Kenya's officials are investigating a bank suspected of being used to launder millions of dollars stolen by former Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha. Detectives from the Central Bank of Kenya's banking fraud unit are examining documents and accounts of the Trans National Bank from as far back as 1997. They say they want to see if some of the bank's customers helped launder an estimated $100 million that General Abacha allegedly looted from Nigeria's coffers and transferred to the United States, Switzerland, Britain and other countries.

IN THIS EDITION …
- WHY DO ADOLESCENTS VOLUNTEER?
- CHILD SOLDIER NEWS
- DEMOBILISATION AND REHABILITATION UPDATES
- ACTION APPEAL: STOP EXECUTIONS OF CHILD SOLDIERS
- VOICES OF YOUTH IN NORTHERN UGANDA
- FEATURE ARTICLE: WHY DO ADOLESCENTS JOIN ARMED GROUPS AND FORCES? INTERVIEW WITH RACHEL BRETT
- CSC HIGHLIGHTS
- EDITORIAL: THE COALITION’S NEW MESSAGE ABOUT ADOLESCENTS
- ABOUT CHILD SOLDIERS NEWSLETTER

Monsanto Corporation, responsible for over 90% of the Genetically Modified (GM) crops planted worldwide, has recently lodged an application with the South African Department of Agriculture to import a pesticide resistant GM wheat into this country. This application is as unwelcome as it is speculative.

The underlying reason for this application appears to be wholly speculative; Monsanto's Wally Green, their point man in South Africa, stated in Business Day on 20th January 2004 that the application would have absolutely no immediate effect, because the wheat has not been approved anywhere in the world but the application would merely clear the way for future approvals.
Corporations involved in pushing GM crops regularly engage in this sort of practice by applying for approval of crops in nations completely removed from their core markets, in order that these permissions be used as motivation to apply political and regulatory pressure on other nations to gain clearance. This type of speculative application runs directly counter to the public good and transparent governance. It serves to benefit no single entity beside Monsanto.

It is also of concern that this application is being made before all of the facts and background information regarding this herbicide resistant wheat have been released to the public. Monsanto habitually plays its cards close to its chest as far as divulging information critical of its products is concerned, despite its public posturing that it works for the public good. If Monsanto wishes to import a product that has failed to gain approval anywhere in the world it should do two things; one it should divulge all information that forms part of its application to gain legal approval of the product into the public domain and, two it should wait until such time as relevant national authorities in each nation have given approval of the product before submitting approval requests, until such time as it is imported.

Other GM crops that have been genetically engineered to resist pesticides have been shown by both government and independent researchers to increase the levels of pesticide used, despite claims to the contrary from within the industry. The use of the herbicide that will be used with this wheat, Roundup®, the active ingredient of which is glyphosate, has been linked various environmental and human hazards.

The South African application to grant permission to import GM wheat must surely be decisively rejected by all South Africans once they have been appraised of the facts behind this matter.

On 3 February 2004, the media and public were barred from attending hearings of a tribunal investigating allegations of professional misconduct levelled by President Levy Mwanawasa against Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mukelebai Mukelebai. Judge Esau Chulu, the tribunal chairperson who sat with Judges Philip Musonda and Charles Kajimanga, ruled that the proceedings would be held in camera, despite an application by Mukelebai's lawyer, Vincent Malambo, that they be open to the public.

Civil Society Organizations should design and implement an aggressive advocacy campaign programme in their communities and at local, state and national levels in order to generate widespread understanding and support for community broadcasting across the country, according to the communiqué of a seminar on building community radio broadcasting in Nigeria held in January. The communiqué said a network of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) should be formed to provide a common platform for the articulation of stakeholders' interest on community radio broadcasting.

In a 4 February 2004 letter to Liberian President Gyude Bryant, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed its concern over the recent criminal charges brought against journalists working for the private weekly newspaper "Telegraph". On 16 January, editor-in-chief Philip Moore Jr., managing editor Adolphus Karnuah and sub-editor Robert Kpadeh Jr. were arrested and brought to the Magistrate Court in the capital, Monrovia, where they were charged with "criminal malevolence".

"The Media Defence Fund (MDF) and the Media lawyers Network (MLN) are dismayed by the Supreme Court judgment upholding certain sections of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) as constitutional. The Constitutional challenge brought by the Independent Journalists Association of Zimbabwe (IJAZ) against the Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the Office of the President and Cabinet as well as the Media and Information Commission (MIC) sought the nullification of sections 79, 80, 83 and 85 as unconstitutional. The case was heard on 21 November 2002 with judgment only being delivered on 6 February 2004, fifteen months after the matter was heard. Although the Supreme Court noted that freedom of the press is covered in section 20 of the constitution, we express our disappointment that the court ruled that these sections are still constitutional."

The Media and Information Commission (MIC) has announced that no journalists from the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, publishers of the Daily News and Daily News on Sunday will be accredited. The Commission, headed by Tafataona Mahoso, said that the journalists would not be accredited since the Daily News and the Daily News on Sunday are not registered.

'Community Informatics' is an e-newsletter packed with information for parties interested in community ICTs. Every month, it provides ICT news, important ICT announcements and the latest information added to the CINSA portal (www.cinsa.info). This includes research, advocacy articles and resources.

In October 2000, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. With this resolution, the Security Council affirmed for the first time that integrating a gender perspective and ensuring women's participation in decision making was necessary at all stages of armed conflict, including pre-conflict. UNIFEM, the International Women's Tribune Centre and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom invite you to participate in a moderated e-mail discussion in preparation for the fourth anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325.

This course is intended for professionals, researchers, activists, defenders and trainers from Southern Africa to broaden their knowledge and further develop their human rights expertise on the substantive and institutional aspects of the promotion and protection of civil and political rights at national, regional and international levels.

A Sh17 million study to work out measures of increasing the number of people with access to telephones was launched this week. At the same time, the government said the country will have a second fixed telephone service provider by June.

When Namibian internet users access Google, they are automatically redirected to www.google.com.na. The new site gives users the option of using an Afrikaans version of the Google site.

The Angolan government is seeking a mediator to resolve the separatist crisis in the enclave of Cabinda, according to news reports. Interior Minister Osvaldo Serra van Dunem announced on Wednesday that the government wanted a "real and suitable mediator to commence a transparent dialogue" about the future of the oil-rich province.

The Media Foundation for West Africa is a regional independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Accra, Ghana. It was established in 1997 to defend and promote the rights and freedoms of the media, and generally, to help expand the boundaries of freedom of speech and expression in West Africa through:
- Advocacy and promotion of Media Rights and Freedom of Expression;
- Monitoring, alerting and publicising violations of and attacks on freedom of thought and expression;
- Defence and support of Journalists, Writers, Artists and other Communicators against intimidation and other controls that could undermine free expression;
- Research into issues affecting Media Rights and Freedom of Expression;
- Training and support for professional practice and media capacity building;
- Promoting and facilitating programmes of informed political debate, civic empowerment and popular participation.

African Trade Agenda is produced by the Political Economy Unit, Third World Network-Africa. TWN-Africa is co-ordinator of the Africa Trade Network. For more info contact: TWN-Africa, Box 19452, Accra-North, GHANA. Tel, 233 21 511189/503669

On the 19th January 2004, Monsanto SA (Pty) Ltd stunned South Africans when it announced that it was seeking a food and feed safety clearance for its genetically modified (GM) Roundup Ready wheat to expedite future imports. This application must be seen against the backdrop to the fact that GM wheat is not grown commercially in any part of the world and is years away from regulatory approval in Canada and the United States of America (US) where research and experiments are still continuing and no approval has yet been granted.

Once Monsanto obtains such approval, the legislative weakness in the South African biosafety law expressly excludes future importers of Roundup Ready wheat from the need to obtain import permits. Biosafety oversight will in that event, effectively cease to exist. Such future importers of the Roundup Ready wheat would then have carte blanche to import the Roundup Ready wheat into South Africa, and thereby not have to comply with the biosafety oversight procedures in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Biosafety Protocol). Crucially, approval from the South African authorities will provide Monsanto with an enormous political coup to convince other African countries that its Roundup Ready GM wheat is “safe”. It will also go a long way towards laying the groundwork for control over the very lucrative wheat market in Africa.

In this context it is worth noting that Africa imports approximately 30 million tons of wheat per year. The US government has targeted Africa as a major market for its wheat, especially since competition from the European Union (EU) and Russia is not as fierce owing to dwindling wheat exports from these countries. The US expects its exports to climb to 30 million tons during 2004, an 8-year high, and “sales to Africa will be a major reason.”

Monsanto's Difficulties with obtaining approval in Canada and the US

Monsanto Canada and Monsanto Corporate have applied for regulatory approval for its Roundup Ready GM wheat in both the USA and Canada. However, to date, neither the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, nor Health Canada, have granted approvals for general cultivation and human safety respectively. Monsanto Canada's failure to obtain such approval is partly due to the groundswell of resistance from farmers and farmer organisations in Canada. Two years ago, the organic farmers of Saskatchewan filed a class action lawsuit to stop Roundup Ready wheat. On 27th May 2003, the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), a farmer-controlled grain marketing agency called on Monsanto Canada to withdraw its environmental safety assessment. Recently, Agriculture Canada announced that it was abandoning its long running project involving GM wheat it had been developing in partnership with Monsanto. Jim Bole from the government Department of Agriculture Canada said that this decision reflected the concerns of Canada's wheat customers.

In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is still in the throes of conducting a voluntary safety review of Monsanto Corporation's Roundup Ready wheat for human and animal consumption. Monsanto Corporation is still awaiting approval from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.) The FDA, USDA and EPA share regulatory oversight for GM crops in the US where there is no overarching comprehensive biosafety legislation.

Paying Lip Service to Biosafety

The central question that the South African government must answer, is what data exactly, will it use to consider, assess and evaluate Monsanto's application, particularly since the field trials and safety evaluations are still taking place in the US and Canada? Why is it that Monsanto is so confident so as to seek a food and feed safety clearance from the South African government? South Africa's bias in favour of GMOs is well documented. Its biosafety laws pays lip service to the notion public biosafety concerns. It has long since been described by environmental and development lawyers as showing “a cynical disregard for contemporary international and national environmental principles, as well as for the development imperatives of South Africa”. Monsanto's application also has implications for the integrity of the Biosafety Protocol. The First Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol will take place in Malaysia from 23rd to 27th February, a momentous event in global genetic engineering regulation since the Protocol entered into force only on 11th September 2003.

South Africa is a Party to the Biosafety Protocol but it has not yet revised its GMO Act, to give effect to the Biosafety Protocol. South Africa's Constitution does, however, make it clear that the Biosafety Protocol is binding on South Africa.

However, the safety approval sought by Monsanto is in respect of non-existent GM wheat, whereas the Biosafety Protocol applies to real situations of cross border trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and not to speculative trade in respect of non existent GMOs. An early decision now in favour of the import of Monsanto's GM wheat, relieves South Africa of the obligation later, to abide by the regulatory requirements of the Biosafety Protocol, including its critically important Precautionary Principle. Such a pre-emptive move by Monsanto is clearly calculated to undermine the spirit, intention, principles and objectives of the Biosafety Protocol.

Pre-emptive Bid For Control Over Lucrative African Wheat Market

Monsanto Corporation needs the lucrative African wheat market. Its loss widened to $97 million it its fiscal first quarter in 2003, and this excludes its $69 million goodwill write off related to its global wheat business. North Africa imports approximately 18 million tons of wheat per year, and Sub-Saharan Africa approximately 10 million tons. South Africa itself is a net wheat importer, having imported 1.2 million tons of wheat during 2003, owing to the worst crop in a decade. The provision of wheat as food aid is also an important factor for the push for the African wheat market. For instance, Ethiopia, the centre of diversity of wheat, imported 600, 000 of wheat last year as food aid from the US and EU.

Safety clearance will greatly assist Monsanto to convince key African importers who have already voiced concern over GM wheat, to accept it as being safe. Consider for example the following statements:

“On January 5, Algeria, which imports large amounts of durum wheat from the United States, announced that it would not import any genetically modified wheat. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are taking a similar tack with respect to wheat”

“If you have just one grain in a thousand which is genetically modified, the consumer is going to refuse it.”

Thus, it is evident from the above that the granting of the application sought by Monsanto will greatly assist it to capture the African wheat market. South Africa is hence, the entry point for the export of GE wheat into the rest of Africa that will be forced to succumb in a domino effect.

* Mariam Mayet is an environmental lawyer, with a BA, LLB, LLM (Wits) and heads the African Centre for Biosafety.

* Send comments on this editorial - and other events in Africa - to

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Journalism for Tolerance Prize is about promoting tolerance, combating racism and discrimination and contributing to an understanding of cultural, religious and ethnic differences. The Prize is an annual competition among journalists from all sectors of media with a simple objective: to promote better understanding among journalists from all communities of the importance of tolerance and defence of human rights, particularly when it comes to reporting on minorities.

Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court postponed to 18 February a hearing on appeals by the Media and Information Commission (MIC) and the Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo to have The Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday shut down again. On 26 January the Supreme Court declined to grant an interdict sought by the MIC barring the newspaper company from publishing. Chief Justice Chidyausiku sitting in chambers, said that he could not issue the interdict sought by the MIC but had no problems with the appeal for the consolidation of these cases pending before the court. Two appeals were pending before the Supreme Court, both seeking an interdict stopping the ANZ from publishing.

A photographer with "Le Patriote", a daily that is close to the opposition, and two other journalists were recently assaulted by members of Ivoirian President Laurent Gbagbo's presidential guard.