10/3/09
Marek Edelman, January 1, 1919 – October 3, 2009
of the ill-fated 1943 Warsaw ghetto
uprising against the Nazis,
died today at the age of ninety.
"Man is evil, by nature man is a beast.
They have to be educated from
childhood, from kindergarten,
that there should be no hatred."
"When you cannot defend freedom
through peaceful means,
you have to use arms
to fight Nazism, dictatorship,
chauvinism."
"We knew the struggle was doomed,
but it showed the world there was
resistance against the Nazis,
that you could fight the Nazis."
"There should be stress on
the subjectivity of the human being.
You need good material conditions,
a high level of culture, much freedom
and friendship.
And it won't come today
or tomorrow.
It's a long and winding road."
In His Own Words:
http://www.facebook.com/l/66fde;
www.peoplesarchive.com/browse/movies/6210/
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: (250) (0) 78-847-0205 (Mtn Rwanda)
Gsm: (250) (0) 75-079-9819 (Rwandatel)
Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
jlkayisa@yahoo.com
http://facebook.com/kayisa
Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66
10/2/09
MTN Partners With IMImobile in a Major Deal
Millions of mobile and online content users
across Africa and the Middle East will
reap the benefits of a landmark
tie-up between MTN and
IMImobile - an India-based software
and managed services provider
linked to 350 content providers worldwide.
The two companies have teamed up
in a bold move to address the growing
demand for content in emerging markets.
This strategic partnership will
entail providing MTN's 21 markets
access to a repository of current and
globally popular content through
enhanced delivery platforms.
Content categories will include
music (with local and international flavour),
sports, games, entertainment,
news and much more."
It will also enable MTN to launch
new income-generating voice and data
services across its global footprint,
with revenues from mobile content and
services estimated at around
US$150.2 billion in 2011,
up from US$89,3 billion in 2006, worldwide.
One of MTN's new content streams
will be the 2010 FIFA World Cup(TM)
of which the mobile operator
has exclusive global mobile content rights.
Accordingly, MTN will leverage its
IMImobile partnership to deliver exclusive
2010 FIFA World Cup(TM) content
on subscribers' handsets, including soccer
match news, fixtures, match results
as well as team and group profiles.
The appointment of IMImobile as
a strategic managed services and hosting
partner follows an extensive review
of MTN's mobile content and media
services landscape across its global footprint.
MTN is now aligning its mobile content
and media services strategy across
its 21 markets in Africa and
the Middle East to standardize and enhance its
media content offerings to its subscribers.
MTN also wants to capitalize on
the rapidly converging data content and
voice market, with Africa,
the Middle East and Latin America poised to
witness the highest growth in revenue
as additional mobile data services are
being deployed in these regions.
Nozipho January-Bardill, MTN Group
Corporate Affairs Executive, says
IMImobile was selected from
a group of major global telecom software and
service providers because of
the scalability of its technology platforms and
proven managed services business model.
"IMImobile's value proposition and
technology solutions will enable MTN
to reduce the time-to-market
for new services, boost
Average Revenue Per User
(ARPU) and keep MTN
at the forefront of innovative services.
"We have found a partner in IMImobile
that has the insight and expertise
of the appropriate managed service
business model and technology solution
necessary to continue to deliver
premium content and services to our
customers," said January-Bardill.
MTN has already introduced a
number of exciting products and services on
its portal and on http://www.mtnfootball.com
during the FIFA Confederations
Cup in June this year.
This content is currently being archived to allow
football fans to re-live
the moment long after the games.
IMI mobile will deploy its
Service Delivery Platform (SDP), including its
industry leading DaVinci Content
Management System (CMS).
The content strategy includes tailoring
content for local consumer preferences, including
French and Arabic as well
as exploiting MTN's sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA
World Cup(TM) through http://www.mtnfootball.com.
Vishwanath Alluri, Founder and CEO
of IMImobile said: "This is a major
commercial milestone for IMImobile
as we continue to build our offering to
support leading operators worldwide.
To be chosen by MTN as their strategic
partner ahead of a strong list
of competitors is testament to our unique
service which is based on industry
leading technology platforms, content
management expertise, a managed
services and SaaS business model combined
with 24/7 technical support and
strict SLA compliance. We are excited by the
opportunity and are looking forward
to helping MTN achieve its objectives of
creating substantial additional revenue streams."
Issued by MTN Group Corporate Affairs
ABOUT THE MTN GROUP
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational
telecommunications group, operating
in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the
Middle East. The MTN Group is listed
on the JSE Securities Exchange in
South Africa under the
share code: "MTN".
As at 30 June 2009, MTN recorded 103,2
million subscribers across
its operations in Afghanistan, Benin,
Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire,
Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau,
Guinea Republic, Iran,
Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of
Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda,
South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland,
Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.
The MTN Group is a global sponsor
of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
South Africa(TM) and has exclusive
mobile content rights for Africa
and the Middle East.
Visit http://www.mtn.com
and http://www.mtnfootball.com.
ABOUT IMImobile
IMImobile is a leading provider of
converged mobile and online technology
platforms and content services
to mobile operators and
media companies around the world.
The IMImobile product portfolio includes
a core service delivery platform
(DaVinci SDP), mobile advertising
platform (Ad-Ring(TM)), carrier
grade messaging platforms
and gateways, applications for data services,
full track music download services
and voice platforms. Customers include leading
operators and media companies such
as Airtel, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile,
Google, Reuters and Yahoo!.
IMImobile is a profitable fast growing company
with operations in 40 countries
and offices in Asia, Europe, Latin America
and the Middle East.
For more information, visit http://www.imimobile.com
Note to Editors:
The 16 countries IMImobile will be
deploying its full CMS across are:
Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, Republic of
Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Rwanda,
South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda,
Zambia, Benin, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic
Conakry, Liberia, Afghanistan,
Syria, Cyprus and Yemen.
IMImobile will directly connect
its central platform in London to the
existing CMS platforms of the following
5 countries: Nigeria, Ghana,
Cameroon, Iran and Sudan
IMImobile contacts:
Eleanor Filgate or K Simon at Babel PR
T. +44(0)20-7434-5550
M. +44-7500-038-458
E. imimobile@babelpr.com
W. http://www.babelpr.com
MTN Group contacts:
Maphamola Lebelo
MTN Group Communications
Mobile: +27-83-212-9918
Email: Lebelo_m@mtn.co.za
SOURCE: IMImobile
Link here--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: (250) (0) 78-847-0205 (Mtn Rwanda)
Gsm: (250) (0) 75-079-9819 (Rwandatel)
Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
jlkayisa@yahoo.com
http://facebook.com/kayisa
Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66
World short of copper, 10 Mt supply gap in 2020 – BHP Billiton
A copper supply shortage is looming,
but top tier copper resources that could
fill the supply gap are not only hard
to find, but would take time
to turn to account.
Independent consultancy GFMS says
a copper deficit of 88 000 t is likely,
which, it says, is likely to push
the copper price to $7 500/t in 2010.
BHP Billiton base metals marketing director
Dave Martin says: "We have a challenge
in copper supply and need
the industry to develop resources."
Martin calculates that there will be
a copper supply gap of 10-million tons in 2020.
He arrives at the figure by adding
the supply from the current mines,
planned expansions, mines under
construction and probable
greenfield expansions.
Some of that gap will be filled by
copper scrap, but the question remains
about how all of it is going to be filled.
GFMS expects higher prices
each year, stretching out to 2012.
While copper use is popularly said
to in virtually everything from vehicles
to ordnances, things military hardly
feature on the charts showing
the main copper demand drivers these days.
The vehicle-related and general
consumer-related copper sales
are collectively up there as the biggest
single driver of demand, and growing
in prominence is the use of
underground copper cabling
that is being used increasingly
to distribute electricity, particularly in China.
Sensing the opportunity, small newcomer
miners are keen to enter copper
mining in the Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC), despite the perceived
political risk there, as well as in
Zambia, and medium-size companies,
already are keen to expand in those countries.
Ironically, it is the bigger companies,
still protecting themselves from
the potential fallout from
the global economic meltdown,
that talk of waiting a while before
investing heavily in the DRC
in particular in order to avoid
putting "risk on risk".
The fears about investing in the DRC
have resurfaced as a result
of the clampdown on copper miner
First Quantum by the general prosecutor
of the Katanga province.
First Quantum has had to stop
its Kolwezi project, which is
65%-complete, because the Katangan
general prosecutor "sealed" off
the property without a court order.
BHP Billiton chief commercial officer
Alberto Calderon drew attention
to this action when Ambrian Capital
mining analyst Peter Davey asked
why BHP Billiton was not pursuing
copper opportunities in the DRC.
"Even for the 'very green' prospect,
it's complicated," Calderon replied.
The political risk is not deterring
South Africa's JSE-listed, black
economically empowered African
Rainbow Minerals (Arm).
Arm CEO André Wilkens tells Mining
Weekly that he wants his company
to be producing at least 100 000 t/y
of copper in five years from deposits
in the DRC and Zambia.
The financially constrained JSE-listed
Metorex is another South African company
well advanced with its Ruashi copper/cobalt
project in the DRC and wanting
to emphasise the copper part
of its diversified portfolio.
Arm has a joint venture with South
American major Vale and intends
focusing initially on the assets
of Arm's former Teal exploration
company at the Konkola North copper
project in Zambia, and in copper/cobalt
in the Kalumines prospect in the DRC.
"Copper is a very good commodity to be
in and we are going to keep our eyes open
and try to expand in copper
as soon as possible," Wilkens
reiterates to Mining Weekly.
Metorex CEO Terence Goodlace says
company is going all out to lift copper
production at Ruashi to a higher level.
"We have a plant that can do 180 t on
the hydrometallurgical circuit.
Ultimately, once the crushing circuit
has been fully commissioned - and that
should be towards the end
of the year - it will then be up to us
to see if we can feed this plant
1,44-million tons a year," Goodlace
tells Mining Weekly.
That will translate into a copper output
of between 40 000 t/y and 45 000 t/y
of copper and 3 500 t/y of cobalt,
from pre-recovery head grades
of 3,2% copper and 0,39% cobalt.
But the activities of these South African
companies are drops in the ocean
compared to the activities at
the huge copper mines in
South America, including Escondida,
in Chile, the world's largest.
Africa has largely lost out on copper,
after the halcyon days of
the Copperbelt was ended
largely by political uncertainty.
The view of several market analysts
is that China will provide the demand
in growth over the coming years
and that the mining challenge
will be the meeting of that demand.
Zambia's Mines Minister Maxwell Mwale
says BHP Billiton will soon start
exploring for copper in western Zambia,
using specialised equipment
to measure the magnetic properties of rocks.
"The use of the plane with modern
technology will enable easy identification,"
Mwale said.
Zambia says it will continue to
encourage mining companies
to venture into mineral exploration
and mining, but this is going to take time.
Meanwhile, it is being increasingly
reported is that the world will remain
short of copper for
in the medium-to-long term.
As a result, copper scrap is expected
to gain market share, Chinese demand
for imported copper cathode and
for imported copper concentrate
is expected to grow.
Reports already say that the increase
the demand for copper cathode
from China is substantial.
Martin forecasts an increase in demand
for copper cathode in China of 22%
in 2009 and a decrease of 8% from rest
of the world, giving a total global
increase for cathode demand in 2009 of 1%.
The three major drivers of Chinese
demand are seen as scrap replacement
by cathode; a restocking by
China's State Reserves Bureau (SRB),
fabricators and traders; strong domestic
Chinese consumer demand; and
infrastructure development,
driven partly by the
Chinese government's economic
stimulus package.
GFMS juxtaposes strong Chinese
consumption recovery with
slower mine production growth
in arriving at the 8 000 t 2010 deficit.
The consultancy expects the market
deficit to trigger additional investor
interest in the metal,
which will further boost prices.
GFMS expects the magnitude
of the copper deficit to grow
to 121 000 t in 2011
and 176 000 t in 2012.
"It should be noted that not all
of the inventory reduction will
take place on the London
Metal Exchange as we believe
that there has been a build up
of unreported inventories
within China," GFMS adds.
Martin reports that China's imports
of copper scrap have fallen
by 36% in the first half of 2009
compared to 2008.
He assumes a 3% year-on-year growth
for semi-fabricated consumption in 2009,
with the scarcity of scrap
having significantly boosted
the demand for cathode.
Martin believes that cathode demand
will moderate in the last quarter of 2009,
as improving economic conditions
lead to greater scrap generation,
and the price increase result
in greater incentive to recycle.
SRB is believed to have bought
230 000 t of copper on a net basis
and that Chinese fabricators
have bought 600 000 t during
the period of restocking.
Chinese car production increased
23% in the first half of 2009 ,
refrigerator production by 33%
and there was also strong
"floorspace" growth.
The observations are that China
has less scrap and lower mine production,
causing the 160% year-on-year
increase in the importation of copper cathode.
Martin reports that China's per capita
copper growth is rising to 4 kg,
and he expects this
to more than double by 2025.
He sees power distribution as
a major demand driver owing
to copper being preferred
as underground distribution cable,
and replacing overhead
aerial transmission cables - which
are made mainly from
aluminium - in the process.
China currently has a 60/40 aerial/
underground split, compared
to the 25/75 split in France.
Martin postulates that copper usage
in the underground electricity
distribution sector will increase
by 2,5-million tons a year by 2025,
if the transition to underground cables
in urban areas evolves
to a ratio of 40/60 by 2025,
and power distribution infrastructure
grows by 2,5%, both being
reasonably conservative estimates.
There is also considerable scope
for car ownership in China
to trend towards the ownership levels
of developing countries.
While in China there are only 16 cars
for every 1 000 people,
there are the same number
for every 344 people in Portugal,
480 in the US, 495 in the UK
and 171 in Malaysia.
Increased copper consumption
is also expected to result from
increased purchases in China
of air conditioners.
Currently there are 57 air conditioners
for every 100 Chinese households,
and modest increases in
the penetration of these is expected.
Other copper-containing consumer
articles are also expected to rise
to levels closer to the position
in developed countries.
Global demand for copper cathode
is some 18-million tons a year,
of which three-million tons are
met by scrap; three-million tons
by cathode; and 12-million tons
from refined concentrate.
If the copper price rises strongly,
analysts point to the possibility
of substitution of copper
for other materials as
anxious producers look for alternatives.
While it is true that pig iron nickel
began substituting nickel
when the nickel price soared,
Martin's response is that
he takes substitution into account
when he puts his forecasts together
and reminds analysts that
the copper market continued
to grow when copper was at $8 500/t last year.
Edited by: Martin Creamer
Link here
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: (250) (0) 78-847-0205 (Mtn Rwanda)
Gsm: (250) (0) 75-079-9819 (Rwandatel)
Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
jlkayisa@yahoo.com
http://facebook.com/kayisa
Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66
Relief worker from US charity killed in DR Congo
KINSHASA — Attackers killed a worker
for an US relief group in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo and another
was kidnapped, the United Nations said on Friday.
The two Adventist Development and
Relief Agency (ADRA) workers were in
a car that was attacked on September 30
in Sud Kivu province, the UN relief
agency (OCHA) said in a statement.
It did not say who the attackers were.
One man, who was not identified,
was badly beaten up and died at the scene,
the statement said.
The other was abducted
but later managed to escape.
ADRA is run and financed by
the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Link here
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: (250) (0) 78-847-0205 (Mtn Rwanda)
Gsm: (250) (0) 75-079-9819 (Rwandatel)
Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
jlkayisa@yahoo.com
http://facebook.com/kayisa
Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66
Rwanda forges ahead with IT goals
Soon there will be six internet buses
making visits to remote villages
Back in 2005, Click visited Rwanda, to see
how the tiny African country was trying
to emerge from the ravages of war and
lead the region into the information age.
Four years on, Dan Simmons returns
to Kigali to see if the dream is coming true.
Something new has arrived in a tiny
Rwandan village, in Kamonyi district.
A grand government plan to give everyone
access to computers and the web
is reaching areas where some have
not even seen a PC before.
It is causing quite a stir.
The excitement is all about a bus
carrying 20 laptop computers, which is
currently travelling the country offering
internet services to students
and local business people.
As the internet bus is connected up and
brought to life children outside wait
patiently to start their digital lives.
The laptops inside the bus share
a connection that is not even half
the average broadband speed
in developed countries but it is a start,
and it is free - for now, anyway.
This bus has been on the road for
just a few weeks. Soon there will be
six of these making regular visits
to remote villages across the country.
The idea is to introduce as many
ordinary Rwandans to computers
and the net as possible.
Mixed progress
It is a steep learning curve. It is clear
the children are not familiar with the basics,
like choosing a name for
their email account, passwords,
or Captcha tests.
Even though tutors were on hand,
I wondered just how vulnerable
they would be to internet scams
or web nasties like malware.
The project has funding from
the World Bank till 2011 after which
users may be asked to pay f
or access in areas that
do not even have electricity.
Typist in Kigali
A rise in computer ownership means
there are less typists on Kigali's streets
In 2005, I came here to find a country
in a hurry. Laying high-speed fibre
optic cables, it promised web access
for schools, cable TV to homes,
and cheaper, faster internet.
Coming back it seems some of
those goals have been missed.
Just a third of schools promised
web access were connected.
Technical difficulties and spiralling
costs were blamed.
Some cities are still not
on the network.
The project has been taken on
by another company aiming
to finish the job by next year.
There are mixed signs of progress
in the capital too.
Four years ago 30 or so men would
sit in the streets and type letters
for people.
This time around I had to search
to find a lone typist, one of just
a handful left.
He blames a rise in
computer ownership.
Rwanda does not tax IT
goods - great news for the few
who can afford them.
But because of the growing number
of PCs here some think
connection speeds are
actually slower now.
"Sometimes because of the high
demand in the market, and the supply
being very low they are not
providing a proper service,'' says
Devendra Kumar Sindhi,
a foreign exchange owner.
Leaping ahead
But Rwanda's dream of becoming
a high-tech country is about
to take-off again.
By next month the land-locked
country will cease to rely on
expensive and slow satellite
connections to the rest of the world.
The fibre-optic data pipeline linking
Kenya to Europe and India
will soon arrive in Kigali,
cutting wholesale internet costs
by up to 90%.
The city's own fibre optic network
will then offer some
of the fastest connections in Africa.
Patrick Nyirishema
We know what it's like to be a country
that is in ashes and now we're able
to spring back with a reason
and determination to... make this work
Schools are advancing too.
From next year compulsory
state education will teach
to age 14 rather than 11.
Rwanda has joined the global
one laptop per child program.
Around 100,000 children have
access to low-cost computers,
and the government wants
to extend that to more than
one million children
over the next few years.
Advances at the top of
the class too - last time I visited,
the Kigali Institute of Science and
Technology was running
short IT courses - in a desperate bid
to fill the country's skills gap.
This time around the institute's rector
had some good news.
New computer labs were
opened this year.
The four-month courses have been
replaced with four-year degrees.
Pass rates are up 20%. And so are
potential earnings.
Students can expect
to earn $500 - $2,000 (£313 - £1,250)
a month when they leave,
which is a massive pay day
in this part of the world.
Details neglected
And that is the main reason
for Rwanda's move from
an agricultural nation
to a knowledge-based one.
Having emerged from the worst period
of its history, the genocide of 1994,
Rwanda has placed its faith in IT
with some big promises - mobile phone
use should double from just 20%
to up to 40% by next year.
The government is giving away
35,000 handsets to help that happen.
It wants a PC in every home
within 10 years. And one of the most
advanced plans to date can
be found at Kigali's national stadium.
If any further evidence was needed that
Rwanda is in a hurry to become
Africa's ICT hub, then this is surely it,
the South Koreans are here installing
4G Network called WiBro
(Wireless Broadband) which will bring
unparalleled connectivity across
the city of Kigali.
Korea Telecom's base stations
will be switched on in a few weeks time.
Linked into the city's new
fibre optic network, WiBro promises
to deliver broadband mobile data
speeds far in excess
of most western 3G services.
It is becoming a typically
Rwandan approach - aim big and
sort the details out as you go,
such as the fact that there are
virtually no compatible
WiBro handsets here.
The government says it may
subsidise cheap WiBro imports
as it is doing now for mobile phones.
Need for energy
"As a country we are in a hurry.
We can't wait to fix water agriculture
and roads and then get to ICT,
so we've got to do everything
in parallel because we've lost
so much time in the last decades,"
says Patrick Nyirishema,
director of Rwanda's Information
Technology Authority.
"We've been to the bottom.
We know what it's like to be a country
that is in ashes and now we're able
to spring back with a reason and
determination to say, 'we're going
to make this work,
we're going to succeed,'" he adds.
To make the leap Rwanda also
needs energy. High above Kigali
is one of Africa's largest solar fields.
Methane gas discoveries, wind turbines,
and new hydroelectricity stations
could also power the dream.
But progress in these areas
has been slow.
Fewer than one in ten here
are on the electricity grid.
In its race to catch up, Rwanda still
faces tough obstacles.
But it has chosen not to think twice
about trying to jump them,
and not to fear should it fail.
Link here
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: (250) (0) 78-847-0205 (Mtn Rwanda)
Gsm: (250) (0) 75-079-9819 (Rwandatel)
Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
jlkayisa@yahoo.com
http://facebook.com/kayisa
Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66
Rwanda: Over U.S.$2 Million for Deployment of MTN Zone Technology
Kigali — MTN Rwanda, the largest telecom
company by market share, has invested
over $2 million (Rwf1.3 billion) in attaining
the MTN Zone technology.
This was announced by the company's CEO,
Khaled Mikkawi during the commercial launch
of the new product yesterday
at the company's headquarters.
MTN Zone technology is the
latest technology that is provided
by Ericsson Company, it is designed
to allow callers make big savings
in areas where there is
low network utilisation.
According to Mikkawi, MTN has been
working with Ericsson for a long period
to acquire the technology.
With the launch of this technology
the telecom company says it is
targeting 20,000 subscribers
from the commercial launch.
"The technology we acquired from
Ericsson includes hardware, software
and license which justifies
the money invested.
We first tested the technology back
in April, in Huye Town former Butare
District for two months," Mikkawi explained.
The CEO also revealed that the telecom
subscribers increased by 300,000 in a period
of three months bringing the current
numbers to 1.6 million subscribers.
"With the launch of the new products,
we are targeting 200,000 subscribers
to make it 1.8 million by the end of
the year and we are targeting to have
50 percent share of the 6 million
mobile subscribers that is targeted
by RURA in 2012," he revealed.
However, the MTN Group report ending
June this year says that MTN Rwanda
had 1.2 million subscribers
by the end of June.
Mikkawi also said that MTN Zone
is a Group's policy and strategy,
it was commercially launched
in South Africa in 2008 and in
other countries like Uganda,
and it is doesn't matter what time
of the day to have a big
or small percentage of reduction.
The officials also said that the product
is there to stay depending how
the customers respond on it and
they are targeting 50 percent
of their subscribers to use the services.
"The service is going to be there and
if the service provider upgrades the technology
we will also upgrade and a subscriber
is free to use the service or not,"
the CEO added.
The technology was co-developed
by MTN South Africa and Ericsson,
a leading provider of telecommunication
and data communication systems.
Ericsson handles all MTN networks
in Africa and Middle East; it is also in charge
of TIGO, the Third licensed Telecom Company
set to start its operations in November.
MTN Zone which is provided by
the Dynamic Discount Solution is
a charging solution that is able
to offer a mobile network customer
a discount based on the amount
of capacity available
at their current location in the network.
Link here
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: (250) (0) 78-847-0205 (Mtn Rwanda)
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Rwanda: Gasabo Orders Housing Bank Off Kinyinya Land
Kigali — Gasabo district has instructed
the Housing Bank of Rwanda (HBR)
to halt the expropriation exercise in Kinyinya sector.
This follows complaints by Kinyinya residents,
who called upon the Kigali City Council
to intervene and put to an end
what they termed 'illegal expropriation'
by the bank.
In a letter dated September 18, addressed
to the HBR's Director General and signed
by Claudine Nyinawagaga, the district Mayor,
the bank was barred from expropriation
till further notice.
"I am writing to inform you once again
to halt with immediate effect any
expropriation exercise in Kinyinya,"
the letter reads in part.
The letter which was also copied
to the Prime Minister and the Local
Government Minister came a month
after the Gasabo District officially announced
that it had temporarily halted
the expropriation exercise until
the 350 hectares of land already
acquired are developed.
Kinyinya residents, through
their representatives Jean Bosco Musime
and Flugence Seminega, had earlier
written to City Mayor, Aisa Kirabo Kakira,
seeking her intervention to stop
the bank from continuing expropriations
in the area.
It is alleged that the bank connived
with some local authorities and residents
to continue the expropriation exercise
despite the district's orders.
At least 15 families were last month
expropriated even after the district
halted the exercise in its August 13 letter.
The same letter had also officially given
full authority over their properties
to all residents who had not been paid.
In a separate interview with Gervais Ntaganda,
the Director General of the bank,
he said that the 15 people were expropriated
based on an agreement between
area authorities and the bank.
"Besides, these people were in the middle
of the land we had earlier acquired
and found it necessary to expropriate them,
especially since they were citing
security concerns in the area," Ntaganda said.
The controversial 200 hectares of land
in Murama, Ngaruyinka village was
evaluated in 2008 and about 2100 families
were supposed to be removed
costing Rwf6.4bn in a period
of less than four months.
However, only a few were paid,
prompting authorities to give
the properties back to their owners.
Link here
--
J-L K.
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Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
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Kenya: Affordable New Weapon Against Cervical Cancer
Nairobi — Faced with an increase in
the number of cervical cancer cases,
Kenya has adopted a simple, cheap yet
effective visual inspection method
of detection.
Ideal for low resource settings, the test
is offering reprieve to thousands
of women who die annually from the disease.
"It is now possible to test for lesions
that if left alone will lead to cervical cancer.
Using table vinegar, which costs less
than a dollar, we can test six to ten women,
" says Margaret Odhiambo
a nursing officer at Kisumu Provincial Hospital.
Government hospitals in Kenya are now
encouraging women of reproductive age
to undergo the free test.
"We are now testing between
20 to 30 women in a day which
is a marked increase from past records
when we relied on Pap smear.
In the past women have been
coming to us when the disease
has advanced and little
can be done," says Odhiambo.
According to statistics from
World Health Organisation
and United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA), cervical cancer
is caused by the human papillomavirus
and affects about 500,000 women
worldwide each year
and kills 270,000 annually.
According to Dr Paul Mitei, the head
of department in the gynaecological ward
at Kisumu Provincial Hospital,
cervical cancer is one of
the leading killers in Kenya - and
indeed the rest of the world.
Yet it is possible for a trained
medical worker to visually detect
the presence of the lesions
within ten minutes, he says.
The method involves dilating
the vaginal walls, applying a solution
of acetic acid found in vinegar
and performing a visual inspection
using a bright halogen light (torch).
Once the solution is applied,
suspect lesions turn white,
while healthy tissue shows
no colour change.
"Once detected, the lesions are
treated instantly through freezing
and within 10 minutes the patient
can go home and will not need
to be seen for another five years,"
says Dr Mitei.
Dr Mitei explains the lesions are
treated using cryo-therapy - a process
through which liquid nitrogen is used
to freeze the affected tissue
and destroy the lesions.
In other cases, a loop electro-surgical
exicision procedure is used
to excise the lesions; a painless electric
current quickly cuts away
the tissue surrounded by a small lop of wire.
Not all hospitals have
cryo-therapy equipment, according
to Jacton Omotto the district
gynaecologist at Siaya District Hospital,
but he says most provincial hospitals
are equipped.
Discussions are underway with
donors to purchase more
equipment for distribution countrywide.
According to Dr Omotto, studies across
the world have proven the efficiency
and effectiveness of
the visual detection of lesions.
"Studies have proven the visual
inspection method is as efficient
as Pap testing in identifying
cervical cancer precursors.
However, Pap requires much more
sophisticated equipment,
training and logistics.
The visual inspection method
can be done by any trained medic,"
Omotto says.
"In the past, when we suspected
cervical cancer we would refer
the patient to a higher level facility
for testing and treatment," he adds.
"However, due to poverty many would
not travel to Nairobi where Kenyatta
National Hospital is located.
Instead they would stay home
and would be brought back
in a critical condition."
When Violet Opala learnt of this
simple mode of detecting cancer,
tears streamed down her cheeks.
The information rekindled memories
of her mother, who died of cervical cancer
early this year.
Opala contends that had her mother
got a chance to be tested using
the visual inspection method,
she might be alive today.
"Following the fatal diagnosis,
my mother was in and out of hospital
for four years then she succumbed.
By the time she was diagnosed,
the doctors told us it was too late
and the cancer had spread,"
Opala explains.
She adds, "I am told cancer is hereditary.
My sisters and I have been worried sick
at the possibility of testing positive.
However, we have never undergone
the test due to the prohibitive costs
of getting checked.
Fear has also been a contributing factor,
the idea of waiting for the results
is simply agonising."
Now that the visual inspection
is being offered, the thirty-eight year old
says she may brave it all and get tested.
"It is encouraging to know that
if the lesions are found in
their early stages they
can be treated.
Maybe my sisters and I can get
the much needed reprieve
that my mother never got," she says.
Dr Omotto concurs, adding
that increasingly younger women
in early twenties are being
diagnosed with cancer of the cervix.
"It is a reality on the ground
that cases of cervical cancer are
on the increase and this is
mainly due to increased risk factors.
What we have noticed is that
HIV positive women tend
to develop cervical cancer, "Omotto says.
What is unfortunate according
to Kisumu hospitals Mitei, is that
many patients come to hospital when
it is too late and their condition
is beyond the stage where
even surgery can be used to intervene.
"Cervical cancer has been mystified
and unfortunately many remain
ignorant to the fact that early detection
can be life saving.
Once the pre-cancerous lesions
are detected they can be treated," Mitei says.
The two doctors contend there is
a huge discrepancy between
cervical cancer deaths in rich
and poor nations.
Eighty to 85 per cent of deaths related
to cervical cancer occur in
the developing world,
a majority of these in Africa.
"In richer nations, screening using
Pap smear is in place to spot
the disease and treat it early,
saving the lives of thousands
of women.
However, a successful Pap testing
requires highly sophisticated
laboratory equipment
and trained technicians.
This has thus not worked well
in poorer regions including Kenya,"
says Omotto.
In that regard, he contends,
this inexpensive visual inspection
method will provide
hope for thousands of women.
There is a vaccine available that
prevents strains of the human
papillomavirus which causes
cervical cancer.
However, the vaccine
is prohibitively expensive.
Medics thus contend the best option
is to detect the pre-cancerous lesions early.
Link here
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
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Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
jlkayisa@yahoo.com
http://facebook.com/kayisa
Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66
"Beds Are Burning"
Ces stars qui chantent « pour notre Terre »
L'ancien secrétaire général des Nations Unies, Kofi Annan, a lancé jeudi 1er octobre à Paris une "pétition musicale mondiale" contre le réchauffement climatique, à quelques semaines du Sommet de Copenhague.
Yannick Noah, Youssou N'Dour, Lilly Allen, Fergie, Milla Jovovitch, Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard, Amadou et Mariam... Une soixantaine de célébrités du monde entier ont enregistré une nouvelle version du tube Beds are burning composé en 1987 par le groupe australien Midnight Oil. Ces stars ont prêté leur voix à ce single, téléchargeable gratuitement sur internet. Chaque téléchargement équivaut à une signature numérique pour la pétition.
A l'origine, les paroles de Beds Are Burning réclamaient que l'Australie rende leurs terres aux Aborigènes. Le groupe, dont le chanteur Peter Garett est devenu depuis ministre de l'Environnement australien, n'a pas pris part au nouvel enregistrement mais il a retravaillé le texte. « Le temps est venu de prendre position, c'est pour la Terre, c'est notre terre », chantent désormais les artistes.
Le clip :
« Faire du bruit pour s'en souvenir à Copenhague »
« Le temps file à toute allure », a déclaré Kofi Annan lors de la conférence de presse pour présenter la campagne mondiale Tck tck tck Time for Climate Justice. Tck est une abréviation de "Tick" ou "tic-tac" en anglais. « Ensemble, nous pouvons faire tellement de bruit que nos dirigeants ne pourront pas l'ignorer quand ils se retrouveront à Copenhague », en décembre, pour établir de nouveaux objectifs de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre, a-t-il ajouté. Kofi Annan a décrit la chanson comme une "pétition musicale mondiale" pour réclamer un accord "ambitieux, juste et mondial" à Copenhague.
Après We are the world dans les années 80
L'initiative rappelle les initiatives des chanteurs des années 80 en faveur de l'Afrique, frappée par la sécheresse et les famines, via les tubes planétaires We Are the World ou Do They Know It's Christmas ?
« Le changement climatique est le plus grand défi humanitaire que nous devons relever aujourd'hui », a expliqué Kofi Annan. « Ce sont les pays les plus pauvres et les moins développés qui sont le plus durement frappés ».
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: (250) (0) 78-847-0205 (Mtn Rwanda)
Gsm: (250) (0) 75-079-9819 (Rwandatel)
Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
jlkayisa@yahoo.com
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Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66
Germany’s election results not positive for Turkey
by
ALİ YURTTAGÜL*
Aside from yielding interesting results,
the German elections also signaled
critical political shifts not just for
the ruling power but in general as well.
The new government, to be set up by
the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and
the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), may not
carry out a rooted change to the ongoing
policy regarding Turkey, but there will be
colder winds blowing from Berlin
during the membership process
and negotiation meetings.
To understand the importance that
the election results, which can be
interpreted to mean that Berlin
will not support Turkey's membership
"for the time being," have for Turkey,
it would be beneficial to take
a closer look at the political changes
and developments that took place
in Germany in these latest elections.
There are two important factors related
to the formation of
the new majority government.
The first factor is that while
the conservative CDU has managed
to sustain its existence as
the great "people's party" by losing
only a limited number of votes
and garnering 33.8 percent of the vote,
the FDP secured the biggest victory
in the history of Germany by
winning 14.6 percent of the vote and
triggering a fundamental shift
in politics by becoming
the new coalition partner.
On the other hand, with votes plunging
by around 20 percent in recent years,
the Social Democratic Party
of Germany (SPD) suffered a historic
defeat, winning only around 23 percent
of the vote.
The Left Party's significant and
the Greens' limited rise in votes were
not enough to balance out the SPD's vote
losses to establish a theoretical
SPD-the Left-Greens coalition.
Political shifts in many directions
While the latest elections have opened
the way for a right-wing coalition
in Germany, it also signals at
many political shifts going
in different directions.
The first and most important political
shift occurred between the CDU
and the SPD.
These two parties became increasingly
similar to each other and became
oriented toward winning centralist votes.
The CDU took close to 1 million votes
from its coalition partner, the SPD,
and managed to limit
its vote loss in that way.
Winning more than 30 percent
of the vote, the CDU is Germany's sole
mass party.
But despite this, it is no longer
the country's only governing party,
and unlike before, it no longer
has 50, or in some states 60,
percent of the vote.
Forget winning enough votes
to become the sole ruling party
like Turkey's Justice and
Development Party (AK Party),
it was considered a big success
that it was able to garner enough votes
to set up a government with the FDP.
If the CDU, which won a parliamentary
majority with the extraordinary victory
of the FDP, wants to put on a similar
performance in the next election,
it must have successful
policies -- especially on economic
and social issues.
Certainly it will not be easy to create
a balance between a liberal economy
and social policy in the new government,
in which the liberals will be more active.
The new coalition, which trade unions
have a concerned eye over, will not
be able to easily sustain the social peace
that prevailed in the country
while the SPD was in power.
The former coalition also aimed
to resolve the unemployment problem
with an economic development policy,
but it was unfortunately not very
successful in its endeavor.
The FDP, which focused its
election campaign on economic policies
and promised to boost economic demand
and investment by making tax cuts
for middle and high income earners,
garnered support especially
from the middle class.
Many analysts reckon that although
Germans believe a liberal economy
was the cause of the banking crisis,
they may have wanted to give
the FDP a chance because they believe
liberals that "understand the economy"
can devise policies that
can overcome the crisis.
Germans did not believe social rights
would improve with the FDP and
the expectation that the CDU and
the chancellor would take up
social issues had a bigger role
in the election campaign.
The plunge of SPD votes from
44 percent to 23 percent after 11 years
in power stemmed most certainly
from endorsing harsh social reforms.
But the second important factor, the transition
of Germany's political party system
from a three-party system to
a five-party system, played an important role
in the SPD's loss of votes.
Following the Greens, which tried to win
the support of SPD constituents,
a new left party that won the support
of trade unions and garnered 11.9 percent
of the vote in the election
led to the SPD's defeat.
In a sense, SPD votes partially disappeared
to this party on the left and the CDU
in the center.
The problem stems from the melting away
of the SPD and the left movement's social base.
The base of this party, which emerged
in the second half of the 19th century
as the party of the industrial society
and workers' movement, is becoming
increasingly smaller as the service sector
becomes more active in Europe.
In countries such as Germany, France
and England, the industrial sector
accounts for 11 and 13 percent
of gross domestic product (GDP),
down from around 50 percent.
The service sector, which constitutes
up to 80 percent of economic activity,
poses a risk to the existence
of socialist and trade union movements
and therefore dissolved the constituents
of social democrats in these countries.
The success of the Left Party (11.9 percent)
and the Greens (10.7 percent), which voters
put in the opposition, was limited
in the elections.
One important problem the Greens
will need to discuss more so then
the Left Party is why only 2 percent
of the 30 percent of voters that
changed their political preferences
knocked on their door.
An in-depth debate is expected on
why unlike Daniel Cohn-Bendit's party,
which won 16.2 percent in France,
the Greens could not do
the same in Germany.
While the Greens managed to make
the public and other parties more sensitive
about environmental issues,
despite the fact that the Greens played
an important role in influencing
other parties to address
environmental issues in
their election campaign, the issue of
why the Greens were not as successful
as the liberals and the Left Party
is an important question.
Alongside the SPD, which launched
the Helsinki process that opened
the door to negotiations with
the European Union, the Greens' distance
to power is not a positive development
for Turkey.
It is for this reason that Turkey
will need to interpret the program
of the new coalition government
very carefully.
CDU and FDP not warm to EU enlargement
To examine the new government's policy
on Turkey, we need to take a closer look
at the parties' election programs.
For now, neither the CDU nor the FDP
look favorably on EU enlargement.
The priority of both parties is
the intensification of local EU reforms
and the integration of 12 new
member countries.
While both parties emphasize all
candidate countries must meet
the Copenhagen criteria, they also
underline that "membership is not
an automatic process" and point
to the EU's integration capacity.
The only difference between
these two countries, which both
argue that Turkey is not ready
for membership, is that
the CDU supports the idea of
a "privileged partnership" while
the FDP supports open-ended
negotiations for Turkey's EU membership.
The liberals, which hung banners
that read "EU-Turkey Yes" with
the Greens during the 2004
European Parliament elections
and supported the start of negotiations
with Turkey, could possibly
reconsider their policy on Turkey
and support ongoing negotiations.
Chancellor Angela Merkel could
distance herself from French
President Nicolas Sarkozy's line
by showing new Foreign Affairs
Minister Guido Westerwelle as
an excuse.
With the liberals' "pro-Atlantic" position
and their close interest in
US President Barack Obama's
Turkey policy, there will be
major shifts in Germany's ongoing
"balanced" policy.
It is for these reasons that we will
need to carefully read
the government's program
and understand whether the term
"privileged partnership" will
enter the government's program.
The results of the election are not
essentially a negative development,
but the absence of
a positive perception and
support toward Turkey's membership
as there was with the SPD
and the Greens coalition is.
As is known by many,
politicians who paved the way
for Turkey's EU negotiations
were Gerhard Schröder
and Joschka Fischer.
Many obstacles have been
overcome with Germany's determined
support.
However, positive winds are not
blowing from the new coalition
government in Berlin, albeit there is
no expectation that winds
will get any colder.
Germany is in a position
that can influence the course
of negotiations between Turkey
and the EU. Thus, while
the new government may not
adopt a new stance concerning
its Turkey policy, it would not be
misleading to believe
that it will encourage opposition.
Despite all these valid concerns,
the political transformation observed
in Germany is, generally speaking,
a positive process.
The most important piece of data
from the elections concerning Turkey
is that Turkey and Turks were not
targeted in election campaigns and that
most people did not vote
for extreme right-wing parties.
Turkey is no longer a political problem
in Germany as it was during
Helmut Kohl's period or as is
the case in France today.
If we take into consideration
that Germany's economic and
international interests require
close relations with Turkey,
then who knows, warm winds
could start blowing from Berlin
four years from now
or perhaps even sooner.
*Ali Yurttagül is a political advisor
for the Greens in the European Parliament.
Link here
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
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Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
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East AFRICA
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Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66
9/30/09
Attempt to blow up bank safe kills 2 burglary suspects, destroys bank in Belgium
BRUSSELS — Police say two burglary suspects
were killed after the excessive explosives
they were using to break into a bank's safe
blew up the whole building.
The explosion in Dinant in southern Belgium
destroyed half a banking office and
left the rest in ruins.
Police say one of the men was buried
underneath the rubble and the other
died in the hospital Saturday
a few hours after the attempted heist.
The automated teller machines
and bank safe were not opened.
Authorities say they have built-in security
to destroy money and documents
inside if they are opened illegally.
Even if it had been successful,
the robbery would have been unlikely
to yield anything.
Link here
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: (250) (0) 78-847-0205 (Mtn Rwanda)
Gsm: (250) (0) 75-079-9819 (Rwandatel)
Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
jlkayisa@yahoo.com
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Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66
Travolta testifies Bahamas medic threatened him
AP – U.S. actor John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston
leave the court building in Nassau, Bahamas …
By JUAN McCARTNEY, Associated Press WriterNASSAU, Bahamas – John Travolta testified
Wednesday that a Bahamas paramedic
threatened to sell stories to the news media
suggesting the movie star was
at fault in the death of his 16-year-old son.
Travolta said paramedic Tarino Lightbourne,
who is now on trial for extortion,
demanded $25 million.
If he did not pay, Travolta told the jury,
Lightbourne indicated he would use
against him a consent document that the actor
initially signed refusing to have his son Jett
sent to a local hospital.
The document cleared Lightbourne
of any liability.
"They were stories that would imply that
the death of my son was intentional
and I was culpable in some way," Travolta said.
Travolta was testifying in the second week
of the trial of Lightbourne and
Pleasant Bridgewater, a former Bahamas senator
who allegedly negotiated with
the actor's lawyers for the medic.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Travolta testified last week that he signed
the document because he initially wanted
his son flown to Florida for treatment.
But Jett, who had suffered a seizure
at a family vacation home on
Grand Bahama island, was taken instead
to a local hospital, where he died on Jan. 2.
Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston,
left the Nassau courthouse immediately
after his testimony in an entourage
of cars with their attorneys and bodyguards.
A Bahamian attorney for Travolta,
Allyson Maynard-Gibson, has testified
that Bridgewater told her in a January meeting
that the paramedic was talking with a woman
from an unidentified American news outlet
"who said it might be beneficial to him if
he could show that Travolta was negligent.
" She said Lightbourne was also in talks
with several other media companies.
The actor testified that he authorized
his lawyers to contact Bahamas police after
hearing about the alleged threat
from Lightbourne.
The trial began Sept. 21 and
is expected to last several weeks.
Link here
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
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Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
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Skype ID: kayisa66
Tunisian exporters will have access to international market analysis tools free of charge
TUNISIAONLINENEWS- In a communiqué
released on Tuesday, the Center for
the Promotion of Exports (CEPEX) announces
that online marketplace analysis tools
of the International Trade Center (ITC)
will become free for exporters,
thanks to the financial support from
the Global Fund for Special Assignment
of the ITC and the World Bank.
CEPEX offers exporters the possibility
to set up an account through online registration.
The aim is to provide Tunisian exporters
with free, real time information on
international markets and
investment opportunities.
The trade map provides users with indicators
on export performance, international demand,
alternative markets and the role of competitors.
The Trade Map covers 220 countries
and territories and a range of 5300 products.
Trade data is also available at the tariff line
level for more than 120 countries and on
a quarterly and monthly basis for more
than 50 countries( http://www.trademap.org/)
The map also covers customs tariffs
(import duties) and other measures
applied by 187 importing countries
to products from 239 countries
On its part, the investment map
provides foreign direct
investment (FDI) data for 80 countries
at the sectoral level, together
with foreign affiliates,
trade flows and tariffs
for over 150 countries.
The country map provides links to national
trade support institutions and
country-specific business information,
as well as giving trade and
market profiles ; The country map is
based on trade statistics which
benchmark the national trade performance
and provides indicators on
export supply and import demand.
More recently the Product Map
has been integrated into
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
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Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
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Skype ID: kayisa66
"Repression and Violence Are a Danger to the Whole Region"
Richard Moncrieff in The Independent
The Independent
The tragic events of Monday were born
of a confrontation between sheer desperation
and brute force.
Guineans suffered appallingly under
President Lansana Conté, who, like
his successor, Moussa Dadis Camara,
came to power in a military coup.
Conté installed a dictatorship that lasted
from 1984 to 2008; when I talked to
youth leaders in Conakry 10 days ago, i
t was clear they were anxious to stop
that from happening again.
With political dialogue stalling, and it b
ecoming increasingly obvious that
Dadis Camara intends to run for president,
they saw the street as their
only means of pressure.
On Monday evening, shortly after
the rally, Dadis Camara sounded shaken
as he spoke on French radio and all but
admitted that he was losing control
of the army.
Given the killings, that may be the only
position he can take.
But his stance is indeed highly fragile
in an army whose growing indiscipline
he has at least tolerated over recent months.
This indiscipline can be traced back
to the bloody repression of protests
in February 2007, when over 100 people
were killed in a crackdown
very similar to this week's.
Such repression, along with
guaranteed immunity for
the military's abuses against civilians,
kept the ailing Conté in power.
The regional implications are disturbing.
Five years after the terrible conflicts
in Liberia and Sierra Leone, Monday's protests
demonstrate that underlying problems
are far from solved.
Throughout the region, high levels
of unemployment and poor governance
continue to cause extreme frustration.
In Guinea, the weakness of
countervailing powers – political parties,
parliaments, media – has opened
space for the military, with the disastrous
consequences we now see.
More worrying, the border area with
Liberia, which suffered a spillover from
the Liberian civil war in 2001,
is the site of increasing ethnic tension.
Dadis Camara has not officially declared
his intention to run for presidential office,
and this may provide an opportunity for
a combination of domestic and
international pressure to get him
to back down.
But, after Monday's protests, the mood
on the street is that
he should leave now.
Unless he can be persuaded that
further repression will lead
to sanctions and legal measures,
the crisis in Guinea may be
far from over.
Richard Moncrieff is West Africa project
director of the International Crisis Group
Link here
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
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Révolte silencieuse pour sauver l’Unesco
Avant l'élection d'un nouveau directeur général
« Patrimoine commun de l'humanité »,
l'Organisation des Nations unies
pour l'éducation, la science
et la culture (Unesco) doit être défendue
et préservée.
C'est pourquoi, de l'intérieur, est
dénoncée la politique mise en œuvre
ces dix dernières années.
L'élection, ce mois-ci, d'un nouveau
directeur général revêt
une importance cruciale pour l'organisation.
Par Gabrielle Capla
C'est le 31 mai 2009, date de clôture
du dépôt des candidatures, qu'a
officiellement commencé l'élection
du prochain directeur général de
l'Organisation des Nations unies
pour l'éducation, la science
et la culture (Unesco).
Appelé à partir du 7 septembre à choisir
parmi neuf candidats, le Conseil exécutif
(lire « Trois instances ») recommandera aux
cent quatre-vingt-treize États membres
de la Conférence générale celle ou celui
qui sera élu pour succéder
au Japonais Matsuura Koichiro.
La lutte pour occuper ce poste prestigieux
fait rage entre les États ayant présenté
des candidats et les bureaucrates
les plus haut placés de l'organisation, attachés,
depuis leur bastion du Secrétariat,
à défendre ou à consolider leurs places.
La langue de bois qu'ils utilisent pour masquer
leurs intérêts ne peut occulter que la plupart
d'entre eux ont sacrifié, sous le magistère
de M. Matsuura (1999-2009),
les valeurs fondatrices de l'Unesco.
Initialement conçue en 1945 pour devenir
l'institution chargée de la veille intellectuelle
au sein du système des Nations unies,
cette organisation avait un objectif
des plus nobles : « Les guerres prenant
naissance dans l'esprit des hommes,
c'est dans l'esprit des hommes qu'il faut
élever les défenses de la paix. » Pour y parvenir,
ses fondateurs préconisaient l'intensification
des échanges libres en matière d'éducation,
de science, de culture et de communication,
afin d'atteindre une paix fondée
sur un « idéal démocratique »,
dans le respect de la diversité culturelle
de chaque pays.
Dans un monde en crise, l'acte constitutif
de l'Unesco demeure d'une étonnante actualité.
Accusée, entre 1978 et 1980,
par la Heritage Foundation, un think tank
(« cercle de réflexion ») ultraconservateur américain,
d'abriter de dangereux communistes
en lieu et place d'intellectuels et
de Prix Nobel, l'Unesco a fait l'objet
de violentes critiques pendant la présidence
du républicain Ronald Reagan (1981-1989).
Furieux de voir un Africain — le Sénégalais
Mahtar M'Bow (1974-1987) — diriger l'Unesco,
et mécontents de son « excessive politisation (1) »,
les États-Unis avaient claqué la porte en 1984,
privant ainsi l'organisation, l'une des tribunes
internationales où les pays du tiers-monde
peuvent s'exprimer,
de 20 % de son budget ordinaire.
En septembre 2003, encouragés par
un directeur général « ami », M. Matsuura,
les États-Unis rentrent cependant à la maison
après dix-neuf ans d'absence, reconnaissant
les « progrès considérables que
l'Unesco [a] faits pour se réformer (2) ».
Pressé par ailleurs d'intégrer l'institution
à un moment où l'Organisation
des Nations unies (ONU) refuse d'approuver
les visées guerrières de M. George W. Bush en Irak,
Washington déclare vouloir revenir à l'Unesco
« pour marquer [son] engagement en faveur
de la dignité humaine (3) ».
Dès son retour, Washington s'oppose à l'adoption
de la déclaration et de la convention sur
le patrimoine culturel immatériel (4)
et entrave l'élaboration de la convention
pour la protection et la promotion de la diversité
des expressions culturelles.
Finalement adoptée en octobre 2005,
celle-ci entrera en vigueur le 18 mars 2007.
Vantant les « habiles qualités de leadership »
de M. Matsuura, Mme Louise Oliver, ambassadrice
américaine auprès de l'Unesco, n'en regrette pas
moins que « son pays [n'ait] pas le droit de veto,
comme au Conseil de sécurité
des Nations unies (5) ».
Washington reprochait en son temps
à M. M'Bow de « gérer à l'africaine
une organisation dans laquelle
le manque total de transparence
des dépenses, le laxisme (...) empêchent
de savoir où l'on est (6) ».
Après dix années de mandat de M. Matsuura,
qu'en est-il, en réalité, du bilan
de cette « réforme » tant saluée par les États-Unis ?
Si elle demeure appréciée et admirée
pour ses programmes de sauvegarde
du patrimoine de l'humanité — ils ont permis
de préserver le temple d'Abou Simbel en Égypte,
le site d'Angkor au Cambodge,
l'obélisque d'Axoum en Éthiopie — ou
sa Décennie internationale de la promotion
d'une culture de la non-violence et
de la paix au profit des enfants
du monde (2001-2010), l'Unesco remplit-elle
pour autant les objectifs que lui assigne l'ONU ?
Ambassadeur du Japon en France, M. Matsuura
a été élu directeur général en 1999 grâce
au soutien de son premier ministre et
ami d'enfance Obuchi Keizo, et
de ses promesses (non tenues) d'apporter
des fonds extra budgétaires japonais
pour les activités de l'organisation.
L'appui de la Fondation Sasakawa, l'une
des principales donatrices privées
du système des Nations unies,
dont le fondateur, Sasakawa Ryoichi,
est un criminel de guerre,
parrain des yakuzas (la mafia japonaise) (7),
fut également nécessaire.
M. Jacques Chirac, qui n'a jamais caché
son goût pour la culture nippone,
se montra lui aussi très favorable à son élection.
Pour la première fois de son histoire,
l'Unesco se trouve ainsi dirigée par
une personnalité étrangère à
ses domaines de compétence.
M. Matsuura n'a en effet aucune expérience
en matière d'éducation, de science
ou de culture. Il fait fi, par ailleurs,
des codes et règles qui régissent
l'organisation.
Après avoir prêté serment d'indépendance
par rapport à son pays, comme doivent le faire
tous les chefs des agences onusiennes,
M. Matsuura entame sa fonction de directeur
depuis... son ambassade.
Des fonctionnaires zélés lui apportent
les dossiers de l'Unesco.
Installé au pouvoir, M. Matsuura s'engage
dans la voie de la « réforme » économique.
Une politique qui lui permet d'effacer
toute trace de la gestion administrative,
mais aussi des programmes tels que
« La culture de la paix », de son prédécesseur
espagnol Federico Mayor, et de supprimer,
« pour réduire les dépenses »,
une cinquantaine de postes à haute responsabilité,
au mépris des statuts et règlements
du personnel de l'Unesco et du code
de la fonction publique internationale.
Mme Diane Dufresne, employée pendant
vingt ans au sein de... l'administration carcérale
du Canada, arrivera en tant
que directrice des ressources humaines (DRH)
pour procéder aux licenciements.
Depuis, l'Unesco a été de nombreuses fois
condamnée par le tribunal administratif
de l'Organisation internationale du travail (TAOIT).
Ces « réformes » économiques touchent
également le secteur de la culture : emblème
de l'organisation depuis 1947, publié
en trente langues — dont
le braille —, Le Courrier de l'Unesco cesse
de paraître, malgré des propositions
de financements des États membres et
la nécessité pour le Secrétariat d'avoir
une vitrine médiatique auprès
du grand public.
Des milliers de livres d'histoire, de rapports,
de recherches, de publications et
de documents concernant notamment l'Afrique,
l'Amérique latine et le monde arabe
sont détruits en 2004 et 2005,
en raison d'un manque d'espace
de rangement et de mémoire informatique !
Faute d'expérience dans le secteur
de l'éducation, M. Matsuura finance
le pilonnage des livres plutôt que,
par exemple, leur distribution dans les écoles...
Les attaques en règle se multiplient,
notamment contre la Fédération mondiale
des associations, centres et
clubs Unesco (FMACU), mise sur pied
en 1981 (sur la base d'anciens clubs Unesco
nés en 1947) pour appuyer, dans plus
de cent vingt pays, les valeurs de paix.
Les quatorze membres de son Conseil exécutif,
pourtant légalement élus, dans le respect
d'une juste répartition géoculturelle,
sont harcelés, puis écartés en 2005
par un groupe de neuf personnes que dirige
M. Eiji Hattori, un Japonais,
fonctionnaire retraité de l'Unesco,
autoproclamé président de la Fédération.
Les menaces de mettre un terme
aux relations avec cette organisation
non gouvernementale (ONG) représentant
plus d'un million et demi d'adhérents
et le non-vote du budget de 600 000 dollars
pour le fonctionnement du Conseil exécutif
« putschiste » par la Conférence générale
attestent la volonté du Secrétariat : détruire
l'indépendance et l'autonomie
de la FMACU (8).
De telles manœuvres affectent également
l'existence d'autres ONG et organismes rattachés.
M. Matsuura s'est attelé à inféoder l'Unesco
au Japon et à mettre en œuvre
des « réformes » appréciées par
Washington ; des Américains, « compétents
et qualifiés », ont été placés à de
nombreux postes-clés (9).
Recruté en 2005, sous la pression
de l'ex-première dame des États-Unis
Laura Bush (nommée par M. Matsuura
« ambassadrice de bonne volonté de l'Unesco »
jusqu'en 2012), M. Peter Smith est un
bel exemple de la composition
de cette nouvelle équipe.
Ancien parlementaire républicain de
l'Etat du Vermont sous la présidence
de Ronald Reagan, M. Smith a été accusé
de racisme lorsqu'il était professeur
à l'université de Monterey Bay,
dans l'Etat de Californie.
Embauché comme sous-directeur général
pour l'éducation, il devait restructurer
le département, dont le fameux programme
« Éducation pour tous » (EPT) est l'une
des priorités et aussi l'un des objectifs
les plus coûteux.
Pour ce faire, M. Smith s'est offert les conseils
d'une société américaine, Navigant Consulting,
qui n'avait pas la moindre compétence
dans ce secteur, mais avec laquelle, pour
« améliorer la gestion de son département »,
il a signé des contrats onéreux : « Entre juin 2005
et août 2006, pour un montant
de 2,15 millions de dollars, sans appel d'offres,
en violation des règles de l'Unesco (10) ».
Avec l'aval de M. Matsuura.
Coupables par action et par omission
Pas plus soucieux de réduire de moitié
le nombre d'analphabètes dans le monde
d'ici à 2015 que d'éviter les gaspillages croissants
de l'organisation, M. Smith a également fait
exploser le budget « déplacements ».
Basée à Chicago, Navigant Consulting,
qui préconisait pour l'essentiel la privatisation
de l'éducation, n'avait pas de bureau à Paris,
obligeant ainsi le sous-directeur général
et son équipe à faire régulièrement des voyages
aux États-Unis.
Mis en cause, M. Smith sera contraint
de démissionner, non sans déclarer avant
de partir que les « anti-réforme »
empêchaient son action.
« On liquide l'Unesco sans le dire »,
répète-t-on dans les couloirs.
Des réactions d'indignation face
au constant mépris de M. Matsuura pour
les deux organes de direction se font sentir
ici et là.
Mais la menace réelle d'une chasse aux sorcières,
ciblant ceux qui dénonceraient la corruption
et un bilan catastrophique,
est perceptible : peu revendiquent ouvertement
de tels propos.
Outre la crainte de se voir rétrogradé, muté
ou bien bloqué dans son ascension professionnelle,
il existe une crainte véritable de perdre
plus que son poste : nombreux sont
les fonctionnaires atteints de dépression
ou en arrêt-maladie prolongé.
D'autres, reconnus pour leur intégrité
et leur professionnalisme,
sont partis, écœurés.
Au dire du syndicat du personnel,
l'Unesco Staff Union (STU), la politique mise
en place vise effectivement au démantèlement
de l'organisation, ce qu'ont dénoncé
deux rapports anonymes qui ont circulé
à la fin 2008 et en juin 2009.
Une fraction du personnel lié
à l'administration y dénonçait la corruption
et les pratiques arbitraires du directeur et
de « sa clique » qui, en l'espace de dix ans,
ont fait de l'Unesco une organisation
« inefficace et dépensière » où « le gaspillage,
la fraude, l'abus de confiance et de pouvoir
tout comme le harcèlement sont
en constante croissance (11) ».
Le texte pointait également du doigt
les États membres, la Conférence générale
et le Conseil exécutif, responsables
par leur action ou par leur inaction
du délabrement de l'organisation.
Malgré ce cri d'alarme, les pratiques
dénoncées se poursuivent.
Dès 2002 a été préconisée la publication,
tous les deux ans, d'un rapport mondial
sur une question particulière définie
par M. Matsuura lui-même.
La préparation de la première (et seule) édition
fut confiée au bureau de la prospective,
dirigée par M. Jérôme Bindé et pilotée
au plus haut niveau par un conseil
que présidait Mme Françoise Rivière,
directrice de cabinet du directeur général.
Faisant fi de la diversification des approches
intellectuelles et des origines géoculturelles
exigées par l'universalité de l'organisation,
ce « rapport mondial » — « Construire
des sociétés du savoir » — n'a intégré
que sept contributions d'auteurs
résidant dans l'hémisphère Sud,
sur les cinquante-trois commandées.
Le siège de l'Unesco se trouvant à Paris,
cette situation géographique sera invoquée
pour justifier la sur-représentation des auteurs
français en général et parisiens en particulier.
Mais, comme le remarque un rapport
du commissaire aux comptes, « cet argument,
éventuellement recevable dans le cadre
des [conférences] "Dialogues et entretiens",
perd sa pertinence lorsqu'il s'agit non plus
d'inviter des orateurs, mais de commander
des contributions écrites » dont le coût variait
non pas en fonction de la taille du texte
mais des auteurs.
Les mêmes, pour des interventions « d'une
vingtaine de minutes, devant quelques
centaines de personnes, coût[aient]
à l'organisation jusqu'à 12 000 dollars (12) ».
Pendant la période de rédaction du rapport,
de 2002 à 2005, ont été signés « quatre-vingt-six
contrats d'honoraires pour un montant total de
526 937 euros (13) », avec une
équipe — française — de consultants embauchée
pour des durées allant de trois jours
à trente-quatre mois, et dont la contribution a été
pour le moins discutable.
S'ils ont bien fait un travail de relecture
des textes demandés, trouvant pour la plupart
que « la concision et l'esprit de synthèse
sont à peu près les seules qualités de ces réponses,
assez banales dans l'ensemble », le gros
de leur activité a résidé notamment
dans l'écriture « des discours que le directeur
du bureau était invité à prononcer,
ou des textes qu'il était invité à publier
sous sa signature ».
Alors qu'il fut publié avec deux années de retard,
en novembre 2005, « le coût du rapport,
de 1,2 million de dollars, [est passé]
à un total de 2,3 millions de dollars »
pour « un impact limité ».
L'audit de la Cour des comptes sur les travaux
de rénovation du site Fontenoy — le siège
de l'Unesco —, fait état, lui aussi,
de dérives (lire « Etat de siège »).
L'état de délabrement dans lequel
se trouve l'Unesco au terme du mandat
de M. Matsuura est, de l'avis de nombreuses
délégations d'Etat et de presque tous
les fonctionnaires, anciens et nouveaux,
comparable à celui dans lequel se trouvent
les États-Unis après le mandat
de M. George W. Bush.
La logique d'externalisation et d'achat
de services menée jusqu'ici pour
paralyser (privatiser) l'organisation a d'ores
et déjà hypothéqué la marge de manœuvre
du prochain directeur général.
Indépendamment de l'issue du scrutin
(lire « Lutte des places »), le projet
de programmes et budgets
pour l'exercice 2010-2011 préparé par
M. Hans d'Orville, membre éminent de l'équipe
de l'actuel directeur, sera adopté ce mois-ci
par la Conférence générale.
Clairement calqué sur la politique
de l'administration Matsuura, ce « nouveau »
programme en reproduit pour l'essentiel
les travers, à ceci près qu'il est,
pour le Secrétariat, un plaidoyer pro domo.
Ainsi, les actions de redressement attendues
de la prochaine direction seront
bloquées par l'ancienne administration.
Alors que de nombreuses voix s'élèvent pour
demander un audit rigoureux, l'heure de vérité
a-t-elle sonné pour M. Matsuura ?
Un infléchissement permettrait de mettre
un terme à ce que le président
du Conseil exécutif, M. Olabiyi Babalola Joseph Yaï,
a appelé la « malsaine complicité »,
ce « malentendu bien entendu » entre
le Conseil exécutif, la Conférence générale
et le Secrétariat.
Les différents rapports produits
par le commissaire aux comptes
ne laissent plus d'échappatoire,
nul ne pouvant se prévaloir de l'ignorance
pour justifier le démantèlement du seul organe
culturel et intellectuel du système
des Nations unies.
Certes, dans les organisations internationales
ou dans les pays qui les soutiennent,
tous les responsables n'ont pas pour priorité
d'atteindre les objectifs que s'est fixés l'humanité.
Et il faut du temps et des efforts considérables
pour opérer un changement, même de l'intérieur,
dans ce type de bureaucratie.
Cependant, l'Unesco a beaucoup accompli
depuis sa création et, pour cela,
mérite une chance.
Alors, « Mesdames et Messieurs [de l'Unesco],
osez (14) ! »
Gabrielle Capla.
--
J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: (250) (0) 78-847-0205 (Mtn Rwanda)
Gsm: (250) (0) 75-079-9819 (Rwandatel)
Home: (250) (0) 25-510-4140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali - RWANDA
East AFRICA
jlkayisa@yahoo.com
http://facebook.com/kayisa
Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66