Mini-Summit
held in Cairo over Sudan's conflict
Kenya
to retrench civil servants
Lusaka
{Zambia} 06 April 2000.
The
Zambian government has cautiously welcomed the retirement from active politics
of Kenneth Kaunda, former republic president and leader of the biggest
opposition party, the United National Independence Party (UNIP), the Times of
Zambia newspaper reported on Thursday.
Chief
government spokesman and Information Minister, Newstead Zimba was quoted as
saying on Wednesday that the cautious approach emanated from Kaunda's well
documented history of retiring from active politics and later coming back.
"His
role during this period has been far from being constructive," he said,
adding that "when Dr. Kaunda's retirement becomes effective, we will now
give him the role of a respected founding father-figure of the nation which he
deserves."
Zimba
described Kaunda's retirement as a good thing for himself, his family, his
party, his country and the entire African continent.
He
urged Kaunda to be above partisan politics to be a distinguished and respected
statesman at home and abroad.
The
whole country could benefit from his immense knowledge and experience acquired
over a period of 50 years, he said.
Kaunda
should not retire with bitterness and vengeance and should desist from inciting
the people to rise against President Frederick Chiluba and his government, he
said. Kaunda reaffirmed his decision here on Sunday to quit party politics.
Kaunda,
76, ruled Zambia after its independence from British colonial rule in 1964
until 1991 when he was defeated by incumbent President Chiluba. He was barred
from contesting the position in the 1996 elections because of his Malawian
parentage. In that year, a constitutional amendment was adopted in the country
to bar those whose parents are foreign immigrants from contesting the
presidency.
However,
Kaunda had vowed repeatedly to run for the presidency in the next general
elections despite government utterance that Kaunda is not qualified. His rival
Chiluba had repeatedly urged him to quit party politics to be respected as
founding father of the country like Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.
Kaunda
resigned from UNIP soon after his party lost in the 1991 elections but he
returned to UNIP in 1994 and was elected UNIP presidency in 1995. On December
25, 1997, three days after his return from overseas trip, Kaunda was arrested
for his alleged involvement in the coup attempt of October 28, 1997.
On
June 1, 1998, Kaunda was released and in return for the release three days
later Kaunda announced his retirement from party politics.
However,
at the end of 1998, Kaunda vowed not to retire from politics, saying no body
can prevent him from contesting the 2001 elections.
GRi…/
Lusaka
{Zambia} 06 April 2000.
The
Zambian President, Frederick Chiluba has asked donors to stop playing double
standards and devise a common criteria for judging the performance of African
countries.
He
made the appeal on Wednesday when returning from the two-day Africa-European
Union summit held in Cairo, Egypt, which ended on Tuesday.
Chiluba
urged donors to help African countries strengthen their economies for good
governance and democracy to take root on the continent.
"They
have been making subjective judgment about what one African country does
compared to another. They must come up with criteria to make objective
judgment," he said.
He
said good governance and democracy could lead to confusion if they are pursued
in an environment of abject poverty and squalor.
Talking
about the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chiluba said
"violations (of the cease-fire agreement) have become the rule rather than
the exception."
"That
is not good for us," he said, stressing that "we want money for
development and we want war to come to an end as soon as possible."
GRi…/
Ouagadougou
{Burkina Faso} 06 April 2000
The UN
World Food Programme has approved a 1.5million US-dollar emergency operation to
feed some 15,000 Burkinabe forced to flee Cote d'Ivoire in November after a
land tenure dispute with local people.
Between
March and November, the agency plans to distribute more than 2,300 metric
tonnes of food to cover the displaced people's food needs until the next
harvest. More than 70 percent of the displaced population are women and
children.
"During
their flight, these people left behind all their possession and most of them
are completely destitute," Stefano Porretti, the WFP deputy country
director in Burkina Faso, said. "They are relying on the international
community assistance until the next harvest because their host communities are
producing just enough food to feed themselves."
The
majority of the displaced were still supporting their extended families living
in Burkina Faso.
The
Burkinabes fled Cote d'Ivoire due to extreme insecurity, and many said that
they had been the target of acts of vandalism. Most of the displaced people are
willing to return to Cote d'Ivoire to recover their property and resume their
activities if their safety can be guaranteed. However, their return does not
appear possible in the short term.
WFP
provided a 50-day emergency food aid to the displaced people in December and
January.
GRi…/
Cairo
{Egypt} 06 April 2000
Libyan
leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafii, Gen. Omar Hassan El-Bechir of Sudan and the
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, met on Tuesday night in Cairo to discuss the
joint initiative of Libya and Egypt for the peace in Sudan.
They
examined means to bridge the gap between the various parties to the Sudanese
conflict, Sudanese diplomatic sources said in Cairo said.
Bechir told
PANA that the tripartite summit gave a new impetus to the joint Libyan-Egyptian
initiative aiming at a lasting political solution to the Sudanese conflict. He
added that the Sudanese government pledged through the peace initiative, to
achieve national reconciliation, peace and stability in the country and solve
all pending
issues.
"The
political atmosphere in Khartoum is conducive to the return to the country of
the Sudanese opposition," he said. Sudan has been torn by a civil war
between the Muslim and Arab dominated north to the Christian and animist south
since 1983.
Gaddafi
proposed in August a peace plan aimed at stopping the military struggle,
launching media campaigns, the opening of direct dialogue between the
government and the opposition and the setting up of a committee to prepare
negotiations between the various parties.
GRi…/
Nairobi
{Kenya} 06 April 2000.
A
total of 48,000 Kenyan civil servants will be retrenched at a staggering cost
of 16 billion shillings (about 216 million U.S. dollars), said a revised draft
paper on poverty reduction just released by the government.
The
draft paper was recently tabled for debate at a high profile workshop attended
by top government officials led by President Daniel Arap Moi, civil society and
religious leaders,
opposition
parliament members, and professionals among other stakeholders, the East
African Standard newspaper reported on Thursday.
The
final draft, which is expected to save the exchequer 6 billion shillings (about
80 million U.S. dollars) per annum, will be ready early next year after
countrywide consultation.
However,
this poverty eradication document indicates that the painful retrenchment will commence in the 2001/2002
financial year.
The
revised draft noted that the move to right size the civil service would enable
the government to maintain a quality work force that is highly paid.
Other
highlights in the revised draft paper include the combination of the
auditor-general (corporation) with the controller and auditor- general in a bid
to closely monitor government accounting officials and control public
spending.
As
part of its civil service reform program, the Kenyan government announced on
Wednesday that it would downsize its bloated teaching work force by 28,000.
GRi…/