Africa

August 26, 2016 (WAU) - The newly appointed governor of Wau, one of South Sudan's newly created states, Andrea Mayar Acho on Friday relieved the Besselia county commissioner Pasquale Joseph Ayan from his post, appointing him deputy governor.

Mayar, in separate decree, also sacked three of his advisors, including the Wau town mayor, Akol Ajith and his deputy James Nyiyuo. No reasons were given for their removal.

The three advisors, who include Taban John for political affairs, Bibaina Mario for peace and reconciliation and Madut Akuek for security were appointed in February this year.

Ayan replaced Andrea Dominic who is presently in a military jail in the capital, Juba.

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Tunisia's parliament votes by an overwhelming majority to approve a unity government led by prime minister-designate Youssef Chahed.

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August 25, 2016 (JUBA)- South Sudanese government has announced the presence of armed opposition leader and ex-first vice president, Riek Machar, in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, but said it would not affect the relations between the two countries because Sudanese authorities were acting out of humanitarian ground.

Machar speaks on a mobile phone after an interview with Reuters in Kenya's capital Nairobi July 8, 2015

Presidential advisor on security affairs, Tut Kew Gatluak, told reporters on Wednesday after briefing President Salva Kiir on a visit to the Sudanese capital, Juba, with the new first vice president, Taban Deng Gai, that the government has been informed of the presence of Machar in Khartoum.

Gatluak, flanked by the minister in the office of the president Mayiik Ayii Deng, who spoke before him and oil minister, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, said the government has received reports of the presence of Machar in Khartoum by the Sudanese authorities without objection.

“Yes, we have received reports of the presence of Riek Machar in Khartoum. We have been informed about and we know he is there on humanitarian ground. This will not affect our relations. We understand”, said Gatluak in a statement broadcast by South Sudan broadcasting corporation.

The Deputy Minister of Information, Akol Paul Kordit, also announced the same government owned broadcaster that first vice president Taban Deng Gai was informed of the ex-FVP's presence in Khartoum.

He added that the government calls upon Riek to denounce violence and disassociate himself ‘from all the activities that are likely to undermine the implementation of the peace agreement.' Kordit said ‘peace is a collective responsibility for unity government and the IGAD member states.

The official revealed that IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) member countries as well as neigbouring African countries in the region and the entire region have been asked to not give Machar any conducive environment that he would use to undermine the stability of South Sudan and the implementation of the peace agreement.

The armed opposition leader and ex-FVP Riek Machar arrived in Khartoum for medical treatment on 'humanitarian grounds', according to Sudan's Minister of Information, Ahmed Bilal Osman.

In a statement by the Sudan News Agency, Osman announced that Sudan had recently received Riek Machar ''for he needs for urgent medical attention for purely humanitarian reasons.''

The statement adds that Riek's condition is now stable, and he will stay in the country under full medical supervision until he leaves the country for a destination of his choice to complete his medical treatment. South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth claimed in a separate interview that Riek was suffering from a chest infection.

He did not elaborate on his claims. Machar's arrival to Khartoum comes after the United Nations announced last week that he and 10 others were airlifted from South Sudan- Congo border for their safety.

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The United Nations envoy for Liberia today stressed the need for long-term, robust engagement by stakeholders, particularly the Security Council, towards a sustainable peace in the West African country.

August 25, 2016 (JUBA)- South Sudan has claimed it reached a consensus with the US and the region to be given a time, during which it would expedite the implementation of the peace agreement while discussions about the deployment of a regional protection force in the country continues.

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

Information and broadcasting Minister Michael Makuei Lueth, who led the government delegation to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where the US secretary of state had visited recently, announced that the outcome of the recent meeting between a delegation from Juba and the US Secretary of State approved the deployment of the force approved by the UN Security Council after conclusion of discussions.

The government, according to Minister Lueth, who speaks on its behalf, has been given conditions to expedite the implementation process and cease hostilities.

“We would be given time provided that we moved very fast, provided that we silence the guns, provided that we talked to the IDPs so that they move out of the displacement camps so that they go back to their respective homes, and then we continue to negotiate with the region on the idea of the protection force,” said Lueth. He said regional protection force will not be deployed immediately as expected.

“They are not coming soon and we are to negotiate, because there is no way an intervention force or a foreign force can enter any nation without the consent of that country.

But Lueth claimed the forces will not be deployed immediately to the country as expected, US secretary of John Kerry said the deployment of a protection force will guarantee safety of the civilians and enable investors to return to the country.

The US secretary of state confirmed that 4,000 troops from the region would complement efforts of the unity government by providing security to civilians in Juba.

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August 25, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - A new report by the United States-based Enough Project said the severe economic crisis has become the greatest vulnerability for the Sudanese regime and allowed the US government to spearhead efforts to support an inclusive peace deal in the country.

Sudanese President Omer Hassan al-Bashir (AFP Photo/Ashraf Shazly)

The report “Khartoum's Economic Achilles ' heel : The intersection of war, profit, and greed”, explains how the economic crisis in Sudan was exacerbated by the sanctions imposed on the country since 1997.

“This economic vulnerability has caused sanctions relief to replace debt relief as the regime's primary preoccupation, giving the U.S. government powerful leverage to support an inclusive peace deal in Sudan that leads to a transition to democracy” said the report

It adds that the understanding of the economic weaknesses of the government would make policymakers better deal with the Sudanese officials who according to the report “orchestrate large-scale atrocity crimes and theft in Sudan”.

“In a situation where grand corruption and mismanagement of mineral resources are among the key drivers of deadly conflicts in Sudan, understanding the Sudanese regime's economic vulnerabilities in greater detail can equip policymakers to better tailor their financial pressure measures to target top Sudanese leaders and their enablers” the report read.

The report mentions how the regime and its supporters dominated the Sudanese economy since they came to power in 1989, saying the country's public corporations and private sector were undercut.

“The regime and its supporters began to dominate and extract wealth for themselves from the economy's key strategic and high-value sectors, including the oil, transportation, communications, and construction industries” it said

“The regime privatized state corporations, giving over the control of these corporations to regime-affiliated businesses and charities—on a non-competitive basis and for low prices. The regime-affiliated economic networks of hundreds of commercial companies, which dominate what might otherwise be a productive and independent private sector, constitute what many Sudanese people call a “gray economy” the report added

The report explains that the Sudanese government became highly vulnerable as a result of the economic practices created and sustained by the regime itself.

“State-enshrined grand corruption, combined with economic mismanagement and short-sighted, opportunistic over- spending of finite public money on unproductive pursuits, have left the regime heavily indebted” read the report

It also explains how the economic sanctions imposed on Iran have affected the Sudanese economy and the government officials.

“Tighter enforcement of sanctions on Iran has prompted global financial institutions to de-risk and stop doing business with risky clients, including Sudan” read the report

According to the report, the Sudanese economic crisis gives Washington and the international community a good opportunity to develop a new strategy aiming at pressing the regime to engage in a comprehensive national process that allows peaceful transition to democracy.

“In particular, the financial pressure that Sudanese leaders feel now can be tightened and eased by U.S. policymakers in strategic ways as part of a system of coercion and incentives that is one part of a broader enhanced comprehensive U.S. strategy with Sudan” the report said

The Enough Project, an atrocity prevention policy group, says it seeks to build leverage for peace and justice in Africa by helping to create real consequences for the perpetrators and facilitators of genocide and other mass atrocities.

The organization says it aims to “counter rights-abusing armed groups and violent kleptocratic regimes that are fuelled by grand corruption, transnational crime and terror, and the pillaging and trafficking of minerals, ivory, diamonds, and other natural resources.”

It has been conducting field researches in conflict zones, developing and advocating for policy recommendations and support social movements in affected countries as well as mobilize public campaigns.

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Kenyan athletes express anger after being stranded in a Rio shanty town where gunshots could be heard, after the closure of the Olympic village.

The United Nations Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, has expressed concern at inflammatory statements concerning the genocide in Rwanda that were made by a senior official of the ruling party in Burundi and cautioned that such statements could constitute incitement to violence.

Years of violence by Boko Haram in Africa’s Lake Chad basin, which includes Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, have led to a worsening humanitarian crisis that has displaced 1.4 million children and left at least one million still trapped in hard-to-reach areas, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a report released today.

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