95. The construction of a centre for the reception of asylum seekers at Thika, near Nairobi, has been completed. The Reception Centre is expected to become operational in 1979.
96. A total of $1,837,400 was spent in 1978 to finance projects in Kenya including $1,331,000 under General Programmes, mainly for supplementary aid and initial expendituro for the rural settlement scheme. Expenditure under Special Programmes amounted to $506,400, of which $416,600 were made available for the Education Account.
Mozambique
97. The total population of the UNHCR-assisted settlements for Zimbabwe refugees rose from 42,500 to 80,000 in the course of 1978. In addition, an estimated 20,000 persons settled in Mozambican villages.
98. The number of settlements was increased to five: at Doroi (Manica province), Tronga (Sofala province), Mavudzi and Matenge (Tete province), and Memo (Gaza province). The Government of Mozambique has donated vast areas of land for crop cultivation. However, the organization of the agricultural effort was hampered on many occasions by ground and air attacks of the Southern Rhodesian forces, bringing the loss of many lives and destruction on the ground. As a result, with a view to improving the safety of the refugees, the Government which is the implementing agency for all UNHCR projects in Mozambique decided, in 1979, to divide each settlement into smaller units. Since each sub-settlement will require independent facilities, increased costs for the programme will be inevitable. In addition, since it had become clear that the presence of Zimbabweans in Mozambique would continue for longer than the short period estimated at the outset, the Government decided that all the settlements should have more durable facilities.
99. At the time of the High Commissioner's visit to Mozambique early in 1978, it was agreed that assistance programmes would be prepared to meet the needs of refugees in the UNHCR-assisted transit centres. Programnes were accordingly prepared for the centres at Gondola and Xai-Xai: In July 1978, however, the centre at Gondola was destroyed by Southern Rhodesian forces with much loss of life among the children who were the main inhabitants. The survivors were rosettled on a new site at Matengo in Tete province, in a settlement which is essentially an education centre, as most of the 3,500 inhabitants are of school age. The centre at Xai-Xai was also closed for security reasons, and its inhabitants were transferred to the Tronga settlement.
100. In September 1978 the Government of Mozambique requested assistance in respect of the some 20,000 Zimbabwean refugees who had settled in areas adjoining Southern Rhodesia. Funds were included in the 1979 General Programes.
101. Apart from the assistance to Zimbabweans, UNHCR elso assisted some 200 individual refugees from various other countries, in particular South African refugee students in transit, many of whom stayed temporarily in the hostel in Maputo.
102. UNHCR opened an office in Beira in August 1978 with the ain of speeding up clearance through the port, and delivery, of goods arriving for the refugee settlements.
103. WFP carried the main effort for providing food, with the provision of staples worth over $5,000,000. Supplementary food requirements and enriched food for children were made available through the use of UNHCR funds and by other donors.