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African press review 27 September 2011

Tolls to pay for the huge cost of a new stretch of freeway, Winnie Madikezela Mandela winning awards, and counterfeit drugs are all in the African papers today.

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The main story on the front page of this morning's Star in South Africa is headlined "Two billion rand more". That's a reference to the recent spiral in costs for the Gauteng Toll Roads project, which has now swallowed up more than 35 billion rand over the past ten years. That means the 185 kilometres of freeway is finally going to cost more than the entire Gautrain network.

And that massive price tag is going to be reflected in a system of toll charges which has already been rejected as excessive by the Confederation of South African Trade Unions. The opposition Democratic Alliance has proposed a motion at local government level in an effort to have the toll system scrapped.

Winnie Madikezela Mandela is also on the front page of The Sowetan, in colour, all smiles as she celebrated a double yesterday. Apart from marking her 75th birthday, Madikezela Mandela had the Soweto neighbours in a tizzy following the news that she's to be the first ever female recipient of the prestigious Ubuntu Award.

The Zulu word "ubuntu" means, more or less, "humanity", and previous winners include Nelson Mandela, former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, former Cuban president Fidel Castro, as well as former United Nations secretary-general Boutros-Boutros Ghali.

Awarded by the National Heritage Council, the honour is intended for global individuals who have contributed selflessly for the benefit of mankind.

Winnie was in good form, whatever the stuffed shirts at the Heritage Council might feel. She responded to the news by saying "This is the greatest honour I have received so far, and the second greatest honour is the fact that the announcement has been made here, among my people, the people I used to throw stones with."

Michael Sata, Zambia’s first Catholic President, has said his government will be based on the 10 biblical commandments. He has already warned his compatriots that “they shall not steal”.

Sata was declared Zambia’s fifth President last Friday, following his defeat of incumbent Rupiah Banda.

The privately-owned Post in Lusaka gives pride of place to a complaint from Andrew Banda, eldest son of the defeated former president.

Under the headline "My father has been deserted", Banda Junior laments that those who enjoyed his father's presidency have now turned their backs on the loser.

And Andrew has appealed to President Sata to help reconcile the country and heal post-election tensions.

The national secretary of the opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy, Major Richard Kachingwe, yesterday appealed to President Sata to protect MMD members countrywide. Kachingwe says opposition supporters risk harassment.

In an interview from the Banda heartland in the eastern town of Chipata yesterday, Andrew, who is first secretary at the Zambian Embassy in Italy, said his father had been misled into the loss by his political handlers.

Andrew revealed that last week's defeat had come as a great shock to former president Banda.

The theme of reconciliation also dominates the Post's editorial, with a call for national unity. "If we want to move the nation forward," says the editorial, "we can't do it with feelings of retribution, vengeance or hatred."

The lead story in the Ugandan Daily Monitor reports that the National Drug Authority yesterday warned that counterfeit antiretroviral drugs – used to manage HIV infections – could find their way into the Ugandan market. The authority's Executive Secretary warned that the World Health Organisation had already found counterfeit Zidolam-N drugs on the Kenyan market.

The head of drug inspection at the NDA said the authority was concerned about the possibility of fake Zidolam-N drugs being smuggled into Uganda.

However, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, said it would be hard for the fake drugs to enter the country because of the “systematic procurement and administering” of antiretroviral drugs, which are much more stringently controlled than, say, common asprin.

People living with HIV/Aids who take counterfeit antiretroviral drugs could suffer diminished immunity or develop resistance to the genuine drugs.

Opposition candidates and civil society organisations want one of the 18 members of Cameroon’s elections commission to resign because she has allegedly been campaigning for President Paul Biya.

Pauline Biyong, a civil society leader who was appointed to the electoral commission by President Biya, has reportedly won a contract to mount campaign posters and billboards for the incumbent.

Biya has been president of Cameroon since 1982.

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