20 August 2009
Scotland's justice minister is due to rule on the possible release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi (pictured), who is serving a life sentence for his role in the 1988 terror attack that claimed 270 lives.

AFP - Scotland's justice minister will announce Thursday whether the ailing Lockerbie bomber is to be freed, in the face of intense US pressure to keep him behind bars, officials said.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will unveil his decision at a press conference at 1:00 pm (1200 GMT), amid British media reports the former Libyan intelligence agent is likely to be released on compassionate grounds.

MacAskill "has informed families and other interested parties that he has reached his decisions" regarding jailed bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, a government statement said Wednesday.

The former Libyan agent is the only person convicted of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which blew up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie killing 270 people in 1988.

Megrahi is suffering terminal prostate cancer, and the Scottish minister has been studying three options: transferring him to a Libyan jail, freeing him on compassionate grounds or keeping him in a Scottish prison.

In the leadup to the decision, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has led strong US opposition to Megrahi's release.

Many relatives in the United States believe Megrahi, who was convicted in 2001 after a trial held in an extraordinary Scottish court in the Netherlands, should continue to serve his minimum 27-year sentence in Scotland.

Seven US senators recently wrote to the Scottish government demanding that he serve out his sentence in a Scottish prison.

When asked about the possibility of Megrahi being allowed to walk free, Clinton said: "We are still encouraging the Scottish authorities not to do so and we hope that they will not."

A Scottish government spokesman said late Wednesday that outside factors had not influenced the final decision on Megrahi's fate.

"We have a strong justice system in Scotland and people can be assured that the justice secretary's decisions have been reached on the basis of clear evidence and on no other factors," he said.

The Times newspaper reported Thursday that Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi will send his private jet to collect Megrahi and take him home, if he is released on compassionate grounds.

Staff at Scotland's Glasgow airport have been put on standby to receive the aircraft, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

The BBC said Megrahi is likely to be returned to his family in time for the Islamic month of Ramadan which is expected to start on Friday.

A doctor who visited Megrahi in prison last month called this week for an urgent decision on his release, warning that he did not have long to live.

Karol Sikora, a cancer expert and former hospital consultant, said the 57-year-old had aggressive prostate cancer "that has spread widely" and was failing to respond to treatment.

The impending decision comes as relations between Libya and Britain, arch-enemies in the 1980s and 1990s, have been thawing in recent years.

Libya has the largest proven oil reserves of any country in Africa, much of it still untapped, and British firms including BP and Shell have signed major exploration deals in the country in recent years.

One major obstacle to Megrahi returning to Libya was removed Tuesday when Edinburgh's High Court ruled that he could drop his appeal against conviction.

Megrahi can only be sent home under a prisoner transfer agreement when there are no legal matters involving him outstanding -- and there is still an appeal by the authorities against the length of his sentence to be resolved.

But this is no bar to him being freed on compassionate grounds.

france 24

20 August 2009
Niger's President Mamadou Tandja has signed a decree announcing a general election for October 20 to renew the parliament he dissolved in May, state radio says.

AFP - The electoral campaign in the crisis-hit country will last from September 28 to October 18, the radio said, but the opposition had already indicated it would boycott the elections and called for nationwide demonstrations Saturday.

Tandja had on Tuesday promulgated a new constitution which will allow him to stand for re-election and then seek unlimited mandates after a highly controversial referendum held on August 4.

Prime Minister Seini Oumarou also presented his government's resignation, the statement added.


Niger's constitutional court validated the result of the referendum to amend the constitution of the uranium-rich west African nation.

The opposition, however, denounced what it said was a "coup d'etat" by Tandja, and the referendum also came under attack from the international community.

On May 26 Tandja had dissolved the parliament which opposed his bid to hold the referendum.

Tandja, 71, has consistently claimed that his bid to cling to power was to fulfil "the will of the people."

The referendum will allow the president, in power since 1999, to stand for re-election after the December 22 end of his second tenure and thereafter seek repeated mandates.

It also beefs up the president's powers by making him the "sole holder of executive power." The president will head the army, name the prime minister and have complete control over the cabinet.

france24

KISERIAN, 21 August 2009 (IRIN) - A few months ago, cattle traders in Kiserian livestock market in Kajiado District, southwest of Nairobi, could sell a cow for up to KSh15,000 [US$200], but that has drastically changed.

"There is a lot of hunger; most pastoralists are selling their cattle at the market to buy other foodstuffs," Jane Sayena from Magadi, another town in Kajiado, said.

Four years of consecutive poor rains, experts say, have pushed communities in Kenya's eastern, northern and southern pastoral zones to the limit, finally forcing them to hurriedly sell off their herds for a pittance.

"It hurts to see the pastoralists selling their cows for as little at KSh500 [$6.50]," Sayena told IRIN. "Sometimes [they] cry... but it is better than seeing animals dying at home."

Livestock accounts for 80 percent of household income in some pastoral areas. Since the drought, the pastoralists have tried to cope by feeding their goats wet paper and slaughtering new-born calves to save lactating animals, but most animals have ended up in poor health.

Others tried to migrate to other areas, but the situation has grown worse. In northern Marsabit and Samburu, up to 20 percent of cattle and sheep have died - and the figure could rise to 50 percent if the drought continues, according to the Kenya Food Security Steering Group (KFSSG).

"If I sell even one cow, the children can at least get food," said John Ole Kopito, a pastoralist from Kajiado, which borders Tanzania to the southwest.

For a month, Ole Kopito has visited the livestock market every morning to try to sell a cow. None of the six cows he kept at a stall inside the market had sold during the month.

"It is costly keeping the cows here but I cannot take them back home as there is no grass," the father of six said. At the market, he pays to keep the cows fed and watered.

Most affected

Kenya's pastoral regions have experienced rainfall deficits of up to 50 percent, the KFSSG said in a 20 August assessment. Even where some rains have fallen, environmental degradation due to charcoal burning, for example, has reduced the rate at which surface water sources recharge and pastures regenerate.

Overall, food security had been affected by poor pasture, deteriorating terms of trade, near total crop failure in agro-pastoral zones and acute water shortages.

In West Pokot along the Ugandan border, for example, six goats will buy only a 90kg bag of dry maize. Nationally, maize prices have doubled due to poor yields.

Pastoralists source more than half their food from the market, so they are very susceptible to market and climatic shocks. "The most likely scenario before the onset of the next season is worsening food insecurity in the pastoral areas," KFSSG warned.

Milk availability had also fallen and as a result, malnutrition levels have risen. Traditionally, production by the hardier camels would remain the main source, but even that has declined by up to 70 percent per day.

"We are being forced to skip lunch to have supper," said Joseph Ole Ntiyoine, a resident of Magadi. "We are also substituting ugali [a maize meal] for uji [maize porridge] to make ends meet... milk is now history in my house."

Ole Ntiyoine's herd has been reduced to 60 from 118. On a typical day, his family of four has black tea for breakfast and ugali mixed with cooking fat for lunch or supper.

Vouchers

According to Louise Finan, regional communications officer for Concern Worldwide, most people in drought-affected regions have to rely on food aid.

Concern is providing Plumpy’nut to severely malnourished children and supporting feeding sites for severely malnourished children and pregnant and lactating mothers, Finan told IRIN.

Working with local partners, it is also providing food vouchers in Kajiado, Marsabit and Moyale. Some 1,350 households will benefit in Moyale until December, along with 500 in Marsabit. Another 1,200 in Kajiado are waiting for a second round of vouchers.

The pastoralists are also being supported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Projects under the Emergency Response Fund have received funding for destocking and meat distribution in Isiolo and Marsabit.

According to KFSSG, sustained poor rains could undermine the very viability of pastoralist livelihoods, which have been hit by drought, migration, conflict and disease.

"People are stressed. Every time you go home, the cows have died, there's no food," Ole Ntiyoine said. "The cows are our [source of livelihood]... if the cows die, that is it."

irinnews

20 Aug 2009

At least 21 people have been killed in a sudden eruption of violence in central Somalia after pro-government forces clashed with rebels.

Conflict broke out after forces loyal to the Mogadishu government launched an attack on a central Somali town on Thursday, killing a number of insurgents in the fighting, AFP, reported.

There have been no further reports on the precise number of fatalities on the warring sides.

Al-Shabaab fighters vying for a larger share in the state control have held the town, located some 200 kilometers north of Mogadishu, as a stronghold for launching their anti-government campaigns.

The poverty-stricken Horn of Africa nation has been grappling with the ongoing civil war which has crippled the 'lawless' state for around two decades.

Over 17,000 people have been killed and an estimated 250,000 others have been internally displaced over the past few months alone.

presstv

Idowu Samuel, Abuja - 22.08.2009

AMID suspicion against Nigeria from across the globe on its reported corruption index, some civil society groups, drawn from all segments of the country have started mounting pressure on the Federal Government to declare a national emmergency against corruption.

The groups, Saturday Tribune learnt, are mounting pressure through the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to which they had collectively submitted memorandum detailing how the Federal Government could stem the tide of corruption in Nigeria.

It was learnt also that the pressure group had earlier made a written submission to the Presidency, urging it to mobilise all the anti-corruption agencies for a new phase of war against corruption, in which case, efforts would be made to put steam into the nation’s criminal justice system to quickly resolve high profile cases of corruption in the country.

Top officials of ICPC are said to be studying the memo by the pressure groups with a view to fine-tuning the recommendations, which made a strong suggestion for the commission to network with President Umaru Yar’Adua on the time frame for declaring national emergency on the fight against corruption.

The ICPC chairman, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, had recently in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, reflected the thinking of the civil society groups when he advocated a penal policy which, in his view, would prescribe mandatory and long sentences for anyone culpable of corrupt acts in Nigeria.

Ayoola had stressed that the sentences against corrupt individuals should be served for a period of open and community service in any part of Nigeria, notwithstanding the status of the convict.

tribune

Lanre Oyetade and Lanre Adewole - 22.08.2009

More messy details have come out on the five banks whose Managing Directors and Executive Directors were sacked last week.

For now, all the internal and external auditors of the five banks are in trouble and are today going to be guests of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Their offences: They were reputed to have aided the former executives of these five banks to falsify their books and present fake results to the public.

Saturday Tribune gathered on Friday that more dirty secrets were uncovered in these banks this week following visits by operatives of the EFCC who moved from Abuja to Lagos and spent the last three days to examine the books of these banks.

It was during the examination of the banks’ finances that it was discovered by them that both the internal and external auditors of the banks actually helped the executives to cover up many shady deals.

It was gathered that these auditors connived with the chief executives to cook the books and cover their tracks while the frauds were being perpetrated.

Thus, at every financial year, it was gathered that the bank usually prepares two books, one for public consumption where fantastic figures will be reeled out and the other for the insider in the system.

This, the EFCC operatives found out, had been going on for many years, forcing them to question even some officials in the banks.

When contacted on Friday night on the development, spokesman of the EFCC, Mr. Femi Babafemi, confirmed that operatives of the agency actually visited the banks to examine their financial positions and discovered the dirty details.

He also said the chairman of the agency, Mrs. Farida Waziri, had directed that all the internal and external auditors to the five troubled banks should appear at the commission’s office in Lagos unfailingly today.

He also said so far, 11 banks chief are in the EFCC custody and that the whereabouts of both the former Managing Directors of Intercontinental Bank, Mr. Erastus Akingbola, and that of Oceanic International Bank, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, were unknown.

In another development, the acting Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Joseph Olusola Ajewole, has said that the bank is not aware of the whereabouts of the bank’s substantive Managing Director, Mr. Mahmoud Lai Alabi, appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to run the affairs of the bank after the removal of Akingbola.

Speaking to newsmen on Friday on the affairs of the bank since Akingbola’s exit, Ajewole said though Alabi had accepted the appointment and had been cleared by security agencies, no one could tell whether he was on sick leave or on vacation.

“And since the bank cannot be left rudderless, I have been appointed in an acting capacity to run the affairs of the bank until Alabi shows up,” he said, adding that his appointment was, therefore, a temporary measure.

He also stated that many of the non-performing debtors of the bank, who had had their names published in national dailies by the Central Bank and who had also been given an ultimatum to pay up their various debts, had been coming up with payment plans while some had made some down payments on their own volition.

He announced that the bank recorded a debt recovery to the tune of N4.8 billion on Friday alone, and that other debtors had made out plans to pay.

“If any of our debtors claims conflicting figures from what was advertised, they should come forward with evidences, but as far as we are concerned, our figures are correct as at when they were extracted,” he said.

However, while fielding questions from newsmen, he revealed that one of the bank’s major debtors, and a former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, was yet to show up and make arrangements as to how he would settle his indebtedness to the bank.

“We believe he has noble intentions and does not in any way intend to cripple the bank and will, therefore, show up to clear his debts soon,” the acting bank boss stated.

The CBN had, in an intervention meant to save some banks from imminent collapse, sacked the managing directors and executive directors of five banks, including Intercontinental Bank Plc, over poor corporate governance in dispensing loans and had further published names of major non-performing debtors, while giving them a seven-day ultimatum to pay their debts or face the wrath of the law.

Ajewole stated that his bank had anticipated some panic among its depositors, adding that the N100 billion bailout fund that had been made available to Intercontinental Bank, out of the total N400 billion the apex bank had provided, had been more than adequate to meet the bank’s obligations as they unfolded.

“Surprisingly, we did not experience the kind of panic withdrawals we had anticipated in any of our branches, and we even had many of our customers making deposits, which showed a high level of loyalty on their part, for which we are very appreciative,” Ajewole stated.

On the question of which investors would eventually take over the bank and on whether foreign investors had shown any interest in the bank, Ajewole stated that it was too early to know which investors would take over the bank and also that it was not too late for foreign investors to still show equity interest.

tribune

Aug 20, 2009

By Jennifer Tan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil was steady above $72 a barrel on Thursday, after rising more than 4 percent the previous day, buoyed by industry data showing a steep drop in crude imports and stockpiles in top consumer the United States.

The release of U.S. July leading economic indicators and weekly jobless claims -- both of which are expected to be mildly positive -- could provide further clues on the outlook for the world's largest economy and set the market's trading tone.

By 11:06 p.m. EDT, U.S. crude for September delivery was down 14 cents at $72.28 a barrel, off an earlier session high of $72.54. It had settled $3.23 higher at $72.42 a barrel on Wednesday. London Brent crude for October was down 34 cents at $74.25.

"The EIA report has been pretty bullish for the market, and will support sentiment in the near term," said David Moore, commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

"But we expect prices to remain volatile, as the overall demand picture remains weak, and as equity markets and the dollar continue to play major roles in influencing trading direction."

U.S. crude stockpiles plunged by a whopping 8.4 million barrels in the week to August 14 -- against analysts' forecasts for a 1.3 million barrel build -- as imports dropped to the lowest level since September 2008 and refiners hiked runs, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed. <EIA/S>

Gasoline and distillate stockpiles also showed bigger-than-expected declines.

This confirmed the API data released late on Tuesday which showed a 6.1-million-barrel fall in U.S. crude inventories.

The release of first-time claims for jobless benefits for the week ended August 15 at 8:30 p.m. EDT, and July leading economic indicators at 1400 GMT, are expected to show a gradual, nascent recovery in the U.S. economy.

Economists polled by Reuters forecast 550,000 new jobless claims filings versus 558,000 in the prior week, while July leading indicators are seen rising 0.7 percent, matching June's increase.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, shaking off a 4.3 percent slide in China's equity market, while the dollar fell against the euro and a basket of currencies, as a rebound on Wall Street reduced safe-haven demand for the greenback. .N

China stocks, viewed by investors as a weathervane of risk sentiment, tumbled to a two-month low on Wednesday on disappointment that Beijing had not taken steps to prop up the market after the key index plunged 20 percent from two weeks ago.

But the country's benchmark stock index .SSEC rebounded on Thursday at the open, after state media reported the stock regulator had approved several mutual funds this week in quiet support for the market.

On the supply front, increased oil output to a year-high from OPEC president Angola, flouting agreed limits, has helped stack the odds against any formal change when the producer group meets in September.

Without a sharp slide in crude prices, OPEC is likely to leave its output targets unchanged when it meets on September 9, most OPEC delegates and analysts said.

reuters[/font]

NIAMEY, 19 August 2009 (IRIN) - Despite a two-year-old law in Niger penalizing discrimination against people infected with HIV, seropositive women say they still receive substandard health care, are denied employment and risk losing their children because of their status.

“When a woman is divorced as a result of her HIV status, it is difficult for her to keep her children,” said Sona Soumaré Conté, president of a local NGO that works with HIV-positive women. "Their husbands are afraid their children will not be well taken care of or will become contaminated.”

Because women are more likely than men to be tested for HIV – testing in Niger is encouraged for pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission – a couple may not know whether the man is infected, said Conté. “Men will not even wait to be tested before they serve the woman for divorce. Some of them simply refuse to go to health centres to find out their own status.”

She added that while the right for HIV-positive individuals to marry is not questioned, the procedure for divorces resulting from HIV are not clear and leaves women at risk of being stripped of their belongings and children.

''Men will not even wait to be tested before they serve the woman for divorce''
Regardless of who is responsible for infecting the other, HIV-positive women are more vulnerable to discrimination than men, according to Ibrahim Kasoun, president of the Association of Young Nigerien Lawyers. “HIV-positive women are always much more vulnerable to systematic rejection than men.”

Niger’s April 2007 anti-discrimination law guarantees HIV-positive individuals the right to health care, employment, social security, education, health insurance and freedom of movement. But the law is largely unknown and its application weak, according to Kasoun.

He said while the national HIV prevalence rate is relatively low at 0.7 percent, according to the government’s most recent data gathered in 2002, discrimination against people with HIV remains “strong and systematic” – especially for women.

Founded in 2004, the NGO Bafouneye – meaning life in the local Zarma language – works with HIV-infected widows and divorcées. The group’s treasurer, Rakia Hassane, told IRIN one of Bafouneye’s members had been refused service at a health centre when delivering a child. “When the midwives learned she was HIV-positive, they did not tend to her and she lost her baby.”

NGO president Conté said in addition to helping women negotiate rights with their ex-husbands, the group trains them to start small businesses. Whether women are knitting, fabric-dyeing or tailoring, the real objective is forgetting, said Conté. “We are here to help them forget the discrimination they face.”

Given lack of enforcement of the non-discrimination law, the NGO Bafouneye has not had the legal ground to defend its members, said treasurer Hassane. “Each time our members suffer human rights abuses in health or social settings, lawyers say they cannot do anything.”

Communications adviser for the government’s council against AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, Amadou Zoukaleini, told IRIN the 2007 law remains relatively unknown. He said a decree to strengthen enforcement is being drafted and is expected to be presented to the Council of Ministers in September.

“It is true the law has not been widely applied,” said Zoukaleini. He said the decree will clarify questions that have held up the law’s application.

irinnews

JOHANNESBURG, 19 August 2009 (IRIN) - The return of cholera to Zimbabwe is not a matter of if, but when, said Rian van de Braak, head of mission of the medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

In an interview published on its website on 19 August, Van de Braak commented, "The threat is definitely not over. Everyone expects cholera to be back, at the latest with the next rainy season [in September or October], because the root causes of the outbreak [in 2008] have not been addressed adequately yet."

The first case of the cholera epidemic that swept through Zimbabwe, killing more than 4,000 people and infecting close to 100,000 others, was reported in August 2008 and lasted almost a year until it was officially declared at an end in July 2009.

Broken sanitation and water systems, the cause of Africa's worst outbreak of the waterborne disease in 15 years, are unlikely to be repaired in time.

"Several aid agencies are drilling new boreholes in cholera hotspots, which is an important contribution to safe drinking water. Dealing with those causes before the next rainy season is a race against the clock," Van De Braak said.

Unlike August 2008, when many NGOs had been banned from operating after President Robert Mugabe accused them of supporting the rival Movement for Democratic Change, aid agencies have been able to prepare for the worst. "Nobody knows how big the next outbreak will be, but we are ready to respond immediately," Van De Braak said.

''There were around 4,000 cholera-related deaths in total during the nine-month outbreak; with AIDS we have that number of casualties within 10 days, every 10 days, again and again''
"We have the necessary stocks in-country, and a contact list of all the extra 250 Zimbabwean staff who we recruited for the last outbreak ... we have been distributing cholera kits to 50 of the most remote clinics we have been working with, and trained the health staff on how to intervene when the first cases arrive. We've also distributed 11,000 hygiene kits and reached more than 40,000 households with our hygiene promotion," she said.

However, the cholera outbreak has often masked an even bigger killer. "There are more than 400 people dying in Zimbabwe every day of AIDS-related causes. To put things in perspective: there were around 4,000 cholera-related deaths in total during the nine-month outbreak; with AIDS we have that number of casualties within 10 days, every 10 days, again and again," Van De Braak said.

Only about 20 percent of the people requiring antiretroviral (ARV) treatment were receiving it, she said, as the ARV programme had "come to a temporary standstill" and "dearly needed scaling up."

About 15 percent of sexually active Zimbabweans between the ages of 15 and 49 are HIV positive.

irinnews

BULAWAYO, 19 August 2009 (IRIN) - On the last Sunday of every month, Zwodwa Mpika, 52, puts on her blue dress and matching brimless cap, the uniform of the burial society she belongs to, and sets off for the meeting.

She has rarely missed a gathering since her husband died in 2006, and her regular attendance has earned her the position of secretary of the Zibuthe Burial Society, located in Sizinda, a suburb of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city.

"I don't want this association to collapse, which could easily happen if I do not attend and pay my dues, because without it my late husband's funeral would have been little more than that of pauper [burial]," she told IRIN.

Burial societies, to which most low-income families in urban centres belong as an alternative to buying conventional funeral insurance, are beginning to show signs of revival after tottering on the brink of collapse in the country's decade-long recession.

"A conventional funeral assurance policy does not bring mourners to your funeral to mitigate grief and provide a resounding send-off," Zibuthe Burial Society chairman Ntandazo Banda told IRIN.

Zimbabwe's economic malaise has witnessed hyperinflation, shortages of basics foodstuffs that saw nearly 7 million people requiring food assistance in the first quarter of 2009, and an unemployment rate of more than 90 percent.

Burial societies charge monthly subscriptions of as little as US$5 per family and pay the funeral costs of their members, whether they were born in the city or are rural migrants; some even pay if the member comes from a neighbouring country like Zambia or Malawi. Local Zimbabwean traditions dictate that whenever possible the dead should be buried in their ancestral burial grounds at their rural home.

Most burial societies in Bulawayo draw their membership from working-class Zimbabweans, unlike Zibuthe, whose membership consists of a small community of pensioners and a sprinkling of young families of Malawian origin.

"We are trying hard to breathe life into our society but people have little or no disposable income," Banda said. "We aim to preserve our unique burial traditions as Malawians, hence the small membership, but that does not bar other nationalities from joining us."

HIV/AIDS and hyperinflation

Before Zimbabwe's steep economic decline set in, most members could easily afford the monthly subscription of Z$20, but the society's problems really began when the official annual inflation rate began spiralling towards 230 million percent. "We had to battle to keep the society afloat," Banda said.

''Members are slowly coming forward to update their subscriptions, and that is a good sign''
The Kusile Burial Society in the neighbouring Bulawayo suburb of Tshabalala also experienced dwindling contributions and the society of 250 members almost collapsed, but "Members are slowly coming forward to update their subscriptions, and that is a good sign," Admiral Ncube, treasurer of Kusile Burial Society, told IRIN.

Members defaulted on their dues because of financial hardships. "We barely had 30 fully subscribed members on our register at the end of last year [2008], with the rest unable to pay. Now, less than five are in arrears," he said.

The attempts by the government to reign in rampant inflation also came at a cost. "Our other major setback [apart from HIV/AIDS] was the central bank's decision to set an arbitrary exchange rate that almost wiped out the society's savings," Ncube said. In January 2009 Zimbabwe's central bank set a rate of Z$3 trillion to US$1.

Hyperinflation was cured when the government ditched the local Zimbabwean dollar in favour of foreign currencies, which has seen the US dollar, South African rand and Botswana pula officially come into local use.

"We also lost a lot of our members, who died of HIV/AIDS-related diseases, but that does not put us off from fulfilling our obligation to a member, despite the pressure it exerts on our savings," Ncube said.

''At the end of each year, municipal beer-gardens and council parks around the city used to host lively parties, thrown by different burial societies for their members ... I foresee those times returning''
About 15 percent of sexually active Zimbabweans between the ages of 15 and 49 are HIV positive, but burial societies, in contrast to the more conventional forms of insurance, do not require prospective members to undergo a medical examination.

Back to the good times

Ncube attributed the revival of burial societies to the rapidly increasing burial fees charged by the city's cemeteries, and the high cost of transporting a body to rural areas.

Pumulani Meko, chairman of the Kusile Burial Society, put it down to the greater financial stability being enjoyed since the adoption of multiple currencies, and was generally more optimistic.

"At the end of each year, municipal beer-gardens and council parks around the city used to host lively parties, thrown by different burial societies for their members to coincide with the annual shutdown by many firms and factories," Meko told IRIN. "I foresee those times returning."

irinnews

Aug 19, 2009

* List of debtors includes powerful tycoons

* Defaulters could face arrest, asset seizures

* Bank execs sought for questioning

(Adds comment from Oando, paragraph 5)

By Nick Tattersall

LAGOS, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Nigeria's anti-graft police have given defaulting debtors of five banks rescued in a $2.6 billion bailout, including some of the nation's most powerful tycoons, a week to organise repayment or face arrest and asset seizures.

Farida Waziri, chairwoman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), set the deadline hours after the central bank published a list of the banks' debtors and warned they would face legal action if they did not pay up.

"She has given them one week to bring in their money to the commission or risk arrest, prosecution and losing their assets all over the country," EFCC spokesman Femi Babafemi said.

The central bank's list of more than 200 firms, individuals and state bodies contains stockbrokers and local oil and gas firms as well as larger companies, including conglomerates Transcorp (TCNP.LG) and Dangote Industries and fuel distributors African Petroleum (APET.LG) and Oando Plc (UNIP.LG).

Oando denied holding a non-performing loan. [ID:nLJ23114]

The names listed as directors and shareholders in some of the defaulting companies reads like a roll-call of the great and the good of Nigeria's corporate aristocracy.

It includes two of the country's best known tycoons, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola -- the only Nigerians on the latest Forbes billionaires list, worth $2.5 billion and $1.2 billion respectively -- as well as Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, director-general of the stock exchange and chairman of Transcorp.

Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, the group managing director of Access Bank (ACCE.LG), is also listed as the director of a firm owing more than 16 billion naira ($107 million).

"It has become necessary to use this medium to request the following defaulting customers of the affected banks to pay without further delay their indebtedness, failing which the banks will take all appropriate legal actions to ensure repayment," the central bank said in a statement.

"These are the largest debtors and the CBN will continue to publish the list of defaulters on an on-going basis."

The central bank last Friday injected 400 billion naira ($2.6 billion) into Afribank (AFRB.LG), Finbank (FIBP.LG), Intercontinental Bank (INBK.LG), Oceanic Bank (OCBK.LG) and Union Bank (UBNP.LG) and sacked their chief executives.

Reuters

Aug 19, 2009

LAGOS, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Nigerian energy firm Oando (UNIP.LG) (OAOJ.J) on Wednesday denied a central bank statement which said it had a 7.1 billion naira ($47 million) non-performing loan with Oceanic Bank (OCBK.LG).

The central bank earlier published a list of the largest defaulting customers of five banks rescued in a $2.6 billion bailout and warned the debtors to pay up or face legal action.

Oando was among more than 200 companies, individuals and state bodies identified as debtors on the list.

"In no way can our relationship with Oceanic Bank be deemed non-performing," Oando said in a statement.

"As part of our ongoing commercial relationship with Oceanic Bank Plc, we had different credit balances on our deposit account and other debit balances on our advised loans as at May 31, 2009," the statement said.

"For the avoidance of doubt, none of these debit balances represented a past due obligation," said the statement, which included a table detailing balances at the end of May and by Aug 14.

The company demanded that the central bank and Oceanic Bank correct the "erroneous impression" created.

The central bank last Friday injected 400 billion naira ($2.6 billion) into Afribank (AFRB.LG), Finbank (FIBP.LG), Intercontinental Bank (INBK.LG), Oceanic Bank (OCBK.LG) and Union Bank (UBNP.LG) and sacked their chief executives.

The banks had notched up bad loans totalling 1.14 trillion naira ($7.6 billion) and the regulator said lax governance had left them so weakly capitalised that they posed a threat to the banking system in sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy.

Nigeria's anti-graft police said they were giving defaulting debtors of the five rescued banks, who include some of the nation's most powerful tycoons, a week to organise repayment or face arrest and asset seizures. (For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: af.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Nick Tattersall, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

reuters

19 Aug 2009
Eritrea will have to pay millions of dollars in compensation for war damages to Ethiopia, an international tribunal in The Hague has ruled.

According to the verdict, both countries were ordered to pay each other damages for the 1998-2000 border war, but in total, Eritrea will have to pay $10 million more to its archrival.

The ruling covers compensation for death, injury, rape, looting, businesses and goods lost and villages destroyed during the bitter two-year conflict.

Eritrea has already said it accepts the ruling of the tribunal.

Ethiopia's foreign ministry said it was pleased that the five-member Claims Commission had blamed Eritrea for starting 'this sad saga', but added that the difference in compensation was small, 'given the gravity of the crime'.

The Claims Commission, which was set up at the end of the war, awarded Ethiopia $174 million in total, while Eritrea got $164 million.

It however ruled out some claims, such as Ethiopian demands for $1 billion of environmental damage.

None of the two countries has the requested amount to pay to the other, their being among the poorest nations on earth.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war, but the two countries' border was never demarcated and tens of thousands of troops remain entrenched along the border, over its bleak mountains and deserts.
presstv

19 August 2009

Addis Ababa — A Pan-African Technical Workshop on Avian and Human Influenza was kicked off yesterday at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa and being held till Friday.

The four days workshop, under the theme: "bridging gaps to sustain and broaden gains in HPAI prevention and control in Africa" was organized by the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources Bureau AU/ IBAR.

It is being held with the overall aim of improving coordination of the Integrated National Action plans (INAPs) implementation by bringing African countries and other key actors together to take stocks of their Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) preparedness, share information on emerging HPAI issues and Harmonize the application of emerging global straggles with national, regional and continental ones.

According to the organizers, the workshop further seeks to deliberate on avian and human influenza with the view of learning lesson, identifying gaps and the means to address them, as well as reaching a common African position on the way forward for AHI.

Opening the workshop, Ethiopia's State Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), Dr. Abera Deressa, said Africa's economy is primarily based on agriculture which provides more than 85% of export receipts and represents almost 40% of the national GDP and the livestock represents 12% of overall GDP and on average but the livestock industry is heavily constrained by the animal disease, law investment, poor access to markets and a week policy environments.

Citing the cases of Ethiopia, he said Ethiopia's livestock population is one of the largest in Africa. However, this huge potential of the livestock subsector has remained largely under exploited because of many reasons, of which animal disease is one.

Ethiopia has a large poultry population estimated at 42 million out of which, 97:8% comprises indigenous birds while 2.2% are exotic breeds, according to the State Minister who also indicated traditional poultry production dominates the system.

"Most of the poultry farming takes place in rural villages," he said adding few commercial farms that operate are geographically concentrated in the Addis Ababa-Debre Zeit corridor for marketing.

"The program targets priorities defined by the countries and AU/IBAR has don a commendable job of empowering member states in the prevention and control of Avian and Human influenza," Abera noted.

Ambassador John Kayonde Shinkaiye, AU Commission Chief of Staff indicated on his part that the two types of influenza were currently at the centre of the global agenda killing both people and poultry, thereby causing a double disaster - destroying human lives and livelihoods.

He added "the threat of an avian influenza pandemic is still one of the most important health threats that we face today. Although we are currently in the middle of a relatively mild H1N1 pandemic, the impact could be a lot worse if it adapts the pathogenicity of avian influenza. We therefore all need to work closely together, in a coordinated and mutually reinforcing manner to conquer the threat."

allafrica

Aug 19, 2009

LUANDA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Russia's Alrosa, one of the world's biggest mining companies will invest $500 million to build homes, schools and dams in Angola in the next few years, a company official said on Wednesday.

Alrosa, which operates two mines in Angola, said it decided to venture into Angola's construction sector when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev came to the African nation in June -- the first visit to Angola by a Russian head of state.

"We want building projects across the whole country that will be designed by Russians ... and developed by Angolans," Aleksey Chigidin, the deputy director of the state-owned diamond miner said on Wednesday in the daily Jornal de Angola.

The state-owned daily said Alrosa would also explore for oil and gas in Angola with the country's state-owned oil company Sonangol.

Angola and Russia were strong allies during the Cold War. But links between the two nations weakened after the Cold War when Angola's ruling MPLA party dropped its Marxist ideologies and turned to capitalism as the country's oil production soared.

Alrosa's investment in Angola is yet another sign of Russia's growing influence in Africa as it vies with the United States and China for control of the continent's energy and resources.

Angola rivals Nigeria as Africa's biggest oil producer and is also one of the world's top five diamond exporters. The African nation is rebuilding infrastructure after a devastating 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. (Reporting by Henrique Almeida)

reuters

Aug 19, 2009

Transcorp is listed as owing Union Bank 31 billion naira, and Intercontinental Bank 6.6 billion. African Petroleum is listed as owing Afribank 12.8 billion naira, and Oando as owing Oceanic Bank 7.1 billion naira.

Former state telecoms monopoly Nitel, for which the government is seeking investors, is listed as owing 7.8 billion naira to Oceanic Bank and 3.6 billion to Intercontinental.

Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, the group managing director of Access Bank (ACCE.LG), is also listed as the director of a firm owing 16.2 billion naira to Intercontinental Bank.

Dangote Industries, part of a conglomerate which includes Dangote Sugar Refineries Plc (DANG.LG) and Dangote Flour Mills Plc (DAFM.LG), is listed as owing 2.5 billion naira to Oceanic.

WHY ARE THE ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICE INVOLVED?

President Umaru Yar'Adua has instructed all law enforcement agencies to help recover the bad debts. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has said it want to talk to 19 banking executives, including the five sacked CEOs, to take statements and "determine their level of culpability".

The central bank has pledged to prosecute anybody found guilty of misconduct but has declined to say whether specific infractions were exposed by its audit.

Analysts say criminal charges could be brought if executives are found to have falsified accounts or breached share price manipulation rules by setting up subsidiaries as vehicles to trade their own stock and push the share price higher, or to have bets on the stock market using depositors' funds.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF RECOVERING THE FUNDS?

The debtors may only have to service the loans rather than pay the full outstanding amounts in one go, meaning the losses may be more easily recovered. This would make the banks more attractive to potential equity investors as they would more quickly be able to repay the capital injection.

The loan facilities could also be restructured.

The central bank audit estimated a minimum capital injection of 200 billion naira was required in order for the five banks to meet the minimum 10 percent capital adequacy requirement.

Its actual capital injection was twice that size, creating a buffer zone which means that even if the debts are not repaid, the banks are likely to remain safe for now.

Analysts say it will prove a key test of the Nigerian legal system if the debtors do not pay up, particularly given they include some of the country's richest and most powerful people.

reuters

Aug 19, 2009

* Non-refundable payment upped to 28 million shekels

* Shares down 6 percent vs 1.1 percent on Tel Aviv bourse

* Deal completion delayed by six days

JERUSALEM, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Israeli conglomerate Africa Israel Investments (AFIL01.TA) said on Wednesday the completion of a deal to sell its 50 percent stake in the Gottex swimwear firm to its joint venture partners had been delayed.

Africa Israel said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that the deal would now be completed on Aug. 24, six days later than initially agreed, and that the non-refundable cancellation payment had been increased to 28 million shekels.

In addition, the unnamed buyers had paid an additional 7 million shekels in advance, bringing the total advance payment received by Africa Israel to 51 million shekels.

The company said in June it would receive 166 million shekels ($43.5 million) for its stake in Gottex and that its partners had paid 44 million shekels in advance, 24 million of which would not be refunded if the deal was not completed, barring a breach of contract by the seller.

Its shares were down 6 percent at midday in Tel Aviv, trading at 61.9 shekels, compared with a 1.1 percent drop on the broader bourse.

In January, Africa Israel signed a memorandum of understanding to sell its stake in Gottex to two foreign businessmen who currently own the other half. The company gave no further details about the two businessmen.

Africa Israel will post a pretax gain of 92 million shekels from the sale and will also receive an additional payment of $7.5 million depending on the sale of clothing brands Zara and Pull and Bear in Israel over the next four years.

Gottex designs beachwear in Israel and abroad through Gottex Models Ltd and Christina America Inc. It also markets clothing brands Zara, Pull and Bear and Massimo Dutti in Israel under licence from Spain's Inditex SA (ITX.MC).

Africa Israel has said Gottex was not core to the group's activities, which focus on residential, commercial and hotel real estate development, construction, infrastructure and industry in Israel, Russia, former Soviet Union countries, the U.S. and Eastern Europe. (Reporting by Joseph Nasr) ($1 = 3.82 shekels)

reuters

Aug 19, 2009

* Union says mobilising workers to strike

* Parties fail to agree on wages, duration of pay deal

(Adds quotes, details)

By James Macharia

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 19 (Reuters) - The main South African miners' union said on Wednesday it would start an indefinite strike next week at Impala Platinum, the world's No.2 platinum producer, over a wage dispute.

South Africa is the world's biggest platinum producer. A strike at Impala Platinum could hurt broader investor sentiment as it follows a wave of industrial action in South Africa in the past few weeks that has led to above-inflation pay settlements.

Lesiba Seshoka, spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) -- the country's biggest union -- told Reuters the union had rejected the company's latest pay offer and would mobilise its members for the strike.

"The strike could start either on Monday or Tuesday next week, and it will last until the issue is resolved," he said.

Impala Platinum officials could not be reached for comment.

Seshoka said the parties had failed to agree on both the size of the pay rise and the duration of a new agreement.

He said Impala Platinum had offered pay increases of between 9.5 and 10 percent to different categories of workers, while the union wanted a 10 percent rise for all workers.

"We also disagreed on the duration of the deal. We want a one-year deal so that we can re-negotiate after one year when prices of platinum may have recovered, but they offered a two-year wage deal," Seshoka said.

He said the mediating authority overseeing the talks had granted the union a certificate to strike after the breakdown of negotiations late on Wednesday. The union declared a dispute over pay in June, which meant the issue was referred to mediators, who were unable to broker an agreement.

The NUM called off a strike set for Thursday last week at state power firm Eskom [ESCJ.UL] that could have led to power cuts and further damage to Africa's biggest economy. The parties said they had reached a pay deal.

Last month the NUM reached above-inflation settlements with gold- and coal-mining companies. (Reporting by James Macharia, editing by Tim Pearce)

reuters

19 Aug 2009

Pro-government militia forces have reportedly captured a second town from rebels as President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's fragile administration seeks to uproot insurgency in the lawless country.

The heavily armed Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca militiamen swept into the southwestern town of Luuq -- 400 kilometers northwest of the capital Mogadishu -- and regained control of the town from Hizbul Islam fighters without firing a shot, witnesses told Reuters.

Luuq, which borders Kenya and Ethiopia, is the second town seized from insurgents.

On Monday, the Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca forces forced another insurgent group, al-Shabaab, out of Gedo's Bulahawa town without firing a shot.

Government forces have also recently captured the towns of Mahaas and Wabho in the center of the impoverished country.

Militant groups are locked in a fight with government forces and each other for control of the Horn of Africa state. Al-Shabaab and its insurgent allies have been in control of much of the southern and central regions.

Somalia has been mired in anarchy since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another.
presstv

20 Aug 2009

Somalia's militant group al-Shabaab has recaptured the southern town of Beled Hawo, in the Gedo region along the border with Kenya.

Witnesses told Press TV on Wednesday that fierce fighting erupted after al-Shabaab fighters re-entered the town from the southern side, overpowering the Ahlu-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa forces which seized the area on Monday.

At least five people, all of them combatants were killed while seven others were injured in the brief fighting, the report said.

The recapture comes hours after the fall of the southwestern town of Luuq, which is approximately 400 kilometers northwest of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, to Ahlu-Sunnah forces.

Heavily armed Ahlu-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa forces entered the town without confrontation from the Hizbul Islam fighters who were controlling the town.

Somali armed groups are engaged in a deadly battle over the control of the southern region.
presstv