Day: January 3, 2023

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IGAD summit will address insecurity in S. Sudan: official

A South Sudanese official has commended Sudan’s push for a special summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on South Sudan, saying it is key in tackling insecurity.

The presidential adviser on security affairs, Tut Gatluak Manime said Sudan, the current chair of the regional bloc, was exercising its role of ensuring that peace and stability prevails in Africa’s newest nation.

He said South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan discussed bilateral matters spanning security, politics and the economy on the eve of New Year.

“The discussion was fruitful. They expressed best wishes to the people of South Sudan and Sudan and updated themselves on a host of issues. The discussions covered security, economic and political developments in the two countries. They took stock of the progress made in the implementation of the peace agreements, the Juba peace Agreement, and the revitalized peace brokered by the Sudanese government in 2018,” said Manime.

He added, “These are important updates”.

Al-Burhan, the aide explained, agreed to persuade Kenya’s William Ruto to advocate for a special summit of the IGAD member states on South Sudan.

“It was really a good gesture of Sudan to ask Kenya to convene a summit for south Sudan. We have a role to play in preserving peace and security in the region. South Sudan sits in a strategic place in the east, central, and North Africa. We have a market, big market in the region and there is a good environment for investment in all sectors in this country,” he noted.

On Monday, the Kenyan president said “the region would commit itself to hold a special IGAD Summit focusing on South Sudan before the end of this month to assess the status of implementation of the “Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan”.

The summit, according to Ruto, would also address “any emerging issues”.

The revitalized peace agreement in September 2018 was brokered by Sudan and Uganda as the guarantors but was signed by the South Sudanese parties in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Coordinated and sustained efforts have been exerted, with Sudan leading the process each time the process stalled but key issues remained unimplemented by the parties.

Sudan is the current chair of IGAD, an eight-country bloc which includes governments from the Horn of Africa, Nile Valley as well as the Great Lakes region.

Source: Sudan Tribune

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Rapes, killings, and armed robberies continue in Darfur

A group of gunmen attacked displaced people in North Darfur on Sunday. They raped a girl and beat up the others. On Saturday, a villager was killed inside his farm in South Darfur. Four others were wounded in attacks in East and Central Darfur.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga from Kabkabiya, Adam Juma reported that the gunmen intercepted a group of displaced people on their way from Sortony camp to El Ahtab, seven km west of Sortony.

The attackers severely beat the victims and gang-raped a 13-year-old girl. The victims were taken to the Sortony Hospital.

On Saturday, a farmer was shot dead inside his farm by a group of gunmen in the area of Dogo Dasa in Shataya, South Darfur.

A resident of the area told Radio Dabanga that the same gunmen burned 36 homes west of Dogo Dasa, which led to the displacement of a number of villagers.

In El Daein, capital of East Darfur, three people were wounded in an armed robbery on Saturday evening, a listener reported.

Three armed men wearing military uniforms intercepted a passenger vehicle that just arrived at Ed Daein from Dar Es Salaam. They shot at the vehicle, which resulted in the injury of one of the passengers, while two others sustained varying injuries when they were beaten. They attackers than robbed the passengers of all their belongings.

Secondary school student Nasreddin Haroun (18) was hit by a bullet in his neck in Nierteti, Central Darfur, on Saturday evening.

Adam Okar told Radio Dabanga that gunmen lured Haroun “who studies at the Western Secondary School for Boys, to the valley at 11:00 pm on Saturday and shot him in the neck”. A complaint was filed with the police in Nierteti. The victim was transferred to a hospital in Nyala.

Source: Radio Dabanga

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Sudan teachers’ strikes to continue this week

The Sudan Teachers’ Strike Committee announced that the general strike of schoolteachers will continue this week, after having embarked on strikes last month. Authorities try to break the strikes in various ways.

All state schools in the country will remain closed until Thursday, strike committee member Duriya Babiker told Radio Dabanga.

She reported “a wide response among teachers at state schools in the country, at a [participation] rate of almost 100 per cent” and explained that they demand an increase in the minimum wage and an improvement of the work environment.

Throughout December, teachers across Sudan closed schools on a series of strike dates.

After earlier strikes in November, the Service Affairs Bureau promised 6 per cent increase in wages two weeks ago, but teachers lament that this barely covered the rise in the cost of living in Sudan.

On November 28, the Teachers’ Strike Committee also organised a nationwide comprehensive strike because they had not received their full financial dues, such as back payments that were owed to them as far back as 2020.

The fact that teachers in the Blue Nile region and South Kordofan are not participating in the strike is due to the special circumstances in the two regions, she said. “We are in continuous contact about the strike with teachers in these areas.”

Both regions witnessed significant violence and insecurity recently.

Breaking strike

Babiker said that the authorities are trying to break the strike through various means.

In El Hilaliya in El Gezira teachers were instructed to start working on the preparation for the exams. In neighbouring Sennar, mosques urged students to prepare for their exams despite the strikes.

The North Darfur Ministry of Education closed all schools (primary, middle, and secondary schools) until Sunday, “officially because of the cold wave in the state”.

In South Darfur, the authorities announced the re-opening of the schools on Monday. Classes were suspended more than once in December ‘for security reasons’ after students took to the streets to protest against increased school fees and the inflated costs of living in general.

Bahreldin Abdallah, Secretary of the South Darfur Teachers Committee, told Radio Dabanga that the teachers in the state will continue their strike.

“This strike aims to reform the educational process in addition to preserving the rights of the teacher,” he said. “We have nothing to do with what the ministry decides, but the teachers cling to their right to strike until the competent authorities respond to our legitimate demands.”

Source: Radio Dabanga