Sudan to review law on southern secession vote

By Khaled Abdelaziz

KHARTOUM, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Sudan's two main parties on Wednesday said parliament will review a disputed law on a referendum on independence for the south, hoping to avert political crisis after harsh criticism from Washington.

Parliament passed the law even though the main southern party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), walked out of the assembly objecting to an amendment allowing southerners living in the north to vote in the January 2011 referendum.

SPLM officials insist the referendum must go ahead and analysts agree any scent of deceit hanging over the process could reignite the north-south civil war that raged for two decades and killed some 2 million people. A return to hostilities could destabilise much of east Africa.

The United States criticised the National Congress Party (NCP), which dominates the north, for passing the referendum bill on Tuesday, accusing it of undermining the 2005 peace deal that ended the civil war and brought the two rival parties into a fragile coalition.

Namibian President And Other Leaders In Violation Of The Constitution

NEXT year, Namibia will hold its fifth democratic elections, the fourth after political independence in March 1990.
This time around, they will be held under the most volatile conditions thus far, accompanied by the spread of fear, intimidation and political violence.
The spectre of political arrogance on the part of the ruling party and intolerance sweeping across the land is one of the most frightening of our time.
The three elections that Namibia held previously were characterised by relative peace, and to his credit, Founding President Sam Nujoma remained relatively above the fray characterised by insults and intolerance that seems to have invaded the political leadership of the ruling party today.

WFP Food Aid Pipeline To Zimbabwe Supplied Through 2008 - Official

By Patience Rusere Washington 10 October 2008

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A spokesman for the United Nations World Food Program said Friday that although the agency must raise $140 million to ensure sufficient food aid flows into Zimbabwe through early 2009, the WFP "pipeline" into the country can serve designated target groups through December.

The WFP issued an appeal for the additional donor funds this week, following a warning late last month from the Famine Early Warning Networks System or FEWSNET that Zimbabwe "could run out of cereals" by early November if the pace of imports into the country by commercial and humanitarian players did not increase threefold.

WFP Southern African spokesman Richard Lee acknowledged the agency faces a challenge as food supplies tighten and the number of people requiring assistance surges.

But he told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the agency will be able to serve the groups it is targeting through the end of this year.

"What the problem is at the moment is that we do not have any stock for January or February, which is when we really hit the peak of the crisis in Zimbabwe." He said the WFP aims to reach 2.5 million people in October, rising to 4 million in January-February.

"The real concern is when we hit the peak of the crisis in the first three months of 2009. At the moment we do not have sufficient (financial) resources for those three key months," he said. "That's why we really do need donors to come forward.

Many inside the country see a disaster in the making, particularly as the unity government that was supposed to be established following the Sept. 15 signature of an agreement for power-sharing by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change founded by Morgan Tsvangirai has yet to take shape so it can take action.

Policy Coordinator Eddie Cross of the Tsvangirai MDC formation circulated comments late this week under the heading, "Sliding into the Abyss." He stated that even if donors respond to the WFP appeal, "this still leaves a shortfall in overall cereal and oilseed supplies of 800,000 tonnes for the next six months," while with planting time here and the rainy season weeks away, "there is very little land preparation, virtually no seed and fertilizer."

Elsewhere, the National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations said on Friday that a national disaster should declared.

More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...

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British visa plan to restrict relations - DA

Any move by Britain to impose visa requirements on South Africans wishing to visit that country will have a serious effect on relations between the two countries, according to the DA.

According to reports, British MPs were examining evidence that might lead to such a visa requirement soon, DA foreign affairs spokesperson Tony Leon said.


Source:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3045&art_id=vn20080207062257224C334331

Zanu-PF expels Mugabe challenger

By Cris Chinaka
Harare - Zimbabwe's ruling party on Wednesday formally expelled a former ally of President Robert Mugabe for launching a challenge to the veteran leader in next month's elections, a Zanu-PF official said.
Veterans of the country's liberation war have branded former Finance Minister Simba Makoni, a senior member of Zanu-PF, a traitor after he entered the race on Tuesday, in the first major challenge to Mugabe from within the ruling party in 20 years.

Source:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20080206153409598C830733

Zuma charms the JSE

Michael HamlynThu, 31 Jan 2008

Continuing his charm offensive to reassure businessmen and the investment community that his ascent to the leadership of the ruling party signifies no threat to the economy — rather the reverse — Jacob Zuma on Thursday faced the bulls, bears and stags of the Johannesburg Securities Exchange.

Full story:
http://business.iafrica.com/news/848220.htm

Zambia confident it will secure senior AU post

Tue 29 Jan 2008, 15:32 GMT

LUSAKA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Zambia believes its candidate to run the African Union's secretariat has a strong chance of winning the post, President Levy Mwanawasa said on Tuesday.
Mwanawasa said he was certain Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika, 64, Zambia's ambassador to the United States, was qualified for the post of chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission.

Full story
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL2919151.html