Africa

• 6 May 2005
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - Disarm civilians to favour a calmer atmosphere in view of presidential elections Bujumbura (Fides Service)- “The President’s initiative aims to create a calmer atmosphere in view of presidential elections planned for 19 August” a local Church source in Burundi told Fides commenting a decree iss ...
• 6 May 2005
  AFRICA/MALAWI - Diocese of Mangochi mourns its Bishops Mangochi (Fides Service)- Mangochi diocese in Malawi is mourning two Bishops who died in a month, one after the other. Bishop Alessandro Assolari emeritus and first Bishop of the diocese died on 13 April in Bergamo (see ...
• 6 May 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - “Only when people are no longer afraid in Togo will we be able to say that democracy and normality have returned” Lome (Fides Service)- “There will be real change here in this country only when the people have overcome their fear. Fear of being arrested, fear of being murdered on the way to work or by army squads which come in the ...
• 4 May 2005
  AFRICA/SOMALIA - “Increase pressure on Somali clans to help interim government exercise effective power” Apostolic of Mogadishu tells Fides commenting yesterday’s bomb blast Mogadishu (Fides Service)- “There are contrasting reports with regard to yesterday’s explosion at the capital’s sports stadium” Bishop Giorgio Bertin, of Djibouti and Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu told Fid ...
• 4 May 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - Expectation for Opposition statement after Faure Gnassingbé Eyadéma is officially declared the winner of presidential elections Lome (Fides Service)- The country is waiting for an official statement from the Opposition which will announce its intentions after the official proclamation of Faure Gnassingbé Eyadéma as the winner of presidential el ...
• 4 May 2005
  AFRICA/CÔTE D' IVOIRE - West Côte d'Ivoire swings from hope and more tragedies. Testimony from Capuchin Fathers Abidjan (Fides Service)- “Clashes in the past few days have been serious but also west Côte d'Ivoire will soon return to normality” said Capuchin Fathers in Man, the main town in western part of the country where cl ...
• 3 May 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - “Thank you Benedict XVI for calling for peace in Togo” Lome (Fides Service)- “It is true there is no fighting on the streets but tension is still high and people are still frightened. The army continues to kill people known to oppose the regime” local sources in Togo tol ...
• 3 May 2005
  AFRICA/ZAMBIA - “There is an intimate and inseparable link between Mass and Mission. Our communion with Christ means that we share not only his life, but also his mission” : Bishop of Monze promotes deeper awareness of the ‘wonderful gift” of the Eucharistic Monze (Fides Service) - The Eucharist and its connection with mission has been the focus of Catholics in the diocese of Monze in Zambia during the past year. In fact, in preparation for the centenary of the evangelisatio ...
• 2 May 2005
  AFRICA/DJIBOUTI - 30,000 people in Djibouti face food shortage because of drought. At least 5,000 families have no assistance, no food and nothing to sell to buy food Djibouti (Fides Service) - About 30,000 people in Djibouti face a serious food shortage according to the United Nations World Food Programme WFP due to acute lack of rainfall in the past three years. WFP says its needs 2 ...
• 2 May 2005
  AFRICA/CÔTE D' IVOIRE - Guere and Dioula tribes fight in west Côte d'Ivoire, at least 14 dead Abidjan (Fides Service) - Situation still uncertain in the west Côte d'Ivoire region of Duekoue, where at least 14 people have been killed and many more injured in tribal fighting over the past few days. “It is diffic ...
• 2 May 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - In ever greater numbers Togolese flee the country: at least 10,000 now in Benin and 4,000 in Ghana Lome (Fides Service)- “The situation at the moment appears calm but the city is patrolled by the army which still has road blocks on all main roads. Few people venture onto the streets or go to work” said local Churc ...
• 30 April 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - Will Togo be another Rwanda? International community must shoulder its responsibilities” say local Church sources Lome (Fides Service)- “We are on the edge of a volcano like Rwanda in 1994. Why does the international community not intervene before it is too late” local Church sources in Togo told Fides. “Each one must shoulder ...
• 30 April 2005
  AFRICA/SIERRA LEONE - Fines for parents who stop children from going to school Rome (Fides Service) - In a Sierra Leone where more than half the population lives on less than a dollar a day the government has said that parents who refuse to let their children attend school may be fined 80 dollars. ...
• 30 April 2005
  AFRICA/NIGER - Food emergency: number of people admitted to hospital three times as many than in previous years Rome (Fides Service) - Following the worsening of a serious situation of malnutrition in Niger, Doctors without Frontiers has intensified its assistance people in the most effected areas. The number of underfed children ...
• 30 April 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - Thousands of refugees in Benin: warning from UN High Commission for Refugees Rome (Fides Service)- According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR there are 5,754 refugees in Benin, over 600 in Ghana coming from Togo. Next week UNHCR will end an emergency team of 3 to Benin ...