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Le Secrétaire général de l'ONU, Ban Ki-moon, a félicité Nana Akufo-Addo pour son élection à la fonction de Président du Ghana et a remercié le Président sortant John Dramani Mahama pour son rôle dans la réduction des tensions pendant la période électorale.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has congratulated the people of Ghana for exercising their democratic rights and peacefully conducting the presidential and parliamentary elections on 7 December.

December 8, 2016 (JUBA) - The Governor of South Sudan's Yei River state has assembled a team comprising of religious and prominent community leaders to negotiate with armed dissidents in the area.

Governor David Lokonga Moses speaks to the press in Yei May 31, 2016 (ST)

David Moses Lonkonga announced this on the state-owned SSBC that the team will comprise of representatives of different faith based groups, academic community and from non-governmental organizations with contacts with the parties involved in the conflict.

“The core negotiating team will partake in creating a negotiating position, and report to the government on the negotiation process with the armed dissident groups in the area,” the statement reads in part.

Lokonga, also claimed the state was relatively calm in recent days because of security measures his leadership put in place for peace.

Some of the measures taken in the area, he said, included arresting and punishing those members of the security forces found to be looting or harassing civilians and government has formed a para-military force comprising of military and civil police, the fire brigade unit as well as the wildlife unit to help patrol the streets of Yei town.

“Soldiers in plain clothes roaming the town with firearms are more criminal than those in military uniforms,” further stressed the governor.

The official made these remarks during a visit to Yei by teams representing the United Nations and the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM) respectively.

According to Jacob Aligo, Yei's minister of physical infrastructure, residents of the newly-created state are yearning for peace, which would allow the displaced people to safely return to their homes.

“Thousands of civilians are trapped in the bushes without food, shelter and medical care,” he said.

Muki Batali Buli, an advisor to Yei River state governor, said that the major challenge in bringing lasting peace is the inability of relevant stakeholders to make contact with leaders of the armed groups.

Buli said that continued dialogue would help chat a new page, de-escalate tensions and build confidence and trust in the community.

“We also have to talk to our own soldiers to stop harming civilians, so that the soldiers will help restore hope to the people and reduce the soaring mistrust between them,” he said.

Dan Lizzul, a member of CTSAMM, said all armed forces in the country must respect international humanitarian and human rights laws during combat.

“Professional armies fight only other professional armies. They do not attack, rape or harass civilians,” he stressed.

The armed opposition's earlier claims of being in control of Yei River state was dismissed by pro-government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir.

(ST).

December 8, 2016 (JUBA) – There was "incompetence" and "unfairness" of the judge in the case in which $500 million was allegedly stolen from South Sudan president's office, research Legal Watch Associate conducted, shows.

A trial session of suspects allegedly involved in corrution at the presidency (File Photo)

The findings details "unfairness" in the process of administration of justice from the time suspects were arrested, detained, investigated, tried and convicted.

The case involved 16 people from different institutions, including the Office of the President, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Bank of South Sudan and staff of Click Technologies Limited.

Findings from a research, which was conducted for over a one year period, have indicated that the whole process was marred with shortcomings, most of which are outlined in the 18-page dossier.

The research was conducted using the methodology of collecting information from various sources including court sessions, one on one interview with the institutions involved and phone interviews and a comprehensive report was made.

The case, according to Legal Watch Associate, started as a rumor that $500 million had been stolen from the office of the president and transferred to the account of John Agou in Nairobi, Kenya in favor of Mayen Wol Jong, the Chief Administrator and Yel Luol Koor, the Executive Director.

“The alleged sum of $500 million was not found during the investigation despite the fact that the intelligence report misled the president to suspend the two senior officials from their positions," partly reads the report Sudan Tribune obtained Monday.

After the investigation was done, it further added, the committee allegedly failed to find the alleged sum of $500 million said to have been stolen, the committee shifted to auditing the executive office of the president without the normal procedures of auditing a classified institution.

The report thus says the long arrest and detention of accused persons for over a year is “illegal” and “unlawful”.

“The suspects were not accorded their rights as per the constitution neither were they arraigned in court to be remanded by competent court,” observed the report.

“The searches that were conducted at the accused persons' houses were illegal and unlawful as there was no due process of the law followed. The break in and storming of Click Technologies Ltd without court search warrant was a direct threat to right of personal property,” it adds.

Research reportedly found that the auditing that became the new base of the investigation and the case after the failure to find the $500 million as alleged in the intelligence report was not independent, impartial or fair.

“It did not meet international standards that required that auditors must work without influence from the institution being audited. The auditors were working at the same premises with the investigation
committee and the complainant,” further notes the report.

“The seal and signature of the president that is alleged to have been used in the forgery was a mere gimmick by the investigation committee to incriminate the accused people and to make the case stronger in the public domain. There was no single document found bearing the seal and the signature of H.E. the president requesting money from the ministry of finance or central bank," it added.

One of the accused, Athorbei Gaddaffy was not charged in absentia neither was his money amounting to USD $8.6 million and SSP 711,500 were drop from the case and instead were made part of the case by the investigation committee and the prosecution team.

“The goods that the prosecution presented to the court as having not been delivered are still being used in the office of the president up to this hour. The donation from H.E. the president to Greater Lakes States women parliamentarian are denied to have been delivered despite the fact that the contractor Mr. Simon Lupai of Lupain Motors confirming to the court as having delivered the cars and having received his money," says the report, unveiled on the heels of the country's hard economic crisis.

INTIMIDATION OF JUDGE

The report further points out that the trial judge was allegedly heavily intimidated and influenced by the prosecution to “blindly rule in their favor”.

“The trial did not meet the constitutional threshold of fair trial. The accused people were not given fair hearing to defend themselves before the law. Defense witnesses were denied access to enter the court room and some were threatened and made to withdraw from testifying. Lawyers were threatened at gun point,” the report notes.

“The trial judge did not administer justice in a fair, independent and impartial manner. He unified the charges during the pre-trial without distinction between the first accused to the last accused persons”, it stressed.

During the research, the trial judge allegedly confessed to one of the researchers that he was under innermost pressure to sentence the accused persons without exception and with the most severe conviction in the law.

“The complainant, General Paul Nang Majok categorically stated during his cross examination in court that he does not know some of the accused people as he did not open any case against them. He said that he was only ordered to arrest only five people among the 16 accused persons in court and the rest, he did not open any case against them,” the report observes.

JUSTICE DENIED

The entity, Legal Watch Associates South Sudan notes that the case is a complete miscarriage of justice and has negatively tainted the image of the country and the office of the president.

“The same rumors like the one that this case of the 16 people was built is like the recent news article on Sudantribune.com that claims that $280 million has been stolen from the office of the president. Such propaganda does not advance positive interest of the country. People who circulate such rumours must be tracked down, investigated and prosecuted and sent to prison for the rest of their lives,” it said.

“For justice to prevail, we call upon the appeal panel that is reviewing the case to expedite the case and release these people from prison without delay,” it further said.

Sudan Tribune was unable to get a response from the presidency on findings of the report.

(ST)

December 8, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) arrested Sudanese human rights defender, Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, in Khartoum and taken him to undisclosed location, said Amnesty International on Thursday.

Chairman of the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO) Mudawi Ibrahim Adam (www.democracyandsecurity.org)

Adam was arrested on Wednesday 7 December at the Khartoum University, where he works as an engineering professor.

The human rights group said his arrest is "further proof of the government's intolerance of independent voices".

Sudanese authorities recently arrested over 40 opposition figures and activists following the increase of fuel, electricity and drugs.

Adam's arrest comes among calls by the opposition groups for a second general strike on 19 December. A first strike took place between 27 to 29 November.

“Mudawi's arbitrary arrest underscores the government's desperate attempts to extinguish the last embers of dissent in the country. This wanton repression and disregard for human rights must come to an end,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

The Troika countries, European Union and Canada Wednesday expressed concern about “the detention, apparently without charge, of a number of political leaders either in anticipation of protests or having protested government economic moves”.

From December 2003 to January 2005, Mudawi had been arrested, during several months in connection with his work with the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO) in Darfur.

(ST)

December 8, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir Thursday arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to take part in a meeting of the head of states and governments de the East African regional body, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

On Thursday morning al-Bashir left Khartoum to Harar city the capital of Harari regional state, to attend the Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Day (NNPD) annual festival together with Ethiopian prime minister and Djiboutian president.

The IGAD summit will discuss on Friday the situation in South Sudan and Somalia. Bashir also is expected to hold bilateral meeting with the IGAD leaders to discuss bilateral relations and issues of common concern.

The president is accompanied by a delegation including Presidential Affaire Minister Fadel Abdallah Fadel, and Director of National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Mohamed Atta. Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour will join them in Addis Ababa Friday for the IGAD meeting.

Speaking at the 11th NNP Day festival in Harari regional state, Al-Bashir pointed to the deep rooted relations between the people in Ethiopia and Sudan, adding that the people to people relations positivity impacted all the other aspects between the two countries.

"The joint committees of the two nations are helping in advancing the economic collaboration," he said.

Cultural shows and dances of the various nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia were the key features of the annual festival, said the Ethiopian News Agency.

(ST)

December 8, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan president Salva Kiir has ordered for the deployment of additional troops to the oil producing region, saying it would ensure no armed elements disturb operations of the oil workers.

South Sudanese soldiers guard an oil refining facility (AFP)

“We are working to stabilize the situation and improve the economic situation. Now I have instructed the chief of general staff to work with his team to send more troops to Bentiu and other oil areas to ensure there is adequate security for oil workers and the community," the South Sudanese leader told the state-owned SSBC.

"They will ensure those who want to cut the pipeline do not get access to disturb security of oil companies. This is one of the priorities and will be done”, he added.

While meeting the Jikany community leaders on Thursday, Kiir urged all armed forces to do everything they can to distinguish between civilians and combatants and thus avoid unnecessary suffering of the people and prevent collateral damage to property.

He admitted the economic situation was not encouraging due the nation's ongoing war.

Conflict in South Sudan cut oil output by a third to about 160,000 barrels per day. The country is currently only pumping oil in Upper Nile state after production in Unity state stalled in 2014.

However, in May this year, the country's Petroleum and Mining Ministry said oil production was quickly declining and future production would not reach even half of what the country used to realize five years ago.

South Sudan's Transitional Government of National Unity now faces an uphill task of reviving an economy largely dependent on oil resources to support its budget.

The oil sector, which accounts for over 90% of government revenues, has been badly affected the recent war, in addition to the decline in oil prices on world markets

Commodity prices also shot up due to the devaluation of the local currency, South Sudanese pound, which has gravely impacted on the transport sector in the country.

The most affected are importers of food items and general household goods who have to deal with sharply increased prices to bring in goods from neighbouring Uganda, Kenya and Sudan. Many investors have left local and regional businesses collapse, while unemployment has increased.

South Sudan is one of poorest countries in the world with the worst indicators on development, health and education.

The conflict, which broke out in 2013, has negatively impacted on the nation's citizens, including pushing the country to the brink of famine with over 3 million people, in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, aid agencies warned.

Observers say despite being oil-rich, South Sudan is likely to record negative gross domestic product growth in 2016 after growing by 30.7 percent two years ago, largely due its conflict, decline in oil production and global fall in oil prices.

(ST)

Le tribunal administratif doit examiner, vendredi, cinq interdictions de manifester. Les personnes visées pendant le mouvement contre la « loi travail » dénoncent un détournement de l’état d’urgence.

As we look at a range of themes, from bitterly contested elections which have occurred or are about to occur to problems of dealing with the past in the region, continuity and discontinuity seem to be the words that thread these stories together. 

Ce sont les dernières révélations issues des archives d'Edward Snowden, cet ancien consultant pour l'agence américaine de renseignements, la NSA. Le journal français Le Monde et le site The Intercept se sont penchés sur une nouvelle série de documents portant sur l'Afrique. Le continent intéresse beaucoup les services de renseignements américains et britanniques depuis des années, et notamment la République démocratique du Congo.

Ça ressemble à un véritable calvaire. Plusieurs centaines de migrants subsahariens ont été arrêtés le week-end dernier à Alger, puis envoyés dans un camp à Tamanrasset, dans le sud du pays. Mercredi 7 décembre, une partie a été expulsée vers le Niger et est arrivée à Agadez. D'autres étaient toujours à Tamanrasset où leur situation est très précaire.

Nexter Systems and Krauss Maffei Wegmann (KMW) showcased one of the first fruits of their joint venture - KMW + Nexter Defense Systems (KNDS) - at the 2016 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) exhibition in Orlando in December. The Nexter FINDMP Digital Sand

China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) has expanded its range of remote weapon stations (RWS) with the development of the UW4A, IHS Jane's has learned. At this stage it has not been confirmed if the UW4A has been developed to meet the operational requirements of the People's Liberation Army

North Korea has denied any involvement in a hacking attack against South Korea's Ministry of National Defense (MND), saying Seoul is pulling off "a childish plot" to divert public attention from a political crisis, Yonhap news agency quoted North Korea's state-run Uriminzokkiri website as

En RDC, d'ultimes négociations ont démarré jeudi 8 décembre entre majorité et opposition sous l'égide de l'église catholique. L'objectif est de trouver une issue à la crise politique en cours alors que le 19 décembre marque la fin du deuxième et dernier mandat de Joseph Kabila sans que des élections aient pu être organisées. En octobre, un accord politique avait été trouvé entre le pouvoir et une frange de l'opposition. Mais les poids lourds de l'opposition l'ayant rejeté, la commission épiscopale du Congo s'est proposée de remettre les acteurs politiques autour d'une même table.

The US State Department has approved a Moroccan request for 1,200 BGM-71-4B-RF wireless TOW 2A anti-tank missiles worth an estimated USD108, the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on 8 December. The DSCA said the missiles will "advance Morocco's efforts to develop an

A new piece of legislation that has quietly made its way through the US Congress over the past several months is calling for the creation of a new committee that would take concrete and even proactive steps against Russian 'new-generation warfare' and intelligence operations targeted against

South Korea has drawn up a list of 60 submarine components to be banned from export to North Korea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Seoul said in an 8 December statement. The watch list, which calls on other governments to ensure that the parts are not shipped to the communist country,

The US State Department has approved the potential sale to Australia of military electronic warfare (EW) equipment to support its Boeing E/A-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. The Foreign Military Sale features an additional AEA-18G EW range system and related support, equipment, and training

Le réseau d'eau potable de Cotonou va être modernisé grâce à un financement de la Banque européenne d'investissement, la BEI. Le président béninois se trouve en ce moment à Bruxelles. Patrice Talon a signé jeudi 8 décembre cette convention de financement. Elle s'élève à 30 millions d'euros. Le président espère que d'autres projets seront financés par la banque de l'Union européenne.