Malawi: President And Predecessor Meet to Ease Political Tension

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

November 29, 2004
Posted to the web November 29, 2004

Lilongwe

Talks are underway in Malawi aimed at easing tensions between President
Bingu wa Mutharika and his predecessor, Bakili Muluzi.

Analysts say one of the main reasons for the divisions in the party has
been Mutharika's tough stance against graft, which has seen six UDF
officials arrested on charges of corruption and fraud since he took
office in May. They note that the UDF has effectively been split into
two camps: one supportive of Mutharika's anti-corruption drive and the
other loyal to Muluzi, who retains chairmanship of the party.

But the talks, which began last week in the capital, Lilongwe, have
reportedly already hit a snag after a demand from Mutharika to co-chair
the UDF.

UDF deputy publicity secretary Mary Kaphwereza-Banda refuted the
claims, saying the talks had started well, but could not elaborate on
the issues under discussion.

"Once everything is through we will let you know - we will not hide
anything. But what you have to know is that the two sides are in serious
discussions," she told IRIN.

However, one observer commented that Mutharika's request to co-chair
the party would not work, and could possibly heighten tensions among
ruling party members.

"In fact, the two [Mutharika and Muluzi] could not co-chair the party -
this will create more problems within the party. If anything, I would
suggest that the party should call for a convention for new executive
members to be elected and let them choose who should lead them," said
Rafiq Hajat, executive director of the Institute for Policy
Interaction.

Boniface Dulani, a political science lecturer at the University of
Malawi, said that while Mutharika's campaign against high-level graft
had seriously irked senior UDF stalwarts, who have allegedly accused him
of "biting the hand that feeds him", the battle in the UDF was about
control of the party.

"Muluzi's grip on the UDF has essentially diluted Mutharika's power and
the new president is well aware of this. It is no secret that Muluzi
commands great loyalty from the old guard and Mutharika is still
battling to win support," Dulani said.

He warned that the UDF would continue to fracture unless the two
leaders "seriously" negotiated a deal outlining their specific roles in
the party.

The gravity of the ongoing political wrangle was exposed last week when
UDF national executive member Dumbo Lemani claimed that a member of his
party had rigged the 20 May presidential election in favour of
Mutharika.

Vice president Cassim Chilumpha dismissed the allegations, saying the
president was legally and constitutionally elected.

But analysts say Lemani's claims were an embarrassment to the party,
especially when the election results are being challenged in court by
the opposition.

Mutharika and Muluzi have agreed to continue meeting until the issue is
resolved.


*****

UK court freezes millions belonging to Chiluba

Lusaka

30 November 2004 13:45

The London High Court has frozen 13 million pounds ($24-million) worth
of assets held in Britain by former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba
and four other government officials on trial in Lusaka for theft and
corruption, the government said on Tuesday.

The court order on November 24 was issued at the request of the Zambian
Justice Minister and Attorney General George Kunda, said Mpanzi
Sinyangwe, a spokesperson for the government's task force on
corruption.

It remains in effect until January 12, when the London High Court will
hear arguments from representatives of the Zambian government and
Chiluba.

Sinyangwe did not provide details about the assets that were frozen.
Chiluba and his lawyers declined to comment on the matter on Tuesday.

Chiluba, Zambia's first democratically elected president, lead this
impoverished southern African country for 10 years until he retired in
January 2002.

He has pleaded innocent with four other former government officials and
two businessmen to 169 counts of corruption, abuse of power and theft
totaling $43-million. He has also pleaded innocent to 65 counts of theft
totaling about $3,5-million in a separate case.

President Levy Mwanawasa, Chiluba's hand-picked successor, has pledged
to fight corruption despite opposition from within his own party, still
loyal to Chiluba. - Sapa-AP

*****

Mozambicans stick to civil war loyalties
Justin Pearce
BBC, Maputo


Twelve years after the end of the civil war, Mozambicans will bid
farewell to wartime leader Joaquim Chissano in presidential and
parliamentary elections on 1 and 2 December.

While some new parties have a chance to get into parliament for the
first time, the vote is going to be dominated by the two civil war
adversaries: the governing Frelimo party and the former rebel movement,
Renamo.

President Chissano is standing down in compliance with the two-term
limit that the post-war constitution puts on the presidency.

Frelimo's candidate is Armando Guebuza, who led Frelimo's negotiating
team during the Rome peace talks that ended the war.

Veteran Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama is making his third electoral bid
for the presidency.

Of the other six presidential candidates, the one considered to have
the best chance is Raul Domingos, the former Renamo secretary general
who is running for the presidency under the banner of his new Peace,
Democracy and Development Party (PDD).


Corruption and employment

Perhaps surprisingly for a party that has been in power since 1975,
Frelimo's campaign slogan is: "The force for change". It is emphasising
the progress of recent years, and pledges to continue on the same path.


Frelimo remains overwhelmingly popular in the south of the country,
which is the region that has seen the most benefit from post-war
investment. Even though most people in the south remain poor, mistrust
of Renamo will ensure Frelimo an easy victory in this region.

Tackling corruption has been high on most parties' campaign agenda,
with the recent fourth anniversary of the death of journalist Carlos
Cardoso drawing particular attention to the issue.

Cardoso was gunned down in Maputo on 22 November 2000, while
investigating the theft of millions of dollars during bank
privatisations.

Many questions remain unanswered about his death and about the
corruption that he was investigating, and Cardoso has become something
of a hero among politically conscious Mozambicans.

For the poor, unemployment is still the first concern.

Rapid economic growth, which reached 12% per annum during the 1990s,
has created many jobs, but, say the trade unions, not enough to
compensate for the 140,000 jobs lost during the transition from
socialism to capitalism in the early 1990s.

In the countryside, peasant farmers are most concerned about the value
of their products, which has declined in real terms since the
liberalisation of the market.

The largely agricultural centre-north region of the country was
particularly badly hit by cutbacks in the cotton and cashew nut
industries. It is here that Renamo has its best chance of winning votes,
though wartime memories of the rebel movement remain bitter, and many
voters feel that no party truly represents their interests.

Raul Domingos' Renamo background - plus the fact that he is considered
a more charismatic figure than Mr Dhlakama - might allow PDD to take
away some of the traditional Renamo vote.

His core support will be in his home area, the central Zambezi valley,
and of the six smaller parties contesting the parliamentary poll, PDD is
the most likely to break through the 5% barrier needed to send a
representative to the national assembly.

Accusations

The campaign has been calmer than in recent years, though not without
some violent incidents.

"Fewer than 10 people" have died and "fewer than 50" have been injured
during the course of campaigning, according to Felipe Mandlate,
spokesman for the National Electoral Commission.

Each of the main parties has accused the others of harassment and/or
intimidation, but election monitors, both Mozambican and foreign, say
they cannot see any systematic pattern of abuse.

The main point of contention between the monitors and the National
Elections Commission (CNE), which manages the poll, has been the
question of access to the counting process.

Mozambique's vote tallying system has been praised as transparent - up
to a point. Representatives of political parties, local NGOs and foreign
observer missions are allowed to scrutinise every stage of the counting
process to the delivery of the local results to the provincial counting
centres.

The observers are still worried that there may be potential for
manipulation in the tallying that is done at provincial and national
level, and when the CNE makes its judgement on those ballot papers where
the mark made by the voter is ambiguous, and on the individual polling
station results sheets which might contain mathematical errors.

In the 1999 election, the CNE excluded nearly 7% of polling stations
from the presidential count, and reconsidered 500,000 doubtful ballot
papers.

Monitors fear that in the event of a close poll, arbitration on this
scale by the Frelimo-dominated CNE could affect the final result.

Former US President Jimmy Carter and former Benin President Nicefore
Soglo are leading a delegation of observers from the Atlanta-based
Carter Center, and the European Union - which contributed 13 million
euros ($17m) to election funds - also has a high-profile delegation in
the country.

A coalition called the Electoral Observatory will co-ordinate
monitoring by Mozambican civil society groups, and intends to carry out
a parallel vote count at 791 of the 13,000 voting stations.

Got our vote.  I understand the nightlife there compares with no other.
(For those more protective minded, you can get machetes and AKs over
there pretty cheap.)

--- In ujeni@yahoogroups.com, "Paul DEVER" <pcpaul@h...> wrote:
> Colombia would make a great place for a reunion.......

Happy Holdiays to you all!

I guess I'm sort of an A person, but more of a p person, but since I
won't be around later in December, here you go! :)

We have had a very busy and exciting year!  Noah was born in March and
it's been a wild ride ever sense!  Due to our work schedules, he's
traveled quite a bit!  In the spring he toured Seattlle and Alaska
(Anchorage, Seward, & Cordova). He's spent lots of time in Lakeview (or
course) and it's snowed almost everytime he's been there (that crazy
high-desert weather).  This summer he spent lots of time on the Oregon
coast, and hiking and swimming in western, eastern, and southern
Oregon.

We just spent some time in Hawaii. Danny was visiting college fairs on
5 islands, so Noah and I just hung out for the trip. It was great fun!
He didn't really like the water, but ate lots of sand and LOVED hula
dancers!  He'll be heading to Arkansas for the first time next week!
Danny is from Arkansas and has 54 first cousins! Noah won't know what to
do with all of the attention---and the accent!

We bought a house a year ago and have enjoyed doing all of those new
house things! After 6 months off, I'm back at student health part time.
I'm enjoying the students, but I have to admit hanging out with Noah was
much more fun!  Although now that he's crawling everywhere and into
everything it's much more exhausting!

We have snow in the mountains around Medford and Ashland today!  So, as
we gear up for Noah's first snow-shoe trip, we wish you all a safe and
healthy holiday season!


Love & Peace,

Sue Peterson

Gertrude, the kids, and I are doing very well.  I am in my 6th year here at
Verde Valley School in Sedona, AZ (web site for the school is www.vvsaz.org
that has some nice pictures).  In November, I finished my 2.5 year torture
of working on an MBA in Marketing.  Gertrude is trying to work on her
nursing degree, but the local community college has a very competitive
program that admittance to it is entirely based on an entrance test results.
   She has some problems with the English, but is doing well in everything
else.  She is working as a Certified Nursing Assistant in a rehab center for
the elderly and seems to like it very much.  If she wasn't going to classes,
she would be able to pretty much work however many hours that she wanted.

Wendy (my daughter) is now 7, in the second grade, and just completed her
first season in AYSO soccer.  She scored a goal in all but two games, she
had a hat-trick, and scored 2 goals in a couple of other games.  She is very
quick, and if things work out well, could be my retirement ticket.

Tiamike is almost 5 and also played soccer, it was not nearly as organized,
but it was very funny to see them play.  There was one little girl who if
you were not paying attention would take off to the play ground in the
middle of a play.  He will start Kindegarten next year, finally not having
to pay for day-care will be very nice.

Dan Dudley 94-96

>From: Rand Wise <wiserd@...>
>Reply-To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
>To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [ujeni] holiday udatesA-Z
>Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 18:22:48 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
>
>
>happy thanksgiving, friends!
>
>'tis the season once again to TRY to do an annual whassup!   to refresh
>your memories, last year we tried last name begins with a, send an update
>on the 1st of december, b on the 2nd, etc...  it was neat hearing from the
>long lost.  i must admit we didn't do w day and still feel somehow guilty.
>i thought it might be nice if folks include ONE recent photo of their fam,
>cat, current hottie or WHATEVER.  our computer is slower than probably
>anyone elses, so don't bother to complain!
>
>also, it's time to start thinking about the 10 year reunion.  a few
>suggestions have been securing camp accomodations at a big ole park,
>getting rooms at an affordable beach place, vegas again, orlando.  if
>anyone has comments, please send them along.  don't feel like forming a
>commitee, tshirts, all the good things we did last time. just need a date,
>place, and rough number of interested parties.  1st full weekend of august
>is tradional.
>
>
>
>deb
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Malawi: Aids Drug Rollout Hampered By Lack of Funds

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

November 30, 2004
Posted to the web November 30, 2004

Johannesburg

Malawi needs an estimated US $28 million to provide free anti-AIDS treatment to
some 36,000 people by next year, Health Minister Heatherwick Ntaba, has
announced.

According to the Pan African News Agency, Ntaba said a lack of adequate funding
was the main obstacle blocking the country's delivery of treatment.

Although the government programme plans to operate from 54 accredited sites, a
consignment of drugs expected this week will only cover 20 of the sites.

Malawi's initial target was to place up to 20,000 people on treatment by the end
of 2004, but only 8,000 people currently have access to antiretroviral
medication.

*****

Statement By IMF Staff Mission to Malawi

International Monetary Fund (Washington, DC)

PRESS RELEASE
November 29, 2004
Posted to the web November 30, 2004

Washington, DC

The following statement was issued on November 25, 2004 in Lilongwe at the
conclusion of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission:

"An IMF mission visited Lilongwe during November 9-23, 2004 to review
performance under the Staff Monitored Program (SMP) with the IMF.1 The mission
met with a broad range of senior government officials, including the Minister of
Finance and the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, and private sector
representatives. The mission also discussed with the authorities economic
policies for the remainder of the current budget year and some medium-term
issues.


"In July 2004, the Government of Malawi requested an SMP to support the
government's efforts to reestablish its track record of economic policy
implementation. The program aims to address macroeconomic imbalances by
containing government borrowing and holding down inflationary pressures.

The SMP, which is closely aligned to the 2004/05 budget approved by Parliament,
supports key government initiatives, including the targeted input program (TIP),
the purchase of maize to alleviate the expected shortage, and the recent
increases in civil service pay. While these initiatives are costly, the mission
agrees that food security and a more efficient civil service pay structure are
important government priorities. The success of the SMP will, therefore, depend
on adherence to the approved budget provisions for these and all other spending
items.

"In general, the mission was encouraged by recent signs that Malawi's economy is
strengthening. Preliminary information indicates that economic growth picked up
in 2003-04; it is now estimated to be around 4¼ percent in 2004, in part because
of a very large increase in tobacco production that is also contributing to a
rise in foreign exchange earnings. Average inflation has remained in the 10-12
percent range, but it is projected to rise temporarily to14½ percent around the
end of the year because of the impact of higher fuel and maize prices.

"The mission welcomed the progress observed under the SMP through end-September.
In particular, discretionary spending and net domestic financing to the
government were significantly below their ceilings due to the new government's
effort to rein in spending by rejecting requests for extra budgetary spending
and the postponement of maize purchases into the October-December period.
Targets on net foreign and net domestic assets of the Reserve Bank of Malawi
(RBM) were comfortably met, pointing toward strong performance by the RBM in
mopping up the monetary overhang and in building the necessary level of reserves
during the tobacco marketing season. The authorities have also implemented
measures to improve financial management, particularly in the areas of budget
monitoring and expenditure control.

"Going forward, the mission encouraged the authorities to continue the
implementation of reforms in order to improve Malawi's growth prospects and
social conditions. The success of the SMP, however, depends critically on
adherence to the approved budget provisions, and the government will need to
counter quickly any pressures that develop. The government is already addressing
higher-than-expected costs stemming from the civil service wage reform. It is
equally important that the RBM continue to mop up the monetary overhang and take
the needed steps to contain inflation.

"The IMF remains committed to helping Malawi achieve macroeconomic
stabilization, sustainable growth, and poverty reduction. The mission team plans
to return to Malawi in February to monitor the country's financial performance
through December and to continue the policy dialog. Strong performance under the
SMP would provide a basis for a new financial arrangement under the Poverty
Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF)."

*****

Some ballots sent out in canoes for Mozambique poll

Maputo

01 December 2004 12:44

Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano voted on Wednesday in a landmark election
which will see him step down after 18 years in power, saying he was proud of his
role in cementing peace after helping end a brutal civil war that killed about
one million people.

"We managed to consolidate the peace process. Things seem to be very well
organised ... I feel proud that I can finish my mandate in these circumstances,"
the 65-year-old Chissano said after casting his ballot at a school near the
presidential residence.

Chissano admitted that there had been some problems in transporting ballot
material in certain areas of this impoverished southern African nation, which
gained independence from Portugal in 1975, only to be wracked by a 16-year civil
war which started a year later.

"They had to utilise canoes because we don't have our own means in this country
for transportation. We don't have helicopters, we don't have planes. We have
still a lot of roads to be constructed.

"In spite of that we are doing our best," he said.

About eight million people are eligible to vote in the two-day presidential and
legislative polls, the third since independence as well as a 1992 peace accord
signed in Rome that ended the civil war.

There are about 3 000 polling stations scattered over 11 provinces and the polls
are being monitored by about 400 foreign observers, including former United
States president Jimmy Carter, and 1 600 domestic monitors.

Voters queued up in polling stations ahead of the opening time of 7am (5am GMT)
and some were wistful about Chissano's departure.

Twenty-three-year-old Sonia Mate said Chissano's successor "should continue what
Chissano has done in terms of poverty, education, Aids and peace".

Jamisso Taimo, a former head of the country's National Elections Commission who
was among one of the earliest voters, said Mozambican elections were always
special given the country's bloody history.

"All our elections are historical in the sense that in other countries elections
are an exercise in democracy but here it's an exercise in democracy and
reconciliation."

And Paulo Mabunda (71) who came to vote in a wheelchair added: "We want to
continue to live in peace."

Chissano became president after the shadowy death of founding president Samora
Machel in a 1986 plane crash over apartheid South Africa and unlike some other
African leaders, he has not tried to tamper with the Constitution to allow
himself a third term.

The governing Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), a former armed group that
fought Portuguese colonial rule and became the ruling party after, has picked
rich businessman Armando Guebuza as its presidential candidate.

Guebuza (61) is locked in a tight race with the main opposition leader Afonso
Dhlakama (51) whose former rebel Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) party
was backed by apartheid South Africa and fought Frelimo during the civil war.

Guebuza on Wednesday promised to fight corruption and red tape and speed up
foreign investment to accelerate the economic revival of Mozambique, which
heavily depends on foreign aid.

He also pledged to fight HIV/Aids -- which affects about 1,1-million of the
country's 17-million people.

"If I am elected, my government will accelerate the fight against Aids," he
said.

"People need to have more information about how they can defend themselves from
the disease. We also need to make sure that infected people get proper
treatment. We also need to look at orphans and widows."

Although Guebuza is expected to win the presidential race, there is the
possibility of a run-off vote with Dhlakama, whose Renamo remains popular in the
north and centre despite being blamed for committing some of the worst
atrocities during the war.

Dhlakama -- who lost to Chissano in the last two elections and claimed that
victory had been snatched from him through fraud -- has cried foul ahead of the
current polls, saying the ruling party was planning widespread rigging.

But he said on the eve of the elections that he would accept defeat if the polls
were conducted in a freely and fairly. - Sapa-AFP

*****

Long queues in Mozambique polls
By Dan Isaacs
BBC News, Maputo

The people of Mozambique have begun voting in presidential and parliamentary
elections.
After 18 years in power, President Joachim Chissano is stepping down and five
candidates are vying for his post.

In scorching heat long queues formed at polling stations around the country on
the first of two days of voting.

The leading candidates are from two parties which fought a destructive civil war
which ended in 1992.


The winner will inherit a country that has shown remarkable economic progress
since the end of the conflict, but remains one of the world's poorest.

The former rebel movement, Renamo, with its strongest support in central
Mozambique, is hoping that leader Afonso Dhlakama can improve on the result of
the previous poll, in which the party came very close to winning.

The candidate for the governing Frelimo party, Armando Guebuza, is banking on
the electorate supporting the party that has governed the country without
interruption since independence 30 years ago.

Maintaining peace

Mr Guebuza has been a government minister in charge of senior posts and is also
reputed to be a wealthy businessman.

His supporters see in him a leader who can be trusted to maintain policies that
have brought stability and progress.

"If we want to maintain peace in this country, to see improvements of the
country we should vote Guebuza because for now he's the best we have," said one
supporter at a rally in Maputo.

But despite its impressive overall economic growth over the past decade, the
vast majority of Mozambique's population lives in deprived urban areas or in
rural isolation.

Opponents of the government argue that it has failed to address these issues and
that it has favoured the southern provinces where the ruling party's support has
traditionally been the strongest.

And despite a largely peaceful election campaign, Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama
has complained of widespread procedural irregularities.

He has also highlighted the failure of the electoral commission to get ballot
papers on time to all 13,000 polling stations around the country.

The head of the commission, Reverend Arao Litsuri, said any claims put to the
commission would be thoroughly examined.

All the indications are that this is a very close race for the presidency.

Five years ago, President Chissano won the poll by a margin of just four
percentage points over Mr Dhlakama.

Although recent splits within the Renamo movement may have weakened the former
rebel leader's chances, he remains very much in the running.

The theory is that if he loses, judging by his hostile campaign rhetoric, he is
unlikely to concede gracefully.

*****

Mozambique faces HIV cash dilemma
By Orla Ryan
BBC News business reporter in Mozambique

It is hard to imagine now, but at the peak of her illness Ana Maria Muhai was a
skeletal 29 kilos.

Her husband left her and her neighbours shunned her when they realised she was
HIV positive, leaving her struggling to support her six children.

Now she is full of fighting talk and enthusiasm, fuelled by the knowledge that
if she had not found treatment, she would be dead.

Italian non-governmental organisation Sant Egidio in Maputo treats Ms Muhai with
generic antiretroviral drugs (ARVs).

Sant Egidio was a pioneer of this treatment in Mozambique, where it launched a
pilot project in 2001.

The trickle of money - and interest - in treatment with ARVs has become a flood.

The Mozambican government is now one of the recipients of US President George W
Bush's $15bn Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar).

Pepfar represents a healthy injection of cash into the fight against HIV/Aids.
Just as importantly, it is the result of US recognition that action is urgently
needed.

Spending rules

But Pepfar cash, however welcome, has attracted controversy.

It comes with restrictions that prevent the purchase of generics - cheaper,
copies of brand name drugs.

Beneficiaries of Pepfar cash are only allowed to buy drugs approved by the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This effectively rules out the vastly
cheaper generic treatments that Ms Muhai benefited from.

Avertino Barreto, a director in Mozambique's Ministry of Health and one of the
coordinators of the HIV/Aids effort, welcomes the cash, but says the
restrictions are unfair.

With less than $2 per head to spend on drugs, the Ministry's policy has always
been to buy generics approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The health ministry plans to treat 8,000 people with ARVs by the end of this
year, using money from its own coffers and from other donors who do not have a
problem with the generics. By the end of 2008, it hopes to treat 128,000 people.

Safe, cheap drugs?

Mozambique and other recipient countries have their hands tied by Pepfar's
conditions.

Within two years, Pepfar money will account for about 20% of the country's
HIV/Aids budget, Mr Barreto says.

Unless the generics have been approved by the US regulator, Mozambique will
still not be able to use the Pepfar cash to buy ARVs.

Emotions run high when you talk of treatments for Aids, which is estimated to
kill about 6,000 people each day in Africa.

Leading pharmaceutical companies argue that they need to charge higher prices to
justify the billions of dollars they spend on research and development, costs
which generic drug makers like India's Cipla and Ranbaxy do not have to bear.

There is also a view that generic drugs are unsafe.

Pepfar, which falls under the auspices of Randall Tobias, a former Eli Lilly
chief executive, questions the safety of some generic treatments and the WHO has
withdrawn its approval for some generic treatments.

Generic drug-maker Cipla, which views the Pepfar ruling as unfair, is currently
applying for FDA approval.

Better use of the cash

Mr Barreto is among the first to say that money spent on drugs is just one part
of the Pepfar story.

"We are using most of the money available for training," he says.

"Training doctors, training nurses, people for planning, people for management.
ARVs is not a question only of drugs, you need to guarantee the system is
functioning well," Mr Barreto says.

US diplomatic sources in Maputo agree.

"Drugs are an easy way to spend a lot of money," one official said. "The
difficult part is to put the programme in place, training and using the
healthcare system."

He points to the fact that there are only 650 doctors in Mozambique, many
hospitals lack regular water and electricity supplies and there are only three
labs where your CD4 count (a blood test which indicates whether you need to
start taking ARVs) can be tested.

Mozambique is at a far earlier stage of the HIV epidemic than neighbouring
countries. Just 14% of its population has the disease, compared with 40% in
neighbouring Botswana.

This could justify spending more of the Pepfar money on prevention and improved
healthcare than on buying ARVs, brand names or generics.

There is, however, no escaping the importance of treatment.

"Treatment is a component of prevention," a Maputo-based NGO worker says.

"When you propose testing and you don't have availability of treatment, you are
giving someone a death sentence."

*****

Mugabe moves against party rivals

Deep splits have emerged in Zimbabwe's ruling party as delegates gather for the
opening of the Zanu-PF congress.
Seven provincial party leaders were suspended for opposing President Robert
Mugabe's choice of a new vice-president, state media reports.

Controversial Information Minister Jonathan Moyo was also severely reprimanded
for campaigning against the nomination of Joyce Mujuru.

Correspondents say the splits result from a campaign to succeed Mr Mugabe.

Teenage fighter

Parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had been seen as Mr Mugabe's
choice to replace him when he eventually steps down, had coveted the post of
vice-president.

The Zanu-PF provincial chairmen and Mr Moyo had reportedly attended a meeting
held to discuss how to block Mrs Mujuru's nomination in favour of Mr Mnangagwa.

Mr Mugabe reportedly now favours Water Resources Minister Joyce Mujuru, whose
husband, retired General Solomon Mujuru, is seen as a kingmaker within Zanu-PF.

Mr Mugabe, 81, is not thought likely to stand for re-election when his current
term of office expires in 2008.

Mrs Mujuru, 49, a former teenage guerrilla fighter with little formal education,
is not seen as a likely presidential candidate.

She is set to become the first female vice-president of both Zanu-PF and the
country.

Meanwhile, in a BBC interview, Zanu-PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira has called
for improved relations between Zimbabwe and Britain.

*****

Zim security police budget to surge

Harare

01 December 2004 07:10

Spending on Zimbabwe's feared security police is set to surge to Z$395,8-billion
($70,6-million) in 2005, according to expenditure estimates released on Tuesday.

President Robert Mugabe's government refuses to discuss the operations of the
Central Intelligence Organisation. Funding for the shadowy force appears under a
"special services" category in the budget for his own office.

According to figures released Tuesday, spending on special services ballooned in
2004 from an approved Z$62-billion ($11,1-million) to Z$101,6-billion
($16,3-million) without consulting Parliament. No explanation was given.

Next year, Z$334,5-billion ($59,7-million) is budgeted for special services.

A separate equipment procurement account for special services is also increasing
from Z$10-billion ($1,8-million) -- of which just Z$1,5-billion ($270 000) was
spent in 2004 -- to Z$61,3-billion ($10,9-million) in 2005.

The funds are being used to build training facilities, housing and regional
officials, as well as to purchase unspecified equipment.

Mugabe, who has lead Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, has stepped up a
crackdown on descent in this troubled southern African country since losing a
constitutional referendum in 2000.

The surge in spending on the security police comes as Zimbabwe prepares to hold
key parliamentary elections next year.

Human Rights groups accuse Mugabe of using the Central Intelligence Organisation
to spy on suspected opponents at home and abroad, intimidate voters and other
abuses.

Parliament is barred from discussing the special services allocations in the
annual budget, which regularly increase at a rate in excess of the country's
soaring inflation. - Sapa-AP

*****

WFP to feed 1,6 in Zimbabwe

Johannesburg

01 December 2004 09:41

The World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed on Tuesday that it plans to expand its
support to 1,6-million Zimbabweans during December via its targeted feeding
programme.

WFP spokesperson in Zimbabwe, Makena Walker, said that about 25 000-million
tonnes of food aid, left over from its assistance programme last year, would be
distributed next month to vulnerable groups, including the chronically ill,
child-headed households and the disabled.

"At the request of the government we will go ahead and increase the number of
people under WFP's targeted assistance programme. It is a necessary move because
it coincides with the upcoming lean period, when vulnerability increases among
the population," Walker said.

Up to 600 000 beneficiaries received WFP aid between October and November.

Earlier this year the government decided not to renew an appeal for
international food aid and, controversially, cancelled a crop assessment mission
by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and WFP, claiming the country would
have a bumper harvest.

Walker said: "So far there has been no indication from the government that they
would like us to continue with general distributions."

A report released by the parliamentary portfolio committee on lands and
agriculture last month said the government had seriously miscalculated the size
of its grain stocks, and noted that despite a predicted maize production of
2,4-million tonnes, as of 15 October the state-owned commodity buyer, the Grain
Marketing Board, had received only 388 558 million tonnes.

The GMB told the committee that farmers preferred to hold onto their grain
stocks rather than sell them to the board. * I-Net Bridge

This is the Noughties...YOU PROPOSE TO
HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Melissa Spencer" <melspen25@...>
Reply-To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [ujeni] holiday udatesA-Z
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 19:07:27 -0500

yeah, spence, get down on your knees and propose the old fashion way...

Erin

>From: "Paul DEVER" <pcpaul@...>
>Reply-To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
>To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: RE: [ujeni] holiday udatesA-Z
>Date: Wed, 01 Dec 2004 14:29:49 +0000
>
>This is the Noughties...YOU PROPOSE TO
>HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
>----Original Message Follows----
>From: "Melissa Spencer" <melspen25@...>
>Reply-To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
>To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: RE: [ujeni] holiday udatesA-Z
>Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 19:07:27 -0500
>
><< message5.txt >>

Vote will test strength of Mozambique democracy

Maputo

02 December 2004 11:47

As Mozambique calmly voted on a second and final day on Thursday for a new
president and parliament, foreign observers and voters said the strength of its
maturing democracy will be measured by the transparency of the count - and the
reaction to the outcome.

Afonso Dhlakama, the former rebel commander in Mozambique's disastrous 16-year
civil war and the main opposition Renamo party candidate, bitterly claims the
presidency was stolen from him in the two previous post-conflict elections that
international observers called basically free and fair.

If he loses again in elections seen as transparent, free and fair, Dhlakama says
he'll be the first to congratulate the winner.

But he has also hinted darkly that he will not accept a third defeat he
considers unfair.

Dhlakama narrowly lost five years ago to retiring President Joaquim Chissano,
who has led the country since the death of independence hero Samora Machel in
1986. With the popular Chissano stepping down after two elected terms, most
observers saw this election as Dhlakama's last best chance at the presidency.

With 17 parties running for Parliament and five contesting the presidential
race, many here believe the county is moving toward a presidential runoff next
month.

David Pottie, an international observer with the Atlanta-based Carter Centre
human rights group, said Mozambique may not be mentally or financially prepared
for a runoff.

Tomas Varieria Mario, a Mozambican political analyst, was more blunt about the
consequences of a second round of voting. "The second round will be very tough,
and we could see a lot of political violence," he said.

Voters who trickled to the polls in very small numbers in the capital on
Thursday morning appeared more confident that Mozambique would pass the test of
a runoff.

"Democracy is not new in Mozambique," said Luis Sambele, 29, who works for Save
the Children's HIV/Aids programme in Maputo. "It is possible there will be a
second round, but I don't think it will be a problem. We've had peace for more
than 10 years. The country is under control."

Chissano's Frelimo party has governed since independence from Portugal in 1975.

Dhlakama's deputy, Raul Domingo, bolted from Renamo and formed his own party,
splitting the opposition. Domingo's popularity has drawn votes away from Renamo,
and some fear the consequences of a close runoff between Dhlakama and Chissano's
hand-picked successor, Frelimo candidate Armando Guebuza.

Guebuza, returning to government after becoming wealthy as a businessman, is a
former Frelimo negotiator in the Rome peace talks. But he is also seen as a
tough politician.

He demonstrated his toughness as the interior minister who implemented the
then-Marxist government's forced relocation program in the early 1980s that saw
urban unemployed arrested and resettled in the remote rural north.

Dhlakama is no stranger to violence as the rebel commander in the civil war that
killed a million people before it ended in 1992.

He also still maintains his own "presidential guard," a well-armed private
militia of 500 members that he contends was authorised by the 1992 Rome peace
accord.

Seemingly confident of victory after Chissano announced his retirement, Dhlakama
abandoned his confrontational campaign rhetoric of past elections and campaigned
as a statesmen. Even if a party had done well for 30 years, he said about
Frelimo, it is still time for change, for new leadership to deal with old
unsolved problems.

Veteran journalist and political commentator Moise Mabunda said under the
pressures of a close runoff, many fear Dhlakama could become a party leader who
tolerates violence and fuels it with fiery campaign rhetoric.

But many voters in Maputo, a traditional Frelimo stronghold, dismiss the threat.

"Dhlakama always does that," said Cesar Jose, a 22-year-old student. "I don't
think there will be a problem." - Sapa-AP

*****

Mugabe purges challengers



02 December 2004 07:12

Robert Mugabe has purged seven senior officials of his party, Zanu-PF, and
humiliated a Cabinet ally in an effort to quell debate on who will succeed him
as president of Zimbabwe.

He slapped down young challengers and relied on the old guard to bolster his
authority in a "night of the long knives".

Six of the party's 10 provincial chairmen were suspended for six months and the
head of the war veterans, Jabulani Sibanda, was suspended for four years. The
information minister, Jonathan Moyo, was reprimanded, the state media reported.

The action exposed deep rifts in the party on the eve of its annual congress,
which opened in the capital Harare on Wednesday, tense with the expectation of
further possible purges.

Meanwhile the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) indicated that it
is likely to take part in the general election in March, even though it fears
that voting may not be free and fair.

Triggering what some analysts called the party's worst split for 20 years, a
meeting of its politburo chaired by Mugabe decided late on Tuesday to punish an
apparent cabal of senior but relatively youthful officials.

Their crime was to hold a meeting on November 18 at which they reportedly
plotted against Mugabe's choice for a second vice-president, Joyce Majuru, in
favour of the parliamentary Speaker, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Majuru is not seen as a serious contender to replace the 80-year-old president
but clinching the vice-presidency would position Mnangagwa to do so. Delegates
at the congress are to vote on who should fill the post.

The state media said Moyo had organised the meeting in his home district,
Tsholotsho, to lobby for Mnangagwa, a mistake for which he had apologised.

As the architect of oppressive media laws Moyo grew close to the president, but
the state media, which he has recently controlled, has hinted that he might be
sacked.

Despite its turmoil, Zanu-PF, with the states' resources and the near-monopoly
media on its side, is favoured to retain its parliamentary majority in next
year's elections.

The MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, speaking in London at the end of his first
foreign trip since his passport was returned after he was cleared of treason,
urged other countries to press Mugabe to guarantee a fair poll.

The MDC's national council is to meet soon to decide whether to contest the
elections. Although MDC officials see little hope of immediate reforms, they
expect the council will decide to do so.

"Because of the disadvantages of non-participation, my guess is that the council
will decide unanimously, or by a large majority, to take part", Welshman Ncube,
the Secretary General, said.

European governments have been urging the MDC not to pull out of the elections.
- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

*****

Zim govt appeals Tsvangirai verdict

Harare

02 December 2004 12:02

The Zimbabwean government is seeking leave to appeal the acquittal of opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai of treason, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

In October, the Harare High Court acquitted Tsvangirai of plotting to kill
President Robert Mugabe and stage a coup, saying there was insufficient evidence
against him.

Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
denied the charges and claimed he was framed by the Zimbabwean government to
discredit him ahead of 2002 presidential elections, which Tsvangirai lost to
Mugabe.

The state-owned Herald newspaper reported that the state had filed court papers
on Monday requesting leave to appeal the acquittal. The government argues that
Tsvangirai's acquittal was wrong and that the state faces a good chance of
getting a conviction on appeal.

"The [state] wishes to apply for leave to appeal against the decision of the
High Court, sitting at Harare on 15 October 2004, wherein it found the
respondent [Tsvangirai] not guilty and acquitted him of the charge of treason,"
the newspaper quoted from the court papers.

"It is respectfully submitted that there are reasonable prospects of success on
appeal," it added.

It was not clear when the appeal will be heard.

Tsvangirai's acquittal came more than a year after the start of the high-profile
trial in February 2003, in which Tsvangirai was accused of trying to enlist
Canada-based political consultant Ben Menashe to assassinate Mugabe and organise
the alleged coup.

Tsvangirai is currently on a whirlwind tour of Europe, after visiting several
African countries to enlist worldwide support for his party's efforts to
pressure Mugabe to effect electoral reforms ahead of general elections due next
March.

The MDC has vowed to boycott the polls unless reforms are undertaken. - Sapa-AFP

Hi Richa,

Sorry, could not find your personal email, but wanted
to send a big thank you for sending the postcard. It's
already on my wall and people have been asking if
Arches National Park is in Afghanistan, because it
kinda looks like it. You're right, mail day is just as
exciting as in the Peace Corps, only instead of
watching the ship roll in I get covered in dust
straining to see if that's a mail bag in the back of a
humvee. But here it only takes ten days with the APO
address. I'm still waiting for Dever's package from
Columbia.

As my UK friends say, "Big up to you," (that's not
dirty in any way).

Love,
JP

ps- another confidential to Spence- Good luck with
that, but with the responses sent in there are at
least three or four jokes in there, and I'm straining
at the bit not to be unseemly.



__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
All your favorites on one personal page – Try My Yahoo!
http://my.yahoo.com

Hey guys
I am a recent RPCV who returned in August from serving in Malawi and
I'm kind of craving anything Malawian right about now. There's
actually another RPCV Malawi yahoo group called "pc-malawi-network"
you may want to check it out a lot of the sites you all are
mentioning are very familiar and you might catch the person that
served at you site a group or two after you.

Just out of curiousity, did any of you serve in Namitambo,
Chiradzulu district? I know the school at my site Muhaswua had a
decade of education volunteers.
Tiwanana
bill

Malawi mayor arrested for fraud

The mayor of Malawi's commercial capital, Blantyre, has been arrested and is
expected to appear in court on charges of theft by a public servant.
John Chikakwiya of the ruling United Democratic Front party allegedly asked a
state-run company to give more than $3,000 to maintain city roads.

But the money was not used for that purpose and is now missing.

The arrest is viewed as a part of an anti-corruption campaign launched by
President Bingu wa Mutharika.

But some of the members of his own party have accused the president of using the
campaign as a way to settle political scores.

Mr Chikakwiya's lawyer, Noel Chalamanda, told correspondents he would apply for
bail for his client.

The head of public prosecutions has said at least 10 senior members of the
administration of former President Bakili Muluzi are under investigation in
connection with the disappearance of government funds.


*****

Carter gives Mozambique poll a thumbs-up

Maputo

03 December 2004 14:43

Former United States president Jimmy Carter gave Mozambique's third multi-party
elections a tentative thumbs-up on Friday despite a poor turnout, saying the two
days of voting appeared to have gone off well.

Carter said of the polls, which were held on Wednesday and Thursday: "This time
we interrogated any obsevers who were there, especially from the opposition
parties... and we have found that they had no complaints or problems."

However, Carter said: "All I can judge so far is what we have seen in the first
few days."

The former US leader, the most prominent of the estimated 400 observers
monitoring the elections which will see President Joaquim Chissano step down
after 18 years, visited polling stations in the capital Maputo.

"I understand that out of the 10,1 million names on the [voters'] list only
about 7,5 million are alive or actually eligible to vote," he said.

"I haven't seen the final turnout . My rough estimate is that about 30% of
voters participated, almost all of them on the first day.

"But this is less than half the turnout compared to 1999," Carter said,
referring to the last elections, which he monitored with observers from the
Carter Centre, putting the turn-out then at around 68% and adding that the poor
turnout was "of concern".

But he hedged a question of whether the increasing slide in turnout from the
country's first elections since independence and the end of a brutal civil war
in 1994 pointed to a growing disenchantment with democracy and the electoral
process.

"I would not attribute any motivation," he said, adding that the possibilities
included the premise that "people don't like the process itself or they don't
feel that their vote will make a difference", or they were simply undecided who
to vote for.

Referring to the last elections, Carter said: "We had a major concern in 1999
when a large numbers of returns from individual polling places were thrown out
by the CNE [National Elections Commission] in secret and we were never given
access to all those.

"That was about seven percent of the vote, which could have changed the outcome
of the election in 1999," he said, adding that he hoped this would not happen
again.

The CNE and foreign observers -- including those from the European Union, which
has funded more than 70% of the cost of the elections -- are in a stand-off over
giving the observers access to the place where the final vote tabulation is to
take place. - Sapa-AFP

*****

Where have all the voters gone?

Justin Pearce | Maputo

02 December 2004 07:59

Shortly before the close of voting stations, the chairperson of Mozambique's
National Electoral Commission (CNE), Arão Litsure, expressed concern over the
low voter turnout in the country's presidential and general elections that took
place this week.

In the north of the country, heavy rain prevented polling from opening on
Wednesday.

"We note with concern the low turnout at the polls. A few hours before the close
of polling we must remind voters that voting is a civic duty," he said.
The elections were marked by controversy over observers' access to the final
stages of the count.

A close result could necessitate a run-off between the two leading candidates:
Armando Guebuza, businessman and secretary general of Frelimo, the ruling party
since independence in 1975, and Afonso Dhlakama, veteran leader of the former
rebel movement, Renamo.

President Joaquim Chissano, who has led Mozambique since the death of Samora
Machel in 1986, is standing down in accordance with a two-term limit demanded by
the 1994 Constitution.

During the past month, observers from the European Union, the Carter Center and
the Electoral Observatory * a Mozambican civil society coalition * have been
trying to persuade the CNE to permit greater observer access during the final
stages of the vote tabulation process, where the Frelimo-dominated CNE has the
power to reject the results from entire polling stations. This week, Litsure
reiterated that the final stages of the tabulation process would not be open to
scrutiny, although public notice would be given of any changes made.
"Observation must be integral," said Luís de Brito of the Electoral Institute of
Southern Africa (Eisa). "It makes no sense to allow observation at one stage and
not at another."

The CNE may reject the results sheets from a polling station if, for example,
faulty arithmetic has led to a discrepancy between the numbers of votes recorded
and the number of voters crossed off the roll. The CNE also scrutinises any
ambiguously marked voting papers submitted for arbitration by vote counters at
the polling stations, and in such cases the CNE has the final say over what the
voter's intentions were.

"Most important is that the CNE, when verification happens, posts the results of
all decisions made," Eduardo Sitoe, chairperson of the Electoral Observatory,
told the Mail & Guardian.

Asked whether the current guidelines guarantee sufficient access to information
about the CNE's decisions, Sitoe replied: "I have no basis on which to answer
that question. We don't want to work in bad faith, but we need them to create
access in order to prove this."

Predictions of a close finish have given an added urgency to the need for a
credible result. "If the difference between the parties is small, and there are
a large number of disputed results sheets or questionable votes, then the final
decision will rest with the CNE," Sitoe warned.

People going to the polls in Frelimo's traditional southern stronghold seemed
divided between ruling party faithfuls and people who were hesitant about
expressing an opinion.

At the Junto minibus taxi rank on the edge of Maputo, a Frelimo activist who
gave his name as Izidro said he traveled 200km to Chongoene where he was
registered "because if I don't vote I can only blame myself if the wrong man
wins".
Civil servant António Silva was not revealing his choice as he shared a
post-poll beer with friends in Maputo's Jardim township, but hinted he was
voting for the opposition: "Mozambique is infected by a virus. People are not
voting with their conscience * they are voting to perpetuate the poverty they
are in."

Maputo street vendor Rosita Martins had pictures of Dhlakama on her stall, but
seemed uncertain whether she would vote. "Politics? When the buffalo fight, it's
the grass that gets trampled. I lost my husband in the war, and have to support
five children."

According to Eisa's De Brito: "The forces are balanced, and new dynamics make
the outcome undeterminable."

Among the factors that could contribute to a neck-and-neck finish between
Frelimo and Renamo, De Brito said, was that Guebuza's status as an electoral
newcomer could cost him recognition among illiterate voters. He also pointed out
that the gap between the two main parties has gradually been closing since the
first general election 10 years ago, as ongoing unemployment breeds
disillusionment with Frelimo, even in the south.

In Beira, Mozambique's second city, the crowd that turned out for a Renamo rally
this weekend was reportedly large enough to keep Dhlakama's motorcade trapped
for four hours.

Renamo eventually called in the police, who fired teargas to clear a path for
the Renamo leader.

Failure by either of the main parties to attract 50% of the vote could lead to a
presidential run-off, and a hung Parliament with the new Peace, Democracy and
Development (PDD) party holding the balance of power.

In Matola, near Maputo, a fire destroyed the offices of Renamo, according to
local news agency AIM, early on Monday morning. The director of the Renamo
Maputo provincial election office, Samuel Mandlate, said that during the night
arsonists had broke down one of the doors to the offices, poured kerosene on all
materials, documents, and furniture, and set the place on fire.

*****

Chissano suggests paying voters

Mozambique's outgoing leader Joaquim Chissano has said that turnout would be
higher if people were paid to vote.
He was speaking after a low turnout in general elections and said people may not
believe they gain by voting.

Mr Chissano is steeping down after 18 years in power, with five candidates vying
to replace him.

Initial results suggest that Armando Guebuza, from Mr Chissano's Frelimo party
is ahead but as rural votes are counted, this could easily change.

Afonso Dhlakama from the former rebel movement Renamo is coming second and the
BBC's Dan Isaacs in the capital Maputo, says he has more support in central
Mozambique, where votes are still being counted.

Our correspondent says that votes were counted overnight, often by candlelight,
in schools and civic centres across the country.

Global phenomenon

There is no figure for the turnout but the head of the National Electoral
Commission said he was worried.

"In a country with a high rate of illiteracy, and high rate of ignorance about
the [political] systems themselves, people may have tended to ask themselves:
What do I gain by voting?" Mr Chissano said in an interview with the AFP news
agency.

"I'm sure if we had to say that each one who votes gets some money, even if it
was very little, they would go and vote," he said.

Despite rapid economic growth in recent years, Mozambique remains one of the
world poorest countries.

He added, however, that low voter turnout was a global phenomenon.

It has also been suggested that heavy rains and scorching heat dissuaded some
people from going to the polling stations.

Another BBC correspondent in Maputo, Jose Tembe, says that some people have
taken advantage of the two-day national holiday to enjoy themselves instead of
voting.

Others have suggested that an election between former rebels and Frelimo, which
sent people to Soviet-style re-education camps, had not motivated the
electorate.

"My grandfather was killed in the civil war by Renamo and my mother suffered in
a camp... so what choice have I really been presented?" taxi driver Roque asked.

Voters were also selecting members to the 250-seat National Assembly.

Mr Guebuza has been a government minister in charge of senior posts and is also
reputed to be a wealthy businessman.

His supporters see in him a leader who can be trusted to maintain policies that
have brought stability and progress.

"If we want to maintain peace in this country, to see improvements of the
country we should vote Guebuza because for now he's the best we have," said one
supporter at a rally in Maputo.

Opponents of the government argue that it has failed to address these issues and
that it has favoured the southern provinces where the ruling party's support has
traditionally been the strongest.

And despite a largely peaceful election campaign, Mr Dhlakama has complained of
widespread procedural irregularities.

He has also highlighted the failure of the electoral commission to get ballot
papers on time to all 13,000 polling stations around the country.

The head of the commission, Reverend Arao Litsuri, said any claims put to the
commission would be thoroughly examined.

The BBC's Dan Isaacs says that all the indications are that this is a very close
race for the presidency.

Five years ago, President Chissano won the poll by a margin of just four
percentage points over Mr Dhlakama.

Although recent splits within the Renamo movement may have weakened the former
rebel leader's chances, he remains very much in the running.

Our reporter says that the theory is that if he loses, judging by his hostile
campaign rhetoric, he is unlikely to concede gracefully.

[pictures from the elections are at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4058851.stm]

*****

Chissano bids adieu after 42 years

Maputo

03 December 2004 11:43

Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, who is stepping down after 42 years in
politics and at the forefront of a liberation struggle against Portuguese rule,
says although he wants to "be free" now, he will be on call to help resolve
"terrible problems" anywhere in the world.

The veteran leader ruled the southern African nation for 18 years during which
he negotiated an end to a vicious 16-year civil war that claimed up to one
million lives and was marked by the use of landmines.

Chissano said in an interview that he was bidding adieu in full glory after this
week's elections which he chose not to contest.

"I decided to be free," he said. "The only thing which will hold me is the
chairmanship of the [ruling] party, not government affairs or anything similar
to government affairs."

"I have been here 18 years and I think that's a lot of time," he said. "On top
of that I was in government before becoming president for 12 years which means
that I am in government for 30 years. And before that I was in the leadership of
my party or the liberation movement for another 12 years.

"I think I have attained the normal age for retirement if I were a civil servant
so taking all this together... it's time [to] retire," the 65-year-old Chissano
said.

He said he accomplished most of what he had set out to do to lift the
war-devastated country from ruin to economic recovery.

"All this also gives me the feeling that I continue to merit the respect of the
world, of Africa, and therefore I may in my humble way try and bring some inputs
in the search for solutions of the terrible problems which we are facing in the
world," Chissano said.

Chissano became Mozambique's first foreign minister after it gained independence
in 1975 and took over as head of state in 1986 after founding president Samora
Machel's death in a plane crash over South Africa, at the height of a civil war
that only ended in 1992.

"This leadership was undertaken under very hard conditions and of course I could
consent [to] all sacrifice when it was absolutely necessary but I [hoped to]
bring about a situation of peace in Mozambique and a situation of economic
growth, thus creating the basis for development."

Chissano shed his ruling Frelimo party's Marxist ideology and opened up the
economy with stirring results.

"It was a hard task and I am happy that we have reconstructed almost everything
and we went beyond reconstruction," he said.

Foreign investors had come in a big way, there had been a huge expansion in
education, health, electricity and water supply services, Mozambique was nearly
self sufficient in staple crops and the poverty index was 55% now from around
70% earlier, he said.

Chissano plans to set up a foundation to deal with issues related to peace,
development and the revival of local culture.

The multi-lingual leader, who did his higher studies in Portugal and France,
ruled out taking top international jobs.

"I will not stay in the headquarters of the African Union or the United
Nations," he said. "If I willingly have decided to leave this job, obviously I
would not seek any other job which would put me in the same position."

Chissano underlined that peace appeared to have taken firm roots in Mozambique
and said the main opposition Renamo party -- a former rebel group which had been
blamed for some of the worst atrocities during the civil war -- had also
undergone a metamorphosis.

"As it had to happen, Renamo itself is suffering some transformations... working
as a coalition of parties, some of which did not take part in the armed
struggle," thereby minimising any threats of a slide into violence despite the
"excess of desire to take power by some leaders", he said. - Sapa-AFP

*****

Paramilitary leader killed in Zanzibar

Zanzibar

03 December 2004 12:17

The commander of a paramilitary group backed by Zanzibar's ruling party was
stabbed to death following several days of violence related to voter
registration on the semi-autonomous archipelago, police said Friday.

An unidentified assailant killed Ayoub Mohammed Suleiman, the commander of the
Volunteer Group on the northern island of Pemba, on Thursday night in the main
town of Chake Chake, said police commander Faraji Kayuga.
Senior ruling party officials attended Suleiman's burial on Friday morning,
Kayuga added.

Zanzibar's minister of home affairs and senior security officials met on Friday
in Chake Chake to discuss violence related to voter registration that began on
Monday in southern Pemba.

Registration for the October 2005 general election will take place in phases,
with the first registrations being done in south Pemba.

After three days of clashes with riot police, which left three opposition party
supporters dead, Kayuga said calm had returned Friday to Pemba, home to 30 000
people. Suleiman's murder was suspected to be retaliation for the deaths of the
opposition supporters.

"The situation is in control. We will, without any doubt, find a worthy way out
of this complicated situation," Kayuga said.

Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, but under a federal system, Zanzibar has its own
president and parliament. The two previous multiparty elections in 1995 and 2000
were marred by allegations of vote rigging and violence.

Both ruling party and opposition leaders have warned that the 2005 elections may
be even worse, since both sides have been training so-called "civil defence"
forces to ensure the 2005 elections are free and fair.

A spokesman for the opposition Civic United Front, Salim Bimani, called for the
resignation of Zanzibar's chief minister and minister for security following the
deaths of the three opposition supporters, who were shot by riot police.

The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party blamed the opposition for the violence,
insisting that the opposition was trying to block ruling-party members for
registering in Pemba, an oppositions stronghold, said Vuai Ali Vuai,
spokesperson for Chama Cha Mapinduzi.

So far 50 people have been arrested in connection with the registration process.
The establishment of a permanent voters' roll is part of a deal struck between
the parties in 2001 to help prevent vote rigging. - Sapa-AP

Pray tell, John.....

WHat is your address.  I might send some coffee your way.....

----Original Message Follows----
From: John Patten <jppatten98@...>
Reply-To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ujeni] Big thank you to Richa
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 07:12:58 -0800 (PST)


Hi Richa,

Sorry, could not find your personal email, but wanted
to send a big thank you for sending the postcard. It's
already on my wall and people have been asking if
Arches National Park is in Afghanistan, because it
kinda looks like it. You're right, mail day is just as
exciting as in the Peace Corps, only instead of
watching the ship roll in I get covered in dust
straining to see if that's a mail bag in the back of a
humvee. But here it only takes ten days with the APO
address. I'm still waiting for Dever's package from
Columbia.

As my UK friends say, "Big up to you," (that's not
dirty in any way).

Love,
JP

ps- another confidential to Spence- Good luck with
that, but with the responses sent in there are at
least three or four jokes in there, and I'm straining
at the bit not to be unseemly.



__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
All your favorites on one personal page – Try My Yahoo!
http://my.yahoo.com




Yahoo! Groups Links

Pray tell, John.....

WHat is your address.  I might send some coffee your way.....

----Original Message Follows----
From: John Patten <jppatten98@...>
Reply-To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ujeni] Big thank you to Richa
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 07:12:58 -0800 (PST)


Hi Richa,

Sorry, could not find your personal email, but wanted
to send a big thank you for sending the postcard. It's
already on my wall and people have been asking if
Arches National Park is in Afghanistan, because it
kinda looks like it. You're right, mail day is just as
exciting as in the Peace Corps, only instead of
watching the ship roll in I get covered in dust
straining to see if that's a mail bag in the back of a
humvee. But here it only takes ten days with the APO
address. I'm still waiting for Dever's package from
Columbia.

As my UK friends say, "Big up to you," (that's not
dirty in any way).

Love,
JP

ps- another confidential to Spence- Good luck with
that, but with the responses sent in there are at
least three or four jokes in there, and I'm straining
at the bit not to be unseemly.



__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
All your favorites on one personal page – Try My Yahoo!
http://my.yahoo.com




Yahoo! Groups Links

I still have time to get in on "C" day???

Having recovered well from my last calamitous relationship, I finished
the rough draft of my dissertation in March and promptly boarded a
plane to New Zealand, where my college friend Tarius drove me all over
the country for 3 ½ weeks. It was wonderfully cathartic and
breathtakingly beautiful! We spotted no hobbits, though…

In June, I received my PhD in anthropology for the University of
California at Santa Cruz. My 89-year-old grandmother came out to
California from Michigan for a pre-graduation roadtrip, and we tooled
all over the Bay Area. She totally wore me out! My folks also came out
to see me walk the walk (picture).

I continued to consult for the Firelight Foundation for African AIDS
orphans throughout the summer and have been part-time teaching locally
while applying for academic jobs. I received the Graduate Student
Paper Prize from the African Studies Association and so went to New
Orleans to receive my 'prizee', where I got to hang out with Christine
Chumbler, eating copious amounts of wonderful Cajun/Creole food and
listening to fine music. Of course, we did our ritual recitation of
the almost-got-eaten-by-hyenas story to our riveted friends. I met
with some publishers there, too, and the University of Chicago Press
is currently reviewing my complete manuscript. Cross your fingers for
me that they publish it!

Had a very nice Thanksgiving at home here in Santa Cruz with friends
and recounted the gluttonous Peace Corps Thanksgiving of '95, when we
all pigged out at the Ambassador's house!

I'll be in Atlanta Dec. 15-19th for the anthropology annual meeting
(and hopefully many, many job interviews). Any folks in the area wanna
get together? Contact me!

Peace and Love,

Kristen

--
"So we starve all the teachers
and recruit more marines.
How come we don't even know what that means?
It's obvious!" --Joe Jackson, The Obvious Song

Kristen, great quote on the bottom...

WHere did you get it?

----Original Message Follows----
From: kristen cheney <kcheney12@...>
Reply-To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ujeni] KC's Update
Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2004 22:02:04 -0800

I still have time to get in on "C" day???

Having recovered well from my last calamitous relationship, I finished
the rough draft of my dissertation in March and promptly boarded a
plane to New Zealand, where my college friend Tarius drove me all over
the country for 3 ½ weeks. It was wonderfully cathartic and
breathtakingly beautiful! We spotted no hobbits, though…

In June, I received my PhD in anthropology for the University of
California at Santa Cruz. My 89-year-old grandmother came out to
California from Michigan for a pre-graduation roadtrip, and we tooled
all over the Bay Area. She totally wore me out! My folks also came out
to see me walk the walk (picture).

I continued to consult for the Firelight Foundation for African AIDS
orphans throughout the summer and have been part-time teaching locally
while applying for academic jobs. I received the Graduate Student
Paper Prize from the African Studies Association and so went to New
Orleans to receive my 'prizee', where I got to hang out with Christine
Chumbler, eating copious amounts of wonderful Cajun/Creole food and
listening to fine music. Of course, we did our ritual recitation of
the almost-got-eaten-by-hyenas story to our riveted friends. I met
with some publishers there, too, and the University of Chicago Press
is currently reviewing my complete manuscript. Cross your fingers for
me that they publish it!

Had a very nice Thanksgiving at home here in Santa Cruz with friends
and recounted the gluttonous Peace Corps Thanksgiving of '95, when we
all pigged out at the Ambassador's house!

I'll be in Atlanta Dec. 15-19th for the anthropology annual meeting
(and hopefully many, many job interviews). Any folks in the area wanna
get together? Contact me!

Peace and Love,

Kristen

--
"So we starve all the teachers
and recruit more marines.
How come we don't even know what that means?
It's obvious!" --Joe Jackson, The Obvious Song
<< GradDay.JPG >>

Hey guys
I am a recent RPCV who returned in August from serving in Malawi and
I'm kind of craving anything Malawian right about now. There's
actually another RPCV Malawi yahoo group called "pc-malawi-network"
you may want to check it out a lot of the sites you all are
mentioning are very familiar and you might catch the person that
served at you site a group or two after you.

Just out of curiousity, did any of you serve in Namitambo,
Chiradzulu district? I know the school at my site Muhaswua had a
decade of education volunteers.
Tiwanana
bill

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

So, seeing as how that is soooooooooooo near Stone Mountain, will they be
tossing books, CD, or DVDs onto the bonfire?????

----Original Message Follows----
From: Rand Wise <wiserd@...>
Reply-To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
To: ujeni@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [ujeni] KC's Update
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2004 15:46:03 -0500 (GMT-05:00)

I just finished Hey, Dude, Where's My Country...

Once getting past the obvious hystrionics, it is a good read, and brings up
some interesting points...why do I feel that we, the people are lambs being
lead to the slaughter?

Anyway, Moore talks about COulter, and having been outside of the US with no
access to the Fair and Balanced Fox News Channelk, I had no ideabeforehand
who Ann Coulter was....but now I do.

A box of matches en route....

Malawi: Mutharika Takes Fresh Aim At Embezzlers

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

December 3, 2004
Posted to the web December 3, 2004

Johannesburg

More heads are expected to roll as Malawi's President Bingu wa
Mutharika pushes ahead with his campaign to rid the country of
high-level corruption, analysts said on Friday.

On Thursday the mayor of the commercial capital, Blantyre, was arrested
in connection with the disappearance of Kwacha 400,000 (US $3,782) from
the city's coffers. John Chikakwiya is said to have solicited the money
from the Grain and Milling Company for the rehabilitation of roads, but
the funds cannot be accounted for. He is expected to appear in court on
charges of theft by a public servant.

At least seven senior members of the ruling United Democratic Front
(UDF) are under investigation regarding the disappearance of government
funds.

Attorney-General Ralph Kasambara told IRIN the state would continue
pursuing corrupt officials, but would ensure that there was "solid
evidence" against the accused before legal action was taken.

"The president has the public's support for these measures and, from
reading the media reports, Malawians are equally tired of corrupt
officials," Kasambara said.

Mutharika's zero-tolerance campaign against corruption has alarmed some
UDF party stalwarts, who have already started accusing the new president
of political witch hunting.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg. In coming months we are likely to
see the arrests of many more UDF officials, who, I suspect, will be
charged with the embezzlement of far greater amounts of kwacha. Under
the previous government the corrupt activities of officials were almost
tolerated, but the tide is turning," Boniface Dulani, a political
science lecturer at the University of Malawi, told IRIN.

"It's no secret that the former president [Bakili Muluzi] has the
backing of UDF heavyweights, but I don't think that Mutharika has
deliberately gone after Muluzi's allies. Mutharika's anti-corruption
drive is more about showing donors that he can run a clean government,
and less about political witch hunting," Dulani added.

Chikakwiya is expected to appear in court on Monday.

*****

Mozambique election re-run call

Mozambican opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama says he will ask for last
week's general elections to be re-run.
In a BBC interview, the Renamo leader said he had evidence not just of
irregularities, but of "massive fraud".

The former rebel says he wants outgoing President Joaquim Chissano to
stay in office until new polls can be held.

International observers had warned that the delay in releasing results
- blamed on weather and computer glitches - could raise suspicions.

"I will ask President Chissano to stay for six months until we can sort
this out," Mr Dhlakama told the BBC's Portuguese for Africa Service.

Glitches

International observers previously described the presidential and
parliamentary polls as generally free and fair.

Renamo representatives claim passwords to computers containing a
database of results have been altered, allowing the manipulation of
figures in favour of the ruling Frelimo.

The National Electoral Commission denied the allegations and accused
Renamo of disrupting an already slow count.

The NEC has so far declined to release figures and has until the 17
December to announce the result.


Late on Wednesday, Renamo was reported to have withdrawn its observers
from counting centres across Mozambique.

The poll was plagued by poor turnout, with outgoing leader Joaquim
Chissano saying more people would have voted if they had been paid to
cast their ballot.

Mr Chissano is stepping down after 18 years in power, with five
candidates vying to replace him.

Initial unofficial results suggest that Armando Guebuza, from Mr
Chissano's Frelimo party is ahead.

Mr Dhlakama is in second place.

Maintaining peace

Voters were also selecting members to the 250-seat National Assembly.

Mr Guebuza has been a government minister in charge of senior posts and
is also reputed to be a wealthy businessman.

His supporters see in him a leader who can be trusted to maintain
policies that have brought stability and progress.

Despite rapid economic growth in recent years, Mozambique remains one
of the world poorest countries.

Opponents of the government argue that it has failed to address these
issues and that it has favoured the southern provinces where the ruling
party's support has traditionally been the strongest.

Five years ago, Mr Chissano won the poll by a margin of just four
percentage points over Mr Dhlakama.

*****

Cheers as Mugabe slaps down Moyo

Moyo was the architect of draconian media laws
Zimbabwe's private media has been celebrating the demotion of
controversial Information Minister Jonathan Moyo.
He has lost his position on the key body of the ruling party Zanu-PF
but retains his seat in cabinet.

Mr Moyo is the architect of tough media laws which have seen the
banning of foreign correspondents and the closure of the only private
daily paper.

Two Sunday newspapers had front page headlines: "Zanu-PF ditches Moyo."


Last week, he was severely reprimanded by the party leadership for
heading a campaign against President Robert Mugabe's choice as
vice-president, Joyce Mujuru.

   Don't be deceived by that body, she is a young woman

President Robert Mugabe
He was lobbying for Parliamentary Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa to take
the key position, which could be a stepping stone to the presidency as
Mr Mugabe is unlikely to contest the next presidential election, due in
2008.

"No true Zimbabwean is likely to feel any remorse for Moyo because of
the way he single-handedly changed the country's political and media
landscape," the Standard said in an editorial.

Mr Moyo has not yet publicly commented on his demotion.

Under new laws, the Daily News, which had become Zimbabwe's
biggest-selling daily paper was shut down in September 2003.

Tightly controlled state-media have a monoply of the daily press, radio
and television.

Parliament recently voted to further tighten laws, so that anyone
working as a journalist without official credition could face up to two
years in prison.

After Mrs Mujuru was confirmed as Zimbabwe's first vice-president, Mr
Mugabe suggested that she could go one step further.

"When you choose her as a vice president, you don't want her to remain
in that chair do you?" he asked some 10,000 delegates at the Zanu-PF
conference.

"Don't be deceived by that body, she is a young woman," he said of the
stoutly built Mrs Mujuru, 49, a former guerilla fighter with little
formal education.

*****

Zim legal system 'compromised'

Ellen Hollemans and Sapa-AP

09 December 2004 13:58

Zimbabwe's government is subverting the country's legal system in order
to stay in power, according to an international group of lawyers who
recently visited the Southern African state.

In a report, Stephen Irwin, chairperson of the Bar of England and
Wales, says the group found that judges and the courts have been
"profoundly compromised".

"We have concluded that the Zimbabwean justice system has ceased to be
independent and impartial," the report on the state of justice in
Zimbabwe concludes.

"None of the petitions of electorates regarding alleged electoral abuse
in the 2004 parliamentary elections have been brought to conclusion,"
Irwin told the Mail & Guardian Online on Thursday.

"That means that Zimbabwe will choose a new Parliament in March without
knowing whether all aspects of the previous elections have been
conducted lawfully," he added.

"Many of those within the system have been driven out by some kind of
pressure, and much of the legal system of Zimbabwe has been subverted by
the Zanu-PF government [of President Robert Mugabe], in an effort to
frustrate the proper working of democracy and to hold on to power," says
Irwin, who was part of the delegation, in the group's report on the
visit.

"There are still judges and lawyers in the system that are very
courageous and brave and act according to the law, but these people are
in danger, which can even mean they fear for their lives."

The report says it was clear to the delegation "that the judicial
system in Zimbabwe has become profoundly compromised over the past four
years".

"It is not too late for Zimbabwe's judiciary. There is still a legal
system, courts operate and judges rule. If the political will is there,
Zimbabwe can still be a democratic operating state abiding by the rule
of law," Irwin told the M&G Online.

"But governments in the region and especially the South African
government should speak out against what is happening in Zimbabwe. How
can Mbeki keep quiet? We cannot forget about Zimbabwe.

"And I think that even in Zimbabwe itself there are political voices
that want to speak up and make sure that the rule of law is restored.

"Does Mugabe want to end his career as a tyrant? He was always seen as
the liberator, and that image is changing to that of a tyrant. Is that
really what he wants?"

"We are lawyers and we have no political interest whatsoever. We care
about the legal system of Zimbabwe."

Other members of the delegation were Glenn Martin, president of the
Queensland Bar Association in Australia; vice-chairperson of the South
African Bar Justice Poswa; vice-dean of the Faculty of Advocates of
Scotland Roy Martin; and Conor Maguire, chairperson of the Irish Bar.

Some judges have even been given land at nominal rents under the
government's farm-reallocation scheme, the report states.

Magistrates and prosecutors perceived as unsympathetic to Mugabe's
government also have faced attacks on their families and property, it
says.

"The legal culture has been subverted for political ends."

Zimbabwe is facing its worst political and economic crisis since
independence, with Mugabe's autocratic regime cracking down on dissent
ahead of parliamentary elections in March.

Agricultural production has collapsed in the four years since Mugabe
ordered the seizure of about 5 000 white-owned commercial farms for
redistribution to black Zimbabweans.

*****

Can Mozambique gain from investment?
By Orla Ryan
BBC business reporter in Mozambique

The Mozal smelter near Maputo has created a buzz in political and
business circles around the continent.

Not only is it Mozambique's biggest industrial investment, it is also
one of Africa's biggest direct investments yet.

Its size; equivalent to 340 soccer fields, its gleaming newness and the
space-age safety outfits worn by the staff have all helped attract 1,400
visitors from all over the world in the past six months alone.

The prestigious Mozal-project has made Mozambique the subject of envy.
General manager Carlos Mesquita jokes that a delegation from Malawi
asked to be put in touch with its principal owner BHP Billiton to see if
they could get a Mozal of their own.

Decent jobs

But behind the prestige and glitz of flagship investments such as Mozal
lie hard questions.

Does the government's strategy of spurring economic growth by wooing
such investors truly benefit either the local or the national economy -
or indeed ordinary Mozambicans?

Outgoing President Joaquim Chissano insists it does. He attributes much
of the country's economic growth to Mozal and other mega-projects which
have attracted $6bn of investments.

Indeed, some of the ruling party Frelimo's re-election ads made a point
of mentioning Mozal.

The $2bn project started producing aluminium in 2000 and now exports
more than 500,000 tonnes of aluminium a year. Its 1,000 employees are
among the best paid in the country.

Distortion

Yet critics remain vocal. The problem with Mozal, says Carlos Nuno
Castel-Branco, economics professor at Maputo's Universidade Eduardo
Mondlane, is that its size is used to disguise the true state of the
economy.

"Our exports grow as a function of mega projects, we export about $600m
of goods a year," he says.

"Of these, two thirds are aluminium from one core company, which is
Mozal. It is totally fake, if you take Mozal away, all the other things
have stagnated.

"In 2000, it added 3.5% to the rate of growth. When you say gross
domestic product (GDP) grew by 7%, half of that was Mozal."

Ultimately, Mozal pays few taxes, employs few people and transfers much
of its profits out of the country, Mr Castel-Branco says.

Consequently, the 'trickle-down effect' which economists often say
result from inward investment remains elusive and he sees little
evidence that ordinary people benefit from the big sums invested in
Mozal.

Catalyst

But that argument, insists Mr Mesquita, misses the point. The issue is
not how many jobs Mozal creates but the development it can trigger, he
says.

"The idea was to have a catalyser to start creating jobs and
demonstrate to the world that Mozambique is a safe place to invest," he
says.

Indeed, other firms have followed Mozal into the Beluluane Industrial
Park which now employs a total of 5,000 people.

Within the park, new schools jostle with the old schools they have
replaced, all paid for by Mozal. The company spends heavily on its
corporate social responsibility programme, for which there is a strong
business logic, Mr Mesquita says.

"If we didn't reduce the level of malaria, I couldn't operate this
plant," he says.

"The incidence of malaria was at such high levels, the absence would be
incredible.

"Of course, it translates in a return to us, in terms of productivity,"
he acknowledges.

The real development potential could lie not in Mozal's spending on
social projects but in the business it offers local suppliers.

Standards

Mozal buys $10m worth of goods a month from local suppliers and works
with them to improve standards, Mr Mesquita says.

But again, Mr Castel-Branco is critical.

In reality, few Mozambican suppliers can meet the company's standards
or invest the money needed to meet then, he says.

So instead Mozal deals with South African companies which set up
subsidiaries near Mozal but keep their expertise at home, he insists.

Indeed, Mr Mesquita acknowledges that "in some areas, it will take a
long time before we start having Mozambican suppliers".

"Being a Mozal supplier is like a label of competence," he says.

Not the last

Mozal is not the country's first big project and it will not be the
last, and whereas their importance to a country's economy should not be
ignored, nor should they be over-played, insists World Bank country
director Michael Baxter.

"The mega projects are not the only contribution to economic growth,"
he says, pointing out that it is not uncommon that the 'trickle-down
effect' is slow to come about.

"There are other sectors which are equally important [which] need to be
developed in balance with the mega projects," he said.

Indeed Mr Castel-Branco doubts whether Mozambique has the momentum to
support these projects.

"I don't think it will continue to be a driving force" for economic
growth, he says.

"The mega projects have almost exhausted the capacity of Mozambique to
supply skilled workers."

So it is going to take time to lift the country back up from the ruins
of a war that ended 12 years ago.

"We are still dealing with one of the poorest countries in the world,"
Mr Baxter observes.

Malawi: Health Sector Gets Funding Boost

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

December 9, 2004
Posted to the web December 9, 2004

Johannesburg

Over the next six years Malawi's health service will receive a £100 million (US
$193 million) shot in the arm from the United Kingdom's Department for
International Development (DFID).

The aid package "will help provide free antiretroviral treatment for more people
living with HIV from next year", DFID said in a statement, as well as fund
"measures to reduce mother and child deaths, and invest in better training and
higher salaries for doctors, nurses and other health workers".

The money would also be used to assist volunteer doctors and nurses, who will
start arriving in Malawi in six months to fill critical posts.

DFID said the allocation would increase the UK's spending on Malawi by 50
percent, and "result in a 30 percent rise in Malawi's total health budget".

"Malawi lacks many of the staff it needs, and life expectancy has declined from
48 years in 1990 to 39 years in 2000. A properly resourced health service is
crucial if Malawi is to cut the number of children dying before their fifth
birthday, and the number of women dying in childbirth, and to provide treatment
for Malawians living with HIV," Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for
International Development, was quoted as saying.

"This is a practical response to a public health emergency and it will help save
lives. It also offers an innovative solution to the shortage of health workers
by paying volunteer doctors and nurse tutors to fill posts," he added.

DFID will pool its contribution with funds from the World Bank and Norway to
support Malawi's health budget.

*****

'Election results will kill democracy' in Mozambique

Emmanuel Ntave | Maputo, Mozambique

10 December 2004 13:59

Former rebel leader and opposition candidate Afonso Dhlakama on Friday demanded
fresh elections in Mozambique, accusing the ruling Frelimo party of "criminal
fraud" during two days of voting for a new president and Parliament.

Addressing a news conference, Dhlakama accused Frelimo of preventing millions
from casting their ballots by misplacing or manipulating electoral rolls in the
opposition Renamo's rural strongholds in northern and central Mozambique.

He also accused electoral officials of grossly inflating results for the ruling
party in some areas, and said police had chased away Renamo observers from some
polling stations overnight after voting on December 1 and 2.

"Accepting the results will be killing democracy in Mozambique," Dhlakama told
reporters.

He urged President Joaquim Chissano, who is stepping down after 18 years at the
helm of this Southern African nation, to remain in office until new elections
can be held in six months.

He also demanded the dissolution of the National Electoral Commission with its
executive arm, and their replacement with more independent structures.

International observers have called the vote largely free and fair, despite a
low turnout of between 30% and 40%.

Frelimo, which has governed since independence from Portugal in 1975, rejected
Dhlakama's accusations and insisted there will be no new elections.

"Renamo's behaviour reflects the despair of imminent defeat, and I warn that the
electoral process should not be taken hostage," said Manuel Tome, a ruling-party
spokesperson.

State radio has been reporting that Chissano's hand-picked successor, Armando
Guebuza, has a commanding lead over Dhlakama.

But the National Electoral Commission has refused to confirm the preliminary
count, saying results are still trickling in from provincial centres.

Electoral official Antonio Carrasco accused Renamo of trying to discredit the
commission, saying the party should submit any complaints in writing with
evidence to back up its claims.

Dhlakama, who waged a ruinous 16-year civil war against the then Marxist Frelimo
government, has lost two previous bids for the presidency since peace was
restored in 1992.

He claims the last election in 1999 was stolen from him, and has warned that he
won't accept another defeat if he considers the vote wasn't free and fair.

Mozambique remains one of the world's poorest countries despite more than a
decade of peace and growth. -- Sapa-AP

*****

Another blow to Moyo

Dumisani Muleya and Loughty Dube | Zimbabwe

10 December 2004 12:26

Zimbabwe's beleaguered Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, is facing yet
another blow to his faltering career at a time when he is battling for his
political life.

Having failed to secure election to the central committee of the ruling Zanu-PF
last week, Moyo is now likely to be barred from taking part in the forthcoming
primary elections, during which select candidates will be selected to represent
the ruling party in next year's general election.

Zanu-PF has dispatched to provinces new regulations, first mooted in October,
that prohibit members with less than five years' participation in party
structures from standing during primaries.

Moyo was on Saturday booted off the central committee for convening the
controversial Tsholotsho meeting on November 18, which President Robert Mugabe
described as "illegal", to discuss leadership changes.

Although Moyo had reportedly beaten Bulawayo governor Cain Mathema in the
nominations count, Mugabe and the Zanu-PF executive committee brought in
Mathema, and he is likely to be the Zanu-PF candidate for Tsholotsho.

Mathema said on Thursday he has "no comment" on the matter.

Official sources say Moyo will almost certainly be left out of the politburo
when new appointments are now made. He could also be dropped from the Cabinet.

Moyo's catalogue of problems, apart from what Mugabe called "clandestine
activities", now includes clashes with senior party officials; abusing
taxpayers' funds to organise music galas and promote the PaxAfro band; and
chartering a plane for a private trip using public money.

He is also under pressure to account for an avalanche of "donations", mostly in
rural Tsholotsho. His attacks on Matabeleland North governor Obert Mpofu and his
remarks that accusations about the Tsholotsho meeting were "ugly lies" and "pure
fiction" have landed him in further trouble.

Zanu-PF's deputy national commissar, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, said on Thursday that
his party has sent out the new benchmarks for the primaries.

"We adopted recommendations of the central committee, and the guidelines we have
sent to the provinces. They stipulate that party members contesting primary
elections should have been in the structures for five years or more," Ndlovu
said. "That politburo decision was accepted by everyone."

Zanu-PF chairperson John Nkomo, who is part of the presidium, on Thursday said:
"The regulations are part and parcel of our vetting processes and they apply as
and when the situation arises."

Moyo, who has declared his interest in standing in Tsholotsho, only joined
Zanu-PF in 2000 after the rejection of a government-sponsored draft
Constitution. Before that, he was a fierce critic of Mugabe and his government.

In 1999, Moyo accused Mugabe of having a tendency of "shooting himself in the
foot" and as a result had actually become a "national problem". Moyo attended
the 1999 Zanu-PF congress as an "observer" and slammed the ruling party
afterwards for discussing irrelevant issues.

But a few months later, he became Zanu-PF "campaign manager" ahead of the 2000
parliamentary election after a stint as spokesperson for the Constitutional
Commission. -- Zimbabwe Independent

We're well and truly past the official "C" day, but, hey, Africa time.
Attached is the pdf of my cheesy holiday letter.  Season's greetings to
all!

'Voting doesn't fill the belly'

Justin Pearce

12 December 2004 23:59

Mozambique's ruling party, Frelimo, surged ahead last week in unofficial results
from the country's recent election, puzzling analysts who had expected a
neck-and-neck finish with the opposition Renamo. At the same time, evidence of
ballot-stuffing in some remote districts cast a shadow over the clean bill of
health that international observers gave the elections.

Projections suggest that Frelimo's presidential candidate, Armando Guebuza, will
get 60% of the vote, as compared with 35% for Renamo's Afonso Dhlakama, who in
1999 collected nearly 48% of the vote. These projections are based on results
posted by individual polling stations and collected by Radio Mozambique
correspondents around the country.

The sharp drop in Renamo support was accompanied by an equally dramatic fall in
voter turnout, with numbers expected to be between three million and
3,5-million: less than half of the eligible voters. Turnout in the 1994 and 1999
general elections was 5,4-million and 4,9-million respectively.

Analysts agreed that abstention had been highest among Renamo's traditional
supporters in the largely agricultural centre and north of the country, who felt
that the government had let them down, and the opposition had failed to provide
a viable alternative.

"People chose to stay in the fields -- voting doesn't fill the belly," said
independent journalist Marcelo Mosse.

"In the cities, the absence might have been a criticism not only of [outgoing
president Joaquim] Chissano, but also of Guebuza -- he is not someone who
inspires support."

The political weekly Savana described the low turnout as "a red card to the
political class", which it accused of being out of touch with voters' interests.

Reports of irregularities were concentrated in Tete province in western
Mozambique.

"In Tete there was clearly fraud, though not enough to affect the final result,"
said Luís de Brito of the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (Eisa).

He said two voting stations in the province's Changara district had reported
turnout of close to 100%, with most of these votes going to Frelimo. De Brito
said the high turnout for the province as a whole gave reason for suspicion.

"In Tete, we have an average of 400 voters turning out at each voting table,
compared with fewer than 300 per table in all the other provinces."

De Brito said Renamo activists had been forced to leave certain areas of Tete
province early in the election campaign, which had prevented them from sending
monitors to polling in those areas. Elsewhere in the country, the presence of
party representatives during voting and counting was hailed as Mozambique's best
safeguards against fraud.

The Mozambican Political Process Bulletin -- an independent newsletter with a
wide network of correspondents -- also cited evidence of ballot-stuffing in
Tsangano district of Tete province, as well as in Chicono in northern Niassa
province. In the latter, 996 out of 1 000 voters registered at one station
appeared to have voted, with Guebuza gaining more than 900 of the votes.

Such reports contradicted the positive assessment of international observation
teams, who praised Mozambique's strong legal framework for elections, the
professionalism of polling station staff, and balanced coverage both in state
and private media. Asked why the international teams had not picked up the
incidents of fraud cited by Eisa, De Brito said these incidents had occurred
mostly at remote and inaccessible polling stations.

The international teams, including Southern African Development Community
parliamentarians and representatives of the Commonwealth, the Carter Center and
the European Union, were however concerned at the low electoral turnout. Several
of the observer teams also mentioned the mistrust that had been created by the
party-political structure of the National Electoral Commission, where Frelimo is
able to force through decisions by majority vote.

*****

Elderly pay the price for raising Aids orphans

Kezi

14 December 2004 08:21

Until a week ago, elderly Hannah Dube and her five grandchildren living in the
dusty village of Kezi in soutwestern Zimbabwe had been surviving on small
portions of dried white melon.

Then Zimbabwe's social services stepped in, handing the 75-year-old Dube
emergency aid of the staple corn grain to feed her family, caught in the grip of
an HIV/Aids pandemic and a crippling drought.

Her face worn by grief and stress, the aging grandmother's plight in this remote
and rural corner of Zimbabwe tells the story of the burden of many other
pensioners in this southern African country where HIV/Aids has turned a million
children into orphans.

The UN children's organisation Unicef estimates that more than one in five
children will be orphaned in Zimbabwe by 2010, with more than 80% of those
orphaned by HIV/Aids, which kills about 3 000 people per week on average.

Nine of her grandchildren are orphaned -- she is looking after five children
between the ages of five and 13.

Three successive years of drought in this naturally dry region some 600km
southwest of the capital, characterised by unproductive soils, and a political
and economic crisis have exacerbated food shortages.

"We only eat one meal a day," said Dube, who lives in a hut next to a dusty
road, where her cooking fire has long since gone out.

"We are used to it now and there is nothing unusual about it," she said.

While food is available in the shops, people like Dube and her family, who have
no source of income whatsoever, cannot even dream of buying any.

Driving up to Dube's home along a narrow dust road, hundreds of people, dangling
empty sacks, were seen walking back home, looking tired, hungry and dejected.

They are coming from the local business centre where they had gone to register
their names for food aid to be handed out three days later.

"We were told [by an international aid organisation] to come and register our
names for food coming next week. But now they say only those on the old list
will be given food," Dube said.

The Zimbabwean government this year turned away foreign food aid, saying the
country produced enough to feed its people.

But Harare has recently allowed the United Nations World Food Programme to
undertake a one-off free food distribution to get rid of its stock left over
from April when the government stopped general food aid.

Volunteer workers confirm the hunger in the area.

"It is depressing to go out there visiting the sick, handing out a few bars of
soap, diapers, some antiseptic solutions -- but seeing that what is urgently
needed is food," said volunteer Georgina Tshabalala.

Dube is not only struggling to provide food for her orphaned grandchildren, but
also shelter.

She cleans up grass that fell while she was thatching the roof of her new mud
and pole hut in this remote rural area of Zimbabwe.

With nobody to help her build or maintain their home, Dube has to risk climbing
onto the roof to patch it up before the rains bring it down.

Inside, the fire has gone out.

Dube said besides the fact that their one meal has already been cooked, she
could not afford to keep the fire going because she does not have the energy to
regularly go to the bush to cut down firewood.

The elderly woman -- old and weak enough to be a dependent herself -- said she
had no choice but to look after her some of her grandchildren.

Those who are not under her wing are probably involved in illegal gold mining,
rife in the area.

"I don't really know how they are surviving, but no one helps me with anything.
The chickens and the goats you see outside I sell to send these children to
school," she said.

Despite the difficult living conditions and lack of food, one of her
grandchildren, Dan, (7), passed his year-end school examinations with A grades.
- Sapa-AFP

*****

Improved Zim inflation still world's highest

Harare, Zimbabwe

14 December 2004 15:15

Zimbabwe's official inflation rate dropped to 149,3% last month, down from 209%
in October, the state Central Statistical Office said on Tuesday. The new rate
still leaves Zimbabwe with the highest inflation in the world.

The troubled Southern African country is in the midst of its worst economic
crisis since independence from Britain in 1980, with inflation peaking at more
than 600% last year.

With the local currency plummeting, sending a Christmas card to Europe by air
mail now costs Z$40 000 (about R41) -- twice as much as a one-bedroom apartment
did shortly after independence.

A dollar was equivalent to Z$2 at the time, compared with the current official
rate of Z$5 600, or Z$8 000 on the black market.

The Reserve Bank attributes the recent drop to tighter fiscal policies aimed at
reining in rampant profiteering and a lucrative black market in scarce
commodities and hard currency.

However, the official inflation rate excludes prices on a wide range of services
and imports that have continued to soar throughout the year.

The cost of medicines, vehicle repairs and health, agriculture and mining
equipment has risen by more than 600%. The state telephone and postal companies
have increased their fees by 1 000%.

The agriculture-based economy has collapsed in the four years since the
government began seizing thousands of white-owned commercial farms for
redistribution to black Zimbabweans.

The country routinely faces acute shortages of food, gasoline, hard currency and
other imports. -- Sapa-AP

A few of you might find this article interesting. By testing finger prick
blood spots originally stored for a population-based leprosy study, the
authors were able to get a snapshot of how the HIV epidemic progressed in
rural Malawi during the 80s. - Scott

Malawi: NGOs Monitor Budget Spending On Education

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

December 14, 2004
Posted to the web December 14, 2004

Lilongwe

A new report by Oxfam International has highlighted the watchdog role
NGOs can play in monitoring budget spending in resource-poor countries
like Malawi.

Titled, 'Paying the price: Why rich countries must now invest in a war
on poverty', the report noted that "there has been substantial progress
in the performance and accountability of many poor-country governments
... [as they] did not transfer resources from those expenditures that
were monitored."


In Malawi, the Civil Society Coalition for Quality Basic Education
(CSCQBE), a grouping of NGOs, began monitoring how the education
ministry was spending its budget allocation three years ago.

The report noted that the group checked on whether schools received the
materials, such as textbooks and chalk, promised to them in the
government's budget, and reported their findings to parliament and the
media.

Julita Nsanjama, an educational expert with Action Aid and a member of
CSCQBE, explained that "one of the reasons why civil society grouped
together to start monitoring the education budgets was due to a scandal
which surfaced about six years ago, in which about 187 million Malawi
Kwacha (US $176,415) was lost through corruption".

She said civil society was devoted to "checking, prompting and alerting
the government to its budgetary commitments, and in this way helping it
to attain its goals of achieving quality basic education for all".

As a result of constant monitoring, the government had become more
accountable and transparent, "though we had some problems with the
previous administration," Nsanjama added.

"Some top government officials were not happy with our work of
monitoring government expenditure, but they forget that government is
there because of the people it wants to serve," she said.

Nsanjama was, however, quick to point out that accountability and
transparency should not only be demanded at a higher level. "What about
headmasters and their teachers in primary and secondary schools?" she
asked. "They should also be accountable for their actions. There are
reports that most of them sell ... school chalk and notebooks."

In its Budget Monitoring Initiative 2003/04 report, yet to be released,
CSCQBE focused on the priority activities identified in the Malawi
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (MPRSP), which includes the provision
of textbooks, learning and teaching materials, and an annual 10 percent
salary increase for teachers.

The CSCQBE report found that "teacher [training] colleges still suffer
from sporadic funding, and there have not been any ground-breaking
efforts to train more teachers". Nsanjama said government needed to
spend more money on training teachers to improve efficiency.

In 1994, when free primary education was introduced, government
overlooked the need to train more teachers. Instead, it employed over
15,000 unqualified teachers and, according to education experts, lowered
the standard of education in the country.

Because of low pay, morale among teachers was also low, the CSCQBE
report found.

"Despite the declaration by government that teachers will be given
incentives [through] an annual salary increase of 10 percent, the basic
salaries at all primary teaching grades have remained static for four
years," the report alleged.

CSCQBE also called for more funding for education. The MK89 billion (US
$841 million) budget for 2004/05 has MK11 billion ($104 million)
allocated to the Ministry of Education, of which MK8 billion ($75
million) is to be used for the ministry's recurrent operational expenses
and the remainder for "development expenditures".

Minister of Education Yusuf Mwawa said civil society was playing a
crucial role in the development of education in the country, and
welcomed their participation in the implementation of education
programmes.

President Bingu wa Mutharika, meanwhile, has made the fight against
corruption one of his top priorities.

In its recommendations to developing country governments, Oxfam called
on them to demonstrate their commitment to poverty reduction by meeting
the UN recommendation to spend 20 percent of public budgets on basic
social services, and transparently direct it to poor people.

*****

'Mozambicans may rise up in protest'

Evaristo Cumbane | Maputo, Mozambique

15 December 2004 15:25

Mozambique's ruling party and its presidential candidate, Armando
Guebuza, have secured a landslide victory in polls to choose a successor
to veteran leader Joaquim Chissano amid opposition outrage and demands
for new elections.

Results released on Tuesday night by the provincial elections
commission show that Guebuza -- picked by the ruling Mozambique
Liberation Front (Frelimo) to replace Chissano, who is stepping down
after 18 years in power -- won 223 538 votes in the province of Nampula,
the biggest constituency.

Opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama bagged 196 743 votes and was also in
second place, behind Guebuza, in most of the country's 11 provinces,
thereby giving Frelimo's candidate an unassailable lead.

In parliamentary elections, Frelimo bagged 208 804 votes in Nampula and
the Mozambique National Resistance-led (Renamo) coalition gained 172 430
votes.

Guebuza and Frelimo have also won the most votes in seven other
provinces: southern Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane, the central provinces of
Manica and Tete and northern Niassa and Cabo Delgado.

Nampula is one of the six provinces where Frelimo had lost to the
former rebel Renamo in the 1994 and 1999 elections.

Dhlakama and his coalition have so far won most of the votes in the
central province of Zambezia. Results from his home province of Sofala
are expected on Wednesday or Thursday.

Fraud and 'plot against democracy'
Mozambicans voted on December 1 and 2 to choose a successor to
Chissano, whose 18-year rule was marked by the end of a lengthy and
brutal civil war that claimed up to a million lives.

Renamo and 20 smaller parties on Tuesday demanded fresh elections,
saying the polls -- marred by an abysmal turnout and long delays in vote
counting -- were riddled with fraud and a "plot against democracy".

Dhlakama, who claimed that Chissano had snatched victory from him in
the 1994 and 1999 elections through fraud, on Tuesday ruled out a return
to war but warned of "serious disturbances".

"The Mozambican people want a tranquil transition but looking at the
way things are, I do not know where the country is going," he said at a
news conference attended by members from the 20 other political
parties.

"We do not want war but the Mozambicans whose votes were stolen may
rise up in protest against those wanting to govern by force."

Manuel Tome, who heads Frelimo's election office, on Wednesday said
"the results reflected the people's will to see the continuation of the
work Frelimo has done to rebuild the country devastated by the war of
destabilisation".

"Some people say that Frelimo has done little in 30 years and ignore
the fact that we suffered a war ... but anyway we have done what some
countries in Europe, for instance, did in centuries."

Renamo election office spokesperson Eduardo Namburete said, however,
"our position remains the same ... these elections were rigged and we
are preparing all the proof to be submitted to the Constitutional
Council".

In a joint declaration, the opposition said "for the sake of peace,
security, political, economic and social stability, the opposition
parties declare that the elections ... were neither fair nor
transparent".

It claimed that the high rate of absenteeism "pre-empt the
constitutional provision that power rests with the people".

Frelimo's Tome dismissed the claim, saying "the law does not determine
how many people must vote so that elections can be valid ... these
claims can only reflect their ignorance". -- Sapa-AFP

*****

MDC dissatisfied with limited Zim poll reforms

Harare, Zimbabwe

15 December 2004 13:19

Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) have agreed to reform some of that country's electoral
laws, but the opposition said it is "dissatisfied" by the state's
attempts to portray absolute agreement.

"The state press is trying to imply that the changes to the electoral
laws have our blessing," MDC chief whip Innocent Gonese said on
Wednesday. "Actually, we're anything but satisfied."

A parliamentary committee made up of MPs from both parties said polls
will be open for 12 hours in next year's election.

Observers of Zimbabwe's 2000 and 2002 elections slated the Zanu-PF
government for closing polling booths and denying thousands the right to
vote.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said he has
already agreed that "translucent ballot boxes" will be used in the poll,
expected in March next year.

But the MDC said it is "bitterly disappointed" that civil and church
leaders will not be appointed as election supervisors.

Chinamasa told state radio: "You can't just pick up people in the
streets, as no one would be prepared to take responsibility if anything
goes wrong."

Gonese said: "We're not suggesting people should be picked from the
street. We suggested eminent citizens should be trained as electoral
supervisors.

"The opposition is far from satisfied and far from happy with the way
the Electoral Act is being drafted, but negations are over, they're
finished and what is in the new law will mainly be what Zanu-PF wants in
the law," he said in a telephone interview. -- Sapa

*****

Commuter jailed for calling Mugabe 'thick-headed'

Harare

15 December 2004 08:53

A Zimbabwean commuter will spend Christmas in jail for calling
President Robert Mugabe "thick-headed", the Herald newspaper reported on
Wednesday.

Arnold Bunya (29) was arrested on December 1 after an argument with his
brother on a bus during which he admonished his sibling by saying: "Do
not be thick-headed like Mugabe."

Bunya was warned by a member of the Central Intelligence Organisation
travelling on the bus to stop insulting the veteran leader but persisted
and was then taken to a police station where he was arrested.

A Harare court on Tuesday remanded Bunya in custody until December 28.


Zimbabwe's strict Public Order and Security Act (Posa) makes it an
offence to insult the head of state.

There are regular reports of people on buses being arrested for
slandering Zimbabwe's long-time president. Usually those found guilty
receive light jail sentences, fines or are ordered to do community
service. - AFP