Weekly Round-Up - IRINSA-276: 31-Mar-06
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 276
25 - 31 March 2006
CONTENTS:
ZIMBABWE: Economic crisis stumps the health sector
ZAMBIA: More than US $2 million boost to fight effects of HIV and
drought
SWAZILAND: Good rain fills northern dams but southern crops might still
fail
SOUTH AFRICA: Zuma's bid against rape charge dismissed
MALAWI: Mutharika hints at more powers
SOUTHERN AFRICA: WFP takes out a loan to feed the needy
ZIMBABWE: Economic crisis stumps the health sector
The Zimbabwean government has stepped in to freeze a proposed 76 to 96
percent fee increase by private doctors, hospitals and clinics that
would have come into effect this week. With inflation at almost 800
percent, Zimbabweans are battling to cope with rising prices and
shortages. Patients currently pay more than US $400 admission fees at
private clinics and hospitals. Local media also reported that many
provinces had run out of tuberculosis drugs as a result of a severe
shortage of foreign currency. Worsening poverty and the HIV/AIDS
pandemic are said to have contributed to the resurgence of TB, to which
those with weak immune systems are more prone. At least one in every
four Zimbabweans is also said to be infected with HIV, which causes
AIDS.
Meanwhile, in a presentation to the parliamentary portfolio committee on
agriculture, farmers warned that the country would face a huge wheat
deficit this year as a result of shortages of key inputs such as seed
and fertiliser. They said they would only manage to produce 135,000 mt
of wheat. Zimbabwe's national annual wheat requirement is 420,000 mt.
See other reports:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52501
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52459
ZAMBIA: More than US $2 million boost to fight effects of HIV and
drought
The European Commission has allocated US $2.6 million to help up to two
million Zambians in the drought-affected southern and western regions,
which also have high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates. The funds will be used
to rehabilitate existing boreholes and water tanks; construction of
latrines, hand washing and laundry facilities for households,
communities, schools and health centres; and public health and hygiene
education.
The UN's World Food Programme announced that it would need another $4.4
million this year to avoid rationing food to about 160,000 refugees in
Zambia.
Also see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52461
SWAZILAND: Good rain fills northern dams but southern crops might still
fail
Recent heavy downpours that lashed the mountain kingdom of Swaziland may
have come too late to save the maize harvest in the drought-hit south of
the country. The Ministry of Agriculture has warned that only a fraction
of the crop planted in the south last year will survive until the
harvest, which starts next month, as it received very little rainfall
this year. The government's National Disaster Relief Task Force and the
World Food Programme are to continue food aid distributions to 240,000
vulnerable Swazis - around a quarter of the population.
Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52521
SOUTH AFRICA: Zuma's bid against rape charge dismissed
Former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma's legal bid to have a
rape charge against him dropped failed this week. The charge relates to
a claim by a 31-year-old HIV/AIDS activist who was allegedly raped by
Zuma at his home in Johannesburg last year. Judge Willem van der Merwe,
who heard Zuma's application, ruled that according to the evidence
before him, the charges against Zuma might be proven. Zuma's supporters
have claimed that the rape charge was part of a larger conspiracy to
keep him from making a bid for the presidency when current President
Thabo Mbkei's term ends in 2009.
See other reports:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52520
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52478
MALAWI: Mutharika hints at more powers
Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika this week reportedly hinted at
beefing up his powers as he launched a review of the country's 1994
constitution. "The constitution has serious loopholes and we must remove
the controversy on the powers of the executive, judiciary and
legislature ... We must agree who has the mandate to govern this
country," Mutharika said in a speech aired live on state radio. The
current constitution limits the powers of the president and replaces a
charter that enshrined one-party rule during Hastings Banda's
three-decade reign.
The review also sparked a debate on whether the president should have
powers to remove the first vice-president. The Mutharika government is
tied up in a legal battle over the removal of the first vice-president,
Cassim Chilumpha. Mutharika maintains that Chilumpha resigned from his
position, but the former vice-president said he was fired, which is
unlawful. Chilumpha has hired the renowned anti-apartheid lawyer, George
Bizos, to represent him when his case against the Mutharika government
comes before the court on 7 April.
SOUTHERN AFRICA: WFP takes out a loan to feed the needy
UN's World Food Programme revealed this week that it had taken a
substantial loan to ensure that more than nine million people in
Southern Africa would not starve in 2006 during the critical lean season
between January and April. When donations failed to materialise, WFP
borrowed about US $113 million from an internal mechanism to secure its
food pipeline and ensure people received their minimum food needs over
the critical months.
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