Police officer, brother shot dead in Western Equatoria state

A South Sudanese police officer was on Monday shot dead at his Western Equatoria state residence, causing panic among the public.

Brigadier General Abraham Chol, the Maridi county police director was killed alongside his brother John Mabior at around 9:00pm local time.

The motive behind the killing of the two remains unclear.

Speaking to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday, the acting Executive Director of the county, John Hezekiah Paul said the situation is now calm as investigations continue.

“Calm has returned to the area. The situation was tense on Tuesday. There was panic and fear. People were confused and looked worried because this was the incident involving a senior officer. It was a big surprise and so there was no movement in town. All shops were closed but finally we managed to control the situation. We talked to the family of the victims and everyone. This allowed the body to be taken to the church for prayers and restored calm”, he explained.

Paul said security personnel were alerted immediately after gunshots were heard.

“I was told after contacting the director of the security in the county that the inspector of police and his brother have been shot dead at their home. I felt bad and told others”, he noted.

Authorities say security forces have put in place measures to arrest the perpetrators and transport the body of the late police officer to Lakes state for burial.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Juba, Khartoum to open border crossings on October 1

Authorities in Sudan and South Sudan have agreed to officially open their border crossings on October 1, a South Sudanese official disclosed.

Speaking to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday, the presidential advisor on security affairs, Tut Gatluak Manime said preparations are currently underway to open border crossings between the two countries for regular traffic flow and trade.

He said seven border crossings, including river transport at Joda, a border point between Sudan’s White Nile state and south Sudan’s Upper Nile state will open.

“Preparations are complete so that on Friday, God willing, the seven border crossings will be officially opened. The security teams on both sides of the two countries are on the ground already”, explained Manime.

The border between the two countries was closed in 2011 when relations deteriorated after South Sudan seceded. Khartoum at the time blamed South Sudan for supporting the SPLA-North rebels in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan and the Blue Nile region.

Observers say opening of border crossings will ease movement of goods and people.

Anti-democratic transition actions in Sudan put U.S. support at risk: Feltman

U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman on Wednesday warned that actions against the civilian-led government in Sudan will put Washington support at risk.

In a meeting with Prime Minsiter Abdallah Hamdok attended by Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi and Political Adviser Yasir Arman, the visiting envoy condemned the 21 September failed coup attempt and his country support for the civilian-led transitional government.

The visiting diplomat underscored that such attempts might lead “the Congress to stop supporting Sudan,” said Hamdok office in a statement issued after the meeting.

“It is important for the two parties to realize that their cooperation is crucial for a smooth transition and for Sudan to maintain its place within the international system, which reached after hard efforts,” said Feltman according to the statement.

In December 2020, the U.S. Congress passed a bill supporting the democratic transition in Sudan and tightening oversight of the Sudanese security and intelligence forces.

The “Sudan Democratic Transition, Accountability, and Fiscal Transparency Act of 2020” includes an assessment of the security sector reforms which should lead to militias’ merger in the regular army and strengthening civilian control of the military sector.

It also expresses the lawmakers’ substantial support for providing aid to facilitate the political transition in Khartoum. This bill has been called the Sudan Democratic Transition, Accountability and Fiscal Transparency Act of 2020, and it enjoys broad support from both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Accordingly, it was included in the Defense Financing bill that Congress passed with a great bipartisan consensus. The draft law requires the State Department to submit a report on its strategy, including the goals of the United States for a peaceful political transition in Sudan, and the plan it will adopt to achieve these goals.

On 24 September, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke by phone with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok to express Biden Administration’s commitment to supporting the civilian-led transition to democracy in Sudan.

Also, Sullivan told Hamdok that President Biden looks forward to meeting him in the near future.

Sudan on Tuesday received 10,000 metric tons of wheat provided by the United States as part of the Abraham Accords.

In a statement on Wednesday, the U.S. embassy said this shipment is part of the fourth delivery in what will be 300,000 metric tons total valued at $115M USD.

Another U.S. delegation led by Bryan David Hunt Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Africa and the Sudans is also visiting Khartoum to discuss the “need to resolve economic, governance, and security challenges, including forming a transitional legislative council”.

Hunt on Wednesday met with several members of the Sovereign Council including Siddiq Tawer, Mohamed al-Faki; Hadi Idriss, Shams al-Din Kabbashi and Mohamed Hassan Emtaishi.

In a short statement issued on Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum said the diplomat met with Minister of Federal Government Buthaina Dinar to discuss holding a governance conference as provided in the Juba peace agreement.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Lack of funds hampering water development projects: minister

Lack of funds is hindering the smooth implementation of a comprehensive master plan developed by South Sudan’s Water Resource and Irrigation ministry, a government official said on Wednesday.

Irrigation minister, Manawa Peter Gatkouth said his ministry still lacks the funds needed for smooth implementation and execution of annual strategic plans.

“There is no proper implementation and execution of approved annual budget as proposed [and] that is why budgets are approved, but not implemented as planned,” he told Sudan Tribune.

According to the minister, with the current incidences of flooding, areas covered by fresh water resources could have increased to control the floods.

“Climate change induced – flooding has become a major threat to the lives, livelihood, property and dignified living conditions of large numbers of people across South Sudan,” he explained.

Gatkouth said despite the huge development opportunities, communities in flood-hit areas suffer and are isolated from major development activities in the country, leaving them to carry on with rudimentary agricultural practices which do not yield tangible socio-economic breakthroughs in their livelihoods.

He further said claims made are returned back to line ministries from the Ministry of Finance, which are resubmitted for approval in the next financial budget.

“The Ministry of Finance should change its policy in regard to the execution of budget approval,” said Gatkouth.

Heavy rains, according to United Nations estimates, have caused widespread flooding which has so far affected more than 400,000 people as the rainy season continues.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Enforce 35% women representation without violation, says CEPO

Parties signatory to South Sudan’s peace accord should ensure the 35% women representation is enforced without any violations, Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) said on Thursday.

The September 2018 revitalized peace agreement provides for a 35% quota for women’s participation in the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU).

“It is high time parties [to the agreement] demonstrated political will by ensuring the agreed upon decision, such as the 35% for women representation is not violated, but effectively enforced. Striking meaningful women participation in public life is essential and key for human growth and societal development in South Sudan,” said CEPO’s Executive Director, Edmund Yakani.

He also welcomed the recent appointment of a female speaker of parliament.

“This is a good demonstration of compensation for previous violations of the 35% for women by the SPLM [ Sudan People’s Liberation Movement], but should not be used as an excuse for violating the 35% for women further, most especially during the appointment of chairpersons and deputy chairpersons for the legislative assembly outstanding committees,” explained Yakani.

The revitalized peace agreement provides for the reconstitution of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) and the Council of States.

In May, South Sudan’s South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir reconstituted the upper the lower assemblies in line with provisions of the 2018 peace accord.

The new assembly now has 550 lawmakers and 100 Council of States members.

Yakani said the parties to the peace deal should ensure the 35 parliament standing committees are allocated in accordance with the responsibility sharing ratio enshrined in the accord, which ended the country’s bloody civil war.

“Community Empowerment for Progress Organization program on the status of women initiative urges the parties to genuinely enforce the 35% for women representation in the appointment of standing committee chairpersons and deputy chairpersons in the national assembly. We are expecting 12 female committee female chairpersons and 12 deputy chairpersons,” he stressed.

The new national assembly currently consists of 332 members of the incumbent TGoNU, 128 from the armed opposition movement (SPLM-IO), 50 from South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), 30 from the Other Political Parties (OPP) and 10 from the Former Detainees (FDs).

Source: Sudan Tribune