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

Tel: +27 11 880 4633
Fax: +27 11 880 1421
e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za


SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 179
15 - 21 May 2004


CONTENTS:

MALAWI: Special report on general elections
ANGOLA: Maize crop worse than last year
ZIMBABWE: Alleged mercenaries take SA govt to court
ZAMBIA: Community-driven project provides clean water, sanitation
SWAZILAND: Life expectancy to drop to 40 yrs by 2010 - report
NAMIBIA: Farmers seek extension of "offer to purchase" deadline
MOZAMBIQUE: Favourable IMF report on PRSP, MDG progress
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Conference examines gender imbalances
 

MALAWI: Special report on general elections

Malawi marked a decade of multi-party democracy with general elections on
Thursday, which analysts warned were not only too close to call but, if
mismanaged, could spark unrest, reported IRIN on Wednesday.

The seven-party opposition Mgwirizano (Unity) coalition, led by veteran
politician Gwanda Chakuamba, was running the ruling United Democratic
Front's (UDF) Bingu wa Mutharika a close race, but attention had also
focused on the capacity and independence of the Malawi Electoral
Commission (MEC).

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41152


Muluzi bows out

Outgoing president Bakili Muluzi leaves office after 10 years in power
with a mixed record, say analysts.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41178


ANGOLA: Maize crop worse than last year

Angola's maize harvest is expected to be far below that of 2002/03, IRIN
reported on Friday.

In its latest monthly food security update the Famine Early Warning
Systems Network (FEWS NET) warned that "prospects for the 2003/04 maize
harvest have deteriorated following excessive rain during the January to
March season".

FEWS NET noted that "average yields in the central and northern parts of
[the central province of] Huambo are expected to be at least 35 percent
below normal, while a situation of near crop failure is expected in the
southern and southeastern parts of the province".

More details: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41194


New hope for amputees

A high incidence of war injuries and poor medical facilities have left
Angola with one of the world's largest populations of amputees, but peace
is bringing greater access to organisations that can help them.

In Luena, the provincial capital of Moxico in eastern Angola, the Vietnam
Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) runs one of eight orthopaedic
centres that help amputees get prosthetic limbs, while the Angolan NGO,
Centro de Apoio a Promocao e Desenvolvimento de Comunidades (CAPDC),
provides psychosocial support. About 85 percent of the patients are
landmine victims.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41198


Economic reforms bring donor conference closer

Angola's long-awaited donor conference could take place in the "near
future" after recent moves by the authorities towards greater economic
transparency, IRIN reported on Wednesday.

President Eduardo Dos Santos requested a donor conference to help fund
reconstruction after the protracted civil conflict ended in April 2002,
but donors have called on the government to stamp out financial
mismanagement, arguing that Angola's own finances were not being put to
the best use.

Dos Santos reiterated the need for international aid in Washington last
week, highlighting several initiatives the government had undertaken over
the past year to reduce poverty, tighten its fiscal policy, and open its
oil accounts to independent scrutiny. On Wednesday diplomats told IRIN
there were "real and significant signs" that the Angolan government was
committed to economic reforms.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41148


Interview with new UN Resident Coordinator

Pierre-François Pirlot, the new UN Resident Coordinator in Angola, has had
30 years' experience in the UN, of which the last 20 years have been spent
with the office for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. He spoke to
IRIN on Monday about the challenges confronting Angola, and the United
Nations, as the country goes through its transition from a complex
emergency to a new development-driven agenda.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41092


ZIMBABWE: Alleged mercenaries take SA govt to court

The 70 suspected mercenaries arrested in Zimbabwe on charges of conspiring
to topple the president of Equatorial Guinea are taking the South African
government to court, a lawyer told IRIN on Wednesday.

"We have filed an application at the Pretoria High Court today
[Wednesday], following the failure of the office of the [South African]
president [Thabo Mbeki] to respond to our request, sent to him on Monday,
to either extradite the men to South Africa or ensure they are not handed
over to the authorities in Equatorial Guinea," lawyer Alwyn Griebenow
said.

The alleged mercenaries, all of whom hold South African passports, had
given Mbeki 24 hours to respond to their request.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41150


Cotton replaces tobacco as top forex earner

Cotton has replaced tobacco as Zimbabwe's top foreign exchange earner,
with exports expected to bring in between US $120 million and $150 million
this year, according to the Zimbabwe Commercial Cotton Growers'
Association.

But cotton farmers are unlikely to benefit because buyers, hit by the
sliding value of the Zimbabwean currency against the US dollar, "are
offering a price lower than the cost of production", Michele Bragge, a
spokeswoman for the association, told IRIN.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41128


Nurses strike over salaries

Service delivery at city council hospitals and polyclinics has been
disrupted by a nurses strike in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.

The nurses went on strike on Monday over a salary dispute with the city
council, demanding a second 100 percent salary hike after receiving a
similar increase in January.

Chairman of the Harare Municipal Workers' Union, Cosmas Bungu, said the
100 percent salary increase awarded to council workers in January this
year was not enough to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41127


MDC disputes Lupane election result

Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party took a step closer to gaining a two-thirds
parliamentary majority after its victory in a weekend by-election.

The seat for the Lupane constituency in Matabeleland North province became
vacant on the death of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
MP, David Mpala, earlier this year.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41118


Sorghum a cheaper alternative for urban poor

A market intervention programme has helped Zimbabwe's urban poor improve
their food security by offering them cheaper sorghum cereal, as opposed to
the relatively expensive maize staple.

In September 2003 Catholic Relief Services (CRS) launched a Market
Assistance Pilot Programme (MAPP) to reduce urban vulnerability in
Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo. The United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) funded MAPP and provided sorghum to
beneficiaries as a low-cost alternative to maize.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41081


ZAMBIA: Community-driven project provides clean water, sanitation

Access to potable water and sanitation facilities in a remote community in
Zambia's drought-prone Southern province has markedly improved the lives
of residents.

For years people of rural Chibizyi walked long distances in search of
water, often drawing it from unsafe shallow wells and perennial streams.
In the absence of adequate sanitation facilities, they used the
surrounding bush for human waste disposal, which led to regular outbreaks
of waterborne diseases.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41146


Failure to manage urban waste

Heaped garbage, a choking smell and pools of stagnant water sum up the
state of Soweto market, the largest open-air trading area in Zambia's
capital, Lusaka.

The unhygienic conditions are a sign of how urban waste management has
failed in what was once called the "garden city" but is now cynically
referred to as "garbage city".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41143


Rwandans remain unconvinced of peace back home

Frustrated by the reluctance of Rwandan refugees to return home, the
authorities in Zambia said on Tuesday they may have to consider invoking a
cessation clause declaring that dangerous conditions no longer exist in
Rwanda, and asylum seekers would not be recognised as refugees.

Jacob Mpepo, Commissioner for Refugees in the Zambian Ministry of Home
Affairs, told IRIN that despite "solid evidence" that it was safe to
return home, Rwandan refugees remained "unconvinced".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41120


Anti-corruption body under attack

Zambia's anti-corruption task force has come under attack following the
flight of two co-accused in the graft trial involving former president
Frederick Chiluba, reported IRIN this week.

Chiluba has been charged with the theft of tens of millions of US dollars
during his 10 years in office. The Task Force on Corruption was set up two
years ago by Chiluba's successor, Levy Mwanawasa, to investigate the
allegations against the former president.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41088


SWAZILAND: Life expectancy to drop to 40 yrs by 2010 - report

The Swaziland Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) has predicted that
the high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate will lower life expectancy to just 40
years by 2010.

The first large-scale survey of Swazi homes to determine the impact of
HIV/AIDS found a reversal of the decade-long trend of lower mortality
rates, due to the pandemic. "Swaziland has entered uncharted territory",
concluded the VAC's findings for 2003, released this week.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41137


NAMIBIA: Farmers seek extension of "offer to purchase" deadline

Namibia's Agricultural Union appealed to the government on Wednesday to
allow more time for farmers to respond to the request that they sell their
farms, reported IRIN.

In a bid to speed up land redistribution, the government had offered last
week to purchase a total of 15 farms from large-scale agricultural
farmers, who were given 14 days to respond.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41149


ANGOLA-NAMIBIA: 200 Angolans set to return home this week

Efforts by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to repatriate Angolans from
Namibia got underway this week with 200 refugees returning home on
Thursday.

"The 200 are among the 840 refugees who are to be repatriated in the
Cunene province in the next few weeks", UNHCR spokesperson in Angola,
Fernando Mendes, told IRIN on Monday.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41085


MADAGASCAR: Magistrates' strike halts justice

Madagascar's minister of justice was locked in negotiations with the
country's magistrates on Tuesday over demands for better pay and working
conditions. A stayaway by the magistrates has brought Madagascar's
judicial processes to a standstill.

The ministry's spokesman, Rena Ravonniandro, told IRIN that "it was still
unclear" whether any progress had been made, since the country's
Magistrate Union (MU) appeared bent on receiving better compensation
immediately.

A deal reached last week between the government and the MU agreed to
increase the pay of magistrates and other civil servants from the end of
July, but on Monday the MU embarked on strike action, calling for
immediate implementation of the plan.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41121


MOZAMBIQUE: Favourable IMF report on PRSP, MDG progress

IRIN reported this week that an International Monetary Fund (IMF) review
of Mozambique's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and economic and
social plan for 2003, has said that the country is well placed to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The MDGs are a set of objectives for human development, to be met by 2015,
agreed to by the 147 countries that are signatories to the Millennium
Declaration of September 2000.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41147


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Conference examines gender imbalances

Women parliamentarians from Commonwealth countries in Africa are currently
reviewing progress on gender equity at a conference in Gaborone, Botswana.

At the start of the conference on Monday, delegates acknowledged that much
still needed to be done to safeguard the rights of women and address
gender imbalances in education, employment and parliamentary
representation.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41113


More spending on agriculture needed

Southern African countries will have to raise their agricultural
productivity if they are to feed their expanding populations, the UN Food
and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) warned at the weekend.

Addressing an extraordinary summit of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) on agriculture and food security in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania, FAO Secretary General Jacques Diouf called for increased
spending on the agricultural sector.

"The ministers of the economy, finance and of the budget need to dedicate
at least 10 percent of the national budget to agriculture; they also need
to see that agriculture receives an appropriate allocation of resources
from poverty reduction and debt alleviation programmes, and also European
Development Funds," he said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41086


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

[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to
change your keywords, contact e-mail: IRIN@ocha.unon.org or Web:  
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this
item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
    Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                                   guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Southern Africa                  www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/safrica