Africa

August 16, 2021 (JUBA) - At least three people were killed in an ambush on Juba-Nimule road in South Sudan on Monday, a police officer confirmed.

General view of Juba Nimule road leading to Nimule Park and neighbouring Uganda (Pinterest photo)

A Catholic nun was among those killed in the attack that occurred on the road between Aru Junction and Kubi.

"What happened on Juba-Nimule road is very unfortunate," Daniel Justine, a police spokesperson was quoted saying Monday.

"A car was ambushed around 10:00 a.m. and as a result, three people died. One was burnt in the car and another one died on the way after being rushed to Aru-Junction hospital," he added.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Juba confirmed the nun's demise in a statement.

“The Secretary-General, Rev. Fr. Samuel Abe, with deep sorrow announces to the Catholic Faithful, Religious leaders and all denominations, government and other institutions, family and friends and to the general public about the sudden passing on of Sr. Mary Abbud of the congregation of the Sacred Heart,” partly reads a statement the Catholic Archdiocese of Juba issued Monday.

“Sr. Abbud and other nuns got involved in an armed road ambush between Aru Junction and Kubi in which her and her colleagues were shot at while coming from Loa to Juba on Monday,” it added.

The highway is a lifeline for South Sudan, which imports most goods from neighbouring countries.

Last week, a similar attack on the same highway left two dead and three others injured.

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August 16, 2021 (JUBA)- A top presidential aide has warned the country could return to a full scale if president Salva Kiir and his first deputy in coalition of government and the leader of the main opposition continue to ignore “popular demand” for reforms and delivery of services to the people.

Arms and light weapons have been used by both warring parties in South Sudan to commit abuses (Photo courtesy of SSANSA)

“We have always drawn the attention of our leaders to what happens in other countries. We do that to inform their decisions and to enhance their leadership strengths. We drew their attention to events in Haiti where the president was assassinated and Khartoum where president Bashir was removed from power as well as in Zimbabwe where late president Robert Mugabe was removed from power by his own colleagues after showing intransigence to the demand of the people”, a presidential aide in strategic analysis committee of a select coterie and trusted aides told Sudan Tribune on Monday.

The group, assembled by the office of the president through the director of the national security services, are drawn from academics, members of the civil society, experienced politicians, and elders come together whenever there is a crisis at the behest of the leadership to conduct analysis and make recommendation. The source said he was shocked the leadership was not ready to act.

“People are watching developments unfolding in Afghanistan where Talibans have taken over power from the government after twenty years of struggle and in Zambia after the incumbent president was defeated in elections. These are writings on the walls which we share in the strategic and confidential discussions with the leadership but the analysis we are asked to provide on their requests appear to go to the dustbin and there are indicators that the country could return to a full-scale war if there are no immediate actions to salvage the situation”, he warned.

He said and he and select group of coteries within the presidency have been making analysis at the behest of President Salva Kiir through the director general of the internal bureau of the national security services over the past months without progress on their recommendations.

He described the director general of the country's national security services as a "wiseman", citing his readiness to meet and listen to whoever is willing to speak on public affairs and what to be done.

“You see, the director general of the national security services is a Wiseman. He is a humble man and respectful person I have come to know in the course of this work. He would come to us and say comrades, give us an analysis of this and that situation and he does this whenever there are political developments in the region and in the world. We conduct these analyses, and he takes them to the president for briefing. We expect positive feedbacks but each time we analyze, it is like we are starting from scratch. Nobody is reading and if they do, they are not ready to act on the recommendations”, he said.

The warnings come days after a split within the leadership of armed opposition under Machar raised fears that such developments could undermine implementation of the 2018 peace agreement and the ripple effects could plunge the trouble-torn country deeper into chaos.

The inability of the coalition government to graduate troops in the training centers and unify the forces has left the country in the hand of ethnic and regional warlords, opening the floodgates for instability.

A bloody power struggle which has bedeviled all factions and a humanitarian crisis have ravaged a landlocked country , even as the world is struggling to come to grips with the fast-deteriorating situation.

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August 16, 2021 (JUBA) - Defections from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) aimed at preventing full implementation of the revitalized peace agreement and the recent one has the same purpose, a spokesman said on Monday.

SPLM/A-IO former chief of staff Simon Gatwech Dual recently defected from the group accusing its leader Riek Machar of nepotism and weakness.

Manawa Peter Gatkuoth SPLM-IO Acting Chairperson of the National Committee for Information and Public Relations on Monday regretted that some circles in Juba have continued seeking, in vain, to distract the peace implementation process and encourage defections of the main opposition group.

Gatkuoth said before Dual, there were five other defections from the SPLM-IO but they all failed to destabilize the stance of the Movement towards the full implementation of the revitalized peace agreement of September 2018.

He disclosed the existence of a disagreement between the parties over the number of troops provided by each signatory group for the unified national army.

"It was agreed that the new national army is to be formed of an equal number of troops from the two sides. The SPLM In Government (SPLM-IG) provides a half and the other signatories a half," said the SPLM-IO spokesman.

The revitalized peace agreement does not include such a disposition on the number of troops provided by each party but the deal was struck during an IGAD-facilitated workshop in Khartoum on the security arrangements.

"However, the SPLM-IG now refuses to implement this agreement and demands to have 60% and the other signatories only get 40%," he said.

The IGAD which brokered the peace agreement now proposes 55% for the Government and 45% for the opposition groups.

"The IGAD was expected to press the parties to remain committed to the brokered agreement. Such a proposal is not good because it will encourage them to seek to renegotiate other dispositions and undermine the whole process," stressed the SPLM-IO official.

President Salva Kiir several times called for international support to implement the expensive security arrangements but donors said that Juba has to ensure transparency in the management of its oil income before.

The SPLM-IO official appealed to the recently splintered faction to form its own political organization and to join the national efforts to achieve peace and stability in the country.

"This would be a constructive approach for peace and stability in South Sudan instead of seeking to weaken the main opposition movement," he said.

He further added that five other breakaway groups before Dual attempted to weaken the SPLM-IO but they failed despite the support they received from the "anti-peace circles".

"Yes, they defected but the SPLM-IO remains and will continue to its vision for democracy, transparency and development," he said.

Forces loyal to the breakaway SPLA-IO's former chief of staff Simon Gatwech Dual clashed recently with the SPLA-IO in the Magenis area near the Sudan border.

IGAD's Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu met with Riek Machar on 3 August and called to cease hostilities.

Also, Gebeyehu deplored the slow progress in the implementation of the security arrangements, stressing they remain a big challenge facing the country three years after the signing of the peace agreement.

IGAD Chairperson Abdallah Hamdok is expected to visit Juba in the coming days to discuss the enforcement of the security arrangements with the two parties.

(ST)

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August 15, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - A spokesman for the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) said they had reached an agreement with the Prime Minister to review the draft trade union law that the council had approved on June 13.

This agreement was reached during a meeting between Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and leaders of the Communist Party on 10 August.

Spokesman Fathi Fadl told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that the Prime Minister and the SPC had agreed to review the draft union law.

He disclosed the formation of a joint committee including from the government side, advisor to the Prime Minister, Faisal Mohamed Saleh, and Buthaina Al-Khurasani from the SPC to review the draft law.

Fadl underlined that the Communist Party did not abandon the slogan of overthrowing the transitional government, pointing that the government "failed to implement the demands of the revolutionaries."

He added that the leaders of the Communist Party informed the Prime Minister of their positions on the government's policies, especially in the economic and peace issues.

"If the sovereign council and the cabinet can implement the revolutionaries' demands, we will think in another way, but so far the party is seeking to overthrow the transitional government."

The Communist Party is opposed to the economic reforms implemented by the government, and the approach adopted in the negotiations with the Sudanese Revolutionary Front, which led to the signing of an agreement on October 3, 2020.

The Communist Party also criticizes the slow pace of the government efforts to achieve peace and justice in the country.

However, Fadl pointed out that they support the government policy to restructure Al-Jazira agricultural schema and the full control of the civilian-led government.

He stressed that the party rejects what he called "foreign dictates", in reference to the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund the government is implementing.

The spokesman pointed out that the Communist Party "does not reject dialogue with any political forces except the banned National Congress Party and the military."

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August 15, 2021 (NAIROBI) – A leading member of South Sudan's armed opposition movement (SPLM-IO) has backed the removal of the group's chairman and the country's First Vice President Riek Machar, saying all structures under him are now “null and void”.

“If the army has deposed the former Chairman and Commander in Chief all structures under him are rendered null and void. A deposed leader cannot expel members of a leadership that has already been overthrown,” Garang Mabior said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

Mabior, a former SPLM-IO Chairperson for Information and Public Relations said acknowledged the split in the armed opposition faction, saying the group deviated from its search for a dignified peace for our civil population.

“The SPLM-IO (Juba group) claims to be implementing peace despite the fact that after three years, our civil populations are still languishing in PoCs, refugee camps or suffering the brutality of inter-communal violence in our cattle camps and in the villages,” he stated.

On August 3, the SPLM/A-IO military command under the command of Lt. General Simon Gatwech Dual denounced the leadership of Machar and appointed the former as the interim chairman of the armed opposition group.

The decision to oust the First Vice President, it said, emerged after several members held a meeting at the Magenis area in South Sudan's Upper Nile state.

According to Mabior, the dismal failure to implement Chapter II of the peace agreement, which entails the permanent ceasefire and transitional security arrangements has resulted in fundamental differences in political opinion.

“Chapter II deals with the reform of the security sector. After the former Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Gatwec Dual, called on the former Chairman, Dr Riek Machar, to brief the military on the progress of the Security Arrangements but was ignored, the army deposed Dr Riek Machar as the Chairman and Commander in Chief of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) on 03/08/2021,” he noted.

Last week, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Council of Ministers passed a resolution, calling upon all factions in the dispute within SPLM/A-IO to immediately and unconditionally cease armed confrontation and refrain from any offensive, provocative or retaliatory utterances, behaviours and other actions that will escalate tensions and hostilities and

They further urged the parties to pursue peaceful avenues of resolution of internal differences and disagreements through dialogue, trust and confidence building and demonstrate greater political will and commitment.

“We the SPLM/SPLA-IO (Founding Members) acknowledge the split in the Movement. We are fully committed to a peaceful resolution to the internal political contradictions in our Movement and are ready to make revolutionary corrections,” stressed Mabior.

He added, “We are also committed to the resolutions of the IGAD COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE 73rd EXTRA-ORDINARY SESSION OF THE IGAD COUNCIL OF MINISTERS quoted above".

In September 2018, the warring factions in South Sudan's civil war signed a revitalized peace agreement to end the country's civil war. The peace accord stipulates that there shall be a transitional government formed after eight months of the pre-transitional period.

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August 15, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok said that his initiative to end the war in Ethiopia is still valid.

"The mediation initiative between the Ethiopians within the IGAD framework is still in place," Hamdok said in a press conference in Khartoum on Sunday.

Hamdok had conducted a series of contact with the IGAD countries including Eritrea, and the international community to mobilise support for his bid to stop the fighting in northern Ethiopia between the government forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

Hamdok underscored he had spoken with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed about the initiative.

However, the office of the Prime Minister rejected the offer, pointing to the tensions with Sudan over the Al-Fashaga border area.

Hamdok stressed that the purpose of his initiative, as IGAD Chairman, is to preserve the unity and stability of Ethiopia.

"This is a country that has 110 million of population. Can you imagine if the state collapsed?"

He further pointed that Sudan cannot watch what is happening inside the neighbour's house without seeking to address a crisis that will also impact his country.

The Sudanese prime minister also minimized the recall of the Sudanese ambassador to Addis Ababa saying it was a normal measure to consult with him over the situation in Ethiopia and what should be done.

The foreign ministry in Khartoum had denounced claims by Abiy's office on Al-Fashagah as an Ethiopian territory and announced the recall of its ambassador to express dissatisfaction with the statement of his office.

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August 14, 2021 (JUBA) - Partners involved in South Sudan's peace process have welcomed the presidency calls for the unification of the country's military command.

The unified force of instructors pose for a group photo in Juba, October 5, 2019 (Xinhua)

In a statement issued on Saturday, the regional bloc (IGAD), the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the peace monitoring body (RJMEC) and the ceasefire monitors (CTSAMVM) commended the 10 August 10, 2021 resolution of the Presidency of South Sudan reiterating its commitment to the implementation of the R-ARCSS and calling for inter alia, the immediate cessation of hostilities within the SPLM/A-IO as well as the amicable resolution of the existing dispute.

"This proactive step is yet another manifestation of the capability of the leadership of the Republic of South Sudan to tackle the challenges and issues afflicting the country and of their resolve not to relapse to conflict," partly reads the statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

The partners aaid Chapter 2 of the peace deal on the Permanent Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements is the backbone of the Revitalized Agreement.

"The full implementation of the provisions of this section of the Peace Agreement without further delay, is expected to significantly reduce incidents of fighting and clashes throughout the country, and create an enabling environment for the implementation of the remaining Chapters of the R-ARCSS," the statement further stated.

It added, "Therefore, the unification and redeployment of the Necessary Unified Forces is an urgent priority and IGAD, UNMISS, RJMEC and CTSAMVM call upon the R-TGoNU to allocate and avail the required financial and material resources for this undertaking".

Meanwhile, the partners said they are ready and committed to provide support to the Parties to aid in resolving the extant challenges relating to the Transitional Security Arrangements and towards the timely and full implementation of the R-ARCSS.

"In this regard, IGAD, UNMISS, RJMEC and CTSAMVM have agreed to forge a closer working relationship with a view to coordinate and synchronize efforts towards a smooth transition to sustainable peace, prosperity and development in South Sudan," it stressed.

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August 14, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan received on Saturday the third batch of wheat aid from the United States.

The official Sudan News Agency said that the 48,000-tonne shipment is part of six batches for this year.

The wheat aid which is part of the Abraham Accords aims to help preserve Sudan's foreign currency reserves.

In June and July, Sudan had already received two shipments of 48,000 metric tonnes each.

Last June, the government said it has sufficient strategic stocks of wheat until April 2022.

The U.S. will supply Sudan with 300,000 tonnes of wheat this year, rising to 420,000 tonnes annually from 2022-2024, according to Reuters.

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August 14, 2021 (JUBA) - The United Nations Mission in South Sudan said it is concerned at the division that has developed within the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), and which led to clashes between factions in Magenis last week.

The head of UN mission in South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom (Getty)

“UNMISS is committed to supporting the full implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement and it is important that this process continues to move forward at pace,” said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Nicholas Haysom.

“Therefore, we join with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Council of Ministers, the Presidency, and civil society groups in calling for the SPLM-IO factions, and indeed, all signatory parties to work together to overcome their differences peacefully," he added.

Haysom further said it is also important for all stakeholders to expedite the implementation of the transitional security arrangements, including the graduation and deployment of unified forces, which is now critically needed.

On August 3, the SPLM/A-IO military command under General Simon Gatwech Dual denounced the leadership of Machar and appointed the former as the new interim chairman of the armed opposition movement.

The decision to oust Machar, the splinter group declared, emerged after its members held a three-day meeting at Magenis area in South Sudan's Upper Nile state.

But Machar's office, in a statement issued on August 4, said the three generals who met at Mangenis do not constitute the military command leadership of the SPLA-IO.

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August 14, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - An investigation committee on recent clashes in North Darfur between Arab militia and Juba Peace Agreement's armed signatory groups has recommended arresting the responsible for the violence and collecting weapons.

On 7 August, Deadly fighting erupted in Kalogui near Tawila locality in North Darfur between combatants of the Gathering of Sudan Liberation Forces (GSLF) and the Arab tribes. It was reported that three were killed and dozens wounded but there was no official statement.

Following this incident, Arab gunmen gathered around Tawila preparing to attack the GSLF fighters who were almost from the Zaghawa ethnic group. The transitional government, for its part, formed a national investigation committee that immediately travelled to El-Fasher to prevent further escalation.

On Sunday, the Head of the National Investigation Committee Mohamed al-Hassan Eltaishi held a press conference in El-Fasher to announce their recommendations to establish security and achieve stability in North Darfur.

"Parties should avoid verbal escalation, impose the authority of the state, arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice, and provide full support to solve problems," reads a statement released by the North Darfur State after the press conference.

Also, the committee recommended collecting weapons, support the displaced people who fled their areas after the clashes.

Eltaishi further called the residents of the Kalogui and Gallab areas to accept each other and promote peaceful coexistence.

The Arab accused the GSLF fighters of attacking them in support of their tribe people while the latter say they were heading to join a gathering site when they were ambushed by the Arab gunmen.

The Arab tribes after the tribal clashes in EL-Genina the capital of West Darfur earlier this year had accused the former rebels of supporting the IDPs while Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were accused of backing the Arabs.

Suleiman Sandal Political Secretary of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) who is a member of the investigation committee expressed said there is no return to war and expressed their return to implement the Juba Peace Agreement despite these challenges.

He denied that the peace agreement was limited to a particular tribe adding that it was "an agreement for all the Sudanese people," and the armed groups are part of the government forces working under the command of the state security committee to protect civilians.

The Sudanese government last July decided to deploy the joint forces which include the former rebels to protect farmers during the farming seasons.

RSF Second Commander Abel Rahim Dalgo, for his part, reassured that the joint forces are now deployed in the clash zones to prevent any hostilities.

On 10 August, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Head of Sovereign Council announced the launch of the security arrangements implementation, 10 months after the signing of the Juba peace agreement.

The former regime conducted several operations to disarm civilians and collect weapons. However, the Arab herders who were used by the al-Bashir regime to fight the rebel groups clashed with other ethnic groups many times in different parts of Darfur.

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