Sudan's Salah Gosh says "SPLA knows very well where Kony is"

Report by Sudan Tribune, Monday 28 September 2009:
Sudan says Uganda LRA leader not in Darfur

(KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government denied claims by the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) that the leader of Uganda Lord Resistance Army (LRA) Joseph Kony relocated to the western region of Darfur.

This week the SPLA spokesperson Kuol Deim Kuol said that Kony sneaked into Darfur coming from the Central African Republic (CAR) after the strikes made by Ugandan helicopters to his forces.

Kuol suggested that Kony is seeking protection from the Sudanese army and may be used to fight the Darfur rebels.

Salah Gosh, the adviser to the Sudanese president and former director of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) said that the SPLA claim is untrue.

He said that the SPLA is resorting to “fabrications” and “political maneuvers” to “distort the image of the Sudanese army”.

“The SPLA knows very well where Kony is,” Gosh said.

Since the 90’s Khartoum reportedly armed, trained and gave military intelligence to the LRA to help it take on the Ugandan government and fight a proxy war against the SPLA.

Kony, in a video-taped meeting in 2005, described it as a mutually beneficial arrangement where “we helped the Arabs to fight their war in the south while they helped us to fight [Ugandan president] Musievini’s government”.

The LRA leader is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and a number of his commanders for crimes allegedly committed against civilians in North Uganda.

From September to March this year, the Ugandan and Congolese armies, with support from southern Sudan, carried out a massive offensive that failed to either capture Kony or neutralize his group.

Since then, peace talks have ground to a halt and LRA fighters have stepped up their attacks on civilians, in particular in eastern Central African Republic.

South Sudan: Kony's LRA heading towards Raja county from Western Equatoria on their way to Darfur?

Report by Sudan Radio Service, Friday, 25 September 2009:
LRA Reported in Western Bahr el-Ghazal

(Wau) – The Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army is reported to be moving towards Raja county in Western Bahr el-Ghazal state.

The state governor, Mark Nyipouch, said on Thursday that the county had received information indicating that a group of LRA is heading towards Raja county from Western Equatoria on their way to Darfur.

He added that he would like to inform people in Wau to be alert and to cooperate with SPLA forces who are patrolling the areas to safeguard the lives of the civilians.

[Mark Nyipuoch]: “This is my message to all of you. As you know, the LRA are heading towards Raja county I would like to order our SPLA forces who are here to be vigilant and find out where they are and try to stop the rebels from doing what they did in the DRC and elsewhere. This is my command to our SPLA proper who are around here and in Raja county in order to open their eyes properly and protect our people there. I know that the JIUs are here in town to protect our civilians in town and also in Raja county but we need to be ready.”

About 20 civilians, who were traveling from Wau county to Raja county, reported on Thursday that their property was looted by unidentified armed men.

Last July, the wildlife department based in Raja county reported that two of their soldiers were killed and one sergeant was injured in an ambush as they were patrolling in Mangayat, 160 miles east of Wau.

Click on Western Equatoria label here below for related reports.

The war in Darfur may be over, but that is not the end of Sudan’s troubles (Alex de Waal)

Quote of the Day"Save Darfur Coalition, with its campaign for Obama to "end the genocide", can handle only the atrocity story, not the politics of peace" -Alex de Waal, 24 September 2009

Source:  New Statesman
The politics of peace
By Alex de Waal
Published 24 September 2009

Copy in full (I have used red to highlight text for future reference):

The war in Darfur may be over, but that is not the end of Sudan's troubles

Darfur is no longer in intense conflict, despite what some American campaigners would like you to believe. The situation in that troubled region is in fact a sideshow to a much bigger event in Sudan, namely the referendum in the southern part of the country, tabled for January 2011, on whether Sudan will remain united.

Partitioning a state is a risky business, no where more so than Sudan. After 50 years of on-off civil war, the depth of distrust and animosity between northern and South Sudan is such that the great majority of southerners want to take their chance with independence. But with a host of unresolved issues, ranging from an undemarcated border to the millions of southern Sudanese resident in the north, it is likely that any split will be not just acrimonious, but disorderly and violent. Both sides have used the past four years - in effect a truce, not a true peace - to buy weapons and reorganise their respective armed forces.

Neighbouring countries are worried about a resurgent conflict involving the young, desperately fragile state of South Sudan and an embittered north, driven towards political Islam, in a war that drags in other nations along an Arab-black African fault line which threatens to split the continent. The US special envoy for Sudan, General Scott Gration, sees it as his task to avoid this disaster.

Before the current instability, southern Sudan was already in trouble partly of its own making, partly not. When a truce finally came with the comprehensive peace agreement of 2005, the region had experienced virtually no development in half a century and faced a legacy of destruction and division, much of it manipulated by successive governments in Khartoum. It also had the curse of oil - 90 per cent of the revenue of the autonomous government of South Sudan comes from petroleum.

Sharing in the oil bonanza was one reason that the rebels of the southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement were keen to sign the peace agreement, but the transformation from guerrillas to government has yet to be fully accomplished. Vast sums of oil income remain unaccounted for and last year's crash in oil prices cut the government's income by 70 per cent. The seizing up of the financial system led to salaries for more than 200,000 men on the army payroll being paid late or not at all, contributing in turn to an upsurge in banditry.

If a new north-south war starts, peace talks, international pressure for humanitarian aid and a new mandate for the UN peacekeepers in South Sudan will all be necessary. What is needed now is a political process that builds enough trust between sides for the northern and southern Sudanese to make common decisions about their future. Whether as one nation or two, they will still be neighbours.

Designer activists
There is not much time left to grapple with these huge challenges, but the conditions are propitious. The Darfur crisis in western Sudan, which has taken up so much time, energy and resources, is stabilising. After war broke out in 2003, rebel groups were defeated in a counter-insurgency in which tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the space of two years and which unleashed a humanitarian crisis. Now, however, armed conflict has subsided substantially. There is a huge legacy of displacement and destruction to overcome, but with the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (Unamid) increasingly effective and most areas stable, the opportunities for progress are strong.

In August, General Martin Luther Agwai, the outgoing Unamid force commander, confirmed this when he said: "As of today, I would not say there is a war going on in Darfur." He continued: "If war is a conflict whereby today you attack and then go back home and stay [for] three, four, five months and come back . . . then there is a war in Darfur. But if that is not the definition, then there is no war as of now in Darfur . . . I think the real thing now is to speed up the political process."

Agwai is an experienced military officer with strong personal morality. He has served in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and rose to become chief of defence staff in the Nigerian army. He sees the file on every violent incident reported in Darfur, and his staff compile the numbers killed in violence in the still-troubled region. In July the figure was 40; in August it was 50. The numbers are probably an undercount, but by only a margin. Agwai's emphasis on the need for a political process fits with the movements of Sudan's civil society organisations and political parties, which are working to prise open the political space in advance of next year's general elections, the first multiparty contest since 1986. They welcome the decrease in violence - and the increase in their leverage - and have no illusions about their brutal government, seeing their best hope in step-by-step dismantling of its monopoly on power.

International campaigns, particularly in the US, claim that they want the same things as the Sudanese - peace and democracy. The Save Darfur Coalition and the Enough project, which calls for robust US action to end genocide, have built up a head of steam. At its best, this movement - which includes an extraordinary array of film stars, private philanthropists and a new breed of "designer activists" - provides awareness about wars and mass atrocities in faraway lands, but, at its worst, it can become a pulpit for latter-day philanthropic imperialism.

John Prendergast of Enough condemned Agwai's words: "The perception . . . that if it is not getting worse . . . it [must be] getting better is something that takes the wind out of the sails of international action." While the Unamid commander imagined peace negotiations in which the various Sudanese parties would sit around a table and make compromises, Prendergast wants a show of US power.

A more nuanced approach came from Donald Steinberg of the International Crisis Group, who feared that a statement of success might harm political support for Unamid: "We saw such difficulty in drawing up the mission . . . it's still not where it should be . . . Premature declarations from prominent officials might undermine existing political support for Unamid and other peacekeeping and aid efforts." This is an odd argument - that demonstrating the success of a peacekeeping mission undermines it. The implication of this is that there can be success only when "we" decide there is success.

The atrocity story
The sort of liberal internationalism that the Save Darfur campaign represents - a legacy of the neocon moral fervour engendered by the Bush administration - conflicts with the other hallowed liberal principle emphasised by President Barack Obama, which insists that a nation should be able to determine its future free from foreign diktat. Sudan needs a judicious balance between the two approaches. But it has become clear that the Save Darfur Coalition, with its campaign for Obama to "end the genocide", can handle only the atrocity story, not the politics of peace. This is shamelessly misleading about what is happening in Darfur.

It is a form of dishonesty that has a wider import, too. It turns Sudanese politics into a high-stakes international game of bluff, feeding the Khartoum government's paranoia that it faces an American regime-change agenda and fuelling the rebels' readiness to persevere in order to get that intervention. If the Save Darfur campaign succeeds, the political failure of Sudan will become a US-owned problem in the heart of Africa. This is what Gration most wants to avoid - while his domestic adversaries seem intent on bringing it about. "Saving Darfur" risks losing Sudan.

Most likely, however, political realism will succeed and the human rights fundamentalists will snarl at the heels of the Obama administration, barking "betrayal". But should the activists get their way, the limits of humanitarian imperialism in dealing with complex political problems will have to be relearned, painfully.

Alex de Waal is the co-author, with Julie Flint, of "Darfur: a New History of a Long War" (Zed Books, £12.99)

Security situation in Darfur - Sep 24, 2009

Daily Media Brief from UNAMID, El Fasher (DARFUR), Sudan, September 24, 2009/APO:

Security situation in Darfur

The security situation in Darfur is relatively calm, but unpredictable. UNAMID continues to monitor related developments.

In the last 24 hours, UNAMID military forces conducted 106 patrols including routine, short and long range, night, humanitarian escort, and logistics and administration patrols in villages and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. UNAMID police advisors conducted 158 patrols in the villages and IDP camps.

UNAMID continues to urge for an end to violence in Korma

The UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) continues to urge for an end to the clashes between the Government of Sudan and rebel movements in Korma, North Darfur.

UNAMID remains concerned about the impact of the clashes on civilians and of the consequences to the humanitarian situation in the area. Reports of the ensuing civilian casualties are deeply disturbing and UNAMID emphasizes that a peaceful solution to the conflict in Darfur can only be realized through negotiation and political means.

The responsibility of UNAMID to protect civilians under threat of attack and to ensure effective access for humanitarian assistance to those in need overarches any premise for this recent outburst of fighting in Darfur.

"Urgent Priorities: Sudan Issues at the United Nations" by US Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration

Email received today from U.S. Department of State:

"Urgent Priorities: Sudan Issues at the United Nations"

Scott Gration
Special Envoy to Sudan
New York, NY
September 23, 2009

Every year, representatives from around the world gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. It is a time for world leaders to coalesce around common challenges and common problems. It is a time for cooperation and dialog to address the most complex and vexing issues of our day, and it is an opportunity to galvanize international support during the times of crisis around the world.

Sudan is one of these issues, and now is one of those times. I am in New York now to continue ongoing discussions and to initiate new ones with representatives from countries across the globe. My main priorities while in New York are addressing CPA implementation and issues regarding Darfur. These are the two most critical issues facing Sudan. As I’ve said before—CPA is a priority, and Darfur is an urgency.

AGENDA
To give you a sense of the breadth, importance, and reach of the issue of Sudan, consider the range of some of the people we will be meeting with in New York this week: Chadian President Deby, Dutch Minister for International Development Koenders, Irish Foreign Minister Martin, Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit, and others. Additionally, we will be participating in trilateral meetings with Egypt and Norway; a meeting of the Special Envoys from partner nations; a meeting of the Sudan Troika (US, UK, and Norway); a meeting with senior officials from NGOs operational in Sudan; and other discussions.

While in New York, I am also speaking at an event hosted by Save Darfur to unveil an exhibition of photographs of Darfur called "Darfur/Darfur.” The exhibit is a series of photographs of Darfur and its people that shows the true suffering that the people of Darfur have had to undergo for far too long.

GOALS
What do I hope to get out of these meetings and others at the UN?

First, I hope to galvanize international support for building peace and stability for Sudan. The United States has a critical role to play, but progress in Sudan requires the support and efforts of the wider international community.

Second, I hope to make real progress in securing support from our international partners on key initiatives regarding armed movement unification and CPA implementation. We need the support of our international partners if we are to make headway on either of these fronts.

It bears repeating, however, that it is the Government of Sudan, the Darfuri armed movements, the Government of Southern Sudan, and other Sudanese stakeholders who bear the final responsibility for bringing peace and stability to Sudan. The international community’s responsibility is to facilitate and to hold the parties in Sudan accountable for their actions.

Thank you for reading. We will be sure to let you know how these meetings go. Thanks again for your continued interest and support, Scott.

"Crossroads" by US Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration

Email received yesterday from the U.S. Department of State:

Sudan Updates: "Crossroads"
Monday, 21 September 2009

"Crossroads"

Scott Gration
Special Envoy to Sudan
Washington, DC
September 18, 2009

For too long, Darfur has been a place of human failing and despair.  For too long, the people of Darfur have suffered. And for too long, they have lived without peace and security. I just returned from another trip to Darfur—my fourth. I went back to assess the current situation on the ground and to listen directly to the people living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. The capacity of humanitarian aid workers to deliver life-saving assistance is making slow gains, Darfuri armed movements are beginning unification efforts, and UNAMID is gaining strength in terms of force deployment and in fulfilling its protection mandate.

We are also making progress on agreements and promises—with rebel groups as well as the Government. These are critical, but the proof lies in the pudding. What really matters is what the parties to these agreements do in implementation. We are at a crossroads. We are moving forward, but we need to stay diligent and focused on ensuring that the agreements are followed through. We will hold all parties accountable for their actions. We will help where we can, but ultimate responsibility lies with the parties in Sudan.

Since I just returned from this visit, I wanted to take a moment to share with you some of our observations. You can also take a look at my flickr photo album to see pictures from our trip album.

IDP Camps
My first stop was in the Abu Shouk camp, which is home to a staggering 54,000 people. I met with camp leaders from Abu Shouk, along with others from four nearby IDP camps. I stressed my long-held view that all IDP returns must be voluntary, at a time and to a location of peoples’ choosing, and only when sufficient security exists. I further clarified that I do not advocate the lifting of sanctions against the Government in Khartoum. Finally, I made clear that I have not called for Sudan to be removed from the list of state sponsors of terror. Despite their remoteness, camp residents remain particularly well plugged in to global debates on these issues. Regrettably, they have also been influenced by the politics of their leadership and by mischaracterizations of my statements. So while it is unfortunate that there was this need to set the record straight, I will continue to return to these camps and engage with the millions of people trapped in these humanitarian prisons. It is their lives we are all trying to change.

A particular source of inspiration on my trip was my visit to a women’s center in Abu Shouk that provides psychological support and skills training for victims of gender-based violence. While I was there, I saw the women weave baskets to sell and watched a demonstration of the use of new solar cookers that are reducing the need for these women to leave the safety of the camp to search for firewood. These gracious women also shared with me their specific concerns over security, health, and education. Women will play a central role in the future of Darfur, and we in this administration will work to help bring women in Darfur the tools they need to rebuild their lives.



Photo: In the Abu Shouk Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp, SE Gration addresses and listens to a group of camp residents.



Photo: Women in the women's center at Abu Shouk IDP Camp talk to SE Gration about gender-based violence and new camp initiatives. This women's center is a project of the NGO, Darfur Peace and Development.



Photo:  A woman weaves a beautiful basket during discussions between SE Gration and women at the Abu Shouk Women's Center.

I was also encouraged by a return visit to Zam Zam camp. I came to this camp five months ago, and coming back showed me that while humanitarian gaps still remain (and some new ones have opened) there have been significant improvements in health, water and sanitation, and food distribution. We need to continue to buttress these efforts with greater humanitarian capacity and access, but we are on the right path and are making positive steps. Meanwhile, I was discouraged to hear that many of the aid workers who had been promised complete freedom of movement and access by local government authorities, and agreement I helped to broker back in April, was not being fully respected. It’s unacceptable that this far into the crisis aid workers are still encountering the slightest resistance in carrying out their work. Regardless of the cause of this circumstance, I am pressing for its resolution at the highest levels.

UNAMID
In Darfur we also went to UNAMID’s headquarters, where we met with General Patrick Nyambumba, the UNAMID Force Commander, and Mohamed Yonis, the Deputy Joint Special Representative for UNAMID, both of whom have both been appointed within the last two weeks. UNAMID confirmed that the current conflict in Darfur largely hinges around the lack of local law enforcement, which has resulted in an unacceptable number of kidnappings, carjackings, along with generalized banditry. . Despite major challenges ahead, I am encouraged by the prospects for more robust peacekeeping in the coming months as needed personnel and equipment arrive. I have been told by my UN colleagues that by the end of the year, it is expected that 85% of the force will be deployed. As we reach a critical mass of troops, it will be essential to translate those numbers into a more effective security force that can begin to change the fundamental dynamics on the ground.

Ain Siro
In addition to the IDP camps, I also traveled to Ain Siro, a small village in North Darfur. It is a place that has largely been unaffected by the conflict, and it showed me how life in Darfur used to be. The armed movement commanders I met there expressed their willingness to unify and engage in the peace process. I have said it before, but it really is crucial that we work towards armed movement unification if we hope to have a successful and sustainable peace in Darfur. In these coming weeks my team will be stepping up these efforts, along with a parallel outreach towards civil society, in the hope that we can relaunch formal talks with the Government before the end of October.

Next Steps
Darfur is at a critical crossroads. Armed movements can join together at the peace table, or they can remain fractured; civil society can remain in the shadows of the peace process, or we can make them a centerpiece of peace negotiations; humanitarian efforts can shift from emergency response to sustainable development, or IDPs can remain dependent on NGOs and without local capacity; local law enforcement can step up to provide the security needed to protect civilians, or lawlessness and banditry can continue to reign.

The United States will play a central role in setting the right course, but the responsibility for peace and security ultimately lies with the Government of Sudan and its people. As always, thank you for your continued interest and dedication, Scott.

- - -



Photo: SE Gration discusses issues of CPA implementation with Salva Kiir, President of the Government of Southern Sudan and First Vice President of the Government of National Unity, while in Juba, Southern Sudan.



Photo: Trilateral Discussions. SE Gration facilitates discussions between the NCP (on the left side of the table) and the SPLM (on the right).

Photo source:  Sudan Watch Ed selected photos from Sudan Envoy's Flickr photo album Sep. 2009.

Sand cat - Felis margarita

Photo: Sand cat - Felis margarita. Click here for larger view.

After spending several hours online looking for information on cats in Sudan I was surprised to find very little. There is a wonderful array of information on cats being revered as Gods in Egypt. But why not Sudan, I wonder.  Do Sudanese people keep pet cats and if not, why not? I hope it is not true that some people in Southern Sudan eat cats. 

If anyone reading this has seen a Sand cat, or any other type of cat, domestic or wild, in Sudan or Chad, please share details here in the comments or email me at address in sidebar here at Sudan Watch. Any photos would be most appreciated.

Starting today, I am taking a break from Sudan Watch to catch up on rest, reading, emails and computer housekeeping. Apologies if I owe you an email, I am doing my best to reply to all emails received.

Sand cat - Felis margarita



Source of photo and text: www.pictures-of-cats.org

Appearance

The sand cat has the appearance almost of a domestic cat albeit more muscular and obviously wilder looking. It weighs 2-3 kilograms (4.4 to 6.6 lbs). The average weight is in the order of 2.7 kg (6 lbs).

Camouflaged beautifully for sandy conditions with a pale sandy coloured tabby coat, the face is noticeably broad and the ears large set on the sides of the head. The face is both sweet, wild and a little aggressive looking at the same time. In fact the skull shape is an adaptation to desert life.

The skull contains a hearing structure, the bony covering of the middle ear called the tympanic bulla, that is enlarged and which is thought to be an adaptation to increase low-frequency hearing. The large ear flaps (pinnae) support excellent hearing too. Hearing is important in locating prey.

Although the markings are very faint there are strong stripes on the forelegs. The density of the coat colour fades to off-white on the undersides. The fur is dense and makes this cat looking larger than is the case. Its well camouflaged body allows it to hide very effectively when threatened by crouching low to the ground besides a rock with its chin touching the ground and ears flattened to mimic the rock.

An interesting feature of this cat is the thick fur that grows between its toes, which protects the pads of the paws against the hot sand of the desert. Apparently they encounter very cold conditions too so the fur insulates against cold as well.

The Sand cat can move fast when required but its short legs means it moves close to the ground.

Where do we find the Sand Cat?

At 2009, this wildcat is known or believed to occupy: Algeria, Iran, Jordan, Niger, Pakistan, Syria, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Oman, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, W. Sahara, Israel.

It may also occupy the following countries: Tunisia, Libya, Qatar, Chad, Mali, Afghanistan, Senegal and Sudan.

Source of photo and text: www.pictures-of-cats.org



Sand cats have big appetites. In captivity one cat was feed 15 mice and would have eaten more if given them. Normally they eat about 10% of their body weight per night. Perhaps a good proportion of this is burned off on hunting, judging by the distances travelled to find prey.

As to communication, this wildcat makes many of the sounds of the domestic cat but some are peculiar to the this cat. For example, they bark somewhat like small dogs. It is a sharp repeating call. It is used, it seems: for males seeking males; for females and males when meeting. The sand cat has a hiss that has a click attached to it.

There is also a gurgle that is used when in close contact. In addition there are the usual non-vocal calls such as leaving claw marks and urine spraying.

Source of photo and text: www.pictures-of-cats.org
- - -


Sand cat - Felis margarita
Other names

English: sand dune cat

French: chat des sables

German: Sandkatze

Spanish: gato del Sahara, gato de las arenas

Description

A small, short-legged animal, the sand or sand-dune cat has an unusually broad head with large ears set low down on the side of the head. The position of the ears may help it to present a low profile when stalking prey. Felis margarita is named after the French General Margueritte who explored much of what was the French Sahara.

Sand cats are about the size of a small domestic cat, and very similar to the Chinese desert cat (Felis bieti). Their soft dense fur is a pale sandy brown, light grey or ochre. It is slightly darker on the back and whitish on the belly, lower muzzle and chest.

There are indistinct bars on the limbs, and the black-tipped, relatively long tail has two to six black rings near the end. There is a reddish streak from the eyes across the cheeks, and the ears are rufous brown and tipped with black. Four indistinct tawny-brown stripes may mark the nape and the flanks may be marked with brownish red spots and obscure vertical stripes.

A dense mat of long (two cm) hair grows between the pads of the feet. This covers the pads, protecting them against hot sand and probably is an adaptation to help spread the animal’s weight over shifting sand.

The skull is notable for the large auditory bullae and long nasal bones. This suggests that they rely particularly on their senses of hearing and smell. Some desert animals have large noses to help them cut down water lost to evaporation from their breath. Large noses aid condensation within, so less water is lost. Adaptations like this are extremely important for desert animals.

There are six described subspecies:
F. m. margarita The Sahara, Algeria to Arabia
F. m. airensis Niger and the Sudan
F. m. meinertzhageni Sahara (Algeria)
F. m. thinobia Turkestan
F. m. scheffeli Pakistan
F. m. harrisoni Arabia/Jordan
F. m. thinobia is the largest of the subspecies and has almost no patterning at all. Individuals from the western parts of the sand cat’s range tend to be more brightly coloured and more distinctively marked.

These subspecies, and those of many other animals, are often the subject of much taxonomic debate and many are disputed.

Source of photo and text: www.catsurvivaltrust.org

Why is Africa poor? Africa is not poor, it is poorly managed

Quote of the Day
"Africa is not poor, it is poorly managed." - President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, 2009.

The following report also tells us that Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says she underestimated the problem of graft.

From BBC News, Monday, 24 August 2009:
Why is the African continent poor?
By Mark Doyle, BBC world affairs correspondent

The desolate, dusty town of Pibor on South Sudan's border with Ethiopia has no running water, no electricity and little but mud huts for the population to live in.

You would be hard put to find a poorer place anywhere on earth.

I went there as part of a journey across Africa to ask the question "Why is Africa poor?" for a BBC radio documentary series.

I was asked to investigate why it is that every single African country - with the exceptions of oil-rich Gabon and Algeria - is classified by the United Nations as having a "low" broadly defined Human Development Index - in other words an appalling standard of living for most of the people.

In Pibor, the answer to why the place is poor seems fairly obvious.

The people - most of whom are from the Murle ethnic group - are crippled by tribal conflicts related to disputes over cattle, the traditional store of wealth in South Sudan.

The Murle have recently had fights with the Lol Nuer group to the north of Pibor and with ethnic Bor Dinkas to the west.

In a spate of fighting with the Lol Nuer earlier this year several hundred people, many of them women and children, were killed in deliberate attacks on villages.

There has been a rash of similar clashes across South Sudan in the past year (although most were on a smaller scale than the fights between the Lol Nuer and the Murle).

And so the answer to why South Sudan is poor is surely a no-brainer: War makes you destitute.

Why is there so much war?

And yet South Sudan is potentially rich.

"It's bigger than Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi combined," the South Sudan Regional Co-operation Minister Barnaba Benjamin, enthused.

"Tremendous land! Very fertile, enormous rainfall, tremendous agricultural resources. Minerals! We have oil and many other minerals - go name it!"

The paradox of rich resources and poor people hints at another layer of explanation about why Africa is poor.

It is not just that there is war. The question should, perhaps be: "Why is there so much war?"

And the headline question is in fact misleading; Africans as a people may be poor, but Africa as a place is fantastically rich - in minerals, land, labour and sunshine.

That is why outsiders have been coming here for hundreds of years - to invade, occupy, convert, plunder and trade.

But the resources of South Sudan, for example, have never been properly developed.

During colonial rule South Sudan was used as little more than a reservoir of labour and raw materials.

Then independence was followed by 50 years of on-off war between the south and north - with northerners in Khartoum continuing the British tactic of divide and rule among the southern groups.

Some southerners believe this is still happening today.

Corruption

On my journey across the poorest, sub-Saharan swathe of the continent - that took in Liberia and Nigeria in the west, Sudan in the centre, and Kenya in the east - people explored the impact that both non-Africans and Africans had had on why Africa is poor.

Almost every African I met, who was not actually in government, blamed corrupt African leaders for their plight.

"The gap between the rich and the poor in Africa is still growing," said a fisherman on the shores of Lake Victoria.

"Our leaders, they just want to keep on being rich. And they don't want to pay taxes."

Even President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia came close to this when she told me she had underestimated the level of corruption in her country when she took office.

"Maybe I should have sacked the whole government when I came to power," she said.

"Africa is not poor," President Johnson-Sirleaf added, "it is poorly managed."

This theme was echoed by an architect in Kenya and a senior government official in Nigeria.

Both pointed out that the informal sector of most African economies is huge and almost completely unharnessed.

Marketplaces, and a million little lean-to repair shops and small-scale factories are what most urban Africans rely upon for a living.

But such is their distrust of government officials that most businesspeople in the informal sector avoid all contact with the authorities.

Kenyan architect and town planner Mumo Museva took me to the bustling Eastleigh area of Nairobi, where traders have created a booming economy despite the place being almost completely abandoned by the government.

Eastleigh is a filthy part of the city where rubbish lies uncollected, the potholes in the roads are the size of swimming pools, and the drains have collapsed.

But one indication of the success of the traders, Mr Museva said, was the high per-square-foot rents there.

"You'll be surprised to note that Eastleigh is the most expensive real estate in Nairobi."

He added that if Eastleigh traders trusted the government they might pay some taxes in return for decent services, so creating a "virtuous circle".

"It would lift people out of poverty," he said.

"Remember, poverty is related to quality of life, and the quality of life here is appalling, despite the huge amount of wealth flowing through these areas."

Then the young Kenyan architect echoed the Liberian president, some 5,000km (3,000 miles) away on the other side of the continent.

"Africa is not poor," he also said.

"Africa is just poorly managed."

See blog: Why is Africa poor? Have Your Say

Sudanese team suspended as age concerns dogs CECAFA U-17 Championship

Disappointing news. Sudan have been punished for having a whole raft of overage players...

From Goal.com 22 August 2009 by James Momanyi:
Sudanese Team Suspended As Age Concerns Dogs CECAFA U-17 Championship

The CECAFA Under-17 youth championship organisers are in a quandary as to how to deal with the problem of overage players, as Sudan and Zanzibar have presented teams with boys suspected to be over the age limit.

The organisers have been caught in a mix because documents presented by the suspected teams are official identification from their respective countries.

Kenya were beaten 3-1 by Zanzibar in their opening match in Juba Stadium, while Sudan beat Tanzania 3-0 on Thursday. But according to a report posted on kenyapremierleague.com, immediately after the Sudanese match, CECAFA ruled that 17 players in the Sudan squad were ineligible and expelled them, stripping the country of their win against Tanzania.

The embarrassment caused by the hosts left CECAFA with no option, but they have handed them a reprieve of sorts by keeping them in the competition, if they can raise a legal team.

The Zanzibar and Ethiopian contingents in Juba are also highly suspect. Although Ethiopia were beaten 4-0 on the opening day by Uganda, the team played four players who were rumoured to be overage, while Zanzibar's 3-1 over Kenya was blighted by the presence of several older looking players in the victorious side.

Twelve teams are participating in the two week championship, and it is not yet known what action CECAFA will take against teams that have already used overage players in their opening matches. So far, Tanzania and Kenya are the only teams seen as having players of the correct age.

Kenya fall to Zanzibar

Daily Nation - ‎13 hours ago‎

By NATION CorrespondentPosted Friday, August 21 2009 at 18:01 Kenya slumped to a 3-1 defeat by Zanzibar in their opening Cecafa Under-17 Youth Championship ...

Click on label here below to view related reports.

The 'genocide' in Darfur isn't what it seems (Marc Gustafson)

From The Christian Science Monitor
Opinion piece by Marc Gustafson, August 19, 2009
The 'genocide' in Darfur isn't what it seems

Activist hype, though well-intentioned may have misdirected funds that could have saved lives.

OXFORD, ENGLAND - The "Save Darfur" movement is one of the largest American activist movements in recent history.

It emerged in the summer of 2004 in reaction to an issue that had little impact on the lives of average Americans: a year-old civil war in Darfur. Horrific stories of rape, murder, and genocide began to appear in US newspapers and define Darfur. Millions were moved by these accounts and organized a movement to stop the violence.

In the next five years, however, the war in Darfur became one of the most misunderstood conflicts in recent history.

That's because the activist campaigns mischaracterized and sensationalized it in order to grow the movement. Such distortion helped the PR effort, but it arguably hurt the very people who needed help.

Activists inflated casualty rates, often claiming that hundreds of thousands of Darfurians have been "killed." What they tended to leave out was that the majority of the casualties occurred as a result of disease and malnutrition ( stemming from war).

Differentiating between those may seem insignificant in the shadow of the horrific acts of war crimes in Darfur, but ignoring these categorizations has led many activists to put pressure on the US government to fund violence-prevention plans and international peacekeeping troops, often in lieu of providing humanitarian aid and funds for peacemaking.

The Save Darfur Coalition has been particularly effective in using its scores of followers to pressure policymakers. They have hired lobbyists in Washington to draft legislation and pressure politicians to focus their efforts on violence prevention and UN troop deployment.

Before these lobbyists were hired, the US had sent a total of $1.01 billion dollars to Darfur. Of this, $839 million (83 percent) was allocated to refugee camps and humanitarian assistance, while $175 million (17 percent) was directed to fund peacekeeping activities. These numbers show that Washington was initially more focused on providing humanitarian aid than peacekeeping.

From 2006 until 2008, when the Save Darfur Coalition and many other groups began to pressure the government, the allocation of US funds shifted dramatically from humanitarian aid to peacekeeping, presumably due to the influence of the lobbyists and public pressure campaigns.

Of the $2.01 billion that was spent, $1.03 billion (51.3 percent) was spent on humanitarian aid, while $980 million (48.7 percent) was spent on funding peacekeeping missions, a significant shift toward peacekeeping.

In the end, these proportional changes were problematic because, as many casualty surveys show, the number of people who were "killed" in Darfur declined significantly after the April 8 cease-fire of 2004, while the rate of those who were dying of disease and malnutrition remained high.

Had the Darfur activists not advocated for a reallocation of funds, more lives would probably have been saved.

Many activists have also mischaracterized the nature of the violence in Darfur, intimating that the government of Sudan and rogue Arab tribes have been responsible for most, if not all, of the bloodshed. "Save Darfur" advertisements, newsletters, and websites frequently use the term "ongoing genocide" to describe the conflict.

The term "genocide" was originally used to provide a sense of gravity so that international governments and institutions would respond more rapidly to the conflict.

Despite the good intentions of activists, the popularity of the word "genocide" posed many unanticipated problems and it distorted the balance of culpability and innocence.

Using the term "genocide" implies that there is a unidirectional crime taking place. To be clear, horrible crimes have been committed, but the perpetrators aren't as clear-cut as the term would make it seem.

The government of Sudan has killed many people and is responsible for war crimes in Darfur, but the rebel insurgents bear some responsibility, too. When the United Nations conducted its International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, it found that many of the rebel groups engaged in "serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law."

By using the word "genocide," and attaching the term to only one side of the conflict, the opposite side is easily ignored.

In Darfur, the use of the term "genocide" has allowed the rebel groups to slip under the radar and commit crimes against humanity without the rest of the world taking notice. Had "genocide" not been the focus, activist campaigns might have challenged the rebel groups and checked their criminal acts.

For example, Eritrea, Chad, and the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement were the principal funders of the rebel groups in Darfur. They were and are also allies and aid recipients of the US government, which means they could have easily been pressured to cut their lifelines to the rebel groups.

Today, the situation in Darfur continues to be mischaracterized. Most of the ongoing violence can be attributed to banditry, lawlessness, and fighting between rebel groups. According to the latest United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) report, 16 fatalities were recorded for the month of June and none of them was linked to the conflict between Sudanese forces and the rebel groups.

The conflict in Darfur has not met the 1,000 casualties per year threshold that most political scientists consider necessary for a conflict to be categorized as a "civil war" since last year.

Despite these changes, many continue to argue that the government of Sudan is waging a large-scale assault on Darfur. The terms "ongoing genocide" and "war in Darfur" are still used frequently in activist literature and advertisements, which has left the American people believing that not much has changed in Darfur.

President Obama himself has recently used the word "genocide" to refer to the current situation. Similarly, the State Department and the US ambassador to the UN distanced themselves from the US presidential envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, who dared to suggest that the genocide in Darfur was over.

If they wish to help ameliorate the conflict, officials in Washington and activists alike must recognize that there have been big changes in the scale and nature of the violence in Darfur.

Instead of focusing on military intervention or the punishment of only one participant in the conflict (the Sudanese government), efforts should be directed toward funding the peacemaking process and the safe return of more than 2 million displaced refugees.

Marc Gustafson is a Marshall Scholar and doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford. He is currently writing his dissertation on political trends in Sudan.

Hat tip: Save Darfur Accountability Project, 19 Aug 2009 - MUST READ: The ‘genocide’ in Darfur isn’t what it seems

Further reading

And the winner of the Save Darfur Not-Really-A-Campaign-Naming-Contest is…
Darfur Accountability Project, 18 Aug 2009

Save Darfur Hits Bottom and Keeps Digging
Darfur Accountability Project, 17 Aug 2009

MUST READ: The Save Darfur coalition’s vital statistics
Darfur Accountability Project, 13 Aug 2009

Email received today from Save Darfur Coalition:

From: info@savedarfur.org

Subject: Your 50 foot display they won't be able to ignore

Date: Friday, 21 August 2009 17:04:14 BST

To:     ingridj.jones

Dear friend,

You can help bring the U.N. face to face with the photos of those forgotten in Sudan.                  But we still need $28,291 to project the Darfur/Darfur exhibit throughout New York City during the U.N. General Assembly in September. Give by midnight tonight to help make our campaign possible.

Our window of opportunity is closing...

With just hours to go until our deadline, we're still $28,291 away from raising the funds we need to project the unforgettable images of the Darfur/Darfur exhibit in New York City during the U.N. General Assembly.

Please make a gift before midnight TONIGHT and help us bring world leaders face to face with those forgotten in Sudan!

Just imagine it...

Presidents. Premiers. Prime ministers. World leaders will come face to face with the images of millions of Sudanese citizens who were promised peace, but who continue to face the threat of violence.

By projecting the photos of the Darfur/Darfur exhibit, we'll show them that the millions are more than numbers—they're real people. Mothers. Fathers. Children. Their faces, with your words "Don't Forget Darfur," will be impossible to ignore.

Can you make a gift now and help us bring these gripping images to NYC for the U.N General Assembly?     

It's the kind of unforgettable statement we have to make. Recent violence in South Sudan claimed another 185 civilians in the Jonglei state.¹ Increasing insecurity in the south can all too easily have destabilizing effects in Darfur and beyond.

Some experts believe that, without decisive intervention from world leaders, this rise in insecurity could reignite the brutal war that killed over 2 million in 2003.

But with your help, we can make peace in Sudan a priority again for world leaders.

Make your gift before midnight tonight and your donation will support our Darfur/Darfur exhibit—as well as posters, fliers, street teams and press conferences to support our national "Don't Forget Darfur" campaign.

We've come so far since those terrible months of 2003—with your help I know we can help the people of Sudan continue making progress toward a healing peace.

Thank you,

—Mark

Mark Lotwis
Save Darfur Coalition

¹ http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/11/sudan-end-violence-jonglei-state

Photo credit: Darfur/Darfur

The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations whose mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of more than two million people in the Darfur region. To learn more, please visit http://www.SaveDarfur.org.

- - -

From Sudan Watch Ed:  Sudan Watch archives hold almost 3,000 photos plus 5,000 individual postings, many of which contain several reports.  It is taking me time to search through it all to label each item. The label here below links to recent entries.

South Sudan: 13th Aug LRA attack in Bereamburu, Western Equatoria

From UN News Centre, Friday, 21 August 2009:
Ugandan rebels drive thousands from their homes in southern Sudan

Fresh attacks carried out by a notorious Ugandan rebel group have uprooted thousands of people and spreading panic in southern Sudan, forcing the United Nations to suspend its humanitarian work in the area, the world body's refugee arm said today.

The 12 August attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Ezo district, in the remote Western Equatoria region near Sudan's border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), reportedly killed two people and injured three others.

The rebels also abducted 10 girls from a local church, and they pillaged and torched homes, stealing food.

The following day, the LRA struck again in Bereamburu village, burning down the local church and health centre, as well as looting medical supplies.

“On 13 August, as a result of the intensifying LRA attacks, the UN was forced to suspend all humanitarian activities in the area, and 29 humanitarian workers, including seven UNHCR staff, were evacuated by helicopter,”Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters today in Geneva.

The recent LRA attacks have triggered widespread panic and fear in the area bordering the DRC and the Central African Republic (CAR), he said. Most of those on the run have already been uprooted by earlier LRA incursions.

“UNCHR condemns the continued LRA attacks on the civilian population and is deeply concerned about the fate of the large number of refugees and IDPs caught in the latest attacks in several villages along the borders of the three countries,” Mr. Mahecic said.

Thousands of refugees from the DRC and the CAR, along with internally displaced Sudanese persons (IDPs) are now without protection or assistance, he added.

Since October 2008, the LRA, which is said to be behind many attacks and atrocities, has “extended its deadly reach into the DRC, Sudan and the CAR, terrorizing the civilian population and causing chaos and mayhem,” the spokesperson said.

Some 360,000 Congolese people have been forced to flee in successive LRA attacks in northeast DRC, while some 20,000 others have fled to Sudan and CAR, according to UN estimates.

In a related development, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it plans to boost its food assistance to southern Sudan this year by 25 per cent due to the surge in the number of people facing severe food shortages to 1.3 million.

Driving the deteriorating food situation are conflict, poor rainfall and high food prices, the agency said.

“We need to act now to assist the increasing number of people facing serious hunger in southern Sudan,” said WFP Sudan Representative Kenro Oshidari.

The agency's move was prompted by the results of the recently-completed mid-year assessment of the region's needs carried out by the Government of Southern Sudan and with the support of WFP and other UN bodies.

Half of WFP's assistance will go to Akobo, an area in Jonglei state that has been hit hard by inter-tribal clashes which have killed hundreds and uprooted thousands of others. Nearly half of the people in Akobo are said to be food insecure, according to the review.

The agency has been airlifting food into Akobo since a mid-June attack on boats ferrying its aid down the Soba River.

Click on labels here below for related reports and updates.

Four suspected criminal investigation police from Tony, Warrap State arrested for murder of Rumbek businessman

Report from southern Sudan by Sudan Radio Service, Friday, 21 August 2009:
Businessman Murdered in Rumbek

(Rumbek) – An investigation into the killing of a businessman last week in Rumbek is still underway.

Omar Hassan was killed by people suspected to be criminal investigation police in Tony, Warrap State last week.

Our correspondent in Rumbek, Angelo Mageng Wade Deng, sent this report.

[Angelo Mageng]: “The people at the road-block told the man to get out of the vehicle. When they checked his luggage they found a sum of money in his bag, They asked him where he got the money from. The man told them that the money came from Rumbek and he was going to buy goods in Khartoum with it. They told him to show a business document, and if he did not show it, he wouldn’t proceed. The people were criminal investigation police at the check point in Tony town. They took the money and they killed the man and put him in a sack and threw him in a well. The investigation is still going on.”

The driver of the bus in which Omar was traveling reported the case to Omar’s brother and to the police in Rumbek.

The police found the body of the man in a well near a river in Tony town.

Four of the criminal investigation police have been arrested and are under investigation in connection with the murder.

South Sudan Gov't cannot account for $8 billion it received over last 4 years?

Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir has urged the Government of South Sudan to account for $8 billion that it received over a four-year period.

Report by Sudan Radio Service, Thursday, 20 August 2009:
Al-Tahir Calls on GOSS to Account for 8 Billion USD

(Khartoum) – The speaker of the National Assembly in Khartoum, Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir has urged GOSS to account for the 8 billion USD that has been dispatched to them over a four-year period.

Addressing a forum attended by representatives of oil-producing states in Sudan, al-Tahir said that development of the south is the sole responsibility of GOSS and it should be transparent in how they spend their share of the oil revenue.

Sudan Radio Service asked the SPLM secretary for the southern sector, Bol Makueng, for his reaction to al-Tahir’s statement.

[Bol Makueng]: “First of all that chairman [al-Tahir] does not have the interests of the people of south Sudan at heart. Secondly, it is one of their tactics to create havoc here in the south, either through militia so that there is insecurity or through media propaganda so that the country is seen as being a failed or corrupt state. They think that they have the right to do things on our behalf and then we have to account for what they do. This is not acceptable. Now the figures they are talking about are figures that when you go into details later on, you can not trace them to wherever they claim they have sent that money to. Because we don’t know how much oil is sold and how much money it sold at or how much percentage of that money is given to us. That is the paradox of the northern claims. Perhaps they have taken the monopoly of managing the oil money, so they can say anything; they can say they have given us trillions. They are always apportioning blame, apportioning anything bad to the south or to GOSS or to the SPLM."

Bol Makueng was reacting to accusations that GOSS has can not account for 8 billion USD which it received over the last 4 years.

Note to self. If 100 tanks were ordered by Government of South Sudan the order ought to show up somewhere in the accounts, no?

Beltone Private Equity teams up with Kenana Sugar Co., to invest up to $1bn in projects in Egypt and Sudan

Beltone Private Equity, the private equity arm of Egypt’s Belton Financial investment bank, has teamed up with Khartoum-based Kenana Sugar Company to invest up to $1bn in large-scale infrastructure projects in Egypt and Sudan, according to reports.

Hazem Barakat, CEO of Beltone Private Equity, said in a statement that Beltone would provide extensive investment management, corporate finance, and strategic capabilities.

Kenana will provide technical expertise for the venture.

Kenana’s biggest investors are the Sudanese government, the Kuwait Investment Authority and the government of Saudi Arabia. The company was established in 1975, claims to be one of the world’s largest integrated sugar companies located on the eastern bank of the White Nile. Kenana produces 400,000 tonnes of sugar per year.

Beltone Private Equity was established in 2006. As of end October 2008, the company reported over EGP1.5bn ($271m) in assets under management in a diverse range of investments.

Source: AltAssets, 21 Aug 2009 - Egyptian private equity firm teams up with sugar company to create fund

Egypt signs USD 2.3bn oil agreements

ISI - Emerging Markets - ‎47 minutes ago‎

The company's farms span over 200000 feddans in Sudan . Beltone Private Equity had over EGP 1.5bn (USD 270mn) in assets under management at the end of ...

NSE:ONGC.BL - NSE:ONGC - BOM:500312

Click on label here below to view previous reports and updates.

Southern Sudan President Kiir launches Cecafa Under-17 Football Championship (Hassan el Bashir Cup) at Juba Stadium

From Daily Nation Reporter, Thursday, August 20 2009:
Southern Sudan President Kiir launches Cecafa U-17

The President of the Government of Southern Sudan Salva Kirr on Wednesday opened the Cecafa Under-17 championship at a packed Juba Stadium.

The championship was opened simultaneously in Juba and Khartoum, two of three cities that will be hosting the tournament. The third host city is Wadmedani.

Kenya are based in Juba and were due open their campaign against Zanzibar in a Group “B” on Thursday evening while Sudan welcomed Tanzania and Somalia took on guest team Malawi in Group “A fixtures in Khartoum.

The tournament is the first major sporting event of its kind to be held in Southern Sudan and involves 12 nations.

“The decisive decision taken by Cecafa to have Group “A” matches played in Juba came after sending its delegations to visit the Juba Stadium and perusing security situation in the capital.

The move has proven the relentless efforts and the commitment the government of Southern Sudan has exerted in providing security and development,” a statement from the Office of Vice-president, Government of Southern Sudan said about the tournament.

Sudan’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Gabriel Changson Chang also attended the opening ceremony.

Uganda lads, urged on by a sizeable expatriate community from their country, sounded an early warning when they thumped their Ethiopian counterparts 4-0 in the opening match on Tuesday.

Undated photo of Juba Stadium entrance sign. (Source: picturesofsouthsudan.blog)

Rwanda/Egypt: Uganda Wins Cecafa U-17 Opener, Egypt Pulls Out

AllAfrica.com - Ostine Arinaitwe - ‎3 hours ago‎

Kigali — Uganda were in great shape beating Ethiopia 4-0 as the Cecafa Under-17 football championship started in Sudan Wednesday. ...

Uganda U-17s battle Kenya in Juba tourney

New Vision - Fred Kaweesi, Swalley Kenyi - ‎14 hours ago‎

The pair will still have to deliver today if coach Richard Wasswa's youngsters are to seal a quarter-final place in the CECAFA juniors tournament. ...

Uganda Batter Ethiopia In CECAFA Youth Championship Opener Goal.com

Rwanda/Egypt: Uganda Wins Cecafa U-17 Opener, Egypt Pulls Out AllAfrica.com

CECAFA U-17 CHALLENGE CUP ThisDay

New Vision - AllAfrica.com

all 9 news articles »

Goal.com

Rwanda's Junior Wasps Ready For Egypt Battle

Goal.com - ‎Aug 18, 2009‎

... U-17 national team coach, Michael Weiss, has played down Egypt's prowess ahead of this year's CECAFA U-17 Championship, which kicks off today in Sudan. ...

Rwanda: Cecafa Youth Championship Kicks Off AllAfrica.com

U-17 date Somalia Malawi's Daily Times

Debate over new Nile River treaty rages on ThisDay

eTurboNews - AllAfrica.com

all 7 news articles »

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