President promises civil service pay arrears soon

Henrique Rosa, the interim president of Guinea-Bissau, promised on Tuesday that more than 10 months of pay arrears owed to civil servants would be paid soon. Rosa, a respected independent businessman, who was appointed to lead this former Portuguese colony back to democracy after a coup last month, did not say where the money would come from or when exactly it would be paid. He said his government had inherited an empty treasury, but was introducing a new discipline to financial management which would enable it to raise funds. Rosa made the announcement in remarks to reporters as he left on a visit to Libya, Senegal and Gambia. This is Rosa's second overseas trip since he was sworn in on 28 September. Last week he visited Ghana, Nigeria and Niger. The latter country is the current chairman of the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA), which controls the CFA franc currency used by Guinea-Bissau and most Francophone countries in the region. Rosa replaced former president Kumba Yala who was overthrown by the military high command in a bloodless coup on 14 September. Kumba Yala, was elected with a large majority in 2000 on a ticket of national unity after a brief but damaging civil war. But he was deposed after becoming increasingly erratic in his management of a virtually bankrupt government. Kumba Yala's failure to pay public employees, including teachers, hospital staff and soldiers, caused a wave of strikes and deep unrest within the armed forces. His overthrow caused an outcry overseas, but was greeted with quiet relief by most of Guinea-Bissau's 1.3 million people. Rosa, who headed the national electoral commission during Guinea-Bissau's first multiparty elections in 1994, has been charged with organising fresh parliamentary elections within six months and a presidential poll a year later.