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GUINEA: African states asked to review laws on refugees -
African countries have been asked, at a continental meeting on
refugees, to ensure that domestic legislation complies with
international conventions on the status of refugees.

Resolutions adopted after a three-day meeting that ended on
Wednesday in Conakry, Guinea, also called on governments to take
appropriate measures to implement these laws.

Conference sources told IRIN on Thursday that although 45 countries
had ratified the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) 1969 convention on
refugees, many have not brought their national laws in line with this
document.

“Guinea, for example, does not have laws on the status of refugees,”
one source said.

Among the numerous recommendations made at the meeting, the 150
experts present, some of them lawyers, called on the international
community to give timely humanitarian help to Africa’s refugees and
support countries affected by internal displacements.

Civil strife, human rights violations, lack of good government and
democratic institutions have been identified as some of the reasons for
Africa’s six million refugees today. In 1969, the continent had less
than one million refugees - most of whom had fled colonial oppression
and apartheid.

Internally displaced persons (IDP’s) is often the flip side of the
refugee problem. The meeting suggested that the OAU and the UNHCR
review situations of IDP’s in Africa when linked to refugee problems
and then present recommendations at the “appropriate fora”.

The resolution on statelessness, a condition often overlooked in
Africa, proposes that the OAU and the UNHCR study the causes and extent
of the problem and present its findings for further action.

The meeting, attended by some 150 specialists in refugee and
humanitarian law, was organised by the OAU and the UNHCR. Financial
contributions to the meeting were made by the governments of Finland,
Norway, and Sweden.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Military brass get tough with soldiers

Ivorian Army chief of staff Colonel Soumahila Diabagate has warned
dissident soldiers to return all their weapons by the end of the week
or face discharge, the state daily ‘Fraternite Matin’ reported on
Thursday.

Yesterday’s warning, aired on state radio and television, follows an
attempted mutiny by soldiers on Tuesday over pay at Daloa barracks in
the northwest of the country. During the unrest soldiers seized weapons
from the armoury and one soldier loyal to the government was killed.

At the beginning of the week the Minister of Security, General
Lassana Palenfo, referring to recent media reports citing
insubordination and indiscipline in the army, said that some of the
same young unruly elements helped bring the military to power in
December 1999. However, he added, the military was put in charge to do
a job and it must be trusted to achieve its mission.

Meanwhile, in a ceremony broadcast on national television and radio,
the army discharged a soldier accused of shooting a student over the
weekend. He is charged with attempted murder and is to stand trial.

GUINEA-BISSAU: US reviews ways to renew bilateral ties

US aid to Guinea-Bissau, suspended after a military uprising in May
1999, will resume after a review is complete, US Ambassador Nancy
Soderberg told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

“We hope to be able to provide trade and investment promotion
support once remaining legal impediments have been removed,” she said.

Soderberg - who is the US representative for special political
affairs at the UN - added that Washington would help on demining
programmes.

She warned that further military forays into politics would be
harmful to Guinea-Bissau following efforts by President Kumba Yala and
Prime Minister Caetano Ntchama to strengthen democracy and promote
economic growth.

“The international community would react negatively should Guinea-
Bissau return to military rule under any guise,” she said.

GUINEA-BISSAU: Bill on National Security Council

The government has tabled in parliament a bill proposing the
creation of a National Security Council, PANA reported.

Members of the council will include leading members of the self-
styled “Military Junta”, among them General Ansumane Mane who overthrew
President Joao Bernardo Vieira in 1999.

Under the bill, members of the council will enjoy the same
privileges as ministers until the end of President Kumba Yala’s five-
year term of office, PANA said on Tuesday.

“If adopted, the bill would take a thorn out of the government’s
flesh, by solving the problem of the military junta which has shown
inclinations of wanting to cling to power,” PANA said.

NIGERIA: Lagos State budgets for flood control

Lagos State government has set aside some 400 million naira (US $3.9
million) for flood control in 19 areas of the state identified as being
potential danger spots, ‘The Guardian’ reported on Wednesday.

Seven contractors are expected to begin work in the nominated areas
on Saturday, the daily reported, quoting Information Commissioner Dele
Alake.

Flood control measures include the setting up of two different
groups responsible for cleaning drains in the state and working during
emergencies. He also announced that equipment for unclogging blocked
drains and a dredger ordered by the state government in 1999 were on
their way to the country.

NIGERIA: State legislates end to Niger River dredging

The Bayelsa State House of Assembly has passed a motion stopping the
federal government and Petroleum Trust Fund from further dredging of
the lower Niger River until a proper environmental impact assessment is
made.

The representative of the Sagbama Constituency and presenter of the
motion, Prosper Nwaguzo, said the initial environmental impact study
was not properly done on the dredging initiated by the fund. He added
that the dredging project, estimated at 8.3 billion naira (US $82
million), had the sole objective of providing year-round navigability
for vessels from the Delta port of Warri to the northern hinterland of
Nigeria.

He criticised compensation paid to the affected communities saying
that of the 10 communities paid some 10 million naira ($ 98,814), nine
are from Delta and just Elembiri from Bayelsa State. He warned against
further destruction of the ecosystem as it affects farmers and
fishermen in the area, ‘The Guardian’ reported.

This item is delivered by the UN’s IRIN humanitarian information
unit (e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org; fax: +254 2 622129; Web:
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN), but may not necessarily reflect the
views of the United Nations. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post
this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.

Some 6,831 ex-combatants in Port Loko and Lungi are to receive
the second instalment of their Transitional Safety Net Allowance (TSA) within
the next three months, according to the NCDDR’s Disarmament and Demobilisation
Officer, Dr. M.S. Tejan Kellah. These payments would be made in the same
sequence in which they were discharged after going through pre-discharge
orientation sessions.

This is the first set of ex-combatants to receive the second tranche of the
TSA in the Lungi and Port Loko area since the start of the second phase of the
DDR programme. In actual fact they should receive this payment at the Regional
Reintegration Office in Makeni, but since this is not possible at the moment,
arrangements are being made for them to be paid at special centres in Port Loko
and Lungi. Those venues would be communicated to them through radio
announcements This 2nd tranche is due to be paid to ex-combatants of all the
former fighting factions and it may be recalled that a total of 553 received
theirs at the Western Area Regional Reintegration office last week.

Meanwhile, construction work has begun for two new demobilisation centres
for the CDF in the Bo and Moyamba districts. The sites for the construction
work were earlier identified by DFID/ERT personnel in consultation with the CDF
High Command. DFID/ERT have the responsibility of constructing demobilisation
centres for NCDDR.

In another development, sensitisation workshops for CDF ex-combatants in
Moyamba and Bo are scheduled to take place on the 4th and 5th April
respectively. The aim is to sensitise the ex-combatants about the DDR
programme, all in a bid to hasten the disarmament process.

256 NOW IN DARU DEMOBILISATION CENTRE

Latest reports from the Daru demobilisation centre indicate that a total of
256 ex-combatants now occupy the centre which has a capacity of taking in 2000
ex-combatants to go through the demobilisation process. According to Mr. John
Jusu, the NCDDR Liaison Officer in the centre, who is on a routine visit to
Freetown, of this number which was recorded on Saturday 25th March, 230 are ex-
SLAs, while 26 are RUF ex-combatants. He said that a good number of the ex-SLAs
have the intention of rejoining the restructured army.

Mr. Jusu reported that life in the centre is peaceful and that almost half
of them have so far received welfare allowances of Le 50,000 each, while others
are due to receive theirs this week It is also reliably learnt that though
there is a cordial relationship between members of the former fighting groups
in Daru, RUF men have been intimidating their SLA colleagues who dare to
disarm, claiming that the SLAs have betrayed their common leader, Chairman
Sankoh by agreeing to disarm. It is even claimed that at times they punish the
SLAs for ‘betrayal’.

According to Mr. Jusu, The NCDDR Liaison Officer in DARU, an Indian
contingent of UNAMSIL troops are now stationed at Daru town and have been
responsible for security in the township. ‘There is a free flow of vehicular
traffic to and from Daru town and indeed up to places like Kailahun,’ Mr. Jusu
said, pointing out that ex-combatants mingle with civilians in the township
without harassing them. The only concern of the people in the township he said
is the slow pace of the disarmament process which he said is the concern of
every well-meaning Sierra Leonean citizen at this point in time.

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT In continuation of its drive to speed up the
demobilisation and reintegration processes the NCDDR is paying Transitional
Safety Net Allowances (TSA) to ex-combatants at the Port Loko DDR office
starting today 30th March 2000. The first category of payees are those who
received their first tranche in December last year and are now due to receive
their second tranche, while the other group are those who went through pre-
discharge orientation sessions (PDO) some two weeks ago and now await their
first tranche. A third group comprises all outstanding cases who are due to
receive TSA allowances.

The NCDDR Secretariat wants to use this opportunity to inform all those who
have not yet disarmed that the Secretariat is fully prepared to honour its
commitments to ex-combatants and would like to advise them to come out sooner
rather than later so that they can also benefit from the DDR programme.

However, the Secretariat would again like to caution all ex-combatants now
going through the programme to conduct themselves in the proper manner while
waiting to receive TSA payments and to desist from behaving in a riotous
manner, issuing threats against DDR staff and property . The Secretariat will
no longer tolerate any form of misconduct on the part of ex-combatants, and
would like to remind them again that they are now ordinary civilians who are
not above the laws of the land.

DISARMAMENT PROCESS GATHERS MOMENTUM

In our previous bulletin we quoted the NCDDR Executive Secretary, Dr Francis
Kai-Kai as saying that the disarmament process is making steady progress. This
statement was based on the fact that every day ex-combatants are disarming in
different areas of the country, although the process might not be as rapid as
most Sierra Leoneans would wish. However, as we approach the 50% mark in terms
of the number of people disarmed, there are indications that the process might
soon take a dramatic turn for the better, considering the amount of interest
the donor community continues to manifest in the peace process in Sierra Leone
as evidenced by the successful outcome of the donor conference which took place
in London on Monday, 27th March.

One of the latest manifestations of the progress being made in the
disarmament process was the disarming of 340 former CDF fighters at Brookfields
hotel in Freetown on Tuesday 28th March. On the following day Wednesday, the
ex-combatants went through the formal demobilisation process. The NCDDR
representative at the disarmament and demobilisation ceremonies, Rtd. Colonel
Morgan-Kamara, said the ceremonies took place in a peaceful atmosphere with
signs that the ex-combatants were extremely eager to disarm. He expressed the
hope that ex-combatants belonging to other factions would emulate what happened
at Brookfields hotel, and that the CDF itself would ensure that they repeat the
process from time to time elsewhere in the country.

National Committee For Disarmament, Demobilisation And Reintegration (NCDDR)
Executive Secretariat

Information & Sensitisation Unit Tel: 220071 PMB 842 Fax: 228368 2 State
Avenue E-mail: ncddr@sierratel.sl Freetown

When Alhaji Tunde Kalokoh, Chairman of the non-Kono
Residents Association took 15 bags of rice and one cow as gifts for
Kono people, little did he expect the gift to be ignored. Sources say
that Alhaji Tunde Kalokoh and some other business people from Kono
decided to offer the gift after they realized that they had offended
the Kono people including some Paramount Chiefs.

Some disgruntled Kono residents told Concord Times that they have so
far refused the gifts because Alhaji Kalokoh and other were holding
secret meetings in an effort to return to Kono ahead of the landowners.
Paramount Chief Samuel Momoh Soluku of Toli Chiefdom in the Kono
District is reported to have verbally attacked Kalokoh at an S.L.P.P
meeting in the presence of Vice President, Dr. Albert Joe Demby for his
clandestine meetings.

Newly elected Western Area Kono Chief, Sahr Orando Gbekie, has
expressed his dissatisfaction over the so-called intention of Alhaji
Kalokoh to champion the idea of developing Kono without informing the
Kono people. Sahr Komba Sansie, a Kono Youth said that it is not wrong
to develop Kono but added that it is unacceptable to plan to develop a
rebel held town without the knowledge of the landowners.

Concord Times gathered that Alhaji Kalokoh has handed over the gift
to P.C Sam Nyandemoh Quee of Gbane Chiefdom in order to appease the
Kono people but so far the cow is still tethered at 1c Genet Lane
Kingdom. It is not clear whether the Kono people will accept the gift
in the name of peace and reconciliation.

Joint Monitoring Committee sources have intimated Concord
Times that effective disarmament will begin in Makeni on April 15. The
necessary logistics to ensure this come to fruition would be in place
by April 10, Concord Times learnt

The construction of camps in Mateneh and Maygba has almost been
completed. Disarmed combatants will be encamped in these camps for the
start of their reintegration programme. Makeni residents say that most
rebels in Makeni are no longer parading the streets with arms but it is
not known whether arms were being gathered for disarmament or hidden
for any evil plan.

“The combatants you see with arms these day are those at the RUF
Task Force office at the West African Examination Council office,” a
Makeni resident told Concord Times.

Cases of harassment are reportedly fewer than before, Concord Times
gathered. Meanwhile, RUF fighters have again mounted some of the
checkpoints they had removed along the Makeni-Lunsar highway.

Four more checkpoints have been added with one each at Magbenteh.
Makari, Makoth and Yankasa. The RUF had undertaken to remove all
roadblocks to the provinces.

The youngest First Lady Germany has ever had, Mrs.
Christiana Rau, yesterday urged Sierra Leoneans at the end of her
three-day visit here to learn to live as one people again.

Giving a special message to Sierra Leoneans during a press
conference at the UNICEF Conference Hall, New England, Mrs. Rau
encouraged the people “to carry on in the spirit of reconciliation that
I found in all the places I visited.”

She said she was impressed by the determination of the people to get
peace. “The people want and deserve peace,” she agreed. Mrs. Rau, who
is patroness of the German Committee for UNICEF, said she was also
impressed by the kind of work UNICEF is doing here. “I will return with
a feeling that work is really being done here,” she said. She added:
“We hope it will not be necessary to concentrate on disarmament and
reintegration for long but we should once again move to education.”

The First Lady, who visited several centers in Freetown and Port
Loko where children are receiving psycho-social counseling, encouraged
the girls that had been raped to continue to feel that they have not
been left alone.

“They should look forward to a bright future,” she urged.

About the use of children as tools of war, Mrs. Rau said efforts
were being made to increase the legal age of conscription from 15 to
18. “We are also creating awareness that using children in war is
normally wrong,” she said.

Germany’s Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Mr. Mark Fisher, said Germany
was about signing an additional protocol for child protection and that
eventually the international community will begin to persecute those
exposing children to warfare.

The people in the Kailahun District are in desperate need
of food as hundreds are dying of starvation on daily basis. Concord
Times man who just returned from a trip to the district discovered that
most people are now merely walking skeletons.

The food shortage has affected both areas controlled by the
government and the rebels.

The people now forage for bush yams and bananas in a bid to survive.
Relief agencies have not made any appreciable impact in the district;
they have always complained of inaccessibility.

RUF combatants around the Liberia/Sierra Leone border are
right now into cash-for-arms business which appears to be their own DDR
arrangement. However, the buyer this time is an unlikely Gen. Sam
Maskita. Concord Times man who sniffed around the border area last
weekend discovered that each riffle is sold for $150.

The business is brisk. Each rebel that submits a rifle is given the
money on the spot. Consequently, all villages surrounding the border
have been deserted by the combatants who have all trooped to the
border. “News has gone that money is available here and we are
expecting more of them from afar,” one of Maskita’s agents told Concord
Times.

But many are asking what would Maskita be doing with the arms.
Sources disclosed that the renegade RUF ex Field Commander wants to
retake Buedu and carve out his own operational base. Maskita is
presently based in the Lofa county. Stories that he is currently
training men and women for an attack, eventhough largely unverified,
have not been denied. It is not known what the reaction of the Liberian
government is to this development but it is believed that President
Charles Taylor is aware of Maskita’s plans.

Observers are now clamouring that Maskita should be brought onboard
the peace process. This move will be resisted by Foday Sankoh who has
been celebrating the rubbishing of Maskita. Concord Times reported
earlier in the year Maskita’s telephone contact with President Kabbah
wherein he spoke of his desire to come to Freetown. When the President
intimated Sankoh about this, the RUF leader was said to have fumed and
urged him not to interfere in an “RUF internal affair.”

Just outside the little town of Lunsar, less than a 160km
inland from Freetown, there is a roadblock where the rule of President Tajun
Kabbar ends, and that of the rebel leader Foday Sankoh begins.

>From here on in, right through to the diamond fields in the east of the
country, Sankoh’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF) is in charge. At the
roadside, armed men of the RUF - and a few armed children scarcely big enough to
hold their weapons - sit guarding the piece of string that marks the start of
their territory.

In theory, the government and its RUF rivals are no longer in conflict,
having signed a peace pact in the Togolese capital of Lom

President Omar Bongo of Gabon arrived in Dakar,
Friday, to attend Saturday’s inauguration of Abdoulaye Wade as Senegal’s third
president since independence from France in 1960.

Bongo, accompanied by his wife Edith Lucie, was met on arrival by the
outgoing president, Abdou Diouf, and several of his cabinet ministers, who are
to be replaced by Wade’s appointees on 3 or 4 April.

>From Dakar, the Gabonese president will proceed to Cairo to attend the
Africa-European Union summit in the Egyptian capital.

Afro-beat cross-over king, Alariwo of Africa has threatened
to institute a N200m suit against the management of Water Parks, Ikeja
for ’short-changing’ him over a N1.7m Ragolis Water musical project.

Speaking with P.M.Showworld during the week, the Afro-beat player
alleged that the management of Water Parks approached him late last
year over a show for which they appealed to him to collect N70,000
because they had no sponsor.

After the show, Alariwo said he returned to the stage three days
later to perform for the organisers again free-of-charge “because of
the way their Public Relations Officer related to me.”

Alariwo said he was however piqued when he later discovered that
former National Planning Minister, Alhaji Rasheed Gbadamosi doled out
N1.7m to them to organise the show.

“I went to see Rasheed who happens to be my God-father and he told
me he gave them N1.7m and that he was highly disappointed about the
show. He wondered how the crowd at the show were not more than 52, 80
percent of who were “members of the Egypt ‘80 band and my own band -
being the two bands that performed”.

Alleging that the show lacked publicity, thus causing for the poor
turnout, Alariwo said that the organisers claimed that they spent
N500,000 on publicity for the show alone.

Gbadamosi, Alariwo claimed, was given a proposal by the Water Parks
management which stated that they wanted to feature him and the Egypt
‘80 led by Seun-Kuti for the musical jam.

Claiming that he had been to the park to collect what was actually
due to him, Alariwo said the management has not yielded even as the
P.R.O. who packaged the show has resigned from the outfit.

He hinted that a very senior lawyer is interested in the case,
threatening: “when they know who my lawyer is, they will sit up.”

Meanwhile, it is going to be a gathering of who is who in the music
industry this Sunday at the Excellence Hotel, Ogba as acts like Salawa
Abeni, Dede, Seun-Kuti, Okey Bakassi, Sammy Needle and Remedies, among
others, shall be guests at a show tagged: “An Evening With Alariwo &
Friends.” Powered by Ovation International, the show kicks off by 3 00
p.m.