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SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 52
29 December 2001 - 04 January 2002


CONTENTS:

ZAMBIA: President Levy Mwanawasa sworn in
ZIMBABWE: SADC prefers softly-softly approach
ANGOLA: UN initiates contact with UNITA
MALAWI: Seasonal floods hit the south
MAURITIUS: Reflecting women's equality in economic policy
BOTSWANA: Reduced diamond sales hits economic prospects

ZAMBIA: President Levy Mwanawasa sworn in

Zambia's third president Levy Mwanawasa of the ruling Movement of
Multiparty Democracy (MMD) was sworn in on Wednesday in a low-key ceremony
marked by sporadic anti-government protests, an opposition electoral
petition and a growing rift between the government and western donors.

Chief Justice Mathew Ngulube swore in Mwanawasa - who scooped 28.6 percent
of 1.75 million votes cast - in a ceremony characterised by tight security
and the conspicuous absence of the six regional heads of state who had
been invited to attend.

The government invited the leaders of South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe,
Malawi, Mauritius, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Swaziland to
grace the occasion. None of them showed up. Only the DRC, Malawi and
Zimbabwe sent government ministers to represent their heads of state.

Most local and foreign groups which monitored the 27 December elections,
including Afronet, the European Union, the Carter Centre, and the Southern
African Development community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum, have said that
pre-election manipulation of the process and administrative hitches had
distorted the political playing field in favour of the ruling party.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=18298&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZAMBIA

Wait-and-see

But as Zambia's disgruntled opposition leaders on Friday pressed on with a
campaign to nullify the results of the controversial general elections,
other Zambians appear to have opted for a more impassive wait-and-see
approach.

Analysts said the financial and equity markets had been quiet during the
week and were likely to remain restrained until the country's economic and
political direction became clearer. "The market is expected to remain calm
and thin as players wait to hear the policies of the new government,"
Citibank Zambia said in a treasury market update.

"Generally, people think it is too early to make any judgements. They
would rather wait and see what the composition of the budget will be, and
the breakdown of the budget, which will give an indication of the
government's priorities," Fred Mutesa, a lecturer at the University of
Zambia's department of development studies, told IRIN. "The composition of
the cabinet will also tell us whether Mwanawasa is his own man, or a
stooge of [former president] Frederick Chiluba," he added.

Mwanawasa is expected to name his cabinet either on Sunday or Monday.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=18358&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZAMBIA

Some positive gains are already apparent as a result of the election.
While insisting that the elections - particularly the presidential poll -
were flawed, some political observers suggested that the new parliament
would be the most representative since Zambia acquired independence from
Britain 37 years ago.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia released the results of the
parliamentary poll in 142 of the country's 150 constituencies on Thursday.
The results showed the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD)
leading with 66 seats, followed by the United Party for National
Development (UPND) with 48. The United National Independent Party (UNIP)
had 11 seats, the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) nine, and
Heritage Party, four. Patriotic Front and Zambia Republican Party had one
seat each, as had an independent candidate. The Zambian parliament has 158
members, eight of them nominated by the president.

"Since the government needs a two-thirds majority vote to pass certain
Bills, this means it will no longer be able to bulldoze unpopular Bills
through the house," Law Association of Zambia vice president Nellie Mutti
told IRIN. "While we are concerned at the way the elections were
conducted, all is not lost. At least, we are assured of a democratic and
strong parliament," she added.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=18344&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZAMBIA

ZIMBABWE: SADC prefers softly-softly approach

Southern African leaders will not dictate to Zimbabwe when they meet in
Malawi to assess the country's crisis later this month, Malawi's foreign
minister has said.

"We are not there to dictate to them what to do, but we want the rule of
law to prevail because violence will not solve anything," Foreign Minister
Lillian Patel reportedly said on Thursday, ahead of a Southern African
Development Community (SADC) summit scheduled for 14 January.

Patel, who also chairs SADC's council of ministers, told a press
conference that SADC was committed to finding a peaceful solution to
Zimbabwe's controversial land reform programme. Critics, however, have
accused the regional organisation of inaction and failing to focus on the
real issue - ensuring that Zimbabwe's presidential elections in March are
free and fair. Some reports suggested that SADC leaders would be more
hard-hitting behind the scenes at the summit.

Civic organisations in Zimbabwe see regional and international pressure as
the last hope for ending the country's worsening political violence,
despite the failure so far of southern African leaders to take effective
action to stem the political crisis. Advocacy groups are planning to lobby
the SADC summit and also visit key countries in the region in a bid to
persuade their governments that sustained pressure on Harare was needed to
ensure free elections, Brian Raftopoulos of the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Committee told IRIN on Wednesday.

Raftopoulos, an associate professor at the University of Zimbabwe, said he
did not at the moment foresee the regional body taking action against
President Robert Mugabe - a key figure within SADC. But, SADC could be
spurred into action by the European Union and the United States who have
threatened sanctions against Zimbabwe's ruling party, Raftopoulos said. He
added that minimum measures by SADC, such as setting preconditions for
what it would deem a free and fair election, would be "a huge step for the
region".

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=18302&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ZIMBABWE

In the worsening political violence, the MDC has accused ruling ZANU-PF
party militants of the murder of four of its members over the Christmas
period. At least one ZANU-PF supporter was also reportedly killed. Last
week, Sekai Holland, a senior MDC official, brought three severely injured
supporters to hospital in Harare whom she claimed had been kidnapped and
tortured by national service officers, whom the opposition accuse of being
ZANU-PF militia.

Meanwhile, a white judge who repeatedly exposed scandals in Mugabe's
government has become the latest to hand in his resignation, Zimbabwe's
Justice Ministry announced on Thursday. David Bartlett, 49, who was
appointed by Mugabe in November 1992, gave no reasons for submitting his
notice on Monday that he plans to quit 31 March, DPA reported. His
decision follows the resignation of three other High Court judges over the
past year and the forced early retirement of former chief justice Anthony
Gubbay.

In a separate development, High Court judge Justice Mahomed Adam, on
Monday ordered Tobaiwa Mudede, the Registrar-General, not to remove any
person from the voters' roll without complying with sections of the
Electoral Act. Adam's ruling follows a successful application by MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai who accused Mudede of removing the names of some
people from the common voters' roll in contravention of the Electoral Act
which governs the conduct of elections in the country, the Daily News
said.

WFP emergency operation delayed

A poor donor response has delayed the launch of a World Food Programme
(WFP) emergency feeding operation in Zimbabwe. With more than 550,000
Zimbabweans considered to be at risk of hunger and starvation, WFP
launched an appeal in December for US $60 million to buy about 117 mt of
food. It was hoped that food distributions would be under way, with the
help of local non-governmental organisations, by the beginning of January.

WFP deputy regional director Nicholas Siwingwa told IRIN on Thursday that
"responses have been extremely slow". He said WFP had already purchased
about 5,200 mt of maize meal from suppliers in South Africa and hoped to
begin distributing the food by the beginning of February - more than a
month late.

However, it is clear that unless more contributions are received soon, the
feeding operation could fail to reach those in need. A combination of
flooding, drought, severe disruptions on farms and a shortage of foreign
currency have caused food shortages in the country. The government has
ordered about 150,000 mt of maize from South Africa for its commercial
market, but will have to import much more to replenish its reserves.

ANGOLA: UN initiates contact with UNITA

United Nations Under-Secretary for Africa, Ibrahim Gambari, held talks in
the United Stated last week with a senior UNITA official in an attempt to
get the warring parties back to the negotiating table, diplomatic sources
have confirmed to IRIN.

Gambari returned to New York after a week of intense talks in Angola in
December with government, UNITA and civil society representatives. He
subsequently told the Security Council during a briefing that a "window of
opportunity" existed in Angolan to end the almost 30-year-old war between
UNITA and the government.

He said the two had agreed to resume peace talks, on condition that
certain aspects of the tattered 1994 Lusaka Peace Protocol could be
renegotiated. The parties also wanted the church to play a facilitating
role in the discussions, and had not objected to all sectors of civil
society participating.

A diplomatic source told IRIN on Friday that Gambari's meeting with former
UNITA representative to Washington, Jardo Muekalia, indicated "the
urgency" with which all parties were approaching the resumption of peace
talks.

In May Reverend Daniel Ntoni-Nzinga, executive secretary of the
Inter-Ecclesial Committee for Peace in Angola (COIEPA) - which has been
spearheading peace efforts - said the aim was to secure a ceasefire and to
have UNITA, the government and civil society around the negotiating table
by the end of 2001.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=18359&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=ANGOLA

President says unity fundamental to challenges overcoming

Meanwhile, in his year-end address to the nation on Friday 28 December,
President Jose Eduardo dos Santos urged unity among Angolans and said he
hoped the armed conflict between rebel movement UNITA and the state would
cease this year.

According to an Angop report, Dos Santos the government had signalled its
willingness to promote reconciliation and national reconstruction. But the
report quoted him as saying: "I want, however, to say to Angolans that we
are not going to repeat the mistake from the past."

"We can dialogue to implement what is missing in the Lusaka Protocol, but
will not return to the situation of 1992, when we came to the pint of
permitting that UNITA perpetrated disorders in cities and villages and
controlled a greater part of the national territory. Our goodwill cannot
be used to re-invigorate the strength of its rebel forces which today are
much weakened," he added.

MPLA to pursue discussions on President decision to quit

The ruling MPLA party leadership which met on Friday 28 December said
afterwards that it would continue to study President Jose Eduardo dos
Santos' decision not to take part in the next election, tentatively
scheduled for later this year or for next year.

Angop quoted MPLA information secretary Norberto dos Santos "Kwata-Kanawa"
as saying that a decision on the issue could not be reached rapidly that
that the party's leadership would announce a presidential candidate once
stability had been created in the country. He said Dos Santos would be in
charge until another president was elected.

"We consider that only with his clear sighted leadership will the
victories the MPLA proposes be achieved in priority areas, such as a
definitive peace and national reconciliation", Lusa quoted him as saying
in a statement.

MALAWI: Seasonal floods hit the south

More than 200 people from at least two villages in Malawi's southern
Chikwawa district have fled their homes following rains in the past few
days. The low-lying region, surrounded by highlands, is a flood plain and
its people have been repeatedly displaced by flooding for the past two
years.

World Food Programme (WFP) officer-in-charge Ayoub Al-Jaloudi told IRIN on
Thursday that an assessment team was already in the district and would
draft recommendations for any necessary interventions. He said the exact
impact of the flooding was not yet clear.

The rains are certain to impact further on food insecurity in the
district, with Malawi already in the grip of severe maize shortages. It
has also led to fear of a cholera outbreak. News reports on Friday 4
January said about 60 people had died from the water-borne disease in the
past two months.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=18341&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=MALAWI

MAURITIUS: Reflecting women's equality in economic policy

Mauritius is aiming to ensure that women's equality is reflected in the
national budget and economic policies, a UNDP press release announced on
Wednesday.

Mauritius began integrating a gender perspective in the budget process in
2000 through staff training and gender analyses of budgets in several
ministries, with support from the UN development agency. Gender analyses
examine the ways that budget allocations affect women as well as men,
girls as well as boys. Steps can then be taken to ensure equality in areas
ranging from training and employment programmes to family policies.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=18336&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=MAURITIUS

BOTSWANA: Reduced diamond sales hits economic prospects

The Botswana government's prudent management of the diamond-dependent
economy will be challenged by the global economic slowdown, a growing
HIV/AIDS burden, and the regional impact of the Zimbabwe crisis, the
Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) said in its latest forecast.

The London-based research unit said the government's comprehensive
anti-HIV/AIDS policy will place a growing burden on government
expenditure. But central to Botswana's fortunes is the diamond industry,
which performed poorly in 2001. The rate of real GDP growth is expected to
fall from 4.3 percent in the 2001/02 to 4.1 percent in 2002/03, before
picking up to 5.4 percent in 2003/04 as exports benefit from the global
economic recovery.

For more details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=18356&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=BOTSWANA


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