Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 2 October 2003 — Page 8

Page 8 • The Muncie Time:; • October 2, 2003

AFRICAN BRIEFS

GUINEA BISSAU GETS NEW PRIME MINISTER AND PRESIDENT Sept. 23 (IRIN) - The military junta ruling Guinea-Bissau since a coup d’etat this month is standing firmly behind its candidate for the post of prime minister. The junta dismissed objections to his appointment by 15 of 17 political parties consulted. As prime minister of the transitional government, Antonio Artur Sanha will be responsible for setting up fresh elections. Sanha is the secretary general of the Social Renovation Party (PRS) of former president Kumba Yala, who was deposed in a bloodless coup on 14 September this year. He fell out with Kumba Yala in 2001 when he was sacked as interior minister. Some political leaders rejected him because, they said, the post should go to a political independent, while others recalled a murder charge against him. The charge was eventually dropped. All agreed, however, with the junta's choice of interim president - Henrique Rosa, a respected businessman who was head of the National Electoral Commission during GuineaBissau's first multi-party elections in 1994. The country's political and military leaders must now thrash out a timetable for holding elections and returning this former Portuguese colony of 1.3 million people to constitutional rule. The presidents of Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal visited Guinea-Bissau last week to press the military

junta, led by General Verissimo Correia Seabra, for a rapid return to civilian rule. Although Kumba Yala was elected with a strong majority in free and fair elections in early 2000, he soon alienated most of his former supporters. His government became increasingly erratic and his overthrow was greeted with widespread relief at home.

FREE AIDS DRUGS FOR AFRICAN STAFF OF GUINNESS FIRM By Gabriel Packard Sept. 23 (IPS/GIN) - The firm that makes Smirnoff vodka and Guinness beer has promised to give free AIDS drugs for life to all its African employees living with the virus, says a report in Britain’s Guardian newspaper. The UK-based company Diageo will continue to supply drugs, says the report, even if an employee is laid off or fired. Independent health groups would administer the treatment, allowing staff to remain anonymous. More than 5,000 Africans work for Diageo in 25 different countries on the continent, including South Africa, Senegal and Nigeria. No figures are available on how many of them have HIV or AIDS. But United Nations statistics show that 30 million people in Africa are currently infected. In some countries as many as 30 percent of adults have the virus. Diageo is not the first firm to offer this kind of treatment. South African mining company AngloGold started giving free HIV treatment to the 30 percent

of its workers who have the virus. The firm calculated it to be more profitable to give treatment to employees than to allow them to get ill and die from HIV-related health problems.

NIGERIA: NEW OIL SPILL THREATENS FARMS, FISH AND DRINKING WATER Sep. 23 (IPS/GIN) - A new oil spill in the fertile Niger delta has been reported by villagers in the affected area. The crude oil spill has damaged farmland, fishing grounds and drinking water, residents of the area said. The rupture in the pipeline/which conveys crude oil from wells to a collection center in the Gbarain oilfield, was first spotted last week 13 km from the town of Yenagoa in Bayelsa state. It was torn open by an excavator belonging to a construction company working for Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational firm. The pipeline was still spewing oil on Monday as Shell workers struggled to stop the leak. Police cordoned off the area to prevent them from being attacked by angry villagers. Local residents said heavy rain spread oil from the spill more widely, polluting the communities of Edepie, Etegwe, Okutukutu, Opolo and Biogbolo. The area is about 120 km northwest of Port Harcourt, the main center of Nigeria's oil industry. Cecilia Endurance, a housewife, said women were hardest hit as the spill had occurred in the prime season for them to harvest shrimps and lobsters, a major source of local income.

Shell executives are expected to appear before the legislature this week to answer questions about the spill. Commissioner for the Environment, Godson Omubo-Dede, has vowed to make oil companies pay up for environmental degradation. ZIMBABWE: VICE PRESIDENT DIES By Gabriel Packard Sept. 23 (IPS/GIN) - Zimbabwe’s Vice President Simon Muzenda died Saturday, aged 80. He was a strong supporter of President Robert Mugabe and his policy of giving white-owned farms to black war-veterans. Mugabe announced the death on a state television station, saying Muzenda “is and shall always remain a great revolutionary leader.” “He took it upon himself to join the struggle for freedom of this country from the British settler colonialism.” Like Mugabe, Muzenda was one of the founders of the ruling Zanu PE party. Both played key roles in the struggle for Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain. Muzenda was having treatment in the coronary care unit for the critically ill in Harare’s main Parirenyatwa hospital. The cause of his death hasn’t yet been released.

NIGERIA TO LAUNCH ITS FIRST SATELLITE THIS WEEK, “NIGERIASAT-1” By Gabriel Packard Sept. 23 (IPS/GIN) - Nigeria’s first satellite is due to be launched from Russia

this week. Once in place, NigeriaSat-1 will monitor Nigeria’s environment, keeping watch for threats of floods and fires and giving data to overcome agricultural problems. Later in its 5-year predicted lifespan, there are plans to use it for weather prediction and communications. The satellite was built by 15 Nigerian engineers from Nigeria’s National Space Research and Development Agency. The UK’s Surrey Satellite Technology group provided technical support and training from, based at the University of Surrey. This joint UKNigerian project is coordinated by Nigeria’s began in November 2001. And on Sept. 26 Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasnjo will launch the satellite. The launch will be broadcast live on Nigerian television.

FORMER MALIAN PRESIDENT BECOMES NEW LEADER OF AU Sept. 23 (IRIN) - Former Malian president Alpha Oumar Konare took over the reins of power Tuesday' at the African Union (AU) for the next four years. Speaking at a ceremony, the 57-year-old professor of history and archaeology said African has to continue to take responsibility for itself: "We are conscious that we Africans have to deal with our problems. It is not because it is difficult that we have to give up. Nobody will do the work in our place." Konare governed continued on page 18.