Africa

Zimbabwean farmer and beekeeper Nyovane Ndlovu with some of the honey produced under his own label. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

By Busani Bafana
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Jun 15 2016 (IPS)

“It is everything” is how smallholder farmer Nyovane Ndlovu describes beekeeping, which has long been an alternative sweet source of income for drought-beaten farmers in Zimbabwe.

A drought worsened by the El Nino phenomenon – which has now eased – led to a write-off of crops in many parts of Zimbabwe and across the Southern Africa region where more than 28 million people will need food aid this year. More than four million people need assistance in Zimbabwe, which has made an international appeal for 1.6 billion dollars to cover grain and other food needs. The drought, the worst in 30 years, has destroyed crops and livestock.

Ndlovu, 57, from a village in the Lupane District, a dry area prone to drought and hunger, is one of the country’s growing number of honey heroes, using forest resources to cope with a changing climate and complement his farming income.

But even beekeeping has not been immune to the latest severe drought , and many farmers who have depended on honey to make ends meet are reporting major losses this year.“Last year I got three 25-litre buckets of honey and this year not even one bucket. The weather changed so that the bees lacked enough flowers for food." -- Nyovane Ndlovu

“Honey is my food and my children love it because they know each time I harvest they never go hungry,” says Ndlovu, who trained in beekeeping more than 10 years ago.

Beekeeping, practiced by more than 16,000 farmers in Zimbabwe, generally complements maize and grain crops. Last season, Ndlovu harvested a tonne of maize and 0.5 tonnes of sorghum, low numbers even for a drought year.

“Even in times of drought I have realized something from the field, especially small grains, but this past season has been terrible for many farmers,” says Ndlovu, who won a scotch cart and a plough in 2012 for emerging as the top farmer in an agriculture competition. “I turned to beekeeping when I realized the benefits. The proceeds from my honey sales have allowed me to pay school fees for my children and cover other household needs. I am getting more from honey than I do from cropping.”

Lupane District located 172km North West of Zimbabwe’s second city of Bulawayo is home to more than 90,000 people, many who get by through limited cropping and extensive cattle rearing. The area is also home to state-owned indigenous hardwood forests, on which communities depend for fuel and food.

More honey, more money

Ndlovu has more than 20 Kenya Top Bar hives and two Langstroth hives – considered the best technology for apiculture because they give a higher production and quality honey. In a good season Ndlovu earns more than 500 dollars from honey sales. He even has his own label, Maguswini Honey, which he plans to commercialize once his honey has received a standard mark. A 375ml bottle of honey sells for four dollars in the village but five dollars when he delivers it to customers in Bulawayo and beyond.

Last year, Ndlovu and his neighbours, who belong to Bumbanani, a 30-member local beekeepers association, sold 900 dollars worth of honey within three days of exhibiting at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, an annual business showcase hosted in the city of Bulawayo. This year, they did not even make half the amount because they harvested less honey because of the drought.

“Last year I got three 25-litre buckets of honey and this year not even one bucket. The weather changed so that the bees lacked enough flowers for food and the water was also scarce and the hives did not have a lot of honey,” Ndlovu told IPS.

Another farmer, Nqobani Sibanda from Gomoza village in Ward 12 in Lupane, this year harvested one 20-litre bucket of honey compared to 60 litres last year.

“This year the flowers withered early and we think the bees did not have enough food, hence the honey harvest was low. I have four hives and each hive can give me up to 20 litres of honey on a good season and I can get 300 dollars or more, but not this year,” Sibanda said.

Development researcher with the Institute of Development Studies at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Everson Ndlovu, told IPS that income-generating projects such as beekeeping are an easy way for farmers to earn extra income in times of poor or no harvests and these projects can be up scaled into viable commercial enterprises.

“There is need for more training in business management, linking such small scale businesses to the market and business associations to get them properly registered and empowered,” said Ndlovu adding that, “the impact of drought has made it strategic for smallholder farmers to diversity their livelihoods but they need to receive weather information on time and in a manner they understand for them to make right decisions.”

Honey is traded globally and last year’s sales of natural honey were worth 2.3 billion dollars, according the World Top Exports website that tracks key exports. The sales were led by Europe with 35.2 percent of international honey sales, with Africa accounting for just 0.4 percent of the exports.

Bees which provide honey, propolis, Queen Jelly and beeswax among other products, help boost food security for some two billion smallholder farmers worldwide at no cost, a February 2016 study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found. The FAO has called for the protection of bees and insects that play a vital role of pollination thereby sustainably increasing food supply. However, climate change is affecting global bee colonies.

A drought of many things

“Farmers have been affected by the drought and beekeeping was not spared, as seen by the low amount of honey they realized this year compared to last year in Lupane, a dry area,” said Clifford Maunze, a beekeeping trainer and Project Officer with Environment Africa under the Forestry Forces Programme supported by the FAO.

“We have trained farmers on beekeeping and helped them counteract the effects of the drought by planting more trees that bees like such as Moringa Oleifera, commonly known as the drumstick tree, which flowers constantly and have promoted the development of homestead orchard where they can have citrus trees to provide forage for the bees,” Maunze said.

Environment Africa, working with the Department of Agriculture Extension Services (Agritex), has trained 1,382 farmers in Lupane District and over 800 in Hwange District on beekeeping under a programme started in 2011. Lupane was chosen for apiculture projects because of its indigenous forests, some of which are threatened by expanding agricultural land, veld fires and deforestation.

“While the drought has affected farmers in Lupane, apiculture is the way to go providing income and jobs because it is cost-effective,” Maunze said.

In drier regions like Matabeleland North Province, farmers can harvest honey twice a season and with at least five hives a farmer can get 100 litres of honey. This can be even more in regions with higher rainfall and forage, where farmers can harvest up to four times a season.

Figures from the national statistical agency Zimstats and Agritex show that Zimbabwe produces over 427,000 kg of honey annually against a local demand of 447,000 kg. The deficit of nearly 20,000 metric tonnes is made up through imports, a situation that farmers like Ndlovu are seeking to change through intensive investment in apiculture.

Zimbabwe is aiming to raise honey production to a target 500,000 litres by 2018, according to Zim-Asset, a national strategy to revive the country’s battered economy, currently facing a cash crisis.

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June 14, 2016 (JUBA) – Juba University students of the ruling party of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) have won the students leadership election against the SPLM-IO and other political parties in a “fair” election, a senior staff of Juba University has revealed.

University of Juba (File photo )

Also no bullets were fired in the air by security personnel to disperse the students during the election as reported on Monday.

John Akec, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Juba, told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday that the alliance group of the SPLM and the African National Congress (ANC) party in South Sudan won the students election by 51% on Monday.

He said the students of the SPLM-IO with their alliance with the Democratic Party (DC) of Lam Akol and other political parties came second with 33% of votes. Independent students got 8% of the votes.

Akec further narrated that of 3,000 eligible votes, 2,000 were cast, but 8% of the votes were disqualified across all the three competing groups.

The polling stations, he added, were well organized and two observers from every party competing was present at each station.

“There were three polling stations and elections started around 9am closed around 6pm. At every polling station there [were] two student observers from every political party contesting the elections,” he said.

“An Election Committee was headed by the Dean of Students in which all political parties have a representative as well as representative of independent candidates. There was also an Oversight Committee comprising three senior professors/academics,” he added.

He further said that counting of the votes began immediately around 6pm and finished around 11pm, stressing that all political parties' observers approved the results of the election.

“All political parties observers at each of the three polling stations were asked to sign the counting results as fair.”

NO BULLETS FIRED

Akec dismissed the allegation reported on Monday that security personnel fired bullets into the air in the University premises to disperse the students and abort the election.

“I am writing to dispel what has featured in this ST [Sudan Tribune] news report as baseless. There has never been such incident at the University of Juba. The whole election process happened on Monday and was very peaceful,” Akec said in an email sent to the Sudan tribune.

He however confirmed that there was a minor incident when an “individual” tried to enter the Juba University compound armed with weapons during the elections, but added that security personnel arrested him immediately.

“There was a security report that security apprehended an individual from outside University trying to drive into the campus with numbers of machetes (and probably some riffle into the campus - I have not been informed how many),” Akec revealed.

“The details are sketchy. Otherwise, the election was very transparent and no guns were fired in air or at any student or staff and three groups contested the student union elections,” he said.

He maintained that the election was fair and the results were accepted by all the parties that contested the top leadership position of the university students, adding no complaints were raised by any party.

“All the information was supplied to the contesting parties the same night as preliminary results any complains were invited from 9 am to 4 pm today. No issues were raised and the results were announced by the joint committees (election committee and oversight committee) at 4:30 pm.”

He also said media houses were invited to witness the election and the Minister of Higher Education, Peter Adwok Nyaba, visited the campus on Monday and Tuesday to ensure things were going on smoothly.

Akec however acknowledged that rumours spread throughout Juba on Monday, alleging that there was violence between students during the elections which prompted the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to visit the university campus.

“Unknown elements in Juba wanted discredit the elections at any cost by circulating wild rumours of violence between students groups, but when authorities rushed to the campus (including the IGP) they found that things were calm and peaceful and no basis for those rumours,” he said.

(ST)

June 15, 2016 (JUBA) - Armed men in South Sudan have overrun Raja town, the administrative headquarters of the newly created Lol state, forcing the area governor and his cabinet to flee in disarray amid heavy gunfire.

Rizik Zachariah Hassan, Governor of Lol state (UN photo)

Lol state Governor Rizik Zachariah Hassan and his deputy Sumeiya Adut have fled the town and have not been able to communicate with each other since heavy gunfire erupted at dawn.

The whereabouts of the deputy governor remains unclear, raising concern for her safety.

The exact identities of the armed gunmen remains unclear and no specific groups have come out to claim any responsibility for attacking the strategic border town.

The details of casualties remains unclear, though military sources and local government officials told Sudan Tribune in series of interviews that Rizik narrowly escaped an attempt on his life, but his driver and body guard were injured as they tried to flee the area.

Governor Rizik is presently in Majok Dengdit village in Aweil West area.

(ST)

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June 14, 2016 (BOR) - A World Food Program-chattered plane, registration EK32120, crashed landed in Jonglei state capital on Tuesday, but no casualties were involved.

The photo of WFP aircraft, that crashed in Bor on June 14, 2016 ST.

The aircraft that came from the South Sudan capital, Juba landed in Bor at 8:19 A.M, when one of its wheels failed, rolled on the runway before it crashed landed.

Bor airport director, Kuot John Akech, said the crash was due to a mechanical failure.

“The antonov 32, was coming from Juba, around 8:19 a.m,. When it landed in Bor , it touched down well, but unfortunately, the left gear, on one side, was not rolling , so the plane got out of the runway to the side, and it got crashed”, he told reporters Tuesday.

Three crew members, who included two pilots and an engineer, survived with minor injuries.

“We sent them for drug and alcohol tests to know what exactly happened”, said Akech.

The aircraft, belonging to COCO Aviation Limited, was taking food from Bor to Malakal.

"The plane is damaged totally. The pilot has more than 30 years experienced," further said Akech, added that the problem was caused by a technical error in the system.

The second crash occurred in Bor less than two months ago, official records indicate.

(ST)

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June 14, 2016 (NYALA) – On Monday night law enforcement forces in the capital of south Darfur state, Nyala, clashed with armed men who stole a vehicle belonging to a leading member of ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and attempted to flee the town in vain.

Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces sit in an armed vehicle in Nyala, south Darfur, displaying weapons they say they captured from the Justice and Equality Movement rebels on May 13, 2015 (AFP Photo/Ashraf Shazly)

A security source in Nyala told Sudan Tribune that a joint force from the police, the army and the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) managed to arrest the three gunmen who stole the vehicle of the NCP Deputy Youth Secretary in the state, which was parked in front of his home in Nyala.

The joint security team forced the carjackers to surrender after heavy clashes, according to the security source.

The heavy clashes that lasted from more than 30 minutes caused panic among the resident of the city. But, the security official asserted that the regular forces are capable to curb the criminal gang activities.

"There are many outlaws who are still undermining the security situation after the significant stability in the state," he said stressing that ''the law enforcement agencies are able to deal with any trouble despite the succession of security incidents since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan''.

In a separate security incident, five masked gunmen stormed “Al Madina” Pharmacy, which is at 200 meters from the premises of South Darfur government.

A pharmacist working in the pharmacy told Sudan Tribune that five armed men of whom 4 were in military uniform stormed the pharmacy and stole cash money and mobile phones before fleeing.

A number of residents have expressed concern over the return of the lawlessness situation which had prevailed in Nyala before imposing the emergency situation, pointing that the looting of a pharmacy in downtown is a serious indicator that the state could return to the previous situation.

Since July 2014, the governor of South Darfur Adam Mahmoud Jar al-Nabi, declared an indefinite emergency situation in the state, including a curfew from 7pm to 7am (local time) in Nyala.

The decision also banned riding of motorcycles by more than one person, holding weapons while wearing civilian clothes, vehicles driving around without license plates, and wearing a kadamool (a turban which covers the face).

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

June 14, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – Ethiopia and Eritrea on Tuesday traded blame over who triggered Sunday's fresh border fighting that took place in their disputed border area.

Eritrean president, Isias Afewerki (AFP Photo)

The two rival forces fought around Tserona central front, an area about 75 kilometres south of the Eritrean capital, Asmara raising fears of a renewed all-out war.

Following the incident, Eritrea ministry of information immediately accused arch-rival Ethiopia of launching the attack first.

In an updated statement issued today, Asmara denied launching the attack first instead said it has repulsed the attack with Ethiopian troops sustaining heavy causalities.

Ethiopia on its part on Tuesday confirmed its military had taken "proportional measures" against Eritrea in response to an attempted attack in the Tsorona area on Sunday.

“The retaliatory measure against Eritrean forces seriously weakened the attacking capacity of the Eritrean army” said Ethiopia's communications affairs office.

The Ethiopian government further warned Eritrea that it will take further retaliatory actions if Asmara fails to stop its “mundane acts”.

At a press conference held Tuesday, communication minister, Getachew Reda said the decision on whether Ethiopia should take further military action or not depends on the future acts of the regime in Asmara.

The minister said the latest attack was an offensive plan by Eritrea and Ethiopian forces defended themselves and further took counter offensive measures to neutralize the threat.

Recently, the United Nations human rights investigators accused Eritrean leaders of crimes against humanity including torture, rape and murder and called on the Security Council to impose sanctions and refer the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

According to the Ethiopian government, the latest UN accusation has put Eritrea under pressure.

“Eritrea's attempted attack was targeted at diverting the attention of Eritrean people and the international community” the statement added.

The Government of Eritrea today further said it will issue detailed statement on the purpose, scope and implications of the latest violence.

“It is nonetheless clear that mounting opposition from popular movements of the Ethiopian people, endemic corruption and associated economic crisis, as well as the desire to stem promising progress in Eritrea are indeed some of the factors prompting Ethiopian regime to indulge in reckless military adventures” it said.

LEVEL OF CASUALITIES

With regard to level of causalities on the Ethiopian side the Ethiopian minister said it was too early to reveal the number at this point.

He said officials are receiving from the ground on level of the general damage.

The official however hinted it could be a serious number.

“The actual offensive was a serious one not just a simple skirmish so I would expect a significant damage mainly on the Eritrean side” Getachew said.

CIVILIAN EVACUATION

Sudan Tribune has learnt that Ethiopian authorities around the battle area have ordered civilians to evacuate ahead of the “counter attack”
Ethiopian officials said they had to evacuate civilians as Eritrean forces were bombarding the area using artilleries.

“We had to take precautionary measures to avoid civilian causalities” Getachew added.

He admitted Ethiopian forces has used a full on mechanized defensive including using Tanks, and RPGs.

In 1993, Eritrea, gained independence from Ethiopia but five years later it engaged in a two-year long war with its larger neighbour over their disputed border.

The war has claimed the lives of at least 70,000.

Although a peace deal signed in 2000 ended the bloody war, terms of the agreement haven't yet been implemented as Addis Ababa demanded further talks on implementation process.

As a result, the two neighbours remain in a no-war no-peace situation and forces of both sides regularly engage in lower-scale skirmishes however the extent of the latest clashes are said to be larger.

Sources told Sudan Tribune that people residing along the common border have been fleeing the area following the fighting which has involved heavy artillery.

Ethiopia and Eritrea routinely exchange accusations of backing rebels trying to destabilize and overthrow the other's government

Eritrea is also under UN sanctions over accusations of arming training and financing al-Qaida allied terrorist group in Somalia, Al-Shabab.

(ST)

June 14, 2016 (JUBA) – The United Nations Human Right Council (UNHRC) has selected a three-member committee to monitor human rights violations in South Sudan and aid the process of transitional justice, healing and reconciliation.

A general view of participants during the 29th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 3 July 2015 - (UN Photo)

The President of the Human Rights Council, ambassador Choi Kyonglim (Republic of Korea), announced Tuesday the appointment of Yasmin Sooka (South Africa), Kenneth R. Scott (USA) and Godfrey M. Musila (Kenya), to serve as the three members of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan.

Sooka will serve as Chair of the three-person commission. She is a human right lawyer who served on South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 1994 to 2001.

The Council decided to establish, for a period of a year, the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan at its 31st session on 23 March 2016, to monitor and report on the situation of human rights in South Sudan and make recommendations for improvement.

Through Human Rights Council resolution 31/20 on the situation of human rights in South Sudan, which was adopted by consensus, the 47-member body mandated the three-person Commission to assess the human rights situation in the country since December 2013, in order to establish facts in support of transitional justice, accountability, reconciliation and healing.

The Commissioners, who will serve in their personal capacities, will provide guidance to the Government of South Sudan on transitional justice, accountability and reconciliation issues and will engage with international and regional mechanisms to promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses.

The commission is scheduled to present a comprehensive written report to the Human Rights Council at its 34th regular session, in March 2017.

According to chapter five of the August 2015 peace agreement, a Hybrid Court will be formed to try suspects for the crimes committed during the 21 months of conflict between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar.

There will be a separate body for truth, healing and reconciliation to mend ties for the ethnically divided country.

(ST)

June 14, 2016 (JUBA) - A unit of the faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a co-national army of South Sudan under the command of President Salva Kiir, has ransacked a market in Kajokeji county of the proposed Yei River (Central Equatoria) state, sparking armed confrontation in which more than 20 lives were lost.

Women sell food at Konyo Konyo market in South Sudan (Reuters)

The actual motive behind the looting of the civilians market remains unclear. Neither the office of the spokesperson of the SPLA nor the governor of the proposed Yei River state has issued a statement providing explanations or circumstances under which armed confrontation ensued in one of the supposedly relatively peaceful and calm places in the country since the conflict broke out in mid- December 2013.

Local accounts from eyewitnesses attributed the cause to the deployment of a unit of the SPLA force to Nyepo payam, located north of Kajokeji, without the knowledge and approval of the local authorities.

“The report I received from the area is that the humanitarian situation is dire after this incident. The civilians have fled their homes. They are sleeping out in the open and in churches with limited capacity to accommodate them,” a legislator representing Kajokeji at the national legislative assembly in Juba said Monday in an exclusive interview.

“Also these are places which were not meant to residences. They were meant for something else,” he added.

The lawmaker who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals claimed the armed confrontation was sparked by the behaviours of some elements of government's forces who entered the market to loot.

“My daughter and my brother were in the market when this incident occurred. What they told me and has been confirmed by several people is that some elements of the SPLA forces that were deployed to Kajokeji recently on dubious grounds decided to go to the market and started taking food items by force from owners,” he said.

The national army forces, he said, argued that the government had not paid them salary for long and that they had no money to pay for the food.

“When they were asked to pay, they refused and said that they have not been paid by the government. Now who did not pay them, government or the civilians, asked the legislator? “This was caused the fight because youth felt agitated and so decided to stop intimidation,” he explained

Other sources claimed that the clashes erupted when armed men loyal to the first vice president, Riek Machar, decided to intervene upon seeing the intimidation of the natives by the SPLA forces.

Upon the clash in the market, according to another source, the local command of the army unit in the area decided to send reinforcements from the main barrack in Mundari area in central Kajokeji but their movement was intercepted and fell into ambush laid on the way and lives were lost.

Another reinforcement sent from Juba fell in an ambush and additional lives were lost.

It is unclear how many lives have been lost from both sides. Many sources put figures of the government killed in two ambushes at more than 20 soldiers but local residents put the figures higher.

(ST)

June 14, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Defence Minister Awad Ibn Ouf said Tuesday that the Border Guard Forces (BGF) would participate among the rest of the regular forces in the collection of illegal arms in Darfur.

Sudan's defence minister Awad Ibn Ouf (SUNA Photo)

In April, President Omer al-Bashir announced the formation of a national body under the title of Darfur Disarmament Higher Committee to collect illegal weapons from the hand of civilians.

He said there will be a first phase were people will be asked to voluntarily handover their arms, adding that the second step will be heavy disarmament operations and legal action will be taken against those who didn't deliver their weapons.

The BGF is comprised mostly of the Arab militia mobilized by Khartoum to help quell the revolt of Darfur rebels who took up arms against the government in February 2003.

On Monday, Ibn Ouf inspected the BGF troops at the Wadi Sayidna military area north of Khartoum upon their return from the combat operations in the Blue Nile state.

He said the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), the BGF and the other regular forces would participate in the collection of the illegal arms in Darfur in order to enhance peace and stability, pointed that the BGF has responded to the call of duty in all battlefields.

The Defence Minister further hailed efforts of the BGF in maintaining security and stability and supporting programs of voluntary return of the IDP's to their original villages, pointing to the significant victories in the Blue Nile and the entire military operations zones.

The Sudanese government has been fighting the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan and Blue Nile areas since 2011.

Earlier this month, the Blue Nile Governor Hussein Yassin Abu Sorwal said that SAF managed to retake control of the strategic area of Jebel Kilgu, 30 km south of the Blue Nile state capital Ed-Damazin.

The Sudanese government had dispatched hundreds of the Rapid Support Force (RSF) militiamen to participate in the recent battles in the Blue Nile.

The SRF militiamen are accused to taking part in the counterinsurgency campaign led by the Sudanese army against Darfur rebel groups. UN agencies estimate that some 300 thousands civilians were killed.

For his part, SAF Chief of Staff Emad al-Din Mustafa Adawy stressed that SAF would meet the needs of the BGF and provide training for its soldiers to carry out their duties fully.

He also pointed to the recent victories in Jebel Kilgu, Torda and Angassana Hills in the Blue Nile, pledging to provide resources for the BGF in order to protect the borders efficiently.

(ST)

June 14, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese president, Salva Kiir, has issued a provisional order appointing all the state governors as interim leaders of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in their respective states.

South Sudanese president Salva Kiir (Photo: Reuters)

The order appointed 28 governors of the newly created controversial 28 states, ending tensions and uncertainty over who controls party branch offices after the division of the states since 2 October last year.

According to Bol Makueng, secretary of information at the secretariat of the faction of the SPLM loyal to President Kiir, said the appointments came in accordance with the mandate given to the President by the party's political bureau.

Makueng further explained that the 28 governors will lead the party in the new states until state congresses are conducted.

“These are interim arrangements until congresses are conducted. And it is within the powers of the chairman after the meeting of the political bureau had resolved and authorized him to issue a provisional order in his capacity as the chairman of the SPLM,” Makueng said.

“So the state governors are the interim leaders now,” he said.

The main duties of the interim leaders, according to Makueng, are to help in planning, coordination and organization and receive directives and guidance from head office on how they could be running the affairs of the party in the state through the existing secretariat.

He also added that they may upgrade the county offices in places where a county has been upgraded to become a state of its own as a result of the creation of more administrative units.

(ST)

June 15, 2015 (KJARTOUM) - The Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement - Minni Minnawi on Wednesday called on the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to take part in the ongoing efforts to bring peace in Sudan.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni gestures during his inauguration in Kampala on 12 May 2016 (Photo AFP)

The two groups, which hold arms against the government of President Omer al-Bashir in Darfur region since 2003, call to open the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) for talks and refuse to sign the Roadmap Agreement brokered by the African Union asking to create a conducive environment for the constitutional conference .

''The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement Sudan (JEM) strongly believe that the Republic of Uganda with its visionary leadership is best placed to play a constructive role in the search for peace in the Republic of Sudan," said a joint statement extended to Sudan Tribune in the first hours of Wednesday.

The two rebel movements pointed to the " instrumental role" played by President Museveni in the resolution of the South Sudanese crisis, the recent rapprochement between Khartoum and Kampala and the Ugandan role in the conclusion of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 ending the civil war between Sudanese government and the SPLM.

'' Therefore, SLM and JEM wholeheartedly request and welcome H. E. President Yoweri Museveni to exploit his exceptionally rich experience in the affairs of the region and his outstanding statesmanship in working for peace in the Republic of Sudan which will consequently contribute positively to the sustenance of peace in the Republic of South Sudan,'' the two group said.

Kampala and Khartoum traded accusations for longtime of supporting rebel groups, but their relations have improved over the past months and the ICC-wanted President Omer al-Bashir attended the inauguration of President Museveni last May.

Also, Museveni made negative remarks in his inaugural address about the International Criminal Court when he described it as 'a bunch of useless people'.

last month the two rebel groups asked Qatar to join the African Union-led mediation in order to discuss some outstanding issues already outlined in the DDPD.

But seemingly, Khartoum refused the request as it keeps saying the holdout groups have to ink the DDPD and then the government can discuss to their requests.

(ST)

June 14, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Tuesday said it has foiled people-smuggling operation via the Red Sea coast in Port Sudan pointing that two suspects were arrested.

Saudi men rest along the beach overlooking the Red Sea - (Photo Reuters/Susan Baaghil)

Sudan is considered as an origin as well as transit region for the illegal migrants and human trafficking. Thousands of people from Eritrea and Ethiopia are monthly crossing the border into the Sudanese territories on their way to Europe through Libya or Egypt.

The Sudan Media Center, a website closely linked to the country's intelligence circles, quoted a well-informed security source as saying that the NISS had foiled the smuggling of 22 people to a neighbouring country through the Sudanese coast on the Red Sea.

He said that a maritime security force had busted the boat which was waiting to load the illegal migrants at Danganab area after it received information about a people-smuggling operation to a neighbouring country.

The same source stressed that two suspects were arrested, pointing that the boat belongs to fish trader in Port Sudan.

He said that the illegal migrants confessed that the smuggling operation is carried out by several people belonging to one of Eastern Sudan's tribes at Al-Shagar area in the sea port of Sawakin, saying they charge each passenger between 2000 to 9000 Sudanese pounds (SDG) (about $150-$640).

He added that the suspects have been handed over to the police to take the legal action against them.

Last week, Sudan, Italy and the United Kingdom said they arrested in Khartoum an Eritrean man suspected of controlling one of the world's four largest criminal migrant trafficking organizations.

In January 2014, the Sudanese parliament approved an anti-human trafficking law which punishes those involved with human trafficking with up to 20 years imprisonment.

Also, in 2014, Khartoum hosted a conference on human trafficking in the Horn of Africa, organised by the African Union (AU), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Sudanese government.

15 countries and European Union representatives attended the meeting, during which a joint strategy and action plan to combat human trafficking was adopted.

(ST)

The longer the political crisis continues in Guinea Bissau, the more likely the country could see setbacks to its development and economic gains, warned the head of the United Nations peacebuilding office there, urging the Security Council to pay greater attention to the situation.