UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 22-1999 [19990605]

IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 22-1999 [19990605]


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@ocha.unon.org

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 22 covering the period 29 May - 4 June 1999

NIGERIA: Dawn of a new era

Within three days of his inauguration, President Olusegun Obasanjo had suspended contracts awarded by the former military regime, retired nearly 100 officials from a service viewed as one of Nigeria's most corrupt and ordered Nigerian embassies to process visa applications within three days.

Obasanjo suspended on Monday all commercial contracts, licences, awards and appointments made since January and then set up a seven-member panel to review them. The panel is headed by Christopher Kolade, former managing director of Cadbury Nigeria, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) reported on Tuesday.

Obasanjo also approved the retirement of 99 officers from the Customs service, while embassies were ordered to process visa applications within 72 hours of their submission. State-owned Radio Nigeria reported that Obasanjo was concerned visa delays were making the nation lose business investments.

These moves followed an inauguration pledge to stamp out corruption and ensure good governance, which civil society leaders said they would make sure he remembered.

"I will give the forthright, purposeful, committed, honest, and transparent leadership that the situation demands," Obasanjo said as he was being sworn in. Promising to tackle corruption head-on at all levels, he said there would be "no sacred cows".

It was "a very bold speech", Nimi Walson-Jack, executive director of the Port Harcourt-based Centre for Responsive Politics, told IRIN on Monday. Nevertheless, he said, "We are going to remind him at every turn of what he has promised."

Obasanjo said his economic priorities would be to improve the oil and agriculture sectors, which would include ending the crisis in the oil-producing Niger Delta.

Niger Delta

A critical test for the government is how it handles resentment in the Delta over the regionís neglect and impoverishment. Demands for more autonomy and a larger slice of the oil revenue that flows from the six underdeveloped southern states have been backed by attacks on oil installations, demonstrations, and clashes between communities in land-ownership disputes.

On Sunday, clashes broke out in the Delta between Ijaws and Itsekiris around the Escravos River, just south of the town of Warri and news organisations reported more than 100 deaths.

`The Guardian' quoted an official of Chevron - a US oil company - as saying that Western and Nigerian oil firms evacuated people by helicopter from the area, which is near Chevron's Escravos oil export terminal. Warri seaport was closed, `The Guardian' said, adding that 150 soldiers from the army's 20 Amphibious Battalion were sent to the troubled area.

In his address, Obasanjo acknowledged the seriousness of the Delta problem and stressed the need for dialogue. He said a bill would be prepared "within weeks" to increase from 3 percent to 13 percent the share of revenue earned from the region that is ploughed back in development spending.

But Delta activists say the increase is too little too late. They want half of all revenue earned from the region to be returned to the local communities who, they say, should control its spending.

"Will the Delta accept 13 percent? The answer is no," Brisibe Annie of Niger Delta Wetlands Centre, an environmental NGO, told IRIN. "There are six states in the Delta and they are all supposed to share that 13 percent - what kind of development will that bring?"

Obasanjo's chief spokesman, Onyema Ugochukwu, told IRIN: "The problem of the Delta is one of neglect over a long period. Obasanjo will show the Delta people that someone cares. It is not a question of percentages now."

The Delta produces most of Nigeria's oil, but is one of its poorest backwaters and Delta activists such as Annie want more than to know Obasanjo cares.

For them, democracy means that the bill has to be debated in the National Assembly - which includes representatives from the oil-producing states - before it is passed. "The next step for the federal government is to dialogue properly with the people of the Delta," Annie said. "We want a renegotiation of this issue."

Obasanjo on Thursday inaugurated the Assembly - made up of a 109-seat Senate, whose speaker is Evan Enwerem, and a 360-seat House of Representatives presided over by Ibrahim Salisu Buhari, according to news reports.

Obasanjo addressed both houses on Friday, after which the assembly was expected to begin confirmation hearings for his ministerial nominees.

A major challenge for the new government will be subordinating the armed forces to civilian authority since the military have ruled Nigeria for all but 10 of its 39 years of independence.

Religion

Religion is another issue likely to retain Obasanjo's attention. The militant Muslim Brotherhood, for example, wants an Islamic state.

In the northern town of Zaria, its leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky, told IRIN: "The system governing us does not see the reality - that Africans are religious. In Nigeria, we as Muslims feel that to belong to a country called Nigeria we should not keep our religion aside. We must have our beliefs respected."

Zakzaky accepts that not every Nigerian is a Muslim or wants to be guided by Islamic precepts. "We agree," he said, "but at least the majority are, which means it is not entirely impossible."

Fabian Okoye of Human Rights Monitor, a civil liberties group, told IRIN Zakzaky's group "poses a serious challenge to the establishment in the north". Okoye said: "They believe the kind of society they have, sanctioned by mainstream religious leaders, is ungodly and repressive. They believe the system needs to be uprooted."

Zakzaky told IRIN that his movement had been labeled a security threat, "and to those in authority, yes we are. But I am not a security risk to the people of this country".

Foreign relations

Obasanjo's government will also come under scrutiny from the outside. He said he would make sure Nigeria plays a constructive role in the United Nations, Organisation of African Unity, Commonwealth and other international bodies.

On Sierra Leone, he said: "We shall endeavour to ensure a quick resolution of the crisis by dialogue and diplomatic means, by increasing activity on the second track of peace and reconciliation."

Foreign reactions included that of the European Union (EU) which has restored cooperation broken off in 1995 following the hanging of nine Ogoni activists. As a result, Nigeria could soon get 330 million euro granted before the executions, the EU said, quoted by PANA.

SIERRA LEONE: Agreement on safe access for aid workers

Sierra Leone's government and rebels have agreed at peace talks in Lome to guarantee "safe and unhindered access" so that humanitarian assistance can be delivered effectively, according to a joint statement issued on Thursday.

A spokesperson for Medical Emergency Relief International (MERLIN) reacted with cautious optimism to the statement, telling IRIN on Friday: "if the statement means what it says then it is a positive development".

The statement said the two parties were aware that "the protracted civil strife has created a situation whereby the vast majority of Sierra Leoneans in need of humanitarian assistance cannot be reached". Aid agencies have said that nearly two-thirds of the country remains inaccessible.

Implementation committee

The government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) also undertook "to establish with immediate effect, and not later than seven days, an Implementation Committee".

The committee will comprise representatives from the government, the RUF, civil society and the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL). It is to be chaired by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in coordination with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Sierra Leone, Francis Okelo.

The Implementation Committee will assess the security of routes to be used by humanitarian agencies and disseminate information on such routes to the humanitarian agencies. It will also review complaints that may follow the implementation of this arrangement to establish "full compliance", the joint statement said.

Okelo highlighted the importance of taking urgent steps to address the acute humanitarian situation in the whole country as the rainy season begins, according to a UNOMSIL press release on Thursday.

Release of POWs and noncombatants

In a joint statement on Wednesday the two sides agreed to "the immediate release of prisoners of war and non-combatants," and a committee was established to implement this decision.

The first meeting of this committee took place on Thursday at UNOMSIL's headquarters in Freetown. It was chaired by the UNOMSIL Chief Military Observer, Brigadier Subhash Joshi, and included participants from the UN mission, other UN agencies and NGOs, according to a UNOMSIL press release.

The aim of the meeting was to "evolve the detailed modalities of securing such release". During the meeting it became clear, according to the statement, that this task also involved intermediate steps to help integrate individuals into society.

While there will be a relatively small number of prisoners of war, there will be a large number of detainees, including children, unfamiliar with a "normal family unit", UNOMSIL said. It is also essential for adequate provisions to be made for trauma counselling and general medical treatment apart from the day-to-day requirements prior to reintegration with their families, the press release added.

A subcommittee met on Friday to work out a detailed analysis of what is required to fulfil this role, it said.

Road blocks

ECOMOG spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukulade told IRIN on Tuesday that a ceasefire that started on 24 May was threatened by a roadblock which a group of about 12 rebels had set up at a key junction on the main road to Masiaka, some 50 km east of Freetown.

Olukulade said the rebels had mounted the roadblock after the start of the ceasefire and had, therefore, "committed a violation, details of which had been reported to UN military observers".

Although the rebels allowed people to pass, it was unacceptable, Olukulade said, for ECOMOG troops to have to go through a rebel checkpoint to get food and provisions to units on the other side. ECOMOG was concerned, Olukulade added, because rebels were using the checkpoint to spy on its positions.

On Wednesday, Olukulade told IRIN the roadblock had been removed. "It was removed on Monday," he said. "However we are concerned that there are further checkpoints in other areas."

SENEGAL: Fresh Fighting in Casamance

Senegal's Armed Forces Ministry said on Monday that the army had launched a "mopping-up operation" against separatist rebels near the southern town of Ziguinchor.

The operation allowed the army to locate and destroy firing positions considered a threat to the local population, intercept columns of armed rebels and secure tourist routes leading to Cap Skirring, some 60 km southwest of Ziguinchor.

The weekend before, heavy weapons fire had erupted near Ziguinchor, the main town in the southern area of Casamance, where government troops have been battling separatist guerillas for years, sources told IRIN on Monday.

An NGO source told IRIN two civilians were killed and some 15 people wounded in the fighting between the army and the Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) which followed a recent sweep by Senegalese forces near the border with Guinea Bissau, according to news organisations.

CHAD: Troops return home

Troops Chad sent last year to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to back the government of President Laurent Kabila have returned home.

Chadian Communication Minister Moussa Dago told IRIN on Monday that: "The bulk of the contingent arrived in Sahr (south-western Chad) since yesterday" while the rest had left Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), on Sunday night and were expected to arrive in Chad by Tuesday.

Dago said the troops numbered about 2,000.

The withdrawal, which began on 26 May, followed an April peace accord in Sirte, Libya, between Kabila and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni that provided for the replacing of troops from nations involved in the conflict with a neutral peacekeeping force.

LIBERIA-SIERRA LEONE: Accusations followed by offer to help

Accusations and denials of troop build-ups along the border between Liberia and Sierra Leone were followed this week by a announcement that Liberian President Charles Taylor planned to help bring peace to Sierra Leone.

Last week, the Liberian government denied allegations by ECOMOG that it planned to attack Sierra Leone.

On Monday, Star radio in Monrovia said Taylor had shelved plans to attend Saturday's presidential inauguration in Nigeria after reports of troop movements on the Sierra Leone border. ECOMOG spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukulade told IRIN on Tuesday that there had been any troop movements.

However, on Thursday, Liberian Deputy Information Minister Milton Teahjay told IRIN Taylor was going to Lome on Friday in support of the effort to bring peace to Sierra Leone.

Teahjay said Taylor aimed to "work collectively and constructively with President Gnassingbe Eyadema to help bring the crisis in Sierra Leone to an end".

GUINEA: HRW calls for protection for Sierra Leonean refugees

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to take immediate steps to protect Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea by moving them inland.

The refugees live in camps close to the Sierra Leone border. In the past three months, Sierra Leonean rebels have often attacked the camps, killing, mutilating and abducting dozens of people, Guineans and refugees, HRW said in a statement on 31 May. In one attack on 22 May, 11 civilians were killed, HRW said.

"The brutality and the frequency of these attacks is simply atrocious," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of HRW's Africa Division. "Refugee camps are supposed to be a safe haven, but these camps in Guinea are a magnet for attack."

A UNHCR source told IRIN that UNHCR had thus far relocated around 10,000 of the Sierra Leoneans.

Around 50,000 people need to be moved to the two new sites some 70- 100 km from the border where the refugees are being housed. The relocation, begun on 12 April, was suspended from 21 to 25 May while work was being done on the second site, the source said.

However, there are only four weeks left until the rains make roads in the area impassable, according to the UNHCR source. "It's a race against the clock for our field staff," he said.

TOGO: Government urged to free human rights detainees

The Federation internationale des Ligues de Droits de l'Homme and the Organisation mondiale contre la Torture have appealed to the Togolese government to release four human rights campaigners.

The four are Nestor Tengue, Francois Gayibor and Brice Santanna of the Association togolaise pour la Defense et la Promotion des Droits de l'Homme (ATDPDH) and Antoine Koffi Nadjombe of the Amnesty International's Togo chapter.

They are accused of providing Amnesty with information on human rights violations in Togo which the government has denied.

GHANA: Japan donates US $16.5 million

Japan's government this week donated US $16.5 million to Ghana to support its structural adjustment programme, according to news organisations. The money will reportedly be used by Ghana to import machinery, spare parts and industrial materials.

Fuel prices up by 15 percent

Fuel prices in Ghana have been increased by 15 percent. Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) radio said the new prices, were announced on Tuesday. They are (per litre): premium petrol, 855.56 cedis; diesel, 822.23 cedis and kerosene, 600 cedis. Liquid petroleum gas now sells at 920 cedis per kilogramme. The cedi exchanges at about 2,500 to the dollar.

BURKINA FASO: Committee of elders to investigate impunity

President Blaise Compaore has set up a committee of elders to look into unpunished political crimes committed in Burkina Faso since independence in 1960, news organisations reported.

The committee comprises ex-presidents Sangoule Lamizana (1966-1980), Saye Zerbo (1980-1982) and Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo (1982-1983), eight traditional and religious leaders and five resource persons. It has 45 days to submit its findings.

The appointment came in the wake of a report released on 7 May by an independent commission which found that independent journalist Norbert Zongo had been the victim of a political killing.

Zongo's body was found along with three others in his car on 13 December in Sapouy, about 100 km from the capital, Ouagadougou.

GUINEA BISSAU: Delivery of humanitarian aid delayed

The delivery of humanitarian supplies to Guinea Bissau was stepped up last week after delays linked to the closure of the border with Senegal during much of the month of May, according to humanitarian sources in Bissau.

"The closure of the border and confusion over whether the border was open or closed at a particular point in time has exacerbated delays in the delivery of much-needed humanitarian assistance," a humanitarian source told IRIN.

"The implications are particularly severe for the agricultural sector with the imminent arrival of the planting season." the source added.

For example, some 75 mt of seeds had been stuck in Senegal, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) in Guinea Bissau said in its most recent report, which covers the period from 18 to 31 May.

According to the report, Senegal's Minister of the Interior told the UN Resident Coordinator in Dakar that the border would be open for humanitarian assistance. As a result, two trucks carrying FAO agricultural supplies arrived in Bafata on 29 May, OCHA said.

The border's closure also delayed the arrival of health supplies.

Meningitis vaccination campaign

In spite of the difficulties, health, civic education and food aid programmes continued. For example, a nationwide vaccination campaign against meningitis covered more than one million persons, 95 percent of the population, as at the end of May, OCHA reported.

Airport closed to commercial traffic

Meanwhile, the continued closure of Guinea Bissau's airport to commercial traffic prevented many aid workers from entering the country due to the limited number of seats available on the twice-weekly United Nations flights, according to OCHA. Carriers reportedly experienced difficulties, including technical problems.

NIGER: Commission proposes presidential system

A consultative committee set up by Niger's military government has proposed a system in which power is shared by a president and prime minister. This "semi-presidential regime" is part of a draft constitution the committee approved this week. Niger's people are to vote on it at a referendum whose date is yet to be set, sources told IRIN.

Meanwhile, news organisations reported this week that Niger's former defence minister, Yahaya Tounkara, had been placed under house arrest after calling for an investigation into the death of ex-president Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, shot in a coup on 9 April.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Refugee ID cards

Refugees in Cote d'Ivoire are to receive identification cards under a programme launched on 25 May in Abidjan. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office for Cote d'Ivoire, the cards will be valid for a year and will be renewable.

Blaise Cherif, UNHCR's resident representative in Abidjan, told IRIN shortly before he travelled to camps in western Cote d'Ivoire to explain the measure to refugees there that Cote d'Ivoire had around 196,000 refugees, according to official figures.

Over 95 percent are Liberians.

Abidjan, 4 June 1999, 19:55 GMT

[ENDS]

[ UN IRIN-WA Tel: +225 21 73 66 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@ocha.unon.org ]

Item: irin-english-965

[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information or free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or fax: +254 2 622129 or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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