Africa

One genuine UN peacekeeper is dead and many French soldiers are wounded after the attack.

The Nigerian government insists it is still in discussions to release the missing 112 schoolgirls.

By Stephen Par Kuol

Those who could not have read the minds of Kiir's fascist regime for years can now read its own lips confessing war crimes and financial corruption. Ateny Wek Ateny has been well known for his pompous blusters to defend the excesses of Kiir's J1, but this time around, the mouthpiece of the palace cabal has spontaneously spewed out that his government looted the public coffers of South Sudan to scrap the Agreement on Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS), reintroduced violence and plunged the country back to the ongoing civil war in July 2016. In legal term, this tall tale of criminal confession indicts the regime for the following serious crimes: a) embezzling public funds to commit crime of military vandalism using the state warplanes to destroy state properties b) attempted murder against the First Vice President of the Republic, C) war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

In Accordance with the Rules of Evidence in the academic textbooks, the claim that the Chief of General Staff obtained 5 million US Dollar for operation code named: “The Last Rain to Kill Riek Machar” without the consent of the Commander in Chief, Salva Kiir Mayardit is not admissible in any court of law. It is one thing to blame him for mismanaging the funds or diverting the funds to his private account, but it is another thing blaming him for failing to accomplish the criminal mission for which the funds were earmarked. Either way, it is a double offence (crime of treason and financial corruption). For the worst part, the self-incriminating confession that General Malong was fired because of the financial corruption and the atrocities he committed during the ongoing war without being prosecuted by the regime for both crimes of war and corruption only proves it beyond a reasonable doubt that the Chief of General Staff operating under the direct command of the Commander In Chief did what he did implementing Kiir's fascist and genocidal policy he is still pursuing even long after General Malong left Bilpham.

Evidently, Malong was not dismissed for embezzling $5 million and failed to kill Riek Machar in that hot pursuit up to the Democratic Republic of Congo. What I can take with salt and pepper is the obvious fact that the cocoon cracked because Kiir did what he does best: (manufacturing coups). Like Dr Majaak Agot , Cde Pagan Amum, and Dr Riek Machar before him, General Malong is just a victim of another Kiir's fabricated coup. It has to be recalled that Salva Kiir has always contended with plots, real and perceived, to create crisis since his bush heydays as the movement's Chief Security. That was how he eliminated the best cadres of the SPLM/A and dismantled the founding leadership of the movement by nocking their heads with Dr John Garang, one by one until he was left alone with Dr John and then turned against him in 2004.

As for the amount of public funds embezzled, the public just needs to be informed better that this $5 million USD for the head of Dr Riek Machar is not actually plethora by J1 extravagant standards. Those are just pocket changes of the mafia lords who have converted the Presidential Palace into another branch of Central Bank opened only at night for bloody and kleptomaniac businesses. It is an open secret in South Sudan that the regime has lagged behind in paying salaries of civil servants for years simply because the bulk of our national budget funded with petro-dollars goes to Kiir's war machine and his fat bank accounts abroad. The rest goes into the pockets of his hoodlums to guard the throne. This has been verified and confirmed by credible international financial intelligence. That is why the United States Government has imposed sanctions on the financial institutions and the private businesses of the regime's top lords of the graft including the President himself.

Minister Michael Makuei Lueth has publicly questioned General Malong's moral authority to speak about corruption and I agree with him, but the common questions being asked in the streets and bushes of South Sudan are: who can really speak with moral authority on issues pertaining to corruption in the regime whose palace has been scandalized by domestic thefts and embezzlement of stolen money for years? What is it that is morally left of the regime that rewards criminal convicts with high posts in the economic ministries of the national government? From Dura Saga to the list of 75 thieves, the two incidents of theft in the Presidential Save and this $5 million for the head of the First Vice President, are the people of South Sudan that fool to miss the point that the rampant corruption is led by none other than the President himself?

Compatriots, the cat has veered out of the bag!! The rest is history. Defending the indefensible will only make you the ugly face of the graft and the ongoing war of shame to keep Kiir in J1 to do nothing but killing the people and looting their resources. In any case, this tale of criminal confession has just given the people of South Sudan another ammunition to call for speedy regime change. Salva Kiir and his cronies have totally lost moral authority to speak on anything pertaining to corruption, peace and the nation building. They should just pack the loots and leave the people of South Sudan alone to fix the system and the social fabric of the society they have broken.

The author is a South Sudanese freelance writer currently passing through Khartoum. via kuolpar@yahoo.com

The controversial South African anti-apartheid campaigner is given a high-level send-off.

Senegal coach Aliou Cisse is not ruling out the possibility of bringing striker Demba Ba back into his final plans for the 2018 World Cup.

Tunisian forward Lassad Nouioui is taken to hospital after collapsing on the pitch during a training session with his Spanish club Toledo on Saturday.

Sonwabile Ndamase tells the BBC how the late anti-apartheid campaigner’s life influenced her fashion.

April 13, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The human rights group Amnesty International said Eritrean and Sudanese refugees are at risk once they are deported to Uganda pointing that they do not receive papers, and remain without legal protection.

Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa protested in Tel Aviv in January, calling for changes to Israel's policies on asylum seekers (Photo: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Since 2013, Rwanda and Uganda have received some 4,000 migrants who had been in Israel which denounced a recent agreement with the UNHCR to keep some of them under pressure of far-right parties.

Amnesty's release came after statements in Kampala about an Israeli request to take 500 Eritrean and Sudanese after the cancellation of a deal with the Un refugee agency.

"Amnesty International has collected new testimonies from ten Eritrean and Sudanese asylum-seekers deported from Israel to Uganda between February 2017 and January 2018. Seven of them are still in Uganda, while the remaining three have left for other countries in Africa," said the two-page statement.

The right group further said all of them were escorted at their arrival by "Ugandan individuals" "via back passages, circumventing immigration and customs checks". following what they "took the Israeli issued travel papers from the asylum seekers, leaving them with no visa or other documents to show regular entry into the country".

Between 2015 -2018, Israel deported 1,749 Eritrean and Sudanese to Uganda, including 128 people in January-March 2018. The Sudanese are generally from Darfur region.

The statement called on the Israeli government to halt the deportation of asylum-seekers, stressing it violates the principle of non-refoulement in the international law.

"This is the prohibition against transferring anyone to a place where they would be at real risk of persecution and other serious human rights violations, or where they would not be protected against such a transfer later".

It further said the government of Uganda must immediately cease any co-operation with the Israeli government to carry out illegal deportations.

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April 13, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's inflation rate has risen to 55,6% in March compared to 54,34% in February, reported the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBoS)

In January, the director of the Troubled Currencies Programme at Johns Hopkins University Steve Hanke said Sudan's inflation has skyrocketed to a record high of 122% pointing the East African country “now has the second highest inflation rate in the world after Venezuela”.

The government seeks to achieve an average inflation rate of 19,5% by the end of the 2018 fiscal year compared to 34,1% in 2017.

Earlier this year, the Sudanese pound plummeted to record lows on the black market. The U.S. dollar was sold for a high 42 pounds in early February.

However, the government introduced a number of measures to curb the rise in the dollar price including limiting cash withdrawal from banks to absorb liquidity, cracking down on black market Forex traders and restricting imports.

The government measures managed to pull back the dollar price to 34,00 pounds however economists expect a new rise in its price once these restrictions were lifted.

The most recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report indicated that Sudan's gross international reserves remained very low in 2017 ($1.1 billion, 1¾ months of imports).

Following the promulgation of the 2018 budget which included a number of austerity measures, peaceful protests erupted in a number of Sudanese states leading to the killing of a high school student in West Darfur State and detention of dozens of opposition activists across the country.

Prices and services have soared in Sudan since South Sudan seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of the country's oil output, the main source of foreign currency used to support the Sudanese pound.

Ordinary citizens continue to complain from cost of living increases that impaired their access to basic commodities.

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April 13, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The United Nations Security Council has extended for 10 days the support of its mission in the disputed Abyei area to Sudan and South Sudan Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism.

In May 2017, the Council pointed to the persistent delay to operationalise the buffer zone decided to end United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA)'s support to the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism within six months unless the two countries activate the border monitoring mechanism.

Since the two countries under regional and international pressures finally redeployed their forces out of the disputed areas and activated the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone and marked five crossing points.

However, the Governor of Upper Nile State on 23 March prevented the marking of the southern limit of Kosti Renk corridor, according to a UN report seen by Sudan Tribune.

Considering that the (UNISFA) has provided the needed support to the two government efforts to normalize relations in the contested border region in line with the 2012 Cooperation Agreement the Security Council unanimously decided to extend this support for ten days to complete the remaining matters.

The resolution 2411 (2018) recognized that “the current situation in Abyei and along the border between Sudan and South Sudan continues to constitute a serious threat to international peace and security"

The Joint Political and Security Mechanism is expected to hold an extraordinary meeting before the end of this month.

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April 13, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has named its heads of offices in the disputed Abyei area saying the move comes in preparations for the 2020 general elections.

In statements released in Khartoum, the NCP political secretary for Abyei Scholl Muwin Paul said the naming of the party officials would help to achieve social peace and stability in the area.

According to Paul, the NCP has named Salouma Yahia as deputy chairman of the party while Hafiz Abo Maki was appointed as NCP head for central Abyei and Hamdein Adam Youssef as chairman for northern Abyei.

On the other hand, Mohamed Muhana, Hassan Mileik and John Zakaria have been named as NCP heads for western, eastern and southern Abyei respectively.

Paul further said his party would conduct administrative and organizational tours across Abyei during the next few days, pointing out that the naming of the party heads aims to activate the political work and prepare for the upcoming elections.

Ownership of Abyei, a border region disputed by Sudan and South Sudan, remained contentious after the world's youngest nation split from Sudan in 2011.

There is no joint administration between Sudan and South Sudan, as the Ngok Dinka refuse the formation of Abyei Area Administration and the Legislative Council. Instead, they call to hold a referendum without the Sudanese pastoralist Misseriya.

Now there are two committees one for the Misseriya appointed by the Sudanese government and another for the Ngok Dinka appointed by Juba government.

On 27 June 2011, the Security Council, by its resolution 1990, responded to the urgent situation in Abyei by establishing the UNISFA.

UNISFA's establishment came after Sudan's government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) reached an agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to demilitarise Abyei and let Ethiopian troops monitor the area.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) provides that the contested territory remains part of the north until the organisation of a referendum determines its fate.

The difference over who will participate in the referendum prevents the two countries from holding the agreed referendum.

However, the Dinka Ngok organised a unilateral referendum from 27to 29 October 2013 to say they want to join the Republic of South Sudan.

Khartoum, Juba, the African Union and the international community refused to recognise the outcome of the vote.

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April 13, 2018 (JUBA) - Former South Sudan's army chief of staff and leader of the newly formed South Sudan United Front (SS-UF) Friday said he is preparing to form a new leadership structure after completing mass consultations.

Gen Paul Malong Awan told Sudan Tribune that he has not formed the SS-UF leadership structure, dispelling initial reports he assembled his team in preparation for joining the IGAD brokered peace revitalization forum.

The former strong ally of president Salva Kiir turned rebel commander denied media reports alleging he appointed former Fangak governor James Kok Ruei as his deputy while former ambassador to Russia federation, Telar Ring Deng as the movement's secretary for external relations.

Also, it was reported that the former deputy information minister Akol Paul Kordit was made secretary for political affairs but he denied any involvement with the new movement, saying the reports were false.

Other officials named include Dut Yai Anyar as the chief intelligence, Akok Malek as the financial affairs officer while Awan's wife Lucy Ayak Malek allegedly named as the deputy secretary for external relations.

Ayak also denied the appointment, saying it was a ploy by the government to target some of those claimed to have switched their allegiance from government and joined Awan's rebel movement.

Paul Malong was relieved from his position in May 2017, since them ha remained confined in Juba. But in November of last year, he was authorized to travel to Nairobi for medical reasons.

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Meeting residents of the world’s largest camp for Somali refugees ­– sprawling Dadaab, located in north-eastern Kenya ­­– the top United Nations official for Somalia expressed his solidarity with their situation and highlighted the gradual progress made in their home country.

South Africans reflect on what the late anti-apartheid campaigner meant to them as she is laid to rest.

“‘Mama Winnie’ – as she was affectionately known – was a towering figure in the struggle against apartheid,” said  Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday, during a tribute held at United Nations Headquarters in honour of the late Winfred ‘Winnie’ Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela.

Egypt's Baladi dogs are often looked down upon as strays, but things are changing.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday urged the world to reflect on the suffering of those who perished, as well as survived, the Rwandan genocide, and resolve to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.

Conservationist Daphne Sheldrick - famous for rearing orphaned baby elephants - dies of cancer.

The first-ever international conference to help the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) opened at the United Nations Office at Geneva on Friday amid dire warnings of a growing humanitarian crisis in the vast African country.

At least 1,000 children have been abducted by the Boko Haram insurgent group in northeastern Nigeria since 2013 amid repeated attacks on schools, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Friday, calling for an end to such violence and the release of those who have yet to be returned.