Africa

Choco Togo - run by a group of young entrepreneurs - produces organic, locally made chocolate for the Togolese market.

May 11, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's First vice President and Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh announced Thursday the long time awaited National Consensus Government including 31 ministers and 44 secretaries of state.

However, the large coalition government led by the National Congress Party of President Omer al-Bashir witnessed few changes as two presidential aides left the government: Galal al-Dugair Youssef and Tijani al-Sisi.

Among the new faces in the national dialogue government include are given the ministries of interior, petroleum, finance and investment.

In parallel, President Omer al-Bashir issued a presidential decree reinstating in their positions Vice-President Hasabo Abdel Rahman, and four presidential assistants including Mohamed al-Hassan al-Mirghani, Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, Musa Mohamed Ahmed and Abdel Rahman Sadiq al-Mahdi.

The president also appointed 65 members of parliament representing the political groups that participate in the national dialogue. They will participate in the elaboration of a new constitution in line with the resolutions of the National Document endorsed during the political process.

In a press conference held at the Sudanese presidency, the Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh read the names of the government cabinet members, stressing they have been appointed in consultation between the President and the Prime Minister.

The presidential decree appointed Lt Gen. Hamid Manan Mohamed al-Mirghani, minister of interior, Lt Gen.Mohamed Osman al-Rikabi, minister of finance and economic planning, Abdel Rahman Osman Abdel Rahman minister of oil and Gas, Abu Bakr Hamed Abdel-Rahim minister of justice.

Mubarak al-Fadil, the leader of a National Umma Party (NUP) splinter faction, has been appointed the minister of investment, while the former presidential candidate of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Hatim Alsir Ali minister of trade.

The Popular Congress Party (PCP) has two ministers in the new government: Idris Suleiman Youssef minister of international cooperation and Musa Mohamed Ahmed Karama minister of industry.

The prime minister said that the number of new cabinet ministers remains the same as the previous government at 31 ministers. He pointed they increased the number of state ministers to 44 posts to accommodate all the participants in the dialogue process.

He stressed that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in the previous governments had 67% of ministers and 64% of state ministers, but now in the new cabinet, it gave up 12 portfolios "six ministers and 6 state ministers," while the DUP has given up a minister of state.

He said the formation of the new government was delayed due to the extensive consultations with the national dialogue forces, adding they received some 1500 nominees for the ministerial positions.

The government was expected to be announced last February.

Saleh explained that the military who is appointed minister of finance, Lt Gen.Mohamed Osman al-Rikabi, worked in this ministry before to join the army.

The majority of other ministers kept their portfolios, such as Ibrahim Ghandour of foreign affairs, Awad Ibn Ouf of defence, information minister Ahmed Balal, and Bahr Abu Garda of health.

The new cabinet is tasked with the implementation of the dialogue's recommendations and the adoption of a new constitution.

The holdout political opposition and armed groups refuse to join the process before to stop the war and create a conducive environment for an inclusive dialogue.

(ST)

May 11, 2017 (JUBA) – More than 20,000 South Sudanese citizens have absconded from Aburoc's Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp due to the constant fighting and dreadful living conditions around the IDP camps, the medical charity, MSF, said.

IDPs based in Aburoc take shelter under a tree. When people arrived from Kodok few had shelter (Anthony Jouannic/MSF)

The displaced citizens made their way to Sudan's already overcrowded refugee camps.

According to MSF, while others decided to stay in Aburoc in hopes they will receive clean water, food and shelter, an estimated 18,000 people headed to the north.

“The reasons why we are leaving are mainly security and the lack of food and water. We feel a bit better in Sudan because we are receiving support, and now I am with my family,” a refugee who journeyed to Sudan to the medical charity.

MSF said it decided on 11 May to keep providing care for those in Aburoc even when fighting in the nearby town of Kodok two weeks ago displaced more than 20,000.

The organisation's head of mission for South Sudan, Marcus Bachmann said that many people had taken their personal possessions with the aims of heading north.

“Most of the people we see around Aburoc have packed their few belongings and are waiting for space on a truck departing for the north. Nearly all of those leaving have been forced to abandon their homes and have moved places several times in the past,” said Bachmann, adding "While food has arrived in Aburoc's market from Sudan, the purity of water and inflation prices still pose a problem".

“Until very recently the population gathering around Aburoc were surviving on a maximum of 21,000 litres of water a day from three hand pumps. This is only 1.1 litres per person which is below the daily minimum amount needed for survival, 2.5 litres. The purity of the water is also a concern, as both humans and animals openly defecate in the areas around the water pumps," MSF said in a statement.

The statement further stated that the availability of water was low, along with the scarcity in sanitation supplies and shelter.

Humanitarian organisations have reportedly started deploying to the affected areas but poor weather conditions make it difficult to assist those who have been displaced.

MSF says it manages a hospital in Sudan's White Nile State, and when the emergency started, the medical organisation dispatched a team of 30 medical staff to Khor Waral to work in close collaboration with Sudanese authorities.

(ST)

May 11, 2017 (JUBA) - Leaders of the peaceful protests against the peace initiative headed by South Sudan First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai said they have been threatened with arrests by state authorities.

South Sudan first vice president Taban Deng Gai arrives in Bor May 9, 2017 (ST)

The Gai-led peace committee was established by President Salva Kiir last week to quell on-going clashes between Jieng Bor and the Murle tribes in the east of South Sudan's Jonglei State.

The clash was caused by the child abductions and cattle raiding that the Dinka have blamed their neighbours for over many years.

The meeting between the peace delegation, traditional chiefs and the state governor was interrupted on Tuesday and Wednesday by protestors chanting “we need our children back.''

The country's First Vice President, who is largely unpopular in Jonglei for being a top commander of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) rebels that overran Bor between December 2013 and January 2014, received cold reception on arrival.

“Who is Taban to people of Jonglei? Taban killed our old mothers in Jonglei church in 2013,” partly reads the protesters' letter.

The protesters also demanded they be compensated for the cattle that were stolen by the Murle tribesman, as well as justice for those killed during the numerous raids.

“Now the three of us, as ring leaders of the demonstration are being hunted. We are told some security agents wanted to arrest us for leading a peaceful, legal protest,” a protestor said.

The meeting between Gai and Bor leaders was attended by the information and broadcasting minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, but they failed to reach consensus after the chiefs insisted that the government provides a detailed timeline to address child abduction and cattle raiding.

“This is not the first peace initiative and we can't just ask our youths to return to Bor because Taban Deng Gai and his Minister came to promise peace. It is a nonstarter,” Alier Makuei, a local chief who attended the meeting held at South Sudan hotel said on Tuesday.

Many of the local chiefs, however, declined to attend the meeting held in Bor on Wednesday.

“I hear some members of the youth were protesting as we were discussing here, but we must end the conflict first so that people are given opportunities for development,” stressed Gai.

The South Sudanese First Vice-President further assured the citizens that the government would convince the rival Murle to cease hostilities against their neighbouring communities.

Authorities in Boma state, one of the country's newly created states, have denied claims that the abduction of children by Murle tribesmen was a policy, blaming the practice on criminals.

Heavy armed Bor youths entered Boma in early April for an offensive that led to the capturing of several villages in Murle-land and the displacement of many civilians. Boma officials said dozens of children and women were been killed during the clashes.

(ST)

May 11, 2017 (JUBA) - Deteriorating security in parts of South Sudan coupled with increased displacement could worsen the humanitarian suffering in the country through outbreaks of diseases, the United Nations special envoy for the young nation has warned.

The Special Representative of the U.N Secretary General in South Sudan David Shearer, February 1, 2017 (ST)

David Shearer said in the situation in South Sudan's Bor-Pibor area was particularly concerning with fears that violent clashes could occur between youths from the Dinka Bor and Murle communities.

“We are worried that might spark more widespread fighting between those two communities [and] hence the reason we are providing support to the peace efforts on the ground,” said Shearer.

“The important thing is that we de-escalate tensions and provide an opportunity to talk rather than to fight because fighting only will result in a greater cycle of revenge [that] will be of no benefit to [anyone],” he added.

The U.N mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) head expressed concerns on the violence in various parts of the country, including attacks on peacekeepers and relief personnel, which, he said, have severely affected operations of humanitarian workers in the war-torn nation.

“The attacks have a direct consequence on humanitarian activities and the assistance that can be provided to people who desperately need it,” he stressed.

Shearer, also the Special Representative of the Secretary-General praised the work of journalists and humanitarian actors on the ground who, despite considerable challenges, is reaching thousands across the country with much-needed assistance.

“I think we owe them a real debt of gratitude,” he emphasised.

South Sudan has witnessed renewed clashes between forces loyal to South Sudan President Salva Kiir and the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) backing the country's former First Vice-President Riek Machar, in spite of the August 2015 peace agreement.

Up to 50, 000 civilians in South Sudan's Upper Nile region are at imminent risk of human rights violations as government troops close in, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein recently warned.

(ST)

May 11, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir will take part in an Islamic-American summit attended by U.S. President Donald Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 20-21 May.

The rare summit, which gathers leaders of over 40 Islamic countries, will discuss the dangers of extremism and terrorism and ways to spread the values of tolerance and coexistence among peoples.

Senior diplomatic sources told Sudan Tribune on Thursday that Bashir would leave for Saudi Arabia two days ahead of the summit for bilateral consultations with Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz.

In statements to Alyoum Altali newspaper Thursday, President's Office Director Gen. Taha Osman said that al-Bashir received an official invitation from Saudi King Salman to participate in the summit,

King Salman invited the Kings of Jordan and Morocco, presidents of Algeria, Niger, Yemen, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq and Tunisia will participate in the summit. The six Gulf countries also will take be in Riyadh as they have a separate meeting with President Trump.

Saudi foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir said this summit will send a message to the world that the U.S. and the Arab and Islamic countries can form a partnership.

"We believe that it will strengthen cooperation between the United States and Arab and Islamic countries in the fight against terrorism and extremism, and the visit will have enormous benefits for the region and the world," he said according to the Saudi Press Agency.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

May 11, 2017 (ADDIS ABABA) - An Eritrean opposition group on Thursday accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of bombing ethnic Afar fishermen on Eritrean territorial waters in the Danakalia region this week.

The group, Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) alleged that at least one was killed and seven others were wounded during recent air strikes by the UAE planes taking off from the Eritrea's port city of Assab in the Danakalia region.

The group handed over Sudan Tribune list of names of victims.

"RSADO is strongly outraged by the series of deliberate deadly aerial attacks on a Red Sea Afar civilian fishing Boat inside Eritrean territorial water by UAE Forces stationed in Assab-Dankalia Region in Eritrea," the group said

According to RSADO officials, the air strike was carried out as the fishermen's boat was in its daily fishing routine which started its journey from Eddi town along the coastal area of Eritrean territorial Sea.

"This has been repeated again and again in the last few weeks"

"RSADO is gravely concerned about UAE's disproportionate airstrike against, already vulnerable, Afar civilians and civilian properties since UAE Military Forces stationed in the Assab Town of Dankalia Afar region"

UAE has reportedly leased Eritrea's port town of Assab for three decades at a cost of $ 500 million to scale up the coalition battle against Houthi militants in Yemen, allegations Asmera denied.

The UN monitoring group has also confirmed UAE's military presence in the Red sea nation.

The UAE Force has frequently targeted Afar civilians on suspicion that the fishermen are supplying goods, food items and other demands to the Houthi militants.

According to the group, this is a third time that UAE Forces have carried out Air strikes against Afar civilians that have so far allegedly killed dozens of innocent civilians and destroyed their economic sources.

"RSADO strongly and unequivocally condemns these crimes against humanity and violations of human rights allegedly committed by UAE Forces stationed in Assab that have indiscriminately killed Afar civilians both in their homeland and elsewhere"

RSADO said the presence of the UAE Military in Eritrea has caused the Afars untold suffering economically, socially and environmentally.

"People have no freedom of movement to make a living. Thousands of Afar civilians have systematically disappeared, kidnapped and imprisoned and their properties and businesses confiscated by the repressive Eritrean regime"

"They are now living under unprecedented economic and social hardship, political and social injustice and gross human rights violations imposed on them by the regime"

The ethnic minority Red Sea Afars say they are the victim of human rights abuses and politically motivated persecution by the regime in Asmera as well as by the Foreign States and Multinational foreign Corporations.

"There is prima facie evidence of serious violations that count up to crimes against humanity having been – and still being – committed by the Eritrean regime. These crimes are already documented by the UN," the group further said.

RSADO urged UAE Forces stationed in Assab- Dankalia (Afar Region) in Eritrea to end their airstrikes against Afar civilians.

The Ethiopia-based opposition group urged the UAE government to bring those responsible for the deaths of innocent civilians to justice and compensate the victims and to apologise for its wrongdoing.

RSADO further called on the UN, US, UK, EU, Arab league and international rights groups to pressure the UAE and Arab coalition, in general, to end such "unlawful" airstrikes against Afar civilians.

The armed opposition group further warned that it will take all possible actions and measures to halt such crimes and to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the Red Sea Afar People in Dankalia Region of Eritrea.

(ST)

May 11, 2017 (JUBA) – South Sudan's President Salva Kiir said he was tired of the numerous and never-ending reports about Paul Malong, pointing out that his decision to have him removed was to avoid “scapegoat for inefficiencies”.

“I was tired of receiving reports about Malong almost every hour of people telling me things I knew he was not doing. This was becoming a routine talk and it was like I was not listening to the, so I decided to make changes which I informed Malong about, so he should not be surprised when the time comes,” President Kiir told members of the Dinka council of elders who paid him a courtesy call on Wednesday evening.

The President went on to tell the elders that his reasons for the change were to see what those who had been making the reports and claims would do next.

"I made the changes because I wanted to see what the people coming with reports about him will have to say again. I did this because I don't want him to be a scapegoat for the inefficiencies of those who use to come to me,” added the President.

According to a prominent figure who attended the meeting, President Kiir called Malong to assure him of safety, protection and requested him to play a positive role in finding lasting solutions towards the realisation of peace and stability South Sudan.

“I know Malong and he knows me and this was why I hesitant after receiving numerous reports about him, so I let him return. He will come and stay in his house under the protection of his own guards, people he wants to provide him protection. If that will not be sufficient, I will personally ensure his safety, even if it means him staying with me. So I have spoken to him and he has agreed to come,” said Kiir.

Speaking from Yirol town, Eastern Lakes State on Wednesday, Malong said he had no intention to foment a rebellion against President Kiir.

He further said he wanted to rest in his home region of Bahr El Ghazal.

“If I want to have a problem, that problem should be in Juba. I cannot leave Juba and go and do it somewhere because Juba is where I was working,” Malong told Radio Miraya in Rumbek.

(ST)

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

Deteriorating security in parts of South Sudan coupled with increased displacement could worsen the humanitarian suffering in the country through outbreaks of diseases such as diarrhoea and even cholera, the United Nations envoy for the country has warned.

Support and training pledged for army and police in fight against al-Shabab militants.

Against the backdrop of a continuingly complex humanitarian scenario in the Central African Republic (CAR) – marked by multiplication of hotspots, increased displacement and growing needs – the head of United Nations humanitarian operations in the country today released $9 million for the most urgent and critical relief operations.

Opening a major conference on Somalia, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today urged the international community to support security efforts in the country battling Al-Shabaab and aid the more than six million Somalis affected by the violence and a deadly drought.

Investigators in Poland say organised crime may be linked to woman's hospital plunge.

The head of the Chibok's Parents Association says the girls suffered hardship while in captivity.

Two big cats including the African lion are most at risk from extinction due to loss of prey, say scientists.

Zimbabwe's president, 93, has often been seen apparently sleeping during recent meetings.

Ghanaian judge Anin Yeboah is elected as the chairman of Fifa's Disciplinary Committee at world football governing body's congress.

Zambian club Zesco United are aiming for success in the Confederation Cup after reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.

The African Champions League begins a new era this weekend with an expanded group stage featuring 16 teams.