Africa

Five middle-distance runners from South Sudan, until recently living in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp, have flown out of the capital city of Nairobi to take part in the first-ever Olympic refugee team for the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the United Nations refugee agency has said.

The United Nations has temporarily halted humanitarian assistance missions in north-eastern Nigeria’s restive Borno state after yesterday’s attack on a multi-agency aid convoy which had been delivering desperately needed relief aid in a remote area of the region, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The United Nations human rights office today expressed concern over the three-year prison sentences handed down last week to 30 members of the main opposition party in Gambia, including its leader Ousainou Darboe, following their participation in peaceful protests in mid-April.

Campaigners welcome the arrest of Egypt's first doctor to have been convicted of carrying out female genital mutilation (FGM).

Chad's ex-ruler Hissene Habre is ordered to pay millions of dollars in compensation to victims of his crimes against humanity.

Emmanuel Koranteng explains why he gave up his accountant job in the US and to help his father grow pineapples in Ghana.

Dimakatso Nono, 34, left her job in finance to return to the family farm in South Africa and gives five tips on how to succeed as a farmer.

Despite the country's drought, some Kenyans are turning camel milk into a viable commercial business.

A much-sought-after natural fibre in the fashion world is mohair. Made from Angora goats, South Africa is the world's leading producer of it.

A selection of the best photos from across Africa this week.

July 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki will meet with the opposition Sudan Call forces during the next week of August, said the National Umma Party (NUP).

Leaders and delegates of the Sudan Call forces pose in a collective picture at the end of their meeting outside Paris on November 13 2015 (ST Photo)

The head of NUP political bureau Mohamed Mahdi Hassan Thursday told Sudan Tribune the AUHIP Executive Director Abdel Gader Mohamed (Abdul) informed the Sudan Call groups that Mbeki would meet them in the second week of August without giving the exact date.

"The meeting will discuss the demands of the opposition and its reservations over the road map," Hassan said, adding that they will decide to sign it or not based on the outcome of the meeting.

Abdul met the Sudan call forces in Paris on 21 July where they gave him a letter to Mbeki expressing their readiness to sign the Roadmap Agreement after a meeting to discuss their demands for additional confidence building measures and inclusive process.

The opposition groups said Mbeki reassured them in a letter he had sent on 23 June where he said that Addis Ababa meeting - proposed in the roadmap - with the Sudanese government dialogue body is in fact the national dialogue preparatory meeting, and all the Sudan Call factions can attend it.

Observers point the Sudan Call forces are now divided over the negotiations with the government as some say that the ruling National Congress Party would not accept to implement a peace agreement they may reach, or the outcome of the dialogue process.

Some parties of the internal opposition groups refused to take part in Paris meeting while others attended. Those who boycotted are not expected to take part in the upcoming meeting.

(ST)

July 28, 2016 (JUBA) -Three supporters of General Taban Deng Gai, newly appointed First Vice President to replace Riek Machar in a controversial process, were seriously tortured and were beaten nearly to death by groups of internally displaced person (IDPs) after discovering their underground campaign and bribery of other members of people staying the United Nations camps.

IGAD chief mediator Seyoum Mesfin (L) and the SPLM In Opposition's lead negotiator, Taban Deng Gai, attend the resumption of South Sudan talks in Addis Ababa on 11 February 2014 (Photo: Reuters/Tiksa Negeri)

An eyewitness told Sudan Tribune that the three men were caught by a villante group, known as ‘Nuer Four' or N4 police who have been mandated by the community to put law and order in the protection of civilians site.

He said one man had been reported with serious injuries in the body after the local police in the camp discovered their activities and beat him.

It is unclear why civilians seeking protection at civilians' site resulted in such activities, but officials there said people are deeply divided over recent decision to appoint the SPLM-IO former chief negotiator to replace Machar, with overwhelming majority in the UN camps still supporting Machar.

A close allied to Taban Deng GAi in Juba has confirmed that the incident occurred, but added that “it is a minor case.”

He said most of those seeking protection at civilians' site in Juba and other states are very desperate about the life in the camp.

“You know most of the civilians in the camp are not happy about the recent development of appointing Gen. Taban Deng Gai as the first vice president to replace Dr. Riek Machar Teny in the Transitional Government of National Unity,” he told Sudan Tribune.

He however added that the new first vice president “is progressing well despite all condemnation by the members of supporters of Riek Machar.”

However, residents in the camp told Sudan Tribune that the situation at UN camps in Juba remain tense as supporters of Taban Deng are being targeted. It is confirmed that most people in the UN camp are restricted to get out, but some politicians are accused of fuelling the situation.

They said the recent appointment of Gai is calculated to further divide the Nuer ethnic group into separate rival groups.

(ST)

July 28, 2016 (EL-FASHER) - Hundreds of Sudanese staff working for the African Union – United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) went on an open-ended strike Thursday over alleged non-payment of accumulated benefits.

The head of the UNAMID National Staff Union Khalil Tkras told Sudan Tribune that they resort to the strike as means to pressure on the United Nations and UNAMID to approve the payment of due benefits and to address all the outstanding entitlements, including the risk allowance, to be consistent with the increase in salaries in the period from 2012 even in 2015

Trkas said that their demands include also the medical insurance, overtime pay, sudanization of jobs, payment of pension benefits in a short period, and to pay additional benefits to the staff members who accomplish additional tasks besides their jobs.

He added they demand the implementation of local staff training budget, especially the external training.

In the past UNAMID Sudanese staff staged similar protests, demanding to be paid in dollar or to recalculate their salaries according to the exchange rates in the parallel market.

In 2012, they went on strike for demands related to the benefit entitlements. This year also, the local workers held different protests in El-Fasher, and Zalingei for the same claims.

Last March the mission denied press reports that it had refused to pay the pensions of former Sudanese personnel dismissed for the purpose of internal reorganization

There are some 2,900 local workers in the hybrid peacekeeping mission which is deployed in Darfur since December 2007. There are nearly 22,000 international military and civil personnel with an annual budget of $1.35 billion.

(ST)

July 29, 2016 (JUBA) – Rival South Sudanese leaders' spokespersons have clashed over interpretation of how a “temporary” replacement of Riek Machar, as First Vice President, should have been handled in accordance with the Article 6 of the provision of the August 2015 peace agreement.

Riek Machar, left, first vice president of the Republic of South Sudan, and Salva Kiir, the president, at the first meeting of the new transitional coalition government in Juba, South Sudan, in April, 2016 (Jason Patinkin/AP)

This is after President Salva Kiir replaced Machar and appointed Taban Deng Gai, an ex-official of Machar's faction when a group of senior leaders of the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) nominated Gai on 23 July in a process challenged as “illegal” by Machar's faction.

Gai and his group announced publicly that the nomination was “temporary” and that Gai would step down from office if Machar returned to Juba after two weeks of absence when he and his forces were forced out from the capital after clashes with forces loyal to President Kiir.

The process has attracted controversy and counter-interpretations when referred to the provisions in the peace agreement.

Ateny Wek Ateny, President Kiir's spokesperson in a live debate on Turkish TRT World TV with his rival, James Gatdet Dak, Machar's spokesperson, argued that Article 6.4 in the peace deal gives President Kiir the right to appoint a replacement for Machar.

Article 6.4 reads: “In the event that the post of the First Vice President falls vacant during the Transitional Persiod, for any reason, including mental infirmity or physical incapacity of the office holder, the replacement shall be nominated by the top leadership body of the South Sudan Armed Opposition as at the signing of this Agreement.”

Ateny argued that Machar had been away for two weeks and his whereabouts was not known, thus giving the right to his faction to nominate someone to take over the SPLM-IO party and the SPLA-IO army, and also gives the President the right appoint his replacement as First Vice President.

Machar's spokesperson, Dak, however counter-argued that the agreement did not give President Kiir to power to appoint Machar's replacement on a “temporary” basis, saying this is not there under the current circumstances.

Dak said it should have been the First Vice President who “may delegate” one of his senior officials in the party to act on his behalf until he returned, referring to Article 6.5 of the agreement.

Article 6.5 reads: “In the event of temporary absence of the First Vice President, the First Vice President may delegate a senior South Sudan Armed Opposition Minister to carry out functions and duties as stipulated in this Agreement.”

While Ateny defended the action of Taban Deng and President Kiir on the basis of Article 6.4, Dak on the other hand condemned their action on the basis of Article 6.5.

Ateny said even if Machar comes back to Juba, he will not be reinstated as First Vice President and will have to first go through reinstatement by the SPLM-IO led by Taban Deng, or else “will not be seen again” if rejected.

Dak argued that Machar was forced out of Juba and asked for deployment of a third party force so that he could return to Juba, from “around Juba”, adding that President Kiir had no power to appoint his replacement per the “temporary” absence as stipulated in the peace agreement.

He also argued that the process to nominate Taban Deng Gai, was “illegal” because Gai was dismissed from party a day before he convened the “illegal meeting” and also there was no SPLM-IO institution that sat and nominated him. He said only five officials of the top leadership nominated him with no required quorum.

“H.E. Dr. Riek Machar is "legally" still the First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan. That "illegal" replacement in Juba - which violates the August 2015 peace agreement - will soon be deemed null and void,” Dak posted on his Facebook page on Thursday.

He also accused President Kiir of taking part in the conspiracy with Taban Deng to become the First Vice President so that he could help him “destroy the peace agreement.”

The United Nations also said the replacement of Machar was not consistent with the peace agreement.

Ateny however fired back, saying the United Nations was not “telling the truth” or those who criticized President Kiir's action did not read well the peace deal.

(ST)

July 28, 2016 (NEW YORK) – United Nations said it has begun relocating internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Tongping camp, near Juba airport, to Jebel camp, in the outskirts south of the capital.

The decision to relocate people was made due to inadequate humanitarian infrastructure and capacity in Tongping, which currently houses nearly 3,000 who fled to the site in the wake of recent violence in Juba. It is also intended to provide them with better conditions and humanitarian services that are already in place in the Protection of Civilians site.

"I was asked yesterday about the relocation of people from Tomping Compound in South Sudan, and I can inform you that the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reports that the initial phase of voluntary relocations of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the Tomping Compound to the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site 3 adjacent to UN House in Juba began today,” Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, told reporters in New York on Thursday.

He said the relocation is a coordinated effort by UNMISS and humanitarian partners, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which is providing logistical support.

Haq added that security forces of the government have been informed of the relocation process and will also assist in providing security on the routes the IDPs will use for the relocation to the Jebel camp.

“I was also asked about escorts from the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) yesterday. The Mission says that it had sought security assurances from the Government, National Security Service and the SPLA in order to guarantee the safe passage of the displaced people from Tomping to Protection of Civilians site 3,” he said.

He added that UNMISS will be providing force protection to the convoy from Tomping to the final destination, while the Joint Verification Monitoring Mechanism (JVMM), with support from the South Sudan National Police Service, agreed to deploy in strategic areas along the route to ensure the convoy's timely passage.

Currently, there are about 30,000 IDPs who have taken refuge in a number of UNMISS manned protection camps in the capital, Juba.

(ST)

July 28, 2016 (NAIROBI) - The European Commission has released €40 million in emergency humanitarian assistance to South Sudan in the wake of recent clashes in the country.

European flags are seen outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels (Reuters Photo)

The donation, the Commission said in a statement, brings to €103 million its total support for the young nation for 2016.

An outbreak of violence in the young nation early this month has displaced more than 40,000 people, agencies said, as the renewed fighting threatens peace and stability.

"The recent deadly escalation of hostilities in South Sudan is extremely worrying and threatens the very fragile situation in the country. The EU stands by those most in need caught up in the conflict. The emergency aid will address the overall deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country, providing crucial supplies such as food and nutrition, water and sanitation, protection and healthcare,” Christos Stylianides, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management said in a statement.

“I urge all parties to respect their obligation to grant unhindered and safe humanitarian access to those in need. Furthermore, the systematic looting of humanitarian facilities is unacceptable and must stop immediately," added the official.

Recent violence has affected food supply and the nutrition situation in South Sudan has reportedly reached critical levels in many areas. Access to medicine throughout the country is limited, with humanitarian organizations providing the majority of healthcare, according to the Commission.

Meanwhile, together the European Commission and Member States are reportedly providing more than 43 per cent of the overall humanitarian response in the country.

(ST)

July 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese capital Khartoum will host next Sunday a meeting for the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) Partners Group to discuss implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS) and the recent developments in Juba,.

Botswana's former president Festus Mogae (Photo File AFP)

The meeting which will be co-chaired by Sudan and China, includes representatives of Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia, Chad, China, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, the African Union Commission, the European Union, the IGAD Partners Forum and the United Nations.

In a press statement on Thursday Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Garib Allah Khidir, said that Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour will co-chair the meeting with the Chinese Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Zhong Jianhua.

China which has energy interest in South Sudan has always been actively involved in the regional and international efforts to end the South Sudanese conflict.

The meeting will be briefed by the Chair of JMEC, former President Festus Mogae.

The first meeting of the JMEC partners group held in Nairobi in February 2016 had been co-chaired by Kenya and the United States, the second held in Addis Ababa last May.

Since the clashes in Juba between the troops of President Salva Kiir and the former First Vice President Riek Machar and his replacement by Taban Deng Gai, observers agree that the peace process is on the verge of collapse.

Some diplomats express hope that a Machar would return to Juba and be reappointed in his position. But it is not clear how such scenario can be achieved.

(ST)

July 28, 2016 (JUBA) – At least 17 people have died from recent Cholera outbreaks in South Sudan and 340 cases of the disease registered in recent weeks, the health ministry said.

A child receives an oral cholera vaccine dose in the South Sudan capital, Juba (Medair Photo)

A World Health Organization (WHO) statement issued on Wednesday also confirmed the early suspected cases of Cholera in different parts of the young nation, saying 10 samples from patients tested positive for Vibrio Cholera Ivana in a public health laboratory.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Its symptoms may be mild or moderate, with acute watery diarrhoea and severe dehydration notable. It can lead to death if untreated.

46 cholera patients were reportedly been hospitalized in Duk county of Jonglei state, while seven died. Also five people, out of the 12 registered cases, died in Terekeka county of Central Equatoria state.

On Wednesday, the medical charity, MSF, and the health ministry launched a vaccination campaign that, it said, targets 4,000 people in Juba, particularly in the epidemic suburbs of Gorom, Khor William and Giada as well as in other parts of the country's capital.

Only a quarter of people living South Sudan's towns have access to clean drinking water, worsening any spread of water borne diseases.

Researchers have estimated that every year, there are roughly 1.4 to 4.3 million cases, and 28 000 to 142 000 deaths per year worldwide due to cholera. The short incubation period of two hours to five days, is factor that triggers the potentially explosive pattern of outbreaks.

(ST)

July 28, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan's President, Salva Kiir on Thursday met his two deputies in the coalition government, during which he expressed willingness to expedite implementation of the peace deal.

President Salva Kiir meets SPLM-IO Chief Negotiator, Taban Deng Gai, in Juba, December 22, 2015 (ST Photo)

The three leaders, a statement from the presidency noted, agreed to undertake measures to "strengthen the protection of civilians”.

“The President of the Republic of South Sudan, H.E. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit, today met with his two deputies, to discuss some of the issues on peace implementation and some current developments in the country. The three leaders have agreed to undertake measures to expedite the implementation process of the peace agreement so that the country can move forward with reconciliation, healing and forgiveness”, partly reads the statement Sudan Tribune obtained.

“The president has made it clear that he will cooperate with the new first vice president and the vice president to ensure that priority would be given to resolving key problems that have caused strong protests by the people. A new spirit is emerging from the presidency, the spirit of cooperation, consensus and willingness to implement the agreement so that the country can move forward,” it added.

President Kiir on Monday appointed the armed opposition's former chief mediator, Taban Deng Gai as the country's First Vice-President replacing Riek Machar, who left the capital following recent clashes.

More than 270 soldiers, officials said, died when forces loyal to Kiir clashed with pro-Machar soldiers before a ceasefire was declared.

According to the statement from the presidency, a number of things have been agreed to be resolved, including accepting that the deputy speaker's position be nominated by the armed opposition.

“These nominations will speed-up the establishment of a new parliament incorporating members of the SPLM/A-IO, and enabling the parliament to function as normal, enacting laws and aiding in the establishment of institutions prescribed by the Compromise Peace Agreement 2015, including approving the new Constitution of the Republic, leading to the next census and elections”, it stressed.

Officials at the presidency told Sudan Tribune that many of the details of the peace proposal were already known, including, among others, commitment to observing a permanent ceasefire, implementing the security arrangement by disbanding and integrating members of armed opposition into different institutions of government under one command and protecting the civilians.

Observers, however, say it is unclear how the leaders intend to implement the deal and how members of armed opposition and the international community would react, if the accord is compromised.

It is also unclear what exactly the leaders have agreed to do as the first thing in the implementation of the peace agreement and how long they have collectively intended to achieve their objectives.

(ST)

While welcoming recent political developments recently observed in West Africa, the United Nations Security Council today stressed the need to increase military cooperation between the States in the region and Sahel to fight against the terrorist group Boko Haram.