Africa

Kenya has a thriving technology scene and is now looking into how to take advantage of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and blockchain.

By Gatdiet Peter

Her Excellency,

I write to your excellency dear Ambassador Nikki Haley, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN and the UN Security Council, with great dismay and too much pain about the ongoing mass killing and displacement of people of my hometown Leer and Mayiandit county in South Sudan – southern Unity state. Dear Ms Ambassador, the mass killing, and displacement in the abovementioned locations are being perpetrated by the government of my country, which by the principles and terms of the constitution should protect the lives and dignity of unarmed civilians by any mean possible.

Your Excellency,

Since April 20, 2018, onward, there are deliberate attacks, targeted killings, gang raping of women and young girls, mass displacements of innocent civilians, and burning down of the villages happening in Leer and Mayendit Counties by troops loyal to president Salva Kiir and armed militias loyal to the First Vice President (FVP), General Taban Deng Gai. There are also thoughtful destructions of civilians' livelihoods, looting of cattle & goats, and properties in Leer and Mayendit. These acts of violent collective action against civilians' amount to crimes against humanity in accordance with the principles of international humanitarian law and the universal declaration of human rights – Geneva convention!

Troops loyal to president Salva Kiir and the militiamen allied to Gen. Taban Deng were mobilised purposely to carry out premeditated murderous actions against civilians in Leer and Mayiandit counties, simply because Leer county is the hometown of the opposition leader, Riek Machar. The goal of such actions against civil population encapsulates a punishment to Riek Machar (the elites' main rival), which does not in any way make sense at all corners. This is a dangerous illusion and it must be stopped at all cost!

Your Excellency,

Dear Ms Ambassador, I take the floor of this opportunity to condemn in the strongest terms possible the heinous crimes against civilians by the government forces of my country. I also condemn any kind of human rights violations, not only by the government troops but, moreover, by any armed actors in South Sudan soil.

The punishment and political violent-collective action of my country's government that is being perpetrated on innocent civilians qualified in terms war crimes and crimes against humanity and those who committed these crimes must be held accountable and face justice. Dear Ms Ambassador, I call upon your responsible leadership and concern on humanity to persuade members of the UN Security Council to take punitive measures against the perpetrators of crimes in Leer and Mayiandit counties for justice to take its course with immediate effect.

Dear Ambassador, I want to bring it to your attention that the violent actions of my country's government presumed to be counterinsurgency measures are wrongly directed to the wrong targets in Leer and Mayiandit counties. The people, who are going under attacks and mass killings are purely unarmed, helpless, and vulnerable. They are just civilians and have nothing to confer with the political affairs and/ or political system of South Sudan than being plain civilians. They neither support either side of the conflict.

While taking this endeavour on Leer and Mayiandit counties, it is quite acknowledgeable that similar attacks on civilians are taking place across all corners of South Sudan, such as in Yei river state, Wau, Yambio, areas of Lou Nuer (Akobo), Nasir, Pagak, etc. The government and its allied militias are responsible for such attacks and targeted killing of innocent civilians. it is also acknowledgeable that the government of my country deliberately continuously block the humanitarian access to affected communities whereby necessities, such as medicines, food, mosquito nets, blankets, and temporary shelters are desperately needed.

The atrocities by government forces in Leer and Mayiandit came not by surprise because President Kiir in a speech in Billpham military HQs, Juba, has declared war during a ceremonial funeral service of late Gen. James Ajongo Mawut, the former chief of general staff of South Sudan defence. Salva Kiir has given stern directives and ordered his forces and militias to crush armed oppositions, which has now turned into murdering of civilians and burning of their villages. Meanwhile, the governor of Northern Liech state, Joseph Nguen Monytuil addressed the public two days later after government forces and militias attacked innocent civilians in Leer and Mayendit. Mr. Monytuil informed the gathering that the government is crushing the armed opposition in Leer and Mayiandit countries. This means that the atrocities committed on civilians are done with an informed consent from the country's top high-profiles.

Therefore, Ms Ambassador, I call upon your country's right of veto in the UN Security Council to push for a go-ahead measure and take necessary action against the government of the Republic of South Sudan, which failed to protect civilians. One of the well-known responsibilities of the UN is to ensure that all civilians are protected irrespective of their race, religion, ethnicity, gender, political opinion, etc. Hence, as a concerned individual, I wish an-all-encompassing accountability for the government of South Sudan to answer all the horrible acts committed on civilians.

Your Excellency,

Dear Ambassador, it is worth noting that during your visit to the South Sudanese Capital Juba in October 2017, it was your humble self who reported to the all-world that ‘‘president Kiir is unfit to rule South Sudan.'' The unfitness of my country's president is nothing but a niche of unwillingness to protect vulnerable civilians and their scarce properties. Here forth, I urge the international community, especially the UNSC to immediately intervene and pressure Salva Kiir to resign as soon as possible and surrender power to those who can protect and provide security to all people of South Sudan.

Call for an arms embargo on South Sudan

Your Excellency,

Dear Ambassador, the continuous free flow of weapons and lethal military equipment to South Sudan, then into the hands of tribal warlords is very worrisome and one of the factors that make peace efforts more complicated thus, I urge your leadership to determinedly push for an arms embargo on South Sudan to save the lives of the remnants of the war. The definition of an arms embargo reflects the status of South Sudan situation so, the scope and terms of arms embargo should be applied on South Sudan.

‘‘The arms embargo, established by paragraph 2 of Security Council resolution 1390 (2002) and reiterated in subsequent resolutions, including paragraph 1 (c) of resolution 2161 (2014), obliges Member States to: Prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer, to the individuals, groups, undertakings and entities from their territories or by their nationals outside their territories, or using their flag vessels or aircraft, of arms and related materiel of all types including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts for the aforementioned and technical advice, assistance, or training related to military activities''. Retrieved from:https://www.un.org/sc/suborg/sites/www.un.org.sc.suborg/files/eot_arms_embargo_english.pdf

Your Excellency,

I believe the imposition of an arms embargo over South Sudan will not only stop the war but will, however, increase life expectancy among South Sudanese people. It is notable that people in my country died before they could be shot dead by the armed men widely known as ‘‘unknown gunmen in South Sudan'' because they always live in fear, panic, and deep depression knowing the presence of lethal military materials in the hands of tribal warlords.

Finally, thank you for your attention!

The author can be reached at gatdietpeter86@outlook.com

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May 3, 2018 (KAMPALA) - Members of South Sudan's armed opposition (SPLM-IO) on Thursday held a meeting with Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni in Kampala.

Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni speaks at the national dialogue launch in South Sudan, May 22, 2017 (PPU photo)

The deputy chairman of the SPLM-IO, Henry Odwar, who has been leading the SPLM-IO peace talks group in Ethiopia, led the team that met Museveni.

Angelina Teny, who is part of the group, praised Museveni for warm reception during the Kampala meeting.

“He received us well and we really appreciate his interest to have a stable South Sudan. I don't want to go into details but we had a good meeting with the president,” she said.

In 2016, Museveni and the South Sudanese armed opposition leader, Riek Machar held a meeting to discuss peace in South Sudan, with the Machar assuring the Ugandan leader he was committed to a new chapter of peace.

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May 3, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Recent inter-communal clashes in Jebel Marra area have displaced some 11, 500 civilians, said a UN humanitarian agency in a news bulletin released on Thursday.

“At least 2,280 newly displaced households (about 11,500 people) arrived in Rokero town and nearby Jemeza village after 18 April, following fighting between armed nomads and sedentary farmer tribes,” said the UNOCHA.

According to the monthly humanitarian news bulletin, the local authorities and IDP leaders said that many homes had been burnt, and other villagers have been displaced into the mountains.

The joint assessment team that visited the affected area said the IDPs are in need of emergency shelter, non-food items, food and access to water and sanitation services.

UN chief in a recent report to the Security Council indicates the decrease of IDPs displacement in Darfur region as a result of the improving security situation but pointed that tribal fighting remains a challenge.

Recently, Sudan Liberation Movement – Abdel Wahid (SLM-AW) and SLM Transitional Council spoke about new waves of displacement in the mountainous area of Jebel Marra triggered by armed clashes with the government forces.

Despite the reduction of its forces deployed in Darfur, the hybrid peacekeeping has established a new site in Rokero to protect civilians and displaced persons due to relative insecurity in Jebel Marra.

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May 3, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir has called to speed up the demarcation of the Sudanese-Ethiopian borders in order to preserve rights of both countries and avoid future disputes.

Ethiopian and Sudanese farmers from two sides of the border dispute the ownership of land in Al-Fashaga area located in the southeastern part of Sudan's eastern state of Gedaref.

In the past years, Sudanese authorities accused Ethiopia of controlling more than a million acres of Sudanese agricultural land in the area of Al-Fashaga, saying the area has been completely isolated from Sudan.

Al-Fashaga covers an area of about 250 square kilometres and it has about 600.000 acres of fertile lands. Also, there are river systems flowing across the area including Atbara, Setait and Baslam rivers.

On Wednesday evening, al-Bashir and the visiting Ethiopian premier Abiy Ahmed Ali chaired a joint meeting between the two countries at the Presidential Palace in Khartoum.

During the meeting, the Sudanese president pointed to the importance of the joint tripartite committee between the two countries including ministers of defence and interior and directors of intelligence.

He said the committee would remove all security barriers and proceed to form the joint border force between the two countries and speed up border demarcation on the ground.

“We thank Allah (God) that we have no differences on the maps and references [to draw the borders]” he said

On Tuesday, Sudan's Minister of Interior said there are no differences between his country and Ethiopia on the official and technical status of Al-Fashaga area, calling on the Sudanese to settle on the borderline to resolve the issue.

For his part, the Ethiopian premier stressed his country's keenness to promote the strategic partnership with Sudan in order to achieve joint cooperation in all fields.

He pointed to the need to remove all obstacles on the border in order to share the common benefits, saying “both countries have a common destiny and there are great challenges that we must overcome”.

Ali further said Sudan and Ethiopia could play an important role in achieving peace and security in the Horn of Africa, pointing they would enhance border cooperation on all levels to resolve the conflict in South Sudan.

Ethiopia and Sudan are engaged more and more in joint security, military and economic cooperation.

In April 2017, the two sides signed a number of joint agreements to promote economic relations and strengthen ties between the two countries.

Also in February, they signed multiple agreements to further boost up cooperation on a range of development activities.

In March 2012, al-Bashir announced his support to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), saying his government understands the mutual benefits the project could offer Ethiopia and Sudan.

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May 3, 2018 (NYALA) - A civilian was killed and two others were injured following an attack by gunmen targeting returnees to the village of Abu Jabra south of Nyala, capital of South Darfur state.

A local leader told Sudan Tribune on Thursday that gunmen attacked the returnees late on Wednesday and shot them on the grounds that the area belongs to the Falata tribe while the returnees are from the Mahadi tribe.

Last April, a group of armed men attacked a voluntary return village in Katila, southwest of Nyala, killing and wounding six returnees, including Native Administration leaders.

The returnees complained from the lack of security and call for drastic measures against the gunmen.

Such attacks force the returnees to renounce their plans and regain displacement camps but the authorities seek to encourage them to stay. Local police tasked with their protection say they do what they can but point to the lack of means.

South Darfur, despite the sporadic violence, is witnessing a large voluntary return operation of the civilians displaced who left their areas of origin 15 years ago after the improvement of the security situation.

The state of South Darfur is witnessing a large voluntary return movement of displaced persons to their villages of origin for agriculture, especially after the relative stability of the security situation in Darfur.

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May 3, 2018 (JUBA) – Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has urged the different factions of South Sudan's governing party (SPLM) to unite as one entity in order to resolve their conflicts.

Presidents Yoweri Museveni (L) and Salva Kiir at South Sudan's ruling party meeting in Juba, May 3, 2018 (Courtesy photo)

Museveni made these remarks while addressing the National Liberation Council (NLC) meeting of the SPLM in the capital, Juba Thursday.

"Force is like surgery. It should be the last resort to removing a tumour. If you use the knife to cut anyhow, you cease to be a surgeon, you become a butcher,” said Museveni.

He added, “Revolutionaries should know that violence is only for enemies. What enmity is there among the people of South Sudan?"

Museveni, one of the leaders involved in South Sudan's peace process, was the only head of state who attended the NLC event.

The acting secretary general of the SPLM, Jemma Nunu Kumba said it remains the moral obligation of party members to end the suffering of the people of South Sudan by uniting as a means to end the war.

“We have no time to remain bitter and no time to dwell in the past, because the future is more important than the past, and because the hopes of our people depends on us,” Kumba told the meeting.

“It is high time we rise above our past and above our differences to deliver a peaceful environment in which our noble people will live and take care of their own aspirations,” she added.

The senior SPLM official, however, acknowledged the role regional leaders have played in the SPLM re-unification process since 2015,

In January 2015, delegates from three factions of the SPLM party signed a 12-page agreement in Arusha, Tanzania, laying out key steps toward reunifying the party.

The faction loyal to President Salva Kiir, the SPLM-in-Opposition led by former First Vice President, Riek Machar, and a third made up of party officials detained when the conflict began in December 2013, signed the accord.

The SPLM was initially founded as the political wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The party, in the aftermath of the civil war that broke out in the country in mid-December 2013, split into the SPLM-Juba faction headed by Kiir, SPLM-IO led by Machar and that of the former political detainees.

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United Nations agencies have urged greater international support to stave off severe food insecurity in Africa’s western Sahel; a region reeling from the effects of conflict and now threatened by drought and rising hunger.

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May 2, 2018 (JUBA) - South Sudan President Salva Kiir has appointed General Gabriel Jok Riak as the country's new army chief of staff.

General Gabriel Jok Riak (Getty Image)

Riak, according a decree issued on Wednesday, succeeds General James Ajongo Mawut who died last month.

The order of appointment came into effect in a decree Kiir issued on 2 May.

Riak, who hails from South Sudan's Jonglei state, briefly served as the acting army chief of staff after the position recently became vacant.

A former deputy army chief of staff, Riak also served as sector commander in Bahr el Ghazal region before moving to the general headquarters for top level assignment at command leadership.

In July 2015, the United Nations Security Council imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Riak, among other senior military officers. The move came after the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated for sanctions Riak, who was then commander of Sector One of the South Sudanese military.

The president, despite the sanctions, promoted Riak to the deputy chief of defence forces in December last year.

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May 3, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - President Omer al-Bashir decided to close 13 diplomatic mission in the world after the government's failure to pay the salaries of its diplomats for more than seven months.

In a presidential decree released late on Wednesday night, al-Bashir directed to shut down 13 embassies et four consulates.

He also ordered to have only one diplomat with the rank of ambassador in each embassy except in four embassies.

The presidential decree further has provided the closure of all economic and commercial attachés offices or sections except for Abu Dhabi office which is preparing Sudan's participation in the Expo 2020.

Finally, the president ordered to close press and media attachés sections in the Sudanese diplomatic missions with exception of three countries.

The shutdown of diplomatic missions is motivated by the need to reduce the huge economic cost generated by the expansion of diplomatic presence in Asia, and Africa within the government efforts to break international and regional isolation.

Last month President al-Bashir relieved his successful foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour because he publicly disclosed that Sudanese diplomats didn't receive their salaries for seven months.

Since, the government started to pay the diplomats but still, it gave an idea of the financial crisis the government is facing.

The reduction of embassies is expected to be followed by the appointment of a new foreign minister ending the ongoing speculations in Khartoum.

In a speech delivered before the annual conference of Sudanese ambassadors on the first of March 2018, al-Bashir said the foreign policy would be defined by the National Council for Foreign Policy (NCFP) which he chairs.

At the time, observers underlined that Bashir spoke about “presidential diplomacy” to lead Sudan foreign policy, pointing to the power struggle between the foreign ministry and the presidency particularly a presidential aide tasked with relations with countries that have important economic investments in Sudan.

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May 2, 2018 (YAMBIO) - The Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) is adding a new surgical unit and a blood bank to a hospital in South Sudan, a country with one of the highest maternal mortality rates.

Bishop Edward Kussala of Tombura-Yambio lays the ceremonial cornerstone at the new facilities of St. Theresa Hospital in Nzara, South Sudan, April 7, 2018 (Photo: Matthew Jones/CMMB)

“We look to build the capacity of the hospital to make sure they are well equipped and well-staffed and well trained to the meet the needs of pregnant mothers and children coming in for services,” CMMB's Director of Partnerships, Robert Wuillamey, told CNA.

“One of the initiatives we are undertaking is building and equipping the hospital with an operating theater. Currently, the hospital does not have the capacity to do even simple surgeries in a clean and an efficient way,” he added.

St. Theresa Hospital, which is located in Nzara, fewer than 20 miles northwest of Yambio, is currently managed by the Comboni Missionary Sisters and owned by the Diocese of Tombura-Yambio.

The facility, specializing in maternal health also serves some 300,000 people in southwestern South Sudan as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR).

The hospital will reportedly receive not only a surgical operating theater, but a maternity ward as well. The facility will also implant a blood donation program for patients with malaria and anemia.

Last year, the hospital reportedly received between 21,000 and 28,000 out patients' attendances and 7,000 admissions, but the number is expected to rise as the new facilities become operational.

At 789 deaths per 100,000 live births, war-torn South Sudan reportedly has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world and yet most of the causes of these maternal deaths are preventable, particularly when women receive recommended antenatal care.

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