NAMIBIA has reduced the number of its troops deployed in the north-eastern Caprivi region against a secessionist group and the area is calm, Home Affairs Minister Jerry Ekandjo said on Wednesday. The minister denied claims by Caprivi residents who have fled to Botswana that they are being harassed by police Special Field Forces bidding to flush out the secessionists. Since October, nearly 2000 people have left the Caprivi strip between Angola, Zambia and Botswana, to seek asylum in Botswana. Many of them have complained to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of brutal treatment and intimidation by SFF members.
WOMEN TURN TO MINING
FACED with increasing poverty, Zambian women are turning to small-scale mining as an alternative source of income and employment. The prospect of “striking it rich” is luring the women into the remotest areas in search of precious and semi-precious stones. Although there are no definite figures, 3000 women have joined the newly formed Association of Women Miners, says Namakau Kaingu, chair of the association. They are digging for emeralds, tourmaline, aquamarines, amethysts, gypsum and gold. Much of the activity is officially illegal, with only 43 licensed by the mines ministry.
ANTHONY LAKE IN ETHIOPIA, ERITREA
FORMER United States national security adviser Anthony Lake is due to arrive in Addis Ababa on Thursday to resume a bid to settle Ethiopia’s border conflict with Eritrea through shuttle diplomacy. He will go on to Asmara, captial of Eritrea, diplomats said. Lake, who is making his fourth visit to the two capitals, is due to hold talks on Friday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.