Day: February 15, 2023

ADDIS ABABA— The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has warned that Climate change continues to strike Africa with extreme weather events.

The WMO Secretary-General, Professor Petteri Taalas in a statement says the devastating drought in the greater horn of Africa, including parts of Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia is manifestation of the impacts of climate change.

“More than 13 million people are facing severe food insecurity in the horn of Africa and the health of 6 million children from these countries is affected by malnutrition,” said Prof. Taalas who spoke during the conference of heads of National Meteorological and Hydrological (NMHSs) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, says the failure of five rainfall seasons has had devastating effects of crops and this could impact the harvests.

Prof. Taalas told the meeting attended by Heads of National and Meteorological and hydrological Services, regional and global experts in weather, climate and water services with decision-makers in Africa that more than 3 million livestock supporting the livelihoods of pastoral communities have died in the Region.

He told the meeting that is discussing the need for enhancing digital transformation of the Hydro-Meteorological Services in the Region that digital transformation of the NMHSs “will make accessing severe weather warnings and alerts easy,” he said and added that, “Technology transformation will strengthen and modernize NMHSs to perform their public weather functions for the safety of lives and property.”

The Secretary-General noted that the digital transformation of the Meteorological services in Africa will help fasten data transmission speed “and increase the ability to create products and services for realtime, exchange of information, critical for forecasting and warnings of hydro-Meteorological hazards, so as to warn the public and enhance safety.”

In his remarks, the Ethiopian State Minister for Water and Energy, Dr Abraha Adugna, noted that the frequency and intensity of hazards on the continent is significant adding that the impacts are having pressure in socioeconomic sectors.

Dr. Adugna said that the Ethiopia government in partnership with the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute (EMI) has established a modernized network for collecting meteorological data for early warning services in a bid to improve lives and livelihood.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

The former ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Sudan is slowly creeping in to take over the Islamic Call Organization (MADA) in Sudan, according to relief work activists who spoke to Sudan Tribune.

The 40+ years old organization was dissolved by a special governmental committee to dismantle the former Islamist regime formed following the overthrow of President Omer Hassan al-Bashir in April 2019. It was -and still is – widely viewed as a ‘Front Organization’ for Islamic movements inside and outside Sudan.

But a high court decision breathed life into the organization and reinstated it after overruling the government’s decision.

Obaid has stirred controversy in the past for vowing that Southern Sudanese will not be citizens of the north and will not be even allowed to get an injection at a hospital.

Why was MADA’s previous SG removed?

Mohamed Adam Arabi, an activist in the field of Islamic voluntary work and connected to MADA told Sudan Tribune that former Secretary-General Musa Al-Mak Kur, who is from South Sudan, was willing to continue serving as Secretary-General and made his wishes known to the board of trustees.

Kur suggested to the board that he could form a bridge of communication between north and south Sudan. But in the end, the majority voted in favour of Adam.

Al-Mak Kur is considered one of the most prominent southern leaders in the Islamic organization. Before the separation of South Sudan, he sided with the late leader of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) Hassan al-Turabi when the Islamists fell out and split into two groups in 1999.

Control ‘behind the scenes’

The advisor in the area of humanitarian work and human rights Fateh al-Rahman al-Qadi told Sudan Tribune that the reshuffling with the MADA board was driven by a “hidden organizational authority”.

Al-Qadi said that the fact that appointments to MADA leadership positions are limited to the NCP figures indicates that the decision-makers in the hidden authority have their own consideration and plans.

He further claimed that a “secret organizing committee consisting of seven people wants to control the course of Islamic voluntary work in Sudan and is practising blatant interference in the work of organizations”.

The MADA, which was founded by the Sudanese Islamists in 1980, collected significant donations from the Gulf countries in the eighties to fund its activities. However, they confessed that this charitable group was also used to fund their political activities and the video of the June 30, 1989 coup had been recorded in its studio.

Other sources said that the ‘Islamic Movement’ led by ex-foreign minister Ali Karti entrusted former Sudan’s Vice-President Hasabo Abdel Rahman with the issue of Islamic humanitarian organizations. These sources suggested that Abdel Rahman is the one who pushed to install Adam as secretary-general due to their close links.

Mass dismissals within MADA

The overhaul at MADA didn’t stop at the top brass but expanded to include leaders of subsidiary organizations as well. Several members of the Board of Trustees were also dismissed during a virtual meeting including Abdel Jalil al-Nazir Alkaruri, Sharaf al-Din Ali Mukhtar and Kamal Rizk which triggered outrage and signs of growing conflict even within NCP figures inside MADA and not just NCP vs. PCP.

Another source who spoke to Sudan Tribune said that covert instructions were given to impose restrictions and harass certain figures who are active in the field of Islamic humanitarian work namely Abdel Ati Abdel-Khair, Mohamed Adam Arabi and Mohamed al-Nabhani al-Sheikh who were barred from entering MADA headquarters because of their affiliation with PCP.

A member of the MADA board by the name of Ahmed al-Mahi will file an appeal with the court questioning the legality of the recent organizational decisions.

“The decisions recently issued by the virtual meeting are not legitimate, as it is a meeting that lacks a quorum according to the appeal memorandum that Dr Ahmed al-Mahi intends to submit to the Sudanese authorities,” al-Qadi said.

Several MADA employees, who spoke to Sudan Tribune on condition of anonymity, spoke of an atmosphere of frustration and demoralization among their ranks.

Source: Sudan Tribune

The Port Sudan-Kassala highway near Dordeib in Red Sea state remained closed yesterday after protestors decided to extend their roadblocks due to a lack of reaction from authorities.

Protesters condemned the delay in dismantling gold mining plants using cyanide on the land where the 45th Infantry Brigade is stationed. They will continue to block the road until the authorities have responded to the protestors’ demands.

The protesters prevented buses and lorries from travelling along the road, and several buses cancelled their trips between Kassala and Port Sudan.

Medical doctor Amna Geloubawi told Radio Dabanga that the protesters did not remove the roadblocks after the end of a four-day deadline set for “dismantling the mixers.” Mixers are machines used to process gold.

She told Radio Dabanga that the command of the 45th Infantry Brigade refused to allow a delegation of protesters to visit the military offices to ask about a previous agreement to dismantle the mixers.

Geloubawi explained that the brigade command kept some of the mixers and did not dismantle them. She pointed to the considerable damage of the use of cyanide on humans, livestock, agriculture, and the environment.

Red Sea state has been witnessing tensions for months as residents protest the behaviour of gold mining companies and fear that their drinking water supply is at risk.

Last week, journalist Osman Hashim reported that many lorries and other vehicles are lined up on two sides of the blockade, while bus passengers are forced to get off and take other buses on the other side of the closed road.

“Sit-ins and other forms of community protests, such as blockades of national highways and stoppage of pumping to Sudan’s oil refinery, have become a common and increasingly frequent feature of civic opposition” to Sudan’s gold mining sector, reported Dr Suliman Baldo on January 16.

Source: Radio Dabanga

Economists are accusing the Sudanese authorities of a “lack of transparency” for failing to publish the 2023 national budget after it was approved by the Sovereignty Council and Council of Ministers on February 1.

Economist Sidgi Kaballo told Radio Dabanga that he made a great effort to obtain a copy of the budget and laws that were passed at the beginning of the month, to no avail. He described this as “secretive, especially in the absence of a parliament.”

He explained that the obfuscation is deliberate, to pass things without public control. He also accused the military junta of failing to manage the country.

The military agreed to the Framework Agreement because of the economic impasse, he said. “They hope to benefit from the agreement to solve the government’s direct financial problems, rather than address ongoing economic crises.”

Economic analyst Hafiz Ismail described the decision of the Central Bank of Sudan to lift the ban on financing vehicles and real estate as “wrong and ill-considered.”

He told Radio Dabanga that all the economic policies pursued by the military junta are ill-considered and have nothing to do with the fiscal policy related to spending and taxes.

He pointed out that the policies, rather than supporting producers or lowering prices, are encouraging brokers and intermediaries.

On January 5, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning denied his ministry’s responsibility for imposing any new fees and taxes, indicating that this is within the competence of the legislative authorities on a lower level.

“The national budget for the year 2023 does not reach the level of a budget,” said economist Hasan Bashir the day after the budget was approved. “The approved budget does not contain any real indicators of resources in the country, which is worrying, especially in light of the economic recession that seriously affects the country.”

Source: Radio Dabanga