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Sunday 25 December 2005


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IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 294 for 27 August to 2 September 2005

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

CONTENTS:

BURUNDI: Male, female vice-presidents sworn in
BURUNDI: Mostly fresh faces in new president�s cabinet
TANZANIA: Violence must end, Zanzibari political rival say
UGANDA: 1,000 displaced die every week in war-torn north - report
DRC: AWOL soldiers turn up again
DRC: US $150 million grant from World Bank; $39.2 million loan from IMF

BURUNDI: Male, female vice-presidents sworn in

Two vice-presidents, one of whom is a woman, were sworn on Monday in Burundi�s capital Bujumbura at a joint session of parliament.

First Vice-President Martin Nduwimana, a Tutsi from the l'Union pour le progr�s national party, was made in charge of political affairs. Second Vice-President Alice Nzomukunda, a Hutu from President Pierre Nkurunziza�s ruling party, the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD), is to head social and economic affairs.

Under the terms of the new post-transition constitution, the president must choose a Tutsi for first vice-president and a Hutu for second vice-president.

Full report

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BURUNDI: Mostly fresh faces in new president�s cabinet

Burundi�s new president, Pierre Nkurunziza, appointed a new and more streamlined cabinet on Tuesday with all but one of the 20 ministers coming into government for the first time.

Eleven of the ministers are Hutus and nine Tutsis, in accordance with the country constitution which calls for a 60-40 ratio of Hutus to Tutsis. Nkurunziza is a Hutu who had headed the former Hutu-dominated rebel group; the CNDD-FDD.

Tutsis will head some of the most important new ministerial posts, including the Ministry for National Defence and Former Combatants, which will go to former army chief of staff Maj-Gen Germain Niyoyankana.

Seven women are to hold ministerial posts, in accordance with a requirement in the new constitution that at least 30 percent of personnel in all levels of government be women.

Full report

[BURUNDI: Former rebel leader becomes president]
[BURUNDI: New president lays out policy]

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TANZANIA: Violence must end, Zanzibari political rival say

Presidential candidates from the two main rival political parties in Tanzania�s semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar and Pemba have committed themselves on Monday to encouraging their supporters to stop fomenting hatred and violence in the run-up to the 30 October elections.

Incumbent Amani Abeid Karume and his main challenger, Seif Shariff Hamad, met for two hours on Monday and called on Zanzibaris to develop a culture of tolerance and respect for differing political points of view.

Supporters of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi and the main opposition group, the Civic United Front have clashed on several occasions in 2005.

Karume and Hamad's undertaking came in a joint statement Monday after a two-hour meeting in Zanzibar. They said they wanted to ensure peaceful elections and to put public and national interests above all else.

Full report

[TANZANIA: In Zanzibar, Mkapa tells donors to stay clear of elections]

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UGANDA: 1,000 displaced die every week in war-torn north - report

An estimated 1,000 people displaced by the 19-year war in northern Uganda die every week from violence or disease, the Ugandan Ministry of Health and its partners said in a report.

The report, based on a survey of the health and mortality of internally displaced persons in the northern Acholi subregion - made up of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts - indicated that malaria, HIV/AIDS and violence were the leading causes of death in the region.

The Ugandan Ministry of Health conducted the survey in partnership with the UN World Health Organization, the UN Children's Fund, the UN World Food Programme, the UN Population Fund, the International Rescue Committee and the UK Department for International Development.

Full report

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DRC: AWOL soldiers turn up again

One of two army battalions in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that the military reported as missing on 26 August, may not have been absent; while the other battalion has since returned to its barracks, Defence Minister Adolphe Onusumba said on Thursday.

"There was no desertion, it was a problem of communication," he said at a news conference in Kinshasa, the nation's capital.

Two days earlier Onusumba had told IRIN the army would "arrest those who instigated the desertion"; referring to the 500 to 700 troops of the 53rd Battalion based at the village of Burungu, 45 km north of Goma, capital of North Kivu Province.

Full report

[DRC: Soldiers go AWOL as dissident leader issues call to arms]

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DRC: US $150 million grant from World Bank; $39.2 million loan from IMF

The International Monetary Fund announced on Thursday that it would increase low-interest lending to the DRC by US $39.2 million while the World Bank announced that it would provide a new grant of $150 million to improve the country's health services and control malaria.

The bank's grant will "significantly improve the availability and utilization of quality basic health services for the population of targeted geographical areas, particularly among women and children" the institution said in a statement issued on Thursday.

A recent civil war has left the country lacking in drugs, medical equipment and skilled medical personnel, it said. In 2003, it said, there was only one physician for every 100,000 Congolese.

The IMF loan to the government is the latest in its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility arrangement. It brings the total amount the IMF has lent the Congo under the arrangement to the equivalent of $852.1 million.

Full report

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[ENDS]

�Theme(s)	Other

Other recent CENTRAL & EASTERN AFRICA reports:

IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 310 17-23 December 2005, �23/Dec/05

IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 309 10-16 December 2005, �16/Dec/05

IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 308 3-9 December 2005, �9/Dec/05

UN appeal seeks $154.5 million for recovery efforts , �7/Dec/05

IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 307 26 November to 2 December 2005, �2/Dec/05

Other recent reports:

RWANDA: Body found in Brussels canal confirmed that of ex-minister's, 23/Dec/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 23/Dec/05

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 309 covering 17 - 23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

CENTRAL ASIA: IRIN-Asia Weekly Round-up 51 covering the period 17 - 23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 262 for 17-23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

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