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IRIN-WA Weekly Round-Up 9 of Main Events for West Africa covering the period 26 February - 4 March 1999
NIGERIA: Obasanjo wins presidential poll
People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Olusegun Obasanjo was returned to power as civilian president in Saturday's elections, 20 years after he resigned as Nigeria's military ruler.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday released the poll results, which gave Obasanjo 62 percent of the total 27,636,929 valid votes cast. His challenger, Olu Falae of the combined Alliance for Democracy/All People's Party (AD/APP), won 38 percent.
The election ends 15 straight years of military rule, in a country where soldiers have held power for a total of all but 10 years since independence in 1960. The outgoing military ruler, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, is due to resign his commission on 29 May, the day Obasanjo assumes office. Obasanjo ruled Nigeria from 1976 to 1997 after the assassination of General Murtala Muhammed.
Analysts note "mammoth task" ahead
Nigerian analysts said the new civilian government will face the mammoth task, when it takes power in May, of building a democratic order after decades of military rule. "We have to clean our psyche and really demilitarise our way of thinking and doing things," Abdul Oroh, director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), told IRIN. He said he saw the role of CLO and other NGOs which - along with the independent media - led the opposition to army rule, as one of civic education and strengthening democratic process. "Most Nigerians under the age of 30 have never really known civilian rule," he pointed out.
Falae to challenge poll results
Election loser Olu Falae said he would challenge the results. In an interview with AFP, he said he would take up allegations of massive vote rigging with the country's election tribunal within two weeks, as requested by law.
Monitoring Group notes high level of fraud
Nigeria's Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), a coalition of 63 human rights and civil society bodies, said that a marked feature of this election was the collusion of many electoral officers with party agents to commit malpractices or to allow the voters to subvert the electoral process.
"There were areas where the incidence of electoral fraud was great enough to completely distort the election result," the TGM said in a report received by IRIN.
SIERRA LEONE: WFP begins humanitarian flights into Freetown
WFP on Tuesday began airlifting emergency supplies and people to Sierra Leone from Conakry, Guinea, on a recently-leased helicopter. In a news release, the UN food agency said it hoped to use the helicopter to fly to the eastern towns of Bo and Kenema, where aid efforts have been hampered due to insecurity along the roads. "The availability of regular air transport into Sierra Leone, fully dedicated to humanitarian activities, will greatly facilitate our work in reaching people who need assistance," said Abnezer Ngowi, the acting WFP country director for Sierra Leone.
Ogata urges ECOMOG forces to stay
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata said an eventual repatriation of refugees to Sierra Leone would depend on the security situation. Summarising her West African visit, a UNHCR spokesman quoted her as saying it was practically impossible to get humanitarian aid to most of the country.
Addressing a news conference in Abidjan at the end of her tour, Ogata said she hoped the West African intervention force, ECOMOG, would stay in Sierra Leone, despite Nigeria's intention to withdraw its troops. "I hope there are no immediate drastic changes following the election in Nigeria as there is no alternative to peacekeeping forces at present," she said.
Kabbah moots Lome or Bamako for rebel meet
President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah has agreed to allow jailed rebel leader Foday Sankoh to travel to Togo or Mali for talks with his commanders. Speaking over state radio and television Kabbah said, however, that after the meeting, Sankoh would have to return Sierra Leone. A statement signed between the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the UN last week called for Sankoh's freedom after the talks.
RUF spokesman Omrie Golley "cautiously welcomed" Kabbah's offer if the government was "serious for peace and for peaceful dialogue".
Waterloo "burnt to the ground"
The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) was the first humanitarian agency to visit Waterloo last Friday as part of a goverment assessment team, after rebels earlier fled the town, the NGO told IRIN. It said more than 7,000 displaced people were returning to a town "which is literally burnt to the ground". CRS said it was providing immediate food assistance in response to an urgent appeal from the government.
Kenema facing grave humanitarian crisis
CRS also said the situation of displaced people in Kenema "is probably the most under-reported humanitarian crisis" in the country. Over 50,000 IDPs were currently in the town and in nearby Blama. "While international agencies flock to Freetown to join in the emergency response there, security and transport constraints have restricted movement to Kenema," it pointed out. Given the vast number of unmet humanitarian needs in the area, CRS was looking to redeploy some Bo office staff.
ECOMOG displays captured rebels
The West African intervention force, ECOMOG, has displayed nearly 90 rebel prisoners captured during fighting in Freetown in January, Sierra Leone presidential spokesman Septimus Kaikai told IRIN on Thursday. The Sierra Leone News website also reported that many of the prisoners were members of the country's former army and police officers. Following the battle for the city, the UN and other organisations accused ECOMOG of summarily killing rebels and suspected collaborators, a charge denied by both Kaikai and ECOMOG spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukolade.
Spokesman denies UN representative asked to leave
Presidential spokesman Septimus Kaikai also denied personal knowledge that President Kabbah had demanded the recall of UNDP Resident Representative Elizabeth Lwanga.
"I am not personally aware of this decision at all," Kaikai told IRIN.
His comment came in response to news reports that Kabbah made the request because UN expatriate staff had failed to return to Freetown after evacuating to neighbouring Guinea.
LIBERIA: NGOs urge government to tackle critical problems
More than 50 Liberian NGOs have urged the government to restore international confidence in the country by addressing critical human rights and security issues. The NGOs' "Mamba Point Declaration", received by IRIN, expressed concern that citizens "live in fear of the security forces" and "cannot report violations with confidence". It invited the goverment to work with the NGO community in Liberia. Some of the most pressing tasks were the reintegration of thousands of ex-combatants and creating a "corruption free" environment for business investment.
Government probing ethnic tension in Lofa county
President Charles Taylor has sent a ministerial team to Lofa county in the north to investigate reports of renewed ethnic tension there, Star radio reported. It said recent fighting in the Voinjama area had left at least three people dead. The Liberian interior minister, who is a member of the team, said the government had not yet established who was involved in the fighting. However, regional analysts note the traditional hostility in Lofa county between the Mandingo and Loma people who live in separate communities with their own leadership structures. The Loma regard the Mandingo as Guineans or foreigners who have "abused their hospitality" , and there have been instances of Loma appropriating Mandingo property and homes, the analysts say.
GUINEA BISSAU: New pullout date for foreign troops
Guinean and Senegalese troops, who supported Guinea Bissau President Joao Bernardo Vieira in trying to put down a military insurrection, will now leave the country by 16 March at the latest, news reports said.
Withdrawal of the troops, which has been a major demand of the Military Junta and of Prime Minister Francisco Fadul, was initially due for completion on 28 February. Their departure has been linked to the arrival of ECOMOG troops, sent by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). So far, 600 of the expected 1,450 ECOMOG troops have arrived.
TOGO: Parliamentary poll postponed
Parliamentary elections, slated for 7 March, have been postponed for two weeks to enable the opposition to take part, AFP reported. Opposition parties had ignored registration deadlines, in a challenge to the results of last June's presidential election in which President Gnassingbe Eyadema was re-elected. Communications Minister Koffi Panou announced the legislative poll would now be held on 21 March after opposition parties held seven hours of talks with the president.
MALI: IMF hails economic progress
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) considers that Mali has made "considerable progress" in its economy since 1994, but says it still needs outside assistance to achieve its social and economic goals. According to an IMF report, Mali - under economic programmes governed by the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility - sustained its economic growth in 1998, despite adverse weather conditions. However, as the economy was still "fragile", the IMF recommended additional debt relief for the country. It also urged the Malian authorities to continue with their policy of fiscal consolidation, including modernisation of the tax system, and to accelerate structural reforms.
Abidjan, 5 March 1999, 13:00 gmt
[ENDS]
Preview IRIN Web site: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/index.html
Date: Mon, 08 Mar 1999 14:40:30 From: IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Weekly Round-up 9-99 for 1999.3.5 [19990309]
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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