• Zimbabwe Ambassador: Self-determination is at root of conflict (FCN, 04-22-2008)
• Activists: Fast track is right track in Zim land redistribution plan (FCN, 02-13-2003)
• Special Report on Zimbabwe land crisis (FCN, 10-13-2002)

WINDHOEK, Namibia (PANA) – The South African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal has moved the hearing of Zimbabwe’s land case, in which 78 White commercial farmers are challenging the expropriation of their farms, to July 16 after government of Zimbabwe asked the regional panel for an extension to prepare its defense and properly present its arguments.

The five-judge tribunal upheld an application by the lawyers representing the Zimbabwean government that it be granted time to prepare and be able to present its case.

The hearing opened in Windhoek where the Tribunal is headquartered May 28.

Advocate Prince Machaya, representing the Zimbabwean government, which is the respondent in the landmark case, made an application asking the court for an extension, arguing that his team did not have enough human and financial resources to be able to prepare its case.

Delivering judgment in the application, Justice Luis Mondhlane ordered the Zimbabwean government to file its submission by June 18 and set the hearing for July 16-18.

The case opened in October last year when White commercial farmer Michael Campbell successfully applied to the SADC court for an urgent ruling to halt the seizure of his farm by the Zimbabwean government.

The White commercial farmers, who are the applicants in the case, had argued strongly against further postponement of the case, citing continuing farm invasions in Zimbabwe.

Jeremy Gauntlett, who appeared for the applicants, said the remaining White commercial farmers in Zimbabwe were in an “enormously precarious and vulnerable position,” adding that further delay in the case would worsen their situation.

“The pattern which has emerged is one of delay, calculated delay by the respondent (Zimbabwean government), calculated delay in the hope that something will come up,” Mr. Gauntlett said.

Mr. Gauntlett also said the Harare government had failed to comply with initial interim relief, granted in December. Justice Machaya concurred that two commercial farms of the applicants had been invaded adding that he had brought the matter to the attention of Zimbabwe’s justice minister and attorney-general.

“I am aware that there has been persecution of some of the applicants and I have drawn the matter to the attention of the AG and the minister of Justice and therefore there is the need to comply fully with the order of the tribunal,” Justice Machaya said.

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LAGOS, Nigeria (PANA) – Widespread and varying reactions have greeted the xenophobic attacks in South Africa, with Africans and non-Africans alike pondering what could have led to African-on-African violence at a time the continent is pushing on with plans to form the United States of Africa.

Though Zimbabweans, Malawians, Mozambicans and Nigerians have borne the brunt of the attacks, which have left over 40 dead and thousands displaced, other Africans living in South Africa are not faring better.

After initially rejecting calls to deploy troops to assist the police in curtailing the attacks, the South African authorities have brought out the soldiers, marking the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994 that such an action has been taken.

Since starting in Johannesburg suburbs May 11, the attacks by rampaging South Africans have spread to the township as well as Durban and beyond.

In Nigeria, the federal government reacted swiftly by directing its Consulate in South Africa to immediately take care of displaced and affected Nigerians, while President Umaru Yar’Adua took up the issue with his South African counterpart, Thabo Mbeki at the African Union Committee of 12 meeting in Arusha, Tanzania. Details of their meeting have not yet been released.

While the government embarks on diplomacy, ordinary Nigerians and the local press were less restrained.

In a piece entitled: “South Africans forget so soon,” the private Nation newspaper wrote: “It is a cruel twist of fate. Before 1994, a mere 14 years ago when apartheid formally ended, Black South Africans were the ones on the run.

“Much of the world lent a hand, many opened their doors. The African continent was particularly supportive. Nigerian universities took many South African exiles in for study, as did the rest of the continent, including Mozambique. Today, South Africans are purging their land of Nigerians and Mozambicans as well as other foreigners,” the paper wrote.

The article reflects the opinion of many Nigerians on the attack.

“This maltreatment of our people residing in South Africa is totally unwarranted, uncalled for and unacceptable to Nigerians,” Bolaji Abimbola wrote in a May 23 letter to the editor of a local newspaper.

While calling for an urgent intervention of the AU, the director of research at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Prof. Waris Alli, said, however the attacks would not have a mortal effect on Africa’s solidarity

“I don’t think we should assume that this is going to lead to the collapse of African solidarity. You see it is painful though, but this is not the first country on the continent where foreigners have been used as scapegoats for their failure. Nonetheless it is an unfortunate development which should not be encouraged,” the foreign relations expert added.

From the Southern African Development Community (SADC) came a sharp rebuke: The attacks constitute a blight on the region’s long held solidarity, which dates back to the fight against oppressive colonial machinery.

SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Salomao said the 15-member community SADC was fully supportive of what the South African government is doing to stop the violence, adding that SADC had always had a culture of supporting one another.

“What is happening now does not make sense and we cannot say that is the position of South Africa,” Mr. Salomao said in a May 23 interview.

Bishop Zephania Kameeta of Namibia’s Evangal Lutheran Church of Namibia said xenophobia could not be condoned and urged governments in the region to address the issue of peace and violence.

In Kenya, Prime Minister Raila Odinga blamed the attacks on the continued economic crisis in neighboring Zimbabwe and urged African nations to act in solidarity with South Africa, saying the violence was temporary.

“Basically the problem in South Africa is Zimbabwe. There has been a huge influx of people from Zimbabwe but I don’t think those Zimbabweans have an intention of staying in South Africa forever,” Mr. Odinga said.

In line with the prime minister’s admonition, Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula softened an earlier stance on South Africa and called for solidarity with Pretoria, saying the attacks should not push diplomatic friction amongst Africans.

In Malawi, where at least six Malawians were reported to have died in the attacks, a human rights organization has called on SADC to “move in swiftly and protect” their citizens.

“HRCC (Human Rights Consultative Committee) is calling upon the governments in SADC including Malawi to move in swiftly and protect its citizens that are living in South Africa. SADC governments have a moral obligation to protect its citizenry wherever they may be to the greatest possible and practical extent,” it said.

Samuel Kachoka, who was staying in Soweto, told PANA from his village in the lakeshore district of Mangochi that he had to flee “quickly” after being warned that foreigners were being targeted.

“I didn’t have time to collect anything from home,” said Mr. Kachoka, who was working at a service station downtown Johannesburg.

UN agencies operating in South Africa have expressed deep concern about the violence.

“Most of the victims are law abiding migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, seeking a safe and better life for their families,” the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator of the UN in South Africa said in a statement.

Key South African leaders, including former President Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, as well as the opposition Democratic Alliance have also reacted strongly to the attacks, which they said were not in the best interest of their country and its people.

Despite the fact that Zimbabweans fleeing violence and economic hardship at home have been the hardest hit, the reaction of the Zimbabwean authorities has been largely mooted.

Analysts said the Zimbabwean leaders could be avoiding angering Mr. Mbeki, who they see as a key backer, and also because most of the Zimbabweans caught up are opposition supporters who have been vocal opponents of the Robert Mugabe regime.

A key issue is the impact the attacks will have on the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Perhaps avoiding raising further fears over the competition–already threatened by high crime rate in South Africa–the international football federation, FIFA, opted for an expression of hope.

FIFA spokesperson Delia Fisher said while the organization was “obviously concerned” about the violence, it hoped the 2010 World Cup would help heal the divisions in the country.

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• New cabinet faces tough road in Kenya (FCN, 05-05-2008)
• Economic inequality fuels Kenya’s violence (FCN, 02-15-2008)

NAIROBI, Kenya (PANA) – Kenya’s economy is expected to accelerate its growth from the depressed focus rate of 4.6 percent upwards as the economy picks up activity months after violence erupted following the East African nation’s disputed presidential polls.

Kenya’s Finance Minister Amos Kimunya said May 21 the economic growth focus o f 4.6 per cent could be revised upwards based on “actual recovery” following the installation of the grand coalition government which has taken charge of the country’s economic affairs.

“We are operating within the 4.5-4.6 percent. I am optimistic going by the renewed commitments from donors and the (economic) activities we are witnessing. I am hopeful the year would turn out better,” Mr. Kimunya told journalists.

Kenya was on the verge of an impressive 8 percent economic growth rate this year but this has been downgraded to between 4.6 percent and 6 percent but economic analysts have termed this government “propaganda.”

“The grand coalition government is now set to continue with the recovery agenda. Our aim is to transform Kenya into a cohesive society,” the government minister said.

Kenya’s post-election political crisis shattered the country’s pride as the island of peace in the turmoil-hit Eastern and Horn of Africa region.

The violence upset the lucrative tourism industry, leading to mass layoffs.

Agriculture, the bedrock of Kenya’s economic prosperity, has been severely ripped by the post-election violence, which saw some 100,000 farmers still in camps for the internally displaced at the start of this year’s planting season.

Tourism, which earned the country $1 billion in 2007, was severely affected by the post-election violence. The other key drivers, the manufacturing sector and transport, are still struggling to recover after the chaos.

The government is racing to implement a series of incentives and short- and medium-term projects under its newly-mooted economic growth plan, Vision 2030, which aims to make Kenya a middle income economy by 2030.

“To realize our dream, we hope to achieve 10 percent economic growth, which means we need more investments in roads, water, agriculture and energy sectors,” Mr. Kimunya told a visiting team of German Economic Ministry officials.

Kenyan authorities have launched an international appeal for $430 million to finance its emergency economic recovery plan which is expected to get the economy from its current doldrums within a period of one year.

The country is facing one of its highest inflationary pressures in months with the annual inflation currently standing at 26 percent, way above Kenya’s benchmark rate of 5 percent, which complicates the dream recovery speed.

Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya said the authorities remained optimistic that the ambitious targets would be met this year.

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Could the global food crisis impact America? (FCN, 04-30-2008)

ABUJA, Nigeria (PANA) – Nigeria has announced plans to import 500,000 metric tons of rice and release an additional 11,000 metric tons of grains from its strategic reserve to cushion the effect of the global food crisis.

Already, the government has allocated about $678 billion for the massive rice importation.

The decisions were reached at an April 29 meeting between President Umaru Yar’Adua and the governors of the country’s 36 states, held in the capital city of Abuja.

Nigeria had earlier released 40 million metric tons of grains from the reserve.

The rice to be imported will be sold to Nigerians at subsidized prizes, perhaps about half of the current all-time high price of between $85 and $102 per bag.

According to the World Bank, the price of foodstuffs has gone up 83 percent in three years due to, among other things, the effect of climate change on agricultural production and a reduced production area triggered by the increased use of land to grow crops for fuel, instead of food.

In March, the opposition Action Congress called on the federal government “to move quickly to mitigate the effects (of the rising prices) on the millions of the country’s poor citizens by paying more attention to food production.”

“We don’t want our people to engage in riots before the government will know that an increasing number of them are going to bed hungry at night,” the Action Congress said.

On April 29, the Food and Agriculture Organization called on the international community to act fast to defuse the food emergency.

“We must produce more food where it is urgently needed to contain the impact of the soaring prices on poor consumers,” FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said in a statement.

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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PANA)–The African Union (AU) recently announced plans to create an investment bank to finance private sector developments within the continent, as part of efforts to put the continent on a sound growth path towards its industrialization.

AU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Maxwell Mkwezalamba said talks on the formation of the continental development bank were underway to give the continent’s investors access to much-needed capital to finance development initiatives. The plans were made public Jan. 22.

“Africa’s industrialization dream would be unthinkable in the absence of the private sector.” Mr. Mkwezalamba said the opening session of the AU-sanctioned Africa Private Sector Forum, convened to explore continental initiatives to industrialize Africa.

Africa’s leading business minds, including bankers, financiers, mobile phone company chiefs, airline executives and security experts, are gathered at the AU hub to discuss available investment opportunities in Africa.

The forum also aims to sensitize the African populace to anti-graft efforts needed to push the industrialization process, in addition to seeking to put the economic integration of Africa on a fast track while creating working relationships with Africa’s private sector.

Ethiopia’s Industry Minister Tadesse Haile said the private sector was Africa’s only hope for industrialization because of growing budget shortfalls most African states face, leaving little or no funds for extra investments in roads, electricity and education.

He said Africa’s private sector, in its current form, is “weak and fragmented” and unable to compete.

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Election violence rocks Kenya (FCN, 01-13-2008)

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) – Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will take over the mediation efforts in the Kenyan post-electoral crisis with his immediate mandate being to tackle constitutional and electoral reforms in the East African country, reports PANA Thursday.

African Union (AU) chairman John Kufuor, who is also the Ghanaian President, jet ted out of here Thursday after failing to bring the two main rivals, President Mwai Kibaki, and the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Raila Odinga, for face-to-face talks.

Odinga and Kibaki are set to meet Friday to discuss what a government official s aid were ways of stopping post-election bloodletting and not discussions on a power-sharing pact.

In a statement issued after what the AU chairman called “extensive consultatio ns with the parties on ways of resolving the crisis arising from the recent presidential and parliamentary elections, President Kufuor said three main issues wer e agreed upon.

“They agreed on an immediate cessation of the violence as well as any acts which may be detrimental to finding a peaceful solution to the on-going crisis,” the statement said.

President Kufuor, who was due to meet President Kibaki Thursday afternoon, decid ed to leave without meeting his host, who attended the swearing in of his partia l cabinet of 16 ministers, including newly-appointed Vice-President Kalonzo Musyo k a, Kibaki’s ex-rival.

He said the two sides agreed to work together with the Panel of Eminent Africa n Personalities headed by Annan, towards resolving their differences and all out s tanding issues, including constitutional and electoral reforms.

“President Kufuor appeals to all Kenyans, as well as the friends and partners of Kenya to collaborate with the AU to support the process of dialogue and reconciliation and to ensure the restoration of peace and stability,” the AU statement said.

The statement was issued by Andrew Awuni, the Ghanaian president’s press secretary and spokesman.

Kenya’s main opposition party (ODM) is demanding a re-run of the presidential race or the re-tallying of the votes, although this prospect is almost no longer t h e issue.

ODM said the talks failed after the government refused to sign a deal agreed upon during the talks, including the formation of an interim government.

The opposition said the mediation talks failed flat.

“It is with the greatest regret that the international mediation conducted by the AU Chairman Kufuor of Ghana has failed,” ODM Secretary-General Anyang Nyong’ o told a news conference here after the talks collapsed.

They also agreed that there should be dialogue, that it should be done under t he auspices of the Eminent Panel and that should be the way forward,” President Kufuor said before departing.

“It (agreement) must happen, Kenya is too important for Africa,” President Kufuor had said.

ODM leaders said President Kufuor presented to Kibaki an agreement prepared and agreed upon by its representatives but Kibaki refused to sign it, saying he knew nothing about it.

“This was an agreement that was prepared after extensive consultations, involvin g World Bank Representative Collin Bruce who was the facilitator,” Nyong’o said.

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NEW YORK, UN (PANA) – The World Health Organization (WHO), recently warned of the emergence of new diseases around the world spreading “at an unprecedented rate.”

“The emerging infections are moving more quickly, as well as spreading faster and becoming increasingly difficult to treat,” the UN health agency warned in its 2007 annual report released in Geneva.

It cautioned that there was a credible possibility that another major scourge like AIDS, SARS or Ebola virus with the potential of killing millions would appear in the coming years.

“Infectious diseases are now spreading geographically much faster than at any time in history,” WHO stated in the report titled: “A Safer Future: Global Public Health Security in the 21st century.”

It said it was vital to keep watch for new threats like the emergence in 2003 of SARS or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which spread from China to 30 countries and killed 800 people.

“It would be extremely naive and complacent to assume that there will not be another disease like AIDS, another Ebola or another SARS, sooner or later,” the report insists in its warning.

Since the 1970s, WHO said, new threats have been identified at an “unprecedented rate” of one or more every year, meaning that nearly 40 diseases exist today, which were unknown just over a generation ago.

Over the past five years alone, WHO experts verified more than 1,100 epidemics of different diseases.

With more than two billion people traveling by air every year, the agency said: “An outbreak or epidemic in one part of the world is only a few hours away from becoming an imminent threat somewhere else.”

Therefore, WHO called for renewed efforts to monitor, prevent and control epidemic-prone ailments such as cholera, yellow fever and meningococcal diseases.

It also stressed the need for international assistance to help health workers in poorer countries identify and contain outbreaks of emerging viral diseases such as Ebola and Marburg haemorrhagic fever.

It further warned that global efforts to control infectious diseases have already been “seriously jeopardized” by widespread drug resistance, a consequence of poor medical treatment and misuse of antibiotics.

“Drug resistance is also evident in diarrhoeal diseases, hospital-acquired infections, malaria, meningitis, respiratory tract infections, and sexually transmitted infections, and is emerging in HIV,” the report declared.

On the H5N1 bird flu virus, it feared that the current virus, which has so far infected 321 people, killing 194 of them, could mutate to easy human-to-human transmission.

“Although the H5N1 bird flu virus has not mutated into a form that passes easily between humans, as many scientists had feared, the next influenza pandemic is likely to be of an avian variety and can affect some 1.5 billion people,” the report said.

“The question of a pandemic of influenza from this virus or another avian influenza virus is still a matter of when, not if,” WHO noted.

It therefore, called on all countries to share essential health data, such as virus samples and reports of outbreaks as required under international health rules, to mitigate such risks.

It also said that accidents involving toxic chemicals, nuclear power and other environmental disasters should also be communicated quickly and clearly to minimize public health threats.

“Given today’s universal vulnerability to these threats, better security calls for global solidarity,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan urged in the preamble to the report.

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• Profit still trumps public health for ‘Big Pharma’ firms (FCN, 12/08/2006)
• Pharmaceutical cartel: How does it work? (FCN, 02/04/2004)
• Activists charge pharmaceutical cartel with being a tool for genocide (FCN, 01/20/2004)

NAIROBI, Kenya (PANA) – A senior UNESCO official has criticized multi-national pharmaceutical firms which conduct clinical trials in developing countries without adequately informing their volunteers of the possible risks involved in such researches.

UNESCO’s assistant director general in charge of Social and Human Sciences, Dr. Pierre Sane observed that due to lack of ethical standards in scientific researches, such pharmaceutical companies did not bother to obtain informed consent from volunteers participating in their trials.

Dr. Sane spoke recently at Kenya’s Egerton public University, near Nakuru town, 105 miles west of Nairobi where he inaugurated a Bio-ethics center. He lamented that thousands of people in Africa were being enticed by money and other goodies to participate in scientific trials without fully understanding their possible risks.

The Bio-ethics center, said to be the first in the third world, aims to ensure that an ethical framework is maintained to protect society from advances in Science and Technology, the UNESCO official disclosed. The center is also mandated to promote research in bio-ethics, create a platform for collaboration, networking and information sharing.

UNESCO, he said, was committed to ensuring the monitoring and analysis of the impact of scientific and technological innovations on human rights through the strengthening of its actions on the ethics of science and technology.

The UNESCO official, who was in Kenya to attend the 14th Session of the International Bio-ethics Committee meeting in Nairobi, also revealed that the meeting would work on a draft policy on environmental ethics and the growing challenge of toxic waste in Africa.

Kenya, Dr. Sane said, had sought the establishment of a resource center in Africa to facilitate exchanges between scholars, policy makers, civil society and other stakeholders on ethical, legal and social concerns stemming from advances in science.

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• Anti-Corruption Forum Highlights Importance of Independent Bodies (allAfrica.com, 03-04-2007)

Johannesburg, South Africa (PANA) – Some 300 participants from all the regions of Africa gathered in Johannesburg on February 28 for the Africa Forum on Fighting Corruption intended to consolidate African anti-corruption initiatives.

The three-day forum prepared a common African position for the Global Forum V on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity scheduled for April in South Africa.

African ministers, parliamentarians, representatives of anti-corruption agencies and civil society organizations, former Heads of States and international organizations, including donors, attended the forum in Johannesburg.

Its co-hosts were the South African government, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

The fight against corruption is a key element of the African initiatives to eradicate poverty and to put African countries on a path of sustainable growth and development, the South African government recently stated.

Various anti-corruption initiatives have been undertaken within regional economic communities or under the auspices of the African Union, or as initiatives of African development partners and donors or by civil society.

Many of these initiatives are intrinsically linked and underpinned by broader governance or economic reform programs and agendas.

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• Qadhafi: Oil behind Darfur crisis (FCN, 12-08-2006)
• On the politics of Darfur negotiations (Sudan Tribune, 11-30-2006)
• Darfur, Sudan: Seeking the Truth (WEBCAST: Minister Louis Farrakhan, 05-07-2006)
• Sudan needs help, not sanctions – A report from Darfur (FCN, 09-23-2004)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PANA) – The African Union (AU) Commission, Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare, recently warned of serious consequences if the militias should attack the African peacekeeping force base at El Fasher in Sudan’s war-ravaged western region of Darfur.

The warning followed reports from the Force Headquarters of the AU Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) that the militias had invaded a cattle market in the town, fired shots and harassed residents on Dec. 4.

According to the reports, two of five Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) soldiers who intervened have died from injuries they sustained during the rebel raid. An AU Commission statement said the unarmed SLA/M soldiers, who sustained varying degrees of injuries, were treated at AMIS hospital in El Fasher. Two militia elements were reportedly killed during the invasion, but the number of injured militias was unknown.

The Commission said the intervention by the SLA/M soldiers led to extensive firing from the militia, adding, however, that the quick intervention of AMIS forces prevented an escalation of the situation.

“The situation continues to be extremely tense and the reports received from the field indicate that the city of El Fasher is under threat of attack within 24 hours by a coalition comprising the SLA/M, the G19 and the National Redemption Front (NRF). The AMIS Camp at Force Headquarters could be a target,” the AU Commission said.

Mr. Konare condemned the acts of violence, warning all the parties, that any threat to AMIS camps, personnel and properties, would be viewed as a deliberate violation of the ceasefire agreements and protocols. He stressed that violation of the Darfur peace deals would be viewed as a provocation against AMIS forces, whose main objective is to ensure that peace and stability were restored to the region.

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