Africa Media Watch

In this week's Africa Media Watch:

• Patience runs out over Kisangani fighting
• South Africa upbeat on World Cup bid and
• Kenyan president's car accident highlights matatu problem

"Shape up or ship out"

Renewed fighting between Ugandan and Rwandan troops occupying the Democratic Republic of Congo city of Kisangani has provoked widespread condemnation in the region's media, with even sections of the Ugandan press openly critical of the campaign.

In a scathing editorial on 8 June entitled: "Congo shame: Why not tell Museveni off", Kampala's The Monitor called for mass demonstrations urging a withdrawal from the city.

Neither Uganda nor Rwanda can claim any longer that they are in the Congo because of concern for their own security

Daily Nation, Kenya

"So Ugandan and Rwandan troops are at it again in Kisangani?," it asked.

"And who is to blame this time round? Uganda says Rwanda, Rwanda says Uganda.

"But who cares about the denials, accusations and counter accusations any more? Ugandans and Rwandese are simply fed up; and it's time we poured onto the streets of Kigali and Kampala, and told Lt-Gen Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and his so-called 'boy' [Rwandan President] Maj-Gen Paul Kagame to shape up or ship out."

The Monitor appeared to blame Museveni for the conflict.

Museveni blames Rwanda for the renewed fighting

"I realised the key to genuine peace and mutual respect between Uganda and Rwanda is one man; Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

"If, and if only he could always remember that he can only be president of one country at a time; and that, for now, that country is no bigger than the 236,040 square kilometres called UGANDA."

The Democratic Republic of Congo's L'Avenir newspaper on 7 June stressed the importance of withdrawal for Kinshasa, saying that a Ugandan and Rwandan departure would effectively end resistance from President Laurent Kabila's internal rivals as well as relieving Kisangani's long-suffering citizens.

"To be honest, the end of the aggression could be the solution to the supposed internal problem," it said.

Kagame faces unrest from within his own army

"...If anyone wanted the inter-Congolese dialogue to be carried out under foreign occupation, it's because they wanted this aggression to act as pressure, or as a means of blackmailing the Kinshasa regime."

In an 8 June editorial, Kenya's Daily Nation said that Uganda and Rwanda were simply fighting over control of diamond-smuggling routes, and suggested that if they wanted to wage war they should do so on their own territory.

"Neither Uganda nor Rwanda can claim any longer that they are in the Congo because of concern for their own security," it said.

"Greed is what eggs them on.

"But if they must wage war, the two erstwhile allies have one clear way out: They should do it in their own territories."

South Africa "deserves to host World Cup"

The South African press sounded upbeat about the country's chances of hosting soccer's 2006 World Cup following speculation that Brazil would withdraw next week in return for Pretoria's support for its 2010 bid.

South Africa presenting its bid to FIFA last year

Johannesburg's The Star noted with some optimism in its editorial "Time for FIFA to give Africa its due" that if Morocco withdrew its bid at the weekend and united behind a single African bid, South Africa would "be left only with Germany to really worry about".

The Star dismissed England's bid on the basis of the soccer hooliganism problem, and accused it of treachery "which makes many a skin crawl" for breaking a gentleman's agreement with Germany. England had failed to reciprocate for Germany's support for England's bid for the 1996 European Championships, it said.

Our competitors have made a many-coursed meal of our crime problem

The Star, South Africa

And though this still did not guarantee success, South Africa deserved to win, the Star added.

"None of this should make SA rest on their laurels," it said.

"Our competitors have made a many-coursed meal of our crime problem, which is serious, but our bid has extensive security planning."

"All we can hope for is that there are enough men of integrity in that executive whose consciences cannot deny that South Africa have met all requirements, and deserve to host the World Cup in 2006," it concluded.

Bad week for matatus

President Daniel arap Moi's near miss in a car accident on 4 June was just one of several incidents which highlighted road safety concerns in Kenya in recent days.

Grumbling but doing nothing else... is a sure recipe for the kind of disastrous accidents that have become all too frequent

The Nation

The Nairobi press reported that the president's motorcade was rammed by an out-of-control matatu (minibus taxi) as it returned to the city.

And another report, in the East African Standard, suggested that matatu drivers' behaviour on the roads was putting them well on the way to universal notoriety.

Around 3,000 schoolchildren from four schools "went on the rampage" on hearing the news that a fellow pupil had been killed by a speeding matatu, overturning the offending matatu and setting it on fire before looting a nearby beer lorry, the newspaper said.

Cheap and cheerful: a matatu minibus

The Nation, meanwhile, added its weight to the campaign for road safety by applauding the sacking of two policemen for accepting bribes from matatu drivers.

The paper said that safety on the country's roads depended on both the police and public discouraging corruption.

"The public has the task of monitoring and reporting cases of corruption," it said.

"Grumbling but doing nothing else about blatant cases of bribery on the road is a sure recipe for the kind of disastrous accidents that have become all too frequent."

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.