ugnet_: RWANDA- THE DOMESTIC POLITICS
THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT MAY 2003 Outlook for 2003-04: Domestic politics Rwanda's first multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections since independence are scheduled for November 2003. The elections will mark the return to normal political activity which was suspended after the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took power in 1994, ending the genocide in which up to 1m Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. Since then, a controlled form of political activity was allowed in which parties that had been elected before the genocide were allowed to resume their seats in parliament but were banned from campaigning or engaging in "normal" political activity. The elections are to be preceded by a referendum on a new constitution in late May, which is expected to be approved by voters without objection or much enthusiasm. The government has promised free and fair elections, and the voting is indeed likely to be relatively transparent and free of noticeable coercion. However, the transition to open, multiparty politics is being tightly managed by the RPF to ensure its own victory. As a result, there is concern that even as the government opens the political space formally, it will be shutting it down privately through a number of undeclared mechanisms and strategies. First of all, the current ban on party politics outside parliament will remain until after the constitution is ratified by referendum, giving political parties just five months to prepare for the elections. The state authorities will also keep a close eye on the RPF's political competitors once campaigning starts, and will act swiftly against any deemed to be promoting ethnic division. The new constitution gives the government extensive powers to rule against those that it claims are acting against national unity, and these ill-defined powers will be used by the authorities to neutralise those that challenge the RPF's political hegemony. The domination of political power by Tutsis -- one of the main issues that actually motivates debate -- will remain an "untouchable" issue before and after the election. As a result, it will be hard for the other parties to differentiate themselves from the RPF. Meanwhile, the main rival to the RPF, the Mouvement democratique republicain (MDR) which ruled from independence until 1973, is consumed by internal division and it is unlikely that the party will even unite behind a single candidate for the presidential election.A convincing RPF victory is expected in both the presidential and the parliamentary elections and, though some human rights organisations are bound to challenge their democratic legitimacy, diplomatic observers and the international community will endorse them. Following the RPF's victory in the elections, there will be no break in continuity with the policies of the current administration. The weak opposition will be contained and an ever shrinking elite will retain its political dominance, as it points to the election result as proof of multi-party democracy and power sharing. Below the surface, those that break with the ruling elite will head for exile, joining the many that have already done so. Exiled politicians remain dispersed and weak, but are starting to join forces, and will pose a political challenge one day, particularly if they can secure a powerful backer. But this day seems far off, and the RPF will remain in power for many years to come.Political scene: Elections will be held in November 2003 The presidential and legislative elections will be held in November 2003, according to the national electoral commission (REC) which was itself finally confirmed by parliament in February. All Rwandans of the diaspora will be entitled to vote, according to the REC, provided they are not registered as refugees, which estimates the total electorate to be around 4m. Those living inside the country will vote at 1,600 polling stations, watched by 350 invited international election observers. President Kagame has not declared that he will be a candidate, but he is expected to be the choice of the RPF. The country's next largest party, Mouvement democratique republicain (MDR), is in disarray, plagued by factional disputes, which many suspect have been fomented by the RPF (November 2001, page 13). The leadership of the MDR is contested by Celestin Kabanda and Emmanuel Twagirumukiza, who both say that they will stand as the MDR's candidate in the presidential election. However, Mr Kabanda is reported to have been expelled from his party -- a further sign of its internal division. A former prime minister Faustin Twagiramungu, who has been in exile in Belgium for several years, has also said that he wants to stand for the presidency. However, the government has said that Mr Twagiramungu cannot become a candidate unless he returns to Rwanda.Another potential heavyweigh
ugnet_: THE DEATH IN CONGO CONTINUES
Death in the Congo: a mother watches as machete militiamen murder her little girlsBy Adrian Blomfield in Bunia(Filed: 30/05/2003) From her hiding place in the woods outside the Congolese town of Bunia, Ruta Bonabingi watched as militiamen roasted and then ate the severed arms of her dying daughters. It was the horrifying finale to 48 hours of terror for Ruta and her family. Three weeks after ethnic violence engulfed Bunia and the surrounding Ituri province, crazed gunmen stormed Shar, five miles outside the town. Shooting or hacking to death anyone they came across, they torched every home in the village. Ruta managed to escape with most of her family, although two of her brothers were killed before they reached safety in the nearby forest. After pressing deeper into the woods for two days without food and water, she thought she had finally reached safety when out of nowhere the militiamen, from the Lendu tribe, struck again. With bullets flying everywhere in the hail of gunfire that ensued Ruta became separated from two of her daughters, Mateso, aged 12, and Michelle, who had just turned two. After securing the rest of her family in another hiding place, Ruta crept back to the clearing to try to rescue the girls. "There were many people wounded from bullets lying on the ground," she said. "The Lendu were going about with machetes, chopping off one arm from the shoulder and then the other. Some people were screaming but most were silent. Then I saw them. Their arms had already been cut off." The militiamen calmly cooked the flesh over an open fire before throwing their victims, some of whom were still alive, into the flames. "They were both moving, although very weakly," Ruta said. It is accounts like this that have galvanised the horrified world into action. The United Nations Security Council meets today to finalise plans for a rapid reaction force, led by France, which could be in Bunia by as early as next week. Tony Blair has hinted that Britain could send several hundred soldiers to the region later. The latest violence in one of the Democratic Republic of Congo's bloodiest provinces erupted in the first week of May as Uganda withdrew its troops in compliance with a peace plan to end the five-year war. Despite the presence of the 700 UN peacekeepers already in Bunia to monitor the withdrawal, rival Hema and Lendu tribesmen fought viciously for supremacy in the town. The peacekeepers had repeatedly warned the UN that a bloodbath was likely and requested reinforcements. They were ignored. Lacking the firepower, equipment or mandate to intervene, they retreated powerless to their compound and watched. No one knows how many have died. The Red Cross has found 415 bodies on the streets or in mass graves, and may just be the tip of the iceberg. There are fears that thousands more were killed in outlying villages. At least 50,000 people have been victims of violence in Ituri since 1998. The Congo conflict has claimed between 3.1 and 4.7 million lives, mainly from war-related hunger and disease, since it began, making it the world's deadliest war since 1945. Bunia itself was relatively calm yesterday although an occasional explosion, possibly caused by landmines, rocked the outskirts of the town. Few dared to venture out on to the streets, however. The town is virtually empty after Lendus, who made up the majority of the population, fled into the hills following the Hema capture of the town last week. Along the town's main street shop doors hung drunkenly from their hinges. Windows on many buildings were smashed, their contents looted. The few establishments that escaped pillaging were firmly shuttered. A Hema boy, aged no more than eight or nine, sauntered down the street dressed in a ridiculously oversized military uniform, his camouflage jacket flapping about his calves. He disappeared into a building for a moment and re-emerged casually swinging an AK47 from his hip. A pick-up truck filled with grim-faced Hema soldiers and mounted with a fearsomely large machinegun roared down the street. At the top of the road, two armoured personnel carriers manned by Uruguayan soldiers guarded the UN compound, barely visible behind 8ft-high protective barriers of razor wire. Hundreds of Bunia's terrified residents, both Hema and to a lesser extent Lendu, remain in the compound where they fled when the fighting erupted. Alarmingly, the town's radio station, now in Hema hands, gave warning this week that anyone who did not leave the camp immediately would be treated as "an enemy of state", according to UN officials. The move has chilling echoes of hate radio during Rwanda's 1994 genocide when broadcasts urged Hutus to fill up the half-empty graves. Many appear to have heeded the call, but Basara Mateso prefers to take his chances with the UN. He fled to the compound when the Lendu attacked his predominantly Hema suburb two weeks ago. As he fled, he became separate
ugnet_: BANYORO RAID BUS, CANE BAKIGA
Banyoro Raid Bus, Cane Bakiga The Monitor (Kampala) May 29, 2003 Posted to the web May 29, 2003 Jonathan AkweteirehoKampala A group of Banyoro in Kagadi in Kibaale on Tuesday afternoon waylaid a bus and beat up the passengers, most of whom were Bakiga. The bus, SK Coach, operates between Kibaale and Kabale. The bus was coming from Kabale and heading to Kibaale where ethnic clashes between the Banyoro and immigrant Bakiga have left two people dead since clashes over land erupted on Sunday. Sources said the irate Banyoro suspected the bus was carrying more Bakiga from Kabale to reinforce their kinsmen in Kibaale. The Midwestern Regional CID Officer John Bwango confirmed the incident by telephone yesterday. He said police intervened in time to contain the situation. He said one person had been arrested in connection with the assault on the passengers. Other suspects were on the run. "The Banyoro stopped the bus and caned the passengers," Mr Bwango said. He said investigations revealed that the Banyoro wanted to set the bus ablaze. "We have decided to keep the bus at the police station for safety," he said. The skirmishes broke out in Kabamba, Kiryanga in Buyaga county on Sunday leaving two children dead. Mr Bwango clarified that only two babies were killed in the Sunday clashes contrary to previous reports that a woman had also died. "I was at the scene and no woman was killed as media reports indicate," he said. He said one child was two weeks old while another was 2 years old. He said three men and three women were admitted at Kagadi Hospital with injuries. Police and local leaders have since banned moving with machetes, spears and other weapons in public. Hunters have also been stopped until further notice. However, Mr Bwango said the situation in Kibaale was now under control despite some lingering tension. The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
ugnet_: UGANDA acused of fueling Eastern Congo fighting
THEY ARE HELPING THE EASTERN FIGHTING. The Ugandan army helped to ignite fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern town of Bunia, senior United Nations sources in Kinshasa said yesterday.They added that the UN Security Council had failed to act on months of warnings over the threat of mass killing in the area. Western Diplomats and UN sources in Kinshasa said there was strong evidence that the Ugandan army had supplied weapons to both ethnic militias battling each other for control of the Ituri region of north-eastern Congo up to the the of Uganda withderw it occupying force from the area last week. They saw this as a cynical ploy to provide a pretex for maintaing control of the region's immense gold reserves and other commercial interest but said divisions within the Ugandan army may also have played a role. Yoweri Museveni, Uganda's president, this week criticised the UN for not doing enough to intervene in the conflict. He is expected to join Joseph Kabila,President of Congo, and other leaders and militia repersenitatives in Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian capital, for talks on the fighting, as thousands in Bunia seek refuge with the UN. The crisis sparked by Uganda's withdraw from Bunia could, some UN oficial's fear, become the UN's biggest failure in Africa since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The worst outcome see a weak UN force unable to prevent mass kilings while escalating conflict across eastern Congo precitates the collapse of the wider Congo peace agreement, destabilising much of east and central Africa. The UN's peacekeeping department was yesterday in talks with France and other countries - possibly including South Africa and Pakistan - to provide a robust rapid reaction force that would remain in place until a UN brigade-sized force moved into the area. UN officials are expected to report to the Security Council by tomorrow or Monday. Officials said the rapid reactions force would probably require a Security Council resolution. Uganda is one of seven African countries that have pricipated in the war in Congo which broke out in 1998 when ugandan and Rwandan-backed rebels attempended to overthrow the government in Kinshasa. Uganda's troops were the last to pull out,months after the withdrawal of the other foreign armies which haved signed up to South African facilitated peace accords. UN source said they made it clear in reports that the Security Council sinced last year that the UN force in Bunia (Monuc) had neither the strenth nor mandate to contain the threat of bloodshed. The forces of fewer than 5,000 is already stretched monitoring ceasefire agreement across several front line in a country four times the size of France. "We have been reporting to New York for months that Uganda has been constantly interfering in Ituri, arming different sides,'' said a senior Monuc source. "The problem is that the permanent members on the Security Council do not agree on what to do." UN sources and western diplomats said Uganda had left fresh supplies of weapons and uniforms with ethnic Hema fighters as Uganda withdrew the remnants of its occupying force last week. The sources said rival Lendu militiamen had also received fresh supplies from the Ugandan army, including heavey weaponry. They argued that no solution would be complete without a stroger pressure on both Uganda and its erstwhile ally Rwanda to abtain from meddling in the area. The Security Council faces a decision on whether to eguip Monuc with a rapid reaction force with a mandate to shoot to protect civilians, or cede to a South African-led initiative to send in an intervention force under the banner of the African Union. Associated Press.
ugnet_: AMERICA TAKES EMBASSIES OVER
Foreign envoys in Iraq no longer enjoy diplomatic status, immunity: US WASHINGTON (AFP) - Foreign diplomats in Iraq no longer enjoy diplomatic immunity or any of the privileges they were accorded under their accreditation to Saddam Hussein's former regime, the US State Department said. In addition, spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington is advising foreign countries to hold off on sending envoys to Baghdad until a new Iraqi government is in place as "at this point there is really no purpose" for them to be there. However, the exact status of foreign diplomatic missions -- which are considered part of the sovereign territory of the country that owns or leases the property -- in Iraq was not immediately clear. Responding to reporters' questions about a raid on the Palestinian mission in Baghdad and the arrest of three Palestinian diplomats by US forces, Boucher first said that neither the envoys nor the property held any diplomatic status. "There are diplomats who were previously accredited to the Saddam regime who have been residing in former mission residences who are still there," he said. "We do not regard those as diplomatic missions, they are accredited to a regime that is no longer existent and, therefore, their accreditation has lapsed," Boucher said. "They and their premises don't have diplomatic status," he added firmly. But after repeated questions about the legality of that position under international law and diplomatic protocol, Boucher then allowed that the missions themselves might still retain some protection. "Certainly, the accreditation of the people has lapsed," he said. "Whether the property has some residual status, I will see." US forces in Iraq ransacked the Palestinian mission in Baghdad overnight Tuesday, arresting at least eight people, including seven Palestinians and a Syrian, the top military commander said earlier Thursday. The commander, Lieutenant General David McKiernan, could not say if any of them were diplomats but a spokesman for the Palestinian mission said that three of them were accredited to the Iraqi foreign ministry. Spokesman Mohammed Atta said charge d'affaires Najjah Abdel Rahman, consul Ibrahim Mohsen and commercial counsellor Munir Sobhi were arrested along with six guards and staff and two Iraqi gardeners. "We are the Palestinian representatives recognized by the Iraqi foreign ministry," he said at the mission after the raid in which McKiernan said a "terrorism" manual had been seized along with a variety of weapons. But Boucher said any accreditation the Palestinians or other diplomats might have had under Saddam's regime had been annulled when the government fell. And, he said the United States would discourage attempts by any country to send diplomats to Baghdad and had the authority to bar them from coming in. "As a matter of policy ... we discourage foreign diplomats from entering Iraq," Boucher said. "There is no Iraqi government for them to interact with, there is no Iraqi government to grant the privileges and immunities that diplomats would normally have inside a country," he said. "We, in terms of the kind of control we have to have at this point, also reserve the right to exclude people who we don't think belong there," Boucher said. The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
ugnet_: UN SEEKS DEMILITARISATION PLAN IN CONGO
UN seeks demilitarisation plan in Congo AP - The United Nations said that it was investigating the discovery of more than 300 bodies, including 32 in a water tank, in an embattled town in north-eastern Congo. A small contingent of UN troops and aid workers have been trying to maintain peace in the town of Bunia, where fighting erupted earlier this month after Uganda withdrew its more than 6,000 troops from the area as part of a peace deal to end the civil war in Africa's third-largest country. Fighting subsided on Friday after the rival Hema and Lendu tribal factions signed a ceasefire agreement, although gunmen still patrolled the streets with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. The UN mission in Congo was working with militia leaders to develop a plan to keep the different fighting groups separated. Ayaka Suzuki, a political affairs officer for UN peacekeeping operations, said the bodies were found after the break in hostilities enabled humanitarian workers to venture out on the streets to collect the bodies of those killed in fighting. "Fortunately the situation is holding up now but because the tensions are very high we never know when fighting can break out again," Suzuki said. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard, said that fighting has been reported in the area of Aru, in northern Ituri district, but it could not be confirmed. The United Nations also was looking into reports that new anti-personnel mines have been laid in Bunia. The bodies, which were found over the past few days, appeared to be from the earlier fighting and it was not clear if they were civilians or combatants, Suzuki said. The death toll is expected to rise as efforts to collect and bury the dead continue, officials said. UN officials also expressed concern about the 32 bodies found in the water tank near the old governor's residence, as well as the fact that many victims of the fighting were found to be mutilated. Annan has been working to muster an international force to stabilise the Ituri district. The French have been asked to lead the force and a team of French military officers spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Bunia assessing the situation and working out the logistics of such a mission. "A number of countries have indicated interest in participating," said Pakistan's UN Ambassador Munir Akram, whose country holds the Security Council presidency. "Hopefully we can get some sort of agreement over the next few days." Ituri, of which Bunia is the capital, has been plagued by fighting and massacres for several years as rival tribes and rebel factions fighting in the nearly five-year civil war in Congo fought for control of the province's rich mineral deposits, vast timber forests and fertile land. Bunia has about 750 UN troops, compared with an estimated 25,000 to 28,000 tribal fighters in the region, with thousands deployed in and around Bunia. The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
ugnet_: MAN CHARGED IN ATTEMPT HIJACKING
Man charged with attempted hijacking Watch video dial-up broadband help A 40-year-old Melbourne man was charged with attempting to hijack a Qantas jet following a mid-air drama in which two flight attendants were stabbed with sharpened wooden stakes. Australian Federal Police said the man was also charged with two counts of being a person onboard an aircraft engaged in flight committing an act of violence against a member of the aircraft. The charges were laid under the Crimes (Aviation) Act 1991 and Criminal Codes Act 1995. The man was remanded in custody and was due to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court this morning. The two flight attendants were stabbed and two passengers injured before a man was overpowered aboard the Qantas Boeing 717, flying between Melbourne and Launceston on Thursday afternoon. An AFP spokeswoman said the charges were laid in the early hours of this morning. Stories of heroism were surfacing about the 20-minute drama aboard QF1737, which happened around 3pm. The attacker was tackled by crew and passengers and restrained with plastic ties before being bundled between two seats as the flight returned to Melbourne and made an emergency landing, federal police said. A 38-year-old male attendant and 25-year-old female attendant were released from hospital last night after receiving gashes to the head and face during the struggle to subdue the attacker. Witness Keith Charlton said the assailant, who was holding aloft two sharpened wooden stakes, stabbed the chief flight attendant "Greg". "The fellow Greg, really was a hero ... if it wasn't for him we could've been in a lot of trouble. "As he was being attacked, he put his head down and into the man's chest and he pushed him back down the plane," Mr Charlton said.©AAP 2003 The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
ugnet_: US Warns President Mugabe
US Warns President Mugabe The Daily News (Harare) May 29, 2003 Posted to the web May 29, 2003 Sydney Masamvu PRESSURE mounted yesterday on President Robert Mugabe to resign, as the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said it would stage "Million March" street protests for one week from Monday while the United States warned Harare against using strong-arm tactics to quell the protests. The protests, which the MDC has dubbed the "final push", are expected to end on 6 June, when the opposition party's top leaders will meet to review the situation. The US government, while urging the MDC to stage peaceful protests, uncharacteristically warned the Zimbabwean government against using the iron fist to crush the demonstrations. "We urge the movement, other opposition groups and civil society organisations to conduct any and all protests peacefully," a US State Department spokesperson said in a statement obtained by The Daily News in Harare yesterday. "The Zimbabwe government reacted to a mostly peaceful stayaway last March with violent repression, including numerous severe beatings of stayaway participants and sympathisers. We strongly urge the government of Zimbabwe to respect the right of the citizenry to protest peacefully and not to follow through on threats to suppress the protests ," the statement said. It noted that Mugabe had repeatedly stated that the MDC would take power over his "dead body" and that government officials had indicated that the protests would be dealt with aggressively. Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi warned this week that the government would come down hard on those caught breaking the law during the planned protests, which he indicated threatened law and order. The US, fresh from militarily toppling Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein with the support of Britain, did not say in its statement how it would react to any violent suppression of the demonstrations. MDC insiders said yesterday the party's national action committee, which has been working on the logistics of staging the street protests in the past month, would finalise its preparations tomorrow. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai refused to comment in detail on the impending protest, saying he would relay his message to Zimbabweans on Saturday. "I will be giving a statement on the proposed action in the next 48 hours," he said last night. MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi confirmed that the party's management committee had resolved at a meeting held in Harare yesterday to embark on the protests starting on Monday. Nyathi said apart from Mugabe failing to respond to a list of 15 demands raised by the MDC earlier this year centring on a return to good governance, Mugabe no longer had the capacity, imagination nor policy package to get Zimbabwe out of its deepening economic and political crisis. "Against this background, the MDC, which carries the mandate of the majority, appeals to all Zimbabweans to register their concern by rising in their millions to take part in nationwide protest marches," he added. Nyathi said during the one-week mass action, Zimbabweans should not go to work but march in their millions in the streets to protest the collapse of the country. MDC insiders said the protests, whose objective is to force Mugabe to resign, would kick off on Monday and be reviewed by the party's national executive on Saturday. The insiders said members of the MDC's top leadership, including the national executive and parliamentarians, would lead the protests countrywide. Sources said about 100 000 marshals had been trained to guide protesters in Harare alone. They said protesters in Harare would start their marches from Mbare and Highfield while others would move from the northern suburbs so the two groups would meet at Africa Unity Square and Parliament buildings, where they would be addressed by the party's leadership. >From there, the sources said, the protesters would proceed to Munhumutapa Building, which houses Mugabe's office, and then move on to nearby State House, the President's official residence.
ugnet_: Uganda's Forgotten War
Uganda's Forgotten War Missionary Appeals Urgently for Prayer KITGUM, Uganda, MAY 29, 2003.- The international press has shown indifference to the "forgotten war" bloodying northern Uganda, says an Italian missionary. Comboni Father Tarcizio Pazzagia, 69, of the Kitgum parish in the Archdiocese of Gulu, described one of the most difficult moments in the civil war that has hit hard in the Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts of the Acholi ethnic group. "In face of the continuing violence afflicting north Uganda, I feel the need to turn to the Italian Church, which I serve as missionary, for prayers," he said by phone. Father Pazzagia told the Misna missionary agency: "Every day, I repeat, every single day, there are rebel ambushes against the poor people." "The last ambush," he said, "was conducted yesterday afternoon in Lanyatido, a location of the Pader district, 5 kilometers south of the Catholic mission of Pajule. A pickup truck was intercepted by the rebels of the LRA. The driver miraculously managed to escape, though some of the passengers suffered gunshot wounds." The LRA is the Lord's Resistance Army. "A similar episode, with other wounded, occurred near the center of Pader last Sunday," he said. The priest said the situation degenerates daily. "Ours is a forgotten war, a war that is not unfolding under the limelight of the international press and in which the highest price is being paid by women, elderly and children," he added. The LRA has abducted numerous minors and turned them into child-soldiers. Father Pazzaglia explained that his mission of Kitgum is the destination of "continuous pilgrimages of displaced people in desperate need of food, blankets and medicine." "I ask the Italian Church for prayers, because here in north Uganda, in all these years of violence, many promises have been made by politicians to resolve this crisis, without however ever obtaining any results to speak of," he said. "Only the religious leaders -- Catholic, Protestant and Muslim -- are acting decisively in favor of peace," he added. "I am ever more convinced that the prayer of intercession is the only weapon we have, along with evangelical solidarity, to give back hope to our people. Pray for us!"
ugnet_: LIVING HISTORY (RWANDA A CASE STUDY)
"R.Astles" To: "Mulindwa Edward"[EMAIL PROTECTED] Living History (900) Today we are expecting the result of the Rwanda referendum that is deciding on a draft constitution that perhaps will bring for the first time democracy to this country of three mini nations and will end ethnic extremism. This extremism caused the slaughter of some three quarters of a million people in 1994 and exposed the unhelpful attitude of at least three European states and also the ineffectiveness of the United Nations when African lives are at the mercy of their own terrorism. In this attempt by the leadership of the present government of Rwanda to introduce democracy some ninety five percent of the population of four million have cast their vote. There was no forcing of the people, as seen elsewhere, to make their way to the one thousand five hundred voting stations and so far I have heard of no adverse criticism from the pool of nearly one thousand independent observers that included sixty international observers. The new charter will, it is hoped, pave the way for multi-party presidential and parliamentary elections by the middle of this year and, from what I have read, the draft constitution forbids political parties identifying themselves with issues such as race or ethnicity. This introduction of a constitution is a bold move but can it be successful in Africa? President Kagame is a brave man to embark upon such a hazardous venture and no doubt much of Africa, being so rent by murderous ethnic antagonism, will watch this Rwandan experiment with interest. Furthermore Kagame has stipulated that the president, the prime minister and the president of the lower house of the two-chamber parliament cannot all be members of the same political party. Now this really is an issue to be watched and certainly shows Kagame at his best. As ever in Africa where all are politicians, the critics are there and, no doubt, are pointing out that despite the high turnout for the polls this weekend real change can only be achieved if the people are genuinely prepared to leave the past behind them and work together with one aim, and that is to build a vibrant country devoid of the past tribal undertones. However with so many languishing in political prison and other Rwandans involved in a deadly killing game in the adjoining Congo, well, I have my doubts about leaving the past behind for many decades to come. No matter, today is a giant leap by Kagame: but he must remember that the history of his long suffering land locked country will make sure that he will have the eyes of the world upon him and there will be many jealous "friends" hoping that he falls flat on his face, one such "friend" only a hand shake away. We have to accept that despite the incredible odds against Rwanda becoming settled again after the 1994 genocide and the repeated attempts by the Interahamwe to de-stabilize the country, it is recognized by the west that President Kagame has certainly brought stability back into the country. We still have the uncertainty of the border problem between Rwanda and Uganda, mystifying because Museveni of Uganda and Kagame were seen as brothers, both in combat and in politics. I blame Uganda but this is another story. What we do have on Kagame's other border, that of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is yet another evil episode of barbaric genocide and, amazingly, both Museveni and Kagame are being held to be the architects of all this terrible carnage of two innocent tribes, the Hema and the Lendu, who have been either supported or abused by Rwanda and Uganda in the past. It is a hopeless mess of political juggling for the riches of the mineral fields and the incompetence of the United Nations. No doubt history will identify the guilty party and judge the United Nations; we shall have to wait and see. What I do know is that whilst all eyes have been on Iraq and its oil fields a vicious most horrific killing and acts of cannibalism have been going on in that part of the Congo being fought over a few months ago by Rwanda and Uganda together with the Parti pour l'Unite et la Sauveguarge de l'Integrite du Congo (PUSIC), Front des Nationalistes et Integrationnistes (FNI), Forces Populaires pour la Democratie au Congo (FPDC), Forces Armees du Peuple Congolais (FAPC) and the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC). It has become barbarism much worse than in Rwanda itself with even members of the International Red Cross having been cut to pieces whilst carrying out their humanitarian work under the protection of the UN peace keepers after being duffers enough to have lost to the barbarians all their equipment from the military stockade allocated to them. It has been a mad regression to savagery and any rhetoric by either Blair of Britain and Bush of the USA about bringing sanity back to the world after the Iraq war is utter nonsense. Africa is fast becoming a cauldron of evil and the decent people of the continent are s
ugnet_: fwd: Uganda's Report Card
Uganda. In: Amnesty International Report 2003 (www.amnesty.org)_UGANDAREPUBLIC OF UGANDAHead of state: Yoweri MuseveniHead of government: Apollo NsibambiDeath penalty: retentionistInternational Criminal Court: ratifiedA new joint anti-crime operation led to killings of civilians by members ofthe security forces. Civilians arrested during the operation faced trial bymilitary courts. Soldiers reportedly committed abuses during a disarmamentoperation in the northwest. At least 24 death sentences were passed, andtwo soldiers were executed. Journalists continued to be subjected toexcessive use of force by the police. A new law restricted the activitiesof political parties. Abuses by the armed opposition Lord's Resistance Army(LRA) increased during the year, but those by other armed groups were reduced.BackgroundA Parliamentary Select Committee on election violence concluded that 17people had been killed during parliamentary and presidential elections in2001. The Committee recommended that security personnel named in the report for terrorizing and intimidating opposition parliamentary candidates and their supporters should be subject to criminal investigation. The report was not debated by Parliament during 2002.Relations between Uganda and Sudan continued to improve throughout 2002with an agreement to resume full diplomatic ties.A group of several thousand Ugandans living in Tanzania were expelled fromTanzania in 2001 and returned to Uganda allegedly for voting againstTanzania's ruling party in the October 2000 elections. They were resettledby the Ugandan government in 2002, some in the Rakai District, while otherswere relocated to a camp near the Katuna border with Rwanda.President Museveni voiced Uganda’s strong support for the international"anti-terrorist" coalition led by the USA. The Suppression of TerrorismAct, passed in March, used a very broad definition of "terrorism" and gaveextra powers to law enforcement officers to carry out surveillance againstsuspected "terrorists", including accessing bank accounts and monitoring communications.Violations by security forcesA new Joint Security Team was formed in June to fight violent crime inKampala and surrounding towns. "Operation Wembley" brought together theintelligence services, police and the army. Police officers and soldierswere allegedly authorized to shoot criminals on sight, resulting in adramatic increase in killings by security forces.Those arrested under "Operation Wembley" were held without charge andscreened to decide whether they should be tried by a civilian or militarycourt. Of approximately 450 suspects arrested by November, around 200 were reportedly to face trials before military courts made up of senior armyofficers.b On 16 September soldiers raided Gulu Central Prison, northern Uganda,to remove 21 prisoners they claim were to be "rescued" by the LRA. One ofthe prisoners, opposition activist Peter Oloya, was killed in the prisongrounds in a suspected extrajudicial execution. The 20 surviving prisonerswere taken to Gulu Barracks where they remained in incommunicado detentionuntil mid-November, when they were moved to Kigo prison in Kampala.Violence in Karamoja regionThere were renewed efforts to bring peace to the pastoralist communities inthe districts of Moroto and Kotido in the eastern Karamoja region, longbeset by insecurity and cattle rustling. A deadline of 15 February was setfor the voluntary surrender of illegal weapons. This was followed by aforcible disarmament and arrest operation, which led to a number ofreported k illings by the army, and to looting and beatings of civilians inMoroto. Soldiers were reportedly given orders by the Army Chief of Staff toshoot dead any Karimojong warriors who fired at them.b The army announced an inquiry into an incident of 8 March in whichtwo people were killed and a pregnant woman miscarried in Kotido afterreportedly being beaten and tortured by soldiers carrying out thedisarmament operation.b On 4 May, 20 Karimojong and two soldiers were killed during clashesafter Karimojong pastoralists reportedly raided another community and stole their cattle.Death penaltyAt least 24 death sentences were passed. At the end of the year, 354convicted prisoners were on death row. No civilians were executed. Twosoldiers were executed after a military trial which fell short ofinternational standards of fair trial. Senior military officers reportedlystated that the army could use executions as a disciplinary measure.b On 22 March Michael Declan O'Toole, parish priest of Panyangara inJie county, his driver and his cook were allegedly killed by two soldierson their way from Moroto to Kotido. On 25 March the soldiers were executedby firing squad after an Emergency Field Court Martial, which reportedlylasted just 2 hours and 36 minutes, and did not allow for a fullinvestigation of the circumstances surrounding t
ugnet_: Fwd: NYTimes.com Article: Congo War Toll Soars as U.N. Pleads for Aid
Congo War Toll Soars as U.N. Pleads for Aid May 27, 2003 By SOMINI SENGUPTA It is estimated that more than three million people have died in Congo's four-year-old war as rival rebel armies have fought over the country's spoils. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/27/international/africa/27CONG.html?ex=1055061160&ei=1&en=4a8a660d961d78c7 MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE*
Re: ugnet_: Bidandi a political opportunist
From the Monitor of new Vision? Original Message Follows From: "gook makanga" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: ugnet_: Bidandi a political opportunist Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 18:48:53 + MSN 8 helps ELIMINATE E-MAIL VIRUSES. Get 2 months FREE*.--- Begin Message --- Is Bidandi Ssali Becoming A Rolling Stone, Gathering The Most Moss? CHANGED POSITION: Bidandi Ssali SIR Outgoing local government minister Jaberi Bidandi Ssali has, according to press reports, been consistently and publicly accusing President Yoweri Museveni of manipulating the issue of lifting the two-term limit on the presidency during the National Executive Committee (NEC) at Kyankwanzi and the National Conference (NC) at the International Conference Centre in Kampala. These allegations have not only injured the reputation of the President and portrayed him as a political opportunist, but have also created a negative image on the credibility and integrity of the more than 225,000 Movement delegates who attended the conference at Kyankwanzi and the International Conference Centre. Bidandis statements seem to indicate that the Movement delegates are mere rubber-stamps who are out to endorse whatever is put forward by President Museveni. This is false and should be dismissed with contempt. Some of us who attended the Kyankwanzi meeting can attest to this. The true version is that the issue of lifting the two-term limit came from the people at the grassroots. It was reflected in the various memoranda submitted by the district committees and other delegates of the NEC meeting in Kyankwanzi. Perhaps the President could be accused of influencing the opening up to multiparty politics which was very contentious and still is contentious at the grassroots and met with stiff resistance from the majority (almost all) of the delegates. The President had to labour to explain the merits of the shift to multiparty democracy in order to convince the delegates to adopt the proposal. It is not only dangerous but also unfair for Bidandi Ssali to create the false impression that President Museveni initiated the third term business and manipulated it through the independent delegates of NEC and NC. At least President Museveni is on record as not having expressed interest in the third term at any forum. So Bidandi should substantiate and produce concrete evidence to prove his allegations that Museveni m anipulated the outcome of NEC and NC. Otherwise, he has no moral authority to continue calling Museveni a manipulator and damaging the image of the Movement delegates as rubber-stamps. In fact, he should indeed apologise for his false remarks. The second serious and controversial point about Bidandi Ssali is that he has now shifted goal posts on the two-term limit, confirming the long-term view that he is a political opportunist. In the latest Sunday Vision in an interview he gave Joachim Buwembo, he is quoted as saying President Museveni can get any number of terms under a multiparty system. Bidandi has all along been opposed to the lifting of the presidential two-term limit on the ground that it is not wise and proper to amend the hard-earned constitution to grant President Museveni a third term. But soon after being dropped from cabinet, Bidandi shifts his position and now supports the third term under multiparty democracy. Yet the same Bidandi opposed the third term in Kyankwanzi even after the NEC had adopted a resolution to return to multiparty politics. Now what has Bidandi been opposed to? The Movement system or Museveni as person? Because whatever the system multiparty or movement the third term is not possible without violating Bidandis cherished principle of not amending the Constitution to lift the presidential two-term limit. For Article 105 of the present Constitution restricts any individual Museveni or any other person regardless of whatever political system in place to two terms of five years each. Bidandi has no option but to swallow his own words. Samuel Alimundabira Kampala Published on: Thursday, 29th May, 2003 Gook "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."- Malcom X MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* --- End Message ---
ugnet_: Fwd: Akena P'Ojok on Petroleum in Uganda
Petroleum in Uganda Semliki? Who says Presidents do not soliloquize? Dr.A M Obote was very good at it. When agonizing over the bad state of Uganda economy, he was often over heard saying, 'it is bad enough for a person to be poor, but for a country to be poor is a terrible thing!' He would then, almost instinctively ask any nearest person to him about 'this rumour about the smell of paraffin on Lake Albert, is this true? May this indicate the presence of Petroleum deposit? If there is Petroleum nearby in Southern Sudan, why can't Uganda have a bit of it also? After all the bedrock holding the Sudan oil must be tilting towards the western leg of the Rift Valley where Lake Albert is the lowest point. Is it possible to drill a dip hole, say in Attiak there, so that the Sudan oil could flow to Uganda?' The reality dawned in the weirdest way. In the years 1982/84 the world financial system trembled on the brink of the abyss, debtor countries groaned under the yoke of their debt-service obligations. Under a brutal and bloody dictatorship of Idi Amin the Uganda economy had completely collapsed. This was exactly the time when the second UPC government had taken over and had drawn a 2 to 5 year economic Recovery Programme for Uganda. One of the most difficult items on the programme was the shortage an d balancing of the fuel bills.Uganda was counting the shilling and cent over its tottering Recovery Programme when capital flight entered the space age, and financial centres, flight-by-night havens and long-established capitals alike, were shaken to their foundations. Who came up smiling to Uganda? Mr Tiny Rowland, Chairman of the London based London Rhodesia Company (LONRHO), a mining and agricultural conglomerate in Africa. He became a frequent visitor to Uganda, and always demanded to see the President/Minister of Finance at very short notices. He demanded the following four important things. 1.. The right of monopoly to buy all Uganda Coffee and sell it to the world market. 2.. The right to extend the Oil Pipe Line from Nairobi to Kampala. 3.. A free Franchise over the exploration and exploitation of all Uganda's mineral resources. 4.. To build and operate a Stock Exchange and a Casino in Kampala. In return Tiny promised to help Uganda borrow easy loans for its Recovery Programme and debt-service repayment. It is apparent what this man, Tiny, wanted. Reading 2 and 3 above together it was clear that there was something that this man knew about petroleum in Uganda that the government did not knew and could only speculate. Tiny's proposed pipeline was too big for Uganda's fuel needs for 100 years. It could have been that Tiny had set his eyes on an advance pipeline that would carry petroleum from North Western Uganda to Mombasa. The open franchise for exploration and exploitation would have meant that it would be LONRHO to give out rights and licenses to oil explorers, and not Uganda government. Stock Exchange and Casinos are safe havens for capital flights and money laundering. If you knew patriotic Obote, you could guess his answer to Tiny. The answer was a definitive 'No!' to all four demands. Tiny walked out angrily. Obote mused 'how can I, an individual, tie the destiny of a whole country and millions of Ugandans in perpetuity without their consent.' Tiny Rowland flew straight to Nairobi, and from there ordered LONRHO facilities in Africa and London to be put to the use of NRM and Museveni. LONRHO underwrote all NRM bills and debts in Nairobi and Tiny's own Executive Jet was put at the disposal of Museveni. Museveni was now airborne to fly anywhere including Kasese where he soon established his tactical bridgehead for his subsequent advance on Kampala in 1985. Nationalism and patriotism has always cost UPC its governments. That Semliki oil has already cost UPC a government and may cost Uganda its freedom and sovereignty permanently. Oil and other mineral resources always come with a price, sometimes a terrible price. As one time Tiny was flying over Africa, looking down, he boasted to his executives that there was not a single head of state, down there, that he could not bribe. But in the heart of his hearts as he flew over Uganda he must have remembered that there was one he could not bribe, and that is the unassailable Obote. What should already be worrying us now are some of the obvious indicative signs. Foreign interests for several consecutive years have been supporting the Uganda annual budget by over 51%, Uganda's debts have risen from us$1.2 billion in 1985 to a hefty us$7.2 to end 2003, large military equipment including gun ships and missiles have been purchased outside the defence budget, Ugandans have been kept in the dark about the cost of the Congo DR wars, and the huge President's Office Expenditures have never been audited. Who is underwriting these costs? Has that Semliki petroleum been mortgaged already? Is the seeming desperation and callousness,
ugnet_: Bidandi a political opportunist
Is Bidandi Ssali Becoming A Rolling Stone, Gathering The Most Moss? CHANGED POSITION: Bidandi Ssali SIR Outgoing local government minister Jaberi Bidandi Ssali has, according to press reports, been consistently and publicly accusing President Yoweri Museveni of manipulating the issue of lifting the two-term limit on the presidency during the National Executive Committee (NEC) at Kyankwanzi and the National Conference (NC) at the International Conference Centre in Kampala. These allegations have not only injured the reputation of the President and portrayed him as a political opportunist, but have also created a negative image on the credibility and integrity of the more than 225,000 Movement delegates who attended the conference at Kyankwanzi and the International Conference Centre. Bidandis statements seem to indicate that the Movement delegates are mere rubber-stamps who are out to endorse whatever is put forward by President Museveni. This is false and should be dismissed with contempt. Some of us who attended the Kyankwanzi meeting can attest to this. The true version is that the issue of lifting the two-term limit came from the people at the grassroots. It was reflected in the various memoranda submitted by the district committees and other delegates of the NEC meeting in Kyankwanzi. Perhaps the President could be accused of influencing the opening up to multiparty politics which was very contentious and still is contentious at the grassroots and met with stiff resistance from the majority (almost all) of the delegates. The President had to labour to explain the merits of the shift to multiparty democracy in order to convince the delegates to adopt the proposal. It is not only dangerous but also unfair for Bidandi Ssali to create the false impression that President Museveni initiated the third term business and manipulated it through the independent delegates of NEC and NC. At least President Museveni is on record as not having expressed interest in the third term at any forum. So Bidandi should substantiate and produce concrete evidence to prove his allegations that Museveni m anipulated the outcome of NEC and NC. Otherwise, he has no moral authority to continue calling Museveni a manipulator and damaging the image of the Movement delegates as rubber-stamps. In fact, he should indeed apologise for his false remarks. The second serious and controversial point about Bidandi Ssali is that he has now shifted goal posts on the two-term limit, confirming the long-term view that he is a political opportunist. In the latest Sunday Vision in an interview he gave Joachim Buwembo, he is quoted as saying President Museveni can get any number of terms under a multiparty system. Bidandi has all along been opposed to the lifting of the presidential two-term limit on the ground that it is not wise and proper to amend the hard-earned constitution to grant President Museveni a third term. But soon after being dropped from cabinet, Bidandi shifts his position and now supports the third term under multiparty democracy. Yet the same Bidandi opposed the third term in Kyankwanzi even after the NEC had adopted a resolution to return to multiparty politics. Now what has Bidandi been opposed to? The Movement system or Museveni as person? Because whatever the system multiparty or movement the third term is not possible without violating Bidandis cherished principle of not amending the Constitution to lift the presidential two-term limit. For Article 105 of the present Constitution restricts any individual Museveni or any other person regardless of whatever political system in place to two terms of five years each. Bidandi has no option but to swallow his own words. Samuel Alimundabira Kampala Published on: Thursday, 29th May, 2003 Gook "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."- Malcom X MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE*
ugnet_: World Bank denies role in shilling dip
World Bank denies role in shilling dip By Henry H. Ssali & Muhereza Kyamutetera May 29, 2003 The World Bank yesterday said it is not responsible for the fall of the shilling. This follows President Yoweri Museveni's accusation earlier in the month that the Bank's policies were responsible for the shilling's steady slide. "In fact it is the World Bank supporting the shilling through its policy of encouraging exports," said Mr Sudarshan Canarajah, the World Bank's senior country economist at a public debate in Kampala yesterday. The shilling has rapidly depreciated over the last two months, and is now trading at Shs 2,010 to the dollar. The Bank man was discussing the topic, 'A Critical Evaluation of Uganda's Economic Performance Over the Last 16 Years' at a public debate at Makerere University yesterday. Mr Canarajah attributed the shilling's fall to unfavourable terms of trade where imports are worth $1.8 billion and exports are a mere $400 million annually. He further blamed the government for not putting donor money to good use. "The problem is not borrowing but what you use the money for," he said. The economist added that at the moment in Uganda money is being used for public administration, paying salaries to several government officials and a large Parliament instead of putting it into social services and capacity building. Mr Canarajah said that at the moment Uganda's debt is unsustainable. "But we don't want to use that as the basis to deny more money, it's like pulling a life support machine off a dying patient," he said. He challenged government to practice good politics because they are directly linked to economic stability. "This money we give you is some other taxpayer's money. Donor countries are now asking tough questions. You cannot tell them that you spent it on junk helicopters because they have them in their backyards," Mr Canarajah said. Currently 53 percent of Uganda's budget is financed by donors. Recently, they met Mr Museveni and advised him to adopt political pluralism. The debate was organised by Makerere Debating Society in conjunction with Friedrich Ebert Foundation. © 2003 The Monitor Publications Gook "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."- Malcom X Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
ugnet_:
Mr. Ojambo I have looked at this issue very closely. The issue is not federalism the issue is to have a government which cares for the welfare of her people. The basic needs of the people. Federalism in a nation like Uganda will never work. Why? Countries like Germany , USA , Switzerland are all federal states with huge amounts of budgetary provisions. What is happening in these countries today- they are legalising all the above problems as a solution to do away with state social responsibility. Exactly in the same way as Netherlands , Britain etc. If the centre has no money the federal state send their people on streets into drugs , prostitution, , homelessness etc. These problems are problems of a welfare state derived from the decline of the industrial society - which are not quite different problems from states with municipal political organisation structures. Municipality politics is not quite different from federal states, particularly when it comes to the distribution of resources- that is taxes. The US is a very good example to this phenomena followed with Germany. I am therefore strongly opposed to that social structuring, since Uganda has masters and slaves. Slaves can't question the masters and this will even be more illuminated in federal states. I have else where written extensively on the demise of decentralisation which is more or less based on tribal enclaves. If decentralisation could not deliver then the problem is else where. http://pub59.ezboard.com/fugandamanufacturersassociationfrm1.showMessage?topicID=37.topic The district chief is greater than a small god- while those under him or her are smaller than insects. I have got vivid example when I tried to start up something through these entities. The failure to social transformation in Uganda is starkly with the government itself which has all the time manipulate the people first to reach goals which are divorced from national goals- the money spent in the Congo and on the war in Acoli can revamp all towns in Uganda. Have you ever heard the government create a plan to which all district had to deliver? NO. Federal state build houses, schools, food for children, pensions - can Uganda government offer the same? Look at UPE school which are brown apart by winds! Hard we done as i have said above, then the problem therefore will be of an economic character than politics, tribe,clan or religion as we have been made to believe just only yesterday. In federal states there are national standards and of course national economic goals. In Uganda if you get a pajero - the rest can take cares of itself !! bwanika > Bwanika: > > you ask > ">-Should Uganda become a federal state based on religion, tribe, clans or > what? > > Having lived in two federal countries, the answer to your question needs is > yes. We need federalism, not on clan but some viable entities. I am now a > very strong believer in federalism as the best way forward in Uganda. I am > still at a loss to understand for instance, how Jinja, once Uganda's leading > industrial centre is now a ghost town. What exactly happened to Jinja? > Where were the leaders from Busoga? What is there in Busoga to show that > until last week it had some of the most powerful voices in cabinet? > > Go to Busia and Malaba, these are Uganda's cash cows in that that is where a > big chunck of customs revenue is derived. What is there to show for in > Busia and Malaba? Look at the latest cabinet, some regions are marginalized > as never before. Look at the land crisis in Bunyoro that has left the > banyoro to ask: iffe abanyoro twabakii? and could soon explode into some > form of "ethnic cleansing", look at the half hearted efforts to end the Kony > war, look at the cattle rustling in North-Eastern Uganda. All these point > to the need for a fresh approach in Uganda. > > Would Eastern Uganda be as marginalized today if Uganda was a federal state? > Would all the problems above and others be allowed to fetter for so long? > Would Jinja have collapsed? Would the poor peasants of Bulemezi who lost > everything still be camping in Kampala pleading for some handouts? > > Definetly things can't worse than they are in Uganda today. Some are against > federalism because it will create divisions, but divisions exist in Uganda. > Can divisions really get worse? Consider sectarianism, tribalism can it > really get worse than it is the case today? Corruption? Lack of > accountability? Marginalization? Allienation of entire areas? What is the > best way to heal our wounds and the wounds are quite deep? > > Mr. Bwanika, go ahead and take a hard look at federalism. The peasants you > want to empower can best be helped under a federal arrangement. So go ahead > and consult with your DFWA-U colleagues (why Justice party again) with a view > to embracing federalism. >
