wfn.org | All Africa News Agency 24/03 June 23 2003 (b)

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AANA BULLETIN No. 24/03 June 23, 2003 (b)

Analysts View Execution Of Convicts As Warning To MDC

HARARE (AANA) June 23 - A recent hanging of four Zimbabwean prisoners 
sentenced to death for various offences has been interpreted as aimed at 
silencing the opposition.

Two of the executed prisoners, Stephen Chidhumo and Elias Chauke were 
sentenced to death for shooting a prison officer during an escape bid from 
Chikurubi Maximum Prison (in Harare) in 1997.  The other two, also 
convicted for murder, were William Mukurungunye and John Nyamazana.

While the executions have reopened debate on corporal punishment in the 
country, some analysts have gone deeper, accusing the Government of using 
the executions as a warning to supporters of Movement for Democratic Change 
(MDC), the main opposition party in the country.

MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is in custody facing two treason charges, 
which carry a maximum penalty of death.

"The timing of the executions should be questioned, since it [may have] a 
relationship with what is happening on the political front," one analyst
says.

Tsvangirai was arrested on June 6, and has been in custody since then.	He 
was arrested on fresh treason charges after he called on his supporters to 
lodge mass protests against president Robert Mugabe's government.

The treason charges arose from an alleged plot by him, together with his 
secretary general, Professor Welshman Ncube, and a Member of Parliament, 
Renson Gasela, to assassinate Mugabe in the run up to last year's 
presidential elections.

Reported by Leonard Makombe

Regional Bodies Move To Restore Hope To Cotton Farmers

OUAGADOUGOU (AANA) June 23 - West and Central African countries have 
instituted measures to counter effects of cotton subsidies by rich 
countries, on their local producers.

The West African Economic and Monetary Union and the Economic (UEMOA) and 
Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) announced last Monday in 
Ouagadougou that they will start processing 25 percent of their production 
by 2010. Currently only five percent of the local production is processed.

"The meeting has given us hope by providing us the opportunity to [lay 
strategies] for the survival of thousands of producers and millions others, 
who depend directly on cotton in West and Central Africa," said Burkina 
Faso trade minister, Benoit Ouattara, at the end of a two days meeting.

Cotton generates 30 to 50 percent of the export earnings in the UEMOA 
countries. The planned project is expected to create about 50,000 jobs.

In recent years the African cotton sector has been badly affected by the 
subsidies granted by rich countries to their producers.

Benin, Burkina Faso , Mali and Chad, the region's main cotton producers, 
sent a submission to the World Trade Organisation in April to ask for 
compensation for damages caused by cotton subsidies on their local
productions.

Last June, President Blaise Compaore led a delegation of African trade 
ministers to Geneva to meet the Trade Negotiation Committee of the WTO to 
plead in favour of African cotton producers.

It is estimated that west and central African countries have been losing 
150 million dollars annually since 1997, due to heavy subsidies that favour 
farmers in rich countries, in the international market.

Countries which attended the Ouagadougou meeting include, Benin, Burkina 
Faso and Cote d'Ivoire.

Reported by Brahima Ouedraogo

Meeting Notes Increasing Abuse Of Rights Of The Elderly

NAIROBI (AANA) June 23 - A three-day workshop for the aged in Africa, 
organised by HelpAge International (HelpAge), noted rising violations of 
rights of older people, and recommended formulation of country policies to 
effectively address their concerns.

The meeting, held from June 10 to 12, brought together a technical working 
group of HelpAge International member and partner organisations working 
with older people in 10 African countries. They were from Kenya, Uganda, 
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, 
and Tanzania.

The mandate of 15 participants, drawn from HelpAge partners such as United 
Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and ActionAid, among others, 
was to develop good practice guidelines for rights-based work with older 
people.

According to HelpAge International, "the pervading attitude among many 
people is that older persons have outlived their usefulness, are 
unproductive and over-dependent, and have not rights to claim."

A Tanzanian participant, Ms Juliana Bernard, told the workshop that 
witchcraft allegations against older people were widespread, and always led 
to their impoverishment, victimisation and killing in Tanzania.

Such incidences were more pronounced in Mwanza and Shinyanga regions of 
northern Tanzania, where belief in witchcraft is common. But she noted that 
the occurrence was not solely restricted to Tanzania.

Information from other African countries suggest that allegations of 
witchcraft against the elderly is prevalent.

Contributing the absurd state of affairs of the elderly is the fact that 
many of them in Africa are illiterate and lack knowledge about their rights.

The African regional representative of HelpAge, Mr. Tavengwa Nhongo, noted 
that even though there were indications of improvements in as far as the 
affairs of older people were concerned after concerted advocacy by HelpAge 
members, there was still need to sensitise the larger society to recognise 
the elderly.

Reported by Joseph K'Amolo

Namibia's Power Plan Still Awaits Commission's Approval

MAUN (AANA) June 23 - Namibia's controversial plan to build a 
hydro-electric plant at Popa Falls along the Okavango River, which was 
unveiled in February, is yet to be approved.

A tripartite commission comprising Angola, Botswana and Namibia, formed to 
study the project, say they have not completed their assessment.

The commission, Okavango River Basin Commission (OKACOM), has subsequently 
withheld permission to any country to exploit the resources of the river 
that flows from Angola, through Namibia to Botswana.  This was disclosed 
recently by Angolan Energy and Water Minister, Botelho de Vasconcelos.

He said currently, various projects were being considered, including plans 
by Angola to develop nearby agricultural zones in South-eastern 
Kuando-Kubango province, using the river's water for irrigation.

Namibia's hydro-power plan, announced this February, has been widely 
criticised by environmentalists who say the project will have negative 
implications on the Okavango River and its inland Delta in Botswana, where 
over 100,000 people rely on its resources.

However, Botelho de Vasconcelos said that since OKACOM was a tripartite 
management commission, member countries could have initiatives, but could 
only implement them through co-ordination among the three countries.

OKACOM was set up to run the shared waters of Okavango River and to 
strengthen co-operation between Namibia, Angola and Botswana.

A meeting was held in May in Maun, in north western Botswana, in which the 
three countries agreed on the development of an environment friendly 
baseline for the management of the basin.

Kahijoro Kahuure, the Namibian Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of 
Agriculture, Water and Rural Development, told AANA that his country would 
not go ahead with the hydro-electric project unless approved by OKACOM.

Reported by Rodrick Mukumbira