ANGOLA: Catholic bishops call for dialogue
The Catholic bishop of Angola's northern
Uige province has said the Luanda government is primarily responsible for
restoring peace to the country, urging "frank dialogue" with
the UNITA rebels. "Insistent appeals to end the war in no way indicate
that the government is responsible for the war, but rather, that it is
most responsible for peace", Bishop Francisco da Mata Mourisca was
quoted in news reports as saying. "In this militancy for peace, UNITA
cannot be sidelined", he said, urging rebel chief Jonas Savimbi "to
collaborate" in "reconciliation".
Da Mata Mourisca, who leads the Angolan Catholic Church's Pro Pace peace movement, said that reconciliation "implies frank dialogue, with truth and confidence". His comments marked the first anniversary of a national pro-peace conference in Luanda, staged by the country's Catholic hierarchy, that called for a cease-fire and "direct or indirect" talks between the belligerents. The conference also urged the inclusion of Angola's churches, political parties and civil society groups in the search for peace.
ANGOLA-ZAMBIA: Zambia detains 12 suspected MPLA soldiers
Twelve Angolan government soldiers have been detained after crossing the border into Zambia's North Western province, news reports said on Tuesday. They said the soldiers crossed into Zambia on Sunday and handed themselves over to the authorities after Zambian security officers spotted them from a border post.
"We are currently keeping the MPLA soldiers after they voluntarily handed themselves over to us. We have disarmed them and we are now waiting for further instructions from foreign affairs," a Zambian police official was quoted as saying.
Mwinilunga District Administrator, Peter Mpashi, said the soldiers were causing chaos in the district. "The 12 suspected (government) soldiers clad in uniforms were in Mwinilunga looting property and animals before they were picked up," he said. Mpashi alleged that this was the seventh time Angolan government soldiers had crossed into Zambia.
ZAMBIA: Opposition leader charged with defaming Chiluba
The secretary-general of Zambia's main opposition party, Edith Nawakwi, has been charged with defaming President Frederick Chiluba, reports said on Tuesday. Nawakwi's lawyer, Mutembo Nchito, said that police had charged Nawakwi and that she had signed a statement. He added: "They said she defamed the president when she accused Chiluba of being a thief at a political rally." According to news reports, if Nawakwi is found guilty of defaming the president she faces up to three years in prison.
"I still stand by my words. I am among lawmakers who are still pushing for the impeachment of the president. All the charges levelled against him are criminal," Nawakwi told AFP. "I am not the only one who is saying the president has committed criminal offences. But why is the police only following me?" Nawakwi asked.
Nawakwi had served as labour minister under Chiluba before she was dismissed in May, along with 21 other senior officials who later formed the opposition Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD).
ZIMBABWE: Mugabe defends land reform programme
President Robert Mugabe said in an opening address to parliament on Tuesday that his campaign to seize white farms would empower black people across Africa, the Associated Press reported.
Mugabe described the government's nationalisation of mostly white-owned commercial estates - ruled illegal by the courts - as "our last struggle for the decolonisation of our country and our continent". Since last year, ruling party militants have occupied 1,700 white-owned farms demanding they be confiscated and given to landless blacks, AP said. At the same time, the government has targeted more than 5,000 properties for confiscation without compensation - representing, according to the Commercial Farmers Union, 90 percent of white-owned estates.
Formally opening the new session of parliament, Mugabe said his land programme was accepted as necessary and just by fellow African leaders and what he called "the majority of members of the international community". Western countries and multilateral lenders have frozen aid as a result of the land scheme, but Mugabe said "attempts to isolate Zimbabwe have come to grief". Mugabe described the land program as "the basis for our economic transformation" that would create better agricultural production and improve general economic development. He acknowledged, however, that acute shortages of hard currency and gasoline and a 70 percent increase in fuel prices imposed by the government last month left ordinary Zimbabweans with "enormous hardships". "It is our intention to review the fuel situation in future to lessen these hardships," he said without elaborating.
Addressing another economic drain, Mugabe said the reduction in the size of Zimbabwe's military presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was going ahead "smoothly", AFP reported. Zimbabwe committed up to 12,000 troops, or a third of its total defence forces, to back the DRC government. "The exercise to reduce our force level in that country started in March this year and has been proceeding smoothly," Mugabe told parliament, without giving details.
ZIMBABWE: Makoni acknowledges economic crisis
Meanwhile in London, Zimbabwean Finance Minister Simba Makoni said on Tuesday the country's economy was in crisis and that poverty was spreading at an alarming rate, Reuters reported. "I would have to be foolish to deny what is evident to everybody in broad daylight, even in the darkness of night - this economy is in crisis," Makoni said in a BBC television interview. Questioned about the impact on ordinary Zimbabweans in urban and rural areas, he said: "Severe. Poverty is entrenching here at a rate that is very alarming."
A new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said the street value of the Zimbabwe dollar has collapsed by a third during the past week, adding to inflationary pressures and exacerbating shortages in the economy. But, the EIU said, the government appears "neither willing nor able to institute the reforms necessary to halt the slide" in the value of the Zimbabwe dollar.
The effective value of the Zimbabwe dollar has been sliding for the past two months, with the parallel rate falling from 130 Zimbabwean dollars to US $1, to 170 Zimbabwean dollars about two weeks ago. During the week of 15-20 July, the slide accelerated sharply, with the beleaguered currency falling by 33 percent to 255 Zimbabwean dollars to the US dollar. The official rate remains 55 Zimbabwean dollars to the US dollar, masking a de facto 78 percent depreciation, the report said.
The government has been quick to blame white farmers, currency traders, and the private sector in general for growing foreign exchange shortages. But, the EIU suggested, the slide has been driven in the short term by tight exchange controls; worries over food shortages; new land seizures and panic in the market.
SOUTH AFRICA: Electricity strike threat
Thousands of employees from the South African electricity parastatal, Eskom downed tools on Tuesday and embarked on a national strike following a wage dispute with the electricity giant, media reports said. According to reports over 20,000 workers are expected to participate in the strike action. Unions are calling for an 11 percent increase for the lowest paid workers and 9 percent for the highest paid. Eskom has offered 9 percent for the highest paid and seven percent for the lowest paid.
Meanwhile, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (COSATU) said on Monday that it fully supported the strike. "We agree with the Eskom unions that the management have adopted a mischievous, arrogant and union-bashing approach to the wage talks," COSATU said in a statement. "The utility had imposed a wage increase that would keep many of its workers in poverty." COSATU warned that company's planned restructuring as contained in the Eskom Conversion Bill would lead to slower electrification and higher tariffs. "It is now clear that it (the Bill) is also leading Eskom to adopt a tough policy on wages in order to attract investors. COSATU insists that workers will not pay for the restructuring of Eskom with retrenchments or poverty wages," the union said.
[ENDS]
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