Africa

Seafarer Mohammed Aisha has been living on an abandoned cargo ship for four years, part of that time completely on his own.

Fifty-eight women and children of more than 600 who were abducted last year during vicious intercommunal fighting in South Sudan, have been reunited with their families, the UN Spokesperson told reporters on Monday.  

Kenyan Josephine Muchilwa lost her chef's job and then her business but is now trying something else.

Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman hits a stunning 193 but South Africa win the second one-day international by 17 runs to level the series.

Survivors and their family members recount what happened when Islamist militants targeted Palma.

Egypt's pioneering ship captain has been targeted over false rumours about her role in the incident.

Zamalek grab a vital win to keep their African Champions League quarter-final hopes alive as holders Al Ahly and Simba book a spot in the last eight.

The Cairo spectacle sees the remains of 18 kings and four queens taken to a new resting place.

Dumsile Mavuso, the founder and head of Eswatini’s first national association for people with diabetes, is now bringing her knowledge and experience to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, in collaboration with the Government and the UN.

South Africa has faced a wave of Covid misinformation, but volunteers are fighting back.

The sanctions against top prosecutor Fatou Bensouda were imposed by former President Donald Trump.

Five-time African champions TP Mazembe of DR Congo fail to make the Champions League quarter-finals after a 2-0 defeat away to Algeria's CR Belouizdad.

A deadly attack on Friday against peacekeepers serving with the UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA, has been condemned in the strongest terms by the UN Secretary-General.

The G7 nations demand an investigation into reported human rights violations.

Thousands of people in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado are on the move in search of safety, as the security situation remains volatile, after last week’s brutal attacks by armed groups in Palma district, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). 

Mohamed Bazoum becomes the first elected leader to follow another since independence.

April 1, 2021 (YEI) - The Leadership of National Salvation Front (NAS) has strongly refuted allegations that its forces ambushed and killed people on the Juba-Yei road.

At least nine Ugandan drivers were been killed in a deadly ambush on the Yei-Juba highway in neighboring South Sudan last weekend, authorities confirmed.

The opposition group, in a statement, said it was not the first time its forces were wrongly accused by President Salva Kiir's government.

“On the same note, NAS condemns the irresponsible remarks made by the Governor of Central Equatoria State (CES) Hon. Emmanuel Adil Anthony who falsely accused NAS of carrying out road ambushes and further describing NAS as terrorist organization,” partly reads the statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Thursday.

It further stated that citizens of Central Equatoria State, in particular, and South Sudan in general lived in agony because of the “atrocities being committed by the South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) and its allied militia”.

“The SSPDF and its allied militia have been repeatedly looting, burning houses, killing, raping women and displacing the citizens from their villages,” it stressed.

The hold-out opposition group largely blamed the recent attacks on innocent civilians on the country's national army and pastoralists operating in these areas.

“On the other development, the cattle keepers from different areas of South Sudan are freely marauding and grazing in the whole of Central Equatoria State, armed with modern weapons, and constantly supplied with food as well as ammunition from their benefactors from Juba,” further noted the statement.

Meanwhile, NAS reiterated its commitment to the Cessions of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) signed in 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and to the Rome Declaration signed in 2020 in Rome, Italy.

(ST)

April 1, 2021 (BOR) - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has said his government will prioritize the fight against hunger across the young nation.

South Sudanese president Salva Kiir (AFP)

The South Sudanese leader made the remarks while addressing citizens during his visit to the Jonglei state capital, Bor on Thursday.

The situation remains dire across the country as almost 7 million people or 60 percent of the population are struggling to find enough food each day, aid agencies say.

“The president and his accompanying delegation visited the IDPs [internally displaced persons] in Mongalla payam and other camps along Juba-Bor road and keenly listened to their problems and demands,” the presidency said on Thursday.

Kiir also inspected the ongoing construction of the project on the Juba-Bor highway and commended the progress so far made on it.

For his part, senior presidential advisor, Kuol Manyang Juuk said the president is tirelessly committed to deliver services to the population.

He advised citizens not to listen to activists intending to divide the country, while urging the people of Greater Jonglei state to unite and support the president in the implementation of the peace deal.

The governor of Jonglei state, Denay Jok Chagor assured the South Sudanese leader that citizens fully support the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU).

South Sudan has been struggling to recover from five years of a civil war that killed almost 400,000 people, according to reports. A coalition government formed in February last year between President Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar is implementing a peace agreement that is behind schedule, while deadly violence continues in parts of the country.

(ST)

April 1, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese Prime Minister reassured African Union about his government's ability to protect civilians in Darfur after the end of the hybrid operation in the western Sudan region.

Abdallah Hamdok and head of the Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met on Thursday with a visiting delegation of the African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC), at the end of a three-day field mission from 29 March to 1 April.

The purpose of the visit is to assess the implementation of the Juba peace agreement and the progress towards the democratic transition in line with the Council's mandate to promote and enhance peace, security and stability in Africa.

"Prime Minister Dr Abdullah Hamdok reaffirmed the Sudanese government's ability to protect civilians in Darfur and the readiness of its forces to fill the void left by the exit of UNAMID (from the western Sudan region)," said his cabinet in a statement after the meeting.

The Sudanese government, up to now has deployed in Darfur 6,000 of 12,000 troops to protect the civilians in Darfur. The Africa Union-United Nations peacekeeping operation, UNAMID, terminated its mandate on 31 December 2020.

The PSC delegation visited Abushuk camp for displaced people outside El Fasher of North Darfur. Also, they met with UNAMID officials who are overseeing the liquidation process.

Al-Burhan who held a separate meeting with the delegation praised the support of the African Union to Sudan's efforts for the success of the transitional period and the implementation of the Juba Peace Agreement.

He further urged the PSC to persuade the holdout Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Abdel-Wahid al-Nur, to join the peace process.

Also, the head of the Sovereign Council stressed that the Peace and Security Council should work to settle all African issues including the GERD process and the border dispute between Ethiopia and Sudan.

For his part, Mohamed Idriss Farah Djibouti's Permanent Representative to the AU who spoke on behalf of the PSC delegation told reporters they touched al-Burhan's keenness to activate the role of the African Union to find African solutions to the continent's problems.

"The meeting agreed on the need to provide the African Union with the necessary technical, political and legal capabilities to make its role in mediating the GERD issue a success," he added.

(ST)

Mona Eltahawy says that Nawal El Saadawi's legacy continues in Africa's long tradition of "feminist giants".