Day: November 17, 2021

The Northern Bahr el Ghazal State government in collaboration with health partners has launched a Covid-19 vaccination campaign targeting the counties in the state, an official said.

John Agany Deng, the state’s Covid-19 coordinator, revealed that the health ministry launched phase 3 of the Covid-19 vaccination program earlier this month and that 142,234 people have already been vaccinated state-wide.

He said the available Covid-19 vaccines in the state will last five months and that they had sufficient stocks of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine.

“Yes, the phase 3 for Covid-19 vaccination has started in the counties because phases 1 and 2 were conducted at the headquarters of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, Aweil,” Agany said. “Right now we are have been able to extend phase 3 to the county level, especially for Johnson & Johnson vaccines and the activities started two weeks ago and the vaccination is going well in the five counties.”

The Aweil East County commissioner, Kiir Yor Lual, said there are seven centers for vaccination in addition to mobile teams that move through residential areas to ensure that the people of Aweil East get vaccinated at no cost.

“There are seven centers in addition to mobile teams that move from one location to another depending on population concentration,” Commissioner Yor said. “We have seven operating centers. We vaccinated a large number of people last week.”

For his part, Luka Thel Thel, the Aweil South County commissioner, said the Covid-19 vaccination campaign was ongoing at the county hospital.

“The vaccination started at the county hospitals and people are turning out in big numbers to receive their jabs because we explained to them that Covid-19 is a most dangerous disease and needs people to protect themselves by washing their hands, using face masks, and taking the vaccine.’’

142,234 people have been vaccinated according to the state ministry of health statistics.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

Returnees in kajo-keji County, Central Equatoria State, on Tuesday started receiving water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) items from Islamic Relief Service to help them resettle home.

According to Lokimang Isaac, a distribution officer with the Islamic relief Service in Kajo-keji County, said they are distributing majorly WASH items like jerrycans, basins, and soap among others.

“The items we distributed are all about our health, one of them is a jerrycan for water, basins for bathing, nail cutters, torches, washing soap, and bathing soap,” Lokimang said.

He revealed that the exercise initially targeted the whole county but that certain community and local leaders were corrupt and nepotistic and registered only members of their families and relatives cutting out genuine would-be beneficiaries.

“In our plan, we needed to reach the whole county but we cannot because local chiefs and other people do not write the names of the real targeted beneficiaries,” Lokimang said. “Instead they write the names of their families which is a false story. So, there is also corruption by the leaders.”

Juru Mary, a beneficiary who received some WASH items, said, “I have received items like a jerrycan, basin, 4 tablets of bathing soap, 3 bars of washing soap, a nail cutter and torch. The soaps can help me in washing and bathing and the torch will help me at the night.”

Samuel Wani who just returned from a refugee camp in Uganda said the items will help since some of them just returned home and appealed for more support.

“These items can help us a lot because we have just returned and we have nothing,” Wani said. “I am urging, if possible, the partners to also provide us with blankets.”

For his part, Moses Pitia, the coordinator of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) in Kajo-Keji County, appealed for more support for the returnees from the government and humanitarian agencies.

“As the government, let us support the returnees so that they also encourage others who are in exile to return since there is peace,” Pitia said. “As the government, we need to support the returnees so that they settle.”

Source: Radio Tamazuj

The freedom of the press is under increasing pressure in Sudan, since Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan and a military junta seized power in a coup d’état on October 25. Several journalists have been detained, and harassment of editors is increasing. Journalists held a vigil in Khartoum on Tuesday to protest and raise international awareness.

Journalist, political analyst, and editor-in-chief of El Sudani newspaper, Ataf Mukhtar, says that he was pursued on Omak Street in Khartoum on Monday evening by four masked men driving a car with darkened windows.

He explained that the vehicle blocked the road in front of his car and the masked men got out and tried to open the doors of his car, but they were unable to do so.

Military Intelligence detained Shawgi Abdelazim, a journalist for the electronic newspaper El Taghyeer on Saturday, after he visited the office of Al Jazeera satellite channel in Khartoum.

The Radio and Television Broadcasting Corporation suspended the broadcast of Radio Hala 96 FM on Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Joint Committee of Press Groups organised a protest vigil in front of the British Council in downtown Khartoum, rejecting the military coup, the violation of press freedoms, and arbitrary detentions, in addition to cutting off the internet.

The participants in the vigil carried banners calling for freedom of the press and the release of detainees, including journalists. The protest condemned the stifling of freedom of expression and the cutting off of the Internet for more than 23 days.

Journalist Amr Shaaban said in a speech during the sit-in that the Joint Committee of Press Groups has begun to inform the international community of violations.

Source: Radio Dabanga

The Democratic Lawyers Front of Sudan reports that Mohamed El Hadi, a leading member of the Empowerment Removal Committee* in Singa, capital of Sennar state in Sudan, has been subjected to brutal torture at the prison of the Military Intelligence in the Singa garrison since his detention on October 26.

The lawyers pointed to the deterioration of his health as a result of the continuous torture, alleging that the intelligence service is trying to force him to provide them with documents belonging to the Empowerment Removal Committee.

In South Darfur, the Democratic Lawyers Alliance organised a protest sit-in in front of the Nyala Criminal Court on Monday, rejecting the military coup and in solidarity with the political detainees in the state, especially jurists.

Lawyer Salaheldin El Nour told Radio Dabanga that they submitted requests to the state security committee to release the detainees, without receiving a response. The vigils will continue until their demands are met.

The number of detainees in Nyala Prison has risen to 34 after the detention of four teachers, four lecturers of Nyala University, along with Resistance Committees members.

El Nour said that 11 detainees in the Central Nyala Police Station have been referred to trial after complaints about rioting were opened against them.

He explained that the detainees in Nyala Prison live in poor humanitarian conditions, with the lack of the most basic rights, and pointed out that a number of them suffer from chronic diseases with the lack of appropriate care.

In North Kordofan, Nozeifa Awad, a member of the Central Sudanese Doctors Committee, reported that she was subjected to verbal and physical harassment and beatings during her detention last week in the state capital El Obeid by regular forces.

She explained in the Radio Dabanga’s Sudan Today programme that she was detained while waiting near the police station for colleagues bailing a number of detainees.

Her clothes were lifted and parts of her body were exposed while being beaten. She indicated that a number of malicious complaints were opened against her and she remained in custody for hours before being released on bail. She noted that obstacles were presented when she attempted to open a complaint against the officer who beat her.

On Monday evening, the authorities detained the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Khartoum. Several Sudanese universities have suspended studies indefinitely for security reasons since Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan and a military junta seized power in a coup d’état on October 25.

* Empowerment (tamkin) is the term with which the ousted government of Omar Al Bashir supported its affiliates in state affairs by granting them far-going privileges, including government functions and the setting-up of various companies. The Committee for Dismantling the June 30 1989 Regime, Removal of Empowerment and Corruption, and Recovering Public Funds was formed in November 2019 with the aim to purge Sudan from the remnants of the Al Bashir regime. Since then, the committee has been instrumental in breaking the party’s grip on the political scene and state resources.

Following the coup on October 25, various members of the Empowerment Removal Committee have been detained. Vice-President of the Sovereignty Council and Commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’ has reportedly been offered the chairmanship of the Empowerment Removal Committee after the coup, but refused.

Source: Radio Dabanga

At least five people have died and dozens injured after Sudan security forces again fired on protesting civilians with live ammunition. Thousands of people took to the streets of Khartoum and other cities in Sudan today, in renewed marches organised by resistance committees, to protest against the military coup d’état that seized power on October 25.

Security forces fired on demonstrators with live ammunition and tear gas in marches held in Khartoum, Khartoum North (Bahri) and Omdurman. According to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors (CCSD), at least five people have been killed and dozens more wounded by gunshots.

They confirmed that during today’s anti-coup processions, three civilians were killed by fire in Khartoum, one person died from gunshots in Omdurman, while in Bahri, one civilian died after he was shot in the head, and another was shot in the neck.

The CCSD confirms that there was heavy gunfire from the security forces. Some of the injured are in critical condition.

The junta continues to impose a total internet and mobile phone service blackout in Sudan, activists say “to isolate Sudan from the world, in an attempt to hide their atrocities against civilians”.

Source: Radio Dabanga