UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN-West Africa Update 163, 98.3.11

IRIN-West Africa Update 163, 98.3.11


U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa

Tel: +225 21-73-54 Fax: +225 21-63-35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci

IRIN-WA Update 163 of Events in West Africa, (Wednesday) 11 March 1998

SIERRA LEONE: President hails "new era"

President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah said his re-instatement ushered in "a new era" and called for Sierra Leone to "concentrate on reconciliation", AFP reported. Tens of thousands of residents packed Freetown's National Stadium on Tuesday to hear Kabbah. This was the president's first speech since he was restored by ECOMOG, the Nigerian-led intervention force of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Kabbah was given a hero's welcome after ECOMOG toppled the junta which seized power in May 1997. He blamed "greed and treachery" as the underlying causes of the coup and pledged that equality, fairness and justice would inspire his policies. He said his re-instatement ushered in a new era and added: "Our country and economy are in ruins but if we all work and pull together as a team we can surely restore our former prosperity and happiness." Calling for reconciliation, he said: "Now is the time for healing." Kabbah also said he would cut the number of cabinet members from 45 to 15 and would form a policy advisory committee.

Kabbah said Nigerian president Sana Abacha was "a great friend to Sierra Leone. To him we owe our survival." Abacha, who accompanied Kabbah on his flight home, stressed that "for the first time in African history", a concerted effort of the sub-region managed to restore a government that had been overthrown.

UN Secretary General urges donor generosity

In a special message delivered on his behalf by Ibrahim Fall, UN assistant secretary general for political affairs, on the occasion of Kabbah's re-instatement on Tuesday, the UN Secretary General said he would seek approval from the Security Council for "a number of UN military observers to deploy alongside ECOMOG to assist in the process of normalisation." Mr Annan said he was strengthening the Office of his Special Envoy to the country.

The UN Secretary General said "the disarmament, demobilisation and re-integration into civilian life of all ex-combatants" would be "a major part" in the normalisation process. It would require "close co-operation among the government, ECOWAS, ECOMOG and the UN system". Mr Annan urged the donor community to "respond generously" to the urgent appeal for humanitarian assistance launched by the UN earlier this month, and said he was establishing a Trust Fund for Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, in Washington, a State Department spokesman said the US government "welcomed" Kabbah's return and looked forward to working with the government and the international community towards the country's reconstruction.

NIGERIA: Opposition unveils anti-Abacha plan

The opposition group, the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), unveiled a programme of action to prevent General Sani Abacha's election as president in August, opposition Radio Kudirat Nigeria reported on Tuesday. It quoted NADECO leader Abraham Adesanya as saying Nigerians would be mobilised in a comprehensive, non-violent campaign. NADECO challenged Abacha to allow "alternative views of Nigerians to be voiced openly without harassment, intimidation and assassination if he was sure of his popularity," the radio said.

At the weekend, the United Action for Democracy (UAD), a coalition of 26 opposition groups, announced it would organise strikes and demonstrations to make Nigeria "ungovernable".

Abacha soap launched

Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Tuesday that Abacha supporters had launched a special medicated soap and leather sandals branded with his name. The subsidised soap joins rice and television sets branded with Abacha's name.

Spillages cost Shell 80,000 barrels

Shell Petroleum lost more than 80,000 barrels of oil to spillage in 1997, according to a company report quoted by Reuters on Wednesday.

In a report on its 1997 operations, Shell Petroleum said that at least 80 percent of the loss was due to vandalism or sabotage and 20 percent to equipment failure or errors.

A report on Nigerian TV said, in a separate development, Colonel Musa Shehu, administrator of Rivers State, had urged Shell Petroleum to investigate the cause of a mysterious fire that has been burning for over a month around disused oil wells in the Obele area.

Meanwhile, in Ilorin, in the northwestern part of the country, police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of youths protesting at the disruption to public transport caused by fuel shortages, Africa No 1 reported.

SENEGAL: Casamance rebellion no longer justified, faction leader says

A break-away faction leader of southern Senegal's separatist Mouvement des Forces Democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) said that the insurrection was no longer justified, AFP reported on Wednesday.

Kamougue Diatta, military chief of the northern front part of MFDC, was quoted as telling the 'Sud Quotidien' newspaper that the rebel group now needed "valid and sincere" negotiators to resolve the 16-year conflict with the government.

The call came four days after 50 rebels were reportedly killed in a skirmish in the southern part of Casamance.

LIBERIA: Taylor pledges "step by step" development

Liberian president Charles Taylor said his government was not interested in large-scale loans and instead favoured "step by step" development, independent Star radio reported on Wednesday. In a speech he made in the Jrao district in Grand Kru County, Taylor said Liberia was already over-burdened with debt, which is estimated at over US$ three billion. Local inhabitants claimed the district could not receive any development, relief or agricultural assistance because of a lack of roads and bridges. Taylor said he favoured small grants for development projects.

GHANA: Bid to cut power shortages

The Ghanaian authorities, faced with power cuts since the beginning of last month, have introduced power rationing, AFP reported. The Electricity Company of Ghana said the 12-hour schedules were aimed at protecting small industries and the welfare of domestic consumers. Ghana's president Jerry Rawlings said this was the worst energy crisis in a decade. Inadequate water levels are hampering hydro-electric power plants north of the Ghanaian capital.

Energy ministers from neighboring Benin, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo flew to Ghana in a bid to relieve the country's power shortages, AFP reported on Wednesday quoting Ghanaian radio.

NIGER: $200 million grant to fight poverty

Niger has secured an additional 200 million dollars in financing for a programme to help combat poverty, AFP reported on Wednesday. Niger Planning Minister Yacouba Nabassoua said some 30 governments and international institutions had pledged the funds under the auspices of UNDP. The funds top up the US$ 500 million already pledged under Niger's US$ 700 million three-year anti-poverty programme. The country, one of the poorest in the world, has suffered from drought and a fall in the price of uranium, its main export.

WEST AFRICA: Bakassi hearings over

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague closed preliminary hearings in the case opposing Cameroon and Nigeria over the Bakassi peninsula, AFP reported. The hearings started 10 days ago.

The ICJ said it would take about four months to decide whether Nigeria's objections to Cameroon's claims were receivable. The Nigerian government has denied the ICJ any competence in the case and claims that Cameroon's initial 1994 complaint is not receivable. Cameroon had asked the ICJ to determine a border between its own and Nigeria's territory. The Cameroon government accuses Nigeria of illegal control of the Bakassi peninsula, which is presumed rich in fisheries and oil resources.

During the recent hearings, the representative of the Nigerian government told the court that Cameroon's formal complaint had come as "a surprise" and included "incredible assertions".

Abidjan, 11 March 1998, 20:30 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: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 20:43:29 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 163, 98.3.11 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980311203939.2971A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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