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IRIN-WA Update 108-97 of Events in West Africa, (Friday) 19 December 1997
[As a supplement to its weekly round-ups of main events in West Africa, IRIN-WA will produce a daily synopsis of reports on the region. IRIN issues these reports for the benefit of the humanitarian community but accepts no responsibility as to the accuracy of the original source.]
SIERRA LEONE: AFRC leader says April handover unlikely
Sierra Leone's military leader, Major Johnny Paul Koroma, said it was unlikely he would hand power back to the elected civilian government in April next year, the BBC reported on Friday. Koroma said this was due to delays in disarmament. "The disarmament should have started on 1 December and obviously nothing has been done. So if they have delayed the agenda they will not meet the times as stated in the accord," he said.
Koroma's press officer, Samura Mohammed, told AFP delays in implementing other key elements of the accord, such as resumption of humanitarian assistance, led Koroma to favour a delay in the handover. The AFRC leader nevertheless remained committed to restoring Sierra Leone's civilian regime, Mohammed told AFP.
Under the terms of the Conakry Accords, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) is to hand over to the civilian government of President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah on 22 April 1998. Humanitarian assistance operations from Guinea into Sierra Leone were scheduled to resume on 14 November, but have remained blocked over the issue of an inspection mechanism.
Government-in-exile condemns AFRC "intransigence"
Reacting to the AFRC leader's statement, the Sierra Leone government-in-exile said any attempt to postpone the restoration of civilian rule was "totally unacceptable". A statement issued in Conakry by Minister of Presidential Affairs Momodu Koroma said the AFRC leader had shown "unbridled arrogance and intransigence which must now be stopped". It said the AFRC had hampered the implementation of the peace plan. "They cannot now use these same obstacles to delay the restoration of the legitimate government on or before 22 April." A "definitive" position would be made public after consultations with the international community and the Sierra Leonean people, the statement added.
ECOWAS Committee of Five to meet in Abuja
Ministers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Committee of Five were to meet on Friday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to discuss the Sierra Leone crisis, AFP reported, quoting the Nigerian foreign ministry.
NIGERIA: New government sworn in
Nigerian Head of State General Sani Abacha swore in his new government on Thursday, a month after dismissing his previous one, media sources reported. The new 33-member cabinet was inaugurated at a ceremony in Abuja, the federal capital. Sixteen ministers are being retained from the previous administration.
Abacha appointed eight serving or retired military officers, while including only three women. Mrs Onikepo Akande, however, was given the important industries portfolio. Abacha told his new ministers they were joining the team at a critical stage in the life of the nation and should consolidate the gains made by his military government. "You should see yourselves as bearing the baton for the last leg of the administration," Abacha said. Abacha has promised to hand over power to an elected civilian government in October 1998.
Three arrested in human rights raid
A Nigerian human rights organisation announced on Thursday that security forces had arrested three people in Lagos on Wednesday, AFP reported. According to the news agency, police forcibly searched the offices of Akanni Iromini, a member of the Beko Ransome-Kuti Liberation Committee, and arrested his assistant, Kemi Sobodu, when they could not find Iromini.
According to the human rights organisation, police were looking for copies of articles recently published in the International Human Rights Journal on 10 December demanding Ransome-Kuti's release. Nigerian authorities have detained Ransome-Kuti, a leading opposition figure, since July 1995 for his alleged part in a failed coup attempt. Police raided a clinic previously run by Ransome-Kuti and arrested the owner, Wale Balogun, and a "gravely ill" patient. The human rights organisation said the whereabouts of the three was still not known.
MAURITANIA: New government named
Introducing a new face to Mauritanian politics, newly re-elected President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya nominated Mohamed Lemine Ould Guig as Prime Minister on Thursday, AFP reported. Ould Guig in turn named his 18-member cabinet, which included 10 new faces and three women. The leaders of the pro-Taya opposition parties, the Union Democratique pour le Progres (UDP) and the Rassemblement pour la Democratie et l'Unite (RDU), were also given ministerial posts. Ould Guig is a technocrat and academic from the southeastern Oualata region, a Taya stronghold. The main opposition parties boycotted the 12 December elections, which Taya won with 90% of the vote.
SENEGAL: Fiscal restraints spark protests
Members of the teachers' union staged a sit-in at the Ministry of Finance and Planning on Thursday, according to the Senegal daily 'Sud Quotidien'. The teachers were protesting the government's recent economic reforms, which resulted in 156 teachers being made redundant. Earlier in the week, 100 recent graduates of Senegal's teacher training college announced a hunger strike to draw attention to poor employment prospects after the government offered to employ 30 of 305 new graduates, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, AFP reported that the Swiss government had allocated FFr 52 billion as a non-reimbursable loan to assist Senegal with its balance of payment problems and to continue its economic reform.
Rebels arrested
Three suspects, members of the separatist Mouvement des Forces Democratiques de Casamance (MFDC), were arrested on Thursday after a raid in Bignona on Tuesday, 'Sud Quotidien' reported. Military and civilian installations were targeted in the attack which left three dead, including a police officer. The rebels were also alleged to have planted mines in the area. In early July, the Senegalese army claimed to have defused some 1,526 mines in Casamance. Since then, mines have accounted for 32 deaths and 109 wounded.
MALI: Malian refugee camps in Burkina Faso close
Malian refugee camps in Burkina Faso which once housed an estimated 20,000 people were closed this month after the last refugees returned home, UNHCR sources told IRIN on Friday. The refugees were mainly Tuareg nomads. The camps were closed on 15 December and the government has advised any stragglers they have until 15 January to register with the authorities. The UNHCR said that although the camps had closed, it would maintain an office in the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou.
GHANA: Government to tackle corruption allegations
The Ghanaian government has asked the London-based publishers of a report on corruption to provide details of alleged malpractices so that it can take remedial action, Ghana Radio said Friday. John Mahama, a deputy communications minister, was concerned that the report by Control Risk Group Ltd could have a negative impact on the country. He said the government was ready to send experts to London to discuss specific details of the report so that it could investigate any institutions or indivdiuals mentioned.
Abidjan, 19 December 1997, 18:10 gmt
[ends]
[The material contained in this communication comes to you via IRIN West Africa, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN-WA Tel: +225 21 73 66 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci for more information or subscription. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this report, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. IRIN reports are archived on the Web at: http://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@dha.unon.org . Mailing list: irin-wa-updates]
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 18:15:32 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 108-97, 97.12.19 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971219181316.4890B-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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