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Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa
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SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 42 covering the period 16-23 October 1999
CONTENTS
ANGOLA: WFP needs US $158 million for year 2000 ANGOLA: Malnutrition remains high in Huambo ANGOLA: Refugees flee to Zambia ANGOLA: Military advance brings peace talks closer ANGOLA: Pathways to negotiations ANGOLA: US searches for a new relationship ANGOLA: UNITA threatens "Portuguese interests" in Angola ANGOLA: IMF talks delayed until next year ANGOLA: HIV/AIDS statistics BOTSWANA: BDP wins convincingly ZIMBABWE: Opposition says planned compensation an insult ZIMBABWE: Rising food prices drive inflation ZIMBABWE: Malawi diplomat expelled MOZAMBIQUE: Election campaign starts MOZAMBIQUE: World Bank approves US $100 million for port and railway restructuring NAMIBIA: Caprivi policemen accused of torture to face military tribunal ZAMBIA: Copper output plummets by 13 percent MALAWI: Canadian fisheries experts called in SOUTH AFRICA: Civil service restructuring SOUTHERN AFRICA: Conference on peacekeeping SOUTHERN AFRICA: Regional impact of the SA-EU trade agreement AFRICA: International conflict intervention misses community point of view
ANGOLA: WFP needs US $158 million for year 2000
The World Food Programme said this week that it would "consider" asking donors for US $158 million to cover its humanitarian operations in Angola for the next year. The WFP-Angola appeal document for the year 2000, based on a May assessment which estimated that some 1.13 million people need emergency food aid until April next year, was presented to WFP's executive board this week.
"Even that is not going be sufficient," Fransesco Strippoli, the UN humanitarian coordinator and WFP representative told IRIN. "The US $158 million figure was what we estimated in May, but in a September review we calculated there would be 1.9 million war-affected people and we need US $203 million."
Malnutrition remains high in Huambo
Meanwhile, although a UNITA rebel siege of Huambo has been lifted by a government offensive in the central highlands, the rate of malnutrition in Angola's second city remains disturbingly high, humanitarian workers told IRIN. WFP said it planned to increase its food aid to Huambo for October to close 1,600 mt to feed 150,000 beneficiaries.
Refugees flee to Zambia
Hundreds of people fleeing fighting between government forces and UNITA in eastern Angola have been crossing into neighbouring Zambia since early September, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
A UNHCR official in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, told IRIN that 200 refugees had crossed over last month, while so far in October, 500 more had sought refuge from the latest fighting. Most of the refugees, once screened, are being housed at the long-established Meheba centre in western Zambia, which over the years has become home to some 26,000 Angolans.
UN team visits Luanda
A UN Security Council panel investigating sanctions busting by UNITA this week arrived in , the capital Luanda, on the start of a three-week regional tour, UN officials told IRIN. The six-member panel, headed by Anders Mollander, the former Swedish ambassador to Angola from 1992 to 1995, is looking into UNITA's sources of revenue and funding, especially its illegal diamond trading, and petroleum supplies. Its members include experts from Zimbabwe, Namibia, France, Britain and Russia.
Military advance brings peace talks closer
Diplomats and security sources in Angola this week confirmed government claims that Andulo, the last rebel UNITA stronghold in the central highlands, had been captured.
A government communique, breaking weeks of silence on the progress of the current offensive, said the key UNITA bases of Andulo and Bailundo had fallen to the Angolan armed forces (FAA). It added that advances had also been made in Moxico and Malanje provinces.
A Western military attache in Luanda told IRIN that Andulo and its strategic airbase had finally been captured on Wednesday morning. "I think it's absolutely, very, very, very important," he added.
Andulo, a small town up in the hills of the central highlands, was thought to have been heavily-defended by UNITA. But security sources told IRIN last week that UNITA were attempting to evacuate military equipment from Andulo as government forces closed in from the north and south.
Up until Monday, UNITA was denying that Bailundo had been captured and that Andulo was under threat. But security sources said that Bailundo had been taken by the FAA almost two weeks ago, and its airfield was being used to ferry troops and supplies in for the push on Andulo 120 km to the northeast.
Diplomats and security sources told IRIN that UNITA was now trying to reorganise in the far eastern province of Moxico, with some units heading north towards the Cuanza river valley. They said UNITA would revert to guerrilla warfare tactics.
Pathways to negotiations
Given the change in UNITA's military fortunes - and the impact on rebel morale - they said a path towards negotiations between the government and UNITA was beginning to open. "The problem will not be solved by military means, but the offensive will be used to change the cards of the game," one Western envoy said.
But while not ruling out negotiations, the government has refused to talk with UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi whom Luanda and regional neighbours brand a war criminal after he reneged on all past peace agreements.
"The dilemma is that the government says it will negotiate with anybody but Savimbi. But if Savimbi is still around, what do you do?", the envoy asked. "This is the biggest problem in Luanda right now," another diplomat said. "I think we need some imagination to overcome this."
He said a worst-case scenario would be a split in UNITA in which the rebel movement could not be "delivered" in its entirety to the negotiating table, with factions in the bush degenerating into bands of roving bandits.
US searches for a new relationship
Washington has recently moved ahead with a Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC) with Luanda, providing a "unique forum in which the fundamental issues facing Angola can be discussed", according to a special report this month by the influential United States Institute of Peace (USIP). http://www.usip.org
"There is a dimension of searching for a relationship with Angola", a US embassy official in Luanda told IRIN, after a recent history in which superpower rivalry determined US interests and Washington was an implacable foe of Soviet- and Cuban- backed Angola.
According to USIP, Angola provides seven percent of US daily imports of oil, a figure that could double in the next five years. Given current projections, Angola will produce 2.5 million barrels of oil per day by 2015, more than Kuwait's current daily production. "This is the hottest market anywhere," the embassy official said.
"Angola clearly must be treated as a country in which the United States has direct national security interests," the USIP report stressed. Angola is a sub-regional power, yet Washington has "more people in its Nepalese embassy than here, and the aid programme is twice as big," the embassy official noted.
Complicating US support for Luanda is the continuing civil war and residual support in Congress from the Cold War days for UNITA rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. Despite the attempt to build relations through the BCC, Washington insists it will promote issues of transparency and good government in Angola, as well as advocating human rights and economic reforms.
The US government this week called for the immediate release of detained Angolan journalist Rafael Marques, arrested on 16 October and charged with defamation after writing an article allegedly critical of President Eduardo dos Santos.
UNITA threatens "Portuguese interests" in Angola
A UNITA threat against Portuguese interests in Angola has been described as "cause for concern" by the embassy in Luanda. UNITA Secretary-General Paulo Lukamba Gato said in an interview with Portuguese 'Renascenca' radio in that Lisbon had taken a "neo-colonialist position" in Angola and the "interests of all of those who, with the government in Angola, fight the true patriots are seen by us as targets."
A Portuguese embassy official told IRIN this week: "We are taking this seriously due to the situation right now." But, he added, "we are a little bit used to these kind of threats from UNITA." He denied UNITA accusations that Portugal was providing military assistance to the Angolan government's current offensive against UNITA, but acknowledged that Portugal did have instruction teams in Luanda and Lobito involved in basic training for the Angolan armed forces.
IMF talks delayed until next year
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said this week that it has decided to postpone negotiations with the Angolan government until next year. The IMF complained about difficulties in accessing necessary data. An IMF analyst was quoted as saying: "To have results at the end of the year, it is necessary that there is an agreement in January." Discussions have centred around issues of transparency and payments of public debt.
HIV/AIDS statistics
Statistics published in the daily, 'Noticias de Angola', this week showed that an estimated 5,366 HIV/AIDS cases were diagnosed by the end of August. It said out of a total 35,582 existing cases, about 157,900 people were living with the disease. Reports said that about 30,899 people had died, with an estimated 19,000 AIDS orphans.
BOTSWANA: BDP wins convincingly
The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) of President Festus Mogae won the country's eighth parliamentary elections with an increased majority in polls conducted last Saturday, an official of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) told IRIN this week.
"The BDP has won 33 of the 40 parliamentary seats, while the Botswana National Front (BNF) of Dr Kenneth Koma won six and Michael Dingake's Botswana Congress Party (BCP) managed only one seat," said Kebonye Diseko. He added that the more than 400 municipal election seats results were still being counted.
The chief justice of Botswana, JM Nganunu, declared Mogae duly elected as president after the BDP was confirmed to have secured 21 seats by the IEC.
ZIMBABWE: Opposition says planned compensation an insult
Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said in a statement this week that the planned government compensation for the victims of a 1982-88 Matabeleland military crackdown were an insult and an embarrassment to the people of the area.
Responding to a statement by the ruling party of President Robert Mugabe, it said in a statement: "The people of Zimbabwe and indeed the people of Matabeleland cannot continue to fall prey to ZANU-PF's cheap electioneering campaign. We can no longer rely on what this Government says but on what it does. This is its track record."
Zimbabwe media reports said that between 7,000 and 20,000 people were killed, leaving an estimated 100,000 survivors or dependants. Reports put the planned compensation at an estimated US $5 million, exceeding the 1997 payout to war veterans which helped trigger a crash in the local currency.
The MDC said that the question of compensation should be defined by victims themselves and not as an "act of generosity and patronage by the perpetrators without any sense of contrition." The MDC called for a establishment of a Truth and Justice Commission that would provide for fair restitution and protection against violence and vengeance.
Concern at DRC ceasefire implementation
Zimbabwe and Zambia this week expressed concern at the slow progress in implementing the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ceasefire agreement, Zimbabwe radio reported at the weekend. In a brief dispatch monitored by the BBC, it said the Zambia-Zimbabwe Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security, had met for two days last week in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo. In a joint statement citing a number of violations, they "called on the United Nations and all parties concerned to urgently implement the ceasefire agreement without further delay".
Rising food prices drive inflation
Rising food prices in Zimbabwe have brought inflation to a record 69.7 percent last month. Zimbabwean economists were quoted in media reports as saying that the recent fuel and power increases could push this figure up even further. "Let's not forget that there is still pressure for further price increases, especially coming from the quarterly increases for electricity," one economist was quoted as saying.
Malawi diplomat expelled
Zimbabwe this week expelled a Malawian diplomat for allegedly insulting senior government officials. Martin Kaluluma Phiri, Malawi's political under-secretary at the country's embassy in Harare since 1996, was reportedly given four days within which to leave Zimbabwe. Malawi's government is said to have informed Phiri that his conduct would be investigated with a view to instituting disciplinary action and dismissal from government service.
MOZAMBIQUE: Election campaign starts
Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano launched his ruling FRELIMO party's election campaign this week by laying a wreath in memory of his predecessor, Samora Machel, who died in a plane crash in South Africa 13 years ago. Mozambicans will go to the polls on 3-4 December to elect a 250-member national assembly and a president in the second democratic elections since the country returned to peace in 1992 after 16 years of civil war.
World Bank approves US $100 million for port and railway restructuring
The World Bank has approved US $100 million to assist the Mozambican authorities in the restructuring of three major port rail systems, the bank said in a statement. It said that the money will be used to improve infrastructure at the Maputo, Beira and Nacala port networks.
"The project will not only benefit Mozambique but also the region more broadly. Neighbouring countries like Zimbabwe, Malawi, Swaziland, South Africa, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will benefit from reduced costs in overseas and imports," it added.
NAMIBIA: Caprivi policemen accused of torture to face military tribunal
Policemen accused of torturing people after a separatist attack on the Caprivi town of Katima Mulilo in northeast Namibia, could face a military tribunal, 'The Namibian' reported this week. A senior policemen was quoted as saying: "Their case might be heard under the Defence Act because under the state of emergency the Defence law was prevailing." he added: "Whatever goes to the Prosecutor General will depend on the merits of each case."
ZAMBIA: Copper output plummets by 13 percent
Zambia's copper production during September plummeted by an estimated 13 percent. According to news reports Zambia's total copper output dropped from 25,155 mt to 21,763 mt, largely because of the problems which are currently being experienced at the Binani-owned Roan Antelope Mining Corporation (Ramcoz). A Citibank monthly bulletin was quoted as saying: "ZCCM's drop in production is overshadowed by the total industry decline. This is mainly attributable to the ongoing industrial stalemate at Ramcoz with the Mineworkers Union of Zambia and the various suppliers," it said.
MALAWI: Canadian fisheries experts called in
Malawi fisheries authorities have called on Canadian experts to help explain a massive incidence of fish deaths in Lake Malawi, media reports said this week. Shaibu Mapila, the director of fisheries, was quoted as saying that samples of dead fish have been sent to a Canadian laboratory to investigate whether the fish were poisoned or had died of natural causes. Mapila said that since the last week of September, an estimated 6.5 mt of dead fish had been collected per day. He said the situation was disastrous, but manageable. Lake Malawi is one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world and the third largest lake on the continent.
SOUTH AFRICA: Civil service restructuring
The South African government's appointment of the first black civilian police commissioner on this week is being interpreted by analysts as a first step in the demilitarisation of the leadership of the police service while at the same time speeding-up transformation under President Thabo Mbeki to better reflect the demographics of the country.
"The appointment of Jake Selebi, the Foreign Affairs director-general, as national commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS) points to both a desire by government to demilitarise the police service and to instil a policy-directed management of the police that will produce results in curbing the high levels of crime," an analyst told IRIN.
Under apartheid, the leadership of the police was organised along military lines with officers having received military training. The analyst added that Mbeki also wants to break with the past where the top structures of the civil service are still dominated by white Afrikaner males five years after a black government has been in power. "In a country where 70 percent of the 124,000-member police service personnel are black, it makes no sense to have a leadership structure that is predominantly white," said the analyst.
Selebi joins a string of other top appointees under Mbeki's administration who have assumed the reins in strategic civil service jobs. Tito Mboweni, the former labour minister in former president Nelson Mandela's government, became the first black governor of the Reserve Bank in April, while a former ANC member of parliament, Bulelani Ngcuka is the trail-blazing super attorney-general whose main brief is to prosecute crime bosses and confiscate the proceeds of crime.
For the full focus report go to http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Conference on peacekeeping
A three-day conference on how to manage future peacekeeping operations in Africa took place in South Africa's capital, Pretoria this week.
Some 20 delegates from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ghana as well as representatives from European think-tanks and international organisations, listened to an opening address from South Africa's army chief Lieutenant-General Gilbert Ramano, who warned that Africa has emerged as one of the "most dangerous environments in the world" for troops intervening in the name of peace.
Regional security analysts told IRIN expectations that South Africa would carry the giant's share of peacekeeping responsibilities in the DRC are high, but South Africa has insisted that any planned mission must take place under UN auspices.
Regional impact of the SA-EU trade agreement
South Africa's neighbours this week expressed concern that the historic agreement Pretoria signed with the 15 European Union (EU) nations in the world's biggest trading bloc would have a negative impact on their own trade for years to come.
The reasons for this, according to economists, government officials and other experts recently consulted by IRIN are two-fold: South Africa's neighbours failed to devise or agree on any joint approach, even though the talks between the EU and Pretoria dragged on for four years. The other reason is that South Africa itself is widely regarded as having handled the whole complex set of negotiations with Europe as a national, rather than a regional issue.
The pact South Africa signed last week with the EU marked the first comprehensive trade and cooperation agreement of its kind between the two parties.
For the full focus report go to http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN
AFRICA: International conflict intervention misses community point of view
Military officers, diplomats and aid workers are still struggling to plan international peacekeeping operations from the point of view of ordinary people in countries affected by war.
According to Dr Emmanuel Kwesi Aning of Copenhagen University's Centre for Development Research, international assistance missions are poorly orientated towards the long-term needs of populations in danger, while often the military mission's "end-state" does little to successfully address the root causes of conflict in failing countries.
"It is painful to see international mission staff prioritise their own state or institutional interests over the needs of ordinary people," he explained. "The crux of the problem is empowerment - you cannot address deep-rooted problems such as poverty from this top-down 'we-are-in-charge' approach."
Johannesburg, 22 October 10:00 GMT
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