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Published 19th March 1999

Vol 40 No 6


Rwanda

The fire this time

The 1994 genocide blighted Central Africa and its bloody legacy continues to undermine the prospects for justice and regional stability

Five years after Rwanda’s holocaust, in which some 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were slaughtered in 100 days, those blood-soaked events reverberate across central Africa and the international system that failed the victims of the genocide. An arc of conflict, sparked by the 1994 genocide, has been cut across Africa - from Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi in the east, through Congo-Kinshasa to Angola and Congo-Brazzaville in the west. The international system’s failures in 1994 have produced a rain-forest’s worth of reports and some serious recommendations for reform. Almost everyone agrees that Rwanda’s reconciliation would have been immeasurably helped if it possessed an effective and well-resourced judicial system and a stable economy. Instead, the political order remains fragile.


Morgan's third way

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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Trades unionists are backing a new party to challenge ZANU-PF at next year's elections

The party is so new that it has not yet got a name, but its base is in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and its leader is the ZCTU’s charismatic Secretary General, Morgan Tsva...


Franc-zone to Euroland

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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Europe's new currency is raising some tricky issues in Francophone Africa

Africa’s franc zone has become a euro zone without much fuss. But as France passes Africa’s monetary baton to Europe’s new central bank, some African governments worry about the l...


Down with tariffs

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Mining the depths

Delay on privatisation has cost the country dear – and it isn't over yet

The deal to sell off the state’s best copper-mines must be tied up by the end of March, or Zambia is in effect out of business. For now, the economy is ticking over thanks to a loa...



Pointers

Une autre entente II

The entente cordiale on Africa between London and Paris is warming up after Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and his French counterpart Hubert Védrine's double act in Accra and Abidja...


Look in The Mirror

Who sent sent a putschist’s shopping list of arms and mercenaries, purportedly drawn up by ousted Congo-Brazzaville President Pascal Lissouba to a mass circulation London tabloid, ...