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Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-Up 377
31 March - 6 April 2007


CONTENTS:

NAIROBI, 6 April 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:
TANZANIA: Zanzibar bans livestock, meat imports to prevent RVF
CONGO: Illegal small arms could threaten elections
UGANDA: Children killed in military operation, says NGO
KENYA-SOMALIA: Border remains closed to asylum seekers


TANZANIA: Zanzibar bans livestock, meat imports to prevent RVF

Authorities in Tanzania's semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar on Friday
imposed a ban on the importation of farm animals and meat in a bid to
keep the islands free of Rift Valley Fever (RVF), a livestock disease
that also affects humans.

One RVF outbreak, mainly in the central region of mainland Tanzania,
claimed the lives of an estimated 40 people, and infected roughly 150
others since December 2006.

The principal secretary in Zanzibar's agriculture and livestock
ministry, Rahma Mshangama, told reporters that the government had
imposed an indefinite ban on the importation of livestock, including
cattle, sheep, goats, camels and meat.

Full Report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71212


CONGO: Illegal small arms could threaten elections

Large numbers of illegally-held small arms remain in circulation in the
Republic of Congo posing a security risk to the central African country
which has been plagued by conflicts in the recent past, officials said.

"Illegally-held arms remain one of the country's main problems," said
defence minister Gen. Jacques Yvon Ndolou, at the meeting organised last
week by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the
Association of European Union Parliamentarians.

The meeting was aimed at raising awareness among Congolese members of
parliament and government officials of the threats that illegal weapons
pose to national security ahead of the country's legislative elections
scheduled for June and July.

UNDP resident representative in Congo, Aurelien Agbenonci, said an
estimated 34,000 illegal arms are in still circulation in the country
following the civil war in the late 1990s. Remnants of the civil war
militias, particularly in southern Pool region, are yet to disarm.

Full Report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71131


UGANDA: Children killed in military operation, says NGO

Sixty-six children have been killed in Uganda's northeastern Karamoja
region during military operations against armed pastoralists, according
to a British charity.

The children died during a clash on 12 February in the remote district
of Kotido, Save the Children (UK) said on Friday. "Save the Children has
met 256 people in three locations who reported that the children were
shot, crushed by armoured vehicles or killed by animals during raids by
the army on a cattle ranch where they were living," it said in a
statement.

The Ugandan military denied the charge, calling the report "[as]
shocking as it is malicious". Army spokesman Maj Felix Kulaigye said the
army was more interested in protecting lives and there could be no way
they would kill children.

Full Report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71101


KENYA-SOMALIA: Border remains closed to asylum seekers

The Somalia-Kenya border is to remain closed despite the arrival of
thousands of new Somali asylum seekers escaping weeks of heavy fighting
in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a Kenyan official announced on
Tuesday.

"Our security officers have been put on high alert; no Somali will enter
the country," Garissa district commissioner, Joseph Imbwaga, said adding
that the decision to close the border, which was taken by the Kenyan
government more than three months ago, was still in force.

One aid worker, who requested anonymity, estimated that between 2,000
and 4,000 people had recently arrived. A further estimated 3,000 asylum
seekers have been camping at the border area since fighting intensified
in Mogadishu in December.

"These are newly-arrived people fleeing the fighting in Mogadishu," said
the aid worker, who works for the local NGO in the border area. "They
started coming in February [when the fighting intensified]. They are
weak and in really bad shape."

Full Report:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71164


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