Category: Governance

May 15, 2021 (JUBA) – South Sudan President Salva Kiir has said the arms embargo imposed by United Nations on his country has affected the implementation of the security arrangements within the peace agreement, citing delays in the graduation of unified forces.

Kiir made the remarks during a meeting with Russia’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mikhail Bogdanov in the capital, Juba on Friday.

The Office of the President, in a statement, said Kiir appealed for Russia’s support in addressing challenges hindering the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement signed in 2018.

“The president also appealed to the Russian Federation to help in clarifying this point to other stakeholders within the international community that, with Chapter 1 of the agreement completed, our focus now turns to Chapter 2, which deals with security arrangements and the ability to expedite this process is affected by the arms embargo imposed on us by the United Nations Security Council,” partly reads presidency’s statement.

In May last year, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution extending for a year an arms embargo on the world’s youngest nation, a travel ban and financial sanctions for targeted individuals.

According to Kiir, the unified forces being trained at the moment cannot be graduated due to arms embargo imposed on his country.

“This has made it difficult for the government to purchase necessary equipment for the graduation of the unified forces,” Kiir stressed.

The peace agreement calls for the establishment of unified forces made up of 83,000 soldiers to take charge of the country’s security during the three-year transitional period.

Also discussed was the importance of establishing a Truth, Reconciliation and Healing Commission to reconcile the population after a five-year civil war saw more than 400,000 people killed.

Meanwhile the Russian delegation assured the South Sudanese leader of their country’s support in helping South Sudan address obstacles affecting the implementation of the peace agreement.

 

Source: Sudan Tribune

(KHARTOUM) – Sudan has officially informed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of its adherence to placing border markers with Ethiopia before entering into investment projects in the disputed Fashaqa area.

The head of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, returned to Khartoum after talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed on Sunday.

The meeting took place after a written response Khartoum sent to Abu Dhabi last April and a phone call by the Emirati crown prince to al-Burhan on the first of May.

In statements to reporters flowing their return to Khartoum on Monday, the Minister of the Cabinet Affairs Khaled Omer Youssef said Sudan conveyed to the UAE its position on the Emirati initiative on the border dispute with Ethiopia.

“Sudan has conveyed to the Emirates its clear position in the (border) agreement that has settled the issue since 1972,” stressed Youssef.

In line with the 1972 agreement, Ethiopia reaffirmed its commitment to the 1902 and 1903 agreement between the two countries and accepted to place border markers as agreed in these agreements.

Khartoum did not release the content of the UAE initiative but Sudanese officials say that the Emirates propose to fund agriculture schemes in the Fashaga using Ethiopian and Sudanese farmers.

Sudan and Ethiopia will get 40% of the benefits of the project and the remaining 20% will go to the UAE.

With regard to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Youssef pointed out that al-Burhan informed MBZ that Khartoum wants a legally binding agreement on the filing and operation of the GERD to protect Sudanese and Egyptian interests.

The UAE proposal on the GERD does not consider the 2015 declaration of principle and ignores the progress achieved during the past 9 years.

 

Source: Sudan Tribune

(JUBA) – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has dissolved the country’s parliament as part of the September 2018 peace agreement.

Kiir’s decision was announced on the state-owned television on Saturday.

The new Parliament will, in accordance with the 2018 peace deal, have up to 550 lawmakers, the majority of them from the governing party (SPLM). On the other hand, 100 members will form the Council of States, up from 50.

The lawmakers will, however, not be elected, but nominated by the different parties.

The president made no mention of when the new assembly will be formed.

CEPO, a civil society entity, welcomed the dissolution of the national parliament, saying the decision was long overdue.

“The reconstitution of the parliament should be done urgently. The trends of delaying the reconstitution should be avoided. The absence of parliament has contributed to the below-expectation implementation of the revitalized peace agreement,” Edmund Yakani, CEPO’s executive director said Monday.

South Sudan formed a coalition government in February 2020, but the country’s rival factions are yet to implement a peace deal that ended a civil war.

 

Source: Sudan Tribune

May 8, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – The National Umma Party (NUP) Saturday criticized the appointment of a governor for the Darfur region stressing the need to have a law determining his powers before.

In a decision dated 29 April but released on 2 May, Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok appointed Minni Minnawi as the Governor of the Darfur region.

Hamdok said the decision was in line with the Juba Peace Agreement.

In statements to the Alttahrer, a news website close the party of the late Sadiq al-Mahdi, NUP Secretary-General al-Wathiq al-Berair slammed Minnawi’s appointment saying it would create power overlap between the region’s governor and the governors of Darfur five states.

He further stressed the need for clear laws to clarify matters of jurisdiction so as to avoid overlapping competencies between the governor of the Darfur region and the state governors.

“This confirms the lack of clarity about the structure of government,” said the NUP Secretary-General.

“What are the powers of the state governor in light of the presence of regional governors, and what is the system of government in Sudan?” He further wondered.

The NUP has was a large number of supporters in the Darfur region.

The Central Darfur had criticized Minnawi appointment saying it would complicate the ongoing efforts to convince the holdout group Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) to join the peace agreement.

 

Source: Sudan Tribune

May 7, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government and an IMF team reached a staff-level agreement on the completion of the second review under the current Staff-Monitored Program (SMP).

On 8 March, the IMF approved the first review of a 12-month SMP, which supports reforms by the Sudanese government to stabilize the economy, enhance social protection, boost the private sector, and strengthening governance.

Endorsed by the IMF in September 2020, Sudan’s SMP, which will establish a strong track record of policy and reform implementation, is a key requirement for eventual debt relief expected in June this year.

The completion of the second review of SMP was announced by the Sudanese Finance Minister Gerbil Ibrahim in a tweet on Friday.

“Sudan has successfully passed the 2nd IMF Staff Monitored Program (SMP) review. This paves the way for Sudan to reach HIPC Decision Point which will hopefully result in substantial debt relief for Sudan as well as new credit lines,” he said.

For its part, Carol Baker, IMF mission chief for Sudan, commended the progress made by the Sudanese authorities in the implementation of key reforms under the SMP to bring the debt relief closer.

“Despite very challenging conditions which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sudanese authorities continue to make sustained progress on their ambitious reform agenda,” Baker told Reuters.

Sudan seeks relief on at least $50 billion in external debt to international financial institutions.

Sudan foreign debt is estimated at $60 billion.

 

Source: Sudan Tribune

KHARTOUM, SUDAN – A delegation of U.S. senators who visited Sudan this week expressed support for Khartoum’s transitional government in moving toward democracy and debt relief.

Senators Christopher Coons and Chris Van Hollen met with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok; the head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan; and the ministers of finance, water and irrigation during a three-day visit that ended Thursday morning.

The talks centered on Sudan’s move toward democracy, its efforts to win debt relief and its issues with neighboring Ethiopia, including the location of the border and Ethiopia’s huge dam on the Nile River.

Sudan’s Minister of Finance Jibreel Ibrahim praised the senators for playing a constructive role.

Ibrahim said the two senators were playing a major role in solving the border issue with Ethiopia. He noted that their visit and its timing were extremely important and said the senators were very supportive of Sudan ahead of the upcoming Paris conference on investment in Sudan, including on the issue of clearing Sudan’s arrears to the International Monetary Fund.

The senators also visited Ethiopian refugee camps in the east of the country.

Accent on stability

Coons said the U.S., which removed Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism in December, wants to see Sudan return to stability.

“We are here to visit Khartoum and to visit elsewhere in Sudan to express support and enthusiasm for the transition underway in Sudan and to follow up the American commitment to $700 million in development and assistance, and to hear what else we can be doing to restore a peace, prosperity and security for the people of Sudan,” he said.

Coons also has praised recent Sudanese economic reforms aimed at getting renewed international assistance after years of sanctions.

“Sudan is making a good progress in reentering the global financial system, getting the forgiveness of old debts and getting resolution of challenges that Sudan has faced in terms of international investments,” he said, “and we are excited, optimistic about the future.  The ministers have made some strong decisions in terms of economic policy.”

Coons called for Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia to peacefully resolve their differences over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Sudan and Egypt fear will reduce essential water supplies from the Nile River.

Three-way ‘framework’

“Ethiopia certainly has the right to build a dam and to manage the benefits of the hydroelectric power support, but Sudan also has the right to expect appropriate sharing of technical information about flow, about safety — and there should be a framework and agreement achieved between all the three countries, including Egypt. It depends upon the safe and steady flow of the Nile,” he said.

The senators’ visit to Khartoum preceded the visit of veteran U.S. diplomat Jeffrey Feltman, the special envoy for the Horn of Africa.

The Biden administration named Feltman as a special envoy last month, to lead efforts to address the region’s political, security and humanitarian issues, including the crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Tens of thousands of refugees have fled into eastern Sudan.

Feltman is on a trip that will take him to Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea to discuss the interlinked issues and to coordinate the U.S policy toward the region.

 

Source: Voice of America