|
TIT
BITS FROM THE CONTINENT
MUGABE SLAMS GAYS AGAIN
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe chose to celebrate his birthday on the weekend by assailing both his critics in the West as well as gays. In a speech at a Mutare stadium, the ageing despot told thousands of people marking his birthday that Western countries were set on taking over Zimbabwe.
"Bear in mind that the monster of imperialism is continuously and dangerously lurking in the bush awaiting a more favourable opportunity to devour our national sovereignty," he is quoted as saying.
He then laid into homosexuality, perpetuating the notion that being gay is un-African by saying, "Leave whites to do that." He also told the crowd that same-sex marriage is a threat to society and announced that the government would arrest any clergy that performed same-sex marriage ceremonies in the country.
In another development two men have been jailed for having gay sex in Cameroon. The men apparently confessed to having had sex with each other, which resulted in a jail term of a year imposed by the courts. Homosexuality is illegal in the country.
Reports say that the affair between the men came to light after one of the men went to the police complaining about a dispute over a stolen cell phone. He said that he had been tricked into having sex with the other man on the basis of a promise, which was not kept, that he would be helped to get to Europe. They were both subsequently arrested. Homosexual behaviour is punishable by up to five years in prison in Cameroon.
In related news, two publishers of Cameroonian tabloid newspapers are facing defamation charges after publishing the names of around 50 public and political figures, who they accused of being gay or having homosexual sex. Sensationalistic headlines included examples such as "Gays are among us", which resulted in sell-out editions.
At the time, the publications claimed that they were merely exposing "deviant
behaviour".
WORLD BANK SUPPORTS THE COMPETITIVENESS OF AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCTS IN SENEGAL
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors have approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of US$35 million to support Senegal’s objective of poverty reduction and job creation among the rural poor.
The proposed project will be the first of two phases of a ten-year
Adaptable Program Lending (APL) each lasting five years.
According to El Hadj Adama Tour, the World Bank Task Team Leader for
The project, the long-term objective of the project is to increase, by 2015, the non-traditional agricultural exports from their current level of 13,000 tons to 50,000 tons, and to double farm revenues of producers supported by the program.
The Agricultural Markets and Agribusiness Development project would Improve domestic markets of crops and animal products and expand exports of higher value-added, non-traditional agricultural exports (i.e., horticultural products, confectionary nuts, essential oils, aromatic plants, and processed foods). In its first phase, the project will be focused on the Niayes zone, a 200 Km coastal land between Saint-Louis and Dakar, the Groundnut Basin
and the East and South-East irrigated zones of Senegal.
The development of private irrigation to support the expansion of
Commercial agriculture in the Senegal River Valley, the revitalization of the confectionery groundnut sector and the support to the modernization of activities in the broader Groundnut Basin are also among the long-term objectives of the project along with the improvement of the collection and commercialization of fruits and cashew nuts in
Casamance.
"The Program will rely on beneficiary participation and ownership in
The design, implementation, and monitoring", said Toure. He added that "the ten-year program cost is estimated at US$150 million, approximately US$60 million for the first phase and about US$90 million for the second phase. He recalled that the agricultural - agribusiness sector is one of the five pillars targeted in the Accelerated Growth Strategy of the country and its development is the most efficient response to under-employment in rural zones."
|
