ADNA Update: 011101 Message from: Society of Missionaries of Africa For contact information see also: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna AFRICA UPDATE Perhaps you noticed that we went back to the title of "update" and dropped the "roundup" part. We thought having these Texans around was going to be fun, but their version of rounding up, smoking out, etc., is getting old fast. So we're back to updating again. As usual there is a mixture of good and bad news from the continent this past month. We had to dig a little deeper to find it, as Africa has pretty much disappeared off of the pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times, not to mention the Topeka Capital Journal. They couldn't ignore the big goings on here in DC where Africa Trade Ministers from 36 countries came to meet with US officials. Called the U.S.-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum, this meeting was mandated by last year's AGOA legislation. Positive statistics presented by the government touting the effects of AGOA were disputed by many in our coalition and even by the BBC. Those leaders are continuing their meetings in Philadelphia with the Corporate Council on Africa as we go to cyberpress. Earlier in the month President Wade of Senegal gathered a group of 10 African heads of state and 18 representatives of other African countries to discuss an antiterrorism pact. A draft "Dakar Declaration" was crafted by defense, interior and foreign ministers and experts from those countries. The pact never came to be because of disagreement on the form that such a continent-wide pact could take. Experts suggested naming a 'continental coordinator.' Critics noted that Africa already has a convention against terrorism drafted in 1999, after the embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. It's so hard to stay off the bandwagon, though, and who knows what the benefits may be of appearing to cooperate with Washington. President Wade had already gone out of his way the week before to reject the call for an Islamic Jihad. In his country which is 95% Muslim, he declared that Senegal was a "nation of tolerance" and Islam a "religion of peace." The New African Initiative, the economic program adopted last July at the annual OAU summit, got a boost this month when the European Union threw its weight behind it. During a one-day summit in Brussels a joint communique was issued which strongly supports the initiative and steps were begun to take it further through both human resource and financial support. From next year a regular dialogue would be developed on the NAI between the EU and African countries as it takes further shape. As usual Nigeria was one of the big newsmakers of the month. Unfortunately it was not producing the kind of good news that most of us would like. Nineteen Nigerian soldiers were killed and mutilated in a Tiv area near the border of Taraba State. The reaction by the military was brutal. Several locations were attacked and over a few days regular forces opened fire on civilians. Buildings were destroyed and many lives lost. As usual estimates of deaths are wide-ranging, anywhere from about 200 to 500. President Obasanjo seemed to make things worse when complaints of military excesses were met with a cold statement of support for the armed forces. ("Soldiers are trained to kill, and if deployed that is what they will do." .... OK, but to their own citizens??) MISNA reports about 300 thousand displaced people in Benue State, fleeing their homes for fear of military reprisals. Some have likened this incident to the destruction of the village of Odi early in Obasanjo's tenure. Others have seen this as a very dangerous power game in the lead up to next year's presidential elections. Nigeria's oil trials and tribulations took a new turn when Shell decided to sue two Niger Delta communities for damages and lost production resulting from an attack in late September. It is the first such action by a multinational company against a community. The suit calls for $25 million in damages as well as more than $800,000 per day in lost production since the 27 September attack. Shell states that it had been "very sensitive to the welfare and well-being of host communities." Some may wish to disagree with that assessment. In fact there is vehement disagreement with that. Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth alleges that the explosion on 27 September was caused by the ineptitude of Shell's staff and the decrepit state of the facility. A testy situation in the Delta region seems to have just been made worse by this unprecedented lawsuit brought by Shell. Since we're in West Africa let's thank Mayor Guiliani for dropping out of the group that wants to change rules or constitutions in order to stay in power. That leaves room then for Lansana Conté, the President of Guinea, who has said that he would support a referendum to change the constitution to allow him a third term in office. Can't get enough of that guy, I guess. The opposition party has come out against this proposal which was made during the country's 43rd independence anniversary. I don't want to spoil the party, so I'll stay.... In other election news voters in Gambia reelected President Yahya Jammeh for a second five-year term. A week later the authorities in Gambia closed down the country's main private radio station in what looked like a crackdown on the opposition and the media. The station was told it was being closed because its income tax had not been paid in full.... At least they had a reason. Or could it have been the fact that Citizen FM had tried to broadcast early election results against the government's wishes and was eventually barred from doing so? Côte d'Ivoire is slowly digesting the spasm of violence surrounding its election last year. The Forum of Reconciliation which was established got down to the nitty gritty this month as the secretary general of the RDR demanded official recognition of the nationality and the political eligibility of former Prime Minister Allassane Ouattara. The Forum also heard from the youth movements, notably the students' federation which invited 'foreigners' to not get mixed up in Ivorian politics. Some observers feel that the forum has consisted mainly of the defense of regional and group (political) interests. They fear that in its present form it may only exacerbate regional sensibilities of all stripes. On the brighter side, President Gbagbo said he would mobilize his ECOWAS peers towards a West Africa summit on forest conservation. This concerns principally the Taï National Park which is one of the last remaining portions of the vast primary forest that once stretched across present day Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Only 100 elephants remain today compared to some 1800 in 1979. Also, efforts by ministers from Côte d'Ivoire seem to be bearing fruit. Last May a group went to London to tell the UK government that without higher prices nothing could prevent poverty-stricken cocoa farmers from using forced labor. Early this month chocolate producers and US members of Congress agreed to a four year plan that is intended to bring in global standards and independent monitoring where child labor is, or has been, rife. That should allow cocoa grown without exploitative practices to be labeled as such. They also plan to set up a foundation to manage that scheme. In Sierra Leone there is mainly better news and it concerns disarmament. The UN reports that since the beginning of the year 24,100 combatants belonging to the RUF and pro-government militias have given up their arms. Of those, 3,300 were child soldiers. Once again the Africans give the example to the rest of the world and the IRA, which also announced it would disarm, seems to have understood the lesson. On the other hand, Liberia is incensed that the UN thinks that they are getting around the arms embargo imposed on them. An independent panel dealing with Liberian sanctions has recommended that the Security Council extend the arms embargo and rough diamond sanctions on the country. Apparently a steady flow of weapons has continued to enter the country, paid for by timber production and Liberia's maritime registry among other things. The panel did, however, suggest lifting the order to ground Liberian aircraft because progress had been made in addressing irregularities among its registered aircraft. Burundi made a few strides in its efforts to restore political stability and to move forward. South African forces were given the go-ahead to come into Burundi to protect Burundian politicians returning from exile. In total there will eventually be 700 South Africans protecting the institutions and the politicians. The number of portfolios to be held by different political parties was decided by transition leaders in mid-October. As of November 1 the transition begins with President Buyoya serving as President for the next 18 months at which time he will change places with his vice-president, who is not in a "secure location." Rwanda and Uganda have made several efforts at rapprochement this month with meetings being held between defense ministers in Kabale and then between Presidents Museveni and Kagame. Mutual suspicion has clouded the relationship ever since fighting between their forces broke out last year in Kisangani. Recently Museveni called Rwanda a 'hostile nation' and Rwanda accused Uganda of massing troops on its borders. The two Presidents will meet in London on November 6 to continue the dialogue under the patronage of the British. Ups and downs in the peace process in Congo have kept everyone guessing. The UN is proceeding cautiously in its deployment of peacekeepers. Koffi Annan proposed a ceiling of 5500 men by next year, with a new head quarters in Kindu. This extension is meant to supervise the retreat of foreign forces, the disarmament of foreign guerillas and their reconversion to civilian life. A scheduled inter-Congolese dialogue meeting in Addis Ababa took place but was snubbed by President Kabila. There was much confusion about the number of delegates that were to attend, the amount of money allocated, etc. Apparently some good informal contacts were made but not much done officially. South Africa has accepted to host the next session in November. President Kabila reiterated this week his support of the peace process. Funding seems to be one of the major obstacles to the continuation of the dialogue. Meanwhile fighting continues in North Kivu and some other regions. Congo's neighbor, Angola, is still plagued by fighting between the government and UNITA. The UN refugee agency said earlier this month that 3500 Angolans had arrived in Zambia, fleeing the fighting. Of those, 60% were children suffering from malnutrition. Each side in the conflict is trying to consolidate positions before the rainy season. In spite of it all the government still plans to hold elections next year. America's new friend and ally, Sudan, has shown some signs of life or lack of respect thereof. The bombing in the south of Sudan has continued even after the country's post September 11 conversion to the antiterrorism agenda. The SPLA accused the government of even using napalm in its bombing on the nights of September 20-21. Sen. Danforth has taken up his position Special Envoy. His senior aide and advisor, Robert Oakley, will be visiting the country in September. Between the 12th and the 20th the SPLA attacked three oil zones in the states of Al Wihda, Upper Nile and Bahr el-Ghazal. They claim to have killed 400 soldiers and to have taken a great number of arms and munitions. With allies like these who needs rogue states? Somalia is easing its way back into the international picture. The prime minister of the transitional government warned the UN Security Council that his country 'could disintegrate and become a home for terrorist organizations....' Was that news to him? He did lose a no-confidence vote in the parliament. They are struggling to form a government and to afford the country some semblance of stability. President Salat Hassan says his government will hold talks with opposition leaders in an attempt to bring them into the transitional administration. A new prime minister, he said, will have 30 days to form a cabinet. President Moi of Kenya has undertaken to mediate talks aimed at moving Somalia towards political reconciliation. Election preparations continue in Zimbabwe where President Mugabe's government was accused of amassing huge quantities of arms and ammunition. Congo and Namibia are helping Zimbabwe to circumvent an international arms embargo which was imposed because of the country's appalling human rights record. October has seen an escalation in public frustration because of the government's overt economic and political mismanagement. A recent imposition of a price freeze on basic foodstuffs to avert 'economic sabotage' by white entrepreneurs has spawned unprecedented food shortages. Mugabe threatened then to take over all businesses that close down as a result. Facing the threat of EU sanctions unless Harare can prove it is serious about human rights and democracy, the foreign minister offered to discuss the matter but said that they would not be dictated to by outsiders and that they demanded respect. As the AIDS crisis continues to grab headlines in South Africa, the pandemic reached into another surprising domain. More than 100,000 census takers in South Africa were given condoms in case "anyone is led into temptation" during their work. The Free State census manager added, "The condoms are for use." No comment. In one bright spot, Mauritania voted this month. It has had a multiparty system for 10 years but it has never functioned properly because the voting system kept all but the biggest party from winning seats. That has now changed and President Ould Taya does seem to be making good on his promise to give the opposition parties a role in decision making. The ruling PRDS party won 56 out of 81 seats and the French Foreign Ministry (did you think I was going to say 'Legion'?) expressed satisfaction with the elections, describing the exercise as "free and fair." Mozambicans stopped on the 19th of October to remember their former President, Samora Machel who died 15 years ago. His plane crashed into a hillside in South Africa, presumably with the complicity of the then apartheid government. Times have changed. Mozambique, after a long civil war and though still economically poor, is a largely peaceful and multiparty democracy. The elite of South Africa and Mozambique gathered in a lavish affair to honor President Machel who offered a safe haven during the apartheid years for many a South African dissident. Miriam Makeba delighted the crowd with a rendition of "A Luta Continua." And so it does. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------- When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murders and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall. Think of it, ALWAYS. (Mahatma Gandhi) Phil Reed, M.Afr. Justice and Peace Office Society of Missionaries of Africa, North American Province 1624 21st Street, NW Washington, DC 20009-1003 tel: 202-232-5154 -------------------- This message from Society of Missionaries of Africa is distributed through the Advocacy Network for Africa (ADNA) via IDEX Nunu Kidane Advocacy Network for Africa (ADNA) Communications Facilitator for IDEX International Development Exchange - IDEX 827 Valencia Street, Suite 101 San Francisco, CA 94110 Tel: (415) 824 8384 Fax: (415 824 8387 e-mail: [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] URL: http://www.idex.org <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>