Weekly anb02216.txt #7



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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 21-02-2002      PART #6/7

* South Africa. AIDS village opens - The first ever purpose built village for people living with the Aids disease has opened in South Africa aiming to give more dignity and purpose to terminally ill patents. The village, just to the west of Johannesburg, will house about 450 men, women and children, who have no alternatives. It has been built by Sparrow Ministries, a Christian group specialising in care for the destitute and the terminally ill. Sparrow opened a hospice in Johannesburg 10 years ago for people dying from Aids, but that hospice is now hopelessly crowded. The Reverend Corinne McClintock of Sparrow Ministries says the village will provide people with more space and comfort. "I think it gives them back their dignity and it gives them a little bit of hope," she says. (BBC News, UK, 14 February 2002)

* Afrique du Sud. Sida: la querelle s'envenime - Se démarquant de la politique officielle du gouvernement sud-africain en matière de lutte contre le sida, le gouverneur de la province du Cap Occidental a annoncé, le 15 février, qu'il comptait bien continuer à distribuer un médicament antirétroviral aux femmes séropositives ainsi qu'aux victimes de viols. Ce programme a commencé il y a deux ans, quand la province était dirigée par l'Alliance démocratique (opposition). Aujourd'hui, elle est gouvernée par une coalition incluant l'ANC et le NNP. Mais le gouverneur Peter Marais (NNP) affirme que le changement d'équipe ne doit pas modifier l'engagement de la province contre le sida. Au Cap Occidental, 30 sites distribuent la nevirapine, touchant actuellement 60% des femmes, alors que dans les sept autres provinces contrôlées par l'ANC l'accès à la nevirapine est pour l'instant restreint à une poignée de sites tests. (AP, USA, 15 février 2002)

* South Africa. Mandela attacks Mbeki's AIDS policy - Nelson Mandela is wading into the increasingly bitter dispute over the South African government's Aids policies by meeting the ruling African National Congress leadership today to press for an end to prevarication over a catastrophe he likened to a war. Mr Mandela has been under pressure from Aids activists, scientists, trade unions and the churches to challenge the controversial policies of President Thabo Mbeki towards a disease that is expected to kill about 6m South Africans by the end of the decade.In his most significant foray into politics since he retired as president nearly three years ago, Mr Mandela told a Johannesburg newspaper yesterday that he will be seeking to persuade the ANC leadership to curtail a futile debate about the causes of Aids and focus on combating the disease. "This is a war. It has killed more people than has been the case in all previous wars and in all previous natural disasters. We must not continue to be debating, to be arguing, when people are dying," he told the Johannesburg Sunday Times. Mr Mbeki has attempted to quell criticism abroad by saying that while he questions the link between HIV and Aids, the only obstacles to treating the disease are a lack of resources and the need to test drugs. But at home, the government's continued refusal to allow the universal distribution of medicines that can prevent HIV-positive mothers from passing the virus on to their babies -- despite a high court ruling ordering it to provide the drugs -- is driving a growing wave of condemnation of Mr Mbeki. Aids activists and doctors believe the government is throwing up irrelevant questions about the effectiveness of drugs and claims of lack of financial resources as a smokescreen for inaction. They were particularly angered when the finance minister, Trevor Manuel, told the World Economic Forum last month that South Africa would not be seeking money from the global Aids fund because the problem is not cash but the lack of infrastructure to deliver treatment. (The Guardian, UK, 18 February 2002)

* Sudan. Apologising for food aid bombing - 14 February: The government of Sudan has apologised for a bombing raid on civilians collecting food in the south of the country last weekend which killed two children. A statement from the Foreign Ministry in Khartoum said the government expressed its deepest regrets for the bombing. A government plane dropped six bombs on 10 February on civilians collecting food dropped from a World Food Programme aircraft around the town of Akuem in the southern province of Bahr el-Ghazal. Government troops are battling rebel forces in the area. Sudan promised US envoy John Danforth it would end such bombings. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 14 February 2002)

* Sudan. Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference - The Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference exists as one normal legal ecclesiastical body, with two regional wings. The exact function of each wing has yet to be determined but two wings have had to be established so that the pastoral needs of the Catholic Faithful can be adequately catered for in present-day circumstances. The Catholic population outside government-controlled territory is served by the Bishops' grouping known as The Sudan Catholic Bishops' Regional Conference (SCBRC), based in Nairobi Kenya. Areas under government control are served by the Bishops' grouping known as The Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference (SCBC)-North. Members of the SCBRC are: Bishop Paride Taban of Torit (the SCBRC's president); Bishop Erkolano Lodu Tombe of Yei (the SCBRC's vice-president); Bishop Johnson Akio Mutek, auxiliary Bishop of Torit; Bishop Joseph Gasi Abangite of Tombura/Yambio; Bishop Macram Max Gassis of El-Obeid; Bishop Ceasar Mazzolari of Rumbek. Members of the SCBC-North are: Archbishop Paolino Lukudu Loro of Juba (president of the Conference); Archbishop Gabriel Zubeir Wako of Khartoum; Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak of Wau; Bishop Vincent Mojwok of Malakal; Bishop Antonio Menegazzo, Apostolic Administrator of El-Obeid; Bishop Daniel Adwok Kur, Auxiliary Bishop of Khartoum. (Soc.Comm.Dept., Cath. Bishops' Conf., Sudan, 19 February 2002)

* Swaziland. King's brother to draft constitution - On 20 February, Swaziland's absolute monarch, King Mswati III, appointed his brother as head of a committee to draft a new constitution that pro-democracy groups have said will simply further entrench the king's power. "This process will essentially entrench the current situation. Swaziland is controlled by a dynasty that runs the country like a private farm," said Bongani Masuku, secretary general of the Johannesburg-based Swaziland Solidarity Union. The king's brother, Prince David Dlamini, has been recalled from Copenhagen where he was ambassador to Denmark until his appointment as the committee head. Last week Denmark -- known as a generous aid donor to Africa -- suspended developmental assistance to Swaziland in protest at the country's human rights record. Political parties have been banned in Swaziland, a mountainous kingdom squeezed between South Africa and Mozambique, since 1973, and pro-democracy groups say the king is growing increasingly intolerant of dissent. The leader of Swaziland's main opposition party is on trial for allegedly defaming the king and a number of independent media organisations have been shut down. (CNN, USA, 20 February 2002)

* Togo. La loi électorale modifiée - 14 février. Le secrétaire général des Nations unies, Kofi Annan, a critiqué le récent amendement apporté à la loi électorale togolaise par le gouvernement, estimant que cela n'allait pas contribuer à créer des conditions favorables à la tenue des prochaines élections législatives anticipées. Le 8 février, dans la perspective de ces élections prévues en principe pour le 10 mars prochain, le Parlement togolais a amendé, sur proposition du gouvernement, la loi électorale, stipulant entre autres que tout candidat aux législtaives doit résider dans le pays pendant six mois, et que tout candidat à la présidentielle doit, quant à lui, vivre sur le territoire national pendant 12 mois précédant le scrutin. Cette condition disqualifie la principale figure de l'oppositionn, Gilchrist Olympio, qui vit au Ghana. - Le samedi 16 février, à l'appel des six principaux partis de l'opposition, près de 2.000 personnes ont manifesté à Lomé contre la récente modification de la loi électorale. Ils réclamaient également la libération du leader d'opposition, Yaovi Agboyibo. On n'a pas signalé d'incidents. Selon un communiqué publié le dimanche soir, le président Eyadema a de nouveau lancé un appel pressant à la reprise du dialogue politique au Togo. (ANB-BIA, De sources diverses, 18 février 2002)

* Togo. Protests against amendments to electoral code - On 16 February, at least 2,000 people demonstrated in Togo's capital, Lome, against amendments to the country's electoral code and the continued detention of opposition leader, Yaovi Agboyibo, jailed since 3 August 2001. The demonstration was organised by six parties, of which five had signed the Lome framework agreement. These included the Comite d'Action pour le Renouveau, led by Agboyibo, who was initially sentenced to six months' imprisonment for defaming Prime Minister Agbeyome Kodjo. In January that indictment was quashed, but he was forced to remain in jail to face a second charge of instigating an attack on a political rival in 1997. "By modifying the electoral code, the government is rejecting the Lome Framework Agreement that the ruling coalition signed in July 1999 with opposition parties", Martin Aduayom of the opposition African Peoples' Democratic Convention) said. "We cannot accept that." (IRIN, 18 February 2002)

* Tunisie/Libye. Accords de coopération - Trois importants accords de coopération ont été conclus entre la Tunisie et la Libye, portant sur l'interconnexion des réseaux électriques des deux pays, un projet de gazoduc devant alimenter la Tunisie en gaz libyen, et la protection de l'environnement. Au cours de la cérémonie de signature, présidée le 19 février par les Premiers ministres tunisien et libyen, les deux parties ont aussi procédé à l'échange des instruments de ratification de l'accord de libre-échange conclu récemment entre Tunis et Tripoli et d'un autre relatif au transport maritime. (AP, USA, 20 février 2002)

* Uganda. Govt. forces accused of involvement in arms' trade - The Ugandan government has defended itself against criticisms by Amnesty International to the effect that the Ugandan police and army are linked to a flourishing illegal arms trade in the country. On 18 February, responding for the government, Ofono Opondo, spokesman for the ruling National Resistance Movement said that President Yoweri Museveni's government had, on the contrary, impounded several illegal arms consignments destined for other countries in Africa, and had introduced an amnesty law to encourage armed groups such as the Karamojong in northeastern Uganda to hand in their weapons. "Many people are surrendering their guns under the amnesty law," Opondo said. "The problem with Amnesty International is they think the government of Uganda sanctions arms trafficking," he said. Amnesty International has said Uganda was among the "notorious countries dealing in illicit arms", The New Vision government-owned newspaper reported on 16 February. (IRIN, 18 February 2002)

* Zambia. Budget deep in the red - Just weeks after mining giant Anglo American pulled out of a critical copper mining operation, Zambia's economy has suffered a second blow in the shape of a spiralling budget deficit. The shortfall in 2001 grew to 8%, far above the 0.75% that had been forecast, new figures show. The deficit was blamed on sharp rises in public sector pay combined with spending increases ahead of presidential elections in December. The need to tighten belts increases the pressure on President Levy Mwanawasa's new government, already in difficulties after an election which observers have alleged was rigged. Alongside agriculture, copper has long been the mainstay of Zambia's economy, accounting for 80% of exports and a fifth of overall economic output. But with the mines in trouble just three years after they were sold off, and much of last year's crop flooded out, the budget is expected to come under more strain, not less. The government can take some comfort from an offer of $300m from the International Monetary Fund to help the country cope with Anglo's pullout. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 18 February 2002)

Weekly anb0221.txt - #6/7