Sudan Tribune

August 29, 2016 (KAMPALA) – A South Sudanese armed opposition (SPLM-IO) youth leader allied to the country's former first vice president Riek Machar has called on young people to join the rebel movement, which he described as the only party organisation that represents diverse ideology.

Rebel fighters hold their weapons as they march through a village in rebel-controlled territory in South Sudan's Upper Nile state on 9 February 2014 (Photo: Reuters)

Omojok Obac said South Sudan's ruling party (SPLM) lacked the basis of democracy and equality and should be abandoned infavour of the SPLM-IO's “inclusiveness”.

He urged South Sudanese youth to join the armed opposition and champion democracy, freedom and equality.

"The SPLM/A-IO youth league also urges all south Sudanese to Join this Party with great political vision, objectives, and goals that are able to tackle all problems and challenges our country is currently facing,” he told Sudan Tribune.

The youth leader welcomed the recent solidarity shown by the Congolese government after it aided the exit of Machar from the bushes of Western Equatoria state where he had been holed up for weeks after leaving Juba last month.

The armed opposition leader was forced out of the South Sudan capital following clashes between his forces and those loyal to President Salva Kiir near the presidential palace on 8 July. More than 270 soldiers died in the clashes.

According to Obac, President Kiir's government allegedly failed to implement the peace agreement mediated by leaders from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.

The armed opposition youth leader insisted that the young men and women in the country had a role to play to end the fighting as they did during decades of war with Sudan. He claimed South Sudan will never be a free state unless all sector reforms for the liberty and equality of people takes place.

(ST)

August 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Monday received an invitation from his Malian counterpart, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta to attend the summit meeting of La Francophonie in the capital, Bamako next January.

Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir as they pose for photographers ahead of the African Union summit in Johannesburg June 14, 2015 (REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko)

On Monday, al-Bashir has received Mali's Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop who handed him a written message from Keïta pertaining to bilateral ties between the two countries and ways to promote and enhance relations.

In his message, President Keïta has also invited al-Bashir to attend the summit meeting of La Francophonie in Bamako next January.

Meanwhile, President of Guinea-Bissau José Mário Vaz on Monday has concluded a two-day visit to Khartoum where he met with al-Bashir and senior government officials.

Sudan's State Minister of Foreign Affairs Kamal Ismail told the official news agency (SUNA) that Mário Vaz has discusses with al-Bashir bilateral relations between the two countries besides a number of regional and international issues.

Ismail pointed the visiting president expressed appreciation for the Sudanese leadership, saying he demanded Sudan to assist his country in the economic and agricultural domains.

According to Ismail, Mário Vaz also called for the need to open a Sudanese embassy in Guinea-Bissau and to continue economic, political, cultural, education and training cooperation between the two countries.

The Sudanese minister added that al-Bashir agreed to provide Guinea-Bissau with all needed assistance, saying the latter accepted an invitation by Mário Vaz to visit Guinea-Bissau and promised to carry it out soon.

Al-Bashir is under two International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants since 2008 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.

Mali has ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC on 16 August 2000 and therefore has an obligation to arrest al-Bashir.

The Sudanese president visited several African states members of the ICC but he was not arrested. However, the issue generated a large literature in the international law on Bashir's immunity.

His June 2015 visit to South Africa for an African Union summit stirred up a domestic controversy after the government there refused to arrest him and ignored a High Court order barring his departure. He managed to escape hours before the court ordered his apprehension.

(ST)

August 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) on Monday revealed that 40,620 families have been affected by the heavy rains and floods that hit the country recently.

A flooded area in Sudan (OCHA)

At a press conference held on Monday, SRCS secretary general Osman Gaafar said his organization provides assistance to the affected population directly and not through any government agency, pointing the aid is being distributed with high level of transparency.

He added that aid was so far distributed to 48,6% of the affected, expecting the current ratio would increase to 76% the during this week.

Gaafar pointed they received significant assistance from the Arab nations, saying that a Saudi air cargo plane carrying aid for the affected has arrived this week.

He stressed that more than 21,000 houses have been completely destroyed by the rains and flood, saying about 1400 SRCS volunteers are helping to distribute the assistance.

The Sudanese authorities had earlier said more than 100 people were killed by rain and flash floods.

Earlier this month, the United Nation Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) cited Sudanese government and humanitarian partners as saying that heavy rain and flooding since early June have affected over 122,000 people and destroyed over 13,000 houses in many parts of Sudan.

The most affected states are Kassala, Sennar, South Kordofan, West Kordofan and North Darfur.

(ST)

August 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Ambassador Donald Booth, on Monday has visited Blue Nile State to assess the humanitarian situation in the region.

Booth has arrived in Khartoum on Sunday in for the second time in less than a month.

On Monday, Booth and his accompanying delegation met in Ed-Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile State, with the Governor Hussein Yassin, senior officials and humanitarian aid commission workers.

During the meeting, the governor accused Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) of repeatedly attacking civilians and aid workers in the state.

“The humanitarian situation in Blue Nile State is stable thanks to federal government efforts in providing services and supporting stability in the state,” said Yassin.

According to the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA), Yassin also accused the SPLM-N of attacking the staff of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society.

The Ministers of Health and Urban Panning briefed the U.S. envoy on the provision of services and humanitarian needs.

Official sources told Sudan Tribune that Booth was interested to learn about the general conditions of civilians affected by the armed conflict in the state and the humanitarian assistance provided to them.

In a statement on Sunday, U.S. Department of State pointed that Booth will engage with a range of people in Blue Nile State affected by conflict. The statement said he will meet with Sudanese government officials, civil society, community leaders, and the staff of international organizations to open discussion and unimpeded exchanges.

“The United States remains deeply committed to the Sudanese people. Through visits like this, the Special Envoy will continue to engage constructively with the Government of Sudan and all parties to realize inclusive dialogue and a peaceful and stable Sudan,” says U.S Department of State statement.

Meanwhile, the opposition alliance of the Future Forces of Change (FFC) said they discussed with staff members of the U.S. special envoy's office the national dialogue and ways to engage all political forces in the process.

By the end of last July, the U.S. envoy visited Darfur to asses the humanitarian situation in the war-torn region.

After the visit, Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on August 1st, arrested 15 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) leaders in Nertiti town, Central Darfur state, following a meeting with Booth.

Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour denied that NISS arrested the IDPs, but admitted that some of them “May be (...) arrested by the local authorities."

Booth will meet on Tuesday in Khartoum with the Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid who also heads government delegation to the talks on the Two Areas to discuss preparations for the next round of negotiations with rebel groups.

Earlier in August, the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) suspended peace talks on Darfur region, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states after the parties failed to agree on security arrangements and humanitarian access.

The Sudanese army has been fighting SPLM-N rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011 and a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

(ST)

August 29, 2016 (JUBA) – The body monitoring implementation of South Sudan's peace agreement said it would work with the controversially-appointed First Vice President Taban Deng Gai, although hopes for honouring last year's peace accord were diminishing.

The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) said President Salva Kiir and former first vice President Riek Machar “lack political will” to work together and implement the peace agreement.

“Although the legitimacy of Taban Deng [Gai] as First Vice President is questionable, diplomats will work with him because they don't have an option,” JMEC chairman and Festus Mogae told the Associated Press.

Gai was appointed to replace Machar, a move described as “illegal” by supporters of the former rebel leader.

Machar fled the South Sudanese capital Juba when his bodyguards clashed with soldiers loyal to President Kiir. He is now in Sudanese capital Khartoum.

JMEC's position to work with Gai come days after U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry and regional countries vowed last week to cooperate with the country's new vice president.

Mogae said Kiir and Machar lack the political will to work together for peace in South Sudan.

“There is no political will to implement the peace agreement. They [Kiir and Machar] are bent on a military solution, not political solution,” he said.

He said Gai's appointment adds weight to efforts to realize peace in the country.

“I am more disillusioned or less optimistic than I was when I first came. I thought that common and logic could persuade them to do right thing,” said the former Botswana president.

(ST)

August 29, 2016 (JUBA) - August 29, 2016 (JUBA) - A United States congressional Subcommittee on Africa and Global Human Rights on the visit to South Sudan has urged the African Union (AU) to speed up the establishment of the hybrid court for South Sudan in order to bring to book South Sudanese leaders accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity from 15 December 2015.

Christopher Henry Smith, who is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations at the U.S. House of Representatives, said he is in South Sudan with his team to listen, learn and hear from the leaders what are their plans with regards to the establishment of the hybrid court in accordance with the August 2015 peace agreement.

“This is an important mission to this country. It is a country of world people and a country where the United States has investment of a lot in terms of resources and diplomatic engagement. Because of the conflict, the congress decided to come here to be able to meet, listen, learn and hear directly from the leaders their plans to address the situation,” said Smith head of the delegation.

The congressman said he was a believer of the hybrid court stipulated in the peace agreement to try South Sudanese leaders implicated in the crimes committed in Juba and beyond from 15 December 2015.

“As for me I'm a strong believer in hybrid court. So I would hope the AU should move faster and I think also should go intending with the reconciliation effort as well which is articulated in the peace accord,” he said.

The peace agreement gives the hybrid court the jurisdiction on genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and any other serious crimes under international law and any other relevant laws of South Sudan.

The court will have seven judges, four from the AU-member countries and three from South Sudan. This court, according to the peace agreement, should be established by the African Union to investigate and try individuals responsible for violations of human rights during the conflict and throughout the transitional period.

It also stresses that the court should have been established six months after the formation of the transitional government.

AU last year released a report implicating senior officials of South Sudan's government in the ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Thousands of civilians, mainly from the Nuer ethnic group, were murdered in Juba by presidential guards loyal to President Kiir from the onset of the conflict in December 2013.

Other civilians from other ethnicities, mainly the Dinka, were also killed in retaliatory action by forces loyal to Riek Machar, leader of the opposition.

However, the current government in Juba seems to be reluctant to establish the hybrid court in fear of punishing senior government's political and military officials.

(ST)

August 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese government on Monday disclosed the First Vice-President of South Sudan Taban Deng Gai has promised during his recent visit to Khartoum that Juba would evict Sudanese rebels from its territory within three weeks.

Last week, Gai concluded a three-day visit to Khartoum where he handed over President Omer al-Bashir a special message from South Sudan's President Silva Kiir Mayardit.

Sudan's Minister of Information and official spokesperson Ahmed Bilal Osman on Monday told the semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) that his government is waiting for Juba to fulfil the promises made by Gai to drive out Sudanese rebels from South Sudan's territory within three weeks.

He described his government's relations with South Sudan's government as good, saying they work to maintain unity within the newborn nation and to support efforts of the United Nations to achieve stability in the country.

Following his meeting with the Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir last week, Gai didn't rule out that the outstanding security issues between Juba and Khartoum would be settled within three weeks, directing his defence minister to immediately implement instructions of the top leadership in both countries to resolve the security issues.

He said that his government wouldn't allow Sudanese rebels to work within South Sudan's territory to threaten Sudan's security, stressing his country wouldn't harbour rebel groups who wage war against Khartoum.

“We hope that Sudan wouldn't serve as a launching pad for Machar,” he added.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan on July 9th 2011 following a referendum on whether the semi-autonomous region should remain a part of the country or become independent. 99% of the southern voters chose independence.

Relations between the two nations soured after South Sudan's independence following a series of disputes over a number of issues, particularly accusations of support to rebel groups .

(ST)

August 29, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Trial of Christian pastors resumed on Monday in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum amid remarkable presence from western diplomats and rights groups.

South Sudanese worshippers attend Sunday prayers in Baraka parish church in Haj Yusif on the outskirts of Khartoum on 10 February 2013 (Photo: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters)

Last week a Sudanese court began the trial of two Sudanese Christian pastors, a Czech missionary filmmaker and a human rights activist. The four are accused of conducting intelligence activities and providing material support for the rebels in South Kordofan.

Charges were filed against the defendants under articles of the Criminal Code and article (29) of the Passports and Immigration Law on sneaking into the country illegally besides article (23) of the Humanitarian and Voluntary Work Act pertaining to running a voluntary organization without registration.

Some of those charges are punishable by death.

During the court session, the prosecutor displayed several photos and videos seized from the Czech missionary filmmaker showing sites from the war-affected areas in South Kordofan, saying the latter handed over these photos to a foreign organization by the name of BBF.

He added that the photos show a team from the BBF looking at a map of the Nuba Mountain and planning to go to areas claimed to be destroyed by the Sudanese army, pointing they were intending to interview civilians who they say tortured by the Sudanese authorities.

The prosecutor also presented pictures in which the accused appear with members of the BBF and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/North besides photos of destroyed buildings that were claimed to be bombarded by government warplanes.

The judge, Osama Ahmed Abdallah, pointed the photos underscored that the accused was present alongside the BBF team in the Nuba Mountains in 2012.

On Saturday, the SPLM-N) called on the United States Special Envoy Donald Booth who is visiting the country nowadays to help to secure the release of detained pastors and activists in Sudan.

Last August, a Sudanese court acquitted two South Sudanese pastors who were charged with espionage and inciting tribal sentiments and ordered their immediate release after they spent seven month in detention.

(ST)

August 29, 2016 (JUBA) - The South Sudanese army (SPLA) command has dismissed reports alleging that forces targeted innocent civilians perceived to be hoarding food items and sympathizing with youth suspected to have links with the armed opposition.

A SPLA soldier stands in front of a vehicle in Juba on December 20, 2013. (Photo Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

The deputy spokesperson of the SPLA, Col. Santo Doming the report was an attempt to tarnish the image of the army by "anti-peace elements within the community".

He said the army command was unaware of such allegations against the military, but admitted the existence of hostile groups opposed to restoration of law and order in the area.

“For sure these are allegations do not carry any single truth. They are the work of anti-peace elements who are determined to concoct such divisive allegations to appeal an ethnic attention the activities of our gallant forces who are working hard to restore law and order in the country so that civilians to stay safe in their homes so as to resume their normal life”, said Doming.

The officer's remarks came in the wake of allegations that security forces slaughtered five family members, who included three elders in Yei county of Central Equatoria state.

Government forces, the locals say, entered a village in Mukaya county in the early hours of Wednesday and hacked a family of five to death. They allegedly returned on Thursday in a large number estimated to be about 180 heavily armed personnel and hacked three others elders before ransacking the whole village and made away with the looted items.

The three elders, sources told Sudan Tribune on the condition of anonymity, were killed because of alleged allegiance of their sons to politicians allied to the armed opposition.

This incident came days after government forces with armed opposition forces in Gimunu, an area located 8 miles on Yei-Juba road, resulting in the death of two civilians.

Eyewitnesses said government soldiers burnt down everything in Gimunu, forcing civilians to flee the area for safety. The incident triggered a massive exodus of civilians to neigbouring Uganda, where millions of people from different ethnic groups in the country are seeking safety since 2013 in refugee camps located in neighboring nations.

(ST)

August 29, 2016 (JUBA) – Paramount chiefs in South Sudan hailing from the Nuer community have issued a joint statement disowning the newly appointed First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, who on 24 July replaced Riek Machar, another Nuer fellow, in a controversial process contested by supporters of the latter.

Jikany-Nuer community leaders posing picture with South Sudan Vice President, Riek Machar in Juba, May 4, 2013 (ST)

In a statement bearing names of 14 paramount chiefs representing Nuer communities in the 14 greater counties in the states of Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei, inhabited by the Nuer, they rejected what they said was an illegal replacement of Machar.

“The above communities do not support the illegal move by Pres. Salva Kiir replacing Dr. Riek Machar Teny as the First Vice President of South Sudan with Gen. Taban Deng Gai,” partly reads the statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Monday.

“The Naath communities believe that Gen. Taban Deng Gai defected from the SPLM-IO and joined the SPLM In Government (IG). So, we take Gen. Taban Deng Gai treacherous manoeuvres as a mere propaganda played by the tribal Jieng Council of Elders (JCE) to prolong the suffering of the people of South Sudan for the selfish and tribal interests,” it reads.

“Therefore, we stand strong behind the able and wise leader Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, the undisputed First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan,” the statement further asserted.

The chiefs also condemned the continued attacks by government forces “on civilians in Upper Nile Region, Equatoria and Northern Bhar el Ghazel”, including what they said was the “earth scorching searches” to eliminate them and Machar.

“So, we reject the defected Gen. Taban Deng Gai from our Nuerland and do not support him. We also condemn President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Gen. Taban Deng Gai government for violating the peace agreement (ARCISS) signed by both leaders in August 2015.”

The traditional leaders also called on President Kiir to resign, charging that his leadership has been a reason for the prolonged suffering of the people of South Sudan.

(ST)

August 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Gibril Ibrahim has promised to release Prisoners of War (POWs) from government forces at the request of a Sufi Islamic cleric.

JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim talks to reporters in Addis Ababa on 13 August 2016 (ST Photo)

On 10 August, the leader of the Kabashi Sufi sect Abdel-Wahab al-Khalifa al-Hibir al-Kabashi sent a letter to JEM's leader appealing to him to release government POWs.

In a letter he wrote in response to al-Kbashi's message, Ibrahim said he appreciates the latter's request, pointing the religious leader and the POWs families would soon hear good news in this regard.

According to the political advisor of the (JEM-Dabago), a breakaway group from JEM, Nahar Osman Nahar, more than 100 POWs and detainees are currently being held in JEM's prisons including former members of the executive office and commanders from the movement such as Hashim Haroun besides other civilian detainees.

He told Sudan Tribune that nine detainees from JEM-Dabago are still detained by JEM after 9 others managed to flee from the movement's prisons in Deim Zubeir Camp in Western Bahr el Ghazal region, South Sudan.

For his part, JEM-Dabago leading figure Issa Mohamed Issa said that JEM currently detains 48 people besides a similar number of POWs from the Sudanese army.

Issa, who escaped from JEM prisons in South Sudan, added the movement had more than once in the past released government POWs through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

He called upon the humanitarian groups and the international community to check on the conditions of the detainees at JEM prisons.

JEM-Bashar, a breakaway group from JEM, inked a peace agreement negotiated with the Sudanese government on the basis of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) in the Qatari capital in 2013.

Following that, JEM killed the leader of JEM-Bashar, Mohamed Bashar, and his deputy Suleiman Arko, and detained more than 20 others in an attack near the Chadian border while they were returning to Khartoum.

JEM-Bashar subsequently appointed Bakheit Abdallah Dabago as Bashar's successor.

(ST).

August 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's internal opposition umbrella, the National Consensus Forces (NCF) has expressed full support for any peace talks that aims to stop the war and allow humanitarian access to the affected population.

FILE - NCF leaders

Earlier this month, the African mediation suspended the latest round of talks between the government and the rebel movements on Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile after the negotiating parties failed to reach agreement on the security arrangements and humanitarian access.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Sunday, the NCF reiterated its position to overthrow the regime and establish a transitional government to address the security, social, political and economic problems caused by the “dictatorship regime”.

It held the regime responsible for aborting the idea of a national dialogue that leads to a comprehensive and democratic solution for the Sudanese crisis, expressing absolute support for any talks that stops the war and allows humanitarian access to the affected.

The Sudanese army has been fighting Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011 and a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

The NCF pointed that the Roadmap Agreement brokered by the African Union is inconsistent with its declared position regarding the national dialogue, stressing its rejection to any dialogue that doesn't lead to dismantling the single-party state and to establish a civil and democratic state.

The Sudanese government and four parties and armed movements from the opposition umbrella Sudan Call have signed the Roadmap Agreement for peace and dialogue brokered by the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP).

The NCF is a member of the Sudan Call coalition but its parties have taken different positions with regard to the roadmap.

Three parties within the NCF including the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Sudan Allied Forces (SAF) and the Sudanese Ba'ath Party have supported the singing of the peace plan by the Sudan Call.

However, the major parties of the NCF including the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP), the Arab Ba'ath Party (ABP), Nasserite Socialist Party (NSP) have declined to accept the agreement, saying it would reproduce the regime.

The statement stressed that the government continues to impose security solutions for the country's crises particularly with regard to general freedoms, demanding the release of all political detainees and convicts.

The NCF also held the regime responsible for the of the worsening economic crisis and price hikes, pointing to the sharp decline in the value of the Sudanese pound against the US dollar.

(ST)

August 28, 2016 (EL-FASHER) - The comissioner of Tawila locality, 60 km west of North Darfur capital, El-Fasher, Adam Yaquob has accused the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW) led by Abdel-Wahid al-Nour of killing and injuring cattle herders on Thursday.

A Cattle herder in Darfur region (FAO Photo)

Yaquob told Sudan Tribune that a few pockets of outlaws from the rebel groups still exist in the caves and mountains surrounding his locality, saying that SLM-AW fighters coming from Jebel Marra area attacked cattle herders from Nawaiba tribe killing a woman and a child and injuring two women.

“They tried to steal heads of cattle, goats and sheep but the villagers stood up to them and they fled toward Fanga area in Jebel Marra," said the commissioner.

“They were about 32 fighters armed with automatic machine guns,” he added

The commissioner pointed that the security committee of his locality immediately arrived at the incident scene, saying the bumpy roads prevented the villagers from pursuing the perpetrators.

He said they had previously warned the cattle herders against approaching the border with Jebel Marra, pointing that outlaws had earlier stolen camels but the security organs managed to retrieve some of them.

Last week, unknown gunmen stole dozens of cattle heads and farming machineries at Tarni area in Tawila locality and ran away.

Thousands of residents were displaced by the intense fighting that had erupted in mid-January between the Sudanese army and the SLM-AW in Jebel Marra area.

Last April, the Sudanese army said its forces captured the last rebel stronghold area of Srounq in Jebel Marra from the SLM-AW. The government warplanes continue to bombard the rebel positions in the area.

The SLM-AW is not part of the African Union brokered process to reach a negotiated settlement of the 13 -year conflict.

The Sudanese army and its allied militia have been fighting a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

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

(ST)

August 28, 2016 (JUBA) – The East African regional body, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), said the controversially replaced South Sudanese First Vice President, Riek Machar, must reclaim his position in the transitional unity government in the country as the legitimate First Vice President.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir (C) poses for a picture after the government swearing in with his first deputy Riek Machar (R) and second deputy James Wani on 29 April 2016 (Photo Moses Lomayat)

IGAD said they have not changed their position in a communiqué released last month which called for the newly appointed First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, to step down and for Machar to resume his work as the first deputy president.

The comments from IGAD came days after the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, said the replacement process was an internal matter and did not break the peace agreement.

Kerry made the comments while on a visit to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi last week.

However, IGAD member states including Ethiopia which chairs the body, “questioned” John Kerry's comments, according to the CCTV Africa which reported from Addis Ababa on Friday.

They reaffirmed their position that Machar is the legitimate First Vice President, who should assume his post upon arrival in Juba, the South Sudanese capital.

Earlier, Machar's spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, in comments to Sudan Tribune criticized the comments from the US top diplomat, saying Kerry's opinion was against the IGAD communiqué as well as against a resolution passed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) which described the controversial replacement in Juba as “inconsistent” with the peace agreement.

But President Salva Kiir's spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny, criticized IGAD for wanting Machar to return to the position, saying Gai has a better working relationship with President Kiir.

Opposition officials on the other hand said Gai is liked by Kiir because he will not ask for the full implementation of the peace deal, but will instead allow for scrapping of major provisions and block the needed reforms in the country.

(ST)

August 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Malian Minister of Foreign Abdoulaye Diop will start an official visit to Khartoum on Monday, Sudan's Foreign Affairs Ministry disclosed.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir (ST Photo)

According to the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir, Diop would extend an invitation from Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta to President Omer al-Bashir to attend the summit meeting of La Francophonie heads of state and government in Bamako next January.

The summit, Khidir said, would discuss various issues including terrorism, illegal migration, arms and human trafficking and organized crime besides the fight against the extremist group Al-Qaida in Mali.

He further said Diop would hold talks with Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, saying the two ministers would discuss bilateral ties as well as the security and political situation in the region.

Al-Bashir is under two International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants since 2008 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.

Mali ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC on 16 August 2000 and therefore has an obligation to arrest al-Bashir.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

August 28, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – Tanzania is set to sign electricity power export deal with Ethiopia making it the fourth African country purchasing electricity from the latter.

The planned Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project (AP)

Ethiopia's national power company (EEP) on Saturday announced that Tanzania has agreed to purchase 400 MW of Ethiopia's hydro-power processed electricity.

EEP's Chief Executive Officer, Azeb Asnake said the agreement between the two countries will be finalized in the coming weeks.

Azeb said the new power export deal will fosters economic integration and strengthens multilateral ties between the two countries.

The power transaction will create further economic integration between Tanzania and Kenya as the latter sits between Ethiopia and Tanzania, the CEO told the state run Ethiopian News Agency.

“Because when Tanzania gets electric power from Ethiopia, it has to pass through Kenya,” she said, adding, "When two countries are integrated economically, then they have to watch out for their political relationship as well”.

The horn of Africa's nation is investing billions of dollars to construct a number of hydro-electric power plants including what would be Africa's largest Dam known as Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD).

GERD which is being constructed along the Nile River in the Benshangul Gumz region near the Sudanese border is currently over 50 percent complete and will have power generation capacity of 8,000 MW.

The Ethiopian government says construction of the massive dam project will transform the country's vision to become a leading power exporter in the East African region hub for the renewable energy in Africa.

Ethiopia hopes to become a middle income nation by 2025. Currently, it exports hydro-power processed electricity to its neighbors: Kenya, Sudan and Djibouti.

Ethiopia intends to export power to seven neighboring countries after the completion of the mega dam project.

Azeb further said Ethiopia also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Burundi and Rwanda.It also has plans to link its grid with South Sudan, Uganda and Yemen.

According to official estimates Ethiopia's potential power production capacity from hydro as well as geothermal, wind and solar energy over 60,000 MW which is roughly equal to half of Africa's current installed capacity (147,000MW).

(ST)

August 28, 2016 (MATHIANG) – Commissioner of Longechuk county in the oil rich Upper Nile region, Lieutenant Colonel Dak Tut Dey, has called on aid agencies to provide emergency relief assistance in response to heavy floods which have submerged several buildings including the main health center in the county's administrative headquarters of Mathiang and other payams of the county.

Food is distributed at a refugee site in South Sudan's Upper Nile state (Photo: WFP/Ahnna Gudmunds)

In a statement he issued and forwarded to Sudan Tribune last Thursday, the Commissioner, Dey, said more than 56,000 people with over 11,000 households have been displaced by the floods leaving their shelters underwater and destroyed their properties.

The mostly affected payams, he said, include Mathaing (county headquarters), Jangok, Warweng, Malow, Majiok, Belwang and Palguop.

“I would like to bring this horrific situation to all NGOs partners' attention for quick intervention as many HHs need NFIs (Blankets, Mosquito nets, plastic sheets and buckets or Jerri cans) should be given to the affected populations of Longechuk County. This will assist them rebuild their livelihoods, safeguard them from harsh weather and protect their dignity before they put up the traditional ones [shelters],” Commissioner Dey said.

He said the populations mainly affected include the elderly, underage children, pregnant women, lactating mothers and farmers, whose cultivated crops had been destroyed as well.

Longechuk county is mostly under the control of the opposition faction led by Riek Machar, former South Sudan's First Vice President. Commissioner Dey was appointed by the opposition leader, Machar.

The county is close to both the Sudanese and Ethiopian borders to the north and east, respectively. In Upper Nile state it borders Maiwut county to the east, Nasir county to the southeast, Akoka county to the southwest, Melut county to the west and Mabaan county to the northwest.

Its administrative payams include Gueng, Warweng, Jangok Udier, Dajo, Chotbora, Pamach, Jongjith, Malual, Guelguk, Belwang and Mathiang administrative headquarters.

(ST)

August 28, 2016 (JUBA) - The South Sudanese government has criticised neigbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for allegedly permitting the use of its territory to be used to evacuate armed opposition leader and former first vice president, Riek Machar.

South Sudan's information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, speaks to reporters in Jonglei state capital Bor on 25 December 2014 (ST)

The country's information and broadcasting Minister Michael Makuei Lueth described evacuation of Machar from inside the country using an aircraft coming from Congo as a violation of international law and asked Congolese government through its embassy to explain why they could not inform them if they did not permit the evacuation plan.

The outspoken minister, in a statement on the state-owned SSBC, said "such act does not benefit either of the two countries as well as regional and global peace".

His comments follows a summon by the ministry of foreign Affairs of Congolese ambassador in Juba for a meeting at which the ministry officially protested what it calls border limitation by Congolese authorities. Machar fled the capital, Juba, after government forces attacked his residence following a clash between presidential guard force loyal to president and his (Machar) security details at the presidential palace in Juba, resulting in the death of over 200 soldiers on both sides.

Fearing for his life, he moved out of Juba hoping that the ceasefire he and president Salva Kiir declared would hold for him to return and resume his work at the presidency. But continued attacks by government forces pursuing him forced him to flee into DRC where the United Nations airlifted him after suffering from exhaustion and dehydration.

Commenting on Machar's exit, the foreign ministry spokesman Mawien Makol said the ministry summoned the DRC ambassador in Juba to explain the action by his country. Makol claimed South Sudanese airspace was violated during the evacuation process.

“We summoned the Congolese Ambassador in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because we were protesting on the border limitation that happened last week when the forces belonging to the former First Vice President crossed the border with him,” said Mawien.

“They [DRC] entered with a flight into the border without the knowledge of the government of the Republic of South Sudan, so that thing of course annoyed us and we have explained to him that this is what happened and he is going to convey the message to his country and that we were not informed about the coming into our border with the flight from Congolese. So they shouldn't come to our airspace without getting permission from this country,” he added.

(ST)

August 27, 2016(BOR) - The office of governor of South Sudan's Jonglei state has described an "error" the increases in the number of the state counties from 11 to 14.

Jonglei state governor, Phillip Aguer speaks during the independence occassion July 9, 2016 (ST)

In a 2 May, decree No. 12/2016, Philip Aguer established 11 new counties in Bor.

The increase in the number of counties from 3 to 11, he said, came as a result of the demand of the people in the state, who wanted more administrative units closer to them.

Among the new counties, Bor county was divided into Bor South county (Kolnyang), Bor East county (Anyidi), Bor Centre county (Makuach), Bor West county (Baidit) and Bor North county (Jalle).

Also, Twic East county was divided into Twic North county (Panyagor), Twic Center county (Wangulei) and Twic South county (Adubaar/Maar). Similarly, former Duk county also have Duk Padiet county (Padiet), Duk Payuel county (Payuel) and Panyang county (Pajut).

Furthermore, the current commissioners of the former counties of Bor,Twic East and Duk counties shall continue to run the 11 new counties until further order is established.

But according order of 17 August 2016, the President of South Sudan has signed a document showing the number and names of the new counties in the 28 states.

In this order, Jonglei state appeared to have 14 counties. Three out of these had been added, namely Athooc county, Anyidi Makuach county and Kolnyang county.

These has therefore brought the number of counties to eight from the former Bor county.

Aguer told Sudan Tribune that this was an error from the office of the president.

“We have 11 new counties in Jonglei state. And there has been a lot of mess up in the names and in the number of the counties. This did not happen only in Jonglei state, but in other states, even in Boma and in other states of Bahre Al Gazal, other states of Equartoria. And the document was presented to the councils of states. And the councils of states presented [it ]to the presidency”, Aguer said Wednesday.

“And recently, we have received a final document, and this final document has indicated the counties that we want”, he added.

He said his office would consider only 11 counties and left out the three "error" counties.

“I think part of it is confusion in the typing in the office of the president. But we will not go by the confusion; we will take the real counties. The number here is even 14 [counties], but we don't have 14. So that is a printing error," stressed Aguer.

He also went as far as naming the counties believed to have resulted from the typing error.

“There is Athooc, which is an error, there is Anyidi-Makuach, which is an error, there is Kolnyang which again is an error. So we will have 11 counties out of this document, which is signed by the president of Republic of South Sudan, and that will go into the budgeting planning”, explained the governor.

“By the end of this month, we will embark on the appointment of new commissioners. So we will have new commissioners by the end of August”, he added.

On Saturday, elders, elites and intellectuals of former Bor county, living in Bor town, met in Bor, to find a common ground on the nnumber counties. The people, who got divided into payams, presented their views to the acting chairperson of Bor community and the present Bor county commissioner and the members of parliament.

Their resolution further indicated that former Bor county had accepted the eight new counties instead. Majority of people described it as a genuine number of counties that people of Bor deserved based on the their populations results of 2008 census.

(ST).

By Jim Yong Kim

Africa needs much more investment from the private sector to build its roads, energy and communications infrastructure. But for countries to make the most use of that infrastructure, they also need to invest more in people — - in brain power and “gray matter” infrastructure, to realize their demographic dividend that fuels inclusive economic growth.

This week in Nairobi, Kenya, at the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, African countries and their partners must grasp this unprecedented opportunity to chart a course toward universal health coverage, or UHC. This initiative, which is being led by the government of Japan, a global champion of UHC, is critical to Africa's future growth and prosperity. The World Bank Group will announce today a $15 billion commitment over the next five years to accelerate universal health coverage in Africa.

Better health and survival rates — particularly for mothers and children — are linked to economic growth. The evidence is overwhelming: The Lancet Commission on Investing in Health found that survival gains contribute disproportionately to economic growth in Africa. Improved early childhood nutrition, early stimulation and early learning programs extend school completion and improve learning outcomes, and in turn, increase adult wages. The commission also found that investments in universal health coverage pay off at a rate of as high as 10 to 1.

Our alignment around UHC needs to, first and foremost, assess the current state of health in Africa. Continued high levels of mortality for mothers and children, along with high rates of undernutrition, are top priorities where accelerated progress is possible and necessary. These must be balanced with the growing demands for chronic care associated with non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Africa's brave and successful struggles with neglected tropical diseases such as guinea worm and river blindness, along with its meteoric progress in the fights against malaria and HIV, are evidence of what is possible.

Yet the recent outbreaks of Ebola, yellow fever, and new cases of polio in Nigeria are sobering reminders of the shared responsibility that all countries have in making sure that their health services are not only universal in name —but in practice. Against this challenging landscape of health needs, African leaders need to embrace ambitious reforms in services and financing.

Frontline primary health care services led by community health workers, with appropriate referral for essential hospital care and emergency outbreak response capacity, are the defining service pillars of universal health coverage. Breakthroughs in these models of care are in evidence across the continent.

But universal coverage of essential services requires a fundamental shift in the way health care is financed. UHC means changing from a pay-as-you-go system — which punishes the poor for being sick and led to the impoverishment of more than 11 million people in Africa in 2014 alone — to pre-paying for health, which promotes prompt access when people are ill, and protects the poor. We need to put money directly in the hands of poor women, through cash transfer programs that offer universal health, education and nutrition entitlements to these women and their children, and are strongly associated with inclusive growth.

Donor assistance needs to more effectively support UHC expansion in countries. Through the Global Financing Facility, we are working with countries to achieve smarter, scaled and sustainable financing for their health sectors. We know, however, that even the best-prepared and financed health systems can be overwhelmed in the context of an epidemic. This is why at the G7 meeting in May, we launched the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility, an innovative, fast-disbursing global financing mechanism designed to help stop the next outbreak before it becomes an epidemic.

We must continue to invest in what works – such as the scale-up of bed nets to protect people from malaria, the use of drones to deliver life-saving medical supplies to remote villages, and the deployment of thousands of new community health workers across Africa. We can harness this potential more systematically and ultimately create more jobs while delivering better health outcomes.

With the right investments, we can save the lives of millions of people, help people lift themselves out of extreme poverty, and ensure that all people are healthier and live longer and more productive lives. This is within Africa's reach, and one foundation for the prosperity of the continent will be commitments to universal health coverage.

The author is President of the World Bank Group.