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Address. JULY-AUGUST 1989 AMERICA'S LEADING MAGAZINE VOLUME 34, NUMBER 4 ON AFRICA

A Publication of the RT African-American Institute

Ix'tters to the Editor The Update African-American Institute Editor: Andre Astrow Chairman West Africa Maurice Tempeisman Blood Brothers 13 Hy Mark Doyle President Ghana Vivian Lowery Derryck A Grassroots Democracy 17 Publisher Hy Colleen Lowe Morna Frank E. Ferrari On the Road to Recovery 21 Editor-in-Chief Hy Ernest Harsch Margaret A. Novicki Counting Votes Interview Managing Editor Page 17 Amos Sawyer: Fighting for Rights 27 Alana Lee Hy Ernest Harsch OAL! Assistant Editor Andre Astrow A Charter for Human Rights 31 Hy Daphne Topouzis Editorial Assistant Angola W. LaBier Jones A Golden Handshake? 34 Contributing Editors Hy Andrew Meldrum Michael Maren Interview Andrew Meldrum Daphne Topouzis Willem Sudan 43 Janna Patterson Hy Margaret A. Novicki Kendahl L. RadcliHe Michael Sharpe Sudan: Averting Disaster 48 Susanna Wing Hy James P. Grant

Africa Report (ISSN 0001-9836). a Ethiopia non-profit magazine of African affairs. Rebellion and Retaliation 52 n published bimonthly and is scheduled to appear at the beginning of Hy Mary Anne Eitzgerald each dale period ai 833 United Nations Plaza. New York, N Y. 10017. Interview Lidiionai correspondence and adver- Maina wa Kinyatti: A History of Resistance 55 tising inquiries should be addressed \o Africa Report, at the above Hy Andre Astraw address. Subscription rates Individ- Lais. USA $24, Canada $30. air rate Media overseas $48. Institutions: USA $31. Saving Lives The News Hole: Reporting Africa 59 Canada $37. air rate overseas $55. Second-class postage paid at New Page 48 Hy Mary Anne Eitzgerald York. N.Y. and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: If this maga- Namibia: What They Didn't Tell Us 61 zSoviet Union Copyright <' 1989 by The African- American Institute, Inc. A New Kra: Soviet Policy in Southern Africa 63 Hy Ij'onid Eituni Reporter's Notebook "White Man, Mack War" 66 Hy Andrew Meldrum Culture Photo Credit: Mauritania's Archeological Mysteries 68 The cover photo of Operation Lfeline Sudan was taken in Hy Howard Schissel Abiye. Southern Kordofan, by New Mood in Moscow The Back Page 70 Mariantonietta Peru/Unicef. Page (i.'i Hy Margaret A. Novicki Letters to the Editor

To the Editor: 1979, originated in Kuwait. Accord- regime, while others choose to be Michael Maren's article on the oil ing to the September 1988 report of silent. It might be politically savvy to embargo against South Africa (Mar- the SRB, which Maren cites, there be silent, but let these governments Apr 1989) was timely and informa- were at least five deliveries from know that the Somali people will sur- tive and I basically accept the accu- Kuwait during the period January vive. It is important that the record racy of the Shipping Research 1979 to August 1987, including two show at least this Somali citizen's Bureau's (SRB) statistics which he cargoes in 1985-86. outrage and hurt. cites. Nor do I have any quarrel with Maren has rendered a service in The Somali people have been Maren's analysis or conclusions. publicizing an important issue, but subjected to the worst kind of However, he includes numerous fac- his careless research has marred an oppression and humiliation for so tual errors which must be corrected: otherwise useful account. long and now is the time for all of us •Sasol was not created in the late —Arthur Jay Klinghoffer to intensify our struggle for a free 1960s, but in 1947. Its decision to Professor of Political Science and just system. We will know and convert coal to oil was made in 1950, Rutgers University remember those who came to our and its first conversion plant began rescue and stood by us in our day of operating in 1955. To Ihe Editor; need, and we will remember who •South Africa's stockpiling of oil For the past 20 years, the Somali barred the gate against our hopes did not begin in 1969. Funding for dictator, Siad Barre, and his thugs and dreams and watched us suffer. this program was initiated in 1964, have been murdering our people and Abdirahman Dirie Mohamed and oil was stored in abandoned committing human rights violations Houston, Texas mines as early as 1966. that defy comprehension, yet most •The UN did not first vote for an of the world has remained indiffer- To the Editor: oil embargo against South Africa in ent. We must commend Richard In May 1988, Gen. Mohamed Siad 1973. The first call for an embargo Greenfield's efforts and commitment Barre waged unholy war against the appeared in a General Assembly res- in documenting and detailing to us Somali people to suppress a popular olution on Namibia in 1963. The first the atrocities committed by this uprising against his brutal regime. resolution specifically aimed at bloodthirsty dictator against his own He flattened major cities in northern South Africa was passed by the Gen- people ("Barre's Unholy Alliances," Somalia, including Hargeisa and eral Assembly in December 1977. Mar-Apr 1989). Burao. His security forces killed • Maren estimates South African The Somali people have been thousands of unarmed civilians, oil imports at 220,000 barrels per denied their basic rights to have a including women and children, and day. I would claim that the rate is representative democratic govern- forced over 400.000 civilians into about 100,000 b/d higher than that. ment, to speak against corruption exile in Ethiopia. Although imports are supplemented and oppression, and voice their Presently, the General and his by oil from the SASOL process, the desire to live freely as they choose in security forces are engaging in war amount cited by Maren would be their own country. Since 1969, those against the people which is not limit- insufficient to cover domestic con- few courageous ones who dared to ed to northern Somalia because the sumption considering that oil is also challenge the legitimacy of this popular revolt against the regime stockpiled, sold to Namibia and regime have been brutally murdered has spread throughout the country. neighboring states, lost in the refin- or imprisoned under torture. The We are requesting the United States ing process, and provided as consensus was and still is that speak- once again to withhold aid until the bunkers to passing vehicles. ing out against the regime is punish- General stops this war against the •Maren maintains that Kuwait is able by death. people of Somalia, restores human "an oil producer whose oil never It is very disturbing to know that rights, and gives power back to the shows up in South Africa." This is governments such as Libya, South people. surely an exaggeration. The most Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Ali Hashi Sahal famous delivery to South Africa of all and others have come to the rescue United Somali Congress time, aboard the Salem in December of this very unpopular and ruthless Voorhees, New Jersey Ahka Report welcomes comments from its readers on issues raised in the magazine and on matters relating to African political and economic development. For reasons of space, a contribution sent in the form of a letter to the editor stands a much greater chance of publication than one submitted as an article. Letters should be as brief as possible, normally between 100 and 400 words. The editor retains the right to abridge or otherwise alter letters for space or other editorial requirements. It is editorial policy to maintain a balance of views on controversial issues. All letters should bear the name and address of the sender. Requests for anonymity and non-divulgence will be requested, but such a requirement may render the letter less likely to be published.

AFRICA REPORT-March-April 1989 N THE NEWS Lekhanya Fights for particular, a Taiwanese businessman. within white-ruled South Africa. Vincent Lai. gave Lekhanya a 20 per- Lekhanya has worked closely with His Political Life cent share in his company for about South Africa since coming to power in $75 in February I9K8 even though the January 1986 in a coup widely believed Maj.-Gen. Justin Melsing Lek- firm had a listed value of $87, 000. to have been engineered by Pretoria, hanya, head of Lesotho's military gov- Shortly thereafter, the Military meaning that his fall would likely be a ernment, is lacing demands to resign Council informed an Italian business- setback for the apartheid regime. • from King Moshoeshoe II and senior man, Giuseppe Florio, that he was officials following a published report in violating the law for operating a stone South African Agents The Observer, the reputable London- quarry at a site called Ha Foso without based weekly, implicating him in a cor- a mining license. Lai's company was Grounded in ANC ruption scandal and the fatal shooting then awarded the license, boosting its Hijack Fiasco of a college student in Maseru. But so value to an estimated $545,000 and far, Lekhanya has managed to cling to Lekhanya's share to about SI09.000. One of the most audacious covert power by appealing over the heads of operations ever undertaken by alleged the ruling Military Council to junior members of the South African security officers—a tactic which has left the forces against the African National government in a state of paralysis and Congress (ANC) ended in dismal fail- produced fears that a split in the army ure recently when two white undercov- could lead to possible bloodshed. er agents were foiled as they tried to According to the report, the 51 -year- hijack a Soviet airliner flying from old leader shot a student. George Angola to Tanzania with 174 Umkhon- Ramone. at Maseru's Agriculture Col- to we Sizwe guerrillas aboard. Armed lege in December 1988, and then with hand grenades, explosives, and ordered a bodyguard to make a false detonators, the two South Africans had statement to police claiming responsi- hoped U) score what would have been a bility. The incident was then hushed up tremendous propaganda coup by forc- by senior police and other officials ing the Aeroflot jet to fly to Johannes- until a highly placed government burg where the guerrillas would have source revealed that Lekhanya had pri- been immediately arrested. But they vately admitted at a staff meeting of 16 were instead overpowered and dis- key members of the administration that armed by Soviet guards in a mid-air he had shot the victim. shoot-out. Lekhanya is said to have gunned One of the hijackers, Bradley down Ramone when he found him try- Richard Stacey, was sentenced to 15 ing to rape a woman named Puleng years' imprisonment in a Dar es Makara just off the college campus on Salaam court in early June after plead- | the night of December 23. He reported- ing guilty to charges of carrying £ ly told the staff meeting that he was weapons and explosives onto the airlin- | "on patrol" in the college grounds er, while the second faces a similar fate s when he spotted Ramone sexually Lekhanya: Hanging on by a thread upon release from a Tanzanian military assaulting Makara. Lekhanya chal- When Florio challenged the decision, hospital. Stacey, a former official of lenged him. and when the student ran the government withdrew his residency Nusas, the South African students' away, he fired a shot which killed him. permit and gave him three weeks to union which has long been the target of Lesotho's head of state, however, leave the country, despite the fact that infiltration by the security forces, offered no explanation as to why he he is married to a Lesotho national and reportedly was a member of Umkhonto was patrolling the college at night, but has been living in the country for 14 we Sizwe and went by the guerrilla rumors have spread in Maseru that he years. name of Douglas Hodges. was having a relationship with the Should Lekhanya be forced to quit Senior ANC officials revealed that woman. as pressure mounts within the Military Stacey had been under observation by Details of Lekhanya*s role in this Council for his resignation, such a the organization for some time, having murky affair have only added to his development could have far-reaching aroused some suspicion among com- woes, given that allegations of corrup- regional implications because of manders in southern Angola after it tion have also surfaced against him. In Lesotho's strategically key position was determined that he was not suited

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 for further military training. He had town of Tarfaya, but once the plan ment with a large freshwater reservoir been working in the ANC's library near became public, embarrassed authorities underneath. It would be a tragedy if Luanda when he was told he would be in Rabat said they had not been that water supply were contaminated." transferred to Tanzania as part of the informed that the waste would be toxic Dolan rejected accusations that December 22 regional peace accord and indicated that the plan would have Midco was trying to mislead King Has- between South Africa, Angola, and to be shelved. san, arguing simply that the words Cuba requiring the organization to shut Midco, the consortium, intended to toxic waste were "probably lost in down its bases in Angola, but he was export 2,000 tons of toxic waste a day translation." He also denied lack of apparently not suspected of being an to Tarfaya from Europe and North expertise and claimed the support of undercover agent. America and burn it to produce elec- the U.S. Environmental Protection Capt. R.A. Crewe, a spokesman in tricity and a series of other useful Agency for the project, stressing that the South African police command in byproducts. King Hassan II had been all the technology Midco would be Pretoria, predictably denied any official told the lucrative operation would help using was proven. The scheme, said involvement in the hijacking, blaming Morocco to industrialize by setting up Dolan. is based on a rational approach the incident on disillusioned ANC dis- a port and industrial estate to process to the problem of disposing toxic sidents who were resisting attempts to the vast quantities of waste, but he waste. "Any criticism is extremely irre- ship them out to internment camps in apparently had not yet been made sponsible from the environmental Tanzania or Uganda, never to be heard aware of its dangerous contents. The standpoint." of again. He pointed to anonymous let- consortium had predicted a revenue of ters sent to several South African jour- $250 million a year after five years. nalists in May that were allegedly writ- Pat Dolan. a director of Midco, said ten by dissident ANC guerrillas, criti- he had hoped to keep the plan secret cizing the organization's decision to until he had it "sewn up" in order to move its bases to East Africa. "They keep competitors out of the picture. He correspond with our information that had conceptualized the project a year hundreds of ANC members are dissat- ago during the controversy over the isfied and don't want to go to those Karin B. the vessel carrying a shipment countries, but want to return home," of toxic waste that no port was willing said Crewe. The ANC dismissed the to accept. "I realized that if you could letters as forgeries mailed by the South offer a solution to these problems you African security police. would be doing the world a service and While it may well be that the ANC's making some money. 1 am not the only departure from Angola has led to some man looking at this so I wanted to dissatisfaction among LJmkhonto we move quickly and in secret." he admit- Sizwe guerrillas, it certainly would not ted. be the first lime that the organization's However. Claude Cornet, a Cana- exile training bases have been penetrat- dian who was hired by Midco because ed by security police agents posing as of his connections to the Moroccan anti-apartheid activists. Indeed, a num- royal family, came to have increasing ber of "activists" have been sent for doubts about the project after taking guerrilla training to the frontline states part in a series of meetings designed to and abroad over the years only to later gain King Hassan's approval. Cornet King Hassan: Dumps toxic waste deal resurface in South Africa as senior offi- noted that a document "selling" the Rational approach or not, any plan cers in the security police. • scheme to the King was misleading as to export large quantities of toxic waste it referred only to oil wastes, described to a country like Morocco is certain to Morocco Forced to as hydrocarbons, but made no mention be highly controversial and would have of toxic substances. The brief also been roundly condemned by the Orga- Bury Clandestine Toxic characterized the waste as being non- nization of African Unity. In the past Waste Deal explosive, even though some of it year, a series of documented cases would be dangerous and volatile. involving toxic waste dumping in a The Moroccan government has As a result. Comet left the employ- host of African countries without its denied making a secret deal with a ment of the consortium and decided to true contents being disclosed has pro- British-backed consortium to build the expose the scheme, particularly after he voked bitter resentment in Third World world's largest toxic waste disposal became worried that Morocco lacked nations and prompted calls for stiffer plant in the world, after a report on the the proper know-how to operate the export controls in Europe and the U.S. proposal was leaked to The Guardian plant safely. "I did not think they had But with the prospects of enormous of London due to fears that the contro- the necessary expertise." argued Cor- profits as an enticement, the danger versial project could not be adequately net. "Certainly it is hard to see any always remains that some African gov- controlled. The $200 million hazardous native workforce with the education ernments in dire economic straits will waste disposal facility was to have and knowledge to understand what they find it difficult to resist mortgaging been built in the Moroccan-occupied are dealing with and realize the dan- their country's future in return for a section of Western Sahara near the gers. The Sahara is a fragile environ- short-term financial windfall. •

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 9 DATE SOUTH AFRICA KENYA ZIMBABWE

After 14 months in detention, Peter In the face of mounting international Two leading members of Edgar Mokaba, president of the South African criticism of its human rights record, Tekere's new Zimbabwe Unity Move- Youth Congress (Sayco) and one-time President Daniel arap Moi's government (ZUM), who had been campaign- "most wanted" activist, was finally ment released the last seven "remaining for a key parliamentary by-election released in late May when the state ing" detainees imprisoned without trial in Harare's Dzivarasekwa constituency, unexpectedly dropped its charges of or charge in early June, and declared a were arrested in early June. Davison terrorism. Mokaba. who was freed general amnesty and pardon to all dis- Gomo. the opposition leader's chief from Robben Island on appeal in 1985 sidents in exile. The decree, which aide. Lazarus Mutungwazi, a senior after serving a year of his sentence for came only days after Moi spoke of a spokesman, and 11 others were held for "membership in the African National "new era of tolerance and forgiveness" questioning in what Tekere claimed Congress' military wing," has been the at a political rally, marks his second was a "smear campaign" by the gov- target of 17 assassination attempts and mass release of untried political prison- ernment to discredit the ZUM before fears he may have to pay for his new- ers since coming to power in 1978. the by-election—won in early July by found freedom with his life. Following their release, former the ruling Zimbabwe African National The release of Mokaba and the Nairobi University professor Mukaru Union. recent escape from hospital of two Nganga and lawyer Wanyiri Kihoro ZUM. which has been fiercely Sayco national executive members, provoked controversy by suing the attacked by ministers and the govern- Simon Ntombela and Ephraim Nkoe. state for illegal confinement, while ex- ment-controlled press since its forma- leaves General Secretary Rapu detainee Mirugi Kariuki angered tion in April, claimed the arrests were Molekane as the organization's only authorities for graphically describing linked to those of four army officers leader still in detention. Mokaba mas- the torture he suffered as a prisoner. In and a former brigadier who had terminded the successful clandestine response, Mark Too, Nandi District allegedly plotted to steal weapons from launch of Sayco in 1987 at the height chairman of the ruling party, has urged an armory in the eastern city of Mutare, of the emergency clamp-down, but was Parliament to adopt a bill providing for Tekere's political stronghold. A party subsequently forced completely under- harsh penalties for defiant ex-detainees, statement said these detentions were ground by restrictions prohibiting the including corpora! punishment and thought to be "part of a purge of sus- organization from ""performing any acts hard labor after re-arrest. pected ZUM sympathizers within the or activities whatsoever." army."

SOMALIA NIGERIA THE GAMBIA President Siad Barre's regime Alhaji Balarabe Musa, former gov- received $1.4 million of U.S. military Torch editor Sana "Ticks" Manneh, ernor of Kaduna State who launched aid only one month after the outbreak who has gained fame in Banjul as the the People's Liberation Party (PLP) in of civil war in northern Somalia, much "accuser of corruption," was acquitted May, is one of several leading radical of which "was used by the government of two of the three libel charges intellectuals to have been arrested since at a critical point in the conflict." brought against him by three govern- President Ibrahim Babangida lifted the according to a recent report released by ment ministers after he had published ban on party politics. The govern- the General Accounting Office. The details of their alleged wrongdoings. ment's backlash against perceived findings, which are certain to embar- Justice Wallace Grant then dismissed "radical elements" includes the com- rass the U.S. administration, reveal that the third charge that Manneh had tried pulsory retirement of Yusufu Bala in June 1988, Barre's government lo defame Finance Minister Saihou Usman, a lecturer at Ahmadu Bello deployed the aid to bomb and destroy Sabaliy, and to make matters worse for University, and the arrest of Chief Gani residential communities and execute the government, the magistrate seemed Fawehinmi, the prominent Lagos-based hundreds of fleeing civilians accused to agree with the journalist's corruption human rights lawyer. of links with the opposition Somali claims. As a past political leader who is National Movement. Sabaliy, Information Minister Lamin banned from politics until 1992. Musa To appease growing criticism of Saho. and Lands and Natural is being held under Decree No. 2, human rights abuses, Barre released Resources Minister Landing Jaliow which empowers the authorities to 300 of an estimated 1.000 political Sonko, said they would appeal the ver- detain any person considered a security prisoners, but the report concludes that dict, but now all eyes are on President risk. He also faces a three-count charge the steps taken so far are "limited," Dawda Jawara. who last year chal- of organizing a political party in a man- with 350.000 Isaaq refugees in lenged anyone who knew of corruption ner prejudicial to the transition to civil Ethiopia still afraid to return to the mil- to report it. So far, Jawara has not taken rule program, but PLP stalwart Richard itary-controlled north. As a result, $21 any decisive action, but if he fails to Umaru vowed not to back down. million of much needed U.S. economic dismiss the ministers, he could lose "Whether this regime likes it or not, aid has been put on hold until there is a face with the U.S. and other foreign aid whether we are registered or not regis- marked improvement in the govern- donors who have been pushing for a tered, the cause for which we are fight-s ment's human rights record. clean-up. ing is going to be attained."

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 AFRICAN OUTLOOK New military junta in Sudan vows to end civil war When Lt.-Gen. Omar Hassan who had allegedly sought to bring said. Within days, the country's new Ahmed el-Bashir led a successful mili- Nimeiry back to power. Thousands of military leader launched a double ini- tary coup to overthrow Sadiq al- demonstrators took to the streets of tiative: declaring a one-month cease- Mahdi's increasingly ineffective civil- Khartoum to protest over food short- fire and offering a general amnesty to ian government in late June, it likely ages, shouting slogans: "Bread, bread, anyone fighting the government for took few in Sudan by surprise. The or the army." Nimeiry promptly political reasons. Bashir subsequently only surprise was that the army did not announced he would be ending his invited Garang to Khartoum to negoti- intervene earlier—the country's mas- four-year exile in Egypt and "do all my ate directly with the military govern- sive political and economic problems best to save Sudan and to relieve Sudan ment as "an initiative to demonstrate probably having acted as a substantial from the chains of sectarianism," but it good intent," and also requested deterrent. was Bashir and his supporters in the Ethiopian mediation, which the govern- Mahdi had been elected prime min- army who acted more swiftly to topple ment promptly accepted. ister three years earlier to deal with a the government in a carefully planned The 43-year-old Bashir, who elevat- ruinous civil war between the north and coup. ed his own rank from brigadier to lieu- south, a bankrupt economy, and a bitter Ridiculing Mahdi's peace initiatives tenant-general, rapidly consolidated his dispute over the harsh implementation as "political machinations and not seri- position after the bloodless coup by of Islamic Sharia law. But by the time ous," Bashir pledged to conclude "an naming a 15-member Revolutionary the army moved in to topple his coali- honorable peace" with the SPLA. "Our Council of mainly mid-level officers tion government, the very same prob- primary goal is peace and we are the and dismissing 28 generals and virtual- lems remained, only now they were people most suffering from war." he Continiied on next page even worse. In particular, the protracted civil war which has ravaged the country since 1983 when Col. John Garang's Sudan Dos Santos and Savimbi shake hands but People's Liberation Army (SPLA) started fighting against the government doubts still cloud Angolan peace deal of then-President Gaafar al-Nimeiry for A symbolic handshake between cial case" of Savimbi which he could imposing Sharia law, has brought Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos not disclose in public. While there was Sudan to the brink of collapse. The Santos and Unita rebel leader Jonas no mention in the Gbadolite Declara- conflict has produced millions of Savimbi in late June has set the seal on tion of what will become of Savimbi, refugees and a war-exacerbated famine a peace deal which could break a 14- Angolan officials said privately that the which took the lives of at least 250,000 year-long impasse in the country's civil rebel leader had agreed verbally to step southerners last year alone. war. The bitter rivals agreed to a formal aside from ihe political arena and leave The Mahdi government's inability cease-fire and promised to open peace the country temporarily to help the to bring the war to a quick and decisive talks on a government of national rec- peace process along. end led Sudan's commander-in-chief. onciliation at a summit in Gbadolite, That was also the position taken by Gen. Fahti Ahmed Ali, and 150 senior Zaire, hosted by President Mobutu Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda officers, including Bashir. to issue an Sese Seko and attended by 17 other who claimed that Savimbi, having ultimatum to the prime minister in African heads of state, but as dos San- agreed to go into exile, would be February: Negotiate with the SPLA or tos was quick to point out, the accord is allowed to live in Lusaka as long as see the military withdraw its support. only "a first step," with key details still Angolan authorities did not object. But Mahdi survived by forming a new gov- to be ironed out. Mobutu flatly contradicted Kaunda's ernment and initiating peace talks with Upon his return from the summit, interpretation of the accord. "The the rebel movement, but the army's dos Santos told the politburo of the rul- report on which the agreement is based patience with Khartoum finally wore ing Popular Movement for the Libera- was drawn by me." said Mobutu. out. Despite the SPLA's announcement tion of Angola (MPLA) that his gov- "There is nothing about exile." of a unilateral cease-fire in May and a ernment had accepted four main points Savimbi later quashed speculation second round of negotiations scheduled in the peace plan: an immediate cease- that he had agreed to go into exile, for July, the army stepped in, frustrated fire; the creation of a commission to be even though he did pledge full support by Mahdi's foot-dragging and the con- set up under Mobutu's chairmanship to for the peace plan. As he put it, "If you stant squabbling of the country's politi- integrate Unita members into Angolan don't defeat a man, you can't send him cians. institutions; an end to outside interfer- into exile.'' Unita's representative in Only two weeks earlier, Mahdi had ence in Angola's affairs—regarded as a Washington, Jardo Muekalia, added put down another coup attempt, arrest- reference to U.S. support for the rebel that the cease-fire was "just a starting ing 14 army officers and 48 civilians movement; and a decision on the "spe- Continued on page 10

8 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 I DATE

SUDAN...continued ly the entire senior command of the Economic recovery: Africa's alternative armed forces loyal to the former government. He also imposed a stale of The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has launched a controversial emergency, suspended (he constitution, new plan to tackle the continent's economic crisis in a recently released 60-page and dissolved Parliament, political par- report, entitled, "African alternative framework to structural adjustment pro- ties, and trade unions. grammes for socio-economic recovery and transformation," which it hopes will be The security forces immediately capable of challenging the policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and arrested several cabinet ministers in the World Bank. Khartoum and later captured Mahdi The architect of the document, ECA Executive Secretary Adebayo Adedeji. after a week on the run. Mohammed said at a London press conference in early July that the last decade has been one Osman al-Mirghani. leader of the of disaster and economic bankruptcy which in future must be avoided at all cost, Democratic Unionist Part)', and Hassan "otherwise we will not have lost just a decade. We will have lost a generation." He al-Tourabi. head of the fundamentalist went on to paint a bleak picture of a region in continuing decline, noting that National Islamic Front, were among Africa is the only continent where per capita output has dropped consistently the leading politicians to have been throughout the decade, falling from $752 in 1980 to $641 (in constant dollars) in detained. Bashir announced that Mahdi 19K7. Adedeji then pointed to what the ECA sees as a failure on the part of the world's major lending and development institutions to adopt policies that solve the structural distortions plaguing Africa's political economy. "It has now become apparent that the orthodox structural adjustment programs that Africa has been pursuing have failed to overcome economic crisis and in many cases, have made recovery even more difficult." said Adedeji candidly. Indeed, the ECA's blueprint, endorsed by the continent's finance and planning ministers, highlights the long-running dispute over economic policy between Africa and the Washington-based agencies, although it marks the first time the UN unit is officially arguing that structural adjustment programs (SAP) are not working. The report also reflects the anger and frustration of many African governments, a large number of which have been implementing IMF and World Bank- inspired policy reforms to no avail. Particularly worrying is mounting evidence that SAPs "are rending the fabric of society. Worse still, their severest impact is on the vulnerable groups in the society—children, women, and aged—who constitute two-thirds of the population." The brewing debate over how best to attack the continent's massive economic problems became markedly more heated in March when a World Bank-United Nations Development Program report concluded that the 30 or so African countries which had adopted SAPs were performing belter than those which had not. This prompted the ECA to accuse the World Bank of selective use of data in an effort to push through "doctrinaire privatization"1 and promote "excessive dependence on market forces." Instead, the ECA calls on African governments to look beyond a narrow preoccupation with short-term adjustment and to adopt a scries of wide-reaching policy Mahdi: Failed to deliver the goods reforms which will direct the continent back on course toward balanced develop- and other politicians associated with ment and the fulfillment of human needs—an approach dubbed "adjustment with his three-year rule would be tried transformation." Among the measures the ECA recommends are greater limits on before emergency tribunals and could debt service payments, multiple exchange rates, selective subsidies and price con- face the death penalty if convicted. trols, and cuts in defense spending. The report also advocates differential export He went on to blame Sudan's 36 subsidies and limited use of deficit financing for productive and infrastructural political parties for allowing the coun- investments. try to drift into ruin and vowed no But for such measures to be successful, argues the ECA, African governments return to the multi-party political sys- must draw on the support and democratic participation of their people and assume tem. "We are racing against time to prime responsibility for determining their own economic programs. "This is a fun- solve the chronic problems of the coun- damental departure from the current practice in which external development agen- try," he argued, "and we do not have cies play a principal role in the formulation, design, implementation, and monitor- lime to waste in marginal differences ing of adjustment programs in member-stales," declares the blueprint. and disputes." Above all, however, the ECA emphasizes the urgency for more consultation Bashir said the new military govern- between African governments and lending institutions, based on the acknowledge- ment would offer a referendum on ihe ment that there cannot be a single solution to the problems of the continent's future of Islamic law and any other diverse economies. Recognition of this fact alone is an essential first step if the contentious issue which has become an consensus the ECA savs it strives for is to be achieved. obstacle to bringing the civil war to an

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 SUDAN...continued "Savimbi gave up very little and he has cism for widespread human rights potentially gained a lot more breathing abuses and corruption. end. "These should be referred to the space. He was dead in the water before The summit similarly enabled the people who should decide them the summit." Bush administration to achieve a key through a referendum if they cannot be The meeting also served to improve goal—forcing the Angolan government solved by peaceful negotiations." Mobutu's tarnished image abroad. Tak- into talks with Unita—but whether explained Bashir. It remains to be seen, ing place just prior to his long-planned there is real substance to the accord is however, whether proposing a referen- visit to Washington, Mobutu clearly still an open question. Mobutu's dum in a country which is 70 percent intended to make as much political destructive interference in Angola's Muslim will be acceptable to the capital from the accord as possible internal politics, first as the main spon- SPLA. before conferring with President Bush sor of Holden Roberto's CIA-spon- Sharia law. which demands amputa- and other members of the administra- sored FNLA in the 1960s and 1970s. tions for petty crimes and requires tion, it was a golden opportunity for and more recently as Unita's primary stoning to death for adultery, has long Mobutu—a staunch ally of Savimbi's black African backer, raises more than been a key stumbling bloc in negotia- throughout the civil war who allowed a few questions about his role as tions with representatives from the Zairean territory to be used as a vital "mediator" in the conflict. And judging mainly non-Muslim south. Mahdi hud transit point for much of the covert from Siivimbi's treacherous past, dur- vowed to scrap the harshest provision U.S. arms shipments to the rebels—to ing which he has broken every agree- of Sharia when he came to power, but play the role of Africa's elder states- ment he has signed, the possibility of a under pressure from Islamic militants, man at a time when he has become the lasting cease-fire in Angola is likely to proved unwilling to make the neces- target of growing congressional criti- be severely tested. • sary compromises with the SPLA as a prelude to meaningful talks. It is once again up to the army to find a lasting solution. • Austerity triggers riots in Nigeria

ANGOLA...continued In late May, President Ibrahim bances were spurred by the distribution Babangida's government was once of leaflets spreading false rumors aboul point in a long and hard journey." again rocked by student-led riots which Babangida's "secret wealth," implying emphasizing that the rebel group spread to cities in nine of Nigeria's 21 that he had been siphoning funds rejected amnesty, clemency, or exile for states in what some local newspapers abroad while ordinary Nigerians were their leader. "President Savimbi graphically described as an orgy of vio- going hungry. remains the leader of Unita. and his lence against the administration's struc- With the capital city in chaos and future can be decided only by the tural adjustment program (SAP). The the level of anti-government violence Angolan people through fair elections," harsh austerity measures, which were overshadowing all other protests in he said. "The rumors that Dr. Savimbi introduced in 1986 by the government recent memory, Babangida was forced will remove himself from Angolan pol- as an entirely Nigerian solution to the to postpone his official three-day visit itics arc unfounded and laughable." country's economic problems but are, to France in the first week of June. In effect, the meeting between dos in reality, in line with International Instead, Babangida called on the secu- Santos and Savimbi represented a total Monetary Fund recommendations, rity forces to act decisively, and volte-face by the Angolan government have caused a sharp decline in living imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew. Uni- which, for the past 14 years, had stood standards, particularly among the poor, versities and colleges were closed firm by its vow never to talk to Savim- and have led to recurring outbreaks of down across the nation, and armed sol- bi. A smaller gathering of eight south- unrest. diers were deployed in strategic areas. ern and central African leaders in The student protests were especially As the battle for control of the Luanda on May 16 had also supported violent in Benin City, the Bendel State streets intensified, bloody clashes dos Santos' demand that any peace capital, where demonstrators took to between protesters and the security plan would have to exclude Savimbi the streets chanting war songs, destroy- forces led to the arrest of 1.500 people for being a war criminal, but the ing official vehicles, and setting fire to and an official death toll of 22, Gbadolite summit reversed their appar- government buildings. Students from although other sources reported at least ent consensus, following a month of the University of Benin attacked the 100 victims in various parts of the hectic, behind-the-scenes diplomatic State House and the High Court build- country. Hospital workers said that maneuvers. ing, burned down the town museum, most of the victims appeared to have Most significantly, Savimbi's first and set free 600 inmates after breaking been suffocated by teargas. face-to-face meeting with dos Santos, through the gates of the local prison. At the height of the protests, culminating in the dramatic handshake, Rioting soon spread to Lagos, Babangida made a firm speech declar- helped transform overnight his status in Ibadan, Port Harcourt. and across the ing that the government would not sur- African politics from a CIA stooge and southern part of the country where render to blackmail because "there is South African-backed "armed bandit" demonstrators chanted anti-government no alternative" to structural adjustment, to a nationalist leader worthy of being slogans and carried placards declaring reiterating his position that "we cannot included in the Angolan peace equa- "SAP is Death" and "Enough is return to the pre-SAP ways of an over- tion. As one Western envoy noted. Enough." In several cities, the distur- valued naira and unbridled spending of

10 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 I J3ATE

more than we earn." Lagos State Police Commissioner Ahmedu Sheidu warned that his men would deal "in military Pretoria double-speak over a cup of tea fashion and without any sentiment whatsoever with any persons who threaten the peace," and announced a Now that South African President P,W. Botha has gotten together with Nelson temporary ban on all political activity Mandela, the long-jailed leader of the African National Congress (ANC), for a "to allow the return of sanity." spot of tea at his official Cape Town residence, it seems to be only a matter of Babangida's five-year ban on politi- time before the country's most famous prisoner is actually released. But the cal activities had just been lifted in unprecedented 45-minute meeting lias also fueled speculation as to whether early May as a first step toward the Botha's ruling National Paity (NP) is finally prepared to allow the ANC and other country's anticipated return to civilian representatives of the black majority to have a real say in shaping the country's rule in 1992. confirming government future. fears that unrest could break out once For his part. Mandela confirmed his desire "to contribute to the creation of a the clampdown was relaxed. Of partic- climate which would promote peace in South Africa," stressing that dialogue with ular concern to the authorities was that the ANC "is the only way of ending violence and bringing peace to our country." unlike past campus protests, this time For years, Pretoria has demanded that Mandela and other prisoners renounce vio- students were actively joined by mar- lence as a precondition for even considering their release, but in recent weeks, the ket women, unemployed youths, and government has intimated for the first time that a commitment to work for peace the urban poor who have borne the could be sufficient. Nonetheless, many other hurdles remain—including the lifting brunt of the austerity measures. of the three-year-old state of emergency and the withdrawal of troops from the town- ships—before legitimate black organizations can contemplate negotiating with the government. Just how far apart the two sides still are was brought home when NP President F.W. de Klerk, who is Botha's likely successor after the September elections, unveiled his so-called "Plan of Action" at a federal congress in late June. The much ballyhooed five-year plan, an electoral manifesto in all but name, exposed the extent to which de Klerk is prepared to go in terms of the "drastic change" he has promised since his appointment as party leader in February. Greeted with tumultuous applause by the 1,500 NP delegates, de Klerk present- ed his vision for the future by outlining the key elements of a policy that will allow South Africa to re-enter the international community "proudly and with our heads held high." When stripped of al! rhetoric, it is hardly surprising that the plan to create a South Africa which "must be a democracy in which no group dominates, or is dominated" generated such enthusiasm among the NP faithful. Indeed, de Klerk's central message was that he is prepared, over as long a period as possible, to drop virtually all manifestations of apartheid as long as he can retain the only one that really counts: white political control. The five-year plan, which relies heavily on the Afrikaner double-think concept of "group rights"—a euphemism for the maintenance of racial divisions—boils down to a single demand for a white political veto while attempting to meet internationally accepted appearances of a free society. A "key objective" to be pursued over the next five years is "to engage recognized leaders of all groups committed to the pursuit of peaceful solutions in talks and negotiations about the political, social, and economic systems for a new South Africa." In effect, de Klerk's thinking appears to be that once Mandela is released, the way will be open for negotiations with KwaZulu "homeland" leader Gatsha Babangida; No surrender to blackmail Buthelezi and other "moderate" black politicians, which will force the ANC to Babangida accused banned politi- participate on NP terms or risk political isolation. cians, religious fanatics, and critics As might be expected, the "Plan of Action" has been met with widespread among the business community of ridicule by white and black opposition leaders alike. Jaap Marais, leader of the manipulating the rioters as part of a extreme right-w ing Herstigte Nasionale Party, described the manifesto as "nothing war against the government, but less than treason," while Democratic Party co-leader Zach de Beer said it was so authorities are only too aware that the fuzzy as to be quite incomprehensible. The Congress of South African Trade SAP has caused soaring food prices Unions called it "nothing more than a plan for disaster and yet another slap in the and chronic unemployment, which face of the oppressed." In fact, Buthelezi seems to be the only one outside the NP bodes ill for social peace. It is now up to have been impressed. "There is now at least a small ray of hope," said to the government to consider whether Buthelezi. "that the National Party can move towards one or other form of democ- to ease its austerity policies and risk racy which the Western industrial world will recognize as a democracy and which throwing the SAP into disarray or face Africa will endorse as movine in the right direction." the prospect of growing discontent. •

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 11 UGANDA MAURITIUS LESOTHO

Edred Baumann. managing director Five months after opening for busi- A serious epidemic of cutworm—dark of Barclays Bank and chairman of the ness as a tax haven, the Indian Ocean brown and grey caterpillars—has drasti- Uganda Bankers Association, has island finally received its first offshore cally affected the output of the country's called on President Yoweri Museveni's banking license application from Bar- main grain crops, maize and sorghum, government to urgently revamp Kam- clays Bank in May. fueling hopes with- forcing authorities in Maseru to launch pala's banking sector before liquidity in government circles that other lesser- an urgent appeal to the UN Food and problems lead to the collapse of several known concerns will soon follow suit. Agriculture Organization for food aid. financial institutions. The poor perfor- Authorities in Port Louis expect that The level of staple food self-sufficien- mance of this sector, he said, has been offshore banking, which allows finan- cy is projected to fall from 65 percent fueled by the lack of an internal clear- cial institutions to lend money and take to between 38 and 21 percent, and in ing system between the banks, leaving deposits in foreign currencies without the worst-affected areas, domestic many of those which have sprung up in the taxes or regulations imposed by grain production may only be enough recent years with insufficient reserves. their home government, will help trans- to meet 17 percent of basic food Of particular concern, noted Bau- form Mauritius into a regional financial requirements. mann, is that out of $98.5 million center with "an overview on Africa." The government warns that maize deposited in cash last year. $81.7 mil- Some critics point out, however, that output for ihe current season will be lion was placed in current accounts. offshore banking could make the island only in the range of 44.900 to 89.700 "These amounts, which could be with- a sanctuary for laundering drug and tons, compared to last year's harvest of drawn without prior notice, could leave mafia money, while others fear that it 159.726 tons, while sorghum output is the system in total collapse." he could provide shelter for South African estimated at between 14,800 and warned. Unless a concerted effort is investments worldwide. With ties to 29,500 tons, falling far short of the made to resolve this potential crisis, Pretoria having improved in recent 53,447 tons produced in 1988. As a customers will likely close their years, government opponents claim result. Lesotho, which already buys accounts and revert to keeping their that once it gets off the ground, off- large quantities of grain from South savings under mattresses, thereby shore banking could serve as an ideal Africa, forecasts an increase in maize boosting the flourishing black market cover for sanctions-busting operations. imports from 120,000 to 184,000 tons and further crippling the country's bat- for 1989-90, making it even more tered economy. dependent on Pretoria in years to come.

ANGOLA EGYPT NIGERIA Despite opposition from the U.S., Following an official visit to Cairo The government has sold 20 percent Angola is set to become the I.52nd in May by Soviet Minister for Foreign of the nation's southern oilfields to member of the International Monetary Economic Relations Konstantin Katu- three international companies, marking Fund (IMF) following a recommenda- shev, trade links between the one-time a successful effort to increase foreign tion from the Fund's 22-strong execu- loyal allies have been revitalized with participation in the oil sector, and tive board in mid-June. Once its appli- the signing of a five-year economic and bringing in $2 billion of much-needed cation is formally approved by member technical cooperation agreement. The revenue. The sale is part of a plan to states, President Jose Eduardo dos San- accord, which is to replace annually free substantial sums of money for a tos1 government will likely be admitted negotiated trade protocols, calls for $2.5 billion liquefied natural gas to the World Bank, thereby paving the commercial deals to be conducted (LNG) project and to "improve effi- way for additional Western funds. through a special sterling clearing ciency in the sector." according to Oil Angola has already been allocated an account, providing an ideal business Minister Rilwanu Lukman. IMF quota of SDR 145 million ($181 conduit for countries suffering from a Royal Dutch/Shell increased its 20 million). shortage of hard currency. Trade this percent share in the Nigerian National Ending nearly a two-year member- year now will be worth $1 billion. Petroleum Corporation to 30 percent, ship wait, the government overcame Several projects are in the works, while Agip of Italy bought 5 percent, U.S. objections by gaining the support including a $200 million "soft loan" for and the French state-owned oil compa- of more lhan the required 70 percent the construction of a 640-megawatt ny. Elf. paid $500 million for a 5 per- majority on the executive board after power station in the Sinai Desert and a cent share. The companies hold shares introducing a series of wide-ranging $160 million expansion of the Helwan in the LNG project in the same propor- reforms last year to rebuild the coun- Iron and Steel Works near the capital. tion as their newly acquired equity in try's war-shattered economy. As an But Soviet officials have made clear the oilfields and expect the plant to IMF member, Angola should now be in that they do not intend to compete with export 4.5 million tons a year from a position to reschedule its $4 billion large-scale U.S.-sponsored projects as 1995. The government now owns 60 external debt, widely considered one of they did in the 1960s. "Our idea," said percent of the joint venture, accounting the main obstacles to its economic one adviser pragmatically, "is to for about half of Nigeria's output of 1.5 recovery. increase the volume of our business." million barrels of oil per day.

12 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 WEST AFRICA BLOOD BROTHERS

By MARK DOYLE

"The army was put in prominent positions on the streets for the first time in 20 years"

Relations between Senegal and Mauritania remain strained in the wake of rioting and violence in April which left many dead and countless more uprooted. Despite the crucial role played by each nation's citizens in the economy of their neighbor, the explosion of long-simmering racial tensions may have caused irreparable damage at both the interstate and domestic levels.

t least 200 people were killed brought under control when the formed its function. As in so many and lens, perhaps hundreds, armies of both countries intervened Mauritanian establishments in Sene- A of thousands of people made and curfews were imposed. gal, a wizened old man, or some- homeless by an outbreak of ethnic On the corner of the street where times his wife, would sell all manner violence in Senegal and Mauritania I live in central Dakar, there was of household items—rice, candles, in April. The unrest was only once a flourishing little shop. Noth- cooking oil, matches. ing fancy, in fact it was rather grub- On the beaches outside Nouak- Mark Doyle is a British journalist based in Dakar. by. But as corner shops go, it per- chott, capital of the Islamic Republic

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 13 of Mauritania, Senegalese fishermen in Mauritanian politics, Senegal had ritania. Blacks are generally, at the once gathered with their catches always been known as a tolerant very least, looked down upon by from the rich Atlantic seas. In a bois- country, with its tradition of "teran- their lighter skinned co-citizens. terous, noisy atmosphere, the Sene- ga" ("welcome" in the Wolof lan- Almost as soon as the news was galese would sell their fish to grate- guage) accepting all sort of foreign- out that two Senegalese had been ful Mauritanians—like the Maurita- ers on its soil. killed at a remote spot on the bor- nians in Senegal, the fishermen were Tensions between Arabic-speak- der—shot, according to the Sene- performing a crucial role in the econ- ing Moors from Mauritania—who are galese media, by Mauritanians—the omy of their neighboring country. both light and dark-skinned—and looting of Mauritanian-owned shops But now the shopkeepers and the black Africans who traditionally live began in the nearest town, Bakel. fishermen are gone. The shops in south of the Sahara desert date from Senegalese police had to take Mauri- Senegal are looted and boarded up, centuries back. The enslavement of tanians under their protection to and the beaches outside Nouakchott black Africans by the Moors is only stop angry villagers from attacking are stained with blood. Gone too are part of the explanation for the enmi- them. This scenario was to be the Senegalese carpenters, taxi ty, even if slavery was—incredibly in repeated throughout Senegal as drivers, and civil servants who the modern world—only officially rumors spread like a bush fire that greased the cogs of Mauritania's abolished in Mauritania in 1980, not only had the Mauritanians economy. And gone are the rich barely a decade ago. And despite allegedly shot two Senegalese, but Mauritanian visitors to Dakar's this theoretical abolition, the African that the bodies of the dead had been nightspots, grateful for a little relax- slaves, or harantines, are still an dragged behind camels in an act that ation after their austere life in the underclass, effectively bonded labor could have been designed to outrage Islamic republic. to Moorish masters. Senegalese public opinion. What has also disappeared is Tensions between Moors and It was as if generations of pent-up what now seems to have been the Africans were also exacerbated by anger toward the "racist" Moors illusion of good neighborliness colonialism. The French occupiers were suddenly and violently between two states that were tied drew a border line between Senegal released. In Dakar, my little corner geographically, historically, and eth- and Mauritania along the Senegal shop was saved for a few days, being nically. The worst inter-community River which had little in common situated close to the Ministry of the violence between Moors and with realities on the ground. On Interior and thus well-patrolled by Africans in Senegalese and Maurita- both sides of the river, black gendarmes and riot police. But in nian post-independence history has Africans had settled. Their trading the outskirts of the city, the system- taken a heavy toll. and family relationships were to the atic pillaging of Mauritanian-owned The spark for the violence came south, whereas the nomadic Moors shops seemed to have become a on April 9, on a tiny island upstream looked if anywhere to the north. The national sport. on the Senegal River, which forms state of Mauritania—which takes its The same was happening in the border between the two coun- name from the FYench word regional capitals of Kaolack, Tamba- tries, a dispute begun between Sene- Maure—was thus something of a counda, and Ziguinchor. The accessi- galese farmers and Mauritanian hybrid along the lines of Sudan or ble and highly visible community of herdsmen. The argument was a Chad, straddling the divide between Moors—between 300,000-500,000 of familiar one: Mauritanian-owned black and Arabic-speaking Africa. them ran corner shops—became the camels were grazing on land that the To these historical factors can be target of poor Senegalese who saw a Senegalese believed to be theirs. added a political one. The Sene- chance to stock up on groceries in But unlike previous incidents on galese—from any of the African eth- an ethnic backlash which soon the border, which were numerous nic groups—perceive the Moors as degenerated in some cases into but rarely reported in detail, it quick- racist. After "racist," the most com- organized gangsterism. ly emerged that two Senegalese had mon adjectives they use to describe Throughout Senegal, Mauritani- been killed in an ensuing clash. their northern neighbors are "bar- ans who feared for their lives and Exactly how they were killed is not baric" and "cruel." In the other their property began fleeing to the clear: Senegal says they were shot direction. Moors in Mauritania sanctuary of mosques or went into by Mauritanian forestry protection regard the Africans who live to their hiding with Senegalese friends—not officials, but Mauritania denies that south in a condescending manner as all Senegalese, it should be noted, its officials were responsible. "uncivilized" or "only good for work- had turned to crime. In Dakar, But if the objective truth of the ing our land." where about a third of the Mauritani- matter may never be known, the What is incontestable is that ans resident in Senegal lived, they incident unleased a cycle of ethnic white Moors dominate politics and ran to their embassy on Boulevard violence which surprised even sea- the economy in Mauritania. It is also General de Gaulle in the center of soned observers in the region. If widely accepted that race plays a sig- town. race has always been a potent factor nificant role in everyday life in Mau- The scene at the embassy on

14 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 Monday, April 22, revealed the nia, Nouadhibou, searching out Senegal River where most of the extent of the unrest—which was to Senegalese and other Africans. Mauritanian African population is spread to Mauritania and become But it was not only Moors who settled. much more serious in the coming did the killing: Observers reported The final death toll in Mauritania days. In the embassy grounds were that the Moors' erstwhile slaves, the was vague, partly because the mili- 2,000, maybe more, Mauritanian harantines, were sent out by their tary government in Nouakchott men, women, and children, camped masters in search of Africans. The keeps a tight control over informa- on the ground surrounded by a few killings were brutal—clubbing peo- tion compared with the relatively snatched belongings. Haunted, ple to death was the most popular free, democratic atmosphere in frightened eyes looked out from method—and hundreds were hospi- Senegal. However, diplomats and their faces. Their shops abandoned, talized with serious head wounds. other independent sources agreed the 2,000 wanted out of Senegal, and Doctors reported that many of the that between 150 and 200 dead was as quickly as possible. Senegalese who were attacked went the rough total. Again, the news of the pillaging into a deep coma from which they A representative of the clandes- spread quickly in Senegal and across were never to awaken. tine black Mauritanian opposition the porous border, propelled by the Senegal subsequently accused group, the African Liberation Army national and international media and the Mauritanian security forces of of Mauritania (known by its French by the equally speedy "Radio Trot- complicity in the killings—an accu- acronym, FLAM), said in Dakar that toir." In Mauritania, a murderous sation virtually mirrored by Presi- over 2,000 Africans had been killed, reaction was unleashed. Moorish dent Ould Taya when he later but this could not be confirmed and outrage at the plight of their compa- addressed his nation. But while the FI.AM obviously had a political inter- triots in Senegal was complete. First public insults flew in both directions, est in inflating the figure. However, a came reports from Nouakchott of it was now the turn of Senegalese liv- higher death toll than the 140-200 two dead, then 17...then 25...and ing in Mauritania to begin fleeing for was not excluded. the numbers kept going up. their lives. They too took refuge in On April 25, the Mauritanian According to independent eyewit- mosques and began making their army was called out to restore order. nesses in Nouakchott, the killing way to the border areas of southern A strictly enforced curfew was was relatively well-organized. Bands Mauritania along the banks of the imposed in Nouakchott and Nouad- of Moors with murderous intent hibou. But if an uneasy calm was roamed the streets of the capital and imposed in these two towns, the vio- the industrial second city of Maurita- lence was far from over. The eye of the storm then swung back to Dakar, and as wounded Senegalese returned home and told stories of atrocities allegedly com- "The Diouf government mitted against them, tempers rose has been under heavy again in Senegal. President Abdou pressure from opposi- Diouf visited the hospital where the tion parties who say that last year's elections Senegalese had been taken and pro- were rigged" nounced himself shocked that Sene- galese citizens had suffered what he described as "inhuman and degrad- ing treatment." A Western reporter, who slipped into the hospital in the wake of the president's delegation, gathered allegations of brutal atrocities—small boys who had their genitals cut off, nursing mothers whose breasts were sliced. Although the allegations could not be confirmed by sources other than the returnees, an infor- mant did report the arrival in Sene- local people who had a few days ear- between their teeth and are unafraid gal of women whose breasts had lier made their daily purchases in of the tear gas grenades. For their been mutilated. "Massacre" would the shop began stealing the stock part, the security forces act with not seem too strong a word to with gay abandon and setting fire to restraint partly because they are describe what took place in Maurita- the rest in the street. well-trained and disciplined, but also nia. When the pillaging began, a cou- because the opposition is waiting for These atrocities were later denied ple of Senegalese policemen stood any slip on their part in order to by Mauritanian President Ould by idly, perhaps afraid of being out- accuse the government of acting Taya. But reports of the returnees' numbered. Mercifully, the shopkeep- repressively. accounts ensured that the damage er had already taken refuge and was In the case of the attacks against had already been done. A large not inside when the horde arrived. Mauritanian shops, there were suspi- crowd of angry Senegalese gathered When the crowd got out of hand, a cions that a decision had been taken outside the hospital where the gendarmerie unit arrived to back up somewhere in the Senegalese politi- returnees were taken and began the police and the people were dis- co-military hierarchy to allow the baying for Mauritanian blood in persed, but not before a young girl people to let off steam. A similar sus- revenge for the exactions against launched a verbal attack on the offi- picion was permitted with regard to their com patriots. Late in the morn- cers. "You should be on the border the Mauritanian security forces. ing of April 28, the crowd moved into fighting the Moors, not stopping us The Senegalese army mounted a the sandy streets of Dakar and the from taking our just revenge." successful protective cordon around "Moor hunt" was on. Angry Sene- The next day in the central mar- the trade fair site on the outskirts of galese crowds also began gathering ket and commercial districts, Sene- Dakar, where the 20,000 or more around the nearby international galese police seemed to conducting Mauritanians had taken refuge. On trade fair site where by now over a policy of containment rather than at least two occasions, angry crowds 20,000 Mauritanians had taken attempting to stop all of the pillag- of several thousand Senegalese had refuge. ing. The army was put in prominent to be pushed back by elite troops In revenge for the killings in Mau- positions on the streets for the first backed up by heavily armed gen- ritania, the mob cornered mostly time in 20 years, but it did not mount darmes. white Moors who had not yet taken patrols or open fire. It was left main- A semblance of sanity was refuge and brutally murdered them. ly to riot police and gendarmes to restored when the two governments Most of the killing was in Dakar. I break up groups that became too agreed after a Moroccan diplomatic personally counted 38 bodies of large or which seemed to be going initiative to organize an airlift of their Mauritanians in the central mortu- for targets other than Mauritanian respective people out of the main ary, including the bodies of two tiny shops. The sound of tear gas towns of both countries. In Nouak- infants whose heads had been grenades exploding throughout the chott and Nouadhibou, up to 40,000 smashed in. While at least 38 Moors day became almost banal. Senegalese had taken flight from the were killed in Dakar, police sources The extent to which groups of massacre, and in Dakar and other said 12 had been killed in the central mostly young men were prepared to regional Senegalese towns, a similar Senegalese town of Touba and four take to the streets in acts of vandal- number of Mauritanians wanted to were killed in nearby Djiorbel. When ism and criminality was an ironic escape the violence. Planes were other incidents were added, the final result of Senegal's status as a demo- sent from Morocco, France, Algeria, tally appeared to be between 50 and cratic country. For the last 18 and Spain to form the air bridge, 60, but again the figure could not be months, the Diouf government has which took about a week to evacuate definitive. been under heavy pressure from the people out of their nightmare. During these days of violence, pil- opposition parties who say that their Tens of thousands of others fled by laging also took on a bolder face, candidate, Abdoulaye Wade, was road. reaching right to the center of cheated of victory at last year's elec- But the end of the air bridge and Dakar. The Senegalese police did tions by government vote rigging. the repatriation of people by other not intervene in every incident, as On numerous occasions, the opposi- routes did not signal the end of the indeed the Mauritanian security tion has not hesitated to encourage bloody affair. Relations between the forces reportedly turned a blind eye violent demonstrations by groups two countries seem to have been on attacks against Senegalese. not dissimilar to the vandals who irreparably damaged, and particular- When the turn of my corner shop took to the streets against the Mauri- ly in Mauritania, where the military came, it was after the curfew hour tanians. regime is fragile, the political impact imposed by President Diouf had Whatever the truth—and there is of the ethnic unrest could have fur- passed. At around 11 p.m., the metal some—of the Senegalese opposi- ther repercussions. The political fall- shutters of the neighborhood tion's claim to have been cheated at out had already started with a seri- "Maar" (as Mauritanians are called the elections, the demonstrators and ous downturn in inter-community in Senegal) were ripped off, and the vandals now have the bit relations inside the country. O

16 AFRICA REPORT • July-Augusi 1989 GHANA CHECK THE

GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY Voter turnout was high for Ghana's innovative district assembly elections, . intended as the first step in building grassroots political participation. Unlike past elections organized on party lines, the contests revolved around candidates' probity and competence, roviding a hopeful sign for the growth of democratic practice.

• By COLLEEN LOWE MORNA - ot far from the center of Accra is a neighborhood called New Fadama, which iNn many respects looks more like a village than a suburb of a modern capital city. Paved roads give way to dirt tracks, and at jthe peak of the harlnaTtan winds, dust sweeps in tot-the sparsely

Colleen I^wtfMofna is a Zimbabwean frci'iancc jouTJpftbst biiset! in Harare. furnished classrooms of the local lights, and paved roads. Each would Two questions are now pertinent: school. be asked how they intended to go First, were the elections a worth- But on a recent afternoon, the about it. And each would humbly while exercise; and second, what do atmosphere hummed with excite- submit that most of all, they would they portend for Ghana's future? ment. On the porch of one class- need the support of their colleagues. Many of the country's critics room bloc, reggae and highlife tunes By the end of February, Ghana's wrote off the elections before they beckoned the local inhabitants to a district assembly elections—the first even started. At its third quadrienni- al congress in March 1988, the Ghana Trades Union Congress rejected the district level elections on grounds that they had not been conceived in the context of a national constitution drawn up by different interest groups in the country. Exile opposition groups, such as the London-based Ghana Democrat- ic Movement, said a government which had come to power via a coup could not hope to itself restore democracy. Western observers found much to quibble about in the execution of the elections, which were held on non- partisan lines, sponsored by the government, over a period of three months. Intellectuals, meanwhile, compared the elections to those staged by Lt.-Col. Ignatius Acheampong in March 1978 in a concerted effort to legitimize his rule. But unlike the 1978 referendum, which took place in a heated atmosphere and attracted a trickle of voters, a good 60 to 70 percent of all registered voters turned out for the district assembly elections. "We think that something positive is going to come out of these elections," explained a New Fadama voter enthusiastically. According to Ghana's secretary for local government, Kwamina Ahwoi, whose office oversaw the complex elections, the process had been carefully thought out. "From the beginning of the revo- Flt.-lJ. Jerry Raw!ings: The district assemblies are "the first step in formalizing demo- lution, [the government of FIt.-Lt. cratic structures which involve grassroots participation" Jerry Rawlings] was committed to meeting. The occasion was the elections of any sort in the country the participation of people in deci- "mounting of platform"—or launch- for a decade—had finally drawn to a sion-making," he said in a recent ing of campaign—by the two con- close. Colorful inauguration cere- interview. "Even in [those] heady tenders in the district assembly elec- monies took place across the coun- days, we came up with the concept tions, Shika Prince Adjei, a farmer, try, as the 11(1 assemblies prepared of People's Defense Committees and and Osman Zaree, a clerk. to take on their new tasks, which Committees for the Defense of the Each would promise to transform span a broad spectrum of day-to-day Revolution (CDRs). New Fadama into a respectable sub- life, excluding only defense and for- "As the economy improved and urb with running water, drains, eign affairs. the political situation stabilized, the

18 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 base of the revolution had to be ment deliberately forbade the use of one-third of all council members. broadened to include not only mem- private funds to "ensure that every- "As a Westerner," said a diplomat, "it bers of the CDRs, but the Ghanaians one had a fair opportunity." is my contention that everyone in generally. It was felt that the best In that respect, argued one Accra public office should stand the test of way of doing so was through the voter, the elections were more fair elections." electoral process." than in the West, where money, The government argued, on the At the same time, according to rather than policies, can be the other hand, that there may be talent- Ahwoi—a lawyer by training—"our political history will tell you that on average, governments formed after others have been toppled don't last A NEW CHAPTER for more than two years. We felt that there was something to account for At age 32, Ghana is one of the oldest countries In sub-Saharan Africa. this. One reason we came up with is As such, according to Secretary tor Local Government Kwamina that we have always paid attention to Ahwoi, "we seem to be unique in having lived through almost all the structures at the center and forms of government." ignored the structures at the periph- Under its first leader, Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana inherited a multi- ery which are supposed to support party system from the British, the local government chief noted. In 1960, following a referendum, the country adopted an Amencan- them. style republican constitution, with Nkrumah as executive president. "Secondly, we realized that for the By 1964, this had been refined to a one-party system, and two years vast majority of our people, the later, Ghana experienced its first coup under Gen. Joseph Ankrah. things that happen at the local level In May 1969, the official ban on party politics was lifted, and by are the things that matter most. For- October the country had reverted to a Westminister system of govern- eign policy is important to people ment under Dr. Kofi Busia, who was overthrown by Lt.-Col. (later like me, who have time to engage in Gen,) Ignatius Kutu Acheampong a short two years later. political polemics. For the vast In September 1976, Acheampong mooted the idea of a "union gov- majority of rural people, such things ernment," or UNIGOV, which sought to replace party politics with an ill-defined alliance between the armed forces, police, and civilians. as education, good drinking water, The idea was strongly resisted by church groups, Ghanaian profes- etc. are far more important. These sionals, and students, who made a poor showing at a referendum fall under local government, which held in March 1978. Acheampong's term as a "civilianized" ruler was in the past has been ignored." short-lived—in July 1978, he was quietly deposed by his chief of In formulating an election strate- defense. Frederick Akufio. gy, Ahwoi argued, Ghana had to take From January 1, 1979, parties were again legalized and elections into account its own particular cir- scheduled for June. But on June 4, amid public applause, the charis- cumstances as much as possible. matic Flt.-Lt. Jerry Rawlings seized power, saying he had come to For example, it would be anathe- cleanse the country of its political rot before elections, which went ma in the West to stagger elections ahead as scheduled on June 18. of any sort over a three-month peri- The elections were won by the People's National Party of Hilla Limann, which established a U.S.-style liberal democratic system. But od as was the case in Ghana. But as amid continued corruption and economic decline, Rawlings seized Ahwoi points out, "with one vehicle power again on December 31, 1981. to every district, and several elec- Although the military has remained at the helm ever since, Rawl- toral areas per district," Ghana had ings has assembled some of Ghana's top intellectuals in the govern- to hold the elections in three differ- ment and undertaken a rigorous, IMF-sponsored economic reform ent zones, at three different times, program, Now Ghana's second longest ruler, Rawlings is also experi- for logistical reasons. menting with political liberalization—but none of it along the lines Fears that results in one zone already tried in Ghana. • would be used to influence results in another appeared unfounded, given —C.L.M the highly individualized and local- ized nature of the flections. deciding factor. "In the past." he ed individuals in the community who The fact that all public campaigns said, "candidates used to spend all could contribute valuable skills to (except house-to-house calls) were their time after elections trying to the running of a district assembly, organized by the National Commis- recoup the money they spent cam- but did not want to go through with sion for Democracy, a government paigning. We hope these ones will an election. agency, using literature printed by concentrate instead on fulfilling their In a situation of high illiteracy and the government body, also raised promises." low-level skills, professionals might eyebrows in some quarters. Howev- Another point of debate was the have to be asked to help out, the er, according to Ahwoi, the govern- government's decision to appoint Rawlings government argued.

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 19 Although those chosen will elections, no one intimidated us." community initiative. inevitably owe their patronage to the Individuals were also thoroughly The assemblies will draw up bud- ruling elite, they did—by and cross-examined on their record and gets to be submitted to the central large—include accountants, doctors, intentions. In New Fadama, for government, but given current eco- teachers, and other influential mem- example, Adjei faced a storm of nomic hardships, much of the rev- bers of the community. tough questions over alleged misuse enue will have to be raised through Finally, the elections were unique of community funds in the past. In self-help projects. in being held along non-partisan another electoral area, a candidate is To the extent that the district lines, with candidates required to said to have stood down after a assemblies can arouse some of the subscribe to broad government prin- schoolboy told a public rally that the latent enthusiasm at the local level, ciples. While this clearly goes man had hired him to do a job, and even Ghana's critics agree that they against the grain of democracy as then refused to pay. "No one who have an enormous contribution to make. The colonial legacy of government from the center, analysts note, is encapsulated in the Akan word for government—"aban" or "fortified seat of power." More immediately, as the Rawl- ings government embarks on its sixth year of IMF-sponsored structural adjustment—which has so far tended to stress macro, rather than microeconomic reform—analysts say that maximum participation from the grassroots is becoming more imperative. The longer term question, however, is whither Ghanaian politics now? According to Rawlings, the district assemblies are "the first step in formalizing democratic structures which involve grassroots participation." Shortly after the completion of the district assembly elections, he added that it would now be up (o them to decide whether regional and national assemblies should be established. Whether and how the no-party district elections will be translated into broader structures remains to be seen. For his part, Rawlings has no immediate plans of stepping down. While the aim of the ruling Provisional National Defence Coun- Volta Region: "For the vast majority of rural people, such things as education, good cil is to eventually "make itself drinking water, etc. are far more important" redundant," his past experience of defined in the West, "the party sys- had genuinely done something handing over to a civilian govern- tem in Ghana in the past polarized wrong stood a chance of winning," ment had convinced him that there the country to an extent where it one Accra voter noted. is no point in leaving prematurely, was difficult to build any kind of con- Each district assembly will now Rawlings said in a recent interview. sensus," according to Ahwoi. be required to elect an executive "This time around," he noted, A remarkable feature of Ihe elec- committee within itself, which will "instead of trying to clean up exist- tions, he noted, was the absence of carry out policy decisions. Although ing structures, we must oversee a political violence. In previous elec- this will be chaired by the govern- political structural adjustment, and tions held on partisan lines, ment-appointed district secretary, ensure that all its components are observed one voter, "parties paid ensuring strict adherence to govern- functional before we can leave the thugs to beat people up. In these ment policy, much will depend on scene." O

20 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 O RECOVERY ERNEST oversy fwining around the be and draw-backs of structural adjustment programs in Africa, there is little disagreement that Ghana's economic reform efforts have achieved positive results. Our correspondent examines what has made the Ghanaian program a success and whether ifcaatrbe emulated elsewhere in the continent

__ , „ about the future. recenfTJBE&sIoR, 'XM Ghanai____ From residents of Accra's impov- leader drew attention to the erished neighborhoods of Mamo- -$100 million that Ghana lost last bi or Nima, to women coopera- year on its cocoa exports, due to ids out as one tive farmers in Agomeda who j^ialummeting world prices. Ghana lack basic farming toots, anwgCSfifi^lose twice as much this rica's few relative bright n , oTs. "Success story" and the way up to the country's tdf*-*itfga ff^he warned. "showcase" are two terms often political leadership, the difficul- Rawlings also often empha- 'used abroad to describe its ed. fe. and pitfalls appear greater sizes that the human Costs of nomic performance. .ah they do from a distance. these economic difficulties, c< While many Ghanaians are Flt.-Lt. Jerry Rawlings, bined with the adverse impact m, quick" to acknowledge the eco- Ghana's head of state, often certain austerity measures, are nomic recovery of recent years, dwells more on the economic "making life unbearable they tend to express less satis- constraints than on the improve- people. faction with current conditions ments. Ghana's progressive "Many Ghanaians i Ernest Harsch is a freelance journalist declared this June 4, is being their low incomes.'... based in New York who has written extensively on African political and eco- held back by the "plagutj.^f national minimum daily wage of nomic developments for over a decade. underdevelopment." On an- ,dis is barely enough cocoa and coffee, Ghana earned more than $868 million from its exports in 1988, a 5 percent increase over the previous year and nearly twice as much as in 1983, at the beginning of the Economic Recov- ery Program (ERP). Thanks to efforts toward diversification, earnings from non-traditional exports, while still a small portion of the total, rose 45 percent last year. Inflation has dropped from triple-digit levels to around 20 percent. It is numbers such as these that impress the economists and statisti- cians of the World Bank and Interna- tional Monetary Fund, two key hin- ders of Ghana's recovery program. They have been fulsome in their praise of Ghana's performance and in their negotiations with other African countries, frequently point to Ghana as an example of what IMF and World Bank funding and advice can bring. "Ghana is now a World Bank showcase for free-market policies" was how one London Times headline captured the prevalent image. Ghanaian officials seem uncom- fortable with such a portrayal. Ascribing a straight "free-market" orientation to Ghana's ERP is simply Finance and Planning Minister Kwesi Botchwey insists that the ERP's essential elements were determined by Ghanaians, based on a sober assessment of the options inaccurate, they believe. Some take facing their country" issue with the excessive emphasis buy a ran of milk, and nearly twice Western metropolises, as trucks and on Ghana's positive growth rates, thai much would be needed for a bar cars compete for scarce road space. which they think obscures the more of laundry soap. The port of Tema has freighters complex question of how to achieve Adu, a transport worker in the lined up to unload cargo or pick up balanced development, where industrial town of Tema, notes that cocoa or other Ghanaian exports. progress is measured less by eco- his regular salary cannot support Economic life is bustling in the nomic statistics than by the level of his family. He sometimes picks up smaller towns and villages as well. social well-being. occasional, part-time jobs, while his Rural markets are well-stocked with Perhaps most often, Ghanaian wife and eldest son work as street foodstuffs. Local cottage industries leaders chafe at the suggestion that vendors. Nevertheless, Adu is thank- are springing up. the progress of recent years is due ful, especially when he looks back at Such general impressions are mainly to IMF and World Bank inter- the early 1980s. "That was the confirmed by the statistics. Ghana's vention. While the ERP was a prod- worst," he recalls, "One did not real gross domestic product has uct of negotiation and compromise, know where to get the next meal. grown an annual average of more officials such as Finance and Plan- Now things are better." than 5 percent for the past five ning Minister Kwesi Botchwey insist Throughout the country, econom- years—the best sustained growth in that its essential elements were ic activity has picked up markedly. sub-Saharan Africa. I-ast year, agri- determined by Ghanaians, based on Accra's main markets are choked cultural production rose 6 percent, a sober assessment of the options with sellers and buyers. Street ven- in part due to good weather but also facing their country. dors stake out even the most to the cumulative impact of agricul- obscure corners and out-of-the-way tural policy reforms and increased lanes. Rush-hour delays are begin- budgetary allocations. When Rawlings' Provisional ning to rival those of some major Despite poor world prices for National Defence Council (PNDC)

22 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 took power on the last day of 1981. argue. "The reality surely has been Ghana desperately needed out- those options were exceptionally that 'controls' have been precisely side funding. An initial approach to narrow. Ghana's economy had dete- what were lacking in the kind of run- the Soviet Union, Libya, and other riorated so drastically that many felt away decline that Ghana has gone non-Western powers brought some the country's national survival itself through," he says. The absence of pledges of assistance, but far less was at stake. Ghana, most agreed, real checks against corruption and than was hoped. Western govern- had faded to just a pale ghost of the speculative commercial activities ments and banks, for their part, hopeful and proud nation that was weakened productive initiatives in refused to provides any loans unless once among the most industrialized general, whether by the public or Ghana came to an accommodation and literate on the continent. private sectors. Basically, says Tsika- with the IMF. During the 1970s in particular, a ta, the problem was a failure of politi- Whether or not to deal with the combination of serious mismanage- cal leadership to confront economic IMF proved to be a difficult decision. ment and unfavorable international reality. There were suspicions that Western- economic trends had set Ghana's The advent of the PNDC changed dominated institutions such as the economy on a long downward spiral. this equation. Its extensive public IMF would seek to impose policies An overvalued exchange rate for support, in contrast to the unpopular harmful to people's living standards the Ghanaian cedi eroded real and unstable regimes that preceded and to Ghana's efforts to lessen its returns to producers of cocoa and it, gave the new government the external dependence. Rifts devel- other exports. Cocoa production political strength to tackle the crisis oped within the PNDC and among consequently declined by half in a decisive manner. the left-wing organizations support- between 1970 and 1982. This fall in The PNDC projected ambitious ing it. According to Tsikata, the dis- output and the weakening of cocoa's goals: rehabilitation of the country's pute "threatened the very stability of world price cut into government rev- decayed roads, railways, and facto- the government." enues, bringing a drop in public ries, increased agricultural produc- In the end, Ghana's leaders con- investments and serious decay of tion, and at least a modest improve- cluded that they had no real choice social services. Imports likewise ment in living conditions. but to seek IMF funding. Rawlings plummeted, crippling many of the While the will to act was there, stated that while it was vital to even- import-dependent manufacturing the resources were not. To make tually "wrestle the economy from the enterprises. matters worse, 1983 brought a string domination of international finance Between 1970 and 1982, Ghana's of catastrophes. The most serious capital," that was impossible while gross domestic product declined an drought in living memory and the country was in a state of virtual average of 0.5 percent a year. Over widespread brush fires destroyed collapse. The task at hand was sur- the same period, real per capita much of that year's harvest. Then vival and recovery. income fell by nearly a third. Infla- Nigeria expelled an estimated 1 mil- But unlike many other govern- tion peaked at 123 percent in 1983, lion Ghanaian migrant workers, ments that have gone to the IMF the year that Unicef calculated the bringing a sudden influx of re- empty-handed and then simply had infant mortality rate at 107 per thou- turnees at a time when they could to accept whatever economic pro- sand, up from 80 in the mid-1970s. not be absorbed easily. gram the Fund proposed, Ghana pre- Official reactions to this crisis, pared its own program beforehand, especially by the regime of Gen. the ERR It had something to bargain Ignatius Acheampong, only made with. things worse. In a short-sighted A number of the ERP's provisions attempt to buy labor peace with c were similar to what the IMF often patronage, the public sector employ- %J trenuous efforts recommends: tighter financial ac- ment rolls were padded with tens of countability, promotion of exports, thousands of non-productive jobs. against corruption and reduced deficit financing, currency Price controls were imposed, but profiteering, for greater devaluation. Given the severe imbal- only ended up spawning a rampant ances in Ghana's economy, such black market. From top generals on accountability in public steps were seen as necessary under downward, corruption became the life, and to increase tax any circumstances, with or without norm. Economic activity shifted fur- collections from the the IMF's blessing. ther away from production toward Nevertheless, the ERP, tailored as racketeering and speculation. wealthier layers of it was to Ghana's specific circum- According to Tsatsu Tsikata, a society have served to stances, was not what the IMF had member of the Rawlings govern- expected. Some hard bargaining ment's National Economic Commis- engender public ensued. "There were trade-offs in sion, the problem in this period was confidence. the negotiations," Botchwey explained not excessive state controls, as some to a group of visiting journalists last

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 23 they seek to balance the books by reducing imports and slashing government spending. Achieving short- term fiscal equilibrium becomes the overriding concern, while long-term development goals are put on hold. The result has often been continued declines in production, per capita income, and the level of social services. Ghana's approach has been to boost imports and investments. This has stimulated production by lessening supply shortages and infusing new capital into agriculture and industry. The consequent rise in export earnings and state revenues has in turn made it possible to increase government expenditures Nursing cocoa seedlings, Kastern Region: "<»hana can boast impressive growth in vir- for social development and other tually every sector, from cocoa, gold, and timber exports to manufacturing and food purposes. production" As a result, Ghana can boast of December. "We gave up certain tions. (The PNDC has since slated impressive growth in virtually every things, or we moderated certain several dozen state-owned enterpris- sector, from cocoa, gold, and timber positions." es for privatization, while the bulk of exports to manufacturing and food So did the IMF. The Fund had the public sector is being overhauled production. Real per capita consump- demanded the lifting of all price con- to improve efficiency and function- tion has risen and real wages have trols, including on essential con- ing.) recovered to some extent from the sumer goods. It wanted a wage The agreements signed with the very low levels to which they had freeze. It argued for a single, mas- IMF and World Bank not only fallen. sive devaluation of cedi. These mea- brought major funding from those A key factor in the rise in cocoa sures would have immediately hit institutions, but cleared the way for production has been the trebling, in the already low living standards of significant credits and grants from a real terms, of the prices paid to the Ghanaian people, so the PNDC's string of commercial banks, donor cocoa farmers. This was made possi- negotiators said no. Finally the IMF agencies, and governments. Ghana's ble by the devaluation of the cedi gave in; it agreed to the maintenance immediate financial crunch was (which increased export receipts in of selective price controls, to eased. local currency terms) and by a major increases in real wages, and to a * * * overhaul of the Cocoa Board. Under complex system of phased devalua- The fact that Ghana had fought previous regimes, the Board's tions and multiple exchange rates hard for its positions accounts for employment rolls had mushroomed that softened the impact on the peo- the major difference between the out of all proportion to its actual ple and gave the government some Ghanaian program and most of the work, including 25,000 fictitious control over how the foreign structural adjustment programs "ghost workers." By eliminating this exchange was used. adopted elsewhere in Africa, often as category and letting go another Ghana's talks with the World virtual carbon copies of standard 30,000 employees, it was possible to Bank involved a similar give-and- IMF and World Bank prescriptions. redirect more of the Board's budget take. The Bank pushed hard for pri- On a continent where orthodox toward the farmers themselves. vatization of state-owned enterprises, structural adjustment is showing few The Cocoa Board is just one including for outright dissolution of signs of success, some are asking example of how the ERP approaches the Ghana Cocoa Board. Although whether these differences may be a questions of economic austerity and Ghanaian officials favor streamlining factor in Ghana's relatively better discipline. The cutbacks in the civil the public sector and giving greater performance. service and state-owned enterprises incentives to private producers, they One of the basic differences in are not jusl to make the account could not accept the scrapping of the ERP's strategy is its explicitly ledgers look good, but to free up such a key institution. In the end, expansionary approach. This is in scarce funds for directly productive the two sides agreed to trimming the contrast to most standard adjust- activities. Similarly, the austerity Cocoa Board's employment rolls and ment programs, which are mainly measures in the towns have made it divesting certain nonessential opera- exercises in demand management; possible to allocate more resources

24 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 toward the previously neglected to be named, "has yet to reflect on the top man is sacrificing to a point. countryside, at least partially cor- the incomes of workers." Frugality is the watchword. A lot of recting the old urban bias. Still, compared to some other privileges had to go." Such motivations have not made African countries where strikes, Perhaps most crucially, the austerity any easier for those most demonstrations, street rioting, and PNDC has made serious efforts to directly affected. The cutting of even coup attempts have followed draw the Ghanaian people into the many government jobs has wors- less drastic austerity moves, Ghana country's process of economic ened an already serious unemploy- has thus far escaped with relatively recovery. In many other African ment situation. Inflation, which little social unrest. countries, observes Yahaya, eco- s improved for a time, remains a prob- Huudu Yahaya, the Secretary for nomic programs are implemented | lem. Health care services and educa- Mobilization and Social Welfare, "basically just at the bureaucratic > tion have not yet recovered signifi- thinks one reason may be how the level." But in Ghana, "we supple- f cantly. PNDC has gone about implementing ment it with the mobilization of the & From the beginning, official poli- the ERR Instead of simply decreeing people." cy has included provisions aimed at ameliorating the worst impact on the population. Workers received bonus- es, special tax breaks, and periodic wages increases. Those whose jobs were cut got separation payment and in some cases, retraining or financial assistance to go into agriculture or open a trade. Last year, the government began implementing a special $100 million program to ease the plight of the most vulnerable. Somewhat awk- wardly named the Program of Action to Mitigate the Social Consequences of Adjustment (Pamscad), it includes a wide range of measures: place- ment for laid-off workers, credit schemes for small-scale farmers, public works, improvement of health and sanitation, and nutrition projects. Ghana was the first African country to have an official program designed to ease the social costs of adjustment, and it remains one of the few today. After some initial reluctance, the IMF and World Bank Selling bread on market day, Zonaayili, Northern Ghana: "Rural markets are well- eventually agreed to back Pamscad. stocked with foodstuffs" Pamscad was one reflection of the measures and telling people to fol- Through Pamscad, for example, concern among Ghanaian leaders low them, government officials fre- nearly $20 million is to be allocated that "adjustment fatigue" might be quently engage in detailed explana- to assist community action in some setting in among the people, with tions of why such measures are nec- 1,000 locations, basically to help vil- potentially serious consequences. essary. "We lay our cards on the lagers complete projects they have Last year, the universities were dis- table," says Yahaya. already initiated on their own. But rupted by a series of student The strenuous efforts against cor- this is only part of a growing trend protests prompted by moves to cut ruption and profiteering, for greater toward local development activities, meal subsidies and introduce other accountability in public life, and to in which farmers' associations, cost-saving measures. Ghana's increase tax collections from the women's groups, cooperatives, youth Trades Union Congress has often wealthier layers of society have like- organizations, and other community- been critical of employment cut- wise served to engender public con- based groups have played a key role backs and certain other policies. fidence. "When you are telling the in stimulating local production. "Ghana's economic recovery," stated ordinary man to sacrifice," Yahaya The National Mobilization Pro- one top TUC official who asked not says, "then he appreciates that even gram has been especially effective in

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 25 promoting such efforts. First The resurgence of private sector Ghana's foreign earnings depends, launched in 1983 as an emergency activity has also brought its ugly is now selling abroad for less, in real exercise to channel many of the side: the National Investigations terms, than at any other time in the Ghanaians expelled from Nigeria Committee is currently investigating past half-century. Although the coun- back into productive activities in 30 separate cases in the timber try has focused intensively on boost- their home areas, the NMP has trade, where it is believed that for- ing output, much of its effort has since developed into an on-going eign and Ghanaian businessmen been wiped out by market forces operation. It has organized several have illegally siphoned off some $38 beyond its control. hundred thousand young Ghanaian million since 1986. This loss in export earnings has men and women into volunteer For the more honest and produc- made it difficult for Ghana to pay groups known as "Mobisquads" to tive sectors of Ghana's business back the large loans it has contract- build public facilities, develop profes- class, however, the rewards have ed—while at the same time making sional skills, and engage in farming. been much scantier. new loans that much more indis- Many squads are now being trans- The exceptionally tight credit poli- pensable. Ghana's total foreign debt formed into agricultural coopera- cies pushed by the IMF and World has doubled over the course of the tives. Bank are preventing industrial com- ERP, from $1.5 billion in 1983 to $3.3 Through these Mobisquads, panies in particular from gaining billion last year. Around two-thirds of states the NMPs director, Kofi Por- access to foreign exchange. "So annual export earnings are required tuphy, "we are trying to rekindle the many enterprises seem to be dis- to keep up repayments of principal patriotism of our people, to motivate tressed," acknowledges Seung Choi, and interest (although reschedul- them." the World Bank's resident represen- ings may ease these debt-servicing With some success, it seems. Vis- tative until the end of 1988. "We see requirements somewhat). Finance its to several Mobisquad projects in many examples of companies that Minister Botchwey, speaking at a different regions of the country are reasonably vital, under good June conference on African debt in found young squad members management, and with sufficient Washington, said that Ghana has involved in a broad variety of pro- assets, but they can't turn over their now found itself in a "debt trap." jects, some of a voluntary public-ser- assets simply because they don't Without a satisfactory resolution vice nature, others as quite prof- have adequate access to working of these external problems, Ghana- itable income-generating enterpris- capital financing." ian officials have said, much of their es. In Agona Mankrong, for Industrialists have expressed con- economic progress over the past six example, the earnings from a cern that full import liberalization, as years may become meaningless. Mobisquad-managed cocoa farm advocated by the World Bank, could But Ghana, on its own, has little were reinvested in food cultivation, lead to the dumping of cheap goods hope of making real headway construction materials for a village from abroad. Garment, leather-pro- against such major international eco- health clinic, and a small boat to cessing, and plastics manufacturers nomic constraints. Recognizing that ferry villagers across a river to their are already feeling the squeeze, and these problems affect not just fields. some are going out of business. John Ghana, but all of Africa, Rawlings * * * Richardson, president of the Associ- and other leaders have said that For a country once considered ation of Ghana Industries, has called what is needed is for African states one of Africa's economic basket on the government to provide some to seek collective solutions. cases, the six years of the Economic "meaningful protection" to domestic While visiting Tanzania this Jan- Recovery Program have marked an manufacturers. uary, Rawlings pointed to the com- impressive turnaround. The crisis Some Ghanaian commentators, mon economic problems confronting atmosphere has largely dissipated. pointing to such trends, warn of a all Africans: declining net financial Simple survival is no longer the cen- danger of "deindustrialization." This inflows and export revenues, as well tral preoccupation. Yet the remain- is not the way to build an integrated as rising debt service obligations. ing difficulties are severe enough for national economy, they say. If the These, he said, have restricted the the Ghanaian authorities to speak of economy continues to revolve capacity of African economies to the future in less than optimistic around the export of just a few raw achieve desperately needed growth. terms. materials, then it will remain forever For the continent to have a Corruption, though kept in check dependent. chance, African unity "must be given by severe sanctions, persists. It is Two aspects in particular of substance in both political and eco- not unusual for a merchant, bank Ghana's external vulnerability have nomic terms," Rawlings said. "The official, top civil servant, or even aroused increasing official concern need for Africa to take her destiny in police official to be hauled before a over the past year or so: the decline her own hands is more evident now. tribunal on charges of embezzling in cocoa prices and the mounting Africa musl of necessity pool her funds, accepting bribes, or smug- debt burden. immense human and natural gling goods. Cocoa, on which so much of resources." O

26 AFRICA REPORT - July-August 1989 T R V W

Amos Sawyer: FIGHTING FOR RIGHTS

By ERNEST HARSCH

The October 1985 elections in Liberia, marked by widespread irregularities, were followed by a wave of severe political repression. As a result, many Liberian opposition political figures and activists were forced into exile. Last year, a number of them came together to form the Association for Constitutional Democracy in Liberia (ACDL). Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the ACDL seeks to provide a focus for efforts to improve human rights conditions in Liberia and to press for democratic change. It has organized public meetings and publishes a newsletter called Liberia Update. Its leaders have testified before a variety of congressional committees. One of the ACDL's most prominent spokesmen is Amos Sawyer. Then a central leader of the Movement for Justice in Africa, Sawyers 1979 independent mayoral campaign in Mon- rovia won such enthusiastic support that the ruling True Whig Party of William Tolbert cancelled the election. After Tolbert s overthrow and the coming to power of Samuel Doe, Sawyer chaired the broad-based National Constitutional Commission, which provided the basic draft for Liberia's current constitution. Sawyer was arrested in 1984 for publicly criticizing Doe's policies, leading to serious student unrest at the University of Liberia, where he taught. In 1985, Sawyer's Liberian Peo- ple's Party was outlawed. He was kept under virtual house arrest until early 1986, when he left the country. Sawyer spoke to Africa Report about the aims and activities of the ACDL.

AFRICA REPORT • July August 1989 27 Africa Report: What is your assessment of the impact of aid level. There have been substantial cutbacks in aid. U.S. policy on Liberia? How has it affected constitutional liber- Africa Report: Aside from the question of American aid to ties and human rights? Liberia, are there any particular proposals or suggestions you Sawyer: Unfortunately, the Reagan administration sent the are making for further shifts in U.S. policy, especially with the wrong signals to Liberians. The American position has been arrival of a new administration here? perceived as supportive of the very precepts and principles Sawyer: In the last year or more, we have not had any rela- that the American government seems to suggest it finds unac- tionship with the U.S. State Department. We reached an ceptable. impasse. The views were so diametrically opposed, there was Quite recently, we have seen more clearly the true objec- very little to discuss. Perhaps with the failure of the Opex team tives of American policy explained. The deputy assistant secre- [of U.S. economic advisers]—which was supposed to have tary for human rights and humanitarian affairs told the Sub- been the final effort, in a hands-on manner, to turn around the committee on Foreign Operations that there were three objec- economy—this might lead to some rethinking in the State tives driving American foreign policy in Liberia. One was Department. American security interests. The second was American private Having said that, if there were anything we would be inter- investment and the sizeabfe American community in Liberia, ested in, it would be a change in the perception of the prob- and the third was to always maintain access to the Liberian lem. Officials in the United States, and I'm talking largely of government. He put them in fhat order. policy-makers at the State Department, seem to see the Liberi- Nowhere in this scheme of things did the Liberian people fit an situation as one in which there is a government that is in. Well, that's the hard reality. Liberians have always had this doing wrong because it doesn't know how to do right. It is bias in favor of the United States, and sometimes expected incompetent, it is inept, it is corrupt. It is an "authentic" African much more of the United States than perhaps they should. government, the moral equivalent of the noble savage, Liberians should realize that they're on their own, and I think untrained. So for many years, there's been this effort to pro- that's a good thing. Nobody else is going to solve our prob- vide the training, the capacity building, bringing in techni- lems for us. cians and all of that. It is being passed over as if it were a At the same time, we wish there wouldn't be any support well-intended regime doing wrong out of ignorance. for Mr. Doe. I must say that the American government seems to We would like a shift from that kind of thinking, so as to suggest that it has done as much as it can do in reducing the portray exactly what we do have: a gangster regime, a plun- dering regime. It is not, in spite of Doe's own rhetoric, a pro- Ernest Harsch is a freelance journalist based in New York who has written extensively on African political and economic developments capitalist or a pro-free enterprise regime. It plunders both the for over a decade. labor unions and the companies. We do not have a constitu-

Theres only one airline that offers direct seven-hour service to West Africajrom the U.S.: and new Business Class service is available. For information and reservations, call your travel tional civilian government. We have a continuation of military against all the odds even to get on the books. rule, with some modifications here and there. I think we did a very poor job, under those circumstances. The fact that there isn't a constant flow of blood down the Not that if we had all coalesced there would have been a dif- streets is no credit to the humanity of the regime. It is a realiza- ferent result, but I think cheating would have been a little more tion on the part of the Liberian people that the regime's threats difficult. The lessons we learned from that experience suggest- are credible. So if we can change that Washington image of ed an imperative in forming some broad democratic alliance, the Liberian situation, then I think the kinds of things that Liberi- to try to provide the atmosphere within which competitive ans in the opposition are talking about could really be aided party politics couid act itself out. along. When efforts to contest fhe election results failed and Doe Africa Report: How do you try to reach the American public? was inaugurated as president [in January 1986], the three Sawyer: We work on several levels. We provide a consider- officially recognized opposition parties at that point formed able amount of information to the Congress, not only through what they called the Grand Coalition of Liberia. It operated staff and congressional committees, but also going to the con- for probably five months or so. Once it began to undertake stituencies. This way we not only influence the mind-set of the some major collaborative effort, the leadership of those parties legislators, but begin to build an awareness and a constituen- was imprisoned, sent to Belle Yellah prison without trial, with- cy in this country for the Liberian problem. out due process. The government was sensitive to any effort on We are working with church groups, and we are beginning the part of opposition parties to coalesce. This meant they to make some inroads in some local and community press. We were hitting on something. are trying to appear on at least one radio call-in program in a Since it became difficult to operate at home under those city somewhere in this country per month. We co-sponsor a conditions, those of us who had been forced out because of telephone line which carries regular news summaries about the political situation thought that this might well be the path Liberia. that we want to take so as to strengthen the democratic forces Africa Report: What was the initial impetus for the forma- at home. tion of ACDL? So we continued this idea of coalescing the democratic Sawyer: During the political process leading up to the 1985 forces. But we also expanded so that the alliance represents elections, it was clear that what was necessary was some sort not only the three officially recognized political parties, but all of coalescing of efforts. Doe announced that he was going to democratic forces, including political organizations that were run and he had not only all the resources of the government not registered for the elections, student organizations, certain behind him, but was making up the rules as he went along to elements in the Council of Churches, the teachers' union, labor suit his own convenience. Other political parties had to fight unions. And we decided to work in concert with human rights

Air AJrique. Flights leave JFK twice a week. Superbjirst-class service agent, localAir AJrique/ Air France office or 800-237-2747. Remember: _'* Africa begins with Air AJrique. groups in the United States and Europe. We wanted to see if a regarding the possibility of free and fair elections in 1991. new momentum could be built for democracy in Liberia. At this time, all the political opposition forces are part of We call ourselves the Association for Constitutional Democ- the on-going discussion at home. I should mention that the racy, to define what we are. An association, a conglomerate United People's Party was the last to join the discussion of groups and individuals, whose singular purpose is democ- because it had taken the posture of a "loyal opposition." The racy, but democracy in accordance with the prescriptions of UPP has now redefined its position vis-d-vis the Liberian gov- the Liberian constitution. That narrows down what we are talk- ernment and has joined forces with other opposition parties ing about. and groups. There ore three major things we want to do. First, build link- We have to operate in ways that our people have an ages and keep those ties very strong between Liberians out- opportunity for deniability on certain issues. We don't pretend side Liberia and Liberians back home, so that we can pursue that we are out here with a carte blanche to represent internal discussions and actions about alternatives. Second, we want democratic forces on every issue. So in the course of our activ- to be able to provide information about Liberia, the other side ities, there are issues on which they at home would be con- of the story, to keep Mr. Doe and his regime perceived in the strained to deny any knowledge, or to say no, we don't agree perspective that they should be perceived- A final, very useful with that. That's all healthy and that's all part of the process of objective is that we get used to working together, and this is building for a democratic order. one of the beautiful things that is coming out of this: Liberians Africa Report: If the Doe government were to suddenly go, across party lines involved in consensus building. would the outcome today be any better than it was in 1980? Africa Report: How successful have you been so far in Have democratic ideas gained enough ground, can democrat- drawing into a common framework people who used to have ic institutions be strengthened sufficiently? allegiances to different parties? Sawyer: That's a very important question. I think there are a Sawyer: Take the ACDL board, for example. There are seven few differences between the situation now and the situation names on the board. Two, Harry Greaves and Ellen Johnson then. One is that in 1979 you hac atomistic groups and ten- Sirleaf, are members of the Liberian Action Party. Momo dencies playing vital roles in the process of change side by Rogers is a member of the Unity Party. My own affiliation was side with systematically organized progressive groups. The with the Liberian People's Party (LPP), even though it was never only real linkage among them all was their common opposi- officially registered for the elections. J. Mamadee Woahtee tion to Tolbert. But their objectives, I think, were very, very dif- has been closely affiliated with Gabriel Kpolleh, and while he ferent. does not officially represent the [now outlawed] Liberian Unifi- A more important difference is that there had not been a cation Party—nobody officially represents a party—he has structure within which they were acting out their opposition in access to the thinking among those people. Ezekiel Pajibo has a systematic way in pursuit of common objectives. been a member of the LPP, but I think more importantly than We hope the ACDL is contributing to the creation of a struc- that, he has very important linkages with the Liberian National ture. First, you have political parties that have somehow made Students Union (LINSU), and at one point was its secretary- themselves a presence in the society. Stimulated by the ACDL general. Then there's Patrick Seyon. Patrick has no party affili- and other incentives, they are beginning to talk to each other. ation, but he is widely known for his single-minded concern for It is possible to minimize the divisions, to emphasize the com- constitutionalism. monalities, to work within a framework conducive to carrying This is our "public view" board, the people whom we have the democratic process onward, looking at the Liberian consti- up front. This is not to say that there's some clandestine activity tution as the guide. going on, but there are people who for a variety of reasons, We need to do this without developing a system that will including fear of recrimination at home or immigration difficul- stifle competition or one that would see us return to a new ties here, cannot come forward publicly. They make this nucle- political hegemony. It's a delicate thing. We'd like to strength- us even more representative, people who have direct ties to en the commitment to the democratic process—ond hope we labor unions, the Liberian Council of Churches, the teachers' don't get back home and start fighting about jobs and forget organization- They come to our board meetings, and for all about the larger issues. We need to retain the practice of fight- practical purposes they are members of our board. ing about ideas and directions but doing so within a frame- Africa Report: How does the ACDL relate to the opposition work. movement inside Liberia? So even if there's no ACDL when we return home, there'll Sawyer: We're guided by some pointers that we get from be a need for some equivalent, which will keep its eye always home. But we are very careful to operate in a way that is on the process, and blow the whistle when people go outside mindful that Liberians who are active in the political process at what is permissible within the democratic framework. home are protected. So while we maintain strong linkages, if These are questions to ponder. We have examples before you were to look on the surface alone, it would seem that us, of people who were out here in exile, rode the tide, went there is very little contact. back after Tolbert's fall, and formed a niche in the new order, We are very happy that more and more, the bridge is to become collaborators with a regime going wrong. We being built across party identification in Liberia. We stimulate found the same with others who were at home at the time, each other. As we collaborate together across party lines associated with political parties or former protest groups, who abroad and do things together, they at home are invigorated got themselves very comfortably situated. to step up their collaborative activities. Perhaps these things will always happen. But if you have in Recently, we have had several symposia and a mass existence a structure where the objective of constitutional rule demonstration before the Liberian Embassy in Washington, or maintaining respect for human rights and due process is D.C. Quite recently, at home, the combined opposition held a always put before you, probably one can minimize the degree series of consultative meetings and announced a joint position of strain and the degree to which the process can be derailed.')

30 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 A CHARTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS By DAPHNE TOPOUZIS Early in the history of the OAU, the question of protecting human rights was secondary to Africa's struggle for self-determination. With the recent opening of the headquarters of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights in Banjul, however, a new focus on the rights of the continent's citizens is a step forward in the promotion of democratic practice.

n important new chapter but with potentially far-reaching African Unity (OAU), whose in Africa's political history consequences—"a new beacon of objective is to promote and pro- A was recently opened by the hope for Africa/* in the words of tect human rights in Africa and inauguration of the headquarters Isaac Nguema, the commission's to "struggle for genuine indepen- of the African Commission on chairman, and a first step dence and preserve the dignity Human and People's Rights toward the emergence of demo- of the people,*1 according to (ACHPR) in Banjul, capital of cratic practice across the conti- Nguema. Formally established in The Gambia, on June 12. It is a nent. 1981, the commission is com- chapter of modest beginnings, ACHPR is an inter-govern- posed of 1 1 members from Daphne Topouzis, a contributing editor mental organization, under the Senegal, The Gambia, Congo, of Africa Report, is currently based in Dakar. umbrella oTfhe Organization of GahOn, Egypt, Libya, Mali,

Africa Hall, OAU, Addis Ababa: **The question of human rights has always been inextricably linked with the right of peoples to self-determination" Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia, who society, and international communi- ing with human rights in Africa for serve in their personal capacity and ty. It is indicated that in the African many years. However, during the are independent of their govern- context, rights and duties are inextri- 1960s and 1970s, African governments and the OAU. cably linked on the grounds that the ments were almost exclusively pre- The commission will serve as a community is a privileged subject of occupied with socio-economic devel- documentation center on human law and reconciliation, though dis- opment and internal security and rights across the continent. It will course is the norm rather than con- consequently paid little attention to collect, classify, and store informa- tentious procedures such as trials. human rights. tion, conduct surveys and studies on The last section of the charter deals This was clearly reflected in the human rights-related issues, as well with the system of promotion and charter of the OAU, whose preamble as organize conferences and semi- protection of human rights. includes a clause stipulating that nars to increase awareness of peo- The symbiotic relationship be- "liberty, equality, justice, and dignity ple's rights. In addition, it will tween economic, political, civil, and are essential objectives in the encourage organizations that are social rights was the leitmotif of a achievement of the legitimate aspira- concerned with human rights. recent meeting of ACHPR in Banjul. tions of the peoples of Africa." The The most significant contribution Jean Martenson, UN undersecre- liberation of the continent and the of the commission to date is the tary for human rights and director- eradication of discrimination rather African Charter of Human Rights general of the UN Human Rights than human rights were at the cen- which came into force in October ter of the OAU's concerns. Thus, as 1986. In an interview with Africa then-OAU Secretary-General Ide Report, Nguema described the char- Oumarou observed at the Banjul ter as "the key to African develop- ACHPR meeting, the question of ment and a critical factor to the con- During the 1960s human rights in Africa has always tinent's future. We cannot have eco- and 1970s, African been inextricably linked with the nomic development without human governments were right of peoples to self-determination. rights." The Lagos initiative crystallized Another African jurist, Taslim preoccupied with in the formation of the African Com- Olawale Elias, judge and former development and mission of Jurists in 1963, which president of the International Court undertook the drafting of the African of Justice, maintained at a 1985 internal security and charter under the aegis of the OAU. Nairobi conference on human and paid little attention to However, it took several confer- people's rights: "The charter is fun- ences, colloquia, and study work- damental to the emergence of true human rights. shops to mobilize governments and democracy in the newly emergent public opinion. Conferences in nations of Africa. Our continent is in Center in Geneva, pointed out in his Dakar (1966), Cairo (1969). and Dar very short supply of democracy and address to the commission that the es Salaam (1973) failed to produce anything that we can do to overcome right to development "is a far-reach- concrete results. It was not until this serious deficiency must be done ing and penetrating human right," 1978 that a significant breakthrough for ourselves and for posterity." and that "human rights and develop- was reached in Dakar. The efforts of The African Charter is based on ment are regarded as being linked, the follow-up committee of this collo- the principles of equality before the mutually supportive, interdependent, quium succeeded in gaining the sup- law; non-discrimination; freedom of and interwoven." Other participants port of then-President Leopold Sen- conscience; and the right to peace, in the three-day meeting cited ghor of Senegal, who pressed the development, the environment, and human rights as an important factor issue of the adoption of an African information. Divided in three parts, in fostering African unity. Human Rights Commission with the the first deals with "basic principles" The origins of the African Charter OAU. that reflect "the virtues of their his- of Human and People's Rights can Following several conferences in torical tradition and the values of be traced to 1961 when over 200 Monrovia, Liberia in 1979, Addis African civilization which should judges, lawyers, and teachers of law Ababa in 1980, and Banjul in 1981, inspire and characterize their reflec- from 23 African countries gathered the African Charter of Human and tion on the concept of human and at an all-African conference of jurists People's Rights was unanimously people's rights." in Lagos and proposed that African adopted by the Heads of State and The second section is a treatise governments adopt a convention on Government of the OAU in June on the concept of human and peo- human rights. African jurists and 1981 in Nairobi. Next, ACHPR ple's rights pertaining to the African intellectuals, along with the Interna- mobilized its efforts so as to secure concept of law and the specificity of tional Commission of Jurists and the the ratification of over half the mem- the relationship between rights and United Nations, had been actively ber-states of the OAU, after which it duties of the individual and the state, trying to set up an organization deal- could come into effect.

32 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 Countries that have still not rati- pressure on the government in ques- goals, as outlined at the Banjul meet- fied the charter include Ethiopia. tion," said Nguema. ing in June, include the elimination Cote d'lvoire, Burundi, Angola, The violations brought to the of colonialism, neo-colonialism, Kenya, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland, attention of the commission must apartheid, Zionism, and all forms of Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles, have been committed by a state discrimination, particularly that and Djibouti. According to Nguema, party. Once seized with a complaint, based on race, ethnic group, color, Ghana has recently ratified the char- a preliminary investigation is under- sex, language, religion, or political ter, while Cameroon is also reported taken to assess the case. If the com- opposition. ACHPR has also pro- to have joined the signatories. plaint is found to be legitimate, a let- posed the publication of an African The first objective of the commis- ter is addressed to the state. The review of human and people's rights; sion, observed Nguema, "is to pro- commission has to wait three the integration of the Banjul Charter mote the rights of man by teaching months for a response. Once the into the legislation of African states these rights to the people and sensi- investigation is completed, a report and its publication in vernacular lan- tizing public opinion to the fact that is produced, containing a detailed guages; the establishment of local, they exist. This will necessitate, account of the facts as well as the national, and sub-regional commit- among other things, a literacy cam- conclusions reached by ACHPR. The tees for the dissemination of infor- paign. But it does not mean that report is subsequently submitted to mation on human rights; the intro- because people cannot read or write the OAU Assembly of Heads of State duction of human and people's rights they cannot learn about the African into the curricula of educational sys- charter. We can and intend to use tems; the dissemination of human the radio and television to inform and people's rights by radio and tele- people. We would like to introduce vision programs; and the designation human rights in the school curricu- I he liberation of the of October 21 as an African Day of lum, in university classrooms and in continent and the Human and People's Rights. police and army training centers, as Nguema indicates that the road well as organize competitions in eradication of ahead is going to be a difficult one schools." discrimination rather for the commission. The African The next stage is to encourage than human rights were charter is not satisfactory, he says, people to exercise their rights. for several reasons: The violation "There are financial constraints," at the center of the procedures will lake too long to pro- Nguema continued. "We have to pro- OAU's concerns. cess, and the scheduled bi-annual vide the financial resources so that meetings of the commission are not money will not be an obstacle in the nearly enough to meet the demands exercise of human rights. We have of ACHPR's agenda. to set up local organizations where and Government, following which it Under these circumstances, people can come to us with their is the responsibility of the Assembly Nguema concludes, the number of complaints. Our most important to take whatever action is necessary. cases handled by the commission role, however, will be to change the The commission has adopted are bound to remain quite limited. In mentality of the people." methods to expedite the registration, addition, the commission faces finan- The same theme was taken up by processing, and examination of com- cial problems, as its resources cur- the UN's Martenson, who argued plaints. At present, approximately 40 rently emanate exclusively from the that "the major task before us is the cases have been submitted to OAU budget. The absence of a implementation of existing human ACHPR and are under review. human rights court has also been rights standards, that is. to make the When asked whether ACHPR cited as an obstacle, even though it rights and freedoms enumerated a could play a role in incidents such as was decided at the 1985 Nairobi con- reality for all. It is vital that all peo- the recent Senegal-Mauritania dis- ference that it would be premature ples must, first of all, know of their pute, Nguema replied that the com- to set up such a court. rights to stand a chance of realizing mission does not have the right to In spite of diverse problems, them." intervene of its own will—it can only ACHPR is optimistic that it will be The second objective of the com- begin an investigation after being able to play an important role in mission is the protection of human seized by an individual. "As far as encouraging democratic procedures rights. "Once seized of a violation, the Senegal-Mauritania case is con- and providing much-needed services the commission comes into contact cerned, we are still waiting to be to Africans across the continent. But with the state and if no response is seized by an individual; for instance, the cooperation of African govern- obtained, a meeting of heads of state the president of either country could ments will no doubt be the single and governments of the OAU will ask the OAU or the commission for most important element in the effec- ensue. If they decide that a violation an investigation." tiveness of the commission's perfor- has taken place, then they will put The commission's long-term mance. O

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 33 ANGOLA

Mobutu Sese Seko: "Frequently criticized by frontline leaders, now praised as a 'peace broker' for Angola" A GOLDEN HANDSHAKE? By ANDREW MELDRUM Much to the surprise of Angola watchers around the world, President dos Santos and Jonas Savimbi met in Gbadolite, Zaire, agreeing to a cease-fire in the long and costly war. But the real task lies ahead in negotiating the terms of peace, including the future role of Unita and its rebel leader.

t all happened so quickly that the into Angolan political life, currently group of Angolan cabinet minis- under a one-party state. Such an I ters waiting at Luanda airport immediate about-face that could couldn't believe their ears when they entirely alter the situation in Angola heard that President Jose Eduardo was difficult for the government offi- dos Santos shook hands with rebel cials to grasp. leader Jonas Savimbi to seal the new The Angolan officials were await- Angolan cease-fire agreement. ing the return of President dos San- They shook their heads in disbe- tos from the summit of 18 African lief when told by journalists that dos leaders held in Gbadolite, Zaire, on Santos had a friendly discussion with June 21. They had known that dos his long-time arch-enemy and the Santos would be considering plans two agreed upon a cease-fire plan for a cease-fire offer to the Unita which called for the integration of rebels, but they did not anticipate the rebel Union for the Total Inde- such a far-reaching accommodation pendence of Angola (Unita) forces with Unita—and particularly with Andrew Meldrum, contributing editor to Africa Savimbi himself, who had been vili- Ki-port, is an American journalist who has fied for his acceptance of South been based in Zimbabwe for eight years. African military aid and the suffering caused to hundreds of thousands of Angolans by the drawn-out rebel "The fast-paced events sur- war. prised even dos Santos himself" "It is not pleasant to swallow a toad," said one senior Angolan cabinet minister at the airport at the thought of receiving Savimbi into the ranks of the ruling MPI.A party. "But sometimes one must do things that are not pleasant." It appears that the fast-paced events surprised even dos Santos himself. He did not expect Savimbi because Zimbabwe is the chief mili- er's effective efforts as a "peace bro- to be present at the Gbadolite sum- tary supporter of Mozambican Presi- ker" for Angola. mit, according to reports, and threat- dent Joaquim Chissano's govern- A committee of three coun- ened to pull out of the meeting when ment against the South African- tries—Zaire, Congo, and Gabon—was he heard Savimbi would attend. backed Renamo rebels. assigned to oversee the progress in Apparently, the crafty Zairean Presi- Indeed, the news of the Angolan Angola, said Mugabe. He said the dent Mobutu Sese Seko had assem- cease-fire swept through Mozam- next meeting of all the frontline bled many more heads of state than bique's capital of Maputo almost as states and other African countries the eight expected, throwing African urgently as it did in Luanda. Presi- involved in the Angolan peace pro- weight behind the meeting in order dent Chissano's war-weary govern- cess would take place in Harare in to get the cease-fire accord agreed ment has been discreetly seeking August. between the two Angolans and to get some form of contact with Renamo But the dramatic events at Gbado- a serious negotiating process in rebels, elucidated in a 12-point posi- lite do not mean that everything is motion. tion paper lhat has been circulated settled for Angola. Upon his return "It was a formidable group in to diplomatic missions in Maputo. to Jamba, his rebel headquarters in search of peace," said Zimbabwean Certainly a resolution in Mozam- southern Angola, Savimbi said he President Robert Mugabe upon his bique could be no more surprising would never accept exile and that his return from the Gbadolite summit. than the sudden agreement reached movement would refuse to be inte- 'The allies and axis groupings of the between the Angolan government grated into Angola's only legal party, conflict were all represented....We and the Unita rebels. Jonas Savimbi the MPLA. Savimbi statetl that he are all glad that tremendous moves has been long-reviled as a South seeks a multi-party state in Angola were made in the direction of a African stooge by the Luanda gov- and open elections. From his contro- peaceful settlement in Angola." ernment and other frontline states. versial remarks, Savimbi made it Speaking to the press, Mugabe Yet Mugabe described how when clear that the Gbadolite accord is not gave details of the agreement. He Savimbi agreed to the cease-fire a final solution to Angola's war, but said the two Angolan leaders agreed package at Gbadolite, dos Santos the beginning of a long negotiating to a settlement package including a greeted him as a "patriot." process. O cease-fire in the 14-year conflict, 'To demonstrate his sincerity and Jonas Savimbi: "Made it clear effective midnight June 24, an new spirit, Mr. dos Santos got up to that the accord is not a final amnesty to all rebels of Savimbi's shake hands with Mr. Savimbi," said solution to Angola's war" Unita, and the integration of Unita Mugabe. "Mr. Savimbi also rose and members into Angolan society, "par- this lime the two did not go into the ticularly the government and party," boxing ring, but shook hands for said Mugabe. amity, friendship, and brotherhood. Mugabe added that President And we all stood up in support and Mobutu had received assurances shook hands with Mr. Savimbi." from the United States and South While there have been many Africa that they would end all mili- reports that Savimbi will go into tary assistance to Unita. exile, Mugabe dismissed that as a "We all hope that this package rumor and said that the two will bring peace to that country," sides—dos Santos' MPIA and Sav- said Mugabe, who tentatively sug- imbi's Unita—would form a joint gested that a similar diplomatic commission to determine how the effort could bring the prospect of two groups would integrate, and peace to war-torn Mozambique. what role Savimbi would play. "One would hope that the model Mugabe and other being set up in Angola will offer frontline leaders some hope to the people of Mozam- have frequent- bique," said Mugabe. "The princi- ly criticized ples deserve the attention of the President Mozambican people. I am sure Mobutu as something will unfold in Mozam- a puppet of bique after this move in Angola has the United succeeded." States, but Mugabe's statement suggesting Mugabe that Mozambique's bitter civil war praised could be resolved by a similar recon- the Zaire- ciliation is seen here as significant an lead- N T R V w

Willem de Klerk. A VIEW OF THE FUTURE

By MARGARET A. NOVICKI

Willem de Klerk, a liberal Afrikaner who advocates the adoption of a one-man, one-vote system of government for South Africa, is a journalist and professor of communications who has been involved in the formation of the Democratic Party.

He is also the brother of F.W. de Klerk, likely to be the next state president of South Africa after the elections this fall. Africa Report talks to Willem de Klerk about the thinking of the National Party leader, as well as the influence his views may have on the future course of government policies.

Africa Report: What changes can we expect from a F.W. a-vis South Africa's involvements in the frontline states, for de Klerk presidency? example? de Klerk: I believe there will be not formidable change, but de Klerk: I think here he will also be more open-minded. I there will be changes. His style is pragmatic, he's open-mind- think he will try his best to get a southern African conference ed, he's very much inclined to find solutions for South Africa. going. To do that, he must be willing to meet with the heads of He knows (hat (he whole international world is expecting a lot state in the region. I think that will also be one of his proce- of him and that there is a pressure group within his own party, dures, yes. a very strong pressure group. Against this background, there Africa Report: P.W. Botha was fcirly reliant upon the mili- will be a release of Nelson Mandela, number one. I think that tary and the State Security Council in determining policy he will take some steps regarding talks with the ANC [African toward the frontline states. Do you think that will change? National Congress]. That's number two. I think there will be de Klerk: Yes, definitely. I don't think that he can exclude the negotiations to lift the state of emergency. That's step number military presence from the South African scene, but I think he three. And step number four is that he will try his best to create will be more dependent on national intelligence, not on mili- negotiations favorable for South Africa's future. tary intelligence. He's a parliamenta'ian. He will use the mili- Africa Report: Do you expect his negotiating platform to be tary inputs, definitely, but I don't think that he will rely solely different from that of P.W. Botha's, for example, will he not on the military inputs. demand a renunciation of violence on the part of ANC? Africa Report: Can we expect to see a lessening or an de Klerk: I think initially he will do that. But he will get him- abatement of the war in Mozambique, given that it is believed self involved in pre-negotiation talks with the ANC, with cer- that South Africa is still supporting Renamo? tain factions in the South African political sphere. And in these de Klerk: I'm very sure about this—that there's no participa- pre-negotiation talks, he will try to lift the hindrances regard- tion of South Africa in the Mozambique/Renamo situation at ing negotiations. I think his style will be a little bit more open- this moment of time. minded. Initially, he will take off with the invitation to negotia- Africa Report: Officially it is denied, but... tion—to renounce violence. But the difference in style will de Klerk: No, but also unofficially. Maybe there's communi- be—I am sure about that—that he will say: Let's get engaged ties within South Africa that are kind of sponsoring Renamo, in pre-talks regarding all your problems not to negotiate with but I'm very sure that the government isn't aware of this, it us. can't trace it down, and it is definitely not involved in Renamo Africa Report: Do you mean he'll actually meet with the anymore. ANC? Africa Report: Do you expect that the process will proceed de Klerk: Not perhaps he himself, but people of govern- on schedule toward Namibia's independence? ment, yes. I think that will happen during this year, during de Klerk: Yes, I think so. Namibia's independence will be October or November. I don't think he will be involved directly very helpful for South Africa. Of course, there will be growing in these talks, but he may ask people like Neil Van Heerden or pains and it won't be plain sailing all the way, but within a even Pik Botha to be engaged in pre-talks with the ANC and year's time, I think things will settle down in Namibia even if to report back to him. it's Swapo majority rule. I'm not expecting a straight-forward Africa Report: Do you think his policies will be different vis- majority for Swapo. I think that the Democratic Turnhalle

36 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 Alliance will also get a formidable part of the votes and that it groups. The population must organize itself in different politi- will be a power-sharing scenario in Namibia- But I believe (hat cal parties and political groupings and they fight it out. But I the dust will settle in a year's time and Namibia will be a suc- don't think the typical Westminister system of Britain, for cess story. instance, that winner takes all, will be the answer for South Africa Report: It's said that your brother is very solidly with- Africa. in the National Party establishment, even perhaps to the right I firmly believe that minority groups, never mind race or cul- within the National Party spectrum. Given that, will he be able ture now, must also be represented on different levels of gov- to come to concrete terms with the ultimate option of one-per- ernment. That's typical of certain democracies, for example, son, one-vote? all the democracies in Europe, the democracy now in Namib- de Klerk: Yes, I think that will be a process. Again, I don't ia, and certain democracies in Africa. I'm not a guru on this, think that he will kick off with that kind of policy. He is very but you have the Westminister kind of democracy and then the much rooted in National Party philosophy, namely that the democracy that is definitely taking into account that minority solution lies in power-sharing between the four national groups must also have a say in certain levels of government. groups—equal power-sharing of the four components of the That's number one: It will be a democracy. That's my whole state structure. And that there must be equal power-shar- ideal—a non-racial democracy, a one-man, one-vote represen- ing on the basis of consensus between the racial groups, that tative government of the people, for the people, by the peo- the four racial groupings are the building blocks for the future ple. But minority groupings formed by free association must constitution based on own affairs for the four communities on also be represented in government. It has nothing to do with the local, regional, and national level, and then on general race. affairs, there is integration of consensus on political decision- making. That's basically the National Party policy—the policy of racial federation. I think he's very much rooted in this policy. He's not to the right of the National Party factions, I would say he's in the middle of the road. But given the opportunities to find solutions, given the pressure groups within his own party, given the international pressure, I'm very sure that he will grow into the conviction that they [the National Party] must drop their racial base as a solution. But I don't expect that soon. I expect that within the next two years or so. Africa Report: So you think that he will ultimately come to terms with one-person, one-vote? de Klerk: I think that there will be no option in South Africa but to come to terms with a one-person, one-vote situation. On the other hand, I firmly believe that the integrity of cultural groups formed by free association must also be maintained in South Africa. Group rights must be entrenched within the con- F.W. de Klerk and his wife arrive for (he opening of the 1989 session of Parliament: "His style is pragmatic, he's open-mind- stitution, within me structures of the state, within the voting ed, he's very much inclined to find solutions for South Africa" system, etc. You can't ignore the group factor in South Africa—that must play a part in the solution. There are different language groups and different cultural Africa Report: But why couldn't one? If you take U.S. for groups in South Africa. The history of Africa upholds the prin- example, certainly we have a lot of different ethnic groups ciple that there's always strife among certain groups in Africa. and nationalities, but the system of government remains "equal That's part of Africa's problem and Africa's situation- So you rights for all" as defined by the constitution. must entrench in the constitution and in your state structures de Klerk: I don't say that it mustn't be equal rights for and in your charter of human rights the right of a cultural groups—that's part and parcel of democracy. There is in the group lo organize itself and to maintain its identity—its own American constitution definite articles that maintain the free- schools, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of dom of association, of speech, etc. and if that applies to an association. That's democracy. We don't want to exchange individual, it also applies to the group. So group rights are apartheid for another kind of system where minorities will be essential in democracy. bullied by majorities. That's not the ideal form of democracy in But we have another history than the United States. The a multi-cultural land with its specific historical background. U.S. from the beginning had a kind of history of the melting Africa Report: Can you talk about your involvement with the pot idea. As from Jan van Riebeeck in 1652, there was a kind newly formed Democratic Party and what you think the Demo- of separation tradition in South Africa. Especially in the transi- cratic Party represents now within the South African political tional phase—and I see the transitional phase as a period of spectrum? 10-12 years—group rights must be entrenched. During the de Klerk: The Democratic Party is a merger between three transitional phase, there will always be a kind of dualism of groupings to the left of the National Party—the Independent white politics, black politics, brown politics, and Indian poli- Movement of Worrall, the National Democratic Movement of tics. We must come to solutions via the consensus principle. Wynand Malan, and the old Progressive Federal Party. But Africa Report: But by going to a group approach, aren't there is a fourth force involved in the Democratic Party's forma- you still dividing society aiong racial lines? tion and that's the disillusioned Nats, ond especially the de Klerk: No. A non-racial democracy will be a democracy Afrikaner vote. Potentially, the market for the Democratic Party of political parties, as in every democracy, and not of specific within the Afrikaner constituency is more or less 22 percent of

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 37 the National Party vote. But unfortunately for the Democratic under the regime of P.W. Botha, and if there are no real mean- Party, the change of leadership within the National Party ingful changes and no new political vision regarding race replaced the accent to expectations that F.W. de Klerk is a groupings in the political play, then the days for success for new man and give him a chance. So I don't think the Demo- the Democratic Party will be in the medium term—in two to cratic Party will have a wonderful and successful election cam- three years' time. It will be a success story then, because the paign. I give them 24 constituencies, I think they will become 22 percent of disillusioned Nats will impact the Democratic the official opposition. I give the Conservative Party about 21, Party, and it may have success in the negotiating process with 22 constituencies, and the rest for the National Party. the struggle politics and within (he system politics. And they Africa Report: How many are there all together? can demonstrate for South Africa and for the world that negoti- de Klerk: I'm not sure, it's 160 or something like that. So ation is possible between the different factions. That's definite- the vast majority will be Nationalists represented in Parlia- ly also the inclination and intent of the Democratic Party—to ment. But I see that the Democratic Parry's future is in the medi- start this negotiation process within the next few months. um-term, if—and I want to stress this point—if the National Africa Report: You're considered to be opposite from your Party under the leadership of F.W. de Klerk turns the corner brother in political outlook. What has molded your political and takes the leap. That's the best thing that can happen to perspectives as compared to those ol your brother's? South Africa, because it's fhe powerful party, it's rooted within de Klerk: It's perhaps a continuum on one line. I don't think the Afrikaner establishment. If it can turn the corner, then the I'm that opposite from him. We have the same upbringing, the Democratic Party will be happy to follow. same kind of culture and education. I was always more pro- But, if the National Party will land in o cul-de-sac again, as gressive in my outlook from the beginning; I'm not newly con-

Launching the Democratic Party, from left to right, Wynand Malan, Denis Worrall, Jan Momberg, and Colin Kglin: "Potentially, the market for the Democratic Party wilhin the Afrikaner constituency is more or less 22 percent of the National Party vote" verted to the non-racial idea. Years ond years ago, I was de Klerk: No, I was definitely not sacked. It was a kind of already advocating the principle that the solution will not be protest from my point of view. There was a lot of pressure on found within the race concept for the South African constitu- me because I didn't toe the line of National Party policy in my tion. So it fust happened thai we parted in our political philos- comments and in the prominence of my news items. There was ophy, but I'm sure that we're on the same line, more or less, a lot of pressure via my board of directors, the cabinet, and because we are both very much part of the Afrikaner establish- especially via President P.W. Botha. And I just got fed up ond ment and very much rooted in Calvinisttc philosophy. So there walked out one morning. No, I wasn't sacked. On the con- can be an accommodation for liberal Calvinists and conserva- trary, it was quite a shock for my board of directors that I just tive Calvinists within the system. took my hat and left. Africa Report: What is your personal history? Africa Report: What sort of relationship do you have now de Klerk: For about 10 years, I was a minister of religion, with your brother and what impact do you think you'll have on but that was a long, long time ago. Then I switched to the Uni- his policies? versity of Potchefstroom, where I lectured in psychology and de Klerk: Well, I don't know. He's level-headed. He's very philosophy. Then I switched during 1973 to the journalistic open-minded. We have frequent conversations on political world. I was an editor of an Afrikaans morning daily called matters. I'm still delivering a lot of articles in papers and mag- Die Transvaaler for about 1 1 years; and then the editor of the azines in South Africa. I send htm memoranda on current largest Afrikaans paper in South Africa, a weekly, Rapport. I issues. So it's a very natural kind of relationship. What the switched about two years ago back to the university to lecture influence of my philosophy will be on him, I can't say. That's in political communication and journalism. up to him. But the relationship is basically sound. O Africa Report: Were you sacked from the newspaper because your views were too liberal? MOZAMBIQUE dent Joaquim Chissano. Vet eating, Mozambique, repatriation from the he argues, is not the only thing in country's western neighbor, which life. "We feel that Mozambicans hosts over 70,000 Mozambican should feel at home, and to feel at refugees, has also been fraught with home is not just being treated well, it difficulties. is being able to participate in a cre- According to UNHCR's Harare or each year that the Mozambi- ative manner in all social, economic, representative, Godfrey Sabiti, out of can conflict has escalated that and political activities." the 10,000 Mozambicans who have F much more, the number of For the Frelimo government, officially returned to their country refugees spilling into the six coun- which marched triumphantly to vic- from Zimbabwe, only 1,000 have tries that border this vast southeast tory 14 years ago, only to find itself been with the UN agency's involve- African nation has increased propor- begging for food aid today, there is ment. tionately. Less heard of is the small also an element of pride involved. As The rest have been rounded up but significant number of Mozambi- the governor of Manica province, and sent back by Zimbabwean secu- cans going back home. Rafael Maguni, told Zimbabwean- rity forces—mostly from white com- Naturally—with the South Afri- based non-governmental organiza- mercial farms where they have been can-backed Mozambique National tions at a briefing when the repatria- working—on grounds that they pose Resistance Movement (Renamo) still tion exercise began two years ago: a security threat. Although Zimbab- far from through with its murderous "We don't want to be beggars. We we has suffered severe Renamo GOING HOME fly COLLEEN LOWE MORNA

The war in Mozambique has spawned an unprecedented number of refugees and displaced people, both internally and in the neighboring states. Despite difficult circumstances at home, a significant number of Mozambicans are making efforts to return, straining limited repatriation facilities. campaign—the outflow continues to have had the outstretched hand for attacks along the eastern border, far exceed the inflow. Over the last too long. Now, we want to help our- relief agencies argue that Mozam- two years, relief agencies estimate selves." bique would hardly resettle the that the number of Mozambican In some cases, the Mozambican refugees concerned in camps, if refugees has increased from 1 to 1.5 government has had no choice in indeed they were Renamo elements. million. In contrast, about 134,000 the matter. Included in the number In one bizarre incident, Zimbab- Mozambicans are estimated to have of returnees are 20,000 Mozambi- wean security forces, apparently in returned during the same period. cans who were forcibly sent back collaboration with Mozambique's Hut several thousand more are from South Africa, which is not a sig- Frelimo army, removed 200 young expected to repatriate this year, and natory to the UNHCR convention on men from inside refugee camps in each is of considerable political refugees. This year, according to the Zimbabwe and took them to Mozam- importance to the government, Office for Support to Refugees and bique, purportedly to be enlisted as which is encouraging Mozambicans Liberation Movements (NARML) army recruits. NARML, together to come home—wherever security which oversees the repatriation with UNHCR, had to quickly inter- can be ensured. exercise, some 50,000 Mozambicans vene and fetch the families of the "Okay, you may be in a camp, and currently living in camps in the so- men who had been left behind. They you may be fed properly," says Fran- called South African "homelands" of have now mostly been settled in cisco Madeira, formerly Mozam- Gazankulu and KaNgwane are Chinyambudzi, in Manica province, bique's ambassador to Zimbabwe expected to be resettled in Maputo along the strategic road, rail, and oil and currently a senior aide to Presi- and Gaza provinces. pipeline leading to the port of Beira. Despite excellent political rela- Repatriation from Malawi, Colleen Lowe Morna is a Zimbabwean freelance journalist based in Harare. tions between Zimbabwe and which—with over 660,000 Mozambi-

40 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 can refugees is the main numerical triation exercise with the elaborate sion in Lilongwe, roughly 50 to 100 focus—has probably been least con- procedures currently being put in refugees from the northern areas of troversial. The main complaint by place for Namibians to go home, the Dedza and Lilongwe, and 500 from relief workers has been the rather church official says the program the southern districts, are being haphazard manner in which the "has not been well-planned and coor- repatriated monthly. Most are exercise has been carried out. dinated." returning to centers in Tete

Tandara: "Returnees have cooperated with the government in building a school and health center" According to a regional church Several measures are being taken province, including Lilongwe, Chan- official who travels to Malawi regu- to rectify this problem. In December, gara, and the Shitima valley, close to larly, there has been a long habit of Malawi. Mozambique, and UNHCR the mighty Cahora Bassa dam. backward and forward movement formed a much-publicized tripartite NARML's Manica, Sofala. and across the western border between repatriation commission which aims Gaza provincial coordinator, Jose Malawi and Mozambique, which is to systematize the exercise. Those Paulino, says that eventually the demarcated by a main highway. wishing to return are interviewed, Mozambican government intends to Those wishing to return more per- registered, and delivered by UNHCR sign tripartite agreements with Zim- manently, he charges, have not been to Mozambique where they are met babwe and with Swaziland, the latter given adequate back-up on their by NARML. which is keen that some of the return. According to Collins Asare, 17,000 Mozambicans that it is host- Comparing the Mozambican repa- UNHCR's assistant charge de mis- ing start to go home.

AFRICA REPORT - July-August 1989 41 Meanwhile, involuntary repatria- the UN agency that refugees have NARML, they are also fishing along tion from Zimbabwe is reported to the right to return voluntarily to the adjoining Chicamba dam, and have been drastically reduced, and a their country of origin. plan to set up a cooperative. group of 150 refugees returned to Mozambique, according to Although Renamo has visited camps in the Beira corridor under UNHCR's Harare representative another camp in Tandara for dis- UNHCR supervision in May. Once Sabiti, "is unique because the majori- placed persons, destroying 50 huts, the Limpopo corridor linking south- ty of these people do not consider the villagers say they have so far ern Zimbabwe with Maputo is opera- the government as the agents of per- been safe. Slogans such as "Fambi- tional—probably by the end of this secution. Their government wel- rai Chimwe" (Shona for "have one year—camps will be set up in this comes them back and in some aim") and "Pindai ne rufaro" ("enter sheltered haven as well, according instances has said, you wait, we have with happiness"), etched on the to Paulino. no facilities for receiving you." brightly decorated mud hut walls, In its 1989 emergency appear to While UNHCR does not "go pro- sum up the basic mood of the donors in New York this April, the moting repatriation to Mozam- returnees. Mozambican government stated that bique," when faced with people who Similar reports emanate from the "the establishment of an emergency "want to go back, who know what is northern province of Tete, where stockpile of food and other relief involved, what reason would we have Mozambicans coming from Malawi items constitutes a priority," if the for saying that we are not making are being resettled. And with vast repatriation exercise is to be suc- the arrangements?" Sabiti asks numbers of refugees now stretching cessful. It added that every effort rhetorically. Malawi's resources to the breaking had to be made to ensure that For virtually every UNHCR offi- point, some NGOs feel that repatria- returnees "receive on time adequate cer who has worked closely with tion may soon become a matter of supplies of agricultural inputs." Mozambican refugees, a lasting necessity. Although most donors are sympa- impression is their love for and Over the last few months, the thetic to the basic concept of repatri- desire to go home. One such officer Harare-based Ecumenical Coordina- ation, some remain skeptical about who has worked in Swaziland tion Office for Emergency Rehabili- the idea of sending refugees home recounts how refugees frequently tation in Southern Africa (ECOER- before the war in Mozambique is sing revolutionary, pro-government SA) has been floating the novel idea over. As one aid worker puts it: songs—a highly unusual habit in of demarcating an area in the rich There is something ironic about refugee camps. Tete province of Angonia, where transporting refugees in military Although the repatriation camps refugees would be resettled under convoys on their way home. are not always as decked out as the protection by an international peace- A relief worker with long experi- camps from which the returnees keeping force. ence in Mozambique says that creat- came from, they exude an unusual ECOERSA coordinator Valentine ing centers of progress and econom- sense of community and purpose. Ziswa says the idea—dubbed the ic activity is like "waving a red cloth For one thing, with the exception "Angonia Corridor Project"—has so in front of a bull" in Mozambique. of Zambia, refugees are either not far been favorably received by the Several Mozambicans who have left allowed to cultivate the land (in the Mozambican government and lead- Malawi to resettle in their home case of Zimbabwe), or are severely ers of the frontline states, but is still areas have come back again, follow- constrained because of land pres- being considered by the UN. ing Renamo attacks. As if to make a sure (in the case of Malawi). The idea is being pursued, point, on December 23, Renamo At the village of Tandara, near according to Ziswa, because "Malawi attacked the Manica transit center of Villa de Manica, where 140 families will soon not be able to cope with the Nyaconza, killing four returnees and returning from Zimbabwe have been refugee problem" and with the view kidnapping 11 others. settled, village chairman Claus that "resettlement must be planned NARML representative Joe Pauli- Canaan explained that although each more systematically, more resources no concedes that "accidents do family had only one acre, it is a joy to should be put into it, and there must sometimes occur," but says that the be able to grow their own food again, be protection for the returnees." government "makes every effort to after either living in camps or work- But ultimately, he says, the provide adequate security. We would ing on white commercial farms. group—which covers all the national never turn any one of our nationals "We are growing our own food Christian Councils of East and South into a human shield." here," says Canaan. "It is not enough Africa—is staking its hopes on a Although UNHCR is insistent that to subsist on, but it is better than more deep-seated solution to the repatriation should only take place being fed in a camp." Mozambican conflict. "In the long where the circumstances which The villagers have cooperated run," according to Ziswa, "the best gave rise to the refugee movement with the government in building a solution to the problems confronting have changed fundamentally, it is school and health center. With the the repatriation program is for peace also one of the cardinal principles of help of a fishing boat provided by to return to Mozambique." O

42 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 T R V W John Garang: A NEW SUDAN

By MARGARET A. NOVICKI

On June 30, the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi was overthrown in a military coup led by Lt.-Gen. Omar Hassan al-Bashir. In the weeks preceding the coup, the Sudanese government, faced with an army ultimatum to negotiate an end to the war in the south, initiated discussions with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Addis Ababa.

While those meetings were taking place, Col. John Garang, leader of the SPLM, was in the United States, meeting with government, church, foundation, and UN officials to explain the objectives for which his movement is fighting.

Garang also talked with Africa Report during his U.S. visit, and although our meeting took place a few short weeks before the coup, his comments appear all the more rele- vant—providing insight into the challenges the new Sudanese government will face in attempting to find a solution to the war.

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 43 Africa Report: The SPLA has been fighting a war against the meetings held in June in Addis Ababa between the SPLA the Sudanese government for six years. What are your goals and the government the beginning of negotiations? in fighting this war? What do you hope to achieve as an end Garang: We are quite confident. It is not the beginning, but outcome? the continuation of dialogue. I have often refrained from the Garang: We hope to achieve what in our literature we call a use of the word negotiations because in negotiations, you new Sudan. The Sudan has been characterized by injustices have two sides—one giving, the other taking, until you reach ever since 1956. The government that took power after inde- a middle ground, which was the case in the earlier context of pendence failed to evolve a new Sudanese identity and a new the Anyanya, for example. The Anyanya had a firm posi- Sudanese commonality to which we all pledge our allegiance tion—it wanted separation. The Sudan government had a firm and our patriotism and on which future generations will build. position—it wanted unity. The two sides then negotiated in The Sudan has been characterized by sectarianism based on terms of what powers the central government would relinquish religion or on race and these differences hove been used not to the south so that the south abandons its position of separa- to evolve a new, enriched particularity, but to maintain politi- tion. cal power in Khartoum. In our situation, we share the same objective of Sudanese I envisage a Sudan which transcends these localisms. Our unity. The cornerstone of the movement at the very beginning vision contrasts with the first movement, the Anyanya move- in 1983, as enunciated in our manifesto, is Sudanese unity. ment, whose primary objective was the separation of southern So here I go back again. We are talking about the restructur- Sudan. With a separatist objective, you either achieve separa- ing of power in Khartoum, so it is really a process. In the meet- tion or you don't. If you don't, then you must compromise. And ings in June, we agreed to meet again in mid-July, and agreed if you compromise, then you have essentially failed in your pri- to set a date for the national constitutional conference for mary objective. The Anyanya movement could not achieve its September 19. objective, and it reached a compromise in 1 972 in the form of Again, this is a process. The dialogue started with Koka the Addis Ababa agreement. It was clear that that agreement Dam in 1986. Koka Dam was then lost in the dust of elections could not last because it was based on opportunism on both and coalition government formation, and it was not until last sides. So in 1983, Nimeiry could openly say that the Addis November 16 that a major breakthrough was made again in Ababa agreement was neither the Bible nor the Koran and he that dialogue. Then what happened? We agreed to freeze the tore it up. September laws, the sharia, and to abrogate the defense We see a Sudan where such questions—what does the treaty between Egypt and Sudan, and Sudan and Libya, to lift SPLM want, or what would satisfy the guerrillas, or the guerril- the state of emergency, and to work out a ceasefire and then las are fighting for greater autonomy—do not become rele- go for a national constitutional conference to agree on the fun- vant, because we don't see a situation where Khartoum gives damentals for a new united Sudan. ~hat agreement was very and the south receives. We see a Sudan where the power of badly received by the National Islamic Front, but was popular- the central government in Khartoum is restructured so as to ly received by the Sudanese people. reflect this new particularity. The prime minister [Sadiq al-Mahdi] was ambiguous. The Africa Report: How do you want to see it restructured? peace had wide support. His party even endorsed it, but Garang: We are talking here of a socio-political mutation—a somehow the prime minister workea against the peace pro- new entity coming out of what we have now. As a socio-politi- cess until Parliament voted against it on December 28, using cal mutation, you cannot really delineate it by saying one, the votes of the Umma and the National Islamic Front [NIF]. two, three. But we are talking about a new reality in which the That caused a major crisis in government. The Democratic localisms and parochialisms—Sudan is composed of more Unionist Party [DUP] walked out and a new government was than 150 different nationalities speaking different languages formed between the Umma and the NIF. That government was with various religions—are transcended by a commonality to very weak and war intensified. Within six months, the SPLA which we all pay our allegiance and our patriotism. That com- overran 1 6 garrisons. We captured lots of ground. monality has never been achieved in our situation. You cannot lose 16 military garrisons and have no impact For example, the United States, peopled by various nation- on your army. So the army gave Sadiq an ultimatum that he alities from Europe, had to fight against England to achieve either accept the November peace agreement or give them independence and that unity had to be maintained through a enough armaments to win the war. Of course, the real civil war. In our situation, our fellow citizens of Arab origin demand of the army is peace, because it is not normal for the have not transcended where they came from. When you want army to give ultimatums to prime ministers. That clause, "or to dig your roots in America, you say you are a German- else give us armaments to win the war," is sugar-coating to a American, an Italian-American, an African-American. The chal- demand for peace. So the prime minister had to make an lenge facing our fellow citizens of Arab origin is whether they about-face and say that he had accepted the November 16 are Sudanese Arabs or Arab Sudanese. We wan! a transfor- peace agreement between the DUP and the SPLM. mation where they become Arab Sudanese, not the other way You can see the dynamic of change. The prime minister around, and the same with the other nationalities. accepted this peace initiative not because he wanted it, but This is the vision of Sudan and the conceptual framework in was forced by the political situation, the pressure from the which peace can be discussed. I do not see peace being out- army, from the SPLM, and from the DUP and other political side justice. The correlation between peace and justice is very parties. So the kind of Sudan I was talking about, born out of high, probably 100 percent. I cannot conceive of peace out- a socio-political mutation, comes out of this process. The side the parameters of justice that I am talking about, outside Anyanya, by defining its objective as separation, defined itself the new Sudan. I don't see myself integrated into an Islamic or out of the mainstream of Sudanese politics. The SPLM, by an Arab republic, but into a new commonality. defining its objective as unity, defined itself into the Sudanese Africa Report: How close are you to achieving that? Were political process. So this interaction is an indication of how

44 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 Operation Uftlim- Sudan: "The accusation of food for political pur- Mosque in central Khartoum: "The challenge facing poses has been made, bul we are against it and we condemn it" our fellow citizens of Arab origin is whether they are Sudanese Arabs or Arab Sudanese"

SPLA forces: "Within six months, the SPLA overran 16 garrisons. We captured lots of ground"

AFRICA REPORT • July August 1989 45 near we are to achieving our objective. been able to move about 60,000 metric tons of relief items to Militarily, we have gone fo the north. We are fighting now the affected areas and James Grant of Unicef has done an in southern Kordofan, in southern Blue Nile, so on the ground, excellent job. He has gone to meet me in southern Sudan and our objectives are being realized. Politically, with the interac- actually spent a night at our place. So my assessment is that it tion with the other Sudanese political forces, we are not isolat- has been very successful and they should continue to do this. I ed, and we are influencing events as part and parcel of the hove assured Mr. Grant that the movement will continue to Sudanese political process. So I am quite confident that our cooperate with him and the Unicef operation and with the objectives are being realized, that enough political pressures other relief organizations to get the food through. will be brought to bear on people who make decisions in Africa Report: Will the famine that occurred last year be Khartoum and they will be forced to see the necessity of living averted? in a multi-nationality Sudan. This is the only way we can keep Garang: Definitely. The situation has been ameliorated. It the country together. It will not be a situation where the ques- will not be repealed. tion is asked: What will Khartoum give to the SPLM? We will Africa Report: How do you answer critics who say that both not be given, we will be part and parcel of the decision-mak- the SPLA and the government in Khartoum, by using food as a ing process in Khartoum. weapon, have inflicted a terrible amount of suffering on the Africa Report: When do you think that will happen? Will it people of southern Sudan? be this year? Garang: I can only talk for the SPLA. We have sought inter- Garang: As soon as we all become educated to the necessi- national relief assistance ever since 1 985-86. The famine real- ty of having a multi-nationality country, separating ly started in 1984. There was a general drought in Africa religion—mosque and church—from the state, and giving reli- from the Sahel up to Ethiopia. At that time, the movement had gious freedom to all without favor or discrimination. That pro- just started. Nimeiry had suddenly been converted to religious cess is not far off and the indications are clear. If the army can fundamentalism. He imposed sharia on the country. He want- give ultimatums to the prime minister, this is an indication of ed to be Imam, and he found it embarrassing to appeal to the the fragility of the political situation, and therefore the dynam- infidel West for relief. So at that time, the southern Sudanese ics of change and the closeness of the mutation we are talking were really forsaken. They had a movement that had just start- about. ed and whom nobody would believe or take its word serious- Africa Report: You declared a truce in May and extended it ly, and a government that had literally abdicated its responsi- to June. What were the reasons for it? bility toward the people. In 1986, a BBC reporter came to me Garang: Why did we declare it? After the army's ultimatum, in Kapoeta and asked me the same question, and I said we the prime minister was forced to accept the peace initiative, are not refusing relief. It is that relief is not coming. We appeal and a new government was formed, committed to its imple- to the international community that people are dying, and mentation. We declared this peace initiative to enable the new there is very little we can do. We want relief to reach both government to implement the four requirements we talk about sides of the conflict. and also to facilitate relief. The emergency relief that is going The reality of the situation was that you have two adminis- on is facilitated by the ceasefire. It will continue even if there is trations in the country—that of the Khartoum government and no ceasefire, but we thought it would help. that of the SPLM. You cannot have food go to the government- When the agreement was reached in November, we were controlled areas without the cooperation of the movement and accused by the prime minister that this is because the dry sea- vice versa. The sensible thing to do is to have an agreement son is beginning. Government troops have more mobility dur- among the SPLM, the government, and the international relief ing the dry season. They can move tanks, artillery, and so on. organizations. So they thought that it was because of our fear of the dry sea- And this same formula was brought to us in 1986 by Mr. son offensive—that it was opportunism on our side, in other Bradley of the World Food Programme who was the UN secre- words. But it wasn't, because when he rejected the peace tary-general's special envoy to the Sudan. He came to us with agreement, the military operations were intensified and we a plan of action to allow relief food to go to the government ended up capturing 16 military garrisons. There is no way side as well as to our side. Immediately, we approved his that Khartoum can reverse the military balance of forces until plan, even though we had reservations, but we wanted a the dry season, until October or November when they can breakthrough. Now he had the permission to come and con- move cross-country again. tact us from the government of Sawar-Dahab, and it was the So on the military front, we did not have anything to fear. same time Sadiq was taking over. When he returned to the Since the ceasefire can help in the implementation of relief, Sudan, he was thrown out of the country. we thought it was the best thing to do for the Sudanese peo- Sadiq felt that the sovereignty of the Sudan was chal- ple. This is the reason we declared the ceasefire. We are pre- lenged, which of course had already been challenged by our pared to extend it if there is movement in the direction of existence. Mr. Bradley paid the price for it and he was peace. declared persona non grata in the country and nobody pro- Africa Report: What is your view of the UN's role in Opera- tected him, not even the UN or the relief organizations in tion Lifeline Sudan? Both you and the government had to Khartoum, and they knew there was lots of suffering and cooperate to enable the corridors of tranquillity to operate. death. It was reported by journalists that there were skeletons Garang: I feel it was an historic agreement, because it has that littered the railway lines in an area not under SPLM con- not happened that the UN or any other organization has been trol—these were government areas. So at no time had we accepted by both sides before to get relief to civilians who are refused relief assistance to reach the populations on both caught up in the war. So it is a precedent that can be emulat- sides. It is just that the formula had not been accepted where- ed in similar situations. As to the operation itself, it has suc- by relief reaches both sides to the conflict. ceeded. So far, in the past two to three months, they have It was not until toward the end o; last year when Julia Taft

46 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 of U.S. AID International Disaster Relief unilaterally flew food us. But it has been said that we get support from Ethiopia, in without contacting either side that the ice was broken and it Kenya, Israel, East Germany, the Soviet Union. The truth is is now accepted that this model is working. As soon as this what I just told you. mechanism was worked out, food was flown and we are This resolution of regional conflicts, in addition to the inter- cooperating to all extents to see that food convoys are protect- nal situation, involves some arm-twisting. And to twist arms, ed, that the trains are moving from the north to Aweil, drop- you must have leverage. With the SPLM, nobody has leverage ping off relief to the population under the SPLM. over us. Khartoum has preached so much that John Garang is It has been three months now since we gave our OK for the a prisoner of Mengistu and that he can never leave Ethiopia. barges to move from Kosti to Malakal, but they are not mov- Then when 1 leave Ethiopia and come to Washington, they ask ing, and only one train has moved. There are lots of factors why he has gone there. When I go to Kenya, they say he has involved—there are military commanders who are making gone there again. The truth is that we are under nobody's con- money from scarcity, there are merchants who hoard com- trol, and it is difficult to have that leverage over us. At the modities in the south, and the bringing of relief food drops the same time, we are fighting for justice and we will not continue prices. So you have merchants in the south literally bribing the a day longer if justice is brought about peacefully. So, the railway workers and the Nile steamer barge workers, giving dynamics of regional conflict resolution are there, but it should security as the reason, but it is really not security. These are not be over-emphasized. administrative, bureaucratic problems and problems with the Africa Report: What was the purpose of your visit to the merchants. U.S.? Given that the U.S. government has consistently been a It was not until Unicef literally bribed the railway workers very strong supporter of the Khartoum government, do you that the train moved- Bribe may not be the correct word—incen- detect any shifts in American policy? Have you been encour- tive! The merchants would come at night to bribe the railway aged or discouraged by your discussions with American officials? workers not to move on security grounds, Unicef would come Garang: I have certainly been encouraged. I have met a with incentives during the day, and the workers were getting broad spectrum of the American people and government, from the best of all possible worlds! The accusation of food for polit- meetings with President Carter, to Washington where I met lots ical purposes has been made, but we are against it, we con- of congressmen and senators, the State Department, where I demn it, and we would not condone it. The problem of the met the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, non- mechanism of how to get food has been devised and we are governmental organizations, church groups, relief organiza- cooperating. tions, presentations at the Brookings Institute, the Council on Africa Report: The regional dynamics are very complex Foreign Relations, the Ford Foundation, the meeting with now. The SPLA is supported by the Ethiopian government, the Grant of Unicef. Sudanese government supports the Eritreans and Tigreans, At all these meetings, I put across our side of the case, that Libya and Egypt are supporting Khartoum. Is a regional the SPLM fights for justice. What we are talking about is creat- approach warranted? ing a commonality to which we all pledge our allegiance and Garang: Some people might not believe it, but the reality is patriotism. This has not been formed before. We are talking that we really don't get external support. The only country thot about the granting of freedom and liberties to all religions has ever given us military assistance is oddly enough Libya, without favor and without discrimination, and the restructuring when we were fighting against Nimeiry. It was a straightfor- of power in Khartoum so that it reflects this new reality. These ward situation. are really common concerns. And v jide this, it is difficult to Africa Report: Where do your arms come from? see how peace can come. I've explained this message to the Garang: Most of the arms we have now are captured, but American people and government. I believe it has been very originally in 1984-85, we got a substantial supply of arma- well taken. ments from Libya, including SAM missiles, artillery pieces, and As to shifts in American foreign policy, it remains to be lots of ammunition. We knew that the marriage with Libya seen. It is true that Washington has been a strong supporter of would not last. Qaddafy did not like Nimeiry and we did not the Khartoum government. There is no reason why it should like Nimeiry. That armament came through Ethiopia and the not be a strong supporter of the new Sudan which we envis- confusion has been made that it is Ethiopia that is supporting age, because that new Sudan will not be against American the SPLM. But we stockpiled what we got then and in the last interests abroad. I have met the U.S. business community and seven, eight months, we captured 16 garrisons. One of them, we have discussed the prospects for business. My message is Torit, was a garrison of over 3,000 troops, and we took most that we are not against American interests. We will do busi- of the arms, especially the big support weapons, the tanks. ness with the international community on terms advantageous No country ever gave us tanks, but now we have a good sup- to us in the new Sudan, and to the businesses. So my visit has ply. Khartoum gets them from Arab countries, we'll come and been satisfactory. get from Khartoum. It snowballs. Africa Report: Do you see any role for the American gov- It is true that there is talk of resolution of regional conflicts, ernment in facilitating a solution to the war? we are not opposed to this. We want peace. How it works Garang: The U.S. government has been a good friend to itself out depends on who supports who and the specificities of Sudan. And if it can apply the necessary pressure since it has the situation. Neither superpower supports us. Neither the U.S. the leverage, then it can have a role to play. We have been nor the Soviet Union. This is the fact. Ethiopia does not support talking so far without external mediation, and should it be nec- us in the way it is construed in terms of military support—it is essary, we can request external mediation. So far it isn't. But true we have facilities. For me to come here, I had to get the pressures that can be applied by the U.S., the European visas, so getting them from the American embassy in Addis Community, and other countries that are concerned about the Ababa is a form of support, but I could equally do it from situation in the country can help in bringing about peace. So, Kenya or Uganda. It is also not true that Kenya is supporting yes, there can be a role in that context. O

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 47 SUDAN

"The first time in history in the midst of a major conflict that both warring factions agreed to a common plan to reach the people"

AVERTING DISASTER

By JAMES P. GRANT

The director of the UN's Operation Lifeline Sudan discusses the background to the historic agreement between the government and SPLM to allow safe transit of food supplies to the war-torn south. Also looking at the recent military coup in Sudan, James Grant outlines prospects for an end to the conflict, as well as the role of the international community in resolving the nation's ongoing economic crisis.

ince 1945, there have been 150 500,000 to Ethiopia, Uganda, and south. The area where the conflict armed conflicts in 70 countries, other places, and 300,000 or 400,000 has been taking place in the south is S a great many in Africa. In 1986, to beleaguered garrison towns like one of the most remote areas in the Unicef was functioning in 40 coun- Juba and Wau. Well over 300,000 world, and far more underdeveloped tries with armed conflicts underway. have died in those two years. This is than the north. It is also the dividing Over 80 percent of the casualties in the tremendous impact of this kind line between the Islamic-Arab world conflicts in the 1980s were civilians, of conflict on the civilian population. and the African, Christian, and ani- more than two-thirds women and And the repercussions go far mist world to the south. children. If there is going to be con- beyond that. Sudan has .$14 billion Sudan became independent early flict, how do you avoid those who worth of debts; $10.5 billion of which for Africa, in 1955. Civil war between are least capable of protecting them- are owed to public sources and S3.5 the southerners and northerners selves and who are least involved in billion to private. It is virtually in broke out in 1955 and ran until 1972. the fighting? default. So the whole country is in a It ended with a peace settlement by Two years ago, there were rough- very, very deep problem. When wars President Nimeiry, under which lim- ly 6 million people in southern start in countries, the consequences ited autonomy was given to the Sudan. And in the last two years of are many. south. This lasted for 11 years until civil conflict, 1.5 million of them Sudan is about the size of the Nimeiry changed his policies, the have fled to the north, nearly United States east of the Mississippi. south was divided into three parts, Out of the 25 million population, and Islamic law was introduced for James H Grant is executive director of Unicef and head of Operation Lifeline Sudan. about 5 million today live in the the whole country. It was at that

48 AFRICA REPORT • July-Augjst 1989 time, in 1983, that the Sudan Peo- Sudan's emergency needs and government of Sudan and the UN ple's Liberation Movement (SPI.M) requested the secretary-general to secretary-general, but with joint par- and its army, the SPLA, was formed, lake the lead in organizing an effort. ticipation of the major donor coun- with Col. John Garang, a graduate of The secretary-general then made tries, the U.S., the EEC, the Interna- Cornell College, as its leader. an appeal in late October for $73 mil- tional Committee of the Red Cross, The one encouraging aspect of lion, appointed a special coordinator and non-governmental organiza- this civil war is that the SPLM is not for emergency relief operations, the tions. After two and a half days of seeking secession, but a more plu- UNDP resident representative in hard work, they came up with a plan ralistic, decentralized country. Col. Khartoum, and issued a very com- of action. They identified over 2 mil- Garang seems to be very convinced prehensive document on what was lion people that needed to be helped, of the fact that the future of the required. But nothing much hap- roughly half in SPIA areas, half in south lies within the whole of Sudan. pened. And by late January this year, the government areas. They estimat- He has said rather eloquently that it became very clear that the crisis in ed it would cost about $133 million none of the problems of the south Sudan had been far worse in late to avoid a repetition of last year's dis- can be solved by the south becom- 1988 than people had expected. It aster, and they identified the major ing independent. became clear by then that 250,000 corridors through which the assis- After Nimeiry was overthrown in people died last summer and tance ought to go. The government a military coup in 1985, there was a fall—roughly 10 times the size of the of Sudan agreed to it and also agreed transitional military council for a Armenian disaster—and that unless that we could take the lead in bring- year and then Sudan returned to a really massive effort was undertaking the SPLA into the agreement. what has been historically a rather en to pre-position supplies before the This plan of action was unique in democratic past. It's been among the heavy rains began in late June and three aspects. This was the first time most pluralistic, open societies, even July, a comparable disaster would be in history in the midst of a major when there's been a military regime. faced this year. conflict that both warring factions Sadiq al-Mahdi emerged as prime World public opinion was begin- agreed to a common plan of action to minister out of those elections and ning to react to the terrible pictures reach the people. Second, they made he remained prime minister until the that were coming out of Sudan. It it feasible by agreeing that there coup that took place on June 30. was against that background that the ought to be some form of tranquillity By June last year, the situation secretary-general wrote to the prime that would allow this to function. had gotten so bad that the prime minister of Sudan proposing that a Their proposal was that the tran- minister requested the UN secre- special conference be convened. The quillity could either be a tary-general to make an appeal on prime minister agreed and on the period of a month behalf of the government of Sudan secretary-general's behalf, I led a for emergency assistance. The sec- high-level delegation to a meet- retary-general was asked to help ing on March 8-9 in Khar- make a comprehensive review of toum, out of which came a what would be required to deal with very unusual result. relief and rehabilitation. He sent a The meeting was high-level mission out and they pro- convened jointly duced their report on October 11. In bv the October, a General Assembly resolution called on all states to respond to

After the military coup: "Convoys which had been stopped were resumed and the operation has gotten going again" before and one of the defeated groups came upon the train going into the area where they had just been defeated. The track was in sufficiently bad condition that in certain places, there would be 300-400 yards with no track. The train would stop, they would take up 300 yards of track from behind them and lay it out in front. When they came back, they had to do this in reverse. The train was half a mile long and at some points, the government garrison was protecting the locomotive in the front cars and the SPIJ\ was protecting the rear cars. John Garang, head of SPIJVT, meeling with James (Irani in southern Sudan: "Col. At Torit. a Federal Republic of Garang seems to be very convinced that the future of the south lies within the whole Germany air force plane was on the of Sudan" ground and a bomber came over and or two months, or more limited the Nile. The coming of the rains dropped six bombs twice. To date, options such as corridors of tranquil- has not blocked that, in fact it has no one has identified who the lity through which the supplies made that corridor more functional. bomber belonged to. It has been dis- could be sent. A third element was We expect that in mid-July, that cor- avowed by everybody. Neither the the agreement of the Khartoum gov- ridor will begin functioning in a SP1A nor the government wanted to ernment that the UN, in this case major way and will deliver about make an incident of it. From Kapoeta working through Unicef and the 12,000 tons to both the SPLA and to Torit in the SPLA areas, convoys ICRC, could deal with the SPIA vir- government areas. Secondly, we have been attacked twice by the tually as if it were a separate entity. have been able to keep open many of local tribal people who are well- 1 had the privilege of negotiating the corridors that we thought would known for their rustling activities. the SPLA's adherence to the agree- The convoys coming up toward ment. They agreed to it, except that Juba have had an endless series of rather than accepting a month of mining incidents and minor shooting tranquillity, corridors of tranquillity attacks. The best conclusion we can were proposed. There are eight cor- come to is that the merchants in Yei ridors through which supplies will P eace is in the are doing very well with the high be delivered: by rail from central times and there ought price of grain and don't want to see Sudan down to the south, by the the arrival of the convoys which will Nile, by road from Uganda, Kenya, to be this expectation bring the price of grain down by and Ethiopia, to 12 cities, half on expressed through three-quarters. In Malakal, the gov- each side. So while the fighting went ernment has issued instructions to on, whenever a relief convoy went every means possible the barges to be released to go through, there would be a bubble of that the time for peace north so we can bring grain down, tranquillity that would protect that has come for Sudan. but for many reasons we never got unarmed, non-mililarily escorted them out. convoy. But basically the operation is Since that time, the agreement working and the prospects of a truly has as a whole been honored by become nonoperational with the major disaster have been averted. both sides. At the upper levels, they heavy rains, by using smaller trucks Both parties have agreed that it has have been 95 percent plus in their and by strategically placing bulldoz- contributed to the peace process. As support. Of the 120,000 tons we ers along the way. of June 29, I was very hopeful that hoped to deliver by the end of June, While the higher authorities have the peace process would make a we delivered about 85,000 tons. been supportive, there have been major step forward in July and Despite the shortfall, we are opti- many problems at the lower levels. August. The government had mistic for two reasons that we will be The railway had one train on in it in reached the conclusion that major able to avoid a major disaster this the last two and half years. When the concessions had to be made to the year. The first is that the principal train started down, fighting had SPIJ\, and specific concessions had shortfall has been in deliveries down taken place less than 24 hours been decided upon.

50 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 On June 30 came the military has probably been slowed a month governments. Those governments coup. Control of the whole country or two by this change. The last gov- can act quickly and within 90 days was taken within 12 hours. All politi- ernment had finally reached the after peace wipe the public debt off cal parties were banned, all cabinet decision a week or ten days before the books. The $3 billion of private officers and party leaders were the coup that it would move decisive- debt could be bought out for $200- placed under arrest, and the new ly on this. The new authorities are 300 million. Currently we have had government took a posture against convinced that they need a peace three banks work out special debt the militias and political parties. The process, but the only question is relief for development. They have coup was clearly started several what is the balance? Before they can given us the debt and the local pow- weeks before hand, done basically negotiate out their balance, they ers pay us in local currency, which is by the combat commanders. Almost have to see what kind of internation- used for development purposes. every general in the army was dis- al support they can get. A whole variety of steps could be missed. The new revolutionary What role for the international taken within 12 months which could council is composed almost entirely community at this stage? Operation have Sudan on an entirely different of brigadiers and lower ranks, most Lifeline Sudan should continue to be economic footing. It is a rich country from the frontline units. supported by committing more of skillful people and if it can move There has been much speculation funds. About $40 million is still quickly from Lifeline Sudan to peace as to the reasons for the coup, some required. Equally important is to put to development, this would be a very of which are fairly obvious. The pressure on both parties to imple- powerful impetus to Ethiopia, Ango- frontline units felt they were getting ment Operation Lifeline Sudan. This la, Mozambique, and other divided poor support from the system. The was a Sudanese-crafted initiative in countries. The world trend is hope- peace process seemed to be going the first place and one that has gen- ful for bringing peace and the next very, very slowly, there was a feeling erated international support. If it two years ought to see the end of all by the military that they were left now falls apart, the world communi- the major conflicts in Africa. O out of the process, and if there were ty will hold responsible those people negotiations between the rebels and who bring it down. the politicians, the military comman- There should also be pressure, ders ought to have a say in it. from the media to governments, to There was generally a favorable press for the continuation of the public reaction to the coup, and the peace process. Today, there is a tide new president, Lt.-Gen. Omar Has- for peace. Peace is in the times and san Ahmed al-Bashir, moved quickly there ought to be this expectation to consolidate his position and estab- expressed through every means pos- lish a government run by the tech- sible that the lime for peace has nocrats. Lt.-Gen, Bashir has pub- come for Sudan. lished a very strong statement in The third thing is to talk about support of Operation Lifeline Sudan. what happens after peace. If after all Flights which had stopped were this conflict, the Sudanese can oper- resumed and the operation has got- ate Operation Lifeline Sudan—the ten going again. first time in history that we have a The new government has been major model that would be applica- talking peace. At the March 8 meet- ble to future Ethiopias, Afghanistans, ing, the former Mahdi government Somalias, Angolas for how to buffer had offered a month of tranquillity the civilian population—this ought to and the rebels said no, let's just have be recognized as a major Sudanese the corridors. Then on April 1, the contribution. If they can get a peace SPIA offered a month of cease-fire, process this summer and fall, the but the government wouldn't accept combination of these two ought to it. Then the SPLA extended it anoth- be viewed internationally as one plus er month and it expired. Now the one equals five. new government has offered a Then there ought to be a reaction cease-fire and the question is on a rehabilitation and development whether the SPLA will accept it. approach to make sure that it works The SPLA reaction to the coup and there are many things that can has been very guarded. They had a be done quickly and relatively easily. meeting of their military council in There ought to be debt relief for "I'nless a really massive effort was undertaken to preposition supplies southern Sudan in mid-July to gauge peace. Sudan owes $14 billion worth before the heavy rains, a comparable dis- how to respond. The peace process of debt and more than $10 billion to aster would be faced this year"

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 51 ETHIOPIA

Mengistu Haile Mariam: "It remains to be seen whether Mengistu's bloodily executed revenge will erode his shaky power base even further"

REBELLION AND RETALIATION

By MARY ANNE FITZGERALD

A failed attempt to overthrow Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam in May led to the elimination of scores of military officers and other suspected sympathizers. The crackdown, however, has failed to quash deep-rooted discontent with the Ethiopian government and its inability to end the war in Eritrea and Tigray.

he real surprise in May's mili- lives of hundreds of thousands of tary-led coup attempt in Ethio- Ethiopians. In addition, his determi- T pia was not that it happened, nation to quash a long-standing guer- but that it had not happened sooner. rilla insurgency has eroded military Mengistu Haile Mariam, the ruth- morale, turning a large part of the lessly autocratic president of this armed forces against him. Marxist regime, is one of the most Some statistics make it clear why hated leaders in Africa. Abroad, his a coup is well overdue. Ethiopia impatience with perestroika has lost ranks first in the world for human him the friendship of the So- rights violations, according to the viets—the allies who have provided London-based human rights organi- $6 billion in military equipment. On zation, Amnesty International. An the home front, he has sapped his estimated 2,000-3,000 political pris- country's resources by conducting a oners are being held without trial. relentless war against secessionist Up to 100,000 peasant farmers died rebels in the north. as a result of being forcibly removed His political ambition has cost the from their homes during mass resettlement programs. Mary Anne Fitzgerald has reported on Africa for the last 10 years. She is currently based in The roots of the May rebellion lay hmdon. in the dispirited army, tired of wag-

Camerapix ing a desultory war against fellow ple's Liberation Front (EPLF) and Ethiopians that holds no promise of turned on fellow soldiers and officers. victory for either side. It was the mil- Maj.-Gen. Demessie Bulto, the itary's resentment of their treatment coup leader, was killed in the fight- at Mengistu's hands—rather than ing. Later, his head was paraded ideological objections to the cam- through the streets of Asmara, stuck paign against the Eritreans and onto a pike—a graphic warning to Tigrayans—that triggered the abor- anyone else who dared to challenge tive coup. It remains to be seen the government. whether Mengistu's bloodily execut- Mengistu's awesome retaliation ed revenge will erode his shaky against his opponents lives up to his power base even further. reputation as the most brutal leader The attempt to topple Mengistu in Africa. Reports smuggled out of was the result of months of careful Ethiopia by witnesses speak of a mil- planning by senior military officers. itary Calvary, where officers bearing But it was sabotaged by top-ranking aloft Mengistu's portrait were beaten security officials who were already to death as they walked through the aware of the plot's existence. streets of Asmara. Many soldiers On May 16, as Mengistu left on a were burnt alive, while others were state visit to East Berlin, top gener- dragged to their deaths behind vehi- als met with colleagues at the cles. Defense Ministry to finalize plans Many of the coup leaders were for the coup. It was at this point that Sandhurst graduates, ranking offi- the 2,000-strong Special Security cers of some 20 years' standing Force, Mengistu's praetorian guard, whose commissions were won dur- and other loyal units swung into ing the reign of the deposed Emper- action and quickly pre-empted the or Haile Selassie. They included rebellion, which had been scheduled Maj.-Gen. Amha Desta, the air force for some days ahead. head, Maj.-Gen. Merid Negussie, The swift reaction was led from chief of staff of the armed forces, the very heart of Mengistu's power and Maj.-Gen. Fanta Lelay, who base: Lt. Gen. Tesfaye Gebre Kedan, became a national hero after leading party boss for military affairs in the the air force to victory during the politburo, and Col. Tesfaye Wolde Ogaden war. Selassie, Minister for Public Securi- According to opposition sources ty. Aware of the plot, they urged in exile, the coup leaders intended to Mengistu to leave the country while establish a transitional military coun- they extinguished it. cil, to have been led by Maj.-Gen. It was not the first time that Tes- Seyoun Mekonnen, once head of faye had been involved in such an military intelligence. exercise. In 1982, as minister for The purge has wiped out the defense, he personally put down a cream of the army and the air force. rebellion at the Eritrean front line. At least 38 senior officers have been Several battalions around Nacfa, executed. Among them were 11 the rebel Eritrean stronghold, majors-general. Another 400 officers refused to fight. One battalion even are under arrest. arrested its commanding officer. Mengistu moved quickly to pro- Tesfaye responded ruthlessly: He mote his proteges to fill the ranks, brought in troops to discipline the but the convulsion of the coup mutinous units and ordered the exe- attempt may have formed a deep rift cution of several officers. between loyalist troops and coup The rebellion in the Eritrean capi- supporters. Ironically, this inter- ta! of Asmara fizzled out two days necine conflict within the military is after it had been put down in Addis likely to sabotage any further cam- Ababa. A faction within the mutinous paigns in the north. 2nd Brigade, led by Brig.-Gen. Hus- The civil war in Eritrea has been sein Ahmed, disagreed over joining sapping military strength for 28 forces with the rebel Eritrean Peo- years. In the neighboring province of

Cameiapix Soviet personnel carriers, Addis Ababa: "Moscow is reportedly pressing for repayment of Ethiopia's huge arms debt'

Tigray to the south, the Tigrayan that were seized by Eritrean forces bachev's call for peace and free mar- People's Liberation Front (TPLF) when they took the town. Now the ket reform. The two leaders do not has been fighting the government Kritrean front line is the farthest see eye-to-eye. for over a decade. Losses among south it has ever been. Gen. Legesse Asfaw, a founding government troops run into the hun- I-ast February, the TPLF captured member of the Dergue and the polit- dreds of thousands. the Tigrayan capital of Makelle and buro's top-ranking military man, has It is this, more than anything else, drove the Ethiopian army out of the been urging less Soviet dependence that has stirred deep resentment province, after a series of bloody bat- and closer ties with the West for within the army and air force. Con- tles with extremely high casualties. some months. There is discussion of scripts have little hope of leaving the In desperation, to replenish the upgrading the U.S. diplomatic mis- front line alive unless they are either ranks, Mengistu this year lowered sion in Addis Ababa to ambassadori- wounded or defect. There are thou- the conscription age to 13. I^ast year, al status. sands of amputees throughout the 150,000 boys were flown to Asmara As the regime's chief arms buyer, country who have lost their limbs on Ethiopian Airways under the pre- he has been seeking alternative needlessly on landmines. text of being sent abroad for further sources for military equipment from There are no doctors at the front, education. Saudi Arabia (whose arming of the according to conscripts who have This strategy has ignited public EPLF met with U.S. approval), Iran, returned. Troops are forced to anger, but the reprisals have been Iraq, and Syria. But it is East Ger- march over mined defenses onto unexpectedly harsh. When students many that has supplanted the USSR rebel positions, copying the military from Addis Ababa University demon- as the major arms supplier. tactics used during the Iran-Iraq war. strated three days after the coup With all these problems, it is Regular troops are never relieved attempt, troops retaliated by beating hardly surprising that in early June, from their foxholes. Some officers some 20 to death. Other suspected Mengistu called for talks with seces- have only seen their families once in sympathizers have been garotted sionist rebels in Tigray and Eritrea. the 14 years they have been sta- with piano wires, their bodies However, he ruled out the possibility tioned in Eritrea. thrown into the gutters. of an independent Eritrea, which Dissatisfaction boiled over last Even more crucial than this may have dampened EPLF enthusi- year when the soldiers sent a peti- domestic disaffection is Moscow's asm for a meeting. Even so, it is the tion to Mengistu asking for leave. He decision to withdraw military sup- first time Mengistu has not set any was so angry that he flew to Asmara port after its current contract other conditions for peace talks. and personally saw to the execution expires in 1991. Soviet diplomats By mid-June, no date or venue of their commander, Gen. Tariku have made it very clear that they had been set. But opposition sources Ayne. would like to see a negotiated settle- in exile believe that the regime may This provoked a mass defection ment to end the war. have attempted to contact the EPLF of several thousand troops, who sim- Moscow is also reportedly press- and TPLF in London when Foreign ply walked away from the military ing for repayment of Ethiopia's huge Minister Berhane Baye met with his headquarters at Aiabet. They left arms debt. Mengistu's hardline Stal- British counterpart. Sir Geoffrey behind valuable artillery and tanks inism is at loggerheads with Gor- Howe, earlier in the month. O

54 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 T R V W Maina wa Kinyatti: A HISTORY OF RESISTANCE By ANDRE ASTROW

Maina wa Kinyatti, a former senior lecturer in history at Kenyatta University, recently fled from Kenya only a few months after having been released from a six- year prison term for allegedly possessing a "seditious" document. One of the country's leading political prisoners, Kinyatti had been repeatedly tortured by police in an effort to make him confess to membership in Mwakenya, the clandestine opposition organization. Upon his release from jail, he was threatened with re-arrest for refusing to ask President Daniel arap Moi for an official pardon as a condition for reinstatement to his previous job, forcing him to leave Kenya in secret and seek refuge in the U.S. In this exclusive interview with Africa Report, Kinyatti provides an insider's account of what it means to be a critic of the government in Kenya today.

Africa Report: What made you decide to flee Kenya and they were following me, they simply replied that they were seek asylum in the U.S. just five months after having been doing their job. released from prison? Did you fear that you would be re-arrest- So my wife and I knew that they would eventually come to ed if you remained in the country? arrest me. On March 10, they came to my house and asked Kinyatti: Yes. Immediately after I was released, the police for me, but I was not there. This was reported to me at the came to my house and told me that I should write to President place where I was staying. I decided not to go back to the Moi and apologize for my crime, renouncing my political house to give them another chance to arrest me. As you know, beliefs and ideas, and agree to support the regime. I refused in Kenya you can be detained in prison without trial, so I to do that. This was the condition I was given if I wanted a decided to go underground for several days while preparing job. I was told that Moi had to clear my name. to leave the country. Finally, on March 13, I left Kenya for a Firstly, I felt that as a Kenyan, I did not need a permit to neighboring country. look for a job in my country. Secondly, I was qualified for my Africa Report: Can you say anything more about your job, and thirdly, Moi had no right to decide whether I can escape? It was reported that you crossed the border into Tan- have a job or not. So I refused to write to him. zania. From that time onwards, the Kenyan government put police- Kinyatti: Yes, this is what was reported. I don't want to say men outside my house 24 hours a day. I was followed at all which country I fled to but, of course, the papers in Kenya times, even when I went to see my father in a rural village. said it was Tanzania. What I can tell you is that it took me two They did not hide themselves at all. When I asked them why days to reach the border.

AFRICA REPORT • Juiy-Augusl 1989 55 Africa Report: What crime did the Kenyan government plotting with students the overthrow of the government. I was accuse you of having committed? also accused of having been paid a lot of money by the Soviet Kinyatti: When they arrested me in 1982, I was accused of Union to spread communism in my country. having in my possession what they call a seditious publication, The fact is I didn't even know any Russians at home. I was but that was not the real reason they were looking for me- First living on my salary. I was accused of all these things because of all, I was very much involved in the academic union. Sec- of my progressive ideas and because I criticized the govern- ondly, I was doing research on the Mau Mau movement. In ment. I don't believe in corruption, I don't believe in the wealth our country, you need to have permission to do any kind of that Moi has accumulated. So I opposed that. academic research- You cannot do research without a permit The accusation of being a member of Mwakenya came from the government. When I went to ask for a permit, it was later, in 1986. The police came several times while I was in refused, but I decided to go on anyway since I felt it was an prison, saying that I was in Mwakenya and that I knew the important chapter of our history that needed to be written. So I members of the central committee. You see, they were able to went ahead. extract a lot of information from people they tortured. Much of This is when the government came to look for seditious doc- it, of course, was false. uments. But this was just an excuse. They took 29 files of my I was in prison as of 1982 and Mwakenya came to be research. I was then questioned a lot about why I was focus- known in 1986. So I denied these accusations of membership. ing on that period of our history. They said that the Mau Mau It was an excuse for them because Mwakenya is really the issue was very political and that I was trying to divide the product of economic problems and political corruption in our country. country, of the betrayal of the people—particularly of those If you look at the period after independence, the people who fought for independence. who had fought for our independence were betrayed, not by More specifically, the government changed the constitution Jomo Kenyatta specifically, but by the entire Kanu regime. The with an amendment making Kenya a one-party state. So after people who now run the government were actually on the that, there was no longer any room for democracy or justice other side, or at best did not take part at all. So they have under the one-party system because the party belonged to the been doing their best to cover up this chapter of our history. rich and powerful. So the people of Kenya felt it necessary to Of course, they argue that they themselves fought for indepen- go underground to join Mwakenya since Kenya was no longer dence, but those are lies. a democratic society. Africa Report: So this seditious document never existed? Africa Report: Were you able to meet any of the political Kinyatti: No. The police told my wife that they were coming prisoners and speak to members of Mwakenya? for a seditious publication. According to the law, when they Kinyatti: Yes, in fact political prisoners are kept in one secu- find a seditious document, they are supposed to sign a paper rity block. All those accused of political crimes are brought indicating when and where it was found. But there was noth- there, so I was able to talk to many of them. I was kept in soli- ing. They simply took my files and 23 books. tary confinement, but we found ways to talk to each other. Africa Report: Were you not also accused by the govern- Africa Report: Were they prisoners who openly admitted to ment of being a communist and a member of Mwakenya? being members of Mwakenya, or hod they done so under torture? Kinyatti: When I was first taken into police custody, I was Kinyatti: Many were Mwakenya members. Half of the politi- accused of being a communist, a Marxist. I was accused of cal prisoners were in Mwakenya, initially about 100 in all,

^ w* before more were brought in. The other half had nothing to do with Mwakenya. All were politico! prisoners, all were beaten and admitted to being members of Mwakenyo even though they really were not. Africa Report: When Amnesty International published its 1987 report detailing widespread human rights abuses in Kenya, Moi told the group to "go to hell." Do you feel that there has been a real change in attitude since then? Kinyatti: There has been a change, but not much. Moi is a very shrewd man and he lies a lot. The government has tightened censorship in the country and now controls the three local papers: the Daily Nation [banned in June], The Standard, and the Kenya Times, which is the party paper. Now nothing can be published without the government's approval. So people ore still being arrested, people still disap- pear, and people are still being tortured, but that cannot be published. The constitution has also been changed so that you can hold prisoners without charge for up to 14 days. Before, it used to be only 24 hours. It's like South Africa. So you can see how the government manipulates the situation. In the past, these things were exposed and people were able to see and President Daniel arap Moi: know what was going on. The international community was "Either you sing to the tune of Nyayo able to read the newspapers. But now Moi has really clamped or you keep quiet" down on the press while giving wider power to the police. most severe crackdowns against anti-government dissidents Africa Report: Yet in February of this year, Moi publicly after a period of relative calm. Why was there this renewed expressed concern about several incidents of police brutality offensive against Moi's opponents? and torture. Do you see this as a sign that Moi is trying to Kinyatti: The government is paranoid. Moi sees enemies clean up his government's image? everywhere. You see, there are two options in our country. Kinyatti: By now, a lot of people have been killed in prison Either you sing to the tune of Nyayo or you keep quiet. And and those things have been exposed, particularly in the inter- even that silence can be a problem. You can't say anything national papers. I think there was pressure on Moi from the against the president, he cannot be criticized because he tells U.S. and the British government to accept that there have been the truth at all times. So what you find is that even those liberal killings and torture in Kenyan cells. But that is not stopping the MPs who are members of the party but who are very critical of government from going ahead with torture. People are still some things like the queueing policy become an enemy. Then being put in water while in detention. And people are still the police follow you all over the place. being shot in the street. The government has this policy, which In addition, there are many Kenyans abroad who have is not in the constitution, called shoot to kill. From 1984 to been doing a lot of propaganda work. The government feels 1988, the government killed more than 100 people under this that they are connected with people who are still underground policy. The suspect can be anybody. inside the country. This then extends to family and relatives, Africa Report: Do you think the government is sensitive to like my wife. She was arrested even though she is not politi- international pressure? It seems that the government often cal, but simply because she is connected to me. tends to dig in its heels when there is pressure From abroad. Africa Report: Relatively little has been heard from Mwa- Kinyatti: The government has been very sensitive to such crit- kenya over the past year. Has the government succeeded in icism. For example, at the time when Congressman Howard crushing it or do you think it is reorganizing underground? Wolpe came to Kenya [in 1987] there was a lot of demand Kinyatti: The government has not managed to defeat Mwa- internationally that I be released. After Wolpe publicly men- kenya. What has happened is that it probably has laken tioned my name, the police came straight to see me in prison. another form. I was put in solitary confinement for six weeks. Africa Report: The government has for years tried to link But what I found quite interesting was that at the same time, political opponents to Mwakenya. Hasn't this tactic given the police acknowledged that the government was under a lot Mwakenya more credit and more publicity than it might other- of pressure from the international community and humanitarian wise receive? organizations. So they said that things had gone too far and Kinyatti: That is what I was alluding to earlier. Mwakenya that if 1 agreed to write a letter of apology to Moi, I would be emerged because of what was happening once the Moi released. regime closed all democratic channels. It was a relatively Africa Report: They were looking for a way out. small thing, but Moi began talking of it as though it was a big Kinyatti: Yes, but of course, I refused to write the letter since I animal that was going to swallow the country. As a result, he could not accept these conditions. Still the pressure by the gave the organization a lot of publicity and it became popu- international community was very important and limited what lar. The Moi regime is not popular, so when il tried to crush Moi could do. People soy that if you push too much, Moi will Mwakenya, the people began to support the movement. react and not give in. That is not true. It is the other way Africa Report: It was a spontaneous reaction by the people. around. Kinyatti: Exactly. When you are not popular, the people will Africa Report: Nevertheless, last year marked one of the feel that an opposition movement is positive. So all along, the

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 57 government has been popularizing the movement. And it has so rich, it makes you wonder where he gets the money. done it very well! People look forward to joining such an Africa Report: Do you advocate legislation making future organization. U.S. aid conditional on respect for human rights? Africa Report: What do you make of former vice-president Kinyatti: Certainly. I feel the U.S. has a decision to make. I Oginga Odinga's recent pledge of support for the government know the U.S. has a great deal of interests in Kenya, and in after being one of Moi's most outspoken critics for so many fact has been a major supporter of the Moi government. years? Is il a sign that Moi is successfully winning over some Kenya is one of the highest recipients of U.S. aid, and it seems of his opponents? to me that Congress has a responsibility not to fuel a dictator- Kinyatti: I don't really want to comment on this without talk- ship in our country. ing to Odinga himself. In general, he has been very popular I see the aid which is given to Moi as a weapon to fight the with the people of Kenya. He has been speaking for them, people of Kenya. So the aid should be tied to the human rights he's been the voice of the people. So when that kind of state- situation in the country since Congress has the power to push ment is issued by a person in whom people have a lot of faith, Moi in this direction as well as to ensure that he respects our then you start to wonder. It makes you want to ask him what national constitution which gives our people freedom of this is all about, why he has made this about-face. speech and freedom of movement. Africa Report: Members of the legal community have also Africa Report: You feel that the U.S. should therefore play a been some of Moi's harshest critics. Do you think Parliament's more active role in Kenya. recent amendments to the constitution giving Moi unrestricted Kinyatti: I Feel that way, but the U.S. government is always powers to dismiss judges and giving the police wider powers late in reacting. It plays games and ends up having to support of detention effectively undermine Kenya's judiciary? its men. Still, I have a lot of faith in the American people. Gen- Kinyatti: They already have. Kenyan courts have become erally, American people are decent and can help us by putting kangaroo courts where the president has all the power to pressure on the U.S. government I try to make a distinction appoint and dismiss the judges, and of course, to dictate what between the two. It is the American people, for example, that the judges are going to do. Now the courts are being used as forced the U.S. government to leave Vietnam. a tool to suppress democracy and justice. There is no longer Africa Report: Despite Kenya's negative press exposure in such a thing as a just court. Judges are no longer indepen- the U.S., it is still portrayed as a relatively tolerant democracy. dent, so the judiciary has been really killed. Kinyatti: There is a lot of propaganda that Moi is better than You find the same thing with Parliament. Whatever Moi most. In particular, there is the role of congressmen who go to says goes because he has put all his people in Parliament who Kenya, like [the late] Rep. Claude Pepper of Florida. When he will not question him. Now they are all 'yes men.' So he has came back, he circulated a letter saying that he did not see killed Parliament as well. We no longer have an independent anything wrong in Kenya, that there is democracy in our coun- Parliament. It has become a rubber stamp for the president. try. These congressmen are received by the Kenyan govern- Moi has transferred power from Parliament to the party. And ment, taken around Nairobi, taken to see the animals and so the parly is a tool to be used by Moi to fight those people who on. But they have not been able to meet people who are criti- are critical. He is killing democracy, he is killing the national cal of the government. I think what is needed is for congress- constitution, and he is killing Parliament. men to come independently to Kenya to talk to people—not Africa Report: But the government is also suppressing non- the government, but the people. violent critics, which will only encourage more and more They will find that there have been several cases of killings Kenyans to seek a violent solution. which have gone unreported. For example, in northern Kenya Kinyatti: Exactly. For a long time, Kenyans did not have to in February 1984, about 500 people were killed by the secu- go underground. They felt that there was democracy in our rity forces. This was never reported. In the same year, near the country, that anyone who wanted to form an opposition party Ugandan border, more than 800 women and children were could do so. But now the government has become so repres- shot. Again, this was never reported. sive in fighting what it sees as its enemy that it is creating the Africa Report: Why were these people killed? basis for a revolution in our country. Our people have a histo- Kinyatti: If a policeman is shot, the security forces don't look ry of resistance. They are known for organizing resistance for the person who has killed. They just gather the villagers against the government. That is what is going to happen. Moi together and shoot them. No report of such incidents have is creating a revolution. been filed. Generally, the government does not allow the press Africa Report: The systematic suppression of criticism has to go to such areas. gone hand in hand with Moi's steady accumulation of power So for people to argue that Kenya is not as bad as other through the elimination of the secret ballot and the introduction countries is wrong when you see some of the nightmares that of the controversial queueing policy. people have gone through. Lecturers and intellectuals are Kinyatti: That is what I meant when I referred earlier to the arrested because of their ideas. You cannot comfortably teach constitutional amendments which have clearly given Moi a because the police is planted in the classrooms. Whatever you great deal of power. They have destroyed democracy in our teach is taped, and if you eventually say something critical country and created a one-man dictatorship. In Kenya there is against the president, you are detained. Censorship is so tight no one else now. There is only the president who runs the that even Kanu people are scared of what to write because country. Of course, the aid that the U.S. is giving Moi is help- they know that the police can come to their house and take ing him to build this dictatorship. them away. What Moi has been trying to do with his men is to finan- What people want to prevent is what happened in Uganda cially control almost everybody, using all the powers that he during Idi Amin. It seems it is only when the government has accumulated. He owns a lot of businesses in Nairobi. He begins the widespread killing of Kenyans that the international is the richest man in our country. In 10 years, he has become community will wake up. O

58 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 MEDIA THE NEWS HOLE: REPORTING AFRICA By MARY ANNE FITZGERALD While the Western press is often guilty of sensationalizing events in Africa, leading to a distorted picture of the continent, African leaders too share some of the blame, censoring the domestic press and imprisoning journalists who are deemed critical of their governments.

nenlightened attitudes toward 20 different countries in the past barked on a national reconstruction the role of the media in Africa year because of what they have writ- program with the help of U.S. AID, U have condemned it to remain ten, according to Amnesty Interna- the World Bank, and other Western the dark continent. Journalists tional, the London-based human donors. assigned there find themselves rights organization. Of 28 journalists This is not fair to Africa. It caught between their editors' defini- whose arrests were recorded in 1988 deserves more than the stereotyped tion of what is "news" and African by "Attacks on the Press," a world images that are all too easy to por- criticism of the Western press for survey published by the U.S.-based tray. Its efforts at development sensationalizing. As a result, it is one Committee to Protect Journalists, 26 should be noted, but so should the of the most underreported regions were held without charges ever repression that flourishes in one- in the world. being brought against them. party states where leaders are "Many African governments As a result, Africans rely on the buffered from reality by a coterie of seem to have succeeded in making it foreign media for reliable reports of sycophants. And its routine abuse of almost impossible for foreign jour- what is happening on their doorstep. power in the form of censorship, the nalists to operate with any degree of Because international newspapers state-controlled manipulation of independence. As a consequence, are hard to come by, the BBC has information, and the persecution and the media have lost interest," the assumed the role of continental imprisonment of journalists should London Sunday Times foreign editor watchdog, along with Radio France also be cast into focus. told me. International for the francophone Attacks on the press in South In news terms, Africa is viewed as countries. The "Lillibullero," a few Africa are a matter of international a vast black hole fringed by Libya bars of which precede the "Beeb's" concern, as they should be. Last and South Africa. With the exception World Service news broadcasts, is year, 48 incidents curbing press free- of these two countries, it is not a the best known march in Africa. dom occurred in South Africa, by far player in the great global power Many editors reinforce the notion the greatest number documented in game. And so, political obscurity that Africa is engulfed in chaos, veer- any African country. In sub-Saharan combines with press intimidation to ing between apocalypse and inertia, Africa, only 38 incidents were make it the first to bite the dust when by encouraging us to write stories recorded, according to "Attacks on editorial budgets are tightened. on atrocities and hunger. The West- the Press." South Africa's atrocious This may also be the reason why ern media presents a repetitive record outpaces Turkey (41) and the censorship, manipulation of public litany of coups, corruption, and Soviet Union (21), but is beaten by information, and the persecution of famine that most readers neither Chile (71). journalists receive indignant editori- understand nor care about. The hue and cry raised when al attention when they happen in Uganda, for instance, has always journalists in South Africa are South Africa, but are for the most yielded up a wealth of lineage. harassed has its effect. Zwelakhe part ignored when they take place in Although no one has run a poll on it, Sisulu has said that he would not black Africa. it is likely that the percentage of peo- have been released from detention if Journalists have been arrested in ple who know that Idi Ainin is reput- his imprisonment had not been sur- ed to have kept human livers in his rounded by publicity. Mary Anne Fitzgerald has reported on Africa for the last 10 years. She is currently based in fridge is far higher than those who Sisulu is the founding editor of lj»tdon. are aware that Uganda has em- The New Nation, a weekly newspa-

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 59 per critical of the government. He Malawi's security regulations Last March, Ghana introduced was detained for two years until allow Banda to detain anyone he legislation that requires all newspa- December 1988 and is now under an considers a threat to public security, pers to be licensed, including the indefinite restriction order. which in presidential terms refers to country's popular football sheets. He was allowed to travel to the critics of his policies. Reporters who Licensing is a favored method of United States in May 1989 to deliver send information abroad that may controlling professional sectors of a speech to a conference of Nieman not be in the country's best interests the public considered to be trouble- Fellows, of which he is one, as a can face life imprisonment under some. result of intense pressure from the another regulation. It is an effective Africa backed the failed Unesco Bush administration. deterrent against stringing for for- initiative to license journalists, a However, the tribulations of sub- eign publications. move that would have effectively Saharan African journalists go large- Osborne Mkandawire, an employ- muzzled the press in many coun- ly unrecorded and unredressed. ee of the Department of Information, tries. The Pan African News Agency When Saleh Gaba died in detention which reports directly to Banda, (PANA) was sanctioned in the 1970s in a Chadian prison last year, the died last November having been by the Organization of African Unity incident went unremarked. Gaba severely and regularly tortured with as a home-grown alternative to the had been held without trial since electric shocks over a seven-month major international news agencies, June 1987. He had worked as a period. but its efforts to differentiate stringer for the Associated Press Three other journalists arrested between objective news and state and Agence France-Presse. at the same time have since been propaganda have not always been Several circumstances conspire to released. They were never charged, successful. push sub-Saharan African censor- but their apparent crime was to Five papers closed down in Sierra ship into the background while report to Africa-interest magazines Leone last April because they human rights abuses in South Africa in London that the Malawian econo- refused to register as legally take the spotlight in front of a my had suffered a major setback. required. The same month, the packed house. Robert Kalemba, one of the Kenyan government banned The In contrast to South Africa, which released journalists, said that he had Financial Review, a weekly maga- still manages to be what we call "a been given electric shock treatment zine that undertook bold investiga- sexy story," many black African on his forehead, chest, and genitals. tive reporting in the business sector. countries are not considered worth He was kept in a flooded cell so he The growing trend toward censor- the expense of dispatching a could not sit or lie down to sleep. He ship has been linked by human reporter there. Nor is it worth send- was deprived of food and given salt- rights organizations to political insta- ing businessmen, consultants, aid ed tea. Political detainees are placed bility and the influence of the IMF. workers, or any of the other poten- in irons or chains, he said. Some Governments become more authori- tial sources of information. carry chains weighing up to 26 tarian when faced with dubious polit- Thus, underfinanced human pounds. ical decisions and tough economic rights organizations, who do not The policy to shoot the bearer of reforms. have the money to send their own bad tidings works. Newspapers in "The present Nigerian govern- representatives, find that their Africa Kenya, Sierra Leone, Togo, Ghana, ment has harassed more journalists network, like the curate's egg, is and other countries have become than the previous one. It's directly only good in parts. Chad, Central considerably muted against a back- related to the structural adjustment African Republic, Cameroon, and ground of selective proscription and program," said Adewale Maja-Pearce, Mauritania are some of the countries jailings. But the press in Uganda and Africa editor for Index on Censorship. where information on state oppres- Nigeria is remarkably lively despite It is not only the Africans' concern sion is scarce. persecution. for survival that places the role of When researching this story, it Dele Giwa, editor of Nigeria's adversary squarely on the shoulders was impossible to ascertain how Newswatch, was killed by an anony- of the foreign press. African journal- many journalists are being held in mous parcel bomb in November 1988. ists, it must be remembered, come prisons in sub-Saharan Africa. No His weekly magazine was modelled from the same background as their one knew. on Time. Several other magazines that leaders. Their cultural legacy has val- A general rule of thumb is that deal with investigative reporting have ues that distance them from the West- the press is as fossilized as its lead- since sprung up in Nigeria. ern mind-set. The African tradition of ership. Malawi, which has been The majority of publications that chiefs receiving hongo (tribute in the under the dictatorial rule of Life- survive are controlled by ownership African lexicon, bribes in the Western President Kamuzu Banda for a quar- through the government or the rul- one) makes dictatorship and corrup- ter of a century, is considered one of ing party. Only 15 of the 50 black tion seem less offensive. the worst victims of press censor- African states allow independent Some incidents are examples of ship by human rights organizations. newspapers. culturally inspired intimidation. A

60 AFRICA REPORT • July-Ajgust 1989 year ago, a disabled BBC stringer in imprisonment for writing articles If we adhere to the maxim that Zanzibar, Ali Saleh, was detained for critical of the government. today's news wraps tomorrow's fish, allegedly taking part in a demonstra- Meanwhile, the foreign press, then the pain involved in being a pur- tion in which the police shot two with our mixture of cynicism, dedica- veyor of the truth is worthless. But people dead. tion, idealism, and disillusionment, if, as I believe, the exposure of cor- The demonstration had been bear the brunt of the Fourth Kstate's ruption, tyranny, and abuse brings instigated by Muslim religious lead- responsibility to focus on distortions hope to those who have been tor- ers to protest a call by the head of a and coax change. Because of African tured and victimized and to those local women's organization to end self-censorship, it falls on us to fore- who stand in danger of receiving the polygamy. Zanzibar has since intro- stall the demise of justice and reason same treatment, then it is worth- duced penalties of up to five years" by exposing its abuses. while. O

NAMIBIA: WHAT THEY DIDN'T TELL US

By ALUN R. ROBERTS killed in just six days was correct, O'Dwyer Russel o the people of Namibia, Koevoet, an Afrikaans became curious as to where so many dead bodies were T word meaning crowbar, has become symbolic of the being deposited. That and South Africa's own admission worst of South Africa's brutal occupation of their coun- of so few Swapo prisoners pointed to a shoot-to-kill try. Throughout Namibia's transition to independence, operation. But exactly by which elements of South beginning on April 1, it has been the South African- Africa's military and paramilitary forces in Namibia? trained and led Koevoet paramilitary units that have O'Dwyer Russel's investigation took him to Oshakati, brought repeated aggression and on occasion death to a South African garrison town about 20 miles from the the people of northern Namibia. Namibia-Angola border, and to the local police mortu- The most stunning act of violence allegedly commit- ary. At lunchtime on April 6, with a depleted police ted by members of Koevoet, and one little reported, was presence, he and Judah Passow decided to look around the execution of 18 members of Swapo's military arm, the rear of the mortuary compound. At the back, a 10- the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), on foot high brick wall surrounding what appeared to be a April 5. large courtyard seemed insignificant. What greeted Pas- While much of the media were asking why—as they sow as he climbed the wall and looked over, however, claimed—Swapo had violated the UN independence plan was in his own words "unbelievable." by sending over 1,000 of its fighters into Namibia from Instead of the expected Swapo bodies left lying in the Angola just hours before the April 1 cease-fire with bush immediately following the first few days of fight- South Africa, two diverse voices in the media—the Lon- ing, all with large flesh wounds or dismembered limbs don-based, conservative Sunday Telegraph newspaper blown apart by heavy cannon or machine gun fire from and the New York-based weekly television news- South African armored vehicles, the corpses he saw magazine, South Africa Now, produced by Globalvi- were starkly different. Climbing down into the court- sion—were raising questions of a different kind. yard followed by O'Dwyer Russel, Passow quickly pho- The questions they investigated were: Why were the tographed the site—18 dead Swapo fighters with no casualty figures given for Swapo dead so high, particu- wounds to any part of the bodies, except one: a single- larly for the first six days of fighting—218 killed by shot bullet hole through the head. From his previous Friday, April 6—as opposed to 25 South African forces war-time experience, O'Dwyer Russel surmised that killed? Why did the South Africans take so few Swapo while the 18 had only been dead for 24 to 48 hours, prisoners—only eight—in those same bloody six days? whoever had committed the almost certain execution- Prom press reports covering that first week in April, type killings had done a professional job. most Western journalists appeared to have simply re- After leaving the mortuary compound, the answer to written South African-produced media information, the Sunday Telegraph correspondent's question as to claiming that a substantial "incursion" by Swapo forces who was responsible was soon made clear. On meeting from across the border in Angola had almost thwarted one of the South African-led Koevoet members aboard a eight months of peace negotiations and denying that heavily armored Casspir vehicle a short distance from there had been any Swapo military presence in Namibia the Oshakati mortuary, O'Dwyer Russel carefully as of April 1. Only by the release of its forces, hours inquired whether the Swapo fighters had been killed after they had been confined to base under the terms of after surrendering. The reply was quick and blunt: the UN plan, was the Swapo threat overcome, stated "What does it matter? They are Swapo, and they are South African officials. dead. That is all that matters." Two of the few Western journalists in northern Said O'Dwyer Russel, "I could not quite believe what Namibia not re-writing South African-produced informa- he said. He in no way tried to hide the fact that tion were the London Sunday Telegraph defense corre- Koevoet had conducted the killings." What the Koevoet spondent, Simon O'Dwyer Russel, and photographer police tracker made clear was that it was basically a Judah Passow. Unlike the multitude of correspondents "turkey shoot." O'Dwyer Russel felt that description just along the northern border region, neither were typical about summed up Koevoet's approach to its operation. straight news reporters, both having had first-hand Enter Globalvision's South Africa Now (SAN) pro- experience in war situations in various parts of the gram in New York, whose immediate follow-up televi- world. sion investigation established evidence that virtually If South Africa's claim of over 200 Swapo fighters left no doubt as to Koevoet's responsibility for the exe-

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 61 cution of the 18 Swapo fighters. A three-week television were merely to investigate "acts of intimidation" by investigation by SAN's researchers underlined the bru- security forces and intimidation by "political activists." tality of Koevoet's activities. Although headed by a senior Namibian lawyer, Bryan This commenced with film of the never-before-seen O'Linn, it is not clear how much information has been photographs taken by Passow, and made available by given to the commission, particularly from the popula- the Sunday Telegraph. The photographs graphically tion in northern Namibia whore most of the violence revealed the single-shot bullet holes through the head has taken place. It is also unclear as to how the admin- and the lack of any other type of wound. Interviews istrator-general will respond to the findings of the with both O'Dwyer Russel and Passow on how they had inquiry. As yet, neither the London Sunday Telegraph discovered the bodies, their encounter with the Koevoet or the New York-based South Africa Now have been units that claimed responsibility, and their account that invited to present information to the inquiry, even it was impossible for the Swapo fighters to have been though their respective reports have been well-docu- killed in any battle situation, were included to enforce mented. the grim reality of what had occurred. At the same time as the administrator-general's As Passow explained: "The 30-millimeter cannon or announcement of an inquiry, the UN special representa- heavy machine gun fire used by South African forces in tive in Namibia stated that the UN's police commission- Namibia from Casspir armored vehicles [such as those er, Stephen Fanning, had already commenced inquiries used by Koevoetl would have taken an arm or a limb into a number of complaints of attacks by South African clean off." But the Swapo bodies "were all intact, except security forces on the population in northern Namibia. for the bullet hole through the head at close range, The complaints he received underlined the exposure by effectively executed.11 And if it was not an execution- South Africa Now and the Sunday Telegraph of type killing, why were the 18 Swapo bodies not stacked Koevoet's alleged execution of the 18 Swapo fighters. inside the Oshakati police mortuary, instead of lying out It soon became clear that the acts of aggression in the rear courtyard, protected by a high security against the northern populaticn were being committed wall? As O'Dwyer Russel stated, "It was clear to me by Koevoet units not operating as part of the regular that in no way were we supposed to see what we saw." South West African police force. Although under the UN Any doubt that the 18 bodies were not Swapo fight- plan, all South African military or paramilitary units ers or that the photographs could have been faked can were to be confined to bases and eventually demobilized also be discounted by an all-important fact—namely or disbanded following commencement of the plan on that a "kill" identity number tag attached to each of the April 1, Koevoet was not. 18 bodies can be clearly seen in the photographs. The Established as a paramilitary force under the South official wording on the tags in English and Afrikaans is West Africa Territorial Force, Koevoet units were rede- known to be that used by the South African police and ployed into the South West African police shortly before military in Namibia. the UN independence plan commenced. Numbering some Significantly, these kill numbers concurred exactly 3,000 black Namibians, trained and always accompa- with South Africa's stated casualties for Swapo between nied by white SADF officers, the redeployment of April 4 and 5, when the 18 fighters were almost cer- Koevoet had the effect of doubling the local police force tainly executed. In subsequent reports by SAN, an on- to approximately 6,300. camera opinion by a former New York City Police foren- Not confined to bases, the South West African police sic ballistics specialist added further information. force was always going to be a problem for the 4,650 Examining enlarged blow-ups of the photographs, UN military personnel in Namibia and its 500 police Joseph Quirk, with 35 years of ballistics experience monitors. Even though an additional 500 UN police behind him, concluded that the 18 dead must have been monitors have been sent to Namibia by the UN secre- "sitting or kneeling" when they were killed. tary-general, church and human rights centers in In his opinion, the bullet wounds to the head, visible northern Namibia monitoring the independence process in the photographs, are all exit holes. In other words, have stated that Koevoet's attacks, particularly during the 18 bodies were shot through the back of the head, night patrols, have not decreased. These include shoot- virtually at point-blank range. On this, Quirk was very ings, beatings, destruction of property, and other acts sure, stating that the type of weapon used would be of aggression, particularly against Namibians openly around a S.6 millimeter rifle or pistol. supporting Swapo. A third investigative report by SAN revealed that in Without doubt, the immediate removal and confine- recent years, Koevoet units in Namibia have been ment of Koevoet from the South West African police armed with Israeli-modeled Galil rifles—the bore size: force for the remainder of the independence transition 5.56 millimeters. This information was obtained process presents a challenge for the UN special repre- through inquiries to the authoritative Jane's Defence sentative in Namibia. The call by the secretary-general Weekly journal in London, concerning the type and size in late June to the South African authorities to ensure of rifles and pistols carried by all military and paramili- their removal may add the pressure necessary for it to tary forces in Namibia and Angola. occur. With all the information exposing the aggression of The South African decision to redeploy Koevoet into Koevoet in northern Namibia, what action has been the local South West African police was, in the words of taken? Immediately following transmission of the first one observer, "a calculated move by a player prepared TV report in New York, which notably received front- to call the UN's 435 card, but not prepared to see a page coverage in the Johannesburg Star on April 19, Swapo government in Namibia." Resolving the Koevoet the South African administrator-general in Namibia, question and ensuring an environment for free and fair Louis Pienaar, announced the establishment of a com- elections long awaited by the Namibian people will there- mission of inquiry. Its terms of reference, however, fore be a major test for the UNTAG team in Namibia. •

Alun R. Roberts is a writer and researcher on Namibia and southern Africa who has followed the question of Namibia since 197S. He has worked with a number of nongovernmental organizations and with the UN on issues concerning Namibia.

62 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 SOVIET UNION OVIET POLICY IN OUTHERN AFRICA

Under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet policies regarding regional conflicts have undergone a transformation. Our correspondent in Moscow provides the background to the new political thinking and its relevance to the changing political scenario in southern Africa. or three decades, the South frontational approaches in interna- with the interests of all parties con- African problem has been in tional relations. cerned taken into consideration. The F the international spotlight. But The realities of the modern age inalienable right of peoples to be it was only in the late 1980s that dictate the need for the elaboration masters of their own destinies politicians in both the Kast and the of an all-encompassing system of should be guaranteed. The Soviet West came to realize that apart from international security that would position presumes that differences the moral and ethical repercussions include military, political, and in political systems result from the of social injustice in the region, humanitarian aspects and safe- peoples' choice, one which should in apartheid poses a real threat to inter- guards. Great importance is no case be a cause for conflict or mil- national peace and security. attached to the necessity of solving itary confrontation. This principle At certain moments in recent his- regional conflicts. applies to resolving the southern tory, the explosive situation in south- Among regional conflicts, a spe- African conflict and to the future ern Africa brought the two world cial place belongs to the conflicts in democratic development of South socio-political systems to the brink southern Africa, which, through Africa. of direct confrontation. In our nucle- their international repercussions, The Soviet Union has no special ar world, this means to the brink of a influence East-West relations. The interests in southern Africa, but global catastrophe. Thus, it is critical positions of both the USSR and the rather stands for allowing the peo- to change the threatening course of United States concerning the principles and countries of the region to events in this part of the planet. pal question—apartheid—are basi- decide for themselves their own Today, mankind is at a turning cally very close. Both governments paths to development and their point in its development. It has unambiguously condemn apartheid domestic and foreign affairs in an approached the point where it can- as a system. They have worked atmosphere of peace and stability. not be saved if the thinking and together to bring about the imple- Nor does the Soviet Union foster any actions, built up over the centuries, mentation of UN resolution 435 on aspirations hostile to the interests of regarding the acceptability of war Namibia's independence. They con- the West. Aware of Western econom- and armed conflict are not shed sider South Africa's acts of aggres- ic involvement in southern Africa once and for all. sion against the frontline states as a and of its reliance on the region's That is why the principles of the serious violation of international law. raw materials, the USSR has no Soviet new political thinking are The similarity of the positions cre- intention of undermining industrial- extremely important for the region ates conditions to enable a common ized countries' historic trade links today. The concept of the new politi- search for a solution of the conflicts, with this part of the world. cal thinking was advanced at the in which mutual interests would be At the same time, the Soviet 27th Congress of the Communist duly attended to. On the other hand, Union consistently supports the Party of the Soviet Union as the however, the West often sees any national liberation struggle of the basis of Soviet foreign policy. Soviet moves in confrontational peoples of southern Africa against The understanding that in the terms. For example, one often hears apartheid, for the creation of a present world situation, competition that Western economic interests are democratic state, for allowing all between the two socio-political sys- threatened by Soviet activities in the people of the region, irrespective of tems should now develop exclusive- area. their racial and ethnic origins, to ly in the form of peaceful coexis- The main problem is that Western enjoy individual equality and human tence allowed the Soviet Union to politicians tend to analyze the con- rights. put forward a new concept of the flict in terms of a "zero-sum game." Since 1986, when the Soviet con- world, the essence of which is the Any strengthening of the position by cept of new political thinking was search for ways of living together in one side (quite often imaginary) is adopted, important changes have the nuclear era, in recognition of considered a loss for the other. In occurred in southern Africa. The mutual interests. this context, every victory of a USSR undertook some very impor- The new political thinking national liberation movement is seen tant diplomatic steps and other politi- requires consideration of mankind's as a success for "world communism" cal measures to reduce the acute- common interests and values. The and a defeat for the West. The ness of the conflict. The Soviet lead- USSR calls upon other countries and preservation of this confrontational ership made a number of political upon political scientists to work to approach has become one of the statements which created the basis eliminate the deep-seated mistrust, major obstacles to establishing for a new, more profound, and tension, and enmity in the modern peace in southern Africa and to cre- promising review of the situation in world, as well as the traditional con- ating a more favorable environment southern Africa, thus opening a real for the elimination of apartheid. way for reducing confrontation and [)r. I^ennid I.. Fituni is head of the Department of International Crisis Management Studies of The Soviet new political thinking bettering international confidence. the Institute for African Studies, USSR Acade- envisages solutions to southern In August 1987, when he my of Science, in Moscow. Africa's conflicts by political means, addressed a reception in honor of

64 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 Mozambican President Joaquim Africa. The visits to the Soviet Union of South Africa and Namibia, and Chissano, Mikhail Gorbachev of South African political figures their political organizations, the emphasized the inevitability of the such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, ANC and Swapo, respectively. These collapse of the apartheid system and Alex Boraine, a prominent represen- broad contacts in no way signify said that the elimination of the racist tative of the white community, Chief rejection of support for the just order by political means was in the Minister of KaNgwane bantustan struggle being waged by the ANC interests of all South Africans, black Enos Mabuza, and others show that and Swapo. and white. the Soviet Union is ready for con- A significant feature of the time is This necessitated new ideas and tacts with different segments of the acute interest of Soviet fresh approaches. Shortly after- South African society. The exchange researchers in theoretical and practi- wards, steps were taken toward find- of opinions that took place during cal aspects of political, social, and ing a new settlement model. 'Hie lat- those meetings helped to illuminate economic reforms in South Africa. ter was discussed during summit more clearly the views of different This is certainly a direct result of the meetings with then-President Rea- strata of South African society on spread of the principles of the new gan and Prime Minister Thatcher developments in southern Africa and political thinking and glasnost in the and during discussions between prospects for a political settlement. USSR. Now, pluralism of opinion and Gorbachev and African leaders, The Soviet Union has repeatedly free discussion are no longer an including Robert Mugabe, Kenneth expressed its solidarity and sympa- exception and are encouraged in Kaunda, Jose Kduardo dos Santos, thy with black and multiracial demo- every sphere of studies. For Soviet Joaquim Chissano, and UN Secre- foreign policy, they are expected to tary-General Perez de Cuellar. become safeguards against mistakes Efforts were made to explain the and stagnating dogmatism that can Soviet position on the imposition of | he Soviet Union result in unfounded decisions and comprehensive economic sanctions consistently supports wrong political steps. on South Africa. Thus, during the That is why recently published visit of Geoffrey Howe, the British the national liberation works of Soviet scholars on southern foreign minister, Gorbachev called struggle of the peoples Africa often contain a greater num- for realpolitik, that would not pro- ber of alternative scenarios and non- voke an explosion or chaos, but at of southern Africa standard approaches, while reassess- the same time would not indulge the against apartheid. ing the prospects of a military solu- apartheid regime's policies. The tion, the future political development question ot" sanctions was discussed and state system for South Africa, its during talks with different Common- cratic organizations that operate in economic development, and rela- wealth delegations and during visits South Africa. In March 1988, the tions with frontline states. to the Soviet Union of high-level rep- Soviet Eoreign Ministry produced a The question of security and terri- resentatives from Australia, India, statement condemning Pretoria's torial integrity is an important part and Canada. decision to ban several mass demo- of the South African problem. The At the same time, having pro- cratic organizations, including tin1 Soviet Union and other socialist claimed its preference for political United Democratic Front and the countries consider the receding level settlements of regional issues, the Congress of South African Trade of tension in southern Africa today Soviet Union supports the steps Unions. as one of the most important tasks. toward dialogue with different politi- The active Soviet role in a con- Both the USSR and Cuba played a cal organizations. In this context, the structive dialogue of anti-racist significant constructive role in mak- meetings of African National forces in South Africa was used by ing the trilateral agreements on Congress delegations with represen- some in the West to smear Soviet Namibia possible. tatives of the South African white relations with the ANC and Swapo. There is room for further super- community in Senegal (1987), West Articles appeared stating that power cooperation in reducing ten- Germany (1988), and the Bahamas Moscow "drifts away from the sup- sion in the region. Based on the real- (1989) were considered a positive port of these organizations" or looks ities of the nuclear age, the Soviet development. for alternative ways to infiltrate Union sees Africa not as an area for The principles of the new political South Africa. East-West confrontation, but as a thinking necessitate the rejection of These allegations are far from field for international cooperation. dogmatic, sectarian approaches to reality. They belong to old-thinkers The Soviet Union is optimistic about the problem of allies and fellow-trav- who deny a flexible approach, taking establishing such cooperation that ellers in the struggle for a democrat- into account a broad variety of opin- may come about following the cre- ic South Africa and put on the agen- ions and interests. This kind of dia- ation of a universal system of inter- da the question of establishing a logue corresponds to the long-stand- national security in the context of a broad anti-racist front in South ing interests of the black population nuclear-free and non-violent world. O

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 65 REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK WHITE MAN, BLACK WAR" fly ANDREW MELDRUM Once a Rhodesian army sergeant actively involved in fighting the war against Zimbabwean nationalists, Bruce Moore-King began reassessing white attitudes in the post-independence era. Coming to terms with his own brutal wartime experiences, Moore-King has written a gripping novel, not without controversy among Zimbabwe's white population. rightly striped marquees and umbrellas surround the well- "We better knock it off. This is The book combines harrowing B tended pitch as hundreds of Chickers talk," he says, referring to accounts of the Rhodesians' bloody spectators enjoy a cricket match at Chikurubi Prison, where some and doomed war against majority one of Harare's sports clubs. whites have been held on short sen- rule with one participant's reflec- In the shady depths of the sports tences for publicly insulting Presi- tions that the war and Rhodesia's club bar, groups of grizzled former dent Robert Mugabe and other top minority rule were wrong. cricket and rugby players guzzle Zimbabwean officials. The book has created a stir here chilled beers and laugh at worn This scene of white Rhodesia because no other white active in the jokes, none of which bear repeating thriving in black-ruled Zimbabwe is war has so publicly denounced but most of which feature frequent not what Margaret Thatcher saw Rhodesian values. Most Zimbab- mentions of "Afs," "natives," "houts," during her visit here earlier this wean whiles stubbornly avoid any and "flat noses"—all derogatory ref- year. She saw Zimbabwe's now-leg- soul-searching about their participa- erences to the country's black endary racial reconciliation, where tion in the war. majority. cooperative and wealthy whites par- "He's just a honky [white] apolo- As the jokes get louder and more ticipate with the Mugabe govern- gizing for having a white skin. He offensive, an impatient drinker whis- ment in the economic and agricultur- never fought in the war, he just tles to the busy black barman and al spheres. Both views are accurate, made up that stuff to sell books," shouts for another round. Complain- but generally whites only mingle growled one ex-Rhodesian soldier, ing of slow service as the beers are with blacks at work, while socially who nonetheless admitted that the put before him, the ex-sportsman the races largely remain segregated. war scenes were accurate depictions says, "You are all slow. We made this The dwindling number of of the brutal violence inflicted by country what it is today and you will whites—down from some 250,000 in white soldiers upon black civilians. never be able to run it. You are just the late 1960s to the current 100,000 Ten years ago, Bruce Moore-King too slow." of the country's 9 million popula- was a recently discharged Rhode- The bartender looks down and tion—cluster together at the many sian sergeant who brawled in Lon- moves on. The scene is not Rhodesia private sports clubs where there are don pubs over his support for the 1979, it is Zimbabwe 1989. 'Hie only superb facilities and where loutish Rhodesian cause. He vowed never to indication that the country has racism is often in evidence in one live under black majority rule. After reached majority rule is that one corner or another. living in Britain and South Africa, he white patron urges his colleagues to A sure way to provoke an angry visited Zimbabwe in 1985 and saw tone it down. outburst at virtually any sports club that life in this country was good, is to mention the name of Bruce not at all what Rhodesian propagan- Andrew Meldrum, contributing editor to Africa da and calamitous news stories had Report, is an American Journalist who has Moore-King and his recently pub- been based in Zimbabwe for eight years. lished book, White Man, Black War. led him to believe.

66 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 He returned to settle in Zimbab- In fact, Moore-King had to leave "It seems to me that certain we and slowly came to the painful the country in 1978, when the brutal actions are being orchestrated, that realization that virtually all of the val- interrogation methods of his unit South Africa would hate to see har- ues instilled in him—what made him were exposed by an American photo- monious relations develop between fight in the Rhodesian army—were journalist. black and white here because it false. Even worse, he found that "To avoid the embarrassment of would be one of the most powerful whites in Zimbabwe continue to having to investigate us for contra- arguments against apartheid," he cling to their racist attitudes and vening the Geneva Convention, the said. "Ian Smith is still seen as the refuse to question the purpose of the Rhodesian government asked four representative of whites in Zimbab- war. or five of us to leave the country," we and so every time he stands up Compelled to communicate to fel- said Moore-King. The American and says this place is going to the low whites, Moore-King started writ- photographer was later discredited dogs, he weakens the position of ing a letter to the editor calling for when it became evident that he had whites in Zimbabwe and strengthens whites to reassess their post-inde- actively taken part in the unit's activ- the position of the South African gov- pendence ways. It became a 40-page ities in order to set up his shots. ernment. And he does it regularly." tract and then evolved into the 133- Many critics of the book here Moore-King said that while he page book. White Man, Black War, have suggested that Moore-King is despairs that his book will not be published in Harare by Baobab simply trying to make amends for able to change the attitudes of Zim- Books, in which Moore-King's war his own misdeeds during the war. babwean whites, he believes that it experiences are interspersed with "He's kind of like a drinker and sin- can affect the small but significant his argument that whites must come ner who then is a born-again Chris- group of South African whites who to terms with majority rule. tian and he's holier-than-thou," said are questioning their system. "The underlying emotion prompt- one white here. The outspoken stand that he has ing me to write the book was fear," But Moore-King disagrees. "No, taken has not made life in Zimbabwe said Moore-King. "I wanted to it's not an apology. I look back on the easy for Moore-King, 37, who retains waken people up before it is too late. war and my participation with a form the rugged bearing of a Rhodesian A strong proportion of whites are of horror, but I believe that given the soldier that makes him appear an actually forcing confrontation with kind of society we were brought up unlikely non-conformist author of blacks in this country. I've written in, most young males 18 to 25 went such a searing indictment of his fel- about incidents by whites since inde- quite willingly and quite unthinking- low whites. pendence which are morally disgust- ly into the war. We were in a state of Most friends and acquaintances ing but which are also, practically, ignorance during the war about our pretend that they have never heard very stupid because they are fanning black fellow countrymen. of the book, which has received a lot of latent anger that blacks have 'The idea [of the book] is to set widespread publicity here, while a against whites." the record straight," continued few provoke bitter arguments. But Moore-King is worried that a vio- Moore-King. "The anger that I feel the experience has been a profound lent outburst against whites could be and any accusations that I make are one for Moore-King, who recently the result of the negative actions of a about actions taken since indepen- left his job as a manager at an insur- few whites. "I fear that possibly the dence. The situation now, nine years ance firm to take up writing full-time. catalyst that will produce the flash- after independence, is such that it is He is working on a novel. point is going to be the whites' quite clear in my mind that we were While White Man, Black War is an behavior in the country," he said. wrong in our beliefs and our fears incisive denunciation of Zimbabwe's It is clear from the book that about the blacks and I think it's whites for their refusal to accept the Moore-King was actively involved in about time that the white community hand of reconciliation offered by the violence perpetrated in the war acknowledged that fact." Robert Mugabe, it is too simplistic to which took 40,000 lives, the majority Moore-King is most scathing accept that that is the case across of them blacks. In the Rhodesian regarding former Rhodesian leader the board. army for six years, he was in a six- Ian Smith. He charges that Smith At the same Harare sports club, man unit of the Grey Scouts cavalry and other Rhodesian "elders," as he teams of black and white youths which roamed the countryside using calls them, "valued the comfort of regularly practice football, run- any method necessary to track down their lifestyles beyond the lives of ning, shouting, and laughing. At nationalist guerrillas. their own children, beyond the lives break time, they huddle around the Some of the violence perpetrated, of any children," writes Moore-King. drinking bucket together for a such as burning villages and sub- "It was greed that sent us to war." thirst-quenching gulp. As often as merging children in buckets of Following independence, Moore- one encounters an ugly racial slur water until their parents talked, is King accuses Smith of working in in Zimbabwe, one also glimpses wrenchingly described in Moore- tandem with South Africa to discred- such signals of hope for a non- King's book. it Zimbabwe. racial society. O

AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 67 CULTURE MAURITANIA'S ARCHEOLOGICAL MYSTERIES By HOWARD SCHISSEL

Excavations of the ruins of West Africa's great empires—providing insights into the region's rich precolonial history—may come to a halt if donor funding is not secured, leaving the past a vague memory in legend and oral tradition.

lack of funds is hampering efforls site, uncovering ruins dating from the fice. However, unless funds can be pro- to explore archeological sites in 7th to 14th centuries. An imposing cured abroad, it is unlikely that any new A Mauritania which could hold vital mosque has been partially excavated, campaigns can be organized at Koumbi clues for a better understanding of West attesting to the large number of people Saleh. This has frustrated archeoiogists and North African history over the last that once inhabited the town. Ghana and historians who hope that some of 1,000 years. Likewise, Mauritania's exercised control over a wide swatch of the secrets of modern West Africa's first financial impecuniousness is playing territory in West Africa. Its reputation for empire can be unlocked by new finds. havoc with attempts to safeguard the wealth and splendor was known Other archeological mysteries remain country's precious Saharan and archi- throughout North Africa as early as the to be cleared up in northwestern Mauri- tectural heritage. mid-9th century, mainly as a result of the tania, notably the origin of the ruins at The most famous archeological site in flourishing trans-Saharan trade routes. Azougui, a :;ite situated some 15 miles Mauritania is undoubtedly Koumbi Koumbi Saleh's position as a wealthy south of the "own of Atar. It was only in Saleh, the legendary capital of West regional power was probably brought to 1960 that an English archeologist Africa's first medieval empire, Ghana. an end by invading Almoravide Berbers began the first serious excavation of the Situated in the extreme southeastern cor- in the 1 lth century. As the focus of site. It was believed that Azougui could ner of Mauritania, just a stone's throw power in West Africa shifted further east be the original citadel from where the from the Malian border, the traces of the and southwards, the Ghanaian capital Almoravides set out to conquer Ghana town were first uncovered in 1913 by a was gradually covered over by blowing and spread their domination throughout team of French archeoiogists. ll was sand and became just a vague memory Morocco, where they founded Mar- immediately recognized as one of the in legend and oral tradition. rakesh, and into Spain. most important archeological discover- Lack of funds and a dearth of skilled Again insufficient funding has ies in West Africa. Mauritanian archeoiogists have brought stymied research work at the Azougui Several digging campaigns have excavation work at Koumbi Saleh to a site. Bernard Saison, a French historian been carried out at the Koumbi Saleh halt since the early 1980s. Plans were who worked at both Azougui and formalized to complete work on the Koumbi Saleh, reckons that the oldest Howard Scbissei is a Paris-based freelancemosque and start digging in the area vestiges uncovered at the former site are journalist specializing in French-speaking surrounding the impressive religious edi- relatively recent, dating from the 14th Africa. century. If Azougui is not apparently the tion and learning." For caravans moving south, Tichitt legendary fortress of the Almoravides, Chinguetti, probably Mauritania's was always a welcome site. Set on the Saison firmly believes that it is likely to most ancient and prestigious Saharan edge of a sandstone promontory over- be uncovered one day in the immediate oasis, was known to intrepid Portuguese looking a desolate Saharan landscape, vicinity. navigators in the 15th century. Its fame it furnished water and other precious reached the Arabian peninsula too. supplies to desert travelers. At its zenith, Even today in parts of the Middle East, Tichitf boasted a population of over Mauritania is referred to by its tradition- 5,000 and 1,500 houses. Only 286 al name: the country of Chinguett. exist today, of which less than 100 are In addition to its commercial func- habitable. Tichitt has suffered from the tions, Chinguetti was the rallying point drying up of water sources and its for pilgrims from the Western Sahara extreme isolation. area and the Senegal river valley about to undertake the overland trek to Mecca. Returning voyagers brought back numerous manuscripts and holy works in Ara- bic, making Chinguetti a repository of learning and tradition. Poets, theolo- gians, scholars, and marabouts flocked to Chinguetti during the halcyon days in Chinguetti mosque: "A silent witness of the 17th and 18th centuries. Since then, past glory" it has gone into eclipse as overland trade routes declined. With colonial In spite of a Unesco plan to safe- rule, the French outpost at Atar attracted guard Mauritania's four oasis-towns of much of the population and became the historical interest—Chinguetti, Oua- Oualata: "An unusual synthesis of Arabic main regional trading post. dane, Tichitt, and Oualata—the corro- and black African traditions" sive effects of wind-blown sand and Despite the depredations of time and Oualata was ;he last resting point for years of neglect have taken a serious desert raiders, Chinguetti's oldest quar- caravans on the route to Timbuktu. The toll. These towns played a key role in ter, dominated by its mosque, remains town's architecture is an unusual synthe- trans-Sahara trade and were also impor- remarkably well-preserved as a silent sis of Arabic and black African tradi- tant cultural centers, some of which were witness of past glory. More than half the tions. Houses are painted wifh red dye even renowned as far away as the Mid- houses in the outlying residential district and windows and doors decorated with dle East. are in ruin and many more are in a poor delicate white arabesque designs. "From the historical viewpoint, Mauri- state. Families remaining in the town are Nobody really knows the origin of these tanian territory has traditionally served facing increasing hardship. Nonethe- decorative traditions. It is being lost as as a point of passage between North less, they proudly show visitors precious older women, who master the art of and West Africa as well as being the medieval manuscripts. arabesque designs, find it difficult to find focal point from which Islam spread to Ouadane, on the edge of the Adrar young candidates to carry on the tradi- sub-Saharan Africa," said Abdel plateau 100 miles to the east of tion. Wedoud Ould Cheikh, director of the Chinguetti, was the last stopover point Oualata has suffered more than the Mauritanian Institute of Scientific for caravans undertaking the perilous northern oases from the region's political Research (IMRS). "Along with trade crossing toward Tichitt and Oualata. upheavals during the pre-colonial days. routes from Sijilmassa, in southern Even more isolated than Chinguetti, It was ransacked on several occasions Morocco, to Timbuktu, a string of power- Ouadane has suffered irreparable dam- by marauding desert warriors. The ful cities sprung up and prospered from age. Its mosque is in disrepair and the mosque is in lamentable shape, the trans-Saharan commerce. Vital oasis vast majority of the houses are crum- minaret practically in ruin. The narrow, stopovers for the caravans plying the bling. The palm grove is in a sorry state winding streets in the old town resemble Sahara, the four Mauritanian desert and game has virtually disappeared the traditional medinas found in North towns were also centers of Islamic erudi- from the outlying region. Africa. J

••» THE BACKIiAGE

N E WS COMMENTARY AND OPINION

By MARGARET A. NOVICKI

When il comes to Africa, it seems the and corrupt fossils of another age whose wouldn't have taken as many years for glass is always half-empty, at leasf judg- departures from the political stage are its leadership to assume collective ing by the daily diet of news stories we long overdue. But it also has its share of responsibility for devising its own solu- are fed in the Western world. The day- true leaders—bold enough to make hard tions to its own problems. to-day achievements of a continent and choices, sometimes requiring an inordi- Fortunately, it is storting to happen, its leaders, struggling to achieve the nate amount of losing face, and whose but we haven't exactly been effusive in most basic of human rights—peace and job descriptions include grappling with our support. Who would have thought a a modicum of economic and social some of the most trying issues on earth, year ago that President dos Santos advancement—are obscured if not ones that our coach-potato politicians in would shake hands with rebel leader ignored by the bad news that makes the West would be loathe to go near. Jonas Savimbi in Zaire of all places, good copy in our newspapers and on On the half-empty side, yes, there are sealing a cecse-fire in the tortured Ango- our television screens. too many African governments whose la conflict? And that it was African lead- "African Dictators, American Silence" intolerance for the mere appearance of ers—granted, some for their own agen- is the shrill headline of a recent op-ed critical thinking causes a few brave citi- das—that pulled the meeting off? What piece in The New York Times. "These zens, like Maina wa KinyatH or Amos about President Chissano inviting South days," it reads, "Africa has the longest Sawyer, to face a life in exile, their out- African heir-apparent F.W. de Klerk to line-up of strong men—Angola, Zaire, raged and eloquent voices reduced to a Maputo to talk about an end to Mozam- Liberia, Malawi, Ghana, Somalia—and mere whisper across the Atlantic. There bique's war and initiating discussions that just begins the list. Indeed, 'African are others, like John Garang, who find it with Renamo under the mediation of the democratic leader' is an oxymoron." necessary to wage a war in order for Kenyan and 2!imbabwean governments? While I could argue for hours on the his voice to be heard in his own land- And then there's Nelson Mandela merits and demerits of the author's There are the Mengistus who slaugh- agreeing to take tea with P.W. rather eclectic choice of leaders to lump ter their own people and whose military Botha—an invitation issued for the lat- together as examples of the continent's officers see no way out but to rise up in ter's selfish end of scoring points before bad guys, what bothers me even more is a coup attempt, only to meet a bloody his retirement to the dustbin of history. it's not what's wrong with Africa that and in the end pointless demise. There Knowing full well the risks of Greeks we're so silent about, but rather what's are conflicts, like that between Maurita- bearing gifts, the ANC leader called not right with it. nia and Senegal, which start small but for divisiveness, but for the chance to Africa gets a bum rap any way you quickly spiral out of control, engulfing play his part in a peaceful solution to look at it. Whether it's "African Dicta- their impoverished nationals, who carry the country's torment, coming away with tors," the overwhelming economic crises little if any political or economic clout, in his, not his jailer's, presidential stature that the continent reels under the weight violence, death, and displacement. enhanced. of, or the foreign-fueled wars that bleed And then there are the wars in south- To my mind, the qualities of these on like festering sores—these are the ern Africa, foisted on newly or soon-to- men deserve as much attention—if not images that color our views of a region be independent governments by the more—as we give to the dirty tricks of out of which nothing good ever comes. chess games of the superpowers, the lat- the continent's villains. And there are I guess it's not easy being an optimist ter who end up winning the acco- others, too, who with quiet determina- when discouragement is so easy a com- lades—after years of patient diploma- tion set goals for their nations and modity to come by in the Africa busi- cy—for having brought about a solution achieve them, yes, even expanding the ness. But why not try it once in a while? to the conflicts they played no small role scope for that oxymoronic concept, What about looking at the glass as half- in igniting. "democracy." Ghana recently completed full? A few short decades after most But on the half-full side, what about district assembly elections in which 60- nations have attained independence—a giving credit where credit is due? Surely 70 percent of registered voters partici- period in which the rest of the world has it's not only the Western diplomats and pated—a turn-out unheard of in the U.S. hardly been conflict- or economic crisis- UN officials who fly in and out of To boot, it has achieved near food self- free—the continent is going through African capitals who should get the inter- sufficiency and its economy has grown some major sea-changes on the political national pat on the back when another by 5 percent over the last several years. and economic fronts, changes which of the continent's political flashpoints is I don't know about you, but I think have required a lot of mea culpas on the extinguished. What about "African Suc- things are getting better in Africa. part of its leadership. At the heart of this cesses, American Silence?" Changes are coming fast and furious dynamic scenario is one strength that I submit that the unsung statesman- and African leaders deserve a larger Africa is rarely credited with—and even ship and political wisdom of African dose of credit for this progress. Sure, more criticized for lacking—and that's leaders deserves a bit more approba- there's still a lot of room for improve- statesmanship. tion—and more encouragement. Maybe ment, but why not look at the half-full Sure, as The New York Times notes, if we hadn't had a hand in the conti- side of the glass once in a while? You the continent has its share of autocrats nent's political emasculation all along, it might be surprised by what you see.O

70 AFRICA REPORT • July-August 1989 MELILLA Tunis CEUTA

EQUATORIAL GUINEA Malabo UGANDA ^Kampala/ KENYA SAO TOME E>> ^.Libreville PRINCIPE^ r1 GABON

TANZANIA \° Dar es Salaam

SEYCHELLES IS Victoria o

MAURITIUS

REUNION Gaborone »r Hrelona

SWAZILAND Mbabane

LESOTHO Maseru

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