Africa

Increased “brinkmanship, pressure tactics, and tests of strength” are threatening progress in Somalia, the country’s UN envoy told the Security Council on Monday, warning that they must be resolved “through dialogue and compromise”. 

The Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a World Food Programme (WFP) staff member, together with an Italian embassy official, were killed on Monday during an attack on a UN convoy in the east of the country, the agency has said. 

Just eight countries in Africa have adequate death registration systems, a BBC investigation finds.

In Zambia, where the climate crisis is making it increasingly difficult to earn a living, goat-rearing is being seen as a possible route to a better livelihood, and economic resilience.

The Hirak movement marks its second anniversary with hopes of a rebirth despite appeasement efforts.

The UN chief expressed grave concern on Friday over an outbreak of violence in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. 

Heavy gunfire breaks out in Somalia's capital as the opposition defies a ban to protest about delayed elections.

Extreme violence and attacks involving thousands of fighters at a time have engulfed more than three-quarters of South Sudan, UN human Rights Council-appointed investigators said on Friday, warning that the bloodshed faced by civilians are “the worst recorded” since the country’s civil war began in December 2013.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on Friday, highlighted the dire situation of some three million displaced children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who face brutal militia violence and extreme hunger. 

Dina Mufti Ethiopia's FM spokesman speaks to reporter on 20 January 2021 (Ethiopia FM photo)

February 18, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - The Ethiopian government accused the Sudanese army of seeking to plunge Sudan into a war against Ethiopia in the interest of a third country.

In a new escalation with Sudan, the Ethiopian foreign ministry issued a statement on Wednesday condemning what its described as a "provocative behaviour", on the joint border warning that it will cause damage to the two countries.

"The Ethiopian government strongly believes that the conflict being trumpeted by the Sudanese government's military wing could only serve the interests of a third party at the expense of the Sudanese people," said the statement.

According to different diplomatic sources, Ethiopian officials accuse Egypt of pushing the Sudanese army to ignite war in the border area where the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is under construction, so they can destroy it.

The statement further said that Sudan undermined the Ethiopian efforts to "finalize the re-demarcation process" while the Sudanese army".

"The Ethiopian government would like to call upon the people of Sudan to check on its government from serving a third party interest which only would result in the determent of the two nations," repeated the statement.

During a meeting of the joint political committee on 22 December, the Sudanese side was surprised by the demand made by the Ethiopian delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen who asked to demarcate the border.

The Sudanese side rejected the demand and underscored that there are several agreements on the border demarcation and now what is needed is to place border markers.

Recently different envoys from the European Union and several Arab countries, the latest Saudi Arabia, were in Khartoum and Addis Ababa calling to de-escalate tensions and stop verbal attacks.

Also, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki despatched his special envoy EL-hacen Lebatt to Khartoum on Wednesday to discuss the growing tensions with Ethiopia.

(ST)

February 18, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - A South Sudanese rebel commander allied to the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) has rejected attempts to persuade him to join the army of President Salva Kiir, citing lack of trust.

Rebel commander Johnson Olony speaks to the press upon arrival at Juba international airport on 13 June 2013 (ST)

General Johnson Olony made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the Sudan Tribune Thursday.

The Chilluk general who until recently was seen as a risks endangering the fragile transition process in South Sudan, said he was approached by Tut Kew Gatluak the Presidential Adviser on Security and Akol Koor Kuc, the Director General of South Sudan's Internal Security Bureau (ISB).

"They came to me, showered me with praising words and I listened to them. Finally, they said they want me to join them, to be a government supporter and be integrated into the government and be assigned as one of the military leaders," said Olony.

"They said I will be assigned the command of one of the sectors. They talked of sector 1. I said sorry and we broke up. Our talks could not proceed, and they left. That what they came for”, he further said.

The armed opposition figure said he rejected the offer because it was the same government which rejected his appointment as the Governor of the Upper Nile State

He accused the armed opposition party leadership of withdrawing his nomination after several months of pushing for his appointment.

“What kind of these people? Look, yesterday they rejected my nomination and today they came and asked I should go and work with them. What kind of game are they playing? That is more than the game of the kids,” explained Olony.

The officer urged regional leaders, the peace guarantors and the international community to put pressure on President Salva Kiir's government to ensure the 2018 peace agreement is implemented.

“Until today, as I speak to you and which you know, forces in the cantonment have not been passed out so that reunification of the forces is done. The state governments have not been fully government. the transitional national legislative assembly has not been reconstituted and others. And how many months are left to go for elections?” stressed Olony.

He added, “I don't know whether Salva Kiir and his group are sincere with themselves, he said.

A presidential source separately told the Sudan Tribune that both Akol and Tut were recently in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum but declined to confirm if the two security officials held talks with Olony.

“I cannot comment on this issue. This is a security matter and I do not speak for them”, the presidential aide said Thursday.

President Kiir signed a power-sharing agreement with SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar and several other groups in September 2018.

The parties to the peace agreement formed the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) in February last year.

(ST)

February 18, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese army chief of staff Thursday received the commander of the Sudan Liberation Army of Minni Minnawi (SLA-MM).

In line with the peace agreement signed on 3 October 2020, the armed groups have to joint cantonment sites and to be trained with the national army ahead of its gradual integration.

"Lt Gen Mohamed Osman al-Hussein received in his office on Thursday the field commander of the Sudan Liberation Army Juma Haggar," the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said in a statement released on Thursday.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, and the Head of Military Intelligence added the statement.

The Sudanese government recently called on the armed groups to bring their fighters to the assembly sites in order to start the training of the joint forces that will protect civilians in Darfur. Until now only the Sudanese government troops are deployed on the ground.

The SLA-MM which was based in Libya regained the country last November. UN experts say some of them are still in north African country but the group's leader says all of them now in Sudan.

In line with the peace agreement, the armed groups should not recruit new troops after the signing of the peace agreement. The fighters who are still outside the country will not be accepted in the cantonment sites after a certain delay.

(ST)

The United Nations Secretary-General has strongly condemned Wednesday’s attack on a boarding school in north-central Nigeria in which one student was killed and several students, as well as relatives and staff, abducted. 

February 17, 2021 (MOROBO) - The opposition National Salvation Front (NAS) led by General Thomas Cirillo Swaka has dismissed allegations that it was responsible for the death of General Saki James Palaoki, it's former area commander for Maridi area in South Sudan's Western Equatoria State.

Thomas Cirillo Swaka (Photo Reuters)

Gen. Palaoki was kiled in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on February 10.

"The allegations and propaganda against NAS is mere mudslinging and baseless lie devoid of evidence, but aimed to sow division and ethnic hatred", partly reads NAS's statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

The opposition group accused the Democratic Resistance Movement (DRM) of being behind allegations that it killed Gen. Palaoki.

"NAS urges it's members to ignore them and treat them with the contempt they deserve," added the statement signed by it's spokesperson, Suba Samuel Manase.

Meanwhile the hold-out opposition group urged the public to shun division along ethnic lines and focus of the struggle to achieve freedom, justice and the rule of law.

"NAS further urges its members to concentrate on their national revolutionary responsibilities and ignore the cheap propaganda of groups such as the DRM," stressed the statement.

NAS, which is not party to the September 2018 peace deal, signed a truce agreement with the government in Rome on January 12, 2020.

(ST)

February 17, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Saudi Arabia said intending to mediate between Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia to end the 9-year dispute over the filling and operating of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The negotiations over the GERD are stalled over how to fill the reservoir of the giant dam without affecting Egypt water supplies or threatening Sudan small dams.

The three countries also are divided on how to negotiate as Sudan propose to involve African mediators with the support of US and EU observers.

On Tuesday, the Saudi Minister of State for African Affairs Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Qattan arrived in Khartoum where he met with senior officials, including Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi.

"Saudi Arabia stands firmly with the water security of Arab countries, and my country seeks to end the issue of the Renaissance Dam in a manner that guarantees the rights of the three countries," Qattan told reporters, after his meeting with Hamdok on Wednesday.

He said he had met earlier with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, upon the directives of the King Salman of Saudi Arabia.

"We will continue the good offices to end this important and thorny file," he added.

For her part, Foreign Minister Maryam Al-Sadiq stressed that the filling and operating of the Ethiopian dam should be done is within the framework of a binding legal agreement, and confirmed her country's commitment to dialogue with the aim of reaching a solution that satisfies all parties.

In a related development, Hamdouk chaired a meeting of the Supreme Committee on the GERD to discuss Ethiopian statements about its intention to start the second filling of the dam next July even without reaching an agreement on exchanging information.

(ST)

February 17, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Fighters belonging to the Sudan Liberation Movement of Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) arrived at cantonment sites in Khartoum state, as part of the security arrangements in the Juba peace agreement.

The former rebel forces under the command of Juma Haggar, the SLA-MM chief of staff was welcomed by a Sudanese army general at a gathering site outside Omdurman district.

The SLM-MM which posted a video about the arrival of their fighters to the Khartoum state did not give the location of the military site or from where they arrived.

Last November, the former rebel fighters arrived in El-Fasher, capital of North Darfur, from Libya after crossing Chad with the permission of the Chadian army.

In line with the peace agreement, the SLM-MM combatants will work jointly with the government forces to protect civilians in Darfur as they would be gradually merged into the national army by the end of the transitional period.

In a report to the UN Security Council last January, the panel of independent experts on Darfur said that the armed groups agreed with the army of General Hafar in Libya and the United Arabes Emirates to keep some of their forces in Libya.

Nonetheless, Minni Minnawi dismissed their participation in the civil war in Libya but he admitted the presence of his fighters there.

On 14 February, Minnawi met with Lt Gen Mohamed Osman Al-Hussein, Sudanese Army Chief of Staff, and discussed "ways to expedite the implementation of the security arrangements".

Following the meeting, he stressed his group's keenness to communicate with the Sudanese armed forces and to contribute to protecting peace and extending stability.

(ST)

February 17, 2021 (JUBA)- President Salva Kiir is in talks with South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) leaders in a move that could see its gubernatorial position relinquished for more positions in the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), a source said.

South Sudan opposition alliance leaders meeting President Salva Kiir in Juba, November 6, 2019 (PPU)

Kiir, the presidential source told Sudan Tribune Wednesday, has been under pressure from some senior ruling party (SPLM) members to enter into an agreement with SSOA to trade off its position of Jonglei state governor for posts at the national and foreign service.

SSOA, a third party to the September 2018 peace deal, was allocated Jonglei and nominated Denay Jock Chagor as governor.

The opposition alliance also has Hussein Abdelbaggi as one of the five vice president, three cabinet ministers and a junior minister.

“There are bilateral talks between the parties. His excellency the president of the republic wants to see if SSOA will agree to let him appoint someone from the SPLM leadership (SPLM-Salva Kiir) to become the governor of Jonglei state so that this governor goes and address the issue of insecurity in the state and give them (SSOA) some positions at the national and foreign service levels,” the presidential aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

The opposition, according to the official, will get more positions to accommodate more of their members who failed to get assignments due to shortage of positions during the appointments.

“I would have taken this offer without hesitation if I were them. This is for their advantage. They will now have more positions than they have now”, he explained.

According to the official, the ongoing talks are now between a select figure within the office of the vice president for service clusters, minister of agriculture, minister of public services and the minister of higher education on one hand and officials from the president's office and the secretariat of the country's ruling party.

“If given, the position of the governor will return to a politician from a Lou Nuer who feel they have not been represented in either the cabinet or at the state level by a faction allied to president Kiir. Riek Gai Kok, a former minister of health is a potential candidate,” he said.

It, however, remains unclear whether the incumbent governor will accept the proposals from the SPLM and whether it would not amount to interference in affairs of another political organization.

According to the revitalised peace agreement, the responsibility sharing at state and county levels shall be 55% for President Kiir's side, armed opposition (SPLM-IO) 27%, SSOA 10% and Other Opposition Parties (OPP) 8%.

The positions that shall be shared as per the responsibility sharing formula are governors, speakers of state legislatures, state councils of ministers, state legislatures, county commissioners and county councils.

(ST)

February 17, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's ruling coalition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) has rejected a proportion by the military component to appoint military governors in the states facing security problems.

The military component of the Sovereignty Council proposed to give them the position of governor in some states where the security situation is volatile such as Kassala, Red Sea, Gadaref, West Kordofan, West Darfur, East Darfur and North Darfur.

However, Ahmed Hadra, a member of the FFC leadership council told the Sudan Tribune on Wednesday they do not support such a proposal because they do not believe that a military governor can control the situation more than a civilian, as he said.

"There is no agreement on this proposal, which cannot be accepted. Also, there are no justifications for the military to assume the rule of governors."

He said that the governors of the states are nominated by Freedom and Change and appointed by the Prime Minister, as provided in the constitutional document governing the transitional period.

The states with a volatile security situation witnessed tribal violence and inter-communal attacks even before the appointment of the civilian governors.

Hadra said that the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) groups, their peace partners, demand to allocate them states, adding the issue is still under consideration as the two parties consult on the matter.

On 22 July 2020, Hamdok appointed interim governors in the 18 states of Sudan awaiting the signing of a peace agreement for the final appointment which should be done in consultation with the armed groups.

At the time, the SRF movements said they want to administrate some troubled states during the transitional period saying it would help to implement the peace agreement. Therefore, appointing military governor obstruct their plans and deprive them of political gains among their people particularly in Darfur.

For his part, the spokesperson for the former rebel group the Sudanese Alliance, Huzaifa Muhi al-Din, stated that the demand of the military component to allocate the position of governor in some states is states against the "ABCs of democracy."

"The civilian rule does not accept the involvement of the military in power, and the military establishment has nothing to do with governance," stressed Muhi al-Din in a statement extended to the Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

He further said that the appointment of military commanders in some states is a breach of the terms of the Juba Peace Agreement, which stipulated the participation of the SRF organizations in the governance of Darfur states.

The partners of the transitional period agreed to appoint state governors on February 25, as part of a time matrix to complete the formation of the transitional authority structures.

(ST)

Poor rainfall, flooding and desert locusts are contributing to extreme food insecurity in Somalia, threating 2.6 million people, the UN agriculture agency said in a new analysis released on Wednesday.  

Butterfly farming along the Kenyan coast is a source of income and a way of conserving the local forest.