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Après l'annonce de la réélection du président Ali Bongo à la tête du Gabon par la Cour constitutionnelle, l'Union africaine, dont le président tchadien Idriss Déby assure la présidence en exercice, a fait savoir qu'elle avait «pris acte» du verdict. Du côté des capitales influentes, la France, les Etats-Unis et le Maroc se sont aussi exprimés. Des réactions formulées en termes choisis.

September 24, 2016 (BOR) – Governor Philip Aguer has questioned the unfair distribution of the current newly created 14 counties in the new Jonglei state, but supported the increase in the number of the counties in principle although merging some of them in the future, he said, is a possibility.

Aguer, who first rejected the creation of the 14 counties earlier this month, said he had received a valid reason from the national capital, Juba, for their implementation. He made the remarks during the swearing in ceremony of the newly appointed commissioners on Friday, 23 September.

“The local government board recommended the 14 counties, so we have the legitimacy to implement the fourteen counties,” Aguer noted in his speech.

According to Aguer who comes from Twic East county, home to late leader John Garang, he said the biggest question which remained not answered was the reasons for not increasing the number of counties in Duk and Twic East counties.

Currently, the former Bor county, where defense minister Kuol Manyang Juuk and information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, has been increased into 8 new counties while Twic East is only increased to 3 counties and Duk with only 3 counties as well, making the total 14 new counties.

“The other question was, what about the other counties, like Twic East and Duk, who did not get more [counties] than what they requested? We have addressed that by seeing it to the population,” Aguer inquired.

“Decentralization process is not a one-day-process, you do this step and you evaluate it. So the rest of the areas-Twic and Duk- in the near future, if they need more counties, provided that is justified, and is not bringing more problems, then definitely we will recommend a county,” he said.

He said after two to three years, the state may evaluate the status of the new counties and may decide to further increase the number or merge the current ones into smaller number of administrative units.

“As I said decentralization is a process, [that] needs to be evaluate, may be 2 to 3 years, evaluation will come, and we will recommend more [counties] or amalgamation,” he added.

He said services delivery to the people should be the top priority to the government, not to have more counties.

“We the politicians need more counties, but what do the people want? The people need more services; it is our role to provide the services. You have more counties now, what is remaining is the services and the people will start questioning you tomorrow, where are the services?” Aguer, a former SPLA military spokesperson, continued.

Although the governor instructed the minister of finance to plan on how to get the budget for the 14 counties, he clearly urged the commissioners to think of where to get their vehicles as the state would not be able financially to buy vehicles.

“Now that you are appointed, expect a lot of challenges. You may wonder if you will get salaries. Mobility is another, bicycle and footing will be shame on the commissioner. For you to get vehicles, you must mobilize 250 heads [each] of cattle to buy a car,” he said, directing them to get the cattle from the populations they will be administering in their respective counties.

“We have every reason to create more counties because we have issues of insecurity. Issues of the education are handled at the level of the payams and counties,” he further continued.

Peace was among the issues the governor talked about when he addressed the new commissioner, saying peace between the Dinka of Jonglei state and the Murle ethnic group of Boma state should be consolidated.

“We have the task to implement the peace agreement signed in Juba and the peace between us and our neighbors. We have moved two steps forward in the direction of peace between us and Boma state. The Murle community is more than committed to peace and to peaceful co-existence,” he emphasized.

He said through achievement of peace the state authorities should plan for the return of the displaced people who are scattered all over the region, adding they will not come back if the authorities do not have peace and security.

“Through peace, we will return our cattle camps that are becoming bone of contention in Equartoria,” he said.

Some commissioners, who spoke on behave of their colleagues, pledged to work with the government to improve service delivery, work for peace within, and between their borders.

(ST)

September 24, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has criticized the United Nations for welcoming the release by the sudanese government of child soldiers allegedly recruited by Darfur rebel groups saying the international body was deceived by the regime.

Undated picture extended to Sudan Tribune on 28 April 2015 by the Justice and Equality Movement showing their fighters during a training exercise

Earlier this month, President Omer al-Bashir announced the release of twenty one children allegedly detained during the Gouz Dango battle with the JEM in April 2014.

However the rebel group denied that these children were part of its fighters reiterating its commitment to international conventions banning the use of child soldiers.

On Wednesday, the UN welcomed the release of the child soldiers and vowed to work with the Sudanese government to enhance the protection of children in the armed conflict affected areas in Sudan.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Saturday, JEM spokesperson Gibril Adam Bilal, underscored that his movement doesn't recruit children and hence there is no child soldiers among its prisoners held by the regime.

He described the UN announcement that the move indicates the regime's intention to implement the work plan developed by the UN last March as “strange and suspicious”.

“How did the UN know that those whom the regime claimed to have released were captured during the Gouz Dango battle?” he wondered.

Belal also wondered about the measures that the UN has taken to ensure the validity of the regime's claims and to confirm that the children belong to the JEM.

JEM spokesperson described the UN move as “breach of the minimum standards of justice”, saying the international body took for granted the regime's claims and didn't consider the viewpoint of the movement.

“What is the legal justification that allows the regime to keep [these children] in the prison cells of its security organs and torture them physically and morally for 17 months without notifying their families or the United Nations or the competent organizations of their conditions and whereabouts?” he further wondered
The Sudanese army has been fighting a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

According to the UN, 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict, and 2, 5 million chased from their homes.

(ST)

September 24, 2016 (JUBA)- The new South Sudanese First Vice President Taban Deng Gai will be holding series of meetings with top officials in the United States to explain circumstances under which he replaced Machar and his vision in implementing the peace agreement.

Gai will hold a meeting with the U.S. Administration and Congress between September 28 and October 4.

According to a statement from the embassy of South Sudan in the United States, the US Congress has already accepted to hear from the FVP about how to implement the peace in South Sudan. The high ranking members of the Congress will meet him next week.

On the other hand, senators on Foreign Relations Committee have also expressed willingness to meet the FVP to hear from him the circumstances under which the leadership changes of the SPLM-IO took place and whether it was in accordance with the provision of the peace agreement.

The visiting South Sudanese deputy president will meet officials in the White House and US state Department to discuss humanitarian assistance and the deployment of the protection force that is supposed to be deployed to South Sudan.

“It should be noted that the views expressed by some senators during the hearing of September 20 are not shared by the White House and the State Department. The position of the White House and the State Department is very clear, that is, Riek Machar should not return to Juba. This position was expressed by Donald Booth on September 7 hearing in the Congress," said Gordon Buaya senior diplomat at South Sudan embassy in Washington.

The diplomat stressed that the White House and the state Department want Gen. Taban and President Kiir to continue implementation of the peace. He expressed fears that the return of Riek Machar to Juba can lead to more war and instability.

“The FVP will also make presentations at various Think tanks in Washington DC. He will make presentations at Wilson Center, US Institute for Peace and Atlantic Council. His presentations will be attended by policy makers and academics in Washington, DC,” he added.

Gai led the South Sudan's delegation for the meetings of the UN General Assembly in New York.

(ST)

September 24, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - A delegation from the internal groups of the opposition umbrella Sudan Call on Saturday has travelled to Addis Ababa to participate in the meeting which will take place from 25 to 30 September to discuss organizational matters of the alliance and the pre-dialogue meeting.

Leaders of the opposition "Sudan Call" sign an agreement on the alliance's structures in Paris on 22 April 2016 (ST Photo)

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Saturday, Sudan Call spokesperson Mohamed Farouk Sulieman said the delegation was led by the chairman of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) Omer al-Digair who is also the head of the internal groups of the Sudan Call.

He pointed the Addis Ababa meeting would review political stances of the alliance besides discussing ways to develop its organizational structures and the role of the Sudan Call in unifying the opposition forces.

According to Sulieman, a workshop would be held in conjunction with the Addis Ababa meeting to develop the joint stance of the Sudan Call toward the upcoming preparatory dialogue meeting with the government groups.

The Sudan Call groups participating in the meeting include the two factions of the armed opposition umbrella Sudan Revolutionary Forces (SRF), the National Umma Party (NUP) besides the internal groups of the alliance including the SCoP, the Sudanese Ba'ath Party (SBP), the National Alliance Party (NAP), the Sudanese National Party (SNP) and the Center Alliance Party (CAP).

Last week, the leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Gibril Ibrahim told Sudan Tribune that the Sudan Call groups will meet in Addis Ababa from 25 to 30 September to discuss the preparatory meeting to coordinate positions and discuss some organizational matters.

Ibrahim who chairs a faction of the SRF stressed that the good coordination between the opposition forces, which include political and military groups, is needed more than any structural reforms.

On Wednesday, the opposition alliance National Consensus Forces (NCF), which is part of the Sudan Call, suspended the membership of the SCoP, SBP, NAP, SNP and the CAP as a result of the increasing differences over their participation in the African Union-led peace process.

Since several months, the NCF has been divided over its participation, within the framework of the opposition umbrella Sudan Call, in the negotiations for a peaceful settlement to end war in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states and Darfur region and a national constitutional dialogue conference.

While the suspended groups were willing to take part in the political process alongside the armed groups and NUP, the other forces including the Sudanese Communist Party say they want the Sudan Call to focus on the regime change agenda and popular uprising.

They believe that the current process would not bring democratic change in Sudan but would be a repetition to previous peace agreements and reinvigorates the regime of President Omer al-Bashir.

(ST)

La Bosnie-Herzégovine est-elle à nouveau menacée d’éclatement ? Le référendum serbe ravive toutes les tensions, 21 ans après la fin de la guerre. 

In his address to the General Assembly today, Ibrahim Ahmed Abd al-Aziz Ghandour, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sudan, said the 2030 Agenda and other frameworks before the United Nations are vital for all countries and he hopes that calls for reform will be heeded so the Organization becomes a true platform for implementing principles of international legality and “a bulwark for justice.”

Le président malien Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta a mis en garde vendredi 23 septembre contre la résurgence des groupes islamistes affiliés à al-Qaïda et à l'organisation Etat islamique dans son pays, profitant des difficultés d'application de l'accord de paix de l'an dernier. Il a souligné que ces groupes exploitaient les lenteurs de mise en œuvre de l'accord de l'an dernier pour «manipuler» et «détruire» les liens de coexistence au sein de la société malienne.

La première édition de la Semaine nationale des activités minières d’Afrique de l'Ouest qui se tient depuis le 22 septembre à Ouagadougou a donné l'occasion au ministre burkinabé de l'Energie et des Mines, Alpha Omar Dissa, d'annoncer une production record d'or au Burkina Faso cette année. Depuis l'an 2000, l'exploitation du métal jaune explose dans ce pays.

La finale de la Ligue des champions va opposer les Egyptiens du Zamalek et les Sud-Africains du Mamelodi Sundowns les 14 et 21 octobre 2016.

Ethiopian prince Lij Iyasu was deposed after fears he had converted to Islam. But it also put an end to the threat of Ethiopia entering into World War One, writes Martin Plaut.

Un climat d'intimidation et de répression règne au Congo-Brazzaville. C'est en tout cas ce que dénonce le rapport d'un groupe d'organisations politiques et de la société civile congolaise, adressé au...

Les Égyptiens du Zamalek ont perdu 2-5 face aux Marocains du Wydad Casablanca au stade Moulay Abdellah à Rabat, au Maroc, mais ils se sont qualifiés pour la finale de la Ligue des Champions CAF. Les buts marocians ont été marqués par Ismail El Haddad, et des doublés de William Jebor et Fabrice Ondama. Du côté des Égyptiens, ce sont Bassem Morsy et Stanley Ohawuchi qui ont donné la qualification. Lors du match aller de cette demi-finale, le Zamalek avait gagné 4-0 face au Wydad à Alexandrie, résultat suffisant pour les Égyptiens. En finale, le Zamalek va affronter les Sud-Africains du Mamelodi Sundowns.

Réélu avec près de 62% des voix, le militant anti-austérité et pro-immigration de 67 ans a augmenté de plus de deux points son score de l'an dernier, loin devant son unique rival, le député gallois Owen Smith.

En Ouganda, la cinquième Gay Pride n’aura donc pas eu lieu. Malgré quatre éditions réussies ces dernières années, samedi 24 septembre, la communauté LGBT a été empêchée de faire la fête. Après un événement en août durement réprimé par la police à Kampala, les organisateurs avaient décidé de s’en tenir à un simple événement sans parade. Mais un jeu de chat et de la souris s’est joué entre les bus des participants et la police. Arrivés à Entebbe, à l’endroit prévu du rassemblement, la police les a délogés. C’est donc ailleurs que la communauté s’est déplacée pour faire la fête.

L’Estonie a de nouveau échoué à se doter d’un président. Après l’échec des trois premiers au Parlement fin août, le collège électoral n’a pas su départir les cinq candidats en lice. Une première dans l’histoire de l’Estonie.

Au Bénin, la Cour constitutionnelle a épinglé onze ministres de l’ancien président Boni Yayi pour violation de la Constitution. Leur faute : ils n’ont pas déclaré leur patrimoine. La loi fondamentale l’exige et la loi contre la corruption de 2011 prévoit des sanctions. Mais des ministres de l’actuel gouvernement de Patrice Talon sont dans le même cas.

Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping has said a constitution court ruling which upheld President Ali Bongo's election victory was "unjust".

Néhány nappal ezelőtt a togói főváros, Lomé egyik bírósága bűnösnek mondta ki sikkasztás vádjában a togói ellenzék vezetőjét és legismertebb alakját, Alberto Olympiot, aki büntetésként öt év börtönbüntetést és pénzbírságot kapott. Az egykori üzlettársaitól (igazából itt az Olympio cégébe befektető Cauris Managementre kell gondolni) érkező feljelentés és vád szerint az Olympio által alapított majd részvényesként beszálló Cauris közös telekommunikációs és informatikai cégcsoportjától, az Axxend-csoporttól a politikus közel 6 milliárd frankot (nagyjából 2.8 milliárd forint) sikkasztott el, amit most egyrészt vissza is kell fizetnie (egy részét egyébként a Cauris már visszakapta), másrészt ezen felül még 885 millió frankot kártérítésként is le kell tennie.

A teljes érdektelenség mellett, Olympio távollétében bejelentett ítéletet egyébként Olympio és pártja sem fogadja el, utóbbinak, a két évvel ezelőtt alapított Togói Néppártnak a szóvivője szerint kizárólag egy kormányzati leszámolásról van szó, amelyben Faure Gnassingbe, az országot 1967 óta irányító Gnassingbe-klán 2005 óta hatalmon lévő tagja próbálja ellenfeleit kiiktatni a politikai palettáról. Alberto Olympio neve valószínűleg sokak számára ismerősen csenghet, ő annak a Gilchrist Olympionak az unokaöccse, aki 1990-től kezdve 2013-ig kőkemény ellenzékiként küzdött a Gnassingbék ellen, ráadásul Gilchrist édesapja nem más, mint a togói függetlenség atyja, Sylvanus Olympio, akit pont Eyadema Gnassingbé gyilkolt meg egy 1963-as puccs során.

Az ítéletnek érvényt szerezni egyébként nem lesz túl könnyű, hiszen Alberto Olympiot 2015. májusa óta nem látták Togóban, de az biztos, hogy egy ilyen ítélettel, amellyel hazatérése esetén azonnal a letartóztatás várná, fényesen felfelé ívelő politikai karrierjét elég keményen megroppantották. A fellebbezés biztos, ahogy az is, hogy hívei és pártja minden követ meg fognak mozgatni tiltakozásuk jeleként és hát lássuk be, az Alberto által “tisztán üzleti ügyként” hivatkozott Cauris-botránytól függetlenül Togónak szüksége lenne egy hozzá hasonló fiatal, feltörekvő ellenzéki arcra – a 2015. áprilisában tartott elnökválasztáson is indult volna, de rövid időn belül visszalépett a megmérettetéstől, mert szerinte a választási névjegyzékkel kapcsolatban rengeteg probléma és csalás volt bizonyítható.

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Nouvelles révélations sur José Manuel Barroso et Goldman Sachs : pendant son mandat à la Commission européenne, l'ancien président de l'institution était en contact étroit avec la banque américaine. C'est ce que révèle la presse portugaise alors que son recrutement a suscité une vague d'indignation en Europe. La Commission européenne à Bruxelles n'a pas souhaité réagir.