Tim Cocks
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/ 29 August 2003

An unbelievable landslide victory

The countries surrounding Africa’s Great Lakes are not known for their democratic credentials. So it was with some justification that eyebrows were raised on Tuesday when Paul Kagame and his Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) romped home with an unbelievable 95% landslide victory in Rwanda’s first-ever, multiparty elections.

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/ 3 April 2003

God’s cattle people

Karamojong warriors believe it is their religious duty to ‘recover’ cattle from their neighbouring tribes. Heavy fighting has broken out at the Uganda-Kenya border between the Ugandan army and cattle-rustling Karamojong warriors.

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/ 2 April 2003

CAR: Don’t hold your breath for democracy

In a country that appears to have coups more often than Japan has elections, you could be forgiven for not really noticing this one. Two weeks ago, in what has become a tiresome drill for the Central African Republic (CAR), the troubled nation had its government deposed by yet another disgruntled army general.

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/ 18 March 2003

Falling prey to the pot

The most direct threat to animals in the Great Lakes region is poaching for bush meat. Arthur Mugisha, executive director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, says: ”The biggest threat to conservation in this region is human expansion. We are talking here about small countries where populations are increasing and people urgently need land and food.”

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/ 5 February 2003

Big send-off as Ugandans leave DRC

After a flamboyant exiting ceremony, Uganda finally began the long-awaited withdrawal of its army from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on April 25 — one day later than the deadline it had agreed with the United Nations and Kinshasa.