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 West Africa

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WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Round-Up 301
22 - 28 October 2005


CONTENTS:

COTE D IVOIRE: Fears of fresh turmoil mount ahead of landmark weekend
LIBERIA: George and Ellen vie for allies and voters ahead of run-off
CHAD: Government wants to change oil laws to access more petrodollars
NIGERIA: World's broken electronics pile up in Lagos, creating toxic
   dumps
GUINEA-BISSAU: Stockpiles gone but landmines a continued threat
LIBERIA: Youth not putting HIV prevention lessons into practice


COTE D IVOIRE: Fears of fresh turmoil mount ahead of landmark weekend

Rumours swirl about a military coup in the offing, police are bracing
for protests, well-heeled Ivorians have booked flights out of the
country, and there is a story doing the rounds about the birth of a
talking baby who warned of violence within days.

In Bouake, the town that has served as rebel headquarters since the
start of Cote d'Ivoire's simmering three-year war, many people are
taking the baby tale as truth and going about with white protection
bands wrapped around their wrists to spare them from any trouble.

"There are always things like this when people get nervous," said Boris,
a young resident of Bouake who has heard the tale but won't wear the
band. "At the beginning of the war there was something like that every
week. I don't do that stuff any more."

As another politically-charged date comes around in West Africa's
economic powerhouse this weekend, the old tales are resurfacing as fears
mount of a fresh outbreak of war.

"Not since the country gained independence have so many uncertainties
hung over the future of Cote d'Ivoire," human rights group, Amnesty
International, said in a report released on Wednesday. "There is a
shared responsibility to stop the country from descending into chaos."

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49778


LIBERIA: George and Ellen vie for allies and voters ahead of run-off

With less than two weeks to go before a presidential run-off, soccer
legend George Weah and former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf are
vying for the backing of the 20 candidates eliminated in the first
round. And their supporters.

Under the watchful eye of UN peacekeepers and Liberian police, electoral
officials on Wednesday announced the final results of the 11 October
ballot and confirmed that no-one had won the required absolute majority.

Weah, the first African to be named world footballer of the year,
captured 28.3 percent of the votes. Sirleaf, a Harvard-educated
economist who could become Africa's first female leader, came in second
with 19.8 percent.

Thursday sees the start of the official campaign for the 8 November
run-off, but political jockeying began behind the scenes almost as soon
as the first-round ballot was over and "King George" and the "Iron Lady"
emerged as the frontrunners.

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49777


CHAD: Government wants to change oil laws to access more petrodollars

Chad's government is stepping up efforts to change a law that says it
must set aside a chunk of oil revenues for future generations.

It wants to tap the petrodollars now to help fix a financial crisis and
deal with lingering insecurity.

Authorities could face a hard sell after the Central African country was
recently ranked the most corrupt in the world by international watchdog,
Transparency International.

But at the end of last week, Prime Minister Pascal Yoadimnadji set out
the government's case to diplomats in the capital, N'djamena.

"The concept of [saving funds for] future generations is in itself
noble," Yoadimnadji said, according to a transcript of the speech
obtained by IRIN on Tuesday.

"But that future, in our view, could be better secured if these
resources were used to build sound infrastructures to hand down to those
future generations and better educate the youth of today," he said.

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49749


NIGERIA: World's broken electronics pile up in Lagos, creating toxic
dumps

Nigeria is becoming a digital dump, the recipient of vast numbers of
broken gadgets from the West that can leak dangerous substances into
water supplies and create cancer-causing particles when burnt, a toxic
waste watchdog said on Thursday.

Basel Action Network, a US-based lobby group that recently conducted an
investigation in Africa's most populous country, found that around 500
giant containers, packed with old computers, televisions and mobile
phones, were arriving every month at the main city and port, Lagos.

These electronics are supposed to be for repair and re-use, but BAN
estimates that 75 percent of the items are neither repairable nor of any
economic value.

So they often end up being dumped at official landfill sites or
offloaded illegally by the side of the road or in swamps where they are
either burnt or simply left.

BAN says chemicals like lead can leak into the groundwater. And
materials used in circuit boards, although safe when the computer is on
a desk, can produce carcinogenic particles once set alight.

"Residents breathing in the fumes from the fires or drawing water from
contaminated areas are going to be taking in some seriously dangerous
substances," Jim Puckett, the BAN official who led the investigation,
told IRIN by phone from the group's headquarters in Seattle.

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49807


GUINEA-BISSAU: Stockpiles gone but landmines a continued threat

Guinea-Bissau's government has announced the destruction of its
stockpile of roughly 5,000 landmines but disposing of the ones already
in the ground is likely to prove far more difficult.

A number of areas around the country continue to be plagued by
anti-personnel mines and other explosive devices. The majority of these
were laid during the West African nation's brief 1998-1999 civil war,
although some date as far back as the country's struggle for
independence from Portugal in the 1960s and 70s.

"For the time being, our priority is the north of the country along the
border with (the southern Senegalese region of) Casamance," Cesar de
Carvalho, director of the National Centre for Coordinating Mine Action
Activities, told IRIN.

"But because of the lack of security in the area, we haven't been able
to start de-mining operations yet."

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49779


LIBERIA: Youth not putting HIV prevention lessons into practice

First the good news. Young Liberians know about AIDS, how they might
contract the disease and what they can do to protect themselves. Now the
bad news. They are not putting that knowledge into practice.

A study commissioned by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
found while nine out of 10 respondents knew HIV could spread through
sexual intercourse, and six out of 10 knew a condom would protect them,
only one in 10 used it the first time they had sex.

"Despite high knowledge rates, the sexual practices of too many Liberian
youths include high rates of unprotected sex," said Angela Kearney,
UNICEF's representative for Liberia.

"This contradiction is profoundly disturbing and requires all of us to
redouble our efforts to effectively communicate with young people about
the very real threat of HIV/AIDS," she added.

Almost 1,500 children aged between 10 and 25 were surveyed across the
West African nation whose health infrastructure is struggling to rebuild
after 14 years of civil war, which sent professionals fleeing and left
hospitals peppered by mortar rounds and bullets, and stripped of any
equipment.

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49804


IRIN-WA
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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
2005


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