African editorials on 2001 and 2002

It may be the season to be jolly, but African newspapers found little joy as they looked back on 2001.

Nevertheless, editorial writers struck a generally optimistic note and called on individual Africans to make a difference themselves.

Never in its history has the nation felt so downcast

Zimbabwe Independent

Even in Zimbabwe, where press freedom faces a growing threat as presidential elections approach, there was hope glimmering in the storm clouds ahead.

"It is the season of goodwill, I am reliably informed," wrote the editor of the embattled Zimbabwe Independent. "But never in its history has the nation felt so downcast."

"But that should not prevent acts of civility and kindness," he said.

A nation's heart

"Small acts of goodwill are the measure of a nation's heart. Let's hope we haven't lost ours."

A comment in South Africa's Cape Argus also called on people to look hard at themselves.

"Is this the new Tanzania that we are now trying to build?

Tanzania's Guardian

"During this festive season more women and children will be rape victims than the number of people who will die in road accidents," said the director of the Rape Crisis charity in Cape Town.

"Are you prepared to do something about this?" Leslie Liddell demanded.

The Guardian in Tanzania declared that as the festivities continued "there is a need to rethink ourselves as a nation".

Religious tolerance

Recalling that Tanzania's religious tolerance "made us the envy of many other countries," the paper lamented the rise in religious conflict in the country.

We think the best way to make a statement... is to publish throughout the year

The Monitor in Uganda

"Is this the new Tanzania that we are now trying to build?" it asked, calling for more tolerance within families.

Only then, the paper said, could Tanzanians begin to respect their neighbours.

The Moroccan daily Liberation urged Muslims and Jews in the country to put differences aside and promote peace across the Middle East.

"If our voices, our actions, our stations could join with all those who fervently hope for peace in the Middle East, peace among peoples, a halt to the massacres - what better gift could we, the children of Morocco and of Abraham, present to our country and to our King?" the Francophone newspaper said.

A small step

In Uganda, The Monitor struck a small blow for religious tolerance - publishing on Christmas Day for the first time.

"We think the best way to make a statement... is to publish throughout the year," the paper declared.

The problems of the Algerians are the same everywhere and are known, repeated and often expressed

Algeria's La Tribune

It also railed against Uganda's top Catholic priest for criticizing a Christmas rise in condom imports.

"Condoms save lives," the paper said.

"Until the church becomes the last creative word in most people's lives, it must keep itself to spiritual matters... but keep out of people's bedrooms," it wrote.

Algerians are united by their troubles, according to La Tribune.

"The problems of the Algerians are the same everywhere and are known, repeated and often expressed," the Algiers daily wrote, blaming the government for the situation.

We bid 2001 farewell with grave events, and start a year that we hope will not be worse

Egyptian newspaper Al-Akhbar

"The increasingly frequent (and growing) dissatisfaction with the local administration demonstrates, if that were necessary, the rift between the governing and the governed," the French-language paper said.

"The fault lies with the administration," it declared.

Hoping for better

Egypt's Al-Akhbar took a gloomy view of 2001, where it saw the war on terrorism abroad matched by economic woes at home.

"We bid it farewell with grave events, and start a year that we hope will not be worse," the Arabic newspaper wrote.

With a presidential election just passed, however, The Independent in Gambia was feeling upbeat.

Let us pray that Jammeh is not like the leopard who found it impossible to hide or change his spots

The Independent of Gambia

The winner of the 22 October vote, President Yayah Jammeh, who took power in a coup in 1994, and was elected president in 1997, "is beginning to sound tactful, measured and presidential," the paper said.

"Let us pray that Jammeh is not like the leopard who found it impossible to hide or change his spots," it added.

"For a people with a peaceful way of life, excusing Jammeh for past wrongs and forgetting the injustices of the past should not be a tall order," the editorial continued, concluding: "What a refreshing way to start a new year!"

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.