|
Maintain peace restoration initiatives, Tanzania told
2005-06-12 07:39:52
By Nyasigo Kornel
Tanzania has been encouraged to maintain its spirit of peace negotiations in the Great Lakes zone so as to tame the illegal plundering of the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The call comes shortly after the latest report released by international group, Human Rights Watch (HRW) which revealed that illegal dealings in minerals was the source of the country’s current political instability.
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Observer this week in Dar es Salaam, the chairman of the team of investigators of the HRW, John Säverine, said he believes that the colonial network had not been completely destroyed in Africa even after decades of independence.
He added that Tanzania should sustain its collaborative efforts with its East African Community partners Kenya and Uganda to help the DRC resolve conflicts and restore peace.
Säverine said that the report pin-points the top five plunderers of the DRC`s natural resources.
He said that Ugandan soldiers took direct control of gold–rich areas and coerced gold miners to extract the gold for their benefit.
The report explains that the gold was then taken to Uganda where it was legitimized and sold on the international market through official channels.
``AngloGold Ashanti allegedly paid US$9,000m to the FNI in what our report has referred to as unauthorized deals,`` he said.
According to Säverine, this has lead to ranking gold as Uganda’s third largest export though experts say known reserves in that country cannot match such trade figures.
``African top leaders should not be afraid of putting off bad behaviour of their colleagues who are turning Africa into trouble in order to earn economic prosperity,`` he said.
Säverine said that a total of 27 British and Belgian firms were said to have been involved in illegal dealings in the DRC when Uganda and Rwandese forces invaded the country in 1998.
The HRW report listed USA as third on the list with nine companies looting DRC resources, contrary to assertions in the international media that African countries were behind pillaging.
Canadian and German multinationals constituted the fourth and fifth major culprits, according to the report.
Other corporations on the list were Amalgamated Metal Corporation (UK), Bayer AG (Germany), Billy Rautenbach’s Ridgepointe International and Oryx Natural Resource owned by Mohammad al Shanfari of Oman but based in the UK.
Säverine said this trend of corporations behaving in such a manner is not surprising as the Third World was largely colonised by companies like the British South Africa Company and the Dutch East India Company.
|
