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INSIDE AFRICA
INSIDE AFRICA
Aired March 27, 2004 - 12:30:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE
UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUMI MAKGABO, CNN ANCHOR: Sudan's quiet war. Fighting in the country's western Darfur
region forces thousands to flee their homes in two refugee camps.
The Nile River supplies water to 10 African nations, but some need its precious resources more than
others.
After losing their land, a group of Zimbabwean farmers are employing their agricultural acumen
further afield in Nigeria.
And, the winner is -- we'll meet Africa's newest beauty queen.
Those stories and more just ahead on INSIDE AFRICA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Hello, and welcome to the program. As we look at news and life on the continent, I'm Tumi
Makgabo.
First, we take you to Sudan, where peace talks between the government and the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement in the south are progressing -- earning praise from the international
community. But in the country's western Darfur region, Arab militias are carrying out vicious attacks
against the local population. Aid groups say the militias are backed by the government, and at least
one United Nations' official has likened the unfolding crisis there to the Rwanda genocide.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAKGABO (voice-over): The violence erupted in early 2003. Now, a top United Nations official
describes the refugee crisis in Sudan's western Darfur region as a human rights catastrophe.
Aid groups allege that government-backed militias, charged with patrolling Sudan's border with
Chad, have attacked the local civilian population. Widespread looting, rapes and mass killings have
all been reported. The U.N. estimates the conflict has killed at least 10,000 people and displaced
hundreds of thousands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was in my house, and I suddenly heard people
screaming around. I came out to see what was happening, and I was shot at in my foot. Then I did
hide in a nearby hole, and meanwhile people -- Arab militias took all of the animals, the cattle we
had around, and set the village ablaze.
MAKGABO: In response to the killings, Darfurians armed themselves, splitting into two main groups:
the Sudanese Liberation Army, or SLA, and the Justice and Equality Movement, or JEM.
But in April of 2003, Sudan's president declared that Khartoum would not negotiate with armed
groups. Targeted attacks against civilians by the pro-government militias -- known as Janjaweed -then increased, and the government began its aerial bombing raids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We were in our village in Sudan, and an
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) plane came and dropped a bomb on the villages. So, we all flee in all directions.
I saw a lot of dead people around. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) so I couldn't see my family. Since one month I
arrived in Chad after fleeing, I have no news from my parents.
MAKGABO: The U.N. coordinator for Sudan, Mukesh Kapila, says the militia's actions fit the
definition of ethnic cleansing, arguing it is -- quote -- "An organized attempt to rid an entire area of a
group of people" -- unquote.
The government has vehemently denied Kapila's claims, calling them irresponsible lies. It says the
region is stabilizing.
Meanwhile, aid groups estimate that nearly 400,000 Dafurians are sheltered in displacement camps
in the region and across the border in Chad.
Last week, Amnesty International said the government had made no progress in protecting civilians
affected by the conflict, arguing -- quote -- "Men, women and children are being killed and villages
burnt and looted because the central government is allowing militias aligned to it to pursue what
amounts to a strategy of forced displacement through the destruction of homes and livelihood of the
farming populations of the region" -- unquote.
More and more refugees stream into Chad daily, straining water and food resources.
YVAN STURM, UNHCR, SENIOR EMERGENCY OFFICER: We have a major problem with water,
because we are now in a place where water is quite complicated to find. But the reason why we have
to dig wells and to drill bores, and with these drillings we believe that we should be able to answer
to minimum standards.
MAKGABO: But in a sign of hope, the government and the rebel groups have agreed to stop peace
talks in neighboring Chad sometime next week.
ABU BAKAR HAMED NOUR, GENERAL COORDINATOR, JEM: We are ready for peace if the
government is interested in that and seriously they want peace. But we want the international
community to attend as a witness, because the Janjaweed government in Khartoum are lying always
to their people. So, we want a witness from the international community anywhere and at anytime.
MAKGABO: The U.N. has also called on the international community to intervene in the region to
help bring about a cease-fire.
RUUD LUBBERS, UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSION FOR REFUGEES: You can build peace at
a cost of the people (UNINTELLIGIBLE). So, the real peace in Sudan, the real peace agreement, the
real peace will ask for a political solution, so that there is no violence anymore in the Darfur area.
MAKGABO: And it's only when the violence ends that Darfurians can begin to return home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Some United States Congress members say the Darfur conflict has cast a dark cloud over the northsouth peace talks. And Africa expert John Prendergrast (ph) says if the talks fail, there's a risk the
Darfur rebel groups could link up with the SPLA. This, says Prendergrast (ph), would create a
serious military threat to Khartoum.
Well, Sudan is one of several nations that share the waters of the Nile River. Egypt, like Sudan, is
mostly desert, and it depends very heavily on the river for its survival. But despite that dependence
and a treaty giving Egypt absolute rights over the river, other basin states claim the river's waters
should be better distributed.
Shariha Amin has that from Cairo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHARIHA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Nile River -- Egypt's lifeblood, providing
the country with over 95 percent of its water resources -- recently the subject of debate between
Egypt and several other Nile basin states, while calling for a revision of a colonial-era agreement
giving Egypt absolute rights over Nile waters.
The treaty was signed in 1929 between Egypt and Britain, then acting on behalf of her East African
colonies.
GAMAL NKRUMAH, JOURNALIST: The crux of the matter today is that those countries like Kenya,
like Tanzania, officials have openly criticized the 1929 treaty, do not want to feel obliged to respect
the terms of that treaty, which was signed by Britain on their behalf. They feel it's not fair. They feel
that a new treaty should be drawn up.
AMIN: Egypt, the upstream country's claim, has been infringing on the rights of upper riparian
states, and has been using more than its fair share of Nile waters -- a charge that Egypt vehemently
denies. Egyptian officials argue that unlike the upper riparian states, their country has hardly any
rainfall. Without the Nile, they say, Egypt would be a vast barren desert.
With a fast-growing population, now exceeding 70 million, Egypt is the second-most populous
country in the African continent, and the country's water needs are estimated at around 80 billion
cubic meters per year.
MAGDY SOBHY, AL AHRAM CENTRE (through translator): Because of our growing demand for
water for agriculture, for drinking and for industrial purposes, Egypt must preserve its historical
share of Nile waters. The water issue for us is a matter of national security, a matter of survival.
AMIN (on camera): There are concerns here that the uneven distribution of water in the region may
prompt future conflicts over water.
(voice-over): Egypt, however, has shown interest in cementing economic ties with the other Nile
basin countries.
MAHMOUD ABOU ZEID, WATER RESOURCES & IRRIGATION: Right now, we're working with all of
the riparians, the 10 countries of the Nile, to formulate a legal and institutional framework, which
includes a new agreement.
AMIN: Egypt, he adds, recognizes the right of the upper riparian states to use the waters of the Nile
for hydropower generation. And President Hosni Mubarak has urged Egyptian businessmen to invest
in East African countries and to continue to provide technical expertise and assistance to the other
Nile basin countries in agriculture and water- related areas.
Other Egyptian officials and analysts share Abou Zeid's conviction that cooperation between Nile
basin states is the surest way to development.
MILAD HANNA, EGYPTIAN AUTHOR: If they could work together with understanding, there would
be enough water for everybody. There would be enough electricity for everybody.
AMIN: Hanna asserts that it's all a matter of proper management of water resources.
For INSIDE AFRICA, Shahira Amin, Cairo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MAKGABO: Representatives from 10 Nile basin countries, including Egypt, have met in recent weeks
to discuss a new agreement on sharing the river's waters. When complete, the accord will replace
the 1929 and '59 Nile treaties.
Kenya's vice president says the Nile is not the property of one state, and participants say they're
negotiating a framework that fits the present realities of water sharing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IRENE MAKUMBI, CHAIRPERSON, NILE BASIN DISCOURSE: In Uganda, we have an abundance of
water. But in Egypt, water is like a gift from God. Ethiopia, there are lot of problems along the Nile
with its access to water. And it's become a political issue definitely. If Ethiopia and Sudan, you know,
have to control their borders in the dry season because of the water issue, then it becomes political.
It's a very sensitive issue definitely. How do we access this Nile? And there are, of course, the issues
of the treaties of our colonial masters what they did.
So, the NBI is an important process to bring the governments together, to realize that each of the
countries through which the river Niles passes have to actually, you know, mutually benefit its water
resources without compromising the needs of the other people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MAKGABO: Kenya and Tanzania have already kicked off Nile-related projects to boost development,
and Tanzania's water resources minister says the new treaty will be in place soon.
And after the break, the latest business and news headlines from around the continent. Don't go
away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MAKGABO: Welcome back.
And now updating you on the situation in the Ivory Coast. A rebel chief is urging the international
community to intervene to stop violence raging in the country's capital, Abidjan.
Kian Soro (ph) warns that the president, Laurent Gbagbo, is -- quote - - "breathing his last days in
power" -- unquote. And Soro (ph) has refused to negotiate with him.
At least 25 people were killed Thursday when security forces stepped in to stop an opposition rally.
The president has called on opposition parties to rejoin the power-sharing government, but the
opposition has rejected his request for talks.
The United Nations is set to deploy more than 6,000 peacekeeping troops on April 4 to support some
5,400 French and West African troops already stationed in the country.
And now some other stories making news around Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAKGABO (voice-over): A former Congolese officer became the first person to be tried for crimes
against humanity in a Dutch court this week. Under a new law, Netherlands' authorities can try
someone for atrocities committed outside the country, provided the suspect was raised in the
Netherlands.
Sebastian Nzapali, also known as the "king of beasts," was a colonel during the rule of Mobuto Sese
Seko in then Zaire. A verdict is expected in two weeks.
Ethiopia plans to launch an independent probe into ethnic unrest that left hundreds dead in
December and January. Opposition members and human rights groups have been calling for an
investigation into the killings for weeks. Earlier this year, a report by the Ethiopian Human Rights
Council indicated government policies helped foster ethnic tensions.
And at the request of the United Nations, the African Union has extended its mandate in Burundi by
another month. This follows a request from the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that a full
peacekeeping mission from the U.N. be sent to the troubled country. The troops currently stationed
in Burundi were deployed after a 2002 cease-fire agreement, which is scheduled to pull out on April
2.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And we turn now to Brenda Bernard for the latest business headlines -- Brenda.
BRENDA BERNARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Tumi.
First to Uganda, where local vanilla prices are expected to double this season, due to poor harvest
from the world's largest supplier of the crop. Madagascar's vanilla production has been adversely
affected in recent years by a series of devastating cyclones. On March 7, Cyclone Gafilo hit the
island, destroying much of this year's crop. The country's vanilla supply problems date back to
Cyclone Hudah of 2000.
Meantime in Zimbabwe, aid groups say the food crisis is worsening. President Robert Mugabe has
seized more than 4,000 commercial farms since 2000, contributing to the current food production
collapse. But one group of white farmers left landless by Mr. Mugabe's reforms is taking its
agricultural talents to Nigeria.
Jeff Koinange explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN LAGOS BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): In Zimbabwe, commercial farmers
Alan Jack, Graham Stewart Hatti and Andrew Meikle are known as enemies of the state -- a term
coined by the country's president, Robert Mugabe.
ANDREW MEIKLE, ZIMBABWEAN FARMER: We've seen the land taken from us, and -- but we at the
same time, we've seen what's happened to production. And quite honestly, they have to be
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) at sorting out that type of an issue in the future.
KOINANGE: Forced off their lands, their crops destroyed, their machinery confiscated, these
farmers sought greener pastures somewhere in Africa.
ALAN JACK, ZIMBABWEAN FARMER: We're all Africans, and it's just unfortunate that political
politics has got in the way of agriculture in Zimbabwe. And we, therefore, have to start looking
further afield within Africa.
They may have found a home in Nigeria, Africa's most-populous nation. Some see them as Africa's
new breed of colonialists, but many others here are excited at the sight of these outsiders in what
seemed for many years a hostile environment for foreigners.
GRAHAM STEWART HATTI, ZIMBABWEAN FARMER: Africa is in our blood, and we just feel we
want to be able to contribute to food production in Africa. And since we've been here, we've been
bowled over by the -- the very people have accepted us, talking to us, willing to help us. And then, it
really is refreshing for us to be in this -- such a positive environment.
KOINANGE: The experiment is the brainchild of Bukolo Saraki, the 41- year-old governor of Kwara
State in Nigeria's heartland. Saraki insists it's time Nigeria diversifies its economy and relies less on
oil as the only export commodity.
BUKOLO SARAKI, KWARA STATE GOVERNOR: I think we'll begin to address agriculture. We will
provide food for the people. We'll provide employment. And I think that to do that we need to have
the skills.
KOINANGE (on camera): About half of Nigeria, a country the size of Texas, has land suitable for
agriculture. Presently, less than 1 percent of that is used for commercial farming. The Zimbabwean
farmers say they can change all that and insist they can turn all of this and Nigeria into Africa's
future breadbasket.
(voice-over): That's welcome news for peasant farmers like Malike Abdulahi, who says there is plenty
of land to go around, and any help and knowledge is welcome.
"We are peasant farmers growing crops just for our families," he says. "We are poor, have no money
and no equipment. These people have been sent here by God to help us. Let more of them come."
The project is already receiving praise from the country's top. Nigerian President Olusegun
Obasanjo, a confessed farmer at heart, sees the arrival of Zimbabwe's commercial farmers as more
an asset than a liability.
His counterpart in Harare may not agree, but there's no mistaking the excitement these farmers feel
at the prospect of working again without the fear of harassment.
JACK: Absolutely this could be turned around in no time. Absolutely, get some Zimbabwe farmers in
here, and this would be one of the most productive regions in the country, I'm positive of that.
KOINANGE: These farmers know only too well that in Africa, more than anywhere else, a future
change of government could bring with it a change of rules. But they seem willing to want to stake
their claim in Nigeria, Africa's new Wild West frontier.
Jeff Koinange, CNN, Kwara State, Nigeria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERNARD: That's a wrap of business news. I'm Brenda Bernard.
Tumi -- back to you.
MAKGABO: All right, Brenda, thank you very much.
Still ahead on the program, some Latin rhythms in the Kenyan bush.
Plus, the crowning of a queen, Miss Malaika 2004. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MAKGABO: Hello again.
Performances of Bizet's opera, "Carmen," shocked Paris audiences in the 19th century. And as Sylvia
Smith reports, the famous opera is still eliciting strong reactions in this century.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SYLVIA SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not the usual sounds you'd expect from the
African bush, and at least one local resident was caught off guard. But for the audience invited to
Hell's Gate near Kenya's Lake Naivasha, it was a unique opportunity -- opera in the wild.
Bizet's "Carmen" centers around the turbulent love life of a beautiful gypsy girl.
PETER BRIDGES, GARDEN OPERA DIRECTOR: It was a novel idea, and I think it has worked well
because Garden Opera is used to doing things in different places. And this is a really different place.
SMITH: And how better to spice up the story line than an actual flamingo dancer flown in from
southern Spain?
The African audience ate it up.
BRIDGES: They're not exactly nave, that's the wrong word. They're just open to it more than a
British audience would be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really love this, and I felt like I'm really missing a lot, because I never get
to see operas. I only have heard them when I'm watching movies. And this is my first time to see it,
and it really hit me. It's so good.
SMITH: And for even singers used to performing in unlikely places, this was definitely a first.
YVONNE FONTANE, ACTRESS: The point of Garden Opera is very much to bring opera to people
who don't normally watch opera into very unusual places. But this is the epitome of unusual, even
for us, I think, and it's a very beautiful place.
SMITH: Another destination, Mount Kenya, and another enthusiastic audience.
Kenya's vice president arrives in style, and actress Stephanie Powers is on hand to lend her support.
STEPHANIE POWERS, ACTRESS: I think coming to Kenya is a wonderful thing to do, and I hope
more people will do it. Some of our conservation projects, our grassroots conservation projects really
depend on tourism.
SMITH: And then it's time for the encores and final farewells. As this extraordinary event comes to a
close, it's more than just the audience that's been inspired. An idea has been planted that opera and
culture could be one way to restore Kenya's ailing tourism industry.
For CNN's INSIDE AFRICA, I'm Sylvia Smith in Nanyuki, Kenya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MAKGABO: And from the stage in Kenya to the stage in South Africa and a unique pageant that
celebrates the beauty of African women.
Paul Tilsley introduces us to this year's winner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL TILSLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Celebrating beauty of African origin, Miss
Malaika International beamed directly into 56 countries this past weekend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is now getting into Africa that the story of the
African beauty can never be told without seeing the women that this continent has possessed. And I
think today we are here to celebrate what African beauty is all about.
TILSLEY: Organizers say Africa's largest beauty pageant -- now in its fourth year -- provides women
of African origin the opportunity to be recognized for their beauty and talent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not looking for a Western standard of beauty. We're looking for
something that's truly African.
TILSLEY (on camera): Observers say one of the most positive aspects about the Miss Malaika event
is that the contestants here are honest, talking openly about their country's problems. But because
this is a beauty pageant after all, they do so in a positive manner.
ATETEGEB TESFAYE WORKU, MISS MALAIKA ETHIOPA: I'll show the world that Ethiopia is not
only about poverty, jobs, famine and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Thank you.
MUNAH EVANGERLINE PELHAM, MISS MALAIKA LIBERIA: Liberia, she has woke up from her
suffering. She has woke up from war, and she has been recognized among children of Africa.
TILSLEY: And one of Africa's children, Sonja Pascale Mapick, earned the 2004 crown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the way from Gabon!
SONIA PASCALE MAPICK, MISS MALAIKA INTERNATIONAL 2004: I think Miss Malaika is a great
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) is a way for people to discover Africa through the beauty and the
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) of its women.
TILSLEY: A good night for the African woman and for the new Miss Malaika International 2004.
Paul Tilsley, INSIDE AFRICA, Midrand, South Africa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MAKGABO: And that's our look INSIDE AFRICA for this week. I'm Tumi Makgabo.
END
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