Zesa seeks US$1,8 billion to upgrade
infrastructure
Business Reporter THE Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority Holdings requires more than US$1,8 billion to upgrade its
infrastructure and purchase new equipment in an effort to increase
electricity generation capacity, a senior official
has said.
Addressing participants at a seminar organised by the
Zimbabwe Institute of Engineers in Bulawayo last week, the Zesa Holdings
executive chairman, Dr Sydney Gata, said Asian-based investors had pledged to
assist the power utility with loan facilities that will go a long way in
boosting the country 's power supply.
"Four memoranda of understanding
have been signed with investors from China and India where the two countries
have expressed their willingness to finance the programme," said Dr
Gata.
In his presentation, Dr Gata described how the funds would be
channelled to the company's six subsidiaries, which include the Rural
Electrification Agency (REA), Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and Zimbabwe
Electricity Transmission Company (Zetco).
He said the company (Zesa)
recently signed a US$30 million export credit facility with a Chinese
financial institution and was negotiating with the Indian government in
trying to secure a further US$300 million that will assist in the upgrading
of electrical cables
The infrastructural development is expected to start
in September this year. The expansion programme would be spearheaded by ZPC
as the bulk of the funds would be channelled towards the company. It requires
the bulk of the funds.
Dr Gata also said Zesa has taken the initiative to
spearhead development of the Coal Bed Methane Gas Project in Lupane as ZPC is
already scouting for potential investors.
More Harare suburbs
face cuts today as the city's water woes worsened yesterday when raw water
supplies from Manyame Dam were lost in a power cut.
Supplies of treated
water were already reduced as a result of chemical problems, resulting in
cuts to the eastern and north-eastern suburbs for a fortnight, some southern
suburbs last week and to Chitungwiza over the weekend.
Now the
north-western suburbs will be cut from 9am this morning for up to 24 hours to
spread the burden and ensure that all reservoirs receive something.
Mr
Psychology Chiwanga, the city's director of works, yesterday said the latest
blow would see supplies cut to Ashdown Park, Mabelreign, Emerald Hill,
Avondale and parts of Mount Pleasant.
"The exercise is meant to continue
until the water supply situation in the areas supplied by Highlands,
Philadelphia, Hogerty Hill and Greendale reservoirs normalises," said Mr
Chiwanga.
The power failure at Darwendale raw water pump station resulted
in reduced raw water inflow into the Morton Jaffray Water Treatment
Works.
Whenever Harare's water demand exceeds supply, the areas to the
east and north-east lose supplies first. These are the highest areas of
Harare and are furthest from the treatment works, so need to be supplied in
several stages.
However, if the areas receiving water directly from
the terminus of the pipeline from the treatment works at Warren Control
continue to be fed, then there is no surplus to be pumped east to Letombo for
onward pumping to the higher suburbs.
Some of these eastern and
north-eastern reservoirs can also be fed from the reservoir complex on
Hartmann Hill in the Botanic Gardens, the second largest complex after
Letombo, but only if water meant for other suburbs to the north is
diverted.
Harare's latest water woes, the first serious problems faced in
mid-winter for many years, started early this month when the latest batch of
aluminium sulphate, the chemical used to clarify raw water by coagulating
small particles and precipitating them out, produced unpredictable
results.
Zimbabwe Phosphate Industries (Zimphos) has confirmed receiving
complaints from council that its aluminium sulphate was of a low
quality.
The company confirmed receiving complaints over the quality of
their chemical, which council claims is causing frequent desludging, sand
filter carryover and pump breakdowns.
"Recently City of Harare
informed Zimphos for the first time in 50 years that it preferred the South
African aluminium sulphate because it is of a better quality," said Zimphos
supply chain director Mr Misheck Kachere.
He said Zimphos responded by
setting up an investigation team that is working with the council's experts
to look into the issues raised.
Mr Kachere said preliminary results of a
comparison of the South African product and that from Zimphos show that the
two products are similar in quality and they both meet international
specifications for potable water treatment.
Council said it preferred
a similar chemical from South Africa which, it said, was of better quality
and used less electricity.
Mr Kachere said the company's operations were
being hampered by a huge debt of $15 billion owed to it by Harare City
Council.
"However, since last year the Harare City Council has been
defaulting on its payments to Zimphos, resulting in suspension of deliveries.
To date, it owes the company $15 billion and this debt has affected cash flow
at Zimphos," he said.
Mr Kachere said when Zimphos cut supplies,
council resorted to buying from South Africa through third parties at almost
twice the price.
He said despite the use of the South African product for
the past four months the city continued to face water
shortages.
Zimphos had resumed supplies to council following an agreement
over the payment of the debt after Government intervention to help the two
parties reach a payment structure.
Mr Kachere said the Zimphos product
passed the United Nations quality test when it won a tender, which was
floated by the UN to supply the chemical to the city.
"In addition,
all other municipalities are satisfied with the performance of the Zimphos
product," he said.
Last week, Harare's chief chemist Mr Lisben Chipfunde
said Zimphos was not supplying the same quality product it showed as a sample
during the tender process.
He showed The Herald the sample that was
exhibited during the tender process and the one that the company was
supplying. The two samples differed in that the one that was shown as the
tender sample was clear, while the one that was being supplied had
solids.
"But what has been happening is that Zimphos has been supplying
us with a chemical that has solids and not helping at all," he
said.
Mr Chipfunde said because of the solids in the Zimphos product,
engineers at Morton Jaffray have to stop pumping at least four times a day to
clean the clarifiers and sedimentation tanks.
Cleaning takes up to 30
minutes and treated water is used. During the cleaning process, pumping to
Warren Control and other reservoirs is temporarily stopped.
He said
because of the heavy presence of solids in the aluminium sulphate from
Zimphos, council lost a lot of the chemical as it solidified in the storage
tanks.
Yesterday Mr Chiwanga said water supplies in the southern suburbs,
Epworth and Ruwa were cut off in the morning in line with the recently
implemented water demand management exercise.
Only three reservoirs
were below 30 percent full, five were above 50 and seven were between 30 and
50 percent full.
This marked a major difference from that of last Friday
in which six were below 30 percent full, four above 50 and six between 30 and
50 percent full.
The Herald continued to receive reports of unrepaired
burst pipes through which potable water is lost.
Government gave the
city until May to have set up a leakage detection team, but to this day the
team is not in place.
HARARE, June 21 (Xinhuanet) --
Zimbabwean Industry Tobacco AuctionCenter General Manager Kennedy Chiramba
said here on Monday that tobacco auction was likely to close early this year
as a result ofreduced tobacco output.
The marketing season
was likely to end by mid August since halfof the projected crop had already
gone under the hammer.
"This season is likely to be shorter
than normal. We should be done by mid August," said
Chiramba.
A total of 60 million km of tobacco is projected to
pass through auction floors this year, down from 80 million kg last
year.
The selling season normally opens around April and ends
in October of every year. But a decline in tobacco production is likely to
result in an early end to the marketing season, as 31 million km of tobacco
have so far been sold.
Earnings in US dollar terms have also
remained lower compared with those of last year.
However,
tobacco auctioneers have expressed satisfaction with the quality of this
year's crop.
"The quality is very good and even the buyers are
not complaining," said Chiramba.
Tobacco is the country's
main export, but is slowly being overtaken by cotton and platinum.
Enditem
Now Mugabe cracks the whip on trade unions By
Martin Mutua Zimbabwe state forces have shifted their focus from white
farmers and opposition supporters to cracking down on trade unionists,
recently released report say.
The International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions (ICFTU report contains gory details of how Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF government has clamped down on trade unionists whom they allege
support opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The
ICFTU, in the report compiled by Kenyan Peter Mathuki, has appealed
for urgent intervention from international organisations and sympathetic
donor countries to urgently intervene on behalf of Zimbabwe Confederation of
Trade Unions (ZCTU) members.
Mathuki who was in Zimbabwe last month
told the East African Standard that he had to use "unorthodox means" to be
able to enter Zimbabwe because the country had blacklisted international
trade union representatives.
"None of the officials of the labour or
trade union movement can be able to get into Zimbabwe as the government feels
majority of the workers whose rights are being violated everyday support the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change," added Mathuki.
The ICFTU
report says the government had sponsored its own trade union movement Known
as Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Union (ZFTU) and was using state machineries
to force ZCTU members to join the 'union.'
The report details coercion,
harassment and intimidation as a common occurence for ZFTU activists who have
state backing in raiding factories and companies to register workers from
ZCTU to their "union.'
The report further says the Zimbabwe government
has been using the Law and Order Maintenance Act which later was amended to
Public Order and Security Act and nicknamed POSA to intimidate and arrest
people considered to be opposed to the government.
Mathuki says in the
report that on June 4, 2004 during the opposition MDC organised mass action
police cracked down on ZCTU district secretary a Mr Misheck Gapare, arrested
and detained him after heavily assaulting him.
The operation that was
carried out by police and members of Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
saw Mr Gapare forced to eat his stool which he had excreted after the heavy
beating. The report further says Gapare was quizzed on his participation in
the MDC activity and also his role in ZCTU issues. He was hospitalised from
severe internal injuries and is now recuperating at his home. However police
did not keep any records of his arrest.
Another incident that is said
to have taken place on June 22, 2004 involved a ZCTU officials a Mr Elliot
Kudenyengera and other activists who are said to have been heavily assaulted
by members of the ruling ZANU PF party for allegedly taking part in ZCTU
activities and also wearing the union T-shirts.
According to the
report in the ensuing melee Mr Kudenyengera was arrested by police and made
to pay Zim$10,000 for bail. He had to seek the assistance of ZCTU for both
legal and medical expense. However the other activities did not report their
cases for fear of reprisals from the ZANU PF gang and the CIO.
The
report further says on June 4, 2004 in Bulawayo the ZCTU district
vice secretary Mrs Getrude Mthombeni was also arrested and detained in
police custody for five days for taking part in the MDC organised mass
action. She was however later given bail and her case is pending in
court.
Grain Marketing Board cheques issued to farmers in
some parts of the country as payment for produce have been dishonoured by
banks in a move that has put farmers' cropping programmes into
disarray.
The bouncing of the cheques has caused despondency among
farmers, with some beginning to lose confidence in the GMB's ability to pay
them, despite the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's injection of $100 billion into
the board.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Joseph
Made, expressed concern with the development and urged the GMB management to
investigate the matter with the urgency it deserves to ensure farmers deliver
maize to the board.
However, the GMB has said there were some fake
cheques in circulation purporting to be from the parastatal.
It said
traders were advised to verify with the GMB the authenticity
of cheques.
Most of the affected farmers delivered their crop at GMB
depot in Karoi.
"I delivered my maize crop and the cheque issued to me as
payment has been dishonoured by the bank. I have tried to get an explanation
from the GMB, but they said they were making follow-ups to the problem," said
Mr Crispen Katiyo from Karoi.
He said the GMB was paying cash to
farmers who delivered small quantities of maize while it issued cheques to
farmers who delivered large amounts.
Another farmer from the same area
said several of his colleagues were now in difficulties because shop-owners
who traditionally cashed the cheques were refusing to accept the GMB cheques
this time around.
"We used to get cash from shop-owners and wholesalers
after buying goods without any problem, but they are now reluctant to accept
the GMB cheques," said the farmer, who said he recently delivered two tonnes
of maize to the GMB.
He said officials at the GMB's Karoi depot have
advised them to wait for weeks while they checked why the cheques were
dishonoured.
GMB acting chief executive Retired Colonel Samuel Muvuti
said it had come to the board's attention that some people were buying crops
from farmers and giving them fake GMB cheques.
"These fake cheques are
originating from conmen and we urge farmers to deliver their crops to GMB
depots and not sell to individuals," said Rtd Col Muvuti.
The GMB, he
said, would pay cash to farmers who deliver less than three tonnes of maize
to the board's depots and not for 30 tonnes as earlier reported.
"If
we pay cash for more than three tonnes, surely there would be an upsurge of
armed robberies in the country," he said.
GMB has increased the maize
producer price from $300 000 to $750 000 a tonne.
He said the GMB has
secured $100 billion from the Government through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
to pay farmers and it does not have financial problems.
GMB acting
finance director Mr Joseph Dzimba said the parastatal had enough funds to pay
farmers.
He said if there were any genuine GMB cheques that were
dishonoured by the banks that could be a question of errors on the amounts or
defacement of the cheque.
"It could be a question of errors. Amounts
being written on the cheques in words and figures might differ or such
cheques might have been defaced," said Mr Dzimba.
Between 750 000 and
1,2 million tonnes of maize were expected to be delivered to the GMB this
year out of the total 2,4 million tonnes of maize expected to be produced as
the country anticipates a better harvest compared to previous years, when it
was hit by droughts.
Parliament seeks clarity on Zim's US$200m jet
order
By Staff Reporter Last updated: 06/22/2004
11:20:12 ZIMBABWE'S Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home
Affairs will soon be recalling Ministry of Defence officials to clarify
on Zimbabwe's US$200m purchase of military hardware and jets from
China.
This follows spirited denials from the People's Republic of China
that it was about to sell arms to Zimbabwe.
China's Ambassador to
South Africa said there was no substance to reports based on the evidence of
Zimbabwe's Defence Ministry officials presented before the Parliamentary
Committee that Zimbabwe had ordered military hardware from
China.
During a briefing session about China's economic relations with
South Africa, journalists could not resist the question: If the reports were
true, why would China want to sell arms to Zimbabwe?
Lui Guijin
dismissed the reports, saying China has adopted a responsible policy and
attitude towards selling arms to African countries. He said this was based on
contributing to peace and stability within the
African continent.
Guijin added: "The report has no backbone...and
(is) baseless."
The Zimbabwean jet order, if true, goes against a 1998
appeal by UN, that defence expenditure in developing countries countries be
frozen for the next ten years.
We broke the news about the purchase of
12 jets and at least 100 military vehicles at an estimated cost of over
US$200m. Our report was based on the evidence presented by the Ministry of
Defence's Permanent Secretary Trust Maphosa.
He told the Parliamentary
committee that due to sanctions imposed on President Robert Mugabe's regime,
Zimbabwe's current fleet of European-made fighter jets was crippled by a
critical shortage of spares which had forced the government to look to
China.
Although he refused to disclose the type of aircraft being bought
in the secret deal covered by the 1989 legal provision which excludes
the acquisition of key military equipment from going through a tender board
or to be advertised, sources told New Zimbabwe.com the aircraft include
the FC-1 (Fighter China 1), developed recently to replace the Chengdu F-7.
The cost of each plane is US$20m.
The FC-1 was designed by China to
replace the F-7 which has been widely criticised by military experts.
Pakistan, which like Zimbabwe was using the F-7 is China's biggest customer
for the FC-1.
Apart from the 12 jets, Zimbabwe had also put an order for
100 military vehicles. At least six of the jets, Maphosa told the committee,
should have been delivered last week.
It is not clear where the
funding for the new aircraft is coming from as in the current budget,
announced by government in November last year, the army was allocated $815,
49 billion (about US$154 million) with 69 percent expected to be chewed by
salaries and the rest going to operations.
Mt Darwin MP Savior Kasukuwere
queried the manner in which the purchase of military equipment had by-passed
the State Procurement Board, a move he said might result in the army buying
equipment which may be expensive, but having a short life
span.
Maphosa had told the parliamentary committee that the decision to
buy the military hardware from China was a political decision after the
force encountered problems in procuring spare parts for equipment bought
in Western Europe as a result of European Union sanctions imposed
against President Mugabe's regime.
Zimbabwe has one of the most
formidable defence forces in Africa, whose highlight after the country's
independence include assisting the Mozambican government subdue the former
rebel Renamo in the 1980s and repelling invasion forces who were threatening
to overrun the DRC capital, Kinshasa in 1998.
The Air Force of
Zimbabwe has two bases in Manyame (near Harare) and Thornhill (Gweru) with
personnel estimated at about 5 000 in 1999. Currently, the Air Force has the
Chengdu F-7 fighter jet, British-made Hawker Hunters and recently
demonstrated newly-acquired Russian-made MiG-23 jets and Mi-35 helicopter
gunships, armed for attacking targets on the ground, especially with
automatic gunfire, but often also with rockets and/or missiles.
Zanu-PF, Government to tour provinces to assess land
reform
Herald Reporter A RULING Zanu-PF party senior official and
Government ministers will soon visit the country's provinces to assess the
progress made in the land reform programme.
Zanu-PF secretary for land
redistribution and rural settlement Cde Enos Chikowore will go on the tour
with Cabinet ministers responsible for resettlement.
The visits were
recommended at a one-day meeting on land redistribution and rural
resettlement which was organised by the ruling party yesterday.
According
to Zanu-PF deputy secretary for land redistribution and rural resettlement
Cde Ignatius Chombo, the delegation's brief, apart from assessing progress,
would be to hear grievances from the district and provincial taskforces and
address them.
Zanu-PF secretary for administration Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa
said it was important for the provincial governors to convene meetings in
their provinces to have a common position, which they would then present to
the delegation.
Zanu-PF national chairman and Minister of Special
Affairs Responsible for Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement Cde John Nkomo,
in his keynote address to the meeting, said emphasis should now be on making
use of the land as resettlement was almost over.
He said all
provincial governors should ensure that all the land allocated is put to
productive use and that where there was no production, they should map out
land use strategies which they would then recommend to persons who wish to
take up those respective pieces of land.
Cde Nkomo said his ministry was
working towards eradicating multiple ownership of land through the
introduction of a national identity number and serial number-based database
system, which would automatically pick out multiple owners of
land.
"All the information would be put into computers, which would
automatically pick out where you were allocated land; and if you have one or
more farms, then we will easily pick this out," he said.
Cde Nkomo
said chiefs would also be required to keep registers of people in their areas
and the type of activities that they are undertaking.
He also called on
district and provincial land identification teams to co-operate as a way of
reducing confusion in the land redistribution exercise.
Considerations
to send out offers for land, Cde Nkomo said, should be handled at provincial
level, which in turn would recommend to the national taskforce to send out
the offer letters.
He reiterated that the all acquired land was State
land and that all the people given leases could only sell improvements that
they would have made on the farms they were allocated if they decide to give
up their offers.
With regard to using the farms as collateral, he said
this was only possible if the farmers acquired permission from the lessor,
the Government.
Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Cde Joseph
Made, who presented a report on progress on land redistribution, said his
ministry was making concerted efforts to ensure the availability of equipment
to farmers and boost livestock production.
He said his ministry had
come up with schemes that were aimed at providing farmers with tractors
through easy payment plans.
He said at least 35 000 tractors of different
models were needed to sufficiently cover the needs of both Model A1 and A2
farmers.
He said in preparation for the coming season, his ministry was
sourcing diesel for District Development Fund tractors as well as assisting
the department acquire more tractors which would provide tillage services to
new farmers.
Dr Made said tractors being acquired by the Agricultural
and Rural Development Authority would be used to develop projects such as
Nuanetsi, Chisumbanje, Muzarabani and Jotsholo, which were being undertaken
by Arda.
He said his ministry was aiming at developing and rehabilitating
100 000 hectares of irrigation this year and a further 155 000 hectares next
year and 822 000 more hectares within the next 10 years.
He said
efforts were also being made to ensure that services being offered by
departments within the ministry, such as agricultural research, economic and
marketing, agricultural engineering, livestock production and development,
and veterinary services, are available at ward and district levels in
addition to those already being offered at provincial level.
Cde Chombo,
who is the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing,
spoke on infrastructural development in resettlement areas and said his
ministry had commissioned a study into the needs of the resettled
people.
He said the recommendations of the study were being directed to
the relevant ministries for implementation. Council of Chiefs president Chief
Jonathan Mangwende, the chairperson of the Zanu-PF Women's League Cde
Thenjiwe Lesabe, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association
chairman Cde Jabulani Sibanda and Zanu-PF National Youth League chairman Cde
Absolom Sikhosana all hailed the progress made in the land resettlement
programme.
UK not co-operating with Zimbabwe on fugitives -
Mutasa
Herald Reporter The British government is not co-operating with
Zimbabwe over the extradition of businesspeople and other individuals who
have sought sanctuary in that country after committing economic crimes in
Zimbabwe, the Minister of Special Affairs for the Anti-Corruption and
Anti-Monopolies Programme, Cde Didymus Mutasa, said
yesterday.
Zimbabwean authorities have repeatedly asked the British
government to return the fugitives for trial, but there has been no response
from the British.
"Although we are no longer members of the
Commonwealth, we expected the British authorities to co-operate and respond
in time to our requests to have the individuals sent home to face trial,"
said Cde Mutasa.
He said South Africa was co-operating with Zimbabwe in
extraditing fugitives who were in that country, on the run from justice at
home.
Cde Mutasa said despite the setbacks, the Government hoped that one
day the fugitives would be extradited.
He said the anti-corruption
drive was a national programme that should involve every Zimbabwean and all
sectors to put the economy back on a sound track.
"Every person is a
policeman for the anti-corruption fight and we expect maximum co-operation,"
he said.
Parliament last week passed the Anti-Corruption Commission Bill
that will establish a high-profile body to spearhead the battle and provide
mechanisms to investigate graft at all levels of society.
It will be
tasked with promoting investigation of serious cases of corruption and
promoting awareness among the public of such acts and their effects on
society.
The Bill now awaits President Mugabe's assent before it becomes
law.
The long arm of the law has stretched to net senior politicians and
other high-ranking Government officials over corruption
allegations.
Prominent businessman and Zanu-PF Central Committee member
James Makamba, Indigenous Business Women's Organisation president Jane Mutasa
and Finance and Economic Development Minister Chris Kuruneri have been caught
in the net.
Several bankers, who include Julius Makoni, James Mushore,
Nicholas Vingirayi and other top business executives have fled the country,
mostly to Britain, to escape arrest after their alleged corrupt practices
were unearthed.
Following a request by Zimbabwean police, businessman
and empowerment lobbyist Mutumwa Mawere was last month arrested in South
Africa, where he is based, for allegedly externalising hundreds of millions
in foreign currency.
Villagers in the Binga area of Matabeleland North are reported
to be very angry with Zanu PF over the deaths of five people who were
attacked by a buffalo but failed to receive any medical treatment because
they support the MDC. The incident allegedly took place at the end of May,
and is only now being investigated. Witnesses say the buffalo wounded itself
while attacking a woman near her house in Siyabuwa at 7:00 in the morning.
Going mad from the pain, it then attacked 4 others in separate incidents.
They all lost a lot of blood while waiting for an ambulance which finally
arrived around 5:00 in the evening. Villagers say a Zanu PF councillor in
Siyabuwa, where the incident occurred, said the buffalo was more valuable
than the traitors who voted for the opposition. For this reason, it is widely
believed that the ambulance was delayed on purpose, and that vehicles from
the National Parks Services also failed to turn up because they were ordered
not to respond. Villagers also believe the roads have not been developed
because they voted for the MDC. Binga residents no longer want to see Zanu
PF campaign in their constituency.
Fears of another war in central Africa grew on
Monday as the Democratic Republic of Congo sent thousands of troops to its
eastern frontier in a move branded hostile by Rwanda.
Up to 10 000
government soldiers have been flown east in a rapid build-up of force which
reflects renewed tension between two neighbours, who supposedly buried the
hatchet last year.
Officials in the DRC's capital, Kinshasa, said the
deployment was an effort to secure a volatile region, rather than a warning
to its old foe. "Congo is not going to attack Rwanda," the foreign minister,
Antoine Ghonda, told the Associated Press news agency.
But the
thousands of refugees swarming across the border into Burundi betrayed the
widespread belief that the skirmishing between Congolese factions was the
prelude to a wider conflict.
Kigali said Kinshasa seemed to be planning
an invasion. "From this side of the border it is a hostile action," an army
spokesperson said. "We look at it in the historical context of the region."
The foreign minister, Charles Muligande, added: "Certainly we would not sit
back and watch those developments."
The DRC is the size of western
Europe, but in fact it is tiny Rwanda which has done the invading, in 1996
and 1998, to hunt Hutu extremists implicated in the 1994 genocide.
The
second invasion triggered a five-year war that sucked in six countries and
killed more than three-million people. It ended in a South African-brokered
peace deal which is now in danger of crumbling.
Offers of military aid to
the DRC by Angola and Tanzania, and hints from Uganda and Zimbabwe that they
would intervene if war resumed, dismayed western diplomats.
President
Thabo Mbeki of South Africa on Monday warned about the prospect of a
"potentially catastrophic war".
The United States secretary of state,
Colin Powell, has dispatched diplomats to the region to follow up his pleas
for restraint to the DRC's President Joseph Kabila and Rwanda's President
Paul Kagame.
Under the peace deal, Kabila has shared power with former
rebels in an unwieldy unity government tasked with rebuilding a shattered
country and incorporating former foes into a single army before elections
next year. The current crisis started this month when former rebel commanders
who were supposed to be part of the new army reverted to type by seizing an
eastern city, Bukavu, on the pretext of protecting Congolese Tutsis from
"ethnic cleansing".
Kinshasa's forces retook Bukavu a week later, but
the attack infuriated President Kabila. He said the renegades were backed by
their former paymaster, Rwanda, which was accused of slipping units back
across the border.
The flare-up damaged the credibility of the 10
000-strong UN peacekeeping force, exposing it as overstretched and unpopular
with Kinshasa loyalists. The renegades, numbering several thousand men, have
not openly renounced the peace deal but continue to destabilise the south and
north Kivu provinces.
UN helicopter gunships attacked renegade troops
north of Bukavu at the weekend. "It was Mutebutsi's fighters who fired, and
we responded with 14 rockets to discourage them," a UN spokesperson said.
Colonel Jules Mutebutsi was the renegade commander who seized
Bukavu.