Africa

We look at some of the options for Zimbabwe, its president, and his wife after the military takeover

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

The shortlist for the 2017 BBC African Footballer of the Year is a blend of youth and experience, but who might follow in their footsteps in future years?

The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) &#8211 a pool of funding which supports critical relief operations in crises around the world &#8211 has allocated $11 million to help meet the life-saving needs of some 147,000 people in southern Chad, where aid operations are faltering in want of resources.

Reality Check looks at the fake news shared online after the military takeover in Zimbabwe.

The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga finds abandoned hospitals and desperate patients in Uganda.

World leaders Robert Mugabe has seen come and go since he began his presidency 30 years ago.

The political process for a successful post-conflict transition in Libya has made significant headway over the past two months, the United Nations envoy for the North African country said Thursday.

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Zimbabwe's first lady, or "Gucci Grace" to some, was tipped to be the country's next president.

University founder in Ghana wins major international education award.

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Ghanaian journalist Elizabeth Ohene looks at how parenting styles in Ghana compares to those in the US.

Tanzanian women travel to Oman to become maids and get trapped with abusive employers.

November 13, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Technical Committee for Border Demarcation (TCBD) has said the Joint Border Commission (JBC) between Sudan and South Sudan would meet next week in Khartoum.

Sudanese military personnel inspect the belongings of South Sudanese on the Sudanese border on 18 April 2014 (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

The semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) has quoted the TCBD chairman and Co-chair of the JBC Abdalla al-Sadiq as saying the meeting will discuss ways to accelerate border demarcation process between the two countries.

He pointed out that the JBC has made great progress in its work during the previous meetings, saying 80% of the 2,400 kilometres borders between the two countries have been marked on paper.

According to al-Sadiq, the next meeting of the committee will be held in Juba at the end of December.

Claimed and disputed areas of the Sudan and South Sudan border include Abyei, 14-Mile area, Joudat Al-Fakhar, Jebel al-Migainais, Kaka, and Kafia Kingi enclave (Hofrat al-Nahas).

Since South Sudan's independence, the agreed border between the two countries is not yet demarcated (marked on the ground). Also, talks between the two sides continue to delimit the remaining 20% disputed boundary.

In September 2012, both Sudan and South Sudan signed a series of cooperation agreements, which covered oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking, border trade among others.

In March 2013, the two countries signed an implementation matrix for these cooperation agreements. However, the execution of the agreements didn't go according to the plan.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan on July 9th, 2011 following a referendum on whether the semi-autonomous region should remain a part of the country or become independent. 99% of the southern voters chose independence.

Relations between the two nations soured after South Sudan's independence following a series of disputes over a number of issues.

(ST)

November 13, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Finance Minister Mohamed Osman al-Rikabi Monday has denied intentions to float the exchange rate of the Sudanese pound.

A Sudanese man shows freshly-minted notes of the new Sudanese pound in Khartoum on July 24, 2011 (Getty)

A floating exchange rate is a regime where the currency price is set by the forex market based on supply and demand compared with other currencies.

This is in contrast to a fixed exchange rate, in which the government entirely or predominantly determines the rate.

In November 2016, the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) introduced an incentive policy, increasing the exchange rate in commercial banks by 131%. As a result, the U.S. dollar exchange rate went up in banks to 15.8 SDG from the official rate of 6.5 SDG.

However, this measure didn't halt the rise of the dollar against the pound which has reached 24.7 SDG in the black market.

Several economists, including former Finance Minister Abdel-Rahim Hamdi, have recently called on the government to give up the system of managed floating exchange rate and allow the market mechanisms to set the price of the pound.

They say the move would allow drawing foreign capital back to the country, improving Sudan's external competitiveness, supporting exports and attracting foreign investment.

In press statements at the National Assembly Monday, al-Rikabi said the government has no intention to float the price of the Sudanese pound, describing any reports in this regard as mere “rumours”.

He pointed out that his ministry would take a number of measures to strengthen the price of the pound, stressing the value of the pound would stabilize in the few coming days.

The Sudanese pound has lost more than 100% of its value since South Sudan's secession in 2011, pushing inflation rates to record levels given that the East African nation imports most of its food.

The most recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report indicated that Sudan's foreign reserves cover approximately one and a half months of imports.

November 13, 2017 (JUBA) - Elders and church leaders involved in the negotiations to break the standoff that existed between the government and former military chief of staff, General Paul Malong Awan have praised the decision President Salva Kiir took to allow the former travel out of the country for medical reasons.

Former South Sudanese army chief Gen. Paul Malong Awan speaking at a Dinka Malual community meeting in Juba on 1 November, 2012 (ST)

The head of the elders described the decision as an exhibition of leadership.

“This is a very important step to end tension and renewing confidence between of the president of the republic, the command of the army and the general public. It is an exhibition of leadership. It shows what our leaders are capable of doing. The way it has been managed shows that our leaders can amicably resolve issues like this without external intervention”, Deng Macham Angui told Sudan Tribune Monday.

According to the official, withdrawal of the government troops initially stationed around the residence of the ex-army chief and resumption of movement signalled the return to normalcy in the life and tranquillity of the compound.

Brig. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang, South Sudan army spokesperson said the decision follows the “peaceful” resolution of misunderstandings between government and Awan.

“Armoured Personnel Carriers and security forces initially deployed around the residence of Gen Paul Malong have been withdrawn,” said Koang.

“[The] Withdrawal came about after Gen. Paul accepted the presidential order on a reduction of his bodyguards”, he added.

Awan, a former elected governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, lost his position of army chief in May, and his movement had to be restricted.

The army spokesperson, however, said the decision to withdraw security forces from the ex-military chief's home came after a security review reportedly showed the latter posed no security threats to the government in particular and citizens in general.

The spokesperson for the presidency, Ateny Wek Ateny said the president's decision to free the former military chief was made on “compassionate grounds and to allow the former chief of staff travel to seek medical attention”.

Last week, attempts by government forces to disarm the former army chief's bodyguards failed, prompting an uprising from some troops loyal to Awan. He warned of bloodshed should government disarm and arrest his guards.

(ST)

November 13, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni Monday have discussed bilateral relations, regional peace and security and the ongoing crisis in South Sudan.

Al-Bashir has arrived in Kampala on Sunday for a three-day visit on the invitation of President Museveni.

Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour told reporters following the meeting of al-Bashir and Museveni the two leaders discussed joint cooperation between the two countries, saying they agreed to organize an investment forum in Khartoum.

According to the official news agency SUNA, Ghandour added al-Bashir and Museveni underlined support for peace and security in the Great Lakes region.

He also said the two leaders agreed to support peace efforts in South Sudan according to the agreements mediated by the East African regional bloc (IGAD).

The Sudanese top diplomat pointed out that Museveni has congratulated al-Bashir on the lift of the U.S. economic embargo on Sudan, renewing his firm stance against the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Ghandour added the two leaders agreed on the need to exchange visits and continue meetings of the joint ministerial committee between the two countries.

Following ten years of strained relations, Museveni visited Khartoum in September 2015 where he and al-Bashir agreed to work together to bring stability in South Sudan and the region, and to end tensions between the two countries over the issue of rebel groups.

The Year 2016, witnessed a steady rapprochement between the two countries, accelerated, by the South Sudanese crisis and their joint efforts to end the three crisis in the neighbouring nation.

The visit of President Museveni to Khartoum in October 2016 to take part in the closing conference of the government-led national dialogue is seen as a turning point in the relationship between the two countries.

In September 2016, the Ugandan government facilitated informal talks between the Sudanese government and armed groups in Darfur and Sudan's Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas, in a bid to support the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) efforts to bring peace in the east African country.

CALLS TO ARREST AL-BASHIR

Rights groups on Monday urged Ugandan government to arrest the visiting president of Sudan, who has long been wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes .

"Inviting an international criminal suspect to Uganda not only undermines the fight against impunity which Uganda has for long championed but also betrays the concerns and interests of the victims of the most heinous crimes," six Ugandan rights watchdogs said in a joint statement.

"We, therefore, call upon the government of Uganda to fulfil its obligations under international and domestic laws by arresting and surrendering President Omer al-Bashir," further said the joint statement.

In May 2016, al-Bashir, who was indicted by ICC on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, was one of the dignitaries at Museveni's inauguration in Kampala.

Uganda is a state party to the Rome Statute and has an obligation to arrest the Sudanese president.

(ST)

November 12, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese activists have launched a campaign to end the suffering of thousands of people that are denied the Sudanese nationality after the independence of South Sudan particularly those whose mothers are Sudanese.

After South Sudan independence in 2011, Sudanese authorities withdrew the nationality of South Sudanese that are born in Sudan. Also, those who are from a South Sudanese father have been arbitrarily deprived of nationality.

Sudanese activists told Sudan Tribune that the stateless people are not allowed to go to schools, to buy a house, to get married, to get a job or to move inside the country or abroad.

There are now 300 court cases against the Sudanese government on deprivation of nationality, according to Ihsan Abdel Aziz, a Sudanese activist member of the "I'm Sudanese" Initiative which monitors the situation of stateless children from Sudanese mothers.

"This number is not true because there are much more, but the victims of the removal of citizenship (after the 2011 separation) avoid recourse to the judiciary fearing to be harassed by the authorities, especially most of them are working in the private sector in marginal jobs," Abdel Aziz told "Sudan Tribune.

The I'm Sudanese" campaign aims to give Sudanese citizenship to any person from a Sudanese mother and South Sudanese father without condition as it is provided in the nationality law. Also, the group calls to restitute the Sudanese nationality to those who have been denied the nationality after the 2011 secession.

The activists further say they want to prevent the risk of statelessness in Sudan, in line with the international human rights instruments.

Abdel Aziz said the government has appealed to the Supreme Court against the rule of some courts in favour of the stateless people after the South Sudan independence.

The campaigners point that despite the clear provisions of the law guaranteeing the right to acquire Sudanese nationality for the sons of a Sudanese female, the authorities refrain from delivering the ID cards to hundreds of children in the state of Khartoum and other states since the secession of South Sudan five years ago.

They are determined to end the suffering of a large number of families whose children have been deprived of their nationality and citizenship, as a result of which they are treated as foreigners who are required to pay school and university fees in dollars, as well as being deprived of free treatment and discrimination.

(ST)