N Central Sudan: Some bus drivers in Jebel Aulia earn 100 pounds a day & free fuel during elections

Transport Business in Jebel Aulia Booms Thanks to Elections
From SRS - Sudan Radio Service:

14 April 2010 - (Jebel Aulia) – Bus drivers in Jebel Aulia say business is booming as they transport voters to the polling stations.

SRS spoke to some drivers at polling stations at an IDP camp in Jebel Aulia on Tuesday.

Al-Haj Ramadan Ismail, a minibus driver, explains how business has improved over the last few days.

[Al-Haj Ramadan]: “I transport voters to the polling stations so that they come to cast their votes and go back home, I bring them from home and return them home this is how I am working with them and the work is good, business is good now and elections are going on well, no fear, nothing. Thanks be to God especially working with the NCP. Truly, the work is good. Yes, truly the work is good, not bad. During the elections, I earn 100 pounds a day, it is good; they give me a hundred pounds and give me fuel free. Thanks be to God, it is good.”

Osman Al-Amin, another bus driver, also says business that business has improved since voting began.

[Osman Al-Amin]: “The work is going well. There are managers and monitors in the bus and there are also delegates to dispatch people and bring them and they explain the voting process to the voters, how to cast their votes. Those who don’t know and have no idea at all come and ask what they are supposed to. I transport them from one place to another, and to their residences where they come from. They gather in one place for example at the head office of the popular committee in their area, in the mosque or church they gather there and I come and transport them to polling stations. Of course the management of the area informs them of the electoral process, and then they gather in one place. I come and transport them. Of course, political parties organize them, whether it's the NCP or the Popular Congress Party. I am just working. I have no problem with this party or with that party."

Those were two bus drivers who spoke to SRS at Jebel Aulia IDP camp.

More News from SRS - Sudan Radio Service:

14-Apr-2010

• Missing Names and Shortage of Voting Papers Create Confusion in Wau
• Election Officials' Strike Ends in Bentiu
• SPLM Accuses NEC Staff of Negligence
• DUP Threatens Boycott Over Irregularities
• Jebel Aulia IDPs Abstain from Vote
• High Turnouts and Missing Names in Kaya
• Juba Prisoners Vote For a Brighter Future
• SUNDE Claims Harassment at Juba Polling Stations By Security Forces

13-Apr-2010

• NEC Extends Voting Period Until 15 April
• Low Turnouts and Voter Confusion After Withdrawals in Darfur
• Ballot Paper Shortages in Central Equatoria
• Low Turnouts and Voter Errors in Gazira State
• Poor Roads Hinder Voter Material Delivery in Eastern Equatoria
• Mixed Reports of Voting Progress in Malakal
• Malwal Claims SPLA Soldiers Intimidate Voters in Warrap
• Disabled Given Priority in Gadaref Polling Center
• Polling Stations Empty in Yambio
• Big Turnout But Elderly and Disabled Face Problems in Unity State
• Ballot Boxes and Women's List Missing in Mundri
• Dry Weather Affects Voter Turnout in Unity State

Charles Haskins
News Programming Advisor
Sudan Radio Service (SRS)
a project of Education Development Center
T: +254 715 05 2924 or +254 (20) 387 0906
F: +254 (20) 387 6520

Listen to SRS on the radio or on the web at www.sudanradio.org
- - -

Jabal Awliya
Jabal Awliya (jäb'äl ou"lē-ä') [key]or Jebel Aulia (jeb'ul' ou'lēu) [key], village, N central Sudan. Nearby is a large dam (completed 1937) that is used to control the flow of the Nile to aid the Aswan Dam in storing water for summer cultivation in parts of Egypt.



Photo: Jebel Aulia dam after floods (Alun McDonald)

In Mundri, southern Sudan, HIV/AIDS infection is 3 per cent

From SRS - Sudan Radio Service, Tuesday, December 1, 2009:

(Khartoum - Mundri – Malakal – Wau) – Events were organized throughout Sudan on Tuesday to mark World AIDS Day.

Sudan has seen the rate of HIV/AIDS increase steadily in recent years with the number of cases accelerating dramatically, particularly in southern Sudan, since the end of the civil war in 2005.

Although people in northern Sudan are often reluctant to talk openly about the disease, according to the senior HIV/AIDS counselor in Al-Sahafa Hospital in Khartoum, Amna Abdelhalim Mohammed, increasing numbers of people are turning up voluntarily for testing at Voluntary Testing and Couseling centers.

[Amna Abdelhalim Mohammed]: “The numbers have increased. We started in 2003 and between then and 2009, the numbers have increased a lot. In the beginning, we used to handle one or two cases a month but now we test between 108 and 119 people every month. The results of the test used to show one or two HIV-positive people in a month but now up to thirteen a month are testing positive. The more people come for testing, the more the number of positive tests we get. Frankly, this number has increased and it is not a solution for us to keep burying our heads in the sand. We are supposed to have a complete center that gives treatment.”

In Western Equatoria, the number of HIV positive people has also increased over the years. Here, however, HIV/AIDS groups talk openly about the virus. The commissioner of Mundri West county, Bullen Abiter, urges the communities to continue going for tests to monitor their status.

[Bullen Abiter]: “In Mundri, the percentage of HIV/AIDS infection is 3 per cent. And this shows that AIDS has begun to get a grip. If someone has HIV/AIDS, that is not the end of everything. That person can still live like any other normal person if he or she takes their medication. The ARVs can make you live for even 15 to 20 years.

The important thing is that people should go for an HIV test. After the test, you will be advised on what to do.”

In Malakal, Angelo Michael Waan is the director-general of the Upper Nile AIDS Commission.

[Angelo Michael Waan]: “In Upper Nile state we don’t have statistics of people with HIV/AIDS because we didn’t do any research. But with the people coming to test for HIV in our centers, it indicates that there is an increase in numbers. So now we are urging our people to be tested so that we can know how many people are affected in our state. We are now working with schools in the awareness campaigns because AIDS is not just the responsibility of the Ministry of Health alone but it is also the responsibility of everyone and especially the media.”

Dominica Thomas is a student in Wau. She too stresses the importance of being tested for the disease.

[Dominica Thomas]: “If someone gets tested and didn’t get it in his or her body, I’ll say that that person doesn’t have the virus at that moment. But if people don’t want to get tested, I’ll say that everyone in Wau here has HIV, because it’s only when you get tested that you will know your HIV status. We have to fight HIV/AIDS because this is a very bad disease for our children, our fathers, and mothers and for all the generations, all over the world.”

World AIDS Day was organized in Sudan by NGOs working in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, Unicef and the GOSS Ministry of Health.

The theme for this year's event was “Universal Access and Human Rights”.

South Sudan: Registrars in Mundari East are having problems reaching voters

In Mundari East county, southern Sudan, the National Elections Commission (NEC) should make sure that the registration centers are properly identified, so that people know where to go to register.

When they wanted to show the people how to get to the center, the NEC officials used the same boundary tape the deminers use to indicate the presence of land-mines

Full report from Sudan Radio Service, Friday, November 2009 by email:

27 November 2009 - (Mundri) - The logistical challenges facing registrars in Mundri East county are making it difficult to register people in the county.

Speaking to SRS on Friday, the commissioner of Mundri East county, Wilson Api John, says that the NEC should make sure that the registration centers are properly identified, so that people know where to go to register.

[Wilson Api]: "When they wanted to show the people how to get to the center, the NEC officials used the same boundary tape the deminers use to indicate the presence of land-mines. In Kideba, one of the registrars asked someone to go and register but he refused – he asked why the registration center was in a dangerous zone because he saw the tapes which usually indicate the presence of land-mines. It took a long time for people to understand that this was the place where they were supposed to register.”

Api added that a lack of transport is the biggest challenge faced by the voter registration team.

[Wilson Api John]: “The turn-out is very low. The officials who are supposed to be registering people are finding it hard to get to the registration centers. They do not have a means of transport - not even bicycles - therefore they are finding it hard to move around because the distance from the village to the registration centers is quite far. They have no means of transportation. They need at least a bicycle for them to get around.”

The commissioner of Mundri East, Wilson Api John, was speaking to Sudan Radio Service from Mundri.

Sudan Radio Service website at http://www.sudanradio.org/news.php is being redesigned and will be back online very soon.  

South Sudan: W. Equatoria Governor reaches out to the citizens of Greater Mundri to register

November 23, 2009 (MUNDRI) – “Efforts by the Governor of Western Equatoria State to sensitize eligible voters have extended to Greater Mundri region,” a press release from the Governor’s office has said.

Full story: Sudan Tribune by Richard Ruati Tuesday 24 November 2009
W. Equatoria Governor reaches out to the citizens of Greater Mundri to register

Voter registration center opens at Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, Nov. 16-27, 2009

Report by Sudan Radio Service, Friday, 20 November 2009:

(Nairobi) - The voter registration center at the Sudan Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, has seen low turnouts of people wanting to register since registration began on Tuesday in the Kenyan capital.

The Sudanese Embassy became a registration center after a petition was sent to the National Election Commission to allow Sudanese in Kenya and Uganda to participate in the election as well.

Mohamed Fadhul Ali is the head of the voter registration committee in Kenya. He spoke to Sudan Radio Service on Friday.

[Mohamed Fadhul]: “We opened this center at the Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi here on November 16 and we will continue until the 27th. The number of people who have registered so far is less than a hundred. This is really not a good result. We made the procedures easy for people so that they know what documents to bring when coming for registration. For instance, we are ready to give people passports and if you have a student ID you can register as well.”

Fadhul adds that they are prepared to work on weekends to allow more people to register.

Malook Manas is one of the voters who registered on Friday.

[Malook Manas]:I was able to register because I have a student ID; otherwise they would have not allowed me to register. But you know now it’s not holiday time for students and they have to squeeze in the time with their studies in order to come and register. So our government should have opened many more registration centers because the Sudanese embassy is very far from a lot of people. Many Sudanese live outside Nairobi, because as you know, life in the city is expensive. Many of the older people, who live in Mombasa, will take two days to get here and registration is going to end soon.”

Initially, NEC had only allowed Sudanese living in the Gulf to register and it excluded residents of Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

Ambassador Majok Guandong told Sudan Radio Service last week that there are plans to open registration centers in Nakuru and Eldoret where there are large Sudanese populations. The plan is yet to come into effect.

- - -

Report by Sudan Radio Service, Friday, November 20, 2009:

(Mundri) - As voter registration continues throughout Sudan, there are an increasing number of complaints from some voter registration centers.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service on Friday from Mundri, the deputy governor of Western Equatoria state, Joseph Ngere, said that the figures of those registered in Mundri have been falsified.

[Joseph Ngere]: “The actual figure we got is 11,028, but the figures given to the National Electoral High Committee in the state is 4,258. You can see the difference. I understand that our team here is working with the National Election Commission, but what they might report is not what we have here, and this is causing a lot of arguments. I understand that usually what they get from the field they send to Khartoum, and if they are sending these figures and the figures that we have is 11,028 and they are sending is 4,258, then we have a big problem.”

Ngere said that following the seven-day holiday given to government officials by the President of GOSS, most of the MPs in Western Equatoria state are encouraging their people to register for the elections.