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WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly 265 covering 19 – 25 February 2005 - OCHA IRIN

Monday 14 March 2005


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IRIN-WA Weekly 265 covering 19 – 25 February 2005

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENTS:

TOGO: Gnassingbe acclaimed head of ruling party, but expected to step down as president
GUINEA-BISSAU: EU provides $12m to help cash-strapped government in election run-up
NIGERIA: Residents accuse soldiers of burning rural delta town, killing 30
COTE D IVOIRE: Question mark hangs over future role of peacekeepers
MAURITANIA: Petro-dollars could be a catastrophe, government critics warn
SIERRA LEONE: UN Special Court investigator locked up for molesting 13-year old
WEST AFRICA: Obasanjo and Kerekou launch final onslaught against polio

TOGO: Gnassingbe acclaimed head of ruling party, but expected to step down as president

Togo's new leader, Faure Gnassingbe, was adopted as chairman of the country's ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party on Friday amid rising speculation that he would shortly step down as head of state, handing over power to an interim president during the run-up to elections due in early April.

This means he is virtually certain to be chosen as the RPT presidential candidate in the forthcoming poll.

But diplomats and sources in the ruling party said that the army-installed president of Togo was likely to bow to international pressure and announce shortly that he was stepping down as head of state.

It was not immediately clear who would succeed him.

Before Eyadema died, the position of President of the National Assembly, to whom power was to have passed following Eyadema’s death, was occupied by Fambare Ouattara Natchaba.

However, the military prevented him from returning to Togo from Europe, where he was leading a parliamentary delegation. For the past three weeks he has been sitting quietly in exile in neighbouring Benin.

RPT sources told IRIN it was likely that Abbas Bonfoh, the vice-president of the National Assembly would be named interim president if Gnassingbe did indeed step down.

IRIN coverage on Togo

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GUINEA-BISSAU: EU provides $12m to help cash-strapped government in election run-up

The European Union granted Guinea-Bissau 9.5 million euros (US$12.3 million) of special aid on Thursday to help the cash-strapped West African country keep essential services going during the run-up to presidential elections due in May.

The grant agreement, signed in the capital Bissau, allocates 4.5 million euros ($5.9 million) towards covering the government's $84 million budget deficit this year.

Antonio Moreira Martins, the EU representative in Bissau, said this cash may be used to pay civil service salaries and finance preparations for the presidential election.

A further 2.5 million euros ($3.3 million) has been set aside to repair schools, hospitals and health clinics and the remaining 2.5 million ($3.3 million) will be used to help reform the civil service of this former Portuguese colony, he added.

Full report

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NIGERIA: Residents accuse soldiers of burning rural delta town, killing 30

Residents in a rural town in the southern Niger Delta said government troops killed at least 30 people and torched houses during a raid carried out as part of investigations into an oil dispute between two local communities.

More than 200 soldiers in gunboats attacked the remote town of Odioma in the Nembe district of Bayelsa state on Saturday, burning houses and firing at the inhabitants as they fled in confusion, residents said.

Nimi Barigha-Amange, a clan chief in the area, said more than 30 bodies had been recovered and that many people were still missing.

Felix Tuodolo, a local minority rights activist, circulated a list compiled by the Odioma community of 33 people allegedly killed by the soldiers.

But a spokesman for the Nigerian army denied that there had been any deaths in the incident, which took place near the Atlantic coast 80 km southwest of Port Harcourt, the hub of Nigeria's vital oil industry.

Full report

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COTE D IVOIRE: Question mark hangs over future role of peacekeepers

With just over a month left to run on their current mandate, the 10,000 UN and French peacekeeping troops in Cote d'Ivoire face an uncertain future in which their role may have to be redefined.

Their present mandate from the UN Security Council to help maintain a ceasefire between government and rebel forces and oversee the eventual disarmament of rebels occupying the north of Cote d'Ivoire expires on April 3.

But so far there is no sign of the rebels agreeing to disarm under the terms of a January 2003 peace agreement.

Indeed, tension and distrust between the two sides has risen since President Laurent Gbagbo's armed forces launched an abortive offensive against the north in November last year.

President Gbagbo questioned the future role of the international peacekeepers again this week, saying that if they were not going to disarm the rebels, they should go home.

General Abdoulaye Fall, the force commander of the United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI), subsequently pointed out that he was only mandated to supervise a disarmament programme consented to by both Gbagbo and the rebels.

Full report

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MAURITANIA: Petro-dollars could be a catastrophe, government critics warn

Mauritania, a land of desert nomads, will join the growing league of African oil exporters, when its first offshore oilfield starts production next year. But government critics, aid workers and diplomats are nervous that the impending flood of petro-dollars into this poor and sparsely populated country could spell disaster.

They fear this new source of government revenue will simply benefit the ruling elite, fueling political instability and deepening social divisions, rather than promoting general prosperity and economic development.

"Oil will be a catastrophe for Mauritania. We don't have a middle class that will benefit from this influx of money and it won't be allowed to develop either," said Brahim Ould Ebety, a prominent lawyer, who has defended opposition activists accused of plotting against President Maaouiya Ould Taya.

"People are either very rich or very poor," he told IRIN.

Ebety is one of the few professionals who dares to speak out openly against the government and the authoritarian political system in this vast desert country.

"This government does not listen to people's needs nor work for the people's needs," he told IRIN.

"That needs to change as does the reluctance to tackle corruption and issues of due diligence in this country," the lawyer said, speaking in his dimly-lit office in the capital Nouakchott.

Full report

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SIERRA LEONE: UN Special Court investigator locked up for molesting 13-year old

Peter Halloran, the Chief Investigator at the UN-backed Special Court that is trying those deemed most responsible for war crimes in Sierra Leone's civil war, has been jailed for 18 months on charges of sexually molesting his 13-year-old maid.

Halloran, a 56 year old former Head of Homicide in the police force of Victoria state in southern Australia, was convicted and sentenced by the High Court in Freetown on Monday.

He was found guilty of luring his maid to his bed and groping her bare breasts in the night.

Evidence against Halloran came from one of his own colleagues on the Special Court. Mandy Caldwell, an investigator working under Halloran, was staying at his house when she discovered that the young girl was sleeping in Halloran’s bed.

The unnamed Sierra Leonean girl confirmed to police that she had slept in the house for two days during which Halloran had molested her. His attentions stopped short of intercourse, she added.

Halloran’s lawyer, Nicholas Browne-Marke said that his client would appeal against the verdict.

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WEST AFRICA: Obasanjo and Kerekou launch final onslaught against polio

The presidents of Benin and Nigeria have launched a new polio immunisation campaign in West Africa described by local officials and United Nations health agencies as part of the final push to eradicate polio globally.

Presidents Mathieu Kerekou of Benin and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria administered the polio vaccine to several children at a ceremony at Seme, the main crossing point between the two countries on Sunday to kick-off a campaign backed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF).

It will be followed by four days of simultaneous polio immunisation in 23 west and central African countries starting on 26 February.

Full report

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[ENDS]

Other recent WEST AFRICA reports:

IRIN-WA Weekly 267 covering 5 - 11 March 2005, 11/Mar/05

IRIN-WA Weekly 266 covering 26 February - 4 March 2005, 7/Mar/05

Obasanjo and Kerekou launch final onslaught against polio, 22/Feb/05

IRIN-WA Weekly 264 covering 12 – 18 February 2005, 20/Feb/05

Sahel states and donors gear up to fight locusts more effectively, 14/Feb/05

Other recent Children reports:

MIDDLE EAST: MIDDLE EAST: Weekly round-up Number 12 for 5-11 March 2005, 11/Mar/05

SOUTH AFRICA: Sensitising programme delivers positive results, 11/Mar/05

AFRICA: Report highlights plight of African children, 11/Mar/05

NEPAL: Vaccination and other health drives to continue, 10/Mar/05

ZAMBIA: Lead poisoning concern in mining town, 8/Mar/05

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