Africa

Goat farming in Zambia is set to grow in importance with huge demand from Saudi Arabia.

A Somali town tries limits the cost of weddings, saying married young men are less likely to migrate.

Learn about the hosts Gabon, the players to watch and the potential winners ahead of the start of the Nations Cup on Saturday.

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

January 13, 2017 (JUBA) - The Governor of Latjor state in South Sudan has appointed nine county commissioners after a series of consultations.

The map of Upper Nile state

Peter Lam Both, according to the January 11 2017 order, named John Jock Thoar as the new Nasir county commissioner with Nasir town as its administrative headquarters.

Moses Ruon Wech was appointed as the new Ulang county commissioner, Paul Biel Chuol as Maiwut county commissioner at Maiwut, Dok Tuach Bithou as Longechuk county commissioner with Mathiang as its administrative headquarter.

Gatkuoth Biem Nyoak as Thior County commissioner at Yomding, John Wiyual Rutkoch as Thorow County commissioner at Mading.

Others are Gatwech Jock Deng as Malou county commissioner at Kieckuon, Puok as Thuch Deang-Jekou county at Pagak, the headquarters of armed opposition as its administrative headquarters, Keach Pal Gach as Kaijak county commissioner with Udier as its administrative headquarter.

(ST)

Dortmund striker Aubameyang may command a multi-million pound price tag, but he is not Gabon's most lucrative export.

January 12, 2017 (JUBA) – A forum of South Sudanese youth issued a statement on Thursday, calling on national unity government to recognize the existence of the armed opposition in the country.

Section of participants during the Youth peace and reconciliation workshop in Wau on 5, November, 2016 (ST Photo)

“The South Sudan Youth leaders forum calls upon the TGoNU [Transitional Government of National Unity] to recognize that there are armed groups engaged in hostilities across the country and urge the TGoNU to peacefully engage these groups in order to end was and usher in an era of reconciliation and healing”, partly reads the resolution derived at end of a two-day conference held in Kenya.

50 youth from different states of South Sudan, who used the opportunity to examine the situation facing the country through shared ideas about how this can be improved in-order to move the nation from the devastating conflict, attended the event.

Sponsored by International Growth center, United States agency for international development and the World Bank, the conference which was mainly graced by government supporters underlined the importance of the national dialogue which they see as the only means through which disputes could be resolved in the country.

It called on armed actors to declare an unconditional ceasefire and recommended that a credible, impartial and acceptable national dialogue be led by the faith based organizations, particularly South Sudan Council of Churches with the help of African council of churches and the world council of churches.

South Sudan national union chairperson, Albino Bol Dhieu and other government affiliated groups, including members and leaders of a deeply-divided Red army foundation, took part in the consultative dialogue.

(ST)

January 12, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - A prominent human rights defender said on Thursday that Khartoum airport security agents prevented him flying to Egypt and told him he was banned from travel.

Amin Mekki Medani, top lawyer and rights defender, speaks during an interview with the AP in his house, Khartoum, on April 13, 2015 (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Amin Mekki Medani, Chairman of Civil Society Initiative group told Sudan Tribune he and his family members were banned from travel to Cairo where he would undergo a surgery.

"The Khartoum airport authorities seized our passports me and the family after we completed the immigration process, they informed me that I am temporarily banned from traveling and asked me to go to the office of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS)," he said.

He added that his wife and daughter were travelling with him as he would undergo a surgery in Cairo.

His travel ban coincides with a meeting the opposition Sudan Call plan to hold in France next week.

In the past, Madani had been arrested on 6 December 2014 for four months by the security service for his participation in a meeting establishing the opposition Sudan Call alliance. He was released on 9 April 2015 together with Farouq Abu Eissa the chairman of the opposition National Consensus Forces.

(ST)

January 12, 2017 (JUBA) – The acting head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Moustapha Soumaré said he met with the South Sudanese Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Martin Lumoro during which the latter said his government's position remains unchanged on the deployment of regional protection forces.

S. Sudan cabinet minister Martin Elia Lomoro (Photo KT Press)

The UN official had requested clarification on various press reports, which cited senior government officials saying government had changed its position on the deployment of the protection force.

Lomoro said government's position was in line with the relevant Security Council resolutions that government would continue to facilitate the deployment of the regional force.

The Security Council, in its Resolution 2304, decided that UNMISS force levels be increased to a ceiling of 17,000 troops, including 4,000 for a regional protection force. UNMISS also confirmed that in preparation for the arrival of the protection force, it continues to be engaged in discussions with the Transitional Government of National Unity as to the various modalities for the new force, including where they will be deployed in Juba.

Last week, the South Sudanese presidential advisor on security affairs, Tut Gatluak was quoted saying Juba would not accept the deployment of regional protection forces, claiming the country's security situation had greatly improved.

In an interview with Sudan Tribune, the presidential advisor on security affairs, questioned whether it was still necessity to send regional protection forces.

“They were talking about security but now security situation has improved. Juba is safe and everyone is the witness. The Christmas and New Year celebrations went well, now you can move freely because security situation has improved. The national dialogue has been launched and the agreement is being implemented," said Gatluak.

The cantonment sites for SPLA-IO forces have been agreed and directives have been given for them to move into these area. Everything is moving well”, he added.

South Sudan's defence minister, Kuol Manyang Juuk also dismissed claims that fighting still existed in Juba hence the need to justify deployment of the force.

“We acknowledge that there are problems in South Sudan and it is our duty as government to resolve these challenges," Juuk told a gathering held in Juba.

He accused the U.N of compiling reports from individuals in order to justify calls for the deployment of the regional protection force to back up other voices.

(ST)

The Africa-France Summit, taking place Friday and Saturday in Bamako, Mali, offers an important moment for African countries and France to stand with victims of grave international crimes by voicing their support for the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Withdrawals from the ICC, announced by South Africa, Gambia, and Burundi, pose unprecedented challenges for the court in Africa and could impede access to justice for victims of heinous crimes when their own country’s courts are not an option.
 

While the ICC is not on the official summit agenda, those attending can still find time to discuss how to best counter unwarranted attacks on the court in Africa.

A number of African countries, including Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have said that they will not join the withdrawals, some even announcing this at the ICC’s annual member meeting in November 2016. But more robust, coordinated backing of the court is needed, particularly ahead of the next African Union (AU) summit, which will take place in Ethiopia from January 22 to 31, 2017.

Benin lawyer Francis Dako said it well in Jeune Afrique this week:

The major gathering of senior African and French representatives in Africa – in Bamako on January 13 and 14 [is] a unique opportunity to reiterate their public support for the International Criminal Court…. It is equally crucial for this summit to encourage in-depth exchanges between the African Union and the ICC to find solutions to shared concerns.

Activists in Mali issued a press release with a similar call.
 

Related Content

• Mali civil society letter on the Africa-France summit

Like other courts, the ICC has its problems, but it is not targeting Africa over other regions as some critics claim. The majority of its investigations in Africa came about from a request by the affected African country. The cases it has pursued – including for crimes committed in Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic – help to bring justice for African victims.

Hundreds of activists across Africa, working with Human Rights Watch and other groups, have called for their governments to support and strengthen the ICC. African countries can do so through a more coordinated, public stance on the issue. 

(Washington, DC) – The rise of populist leaders in the United States and Europe poses a dangerous threat to basic rights protections while encouraging abuse by autocrats around the world, Human Rights Watch said today in launching its World Report 2017. Donald Trump’s election as US president after a campaign fomenting hatred and intolerance, and the rising influence of political parties in Europe that reject universal rights, have put the postwar human rights system at risk. Expand

World Report 2017. Cover: Men carrying babies make their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings after an airstrike on the rebel-held Salihin neighborhood of Syria’s northern city of Aleppo, September 2016.

© 2016 Ameer Alhalbi/Agence France Presse/Getty Images

Meanwhile, strongman leaders in Russia, Turkey, the Philippines, and China have substituted their own authority, rather than accountable government and the rule of law, as a guarantor of prosperity and security. These converging trends, bolstered by propaganda operations that denigrate legal standards and disdain factual analysis, directly challenge the laws and institutions that promote dignity, tolerance, and equality, Human Rights Watch said.

In the 687-page World Report, its 27th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries. In his introductory essay, Executive Director Kenneth Roth writes that a new generation of authoritarian populists seeks to overturn the concept of human rights protections, treating rights not as an essential check on official power but as an impediment to the majority will.

“The rise of populism poses a profound threat to human rights,” Roth said. “Trump and various politicians in Europe seek power through appeals to racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and nativism. They all claim that the public accepts violations of human rights as supposedly necessary to secure jobs, avoid cultural change, or prevent terrorist attacks. In fact, disregard for human rights offers the likeliest route to tyranny.”

Roth cited Trump’s presidential campaign in the US as a vivid illustration of the politics of intolerance. He said that Trump responded to those discontented with their economic situation and an increasingly multicultural society with rhetoric that rejected basic principles of dignity and equality. His campaign floated proposals that would harm millions of people, including plans to engage in massive deportations of immigrants, to curtail women’s rights and media freedoms, and to use torture. Unless Trump repudiates these proposals, his administration risks committing massive rights violations in the US and shirking a longstanding, bipartisan belief, however imperfectly applied, in a rights-based foreign policy agenda.

The rise of populist leaders in the United States and Europe poses a dangerous threat to basic rights protections while encouraging abuse by autocrats around the world.

In Europe, a similar populism sought to blame economic dislocation on migration. The campaign for Brexit was perhaps the most prominent illustration, Roth said.

Instead of scapegoating those fleeing persecution, torture, and war, governments should invest to help immigrant communities integrate and fully participate in society, Roth said. Public officials also have a duty to reject the hatred and intolerance of the populists while supporting independent and impartial courts as a bulwark against the targeting of vulnerable minorities, Roth said.

The populist-fueled passions of the moment tend to obscure the longer-term dangers to a society of strongman rule, Roth said. In Russia, Vladimir Putin responded to popular discontent in 2011 with a repressive agenda, including draconian restrictions on free speech and assembly, unprecedented sanctions for online dissent, and laws severely restricting independent groups. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, concerned about the slowdown in economic growth, has embarked on the most intense crackdown on dissent since the Tiananmen era.

In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, has honed a war-crime strategy of targeting civilians in opposition areas, flouting the most fundamental requirements of the laws of war. Forces of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, also known as ISIS, have also routinely attacked civilians and executed people in custody while encouraging and carrying out attacks on civilian populations around the globe.

More than 5 million Syrians fleeing the conflict have faced daunting obstacles in finding safety. Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon are hosting millions of Syrian refugees but have largely closed their borders to new arrivals. European Union leaders have failed to share responsibility fairly for asylum seekers or to create safe routes for refugees. Despite years of US leadership on refugee resettlement, the US resettled only 12,000 Syrian refugees last year, and Trump has threatened to end the program.

2016 in Numbers

In Africa, a disconcerting number of leaders have removed or extended term limits – the “constitutional coup” – to stay in office, while others have used violent crackdowns to suppress protests over unfair elections or corrupt or predatory rule. Several African leaders, feeling vulnerable to prosecution, harshly criticized the International Criminal Court and three countries announced their withdrawal.

This global attack needs a vigorous reaffirmation and defense of the human rights values underpinning the system, Roth said. Yet too many public officials seem to have their heads in the sand, hoping the winds of populism will blow over. Others emulate the populists, hoping to pre-empt their message but instead reinforcing it, Roth said. Governments ostensibly committed to human rights should defend these principles far more vigorously and consistently, Roth said, including democracies in Latin America, Africa, and Asia that support broad initiatives at the United Nations but rarely take the lead in responding to particular countries in crisis.

Ultimately, responsibility lies with the public, Roth said. Demagogues build popular support by proffering false explanations and cheap solutions to genuine ills. The antidote is for voters to demand a politics based on truth and the values on which rights-respecting democracy is built. A strong popular reaction, using every means available – civic groups, political parties, traditional and social media – is the best defense of the values that so many still cherish.

“We forget at our peril the demagogues of the past: the fascists, communists, and their ilk who claimed privileged insight into the majority’s interest but ended up crushing the individual,” Roth said. “When populists treat rights as obstacles to their vision of the majority will, it is only a matter of time before they turn on those who disagree with their agenda.”

Gambia's President-elect, Adama Barrow, urges the incumbent, Yahya Jammeh, to engage in direct talks.

January 11, 2017 (BOR) - Jonglei state lawmakers are investigating processes that led to an unauthorized loan of up to 27 million SSP.

South Sudanese pounds being exchanged (UN)

The deputy speaker of the state assembly, Alier Maler, said money was withdrawn from the state treasury, without parliament knowing.

Jonglei's workforce consists of an estimated 5,000 employees. Salaries meant to cover these staff are above 6m pound, monthly.

According to Maler, to cover up the gap, the ministry of finance allegedly claimed to have borrowed loan of 6 million from the commercial bank without approval from the assembly in August.

The minister was thus summoned to appear on Thursday last week.

“We summoned the minister to tell us the purpose for which the money was borrowed. He said the money was used to top up the salaries for the employees”, explained the deputy speaker.

Members of parliament were, however, not convinced with what new finance minister, James Akech presented, and was rescheduled to appear again before MPs within the month to answer questions.

Apart from the 6million that parliament heard about, the lawmakers were also informed about the total liability that the government had accumulated over time, which had amounted to about 27 million.

No single approval was granted by the parliament, as the law requires.

“If there is a lot of money that needs to be borrowed from another institution, like the commercial bank, there must be approval from the assembly, but this was not done, we don't know about it. We also asked to see if there was approval from the council of ministers, we want to know this huge money was approved by whom?” he asked.

He added, “There is no single person that can approval this money, it is a lot of money for the state. And where will the state get money to pay it [loan] back?”.

During the questioning session of the minister, the bank overdraft and the loan appeared confusing to members of the state parliament.

“Loan and overdraft were contradicting, so it was not clear. We want to have credit advice about the money that comes from Juba, we don't know if it is not enough as they claim, but we have not reach that stage, we are still on the process”, said Maler.

“This 27 million, how does it come? So we asked the ministry to put it in details, we are not sure about the liabilities which they said, what are they? What happened till they sum up to 27 million? So the assembly needed more clarification from the ministry of finance”, added.

(ST)

January 12, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The African Union and the United Nations Thursday appointed a South African diplomat as new head of the hybrid peacekeeping mission in western Sudan region of Darfur.

Jeremiah Nyamane Kingsley Mamabolo (UN Photo)

"United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced today the appointment of Jeremiah Nyamane Kingsley Mamabolo of South Africa as Acting Joint Special Representative for Darfur and Head of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID)".

Mamabolo replaces Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi of Nigeria who left the mission last week, one year after his appointment.

Since March 2016, he has been serving UNAMID as the Deputy Joint Special Representative, overseeing political, human rights, and legal aspects of the Mission's activities.

He also served as Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations from 2013 to 2016.

It is not clear if Mamabolo's responsibilities including those of African Union-United Nations Joint Chief Mediator.

Uhomoibhi had a very limited role since his competences had been transferred to the head of the African Union High level Implementation Panel (AUHIP).

(ST)

January 12, 2017 (JUBA) - The governor of the newly created Wau state in South Sudan has issued an order sacking his deputy, less than six months since the appointment was made.

Wau state governor Andrea Mayar Acho (ST Photo)

Governor Andrea Mayar Achor, according to a January 11th order, removed Pasquale Joseph Ayan from his position as the deputy governor.

The order did not give ex-deputy another assignment and did not explain the reason for such an abrupt change in the administration.

Ayan served as Bazilia county commissioner when his status was elevated to the position of deputy governor and became a minister of local government.

(ST)

January 12, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The outgoing U.S. President Barak Obama will freeze some of the economic and trade sanctions on Sudan, different news agencies reported on Thursday.

U.S. President Barack Obama signs the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 into law in the Oval Office the White House in Washington on March 29, 2016 (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Photo)

The suspension which was contested by some members of Obama administration, is mainly based on "the findings of Sudan's security cooperation with Washington". "It was mainly backed by the State Department," an American source told Sudan Tribune.

The media cited Sudan's collaboration in the fight against terrorism, including limiting the movements of Islamic State fighters.

Regarding the file of peace in Darfur, the partial freezing takes into account the end of military bombardments on civilians areas in the western Sudan, improvement of humanitarian access to civilians in the conflict affected areas.

Also, the decision takes into account Sudanese government efforts to achieve peace in South Sudan and its neutrality in the conflict that started in December 2013. American officials say Khartoum refused to allow rebels to operate from its territory and also stemmed the flow of weapons into the troubled country, despite Juba support to Sudanese rebel groups.

Citing officials at the While House, The Associated Press says Washington will "announce a five-track engagement process with the Sudan, including the easing of sanctions, responding to positive actions by the government. They say these include improved Sudanese counterterrorism efforts"

However, the suspended sanctions could be reinstated if the Sudanese government backtracks on its progress.

U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Donald Booth, kept working tirelessly on the file of peace in Sudan. Several sources said President Obama wished to close the file of Sudan sanction before to leave the White House like Cuba and Burma.
Congressmen and rights activists say still conditions in Sudan are far from their expectations and have demanded to maintain to maintain the sanctions on the regime of President Omer al-Bashir.

The State Department and the Department of Treasury since last October, held three meetings in Washington, London and Dubai to encourage commercial banks to avoid de-risking humanitarian and non-governmental remittances stressing the trade and financial embargo target only the Sudanese government.

Despite the strong impact of the sanctions on the Sudanese government, officials at the State Department points to the negative impact of the measure on the ordinary Sudanese. It also feeds anti-Americanism in the region and Islamic world they say.

Sudan has been under American economic and trade sanctions since 1997 for its alleged connection to terror networks and remains on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror. The first batch of sanctions restrict U.S. trade and investment with Sudan and block government's assets of the Sudanese government.

Additional sanctions in relations with the conflict in Darfur region were introduced by two Executive Orders in 2006.

(ST)

January 12, 2017 (JUBA) - The SPLA Chief of General Staff, Thursday has reiterated commitment and readiness of the South Sudanese army to strengthen and improve security situation in the country.

SPLA Chief of general staff (3rd from the left), next to him ministers of interior and finance and other officials pose for a picture after the collect of 1200 weapons in Juba on Thursday 12, 2017 (ST Photo)

General Paul Malong Awan spoke at the end of a house-to-house search operation during which more than 1200 different types of weapons were collected, following the conduct of the unannounced exercise at the national capital, Juba.

General Awan, dressed in full military attire and flanked by the minister of finance and interior well as the commander of presidential guards division put on a show of defiance, emphatically denying that government forces carried out the search in a manner that violated privacy in the capital, Juba.

He accused "anti-peace elements" of preparing to go to war on the basis of "lies".

He commended his boss, President Salva Kiir, for demonstrating personal commitment to the Armed Forces allegedly guided by a vision to protecting the nation and making Armed Forces not only as one of the most developed armies but which would serve anywhere in the world.

“Our job as the army is one, defend the country, the constitution and protect civilians and their properties. This is what you have done; conducting a search to ensure Juba is free of weapons. People who are not permitted by law to carry weapons should not be allowed to carry them. They are misusing them and this is why we are collecting them today,” said Awan.

The top military officer announced the search has helped identify people with forged identity impersonating as officers in various organized armed forces to committee crimes.

Acting army spokesperson Col. Santo Domic Chol told reporters on Thursday at a news conference in Juba that the operation had managed to collect more than 1200 different type of weapons and assorted equipment as well as managing to apprehend criminals in Juba.

400 weapons were found in the hands of unauthorized people.

Chol said nine people have been arrested found in possession of cars they could not explain how they got them.

Some of the cars were identified by their owners and 16 other different types of cars have either been stolen or none registered have been detained.

(ST)

January 12, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese President Wednesday underwent cardiac catheterization tests to evaluate heart function and diagnose cardiovascular conditions, it was revealed on Thursday.

President Omer Hassan al-Bashir (AFP photo)

"The Presidency confirmed that Field Marshal Omer Al-Bashir President of the Republic yesterday evening, underwent an exploratory cardiac catheterization at Royal Care hospital," reported the official news agency SUNA.

"The results (of the tests) were very reassuring," further said the agency.

An official source at the Presidency said al-Bashir left the hospital immediately after the medical procedure.

Generally doctors recommend cardiac catheterization to evaluate chest pain which is a symptom of coronary heart disease.

Cardiac catheterization can show whether a plaque is narrowing or blocking your coronary arteries.

In a separate development, SUNA reported that President al-Bashir received on Thursday evening the Chairman of the National Legislature (the two houses), Ibrahim Ahmed Omer who briefed him about the ongoing deliberations on a number of important bills to be endorsed ahead of the transitional period.

(ST)

South Africa knows it has a huge problem with drink-driving and is considering some tough measures to tackle it, writes the BBC's Pumza Fihlani.

South Africa has the highest levels of alcohol consumption in Africa, according to the World Health Organization. The government is now trying to tackle the problem.