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IRIN-WA Update 378 of Events in West Africa (Tuesday
12 January)
SIERRA LEONE: WFP says hundreds of thousands face starvation
Hundreds of thousands of desperate Freetown residents could face starvation unless the fighting in the city between pro-government forces and rebels ends soon, the agency said in a statement yesterday (Monday). Residents have been confined to their homes with little or no food, water or electricity since rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and their Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) allies invaded the city on Wednesday. "We are gravely concerned about the severe hardship imposed on the civilian population," Paul Ares, WFP regional manager for coastal West Africa, said in the statement.
Residents trying to leave their homes to look for food
have been turned back by soldiers of the West African
Intervention force ECOMOG and all shops and markets
have been shut since the fighting began. The city depends
on food supplies from the countryside but the highway
linking the capital to the rest of the country has
been closed by fighting. Before the attack on Freetown,
WFP was feeding some 63,000 people in the country,
mainly war affected farmers, orphans, disabled persons
and hospital patients.
Lansana Kouyate, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) told IRIN today rebels had been infiltrating areas cleared by ECOMOG, hiding in homes and ambushing troops later. To counter this, ECOMOG has been conducting house to house searches and troops continue to push rebels out of the city, he said. Kouyate, speaking from the Togolese capital Lome, said the rebels were now confined to the neighbourhoods of Kissy and Calaba Town. In geographical terms, he said, "ECOMOG is in control of the city."
Kouyate said the humanitarian situation would worsen unless help reached Freetown residents soon.
30,000 more IDPs registered in Kenema
Humanitarian aid agencies have registered 30,000 newly displaced people who have arrived in Kenema, an official from the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (UN-HACU) in Abidjan told IRIN today. There are now about 75,000 IDPs in the town.
The official, who is in regular contact with aid bodies still in the country, said food posed no problem but shelter, water, sanitation and other non-food needs could not be met. These materials are in Freetown and it is impossible to move them to the country.
In Kambia, 62 km north of Freetown, the 10,324 IDPs are being cared for by humanitarian workers who, for security reasons, commute from Pamalap, 20 km to the north in Guinea. Kambia is guarded by Guinean ECOMOG troops.
Over the weekend 600 IDPs were registered in Bo, Sierra Leone's second largest city. There are fewer than 3,000 IDPs in the town and humanitarian assistance there is manageable, UN-HACU told IRIN. The official said military and local authorities were screening IDPs, mostly form the rebel controlled north, very closely.
US reiterates Liberia backing rebels
The United States condemned Liberia yesterday for backing Sierra Leonean rebels trying to unseat the elected government in Freetown. "We have told the government of Liberia that we know they are supporting RUF activities, and we condemn support from any source to the insurgents," State Department spokesman James Rubin said in Washington. He pointed to "a growing body of evidence" of Liberian government aid to the rebels. Liberia has consistently denied supporting the rebels and has called for an international investigation to monitor its border with Sierra Leone.
Liberia's opposition parties in the Legislature have expressed concern about the allegations, independent Star Radio reported today. The parties have called on the government to clear itself of the allegations so that international aid to Liberian will not be affected. Liberia is trying to recover from the effects of seven years of civil war. House majority leader Momolu Massaley said Sierra Leone was looking for a scapegoat for its crisis.
Commonwealth Urges support for Kabbah
Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku said yesterday he would soon urge Commonwealth governments "to do more" to help President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. AFP said that Anyaoku, who is on a working vacation in Nigeria, told reporters he wanted to see "more active Commonwealth support" for ECOMOG.
Diplomatic efforts to end war
Foreign Ministers of Togo and Cote d'Ivoire, Joseph Koffigoh and Amara Essy, have said that rebel leader Foday Sankoh is alive and well, AFP reported today. The ministers told AFP in the Guinean capital Conakry that in a three-hour meeting with Sankoh today at an undisclosed location in the city he called for a political solution to the crisis in his country and expressed "willingness for peace". Sankoh has called for a ceasefire but his own army commander, Sam Bockarie, has rejected this unless he gets his orders in person.
Malian military chief of staff meets ECOMOG commander
A senior Malian army officer, Colonel Siriman Keita, and ECOMOG operations commander General Abu Ahmadu met today in Conakry to discuss details of the planned deployment of 400 Mali an troops in Sierra Leone, news reports said. The deployment was announced last week by Malian President Alpha Omar Knave after a Bamako meeting with President Kabbah.
Last UN Officer leaves Freetown
United Nations spokesman Fred Eckhard said yesterday the last international UNOMSIL staff member had left Freetown safely. Eckhard did not name the official in a daily press briefing yesterday following a troops contributions meeting on UNOMSIL. But a UN official in West Africa identified him as Michael Booth, a security official. He was whisked away in a helicopter carrying the UN Special Representative for Sierra Leone, Francis Okelo. Okelo had flown into Freetown from Conakry for a meeting with the foreign ministers of Cote d'Ivoire and Togo and rebel leader Foday Sankoh.
NIGERIA: State elections "successful", monitoring group says
Saturday's elections were conducted successfully with improved performance by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) said. In its preliminary report on Saturday's polls for state assemblies and governors, the TMG said its 3,000 monitors deployed across the country had observed a better state of logistical preparedness than during December's local government elections and that electoral officials appeared better trained. However, it said there was still a "worrying level of arbitrariness" in the application of voting rules. In some areas, no election could be held due to lack of ballot papers, some voters' registers were incomplete or appeared to have been altered, voting by underage persons was reported in certain places and allegations of bribery were widespread, the report said.
While the elections were generally peaceful, there were many reports of intimidation and harassment and attempted seizure of ballot boxes, it said, adding that students alleged to be members of secret cults were used as "political thugs" in Ogun, Oyo and Ondo states. The TMG, a coalition of 56 human rights and other grass roots organisations, noted a lower turnout of voters compared with last month's elections, and the proportion of women voters was poor. The report, a copy of which was received today by IRIN, said pre-election education and information about voting procedures had been inadequate, and lack of knowledge about the candidates and their programmes had resulted in apathy about the exercise in many places.
Irregularities force partial re-run in Rivers State
Gubernatorial elections will take place again in several areas of southeast Rivers State on 16 January due to irregularities reported from Saturday's polling, news agencies said today. The Nigerian daily 'The Guardian' said that INEC declared the gubernatorial elections in Rivers to be "inconclusive" because voting had not been conducted in some areas while polling results in other areas had not been submitted properly. "Something funny has taken place," 'The Guardian' quoted resident electoral commissioner Alhaji Mala Alamai as saying yesterday in the state capital, Port Harcourt. Poll re-runs will be held in 38 wards, the newspaper added.
Clinton praises elections, reform efforts
US President Bill Clinton yesterday praised Nigeria for the "strong turnout and orderly conduct" of Saturday's state-level elections. In a White House statement, Clinton said the elections were "building the foundation for a successful return to democratic, civilian government." Clinton also cited the release of political prisoners, the lifting of restrictions on labour unions and the filling of positions on Nigeria's Supreme Court as steps in the country's political and economic reform efforts. The US is providing US $5 million to support the effort, the statement added.
Police disperse Ijaw women's protest
About 1,000 women marched through the streets of Port Harcourt yesterday to protest against the continued "occupation" of Bayelsa state by government troops, 'The Guardian' said today. The organisers of the march, the Niger Delta Women for Justice group, say soldiers and police have raped young women and killed or maimed young men, 'the Guardian' said. Police fired into the air and used tear-gas to disperse the protest, the newspaper added.
The women's group has asked the government to enter into a dialogue with the militant Ijaw youths, who are demanding more control over local oil resources and warned oil companies last month to cease their operations in Bayelsa. The warning led to clashes between the Ijaw youths and security forces, up to 26 deaths, the deployment of additional troops and military equipment and the postponement of state-level elections in Bayelsa. The Transition Monitoring Group in its preliminary report on Saturday's polls called on the government to take urgent steps to "restore normalcy" in Bayelsa so that the state-level elections could be conducted there.
GUINEA: Parliament denounces Conde's arrest
Guinea's legislature has criticised the arrest and continued detention of opposition leader Alpha Conde and three other members of parliament, the missionary news agency MISNA said yesterday. In a letter to President Lansana Conte, the parliament denounced the arrests as unconstitutional, adding that the four detainees had been tortured, MISNA reported. Conte won presidential elections on 14 December while Conde, who heads the Rassemblement du peuple de Guinee (RPG), came in third. Conde's arrest on the Guinean-Ivorian border on 16 December has sparked public protests in the capital Conakry and other areas of the country.
BURKINA FASO: Ouedraogo returns as prime minister
President Blaise Compaore has asked Kadre Desire Ouedraogo to head the new government in Burkina Faso, AFP reported today, quoting a presidential communique issued on Monday. Ouedraogo had tendered his resignation as Prime Minsiter along with that of the government on Friday following Compaore's victory in November 15 elections. Ouedraogo, originally named in February 1996, did not have a specific political affiliation, but has since joined Compaore's Congres pour la democratie et le progres (CDP) party and was also elected to parliament.
Abidjan, 12 December 1999, 17:30 GMT
[ENDS]
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:49:21 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 378 for 1999.01.12
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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