Friday, December 24, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Biafra.
Help yourself Create a perfect blog
Biafra was recognized by Gabon, Haiti, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania and Zambia. Other nations did not give official recognition, but provided assistance to Biafra. Israel, France, Portugal, Rhodesia, South Africa and the Vatican City provided support.[3] Biafra also received aid from non-state actors; Joint Church Aid, Holy Ghost Fathers of Ireland, Caritas International, MarkPress and U.S. Catholic Relief Services all gave support.[3]
Following independence, Nigeria was divided primarily along ethnic lines with Hausa and Fulani in the north, Yoruba in the south-west, and Igbo in the south-east.[4] In January 1966, a group of primarily eastern Igbo led a military coup during which 30 political leaders including Nigeria's Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the Northern premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello were killed.[5][6][7]
In July 1966 northern officers and army units staged a counter-coup. Muslim officers named a Christian from a small ethnic group (the Anga) in central Nigeria, Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu "Jack" Gowon, as the head of the Federal Military Government (FMG). The two coups deepened Nigeria's ethnic tensions. In September, 1966, approximately 30,000 Igbo were killed in the north, and some Northerners were killed in backlashes in eastern cities.[8]
In January 1967, the military leaders and senior police officials of each region met in Aburi, Ghana and agreed on a loose confederation of regions. The Northerners were at odds with the Aburi Accord; Obafemi Awolowo, the leader of the Western Region warned that if the Eastern Region seceded, the Western Region would also, which persuaded the northerners.[8]
After the federal and eastern governments failed to reconcile, on 26 May the Eastern region voted to secede from Nigeria. On 30 May, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Eastern Region's military governor, announced the Republic of Biafra, citing the Easterners killed in the post-coup violence.[4][8] The large amount of oil in the region created conflict, as oil was a major component of the Nigerian economy.[10] The Eastern region was very ill equipped for war, out manned, and out gunned by the military of the remainder of Nigeria. Their advantages included fighting in their homeland, support of most Easterners, determination, and use of limited resources.[11] The British, Soviet Union, and U.S. support (especially militarily) of the Nigerian government played a major role in the outcome of the war.[12]
In September 1968, the federal army planned what Gowon described as the "final offensive." Initially the final offensive was neutralized by Biafran troops. In the latter stages, a Southern FMG offensive managed to break through the fierce resistance.[8]
On 30 June 1969, the Nigerian government banned all Red Cross aid to Biafra; two weeks later it allowed medical supplies through the front line, but restricted food supplies.[13] Later in October 1969, Ojukwu appealed to United Nations to mediate a cease-fire. The federal government called for Biafra's surrender. In December, the FMG managed to cut Biafra in half, primarily by the efforts of 3 Marine Commando Division of the Nigerian Army, led by then Colonel Benjamin Adekunle popularly called 'The Black Scorpion' and later Olusegun Obasanjo. Ojukwu fled to the Ivory Coast, leaving his chief of staff, Philip Effiong, to act as the "officer administering the government". Effiong called for a cease-fire 12 January and submitted to the FMG.[8] More than one million people had died in battle or from starvation.[14][15]
Enclosed in Biafra's borders were over 29,848 square miles (77,310 km2) of land;[1] the land borders were shared with Nigeria to the north and Cameroon to the east. Its coast was on the Gulf of Guinea in the south.
The former country's southeast borders the Benue Hills and mountains that lead to Cameroon.
Two rivers flow from Biafra into the Gulf of Guinea: the Cross River and the Niger River.[16]
The bank was first located in Enugu, but due to the ongoing war, the bank was relocated several times.[19] Biafra attempted to finance the war through foreign exchange. After Nigeria announced their currency would no longer be legal tender (to make way for a new currency), this effort increased. After the announcement, tons of Nigerian bank notes were transported in an effort to acquire foreign exchange. The currency of Biafra had been the Nigerian pound, until the Bank of Biafra started printing out its own notes, the Biafran pound.[19] The new currency went public on 28 January 1968, and the Nigerian pound was not accepted as an exchange unit.[19] The first issue of the bank notes included only 5 shillings notes and 1 pound notes. The Bank of Nigeria exchanged only 30 pounds for an individual and 300 pounds for enterprises in the second half of 1968.[19]
In 1969 new notes were introduced: £10, £5, £1, 10/- and 5/-.[19]
It is estimated that a total of £115-140 million Biafran pounds were in circulation by the end of the conflict. This is a relatively small amount, however, as the Biafran population at the time was 14 million, meaning roughly £10 per person was in circulation.[19]
The Biafrans managed to set up a small yet effective air force. The BAF commanders were Chude Sokey and later Godwin Ezeilo, who had trained with the Royal Canadian Air Force.[22] Early inventory included two B-25 Mitchells, one B-26 Invader (piloted by Polish pilot Jan Zumbach, known also as John Brown), a converted DC-3 and one Dove. In 1968 the Swedish pilot Carl Gustaf von Rosen suggested the MiniCOIN project to General Ojukwu. By the spring of 1969, Biafra had built five MFI-9Bs in Gabon, calling them "Biafra Babies". They were coloured green, were able to carry six 68 mm anti-armour rockets and had simple sights. The six airplanes were flown by three Swedish pilots and three Biafran pilots. In September 1969, Biafra acquired four ex-Armee de l'Air North American T-6Gs, which were flown successfully to Biafra the following month, with another aircraft lost on the ferry flight. These aircraft flew missions until January 1970, flown by Portuguese ex-military pilots.[22]
In their book, Smallpox and its Eradication, Fenner and colleagues describe how vaccine supply shortages during the Biafra smallpox campaign led to the development of the focal vaccination technique, later adopted worldwide by the World Health Organization, which led to the early and cost effective interruption of smallpox transmission in west Africa and elsewhere.
On 29 May 2000, the Lagos Guardian newspaper reported that the now ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo commuted to retirement the dismissal of all military persons who fought for the breakaway state of Biafra during Nigeria's 1967–1970 civil war. In a national broadcast, he said the decision was based on the belief that "justice must at all times be tempered with mercy".[24]
Violence between Christians and Muslims (usually Igbo Christians and Hausa or Fulani Muslims) has been incessant since the end of the civil war in 1970.
In July 2006 the Center for World Indigenous Studies reported that government sanctioned killings were taking place in the southeastern city of Onitsha, because of a shoot-to-kill policy directed toward Biafran loyalists, particularly members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).[25][26]
In 2010, researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and University of Nigeria, Enugu, showed that Igbos born in Biafra during the years of the famine were of higher risk of suffering from overweight, hypertension and impaired glucose metabolism compared to controls born a short period after the famine had ended. The findings are in line with the developmental origin of health and disease hypothesis suggesting that malnutrition in early life is a predisposing factor for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes later in life. [27][28]
Maps from the 19th century indicating Biafra as the region around today's Cameroon:
Biafra
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For the American musician, see Jello Biafra. For the West African bight known as Bight of Biafra, see Bight of Bonny.
The Republic of Biafra was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria. Biafra was inhabited mostly by the Igbo people and existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970. The secession was led by the Igbo due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions among the various peoples of Nigeria. The creation of the new country, named after the Bight of Biafra (the Atlantic bay to its south),[2] was among the complex causes for the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War. Land of the Rising Sun was chosen for Biafra's national anthem.Biafra was recognized by Gabon, Haiti, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania and Zambia. Other nations did not give official recognition, but provided assistance to Biafra. Israel, France, Portugal, Rhodesia, South Africa and the Vatican City provided support.[3] Biafra also received aid from non-state actors; Joint Church Aid, Holy Ghost Fathers of Ireland, Caritas International, MarkPress and U.S. Catholic Relief Services all gave support.[3]
Contents[hide] |
History
Secession
Main article: Nigerian Civil War
During 1960, Nigeria became independent of the United Kingdom.[4] Similar to the other new African states, the borders of the country were not drawn according to earlier territories. Hence, the northern desert region of the country contained semi-autonomous feudal Muslim states, while the southern population was predominantly Christian and Animist. Furthermore, Nigeria's oil, its primary source of income, was located in the south of the country.[4]Following independence, Nigeria was divided primarily along ethnic lines with Hausa and Fulani in the north, Yoruba in the south-west, and Igbo in the south-east.[4] In January 1966, a group of primarily eastern Igbo led a military coup during which 30 political leaders including Nigeria's Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the Northern premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello were killed.[5][6][7]
In July 1966 northern officers and army units staged a counter-coup. Muslim officers named a Christian from a small ethnic group (the Anga) in central Nigeria, Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu "Jack" Gowon, as the head of the Federal Military Government (FMG). The two coups deepened Nigeria's ethnic tensions. In September, 1966, approximately 30,000 Igbo were killed in the north, and some Northerners were killed in backlashes in eastern cities.[8]
Now, therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by virtue of the authority, and pursuant to the principles, recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with her continental shelf and territorial waters shall henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of "The Republic of Biafra".
After the federal and eastern governments failed to reconcile, on 26 May the Eastern region voted to secede from Nigeria. On 30 May, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Eastern Region's military governor, announced the Republic of Biafra, citing the Easterners killed in the post-coup violence.[4][8] The large amount of oil in the region created conflict, as oil was a major component of the Nigerian economy.[10] The Eastern region was very ill equipped for war, out manned, and out gunned by the military of the remainder of Nigeria. Their advantages included fighting in their homeland, support of most Easterners, determination, and use of limited resources.[11] The British, Soviet Union, and U.S. support (especially militarily) of the Nigerian government played a major role in the outcome of the war.[12]
War
The FMG launched "police measures" to annex the Eastern Region in July 6, 1967. The FMG's initial efforts were unsuccessful; the Biafrans successfully launched their own offensive, taking land in the Mid-Western Region August 1967. By October 1967, the FMG had regained the land after intense fighting.[8][13]
In September 1968, the federal army planned what Gowon described as the "final offensive." Initially the final offensive was neutralized by Biafran troops. In the latter stages, a Southern FMG offensive managed to break through the fierce resistance.[8]
On 30 June 1969, the Nigerian government banned all Red Cross aid to Biafra; two weeks later it allowed medical supplies through the front line, but restricted food supplies.[13] Later in October 1969, Ojukwu appealed to United Nations to mediate a cease-fire. The federal government called for Biafra's surrender. In December, the FMG managed to cut Biafra in half, primarily by the efforts of 3 Marine Commando Division of the Nigerian Army, led by then Colonel Benjamin Adekunle popularly called 'The Black Scorpion' and later Olusegun Obasanjo. Ojukwu fled to the Ivory Coast, leaving his chief of staff, Philip Effiong, to act as the "officer administering the government". Effiong called for a cease-fire 12 January and submitted to the FMG.[8] More than one million people had died in battle or from starvation.[14][15]
Geography
The former country's southeast borders the Benue Hills and mountains that lead to Cameroon.
Two rivers flow from Biafra into the Gulf of Guinea: the Cross River and the Niger River.[16]
Climate
Biafra has a tropical climate with two distinct seasons, dry and rainy. From April to October the rainy season takes place, with heavy rain and high humidity. The heaviest rain occurs between June and July with up to 360 mm (14 in) of rain level. The temperature of the region on a clear day is 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) high and 22 degrees Celsius (71.6 degrees Fahrenheit) low. The dry season starts in November and ends in April. The lowest rain level 16 mm (0.63 in) in February. The temperature at night reaches 20 °C (68 °F) and in the day has a peak temperature of 36 °C (96.8 °F).[17]Language
The predominant language of Biafra was the Igbo language.[18] Along with Igbo there were a variety of other different languages, including Efik and Ibibio.Economy
An early institution created by the Biafran government was the Bank of Biafra, accomplished under ‘Decree No. 3 of 1967'.[19] The bank carried out all central banking functions including the administration of foreign exchange and the management of the public debt of the Republic.[19] The bank was administered by a governor and four directors; the first governor, per the signature on bank notes, was Sylvester U. Ugoh.[19] A second decree, ‘Decree No.4 of 1967’, modified the Banking Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the Republic of Biafra.[19]
The bank was first located in Enugu, but due to the ongoing war, the bank was relocated several times.[19] Biafra attempted to finance the war through foreign exchange. After Nigeria announced their currency would no longer be legal tender (to make way for a new currency), this effort increased. After the announcement, tons of Nigerian bank notes were transported in an effort to acquire foreign exchange. The currency of Biafra had been the Nigerian pound, until the Bank of Biafra started printing out its own notes, the Biafran pound.[19] The new currency went public on 28 January 1968, and the Nigerian pound was not accepted as an exchange unit.[19] The first issue of the bank notes included only 5 shillings notes and 1 pound notes. The Bank of Nigeria exchanged only 30 pounds for an individual and 300 pounds for enterprises in the second half of 1968.[19]
In 1969 new notes were introduced: £10, £5, £1, 10/- and 5/-.[19]
It is estimated that a total of £115-140 million Biafran pounds were in circulation by the end of the conflict. This is a relatively small amount, however, as the Biafran population at the time was 14 million, meaning roughly £10 per person was in circulation.[19]
Military
At the beginning of the war Biafra had 3,000 troops, but at the end of the war the troops totaled 30,000.[20] There was no official support for the Biafran army by another nation throughout the war, although arms were clandestinely acquired. Because of the lack of official support, the Biafrans manufactured many of their weapons locally. A number of Europeans served in the Biafran cause; German born Rolf Steiner was a Lt. Colonel assigned to the 4th Commando Brigade and Welshman Taffy Williams served as a Major until the very end of the conflict.[21]The Biafrans managed to set up a small yet effective air force. The BAF commanders were Chude Sokey and later Godwin Ezeilo, who had trained with the Royal Canadian Air Force.[22] Early inventory included two B-25 Mitchells, one B-26 Invader (piloted by Polish pilot Jan Zumbach, known also as John Brown), a converted DC-3 and one Dove. In 1968 the Swedish pilot Carl Gustaf von Rosen suggested the MiniCOIN project to General Ojukwu. By the spring of 1969, Biafra had built five MFI-9Bs in Gabon, calling them "Biafra Babies". They were coloured green, were able to carry six 68 mm anti-armour rockets and had simple sights. The six airplanes were flown by three Swedish pilots and three Biafran pilots. In September 1969, Biafra acquired four ex-Armee de l'Air North American T-6Gs, which were flown successfully to Biafra the following month, with another aircraft lost on the ferry flight. These aircraft flew missions until January 1970, flown by Portuguese ex-military pilots.[22]
Legacy
The international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières ("Doctors Without Borders") came out of the suffering in Biafra. During the crisis, French medical volunteers, in addition to Biafran health workers and hospitals, were subjected to attacks by the Nigerian army and witnessed civilians being murdered and starved by the blockading forces. French doctor Bernard Kouchner also witnessed these events, particularly the huge number of starving children, and, when he returned to France, he publicly criticised the Nigerian government and the Red Cross for their seemingly complicit behaviour. With the help of other French doctors, Kouchner put Biafra in the media spotlight and called for an international response to the situation. These doctors, led by Kouchner, concluded that a new aid organisation was needed that would ignore political/religious boundaries and prioritise the welfare of victims.[23]
In their book, Smallpox and its Eradication, Fenner and colleagues describe how vaccine supply shortages during the Biafra smallpox campaign led to the development of the focal vaccination technique, later adopted worldwide by the World Health Organization, which led to the early and cost effective interruption of smallpox transmission in west Africa and elsewhere.
On 29 May 2000, the Lagos Guardian newspaper reported that the now ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo commuted to retirement the dismissal of all military persons who fought for the breakaway state of Biafra during Nigeria's 1967–1970 civil war. In a national broadcast, he said the decision was based on the belief that "justice must at all times be tempered with mercy".[24]
Violence between Christians and Muslims (usually Igbo Christians and Hausa or Fulani Muslims) has been incessant since the end of the civil war in 1970.
In July 2006 the Center for World Indigenous Studies reported that government sanctioned killings were taking place in the southeastern city of Onitsha, because of a shoot-to-kill policy directed toward Biafran loyalists, particularly members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).[25][26]
In 2010, researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and University of Nigeria, Enugu, showed that Igbos born in Biafra during the years of the famine were of higher risk of suffering from overweight, hypertension and impaired glucose metabolism compared to controls born a short period after the famine had ended. The findings are in line with the developmental origin of health and disease hypothesis suggesting that malnutrition in early life is a predisposing factor for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes later in life. [27][28]
Movement to re-secede
The "Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra" (MASSOB) advocates a separate country for the Igbo people of south-eastern Nigeria.[15] They accuse the state of marginalising the Igbo people. MASSOB says it is a peaceful group and advertises a 25-stage plan to achieve its goal peacefully.[29] there are two arms to the government, the Biafra Government in Exile and Biafra Shadow Government.[30] The Nigerian government accuses MASSOB of violence; MASSOB's leader, Ralph Uwazuruike, was arrested in 2005 and is being detained on treason charges; MASSOB is calling for his release. MASSOB is also championing the release of oil militant Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who is facing similar charges.[15] In 2009, The MASSOB launched "the Biafran International Passport" in response to persistent demand by Biafrans in diaspora.[31]Meaning of the word "Biafra" and location of Biafra
Little is known about the literal meaning of the word Biafra. It is not part of the Igbo language. It is unclear whether the origin of the word Biafra has any relationship to "Bia", the Igbo word for "Come". The word Biafra most likely derives from the subgroup Biafar or Biafada[32] of the Tenda ethnic group who reside primarily in Guinea-Bissau.[33] Manuel Álvares (1526–1583), a Portuguese Jesuit Educator, in his work "Ethiopia Minor and a geographical account of the Province of Sierra Leone", writes about the "Biafar heathen" in chapter 13 of the same book.[34] The word Biafar thus appears to have been a common word in the Portuguese language back in the 16th century.Historical maps of Biafra
Early modern maps of Africa from the 15th–19th centuries, drawn by European cartographers from accounts written by explorers and travellers, reveal some interesting information about Biafra:- The original word used by the European travellers was not Biafra but Biafara,[35][36] Biafar[37] and sometimes also Biafares.[38]
- The exact original region of Biafra is not restricted to Eastern Nigeria alone. According to the maps, the European travelers used the word Biafara to describe the entire region east of River Niger going down to the Mount Cameroon region, thus including Cameroon and a large area around Gabon. The word Biafara also appears on maps from the 18th century in the area around Gambia.[39]
Maps from the 19th century indicating Biafra as the region around today's Cameroon:
See also
- Land of the Rising Sun (national anthem)
- List of A-26 Invader operators
- Manillas
- Nigerian Civil War
- Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra
- Radio Northsea International
- Ambazonia
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Half of a Yellow Sun
- Rolf Steiner
- Taffy Williams
- Postage stamps and postal history of Biafra
References
- ^ a b Minahan, James (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 762. ISBN 0-313-32384-4. http://books.google.com/?id=K94wQ9MF2JsC&pg=PA762.
- ^ Room, Adrian (2006). Placenames of the World: Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6,600 Countries, Cities, Territories, Natural Features and Historic Sites. McFarland & Company. p. 58. ISBN 0786422483.
- ^ a b Nowa Omoigui. "Federal Nigerian Army Blunders of the Nigerian Civil War - Part 2". http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui25.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
- ^ a b c d Barnaby Philips (2000-01-13). "Biafra: Thirty years on". The BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/596712.stm. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
- ^ Nowa Omoigui. "OPERATION 'AURE': The Northern Military Counter-Rebellion of July 1966". Nigeria/Africa Masterweb. http://www.africamasterweb.com/CounterCoup.html.
- ^ Willy Bozimo. "Festus Samuel Okotie Eboh (1912 - 1966)". Niger Delta Congress. http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/farticles/festus_samuel_okotie_eboh.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ^ "1966 Coup: The last of the plotters dies". OnlineNigeria.com. 2007-03-20. http://nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=9670&z=17.
- ^ a b c d e f "Biafran Secession: Nigeria 1967-1970". Armed Conflict Events Database. 2000-12-16. http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/bravo/biafra1967.htm.
- ^ "Ojukwu's Declaration of Biafra Speech". Citizens for Nigeria. http://www.citizensfornigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=63. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
- ^ "ICE Case Studies". American University. November 1997. http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/biafra.htm.
- ^ Nowa Omoigui (October 3, 2007). "Nigerian Civil War file". BBC. http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui24.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
- ^ MAJOR ABUBAKAR .A. ATOFARATI (1992). "The Nigerian Civil War: Causes, Strategies, And Lessons Learnt". Global Security. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1992/AAA.htm. Retrieved 2005-04-27.
- ^ a b "On This Day (30 June)". BBC. 1969-06-30. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/30/newsid_3733000/3733321.stm. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
- ^ James Brooke (1987-07-14). "Few Traces of the Civil War Linger in Biafra". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFD71E39F937A25754C0A961948260. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
- ^ a b c Senan Murray (2007-05-03). "Reopening Nigeria's civil war wounds". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6657259.stm. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
- ^ "Nigeria". Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/414840/Nigeria#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Nigeria%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ^ "Igbo insight guide to Enugu and Igboland's Culture and Language". http://www.igboguide.org/index.php?l=chapter2.
- ^ Ònyémà Nwázùé. "INTRODUCTION TO THE IGBO LANGUAGE". http://ilc.igbonet.com. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Symes, Peter (1997). "The Bank Notes of Biafra". International Bank Note Society Journal 36 (4). http://www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/biafra.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ^ "Operation Biafra Babies". http://www.canit.se/~griffon/aviation/text/biafra.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
- ^ "The Last Adventurer" by Steiner, Rolf (Boston:, Little, Brown 1978)
- ^ a b Air Enthusiast #65 September–October 1996 pp40-47 article by Vidal, Joao M. Texans in Biafra T-6Gs in use in the Nigerian Civil War
- ^ Bortolotti, Dan (2004). Hope in Hell: Inside the World of Doctors Without Borders, Firefly Books. ISBN 1-55297-865-6.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Emerging Genocide in Nigeria
- ^ Chronicles of brutality in Nigeria 2000-2006
- ^ Hypertension, Diabetes and Overweight: Looming Legacies of the Biafran Famine, PLoS ONE
- ^ Nigeria: Those Born During Biafra Famine Are Susceptible to Obesity, Study Finds. The New York Times, November 2, 2010
- ^ Estelle Shirbon (2006-07-12). "Dream of free Biafra revives in southeast Nigeria". Reuters. http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2006/07/12/dream_of_free_biafra_revives_in_southeast_nigeria/.
- ^ http://biafra.cwis.org/news20090413.php
- ^ http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/07/01/massob-launches-biafran-intl-passport-to-celebrate-10th-anniversary/comment-page-2/
- ^ "Biafada: A language of Guinea-Bissau". http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=bif.
- ^ "The Joshua Project: Biafada, Biafar of Guinea-Bissau". http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php?rog3=PU&rop3=101403.
- ^ "Manuel Álvares, Chapter 13: The Biafar Heathen". http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/AfricaFocus/AfricaFocus-idx?type=article&did=AFRICAFOCUS.ALVARES01.I0019&id=AfricaFocus.Alvares01&isize=M.
- ^ "Map of Africa from 1669". USA: Afriterra Foundation, The Cartographic Free Library, http://www.afriterra.org/. http://catalog.afriterra.org/viewMap.cmd?number=785. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
- ^ "Map of Africa from 1669". USA: Afriterra Foundation, The Cartographic Free Library. http://catalog.afriterra.org/zoomMap.cmd?number=785. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
- ^ "Map of West Africa from 1729". USA: University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries. http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/maps/ALW1663L.JPG. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
- ^ "Map of North-West Africa, 1829". USA: University of Texas Libraries. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/africa_nw_1829.jpg. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
- ^ "Map of Africa from 1707". Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA: James Ford Bell Library. 9 October 2001. http://bell.lib.umn.edu/historical/H_af_m1.html. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Biafra |
- My Biafran Eyes - Writer Okey Ndibe's memoir of the Biafran War in Guernica
- These Women Are Brave - A project on Igbo women's experiences during the Biafran war.
- Remember Biafra Page [2] - A brief history on the Republic and conflict
| |||||||||||||||||
news today
Nigerian violence fed by ethnic, economic issues, ex-president says
(CNN) -- Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo insisted Wednesday that this week's explosion of violence that claimed at least 200 lives is not driven by religious tensions between Christians and Muslims -- but by ethnic, social, and economic problems.
In Sunday's violence near the central city of Jos, Christian villagers said a mob armed with guns, knives and machetes killed and burned at will, leaving a trail of death and destruction. The attack came in the same area that 150 Muslims were killed in January.
In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Obasanjo said, "If you have one group or a community that has land that's been encroached upon by another community or even by itinerant cattle farmers, then the people who lay claim to the land will fight back."
"If there are job opportunities in an area, and persons believe they are indigenous to that area, and (are) not getting enough out of the jobs that are available, they will fight those who are getting the jobs," Obasanjo said.
Obasanjo said he's convinced the conflict in the oil-rich nation does not have religious roots, because Nigerian religious leaders have come together and deliberated on the problems in Jos, which lies on a faith-based fault-line between Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria and the mainly Christian south.
Video: Muslim journalist rescued Video: Breakdown on Nigeria violence Video: Nigeria's sectarian violence
RELATED TOPICS
Nigeria
Africa
The former president also said it will be very dangerous if the acting president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, fails to implement reforms quickly because that country -- Africa's most populous -- is full of expectations for change.
Thousands of Nigerians Wednesday protested in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, demanding urgent action from the government on a host of issues ranging from corruption to unemployment.
CNN's Christiane Purefoy, reporting from the scene, said there was a lot of tension between police and the protesters, who believe that local governors are trying to get away with as much as they can because there's no one in charge at the top.
Acting President Jonathan continues to hold the reins of power, even though ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua has returned to Nigeria after three months treatment for an unspecified medical condition in Saudi Arabia.
Purefoy reported that Jonathan hardly ever makes any public appearances, and seems to be acting president in name only, without exercising real power.
Obasanjo said the whole episode with Yar'Adua is unusual. "I think ... the way it was handled by his handlers and the way it's been couched in secrecy and shrouded in mystery is strange. Somebody said it can only happen in 'wonderland' Nigeria."
Nigerian Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka told Amanpour the Nigerian people are demanding a sovereign national conference to empower the right people to restructure and reform the country.
He said next year's general election will be crucial to the future of the nation. "Right now we're running a constitution that has been imposed on the people themselves," he added.
Soyinka said the political system in Nigeria has been handed down first by the colonial past, and then by what he called "the internal colonial past," which is the military.
Amanpour also spoke with another Nobel Prize laureate on the program, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, who has always preached reconciliation over the urge for revenge.
Tutu has written a new book "Made for Goodness" with his daughter, the Rev. Mpho Tutu. The book says that people are inherently good and there is inherent goodness on the earth.
"All of history has demonstrated the truth that evil people, evil systems, don't last forever. They bite the dust," Archbishop Tutu said.
"The fact of the matter is that evil is really an aberration. After God creates, God says, it is not just good, it's very good... and God rubs both hands and says 'ha, ha.'"
Archbishop Tutu was chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa that tried to heal the wounds in the country after decades of apartheid.
Reports from Nigeria say lawmakers in the parliament there are proposing their own Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to end the distrust that has fueled the violence in the center of the country.
Somalia: Al-Shabaab, UN officials accused of aid grab
Contractors, local UN workers and Islamist militants in Somalia have been accused of diverting food aid meant for refugees and destitute Somalis for their own consumption, a United Nations study has revealed. The report is due to be officially presented to the UN Security Council on 16 March.
The UN document says food aid is diverted to a web of distributors, transporters and armed groups, with some local UN workers also taking a cut in the profits, journalists at the UN office have reported. Extracts of the report have been quoted by the New York Times and other news agencies.
Claims that food aid was being diverted first surfaced in 2009, and as a result, the U.S. reduced funding to Somalia, fearing that aid was falling into the hands of the al-Qaeda linked Islamist group al- Shabab.
According to the findings, World Food Program (WFP) contracts are awarded to a few influential individuals who operate cartels that sell the food illegally. Just three contractors receive the vast majority of WFP transportation contracts, making them some of the wealthiest and most influential individuals in Somalia.
The UN secretary general’s special representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, told reporters that the greatest need in Somalia was a stable and internationally supported government.
"With a... government we would avoid this loss [of aid], not only of 50% but of 5%. We have to go to the root cause of the problem, which is [the] lack of a supported government. We have a government - why don’t we support it?" Abdallah was quoted as saying.
In February, al-Shabab banned the food agency from operating in Somalia, claiming the WFP was distributing stale food, and affecting local production of food.
WFP announced a suspension of its work in the southern part of the country because of attacks and extortion by local militants. Transporters are reported to have to navigate roadblocks manned by various militias and bandits.
WFP says previous internal investigations have failed to find proof of widespread abuse but the organization has vowed to examine the new allegations of diversion of food aid, and the existence of a de facto cartel.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991. Years of fighting between rival warlords and an inability to deal with famine and disease have led to the deaths of up to one million people. Relations with neighbors have been soured by its territorial claims on Somali-inhabited areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti.
Somalia is arguably Africa’s worst humanitarian crisis: a third of the population is dependent on food aid.
A UN-backed transitional government emerged in has failed to make significant changes due to incessant attacks from al-Shabab extremists.
Zimbabwe death row inmates unsure of fate
Fourty nine death row inmates in Zimbabwe’s jails live in perpetual fear as they have no clue when the executioner will show-up.
All 49 of them have been sentenced to die by hanging, but none of them know their execution date as Zimbabwe Prison Service, the southern African country’s jailers is battling to attract suitable candidates to fill the critical post.
This has forced one inmate to stay on death row for the past 13 years following his conviction on a murder charge but the majority have been on death row for at least four years.
The shocking statistics where provided by the jailers Wednesday to Senate Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights.
Harare Central Prison officer-in-charge Chief Superintendent Norbert Chomurenga told the Senate Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights that the notorious jail currently holds more than 1 200 inmates.
"There are 1 221 inmates, four are juveniles, 426 are B class, 745 are C class, one is D class and 49 are prisoners under sentence of death," Chomurenga told the committee.
In Zimbabwe prisoners are classified according to the danger they pose with those in B class being the least dangerous. However, Chomurenga did not provided a breakdown of males and females on death row.
Lethal injections are not used in Zimbabwe.
The latest addition was just last week. Trust Muganhu was handed a death sentence for murdering a businesswoman in 2008.
Removal of death penalty
Prisoners had a rare opportunity to voice their concerns Wednesday and lobbied for the removal of the death penalty from the country’s statute books.
Said one inmate, "I spend 23 hours of the day confined in our cells and every time I hear the doors being unlocked, I just think they have come to take me.
"While we know that we committed crimes, the torture we go through is unbearable, please can you lobby for the abolishment of the death sentence,"
The trauma affecting the inmates is spilling over to prison guard, inmates said.
"The mental trauma does not only affect us, even the guards who protect us every day because they will witness our death while they have been staying with us for all these years," said the inmate.
The most recent executions date back to a decade ago when notorious robbers, Edgar Masendeke and Stephen Chidhumo who committed various crimes including murder and escaping from lawful custody at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison were put to sleep.
Most death row inmates have had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment without parole. And according to human-rights activists, death-row inmates are housed in solitary confinement and may not talk to other prisoners.
Their contact to the outside world is limited to occasional, supervised visits with their closest relatives, the activists said.
Gabon: Ali Bongo vows to fight corruption
Gabon’s president, Ali Bongo, intends to use his country’s two-year seat on the United Nations Security Council to highlight democratic reforms and his fight against corruption, which he terms a “cancer” sapping Africa’s strength and potential.
“Unfortunately, when it comes to the African body, we have many diseases — and corruption is one of them,” Bongo said in an interview after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton March 8 at the State Department.
“Corruption is a major problem that has to be stopped,” the African leader said, “which is why we are committed to fighting it. We know if we want to build a better future with responsible people, we especially need accountability, and this is what has been lacking.”
Gabon, with a population of fewer than 2 million, is largely dependent on the energy and extractive (mining and timber) sectors and is the fifth-largest supplier of oil in sub-Saharan Africa to the United States. In 2009, the non-government group Transparency International rated the nation 106 out of 180 countries in its annual corruption index, tied with Argentina, The Gambia, Niger and Benin.
After his election as president in August 2009 and before traveling to the United States, Bongo instituted a number of government reforms, including cutting Cabinet posts while restructuring the Treasury Department and launching an environmental effort called “Green Gabon.”
At the same time, he streamlined government by eliminating several agencies and bureaucracies that were hindering innovation and investment in Gabon. He has also threatened criminal penalties for persons attempting to bribe public officials, according to a recent press report.
Despite the challenges of corruption and reform, Bongo says he remains "optimistic about Africa’s future. We know we will make mistakes; we will struggle, and at times we will fall. But we will get up and move forward.”
In international affairs, Bongo said U.S.-Gabon relations are “very good,” adding, “We would like more progress on the economic front and are working on a trade agreement with the U.S. government.”
Acknowledging Gabon’s new responsibilities on the U.N. Security Council, Bongo said, “We are going to work very closely with the United States and all the permanent members of the Security Council to make sure that the world is a better place.” He had earlier addressed the Security Council, which Gabon chairs for the month of March.
Speaking to the press after her private meeting with the African leader, Secretary Clinton said, “I want to recognize President Bongo’s efforts to improve government efficiency, eliminate waste and fight corruption.
“We know, as the president knows, that economic progress depends on responsible governance that rejects corruption, enforces the rule of law, provides good stewardship of natural resources and delivers results that help to change people’s lives for the better.
“We stand ready to support Gabon as it further strengthens its democratic institutions and processes,” Clinton said.
The secretary added, “We are very supportive of Gabon’s efforts to diversify its economy, widen the circle of prosperity and create new opportunities for its people. Gabon is participating in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and taking other steps that will give confidence both to international investors but, more importantly, to the people of the country.’’
Speaking two days before the State Department issues its annual human rights report, Clinton said: “I also want to applaud the leadership that Gabon has shown in combating human trafficking. We have forged new partnerships with the Justice Department, and Gabon is moving toward ratifying the U.N. protocol. This is one more example of the reform-minded leadership that President Bongo is bringing to his country.”
“We’ve come a long way,” Bongo responded. “We’ve gone through a democratic process, and now we are moving forward. Good governance, [the] fight against corruption, diversity [in] our economy and our partners. This is what we’re doing.”
World Cup hosts South Africa settle on training base
Hosts South Africa have finally settled upon their training venue for the World Cup, just three months before the start of the finals.
Johannesburg's Sturrock Park will be Bafana Bafana's training camp for the tournament, the South African FA (Safa) announced on Thursday.
The 2010 World Cup hosts were embarrassingly forced to select a new training venue in February after failing to kick-start refurbishments at their original choice.
Having finally settled upon a corner of the Wits University campus, the first team to know it would contest the World Cup has become the last to select its camp.
"Wits University is a home of football and we are delighted that Bafana Bafana will prepare in venues with a strong football culture," said Leslie Sedibe, Safa's CEO.
Sedibe was alluding to the fact that South Africa's pre-World Cup preparations also incorporate an ongoing training camp in Brazil as well as next month's trip to Germany.
One of South Africa's most established universities, Wits' students founded local PSL side Bidvest Wits in 1921, with the club nicknamed 'Clever Boys' as a result.
Bafana Bafana will not be the only side training at Wits University for the Dutch football federation decided upon the venue long ago.
Sections of the campus, where South Africa trained ahead of last year's Confederations Cup, will also be utilised by fans using the Park & Ride system for Johannesburg matches.
The hosts' original venue, Esselen Park, was stood down last month when it emerged that nothing had been done to implement the necessary US$2m-worth of refurbishments.
"It's unfortunate, regrettable and deeply embarrassing that having qualified in 2004, we are still unable to confirm our camp," said Sedibe at the time.
Sandown High School, located near to Bafana Bafana's team hotel in northern Johannesburg, was then touted as a potential replacement but unexpectedly dropped earlier this week.
Having won the hosting rights in May 2004, South Africa - drawn in Group A with Mexico, Uruguay and France - will stage the World Cup between 11 June-11 July.
Sri Lanka's General Fonseka goes on trial next week
The Sri Lankan military has announced it is putting defeated presidential candidate and former army chief Gen Sarath Fonseka on trial next week.
The general faces court martial proceedings on charges of engaging in politics while in uniform and also for breaking army procurement rules.
Gen Fonseka was arrested after he lost January's election to the incumbent President, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
He denies any wrongdoing and intends to stand in April's parliamentary poll.
But it is not clear whether he would be able to contest the election if he were found guilty of any of the charges.
Proceedings are set to start on Tuesday 16 March at the naval complex were he is being detained.
'Climate of fear'
Sri Lanka's military spokesman told the BBC that he expected the initial trial to be "over very soon". He also said that Gen Fonseka can have his own lawyers present at the court martial and can appeal to the higher civilian courts if he is found guilty.
Officials have also accused Gen Fonseka of plotting a coup and the assassination of President Rajapaksa - charges he denies.
Sri Lanka's military spokesman told AFP news agency the police were conducting a separate investigation into those allegations.
Gen Fonseka's supporters have said that the court martial is politically motivated. His lawyers have challenged his detention in the Supreme Court but the next hearing is not until late April.
The trial announcement comes as an international journalism lobby group says media workers in Sri Lanka have been living in a "climate of fear" since President Rajapaksa's re-election.
But the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists also adds the government's chief legal officer is appealing to exiled journalists to return, offering them protection.
The government has long denied victimising media workers.
Gen Fonseka was in charge of Sri Lanka's army when it defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels last year after 25 years of civil war.
But he and President Rajapaksa fell out over who should take credit for the victory - and both fought the presidential election boasting of their roles in the war.
Afghanistan does not want 'proxy wars', says Karzai
Afghanistan does not want other countries' "proxy wars" fought on its soil, President Hamid Karzai has said.
He was speaking following talks with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad, and a day after Iran and the US traded blows over their activities in Afghanistan.
Mr Karzai said he did not want India and Pakistan, or anyone else, to fight their wars on his country's territory.
Parties to the Afghan conflict are rethinking policy ahead of 2011 when the US says it will begin to withdraw.
On Wednesday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid a short visit to Kabul. He accused the US of playing a "double game" in Afghanistan after the US used the same term to condemn Iran's role.
Pakistan role
Mr Karzai is making his first visit to Pakistan since his controversial re-election last year.
The trip comes amid an expected surge of Western troops in Afghanistan this summer. It also follows the recent arrests of Taliban leaders in Pakistan which indicate the military there may be willing to reign in the militants.
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says Mr Karzai is visiting Pakistan amid a thaw in relations between the two countries on the one hand, and some fundamental shifts in the regional situation on the other.
The Afghan leader held detailed meetings with both President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. He has also met Pakistan's army chief, Gen Ashfaq Kayani. Before heading to Islamabad, he had a meeting with the visiting US defence secretary Robert Gates.
"Without Pakistan and without its co-operation with Afghanistan, Afghanistan cannot be stable or peaceful," Mr Karzai told a news conference in Islamabad.
"It is also, I believe, recognised in Pakistan that without a stable and peaceful Afghanistan there cannot be stability or peace in Pakistan.
"Afghanistan does not want a proxy war between India and Pakistan in Afghanistan. It does not want a proxy war between Iran and the United States in Afghanistan," he said.
Mr Karzai also called on Islamabad to hand over the alleged Taliban second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, arrested last month. Mr Gilani said his government was still considering the request.
Our correspondent says the purpose of Mr Karzai's visit appears to be to take Pakistani leaders into his confidence on the impending Western troop surge, and to find out to what extent Pakistani political and military leaders would be willing to withdraw support from the Taliban.
For their part, the Pakistanis need guarantees about limiting Indian influence in Afghanistan, our correspondent says.
They are also keen to have a role in training Afghan forces, a proposal which Mr Karzai has reportedly cold-shouldered for the moment.
Earlier, a spokesman for Mr Zardari the two presidents had agreed to hold a joint Afghan-Pakistan jirga (tribal gathering) after a similar meeting is held in Afghanistan.
A joint jirga process was initiated in 2007 but never took off because of mutual suspicions.
Jos violence
Villagers in Nigeria's Plateau state are still in a state of shock and disbelief following the horrific attack on Sunday morning.
Some claim the killings were revenge attacks against the mainly Christian Beroms by Hausa Fulanis, who lost at least 300 of their own community during sectarian clashes in January.
The police however have also been deemed culpable for failing to protect citizens.
There is also debate surrounding the number of fatalities.
Police say 109 people were killed but others put the figure as high as 500.
The BBC's Komla Dumor is in the village of Dogo Nahawa.
Gambia row over wave of arrests
An opposition leader has criticised a wave of arrests in The Gambia, saying detainees - including a former minister - do not know why they are being held.
Halifa Sallah told the BBC that those arrested have been denied visits from lawyers and family members.
High-ranking military and police officials are reportedly among those detained, and last week ex-fisheries minister Antouman Saho was jailed.
President Yahya Jammeh is frequently criticised by rights groups.
In recent years, he has publicly threatened to kill gay people and rights workers.
Last month the government of Mr Jammeh, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1994, expelled the envoy of the UN's children charity, Unicef.
No reasons given
Mr Saho, who served in Mr Jammeh's government from 1994 until he was sacked last month, was taken from his home on Friday night.
Police said he was wanted for questioning by intelligence officials.
His family has not been able to contact him since and no official reason has been given for his arrest.
"According to our constitution, within three hours of an arrest the person should be told why he or she has been arrested," Mr Sallah told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
He said relatives of people arrested as far back as October had told him they had not been able to contact their detained family members.
He said those arrested in the more recent wave of arrests were in the same situation.
"We've still been unable to establish why they've been arrested, and as it stands there is only speculation," he added.
Mr Sallah, of the National Alliance for Democracy, has himself been arrested several times in recent years.
UN agency acts on Somali food-aid claims
The UN's food agency has blacklisted three contractors named in a UN report which alleged that food aid in Somalia was being diverted.
The World Food Programme said it would not engage in any new work with the contractors and welcomed the report.
The WFP stressed that it had dealt with many of the concerns in the report.
The UN monitoring group document said corrupt contractors, militants and local UN workers were diverting food aid and selling it illegally.
Earlier this year, the WFP was forced to suspend food distribution in southern Somalia because of threats from armed groups.
Widespread corruption
"The integrity of our organisation is paramount and we will be reviewing and investigating each and every issue raised by this report," said WFP executive director, Josette Sheeran.
"WFP stands ready to offer full co-operation with any independent inquiry into its work in Somalia."
The UN document says up to half of the food aid in Somalia is diverted to a web of corrupt contractors, distributors, transporters and armed groups.
Some local UN workers are also accused of taking a cut in the profits.
It blames the problem on the food distribution system in the war-torn country, where transporters have to navigate roadblocks operated by various militias and bandits. Charges that food aid was being diverted first surfaced in 2009.
The US has since reduced funding to Somalia, fearing that aid was falling into the hands of the Islamist group al-Shabab.
The report, which was leaked to various media organisations this week, is due to be officially presented to the UN Security Council on 16 March.
Ex-rebels accused of extortion in DR Congo mines
Former rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo who now serve in the army are running mafia-style extortion rackets in the mines, campaigners say.
The country has some of the world's richest mines, which provide minerals to the global electronics industry.
Ex-rebels of the CNDP group are said to have gained far greater control of the mines than they did as insurgents.
Campaign group Global Witness says the government and international community have failed to demilitarise the mines.
The ongoing conflict in Eastern Congo, which has claimed some six million lives in a little more than a decade, has long revolved over access to its mineral wealth, not just by DR Congo but also its neighbour Rwanda through its proxy forces.
After last year's high profile government offensive against one rebel group which controlled many of the mines in Eastern Congo, the military has moved in and transferred power to a competing armed group.
A move to integrate rebels from the CNDP - whose leader Laurent Nkunda has been under house arrest in Rwanda since last year - into Congo's national army has seen them enjoying more control of the country's mineral wealth than ever before, according to Global Witness investigators.
In one mine in South Kivu, civilian miners claimed they were being forced to pay $10 each to the military for permission to spend a night working in the mines.
Researchers say that instead of protecting civilians, the military is taxing them illegally, and subjecting them to abuse.
They also claim that high profile international companies are still knowingly sourcing minerals from these militarised mines - a contravention of UN sanctions, which campaigners say are not being enforced.
Death toll rises as violence rocks Somali capital
(CNN) -- Heavy fighting flared in the Somali capital Thursday, a day after a battle between government forces and Al-Shabaab rebels left 29 dead and scores injured.
At least 80 people were wounded in the fighting, which started Wednesday morning and continued all day, according to government and medical officials.
Most of it occurred in the north of Mogadishu, where a majority of militants allied with Al-Shabaab are believed to be in control, authorities said.
Three foreign rebels, including Algerian commander Abu Mu'sab Aljaza'iri, were killed in the fighting, government radio reported on its Web site.
"Continuous shelling has shaken the whole city," said Yusuf Mohamed Abukar, a local journalist with Shabelle Radio.
A heavy shell fell in Jungal neighborhood in the northern part of Mogadishu, killing 13 people and wounding another 13, according to Abukar, who witnessed the fighting.
Ali Muse Sheikh, head of a local ambulance, said his group transported at least 65 injured civilians to different hospitals.
The state defense minister claimed victory in Wednesday's fighting and said the Al-Shabaab suffered heavy loses. Government forces have detained Al-Shabaab prisoners, said Yusuf Mohamed Siad Indho ade, the minister.
"We have Al-Shabaab prisoners from yesterday's fighting and most of them are minor children who have been brainwashed by the group," he added.
Al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda proxy in the country, was declared a terrorist organization by the United States.
It's waging a war against Somalia's government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law, or sharia.
Early Iraq election results put prime minister's group in lead
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- The first results from Iraq's parliamentary elections were released Thursday, five days after millions of Iraqis went to the polls in defiance of the threat of violence.
Two of Iraq's 18 provinces announced early results, which put the group led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the lead.
The predominantly Shiite Iraqi National Alliance -- which includes the secular politician Ahmed Chalabi as well as followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr -- is in second, followed by Al-Iraqia, a secular party led by former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
But the results are preliminary -- only about a third of the votes in each of the two provinces have been counted, and the other 16 provinces have not announced any results yet.
It may be some time before a clear picture emerges of who will lead Iraq. Final results, which need to be certified by Iraq's Supreme Federal Court, are expected to be released at the end of the month.
If no party wins a majority of seats, then coalition haggling will begin. Millions of Iraqis defied the threat of violence Sunday to cast ballots in the parliamentary elections.
Nearly two out of three eligible voters turned out. Some 38 people were killed in attacks on voting day. About 6,200 candidates from more than 80 political entities are vying for 325 seats in the Council of Representatives, as Iraq's parliament is called.
The political coalition that ends up with the most number of seats in parliament will put forward a candidate for prime minister.
Three strong earthquakes strike Chile in quick succession
Santiago, Chile (CNN) -- Three strong earthquakes rocked Chile on Thursday morning, just as the country was swearing in a new president.
A 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit at 11:39 a.m. local time (9:39 a.m. ET), followed by a 6.7-magnitude quake 16 minutes later, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. A third, measured at magnitude 6.0, came 27 minutes later.
They were the strongest aftershocks to rattle Chile since a February 27 earthquake on the country's west coast that toppled buildings and spawned a tsunami, killing several hundred people.
The first quake Thursday shook the ground near Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, near the Chilean coast, just as Chile prepared to inaugurate a new president, Sebastian Pinera.
Pinera said Thursday afternoon that he will declare the area a catastrophe zone.
The epicenter was about 95 miles (152 km) south-southwest of the capital, Santiago, and about 90 miles (145 km) away from Valparaiso, where Pinera was to be inaugurated. Television footage showed the inauguration proceeding without a hitch.
A second earthquake -- with an initial magnitude of 6.9 -- struck moments later. It was about 89 miles (143 km) southwest of Santiago, the USGS said. The third was about 86 miles (138 km) southwest of Santiago.
Video: Chile's transition of power
Measuring earthquakes
RELATED TOPICS
Chile
Earthquakes
Sebastian Pinera
U.S. Geological Survey
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Rolando Santos, senior vice president and general manager of CNN Chile, said he and his colleagues felt one of the quakes.
"I can tell you within our newsroom in Santiago, which is state of the art in terms of seismic construction, it shook for more than 45 seconds," he said.
He said that he told staffers to get under desks and that three people burst into tears. In the last two days, people had kind of gotten used to aftershocks, but "there was no question this one got everyone's attention," he said.
Are you there? Send pictures
Pinera, a conservative billionaire businessman, became the Chilean president about 12:15 p.m. local time, roughly 20 minutes after the second quake.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement that "a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected" as a result of the quakes, and that there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii.
However, the center also said that "earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within" about 62 miles (100 km) of the epicenter.
Hundreds of people were killed when the magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck Chile's west coast February 27. That quake also triggered a tsunami that toppled buildings, especially in the coastal Maule region.
How to help: Impact Your World
Authorities this week released the names of 279 people whose bodies had been identified in the quake, but officials said the new tally does not include hundreds of unidentified victims.
The February 27 earthquake was violent enough to move the Chilean city of Concepcion at least 10 feet to the west and Santiago about 11 inches to the west-southwest, researchers said.
Farmers to Access Crop Insurance Via Mobile Phones
An insurance product that caters for farmers' inputs like fertilizers and certified seeds is being delivered through the use of mobile phone.
In a bid to entice more farmers to invest in insurance products, the new partnership between UAP Insurance and Safaricom aims to ease the process of buying insurance products.
Farmers can now buy their insurance covers from agro dealers; the same point where they buy other vital inputs such as fertilizers or seeds.
The agro dealers are equipped with a camera phone that scans a special bar code at the time of purchase of inputs, which immediately registers the policy with UAP Insurance over the Safaricom's mobile data network.
The phone software then sends a text message confirming the insurance policy to the farmer's mobile phone.
"This is the first project to use mobile phones to set up insurance contracts and issue payouts to smallholder farmers in Africa, deploying both our vast data infrastructure and globally acclaimed M-PESA service," said Betty Mwangi, the chief officer of new products division at Safaricom.
Farmers are also able to get weather alerts or market prices using new mobile commerce tools.
Claims are paid by the insurer if there is a major change in weather patterns that affects the farm yields.
This could be too much or too little rainfall. It could also be a change in temperature or the speed of wind.
For the insurance company to get the correct data, it has set up an automatic weather station that monitors wind speed, amount of rainfall, temperature and the intensity of the sun everywhere there are insured farmers.
The stations are powered by a solar system so there is no risk of failure due to lack of power.
They transmit data to a central server every 15 minutes over Safaricom's 3G data network.
When data transmitted from a particular station indicates that drought or other extreme conditions are destined to affect maize or wheat yields, all farmers registered with that station automatically receive payouts directly via Safaricom's M-pesa mobile money transfer service.
"The close link to rural shops and farmers ensures that thousands of farmers will have fast, efficient and reliable services and shows that there is great potential for many other applications that link mobile technology with the needs of farmers and people in rural areas. This is the kind of innovation that underpins our market leadership," said Ms Maina.
The project was first tested in 2009 in Laikipia district, where 200 farmers purchased insurance for seeds and herbicides, and, after the drought, received compensation for 80 per cent of their investment.
The Syngenta Foundation, one of the project supporters and UAP Insurance said about 10,000 farmers will be using the service by the end of this year.
The plan is to then expand into all key farming areas of the country by 2012, with the target of offering the insurance to about 50,000 Kenyan farmers.
Crop insurance is considered essential to agriculture in developed countries but has been largely unavailable to farmers in low-income countries, in part because of the costs of administering "micro" policies.
Conventional crop insurance requires field inspections at the time the policy is issued, and follow-up visits to confirm damage.
Such procedures can be cost-effective for large farms, but are far too expensive to be practical in places like Kenya, where most farming is done on small plots in rural areas.
The administration cost of the insurance is reduced by using the Safaricom data network to record policies and transfer funds, both the premiums to UAP and the payouts to farmers.
The cost of each transaction is minimal -- far less than the price of a SMS message.
Rwanda: Poll Puts Nation Under Scrutiny
Nairobi — Rwanda's upcoming presidential elections has cast a spotlight on its democratic credentials, with observers warning that allegations of intimidation of opposition leaders could mar the process.
"It is a very important event for our country because it is the second time we are electing a head of state," Chrysologue Karangwa, President of the Electoral Commission, told IRIN. "The people are preparing themselves for it."
Observers say the prevailing political environment restricts opponents of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
"Rwanda needs to allow the democratic process, to create political space for everybody," a Nairobi-based regional analyst, who requested anonymity, said. "Otherwise the elections will be a fait accompli. That will undermine Rwanda's democratic growth."
Paul Kagame has been president since March 2000, after leading the RPF to power in July 1994 and ending the Rwandan genocide. The slaughter of more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus was by far the bloodiest chapter in a long power struggle between the minority Tutsis and majority Hutus.
In August 2003, Kagame won 95 percent of the votes in the first national elections since 1994. His main competitor, Faustin Twagiramungu, won 3.5 percent.
Kagame is widely expected to be nominated again as the RPF flag-bearer in the 9 August election, but recent incidents involving other potential candidates have fuelled concerns that the poll will not be fair.
Election questions
"It is very difficult to imagine any opposition candidates who can get a significant share of the votes," Thomas Cargill, assistant head of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, said. "The RPF dominates political life in Rwanda, but it is good for Rwanda to start going through the motions."
He warned, however, that elections sometimes delivered only a semblance of democracy. "Like Ethiopia and Uganda, the governments of the day need to maintain the strings of power in some kind of democratic process. So you need an opposition.
"These governments tread a fine line - allow the opposition to operate and field candidates, but in a way that does not readily give them any chance," he added.
Aid workers in the capital, Kigali, and in Goma, in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are concerned about the potential fallout.
"A political crisis in Rwanda could trigger a humanitarian problem, including displacement across borders," an international security observer at an aid mission in Goma told IRIN. "There is also the unresolved question of armed Rwandan militias in DRC."
The alleged "lack of political space" in Rwanda is frequently cited by the Hutu diaspora, refugees and such DRC-based militias to justify their refusal to return home.
Karangwa insisted nothing would disrupt the polls. "I can assure you the forthcoming elections are going to be free and fair," he told IRIN on 10 March. "We are working towards that objective and are totally open."
Jean Paul Kimonyo, a policy adviser to Kagame, writing in The New Times newspaper of 9 March, said the country was on the right political track. "The issue here is how do you ensure political cooperation when confrontational politics will almost certainly lead to renewed violence?
"Under President Kagame's leadership, Rwanda has persistently ensured ownership of its nation building process by its citizens. It is much more challenging but certainly more promising."
Impressive gains
Rwanda has, since 1994, recorded impressive gains towards the Millennium Development Goals, according to the UN Development Programme. Primary school enrolment, for example, is now 97 percent of all school-going age children.
Family planning, according to the World Bank, has tripled in the last three years, while assisted deliveries have increased from 39 to 52 percent. The use of insecticide-treated nets is up by 70 percent, and under-five mortality has fallen by 30 percent.
Policies and laws that guarantee equal opportunities for men and women, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, have resulted in Rwanda holding a world record of women parliamentarians: 56.3 percent, just ahead of Sweden at 46.4 percent.
This year, according to Finance and Economic Planning Minister John Rwangombwa, the economy should grow by 7-8 percent, up from 5.5 percent in 2009.
Nevertheless, Rwanda "needs to open up and encourage past wounds to heal positively", a diplomat in the capital, Kigali, told IRIN. Advocacy groups claim a lack of respect for basic political and human rights, and harassment of perceived political opponents.
According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an Indian NGO, article 13 of Rwanda's constitution, which makes it an offence to engage in "revisionism" or "negationism" [denial of genocide], has been "broadly defined to include anyone who disagrees with the ruling RPF's account of the genocide".
"CHRI is deeply concerned at the continued restrictions and threats to opposition parties in the run-up to Rwanda's Presidential elections," it said in 6 March statement.
Referring to a 25 February warning by the security ministry that politicians who "slander the country" or are "against public unity" would be punished, it called for "immediate steps to ensure respect for the basic, universal rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly of opposition parties".
Attacks on opponents
The 3 February attack on Victoire Ingabire, president of the United Democratic Forces party, and her aide Joseph Ntawangundi, by a mob in Kigali was the most visible example of opposition harassment so far, the Nairobi analyst said. Attacked while reportedly collecting party registration documents, she reportedly lost her passport, while Ntawangundi was severely beaten.
Ingabire returned to Rwanda in January, after living in Europe for 16 years. During a visit to the Gisozi Genocide memorial site, she upset survivor groups by alluding to the killing of Hutus, 85 percent of the population.
The day after the attack on Ingabire, Frank Habineza, president of the Green Party, reported being threatened. Earlier, the leader of the Ideal Social Party, Bernard Ntaganda, was called before the senate to answer accusations relating to propagation of genocide ideology.
Soon after, local government minister James Musoni warned politicians "who violate the constitution and the rule of law by politicking along ethnic lines. Whatever they do should not be a stumbling block to people's peace, unity and security," he said in a press statement.
"Politicians and all those who wish to practise politics are not allowed to do anything that undermines the sovereignty of Rwanda and its citizens."
The attack on Ingabire, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said, "appeared to have been well coordinated, suggesting it had been planned in advance".
"The Rwandan government already tightly controls political space," said Georgette Gagnon, HRW's Africa director. "These incidents will further undermine democracy by discouraging any meaningful opposition in the elections. On several occasions, the government has used accusations of participation in the genocide or 'genocide ideology', as a way of targeting and discrediting its critics."
Karangwa denounced HRW. "That woman has not been beaten, not at all," he told IRIN. "I do not believe the entire Human Rights Watch report. In our country there is no intimidation or harassment of opposition leaders."
Kigali resident Joseph Barigye said Ingabire had "provoked" people. "The memories [of the genocide] are still fresh, so one needs to talk to people carefully," he told IRIN. "And that is the reason Kagame will win again."
Silencing critics
Ingabire, in an interview with The EastAfrican newspaper on 15 February, said: "Kagame's government is not ready to accept opposition. This is why they sent young men to beat me and my aide two weeks ago - which was a true reflection of the lack of democracy and freedom of expression in Rwanda.
Nairobi — Rwanda's upcoming presidential elections has cast a spotlight on its democratic credentials, with observers warning that allegations of intimidation of opposition leaders could mar the process.
"It is a very important event for our country because it is the second time we are electing a head of state," Chrysologue Karangwa, President of the Electoral Commission, told IRIN. "The people are preparing themselves for it."
Observers say the prevailing political environment restricts opponents of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
"Rwanda needs to allow the democratic process, to create political space for everybody," a Nairobi-based regional analyst, who requested anonymity, said. "Otherwise the elections will be a fait accompli. That will undermine Rwanda's democratic growth."
Paul Kagame has been president since March 2000, after leading the RPF to power in July 1994 and ending the Rwandan genocide. The slaughter of more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus was by far the bloodiest chapter in a long power struggle between the minority Tutsis and majority Hutus.
In August 2003, Kagame won 95 percent of the votes in the first national elections since 1994. His main competitor, Faustin Twagiramungu, won 3.5 percent.
Kagame is widely expected to be nominated again as the RPF flag-bearer in the 9 August election, but recent incidents involving other potential candidates have fuelled concerns that the poll will not be fair.
Election questions
"It is very difficult to imagine any opposition candidates who can get a significant share of the votes," Thomas Cargill, assistant head of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, said. "The RPF dominates political life in Rwanda, but it is good for Rwanda to start going through the motions."
He warned, however, that elections sometimes delivered only a semblance of democracy. "Like Ethiopia and Uganda, the governments of the day need to maintain the strings of power in some kind of democratic process. So you need an opposition.
"These governments tread a fine line - allow the opposition to operate and field candidates, but in a way that does not readily give them any chance," he added.
Aid workers in the capital, Kigali, and in Goma, in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are concerned about the potential fallout.
"A political crisis in Rwanda could trigger a humanitarian problem, including displacement across borders," an international security observer at an aid mission in Goma told IRIN. "There is also the unresolved question of armed Rwandan militias in DRC."
The alleged "lack of political space" in Rwanda is frequently cited by the Hutu diaspora, refugees and such DRC-based militias to justify their refusal to return home.
Karangwa insisted nothing would disrupt the polls. "I can assure you the forthcoming elections are going to be free and fair," he told IRIN on 10 March. "We are working towards that objective and are totally open."
Jean Paul Kimonyo, a policy adviser to Kagame, writing in The New Times newspaper of 9 March, said the country was on the right political track. "The issue here is how do you ensure political cooperation when confrontational politics will almost certainly lead to renewed violence?
"Under President Kagame's leadership, Rwanda has persistently ensured ownership of its nation building process by its citizens. It is much more challenging but certainly more promising."
Impressive gains
Rwanda has, since 1994, recorded impressive gains towards the Millennium Development Goals, according to the UN Development Programme. Primary school enrolment, for example, is now 97 percent of all school-going age children.
Family planning, according to the World Bank, has tripled in the last three years, while assisted deliveries have increased from 39 to 52 percent. The use of insecticide-treated nets is up by 70 percent, and under-five mortality has fallen by 30 percent.
Policies and laws that guarantee equal opportunities for men and women, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, have resulted in Rwanda holding a world record of women parliamentarians: 56.3 percent, just ahead of Sweden at 46.4 percent.
This year, according to Finance and Economic Planning Minister John Rwangombwa, the economy should grow by 7-8 percent, up from 5.5 percent in 2009.
Nevertheless, Rwanda "needs to open up and encourage past wounds to heal positively", a diplomat in the capital, Kigali, told IRIN. Advocacy groups claim a lack of respect for basic political and human rights, and harassment of perceived political opponents.
According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an Indian NGO, article 13 of Rwanda's constitution, which makes it an offence to engage in "revisionism" or "negationism" [denial of genocide], has been "broadly defined to include anyone who disagrees with the ruling RPF's account of the genocide".
"CHRI is deeply concerned at the continued restrictions and threats to opposition parties in the run-up to Rwanda's Presidential elections," it said in 6 March statement.
Referring to a 25 February warning by the security ministry that politicians who "slander the country" or are "against public unity" would be punished, it called for "immediate steps to ensure respect for the basic, universal rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly of opposition parties".
Attacks on opponents
The 3 February attack on Victoire Ingabire, president of the United Democratic Forces party, and her aide Joseph Ntawangundi, by a mob in Kigali was the most visible example of opposition harassment so far, the Nairobi analyst said. Attacked while reportedly collecting party registration documents, she reportedly lost her passport, while Ntawangundi was severely beaten.
Ingabire returned to Rwanda in January, after living in Europe for 16 years. During a visit to the Gisozi Genocide memorial site, she upset survivor groups by alluding to the killing of Hutus, 85 percent of the population.
The day after the attack on Ingabire, Frank Habineza, president of the Green Party, reported being threatened. Earlier, the leader of the Ideal Social Party, Bernard Ntaganda, was called before the senate to answer accusations relating to propagation of genocide ideology.
Soon after, local government minister James Musoni warned politicians "who violate the constitution and the rule of law by politicking along ethnic lines. Whatever they do should not be a stumbling block to people's peace, unity and security," he said in a press statement.
"Politicians and all those who wish to practise politics are not allowed to do anything that undermines the sovereignty of Rwanda and its citizens."
The attack on Ingabire, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said, "appeared to have been well coordinated, suggesting it had been planned in advance".
"The Rwandan government already tightly controls political space," said Georgette Gagnon, HRW's Africa director. "These incidents will further undermine democracy by discouraging any meaningful opposition in the elections. On several occasions, the government has used accusations of participation in the genocide or 'genocide ideology', as a way of targeting and discrediting its critics."
Karangwa denounced HRW. "That woman has not been beaten, not at all," he told IRIN. "I do not believe the entire Human Rights Watch report. In our country there is no intimidation or harassment of opposition leaders."
Kigali resident Joseph Barigye said Ingabire had "provoked" people. "The memories [of the genocide] are still fresh, so one needs to talk to people carefully," he told IRIN. "And that is the reason Kagame will win again."
Silencing critics
Ingabire, in an interview with The EastAfrican newspaper on 15 February, said: "Kagame's government is not ready to accept opposition. This is why they sent young men to beat me and my aide two weeks ago - which was a true reflection of the lack of democracy and freedom of expression in Rwanda.
Somalia: U.S. Should Accept Islamist Authority, Report Says
Washington, DC — The United States should accept an "Islamist authority" in Somalia as part of a "constructive disengagement" strategy for the war-torn country, according to a new report released here by the influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on Wednesday.
The 39-page report urges the U.S. to recognise that "Islamist authority" even if it includes al-Shabaab, or "the youth" in Arabic, an Islamist insurgent group that has declared loyalty to al Qaeda.
It calls the current U.S. approach toward Somalia of propping up the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) "counterproductive". Not only is it alienating large sections of the Somali population, but it is effectively polarising its diverse Muslim community into so-called "moderate" and "extremist" camps, the report says.
While the report encourages an "inclusive posture" by the U.S. toward local fundamentalists, it suggests the U.S. should show "zero-tolerance' toward transnational actors attempting to exploit Somalia's conflict", apparently referring to al Qaeda.
"The Shabaab is an alliance of convenience and its hold over territory is weaker than it appears. Somali fundamentalists - whose ambitions are mostly local - are likely to break ranks with al-Qaeda and other foreign operatives as the utility of cooperation diminishes," says the report, authored by Bronwyn Bruton, a CFR international affairs fellow. "The United States and its allies must encourage these fissures to expand."
However, David Shinn, a former U.S. ambassador to neighbouring Ethiopia in the 1990s, disagrees that the al-Shabaab leadership will be ready to join any future political arrangement in the country.
"I think al-Shabaab has become more radicalised and I don't see any pragmatic leaders in al-Shabaab today. Many in the rank and file maybe pragmatic, the gun-carriers, but they are not the leaders," said Shinn, who also served as U.S. ambassador to Burkina Faso in the late 1980s.
"I don't see cracks in the leadership and I don't see pragmatics in the leadership. A lot of the report is predicated on the idea that it is possible to negotiate with al-Shabaab and I think that's wishful thinking," he said.
The report also warns against continued support for the U.N.-backed TFG since it has proven "ineffective and costly".
"The TFG is unable to improve security, deliver basic services, or move toward an agreement with Somalia's clans and opposition groups that would provide a stronger basis for governance," the report says.
The TFG was established in 2004 through U.N. mediation in Kenya in an effort to end the ongoing crisis in Somalia. The TFG moved to Somalia in 2005 but has been unable to make "any progress on state building tasks" due to internal divisions, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said.
It was hoped that the installation of Sharif Ahmed, the former head of the Union of Islamic Courts, as president in January 2009 would attract a sufficient number of Islamist leaders to subdue or at least fragment al-Shabaab's forces. But Shinn says the TFG has become "marginally stronger" in recent months.
"She [Bruton] seems to begin with the assumption that the TFG is doomed to fail. I am not convinced that it will fail," said Shinn, who was a member of the Advisory Committee to the report. "The fact the TFG under President Ahmed has now existed for more than a year has already surprised many so-called Somali experts. It's just wrong to make the assumption that it's going to fail."
Entitled "Somalia , A New Approach", the report comes at a critical moment in the evolution of U.S. policy toward Somalia . Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) are helping the Somali government, which has about 7,000 troops in the capital, plan an impending TFG military offensive aimed at dislodging al-Shabaab fighters from Mogadishu.
The report details two decades of strife in the Horn of Africa nation, the establishment of the TFG, and its ongoing ensuing power struggle with the al-Shabaab's movement and its allies.
Bruton contends that the U.S. policy of providing indirect diplomatic and military support to the weak TFG has only "served to isolate the government, and...to propel cooperation among previously fractured and quarrelsome extremist groups."
The report calls on the United States to make a final attempt to help the Somali government build public support by drawing in leaders of the other Islamist groups. But it urges the administration of President Barack Obama to consider major policy changes should the TFG fail or continue to be marginalised to the point of powerlessness.
The TGF, which is backed by some 5,000 African Union (AU) troops in a U.N.-authorised peacekeeping mission, controls only several blocks of Somalia's sprawling capital of Mogadishu and the Aden Adde International Airport, while al-Shabaab controls vast swaths of land to the south, and parts of the capital as well.
Historically, Washington's interest in the volatile East African nation has been limited to security issues, and most recently to denying sanctuary to al Qaeda or its affiliates on Somali territory. In recent years, the U.S. has carried out a number of attacks on targets in Somalia believed to be linked to al Qaeda.
However, some analysts believe that the U.S. help could easily lead to strengthening the insurgent movement in an already complicated set of circumstances.
"The administration has decided to move aggressively to support the TFG and is providing training, intelligence, military advice, and hardware to the TFG army in anticipation of a major TFG offensive against al-Shabaab," said David R. Smock, vice president of the United States Institute of Peace's Centre for Mediation and Conflict Resolution.
"This is a major American gamble which could backfire. The offensive could easily fail, which might lead the U.S. to get even more heavily engaged. We have been burned badly in Somalia before, and we could be burned again," he added.
In late 1992, the administration of former President George H. W. Bush sent troops to Somalia as part of a U.N.-authorised operation to protect the delivery of humanitarian and food relief to starving communities there. But, in an aborted "nation-building" enterprise, U.S. military forces became increasingly engaged in the ongoing warfare between and among clans that followed the ouster in 1991 of the Siad Barre regime.
Then-President Bill Clinton began withdrawing U.S. troops after 18 SOF soldiers were killed during a botched helicopter raid against one clan leader in Mogadishu in October, 2003 and completed the withdrawal early in 2004.
The CFR report also recommends a decentralised development strategy in collaboration with "the informal and traditional authorities" on the ground. It calls for restraining Ethiopia, which has been involved in Somalia's conflicts for years.
Bruton suggests that the U.S. should not "own the Somali crisis" and needs to launch a diplomatic campaign to involve European and Middle Eastern countries to support Somalia's stabilisation and address its humanitarian and developments needs.
A U.N. report on Wednesday alleged that up to half of the food aid delivered by the World Food Programme (WFP) to Somalia is being diverted to corrupt contractors, local U.N. workers and Islamist militants in the country. The WFP has rejected the allegations, calling them "unsubstantiated".
South Africa: Only Part of Zuma Interests Public, And Permission Needed
Johannesburg — PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma yesterday finally declared his financial interests but it is still unclear what the interests are.
South Africans would only have access to part of what Zuma disclosed - that which is contained in the public parts of the register held by the secretary to the Cabinet, Vusi Mavimbela.
But Zuma's spokesman Vincent Magwenya said the public part of the register could only be viewed after permission was sought from Mavimbela's office. "I haven't seen it. You have to request them to give you access to it," he said yesterday.
Zuma's disclosure was 10 months late. The law required him to declare his financial interests within 60 days of assuming office in May last year.
On Monday the Presidency said the process would take time given the size of his family.
But after much pressure from opposition parties this week, Zuma's lawyer Michael Hulley yesterday said the president had provided a list to Mavimbela containing "any gifts, benefits or financial interests held or received either by him or by any family member", as required by the executive ethics code.
BuaNews
Hulley said Zuma did not hold any directorship, membership or shareholding in any company, either public or private. None of the gifts given to Zuma were of extraordinary monetary value, he said.
The Democratic Alliance said yesterday Zuma's disclosure did not conclude the matter and the party would not withdraw the complaint lodged on Tuesday with public protector Thulisile Madonsela.
"The president's disclosure, a full 245 days late, does nothing to nullify the need for there to be consequences any more or less than handing in your tax returns nine months late would do," said parliamentary leader Athol Trollip.
Hulley blamed the delay in Zuma's disclosure on legal consultations "to ascertain the nature of the disclosure to be made as well as the extent to which declarations of family members were required".
He said anomalies in the executive code included a clause stating that if a gift worth more than R1000 had been offered, permission to retain it had to be sought from the president. "He in essence sits in judgment of himself," Hulley said.
"In deciding whether to accept or retain any gift, the president has applied the same high ethical standard he otherwise would have in respect of other members of the executive," Hulley said.
The news of Zuma's failure to disclose his financial interests this week were another public relations nightmare for his aides after huge criticism about his illegitimate child with the daughter of a close friend, last month's state of the nation address and bad publicity commentary by the British press during his visit to London last week.
Africa: Continent Still Hungry Despite Annual U.S.$3 Billion of Aid and U.S.$33 Billion of Food Imports - UN
One in three Africans is chronically hungry, despite $3 billion spent on food aid for the continent annually and $33 billion in food imports, the director of the food security at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has warned.
Much of the $33 billion that Africa spends to import food could be better diverted to domestic production for regional and global trade, contributing to poverty reduction and repositioning Africa in the global economy, said Josue Dione, Director of Food Security and Sustainable Development of ECA, at a conference on agribusiness that wrapped up yesterday in Abuja, Nigeria.
"African agriculture is thirsty as less than 4 per cent of the total arable land is irrigated compared to 33 per cent in Asia and the Pacific and 29 per cent in the Middle East. African agriculture is hungry as it receives only 14.6 kilograms of fertilizers per hectare, against 114.3 kilograms per hectare for all developing countries," Mr. Dione said in an address on behalf of the ECA's Executive Secretary Abdoulie Janneh.
Africa's share in world agriculture trade fell to 3.2 per cent in 2006 from 5.4 per cent in the 1980s and 15 per cent in the 1960s, according to ECA.
The continent's small share in regional and global agricultural trade is strongly associated with a shift in world agricultural trade away from bulk commodities, Mr. Dione said.
"Significant part of global agro-food trade has moved downstream along the value chains, and thus become less dependent purely on natural-resource endowment," Mr. Dione said.
Yet moving Africa's food and agriculture system towards processed, higher value-added products has been more difficult for the continent than for other developing regions.
Mr. Dione said while Africa is suffering from a competitive disadvantage in agro-processing, better policies can help improve the business environment and create the conditions necessary for higher private investment in agribusiness.
ECA has advocated for the development of regional value chains for selected agricultural commodities, which would allow domestic production to gain more resources.
"Developing agriculture for broad-based economic growth, food security and poverty reduction in Africa now requires an integrated approach to investing in improving productivity and efficiency at all stages of the commodity value chains, from research and development, to input markets, farm-level production, processing, storage, handling, transport, distribution to the final consumer," Mr. Dione said.
America.gov (Washington, DC)
African Stars, Stories Honored at the Oscars
This year, the 82nd annual Academy Awards ceremony, known as the Oscars, reflected the growing influence of African artists -- and issues -- on the American movie industry.
For the first time, a film written and directed by an African was nominated for Best Picture. District 9, written and directed by Neill Blomkamp of South Africa, and set in modern-day Johannesburg, offers a bleak imagining of the social consequences of extraterrestrials landing on Earth. The film's principal themes of xenophobia, racial segregation and forced evictions, as well its title, are deeply rooted in the history of apartheid in South Africa. Shooting on location in Chiawelo, Soweto, the cast and crew of District 9 were overwhelmingly South African, and all but unknown to American audiences.
District 9 enjoyed a resounding and immediate success in the United States, opening as the Number 1 box office hit during the weekend of August 14, 2009. The science-fiction movie became a surprise hit with moviegoers and critics alike. Rotten Tomatoes, a U.S. online aggregator of film critiques and ratings, described the film as "technically brilliant and emotionally wrenching," and reported that it got 90 percent positive reviews.
Though District 9 did not win any of the four Oscars for which it was nominated, it received kudos from the critics.
The film Tsotsi by South African Gavin Hood picked up the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Picture in 2005, and District 9's 2010 success indicates that the South African movie industry is making an impressive impact on Hollywood.
In the documentary category, Music by Prudence, a film about a young Zimbabwean singer whose voice could not be silenced by abandonment, abuse or abject poverty, picked up the award for Best Documentary Short (short film). Director Roger Ross Williams, an African-American from a Gullah community in South Carolina, learned about Prudence Mabhena from his producer, Elinor Burkett. He flew out to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and spent two weeks with Prudence at King George VI, a school providing rehabilitation, boarding and education to children with physical disabilities and hearing impairments -- the only one of its kind in Zimbabwe. He then returned to the United States to raise funds to shoot the documentary he knew he had to make about Prudence and Liyana, her band of fellow disabled musicians.
Prudence's story is one of courage, hope and exceptional music. Music by Prudence will be on television in the United States in May, and will be shown at film festivals all over the country.
In addition to African stories, African actors were also in the spotlight this year. Nominated for Best Performance in a Lead Role, Gabourey Sidibe, whose father is from Senegal, earned praise for a breakthrough performance in the movie Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire. Playing an obese, illiterate, abused and pregnant teenager, 26-year-old Sidibe was hired after only one audition with the film's director. Though she did not come home with the Oscar, her performance earned critics' praise. During the Oscar ceremony, Precious co-producer Oprah Winfrey, known for her efforts to support female education in Africa, paid tribute to Sidibe, saying that the young Senegalese-American was "on the threshold of a brilliant new career."
Finally, Invictus, a highly acclaimed American film about a historic moment in African history, garnered two Academy Award nominations, for Best Actor in a Lead and Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, Invictus stars Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and focuses on Mandela's early presidency and his efforts to unite the country around its mostly white rugby team in the aftermath of the abolition of apartheid. Matt Damon plays François Pienaar, the Afrikaner team captain.
Though neither actor took home the Oscar, Freeman's and Damon's performances brought a pivotal moment in South African history alive for viewers. Freeman attended the ceremony wearing a bracelet created by the Nelson Mandela Foundation as part of the 46664 Campaign. Named after the five-digit prisoner number assigned to Mandela for nearly 30 years, the campaign uses that number as a symbol for the faith that hard work and compassion can build a brighter and fairer world. The bracelets are to be auctioned off later this year, with the proceeds going to the foundation.
Invictus is not the only Africa-related film in recent years to be recognized by the Academy. Over the years, dozens of films about Africa have been nominated for Academy Awards. Starting with 1985's Out of Africa, which won Best Picture, Hollywood began taking note of African stories and projecting them onto the silver screen, much to the delight of American critics and filmgoers:
• In 1987, Denzel Washington was nominated for his performance as South African human rights leader Steve Biko in Cry Freedom.
• In 1989, Marlon Brando was nominated for his role in A Dry White Season, a film about apartheid in South Africa.
• 1997 was a big year for Africa at the Oscars. Steven Spielberg retold the story of the slaves kidnapped by the crew of the slave ship Amistad and garnered four nominations. The Ghost and the Darkness, a thriller about the building of the railway in colonial Kenya, won an award for sound editing. That year, the Best Documentary award went to When We Were Kings, a recounting of the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" -- the 1974 boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman held in Zaire. Another Best Documentary nominee was Mandela: Son of Africa, Father of a Nation.
• In 1998, Gorillas in the Mist, about Dian Fossey's struggle to protect mountain gorillas in Rwanda, earned five nominations.
• In 2001, the Academy gave the Best Foreign Language Picture award to Nowhere in Africa, a German film about a German Jewish family fleeing to Kenya during the 1930s.
• In 2004, Hotel Rwanda, about the Rwandan genocide, received three nominations.
• In 2005, The Constant Gardener, a thriller set in present-day Kenya, was nominated for four Academy Awards, and Tsotsi, a depiction of life in the townships in Johannesburg, won Best Foreign Language Picture.
• In 2006, Forest Whitaker won Best Actor for his performance as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. The same year, Blood Diamond, a film about the conflict diamond industry and the civil war in Sierra Leone, received five nominations.
• In 2008, War Dance, a documentary about children living in a refugee camp in Uganda, was nominated for Best Documentary.
Nigeria: Gunmen Kill Two Nollywood Stars
Benin — Two Edo State Nollywood stars were late Tuesday killed in Benin by gunmen suspected to be hired killers.Mr Erhauyi Ogbeide a.k.a Ukeke and Eghosa Idehen a.k.a Erejiro were killed at the home of Ukeke's father-in-law located at 39, Ore-Oghene Street in Benin at about 8pm.
They were said to be coming from a location in a community (Iguomo) where they had gone to shoot a film soon to be released.
The killers, who may have been on their trail, arrived at the house about an hour after they got there. The five killers were said to have made straight for the sitting room where the actors and their host were meeting.
They shot Ukeke twice at close range while Erejiro who had escaped into a bathroom was also shot at close range where he hid.
Ukeke and Erejiro's host simply referred to as Chief Olaye, was also shot by the bandits at the mouth before making away with handsets of the victims in a Toyota Camry car they had parked outside. Chief Olaye is now receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Benin.
The Public Relations Officer of the Edo State Police Command ASP Peter Ogboi who confirmed the incident said the state commissioner of Police had directed the Criminal Investigation Department to take over the case.
Sudan: Ban Calls for Renewed Commitment to Peace Pact Ahead Critical Year
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on Sudan to renew its commitment to the 2005 agreement which ended the long-running north-south civil war, and to ensure a peaceful transition following next year's referendum on southern secession.
"Sudan is at a critical juncture," stressed Mr. Ban in a message delivered Tuesday by his Special Representative for Sudan Haile Menkerios to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
"With elections scheduled for April and the referendum on the self-determination of southern Sudan less than one year away, the parties to the CPA [Comprehensive Peace Agreement] will need enormous support to resolve key outstanding issues," he told participants at the IGAD gathering in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Secretary-General noted that this week's agreement to start demarcation along the north-south border is a "positive step" and that resolving the border dispute in the contested areas around Abyei, considered the link between northern and southern Sudan, to be a "core task for the parties in the year to come."
He cautioned that post-referendum arrangements, "including wealth and power sharing between the north and the south," are a prerequisite for a peaceful transition after the referendum in 2011.
The Secretary-General told IGAD that it has a "critical role to play in supporting the relationship between the parties" which includes resolving outstanding issues and helping both sides to establish functional, stable institutions.
In addition to backing from IGAD - which consists of six Horn of Africa nations - Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan, the success of the CPA depends on strong support from the international community, said the Secretary-General.
South Africa: Stoke Competition, Says Strauss-Kahn
Johannesburg — LACK of competition was a much bigger challenge for SA's economy than the level of the rand, the MD of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said yesterday.
He criticised the dominance of the country's banking, telecoms and food sectors by a few big companies, saying this was "not in the interests" of the economy.
"For many historical reasons, competition is not as vivid and as active as we would expect," he told reporters at the end of a two-day visit to SA.
"The way to help exports has more to do with competition in the economy rather than the value of the currency."
Improved competition would also create more jobs and curb inflation, raising the living standards of the poor, he said.
Trade unions and some senior members of the African National Congress have been lobbying for changes to the official policy of allowing markets to determine the exchange rate of the rand.
The unit was at R7,39/ late yesterday, a level Strauss-Kahn said was probably at the "strong end" of a manageable range.
Sustained rand strength has fanned fear about the competitiveness of local exports, which are leading SA out of recession.
Strauss-Kahn's remarks coincided with a statement yesterday by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who said a report would be released "in the next month or two" on the outcome of an investigation into the spread between the Reserve Bank's repurchase rate and prime lending rates set by commercial banks.
The difference has been kept consistent between the four main banks and steady at 3,5 percentage points for the past few years. Before he retired last year, the Bank's former governor, Tito Mboweni, initiated an inquiry into the practice, saying a bit of "competition" was needed.
Otherwise, Strauss-Kahn applauded SA's economic policies, saying its response to the global financial crisis was "appropriate and timely". A fiscal stimulus of about R800bn and lowering interest rates by five percentage points had helped to protect the country from the fallout of the global downturn, he said.
Strauss-Kahn also said inflation targeting - another controversial topic for trade unions - was appropriate for an economy such as SA's. "It's a policy which has to be taken with some flexibility," he said, echoing comments by Gordhan in the national budget last month.
The Bank has repeatedly said it takes account of a range of other factors, including growth and employment, when setting interest rates. But its official mandate is to keep inflation inside a 3%-6% target range.
Strauss-Kahn said SA now had global responsibilities, after becoming a member of the Group of 20 (G-20) developed and developing economies.
"What is new is the role SA can play in global governance," he said. SA provided a voice for both the continent and other developing countries, which was taken into account by governments in the G-20.
Strauss-Kahn also pointed out that African countries were recovering from the global crisis at the same pace as the rest of the world, mainly because they had followed the right policies beforehand. "In our view of this crisis, Africa is back," he said.
But Zimbabwe needed to "build a track record" before the IMF would consider lending to it again. Its problems were not just economic, they were political and the IMF had concerns about governance at its central bank. Nonetheless, it restored Zimbabwe's voting rights last month, he said. They were withdrawn in 2003 after the country's failure to repay money it owed.
Strauss-Kahn visited Kenya before arriving in SA this week, and travelled to Zambia later yesterday.
Rwanda: Country to Send 140 Peacekeepers to Haiti
Kigali — A group of Rwanda National Police officers are currently being trained prior to deployment to Haiti, the Central American island that was recently devastated by an earthquake.
The development was confirmed recently by police spokesman, Supt Eric Kayiranga, who said that the officers will be selected from 600 officers who are being trained on peace operations.
"Those selected will have at least a minimum of a bachelor's degree, driving license, and experience of five years in the force for men and three years for women," says Kayiranga.
He added that Rwanda wants to be involved in promoting peace in other countries and that if need be, they would send more peacekeepers to other countries.
Reacting to claims that the country could be concentrating on promoting security elsewhere while insecurity threats have been reported in Kigali, Kayiranga said there are enough police to maintain security in the country.
He said that there should not be cause for alarm, the police were alert and that nothing would sabotage the security of the country.
"We are very much aware of the situation in the country, we cannot send our own people out to maintain peace in other countries if we knew that there was no peace in the country," he said.
He added that people should understand that there is no country that can survive on its own.
"We need to help other countries so that they can also help us if and when need arises. Sending our forces to help other countries is important for promoting cooperation between Rwanda and these countries," he said.
South Africa: State Tender Prices Row Threatens 'Buy SA' Bid
Johannesburg — A tussle between the Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry about local companies getting preferential treatment over foreign rivals in state procurement could scupper one of the pillars of the department's new industrial policy action plan, if not resolved soon.
The industrial plan's success depends to a large extent on changing the procurement system of the government and state-owned enterprises.
If disagreement over the new rules is not resolved soon, it could delay implementation of aspects of the much-vaunted industrial plan. The action plan envisages taking advantage of the R846bn which the public sector is to spend on infrastructure over the next three years in order to promote local industry.
The issue is understood to revolve around whether the plan's "point-matching" proposal is unconstitutional, as the Treasury apparently believes it is.
The introduction of point matching in state tendering would allow the highest-scoring local bidder a second bite at a tender if a foreign rival beat it only on price. It would have the opportunity to come in with a lower bid.
The pharmaceutical industry argued in favour of "point matching" yesterday, saying that in 2007-08, 53% of public sector medicines in value terms was imported. The government's annual procurement budget for medicines, including antiretrovirals, is estimated now at R4,5bn.
The Treasury did not wish to comment yesterday on the existence of a tussle.
When asked to confirm and clarify that the Treasury had concerns about the constitutionality of the "point-matching" proposal, spokeswoman Lindani Mbunyuza would only say: "This is a matter of ongoing discussion in government." She would not be drawn any further on the matter.
Stavros Nicolaou, who is chairman of Pharmaceuticals Made in SA and an executive at Aspen Holdings, said in public hearings on the plan organised by Parliament's trade and industry committee, that the Treasury had queried whether point matching was consistent with section 217(1) of the constitution - which sets out the principles on which public procurement must be based - and with the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.
Nicolaou said Aspen had procured its own legal opinion which concluded that point matching complied with the constitutional principles of transparency, competitiveness, cost effectiveness, fairness and equitability and procedural fairness.
It would go a long way to providing local manufacturers with certainty, predictability and security of local supplies when they bid for government tenders, he said.
"Point matching costs the state nothing extra and is not prejudicial to importers as they can invest in SA and then have the same matching right," Nicolaou said. He pointed to the "worrying" increase since 2005 of cheap imported medicine from India.
Last year India overtook the UK, the US and France to become, after Germany, the biggest exporter of medicines to SA.
Nicolaou stressed co-ordination and "policy coherence" between departments would be crucial if the industrial policy action plan was to succeed. Turf battles between departments would have to be avoided.
African National Congress MP and longstanding committee member Ben Turok said the fact that the Treasury had resisted aspects of the industrial plan had come to light when it was still under preparation and when officials of the Department of Trade and Industry had briefed the committee on progress.
"We are now getting a very specific case of Treasury opposition and we as a committee are not going to be able to do our job if we can't unpack this question of co-ordination within government.
"The president and everyone else is saying co-ordination, co-ordination all the time. We are getting it in the state of the nation address and so many public fora where the leadership of the country and of the ANC are saying that government must act cohesively and yet we hear that this is not happening."
The industrial plan also emphasises the need for greater co-ordination within the government if it is to succeed.
Turok supported the point-matching proposal saying: "If two tenders are equal you must prefer the one that suits you because of the downstream effects. What these people are telling us is that if they win a tender it creates jobs, brings skills, and builds the domestic market.
"The industrial policy action plan emphasises the domestic market. We failed to do that in the past because we were led all the time by the imperative that we must be competitive internationally and that undermined companies."
He said Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies had argued for a focus on the domestic market and emphasised exports. "Where all things are equal, you favour your own."
The Congress of South African Trade Unions condemned as "scandalous" the fact that much of this year's infrastructure inputs had been procured abroad.
"We have called for a review of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act and its regulations to ensure that public procurement prioritises goods manufactured locally and their inputs sourced locally as well," it said.
Sectors cited in the plan as likely to benefit included metal fabrication; capital equipment and transport equipment; buses and other commercial vehicles; pharmaceuticals; and electronics.
Kenya: Kidney Transplant Opens New Frontier for Patients in Continent
Nairobi — The cord of love between two sisters proved unbreakable when one put her life on the line to save the other.
Ms Mary Nginyo, 32, was diagnosed with kidney failure two years ago, which almost proved fatal when she became pregnant at the same time.
But her sister Peninah's love proved far more powerful as the two women underwent the first surgery of its kind in Africa, performed by a team of Spanish and Kenyan doctors at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
Their story signals a bold new direction for Kenyan patients with kidney failure. The introduction of this relatively low-cost transplant technology could reduce the burden on Kenya's scarce dialysis facilities, and help discourage medical travel to other countries where such procedures are more routine.
Mary and Peninah Nginyo were among the first patients to undergo a kidney transplant using new technology known as laparoscopy.
Laparoscopic surgery is a kind of keyhole surgery in which operations in the abdomen are performed through small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm), compared to larger incisions needed in traditional surgical procedures.
Also called minimally invasive surgery (MIS), the procedure uses images displayed on television monitors for magnification of the surgical elements.
The procedure has been applauded in developed countries as it has led to a decrease in pain and scarring and swifter recovery for the patients.
For Peninah, the decision to take part in this historic surgery was quite easy.
"The suffering of a loved one motivated me to donate one of my kidneys," Peninah, who works as a mechanic at Kenya Airways, told the Nation.
The pre-transplant tests were not as easy though, she adds, with the needles and day-long routine tests being the scariest parts.
Peninah and another sister matched as likely donors before she was chosen as the best candidate for the operation performed on Tuesday.
Mary Nginyo was in bed No 8, while her sister lay directly opposite in bed No 17.
For Mary, the first born in a family of five girls, the journey to the operation began at a time when she should have been celebrating life, not staring death in the face. It was during her second pregnancy.
"Initially I was fatigued and my feet were persistently swollen," she said of her early symptoms.
She was diagnosed with renal failure during the fourth month of her pregnancy.
"Last year, in July, I had to begin attending dialysis sessions at least twice a week," Mary said.
According to Dr Anthony Were, the head of the renal unit at KNH, dialysis for expectant mothers is rare though it is done in some cases.
Pregnancy
"At one point we were asked to choose between the life of the mother and the child. But we wanted both alive," said Mr Edwin Maina, Mary's husband.
Seven months into the pregnancy, Mary gave birth to a baby girl whom she named Precious Nkatha. The name symbolised the couple's willingness to risk everything for their baby's survival.
Baby Precious is now a healthy four-month-old.
After delivery, the swelling known as oedema, became worse and Mary was diagnosed with collective tissue disease, or kidney failure.
She was presented with two options to manage the condition: dialysis or a kidney transplant. The latter option is only for patients with end-stage renal disease.
Began journey
In January, doctors urged Mary and her family to consider the transplant option, which gave them a window of one month to think about it. That was just enough time to envision new hope for a healthy life.
"We missed the ever vibrant, industrious Mary. So we settled for the option and began the journey to look for funds to finance the procedure," said Peninah.
Once the transplant option was chosen, the family had only a fortnight to raise Sh550,000 for the operation.
The first kidney transplant in the country was done at KNH in 1978, but it was not until 1988 that the procedure became available on a regular basis. Pre-transplant analysis and the transplant cost about Sh520,000.
For the Nginyo family, the promise offered by the new hi-tech procedure was worth every shilling.
During the interview, as the nurses interrupted to prepare both women for surgery, family members gathered around the pair and whispered a prayer.
"We will both be back healthy," Peninah promised, before being wheeled to the operating theatre where the Spanish and Kenyan doctors had assembled.
The Spanish team was led by Dr Antonio Alcaraz while the local team was led by Dr Mungai Ngugi, a urologist who has practised since 1992.
Dr Alcaraz began the operation as medical students in a separate lecture hall watched via live broadcast, a procedure known as telemedicine.
Less painful
His surgical dexterity was impressive as he meticulously made three incisions on Peninah's abdomen before harvesting the kidney two hours later.
The kidney was placed in a bowl of ice, then Peninah's blood was cleaned away before the organ's arteries were dilated and it was implanted in Mary's abdomen, next to her ailing kidney.
"The three small cuts encourage fast healing, are less painful and are applauded for their aesthetic value," Dr Ngugi told the Nation during the procedure.
With the new technology, the donor spends only a day in hospital. The recipient spends at least five days under observation, and takes immunosuppressant drugs to prevent the body's rejection of the new kidney.
The surgical team hopes this pioneer operation on the continent will encourage more Kenyans to consider seeking the treatment locally.
"We should have faith in our doctors before deciding to head to other countries," Dr Ngugi said after the operation.
Carried out
Nigeria, Mauritius, Sudan and South Africa are some of the countries where transplants are performed routinely, though not using the laparoscopy technology.
Last year, KNH carried out four transplants and it hopes to increase the number to at least 50 by the end of the year.
A normal transplant costs Sh2.5 million in South Africa, and up to Sh1.8 million in India. Private hospitals in Kenya charge an average of Sh1.2 million.
The theme of this year's World Kidney Day is "Protect your kidneys, Control Diabetes".
According to Dr Were, high blood pressure, diabetes and a condition known as chronic glomerular nephritis are the three major causes of kidney diseases.
Zimbabwe: Zuma Lobbies IMF On Zim
Harare — South African President Jacob Zuma has told the International Monetary Fund to resume lending to Zimbabwe as he continues the battle to end the illegal economic sanctions against Zimbabwe.
However, just like recently when his call to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the European Union and its Western partners to lift the embargo did not get a positive response, the IMF maintained it was still not prepared to resume lending to Zimbabwe.
IMF boss Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn cited "concerns" about the country's political situation.
"We are not yet at the point where resuming lending is possible," Mr Strauss-Kahn told reporters after meeting President Zuma yesterday following a two-day visit to South Africa.
He said he discussed Zimbabwe during his talks on Tuesday with President Zuma, who said aid should resume flowing to Harare.
"We are happy to help. We are ready to help, but . . . as long as the political situation will not make it possible to come back on track in terms of arrears and governance, it will be very difficult for us to come back," Mr Strauss-Kahn said.
However, the political and economic environment in the country has improved following the formation of the inclusive Government last year.
Zimbabwe owes about US$140 million in arrears to the IMF. Collectively, the country owes over US$5 billion to lending institutions.
The IMF last month restored Zimbabwe's voting rights after a seven-year suspension, but said Harare would not be able to access loans until the arrears are settled.
President Zuma, the Sadc mediator in Zimbabwe's political dialogue, has lobbied for Western nations and multilateral lenders to resume aid to Harare to help the inclusive Government function efficiently.
But the EU and the United States recently extended their illegal sanctions by another year.
Prime Minister Brown said after meeting President Zuma during his State visit to Britain that the sanctions would be lifted when there was progress on reforms.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has also taken a step to call for the lifting of the illegal sanctions.
This was after British Foreign Secretary Mr David Miliband had said his country would only lift the sanctions at the behest of MDC-T.
But barely a day after PM Tsvangirai had shifted his stance on sanctions, the Barack Obama administration extended its embargo by another year, insisting that more should be done by the inclusive Government.
President Mugabe, while speaking to editors of media institutions in the country last week, welcomed PM Tsvangirai's call for the lifting of the sanctions.
President Mugabe, who is Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, said the PM should set up a team to engage the West on the sanctions.
Sudan: South Dispels Fears of Fresh Chaos after Poll
The leadership of South Sudan has downplayed fears of fresh conflict over oil reserves within its territory after the planned 2011 referendum to decide whether southerners will formally secede from their counterparts in the north.
The ruling party in South Sudan, the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM), said on Wednesday it would front for a policy that would ensure wealth tapped from the resource benefited all.
"We will work to ensure that the policy of greed does not apply as has been the case with the government in the North," SPLM secretary-general Pagan Amum told a news conference in Nairobi. "If we become independent the North would have to learn to request because if they choose to wage war they lose," he said.
The two sides split the revenue from oil reserves found in the southern territory, but no agreement has been made about whether revenue-sharing would continue in case of Southern Sudan independence.
Some analysts have said that oil wealth could spark off a fresh round of conflict arguing that the north could face serious budgetary deficits in the event the South assumed control of the oil revenues.
Mr Amum, however, said the matter would be resolved amicably through fair policy arrangements.
"For sure the South has survived with no oil revenue and the North also has other alternative revenue sources including arable land and oil as well," he said. " We are keen to see the north also viable."
The official spoke a day after Kenya and other regional countries under the umbrella of the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) resolved to push for speedy implementation of all protocols outlined in the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) in Sudan saying uncertainty in the oil rich nation posed a threat to their own economies and peace.
The Igad leaders also demanded that the long-running boundary dispute in the oil-producing Abyei region be resolved fast owing to the building tension ahead of the country's elections next month and the 2011 referendum.
Both north and south Sudan have claimed Abyei, a central area hugging the country's north-south border, for decades.
The definition of Abyei's borders was so sensitive that it was left undecided in the CPA.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, however, ruled to readjust boundaries drawn up by the 2005 CPA panel, pulling in its borders to the north, east and west.
Regional leaders further sought for mobilisation of development assistance to help rebuild parts of Sudan, especially the south, impoverished by decades of war noting that the current state of economic and social imbalance was a potential source of fresh conflict.
The slow implementation of pacts reached under the CPA is a major concern for the people of Southern Sudan, according to President Salva Kiir who attended the Igad Heads of State summit in Nairobi.
"I would like to inform you that had it not been for patience and commitment of our people, Sudan would have gone back to war," Mr Kiir told the summit while commenting about the hitches that had prevented the full implementation of protocol under the CPA.
Chelsea's Didier Drogba wins African football award Didier Drogba in action for Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has been named African Footballer of the Year.
Drogba scored five goals as Ivory Coast qualified for the 2010 World Cup and scored for Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
Chelsea team-mate and Michael Essien and Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o were also shortlisted for the award.
Drogba, who turned 32 on Thursday, had previously won the award in 2006, while Algeria were named team of the year at the ceremony in Accra, Ghana.
Algeria qualified for the World Cup finals in South Africa after defeating Egypt in a play-off game.
Drogba has scored 25 goals so far this season for Chelsea, who are in contention for the Premier League title and remain in the Champions League and FA Cup.
And the Ivorian claimed as he celebrated his 32nd birthday that his appetite for the game is as strong as ever.
"I still have the same passion for the game," said Drogba. "I still feel hungry and I am still chasing medals.
"I feel really good. As I have said in the past it depends on the injuries you get and this season I can say that I am lucky, or I can say that the few months that I took out last year to get my knee well are now paying off.
"Your lifestyle is only as important as your mental approach to the game. If you put in your head that you are 32 and you are old it is going to be difficult.
"I still feel like a kid when I am on the pitch so sometimes Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has to pull me back."
None of the three shortlisted candidates for the individual award were at the Confederation of African Football (Caf) ceremony.
The last time that Drogba won the award, Essien and Eto'o were also the other two shortlisted players.
Nigeria women protest at Jos killings
Hundreds of women have taken to the streets of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, and the central city of Jos in rallies against Sunday's massacre near Jos.
The women, mostly dressed in black, demanded that the government protect women and children better.
At least 109 people were killed in the ethnic clashes near Jos. Many were said to be women and children.
Survivors have told the BBC how they saw relatives and friends hacked down with machetes and their bodies burnt.
Witnesses and officials say the perpetrators came from the mainly Muslim Fulani group. Most of the victims were Christians from the Berom group.
The attacks appear to be retaliation for violence in the villages around Jos in January, when most of the victims were said to be Muslim.
The women in Jos carried placards proclaiming: "Stop killing our future; Bloodshed in the Plateau [State] must stop."
They marched carrying Bibles, wooden crosses or branches of mango trees, chanting: "No more soldiers."
Mass grave
Christian pastor Esther Ebanga told the crowds of women: "Enough is enough."
"All we are asking is that our children and women should not be killed any more. We demand justice," the AFP news agency quoted her as saying.
Meanwhile in Abuja, women staged a similar rally, carrying pictures of the dead.
Risika Razak, one of the leaders of the protest, said she wanted to show the government that "things are not going right".
"They should beef up security in troubled areas so that we would be able to know that people that go to bed will wake up the next day and life will continue," she said.
Officials and religious leaders have accused the military of not acting quickly enough to prevent the massacre.
But on Thursday, the commander of the regional task force, Major General Salih Maina, rebuffed the criticism.
He said the army was told of the violence only after it had happened.
Earlier, the BBC's Komla Dumor visited a mass grave in the village of Dogo-Nahawa where more than 100 bodies from one village had been buried.
One community leader in the village told the BBC how his five-year-old granddaughter had been hacked to death with a machete.
Like earlier eyewitness accounts, he said the violence started with gunfire.
"People were running helter-skelter because of this.... They had never heard something like this before.
"People that were running and run into them, and they were macheted."
The authorities have arrested about 200 people and charged 49 with murder.
Although the clashes take place between Muslims and Christians, observers say the underlying causes are economic and political.
(CNN) -- Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo insisted Wednesday that this week's explosion of violence that claimed at least 200 lives is not driven by religious tensions between Christians and Muslims -- but by ethnic, social, and economic problems.
In Sunday's violence near the central city of Jos, Christian villagers said a mob armed with guns, knives and machetes killed and burned at will, leaving a trail of death and destruction. The attack came in the same area that 150 Muslims were killed in January.
In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Obasanjo said, "If you have one group or a community that has land that's been encroached upon by another community or even by itinerant cattle farmers, then the people who lay claim to the land will fight back."
"If there are job opportunities in an area, and persons believe they are indigenous to that area, and (are) not getting enough out of the jobs that are available, they will fight those who are getting the jobs," Obasanjo said.
Obasanjo said he's convinced the conflict in the oil-rich nation does not have religious roots, because Nigerian religious leaders have come together and deliberated on the problems in Jos, which lies on a faith-based fault-line between Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria and the mainly Christian south.
Video: Muslim journalist rescued Video: Breakdown on Nigeria violence Video: Nigeria's sectarian violence
RELATED TOPICS
Nigeria
Africa
The former president also said it will be very dangerous if the acting president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, fails to implement reforms quickly because that country -- Africa's most populous -- is full of expectations for change.
Thousands of Nigerians Wednesday protested in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, demanding urgent action from the government on a host of issues ranging from corruption to unemployment.
CNN's Christiane Purefoy, reporting from the scene, said there was a lot of tension between police and the protesters, who believe that local governors are trying to get away with as much as they can because there's no one in charge at the top.
Acting President Jonathan continues to hold the reins of power, even though ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua has returned to Nigeria after three months treatment for an unspecified medical condition in Saudi Arabia.
Purefoy reported that Jonathan hardly ever makes any public appearances, and seems to be acting president in name only, without exercising real power.
Obasanjo said the whole episode with Yar'Adua is unusual. "I think ... the way it was handled by his handlers and the way it's been couched in secrecy and shrouded in mystery is strange. Somebody said it can only happen in 'wonderland' Nigeria."
Nigerian Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka told Amanpour the Nigerian people are demanding a sovereign national conference to empower the right people to restructure and reform the country.
He said next year's general election will be crucial to the future of the nation. "Right now we're running a constitution that has been imposed on the people themselves," he added.
Soyinka said the political system in Nigeria has been handed down first by the colonial past, and then by what he called "the internal colonial past," which is the military.
Amanpour also spoke with another Nobel Prize laureate on the program, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, who has always preached reconciliation over the urge for revenge.
Tutu has written a new book "Made for Goodness" with his daughter, the Rev. Mpho Tutu. The book says that people are inherently good and there is inherent goodness on the earth.
"All of history has demonstrated the truth that evil people, evil systems, don't last forever. They bite the dust," Archbishop Tutu said.
"The fact of the matter is that evil is really an aberration. After God creates, God says, it is not just good, it's very good... and God rubs both hands and says 'ha, ha.'"
Archbishop Tutu was chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa that tried to heal the wounds in the country after decades of apartheid.
Reports from Nigeria say lawmakers in the parliament there are proposing their own Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to end the distrust that has fueled the violence in the center of the country.
Somalia: Al-Shabaab, UN officials accused of aid grab
Contractors, local UN workers and Islamist militants in Somalia have been accused of diverting food aid meant for refugees and destitute Somalis for their own consumption, a United Nations study has revealed. The report is due to be officially presented to the UN Security Council on 16 March.
The UN document says food aid is diverted to a web of distributors, transporters and armed groups, with some local UN workers also taking a cut in the profits, journalists at the UN office have reported. Extracts of the report have been quoted by the New York Times and other news agencies.
Claims that food aid was being diverted first surfaced in 2009, and as a result, the U.S. reduced funding to Somalia, fearing that aid was falling into the hands of the al-Qaeda linked Islamist group al- Shabab.
According to the findings, World Food Program (WFP) contracts are awarded to a few influential individuals who operate cartels that sell the food illegally. Just three contractors receive the vast majority of WFP transportation contracts, making them some of the wealthiest and most influential individuals in Somalia.
The UN secretary general’s special representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, told reporters that the greatest need in Somalia was a stable and internationally supported government.
"With a... government we would avoid this loss [of aid], not only of 50% but of 5%. We have to go to the root cause of the problem, which is [the] lack of a supported government. We have a government - why don’t we support it?" Abdallah was quoted as saying.
In February, al-Shabab banned the food agency from operating in Somalia, claiming the WFP was distributing stale food, and affecting local production of food.
WFP announced a suspension of its work in the southern part of the country because of attacks and extortion by local militants. Transporters are reported to have to navigate roadblocks manned by various militias and bandits.
WFP says previous internal investigations have failed to find proof of widespread abuse but the organization has vowed to examine the new allegations of diversion of food aid, and the existence of a de facto cartel.
Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991. Years of fighting between rival warlords and an inability to deal with famine and disease have led to the deaths of up to one million people. Relations with neighbors have been soured by its territorial claims on Somali-inhabited areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti.
Somalia is arguably Africa’s worst humanitarian crisis: a third of the population is dependent on food aid.
A UN-backed transitional government emerged in has failed to make significant changes due to incessant attacks from al-Shabab extremists.
Zimbabwe death row inmates unsure of fate
Fourty nine death row inmates in Zimbabwe’s jails live in perpetual fear as they have no clue when the executioner will show-up.
All 49 of them have been sentenced to die by hanging, but none of them know their execution date as Zimbabwe Prison Service, the southern African country’s jailers is battling to attract suitable candidates to fill the critical post.
This has forced one inmate to stay on death row for the past 13 years following his conviction on a murder charge but the majority have been on death row for at least four years.
The shocking statistics where provided by the jailers Wednesday to Senate Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights.
Harare Central Prison officer-in-charge Chief Superintendent Norbert Chomurenga told the Senate Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights that the notorious jail currently holds more than 1 200 inmates.
"There are 1 221 inmates, four are juveniles, 426 are B class, 745 are C class, one is D class and 49 are prisoners under sentence of death," Chomurenga told the committee.
In Zimbabwe prisoners are classified according to the danger they pose with those in B class being the least dangerous. However, Chomurenga did not provided a breakdown of males and females on death row.
Lethal injections are not used in Zimbabwe.
The latest addition was just last week. Trust Muganhu was handed a death sentence for murdering a businesswoman in 2008.
Removal of death penalty
Prisoners had a rare opportunity to voice their concerns Wednesday and lobbied for the removal of the death penalty from the country’s statute books.
Said one inmate, "I spend 23 hours of the day confined in our cells and every time I hear the doors being unlocked, I just think they have come to take me.
"While we know that we committed crimes, the torture we go through is unbearable, please can you lobby for the abolishment of the death sentence,"
The trauma affecting the inmates is spilling over to prison guard, inmates said.
"The mental trauma does not only affect us, even the guards who protect us every day because they will witness our death while they have been staying with us for all these years," said the inmate.
The most recent executions date back to a decade ago when notorious robbers, Edgar Masendeke and Stephen Chidhumo who committed various crimes including murder and escaping from lawful custody at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison were put to sleep.
Most death row inmates have had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment without parole. And according to human-rights activists, death-row inmates are housed in solitary confinement and may not talk to other prisoners.
Their contact to the outside world is limited to occasional, supervised visits with their closest relatives, the activists said.
Gabon: Ali Bongo vows to fight corruption
Gabon’s president, Ali Bongo, intends to use his country’s two-year seat on the United Nations Security Council to highlight democratic reforms and his fight against corruption, which he terms a “cancer” sapping Africa’s strength and potential.
“Unfortunately, when it comes to the African body, we have many diseases — and corruption is one of them,” Bongo said in an interview after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton March 8 at the State Department.
“Corruption is a major problem that has to be stopped,” the African leader said, “which is why we are committed to fighting it. We know if we want to build a better future with responsible people, we especially need accountability, and this is what has been lacking.”
Gabon, with a population of fewer than 2 million, is largely dependent on the energy and extractive (mining and timber) sectors and is the fifth-largest supplier of oil in sub-Saharan Africa to the United States. In 2009, the non-government group Transparency International rated the nation 106 out of 180 countries in its annual corruption index, tied with Argentina, The Gambia, Niger and Benin.
After his election as president in August 2009 and before traveling to the United States, Bongo instituted a number of government reforms, including cutting Cabinet posts while restructuring the Treasury Department and launching an environmental effort called “Green Gabon.”
At the same time, he streamlined government by eliminating several agencies and bureaucracies that were hindering innovation and investment in Gabon. He has also threatened criminal penalties for persons attempting to bribe public officials, according to a recent press report.
Despite the challenges of corruption and reform, Bongo says he remains "optimistic about Africa’s future. We know we will make mistakes; we will struggle, and at times we will fall. But we will get up and move forward.”
In international affairs, Bongo said U.S.-Gabon relations are “very good,” adding, “We would like more progress on the economic front and are working on a trade agreement with the U.S. government.”
Acknowledging Gabon’s new responsibilities on the U.N. Security Council, Bongo said, “We are going to work very closely with the United States and all the permanent members of the Security Council to make sure that the world is a better place.” He had earlier addressed the Security Council, which Gabon chairs for the month of March.
Speaking to the press after her private meeting with the African leader, Secretary Clinton said, “I want to recognize President Bongo’s efforts to improve government efficiency, eliminate waste and fight corruption.
“We know, as the president knows, that economic progress depends on responsible governance that rejects corruption, enforces the rule of law, provides good stewardship of natural resources and delivers results that help to change people’s lives for the better.
“We stand ready to support Gabon as it further strengthens its democratic institutions and processes,” Clinton said.
The secretary added, “We are very supportive of Gabon’s efforts to diversify its economy, widen the circle of prosperity and create new opportunities for its people. Gabon is participating in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and taking other steps that will give confidence both to international investors but, more importantly, to the people of the country.’’
Speaking two days before the State Department issues its annual human rights report, Clinton said: “I also want to applaud the leadership that Gabon has shown in combating human trafficking. We have forged new partnerships with the Justice Department, and Gabon is moving toward ratifying the U.N. protocol. This is one more example of the reform-minded leadership that President Bongo is bringing to his country.”
“We’ve come a long way,” Bongo responded. “We’ve gone through a democratic process, and now we are moving forward. Good governance, [the] fight against corruption, diversity [in] our economy and our partners. This is what we’re doing.”
World Cup hosts South Africa settle on training base
Hosts South Africa have finally settled upon their training venue for the World Cup, just three months before the start of the finals.
Johannesburg's Sturrock Park will be Bafana Bafana's training camp for the tournament, the South African FA (Safa) announced on Thursday.
The 2010 World Cup hosts were embarrassingly forced to select a new training venue in February after failing to kick-start refurbishments at their original choice.
Having finally settled upon a corner of the Wits University campus, the first team to know it would contest the World Cup has become the last to select its camp.
"Wits University is a home of football and we are delighted that Bafana Bafana will prepare in venues with a strong football culture," said Leslie Sedibe, Safa's CEO.
Sedibe was alluding to the fact that South Africa's pre-World Cup preparations also incorporate an ongoing training camp in Brazil as well as next month's trip to Germany.
One of South Africa's most established universities, Wits' students founded local PSL side Bidvest Wits in 1921, with the club nicknamed 'Clever Boys' as a result.
Bafana Bafana will not be the only side training at Wits University for the Dutch football federation decided upon the venue long ago.
Sections of the campus, where South Africa trained ahead of last year's Confederations Cup, will also be utilised by fans using the Park & Ride system for Johannesburg matches.
The hosts' original venue, Esselen Park, was stood down last month when it emerged that nothing had been done to implement the necessary US$2m-worth of refurbishments.
"It's unfortunate, regrettable and deeply embarrassing that having qualified in 2004, we are still unable to confirm our camp," said Sedibe at the time.
Sandown High School, located near to Bafana Bafana's team hotel in northern Johannesburg, was then touted as a potential replacement but unexpectedly dropped earlier this week.
Having won the hosting rights in May 2004, South Africa - drawn in Group A with Mexico, Uruguay and France - will stage the World Cup between 11 June-11 July.
Sri Lanka's General Fonseka goes on trial next week
The Sri Lankan military has announced it is putting defeated presidential candidate and former army chief Gen Sarath Fonseka on trial next week.
The general faces court martial proceedings on charges of engaging in politics while in uniform and also for breaking army procurement rules.
Gen Fonseka was arrested after he lost January's election to the incumbent President, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
He denies any wrongdoing and intends to stand in April's parliamentary poll.
But it is not clear whether he would be able to contest the election if he were found guilty of any of the charges.
Proceedings are set to start on Tuesday 16 March at the naval complex were he is being detained.
'Climate of fear'
Sri Lanka's military spokesman told the BBC that he expected the initial trial to be "over very soon". He also said that Gen Fonseka can have his own lawyers present at the court martial and can appeal to the higher civilian courts if he is found guilty.
Officials have also accused Gen Fonseka of plotting a coup and the assassination of President Rajapaksa - charges he denies.
Sri Lanka's military spokesman told AFP news agency the police were conducting a separate investigation into those allegations.
Gen Fonseka's supporters have said that the court martial is politically motivated. His lawyers have challenged his detention in the Supreme Court but the next hearing is not until late April.
The trial announcement comes as an international journalism lobby group says media workers in Sri Lanka have been living in a "climate of fear" since President Rajapaksa's re-election.
But the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists also adds the government's chief legal officer is appealing to exiled journalists to return, offering them protection.
The government has long denied victimising media workers.
Gen Fonseka was in charge of Sri Lanka's army when it defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels last year after 25 years of civil war.
But he and President Rajapaksa fell out over who should take credit for the victory - and both fought the presidential election boasting of their roles in the war.
Afghanistan does not want 'proxy wars', says Karzai
Afghanistan does not want other countries' "proxy wars" fought on its soil, President Hamid Karzai has said.
He was speaking following talks with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad, and a day after Iran and the US traded blows over their activities in Afghanistan.
Mr Karzai said he did not want India and Pakistan, or anyone else, to fight their wars on his country's territory.
Parties to the Afghan conflict are rethinking policy ahead of 2011 when the US says it will begin to withdraw.
On Wednesday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid a short visit to Kabul. He accused the US of playing a "double game" in Afghanistan after the US used the same term to condemn Iran's role.
Pakistan role
Mr Karzai is making his first visit to Pakistan since his controversial re-election last year.
The trip comes amid an expected surge of Western troops in Afghanistan this summer. It also follows the recent arrests of Taliban leaders in Pakistan which indicate the military there may be willing to reign in the militants.
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says Mr Karzai is visiting Pakistan amid a thaw in relations between the two countries on the one hand, and some fundamental shifts in the regional situation on the other.
The Afghan leader held detailed meetings with both President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. He has also met Pakistan's army chief, Gen Ashfaq Kayani. Before heading to Islamabad, he had a meeting with the visiting US defence secretary Robert Gates.
"Without Pakistan and without its co-operation with Afghanistan, Afghanistan cannot be stable or peaceful," Mr Karzai told a news conference in Islamabad.
"It is also, I believe, recognised in Pakistan that without a stable and peaceful Afghanistan there cannot be stability or peace in Pakistan.
"Afghanistan does not want a proxy war between India and Pakistan in Afghanistan. It does not want a proxy war between Iran and the United States in Afghanistan," he said.
Mr Karzai also called on Islamabad to hand over the alleged Taliban second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, arrested last month. Mr Gilani said his government was still considering the request.
Our correspondent says the purpose of Mr Karzai's visit appears to be to take Pakistani leaders into his confidence on the impending Western troop surge, and to find out to what extent Pakistani political and military leaders would be willing to withdraw support from the Taliban.
For their part, the Pakistanis need guarantees about limiting Indian influence in Afghanistan, our correspondent says.
They are also keen to have a role in training Afghan forces, a proposal which Mr Karzai has reportedly cold-shouldered for the moment.
Earlier, a spokesman for Mr Zardari the two presidents had agreed to hold a joint Afghan-Pakistan jirga (tribal gathering) after a similar meeting is held in Afghanistan.
A joint jirga process was initiated in 2007 but never took off because of mutual suspicions.
Jos violence
Villagers in Nigeria's Plateau state are still in a state of shock and disbelief following the horrific attack on Sunday morning.
Some claim the killings were revenge attacks against the mainly Christian Beroms by Hausa Fulanis, who lost at least 300 of their own community during sectarian clashes in January.
The police however have also been deemed culpable for failing to protect citizens.
There is also debate surrounding the number of fatalities.
Police say 109 people were killed but others put the figure as high as 500.
The BBC's Komla Dumor is in the village of Dogo Nahawa.
Gambia row over wave of arrests
An opposition leader has criticised a wave of arrests in The Gambia, saying detainees - including a former minister - do not know why they are being held.
Halifa Sallah told the BBC that those arrested have been denied visits from lawyers and family members.
High-ranking military and police officials are reportedly among those detained, and last week ex-fisheries minister Antouman Saho was jailed.
President Yahya Jammeh is frequently criticised by rights groups.
In recent years, he has publicly threatened to kill gay people and rights workers.
Last month the government of Mr Jammeh, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1994, expelled the envoy of the UN's children charity, Unicef.
No reasons given
Mr Saho, who served in Mr Jammeh's government from 1994 until he was sacked last month, was taken from his home on Friday night.
Police said he was wanted for questioning by intelligence officials.
His family has not been able to contact him since and no official reason has been given for his arrest.
"According to our constitution, within three hours of an arrest the person should be told why he or she has been arrested," Mr Sallah told the BBC's Network Africa programme.
He said relatives of people arrested as far back as October had told him they had not been able to contact their detained family members.
He said those arrested in the more recent wave of arrests were in the same situation.
"We've still been unable to establish why they've been arrested, and as it stands there is only speculation," he added.
Mr Sallah, of the National Alliance for Democracy, has himself been arrested several times in recent years.
UN agency acts on Somali food-aid claims
The UN's food agency has blacklisted three contractors named in a UN report which alleged that food aid in Somalia was being diverted.
The World Food Programme said it would not engage in any new work with the contractors and welcomed the report.
The WFP stressed that it had dealt with many of the concerns in the report.
The UN monitoring group document said corrupt contractors, militants and local UN workers were diverting food aid and selling it illegally.
Earlier this year, the WFP was forced to suspend food distribution in southern Somalia because of threats from armed groups.
Widespread corruption
"The integrity of our organisation is paramount and we will be reviewing and investigating each and every issue raised by this report," said WFP executive director, Josette Sheeran.
"WFP stands ready to offer full co-operation with any independent inquiry into its work in Somalia."
The UN document says up to half of the food aid in Somalia is diverted to a web of corrupt contractors, distributors, transporters and armed groups.
Some local UN workers are also accused of taking a cut in the profits.
It blames the problem on the food distribution system in the war-torn country, where transporters have to navigate roadblocks operated by various militias and bandits. Charges that food aid was being diverted first surfaced in 2009.
The US has since reduced funding to Somalia, fearing that aid was falling into the hands of the Islamist group al-Shabab.
The report, which was leaked to various media organisations this week, is due to be officially presented to the UN Security Council on 16 March.
Ex-rebels accused of extortion in DR Congo mines
Former rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo who now serve in the army are running mafia-style extortion rackets in the mines, campaigners say.
The country has some of the world's richest mines, which provide minerals to the global electronics industry.
Ex-rebels of the CNDP group are said to have gained far greater control of the mines than they did as insurgents.
Campaign group Global Witness says the government and international community have failed to demilitarise the mines.
The ongoing conflict in Eastern Congo, which has claimed some six million lives in a little more than a decade, has long revolved over access to its mineral wealth, not just by DR Congo but also its neighbour Rwanda through its proxy forces.
After last year's high profile government offensive against one rebel group which controlled many of the mines in Eastern Congo, the military has moved in and transferred power to a competing armed group.
A move to integrate rebels from the CNDP - whose leader Laurent Nkunda has been under house arrest in Rwanda since last year - into Congo's national army has seen them enjoying more control of the country's mineral wealth than ever before, according to Global Witness investigators.
In one mine in South Kivu, civilian miners claimed they were being forced to pay $10 each to the military for permission to spend a night working in the mines.
Researchers say that instead of protecting civilians, the military is taxing them illegally, and subjecting them to abuse.
They also claim that high profile international companies are still knowingly sourcing minerals from these militarised mines - a contravention of UN sanctions, which campaigners say are not being enforced.
Death toll rises as violence rocks Somali capital
(CNN) -- Heavy fighting flared in the Somali capital Thursday, a day after a battle between government forces and Al-Shabaab rebels left 29 dead and scores injured.
At least 80 people were wounded in the fighting, which started Wednesday morning and continued all day, according to government and medical officials.
Most of it occurred in the north of Mogadishu, where a majority of militants allied with Al-Shabaab are believed to be in control, authorities said.
Three foreign rebels, including Algerian commander Abu Mu'sab Aljaza'iri, were killed in the fighting, government radio reported on its Web site.
"Continuous shelling has shaken the whole city," said Yusuf Mohamed Abukar, a local journalist with Shabelle Radio.
A heavy shell fell in Jungal neighborhood in the northern part of Mogadishu, killing 13 people and wounding another 13, according to Abukar, who witnessed the fighting.
Ali Muse Sheikh, head of a local ambulance, said his group transported at least 65 injured civilians to different hospitals.
The state defense minister claimed victory in Wednesday's fighting and said the Al-Shabaab suffered heavy loses. Government forces have detained Al-Shabaab prisoners, said Yusuf Mohamed Siad Indho ade, the minister.
"We have Al-Shabaab prisoners from yesterday's fighting and most of them are minor children who have been brainwashed by the group," he added.
Al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda proxy in the country, was declared a terrorist organization by the United States.
It's waging a war against Somalia's government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law, or sharia.
Early Iraq election results put prime minister's group in lead
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- The first results from Iraq's parliamentary elections were released Thursday, five days after millions of Iraqis went to the polls in defiance of the threat of violence.
Two of Iraq's 18 provinces announced early results, which put the group led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the lead.
The predominantly Shiite Iraqi National Alliance -- which includes the secular politician Ahmed Chalabi as well as followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr -- is in second, followed by Al-Iraqia, a secular party led by former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
But the results are preliminary -- only about a third of the votes in each of the two provinces have been counted, and the other 16 provinces have not announced any results yet.
It may be some time before a clear picture emerges of who will lead Iraq. Final results, which need to be certified by Iraq's Supreme Federal Court, are expected to be released at the end of the month.
If no party wins a majority of seats, then coalition haggling will begin. Millions of Iraqis defied the threat of violence Sunday to cast ballots in the parliamentary elections.
Nearly two out of three eligible voters turned out. Some 38 people were killed in attacks on voting day. About 6,200 candidates from more than 80 political entities are vying for 325 seats in the Council of Representatives, as Iraq's parliament is called.
The political coalition that ends up with the most number of seats in parliament will put forward a candidate for prime minister.
Three strong earthquakes strike Chile in quick succession
Santiago, Chile (CNN) -- Three strong earthquakes rocked Chile on Thursday morning, just as the country was swearing in a new president.
A 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit at 11:39 a.m. local time (9:39 a.m. ET), followed by a 6.7-magnitude quake 16 minutes later, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. A third, measured at magnitude 6.0, came 27 minutes later.
They were the strongest aftershocks to rattle Chile since a February 27 earthquake on the country's west coast that toppled buildings and spawned a tsunami, killing several hundred people.
The first quake Thursday shook the ground near Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, near the Chilean coast, just as Chile prepared to inaugurate a new president, Sebastian Pinera.
Pinera said Thursday afternoon that he will declare the area a catastrophe zone.
The epicenter was about 95 miles (152 km) south-southwest of the capital, Santiago, and about 90 miles (145 km) away from Valparaiso, where Pinera was to be inaugurated. Television footage showed the inauguration proceeding without a hitch.
A second earthquake -- with an initial magnitude of 6.9 -- struck moments later. It was about 89 miles (143 km) southwest of Santiago, the USGS said. The third was about 86 miles (138 km) southwest of Santiago.
Video: Chile's transition of power
Measuring earthquakes
RELATED TOPICS
Chile
Earthquakes
Sebastian Pinera
U.S. Geological Survey
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Rolando Santos, senior vice president and general manager of CNN Chile, said he and his colleagues felt one of the quakes.
"I can tell you within our newsroom in Santiago, which is state of the art in terms of seismic construction, it shook for more than 45 seconds," he said.
He said that he told staffers to get under desks and that three people burst into tears. In the last two days, people had kind of gotten used to aftershocks, but "there was no question this one got everyone's attention," he said.
Are you there? Send pictures
Pinera, a conservative billionaire businessman, became the Chilean president about 12:15 p.m. local time, roughly 20 minutes after the second quake.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement that "a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected" as a result of the quakes, and that there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii.
However, the center also said that "earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within" about 62 miles (100 km) of the epicenter.
Hundreds of people were killed when the magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck Chile's west coast February 27. That quake also triggered a tsunami that toppled buildings, especially in the coastal Maule region.
How to help: Impact Your World
Authorities this week released the names of 279 people whose bodies had been identified in the quake, but officials said the new tally does not include hundreds of unidentified victims.
The February 27 earthquake was violent enough to move the Chilean city of Concepcion at least 10 feet to the west and Santiago about 11 inches to the west-southwest, researchers said.
Farmers to Access Crop Insurance Via Mobile Phones
An insurance product that caters for farmers' inputs like fertilizers and certified seeds is being delivered through the use of mobile phone.
In a bid to entice more farmers to invest in insurance products, the new partnership between UAP Insurance and Safaricom aims to ease the process of buying insurance products.
Farmers can now buy their insurance covers from agro dealers; the same point where they buy other vital inputs such as fertilizers or seeds.
The agro dealers are equipped with a camera phone that scans a special bar code at the time of purchase of inputs, which immediately registers the policy with UAP Insurance over the Safaricom's mobile data network.
The phone software then sends a text message confirming the insurance policy to the farmer's mobile phone.
"This is the first project to use mobile phones to set up insurance contracts and issue payouts to smallholder farmers in Africa, deploying both our vast data infrastructure and globally acclaimed M-PESA service," said Betty Mwangi, the chief officer of new products division at Safaricom.
Farmers are also able to get weather alerts or market prices using new mobile commerce tools.
Claims are paid by the insurer if there is a major change in weather patterns that affects the farm yields.
This could be too much or too little rainfall. It could also be a change in temperature or the speed of wind.
For the insurance company to get the correct data, it has set up an automatic weather station that monitors wind speed, amount of rainfall, temperature and the intensity of the sun everywhere there are insured farmers.
The stations are powered by a solar system so there is no risk of failure due to lack of power.
They transmit data to a central server every 15 minutes over Safaricom's 3G data network.
When data transmitted from a particular station indicates that drought or other extreme conditions are destined to affect maize or wheat yields, all farmers registered with that station automatically receive payouts directly via Safaricom's M-pesa mobile money transfer service.
"The close link to rural shops and farmers ensures that thousands of farmers will have fast, efficient and reliable services and shows that there is great potential for many other applications that link mobile technology with the needs of farmers and people in rural areas. This is the kind of innovation that underpins our market leadership," said Ms Maina.
The project was first tested in 2009 in Laikipia district, where 200 farmers purchased insurance for seeds and herbicides, and, after the drought, received compensation for 80 per cent of their investment.
The Syngenta Foundation, one of the project supporters and UAP Insurance said about 10,000 farmers will be using the service by the end of this year.
The plan is to then expand into all key farming areas of the country by 2012, with the target of offering the insurance to about 50,000 Kenyan farmers.
Crop insurance is considered essential to agriculture in developed countries but has been largely unavailable to farmers in low-income countries, in part because of the costs of administering "micro" policies.
Conventional crop insurance requires field inspections at the time the policy is issued, and follow-up visits to confirm damage.
Such procedures can be cost-effective for large farms, but are far too expensive to be practical in places like Kenya, where most farming is done on small plots in rural areas.
The administration cost of the insurance is reduced by using the Safaricom data network to record policies and transfer funds, both the premiums to UAP and the payouts to farmers.
The cost of each transaction is minimal -- far less than the price of a SMS message.
Rwanda: Poll Puts Nation Under Scrutiny
Nairobi — Rwanda's upcoming presidential elections has cast a spotlight on its democratic credentials, with observers warning that allegations of intimidation of opposition leaders could mar the process.
"It is a very important event for our country because it is the second time we are electing a head of state," Chrysologue Karangwa, President of the Electoral Commission, told IRIN. "The people are preparing themselves for it."
Observers say the prevailing political environment restricts opponents of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
"Rwanda needs to allow the democratic process, to create political space for everybody," a Nairobi-based regional analyst, who requested anonymity, said. "Otherwise the elections will be a fait accompli. That will undermine Rwanda's democratic growth."
Paul Kagame has been president since March 2000, after leading the RPF to power in July 1994 and ending the Rwandan genocide. The slaughter of more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus was by far the bloodiest chapter in a long power struggle between the minority Tutsis and majority Hutus.
In August 2003, Kagame won 95 percent of the votes in the first national elections since 1994. His main competitor, Faustin Twagiramungu, won 3.5 percent.
Kagame is widely expected to be nominated again as the RPF flag-bearer in the 9 August election, but recent incidents involving other potential candidates have fuelled concerns that the poll will not be fair.
Election questions
"It is very difficult to imagine any opposition candidates who can get a significant share of the votes," Thomas Cargill, assistant head of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, said. "The RPF dominates political life in Rwanda, but it is good for Rwanda to start going through the motions."
He warned, however, that elections sometimes delivered only a semblance of democracy. "Like Ethiopia and Uganda, the governments of the day need to maintain the strings of power in some kind of democratic process. So you need an opposition.
"These governments tread a fine line - allow the opposition to operate and field candidates, but in a way that does not readily give them any chance," he added.
Aid workers in the capital, Kigali, and in Goma, in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are concerned about the potential fallout.
"A political crisis in Rwanda could trigger a humanitarian problem, including displacement across borders," an international security observer at an aid mission in Goma told IRIN. "There is also the unresolved question of armed Rwandan militias in DRC."
The alleged "lack of political space" in Rwanda is frequently cited by the Hutu diaspora, refugees and such DRC-based militias to justify their refusal to return home.
Karangwa insisted nothing would disrupt the polls. "I can assure you the forthcoming elections are going to be free and fair," he told IRIN on 10 March. "We are working towards that objective and are totally open."
Jean Paul Kimonyo, a policy adviser to Kagame, writing in The New Times newspaper of 9 March, said the country was on the right political track. "The issue here is how do you ensure political cooperation when confrontational politics will almost certainly lead to renewed violence?
"Under President Kagame's leadership, Rwanda has persistently ensured ownership of its nation building process by its citizens. It is much more challenging but certainly more promising."
Impressive gains
Rwanda has, since 1994, recorded impressive gains towards the Millennium Development Goals, according to the UN Development Programme. Primary school enrolment, for example, is now 97 percent of all school-going age children.
Family planning, according to the World Bank, has tripled in the last three years, while assisted deliveries have increased from 39 to 52 percent. The use of insecticide-treated nets is up by 70 percent, and under-five mortality has fallen by 30 percent.
Policies and laws that guarantee equal opportunities for men and women, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, have resulted in Rwanda holding a world record of women parliamentarians: 56.3 percent, just ahead of Sweden at 46.4 percent.
This year, according to Finance and Economic Planning Minister John Rwangombwa, the economy should grow by 7-8 percent, up from 5.5 percent in 2009.
Nevertheless, Rwanda "needs to open up and encourage past wounds to heal positively", a diplomat in the capital, Kigali, told IRIN. Advocacy groups claim a lack of respect for basic political and human rights, and harassment of perceived political opponents.
According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an Indian NGO, article 13 of Rwanda's constitution, which makes it an offence to engage in "revisionism" or "negationism" [denial of genocide], has been "broadly defined to include anyone who disagrees with the ruling RPF's account of the genocide".
"CHRI is deeply concerned at the continued restrictions and threats to opposition parties in the run-up to Rwanda's Presidential elections," it said in 6 March statement.
Referring to a 25 February warning by the security ministry that politicians who "slander the country" or are "against public unity" would be punished, it called for "immediate steps to ensure respect for the basic, universal rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly of opposition parties".
Attacks on opponents
The 3 February attack on Victoire Ingabire, president of the United Democratic Forces party, and her aide Joseph Ntawangundi, by a mob in Kigali was the most visible example of opposition harassment so far, the Nairobi analyst said. Attacked while reportedly collecting party registration documents, she reportedly lost her passport, while Ntawangundi was severely beaten.
Ingabire returned to Rwanda in January, after living in Europe for 16 years. During a visit to the Gisozi Genocide memorial site, she upset survivor groups by alluding to the killing of Hutus, 85 percent of the population.
The day after the attack on Ingabire, Frank Habineza, president of the Green Party, reported being threatened. Earlier, the leader of the Ideal Social Party, Bernard Ntaganda, was called before the senate to answer accusations relating to propagation of genocide ideology.
Soon after, local government minister James Musoni warned politicians "who violate the constitution and the rule of law by politicking along ethnic lines. Whatever they do should not be a stumbling block to people's peace, unity and security," he said in a press statement.
"Politicians and all those who wish to practise politics are not allowed to do anything that undermines the sovereignty of Rwanda and its citizens."
The attack on Ingabire, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said, "appeared to have been well coordinated, suggesting it had been planned in advance".
"The Rwandan government already tightly controls political space," said Georgette Gagnon, HRW's Africa director. "These incidents will further undermine democracy by discouraging any meaningful opposition in the elections. On several occasions, the government has used accusations of participation in the genocide or 'genocide ideology', as a way of targeting and discrediting its critics."
Karangwa denounced HRW. "That woman has not been beaten, not at all," he told IRIN. "I do not believe the entire Human Rights Watch report. In our country there is no intimidation or harassment of opposition leaders."
Kigali resident Joseph Barigye said Ingabire had "provoked" people. "The memories [of the genocide] are still fresh, so one needs to talk to people carefully," he told IRIN. "And that is the reason Kagame will win again."
Silencing critics
Ingabire, in an interview with The EastAfrican newspaper on 15 February, said: "Kagame's government is not ready to accept opposition. This is why they sent young men to beat me and my aide two weeks ago - which was a true reflection of the lack of democracy and freedom of expression in Rwanda.
Nairobi — Rwanda's upcoming presidential elections has cast a spotlight on its democratic credentials, with observers warning that allegations of intimidation of opposition leaders could mar the process.
"It is a very important event for our country because it is the second time we are electing a head of state," Chrysologue Karangwa, President of the Electoral Commission, told IRIN. "The people are preparing themselves for it."
Observers say the prevailing political environment restricts opponents of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
"Rwanda needs to allow the democratic process, to create political space for everybody," a Nairobi-based regional analyst, who requested anonymity, said. "Otherwise the elections will be a fait accompli. That will undermine Rwanda's democratic growth."
Paul Kagame has been president since March 2000, after leading the RPF to power in July 1994 and ending the Rwandan genocide. The slaughter of more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus was by far the bloodiest chapter in a long power struggle between the minority Tutsis and majority Hutus.
In August 2003, Kagame won 95 percent of the votes in the first national elections since 1994. His main competitor, Faustin Twagiramungu, won 3.5 percent.
Kagame is widely expected to be nominated again as the RPF flag-bearer in the 9 August election, but recent incidents involving other potential candidates have fuelled concerns that the poll will not be fair.
Election questions
"It is very difficult to imagine any opposition candidates who can get a significant share of the votes," Thomas Cargill, assistant head of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, said. "The RPF dominates political life in Rwanda, but it is good for Rwanda to start going through the motions."
He warned, however, that elections sometimes delivered only a semblance of democracy. "Like Ethiopia and Uganda, the governments of the day need to maintain the strings of power in some kind of democratic process. So you need an opposition.
"These governments tread a fine line - allow the opposition to operate and field candidates, but in a way that does not readily give them any chance," he added.
Aid workers in the capital, Kigali, and in Goma, in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are concerned about the potential fallout.
"A political crisis in Rwanda could trigger a humanitarian problem, including displacement across borders," an international security observer at an aid mission in Goma told IRIN. "There is also the unresolved question of armed Rwandan militias in DRC."
The alleged "lack of political space" in Rwanda is frequently cited by the Hutu diaspora, refugees and such DRC-based militias to justify their refusal to return home.
Karangwa insisted nothing would disrupt the polls. "I can assure you the forthcoming elections are going to be free and fair," he told IRIN on 10 March. "We are working towards that objective and are totally open."
Jean Paul Kimonyo, a policy adviser to Kagame, writing in The New Times newspaper of 9 March, said the country was on the right political track. "The issue here is how do you ensure political cooperation when confrontational politics will almost certainly lead to renewed violence?
"Under President Kagame's leadership, Rwanda has persistently ensured ownership of its nation building process by its citizens. It is much more challenging but certainly more promising."
Impressive gains
Rwanda has, since 1994, recorded impressive gains towards the Millennium Development Goals, according to the UN Development Programme. Primary school enrolment, for example, is now 97 percent of all school-going age children.
Family planning, according to the World Bank, has tripled in the last three years, while assisted deliveries have increased from 39 to 52 percent. The use of insecticide-treated nets is up by 70 percent, and under-five mortality has fallen by 30 percent.
Policies and laws that guarantee equal opportunities for men and women, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, have resulted in Rwanda holding a world record of women parliamentarians: 56.3 percent, just ahead of Sweden at 46.4 percent.
This year, according to Finance and Economic Planning Minister John Rwangombwa, the economy should grow by 7-8 percent, up from 5.5 percent in 2009.
Nevertheless, Rwanda "needs to open up and encourage past wounds to heal positively", a diplomat in the capital, Kigali, told IRIN. Advocacy groups claim a lack of respect for basic political and human rights, and harassment of perceived political opponents.
According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an Indian NGO, article 13 of Rwanda's constitution, which makes it an offence to engage in "revisionism" or "negationism" [denial of genocide], has been "broadly defined to include anyone who disagrees with the ruling RPF's account of the genocide".
"CHRI is deeply concerned at the continued restrictions and threats to opposition parties in the run-up to Rwanda's Presidential elections," it said in 6 March statement.
Referring to a 25 February warning by the security ministry that politicians who "slander the country" or are "against public unity" would be punished, it called for "immediate steps to ensure respect for the basic, universal rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly of opposition parties".
Attacks on opponents
The 3 February attack on Victoire Ingabire, president of the United Democratic Forces party, and her aide Joseph Ntawangundi, by a mob in Kigali was the most visible example of opposition harassment so far, the Nairobi analyst said. Attacked while reportedly collecting party registration documents, she reportedly lost her passport, while Ntawangundi was severely beaten.
Ingabire returned to Rwanda in January, after living in Europe for 16 years. During a visit to the Gisozi Genocide memorial site, she upset survivor groups by alluding to the killing of Hutus, 85 percent of the population.
The day after the attack on Ingabire, Frank Habineza, president of the Green Party, reported being threatened. Earlier, the leader of the Ideal Social Party, Bernard Ntaganda, was called before the senate to answer accusations relating to propagation of genocide ideology.
Soon after, local government minister James Musoni warned politicians "who violate the constitution and the rule of law by politicking along ethnic lines. Whatever they do should not be a stumbling block to people's peace, unity and security," he said in a press statement.
"Politicians and all those who wish to practise politics are not allowed to do anything that undermines the sovereignty of Rwanda and its citizens."
The attack on Ingabire, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said, "appeared to have been well coordinated, suggesting it had been planned in advance".
"The Rwandan government already tightly controls political space," said Georgette Gagnon, HRW's Africa director. "These incidents will further undermine democracy by discouraging any meaningful opposition in the elections. On several occasions, the government has used accusations of participation in the genocide or 'genocide ideology', as a way of targeting and discrediting its critics."
Karangwa denounced HRW. "That woman has not been beaten, not at all," he told IRIN. "I do not believe the entire Human Rights Watch report. In our country there is no intimidation or harassment of opposition leaders."
Kigali resident Joseph Barigye said Ingabire had "provoked" people. "The memories [of the genocide] are still fresh, so one needs to talk to people carefully," he told IRIN. "And that is the reason Kagame will win again."
Silencing critics
Ingabire, in an interview with The EastAfrican newspaper on 15 February, said: "Kagame's government is not ready to accept opposition. This is why they sent young men to beat me and my aide two weeks ago - which was a true reflection of the lack of democracy and freedom of expression in Rwanda.
Somalia: U.S. Should Accept Islamist Authority, Report Says
Washington, DC — The United States should accept an "Islamist authority" in Somalia as part of a "constructive disengagement" strategy for the war-torn country, according to a new report released here by the influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on Wednesday.
The 39-page report urges the U.S. to recognise that "Islamist authority" even if it includes al-Shabaab, or "the youth" in Arabic, an Islamist insurgent group that has declared loyalty to al Qaeda.
It calls the current U.S. approach toward Somalia of propping up the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) "counterproductive". Not only is it alienating large sections of the Somali population, but it is effectively polarising its diverse Muslim community into so-called "moderate" and "extremist" camps, the report says.
While the report encourages an "inclusive posture" by the U.S. toward local fundamentalists, it suggests the U.S. should show "zero-tolerance' toward transnational actors attempting to exploit Somalia's conflict", apparently referring to al Qaeda.
"The Shabaab is an alliance of convenience and its hold over territory is weaker than it appears. Somali fundamentalists - whose ambitions are mostly local - are likely to break ranks with al-Qaeda and other foreign operatives as the utility of cooperation diminishes," says the report, authored by Bronwyn Bruton, a CFR international affairs fellow. "The United States and its allies must encourage these fissures to expand."
However, David Shinn, a former U.S. ambassador to neighbouring Ethiopia in the 1990s, disagrees that the al-Shabaab leadership will be ready to join any future political arrangement in the country.
"I think al-Shabaab has become more radicalised and I don't see any pragmatic leaders in al-Shabaab today. Many in the rank and file maybe pragmatic, the gun-carriers, but they are not the leaders," said Shinn, who also served as U.S. ambassador to Burkina Faso in the late 1980s.
"I don't see cracks in the leadership and I don't see pragmatics in the leadership. A lot of the report is predicated on the idea that it is possible to negotiate with al-Shabaab and I think that's wishful thinking," he said.
The report also warns against continued support for the U.N.-backed TFG since it has proven "ineffective and costly".
"The TFG is unable to improve security, deliver basic services, or move toward an agreement with Somalia's clans and opposition groups that would provide a stronger basis for governance," the report says.
The TFG was established in 2004 through U.N. mediation in Kenya in an effort to end the ongoing crisis in Somalia. The TFG moved to Somalia in 2005 but has been unable to make "any progress on state building tasks" due to internal divisions, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said.
It was hoped that the installation of Sharif Ahmed, the former head of the Union of Islamic Courts, as president in January 2009 would attract a sufficient number of Islamist leaders to subdue or at least fragment al-Shabaab's forces. But Shinn says the TFG has become "marginally stronger" in recent months.
"She [Bruton] seems to begin with the assumption that the TFG is doomed to fail. I am not convinced that it will fail," said Shinn, who was a member of the Advisory Committee to the report. "The fact the TFG under President Ahmed has now existed for more than a year has already surprised many so-called Somali experts. It's just wrong to make the assumption that it's going to fail."
Entitled "Somalia , A New Approach", the report comes at a critical moment in the evolution of U.S. policy toward Somalia . Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) are helping the Somali government, which has about 7,000 troops in the capital, plan an impending TFG military offensive aimed at dislodging al-Shabaab fighters from Mogadishu.
The report details two decades of strife in the Horn of Africa nation, the establishment of the TFG, and its ongoing ensuing power struggle with the al-Shabaab's movement and its allies.
Bruton contends that the U.S. policy of providing indirect diplomatic and military support to the weak TFG has only "served to isolate the government, and...to propel cooperation among previously fractured and quarrelsome extremist groups."
The report calls on the United States to make a final attempt to help the Somali government build public support by drawing in leaders of the other Islamist groups. But it urges the administration of President Barack Obama to consider major policy changes should the TFG fail or continue to be marginalised to the point of powerlessness.
The TGF, which is backed by some 5,000 African Union (AU) troops in a U.N.-authorised peacekeeping mission, controls only several blocks of Somalia's sprawling capital of Mogadishu and the Aden Adde International Airport, while al-Shabaab controls vast swaths of land to the south, and parts of the capital as well.
Historically, Washington's interest in the volatile East African nation has been limited to security issues, and most recently to denying sanctuary to al Qaeda or its affiliates on Somali territory. In recent years, the U.S. has carried out a number of attacks on targets in Somalia believed to be linked to al Qaeda.
However, some analysts believe that the U.S. help could easily lead to strengthening the insurgent movement in an already complicated set of circumstances.
"The administration has decided to move aggressively to support the TFG and is providing training, intelligence, military advice, and hardware to the TFG army in anticipation of a major TFG offensive against al-Shabaab," said David R. Smock, vice president of the United States Institute of Peace's Centre for Mediation and Conflict Resolution.
"This is a major American gamble which could backfire. The offensive could easily fail, which might lead the U.S. to get even more heavily engaged. We have been burned badly in Somalia before, and we could be burned again," he added.
In late 1992, the administration of former President George H. W. Bush sent troops to Somalia as part of a U.N.-authorised operation to protect the delivery of humanitarian and food relief to starving communities there. But, in an aborted "nation-building" enterprise, U.S. military forces became increasingly engaged in the ongoing warfare between and among clans that followed the ouster in 1991 of the Siad Barre regime.
Then-President Bill Clinton began withdrawing U.S. troops after 18 SOF soldiers were killed during a botched helicopter raid against one clan leader in Mogadishu in October, 2003 and completed the withdrawal early in 2004.
The CFR report also recommends a decentralised development strategy in collaboration with "the informal and traditional authorities" on the ground. It calls for restraining Ethiopia, which has been involved in Somalia's conflicts for years.
Bruton suggests that the U.S. should not "own the Somali crisis" and needs to launch a diplomatic campaign to involve European and Middle Eastern countries to support Somalia's stabilisation and address its humanitarian and developments needs.
A U.N. report on Wednesday alleged that up to half of the food aid delivered by the World Food Programme (WFP) to Somalia is being diverted to corrupt contractors, local U.N. workers and Islamist militants in the country. The WFP has rejected the allegations, calling them "unsubstantiated".
South Africa: Only Part of Zuma Interests Public, And Permission Needed
Johannesburg — PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma yesterday finally declared his financial interests but it is still unclear what the interests are.
South Africans would only have access to part of what Zuma disclosed - that which is contained in the public parts of the register held by the secretary to the Cabinet, Vusi Mavimbela.
But Zuma's spokesman Vincent Magwenya said the public part of the register could only be viewed after permission was sought from Mavimbela's office. "I haven't seen it. You have to request them to give you access to it," he said yesterday.
Zuma's disclosure was 10 months late. The law required him to declare his financial interests within 60 days of assuming office in May last year.
On Monday the Presidency said the process would take time given the size of his family.
But after much pressure from opposition parties this week, Zuma's lawyer Michael Hulley yesterday said the president had provided a list to Mavimbela containing "any gifts, benefits or financial interests held or received either by him or by any family member", as required by the executive ethics code.
BuaNews
Hulley said Zuma did not hold any directorship, membership or shareholding in any company, either public or private. None of the gifts given to Zuma were of extraordinary monetary value, he said.
The Democratic Alliance said yesterday Zuma's disclosure did not conclude the matter and the party would not withdraw the complaint lodged on Tuesday with public protector Thulisile Madonsela.
"The president's disclosure, a full 245 days late, does nothing to nullify the need for there to be consequences any more or less than handing in your tax returns nine months late would do," said parliamentary leader Athol Trollip.
Hulley blamed the delay in Zuma's disclosure on legal consultations "to ascertain the nature of the disclosure to be made as well as the extent to which declarations of family members were required".
He said anomalies in the executive code included a clause stating that if a gift worth more than R1000 had been offered, permission to retain it had to be sought from the president. "He in essence sits in judgment of himself," Hulley said.
"In deciding whether to accept or retain any gift, the president has applied the same high ethical standard he otherwise would have in respect of other members of the executive," Hulley said.
The news of Zuma's failure to disclose his financial interests this week were another public relations nightmare for his aides after huge criticism about his illegitimate child with the daughter of a close friend, last month's state of the nation address and bad publicity commentary by the British press during his visit to London last week.
Africa: Continent Still Hungry Despite Annual U.S.$3 Billion of Aid and U.S.$33 Billion of Food Imports - UN
One in three Africans is chronically hungry, despite $3 billion spent on food aid for the continent annually and $33 billion in food imports, the director of the food security at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has warned.
Much of the $33 billion that Africa spends to import food could be better diverted to domestic production for regional and global trade, contributing to poverty reduction and repositioning Africa in the global economy, said Josue Dione, Director of Food Security and Sustainable Development of ECA, at a conference on agribusiness that wrapped up yesterday in Abuja, Nigeria.
"African agriculture is thirsty as less than 4 per cent of the total arable land is irrigated compared to 33 per cent in Asia and the Pacific and 29 per cent in the Middle East. African agriculture is hungry as it receives only 14.6 kilograms of fertilizers per hectare, against 114.3 kilograms per hectare for all developing countries," Mr. Dione said in an address on behalf of the ECA's Executive Secretary Abdoulie Janneh.
Africa's share in world agriculture trade fell to 3.2 per cent in 2006 from 5.4 per cent in the 1980s and 15 per cent in the 1960s, according to ECA.
The continent's small share in regional and global agricultural trade is strongly associated with a shift in world agricultural trade away from bulk commodities, Mr. Dione said.
"Significant part of global agro-food trade has moved downstream along the value chains, and thus become less dependent purely on natural-resource endowment," Mr. Dione said.
Yet moving Africa's food and agriculture system towards processed, higher value-added products has been more difficult for the continent than for other developing regions.
Mr. Dione said while Africa is suffering from a competitive disadvantage in agro-processing, better policies can help improve the business environment and create the conditions necessary for higher private investment in agribusiness.
ECA has advocated for the development of regional value chains for selected agricultural commodities, which would allow domestic production to gain more resources.
"Developing agriculture for broad-based economic growth, food security and poverty reduction in Africa now requires an integrated approach to investing in improving productivity and efficiency at all stages of the commodity value chains, from research and development, to input markets, farm-level production, processing, storage, handling, transport, distribution to the final consumer," Mr. Dione said.
America.gov (Washington, DC)
African Stars, Stories Honored at the Oscars
This year, the 82nd annual Academy Awards ceremony, known as the Oscars, reflected the growing influence of African artists -- and issues -- on the American movie industry.
For the first time, a film written and directed by an African was nominated for Best Picture. District 9, written and directed by Neill Blomkamp of South Africa, and set in modern-day Johannesburg, offers a bleak imagining of the social consequences of extraterrestrials landing on Earth. The film's principal themes of xenophobia, racial segregation and forced evictions, as well its title, are deeply rooted in the history of apartheid in South Africa. Shooting on location in Chiawelo, Soweto, the cast and crew of District 9 were overwhelmingly South African, and all but unknown to American audiences.
District 9 enjoyed a resounding and immediate success in the United States, opening as the Number 1 box office hit during the weekend of August 14, 2009. The science-fiction movie became a surprise hit with moviegoers and critics alike. Rotten Tomatoes, a U.S. online aggregator of film critiques and ratings, described the film as "technically brilliant and emotionally wrenching," and reported that it got 90 percent positive reviews.
Though District 9 did not win any of the four Oscars for which it was nominated, it received kudos from the critics.
The film Tsotsi by South African Gavin Hood picked up the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Picture in 2005, and District 9's 2010 success indicates that the South African movie industry is making an impressive impact on Hollywood.
In the documentary category, Music by Prudence, a film about a young Zimbabwean singer whose voice could not be silenced by abandonment, abuse or abject poverty, picked up the award for Best Documentary Short (short film). Director Roger Ross Williams, an African-American from a Gullah community in South Carolina, learned about Prudence Mabhena from his producer, Elinor Burkett. He flew out to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and spent two weeks with Prudence at King George VI, a school providing rehabilitation, boarding and education to children with physical disabilities and hearing impairments -- the only one of its kind in Zimbabwe. He then returned to the United States to raise funds to shoot the documentary he knew he had to make about Prudence and Liyana, her band of fellow disabled musicians.
Prudence's story is one of courage, hope and exceptional music. Music by Prudence will be on television in the United States in May, and will be shown at film festivals all over the country.
In addition to African stories, African actors were also in the spotlight this year. Nominated for Best Performance in a Lead Role, Gabourey Sidibe, whose father is from Senegal, earned praise for a breakthrough performance in the movie Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire. Playing an obese, illiterate, abused and pregnant teenager, 26-year-old Sidibe was hired after only one audition with the film's director. Though she did not come home with the Oscar, her performance earned critics' praise. During the Oscar ceremony, Precious co-producer Oprah Winfrey, known for her efforts to support female education in Africa, paid tribute to Sidibe, saying that the young Senegalese-American was "on the threshold of a brilliant new career."
Finally, Invictus, a highly acclaimed American film about a historic moment in African history, garnered two Academy Award nominations, for Best Actor in a Lead and Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, Invictus stars Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and focuses on Mandela's early presidency and his efforts to unite the country around its mostly white rugby team in the aftermath of the abolition of apartheid. Matt Damon plays François Pienaar, the Afrikaner team captain.
Though neither actor took home the Oscar, Freeman's and Damon's performances brought a pivotal moment in South African history alive for viewers. Freeman attended the ceremony wearing a bracelet created by the Nelson Mandela Foundation as part of the 46664 Campaign. Named after the five-digit prisoner number assigned to Mandela for nearly 30 years, the campaign uses that number as a symbol for the faith that hard work and compassion can build a brighter and fairer world. The bracelets are to be auctioned off later this year, with the proceeds going to the foundation.
Invictus is not the only Africa-related film in recent years to be recognized by the Academy. Over the years, dozens of films about Africa have been nominated for Academy Awards. Starting with 1985's Out of Africa, which won Best Picture, Hollywood began taking note of African stories and projecting them onto the silver screen, much to the delight of American critics and filmgoers:
• In 1987, Denzel Washington was nominated for his performance as South African human rights leader Steve Biko in Cry Freedom.
• In 1989, Marlon Brando was nominated for his role in A Dry White Season, a film about apartheid in South Africa.
• 1997 was a big year for Africa at the Oscars. Steven Spielberg retold the story of the slaves kidnapped by the crew of the slave ship Amistad and garnered four nominations. The Ghost and the Darkness, a thriller about the building of the railway in colonial Kenya, won an award for sound editing. That year, the Best Documentary award went to When We Were Kings, a recounting of the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" -- the 1974 boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman held in Zaire. Another Best Documentary nominee was Mandela: Son of Africa, Father of a Nation.
• In 1998, Gorillas in the Mist, about Dian Fossey's struggle to protect mountain gorillas in Rwanda, earned five nominations.
• In 2001, the Academy gave the Best Foreign Language Picture award to Nowhere in Africa, a German film about a German Jewish family fleeing to Kenya during the 1930s.
• In 2004, Hotel Rwanda, about the Rwandan genocide, received three nominations.
• In 2005, The Constant Gardener, a thriller set in present-day Kenya, was nominated for four Academy Awards, and Tsotsi, a depiction of life in the townships in Johannesburg, won Best Foreign Language Picture.
• In 2006, Forest Whitaker won Best Actor for his performance as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. The same year, Blood Diamond, a film about the conflict diamond industry and the civil war in Sierra Leone, received five nominations.
• In 2008, War Dance, a documentary about children living in a refugee camp in Uganda, was nominated for Best Documentary.
Nigeria: Gunmen Kill Two Nollywood Stars
Benin — Two Edo State Nollywood stars were late Tuesday killed in Benin by gunmen suspected to be hired killers.Mr Erhauyi Ogbeide a.k.a Ukeke and Eghosa Idehen a.k.a Erejiro were killed at the home of Ukeke's father-in-law located at 39, Ore-Oghene Street in Benin at about 8pm.
They were said to be coming from a location in a community (Iguomo) where they had gone to shoot a film soon to be released.
The killers, who may have been on their trail, arrived at the house about an hour after they got there. The five killers were said to have made straight for the sitting room where the actors and their host were meeting.
They shot Ukeke twice at close range while Erejiro who had escaped into a bathroom was also shot at close range where he hid.
Ukeke and Erejiro's host simply referred to as Chief Olaye, was also shot by the bandits at the mouth before making away with handsets of the victims in a Toyota Camry car they had parked outside. Chief Olaye is now receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Benin.
The Public Relations Officer of the Edo State Police Command ASP Peter Ogboi who confirmed the incident said the state commissioner of Police had directed the Criminal Investigation Department to take over the case.
Sudan: Ban Calls for Renewed Commitment to Peace Pact Ahead Critical Year
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on Sudan to renew its commitment to the 2005 agreement which ended the long-running north-south civil war, and to ensure a peaceful transition following next year's referendum on southern secession.
"Sudan is at a critical juncture," stressed Mr. Ban in a message delivered Tuesday by his Special Representative for Sudan Haile Menkerios to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
"With elections scheduled for April and the referendum on the self-determination of southern Sudan less than one year away, the parties to the CPA [Comprehensive Peace Agreement] will need enormous support to resolve key outstanding issues," he told participants at the IGAD gathering in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Secretary-General noted that this week's agreement to start demarcation along the north-south border is a "positive step" and that resolving the border dispute in the contested areas around Abyei, considered the link between northern and southern Sudan, to be a "core task for the parties in the year to come."
He cautioned that post-referendum arrangements, "including wealth and power sharing between the north and the south," are a prerequisite for a peaceful transition after the referendum in 2011.
The Secretary-General told IGAD that it has a "critical role to play in supporting the relationship between the parties" which includes resolving outstanding issues and helping both sides to establish functional, stable institutions.
In addition to backing from IGAD - which consists of six Horn of Africa nations - Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan, the success of the CPA depends on strong support from the international community, said the Secretary-General.
South Africa: Stoke Competition, Says Strauss-Kahn
Johannesburg — LACK of competition was a much bigger challenge for SA's economy than the level of the rand, the MD of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said yesterday.
He criticised the dominance of the country's banking, telecoms and food sectors by a few big companies, saying this was "not in the interests" of the economy.
"For many historical reasons, competition is not as vivid and as active as we would expect," he told reporters at the end of a two-day visit to SA.
"The way to help exports has more to do with competition in the economy rather than the value of the currency."
Improved competition would also create more jobs and curb inflation, raising the living standards of the poor, he said.
Trade unions and some senior members of the African National Congress have been lobbying for changes to the official policy of allowing markets to determine the exchange rate of the rand.
The unit was at R7,39/ late yesterday, a level Strauss-Kahn said was probably at the "strong end" of a manageable range.
Sustained rand strength has fanned fear about the competitiveness of local exports, which are leading SA out of recession.
Strauss-Kahn's remarks coincided with a statement yesterday by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who said a report would be released "in the next month or two" on the outcome of an investigation into the spread between the Reserve Bank's repurchase rate and prime lending rates set by commercial banks.
The difference has been kept consistent between the four main banks and steady at 3,5 percentage points for the past few years. Before he retired last year, the Bank's former governor, Tito Mboweni, initiated an inquiry into the practice, saying a bit of "competition" was needed.
Otherwise, Strauss-Kahn applauded SA's economic policies, saying its response to the global financial crisis was "appropriate and timely". A fiscal stimulus of about R800bn and lowering interest rates by five percentage points had helped to protect the country from the fallout of the global downturn, he said.
Strauss-Kahn also said inflation targeting - another controversial topic for trade unions - was appropriate for an economy such as SA's. "It's a policy which has to be taken with some flexibility," he said, echoing comments by Gordhan in the national budget last month.
The Bank has repeatedly said it takes account of a range of other factors, including growth and employment, when setting interest rates. But its official mandate is to keep inflation inside a 3%-6% target range.
Strauss-Kahn said SA now had global responsibilities, after becoming a member of the Group of 20 (G-20) developed and developing economies.
"What is new is the role SA can play in global governance," he said. SA provided a voice for both the continent and other developing countries, which was taken into account by governments in the G-20.
Strauss-Kahn also pointed out that African countries were recovering from the global crisis at the same pace as the rest of the world, mainly because they had followed the right policies beforehand. "In our view of this crisis, Africa is back," he said.
But Zimbabwe needed to "build a track record" before the IMF would consider lending to it again. Its problems were not just economic, they were political and the IMF had concerns about governance at its central bank. Nonetheless, it restored Zimbabwe's voting rights last month, he said. They were withdrawn in 2003 after the country's failure to repay money it owed.
Strauss-Kahn visited Kenya before arriving in SA this week, and travelled to Zambia later yesterday.
Rwanda: Country to Send 140 Peacekeepers to Haiti
Kigali — A group of Rwanda National Police officers are currently being trained prior to deployment to Haiti, the Central American island that was recently devastated by an earthquake.
The development was confirmed recently by police spokesman, Supt Eric Kayiranga, who said that the officers will be selected from 600 officers who are being trained on peace operations.
"Those selected will have at least a minimum of a bachelor's degree, driving license, and experience of five years in the force for men and three years for women," says Kayiranga.
He added that Rwanda wants to be involved in promoting peace in other countries and that if need be, they would send more peacekeepers to other countries.
Reacting to claims that the country could be concentrating on promoting security elsewhere while insecurity threats have been reported in Kigali, Kayiranga said there are enough police to maintain security in the country.
He said that there should not be cause for alarm, the police were alert and that nothing would sabotage the security of the country.
"We are very much aware of the situation in the country, we cannot send our own people out to maintain peace in other countries if we knew that there was no peace in the country," he said.
He added that people should understand that there is no country that can survive on its own.
"We need to help other countries so that they can also help us if and when need arises. Sending our forces to help other countries is important for promoting cooperation between Rwanda and these countries," he said.
South Africa: State Tender Prices Row Threatens 'Buy SA' Bid
Johannesburg — A tussle between the Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry about local companies getting preferential treatment over foreign rivals in state procurement could scupper one of the pillars of the department's new industrial policy action plan, if not resolved soon.
The industrial plan's success depends to a large extent on changing the procurement system of the government and state-owned enterprises.
If disagreement over the new rules is not resolved soon, it could delay implementation of aspects of the much-vaunted industrial plan. The action plan envisages taking advantage of the R846bn which the public sector is to spend on infrastructure over the next three years in order to promote local industry.
The issue is understood to revolve around whether the plan's "point-matching" proposal is unconstitutional, as the Treasury apparently believes it is.
The introduction of point matching in state tendering would allow the highest-scoring local bidder a second bite at a tender if a foreign rival beat it only on price. It would have the opportunity to come in with a lower bid.
The pharmaceutical industry argued in favour of "point matching" yesterday, saying that in 2007-08, 53% of public sector medicines in value terms was imported. The government's annual procurement budget for medicines, including antiretrovirals, is estimated now at R4,5bn.
The Treasury did not wish to comment yesterday on the existence of a tussle.
When asked to confirm and clarify that the Treasury had concerns about the constitutionality of the "point-matching" proposal, spokeswoman Lindani Mbunyuza would only say: "This is a matter of ongoing discussion in government." She would not be drawn any further on the matter.
Stavros Nicolaou, who is chairman of Pharmaceuticals Made in SA and an executive at Aspen Holdings, said in public hearings on the plan organised by Parliament's trade and industry committee, that the Treasury had queried whether point matching was consistent with section 217(1) of the constitution - which sets out the principles on which public procurement must be based - and with the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.
Nicolaou said Aspen had procured its own legal opinion which concluded that point matching complied with the constitutional principles of transparency, competitiveness, cost effectiveness, fairness and equitability and procedural fairness.
It would go a long way to providing local manufacturers with certainty, predictability and security of local supplies when they bid for government tenders, he said.
"Point matching costs the state nothing extra and is not prejudicial to importers as they can invest in SA and then have the same matching right," Nicolaou said. He pointed to the "worrying" increase since 2005 of cheap imported medicine from India.
Last year India overtook the UK, the US and France to become, after Germany, the biggest exporter of medicines to SA.
Nicolaou stressed co-ordination and "policy coherence" between departments would be crucial if the industrial policy action plan was to succeed. Turf battles between departments would have to be avoided.
African National Congress MP and longstanding committee member Ben Turok said the fact that the Treasury had resisted aspects of the industrial plan had come to light when it was still under preparation and when officials of the Department of Trade and Industry had briefed the committee on progress.
"We are now getting a very specific case of Treasury opposition and we as a committee are not going to be able to do our job if we can't unpack this question of co-ordination within government.
"The president and everyone else is saying co-ordination, co-ordination all the time. We are getting it in the state of the nation address and so many public fora where the leadership of the country and of the ANC are saying that government must act cohesively and yet we hear that this is not happening."
The industrial plan also emphasises the need for greater co-ordination within the government if it is to succeed.
Turok supported the point-matching proposal saying: "If two tenders are equal you must prefer the one that suits you because of the downstream effects. What these people are telling us is that if they win a tender it creates jobs, brings skills, and builds the domestic market.
"The industrial policy action plan emphasises the domestic market. We failed to do that in the past because we were led all the time by the imperative that we must be competitive internationally and that undermined companies."
He said Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies had argued for a focus on the domestic market and emphasised exports. "Where all things are equal, you favour your own."
The Congress of South African Trade Unions condemned as "scandalous" the fact that much of this year's infrastructure inputs had been procured abroad.
"We have called for a review of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act and its regulations to ensure that public procurement prioritises goods manufactured locally and their inputs sourced locally as well," it said.
Sectors cited in the plan as likely to benefit included metal fabrication; capital equipment and transport equipment; buses and other commercial vehicles; pharmaceuticals; and electronics.
Kenya: Kidney Transplant Opens New Frontier for Patients in Continent
Nairobi — The cord of love between two sisters proved unbreakable when one put her life on the line to save the other.
Ms Mary Nginyo, 32, was diagnosed with kidney failure two years ago, which almost proved fatal when she became pregnant at the same time.
But her sister Peninah's love proved far more powerful as the two women underwent the first surgery of its kind in Africa, performed by a team of Spanish and Kenyan doctors at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
Their story signals a bold new direction for Kenyan patients with kidney failure. The introduction of this relatively low-cost transplant technology could reduce the burden on Kenya's scarce dialysis facilities, and help discourage medical travel to other countries where such procedures are more routine.
Mary and Peninah Nginyo were among the first patients to undergo a kidney transplant using new technology known as laparoscopy.
Laparoscopic surgery is a kind of keyhole surgery in which operations in the abdomen are performed through small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm), compared to larger incisions needed in traditional surgical procedures.
Also called minimally invasive surgery (MIS), the procedure uses images displayed on television monitors for magnification of the surgical elements.
The procedure has been applauded in developed countries as it has led to a decrease in pain and scarring and swifter recovery for the patients.
For Peninah, the decision to take part in this historic surgery was quite easy.
"The suffering of a loved one motivated me to donate one of my kidneys," Peninah, who works as a mechanic at Kenya Airways, told the Nation.
The pre-transplant tests were not as easy though, she adds, with the needles and day-long routine tests being the scariest parts.
Peninah and another sister matched as likely donors before she was chosen as the best candidate for the operation performed on Tuesday.
Mary Nginyo was in bed No 8, while her sister lay directly opposite in bed No 17.
For Mary, the first born in a family of five girls, the journey to the operation began at a time when she should have been celebrating life, not staring death in the face. It was during her second pregnancy.
"Initially I was fatigued and my feet were persistently swollen," she said of her early symptoms.
She was diagnosed with renal failure during the fourth month of her pregnancy.
"Last year, in July, I had to begin attending dialysis sessions at least twice a week," Mary said.
According to Dr Anthony Were, the head of the renal unit at KNH, dialysis for expectant mothers is rare though it is done in some cases.
Pregnancy
"At one point we were asked to choose between the life of the mother and the child. But we wanted both alive," said Mr Edwin Maina, Mary's husband.
Seven months into the pregnancy, Mary gave birth to a baby girl whom she named Precious Nkatha. The name symbolised the couple's willingness to risk everything for their baby's survival.
Baby Precious is now a healthy four-month-old.
After delivery, the swelling known as oedema, became worse and Mary was diagnosed with collective tissue disease, or kidney failure.
She was presented with two options to manage the condition: dialysis or a kidney transplant. The latter option is only for patients with end-stage renal disease.
Began journey
In January, doctors urged Mary and her family to consider the transplant option, which gave them a window of one month to think about it. That was just enough time to envision new hope for a healthy life.
"We missed the ever vibrant, industrious Mary. So we settled for the option and began the journey to look for funds to finance the procedure," said Peninah.
Once the transplant option was chosen, the family had only a fortnight to raise Sh550,000 for the operation.
The first kidney transplant in the country was done at KNH in 1978, but it was not until 1988 that the procedure became available on a regular basis. Pre-transplant analysis and the transplant cost about Sh520,000.
For the Nginyo family, the promise offered by the new hi-tech procedure was worth every shilling.
During the interview, as the nurses interrupted to prepare both women for surgery, family members gathered around the pair and whispered a prayer.
"We will both be back healthy," Peninah promised, before being wheeled to the operating theatre where the Spanish and Kenyan doctors had assembled.
The Spanish team was led by Dr Antonio Alcaraz while the local team was led by Dr Mungai Ngugi, a urologist who has practised since 1992.
Dr Alcaraz began the operation as medical students in a separate lecture hall watched via live broadcast, a procedure known as telemedicine.
Less painful
His surgical dexterity was impressive as he meticulously made three incisions on Peninah's abdomen before harvesting the kidney two hours later.
The kidney was placed in a bowl of ice, then Peninah's blood was cleaned away before the organ's arteries were dilated and it was implanted in Mary's abdomen, next to her ailing kidney.
"The three small cuts encourage fast healing, are less painful and are applauded for their aesthetic value," Dr Ngugi told the Nation during the procedure.
With the new technology, the donor spends only a day in hospital. The recipient spends at least five days under observation, and takes immunosuppressant drugs to prevent the body's rejection of the new kidney.
The surgical team hopes this pioneer operation on the continent will encourage more Kenyans to consider seeking the treatment locally.
"We should have faith in our doctors before deciding to head to other countries," Dr Ngugi said after the operation.
Carried out
Nigeria, Mauritius, Sudan and South Africa are some of the countries where transplants are performed routinely, though not using the laparoscopy technology.
Last year, KNH carried out four transplants and it hopes to increase the number to at least 50 by the end of the year.
A normal transplant costs Sh2.5 million in South Africa, and up to Sh1.8 million in India. Private hospitals in Kenya charge an average of Sh1.2 million.
The theme of this year's World Kidney Day is "Protect your kidneys, Control Diabetes".
According to Dr Were, high blood pressure, diabetes and a condition known as chronic glomerular nephritis are the three major causes of kidney diseases.
Zimbabwe: Zuma Lobbies IMF On Zim
Harare — South African President Jacob Zuma has told the International Monetary Fund to resume lending to Zimbabwe as he continues the battle to end the illegal economic sanctions against Zimbabwe.
However, just like recently when his call to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the European Union and its Western partners to lift the embargo did not get a positive response, the IMF maintained it was still not prepared to resume lending to Zimbabwe.
IMF boss Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn cited "concerns" about the country's political situation.
"We are not yet at the point where resuming lending is possible," Mr Strauss-Kahn told reporters after meeting President Zuma yesterday following a two-day visit to South Africa.
He said he discussed Zimbabwe during his talks on Tuesday with President Zuma, who said aid should resume flowing to Harare.
"We are happy to help. We are ready to help, but . . . as long as the political situation will not make it possible to come back on track in terms of arrears and governance, it will be very difficult for us to come back," Mr Strauss-Kahn said.
However, the political and economic environment in the country has improved following the formation of the inclusive Government last year.
Zimbabwe owes about US$140 million in arrears to the IMF. Collectively, the country owes over US$5 billion to lending institutions.
The IMF last month restored Zimbabwe's voting rights after a seven-year suspension, but said Harare would not be able to access loans until the arrears are settled.
President Zuma, the Sadc mediator in Zimbabwe's political dialogue, has lobbied for Western nations and multilateral lenders to resume aid to Harare to help the inclusive Government function efficiently.
But the EU and the United States recently extended their illegal sanctions by another year.
Prime Minister Brown said after meeting President Zuma during his State visit to Britain that the sanctions would be lifted when there was progress on reforms.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has also taken a step to call for the lifting of the illegal sanctions.
This was after British Foreign Secretary Mr David Miliband had said his country would only lift the sanctions at the behest of MDC-T.
But barely a day after PM Tsvangirai had shifted his stance on sanctions, the Barack Obama administration extended its embargo by another year, insisting that more should be done by the inclusive Government.
President Mugabe, while speaking to editors of media institutions in the country last week, welcomed PM Tsvangirai's call for the lifting of the sanctions.
President Mugabe, who is Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, said the PM should set up a team to engage the West on the sanctions.
Sudan: South Dispels Fears of Fresh Chaos after Poll
The leadership of South Sudan has downplayed fears of fresh conflict over oil reserves within its territory after the planned 2011 referendum to decide whether southerners will formally secede from their counterparts in the north.
The ruling party in South Sudan, the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM), said on Wednesday it would front for a policy that would ensure wealth tapped from the resource benefited all.
"We will work to ensure that the policy of greed does not apply as has been the case with the government in the North," SPLM secretary-general Pagan Amum told a news conference in Nairobi. "If we become independent the North would have to learn to request because if they choose to wage war they lose," he said.
The two sides split the revenue from oil reserves found in the southern territory, but no agreement has been made about whether revenue-sharing would continue in case of Southern Sudan independence.
Some analysts have said that oil wealth could spark off a fresh round of conflict arguing that the north could face serious budgetary deficits in the event the South assumed control of the oil revenues.
Mr Amum, however, said the matter would be resolved amicably through fair policy arrangements.
"For sure the South has survived with no oil revenue and the North also has other alternative revenue sources including arable land and oil as well," he said. " We are keen to see the north also viable."
The official spoke a day after Kenya and other regional countries under the umbrella of the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) resolved to push for speedy implementation of all protocols outlined in the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) in Sudan saying uncertainty in the oil rich nation posed a threat to their own economies and peace.
The Igad leaders also demanded that the long-running boundary dispute in the oil-producing Abyei region be resolved fast owing to the building tension ahead of the country's elections next month and the 2011 referendum.
Both north and south Sudan have claimed Abyei, a central area hugging the country's north-south border, for decades.
The definition of Abyei's borders was so sensitive that it was left undecided in the CPA.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, however, ruled to readjust boundaries drawn up by the 2005 CPA panel, pulling in its borders to the north, east and west.
Regional leaders further sought for mobilisation of development assistance to help rebuild parts of Sudan, especially the south, impoverished by decades of war noting that the current state of economic and social imbalance was a potential source of fresh conflict.
The slow implementation of pacts reached under the CPA is a major concern for the people of Southern Sudan, according to President Salva Kiir who attended the Igad Heads of State summit in Nairobi.
"I would like to inform you that had it not been for patience and commitment of our people, Sudan would have gone back to war," Mr Kiir told the summit while commenting about the hitches that had prevented the full implementation of protocol under the CPA.
Chelsea's Didier Drogba wins African football award Didier Drogba in action for Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has been named African Footballer of the Year.
Drogba scored five goals as Ivory Coast qualified for the 2010 World Cup and scored for Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
Chelsea team-mate and Michael Essien and Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o were also shortlisted for the award.
Drogba, who turned 32 on Thursday, had previously won the award in 2006, while Algeria were named team of the year at the ceremony in Accra, Ghana.
Algeria qualified for the World Cup finals in South Africa after defeating Egypt in a play-off game.
Drogba has scored 25 goals so far this season for Chelsea, who are in contention for the Premier League title and remain in the Champions League and FA Cup.
And the Ivorian claimed as he celebrated his 32nd birthday that his appetite for the game is as strong as ever.
"I still have the same passion for the game," said Drogba. "I still feel hungry and I am still chasing medals.
"I feel really good. As I have said in the past it depends on the injuries you get and this season I can say that I am lucky, or I can say that the few months that I took out last year to get my knee well are now paying off.
"Your lifestyle is only as important as your mental approach to the game. If you put in your head that you are 32 and you are old it is going to be difficult.
"I still feel like a kid when I am on the pitch so sometimes Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has to pull me back."
None of the three shortlisted candidates for the individual award were at the Confederation of African Football (Caf) ceremony.
The last time that Drogba won the award, Essien and Eto'o were also the other two shortlisted players.
Nigeria women protest at Jos killings
Hundreds of women have taken to the streets of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, and the central city of Jos in rallies against Sunday's massacre near Jos.
The women, mostly dressed in black, demanded that the government protect women and children better.
At least 109 people were killed in the ethnic clashes near Jos. Many were said to be women and children.
Survivors have told the BBC how they saw relatives and friends hacked down with machetes and their bodies burnt.
Witnesses and officials say the perpetrators came from the mainly Muslim Fulani group. Most of the victims were Christians from the Berom group.
The attacks appear to be retaliation for violence in the villages around Jos in January, when most of the victims were said to be Muslim.
The women in Jos carried placards proclaiming: "Stop killing our future; Bloodshed in the Plateau [State] must stop."
They marched carrying Bibles, wooden crosses or branches of mango trees, chanting: "No more soldiers."
Mass grave
Christian pastor Esther Ebanga told the crowds of women: "Enough is enough."
"All we are asking is that our children and women should not be killed any more. We demand justice," the AFP news agency quoted her as saying.
Meanwhile in Abuja, women staged a similar rally, carrying pictures of the dead.
Risika Razak, one of the leaders of the protest, said she wanted to show the government that "things are not going right".
"They should beef up security in troubled areas so that we would be able to know that people that go to bed will wake up the next day and life will continue," she said.
Officials and religious leaders have accused the military of not acting quickly enough to prevent the massacre.
But on Thursday, the commander of the regional task force, Major General Salih Maina, rebuffed the criticism.
He said the army was told of the violence only after it had happened.
Earlier, the BBC's Komla Dumor visited a mass grave in the village of Dogo-Nahawa where more than 100 bodies from one village had been buried.
One community leader in the village told the BBC how his five-year-old granddaughter had been hacked to death with a machete.
Like earlier eyewitness accounts, he said the violence started with gunfire.
"People were running helter-skelter because of this.... They had never heard something like this before.
"People that were running and run into them, and they were macheted."
The authorities have arrested about 200 people and charged 49 with murder.
Although the clashes take place between Muslims and Christians, observers say the underlying causes are economic and political.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments