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 180
22 - 28 May 2004


CONTENTS:

MADAGASCAR: Army reservists barricade parliamentarians
MALAWI: Court challenge to election
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Civil liberties remain under threat, Amnesty
ZIMBABWE: Household access to food a major problem
SWAZILAND: Calls for probe into police torture allegations
ZAMBIA: More than half of children under five are stunted
SOUTH AFRICA: Health officials on polio alert
ANGOLA: New UN report calls for greater decentralisation
COMOROS: Opening of federal parliament postponed
MOZAMBIQUE: Visas for Zimbabwe abolished


MADAGASCAR: Army reservists barricade parliamentarians

Madagascar's ministry of defence confirmed on Friday that 160 lawmakers
were being held hostage by army reservists demanding better compensation
for their efforts during the country's political crisis in 2002.

Paul Andre, a defence ministry media officer, told IRIN that several
hundred reservists had blocked the main route from the parliament
buildings in the capital, Antananarivo, since the early hours of Friday
morning.

The reservists have been attempting to exert pressure on the authorities
since January to increase their compensation for backing President Marc
Ravalomanana during the six-month crisis.

About 2,600 former members of the army and police were called on to
support Ravalomanana during the tussle for control of the Indian Ocean
island, sparked by disputed elections held in December 2001.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41325


Slow donor response hampers recovery after cyclone Gafilo

Urgent funds are needed to continue providing relief for 309,500 people
affected by cyclone Gafilo, which struck Madagascar twice earlier this
year, aid agencies told IRIN this week.

United Nation agencies launched a flash appeal in March for US $8.7
million, but so far donor response has been sluggish.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has received just US $134,000 of the US
$1.8 million it requested, while the World Food Programme (WFP) said it
needed additional funds to "fill the gap" - of the US $5.6 million needed
to feed up to 110,000 people, only US $2 million had been received from
donors.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41249


MALAWI: Court challenge to election

Malawi's Electoral Commission (MEC) chairman, Justice James Kalaile,
confirmed on Wednesday that a coalition of seven opposition parties had
filed court papers seeking a re-run of the presidential poll.

Ruling party candidate Bingu wa Mutharika was declared the winner of last
week's election and was inaugurated on Monday, amid violent protests by
opposition supporters who believed the election was rigged.

Election observer groups have stopped short of endorsing the poll as both
free and fair, while the MEC has been slated for its handling of the
election.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41277


Flawed voter registration casts doubt on poll results

Earlier in the week IRIN reported that Malawi's new president, Bingu wa
Mathurika, had been sworn on Monday amid threats of a court challenge to
the election results by opposition parties.

His inauguration came a day after opposition supporters clashed with
police in the southern city of Blantyre, and various opposition groups
denounced the election as rigged.

At least four people were reported to have died in the violence, with the
police using both live ammunition and rubber bullets.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41238


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Civil liberties remain under threat, Amnesty

Politically motivated violence, torture and the excessive use of force by
state security continued to be key concerns in several Southern African
countries, according to the Amnesty International (AI) 2004 report
published on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe was the worst offender of human rights in the region, while civil
liberties were under threat in Swaziland, Angola and Malawi.

The London-based rights watchdog noted that rights abuses in Zimbabwe
continued unabated in 2003, as the state stepped up attacks against its
opponents, particularly the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC).

It noted "an escalation in state-sponsored attacks on its critics", while
"incidents of ill treatment and torture were reported throughout the
year".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41283


Agri-assistance from Norway

IRIN reported on Tuesday on the Norwegian government's intention to
increase support for agriculture in developing countries. Madagascar,
Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique are among the potential recipients.

Under a new programme, "Fighting Poverty through Agriculture", assistance
for agricultural development would be "scaled up considerably", said a
statement by the Norwegian government.

The plan sets out 50 measures for promoting agricultural development in
developing countries.

"One of the priorities is to improve food security, [as] long-term food
security cannot be achieved without sustainable agricultural development.
The sustainable utilisation of natural resources is a priority in Norway's
efforts in all areas and through all channels," the statement explained.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41255


ZIMBABWE: Household access to food a major problem

Access to food will be a major challenge for ordinary Zimbabweans in the
2004/05 consumption year, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS
NET) has cautioned, IRIN reported on Wednesday.

"Zimbabwe continues to face a severe food security crisis, characterised
by high levels of unemployment and inflation, poor agricultural production
over the last four years, drought and poor government policies,
exacerbated by crippling levels of HIV/AIDS," FEWS NET said in its latest
food security emergency report.

Over the last year more than two-thirds of the population has been food
insecure. Although some food security indicators had improved in recent
months, "many Zimbabweans continue to face conditions of extreme food
insecurity".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41279


SWAZILAND: Calls for probe into police torture allegations

The latest death of a suspect in police custody in Swaziland has triggered
renewed calls from the public and human rights groups for a probe into
allegations of torture, IRIN reported on Friday.

Mandla Ngubeni, 28, was taken in last Friday for questioning by police in
Mbabane, the capital, along with seven other employees of Fast Towing
Services after Lilangeni 28,494.2 (US $4,363) was found missing from the
company. Ngubeni was discovered dead in a police cell at 04h00 on
Saturday. His family was not notified of his whereabouts until 10h00 on
Sunday.

Photographs taken of Ngubeni's body at a Manzini mortuary have been
prominently displayed in the local newspapers. They show that his head was
swollen and bruised, with bloody scars on his face. Ngubeni's father told
the press the police had informed him that his son had died of natural
causes.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41324


More than US $70m for development projects

Loan agreements granting Swaziland more than US $70 million for two
development projects were signed by the African Development Bank (ADB) in
Uganda this week.

A major portion of the money - about $57.4 million - will be used to
develop an 11 km stretch of the bypass road from the commercial hub of
Manzini in the centre of the country to Mbabane, the capital, and then to
the border town of Ngwenya in northwestern Swaziland.

The second loan, amounting to 9.31 million Units of Account (UA), about
$13.5 million, will finance the lower Usuthu smallholder irrigation
project in the fertile lowlands of central Swaziland, where the Usuthu
river joins other waterways to form the Maputo River at the Mozambican
border.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41327


Innovative project cares for AIDS orphans

Neighbourhood Care Points (NCP) that provide a host of services to
Swaziland's growing population of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC)
will be expanded by 150 percent by the end of 2005 in the drought-stricken
southern Shiselweni and eastern Lubombo regions, according to a recent
report released by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"Neighbourhood Care Points are places for children to acquire [assistance
with] their nutritional as well as emotional, educational and even
spiritual needs. Importantly, they are places that allow for the
socialisation of otherwise isolated children," said UNICEF country
representative Alan Brody.

In conjunction with the World Food Programme, which sees to the basic
nutritional needs of OVC, 198 care points have already been established
across the country. Eighty of these are located in the dry lowveld
regions, where a third year of drought has led to acute food shortages.
Some 200 NCPs will be operational next year.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41260


Project aims to identify vulnerable children

Swazi children will provide a key data-collection resource to determine
exactly how many orphaned, impoverished or otherwise vulnerable children
(OVC) are not in school, IRIN reported on Thursday.

The database will allow government and child welfare organisations to
strategise bursary programmes to achieve universal enrolment of OVC.

"We are dedicated to keeping orphans and vulnerable children in school. If
they have dropped out for financial or other reasons, we need to get them
back," Minister of Education Constance Simelane told IRIN. The first step
in the new initiative is identifying the children, Simelane added.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41302


ZAMBIA: More than half of children under five are stunted

More than half of Zambia's children aged under five are stunted – one of
the highest levels in Africa, according to the UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF).

"The levels of child malnutrition in Zambia had showed improvement
throughout the 1990s, but since 1999 have deteriorated quite
significantly," UNICEF's nutrition and health officer, Claudia Hudspeth,
told IRIN on Monday.

Hudspeth, who recently conducted a survey on children in Southern Africa,
attributed the increase in the levels of child malnutrition to a
combination of drought and the impact of HIV/ AIDS.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41239


SOUTH AFRICA: Health officials on polio alert

Health officials at district level in northwestern South Africa have been
put on "red alert" to prevent the spread of polio from neighbouring
Botswana, a government spokesperson told IRIN on Thursday.

Southern Africa recorded its first case of polio in more than a decade
when the disease was reported in Botswana earlier this year.

"Because of the proximity of our province to Botswana, district health
officials have been told to watch out for any signs of the illness," said
Barba Gaoganediwe, a health spokesperson for the North West province.

"We have also noticed that the number of children coming in for
inoculation to prevent polio had dropped in recent years. We are now
taking urgent steps to ensure that all children are inoculated,
particularly in the districts located along the border with Botswana,"
Gaoganediwe added.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41294


Global Fund and govt in talks to resolve issues

Discussions between the South African government and the Global Fund to
Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are being held to resolve confusion
concerning the disbursement of funds to organisations working on HIV/AIDS
issues, a fund official told IRIN on Thursday.

According to Reuters news agency, Richard Feachem, who heads the Global
Fund, told South African media this week that "it's intolerable that the
money gets stuck in Pretoria - and if Pretoria can't move it for any
reason, we will simply withdraw it and establish direct relationships with
the people actually doing the work".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41303


ANGOLA: New UN report calls for greater decentralisation

A new United Nations report has urged the Angolan authorities to transfer
more power to local communities, IRIN reported on Thursday.

The joint study by the UN Development Programme and Angola's ministry of
territorial administration has called for greater decentralisation of
power.

The report noted an "enormous need" for local level staff to provide basic
services and promote development in areas such as agriculture, commerce,
transportation and housing.

Much of Angola's infrastructure was destroyed during the protracted
struggle between government troops and the rebel group, UNITA. But since
the end of the war in 2002, officials have come under increasing pressure
to speed up social service delivery.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41307


COMOROS: Opening of federal parliament postponed

Tensions between political parties in the Comoros were set to heighten
following a "surprise" decision by Union President Azali Assoumani this
week to postpone the opening of the national assembly, IRIN reported on
Friday.

The establishment of the federal assembly was expected to resolve the
impasse between political leaders and pave the way to permanent stability
in the troubled Indian Ocean archipelago.

Under a February 2001 agreement, brokered by the Organisation for African
Unity to bring stability to the coup-prone country, each of the islands -
Grande Comore, Moheli and Anjouan - have their own president and
legislature, with a federal president and parliament on the largest
island, Grande Comore.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41328


MOZAMBIQUE: Visas for Zimbabwe abolished

An agreement abolishing visas between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, signed at
the weekend, would improve the lives of people living along the common
border, a senior Mozambican official told IRIN on Monday.

Mozambican Foreign Minister Leonardo Santos Simao said the reason for the
move was "to ensure the smooth circulation of goods and people across the
two borders".

"For many Mozambicans living along the border it was very difficult to
cross into Zimbabwe, as they often encountered a lot of bureaucracy. Now
that there has been more dialogue between ourselves and the Zimbabwean
authorities, these people can travel freely to see their relatives," he
explained.

In recent months the media have reported on growing tension between
Zimbabwean soldiers and Mozambican traders in the border area of Kuchamano
in the western Mozambican province of Tete.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41253


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