100 returnees in Unity State head back to transit camps near South Sudan-Sudan border citing hunger

Report from Radio Tamazuj
By Radio Tamazuj
Dated Thursday, 16 November 2023 - here is a copy in full:

100 returnees in Unity State flee back to Sudan citing hunger

Returnees set up makeshift shelters in Renk after fleeing war in Sudan. (Reuters photo)

A hundred South Sudanese who recently returned from Sudan to escape violence are now returning to Sudan due to a worsening humanitarian crisis and hunger in Unity State.

Residents in Unity State reported to Radio Tamazuj that the returnees are heading back to Renk and Thuongor transit camps near the South Sudan-Sudan border and the road leading to the Unity oilfield.

The camp chairman at the UN-run Protection of Civilians site in Bentiu, John Tot Riak, confirmed that some of the returnees had left for Sudan due to the harsh conditions in the camp and state.

“I am aware of the returnees who came to us. When they got us here suffering, they said they could not add to the suffering,” he said. “Some of them have gone back and some are planning to follow those who left.”

The returnees who fled the conflict in Sudan have endured over six months without food aid in Unity State, prompting their decision to leave the Bentiu IDP camp for a country at war.

Nyakume Stephen, a resident of the Bentiu IDP camp, said that the returnees explained that death is the same everywhere.

“They (returnees) said death cannot be divided into two which is why they go back. And we know that death cannot be divided into two,” he stated. “I accommodated sixty returnees. I gave them two rooms which I built because they had no relatives in the block. They left in October. The situation forced them.”

Compounding the problem, Bentiu IDP residents have faced a food aid suspension since July by the World Food Programme (WFP) due to a lack of funding from donors.

According to Tom Ruai, many returnees have gone back to Sudan through Renk County in Upper Nile State and the Unity Oilfield road of Unity State.

“When fighting happened in Khartoum, many people returned home. Now they are being forced by hunger to all go back,” he recounted. “Some of them are dying along the way while footing. Some are using Manga to go back to Renk and Thuongor. Some have gone back to Khartoum. What is facing them is hunger.”

Most returnees in Unity State have voiced concerns about a lack of food, health facilities, clean drinking water, access to education, and a measles outbreak since arriving in the area.

View original: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/100-returnees-in-unity-state-flee-back-to-sudan-citing-hunger

[Ends]

S. Sudan govt say no to buying a private jet for Kiir

Note from Sudan Watch Editor: Surely if Mr Kiir was an honourable man he would have had the decency to decry proposals by his govt to buy him a private jet and build a residence for him in his hometown and ensure they never saw the light of day while 7 million of his people face a humanitarian catastrophe, 2 million face starvation from famine, many suffer from lack of safe drinking water, food, medicines, security.

It is said that power corrupts.  Mr Kiir spent decades fighting as a rebel in the bush.  He has much blood on his hands.  He considers Kenya to be his second home and wants his children to be naturalised Kenyans. 

It seems to me there is so much corruption in South Sudan, it is a failed state.  Mr Kiir appears to stall for time while feathering his nest, not trusting dealings with Mr Machar.  God help the people of South Sudan.

Article from and by Radio Tamazuj.org

Dated 15 August 2019 - Juba, South Sudan

Proposal to buy private jet for Kiir faces opposition

South Sudan’s parliament has not given the green light to a proposal to buy a multi-million dollar jet for President Salva Kiir, a lawmaker has said.

The parliamentary committee for finance on Wednesday proposed that the government should buy a presidential jet, saying the plane should have eight passenger seats.

Supporters of the proposal say there is a need for the country’s leader to have safe air transport.

Paul Yoane Bonju, the head of the parliamentary committee for information, said many MPs rejected the proposal to spend a lot of money on a presidential jet.

He explained that the lawmakers argued that the money could be better spent to alleviate the suffering of citizens. Bonju revealed that some MPs also came up with a proposal to build a residence for President Kiir in his hometown in Akon.

“But the Members of Parliament who got the chance to contribute decided that the two proposals are not important,” Bonju said.

“Instead the MPs want the money to be used for youth development and they want the money to be diverted to the constituency development fund,” he added.

According to Bonju, the government will not go ahead with the proposal after many legislators blocked it. “The assembly said it is not workable and it cannot be considered in the current economic situation,” he said.

It is the first time a presidential jet has been proposed by members of the national legislative assembly.

South Sudan government currently charters planes from Rwanda Air and Kenya Airways for use by President Kiir.

This month, South Sudan’s oil output has increased to 180,000 barrels per day following resumption of oil production at Block 1 & 2 in Manga Oilfield, which was shut down six years ago due to insecurity in Unity region.

View original article here: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/proposal-to-buy-private-jet-for-kiir-faces-opposition

Note from Sudan Watch Editor: To be fair, Mr Kiir's predecessor John Garang was killed in a helicopter crash. Many air crashes happen in South Sudan. Mr Kiir should stay home and sort out his country starting with its need for safe drinking water, food, healthcare, medicines, education, safe air travel, the list goes on. I notice that his suits, shirts and ties are looking a lot more expensive.  He's no Ghandi or Mandela.