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INSIDE AFRICA

Somali Cameraman Documents Life on the Frontlines of a Civil War; Ghana Gets Ready to Hold Runoff Elections

Aired December 13, 2008 - 12:30:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ISHA SESAY, HOST: Hello and welcome to INSIDE AFRICA. I'm Isha Sesay.
On the program this week, a front-row seat to anarchy. Pinned down with his family, a Somali cameraman documents life in the middle of a raging civil war. And Ghanaians get ready to head back to the polls. We'll look at the two contenders after election results trigger a presidential runoff.

But first, we've done quite a few stories on Somalia lately, none of them positive. A civil war rages in the failed state, where a fragile transitional government barely clings the power. Islamist militias control much of the country and are poised to extend their reach. Ethiopian troops, one of the few obstacles they face -- well, they will soon withdraw. Cashing in on the absence of law and order, gangs of Somali pirates. They seem to become bolder with each passing week. Our sister network, ITN, has given us a unique prospective on the swirling chaos. Lindsay Hilsum has the story of a Somali cameraman who found himself trapped as his country crumbled around him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDSAY HILSUM, ITN CORRESPONDENT: For two years, the family of California's cameraman Abdullahi Farah Duguf has lived the story of Somalia's descent into chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is huge fighting that's going on near my house, and as you hear the bullets, I think it's like we are under attack.

HILSUM: This wasn't the future they imagined in 2006. Duguf filmed fighters known as the Islamic Courts Union, battling the warlords who had ruled Somalia for 15 years.

They were ultra religious and disciplined. After they took power, the women of Mogadishu swept peaceful streets. Duguf, like most Mogadishu residents, was amazed.

ABDULLAHI FARAH DUGUF: (inaudible) peace and we can (inaudible) life without warfare, nothing you have to worry about this. It's completely -- is a peace time (ph) in Mogadishu.

HILSUM: In these pictures, broadcast for the first time, (inaudible) Taliban-style rule they brought, destroying drugs and alcohol, and blaming Somalia's traditional enemy -- Ethiopia -- for all ills.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This thing comes from Ethiopia. It's alcohol. It was made in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia is the enemy of Allah.

HILSUM: Somali women were forced to dress like Wahhabi Gulf Arabs. It was the price they paid for peace. They chanted "We want Islamic law, not democracy."

It was not to last. Ethiopian troops invaded with American backing. For journalists, it was the beginning of a new period of danger. Ethiopian soldiers mingled with the residents. There was spies everywhere.

DUGUF: If you're a cameraman trying to get some pictures in Mogadishu, it's quite dangerous. It is the most dangerous I've ever experienced in Somalia. You never know who is your enemy, you never know who is your friend.

HILSUM: Northwest of the capital, Duguf was taken to see the bodies of 16 men. They had allegedly been killed by Ethiopian troops, angered by an insurgent attack. From his house, he filmed explosions on the horizon. Off camera, his wife said it was time to leave town.

DUGUF: I was stuck in my house. And suddenly, one day, my wife said, look, we cannot stay here anymore. So we must move here, and we will try to get out of the fighting area. And when we (inaudible) in the middle of nowhere, is -- we have huge fighting in front of us.

HILSUM: Duguf won awards for these pictures, filmed while trying and failing to get his family out.

It's February this year. Burundian peacekeepers arrived to join Ugandans, part of an African Union force to support Somalia's transitional government and bring calm.

The Duguf family has moved house, but now the African Union, based next door, has become a target. 13-year old Harun puts his fingers in his ears. He can't bear it. Seven-year old Amina is comforted by her mother. She can't understand what's going on. Insurgents are attacking the A.U. and trying to drive out the Ethiopians.

Eventually, Duguf manages to arrange for his wife Diho (ph) and the children to leave Mogadishu.

Alone now, he films the spiraling violence. A bomb in Bakara market wreaks horror. The dead lie in the dust where they fall. Anyone can be killed at any time, by anybody. A family -- mother, father, four children -- four victims. The only survivor is the grandmother.

In hospital, children, injured by mortars, grenades, bullets, shrapnel. Children who may or may not survive.

DUGUF: Sometimes the hospital was full, and most of the wounded people I meet there was children.

HILSUM: Eventually, even Duguf dare not leave the house. He's trapped. His dial-up Internet connection is slow, but it still works. A friend films him. They can't go out. There's nothing to do but think. At least the family is safe.

He goes out into the yard. A mortar has hit his car and the water tank. He has nothing left to eat or drink.

DUGUF: You never know when the situation is (inaudible). Mortars would hit in your room, and nobody -- no one will help you if you get injured, if you get wounded, no one. There is no hospital there. No. If -- if someone wanted to help you, how could he help you? Because he cannot cross the frontline.

HILSUM: A lull in the fighting. Duguf films families fleeing Mogadishu. He's survived. He too is leaving. After negotiations, the Ethiopians will withdraw. The Islamists, now more extreme than ever, are on the outskirts of Mogadishu again. Another circle of Somalia's violent history has turned.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Thousands of Somalis choose to risk death at sea in order to escape the chaos. Up next, we'll ask Doctors Without Borders what it's doing to help the lucky ones who survived the crossing to Yemen.

And a model of African democracy prepares for a presidential runoff. We'll examine what's in store for Ghana. You're watching INSIDE AFRICA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Welcome back to INSIDE AFRICA. Each year, desperation drives thousands of Somalis to undertake a dangerous and sometimes fatal voyage across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. Smugglers prey on them, taking their life savings in exchange for passage, and often beating them and forcing them out of rickety boats far from shore.

More than 500 Somalis have made the difficult journey this month alone. Andreas Koutepas is a field coordinator with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Yemen. I asked him to describe the conditions these refugees face.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREAS KOUTEPAS, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: The problem is that the trip is made through smuggling and with smuggling boats. They are in - they have very bad conditions. They're fishing boats, actually, eight- to 10-meter fishing boats that -- on which they pack 100 to 150 people.

As a consequence (ph), it's a very dangerous journey, and the smugglers are very, very cruel with the refugees, and we have many, many incidents of stabbing or people suffocating in the hulls of the boat and just thrown in the sea.

And also during the debarkation procedures there, the smugglers are very anxious not to be caught by the coastal force of Yemen. So sometimes they just disembark the people in the deep water. And since most of them cannot swim, they just drown.

In the start of December, we had something like six landings, five or six landings, and the death toll was quite high. We have 24 confirmed dead, dead people drowned on a whim (ph), and we're missing four or five that we do not find any evidence of them or their bodies.

What we're trying to do (inaudible) to provide assistance to these people. We have a landing team, which is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week. We're trying to -- we have established a network of informants on the shore, so these people are just calling us when they see a boat coming or when they see refugees on the shore. They call us, we send a mobile team having nurses, doctors, social counselors, and translators. And we're trying to provide the first-level assistance in the shore.

SESAY: Given the conditions in Somalia, which appear to be rapidly deteriorating on a day-by-day basis, are you seeing an increase in the numbers that are attempting this journey?

KOUTEPAS: I can see an increase comparing to the numbers of last year. Comparing to 2007, we have a tripling -- the number has tripled.

SESAY: The numbers have tripled. People -- what are people saying to you in terms of those that you've encountered about -- obviously they're fleeing the disastrous situation in Somalia. But are they fully aware of just how dangerous this journey is, and how the odds are against them actually making it there alive to Yemen?

KOUTEPAS: Actually, the problem is that what's they're saying to us, the people, is that they have no choice but to do this journey, because they consider themselves already dead. The violence in Somali is very -- is very high, very, very -- daily shooting. Most of the people lost members of their families due to the violence. And also, the Ethiopian people that are making this journey, they're fleeing from extreme poverty. So they don't have any food, they don't have any future there. So they take their chances with their -- with this trip regardless how dangerous this trip is. So this is -- it's quite a tragic situation with these people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: That was Andreas Koutepas, field coordinator with Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Now, to an African success story -- Ghana's democratic process. As the two top presidential candidates prepare for a runoff, we'll examine some of the key issues. You're watching INSIDE AFRICA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Making business news in Africa this week. Mining giant Rio Tinto says it will delay investing in the $6 billion Simandou iron ore project in Guinea. The firm says the delay is part of broader spending cuts it's making because of slumping demand. Rio Tinto and the Guinean government are also in a dispute over mining concession rights to the Simandou project.

And South Africa says that its year-to-year gold production for October dropped by 14 percent. Industry analysts say power shortages contributed to slowed production. The state-owned utility company was hit with a near collapse of the electrical grid in January. South Africa is the world's second largest producer of gold, just behind China. The country's gold output has been falling since 1970.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: You're watching INSIDE AFRICA. Welcome back.

Ghana's presidential election has come down to a runoff, because none of the eight candidates won more than 50 percent of the popular vote. The electoral commission reports that Nana Akufo-Addo of the ruling New Patriotic Party got just over 49 percent. And John Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress won almost 48 percent. The runoff is set for December 28th.

Ghana's economy has enjoyed surging (inaudible) in recent years, but most Ghanaians still leave in poverty, and many say the government hasn't done enough to help them. Nana Akufo-Addo sat down with INSIDE AFRICA during the recent visit to the United States, and he addressed that complaint. He says his country is on the right path, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NANA AKUFO-ADDO, GHANAIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can say that that work has been going on very well. And in the last seven, eight years since John Kufuor took the -- took the reins of office in Ghana, a new tone, a new way of looking at problems in Ghana has come about it. And a new attitude on the part of leaders, an attitude which says that yes, I mean, I am a leader, but I'm not a know-it-all, and therefore I'm interesting in hearing what you think about what's going on.

Many of our people, after 200 or 300 years of imperialist control, then you come into authoritarian governments in the postcolonial situation, it hasn't done a great deal for the self-confidence of our people. What we're looking now is how to revive that self-confidence, that popular self- confidence, and it is that that, at the end of the day, we'll bring about the attitude of change, that will allow the institutions to grow and mature. And therefore, bring us into modern history and make Africa part of the globalizing world, thereby also enhancing prosperity.

We have been for over a century a country that depends on the production and export of raw materials. I think that that is not the way for prosperity in our country, and that the sooner we find a way of shifting that economy from a raw material producing economy to an added value economic activity, that is the way we will be able to address questions of unemployment, low wages and salaries, low per capita income, begin to bring our people into the prosperity that other peoples in the world are enjoying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Akufo-Addo's opponent John Atta Mills is running on the slogan "A better man for a better Ghana." But they seem to share many of the same goals.

Let's take a closer look now at Atta Mills' platform, as it's laid out on his official campaign Web site. He aims to make government agencies run more efficiently. He wants to improve public services by increasing public investment in energy, water resources, telecommunications and transportation. He wants to modernize the country's agricultural sector. He says he plans to attract national and international investors from the private sector by creating a well-trained labor force and improving infrastructure.

Education is also a top priority for Atta Mills. He says no child should be denied an education due to a lack of means. And he also says Ghana needs to develop an affordable, but world-class healthcare system, with the due emphasis on preventive and curative medicines.

INSIDE AFRICA tried to get an interview with Atta Mills, but we were unable to reach him.

In many African countries, a runoff election is a cause of for alarm and suspicion. No so in Ghana. We'll find out why next on INSIDE AFRICA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Welcome back to INSIDE AFRICA. Turnout for the first round of Ghana's presidential vote topped 69 percent. Most observers say the voting and counting went smoothly, and the country continues to enjoy a reputation for holding free and fair elections.

Emira Woods is an expert on U.S. foreign policy with an emphasis on Africa, and she's with the Institute for Policy Studies. It's a think tank which says it's dedicated to peace, justice and the environment. I asked her if she considers Ghana a mature democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMIRA WOODS, INST. FOR POLICY STUDIES: Clearly. I think Ghana has now gone through the test of fire and has emerged really unscathed. I think there are many on the continent now that are emerging through a process in which you see that citizens are able to choose their leaders freely, are able to hold those leaders accountable.

SESAY: Obviously, the aftermath of elections in Kenya and in Zimbabwe brought with them horrific scenes and brought scenes that troubled Africans as well as the rest of the world. What's your sense, should there be any concern about any type of violence in Ghana with the runoff looming?

WOODS: Well, clearly, it just can happen anywhere, including right here in the United States. But I think there is a sense that Ghanaians have done this right this first round, and will do it right the second round of elections as well. I think there is a sense that there will be an outright victory, depending on how the campaigning goes in the coming weeks. A clear winner will emerge, and it is likely that that winner, because of the transparency and the trust in the electoral process, I think that winner will be sanctioned by the majority of Ghanaians as the true winner of the election there.

SESAY: And is it clear, the differences between the two main candidates, the visions they have for this country?

WOODS: I wish I could say yes, but in fact, there's a small difference. So clearly one is more center-right. The ruling party has been more of a center-right, free-market type ideology in terms of the economy. Clearly the NDC is a little bit different. It's slightly more centrist. You have had now three tries at running for office now, and suddenly it could be that they finally win beyond the National Patriotic Party, and they are able to get the numbers to keep them in place in the presidency. So we will see if there is an articulation of an economic vision that comes, you know, and is fine-tuned in a way that hasn't really emerged in such a sharp way in the election.

SESAY: What would you say all the key things to be learned from the Ghanaian experiment, so to speak?

WOODS: Well, I think the first is power to the people. Create a space where people can freely choose their leaders, can freely debate the issues that are relevant for them. You have had a free flowing discussion about this exploration of oil and what it means for ordinary Ghanaians, and it is that type of popular participation in a political process that I think is the indicator of things to come, not just for Ghana, but in many countries. You see right in the neighborhood, Liberia, having gone through a similar process. You see, you know, a number of countries, Rwanda especially, emerging from a recent election where women won 55 percent of the parliamentary vote, you know. I think these are the changes that are afoot on the continent that are often left out of the headlines of newspapers in the West in particular, and I think need to be recognized, applauded, and encouraged to continue to flourish throughout the continent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Emira Woods with the Institute for Policy Studies sharing her thoughts.

And there we must leave it. Next week I'll be back with a brand new INSIDE AFRICA, and we'll hear form some of our correspondents about covering some of Africa's biggest stories of this past year. Thanks for watching.

END