Africa

The United Nations Security Council today expressed regret over a postponed timeline for this year’s parliamentary and presidential elections in Somalia, calling on all stakeholders to follow the revised 2016 electoral calendar “without further delay.”

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

The United Nations refugee agency said today that it is increasingly alarmed at the unfolding situation in north-east Nigeria where the advancing military campaign against Boko Haram has exposed “catastrophic” levels of suffering among a population outside humanitarian reach over months or years.

French customs officials seize about 2,000 dead seahorses that were being smuggled from Guinea to Vietnam.

Triathlete Fabienne St Louis will be competing in the race on Saturday despite being diagnosed with cancer in December.

Northern Ireland's Johnny McKinstry expresses his 'shock' after his sacking as head coach of Rwanda's national team.

Dutch coach Martin Jol leaves Egypt's Al Ahly over fears for his safety after the team exit the African Champions League.

Tapping into strong cultural bonds with cattle in South Africa, an entrepreneur has set up a firm for investors to crowdfund cows.

August 18, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The foreign ministry Thursday said it requested the interior ministry to send a delegation to address the situation of Sudanese illegal migrants stranded on the Italian-French border.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir (ST Photo)

Several hundreds of Sudanese migrants are now stopped on the French border after their arrival by boats from Libya. Paris says it is up to Italy assess their asylum claims.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ambassador Gharib Allah Khidir said they asked the interior ministry to dispatch urgently a delegation to Rome to identify Sudanese migrants and to provide them with the needed papers before to repatriate them back to Sudan.

The move comes after a demand by the Italian government through the Sudanese embassy in Rome to identify its nationals before to return them to Sudan, al-Khidir added.

Italy complains of the French refusal to receive some of illegal migrants arriving from Africa.

In line with Schengen zone agreement, people can move freely within the European countries, but governments can tighten border control in exceptional circumstances.

Earlier this year, Sudan accepted to cooperate with the EU efforts to fight illegal human trafficking.

Smuggling gangs have taken advantage of Libya's instability to run a lucrative business and put at risk vulnerable people who seek better life.

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August 18, 2016 (TORIT) – James Lomilo, a teacher at Hope for South Sudan primary school in Eastern Equatoria state was on Monday killed and his body dumped in a forest.

The map of Eastern Equatoria state in red

The deceased, an eye witness said, was last seen on Sunday afternoon after church service in Kapoeta town.

The decaying body [of Lomilo] was found some meters away from the school in the forest near to the school premise in Kapoeta town, said Peter Lopeyok.

Police have reportedly launched investigations into the murder.

The school head teacher, Jenifer Losike Lokai described the Lomilo as a punctual and humble teacher in his profession.

The late was one of the full time trained teachers in Hope for South Sudan School in for over three years,” she stressed.

Police officers on duty at the school, however, declined to comment on the matter.

(ST)

August 18, 2016(BOR) – Over 900,000 SSP was saved by Jonglei state government after a screening exercise, involving removal of ghost workers and absentees from payrolls.

Jonglei state governor, Phillip Aguer speaks during the independence occassion July 9, 2016 (ST)

The process, an official told Sudan Tribune, started three months ago.

According to the state secretary general, Mawut Achiek, not less than 250 employees whose names were found on payrolls, but not presence at work places, were screened.

“We are saving 300,000 SSP. This had been going to individuals' pockets in the state. We have also identified not less than 250 ghost names. These are people, who are no longer there, or they had never existed and there is no scientific evidence to proof their employment in the first place”, Achiek told reporters in the state capital, Bor.

The state government, he said, inherited a huge workforce when the province was controversially divided into four states, namely Fangak, Eastern Bieh and Boma.

The other three states went away with workforce of less than 3,000 employees in total, leaving new Jonglei state with over 5,000 employees alone, stressed Achiek.

Meanwhile, the state government said it was not determined to fully reduce the workforce to a reasonable number that would easily be manageable financially.

(ST)

Reporting that 650 children have been recruited into armed groups in South Sudan since January, the United Nations Children&#39s Fund (UNCEF) called today for an immediate end to recruitment and an unconditional release of all children by armed actors.

South Africa's Caster Semenya cruises into the Olympic women's 800m final, while Britain's Lynsey Sharp also progresses.

Tainted by corruption he may be, but the late Fifa president transformed the fortunes of African football, writes the BBC's Piers Edwards.

The ambitious new plan to overhaul Sierra Leone's agriculture sector.

The ambitious new plan to overhaul Sierra Leone's agriculture sector, by growing and milling rice.

August 18, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Council for the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR) revealed that 4718 former rebel combatants have been demobilized in 2015 while 4,003 others were integrated into the civic institutions.

Members of the Sudan Liberation Army disembark from their vehicle in Susuwa, north Darfur, May 15, 2006. (Reuters)

Sudan's Council of Ministers on Thursday has approved the NCDDR's 2015 report presented by the Minister of the Presidency Fadl Abdalla.

In press statements on Thursday, the Council of Ministers spokesperson, Omer Mohamed Salih said the disarmament and demobilizations are basic requirements for achieving peace, saying the process was funded by the Ministry of Finance, Zakat (ulms) Chamber besides foreign funding from Japan and Spain.

He pointed the ex-fighters have been accommodated in agricultural, mineral and water harvest projects, saying the Council of Minister hailed the NCDDR efforts to integrate the combatants into the civil life.

In 2013, Sudan and South Sudan agreed on joint cooperation in the areas of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, community security projects and control of small arms as well as promoting peace building between border communities.

Last December, the government said it has completed the first stage of a plan aimed at collecting heavy weapons from Darfur.

Speaking to the parliament in February, minister of interior Ismat Abdel Rahman, said the proliferation of armaments in Darfur remains "a security worry". He further pointed that millions of small arms are in the hands of Darfur citizens.

The Sudanese army and its allied militias have been fighting a number of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

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August 18, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese government has welcome a decision by the government of neighbouring Sudan, from which the young nation seceded in 2011, not to be one of troops contributing countries to be deployed as a regional protection force.

A SPLA soldier stands in front of a vehicle in Juba on December 20, 2013. (Photo Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

The Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour Tuesday reiterated his government's decision to not take part in the UN-backed African force that would be deployed in Juba. But he expression Khartoum's willingness to participate in any regional mechanism to mediate or reconcile the warring parties.

South Sudan's Presidential advisor on Security Affairs, Tut Kew Gatluak, told Sudan Tribune that the government has not yet received the names of the countries in the region which have expressed readiness to contribute troops and so would not be able to comment on media reports about countries suspected to contribute troops to be deployed to the country.

“We have not received the names of the countries in the region which will contribute troops. There were only allegations which we cannot confirm and make comments on them because they are not official,” he said.

“But yes, we have now heard that two countries, Uganda and Sudan, will not contribute troops. Such decisions are sovereign decisions and we welcome them,” Gatluak added.

The comments come after several government officials in Juba said the government would not have welcomed the return of the Sudanese army in any capacity in the country, equating it to invasion.

Recently, Sudanese officials disclosed that they declined a Western request to approach directly the South Sudanese parties in order to end the conflict.

Khartoum hosts many South Sudanese politicians who are asked to not to exercise political activities against Juba government.

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August 18, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - United Nations Secretary-General,Ban Ki-moon, Thursday has urged the Sudanese government and rebel groups to resume talks to reach a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Ban Ki-moon (Photo UN)

Last week, four groups from the opposition umbrella Sudan Call including the National Umma Party (NUP) and three armed groups; Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N), Sudan Liberation Movement - Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) had signed the Roadmap Agreement for peace and dialogue brokered by the African Union.

The peace plan provides that the Sudanese governments and rebel groups should engage in talks to reach agreement on a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access before the Sudan Call forces join the government-led national dialogue.

However, on Sunday following six days of talks in Addis Ababa, the armed movements and the government negotiating teams failed to conclude a deal on the security arrangements and humanitarian access prompting the mediation to suspend the talks indefinitely.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Spokesperson said Ban Ki-moon was disappointed that the Sudanese parties failed to reach an agreement on a cessation of hostilities in Darfur and the Two Areas.

The UN chief has strongly urged the government and the armed groups “to resume negotiations, abide by the Roadmap Agreement, and refrain from any attempt to escalate the conflict in Darfur and the Two Areas”.

“He reiterates that there can be no lasting alternative to a negotiated settlement and stresses that a cessation of hostilities is the first, indispensable step towards achieving this goal,” the statement added.

The Secretary-General expressed appreciation for the important role played by the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) which brokers Sudan's peace, the hybrid peacemaking mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and his Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan to bring about a lasting peace in Sudan.

The Sudanese army has been fighting SPLM-N rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011 and a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

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August 18, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudanese opposition faction led by the former First Vice President, Riek Machar, said they have cut off Taban Deng Gai, the new First Vice President, from all the areas controlled by the opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), including from its headquarters of Pagak in Upper Nile region.

“Honourable Taban Deng Gai will not set foot in the SPLM/SPLA (IO) controlled areas across the country, including the General Headquarters of Pagak,” said James Gatdet Dak, official spokesperson for Machar, the leader of the opposition faction, SPLM-IO.

“Let him deceive President Salva Kiir in Juba by claiming that he is also a leader of the organization called SPLM/SPLA (IO). He may get away with the deception in Juba because the two of them seem to be so desperate and are comfortable with mutual deception. The President may not bother to ask him about who is actually in charge of the SPLM-IO controlled territories in the country, including the General Headquarters, Pagak. But the reality is that he is alone leader with no grassroots support or base. He is a defector to President Kiir,” he added.

He said Gai can only visit President Kiir's controlled areas, adding he is in reality part and parcel of the faction led by the President after his recent defection from the SPLM-IO.

Dak added that a directive was already issued by the leader of the SPLM-IO, Riek Machar, dismissing and cutting off Gai, not only from his previous contacts with the SPLA-IO army, but also with the civil administrations of the SPLM-IO in the states and counties they control.

He said Machar is in full control of the civil administrations and the entire army of the SPLM-IO faction, and that Gai only "defected" with his bodyguards and some of the SPLM-IO politicians “who were only after positions in the government and not for the reform agenda in the country.”

SURRENDER NOT COHESION

Dak also described the current working relationship between the new First Vice President, Gai, and President Kiir as based on “surrender and conspiracy to avoid reforms in the country” but not about the claimed cohesion in the presidency.

“Their working relationship now is based on the fact that Honourable Taban Deng Gai has surrendered while President Salva Kiir has embraced him for a mutual conspiracy to avoid reforms and accountability in South Sudan. It is about compromising and abrogating the August 2015 peace agreement. So it is never based on cohesion to do the right thing as they claimed,” he claimed.

The opposition leader's spokesman was responding to comments from the presidency that their working relationship had gone well without Machar in the implementation of the peace agreement.

He further argued that with the current situation to destroy the peace deal by scrapping its important provisions, the country would never implement reforms, further claiming that the two leaders have already begun to dismantle some of the mechanisms that are crucial for ensuring that reforms are implemented.

The declaration to immediately begin integration of SPLA-IO, although Gai has no force to integrate, he said, is an indication of the desire to avoid implementing security sector reforms which was necessary before the amalgamation of the forces can take place.

For instance, Dak further argued that Gai has surrendered to President Kiir the position of the speaker of the transitional national legislative assembly which was very crucial for driving the reform agenda among the lawmakers in the country.

This came after President Kiir insisted that he was the one to select the speaker of parliament. Previously, Riek Machar wanted the position to be contested by the two factions and the winner takes it.

“See how he has surrendered the position of the speaker. We in the opposition wanted to contest for this seat because it is crucial for driving the needed change and passing reform laws in the parliament. We would have won the speakership position if it was contested democratically. We had huge support from within President Kiir's members of parliament who wanted us to spearhead the change. This is the reason President Kiir did not want democratic election for the position. But now Honourable Taban Deng Gai has simply surrendered this important position. It means he is not for change but only interested to maintain the status quo,” he said.

“We will not however become magnanimous at the expense of scrapping provisions in the peace agreement and nipping reforms in the bud. We will ensure that the situation is corrected and the country goes for reforms in various sectors in order to move forward,” he added.

He also said Machar remains the legitimate First Vice President of South Sudan, despite his recent “illegal” replacement by President Kiir.

The opposition leader has reportedly relocated to another neighbouring country after a month of fighting with President Kiir's forces who reportedly hunted for him in the bushes around Juba, following clashes in the capital which involved his small number of forces.

Dak claimed that Machar was relocated for his safety and in order to have access to the rest of the world and the media.

(ST)