wfn.org | All Africa News Agency - Bulletin No. 34-02 (c)

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AANA Bulletin                                           Bulletin APTA
Acting Editor - Mitch Odero                             Acting Editor - 
Silvie Alemba

Market, Globalisation Have Failed Many Societies

GENEVA(AANA) September 2 - "We must have the courage  to admit that the 
market and globalization have failed more than two-thirds of the world 
population who live in poverty," says Dr Molefe Tsele, general secretary of 
the South African Council of Churches SACC.

"The evidence, which is impossible to hide any longer, is that we are now 
living with the legacy of unparalleled inequality between North and South, 
impoverishment, and deprivation of the barest necessities of life and 
dignity".

Tsele last week led a joint SACC-World Council of Churches WCC delegation 
to the World Summit on Sustainable Development WSSD in Johannesburg, South 
Africa, August 26-September 4. The SACC-WCC delegation was part of a larger 
Ecumenical Team which has attended all the preparatory meetings for the WSSD.

"We were present in Rio ten years ago and have accompanied the follow-up 
process," said Rev  Dr Martin Robra of the Justice, Peace, Creation (JPC) 
team of the WCC.  "We know the Rio agreement for sustainable development 
was not fulfilled by the rich countries and the agenda was increasingly 
shaped by corporate interests. We have had enough of that".

Dr Aruna Gnanadason, coordinator of the WCC's JPC team asks, "Whose 
sustainability are we talking about? The WCC continues to challenge the 
concept of sustainable development as a contradiction in terms, preferring 
instead the term 'sustainable communities', putting the focus back on the 
people.

"The Rio Earth summit raised expectations and hopes that there could be a 
change of direction. Ten years later, it seems we actually went backwards 
and business got its way at the expense of other sectors in society and the 
environment".

"This is God's earth" was the theme of a worship service, on August 25, to 
mark the opening of the WSSD, held in Alexandra Township. The service was 
hosted by the SACC for all delegates to the WSSD and the local community.

Reported by Sheila Mesa in Geneva

SPECIAL  REPORT

UN Agency Moves To Contain Meningitis Outbreak

KIGALI (AANA) September 2 -  UNICEF has moved in to contain a serious 
meningitis  outbreak  in Rwanda that has so far claimed 65 lives and 
affected over 445  people,  including  at  least 148 children.

  UNICEF announced last week that it  was  stepping  up its mass 
vaccination campaigns with the expected arrival  on August 
27  of  a  consignment  of  515,000  doses  of  vaccine,  syringes  and 
antibiotics.  The consignment has been made possible by funding from 
USAID  and DFID.

"We  are very concerned about the situation here in Rwanda, as well as 
the  meningitis   outbreak  in  Burundi.   We  are  working  closely  with 
the  Government  of  Rwanda  along with our partners in WHO and MSF in 
order to  get  this  situation under control.  We are especially concerned 
about the  plight  of  children,  who  are  particularly vulnerable to this 
disease,"  stated UNICEF Representative Theophane Nikyema.

  The  consignment  is  in  addition to 150, 000 doses and related 
injection  materials  that UNICEF has already supplied since the disease 
broke out in  June  this  year. The Rwandan Ministry of Health has also 
provided 238,700  doses  of  vaccine,  WHO another 150,000 doses and 
Medecins Sans Frontiers MSF a similar amount.

  The outbreak of meningococcal meningitis, a life-threatening disease 
which  affects  people  of  all  ages  but  is especially lethal to 
children, was  initially  confined  to  Butare Province in the south west 
of the country.

Health  officials  in  Kibilizi  District  initially  suspected  a 
malaria  outbreak  because  most  patients  presented  symptoms of fever 
and tested  positive  for  malaria on a blood smear. However, meningitis 
was suspected  when  the  patients  failed  to respond to malaria treatment.

A subsequent  investigation  confirmed  a  meningitis  outbreak.   The 
disease has since  spread  to  Kibungo Province in the east, placing over 
1.18 million people  in  Butare  and Kibungo provinces at risk, half of 
them children and young  people aged under 18 years.

The  Ministry  of  Health has already upgraded four districts to 
"epidemic  status'.  Three  more  are  on alert and could move to epidemic 
status any  time.  Field  staff  from  UNICEF  and  WHO  are  carefully 
monitoring the  situation and holding regular meetings with the Ministry of 
Health and MSF  to share information.

UNICEF is currently responding to a similar outbreak  in  Burundi and 
closely monitoring the situation in Tanzania, which shares  the border with 
eastern Rwanda.

SOURCE: UNICEF Kigali

FEATURES  SECTION

Small Arms Challenge In The Great Lakes Region

Small arms smugglers within the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa regions 
are cunningly avoiding forming defined smuggling networks to conceal their 
activities from law enforcement officers. Smugglers operate on individual 
level with limited small arms stocks that are easy to transport and 
conceal, writers AANA's Special Correspondent Stephen Mbogo.

B
ut with the effects of the illicit trade and proliferation of small arms 
and light weapons clearly visible in the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa 
regions, regional governments are upping their efforts of controlling the 
menace. Harmonious regional policy and national laws on small arms problem 
are envisaged.

Socio-economic status of Democratic Republic of Congo DRC, Rwanda, Burundi 
and Sudan, where there are active convectional wars have nose-dived.
Economies of Uganda, Eritrea and Ethiopia, are hard hit by recurrent 
internal and cross border wars respectively. Insecurity situation in Kenya 
has had indirect negative economic effects.

Although the number of small arms and light weapons in circulation within 
the region has not been quantified, expert opinion gives the quantity level 
as "serious".

"The nature of our porous borders and the collapse of the Somali state has 
meant free movement of small arms within the region. Weapons are rotating 
within conflict areas with serious socio-economic repercussions," said 
Colonel (rtd) Jan Kamenchu, the Director of the Nairobi-based Security 
Research and Information Centre

Kamenchu said in an interview that conflicts in the Great Lakes region have 
become bigger and bloodier because of proliferation of small arms. The 
magnitude of death, destruction and displacement runs into billions of 
dollars lost because of the gun.

In a departure from the tradition where small arms were only concentrated 
in the pastoralist areas, a new trend has emerged where the number of 
illegal arms in civilians hands in cities like Nairobi, Addis Ababa and 
Kampala is staggering.

"Businesses close early to avoid evening raids forcing the workers to 
prefer shopping during working hours. Lots of economic man hours go to 
waste," said Kamenchu.

Governments of the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions met in Nairobi 
During  August 7-8 for the First Ministerial Review Conference of the 2000 
Nairobi Declaration on the Small Arms.

The conference resolved to develop national focal points in line with 
national plans to co-ordinate the work of government agencies on small 
arms. More important, the conference resolved to merge this strategy with a 
regional collective responsibility of eradicating small arms and light 
weapons within the region.

The strategy will involve developing initiatives aimed at minimising 
people's dependence on guns. Development of national plans is aimed to 
enable governments follow the Ugandan example of disarming communities in 
Karamojong Cluster, a principal route and avenue of illicit trade in small 
arms.

Member countries agree to ban civilian ownership of semi automatic assault 
weapons. Regional law enforcement officers are working on common proposals 
to reduce the number of small arms in civilian hands.

While it is evident that illicit trade on small arms and light weapons in 
the region is booming, the security forces have not been successful in 
apprehending the culprits. Experts believe this is mainly due to the fact 
that defined arms sales networks do not exist in the region but rather, 
individuals with no clear networked links propel the trade.

The Kenya and Somali coastlines, the porous regional borders and the 
conflict areas of the Karamonjong Cluster remain principal routes for 
smuggled arms. The arms mainly come from Eastern Europe countries.

"Stocks of arms used during the liberation for independence, stocks of cold 
war hostilities and those that get out of government armouries during 
change of governments in the region contribute to the numbers that come 
from outside Africa," said Kamenchu.

The source could also be domestic because a number of governments within 
the region have running investments in manufacture of small arms related 
products. This has drastically changed the security equation of the region 
because there are not specific guidelines to regulate even the legal trade 
in small arms.

The Kenya government in collaboration with the largest Belgian defence 
company, FN Herstal, operates the Kenya Bullet Factory based in Eldoret 
town. The factory has a capacity to produce 1.6 million bullets a month, 
which translates into 20 million bullets a year. Experts believe this 
number is too big for domestic use and some bullets could be getting out of 
the country.

Indeed, the 7.62 bullet manufactured in Kenya is similar to the type used 
throughout Central Africa and the Great Lakes region. In November 2000, a 
French broadcast on Radio Rwanda explicitly stated that this bullet type 
has been supplied to, among others, the Interahamwe militia groups in the DRC.

A report by Hilde Herssens of Antwerp University concerning Belgian 
transfers of weapons technology Belgium points out the Eldoret Arms Factory 
as a "notorious" arms manufacturing entity whose activities are not in the 
interest of regional and global peace and security.

"There must be improved follow-up and monitoring of Belgian weapons, which 
are produced abroad under licence agreements. The ammunition factory, which 
FN helped build in Eldoret, Kenya between 1989 and 1996 remains notorious," 
said the report.

Uganda hosts the National Enterprise Corporation in Nakasongola. Built with 
aid from China's Wabao Engineering Corp., the factory manufactures 
ammunition and small arms.

Although Uganda claims that it stopped production of land mines in 1995, 
reports persist that the factory still makes and sells them in Central 
Africa and the Great Lakes region according to Human Rights Watch.

Sudan's Military Industry Corporation, which receives technical support 
from several Eastern European and Middle East countries, also manufactures 
ammunition, land mines and small arms. Output and supply remain government 
secrets.

International Alert, in a report published in 2001 said efforts to combat 
illicit arms trafficking are hampered by inadequate systems for tracing 
lines of supply of weapons, which could help identify and close down 
illicit arms supply networks.

"It is not enough for the United Nations and other international bodies to 
institute the 'end use controls' without dealing sufficiently with the 
'export controls' and their connection with the political elite and 
governments of the regions in tension," the report said.

Inadequate marking, removable marks, and inadequate record keeping are 
among the factors that enable rogue arms traffickers to carry on without 
taking responsibility.

Uganda's Education Sector Is The Envy Of Many

Education is adding value to Uganda, a country that still has little to 
offer to her neighbours in the East African Community. Since tertiary 
education sector was liberated in early1990s, the country now has more 
universities than her neighbours. Of the 34 universities registered with 
Inter-University Council for East Africa, a regulatory body, 13 are in Uganda.

By Crespo Sebunya

H
adijah Ali, a Zanzibari studying in Uganda, enjoyed a piece of roasted 
chicken purchased by the roadside. She has already booked her place in the 
country, to enrich her body and mind.

She and, her two siblings join a steady stream of East Africans who prefer 
to study in Uganda and are making their presence felt in the education 
sector of this East African country.

Many Ugandan institutions welcome them with open arms and in the process 
they overcrowd some. Bugema Adventist University has 600 students of which 
300 come from next-door Kenya.

Education is adding value to Uganda, a country that still has little to 
offer to her neighbours in the East African Community. The country is 
making a second return after collapsing in undignified heap in 1977.

John Mugeni, a Tanzanian, looks to Uganda because his elders had nice 
memories about the country's education system. "Many Tanzanian politicians 
of substance studied in Uganda," he says.

However, to other students, a journey to their eastern neighbour is of 
necessity. For example, Kenya government statistics show 130,000 students 
are eligible for university education, but only 30,000 make it to Kenyan 
universities.

It is a challenge that Ugandans have not overlooked and many institutions 
coming up have an eye on regional students. Uganda now has more 
universities than her neighbours, since tertiary education sector was 
liberated in early 1990s.

Of the 34 Universities registered with Inter-University Council for East 
Africa, a regulatory body, 13 are Ugandan. They are likely to be 14 by the 
end of this year once the Aga Khan Medical University is registered.

Regional students have brought US $4m annually from the year 2000 according 
to government statistics. In addition, to boost earnings, Gerald Sendawula, 
Finance Minister announced abolition of visa requirements for regional 
students last June 15.

Education comes cheap for them. The Ugandan currency is relatively weak 
compared to regional currencies. John Okello, a Kenyan who is at university 
in Uganda, says it costs him US $384.6) per semester, yet it is more than 
double the amount in his country.

Mary Muthoni, a Kenyan a second hand clothes trader has brought her three 
children to study in Uganda. "They study for the price of one in a modest 
standard Kenya school," she says.

Muthoni describes most buildings in Kampala, Ugandan capital, as drab and 
is unforgiving about inadequately serviced residential houses. However, she 
notes that the Ugandan education is still modelled on the British system 
while disparages Kenyan 8-4-4 system as inadequate.

Opening up education coincides with opening up of Uganda since President 
Yoweri Museveni took power in 1986.

The 500-km Nairobi-Kampala trip by road costs the equivalent of US $12 in a 
state of art coaches fitted with DVD. A 20-hour journey from Dar-Es-Salaam 
to Kampala via Nairobi costs US $40.

As travelling gathers pace, so is the interaction. Joseph Warungu is a 
Kenyan journalist working for the British Broadcasting Corporation whose 
travel to all East African countries recently was revealing.

"Ugandans are more open on anything and are laid back, compared to her 
neighbours where anything you do has to receive an official node", he told 
BBC. The interaction has also made Ugandans more receptive of foreigners.

Hudson Musoke, a Ugandan, studied at the elite Aga Khan School rubbing 
shoulders with Kenyans, Tanzanians and Asians some of whom have traversed 
the globe. He found the school well equipped and students well cultivated. 
Foods consisted of Western fast foods and traditional foods.

The rough edges of his character were smoothened by the experience. "I 
learnt to behave, became less argumentative and aspired for quality 
things," he said.

Others have used interaction to entertain. Joseph Mugerwa, a Ugandan 
singer, quickly mastered Swahili language, spoken widely in East Africa but 
hitherto despised in Uganda.

His hit Mama Mia sung in Swahili has thrown East Africans into dancing 
frenzy and reportedly song of the year in Kenya in 2001.

Interaction has also allowed East Africans to appreciate some aspects of 
Ugandan culture. Classroom matters aside, many East Africans flock to 
annual goat race, a unique sport in Uganda and enjoy culinary delights.

The Teachers Association wants the government to establish a two-track fees 
structure.  Others call for more reforms. After realising that Carole 
Bazarra, a second year medical student fell out because she could not 
afford the tuition, Godfrey Kibirige, a Kampala lawyer called for pragmatism.

"There should be a system in which those who drop out can start from where 
they stopped rather starting afresh when they get money," he says. 
Nevertheless, the Ugandan education reforms are now food for thought for 
the rest of Africa.

The shock therapy to Makerere University that introduced cost sharing and 
private sponsorship was initially rowdy (claimed four students lives) but 
has reversed decay, experienced in 1970s and 1980s.

However, Makerere is poised to become the pre-eminent intellectual and 
capacity building resource in the region.

With 70 percent of 20,000 students not on government scholarship, Makerere, 
has put to rest the notion that the state should be the only solo provider 
of higher education in Africa.

Besides, the university students and administration are abandoning the 
ivory tower, moving down to help communities around them in a project that 
will attract attention from the rest of Africa.

Under the US $11million Decentralisation project, intellectuals will design 
and monitor how decentralisation process (in which responsibility is 
evolving from central government to district administrations) is carried 
out in 56 districts.

Districts are now responsible for the health and education of their 
respective communities. The project will improve the relevance and 
responsiveness of intellectuals to the felt needs of public servants and 
communities through interaction which, hitherto, has been lacking in the past.