IN BRIEF BANDA’S DEAD, BUT ON TRIAL FORMER Malawian President Hastings Banda died in November — but he is still facing fraud charges. Malawi’s Supreme Court is to hear a state appeal next week against the dismissal of fraud charges against Banda, accused last year of theft of $10-million of funds from a public trust which he converted into a private business, owned by himself and his Malawi Congress Party. He was discharged from the trial on grounds of ill health, leaving several former aides to face the charges.
“The fact that Banda is dead does not mean that the law has been corrected.” said director of state prosecutions, Kamudonhi Nyasulu.
UNITA SURRENDERS MINES UNITA handed over diamond mines in the Kwangu valley of northeastern Lunda Norte province to the Angolan government on Tuesday. UNITA surrendered Kwangu town last year but refused to hand over the rich diamond fields. UNITA has yet fully to disarm in line with the Lusaka accords and has previously shown reluctance to give up mineral-rich regions offering it resources. Uije provincial governor had given the UNITA troops 72 hours to abandon the seized town of Bewu “peacefully”.
SA WELCOMES OAU MISSION
THE South African government welcomed the Organisation of African Unity’s decision to dispatch a high-level mission to Burundi, following the massacre of 100 people near Bumjumbura. The latest massacre increases the number of people reported killed in armed clashes to 300 since the beginning of the year. The mission will be led by Ambassador Makombe of Zimbabwe, and will also visit the leaders of Uganda and Tanzania.
ITALY-SA PACT AN agreement on scientific and technical co-operation and regulation of technological assistance between Italy and South Africa will be signed this week during a three-day visit by Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Lamberto Dini. Dini, who is to meet heads of various government departments, is also to hold discussions with Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Nzo on the state of bilateral relations and matters pertaining to the region and Africa.
ANOTHER AIR CRASH TWO people died when a vintage Piper Cub crashed near the Diepsloot shantytown between Johannesburg and Pretoria on Tuesday morning. Witnesses said the undercarriage caught fire after the pilot had unsuccessfully attempted a number of emergency landings. The crash is the fourth light aircraft accident in South Africa in a fortnight.
SWAZI MALARIA EPIDEMIC A MALARIA epidemic has broken out in Siteki, a northern rural area of Swaziland, with some 300 infected people squeezed into the local 100-bed capacity Good Shepherd Mission Hospital. The hospital is stretched to its limit, with people sleeping on floors and in the corridors, said senior medical officer Dr Halu Belayneh.
ZAMBIA FIGHTS CRIME ESCALATING armed robberies and sophisticated frauds have prompted Zambian banks and financial institutions to organise Zambia’s first crime-fighting conference this month. Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Dr Kalombo Mwansa said the conference intends bringing together crime experts to share experiences and exchange views on beating crime in the country.
TREVOR TUTU SPITTING MAD TREVOR TUTU, son of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has filed a charge of crimen injuria after a fracas between himself and a hotel staffer ended in him spitting at the hotel worker and then storming out of the five-star Cape Sun-Intercontinental Hotel. The hotel worker did not lay a charge against Tutu and a spokesman for the hotel said the incident is being regarded as a personal one.