Africa

Despite a successful presidential election and other noteworthy progress, the Central African Republic (CAR) continues to be plagued by violence and volatility, the UN peacekeeping chief told the Security Council on Tuesday. 

Do real-life couples face the same difficulties as those depicted in the Bollywood-Nollywood crossover?

Six hundred thousand doses of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine from the UN-partnered COVAX initiative have arrived in Ghana: a historic first for the international partnership to provide equitable innoculations for all.

They are learning how to pronounce Gqeberha, the new name for the city of Port Elizabeth.

How to master Xhosa tongue-twisters as South Africa's city of Port Elizabeth changes its name.

Some African nations have just begun vaccination programmes, but most have yet to start.

One of Africa's biggest clubs - Zamalek - is accused of 'immoral' and 'merciless' behaviour as it allegedly 'exploited' the contract of a player it no longer wanted.

Fallou Diop won the country's top racing prize when he was just 17.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has provided further information on the deadly convoy attack in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday in which Italy’s Ambassador to the country, his bodyguard, and a WFP driver were killed. 

Increased “brinkmanship, pressure tactics, and tests of strength” are threatening progress in Somalia, the country’s UN envoy told the Security Council on Monday, warning that they must be resolved “through dialogue and compromise”. 

The Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a World Food Programme (WFP) staff member, together with an Italian embassy official, were killed on Monday during an attack on a UN convoy in the east of the country, the agency has said. 

Just eight countries in Africa have adequate death registration systems, a BBC investigation finds.

In Zambia, where the climate crisis is making it increasingly difficult to earn a living, goat-rearing is being seen as a possible route to a better livelihood, and economic resilience.

The Hirak movement marks its second anniversary with hopes of a rebirth despite appeasement efforts.

The UN chief expressed grave concern on Friday over an outbreak of violence in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. 

Heavy gunfire breaks out in Somalia's capital as the opposition defies a ban to protest about delayed elections.

Extreme violence and attacks involving thousands of fighters at a time have engulfed more than three-quarters of South Sudan, UN human Rights Council-appointed investigators said on Friday, warning that the bloodshed faced by civilians are “the worst recorded” since the country’s civil war began in December 2013.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on Friday, highlighted the dire situation of some three million displaced children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who face brutal militia violence and extreme hunger. 

Dina Mufti Ethiopia's FM spokesman speaks to reporter on 20 January 2021 (Ethiopia FM photo)

February 18, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - The Ethiopian government accused the Sudanese army of seeking to plunge Sudan into a war against Ethiopia in the interest of a third country.

In a new escalation with Sudan, the Ethiopian foreign ministry issued a statement on Wednesday condemning what its described as a "provocative behaviour", on the joint border warning that it will cause damage to the two countries.

"The Ethiopian government strongly believes that the conflict being trumpeted by the Sudanese government's military wing could only serve the interests of a third party at the expense of the Sudanese people," said the statement.

According to different diplomatic sources, Ethiopian officials accuse Egypt of pushing the Sudanese army to ignite war in the border area where the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is under construction, so they can destroy it.

The statement further said that Sudan undermined the Ethiopian efforts to "finalize the re-demarcation process" while the Sudanese army".

"The Ethiopian government would like to call upon the people of Sudan to check on its government from serving a third party interest which only would result in the determent of the two nations," repeated the statement.

During a meeting of the joint political committee on 22 December, the Sudanese side was surprised by the demand made by the Ethiopian delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen who asked to demarcate the border.

The Sudanese side rejected the demand and underscored that there are several agreements on the border demarcation and now what is needed is to place border markers.

Recently different envoys from the European Union and several Arab countries, the latest Saudi Arabia, were in Khartoum and Addis Ababa calling to de-escalate tensions and stop verbal attacks.

Also, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki despatched his special envoy EL-hacen Lebatt to Khartoum on Wednesday to discuss the growing tensions with Ethiopia.

(ST)

February 18, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - A South Sudanese rebel commander allied to the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) has rejected attempts to persuade him to join the army of President Salva Kiir, citing lack of trust.

Rebel commander Johnson Olony speaks to the press upon arrival at Juba international airport on 13 June 2013 (ST)

General Johnson Olony made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the Sudan Tribune Thursday.

The Chilluk general who until recently was seen as a risks endangering the fragile transition process in South Sudan, said he was approached by Tut Kew Gatluak the Presidential Adviser on Security and Akol Koor Kuc, the Director General of South Sudan's Internal Security Bureau (ISB).

"They came to me, showered me with praising words and I listened to them. Finally, they said they want me to join them, to be a government supporter and be integrated into the government and be assigned as one of the military leaders," said Olony.

"They said I will be assigned the command of one of the sectors. They talked of sector 1. I said sorry and we broke up. Our talks could not proceed, and they left. That what they came for”, he further said.

The armed opposition figure said he rejected the offer because it was the same government which rejected his appointment as the Governor of the Upper Nile State

He accused the armed opposition party leadership of withdrawing his nomination after several months of pushing for his appointment.

“What kind of these people? Look, yesterday they rejected my nomination and today they came and asked I should go and work with them. What kind of game are they playing? That is more than the game of the kids,” explained Olony.

The officer urged regional leaders, the peace guarantors and the international community to put pressure on President Salva Kiir's government to ensure the 2018 peace agreement is implemented.

“Until today, as I speak to you and which you know, forces in the cantonment have not been passed out so that reunification of the forces is done. The state governments have not been fully government. the transitional national legislative assembly has not been reconstituted and others. And how many months are left to go for elections?” stressed Olony.

He added, “I don't know whether Salva Kiir and his group are sincere with themselves, he said.

A presidential source separately told the Sudan Tribune that both Akol and Tut were recently in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum but declined to confirm if the two security officials held talks with Olony.

“I cannot comment on this issue. This is a security matter and I do not speak for them”, the presidential aide said Thursday.

President Kiir signed a power-sharing agreement with SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar and several other groups in September 2018.

The parties to the peace agreement formed the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) in February last year.

(ST)