The National Electoral Commission has cancelled arrangements which made voter registration easier for Sudanese citizens living in Kenya

News report from Sudan Radio Service for Thursday, 26 November 2009:

(Nairobi) - The National Electoral Commission has canceled arrangements which made voter registration easier for Sudanese citizens living in Kenya.

Earlier this week, the NEC had decided that a valid passport or a student ID was enough to enable people to register. People without a valid passport were able to register if they were accompanied by a witness who could vouch for their identity.

However, speaking to Sudan Radio Service on Thursday in Nairobi, the Sudanese ambassador to Kenya, Majok Guangdong, said the Embassy had received a letter from the NEC which set out the new registration requirements.

[Majok Guandong]: "Yesterday, we received a letter from the National Electoral Commission indicating that the procedures should follow the law, which states that a person should be Sudanese, 18 years and above, holding a valid Sudanese passport and a resident permit. People who do not meet these requirements will not be able to register."

Ambassador Guandong fears that fewer people will register following the announcement of the new requirements.

[Majok Guandong]: "I think the number of people will definitely reduce because there is no flexibility and the people who will turn out will be just those who meet the new requirements. I am expecting that the numbers of Sudanese coming to register will drop considerably."

He urged Sudanese citizens living in Kenya to continue to participate in the voter registration exercise.

Click on National Election Commission label here below to view related news and updates. Cross-posted to Kenya Watch.
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UPDATE at 17:18 PM GMT UK Friday November 27, 2009:

Report by Sudan Radio Service, November 27, 2009:

(Nairobi) - Following the cancellation of arrangements which make voter registration easier for Sudanese living in Kenya, voter turn-out numbers are expected to decline.

The chairman of a Sudanese community association based in Nairobi, Dr. Senari Abdulwahab, says the National Electoral Commission is denying Sudanese who live abroad the right to register.

[Dr Senari Abdulwahab]: “It is very surprising, because when the representative from the Commission came we talked and he was clear that people should respect the law, but that there must be some arrangement made because most Sudanese nationals in Kenyan don’t have documents like a passport or a resident permit. We agreed and so I was surprised that after two days, the orders to relax the rules were canceled. After this has happened, we can not say that the registration process is for all Sudanese, because they have introduced regulations that are penalizing some people. It is clear that they do not want Sudanese nationals who live in Nairobi to register.”

Senari Abdulwahab was speaking to Sudan Radio Service on Friday in Nairobi.

South Sudan: Very few people in Mayom county, Unity state, are registering to vote

Report by Sudan Radio Service, Wednesday, November 25, 2009:

(Mayom county) - Registrars in Mayom county, Unity state say they are facing security and logistical challenges and very few people are registering to vote.

The head of registration at Ruathnyibol payam in Mayom county, Zachariah How Koryom, says he fears they may not register some people in the county.

[Zachariah How]: “There are some areas that can not be reached because of the lack of good roads in the constituency. Another problem is insecurity, because of disagreements between communities. We need the police to take care of security while we are moving from house to house. The people do not come to registration centers because they are not aware of the elections and they do not see the importance of registration. So we are carryiong out mobilization and registration exercises at the same time. In the town, the registration is okay because they understand it. We have registered 11,000 people in Ruathnyibuol alone."

Zacharia How added that Mayom county is one of the areas that has been severely hit by drought this year.

He urges the government to solve the problem before the elections which are scheduled for early 2010.

Low turn-out of women for the voter registration in southern Sudan

Cecilia Andrea Apaya, a senior lecturer at Juba University, said that the university has introduced women’s studies in most departments to help fight the attitude that women are second-class citizens.

She called on the government to offer free primary education to girls, saying that it is the only way to encourage parents to send their girls to school.

Report by Sudan Radio Service, November 24, 2009:

(Juba) - The chairperson of the Southern Sudan Women’s Organization for Development and Rehabilitation, Cecilia Andrea Apaya, says that the low turn-out of women for the voter registration exercise in southern Sudan is due to the reluctance of women to participate in public life.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service in Juba on Monday, Cecilia Apaya said that illiteracy and ignorance among southern Sudanese women has contributed to the modest role of women in Sudanese politics.

[Cecilia Apaya]: “We must talk to women so that they understand why they should get involved in politics. But if we don’t talk to them, if we don’t raise their awareness, they will not come out to register, because they don’t understand the importance of politics. Most women are not educated, that’s the biggest problem we are now facing. The few educated ones have already registered but the majority has not. Because they don’t understand! They say why should I register my name there, why should I go there? Why should I leave my house, my children? There is no need for me to go there!”

Apaya, a senior lecturer at Juba University, said that the university has introduced women’s studies in most departments to help fight the attitude that women are second-class citizens.

She called on the government to offer free primary education to girls, saying that it is the only way to encourage parents to send their girls to school.

Note, the new website of Sudan Radio Service will be online very soon.

NEC has appealed to GONU and international community to fund forthcoming elections in Sudan

Report by Sudan Radio Service, November 24, 2009:

(Khartoum) - The National Electoral Commission has appealed to the Government of National Unity and the international community to fund the forthcoming elections in the country.

The Chairman of the National Electoral Commission, Abel Alier, spoke to members of the press in Khartoum on Monday.

[Abel Alier]: “We are inviting international organizations and governments to deliver their pledges in order to conduct elections in an acceptable manner for everyone. Actually we received assistance but it was specifically for the media. We encourage countries and organizations to work with us, so they can see what we are doing with the assistance they provide. This is important to ensure that people do not think the assistance may be used to fund unacceptable activities.”

Abel Alier was speaking to the press in Khartoum on Monday.

Voter registration requirements for Sudanese living in Kenya have been eased

Note that the voter registration process, which was to end on November 30, has been extended to December 7.

Report by Sudan Radio Service, Tuesday, November 24, 2009:

(Nairobi) - Voter registration requirements for Sudanese living in Kenya have been eased to make it simpler for them to vote.

The Sudanese Ambassador to Kenya, Guandong Majok, described the new conditions to Sudan Radio Service on Monday.

[Guandong Majok]: “A Sudanese student who is 18 years old or above must have a valid passport and a student ID. This is considered as one of the conditions you should have to register. Regarding parents who are here with their children in schools, we have agreed that the mother should have a valid passport and have one of her children enrolled as a student in Kenya. This will enable her to register. We also formed a committee with a chief and people who know the members of the community because there are Sudanese who have been here since the war and after the peace agreement they got Sudanese passports and they live here. We also formed a committee between the Sudanese community and the embassy so that they can act as witnesses for people they know and these people will be allowed to register with their witness.”

There has been a marked increase of people going to register following the announcement of the new requirements.

Kuol Nyang Kuol is a registration officer at the Embassy. He spoke to Sudan Radio Service on Monday.

[Kuol Nyang Kuol]: “From November 10th until Sunday, only one or two people came during the whole day but today, as you can see, there are more than a hundred people.”

The voter registration process, which was to end on November 30, has been extended to December 7.

SPLM-USA released a petition today voicing discontent with voter registration operations in the USA

Leaders of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement chapters in the United States of America (SPLM-USA) released a petition today voicing discontent with voter registration operations in the USA.

Many diaspora members have been expecting to exercise their right to vote in the elections scheduled for April 2010. But in the entire United States of America, home to a diaspora of tens of thousands of Sudanese, there are only three voter registration centers.

The voter registration period is scheduled to close December 7.

Full story: Sudan Tribune, Tuesday 24 November 2009 - America’s SPLM chapters denounce ’disenfranchisement’ during voter drive

Sudan's National Election Commission says voter registration has been extended by a week

Report by Sudan Radio Service, November 23, 2009:

(Khartoum) - The National Election Commission has announced that voting in the forthcoming general election which was scheduled for April 5, 2010, will now take place on April 11.

The voter registration period has also been extended by a week. The decision comes after the NEC held meetings with some political parties on Sunday. The parties demanded the extension of the voter registration period.

Lieutenant-general Alhadi Mohammed Hamad, an NEC registrar, spoke to Sudan Radio Service on Monday.

[Lieutenant-general Alhadi Mohammed Hamad]: “For logistical reasons, we have realized that in some states the registration process has been delayed, and we are also responding to the requests of the political parties who met with the NEC. The commission decided to extend the registration period for an additional seven days, from December 1 to the 7th. Of course, this change will affect the polling date. Instead of April 5, it will be changed to the 11th. We have informed the high commissions in the states so that they will implement the decision.”

Mohammed went on to deny accusations that the NEC is working with the NCP, saying that they have not received any complaints about the process.

[Lieutenant-general Alhadi Mohammed Hamad]: The registration is currently being monitored both locally and internationally by political parties and organizations like the United Nations. And all of them have praised us for what is taking place, and you can even read the statement made by the UN official who is here on a mission to monitor the registration process and so far no political party has issued any kind of complaints about the registration process in Sudan.”

Lieutenant-general Alhadi Mohammed Hamad was speaking to Sudan Radio Service on Monday.

Senior SPLM official urged NEC to allow the media to visit registration centers to inform people about voter registration

Untitled report by Sudan Radio Service, November 23, 2009:

(Khartoum) - The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement visited voter registration centers in Khartoum on Saturday and Sunday to assess the registration process in Khartoum state.

SPLM Ministers and State Ministers in the Government of National Unity, the Khartoum State Government and the National Legislatures went to visit 7 areas within Khartoum state where there are about fifty voter registration centers.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service after their visit, a senior SPLM official, the deputy-governor of Khartoum state, Parmena Awerial Aluong, explains the purpose of the visit.

[Parmena Awerial Aluong]: “We visited sixteen centres and there were some problems in these areas. We tried to resolve some of them, not all of them but I felt that the visit was very, very important to us. One of the things I saw was that all the political parties were all represented in the centers [as election observers] and that makes the registration really different from other elections I have seen.”

Awerial urged the National Elections Commission to allow the media to visit the registration centers to inform people about voter registration.

Chief registrars in the different centers say they are forbidden by the NEC to give statements to the media.

Meanwhile, the secretary-general of the SPLM Parliamentary caucus in the National Assembly, Thomas Wani Kundu, says numerous violations were reported to the SPLM by the observers at the different centers in Khartoum.

[Thomas Wani]: “One, the NCP has a policy of deceiving people who come for registration. They are given fake forms which they fill in thinking that they have registered. And then of course people come innocently and began registering without knowing that they were not at a real registration center. Secondly, when the people go in they are called to back so that their numbers are written down and their telephone numbers are taken. The idea behind this is that those people can be bribed so that they will vote for the NCP. Despite the fact that we have got representation from the different political parties, the NCP was predominant in all these centers.”

Thomas Wani has urged southern Sudanese to turn out in big numbers to register in order to be ready to vote during the forthcoming general elections and also to prove “that the results of the recent census were falsified”.

South Sudan Democratic Forum says voter registration exercise has failed in southern Sudan

Untitled report by Sudan Radio Service, November 23, 2009:

(Khartoum) - The South Sudan Democratic Forum says the voter registration exercise has failed in southern Sudan.

The chairman of the South Sudan Democratic Forum, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs in the Government of Southern Sudan, Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro, addressed a press conference in Khartoum on Sunday.

[Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro,]: “The voter registration exercise has failed in southern Sudan and I think this is because the NEC and the Elections High Committee in the south did not do their work as we expected. These two committees have failed in their work. Why am I saying this? First of all, voters’ education started very late and it was inadequate and for that reason citizens do not know why they are being registered. Are we being registered for elections or for the referendum? There are some people who say let those who want to contest the elections come first so that we can register. Many people in many areas do not understand what voter registration is all about and I think this is a major failure.”

Dr. Lomuro cited some of the challenges facing the exercise in southern Sudan.

[Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro]: “First of all, there are no vehicles; there is only one vehicle for each county. They are very old vehicles which cannot travel everywhere, especially with the poor roads in southern Sudan. Secondly, there are no motorbikes, and no bicycles. Also, each registration official was given 100 SDG as living expenses for the period from November 1 to November 30. Then they are to be given 1000 SDG. That means that each registrar spends 3 SDG daily for survival and they are operating in areas where they don’t know anybody - and they also use this limited amount of money for food and accommodation.”

Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro was speaking in Khartoum on Sunday.

Senior SPLM official from the Nuba Mountains, Ismail Khamis Jallab, says 'the Nuba people in the SPLM will remain in the SPLM forever'

Today, the website of Sudan Radio Service (SRS) is still having technical difficulties. At the moment its news pages and archives are blank, Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 11:22 AM GMT UK.  Here is a news report by SRS, received by email from SRS.  Note that it quotes Ismail Khamis Jallab as saying that the Nuba people in the SPLM will remain in the SPLM forever and that there is no room for talk about Nuba people being marginalised in the SPLM.  Copy of the report, from Khartoum, Sudan, in full:

Friday, November 20, 2009 (Khartoum) - Nuba officials in the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement have refuted reports by the pro-government Akhir Lahza newspaper that the Nuba people are being ignored by the SPLM.

On Wednesday November 18, the Akhir Lahza reported that four senior SPLM officials from the Nuba Mountains met in El-Hajj Yousif in Eastern Nile and discussed the possibility of leaving the SPLM.

Speaking during a press conference in Khartoum on Thursday, a senior SPLM official from the Nuba Mountains, the Minister of State for Animal Resources and Fisheries in the Government of National Unity, Major-General Ismail Khamis Jallab, refuted the allegations.

[Major-General Ismail Khamis Jallab]: “I would like to state that what was published in Akhir Lahza is not true and I would like to assert that the Nuba people in the SPLM will remain in the SPLM forever. We think that the report was meant to create animosity between the Nuba people and our SPLM comrades in Northern Sector.”

General Jallab, who became the first SPLM Governor of South Kordofan state after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, demanded that the newspaper must apologize to the SPLM.

[Major-General Ismail Khamis Jallab]: “We are demanding that the Akhir Lahza newspaper apologizes for what they have written officially and publicly.

What I would like to confirm through this press conference is that the Nuba in the SPLM are essential members of the movement and as such, there is no room for talk about Nuba people being marginalized in the SPLM.”

General Jallab also declared that there was a particularly high turnout of SPLM supporters for the voter registration exercise in the Nuba Mountains.

South Sudan Gov't Minister Samson Kwaje shot by unknown gunmen in Lainya, Central Equatoria

Government of Southern Sudan Minister of Agriculture, Samson Kwaje happens to be one of the politicians that thinks that Ounduruba should be in Lainya county. That is the reason why he was attacked by those who want Lainya to be in Juba county.

From Sudan Radio Service, Monday, 16 November 2009:
Minister Attacked in Central Equatoria

(Nairobi, Kenya) - The GOSS Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Samson Kwaje, has been flown to Nairobi for emergency treatment after he was shot at by unknown gunmen in Lainya county on Sunday.

The minister’s car was ambushed on his way to Juba from Lainya. Four people were killed in the incident.

The commissioner of Lainya, Suba Samuel Manase, spoke to Sudan Radio Service on Monday from Lainya.

[Suba Samuel Manase]: “The incident happened yesterday around five. He was on a tour to meet the people to encourage them to participate in the voter registration process. All of a sudden, a group of civilians attacked his car. Four people were killed and then the minister himself got injured in the right arm. The bullet went through the flesh but there is no confirmation of bone fracture.”

Suba said that the incident was provoked by a dispute about constituency demarcation.

[Suba Samuel Manase]: “It's an issue which concerns Ounduruba payam which is said to belong to either Juba county or to Lainya county. Administratively, Ounduruba is assumed to be in Juba county. But after the recent constituencies demarcation, the National Election Commotion decided that Ounduruba should become a constituency of Lainya county. So that provoked the whole situation. Samson Kwaje happens to be one of the politicians that thinks that Ounduruba should be in Lainya county. That is the reason why he was attacked by those who want Lainya to be in Juba county.”

The commissioner said that the situation in Lainya and Ounduruba has returned to normal as the police and military are in control of the area.

Sudanese President Bashir tells parliament "I invite all the parties to a dialogue"

In a report published last week, Geneva-based Small Arms Survey said that north and south Sudan have been engaged in an arms race for the past four years.

"With ongoing violence in southern Sudan and Darfur, and mounting tensions between northern and southern governments, persisting arms flows should be a cause for great concern in the international community," said Eric Berman, Small Arms Survey Managing Director.

The president confirmed this weekend that he will stand in the April elections.

"We wish to have general elections without violence. I invite all the parties to a dialogue... in order to reach a positive climate to hold elections," Bashir told parliament.

Source: Report from Khartoum by Guillaume Lavallee (AFP), 5 October 2009:
Sudan's Beshir invites opposition for dialogue

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on Monday invited the country's opposition for talks aimed at avoiding clashes in next year's general election, a week after they threatened to boycott it.

"We wish to have general elections without violence. I invite all the parties to a dialogue... in order to reach a positive climate to hold elections," Beshir told parliament.

Africa's largest country is to hold presidential, parliamentary and local elections in April 2010, its first general election since 1986.

After Beshir's coup in 1989, subsequent votes were slammed as a sham by the country's opposition.

Southern former rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), who now share a unity government with Beshir's National Congress Party, joined other opposition parties last week in threatening to boycott elections if the laws guaranteeing basic freedoms are not passed by November 30.

After its decades-long north-south civil war, Sudan adopted an interim constitution guaranteeing freedoms but the text clashed with old laws that remain in place.

"We will receive the laws and harmonise them with the constitution," Beshir said, adding that a new national commission for human rights will also be formed.

"This parliamentary session comes at a crucial moment," said Beshir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity in the war-torn western region of Darfur.

The president confirmed this weekend that he will stand in the April elections.

Analysts say the SPLM and opposition parties are considering fielding a candidate jointly but no announcement has yet been made.

Insecurity in Darfur and increasing violence in south Sudan where 2,000 people have died in ethnic clashes since the beginning of the year, could also threaten the elections, analysts say.

Southern leaders have accused Beshir of arming ethnic militias in order to destabilise the south ahead of elections and a key referendum scheduled for 2011 on independence for the resource-rich but impoverished region.

"We want to find a solution to tensions in the south and we are prepared to help create an appropriate climate for the elections and the referendum," Beshir said.

In a report published last week, Geneva-based Small Arms Survey said that north and south Sudan have been engaged in an arms race for the past four years.

"With ongoing violence in southern Sudan and Darfur, and mounting tensions between northern and southern governments, persisting arms flows should be a cause for great concern in the international community," said Eric Berman, Small Arms Survey Managing Director.