In a landmark decision, Zambia's Supreme Court has ruled that parliament acted legally and properly last year in removing the immunity of former president Frederick Chiluba. This means that Mr Chiluba no longer enjoys protection from the law as guaranteed in the constitution and paves the way for an imminent arrest on charges of corruption.

President Kibaki has assured Kenyans that he was in charge of the nation and that he would lead the fight against corruption from the top. Delivering his first public address since being sworn in on December 30, Kibaki said corruption had undermined most of Kenya's important institutions and tarnished the reputations of Kenyan leaders.

President Olusegun Obasanjo has confirmed that a number of governors were being investigated for corruption by the Independent Corrupt Practices (and-Allied Offences) Commission (ICPC).

The National Assembly is likely to take action against former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni for lying to Parliament when he made a special statement proclaiming his innocence to the House on March 28 last year. It is also understood that Parliament will soon move against ANC MP Winnie Madikizela-Mandela soon, despite her lawsuit. Madikizela-Mandela was guilty of contravening Parliament's code of conduct, in that she failed to disclose donations of R50000 a month to supplement her monthly income.

With less than a week to go before the controversial France/Africa Summit, the French government has revealed that the New Economic Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) will be the main focus. The summit will tackle issues such as the prevention and settlement of conflicts, development of natural resources, health, education and the improvement of agriculture with a view to poverty reduction.

A controversial and long-delayed identity card scheme is finally been introduced in Nigeria. Some northern politicians oppose the scheme, fearing it will be used to cross-check other population records, including the voters roll.

Twenty-two countries that ended a mini-summit Sunday on trade liberalisation, including the touchy issues of agricultural subsidies and access to cheaper drugs, reached no breakthrough - and managed only an agreement to discuss the matter further.

The Institute for democracy in South Africa (Idasa) has been contracted by a UNESCO structure, INJEP (the National Institute of Youth and Popular Education) to develop an African Youth Directory. The aim of this project is to facilitate contact between structures dealing with youth issues on the African continent, and between these African structures and other interested parties worldwide. The Youth Directory will be distributed through youth structures in Africa and internationally, and different structures included in the directory stand to benefit a great deal from the increased exposure. The Youth Directory aims to provide information on youth structures and policies in all member states of the African Union. If you would like to have your organisation included in the directory, or know of any organisations that we should include, please contact Nico Bezuidenhout at nico@idasa.org.za

I look forward to being connected with Pambazuka not only to be networked with other organisations but to gain information useful for Life Concern International's objectives to be realised.

Rita Nzimbi
Life Concern International, Nairobi, Kenya

I refer the story which you used from the Communiqué (Pambazuka News 99: For your information, it contains an error that we have since corrected. The journalist in question is not Isaias Afewerki but Fessahaye Yoahannes. Afewerki is the Eritrean president responsible for jailing Yoahannes and 17 other journalists!

The governing council of the United Nations Environmental Programme, which met in Nairobi last week, resolved that the continent be the core centre in implementing resolutions passed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Kalahari Diamonds Limited, formed at the initiative of, and partly owned by, BHP Billiton, has secured US$2 million funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to explore for diamonds in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), Botswana. The IFC, part of the World Bank, approved the project on Thursday. This is according to a press release from Survival International, a worldwide organisation supporting tribal peoples. The CKGR is the ancestral land of the Gana and Gwi 'Bushmen' and Bakgalagadi. After a 15-year campaign of persecution, the last Bushmen were evicted from their homes in February 2002.

An Addis Ababa court has dismissed corruption charges against Abate Kisho, former President of Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region and Ato Bitew Belay- former TPLF (Tigray People's Liberation Front- main partner of ruling coalition) Central Committee member and a dissident.

KPMG Uganda, a professional services company, started a three-day workshop on 'fighting corruption and fraud' last week. During the official opening, Jotham Tumwesigye, the Inspector General of Government said, "It has long been recognised that corruption and fraud lurk at the very heart of our society, business and lives. If unchecked, these vices could very well undo the gains and hard work of the Ugandan people."

Tony Yengeni, former chief whip for South Africa's ruling African National Congress, has pleaded guilty of fraud and was convicted by a Pretoria magistrate. As part of a plea agreement with the state, he was acquitted of the more serious charge of corruption.

The United Nations has warned that the fate of more than 1.2 million refugees in Africa was uncertain due to a lack of funding which has forced the UN's lead food programme to curtail much-needed food aid. The warning issued jointly by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) comes amid growing concerns that a potential conflict in Iraq may distract the attention of donor nations from the pressing needs of millions of refugees on the African continent.

The World Alliance for Citizen Participation has taken its message of support for broader civic participation and engagement in global policy-making and governance to the World Bank. CIVICUS Secretary General and CEO Kumi Naidoo, delivered an address on “Civil Society, Governance, and Globalisation” as part of the Bank’s Presidential Fellows Lecture Series.

While the debacle over world cup cricket matches being played in Zimbabwe continues to attract headlines, there is mounting concern over the trial of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, with many believing that the charges against him have been manufactured to remove the opposition leader from the Zimbabwean political landscape. Tsvangirai, Welshman Ncube, the MDC secretary-general and MP for Bulawayo North-East, and Renson Gasela, the shadow minister of agriculture and Gweru Rural MP, are facing charges of hiring Dickens & Madson, a Canadian-based political lobby firm owned by Ari Ben-Menashe, leading witness for the state, to plot the assassination of President Robert Mugabe and subsequent overthrow of the Zanu PF-led government. The three deny the charges, but could face the death penalty if convicted.

Evidence in the trial has so far consisted mainly of a video recording of a meeting between Ben-Menashe and Tsvangirai, in which Ben-Menashe says the two discussed “eliminating” Mugabe. The defence argues that the meeting was set up to trap Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai has claimed that he is innocent of all charges against him and that the videotape was heavily edited with the word “eliminate” taken out of context.
Ben-Menashe claims that Tsvangirai had offered him money to facilitate the assassination of Mugabe, initiate a coup d'etat, and install a transitional government, but his credibility has been damaged by his ties to the Zimbabwean government. According to the Zimbabwean Independent, Dickens and Madson received a US$400,000 contract from the Zimbabwean government last May. They were hired to try and improve Zimbabwe's image abroad.

The International Association of Political Consultants, a professional association of political advisers from more than 50 countries, has sharply criticized the trial. IAPC president Ken Feltman urged media organisations to focus on what he called a “bogus trial which could cause an innocent man to lose his life” and said the IAPC were “disturbed” that Ben Menashe was the star witness for the state. “We have learned that Ben Menashe’s firm, Dickens & Madson of Canada, was on President Mugabe’s payroll long before he met with Tsvangirai and had received $400,000 from the Mugabe government.” Feltman said although Ben Menashe had described himself as a political consultant, he was not nor ever had been a member of IAPC. “The directors of IAPC reject the contention that Morgan Tsvangirai is guilty of trying to plan an assassination and believe this is a plot organised by Ari Ben Menashe and financed by Mugabe as a means of eliminating Tsvangirai as a political opponent.”

Meanwhile, the latest round of quiet diplomacy is being conducted by South African President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has stressed “constructive engagement” to help Zimbabwe. Obasjano reportedly said: “We must help Zimbabwe out of its predicament and problem. We cannot do that if we become unduly and unnecessarily critical and antagonistic to Zimbabwe. We must remain constructively engaged with Zimbabwe. If there are points to be raised with Zimbabwe, like brothers we put ourselves in a room, we lock the door and we tell ourselves (the) truth.”

The continued emphasis on quiet diplomacy despite its failure is viewed with dismay by human rights and democracy groups. In late January, Amnesty International issued a statement saying the level of fear among human rights activists in Zimbabwe had never been greater. And in a report released at the end of January, Tony Reeler, a former director of the Amani Trust, described the “grim picture” painted by a number of reports on the organised violence and torture that has afflicted Zimbabwe since February 2000 and the absence of credible government attempts to stop them. Gross human rights abuses had been perpetrated, including summary executions; extra-judicial killings; disappearances; torture; mass psychological torture; political rape; rape; illegal arrests and unlawful detentions.

However, Mugabe continues to escape censure from African leaders for the human rights situation in Zimbabwe, something which Tsvangirai himself has described as being a result of a “dubious African brotherhood”. Obasanjo’s meeting with Mugabe this week apparently dealt with attempts to persuade Mugabe to implement reforms ahead of a Commonwealth meeting that would strengthen the case against renewing sanctions. This would in turn encourage Mugabe to implement more reforms. Mbeki, Obasanjo and Howard are due to meet in South Africa next month to review their decision to suspend Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth after Mugabe was re-elected last March in elections dismissed by Commonwealth observers as fraudulent. South Africa, Nigeria and Australia are tasked with reviewing the one-year suspension of Zimbabwe.

A further diplomatic triumph for Mugabe has been the hosting of preliminary games of the cricket world cup in Zimbabwe. England was the only country to announce the cancellation of their match in Zimbabwe, but this was mainly due to safety concerns as opposed to being a result of taking a politically principled position. The only official statement of solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe emanating from World Cup structures that suggested there may be moral problems with playing a game in a country where torture and starvation were taking place came from Zimbabwean cricketers Andrew Flower and Henry Olongo, who wore black armbands during their game against Namibia. “We cannot in good conscience take to the field and ignore the fact that millions of our compatriots are starving, unemployed and oppressed. We are aware that hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans may even die in the coming months through a combination of starvation, poverty and Aids. We are aware that many people have been unjustly imprisoned and tortured simply for expressing their opinions about what is happening in the country,” the pair said in a statement.

Two recent trials suggest that justice may prevail, says an article published by the Digital Freedom Network (http://www.dfn.org/news/zimbabwe/tsvang-trial.htm). The first is the dropping of charges against 41 white farmers who had refused to vacate their farms in protest of the government's land reform program that involves the involuntary seizure of land without adequate compensation. The second trial involved four MDC members, including Member of Parliament Job Sikhala, who were accused of plotting to overthrow the government. They filed a motion with the High Court in February to have their case dropped, claiming that a confession was coerced from them while under police custody. The judge ruled in their favour and dismissed the charges. But the DFN article also acknowledges that Mugabe has been known to fire judges and reverse their decisions on a whim and that if the court finds Tsvangirai guilty, then Mugabe would have succeeded in eliminating his political competition.

Just how far will the failure in quiet diplomacy extend? Having said little or nothing about Zimbabwe’s human rights record, it remains to be seen what Mbeki and Obasanjo would have to say if Tsvangirai was found guilty and sentenced to death. Not so long ago a similar exercise in quiet diplomacy involving a human rights activist, a South African president and a despotic ruler ended badly. In that case the characters were Ken Saro-Wiwa, South African President Nelson Mandela and General Sani Abacha of Nigeria. But lets hope that’s where the similarities end.

Links:
* Who should be sanctioned?

* Treason trial in secret session
http://allafrica.com/stories/200302110459.html
* Ben-Menashe a Crook, Say Tsvangirai's Defence Lawyers
http://allafrica.com/stories/200302040222.html
* African nations to drop Mugabe sanctions

Following an update from Secretary General Kofi Annan, the UN Security Council has commended steps taken by the authorities in Luanda towards full implementation of the Lusaka Protocol on peace in Angola.

The head of the UN's Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has criticised the international community for often “undermining national development efforts”. Kingsley Amoako called on rich nations to “revisit their policies on aid, trade and debt” in order to reinforce their billion dollar development aid packages.