EDITORIAL
Voluntary repatriation is among the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugee (UNHCR) s preferred options when dealing with a refugee
crisis. Seven hundred Namibian refugees currently living in Botswana
will undergo such an experience this month. Following a fact-finding
tour by the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) and five
refugee representatives, the group is keen and determined to head back
home to volatile Caprivi. But, as correspondent Rodrick Mukumbira
reports, while the agreement to repatriate the refugees guarantees
that no returnee may face any legal proceedings, persecution,
punishment, or discrimination for having left the country, it does not
guarantee that returning refugees will not face prosecution in Namibia
for any crimes that they might have committed before their departure
from the country, sparking fears that the Namibian government could
subject the group to the same reception that 50 voluntary returnees
experienced when they returned home from Dukwe in 1999.
Teachers in Ghana are literally dying of alcoholism and other causes
brought on by the extreme stresses of coping with: delayed paycheques
and benefits; low pay; few or no teaching resources; substandard or
non-existent accommodations; and the loss of status that the teaching
profession used to have in the West African country. Correspondent Sam
Sarpong gives a moving account of the teachers suffering and how it
contributes to, and is affected by, illiteracy, poor school
performance, and other educational and social ills.
It s that time of year when boys in Bukusuland, Western Kenya, are
preparing to get the cut, a circumcision ceremony that involves much
singing and dancing as well as snipping. But the times, they are a
changing, as the popular song goes. Kenyan correspondent Eric Maino
reports that, in this era of HIV/AIDS, using the same knife to snip as
many as 10 boys is simply not a good idea. He shows how many families
are opting to have the procedure done in a hospital, a recent
development the boys think is trendy.
Non-government organisations in the West have tended to use
"poornography" images to try to attract funding for their projects in
Africa. A coalition of Canadian non-government organisations, church
groups, unions, and others with an interest in sub-Saharan Africa says
that, far from helping Africans, the strategy has backfired and is
harming the dignity and perception of Africans, writes correspondent
Amos Safo, on assignment in Kananaskis, Western Canada. In the end,
some donors, rather than sympathising with Africa, become reluctant to
release funds for humanitarian activities because they only see
helpless, hopeless Africa, he writes.
Just to show how helpless Africans are, the Zambian government and
public took the bold step of rejecting genetically modified food
donations from the United States on the ground that the safety of such
food has never been tested or proved. In his report, correspondent
Gershom Ndhlovu provides fascinating views from government on why
Zambians should not be taken advantage of just because they are
starving.
We want to take this opportunity to thank you, the readers, for
answering a recent questionnaire about our Kenya Election Watch
service. As a result of your responses, we will continue to offer a
monthly package of analysis and summaries of the major events of the
past month. We have decided to discontinue the weekly updates in their
present form, and may instead offer a very scaled-down version of a
weekly summary. Stay tuned for details of this and other changes.
We also want to take this opportunity to wish the family of the late
James Brew our sincerest condolences. We have recently been informed
that James passed away earlier this year while on assignment. James
has been an AFRICANEWS correspondent since 1997 and has produced much
fruit for us. Please remember James and his family in your thoughts
and prayers.