S. Sudan: Deployed unified forces arrive in Malakal

Report at Radio Tamazuj, Juba 

Dated Sunday, 26 November 2023 - here is a full copy:

Deployed unified forces arrive in Malakal

Soldiers belonging to the Unified Forces sit on the ground during a deployment ceremony at the Luri Military Training Centre in Juba on November 15, 2023. (PETER LOUIS GUME/AFP)

A cohesive force of 750 individuals, comprising soldiers from the signatories to the 2018 peace agreement – namely, SSPDF, SPLA-IO, and SSOA – arrived unarmed in Malakal, Upper Nile state, on Wednesday. They were dispatched from the capital, Juba.

Confirming the arrival of the first deployed battalion in Malakal, SPLA-IO spokesperson Col. Lam Paul Gabriel told Sudans Post that the unified peace forces, deployed to Upper Nile state last week, reached the state capital on Wednesday morning.

Col. Lam pointed out that the forces await directives from the unified army command in Juba. He warned that any delay in deploying them to designated areas might pose significant challenges.

 “They are already in Upper Nile. They reached Malakal on Wednesday morning. We are waiting for further directives from the CDF [Chief of Defense Forces] and the leadership in Juba,” he said. “We wait for the committee to be able to come to the command [headquarters] in Juba, and then they let us know what to do.”

Estimating that directives would arrive within a week, Col. Lam cautioned that prolonged stay in Malakal could exacerbate challenges. He explained, “I believe it will never take long because the longer they take in one place, the more challenges could start facing them.”

He outlined serious conditions, including operation costs, arming soldiers, and ensuring food availability for deployment, especially considering the accessibility challenges in Upper Nile state.

Col. Lam disclosed that Juba expects additional forces from Unity State, Upper Nile, and Bahr el Ghazal to arrive soon before deployment. “There is also ready 150 soldiers in the Muom Training Center of Leer County in Unity State. They started their journey to Juba on Tuesday, having left Panyijiar County. They were transported to Juba, and we also have another group in Bahr el Ghazal, with an additional group in the Upper Nile region that will be in Juba within the next week.”

Hundreds of unified forces were deployed at a long-overdue ceremony on 15 November, marking progress for the country's lumbering peace process.

The unification of forces was a key condition of the 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year conflict in which nearly 400,000 people died.

View original: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/deployed-unified-forces-arrive-in-malakal

END

South Sudan: Machar 'feels like a prisoner' after deal - South Sudan split over who takes what ministry

Machar 'feels like a prisoner' after deal, says wife
Report from BBC News, Kampala

By Catherine Byaruhanga

Dated Wednesday 26 February 2020

Photo: President Salva Kiir (L) and his deputy Riek Machar have formed the unity government to end a long-running civil war

The wife of South Sudan’s newly sworn-in Vice-President Riek Machar says her husband feels "he is a prisoner".

Angelina Teny, who is herself a former government minister, told the BBC that restrictions put in place by the regional body, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad), on her husband’s travel within and outside South Sudan were still in place.

The restrictions were intended to stop the fighting and get Mr Machar to negotiate a peace deal. They also restrained him from speaking to the public or media.

Igad's Special Envoy for South Sudan Ismail Wais said the restrictions elapsed when Mr Machar took up his new role in the new unity government [ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51562367 ] on Saturday.

But Ms Teny said Mr Machar's group had not received official communication to that effect. She said they were concerned that he could not fulfill his duties.

According to Ms Teny, her husband cannot freely travel around South Sudan and meet his supporters.

However, a spokesperson for President Salva Kiir denied the claim, adding that Mr Machar should hold the public meetings with the president as a show of unity.

View Original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c302m85q54lt/south-sudan
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South Sudan split over who takes what ministry

Report from The East African - www.theeastafrican.co.ke

By Fred Oluoch

Dated Sunday 01 March 2020

The formation of the transitional government in South Sudan could be unduly delayed following disagreements over portfolio balance between President Salva Kiir and first Vice President Riek Machar.

Meetings in Juba on February 27 could not reach a compromise after Dr Machar’s Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) complained that President Kiir’s side has not only taken all the key ministries, but has been offering ministries to other signatories without consultations.

President Kiir’s side wants to retain the Finance, Petroleum, Defence and Interior, and Foreign Affairs dockets.

James Oryema, the SPLM-IO representative in Kenya said that his movement is going to hold on to their position and that the formation of the transitional government of national unity (TGoNU) could take some time if the other side remains intransigence.

“We are demanding that four ministries be divided into two while claiming the Petroleum and Interior dockets then we can select the rest of the remaining seven ministries. These were the ministries we had in 2016,” said Mr Oryema.

According to the September 2018 agreement, the country is supposed to have 35 Cabinet ministers, with President Kiir’s SPLM in government getting 20 ministries, SPLM-IO nine ministries; South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) three; and Former Detainees two and Other Political Parties one ministry each.

View Original: https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/ea/South-Sudan-split-over-who-takes-what-ministry/4552908-5473706-mgdj38z/index.html

S.Sudan: Kiir's deputies take oath of office including Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior - The economy is in ruins, 5m need aid, 188,528 crammed into UN camps

Kiir's deputies take oath of office

Report by Radio Tamazuj.org dated 22 February 2020 (JUBA) - South Sudan's opposition leader Riek Machar has been sworn in as first vice-president in a boost for the peace agreement aimed at ending six years of conflict.

Mr. Machar took up the top post under the terms of the 2018 peace deal, implementation of which had been repeatedly delayed by disputes.

The main opposition leader took the oath of office alongside three other vice presidents appointed by President Salva Kiir last night as per the peace deal.

Those appointed vice presidents include James Wani Igga, Taban Deng Gai and Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior. The fourth vice president position remains vacant as members of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) have not settled on a candidate for the position.

If peace holds, the transitional government of national unity will now have to embark on reforms to pave the way for general elections in three years’ time.

The economy is currently in ruins, nearly five million people need aid and 188,528 people are crammed into UN peacekeeping camps across the country.

The conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people has spawned a massive refugee crisis, pushing many of those fleeing the fighting to neighboring countries.

Speaking at the presidential palace after taking the oath of office today, Dr. Machar said he is determined to work with President Kiir and other peace partners to end the devastating conflict.

"It is our hope that the formation of the revitalized transitional government will create a new momentum and a new spirit of commitment and cooperation in the implementation process of the agreement in order to avoid the delays experienced during the pre-transitional period," Machar said.

"I would like to reiterate my commitment and the commitment of the SPLM/A-IO to work closely with the peace partners and particularly President Kiir Mayardit to implement the agreement in letter and spirit. May God bless South Sudan," he added.

For his part, President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who called Machar "my brother", said he will work closely with the opposition to establish lasting and sustainable peace in the country.

Kiir advanced a message of reconciliation and forgiveness to his opponents, saying he has forgiven his archrival Riek Machar. “I want to reiterate here and now that I have forgiven my brother Dr. Riek Machar and I also ask for his forgiveness,” Kiir said. 

The president also offered a rare apology to the South Sudanese people for the devastating conflict, calling upon internally displaced persons and refugees to return home to rebuild their lives.

“I am inviting the people of South Sudan to forgive one another. Particularly, I want to appeal to the Nuer and Dinka communities to forgive and reconcile with one another,” he said.

“I also appeal to the people of Equatoria, especially those who have experienced much of the devastation to forgive and reconcile,” he added.

The South Sudanese leader called on holdout opposition groups to join the peace process, saying he plans to put an end to the conflict in the world’s youngest nation.

Kiir called on the international community to provide support as all parties to the peace agreement embark on rebuilding the country. [Note from Sudan Watch editor: Get lost Kiir you greedy monster, you've had over 15 years in power. You and your enemy Riek Machar should be in the dock at the International Criminal Court in The Hague begging for mercy for the slaying and starvation of millions of Sudanese and ruination of millions of lives. Or go join your kids in your beloved Kenya and get back under the rock you crawled from. Pope Francis knew he was facing evil when he got down on his knees to kiss your feet. God help you]

View original: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/kiir-s-deputies-take-oath-of-office

POSTSCRIPT

Note that Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior is a South Sudanese politician. She has served as the Minister of Roads and Transport for the autonomous government of Southern Sudan, and as an advisor for the President of South Sudan. She is the widow of Dr. John Garang de Mabior, the late first Vice-President of Sudan and the President of the Government of South Sudan, and the mother of Akuol de Mabior. She is from the Dinka tribe of Twic East County of South Sudan. Read more at Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Nyandeng_De_Mabior

Photo: South Sudan's Fourth Vice-President Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior takes the oath of office in front of Chief of Justice Chan Reech Madut in Juba, South Sudan, on Saturday. ANDREEA CAMPEANU/REUTERS. From China Daily.com: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202002/24/WS5e5322f3a310128217279ad7.html

Photo: South Sudan's First Vice President Riek Machar takes the oath of office at the State House in Juba, 22 February 2020. REUTERS/Jok Solomun Text by: RFI Full story: http://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20200223-south-sudan-rebel-leader-machar-sworn-vice-president-civil-war-salva-kiir