Zonal Summary on Africa for week # 111

Week # 111, Dated 14-21 March 2010
POLITICS OF SECURITY AND CONFLICT ISSUES
West Africa: In Ghana last week a high-powered government delegation met with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II as efforts to calm the mounting tension, following a recent chieftaincy row, between the Asante Kingdom and the Techimanhene gathered momentum.
Last week following a bomb threat issued through an email by The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), an explosion was reported at a government building hosting amnesty talks in the southern Nigeria oil town of Warri. Attacks by militant groups have slashed Nigeria's oil production by around a quarter from 2006 levels, allowing Angola to overtake it as Africa's biggest oil producer.
Nigerian Acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolves the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last week as part of efforts to rejuvenate his government. Meanwhile Jonathan restated the administration's determination to ensure electoral integrity in the country in 2011.
Last week Libyan President Muammar Ghaddafi in a speech to African student in Tripoli, opined that the conflict between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria may be solved by division of the country into two nations. As an example he described the partition of India as a “historic, radical solution” which saved the lives of “millions of Hindus and Muslims”. Nigeria has recalled its ambassador to Libya while terming its leader’s statement as ‘irresponsible’.
Meanwhile the Nigerian parliament passed a motion last week urging the government to order an investigation by the African Union into whether Libya was supplying "infiltrators" to destabilize the country.
According to a Gambian Justice Ministry statement a group of senior military officials and businessmen have been charged with trying to overthrow Gambian President Yahya Jammeh.
In Guinea, interim military leader General Sekouba Konate has said he will not run in upcoming June presidential elections adding that leading members of the transitional government cannot stand in the June 27 elections. International pressure is believed to have precipitated the decision.
Last week two Senegalese soldiers were killed and two others injured during a clash with suspected separatist rebels in the southern province of Casamance, one of the country's top tourist zones.
Togo's Constitutional Court last week confirmed the re-election of President Faure Gnassingbe in the March 4 polls, whose provisional results were contested by the opposition. As a reaction Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets of Togo's capital to protest against the re-election.

South Africa: The African Union has put sanctions on Madagascar's leader Andry Rajoelina, after he failed to meet a deadline to set up a unity government.
South African President Jacob Zuma has survived a vote of no-confidence called by opposition parties on fathering of love child by him. The vote - the first such move since the ANC came to power in 1994 - was defeated by 241 votes to 84 with eight abstentions.
Meanwhile South African leader Zuma met Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe last week in a fresh bid to resolve a decade-long political crisis that has contributed to economic ruin in Zimbabwe. Following the meeting Zimbabwe's leaders have agreed to a "package of measures" to help rescue its fragile unity government
The African Union has put sanctions on Madagascar's leader Andry Rajoelina, after he failed to meet a deadline to set up a unity government. Mr Rajoelina and 108 of his backers will face travel restrictions and have any foreign assets frozen. In reaction Rajoelina has rowed back on concessions made to political rivals in power-sharing talks last year.

Central Africa: A U.S. Military Delegation including twelve students from Navy, Marine and Air force visited Rwanda last week in a bid to learn from the country’s ‘institutional development’.
Recent amendment to the Rwandan constitution include the authentic interpretation of law is now to be done by the Supreme Court unlike the previous arrangement where it was done by the Parliament. The current constitution has so far been amended three times since its official adoption in 2003.
The leader of the Federal Republican Forces (FRF) rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, while accusing the national army of attacking FRF positions, has said that his group will continue its offensive against the national army. Meanwhile reportedly at least 11 civilians and eight troops have died in attacks by Ugandan LRA rebels in the northeast of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
François Bozizé, President of the Central African Republic, has announced his candidacy at the upcoming 25 April presidential elections. Meanwhile several opposition groups have announced to boycott the polls.
President Fradique de Menezes of São Toméand Príncipe, having failed to follow the original election schedule, has decreed that local and legislative elections will be held in July and August.
The runner-up to Gabon's 2009 presidential polls last week warned that the "general discontent" with President Ali Bongo within the year could lead to a "Niger-like coup." President Ali Bongo, who "inherited" the presidency from his father in 2009, now also followed late Omar Bongo's footsteps as freshly elected leader of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG).

HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: A migration profile of Cameroon released last week by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) shows that current migration flows continues to be mostly internal from the countryside to the cities, with increasing numbers of skilled and unskilled Cameroonians emigrating to neighboring countries and beyond to Europe and to the United States.
According to reporters At least 55 children have died of malnutrition in Niger since the beginning of this year out of 45 525 cases recorded. According to the Niger's military leadership the country needs $123 million in international aid to combat the risk of food shortages this year. The junta, having announced that its members are not eligible for elections, has earned approval for breaking from the policy of deposed President Mamadou Tandja by publicly addressing the risk of famine.
Meanwhile a recent journalistic piece revealed that forced child labour in Côte d'Ivoire's cocoa industry continues to be rampant.
Last week in Sierra Leone at least 200 people were killed when a trench collapsed at an unofficial gold mine.

South Africa: According to a survey in 2009 reported by (IRIN) (conducted with more than 1,000 citizens and 200 policy-makers, opinion leaders, media and business people in Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda) God, not global emissions, is to blame for climate change.
Reports have voiced fears of a flare-up of violent South African protests that could escalate ahead of the soccer World Cup as the country's angry poor press their demands for better housing and jobs.
Central Africa: According to aid workers a farming ban imposed on Rwandan refugees in southwestern Uganda is raising concerns for their food security, while proposed cash transfers, it is feared, could boost both food prices and theft.
Insecurity and poor access are hampering efforts to aid 114,000 refugees in northern Republic of Congo. A heavy militia and insurgent presence on the Ubangui River is complicating aid worker efforts.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ICTR having requested Kenya to produce all relevant information pertaining to the Genocide fugitive Felicien Kabuga, has complained of unsatisfactory level of cooperation.

HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND DOMESTIC POLITICS
West Africa: The US$ 2.4 million UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) project funded by Germany has helped farmers in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal and Sierra Leone to cater to a growing organic food market.
A study conducted by Action Aid Ghana (AAG) and FoodSPAN indicates that the absence of comprehensive policy on biofuel production in the country is adversely affecting food security, environment and human rights in the affected communities.
Meanwhile Dr.Constance Bart-Plange, Programme Manager of Malaria Control Programme, Ghana, has called on the private sector to assist in bridging the gap of 6.4 million bed nets.
Recent report compiled by the Joint Monitoring Project (JMP) and WaterAid International, Nigeria has over 75 million and 98 million Nigerians lack access to quality water and sanitation respectively.

South Africa: United Nations aid workers in eastern Madagascar are helping local officials mount relief efforts in the wake of Tropical Storm Hubert, which has killed dozens of people and left an estimated 11,000 others homeless.
Meanwhile according to aid agencies Cholera has claimed the lives of over 40 people in Mozambique and ongoing flooding throughout the central and northern parts of the country could "aggravate" the problem. Eleven people have died of cholera in Zambia since the outbreak of the disease at the onset of rainy season in late 2009. Also officials reported at least 20 casualties following floods in Angola and neighboring Zambia.
Zimbabwe's food security has improved but is still "precarious" and "vulnerable to sudden shocks", according to the latest update by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Malawi's government has announcing plans to more than double the number of people receiving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to half a million by the end of 2010.

POLITICAL ECONOMY
West Africa: In Ghana some farmers in the Ahanta West District have appealed for governmental support towards the payment of compensation for lands acquired for oil-related projects.
Ghana’s Western neighbor Ivory Coast is reportedly laying claims to portions of the huge oil wealth in the deep waters of the Western Region. Ghana has begun an urgent move to pass a new law that seeks to establish the Ghana Boundary Commission to undertake negotiations to determine and demarcate Ghana’s land boundaries and de-limit Ghana’s maritime boundaries. §
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