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Elisabeth Janaina
SPLA flashes rebels out of Bor, state authorities calls for humanitarian assistance
BOR, 26 December 2013 - The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) on Tuesday, flashed out rebel forces loyal to the former Vice President Dr Riek Machar out of Bor, the Capital of Jongolei state after holding onto the strategic town for close to six days.
“The situation is calm and secure now, however the problem is the whole place has been looted; the rebels destroyed every thing; shops, houses, banks, Hon. Mugato Chan Gilo, Jongolei state minister for Corporative and rural development who until the capture of the town was camping at the UN compound said.
Bor Airport under the control of SPLA
[Photo: Matata Safi]
People are suffering, in the UN Compound, they are staying without food
and water, people are dying because of the absence of these basic human
needs, Hon. Gilo decried. He appealed for support from the
international community as well as from South Sudan’s ministry of Gender
and Humanitarian Affairs to save the lives of the people of Jonglei and
Bor in particular.
Gen Gadet
commanded the Sudan People's Liberation Army's (SPLA) 8th Division in
Jonglei State until his defection in December after the foiled coup
attempt. Dr Machar who is still at large, is being accused by the
Government for staging the coup.
Hon. Gilo said the rebels are believed to have moved towards Padak and
towards the road leading to Pibor. “It’s most likely that they might
divert to Akobo”, he added.
Shops have been turned ‘upside down’ some burnt to ashes, banks vandalized, Bor main referral hospital was also loot. Pieces of boxes from looted shops and burnt building characterized the ghost town of Bor. Minimum deaths also occurred during the two-day battle for Bor. A few Corpses could be seen lying on the streets.
The vandalized KCB Bor branch
[Photo: Matata Safi]
The Bor branch of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), a pioneer bank with the widest coverage in the country was not spared. The attackers did not only loot it but also set the building ablaze.
“If at all these group mean to rule this country, why destroy captured property, property of the people of South Sudan”, Hon. South Sudan Information minister Michael Makuei Lueth pondered.
Office of the Governor of Jonglei state was not spared
[Photo: Matata Safi]
The town is liberated; people taking refugee at the UN Compound must go back their respective houses, Hon. Makuei remarked. He re-echoed the government’s reediness to dialogue with the rebels.
“We are ready to talk with the rebels, Our problem with them is they want the talks to be based on three conditions………….the government is not ready for any pre-conditioned talks”, Makuei who is also the official Government spokesman said upon arrival at Juba International Airport from Bor on Wednesday were he led a team of both local and international journalists to see the level of destruction in the capital of South Sudan’s largest state.
Reported by Matata Safi
Elisabeth Janaina
JUBA, 29 December 2013 - China has called for calm in South Sudan,
urging both factions to start ceasefire talks as soon as possible, to
avert the current situation from deteriorating any further in country,
the Foreign Ministry has said.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday that
the deteriorating situation in the country was cause for concern. East
African leaders have also urged the two factions in South Sudan to the
end the violence.
"We are negotiating with both sides in the conflict in various ways.
China's special representative on African Affairs, Zhong Jianhua,
talked with South Sudanese Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin on
the phone, calling for calm and restraint from both sides to start
ceasefire talks as soon as possible.
"China has maintained close communication and coordination with the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the African Union as well
as African countries in an effort to allow the international community
to play a positive role in relieving the tensions in South Sudan," Hua
said.
The Red Cross Society of China has offered emergency humanitarian aid
to the people of South Sudan, said Hua, adding that China will
continue to provide assistance for South Sudan. Zhong Jianhua
reaffirmed China's hope the conflict will be solved peacefully.
"The Chinese government has made it clear that it firmly opposes the
use of military force to resolve conflict, especially when it causes
heavy casualties ... we also believe that with the joint efforts of
African countries, the relevant parties will solve the issue by
rational and peaceful means," said Zhong.
Source: Aljazeera news
Dialogue on the country’s crisis to commence next week
NAIROBI, 28 December 2013 (NASS) - The Intergovernmental Authority for
Development (IGAD) has announced that face-to-face talks by all
stakeholders to the crisis in South Sudan will commence by December
31, 2013, calling on the government and the rebel groups to
immediately cease hostilities.
The Government prior to the visit of President of Kenya, Uhuru
Kenyatta and the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on
Thursday had accepted unconditional dialogue with the rebels led by
the ex-Vice President Dr. Riek Machar. Dr Riak Machar according to
media reports chose Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as the venue for the talks.
IGAD leaders and Foreign Affairs Ministers issueing the communique' in
Nairobi Kenya
[Photo: Martin Jada]
However, it was not clear if the IGAD member countries have made
direct contact with Dr Riak Machar. In a joint communiqué released by
the IGAD heads of states in their 23rd extraordinary summit which was
hold purposely on the crisis in South Sudan, the leaders warned that
if the stakeholders didn’t cease from hostilities within four days
from the date of the communiqué, “the summit will consider taking
further measures against any party who will fail to adhere to the
call”.
The summit requested the Government to undertake urgent measures in
pursue of an all-inclusive dialogue including the status of the
detainees in connection of their roles in the failed coup in
accordance with the laws of the Republic of South Sudan.
Nevertheless, many countries have already expressed their support to
the peaceful resolution of the political crisis in the country. The
regional body, IGAD has taken the lead to mediate the talks.
Please click here to read the full text of the IGAD communique'
Reported by Martin Jada Gabriel, News Agency of South Sudan (NASS)
SPLA flashes rebels out of Bor, state authorities calls for
humanitarian assistance
BOR, 26 December 2013 - The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) on
Tuesday, flashed out rebel forces loyal to the former Vice President
Dr Riek Machar out of Bor, the Capital of Jongolei state after holding
onto the strategic town for close to six days.
“The situation is calm and secure now, however the problem is the
whole place has been looted; the rebels destroyed every thing; shops,
houses, banks, Hon. Mugato Chan Gilo, Jongolei state minister for
Corporative and rural development who until the capture of the town
was camping at the UN compound said.
[Photo: Matata Safi]
People are suffering, in the UN Compound, they are staying without
food and water, people are dying because of the absence of these basic
human needs, Hon. Gilo decried. He appealed for support from the
international community as well as from South Sudan’s ministry of
Gender and Humanitarian Affairs to save the lives of the people of
Jonglei and Bor in particular.
Gen Gadet commanded the Sudan People's Liberation Army's (SPLA) 8th
Division in Jonglei State until his defection in December after the
foiled coup attempt. Dr Machar who is still at large, is being accused
by the Government for staging the coup.
Hon. Gilo said the rebels are believed to have moved towards Padak and
towards the road leading to Pibor. “It’s most likely that they might
divert to Akobo”, he added.
Shops have been turned ‘upside down’ some burnt to ashes, banks
vandalized, Bor main referral hospital was also loot. Pieces of boxes
from looted shops and burnt building characterized the ghost town of
Bor. Minimum deaths also occurred during the two-day battle for Bor. A
few Corpses could be seen lying on the streets.
[Photo: Matata Safi]
The Bor branch of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), a pioneer bank with the
widest coverage in the country was not spared. The attackers did not
only loot it but also set the building ablaze.
“If at all these group mean to rule this country, why destroy captured
property, property of the people of South Sudan”, Hon. South Sudan
Information minister Michael Makuei Lueth pondered.
[Photo: Matata Safi]
The town is liberated; people taking refugee at the UN Compound must
go back their respective houses, Hon. Makuei remarked. He re-echoed
the government’s reediness to dialogue with the rebels.
“We are ready to talk with the rebels, Our problem with them is they want the ta
lks to be based on three conditions………….the government is not ready
for any pre-conditioned talks”, Makuei who is also the official
Government spokesman said upon arrival at Juba International Airport
from Bor on Wednesday were he led a team of both local and
international journalists to see the level of destruction in the
capital of South Sudan’s largest state.
Reported by Matata Safi
JUBA, 21 December 2013 (NASS) - The Government has re-echoed its
readiness to dialogue with Dr. Reik Machar and his group provided
there are ‘no conditions’ attached to the talks.
A ministerial delegation comprising of ministers and high level
Officials from Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Somali, Sudan and Uganda, as
well as the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security was dispatched on
Thursday to Juba, by the Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of
Ethiopia, at his capacity as the Chair of the Inter-Governmental
Authority on Development (IGAD) to help broker peace between the
Government and Dr. Reik following his ‘foil coup attempt’.
The delegation held meetings with HE Salva Kiir Mayardit and key
Government officials on their two-day visit. IGAD played a key role in
the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement negotiations, ending Africa’s
longest civil war that culminated into the independence of South Sudan
in July 2011.
Making the remarks on Friday, Hon. Michael Makuei lueth, the minister
of Information and Broadcasting and the Official Government
Spokesperson, said the regional body is welcome to mediate talks
between the Government, that he said is ready any time and Dr Machar.
He said Government without any condition is ready to dialogue with any
rebel group including Dr. Riak Machar whose whereabouts remains
unknown.
The head of the IGAD Foreign Ministers, Tedros Adhanom reaffirmed
IGAD’s commitment to seek solutions to the political unrest in the
country.
Reported by Martin Jada Gabriel, News Agency of South Sudan (NASS)
AU welcomes the IGAD Ministerial Mission to South Sudan
ADDIS ABABA 20 December 2013 - The Chairperson of the Commission of
the African Union (AU), Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, says the African
Union continues to closely follow the evolution of the situation in
South Sudan.
The Chairperson of the Commission in a media advisory issued
yesterday, commended the Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of
Ethiopia, in his capacity as Chair of the Inter-Governmental Authority
on Development (IGAD) and Chair of the Union, for his timely
initiative to dispatch a ministerial delegation to Juba, comprising
Ministers and high level officials from Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya,
Somali, Sudan and Uganda, as well as the AU Commissioner for Peace and
Security.
Dr Dlamini recalled the position of the Peace and Security Council of
the AU in its 409th meeting held, Wednesday, 18 December 2013, where
it encouraged regional and international efforts to help diffuse the
current tension and to support the South Sudanese parties to find a
peaceful political settlement to the crisis.
Tribal tendencies must end, President Kiir urges
JUBA, 19 December 2013 - President Salva Kiir Mayardit of the Republic
of South Sudan is calling on the public to discard tribal tendencies
that ‘some people’ are linking the failed coup attempt to. “These
tribal tendencies are what we must stop once and for all. We believe
in diversity, we are so many, if we turn to tribalism, we can’t move
forward”, President Kiir told a news conference at his Office on
Wednesday.
President Kiir addressing the nation
[photo: goss.org file]
The President said what happened on Sunday night must not be labeled
as an ethnical fight between the Dinka and the Nuer tribesmen. "The
Dinka are the majority of those arrested, if it was the Dinka against
the Nuer or visa versa, why are the Dinkas arrested, why the Bari, why
the Muru, Chollo Shuluk, and why the Lotukawi,? Kiir Pondered.
Let us embrace ourselves as South Sudanese, President Kiir stressed
while addressing the nation. South Sudan, he said is a country for all
South Sudanese. He warned those who may want to take the law into
their hands that the long arm of the government will get them. "Those
who might have killed a person or persons will be taken to court and
face the law. President Kiir said some arrests have been made. The
president said its the right of every South Sudanese to be pretected.
Two years after gaining it’s hard earned independence, South Sudan on
Sunday came under attack in what would later be a foiled coup attempt.
The Government is accusing the fugitive former VP of being behind
failed coup. However President Kiir said he has not ruled out
possibility of dialogue with his former vice.
Reported by our staff writer
IGAD to dispatch a high level ministerial delegation to South Sudan
JUBA, 19 December 2013 – Please click here to read the Statement of
the 409th African Union Peace and Security meeting on the situation on
South Sudan.