Malawi recently pulled out of the arbitration process seeking to resolve the Lake Nyasa border dispute. Tanzania’s Foreign Minister, Bernard Membe, said President Joyce Banda’s decision to take the dispute to the International Court of Justice was unfortunate. He said Tanzania still had faith in the arbitration team led by former Mozambican President, Joachim Chissano. Malawi accuses Tanzania of having obtained confidential documents from the arbitration office from a Tanzanian member of the team, Dr John Tesha. Tanzania has refuted the claim.
SADF ready for war
The SA National Defence Force declared earlier this week that it was ready to tackle the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo rebel group M23. Spokesman Xolani Mbanjwa said the South African army was not scared of the rebel group, adding that “If they (M23) declare war against the SA National Defence Force personnel, we are ready to tackle them.”
He said the situation in the eastern DRC was different to that of the South African troops deployed in the Central African Republic (CAR), where 13 soldiers were recently killed. He would not say how many soldiers would be deployed to the DRC as part of a United Nations intervention force.
Banda’s first term
Malawi’s President Joyce Banda has received some criticism on her first term of office. Her decision to devalue the local currency, the Kwacha, in a bid to stabilize the economy, was hailed by the International Monetary Fund, but led to protests at home, including a nationwide strike by civil servants in February, who complained the devaluation had eroded their salaries, while the price of basic commodities had more than quadrupled. The Centre for Social Concern, a local research body investigating the cost of living in urban Malawi, said the food situation in the country remains dire.
Vote for Christians: King
Swaziland’s King Mswati III has instructed his subjects to only vote for Christians in the forthcoming national election, saying only Christians would be humble enough to serve the kingdom. The election date is still to be revealed by the king and is for a parliament that is widely recognised as being subservient to his wishes. Many prodemocracy organisations in and outside the country have called on people to boycott the elections because political parties are not allowed to take part.
Smith critic deported
An Australian academic who was a strong critic of Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith and was deported from Rhodesia in the 1970s, was given 48 hours to leave Botswana after he had written a paper criticising that country’s presidential succession. Kenneth Good had lived there for 15 years and taught at the University of Botswana.
Good got into trouble because his paper, Presidential succession in Botswana: No model for Africa, criticised the Presidential Succession, in which the president resigns in mid-term and the vice president automatically succeeds him, thereby creating a system of perpetual incumbency.
Moz. warns rebels
Mozambique’s President Armando Guebuza has warned that he will respond firmly to the deadly weekend attacks against civilian vehicles, blamed on armed members of former rebel group Renamo. In return, Renamo reportedly called on its members to retaliate against any operation by government forces. The main opposition party denied that any involvement in Saturday’s attacks, which left three people dead. Renamo spokesperson Fernando Mazang, said the party “does not attack civilians – we attack those who attack us.” He said the ruling Frelimo government was blaming the attacks on Renamo to “confuse” the public. A least a dozen of people have died since last week, as a result of attacks by armed men.
500,000 vaccinated
More than 500,000 children below the age of five have been earmarked for Polio vaccination in Angola’s Huambo Province next week. The province’s Broad Vaccination Programme leader, Isaac Cassenje, said about 3,155 vaccines, 583 supervisors, 32 coordinators, 753 social mobilizers and 79 technical staff had been mobilized. He invited the support of traditional and religious authorities, the Angolan Armed Forces, National Police, NGOs and other health specialists.
Post published in: Africa News