wfn.org | ALL AFRICA NEWS AGENCY BULLETIN No. 44/02 (b)

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

November 11, 2002

AANA Bulletin is an ecumenical initiative to highlight all endeavours and 
experiences of Christians and the people of Africa.  AANA Bulletin is 
published weekly and, together with the French Edition - Bulletin APTA - is 
also available through e-mail.	For editorial and subscription details, 
please contact: 

AANA Bulletin	: Acting Editor - Mitch Odero		
Bulletin APTA: Edition en frangais, ridacteur intirimaire : Sylvie Alemba

All Africa News Agency
P.O. BOX 66878 NAIROBI, KENYA
TEL : (254 2) 442215, 440224 ; FAX : (254 2) 445847/443241
E-mail : aanaapta@insightkenya.com

Police Seek Relatives Of Slain Ex-Staff Of AACC Publication

NAIROBI (AANA) November 11 - Kennedy Omondi-Ojweke, a renowned Kenyan 
freelance advertising space-seller, died here following what the police 
suspected to be gangster attack.  He died on the night of November 3.

Nairobi's Jogoo Road police station are looking for his relatives to claim 
his body from the city mortuary.  They can contact Inspector Shikuku at the 
police station.

The late Omondi-Ojweke had close relations with the Church media .  He 
solicited advertisement support for the All Africa Conference of Churches 
AACC publications such as Tam Tam and All Africa Journal of Theology.

He also sold space for a once vibrant publication of the National Christian 
Council of Kenya NCCK - The Target.  He had a presence in the secular media 
too, selling space for a daily - The People as well as Newsline, and 
Majeshi Yetu.

Staff of the All Africa News Agency and the Information Desk of the AACC 
expressed a message of condolence to his friends and relatives.

FOCUS  ON  ZAMBIA

A Woman's Fight To Provide For The Extended Family

UKWIMI, Zambia (AANA) November 11 - Ailedi Zulu lives in the village of 
Ukwimi in south-eastern Zambia. She is on her own since her husband and 
children have all died as a result of HIV/AIDS. Ailedi has sole 
responsibility for her seven grandchildren. Her fight for survival is a 
hard one.

"I am old and I don't have much strength any more," Ailedi says, looking 
with concern at her grandchildren that leap about around her on the grass 
mat. The children are tired, dirty and hungry. They do not have enough 
strength to play or do any mischief like other children but mostly sit 
around with apathy, watching their grandmother.

"My children all died as a result of HIV/AIDS last month. They had been ill 
for quite a long time. I have tried to supply food to the family this last 
year. But my strength is not enough both for looking for food in the woods 
and for looking after the children".

Ailedi tells how she often has to go out at dawn to look for toxic roots or 
beans, which she then boils in order to make them edible. Sometimes it can 
take up to 20 hours before the water comes clear - a sign that the beans 
have become edible.

"Finding food gets worse day by day. We are so many looking for food so we 
have to go further and further away every day". In this little village 
people do, however, try to help one another, They share the food that they 
can find.

About 30 people live in the village.  "We share the food with one another, 
but sometimes there is just not sufficient food. Today we have not eaten 
anything at all because we have not found any food," Ailedi says, drinking 
a mouthful of water to stay her hunger.

There is water in the well just over two kilometres away from this little 
village. It is part of the daily routine for a couple of the older children 
to go and fetch water in the morning.

"I feel so bitter because we cannot get any help. We have heard on the 
radio that there is genetically modified corn in the storehouses. And we 
starve. We have nothing at all to eat and all we can find is toxic roots 
and beans," Ailedi says.

"The corn is at least edible. Of course we have heard that there are 
certain risks, but for us the choice is an easy one. We would rather eat 
that than starve to death". Ailedi says that she has heard how several 
people have died of starvation in the neighbouring villages.

She takes a dark view of the future, her own future and that of her 
grandchildren. "The harvest has failed for two years running," she says.

"At the moment there is nobody who has the strength to grow anything, so we 
cannot put any hope in the next harvest, which would have come by next 
March. All we can do is to continue to look for roots and beans".

Soon the rainy season will begin in Zambia, and that will make it even more 
difficult for these families to find anything edible. Even so, Ailedi does 
see some glimmer of light as she ends our conversation with these words: 
"You have come and listened to our story. Maybe someone can help us to find 
some food".

About 2,4 million people out of the population of just over 10 million 
suffer from famine in Zambia.  The figure is expected to increase because 
the harvest has failed for the last two years. Now there is a lack of grain 
across the country, so there is very little hope of a good harvest in March 
next year.

Reported by Marianne Edjerstan,
Church of Sweden Aid

Villager, 20, Dreams of Becoming A Cotton Grower

THONTHOLANI, Zambia (AANA) November 11 - Samuel Gebandi is a young man of 
little more than 20. He lives with his mother, Musatan and his brother, 
John, in the village of Thontholani in south-eastern Zambia, about 20 
kilometres outside the town of Chipata. He often plays soccer with his 
friends and dreams of a future as a cotton-grower.

We meet Samuel at the family hut, which consists of one large room with an 
earthen floor. The hut is well cleaned and it contains no furniture, except 
a few cooking-pots.

"My friends and I hope that one day we will be able to grow corn and 
cotton. Personally, I would prefer to grow cotton".

"I live here with my mother and my brother. We manage quite well, and so 
far we have been able to have a meal every day," Samuel says.

Samuel then tells us that he and his mother go out into the woods at dawn 
in order to search for fruits and nuts. Most days they stay out almost the 
whole day, hunting for food.

"We have to dig down into the soil in order to find the right kind of 
roots," Samuel explains, and he indicates with his hand that they often 
have to dig down almost a metre in order to find any edible roots.

Samuel explains that the reason for this shortage of food is that the 
harvest has failed two years running.

And his family has also been hit by illness, so they have not had any 
strength to grow any corn. His father died in 1990, and since then the 
family has managed on its own.

"It is hard to plan for the future. Nobody knows if we will have any food 
at all next year," Samuel says pessimistically.  "But I do play soccer with 
my friends now and again," Samuel says with a glimmer of light in his eyes.

"My friends and I hope that one day we will be able to grow corn and 
cotton. Personally, I would prefer to grow cotton".

Reported by Marianne Edjerstan,
Church of Sweden Aid

  Widow Maintains Faith Despite Gloomy Harvest Forcast

EASTERN ZAMBIA (AANA) November 11 - "Do please have some," says a smiling 
woman in front of me in the beautiful-sounding Bantu language, holding out 
a pot. The interpreter at my side translates and indicates that I ought to 
taste the beans.

I hesitate a little, since I do not want to eat the food that this family 
needs more than I do. I am in a small village in Eastern Zambia. The 
purpose of this visit is to find out more of how our partner in 
co-operation, the Lutheran World Federation, works on location.

The woman, whose name is Mary Pehri, continues, tears in her eyes: "Do have 
some. You have travelled such a long way in order to visit us here in 
Zambia. You must be tired and hungry".

  Of course we have travelled a long way, I say to myself, but are we 
hungry? A little, maybe. We had our breakfast only a few hours ago. The 
woman standing in front of me with this dented cooking pot is inviting me 
to share the only meal this family will have all day.

There are five children in the family. The husband has died as a result of 
HIV/AIDS. Mary has to bear the whole responsibility for this family on her 
own.

Mary continues to tell me how she went out very early to find some roots 
and wild beans. "We go out as soon as the sun rises, because nowadays it 
takes many hours before we find any food. Sometimes we do not return to the 
village until dusk. Sometimes we do not find any food at all".

I take a look at her feet. A few pieces of material is the only thing that 
protects the soles of her feet against the harsh terrain. Zambia is a 
beautiful country, but it is mostly woodland with valleys and hills, green 
trees and blue-flowering jacaranda trees.

Yet again the pot is offered to me, and I feel that I cannot refuse a third 
time. I am overwhelmed by this care and hospitality. And pride! It is a 
strong woman who stands before me.

A woman who is proud that she is able to take care of her family; proud to 
have a hut of her own with a grass roof. The hut is Spartan but well 
cleaned. The family does not own any mattresses or any cloth, so they sleep 
on the earthen floor.

I pick up a large bean and taste it carefully, for I have heard how toxic 
the beans that have been picked in the jungle can be. And I feel ashamed 
when I think that this is the food that this family eats every day. I ought 
not to be afraid.

The bean does not taste of anything much, almost like a wet 
newspaper.  Mary tells me that her hope is that the children will be able 
to eat until they are satisfied, but they do need help to find food. 
Another of her wishes is that the children will be able to attend school, 
which Mary herself has never been able to do.

We travelled around, altogether about 3,000 kilometres in south-eastern and 
eastern Zambia. Everything we saw and heard was alarming. There is no more 
food! The harvests have failed for two years running.

The next harvest period will come in March, but there are so few people 
that can afford any grains that the hope for a large harvest is steadily 
decreasing. There is nothing left to eat, except green unripe mangoes, 
toxic roots and wild beans that must be boiled for many hours in order to 
become edible. And this is only a short-term solution.

The mangoes will soon be ripe, and then they will rot and become inedible. 
The rainy season will start in a few weeks or maybe within days.

Reported by Marianne Edjerstan,  Church of Sweden Aid (-The 
writer	recently visited Zambia and has kindly provided the stories for use 
by the Action By Churches Together  alliance)

SPECIAL  REPORT

Police Disperse Demo Against Third Presidential Term

LIMBE, Malawi (AANA) November 11 - Malawi's parliament ended its three-week 
sitting on a lacklustre note on November 1 after the much-talked about Bill 
seeking to extend the presidential term failed to take off.

Instead the limelight was stolen by a demonstration which turned violent as 
police dispersed critics demonstrating against the Bill which sought to 
pave the way for President Bakili Muluzi to stand for a third term of 
office in 2004.

The controversial Bill seeks to amend the Constitution to lift restrictions 
on the terms of office of the president. But government representatives 
could not shed light on whether the Bill would be tabled or not in future.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General Henry Phoya was quoted by the 
newspapers as saying the decision to come up with the new Bill came from 
the public. It would be tabled if the people wanted, he said.

While parliament was winding up its three-week business in the capital, 
Lilongwe, there were ugly scenes in the commercial hub, Blantyre, where 
violence interrupted a planned public demonstration against proposals by 
the government to lift constitutional restrictions on the terms of office 
of the president.

At least three people were reported injured from knife wounds allegedly 
inflicted by youth wing members of the ruling United Democratic Front known 
as Young Democrats.

Among the injured was a high ranking official of the National Democratic 
Alliance NDA whose leader, Brown Mpinganjira, has vowed to oust the Muluzi 
regime. An official, Mike Mezalumo, was seriously injured on the eye and 
had to go for surgery.

The protest on the morning of November 1 was organised by the Forum for the 
Defence of the Constitution and attracted thousands of people opposed to 
the extension of the two five-year presidential tenure

The demonstration ended in disarray shortly after commencement from the old 
Town Hall in Blantyre, when the police opened fire and tossed teargas to 
disperse a looming clash between the marchers and groups of armed 
government supporters who had gathered at the clock tower, a kilometre away.

The organisers of the demonstrations blame the police for favouring the 
violent attackers instead of protecting the peaceful demonstrators who were 
licensed to hold the demonstration. There were however a wide range of 
views expressed by the public against the police action which, they say, 
was instructed "from above".

On the day of the riots, President Muluzi was attending a Muslim gathering 
known as Ijtima in a predominantly Muslim district of Nkhatakota. In his 
address to the Muslim faithful, he described as "nonsense" the 
pre-occupation by some leaders with the subject of presidential term.

Muluzi congratulated organisers of the annual event for focusing on AIDS 
pandemic instead of the controversial Bill. He censured Opposition leaders 
who he did not name for trying "to use religion to divide Malawians".

One of the organisers of the protests, Harold Williams, of the Forum for 
the Defence of the Constitution, an umbrella body of civic, religious and 
opposition groups, says they intend to take the police to court because the 
law enforcers did not respect the people's constitutional right.

The forum, whose aim is to stop the government from adopting the proposed 
constitutional amendment Bill, complained that heavily armed paramilitary 
police used gunfire and teargas to disperse demonstrators.

Reported by Hamilton Vokhiwa