Category: SECURITY

This is not the kind of the unity government we want – European Union

European Union (EU) and South Sudan national flag from textile. [Photo by iStock]

European Union (EU) and South Sudan national flag from textile. [Photo by iStock]

JUBA – A senior European Union (EU) diplomat has said that the current unity government in South Sudan is not the kind that the continental body wants.

“You cannot have a proper new transitional unity government without a parliament. There are no real check and balances at the moment and this is not the kind of government the international community is ready to speak with for long-term planning of development,” Alessandro Rossi, EU’s deputy head of mission to South Sudan, said.

The EU diplomat said the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement is not going as expected saying the security arrangements are not completed ruling out any support for the government the unity government.

“If the security arrangements are not completed, if transitional justice has not even started, if public finance management is not redressed then we cannot speak of appropriate implementation of the peace agreement,” Rossi.

Most of the provisions of the revitalized peace agreement, most importantly the security arrangements which provides for the formation of a unified and professional national army, have not been implemented.

The United Nations Secretary-General said in a report last week that the government was not sending its forces to training centers where opposition forces are currently stationed for training.

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Kiir’s security advisor, Egyptian president discuss peace process

South Sudan presidential security advisor Tut Gatluak, left, meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, right, in Cairo on Tuesday [Photo by Sudans Post]

South Sudan presidential security advisor Tut Gatluak, left, meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, right, in Cairo on Tuesday [Photo by Sudans Post]

CAIRO, EGYPT – President Salva Kiir’s security advisor Tut Gatluak Manimeh has this morning met the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on Tuesday and discussed the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement, according to a senior government official.

In an exclusive interview with Sudans Post in Cairo this morning, investment minister Dhieu Mathok Ding Wol said the delegation came to also invite the Egyptian leadership for the upcoming ceremony of the signing of the Sudanese peace agreement due for October 3.

“We have come to invite the Egyptian leadership for the signing of the Sudanese peace deal which is expected to be signed in Juba on October 24,” Dhieu told Sudans Post in Cairo this afternoon.

The senior government official said the delegation led by Gatluak has also discussed with the Egyptian president the status of the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement, specially the security agreements.

He said the Egyptian leader has vowed to support the reunification of the rival forces and will also mobilize other world leaders to support the implementation of the deal which ended the seven-year-old civil war in February this year.

“We have also discussed the implement of the revitalized peace agreement. H.E the President after our meeting today, we discussed the implementation of the peace deal and he has vowed to support us in the areas such as the security arrangements and will mobilize for world support to the peace process in the republic of South Sudan,” he said.

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Jonglei state police arrest man in Bor for registering floods victims with money

Police man guards jail in Bor town [Photo by unknown]

Police man guards jail in Bor town [Photo by unknown]

BOR – Authorities in South Sudan’s Jonglei state have arrested a man for allegedly registering floods victims with money for potential benefits from humanitarian agencies, according to a state government official.

“Yesterday, the police arrested Michael Aguer because he has been taking money from those affected by flood promising them many benefits and deceiving them that the aid from humanitarian organizations was very limited and only those who pay will have great chance to receive it,” the state government official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said the perpetrator was being prepared for court proceeding saying the latest decision by the authorities in Jonglei state “will serve as precedent not only for people like him, but for corrupt officials at large.”

Jonglei is one of many South Sudanese states badly affected by floods. Amid inter-communal conflict between the Dinka, the Nuer and Murle, thousands of people have been displaced in the South Sudan eastern region.

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Parties in another deadlock as Kiir demands formation of state gov’ts without Upper Nile, counties

President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny speaking to the press in February 2020 ahead of the dissolution of the former incumbent TGoNU [Photo via Radio Tamazuj]

President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny speaking to the press in February 2020 ahead of the dissolution of the former incumbent TGoNU [Photo via Radio Tamazuj]

JUBA – South Sudan parties have come to another deadlock after President Salva Kiir Mayardit demanded the formation of state governments without that of Upper Nile state and the counties, according to a senior opposition official.

The parties have agreed on the responsibility sharing at the states’ level, but have not reached an agreement on the Counties and another disagreement on General Johnson Olony remain unresolved.

Speaking to Sudans Post this afternoon from Juba, a senior SPLM-IO official said President Salva Kiir’s team at the talk have demanded that state governments be formed  and the  dispute on counties and Upper Nile state governor be resolved at a later date.

“There is another deadlock. As we speak, the representative of President Salva Kiir are saying that Upper Nile state government be formed at later date as well as the county distribution be done later,” the opposition official said from Juba on phone.

“The SPLM-IO has rejected this and we will not accept to do that because there is no any reason other than that the former ITGONU is dragging its feeds on the formation of counties government and the appointment of General Johnson Olony,” the official added.

Last week, the SPLM-IO rejected any formation of the state governments before the appointment of General Johnson Olony Thabo saying there was no concrete reason why the President would reject his appointment as he is the SPLM-IO nominee.

Kiir rejected Olony’s appointment saying the opposition leader is a warmonger who may stare up situation in the oil-rich Upper Nile state.

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IGAD will have no grounds to reject request to allow Machar visit troops – spokesman

South Sudan opposition military spokesman Brigadier General William Gatjiath Deng [Photo by Sudans Post]

South Sudan opposition military spokesman Brigadier General William Gatjiath Deng [Photo by Sudans Post]

KHARTOUM – South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, SPLA-IO, has said regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which mediated the 2018 peace agreement, will have no grounds to reject a request by the SPLA-IO military to allow their leader, Dr. Riek Machar, to visit them for consultation on the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

This comes a day after the SPLA-IO Chief of General Staff, General Simon Gatwech Dual, wrote a letter to the regional bloc asking it to allow Machar to visit him so that he could be briefed and consulted on the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

In an exclusive interview with Sudans Post on Saturday, the SPLA-IO official military spokesman Brigadier General William Gatjiath Deng said security arrangements provision in the peace agreement is at a cross road because the other side to the deal has not ordered its troops to report to training centers across the country.

“According to the peace agreement, 41,000 soldiers from the SPLA-IO should be deployed together with their counterparts from the SSPDF in the first phase of the implementation of the security arrangements,” Gatjiath said from Magenis.

“But as of now, the security arrangements is not event being talked of according to what we see and our observation on peace process,” he added.

Asked what would be the next step if IGAD refuse to allow Machar to visit his forces, Gatjiath said the regional body would have no grounds to reject the request by the opposition military chief, saying the implementation of the security arrangements which would have been concluded by now, according to implementation matrix, has not yet been implemented.

“South Sudan peace guarantors will have no ground to reject our request to allow Dr. Riek Machar to visit the headquarters. If they are serious in the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement, they have to allow Dr. Riek Machar, the chairman of the movement, to come and brief the movement in the headquarters,” said the opposition spokesman.

“I don’t see any reason for South Sudan peace guarantors to disregard the deployment of the unified forces because it is agreed upon in the revitalized peace agreement and security arrangements .” he further said.

Machar signed the revitalized peace agreement with Kiir in September 2018 in Addis Ababa. The  agreement provided for the reunification of the rival forces to establish the country’s first professional national army, police and national security service.

Regional and international observers have said that the reunification of forces was in jeopardy as government forces have not reported to joint training centers across the world’s youngest county.

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South Sudan police officer arrested in Juba for raping 9-year-old girl

South Sudan police spokesman Major General Daniel Justin speaking to journalists in Juba in 2019 [Photo by Sudans Post]

South Sudan police spokesman Major General Daniel Justin speaking to journalists in Juba in 2019 [Photo by Sudans Post]

JUBA – South Sudan police authorities in the country’s capital Juba have this afternoon put behind bars a senior police officer for raping a 9-year-old girl, two police sources with direct knowledge told Sudans Post.

The first source said from Munuki police station that the unnamed officer with the rank of Major and who is the deputy head of Munuki police department was arrested after he was found raping the small girl who has not yet been identified.

“Today, the deputy head of Munuki police station with the rank of Major has been arrested because he was found raping a small girl who is between the age of 9 and 10,”  the police source with direct knowledge told Sudans Post from Juba.

The second source said it was not the first time for the police officer to do the unlawful act saying he was also caught doing the crime twice this year.

“This is not the first time. Since beginning of the year, he has been found with two minors also here in Juba,” the source said.

For his part, police spokesman Major General Daniel Justin confirmed the incident, but said he was “not ready to give information on this matter.”

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SPLA-IO chief General Gatwech Dual tells IGAD peace deal is ‘dead’, threatens to redeploy forces

SPLA-IO chief of staff General Simon Gatwich Dual speaking to reporters following arrival at Juba airport on April 25, 2016, a day before Machar return to Juba in 2016. [Photo by Radio Miraya]

SPLA-IO chief of staff General Simon Gatwech Dual speaking to reporters following arrival at Juba airport on April 25, 2016, a day before Machar return to Juba in 2016. [Photo by Radio Miraya]

KHARTOUM – The military chief of South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, General Simon Gatwech Dual has said that the revitalized peace agreement is dead, according to a letter addressed to the regional bloc, IGAD, which mediated the revitalized peace agreement.

The powerful military chief also requested in the letter that IGAD allow Dr. Machar to travel to the SPLA-IO military headquarters to consult and brief the SPLA-IO military on the status of the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

“The Military High command’s leadership (MHCL) of the SPLA (IO) has learned that the ongoing peace agreement in Juba has a lot of complications and inherited some sorts of procrastination which are debilitating the implementation of the agreement especially, the security arrangements which is the most paradigm that should have been solved in the first month prior to the agreement,” General Dual said in the letter extended to Sudans Post.

“However, I have written an appeal to South Sudan peace guarantors Troika, AU and IGAD to accept our request as a movement that the Chairman and Commander in Chief (C-in-C), First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, should be given a chance in order to meet and brief the SPLA (IO) Military Leadership (ML) about the status of the peace in the GHQs,” he said.

he said despite the commitment and good faith shown by Dr. Machar who is now the First Vice President, the regional bloc has kept quite to the ongoing reluctance of the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit to implement most contentious parts of the agreement.

“It’s clear that Dr. Machar went to Juba in February for conditions building and pushing the agreement to work without hindrances but as a result, the regime in Juba is playing tricks to mislead both African peace actors, IGAD, AU and the wider international community,” he said.

He threatened to deploy over 41,000 SPLA-IO forces in the country in accordance with the 2018 peace agreement or otherwise the entire peace agreement will be considered dead echoing the return to war.

“Undoubtedly, the current peace deal in South Sudan is deteriorating and slowly moving towards passimisive ending while peace guarantors are crossing legs and watching without action,” Dual said.

“The SPLA-IO forces comprising of 41,000 troops are ready now to move anytime and must be deployed in the three regions Equatoria, Upper Nile and Bahr el Ghazal as per the agreement, or otherwise the peace is dead,” he concluded.

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Kiir’s security advisor Tut Gatluak to arrive in Cairo tomorrow

South Sudan security advisor on security Honorable Tutkew Gatluak Manimeh speaking to media in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday [Photo by Sudans Post]

South Sudan security advisor on security Honorable Tutkew Gatluak Manimeh speaking to media in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday [Photo by Sudans Post]

JUBA – South Sudan president’s security advisor Tutkew Gatluak Manimeh will arrive in the Egyptian capital Cairo along with other senior government officials on Sunday for bilateral talks with their counterparts in Egypt, according to a senior government official.

“Tomorrow, we are going to Egypt with a delegation. This delegation will be headed by Honorable Tut Gatluak, minister of water Manawa Peter Gatkuoth and some members of the cabinet,” the senior government official who is a member of the delegation said.

According to the government official, the delegation would discuss with their Egyptian counterparts issues pertaining to the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement as well as bilateral ties.

“Main areas of discussion will be the implementation of the peace agreement and teh Egyptian support for us. We will also discuss relationship between the two sisterly states which is very important,” the official said.

Egypt and South Sudan enjoys good relationship and the North African country has been sending medical and humanitarian aid to South Sudan in recent years.

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General Hemeti tells Tutkew Abyei referendum without Miseriya unacceptable

South Sudan presidential advisor on security Tut Gatluak Manimeh meeting General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo in Khartoum [Photo by Sudans Post]

South Sudan presidential advisor on security Tut Gatluak Manimeh meeting General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo in Khartoum [Photo by Sudans Post]

KHARTOUM – The First Vice President of Sudan’s sovereign Council and commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has reportedly told President Salva Kiir’s security advisor Tut Gatluak who is currently on a visit to Sudan that any future Abyei referendum without the participation of the Arab Miseriya tribe would not be acceptable.

Gatluak is currently in Sudan on an official visit to invite Sudanese leaders for the ceremony of the signing of the final Sudanese peace deal which is set for the first week of October in Juba where it was negotiated.

Speaking to Sudans Post on Friday night, a member of the South Sudan high-level delegation said the Daglo who is better known as Hemeti told Gatluak that Abyei referendum must include the Miseriya and any conduct of the 2005 peace provision without that would not be accepted by the Sudanese part.

“Yesterday, after we met al-Burhan, we went to meet General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. What he said when we raised the issue of Abyei, was that the Miseriya must be part of the Abyei referendum,” the member of the delegation said on condition of anonymity.

Abyei is a contested area between Sudan and South Sudan and a 2013 referendum conducted unilaterally by the Abyei residents of the nine Ngok chiefdom was declared null and void by both countries.

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Bashir regretted helping Kiir rig 2010 elections against Dr. Lam – documentary

South Sudan President Salva Kiir, left, opposition leader Dr. Lam Akol, center, and former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, right [Photos via Getty Images]

South Sudan President Salva Kiir, left, opposition leader Dr. Lam Akol, center, and former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, right [Photos via Getty Images]

KHARTOUM – Sudan’s former Islamist leader, Omar al-Bashir, opposed Dr. Lam Akol’s election bid for president of the government of Southern Sudan in 2010 and so worked to ensure President Kiir was elected with an aim to exploit the inadequate education of the South Sudanese leader, according to a new footage of a secret meeting broadcasted as a part of a TV documentary, “The Islamic Front: The Major Secrets” by Al Arabiya channel.

In the secret meeting of the National Islamic Front (NIF) held in Khartoum following the 2011 referendum, former President Omar al Bashir who came to power through a bloodless coup in 1989 said his government’s conviction, when they allowed President Kiir to rig elections in Southern Sudan in his favor in 2010, was that Dr. Lam Akol would not cooperate with them and would be hard to do business with.

Al-Bashir said his Islamist government was not in any position to accept that election for the President of the Government of Southern Sudan is won by someone rather than President Salva Kiir who was then his first deputy.

“Our conviction – despite Lam [Akol’s] relationship with us and their support for us – was that if Lam win election, he would not be able to govern South Sudan,” Al-Bashir said the meeting attended by senior members of the NIF and those working in his government.

“Secondly we would not be able to cooperate and do business with him. That’s why we decided to endorse Salva [Kiir] because we believed he was the only person we would be able to cooperate and do business with for the remaining part of the interim period,” he added.

Al-Bashir further highlighted in that meeting that Dr. Lam Akol who he said could not return to South Sudan would not be able to handle the oil-rich south asking at some point how he would government a country he couldn’t set foot in.

“Lam cannot even return to South Sudan, so how can he lead South Sudan?” he asked.

Destabilizing South Sudan

In a separate audio recorded following the 2012 Heglig crisis, Al-Bashir said Sudan’s Islamist government had no interest in the stability of South Sudan as well as in saving it from rebellions which rocked the country following the independence in 2011.

He said Sudan would work to ensure that the SPLM is removed from power in the South and vowed that such action was going to take place within a very short period of time.

“We don’t have any interest in saving the government of South Sudan [from rebels] and we will not work with the government of South Sudan unless the SPLM is gone,” he said.

“So, our [National Islamic Front] goal is to remove the SPLM in South Sudan.  We will not discuss with them anything unless we are sure 100% that no aggression will come from South Sudan because any single barrel of crude oil exported from South Sudan, will be used to buy weapons. So, any single barrel of oil from South Sudan is a threat to our security,” he said.

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