Day: November 23, 2021

At least 12 people, including seven children from one family, were killed in a boat accident in the Kaka Tijaria area of Manyo County, Upper Nile State on Sunday.

An official of the local boat union said the boat with 28 passengers on board and headed to Malakal, sank in the Nyanwar area.

William Omay, head of the River Boats Association in Renk County, told Radio Tamazuj Monday that the ill-fated boat moved from a landing site in Al-Geger, north of Renk town, and was heading to Malakal town with a load of 350 bags of sorghum and 13 passengers, according to the passenger manifest.

He denied that the union knew about the other 16 passengers.

“What happened on Sunday was a very tragic boat accident. The boat was traveling from Geger, loaded with 350 bags of sorghum and 13 passengers who were listed on the manifest in Geger,” Omay explained. “When the boat reached Nyanwa, it sank. We are still collecting information, but we heard that 12 people died, including 7 children.”

He added: “We are still following up to get concrete information. One of our officials has gone to the scene to collect the facts. We learned that there are 16 survivors and were told that the boat was overloaded and there were also high winds which made it sink.”

Omay said the body of a child was found in the boat in the Kit Guang area.

For his part, Joseph William, the police boss in Kaka Tijaria, confirmed the accident and said they received a report late on Sunday evening that a boat sank in the Nyanwar area and the police evacuated 16 survivors from the scene of the accident.

The police said preliminary information indicates that high winds caused the accident and that efforts are underway to search for the missing people.

According to the survivors, 12 people, including children, women, and the crew of the boat are still missing.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

Health workers at Malakal Teaching Hospital, the main referral facility in Upper State capital, Malakal town have since last week partially laid down tools to protest poor working conditions.

The hospital’s medical director, Dr. Khat Deng, told Radio Tamazuj Sunday that they went on strike since Friday because the resources needed to keep the facility operational are lacking.

“We have been on a strike for the last two days; the strike is partial because we respond to emergency cases. We went on strike because we are not able to do our work due to the lack of patient cards, drugs bags, and electricity, “Dr. Khat said. “And again, we have been paid incentives for a month but that is not a big concern because we are here for the locals.”

Another medical doctor, Joseph Kuol, said they will not resume until their demands are met, arguing, “We are even running out of drugs. For these available ones, we just wrapped in a paper and give to a patient which is not good we are increasing infection risk. We also lack mere papers for taking patient history.”

Meanwhile, Chagai Lual, the health director at Malakal Municipality, decried a dire health situation which he blamed on the lack of health support and supplies and called on the government and health agencies operating in the country to intervene.

For his part, Piot Aben Gac, the state health ministry’s human resources manager, admitted the hospital is partially closed because doctors are not able to dispense work due to the lack of funds.

The health ministry official called on the national government and aid agencies to intervene saying the state government resources are overstretched to adequately meet the growing health needs.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

A senior government official was waylaid and killed near his house by armed bandits in the Wikol area of Uror County, Jonglei State on Saturday, officials said.

“The incident took place on Saturday at 3 pm. The deceased Gatjang Bol Kuanen was killed near his house while on his way back. Until his death, Gatjang was the administrator for Wikol Payam,” Tang Chatim, Uror County Commissioner, told Radio Tamazuj.

Chatim claimed the killing was carried out by suspected cattle raiders.

For his part, Lt. Col. Gatbel Machar, a county police inspector said no one was arrested but that the attackers were identified as cattle raiders because one of them was killed during a fire exchange with the community of the deceased administrator.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the UN, who also doubles as the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Nicholas Haysom, Tuesday told the governors’ forum underway in Juba that trust will be essential in forging a united front for national stability in the country.

The fifth governors’ forum is organized under the theme; “Role of the States and Special Administrative Areas in the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement for a peaceful, stable and prosperous South Sudan”.

“South Sudan lies at the cusp of a breakthrough: to becoming a peaceful, stable, and prosperous country for the first time since its independence. But the memory and trauma of conflict run deep,” UNMISS’ Haysom said. “Trust therefore will be essential in forging a united front for national stability. It is the foundation for reimagining an inclusive social contract, by which people can live together in harmony. Where institutions lack sufficient trust, citizens may not cooperate.”

He added: “But where trust exists, governments and citizens can engage together on a shared agenda. I acknowledge that effective political systems are not achieved overnight. This depends on the sustained and collective will of leaders from all sides. I am confident this Forum will be another step towards the national effort to end decades of suffering of the people of South Sudan.”

Haysom said commendable progress has been made with regards to the peace agreement, particularly in the implementation of governance-related tasks under Chapter I of the revitalized peace agreement and that the ceasefire is holding, creating a relatively conducive environment for the overall implementation of the Peace Agreement.

“Furthermore, the permanent constitution-making process is in progress. Now, the people and leaders of South Sudan can come together to agree on a legitimate, popular, and inclusive system of constitutional governance that is best suited for this country,” Haysom said. “I strongly encourage you to see the constitution-making and upcoming electoral processes as important benchmarks in the march towards peace and stability. A sense of urgency is required, not a business-as-usual approach.”

He advised that while the parties have coalesced around political power-sharing benchmarks, it is equally important that they strive to make progress on the Transitional Security Arrangements.

“There is now a collective duty to finalize a coherent command and control structure for the graduation and deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces. The formation of the unified forces is only an initial step in a complex but essential process of constructing a national army that serves the interests of the nation—one that is a symbol and mirror of all its people,” Haysom advised.

He highlighted the critical role of youth in contributing to all these processes because it is estimated that over 70 percent of the population is under 30.

“The peace agreement calls on the Revitalized Government to consult youth groups and to ensure that youth representatives participate in the constitution-making and peace implementation processes,” Haysom said. “Their voices and demands—for livelihoods, jobs, and education—must be heard so that they too can be positive agents of change.”

The UN chief said it was encouraging to witness the appointed officials of the state governments putting aside their differences to objectively assess their priorities and responsibilities to advance the implementation of the peace agreement and the development priorities of South Sudan.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar and Vice President Rebecca Nyandeng said South Sudan might not go to the polls in 2023 if key provisions in the revitalized peace agreement are not completely addressed as scheduled.

Speaking during the opening of the governor’s forum in Juba on Monday, First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar said the elections may not be free and fair if the country does not institute a proper security system that will protect the state and the people during the election process.

“To have fair, free, transparent elections, you must have security forces who will protect the state, its people, and that will not interfere in the elections process,” Dr. Machar said. “And therefore it is critical, if we are going to go for elections, we must complete in the shortest possible time, the security arrangements.”

He added: “I believe why our refugees are not coming is because we have not moved forward on the security arrangements. Once they know we have moved forward in the security arrangements, they will come.”

For her part, the vice president in charge of the gender cluster, Rebecca Nyandeng, said the preparations for elections cannot commence before South Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries return home.

“You cannot prepare for elections before we bring our people from refugee camps, and our people in displaced people’s camps to be settled is great work,” said Nyandeng.

She said neighboring countries are pressurizing South Sudan to repatriate her refugees back home.

“We have been pressured by host countries who are hosting our refugees, by next year they do not want to see our people in their countries and I want you the governors to know this,” VP Nyandeng said. “We will prepare ourselves early next year so that there is a committee which will be formed by us, UNHCR, and all our partners so that we can visit those host countries where our refugees are.”

Last week President Salva Kiir Mayardit called on South Sudanese citizens to prepare for the 2023 general elections and reassured a visiting delegation from the UN Security Council that elections will take place as stipulated by the peace agreement.

As per the implementation matrix of the revitalized peace agreement of September 2018, the country was scheduled to hold elections in 2022. This was pushed to 2023 after delays in the implementation of the peace deal.

Some of the areas of contention which have stalled include the unification of forces into one national army, a population census, the making of and promulgation of a constitution, and the return of refugees and IDPs to their homes.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

Eleven Ministers representing the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), who participated in the transitional government before the military junta seized power in a coup d’état on October 25, announced that they have submitted their resignations in writing to Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, disavowing the agreement signed in Khartoum on Sunday with junta leader Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, stating that the agreement “legitimises and perpetuates the military coup regime”.

On Monday, the Central Council of the FFC – a major driver of the revolution that overthrew the 30-year Al Bashir dictatorship in 2019, and convenor of an ongoing campaign of civil disobedience and mass demonstrations since the coup – issued a statement distancing itself from the agreement with what it described as “the brute junta,” stressing that “there is no negotiation, no partnership, and no legitimacy for the putschists”.

Those who have submitted their resignations are the Minister of Foreign Affairs Maryam El Sadig, Minister of Justice Nasreldin Abdelbari, Minister of Agriculture El Taher Harbi, Minister of Irrigation Yasir Abbas, Minister of Investment El Hadi Ibrahim, Minister of Energy Jadein El Obeid, Minister of Higher Education Intisar Segheroun, Minister of Labour Taysir El Nourani, Minister of Transport Mirghani Mousa, Minister of Health Omar El Najeeb, Minister of Youth and Sports Yousef El Dei, and Minister of Religious Affairs Nasreldin Mofreh.

Foreign Minister Maryam El Sadig reported that the names of five ministers were not included in the list of resignations, explaining that the Minister of Information Hamza Baloul and Minister of Communications Hashem Hasabelrasoul, were unable to attend the ministers’ reflective meeting. Also absent were Minister of Cabinet Affairs Khaled Omar and Minister of Industry Ibrahim El Sheikh, due to their continued detention, and indicated the reservations of Trade Minister Ali Jido about submitting his resignation.

In a statement, the FFC Ministers disavowed the political agreement between El Burhan and Hamdok, and made it clear that it “legitimises and perpetuates the military coup regime”.

The ministers condemned all acts of violence that accompanied the peaceful demonstrations, calling for an immediate investigation and bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Source: Radio Dabanga