Africa

Some 26,500 South Sudanese, mostly women and children, have crossed into Uganda since fighting between rival forces erupted in and around the capital, Juba, on 7 July, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

Wrapping up a visit to southern Africa, the United Nations deputy humanitarian chief today called for urgent action to assist millions of people across the region where local coping capacities have been impacted by the worst El Niño-induced drought in 35 years.

Concluding a six-day visit to Somalia, a United Nations child rights envoy has called for better protection of children caught up in armed conflict, urging the country&#39s authorities to treat former child soldiers as victims in need of protection rather than as criminals.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Fabrizio Hochschild of Chile as his new Deputy Special Representative for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today signed a new partnership agreement with the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) that will further strengthen the collaboration between the two organizations in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The vast wetlands of the Niger Delta region are home to Nigeria's oil resources, but are once again at the centre of a security crisis, writes the BBC's Martin Patience

When Dampson was 10 he was given away by his mother to a man who forced him to work as a fisherman in dangerous conditions.

Concluding a four-day mission to Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra&#39ad Al Hussein, today commended the country&#39s efforts to strengthen human rights but cautioned that some of these advances may be under threat, especially what he saw as repression against opposition parties in the coming elections.

A recent wave of militancy in Nigeria has targeted the country's oil facilities damaging the industry, but what is motivating this?

A United Nations human rights expert today urged the Government of South Sudan to immediately release Alfred Taban, a prominent journalist and chief editor of the daily English newspaper, Juba Monitor.

Hopes for peace and stability in the world's youngest country have been shaken by recent clashes, reports the BBC's Alastair Leithead from South Sudan.

In some remote regions of Malawi, girls are made to have sex with a paid sex worker when they reach puberty - but the tradition has the potential to spread disease.

African-American man starts fundraising petition in response to racist comments.

A lower cost base and partnerships with western universities is helping South Africa to develop online courses for students around the world.

In our series of letters from African journalists, novelist and writer Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani looks at David Cameron's resignation after the vote to leave the European Union and asks whether there are any lessons for Africa.

The African Union has launched a new passport. A lot remains unclear about the document but here is what we do know.

Aids remains the biggest cause of death among young people in Africa and the number of lives lost in this group has tripled in the past 16 years, writes the BBC's Karen Allen.

July 17, 2016 (JUBA) – Official spokesperson of the South Sudanese First Vice President, Riek Machar, said they cannot trust President Salva Kiir to provide security and protection to their leadership in Juba, saying the president is not in control of incidents that happen around him.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir (C) adresses a press conference together with FVP Riek Machar (R) and SVP James Wani at the State House on July 8, 2016 (Reuters Photo)

“No, we don't trust President Salva Kiir and his assurances to provide protection to our leadership,” James Gatdet Dak, spokesperson of First Vice President, Riek Machar, told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

He said majority of their officials of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), including a national minister, have fled to the United Nations protection of civilians (POCs) site in Juba in fear for their lives.

This, he said, occurred after the SPLM-IO's Secretary General, Dhieu Mathok Diing, who is also the minister of Energy and Dams, was beaten inside his hotel and briefly detained by President Kiir's security personnel on Friday despite Kiir's assurances to protect them.

The opposition leader's spokesperson was responding to renewed calls by President Kiir over the weekend, in which he called on Machar to resurface and return to Juba from his hiding, assuring to protect him, or even stay with him in his house.

"I have been ready to resume talks on the issues we were discussing before this thing [violence] erupted. We were left with few things to conclude the discussions so that we begin with the implementation [of the August 2015 peace agreement]," he added.

The president was speaking for the first time since his forces clashed at the presidential palace with those loyal to Machar last week, leaving more than 270 soldiers from the two sides dead, 37 of whom belonged to Machar's forces, officials have confirmed.

President Kiir vowed he would provide protection to Machar and his forces, citing the amnesty he had issued after declaring ceasefire as a guarantee for the security of his deputy and his forces.

"Nobody is hunting for him [Machar] and his forces. If he comes, I will protect him. He will stay with me if [he] feels he is not safe staying alone," he said.

"I don't want any more bloodshed in South Sudan," stated Kiir.

But Machar's Press Secretary, James Gatdet Dak, said they wanted a “third party force” to be deployed in Juba to create a buffer between rival forces and ensure security in Juba, thus the protection of the leadership, saying they would not trust President Kiir's assurances.

Dak said they believed that the incidence of fighting at the J1 palace was a plan to harm Machar in crossfire if he tried to leave the palace and run back to his base, which was about five kilometres away from the palace.

He said President Kiir either knew what was happening in the various incidents or was not in control of his forces.

“President Kiir is not in control of incidents that occur around him. He is not in control of his army commanders and other organized forces. So how do you trust protection from a leader who is not in control, or who might have been blessing violent actions of his commanders or security personnel?” he said.

Dak lamented that every time someone was killed or tortured by security personnel loyal to President Kiir, he would say he didn't know how it happened and who did it.

“For instance, President Kiir's military intelligence and national security personnel killed our officer, Lt. Colonel George Alex Gismala, and took his body to their military barrack, but the President said he didn't know who did it. Our soldiers were fired at, resulting to the initial clash that saw the death of five of his soldiers on Gudele road on Thursday, July 7. He [Kiir] also said he didn't know how it happened. On Friday, July 8, he called the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, for a meeting in his palace and suddenly his bodyguards teamed up with hundreds of his soldiers and began to shoot at Dr. Machar's bodyguards and the clashes ensued. He also said he didn't know about how it started,” Dak further said.

He further charged that on Sunday, 10 July, President Kiir's forces launched several attacks on their base at Jebel and the residence of the First Vice President using tanks and helicopter gunship, indicating that they were after Machar.

He said if Machar did not remain in the palace during the 8 July clashes, he would have been killed by President Kiir's forces outside the palace and the president would have said he didn't know how it happened.

“President Kiir did not protect First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar. They happened to get stuck with each other inside the palace. Either of them did not want to leave the palace as the fighting was going on outside the palace,” he said.

He also said the bodyguards of the two leaders took a wise decision by not echoing the fighting inside the palace because each side knew that their leader was going to be targeted and risked getting killed.

“They got stuck inside the palace until a third party was involved in arranging and ensuring how the leaders were escorted to their respective residences at night,” Dak further clarified, adding, “President Kiir was also ensuring his own safety by being near to Dr. Riek Machar in the palace.”

He added there was need for a third force to be deployed in Juba to take charge of its security, further arguing that the opposition's forces which are part of the integrated forces for the security arrangements in Juba - but remained behind – should also be transported to Juba.

There was supposed to be a total of 2,910 of the military and police force for the opposition fighters in Juba, but only 1,300 soldiers arrived with only light weapons as they were not allowed to bring in heavy weapons.

Dak accused President Kiir's forces of planning to attack Machar and his forces where they have now been relocated to around Juba.

He said he had received information that President Kiir's army had ordered their warplanes, helicopter gunships, to search for the whereabouts of Machar to bomb him and his forces.

He also said President Kiir's faction wants to further dismantle the August 2015 peace agreement by seeking to illegally identify and appoint a “stooge official” from the SPLM-IO to replace Machar as First Vice President.

(ST)

July 17, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese government on Sunday said it has evacuated 1473 of its nationals from South Sudan following the recent bloody clashes in the newborn state.

The committee tasked with following up on the conditions of the Sudanese citizens in conflict areas revealed that 1473 out of 3000 persons who expressed desire to return to Sudan from South Sudan have been evacuated so far.

An official at the operation room set up by the Sudanese Working Abroad Authority (SWAA) to follow up on the evacuation procedures said that 376 people have arrived at Khartoum airport from Juba on Sunday.

He told the semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) that they are continuing to register Sudanese nationals who wish to voluntarily return to the country, pointing to the continued coordination with the Sudanese embassy in Juba to monitor the situation of the Sudanese in the various parts of South Sudan.

Head of communities and migration department at the SWAA, Al-Rahid Abd al-Latif , on Friday said that the number of the Sudanese nationals in South Sudan is around 50.000 persons, among them 3000 facing difficult situations and willing to return home.

On July 7th, fighting erupted in South Sudan's capital Juba between followers of President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, the former rebel leader who became vice president under a deal to end a two-year civil war.

The violence, which has killed hundreds of people, broke out as the world's newest nation prepared to mark five years of independence from Sudan on July 9.

In response to the mounting pressure from the international community, the rival leaders have unilaterally declared cessation of hostilities to stop the fighting.

(ST)