Africa

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In our series of letters from African journalists, Joseph Warungu considers what the collapse of a building in Nairobi reveals about Kenyan society.

In our series of letters from African journalists, Mannir Dan Ali, considers the hard task of rebuilding lives now that the worst of the Boko Haram insurgency seems to be over.

May 6, 2016 (JUBA) – A senior media official in the office of the First Vice-President, Riek Machar, has downplayed media reports of security tensions in Juba between bodyguards of the top leaders in the country.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir (C) poses for a picture after the government swearing in with his first deputy Riek Machar (R) and second deputy James Wani on 29 April 2016 (Photo Moses Lomayat)

Some media outlets have reported that security tensions occurred since Wednesday between Machar's bodyguards and those of the President, Salva Kiir, which prevented the first vice-president from going to his office.

Machar since his swearing in into office 10 days ago on Tuesday last week has not yet started work in his official office, and has been doing his official meetings at his residence of Jebel Kujur in the outskirts of the city, about 5kms away from the presidential palace.

However, his press secretary, James Gatdet Dak, downplayed the report, saying unfinished preparations of the first vice-president's office caused the delay.

“There is no security tension in Juba as reported in the media. What I know is that the office for the First Vice President is being arranged,” Dak said.

He however added that despite the lack of office, Machar also comes to office for official government's meetings, including the council of ministers meeting.

“He has been coming to the government's premises for important meetings. On Thursday he also chaired an induction workshop for the new transitional cabinet, and on Friday he co-chaired with President Salva Kiir the first sitting of the new cabinet,” he added.

Dak further explained that as soon as the office for the first vice-president and his staff is availed, he will officially begin to work in it.

MACHAR MEETS CHINESE ENVOY

Meanwhile Dak said Machar on Thursday met with the Special Envoy for South Sudan from the People's Republic of China, Ambassador Zhong Zianhua, and discussed the role the Chinese government should play in supporting the implementation of the Peace Agreement in South Sudan.

“The meeting focused on the need for the Chinese government to support priority projects on peace and security in the country as well as services delivery to the needy people in South Sudan,” he said.

He said Machar reiterated the importance of doubling efforts by the Chinese government as a development partner to South Sudan to help the country in restoring peace and stabilizing the economy.

Machar, he said, appealed to the Chinese government to allocate to South Sudan some of the 16 billion US dollars China has earmarked for Africa.

On his part, the Chinese Special Envoy, Zianhua, expressed his country's readiness to play a great role in the implementation of the peace agreement and in the stabilization of the country's security and economy.

(ST)

May 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's dialogue mechanism known as 7+7 has dismissed the memorandum submitted by national figures to President Omer al-Bashir as “elitist” and said the president is committed to implement the outcome of the dialogue conference.

Members of the national dialogue general assembly and President Omer al-Bashir attend the third session of the internal process in Khartoum on August 20, 2015 (Photo AFP/Ashraf Shazly)

Last week, 52 national figures including former Prime Minister Al-Gizouli Dafallaa revealed that they handed over a memo titled the National Initiative for Peace and Reform to the presidency calling on Bashir to establish a transitional government to address the national crises and make structural change in the system of governance.

However, member of the 7+7 committee and secretary general of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) Kamal Omer has criticized the memo, describing the signatories as “limited elite”.

He pointed that President Bashir has pledged to implement the outcome of the national conference.

“It [ the memo] is vague and it deals with minor issues such as the executive power while the national dialogue which is the largest political project since independence has discussed all governance issues,” he said.

Omer told the semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) that the memo calls for forming a government of technocrats with unclear tasks while the national dialogue recommended a government of national consensus, saying the time for the technocratic governments is over.

“We can't get a head of the national dialogue and allow a group of people to submit a memo which includes issues that have been discussed at length in the dialogue conference”, he added

He renewed their commitment to the national dialogue saying they wouldn't allow any party to circumvent its outcome.

“We had enough of the memos and views of the elitist groups” said Omer

HOLDOUT GROUPS AND DIALOGUE

For its part, the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) disclosed that the 7+7 mechanism has reached understandings with some of the holdout groups to join the national dialogue.

NCP deputy chairman and presidential aide Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid said the general secretariat of the dialogue conference has prepared the draft document of the recommendations.

He told the SMC that arrangements for holding the general conference would start soon, saying the participants would discuss the recommendations and the proposed national document.

Hamid added that the dialogue process is still ongoing in order to bring in the largest number of the holdout opposition to agree on the national constants, saying the 7+7 mechanism managed to convince new forces to join the dialogue.

The internal dialogue conference was inaugurated in Khartoum on October 10 th, 2015 amid large boycott from the major political and armed opposition.

Political forces members of the opposition alliance National Consensus Forces (NCF) and other parties refuse to take part in the dialogue conference before the creation of a conducive environment and the implementation of specific confidence-building measures provided in a roadmap proposed by the African Union mediation team.

Some significant political parties, such as the National Umma Party, the Reform Now Movement and the Just Peace Forum, that approved the process in the beginning.

But later they suspended their participation, criticizing the government refusal to postpone the general elections and the lack of political freedoms.

Also, the major armed movements in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile refrained from participating in the dialogue conference citing similar demands.

(ST)

May 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM) -Sudan's foreign ministry Friday said the tripartite team tasked with developing an exit strategy for the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) would start a visit to Darfur's five states on Monday.

Peacekeepers from the hybrid African Union-United Nations operation in Darfur (UNAMID) patrol the damaged and empty Labado village in South Darfur on 10 December 2013 (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

A tripartite working group including the Sudanese government, African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) has been set up in February 2015 to develop an exit strategy for the UNAMID from Darfur.

In its meeting on 18 April in Khartoum, the tripartite team decided to conduct field visits to Darfur before to start a gradual and smooth exit from the restive region.

Sudan's foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadiq said the team would visit Darfur's five states between 8 to 16 May to see the ground realities, saying it would submit a report to the joint mechanism at the end of the visit.

He added the team would also hold a meeting in Khartoum on 23 May to approve the outcome of its visit to Darfur, saying the joint mechanism would also discuss other issues pertaining to the UNAMID's performance and exit from Darfur.

Al-Sadiq expressed hope that the outcome of the tripartite team work would be included in the report that will be presented by the United Nations chief Ban Ki Moon to the UN Security Council in early June.

It is noteworthy that the UN linked the full withdrawal of the peacekeeping operation from Darfur region with signing of a ceasefire agreement within a peace agreement where the protection of civilians can be ensured.

The hybrid mission has been deployed in Darfur since December 2007 with a mandate to stem violence against civilians in the western Sudan's region.

It is the world's second largest international peacekeeping force with an annual budget of $1.35 billion and almost 20,000 troops.

UN agencies say there are nearly 2.5 million displaced persons in Darfur, despite the signing of peace agreement in Doha in July 2011.

(ST)