| Wednesday, November 19, 2008 | |
| Machakos Protocol | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Nile Petroleum needs an Independent Board of Directors | |
|
On November 13, 2008, a Board of Directors was
appointed by the First VP of Sudan and President of the government of Southern
Sudan (GOSS) Salva Kiir Mayardit to 'properly manage' Nile Petroleum (Nile Pet)
oil company owned by the GOSS. My concern arises from the role of the Board of
Directors, accountability and transparency and profit versus social
responsibility of the Nile Pet. If I'd a right to voice a suggestion, I'd have
asked the FVP and the GOSS President to hire experts, competent and independent
individuals to the Board of Directors of Nile Pet..... |
|
| The Case of Transitional Areas and Independence of South Sudan | |
|
The case of Transitional Areas is very clear in
the CPA and Interim Constitution of the Sudan but still some dull opportunists
would want to mix it with the case of the Independence of South Sudan in 2011.
Of course the people of Southern Sudan will remain grateful to the comrades of
the Transitional Areas (Nuba Mountains or Southern Kordofan State, Ingassina
Hills or Southern Blue Nile State, and Abyei Area) but not the extent of risking
the dignified destiny of Southern Sudan..... |
|
| Is President Omar al-Basher ought to be taken seriously? | |
 Once
again, President Omar al-Basher continues to do what he does best, to confuse
the Sudanese people, virtually on all the utmost challenges facing the country,
including, of course, his indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC),
for war crimes and genocide in Darfur. Why President al-Basher increasingly is
becoming angrier and angrier? Evidently, his guts feelings are telling him
something all of us have no clue of. As it appears, he has no other place to
dump his anger except on the Western countries.... |
|
| Tribalizing the SPLM party in Canada is un-Patriotic and Narrow Minded NEW: | |
|
After reading the piece written by one of our
prominent South Sudanese and a political scientist, I'd like to highlight a few
overviews of where things might go wrong if we tribalize the SPLM in Canada.
Politically speaking, I don't believe the author is serious about
his statement because it sounds like there aren't educated, honest and nontribal
South Sudanese in Canada. I understand the frustrations.. |
|
| NEW: The Faith in the Referendum for an independent south requires concerted effort from within and outside | |
|
In as much as the people of southern Sudan look to
the day for a new nation to be born, it's imperative the southern politicians
start thinking decisively and objectively. This means the need to engage the
civil society from within the country can't be taken lightly. Basing my
assessment of the political strength in Khartoum, it's possible that the dreams
of an independent state for the people of south Sudan will be dashed unless....
|
|
| Waves of Panic as 2011 Referendum for Self Determination for South gets closer | |
|
As the 2011 Referendum on Self Determination for
South Sudan gets closer the entire world is growing anxious. There is a
widespread panic starting right in Juba and propagating to Khartoum, Cairo, the
Arab world, Western Europe, USA, and as far as the Peoples’ Republic of China.
But what is special about the year 2011? The answer is not straightforward as
some would want us to believe. According to the CPA, this is the year when the
future of the.... |
|
| SPLM Canada Representative Resigns: The Causes and Effects | |
|
When I suddenly across the resignation of the SPLM Canada representative, Peter
Lam Both of the city of Calgary, Canada, the news wasn’t news at all to me, but
I found it difficult to understand in the first place what might have transpired
in the decision he took. But I paused and mechanically examined how he came to
the office, the uproar that surged thereafter, the nasty campaigns secretly and
openly launched by those who questioned the legitimacy of his appointment... |
|
| The Juba South-South Dialogue: Maintain the Initiative! | |
|
The initiative for Southerners
to dialogue among themselves on issues to do with governance, peace, development
and unity has always been a card each true Southerner would like to see it
happen. In the last few days at Nyakuron Juba Culture Center we've all witnessed
history. All political players in the South who participated in that event last
week are all commended for a job well done. But the credit goes specifically to
the President Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit and his team for their untiring efforts
to bring Southerners together.... |
|
| The fallacy of Democracy: A case of Harassing Journalists in South Sudan | |
|
The notion of southern Sudan’s house of common is
to demonstrate to the northern government a good and transparent leadership role
in a holistic style marking the long years of dictatorial leadership from the
counter part the Khartoum government. To this day, southern politicians
including the late Dr. John Garang have been sticking to their feet persuading
the Khartoum government to understand the malpractice of its government...... |
|
|
A Colourless Political Canon is Discovered in U. S. A in Obama's win |
|
 The
November 4, 2008 historical victory of Barack Obama is a hallmark in the history
of humanity. I personally spent the whole sleepless night following the election
poll results in the United States of America intimately. But, what does that
mean to Africa as a continent, especially the Sudan that is preoccupied by
political unrests, genocide, religious fundamentalism and racial discrimination?
Certainly, Obama’s victory is a challenge for African.... |
|
| The Washington Declaration between SPLM and South Sudan D. Front (SSDF) | |
|
The Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) and
the South Sudan Democratic Front (SSDF), through their duly authorized
representatives, held a series of meetings in Washington, D.C. from November 7th
to 10th 2008. The meetings by Mr Ezekiel Gatkouth for SPLM and Gordon Buay for
SSDF, deliberated on all the issues pertaining to the national crisis and the
current political situation and arrived at the following: The two sides agreed
on a joint... |
|
| South–South dialogue to discuss the protection of minority tribes also NEW: | |
|
Juba, the capital of south Sudan, is very busy
these days with the long-awaited south–south dialogue between the ruling SPLM
and the coalition of the 8 south Sudanese political parties, the Association of
South Sudanese Political Parties (ASSPP). It's always a healthy move for
political parties to come together with the intention of exchanging views on hot
issues of national interests especially when... |
|
| Letter to GOSS VP Riak: Problems facing South Sudanese Students in Egypt NEW: | |
|
On behalf of all students admitted and those not
yet admitted in Egyptian Universities and Institutes and on our own behalf, we
take this precious opportunity to invite you (GOSS) Vice president Dr. Riek
Machar and the Undersecretary of Education, Science and technology, GoSS MOEST
Mr. William Ater Maciek, to come and settle our grievances in the field of
education in Egypt... |
|
| Truth Finally out in Lakes State but who heeds? | |
|
Lakes state is one of the South Sudan (Sudan) states, in which
incompetent leaders have always been enthroned to lead since Southern
Provisional governments and Government of Southern Sudan inception. These
leaders’ traits have always been of greed, self-proclamation, glory and impunity
of power abuse to influence, exploit and suppress. When they're new, they make
numerous and seemingly worth-taking promises... |
|
| Land-grabbing is now a tool being used to divide Southerners | |
|
Those people who've been staying up day and night
praying to split the opinion of South Sudanese have landed on a beautiful
commodity: land. There has been no easy way to set the Southerners apart after
the 2nd SPLM convention thwarted their move to disintegrate the
South. Issues like land grabbing and renaming of places by Dinka have been
brought to the forefront to serve the same purpose of bringing down the
Southerners campaign for the National Independence.... |
|
| With Obama in White House, is Africa really now going to swim in honey? | |
 As the
whole world, including the poverty-stricken and war-torn continent of Africa
celebrates USA President Elect Obama's
(photo) victory in the elections, his
priorities remain to be what he inherited from the outgoing republican
government, namely the economic crisis and wars. If the above is true, then
Africans would be only left with neither emotional satisfaction that one of
their own has made it to the highest political post in the world... |
|
| South Sudan Child Act is Timely | |
|
Southern Sudan law makers have started reading an
important bill named as Child Bill. I applaud Southern Sudan parliamentarians.
This Act is opportune and a right step at a right direction. We've lost
generations of children to ignorance and it’s time to put enough energy in to
this pillar of development. The problem right now however is our man who is in
charged of our kids: the minister of education--the good professor I'm afraid
isn’t ready to carry out that huge responsibility of education for South
Sudan... |
|
| An Open letter to Dr Machar, GOSS VP: 'Special Dressing courts' to try gangs | |
|
Subject: Establishment of “Special Dressing
courts” in the South to deal with the misbehaviors of the so called “Nigas” in
the streets of major towns in South Sudan. I've noticed with deep disappointment
that in South Sudan, especially in the city of Juba, dressing of the young
generation is not encouraging and that is why I am suggesting that special
dressing courts should be established in the South to tackle the... |
|
| Juba’s Money is Coming Back to the Western-Countries in Dollars | |
|
To add on my colleagues letters on the issue of
corruption in the GOSS, I think and warn on the one-sided defense of relatives
involved in corruption. To reflect the fact of what is currently happening in
South Sudan, something Southerners could not believe had occurred in Sydney
International Airport whereby, a wife of Mr. Former minister of Finance of the
GOSS was detained for a couple of hours because of being caught with some
millions of dollars on her way back to Australia... |
|
| 'Jebel Dinka' in Juba is not a New Name | |
 In
response to an article relating to the so-called land grabbing in Central
Equatoria and Nimule written on October 30 in 'The Citizen' under the title "Why
the Liberation Vision Betrayed Central Equatorians," I was intrigued and I
frankly went out to enquire the way Editor Mr. Nhial Bol has falsely explained
in his article. I went to the very area and enquired about the name Jebel Dinka
from people there. There were different versions as to how and when the name
Jebel Dinka came to be attached to that particular location within Central
Equatoria state or Juba County for that matter..... |
|
| Why Amend the Sudanese Nationality Laws Now? | |
|
Isn’t it ironic that the Sudan Peoples Liberation
Movement (SPLM) is still silent about the Arabs influx, especially of the
Egyptians into Sudan? And what more evidence do we need to prove our point that
the Islamic National Front’s regime of the embattled President Omar al-Basher is
diligently working to change the country’s demographic picture by importing
Arabs into the country.... |
|
| Where is the Law in South Sudan? | |
|
I have seen that some individuals are highly
concerned about their tribes from being finger-pointed by most people due to
their misconduct. Actually I agree to this, because the pain that you can feel
about your tribe being singled out in the media is absolutely acceptable, but if
you are genuine with the decent knowledge of judging what is good and what is
bad, why don't you ask yourself that, if you can feel the pain in your heart as
your fellow Equatorians..... |
|
| South Sudan: A dumping entity for foreign investors | |
|
With the CPA signed in Nairobi – Kenya on the 9th
of January 2005; it had offered a lot of investment opportunities into Southern
Sudan. As such the opportunities became worsened as they don’t provide quality
services that was expected from them. Majority of these investors came from
Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Eritrea with few from China and Middle East.... |
|
| Kokora II: Is it avoidable? | |
|
Yes and no. It is yes if we learned anything
little from the Kokora I and the opposite is fairly true if we continue to live
the way we are right now in Juba. However the telling of little events in the
capital city (Juba) indicates the need to correct our ways of doing business as
different groups bound together by history and destiny. Everything is possible
and at our discretion if we choose to do it. Whether we like it or not, we shall
always be... |
|
| Ma’di Diaspora Community Statement on the Illegal Land Grab/Sale in Nimule by SPLA Commanders and Associates | |
 When
factionalism raised its ugly head, wreaking havoc in Upper Nile and the peoples
movement in the 1990s, we, members of the Ma’di community, kindly opened our
doors to all, especially the Dinka Bor,
(picture)
to settle freely among us, without any restrictions. Was it naive of us to
expect good neighbourliness in return? So it seems. Our well-meaning act of
hospitality has been thrown right back into our face by reckless utterances.... |
|
| The Prevailing Wars in the Post-CPA Southern Sudan | |
|
In a
well-informed human society, the question of political participation in the
governance of one’s country is a core value for national identity. According the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “everyone has the right to take part in
the government of one’s own country, directly or through freely chosen
representatives” (Article 21). Unfortunately, the right to self-determination
and participation in political governance in the Sudan, particularly the South
has been “sugar-coated” with political vengeance leading to the politics... |
|
| The culture debate in Juba: Who is right and who is wrong? | |
|
The recent culture debate in Juba that resulted in
the arrest of 30 young women by the police, and the removal of the County, and
Juba Police commissioners by South Sudan President, Lt. Gen. Kiir, for enforcing
the city ordinance, is not just an isolated case but the tip of iceberg. The
incident has revealed the dilemma south Sudanese are in after the return of
peace in the region. The postwar South Sudan has many challenges ahead and more
are yet to come. One can imagine the... |
|
| Tight Girls’ Trousers Versus Loose GOSS Legislation in South Sudan | |
|
It seems that anything can make a headline in the oil-rich but
unfortunately mal-governed and poverty-stricken south Sudan. Lately it was all
about girls in tight trousers, who're arrested by the security authorities and
acquitted the following day without any charges in a country where nudity is
prevalent. So, why are tight trousers not to be appreciated by the authorities
whose citizens majority of who are nude, homeless and dying of starvation?
|
|
| Interview with Dr Lam Akol: "There're people serving personal agenda in SPLM and want to settle old scores...." | |
 After
a long silence, Dr Lam Akol, Sudan's former foreign minister, in a frank
interview with Alsahafa, stated that he only knew from the newspapers about Vice
President and GOSS President Salva Kiir's nomination to stand for President of
Sudan in the 2009 Presidential elections. Dr Lam added that first it must be
ascertained whether or not Kiir was going to put his name forward for President,
and second, if that were to happen, will he, Salva Kiir, win the elections or
not.... |
|
|
|
| Editorial: | |
|
Hypocrisy, irony and subversion of Justice by GOSS in the South |
|
QUOTE:"..in order to fight this endemic disease in the courts we must have the laws to do so. Until these laws exist, our hands are tied..." Pres. Kiir, Oct. 2/08, 6th Governors conf. Juba. Shocking and despicable as it was, the gruesome brutalization of those women in Juba recently has brought the specter of government-sanctioned violence gone wild closer home to the Capital’s residents, in the persona of the SPLA/Police. According to the Juba County Commissioner, his Local Order No. 4/2008, based on powers conferred on him by a Presidential order of December 2007 (post-CPA) and pursuant to Local Government Act of 2003, was specifically intended to curb the activities of the so-called ‘Niggers’ gang, as a quasi-terrorist and anti-cultural group. Clearly, the problem, therefore, is not the Local Order, which was aimed at apprehending those gangsters who’re perpetuating acts of violence and social deviation. It was the Juba Police who failed the people and the Commissioner. What happened in Juba is unfortunately symptomatic of the generalized violence taking place across the South that has revealed the failure of the government of South Sudan (GOSS) to curtail the pernicious and deadly effects of this lawlessness on the people. Just recently, Southerners were shocked by the blatant and callous assault by SPLA soldiers on the citizens of Rumbek ostensibly acting on orders from Lakes State governor, Daniel Awet, who injudiciously was implementing orders from GOSS President Salva Kiir to disarm his people. The infamous Rumbek’s 9/8 incident undoubtedly exposed all that is cynically bad about the leadership. Shamelessly, just like Juba ‘tight pants’ debacle, it painfully uncovered to the public the killer instinct that’s still lingering in the psyche and mindset of the SPLM/A leaders and fighters. These soldiers need to be taught some discipline, be taught what justice is in the time of peace, but most importantly, their work situation needs to be improved by paying their salaries on time. That is certainly one plausible reason for the police and soldiers persistence of indiscipline. Pervasively, the current mass hysteria now being exhibited by the entire GOSS and the SPLM against the Juba Commissioner is clearly a symptom of political hypocrisy and irresponsibility. Where were those loose-tongued sycophants in the GOSS and the SPLM when Governor Awet and his ‘sons of the area’ indiscriminately raped Rumbek’s women, looted and killed many innocent people? Or are we accepting that the women raped in Rumbek are not equal in status as southerners? Never did we hear Paul Mayom, the minister of interior and a ‘son of the area’ of Rumbek, vehemently condemning what happened to his own people. Never till this moment and day has he carried out any investigation which has to be sent to ‘high authority for action.’ What a great hypocrite! Never have we heard the voice of GOSS minister for Gender, Mary Kiden, vociferously expressing her sisterly sympathies and condolences to the female victims of murder and rape in Rumbek? Where is Dr. Anne Itto’s, SPLM deputy secretary, condemnation? Are those women of Rumbek not under GOSS? Or where is NESI and Suzanne Jambo to eagerly demonstrate in solidarity with the rape victims of Rumbek 9/8? Wake up, those are women just like you! Clearly, unequivocally, instead of blaming singularly Juba Commissioner, Mr. Pitia, President Salva Kiir and all the leaders and SPLM/A need to stand up and take collective responsibility as something is inherently wrong with the current style and system of governance in the South. Perhaps Commissioner Pitia’s motivation was to prevent the proliferation of the kinds of gangs we see in Cairo, Egypt, organized by southerners, some of who were earlier deported to Juba and are now gang leaders of various criminalities. Conversely, targeting Commissioner Pitia could backfire on the President. Juba citizens would most likely construe any such action against their commissioner as retaliation by those bigots in GOSS who look forward to destroy any resistance to their free land grabbing in Juba. Inexcusably, the greatest malaise in the south today is the protection of your own kind or tribesman. When President Kiir recently paid an express and secretive visit to Rumbek, and quickly returned to the safety of Juba, he surprised many people by announcing that the problems in Rumbek have been ‘resolved.’ How and when, did it happen so fast? Apparently, the ‘sons of the area’ rapists and murderers haven’t yet been arrested and the biggest blunderer, Governor Awet, remains wholly unscathed and completely absolved of any responsibility. Where is justice or accountability? As leader, President Kiir should have sincerely placated and consoled in a public rally all those grieving and aggrieved Rumbek residents before hurrying back to Juba. After all, what is the difference between the Mongjang in Warrap and those in Lakes? When the president recently told the 6th Governors Forum that his hands were ‘tied,’ even after three long years in power, ostensibly because the laws urgently needed to expedite the establishment of good governance and rule of law are still lacking, something is distressingly wrong. If the current Minister of legal affairs is unwilling, incompetent to write those laws, why not fire him instantly and get one who can write laws? No wonder, South Sudan today remains a nation without the necessary legislation to put in jail alleged corruption mafia kingpins like Arthur Akuen Chol, the former GOSS disgraced minister of finance, who continues to sit and get paid in the same parliament that supposedly is mandated to write the Anti-Corruption laws that would eventually put him in prison. Isn’t that ironical? It’s undisputedly blatant hypocrisy and criminal subversion of justice and a mockery of the system of governance we pretend exists in our South Sudan nation. Aren’t we all hypocrites, really? SSN Editor Comment...Click Here |
|
|
| OPINIONS: |
|
It's
easy to talk about the future other than dwell on the past, particularly if
the past wasn't that nice. In this case, the author is tempted to bring to
light what has been garish past but hardly any subject.. |
Hypocrisy, irony and the subversion of justice by GOSS in the South. Read Editorial below: |
|
YOUR LETTERS |
|
|
|
Verbatim: |
|
Incredible: Presdent Kiir doouble-speak: Attending
a peace reconciliation between warring clans in his home state of Warrap, GOSS &
SPLM/A leader, Pres. Salva Kiir called for "the end of subjugation of the Bongo
by Dinka clans," telling them that their "behavior towards the small ethnic
group had echoes of Arab oppression, and this behavior towards the Bongo people
was unacceptable."
In response, Bongo
chief, Ramadam Dalegi, said "Dinka were slowly appropriating land from the
Bongo, grazing cattle on their crops and destroying precious bee-hives
and renaming Bongo areas with Dinka names." “I know your problems with the Dinka,” Kiir
told the chief, “there must be a law passed to protect your bees and
farms. This is subjugation really." Gurtong, Oct. 26/08
|
|
POLITICS & FEATURES |
|
In
its last meeting in Juba, the SPLM Interim Political Bureau (IPB)
resolved on the 11th instant that its ministers in the
Government of National Unity (GONU) will have to stay at home
until the reshuffle of the SPLM ministers in the GONU is
effected....