wfn.org | AANA BULLETIN No. 10/03 March 17, 2003 (a)

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

AANA BULLETIN No. 10/03 March 17, 2003 (a)

All Africa News Agency
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AANA Bulletin
Acting	Editor -Elly Wamari	

Bulletin APTA
Acting Editor - Silvie Alemba

NEWS  SECTION

Elusive Peace In North Uganda Could Soon Be Realised

KAMPALA (AANA) March 17 - Ugandan churches have made a score in northern 
Uganda. In time, it is hoped that peace, which has been elusive in this 
region for some 17 years, will be a reality.

For the last two years, churches have worked tirelessly to get the warring 
parties to a negotiation table.  Their efforts are bearing fruits.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, has accepted ideas of peace talks with 
rebels of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA).

On March 10, President Museveni announced a five-day truce between 
government forces and LRA, to allow the rebels move to designated places 
and organise themselves for talks.

The president's peace proposal came days after LRA leader, Joseph Kony, 
telephoned Norbert Mao, a legislator, to deliver a message to British 
authorities that he is ready for peace negotiations.

On March 3, Kony repeated his message through state-owned FM station, Mega, 
in Gulu, the scene of LRA disturbances. Gulu is two hours drive from Kampala.

Museveni has already named a government peace team to talk with the rebels. 
The team will be led by the first Deputy Prime Minister, Eriya Kategaya. 
The president has also said he will give amnesty to rebels who surrender.

There are however, some hurdles.  Kony expects talks to be held on neutral 
grounds and to be witnessed by a third party, probably the United Nations 
or Africa Union.

Museveni wants rebels to stop firing at government troops, and go into 
designated areas, which he had spelt out for them.  Both sides find 
conditions set by each of them difficult.

Nevertheless they are both under intense pressure.  LRA is under military 
stress.  It no longer receives Sudanese backing.

At the beginning of March, Sudan and Uganda governments agreed to 
co-ordinate their armies in a bid to fight Kony.

On the other hand Museveni is under pressure from donor agencies and 
bilateral partners, including British and US governments.

At the beginning of the year some Ugandan legislators lobbied the British 
government to view the underlying causes of the conflict as partly resting 
on the political and economic marginalisation of northern Uganda.

British authorities are asking Uganda government to take the opportunity 
Kony has offered and enter into negotiations with the rebels.

And Jimmy Kolker, the US ambassador to Uganda, also says that dialogue is 
the right way.

Other donors see the war as increasingly unsustainable. A Danish funded 
report on the cost of the war released in November 2002 put the financial 
and material loss to US$ 1.3 billion in the last 17 years.

The war has also widened the income gap between the north and the south.

World Food Programme (WFP) fears a humanitarian catastrophe could unravel 
if the war continued.  Its January 2003 report indicated a shortfall of 
90,000 tonnes of food up to June 2003.

Reported by Crespo Sebunya

Congolese Churches Deplore Perversion Of Petrol Revenue

BRAZZAVILE (AANA) March 17 - The Church in Congo has expressed concern that 
majority of people in the country are languishing in poverty, while it was 
a major petrol producer in Africa.

According to statistics, Congo is third-largest petrol producer in Africa, 
after Angola and Gabon.

Figures for 2001 indicate that the country produced an estimated 12 million 
tonnes of petrol, and that the commodity rates high on the country's 
exports list. It accounts for 95 percent of the exports.

More than 65 percent of the country's national revenue, estimated at 600 
billion Fcfa (US$ One billion) is accrued from petrol, according to 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) statistics for 2001.

In a statement issued at the end of a roundtable conference held in Paris, 
from February 11-14, church leaders said it was paradoxical that "Congo, 
which is the third largest producer of petroleum in sub-Saharan Africa, 
should equally turn out to be poverty-stricken and highly indebted".

The conference was held to discuss management of petroleum resources in
Congo.

The statement says much of the money accrued from petrol and intended for 
the socio-economic advancement of the people, has ended up enriching the 
minority elite and fuelling civil conflicts as witnessed in 1993-1994, 
1997, 1998-1999 and 2002.

"This kind of situation exposes non-transparency in the areas of production 
and revenue collection on the side of the government," the declaration
states.

It exposes social injustice meted on majority Congolese.  Money accrued 
from petrol benefits the well-to-do people and those in power at the 
expense of the masses.

The church leaders pleaded with churches, civil societies, the government, 
petroleum companies operating in the country and international community to 
press for social justice.

At a press conference, Bishop Louis Portella Mbuyu of the Episcopal 
Conference of Congo, declared that they planned to begin a vigorous 
international awareness campaign on the need to re-distribute revenue 
accrued from petrol to benefit all in the country.

The roundtable conference was attended by representatives from the 
Episcopal Conference of Congo, the Congolese Commission of Justice and 
Peace, the Evangelical Church of Congo, Observers of Human Rights of Congo, 
and others from the Catholic Church of Congo.

But in a rejoinder to the concerns of the Church, Congolese President, 
Denis Sassou Nguesso, described the declaration as a provocation from 
religious leaders.

"This is politics. If you want to engagement yourself in politics, you 
better get prepared and be open instead of trying to add oil to the already 
burning fire," he lashed out.

Reported by Raymond Bitemo

Relief Agencies Loose Base Following Renewed Fighting

BAIDOA, Somalia (AANA) March 17 - Humanitarian situation in the Bay region 
in southern Somalia has worsened, following fighting over control of Baidoa 
town, about 300 kilometres to the north west of Mogadishu.

The fighting has disrupted relief activities for over eight months. 
According to UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Maxwell 
Gaylard, the fighting, which erupted in July last year, has limited access 
to the area, displaced civilians, and seriously interrupted aid activities.

"With the dry season underway, residents of the town are now facing water 
shortages. The international humanitarian community must urgently be 
allowed safe and unhindered access to the area so that we may fully assess 
and respond to the deteriorating situation," he noted in a press statement.

Since the onset of fighting, international relief staff have been barred 
from operating in the region, which they describe as a once stable 
humanitarian base.

The renewed fighting is between Chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army 
(RRA), Hassan Mohammed Nur, and his deputies, Sheikh Aden Madobe and 
Ibrahim Habsade.

Gaylard pointed out that the town has changed hands severally, causing the 
long period of instability to pave way for banditry and targeted killings.

"Increasingly, the UN and NGO (non-governmental organisation) vehicles are 
being targeted for looting. Landmines, recently laid along some of the 
roads connecting Baidoa and the rest of the Bay region have further 
hindered delivery of relief supplies," he said.

The town has lost its status as an operational and supply base for aid 
agencies, as well as a hub for the UN Common Air service (UNCAS) flights.

Gaylard described the situation as dire, and appealed to parties in 
conflict to "live up to their commitments to the Eldoret Declaration to 
cease hostilities."

The declaration was signed in Eldoret, North West of Nairobi, Kenya, in 
October last year.

Reported by Joyce Mulama

Religious Leaders Hold Key To Somalia Question

NAIROBI (AANA) March 17 - With decreasing clout of the warlords and faction 
leaders, the onus to Somalia's revival now largely rests on religious 
leaders, says Dr. Steven Lauwuerier, a UNCIEF project officer in Somalia.

Speaking to AANA in Nairobi recently, Dr. Steven said whether wars against 
HIV/AIDS, illiteracy and other social malaise plaguing Somalia are to be 
won depends on the level of engagement the international community accords 
religious leaders.

He said that although HIV/AIDS prevalence in Somalia is still low (0.8 
percent on average) the higher number of Somali returnees from neighbouring 
states of Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, (countries with high incidences of 
HIV/AIDS), coupled with high incidences of TB and STDs within Somalia 
itself, is cause for concern.

Public awareness of HIV/AIDS in Somalia is quite low and data on prevalence 
and risk behaviour is limited. Only recently, for the first time, a couple 
declared their HIV-positive status in public, a move that Dr. Steven said, 
was encouraging others to have a second look at the scourge.

Within a quick succession, others have also come forward bringing the total 
number of individuals now confirmed being infected with HIV to nine.

Survival remains the key issue in Somalia, but along with continuing 
support to basic services in health, education and water, protection of the 
rights of children and women must be guaranteed.

According to Jasper Morch, UNICEF Country Representative for Somalia, there 
is high mortality rate over most regions of Somalia, and statistics for 
children are no better.

He said that the average maternal mortality rate of 160 per 10000 was 
caused by high number of mothers denied access to health facilities, 
coupled with widespread practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), early 
marriages and general delays to seek medical expertise.

The infant mortality rate currently stands at 132 per 1000 births. In some 
parts of the country, 1 in 4 children exhibits symptoms of 
malnutrition.  Only 17 percent of Somalia's 3.4 million children of 
eligible school age are receiving primary education.

By AANA Correspondent