong and Abim have been caused by
confrontations between the warriors and the army.


TANZANIA: Zanzibar cholera outbreak contained

A ban on the sale of fresh food in Tanzania's semi-autonomous island of
Zanzibar has been lifted after health authorities brought cholera under
control, Mohamed Mugheiry, the minister for health and social welfare,
said in the island's capital, Stone Town, on Monday.

"We have had no patient for the last 14 days. Petty traders can now sell
their fresh food on the streets, but must observe health precautions," he
said.

Mugheiry said the government had also closed all temporary cholera
treatment centres.


RWANDA: Flood victims face food insecurity

Hundreds of people displaced by floods in Rwanda's northwestern region are
experiencing food insecurity, the Western Province Governor, Penelope
Kantarama, said on Wednesday.

"The term 'disaster' cannot really capture the suffering of the people
here," she said. "The unfolding humanitarian situation must be taken
seriously. If the floods continue to threaten these people, we will have
to seek humanitarian aid from other partners."

The floods, in late 2006 and early January, caused the Sebeya River to
burst its banks, bringing more damage to surrounding areas, especially
Rubavu and Nyabihu Districts.

The region's mayor, Ramadhan Barengayabo, said the floods submerged at
least 5,000 homes and 3,000 hectares of farmland. The floods killed at
least 24, displaced more than 2,000 people and caused damage estimated at
US $122,000.


DRC: Money needed to repatriate Congolese refugees, resettle displaced

At least $62 million is required to repatriate 98,500 Congolese refugees
living in neighbouring countries and to provide aid for 1.1 million
internally displaced persons in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
according to the United Nations.

"At least $36 million [of the $47 million] will go to our programme in the
DRC while the remainder [$11 million] will go to countries hosting
Congolese refugees," Antonio Jose Canhandula, the assistant UNHCR
representative for the DRC, said.

The UNHCR said there were at least 400,000 Congolese refugees in the
central African and Great Lakes region, mainly in Angola, Burundi, the
Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Africa,
Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.


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