United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Media & Spokesperson Unit Communications & Public Information Office MEDIA MONITORING REPORT MONDAY, 26 AUGUST 2013 SOUTH SUDAN • SA group to mark weapons in South Sudan (Business Day) • Juba residents protest over deteriorating security (Sudantribune.com) • South Sudan's Kiir threatens to sack non performing ministers (Gurtong.net) • New VP seeks executive cooperation (Gurtong.net) • Women accuse youth on escalation of insecurity in Jonglei (Gurtong.net) • Six Arrested for freeing a suspected killer: commissioner (Gurtong.net) SOUTH SUDAN, SUDAN • Kiir orders release of Abyei civil servants for Oct. referendum poll (Gurtong.net) • Sudan warns S. Sudan against holding Abyei’s unilateral referendum (Sudantribune.com) • NCP accuses Juba of "non-cooperation" with AU border committee (Sudantribune.com) • Security Council, in statement, urges implementation of agreements between Sudan, South Sudan, aided by new mechanisms, including technical border team (AllAfrica.com) OTHER HIGHLIGHTS • SAF says it says took control of rebel-held village in Blue Nile (Sudantribune.com) • Rebels claim ‘destruction of 22 troops and two Sudanese militia camps’ (Radio Dabanga) • Sudanese army restores area from rebels in Blue Nile state (Bernama.com.my) • Al Bashir to Meet Sadiq Al-Mahdi for Broad National Reconciliation (Sudan Vision) • US concerned about escalating DRC violence (Voice of America) OPINION/ EDITORIALS • MPs given generous choice: either Wani Igga as VP or roam the streets! ( South Sudan News Agency) • South Sudanese vice presidential choice not surprising (Sudantribune.com) • Who is the right candidate to become the speaker of S. Sudan parliament? (Sudantribune.com) • The story of a bleeding City – Juba and not Mogadishu! ( South Sudan News Agency) LINKS TO STORIES FROM THE MORNING MEDIA MONITOR • Kiir orders investigation into top army officers over Jonglei abuses (Sudantribune.com) • South Sudan parliament delays electing new Speaker (Sudantribune.com) • South Sudan’s Kiir appoints Speaker as deputy after cabinet overhaul (Reuters) • South Sudan president names James Wani Igga as deputy – state radio (Agence France-Presse) • Kiir threatens to dissolve parliament unless it supports Wani’s appointment (Sudantribune.com) • UN agency says $84 million needed to tackle food insecurity (Gurtong) • UN Security Council calls for humanitarian access in Jonglei (Sudantribune.com) • Juba County Commissioner calls for curfew in Juba (Radio Miraya newscast) • Jonglei: Angry soldiers block roads over delayed payments (Sudantribune.com) • UN urges Khartoum against oil shutdown (Agence France-Presse) • UN urges Sudan to suspend any actions to halt oil (Associated Press) • UN appeals to Sudan to continue transporting South’s oil (Reuters) • South Sudan reaps over $800mln from oil, as UNSC urges to not shut down pipeline (Sudantribune.com) • South Sudan pays $236 million in oil fees to Sudan (Middle East online) • Misseriya threaten to wage war against South Sudan (Sudantribune.com) 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. Highlights SA group to mark weapons in South Sudan Business Day, 26/8/2013 – THE United Nations (UN) has enlisted the services of a South African partnership to establish a weapons marking and identification system in South Sudan. The marking and identification process is unique in Africa and was designed and developed in South Africa by a partnership of FACTT, a software development company, and Traceability Solutions, a hardware development and manufacturing organisation. "If ever there was a baptism by fire for our product, this is it," FACTT CEO Daan Davis said last week. "The South Sudan area is awash with weapons after the decades-long war with Sudan — nearly all of them AK47s and each considered illegal because none is licensed — because there is no way yet in the formative government of licensing them." Mr Davis, a former high-ranking officer with the South African Police Service, has no idea of the number of weapons to be counted and marked. "It’s probably in the thousands but that’s just a guess because no one kept records." Kyle Parker, whose Traceability Solutions company specializes in the hardware aspects of all manner of identification and codification, said: "The identification process we have been tasked with is a census, if you like. "The intention is not to take the weapons away from their owners. It is to indelibly mark them and record them on a database. We’re finding out for the UN Mission in South Sudan how many weapons are out there, where they are and who they belong to. "The exercise now is merely to mark, count and register the weapons and their owners. Their licensing will be a follow-up operation by the government when it is geared up to do so." Traceability has a process of marking weapons in such a way that the printing does not break the arms’ protective "blue" rust-resistant coating and yet is scored deeply into the metal. Andre Jordaan, a FACTT operations executive, said nearly everyone in South Sudan has a weapon of some kind. "At the height of the civil war between the north and the south of the country, rifles and handguns were handed out to virtually every able-bodied man or woman in the fight for independence. No attempt was made to register the weapons and owners or keep any information about their whereabouts." Although the civil war has ended, the region is still "a dangerous place with inter-factional conflict, livestock rustling and banditry. Personal weapons have taken on an intrinsic value as a means of defence and they will not be easily surrendered. And that is not the intention," said Mr Parker. "All the UN is after at this stage is a small arms and light weapons census." (Back to Top) Juba residents protest over deteriorating security Sudantribune.com Juba, 25/8/2013 – Hundreds of residents in the South Sudan’s capital, Juba on Sunday took to the streets in protest against the rapidly deteriorating security situation. The demonstration followed the killing of two police officers by unknown assailants in Nyakuron West, a Juba suburb on Saturday. South Sudan police spokesperson, James Mande, confirmed the killing of the two officers, one of whom was attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). “Some criminals riding on a Boda-boda (motorcycle) stormed the residents of the two officers in Nyakuron West and open fire on them before fleeing,” Mande told Sudan Tribune by phone Monday. The protest, he said, was sparked off by angry relatives of the deceased, who were later joined by other Juba residents who all decried the rising insecurity levels in the country. 2 Mande described the killing as “unusual”, but said police had stepped up efforts to contain relative peace and stability in the city. “We have boosted our patrols in areas within Juba and its surroundings. As I speak now, the situation is calm and back to life is back to normal”, he added. This latest incident comes less than a week after two brothers were murdered in Hai Tarawa, another Juba suburb, prompting another wave of protests from citizens. The police, however, said some suspects have been arrested in connection with the killing, while others remain at large. Demonstrators, irked by the rampant killings, carried bodies of the two slain brothers to the Central Equatoria state legislative assembly, calling on the state government to protect its people. It remains unknown who is behind the series of murders that have rocked the capital, in recent days. The police, on Friday, clashed with a group of criminals suspected to be foreign national, during night patrol. Three of them were arrested. Mande, however, stressed that the police remains in control of the situation and all efforts were underway to improve the situation. South Sudan's Kiir threatens to sack non performing ministers Gurtong.net Juba, 26/8/2013 – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Sunday threatened to oust ministers who will not perform in the next three months. The president urged the ministers to have work plans, a move geared towards improving services in the fledgling nation. “I said the day you took oath as Ministers this means we have a contract. This is a contract that we have signed with you,” Kiir told the cabinet during a swearing of the South Sudan’s new Vice President Hon. James Wani Igga yesterday at the State House Juba. “After three months and you have no work plan you have nothing to deliver I will not give for another three months,” said the President. “But if you have shown that you can now be moving forward ok I will now allow you for next three months.” “Those who will complete one year must be very efficient and very lucky because we have been promising people the services that they need for a very long time and we have not delivered them,” added Kiir. South Sudan’s Kiir last month sacked his entire cabinet including Vice President in an effort explained meant to improve service delivery. The move that also reduced the cabinet however, was denied by the government has been compelled by internal wrangles in the ruling party SPLM in which Kiir is the Chairperson. The new cabinet reportedly criticized by some SPLM party cadres as did not receive wider consultations in the ruling party was sworn in a week ago. (Back to Top) New VP seeks executive cooperation Gurtong.net Juba, 26/8/2013 – South Sudan’s newly sworn in Vice President Hon. James Wani Igga yesterday called for close cooperation in the executive for better service delivery.