Africa

Africa is in danger of being left behind in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines as countries in other regions strike bilateral deals, thus driving up prices, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday. 

The top UN official in the Central African Republic (CAR) appealed to the Security Council on Thursday for more peacekeepers and equipment amid escalating violence surrounding elections last month.

January 20, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, on Wednesday, urged the ruling coalition to submit the lists of nominees for the new cabinet ministers.

Last Sunday, the Nominations Committee of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) said consultations underway with the National Umma Party (NUP) to finalize its nominees for several ministerial portfolios.

Also, the South Sudanese mediation secretary-general Dhieu Matouk held a meeting with the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) groups to discuss the selection of nominees for the new government in line with the peace agreement.

On Wednesday, Hamdok shared a meeting with the FFC and the SRF to discuss the formation of the new cabinet.

During the meeting, he stressed the need to observe the agreed selection criteria including competence, qualification, experience, integrity and the good conduct of the candidates, in addition to taking into account the equitable participation of women.

Further, the Prime Minister said that the speedy formation of the new government would positively impact the implementation of the Juba Agreement for Peace in Sudan.

The new cabinet will be composed of 26 ministers.

The two ministries of the defence and interior are reserved for the military component, while the armed groups got seven portfolios after long discussions with the FFC.

Based on the results of last democratic elections in 1986, the NUP demands six ministries out of the 17 ministries of the FFC.

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January 21, 2021 (JUBA) – A South Sudanese civil society says it intends to conduct a survey on citizens' perception regarding the performance of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) formed in February last year.

South Sudanese civil society activist Edmund Yakani (The Niles/File)

The survey, Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) said Thursday, runs from January 22-February 15 across the country.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, CEPO's executive director, Edmund Yakani said the exercise is intended to generate citizens' opinions for informing the parties' signatories to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the conflict in South Sudan about their performances in implementing the peace agreement.

He said all citizens, stakeholders and political parties will participate in the survey.

“It is time for us to assess ourselves about our performance at our various capacities in contributing to the genuine and meaningful implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan. It is good to know our strengths and weakness in engaging in the process of transitioning our country from violence to peace,” said Yakani.

According to the activist, the desk review of the public perceptions survey is completed and its findings would be release on January 22.

He, however, stressed that the final findings of the public perception survey will be release during CEPO's event commemorating the first anniversary of the formation of the unity government on February 22.

CEPO also urged the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC), the regional bloc (IGAD), African Union and United Nations to conduct in-depth evaluation of the peace partners' performance in implementing the peace deal.

The parties to the peace agreement formed the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity in February 2020. Despite this, there are many unresolved key issues, including security arrangements and an agreement on the finalization of governance structures.

Government and opposition forces should, as part of the September 2018 peace deal, form one national army.

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January 20, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Ethiopia dismissed statements by the head of the Sovereign Council about a bilateral agreement to deploy the Sudanese troops on the border before "the law enforcement operation in Tigray".

On 16 January, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan disclosed he had agreed with the Ethiopian Prime Minister to close the Sudanese borders to prevent any infiltration to and from Sudan by the TPLF fighters.

On his weekly press briefing on Wednesday, Ethiopian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Dina Mufti told reporters that they were surprised that Sudanese military officials misinterpret "friendly talks for cooperation along the borderlines of Ethiopia as a green light to encroach into Ethiopian lands".

"It should be clear that our government is responsible and sensitive to the sovereignty of the country and could not agree, by any means, to let a third party occupy Ethiopian lands," Mufti further stressed.

During his speech last Saturday, al-Burhan said the Sudanese armed forces have been deployed within the international borders.

Sudanese officials strongly rejected to Mufti past statements about the occupation of Ethiopian territory. They further said there are still two border areas they demand that the Ethiopian army withdraws its troops from it.

No need for South Sudan's mediation

The Ethiopian diplomat also declined the South Sudanese offer to mediate the border dispute between the two countries

"We have heard that some countries have expressed readiness to mediate between Sudan and Ethiopia on the border issues," Mufti said in a statement about the South Sudanese initiative.

He added that there is no need for such an offer because they did not refuse to discuss the matter directly with the Sudanese authorities.

"In this regard, as we have repeatedly said, had it not been for our firm stand to carry out negotiations with Sudan on the border issues, it would have been relevant to invite third parties to mediate the two countries".

Nonetheless, he requested the withdrawal of the Sudanese army from the "Ethiopian" territory before to hold bilateral talks on the border issue.

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January 21, 2021 (KAMPALA) – The weeks leading up to Uganda's recently concluded elections were characterized by widespread violence and human rights abuses, a US-based rights body said.

Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni (Photo: Carl Court/AP)

Human Rights Watch, in a statement issued Thursday, said abuses included killings by the country's security forces, arrests and beatings of opposition supporters and journalists, disruption of opposition rallies and nationwide shutdown of the internet.

The authorities should ensure thorough investigation and prosecution of those responsible for abuses, the rights body noted.

Last week, president Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner of the presidential election held on January 14 with 58.64 per cent of total votes, defeating 10 other candidates who had contested.

According to Human Rights Watch, since election campaigns began in November last year, security forces clamped down on opposition members and journalists, violently arresting scores of people, including two of the opposition presidential candidates.
It cites the November 18 and 19, 2020 incident in which security forces clamped down on protesters demanding the release of then-detained Robert Kyagulanyi, resulting in at least 54 deaths.

“A democratic playing field for free and fair elections was worryingly absent during these elections,” said Oryem Nyeko, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“Instead of restricting free expression, movement, and assembly, the Ugandan government should take concrete steps to improve respect for human rights for all and remove all remaining restrictions,” he added.

Uganda's security forces are also accused of blocking people, including the US ambassador to Uganda, Natalie E. Brown, from attempting to visit Kyagulanyi.

Also cited were restrictions imposed on media covering opposition party members, where journalists were sometimes beaten or shot.

Authorities applied similar restrictions on activists and civil society groups, including blocking National Elections Watch Uganda, a coalition of local organizations, from monitoring the elections.

Meanwhile, the US-based human rights body urged Ugandan authorities to immediately end all forms of harassment and intimidation of journalists, opposition supporters and leaders, while advocating for protection of their rights, including freedom of movement and respect for the rule of law.

(ST)

Following another deadly shipwreck off the coast of Libya that claimed 43 lives on Monday, the UN migration and refugee agencies have called for countries to re-activate search and rescue operations.

UN agencies voiced deep concern on Wednesday over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, where attacks by armed groups have forced more than 565,000 to flee their homes. 

Action to control unprecedented desert locust infestations in the Horn of Africa last year has protected crops and livelihoods, but funding is needed to sustain operations against new incursions, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday.

Former President John Dramani Mahama cannot comprehend why President Akufo-Addo will be preaching consensus building in respect of the new Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin who was elected from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the next day, the Police will be charging NDC parliamentarians for unlawful assembly.

The family of a ten-year-old who was killed by a speeding driver making out with a lover while driving on the Aduman ndash; Aduamoah road in the Afigya Kwabere District of the Ashanti region, is seeking justice.

A two-year-old child has drowned in a gutter at Netro, a suburb of Mankessim in the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region. The little boy was said to have been playing at the back of his house while his 19-year-old mother was also washing.

Former President John Dramani Mahama has berated President Akufo-Addo for promoting empty rhetoric on consensus building in parliament while acting differently. His remarks come after the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander served a court process on the Speaker of Parliament, Rt.

The National Coalition of NGOs in Health has criticized some organizations in the country for refusing to enforce the no facemask no entry principle in their offices. According to the Coalition, offices have suddenly stopped implementing the directive thereby allowing people to enter organizations freely without any due scrutiny.

While elections are one-time events, “democracy is a constant process of deliberation and consultation” where dialogue provides an “important arena for the building of national consensus”, the top UN official in West Africa told the Security Council on Monday. 

Building a global coalition for carbon neutrality by mid-century will be the UN’s “central objective”, the world body’s top official told a conference on climate action on Monday. 

Ghanaian peacekeepers at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) have been commended for their lifesaving support to a man who was severely wounded during recent violent inter-communal clashes in the north of the country.

Uganda's Yoweri Museveni is running for a sixth elected term in office, against 10 challengers.

The pangolin is said to be the world's most trafficked mammal. The BBC filmed a rescue operation.

Chemistry student Innocent Havyarimana started a thriving business in a Kenyan refugee camp.