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IRIN-WA Update 175 of Events in West Africa, (Friday) 27 March 1998
SIERRA LEONE: State of emergency ratified
Parliament Thursday ratified the state of emergency decreed last week by President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, AFP reported. In its first meeting since the now-ousted junta toppled Kabbah last May, parliament unanimously ratified the presidential decree effective from 10 March, when Kabbah was re-instated. Among other powers, a state of emergency allows authorities to detain without charge junta collaborators for up to 30 days. AFP added that one parliamentarian present, Fillie Farboe, said Sierra Leone was "still at war". Farboe called for further stringent measures to be taken to ensure security.
Government about to press charges
The government Thursday was ready to press charges against 1,400 suspected junta supporters, Reuters reported. The process could begin Friday or Monday at the latest, Justice Minister Solomon Berewa said. He said a total 1,600 suspects had been detained since the junta was toppled in February. Berewa Thursday told Parliament that some 200 junta supporters would face "serious charges" in connection with last May's military coup and subsequent atrocities.
Reuters also reported Kabbah as denying Wednesday he was conducting a witch-hunt. He said he had instructed Berewa to ensure that justice prevailed in the trials. This was why he had requested the British government to provide judges. Berewa said the trials proper would have to await the expected arrival of the British judges.
Commonwealth visit imminent
A five-man Commonwealth ministerial team will visit Freetown on 31 March to discuss political and material support for Sierra Leone's newly-restored democracy, PANA news agency reported Friday.
Editor arrested
Sorie Fofanah, editor of the pro-democracy 'Vision' newspaper, was arrested by police on Thursday, news organisations reported. A journalist with the publication told the agency police had thoroughly searched Fofanah's home and office. Family sources said police gave no explanation. Press sources quoted by AFP said there might be a link with the paper's recent report that presidential security chief Sheka Mansaray had refused to be searched at a police checkpoint outside Freetown.
NIGERIA: US shift, politicians's warning over Abacha
The US could accept the candidacy of Nigerian military leader General Sani Abacha in the presidential elections if he stood as a civilian, news agencies reported US President Clinton as saying. "If he stands for election, we hope he will stand as a civilian," Clinton said during a four-day visit to South Africa. Noting many military rulers had taken African countries from chaos to democracy, Clinton said the same could happen in Nigeria. "That is, purely and simply, what we want to happen, sooner rather than later, I hope," Clinton added.
AFP and Reuters took the US president's remarks as an apparent shift in White House policy. Both news agencies quoted remarks by Susan Rice, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, two weeks ago, when she said Nigeria needed and deserved "a real transition to democracy and civilian rule, not another military regime dressed up in civilian clothes." In Washington, Joe Wilson, Clinton's Africa expert on the National Security Council, Friday denied any inconsistency. He said Abacha running as a military incumbent would be inconsistent with the whole concept of civilian democratic rule.
Meanwhile, a group of prominent northern Nigerian politicians Friday warned Abacha against trying to keep hold of power, Reuters reported. In what the agency called a strongly-worded open letter to Abacha, the group, which includes four former ministers in his government, claimed self-succession would be "a subversion of genuine democracy".
Civil service mobilised over fuel shortage
The Military High Command Wednesday mobilised senior civil servants to help solve the fuel crisis in Lagos and other states, Nigeria's 'Post Express Wired' reported Friday. The Lagos State Administrator, Colonel Mohammed Marwa, directed commissioners and permanent secretaries in the state to monitor the distribution of petrol throughout the state. Marwa also directed the state anti-robbery squad, "Operation Sweep", to ensure effective security around the stations. With the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries now back in operations, Marwa gave the assurance that the situation will return to normal soon.
Meanwhile, fuel shortages were compounded in northern Nigeria as a fire destroyed part of the Kaduna oil refinery, the only one in the region, press reports said Friday. The loading bay and two tankers were destroyed.
ILO hits at union rights abuses
The International Labour Organization (ILO) Thursday said it was appointing an independent commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of abuses of trade union rights in Nigeria, media organisations reported. An ILO statement issued in Geneva accused the Nigerian authorities of ignoring requests to improve the treatment of workers. It also accused them of harassing and imprisoning trade union leaders. The commission of inquiry is the last stage in ILO procedures for addressing persistent and serious violations of international labour standards. Its report, which is final, can be challenged only by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Watchdog notes 1997 crackdown on independent press
Conditions for reporters in Nigeria worsened sharply during 1997, the independent New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Thursday. In its annual report, CPJ said the most disturbing trend of 1997 was the accelerated crackdown on Nigeria's struggling independent media by the government, which is now holding 17 journalists in prison. This was "more than any other African country", CPJ noted. Among those in detention was Christine Anyanwu, who was given the CPJ's International Press Freedom award last year.
CHAD: Ban on rights groups
Chad Wednesday banned until further notice the activities of a coalition of seven national human rights groups, Reuters reported on Thursday. The agency said the move was an apparent bid to foil three days of protests from Thursday against alleged rights abuses. In a message to the nation, Prime Minister Nassour Guelendouksia Ouaido described the protests as a campaign to destabilise the legal institutions of the state. The Chadian League of Human Rights was one of the groups who earlier this week had called for three days' national mourning and prayers for peace.
Last hostage freed
The last of eight Europeans abducted in Chad last weekend was freed on Friday, AFP reported. The eight tourists - six French and two Italians - were kidnapped on Sunday as they were visiting the Tibesti region of northern Chad. Security forces freed seven of them within hours. The last hostage, an Italian, was freed on Friday, AFP added.
BENIN: Forum on corruption
Benin's head of state, Mathieu Kerekou, opened a national forum on corruption Thursday with a call for a national examination of conscience, AFP reported. Corruption must be fought vigorously, he told assembled members of government, top political figures and representatives of international and religious organisations, including former presidents Hubert Maga and Emile Derlin Zinsou. It is estimated that tens of millions of dollars are lost in Benin each year through bribes and unpaid taxes and duties, according to AFP.
GABON: Radio station ban lifted
The government said Thursday it would lift a five-week ban imposed last month on private Radio Soleil which has ties with the opposition, media organisations reported. The station was banned after it broadcast an editorial criticising President Omar Bongo.
TOGO: Poll date is set
The Togolese government announced the first round of presidential polls would be held on 7 June, with a run-off ballot, if required, on 21 June, news organisations reported on Thursday. The first five-year mandate of President General Gnassingbe Eyadema, who won the country's multi-party presidential poll in 1993, expires in August. Eyadema, who has ruled Togo since April 1967, is eligible for a second term but has yet to say if he will stand, AFP said. So far, only Leopold Gnininvi, leader of the Convention Democratique du Peuple Africain (CDPA) has said he might stand, AFP reported.
NIGER: University reopens
Classes re-opened Thursday at Niamey university, AFP reported. The university had been closed for two weeks after student protests over grant arrears resulted in clashes with police.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Agreement over electoral commission
The government and opposition parties Wednesday signed an agreement on an electoral commission to monitor this year's general election, AFP reported. Government spokesman Antonio Fernando Nve Ngu said the cross-party nature of the commission would ensure transparency in the electoral census proceedings. The elections must be held this year but no date has been set yet.
Sources quoted by AFP said an orderly electoral census could help defuse the recent political tension following attacks on Bioko island, where the capital Malabo is located.
Abidjan, 27 March 1998, 21:15 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, 27 Mar 1998 22:03:04 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Daily Update 175, 98.3.27 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980327215355.10132C-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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