wfn.org | All Africa News Agency June 9 2003 (b)

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

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AANA BULLETIN No. 22/03, June 9, 2003 (b)

German Minister Reminds Uganda Of Role In DRC Peace

KAMPALA (AANA) June 9 - A German junior foreign minister, Christine Muller, 
has told Ugandan government to honour its commitments in restoration of 
peace and security in Ituri Province in north-eastern Democratic Republic 
of Congo (DRC).

Muller, who visited Uganda from May 30, held discussions with President 
Yoweri Museveni and Uganda's foreign minister, James Waphakabulo.

According to sources, she reminded Uganda of her commitment to security in 
the troubled province, saying it was necessary for the government to use 
its influence in the DRC to pacify the region.

The German minister, whose government was set to send troops as part of the 
1,400 French-dominated rapid reaction force for Ituri last week, said 
Uganda bore responsibility as party to those who had committed themselves 
to securing peace in Ituri.

On his part, Museveni reiterated Uganda's commitment to guarantee security 
to civilians and participants of the Committee for the Pacification of 
Ituri, in accordance with the March 10, 2003 agreement signed between 
Uganda, DRC, United Nations (UN) and eight rebel groups.

Meanwhile, concern among various actors that Uganda's withdrawal of troops 
from the troubled region would cause chaos, was deepened following a May 31 
massacre of at least 200 Congolese in the region.

Brigadier Kale Kaihura, head of Ugandan troops that were deployed in Bunia, 
said he learnt about the massacre from the Kampala-based Chief Kahwa-Panga 
Mandro of the Party of Unity for the Safeguard of Integrity of Congo 
(PUSIC). Kaihura is now based in Fort Portal town of western Uganda.

He used the massacre to underscore the inadequacy of UN and the need to 
spread UN troops in Bunia's outlying areas.

Other Ugandan political sources say the massacre was also sparked off by 
fears that some of the Congolese would not benefit from the oil project 
near Lake Albert, which is being undertaken by a British Firm.

There are several Ugandan supported groups operating around the area of 
massacre, namely; Union Patriotique Congolaise-Integrationists, a group 
made up of Nandis, Lendus and Ngitis; Front for National Integrationists 
led by Ndjabu Floliban Ngagu, which is a Nandi group, and Popular Forces 
for Democracy of Congo, headed by Unen Chun Thoma from the Aruu community.

Though Uganda has tried to extricate herself from blame, there have been 
reports that the army had supplied various factions with arms before their 
departure a few weeks ago.

Analysts note that the foregoing events could justify views that UN was 
incapable of keeping peace in the DRC, hence suggestions for African 
solutions to African problems.

Reported By Crespo Sebunya

  Sub-Saharan Africa Plans To Develop Uniform Standards

NAIROBI (AANA) June 9 - Tanzania is in the process of building up an 
accreditation system that is in tune with her trading partners in southern 
and eastern Africa, Beatrice Mutabazi, deputy director of Tanzania Bureau 
of Standards has said.

Speaking in Nairobi recently, Mutabazi said, "experience with the fish 
markets in the European Union (EU) in the late 1990s shows the need for 
regional harmonisation of standards, quality, metrology and testing, if the 
region's products are to be globally competitive".

Experts at a two day workshop running from May 28 to 29 in Nairobi, on 
standards for sustainable and market access in sub-Saharan Africa, noted 
that there was an increasing necessity to prioritise needs at regional 
level and develop long-term implementation strategy with respect to 
technical assistance and capacity building.

Echoing Mutabazi's sentiments, Kenya's Minister for Trade and Industry, Dr. 
Mukhisa Kituyi, said that while it was satisfactory that most countries in 
the region had already undertaken significant trade liberalisation and 
economic policy reforms, "impediments to access developed countries' 
markets must now be tackled regionally".

Dr Kituyi said in a speech read on his behalf by his assistant, Petkey 
Miriti, that the region now needed to develop common long-term strategies 
to facilitate international trade.

This, according to experts, calls for harmonisation of standards and 
technical regulations, strengthening of activities and sharing necessary 
information.

The participants, drawn from the east, central and southern Africa, noted 
the need for mutual recognition of accreditation systems within member 
countries of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), East Africa 
Community (EAC), Common Markets For East and Central Africa (COMESA), and 
their international partners.

According to the trade experts, while the EAC, SADC and COMESA economic 
blocs have separately put in place mechanisms for promoting standardisation 
in their respective regions, there was need to harmonise standards across 
the board in order to cover the entire sub-Saharan Africa.

The workshop was organised by the Nairobi based African Centre for 
Technology studies (ACTS), Geneva based International Institute for 
Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Regional International Network group 
(RING).

Reported by Henry Neondo

  Churchman Tells Colleagues To Serve Beyond Spiritual Matters

NAIROBI (ANNA) June 9 - The Church should serve people in totality and not 
confine itself to spiritual matters only, a Nigerian clergyman, Rev. Daniel 
Bitrus, told a public lecture here on May 24.

Speaking on the theme, Poverty: A Challenge to Christians, the cleric, who 
is General Secretary of Nairobi-based Association of Evangelicals in 
Africa, observed:  "Unless the Church realises this, it will have the 
tendency of regarding poverty as a subject outside its domain... We must 
not see our role as only preparing people for heaven and ignoring what 
affects their lives here on earth".

Rev. Bitrus regretted that most churches had not taken such challenges 
seriously in the past, and reminded Christians that "when Jesus Christ 
said, 'You will always have the poor among you' (Matthew 26:11), he did not 
imply that we should not do anything about poverty".

He suggested various ways through which churches could handle poverty. They 
included showing interest in national issues and government programmes; 
participation in debates in order to influence government decisions; 
encouraging politicians to play their roles in a godly manner; and 
empowering the poor to help themselves.

According to him, the Church must handle all maters pertaining to human 
needs in body, soul and spirit. "This would exemplify Jesus Christ in 
totality," he stressed.  The public lecture was organised by Nairobi 
Ecumenical Group, which brings together churches in Nairobi to chart out a 
common course.

Reported by Osman Njuguna

Eye Brows Rise Over State Of The Art Police Patrol Gear

KAMPALA (AANA) June 9 - Fifteen Israeli police officers have begun training 
Ugandan police, according to senior police officers here.

The officers, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that 
training of 300 members of mobile police patrol began on May 4 at Kigo, 
north-east of Kampala.

The patrol team is a crack unit within the police, formed to fight armed 
robbery. There are 4,000 police officers in the unit.

This marks the first time in many decades for Israel to be involved in 
training of the 15,000 strong Ugandan police, which in recent years 
benefited from American and British training programmes.  The move also 
signals deeper involvement of Israelis in Uganda's internal security 
matters. Before, Israel was mainly involved in training of the military.

There have been fears that Uganda's police force was increasingly being 
equipped with more combative skills and gear, and may be used for 
repressive roles. Recently, the unit received hundreds of bullet-proof 
vests and state-of-the-art patrol trucks.

The concerns were underlined when in mid May, police violently dispersed a 
crowd that had travelled hundreds of miles to Kampala to demonstrate 
against the government's inability to finish construction of a major road.

Reported by Crespo Sebunya

Pomp Marks Ordination Of Video Producer To Bishop

MACHAKOS, Kenya (AANA) June 9 - Celebrations marked the ordination of 
Monsignor Martin Kivuva Musonde as Catholic bishop for Machakos diocese, 
approximately 70 kilometres to the south-east of Nairobi.

The colourful ordination, which took place on June 3 and was attended by 
Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, followed Monsignor Kivuva's appointment on 
March 15 by Pope John Paul II.

Kivuva becomes the third bishop for Machakos diocese, after Archbishop 
Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki, currently the Catholic head in Kenya, and Bishop 
Urbanus Kioko, who has now retired after steering the diocese for the last 
30 years.

Born on February 10, 1952, Bishop Kivuva belongs to a family of devout 
Christians. It is no accident therefore that he undertook theological 
studies upon completion of his secondary education, and was ordained a 
priest in 1978.

Thereafter, he served in various capacities in the archdiocese of Mombasa, 
until 1992, when he joined Catholic-owned Ukweli Video Productions in 
Nairobi. He rose to become the organisation's director, a position he held 
until his Episcopal appointment.

Machakos Diocese covers an area of 15,000 square kilometres, and has 
630,000 Catholics in 42 parishes served by 110 priests and 120 sisters.

Reported by Makur Kot Dhuor