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 Southern Africa

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Fax: +27 11 880 1421
e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za


SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 178
8 - 15 May 2004


CONTENTS:

ANGOLA: Report calls for more transparency in the oil sector
BOTSWANA: Polio immunisation underway
MADAGASCAR: Projects to boost food security, conserve environment
MALAWI: Court postpones elections
MAURITIUS: Talks on Zimbabwe and AGOA with the US
ZIMBABWE: Calls for decentralisation of ARV programmes
ZAMBIA: Fight to abolish the death penalty
SWAZILAND: Kingdom wants to accede to peer review mechanism
NAMIBIA: Commercial farmers invited to sell land
SOUTHERN AFRICA: New US aid based on commitment to reform



ANGOLA: Report calls for more transparency in the oil sector

Auditing firm KPMG called for greater financial transparency in the
management of Angola's oil industry.

The KPMG report, commissioned by the Angolan government in 2002, aimed at
producing a financial diagnosis and creating a monitoring system for the
government's oil revenues. An executive summary and recommendations from
the report was posted on the Angolan embassy's website in Washington this
week.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41043


Opposition walks out of pre-election commission

After months of urging the authorities to set a date for Angola's first
post-war general elections, opposition parties on Wednesday walked out of
a commission tasked with laying the groundwork for a national poll.

UNITA's secretary for public administration, Alcides Sakala, told IRIN:
"Nothing substantial has been accomplished. The government continues to
make decisions on their own without consulting any of the opposition
parties. We want [President Eduardo] dos Santos to come up with a clear
timetable that sets out the steps towards the election - so far there is
nothing we can work towards."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41039


Local production down, yet prices remain stable

Although heavy rains destroyed a significant amount of crops in the
central highlands region of Angola, the price of commodities in markets
remained stable, IRIN reported on Tuesday.

With the main maize and bean harvest nearing completion, the Famine Early
Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) noted in its latest Prices and Market
Situation report that the supply of these commodities to the main market
centres, excluding Luanda, remained low.

"However, contrary to logical price predictions under this type of
situation, the prices of maize grain and beans have not [risen]
significantly," FEWS NET commented.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41021


Diamond trade in conflict with human rights - report

Angola's diamond mining industry continues to profit an elite few, despite
claims by the authorities of increased efforts to spread the benefits.

A recent report commissioned by the Pretoria-based Institute for Security
Studies (ISS), said residents in the country's diamond-rich northeastern
provinces - Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul - continued to feel discriminated
against by industry players, and excluded from the wealth generated by the
region's mineral resources.

The report, "War, Peace and Diamonds in Angola: Popular Perceptions of the
Diamond Industry in the Lundas", noted that since the end of the armed
conflict in 2002, very little had been done to adequately regulate the
diamond trade.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40974


Mines threat to refugee repatriation

Angola's decades-long civil war is over, but the presence of landmines and
other unexploded ordnance (UXO) remain a major obstacle to recovery.

The city of Luau in the eastern province of Moxico, once a bustling centre
with 90,000 inhabitants, has been isolated since the war destroyed roads
and the railroad along which goods flowed from the Angolan coast to the
DRC.

Its location on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
made Luau strategically important to the armed forces of both the former
rebel movement, UNITA, and the government. When Luau became a focal point
for hostilities, people fled and left much of the city deserted and in
disrepair.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40965


BOTSWANA: Polio immunisation underway

Almost 200,000 children in Botswana are to be vaccinated against polio
after the virus was reintroduced into the country from Nigeria.

>From 10 to 14 May, about 2,600 vaccinators, district and national health
supervisors and volunteers will be involved in immunising children under
the age of five against the disease. A second immunisation campaign will
take place from 14 to 18 June.

"UNICEF [UN Children's Fund] and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in
Botswana are supporting the government of Botswana by supplying the oral
polio vaccine, mobilising communities, training health workers and
ensuring that the refrigeration 'cold chain' equipment is in place to
safely transport the vaccine to the children," said a joint statement by
the various organisations participating in the vaccination programme.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40993


MADAGASCAR: Projects to boost food security, conserve environment

On Thursday IRIN reported on two funding initiatives for the Indian Ocean
island that aim to boost food security and harness the eco-tourism
potential of the country.

On Wednesday the World Bank announced that it had approved an
International Development Association (IDA) grant of US $40 million, as
well as a Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant of US $9 million, to
support the implementation of Madagascar's National Environment Action
Plan.

In a separate development, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) announced that it would fund a new rural income-promotion
scheme to improve the living standard of small farmers and ensure food
security in one of the country's most impoverished provinces.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41035


MALAWI: Court postpones elections

The Malawi High Court on Friday postponed elections due to be held on 18
May after an opposition coalition argued there were serious anomalies in a
new voters' roll, news reports said.

"The date of Malawi's elections is to be shifted or postponed to no later
than 25 May," AFP quoted Judge Healey Potani as saying.

The seven-party Mgwirizano (Unity) coalition, led by presidential
candidate and veteran opposition politician Gwanda Chakuamba, asked the
court on Thursday to delay the elections following controversy over the
voter roll.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41069


OPEC gives $5m for road upgrade

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for
International development is to lend Malawi US $5 million to upgrade a
road that will help to boost the economy of its northern districts. The
loan agreement was signed on Wednesday.

"The OPEC funds will finance the upgrade of the [road from] Karonga [town
to the] Lufilya [river] section (about 57 km), between the districts of
Karonga and Chitipa in the north, which is also a connecting link to the
Tanzanian and Zambian borders," Charles Mtawali, the senior engineer in
charge of development projects at Malawi's National Road Authority, told
IRIN.

Five secondary and tertiary rural roads adjacent to the Karonga-Lufilya
stretch, totalling about 200 km, will also be regraded and reshaped.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41032


Opposition takes legal action against electoral commission

Malawi's seven-party opposition coalition plans to take the country's
electoral commission to court in a bid to extend the 18 May election date.

Charles Mhango, the lawyer representing the "Mgwirizano" (Unity)
coalition, said the legal action had been launched as the period left for
verification of the controversial voters' roll, prepared by the Malawi
Electoral Commission (MEC), was "too short". The case is expected to be
heard in the High Court on Wednesday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40992


MAURITIUS: Talks on Zimbabwe and AGOA with the US

Mauritian Prime Minister Paul Berenger was expected to discuss Zimbabwe
and the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) with US President
George Bush in Washington on Wednesday, a senior official told IRIN.

"As Mauritius assumes the chairmanship of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) in August, Zimbabwe is one of the likely issues to be
raised. The issue has been blocked for some time, with SADC countries
holding a position contrary to the one held by the Commonwealth and the
developed countries on Zimbabwe," Kewe Chung, an advisor to Berenger, said
on Tuesday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40987


ZIMBABWE: Calls for decentralisation of ARV programmes

A government decision to distribute anti-AIDS drugs at two of Zimbabwe's
largest urban hospitals has been criticised because the majority of people
in need of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs live in rural areas, IRIN reported
on Thursday.

As Zimbabwe moves towards its third decade of the AIDS pandemic, more
people are falling sick and there is a greater need for care and treatment
in rural areas, where it is estimated that over 70 percent of people
living with HIV/AIDS are located.

The Zimbabwean government has said it would be difficult to provide ARV
therapy (ART) in rural areas because of limited infrastructure.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41040


No free lunch, but avocados are cheap

On Thursday IRIN reported that soaring food costs have forced a cheaper,
and healthier, diet on urban Zimbabweans.

Angeline Guhwa, a secretary at a legal firm in Harare, used to have
burgers for lunch, or even a hotel meal. Now, like so many other
Zimbabweans working in the capital, she often has no more than a couple of
avocados: healthy, nutritious - and above all - cheap.

>From construction workers to middle managers, avocados mashed into buns
are the new fast food. With greasy burgers and cholesterol-laden meat pies
cut from people's diets, the University of Zimbabwe has hailed the fad.

"The avocado pear works very well as a spread that can replace jam or
margarine. They are very nutritious, and very good for good health," said
a lecturer at the department of food sciences.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41041


No need for food aid, says govt

On Wednesday IRIN reported that the government of Zimbabwe believed the
country would produce enough food to meet domestic consumption
requirements and would not require international aid, but independent crop
forecasts have suggested otherwise.

Official news organisation ZIANA and the Herald newspaper quoted the
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Paul Mangwana, as
saying that "we don't need food aid from outside the country. We generally
believe we produced enough for local consumption, and we have told our
international partners about this".

Although there were "some areas that would have food deficits, these would
be covered through internal food distribution, and not imports", Mangwana
was quoted as saying.

The latest announcement followed the cancellation of a planned crop
assessment mission by United Nations agencies in Zimbabwe after the
government withdrew its participation. The UN assessments are conducted at
the invitation and with the participation of the host government.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41020


Malaria toll rises

Fifty-seven people died of malaria in Zimbabwe last week, bringing the
toll to 500 since the start of the rainy season this year, IRIN reported
on Wednesday.

Medical experts have attributed the rising number of deaths to the heavy
rain in most parts of the country, coupled with a lack of funds and
chemicals to carry out routine spraying.

Since 2001, Zimbabwe has been part of the "Roll Back Malaria" initiative,
launched in partnership with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). UNICEF
spokeswoman Shantha Bloemen said "excellent" anti-malaria programmes in
many districts had been affected by lack of funds and the country's high
inflation rate.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41017


Tetchy cross-border relations with Botswana

IRIN focussed on the recently strained relations between Botswana and
Zimbabwe.

Zimbabweans have been making shopping trips to Botswana for almost three
decades, but the steadily deteriorating economic conditions in their
country have caused thousands, both skilled and unskilled, to trek to
Botswana's cities, towns and mines in search of jobs. Many enter the
country illegally along secret paths in the dead of night.

Although scores of them are deported every week, the desperate Zimbabweans
still find it worthwhile to sneak back into the country in search of
opportunities and a better life.

Recent media reports on the alleged ill-treatment of Zimbabweans by
Batswana nationals have soured relations between the two countries.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41015


UN crop assessment on hold

UN officials in Zimbabwe said on Monday they were still waiting for
official confirmation from the government that a joint agency assessment
of crop production had been cancelled.

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation
reportedly withdrew their teams from the field on Friday after being told
that the agriculture ministry had called off the crop inspection.

"We have written to the government for clarification," UN Humanitarian
Coordinator Victor Angelo told IRIN. "We were invited to start the field
work, and now we have been asked to stop, and we need a formal letter that
states we have to stop, and why."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40975


Private schools reopen

Most private schools closed by the Zimbabwe government last week are set
to reopen, the Department of Education told IRIN on Monday.

An official confirmed on Monday that 43 of the 45 schools shut down by
government over a fees dispute had been cleared for reopening, and
discussions were ongoing over the fate of two others - a resolution
regarding them could soon be announced.

The 45 schools were closed last week after breaching the Education Act
when they increased fees and levies by more the allowed 10 percent without
seeking permission to do so from the Permanent Secretary for Education.

About 30,000 pupils were affected by the decision to close private
schools.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40966


ZAMBIA: Fight to abolish the death penalty

IRIN reported on Tuesday that a Zambian lawyer is seeking to abolish the
death penalty in a country in which the president and human rights groups
are united in their opposition to capital punishment.

Kelvin Hang'andu is representing two men on death row at the country's
maximum prison in Kabwe, about 150 km north of the capital, Lusaka. They
were sentenced in 2000, and since then the Supreme Court has twice
rejected his petition.

The court reserved its judgment on the third appeal last month, and
advised the lawyer to make a submission to the Constitution Review
Commission (CRC).

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40989


NGOs to continue monitoring HIPC fund spending

Zambian NGOs will continue to track the use of funds saved under the
Highly-Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, despite the government's
suspension of an independent monitoring team, IRIN reported on Monday.

Before its suspension last month, the HIPC Tracking and Monitoring Team,
established by the ministry of finance in 2001, identified several alleged
cases of abuse of funds involving top civil servants.

The team's last report, released in February this year, dealt with
investigations into disbursements made in the Copperbelt and Northern
provinces, and claimed that thousands of [US] dollars of HIPC funds had
been spent on fuel, festivals and political celebrations.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40973


SWAZILAND: Kingdom wants to accede to peer review mechanism

IRIN reported on Wednesday that Lesotho wants to sign up for the African
Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), according to a New Partnership for African
Development (NEPAD) communique.

Lesotho's intention was discussed at a recent meeting of the APRM Panel of
Eminent Persons, held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The mechanism, overseen by the panel, monitors a country's progress
towards political and economic reform and was put in place earlier this
year. Seventeen African countries have signed up so far.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41019


Nurses seek greener pastures

Swaziland's nursing crisis is deepening as trained nurses leave the
country for better salaries abroad and the Swaziland Nursing Association
renews a call for strike action, IRIN reported on Wednesday.

Last month another 29 Swazi nurses left the country for better paying jobs
in the United Kingdom - a third of all nurses who graduate each year.

"At issue is respect for the nursing profession, and government needs to
work to retain nurses," the secretary general of the nurses' union,
Thabsile Dlamini, told IRIN. The union did not indicate when it intended
to strike again.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41014


NAMIBIA: Commercial farmers invited to sell land

As a sign of its commitment to accelerate land reform in Namibia, the
government has offered to purchase almost a dozen commercial farms.

Minister of Lands Hifikepunye Pohamba told IRIN on Thursday that "more
than 10 farm owners were invited to make an offer to sell their property
to the state" and had been given 14 days to respond to the request.

Pohamba added that the state's offer to purchase the commercial properties
"should not be seen as an expropriation notice", as had been reported in
the local Republikein newspaper this week. The land reform process in
Namibia is based on the "willing-seller, willing-buyer" principle, with
the government having first option on any commercial farm for sale.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41038


Supreme Court reserves judgment on the Caprivi 13

The Namibian Supreme Court has reserved judgment on a government appeal to
overrule a High Court decision that freed 13 people accused of treason,
IRIN reported on Wednesday.

The 13 were part of a group of 120 arrested for allegedly taking part in
secessionist violence led by the Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), which
attacked Katimo Mulilo, the largest town in the northeastern Caprivi
region, in August 1999.

The 13 accused, including John Samboma, the alleged commander of the CLA,
were released at the end of February following an order by Judge Elton
Hoff at the High Court in Grootfontein, 500 km north of Windhoek. He ruled
that his court did not have the jurisdiction to try the men because the
circumstances under which they had been held were "irregular". They were
re-arrested on being released.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41011


SOUTHERN AFRICA: New US aid based on commitment to reform

Lesotho, Madagascar and Mozambique are among 16 developing countries
eligible to apply for a new US-sponsored aid programme, but disbursement
of the funds will depend on their ongoing commitment to political and
socioeconomic reforms, IRIN reported on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a statement on Monday that the
candidate countries were chosen to participate in the Millennium Challenge
Account (MCA), based on "both the past and current policy performance in
the areas of governing justly, investing in their own people and promoting
economic freedom".

The three southern African countries are some of the poorest in the region
and the US $1 billion provided by the MCA for the 2004 financial year is
expected to help jumpstart their economies.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40990


IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11 880-4633
Fax: +27 11 447-5472
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

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