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JPRS-SSA-87-009

3 FEBRUARY 1987

Sub-Saharan Africa Report

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JPRS-SSA-87-009

3 FEBRUARY 1987

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA REPORT

CONTENTS

INTER-AFRICAN AFFAIRS

OAU President on South Africa, Economic Crisis, Debt

(Denis Sassou-Nguesso Interview; LE SOLEIL, 11-12 Oct 86). 1

Policies To Combat Desertification Outlined

(NORD SUD, Nov-Dec 86) <.. 4

Humans Blamed for Expansion of Desert 4

Action Priorities Listed, by Y. Mors 5

Plan for Canadian Cooperation, Sandelle Schrimshaw

Interview 7

Strategy of UNSO, by D. De Vos 10

COMIDES Seeks Political Dialogue, by D. De Vos 12

Agronomist Rene Dumont Interviewed 14

Development Plans Contrasted, by Dan De Vos 21

ANGOLA

Dos Santos Names New Colonels

(Jose Educardodos Santos; Luanda Domestic Service,

31 Dec 86) 24

Briefs

Cooperation With Spain 25

BOTSWANA

Briefs

Botswana Citizens Need Visas 26

-a -
ETHIOPIA

AID Branch Opens in Bahr Dar

(THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD, 21 Dec 86) 27

Mengistu Receives French CP Official

(THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD, 24 Dec 86) 28

Mengistu on Agriculture, Food Self-Sufficiency

(Mengistu Halle Mariam; Addis Ababa Domestic Service,

8 Jan 87) 30

Committee To Tackle Drinking Water Shortage

(THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD, 19 Dec 86) 44

Second Ground Station Installed

(THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD, 28 Dec 86) 45

Aircraft Manufacturing Plant Operational

(THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD, 25 Dec 86) .., 46

Briefs

Accord With DPRK News Agency 48

GHANA

Briefs

Travelers Warned on Libyan, Canadian Entry 49

GUINEA

Soviet Ambassador Discusses Aid

(Vladimir Raevsky Interview; HOROYA, 12 Nov 86) 50

Economic Situation Surveyed

(Nabi Toure; LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE, Nov 86) 52

Transport Workers Strike

(Sory Bälde; AFRIQUE NOUVELLE, 5 Nov 86) 55

Briefs

DPRK Project 58

NAMIBIA

Success of South African Multi-Party Alliance Questioned

(Editorial; DIE REPUBLIKEIN, 11 Nov 86) 59

Personnel Shuffle Indicative of Disunity Within National Party

(Des Erasmus; DIE REPUBLIKEIN, 12 Nov 86) 61

- b -
SWAPO-D Rejects Professor's Study, Claims Growing Support

(DIE REPUBLIKEIN, 10 Nov 86) . 63

Briefs

Own Border Posts for SWA Sought 64

NIGERIA

Trade Surplus Recorded With Belgium

(Ted Odogwu; BUSINESS TIMES, 8 Dec 86) 65

Central Bank Governor on Anti-Inflationary Measures

(Resline Umesi; DAILY TIMES, 13 Dec 86) 67

National Shipping Line Capitalized, Status Upgraded

(DAILY TIMES, 11 Dec 86) 68

Briefs

Former Chief of General Staff Retired 69

SENEGAL

French Aid in 1986 Outlined

(LE SOLEIL, 13 Oct 86) 70

Gambia's Attitude to Sene-Gambia Reviewed

(Moctar Diop; LE POLITICIEN, 31 Oct 86) 72

Disputes About Soviet Scholarships

(Editorial; LE DEVOIR, Nov 86) 74

Party Histories, Orientations Reviewed

(LE POLITICIEN, various dates) 76

Youngest Party: Senegalese Democratic Union, by

A. Wahab Diene 76

Union for People's Democracy, by A. Wahab Diene 78

Communist Workers League, by A. Wahab Diene 79

Editorial Deplores Weak Political Opposition

(Mam Less Dia; LE POLITICIEN, 29 Sep 86) 82

Letter Disputes Traditional Chief Appointment

(Idrisa Paye; LE DEMOCRATE, Oct 86) 84

New Industrial Policy Meets Better Acceptance

(Amadou Fall; LE SOLEIL, 7 Nov 86) , 85

New Industrial Policy Criticized

(Mamadou Ndiaye; FAGARU, 20 Nov 86) .. 87

^ c -
Road Infrastructures Improves Access to Casamance

(Moussa Sadio; LE SOLEIL, 31 Oct-2 Nov 86) 89

Briefs

Rehiring of Parapublic Workers 91

SOMALIA

Siad Addresses Party Congress on International Policy

(Mohamed Siad Barre; HEEGAN, 23 Dec 86) 92

UGANDA

Medical Cooperation With DPRK Signed

(Ben Ochan; NEW VISION, 14 Nov 86) . 94

Obote Entourage in Zambia Described

(NEW VISION, 9 Dec 86) 95

Returning Refugees To Be Settled in West Nile

(NEW VISION, 28 Nov 86) 96

Airstrip in Mbarara To Reopen

(NEW VISION, 2 Dec 86) 97

Military Tribunal Established To Try Crimes

(Fred Bananura; NEW VISION, 28 Nov 86) 98

Briefs

Transport Rehabilitation Plans 99

ZAMBIA

Briefs

Campaign To Discredit Kaunda 100

SOUTH AFRICA

AFRIKANER/GOVERNMENT

Schlebusch Put Forward as Possible Successor to Botha

(DIE AFRIKANER, 12 Nov 86) 101

TUCSA Decline Cited as Proof of Multiracialism Failure

(DIE AFRIKANER, 19 Nov 86) 103

Unemployed Trained To Build Inexpensive Housing

(DIE BURGER, 13 Nov 86) 105

- d -
'Population Explosion', Urbanization Termed Catastrophic

(Editorial; DIE BURGER, 12 Nov 86) 107

Colin Eglln, Internal Tensions in PFP Viewed

(Editorial; DIE BURGER, 17 Nov 86) 109

BLACKS

Soviets Send ANC Anniversary Congratulations

(PRAVDA, 8 Jan 87)...... 110

Briefs

ANC Delegation Received in Moscow 111

ANC Opens Office in Moscow HI

SOCIOPOLITICAL/OTHER

Draft Bill Details Proposals To Revamp Country's Labor Laws

(Kym Hamilton; THE STAR, 19 Dec 86) H2

New Strategy of Oppression Against Black Activists Noted

(Alister Sparks; THE STAR, 17 Dec 86), 114

INDUSTRIAL/S&T

Mine-Resistant Vehicles' Industry Discussed

(Kitt Katzih; THE SUNDAY STAR, 14 Dec 86)..., 116

/12223

- e -
INTER-AFRICAN AFFAIRS

OAU PRESIDENT ON SOUTH AFRICA, ECONOMIC CRISIS, DEBT

Dakar LE SOLEIL in French 11-12 Oct 86 p 3

[Interview with Denis Sassou-Nguesso, president of the Organization of

African Unity, by Bara Diouf. First paragraph is LE SOLEIL introduction]

[Text] In spite of an extremely full schedule after his long trip, President

Denis Sassou-Nguesso found the time late yesterday evening to grant the following interview to our president-director general.

[LE SOLEIL] Back from the UN, where you made the voice of Africa heard, and

from North America, where you had important meetings, how do you view the

evolution of the situation in southern Africa? Africa's critical economic

situation? The debt?

[Denis Sassou-Nguesso] I must say that I have returned from my visit to

America satisfied with the contacts we had with the United Nations, the United

States and Canada. I sensed that African problems are being more and more

clearly perceived and even understood. Whether on South Africa or on the continent's critical situation, which had already been the subject of a special

session of the United Nations last May, I sensed that our partners and those

with whom we spoke were concerned about these problems and resolved to bring

about a solution to them.

On the tragedy of South Africa and the associated problems of the sanctions

to apply against Pretoria, we witnessed, to our pleasure, something very

important.

The vote by the American Senate and House of Representatives in favor of sanctions, spectacularly bypassing the veto of the President of the United States

against these sanctions, marks a noteworthy evolution in American public

opinion, a turning point that could be decisive in the fight against apartheid.

There is a profound symbolism in this decision, we are pleased to point out.

The votes are not insignificant. In fact, they are decisions by the authentic

representatives of the American people, approved by an overwhelming majority,

that compel the American administration to align itself with the positions of

Africa.
In the United States as in Canada, the population is sensitxve to the problems

or apartneid and wishes to see it eradicated quickly and to see blacks accede

to political power in their own country. Canada saw its government adopt advanced and courageous stands in the fight against apartheid. But the trend

observed in the United States seems more significant and more decisive to us.

to tSs question, we can therefore conclude that the fight against aparthexd

is undergoing a marked radicalization in the world.

Concerning the continent's critical situation, from our discussions and

meetings at the United Nations secretariat, from our contacts in America with

governmental, political, economic and business representatives, we sensed a

true will to help Africa to turn its economic situation around.

At the United Nations, I was able to ascertain that the follow-up mechanisms

are in pxace. Ambassador Lewis of Canada has been assigned to ensure their

coordination within the General Secretariat. Contacts have been established

with the international institutions and with states to obtain concrete commitments.

At the World Bank, measures have been adopted and one senses that officials

at all levels have rallied their efforts.

This places us in a position to reiterate that in Africa, it is the duty of

the OAU's member nations to honor the commitments they have made. Those with

whom I have spoken believe-and I share their points of view to a large

extent--tlatlfrica must set the example she has pledged to set and that the

national recovery programs adopted by each nation must reflect the plans submitted to the United Nations. If Africa keeps her word, the international

community will act in her favor. We must indeed prove to the world that we

are determined to rely on our own strengths first.

As for the debt-it remains a difficult problem. We have sensed, not refusal,

but hesitation and apprehension among our creditors. It is our conviction

that on this spSific'problem, we must go deeper in our reflections in search

of a solution. Within the framework of the OAU's governing committee which

Is to meet tMs December in Brazzaville, we will begin serious reflection on

this burning question on which the recovery and progress of our economies depend.

We are now establishing contacts to bring together the African managers and

loecialists capable of showing us new directions. Contacts of the same nature

are beinfestablished with the World Bank on this same question The problem

is not yet solved, but it remains on the agenda of both the creditors and the

debtors.

[Question] The question of Chad, which you began dealing with even before becoming president of the OAU, has recently taken sudden new turns wjth the government gaining support, but also with the violent fighting among factions of

tS SNT [National Union Transition Government] in the Libyan-occupied area.

Are you considering other initiatives concerning this burning issue?
[Answer] The Chadian question is a delicate one. As we study it and try to

solve it, we must have patience. We must not become discouraged in the search

for the ways and means of definitely bringing an end to this problem, to help

our Chadian brothers find a definitive solution to this tragedy. I think we

have not yet established sufficient contacts to permit new initiatives in the

coming days and weeks. Thus, we are in what might be called the contact phase,

at the end of which we will know whether any initiatives are possible and

propitious and if so, which one?

After two unfortunate attempts in Brazzaville to break through the impasse on

the Chadian drama, you will understand why we cannot take the responsibility

of a third initiative without taking all precautions. Essential information

about what is happening in the north is lacking. But, know that the will to

succeed in reconciling the Chadian brothers remains and will never leave us.

12413/12859

CSO: 3419/13
INTER-AFRICAN AFFAIRS

POLICIES TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION OUTLINED

Humans Blamed for Expansion of Desert

Brussels NORD SUD in French Nov-Dec 86 p 8

[Article: "The Desert Does Not Spread; It Is Created"]

[Text] In Africa, the loss of land that deteriorates to the point of becoming

desert continues at a rate of 6 million hectares a year, nearly twice the area

of Belgium! NORD SUD now focuses on that problem. Sylviane Cannio, Dan

De Vos and Yvon Mors have analyzed the causes of the phenomenon, solutions and

proposals made by the EEC, UNSO [United Nations Sahel Organization], the OAU,

COMIDES [Ministerial.Committee for Development of the Sahel] and agronomists

such as Rene Dumont, B.P. Louant and Pierre Vincke. This initial analysis

examines policies rather than the means used by financial organizations. The

latter aspect will be the subject of another series of articles to be published in the coming edition of NORD SUD.

The deterioration of natural resources has expanded to a considerable degree

in Africa. It is manifested spectacularly in the arid and semi-arid zones:

in the Sahel, but also in the densely populated regions or mountainous areas

such as Rwanda, Burundi, the high plateaus of Guinea, Kenya, Ethiopia and

so on. This deterioration is marked by a drop in the natural fertility of

soils, their erosion, impoverishment and finally, the disappearance of the

plant cover, along with other things. Desertification, in the strict sense

of the term, is the final phase.

Overuse

Observations have shown that even on the edge of deserts, the process of

desertification mainly occurs in populated areas. It is man who is the major

agent of desertification, even in Sahelian-Sudanese areas where climatic uncertainties play an important role. It would therefore be erroneous to believe in a kind of fatal destiny. Actually, the desert is not expanding; it

is being created. Of course, the precariousness of natural resources in

tropical zones and climatic disturbances such as drought help make Africa

particularly vulnerable. But the scope and severity of the phenomenon

essentially result from a profound imbalance in its development. The shift

from a subsistence to a monetary economy and the population explosion have

caused a considerable expansion of cultivated areas and new demands put upon
the land. The suddenness of such evolutions has upset the balance between

man and the natural resources exploited. Without exception, farmers and

herdsmen have been unable to adapt their technical practices to the need for

change. The general response has consisted in an expansion of land used,

with all that this implies in terms of deforestation and the use of marginal

land. Furthermore, we are witnessing an intensification of crops with no

concern for rebuilding the natural fertility of the land, whence these phenomena, observable everywhere: exhaustion of the land, overgrazing and deforestation, which, if care is not taken, could lead to irreversible situations of

desertification.

This is the first explanation of the phenomenon of the deterioration of the

natural capital of Africa. Unable to adapt his methods or management to the

rapid evolution in needs, man overexploits. The excess population, compared

with resources, destroys traditional balances and finally creates a desert.

Consequently, the strategy to fight desertification must be based on man and

his management capabilities.

Action Priorities Listed

Brussels NORD SUD in French Nov-Dec 86 pp 9-11

[Article by Y. Mors: "The EEC: Priorities of Action"]

[Text] For the European Economic Community Commission, action must be organized around the main cause of the "desertification" phenomenon: the imbalance

of development. (Footnote 1) ("Protection of Natural Resources: The Fight

Against Desertification in Africa," Communication to the Council Commission

and European Parliament)

The intensification of agriculture is the first thing that comes to mind.

But how can one reach that stage without overusing the land and consequently,

exhausting it? Attention must concentrate first of all on rain crops. They

supply most of Africa's agricultural production and concern the vast majority

of its peasants. One must observe that to date, on the whole, technical

progress has been introduced in an imbalanced manner, giving priority to

production for export and considering other crops only secondarily. At the

same time, the intensification of rain crops must depend on an integrated

approach to the farming system taking all forms of production, subsistence

agriculture and profit into account, integrating livestock raising into

agriculture and replacing the multiple-vocation tree in this context.

However, let us not be deceived: Even if there is ä whole range of measures

already drafted, dissemination is very difficult. How is one to persuade

farmers to improve, through costly, difficult action, land that does not belong

to them individually, especially when individual allocation can be constantly

modified? Consequently, emphasis will initially be placed on small, inexpensive improvements, small irrigation dams, for example.

A livestock-raising policy is also essential if one wants to master the

phenomenon of desertification. Nomadic herding, as a mode of extensive
livestock raising, is in fact an important factor in the deterioration of the

soil and reduction of the plant cover by overgrazing. In order to fight such

overpasturing, one must promote techniques rationalizing the use of pastureland and increasing its capacity, by organizing pasture rotation with the

planting of shrubs and forage plants, for example. Nevertheless, in order to

be effective, livestock raising policies must be reoriented toward a more

active participation of breeders. Once again, all of this requires profound

changes in ways of thinking.

Protection of forests and reforestation also occupy a prime place in a program aimed at preserving the environment. Too frequently, poor management of

existing forests is the cause of fires, overcutting by lumbermen and foresters,

which results in the disappearance of wooded areas. In order to change the

situation, direct action should implement forest management policies intensifying surveillance and organizing exploitation. Indirect action should also

be brought to bear to reduce pressure on the forests: on the one hand, by

promoting crops that reduce the need to clear land and, on the other hand,

through a more rational use of firewood and the development of-alternative

energies. One should cite the example of the "green poles" in Senegal and

Mauritania, aimed at intensifying small-scale reforestation throughout the

Senegal River Valley.

The fight against erosion is another element of any far-sighted action aimed

at developing production in rural areas. Examples of possibilities are

numerous: defending potential reserves by control of fires and access of

humans and animals; the restoration or creation of mixed pastureland and

woodlands in areas of cultivated land; the reforestation of hills; the harnessing of springs; the creation of natural hedges; and the systematic reforestation of trailsides, roadsides and the edges of canals. These are all activities that must never be superimposed on local circumstances, but on the contrary, be integrated into and supported by:the local population, especially

by making rank-and-file groups responsible.

Population policies are also of cardinal importance in the problem of desertification. A birth control policy is therefore essential, however delicate it

may be, given established ways of thinking. The population growth rate in

Africa is extremely high, an average of 3 percent annually, going as high as

4 percent in some countries. These rates continue to rise and at that speed,

the African population doubles in less than 25 years.

In most African countries, the population increase is expressed by increased

pressure on natural resources. Consequently, the demographic question can

no longer be avoided, especially when dealing with a problem of desertification, the product of an imbalance between man and his environment. It has

therefore become obvious that this demographic explosion makes development

precarious and that one cannot, under such conditions, hope to see a "natural

transition," which is itself affected by the development of education,

income, and so on.

The European Commission intends to discuss this problem with authorities of

the ACP nations [African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (associated with
the EEC)] and it claims to be willing, insofar as it is able, to lend its

support to suitable policies and programs in this field.

In addition, measures to accompany or encourage migrations are essential. The

people in question react spontaneously to the man-resource imbalance, either

by conquering new lands inside or outside the country or by the rural exodus

to the citiesi Man flees from the land which can no longer feed him sufficiently. When migrations occur spontaneously, it is extremely desirable for

governments to accompany them with other measures ensuring that the conditions

for the use of new land will be matched by measures protecting their natural

fertility and that, internationally speaking, migrations will be legal.

Wherever migratory movements do not occur naturally, because of certain

natural or sociocultural obstacles, they can be encouraged, particularly

by the creation of favorable conditions such as the opening Up of plots of

land, different types of aid to migrants, the granting of certain land rights

in exchange for commitments which migrants would make regarding the management of natural resources. Whatever the case, we must ensure that this type

of migration is organized on a voluntary basis: One will encourage people to

leave, not force them, and the conditions created must be well-thought-out

and organized.

This rapid review of the European Commission report clearly shows that the

fight against desertification will not be the result of isolated actions.

For example, trees alone will not overcome the desert. It will therefore

be necessary to implement overall policies and programs attacking the problem

from diverse angles that are carefully coordinated.

All of these efforts must naturally be accompanied by technical and financial

means, which will be the work, not only of central and decentralized administrations, but also of independent organizations of the ONG [nongovernmental

organizations] type. In other words, the fight against desertification will

not constitute a separate program. For Africa, it will be one of the key

elements in the development process in general.

Plan for Canadian Cooperation

Brussels NORD SUD in French Nov^Dec 86 pp 11-13

[Interview with Sandelle Schrimshaw, ACDI adviser in charge of the Sahel

Plan, by D. de Vosj date and place not given]

[Text] In Arabic, "Sahel" means "the edge of the desert." It is an edge

that is constantly shifting because every year, the desert mercilessly expands.

Squeezed in between the Sahara and the bush, the Sahel covers approximately

2.5 million km2, five times the area of France. Here, the balance between

man, livestock and vegetation is fragile.

In 1972 and 1973, tragedy struck in the form of a relentless drought. The

situation was catastrophic. Harvests were nearly nonexistent and starvation
became the rule. Moved by so much suffering, the international community

responded by sending emergency aid and funds for rehabilitation. Over

$1 billion poured in. It was during these painful times that the Canadian

International Development Agency (CIDA) joined the ranks of emergency aid

donors in Africa for the first time.

In the Sahel, our representative met with Sandelle Sehrimshaw, CADI adviser

in charge of the Sahel Plan, a new program of Canadian bilateral assistance

to fight desertification.

[Question] How did Canadian cooperation in Africa's Sahel come about?

[Answer] Canadian cooperation in this part of the world is recent. Its

first action in the Sahel dates from 1974, the year of the great drought.

During that period of international mobilization, Canada participated in the

emergency aid. Next, the CIDA became involved in projects of bilateral

cooperation with Niger, Burkina Faso, Upper Volta at the time, arid Mali.

Regarding our own assistance, we began to reflect and tried to analyze our

approach to development. That is why a consulting firm outside of our

agencies was entrusted with the task of examining our commitment in Africa.

[Question] What are the main lines of that investigation?

[Answer] They saw that our efforts were too scattered, that our knowledge

of the milieu was limited. Participation of the people was greatly inadequate.

Furthermore, our coordination with other donors was nil. Regarding equipment,

we had difficulties in supplying spare parts in a reasonable period of time,

having no post-sales services locally.

[Question] Did that study truly lead to a reorientation of your cooperation?

[Answer] We analyzed the experts' report very closely. We considered all

information, proceeding case by case. We made a series of proposals aimed

at improving what we were doing. This self-criticism enabled us to reorient

our presence in the field.

[Question] What form did that reorientation take?

[Answer] In addition to our strategy of intervention applied to every country

in particular, it appears essential to channel our cooperation toward a more

overall program based on the fundamental problems of the Sahel on the whole.

The fruit of 10 years of concerted action and experience, the new Canadian

program in the Sahel is intended to be a coherent plan of relevant action

aimed at the survival of the region and dealing more specifically with the

No 1 problem in the Sahel: desertification.

[Question] What does the new program consist of?

[Answer] It is designed to make a maximum contribution to the establishment

of a new socioecological balance in the region. The result is the Sahel Plan,
which outlines three major areas of intervention: stabilizing the plant

cover, the food balance and development of energy.

[Question] What are its objectives?

[Answer] Undertaking reforestation, stabilization of the dunes and rationalizing livestock raising in order to protect the plant cover. Achieving a food

balance presumes action to help agricultural production, irrigation, livestock

raising, fishing, storage, marketing, plant protection, rural trails and community health. This can be done through the development of small irrigated

areas, storage of grain at the village level, conservation of crops and harvests, action aimed at improving the supply and marketing, orchards, market

garden crops, and so on. Finally, it seeks to develop alternative and renewable energy supplies.

And yet, predictions for the Sahel are not encouraging: deforestation and

aridity of the soil, blocked livestock production and inadequate food production. The development projects undertaken in the field of bilateral and multilateral cooperation are as numerous as they are burdensome. And yet, results

are far from satisfactory.

[Answer] That is true; there are no miracle solutions. And yet, it seems

that there is a lack of attention and participation on the part of the village

population, which shows how uninvolved the people feel. If there is distrust,

there is definitely a.reason for it!

It is not because I am a woman that I say that (she said smiling), but you

have to admit that African women are the key to economic life in the villages.

For me, that must be the source of hope because in Africa, women are more open

to change than men.

[Question] Do you feel that the people, both sedentary and nomadic, are

ready to become involved? Do they truly want to contribute to the necessary

efforts? Are they capable of doing so and do they have the means?

[Answer] The main protagonist in such strategies must be the farmer himself.

He is capable, without any doubt. As for the increased participation of women

in development, the evolution takes on a very special significance when one

thinks of the preponderant role that women play in essential fields such

as agricultural production, hygiene, nutrition, community health and education. Furthermore, their organizations have demonstrated their ability to

implement viable policies adapted to the different national contexts. They

therefore have the means to do so.

[Question] There must also be a profound change in ways of thinking. Will

these old habits be able to change?

[Answer] Like any environment, the Sahel has a diversity of interests, some

of which may engender conflict. There is in fact a real opposition between

the interests of the nomads and those of the sedentary people, as well as
between those of the urban and rural population, between the choices of the

modern and traditional sectors. Given this perspective, selection of the

target population groups therefore becomes a choice of development. The

policy that we (CIDA) practice is to help the neediest people and, within

this group, the most neglected segments.

[Question] Are you not afraid of favoring some over others?

[Answer] The Sahel Plan is to be a long-term solution. The three main areas

of Intervention are completed by support activities that include the development of all human resources without distinction, a village water policy and

support for existing transportation systems. In a period of drought, nomads

migrate to the south. Nomadic herders have even tried to grow crops out of

season. For others, as soon as the situation improves, they go back to the

desert. Forced to protect themselves from the same threats, the Sahelian

people are forced to adapt.

[Question] Do you believe it is still possible to bring the Sahel back from

the desert?

[Answer] If we succeed in initiating a real dialogue at the political level

and real cooperation between donors in order to begin a development process

based on the people and for the people, nothing is lost. Only at that

price will the region be able to ward off the threats to its future and

the Sahel be able to ensure the survival of its peoples and their environment.

Canada has already tackled the job.

Strategy of UNSO

Brussels NORD SUD in French Nov-Dee 86 pp 13-14

[Article by D. De Vos]

[Text] The United Nations has not remained indifferent to this unprecedented

catastrophe in the history of Africa. It set up UNSO (United Nations Sahel

Organization), the only UN entity entrusted with this highly specialized

mandate, which is the fight against desertification. UNSO helps draft

strategies and apply them in the hardest hit African countries.

Following the great drought of 1973, the countries belonging to CILSS (Footnote 1) (Inter-State Committee To Fight the Drought in the Sahel, which

includes eight countries: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania,

Niger, Senegal and Chad) asked the United Nations to provide them with longerlasting aid than only the emergency assistance linked with the drought. The

secretary general of the United Nations responded to the appeal by setting

up the United Nations Office for the Sahelian Region: UNSO..

The main task of the organization was to administer a special fund which the

General Assembly had set up in the hope that it would take in the resources

needed to face the problems of the Sahel. Set up in New York, how can this

organization wage effective action in the vast stretches of the African Sahel?

10
It would do so, first of all, by setting up a small but solid team of experts,

some of whom would be from the Sahel. All were gifted with exceptional knowledge of the many aspects of the situation in the field. In addition, the

modesty of the organization gave its action greater operational flexibility.

Five years later, UNSO was attached to the UNDP (United Nations Development

Program), which asked donors for help and made its vast network of foreign

offices available to it.

UNSO's first mission would be to participate in the fight against the drought

waged by CILSS countries. The second mission started in 1977, following the

UN Conference on Desertification. In 1978, the UN Program for the Environment

entrusted UNSO with the task of coordinating the campaigns in 15 African

countries located the length of the continent. Today, UNSO is being called

upon to intervene, not only in the Sahel, but throughout the Sudanese-Sahelian

region, meaning in 22 African countries.

Strategy for Survival

The UNSO strategy includes several major aspects to be promoted simultaneously:

Road system: During the great drought in the early 1970's, difficulties of

gaining access to certain regions made it extremely difficult, even impossibles

to provide aid and increased their vulnerability to starvation. The first

UNSO program — now the most important one — had to do with the establishment

throughout the region of a network of secondary roads serving the eight CILSS

countries. In other words, it was a major attempt to end isolation. It would

also make it possible to open up new outlets in remote areas, supply services

and meet the broader objective of integrated rural development.

This is an important element of development in this region equal to five times

the size of France. Plans include construction of 5,000 km of roads passable

in any season and costing $205 million. In August 1985, UNSO gathered together the necessary funds and completed work on 2,123 km of roads.

Stabilization of sand: In Mauritania, UNSO provided emergency aid to stabilize dunes in order to halt the invasion of urban areas, roads, farms and pasture by sand. In Somalia and Sudan, a program of general stabilization of

the dunes would be undertaken. In Somalia in particular, the different situation of the coastal areas and those in the interior would be taken into account. Thanks to a project launched in 1984, the invasion of the Bilma palm

plantations in Niger by sand is beginning to be turned around.

Use of water resources: In 1983, UNSO began to intensify the management of

water resources on the Cape Verde islands. It also drafted instructions for

the construction of small earthen dams, stone dikes and underground catchment

basins. A large number of small earth dams are planned in Niger. To increase

its water resources, Sudan is studying and experimenting with new methods of

using the waters of the Mara Djebel. mali is discovering and using, considerable underground water, it would appear. In Gambia, small dams will be built

for irrigation and for protection against salt water infiltration.

11
Fighting deforestation: In Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, a vast program to

develop tree planting in order to increase resources is underway. Species

that grow rapidly and that are drought-resistant are used. In Sudan, the

Acacia segal in particular is planted, for it not only stabilizes the soil,

but also produces Arabic gum, the source of additional income for farmers.

In Burkina Faso, a national campaign has been launched with the support of

UNSO, to promote the use of furnaces that do not use much fuel. Various

means are employed: radio, posters, T-shirts, drama troupes, and so on,

with great success. In the capital alone, some 80,000 furnaces were in.service at the end of 1984. Their users saw their costs drop by half!

In Gambia, furnaces operate using briquettes made from peanut shells. In

Senegal, tests are underway to use peat briquettes. This would make it

possible to reduce the demand for coal in Dakar by some 50 percent. In Cape

Verde, within the framework of a pilot project to use wind energy, two turbines have just been installed.

National and Regional Strategies

UNSO plays a key role in the drafting of national strategies, the first to

ever exist. They serve as a basis for efforts being made on three levels:

mobilization, financing and completion. UNSO is cooperating with countries

of the western Sahel to set up a regional Sahel Action Plan survey of measures

to be undertaken. In July 1984, UNSO cooperated with COMIDES (see our article) for the pooling of knowledge gained from experience and the drafting

of a joint plan. Exchanges of views and consultations continue.

COMIDES Seeks Political Dialogue

Brussels NORD SUD in French Nov-Dee 86 p 15

[Article by D.-.De Vos]

[Text] In order to improve the approach and implement a strategy and planning

within the framework of the fight against desertification, the COMIDES conference has affirmed its political determination to take the legislative and

regulatory measures in the financial, technical and social fields needed to

improve living conditions in the Sudanese-Sahelian region.

The statement is tirelessly repeated everywhere: It is essential to undertake urgent action to halt the expansion of the desert. And yet, aided by

man, the Sahara imperturbably continues its advance. Every year, it spreads

from 2 to 7 kilometers, depending on the region. We know the reasons perfectly well; we have all the data: inadequate rainfall, overgrazing, deforestation, the results of the actions of man, the agent responsible for desertification. In order to obtain climatic information, the AGRYMET (AgricultureHydrometry-Meteorology) Center has been set up in Niamey and is in daily contact with the Meteosat satellite.

12
CILSS, the Inter-State Committee To Fight the Drought in the Sahel, was

created to undertake such action. In order to finance conservation and development projects, UNSO, the United Nations Sahel Organization, was formed.

Recently, this UN agency participated in financing to protect the FoutaDjalon Mountains in Guinea (Conakry), the veritable source of 17 hydraulic

aasins! This watershed in West Africa is the headwaters of the Senegal and

Niger Rivers, which cross the main Sahelian countries and which, in 1983,

had lost two-thirds of their normal flow.

In Dakar, at the invitation of the Senegalese chief of state, leaders of the

countries affected by the drought in the southern Sahara met at an important

forum. They called themselves the PAD: Countries Attacked by the Desert.

This was in 1983.

Political Coordination?

In order better to coordinate action, President Abdou Diouf launched the idea

of organizing closer coordination, whence COMIDES, the Ministerial Committee

for Development in the Sahel. In July 1984, 22 countries participated in an

exchange of information. Among other things, the Dakar conference made it

possible to show the usefulness of determining more intensive areas of

cooperation. Strategy policies were planned and the firm will to apply

such resolutions under the best possible conditions was expressed.

This political commitment is intended to stimulate the strengthening of

regional cooperation on the matter, first of all, by consolidating national

plans, when they exist, or by encouraging them. Second, it would be done by

coordinating an overall policy in the arsenal of the fight. For example,

one might penalize brush fires or any other form of deforestation, promote

the creation of nurseries in each of the countries belonging to COMIDES,

ortanize and control reforestation.

In order no longer to suffer the consequences of desertification, political

commitment is also necessary, for it makes it possible to combine efforts.

Before the situation has become irreversible, the urgency of action is fundamental. It must prevent the situation from affecting the climate of the

entire African continent. Having said that much, it is difficult to simplify

the problems of desertification because in this field, one action pulls

along another. Deterioration is so rapid that it is not possible to react

in an overall fashion. The first concrete objective determined by COMIDES

involves integrated development and the fight against erosion of the basins

situated upstream from the major waterways.

This political consistency will encourage governments, international organizations and financial backers to coordinate their action. If COMIDES succeeds

in its mission, there should result an improvement in food self-sufficiency

and living conditions. At least, COMIDES permits this shift in intentions

and procures the political means to accomplish it.

13
Newcomer

Linguistically speaking, Norway does not truly have bilateral cooperation

in Africa. But under the pressure of public opinion moved by the images of

starvation, Norway is sensitive to the people of the Sahel. This summer,

80 representatives of Sahelian countries, including nine ministers of agriculture, responded to Oslo's invitation to participate in a conference on

rural development in this subregion of the African continent.

From the meeting results a determination on the part of Norway to participate

in the strengthening of the ACOPAM system (an accomplishment, of the UN World

Food Program), which would be extended to the nine CILSS countries. In

addition, Oslo has declared its intention of joining the Sahel Club (financial backer of CILSS) and whose role we shall discuss in our coming issue

of NORD SUD. In conclusion, everyone seems to agree this time that development of the Sahel cannot be conceived without the indispensable participation

of the village people. The Sahelian farmer of the future will be a protagonist in his own development.

Agronomist Rene Dumont Interviewed

Brussels NORD SUD in French Nov-Dec 86 pp 16-19

[Interview with agronomist Rene Dumont, by Sylviane Cannio;;date and place

not given]

[Text] In their latest book, "Pour l'Afrique J

1

Accuse,".agronomist Rene

Dumont and his collaborator Charlotte Paquet challenge a whole series of

political, economic and financial factors affecting decisions on their

choice of development for Africa. If desertification exists, it is because

it is the fruit of a large number of .(poor) -choices made in the regions

affected. These accusations are maintained in the exclusive interview

granted to us.

[Question] With your first book on Africa, "L'Afrique Noire Est Mal Partie"

[Black Africa Is Off to a Bad Start], you found yourself a persona non grata

in many African countries. How are your current relations with those same

countries?

[Answer] Senegal was the first to reopen its doors to me, followed by the

Central African Republic. The only country where I remain a persona non grata

is Gabon, but I do not seek to return to Gabon. If I returned to Africa,

it was at the request of Thomas Sankara in 1983. Since Upper Volta had a

new government that wanted to adopt a new policy, he wrote to me and asked

me to come and I accepted immediately. That expedition was to last six

weeks. It took me to the edge of the desert. That time, I noticed that the

desert had expanded dramatically. I immediately wrote to Kountche, to :Niger

and Mali to propose a free study. Niger responded. Shortly thereafter, the

high commissioner of the OMVS, the Senegal River Development Organization,

summoned me: "We have built the dams. We are apparently going to have

problems. Can you come to see us?"

14
This book will obviously not please everyone, but as you can see, Thomas

Sankara, Seyni Kountche and Abdou Diouf are not badly treated.

[Question] In the preface to your book, you say that it is basic to avoid

the trap of cultural domination. Fantastic! But how can you say that when

your points of reference are French, your education French? How can one

achieve that historic distance needed to analyze African society objectively?

[Answer] I can see it with my eyes of the Frenchman who was in Indochina in

1929, who fought colonialism in Indochina, who fought against the war in

Algeria and who now fights neocolonial policies. I was called by Pompidou

in 1959 to serve on the FAC (Aid and Cooperation Fund) board. I could

not remain over 18 months, being against his policies, and handed in my resignation. I have always defended a certain number of positions and continue to

do so.

[Question] But those reference points....

[Answer] The problem of knowing whether I analyze Africa objectively. I am

trying. Now, have I done so? That is different. As a cultural model, I

am first of all from a farm family whose father was a teacher of agriculture.

I next became a student of agriculture, therefore, an agronomist, a technician involved with technical matters. I went to Indochina for 3 years and

worked with rice growing. In doing so, I saw that economic and social

problems dominated technical problems. I therefore turned to economic and

social problems, especially since, in returning to France in 1933.-- in the

midst of a crisis ~ the General Association of French Wheat Producers had

proposed that the government buy rice production in Saigon and dump it in

the China Sea so that that rice would not compete with French barley, oats

and corn. We therefore had to study the causes of those surpluses in our

country when they were starving to death elsewhere.

[Question] Many people are guilty, in your opinion. The title of your book

is evocative: "Pour l'Afrique, J'Accuse." You criticize the action of

international institutions, of the industrialized countries, of the Africans.

In order to change the world?

[Answer] You are a Utopian?

[Answer] No, I am a reformist.

[Question] You mentioned the unsuitability of the "aid" procured by cooperation with the real needs of the people. Too frequently, they choose enormous

projects, far removed from village circumstances. You also condemn French

cooperation, which is trying to find a market in Africa.

[Answer] Jean-Pierre Cot was against that policy; that is why they got rid

of him.

[Question] And Michel Aurillac?

15
[Answer] We are waiting for him. Aurillac has taken up the positions of

Foccart. I would remind you that when I left the FAC in 1961, it was because

of the Foccart policy aimed at watching over French interests: to make

people learn French and gain control of the market. They are happy to supply

the machinery, but not the spare parts! De Gaulle said that "when you spend

1 franc on cooperation, it brings in 10."

[Question] It is the same everywhere; let us not be naive.

[Answer] Yes, that is why we have taken up the defense of the Africans.

[Question] In the field, do you see cooperation that is a little better

oriented?

[Answer] In my opinion, the Swedes in Tanzania, although their projects have

not enjoyed complete success. There is the CIDA in Burkina Faso, which

backs a whole series of small projects at the village level.

[Question] You say that the greenback (the dollar) is the ruin of Africa. Is

it not a little simplistic to accuse the United States or Westerners when

others — and I am alluding to the socialist countries — do nothing at all

using the excuse that they are not former colonial countries?

[Answer] I have not taken up the defense of the Eastern countries, but the

little book preceding this one is named "Bangladesh-Nepal: L'Aide Contre le

Developpement." In it, I deal with the food aid that prevents the peasant

from selling his rice when he has any, or those farm credit funds in Bangladesh in the hands of usurers, who get money from the World Bank at 17 percent

interest a year and who loan it out at 10, 20 or 30 percent a month! The

World Bank money helps usurers in Bangladesh! We have the duty— not only

the right— to say so.

I do not accuse the World Bank of always being mistaken, but look at the

work of Claude Reboul they ordered him to destroy. Of course, a study can

be criticized, but from there,to order that it be burned! It is inacceptable.

The same World Bank admits being mistaken in Africa 8 years after Reboul's

work, which only showed it what it did not want to see. "We have made many

mistakes in Africa, but we have learned a great deal," the World Bank says.

Yes, at the expense of the Africans!

[Question] You criticize the short-term policies of the IMF.

[Answer] Yes. Take the example of Taiwan, which is an economic success.

Taiwan began with protectionism. All the countries, even European countries,

began that way. And the IMF bans protectionism and advises all Third World

countries to export more and import less. Everyone must export more and import less; that is not possible! It is absurd!

[Question] What about Lome III? And STABEX [Export Stabilization Fund]?

16
[Answer] I do not condemn Lome III; I say that it is inadequate. That is

also true of STABEX because the credits are not sufficient. It is not the

formula that I condemn, but the resources they have mobilized. Every year,

each European pays from $7 to $8 to help the Third World; no more. I blame

them for not adding a 0 to that sum!

[Question] And you truly do not like the consulting firms. They often

recommend gigantic projects that flatter the pride of chiefs of state, but

respond only poorly to the real needs of the country, the so-called "white

elephants." But those firms will tell you that the industrialized countries

must diversify to new markets, therefore, sell. What is to be done?

[Answer] That is true; they forget the people, the rank and file. The big

dams in Senegal are an unprecedented example in the history of the consulting

firms. It is the first time that the chiefs of state have received only one

project with the recommendation that it is the miracle solution for the Senegal River. It is inconceivable!

The biggest lie of the consulting firms concerns southern Casamance, where

they promise, if the project is followed, that the Mechanized Rice Office

will earn 1.8 billion CFA francs every year starting in the year 2000. That

is truly an insult! Furthermore, I have told President Diouf so!

It is like the sorghum project in Burkina Faso. There, an "expert," the

agronomist Wichinsky « whom I name —deceived Sankara by promising him that

by growing a sweet sorghum, they would obtain 6 tons of vitreous grain per

hectare, along with 4,000 liters of alcohol. Verification showed that this

was a total lie. Sankara, isolated at the time, was looking for a project

to stir up his people and found one; no more, no less.

[Question] There is one country that has emerged from its problem of famine:

China.

[Answer] I know the country well, I have been there seven times and written

four books on China, the last of which was "La Chine Decollectivise." The

Chinese peasants were collectivized by force and nevertheless managed to

force the apparatchik! to decollectivize. That is fantastic!

[Question] In your opinion, could Africa follow part of the Chinese example?

[Answer] There can be no question of a Chinese-type revolution, of going

through everything China endured. It is not necessary.

[Question] I was referring to the "barefoot doctors," with the emphasis on

agriculture and its "labor-intensive" production.

[Answer] That is fine! Every barefoot doctor has a little garden in which

he grows plants, while doctors raised in Europe have forgotten how to grow

plants and have fought this form of medicine. They have even found natural

pesticides, as in the case of a Colombian woman they asked to burn her research work! All for the sake of the market!

17
And another thing one could adopt, something the Chinese peasant has not

scorned: On the social scale, the peasant is above the merchant and just

after the educated person, while in Africa, he is considered a slave, on

the bottom of the social ladder.

[Question] In your work, you preach giving greater value to the work of

the peasant, changing agricultural policies to avoid production solely for

export.

[Answer] I have not condemned export crops so much as I have the poor use.

of the currency earned.

[Question] On weapons or purchases not truly needed by the country.

[Answer] Or for Mercedes!

[Question] This book is a little bomb that will certainly be greatly criticized in Africa or — I hope for your sake —- well received after all. Do

you still have hope that they will listen to you?

[Answer] Listen, "Black Africa Is Off to a Bad Start" was banned, which

gave it good publicity. They are now selling 300 copies a month, even

though the book was published in 1962. Let us hope that this one enjoys the

same fate!

R. Dumont and Charlotte Paquet

"For 24 yearsi I had already been pointing out the extreme seriousness of

the situation in Africa and its future, when it was forced to sell off its

mineral resources, without having the means of upgrading them. Now we have

another type of deterioration— equally grave— of its heritage: Africa's

land is increasingly worn out, impoverished, if not actually ruined, by

erosion and the desertification which the poor peasants have neither the

strength nor the means to fight effectively. The climate is also, as we have

recently learned, arid. Another terrible, if not mortal, danger has emerged,

the extreme gravity of which too few Africans recognize: the demographic

threat. And yet, since the World Conference on Population in Bucharest

(1974) and Mexico (1984), nearly the entire Third World has become aware of

it. Measures to control the birth rate and to ensure respect for women are

being drafted, but Sub-Saharan Africa is still the exception, which places

a heavy responsibility on its leaders. Their descendants risk not pardoning

the lack of foresight which the Chinese, since 1976, have bitterly blamed

on their liberator, Mao Zedong.

"'Pour l'Afrique, J'Accuse': The title is a warning before it is too late,

for from Ethiopia and Sudan to the Sahel, and even from Somalia to Mozam-r

bique, Africa, that lost continent, is threatened with death. Too many men,

too much livestock, the lack of any agricultural policy (or one aimed only

at production), a lack of organization and structure due to scorn for peasant

and herder societies: The entire environment is deteriorating so quickly

while bheildesert expands. One has but to mention the death of children today

18
and we react, but when in 1953 I announced the imminent death of the soil and

vegetation, people did not care. "Prenez Garde, Consuls" was a final warning.

In 1978, the American Embassy in Addis Ababa said that the high plateaus of

Ethiopia were losing over a billion tons of top soil a year due to erosion.

That meant over a million deaths with the next drought, which has now come

to pass. The next time in the Sahel, we will perhaps to count them in the

millions. I am somewhat ashamed to emphasize it, but I do not have the

right to remain silent because I do not want to lose hope and I am bringing

a book of hope."

Lacking space, we can only repeat a few condemnations (accusations) and proposals made by R. Dumont and Charlotte Paquet. Read their book (Coll. Terre

Humaine, Plon); it is well worth the trouble.

Accusations

They are clearing Fouta-Djalon, headwaters of the Niger and Senegal Rivers.

From 24 billion cubic meters, the flow of the Senegal fell to 7 billion in

1983. On some days, there is no water at all. For the first time since

its flow has been measured, the Niger River ceased ^running in June 1985 at the

end of the dry season in Niamey.

The wandering herds, especially goats which browse on the young shoots, prevent the natural regeneration.

Livestock, which often belongs to prominent city dwellers, ruins tihe herders.

Firewood in the form of cut wood or wood charcoal takes over a million tons

of wood a year in Senegal.

Export crops, the source of foreign exchange, prevent crop rotation and

therefore, the recovery of the soil.

The work of women, the basis of development, is underestimated. Drawing

water from wells kills them when a simple pulley could greatly simplify their

work.

The work of peasants is undervalued because of the white-collar workers

proud of their diplomas.

Misdirected food aid causes sales prices of local agricultural products to

drop and they then rot.

Aid has mainly developed the tertiary sector, a parasitic economy in the

cities. Rural countries have been reduced to the status of dependents.

Some unscrupulous consulting firms take advantage of the incredulity —

the naivete or lack of knowledge? — of chiefs of state to make them accept

projects that are more harmful than positive for their development: the

sourou in Burkina Faso, big dams in Senegal, "white elephants" in general.

19
Harness crops, because they work the soil more deeply or because the work is

done at the wrong time of the year, have increased the risk of erosion.

A whole series of so-called "development plans," even at the village level,

is adopted without considering the priorities of those same village communities.

The ruined peasant populations, betrayed by authorities determined to develop

but actually helping only a few privileged persons, who are generally parasitic city dwellers, can no longer invest.

The World Bank has "gained" experience at the expense of the Africans and

it is the latter who pay in the end.

The International Monetary Fund has forced these countries into an .austerity

paid for by the poorest people and rejected any protectionism, however indispensable at the outset.

The expert leaders have, by their policies, ignored, ruined and scorned the

peasant men and women of Africa and helped upset traditional societies that

had managed their land well.

Proposals

Education must be in the local languages. Traditional values must be reintegrated into education.

How is one to develop without making the beneficiaries, the peasants, participants in their own development? Their opinion must be asked when any project is designed.

The work of peasants must be appreciated at its full value.

The work of women must be valued and their water-bearing task simplified. How

can one produce when one has to Carry dozens of liters of water a day over

kilometers?

Priority must be given to small village water projects that often cost onefifth what major projects cost, thanks to the far higher proportion of human

investment.

The peasant must be taught to control the expansion of the desert, for it is

with his cooperation that it will be halted. The causes of desertification

must be explained to him.

A future solution might reside in the construction of agricultural areas resembing European-type mixed woodlands and pasture areas, with fields surrounded

by hedges and whose equivalent would be windbreaks of shrubs, along with trees

scattered in the fields. The anarchic use of plant cover, with its abuses,

remains an essential obstacle to this modification.

20
With the aid of the ONG, small areas easy to irrigate, would be set up.

Grass-roots peasant organizations would be aided.

Development Plans Contrasted

Brussels NORD SUD in French Nov-Dec 86 pp 8-20

[Article by Dan De Vos]

[Text] The action of the European countries as well as that of the Africans

themselves has been greatly criticized. Some throw stones, challenging them

both when it comes time to study the major causes of desertification. The

question is knowing whether the errors of cooperation stem from a deliberate

strategy aimed at helping the big multinationals or geostrategic positions or

whether, more simply, they are the mistakes of the young.

How is cooperation doing in Africa? Is it moving along without problems,

as some would like to hint in the corridors of the EEC? Or is it doing

poorly, as one would believe when reading a book by Rene Dumont?

Perhaps it is preferable to take an in-between position, as do B. P. Louant,

professor of agronomy at the Catholic University of Louvain, and Pierre

Vincke, instructor at the Institute of Environmental Sciences at the University of Dakar. They both say: "Only those who wash dishes break plates."

In other words: Engage in cooperation and there will inevitably be satisfactory results and mistakes.

Paternalism

Are those of us in Africa paternalists? Yes, when there are moral sanctions

concerning the future of others. One is therefore always paternalistic when

among the nations of the world. And what are the Americans doing in Europe?

If we had interviewed Paris at the time of Lutetia, they would have said:

"But you do not realize what you are doing! You have to fix this or that.

Design proper city planning, plan the electrical facilities, the distribution

of water, of basic commodities, organize development of the territory,

cultivate the land, get rid of waste, build a road infrastructure and set up

communications systems. Furthermore, one would have to be.crazy to set up

a city on such a spot. The site is poorly chosen. Wait for this; wait for

that!" Let us leave people's future alone. Whatever the case, when one

solves a problem, one creates another. That is evolution. And yet, can one

let anything happen without intervening?

Interventionist System?

Louant replies: "Obviously, it has to exist. To say the opposite would be

incredible cowardice. We all do it. In the East, it is nothing new. The

countries of the Eastern bloc want to impose the administration of a collectivist system on Africa, in theory. The fact is that communism is not even

applicable in countries that have tried to carry it out! Its very control

21
kills it. As far as individualism is concerned, it is preserved insofar as

it can be. Africa well such behavior [sic]. Even if kolkhoz sometimes

exist, communism remains totally foreign to the African way of thinking. As

for the way in which the Soviet Union acts abroad, it is nothing more than

a racket! No Western country would ever permit itself to have such an

attitude.

What about Chinese cooperation? The Chinese have an essentially different

way of thinking. Africans who observe them consider them to be gluttons

for work, maniacs. There is no possible understanding between them and

the Africans.

What about us? We must retain our own bit of authenticity! Let us respond

with pride to the pride of our African brothers. We have no guilt complex

to harbor.

Halting the Bleeding Hearts

Criticism is easy; art is difficult. Pierre Vincke: "By dint of quibbling

over whether or not the dams are timely, we will end up arguing about them

for decades. It is easy to say, 'It is a scandal.' There will always be

someone to say so. But when one asks the majority of villagers in the

Senegal River region what they want, they answer, 'Our problem right now is

water. When we have enough, we will be able to irrigate.' This therefore

remains a strictly African problem. In the end, we will have to stop arguing

and act. If we have to condemn, our system allows us to do it. We have to

do it in time, meaning before the work. Not after."

Condemn?

What is there to condemn? The personality cult, incomplete training, a very

personal interpretation of figures and statistics? After all, any resemblance to persons living or dead is pure coincidence! There are abnormal

situations, to be sure. Sometimes errors in judgment in some consulting

firms. But they try to use the official data received from local governments .

Another example: prestige projects that cannot be economically profitable.

In Africa as elsewhere, politics is not always rational. Nevertheless, both

sides have to abandon big prestige projects. The list is exhaustive.

However, one is at least honest in declaring one's intentions and one moves

ahead.

Manipulation?

Professor Louant asks: "Give me an example of an economic sector that is not

manipulated in international commerce. Everything is manipulated. If African

countries want to participate in this big game, they have to follow the

rules. The first chance they have to manipulate someone, they do so also.

For example, one has the disorganization of the coffee and cacao market in

brother countries helping a monopoly of an African country."

22
Interdependence

Interdependence must be the only foundation on which we can build our cooperation, said Hugh Shearer, president of the ACP Council. In this connection,

the Ivory Coast presents the example of an economy that in 20 years has

experienced a regular, diversified growth of its foreign trade. In 1982,

three products represented over 60 percent of all sales abroad (80 percent

in 1979): coffee, cacao and forest products. The Ivory Coast also exports

other products, essentially agricultural: pineapples, palm oil, bananas,

cola nuts, rubber and cotton fiber. The same is true of oil products. In

contrast, the country mainly imports oil, machine tools, meehinery, road

vehicles, iron and steel products and grain.

But in Africa, the case of the Ivory Coast is rather singular. Most nations

on the black continent depend on only one or two export products, which also

means depending on often highly uncertain international prices. Zambia, for

example, gets over 90 percent of its receipts from the sale of its copper.

When the price of the ore goes up, the country's purchasing power rises. But

today, following several years of a depressed price for the red metal,

Zambia has had to appeal to the IMF. Who would imagine that the country has

more "natural gifts" —agricultural, among others — than the Ivory Coast?

As for Niger, 80 percent of its export receipts come from uranium sales.

To uranium it owes the rapid growth in its purchasing power. Like Zambia,

Niger sees the volume of its imports go up or down depending on the highs

and lows of the price for its raw material. It is one more reason for our

European cooperation (EEC) to support proposals to stabilize prices for basic

products.

Who Does Better?

The report of the Brandt Commission states the following: "If societies do

not prepare their citizens for the interdependent world they have inherited,

then their governments will experience difficulties in making the decisions

demanded by an interdependent world economy." Let us therefore tell the

truth: We are all part of a powerful interplay of mutual interests. It

explains the past, but also affects the future. Since there are mutual

interests, a North-South cooperation policy exists. Its rise is vital. To

recognize this is not the result of political egotism or narrow economic

views. If our interests force us to cooperate, politics, morals and

humanism retain all their rights, which alone can inspire the model, methods

and priorities of that cooperation. Let us develop all dialogues possible.

11,464

CSO: 3419/45

23
ANGOLA

DOS SANTOS NAMES NEW COLONELS

MB311655 Luanda Domestic Service in Portuguese 1200 GMT 31 Dec 86

["Order No. 78 of 28 December 1986" issued in Luanda by Army General Jose

Educardodos Santos, commander in chief of FAPLA forces]

rTextl Article 1. Under the terms of Article 45 of the rules on military

service for officers, the following officers have been promoted to the rank of

colonel:

Alberto Bento Ribeiro, Alexandre Lucas de Lemos Botha Militär, Antonio

Bernardo (Chinhama), Antonio Jose Miranda, Antonio Caspar Ramos, Antonio

Ressureicao Henriques Val Neto, Antonio (Sombe Manjambe) Antonio Magalhaes,

Augusto Sebastiao Lopes, Carlos Pestana, Domingos (Fungu), Evaristo Domingos

Kimba, Francisco Deolindo (da Rocha), Gloria (Paquita da Costa), Afonso

Ribeiro dos Santos, Goncalves da Silva, Henriques de Carvalho Santos Isaias

(Jacinto) Reis, Joao Domingos (Lemos), Jose Antunes, Joaquim Varela Rangel,

Joao Manuel Martins, Joao Ernesto dos Santos, Jose Cesar Augusto Joao Ernesto

Saraiva de Carvalho, Jose Teixeira de Matos, Monteiro (Franco), Manuel Joao

Adao Neto, Mario Afonso de Almeida, Manuel Antonio da Costa (Campos), Mendes

Afonso de Castro, Manuel Francisco Tuta, (Moises Justine) Pedro de Castro van

Dunem, Paulo Miguel Junior, Roberto Leal Ramos Monteiro Rui Guilherme Cardoso

de Matos, Rafael Sapilinha Sambalanga, Simeao Adao Manuel, Xavier de (Jesus)

Cequeira! Sebastiao Garrido, Santana Andre Pitra Petroff, [name indistinct],

and Comrade Lieutenant Colonel Marques Monakapui Bassovava.

Article 2. Under the terms of Article 43 of the rules on military service for

officers, the following officers have been given [graduados] the rank of

colonel:

Lieutenant Colonel Alberto Correia Neto, Antonio Jose Maria, Jose Pereira

Teixeira, and Major Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos.

/12913

CSO: 3400/735

24
ANGOLA

BRIEFS

COOPERATION WITH SPAIN—Spain and Angola will begin cooperating more closelyfollowing the granting by Spain of credits amounting to 65 million dollars

that will allow the development of commercial relations between the two countries. [Text] [Lisbon TEMPO in Portuguese 18 Dec 86 p 3]

/9716

CSO: 3542/39

25
BOTSWANA

BRIEFS

BOTSWANA CITIZENS NEED VISAS—Mmabatho, 31 December, SAPA—Bophuthatswana

informed South Africa today of its intention to "amend the existing agreement

with South Africa relating to railways entering into and out of

Bophuthatswana." A government statement issued by Bophuthatswana's Ministry

of Internal Affairs did not elaborate and added: "At the same time we have

also advised Botswana that as from the 9th day of January 1987, all holders of

Botswana passports and travel documents will need visas to enter, travel

through and depart from Bophuthatswana." Internal Affairs Minister Mr Kgosi

Motsatsi was quoted in the statement as saying: "I also want to take this

opportunity to inform the people of Bophuthatswana and Botswana that as of

tomorrow they will have to complete the arrival, departure and transit forms

which will be supplied at the border posts." [Text] [Johannesburg SAPA in

English 1407 GMT 31 Dec 86 MB] /12913

CSO: 3400/735

26
ETHIOPIA

AID BRANCH OPENS IN BAHR DAR

Addis Ababa THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD in English 21 Dec 86 p 1

[Text]

(ENA) — A new complex built by

the Agricultural and Industrial Development Bank at a cost of 1.2 million birr went into operation here yesterday.

Opening the building, Comrade Tadene Gebre-Kidan* mewi^xM»he. COof the WPE and Chief AibutojjstrataR,

of the National Bank of Ethiopia, said

that "satisfactory results have been obtained as a result of the measure» taken by the bank to accelerate the country's economic development.

He said that the complex was built

as part of the effort to implement the

1978 E.C. loan and interest policy, the

programme of the WPE and the Tenyear Perspective Plan as well as to

guide and control the economic transition period.

... Comrade Ttegaye Asfaw, General

Manager of,the Agricultural and Industrial Development Bank, said that.

the bank is rendering considerable loan services io the expansion and' intensification of atate farms deVelopme-

. jtf^ändustry, hindics«ft*«adfc.*.p\aaant

cooperative^, j .• * Vu ' & " ■■■ ».: '> j

. Comrade Ayalew B^zabih, General

Manager of the Ethiopian Insurance

Cooperation, stressed the importance

of opening a branch office in the town, which he said it would.help eon*'

tribute towards the economic construe«,

jtion of Gojjam as a whole.

The development bank has earlier

granted a loan of 32 million birr to a

few peasants associations to be channelled towards various agricultural activities.

/12828

CSO: 3400/732

27
ETHIOPIA

MENGISTU RECEIVES FRENCH CP OFFICIAL

Addis Ababa THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD in English 24 Dec 86 p 1

[Text]

(ENA)— Comrade Mengistu HaileMariam, General Secretary of the CC

of the WPE, Chairman of the PMAC

and Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, yesterday

received and held talks with Comiiide.:

Maxime Gremez, Member of the Poli'

tical Bureau' of the CC of the French

Communfet ^Party and Head of the

Party's Foreign Relations.

During the talks, Comrade Mengistu exchanged views with Comrade

Gremcz on the relations between the

WPE and the French Communist

Party and on international affairs.

Present at the ceremony which was

held at Comrade MengistuV office at

the CC of the WPE was Comrade

Ashagre Yigletu, member and Secretary of the CC of the WPE.

In a separate ceremony, Comrade

Berhanu Bayih, member of the Political Bureau of the CC of the WPE

and Minister of Foreign Affairs, yesterday received and held talks at his

office with Comrade Maxime Gremez.

Comrade Berhanu and Comrade

Maxime Gremez discussed relations

between the WPE and the French

Communist Party and the long-standing friendly relations between the

two countries. • " .""'"

Comrade Berhanu recalled that the

French Communist Party had been :

expressing support to the Ethiopian

revolution since its eruption and that

the WPE had participated in the

festival organized by the French Communist Party,' thereby strengthening

their relations. He expressed belief

that the relations between the two,

parties will become stronger in the.

future.

Speaking on his part, Comrade

Gremcz pointed out that the French

Communist Party admires and closely

follows the progress of the Ethiopian

revolution under the leadership of

the Party and the Revolutionary Government.

The French Communist Party wiU

give support and cooperation for the

efforts being made by the WPE and

the Revolutionary Government for the

development and progress of the country, he said.

Present during the talks were the

delegation of the French Communist

Party led by Comrade Gremez.

Meanwhile, talks which centered on

the exisiting and future relations and

cooperation between the WPE and

the French Communist Party was

conducted at the office of the Central

28
Committee of the WPE, here yester;

day. ,-p-,,..,; . ::?:» :> :•-.•-> ■■■■{.

Exchange of views were conducted;

between Comrade Ashagre Yigletu,

and Comrade Maxime Gremez.

In the course of 4etalfa?^omrade

Ashagre Briefed Comrade Maxime

Gremez and members of his delegation extensively on the progress of the

Ethiopian revolution, the activities so

far undertaken by the WPE,

the e/forts to found the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) and on the drought situation as

well as the measures taken to solve

the problem.

Comrade Ashagre and Comrade

Gremez also discussed the situation

prevailing in Africa and the international arena and particularly on world

peace. '. '

The two sides expressed their belief

that this first official contact of the

two parties since-the formation of the.

WPE would further pave the way for

future relations and cooperation.

~'pComrade Gremez suited that ffic 1

French Communist Party supports and ;

admires the progress of the Ethiopian ]

revolution and the leadership policies ;

of the WPE. . ; '" ' ' •;£•'' V/-'','.'

Comrade Gremez went on to say that

in spite of the fact that he had followed

the developments of the Ethiopian

revolution from its eruption, he feels

he has gained a better understanding

about it after his current visit to

Ethiopia.

Present during the talks were Comrade Girma Beshah, alternate member

of the CC of the WPE and Deputy

Head of 'the Foreign Department of

the WPE, and Comrade Habte-Mariam

Seyum, Deputy Head of the Foreign

Department of the WPE, and other

comrades. ,

The two-men French delegation led

by Comrade Maxime Gremez arrived

on a working visit yesterday. .

. The delegation was welcomed at

the airport by Comrade Ashagre

Yuri«»»"

79274

CSO: 3400/740

29
ETHIOPIA

MENGISTU ON AGRICULTURE, FOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCY

EA121111 Addis Ababa Domestic Service in Amharic 1715 GMT 8 Jan 87

["Full Text" of "Revolutionary Directives" given by Mengistu Haile Mariam,

secretary general of the WPE Central Committee, chairman of the PMAC and

commander in chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, at the close of the

national seminar on implementing the food self-sufficiency plan during the

3-year plan; date, place not given—live or recorded]

[Text] Comrades,, as you all know, food shortages caused by the successive

droughts that hit our country have caused very great loss in life and property

to our compatriots. The suffering caused by the drought cannot be calculated

in figures" like material damage, but it has inflicted a great scar on our

history, and the morale and pride of our people. Damage caused by natural

disaster is usually viewed in terms of development, but in our case, it is

seen in terms of the very survival of the development path we are following.

For this reason, it can be said that self-sufficiency in food supply is a

question not only of the economy, but of changing ugly history, renewing

the pride of compatriots and guaranteeing the revolution's future progress.

The main objective of the program we formulated for self-sufficiency in food

supply is to achieve a stage of development whereby compatriots will not be

exposed to disaster caused by famine. This is the desire and belief of every

true citizen. We realize that to achieve this development stage, which is

the expectation of all our compatriots, demands a long-term and tireless

struggle with nature. Today, in this historic hall, as we pledge to implement this action plan, I am confident that we do so with determination to

make all necessary sacrifices to solve our country's food shortage problem

once and for all, and to create reserves for any eventuality. [applause]

All of you present in this hall who have made this historic pledge have been

at the front line of development and made us victorious many times in the past.

We are confident that you will make our country victorious in this bitter

struggle we are waging to tame nature. [applause]

Comrades, our objective is to free our country from its backwardness to reach

a higher stage of development, and change the current ugly situation. For our

objective to become reality, we must understand very well not only what caused

the present situation, but also when we analyze our present economic situation,

30
in particular the agricultural sector, it is not difficult to see that^we are

facing basic problems that need great attention from all our compatrxots By

any standards the agricultural sector of the economy,1s. at a very lowestage of

development For this reason, [words indistinct] very low stage of development For^his reason, even during the years of favorable climatic, conditions,

agricultural food production could not fully satisfy our compatriots' needs,

and during any of these years there was a food grain shortage of about 5-6

million quintals.

This is only in relation to the present low standards of living. If an improvement in living standards is taken into consideration, the shortage will be much

greater. If the FAQ [Food and Agriculture Organization] standard of 2 000

calories per person per day is applied to the present population, it is esti

mated that there will be a minimum shortage of about 15. million quintals In

Edition to this, the population of our country ^^^^^^^

are that our population is increasing by a minimum of 1 million annually. To

mention that the present population of 42 million was 22 million 20 years ago

indicates the high annual rate of increase. It is thus estimated that the

population will rise to 67 million during the next 20 years.

The question is, what hope is there for our future if food supply and agri-^

cultural produce in general does not increase at a higher rate than population?

This is a basic question that should be seriously considered by every compatriot.

Even though the struggle to satisfy our food needs is emphasized in our plans

and activities, our development objectives due to the present situation, demand the expansion and strengthening of other production services. In addition

to food, the growth of industries that produce, cloth, shoes,: shelter, medicine

and the like, in short goods that are necessary for the improvement of a

society's living standard should be expedited. Moreover, our objective of

bringing our country to a higher stage of development will never become a

reality unless preceded by industrial growth.

In particular, it should not be forgotten that in the current world economic

situation, rapid social development is rapid industrial development. The

agricultural sector of the economy, which is the livelihood of the majority

of our people, can reach a stage of high social production only if supported

by industrial growth. On the other hand, construction of industries that form

the bases for the country's rapid economic growth can only be expanded if

development of the agricultural sector of the economy is expedited and provides

the necessary raw materials, foreign exchange and market support.

As we see from this, both the improvement of the living standards of the

working people and the rapid economic growth of the country depend on the

growth of the agricultural sector of the economy, which has a very important

place in the economy. Thus, in our current stage of development, the rapid

growth.of the agricultural sector can also be said to be the progress of the

revolution. It is not a new conclusion or a strategy we arrived at recently

that the agricultural sector is a base for our development. As we have said

from the beginning, we must give necessary attention to development of the

agricultural sector in all development plans over the years. In regard to

organization, the administration of agricultural development, which was under

31
one ministry in the past, is today organized under three ministries, one

commission and many corporations.

The capital budget allocated to agricultural development has been growing every

year. During the year 1986-87, the development budget for .agriculture allocated through the Ministries of Agriculture, State Farms and Coffee and Tea

Development and the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission reached 1.8 billion

birr. This shows a growth compared with that of 1979/80 of 120 percent.

As for manpower training, during the course of our revolution, the training of

agricultural workers was given more attention than any other field of education.

The number of agricultural workers locally trained at higher and intermediate

level is more than 1,000 annually. Most of those sent abroad for education

every year are sent for training in agriculture. As for improving the knowledge

of the peasants themselves, in addition to the famous Agarfa Comprehensive

Farmer Training Institute, many farmer training centers have been established

in various regions by the Ministry of Agriculture and Education.

Efforts made to expand transport, education, health, drinking water and like

services in Rural Ethiopia during the past years are also directly or indirectly

contributing to the rapid development of agriculture.

Even though great priority was given to speeding up agricultural development,

as I pointed out earlier, the result was not satisfactory. In fact, viewed

in the long term, agricultural production is showing a declining trend. At

this point it is necessary to ask why agricultural development is not moving at

the speed we wanted. We must ask whether it was because the attention we have

given was not commensurate with the size of the sector, or was there, a mistake

in strategy. Or was it due to weakness in implementation that the growth in

agricultural production was not rapid? Unless we answer these questions

properly we cannot be sure of fruitful results in our future development plans.

Dear comrades, as we review the problems that led to decreased production in

the agricultural sector, it is worth mentioning that in most highland and

plateau areas of the country, natural agricultural potential has been eroded.

As you know, at this particular time, 85 percent of the population live in

only just over 45 percent of the country's total area, that is the highland

and plateau areas. In our country, 95 percent of our agricultural production

and 75 percent of our livestock are concentrated in these highland and plateau

areas. In these areas, farming has been carried on for many years. The increase in population has led to the clearing of forests and encroachment on

hillsides for agricultural purposes.

As a result, great soil erosion has been inevitable in many areas and the

productivity of the land has deteriorated. According to studies carried out

recently, 27 million hectares of alnd in the highland and plateau areas are

exposed to soil erosion. Out of this total, 14 million hectares of land are

greatly eroded, while 2 million hectares are completely eroded and the terrain

is completely stony.

The areas that have been worst affected by recurrent drought and where soil

has been heavily eroded are Eritrea, Tigray, Welo and northern Shewa regions.

32
Most Ethiopian peasants have to work under these conditions. It was not

possible to assist these peasants because we have not yet developed agricultural

management skills, based on research, to cater for the areas where natural resources have been exploited. On the other hand, while there is a great need

for input, to achieve increased production in areas where natural resources

have been exploited, the efforts made so far as insignificant compared to the

magnitude of the problem. They are also minimal compared to other countries

that are at the same stage of development as our country.

It is important to mention some figures so that we can understand the situation

clearly. The farm implements used by the peasantry today are very primitive

and there are not even enough of them. Recent studies showed that 38 percent

of our peasantry have no oxen for plowing, 32 percent have one ox, 25 percent

have a pair of oxen and 5 percent have two pairs of oxen. Similarly, the

possession of other facilities by the peasantry is minimal.

As with farming implements, the number of peasants who cannot get enough seed

grain is high. As we see from this situation, the number of peasants who use

modern agricultural machinery is very small. It is difficult to say that there

are peasants who use tractors. Only two percent of the entire peasantry uses

selected seeds. The use of fertilizers is less than 10 kg per hectare. Pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and animals are not distributed to the peasantry

in sufficient quantity.

Transportation and storage facilities used by the peasantry are very primitive.

This results in wastage of produce. As we know from the experience of economically developed countries, the development of agriculture is based on research.

In view of the very weak situation we are in this is the basic problem besetting

agricultural development. Only when research is expanded, can one identify the

characteristics of soil resources, select seeds suitable for different areas

and draw up agricultural strategies appropriate for different crops and areas.

One major obstacle is that Ethiopian agricultural development is not supported

by proper research. The little research now available is not distributed to

the peasantry adequately and this is another weakness. Above all, our greatest

weakness is our inability to make porper use of existing, conventional technology, work in a disciplined fashion or produce what can be produced.

Advisory services by development workers and extension services must be

supplied if the peasantry are to produce in a disciplined fashion. Consequently, great efforts were made in previous years to produce agricultural experts

in large numbers, but still the number of development workers is small when

compared with the size of the peasantry. Therefore, they have not been able

to change traditional farming methods rapidly. Besides, most agricultural

experts are engaged in administrative tasks.

So we cannot say that we have fully used the experts that we have produced.

The discipline of the peasantry and the experts engaged in agriculture is not

compatible without desire to change the agricultural sector, at least in a

short period of time. The main obstacles to agricultural development are the

scattered and dilapidated farms of the peasantry, the peasants' inability to

plan their activities and their total dependence on nature. These are problems that must be mentioned.

33
The conclusion we draw from the magnitude and characteristics of the problems

that have curbed the development of the agricultural sector is that we need to

do much more than ever before to give agriculture the utmost attention and to

make great efforts to transform agriculture and bring it to an advanced stage.

It is a fact that the support we have given to the agricultural sector is

immense when compared to the situation we inherited. We should be satisfied

with what we have done. However, it has become obvious that the rapid transformation of the agricultural sector necessitates greater capital, manpower

and facilities than we have used up to now. Furthermore, earlier strategies

drawn up for the development of the countryside were not based on the need to

generate increased production in a short space of time. Therefore, we had to

concentrate on securing expensive agricultural input, purchased with foreign

currency, in order to increase agricultural productivity. It was not right to

concentrate exclusively on technological products purchased with foreign

currency at a time when we had no developed mining or industrial sector to

provide the technological necessities of agriculture.

As a result, the services supplied were incompatible with the needs of the

peasantry. The concentration on the agricultural input imported in this manner

became an obstacle to the efforts to make the peasants capable of applying technology. Due to this and other reasons, the productivity of the agricultural

sector remained low and when the climatic conditions changed the majority of the

population was exposed to famine, forced to beg and to receive aid in order to

save our lives and consequently ridiculed by our enemies. This will never

happen again.

Dear comrades: We realize that the obstacles facing our efforts to promote

the development of the agricultural sector and solve our basic problems are

immense and complex. The present situation however, is not one in which the

scope for future agricultural development is hopeless or devoid of options.

On the contrary, we have a great, broad and reliable opportunity, provided we

lay down a correct development strategy and give full support to its implementation, thereby rapidly boosting agricultural productivity.

In spite of the fact that the highlands and plateaus of our country are

densely populated and their natural resources over-exploited, our country

today still possesses vast areas of virgin land, particularly in the lowlands,

where there are vast, uninhabited valleys suitable for large-scale agricultural

development. In these valleys there is a total of about 67 million hectares

that could be developed^ Out of a total of 3 million hectares in the country

to be developed by means of irrigation. Ninety percent lies in this area. It

is true that a great deal of work is required—as opposed to on the highlands

and plateaus—to extend services such as health, water and others in order to

create more suitable living conditions there. In most areas, it is necessary

to install and expand road infrastructures and other communications facilities,

but since those areas have reliable rainfall for crop production, the need for

applying such measures for their utilization is unquestionable.

It is known that of the countrys' total manpower, 85 percent is engaged in the

agricultural sector. Of the total area developed so far, 6 million hectares

have been used for food crop production. Correct average production from this

immense manpower and vast area of land is nine quintals per hectare. In the

34
economically developed countries, the average yield per hectare is 20 quintals,

which demonstrates the effectiveness of technological change. It also indicates

that the struggle to improve our agricultural facilities and output will be

great.

Dear comrades: The 1987-89 food self-sufficiency action plan envisages increasing the yield of the existing agricultural lands and also developing new areas.

Viewed from this angle, the action plan is no different from the programs we

worked out earlier to increase agricultural productivity. Basically, increasing agricultural output requires the development of additional lands and raising

the field of the existing farms. In this respect, there should be no difference.

The only ways in which the food self-sufficiency action plan differs from the

earlier programs consist in the overall emphasis applied to the plan and the

much greater capital allocated to agricultural development during the period

of the 1987-89 plan. Accordingly, about 2 billion birr has been allocated to

agricultural development for the coming 3 years. On the other hand, strategies

to promote basic changes have been set in light of the action plans* priority

tasks of increasing productivity and the lessons we have learned from weaknesses

in the implementation process. The food self-sufficiency action plan is based

on the emphasis given to specific surplus-producing areas to enable the program

to register higher results in a short period of time.

It must be clear that above all we expect a high standard of working discipline

from the peasant in order to increase the productivity of [word indistinct].

As I tried to explain earlier, it is hard to say that our struggle in this

field during the past years has been satisfactory, [sentence indistinct] In

spite of the fact that today we do not clearly know what these [word indistinct]

it is certain that undiscipline at work has reached alarming proportions in

rural Ethiopia. The standard of farm management peasants in various areas is

clearly indicative of lax discipline at work. Moreover the area of uncultivated

land is increasing every year [words indistinct]. Although there are various

reasons for land not being cultivated, the growing extent of its indicates that

indiscipline at work is the main cause. [sentence as received]

It must be stressed that in a country repeatedly hit by food shortages a very

high standard of work is expected from our farmers. Agriculture being the

foundation of our general economic development, all land holders must realize

that the timing of its cultivation cannot be set according to their personal

wishes. The holding of land also includes the obligation to work and I do not

think it is questionable that in our present situation more emphasis must be

given to that obligation. It is clear to everyone that to free our society,

including the peasants, from the present backwardness, even 8 hours work a day

is not enough. In this society, failure to fulfill these 8 hours of work in

any sector—which we laid down by law—cannot be seen as other than a crime.

In order to implement the action plan rapidly to become self-sufficient in

food, peasants' associations and party and government organs at various levels

must ensure that the peasants are fully devoting their energies to agricultural

work.

In our struggle to increase agricultural productivity a very heavy responsibility, not less than that of the peasants, rests on agricultural experts.

35
In fact, to transform the nature of the agricultural sector of our economy,

the introduction of new agricultural methods as well as a positive attitude to

hard work is decisive. Action by agricultural experts in preparing the peasants

for work both morally and with technical knowledge is decisive to the success

of our food self-sufficiency action plan.

Inasmuch as we must learn from past experience to change the future, we take

this opportunity to make a correct assessment of the role of our agricultural

experts. In agriculture, as in any other profession, there is participation

in research, training and administration, but the main duty agricultural experts

must perform consists of providing the peasants with extension services.

Inasmuch as our country is generally a peasant country. As I tried to explain

earlier, enriching the peasants' technical knowledge by introducing him to

modern scientific and technological methods to enable him to increase productivity is therefore a very important service. As in the case of every

developing country, the number of peasants in ours is large, so the provision

of agricultural extension services to promote agricultural growth is very

important. The deployment and services of agricultural experts in any

developing country should therefore reflect this fact.

To clarify the situation further it is worth mentioning some comparative

figures. Five percent of agricultural experts in Africa are engaged in administration, while 6 percent undertake technical support work such as research,

training and so forth. This shows that the proportion of those who provide

direct services to the peasant in agricultural development stands at 89 percent.

In Asia, of the total number of agricultural experts, 9 percent are in administration, 6 percent in the technical field and 85 percent are working on agricultural development. The situation in Latin America is about the same. In

the developed countries, the number of agricultural experts is shigher, but the

proportional deployment of the experts is no different from that in the

developing countries.

Accordingly, European statistics indicate that of the total number of their

agricultural experts, 13 percent are in administration, 18 percent in the

technical field and 75 percent in direct agricultural work.

But holding our own case in light of those statistics we find that 39 percent

of agricultural experts are in administration, 43 percent in technical work but

only 18 percent in direct agricultural development. In fact, in our case the

majority of those in administration of agriculture are not agricultural experts.

But even if they are not professional agricultural experts it is clear that at

least from the budgetary point of view, the administration is unnecessarily

over-staffed. Those in the technical field are involved in work closely related

to their profession, so we may take comfort in that. However, compared to

Africa and Asia, the number of our experts deployed in this field is sevenfold.

Compared with Latin America it is threefold, from which it is clear that no

proper and fruitful use is being made of our experts.

Moreover, a weakness that should not be ignored is that only 18 percent of our

agriculture experts are directly participating in agricultural development.

If we are determined to promote the growth of the agricultural sector of our

36
economy with particular reference to soon becoming self-sufficient in food,

there is no doubt that we will have to change the present deployment and use

of experts. We certainly know that there is no comfortable living in today's

rural Ethiopia, so we realize that our agricultural and other experts deployed

in the rural areas are not living comfortably. Comrades, who can change the

present uncomfortable situation for us? Who will take our place and make the

sacrifices needed to promote our country's social development? [word indistinct]

[applause] .

In the previous years, our main emphasis was to ensure that all services and

development efforts were distributed equally in all areas. Our agricultural

development efforts were based on the same policy. It was correct and is to

be pursued in the future, while being viewed from different angles, because

the problems we have encountered over food crops have been such that in order

to solve them rapidly, we have to adopt a different approach.

The maintenance of equal distribution of [words indistinct] to the population

hit by recurrent famine is the second question. The basic question is ensuring a sufficiency of food crops in the country. Whichever way you look at it,

if there is enough food in the country, our citizens cannot be affected by

food shortages or famine. Acting on this premise, it is appropriate to concentrate our limited manpower, capital and facilities in areas identified for

their productivity to enable us to soon become self-sufficient in food.

Accordingly, 182 surplus grain-producing districts have been identified as

being ideal form the points of view of their soil fertility, climate, regular

and reliable annual rainfall, the discipline of the peasants, strength of the

producers and service cooperatives and other criteria. The agricultural

development program applying to the coming 3 years for food self-sufficiency

will focus on these districts. Extension services, fertilizers, selected

seeds, processing machinery and other input to assist agricultural production

as a whole will therefore be deployed in areas.

It is true that due to our limited resources, it might not be possible to

launch the program in all of these districts in a single year, but the program

will be launched this year in 148 of the districts known for their grain productivity. The 3-year plan period will embrace all the districts and [words

indistinct] additional areas. It will be incorporated every year. The main

focus of the agricultural development launched in the [words indistinct] districts will be on raising productivity using existing resources without

incurring further expenditure. The program differs from the usual agricultural

development efforts in that it will apply this strategy in order to raise productivity.

In my opinion, it is important to examine to some extent the basic facts behind this strategy so that we can arrive at a clear understanding of the

genuine motive behind it. It is known that our present economic situation is

such that we have no developed sector capable of supporting or increasing our

foreign currency earnings to enable us to purchase technological products.

Our reason for giving priority attention to the development of agriculture is

to enable us to purchase the technological products we need to effect our overall economic progress.

37
Under such circumstances, the question must be raised of how to raise money if

the development of agriculture itself is to be based on production services

requiring greater foreign exchange expenditure. It is also important to consider ways or identify sources able to cater to the fulfillment of technological requirements to effect the development of other sectors of the economy.

Apart from the basic financial question, it must be realized that the expected

volume of production through the proper utilization of our available resources

is very great.

The problem of waste affecting activities ranging from farm land preparating

to storage due to failure to take corrective steps in time and other weaknesses

in working systems, handling and management has become immense. It is believed

that the peasants' productivity could increase by a minimum of 20 percent if

refined seeds are used. It is also known that thorough and timely weeding can

result in a productivity increase of 15 percent. In general, it is believed

that agricultural productivity could be increased by a minimum of 50 percent

by correcting mistakes made in the production, transport and storage processes

and by taking care of the working system. Under favorable climatic conditions,

an additional production of 30 million quintals could be realized every year.

In our situation, if we could bring about a 20 percent rise in productivity,

let alone 50 percent, we could obtain 15 million quintals of additional produce. This alone would, to a large extent, enable us to make good the shortage

of food crops.

In this context, bringing about increased productivity on the existing farms

is neither an ambitious nor an impractical change. It is a form of change

achieved by countries that are economically advanced. Agricultural research

conducted at every stage of development seeks to devise strategies toward

achieving increased productivity by overcoming the weaknesses mentioned above,

such as waste.

Several examples of the historical development of countries that have achieved

economic progress can be cited. If we take the example of India, which was in

the same situation as we are in 20 or 30 years ago, it will help us to understand things more clearly. In India, in the sixties, waste of agricultural

produce lost to pests and in the course of the transport and storage processes

was 80 percent of the total production. It has been learned that they have

increased their agricultural productivity by 60 percent by setting up improved

storage facilities and transport means and by other measures to prevent waste.

Several other examples can be mentioned testifying to the concrete and economic

nature of such a strategy.

To bring about such a change in our country, every peasant, every peasants'^

association, every production district must launch a special work campaign in

this context. To make the campaign a success, every peasant must have a work

plan to fulfill. From now on, we must lay down in our plans when a peasant

can rest, plow, week, mow and harvest. We must at least make assessments of

how much additional produce could be acquired from every peasant. Like all

basic plans, every section must assess the peasants' plan implementation and

devise a system under which the successful could be awarded and the negligent

questioned.

38
As we have tried to point out on various occasions, this is one of the situations that doubles the responsibilities of this generation. All of us [word

indistinct] that our country gets rid of backwardness at once and [word

indistinct] from this revolutionary generation and particularly the educated

Ethiopians. But unless we are prepared to fully;shoulder responsibility we

are charged with by virtue of our country's stage of development, we will be

in a serious state of contradiction or it will be only [word indistinct].

I take this opportunity to strongly appeal that we struggle to free ourselves

and our people from these problems, [applause] Based on this understanding,

the provision of strong extension services constitutes the, primary [word

indistinct] being considered for the implementation of the food self-sufficiency

action plan. Under present conditions, 2,500 peasants are served by one agricultural development worker. Under such circumstances it is difficult to

achieve the kind of productivity changes mentioned earlier. We have therefore

planned to create a situation in which one agricultural development worker

will serve 800 peasants in [words indistinct] districts. Accordingly efforts

made to provide one development worker for every 1,300 peasants this year cannot

be ignored. For its part, the revolutionary government plans to take steps to

enhance the contribution of agricultural experts in rural Ethiopia. As mentioned earlier, one of these is that promotions, pay raises and candidacy or

selection for higher education will be based on contributions made to change

the productivity of peasants in the area, [applause] After the necessary

studies on implementation have been made the matter will be immediately implemented, [applause]

Dear comrades, in increasing agricultural produce the need for providing

fertilizers, high quality seed, pesticides and modern agricultural equipment

cannot be ignored. The budget allocated to provide these services during the

3-year plan is therefore very high. During this year alone, 108 million

quintals of fertilizer were purchased, which, when compared with last year,

shows an increase of 55 percent.

Regarding pesticides, purchases for the year 1986/87 were higher than at any

other time. Regarding local harvest of high grade seed for the year 1986-87,

these were higher than usual, but it has also been planned to import seed in

large quantities. When so much support is being given by the government to

agricultural development, it is very important to focus on and correct existing mistakes on the part of peasants and experts in making use of this support

so that we can fully benefit from it.

So far, we have learned from research that due to the limited knowledge of the

peasants, the expensive production equipment we have bought is not increasing

production as expected. For this reason, in addition to teaching the peasants

how to use this equipment, the extension workers must ensure that necessary

care is taken to ensure maximum production. In order to overcome the serious

shortage of production equipment suffered by the peasants, the government has

formulated a wide-ranging program to provide draft oxen. However, due to our

limited resources, it is clear that we cannot fully respond to the demands of

the peasants. For this reason, within a short space of time, we must extend

methods like plowing by horse or ox. If all this does not succeed, as it is

39
impossible to live without food, we must ensure that everyone works in groups

using manual tools to increase food production. [applause]

In addition to this, as we have pointed out on several occasions, steps will be

taken to enable the rapid growth of agricultural production, expand research

institutions, lay the basic development infrastructures in rural areas and

start production specialization [preceding word in English] to solve the

peasants' technological problems. In particular, I do not think we can overemphasize the need to start production specialization. As is known in the

capitalist and socialist world, the development of agriculture in each region

should focus on crops more suitable for the country's climate.

Initially a regional focus will enable research and agricultural development

workers and the peasants themselves to concentrate on certain crops and will

create a favorable situation. The selection and use of equipment will also be

more economical once production specialization has begun. Following selection

of areas for food supply, self-sufficiency strategies will be formulated tor

the implementation of production specialization. Production specialization

will focus on crops with maximum yield per hectare and will enable us to solve

our present food supply problems. Another issue to be considered along with

efforts to increase agricultural productivity is to provide means for collecting and storing the harvest.

I cannot even say that our plan as far as this is concerned is complete. As

I have tried to point out earlier, the peasants are facing serious difficulties

in transporting and storing their produce. On top of this, as we are

strengthening measures to increase productivity, the question of modern transport and storage will become more significant. For this reason better storage

transport technologies within the peasants' means that can [word indistinct]

production and that can be expanded should be identified and implemented

immediately.

In order to increase agricultural productivity, next year in particular we

must attend to solving the peasants' technological problems concerning plowing,

harvesting and threshing. The main question in this regard is the introduction

of technologies within the means of our country's peasants. Very useful results

have been achieved in this respect in agricultural research centers over the

years. However, none of them have reached the stage of being used on a large

scale and imparted to the peasants. Our industrial sector has continued [word

indistinct] to produce in terms of quality and quantity and provide the peasants

with technologies that will assist them in plowing, harvesting, threshing and

collecting various crops during the 3-year plan.

As this is the way that industry can support the growth of agricultural productivity, we are confident that Ethiopian workers will give special attention

to the completion of projects particularly intended to support the present.

As we are preparing to increase agricultural production, we should never forget

the Importance of extending irrigation in order to gradually free agriculture

from dependence on nature. In particular, for we who have been repeatedly

affected by drought. I do not think further explanations are needed on the

necessity to extend irrigation. The important and basic fact we must emphasize

at this stage is to appreciate the importance of extending irrigation at a very

40
high cost and technology as in the other services we have mentioned. Taking

into account experiences in China, the DPRK, India and the early years of the

USSR, the participation of peasants in the extension of irrigation is fundamental. For this reason, the strategies we follow in this regard should focus

on coordinating the labor of the peasants, the use of simple manual tools, time

and other factors. In line with this, if each of us considers what we can do

within our area, we can expand irrigation services in the same way as we were

able to gather peasants into villages within a short time. However, efforts

in every area should be planned with care in a way that should not have unnecessary effects on the ecology or climate of the area. In addition, care should

be taken that when peasants of a certain area dam a river, it should not cause

problems to others downstream. We do not believe that these problems are out

of hand or out of the control of the party and government organs and agricultural

experts in various areas. [words indistinct]

Our action plan for food supply self-sufficiency will also include the development of additional land. In line with this during the plan years it is intended

to develop additional land through resettlement, [word indistinct] and state

farms. The majority of land [word indistinct] on both sides are found in the

lowlands of the country, therefore it is clear that basic development should be

expanded and strengthened.

It is known that compared to the highlands, these lands are hot. For this

reason, it cannot be denied that there are some problems that are not significant in the highlands of our country. In order to satisfy our people's demand

for food which is increasing every year while agricultural productivity is

declining, we have to be prepared to develop the lowlands.

Dear comrades, it is clear that the problem we are facing today in the agricultural sector of the economy in a way are the result of the small size of

peasant farms [words indistinct]. For this reason, to fully benefit from

programs and services intended to increase productivity, peasant farms should

be of an economically viable size. Programs intended to increase productivity

by means of old or modern technology can never be accomplished through the

efforts of scattered individual peasants, as can be seen today. Technology

that increases productivity can never achieve economic results on scattered

small farms. To plan the growth of agricultural productivity, to start production specialization, to expand irrigation and to provide other services

that will free agriculture from backwardness, the settlement of the peasants

into villages is crucial. If we consider the experience of capitalist and

socialist countries, although the means and considerations are different, food

production and development are the results of large-scale farms.

Therefore, the program we have formulated to fulfill our food needs and to

increase agricultural production in general, together with technological change,

should result in changes with regard to the structure of agricultural production

or a change in production relations. The tools of production we see in the

rural areas today [passage indistinct]. The producers cooperative associations

we have established in [words indistinct] Harerghe and Bale are tangible proof

of the economic advantages of organizing producers cooperative associations,

[applause].

41
As shown by our practical experience, the setting up of producers cooperative

associations is not too difficult. Collectivization is carried out with the

total consent of the farmer. Maybe it is due to the care we have taken in this

sphere, but the only problem we currently face is that we have not been able

to meet the farmers wish to be collectivized. <

In particular, the Rare-Chilalo producers cooperative association we visited in

Harerghe region recently is one that should be cited as an ideal example,

[applause] The associations' current production per hectare is 36 quintals for

wheat and over 50 quintals for corn. Next year, the association plans to increase corn production to 75 quintals and wheat to 40 quintals. In addition to

the capital exapnded by numerous producers cooperatives and the produce they

share, the annual income of individuals has risen to 4,000 birr.

In pre-revolutionary Ethiopia, over 80 percent of the peasants, those with

limited strips of farm land and those farmers considered to have been earning

a good income each earned an average of 150 birr. We must state here that

today, no effort whatsoever is being made to supplement the income of producers

cooperative associations. In other words, no special support is being given.

Today, we can only pinpoint the correct direction of development, otherwide we

have not reached the level where we can supplement the farmers' income, as some

people think we are doing. It is a fact that associations are given priority

in the provision of fertilizers and hybrids. As the provision of these

utilities exceeds the demand of collectivized farmers, many other hundreds of

thousands of farmers are benefitting from these technological products. Hence,

the changes that we are seeing in the rise of the incomes of producers cooperative associations is the result of thorough socialist work discipline through

the coordination of labor and tools, and through mutual care and support.

It must be appreciated that the plan to accelerate the growth of the agricultural sector is in general part of our coordinated rural development program

to change the face of rural Ethiopia. Therefore, in order for our ongoing program to achieve self-sufficiency in food, it should be correlated with our

efforts to settle the farmers in villages. The facilities necessary for the

accelerated growth of agriculture can easily be provided and the farmer can

lead a fulfilled life when he is collectivized. Therefore, in the coming years

we must focus our attention on the program drawn up in this sphere. I have

tried to explain the main [word indistinct] spheres of the program we have

drawn up to free our country from the shortages of food from which our country

has repeatedly suffered.

According to the content of our program, although the problems we have to overcome are difficult, I hope you have realized that we have a good chance of

winning. [applause] I think all of us believe that productivity can be increased substantially by working in a disciplined and punctual manner and by

controlling waste. [word indistinct] the revolutionary government will give

priority to providing ample production assistance to the farmer. If the

climatic conditions next year are suitable, as in the current year, there will

be no reason why we cannot double agricultural production. Therefore, we must

rise to the occasion. The decisive factor for the success of this plan is

above all the active participation and working spirit of the farmers and

agricultural experts.

42
For my part, I did not find it hard to ask for sacrifice in a country where

the lives of thousands of people have been lost due to food shortages. Hence,

in order to permanently eradicate this problem which has been with us for a

long time, we cannot, comrades, shy away from this responsibility if it requires not only 8 but 10 or 12 hours of work, [applause] It is clear to all

of us that we are the only ones who can eradicate the scourge of hunger, which

has resulted in the death of thousands of our coountry's compatriots. We can

get assistance from abroad. In fact, there are some forces that have assisted

us in our ongoing struggle to eradicate backwardness and in our humanitarian

efforts. We must join hands and rise to the occasion, since no other force can

be humiliated as much as ourselves by the stain on the dignity of our country

from the disaster that struck our citizens due to the shortage of food,

[applause]

The banner of the party that you have received today is a symbol painted.red

with the blood of combatants who have been martyred to build a socialist mother

Ethiopia free from exploitation, oppression, hunger, ignorance and lack of

clothing and the banner rests on their bones. I hope this banner reminds you

that there are still compatriots who are making the ultimate sacrifice expected

of many to create a better world for our citizens. [applause] Let us all join

together to make the required sacrifice in the ongoing struggle to change the

current unfavorable aspects in our country. This is the aim of this banner and

of those who died for it.

Comrades, death from starvation is a death uglier than all other deaths, much

uglier. Above all, it is a death beyond death, leaving a legacy of dependence

and begging for the coming generation. We have no alternative to fulfilling

our patriotic and historic responsibility other than to work hard. So please

let us work, let us work, work, work. [lengthy applause]

/8918

CSO: 3400/738

43
ETHIOPIA

COMMITTEE TO TACKLE DRINKING WATER SHORTAGE

Addis Ababa THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD in English 19 Dec 86 p 1

[Text]

ASMARA (ENA) — A committee

was set up here Wednesday to devise

ways of alleviating and permanently

solving the shortage of drinking water

in Asmara, caused due to the inadequate rainfall during the rainy season.

The committee, set up dming a

meeting which extensively deliberated

on urgent measures that ; should be

taken to tackle the crisis, is charged

with devising short and long-term

plans to solve the problem, seeking

ways of properly utilizing the available

water and checking the sanitation of

water distributed to the people by in-

. dividuals, enhancing of digging water

wells and speeding up the construction of a near by dam.

The committee, chaired by Comrade

Tefera Wonde, member of the CC of

the WPE and First Secretary of the

WPE Committee for Eritrea region

Wednesday held its first meeting. .,

Comrade Tefera said on the occasion

that the committee, comprising members from various .organizations, was

entrusted with properly distributing

the available water to the people.

He also spoke of the role of the

planning office for the northern Ethiopia in speeding up the construction

work on the Adi Shaha Dam.

/12828

CSO: 3400/732

44
ETHIOPIA

SECOND GROUND STATION INSTALLED

Addis Ababa THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD in English 28 Dec 86 pp 1,. 2.

[Text]

(ENA)'"-- The second ground station of the Satellite Communication

Station at Sululta which is classed as

standard being installed by the Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority

in. its sixth development programme

will become .operational soon.

The first station established nine

years ago works with the satellite

over the Atlantic Ocean "which serves

112 countries who are members of .

INTELSAT. The services received

were, therefore, limited only to those

countries who use that satellite, a state,

ment by the Ethiopian .Telecommunication Authority said, pointing

out with ,/the completion of the new

satellite station, the scope of services

wiU be widened so as to function with

the INTELSAT satellite over the Indian Ocean.

Began in accordance with the agreement signed with the Japanese N.E.C.

company which won the bid on August

31, 1985, the construction of the second grounds station has been 99 per

cent complete and the quality of the

station has'been beyond what was expected.

With the new station, it would be

possible to . open direct 'links with

many countries. The new station has

a wide antena and high quality equipment, the statement said.

AddingJtjbat telephone, telex, T.V.

fascimile and data transmitting services will start and. be . expanded with

many countries .in the Far East and

Western Europe. .

/9274

CSO: 3400/740

45
ETHIOPIA

AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING PLANT OPERATIONAL

Addis Ababa THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD in English 25 Dec 86 p 6

[Text]

The establishment of an aircraft

manufacturing plant here could provide the basis for the development of

an aeronautical engineering in Ethiopia.

This remark was made by Comrade

Col. Taddele Mekuria, Director of

Agro-aircraft Manufacturing Plant,

under the Ethiopian Airlines, in an

interview with the Ethiopian Herald

yesterday. The director said the main

objective of the plant is to produce

aircraft for agricultural purposes to

satisfy domestic demand as well as

sale to other countries in Africa as it

is or seU farm spraying services. The

manufacture of this aircraft is going

to bring about a technology transfer

in the field of aviaition.

According to the director, the plant

has already turned out its first aircraft

which named it 'Eshet'. The assemblying of similar aircraft is under way at

the plant, which is located at Bole,

headquarters of Ethiopian Airlines.

Comrade Taddele stated that the

plant wUl be engaged in assembling

'Eshet' and will start marketing the

aircraft thereafter. He said production

of the aircraft will continue using imported raw materials adding that the

production of parts locally is planned

to start in four to five months' time.

He noted however, the plant will have

to manufacture small tools in order

to be able to produce detail or piece

. parts.

The Agro-aircraft .Manufacturing

Plant, which was set up at a cost of

11 million birr including its working >

capital, is completely relyiug for man-!

power pn existing resources of Ethiopian Airlines. Now serving in theV

plant are highly qualified technici-'

ans, that were selected, from the vari*|

ous specialized areas of the Ethiopian

Airlines, who were also sent abroad

for short-term familiarization training

course.

The'building housing the plant was

constructed at a cost of about 2.3 milHon birr.

There are 18 technicians and two

test pilots trained by the' ( Ethiopian

Airlines working in the plant. The

director said the pilots were provided

by Admas Air Services. The plant is

manned and run by an aU-Ethiopian

personnel.

Comrade Taddele stated that the

long-range aim of the plant is to build

46
/9274

CSOJ 3400/740

an aircraft per month, with an even«

tual projection of turning out around

120 aircraft within a 10-year period.'

The director stressed the production

of aircraft for aerial spraying will help

improve the productivity of the agricultural sector and protect crops against pests. He said this will allow the

country save valuable foreign exchange

earnings'that would have been spent

on the importation of such services

and equipment.

On the basis of an agreement concluded with die design owner, Ethiopian Airlines has the exclusive right

to sell and distribute the aircraft, and

give heavy maintenance services within the African continent. This right

equally applies to the manufacture" of

the aircraft as well.

The director said 'Eshct* is a one-j

seat aircraft and carries 1,500 litres

of spray chemicals. The engine is a

Pratt and Whitney turbo-prop and is

highly suited for Ethiopia's high and

hot environment. The Ethiopian Airlines has signed another agreement

with Pratt and 'Whitney-Canada, to

ensure a continuous supply of engines,

which are regarded as the latest products in engine technology. In professional terms it is known as 'state of

the art product', the director explained.

Comrade Col. Taddele expressed the

hope that Ethiopian Airlines could be

in a very competitive position and be

able to sell the aircraft in many parts

of-Africa. He said this is because there

are two factors working in its favour,

namely, low labour and having the

best product.

47
ETHIOPIA

BRIEFS

ACCORD WITH DPRK NEWS AGENCY—A 2-year agreement was signed today between the

Ethiopian News Agency and the DPRK News Agency. The agreement will enable

the two sides to exchange information and experiences, promote closer cooperation, and collaborate in training to produce competent media personnel.

[Summary] [Addis Ababa in Amharic to Neighboring Countries 1600 GMT 29 Dec 86

EA] /8918

CSO: 3400/738

48
GHANA

BRIEFS

TRAVELERS WARNED ON LIBYAN, CANADIAN ENTRY—-The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

has advised all prospective Ghanaian travelers to Libya to ensure that they

fulfill every condition for entry into that country. In a statement, the

ministry said the Libyan authorities have expressed concern about the high

rate of illegal entry into Libya by nationals of neighboring countries and

Ghana. Another statement from the ministry said Canadian immigration

authorities have included Ghana in the list of countries whose citizens

require a visitor's visa pass through Canada. It asked all Ghanaian

travelers wishing to pass through Canada for other destinations to obtain

transit visas which are issued by the Canadian mission in Accra at no cost.

[Text] [Accra Domestic Service in English 1300 GMT 3 Jan 87] /9599

CSO: 3400/732

49
GUINEA

SOVIET AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES AID

Conakry HOROYA in French 12 Nov 86 4p 8

[Interview with Vladimir Raevsky, Soviet Ambassador to Guinea, on

7 November 1986, on the occasion of the 69th anniversary of the

Socialist revolution of October, by HOROYA reporter Mamadou Saliou

Bälde; place not given; questions in French, answers in French]

[Excerpts] On Friday, 7 November 1986, the Soviet people celebrated

the 69th anniversary of the Socialistrevolution of October»

On the occasion of this historic event, our reporter Mamadou Saliou

Bälde met with His Excellency Vladimir Raevsky, the ambassador of the

Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics to Guinea, who granted him

the interview published below»

[Question] Mr Ambassador, would you give us a brief overview of

Soviet-Guinean cooperation since the accession of the Second Republic?

[Answer] Since the accession of the Second Republic, the Soviet Union

has granted (1984-1985) 141 million roubles as government credits, for

Guinean national economic development. These credits will be used

to prospect for natural resources, begin geological research,

implement some rural projects and develop fishing, construction and

housing. The Soviet Union is also supplying Guinea with free aid

through the delivery of food products, by financing the work of the

scientific center at Rogbane and the microbiology laboratory at Kindia.

Operating costs for the telex link between Conakry and Moscow,

deliveries of machines, tools, teaching materials and laboratory

equipment are also provided free of charge.

Soviet-Guinean cooperation in education is being carried on fruitfully.

Each year, the Soviet Union grants from 120 to 150 scholarships to

Guinean citizens for apprenticeships and advanced training in the

institutes and technical schools of the USSR. The Soviet Union provides

assistance for training of professionals in Guinea by sending

vocational and technical experts.

50
The volume of Soviet-Guinean trade has doubled in the last 3 years and

in 1985, it was over 140 million U.S„ dollars. Between 1984 and 1986,

we sent Guinea 2,500 vehicles, including the Zil, Gaz and Maz trucks

and the Uaz, Niva and Lada cars. They have a good reputation because

of their excellent technical and money saving features.

9479

CSO: 3419/24

51
GUINEA

ECONOMIC SITUATION SURVEYED

Paris LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE in French Nov 86 p 2

[Article by Nabi Toure, economist at the Credit Lyonnais in Paris]

[Text] Mr Nabi Toure, an economist with the Credit

Lyonnais in Paris, expressed an opposing view to

the article by Amadou Ouri Bah, "The National

Consensus is Crumbling in Guinea," [Paris

LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE July 1986]„

[„.„] Despite formidable difficulties, the government assisted by the

IMF has been implementing a new economic policy since late 1985. The

major goal is to restructure the economy for healthy, long-term growth.

This restructuring centers around the following strategic policies:

To reduce the enormous budget deficit of 12.3 billion GF [Guinean

francs], the government is applying pressure two ways: first, it is

reducing expenses by abolishing subsidies and reducing 30 percent of

the 84,000 civil service jobs; moreover, it is increasing revenues

by expanding the tax base. Taxes must be paid in order to vote and

that is part of the plan. Growth will do the rest.

In addition, price controls have been lifted to reflect more accurately

the balance between supply and demand for goods and services;

In monetary matters, the innovative option centers around a strong,

healthy currency« The syli, the symbol of incompetent, irresponsible

management, was steeply devalued (93 percent) and replaced by the

Guinean franc (1 Guinean franc equals 1 CFA franc or .02 French francs) .(,

There is a new currency to support a new economic strategy. What is

more logical'/

There is a major movement to privatize government-owned enterprises

which will lead to partial or total disinvestment by the government(...).

52
Although inadequate, the observable results are, on the whole,

satisfying. A rational approach is being introduced into budget

management. Procedures are being drawn up for legible accounting of

government accounts. Who will object to this'.' As a result of the

brutal abolition of subsidies and devaluation, prices increased an

average of 50 percent (automobile fuel and public transportation,

notably): this is the price to pay to regulate public finances.

Nevertheless, the negative impact of this shock treatment has been

largely blunted. Indeed, wages were raised 80 percent at one time.

Real buying power then increased an average of 30 percent. Of course,

this is inadequate, given the average wage level. However, increases

are planned. They are part of a timetable to avoid setting off an

inflationary spiral which would undermine the preliminary results

of the monetary policy. What cautionJ The new monetary policy is

showing remarkable vitality. The stability of the posted exchange

rate during the adjudications is an efficient indicator (...).

Industry and trade are also being revitalized, encouraged by a strong

incentive investment code. Already, the enterprises in these sectors

are being streamlined. Some 58 deficit companies were suspended or

liquidated; they were real epicenters of corruption and waste. Some

have been turned over to foreign investors (Audimard, Cocoa-Cola)

which give every guarantee of technological know-how and financial

reliability. Others are awaiting potential buyers (...).

In short, these first signs are encouraging. Barring adverse

circumstances and at the cost of strict discipline, we can be

optimistic about the future. Indeed, this optimism explains why the

traditional rescue workers of international finance, the IMF and IBRD

[International Bank for Reconstruction and Development] have agreed

to grant Guinea the financial means to the extent of its economic

ambitions: first, a stand-by loan of 33 million SDR [special drawing

rightsjand, second, a first adjustment credit of 42 million dollars

in 1986. This assistance will be backed up by 76 million dollars in

cofinancing approved by a group of countries under France's

leadership (...).

Although there are still no precise statistics, the following major

strategies still remain valid after 2 years. Through the combined

effects of consumption and investment, the gross national product

should increase at an annual rate somewhere around 20 to 25 percent

(catch up effect).

Increased tax revenues will result and the budget deficit will drop

sharply from 135 percent of the total revenues to around 13 percent.

The inflation rate will continue at a moderate level of 15 percent (..

This evaluation and the outlook show that economic recovery is well

underway. However, the program set up has some weaknesses. This

53
policy of economic recovery has not been presented clearly to the

Guineans, nor dynamically represented in international financial

circles (»»»)»

The industrial sector, the key to employment and investment, does not

have a credible plan or coherent structures» Currently, decisions

are made on the spot without a guiding framework. They are shortterm decisions. On the whole, the atmosphere is marked with political

interference in bad taste. The so-called "associates," these genuises

in corruption, act to support shady deals. The ministry is not showing

the necessary firmness when confronted with these larcenous imposters.

Will national interest be defended against these individual appetites?

We wonder» For this reason, we can wonder about the accuracy of

evaluations of enterprises that have been turned over or are for sale.

Moreover, there is no bank for economic development whose mission would

be to oversee the government's financial participation in the new

industrial, trade and agricultural enterprises» Such an organization

would be an effective instrument for the corrective intervention of

government and be a brake on the zigzags of free enterprise»

Farm products have not been promoted in foreign markets at a time

when the country has great need of foreign currency (»»»)»

9479

CSO: 3419/24

54
GUINEA

TRANSPORT WORKERS STRIKE

Dakar AFRIQUE NOUVELLE in French 5 Nov 86 pp 6-7

[Article by Sory Bälde: "A Change in Tone"]

[Text] "Do not mistake our indulgence for weakness."

*When he spoke these words, now repeated by all

Guineans, did Major Kerfalia Camara, the number

two man in government, announce a change in his

government's tone?

On 3 October 1986, the workers of SOGETRAG [Guinean Transportation

Company], a parastatal company linking the Guinean Government with

a French group in Renault management, went on strike. This was the

first under the Conakry government. It was also the first in a

company set up after the military took power.

The reason for the strike was an appeal to company management for

"improved working conditions and higher wages because of the high

cost of living in Conakry." The answer of SOGETRAG officials was

"You conductors and bus drivers earn more than doctors and any other

high ranking government officials." The reply of SOGETRAG employees

was, "We work while everyone knows that they do nothing."

The matter was turned over to the state secretariat for transportation

which informed the presidential cabinet. A first mediation effort

was attempted and failed. The government, which did not understand

the workers' grievances, sent commandos to take over the company's

headquarters where it had convened all personnel. The government

delegation, headed by Maj Kerfalla Camara and included Minister of

Information and Culture Zainoul A. Sanoussi who, it seems, likes to

be called the "black marabout of Conte" and State Secretary for

Transportation Babacar N'Diaye arrived with the verdict.

"We will not allow such things to occur again in our country....

We have too many problems to solve....Do not mistake our indulgence

for weakness....As of today, you are no longer employees of SOGETRAG.

55
The government has decided to fire you and strip you of all your rights

as Guinean citizens....Since you did not want to work, others will

take your place."

Thus, the 26 bus drivers and conductors of SOGETRAG were sacked and,

moreover, deprived of all their rights as Guinean citizens. The

government, according to its spokesman during this meeting, wanted

"this matter to be a lesson to all those tempted to protest."

Guinea, he continued, "is a government of law, where one may not

oppose the authorities just any way. If you want to protest, inform

us so that we can give you orders."

The SOGETRAG matter would have certainly ended happily if it had not

coincided with a political matter. For the past few weeks now, in

Conakry and the major cities of the country, a race against the

clock has been going on to arrest "the people who presented the CMRN

[Military Committee for National Redressment] and the government with a

request to set up a communist party."

It is widely rumored that the latter are members of an "apolitical"

movement, the MND [National Democratic Movement] which, with its

newspaper (LE PATRIOTE, banned for more than a year) and brochures

printed in France, had won over many Guineans.

Moreover, a little over a year ago, this movement reportedly met with

Lieutenant Baga Zoumanigui, state secretary for fishing, a principal

architect of the military's seizure of power on 3 April 1984, to ask

him "to do something to end the many contentions which hinder

national recovery»" Many officials, the military especially, were

contacted for this purpose. Even the entourage of the head of state

General Lansana Conte was sollicited on this movement's behalf.

The many clans fighting for power in Conakry are putting obstacles

in the MND's patho These clans too reportedly have connections

with the very passive, indeed nonexistent, Guinean opposition abroad.

That is where one finds' the reasons for all the impediments to the

country's recovery. More and more, we realize that ethnocentricity

is gaining ground, just from the fact that all cultural and social

associations, in which people talk only of politics, are none other

than regional and ethnic groupings. It was decided that the

situation had to end.

Major Barrou Diallo, minister of the interior and decentralization,

meeting in late October 1986 with administrative and tribal

officials of Conakry, took the opportunity to ban "all associations of

natives of, of residents of, for progress, etc". These organizations,

according to the Guinean minister of the interior, "have no objectives

which are compatible with the concerns of the government and the CMRN,"

56
The banned organizations did not conceal their surprise and

disappointment. The reason was that "if all groups and organizations

are banned, there is nothing left of the Committee to Support

President Conte."

Firmness is not Repression or Hardening of Position

Lansana Conte knows this well. In fact, the man in the street often

equates the current government with "Soussou power". The key posts

(Army, Information, Natural Resources, Flans and Cooperation, which

is in fact a super ministry of economy, finances and diplomacy) are

in Soussou hands« In each of these ministries, high ranking positions

are held by members of this tribe.

To complete the picture, the other ministers, the Feuls, the Malinkes

and the "forest people" do the same thing. These ministers have

quite simply chosen their primary associates among members of their

ethnic group, when it is not simply members of their family.

That certainly explains why the essence of President Conte's message

to the nation on 2 October 1986 on the 28th anniversary of the country's

independence dealt with national unity. On this matter, the generalpresident stressed that he would not "support any ethnic group against

another„"

He also refuted all charges that "all favors are reserved for the

SoUSSOUSo"

If nothing happened on 2 October 1986 "despite all the divergences

among the highest ranking leaders of the country," it is quite simply

because no one person really seems to be steering the Guinean ship.

The principal planners of the 3 April coup d'etat are Majors Mamadou

Bälde and Facinet Toure, removed from office on 22 December 1985

"because they worried President Conte," today they embarrass the

latter who realizes he cannot do without these two individuals who

are centers of movements like the "Committee for the Support of

President Conte.,"

The machinery has broken down in Conakry. Dismissals in the civil

service are under way. Inflation is increasing. The army, in power,

has decided to harden its tone to repress any revolt or protest. In

Conakry, people think that the Moroccan horses have not, as the wise

men have said, erased the memory of the elephant of Sekou Toure.

Will a hard-line era follow the "liberal" government of Guinea which

some nostalgic individuals compare to the iniquitous, dictatorial

government of the late President Sekou Toure?

Now that the CMRN has decided to take a hard line, we must hope that

the Conakry leaders do not confuse firmness and repression. After

26 years of this "time to be forgotten," there must not be a return

to square one. There must be dialogue everywhere.

9479 57

CSO: 3419/24
GUINEA

BRIEFS

DPRK PROJECT--(AGP) A 50-kilowatt hydroelectric power plant was

inaugurated last week at the "Kim II Sung" farming research center of

Kilissi (Kindia), located 147.km from Conakry,, This power plant is

the second and is added to a b3-kilowatt power plant which has been

in operation since November 1985. In addition to the electrification

of the center, these power plants will irrigate strips of land and

supply residential areas with drinking water. The engineering

projects were done by Guinean and Korean experts« Captain Thiana

Diallo, state secretary for water and forests, and Mr Alhassane Conde,

state secretary for decentralization, presided over the ceremony.

[Text] [Conakry HOROYA in French 12 Nov 86 p 4] 9479

CSO: 3419/24

58
NAMIBIA

SUCCESS OF SOUTH AFRICAN MULTI-PARTY ALLIANCE QUESTIONED

Windhoek DIE REPUBLIKEIN in Afrikaans 11 Nov 86 p 5

[Editorial: "Alliances"]

[Text] The announcement by the leader of the NRP [New Republic Party],

Mr Bill Sutton, that a multi-party alliance is going to be established in

South Africa, sounds at first hearing like a welcome renewal in a political

condition which has stagnated in violence.

The announcement by the NRP followed a meeting of its federal council.

Accordingly, contact will be made with leaders in all segments of the populace

who advocate the preservation of parliamentary democracy on the basis of free

enterprise. The NRP sees in the alliance an alternative to the general government crisis and national paralysis in the RSA. In the process of alliance

formation there will also be attempts made to bridge the petty differences

between the moderate parties.

Thus far the announcement.

The first danger signal which flashes is that the NRP has begun at the final

goal of such a political dispensation without the spadework having been done

in this difficult area. For a meaningful alliance is not inundated with

parties merely because of its announcement.

Indeed long before the possibility of an alliance appears on the political

horizon, an extended process of groundwork-laying must be done. It consists

of reciprocal liasing among parties to eventually arrive at a broad consensus

of thought. When this has been done first, the announcement of an alliance is

the end of one process and the beginning of a succeeding one. And with the

proper preliminary work, the ultimate announcement is not much more than a

mere formality.

To first announce an alliance and afterwards to begin recruiting in the public

square, can be a futile exercise. It is like beginning construction with the

roof.

59
—In the formation of such an alliance there cannot be such a thing as

first- and second-class parties. In the politics of SWA/Namibia, fronts

have disappeared when a single, strong political party wanted to determine

the rules of the game. At the same time an alliance bloomed here when there

was an equality of authority among the participants.

This progress also results trom logical consensus politics, and not from

formulas and plans which, together with many a newly-founded party, have

landed on the political ash heap.

—Least of all can such an alliance also be a life preserver or lifeboat for

a party or parties which find themselves in political stormy waters. If a

party is in trouble, it must extricate itself from it and then contribute to an

alliance. It cannot join an alliance in order to be rescued from the

embarrassment of its own disunity.

It must consequently be an honest and genuine attempt.

--Whenever such a course of alliance is undertaken, the participants must

prepare themselves for salvos of criticism from the left and from the right.

The extreme poles have already demonstrated in the politics of SWA/Namibia

that they do not fire at each other from the opposing lines, but both make the

stronger middle group their target.

In the politics of SWA/Namibia it is the absolute exception when the NP

[National Party] of SWA and SWAPO pitch into one another.

The cries of mutual respect as a prerequisite for such cooperation are

hollow. It is good, but if absolute equality of participants is not added to

it, then the attempt cart be prematurely terminated. No party wants to eat out

of another party's hand with mutual respect.

The mentality of the fat slave no longer will do in contemporary politics.

If the NRP has done its preliminary work well, we trust that it will succeed.

South Africa's politics needs a success.

13238/8309

CSO: 3401/68

60
NAMIBIA

PERSONNEL SHUFFLE INDICATIVE OF DISUNITY WITHIN NATIONAL PARTY

Windhoek DIE REPUBLIKEIN in Afrikaans 12 Nov 86 pp 1, 3

[Article by Des Erasmus: "Jannie de Wet to Cabinet"]

[Text] Mr Jannie de Wet is going to replace Counsel Eben van Zijl as the

NP-SWA [National Party of SWA] minister in the Transitional Government. The

leader, Mr Kosie Pretorius, will join the Constitutional Council [CC], and

Mr Frans van Zyl will leave the CC and again be assigned duties in the White EC

[Executive Committee].

The NP-SWA1s ultra-conservative coup had already come to light yesterday

evening in Windhoek after it had been announced officially earlier in the day

that Counsel van Zijl was relieved of his duties as NP-SWA minister and

negotiator in the Transitional Government. It was a foregone conclusion

yesterday evening that the NP-SWA was through with the Van Zijl/Zyl brothers

at the central government level—with the one as minister and with the other

as CC member.

The fact that Counsel van Zijl was cited by name in yesterday's statement by

party head Mr Kosie Pretorius indicates as urgency in the matter of announcing

his replacement. With painful precision Mr Pretorius categorically denied

yesterday evening that the other decisions had been made. His precision was

evident when he referred to confirmation by the party executive committee

which is necessary for such a thing—something which was apparently not

necessary in the case of Counsel van Zijl.

In his statement, Mr Pretorius only referred to the position of the NP-SWA's_

negotiating team which is being looked at. This could result in the ^constitution of the NP-SWA's team in the CC, the Transitional Government, and the

White EC. An announcement will be made about this in time.

In response to a question, Mr Pretorius told DIE REPUBLIKEIN yesterday evening

that the differences alluded to in his statement concerned, among other things,

education. "If it were in the public interest to name the other differences,

I would have included them in my statement."

61
When it was pointed out to him that there was an admission of differences but

that Counsel van Zijl could remain minister until the end of January,

Mr Pretorius said the differences would be able to be accommodated. "We have

integrity and mutual trust in the National Party—although you would not

understand that."

But the chasm of disunity within the NP-SWA apparently goes much deeper.

When it was pointed out to Mr Pretorius that Counsel van Zijl is surrounded in

the National Assembly by a group of like-minded persons within the NP-SWA, he

said it is precisely that which is probably the most important point. "If I

were the newspaperman, that would have been my first question."

13238/8309

CSO: 3401/68

62
NAMIBIA

SWAPO-D REJECTS PROFESSOR'S STUDY, CLAIMS GROWING SUPPORT

Windhoek DIE REPUBLIKEIN in Afrikaans 10 Nov 86 p 3

[Unattributed article: "SWAPO-D Disgusted With This Prof"]

[Text] Professor J.S. Malan of the University of the North is "an Afrikaner

liberalist who just crawled out of the apartheid cocoon;"

It is SWAPO-D [SWAPO-Democrat] that regards him as such in reference to his

article "Contemporary Politics in Ovamboland" in a paper of the Africa

Institute. Professor Malan maintains in the paper that SWAPO-D's support is

only 0.3 percent of the people of Ovamboland. This amounts to 1,800 people.

Phil ya Nangoloh, SWAPO-D's secretary of information and publicity, declares

in this regard that statements like that are only calculated to improve the

image of homeland proponents such as Peter Kalangula of Ovamboland.

Nangoloh maintains that SWAPO-D enjoys support throughout the entire territory

and that its membership has grown from 50,000 in 1980 to 100,000 in 1986. Of

these, virtually 80 percent are in turn from Ovamboland.

SWAPO-D explains that support for Mr Kalangula is support for AG 8, and that

proclamation is in turn nothing more than a breeding ground of racism.

SWAPO-D maintains further that Professor Malan intentionally did not speak

with parties within the Transitional Government. This was allegedly done to

extend the system of ethnicity and racism. It also maintains that he only

spoke with persons favorably inclined to SWAP0 to lend credibility to his

article. SWAPO-D says about SWAP0 that that organization is militarily

crippled and has been caught in its hiding places in Angola and Zambia in

flagrant violations of human rights.

In addition, SWAPO-D asks why Professor Malan has not instituted an investigation in his own country, where stones are being thrown and people are openly

being executed. He is characterized as a kind of researcher which SWA/Namxbia

does not need here.

13238/8309

CS0: 3401/68

63
NAMIBIA

BRIEFS

OWN BORDER POSTS FOR SWA SOUGHT—Mariental—The Transitional Government wants

its own control posts established on the borders in view of the fact that

this country cannot afford a kind of "Wild West situation" where every Tom,

Dick and Harry enters and leaves the country as he wishes, Mr Andrew Matjila,

minister of National Education and the Central Personnel Institute, said in

Mariental. This was one of the topics which the minister dealt with on Friday

in Mariental during the unveiling of the name-plate for the Dr H. Vedder

Primary School. Other topics were the Transitional Government's desire to

have its own spokesman for foreign affairs as well as to organize the SWA

Territorial Force in such a way that the people of the territory can have

greater control over it. In an address which was primarily dedicated to the

thorny education question in order to take a stand against the confusion which

is being stoked by certain circles in the country, Mr Matjila said the

Transitional Government is not Only paying attention to education matters.

"We also want to have our own spokesman for foreign affairs, our own national

defense force that is organized in such a way that the people of SWA-Namibia

will be in control, and of course our own border control posts on our borders,"

he said. Mr Matjila said the country cannot afford to have every Tom, Dick

and Harry merrily coming and going over the border as in a kind of "Wild West"

without having any questions asked of them. These statements come after reports

were received in which people in the territory expressed their concern at the

entry of people from the Republic of South Africa who want to make Namibia a

kind of "robbers' nest." [Text] [Windhoek DIE REPUBLIKEIN in Afrikaans

11 Nov 86 pp 1, 3] 13238/8309

CSO: 3401/68

64
NIGERIA

TRADE SURPLUS RECORDED WITH BELGIUM

Lagos BUSINESS TIMES in English 8 Dec 86 p 16

[Article by Ted Odogwu]

[Text]

VOLUME of Trade;

between Nigeria.;

and Belgium for the ;

first half of this year ;

(January to June 1986) j

reflected a trade deficit ,

of $1,617,156 million in ,

favour of , Nigeria, .

investigations by the

Business Times have

revealed.

Facts and figures '

sourced from the Belgium,,

Embassy's commercial/

attache, Mr. Walter J. H.

Stevens indicated-that the

trade situation is in i

favour of Nigeria as could , be seen on the table.

Nigeria's imports from , Belgium consisting . mainly of semi processed ,

and sometimes wholly

processed paper making

materials, articles of

stones, of cement and of:

glass have gradually been

declining over the; last six •

years.

For example, Nigeria's

imports from Belgium in

1980 amounted to

17,678.191 Belgium

francs which further

d.riined to I4i.956.850

Belgium francs in 1981;

ri presenting a decteasr of

4.08 per cent.

In this, manner, goods

imported from Belgium

dramatically declined

from 17,678,191 Belgium '

francs in 1980 to

8,543.360 Belgium francs \

in 1985, representing a I

'further decrease of 4.39. •

percent. . j

The policy of gradual

de-emphasis of i

importation of goods from '•

abroad is in line with the .

Föderal Government buck-:

ward integration '.pr -

gramme aimed a .ichieving

technological excellence

and self sufficiency in food

production. i

. From 1980 to 1985, ;

Belgium imports from

Nigeria, consisting mainly

of crude qjl and other

agricultural- products,

amounted to 154.655.85

Belgium francs.

The imports volume

increased from 12,715.705

Belgium francs in 1980 to

39,107,129 Belgium

francs in 1985 representing an increase of 4.67 per

<ent when compared with

37,361,468 B/F worth of

goods imported in 1984

from Nigeria.

In January 1986, i

however, Belgium,j

imports from Nigeria hit '' an all time figure of

23,377.965 Belgium ,

francs but steadily ;

declined to 12,082.579

Belgium francs in June .

this year representing a

decrease of 48.3 per cent.

As at June this year, i

the trade deficit is still ir| :

favour of Nigeria as could

be noticed on the table i

below reflecting the <

Belgium-Nigerian trade :

figures covering the .

period, from January to ;

June 1986.

In another develop- : ment, the NigeriaBelgium chamber of

commerce celebrated its ,

4th anniversary last week : at Louis Solomon close

Victoria Island . Lagos

under the distinguished

chairmanship of MajorGeneral D. A. Ejoor (rtd). ,

As part of activities to

mark the occasion, a

paper on 'investment

Opportunities in Small

and medium scaje petrochemical industries in

Nigeria" was presented

by Dr. P. C. O. Nzelu of

the Business and

Industrial Department,

NNPC Petrochemical

Sector, Port-Harcoürt.

65
BELTÜÜM-4 NIGERIA TRAÖE

£** vw: W-. FIGUlES ■■ ;

i

?; ^ period: Jan. — June 1986 (6 months)

Jan. -Wune 1985 Jan. — J«ne (ls

(BF X 1,000) (BF X 1,000)

Evolution <%> i

12.082.57«

4.805.376 +15,7 j

IMPORTS: 23.377.965

EXPORTS: 4.150.534

TRADE

DEFICIT 19.227.431

ffl.W,

7.277.203

'1

-62.2'

1 US DOLLARS + 40-45 BF $

BF: EELGIAN FRANCS

1 US S = 3

TRENDS IN BELGO • NIGERIAN TRADE

BLEU IMPORTS BF X 1,000 EVOLUTION ,

FROM NIGERIA IN %

1980 12.715.705

1981 11.272.563 —11.34

1982 23.861.830 + 111.68

1983 30.337.260 +27.13 >

1984 37.361.468 +23.15,

1985 39.107.129 +4.67'

BELGIUM BF X 1,000 EVOLUTION ' EXPORTS IN °fo ' : TO NIGERIA

1980 17.678.191 — i

•1981 16.956.850 —4.08 !

1982 13,625.532 -19.65 •

1983 12.185.843 10.57 i

1984 . 8.936.288 —26.67i

:1985 .. •

8.543.360 S : - -4.39

SOURCE: Belgium Efmbassy, Commercial section

1 US |= + 45 BF

/13046

CSO: 3400/711

66
NIGERIA

CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR ON ANTI-INFLATIONARY MEASURES

Lagos DAILY TIMES in English 13 Dec 86 p 16

[Article by Resline Umesi]

[Text]

CENTRAL Bank GoH

vernor Alhaji Abdul-'

kadir Ahmed has enumerated the measures so' fan

taken to curb inflation in

the country.

He s»M the CBN . in

August and October called

on all commercial and

merchant banks to

surrender to it all naira

deposits with them in

respect' of their customers

foreign exchange applies- .

tions awaiting foreign-

, exchange allocation.

This sort of money or !

deposits on which the banks

paid no interest had been a

major source of liquidity to

the banks, he asserted.

Also in October, the CBN

credit guidelines for the

year were revised and a

permissible rate of credit

expansion was reduced

from 10 to eight per cent.

These policies, he said

were designed to reduce

liquidity but led some

bankers, industrialists,

traders professionals and

others to complain about

the credit and liquidity

squeeze in the economy.

Alhaji Ahmed said that

the allegation that the

liquidity of the banking

system had been reduced to

An undesirably low level

was untrue.

He said some banks even,

had liquidity ratio of more

than 60 per cent, whereas

the minimum liquidity ratio

stipulated by the bank was

25 per cent.

He said this state of

affairs made it possible for >

the money in circulation at

the end of September to be

»5.5 billion.

Alhaji Ahmed said that

the introduction of credit

squeeze could be made "as

government's - structural

adjustment programme

(SAP) was a temporary

measure, adding that a

gradual relaxation of the

squeeze could be made "as

soon as the economy begins

to respond positively to

growth measure» adopted"

He asserted that the

liquidity squeeze was

already yielding fruit

because many banks are

now aggressively hunting

for deposits which they

refused a few months ago.

/13046

CSO: 3400/711

67
NIGERIA

NATIONAL SHIPPING LINE CAPITALIZED, STATUS UPGRADED

Lagos DAILY TIMES in English 11 Dec 86 p 13

[Text] THE share capital of j

the Nigerian National \

Shipping Line (NNSL). has !

been increased from $4 . million to »100 million. j

The company has also

been " upgraded to a ;

"Category A" parastatal.

Reliable sources at the

Federal Ministry of

Transport and Aviation,'

told the Daily Times that '

government ' delayed;

announcing these'

developments to allow the •

company pay off its •

foreign debls. • '

The sources maintained ', * that "^f the government j

weht ahead to announce '

the company's increased

share capital, it would

have opened a new

floodgate of arrests of

NNSL vessels abroad '

since the company was ;

still indebted to mänJM

overseas creditors.

"The government, i

therefore, dolled out 837 i

million to the NNSL last "

month to enable it settle .

all its overseas debts and

the Central, Bank is

handling the payment of

the debts right now."

When contacted the permanent secretary in the

Ministry of Transport

and Aviation, Mr.

Theodore Anumudu said

that "proposals aimed at

improving the working

capital position of I he

NNSL had been put

before the govenment.

"The company would be

reorganised so that it

could be run more

profitably. The reorganisation would also help the

company in its quest for

expansion," he said.

Mr. Anumudu also told

l he Daily Times that

government would assist

i he NNSL "to improve its

chances of diversification

of its investment as well

as helping in its much

needed manpower

d ev el o p in en t

programme."

/13046

CSO: 3400/711

68
NIGERIA

BRIEFS

FORMER CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF RETIRED—-The former chief of General Staff,

Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, has been retired from the Nigerian Navy. According to

the NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA, the chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Patrick

Koshoni, confirmed the retirement of Commodore Ukiwe. Rear Adm Koshoni said

that the former chief of General Staff would be paid his full benefits.

Commodore Ukiwe joined the Nigerian Navy in 1961 and has held various command

and staff appointments. He also served as a one-time governor of Niger State

and military administrator of Lagos State. Commodore Ukiwe was removed as

chief of General Staff in October last year. [Text] [Lagos Domestic Service

in English 1500 GMT 3 Jan 87] /9599

CSO: 3400/732

69
SENEGAL

FRENCH AID IN 1986 OUTLINED

Dakar LE SOLEIL in French 13 Oct 86 p 2

TText] Cooperation between France and Senegal, operating through various

accords both general and specific, resulted in 73 billion CFA francs worth

of aid in 1985, it is stated in a French embassy document provided to the APS

[Senegalese Press Agency].

Assistance in the form of personnel took up a large share, at a cost of 15

billion CFA francs for 970 assistants and 788 teachers, the report states,

emphasizing that its assessment does not include the "60 French Volunteers

for Progress" or the contribution of non-governmental organizations.

About 300 engineers, researchers and technicians sent by the French government

continue to provide services toward Senegal's economic development and the

functioning of its research institutions or international bodies, the report

adds.

Special budgetary assistance made available in several forms totals 25.6

billion CFA francs. It involves a discounting on structural adjustment loans

and aspects relating to Paris Club debt rescheduling.

For its part, in 1985, the Central Fund for Economic Cooperation released 16.6

billion concerning the period 1981-85 and disbursed 100 billion, for the most

part relating to development and economic infrastructure projects.

Funding from the Aid and Cooperation Fund totals 5.23 billion CFA francs.

This sum includes a 2.23 billion package for the completion of regional projects in progress.

Under this heading, 20 new projects concerning a variety of fields came into

being: improvement of pastoral livestock raising in Ferlo, support for training programs at Dakar's polytechnic secondary school, assistance to the railway administration, equipping of the maternity ward and the blood bank at the

Ziguinchor hospital and lastly, a grant to ASECNA [Agency for Air Navigation

and Safety in Africa and Madagascar] and to the construction of the Diama dam.

The "various activities" category is broken down as follows: 715 million CFA

francs for 450 scholarship recipients (including 189 on university scholarships

in France), 255 million in financial assistance to the university for the

70
hiring of 209 teachers, 1.71 billion for cultural programs (various scholarships and training internships), 3.4 billion in support of science and technology research and finally, 10,000 metric tons of wheat in 1984 and 2,000 metric

tons of corn in 1985 in the category of food aid.

For the current year, France's aid activities cannot yet be accurately totaled,

but the figures will most likely be comparable to the 1985 level, the document

concludes. APS [Senegalese Press Agency].

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71
SENEGAL

GAMBIA'S ATTITUDE TO SENE-GAMBIA REVIEWED

Dakar LE POLITICIEN in French 31 Oct 86 pp 1, 6

[Article by Moctar Diop]

[Text] An AFP (AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE) dispatch dated 23 October informs us,

sadly enough, that Gambian Minister of Justice Hassan Jallow has reportedly

told the Gambian Parliament that a new defense protocol between Senegal and

his country has just been adopted (?) [sic].

The new protocol stems from negotiations conducted from early 1985 to August

1986 by Gambian and Senegalese experts, the Gambian source reports.

However, there is a curious element in this new protocol: Henceforth, the

general mobilization of the Armed Forces, the proclamation of the state of

emergency and the possibility of requisitioning come jointly under the two

confederated chiefs of state.

Formerly, only the Senegalese chief of state and president of the confederation was empowered to take such measures, in accordance with the first defense

and integration pact of the confederal Armed Forces signed in Kaur in 1983.

One should recall that it was following the abortive coup of Kukoy Samba Sagna,

thwarted by the Senegalese Army in 1981, that the Sene-Gambian Confederation

was born.

The question that must be asked is the reason for the retreat, for there

have apparently never been any problems in this domain.

The integration of the Gambian Armed Forces has been the first step toward

a de facto Sene-Gambia, but the stumbling block remains economic and monetary

integration. One has the impression that anything can be used to delay this

integration, which would make the confederation a reality.

Is this one more maneuver to postpone the happening? Let there be no mistake

about it; many things stand in the way of this new situation.

Despite the relative security brought about by the integrated forces, Gambia

has always sought other alliances, first of all, Great Britain, with whom it

has agreements, the Nigerian "big brother," with which agreements are but

a sham. There has even been talk of Pakistan, and so on.

72
It is obvious that if Gambia is taking so many precautions, it is because it

does not believe in Sene-Gambia, or else there are internal problems that

escape all of us. It is easy to understand that the local oligarchies, tied

in with wide-ranging fraud, do not look kindly upon economic and monetary

integration. They will oppose it with all their strength, allying themselves

with the devil himself.

However, if it turns out that this questioning of a precious accomplishments

is well-grounded, both sides will have to find a new approach to the very

concept of "confederation."

All the Sene-Gambian people must mobilize to hasten the integration of these

two countries that should be united by everything: geography, economics,

history, even the colonial past. The time is ripe for homogeneous, viable

units. If only for their people and their very survival, Senegal and Gambia

owe it to themselves to speed up the wheel of history before it is too late.

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SENEGAL

DISPUTES ABOUT SOVIET SCHOLARSHIPS

Dakar LE DEVOIR in French Nov 86 p 12

[Editorial: "The Good Choice and the Bad Example"]

[Text] For the year 1986-87, the USSR granted Senegal 40 study and training

scholarships actually assigned under the responsibility of the state (12) and

public organizations. And everyone was satisfied, all the more since everything had been carefully studied (red area obliges) and everything was apparently going perfectly well. But only in appearance, as the sequence of

events will demonstrate.

A first contingent of 19 scholarship holders left this August without problems or difficulties. On the other hand, on the date of the departure of

the second group (21 scholarship holders), things began to deteriorate.

"One" (who?) reportedly indicated to our good people that they could not

leave the national territory because they did not have a return ticket. The

first pretext aimed, in fact, to stop the process after the first departure

which included, for the most part, scholarship holders appointed by the

Senegalese State.

Worse: This pretext was without foundation.

In fact, the USSR to assure itself that the scholarships which it grants are

assigned to deserving persons, "pawns" the return ticket of the beneficiary.

If the stay of the scholarship holder confirms a good choice of a good student in the field of studies, then the USSR issues him his return ticket. On

the other hand, if the facts prove that the choice was directed by other

standards revealed by the poor academic performances of the party concerned,

then it is up to the state or the organization responsible for the selection

of the student to pay for the ticket. It is simple and clever at the same

time to prevent an overabundance of "students" educated in the Soviet Union

when their initial level was of the lowest, but which one may have selected

on the basis of considerations which it is not necessary to discuss here.

74
This clause, logical, acceptable and accepted on all sides, consequently nullifies or rather makes illegal the attitude of the Senegal authorities at

the time of the departure of the second contingent.

Nevertheless, here again, the USSR shows an astonishing goodwill.

Before such an attitude and to show, in fact, its flexibility, the USSR

alters this restrictive clause unilaterally and voluntarily, providing a

statement under whose terms, regardless of the nature of the choice of the

candidate, the Soviet party would issue him a return ticket on leaving Moscow.

But surprise once again: the Ministry of National Education advanced another

specious argument: the scholarships granted to public organizations disturb

educational planning; consequently the beneficiaries are not authorized to

leave.

It seemed a little late to invoke this second pretext, no?

But then why in the study of planning not to take into account the factors

of dispersal and social mobility, all the more so, after all, when the

scholarship holders chosen, under the circumstances, were already known by

the Senegalese state?

And then, moreover, does the state always plan the departure of citizens and

since when?

One can certainly not like the Soviets ideologically, why not tell it to them

more simply?

In any case, the facts reported above are sufficiently serious and awkward in

their consequences if they turn out to be true. They would be a giant step

toward questioning the citizen's fundamental rights.

We also intend to return to this soon.

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75
SENEGAL

PARTY HISTORIES, ORIENTATIONS REVIEWED

Youngest Party: Senegalese Democratic Union

Dakar LE POLITICIEN in French 27 Oct 86 p 7

[Article by A. Wahab Diene: "The Senegalese Democratic Union-Renewal"]

[Text] The Senegalese Democratic Union-Renewal (UDS) is currently the youngest opposition party in Senegal, having been formed on 25 May 1985 in Dakar.

First of all, one must bring up an important event relating to its earliest

beginnings, the author of Which is one of the founders: Mamadou Fall, the

"Puritan" and a former Senegalese deputy under the banner of the PDS [Senegalese Democratic Party] during the previous legislature.

It was on the occasion of his farewell speech to his colleagues in the National Assembly, on the eve of the first elections under Habdou.

One might excerpt the following passages, which were quite significant in the

birth of the UDS-Renewal: "I would like to thank the government for the respect and solicitude it has constantly demonstrated in its relations with the

people's representatives, an attitude that has contributed to the healthy

climate guaranteeing the success of our two missions. As I have stated and

repeated in my speeches, I am actually more a trade unionist than a politician. It is therefore obvious that my role may differ from that of most of

you. Having quickly become the only independent deputy in this Assembly because of the course of history, I have continued to enjoy the sympathy and

brotherhood of everyone, a precious commodity I am anxious to preserve in

order better to continue my action aimed at achieving national unity among

my people, unity without which I sincerely believe it will be difficult to

envisage our national destiny correctly.

"That is why I am now solemnly announcing that I have chosen not to return to

this Assembly during the next term, deciding not to belong to any political

party and therefore, not to participate in the coming election campaign that

will elect deputies to serve in this Assembly.

"I have decided to sacrifice the advantages and honors inherent in the post of

deputy so as better to serve my future role in seeking national unity."

76
It must be noted that before the end of the legislative session in question,

"Puritan" had been kicked out of the PDS in 1980, taken back in as the result

of pressure from members and kicked out for good in 1982 for, it is said, his

lack of discipline, generally confused with intellectual independence and

initiative in political organizations! But first of all, who is Puritan?

According to one of his closest traveling companions, Puritan Fall is, as his

nickname indicates, a nonconformist, austere, not one to be led around. An

intransigent militant on what he regards to be the truth, one can also say

that Puritan is obsessed by his freedom.

He was born in Rufisque in 1920. A post office employee by trade, he very

quickly became interested in the trade union struggle, working successively

within the CGT (General Confederation of Labor) in the local French section,

UGTAN '(General Union of Workers of Black Africa), the orthodox UGTAN, the

UST [Senegalese Labor Union], the CST [Senegalese Labor Confederation] and

the UNTS (National Union of Workers of Senegal). He refused to join the

CNTS [National Confederation of Senegalese Workers], which he considered to

be a confederation practicing class collaboration aimed at neutralizing the

working class.

This led him to form the UTLS (Union of Free Workers of Senegal) in 1975.

Consequently, his political notoriety is not foreign to his trade union

activities.

But Puritan also has a rich political background that successively led him to

the Senegalese Democratic Union of the great RDA [African Democratic Rally]

(UDS-RDA), for which the acronym of his own party reflects a certain nostalgia; to the BPS in 1955; the UPS [Senegalese Progressive Union] for a

brief time; the Senegal PRA [African Regroupment Party], which he had to

leave in 1965 to protest its absorption into the UPS; and finally, the PDS.

We have already mentioned his tumultuous period in that party.

This is the man whose ideas have greatly influenced the UDS-Renewal that is

defined in its doctrinary principles as follows: "The UDS-Renewal follows

the principle of the secular nature of the state, democratic interplay in all

organs, responsibility and authority of the member and elected leader, the

republican form of government and freedom of the citizen within the framework

of a pluralist democracy, with respect for laws and institutions.

"The UDS unreservedly adheres to the principle of the defense of African unity

and the achievement of the United States of Africa as the final objective.

The UDS-Renewal pledges to respect all decisions made democratically in the

subregional, regional and continental bodies and reserves the right to maintain friendly relations with brother African parties in particular and all

progressive parties of the world in general.

"The UDS-Renewal is for the total independence of trade unions from political

parties and the political determination of workers in the party of their

choice."

77
Finally, the UDS-Renewal proposes the elimination of all inequalities based on

race, color and religion. It recommends the use of the country's resources in

the service of the Senegalese people ,and the consolidation of Senegal's independence in order to ensure its economic and social development through the

reunification and mobilization of all national potential without exclusion

around a minimum common program and a government of national unity.

Union for People's Democracy

Dakar LE POLITICIEN in French 31 Oct 86 p 4

[Article by A. Wahab Diene: "The Union for a People's Democracy (UDP)"]

[Text] The Union for a People's Democracy received its acknowledgment within

the framework of the multiparty.system on 20 July 1981.

However, one must note that this organization had existed underground for a

long time, following the example of several so-called "leftist" parties.

It is therefore desirable to make a brief historical review of the internal

and external conditions surrounding its formation.

Actually, the events of May 1968 in France did not spare Senegalese students

in France or Senegal. The academic milieu was the detonator that set off the

powder keg, sending all of society up in flames.

In France, the MEPAI (Student Movement of the Original African Independence

Party), which up to that time had included most politicized Senegalese students, was being challenged and was no longer considered as a crucible for

forming and promoting a new revolutionary current that could meet the demands

of the times, such as political training, responsibility for immigrant workers,

and so on.

It was within this context that there occurred simultaneously in France and

Senegal, the emergence, starting in 1970, of study clubs organized as groups

for reflection and training looking to the formation of a new Patriotic Revolutionary Movement.

The Union for a People's Democracy sprang from these structures in 1972 in

Dakar, with the coming together of Senegalese revolutionary groups (GR) in

France, which constituted the cores of CEPAC (Political Studies and Cultural

Action Club).

One can therefore say that the UDP has had a long history following the

AND-JEF [AND-JEF Revolutionary Movement for a New Democracy], which emerged

from those same structures. The fact that its initials only became known when

it was legalized can be explained, according to its leaders, by the conditions

of the underground struggle prevailing in Senegal.

This brief retrospective also enables one to show that the UDP was not born

of a split in the AND-JEF, as has often been hinted, and that its existence

even precedes the latter.

78
The Union for a People's Democracy, intended as a patriotic movement, defines

its ideological and political orientation as follows: The Union for the

People's Democracy (UDP), a patriotic, revolutionary organization of workers,

herders, farmers, fishermen and intellectuals that is opening its doors to

bourgeois patriots, democrats and Senegalese patriotic religious figures, is

fighting for the advent of a people's democratic society in Senegal that

will make it possible (according to its program):

1) to liquidate French imperialism and the local reactionary classes; 2) to

build an independent and prosperous national economy serving the people;

3) to develop an anti-imperialist, antifeudal, scientific and people's culture; and 5) to practice internationally a policy of national sovereignty,

peace, nonalignment and support for revolutionary, democratic, national

liberation and socialist forces.

However, in order to achieve such objectives, the Union for a People's Democracy recognizes that only an alliance of the broadest nature grouping all

patriotic forces could be successful.

It has therefore successively participated in COSU (Coordination of the United

Senegalese Opposition) from 1978 to 1981, uniting the MDP [People's Democratic

Movement for Self-Management Socialism], the LDMPT [Democratic League-Movement

for the Labor Party], the PIT [Party for Independence and Labor] and AND-JEF,

within the framework of unified anti-imperialist election action in February

1983, supporting the candidacy of Mamadou in the presidential elections,

within the framework of the unified action of 11 opposition parties (the RND

[Democratic National Rally], the AJ [AND-JEF], the LDMPT, the PPS [? Party of

Progress and Socialism], the PAI [African Independence Party], the LCT [Communist Workers League], the MRS [Senegalese Republican Movement] and the PDS,

following the February 1983 elections, so as to draw the lessons making it

possible to move down the path of unity, and in the CUA-PC in 1983-1984 (framework for the unified action of opposition parties) grouping the MDP, the

LDMPT, the AJ, the PPS and the LCT.

Finally, since 1985, the Union for a People's Democracy has worked within

the framework of the ADS (Senegalese Democratic Alliance), which now includes

the AJ, the PDS, the LDMPT and the CST.

The Union for a People's Democracy has as its secretary general Hamedine

Racine Guisse.

Communist Workers League

Dakar LE POLITICIEN in French 11 Nov 86 p 4

[Article by A. Wahab Diene: "The Communist Workers League-LCT"]

[Text] The LCT, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in October and which

just held its third congress on 2 November, stands out from the other socalled leftist parties by virtue of the fact that it defines itself as a

Trotskyite organization.

79
However, to understand the origins of the party, which was legalized within

the framework of an all-embracing multiparty system, one must first have a

brief review.

Actually, as in the case of other leftist parties in Senegal, the events of

May 1968 and their repercussions on student and teacher movements were decisive in the process of their formation.

Thus it is that part of the GOR (Revolutionary Workers Group), created after

May 1968 •*— four students and one teacher with an average age of 22 — joined

together in October 1976 and formed the LCT.

However, other underground leftist organizations existed at the time.

Nevertheless, for the founders of the LCT, none of those parties responded to

the criteria they had for membership, to wit: 1) making the interests of

the workers and peasants their main concern, which means that defending such

interests was to guide their daily action; 2) requiring that the immediate

goal of the struggle be the establishment of a government of workers and

peasants; 3) taking up the battle to see that the organizations protecting

workers and peasants would see the light with, as their basic trait, their

independence from the government and all political parties; and 4) reaffirming their independence vis-a-vis French and American imperialism as well as

Soviet and Chinese bureaucracies.

These are the four criteria that would distinguish them from other political

organizations and which they make the foundation of their political line and

program.

The LCT believes the Senegalese worker as he is today must be respected.

This means that beyond the ideological divergencies, one must be able to

rally city and rural workers in a single party, the Workers Party.

In this party, workers will choose between the different programs proposed

to them, with the right to be mistaken.

That is why the LCT proposes a Common Political Bureau bringing together all

trade union leaders and parties claiming to represent the workers so that they

may call a national conference for the creation of the Workers Party. According to the LCT, this possibility exists if one trusts the workers. Consequently, it already considers itself as one element in that party.

The LCT believes that the working class can manage the destiny of the country

because it has experience and the ability to do so. It considers city and

rural workers to be the main creators of national wealth. To achieve such

objectives, the Workers Party and the establishment of a government of the

workers, the LCT also proposes that the following principles be respected:

1 — No one has the right to tell the workers of Senegal that they are not

aware because they do not know Marxism.

80
2 — No one has the right to divide youth and the workers into different factions, each claiming to embody Marxism, for this could result in a division

in the ranks of the working class. It therefore recommends the reunification

of the Senegalese trade union movement removed from any ideological priority,

the creation of a broad patriotic front and, on the international level, the

holding of a conference grouping parties and unions against the IMF, the

World Bank and the payment of debts.

Unlike other political organizations, the LCT has no secretary general. Its

leadership organs between congresses are: a national council of 100 members,

a national committee with 33 members, including 22 workers, an 11-member political committee and finally, a political secretariat of 5 members making up a

leadership group.

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SENEGAL

EDITORIAL DEPLORES WEAK POLITICAL OPPOSITION

Dakar LE POLITICIEN in French 29 Sep 86 pp 1-2

[Editorial by Mam Less Dia: "National Inertia"]

rText] Just as the Socialist Party is stalled, the opposition in our country

has become inert. It has changed into an election-minded opposition

obediently waiting for the starting signal of the campaign to shakeof its

torpor, speak up and stir a bit. Since the incident of 22 August 1985, the

famous march against apartheid concocted by the masterminds at ADS to mark

their entry into history, our brave soldiers of change are no longer trying

to be seen.

It is as though they are paralyzed by the violence of the repression that befell the ADS demonstrators that day. Battered and humiliated by thxs first

test of strength against Dioufism, the most militant fringe of the opposition

opted for a change of» camp:

—Wade chose exile.

—Bathily, the renowned leader of the LD/MPT [Democratic League/Movement for

the Labor Party], dealt a blow to marxist principles by formally decreeing

that the main enemies of the forces of change are the renegades and that their

defeat is an Indispensable condition for victory by the people over the neocolonial regime (see FAGARU of 19 September). In other words an alliance

with the neo-colonial regime to crush the renegades is, for the LD/MPT s_chief

theoretician, a perfectly revolutionary tactic in the present historic situation.

In short, as surprising as this deviationist line may seem, the LD/MPT has in

fact remained true to its thinking: Its greatest revolutionary victory--the

LD/MPT itself exalts in it, in the party organ FAGARU-was awarded to it by the

Senegalese judiciary in its crusade, described as "historic, against LE

POLITICIEN.

With that, the notion of "class justice" disappears from the LD/MPT's thinking.

This is marxism, Bathily style.

In sum, the political opposition as a whole is unable to outline a form of

action that would create the conditions for a radical upheaval of the

82
established order. It no longer knows which way to turn and is letting

things go their own course.

Barricaded behind a wall of rulings, the Dioufist government, for its part,

is arranging for its own longevity by limiting the range of activity all

others may have, including the Socialist Party and the religious feudalities,

by relying strictly on class justice (part and parcel of the state apparatus)

...despite the LD/MPT which maintains that Senegalese justice serves the

oppressed masses and persecuted revolutionaries. This is a new approach to

marxist theory that maoist comrades define as a 180-degree turnaround.

The Senegalese must not take each other for children. The exercise of democracy is a difficult task that requires loyalty to oneself, above all.

As long as the regime is impervious to the ideals of the alternation of political parties in power, as long as a certain high-level state officials continue

to imagine that Senegal is not ready for democracy, we will never cross the

necessary stage without which our all-out plural-party system will be no more

than a fool's game.

To discover one's own esthetic flaws, it takes the courage to look oneself in

the face.

Senegal, today, needs this courage more than ever,

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83
SENEGAL

LETTER DISPUTES TRADITIONAL CHIEF APPOINTMENT

Dakar LE DEMOCRATE in French Oct 86 p 2

[Letter to the editor by Idrisa Paye, Quakam]

[Text] He then dared! The Lebu notables, who like myself had bet that the

president of the republic would never dare to sign a decree making official

the enthroning by some dignitaries irrespective of the charter and Lebu traditions of Bassirou Diagne Marieme DIOP, these Lebu notables have then lost

their bet.

It is a coup d'Etat. Since the accession of Dial-Diop in 1790 until that of

Momar Mareme Diop, Serigne NDakaaru has always been chosen among the Diop

family which expressed itself this time in favor of Mame Youssou Diop

Ibrahima. Bassirou Diagne does not have a direct ascendant descended from

Dial Diop. It is sad, but I think that Abdou Diouf preferred to recognize

the one who only swears by him, preferring to take the risk of alienating the

overwhelming majority of the Lebu people. For from Thieurigne in Hokk de

Kaye—Findiv in Diecko, from Yoff in Yene by way of Yeumbeul, the Lebu people,

loyal in that to traditions which soon will be 2 centuries old, selected Mame

Youssou Diop in respect of its charter.

The (Pinthies) have expressed their wish which was scorned and ignored.

At the meeting which was held at the place of "Serigne NDakaaru" Mame Youssou

Diop Ibrahim, I had thought that someone would have dared to state the problem

clearly. Unfortunately "li woon deumb, dootul" tradition was betrayed. In

the past, the colonial authorities or Senghor came to meet our representatives

(Serigne NDakaaru, Ndeye-ji Reew, Ndeye Ndiambours, Diaraf when they

needed them. Today it is our representatives who go to request audiences with

Abdou Diouf.

I had publicly sworn that Bassirou Diagne would never be officially recognized

Serigne NDakaaru. Now I have been made a perjurer. My shame is great...

In February 1988, in the secrecy of the voting booth, alone with my conscience, I would be able to express my disapproval of what happened. Meanwhile, I have decided not to go any longer to the meetings of this party

whose representatives at the head of the state interfere in what does not concern the constitution, but unwritten Lebu law. Long live the Lebu republic.

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84
SENEGAL

NEW INDUSTRIAL POLICY MEETS BETTER ACCEPTANCE

Dakar LE SOLEIL in French 7 Nov 86 p 3

[Article by Amadou Fall: "The Most Reasonable Option"]

[Text] The hostile reactions and alarm roused recently by the New Industrial

Policy are dying down thanks to the continuing dialogue which the government

and its social partners are maintaining on this delicate question involving

the country's economic fate. Concerted action therefore continues and the

workshop begun at the International Trade Center yesterday fits into this

framework.

Along with Serigrie Lamine Diop, head of the New Industrial Policy, one finds

reason for satisfaction in the mutual understanding achieved and in the fact

that a crucial phase has been passed during which serious tension could have

occurred, this because management and the trade unions overestimated the

disadvantages of the new system as envisaged and announced by the government.

The New Industrial Policy has gone over better with the government's social

partners because, as the minister of industrial development has said, "the

criticisms formulated were taken into consideration when the departments of

government began to reflect upon mechanisms and institutional reforms. They

were most useful."

Henceforth perceived as "the most reasonable option under the current circumstances," the New Industrial Policy is no longer viewed by its backers and

protagonists solely in terms of limitations. Reflections deal more with the

means of its implementation and the pace at which the underlying measures

will be applied.

These basic measures, whose correct implementation should breathe new life

into local industries are: a revision of taxes on consumable expenditures,

the lower cost of certain technical production factors, including electricity,

and the indexing of the export bonus on the national added value.

They are already in effect and should in principle enable local manufacturers

to produce at a lower cost, tobe competitive, both on the domestic and international markets. In exchange, the government is asking this concession: "to

sell at a reasonable cost."

85
According to Lamine Diop, the government "owes it to itself to create the

conditions for expansion, while ensuring consumer purchasing power. This

philosophy underlies our economic policy and it is along the same line of

ideas that it was decided to gradually increase the protection enjoyedby most

industrial companies."

They now find themselves in a situation of open competition, a "working climate compatible with the need for profitability that alone ensures the durability of production units, without questioning the social gains of workers."

To do so, the government and its partners must play by the rules. The workshop underway since yesterday is propitious for making decisions and reaching

agreements. The contribution of the three committees set up yesterday to take

up the production-marketing-employment question must be "constructive and

realistic," all within the perspective of consolidating the concept of the

New Industrial Policy and safeguarding the interests of all parties.

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86
SENEGAL

NEW INDUSTRIAL POLICY CRITICIZED

Dakar FAGARU in French 20 Nov 86 pp 12, 13

[Article by Mamadou Ndiaye: "NPI [New Industrial Policy] What Attitude for

the Workers?"]

[Text] The NPI like the other new policies is a medium selected by the

government to try and get out of the mess in which its disastrous performance

of 25 years has plunged the country.

It has been seeking ways, to apply it for a long time and even today. All

means are desirable, such as breaking up the trade unions because of the

failure to control them; constant attacks against the opposition parties and

misleading public opinion by presenting the NPI as a way of salvation. If

the government was not disturbed, would it resort to so many maneuvers? The

threat is indeed serious!

A Bitter Pill

The government is so conditioned that it has been obliged to confront its

social partners—the employers and the CNTS [National Confederation of

Senegalese Workers] with a fait accompli, even if it tries to make amends by

speaking about workshops. A work which only consists in seeking means to

apply decisions conceived elsewhere.

But, at the same time, one sets up PS enterprise committees, one revives or

renews tendencies in the CNTS, and one even tries to divide the workers by

granting those in the private sector a raise of 3,000 francs to the detriment

of the mixed and private sectors. It is as if one feared the workers would

overcome their apathy, an essential condition for the application of the NPI.

And there is reason, for it will be a bitter pill to swallow.

In LE SOLEIL of last 28 August, the government itself recognized that the

number of discharged workers will amount to 4,750 civil servants, 75 percent

of whom are heads of families. This figure can be doubled or even tripled

without exaggeration, when one knows the tendency of the government to minimize the effects of its measures and if you take into account the disguised

discharges in the form of "voluntary retirements."

87
Consequently the lines have been drawn up and this is why it is necessary to

note with a great deal of reserve declarations eager that the measures be

applied without "major problems." For there will be problems.

Inconsistency

The confederation committee of the CNTS in its declaration of 31 August calls

for mobilization for crucial opposition against the discharges and observes,

among other things, that this situation cannot "develop without threatening

social peace in enterprises." In view of such declarations, consistent action

is necessary. That is why, one does not understand the analysis contained m

this declaration, which makes the labor inspectors responsible for these reductions.

Is the confederation committee in the process of whitewashing Abdou Diouf and

his government to sell out the workers future? What inconsistency! For the

measures envisaged, the flexibility of employment, the temporary nature of

the jobs, the introduction of excessive piecework threaten the existence of

the unions, consequently of the politically oriented trade unionists. Therefore it is necessary to seek a compromise with the government on this question.

As for the workers, they answered no and no on 1 May 1986.

The watchword is the same everywhere: it will be necessary "to walk over our

dead bodies before applying your NPI."

But an organization is also necessary to respond in proportion to the dangers.

8490

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88
SENEGAL

ROAD INFRASTRUCTURES IMPROVES ACCESS TO CASAMANCE

Dakar LE SOLEIL in French 31-Oct-2 Nov 86 p 11

[Article by Moussa Sadio: "Giant Steps"]

[Text] The Casamance region is not easily accessible. The isolation of this

southern part of the country has always presented difficulties in communications with the outside, particularly due to the impracticability of the

interior road networks.

Regarding its road infrastructure, in 1960, at the time of independence,

Casamance had only the very narrow Trans-Gambian as. its one paved artery

linking Ziguinchor and Kaolack. The rest of the system was comprised of

undeveloped trails, interrupted by ferries to cross the Casamance River.

At the time, there were seven ferries in operation: Ziguinchor, Niambalang,

Essoukoudiack, Baila, Diouloulou, Marsassoum and Sedhiou. Most of the ferries

were equipped with winches rather than motors.

The Gambia River, which practically encircles the Casamance region, has only

three crossings, including two ferries (Banjul and Balinghor) and Gouloumbou

Point. The nature of the mangrove swamps and the abundant rainfall in Casamance made road transportation particularly trying, if not actually dangerous.

Problems maintaining a system with such rudimentary technical features were

made all the more arduous because the means and methods of intervention were

lacking in reliability.

Users of the roads and ferries were haunted by the spectre of travel because

of their poor condition. Actually, many remember entire nights spent on the

ferries, interruptions of traffic and total uncertainty. However, since that

time, the government has undertaken to open up the Casamance region. This

political decision has been manifested in the successive economic and social

development plans.

Roaddwere therefore designed and built on stabilized land with definitive

geometric layouts: the southern road (Ziguinchor-Velingara), the Sedhiou and

Oussouye access roads. This vast program was supported by the completion of

engineering structures on other routes (Baila-Diouloulou bridge).

89
This process of opening up isolated regions was accelerated beginning in

1970, with major projects under the Fifth Economic and Social Development

Plan.

Asphalting

The development of north-south and particularly heavy traffic quickly revealed

the limitations of the Gambia ferry, whose reliability was sorely tested by

the long waits of users and costly stopovers of trucks.

To avoid the uncertainties of the Farafenie ferry, it was decided to go around

the Gambia by paving the Malern Hoddar-Tambacounda-Velingara-Kolda-Ziguinchor

road.

Casamance has therefore been a privileged region for road construction and

engineering works under the Fifth Plan. Over 300 kilometers have been paved

and major bridges have been completed.

Among the roads are: the Kolda-Velingara (127 km); the Velingara-Tambacounda

(90 km); the Bignona-Diouloulou (60 km) ; the Ziguinchor-Oussouye-Cap Skirring

(70 km); and the Tobor roadway (7 km).

Regarding the bridges, two were built at Ziguinchor and three smaller bridges

were built over streams on the Cap Skirring road, at Niambalant, Katakalousse

and Diakene.

With the completion of these bridges, Casamance now has a fine infrastructure

of paved roads running through the region lengthwise (Cap Skirring-Gouloumbou).

Along with this considerable effort made by the government to pave the main

arteries, programs to develop secondary roads have been carried out by production trail crews and UNSO (United Nations).

Actually, the trail and reballasting crews have built over 200 kilometers of

lateritic roads, while the UNSO crew has opened up 310 kilometers on stabilized

land in the Departments of Bignona, Sedhiou and Ziguinchor. It should be

pointed out that in addition to these projects, there are many rural community trails.

Accomplishments in the area of road construction need no further commentary.

The development of road infrastructures has already improved internal communication and created fruitful exchanges between the other regions of Senegal.

Sithout a doubt, this effort to open up the Casamance region will be continued

and intensified by the government.

11,464

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90
SENEGAL

BRIEFS

REHIRING OF PARAPUBLIC WORKERS—Minister of Planning and Cooperation Cheikh

Amidou Kane yesterday presided over the first meeting of the management committee of the special fund set up to aid the rehiring of parapublic workers

who lost their jobs with the transfer from the public domain. This fund,

being set up with the backing of Senegal's financial partners, now has 420 million francs, representing the initial participation of the World Bank. The

money is to enable the first workers affected by the deflation movement: those

from SONAR [National Oilworks Supply Company], the STN and SOMIVAC, to execute

projects for their own relocation. Those subsequently laid off will not be

abandoned. As Hamidou Kane said yesterday, "the government will make every

effort to.mobilize the resources needed for their reintegration into active

life." Promising contacts have been made with the African Development Bank,

the World Bank for additional aid and the OPEC Fund in particular. For constant followup, the management committee will meet every 3 months for the

purpose of examining dossiers submitted for its review by the SOFISEDIT

[Senegalese Financial Company for the Development of Industry and Tourism]

secretariat. SOFISEDIT will also manage the reintegration fund. [Text]

[Dakar LE SOLEIL in French 19 Nov 86 p 3] 11,464

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91
SOMALIA

SIAD ADDRESSES PARTY CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL POLICY

Mogadishu HEEGAN in English 23 Dec 86 pp 1, 5

[Report given by President Mohamed Siad Barre to 3rd Party Congress: date

and place not given]

[Text]

"JAALLAYAAL, \

We believe it is not necessary to go indepth as

we have elucidated tihem

afore now at different times and places; we Have also clearly defined our stand

in relation to these factors

at the recently held 4th ordinary Session of the Cen.

teal Committee of the S.R.-

S P. We are aware that the

world is going through crises, problems, misunderstanding and permanent

instability.

In the recent summit

between tfte two super powers, the misunderstanding of issues discussed resulted in the increase of

existing fear, tension and

instability. The two super—powers have special

obligations and responsibility-towards securing world

peace and stability and as

such we hope that fcbe next

summit would contribute to

their understanding of each

other and helping world,

peace, stability and tran.

quility, . . "

"Aside from those pro.

blems whose dimensional

scope are enormous, there

are other spots where political-tensions and armedconflicts can easily bring

about great calamity. The.

se areas include the Horn

of Africa, South Africa, the

Middle East, the Gulf, Central and Latin America and

other places.

«The policy of the Somali Democratic Republic

concerning' these issues

have been pronounced to

the world on different

occasions and is based

m:- "

1. To secure world pea

ce and stability for which

the main responsibility

with the great powers;

2. To adhere to and

implement resolutions of

international organizations on these matters;

3. Recognition of the

right of self determina-;

tion of peoples as enshri

ned in the United Nations

Charter;

4. Resolving of mis_

undemanding and disputes

between nations by peaceful means on the basis of

just negotiations;

5. Redressing the im

balance of economic re

lations between advanced

awd developing countries

on the basis of equality

and justice;

Reducing nuclear arms race, which endangers

the survival of the human

race, and the rechanelling

of the enormous wealth

spent on them for the betterment of te various as

pects of human life.

The a

bove mentioned

points reaffirm the posj_

92
tionofthe S.DR. on current international issues

and are based on the fun

damental pillars of the

foreign policy of S.D.R.

which are:

I Adhering to the principle of positive nonalignment;

2.. Respect for the

principle of peaceful co

existence among nations

and peoples of the world.

3. Cooperation a

n

d collaboration among the states amd nations of the

world based on equality.

Non-interference in the internal affairs of Othersand respect for the söver

eignty, independence and,

political policy of each!

country.

4. Respect for the ;

right of self—determina_;

ticn for the peoples of

the world.

«Somalia in its practical implemention of this , policy made . great effort

to have good relations with

the rest of the world and ;

thjs is embodied with sue ;

cess. Today the S DR. *

has diplomatic relations,

cooperation and collaboration with many countries.

Somalia has made special

efforts to have good relations with nejgdhouring

countries. a relation which

js based on peace and coor

/9274

CSOf 3400/739

peration among neigh

bourjng countries: :

«Our relations with the

Republic of Djibouti is

very good, with many

sides, and is based on

brotherly ties and

getting more firm daily.

On the other hand, the

relation of the S.D.R. with

Kenya is goodSomalia on its part will

continue its effort to enhan-;

ce the already existing economical cooperation, trade,

art and culture, in order:

to strengthen the policy of

cooperation and good neigh

bourliness between the two

countries,

«At present talks are

underway between Somalia

and Ethiopia aimed to

find means to secure peace

between the two neigh

bouring countries; to enable them to reach cooperation, collaboration and

good neighbourliness bet

ween the two countries

and peoples.

«Primarily, it is imperative to create an

atmosphere that will remove doubts and supicions.

Theatmosphere

that will create trust and

confidence, then pass on

to the nucleus of the pro

blem and find a justified

and lasting solution. SoEThloplalSd^thiworld its;.

good will and intentions

and expects reciprocal

from Ethiopia. >

Jaaliayaal,

I urge the Somali people wherever they may be

to strive hard to preserve

iheir sovereignty a>od dig

nity, strengthen the spirit

of nationalism and the

. unity of the people, gurantee the nation's defence,

peace a^d stability, be the

reliable support as was cus

tomary, to their valiant

and courageous armed for

ces and be prepared to increase production and eco_

namic d

evel°Pm

ent.

Jaaliayaal;

«During 17 revolutionary

years, governments, organi

zations a^d individual personalities have supported

us, and gave us a hand

in our long struggle to

improve our standard of

living.

«I extend fco them, in

the name of the Somali

people our thanks and

sincere gratitude.

«Once more I extend

my congratulations and

felicitations to the Somali

people, wishing them a

happy celebration.»

93
UGANDA

MEDICAL COOPERATION WITH DPRK SIGNED

Kampala NEW VISION in English 14 Nov 86 p 12

[Article by Ben Ochan]

[Text] UGANDA and South Korea

have formally agreed pn medical co-operation.

The Permanent Secretary

in the Ministry of Health

Mr. Kebba M. Kinani signed

for Uganda and Ambassador

Bo Young Chung for South

Korea.

South Korea undertakes to

provide Uganda with two

medical doctors. It will meet

their travelling costs to and

from Uganda and pay their

salaries.during their two year

service .beginning November

,11 this year.

Uganda and South Korea

have been in an informally

medically co-operation since

April 14 1982.

Under the .new agreement,

Uganda will deploy the two

Korean doctors in any

hospital within the country

and provide medical supplies

and instruments as may be

required. They will be exmpted from Income tax

import or export custom or

other duties on personal and

household effects, new or used

in the first six months of

service.

The doctors will also be

accorded repatriationfacilities

in time of crisis as are

accord«* diplomatic officials

addition to other privileges.

The two years agreement'

will automatically extend service unless either party provides a written notification on

abrogation of the agreement

six months before the term

expires.

/12828

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94
OBOTE ENTOURAGE IN ZAMBIA DESCRIBED

UGANDA

Kampala NEW VISION in English 9 Dec 86 p

[Text] MILTON Obote s entourage

in.Zambia consists of 108 people including several former

cabinet ministers and his chief

of staff, Uganda's High Commissioner in Lusaka, Professor

Mwene Mushanga, has said.

They include former Chiet

of Staff, Smith Opon - Acak,

former Minister of Internal Affairs, Luwuliza - Kirunda,

former Minister of Information, Dr David Anvoti, and

former Minister of State lor

Defence Peter Otai who Professor Mushanga says is now

"their sort of international relations officer" as he shyttles between London, Geneva, Addis

Ababa, Khartoum and New

York.

Obote originally left the

country with 120 people out

since then 12 of them have

voluntarily returned to Uganda. More than half the original

group were soldiers.

Following allegations in the

Star newspaper and the BBC,

Zambian Foreign Minister

Luke Mwananshiku "assured

us that there was no truth in

these allegations that people

were being trained in Zambia

or that Obote supporters were

being given training facilities.

Obote was told on his arrival

that he should not engage in

that kind of activity or he

would be asked to leave", said

the high commissioner.

However the situation has

been confused by the fact that

50 of the Obote group are being housed in the National Service camp at Kafue. The National Service is the Zambian

equivalent of the Kenyan

General Service Unit or the

former Ugandan Special

Force. The Zambian explanation is that it is cheaper tn find

food and accommodation for a

large group in such a camp.

Another four Obote supporters are staying in Mayiba

camp in north - west province

which may be a camp where

the ANC and Swapo are

trained.

/12828

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95
UGANDA

RETURNING REFUGEES TO BE SETTLED IN WEST NILE

Kampala NEW VISION in English 28 Nov 86 p 1

[Excerpt ]

A TOTAL of 176,000 Ugandan

refugees living *a the

Sudan «ad Zaire will be

.-e&ettl*rf in West Wile by

?ebrussry w* -

:

KST.

About i/Y.';'W of the

estimated i00. > refugees

in southern --.u>.-w *"d o,00O

in Zaire have :ndicat«%i their

readiness t-> r-exv.ru home.

But many '..i *n<?m »rs

waiting for the end of tiie

harvest next January.

The representative of 'he

United Nations Ki«h

Commissioner for Befugws

in Kampala, Mr Willie

Young, said this in Kampala

yesterday.

Mr Young said 80-85 per

cent of the Ugandan refugees

in the Sudan want to return home, and the UNHCR

office in Am, Zaire is

expected to be closed down

by next February.

"We have been informed

that 6,000 Ugandan refugees

are there and are willing

to return home", i*. --aid.

But, Mr Young hastened

to add: "UNHCR will not

doae down any refugee

camp unless there are

reasons to make us believe

that there is no need for

the refugees to continue

getting our protection and

assistance."

In a separate interview

with the Arua district

Administrator, Mr AgonduaTee' this week, he said

/12828

CSO: 3400/733

some refugees had sent back

family members to build

nouses in Aringa, Koboko,

jJsracha, Terego. Madi and

.-•.."wia town. "We have been

reviving 7O--1500 returnees

daily.

"We have formed a

coranuttse comprising of 13

ce?;..r'tiients so handle the

ii-iJux of returnees. We are

further encourage« by the

fact that those who returned

earlier have got enough

food, and are now vying

for expansion of their farms",

Mr T«?e said.

He added there was only

one county, Aringa, and

possibly Koboko where the

food situation was still in

the balance.

Mr Tee anticipates that

if the exercise of resettling

returnees is accomplished

by 'February! food will be

in sufficient supply by April

next year.

And, the Arua District

Administrator, Mr AgonduaTee, who was in Kampala

this week also said that

the district was beefing up

itsstaffing position to provide

artisanai manpower which is

required in rebuilding the

social infrastructures

damaged in .wars that

escalated in the area for

long.

On the on-going resettlement exercise, Mr Young

said that ever since the

May 198« attack on the

West Bank of the Nile

in the Sudan, a total of

i08,uuu refugees have

returned and are properly

resettled.

Mr Young who has

visited West Nile for five

times confidently said: "There

will not be any major

problems in resettling the

in-coming returnees. The

108,000 returnees so far

resettled are picking on

well .... they have grown

food, built houses and are

happily settled*.

He said many of the

returnees were in Moyo

District and had been

provided with food, seeds,

agricultural implements,

fishnets. Health infrastructural services are also

being rehabilitated to equip

the area with the capacity

to handle the returnees.

The resettlement programme is projected to

accommodate about 100,000

people. "This is the planning

figure we are using in

providing logistical requirements. But we will be able

to adjust our planning in

case more than the estimated number return".

Mr Young added that

last Monday 502 refugees

returned from southern

Sudan at 8.00 pm and.

"we are in the process of

registering them, provide

them with food and then give

them transport back to their

home areas.

"We have four reception

centres — three are- in

Arua, while another one is

in Moyo District Our aim

is to ensure that returnees

do not spend more than

24 hours in reception

centres", he said.

96
UGANDA

AIRSTRIP IN MBARARA TO REOPEN

Kampala NEW VISION in English 2 Dec 86 p 3

[Text] NYAKISHARARA Airstrip

in jibarara district will

resume normal ni^ht3 within

4wo weeks time. A team

of technical staff from

Kampala, has already started

work on the airfield and

it is expected to last about

10 days says the leader af

the team, Hobert Bihaiga.

The team is working m

conjunction with the depart

rnent of Works and t:V

security personnel of

Mbsrara. The work mainly

involves clearing the üelA

of landmines which were

left behind by the UMI.A

soldiers during tha war.

/12828

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97
UGANDA

MILITARY TRIBUNAL ESTABLISHED TO TRY CRIMES

Kampala NEW VISION in English 28 Nov 86 p 14

[Article by Fred Bananura]

[Text] A MILITARY tribunal has

been set up to try officers, men

and womenin the NRA ranks

who committed crimes before

and after the NRM came to

power. . The first chairman of the

tribunal, Commander Ivan

Koreta said that these military

personnel who committed

crimes have been kept in

military prisons and will be

tried by the martial court. The

NRA is quickly processing

their cases so that the offenders

are either acquitted or sentenced accordingly.

Crimes to be tried by this

tribunal range from robberies

to manslaughter, from indiscipline to absconding and

violation of NRA code of

conduct.

Koreta said the tribunal is

entirely military but civilians

can give witness. The hearing

is also open, to public. It wiifbe

sitting frequently. Each

tribunal.session will be three

"months and for the next session

other officers are appointed to

avoid bias.

"This, is to ensure just

jurisdiction. This is why we

shall have a substantial

number of officers on the

tribunal'' he said. In reply to

a question on the unpopularity of military tribunals during

Amin's regime Commander

Koreta explained that the of--

ficers who set on those

tribunals were notorious'and

themselves criminals such that

people already had their own

misgivings to these officers.

They also deliberated in closed doors. But NRA tribunals

are similar to any other court

except that it does not accept

defence lawyers.

Asked about civilians who are

kept in military barracks, he

said, "We have got to be strict

with serious criminals. We

cannot afford to easily release

them to courts which soon

release these criminals on bail

of several thousand shillings

which bail the, criminals who

jump and disappear", he

reiterated.

He said several.escape incidents from other prisons have

cautioned NRA to keep these

serious criminals in such

prisons until' tried.

He said military intelligence

is investigating human rights

abuses and the aspect of

civilians in military barracks is

also to be covrr^H

/12828

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98
UGANDA

BRIEFS

TRANSPORT REHABILITATION PLANS--Karopala^-Uganda Sunday announced a 150 million

dollar plan to rehabilitate its railway system and steamer links with neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania on Lake Victoria, The Managing Director of the

Uganda railway corporation, Charles Karamaji, said half this money would be

spent on relaying the 200-mile (320 km) railway line from Kampala to Kasese

in western Uganda, This line was originally built in the 1950s to carry

copper ore from the mines at Kasese to a smelter at Jinja in central Uganda,

but traffic on it has since doubled, Karamaji said the rest of the money

would be spent on acquiring new rolling stock and improving steamer services

on Lake Victoria, He did not say how the transport rehabilitation scheme

would be funded, but government officials said earlier that several western

countries, which they did not name, had offered to finance the project.

[Text] [Addis Ababa THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD in English 2 Dec 86 p 6] /9274

CSOj 3400/739

99
ZAMBIA

BRIEFS

CAMPAIGN TO DISCREDIT KAUNDA-The party Secretary General, Comrade Grey Zulu,

has disclosed that there is a campaign by some quarters in the country to

discredit President Kaunda and the rest of the leadership. Speaking at a New

Year party for student house workers [as heard] at Menaco House, Comrade Zulu

urged the nation to ignore these rantings and remain united under the

leadership of President Kaunda. The party chief warned that the campaign to

discredit the president and the leadership constitutes a threat *o national

unity and should not be encouraged by peace-loving Zambians. [Text] [Lusaka

Domestic Service in English 1800 GMT 31 Dec 86 MB] /12913

CSO: 3400/735

100
SOUTH AFRICA

SCHLEBUSCH PUT FORWARD AS POSSIBLE SUCCESSOR TO BOTHA

Pretoria DIE AFRIKANER in Afrikaans 12 Nov 86 pp 1, 13

[Article by "MIVR": "Schlebusch To Succeed PW"]

[Text] Mr Alwyn Schlebusch has been brought back into the cabinet as successor

to Mr P. W. Botha.

That is how rightwing circles in Pretoria interpret the reshuffling and new

appointments in the cabinet announced by the state president in the past week.

A further important consequence of the changes in the cabinet and among deputy

ministers is that the government's ideological center of gravity has shifted

significantly to the left. Two members of the right wing of the National Party

(NP), Mr Louis le Grange and Mr Hendrik Schoeman, are leaving the cabinet,

while the appointment of two former United Party (UP) members of Parliament

strengthens the ranks of former UP members in the cabinet and among the deputy

ministers.

But it is the appointment of Mr Schlebusch that is receiving most of the

attention in political circles. The unprecedented step of taking Mr Schlebusch

back into the cabinet clearly springs from the perception on the part of

Mr P. W. Botha that he has no reliable successor among the present members of

his cabinet. This state of affairs has been openly discussed by NP members of ;

Parliament for some time.

Mr Schlebusch's appointment is above all an indication of a lack of confidence

in the minister of political development and planning and Cape leader of the

NP, Mr Chris Heunis. Apparently Mr Botha now realizes that the very

uncharismatic Mr Heunis is an improbable successor.

For all practical purposes, Mr Schlebusch will be vice state president,

although his official portfolio will be that of minister in the Office of the

State President responsible for the Administration Commission and the South

African Broadcasting Corporation. He will also handle ceremonial duties.

Mr P. W. Botha and Mr Schlebusch have been connected for many years. During

the election of the premier in 1978, for example, Mr Schlebusch took the

unprecedented step of openly calling on NP members of Parliament to vote for

Mr Botha. For this he was rewarded with various senior posts, including that

of vice state president.

101
Those in the know say that if Mr Schlebusch is chosen to succeed Mr Botha, he

will be a sort of transition figure before the advent of power sharing with

Blacks and a predominantly black government, according to indications already

given by the Broederbond.

The cabinet and the ranks of the deputy ministers are now swarming with former

UP politicians. The appointment of Mr George Bartlett and Mr Myburgh Streicher

as deputy ministers increases the group to five. The others are Mr John Wiley

(who in addition receives the Water Affairs portfolio), Mr Ron Miller and

Mr Ken Durr. Mr Bartlett was a New Republic Party member of Parliament until

2 years ago, while Mr Streicher is a former leader of the UP in the Cape.

The large number of former UP members among the leadership, in the context of

the stepping down of the two most conservative members of the cabinet, will

definitely have an influence on future government decisions, political

observers say.

12906/12379

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102
SOUTH AFRICA

TUCSA DECLINE CITED AS PROOF OF MULTIRACIALISM FAILURE

Pretoria DIE AFRIKANER in Afrikaans 19 Nov 86 p 4

["Perspective" by "Gawie": "TUCSA Testimony to Failure of Multiracialism"]

[Text] The once giant Trade Union Council of South Africa (TUCSA) has come to

the end of the road. As recently as 1982 this multiracial federation of trade

unions was the biggest in South Africa, with almost 432,000 members and 57

affiliated trade unions. TUCSA was still expanding—in 1980 it had only

283,000 members, which increased to 361,000 in 1981.

The first storm clouds appeared in 1983, when the SA Boilermakers Union

announced that it was withdrawing from TUCSA. The Boilermakers Union, which

had extremely close ties with rising black trade unions, decided to withdraw

shortly after TUCSA's annual congress. The reason was TUCSA»s call for a law

prohibiting unregistered trade unions, as well as the federation's opposition

to a proposal that workers be permitted to join the trade union of their

choice.

At that time it was said in liberal circles that the Boilermakers' decision

would further damage TUCSA's credibility among black trade unions.

These were clearly prophetic words. As the black trade union movement found

its feet, TUCSA apparently enjoyed less and less credibility, probably because

it continued to try to play the traditional role of a trade union movement.

This was simply not possible in the context of the increasing political

involvement of black trade unions.

Thus TUCSA's decline went hand-in-hand with a substantial increase in the

membership of black trade unions. That membership grew, for example, from

220,000 in 1980 to 670,000 in 1983, an increase of 200 percent.

Blacks clearly joined black trade unions because of their political role.

While trade unions traditionally focused on the wages and working conditions of

workers, the new black trade unions also recruited their members for political

purposes. Many of the black trade unions also affiliated themselves with the

internal front of The African National Congress (ANC), the Union for the

Defense of the Republic (UDF). Naturally TUCSA could not compete with a black

trade union such as the Confederation of South African Congress (COSATU), which

103
in May this year announced in a pamphlet: "Comrades unite—we will look out

for your interests! Marxism-Socialism serves you!"

TUCSA's decline was the direct result of the government's present labor policy,

which served to accelerate the rise of the black trade union movement. Without

this, TUCSA would never have succumbed, because the trade union movement would

never have been radicalized to the extent that is now the case.

No multiracial trade union is in a position to bring together and speak for the

interests of its disparate membership. When politics also enters into the

game'this becomes an impossible task. No wonder, then, that we are living at

a time when the trade union movement is characterized by giant black trade

unions on the one side and growing white trade unions on the other. The

leftwing ideal of a multiracial trade union movement in South Africa lies in

ruins' Those who still find themselves in the middle will gravitate to one

side or the other in the coming 2 or 3 years, or go under like TUCSA.

Events in the trade union movement reflect what is happening in South African

society as a whole. The polarization that has taken place since the adoption

of theypr"esent constitution is most sharply visible in the trade unions because

they are the only field in which large black, mixed, and white organizations

exist alongside one another and compete with one another.

The failure of multiracialism is, however, also clearly visible in the

political arena. One good example of this is the failure of the Progressive

Federal Party (PFP) to become a genuinely multiracial party. Although the

party announced with great fanfare that it would also sign non-whi es as

members, precious little has come of this. This party of rich Eng ishmen

cannot possibly compete with political movements like the ANC and the UDF for

the support of blacks and other non-whites. As far as its multiracialism is

concerned, the PFP will go the same way as TUCSA.

The most important quarter that should, however take note of the TUCSA case is

the government. Just as TUCSA is the result of its labor P°licy, *° TU?SA ±S

also a mirror in which it can see its own future-if it cares to take the

troublelo «rn. TUCSA was the "moderate" center in the trade union movement

with organizations like the Mine Workers Union and COSATU on either side just

like the government in the field of politics. And, like the government, TUCSA

also thought it could successfully reconcile the interests of disparate power

groups.

The soap bubble of multiracialism has already burst for TUCSA, but the

Impression nonetheless remains that the government still nourishes ideal, o a

multiracial National Council and other wishful thinking. Likewise, there is

still Se illusion in government ranks that there is a majority of moderates

in South Africa that stands as a sort of buffer between the power aspirations

of white nationalists on the one side and black nationalists on the other.

This kind of Utopian politics has also brought into being a whole range of

familiar and less well known little parties and organizations in recent years.

However ardently it is hoped these days that the present political impasse will

be overcome by some highly imaginative step or other, the truth TUCSA has so

pointedly underlined cannot be evaded.

12906/12379 . ,

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SOUTH AFRICA

UNEMPLOYED TRAINED TO BUILD INEXPENSIVE HOUSING

Cape Town DIE BURGER in Afrikaans 13 Nov 86 p 13

[Unattributed report: "Unemployed Help Build Houses"]

[Text] "We are going to build houses for the whole of South Africa in this

manner," Mr Piet du Plessis, minister of manpower, said yesterday after a

visit to the training center in the Epping industrial area where unemployed

people are being trained in all the skills necessary to build their own

houses.

Mr du Plessis went to show the training center, as well as a construction

project which has been undertaken by the trained "unemployed" in Khayelitsha,

to General Magnus Malan, minister of defense.

"I see light at the end of the tunnel of our housing problems when I look at

what is being done here (in Khayelitsha)," General Malan said. The houses in

Khayelitsha have two bedrooms, an Open living room and kitchen, a bathroom and

a flush toilet—and the building material costs only about 4,000 rands.

At the training center in Epping 1,500 registered unemployed are now being

trained in basic skills necessary to build a sub-economic house.

The training lasts from a week to 3 weeks and includes courses in basic wood

working, concrete work, brick work, block laying, painting, plastering,

plumbing, welding, and curb-stone laying.

Unemployed persons are also trained as security guards and domestic help, and

are trained to obtain a driver's license.

"We make better workers out of unemployed workers," Mr Johan Greyling, head of

the training center, said yesterday. As soon as the unemployed people complete

their course they enter the labor market and many of them get work at, among other

places, make-work projects such as the construction project in Khayelitsha.

More than 30,400 unemployed persons have been trained since the opening of the

center in July of last year. Each course participant receives 2.40 rands and

two meals per day. Approximately 3,500 meals are prepared each day in a

kitchen at the training center. At the make-work projects an "unemployed"

persons earns 4 rands and two meals per day.

105
Mr Greyling said the course participants are being trained to build a house

which is inexpensive, labor-intensive, "easily constructible" and of good

quality. "We make the bricks, window frames, door-posts and doors for the

houses which are being built at the make-work project in Khayelitsha.

The Khayelitsha houses, which were developed at the training center, are built

of "bricks" consisting of plastic bags which are filled with wet cement and

sand. These bricks are then laid upon each other in moulds.

Workers Trained Without Cost

From now on farmers can have their agricultural workers trained, without cost,

to build sub-economic houses on their farms.

Mr John Greyling, head of the Western Cape training center in Epping, told

DIE BURGER yesterday that the course, which will be offered on private farms,

lasts 5 weeks.

An instructor from the training center will be made available to the farmer,

without cost, to train his workers in all the skills necessary to build subeconomic houses.

All it will cost the farmer is the building material as well as room and board

for the instructor. The farmer will also have to continue to compensate his

workers.

The course will only be able to be offered to groups of 10 or more workers at

a time.

13238/8309

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106
SOUTH AFRICA

'POPULATION EXPLOSION', URBANIZATION TERMED CATASTROPHIC

Cape Town DIE BURGER in Afrikaans 12 Nov 86 p 12

[Editorial: "Like a Time Bomb"]

[Text] The population census of 1985 has once again focused the spotlight

brightly on one of the greatest—possibly even the single greatest—future

problem which is facing South Africa: its population explosion. All possible

political and economic plans for the future are in danger of being for naught

if this question» which is built in like a time bomb, is not tackled in a timely

and effective manner.

Above all, three phenomena in the census reports give rise to serious concern:

the too-high overall birthrate, the unhealthy demographic distribution of the

populace, and the low percentage of the populace which has attained a degree—

and from which most decision-makers ought to come.

It is clear that if the urbanization process continues at its present rate,

millions more colored people will move, which could place irresistible pressure

upon the natural resources and infrastructure of the metropolitan areas.

Some years ago the President's Council warned of the danger of just such overpopulation and excessive urbanization. It inevitably creates friction, which

even bears the danger of revolution within itself.

One of the potentially most important counterbalances to excessive urbanization,

decentralization, has not yet had the desired effect. It will have to be looked

at again.

For that very reason the government is continuing its population development

strategy with greater purposefulness, such as with the recent establishment of

the Council for Population Development.

Such a strategy depends, of course, to a great extent upon success in raising

the population groups' standard of living. This includes, among other things,

the expansion of family planning programs, and, because it is a sensitive

matter, the depoliticizing of them.

107
Yesterday evening, Mr Willie van Niekerk again stressed the urgency of the

problem. He warned that the present generation is the last one which will

be able to do something about it. If it fails, the future holds a disaster

in store similar to that in Ethiopia and other starving African countries.

It will, at the same time, sound the death knell for all other well-intentioned

development programs.

Those who, on top of it all, propagate violence, boycotts, and sanctions, are

simply enhancing the possibility of a catastrophe.

13238/8309

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108
SOUTH AFRICA

COLIN EGLIN, INTERNAL TENSIONS IN PFP VIEWED

Cape Town DIE BURGER in Afrikaans 17 Nov 86 p 8

[Editorial: "The PFP's Young Radicals"]

[Text] The deep division within the Progressive Federal Party [PFP] will

probably be in the spotlight once again next week at its national convention

in Johannesburg when the young Progs' radical proposals come up for discussion.

One of their most controversial points is the proposal that the party should

actively support the application of sanctions against governmental and military

institutions. They even come to the conclusion that sanctions "will not be

harmful to the South African populace or economy as a whole."

And this while militant black labor unions are now becoming alarmed at the

results of sanctions and disinvestment, and Mr Colin Eglin just spoke out

against sanctions abroad. As residents of the Wealthy white areas, however,

they will probably feel the effect of sanctions less than other people.

The boycott mentality is also still present in the PFP because the young Progs

want the party to withdraw from the President's Council and to boycott the

regional service councils.

The wild proposals can also be viewed as an attempt by the young Progs to make

the party more attractive to radical young blacks, who still act towards the

party with great suspicion and distrust. For many, the PFP remains preeminently the party of "white capitalism."

Just as his predecessor, Mr Eglin will have the job of maintaining the appearance

of peace and unity and of glossing over the differences. Not only does the

danger exist of a serious collision between the young men and the party leadership, but also between the traditional right and left wings of the party. It is

this kind of internal tension which has so crippled the PFP that it no longer

is an effective factor in South African politics.

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109
SOUTH AFRICA

SOVIETS SEND ANC ANNIVERSARY CONGRATULATIONS

PM091459 Moscow PRAVDA in Russian 8 Jan 87 First Edition p 1

[CPSU Greetings to African National Congress on 75th Anniversary]

[Text] To the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress

[ANC] of South Africa

Dear comrades!

We send you cordial congratulations on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of

the creation of the ANC of South Africa.

Through its years-long courageous and selfless struggle against the racist

regime the ANC has deservedly earned recognition as the genuine spokesman and

defender of the South African people's interests.

People in the Soviet Union, just as all honest people on earth, fully

understand and support the ANC's determination to create a united, democratic

state in South Africa where there will be no room for racism and which will

guarantee the equal rights of all citizens regardless of the color of their

skin.

The struggle by South Africa's patriotic forces has now entered a new and

responsible stage. The mass political demonstrations, the strike movement,

and the armed operations by ANC fighters are fusing into a single stream of

the people's anger, which will inevitably overthrow the inhuman regime of

apartheid.

Today, on the day of the ANC's 75th anniversary, we express combat solidarity

with Nelson Mandela and other leaders and activist members of the Congress

who are languishing in racist jails. Soviet people are convinced that the

cause of the fighters for South Africa's freedom will triumph.

The CPSU Central Committee

/9599

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110
SOUTH AFRICA

BRIEFS

ANC DELEGATION RECEIVED IN MOSCOW—On 8 January A. A. Mokanu, deputy chairman

of the USSR Supreme Soviet Presidium, received a delegation from the African

National Congress [ANC] of South Africa, headed by J. M. Makatini, member of

the ANC National Executive Committee. Speaking of the situation which has

emerged in southern Africa, the head of the delegation stressed the great

significance of the Soviet Union's solidarity with the South African people in

their struggle against apartheid. During the conversation it was noted that

the ANC has rightly won recognition as the true voice and defender of the

South African people's interests. It was stressed that in the Soviet Union

there is complete understanding and support for the ANC's determination to

put an end to the ignominious apartheid system and create a united, democratic

state in South Africa. [Text] [Moscow IZVESTIYA in Russian 9 Jan 87 Morning

Edition p 4] /9599

ANC OPENS OFFICE IN MOSCOW—Moscow, 8 Jan (TASS)—The decision to open a

permanent mission of the African National Congress [ANC] in the USSR this year

has great political importance for the further intensification of our struggle

to abolish the system of apartheid, said Johnny Makatini, a member of the ANC

National Executive Committee. At a press conference here today, he expressed

great appreciation for the Soviet Union's unfailing support of the national

liberation struggle of the peoples of southern Africa. The ANC, Johnny

Makatini said, is marking its 75th jubilee at a time when the struggle against

apartheid has entered a decisive stage. It has brought about a profound

crisis for the white minority regime, and the initiative has passed to the

progressive forces. In their attempt to preserve the system of racial

oppression, the authorities in Pretoria have pinned their faith on total

terror within the country and aggression against neighboring independent

countries. In such a situation, the ANC representative noted, our

organization advocates unity of action by all the progressive forces of

southern Africa with the aim of destroying the racist regime and creating a

free and democratic society based upon the principles of equality and justice.

The growing support and solidarity of all people of goodwill, and above all,

of the socialist and nonaligned countries, is of enormous importance for us.

[Text] [Moscow TASS International Service in Russian 1648 GMT 8 Jan 87]

/9599

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111
SOUTH AFRICA

DRAFT BILL DETAILS PROPOSALS TO REVAMP COUNTRY'S LABOR LAWS

Johannesburg THE STAR in English 19 Dec 86 p 13

[Article by Kym Hamilton]

[Text] proposals to revamp South Africa's labour

laws are detailed in a draft Bill published in

the Government Gazette today.

Far-reaching changes to the judicial machinery

governing labour relations, definitions of unfair

labour practices and dismissals, and the settlement of disputes are envisaged.

Yesterday, at a Press conference in Pretoria,

the Director-General of the Department of Manpower, Dr Piet van der Merwe, said he hoped the

Bill represented a measure of consensus of the

divergent views of participants in the labour

scene.

Due date for comments

He said comment would be welcome from all

interested parties, and the Bill was not by any»

means the final form of amendments to the Labour Relations Act.

Comment must be submitted to the department

by February 6.

He added that it was hoped the Bill could be

put before Parliament during the 1987 session.

The additions to the Labour Relations Act were

aimed at streamlining the dispute settlement process, he said.

The contents of the draft Bill

come from the National Manpower Commission, his department, and various employer

and employee organisations.

The major amendments relate to the establishment of a

second tier in the judicial process — a special labour court

which will be part of the Supreme Court of South Africa.

Its officers will be judges,

and it will fall under the control of the Minister of Justice.

The court will be empowered

to hear appeals against Industrial Court decisions, and go

some way to alleviate the

workload at the Industrial

Court.

Since the establishment of

the Industrial Court in 1979, the

number of cases submitted has

risen dramatically, Dr van der

Merwe pointed out.

In 1974 there were four, in

1980 15 — and 801 last year.

Projections. for this year are

more than 2 000.

The Bill also provides for a

right to apply for leave to appeal to the Appellate Division,

and gives the court the power

to award costs.

A second major aspect is the

redefinition of the term "unfair labour practice". This follows much criticism that the

present definition is too wide.

Labour practices which will

be "unfair" include:

•The use by a trade union or

employer organisation of unconstitutional, unfair or misleading methods to canvass

members.

•The replacement of one employee by another on less favourable employment conditions.

•The indirect or direct support or partcipation in a boycott by an employee, trade

union or federation not involved in a dispute with the

relevant employer. »

112
Exclusions

•Discrimination ;"\ on the

grounds of race, sex or religion. ]

• An employer who unreason- !

ably fails to negotiate on an in- j

dustrial council or with a representative trade union or '

group of employees.

• A trade union which hinders

an employer's negotiations

with employees not represented by the union.

•The failure by an employer

or trade union to comply with

an agreement, or acts without

authoritisation of its members.

•Any labour practice which

has the effect of jeopardising

or prejudicing the employment

opportunities or work security

of an employee, unfairly disrupting the business of an employer, promoting or creating

labour unrest and detrimentally affecting the relationship between an employer and employee.

Certain labour practices

have been excluded from the

definition.

These are the dismissal of illegal strikers and the selective

re-employment of dismissed

workers, provided objective

criteria are used.

What constitutes "objective

criteria" will have to be determined by the Industrial Court.

The draft Bill also provides

for the insertion of a definition

of an "unfair dismissal".

The definition will make it

necessary for.retrenchments to

be negotiated, and will give

employees the right to be

heard.

/13046

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:'>/

113
SOUTH AFRICA

NEW STRATEGY OF OPPRESSION AGAINST BLACK ACTIVISTS NOTED

Johannesburg THE STAR in English 17 Dec 86 p 20

[Article by Allster Sparks in "My View" column]

[Text] South Africa's drastic new Press restrictions are much more than just

an attempt to muzzle the newspapers and put an end to unfavourable

publicity.

They are part of a massive operation aimed at crushing the emergent

black political opposition in the

townships that has brought the official administrative system there to

its knees over the past two years

and stalled implementation of the

Government's neo-apartheid reforms at the regional and national

levels.

They are also a declaration of defiance to the world in response to

sanctions. Like a kid in a temper

tantrum, Pretoria is saying to hell

with the world, we no longer care

what you think of us and now we

are going to do what we damned

well like. .

Thirdly, they are a demonstration

of kragdadigheid in preparation

for a laager election next April in

which President Botha wants to outflank the far-rightists with a display .

of toughness and chauvinism.

An extensive network of community organisations has sprung up in

the townships in recent years — action committees, street committees,

civic associations and student

groups.

Backed by the trade unions and

co-ordinated by national political

organisations such as the United

Democratic Front and Azapo, they

have developed into a shadow civic

administration in the black areas.

As they have grown in strength

they have-begun to challenge the

authority of the official administration, making major inroads in some

areas. That has been the thrust of

the black rebellion of the last two

years.

With the declared intention of

making the townships "ungovern-.

able", black activists have waged

a campaign against the official ad-'

ministrative system there .

The township councils, elected

under the apartheid system in heavily boycotted polls, have come

under attack. Many of the councillors, discredited as "collaborators", ;

have been killed or forced to flee.

Others have resigned.

As the administrative structures

have crumbled, the "alternative"

community organisations have

sought to take over control.

Apart from disrupting Pretoria's

system of local black administration in large parts of the country,

this has also paralysed Mr Chris

Heunis's efforts to implement his

neo-apartheid reforms at the regional and national levels.

He has been unable to find credible black leaders willing to participate in the regional services councils and the National Council.

Since June, with the sweeping

powers granted by the emergency

proclamation, the Government has

begun a counter-offensive aimed at

crippling the "alternative" community organisations and reconstructing the official administrative system.

A series of Joint Management

Committees, which are the local

114
limbs of an elaborate intelligence

network called the National Security Management System, have

sought to re-establish the legitimacy of the state authorities by identifying and redressing local grievances.

From the Government's point of

view the JMCs have been successful. They believe they are winning

the battle in the townships and now

they are being given carte blanche

to go all out and finish the job.

The news blackout is part of a

total war that has been declared on

the "alternative" organisations. By

prohibiting the newspapers from reporting or commenting on their activities, the Government hopes to

sever their means of communication with the community at large.

It will now be more difficult for

them to organise and publicise their

boycotts, strikes and other protest

campaigns. The detention of their

members cannot be reported, nor

what is done to them in detention.

The security forces can crack

down on them, even remove whole

dissident communities, without the

public attention provided by monitoring bodies such as the Black Sash

and the Detainees' Parents Support

Committee, which have also been

gagged by the Press restrictions.

Repression can be intensified in !

silence. While this is happening, the

Joint Management Committees will

press ahead with their campaign of

trying to win credibility for the

authorities and their black proxies

in the townships by attending to

material shortcomings such as poor

housing and civic amenities.

If the black opposition can be

put out of action and the local administrative system reconstructed,

the Government believes it will

then be easier to co-opt compliant

blacks to get its "own affairs" constitutional reforms into operation at

the regional and national levels as

well.

It is a strategy of repression and

co-option which is likely to form the

pattern of future action by the

Botha Government.

Its prospects of success I would

rate as minimal. Perhaps it will!

succeed in producing another temporary lull in the unrest as happened after the 1976 uprising was

finally crushed, but repression inevitably deepens feelings of grievance

and alienation which co-option and

patronage can only assuage for a

few at the expense of the many.

In the long run such a society can

be maintained only by force, and I

doubt whether South Africa's small

mandarin class has the resources in

terms of manpower, skills and

money to do that indefinitely.

As for his other objective, President Botha can probably get the

election victory he Wants. He is

going to try to beat John Vorster's

electoral triumph of 1977, when

Vorster followed up his repression

of the Soweto uprising with a xenophobic exploitation of white resentment of the Carter Administration's '

critical rhetoric.

President Botha is going to try to !

exploit the US Congress's sanctions

vote in the same way, calling on divided Afrikaners to sink their differ- '<

ences and come into the laager together to fight off the "total onslaught" by a vindictive,

American-led Western world and

black revolutionaries who are the

tools of Moscow.

He will use sanctions and kragdadigheid to outflank the far rightists and the scare of a right-wing

takeover to get Progressive Federal

Party supporters to back him.

This part of the game plan could

work. The ageing President may

well get the big victory he seems to

want so badly in the lope thai history will finally account him a success. But it will be a Pyrrhic victory. History will not forgive him

for what he is doing to his country

to achieve it.

Mr Botha revealed in his earlier

statements that he realised South

Africa needed to transform its race

relations if it was to survive. History, like judges, tends to hold most

culpable those who do wrong when

they know better.

/13046

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115
SOUTH AFRICA

MINE-RESISTANT VEHICLES» INDUSTRY DISCUSSED

Johannesburg THE SUNDAY STAR in English 14 Dec 86 pp 1, 19

[Article by Kitt Katzin]

[Text]

AS THE landmine "menace

spreads across South Africa's

northern borders, at least four

automotive, design "companies

are "preparing to release a new

range of jminä-protected'vehicles for usein farming, industry

and the private sector. 'Mi-ti ' *-

\ In what is fast becoming a

highly competitive industry, the

new armoured and bullet-proof

models^' tested by" the CSIR

and the Bureau of .Standards

(SABS)3i will 'come off production lines.in ^different parts of

the^ country In the \ next few

weeks, ^Jxh'-fr}--yfZfP * %

.'.. New*,"; conventional * vehicles

are being" mounted with" variations of CSER-deyeloped mineprotected capsules, and others

with independently designed

components. They will cost between R25 000 and R40 000. ':i -.:

.^Almost/any type of pick-up

truck — one to threetonners — can be modi?

fied at a cost of R12 000. ".

The Sunday Star has

also established details

of the Government subsidy paid to farmers in

designated border areas

'to enable them to buy

'.' mineproof trucks — thus

"encouraging them to''.

stay on their lands. *'.

It applies mainly to

farmers of the northern

and ' "' ' north-western

Transvaal; and involves

a. grant, of R28 000 to

those who qualify, fiv '*•/;..,

In addition, farmers

will be given a loan of

R12 000, repayable over

five years at low inter- .

est, which means buying

a R40 000 security vehi-.

cle without any capital,.

outlay.■■;-:,.&*v.-'' '■■:'v- .:

' About' 200 farmers

stand to benefit, and the

subsidy may soon be extended to those along the

Swaziland border. •

;

.' , Processing the subsidy

applications — not all .

l

i farmers will qualify —

./are the departments of

'Commerce and Agriculture. ... ",,_V. ..-:,'--'§i'>C

Meanwhile, the subsidy scheme has thrown

the local automotive in- '

dustry wide open, with ,

various companies, as- |

"sured of lucrative and;;

' guaranteed payments,

showing keen interest in

agricultural and other .

sectors in the public and

private sectors. jf.~^:-.::BZ

On the production /

side, one automotive de--*

signer, Mr Ernest Koni- „_...

chel, who is building a

one-ton anti-ambush and '

' mine-resistant bakkie,;..

the Cougar, has received

orders for 54 units from .

an agricultural concern

near Komatipoort. -•'?..

Mr Konschel, a former

Zimbabwean, has based '

his design on the Rhode-~.

sian Cougar, which he ,

also designed and developed. It was the most

. successful mine-protected vehicle used in the

Rhodesianwar. ; • J,...

Four models are

available, for from" two '.'

to eight men. ' .-' -- - "'-.

Mr Konschel is also

planning to build a

mine-protected- vehicle

based on the world-re-'/

unowned Rhodesian "Poo-^

ki'e", which saved' thou-'

sands of lives by lifting

more than 300 mines in

the war against Zanu

.andZapu. .

v

".' *•. c

He hopes to have a

new variant of the "Pookie" in production at his

plant in Germiston next

year. . • :J -; J >y-'

%A . Pretoria motor ,

. company executive, Mr

Koos de Wet, the creator

of the Büffel transport

carrier — one of the

most successful of its

kind in the world — and

the Casspir, has designed

the Krimpvark mine-resistant vehicle for the

civil sector. It is being

built by Afrit, of Rosslyh, Pretoria.

Also a one-tbnner, but

of a different design, the

Krimpvark has a top

speed of 140 km/h, a fuel

consumption ..,';.'''-} „of

201/100 km, weighs two' ,

tons, offers good allround visibility, and is;

well ventilated. ,.„. ..,

' '.« It is being made avail* ;

able to State agencies; i

; and to the private sec: >

: tor. The first production

1 model has already been

'delivered to a business

' 'concern In Witbank. •*;

''•'•;- At least two more engineering firms are

r making use of a CSIR-

' designed capsule which

they are adapting in

projects of their own. A

new vehicle, the Rooibok, is in production and

will be marketed soon.'

The CSIR developed

the capsule as a guideline for the production of

home-built vehicles for

use in the private sector.

The basic design was

made available to interested parties by the

Department of Com-

:

. merce. •",.! '*: ■■■■'

The new vehicles

come at a time when

South Africa faces an increasing .'landmine

threat, as shown by incidents in the northern

116
Transvaal over the past

„.year. ,V-V0^fe$£

,jj.t- Since November ..last

•year, 16 people, some'of

"them members of farmiiag families,, have died

jin blasts in areas close

^to the border .with Zimbabwe. .. .. ..._..\

BEHIND every move in the military field lies a

price•'.;;' a sum of money that in the final analysis

has to bie recommended by the Ministry of Defence

and justified by Parliament. -V v- „ ■■;•"; :, ' ;*•._

When the first Swapo landmine in the Caprivi was

detonated by a rear wheel of an SAP vehicle on

routine patrol near Katima Mulilo on May 22, 1971,

killing two policemen and injuring seven, South Africa's military strategists were in no doubt as to what

lay ahead"»•*fA«-*' •/•/c-^ ;• >:' ; ••'; <: <•-."..V-'f:• -

.f The use of the landmine as ä tactical weapon in

the war zones in South West Africa had begun in deadly earnest..'.1

. ;f «:• . '. " . ;.*"••.• ,•..-:-...>. .. •}.,

.;. SA; would soon learn, as did the Rhodesians, that:

vast quantities of Soviet and Chinese landmines embedded along country roads, on the fringes of farming

villages and towns and in other areas could play havoc

with civilians and soldiersT ~- -*; > IX ^ •-•*.'• ' %

In fact, as was later seen in Rhodesia, and Mozambique and Angola, landmines accounted for the loss

of hundreds of lives, and played a vital part in tipping the scales in favour of the black nationalist

guerrillas. . .-. . _ ', :\:"]>;.:. >,', ;' '.''/,•'

. In Rhodesia, where scores of locally built mine^resistant vehicles actually saved many lives, at least 632

people died and 4410 were injured in 2405 landmine,

incidents in eight years. VäV;/-;-.^ :;'. '.j.^^--

White Rhodesians alone,

who defied the world for

15 years with their unilateral declaration of independence, suffered more

casualties, in proportion

to their numbers, in landmine and other war-related incidents in the final

seven years of the war

(1972-1979) than did Britain in World War L

, In 1979, at the height of

the bush war, 5,72 landmine blasts occurred

everyday. .

In the Portuguese Angola war against the

MPLA, FNLA and Unita,..

2582 landmine incidents

were recorded in 10 years.

In just one year, 1972, 40

peopJs died aad.405 wor«T

wounded..

These figures, once top-secret, but disclosed now

for the first time in. a new. book by veteran Rhodesfan war author Peter Stiff," casts the spotlightharshly

on the war theatres bordering SA.

They paint a grim picture of what may similarly

lie ahead for South African soldiers .in SWA, Angola

and elsewhere, and for civilians. >? •'; %■■:-, „ •,":»: • >•

... Is SA prepared to meet the threat of a stepped-up

landmine onslaught? v.«>£"-•$?:^Mu-\-%'•> -•:"•.».'* ..•

Stiff, in his book "Taming the Landmine", the first

of its kind on the development of the weapon and

efforts to minimise its explosive effects, reveals how

SA, by learning from Rhodesia's experience, has taken

the lead"among Western nations in securing a highly "

:

sophisticated landmine-protection industry. ."-£* ;

He tells the story of how it began in the 1970s,

when the landmine menace spread to Zimbabwe and

SWA; of the engineers and designers, working undercover, who produced the prototypes of mine-resistant.'

.vehicles which form the core of those used today in the

military and commercial sectors^:V;r;:T- :'^y:\-"i^ •";

He also lifts the lid on a new range of mine^pro^

tected and detection vehicles due to roll off production lines at various assembly plants early next year. <•:

J SA, he says, has come a long way since the early -

days of anti-landmine operations when the objective;

was to detonate mines rather than protect vehicles,

against them'. -?'^;^.'-i;^:fe?-)"\^^Ki,;r VK '/ .,.-,.-•'.:

,. Asjä result of a top-priority development and re-,

search programme," which has placed SA at the fore--.-

front of worldwide technology, thousands of lives —./

and ^thousands of millions of rands — have already

been saved in military and civilian terms. ' *' : ';% ■■ > ...

Given the fact, says Stiff, that SA is at war1—2

rightly or wrongly — and that every battle fought

has its price, SADF estimates in 1975/76 of protect

ing the life of one combatant against mines was put

at R100 000, or Rl million in 1986. ~ '\^vr^.i^:--. ...

In 1975/76, when money spent on the development

and production of mine-exploders and mine-protected

vehicles was compared to lives saved, it was found it

had cost less than R40 to protect the life of a single

person. .; ':*?.':';' ; ' '. y'-..)'.!;"". r~ / >-. / :,.:-;~ ,

> This, says Stiff, shows the extent to which the

landmine menace, even though it is likely to escalate as fresh incidents in the northern Transvaal.

have shown, has been contained so far in SA's ongoing military conflicts. •..*'.. ■■■—.'■■■' • •■■■- '*'"••

117
IT all began in 1968 when officers of the SA

Defence Research Unit blew a large stuffed

dummy called "Harold Wilson" to smithereens, i-?.}. ; •• .•/' > ":* .'^ •..-''. £•,'••, "-• .'•'.•: • ,-"

It'was South Africa's first modern research

project oh the explosive effects of the landmine,,

and came in the wake of Swapo's early forays

into South West Africa from bases across the bor-.

der in Zambia." ? i.■■-.;* >/.* 1$:; 'K'-' '\

A

'V «:'''Wi' • i

'• The first of these, signalling the start of the bWA

bush war, was mounted by members of a dissident

Swapo gang which called itself the Do Momfitu, which .

in Ovambo means "Soldiers of the Bush". .• -••-!:'.' . They attacked the small settlement of Oshikango on

the Angolan border in the early hours of September 27, .

1966, but by a stroke of good fortune wounded only one -:

person, a night watchman. ; >'^ •'' V

;

^''^''"^„V

Further evidence that Swapo meant,business and .

was hell-bent on starting a full-cale conflict with,

SA, came in the form of. a „second attack whenits

guerrillas attacked .a

white-owned farm at

Maroelaboom '.^-.«'; ^t.::

However, they failed

and in a police follow-up

operation, three guerrillas were captured.

After this, Swapo

switched its operations

from Ovamboland to the

Caprivi Strip, making it

easier to use its rear

bases in Zambia as a

launch-pad for incursions

into SWA. '• •.."' ••'

Meanwhile, SA's Defence Research Unit

(DRU), anticipating the

use of landmines as a

weapon as had happened

in Angola, Mozambique

and elsewhere, carried

out some basic tests in

1968.

Although it was a modest project, it was to lay

the foundation — largely

through the efforts of the

private sector — for

what is today regarded

as the most cost-effective

and best-equipped landmine-protecting industry

' in the West

In his new book "Taming the Landmine", Peter

Stiff tells the story of

how it all started on that

significant day in 1968.

Officers of the DRU

reinforced the firewall of

an old Ford pick-up truck

witn conveyor ueiung

and placed a large

stuffed dummy, nicknamed Harold Wilson -j:

after the then British

Premier who was highly

unpopular in SA — In the

driving seat ,'• .' .' ' ->t'*^

• The detonation of a

single landmine under

the front blasted the Ford

to pieces, and no trace

was found of "Harold

Wilson". -.' •. '::.? :-'

Soon after the DRU

had submitted a report

on its tests, pointing out

the danger of a landmine

onslaught and suggesting

ways of countering it, the

first Swapo-laid mine

was detonated by a police

vehicle. .-'<'*

Two more SAP vehicles were blasted in a

second incident, killing

two policemen and

wounding eight r<\

Then the casualties

from landmine blasts in

Caprivi began to escalate, and military strategists went back to the

drawing boards to

reassess the findings of

the 1968 report

They examined the

whole question of landmine detection, deliberate detonation and the

protection of vehicles

against blast effect . *

And so began the development of a new industry that was to change

the face of SA's war ma- ,.

chine and have a dramatic impact on the lives and ^

movement patterns of its

troops. :.:;!^^i-*RÄ»^'v

yThe era of armoured

mine-resistant vehicles

had begun...

Early development

saw the arrival of remote-controlled vehicles,

designed by Brigadier

Hennie Reynecke of the

SAP, the Telefoonhokkie

— developed from V-hull

technology along with the

prototype Camel, and

later to be renamed the

Hyena -„and the Hotnotsgod (praying mantis)

mine-exploder, built by

an Armscor engineer,

Fritz Eksteen.

«Then came the Road

Runner and Super Road.

Runner, a large auxiliary

attached to the front of

personnel-carriers, such

as Büffels, and used to \

turn up mines and deto- a

nate them. It was deve-"

loped by the DRU and

Captain Jock Taljaard of

the SAP. : .\-V.:: ::;"

It went through many

modifications, was found

to be not entirely suitable

and was replaced by the

Spinnekop (spider), which

was hyper-protected

against detonations. \ .';j

• ' Although it cost

R70 000, in the 1970s, to

produce one Spinnekop,

repairs were inexpensive

(R6 000 a detonation); 18

were built and results

were good. •?*.."; • ' '.- vr '; M"

..Along with the development of mine-exploders came the first of

SA's mine-protected vehicles, the Hyena. At that

point, the SAP sought advice from the DRU re-

• garding a mine-protected

troop-carrying vehicle

for use in SWA and Rhodesia, where they, and

not the SADF, were committed to counter-insurgency operations. '.. .;

The police were

equipped with Bedford

trucks, and the question

was whether the work

done by the DRU on the

Hyena could be switchedto the Bedfords. :f-.;:- -: •"■■

The answer was yes,

and the vehicle that resulted was the Hippo.

Later 522 Hippos were

built for the SADF and

were used extensively in

SWA and Angola. The vehicle went to three

marks, but two only of

the last mark, the Mark

H R-Series, were built as

prototypes in 1978.

It became the forerunner of the ubiquitous

Casspir. " ,|

Also developed about

the same time were the

Zebra, a load-carrying

variant of the Hippo used

by the SAP, and the Bosvark, carrying Barber

plates under the cab arid

fitted with" a V-shaped

unit in the rear'tray, and

used by the SADF. .-^'V ..

Meanwhile,'}"the

Swerwer (wanderer)

mine:protected vehicle

was put into service bythe SAP in SWA' and by

1976, after the UN arms

embargo, it was'decided

to standardise SA's military vehicles and an extensive range of mine:

protected Samils fras

produced for every' pur-.-'

pos>e. -,. iv. .t ... -»--•»■■ However, since the

Samils were not moriocoque-constructed, mineblast damage was gross

and repair costs high.

This was soon offset by

the introduction of the

Büffel mine-resistant

troop-carrier' — later to

be regarded as one of the

most cost-effective vehicles of its kind in the

world. ,'' •'• . '" '•"--'

It was introduced into

SADF service in 1978

after a series of extensive

detonation tests and thousands were used and battle-tested in SWA by the

SADF and the SWA Territorial Force. ','.-

It is also no secret that

the Büffel has been exported to several countries where, as in SA, it

became a household

name in the field of antiinsurgency and anti-landmine operations. .., \

118
KOOS de Wet, credited with designing two of South Africa's;

most revolutionary mine-pro-1

tected infantry vehicles, is a

man with automotive design in

his blood.' ':^X'~-'-:' farK •••.• •'.'£•

"'^ As the creator of the Büffel

and the Casspir' which spearhead SA's military fight for sur-\

vival, he has been instrumental

in saving the lives of thousands

of "troops in landmine blasts in

the border war with Swapo, in

Angola and elsewhere v. •,'-'

. Who is Koos de Wet, who

studied engineering at Stellenbosch University and is now

with a motor company in Pretoria?/.,-. -•-,;,V. -: -i^"': ">..':::.

His inherited skills in designing top-class modern military

vehicles — many of which have

..been exported — have been unearthed by author Peter Stiff. .• y.

He tells how an ancestor on

Koos de Wet's maternal side,

Philip Brannon of Southampton,

England, conceived the idea of a

bombing aircraft called Aricustata and an airship he named

Mars in the 1870s. •,. \. V^*

He proposed the latter be

used in relieving the siege of;

Paris,' then to assist in the;

search for Livingstone and finally for the relief of Plevna in'

1877 during the Russo-Turkish

-^Whatever the outcome, the

genius of Philip Brannon reemerged through the ambition

of a distant descendant, one

Koos de Wet, who in 1973 became actively involved in his

own pet hobby: the design of

special all-wheel vehicles and

the development of mine-protection technology. . vV'A ..-•>.

The Büffel, recalled Koos dej

Wet, was born out of a conver-.j

sion of the Bosvark troop-car-;

-rier, which in turn had been1

produced on the basis of exper-

:.tise gained from development of

:the Hyena and the Hippo, and

,,from information coming out of

Rhodesia, where landmine incidents had reached a peak in the

, last years of the war.

..'':«With no access to development funds, Koos de Wet

hitched up with John Davies,

; managing director of Busaf Boeder in East London, and built a

prototype in wood to save costs,

and later developed a more advanced version of the basic

body., y ' ■■■■«• ■■■ -•

They continued working with

timber and plywood, producing

the Bosvark n, and presented to

•Armscor and the Defence Re-

. search Unit (DRU) a mild-steely

prototype with drawings. *

V Improvements were made

*and the original Unimog vehicle,

'• used as a basis for the Bosvark,

became unrecognisable.

.- It was initially rejected by

Armscor after it had been test-

. ed, and a dejected Koos de Wet

ironed out the weaknesses and

redesigned the vehicle. • ."•' ">

The Army called for it again,

and more explosive tests, with a

baboon strapped into the seat in

the driver's cab, were done.

This time Koos de Wet won

the day. His vehicle survived the

blast and the baboon was unharmed, except for a cut on its

lip- . -•;-"

. The Bosvark II changed its

name and became the Büffel. Itwas commissioned-by the SADF

in 1978.••. •• ,, . ' -

'■■ Similarly, Koos de Wet was

able to design the Casspir, a

self-contained fighting vehicle

with a 1000-km range. It is

crewed by a driver and a commander gunner, and it can carry

12 combat-ready troops. -"

/9274

CSO: 3400/736 - END -

119