Wednesday, April 14, 2010

South Kordofan: Attack on 3 polling centers by the Sudan Liberation Army Front (SLAF)

Attack on 3 polling centers in South Kordofan State
From Miraya FM, Wednesday, 14 April 2010 20:06
Last Updated Thursday, 15 April 2010 01:04:
Three polling centers were attacked Wednesday morning in South Kordofan State. A group called the Sudan Liberation Army Front has claimed responsibility. In a press statement to Radio Miraya, the field commander of the group, Abu Baker Mohammed Kadu, said the attacks targeted the areas of Danffara, Heigleig and Al Demulowiya in Al Deab municipality.

Reports stated that a delegation from the state government of South Kordofan is traveling to the area to inspect damages incurred.

On his part, the Chairman of the Sudan Liberation Army Front, Juma Al Wakeil, in an interview with Radio Miraya said that his front does not recognize the current elections because war is still raging in Darfur and South Kordofan. Wakeil also added that both regions are not represented in the central government.

He blasted the government for siphoning oil from these areas for other states like Khartoum and Port Sudan, leaving only oil tragedies in return. Wakeil further said, that the world must know that his front is a revoluntionary force and will continue to fight the system, regardless of the elections.

Meanwhile the Chairman of the State High Elections Committee in South Kordofan, Adam Abdean, told Radio Miraya that an unknown group attacked a vehicle of an electoral candidate's agent, wounding two persons.

He said the area, west of South Kordofan, has been witnessing problems even before the elections.

However, the office manager for the spokesperson of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Lt Colonel Al Suwarmi Khalid, has denied any attack or clashes in the area. Lt Col. Suwarmi confirmed that no incident has occured and that the electoral process has not been disrupted.

Lt Colonel Al Suwarmi Khliad said the army had only spotted Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) vehicles entering South Kordofan. He assured that the SAF reported this "suspicious" activity to the Joint Defense Council and reaffirmed that this incident did not lead to any military encounter in South Kordofan

Click and listen to Manager to the Spokesperson of the Sudan Armed Forces, Lt Colonel Al Suwarmi Khalid.

Click and listen to Chairman of the Sudan's Liberation Army Front, Juma Al Wakeil.

ELECTIONS 2010 REPORTS


elections_south-8.jpg
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 20:41
elections2010_juba2.jpg
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 20:01
elections-cropped-9.jpg
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 19:05
elections_south-20.jpg
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 18:58
elections_south-2.jpg
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 18:54
elections2010_juba1.jpg
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 18:51
elections_south-4.jpg
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 18:39
elections2010_juba3.jpg
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 18:16
elections_south-19.jpg
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 17:25
elections_khartoum_9923.jpg
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 17:00

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

Transport Business in Jebel Aulia Booms Thanks to Elections
From SRS - Sudan Radio Service:
14 April 2010 - (Jebel Aulia) – Bus drivers in Jebel Aulia say business is booming as they transport voters to the polling stations.

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

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

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

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

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

Those were two bus drivers who spoke to SRS at Jebel Aulia IDP camp.
More News from SRS - Sudan Radio Service:


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

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

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

Jebel Aulia dam after floods

Photo: Jebel Aulia dam after floods (Alun McDonald)

"Sudan Votes Music Hopes" album includes Emmanuel Jal

Listen to the "Sudan Votes Music Hopes" album and view videos at:
Sudan Votes Music Hopes

Note that the album includes:
Emmanuel Jalإيمانويل جل
Kuar
Lyrics, Vocals & Co-production by: Emmanuel Jal
Produced by: Chris Aduwar

Click on Jal label below to read Emmanuel Jal's truly amazing life story.

Sudan Votes

Thanks to Sudan Votes for including Sudan Watch in its list of links at:
www.sudanvotes.com

Official websites:

Government of National Unity (GoNU)

Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS)

National Assembly

National Elections Commission

National Publications and Press Council

Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) support to the elections in Sudan

United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

BBC World Service Africa: SUDAN ELECTIONS 2010

Click into BBC World Service for a collection of reports and images from the BBC's election team in Sudan and BBCWSafrica's tweets.

Sudan Elections 2010

A poster encouraging people to cast their votes in Sudan's forthcoming elections. (BBC World Service Africa)

Panoramic 360 photo: Sudan homecoming

About two million have returned to their homes in the south since the 2005 peace deal. The BBC's Lucy Fleming visited the village of Mathiang Dit in the province of Northern Bahr al-Ghazal, where more than half the population is made up of returnees. Click here to explore a 360 degree panorama of a village gathering and listen to their remarkable stories.

Sudan: 'I Will Wait Until the End'

Sudan: 'I Will Wait Until the End'
From United Nations Mission in Sudan (New York)
Monday, 12 April 2010 (with thanks to AllAFrica):
When Sudan held its last elections over two decades ago, Maria Majok of Warrap State was just a baby on her mother’s back.

“My mother told me that I was a three-month-old baby when she participated in the elections 24 years back,” said an elated Ms. Majok.

A student at Kuajok Secondary School and currently pregnant, Ms. Majok cast her vote on Sunday, the first day of polling, at Anguei polling station just outside the capital Kuajok.

Smiling and enthusiastically waving her inked finger after she finished voting, Ms. Majok was excited to cast a ballot for the first time in her life, stating that she looked forward to a bright future for her family as a result of the elections.

“I am very happy to participate in this election. I am looking forward to a future without war and displacement,” she said.

While a high turnout of people was smoothly casting their votes at other polling stations around Kuajok, some centres were marred by logistical problems and delays.

Ajok Akuei, 68, arrived at Freedom Square polling station just after sunrise eager to vote, but waited in a queue for over three hours before its doors opened. When her name failed to appear on the voters’ list, Ms. Akuei visited four other polling stations to no avail.

Marla Kuol, Deputy Team Leader of Warrap State High Committee, blamed the name confusion on the arrangement of voter lists in alphabetical order. “Now we are working hard to redistribute the voter lists to each centre again.”

But none of the teething problems experienced on the first day of voting seemed to have affected Ms. Akuei’s spirits. Mindful that there were still two days of scheduled balloting in her nation’s historic general election, she vowed to continue seeking a polling station with her name on its list of registered voters.

“I have my card with me and I want to vote because it is my right,” said Ms. Akuei. “I will wait until the end.”