United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Media & Spokesperson Unit Communications & Public Information Office MEDIA MONITORING REPORT

WEDNESDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2013 SOUTH SUDAN  UN delegation in Juba to assess National Election Commission (The Citizen newspaper)  Defense Minister distances self from Sudantribune.com reports (The Citizen newspaper)  South Sudan launches Committee on Crimes of Genocide Prevention (The Citizen newspaper)  E. Equatoria launches investigation into killing of Nimule chief (Sudantribune.com)  Youth want presidential powers reduced (Gurtong.net)  South Sudan‘s new VP ‗is a popular choice‘ (Daily Nation)  Fire unit recovers body from rivulet (Gurtong.net)  Warrap‘s Gogrial West County votes on new council leadership (Sudantribune.com)  Floods affect 100 thousand people in six states (Bakhita Radio)  Health Minister, Mayor inspect Juba teaching hospital (Bakhita Radio)  Minister told of the problems of university education in Jonglei (Sudantribune.com)  ZTE donates waterproof bags to school children (News Agency of South Sudan (NASS) SOUTH SUDAN, SUDAN  Over 30 thousand South Sudanese still stranded in Khartoum (Catholic Radio Network)  Satellite imagery confirms SAF bombing in border zone (Satellite Sentinel Project)  UN Secretary General to host a consultative forum on Sudan peace (Sudantribune.com) OTHER HEADLINES  Meeting for EAC political federation opens in Kampala (The New Vision Newspaper)  South Kordofan conflict ―intricate‖ says governor (Sudantribune.com)  Sudan‘s opposition party sees little chance of normalizing ties betn Khartoum & Washington (Sudantribune.com)  Ex-Darfur rebels are new blood in Sudan politics, Mahdi says (Sudantribune.com)  Kenyan vice-president pleads not guilty to crimes against humanity (Sudantribune.com)  Mediators say significant progress‘ in talks between Congo and M23 rebels (Washington Post)  Ugandans happiest in East Africa – UN (The Daily Monitor)  AIDS cure finally found (The Voice of Russia) ANALYSIS/OPINIONS/EDITORIALS/COMMENTARIES  East Africa: Recurrent areas of discord (Cameroon Tribune)  Kiir on offensive, Machar on retreat, then who shall have the last laugh? (South Sudan News Agency) LINKS TO STORIES FROM THE MORNING MEDIA MONITOR  Defence ministry reintegrates former fighters (Radio Miraya)  Eastern Equatoria launches investigation into killing of Nimule chief (Sudantribune.com)  One person arrested for murdering chief (Radio Miraya)  Floods affect 100,000 people in six states (Bakhita Radio)  Youth want presidential powers reduced (Gurtong)  World Vision expresses concern on refugees (Radio Anisa)

NOTE: Reproduction here does not mean that the UNMISS Communications & Public Information Office can vouch for the accuracy or veracity of the contents, nor does this report reflect the views of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. Furthermore, international copyright exists on some materials and this summary should not be disseminated beyond the intended list of recipients.

 Nuer youth union impeach their president over corruption charges (Sudantribune.com)  Eastern Equatoria State parliament resolves to censor songs on radio stations (Emmanuel Radio)  Fire unit recovers body from rivulet (Gurtong)  China says it wants to play peace role between Sudan, South Sudan (Sudantribune.com)  Abyei citizens want referendum to go ahead despite Sudan‘s rejection (Sudantribune.com)  Abyei citizens hold demonstration in Agok (Radio Miraya) Highlights

UN delegation in Juba to assess National Election Commission The Citizen newspaper Juba, 11/09/13 – The National Elections Commission yesterday received a delegation from the United Nations which is in the country on an assessment mission. Chairperson of the Elections Commission, Professor Abednego Kacuol, told this newspaper that the UN delegation discussed how to assist the elections commission and that he availed them with documents detailing the areas of needs and look forward to their response. ―The National Elections Commission has no budget yet to carry out its assigned tasks and we are looking forward to their positives responses,‖ Kacuol said. He pointed out that the aim of the UN delegation‘s visit is to establish a very strong National Elections Commission in the new nation. He added that they also discussed about the media as an important tool for use by the elections body I order to monitor their work and teach the communities to understand the meaning of achievements and implementation of democracy. ―If we implement democracy in a peaceful manner and in a transparent and free situation, South Sudan will be recognized by the democratic world,‖ Kacuol said. (Back to Top)

Defense Minister distances self from Sudantribune.com reports The Citizen newspaper Juba, 11/09/13 – The Minister for Defence and Veterans Affairs, Juol Manyang Juuk, has distanced himself from media reports claiming that he wants the Chief of General Staff in the SPLA sacked. The reports referred to were published on Sudantribune.com over the weekend under the heading, ―Minister of defense promises reform in South Sudanese army.‖ In a press release written and addressed to Sudantribune.com Chief Editor and accorded to this paper yesterday under the subject ―False Report‖, Juuk mentioned that, ―It has come under my attention and scrutiny that the website Sudantribune.com has published an online article entitled ―Ministry of Defence Promises Reform in South Sudanese Army‖ with the sub-title that reads, ―Juuk wants Chief of General Staff sacked.‖ ―While such articles bear my name as the Minister of Defence, I am hereby declaring to the general public and media houses that I have not said anything like that. Such false report is the work of malicious people who want to create friction and unnecessary conflict among the leadership of South Sudan, specifically within the Ministry of Defence,‖ he added. ―I am just one month in the office which is not enough for me to evaluate his performance and warrant me to give report about him to the President who is the Commander-in-Chief of the SPLA,‖ the letter went on to say. The minister, in his letter, called on Sudantribune.com to make a public apology and immediately withdraw the article. ―On a serious note, I reserve the right of suing this media should it publish a lie such as this in the future,‖ Juuk concluded. (Back to Top)

South Sudan launches Committee on Crimes of Genocide Prevention 2

The Citizen newspaper Juba, 11/09/13 – South Sudan yesterday launched its National Committee on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes of Genocide, War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and all forms of discriminations. The launching in Juba was witnessed by the Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs General Kuol Manyang and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr. Barnaba Marial. Addressing the occasion, Dr. Marial pointed out that South Sudan has stake in the sustainability of peace and stability in the region.

―We as a member of the states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) appreciate other member states who allowed us to join the regional organization and the setting up of the national committee here in South Sudan will bring a big achievement,‖ he said. (Back to Top)

E. Equatoria launches investigation into killing of Nimule chief Sudantribune.com Nimule, 10/9/2013 – Authorities in South Sudan‘s Eastern Equatoria state say investigations into the killing of a traditional head chief in the town of Nimule are continuing but have not commented on whether any arrests have been made. A delegation from Torit, the headquarters of Eastern Equatoria state, led by deputy governor Jerome Gama Surur visited the family of the deceased on Tuesday. Magwi County commissioner, Francis Okech, told reporters in Nimule that security agents are questioning some ―suspects‖ but declined to say how many or who they are. ―The head chief was a good person and he was always in touch with the security [agents],‖ said Okech. ―There are some people brought on board [as] suspects and this investigation will continue and many people may be identified,‖ he added. Asked if any arrests have been made, commissioner Okech said ―professional investigators‖ were still being sought to help unearth the circumstances around his death. Meanwhile, a member of parliament representing Nimule in the Eastern Equatoria state assembly, Aventore Bilal, described the nature of the killing of the chief as ―both political and criminal.‖ ―Everybody deplores the killing of the head chief,‖ Bilal said. (Back to Top)

Youth want presidential powers reduced Gurtong.net Torit, 10/9/2013 – South Sudanese youth have called for the limitation of the presidential powers as the country embarks on drafting a permanent constitution. The Youth in Eastern Equatoria State have raised concerns on the draft Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan during a workshop organized by the International Republican Institute (IRI). They called for a quick attention from the general public to carefully look into the mater related to the draft Transitional Constitution saying because once it is it will be difficult to remove something that affects the public interest. They have lobbied for and called for recommendation for removal of Article 101(r) where the president has functions to remove a state Governor and/or dissolve a state Legislative Assembly in the event of a crisis in the state that threatens national security and territorial integrity. Article 101 (s) also gives the president powers to appoint a state care-taker Governor who shall prepare for elections within sixty days in the state where the Governor has been removed or the state Legislative Assembly so dissolved in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the relevant state constitution and the law in the existing draft Transitional constitution of South Sudan. According to them, before the ongoing drafting process is completed, the two sections must be removed to bring to an end the situations where the president sacks and replaces state governors like it has happened in Unity and Lakes states this year. 3

The youth have strongly protested that the move by the South Sudanese public to call for the removal of the sections must loudly be exerted to draw proper attention to the body responsible for the constitutional drafting, so their concerns could be addressed accordingly. The youth have said many corrections involving the Country‘s draft Transitional constitution, must equally be done before it becomes a permanent constitution of the Republic of South Sudan. A section of knowledgeable youth have informed Gurtong that presently, in the draft Transitional constitution, South Sudanese President has about twenty one (21) constitutional powers which need to be revised properly and reduced accordingly. Equally, a section of analysts have concurred with the youth‘s views saying it is true that still South Sudanese have great opportunity to make changes in the continuing drafting constitution before its finalized and therefore the demands for removal of sections in particular articles are welcomed. Some say if the draft constitution is assented to, chances for holding a referendum in the future will as well be high but it will be better to arrest the present situation at hands. (Back to Top)

South Sudan‟s new VP „is a popular choice‟ Daily Nation Juba, 10/9/2013 – President Salva Kiir‘s choice of James Wani Igga as the new vice president, barely a month after sacking his former deputy Dr Riek Machar in a cabinet reshuffle, is a popular decision among South Sudanese, a new report said. A survey conducted by Opinion Oyee polling group said that 84.7 per cent of the people believe Mr Igga‘s appointment was a decision in the right direction. 4.6 per cent said the decision was in the wrong direction; 8.7 per cent was undecided and 2 per cent refused to answer. The opinion poll also found that 91.6 per cent approved of Mr Igga for vice president while 4.4 per cent disapproved of the choice and another 4.1 per cent was undecided. Mr Igga had been the speaker of parliament since the inception of government in 2005. He is also deputy chairman (together with Dr Riek) for Kiir‘s ruling Sudan People‘s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which fought decades of civil war with the Khartoum government since 1983 until a 2005 peace deal ended the civil strife and paved way for formal independence on July 9, 2013. Mr Igga and President Kiir kept their support to the main stream movement and loyalty to Dr John Garang. The split took an ethnic dimension, leading to the Bor Massacre of 1991. President Kiir refers to Mr Igga as a comrade with a steady loyalty to the cause of the people of South Sudan who puts national interest above his political ambitions. Mr Igga hails from the Bari speaking Community of Central Equatoria State, which is the third largest ethnic group in the country according to the 2008 population census. As the president‘s right hand man, Mr Igga has been instrumental in drafting party election rules and regulations, including for the 2008 party convention and the 2010 general elections. (Back to Top)

Fire unit recovers body from rivulet Gurtong.net, 10/9/2013 – The body of a man, approximated to be a 25 years old, has been was found and recovered from a small water brook in Aweil town. The body was discovered at Maper Akot Aru highway on the junction going to Aweil Airstrip and initial investigations indicated that the body could have been thrown into the rivulet. Others leads suggested that the deceased might have had been injured during a theft attempt and later ran into the water stream. Speaking to the journalists during the dragging of the body out of the water, the director of Disastrous Management in the directorate of Fire Brigade, Major Anei Dut Anei says his team was contacted after the body was found floating on water by a pedestrian. 4

―As we are here today for this big tragedy, we were informed this morning about someone whose body found floating on the water of this small stream and nobody knows exactly what causes his death, we immediately assembled our materials to respond to the incident and that‘s why we are here now to remove the body from the water since this water beck is very deep,‖ Dut told the journalists during the incident in Aweil. Anei praises the ease his team underwent in removing the body off the water due to the skills his forces acquired recently during the Polish Aid training of firefighting and flood or other disastrous rescuing mechanisms. ―I am very proud today for my forces did in picking up this body in the deep stream with ease. This would have been a complicated issue if my staff did not undergo this skillful training. We were called to come for this body not only because we were responsible of controlling or rescuing but also we are the only department with flood rescuing materials which were recently donated by PCPM [Polish Centre for International Development].‖ he added. He however, appreciates the Polish Aid for the support given to his department in the state and wishes for the best outcome from his staff. The body is still being kept by the Police while they search for the relatives of the deceased and investigations are on-going. (Back to Top)

Warrap‟s Gogrial West County votes on new council leadership Sudantribune.com Agok, 10/9/2013 – Authorities from Warrap state‘s Gogrial West County have installed new leadership in the local legislative council, naming Nyang Geng as speaker. Geng was elected ahead of main rival Chan Manyok, after winning 25 votes, while the latter received just five, in a ballot in which in 30 electorates participated. County commissioner Makuc Aru Luac was among the local politicians and traditional leaders who oversaw the conduct of the ballot. Joseph Akol Wek, a member of Warrap state‘s youth executive committee said voting was conducted in a peaceful environment, although some supporters expressed dissatisfaction with the selection process of the new leadership. According to Wek only 30 of the 35 council members turned up for the vote, which was won convincingly by Geng. ―There was no problem because we are in a democratic country. People voted peacefully. The council is made of 35 members but only 30 members showed up. Five members did not attend, so it was from these 30 members where the 25 voted for Nyang Geng and five voted Chan Manyok, Wek told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday from the Warrap capital, Kuacjok. (Back to Top)

Floods affect 100 thousand people in six states Bakhita Radio, 10/9/2013 – Floods affected approximately one hundred thousand people in six states of the country. Relief and Rehabilitation Commission chairperson Peter Lam Both on Wednesday explained that the six seriously affected states are: Warrap, Northern and Western Bahr El Ghazal, Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei, Bakhita Radio reported. He said the Commission and partners were working hard, they started by assessing their victims' situations and responded positively. Mr Lam said the Commission and partners provided food and non-food items to flood victims. He said they sent 500 anti-malaria injection drugs to state ministries of health to curb malaria. Mr Lam said some places were inaccessible by road except by helicopters. He cited that limited numbers of helicopters was one of the major challenges they face.

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Relief and Rehabilitation Commission chairperson disclosed that President Salva Kiir, Vice President James Wani Igga and ministers donated seven million South Sudanese Pounds for response. (Back to Top)

Health Minister, Mayor inspect Juba teaching hospital Bakhita Radio, 10/9/2013 – The national Health minister and Juba City Mayor on Tuesday visited Juba Teaching Hospital to assess the situation of the facility. Riek Gai Kok and Mohamed Alhaj Baballah inspected the entire hospital, Bakhita Radio reported. The Mayor promised to collect garbage every week to maintain the sanitation of the hospital. He appealed to hospital authorities to pack the garbage in paper bags for easy collection. Mr Baballah also promised to work on the sewage disposal. Minister Gai said the hospital needs proper maintenance because it is the lifeline of every citizen. He pledged to work hard to change the standard of the hospital. Dr Gai said he will meet all heads of departments in the hospital and find out challenges facing them. Dr Gai promised to implement President Salva Kiir‘s directive to improve health in the country to avoid seeking treatment abroad. (Back to Top)

Minister told of the problems of university education in Jonglei Sudantribune.com Bor, 10/9/2013 – South Sudan‘s minister of education, John Gai Yoh, toured John Garang Memorial University of Science and Technology in Jonglei state on Monday as part of his plan to visit South Sudan‘s five national universities in the country. Yoh said his mission was to collect data about the immediate needs and long-term plans, including "challenges and needs" of the young nation‘s universities. The minister was escorted by key officials representing all the sectors in the ministry to listen to the problems facing the students, teaching staff, administration and other member of university staff. The staff told to Yoh that the issue of low pay needed to be addressed. Some teachers leave the profession to take better paid jobs in the many international organizations which operate in South Sudan. A university official told Sudan Tribune that staff suggested low budgets for infrastructure and services, as well as the lack of qualified lecturers. The chairperson of the university‘s students presented a written document to the minister detailing the problems faced by students on campus. Among the complaints listed was the failure to follow the academic calendar and the failure poor accommodations. The first batch of students in 2008 spent their entire four or five years of their studies living in tents or half rotten hostels. The students also complained about a lack of food and medical care. Currently there are below 100 students at the university as many students have stopped attending, perhaps due to the introduction of tuition and accommodation fees amounting to nearly 1,000 South Sudanese pounds. The minister Yoh left Bor for Malakal on Tuesday where he will visit Upper Nile University. After visiting Upper Nile state he will travel to Wau in Western Bahr el Ghazal state before returning to Juba to visit Juba University. Once he has visited all five universities he intends to compile a reports report detailing his plans for higher education which will be presented to the president. However the university‘s vice chancellor, professor Aggrey Ayuen, has built three permanent residential houses for himself, his deputy and another senior principal. Most students assume that most of the funds were spent on these buildings rather than the more pressing infrastructure needs. The student union has accused the university‘s administration of letting them down. 6

―In South Sudan, there is a saying that we need capacity building, do our professors need to be trained on capacity building as well. What is the point of sitting in the office from morning till sun [set], just watching TV‖, said one of the students, who started walked off when an internal security official approached. Students claim that the administration uses spies - known as internal security officials - who check that they are not speaking against the administration while on the campus. The student union has submitted several petitions to the government asking for the vice chancellor to be replaced. So far no has been action was taken. A teacher at the university told Sudan Tribune, on the condition of anonymity, that details about how much money the university receives each year or semester and how it has been spent is ―never been made to the senators‖. ―Since I came to this university, we have been asking in the senator meetings to know about the budget, how money the university got and so that we plan on its usage, but you know the VC always declined to tell us anything. Only him [VC] and special people in the red house are informed about the money, nobody else, we just work in [a] vacuum‖, he explained. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funds most of the activities at the university including hiring of visiting lecturers either from within South Sudan or from US. USAID funding, in partnership with Borlaug Texas A&M, is the only source of income to pay for the academics who teach on the campus. Through USAID funds, modern and multi-purpose laboratory was built and is now waiting to be equipped. This will probably in the dry season when roads are accessible. Jonglei state‘s government, under the former governor Kuol Manyang, who is now the minister of defense, has helped the university with some funds in times of financial difficulties. (Back to Top)

ZTE donates waterproof bags to school children News Agency of South Sudan (NASS) Juba, 10/9/2013 – A Chinese telecommunication company, Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE) has donated over one thousand waterproof bags to schoolchildren in Uror county of Jonglei state. The donation is part of over ten thousand bags that has been pledged by Company to enable the school children protect their books during the rainy season. The donation was handed over to Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the minister of Foreign Affairs who also doubles as the Member of Parliament representing Uror County. Receiving the gifts at the ceremony over the weekend, Dr. Benjamin hailed the company saying the children of Uror will forever appreciate the donation in their quest to seek knowledge and face the challenges of nation building. Speaking at the same occasion, Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan, Ma Qiang said the donation is ―just a small portion of my country's and the big ones are on the way coming‖. He said China plans to build schools and setup a university in the country. In another development, the Eritrean government has reaffirmed its commitment to enhance bilateral relation with South Sudan. Hon. Osman Saleh, Eritrea's Foreign Affairs minister said good relations with South Sudan are crucial in addressing issues of regional integration. The visiting foreign minister, said the bond between Eritrea and South Sudan is very strong and reiterated it is the wish of his government to continue such a cordial relations. (Back to Top)

Over 30 thousand South Sudanese still stranded in Khartoum Catholic Radio Network, 10/9/2013 – Over 30 thousand South Sudanese are still stranded in Khartoum waiting for repatriation home. CRN reporter visited Jabarona and met some of them in very dire conditions for over two years under sacks‘ shelters and poor hygiene.

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Rozetta Benjamin said they are 395 people in Jaborona camp alone suffering in various ways including diseases and hunger leave alone lack of education to their children. She lamented that it is better to suffer at home than in the foreign land. Another refugee at the camp, Abdallah Id Abdallah complained that they are facing very difficult situations for the last two years. He called on the national government to transport them home to join their brothers and sisters. Victoria Emmanuel Peter said the recent heavy rains worsened their living conditions and that the Sudan Government denied NGOs access to assist them with humanitarian aid. She appealed to national leaders to help transport them home. (Back to Top)

Satellite imagery confirms Sudan armed forces bombing in border zone Satellite Sentinel Project Washington, 10/9/2013 – New satellite imagery from September 8, 2013 shows evidence of recent aerial bombardment near the village of Jau in South Sudan's Unity State, within the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone, or SDBZ, along the shared border of the Sudans. Images from September 8 show two craters, one approximately 7 meters in diameter. The attack comes just days after South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir met in Khartoum and recommitted themselves to peaceful relations and enforcing the nine bilateral cooperation agreements they signed in September 2012. Sources on the ground reported that a Sudan Armed Forces, or SAF, jet dropped a bomb on a South Sudanese military installation in Jau on September 7, 2013. Major Gen. James Koang Chuol, Commander of the Fourth division of South Sudan's Sudan People's Liberation Army, or SPLA, reported that the blast killed a soldier and his wife and injured six others. The two countries' Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mission team was in Unity State at the time of the attack and traveled to the bomb site to investigate. At the time of publication, the team had not commented publicly about the attack. Satellite Sentinel Project and Enough Project Co-Founder John Prendergast states: "Sudan's bombing of Jau is a provocation that increases chances for further instability, especially since joint inspectors were there, at the time, investigating whether South Sudan's army is violating the demilitarized zone. The two countries have already skirmished over Jau twice since South Sudan's independence. Combined with rising tensions around Abyei's scheduled referendum, actions such as these nudge the two countries closer to war than to peace." Enough Project Sudan and South Sudan Policy Analyst Akshaya Kumar states: "This Satellite Sentinel Project imagery offers independent proof of Sudan's illegal use of force against its neighbor, South Sudan. When the African Union Peace and Security Council meet later this month in New York, it must condemn this bombardment and push both presidents to implement their signed agreements." (Back to Top)

UN Secretary General to host a consultative forum on Sudan peace Sudantribune.com Khartoum, 10/9/2013 – The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has called for a consultative forum at the ministerial level to take place in New York to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the cooperation agreements signed between north and south Sudan. Sudan official news agency (SUNA) said the gathering scheduled for September 27 will discuss boosting implementation of the cooperation agreements. The delegation of Sudan to the UN General Assembly taking place this month will be led by its Foreign Minister Ali Karti who will participate in this meeting as well. The Sudanese foreign ministry said it began extensive efforts to reactivate the relations with Juba and speed up implementation of the cooperation agreements through stepped up communication between the ministries and government organs in the two countries.

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The spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Abu-Bakr al-Sideeg, said in a statement to SUNA that Karti has chaired a plenary meeting with the general directors and directors of administrations at the ministry to draw up plans for implementation of the agreements reached during Kiir‘s visit. Al-Sideeg said that the coming period is expected to witness more exchange of visits including by cultural and technical delegations. (Back to Top)

Meeting for EAC political federation opens in Kampala The New Vision Newspaper Kampala, 11/9/2013 – A meeting to fast track the East African Political federation has opened in Kampala. The Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Ministers of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are attending the meeting that opened on Tuesday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Kampala Government said the meeting is a follow-up to the Summit that was held at the close of August by the Presidents of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda in Mombasa. The summit was also attended by the South Sudan Foreign Affairs minister as well as the Burundi minister of Public Works and Equipment from Burundi. According to a statement from the ministry of Foreign Affairs, the August 28, 2013 summit in Mombasa had reviewed progress of implementation of the decisions, two months earlier, on the deeper regional integration. The June 24th to 25th meet in Entebbe according to the statement decided on the development of the railway, petroleum products, crude oil pipeline, oil refinery, and power generation and transmission. The others that they agreed on include development of a single tourist visa, single customs territory and fast trucking of the political federation. Uganda‘s Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Amb. James Mugume said that there is need for open discussion to provide concrete proposals for implementation of the federation. (Back to Top)

South Kordofan conflict “intricate” says governor Sudantribune.com Khartoum, 10/9/2013 – The governor of Sudan‘s South Kordofan state, Adam Al-Faki, has described the ongoing war in his state as ―intricate‖ because it involves family members on both sides and acknowledged that it would not stop without the spread of education. Al-Faki, who was speaking at a consultative forum with the leaders of the local administration in South Kordofan in Khartoum on Tuesday, urged them to put pressure on the citizens of the state who joined the SPLM/N and press them to join the peace process, stressing that the road to peace is long and thorny. The newly appointed governor stressed that war must be stopped ―today and not tomorrow‖. He noted the impact of war on the people of South Kordofan saying that the entire state has two specialist doctors. Al-Faki pledged to reinstate rebels who lay down arms and join the peace process in their posts they held as civil servants. The deputy speaker of the Sudan parliament, Hago Gasm Al-Seed, accused rebel leaders of adopting foreign agenda and echoed the demand by al-Faki that the local administration leaders meet with those who joined the rebellion and convince them to abandon the SPLA-N. (Back to Top)

Sudan‟s main opposition party sees little chance of normalizing ties between Khartoum & Washington Sudantribune.com Khartoum, 10/9/2013 – The opposition National Umma Party (NUP) has described as slim the chances of the government succeeding in its attempts to normalize relations with the United States unless Khartoum fulfills certain longstanding concerns of Washington.

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The NUP‘s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Nageeb al-Khair Abdel-Wahab, said that the no improvement in ties will occur between the two countries before addressing the reasons which led to the imposition of the US sanctions, fulfilling international and regional obligations towards restoring democracy and the constitutional legitimacy and commitment to a peaceful transfer of power. Abdel-Wahab further stressed that the US administration will not respond to the government‘s request not to interfere into Sudan‘s internal affairs as stated by foreign minister Ali Karti last week. Last week, Karti announced that Sudan is awaiting the arrival of the newly appointed US envoy Donald Booth to see if he will offer a clear ―road map‖ to resolve the issues between the two countries or not. "If the new U.S. envoy has a clear roadmap for relations between Khartoum and Washington, including helping to resolve the remaining files, we welcome this role but if he goes to other issues we will certainly move away from him," Karti was quoted in statements carried by Sudan state media. The NUP spokesperson also projected that the government‘s speech at the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) current session would not be welcomed by the international community, pointing that those meetings represent a good opportunity for the member states to show their records on freedoms, democracy, human rights, and human dignity. The White House said that the new US envoy will work with the African Union (AU) and the international community to facilitate the resolution of pending issues between the two countries, including Abyei referendum and the disputed border zones. He will also seek to aid efforts aimed at ending the ongoing conflicts in Darfur, Southern Kordofan, and Blue Nile "as part of a holistic solution to Sudan‘s human rights, humanitarian, and governance crises", the White House underlined. (Back to Top)

Ex-Darfur rebels are new blood in Sudan politics, Mahdi says Sudantribune.com Khartoum, 10/9/2013 – The leader of the opposition National Umma Party, Sadiq Al-Mahdi, described Darfur former rebel groups as new political blood in Sudan, calling them to contribute effectively in the political life in order to preserve the national unity. Peace agreement signatory movements have entered a new phase. They moved from achieving their objectives through rough methods to implement it via soft methods, the former prime minister said on Tuesday. "Dialogue is the best method to move forward in the way of the renaissance and reconstruction", he further said in a speech he delivered in a symposium about the political future of former rebel groups signatory of peace agreement with the government. Sadiq is supportive for a negotiated solution between the government and rebel groups but rejected their call to overthrow the regime by military means. He also disagrees with their demand to dissolve the Sudanese army. Mustafa Tirab, state minister of culture and former rebel, urged to uphold national unity and reject ideas calling to divide of the country Tirab who joined the national government with Minni Minnawi in 2006 but refused to follow him when he rebelled again in 2010 reiterated they are determined to not hold arms again and to achieve their objective politically. Al-Mahdi further pointed out to recent surge of tribal fighting in Darfur, adding it is more dangerous than the armed conflict between the government and rebels. UNAMID promotes ways to address tribal conflicts As part of its efforts to promote peace in Darfur, the United Nations Union African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) organised a forum in Khartoum gathering official, tribal and prominent figures

10 from the restive region to discuss the root causes of recent tribal conflicts there and to prospect solution to this new factor of insecurity. Analysts agree that the increase of tribal fighting is motivated by competition among the different tribes regardless of their ethnicity to control water sources and pasture land. They also see that significant amount of weapons in the hands of tribal militias and decline of clashes with rebel groups have contributed to create this situation. The meeting, which attended 114 participants, was opened by the head of Darfur regional Authority Tijani El-Sissi and the UNAMID Deputy Joint Special Representative, Joseph Mutaboba. The forum recommended "the disarmament of armed people, the establishment of laws that regulate relations between farmers and pastoralists and the settlement of disputes over land resources" said the UNAMIS in a statement released on Tuesday. (Back to Top)

Kenyan vice-president pleads not guilty to crimes against humanity Sudantribune.com The Hague, 10/9/2013 – Kenyan vice-president William Samoei Ruto and journalist Joshua Arap Sang on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to charges of crimes against humanity, as their trial kicked off at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands. Tuesday‘s trial opened with the reading of the charges against Ruto and Sang. The hearing will resume on Wednesday, with Sang‘s defence counsel, Joseph Kipchumba Kigen- Katwa, expected to give his opening statement to the court. In a statement, the ICC said Ruto and Sang‘s trial is expected to take several months, during which the prosecutor will submit evidence to support the charges. ―During the first part [of the hearing], the office of the prosecutor will be presenting the evidence at the prosecution‘s disposal, submitting to the attention of the judges a large number of documents which it has compiled in the case, as well as video footage‖, the ICC said in the statement released on Tuesday. ―The Prosecution will also call witnesses to testify. When the prosecution has finished examining each witness, the defence counsel is given the opportunity to cross-examine the witness‖, the statement adds. The ICC said the hearing process will be free and fair and will be conducted in full respect of the rights of the defence lawyers and with due regard for the protection of victims and witnesses. On Monday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International welcomed Ruto and Sang‘s trial saying it was an important step in achieving justice for victims of the post-election violence. HRW has also criticised the Kenyan parliament for voting to pull out of the ICC. The decision will not affect the current trials in progress; however, the move has raised serious questions about Kenya‘s commitment to the process. (Back to Top)

Mediators say there has been „significant progress‟ in talks between Congo and M23 rebels Washington Post Kinshasa, 11/9/2013 – The Congolese government and a rebel group that is ensconced in the hills above one of the country‘s largest cities have made progress in talks organized by neighboring nations, according to a statement issued Tuesday. ―Significant progress has been made in the dialogue,‖ said the statement from the Office of the Facilitator of the International Conference of the Great Lakes, which is hosting the mediation effort in the capital of neighboring Uganda. Late last month, Congolese troops exchanged heavy fire with the M23 rebels, who occupy positions just outside the strategic eastern city of Goma. Aided by U.N. forces who pounded rebel positions with combat helicopters the Congolese were able to reclaim several areas that had been occupied by the M23, until the rebels unexpectedly declared a cease-fire, saying they wanted to resume talks.

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The M23 is primarily made up of fighters from a now-defunct rebel group which signed a peace agreement with Congo on March 23, 2009. The deal paved the way for the rebels to join the regular Congolese military. For the next three years Congo enjoyed a relative period of calm in its troubled and lawless eastern province. However many defected in 2012, claiming Congo had not held up its end of the bargain by failing to implement the signed agreement. Rebels invaded and briefly held Goma, one of Congo‘s largest cities late last year, before retreating to positions just outside the city. The international community, bolstered by several reports by the U.N. Group of Experts, has accused Rwanda of backing the M23; using it as a proxy force to secure access to eastern Congo‘s lucrative mining trade. Tuesday‘s statement from the office of the facilitator in Kampala says the two sides agreed that 65 percent of the provisions in the 2009 accord have been implemented, while 35 percent have not. ―The parties have expressed determination to ensure that the balance of the agreement will be implemented as well,‖ it said. Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the statement is further proof that the M23‘s rationale for war is unfounded. ―First of all, this confirms what the government has always said — that the non-execution of the March 23, 2009, accord is not the real reason for the war that was imposed on us because the majority of the measures were already implemented. This war comes from elsewhere,‖ he said. ―The Congolese government is thinking of Rwanda, which does not want to respect the promises it has made.‖ Showing the extent of international concern, the talks were attended by the presidents of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan and Tanzania, as well as by the U.N. special envoy to the region, and Sen. Russ Feingold, the special envoy from the United States.

In recent days as fighting between the M23 and Congo escalated, a convoy of military vehicles was seen leaving the Rwanda capital for the Congolese border, heightening fears the two nations, which have gone to war twice before, might be heading for another confrontation. (Back to Top)

Ugandans happiest in East Africa – UN The Daily Monitor Kampala, 11/9/2013 – Ugandans are the happiest people in East Africa, according to the United Nation‘s 2013 World Happiness Report released yesterday. Uganda is ranked 120 out of 156 countries surveyed, marginally ahead of the wealthier neighbouring Kenya at 123. Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi in descending order take the consecutive slots from 151, meaning their citizens huddle among the unhappiest people in the world. The World Happiness Report, the second such report, examined happiness both as an aspiration of every human being and a measure of social progress. The three authors --- Earth Institute director Jeffrey Sachs, London School of Economic don Richard Layard and University of British Columbia‘s John Helliwell – said they compared the 2010-12 World Gall Up data with averages data values for 2005–07 period to rank each country. The surveys were bench-marked on generosity; having someone to count on in times of trouble; feeling a sense of freedom to make key life choices; objective circumstances of life such as income and healthy life expectancy; and, perceptions about corruption prevalence. Overall, it showed the greatest increase in generosity over the survey period were in Latin America, the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa, whose countries ironically constitute the world‘s poorest. ―In Sub-Saharan Africa, 16 of the 27 countries covered showed significant increases in life evaluations…,‖ the report notes. Western nations were, during the survey period, going through hardships, with millions of unemployed citizens struggling to cope in economies slowly recovering from the 2008 meltdown.

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Richest nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom and China took positions 17, 22 and 93, respectively, showing fulfillment is not derived from just material accumulation alone. Nordic nations lead Nordic countries dominate countries whose populations expressed the highest levels of happiness with Denmark, Norway and Switzerland topping. The report lists higher income and consumption, the quality of social support such as one‘s network of family and friends, otherwise called social capital, personality, mental health, and an individual‘s state of mind and consideration of virtue as the key to happiness. Ugandans are deeply religious, often cover up or aim to solve their problems through divine supplication. Yesterday‘s report showed mental stress and depression globally growing among the young than adults. (Back to Top)

AIDS cure finally found? The Voice of Russia, 11/9/2013 – Ever since AIDS emerged as a deadly disease in the early 1980‘s, scientists have been looking for a cure. Now a number of researchers say they‘re close to eradicate the disease once and for all. Thus, chemist Paul Wender of Stanford University told Healthline portal that he believes AIDS medicine from the bark of the Samoan mamala tree could be available in 18 to 24 months. Wender said that although initial tests are being done on animals, blood from AIDS patients who have been on immunosuppressive therapy is also being used. ―This is hugely exciting. We‘re dealing with real cells from real people who have a real problem,‖ he said. The National Institutes of Health is funding the research, under which Wender took prostratin from the bark of the mamala tree and bryostatin and has reproduced them in his laboratory for targeted medical uses. Prostratin is said to flush the HIV virus out of cells where it hides. Previous drugs for HIV and AIDS have killed the virus when it is out in the open, but not when it remains hidden in cell reservoirs. If patients stop taking their medications, the virus quickly comes out of hiding and begins to reproduce. Wender recreated prostratin and designed new analogs of the compound. Now, prostratin is 100 times more powerful than when it was naturally contained in the mamala tree. Prostratin is being developed by the AIDS Research Alliance (ARA), a non-profit organization in West Hollywood, Calif. searching for a cure for AIDS. The ARA has pledged to ensure access to the drug for people with AIDS in developing countries after it obtains approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for human use. Brown, the medical director of the ARA, told Healthline the alliance is about two-thirds of the way through experiments required to bring prostratin to market. ―It‘s a slow slog because we‘re a non-profit,‖ Brown said. ―I think there's more interest on the part of pharmaceutical companies. When we first started, everyone thought we were crazy.‖ Wender‘s work goes beyond a potential cure for AIDS and can be potentially used in therapies for cancer and Alzheimer‘s disease as well. Some AIDS-cure hopes rest on the so-called DNA scissors. Scientists claim that some people are highly resistant or even immune to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and when they looked at these people‘s DNA, they found that many of them shared a specific genetic mutation called CCR5 delta32. This mutation inactivates the CCR5 gene, i.e. these people make no CCR5 protein, which means they are highly resistant to getting AIDS because the most virulent form of the virus, HIV-1, needs it to get into blood cells. Learning about this mutation, scientists worked on a new class of drugs, CCR5 receptor antagonists. These drugs block the action of the CCR5 protein making it very difficult for HIV-1 to

13 enter the patient‘s blood cells. At least one of these, Selzentry, is currently being used to treat some cases of HIV. Unfortunately, scientists can‘t do this for everyone with AIDS, so One way would be to engineer the mutation into a patient‘s blood cells. Researchers from Sangamo Biosciences funded by California Stem Cell Bond have come up with a product called SB-728 that can specifically inactivate the CCR5 gene in human cells. This treatment has even made it into clinical trials where so far the results appear to be encouraging. However, this specific treatment could still fail in ongoing clinical trials or even turn out to not be a permanent cure and then the scissors come into play. The new cure is a pair of molecular scissors that will cut human DNA only at the CCR5 gene. Once cut, cells will wreck the gene in the process of repairing the DNA. A broken CCR5 gene means no CCR5 protein, which means no HIV-1 infection. The scientists at Sangamo whipped up a protein that could specifically recognize the CCR5 gene and cut the CCR5 gene in cells in the lab and in clinical trials. The new method is undergoing clinical tests. Meanwhile, Canadian researchers claim a vaccine to prevent HIV has aced clinical testing. The team from the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University said the first phase of testing not only succeeded, but boosted the production of antibodies in patients it was tested on. SAV001 HIV vaccine is based on a genetically modified ―dead‖ version of the virus. ―We infect the cells with a genetically modified HIV-1,‖ team leader Dr. Chil-Yong Kang told Ontario Business Report. ―The infected cells produce lots of virus, which we collect, purify and inactivate so that the vaccine won‘t cause AIDS in recipients, but will trigger immune responses.‖ U.S. clinical testing began in the in March 2012, looking at HIV-infected men and women between the ages of 18 and 50. Half the target group was provided with a placebo, while the other group was given SAV001. The first phase of trials wrapped up last month, with researchers optimistic about the vaccine‘s future. Sumagen, the South Korean biotech firm sponsoring the vaccine, cited manufacturing, as well as USFDA requirements as hurdles in bringing the vaccine to market, but, if all goes well in trials, it could be commercially available in five years. ―We are now prepared to take the next steps towards Phase II and Phase III clinical trials,‖ CEO Jung-Gee Cho said in a press release. ―We are opening the gate to pharmaceutical companies, government, and charity organization for collaboration to be one step closer to the first commercialized HIV vaccine.‖ So, we need to wait to see what happens next. These trials may not only lead to a functional cure for AIDS, but they could also open up a whole new way to treat other diseases. (Back to Top)

East Africa: Recurrent areas of discord Cameroon Tribune, 10/9/2013 – South Sudan's President, Salva Kiir and Sudanese leader, Omar al-Bashir, last week announced they reached an agreement on the continuous export of South Sudan's oil through its northern neighbour. The announcement was sequel to a threat by Khartoum last June to block South Sudan oil exports through its territory by September 6, 2013 unless Juba stopped supporting rebels fighting President al-Bashir's government. Last week's deal however masks unresolved issues between the two countries since South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan in July 2011 following a peace deal and referendum that ended over 20 years of civil war. The two countries continue to trade accusations over mutual support for rebels while implementation of agreements on border demarcation, the status of the border region of Abyei and citizenship issues, stall. 14

Oil Transport Landlocked South Sudan 'seceded' with most of the formerly united country's oil fields. South Sudan now has about 75 per cent of oil reserves, but Sudan retains the pipeline infrastructure, refineries and an export terminal at Port Sudan. Oil accounts for approximately 98 per cent of South Sudan's revenue. A row over transport fees led to Juba shutting down production in January 2012. The move lasted 16 months and took an immense toll on both economies, resulting in skyrocketing inflation. To forestall any future conflict over oil, President Salva Kiir last June announced the imminent construction by Toyota of an alternative oil pipeline from South Sudan to the Kenyan port of Lamu. Rebel Support Khartoum still accuses Juba of supporting rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile States, an allegation that South Sudan denies. Analysts suspect both governments of backing insurgents across their borders. Last year, violence escalated between the Sudan Armed Forces, SAF and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the North, SPLM-N rebels, resulting in the capture of the strategic town of Al-Kurmuk in Blue Nile last November by SAF. South Kordofan also had its share of fierce battles between SAF and SPLM-N on the one hand, and with South Sudan's military, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, SPLA on the other. Border Demarcation, Citizenship Border demarcation and citizenship are of prime importance to people of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Not only do these two states have poorly defined borders with South Sudan, the people have for years identified themselves culturally and politically with southerners and as such, have fought with the SPLA against the regime in Khartoum. Despite this, the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, CPA signed in Naivasha, Kenya, left them in Sudan. Moreover, South Sudan's independence in 2011 left people who settled in different parts of the defunct Sudan 'stateless.' Thousands of such people are still stranded in Sudan or on the border. Abyei Referendum A referendum on the status of oil-rich Abyei Province located between Sudan and South Sudan is still to be organised. Tens of thousands of people are still displaced from the territory. Abyei's status was to be decided in a referendum in January 2011, but the two sides failed to agree on the terms. An African Union mediation team last year proposed holding the vote next month with only those residing permanently in the area allowed to participate in deciding whether Abyei should join Sudan or South Sudan. Sudan insists the vote must include Arab Misseriya nomads alongside majority Dinka Ngok tribes people who are aligned with South Sudan. How well Sudan and South Sudan - inextricably linked by history and geography - continue to coexist, largely depends on how fast they iron out outstanding issues. Without this, it will continue to be another cat and mouse relationship between Khartoum and Juba. (Back to Top)

Kiir on offensive, Machar on retreat, then who shall have the last laugh? South Sudan News Agency, 10/9/2013 – Since my last article in mid July entitled: ‗SPLM‘s Split Portents Hope for South Sudan Fledgling Democracy‘‘ a lot of water has passed under the bridge on matters to do with Chairman Kiir and his Deputy Machar in SPLM politics. These pertinent issues that have already gone by are more about things that set them apart further than bring them closer to common understanding. The more contentious is the cobbling of a new cabinet after the previous one that was swept down a stream on 23rd July together with the former Vice President who is none other than Dr. Riek Machar himself. What made it acrimonious was one thing: being the roundly rejection of President Salva Kiir Mayardit ‘s confidant and nominated Minister of Justice, Telar Ring Takpiny Deng over his alleged faked law degrees of which he reputed to no avail under the deafening uproar in the National Legislative Assembly. He lost out to 150 strong votes against 97 in his support and then his fate was sealed. Many agreed Telar‘s woes might not necessarily due to his academic

15 credentials than his burgeoning influence over the President which has seen many political careers crashed into the oblivion. For in all fairness, if it is about his academic pedigree, he shouldn‘t be only one to fail the acid test of being vetted into the position as President proposed. Many more whose C.Vs are shorter than an arm length or acclaimed certificates were not even accounted for couldn‘t cruise through to the finish line. The betting parliamentary committee also failed to see the absurdity of one ethnic group having cabinet members more than other South Sudanese ethnic groups combined with a whole state of Western Bahr el Ghazal left out without having a full cabinet Minister. Needless to say a truly lean cabinet is aimed at being efficient which is why is always formed out of technocrats to supplement their less number. But the current cabinet is full of less schooled unlike the previous one. Then, came the new Vice President and Speaker‘s abetment. The once emboldened SPLM internal opposition was seen to be on a hasty retreat if not tumbling down like a knocked deck of dominoes. Their previous winning streak couldn‘t echo any more in His Excellency the Vice President James Wani Igga and Right Honorable Speaker Manasseh Magok Rundial‘s abetment cases. Had it not been the fact that the President learned of an advancing opposition afar and subsequently devised, the way to roll it back through rather unorthodox than democratic means. In so doing, he fought his own tailor- made transitional constitution seeing some of its clauses are not helpful to his cause while utilizing sections favorable to him. First, failure to table the removal of Machar as Vice President before National Legislative Assembly as he did initially when he appointed him in order to be approved by two-third majority was actually a travesty of both justice and constitution. Although the former Vice President admitted it later that his removal was within the President‘s jurisdiction in the press conference he organized in his house was self-inflicting meant to avoid something more sinister for the good of the country. Machar did so to ameliorate political friction that might spill into public domain and turn somehow dangerous. Again in violation of the constitution the President dictated the already smitten parliament with dissolution if his appointed Vice President Wani after forming a new cabinet, which is an additional infringement of constitution, could not pass the stringent vetting procedures. The once thought rubber stumped parliament went down further into an abyss of weakness. It is becoming more of a foot stumping, hands clapping and ululating Parliament proclaiming the crowning into office of the newly nominated officials. Then master minder of 2011 rushed and eschewed transitional constitution for posterity of one man became the next victim to have the taste of his own bitter dose. That is Justice Honorable John Luk Jok who in 2011 closed his ears with cotton wool and locked himself in the glass tinted house refusing respectively to hear and see the alternative version of his action while drafting a one man show constitution even against himself. Honorable Luk in his blind hate for Machar and in anticipation to reap a bountiful reward later from the President for a job well done failed to learn from international experience on how to make a better a constitution. For first of all, politicians make laws poked with loopholes to become future escape routes when the going gets tougher. But in Luk‘s constitution, no escape routes to flee the newly introduced draconian biases and totalitarian dictatorship. Secondly, he failed to compare notes with old hand in the constitution-making and constitutionalism just across the Kenyan border. That is Charles Njonjo, the former powerful Attorney General of Kenya who tempered with Kenyan constitution in late 1970s in favor of the then Vice President Daniel Torotich Arap Moi. At the time the nation was on a tenterhook awaiting news of an octogenarian President Jomo Kenyatta dying any time, a situation which threw up an intense public debate countrywide. The Kenyatta‘s ethnic group, the kikuyu regarded Moi from minority Kalenjin as non-presidential material to succeed Kenyatta. They wanted another Kikuyu but not Njonjo who is also from a Kikuyu tribe. That became the reason which propelled Njonjo to warm up to Moi whom he thought after making him succeed Kenyatta through his pigeon hole constitution he would later bulldoze him out of power via unconventional methods. Then Njonjo ruled out as a flagrant crime in a raft of constitutional amendments and utterances that everyone imagining President‘s demise let alone debating who to step in his big choose after death. His plan of self-aggrandizement went through

16 and Moi became President after Kenyatta‘s death. The Mercedes Benze chauffeuring Moi up and about as the President in the city of Nairobi in a long Presidential motor Cade was nicknamed Matatu, a public transport Nisan bus into which Moi and Njono inseparably squeezed them. Moi was just learning the ropes of power management from the tutor, Njonjo before he could jettison him out of speedy matatu. After getting all he wanted from Njonjo, a few years later Moi implicated him in a military coup which he said was mounted by junior military officers in August 1982 at the behest of Njonjo. Then Moi turned to the constitution once made for him by Njonjo to slap the ban on him for life from politics. There are many more examples but let this single one experience be enough to save space. In our case, John Luk fell out of favor of Kiir for whom he made the constitution and saw himself outside the fence when he was removed as Minister of Justice during July 23rd cabinet onslaught. His attempted return to the system through Parliament was spotted and thwarted in its trek despite belated lobbying of MPs on his side to elect him the Speaker. There was no election he envisaged as President read the riot act to SPLM‘s MPs and all members of Parliament to unanimously endorse a new comer to SPLM, Honorable Manase Magok Rundial as the next Speaker together with his two deputies. Rundial is from Machar‗s oil rich home state of Unity. As politics develops as day breaks and sun sets in Juba the political resistance in Machar home turf of Nuerland seems to be over as I wrote earlier in previous articles in favor of the President in the two organs of government being Parliament and Executive. That is after John and Machar joined former Unity State Governor Taban Deng Gai in limbo without any expected reinforcement from Simon Kun Pouch in Upper Nile State who has ever since sarcastically turned parrot praising the President‘s every ridiculous move in defense of his much savored gubernatorial docket. The acting Governor of Jonglei Sate Hussein Mar Nyuot couldn‘t be expected to spoil the opportunity of becoming Governor after winning years of long wait either by weighing in support for his beleaguered Nuer colleagues. The pertinent question on everyone‘s lip is who is wiser now between the President on the one hand and on the other superb lawyer John Luk Jok and PhD holder in civil engineering Dr. Riek Machar Teny – Dhurgon whom the President used to do all his taxing errands for which he took the credit only to dump them eight years later. The President successive wins were seen coming courtesy of his lightning war by using one Nuer to eliminate another for him. Undoubtedly it has born its intended fruits as the duo is parked at home and groaningly seething with rage and shame of being used and dumped by an academically challenged President. The President‘s Machiavellian strategy is akin to that of Adolf Hitler in conquering one country against another at a time during the Second World War. Introspect, usually in defeat people get down to self-reflection, turn around, ask and blame themselves why an otherwise impossible happened. Machar who has the Nuer support all kept in his pockets as well as being the family head every community member looks up to for political direction with subsequent strategy can take the lion share of blame. Despite having all it takes for any veteran politician to reach the panicle of power in terms of political power base, a bulk of army behind him and money, Dr. Lam Akol with limited resources seems to be faring better than him politically in defending much smaller Shiluk kingdom and its interests in the face of combined erosive military invasion of Dinka Padang and government. While he was a powerful Vice President he remained silent as the Dinka elites under his watch were steeling themselves with oil revenues from Nuer dominated states for a fight by taking over the national economy through local and direct foreign investments which as a result have become owners of the most expensive everything money can buy from Hammers, sky scrapers to real estate businesses. That is besides the rampant takeover of juiciest government positions both political and technocratic. The icing on the big cake is the educational opportunities through wide spread building of schools and other supportive infrastructures in Dinka homeland and foreign scholarships to study abroad that will in the next few years earn the community the best technical personnel such as Medical Doctors, Engineers, information technology wizards, lawyers, etc. in the country. The state we all fought for and sacrificed men, women, children and property is lost to one ethnic group of 62 by virtue of the fact that this single self-interested community controls key institutions and resources that make a state what it is. It is therefore, illogical as equally non-imperative for the whole nation to have committed dear lives and valuable material resources to an adventure that

17 eventually benefits a single social group while the rest are enslaved to its free will of living a luxurious lifestyle. Despite all the above telling signs, Machar was by no means unmoved as he remained mute while Kiir engaged in dress rehearsal before the big battle against him in uniting some Dinka groups plus other minorities desperate for survival. Machar seems to turn a blind eye despite being a good reader of books. He ignores the fact that history being the crucial subject in social sciences with which politics is managed repeats itself be it through local or external experience. What is happening now in South Sudan already became true in Kenya when in 1966 Jomo Kenyatta in an infamous Limuru conference dissolved once powerful Jaramogi Oginga Odinga‘s Vice Presidency into eight Vice Presidents representing all Kenyan eight Provinces. In so doing he made his rival Luo Vice President, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga resign in frustration, current Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga‘s father who helped Kenyatta to the extent that he turned down British colonists‘ offer of being made Prime Minister for a soon to be declared self-government in the run up to independence in 1963. Odinga instead went overboard by calling Kenyatta his hero as well as composing a slogan saying ‗‘no Kenyatta who was then rotting in jail no Uhuru‘‘. In 1966 Odinga resigned over the issues similar to the ones he and Kiir argue about on how best Kenya could be run and replaced him with Daniel Torotich Arap Moi, leader of the little known KADU party as the Vice President. And never to return to the government until death in January 1994 permanently confined in opposition. The upcoming SPLM‘s 3rd National Convention or the extra-ordinary meeting about to take place soon in Yei can be Machar‘s version of Limuru Conference. The same can be said of Machar who risks becoming yet another Hassen el-Turabi who was removed in 1999 as second powerful man in the old Sudan by Omar el-bashir and there is no hope of el-Turabi returning to the helm as natural process of old age and ever increasing state power of el-bashir have caught up with him. Machar‘s religious obsession with foreign democratic processes and elections over which he has no control baffles everybody leave alone they don‘t correlate with local way of doing things unless he is the one implementing them. Such baseless obsession is his Achilles heels as all indications point to the fact that Kiir is no respecter of democracy and all its tenets if his currently rampant constitutional violations are anything to go by. Already the institutions governing the elections are controlled by his Dinka allies and any serious presidential candidate cannot believe or even participate, if need be, in an election whose result is pre-determined let alone his main competitor doubles up as the referee controlling all the aforesaid institutions such as Political party council, National Election Commission, NEC, Judiciary and the mainstream media. Kiir can use political party council in the midst of elections to disqualify parties and candidates threatening his hold on power and he thinks violate the electoral laws he clandestinely sets by proxy. NEC can also be another tool in his dubious hands to carry out unfair voter registration among other numerous tricks in his favor as was done recently in Kenya. In which late start and early closure of voter registration was conducted in opposition strong holds and vice versa. The objectivity of the Media cannot only be compromised but also media itself could be made to play up the negative flip side of its mandate. That is propaganda war against opposition while government could be made to appear the heavenly angle Gabriel in the eyes of mostly gullible and ignorant South Sudanese publics in all its dubious dealings. Judiciary is yet another tool to reverse opposition electoral victory if the incumbent appeals his defeat as it happened in Ivory Coast elections in 2010 when an incumbent Laurent Gbagbo ordered the Judiciary to slash his rival Ali Hassan Outara‘s number of votes in the north as null and void. Only to be reversed by Outara‘s party‘s military wing, the former New Forces rebels and French who helped him foil Gbagbo‘s ill will. Recently Mugabe triumphed over the opposition for the seventh time in the Zimbabwean elections with head of election monitoring team, former President of Nigeria Olusigun Obasanjo declaring elections peaceful, free and fair. But later in the day Zimbabwean civil society organizations found truth of the matter after some soul searching and thorough digging. Ghosts and dead voting for the ruling ZANU-PF while in the opposition strongholds elderly women and men were found to have been wrongly assisted to vote for Mugabe in a country whose literacy rate is 90% and something. It was unbelievable for the stunned elder state man Obasanjo who couldn‘t even find the mouth with which to recall his words. And even if he found his lost mouth, it is already a done deal.

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If all failed to use the above mentioned examples and the President is defeated, he can use the army to bulldoze his way back to power as he ever since independence has been busy purging Machar‘s allied military officers, especially the Nuer from the national army, SPLA. Currently he is doing so in an extremely larger scale and in high velocity as he has already passed on his criminal charges about the alleged Murle civilians‘ massacre to some generals who are currently on the run and have thrown protective cordons around themselves to evade an eminent arrest, but for how long will they be on the run? The ethnic state can just relieve them from an active duty and if they resist handing in government equipment and command, they will be leveled renegade, a rebel equivalent to be fought. Those concerned officers must learn from experience that our problems are our own shadows from which we can‘t run away. We must confront them head on. If President becomes successful in removing the generals he doesn‘t like, then his plan to make SPLA a fully allied army to himself at the top will beget another strategy of using it as a launch pad for full pledged dictatorship of either no elections or rigged ones. The President has already succeeded in diplomatic front in isolating Machar from regional neighbors and now he is bathing in his own sweat in the windowless and door less tukul. Since Museveni is already Kiir‘s man who is running South Sudan as one of Uganda‘s administrative regions. He also used Museveni to make him befriended to Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya who is beholden to Museveni in order to help him out of his present ICC‘s predicament. Kiir has his daughter married to a citizen of Ethiopia, a South Sudan traditional ally. That personal attachment will certainly help him get politico-military assistance from Ethiopia in case of any eventuality. Don‘t talk of Sudan to which he hitherto offered Abyei in silver platter in exchange for oil follow to Port Sudan knowing very well he needs the money since he has an immediate enemy to fight inside the house more dangerous than the far away Sudan. West is not bankable as true ally albeit its human rights and democracy rhetoric Machar is trying to promote. It only supports one conscious of its strategic interests it can achieve from him. Case study is the Nasir declaration when all his hope was that Garang being a socialist and a dictator West would certainly come to his aid as new kid on the bloc flaunting Western values of democracy and human rights. The hope turned vain. Even the West can only be with him for the time being so long as he will be in power before three years to come. Otherwise west can likely shift its support to Kiir in the events that oil pipe line is rerouted to Djibouti and then Kiir can chase away Chinese and call up on the Americans with their chevron to takeover oil concessions they desperately want to have if Machar ascends to power through their help. In this case Machar can see his last strong hold give way and with it his quest for Presidency since Sudan government after feeling tricked wouldn‘t be in a stronger position to help him as it will be busy fending off SPLM/A north with full pledged help of Kiir and the Americans. The tide will turn against him and won‘t be any longer in a position to stake claim for a luxury called Presidency. Instead he shall be an endangered species looking for a place to hide in order to save his skin and soul. In this case Machar should start thinking of where about of my party‘s leader, Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin. Numerous case studies abound that West is only after material and strategic interests than democracy and human rights. In Congo in 1961 American CIA dealt with popularly elected Patrice Lumumba as socialist and first Prime Minister of Congo whom they believed was going to hand over his country rich in minerals to their rival Soviet Union. They used his defense chief General Joseph Desire Mobutu or in his another name Mobutu Sesseseko to over throw him, arrest and hand him over to his political rival Moshe Chombe in secessionist mineral rich Katanga province to execute and mutilate his body by a fire squad on February 11, 1961. The same occurred in Latin America‘s Chile in 1973 when the first democratically elected socialist President in the world; Dr. El Salvador Allende was bomb shelled to his death in his Presidential palace with artillery weapons by his military chief, General Augustino Pinochet. His quilt was planning to expel Americans multi-national companies. In the face of an inevitable expulsion by Allende, companies decided to bribe the military to eliminate Allende so that business of exploiting the Chileans could continue as usual. The same Americans built Saddam Hussein to be the brutal dictator he was while paid no considerable attention to massacring Kurds in their thousands with chemical weapons on March 16th 1988 in Halabja while at the same time hanging his political opponents of Shiite religious sect en mass. The West only woke up in its deep slumber when Saddam invaded Kuwait to be another

19 province of Iraq in 1990. Their fear was that by controlling Kuwaiti oil coupled with that of Iraq, Saddam would sit on the largest oil deposits in the world and begin to dictate the prices in the world market at the expense of United States and its western allies. From that powerful position, he would move to control Arab world with a bigger say in world politics. Closer home we have Museveni who has been in power despite his poor human rights records and rampant abuse of democracy because he is made to be the blue eye boy to change and keep Great lakes region as an Anglo - phone for America and Britain as against the French and Chinese interests. This tells us self-defense and might is right are means through which America and other four permanent members of UN Security Council rule the world; raving and ranting about democracy and its accompanying human rights matters as defensive mechanisms for the weak notwithstanding. By the way they were not elected by the world body, UN they created in Sans Francisco in 1945 to advance their interests except their sheer might of emerging as the conquerors of Nazi Germany and Italy at the end of world war Two. Then they unilaterally decided to arrogate themselves the legal status of becoming the world police men. Kiir is currently in the throes of forming a formidable alliance with political parties and tribes. Those that will not barge shall be pistol - whipped into line through carrot and stick strategy. However, there is window of opportunity still left open for Machar since the Dinka elite by any strain of imagination as history taught us are not reliable allies but proved to be cunning to any other potential political partners. Because of this the currently developing unity between them and some Equatorian tribes shall in the long run turn out to be a charm in which the latter are only endowed with positions minus real power to make independent decisions of their own. There is no likelihood an Equatorian like any other South Sudanese shall succeed a Dinka as the President as history teaches us that no top Dinka politician worth his salt under normal circumstances has ever fought another Dinka in defense of another politically inspiring Southerner. And therefore, this unity may unravel as soon as those Equatorians will have at long last realized the tricks and changed camp. If it is not, the isolation and pressure under which Kiir is trying to place the Nuer and their allies will in turn work against him and his allies. The desperate act will prevail as politics says fight your enemy but don‘t push him to the position of despair where he has no breathing space left for him to maneuver. Because that will make him resort to desperate act of violence to survive which is what the Nuer and their allies can turn to and shall have nobody to blame them among the observers. That is the likely use of physical force and in his defeat, Kiir and his people shall not only loss power for a good number of decades if not century but goes with it shall be manpower and economic investments they have ill-acquired through power of incumbency, land grabbing and financial corruption. More of Equatorian supporters can only help Kiir election wise in the stable atmosphere but in the situation of brute force may not be ready for such an unfortunate scenario. Instead they will change tag for the winning side, probably the opposition as is generally the case in the third world and in particular Africa which normally gains its sweet victory in state of chaos, be it peaceful or violent. (Back to Top) Deng Vanang is a Journalist and Executive member of South Sudan leading opposition the SPLM-DC. He can be reached at: [email protected] This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Note: All the views expressed above are solely mind and cannot be attributed to SPLM-DC.

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