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IRIN-WA Update 428 of events in West Africa (Tuesday 23 March)
TOGO: Ruling party romps home to expected victory
The ruling Rassemblement du Peuple togolais (RPT) has romped home to an easy victory in Togo's parliamentary elections.
With 60 seats in the 81-member parliament declared by today (Tuesday), 59 had been taken by RTP candidates, while the other went to one of two parties allied to it. These were the only parties to have taken part in the election, in which 10 independents also ran.
The main opposition groups boycotted the poll in protest against last year's presidential election: President Gnassingbe Eyadema was declared winner of the mid-1998 presidentials, but the opposition rejected the result.
Observers from a number of African and European countries reportedly stated yesterday (Monday) in a joint communique that Sunday's polls were conducted satisfactorily.
However, U.S. State Department spokesman James Foley
said in a statement that without the participation
of the opposition the poll did not reflect the will
of the Togolese people.
Guinea Bissau: Rival troops return to barracks
Troops from the rival factions in Guinea Bissau have begun withdrawing from temporary quarters along their former front line around the capital and returning to their respective barracks, Lusa reported yesterday.
The Portuguese news agency quoted a military source as saying that the withdrawal was aimed at earning "the trust of the people and the international community regarding the consolidation of the peace process".
A large section of the Guinea Bissau military rebelled last June against President Joao Bernardo Vieira. Vieira and the rebel Military Junta signed a peace accord in Abuja in November 1998, but fighting stopped only with a final ceasefire on 3 February. A government of national unity took office on 20 February.
The pullout was decided by a joint military commission that includes representatives of the pro-Vieira forces and the Military Junta, and the West African ECOMOG peacekeeping force which is overseeing the peace process.
Meanwhile, in a communique issued yesterday, Amnesty International accused both sides of committing abuses during the conflict, including arbitrary detentions, torture and summary executions.
CAPE VERDE: Portuguese city launches food drive for Fogo
The central Portuguese city of Leiria yesterday launched a food collection campaign to help the drought-stricken population of Sao Filipe on Cape Verde's Fogo island, Lusa reported.
According to the mayor of Leiria, the campaign aims to collect 70 mt of rice, 35,000 litres of beans and 21,000 litres of cooking oil, as well as other staples, for the 1,000 families in Sao Filipe. There has been little or no rain on the island for four years, Lusa said.
UNITED NATIONS: Human Rights Commission starts session
The human rights situation in the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea will be examined by the UN Commission on Human Rights during its 55th session, which began yesterday in Geneva.
According to the provisional agenda for the five-week meeting, the 53-member commission will also address the issues of child soldiers, mercenaries, traffic in women and girls and the effect of structural adjustment policies on the full enjoyment of human rights, among other topics.
At a news conference in New York on Friday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said another issue to be addressed by the Commission was the prevention of racial and ethnic tensions, which were the "seeds of conflict" and resultant violations of human rights.
Incitement to hatred and xenophobia, including via the
Internet, was a problem in every region and was becoming
more serious, she said. UN special rapporteurs and
other UN field personnel should be heeded when they
gave indications of early warning signs of gross human
rights violations, Robinson added.
GUINEA: Army purge
Guinean President Lansana Conte has sacked armed forces chief of staff Colonel Oumar Soumah and 30 other officers in connection with a 1996 army mutiny, AFP reported on Friday.
Soumah and 17 others were deemed guilty of high treason, while 13 others were sent on early retirement for committing "gross errors" during the mutiny, when Conte's government was nearly overthrown.
Some 60 people lost their lives in the mutiny, according to AFP.
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Investigation into Major Fraud
Continues
The attorney general's office in Sao Tome and Principe
has been entrusted with investigating a massive fraud
at the West African republic's central bank, Justice
Minister Paulo Jorge was reported as telling parliament
on Friday.
The fraud has to do with the illegal emission by the central bank of treasury bills to the sum of US $500 million.
The then central bank governor resigned after the scandal broke two weeks ago. According to Lusa, he said in a letter to parliament that two previous prime ministers and President Miguel Trovoada had been aware of the operation, a claim denied by the president.
Abidjan, 23 March 1999, 19:43 GMT
[END]
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 19:38:49 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: WEST AFRICA: IRIN Update 428 for 23 March [19990323]
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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