Africa

Former Ghana, Ajax Amsterdam and Vitesse Arnhem midfielder Yakubu Abubakar dies at the age of 36.

Ijeoma Ndukwe asks if Nigerians will ever consider their own dishes worth paying a lot of money for.

Locals joke that if you marry a "chukudu" driver, then you'll never go hungry.

The Kenyan opposition leader though made no mention a legal challenge to the outcome.

A Kisumu teenager died after police clashed with protesters boycotting Kenya's election re-run.

Interim coach Moses Basena and Africa veteran Claude LeRoy are among more than 200 coaches who have applied for the vacant Uganda coaching job.

Former Miss Liberia and now entrepreneur, Patrice Juah gives us her tips for success.

As Africa gets more connected, so online services increase but they cannot just be a carbon copy of Western tech.

How a Welsh seaside town hosted an institute for African students, including Nelson Mandela's mentor.

As Uhuru Kenyatta wins a second term in office, what did we learn about the Kenyan leader from his first?

A recent court ruling has got South Africans of all ages discussing the merits, and otherwise, of smacking children, as the BBC's Pumza Fihlani reports.

The lifting of US sanctions after two decades brings hope to cancer patients and crippled businesses.

Meet the knitting group helping Kenyan women with breast cancer.

The 2CV is a vintage French car. But it is the car of choice for taxi drivers in the African island of Madagascar.

In an historic first, starting today all refugees in Ethiopia will be able to register their vital life events, including birth, death, marriage and divorce, directly with national authorities, the United Nations refugee agency announced on Friday.

October 27, 2017 (EL-FASHER) - Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday has carried out forcible disarmament operations in Jebel Amer gold mines, North Darfur state.

An RSF field commander told Sudan Tribune on the condition of anonymity his militia conducted a wide search campaign at Jebel Amer area, saying they seized large quantities of illegal weapons and unregulated motorcycles.

He added the RSF had forced the militiamen who were controlling Jebel Amer gold mines to flee the area.

“Our forces had also carried out another campaign in the Ghira Al-Zawiya area where they captured large quantities of weapons and motorcycles which were used in looting and stealing the property of the residents,” he said.

Last August, the Sudanese authorities launched a six-month disarmament campaign to eliminate illegal weapons in the conflict-affected areas in Sudan, particularly in Darfur region.

The higher committee for the collection of weapons and unregulated vehicles started the forcible phase of the campaign in all the states of Sudan on 15 October.

On 11 October, 10,000 RSF militiamen arrived in North Darfur to contribute to establishing security in the troubled state and support the mandatory phase of the disarmament campaign.

Large parts of the Jebel Amer gold mines are controlled by militias led by the tribal leader Musa Hilal who refuses to hand over his militias arms and defy the government.

In a report released in July 2016, UN experts said Hilal's militiamen control at least 400 gold mines. They said the group earns some $54 million annually from levies on prospectors and support businesses, direct prospecting and the illegal exporting of mined gold.

Hilal, a former Janjaweed leader, rejects government call to merge his Border Guards Forces (BGF) with the RSF militia which is attached to the Sudanese army and led by one of his former aides.

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October 27, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on Thursday has released the leading member of the opposition Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) Nabil al-Nuweiri.

Al-Nuwairi, a member of the SCoP branch in the United Kingdom and Ireland, was arrested on 5 September at the Khartoum North Criminal Court while he was attending a ruling session on the case of SCoP member Asim Omer who is accused of killing a policeman during student protests in 2016.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune Friday, SCoP spokesperson Mohamed Hassan Arabi said the NISS released al-Nuweiri “at 9:00 pm (local time) on Thursday following 53 days of detention without giving reasons”.

He described the detention of al-Nuweiri without a judicial order as a violation of the right to live in freedom and safety as well as a violation of the freedom of organization and expression prescribed by the constitution.

Arabi added the detention of al-Nuweiri for over 53 days also violates the National Security Act “which is in itself unconstitutional”.

He stressed the SCoP would continue to mobilize the masses “to overthrow the regime which doesn't deserve to stay in power for a single day”.

The SCoP was established in January 1986. It was first chaired by the former chief-justice Abdel-Mageed Imam who was succeeded by Ibrahim al-Sheikh and has elected al-Digair as its third president in 2016.

The centre-left reformist party calls for social justice and separation of religion and state. It also believes that peaceful transfer of power is the only way to stability and unity of the country.

In recent months, the SCoP has challenged the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and organized political activities in public and open places calling on the citizens to resist the regime and take to the streets in protest against the deterioration of living conditions at all levels.

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October 27, 2017 (JUBA)- Rival forces in South Sudan have on Friday issued statements in which each side attempted to portray itself as being in full control of Kuergeng, an area under Guit County in Northern Liech, part of greater unity.

The resumption of heavy fighting pitted a coalition of troops under the control of President Salva Kiir and his first deputy in coalition government on one and those loyal to the exiled former First Vice President turned rebel leader Riek Machar on the other.

The fighting occurred on Thursday morning, just a day after President Kiir assured the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley during a meeting on Wednesday that his government would implement 2015 peace agreement and would do the best to stop the violence by declaring a permanent ceasefire.

Kiir further told the top U.S. official his administration will also participate in the proposed revitalization forum of the agreement without laying preconditions.

It was not immediately clear who of the rival sides initiated the attack. Sudan Tribune was not able to independently verify their claims.

Northern Liech State information minister Lam Tungwar said Friday that government forces on Thursday came under “heavy attack by rebel forces” at Kuergeng area, resulting in the death of at least nine people including four policemen. 13 others including the Kuergeng commissioner Nyok Kier sustained injuries during the fight over what appears as a renewed military offensive.

Col. Dickson Gatluak Jock, spokesman of the SPLA-IO faction allied to the First Vice President Taban Deng Gai said in a statement released on Friday that their forces under command of Major Gen. Gabriel Gatwech Puoch, verified that some disgruntled generals of Riek Machar crossed the Nile River from Fangak.

“They were led by Col. Malek Wictuor Nyak and Lt. Col. Pan Kueth. This group made a surprise attack on SPLA-IO's defensive area this morning (Thursday) but they were repulsed by our Mobile forces. They simultaneously attacked our controlled areas that is Boaw Payam in Koch County but spoilt. They are now being given a hot pursuit by Mobile fighters back to their barracks where they came from and inflicted heavy casualties,” said Jock.

The pro-government force's spokesman said his group will not return to their defensive positions but will keep pursuing them till they are sure the rival forces have crossed back to where they came. Jock said eight people lost their lives including the civilians and other fourteen more wounded.

“The wounded civilians are being treated in Bentiu main Hospital,” he said.

Meanwhile, the military spokesman of Riek Machar SPLA-IO faction William Gatjiath released a statement on the same incident on Thursday confirming their forces under the command of Brigadier General Malek Weituor had captured Kuergeng area after fighting. The rebel military spokesman claimed their group had killed more than 17 government soldiers during the fighting.

“In addition to Kuergeng, the gallant and brave SPLA-IO forces under Major Nhial Kam Both, SPLM-SPLA (IO) Commissioner of Koch County entered and occupied Boaw and Pakur following the withdrawal of the visibly hungry and demoralized Juba regime soldiers from the area”, the statement reads.

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October 26, 2017 (WASHINGTON) - Juba has delayed the meetings of Sudan-South Sudan joint body on Abyei until a meeting between President Omer al-Bashir and his counterpart Salva Kiir, an international official said.

The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) says the presence of armed elements from Sudan and South Sudan is causing further instability in the contested Abyei area, which is claimed by both countries (FILE)

In a briefing to the UN Security Council about the situation in Abyei on Thursday, Alexander Zuev, Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions, explain why the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee didn't convene a meeting last July and stopped its activities.

Also, a meeting scheduled for 16 August in Addis Ababa had been postponed after South Sudan cited the need to await the outcome of the expected meeting between the Presidents of South Sudan and Sudan, Zuev said.

President Kiir will be in Khartoum on Tuesday 31 October according to the Sudanese foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour.

The international official urged both Governments to engage in discussions to resolve the deadlock over establishing the temporary institutions that should lead to the determination of Abyei's final status.

However, Akuei Bona Malwal the South Sudanese Ambassador to the UN told the meeting that the call to establish the Abyei Interim Administrative structures had been superseded by events.

Rather, he called for final settlement of the matter on the basis of the African Union High Implementation Panel proposal of 21 September 2013 which provides to hold the referendum without the participation of the Misseriya nomads. Sudan refused the proposal.

For his part, Sudanese Ambassador Omer Dahab Fadl Mohamed regretted Juba "lack of enthusiasm" to implement the agreement of 20 June 2011 and renewed calls on the Government of South Sudan to establish the Abyei institutions to achieve a "lasting peace" as he said.

LACK OF WILLINGNESS

However, Luis Bermúdez, Uruguay's Ambassador to the UN warned the two parties against the lack of willingness to settle their dispute over Abyei.

"Since UNISFA was hamstrung by the lack of willingness on the part of both sides to resolve the conflict, it was their primary responsibility to implement the 2011 agreements," Bermúdez stressed.

The last mandate extension for UNISFA had been a conditional one because the Council stipulated in resolution 2352 (2017) that it would be the final extension unless both sides demonstrated that the Mechanisms established in the 2011 Agreement could function.

"The future of UNISFA was entirely in the hands of the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan," he emphasized.

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October 26, 2017 (JUBA) - A former South Sudan ruling party official has vowed to challenge President Salva Kiir in the country's next general elections.

Suzane Jambo, former SPLM secretary for external relations (File photo)

Suzanne Jambo, formerly the ruling party's (SPLM) secretary for foreign relations, said the current political situation in the young nation shaped her decision to bring changes in the young nation.

“I believe that I have the characters of leadership and strength through my ability and courage from my compatriots, comrades in the SPLM party to lead the nation,” Jambo told Sudan Tribune in a phone interview Thursday.

“I have an obsession for South Sudan, besides my ability such as programs and vision of my party SPLM, so I believe that I can deliver whatever this country wants to be done to its people,” she added.

Jambo, who currently lives in the United States, said she intends to form her own political party ahead of polls, due to be held in 2018.

The former ruling party official also appealed to President Kiir to allow the country undergo free and fair elections without any intimidation.

Before becoming secretary for external affairs in the ruling party, Jambo, a renowned human rights and civil society activist, also worked with various non-governmental organizations in South Sudan.

“Being from South Sudan, I am a direct victim of the war. I have seen a lot of suffering, particularly among women. I hate to see women being victimized. I really hate to see that. But it's a reality and it's happening,” she further said during the interview.

In August, President Kiir called upon the country's opposition groups to prepare for the country's general elections, earmarked to take place after the end of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) period in 2018.

To fast track processes leading to the polls, the South Sudanese leader officially launched the much-awaited national dialogue initiative and declared a unilateral cease-fire with rebels in May, although it has repeatedly been violated.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and over two million displaced in South Sudan's conflict triggered by political differences between President Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar.

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