Tag: GreatLakesNews

{{Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has mourned 59 Nigerian children killed a few days ago in a ‘dastardly terrorist’ attack by Boko Haram militants at the Federal College in Buni Yadi.}}

In a condolence message to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the people of Nigeria, President Kenyatta strongly condemned the killing, terming it a “heinous act of cowardice that targeted vulnerable children in their most innocent slumber.”

“It is with utter shock and indignation that I learnt of the horrendous death of 59 innocent children during the dastardly terrorist attack by Boko Haram at the Federal Government College in Buni Yadi,” President Kenyatta said.

Recalling that Kenya has faced similar senseless terrorist massacres, the President assured the government and people of Nigeria that Kenyans stood with them in prayer during these trying and difficult times.

He pledged complete support to the Government of Nigeria in its fight against the evil of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

“On behalf of the Government and people of Kenya and indeed on my own behalf, I wish to convey our deepest condolences and sympathies to you, your esteemed Government, the families of the victims and the people of Nigeria,” President Kenyatta said – PSCU.

{capitalfm}

{{Uganda will send a 410-strong special force to guard UN installations in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, a Ugandan army spokesman has said.}}

The protection squad will free up thousands of UN-backed troops to pursue militant Islamists in the city, Paddy Ankunda said.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group has stepped up attacks in Mogadishu in recent weeks.

At least 12 people were killed in a suicide bombing last Thursday.

Last June, it carried out a major assault on the main UN base in Mogadishu, leaving at least 22 people dead.

On Tuesday, a Somali military general, Hassan Mohamud, assumed the post of mayor of the city replacing Mohamed Nur, who is known by his nickname of Tarzan.

The government’s decision to appoint him shows that improving security in Mogadishu remains its key priority, correspondents say.

A 22,000-strong African Union (AU) force, operating under a UN mandate, is battling Al-Shaabab in Somalia.

Col Ankunda said the protection squad would ensure the AU force was not “bogged down” escorting UN staff – many of whom are involved in aid work.

“Amisom [the African force] will be freed to follow Al-Shabaab wherever they are hiding,” he added.

Al-Shabaab lost control of most of Mogadishu in 2011 to AU and Somali government troops.

It has changed its strategy since then, launching guerrilla-style attacks – including suicide bombings and night-time mortar raids.

Last month, Al-Shaabab fighters stormed Villa Somalia, the seat of government in Mogadishu, killing at least 11 people.

The group has waged an eight-year insurgency to overthrow the weak UN-backed government and create an Islamic state in Somalia.

{wirestory}

{{ A new political party has been born in Tanzania — Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT). It was introduced yesterday.}}

The party’s interim chairman, Mr Kadawi Limbu, told reporters yesterday that it is guided by five principles which are patriotism, equality, accountability, transparency and true democracy.

“ACT believes every citizen has the right to express their opinions and views for the betterment of the current generation to the next, that is why we will try as much as possible to give them an opportunity to speak,” he said.

{Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT) interim general secretary, Samson Mwigamba (right) displays look of their party’s flag during a press conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday. Left is the party interim Chairman Kadawi Limbu.}

{{Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has asked religious leaders in his country to rally behind him in the war with homosexual lobbyists that was sparked off when he signed the anti-gays Bill into law recently.}}

On Sunday, Mr. Museveni said Ugandans should resist Western cultures being imposed on Africans.

“You are congratulating me for signing this Bill and it has already opened a war with us and those who support gays. I am not concerned about that war. I am more concerned about the laziness here,” Mr Museveni said.

“When you are lazy, you cannot fight. They will cut off their aid and support. That is why the campaign to wake up our people to work hard for food and money is important. Although we are going to fight this war on homosexuality, let us also produce more for money and food,” he added.

He urged religious leaders to encourage people to participate in economic activities to avoid conditional aid.

{{The Sudanese government has asked residents of the contested Abyei area for restraint and accused South Sudan’s army of attacking Sudanese citizens north of the border line drawn in January 1, 1956, calling upon Juba to withdraw its forces south of that border line.}}

The Sudanese co-chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC), Al-Khair Al-Fahim, has briefed Sudan’s 1st VP Bakri Hassan Salih, on the conditions in the region following the recent clashes which erupted in north Abyei.

Fierce clashes between Misseriya and Ngok Dinka tribes erupted on Saturday in Laki Al-Abiad area in north Abyei killing of at least 10 Arab Misseriya tribesmen and injuring of 20 others.

Al-Fahim said the Salih demanded residents of Abyei to exercise self-control and promote stability and social peace in the region, pointing the meeting discussed the overall situation in the area.

He said he also briefed 1st VP on the performance of the AJOC during the last three months, stressing that South Sudan’s army personnel wearing police uniform attacked civilians in north of Abyei.

The Abyei official noted that AJOC submitted more than six complaints to the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) on repeated violations committed by the South Sudanese army.

He called upon South Sudan government to withdraw its forces to the south of the 1956 border line according to Abyei protocol, saying the move would help presidents of the two countries to achieve mutual understandings leading to resolution of the issue.

Resolving the final status of Abyei still remains a major issue between Sudan and South Sudan after the latter broke away from the former in July 2011, leaving several unresolved post-secession issues.

In 2012, the AU mediation team proposed holding a referendum in Abyei this month, but stated that only those residing permanently in the area will be allowed to vote in the plebiscite and decide whether they want to join Sudan or South Sudan.

The Sudanese government, however, rejected the AU proposal aimed at breaking the deadlock over Abyei referendum saying it ignored the eligibility of the Misseriya.

In October 2013, the Ngok Dinka held a unilateral referendum in Abyei but the Sudanese government rejected its results calling it an “outcast”.

{sudantribune}

{{South Sudan’s government said it submitted a proposal to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to deploy 10 battalions to protect its capital, Juba and the oilfields against attacks by rebel groups from Burundi and Rwanda.}}

It asserted that the East African regional bloc is currently examining its proposal.

Ateny Wek Ateny, the press secretary to South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir announced the gradual withdrawal of the Ugandan troops from South Sudan’s territory towards Western Equatoria to continue its mission in fighting the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

The presence of the Ugandan army in South Sudan represented a major obstacle to implementing the cessation of hostilities agreement signed in Addis Ababa last January between the government and rebels led by ex-vice president, Riek Machar.

Ateny, stressed in a press conference in Khartoum on Sunday that Juba would accept the proposal for holding a constitutional conference, saying it must be preceded by an agreement on a permanent ceasefire, resettlement of refugees and providing humanitarian assistance for the affected.

He renewed his government’s accusation that the United Nations allegedly supported the rebels, questioning why its mission in Juba never condemned Machar’s forces for “stealing 20 vehicles”.

Ateny further claimed they tapped phone conversations of a senior UN official, allegedly telling somebody in Nairobi, Kenya that the rebels would be assisted if they reached the capital.

President Kiir’s spokesperson said that Machar’s forces fought government army using UN tanks, asserting the government will prosecute the four leaders who were detained in connection with the coup attempt including the former secretary general of the country’s ruling party (SPLM), Pagan Amum, in a military court.

Both pro and anti-government armed forces are responsible for serious abuses that may amount to war crimes in two key oil hubs in South Sudan during recent fighting, the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report last week.

“The wanton destruction and violence against civilians in this conflict is shocking,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

“Both sides need to stop their forces from committing abuses and hold those who have responsible for their actions, and the African Union (AU) should accelerate its long promised investigations”, he added.

But Ateny has criticised the HRW report, accusing the renowned rights body of “taking the side of the rebels”. He also questioned the credibility of witnesses’ accounts that government army committed genocide, describing them as “liars” seeking to secure political asylum.

He said South Sudan was an open country and pointed that war creates a good opportunity for chaos indicating foreign elements might have involved in the incidents.

Ateny also disclosed that they arrested 50 people for involvement in killing on ethnic basis, accusing Machar of exploiting the fact that 75% of his Nuer tribe are army personnel who dragged the country into ethnic war, asserting the latter’s plot failed to achieve its objective.

He accused Machar of launching ethnic war allegedly killing 175 people in Unity state capital, Bentiu and 126 members of the Dinka tribe inside the hospital in Bor, besides committing rape, crimes and killing of nuns inside a church in Bor.

Ateny, however, demanded that Machar forms an investigation committee to look into those accusations and asserted stability of the security situation in South Sudan, saying military operations are restricted to four districts, including two in Jonglei, as well as one Upper Nile and Unity states.

The official also criticised Ethiopia indirectly saying it had a long record of human rights violations.

Conflict erupted in South Sudan’s capital on December 15, 2013 when President Kiir the accused his longest-serving deputy of allegedly staging a coup.

Both sides have been accused of committing atrocities and violence has continued despite a ceasefire agreement signed on 23 January in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

{sudantribune}