Kofi Annan gave Kenya� until the end of August to form a local tribunal to try the architects of the post-election violence that saw many people get killed, or face the consequences of the secret list being handed over to the International Criminal Court. Many politicians are against having a local tribunal and prefer to have the ICC do its job and give Kenya the justice it so much longs to have.

Many have stated that a local tribunal will be manipulated by leaders and there will be no justice. This is true in itself because many Kenyan leaders are known to buy their way in anything they so much want to get done.

It is a waste of time and money to see the Justice Minister, the Attorney General and one other minister travelling to Annan in Geneva this week and discus with him the need for deadline extension now that the end of August is coming.

According to Kenya’s Daily Nation “Former Justice minister Martha Karua was on Thursday talking tough saying Mr Kofi Annan would be doing the country a disservice if he extended the deadline for the formation of a local tribunal.”

Others have followed in her footsteps telling Annan not to extend the deadlinete but instead to hand over the envelope with names to ICC so that investigations start immediately.

M/s Karua has accused President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga telling the Kenyan media that “President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga have not been trying to address the issue properly.”

Echoing the same sentiments to the Kenya’s Daily Nation Online is Mutito MP Kiema Kilonzo who said, “the three-man delegation to Geneva was only joy-riding.”

Written by Chief Editor Korir

ZIMBABWE: Global Fund moves to safeguard money

Photo: Anthony Kaminju/IRIN

Supplies of ARVs ran low in 2008 as a result of delays in receiving Global Fund money

HARARE,� – Government officials in Zimbabwe are unhappy about a decision by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to ditch the National AIDS Council (NAC) as the principal recipient of its existing and future grants and to instead channel funds through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Since the formation of the Global Fund in 2002, the country has received grants in Rounds 1, 5 and 8 of funding. UNDP will take over management from the government-controlled NAC in the final phase of the Round 5 grant and the recently approved Round 8 grant, totalling about US$169 million.

The Global Fund is one of the few remaining international donors supporting Zimbabwe’s HIV/AIDS interventions, and the Round 8 money is expected to bring much needed relief to the ailing public health sector.

Seven months ago, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) admitted diverting over US$7 million from the Global Fund’s Round 5 grant, earmarked for scaling up the national antiretroviral (ARV) programme.

As a result, efforts to decentralize ARV treatment from hospitals to rural health centres were set back, and many HIV-positive people were unable to access treatment or had to change drug regimens when the money to purchase ARV supplies failed to materialize.

The RBZ eventually returned the money, but the breach of trust is one of the likely reasons for the Global Fund’s decision to stop channelling funds through the NAC. The bank will also no longer oversee the accounts of the non-governmental organizations that are sub-recipients of Global Fund grants.

Deputy Minister of Health Douglas Mombeshora said he understood that the Global Fund wanted “quick implementation of programmes and greater accountability”, but worried that making UNDP the principal recipient would stall programmes because funds would have to go through the UN agency’s offshore accounts.

“What this means is that each time the NAC – or any other organizations that are sub-recipients of the Global Fund money – want anything, they must go through the UNDP,” he told IRIN/PlusNews.

“The UNDP will look for suppliers of whatever it is that is required; after finding the supplier the UNDP will then order, and after it receives supplies, forward them to NAC.” A better solution would have been to “capacitate” reputable local organizations to handle the grants, he suggested.

Dr Tapuwa Magure, Director of the National AIDS Council, in oral evidence to the parliamentary committee on health and child welfare, agreed that the handover from the NAC to UNDP would delay grant disbursement, hampering programme implementation. He described the development as “retrogressive”.

But HIV/AIDS activist Chitiga Mbanje told IRIN/PlusNews it was preferable to have greater accountability from the UNDP than no funds at all through the central bank and the NAC.

“For a central bank to dip its fingers into the coffers of people living with HIV … is the most unforgivable thing an institution could have ever done,” he said.

“Grant disbursements, even with the NAC as principal recipient, were extremely slow because there were so many political issues at play – it wasn’t as smooth as these officials now want to put it. The most important thing is that from now on, grant money will reach the people who need it most.”

Insiders at the NAC told IRIN/PlusNews that Global Fund officials were already in Zimbabwe to oversee the handover process. NAC and UNDP officials would visit all the districts that had benefited from Global Fund grants and take stock of all assets bought with grant money since the first disbursement in 2002.

More than 320,000 people in Zimbabwe are in need of ARV treatment; of the 1.7 million living with HIV, only about 150,000 are obtaining ARVs from the public health sector.

st/ks/he
source.www.irinnews.org

AFRICA: Helping small farmers feed a continent

Photo: David Hecht/IRIN

Cameroonian farmer on outskirts of capital Yaound� (file photo)

DAKAR,� – As an African Union summit on agricultural investments opens in Libya, donors and non-profits are calling participants’ attention to the role smallholder farmers � mostly women � can have in feeding their communities.

Agriculture is an overlooked �emergency� that deserves as much attention as the global financial crisis, according to Kate Norgrove with Oxfam UK�s office in Dakar, Senegal. �Nearly US$9 trillion has been injected into the global financial sector since January 2009 versus $4 billion in global ODA [overseas development assistance] to agriculture. That is small change relative to the scale of the problem.�

Decades of declining production have pushed more families into hunger and disease, according to Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

AGRA calculated that 18 percent of ODA in 1980 went to agriculture versus 4 percent in 2006.

Small farms bear the brunt of these cuts, according to Oxfam UK. In a recent report, the NGO noted the United States and European Union invested less than $3 per small farm in poor countries from 1986 to 2007.

�Half these farmers do not produce enough to feed their families,� Namanga Ngongi, AGRA�s president, told IRIN. �Small-scale farmers are not organized and do not have a voice in their government�s agriculture policies.�

More than 70 percent of Africans depend on agriculture to live, according to the UN. People across sub-Saharan Africa protested when the prices of agricultural inputs, food and fuel soared in recent years; prices remain unaffordable for many. (IRIN�s coverage of global food crisis)

Africa’s agricultural problems need massive investments – nothing short of a revolution

Small-scale revolution

AGRA�s Ngongi said while he recognized the term �green revolution� recalls memories of failed agricultural investments, �Running away from the word does not solve productivity problems. We cannot tinker around the margins. Africa�s agricultural problems need massive investments � nothing short of a revolution.�

Solutions need to be tailored to small-scale producers� needs, he added. If smaller packages of fertilizers, seeds and tools were available, people who can only afford smaller quantities are more likely to buy.

The�readily available packages weighing up to 100kg are impractical for farmers � most often women � travelling in precarious transport over long distances on poor roads, Ngongi told IRIN.

Ngongi told IRIN farmers are now forced to travel long distances to get seeds and fertilizers because there are not enough small traders in rural areas. �In western Kenya where AGRA has implemented agro-leadership programmes to train traders, farmers are now walking on average 4km to buy inputs versus 17km before.�

Cash-strapped governments are unable to back loans to small farms, according to AGRA. �Banks need risk assurance,� Ngongi said, describing a loan-assurance programme in Kenya backed by AGRA and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) that has agreed to loan $50 million to small-scale farmers over three years.

In a recent report on cash transfers in southern Niger, the NGO Save the Children UK wrote: �Providing agricultural inputs alone is not sufficient to help the poorest households increase their food production. These inputs must be accompanied by economic support (cash or food) so that able-bodied adults can spend sufficient time working in their own fields.�

pt/np source.www.irinnews.org

NIGER: Timeline of constitution controversy

DAKAR,� – Calls to change Niger�s constitution to allow President Mamadou Tandja to stay in office have been met with protests from parts of Niger�s civil society, a negative ruling from the country�s highest court and a regional sanctions threat. Against the backdrop of the onset of the rainy season�- and attendant concerns of heightened flooding and malnutrition�- preparation continues to hold a constitutional referendum on 4 August. Below is a timeline of events that may affect Niger�s governance, regional trade and aid.

Recent events tied to constitution

22 December 2009
Scheduled end of Tandja�s two terms, as mandated by current constitution

11 November 2009
Scheduled presidential election

20 August 2009
Scheduled legislative election

4 August 2009
Proposed constitutional referendum

1 July 2009
European Commission warned government of potential changes to aid

1 July 2009
National work stoppage ordered by unions

29 June 2009
Tandja dissolved de facto constitutional court

26 June 2009
Consitutional court reaffirmed 12 June ruling; Tandja invoked article 53 and assumed emergency powers

25 June 2009
Rescheduled national 24-hour strike

18 June 2009
Strike ordered by country�s seven unions cancelled because of court ruling

17 June 2009
National bar association called for respect of 12 June constitutional court ruling

14 June 2009
Thousands demonstrated against referendum

13 June 2009
National electoral commission set legislative election date

12 June 2009
Constitutional court rejected constitutional referendum as �illegal�

5 June 2009
Council of Ministers set 4 August referendum vote

2 June 2009
Tandja signed decree creating technical committee to draft new constitution

26 May 2009
Tandja dissolved parliament (constitution holds that election must be held within 90 days)

17 May 2009
ECOWAS threatened sanctions if referendum takes place

21 December 2008
Rally at National Assembly in support of extending presidential term limit

6 October 2007
Tandja said he �will step down after his 2nd term� in interview with Le Monde

22 December 2005
Tandja sworn in for 2nd term. Pledges to �respect and enforce respect for the constitution�

22 December 1999
Tandja sworn in for 1st term

9 August 1999
Current constitution adopted

source.www.irinnews.org

AFGHANISTAN: Flood-affected families need shelter before winter

Photo: Golam Rasol Hasas/IRIN

Over 21,000 families were affected by floods in January-May 2009, mostly in the north and northeast of Afghanistan

KABUL,� – Thousands of people who lost their houses in January-May flooding in different parts of Afghanistan need help to repair or rebuild their homes, or find new ones, before winter.

�Where houses are damaged or completely destroyed, people are in urgent need of shelter,� Asif Khairkhwa, chairman of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) in the northern province of Balkh, told IRIN. �People should have a shelter before the winter.�

Similar concerns were echoed by officials in Takhar, Sar-i-Pul, Baghlan and Badakhshan provinces, where thousands of houses have been damaged by floods and avalanches over the past six months.

�Emergency shelter continues to be a primary gap in the response,� said OCHA�s flood situation report�on 15 June.

The floods killed at least 66 people and affected over 21,000 families in the northern and northeastern provinces, according to reports by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Aid agencies and the Afghan government provided emergency assistance.

In some flood-affected provinces government officials said there were no funds which could be used to help people rebuild their homes. The only feasible solution, they said, was to distribute tents. However, even tents are not available for all.

�We even don�t have adequate tents to distribute to those in need�We only have 150 tents for 800 families,� Khairkhwa, the ARCS chairman in Balkh, said.

According to an OCHA map of unmet needs in flood-affected areas, thousands of tents and/or temporary shelters are needed in a number of affected provinces.

Roads still blocked

Many flood-affected roads are impassable, meaning that aid cannot get through to people in some places, according to provincial authorities and OCHA.

�Roads to six districts are still closed while people in those districts need aid,� said Sayed Nasir Hemat, ARCS�s head in the northeastern province of Badakhshan. The blocked roads had also meant people could not access health services in some cases, and had increased food prices, he said.

Assessments by OCHA and other agencies have identified an urgent need to clear roads in Faryab, Takhar, Baghlan and Samangan provinces.

However, Ghulam Haider, an adviser to the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, said the government had allocated funds only for the reopening of roads blocked by snow and avalanches. There were insufficient funds to repair and reopen flood-damaged roads: �Repairing these roads requires millions of dollars,� he told IRIN.

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ZIMBABWE: No winds of change at the Grain Marketing Board

Photo: IRIN

Maize for sale

HARARE,� – The Zimbabwean government has announced new measures to boost local cereal purchases through its crisis-ridden Grain Marketing Board (GMB), but farmers are not convinced the plan will work.

In early June the finance ministry said it had secured US$100 million for a revolving fund to support the GMB’s procurement of rain through its countrywide depots.

The board had a long-standing monopoly on cereal purchases until March 2009, when private traders were allowed into the market – a response to the GMB’s inability pay decent prices to farmers, which fuelled a parallel market.

“The availability of resources to the GMB should facilitate timely payments to farmers for their maize deliveries,” said the finance ministry, adding that farmers would, as a result, be shielded from “exploitation by unscrupulous buyers”.

They are still not confident that the GMB will pay them adequately, and are still smarting from the failure by the parastatal to pay them in past years

Good and bad news

A recent joint crop assessment report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) described the liberalization of the grain market as a “very positive development” that would encourage farmers to produce commercially and improve grain reserves.

The GMB has announced a floor price for grain of US$265, while private buyers are offering between US$180 and US$200. But the crop assessment report noted that the move was “largely ineffective at the moment, due to GMB’s inability to function with virtually no liquidity”. Local farmers are adopting a wait-and-see approach.

Denford Chimbwanda, president of the Grain and Cereal Producers Association (GCPA), told IRIN the GMB needed a far larger financial injection. “The move by the finance ministry to give assistance to the GMB is noble, but it is difficult to see how it will help the country – that money will buy less than 400,000 tons of cereals, a far cry from what we need in grain reserves.”

Zimbabwe requires about 1.7 million tons of cereals to adequately feed itself; this year, according to the FAO/WFP report, it harvested just 1.14 million tons, an increase of 130 percent from the previous disastrous season.

“As far as I know, the majority of our members and the subsistence farmers are not surrendering their produce to the GMB … They are still not confident that the GMB will pay them adequately, and are still smarting from the failure by the parastatal to pay them in past years,” said Chimbwanda.

No guarantees

Local television quoted a GMB spokesperson as saying on 30 June that the grain board would only be able to pay cash for the first 40 tons a farmer delivered. “That does not sound as though much has changed,” said Chimbwanda.

“There is no guarantee of timely payments for the remainder, so that farmers can be well prepared for the summer farming season that starts in September.” Better financing for the GMB was unlikely, he added, as the government was still battling to get funding from donors to run the country.

A coalition government of three rival political parties was formed earlier in 2009 to tackle Zimbabwe’s political and humanitarian crisis, but its efforts to convince the international community to come to the rescue with aid have had mixed results.

Chimbwanda said lack of confidence in the GMB would force farmers to sell to stock feed producers and dairy farmers, reducing the amount of cereals available to the public.

John Robertson, an economic consultant, told IRIN: “It is unclear why the GMB has decided to buy at US$265 when imports can be made at cheaper prices – this will force the grain utility to sell its products at unaffordable prices. In any case, I have spoken to a number of people in the milling industry and they … favour importing rather than buying locally.”

Robertson warned that the GMB might be tempted to use some of the money from government to bankroll its operations and offset its debts.

Initial forecasts by FAO/WFP estimate that about 2.8 million people will require food aid by March 2010, a substantial decrease from the 7 million beneficiaries during the March 2009 “lean season” – the month prior to the main harvest in April.

tt/oa/he source.www.irinnews.org

EAST AFRICA/HORN: Preparedness gaps evident as first flu cases diagnosed

Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN

A nurse at work at a Kenyan hospital: Overall pandemic preparedness in East Africa and the Horn of Africa remains “relatively inactive”, according to a UN agency, as the first cases are reported in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda – file photo

NAIROBI/ADDIS ABABA/KAMPALA,� – Although some countries within East Africa and the Horn region have scaled up their influenza A (H1N1) contingency plans, overall pandemic preparedness remains “relatively inactive”, a UN agency has said, as the first cases were reported in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

According to an overview prepared by the pandemic influenza coordination (PIC) unit in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA PIC) in Nairobi, the countries that have updated their contingency plans include Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania, Djibouti, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic (CAR), and the Republic of Congo.

“These countries are considered well prepared in mobilizing both health and non-health sector measures in the event of a pandemic,” OCHA PIC said on 1 July.

OCHA PIC is a member of the regional rapid response team, which is planning technical support missions between July and September to accelerate preparedness and response in countries considered most vulnerable to so-called swine flu, including Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, CAR, Chad and Eritrea.

OCHA PIC said regional partners had expressed concern over the inadequate communication messages and channels used to reach the public with regard to pandemic preparedness and responses.

Countries that have updated their contingency plans include Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania, Djibouti, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and the Republic of Congo

“It is recommended that a communication centre be hosted within respective ministry of health structures but supported by technical agencies in disseminating well-packaged messages on H1N1, H1N5 [avian flu] and other trans-boundary diseases,” OCHA PIC said.

Symptoms of A(H1N1) were confirmed in Kenya on 29 June in a British student visiting the country. “[Another] three suspected cases are under investigation,” OCHA PIC said.

In Ethiopia, the Ministry of Health has confirmed a third A(H1N1) case and is investigating four suspected cases.

“Out of 17 suspected individuals, 10 of them were found to be free and returned to their homes,” Ahmed Imano, head of the public relations service at the Ministry of Health, said. “Four of them are still under surveillance.”

In Uganda, the Ministry of Health announced on 2 July that one case of H1N1 had been diagnosed at Entebbe International Airport. The ministry said the 40-year-old had been isolated at a medical facility at the airport.

In Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and South Africa have also reported A(H1N1) cases.

Although no deaths have been recorded, more than 10 cases have been confirmed on the continent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Ethiopia reported its case on 19 June. The first cases were detected in two teenagers returning from the United States. The third was reported on 29 June, of an air hostess with Ethiopian Airlines.

“All of them came from abroad,” Ahmed said. “It is not necessary at this time to reveal where they came from.”

He added: “We have a good mechanism of tracing [the epidemic.] All flight attendants have received training and are doing a good follow-up.”

tw/js/vm/mw source www.irinnews.org