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The Minister of State for Regional Co-operation, Mr. Amama Mbabazi, has said Uganda’s security concerns in Congo need to be addressed for the ceasefire agreement signed by Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Laurent Kabila to take effect.

“The peace agreement is simply a statement of our desires - what we would like to happen in Congo,” Mbabazi was quoted as saying by the Guardian News Service, yesterday. “But it is not enough just to talk about ceasing hostilities or withdrawing our forces. We need details on how to implement a cease-fire, while our withdrawal is contingent on our security concerns being addressed,” he said of the agreement signed in Libya last weekend. The peace deal, brokered by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi on Sunday, agreed in principle to a ceasefire, the withdrawal of foreign troops from Congo and the deployment of a neutral African peacekeeping force to help guarantee the security of Congo’s neighbours.

Kabila said Monday Libya and Eritrea had agreed to send observer troops to replace the UPDF in eastern Congo. Museveni has, however, not commented on the matter since he returned from Libya. Minister for the Presidency Dr Ruhakana Rugunda declined to comment on the peace deal on Wednesday, saying only ministers of state Steven Kavuma for defence and Amama Mbabazi, who attended the talks, were the right people to comment on the matter. Efforts to contact Kavuma were fruitless.

Mbabazi was said to be out of the country trying to explain Uganda’s position to the states in the region. The peace deal has generated a lot of interest in the diplomatic circles. A number of diplomats have in the last few days sought details about the deal from the Government, according to sources. The Guardian, quoting Uganda officials, said the peace agreement is unlikely to end the nine-month war between the regional states. Uganda, along with Rwanda, is backing guerrillas fighting to overthrow Kabila

This posting contains a slightly abridged version of the oral presentation of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo, documenting human rights abuses by the government, rebel forces and foreign armies involved in the current conflict.

Oral Presentation of Report by the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr. Roberto Garreton

55th session of the Human Rights Commission Geneva, March 22 - April 30, 1999

[slightly abridged version of Mr. Garreton’s oral presentation; unofficial English translation by APIC; Spanish original and French translation of this presentation, as well as the full report in English, are available on the web site of the UN High Commission for Human Rights (http:\\www.unhchr.ch).

Geneva, March 31, 1999

I. Presentation of the Report

I submit my fifth report on the situation of Human Rights in the DRC, as a complement to the one presented before the General Assembly (A/53/565), pursuant to Human Rights Commission resolution 1998/61

First of all, I will summarize the main issues/aspects developed in the report:

a) the atmosphere of hatred prevailing in the country, as the result of 32 years of dictatorship by Mobutu Sese Seko, who imposed an oppressive regime in absolute contempt of the fundamental rights and freedoms of Congolese society.

b) the existence of serious offenses to life and freedoms, which I have grouped in four categories:

1. Violations of human rights law … These violations, for which the Governement in Kinshasa has to be blamed, and which affect the whole population, and more specifically political leaders, human rights advocates and journalists, are the following: offenses against the right to life (in particular, the frequent application of the death penalty following summary trials), against the rights to physical integrity, to security and liberty of person, to be able to leave one’s country, to freedom of expression and opinion, and to freedom of association.

2. Violations of the same rights, attributable to the rebel forces fighting against the Government which overthrew the dictator Mobutu in 1997 (namely, exactions against civilians, deportation of prisoners to neighbor countries, use of secret detention cells, sexual abuses against women and the total absence of the freedoms of opinion and expression).

3. Violations of the norms of international humanitarian law, committed by Governement forces and their allies, during the armed conflict in the Eastern part of the country, in particular (namely offenses committed against civilians in Kimbaseke, Masina, Boma, Moanda, Ndjili and Mikonga.

4. Violations of the same norms during the armed conflicts, attributable to the rebel forces and foreign forces from Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, sucha as cuts of power and water which have affrected Kinshasa, and massacres in Kasika, Kavumu, Kilungutwe, Kasanga, Kazima, Mboko, Kabare, Mwnga, Makobola, and those reported in various other locations.

c) the paralysis of the process of democratization, which was initiated in the former Zaire in 1990 and which culminated in the Sovereign National Conference in 1991-92.

d) Until December 31, 1998, the Rapporteur had not received any collaboration from the Government, preventing him from accomplishing/carrying out his mandate.

II. Request by the Governement to Visit the Country

The special Rapporteur was invited to visit the country between February 16 and 23 … This was the Rapporteur’s first visit since October 1996 and his first contact with the authorities after the AFDL took power.

In the course of his mission, the Rapporteur was received by the highest authorities of the State: the Minister of Interior, the Vice-Minister for territorial administration, the Minister of Justice, the Vice-Minister of Defense, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Relations, the Minister for Human Rights (on 2 occasions), the General Public Prosecutor, the President and members of the Court for Military Order, and the Governor of Lubumbashi. He was allowed to visit some prisons (the penitentiary and reeducation centre of Kinshasa - formerly Makala, the centre of Kasapa (Lubumbashi), the jail of the National Intelligence Agency in Lubumbashi, a military centre for detention (the GLM, supervised by the “Garde Speciale de Securite Presidentielle”), as well as some centers where people are kept in prison because of the risk they might run outside, as they belong to ethnic groups which are considered as enemies by the population (INSS in Kinshasa, and former convent Batika in Lubumbashi). He also visited a camp for displaced persons fleeing from the conflict (formerly home for the blind of Kamalondo in Lubumbashi, with 382 people)

The Rapporteur also met with members of civil society (a hundred NGO and trade-union representatives), former and present magistrates, and representatives of Protestant, Kimbanguist, Orthodox and Muslim communities. He also interviewed some leading political figures, including some currently in prison, such as professors Kalele and Kabanda (in Kinshasa) and Olenghankoy (Lubumbashi).

Furthermore, the Rapporteur had a series of meetings with leaders of the main political parties: Etienne Tshisekedi (UDPS), Antoine Gisenga (PALU), Mr. Bofassa and his colleagues (MPR) and other FONUS leaders, and a delegation of “Forces du Futur.” He also participated in a meeting with the representatives of a new political structure close to the Government, known as “Comites de Pouvoir Populaire”.

The Rapporteur also met with representatives of UN agencies and members of the Diplomatic Corps. …

In the area occupied by “the rebellion” (the term used by the Boma authorities) or by “the forces of aggression” (the term used by the Kinshasa authorities), the Rapporteur was cordially received and obtained full guarantees and freedoms to carry out his task. He was received by the entire Political Council of the RCD (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie). He visited the central prison in Goma and a centre for dentention of the Service of Military Intelligence (Office II), where cases of torture had repeatedly been reported.

In accordance with the rules of the United Nations, all interviews were carried out in strict confidentiality.

III. Main Reasons for Concern

3.1 War in the East

Since August 2, the country is facing a situation of war described by the Rapporteur as “an internal armed conflict with the participation of foreign forces”, with the presence of nine national armies (Forces Armees Congolaises, FAC; armies from Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola, Namibia, Sudan, Chad and Zimbabwe) and at least 12 irregular armed groups (troops from the RCD, FDD, former FAR, Interahamwe, Mouvement de Liberation Nationale, UNITA, Mai-Mai, Sudanese SPLA, Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army, the Simba, and the Union of Republican Nationalists for Liberation). The Rapporteur’s description is based on the following elements:

a. the rebels, including their allies from Rwanda and Uganda, made clear their goal was to overthrow President Kabila;

b. that foreign forces support the latter because they consider him the legitimate president of the DRC.

c. the conflict is taking place entirely within DRC territory.

Nevertheless, it remains obvious that the Government of the DRC, as well as the Congolese people in general, perceive the conflict as an aggression. …

Due to the presence of armies and armed groups, an atmosphere of terror prevails in the area occupied by the rebels, which can be noted in the very first contacts with the population. To the question concerning who or what the population is really afraid of, the answer is straightforward and unanimous: the RCD, seen as a Rwandan force of occupation. The hatred towards Rwandans (denounced by the Rapporteur in his 1995 report E/CN.4/1996/66, paragraph 26, one year before the war of liberation started) gradually turned into anti-Tutsi feeling, to such a point that the Government in Kinshasa — on questionable legal grounds — was led to deprive some citizens of their freedom, most of them being Congolese nationals, but also from Rwanda, Burundi and Congo-Brazzaville, as a measure to protect them from potential reprisals from Congolese civilians… The war which started on August 2 seriously deepened thet anti-Tutsi feeling, especially after the massacres committed in Kasika, Makobola, Kamituga, in the territories of Walungu and Mwenga (Province of South-Kivu), to name only the main ones.

3.2. Lack of progress in the democratization process

The government’s announced steps towards a democratic regime did not prove sufficient and, particularly, did not receive substantial backing from civil society, human rights organizations or political parties which had opposed Mobutu’s dictatorship. The process of elaboration of a Constitution has not been completed. Although the ban on political party activity was remitted, all those which were legally constituted lost their statuses and will have to get constituted according to the new laws, which then means that their activities remain illegal at the moment. Civil society has not been involved in the making of the Constitution and the new political laws. A date for the next elections has not been fixed yet. However, they could not take place in the near future, due to the present conflict. Despite this postponement, the sacred right of the people to participate in politics can not be set aside, and in that field, improvements are far from being sufficient.

In the area occupied by the rebels, no sort of political participation can be found. The one and only party authorized to act is the RCD, without any opposition allowed.

3.3 Non-respect for human rights

In this short presentation, the Rapporteur will lay stress on these two key elements:

a) the right to a fair trial: the Court of Military Discipline continues to judging both military and civilians in trials which do not respect the norms of equity. …

Furthermore, the Court frequently applies the death sentence. It should be said, however, that no execution has taken place in 1999, which shows an advance on the information continued in this report.

The dismissal of 315 magistrates at all levels is also contrary to the right to justice, as it places the judges in a situation of vulnerability and questions their independence.

b) Human rights activists, political leaders and journalists are frequently threatened and imprisoned for reasons that are rarely clear.

Besides the cases noted in this report, it is appropriate to mention the following detentions and persecutions, recorded since the beginning of 1999: journalists Thierry Kyalumba, Francois Kalima Malangu, Andre Ipakala Abeiye, Michel Museme Diawe; political leaders Mifundu Kahugu (PALU), Adrien Phongo Kunda (UDPS), Cleophas Kamitatu Masamba (PDSC), Boffasa Djema (MPR), Kisimba Ngoy (PNF), Nyembo Shabani et Boboliko Lokonga (PDSC).

Some human rights activists have also faced similar situations since the beginning of 1999. The vice-chair of the NGO “Friends of Nelson Mandela” was arrested in Makala (Kinshasa) because he was carrying a passport of the Republic of Zaire, and because his organization was using the name of Nelson Mandela, considered “an enemy of the Congolese people.” On February 5, Floribert Chebeya (from “La Voix des Sans-voix”) was also arrested but released some time later.

3.4. The situation in the areas controlled by the rebellion

The situation is even worse in the areas under rebel control: there is no opposition press, and many NGOs have stopped functioning, given that many members fled into exile or became clandestine. …

Another subject of concern is the transfer of prisoners from the occupied territories to Rwanda and Uganda.

The War Operations Council established by the rebellion, even providing a possibility for appeal, has condemned a number of military, including some minors (”Kadogos”). Some of them were sentenced to death.

Finally, since February, a wave of violence has been noted in the provinces of North and South Kivu, as the Rapporteur stressed in a recent communique.

IV. Some Progress

4.1. In the areas under control of the Government

Some progress mentioned in the report was confirmed during the mission and some others were recorded at that occasion: the creation of a Ministry for Human Rights, and most of all, the devotion with which the Minister seems to accomplish his tasks; the announced set up of education programs related to human rights, for the military and policemen; the announced ratification of two new treaties on human rights, and in particular, the two Protocols additional to the Geneva agreement; the distribution of the Universal Declaration in national languages; obvious improvements of the penal system (especially the prison of Makala), … We also need to mention the suspension of the application of death penalty in 1999; the freeing of 84 people on February 12, among them many arrested for political reasons; improvement in the conditions of detention of the people deprived of their freedom because of their ethnic group after their transfer from the camp Kokolo to the INSS site; the set up of a national commission of investigation on the massacres committed in the East of the country and in the province of Equateur between October 1996 and May 1997, during the war of liberation.

Finally, the Government’s cooperation with the special rapporteur and other mechanisms of the commission on Human Rights. For the first time, the Rapporteur received an acknowledgement for one of his letters of allegations.

4.2. In the areas under the control of the rebellion

In the area controlled by the rebellion, the only significant change appeared to be the suspension of the execution of death penalty sentenced by the Council of War …

V. Investigation of the Massacres Perpetrated in 1996-1997.

Following the report E/CN.4/1997/6/add.2, the Commission appointed a Joint Mission, to investigate the massacres perpetrated in refugee camps, as well as other violations of human rights in the East of Zaire since September 1, 1996, during the war of liberation. The AFDL, along with the RDC and Rwandan forces, have always denied the allged facts and never cooperated with the Mission. For that reason, the Secretary General decided to name a team of investigation, which, however, was withdrawn due to the obstacles put forward by the AFDL Government.

Since the beginning of the war, the current Government acknowledged the facts in question, attributing the responsibility to its former allies. On January 29, it created a national Commission of inquiry.

Although the rebel authorities did not advance any explanation for this problem, the RCD person in charge of foreign relations admitted the facts in front of the Rapporteur, but attributed them to the Kinshasa leaders. There is thus an urgent need to re-open the investigations, either by establishing ad hoc teams, or providing support (logistical, financial and human) to the commissions established by the governments of the RDC and Rwanda, to the extent that they contribute effectively to establishing the facts.

VI. Recommendations

Although all are of equal importance, the rapporteur wants to particularly lay stress on three recommendations appearing in his report:

The most urgent is the conduct of serious and responsible negotiations in order to end the war. The Government cannot keep on ignoring the reality: the rebels exist, independently of any foreign support. Peace needs to be made with all of the belligerents. It is necessary to put an end to military assistance and weapons trade to the parties in conflict. An international military force, set up in the historical borders of the DRC and its eastern neighbors, would contribute to establish peace and, above all, protect the civilian population.

In the same way, the Government cannot keep on ignoring the necessary support of the population, required for any credible transition to democracy, as well as the organization, in the shortest possible time, of elections in which the whole Congolese people should participate.

The need for protection and respect for human rights activists becomes urgent, as does the need for guarantees for a fair trial. The death penalty should also be abolished. As for the rebel forces, they should understand that they cannot count on any popular support and that they are considered as aggressors who brought an atmosphere of terror among the population, while increasing a feeling of resentment towards the Rwandans.

The international community has to collaborate with the Government in order to find a solution to the problem of deplaced people in the country, and the problem of the people who find themselves imprisoned for protection purpose, because of their ethnic origin.

Without affecting the investigations set by the governments of the DRC and Rwanda, which should be supported by the United Nations to secure their transparency and significance, the Rapporteur insists on the necessity to widen the scope of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, or to establish a similar court to judge the events that occurred in the DRC, whatever the nationality of the perpetrator.

The Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights must be strengthened to ensure better cooperation with, on one hand, the Special Rapporteur while carrying out his work, and on the other hand, with the Government in order to reinforce the promotion and protection of human rights. Technical assistance for human rights should be put in place in the DRC, only after serious, tangible and effective actions have been decided by the Government in roder to build a society based on the respect of those rights.

ENDS

Distributed by the Africa Policy Information Center (APIC), the educational affiliate of the Washington Office on Africa, 110 Maryland Ave. NE, No. 509, Washington, DC 20002. Phone: 202-546-7961. Fax: 202-546-1545. E-mail: apic@igc.apc.org.

The following document was released by the International Freedom Of Expression Exchange on 22 April 1999: The following is a joint action signed by twenty-seven IFEX members appealing for freedom of expression in the Democratic Republic of Congo:

We, the members of IFEX (International Freedom of Expression Exchange) whose signatures are appended below and who follow the media situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as changes regarding the freedom of expression, are particularly delighted by the attention accorded by the Congolese authorities to the action alert concerning the arrest and eventual release of Mr. Modeste Mutinga and Mr. Andre Ipakala, the respective editors of “Le Potentiel” and “La Reference Plus”.

We are nonetheless concerned by the continued imprisonment and condemnation of the following journalists: Mbakulu Pambu Diambu, Director of Information of Matadi TV and Thierry Kyalumba, Director of the weekly “Vision”.

We therefore:

1. Request in accordance with the laws of the Congo the clemency of His Excellency L.D. Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to intervene in favour of these people.

2. Invite authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo to work more energetically towards the promotion of dialogue as well as the freedom of expression of opinions.

Done at Cape Town, on this 21st day of April 1999

Signed:

Alliance of Independent Journalists, AJI, Indonesia AMARC - World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters ANEM, Association of Independent Electronic Media, Yugoslavia ARTICLE 19 Canadian Journalists for Free Expression EOHR, Egyptian Organization for Human Rights FORJA Free Expression Ghana Freedom House Freedom of Expression Institute Glasnost Defence Foundation, Moscow, Russia HKJA, Hong Kong Journalists Association Independent Journalism Centre (IJC), Nigeria Index on Censorship, London, UK ISAI, Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information, Indonesia International Press Institute IPYS, Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, Peru Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Media Watch, Bangladesh Network for the Defence of Independent Media in Africa (NDIMA) Norwegian Forum for Freedom of Expression, Oslo, Norway Paraguay Union of Journalists (SPP) PINA, Pacific Islands News Association, Suva, Fiji Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) Periodistas, Argentinian Association for the Defence of independent Journalism WAJA, West African Journalists Association Writers in Prison Committee, INTERNATIONAL PEN

For further information, contact the International Freedom of Exchange Clearing House, 489 College Street, Suite 403, Toronto, Ontario M6G 1A5 Canada, tel: +1 416 515 9622, fax: +1 416 515 7879, e-mail: alerts@ifex.org, Internet: http://www.ifex.org.

The information contained in this joint action is the sole responsibility of AMARC. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit AMARC.

Distributed by The International Freedom Of Expression Exchange Clearing House, 489 College St. Suite 403, Toronto, Ontario M6G 1A5 CANADA, tel: +1 416 515 9622, fax: +1 416 515 7879, e-mail: ifex@ifex.org, Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/.

Zambian President Frederick Chiluba Friday left Lusaka for Dar-es-Salaam on a one-day consultative meeting with his Tanzanian counterpart, Benjamin Mkapa.

Chiluba is expected to discuss the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as bilateral issues with Mkapa. The visit is in continuation of Chiluba’s bilateral private talks with leaders in the sub-region to thrash remaining hurdles before a ceasefire on the Congo war is signed. Chiluba chairs the DRC peace talks.

Welcoming the signing of a “peace agreement” between the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Laurent Kabila, and his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, the Security Council Thursday called on all other parties in that country’s conflict to join the peace signatories in observing an immediate cessation of hostilities.

Kabila and Museveni signed the agreement in Libya Sunday, aimed at ending the conflict. It was brokered by the Libyan leader, Col. Moammar Kadhafi. Uganda and Rwanda are backing the nine-month rebellion to overthrow Kabila’s government. But Kabila also has on his side troops from Zimbabwe, Angola, Chad and Namibia.

In the statement, the Security Council called on all parties in the conflict to respect its resolution supporting a regional plan to end the crisis.

“Members of the council welcome the efforts of African leaders…in contributing to a lasting solution of the conflict in the DRC,” council president Alain Dejammet of France said in a statement.

The council deplored continued fighting and the presence of foreign forces in the country. It expressed support for the peace efforts of the UN secretary general’s special envoy in Congo, Mustafa Niasse, saying he should continue to work with concerned African leaders to strengthen the peace process.

In the wake of the peace accord in Libya, one of the rebel leaders, Ernest Wamba Dia Wamba, has vowed to continue fighting. Rwanda also said the agreement is not biding on them.

A peace process started by African leaders since 1998 has dragged on, though the latest agreement in Libya is believed to be the first major step toward reaching a comprehensive peace deal for Congo.

President Laurent-Desire Kabila and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni have put their names to a cease-fire accord, brokered here by the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, IRIN Integrated Regional Information Network has reported.

Also present at the weekend meeting were the presidents of Chad and Eritrea, Idriss Deby and Isayas Afewerki. According to the Libyan news agency Jana, the agreement also provides for the deployment of peacekeeping forces in the Great Lakes region, the withdrawal of foreign troops and urges a national dialogue in DRC with the participation of all sides. The mini-summit reportedly called for the continued mediation of Gaddafi in the Great Lakes peace process.

In a speech broadcast by Libyan television, Gaddafi hailed the agreement as the “beginning of a tangible solution to the greatest current problem in Africa”. Speaking after the signing ceremony last Sunday, he said the “revolutionary African will” that had brought about this accord could now be applied to other conflict areas, such as the Horn.

Great Lakes analyst Filip Reyntjens said details of the cease-fire agreement were still sketchy, but as a first analysis, the situation was “probably better than a week ago”, given that rivals Museveni and Kabila were both present. However, he pointed out that past cease-fire agreements had failed to hold.

The fact that Museveni had unilaterally gone to Libya was “not friendly to Rwanda”, Reyntjens said, and probably signaled a difference of opinion between the two countries. It was possible Museveni might want to opt out of DRC, as public opinion at home was unfavourable to Uganda’s involvement in the war which was very costly.

Another regional analyst said Museveni was “playing for time” and “waiting for Kabila to fall by himself”.. There has been increasing unrest in Kinshasa as the economic constraints of the war take their toll. By signing this peace accord, Museveni hoped to stop Libya’s flow of arms to Kabila via Chad and “therefore involve Libya in peace efforts rather than Confrontation”.

Before leaving for Libya, Museveni held talks in Kampala with two DRC rebel leaders, Ernest Wamba dia Wamba and Jean-Pierre Bemba, the semi-official New Vision reported. He called on the rival leaders to unite in the interests of peace. The newspaper quoted Wamba as saying he did not leave Goma due splits within the main rebel group Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie RCD, but had gone to Kisangani to “quell tensions” there. He had held talks with Bemba, who leads the Mouvement de liberation congolais MLC which, he hoped, would lead to a “real Rapprochement”.

An RCD delegation attending peace talks in Lusaka, Zambia that opened on Thursday, walked out of the meeting, Zambian radio reported. They said their request to meet Kabila face-to-face had been rejected. Rwanda did not send a team to the Lusaka meeting, claiming it was pointless unless the RCD was directly involved in peace talks.

Companies will be allowed to pay excess capital back to their shareholders, as well as buy back their own shares, in terms of legislation which comes into force on June 30.

The amendments to the Companies Act, which have been signed but not yet gazetted, could lift the veil on all nominee shareholdings, not just on the beneficial owners of 5% or more of a company’s shares. Nominee holders will be obliged to disclose to a company every three months the names of all beneficial shareholders.

Companies must keep this information in a register that is open to public scrutiny, and must publish in their annual financial statements the names and holdings of all beneficial owners of 5% or more of their shares.

Companies will be entitled at any time to demand identities of beneficial owners of their shares from nominee holders, or to ask those they believe to be beneficial owners to confirm or deny their stakes.

Attorney Kevin Joselowitz of Edward Nathan & Friedland said although nominee companies offered benefits to shareholders, the proliferation of nominee holdings had an adverse effect on corporate governance, making it impossible to detect insider trading or significant changes of shareholding which might suggest potential hostile bids. It also made the competition law difficult to enforce, he said.

Nominees hold 35% of the shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and in 157 companies nominees hold 50% or more of the shares.

Edward Nathan’s Miranda Feinstein said the changes to the Companies Act would allow companies to buy back their own shares and permit subsidiaries to buy up to 10% of their holding companies’ shares.

So while companies will not be able to “warehouse” the shares as they do in the US, they will be able to do so indirectly by getting their subsidiaries to buy and hold their shares, Feinstein said.

Special resolutions are needed for share buybacks and buy-ins by subsidiaries, and companies will be allowed to transact these only if they meet solvency and liquidity conditions.

However the new legislation permits “paybacks”, in which companies with excess capital, for example, could pay some of this out to shareholders. A payback might be more tax efficient than an extraordinary dividend payout. Paybacks would not necessarily require special resolutions if companies’ articles of association were amended to allow them.

A total of 121.818 million US dollars was sold by the Central Bank of Nigeria at this week’s Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, a dip from 171.336 million dollars sold in the previous week.

Forty-nine out of the 69 selected banks participated at the market, while 20 abstained. The naira exchange rate still stands at 90 naira to the US dollar.

According to the demand analysis released Thursday in Lagos, the highest demand of 27.256 million dollars was made by United Bank for Africa.

Out of the amount, 26.926 million dollars is for letters of credit, while 330,100 dollars is for invisibles.

Chartered Bank demanded 14.234 million dollars of which 13.663 million dollars is for letters of credit, 500,000 dollars is for bills of collection, while 70,722 dollars is for invisibles.

Zenith International Bank demanded for 5.243 million dollars. Out of the amount, 4.728 million dollars is to finance letters of credit, 15,030 dollars is for bills of collection, while 500,000 dollars is for invisibles.

Diamond Bank received 5.241 million dollars, of which 4.375 million is to finance letters of credit, 627,747 dollars for bills of collection and 238,598 dollars is invisibles.

The lowest demand of 15,240 dollars was made by Merchant Bank of Commerce, which demanded the amount solely for letters of credit.

Although the central bank announced that its daily sale of foreign currencies would begin Monday, 19 April through 20 banks selected by it, the bank still held its weekly currency auction.

Banking experts in Lagos, who thought that the commencement of the daily sales of foreign currencies will result in the scrapping of the weekly auction, were surprised that the bank held the weekly auction Thursday.

The bankers, however, said that since only very few selected banks were presently involved in the daily auction, it made economic sense to still hold the weekly auction in order to avoid excluding some foreign currency buyers, since the banks bid on behalf of their customers.

Since the apex bank is yet to make a statement on this issue, the bankers believe that when more banks are involved in the daily auction, it may abolish the weekly auction.

A new airline, Silver Air has been awarded nearly all regional routes left vacant by fallen Zambian Express Airways (Zamex) which went into liquidation a few months ago. Eastern and Roan Air have also won operational licences for other regional routes in a move expected to boost Zambia’s passenger air travel business and tourism.

The airlines were awarded the routes following recommendations to the Minister of Transport and Communications David Saviye by the route allocation committee which sat last week. Director of civil aviation Dr Eustern Mambwe confirmed this in an interview saying the licences were effective from yesterday and the airlines had been given 6 months in which to begin operations.

Silver Air which was registered last year has taken up Lubumbashi, Lilongwe and Gaberone, all of which were being serviced by Zamex until it went into receivership last September. Silver Air will service the Windhoek, Namibia route.

Mr. Mambwe said Roan Air would cover the Nairobi, Cairo, Mombasa, Dubai and Zanzibar routes. Eastern Air has been given the routes to Dar-es-Salaam, Mauritius, Nairobi, Entebbe, Bujumbura and Addis Ababa. Mr. Mambwe said Government was yet to review bilateral agreements for the Harare, Johannesburg,Durban and Cape Town routes before any allocation could be made.

He said negotiations to review the bilateral agreement with South Africa had been set for May 19-22. He said airlines operating on those routes would continue until an agreement is signed.

“All operators have been given six months in which to commence operations failure to which the routes will be withdrawn,” he said.

Liquidators of the River Ranch Diamond Mine, put on sale last February due to viability problems as a result of a slump in international diamond prices, have received two offers for the insolvent mine.

“We have received two offers for which we are sorting out a few legal technicalities before they are presented to creditors to make up their minds,” said Terry Cooper, a spokesperson for KPMG Chartered Accountants who are handling the liquidation.

River Ranch, jointly owned by Auridium Zimbabwe and Redaurum Red Lakes of Canada, was put up for sale after it was placed in voluntary liquidation last February. About five bids had originally been received for the mine.

Cooper said the mine owed creditors a total $321 million but did not disclose who the creditors were. More than 300 workers were made redundant when the mine closed.

A Bulawayo company, Bubye Mineral (Pvt) Ltd, was last year awarded a contract to rehabilitate and process the diamond dump at the mine on behalf of the liquidators. When Auridium Zimbabwe were awarded the claim, which Kimberlite Searches, a subsidiary of De Beers, did not mine because they said was it too small, the mine was projected to have a life span of 100 year and a capacity to produce 500 000 carats of diamonds a year.