And the rest of the world continues to have a life apart from us

Four recent bits of news from Africa worthy of your notice.

1) First, there is a renewed attempt at a peace settlement in Uganda as, the BBC reported a few days ago, the

government is to put fresh peace proposals to Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.

The government, however, seemed pessimistic about the outcome, expressing doubt whether the LRA wanted an end to the 18-year civil war. And, in fact, it's not only not clear what the LRA would want in a peace agreement, it's not even entirely clear what their rebellion is about.

The Ugandan Refugee Law Project has just interviewed 900 people from northern Uganda to try to discover just what [the LRA] and its mysterious leader, Joseph Kony, stand for,

the BBC reported in February, 2004.

The report says the seeds of this terrible conflict were sown in the defeat in 1986 of Presidents Milton Obote and Tito Okello by forces loyal to Uganda's current leader, Yoweri Museveni.

The remnants of the defeated forces fled north, to their home areas - fearful that the new government would carry out attacks in retribution for government massacres....

They ultimately reorganized under a new leader, but when she was defeated in turn, there was a power vacuum in northern Uganda, which the LRA proceeded to fill. It has maintained that power by an incredibly brutal process of kidnapping and murder.

Twenty-thousand children have been abducted - often forced to kill their own parents so they have no way back.

They are used as expendable troops - frequently not even given guns to fight with.

That's for the boys. The girls work as sex slaves or are given as "wives" to Kony and his top commanders, according to escaped former LRA fighters. Civilian victims are mutilated, having hands, feet, ears, noses, even lips cut off as warnings to others not to oppose Kony's group.

But what's it all for? Again, it's not clear. In the beginning, it may have been just the power itself. Initially, he targeted government troops seeking to defeat him. But when the government began to organize and use civil defense militia, he turned on civilians and now

appears to believe that his role is to cleanse the Acholi people.

He uses biblical references to explain why it is necessary to kill his own people, since they have - in his view - failed to support his cause.

"If the Acholi don't support us, they must be finished," he told one abductee.

Human Rights First notes that the LRA says it

aims to overthrow the government of Uganda and declared that it intends "to rule the country according to the Ten Commandments." However, its military campaign has mainly consisted of attacks on the civilian population

in the north. There is also the practical matters, the Beeb notes, of maintaining their power and their belief that if they lay down their arms they will be killed.

That's not completely far-fetched, as the Ugandan government and army are no jewels, themselves. Human Rights First ticks off a string of charges, including

- Extrajudicial execution
- Arbitrary detention
- Torture
- Rape, sexual assault and exploitation (principally by the UPDF)
- Child recruitment
- Forcible relocation of civilians: In the name of security, the Ugandan government forcibly relocated civilians. As a result of an October 2, 2002 order alone, some 300,000 civilians were displaced.

Human Rights Watch echoes the charges against the security forces and adds ones of the detention, beating, and threatening of political opponents of the single-party state headed by President Yoweri Museveni.

2) Sexual brutality and exploitation are not limited to Uganda, as the BBC noted on Saturday.

A United Nations inquiry has found that UN peacekeepers working in DR Congo sexually abused girls as young as 13.

The report by the UN watchdog, the Office of Internal Oversight Services, investigated abuse allegations in the north-east Congolese town of Bunia.

The probe found a pattern of sexual exploitation of women and children, which it said was continuing. ...

They were usually given food or small sums of money in return for sex.

The investigation identified seven substantiated cases of abuse by UN peacekeepers. The problem, though, is that while the UN has jurisdiction over its civilian staff, the soldiers are under the direction and control of their particular governments. All the UN can do is send them home and recommend they be punished - which creates an additional bind because the UN is reluctant to take actions that could embarrass nations that send peacekeepers, since so few do. However, in this case investigations have lead

to action being taken against two soldiers in one country and the imprisonment of a civilian UN staff member in France.

But the underlying tragedy was noted by the UN's Under-Secretary for Peacekeeping, who said the abuse destroyed the trust of local people in the UN mission. And without that trust, the already-difficult mission of keeping a lid on ethnic violence in the area becomes damned near impossible.

3) On a somewhat brighter note, AllAfrica.com tells us that people power has made a difference in Sierra Leone, where the

main trade unions staged a two-day general strike [last] week to demand higher pay and better living conditions. The peaceful stoppage was called off on Tuesday night after the government conceded some of the strikers' demands and agreed to negotiate others.

These included a reduction in income tax and an increase in the minimum wage of 40,000 leones (US$13) per month. ...

The strikers, who brought business in the capital Freetown to a virtual standstill, also demanded a reduction in the price of fuel. ...

No serious incidents were reported during the two days of industrial action, but taxis and buses stayed off the streets in Freetown and most government offices and shops were shut. Hospital workers and employees of the electricity and water company also walked out, but the police stayed on duty. ...

The strike followed three months of fruitless talks between labour leaders and the government, but President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah intervened personally by meeting the trade unionists on Tuesday to discuss their demands.

Later the same day, Labour Congress President Mohamed Deen called off the strike, saying the government had agreed to raise the earnings threshold at which employees start to pay income tax from 10 million to 20 million leones ($3,500 to $7,500) per year and make other tax concessions.

Deen said the government had also agreed to set up a joint committee with the trade unions and employers' representatives "to come up with a meaningful and realistic minimum wage."

Another joint committee would review petrol and public transport prices, he added.

Sierra Leone ranks dead last among 177 countries in the UN Development Program Human Development Index, with 3/4 of its 5 million people surviving - barely - on less than $2 a day. It does have mineral wealth but not an economy to sustain the industries. A little Henry Fordism wouldn't hurt here: A good way to boost your economy is the make sure people have enough money to buy things.

4) And finally, on another more hopeful note, AllAfrica.com reports that

[a]t least 3,000 Zambians reportedly gathered on Thursday in Freedom Square in the capital, Lusaka, to pressure the authorities to enact a new constitution before elections in 2006.

"It was a peaceful protest and we have had a very good response," Reverend Japhet Ndhlovu, a spokesperson for the NGO coalition, Oasis Forum, told IRIN,[ the UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, based in Nairobi]. "At the same time, we are continuing with our efforts to hold talks with the government." ...

Patrick Chisanga, a spokesman for the opposition United Party for National Development, described the protests as "hugely successful" and added, "We will continue with countrywide protests in the coming weeks."

Civil society and opposition groups have been holding demonstrations around the country during the past two weeks - at least 68 people were arrested in Lusaka on 20 December after the police declared their protest illegal.

The new constitution is being drafted by a special committee that is supposed to have a draft version ready by March. However, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa says the final version won't be ready before 2008, while protestors want it in place in time for the 2006 elections, arguing it's necessary if there is to be a more level playing field for that campaign.