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REPUBLIC OF CONGO: IRIN News Briefs, 17 November


CONTENTS:

Government approves draft constitutional text
Minister outlines rationale for amendments   
Opposition fears "constitutional monarchy' 
UN to launch 'Plan for Congo' in London
National polio campaign deferred
Detainees smothered in police cell
France to fund HIV/AIDS centres


Government approves draft constitutional text

The government on Wednesday agreed on the preliminary draft text of a new
constitution, due to be subjected to a national debate as part of an
ongoing reconciliation process and then to a popular referendum, scheduled
for next year. The latest draft constitution, hammered out after earlier
differences of opinion within the transitional government over the issue
of presidential powers, strengthens the executive by making the president
head of state and of government, according to media reports from
Brazzaville. The draft text provides for "a presidential, republican and
democratic regime", with the president as the sole holder of executive
power, news organisations quoted Congo's Communication Minister Francois
Ibovi as saying. "The current document will pave the way for a return to
democracy in Congo-Brazzaville" [Republic of Congo] after President Denis
Sassou-Nguesso's transitional rule, Ibovi added. New elections are due to
be held in 2001, under the terms of a peace and reconciliation agreement
between Sassou-Nguesso and opposition parties in November and December
1999. 

Minister outlines rationale for amendments

The government had amended the first draft constriction submitted by a
committee of expert in 1999 "to facilitate the reconciliation process ...
and to limit the number of institutions" in the country, the BBC quoted
Ibovi as saying. The current draft paved the war for a president with
executive, with the head of state elected for a seven-year term, renewable
only once, the report said. The president would be head of government,
with the power to appoint and remove ministers, as well as head of state,
it added. The text calls for two chambers of government: the national
assembly and the senate, instead of a single chamber assembly as
previously proposed, Agence France Presse (AFP) stated. Under the
proposals, the president would not be able to dissolve the lower house or
assembly, which in turn would not be allowed to dismiss the head of state,
news reports stated. The preamble to the draft constitution had been
amended "to remove clauses that might undermine national reconciliation",
AFP quoted Francois Ibovi as saying. 

The latest draft text also proclaims the independence and freedom of the
judiciary, and provides for the creation of a Council for Freedom and
Communications, Constitutional Court, National Audit and Budget Regulation
Office, and an Economic and Social Council, the PanAfrican News Agency
(PANA) reported on Thursday.

Opposition fears "constitutional monarchy" 

The Republic of Congo's national debate on future democratic institutions
has not yet begun, though it was scheduled for September, and the BBC
reported on Thursday that several opposition parties had criticised the
new draft document on the constitution on the basis that it would create
"a constitutional monarchy" in the country. They also claimed that the
international mediator of Congo's peace and reconciliation process,
Gabonese President Omar Bongo, was the person to decide on the agenda for
national dialogue, and not President Sassou-Nguesso. 

The current peace and reconciliation initiative was launched in an effort
to find a sustainable political solution to the civil war which broke out
in Congo in 1993, 1997 and again in 1998, but disputes between the
government and opposition parties on the overriding objectives have
delayed the process. President Bongo, who visited Congo in mid-October for
talks with the government and has also held talks with opposition groups,
has said he is waiting on a report from the follow-up and implementation
committee of the reconciliation agreement before deciding on a starting
date for the national dialogue. Bongo also said he was favourable to the
idea of establishing a preparatory commission for the national dialogue,
as proposed by the opposition National Resistance Council, according to
humanitarian sources. 

UN to launch 'Plan for Congo' in London

A 'UN Plan for Congo', outlining remaining humanitarian needs and the
current climate for recovery and reconstruction in the Republic of Congo,
is due to be launched in London on 28 November. The plan, worked through
by UN agencies at a retreat in Pointe-Noire in mid-October, is intended to
outline strategies by which the country can "bridge the gap" between
relief, rehabilitation and development, according to the latest country
report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA). The plan includes a review of remaining and new humanitarian
needs, but also provides "a snapshot of Congo's development situation,
presenting an analysis for medium-term recovery and long-term
development," the report stated. "The general humanitarian situation
continues to improve, while the assistance is shifting to technical
support and rehabilitation," it added. 

The poor state of roads, especially between Mindouli and Brazzaville was
causing difficulties. Many crops could not be brought to market in
Brazzaville or Pointe Noire from rural areas, which was having a negative
knock-on effect on farmers' purchasing power, OCHA said. The European
Union (EU), French development officials and the Congolese Ministry of
Public Works undertook a joint assessment of the section of road between
Brazzaville and Kinkala in mid-October, with a view to undertaking its
rehabilitation, and an EU team had also assessed the Oyo-Owando and
Oyo-Boundji-Ewo stretches, it said. 

National polio campaign deferred

The second round of polio vaccination in RoC was carried out between 29
September and 4 October, achieving "excellent coverage" generally.
However, the third round scheduled for the end of October was postponed
indefinitely when the national health authorities "invoked a lack of
preparedness as the cause of the delay", OCHA stated in its October
situation report for the country. The second round campaign achieved 106
percent coverage - vaccination campaigns in developing countries
frequently uncover more children in the target age than expected - though
coverage was lower in the capital Brazzaville and in Niari, the report
said. Notwithstanding the authorities' delay of the third round, the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had conducted the
vaccination in the southern regions of Niari and Pool, which were among
the most heavily affected by the country's civil war. 

Detainees smothered in police cell

Thirteen or more people were smothered to death as a result of extreme
heat in an overcrowded police cell in the southern oil city of
Pointe-Noire at the weekend, according to media reports. Police Colonel
Theophile Ilobakima said 13 people, who had been in detention for several
days, had died of asphyxiation in a small cell on Sunday, Agence France
Press (AFP) reported. L'Observatoire congolais pour les droits de l'homme
(OCDH) said that 15 people had died, and that another three were in
critical condition in hospital, the report added. 

France to fund HIV/AIDS centres

The governments of Republic of Congo and France have signed an agreement
under which the French will provide funding support for an information and
documentation centre of HIV/AIDS, at a cost of 20 million French francs,
and a medical centre with professional resources at a cost of FF800,000,
OCHA stated in its October report. Both projects were part of the National
Sanitary Development Plan (PNDS), which defined national strategies to
achieve the objective of 'Health for All' promoted by the Bamako
Initiative. The latter is a strategic vision, outlined by UNICEF and later
adopted by participants at a regional meeting of the World Health
Organization (WHO) in Mali in 1987, for "a locally self-supporting primary
health-care system for all of Africa by the year 2000, with children
immunised and parents empowered with knowledge to promote and protect the
health of their children, essential for all". 
 
An estimated 86,000 women and children in the Republic of Congo are living
with HIV infection, though not necessarily full-blown AIDS, giving an
infection rate of 6.43 percent, according to UNAIDS. Over 8,500 people are
believed to have died of AIDS in the country during 1999. Women between 15
and 49 years of age comprise some 45,000 of an estimated 82,000
HIV-infected adults, while children of 14 years or under living with the
disease total some 4,000, UNAIDS statistics state. 

[ENDS]

[IRIN-CEA: Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin-cea@ocha.unon.org ]


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